bibliophilecats - Tumblr blog

[bibliophilecats]

Top 5 books you read as a kid/teen that still holds up?

Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartett*

Michael Ende's Der Wunschpunsch (The night of wishes)

Erich Kästner's The Flying Classroom

Astrid Lindgren's Mio My Son

Cornelia Funke's Die Wilden Hühner

*and the Immortals quartett, but I wanted to feature any author only once

[bibliophilecats]

Blue tit/blåmes. Värmland, Sweden (April 28, 2024).

[bibliophilecats]

[bibliophilecats]

Top 5 cat breeds?

Thai cat (obviously *lol*)

Russian blue

Norwegian Forest cat

Birman (I love point colouration)

Oriental shorthair

[bibliophilecats]

Top 5 flavours of cakes? 🍰

Oh, that is diffcult.

Blueberries (for example on this cake)

Chocolate (especially with walnuts)

Chocolate and berries (like here)

Marzipan (enveloping the cake)

Tiramisu (okay, not really a single flavour)

Cherry and chocolate and cream (like in a Black Forest cake or in this one)

Well, now I am really in the mood for some cake.

[bibliophilecats]

Fat bodies are mentioned most often in terms of the negative space left behind by the pounds lost, the dress sizes dropped, the inches shrunk—fat bodies are only valued for their absence.

There's a phrase you may have heard, that 'inside every fat person, there's a thin person waiting to get out'. It makes fat bodies sound like a prison, like the grotesque carapace of Kafka's beetle, with the real self like a trapped and frightened Gregor Samsa inside. Society is deeply permeated with the idea that my fat body isn't my 'real' body, and that I need to dig and excavate and starve out my true self, rescuing my inner thin princess from the imprisoning tower of my body.

This idea taught me not to feel fully connected to my body—after all, so much of my body is dead weight, it's not really me, my fatness isn't who I am, so why bother fully inhabiting it?

For years I didn't embrace my body. I was like someone squatting in a few rooms of a mansion, pretending that I was living in a condo and ignoring the three wings, twenty-four bedrooms, ballroom, bowling alley, and the entire library from Disney's Beauty and the Beast that make up my body.

—‘Where Are the Fat Girls? The Absence of Plus-Size Characters in Fantasy Literature’ by Charis M. Ellison [video]

[bibliophilecats]

Sir Terry Pratchett was born 28 April 1948. Happy Birthday Terry ❤.

[bibliophilecats]

I also fall asleep to audiobooks. Do you listen to new-to-you books or (only) ones you already know? I don't often use new-to-me books because, well, I will miss some parts and have to rewind. On the other hand, I have a few voice actors that really calm me down by now and I love the familiarity of some of the books I have listened to for 10, 20 times already.

Top 5 things to do to help you fall asleep 😀

a curated playlist of familiar slow songs

audiobook (usually robin mckinley)

asmr podcast

yoga routine

drink warm milk

ask for my top 5!

[bibliophilecats]

Yay, Alanna! I get the impression The Song of the Lioness quartett is often overlook as the "flawed first books" but I love them, too. They were the first books of T. Pierce I read (her other books had not yet been published by that time) and very formative for my teenage years. They will forever hold a very special place in my heart.

Top 5 books by Tamora Pierce 😀

in the hand of the goddess (alanna 2) i reread this one and almost yearly

alanna: the first adventure (i reread this one less but almost as much)

the realms of the gods (i remember the final battle scene even tho its been a while)

page (kel 2) why??? i cant remember, vibes

magic steps even tho i didnt read any after, i was super into it

ask for my top 5!!

[bibliophilecats]

Lazy (and hot) Sunday afternoon.

[bibliophilecats]

“Use your gifts and your talents to greatest possible effect while you can. Spread joy wherever possible. Laugh at jokes. Tell jokes. Make puns and bugger the embuggerances. Read books. Read my books. You might like them. You might find something else you like even more than them. Look for these things in life.

Question authority. Champion good causes. Speak out against injustice. Do not tolerate bullies or bigots or racists or anti-intellectuals or the narrow-minded. Use your education to challenge them. Broaden their perspectives. Make the world you interface with a happier place.

These are your choices. Choices you have been fortunate to have been given, so don’t waste them while you have them. Don’t look back in years to come and wish you had grasped a fleeting opportunity. Grasp it now with both hands, Live. Strive. Love.”

from A Little Advice for Life taken from ‘Terry Pratchett: from birth to death, a writer.’

—Sir Terry Pratchett; April 28, 1948 – March 12, 2015

One of the greatest compliments I've ever received is that I resemble Sam Vimes.

Mind how you go.

[bibliophilecats]

The Count is readying the castle for his esteemed guest! There's much to be done.

[bibliophilecats]

Your 10 (ish) Most Read Authors (According to Storygraph or Whatever System You Use)

What are your ten most Most Read Authors? And how many books have you read by them? Also tag someone who you would like to do this!

Thank you @the-forest-library for tagging me

Here are my Storygraph stats:

Data goes back to 2016. I am sure that data further back would include Marion Zimmer Bradley (I still own 34 of her books and have read more) and Mercedes Lackey (28). I also read a lot of Cornelia Funke (11+), Astrid Lindgren (18), Erich Kästner (13+), and Jonathan Wylie (11 - anybody else know the books? I loved them). And T. Kingfisher will soon move to the list as I already read several books by her and have even more on my physical tbr (13 books in total so far).

Looking at the list, I have to clarify that quantity does not equal love for the author. E.g. I am slowly reading my way through the over 20 The Cat Who mysteries. They are fun, short, easy mysteries and perfect as a palate cleanser or in between when I do not know what to read next. And I did get really annoyed at The Southern Vampire Mysteries (did you know that Sam is not a tall man? I sure do and will never forget because Sookie tells us this in Every. Single. Book! At least once). And Kiiro Yumi is author of a manga with 15 installments which, while fun, just add up like that.

That aside, there are several of my favourite authors on that list: Tamora Pierce, Terry Pratchert, Marc-Uwe Kling, Maggie Stiefvater, and Ben Aaronovitch.

I tag (no pressure) @lizziethereader @books-are-portals @linebetween @clockwork118 @belle-annd-the-book @more-better-words

[bibliophilecats]

For potential art trade reasons, I took a photo of some of my quilts folded up on a chair and I love how it turned out!

[bibliophilecats]

I love the Top 5 ask game. I have so many ideas for questions 😼

Incidentally: Put top 5 "anything" in my ask and I will answer.

[bibliophilecats]

Read recently: Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

What I was looking for: Because I enjoyed Legends & Lattes, I had not really planned on reading this book. I was sure it could not compare. But then I saw it at my library and could not resist.

What I liked: I enjoyed the friendships in this book a lot. Especially between Viv and Fern.

What I did not like: The love story felt underdeveloped to me. I would not have noticed or minded if it had been left out. Or explored more.

Conclusion: I think if I had read this one first, I would not have liked Legends & Lattes as much as I did. While not high stakes, there is some more plot and excitement in this novel. If you are looking for a more calm fantasy novel but still with a villain to defeat but also with a focus on reading good books and eating good food, then this is the book for you.