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New books! :D

I picked up All the Sinners Bleed bc I wanted a thriller I could finish in a day or two.

Recursion bc I love Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Dark Matter was such a ride with all its unexpected twists and turns; I want to feel the same level of fun and intrigue with his other scifi books.

The Seven Year Slip for an easy entertaining read.

And the Glass Castle for a short powerful read.

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I never want this book to end 😭

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The Books I've Loved Reading the Most in 2025 (so far)

Literary Fiction

🏶 Normal People by Sally Rooney

🏶 Paint it Black by Janet Fitch

🏶 All's Well by Mona Awad

🏶 The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

🏶 The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Fantasy

🏶 The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

🏶 Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

Silly Romance 🌶️

🏶 Claimed by the Horde King by Zoey Draven

🏶 Rabid: The Savage Spirit of Seneca Rain by Ivy Asher, Raven Kennedy

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When I read Donna Tartt's descriptions all I feel is an intense love for literature. The way she uses verbs and the varying syntax of her sentences to conjure an evocative portrait is everything to me. 💗💗💗💗💗

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New books! There's entirely too many books I want rn, and I'm trying to pace myself. 🤓

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𝔠𝔬𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔢 & 𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪

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Every single Donna Tartt’s book

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One of my favorite things about Donna Tartt books is that you can tell she just *loves* things. Like she’s delighted by classical language. And boy oh boy can she talk to you about each stroke of The Goldfinch. And I never knew so much about furniture antiquing.

I know some people critique certain scenes in TSH and Goldfinch that go on a long time and are just adding details to these topics, but I like them. And, listen, I do prefer fast-paced action typically. But something about slowing down and listening to a truly skilled writer who really cares about things talk about why they’re lovely is just charming.

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But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping; and when the waves washed back, I found myself looking out over a brackish wreck which was illumined in a light so lucid, so heartsick and empty, that I could hardly remember that the world had ever been anything but dead.

Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch

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reading the goldfinch isn't enough I need to become an alcoholic

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Putting down Donna Tartt novels feels like a real break up because boy, I was possessing your spirit for 700 pages straight and now...poof, you're gone like a ghost.

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ᴡᴇ ᴛʜʀɪᴠᴇ ɪɴ ᴅᴀʀᴋɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴛᴇʀᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ

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He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

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🪻 Books I read in April

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang - 5 ⭐

Sciona becomes the first woman high mage, and, as a cruel joke, she is assigned Thomil—a janitor—as her assistant. Thomil turns out to be Sciona's greatest asset in her academic career and the two uncover horrifying secrets about their society.

I felt like my heart was surgically removed from my body and beaten when I realized the first few chapters were as good as it was ever going to be for Thomil and Sciona. I'm traumatized. 10/10 recommend.

"Maeva had understood that: that it was worth dying at the border of salvation if you could push your love before you over the finish line."

All's Well by Mona Awad - 5 ⭐

Miranda Fitch is a theater director determined to put on Shakespeare's All's Well despite her scheming theater students and chronic illness (that no one seems to take seriously). Her determination leads to a magnificent spiral that includes a touch of magical surrealism, delusion, and possibly reckless homicide.

I feel like the way R.F. Kuang fans love her is how I feel about Mona Awad. The dark humor, the writing style, the general unhinged ness, is everything to me. There's nothing about this book I didn't like.

"How amazing would that be? Each of us flushed and grinning in the spinning dark of our own overturned world."

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever - 3 ⭐

Paul meets Julian and they fall in love, but can Julian learn to love the darkest parts of Paul? And will Paul allow himself to feel love?

This would have been a 5 ⭐ star read for me if the writing style was stronger. There were a lot of scenes where it was hard to tell what was happening bc of the head hopping and general avoidance of clarity, but the characters and the story were compelling.

"He couldn't stand to look at the truth, even now. All they were—all they ever had been—was a pair of sunflowers who each believed the other was the sun."

The Scarecrow's Queen by Naomi Lucas, Mel Braxton - 3 ⭐

Delilah inherits a witchy farm and starts screwing the enchanted scarecrow named Hollowstalk.

I didn't have high expectations going into this and it was better and more thought out than I thought it would be. The first thing I knew about this book was Hollowstalk sews on a cock for her, and I was like, damn, well it's only like 250 pages. Why not? 🤷‍♀️

When He Takes by Gabrielle Sands - 3 ⭐

The second book in a duology where Nero is revealed to be an exiled consigliere for the mafia to his love interest, Blake.

I liked the first book better. Blake's struggle on whether or not to stay with Nero was drawn out and repetitive. It made me feel like Nero deserved better.

The Trope Thesaurus : An Author Resource Guide by Jennifer Hilt - 2 ⭐

I hope you're hungry, for nothing. If you know what a trope is, don't bother. I gave it 2 ⭐'s bc I like the concept, but the execution was not for me.

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JOMP BPC - October 29th - Freebie

this month’s book club read is The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne and it’s been a fascinating, surprisingly funny read so far. I’ve still got a third to listen to but I’m intrigued to see where Cyril ends up…