nerdreading

[nerdreading]

Be horny about Nosferatu I do not care but also do not lose sight of how much the European depiction of vampires relies on making monstrous an orientalized ethnic other. There is literal Nazi propaganda depicting Jews as vampires and that did not spring forth from nowhere. Stoker's depiction of Romani people in "Dracula," even if not as vampires, is extremely racist. Yes, vampirism as a metaphor for queerness and sexual expression also exists but I'm seeing a lot of people only discussing that.

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there is 0 reason for saiki to wear glasses that are green. also, he can shapeshift, so he should be able to change the color of his hair easily. yet he chooses to keep his brilliant hot-pink/neon-green theme, because he secretly loves looking funky, but wishes others would perceive him as average. in this essay i will

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5:53

I reach the end of my journey

Its 5:53 a.m. in the morning

The last star in the sky fades away

I can almost see my conscience

I can’t see the river anymore

I hear my song echoing

This world right now is beautiful too

When you finally run up to me

Maybe you can be next to my star

And some night, i’ll finally see you smile

[nerdreading]

Being a kid who liked reading books and enjoyed stereotypically feminine things could be weird as hell at times, because some people seem to really assume that you can't possibly like both, which meant that sometimes I'd be partway through a fun book when the author would suddenly step out of the narrative to inform her readers that she didn't like girls like me specifically.

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How do you find topics to write your poems about?

i try to find inspiration from different things i see in daily life- from songs i listen, videos i watch, things i hear people say. sometimes i can write good enough poems from those topics and sometimes i can’t.

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‘90s

Was it all glamour back then?

Everyone coloured sepia,

Masquerade balls every night,

Pearl necklaces around every neck,

Shimmering dresses everywhere?

Did jukeboxes play all night back then?

Rollerskating in the diners,

Cars parked to watch a movie.

Disco nights with hair tied up.

Starry nights everywhere?

[nerdreading]

i finally got into the shadowhunter universe

SPOILER WARNING: THE CITY OF BONES BY CASSANDRA CLARE

Long time no see? I was stuck in such a bad reading slump towards the end of 2020 that I couldn't even come up with anything for the blog. Its okay, I have finally read a book and come to become your saviour with my first post of 2021. 

And my first book of 2021 was… *drumroll* The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. And boy do i have a lot to say about this book. 

So it took me about 4 days of reading to get through the book given the fact I read less than I normally would in a day. For some background, I knew absolutely nothing about the Shadowhunter saga except for the fact that this series has a never ending amount of books in it. I often heard my friends talk about the show or some of my favorite booktubers talk about how much they love this series and absolutely cannot wait for the next book.

I almost already knew I wouldn’t *hate* the book or series much because:

I will read almost any book with a ‘hidden fantasy world’ trope. I’m a sucker for it and this book had that trope. The shadow world is essentially hidden from mundane and only the members of clave (?) can see beyond the glamour.

I loved the idea that there were historical-fiction spinoff series later in the saga. One of my favorite genres is historical-fantasy / historical-fiction and The Infernal Devices is set in 1870s London and that made me wanna get through these books and to that series immediately.

I was fascinated with the timeline and how the entire story unfolds itself in several series. The Last hours is the story of the generation about The Infernal Devices (THEIR CHILDREN?!!) AND The Dark Artifices is a sequel to The Mortal Instruments. Call me what you want but I absolutely love jumbled timelines.

Now, getting on to the book, I gave it a three star rating. I think the book didn’t exactly start in the most interesting way but the plot was not too slow and it picked up. I did not like the middle part of the book much because it seemed to be heading nowhere. This is a direct quote from my reading journal - “umm,, where is this book even heading? Did Cassie Clare even decide on a plot line or just ran with it? This better end well..” And, it did not end well. 

I did not exactly like the way the book ended. Of course I didn’t guess how the book would end but that isn’t exactly a compliment in this case. The plot twist about Jace and Clary being siblings was so lame and gross. Please, it made me almost throw up. How can you make them kiss and then suddenly they are related. I need to cry over this gross plot twist. 

Now I want to talk about the thing I found the weirdest in the 500 page book… Magnus Bane, a whole 30 years (PROBABLY MORE!!) man flirting with Alec Lightwood, a literal child. Alec is barely 18?! This thing really threw me off guard. I went back to check if I read Magnus’ age right and then check if actually flirted with this little boy. 

Let's talk about the characters for a bit. I didn’t find any character to root for at all. The characters aren’t even very well developed but I’ll let it slide because it is the first book of a very long series. The world building seems to be on a good track so I feel it will be fleshed out over the next few books and I’ll understand the magic better. I find Clary very annoying to be honest. I liked Jace’s character in the beginning but his character is not my cup of tea. I think I might like Alec and Isabelle if only they would develop more. Please don’t make me talk about Magnus Bane. I do not like that man. I forgot Simon even existed. Isn’t Valentine a lot like Voldemort? I’ve read so many similarities between Shadowhunter, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and X-Men, to be honest. 

Anyways, even though I didn't like the book much, I am kind of looking forward to reading the next few books because I’ve heard the story gets better along with the writing. Please wait for my next post. I hope you have a good reading week.

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22:22 22/2/22 is a Tuesday.

[nerdreading]

here’s a self-care idea: lay on the floor.  just lay on the goddamn floor, I don’t know.  aim for the carpet, or maybe put a blanket down first.  if you lay on your back you can look at the ceiling, if you lay on your stomach you can put your ear to the ground and listen to the building and your pulse, think about cleaning everything, then don’t do it.  I don’t know.  just lay on the floor for a while, see what happens

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what is your next blog post going to be about?

I’m not really sure. I was thinking of maybe writing one about Graphic Novels, that’s probably be fun. 

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can you recommend me some books? i'm kind of in a reading slump... i like to read fantasy books. like harry potter and percy jackson..

Hi! Reading slumps are the worst but thanks so some AMA-zing writers, we can always get out of them. If you like harry potter and percy jackson (like me!) I am 99% sure you’d love Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember In The Ashes and Holly Black’ The Cruel Prince. Hope that gets you out of the slump. 

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where are you from? i really like your blog :)

Thanks a lot for your support :) I’m from India. 

[nerdreading]

II'M IN A READING SLUMP! HELP ME PLEASE :(

oh man! i hate reading slumps. I was in one recently but Lyla Lee’s I’ll Be The One took me out of it. If you are not interested in reading about K-Pop or contemporary in general, try An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Hope I helped you somehow. :)

[nerdreading]

Books That Should Be Adapted By Netflix #2: I’ll Be The One by Lyla Lee

Yesterday, I read Lyla Lee’s I’ll Be The One within 24 hours and if you can’t already tell, I loved it. A LOT! This book is about our main girl, Skye Shin, who has always been told that she is fat. That fat girls like her can’t dance. That fat girls like her can never make it in the K-Pop industry but Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-Pop star and that means winning the K-Pop talent competition, You’re My Shining Star. 

The thing i loved the most about this book is the determination Skye had throughout the book to prove everyone who ever doubted her wrong. Sure, she had her doubts, she thought if it was all going to be worth it in the end but she never gave up. She never thought of giving and ended up becoming an inspiration to so many young people who had their struggles with their body type.

The most complex character definitely goes to Skye’s Mom. One minute, I was hating her, the next moment, I felt bad for her and then I’m back to hating her. 

Skye is such a likable character, I loved reading the whole book from her point of view. Her thoughts throughout the book are some of the most relatable ones I have ever read. I loved reading about the little K-Pop references scattered throughout the book. 

I was so surprised that finished this book within a day. I was glued to it the whole day and I do not regret it, honestly. The plot was very fast paced, the beginning of the book drew me in instantly and Lyla Lee definitely kept things interesting in the middle.

The only tiniest problem that I had with this book was the ending. Now, I won’t spoil anything for you but lets just said, the ending left me a little unsatisfied. Maybe, It was just that I wanted to see more of Skye and Henry and Tiffany and Lana. We’ll never know. UNLESS, LYLA LEE BLESSES US WITH SOME KIND OF SPIN OFF.

Other things I loved about this were the whole LGBTQ+ aspect, how Korea is still conservative about it, and how it reflects in our main characters’ lives. I also loved how Skye handled the fat phobic people in her life especially her mom. But that is a whole another post.

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book if you like

K-Pop

You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

Feel Good Romance

Honestly, I only picked this book up because I love listening to K-Pop but this turned out to be one of the best books this year. So, Netflix when are you coming out with this?

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how many followers do you have? sorry if you dont want to answer

Hi! I recently started this blog, a few weeks ago. I have 152 followers at the moment but my account is growing slowly.

I love all my 152 followers 🥰🥰

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how many books do you like to read at one moment? like at once? i read only 1 book else it messes my mind haha

Hi! I used to read just one book at a time and recently I experimented by reading two books at a time. It totally works for me. At maximum, i have read three books at once. If you wanna read more than one books at once, you should be a little clever when planning. Like, i dont read two fantasies at once because switching between fantasy worlds can mess your mind.

So you can read a fantasy and a contemporary at one time or a fiction and a nonfiction, maybe. Hope this helps :)

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what book are you reading atm?

Hey! I’m reading Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds because its Booksplosion book of the month and An Ember in the Ashes as i’m taking part in the Penguin Teen #EmberReadalong. What about you guys?