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sweetingseva · 7 months

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Everything to Know About ACFTL ☺️💕📚

Hello, everyone!

With A Curse For True Love coming out next week, I thought maybe creating a compile list of what everything we will be expecting might be helpful to those who want a refresher.

However, if you don't want to be reminded of any of the details that have been shared and want to go in blind, that's cool, too!

All of the information that I have gathered has been from all of the IG AMA's stories, comments, replies, and some from podcasts.

Slight spoilers. Quick refresher below.

Stephanie hasn’t been nice writing this book, but let’s see if the torture is well worth it in the end.

There’s this scene that corresponds to these emoji: 🛏😮🩸🚪🩸🩸🩸😱🍎👑

There are three POVs: Evangeline, Jacks, and Apollo

The answer to why Jacks eat apples is in the book, but according to B&N site, we might get the answer to everything about him!

Q: is there a scene you’ve written that’s made you tear up? A: “So many scenes have made me cry—I don’t tear up, I sob, and writing this series has made me cry a lot more than the Caraval series 💘😭 But don’t be too scared—I’ve put a lot fun scenes in this book. Although, my defintion of fun is a little twisted. 🤭”

Q: Do you already have a favorite scene in “A Curse For True Love”? A: Usually I have favorites but with this book I love every scene. I keep telling my editor to let me know if I’ve gone too far with this story because I’ve had so much fun writing. I keep fearing I must be doing something wrong. 🖤”

There will be more LaLa and Chaos scenes, and apparently Stephanie has gotten carried away with them lol

There will be a few more scenes in the Hollow!!!! YAAYYY!

Her favorite scene has something to with these emojis: 🌳🫀🔥

Stephanie has cried the last time she had read ACFTL.

Q: what’s your favorite scene out of all the books in this series: A: “This is so tough. There’s a scene in CURSE that made me cry and it’s probaly my favorite 💔”

Q: can you tell us who the bonus content povs will be? A: “For B&N and Waterstones, the bonus content is in Eva’s POV. 🦊”

My speculation from the answer above, but this makes me think that the Owlcrate’s edition will be Jacks’s POV if not Evangeline’s.

Q: did u know how acftl would end early on? or did it change as you wrote it? A: “It changed! In January, I hit a wall with the book and after talking with my critique partner @/staceyleeauthor, I realized that I had taken the story in the wrong direction. So I went back, I rewrote, I changed the plot, and I changed a large portion of the ending. This is part of the reason why the book’s publication date was changed from Sept to Oct.”

Q: What three songs come to mind when you think of Evangeline and Jacks? A: “Ooh! It’s hard to pick just three. Here are a few that came to mind first: 1. The Archer by Taylor Swift, 2. You’re Losing Me by Taylor Swift, 3. Religiously by Bailey Zimmerman”

Q: Do you pick the audiobook narrators for your books? A: “I did! @/macmillan.audio is wonderful. They’ve always given me a choice in narrators. The amazing @/rebeccasoleri has narrated all of my audiobooks (so she’s an easy choice). Then for ACFTL I got to choose a second narrator for the Jacks and Apollo chapters and he is also fantastic ❤️”

IMPORTANT TO KNOW ‼️: Q: are there actually multiple copies of acftl with different endings? A: “The book only has one official ending. Which I think is the best ending. However, there are three editions that bonus material in the form of 3 alternate epilogues. The books with bonus epilogues are: 1. Barnes and Noble/Indigo exlusive edition 2. the Waterstones exclusive, 3. the Owlcrate edition. P.S. These 3 bonus epilogues are not canon, they are just for fun! P.P.S. if you get all three, I recommend reading in the order that I shared in this post 😉”

The third map has new locations, along with old ones we have seen like: Merrywood Manor, Merrywood Village, Merrywood Forest, Wolf Hall, Ye Olde Brick Inn: Vacancy One Bed, The Phoenix Tree, Cursed Forest, Tree of Souls, and The Hunt.

ACFTL has 49 chapters with an epilogue. It only has one part titled, IV. Happily Ever After.

The dedication that was revealed says, “For anyone who’s ever hoped for a second chance.”

The tree on the front cover is very important.

ACFTL’s logline: Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

The three words that Stephanie used to describe the book is: Heart-stealing, emotionally-devastating, and painfully romantic.

Stephanie shared the Pinterest board, which could be found here! Some very good hints in there!

The UK editions of ACFTL will have hidden covers. There are four of them and they are: an apple, Jacks’s dagger, a fox paw print, and a wolf in a flower crown.

Fairyloot edition has a special front and back cover that says, "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: Evangeline Fox and The Prince of Hearts" and "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: Evangeline Fox and Apollo Acadian."

Quotes Shared:

“Remember, Little Fox.”

“If you stop fighting, you lose.” His hand moved up to her throat and she felt the cool brush of his dagger against her skin. Evangeline went very still. “ Never imagine you’re safe.” The tip of his blade drew a line over her pulse. Her breath caught. She felt him smile against her jaw.

(Possible Quote) “You have no sense of self-preservation. If someone labeled a bottle with poison you would drink it. You take warnings as invitations. You can’t seem to stay away from all the things that will hurt you … like me.”

Evangeline needed something familiar, something to hold onto that would keep her from collapsing back to the ground. Apollo looked at her as if he wanted to be that. He made her think of a hero from a fairytale.

(Page 21) “No.” “No.” “No.” (Page 100) He wanted a piece of her. (Page 213) “You can’t just tie people up and whisk them to wherever you want them.”

Apollo hated apples.

He enjoyed inflicting pain, not receiving it. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave the shadows of Evangeline’s bedroom.

“I’m glad you came.” “I’ll always come. Even when you don’t want me to.”

He wanted a piece of her. To keep her. To use her for later.

“What are you to me?” she asked. His eyes locked with hers. “Nothing.”

“Im the one who will never let anyone harm you again.”

“I’m your monster.”

He considered setting the room ablaze just so that he’d have a reason to pick her up and carry her out, to save her one last time, before he left her for good.

“This will hurt.”

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elhoimleafar · 4 months

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DREAM WITCHERY. Have a Month Out this Week!

Let me tell you a couple interesting facts about that.

A month ago, my latest book, Dream Witchery, was released by Llewellyn Worldwide and hit the shelves everywhere. I AM delighted with the amazingly positive response everywhere, from a total Sold-out in several US stores to an immediatly Out-of-Stock in Amazon UK.

Also, during the edition process, the book was adapted into a 12-hour audiobook, narrated by Gary Tiedemann and distributed by our absolute favorite: Tantor Audio

Also, the rights have been acquired to later translate and adapt the book into Portuguese... Published at any moment in the next few years.

Because it is a 400-page book, some stores still do not have it, which is easy to understand; even if they need it, this book takes up two or even three books in a shelter. We are talking about 400 pages of pure magic and South American folklore curated (as it should be) by someone from South America.

Dream Witchery began as a small collection of notes on dream magic from various journals I brought from Venezuela & Brazil, translating these and constantly comparing notes while curating each line as much as possible.

All of these notes had something in common with the manuscript. They came from different tribes, cultures, and parts of South America. I group these notes by country and later by tribe of origin. I was making it a tribal-dreams-magic grimoire.

From the Caribs and Yanomami to multiple other families/tribes that inhabit the central and northern region of the Amazon, especially those near our most significant rivers, learning sorcery, hunting, and medicine is just a part of Dream Witchery.

This manuscript had about 65k words written at the time of its presentation to the publishing houses, this was before including all the collaborators and guests from different regions and cultures who agreed to be part of this work.

This book had 65k words at the time of its presentation to the publishing houses before including all the guests from different regions and cultures who agreed to be part of this work. They gave the book a diverse, beautiful flavor and a - yet necessary - contrast.

Dream Witchery was rejected and questioned by multiple editors and publishers for (as they mentioned) "not being commercial enough" or "too black." They would prefer (as always) a book written by a British woman or a white American man about OUR culture. Or a simple other Spellbook.

One of the most important contributions in this book was having the help and support of my partner, David Dagnino who, in addition to being an Engineer who graduated with honors, is a dedicated freelance illustrator and has carried out multiple projects in the past, not only for me.

I needed more than an illustrator, someone from my country and land who knew my culture and who could represent it in detail, from the old skin-changer man with his cigar and horns from Nueva Esparta to the devilish tree of Trinidad and the masks of the dancing devils of Yare.

Working on each illustration separately one by one and constantly modifying them under the editor's notes to improve their quality took hours and hours of work every day, and the result was worth every second.

Because bringing positive and quality representation was always the goal.

The editor's notes made by Heather Greene during the editing process were our daily homework; she perfectly knew how to wisely press the points necessary to maintain the work, which was pure and balanced for readers.

She knew how to balance a 400-page book; she guided each step of the process gently but with due and notable experience. Dream Witchery passing through her hands was a compilation of journal-like notes that became a beautiful, orderly manuscript for Llewellyn Worldwide

The enormous team behind Llewellyn understood that Dream Witchery was not another book on dream magic but a magical compilation of tribal stories, initiatory rites, formulas, and Amazon folklore with dozens of necessary footnotes to shape the book's spirit.

Writing formulas and rituals that you have witnessed many times but have never read in another book was difficult. This required acting like a storyteller, telling the reader every detail of what you experienced and saw from your eyes and helping the reader to understand the world from your vision, from what you lived, over and over again.

Imagine being present during a 12-hour ritual with at least a hundred people in the mountains, comparing your notes with others, and trying to detail the essential points so the reader can glimpse what you experienced at a concise age.

To close the final process, the collaborators and endorsements came, and each of them was chosen from a long list of possibilities to offer a picturesque and colorful contrast, to offer and celebrate our magical diversity.

Most of the books of Witchcraft having contributors limit themselves to inviting just invite the AMZN-best-selling American authors of the moment (not very diverse). This community includes celebrated authors, yes, but also bloggers, event organizers, store owners, jewelers, and artists who use their platform to elevate others. And I want it to celebrate them too.

For this reason, those invited to collaborate on Dream Witchery were so diverse, and each one had something completely different to offer, from recipes from my mother and grandmother to recipes from authors and bloggers from Latin America and other parts of the world.

Featuring among many others contributors in Dream Witchery:

Ariana Carrasca - Oncle Ben - Maria Elena U. - Miss Aida - J. Allen Cross - Lorraine Monteagut - Hector Salva - Laura González - Phoenix Coffin Williams - Jennifer Sacasa-Wright - Dawn Aurora Hunt - Alysha Kravetz - Mira A. Gade - Laura Davila - Emma Kathryn - Temperance Alden - Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani - Ella Harrison.

They bring (literally each one of them) something unique, magical, beautiful, and authentic to this book.

The last months before publishing a book are full of nerves, constant anxiety attacks, at least in my case, and few breaks. But having the blurbs of other authors who read the book was the most positive support it could require, and that came from those who read and endorsed it.

#dreamwitchery was beautifully gifted with magical words by the people I most respect in this community. Including Vincent HigginbothamJake Richards - AuthorJudy Ann NockClaudiney Prieto Rebecca Beyer. And Annwyn Avalon they give it like a powerful blessing.

And now that eight years of work (the same time I have been living in the USA) are available in your local bookstores and virtually everywhere, it is an ancestral celebration of life, the words of the ancestors of my land, and the ancestors of many others, healing the world, one reader at a time... I Am just Happy and really Grateful.

PS: For those who don't have it yet, Dream WItchery is available in your favorite local bookstores. Barnes & Noble and Amazon Kindle

And available here below too:

#magick #witchcraft #magic #witches #wiccan #pagan #shaman #paganism #sorcery #brujas of tumblr #pagan witch #brujos #animism #folk magic #dreams #dream walker #dream witch #dream magic

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olivieblake · 1 year

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OLIVIE OH MY GOD I LOVE THE ANSWER YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS YES SO MUCH LIKE SO SO SO MUCH. I loved each individual story and this book is tabbed an insane amount and sometimes there are 4 tabs per page- hold on I’ll include a picture at the end so you can see-lol I feel like normally I don’t show you because honestly no one should see evidence of my brain’s insanity but idk I feel like sharing this time? (Also please note I am Aries so just depending on my chaotic energy that day I will tab anything that I want. Sometimes it’s stuff that makes me laugh, things that I’m like oh maybe this is important, quotes I’m obsessed with, things that make me think, etc, I really just tab anything I want plus it helps me focus. I also just have some good old OCD that makes my brain decide that if I skip over tabbing something I even thought for one second should have a tab then the world is going to punish me somehow so then I must go back and tab it so that the obsession stops and the world (or at least the world in my brain) is at peace (love brains woo). This collection had me swooning at times, screaming at times (in both a OH MY GOD kind of way and an angsty my heart hurts kind of way), sad at times (I did tear up), laughing at times, and it just made me so happy. Anway, this book was truly the perfect way to end what I’m calling my Olivie year aka 2022 in general (I finished it on NYE it was perfect). I have not stopped thinking about this book since I read it. Writing this is going to be so hard because I have to leave out so many things that I loved just for the sake of space and time and everything, but hopefully one day I’ll get to see you on one of your tours again and talk your head off about it. (P.S please come to Pittsburgh for your TAC tour and celebrate in Libby’s hometown please-I know,I know you go where your publishers send you but still please)

I will say I will always have a special connection to this book (and the audiobook of LPM which I also listened to in December which was amazing the narrator was so good with all the accents and everything-refueled my love of Elisabeth and I still want one of the romance books on her and Jack hahah) just because December was an awful month on the top of an awful year and this book was really here when I needed it most. 2022 for me was a year of grief (it’s true what they say it always comes in 3s), failure, and just Murphy's law. Not one of my favorite years (I survived though as always so we are good now haha),but reading your books/watching your success this year were some of my happiest parts. I know I haven’t been here since the beginning or anywhere close to it but still seeing all your success made me so proud and so happy for you, you deserve it <3. I think fate let me find your books in 2021 because it knew I would need them in 2022. Enough with the mush for now, also you told me not to apologize about my rambling and I am holding my tongue not to, but I think I might make this one two parts-well three because Saints and Liars is going to get its own so if you have only time to day to read one part I suggest that one-to make it not so overwhelming (because I am incapable of just liking something to a normal degree)-but I should have said it towards one of the first ones please never feel like you have to actually reply to these they have always just been to hopefully bring you some happiness and appreciation that I hope you can feel through the screen more than anything. Also spoilers of course for any other people in the universe that may read this.

Oh wait I didn’t share but one of my best friends and I have a tradition of sending each other one of our favorite books of the last year and this was actually the one I sent her! I needed someone to obsess over it with me. She loved it too btw she texted me how obsessed she is with margoalec and cecilyporter she loves them so much.

Stone’s Throw: I was automatically intrigued just based on “trips and falls into another realm”. This felt very atlas vibes with all the dimensions/portals/ley lines. I just loved Salim and Jenny together, their relationship felt very soulmates/invisible string/the universe just drawing them together and you know I love those. The theme of them being mirrors of each other in some ways and two threads through the eye of one needle ugh I just love stuff like that I ate it up. From the moment she got the fax from the other dimension I was trying to figure out who it was from. My first thought was “oh wouldn’t it be cool if it was from his brother” and then slowly in the story I convinced myself that was not going to be it, so I was very proud of myself when it was finally revealed. This story just felt so unique and I love jumping portals and alternate universes and stuff so it was so fun!

-Some moments I loved: Jenny putting an exclamation point in her email to prevent herself from sounding as irritated as she felt because I do that very frequently too haha. The way you wrote how it looked and felt going through the portal was so cool I could really see it in my head and was like “woah this is trippy”. HOW HE WAS HER ONLY TRACE OF FAMILIAR AND THAT SHE BELIEVED HIM WHEN NO ONE EVER DOES. And of course it was your signature horny characters hahah. The title of the book and the story appearing THE BEST.

-Some quotes I enjoyed/reactions to them:

“Whatever it was, it was destructive and cruel even while it was handsome. It treated flattery like a noose and wielded poison like a blade.” I just really like that line. I don’t really know why but idk it resonated somehow with me.

“Is he yours?” AHHH

“Sleep was not an option. Jenny let her restless feet carry her elsewhere, to the only place she felt even remotely recognizable as herself” AND IT'S TO HIS ROOM AWWW

“His kiss, when it met hers, was fragrant with gratitude, lush with it. He opened for her as she had for him, and suddenly she thought she understood it. Portals and passage. She pulled him closer the way she would have sprinted towards something unmissable, a train leaving the station. She pried open the doors of his reservations and in response he was alight, whisking her off the platform. She felt the edges of herself blur with his, his sadness becoming hers, his loneliness cloaking her shoulders. She bled her hope into his mouth, her art, her practiced hand at beauty. She poured the meditation of her entire being into his soul.” THEM THIS AHHH LOVE

“Jenny looked up, catching his eye as Salim drank what remained of his wine, and the corners of her lips flicked upwards, helpless to a smile. He could feel himself smiling broadly at her in return, everything suddenly dulling to singular, undeniable clarity. I understand, he wanted to say, I understand now what it means to search, and he reached out, taking her hand and observing the way surprise registered on her face.” he understands what it means to search and it’s to her I’m emo

“Jenny felt Salim's chest hitch at her touch, his sharp inhale errantly mislaid. "I didn't expect it," he said hoarsely, apologetically, and she knew he meant I didn't think we would be like this, two threads through the eye of one needle. She knew he meant: I would have liked to have offered you less, to have asked for nothing in return.” SCREAMING I LOVE THIS

“It was hard to explain what happened when she met Salim. She took one look at his face, far younger than she'd expected, and felt something she could only call a sensation; another sign. Some intangible sense of purpose, of destiny and satisfaction, absolution and relief. She looked at Salim Amrani and knew, somehow, that the answer to her question was yes. “ DESTINY AND HE WAS THE ANSWER UGH OBSESSED

"We are always only a stone's throw from collapsing into another form of ourselves, in versions of lives we cannot relinquish. Luckily, the world has a way of showing us where we belong." LOVE THIS LINE SO MUCH

The Immortality Project:

One of my insta friends that I actually made through our love of your books, Katie (gingko.reads), put in one of her posts about this story that “Vigilante Shit” is the perfect song for this story and I AGREE. Actually, I think Taylor wrote the song after reading this story tbh. We love reading about two women finally getting revenge on a world/on men that took advantage of them. This story was also so funny I laughed out loud several times. The legal document format was so fun and unique. I feel like you always throw in some unique formats in your anthologies and it always makes it so fun! Loved Saffron and Nikita’s friendship in this too, felt like it showed the power of female friendship very well.

-Some moments I loved: LOL she is such a ranter but so funny (she’s me ❤️). I just have “YES GIRL GET YOUR REVENGE” in my notes 100 times hahaha. Her name on false papers to get out of the country is Cinnamon (omg just realized two spices Saffron and Cinnamon I love it!). The whole VIP thing with Dick being the VIP and the “naughty boy” things from Saffron LOL LOVE HER. And the employee telling Saffron her friend might have murdered someone and her just saying I’m not worried I’ve seen death and it’s not as cute as her haha so good. “We are advised not to die” hahaha. She thinks saffron drugged her but Saffron insists she didn’t hahahah. “Aggressively writing things down” LOL. HER WISH AWWW I LOVE IT SO MUCH WHAT A GOOD ONE, THIS IS WHAT I WANT TOO. Saffron coming to visit her at the rehabilitation center awww. Tbh I can’t tell if the story was really just a mental break for her or if the wish she did with the witch came true because Saffron has money now and is successful while the dick and all his friends are either dead or going to jail. I like to think it is the latter. The ending being that quote reemphasized ugh perfection.

-Some quotes I enjoyed/reactions to them:

“Am once again sober although not for long, ha ha. Have rung Idiot 1’s private security (once lent her a tampon & now we are of course Best Friends) asking where he’ll be and she has informed me he will be in a meeting, which means he will be in a disgusting “ ”gentlemen” “ (double quotes for Extreme Skepticism)’s club.” “It has occurred to me since awakening to a vicious sight (i.e. my face) that perhaps seduction is a method better outsourced. Will find accomplice and report back soon.” SHE IS LITERALLY SO FUNNY I LOVE HER SO MUCH

“Thus fair it is unclear where the project is based, though I assume it is a tax-sheltered island because billionaire fuckbois unimaginatively love island and boats.” LOL they do

“Things don’t always get better, she says, sometimes they just stay the same and sometimes they get worse, and she didn’t really expect to do anything or see anything and now she has.” sad but so true

“Therefore I will travel to what is inevitably an island and infiltrate it to discover the source of The Immortality Project. Once there, I will destroy it. I will destroy it with my bare hands, and then I will return to give Dick the following message: You are a small man and worse than that you are a mortal one. You will die someday though no fault of mine-I will of course outlive you because I am a woman and this is what we do-but when you do, I want you to know that I could have saved you. Instead I sat in the sun with a beer in my hand and I laughed.” YES

“It has occurred to me since awakening to a vicious sight (i.e. my face) that perhaps seduction is a method better outsourced. Will find accomplice and report back soon.” HAHAHA I love her

“I am taking a moment to myself to reflect on the fact that Dick has stolen my life from me. Worse is that I let him do it. Why have I always cared for other people over myself? Why have I nurtured a bunch of meaningless stocks instead of my own desires? It occurs to me that at least if Dick lives forever he will do something with his life, even if that something is just being egregiously bad in bed with women who don't deserve him. If I could live forever, what would I do with the rest of my life? I've lived more in the last three days than in the entirety of my prior lifetime. If I died tomorrow nobody would even remember me. The most important thing in my life is to destroy Dick for what he stole from me, which for the record wasn't my job. Dick stole my whole life right out from under me. And I didn't even notice until after he'd already fit the whole thing into a cardboard box for me to find outside my office.” ugh relatable

“It infuriates me that Dick has wealth enough to ensure that a hundred million Saffrons never see another bad day and yet he clings to it like he deserves it more than anyone.” THIS!!!

“So I say the first thing that comes to my tongue, which is: I wish that things were different. As in, I wish this were a different world, one less dominated by dicks and idiots and shitbags and more rewarding of Saffrons instead. I wish girls who didn’t quite know their own power yet would not get swept away by boys who did. I wish a man could not claim all my success for his own, just as I wish he could not simply point at me and diminish me to nothing. I wish I had allowed myself to be a little more difficult a little bit sooner in my life, because it seems like only once I got angry did my life actually start to begin.” SUCH A GREAT WISH I LOVE THIS VERY MUCH

Here is the picture of my insanity as promised:

-Amanda ❤️

well obviously I love the insanity (I always love seeing tabs, it’s such a wonderful compliment, like people who close their eyes when they eat your cooking, so validating) and I love that tradition with your friend. and I also know it was a hard year for you, and I’m so honored I was able to give you something that brought you joy. it’s nice to feel together in the ether etc etc

and thank you so much for your love for the immortality project! people don’t usually mention that one to me but I really love it. I mean, it was obviously super fun for me to write, I’m sure you can tell just by the style, but it’s really nice to see it called out in any way. I appreciate how attentive you are to every line of all my stories. thank you so much for the way you love my work!

#filling the bucket #the answer you are looking for is yes

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montdargent · 10 months

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mid-year book freak out tag

thank you @pinkasrenzo for tagging me (? maybe accidentally? was it just a mention who knows)

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2023? The wee free men, by Terry Pratchett: witches, scottish fairies and a coming of age story set in the discworld universe. what's not to like? officially my new favourite discworld series

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2023? A hat full of sky, by Terry Pratchett: these are just excuses to talk about the tiffany aching series tbh. also granny weatherwax is back, so that's easy money

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? Deadly ever after (Rivers of London graphic novels), by Ben Aaronovitch: the rivers of london novels, novellas and short stories are not enough. i need to inhale these graphic novels too. i can't wait for chaotic river goddess twins shanenigans!

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2023? The deep sky, by Yume Kitasei: not many anticipated releases for that time, but it was reccomanded to me and the synopsis sounds right up my alley

5. Biggest Disappointment? Leave the world behind, by Rumaan Alam: a cool premise but incredibly boring execution and not my preferred writing style. a disappointment mostly because it was so amped up

6. Biggest Surprise? No exit, by Taylor Adams: i'm not usually into thrillers, so i didn't have particularly high expectations. but it was really good at building tension, delivered a satisfying ending and had a badass final girl that was easy to root for

7. Favorite New Author? Alison Bechdel: read "Fun home" because a friend of mine wanted to show me the musical and fell in love with it. i can already tell why her works are considered queer classics and i plan to read everything i can find by her

8. Newest Favorite Character? Tiffany Aching: see point 2. most children protagonists fall a bit flat for me or they have at least a couple of moments where their actions or internal monologue feel just unauthentic. and then an adult british cis man writes a smart, lonely, strange little girl and he makes me feel like he knew my child-self better than most family members. and that's why i love terry pratchett (among many things) and why i would die and kill for tiffany aching. she is the one true heir of esme weatherwax and i can't wait to read more of her

9. Newest Fictional Crush? Jordan Baker (from The chosen and the beautiful by Nghi Vo): what can i say, i could never resist a bisexual brunette who was too smart for anyone's good and falls a bit in love with everyone <3

💕Best Ship💕 Blue/Hamal (from Taproot by Keezy Young): just some cute friends-to-lovers fluff with plants and ghosts. honourable mentions are: the extremely toxic polycule from tcatb. that's for new ships, but i have to mention peter/beverly: they're still the best power couple in the greater metropolitan london area (i know i cheated and said three but i can't choose)

10. Book That Made You Cry? I'm glad my mom died, by Jeanette McCurdy: a very tough read, especially with the audiobook narrated by the author herself with all the emotion she puts into the reading. not for the faint of heart, but the pain is absolutely worth it

11. Book That Made You Happy? The fey and the furious (Rivers of London graphic novels) by Ben Aaronovitch: it's a comic version of a series i love, about fairies and drag racing. the pun in the title! i was smiling ear to ear the whole time

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? Nimona (2023): i just finsihed rewatching it and i will do it again. i was obsessed with the gn at 18 and i'm obsessed with the movie now. between this and she-ra nd stevenson just owns my ass at this point. even with all the changes from the original, it still captures the spirit of it beautifully, with all the added layers of how the author changed and grew since then. i love it with my whole queer heart <3

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? i don't write reviews anymore, but maybe i should start again just for myself

14. Most Beautiful Cover? The priory of the orange tree, by Samantha Shannon: colour scheme? on point. lettering? beautiful. a dragon? fuck yeah

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? ideally i'll complete my reading challenge, but for now i just hope i finish the ones i already started, so "One hundred years of solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez "Cemetery boys" by Aiden Thomas and "Circe" by Madeline Miller

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disquietiswhatitis · 3 years

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You’re my favorite reason to lose sleep (Sam/Andrea)

Of all the many things Sam has experienced that she did not expect since her relationship with Andrea began, the most surprising by far might be this:

Andrea Rojas snores.

Not always, but she does. It’s a quiet snore, nothing compared to the logs Sam’s father would saw when he fell asleep in front of the tv. Sam’s been with Andrea long enough to know that her lover only starts snoring if either she consistently hasn’t been getting enough sleep or if she’s gotten extremely drunk because she refuses to accept that Sam can outdrink her when it comes to tequila. As fun as drunk Andy can be, they’ve been good about their wine intake and they haven’t had any tequila in the apartment for a little over a month, so Sam figures it must be the lack of sleep. Reaching out, Sam takes a strand of her sleeping fiance’s hair, tucks it behind her ear, whispers “why haven’t you been sleeping baby?” and places a quick, tender kiss to Andrea’s shoulder. It’s a rhetorical question. Andrea snores again. Now, Sam loves Andrea. Truly, passionately loves her as does Andrea with Sam. While past heartbreaks have taught her to tread more cautiously, Sam still loves so easily and has so much to give. Andrea, conversely, hadn’t felt worthy of love in so long, she built walls that made it hard for her to receive or convey it. Somehow, much to the surprise of them both, Sam shattered those walls. They’ve been through their fair share in the time they’ve been together. While communication hasn’t always been their strongest suit, they’ve put in the time and effort to get better at it because they both enthusiastically agree that the other is so worth it. Knowing this, Sam is aware that she could ask Andrea what’s wrong, that Andrea would tell her and that they could go from there. However, Andrea is also asleep at the moment and Sam can’t think of anything else. She can’t put on her airpods and distract herself with her audiobook. The sultry voice of the narrator combined with the scene she was last narrating, well, it would make her want to wake Andrea up and... do things. Sam doesn’t know what she’d watch on any of the way-too-many-streaming-services-they-rarely-use without Andrea cuddled up with her on the couch. She’s not particularly hungry and she already went to the gym this morning. Reaching over to her nightstand, Sam puts on her reading glasses, grabs her phone and starts scrolling through social media she doesn’t really use. She likes a few photos of Alex and Kelly with their daughter. She glances through some articles about current events. After about five minutes, Sam sets her glasses and phone down and lets out a small huff. She can’t help but still think about it. Why hasn’t Andrea been sleeping? Sam gets up and walks to her dresser. She pulls out a pair of underwear and a slightly too large tee shirt, puts them on and goes to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Grabbing a mug out of the cabinet that had a picture of two avocados on the top row, three on the middle row and four on the bottom that said “avocados, avocatres, avoquatro,” Sam ponders her lover’s possible sleep-depriving woes. “It’s not Obsidian, right?” Sam thinks as she pours water from their filter into a mug, a gift she had gotten Andrea during their vacation to Miami. Sam knows how much it hurt Andrea when her company fell, but Sam stood by her side through it all and figured Andrea’s sleepless nights over that were over. “Could it be CatCo?” the brunette contemplates as she finishes her water and goes to refill it. Maybe. The print media conglomerate’s business model transition in an increasingly print-less world had been a bit of mixed bag even before Lena purchased it all those years ago. She knows Andrea likes the work she does at CatCo well enough, but she’d definitely noticed that her mood get a little more sour for a bit when it was the only thing she had left after Obsidian. Not that CatCo was a consolation prize but Andrea loved being on the cutting edge of the tech world and short of some major restructuring, CatCo just wouldn’t provide the same opportunity. Still, the business wasn’t struggling. They had a few layoffs some months ago, which led to some incredibly passive aggressive back and forth jabs between Kara and Andrea at game night shortly thereafter, but otherwise everything was fine. “Ok, lightning round” Sam states to herself, setting down her mug so she can count off with her fingers all the possibilities it could be. It’s definitely not the bills and nothing broke or needed repair around their home. Sam’s truck is functioning like a dream. They bought their outfits for the Lena Luthor Foundation gala two days ago. Andrea bought a dashing suit and Sam an incredibly curve-hugging dress, respectively; Sam thought it was a refreshing change of pace but she was more looking forward to the suit and tie look she had planned when she married Andrea...

Marry Andrea. The wedding. Sam forgot to mail out the invitations. Shit. Sam runs over to the table by the door and sure enough, there they were. A whole stack of save the dates that Sam had set down on Sunday evening, promising to mail them out first thing on Monday. It was Friday night. Fuck.

Quickly but quietly running to their home office, Sam pulls out a sticky note and a sharpie out of the desk drawer and in all caps writes “DO NOT FORGET.” Careful to put the sticky note and pen away quietly, Sam returns to the table by the entrance. She grabs the invitations, goes back to the kitchen and places them on the counter with the note and her purse next to them. There was no reason to try to hide her snafu from Andrea. They have a good relationship and Sam is confident Andrea will forgive her so long as she’s honest and apologizes (and credit to her Catholic boarding school education, Andrea sometimes really enjoys making Sam beg for forgiveness.) Refilling her water, Sam heads back to their bedroom, discarding her clothes and thinking of how she’s going to make it up to Andrea tomorrow. As soon as she climbs into bed, her partner, still in her sleeping position, states “you’re thinking too loud” in a voice that lets Sam know she’s awake but not fully conscious. Sam still smiles at the sound of her voice and happily says “Hey, you’re up.” Andrea turns, changes from laying on her left side to her right in order to face her significant other. “I am. What were you thinking about?” Sam just smiles “You. Always.” Andrea smiles back. “Oh? Do tell.” Sam tells her “You were snoring.” Andrea deflates. “You sure know how to woo a woman, Sammy.” Sam picks up Andrea’s left hand and points to the rock on Andrea’s ring finger “Damn straight. Exhibit A.” Andrea smiles again “You’ve got me there.” “So why the snoring? Is everything okay?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, everything’s fine honey. I just stayed up way too late...reading.” The way Andrea says “reading” catches Sam’s attention. Whatever Andrea was reading, Sam can tell she’s not not embarrassed by it and it almost certainly wasn’t a sales report. “Oh. What were you reading?” Sam teases playfully. Andrea couldn’t refuse the dimples facing her even if she wanted to. She just hopes the teasing won’t be too severe. “Buffy and Faith fanfic” Andrea states rather bluntly. Sam laughs. Andrea loves that laugh; it’s one of the many ways Sam broke down her barriers and made Andrea fall in love. “That’s great babe. Did you enjoy it?” Sam asks, no longer laughing but still smiling and still completely sincere. Sam is not mocking in any way, just delighted at the fact a successful CEO of a multimillion dollar company stayed up too late reading about a twenty year old ship. Andrea knows this and while she knows it’s not an interest Sam shares, Sam actively listens and encourages Andrea when she talks about it because Sam knows it matters to her. Andrea loves Sam so freaking much. Andrea delicately runs her hand up Sam’s arm and says “I enjoy us” in an overtly suggestive tone. Sam doesn’t need to be told twice. She goes for Andrea’s neck first; slow, steady kisses, savoring every pulse beat she can feel as Andrea’s breathing starts to shallow. She works her way up to Andrea’s earlobe and bites it just enough to get a moan out of Andrea without leaving (much of) a mark as her lover’s hands grasp at Sam’s shoulders. Sam kisses her way across Andrea’s wonderful jawline, pulling back just before Andrea’s luscious lips can connect with hers. Andrea’s lips instinctively chase after Sam’s but Sam pulls her head back just a bit farther to stay out of reach and tease the shorter woman, if only for a moment. She goes back in and Eskimo kisses her nose with Andrea’s. The buildup is excruciating for Andrea but damn if not’s always worth it. A breath away from Andrea’s lips, Sam looks into her eyes and asks “Yeah?” Andrea rolls onto her back. Sam follows, her arms on either side of Andrea’s head, to stay positioned above her lover. Andrea tosses aside the blanket and with it, the sight of her exquisite body is completely bare for Sam to drink in. Sam’s eye dilate and the only way Andrea can describe her look is carnal. Taking in the site of the sculpted woman above her, she knows she can reciprocate that desire. Andrea huskily replies “Yeah” and as she hungrily grabs Sam’s face to bring her in for a searing kiss, their bodies suddenly writhing against one another, Sam figured it’d probably be okay to wait to tell her about the invitations.

Author’s note: I actually felt inspired to write a short Reignjas ficlet yesterday and I went with it. As the idea kept expanding, it wound up heading in a direction I’ve never tried to write before. I ended up putting more thought and hours into it than I had expected, staying up to the point where I maybe had to call out of work this morning (my life’s a mess but that’s not important right now.) Anyway, this isn’t that final ficlet. I’ll probably be working on that (more responsibly) for a little bit but I felt confident enough that I wanted to post this (mostly) smut free version. Hope y’all enjoy it.

#reignjas #rojarias #sam arias #andrea rojas #writing #ficlet #fanfic #supergirl #sam x andrea

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rachaelslibrary · 3 years

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March Wrap-Up and April TBR

I am so happy to say that I had a second strong reading month, reading seven books back to back. I really thought it was going to be a slower month since my mom was in town for two weeks and I was doing a lot with her, but I guess I found time. It also helps that some of these were audiobooks that I could listen to on the way to work and while I crochet.

Anyway, in the order that I read them, here are the seven books I read in March.

1. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

I have a whole post about how much I hated this book and the relationship in it. I’ve never enjoyed contemporary romance, but I thought I’d give this one a try and I ended up regretting it. Here are my thoughts if you want to dive deeper

https://rachaelslibrary.tumblr.com/post/644767685050286080/trigger-warning-for-abuse-and-domestic-violence

1/5 stars

2. A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Murder mystery at a boarding school? Check. Romantic tension between two leads? Check. Narrator who is sometimes annoying as hell? Check. Read this post for all my feels.

https://rachaelslibrary.tumblr.com/post/645067224940429312/lets-talk-books-a-study-in-charlotte-by

3/5 stars

3. Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare

I have a full post about this book, so check it out if you want to know my in depth thoughts and feelings about this book, but regardless I liked it a lot. It had everything you could want from a Shadowhunters book, and Cassandra Clare's writing seems to get better and better each time.

https://rachaelslibrary.tumblr.com/post/645433280331759616/lets-talk-books-chain-of-iron-by-cassandra

5/5 stars

4. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

Again, I have another full post about this book, so go read that, but I was not the biggest fan of this book. I'm not sure if it was a bad romance, or I didn't like it just because I don't typically like romance, but the show, Bridgerton, is sooo much better in my humble opinion.

https://rachaelslibrary.tumblr.com/post/646152797812932608/lets-talk-books-the-duke-and-i-by-julia-quinn

2/5 stars

5. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

There will never not be a time when I say that this is one of my favorite series of all times. I have a post about the whole series already, but also just know these characters will always have a place in my heart.

https://rachaelslibrary.tumblr.com/post/617204666435076096/lets-talk-books-the-red-rising-trilogy-by

5/5 stars

6. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Again I have a whole post about it if you want to check it out, but this book made Robin Hobb one of my new favorite authors, easily. Despite being a little on the slow side, I truly grew so attached to Fitz, the main character, and I seriously can't wait to pick up the next book.

https://rachaelslibrary.tumblr.com/post/647076966094209024/lets-talk-books-assassins-apprentice-by-robin

5/5 stars

7. Admission by Julie Buxbaum

This last one was a random read for me, and I truly was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Admission follows 17-year-old Chloe Berringer as she navigates through senior year of high school and applies for colleges, only to discover that her parents have paid someone to fake her applications so she could get in. Now, her actress mother faces jail time, and she is left with the realizations that her parents have no faith in her, and her life might just be ruined. This is definitely inspired by the Lori Laughlin, Felicity Huffman, USC scandal, but it also has a uniqueness to it of the main character having to come to terms with the fact that she has been born into privilege and really struggling with how to make that right. It's also told in two timelines, a "then" that shows her in the beginning of the school year forming her applications and taking the SAT's, and a "now" that shows her mother being arrested and paparazzi stalking her house. I found the whole story just really intriguing from the very beginning, and I did feel a real sympathy for the main character and what she was going through.

4/5 stars

Now that the wrap-up is done, let's chat about the books I want to read for April.

For starters, my English lit class is going HARD this month. I have to have Beowulf entirely read by tomorrow night, in two weeks I have to read Dante's The Inferno, and then at the end of the month is the entirety of Hamlet, which I already know is going to suck. I hate Shakespeare. So that is at least three books.

For my audiobooks this month, I just started Jade City by Fonda Lee which is another one of my favorite series, and I have the audiobook of Golden Son by Pierce Brown to finish up when I'm done. Both of these are rereads but the audiobooks seem to really enhance it, so I'm excited to get into those.

In the physical book category, I'm currently reading From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout that I've checked out from the library. I'm about halfway through because I couldn't finish it the first time I had it. I almost DNF'd it the first time but I know that so many people like it, so I've been trying to give it another chance. I also have Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo which is the final book of the Grisha trilogy that I want to have read by the time the show comes out this month. If I can finish all of those, then I also want to reread Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo because I LOVE those books, but also because the show is coming out. And FINALLY, if I can somehow finish all of those first, my hold for Majesty by Katharine McGee should be ready. That's the sequel to American Royals that I somewhat enjoyed, but I'm really just curious to find out if everything ends how I predicted

I just counted and realized that there are 10 books on my TBR somehow. I mean, I'll do my best to try to get through them. I also have a school project due in a few weeks that I have to try to finish so we shall see what happens.

Until next time :)

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gffa · 5 years

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hi! i really want to get into the EU stuff, but i have absolutely no idea where to start. can you point towards a few good books, maybe? thank you, and i absolutely love your account btw!

Hi! Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. ♥ Recommendations for EU stuff often depends on what you’re interested in, because there are a lot of books I really enjoyed, so I’ll organize them by era, since that’s how fans are often divided. I’ll also include comics, because often times the comics are some of the absolute best stuff!If you haven’t watched The Clone Wars and Rebels yet, those are absolutely the places to start as they’re key to the fabric of the bigger story, imo. Not that you can’t understand the movies without them or anything, but TCW is especially important for understanding just how grueling the clone wars really were. And Rebels is important for showing the fates of a lot of the TCW characters and seeing the Empire vs the Rebellion (it does a lot to flesh that out, too).PREQUELS:

Any of the Star Wars Adventures comics that contain the prequels characters are great. Well, ALL of the Adventures comics are great, but the prequels ones are adorable, funny, and yet really well-told. They’re light-hearted and largely oneshots, but the IDW comics have been incredible for still being some of the absolute best SW content out there. Especially a not-miss is #12-13 and the 2019 Annual for the Padme&Leia&Breha story.

Obi-Wan & Anakin comic by Charles Soule. A five-issue mini series that has the most stunning art of all the comics I’ve ever seen pretty much, it’s also a really good look at the time of Anakin’s apprenticeship and provides some interesting glimpses into their early days together.

Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic by Charles Soule. This comic was an absolute phenomenon to read month to month and one of the comic series that I’ve spent the most time analyzing and felt it’s really held up to scrutiny, which shows just how much thought went into it. It’s 25 issues of Vader fresh off Revenge of the Sith, over the span of a couple years, and really does an AMAZING job of exploring Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader, all the choices he made and the themes of the comic are all about showing he can’t admit to the HUGE mistakes he’s made. It was incredible.

Choose Your Destiny: An Obi-Wan & Anakin Adventure by book Cavan Scott. I’m not usually a fan of Choose Your Own Adventure style stories, but this one was worth it to me to get an absolutely DELIGHTFUL book with Obi-Wan and Anakin, who are cranky with each other, but ultimately show that they can come back together and obviously care about each other. Sprinkle in some other cool stuff (Jedi details, Bant Eerin being recanonized) and it was lovely.

Dooku: Jedi Lost audiodrama by Cavan Scott. If you’re interested in Dooku, Asajj Ventress, or the Jedi at all, this drama was pretty amazing, it gave a ton of worldbuilding detail, but also did a lot to fill in the backstory of Dooku and gave us a long look inside Asajj’s head as well. Qui-Gon makes some appearances, he has an amazing dynamic with Dooku, and my heart as always skips a beat for how much I love the Jedi.

Age of the Republic comics by Jodie Houser. Holy shit, these comics were SO GOOD. They’re a series of oneshots about the various heroes and villains of the time, a glimpse into the lives of all of them, and Houser really nailed it here. My favorite is the Obi-Wan one, because the conversation he has with Anakin about Qui-Gon is a must and delves deepest into the characters’ stuff, but all of them are worth reading.

Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu comic by Matt Owens. A five-issue mini series that, okay, the art is Like That but the storyline really worked for me because it’s a really good look at Mace’s character and his belief in the Jedi Order and how he came to master himself and how the galaxy looks at Jedi. It’s woven around a fairly typical action plot, but one of the things that always strikes me is the compassion the Jedi show one of their own, even when they’re falling into darkness, as well as this is a comic about Mace Windu’s faith and his work to master himself and it’s SO GOOD.

Kanan: The Last Padawan comics by Greg Weisman. Stunning art plus a look at some of the characters/relationships that I want so much more of (TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT DEPA BILLABA) and more glimpses into life at the Jedi Temple, as well as telling the story of how the character went from Caleb Dume to Kanan Jarrus, all of it heartbreaking and so, so good.

While the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover is no longer canon, but it does an absolutely phenomenal job of breaking your heart all over again for the characters and expanding on everything that was going on during that time and really, really gets into the headspace of Anakin’s character in a way that was line-edited by George Lucas himself, so I think of it as having a lot of emotional truths to it, rather than being part of canon (which it’s specifically said as not being).

ORIGINALS:

The ongoing Star Wars comic (by Jason Aaron, then Kieron Gillen) + the original Darth Vader comic (by Kieron Gillen) are the absolute best place to start, they’re an incredible addition to the characters’ journeys between ANH and ESB. The two comics are meant to be read concurrently, so I recommend them together, they often show the same scenes from different points of view, but you can roll with either of them if they’re going well for you. They’re my favorite for what they add to the story.

Star Wars Battlefront II’s storyline can be watched on YouTube like a movie, which is about two hours long, has some fantastic characters (Iden Versio and Del Meeko are amazing, but also the brief storylines the OT trio have in the game are fantastic) and it does a really great job of helping to bridge the gap between the OT and the ST, explaining a lot about Jakku’s significance and how the First Order popped up.

From a Certain Point of View novel by various. MY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE EU, FULL STOP. A series of point of view stories from various supporting characters during A New Hope is exactly what it sounds like and, okay, not all of them worked out for me, some of them are very skippable if you’re not enjoying it, but the Obi-Wan one, the Qui-Gon one, and the Yoda one are all must-reads because they are HEARTBREAKING and fill in so much of what’s going on with those characters in the OT with regards to the PT events. Also the Motti one is the single funniest thing Star Wars has ever put out.

Lords of the Sith novel by Paul S. Kemp. While I’ve only read about a third of this one so far, I’ve enjoyed it a lot, as it’s a look at some of the worst parts of SW’s timeline, where Vader and Palpatine are at their worst, where Ryloth is suffering, but it’s done with deftness and gravitas, imo. Possibly better after you’ve seen TCW and Rebels because Cham Syndulla’s character will have more weight then.

Legends of Luke Skywalker novel by Ken Liu. This book came out around the time that The Last Jedi came out (or at least that’s when I read it, iirc) and it was a balm for my soul that needed Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. It’s an in-universe series of myths, so it’s not literal, it’s stories told about Luke Skywalker as he travels the galaxy trying to understand the Force and the Jedi. It’s lovely!

Thrawn novel by Timothy Zahn. I still think the first Thrawn book was really good (even if the shine came off the apple after that) and it does a fantastic job of setting up the character’s backstory, intro into the Empire, and creating the character of Eli Vanto, WHOM I LOVE. It’s a great read and some of the best of Zahn’s Thrawn work.

ROGUE ONE + SOLO:

The Rogue One novelization by Alexander Freed. I had trouble connecting to Jyn Erso when I first watched the movie, but the way Freed wrote her as this messy, complicated, thorny person who was trying to do the right thing was perfect for making me fall in love with her. (Freed is really, really good at writing messy, complicated, worthwhile women, imo.)

Most Wanted novel by Rae Carson. I loved this book a lot, where it’s a young adult novel set before the events of Solo and helps tell Han and Qi’ra’s backstory and is a great space adventure at the same time.

Catalyst novel by James Luceno. This does a really great job of bridging the Republic era with the Empire era, how the galaxy went from the Clone Wars to what we see in Rogue One, AND expanded a ton on Galen Erso’s character, his relationship with Orson Krennic and Lyra Erso and Jyn, so it made the R1 experience just a ton more valuable for me.

SEQUELS:

Bloodline novel by Claudia Gray. This book still does the absolute most to bridge the gap between the OT and the ST, to explain the events of what happened in that time period. Gray’s writing is best when she’s writing Leia as a character and this book works as a novel for her and as a story about the rise of the First Order and some of the problems of the New Republic.

Spark of the Resistance is a young adult novel (so about 200 pages) by Justina Ireland. I only recently read this one and I just thoroughly enjoyed it, it was Rey and Rose and Poe off on their own adventure, which was typical cute Star Wars stuff, but the chemistry and adorable banter between these three was so good I could have read an entire series for them! (I also liked her Lando’s Luck YA novel, if you’re interested in his character.)

Poe Dameron comics by Charles Soule. Soule’s writing is some of the best stuff in SW so far and he does an absolutely phenomenal job of capturing the charisma of Poe’s character, while also giving him an actual character arc to work through. The comics just fly by, they’re so good and so smoothly easy to read and so damn charming.

Cobalt Squadron novel by Elizabeth Wein. If you get the audiobook of this, it’s narrated by Kelly Marie Tran, who does a love job of reading it, and was a book that helped me just utterly FALL IN LOVE with Rose Tico. It’s a book that does a lot to explain her back story and who she is and it’s just absolutely wonderful.

The Last Jedi novelization by Jason Fry. If you really, really hated TLJ, this might not be the book for you, but I found it to be a book that helped fill in some smaller details that made the movie work better for me and got inside the characters’ heads just enough to help grease the wheels to put me in a better place with the movie, so I always really like it.

#fic recs #(not really but that's my tag)#novels #Anonymous

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the-dust-jacket · 4 years

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Quarantine Reads

I am officially out of my post-potential-exposure self-quarantine, which....makes very little difference in my day to day routine, because we are all in self-quarantine now!*

So what have I been reading? I will tell you what I have NOT been reading: the enormous pile of hardcovers I lugged from home because I definitely channeled my anxiety into packing instead of thinking rationally about clean underwear and toothpaste.

But gnawing existential angst aside, I have finally managed to settle down with some comfort reads. Here’s the roundup.

The Sevenwaters Trilogy, by Juliet Marillier

I was obsessed with these books in middle school, and sometimes going back to a middle school obsession is exactly what you need. I devoured them. The books are both darker and more romance-heavy than I remembered: Daughter of the Forest in particular has more sexual violence than I recalled, and in classic grown-up-rereading-childhood-favorite style, I was shocked to realize how young Sorcha is as she survives her many tribulations (and also falls in love). But what I remember most about these books is how lushly magical they are, and in that regard my memory was exact. They’re atmospheric and engrossing, and I love the way the series starts with a fairly straightforward fairytale retelling and increasingly complicates and questions its world as the story grows. I never read the Sevenwaters books that came after the original trilogy, but I think that’s next.

An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson

I don’t know why this has been sitting unread in my locker for three years. I’m reading it now and I’m not very far in, but it is thus far delightful. Isobel is a celebrated painter who creates portraits of the Fair Folk in exchange for carefully worded enchantments. Her clients are eccentric, capricious, and deceptively dangerous, but she’s always walked the delicate line that keeps her family safe--until a dangerous mistake with her most powerful patron yet. Rogerson makes excellent use of fairy lore and her Fair Folk are wonderfully strange and whimsical, compelling but with a real edge of danger.

Miss Buncle’s Book, by D.E. Stevenson

Miss Buncle was urged on my by my local coven as the most warm and comforting hot mug of tea read. Originally published in 1934 by Scottish bestseller Dorothy Emily Stevenson, this comedy takes place in a quiet English village that is turned topsy-turvy when quiet, respectable Barbara Buncle anonymously publishes a novel based on its inhabitants. Who is John Smith? A philosopher, a satirist, a simpleton, or a scurrilous wretch who must be unmasked and horse whipped at once? Miss Buncle’s Book is cozy and charming and laugh-out-loud funny. It has all the casual classism and sexism you might expect from a 1930s comedy, although it does include a blatantly lesbian-coded couple much devoted to each other. But overall the tone is so affectionate to nearly all of its characters, in spite of all its mockery, that I had no problem enjoying it.

The Wide Green World series, by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is such a go-to comfort series for me that right now I’m not so much reading it through as dipping in here and there. There are a few things that make it a feel better read for me: the immersive storytelling; the combination of high stakes and very intimate stories; the practical, domestic detail. And of course, there’s the fact that it takes place in a world that already suffered an apocalyptic collapse, and centuries later people just keep on building, keep on fighting, keep on inventing, keep on falling in love. It’s very much about humans figuring out how to save the world while still living in it.

The Lady Trent Memoirs, by Marie Brennan and read by Kate Reading

This is such a good audio production of such a fun series. Kate Reading moves smoothly between impetuous young Isabella discovering her passion for dragons and having her first adventures in the world of natural history and daring international escapades, and the respected Lady Trent, looking back on her early achievements and making tart asides about her meddling editors.

So Many Georgette Heyer Audiobooks

Georgette Heyer is a go-to emergency comfort read in my family. Mostly I’ve been listening to books that I’ve read before as I fall asleep, so it doesn’t matter if I completely lose my place. There have been many audiobooks read over the years, and I’m made some good finds: Richard Armitage’s The Convenient Marriage has obvious charms, but I was delighted to discover an unabridged version read by Caroline Hunt, as one does not read The Convenient Marriage for the bones of the plot, but for the bumbling secondary characters, excessively detailed historical descriptions, and ridiculous subplots. And Eve Matheson, who did one of the versions of Arabella, brings so much liveliness and humor to the characters she may be favorite Heyer narrator yet.

I can’t wait for: The Glass Hotel, The End of October, Return of the Thief, A Deadly Education

*Not entirely true--I got to hug my mom, which makes a HUGE difference.

#currently reading #quarantine reads #Juliet Marillier #Margaret Rogerson #Marie Brennan #Georgette Heyer #D.E. Stevenson

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alyseofwonderland · 4 years

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Alyse Reads The Goldfinch, Part 2

What follows is my best attempt at liveblogging. I had the books as an audiobook in hopes that I could keep it from taking even more of my life from me. This was perhaps a mistake. I think I broke Siri trying to make notes. The notes that are rambly are the ones I dictated.

I entirely blame @rollono for my suffering. But I am also aware that it seems to give her joy.

Every time I reference Tara, I am talking about @wellntruly who’s own live blog of the book was the only roadmap I had to follow in this waterlogged wasteland of a novel.

Part 1

I thought Tara was making up the Camel-hair coat bit but APPARENTLY NOT.

Architecture has that much to do with the city and or northern Europe, really? I mean, “whitewash” doesn't everybody do that?

Nina ( @proud-librarian ) is going to have a lot to say about their descriptions of the Netherlands and Amsterdam in this book. like oh my God!

Theo Deckard doesn't understand how thermostats work.

This isn't satire? I don't understand we're like three minutes in and it has to be satire. right. right?

Who the hell says my mother and I didn't like my father much? like what.... what is this? what am I reading? what is happening? what.... I don't understand.... okay maybe fine whatever

This feels like it should be... I don't know.... satire is the word I'm looking for again. I don't want to just repeat what Tara, said but Jesus. the start of the story is he is rich enough to have a Doorman but not rich enough to afford the fancy private school, and him and his friends break into vacation homes in the Hamptons. what is this? what is this? I just... just.... just write a Jane Austen or Lord Byron novel if that's what you want to do just do that. do that.

My audiobook app just turned itself off in the middle of a passage because it decided I didn't need to listen to Theo talk about whatever he was talking about.

Curse you, Donna Tartt, for also being in the "all things coconut smell like suntan lotion" club. I did not want to have this in common with you.

I am laughing so hard it turns silent into my steering wheel because the audiobook reader makes Tom Cable sound like a surfer dude from the 70s, and I. cannot. handle. that.

"I like to think of myself as a perceptive person" is basically the way that I know that Theo has about Harry Potter level skills of observation when it comes to the people around him.

Y'all this book would be so much better if Theo actually thought like a 13-year-old that he is supposed to be in the intro part. That would just be peak comedy, which is really what I'm looking for.

Audrey Decker and the Laura Moon from American gods are now the two people that I have ever known to call men "puppy" which I still find alarming, in both cases. Surprisingly they also both die, so I guess more things they have in common.

The longer this book goes on the more clear it is that I am not bougie enough for its contents. ( timestamp 30 minutes)

(GIF BY @rollono BY MY REQUEST FOR EVERY TIME THIS BOOK MAKES ME FEEL POOR)

I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to think that a 13-year-old would know this much about their parent's job and be able to ask questions. I'm trying to think of what my dad was doing when I was 13, and I mean I know where he worked, and I know who his boss was, but if you tried to ask me daily issues or me giving advice... oh my gosh. I just can't. nobody talks like this.

I’m making a face akin to Kermit the frog.

I threw up in my mouth a little at the description of Pippa walking past in the museum.

Did we just describe a 12-year-old girl's arms as marble? is that what just happened? did I just have to listen to that?

Theo has given me a lot of like “Golden State killer” vibes right now with his desire to poke around through all these people's homes and stuff. like this is clearly the Visalia ransacker's motivation in the 70s. I know too much about true crime, that's what's happening right now.

The true-crime serial killer alarms keep going off in my brain.

I know Tara already mentioned how ridiculous the Murphys bed story is but it really is incredibly ridiculous and breaks the tension of the entire scene that is occurring at the time (laughed uncontrollably to the point that Siri typed nonsense)

I get it, Donna, you know things. You do not have list every fire truck to prove it.

Let's take a child to a dinner at 3 am. Really Donna?

Why does Donna insist on giving me the text of signs around whats going on? Why did I just listen to the smoothie specials while an emotional scene is occurring?

Donna, did you just call Mrs. Barough a weasel? [afronted gasp]

OI! (me shouting when Donna says that Andy was weird for being lactose intolerant.)

Pukes in my mouth a little at the term 'high verbal'. I get it, Donna, you think you are smarter than all of us stop being a dick.

Donna Tartt would make it to r/iamverysmart in like a minute if she understood how the internet worked.

WHO TAUGHT HER ABOUT FMA?

Okay, so either Donna Tartt knows someone who lost a parent and basing this off them or like went through it herself because I am white-knuckling through the grief bits trying not to have my own trauma response to the situation. Or she wrote Theo with like the exact grief I had. Her incessant need to list things in a room is the only thing between me and a spiral of remembering my dad's death.

ANDY IS A RAY OF LIGHT AND DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE IN THIS FAMILY OR IN THIS BOOK!

Five whole hours before the first sight of Hobie. Like Jesus.

I miss Terry Pratchett.

Hobie thank you for making this book interesting again.

Hobie is now my main squeeze and I won't hear a word against him.

POE DIDN'T INVENT SCIENCE FICTION FUCKING MARY SHELLY DID. DONNA WHAT THE FUCK.

The Hobie part of the story just makes me more sure that a version of the movie should have been without the Baroughers (sp?) and only included Hobie and Pippa.

Any is a murderino. I love this baby boy.

Aw, I love Hobie so so much.

Donna if you call Andy annoying one more time you are gonna catch my hands. (She just referred to his voice as annoying twice in a conversation and I swear to god I will rip this character out of her snobbish clutches she doesn't deserve him.)

Theo on this we agree, I too enjoy Hobie.

Hobie is the only person who belongs in this novel and he's a god damn delight.

SEVEN HOURS AND THE PAINTING HAS COME UP AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN LITERAL HOURS.

Theo straight up using Spanish to fuck over his father is just *chef's kiss.

I can see how much contempt Donna has for Xandra is longer and deeper than this book will ever be.

I am going to suplex Larry Decker I swear to god. (i have a very particular trigger to spouses bad-mouthing the dead one due to personal experience.)

Necco wafers are no one's favorite candy Donna. You can't just say shit like that and expect anyone to believe you.

I have just realized that Donna Tartt has never been to a public library. How do I know? Witchcraft books are never on the shelves. Ask any librarian. They are stolen pretty much the moment we buy them.

I am standing dead in the tea aisle at the store because Theo just thought it would be “gay” to tell the doormen he has known almost his whole life he is gonna miss them. (hours later I realize this is her backtracking in edits going "shit shit shit I have to add the repression in somewhere for those dumb readers that don't understand art" and I hate it more.)

Mrs. B is ready to physically fight Larry and I would pay real money to see it.

WHY DOES DONNA KNOW ABOUT DRAGON BALL Z?!? Step away from the things I love Donna I don't trust you near my media. (Also why she does reference it she clearly has NO concept of what DBZ hair would even look like to expect me to believe any child could achieve it.)

oh my god, Boris. I'm so happy to see you.

I am happy to report the audiobook narrator does not do an Australian accent for Boris. Thank the lord.

I knew I was going to love Boris but like a few minutes in I adore him.

It's interesting to me that Theo and Boris seem to have received similar amounts of attention/affection from non-parent adults, but while Theo finds it uncomfortable Boris soaks it in.

The Australian part of Boris's accent seems impossible.

*sobbing audibly into my keyboard* Popchyck

Boris you sweet like socialist.

Comrade Boris we need you in this election.

I'm sad he (Boris) doesn't get to go to college and like piss off every yuppie and hippie, and just make Philosophy 100 and Government 250 absolute hell for everyone.

Drunk Boris at Thanksgiving is a gift.

Me listening to this book before Boris: half paying attention, fucking around on my computer, doing chores. Me after Boris shows up: staring at the middle distance determined to listen to every fucking word because this prison sentence of a novel is finally interesting.

James: you said the author is a snob and you aren't enjoying the main character. Me: yeah James: then stop reading it. Me: No, then Donna and her Anna Wintour knock off hair cut will win. James, frowning and backing out of the room: k sweetie.

6:30 am is too early to hear Theo Decker describe his bed as "our bed"

I WAS RIGHT. Boris belongs in college making every American white kid absolutely furious in every Poli-sci.

Larry Decker calling Theo and Boris his "kids" made my heart skip a beat.

So the nurse notices they don't have vitamins and smell but doesn't call child services. I mean I know that I learned that school nurses are less likely to call CFS on white kids than they are on black kids but like god damn.

The sheer salt of Theo refusing to learn the name of Boris’s girlfriend is so hilarious.

Now *this* is gay.

The truth is Theo is ready to cut a bitch.

Fellas is it gay to do shots while your boyfriend talks about his girlfriend?

Theo trying to set up Boris with like a nice polite girl who won't fuck him is fucking hilarious. This poor baby gay.

Theo (and Donna cuz she writes him) have never heard of learning disabilities and I will legit throw down.

LARRY IS A SCORPIO IN CANON?! I thought that was something from the fan fics. omg Ally hates this.

No one wears white sport coats Donna stop trying to make it happen.

Boris totally knows what's going on with Larry and he's just trying to look out for Theo because he loves Theo but oh my gosh Boris why do you make me feel so many feelings!

Please, Donna, I am begging you to stop telling me what the light from the sun looks like at different times of the day. I just can't take it anymore. Every scene of Theo in Xandra's house does not need the qualifier of what type of sunlight he is seeing. Some times fine. But every time?

My entire stomach just dropped when I realized what Boris has done, and I'm just I'm so sad. this is not how I wanna start my commute to work today.

I have just had my first moments of being very proud of Donna's writing, because long long time ago, in the same chapter, she had the bit about how Xandra will say "apparently" when she's being bitchy with Theo and now in a conversation where Theo isn't paying attention to her she says "apparently" to Larry and I just had to stop and say this, this is the writing I'm looking for Donna. This is clever and interesting and I LIKED IT. Stop making lists and do more of this.

Friendship ended with Book Boris, Movie Boris is my best friend now.

I don't understand how the director and the screenwriter of the film could move who said those lines and then not make it gay. Like, commit to your choice.

My mom: You finish that book yet? Me, angrily: No. My mom slightly worried: do you like it? Me: unclear.

NEW CHAPTER!

Theo, I need you calm all the way down when you are looking at Pippa.

Love this lawyer. I want to be his friend.

God poor Pippa. All the shit she goes through and she still has to put up with Theo's weird obsession.

Theo, you slid right back into the serial killer habits in a second and I want you to stop it.

Oh god, I feel that in my soul. Like "no sir you have it wrong I look more like the parent I like best." (also I do look more like my dad. like way more like him)

I am begging someone to get Theo some kind of hobby or help or something so he stops acting like a victorian ghost.

I am gonna have to get the actual book so I can see what weird spelling is going on with the text messages. I just know its weird. The narrator does it in such a weird voice.

We spent so much time dealing with emotional issues and other whatnot that going back to the bit about the painting feels like a huge tonal shift in the book. I'm like staggering around confused.

Literally no one uses strawberry shampoo.

Love that Theo ‘s final plan is the one Andy purposed an eon ago.

Salty that Theo is getting the cool college experience that Boris would have crushed. I would have paid good money to watch him make the philosophy department cry.

[kermit in the car gif]

Yo! Theo struggling to deal with school is like exactly my semester after my dad died.

The adults attempting to force him into different living arrangements is so what we dealt with post my dad’s death.

Grisha! (Russians the only people I trust atm)

Tara was right, Andy's death comes off like a joke!

I gotta say, Crime Theo is my favorite Theo so far.

I don't know which serial killer Donna was channeling to write the parts about Theo being obsessed with Pippa, but it is just so intensely a serial killer vibe I cannot even begin to describe the look on my face; the feelings I'm having. I'm just like this man is going to kill someone. he's going to kill a lot of people. not only that it's going to be a lot of women because he doesn't view them as people. that's what I'm getting from this it's. Theo doesn't think women are people.

If Theo was on reddit he would be part of r/niceguys and r/iamverysmart.

If I have to listen to him drone on about his fantasies of Pippa for one more minute I will kill myself in the baking aisle of Aldis.

HES HOARDING HER HAIR?! HER UNWASHED CLOTHES?!? Please someone put him in jail.

[the sound of me throwing up in the frozen food section as Theo describes Kitsey]

Donna don’t try to act like you didn’t add that foreshadowing yourself about Andy. You crack me up you relentlessly snob.

How is Theo just The Worst all the time?

Theo freaking out because two gay guys know what’s up with him is just *chef’s kiss

Me having seen only the movie: Theo and Boris should get redemption and a romance run away. Me now: [ gif of “Ive had enough of this guy” from IASIP]

I mean I understand that John Crawley was a coward in so many of his directorial choices, but the fact that he didn't put the second meeting of Theo and this Lucius guy into a crowded weird restaurant where they're both getting hit by the waiters as they go past is just the weakest move you could've made. because this makes it so much funnier.

I'm with Hobie.

honestly this book should've just been 20 hours of art crime and like to shave off a good 10 hours of LISTS because that's what 10 hours is. give me 20 hours of art crime. I would love to watch each sale happen that would've been riveting to read but instead.... this.

Bish, you like those earrings or I will cut you.

Theo salty, while Kitsey picks out new china, is so fucking hilarious.

him just like "why are we buying new plates when my job is literally to find plates that were made by craftsmen?!?!” but being too fucking repressed in his bullshit to say anything, so he just making some poor sales lady suffer.

my friend Ally: “Theo’s repression makes everyone suffer is a good summary of the book.”

Alternative version of this book that would have been 8 million times better: Theo gets into art crimes but is also a serial killer. We don't know the second bit but it begins to start dawning on us as women seem to disappear from his social circles and weird hints of thoughts about blood and rivers. Bonus points if it ends with him on the run from the law with his only vaguely criminal (by comparison to serial killer Theo) boyfriend. We are left to wonder if they will be gunned down in the chase or if perhaps there will be one more body to great the river.

Theo's textbook serial killer nonsense is only comparable to the sheer petty gay energy he gives off.

The power trip he gets from being like "hahaha yes I have bagged the ice princess who wanted nothing to do with me when we were kids" is just so gross and hilarious.

Theo realizing he is not the only sociopath in the room is just *chef's kiss.

Boris, did you really send some guy to just watch your ex?

Boris, I am begging you. You have made Grisha so upset.

Donna shying away from describing Boris comes off, if you don't know who we are talking about, as weird and slightly racist.

You have the internet Theo, you can look up when movies are going to start. You are not living on the moors.

HOW IS THIS BOOK NOT A SATIRE OF AMERICAN PYSCHO FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE BONERS FOR ANTIQUES?!?

Boris returns. I have almost forgiven him for what he put me through.

Maybe "fuck you" can be our always.

*tries not to cry when I realize that Boris' friends have heard about Theo

bless Aneurin for everything he did for this reunion in the movie.

Why is Boris such a slut? Why will I forgive him for anything?

Is it gay to think about the guy you used to jack off as handsome when you meet each other again?

Genetics means those kids can't be Boris' unless his mother was blonde. (Theo kind of agrees.)

My soul has left my body at the concept of Boris having a wife and kids.

I'm not saying I endorse crime, I'm just saying a mobster front with a pun in the name is really on-brand for me.

Knowing what I Know. That Boris thinks Theo is gonna try to kill him when they go for the "surprise" just makes the whole thing so tragic and sad.

Boris and his dog REUNITED AT LAST. I'm not crying. I'm fine.

Interesting that the next story we hear is about Gyuri's dead "brother" right after Boris says that Theo is "blood of his heart, his brother". Like. I might not be the biggest history buff in the world but I know gay code when I see it.

I mean I knew this was gonna happen, but I can't help but feel personally betrayed by Boris once again.

Donna, stay away from stuff about computers. Your attempts to use them make me, a technology expert, cringe.

Boris like "you don't deserve this dog. I deserve this dog."

"Babe I get that you are a WASP at heart but I need you to fight with me like a Russian now." - Boris to his disaster husband

"Did I lie?" "YES" (me laughing so hard I'm practically crying)

why does no one in this book appear to exchange numbers or like airdrop contact info.

Does Donna think that people only have iPhones?

Ally who is CTRL F reading this book "'Every few hundred pages she's like 'oh yeah, it's modern times...they're texting and there's emojis!' Seriously, there was the mention of emoji's and my soul escaped my body for a minute because it had no tether to time or space" @aces-low

Off the top of my head, the name that Donna is not saying for this Horace to guy is Volkswagen.

Instead of being in the mob Boris should run an animal shelter.

Boris being Bitchy and jelly when Theo is talking to the German guy is just so cute. You two deserve each other with your weird shit.

If Donna wasn't a coward this book would have had Theo just getting eyeballs deep in art crime with Boris and his associates.

Adding a sin for making me listen to whatever that just was.

Things Donna forgot to list in "girl food": chicken wings, bread, rolls, other types of bread, garlic bread, a bit more bread, maybe cookies, eight more cookies, 20 more cookies, every type of chocolate humanly imaginable, jam, and barbecue ribs.

What do ankles have to do with being attractive?!?!?! this isn't the Victorian age!

(from Ally re this comment: “I'm now convinced that every day Donna sat down to write this book she spun a wheel with different years on it, and that's the year the book was set that day”)

I didn't mind Kitsey cheating on Theo, because he doesn't even really like her. Until just now, when I realized that Mrs. B knows about it and she's keeping it from Theo, and my heart broke into 1 trillion pieces. she is the closest thing he has to a mother and he realized that she kept it from him, and I should not be crying in my car before my special Valentine night dinner.

James just walked in during a part describing Pippa and goes "Men writing women, huh?" and I had to pause the book, turn to him and say "a woman wrote this" and he just looks at me like 0_0

Mrs. B clutching Theo's hand so he won't leave her alone with Smalltalk-old-man is honestly the cutest thing in this entire book.

Hobie being able to be spotted from a distance at all times! I have a friend who is 6'5" and we can find him in crowds so easily!

Perhaps the funniest moment of this book is Theo saying "if girls loved assholes then Pippa would love me". buddy I'm going to post this entire book to r/niceguys

I WANT MORE ART CRIME! Why did you make me listen to 15 hours of boring nonsense when we could have had ART CRIME!

I deeply enjoy Boris's commitment to being a dramatic goofball, falling to his knees just be annoying.

Movie Boris appears in a dramatic way. Book Boris is just like there and also shoving food in his face and walking out of the party still eating all the food he just put in his cheeks like a chipmunk.

Hobie just like "if you want to run off with your gay love i'll cover."

Theodor Decker you get back in there and make sure that thief stays away from Nicole Kidman she has been through enough already!

Theo, I know that you don't actually have brains for anything besides drugs, crimes, being weird about women, and your own ass, but you could at least listen when people speak.

Theo is such a mess. He doesn't belong in modern times. He deserves to be Jack the Ripper.

I know the narrator is saying croissant the "correct" way. But every single time it happens I'm so fucking confused because who just leans into a french accent that hard for a single word?

Theo offers an actual good idea that Boris is going to use later and they all look at him like he's crazy.

I know "my brand" is "man holding gun" but listening to Boris assemble a gun I'm like "oh goodness I need to lay down". *fans self

Theo suddenly "I have made a huge mistake"

It's interesting to me how reluctant Boris is to make Theo a larger part of the heist. Theo reads it as frustrating but I read it like a kind of care and affection. He doesn't want his friend mixed up in something he can't handle, despite the fact that he wants Theo close so he can get him the painting back.

I see now why the heist in the movie was so fucking confusing. You need the Horst stuff and like a bunch of other nonsense that does not translate well to screen unless you re-write all the connections, which John Crowley was not willing to do.

Really love the "women drop their mark the first time" bit.

me: Theo I swear to god stop being high and sick in your room and go get some actual clothes and medication or at least don't make me listen to so much of it

this book is not 30 hours long. its 15 hours of a book and 15 hours of Donna going "gotta get that word count up or people with think I'm weak". Please, Donna. I don't need to hear this one thing happen for so long. It adds nothing to the tone, the themes, the plot, or the ambiance. You are just writing words for words sake.

The first suicide note was so well crafted that I honestly want Theo to kill himself now. If he can manage to write the others pretty okay I will be happy with this ending.

Don’t think I didn’t notice that the ghost of a dead loved one appeared on Christmas Eve.

I'm sorry who doesn't respond to "didn't you get my text?" with "my phone was dead" instantly?

me listening to Theo throw a tantrum at Boris because neither of them is capable of explaining themselves and like speaking as normal humans do: "It would have been better if Theo died"

Why must I be forced to listen to Donna make these scenes longer because these people don't talk like people?

Thud by Terry Pratchett does a much much better job of asking the question "can we trust our hearts and be the person we want to be?" And it honestly gives a better answer. And has you know, clever writing.

I thought it was like Over. I did. I was like "oh this is it wrapping up" ONLY THERE IS 30 MORE MINUTES AND I WANT TO SCREAM!

Me certain the book is over: i mean maybe this is a good ending

Me seeing i still have 30 more minutes: this is the worst book ever

This book held me fucking captive for over a week and all it left me with was like a few good lines, burning hatred for the main character, and the desire to go into Donna's home and rearrange all her stuff.

also, I now hate antiques. out of spite.

don't read The Goldfinch. it's not worth it y’all.

#jabberwockytalkies #words #donna tartt i just wanna talk #the goldfinch #alyse watches stupid movies #theodore decker #boris pavlikovsky #larry decker #xandra #donna tartt #this book beat me up and took my money and my will to put up with men

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veroticker · 4 years

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Hike hike, baby - Xavier Neal

You can buy the book on Amazon.

Summary (from Amazon)

Yasmine

Pause, take a breath, and glisten...

That's the better way to phrase Yasmine Brown sweating to death on her first hike, which is, obviously her punishment for being too cheap or too stubborn to buy the outdoor-loving woman she calls her best friend a stupid gift.

Most people are willing to accept her famous baked desserts as the perfect present. After all, she is an internationally renowned pastry chef.

Unfortunately, that trick doesn't work when your best friend is also your employee.

One little trek to make the birthday brat happy won't kill her, right?

Sutton

Halt, take a sip, oh no, she's slippin'...

One minute Sutton Thisleton is having a drink, and the next he's helping the most gorgeous woman he's ever crossed paths with out of the small hole she fell into.

Most people wouldn't see this as the right opportunity to grab a date. They also wouldn't wander from city to city because the wind seemed to shift them another direction one random afternoon.

Good thing he's never been most people.

One assisted hop back to the vixen's vehicle won't completely change his life, right?

What will happen when these two opposite worlds continuously collide?

Will they find a way to create a sweet, long lasting treat together, or will it end with one of them being told to take a permanent hike?

Blurb

“I’m melting.

I’m literally fucking melting.

I’m literally fucking melting like an ice cream cake some dumbass left unattended on the picnic table on the hottest day of the year, in the hottest place on this whole goddamn planet.

With the puddle my dark chocolate skin seems to be creating at the tips of my red tennis shoes, I can easily say: that wicked witch bitch has nothing on me.

Another sweat droplet cascades down the side of my face causing me to sneer.

This shit is unacceptable outside of the kitchen, except for, I guess, sex, but I haven’t had the latter in far too long to recall if sweating is an accolade to your impressive stamina or negative assessment to your out of shape nature.

My head hangs forward as I try to appease my burning lungs with air.

Okay, so I’m not the most fit person on the planet, obviously, but I wouldn’t call myself out of shape. Hustling around a commercial kitchen is hard work, especially when you own and operate the business. No, it’s not like jogging a stupid marathon or going cross country for charity, but it’s still vigorous. I’m still on my feet every day sweating my tits off. I still do more than the ten thousand steps or whatever it is the smart watch I got as a gift from my youngest sister tells me I should be doing for my size. And I damn sure am moving twice, if not three, times as much as the skinny Minnie birthday girl who talked me into doing this bullshit to celebrate her “special day”.

Why couldn’t we have gone out for a nice steak dinner and glass of wine?

Or a cheap steak dinner and shots?

Maybe even a tacky nightclub and wine coolers?

Where’s the alcohol that should always accompany birthday accommodations?

“You comin’?” Eddie Shaw, Sienna’s husband, asks from the bottom of the path I hadn’t realized they had already made it down.

I force my face his direction.

That fe-fi-foxy giant of a man is just as at home as she is in this wilderness. 6’5 and built like the lumberjack who is not afraid to chop down any tree in the forest. From the stories his wife tells, tree trunks aren’t the only hardwood he’s capable of swinging.

While I want that, dear God do I want that, I’m on the verge of thirty-five and willing to simply settle for a…thick stick being thrown my general direction.

Desperation has a fun way of dropping a woman’s standards.

Not that I need a man in my life.

It’d just be nice to have someone to share experiences with.

Call to vent to when my best friends, who are also my employees, are frustrating the shit out of me.

Have crawl between my legs at night instead of the neon red BOB I upgraded myself to for Christmas.

Perhaps this year, I’ll get one of those models that comes with an earpiece so you can listen to a sexy male — who sounds like Idris Elba — talk dirty to you.

Swear on my favorite oven that if those exist, I will get one.

“I don’t think she heard me,” Eddie innocently states to his wife.

“She heard you.” Her swift correction is followed by her brushing a long strand of her brown hair away from her face. “She’s just not done mentally cursing me out for making her do this.”

I point her direction before promptly tapping the tip of my nose.

His deep laugh freely echoes across the lush foliage, and the love of his life can’t help but grin.

Ignoring the second pang of jealousy is hard.

It’s not like their marriage is perfect.

It’s not like neither have flaws.

Hell, on this hike alone, they’ve gotten into at least three arguments…only one of which I am convinced was in good spirits.

But they still have…each other.

They’ve still managed to find someone who compliments their souls…who they want involved in all aspects of their lives…whose bullshit they willingly tolerate…

It’s a beautiful relationship to have.

Unfortunately, for me, as the years tick on by, it’s becoming more and more apparent I’m the only person in my little world who has an open position no one is interested in filling. We’re not just talking about unwilling to grab an application. No. We’re talking cross to the other side of the street to avoid even making eye contact with the store.

Sometimes I get the feeling I’m gonna be married to my macaroons forever.”

(review under the cut)

Review

(audiobook) In one word, delightful! It was funny, sweet, sexy, insightful, full of body positivity. The narrators were both excellent.

You get a black tall curvy girl who’s full of insecurity but lives her dreams with a pastry shop, and a blond demi-god who sees beauty in everything and can’t stay in one place forever because he wants to visit the world. And you get the beautiful story of how they find each other and they learn to compromise to make their relationship work.

It’s a mature story. The major problems they encounter come from themselves, and they just have to grow up and change their way of seeing things. All of that with a lot of humor and a touch of sexy.

I also enjoyed the author’s way with words--I read some words that I’m not used seeing in romance novels (or any novel, actually). It’s both witty and poetic. I really loved some of her sentences.

I waited a long time to hear/listen to this one, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Quickie

Series: standalone

Hashtags: #romcom #opposites attract #interracial romance #curvy girl #instalove

Triggers: suggestion of underage sex (in the past)

Main couple: Yasmine Brown & Sutton Thistleton

Hotness: 5/5

Romance: 5/5

+ Sutton’s free spirit and his way of seeing the world

- some side characters were more annoying than interesting

Stalker mode

You can suscribe to Xavier Neal’s newsletter on her website.

You can also follow her on Facebook.

#Xavier Neal #Hike hike baby #contemporary romance #romcom

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callunavulgari · 4 years

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YEAR-IN-BOOKS | 2019

So. Last year I read 89 books. The year before that I read 39. The year before that I read 23. This year I have (thus far) read 110 books out of my goal of 100 and will likely finish both The Secret Commonwealth and The Library of the Unwritten before the end of the year. I may even finish another depending on which audiobook I go for next. So I’m gonna talk a lot. Again.

1. a book you loved?

Again, I read a lot of books this year. It was a great year for books. I discovered Brandon Sanderson, which has been amazing. I reread at least two different favorite series, some graphic novels, a few books that would ordinarily be outside of my typical genre. But I’m going to pick Red, White, & Royal Blue, which was probably the one I loved the most. Casey McQuiston, for those of you who weren’t in The Social Network fandom, wrote a really fantastic RPF in like 2011 or so. It was gorgeous and while I’m sad that it was never finished, I can still appreciate the crap out of it. RWARB is a story about the son of America’s first female president falling for the Prince of Wales. It is everything I loved about fics like The Student Prince and Drastically Redefining Protocol and more. It’s best universe 100% and I will probably be rereading it within the next few months because I loved it to pieces. Also, it won both best romance and best debut novel on goodreads by a pretty large margin, which is amazing!

2. a book you hated?

I think the only book that I absolutely hated this year was The Gunslinger. Which sucks because a lot of people recommended that one pretty highly, but I either reluctantly enjoy Stephen King’s books or I outright loathe them. My review, directly from goodreads, with a rare one star rating:

“Thing number 1: same guy who did the audiobook recording for The Stand did this one as well. Bad enough. Thing number 2: I forgot how badly Stephen King writes women. I got to listen to this narrator read a scene where a woman has an orgasm because the main character is exorcising a lust demon out of her by shoving a gun into her unmentionables, and then I got to hear someone described as "falling whorishly." DNF at 75%. Sorry. I just could not do it. Falling whorishly was the straw that broke the camel's back.”

3. a book that made you cry?

I definitely cried when I finished The Hero of Ages, which is the third of the original Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson. Without spoiling things... I was definitely crying by the end of it. Might have been crying at the end of the first in the series too. The only other ones I can think of that may have made me sniffle are Everything I Never Told You and To Be Taught, If Fortunate.

The first because it’s a wonderfully crafted little tale about a family getting torn apart when their daughter dies tragically. The whole thing is pulled wonderfully taut with tension, and each of the character’s snippets into Lydia’s life before her death leads you to more and more discoveries until finally everything comes together seamlessly in the end.

The second because it is a little, little book about a big, big universe and is just so achingly beautiful and big inside that it hurts.

4. a book that made you happy?

I mean, I’m tempted to Red, White, and Royal Blue again because it is 100% the one that made me happiest. I was grinning like an idiot half the time I was reading it. But, because answering the same book for two questions seems cheap when I’ve read over 100, so I’m gonna go with King of Scars, which is the sequel to the sequel of the original Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. It took the best things about the original series and combined it with the best parts of Six of Crows and left me with a super riveting, fun read.

5. the best sequel?

Gah, I read so many series this year, so this is kind of hard. I have two answers!

The Well of Ascension, which was the second of the Mistborn novels and probably my favorite and The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, which in my humble opinion was leagues better than The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. Not that it was bad, I’m just starved for stories about smart sexy ladies who become pirates and flirt with other pretty pirate ladies.

6. most anticipated release for the new year?

Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner is still my answer to this one. The release date got pushed back to August of next year instead of March of this one, so provided it doesn’t get pushed back again - that is 100% my answer. Some others I’m excited about: The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks, which I found out about two minutes ago, the as yet untitled Stormlight Archive #4 which is apparently coming out in November next year, and like six books that don’t have release dates yet so probably won’t come out until 2021. Oh, oh, oh, and The King of Crows, the fourth in The Diviners series, which I forgot was coming out in February!

7. favorite new author?

Easily Brandon Sanderson. Most of my other favorites that I really loved were all authors I’ve read before. Sanderson was my Rothfuss of 2019. Discovering his books changed my whole damn year.

8. favorite book to film adaptation?

I didn’t reread the series this year, but HBO put out their adaptation of His Dark Materials and it has been absolutely amazing so far! I’m blown away by every single episode and can only hope that the second and third seasons will be this good.

9. the most surprising book?

Okay, so there’s this book that I picked up randomly at the library because I liked its cover. It’s called The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard Morais and it’s about an Indian boy who grows up to become a world famous chef. It’s so, so rich. The detail is wonderful. You can taste the food, feel the sun, be a stranger in a market somewhere in France. It was a true delight of a book and definitely one of my favorites.

10. the most interesting villain?

I read Codename Villanelle shortly after I got into the TV show, and it was actually a surprisingly good book. She’s a great villain. However, I also read Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, which you don’t even realize is about the evil queen until you’re like halfway through the book. That one was really, really well done and I need to get around to reading its sequel.

11. the best makeouts?

I’m tempted to say Chilling Effect because there’s just something about a sassy space pirate making out with her alien crew member whose skin can make her go into anaphylactic shock that really appeals to the part of me that shipped Sheppard/Garrus from Mass Effect, but there were two really steamy ones in The Hating Game (elevators) and Ninth House (slightly dubcon-y bit because one character is drugged, but super searing anyway?).

Also the bit in Red, White and Royal Blue where they make out against a painting of Hamilton in the White House will probably get me every time.

12. a book that was super frustrating?

Again, But Better was a pretty decent book over all. But there were slightly too many pop culture references and listening to an audiobook where the characters are signing along to Blink 182 along with several other songs was a little cringey because the narrator did not actually sing, just kind of singsongy shouted. It was weird.

The Alchemist was also really slow going for such a short book but was over all pretty good.

13. a book you texted about, and the text was IN CAPSLOCK?

I have no real life friends who really read and it is fucking tragic, so the closest I got was recommending a bunch of books to my mom and going off on tangents about how good they were. I think I might have ranted to Nick about a couple of them too.

14. a book for the small children in your life?

I reread The Bartimaeus trilogy again this year and it’s a kid’s book series that I would recommend to literally anybody because it might be my favorite series ever? I also read Lockwood & Co, a kid’s series by the same author who did Bartimaeus, which was fantastic because I didn’t even know he’d written anything since Bartimaeus? It didn’t quite compare, mostly because I adore Bartimaeus way too much, but was still highly entertaining. Spooky kid detectives hunt ghosts!

15. a book you learned from?

While I did not read a single non-fiction book this year (again, whoops), a lot of books are informative even if they’re fiction. Hell, I learned more about cooking from The Hundred Foot Journey than I have in any cookbook out there.

16. a book you wouldn’t normally try?

Maybe Challenger Deep? I’ve been branching out more, so it’s getting harder and harder to tell which books I wouldn’t normally try. I did read like three exclusively romance novels this year, which was a bit odd for me.

17. a book with something magical in it?

I still say all books are magical. And definitely a lot of the books I read were magical, but probably the one with the most magic was The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, which was a meticulously crafted love letter to all stories and fairy tales. It was really magical and definitely lived up to The Night Circus. If she keeps up like this, I won’t even mind the decade between publications, because she has a hell of a way with words.

18. the best clothes?

Maybe either The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (the descriptions of her gorgeous silky green dresses made me deeply envious) or Three Dark Crowns (which had neat food and clothes from what I remember)

19. the most well-rounded characters?

All of Sanderson’s stuff has great characters, but Everything I Never Told You is still probably the one with the best. Celeste Ng is really, really good at making you feel each of her characters down to their marrow.

20. the best world-building?

To Be Taught, If Fortunate was very much wow when it comes to the world building. But so was Ninth Gate and The Alloy Era of the Mistborn novels (sequel series to the original series that takes place hundreds of years after the first series). I also read Saga this year, a graphic novel series about a man and his wife on the run from their governments with their baby daughter because their species are in a long standing war and nobody wants anybody to know that they can procreate. That has some fantastic world building.

21. the worst world-building?

Maybe What If It’s Us? I found that one largely boring.

22. a book with a good sidekick?

Definitely any of the Alloy of Law books. Wayne is a wonderful sidekick and all of the other “side characters” in that series are fantastic.

23. the most insufferable narrator?

Ugh, the Gunslinger. Both the character in the book and the person who narrated the audiobook.

24. a book you were excited to read for months beforehand?

I think the only ones I was really excited for head of time were the two Folk of Air sequels by Holly Black and The Starless Sea. I still need to read Call Down the Hawk, and I’m currently reading The Secret Commonwealth, the sequel to His Dark Materials which I’ve been excited about since I learned that it would be a thing.

25. a book you picked up on a whim?

You already know about The Hundred Foot Journey. We Are Where the Nightmares Go and The Monster of Elendhaven were also both randoms that I picked up during the Halloween season that I really enjoyed.

26. a book that should be read in a foreign country?

The Hundred Foot Journey. 100%

27. a book cassian andor would like?

I still don’t know what to make of this question.

28. a book gina linetti would like?

Probably any of the steamy ones? I honestly don’t know.

29. your favorite cover art?

Probably The Ten Thousand Doors of January. It’s very pretty and flowery and the book itself is fantastic. I also really like the cover of David Mogo, Godhunter.

30. a book you read in translation?

I think The Alchemist was the only book I read that was translated from another language.

31. a book from another century?

Ha! North and South was first published in 1854. Other than that the oldest ones I’ve got were written in the 80s (Shards of Honor, Ender’s Game, and The Alchemist) or the 50s (The Two Towers).

32. a book you reread?

This year I reread the Bartimaeus Trilogy, the Temeraire novels (and then finished the last two I hadn’t read yet), Sabriel, and The King of Attolia.

33. a book you’re dying to talk about, and why?

I have clearly talked enough at this point. I think the only one that I loved that I didn’t get a chance to talk about already was Horrorstor, which is a book about haunted Ikea (basically). It’s fantastic and hilarious and spooky and now that I think about it Gina Linetti would probably like it. Oh, and The Bear and the Nightingale trilogy, which was a retelling of an old Russian tale. It was great.

TLDR; Read Sanderson’s books, Leigh Bardugo’s books, and whatever Casey McQuiston writes for the next 30 years.

#heather says what #new year's memes #2019 #books to read #recommendations #fuck yeah recs!!#this was a mistake why am i still awake #oh right because i can't shut up and talk about books for two hours #in a post that will largely probably only be read by myself a year from now #it's okay though because i like looking back on them

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libralita · 5 years

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Week of Bookblr - Top 5 Best Books of 2018

So, while I did read some really bad books there were also some really great books this year. I actually narrowed my list down to the top five books that I thought were really great. So without further ado let’s get into my top 5 books of 2018

#5 Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Shusterman always has these great premises and this book is no exception. In this world humanity has basically cured death. The only threat is overpopulation so you have these people called Scythes who’s job it is to maintain the population. Shusterman some how figured out my greatest irrational fear is immortality so that’s terrifying. Along with a creepy AI, some really great characters, and an appropriately asshole-ish villain this book deserves the number five spot. Rest in peace Shawn Dobson.

#4 Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 8 by Hiromu Arakawa:

Words cannot describe how much I love Fullmetal Alchemist the series. It probably the closest thing to a perfect series. I absolutely adored it and my favorite volume of this series was the penultimate Volume 8 (the omnibus version). First of all the van Hohenheim and Father stuff was amazing. I love seeing Mustang’s crew and the Briggs troops take over the city. It is so cool how clever these characters are. Mustang going absolutely nuts with Envy and that talk was so beautiful. Then when Mustang apologizes to Riza, I just teared up. It had my second favorite fight scene with Greed and Wrath. So awesome to see Greed and Ling work together. But it also had the best fight scene in the entire series which is when the Armstrong siblings and Curtis couple fight against Sloth. I did not know I wanted to see these four characters fight together but it was the most epic thing I have ever seen. I loved it so much. It was bad ass and powerful and SO AMAZING! I loved it.

#3 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick:

I read and listened to this on audiobook and it was unbelievable. It was a mixture of the wonderful writing and the sound design that made this story come to life. Selznick was a new to me author and I so happy that I found his books. This one especially was whimsical and charming. It had beautiful artwork. The characters felt so real and it was so heartwarming. This is something that you need to read when you’re feeling down and need to put a smile on your face. It’s a classic in the making.

#2 Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, yeah I have to put Brandon Sanderson on this list. I think the real shocker is that he isn’t number one on this list. Nothing this year really felt like it deserved the number one spot. Legion and White Sand Vol. 2 were both five star stories but I think Skyward is the best that he published this year.

The reason that this book does deserve to be on this list is the characters, especially Spensa. If you saw my Top 5 Worst of the year list you’ll see that I hate overly aggressive main characters. When I first read this book, I had the kneejerk reaction to hate Spensa. She was aggressive and violent. However, I actually really liked Spensa. I cannot believe it. Brandon Sanderson took the trope that I hate the most and made it something I liked. I’ve talked with other people who HATE this trope as well and they were shocked at how well Spensa’s character was handled.

I think there are three reasons why Spensa works. First is that she is given a logical reason for acting this way. First when she’s young it’s more child-like and then as she gets older it’s because she’s an outcast in this society for what her father did. Second, it’s a lot of talk. She generally never really physically hurts anyone. She’s never really mean. There’s no mean-spirited-ness to her. Third, and this is the most important thing: she is not automatically great at flying. Spensa loves flying and wants to do it more than anything in this world. But she is not automatically amazing at it. She has to work her butt off to become great. Which not only ties into the theme of meritocracy but also shows a character having to work for things.

I also really loved most of the side characters. Jorgen was a tad bland for me, I hope that we get to see a little more of him, maybe even add his own POV chapters. I was really sad when someone either left flight school or died (and man do a lot of characters die in this). The story is portrayed very realistically to how you’d think flight school would work. It also gave Spensa a chance to grow and realize how dangerous this path could be. M-Bot is obviously the best character. He funny, sarcastic and an obvious self-insert.

#1 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to read this absolutely brilliant book. This book is about a girl living in Nazi Germany where her adoptive family hides a Jewish man in their basement. I know, so uplifting! This story is absolutely heartbreaking (no surprise there). Towards the end I was just crying nonstop at everything that happened.

First of all Zusak really humanizes the Germans, even those who belong to the Nazi party. He doesn’t make them all evil and cruel. All of these characters are human beings. These are people who are just trying to survive and you really feel for all of them. This plays into the Death being the narrator. Death does not discriminate and thus he can have an objective point of view when it comes to what is going on. He is so alien yet relatable. Despite being Death he brings some light heartedness to this story. Zusak pulls no punches. When Liesels parents die it is the saddest thing imaginable. I am tearing up right now as I write this. Zusak made me feel like I too had lost someone. It is so heartbreaking. I am glad that Max had lived and found Liesel. It was the most beautiful thing.

This book is truly a classic. A book that will never leave me and that why it deserves the number one spot.

#2018 #Top 5 Best #Week of Bookblr #WoB #Bookblr #Scythe #Arc of a Scythe #Neal Shusterman #Fullmetal Alchemist #Hiromu Arakawa #The Invention of Hugo Cabret #Brian Selznick #skyward #Brandon Sanderson #The Book Thief #Markus Zusak

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shadowtearling · 5 years

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I wrote a post about my favorite audiobooks of the year (hey ;) check it out), so I thought it’s only fair to talk about my least favorites. This was also the first year I tracked what I thought about any of the audiobooks I listened to, so ya girl has some Opinions.

The Tearling Trilogy by Erika Johansen

Narrators: Katherine Kellgren, Davina Porter, and Polly Lee (respectively)

What? Me? Talk negatively in any capacity about this series? It’s more likely than you think. First of all, it is extremely frustrating that we get a new narrator with every book. Each of them took a different artistic approach to the story that was at odds with the other two, and had I not already loved this series with my whole entire heart and was being introduced to it for the first time, I don’t think my reaction would be nearly as positive. Also, if I were to rank the three audiobooks, the first is the best and the third is the worst. I should note that even going into book one, I already didn’t like it, so like... the ranking is technically useless. It only serves to tell you that it does NOT get better. (Lee’s male voices sounded like she lost her voice due to excessive smoking, and Row Finn deserved to sound sexier than he did! Gavin was unsexy from the beginning so that can be justified.)

Don’t touch me, I’m upset about this. I do NOT recommend.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Narrators: Emily Zoo Weller & Will Damron

Y’all... I’m having a crisis. I said after listening to American Panda by Gloria Chao that Weller was becoming a favorite and that I’d wanted more from her... without realizing I’d already listened to her work before and hated it. Looking back, I think Weller falls into a habit of making the protagonist sound like they have no spine and are eternally anxious (which isn’t unrealistic look at me), and that was definitely how Tea came across in her narration, but not necessarily how I would characterize her. I hated the constant tremble in her voice; it was annoying and jarring, often taking me out of the story. Lucky for me, this didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story, but oh man... it was a time. The Heart Forger was a better experience, so I’ll still listen to the last book (because I love Damron’s Bard, too). I’ll try Weller again in the future outside of this series, and we’ll see if she reverts back to this pattern where her protagonists are indistinguishable should you listen to her books back to back to back.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley Doyle

Narrators: Elizabeth Sastre, Saskia Maarleveld, Marisa Calin

The biggest problem I had with this audiobook is very much the same problem I had with the story: they all sound the same. What is the point of having three different narrators when you still could not distinguish one from another? Don’t get me wrong the Irish accent was fun to listen to and made for a fun, immersive experience, but literally I could not tell who’s who. How does a book’s flaws transfer to its audiobook? In any case, if you’re looking for clarification, this is not where it’s at.

This really goes back to that one post I made (did I post it? at this point idk) about how I can love a narrator based on an audiobook they did but hate the next one they do, which is exactly the case for all of these audiobooks listed. I loved Kellgren, Weller, and Maarleveld in different audiobooks but hated them in these.

A lot of others I just found extremely forgettable or were there simply to get through a book faster and did nothing to improve the story.

#yir18 #audiobook #audiobooks

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girlsinthestacks · 6 years

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Five Great Listens: A Few Favorite Audiobooks

by Stackgirl Sarah

Tyler Johnson Was Here

by Jay Coles, read by JaQwan J. Kelly

This book is heavy, powerful and enlightening. I met the author, Jay Coles, this summer at ALA and found him to be lovely and thoughtful and can’t wait to bring him to our school for students to meet (as a former middle school teacher, I think he’ll be a great speaker). We talked about how he actually weighed in on the narrator of the audiobook; he ultimately picked JaQwan Kelly, an actor and rapper, and how well he felt the audiobook had turned out.

I too was incredibly impressed at JaQwan’s narration as he convincingly conveyed the narrator’s emotions from often tearful to full of rage and everything from hurt to anger in between.

The subject matter is heavy, the poignant questions we are all struggling with these days are included and indeed this is an important book to put in the literature circles that include Dear Martin, The Hate U Give, and All American Boys. The difference for Tyler is both the range of emotions and the many scenarios he endures from multiple incident of racism and police brutality to attending protests, working through grief, and more. I was impressed by the amount in this slim book and the audio will really hook students and adults alike. Thanks Hachette Audio for delivering when I begged for this audiobook!

The Thief

by Megan Whalen Turner, read by Steve West

I am a huge fan of The False Prince (published 2012) series and also enjoyed the first Ranger’s Apprentice (published 2006). I feel like this is quite similar, and although I saw the twist coming (perhaps because of having read False Prince) it was less of a reveal to me than to many. However, still a good adventure, faraway lands type book, and, as it was published in 1996, I feel that both other series probably draw inspiration from Ms. Turner. I hear the rest of the series get even better so I’m anxious to read them.

Thanks to HarperAudio for providing me with the 2017 audio with narrator Steve West; his reading was lovely in regards to bot his polished British accent and emphasized emotions from indignation to outrage.

They Both Die in the End

by Adam Silvera, read by Michael Crouch, Robbie Daymon and Bahni Turpin

My first Adam Silvera book, and I worried it was going to be rather depressing; yet, while it was obviously sad at the end based on the title, the overall message was about the importance of living your best life every day. I truly love the premise which focuses on one bisexual boy and one gay boy who find each other- the story is lovely and genuine. This book reminded me at times of Denton Little’s Death Date by Lance Rubin as the premise in both is that characters know when they will die, but this one isn’t truly a comedy. The three voices -Michael Crouch, Robbie Daymond and Bahni Turpin (surprise, she everywhere!) -were all fabulous and I loved the emotional range of each and how Bahni played multiple supporting characters, rather than having multiple extra narrators. Bahni deliver such nuance to supporting characters; I continue to be in awe of her ability to make many different characters all unique. Finally, a fun fact-the lovely girl doing karaoke in the story was named Becky, and I think that is a nod to Adam’s writer BFF Becky Albertelli; they have a new book out with another HarperAudio entitled What If It’s Us, read by Noah Galvin and Froy Guttierez. Thanks again to HarperAudio for letting me listen!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

by Hank Green, read by Kristen Sieh and Hank Green

This book- excellent, weird, thought-provoking- I just can’t sum it up in a good blurb. I appreciate the points made about social media, the nature of politics/celebrity, and branding. I appreciated Kristen Sieh’s reading of the book because, as the narrator admits in the story, she’s flawed and knows her actions had negative consequences, but also knows there wasn’t much she could do differently. Kristen communicated that without being obnoxious, which is hard to do as she walking a narrow line of being both genuine and still likable. I also appreciated that the main character is bisexual and that is normalized. Ultimately, for anyone who is a fan of quirky thoughts, including those who like John Green, will like this book and the special bonus of the audio-Hank Green himself reads the last chapter as it’s told from a different perspective! Thanks to Listening Library Volumes App for including this audiobook-such a fun one!

Meet Cute: Some People Are Just Destined to Meet

by various authors including a personal favorite, Emery Lord, as well as amazing authors Nicola Yoon and Donielle Clayton and so many more, read by a who’s-who of impressive narrators

I cannot find a list of all the amazing narrators, but I will just say that everyone has an impressive narrator that fully conveys the beauty of each story. I love short stories, and especially love them on audio because it is easy to concentrate on them for small snippets of time. I love that this list is pretty darn diverse both in authors as well as in love story pairings from heterosexual to homosexual and including a bit of bisexuality as well.

The stories are clean enough for middle school and definitely validating that all love stories are worth telling and that all people are worth their own love stories.

Student Katie recommended that I read it, and I’m so glad I listened! A great way to get students who don’t want to commit to a long book involved. Thanks to Listening Library who added it to my Volumes app when I begged.

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anythingstephenking · 3 years

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Out of Order with Under The Dome

It seems like a lifetime ago that I cracked the spine on Carrie and started this silly journey to read King chronologically. King Khongraphical kinda sounds like a lost Kardashian sister.

In reality, I read Carrie exactly 5 years ago. Somehow reading 54 King books in 5 years simultaneously makes me feel like a failure and a winner all at once. Impressive? Sure (?) Still pretty lame that I have ~20 books left to read. For sure.

Things that have got in my way:

-Bachman

-Short Story collections

-Nightmares about clowns

-Global pandemics

But I did read all 50-some-odd books as intended; in exact order of publishing date. I finished each and every one of them, even when I was sick of nazis, child abuse, school shootings or cocaine aliens.

Until now. Boo!

Anywho, technically next on my list is Just After Sunset, a collection of short stories, but I just. can’t. finish. it.

Throughout the pandemic I have driven from Tennessee to Minnesota twice to see my family. There’s only so much Taylor Swift one can listen to in the car, and 28 hour round trips called for a King intervention. So I picked up the Under The Dome audiobook and went back to Maine. I promise (to myself) I will finish up JAS before I get to my next read (and one of my true favorites), 11/22/63.

Ok, Under The Dome. Let’s do it y’all!

I read this book in high school and my lingering memory from then is one of frustration over the source of the dome being aliens. Turns out high school me (who also thought Holden Caulfield was the epitome of cool) was not a reliable narrator, because this book is certified rad.

It really has everything that folks love about King - Maine, lots of fun characters, a little love story, some cool kiddos, drugs, a hero, a villain. The only thing it’s really missing is a spooky house, but I guess the dome can count.

The premise is simple, if complex town-shaped invisible domes that can’t be penetrated can be considered simple. Our hero, Dale Barbara, is leaving on “Dome Day” but doesn’t make it out in time cause some hottie blonde in a pickup truck doesn’t stop for him on the road. Thems the breaks, Barbie. He is also, per King-hero usual, haunted by demons. But this time around, our hero is a short order cook, not an author. Steve’s really stretching here. Our villain is James “Big Jim” Rennie, a sleazy used car salesman (lol) and also a drug kingpin? He’s operating the country’s largest meth cookhouse, somehow in Maine, because that definitely makes sense? Why not.

What transpires is a pretty fun and epic ride through the initial dome discovery (planes crashing, chipmunks cut in half), subsequent WTF reactions of everyone in Chester’s Mill, an immense power struggle between the goodies and the baddies, meth, explosions, and at the end of the day, a whole lot of people deadzo.

So yeah, the dome is placed by alien children playing some fucked up game of RISK in their alien bedrooms ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ At the end of the day it’s not super important, as with all stories such as this one, the real bad guys are the humans, not the alien kiddos. If you’ve ever watched The Walking Dead, you get it.

Julia Shumway serves as our female lead, and King doesn’t really give her much to work with, but she does get to be a writer, so good for her! To Julia’s credit, she is the one that uses her female powers of empathy to appeal to said alien children and get them to take down the dome. Too bad like everyone else is dead by then. A+ for effort!

All jokes aside, this was a great story start to finish, and was a wonderful jump back into the King pond after almost a year away. There’s a lot to chew on with this one, a a true quintessential King. Kuintessential King Kardashian anyone?

I’m not much for audiobooks, but I felt for the guy reading this one. How do you come up with enough inflections and voices for all these characters? God bless him. I am genuinely curious how long it took him to record the 34 hours of audio and how much he got paid.

King had the idea for a novel about how humans would handle being cut off from society back in the 70s, and revisited the idea in an unpublished work called The Cannibals in the 80s, about folks trapped in an apartment building that, I’d guess, decide to start eating each other. Eventually the idea evolved into Under The Dome. In an interview, King said he was inspired by the Bush-Cheney dynamics of a post 9/11 America, with the guy who was really in charge (Georgie Bushie, played by Andy Sanders in the novel) as an incompetent buffoon. It’s worth noting that Andy Sanders eventually ends up hooked on meth and conspires to help explode the town and kill most everyone. Then you’ve got Dick Cheney (aka Big Jim Rennie) pulling all the strings, picking all the fights, taking all the power, murdering, and generally being a bad guy. So in case you’re wondering if King was a fan of the Bush years, I’d go ahead and say, uh, no, no he was not.

9/10

First Line: From two thousand feet, where Claudette Sanders was taking a flying lesson, the town of Chester’s Mill gleamed in the morning light like something freshly made and just set down.

Last Line: Pity was not love, Barbie reflected… but if you were a child, giving clothes to someone who was naked had to be a step in the right direction.

Adaptations:

Oh CBS. Please stop buying the rights to King adaptations. I will say I was not singing the praises of how they handled The Stand. But that’s a rant for another day.

This show ran for THREE seasons. I watched the premiere when it aired (they really went for the drama with the whole cut-a-cow-in-half thing, I’ll give them that) and revisited the finale for fun after I finished the book. I may have found the time to rewatch all of LOST but I am definitely not taking the time to watch three full seasons of Under the Dome. First of all, Barbie is a murderer? And he killed Julia Shumway’s husband?? WTF is that all about? Barbie is our hero. Fuck off CBS.

But we do get Dean Norris, aka Uncle Hank, in some superb casting as Big Jim Renny.

THEY’RE MINERALS MARIE!

I guess there was some alien mind control, some magical amethysts, and a lot of liberties taken from the source material on the show. Let me tell you, there is nothing worse than an ambiguous ending on a cancelled show. Did the writers leave hopeful that someone would be so impressed by this that they’d pick the show back up for a 4th season?

Meanwhile, catty Stephen throwing shade on Twitter is always my favorite.

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