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hedgehog-moss · 11 months

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hi! Just wanted to ask what you’ve been reading lately? I love seeing your book recs! Also what are some of your favorite books ?

Hi :) I've read some disappointing stuff lately, so I decided to start two books from my to-read list that felt like safe bets—Samantha Shannon's A Day of Fallen Night and Elsa Morante's Lies and Sorcery. I'm enjoying both so far!

I've read interesting nonfiction this year—Empire of Pain, about the Sackler family; Erich Schwartzel's Red Carpet about the role of the movie business in cultural hegemony; and Laure Hillerin's biography of the Countess Greffulhe, who was a fascinating woman. She was the real-life model behind Proust's Duchess de Guermantes character, and a really influential figure in the arts & sciences in the early 1900s—she financed the first productions of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, frequented Rodin's studio, helped Marie Curie find the funds to start her Radium Institute... It was a good read. I also read a biography of Anne Perry by Peter Graham, which was so-so—the story of the murder is morbidly fascinating but the way it was told had too many trivial details and not enough depth.

Worst nonfiction books of the year so far were Niall Ferguson's Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe which didn't seem to have any point to make, and François-Guillaume Lorrain's Scarlett which was marketed as a fascinating new look into the making of Gone With the Wind but actually the author just watched his DVD's behind-the-scenes bonus content and diluted it into 300+ pages of rehashed anecdotes, it was so pointless. I found it on the "Vos libraires vous recommandent !" shelf and now I feel betrayed by that bookshop.

As for fiction, I've enjoyed Ira Levin's A Kiss Before Dying, it felt very dated in a fun way, everything about it felt intensely 1950s. Was very disappointed by Silvia Avallone's Acciaio, I'd heard good things about it but it was so joyless and meh. Álvaro Enrigue's Ahora me rindo y eso es todo was a bit disappointing in the second half, but the first half was good so I'll try other books of his. Pierre Lemaitre's Miroir de nos peines was fun in an expected way—I mean those who enjoyed the beginning of his Au revoir là-haut trilogy will enjoy this one too as it's more of the same. And I also had a good time reading Catherynne Valente's Radiance— similarly if you already like her writing style you'll probably enjoy this book. (I was listening to this as I read it and it fit really well with the floaty-nostalgic-unearthly atmosphere of the book, it's always nice to accidentally find a good book-soundtrack that enhances the experience! Now I can never listen to it while reading again as it's too intertwined with that story.)

And I really liked Madame de Staël's Delphine but I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone, it's very 18th century (though it's from 1802). If you enjoy idle noblewomen writing each other 20-page-long letters in gorgeously long-winded 18th-century prose about how the Viscount of Something glanced at them from the other end of a salon and nothing else happened and now they're having agonies then you'll love this book, it's 900 pages of this. I can't get enough of it personally, and I found it hilarious that these aristocrats had such low-stakes problems considering the story starts in 1790. They didn't notice the Revolution, they were too busy writing tormented letters about extramarital glances.

Some books I've added to my kindle recently: Virginia Feito's Mrs. March, Simon Schama's Landscape & Memory (someone I follow on GR described it as "monstrously bloated" while the NYT blurb diplomatically calls it "a work of enormous scope" which made me laugh), Seyhmus Dagtekin's To the Spring, by Night, Margarita Liberaki's Three Summers, Maggie O'Farrell's The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Dawn Powell's A Time to Be Born.

This got long, sorry! You can have a look at my 5- and 4.5 star shelves on goodreads, for some of my favourite books of the past few years :)

#ask #book recs

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neoneun-au · 8 months

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A post for my book recommendations, to be continuously updated as I read and remember more. Because without reading, I would not be writing.

All time favourites are marked with a ☆

All are sorted by genre and will be linked (if able) to their Goodreads pages so that you can dig deeper into whatever catches your eye.

(ps if you have a Goodreads account, you can add me here)

Anthology/Short Story Collections

Behold This Dreamer - Walter de la Mare ☆

Love Letters of Great Men - Ursula Doyle

Difficult Women - Roxane Gay

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu

The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami

Essays

Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay ☆

Bluets - Maggie Nelson ☆

On Freedom - Maggie Nelson

In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

Malleable Forms - Meeka Walsh ☆

Fiction (Classic)

Persuasion - Jane Austen ☆

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

The Awakening - Kate Chopin

North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell ☆

Siddhartha - Hermen Hesse

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera ☆

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

Fiction (Modern)

All’s Well - Mona Awad ☆

Bunny - Mona Awad

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach

The Pisces - Melissa Broder

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

For Today I Am A Boy - Kim Fu

The Vegetarian - Han Kang

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova ☆

Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

The Road - Cormac McCarthy ☆

Under the Hawthorne Tree - Ai Mi

The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller ☆

After Dark - Haruki Murakami ☆

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami ☆

Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell

The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje

Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi

Mr. Fox - Helen Oyeyemi ☆

A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

The Overstory - Richard Powers ☆

The Godfather - Mario Puzo

Blindness - José Saramago

How To Be Both - Ali Smith

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt ☆

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Ru - Kim Thúy

Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín

Big Fish - Daniel Wallace

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto

Horror/Thriller

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty

Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

Gerald’s Game - Stephen King

The Shining - Stephen King

Audition - Ryū Murakami

I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid

Manga/Graphic Novels

Basilisk - Futaro Yamada, Maseki Sagawa

Death Note - Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata

Eureka Seven - Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou

Lore Olympus - Rachel Smythe

Nana - Ai Yazawa ☆

Paradise Kiss - Ai Yazawa

Uzumaki - Junji Ito

xxxHolic - CLAMP

Memoirs/Journals

Speak, Okinawa - Elizabeth Miki Brina

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty

I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi

Henry and June - Anaïs Nin ☆

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls ☆

Non-Fiction (General)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking - Susan Cain

The Red Market - Scott Carney

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern - Stephen Greenblatt

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right - Jane Mayer

The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson

The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr, E.B White

Non-Fiction (Philosophy/Spiritual)

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - Carlos Castañeda

Silence: In the Age of Noise - Erling Kagge ☆

The Kybalion - Three Initiates ☆

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo - Chögyam Trungpa

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

Poetry Collections

I Love My Love - Reyna Biddy

Let Us Compare Mythologies - Leonard Cohen

The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

The Anatomy of Being - Shinji Moon

The Beauty of the Husband - Anne Carson ☆

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire

Night Sky with Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong

Speculative Fiction

Dune - Frank Herbert

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel ☆

Battle Royale - Koushun Takami

True Crime

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote ☆

Young Adult

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray ☆

The Diviners - Libba Bray

The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon

#book recs #mads.recs

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ashleybenlove · 4 months

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@lifblogs asked me a few days ago if I was gonna share the list of books I read this year. So, I'm gonna do that.

Due to character limits, I had to separate the numbered lists, so first list goes up to 100 and then the second list is the rest.

Couple of notes, my list includes the date I finished reading and a couple of marks.

Their meanings:

Started in 2022: * This book is a reread: ** Did not write down the date but probably the date: *? (Basically I decided after I had started to include the date finished.) Special notation for Dracula and Dracula Daily: **!

Bold denotes favorites.

Eight Kinky Nights: An f/f Chanukah romance by Xan West* – Jan 1*?

Through the Moon: A Graphic Novel (The Dragon Prince Graphic Novel #1) by Peter Wartman – Jan 4

Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks by Ken Jennings – Jan 7

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte – Jan 12

A Brother’s Price by Wen Spencer** - Jan 13

Gossie and Gertie by Olivier Dunrea – Jan 17

A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Andrew H. Knoll – Jan 18

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler – Jan 22

Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds by John Pickrell – Jan 25

Promised Land: a Revolutionary Romance by Rose Lerner – Jan 26

Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu – Jan 27

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr – Feb 2

Artemis by Andy Weir – Feb 4

Hunting Game by Helene Tursten – Feb 7

How the Earth Turned Green: A Brief 3.8-Billion-Year History of Plants by Joseph E. Armstrong – Feb 14

Fortuna by Kristyn Merbeth – Feb 16

After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez – Feb 22

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan – Feb 22

Super Volcanoes: What They Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond by Robin George Andrews – Feb 28

Memoria by Kristyn Merbeth – Feb 28

American Revolution: A History From Beginning to End by Hourly History – Mar 5

Discordia by Kristyn Merbeth – Mar 6

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley – Mar 17

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester – Mar 18

The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen – Mar 18

Big Chicas Don't Cry by Annette Chavez Macias – Mar 19

Innumerable Insects: The Story of the Most Diverse and Myriad Animals on Earth by Michael S. Engel – Mar 21

The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783 by Joseph J. Ellis – Mar 24

Eragon by Christopher Paolini – Mar 25

Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer – Mar 25

Locked in Time by Lois Duncan** – Mar 26

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur – Mar 28

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict – April 4

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham – April 7

Bisexually Stuffed By Our Living Christmas Stocking by Chuck Tingle – April 8

Bloodmoon Huntress: A Graphic Novel (The Dragon Prince Graphic Novel #2) by Nicole Andelfinger – April 9

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell – April 11

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton – April 13

The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis – April 17

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez – April 19

Cinder by Marissa Meyer – April 20

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson – April 20

Eldest by Christopher Paolini – April 22

The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan – April 23

The Sentient Lesbian Em Dash — My Favorite Punctuation Mark — Gets Me Off by Chuck Tingle – April 24

The Pleistocene Era: The History of the Ice Age and the Dawn of Modern Humans by Charles River Editors – April 26

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie – April 27

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach – April 29

Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne – May 3

Matrix by Lauren Groff – May 6

The Color Purple by Alice Walker – May 7

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie – May 9

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume – May 11

The Dragon Prince Book One: Moon by Aaron Ehasz and Melanie McGanney Ehasz – May 13

Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan – May 15

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez – May 15

Atlas of Unusual Borders: Discover Intriguing Boundaries, Territories and Geographical Curiosities by Zoran Nikolic – May 20

How the Mountains Grew: A New Geological History of North America by John Dvorak – May 20

The Guncle by Steven Rowley – May 21

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini – May 24

Reflection: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim – May 26

Sailor's Delight by Rose Lerner – May 26

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World by Riley Black – May 28

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data by Betty Adams – June 3

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro – June 4

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – June 8

Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut – June 9

A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein – June 11

Cress by Marissa Meyer – June 20

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao – June 22

The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us by Steve Brusatte – June 24

After the Hurricane by Leah Franqui – June 24

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini – June 25

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez – June 26

Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe – June 30

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack – July 4

Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains by Bethany Brookshire – July 5

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin – July 7

Cosmos by Carl Sagan – July 10

1984 by George Orwell** -- July 11

What Once Was Mine: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell – July 17

Evolution Gone Wrong: The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't) by Alex Bezzerides – July 20

The Planet Factory: Exoplanets and the Search for a Second Earth Hardcover by Elizabeth Tasker – July 21

Witches by Brenda Lozano – July 24

Son of a Sailor: A Cozy Pirate Tale by Marshall J. Moore – July 29

Winter by Marissa Meyer – July 29

As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell – July 30

Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s by B. Dylan Hollis – August 4

Half Bad by Sally Green – August 7

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly – August 14

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley – August 18

Gory Details: Adventures From the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt – August 22

The Last Karankawas by Kimberly Garza – August 25

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore – Sept 5

Oceans of Kansas, Second Edition: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea by Michael J. Everhart – Sept 7

Corpus Christi: The History of a Texas Seaport by Bill Walraven – Sept 9

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury** – Sept 12

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Sept 18

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera – Sept 20

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett – Sept 22

The Mammals of Texas by William B. Davis and David J. Schmidly – Sept 29

The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett – Oct 4

The 2024 Old Farmer’s Almanac edited by Janice Stillman – Oct 7

Half Wild by Sally Green – Oct 7

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James – Oct 7

Verity by Colleen Hoover – Oct 10

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence – Oct 15

Archaeology: Unearthing the Mysteries of the Past by Kate Santon – Oct 16

100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife by Ken Jennings – Oct 22

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie – Oct 22

Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe García McCall – Oct 22

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – Oct 27

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler – Oct 28

The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found by Mary Beard – Oct 29

Conflict Is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair by Sarah Schulman – Oct 31

The Great Texas Dragon Race by Kacy Ritter – Nov 6

Dracula by Bram Stoker**! – Nov 7/8

The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser – Nov 9

Cascadia's Fault: The Coming Earthquake and Tsunami that Could Devastate North America by Jerry Thompson – Nov 10

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison – Nov 11

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney – Nov 13

Untamed by Glennon Doyle – Nov 14

Nimona by ND Stevenson – Nov 18

Dracula Daily by Matt Kirkland**! – Nov 20

A Mother Would Know by Amber Garza – Nov 24

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie – Nov 25

How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell** – Nov 27

Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie – Dec 1

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini – Dec 8

The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie – Dec 8

Icehenge by Kim Stanley Robinson – Dec 9

These Holiday Movies With Bizarrely Similar Smiling Heterosexual Couples Dressed In Green And Red On Their Cover Get Me Off Bisexually by Chuck Tingle – Dec 9

The Domesday Book: England's Heritage, Then & Now edited by Thomas Hindle – Dec 10

You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation by Julissa Arce – Dec 13

Himawari House by Harmony Becker – Dec 13

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck** – Dec 18

Born Into It: A Fan’s Life by Jay Baruchel – Dec 18

The Dragon Prince Book Two: Sky by Aaron Ehasz and Melanie McGanney Ehasz – Dec 23

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree – Dec 24

Half Lost by Sally Green – Dec 24

Understudies by Priya Sridhar – Dec 28

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – Dec 28

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – Dec 31

#ashleybenlove posts #and yes I am aware that Zhao and Walker are problematic bigoted people #books #long post #i should really count how many nonfiction books I read...

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the---hermit · 4 months

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2023 wrap up 1/2

As I did last year I am posting a wrap up of all the books I have read during the year. I have linked all the individual book reviews I have posted during the year (I have not posted the reviews of some books for various reasons, but I still included the titles). I have gradually made this post during the year, so I hope past me didn't forget any of the books I read in 2023. This is the first half of my wrap up with all the books I read from January to June 2023

The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

100 Hugs by Chris Riddell

Monsters by Christopher Dell

The Sandman volume 7 by Neil Gaiman

The Sandaman volume 8 by Neil Gaiman

Cain's Jawbone by Torquemada

Il Segreto Del Bosco Vecchio by Dino Buzzati

Hilda and The Troll by Luke Pearson

Geronimo Stilton and The Kingdom Of Fantasy 1 , book 2, book 3 and 4

The Tower Of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell

The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe by Dougles Adams

La Scuola Di Pizze In Faccia Del Professor Calcare by Zerocalcare

Harrow The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Scheletri by Zerocalcare

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Kabi Nagata

How We Read Now by Naomi S. Baron

Niente Di Nuovo Sul Fronte Di Rebibbia by Zerocalcare

Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Deadendia Broken Halo by Hamish Steele

Kafka Diario Di Un Disperso by E.F. Benson

La Lettura by Maurizio Vivarelli

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

The Hugasaurus by Rachel Bright

The Golden Bug by Edgar Allan Poe

The Parasite by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Room In The Tower by

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

What Lies In The Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Through The Woods by Emily Carroll

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

The Lottery and other stories by Shirley Jackson

De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

Mary Shelly L'Eterno Sogno by Alessandro Di Virgilio and Manuela Santoni

The Hobbits Of Tolkien by David Day

The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Creation Of Mythology by Marcel Detienne

The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

We Are The Champions by Tuono Pettinato and Dario Moccia

Dimentica Il Mio Nome by Zerocalcare

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker Chan

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

Ogni Maledetto Lunedì Su Due by Zerocalcare

The House In The Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

L'Elenco Telefonico Degli Accolli by Zerocalcare

Macerie Prime and Macerie Prime Sei Mesi Dopo by Zerocalcare

#2023 books #2023 wrap up #books #book recs #book reviews #book recommendations #bookblr #booklr #reading #mine #the---hermit

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manuscripts-dontburn · 8 months

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Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations

Author: Simon Schama

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is a difficult one to rate. On one hand, the research and language are top-notch, and the story Simon Schama had chosen to tell is extremely interesting. At the same time the book, from its title and synopsis, promises something other (a more or less comprehensive look at pandemics in history and the development of vaccination) than what is eventually given. Instead, the author focuses on several little-known personalities from the medical fields of the 19th/ early 20th century, who saved an incomprehensible number of lives through their discoveries and application of science - yet the world did not thank them. Schama has a talent for telling stories, but more often than not he elaborately explains what could be a footnote, which can be irritating at times. Simply put, there is a great deal to learn from this book, but it is not necessarily the exact lesson that you wanted.

The Marriage Portrait

Author: Maggie O'Farrell

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★★★★

A stunning book that truly feels like a series of paintings. The author, just like she had done it with Hamnet, is capable of creating an extremely sensory experience of capturing a moment in time: it is not just visual but evokes the feelings of touch, smell, and sound. Entrapped in the mind of a young girl, the reader cannot help but follow her at every step with feelings of profound sympathy and worry. Exquisite.

Olga Romanov: Russia's Last Grand Duchess

Author: Patricia Phenix

First published: 1999

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is one of those books that are rather simplistic in their approach to the subject matter and thus quite easily and quickly readable. It does provide the basics on Olga Alexandrovna and even provides some little-known anecdotes from her life (that I have not yet read anywhere else), but given casual errors and mistakes scattered throughout the text I was a little apprehensive about their validity. Where the book really gives you something new and interesting are the last few chapters, which deal with Olga´s later life and especially behaviour of her sons and other family members. Those parts truly made me sad.

One For My Enemy

Author: Olivie Blake

First published: 2003

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Once upon a time, for whatever reason (probably because their names sounded cool - and that was also why they were repeated multiple times on every single page), Baba Yaga with her daughters and Koschei the Deathless with his sons ran a drug market in New York. There was some serious hanky-panky between the kids, who would just not stay dead so there is no point in being emotionally invested throughout. And they all talked way too much and it all became extremely, extremely boring. No, seriously, why were these "Russian" people in the US in the first place?

The Little Book of Saints

Author: Various

First published: 2009

Rating: ★★★★★

A lovely collection of vintage pictures of various saints accompanied by short and concise hagiographies. For a non-Catholics a good basic resource on the "saints" part of the Catholic history and a visual study of what our ancestors found appealing to look at. For Catholics, a nice "keep by the bed" or a "Christmas stocking filler" book. For me personally also a souvenir from the Melrose Abbey in Scottland.

The Moonstone

Author: Wilkie Collins

First published: 1868

Rating: ★★★★☆

Probably one of the first (if not the first) "Who Done It" books that I must admit hold up. I very much enjoyed the format, found genuinely amusing places, and did not unravel the mystery myself. that said one should be patient while reading, because the tempo is anything but swift - which I did not mind, since I found being in various heads and meeting the characters intimately, but might grate on the nerves of other readers looking for a thrill instead of a slow unraveling of a secret.

Royal Education: Past, Present and Future

Author: Peter Gordon, Denis Lawton

First published: 1999

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The book introduces the basics about how the English monarchs from the Tudor era to Princes William and Harry were educated, however very little is drawn out as a conclusion of that education. Not bad if you are solely interested in the subject, but if you want to learn more about the monarchs themselves, pick up a biography or two.

Atalanta

Author: Jennifer Saint

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★★★☆

Of the three books by Jennifer Saint, I think I enjoyed this one the most so far. her books are "telling" rather than "re-tellings" of classical Greek myths and Lord knows the Quest of the Golden Fleece had always struck me as an over-long sausage fest (with sausages being mostly rotten), so to see it from the point of view of Atalanta, the only Greek female hero who was allowed to actually hero, was refreshing. On one hand one could decry the fact that Saint sticks to the original story a little too much, not taking the chance to twist the turns and change much more. On the other hand, the same thing could be seen as a positive, and since I found the book very readable and Atalanta´s inner search for herself the main backbone of it all, I can declare myself a satisfied reader.

Cuckoo Song

Author: Frances Hardinge

First published: 2014

Rating: ★★★★☆

I was enticed by the beginning and very curious about how it would all come about, the creepy vibes were present and yet again one is just surprised at how many ideas are born in Frances Hardinge´s head. Unfortunately, I felt the book was a bit too long and the last few chapters made me impatient for the ending.

The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire

Author: Bart Van Loo

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

Fantastic! Bart Van Loo proudly presents the history of his region, which tends to be overlooked for the sake of "greater" countries and personalities, but as he shows, the Burgundy played an extremely vital role in the historical evolution of European geography and politics for centuries. He skillfully manages to guide the reader through the names, battles and years by doing exactly what a good historian should always do: connect the facts to real people, their culture, and their individual personalities.

#booklr #wrap up #August 2023

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woppy-my-beloved · 2 years

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It still surprises me when I remember that Damon Harriman was in Peter Rabbit 2 and I don't know why.

Ah yes! He was adorable as Tom Kitten. ❤️

It's probably the fact that we don't usually see him in lighter/family friendly roles. As in Elly & Jools where he played Liam O'Farrel.

#damon herriman #peter rabbit 2

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thebridgehqs · 6 months

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The following need to post in the next 48 hours or message the main for an extension:

@prcphesieslie: Eddie Diaz, Billy Black, Matthew Scott, John Sheppard

@totouchthcstars Bonnie Harper

@lcnelylcves Evan Lorne, Aiden Ford

The following need to make an intro in the next week or message the main for an extension:

@virtuousouls: Octavia Blake, Rupert Giles + catch up

@cquity: Kathleen Harvey, Victoria Sutherland, Sophie Hatter, Medusa, Renesme Cullen, Juliette Ferrars, Leah Clearwater

@totouchthcstars: Quigley Quagmire, Louise Blecher, Ashley Magnus, Leo Valdez, Raven Reyes

@rosewaterdrunk: catch up

@allxthingsxglxtter: Nikola Tesla, Jonathan Carnavan + catch up

@prcphesieslie: Billy Black, Matthew Scott + catch up

@fidclium: Seamus Boyle, Orpheus Fraser, Jacob Black + catch up

@lcnelylcves: Sean Mulcahy, John Druitt, Anthony Lockwood, Allan a Dale, Salem Saberhagen, Evan Lorne, Aiden Ford, Helen Maclean, Cam Mitchell, Skaara

The following need to make the required posts in the next week or message the main for an extension:

@cquity: 1 on Alison Watts.

@hxlcycnx: 1 on Haythem Kenway, Lachesis, Lia Beaufort, Matt Murdock, Violet Baudelaire and Yvaine. 2 on Artagan, Dionysus, Marc Spector, Olive Smith and Saoirse O'Farrell.

@featherskies: 1 on Missy Moreno and Psyche 2 on Rory Gilmore

@dancngthroughlife: 1 on Quinn Fabray

@rosewaterdrunk: 1 on Alina Starkov, Anna Marie, Artemis, Asami Sato, Asta Runefist, Beauregard Lionett, Catherine Alexander, Clarissa Fairchild, Clarisse La Rue, Darcy Lewis, Demeter, Ellie, Fauna Nylund, Flora, Gwen Stacy, Iris West, Jean Gunnhildr, Katara, Kate Bishop, Lara Croft, Leia Organa, Loriel, Miaski, Nimue, Penelope Crawford, River Mekhala Niranpai, Sersi, Vex'ahlia De Rolo, Wanda Maximoff and Zelda. 2 on Aloy, Allura Vysoren, Cora Hale, Daphne Scott, Hope Van Dyne, Mako Mori, Malia Tate, Rayla Dragonguard and Sarah Wilson.

@roarunderpxpercuts: 1 on Alex Claremont-Diaz, Blair Waldorf, Jesse and Patrick Commerford-Blanco 2 on Benedict Bridgerton, Carl Grimes, Castiel, Charlie Spring, Edwina Sharma, Josie Saltzman, Niklaus Mikaelson, Maxine Baker, Peter Parker, Ricky Bowen, Sebastian Matthew-Smith, Shego, Steven Universe, Stiles Stilinksi, Tamar Kir Bataar, Willie Stewart and Zed Necropolis

@allxthingsxglxtter: 1 on Angrboda, Aurelia Gunner, Bryce Claiborne, Cassie Anderson, Diego Hargreeves, Hadie, Jason Todd, Lady, Leo, Lochlyn Boyle, Lyra Samos, Maelstrom Adler, Maive Mccullough, Morpheus, Odysseus Pierce, Sapphire, Shade Barrow, Shaun Gilmore, Veralidaine Sarrasri, Viktor and Xiao 2 on Adam Carlsen, Alex Mercer, Billy, Daja Kisubo, Ember Cobalt, Levi Sullivan, Nikola Tesla and Lisa Snart.

@totouchthcstars: 1 on Belle, Bonnie Harper, Chloe Sullivan, Clove Kentwell, Crowley, Dustfinger, Dorothy Gale, Elena Gilbert, Effie Trinket, Gabriel Van Helsing, Grogu, Grover Underwood, Han Solo, El Hopper, Jessie Cook, Jim Hawkins, Klaus Hargreaves, Lucifer, Maddie Buckley, Melody, Olaf, Pippin Took, Sabrina Spellman, Silena Kyle, Spock, Stede Bonet, Tony Stark, Velma Dinkley, Valkyrie, Wall-E 2 on Giulia Marcovaldo, Lorna Dane, Peter Parker, Rhaegar Targaryen, Son Goku

@virtuousouls: 1 on Lo'ak Sully 2 on Faith Lehane, Galadriel, Genya Safin, Grace Augustine, Huan, Joel Miller, Jaskier, Joyce Byers, Maya Lopez, Raleigh Beckett, Rick Grimes, Sam Gamgee, Skye Richfield, Spencer Reid, Steve Rogers, Thema, Xu Xialing, Yelena Belova.

#thebridge: activity

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welidot · 1 year

Link

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esperwatchesfilms · 3 years

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Legend (1985)

Blix: May be innocent, may be sweet... ain't half as nice as rotting meat.

Blix: Mortal world turned to ice... Here be goblin paradise!

ESE: 105/100

50 +10 for Tim Curry +5 for gorgeous forest +5 for totally unnecessary flip +10 for unicorns +2 for Lili’s song -10 for spooping the unicorns +10 for cinematography -10 for taking the horn from a unicorn +3 for all the rhyming +5 for dancing dress +5 for Tim Curry’s makeup +5 for trusting her +10 for defeating Darkness

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geekcavepodcast · 6 months

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youtube

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget Trailer

This time Ginger, Rocky, and the rest of the chickens are breaking into Tweedy's new farm to save Ginger and Rocky's daughter Molly and the rest of poultry-kind.

Aardman's Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget stars the voice talents of Thandiwe Newton (Ginger), Zachary Levi (Rocky), Bella Ramsey (Molly), Imelda Staunton (Bunty), Lynn Ferguson (Mac), David Bradley (Fowler), Jane Horrocks (Babs), Romesh Ranganathan (Nick), Daniel Mays (Fetcher), Josie Sedgwick-Davies (Frizzle), Mick Mohammed (Dr. Fry), Peter Seafinowicz (Reginald Smith), and Miranda Richardson (Mrs. Tweedy). Sam Fell directs from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick, John O'Farrell, and Rachel Tunnard.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget hits Netflix on December 15, 2023.

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fearsomeandwretchedandwrong · 2 years

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Got my tax refund and went on a shopping trip to Barnes & Noble and Ollie's.

Dominion: The History of England Vol. 5 by Peter Ackroyd

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

This House is Haunted by John Boyne

The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

I'm So Not Over You by Kosoko Jackson

The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky by Mackenzi Lee

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

I Kissed a Girl by Jennet Alexander

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimmons

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

#i have no self control #or should i say shelf control #sorry #book haul #booklr #2022 books

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thenighttrain · 3 years

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books read in 2021

here we go again! i also have goodreads and @thesonofneptune is my book blog. bolded are favourites

The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky ★★★

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman ★★★

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow ★★★

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker ★★★

Playing Nice by J.P. Delaney ★★★★

Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames ★★★★

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse ★★★

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica ★★★★

Salt In the Sea by Ruth Sepetys ★★

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (DNF)

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah ★★★★

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho ★★★

Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long ★★★★

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick ★★★

The Push by Ashley Audrain ★★★★★

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie ★★★

Where The Forest Meets The Stars by Glendy Vanderah ★★★

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers ★★

Silver in the Wood (The Greenhollow Duology #1) by Emily Tesh ★★★★

Drowned Country (The Greenhollow Duology #2) by Emily Tesh ★★★

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu ★★★

A Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec ★★★

Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane ★★★★

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell ★★★

On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu ★★

Hamnet by by Maggie O'Farrell ★★★

Do No Harm by Christina McDonald ★★

Never Die by Rob J Hayes ★★★

The Frozen Crown (Warrior Witch #1) by Greta Kelly ★★★

These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights #1) by Chloe Gong ★★★★

Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1) by Kevin Hearne ★★

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman ★★★

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird ★★★

Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay ★★★★

Master of Sorrows (The Silent Gods #1) by Justin Travis Call ★★★

The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst ★★★

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix ★★★

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (DNF)

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder ★★★★

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin ★★★

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan ★★★

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir ★★★

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake ★★★★

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry ★★★★

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost, #1) by C.L. Clark ★★★

Run Away by Harlan Coben ★★★

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon ★★★★

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland ★★★★★

Crier’s War (Crier’s War #1) by Nina Varela ★★★

Becoming Leidah by Michelle Grierson ★★★

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson ★★★★

The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1) by Helene Wecker ★★★

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson ★★

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong ★★

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo ★★★

These Feathered Flames (These Feathered Flames, #1) by Alexandra Overy ★★★

The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer ★★★

The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #1) by M.R. Carey ★★★

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint ★★★★

Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry ★★★★

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge ★★★

Lore by Alexandra Bracken ★★

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho ★★★★

A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe #1) by P. Djèlí Clark ★★★★

Paris By Starlight by Robert Dinsdale ★★

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark ★★★

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson ★★★

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng ★★

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley ★★★

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding ★

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo ★★★

Son of the Storm (The Nameless Republic, #1) by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ★★★

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon ★★★

The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms #1) by Tasha Suri ★★★★

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri ★★★

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid ★★★

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston ★★★★

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides ★

The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #1) by John Gwynne ★★★

Daughter of Sparta (Daughter of Sparta, #1) by Claire M. Andrews ★★★

The Tangleroot Palace: Stories by Marjorie M. Liu ★★★

Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger ★★★

This Poison Heart (The Poison Heart, #1) by Kalynn Bayron ★★★

Sistersong by Lucy Holland ★★★★

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf ★★★★

Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes, #1) by Elizabeth Lim ★★

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass ★★

The Midnight Lie (The Midnight Lie, #1) by Marie Rutkoski ★★★

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ★★★

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan ★★★

The Lost War (Eidyn #1) by Justin Lee Anderson ★★★★

Malice (Malice Duology #1) by Heather Walter ★★★★

The Haunting Of Tram Car 015 (Dead Djinn Universe #2) by P. Djèlí Clark ★★★

Skullsworn (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #4) by Brian Staveley ★★★

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee ★★★★

Aching God (Iconoclasts, #1) by Mike Shel ★★★

Chasing Graves (The Chasing Graves Trilogy, #1) by Ben Galley ★★★

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst ★★★★

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould ★★★

The Hand of the Sun King (Pact and Pattern #1) by J.T. Greathouse ★★★★

Along the Razor's Edge (The War Eternal, #1) by Rob J. Hayes ★★

The Dragon Warrior (The Dragon Warrior #1) by Katie Zhao ★★★★

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto ★★★

Black Stone Heart (The Obsidian Path, #1) by Michael R. Fletcher ★★★

The Boy with Fire (The Ravence Trilogy #1) by Aparna Verma ★★★

Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1) by Jay Kristoff ★★

The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston ★★★

Master Assassins (The Fire Sacraments, #1) by Robert V.S. Redick ★★★★

Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece ★★★

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones ★★★★

Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers, #1) by Rachel Aaron ★★★

Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1) by Xiran Jay Zhao ★★

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune ★★★

To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames ★★★★

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee ★★★

A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E. Harrow ★★★

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis #1-2)by Marjane Satrapi ★★★★

Vespertine (Vespertine, #1) by Margaret Rogerson ★★★

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke ★★

The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night, #1) by Kylie Lee Baker ★★★

We Are the Dead (The Last War, #1) by Mike Shackle ★★★

Little Thieves (Little Thieves, #1) by Margaret Owen ★★★

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo ★★

Dark Rise (Dark Rise, #1) by C.S. Pacat ★★★★

A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1) by Freya Marske ★★★

All of Us Villains (All of Us Villains, #1)b y Amanda Foody ★★★

Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights, #2) by Chloe Gong ★★★★

Small Favors by Erin A. Craig ★★★

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente ★★

The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire, #2) by Andrea Stewart ★★★★

Jade Legacy (The Green Bone Saga, #3) by Fonda Lee ★★★★

The Library of the Unwritten (Hell's Library #1) by A.J. Hackwith ★★★

Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier ★★★★

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan ★★★

City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda ★★★★

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris ★★★

Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley ★★★

#books #leanne speaks

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