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#reviewing books
nedlittle · 1 year
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it drives me bonkers the way people don't know how to read classic books in context anymore. i just read a review of the picture of dorian gray that said "it pains me that the homosexual subtext is just that, a subtext, rather than a fully explored part of the narrative." and now i fully want to put my head through a table. first of all, we are so lucky in the 21st century to have an entire category of books that are able to loudly and lovingly declare their queerness that we've become blind to the idea that queerness can exist in a different language than our contemporary mode of communication. second it IS a fully explored part of the narrative! dorian gray IS a textually queer story, even removed from the context of its writing. it's the story of toxic queer relationships and attraction and dangerous scandals and the intertwining of late 19th century "uranianism" and misogyny. second of all, i'm sorry that oscar wilde didn't include 15k words of graphic gay sex with ao3-style tags in his 1890 novel that was literally used to convict him of indecent behaviour. get well soon, i guess...
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the-joy-of-knowledge · 2 months
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25 Laws of power for women
Conceal your goals especially the ones that are appealing. Losing weight, reinventing yourself, marrying wealthy. Instead talk about your altruistic goals - to help children, invest in education, this will chase insecure people with vile intentions.
Do not give anyone your source of power: Was is a book that changed your life? a mentor? a movie? Never give up your secret to success. If forced to do say allude to God, the universe, the a random phenomenon
Use the patriarchy to your favor; we live in a world that is, only associate with men who have power, use that power for good.
Never appear too perfect but be selectively vulnerable when needed. Only share something that you will be comfortable saying. You might say “I forget my keys all the time,” “I don’t know how to perfectly park a car “. But never disclose something you are not comfortable with just because you are afraid of being perfect.
Maintain distance in relationships. Friends are the best and you need them. But if you feel that they are becoming too dependent, see them at your own will. But also the reverse could be the case. Your friend may keep a distance, and that is the way of life. You have got to move on from it.
Develop your own style that makes you unique, beautiful, and elegant. Avoid trying to fit in the crowd of people who claim to care less about their style yet have too many opinions about other women’s style
Avoid male friends at all cost, you will have male colleagues, male bosses, male acquaintances, business partners. Keep it that way. You do not want a Truman Capote divulging your secrets to the world. Do not keep a man who does not fit your standard.
You do not have to win at every game. Pick and choose what is best for you and leave room for others. And step down if you have attained that level of success, do not let the society do it for you.
Trust people but remember that we are all humans. So trust with discretion!
Confuse people with kindness; people are not always comfortable with beautiful and intelligent women. That power is too intimidating so confuse them by being genuinely generous, curious, kind, and passionate.
Keep your strong opinions to yourself.. if you support a movement, a way of life, do so silently.
We all have dirty laundry, wash them privately, don’t expose yourself. Remain silent when people try to attack you or shame you. Whatever is not confirmed is not true. You are the only one who knows all the truth about you.
Don’t attract pity or praise: People who pity you do not help you, in fact they might think that you are weak and could mock you at their annual gossipping meeting. And if you are doing things for the sake of praise you are wasting your time.
Choose yourself all the time; never put any one’s feelings above yours.
Trust your own intuition if you feel someone is being malicious towards you, giving you back handed compliments then you should let them go
Never speak bad of another woman. Do not lazy around gossipping. Keep your hands clean and your conscience clear.
Avoid women with low self esteem they will bring you down. For some reason they do not like seeing other women who are doing better than them
Be careful who you seek validation from. Not everyone needs to be pleased. If they are in no way capable of contributing to your life in the ways you prefer, then don’t ask them for their opinions or please them.
Do not compete with other women, if you do you are only putting them on a pedestal. You are making the the standard by which you measure your progress. If you do compete, begin digging your grave.
Do not give unsolicited advice, do not share the inner workings of your mind, If your mouth is very charitable you better start journaling.
Be well-rounded and interesting. It attracts people. It also keeps you busy because you are continually improving and learning. An idle mind is an easily subdued one.
Avoid women who want to live vicariously through you; they want to know who you know, shop where you shop, befriend who you befriend, wear what you wear.
Pay attention to the source of your discomfort; get rid of them. You tell them your dreams and they remind you of all your hindrances. They ask why are you dressed so fancy as though fancy isn’t subjective. They undermine you interests and goals. They will also be quick to bring you down because they are afraid of your potential.
Do not fear power or please power. When we see powerful people we try to hard to befriend them, to be close to them but you need to be comfortable without them. Don’t push yourself in the name of friendship, do not try too hard to be in their inner circle. Your independence of mind is the most important. Instead become a powerful woman, aloof to the presence of power but aware of its importance. Be an ingenious and intelligent and use your creativity to uplift yourself. When you do so it will be hard to ignore you. Even the powerful will become an ally.
Enjoy moments of solitude. Use that time to develop yourself, improve your body, learn new skills, create with your mind, read widely, become more elegant, then launch yourself.
Remember the most powerful women are the most intelligent. Inspired by Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power. Use at your discretion.
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clonerightsagenda · 4 months
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Spotted the word "blorbo" in The New York Times book review. Listen NYT romance reviewer, I really do not think your paper's audience is going to recognize that one
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fluencylevelfrench · 4 months
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Have a look at the list here
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myjetpack · 3 months
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My Reading Year.
(My last @guardian Books cartoon for 2023)
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fandom · 4 months
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Books
Huge congrats to The Iliad. It's only taken 3,000 years. This list is brought to you by Tor Publishing Group, which you're probably familiar with, given what tops the list this year.
The Locked Tomb series +3 by Tamsyn Muir
The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series -1 by Rick Riordan
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Six of Crows duology +3 by Leigh Bardugo
Dracula -3 by Bram Stoker
The Warrior Cats series -1 by Erin Hunter
A Song of Ice and Fire -1 by George R. R. Martin
The All for the Game series by Nora Sakavic
The Discworld series +7 by Terry Pratchett
A Court of Thorns and Roses series +3 by Sarah J. Maas
The Silmarillion -1 by J. R. R. Tolkien
Pride And Prejudice -3 by Jane Austen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Raven Cycle series +3 by Maggie Stiefvater
The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan & Mark Oshiro
The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
Wings Of Fire +9 by Tui T. Sutherland
The Secret History -7 by Donna Tartt
The Trials of Apollo series -4 by Rick Riordan
The Iliad +10 by Homer
The Odyssey +24 by Homer
The Folk in the Air series -8 by Holly Black
The Animorphs series +5 by K. A. Applegate
The Stormlight Archive +8 by Brandon Sanderson
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Moby Dick +24 by Herman Melville
1984 +6 by George Orwell
Fables by Bill Willingham
The Diaries of Franz Kafka by Franz Kafka
The Song of Achilles -10 by Madeline Miller
The Last Hours series by Cassandra Clare
The Simon Snow series -10 by Rainbow Rowell
The Throne of Glass series +13 by Sarah J. Maas
Nimona by ND Stevenson
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard +6 by Rick Riordan
The Bell Jar -15 by Sylvia Plath
The Dreamer trilogy +6 by Maggie Stiefvater
The Shadowhunter Chronicles -15 by Cassandra Clare
The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Captive Prince -1 by C. S. Pacat
The Twilight Saga -7 by Stephanie Meyer
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
The Deltora Quest series by Jennifer Rowe
Romeo and Juliet -8 by William Shakespeare
The Far Side by Gary Larson
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde +2 by Robert Lewis Stevenson
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
The Picture of Dorian Gray -31 by Oscar Wilde
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
The number in italics indicates how many spots a title moved up or down from the previous year. Bolded titles weren’t on the list last year.
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jasminewalkerauthor · 5 months
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maccaccino · 6 months
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where is my wife
Amazon review on this Morrow edition of "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett I found this morning that left me laughing in tears right from the title.
... Actually, in hindsight, having seen the ineffable divorce™️ of Season 2, the fact that the only thing left on the cover is his glass of wine makes me so sad. It's like Crowley, having now been through all that, has left his glass of wine in the bookshop and is refusing to come back since Aziraphale is gone. Muriel doesn't really want to touch what Crowley left in the hopes he will be back soon and maybe still want his glass of "whine", whatever that is. He seemed sad last time they saw him, so that's probably what they meant by "whine".
.... Wait a minute though, did Aziraphale write this review?!? "WHERE IS MY WIFE?" ?!?!?
Okay it's time to tag him, this has gone off the rails and so have I. @neil-gaiman please explain. Thank you. (Love your work, actually. But also... What is going on here.)
Update, not even 10 hours after I originally posted this: Neil himself liked the post. I'm freaking out a normal amount about it.
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PS: here's a lil thank you post for all the notes I'm getting, holy hell!!!
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wiltkingart · 3 months
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Asche and Vindt from Ocean's Blood by Thelma Mantey
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mothermaggiexx · 2 months
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“And sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in.” -Jane Austen
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ancientsstudies · 7 months
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I am too fond of reading books to care to write them.
ig credit: vintagesoul_reads.
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ivynightshade · 8 months
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fatima aamer bilal, from being unwanted is a language.
[text id: the world is happening in a room that i can't enter, life is happening in a gathering i am not invited to. / being unwanted is a language i am fluent in.]
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classycoffeesublime · 10 months
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Book collections
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favqt · 2 months
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deadlypoetacademia · 8 months
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I mean it when I say that my reading list is longer than my life expectancy.
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one-time-i-dreamt · 6 months
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Neil Gaiman was reviewing books on a YouTube video and he picked one up that was covered in slime and was like, "I appreciate the symbolism here but this is sloppily done."
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