#BookLog

[lilylizard]

books I've finished in 2024:

Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin

Severance by Ling Ma

The Old Place by Bobby Finger

The Murder of Roger Akroyd by Agatha Christie

Tender Is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses

Swamp Story by Dave Barry

The Forgotten Girls by Sara Blaedel, translated by Signe Rød Golly

The Martian by Andy Weir

Later by Stephen King

Desperation by Stephen King

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

[alasy]

imagine asking an old lady "what is the nature of your relationship with my father" and getting, as a response, a 470 pages manuscript that basically tells the story of all the sexual adventures this woman had throughout her life instead, only to introduce the father in question on the last 80 pages. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't exactly appreciate it but maybe that's just me

[radiohimalaya]

On Memoirs, Autobiographies And The Truth And Fiction Within Them

books mentioned:

Stolen - Ann-Helén Laestadius | Frankenstein in Baghad - Ahmed Saadawi | La casa de los conejos - Laura Alcoba | Stone Butch Blues - Leslie Feinberg | Hijab Butch Blues - Lamya H | In the Dream House - Carmén María Machado | El peligro de estar cuerda - Rosa Montero | Rememberings - Sinéad O'Connor | Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars - Kai Cheng Thom

[booklaluna]

Leitura Atual:

3º volume da saga A Mediadora: Reunião

Sinopse:

Em REUNIÃO, terceiro livro da série A mediadora, Suzannah ainda sofre com sua paixão platônica por Jesse. Nada demais para uma adolescente. Só que o rapaz morreu há quase dois séculos e ‘vive’ assombrando o quarto de Suzannah, em sua nova casa, na costa oeste americana. Entre a juventude platinada local, no melhor estilo de OC, a menina tenta se adaptar ao novo colégio e à nova família, herdada com o casamento da mãe. Entre as recentes amizades e agitos naturais da idade, ela resolve pendências do mundo espiritual.

[littlemissblogger]

Keeper of the Memories

This is the second story of the “Avonlea Club”. I am a bit late though, but still I hope you enjoy<3

Sylvia with her family was moving to a place in the country. She was leaving behind all of her memories. This was something Sylvia didn’t like. Moving away was cowardice to her. She was someone who wanted to hold on to everything. But her family had chosen the other way, so they were moving. 

The place was very beautiful and calm. Any nature lover like Sylvia would love this place. Sylvia liked the place but it couldn’t be something she would call home. Back in the days, when everything was perfect, they used to go to vacation resorts just like this one. Those times were golden. Every moment in those resorts was lovable to her. But their new house wasn’t their vacation house. It was beautiful but not lovable. 

Sylvia didn’t want to go into the deep of the house. Hence, she had requested her parents to give her the ground floor guest room as her bedroom.If she needed fresh air, it would be easier to run for it from  her ground floor bedroom. The upstairs rooms were all very deep and dark. If she stayed there, the room was going to absorb the remaining pieces of memories she had managed to save within her. She wouldn’t let the darkness take her precious memories. If darkness came all the way from upstairs, she would run, run so hard and be out the house, straight to the woods, where she would be free to hold on to her memories, to express herself fully. In the house, her parents wanted her to be unexpressed. 

While unpacking her things, Sylvia found the doll. The doll for which she used to fight. It was one of her favourite dolls and there were so many memories with it. Again, like their own home, Sylvia’s parents didn’t want to take the doll with them to the new house. Her mom said that it was better to leave it with the old home which was its real preserver. Sylvia didn’t accept it. She knew that their previous home (the real one) was the holder of the doll, but she was forced to leave her home anyway, she couldn’t at least leave her doll, the precious one with precious memories. In this decision, her father said that she was not moving on. Sylvia didn’t understand why she needed to move on. She wanted to scream and tell her parents that she would never ever move on. At the end, she didn’t scream but packed the doll anyway.

Sylvia always used to sit beside her mother at supper. Likewise, on the first night at the new house during supper, Sylvia sat beside her mother. Her father insisted that she sit beside him pointing at the empty chair near him. Sylvia became really tired at that point. She couldn’t understand why her parents wanted to change everything after moving away from their home. She became aggressive and went straight to her room without finishing her meal. Suddenly she felt very lonely in her room. She felt the need of someone. So, she kept visiting her memories, her only way to escape the situation. 

Sylvia’s mother told her that she was not going to school and would be homeschooled under a tutor for sometime. When asked, her mother replied that she wanted to give Sylvia sometime to adjust. But her mother didn’t understand that Sylvia would never adjust. However, as she wasn’t going to school, every afternoon, she had plenty of time. One afternoon, she went to roam around in the forest in the backyard of their new house. The forest felt very intense and heavy to her. However, she kept going to the depths of it. In the middle of the forest, she discovered a well. It surprised her. A well in the middle of the forest! The well was very ancient looking. There were vines and creepers around it. Algae and mosses had surrounded it in every direction. She wanted to go near it but also she was nervous. The well was giving her some chills. Suddenly she realised that she was indeed in the very deep- of the forest and started panicking thinking she had lost the direction towards the new house. Without thinking twice, she started running in the opposite direction from the well. She was running and thinking. Thinking about the well. She heard her tutor say one day that there was a legend about the well in the forest. She didn’t ask about it because she wasn’t interested in anything at that moment. But then, she wanted to know about it. She was curious. 

That day it took Sylvia a long time and a big hassle to reach the new house from the forest. Her head was filled with the thoughts of the well. The next day she kept waiting for her tutor eagerly. As her tutor entered the study room, she was a bit astonished to see Sylvia’s eager eyes waiting for her patiently. Sylvia was never interested in anything else before. The tutor took the situation as a good opportunity to become connected with Sylvia. She smiled at her with a sweet ‘good morning’.

Sylvia replied, “Good morning, Ms. Marlowe. You’re late today.”

“Yes, I’m very sorry for that. But I wonder why you’re all buckled up with the sunshine-like eyes of yours, I thought you didn’t enjoy history.”

“I was waiting for you actually. You see Ms. Marlowe, I’m very curious to know about the story of the well in the forest.”

At this Ms. Marlowe became a bit confused. She couldn’t understand why Sylvia suddenly wanted to know about the ‘well legend’. But as she wanted to be close to Sylvia, she decided to start her lesson with the story.

“Well, that’s a very interesting story indeed. It’s an ancient saying actually said by old people of this area. People used to say, there is an old and creepy well in the middle of the forest. It has some dark magic with it. But it can comfort people really well.”

Sylvia knew she needed to be comforted more than anything else in this new house. He3nce, she interrupted her tutor by asking, “What do you mean by making comfortable Ms. Marlowe?”

“Well I meant to say that, suppose a person is in distress and goes to the well, the well would show some kind of illusion which can make the person forget about their distress and they would be comfortable.”

“Wow, isn’t that something really enchanting!" Sylvia exclaimed with joy.

“Yes it is but you see, there is a reason why people call it dark magic. Because it’s not actually t actually beneficial for people. The well is playing illusions, it can't ever be good. People need to find ways to deal with their problems naturally. This sort of way, the one the well directs never really helps but makes the situation worse."

Ms. Marlowe might have continued lecturing about the dark sides of the well legend but Sylvia wasn't paying any attention to her. She knew what she needed and she had found it. Then she thought she was going to be happy again. 

The next day, Sylvia went to the forest, to the well. That time she wasn't scared and near to the well. 

She said, "I've been told that you make people happy. I'm here to see what you have with you to make me happy."

Sylvia waited for sometime but there wasn't any reply. She didn't see any magic coming. She became sad and desperate. 

"Please understand that I'm very sad and lonely. I don't like it here. I want to go back to my own place and own people. To the past, to those sweet memories where everything was alright", Sylvia kept saying those aloud and wept hard. Few minutes had gone while Sylvia was weeping but still nothing changed to make her happy. She began to give up. She thought she could never be happy again. Just at that moment, she saw a girl crawling out of the well. Sylvia panicked at the first instance. But eventually she realised it was someone she would never have to be scared of. 

"Sabrina, is that you?" She asked the crawling girl. 

The girl stood finally in front of Sylvia. Her face was somewhat blurry and  wet. In fact she was fully drenched in water. As she stood face to face with Sylvia, Sylvia could see her properly. 

She cried "Oh, Sabrina. Is that really you? I have been missing you so much." She ran to the girl and hugged her tight. The girl didn't move neither said anything. But she made Sylvia happy. 

Sylvia started visiting the well everyday to see the girl. Sylvia went there and called the girl by Sabrina. Everyday the girl crawled out of the well to stand in front of her. She talked about her day and her sweet old memories. The girl never talked or answered any questions. Sylvia didn't mind much. She was very happy just to be with her. But one day the girl talked. So, she asked her, "Why don't you ever talk to me Sabrina. I share everything with you just like with you just like I used to do before. But you never share anything. It makes me sad sometimes."

And then the girl replied. Her voice was very faded and indistinct. She said, "I am not used to talking outside of the water." 

"Oh, then how can I hear you talking? I cannot talk inside the water."

"But you have never tried it, did you? Why don't you come to the water with me? I have many things to talk about and show you in the deep of the water", the girl said, attracting Sylvia immensely. Sylvia found the offer really engaging. She gave it a thought. She thought about how miserable she was in the new house. She also thought about the girl who was her only source of happiness after everything had been changed. She kept thinking for some time and finally replied with a happy face, "I got an idea. I think I want to come and stay with you in the well forever because you're the one who makes me truly happy". 

"Seems like a very good idea to me", the girl replied. Sylvia set up her mind and was very proud to have found her forever happiness. 

Sylvia's mother noticed her daughter disappearing into the forest every evening. She also asked Sylvia once what she was doing there. Sylvia just simply replied that she was playing and having fun. Her mother was relieved everytime she was informed that her daughter was having fun. She thought Sylvia was finally moving on. 

Sylvia was packing her things when her mother called her from the kitchen informing about the arrival of Ms. Marlowe. She didn't mind the interruption because she was very happy that day. She merrily went to her study room. 

Ms. Marlowe said, "Good morning Sylvia, you look very jolly today."

"Yes, Ms. Marlowe. In fact I'm the happiest today. I won't be bothering to study history today as this is going to be my last lesson with you", Sylvia replied joyfully. 

Ms. Marlowe couldn't understand the reason behind Sylvia's calling the session as the last one. She said, "But I wasn't informed about it. I didn't know that I don't have to tutor you anymore." 

"You weren't informed by my parents because they don't know about it yet. But I'm informing you now, ain't I? Now please let us start our lesson at once Ms. Marlowe as I have to pack up my things really quick", Sylvia said impatiently. 

"Pack up your things? Are you going somewhere? ", Ms. Marlowe asked confusedly. 

"Yes, I'm going to be living with my sister from now on, in the well in the forest", she replied excitedly. 

Ms. Marlowe then became very worried about Sylvia's condition. Sylvia was hallucinating the whole time. Ms. Marlowe realised that she was still grieving and never moved on. She confronted her and wanted her to realise the truth as well. She said, "Sylvia, my dear girl, there is no well in the forest. It has been your misunderstanding. You were overwhelmed by the well legend and imagining things because you were sad. I know you miss Sabrina, but she is gone and never coming back. You have to accept it and…"

Sylvia became agitated and didn't let Ms. Marlowe takes her happiness away from her. She shouted, "You don't know anything. I don't want to talk to you." She left the study running towards her own room. 

Ms. Marlowe couldn't just stay still. She went to Sylvia’s mother explaining her situation. Her mother broke down into tears. After all, she was also going through hard times after the death of their first child, Sabrina. Ms. Marlowe consoled her and requested her to have some more patience to deal with Sylvia’s condition. Together they went to Sylvia's room.

Sylvia was shaking and sobbing sitting in the corner of her room. After Ms. Marlowe's confrontation, she was forced to visit her dark memories which she was avoiding for a while. She didn't ever want to accept the fact that her sister, her true companion, was dead. She didn't want to move on and wanted to hold onto the memories where Sabrina was present. She didn't want to start anew where no one will talk about Sabrina accepting her absence. But alas! This is the rule of nature. After all of the trials to hold onto Sabrina's memories and never moving on, Sylvia couldn't help but hit the realization. She was very tired of all of her efforts to keep her dead sister alive in her memories. She suddenly knew that she had to accept the fact and move on with her life eventually. 

When her mother along with Ms. Marlowe came to her room, she stood strongly facing them. She apologized to her mother for making such a decision of running away without consulting her. Her mother hugged her tight and said, "My baby girl, I'm very sorry that you had to go through all of these alone. I understand now that I and your father weren't actually neither helping you nor helping ourselves to overcome the situation healthily. But I want you to know that we are still a family. We love you and Sabrina as well. We also miss her a lot. Together we will have to deal with our grief and the darkest part of our memories so that we feel free to miss her from the depth of our hearts. I guess we all made mistakes in the healing process. We were not actually moving on instead we were just running away from our griefs which was not healthy at all." 

Her mother's words comforted Sylvia. She understood that no matter what happens, Life goes on. Hence, she accepted everything and finally began the healing process. After that, whenever Sylvia visited their old home or whenever she touched the doll for which she used to fight with her sister, Sylvia didn't have to hold onto the fact Sabrina needed to be there for her. She just missed her and was grateful to Sabrina for being a good companion. Sylvia's father didn't request her again  to sit beside him where Sabrina used to sit at supper. He understood that though Sabrina wasn’t there, her place was secured in their hearts.

[merciganimard]

Booklog: In the Shadow of the Mountain. A Memoir of Courage by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado

“I can only laugh at how arrogant I was that first time around. I didn’t know then how much pain there is in healing. How much shit and grime.”

“Pride was the opposite of shame.”

“You'll have an awful day, if not many, on this mountain,' he said. 'You'll want to quit; you'll question why you're here. But when that happens, know that it's just an awful day and that everything will be different when you wake up the next morning. Everything changes when you just keep going.”

Sources for pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

[heliomie]

i’m going to start doing a booklog here because i’m NOT supposed to be using goodreads (am*zon)…. but it’s my book social media. i will discharge from it for 2024 I SWEAR

i just finished this year’s reading challenge as well. attaching my recent reads as well

[saemum]

毬矢まりえ＋森山恵姉妹訳の『A.ウェイリー版 源氏物語』。クリムトの絵画を使った装画のおかげで存在は知っていたけれど手に取ったことはなく、内容は知らずにいました。 興味のきっかけは訳者の森山恵さんのツイート。ヴァージニア・ウルフが原書を読んでいたというエピソードや竹宮惠子さんによる帯文に読んでみたい心が高まり、2023年のセルフプレゼントにこのウェイリー版4巻セットを買おう！と決めました。角田光代現代語訳『源氏物語』上中下セットをセルフプレゼントにしたのが2021年。タイミング的にもいい そんなことを考えていたら、今年1月7日からFM軽井沢「朗読散歩」で、『A.ウェイリー版 源氏物語』の朗読が始まりました。朗読者は軽井沢朗読館館長で元NHKアナウンサーの青木裕子さん。青木さんの朗読には控えめな演劇性が感じられ、シーンがまざまざと浮かんできます。それに加えて、「ワードローブのレディ」「エンペラー」「パレス」といったカタカナ英語の表現が入り混じった戻し訳の文章が、耳にとても心地よい。 私のファースト源氏は『あさきゆめみし』なので、源氏物語の長いストーリーも人物相関図も文章でなく絵で入っています。ビジュアルでの表現を飛ばすなら朗読から入るのもアリだなと。その場合、子どもなら現代語訳版よりウェイリー版の方が入りやすいかもしれません。中学生の娘の印象はそんな感じ（娘の就寝時に『現代語訳源氏物語』を朗読しています）。 FM軽井沢のラジオ放送に聴き逃し配信やアーカイブはありませんが、更新は隔週で翌週は再放送なので聴き逃してもチャンスあり。1月23日現在で第2回まで放送されています。 https://fm-karuizawa.co.jp/ 好書好日に掲載された「「源氏物語 Ａ・ウェイリー版」書評〈戻し訳〉に響く新しい音色」<https://book.asahi.com/article/11578498>に、 “この〈戻し訳〉はウェイリーの脳裡（のうり）にひろがった『源氏物語』の様態を伝えるだけでなく、文体と文章のテンポなどに現在だからこそ可能なかたちを展開していて楽しい。” という一文があります。ウェイリーの脳裡にひろがった『源氏物語』の様態を、現代を生きる私たちにも感じ取ることができるって、なんという幸福なんだろう。 5月が来るのが今から楽しみです。 ୨୧┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈୨୧ 重版の告知を昨年3月に見ましたし、品切はきっと無いはず。4巻セットだとまあまあいい値段になるので、近所のTSUTAYA系列書店でポイント10倍を使って買うか（もしかしたら1巻だけでも余分に仕入れてくれるかもしれないし）、PayPayの20％ポイントバックの日に対象のネット書店で買うか、キャッシュバックとか考えずに普通に推し書店で買うか、いろいろ考え中。 2023/01/24 #bookstagram #ブックスタグラム #bookgram #book #ブクログ #本ログ #booklog #本好きな人と繋がりたい #読書好きな人と繋がりたい #読書 #読書好き #ウェイリー版源氏物語 #毬矢まりえ #森山恵 https://www.instagram.com/p/CnyqtPavTaD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[blaiddydmoon]

About Legends & Lattes:

It's amazing, to be short. It's cozy, it's welcoming, it's warm, it's your favorite coffee place on an autumn evening. If you are interested in DnD, stories about new beginnings, reinventing yourself and find people you can call "home", then this is a book made for you.

The characters are relatable, well-rounded, coherent, and the fact that they don't fall into the trap of stereotypes about fantasy is refreshing to read. Of course Viv is a favorite of mine, but I found myself wanting more of Tandri, she's simply wonderful.

Not every piece of fantasy needs to talk about big, disastrous, war-like events to be a great piece of fantasy media, and Legends & Lattes is living proof of it.

☕ I think I'll be recommending it to every single one of my friends forever, I'm never shutting up about this one. And I don't even like coffee!

[lilylizard]

books I've finished in 2023

Uzumaki by Junji Ito

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Authority by Jeff Vandermeer

All The Living And The Dead by Hayley Campbell

Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer

[goliadkine]

She knew from sermons and editorials that it wasn’t real music- just colored folk’s stuff: harmful, certainly; embarrassing, of course; but not real, not serious. 

Yet Alice Manfred swore she heard a complicated anger in it. Something hostile that disguised itself as flourish and roaring seduction. But the part she hated most was its appetite. Its longing for the bash, the slit; a king of careless hunger for a fight or a red ruby stickpin for a tie- either would do. It faked happiness, faked welcome, but it did not make her feel generous, this juke joint, barrel hooch, tonk house, music. It made her hold her hand in the pocket of her apron to keep from smashing it through the glass pane to snatch the world in her fist and squeeze the life out of it for doing what it did and did and did to her and everybody else she knew or knew about. Better to close the windows and the shutters, sweat in the summer heat of a silent Clifton Place apartment than to risk a broken window or a yelping that might not know where or how to stop. 

Toni Morrison, Jazz 

[radiohimalaya]

God this graphic novel I'm reading is so much fun

[lovepear]

ブクログでISBNコードのない書籍を登録する方法

Web上で仮想本棚を作成し読書の記録・管理ができるサービス「ブクログ」でISBNコードがない、Amazonなどで取り扱いがない書籍を登録する方法について。

こんにちは。@OfficeTAKU…

[haveacupofjohanny]

#Saturdayread: Sharing My Book Log for Her Soul To Take by Harley Laroux

Jump on this thrilling journey with "Her Soul To Take" by Harley Laroux. Join me as I share my reactions and thoughts on this dark romance in my #booklog.

*booklogs usually carry spoilers. Please be aware. I recently read a dark romance book, “Her Soul To Take,” by Harley Laroux, for the first time in a long time. This book has given me all sorts of reactions, and I just had to share them with you. Here’s my #booklog as I navigate this intense and thought-provoking story. Reaction 1:I had to reread the first chapter. Leon is a demon held hostage…

[littlemissblogger]

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Review

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, is simply a good book that everyone should read irrespective of sex. The accuracy of the relevancy in this book is up to the next level. I felt each and every situation Kim Jiyoung had to go through as a woman. Like seriously, we never really think about the fact that how women are treated by the patriarchal society as a daughter, sister, mother, partner, employee, student, collegeue, daughter-in-law etc etc, like literally every sphere of their lives. I wonder whether this discrimination would end someday or not. However, some of the very favourite quotes from the I want to share and these are: "The world wants our uterus to be drug-free. Like sacred grounds in a virgin forest". "My routine, my career, my dreams, my entire life, me self- I gave it all up to raise our child. And I've become vermin." Loved the book very much

[wetleavesandfeathers]

Books I Read in 2023

Nonfiction:

"Why Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller

"Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble" by Daniel Lyons

"Lab Rats: How Silicon Valley Made Work Miserable for the Rest of Us" by Daniel Lyons

"Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington" by James Kirchick

"Token Black Girl" by Danielle Prescod

"The Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kunstler

"Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II" by Liza Mundy

"The Devian's War: The Homosexual vs. The United States of America" by Eric Cervini

"The Family Next Door: The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and their Extraordinary Rescue" by John Glatt

"Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

"Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them" by Max Cutler

"Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs" by Jamie Loftus

"The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything" by Ruth Goodman

"How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England" by Ruth Goodman

"What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat" by Aubrey Gordon

"'You Just Need to Lose Weight' and 19 Other Myths About Fat People" by Aubrey Gordon

"Hollywood's Children: An Inside Account of the Child Star Era" by Diana Serra Cary

"Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult" by Bruce Handy

"The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation" by Cory Doctorow

Fiction

"What Moves the Dead" by T Kingfisher

"Illuminations" by T Kingfisher

"Can't Spell Treason Without Tea" by Rebecca Thorne

"Coffee, Milk and Spider Silk" by Coyote JM Edwards

"Legends & Lattes" by Travis Baldree

"Unbury the Bones" by Coyote JM Edwards

"Chase: The Boy Who Hid" by Z Jeffries

"Encore in Death" by J. D. Robb

"Escape from Incel Island" by Margaret Killjoy

"The Bookshop and the Barbarian" by Morgan Stang

"A House With Good Bones" by T Kingfisher

"Sorcery & Scones" by S. R. Meadows

"Humans Wanted" edited by Vivian Caethe

"Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler

"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle

"Boneless" by Coyote JM Edwards

"Red White and Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston

"Toad Words" by T Kingfisher

"Camp Damascus" by Chuck Tingle

"The Halcyon Fairy Book" by T Kingfisher

"Jackalope Wives and Other Stories" by T Kingfisher

"A Killer's Game" by Isabella Maldonado

"Payback in Death" by J. D. Robb