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corrodedcoffins-blog · 26 days

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Out Of Your Comfort Zone

masterlist

note: the original ask said fantasy but i dont read fantasy at all, so i went with a silly little romance novel i loved, which i think still displays that opposite thing the anon wanted. so i hope this is okay!!

warnings: my writing while i'm high (rambling that can be disguised as descriptive writing)

word count: 1.2 k

♡ summary: During a bookstore date Y/n's taste in books gets Spencer out of his comfort zone.

♡ Spencer Reid x fem!reader

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Finally, Spencer had a weekend off, where there was no chance of a case coming in at the last minute. And it’s not like Y/n hated Spencer’s job, she knew he did a lot of good. But it was hard sometimes when they would go a few weeks without sleeping next to each other.

It was the perfect morning to their perfect day, they had just come from a local art exhibit pop-up/farmers market. It reminded Y/n of Notting Hill, of course from the movie but also from when she lived in London while studying abroad. But now the couple was off to the local bookstore, they had looked at the farmers market, but they were all travel books, the irony was not lost.

Them both loving books was what got them to the second date, their first being filled with a debate about ‘modern classics’ and what classifies them. A topic they both clearly had a lot of opinions on as it took up the whole date that they hadn’t asked all the first date questions, so they needed the second date.

And though their taste in books were quite opposite, there was a small overlap that was home to Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, The Bell Jar, and many others. But that was Spencer’s main area, classics, Y/n only read the feminist classics.

So when they went to the bookshop, the two would split up until Spencer finished looking in his favourite sections, since he could read so much faster than the girl it took her about three times as long to look through the fiction section.

Spencer was making his way to her now, stopping to read the backs of a couple books that interested him, even picking one up to buy. He walked past the isles of the fiction and romance sections, finally coming to a halt at the ‘J’s where Y/n was now. She didn’t even register his presence, too wrapped up in reading the summary of the blue and yellow book in her hand.

Spencer didn’t want to startle the girl, so he walked past her, her eyes rising from the book in hand to look at who she thought was a random person just browsing the store like her, eyes lighting up when she sees it’s Spencer.

“Honey, what’d you find?” She questions, Spencer assumes it was a rhetorical question since she didn’t give him enough time before she cuts in grabbing the second book from the stack in his arms, “I was gonna suggest this one to you! A subscriber said it was really good!”

Y/n was a booktuber, when she told Spencer that he obviously had no idea what that was, but a simple explanation later and he was caught up. And after a year of dating, she finally mentioned him in a video when she was talking about ‘Normal People’ . It was one of the books they argued could be considered a modern classic on their first date. And she mentioned his taste in books and now her followers left recommendations for him in her

comments, mostly on instagram when she posted him from time to time.

“Yeah. I was really impressed with another book by this author, her description of the caste system in India and the impact it has mentally was so moving.” “I remember you reading that. I’m not good at reading those types of books, but I love when you tell me all about them.” Her soft words brought red to Spencer’s checks while he hid his hands around her waist.

Recovering from the girl’s flirting, even after a year he still reacted the same to her words, his head rose from the spot in her neck to look at the book she had been looking at when he found her.

“What did you find?” “Oh, I saw a girl say it was a good book in her review and I want to do a video on age gap books since so many people ask.” Pacing the books over to him when he signalled his hand forward for it, turning it over to read the front, ‘Part of Your Word’ by Abby Jimenez in large letters was written across the front. It wasn’t a fairly large book, it could take him maybe five minutes.

Y/n was now turned to read more titles, stopping at any that caught her eye. All the while, Spencer was stood of to the side reading. It had actually only taken the man four minutes when he checked his watch. Proud of himself, he looks up to see that his girlfriend was apparently watching him, for how long, he didn’t know.

With a smile on his face, he asks, “What?” “Spencer. Did you just read my book? Before I even bought it?” She replied with a hand going to her hip and a jokey tone. “Well, first of all, you aren’t buying it bec-” “Why was it bad?”

Y/n often spoke before thinking, causing her to cut off people, Spencer was used to it he thought it was cute and she always made it her mission to not interrupt when he was really passionate about a topic.

“Because, I’m buying.” “Hon, no you bought last time.” “I don’t mind.” “I do.”

Spencer moved on from this conversation, they both know how it will end. Spencer will in fact pay, Y/n will say he didn’t have to, Spencer would say he doesn’t mind, she’ll say she does mind, and they repeat it when they pay for lunch after the bookshop.

“But I did read it.” “Don’t spoil, but what did you think?” She had watched a couple booktok reviews on it so she knew it was a little spicy, something she knew Spencer didn’t read a lot of, if ever.

“I think it was good. I liked how they talked about family relationships and verbal abuse in relationships, I think it was done well and it brought a lot more sense of realism. And I liked the leads, I relate to Daniel more than I thought, his dedication to making things work.. I won’t spoil it for you but- um yeah. And I liked the setting.”

His words sent a loving smile to rest on the girl’s face, she loved nothing more than to hear Spencer talk. His voice was deep yet not at the same time, and his mannerisms were adorable to her. And hearing him actually read and enjoy a book from the romance section that was written in the last few decades, was a big step for him. He didn’t even know about Twilight when they met.

“I’m glad you like it.” She said, truthfully, “I’ll be sure to mention that in my video.” “You don’t have to.” “You just don’t want Penny to see the video and by extension Derek.”

Their conversation continued while they waited in line, holding each other's hand while Y/n looks up to speak. They were interrupted when it was then their turn, Spencer paying like he said he would, and again at lunch, much to the girl’s disapproval.

“You don’t have to pay.” “I don’t mind.” “I do.”

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x fem reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid fic

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belle-keys · 2 years

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Listen I'm all for The Representation as yall know, but I saw some booktubers (you know the ones) saying The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was lacking because Addie wanted to "travel the world" so badly and yet basically only went to North America and Europe, but like-

Addie is literally a 17th-century white woman from France like of frickin course she thinks Europe is the whole world she's literally the definition of unwoke and eurocentric like did yall legitimately think she was gonna vacation in Trinidad or India or Nigeria or something????

#i'm not defending the eurocentricism per se #but did yall really think this white af woman from a white af imperialist nation #was gonna actually give af about The Coloured People of the globe #books and literature #the invisible life of addie larue #addie larue #ve schwab #victoria schwab #book blog #books #bookblr #booktok

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meowmageddon · 9 months

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August Reading Check-In!

Is it a little late? Yes, mind your business 😹

I want to move my bookish updates back here since I'm not about training Elon Musk's AI. This update is gonna be a mix of mini-reviews, the current reading list, recent acquisitions, and a few upcoming releases to watch out for.

It's gonna be long, so keep reading if you dare. Or jump around to the bits you like!

Mini Reviews for July's Reads

Black Ghost of Empire by Kris Manjapra - 5 stars

A look at slavery and the emancipation processes across North America and the Caribbean in particular, as well as some of the colonization of Africa itself. Examines the way emancipations prioritized compensating slave-owners for lost "property" rather than restoring justice and reciprocity to the enslaved people who lost their labor, lives, and histories. Super informative, super vital, because they didn't teach this in US history. Just be prepared for an emotionally tough read.

The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu (The Dandelion Dynasty #3) - 3 stars

This is where the series finally ran into pacing issues for me, as many multi-POV epic fantasy series do. Mostly in the latter half. We had a very high-stakes storyline getting a slim chapter between multiple thick chapters about an all new setting and characters with a much lighter tone. I know heavy stuff needs to be broken up, but this was more frustrating than cathartic.

I am keeping in mind that TVT is technically the first half of what was supposed to be the final book, but the trilogy became a tetralogy because a 2000-page book would be ludicrous. Still, I feel it could've been broken down further, and we really need to allow more BIPOC writers the freedom to have sweeping, several-book-long series the way white authors can.

Get In Trouble by Kelly Link - 4 stars

These stories were quite a ride. Many featured messy people, places, and things. If we're being honest, the rating could bump up to 5 stars on a reread. There's just so much to unpack, and I'd need a closer reading, like studying scripture.

Current August Reads

• Trans-Galactic Bike Ride ed. by Lydia Rogue - As the subtitle reads, it's "Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers," written by queer authors. Technically I've actually already finished reading it, but I'll post about it separately at a later time!

• Babel by R.F. Kuang - BookTube's darling about a department at Oxford dedicated to translation and working silver- and translation-based magic for the glory of the empire. Problem is, some of the students and faculty are people from places on the receiving end of the empire's injustice. Down to the last 100 pages of this one!

• Speaking Bones by Ken Liu (The Dandelion Dynasty #4) - Despite my frustrations with the third book's pacing, I wouldn't dream of DNFing the series. The world is so lush and full, and the characters endearing. But there's another 1000 pages ahead, so this'll be on Current Reads lists for a while. 💀

• Lone Women by Victor LaValle - A young woman leaves her family home in flames and seeks a new life homesteading in Montana, a mysterious trunk in tow. I read LaValle's The Ballad of Black Tom a few years back, and really needed to read more of his stuff.

• Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Vol. 1 ed. by Hope Nicholson - Was very excited to see this at the library, as I've wanted to read it for a long time. The stories vary in genre, and I believe there are illustrated stories, individual art pieces, and even a song or poem by Buffy Sainte-Marie in addition to regular comics.

Recent Acquisitions

• Loot by Tania James - I actually won this print copy in a Goodreads giveaway! This is why I encourage those who are able to enter for anything they're interested in; it can happen to YOU lmao. Anyways, it's a book about a boy in India who constructs an automaton tiger for the Sultan, only to have it seized in war by the British. He goes to England to try to retrieve it.

• Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas - My August Book of the Month pick. I enjoyed her debut, The Hacienda, and look forward to this one. Described with "Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border." I've seen reviewers describe it more as magial realism/historical fiction with vampires, rather than horror, though.

Upcoming Releases

No guarantee I'll pick these up... but here's some cool stuff coming out in the next month or so!

• From A Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi (August 29th) - Third collection of 40 short stories celebrating the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, this time inspired by elements of Return of the Jedi! I realized I still have to pick up the second collection, from The Empire Strikes Back, oh no!

• The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (September 5th) - YA horror featuring a trans autistic teen protagonist who can commune with the dead. He attempts to escape an arranged marriage, is sent to a Sanitorium & Finishing School, and is urged by the institution's ghosts to expose its dark secrets.

That's all for now! If you read all this... just know that I love you. 🥰

#Kitty's Reading List #long post #books #TBR #August 2023 tbr

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prabhatprakashan12 · 9 months

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Song of The Trinity: The Rise of Kali

Sai Chandravadhan Bommadevara writes under the pen name of Vadhan. He is an author with four published books. He intends to unravel the Stories, mysteries, poignances and wonders of India, one thriller at a time.

While his first book, ‘Shatru', a prequel to "Song of the Trinity", a fantasy series, is a thriller based on the Puranas, Upanishads, and Vedas. His second book, ‘Agniputr', is based on a single stanza from Yajurveda. His third book, ‘Fear of God', deals with corruption and vigilantism. His fourth book, ‘The Vimana Transcripts, is a thriller based on ancient Indian temples and is rated as one of the five top thrillers of 2021 by the Indian Booktuber.

Read more : Song of The Trinity: The Rise of Kali

A lawyer by qualification, Vadhan Started his career as a constitutional lawyer, working and learning with some of the top lawyers in India. In 2000, he transitioned to regulatory compliance services. Currently, Vadhan is an executive director in one of the four largest consulting firms, leading regulatory compliance services for multinational and transnational corporations across more than 70 countries.

Acknowledgments

This book started it all. And here we are at last, bringing it into this world. Let me acknowledge the genesis for this work. It was a simple request for a bedtime story from my little kids. Now, my daughter's moved to Australia to set up her own family and my son is a budding actor, lawyer and what not. The story grew up too. It's no longer a bedtime story. It is supported by no less than the Vedic masters. I have relied on the Rig Veda, Upanishads, Ayyavazhi, Puranas and many other ancient texts to write this one.

Have no doubt, it's a fantasy thriller based in the present day. But there are worlds in it, mythical creatures, Gods and demons and a supreme evil. In short, it's a fun, fast paced book to read.

I have to acknowledge the extraordinary knowledge and insight of the ancient masters. Every word had a meaning, every sentence symbolized their intellect. Thank you O great ones, from the bottom of my heart.

I will fail in my duty if I don't recount the extraordinary support from my wife, Sonia Venugopal. She is, as I keep saying in every book of mine, my toughest critic but for this one, she

put in her best so far. She read the various drafts that came out a million times, critiquing them with the precision and intellect that only she possesses. Need I add, she is a Virgo. The crowning glory of her contribution to this work is the extraordinary cover that she designed for it. It helped that she is a graphic designer but the cover encapsulates the core of the book so beautifully and it only goes to prove how she owned the work and put her best into it. My heartfelt gratitude. What will I be without you? I am so blessed.

When I reached out to Suhail Mathur, my literary agent, friend and guide in the world of books that the manuscript was finally ready, to be honest, he didn't like the title for the work that I had thought of at that time. Not one bit!

We tried many things until it hit me that the most obvious choice for the book should and must be 'Song of the Trinity'. It cannot be anything else. When you read it, you'll know why. He liked it too. Which is important to me. Suhail took the time to read through the book and give me his inputs

Read more:The Rise of Kali

#amazon #online #freedelivery #youtube #books #ordernow #BUY NOW

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nerdragon · 3 years

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The fact that people understand and like Jonathan / Sebastian Morgenstern but not Jessamine Lovelace is always disheartening to me....

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rrkreads · 3 years

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July Reading Wrap-up 📚 - Where I go rogue on my July TBR goals💖🌞

#julyreading julywrapup readingwrapup bookreviews bookishviews books bookreading mystery romance fantasy india indianbooktuber booktubers re

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fazilareads · 1 year

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Bookish Prompts BOOKISH PROMPTS WITH @The_Fools_Tale

Bookish Prompts is my internet version of a fun interview with other book lovers. Today’s Bookish Prompts episode features Andrew, also known as The Fools Tale on Instagram and YouTube. Andrew is one of the wonderful people I met on bookstagram from the fantasy community. His bookstagram photos are incredible, and he recently launched a booktube with entertaining content and videos. He is a…

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#Andrew Watson #book blog #Book Blogger #Book Blogger India #Book Blogger UAE #Book Blogging #Book Recommendation #Bookish Prompts #Bookish Prompts with Andrew Watson #Bookish Prompts With Bookstagrammer #Bookish Prompts with Booktuber #Booktuber UK #Fazila Reads

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ashaseth · 4 years

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Writing Inspiration #41

As writers, we are always concerned about one thing – is the writing good enough? Should I change this or modify that? Should I remove this or add that? These thoughts plague every writer’s mind and one is never at ease, no matter how good a piece of work is produced.

While it isn’t wrong to be wanting to be right all the time, we ought to remember that it is a mine full of debris that has…

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richincolor · 3 years

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Reading Beyond the U.S.

Earlier this year I saw a thought-provoking video from a BookTuber named Saajid considering the question, "Is the book community American-centric?" I've been pondering things Saajid mentioned in the video for several months. On our blog we're definitely trying to read and recommend books that are from a wide variety of creators, but when I examine my personal reading history, the books are indeed mostly American-centric. Over the past few years, I've read a few titles in the list below, but I’m starting to make more of an effort to read books from other areas of the world.

One resource I found helpful in my search for titles is the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative. It led me to Here the Whole Time which is a book I really enjoyed. The author, Vitor Martins, lives in Brazil and the book was translated from Portuguese by Larissa Helena. I would love to see more translations getting attention. One of the organizations trying to make that happen is Project World Kid Lit. They have many helpful resources for finding, discussing, and encouraging the use of translated children's and YA literature.

Here are titles of books set in countries beyond the U.S. and the Global North with a few links to resources to find more. Some of the authors no longer live in the places where these books are set, but grew up there. If you have other titles to recommend or know of other resources for finding International titles, please let us know.

South Korea - b, Book and Me by Kim Sagwa translated by Sunhee Jeong & Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ryan Estrada & Hyung-Ju Ko North Korea - Every Falling Star: The Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea* by Sungju Lee and Susan Elizabeth McClelland India - I was excited to find an article by Prasanna Sawant at The (Curious) Reader which traces the development of Indian YA literature and includes many titles. The site focuses on Indian lit, but also includes other world literature for all ages. Sri Lanka - Swimming in the Monsoon Sea* by Shyam Selvadurai Malaysia - Kampung Boy by Lat & The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature (Lists from 2017-2018) Ghana - Aluta* by Adwoa Badoe Zimbabwe - Hope is Our Only Wing* by Rutendo Tavengerwei Ivory Coast - Aya: Life in Yop City Marguerite Abouet Bahamas - Learning to Breathe* by Janice Lynn Mather Central America - The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border* by Juan Pablo Villalobos Trinidad and Tobago - Dreams Beyond the Shore* by Tamika Gibson Argentina - Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez Dominican Republic - Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez Brazil - Where We Go From Here* by Lucas Rocha & Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins both translated by Larissa Helena Multi-national - Girlhood: Teens Around the World by Masuma Ahuja

*They're on my TBR, but I don't have enough knowledge about the titles to recommend them or not.

#global literature #YA Lit

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myromancebooksworld · 4 years

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These are the 31 books I read last month!

I gave a 2.5 stars to “Passion & Venom” by Shanora Williams. I think it said it all ...

I gave 3 stars to those books:

- “Neighborly” by Katrina Jackson - “The Bloody Bride” by Bree Jackson - “The Kind Worth Killing” by Peter Swanson - “In The Middle Of Somewhere” by Roan Parrish - “Lord Holt Takes A Bride” by Vivienne Lorret - “Reste 2″ by Cassandra Augustin - “Hostile Illusions” by India R. Adams

I gave 4 stars to those ones:

- “Wild At Heart” by K.A. Tucker - “Deathless” by Anne Malcom - “Loving Mr Cane” by Shanora Williams - “Her Grave Secrets” by Kendra Elliot - “Gone To Her Grave” by Melinda Leigh - “The Coppersmith Farmhouse” (it was a little disappoitment for me) - “Bless Her Dead Heart”: I was scared to read it for a long time ... shame for me because if was good! - “The Body Of The Crime” by Jennifer Chase - “The Goal” by Elle Kennedy (not my favorite of the serie) - “Walking On Her Grave” by Melinda Leigh - “The Predator” by RuNyx - “Someday, Someday” by Emma Scott - Dead In Her Tracks” by Kendra Elliot

The 4.5 stars:

- “That Second Chance” by Meghan Quinn - “The Last Time I Lied” by Riley Sager: since I’m not a horror fan, his books were not for me even though I was very attracted to them. Since this one seemed to be the less with horror, I tried to read and ... I LOVED it!!! It was a more a thriller with some (little) “scary” parts but I get thought them without any problem ... And the ending ... OMG!!! - “The Chase” by Elle Kennedy

My 5 stars :

- “The SIlent Waters” by Brittainy C. Cherry (God I LOVE this serie and this author!) - “The Kiss Thief” by L.J. Shen - “The Husband Gambit” by L.A. Witt - “One To Watch” by Kate Stayman-London: the book of the summer that most of the booktubers read and love! - “The Summer Of Us” by Lily Morton - “The Crying Season” by D.K. Hood: God I LOVE the serie! - “Tracks Of Her Tears” by Melinda Leigh

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grandhotelabyss · 3 years

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—John David Ebert, Giant Humans, Tiny Worlds: Adventures in the Universe of Graphic Novels

Speaking of British Invasion comics, as we were yesterday, and of Justin Murphy’s Salon des Cancelés, as we were last week, I give you this quotation—and I semi-apologize for the bad phone scan, but I’m not typing all that out.

Ebert is a popular YouTube theorist and an author of both traditionally- and independently- published books. I first heard of him only last month, and then I noticed he was ubiquitous on the independent intellectual side of the online world. I even heard reference to him in the polite purlieus of BookTube—amid the theory, he has good videos on Pynchon and McCarthy. Has he actually been cancelé? As far as I can tell, it’s more that he doesn’t engage with culture on the now-requisite sociopolitical level. Like certain old-fashioned liberals, he both talks to anyone of any ideological persuasion and takes a hard line on free speech; but his own politics, as far as I can tell, are simply what “liberal” used to be, when liberalism was much more open to material like Jung than it is currently, now that the main agenda appears to be gentrifying Marxism and separatist identity politics for the benefit of corporatism, not that they didn’t used to manipulate headier stuff to similar ends (power does what it can with what it finds to hand—no art or philosophy is perfectly safe, though no art or philosophy is totally compromised either).

Anyway, alert to signs of life in independent publishing, I decided to check out one of his many books, and where better to begin than the one on graphic novels, a special if vexed interest of mine. He interprets the graphic novel—an evolved comic book that, like other evolving lifeforms, grew a spine—as a typical product of a late-stage civilization, a visual narrative about “the soul’s conquest of evil.” Ebert adduces precursors like The Books of the Netherworld in 1500 BCE Egypt and the palm-leaf manuscripts of the late Mughal period in India, periods when an exhausted high culture’s final expressions came in the forms of lively picture stories. He further argues that the graphic novel is an essentially adolescent form concerned with “the quest of the self to construct an identity in an age of liquid signifiers,” which fits with the well-known fact that the two most prominent genres of American graphic novel are the memoir and the superhero saga, both of them focusing on the bildung of a young protagonist. In his “World Clock” survey of 24 graphic novels, Ebert makes one excursion to Europe—to talk Moebius—and two to the U.S. indie scene—Charles Burns, Chris Ware (whose Jimmy Corrigan he overpraises as the graphic Ulysses)—but he mostly dwells on the Anglo-American mainstream and the superhero genre he interprets as a psychological immune system of postmodern myths to guard the metropole. Interested only in the post-1970s so-called Dark Age of Superhero Comics, the epoch of the genre’s maturation, Ebert sees the superhero as protecting and assembling a postmodern world in the ruins of those modern master narratives in which no one can believe:

In a way, every graphic novel is always already situated on the inside of the world space that Thomas Pynchon, as a great visionary artist foreseeing what was coming, had already imagined in his novel Gravity’s Rainbow, a work of literature that forms a transition—in a manner similar to the way that Don Quixote was transitioning from the horizon of the Medieval world to that of Modernity—from the world space of the utopian novel to the crumbling world ruins of the graphic novel which situates its various giant humans amongst the strewn rocks and shattered rubble of its collapsed structures.

He unsparingly observes the rise and fall of the ’80s generation writers, as it’s clear that the work of Moore, Miller, and Gaiman isn’t by the 21st century what it once was—the form’s adolescence strikes again. (I was surprised by the book’s relative lack of Morrison, represented only by Arkham Asylum and We3, given the shared ground of occultism.) Ebert has a habit of imposing theory on his chosen critical objects rather than unfolding significance from the specificity of the text—is Watchmen really about the resurfacing of Meso-American cultural practices according to which the mask consumes its wearer?—but he’s always psychedelic and often gets the balance right.

The passage above interests me because, though I’ve never been a Heideggerean, it finds that uncanny core in Sandman that Gaiman never really reached again. Also because I once wrote a paper on the politics of Sandman that centered on “Thermidor.” This was 2007, and I couched it as a critique of American liberalism’s Bush-era self-congratulating self-designation as “the reality-based community.” In my reading, Gaiman exposes this faith in reason’s untrammeled access to reality as itself a modern myth—a deadly one at that. On the other hand, Gaiman’s overall point in Sandman is that the new god is a better (because more humane) one than the old, so the Enlightenment faith in progress, and the Christian narrative it arguably reprises, survives in his epic. I think the line in my paper went something like this: “To oppose the Terror is not to oppose the Revolution.” I wouldn’t put it that way now, but I also wouldn’t rule out a priori our making a future better than the past.

#john david ebert #comics #graphic novels #literary criticism #neil gaiman

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frenchibi · 3 years

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hey, so i thought maybe you could tell us a little what you're currently interested in? ♥ like, what have you been doing during quarantine, are there any new shows you watched that you enjoyed a lot, did you maybe take up a new hobby or something? :)

Hello!! I did not forget this lovely message, I was just in no state to answer (who’d have thought that recovery from surgery is, y’know, taxing) BUT I’M BACK NOW and ohhhh do you know what you’ve unlocked by asking me this question...?? I cannot give you a comprehensive list but I can tell you a couple of the things that I got into during quarantine, and the things I am currently super passionate about! My memory is, uh, not great but thankfully I do journal and write down things so I am confident I can answer this for you :D (plus I do always love recommending things so - aaa??? Thank you for this ask????)

Putting things under a cut because I physically cannot chill but if tl;dr I want you to take away one thing from this it’s that everyone should read Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Thoughts below.

(Also. I would love to go off about my interests more on here but am not sure what... shape that should ideally take? Text posts? IDK pls give me suggestions, help me out?? dfhasjkldf)

Movies

I have not seen many, but I can and will scream about The Old Guard over and over because... it was everything I never knew I needed in an action movie?? I don’t reblog many things about it anymore but I love love LOVED it!!

Also, upon recommendation by one of my friends from India, I have been delving into the world of Bollywood movies and WOW Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was so fucking good??? idk if it’s on Netflix in every country but it is in mine and I highly recommend it. It’s thoughtful, honest, emotional and shot absolutely gorgeously, and it also has that cheesiness that is just... so good... sometimes you just need the cheese y’know???

(Side note, 2020 was the year I saw Pride and Prejudice (2005) for the first time and I am a changed woman. It is now my ultimate comfort movie. Please see it if you have not, I cannot believe it took me this long. I saw it for the first time on an airplane (in january... a lifetime ago) and have seen it many, many times since.)

TV Shows

So, to everyone’s shock but especially my own, I have not really been into TV lately? I watched The Boys because my brother recommended it (it’s good, but gorey and pulls no punches, the R rating is deserved), and recently started watching Jujutsu Kaisen because my sister recommended it (I haven’t watched a new anime in like a year which is kinda wild to me? But I am enjoying this one - the opening SLAPS and what I’ve seen so far has been fun! Plus I’m watching it with my sister and I like sending her reactions xD),,, and that’s pretty much it for this category?? I am aware there is a LOT of good shit out there I just.. .don’t seem to have the attention span for multiple episodes of a Thing these days. Meh. I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually ^^

Musical Theater

One of the main reasons I think I haven’t been big into TV is because my Musical Passion is in FULL SWING (haha get it). Probably because the only thing that has remained for me during this quarantine is my singing lessons (and lemme tell you... over skype, that shit is ROUGH but still better than not singing at all) and I have been obsessing over learning new songs and finding shows through recommendations and compilation videos on youtube... So.

Shows I listen to a lot these days include Starry, Anastasia, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, Come From Away (I made a post recently specifically about musicals, you should be able to find it under #French speaks) - specific songs in my range that I am currently learning and obsessing over include “Bring on the men” from Jekyll and Hyde, “The Mad Hatter” from Wonderland, “Show Yourself” from Frozen 2 (I liked it ok I DID), and “Go Tonight” from The Mad Ones (this one makes me cry... I’m making my sister duet it with me bc I can’t stop thinking about it).

Also, if you’re interested in hearing me sing things, head over to my instagram where I post covers (and also art)!!

(Musical people, I am curious to hear opinions about Great Comet, and also The Count of Monte Cristo - two shows I’ve been meaning to check out!)

Video Games

Listen. Animal Crossing New Horizons is awesome and I’m glad I have it (...give me Brewster back, Nintendo, or I WILL RIOT), but I have been branching out into other games for the Switch (might as well make this purchase worth it amirite) - current faves include Celeste (which is SO HARD but also SO FUCKING FUN) and Spiritfarer which I specifically bought to play at the hospital bc I knew I was going to be there for a few days, and let me tell you - best decision of 2020. Please watch the trailer if you haven’t heard of it, it’s GORGEOUS and beautiful and emotional and I loved every second of it. Both of these can also be purchased for PC and I think they are definitely worth the investment!!

In other news I’m back on my Stardew Valley bullshit. It’s just so calming.I revisit it a lot lmao

Books

So... I have been reading. A LOT. I read over 70 books this year, which for me is... average tbh? I have had some less productive reading months but overall I have torn through stuff and BOY do I have recommendations if you want them?? For the sake of brevity I will only mention a few here:

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space”. That is all. This was my first five star fiction book of the year and I will never be done screaming about it. There is a dedicated but smallish fandom here on tumblr and it deserves SO MUCH MORE. Please, please please. Everyone should read this damn book. It’s confusing in the beginning but I promise it’s worth it IT’S SO GOOD!! And also the sequel is out and it’s also confusing and SO GOOD!!!

Educated by Tara Westover. This is an autobiography and it’s one of those books that like. Stick in your mind for months after you’ve read it. It’s about how this woman escaped an abusive household that was religiously oppressive and also like... survivalist (prepping for the apocalypse) and avidly believed in conspiracy theories - by educating herself, working her way up to going to Harvard. Nothing I say could do the emotional impact of this book justice - and also just, the perspective this book gave me?? Incredible. Education is the most powerful tool and this woman grabbed it by the hair and did not let go and I was FLOORED. Everyone should read this. I don’t even usually read biographies but DAMN.

The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden.(Book 1 is called The Bear and the Nightingale). This is a bit of a slow burn type deal - it’s a retelling of a Russian fairy tale (I think?? Or like a folk... story? Something like that) and it is just. So magical. It’s not fast paced but it works up to FANTASTIC moments, the focus is on family and magic and change and “making your own way” and all three of these books were wonderful. It reminded me of Naomi Novic’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver (both of which I also loved back in 2019 and would highly recommend) and they are PERFECT winter reads if you’re looking for something to get cozy with. I liked book 1 well enough but books 2 and 3 knocked it out of the park. Fantastic. Loved them.

I have many more recs but this will do for now hahah

Music

Gonna keep this brief too - my music taste is all over the place, but here are some songs I have been obsessed with recently!! Beware of genre whiplash though because these are Very Different from one another (and different from the musical theater stuff above)

Factories - Autoheart (that bridge gets me every time, idk why. This is one I could have on repeat for hours and not get tired of it either. Something about it just gets me!!)

History Read - The Altogether (The lyrics!! Tbh the entire Silo album is GREAT, but this one is my fave. Their music is so... mellow, in the best way??)

Weather Man - Valley of Wolves (ok this one is just a banger. I’m a sucker for a good sing-along-able hook (that’s not a word. you get me though right) and this fucking DELIVERS. I also just think “I make these dark skies blue, I make these mountains move, let the rain come down, I’m pushing through.... [pause] ... ‘cause I’m the weather man” is such good execution of a concept?? That PAUSE GETS ME it’s just SO FUN?!?! idk man I like a good upbeat banger and this is that.)

I believe (get over yourself) - Nico Vega (this one is just a callout at myself tbh?? “you’re a fool” I AM and I needed to hear it?? It’s also SO FUN to sing!!! We love a banger.)

Kiss me you animal - Burn the Ballroom (mentioning this mainly because it reminded me, lyrically, of Gideon the Ninth and I need someone to confirm this for me before I go insane?? “everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink, love” - I mean c’mon??? Also it’s a banger. I do like some rock from time to time... and this also has a killer driving bassline. This is super fun to drive to, too!!)

((If we have overlap and anyone wants to exchange playlists with me - I am SO here for it. Always looking for new music!!! I mean it!!))

Youtube

Last and certainly not least... meet my newest hyperfixation!!! I have always loved watching video essays, and booktube videos, and arttube videos - and my current niche of favorite creators is the Polygon video team!! They made videos about video games and board games and anything gaming-related and I just. I’m only peripherally a “gamer(TM)” but I love anything and everything they create. (Also you don’t have to know much about video games to enjoy all of their content!! A lot of it is still accessible to Non-Gamers(TM) or casual gamers!) BDG is my new favorite creator, the Unraveled series he does on the channel is a work of genius - but I have also started watching their streams and older series and I am enjoying myself SO MUCH! I love boardgames so their series on them, Overboard, is so fun and entertaining (and I already know a bunch of games I want to buy based on seeing the gameplay), and it also made me invested in the other creators - particularly Simone, I would die for Simone?? And Pat? And Jenna? They each have their niche and they work really well together too and their videos are my Main Serotonin Machine in these trying times(TM), thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Also. If you’re already following me here and you are familiar with Polygon things I BEG YOU TO COME AND TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM because I am like, bursting, but I also don’t want to flood my dash with stuff that 99% of my followers are unfamiliar with y’know??

...I think I’m going to leave it at this - it’s already a lot!

But thank you once again for asking and for letting me Go Off about things I am interested in!! I just... I very often wish I could do this more, but I’m not sure how to go about it? Should I just do text posts about things?? Would that be interesting to anyone?? Or is that like, annoying? Should I start a review blog or something? dhfajkldhf I just want to talk about things that excite me, but whenever I’m here I often just stick to reblogging other people’s stuff... help?? What do y’all want to see??

#French speaks #rec #media recs #book rec #thank you so much for this seriously

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