escapismcoric

[escapismcoric]

Finished "Junk" by Melvin Burgess and omg did it hit close to home on so many levels.

I've never been addicted to so called "hard" drugs. But I've been addicted pretty severly to weed for years (sober for 3 years now) and still struggling with alcoholism.

The spiritual beliefs that enable addiction, the relationship that are tied only by substance abuse, the mood swings that come with cravings, the beautiful bond that you have with people that rot away because you're getting consumed by substances, fuck, I've seen it, I've lived it. Some things the characters said, especially Lily and Gemma, were so word for word shit that I've said and heard it was like a stab in the heart. And I'll never know the hell and sickness of h use, but at least I can understand that. It really stirred up painful memories. But in a sense, I see how far I've come now.

I've read my fair share of books about drugs and this one is, I think, the most well written that I've read so far. It was a hard but wonderful read.

[escapismcoric]

[escapismcoric]

Just finished "H: The Story of Heathcliff's Journey Back to Wuthering Heights" by Lin Haire-Sargeant and omg it was so soooo good ! I'm not very used to "professional fanfiction" lmao but this one was very very well done, beautifully written and overall an amazing read !

[escapismcoric]

bingewatching will never come close to bingereading. there is nothing like blocking out the entire Earth for ten hours to read a book in one sitting no food no water no shower no bra and emerging at the end with no idea what time it is or where you are, a dried-up prune that's sensitive to light and loud noises because you've been in your room in the dark reading by the glow of a single LED. it's like coming back after a three-month vacation in another dimension and now you have to go downstairs and make dinner. absolutely transcendental

[escapismcoric]

Dolores Claiborne - Stephen King

Just finished reading it last night. It was a quite gripping book, I have to say it was hard to put down. I'm not a big fan of King's work, because it all kind of feels the same after some time and this one is no exception, but it at least was really compelling. I remember Duma Key having kind of a similar vibe but it was soooo long that I really had to force myself to keep going. Honestly, to me, King isn't really that skilled when it comes to write longer books and does well better in short stories and little novel like this one.

Anyways, it was overall pretty great !

[escapismcoric]

I beg independant/self published writers to make your ebooks available elsewhere than Amazon. I understand you do so because it'll reach more people, because of convenience etc, but I have a Kobo ereader and I'm always so sad of not being able to buy an ebook because it's Kindle only.

Yes, I COULD buy it and do the whole shtick to convert it to epub but when money is tight and you're not even sure if it's going to work, I'd rather not.

You can set up a shop on itch.io with epub and pdf file here, for example (and on there you can choose how much of a commission itch.io takes out of your sells, so you have a better control of your business). You can make your book available in other online stores. I promise you you'll sell more books this way.

I went out of my way a couple of times to ask if it'd be possible to buy an epub version and buy it by making a donation on PayPal/Patreon but have never gotten an answer and that's so sad, I want to read your books pleeaaaase :(

[escapismcoric]

Just finished this integral of "Solanin" by Inio Asano, who you may know for making "Goodnight Punpun".

Oh, how I love this mangaka. I struggled a bit to get into this story at first, and I have to say that it is very bittersweet for me. I'm closer to 30 than 20, and it always makes me tear up when I read a book or watch a movie about wanting to live your childhood and teenage dreams while being crushed by the necessities and responsabilities that come with being an adult.

As much as the characters were well written, I didn't relate much with Meiko. While the saying that life goes on anyways is true, I can't seem to get attached to characters, in general, who kind of "give up" and fit in the mold for a lack of a sparkle that would take them closer to their dreams. But that's just personal, it's something that I wouldn't be able to do.

Anyways, as anything from Inio Asano, the panels were stunning, the story was moving and well written. A good "coming of age", slow paced manga in the end.

[escapismcoric]

🍉 Queer Palestinian Books for Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈

🍉 Want to add a bit more diversity to your TBR? Consider reading one of these queer books by Palestinian authors for Pride Month!

🏳️‍🌈 Fiction 🍉 The Skin and Its Girl - Sarah Cypher 🍉 You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat 🍉 Belladonna - Anbara Salam 🍉 A Map of Home - Randa Jarrar 🍉 Muneera and the Moon - 🍉 Guapa - Saleem Haddad 🍉 The Ordeal of Being Known - Malia Rose 🍉 The Philistine - Leila Marshy 🍉 Hazardous Spirits - Anbara Salam 🍉 From Whole Cloth - Sonia Sulaiman

🏳️‍🌈 Graphic Novels 🍉 Mis(h)adra - Iasmin Omar Ata 🍉 Where Black Stars Rise - Nadia Shammas & Marie Enger 🍉 Confetti Realms - Nadia Shammas 🍉 Nayra and the Djinn - Iasmin Omar Ata 🍉 My Mama's Magic - Amina Awad 🍉 Squire - Nadia Shammas & Sara Alfageeh

🏳️‍🌈 Non-Fiction/Memoirs 🍉 Are You This? Or Are You This? - Madian Al Jazerah 🍉 Love is an Ex-Country - Randa Jarrar 🍉 This Arab is Queer - (ed) Elias Jahshan 🍉 Decolonial Queering in Palestine - Walaa Alqaisiya 🍉 Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique - Sa'ed Atshan 🍉 Between Banat - Mejdulene Bernard Shomali

🏳️‍🌈 Poetry 🍉 To All the Yellow Flowers - Raya Tuffaha 🍉 The Specimen's Apology - George Abraham & Leila Abdelrazaq 🍉 Birthright - George Abraham 🍉 The Twenty-Ninth Year - Hala Alyan 🍉 Blood Orange - Yaffa AS 🍉 Who is Owed Springtime - Rasha Abdulhadi 🍉 Shell Houses - Rasha Abdulhadi 🍉 Halal If You Hear Me - (ed) Fatimah Asghar & Safia Elhillo

🍉 None of us are free until all of us are free. 🏳️‍🌈

[escapismcoric]

Another very good book I've read recently, a BL manga this time: "Home Far Away" by Teki Yatsuda.

It's a wonderful one-shot about two guys who run away together, one because he can't stay in one place for too long and tries to run away from his traumatic past, and the other because his parents turned radically christians to cope with him being ill and are terribly controlling and abusive.

The drawings are GORGEOUS. The story made me ball my eyes out, and the characters are very well written. The adventures they go on, the hardships they face, everything is so moving.

I'd put some TW for CSA, SA, death, religious trauma.

It's an absolutely stunning story, very well told, with themes that aren't typically explored in these types of manga.

I really recommend it.

[escapismcoric]

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

[escapismcoric]

Just finished "Millenium Gothic" by Dorian Bridges. I'd been a fan of his videos for years now, so I was really excited to read this book. It didn't disappoint. I was so sad finishing it. Even though I'm a decade younger and never was in a scene, I was just a lonely little goth in middle and high school, I related so much to so many things. Their relationship with Ash resembled a LOT of a relationship I had, their EDs, their relationship with their family, their desire to be a grown-up way before they should've been, and their fascination with drugs, though I personnaly never indulged in this obsession apart from weed and a bit of MDMA which didn't do shit because I was on antidepressants lmao.

I really felt seen, and Dorian has had an incredible life and is an amazing story teller, I can't wait to read more of him because there's so much teasing about other stories that I'd love to know more about. I was sad to leave Eddies at the end of the book. But I look forward to their next adventures.