#bookish rambles

[bookishfeylin]

I don't have all the words for it now but. The way booktok is so hyper-consumerist. The way the "badass feminist" protagonists are more often than not white self-inserts for the audience to project onto rather than actual characters. The same repackaged "golden" male love interest with dark hair. The obligatory racism. The way 90% of the booktok girlies are white women and the few woc are used as tokens to shield the current mess that is YA/NA books from any discussions of the rampant racism. It's all connected, it all goes back to the largely white audience, somehow, but I don't have the words for it yet.

#hmmmm i dont have all the words for it yet but. this will be an essay one day. mark my words #anti booktok #publishing #on media #anti intellectualism #bookish rambles

[learnelle]

Today I went to the American Library of Paris to open an account, and I stumbled upon a random page in a random book and it couldn’t feel more relevant to me. I love pretty moments like this :’)

#bookish rambles #studyblr #studyspo #bookblr #dark acadmeia #light acadmeia #chaotic academia #books & libraries #romantic acadmeia #Paris

[bookishlyread]

In July I’m hoping to read as many mangas as I can to put a sizable dent on my unread mangas pile. These are the ones I’m hoping to read this month.

#bookishlyread #tbr #manga #booklr #bookish rambles

[emmrberks]

recently finished reading the travelling cat chronicles by hiro arikawa and i bawled my eyes out as expected. i loved reading about satoru's friends and my favorite out of them all must be yoshimine,i loved reading the progression of their friendship and how they bonded over their school's gardening club. chikako and sugi's relationship with satoru was also very interesting. i particularly found sugi to be the most interesting because of how he felt satoru was a better person than him in a lot of ways. i don't really wanna spoil too much cause i feel like the story is better read completely blind but yeah it was a very bittersweet book. after that i read schoolgirl by osamu dazai. man for a book as short as this one,it really hits you quite hard. i think i get it now when people kept saying how dazai's works makes you have an existential crisis. so yeah i'm very satisfied with these two reads

#bookish rambles #ramblings #the travelling cat chronicles #schoolgirl osamu dazai #books #book #booklr #bookblr #bookish things #bookworm #bookaddict

[ashirisu]

getting pretty sick of fantasy novels introducing character flaws that are just, “they’re fat. they like to eat sweets, isn’t that awful and stupid of them?” talk about lazy writing

#like can you please try to be more creative? #this is about spellslinger but honestly it’s pervasive across the genre #fatphobia #cw fatphobia #writeblr #writing #bookblr #bookish #readblr #reading #fantasy #sff #ley rambles

[thefangirlphenomenon]

how many books do I want to read? all of them. there is no limit. my frail body will one day be crushed under the weight of my tbr pile and my mind will rejoice at all the lives I have lived, at all the new words that I have learnt and yet there will still be more books that I wish to read. i am simply a gaping chasm that only books can fill.

#bookish #bookworm #bookreader #books & libraries #bibliophile #bookshelf #bookblr #bookaddict #reading #book review #pretentious #donna tartt #henry winter #ramblings #books and reading #books #booklr #booksbooksbooks #i want to read more books but alas exams #goodreads #the secret history #tsh

[wutheringmights]

After I finished reading The Epic of Gilgamesh today, I entered a fugue state where I sat down and read the entirety of Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce.

On the record, I have had a lifelong love and adoration for Pierce's Tortall books. I first read the Song of the Lioness quartet when I was 11, and they rewrote my brain. I love them so much. I reread them and the other Tortall books on a semi-frequent schedule.

It's been a while since I reread any of the Alanna books, if only because my sister took our shared copies when she moved out. I've been meaning to buy my own set for a long while now but haven't been able to justify the purchase. The other week, I just so happened to find the first two volumes at my local indie bookstore. I bought them immediately, as well as ordered the third and fourth book. (And discovered that the store owner knows me by name-- when I went to pick up my order, she saw me and said, Hi Frankie! I got your books over here.) (I may be spending too much money there.)

So I have been in a bit of an emotional rut these past few weeks. Work sucks. Life stinks. The temptation to run off to Tortall and curl up in the fantasy story that captivated me as a kid has never been stronger.

Ergo, I ran off to read the first book as soon as I could.

If you're looking for any critique of this book, series, or Tortall in general, I will never give it. Sure, it's problematic and dated, and in many ways imperfect, but someone else can list out all of its issues. They're all perfect to me.

Anyway, the book. I should say something about this book in particular.

One thing I appreciate about Pierce's writing is how she handles school settings in fantasy. Learning and training is so mundane. All of her heroines have to work hard and put in extra hours of study in order to improve, much less keep up with their peers. It's so normal that it circles around to being weirdly refreshing.

Also, there is still no other fantasy author who handles period talk and birth control the way Pierce does. We make fun of the trope of fantasy birth control nowadays, but I rarely see it presented as it is here: as a part of normal puberty lessons and given long before sex is in the girl's radar. And even today with the glut of YA fantasy stories out there, I still have yet to see menstruation be portrayed as frequently or as bluntly as Pierce writes it.

There was a period of time publishers really tried to push the Tortall books as straight YA, which doesn't work for that reason alone. You gotta market them to middle schoolers. They're the ones just starting puberty talks, and getting scenes like this is so good for their brains.

Moving on: I fucking love these characters. Alanna was an icon of brash, temperamental heroines that have shaped my taste to this day. I love how even in the first book, Jon is kinda shitty. I adore George Cooper. Talk about a taste maker the way this man sets a standard.

I just can't be coherent when it comes to any Tortall books. I have no thoughts. Head empty. I am going to binge the rest of this series as quickly as I can before my library book comes in. Then normal book content will resume.

Before I go, I need to talk about the book covers.

Growing up, my sister and I had these covers:

Which, god. I love them. The black is striking. The art is incredible. Alanna looks so good. They were the perfect pocket-size too. I was going to buy the same edition for my copies, but instead I got the 40th anniversary reprints:

Not bad at all! These books have had some seriously bad covers, and these look great! Very anime, which will appeal to the 11 year olds who need to have their socks rocked by this series.

But, man. I really miss those black covers. One day I will splurge and buy a second set of them just so that I can stare at the art.

#having a not normal time on tumblr dot come right now #alanna my beloved #if you were a deity i would worship you #me rambling #me reading #bookish #books and reading #books #bookblr #Alanna: the first adventure #the song of the lioness #tortall #tamora pierce

[cafeblossomss]

thank you to every author who releases in paperback

#mine #random thoughts #text post #charlie rambles #bookbookbook #books and coffee #bookish #book review #book #books and libraries #books and reading #booklover #bookworm #books #book aesthetic #bookblr #booklr #books & libraries #bibliophile

[starrynightsxo]

"tfota is just another enemies to lovers"

Oh yes, because holly black doesn't go from making us loathe the main character's love interest with reasons that are completely valid but reasoning for it being even deeper that, to making us remain in a state of ambiguity over his intentions with her, HOWEVER, maintaining a swiftly-written, intriguing plotline without disregarding the main character's need for crucial character development. She also does not only artfully depict colossal waves of emotion AND emotionlessness from the aformentioned love interest without any dual POV writing, never once portraying the almost fatalistic confliction of both characters, who do not inadvertently end up pining for each other. Of course, the couple both do not know each other so intensely that there are any sorts of miscommunication which is not illustrsted with a scene that breaks something inside the readers that they themselves did not know could be broken. These types of scenes do not appear frequently in the series. The books are so worthless that the readers do not end up threatening to throw hands at the mere thought of the main character and the love interest's relationship suffering even the smallest of inconvieniences, BECAUSE it's obviously just another enemies to lovers guys.

#rambling #sorry idk if this actually makes sense #if u didnt get this lol I mean the opposite of everything I just said 😭😭 #love tfota 🙏🙏 #literally so special to me #books #bookish #the cruel prince #booklr #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #cardan #jude #tfota #the folk of the air #the folk of air #tfota lover #jurdan #judecardan #jude x cardan #cardan x jude #tfota rant #the cruel prince aesthetic #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #the stolen heir #the prisoners throne #holly black #reading #jenny anna jude the gals basiccally all my tfota girlies atp

[matrivers]

i was told to write down my top three favorite book characters and i realized they fall into two categories:

Asexual older sister to a gay & mentally ill younger brother who is also mentally ill but has to be totally fine because of The Circumstances™

Evelyn Hugo

#mat rambles #bookish #books #tori spring #tori solitaire #solitaire alice oseman #alice oseman #bianca di angelo #the titans curse #rick riordan #evelyn hugo #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #taylor jenkins reid #yes #bianca di angelo is ace #because i said so #asexual #bisexual #lgbtqia #lgbtq books

[bookishfeylin]

”How dare you critique Feysand using real world standards and say Rhysand is abusive!” Says the person writing essays on Tamlin being abusive and Feylin being doomed from the beginning

#Get these people outta my inboxxxxxxx #😭 #bookish rambles #Feylin #pro feylin #anti feysand #acotar analysis #anti acomaf #Anti acotar

[books-and-cookies]

i’m so glad i taught myself to DNF books and to not feel even one ounce of guilt over it, because i lost so much time painfully getting through books i hated, just because i didn’t want to leave them unfinished

now? i yeet that baby without a second thought, i don’t have time for books that don’t make me happy

#mary rambles #books #reading #booklr #bookish thoughts

[emmrberks]

i'm currently reading we are okay by nina lacour and it makes me feel empty but in a comforting kind of way if that makes any sense

#we are okay #books #book #book nerd #bookworm #bookish thoughts #nina lacour #bookish rambles #bookblr #bookish things

[luvvyd0vey]

I totally understand that a lot of people get serotonin from just buying books for a physical TBR list but also that must be sooo much money?!

Personally I get the book(s) from the library and if I liked them THEN I’ll buy it so I can reread it and have a physical collection of the books I really enjoyed. I feel like it saves a lot and makes me way more proud with my little book collection.

This also helps support your local library!

It just makes more sense than wasting money on a book you might not like when you could save and buy a special edition of a favourite book or something.

Especially when I see those TikToks where someone turns around every book they haven’t read on their bookshelves and it’s it ends up being MOST of them.

No hate if buying books is your thing though, cause I also feel soo satisfied every time I leave Waterstones with anything, but just a thought I had.

#books #bookblr #booklr #booktok #bookstagram #bookish #bookworm #book buying #reading #books and reading #books and literature #books & libraries #public libraries #support libraries #librarians #libraries are the best #bookshelf #bookshelves #book rambles #book rant #rant #rant post #mini rant #rants n rambles #on books #thoughts #my thoughts #raw thoughts #flow of consciousness

[merrymorningofmay]

no but the way rust named his kid sophia.......... as in wisdom........ that little nerd..........

#weeps. he was a bookish type before the horrors wasn't he #mari rambles #true detective #rust cohle

[wutheringmights]

I finished rereading The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce a couple of days back. I already talked about the first book in a post that garnered more attention than it deserved. I guess we were all happily reminiscing about the menstruation scenes together, or Tortall fans are so starved for content they (we) will reblog anything.(Understandable. I too am starved for a thriving Tortall fandom.)

I'm too lazy to make separate posts about each book, so we're just going to do a mega post covering the second, third, and fourth book.

Unlike last time, I will be giving a little criticism to this series. I still love it endlessly, but there were a few things about the prose I thought was interesting that I want to talk about a bit.

So, without further ado~

In the Hand of the Goddess

I think this one is my favorite one, despite how rushed the plot it. It contains all of my favorite plot points, like awkward romances with George and Jon, attending knight lessons, and a little summer war. Fun stuff.

But it definitely feels rushed. I really wish someone told Pierce to make this a 12 book series, expanding on Alanna's years at the castle. It would have gone so far to better develop the romances and the friendships in these books.

I am fascinated by what Pierce chose to skim over. Characters would die or kiss for the first time off screen, with the prose resuming with Alanna reacting to it. It demonstrates an understanding of character work that I personally adore and try to emulate in my own writing-- the real bones of a story being in how characters respond to fantastic events as opposed to the fantastic events themselves.

Also, the whole veil spell Roger cast in objectively stupid, and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible. You're telling me that Roger used magic to make Alanna lose interest in doing anything about the obviously evil things he was doing? That's fucking hilarious. You know an editor came back to Pierce and asked her to come up with a reason why Alanna wasn't just going to spring into action at the first sign of Roger trying to kill her, only for Pierce to come up with this. It's so silly. I love it.

Woman Who Rides Like A Man

Did this book age poorly? Yes, but not as badly as I remembered. That's not a stirring defense, and it's really not meant to be.

The Bahzir are a mess of Orientalism, and Pierce definitely deserves criticism for not only the way she wrote them but for the ways in which she frames their cultural practices as something that needs to be fixed. Having Alanna want to force them to change their culture to suit her beliefs is not a great look for both the character and the writer. And that's not even getting into the whole assimilation plotline.

But I did enjoy Pierce's attempts to expand on the definition of womanhood, especially as a part of Alanna learning to embrace femininity. There is this running thread in these last two books of Alanna learning about all the different ways to be a woman and choosing for herself what her gender means to her. It's not done particularly well, and anyone looking for a revolutionary examination of gender roles and identity is going to be sorely disappointed. But there's an attempt here that I can't help but appreciate.

This book is also where Pierce starts to slow the plot down, which lends it to having the most reasonable pacing out of the bunch. That being said, it's also the book where the lack of development for a bunch of the side characters start to hurt. I really wish Gary or Raoul joined Alanna in the desert. Raoul gets his moment in the sun with the Protector of the Small books, but Gary remains largely forgettable. In fact, I spent this entire read-through convinced this man dies at the end of the last book, if only because I can't remember where he appears in any of the other books.

Lioness Rampant

This book somehow has the improved pacing of the third book while still feeling rushed. The quest for the Dominion Jewel really should have been it's own book, if only to give Thayet and Buri more room for development. Thayet in particular really needs her moment to shine, especially when she continues to be an important character in the other series.

But do you know who did get a lot of screen time? Liam.

Remembered shit about this guy before going into this book. I could only vaguely recalled disliking him as a kid, but not as much as I venomously hated Jon. (Speaking of which-- I love the way this man is realistically shitty. Him getting dumped by Alanna is always my favorite scene.) But Liam? Fuck that guy. Holy shit. I give full applause to Pierce for portraying the important milestones every girl goes through growing up, which includes having a situationship that is so shitty that it becomes essential character development.

Roger's return feels very... cheesy? I think Alex should have stepped up to be the final villain on the story. Unlike Roger, Alex was Alanna's friend. They have history. The betrayal would have imbued that final fight with so many more emotions than it ultimately had. I also would have liked Alanna to have at least meaningfully talked to Alex sometime before the climax.

Honestly, it's impressive how reactive Alanna is as a character in the last half of the book. She doesn't seek out how to stop Roger's plan, or fix Thom, or anything. Other characters make plans and she just... waits for something to go wrong.

That being said, by virtue of Alanna's relationships with George, Liam, and Jon all happening sometime in this plot, this book becomes a good place to look to get the full berth of how Pierce handles romances. Which, I love her approach. The romances are never over the top or, for lack of a better word, too romantic. It's very down to earth, with characters dating, marrying, or breaking up for realistic reasons.

Jon and Alanna were friends who broke up because they had different life plans. Liam and Alanna broke up for having fundamentally different values. As much as I bitch about how shitty Jon and Liam are, they're not cartoonishly evil. They're just a little shitty the way most of your exes will be. Jon and Liam are men could find love with someone else. They just aren't suited for Alanna.

Meanwhile, the most romantic things George does are wait for her and be supportive. He doesn't fight or get territorial. He makes his feelings clear, then waits for Alanna's cues. Alanna definitely loves him, but she ends up with him in the end because their lifestyles and core beliefs meld together. There's no grand romantic gesture or whirlwind affairs. They are just a good pair.

I have read stories with far heavier focuses on romance, and none of those couples feel as perfect as Alanna and George. Those stories prioritize all the gooey moments over showing why the main couple should get together. For how little romantic interactions they have, you believe these two could have a successful marriage. Perfect stuff.

---

Over all, I really enjoyed rereading these books. For all my griping, I still love the story. I love Alanna. She's a character who is fundamental to my soul. No matter where I am in life, I will always want to open these books and find her again, to walk back into Tortall and join her on her quest to be a lady knight.

My copies of the series come with forewards from a previous edition. In one of them, Pierce wrote that this series started off as an adult fantasy story that was much darker and edgier. I need to know what that story looks like, what happened in it. Pierce can claim as she wants that she hardly remembers what it looks like, but I refuse to believe that. Release the unedited first draft, Pierce. I am begging you.

#it probably has on screen gay sex for thom and roger #anyway that's the alanna series. the library book i ordered is still not here yet so now I'm off to find another short-ish book to read #this book better come in before june or else i will lose it. i am putting off reading the illiad for this #me rambling #bookish #books and reading #books #bookblr #tortall #song of the lioness #tamora pierce #me reading