#Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

[books-in-media]

Emma Watson, (Goodreads Account)

—Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, Sebastian Junger (2016)

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Today's veterans often come home to find that, although they're willing  to die for their country, they're not sure how to live for it.

Sebastian Junger,  Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

Dedicated to my fellow veterans on this Armed Forces Week.

May you win the war you brought home with you.

Dum spiro spero (while I breathe, I hope).

[thoughtfulfangirling]

2024 Reads

Another human invented marker of time has passed moving us from one year to the next. It's a good reason to start over my lists right?! XD 2023's list can be found here! 2024 starts below!

You Made a Fool out of Death with Your Beauty - Awaeke Emezi

Pussypedia: A Comprehensive Guide^ - Zoe Mendelson & Maria Conejo

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek -Kim Michele Richardson

Meru - S.B. Divya

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South^ by Radley Balko & Tucker Carrington

Watching the Tree: A Chinese Daughter Reflects on Happiness, Tradition, and Spiritual Wisdom^ - Adeline Yen Mah

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong

The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg^ - Helen Rappaport]

Pride and Prejudice* - Jane Austen

Fresh Girl - Jaida Placide

Butts: A Backstory^ - Heather Radke

The Girl Who Chased the Moon - Sarah Addison Allen

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides

The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex^ - Nathaniel Philbrick

A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico^ - Amy S. Greenberg

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible^ - Charles E. Cobb Jr.

This Is Your Mind on Plants^ - Michael Pollan

The Silent Patient*~ - Alex Michaelides

Finding Me^ - Viola Davis

Wuthering Heights# - Emily Bronte

Exit Strategy~ - Martha Wells

The Girls Who Went Away:^ The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades before Roe V. Wade - Ann Fessler

Bowling Alone:^ The Collapse and Revival of American Community - Robert D. Putnam

Fugitive Telemetry%~ - Martha Wells

The History of Wales^*% - History Nerds

The War on Everyone^% ~- Robert Evans

Searching for Black Confederates:^ The Civil War's Most Persistent Myth - Kevin M. Levin

The Great Influenza:* The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History [2004] by John M. Barry

Network Effect~ - Martha Wells

Zelda Popkin:^ The Life and Times of an American Jewish Woman Writer - Jeremy D Popkin

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon

Medical Apartheid:^ The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present - Harriet A Washington

The Assassination of Fred Hampton:^ How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther - Jeffrey Haas

The Death of Vivek Oji - Awaeke Emezi

Mutual Aid:^% Building Solidarity in This Crisis (And the Next) - Dean Spade

Passin' Through - Luis L'Amour

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - James McBride

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Histories of the Transgender Child^ - Jules Gill-Peterson

Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curiosu Man^ - Mark Kurlansky

When I Fell from the Sky:^ The True Story of One Woman's Miraculous Survival - Juliane Koepcke

Dear Senthuran:^ A Black Spirit Memoir - Akwaeke Emezi

Emma* by Jane Austen

Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees

Woman:^ The American History of an Idea - Lillian Faderman

System Collapse - Martha Wells

A Dark and Starless Forest - Sarah Hollawell

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love^% - Bell Hooks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks^ - Rebecca Skloot

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America^ -Rachel Hope Cleves

The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle^ - Lillian Faderman

The Woman in Me^ - Brittany Spears

Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America^ - Gregory Smithers

Being Huemann: An Unrepentant Memoir of Disability Rights Activist^ - Judith Huemann

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When a Disaster Strikes and Why^ - Amanda Ripley

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone^ - Edward Dolnick

Utopia for Realists:^ How We Can Build the Ideal World - Rutger Bregman

The Echo Wife - Sarah Gailey

To Believe in Women:^ What Lesbians Have Done for America - Lillian Faderman

Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon

Tribe:^% On Homecoming and Belonging - Sebastian Junger

Freedom^% - Sebastian Junger

Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield

Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea% - Mark Kurlansky

Bridehead Revisited# - Evelyn Waugh

The Witch Elm - Tana Frencyh

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

HumanKind: A Hopeful History - Rutger Bregman^

Autumn at the Willow River Guesthouse - C.P Ward

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World Find the Good Death^ - Caitlin Doughty

(last updated 9/19)

Currently reading: On Killing (print), Plain Bad Heroines (print), A Study in Drowning (Audio), Gideon the Ninth (with spouse), and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (audio to fall asleep to)

Key: * = Reread ^ = Nonfiction ~ = Read with Empty % = Novella #= Doc book club

My goal for 2024 is for 40% of my reads to be nonfiction. I've had two years within the recent past where I managed 20% of my reads to be nonfiction, so I'm aiming to double that. THIS WILL BE HARD FOR ME! Not because I don't enjoy nonfiction but because I enjoy fiction a lot more and have a lot more practice reading it. Haha Also for me, I am in circles where I'm just going to have more awareness of fictional books that I'm likely to enjoy more so than nonfiction. I'm kind of hoping that this years journey will change that a bit too!

Okay, below the cut I'm putting the nonfiction books on my tbr, most of which I have the lovely people of Tumblr to thank for the recommendations!

1968: The Year that Rocked the World

The Age of Wood; Our Most Useful Material...

The Assassination of Fred Hampton

Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the...

Being Human

The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shelf

Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man

Bowling Alone

Brave the Wild: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped...

Butts: A Backstory / Evermore Recommended

The Cadaver Kin and the Country Dentist / Automatuck9

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse...

Dear Senthuran

DisneyWar

Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with...

Finding Me (Viola Davis)

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed...

The Food of a Younger Land

The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women...

The Glass Universe

The Great Hunger: The Story of the Famine...

The Great Influenza

Helping Her Get Free: A Guide for Families and Friends of an Abused Woman

The History of Ireland

The History of Scotland

The History of Wales

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Indifferent Stars Above

In the Heart of the Sea / ecouterbien

In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death...

The Last Days of the Romanovs / Automatuck9

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical...

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During the Crisis...

A New World Begins

Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous...

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get you Killed / Empty

Radium Girls

The Road to Jonestown

Paper: Paging through History

People's Temple

Pussypedia / Bookstagram Rec

Salt: A World History

Say Nothing

Sea Biscuit: An American legend

Searching for Black Confederates

This is Your Mind on Plants

Unmasking Autism

The Unthinkable: Who Survives when Disaster Strikes - And Why

Watching the Tree / found all by my little self

We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow we Will be Killed...

A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the.. / Rose

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta...

I will actually add to this list as I get more recs and whatnot. And I still have some coming which I ordered from Thriftbooks. Once those are here, I'll add those. I'm a little sad there aren't more memoirs, but there's plenty of time for that yet! This is already 37 books, and given lately I've been reading about 70 (nonfiction may slow me down tho), these should give me plenty of ability to reach my 40% goal. Now it's just a matter of if I do it XD

[richincolor]

Crystal's Favorite 2023 Books

This year there were a lot of excellent books that came my way. Here are the ones that were the most memorable and are the most likely to be re-reads in the future.

Rez Ball by Byron Graves Heartdrum [My Review]

These days, Tre Brun is happiest when he is playing basketball on the Red Lake Reservation high school team—even though he can’t help but be constantly gut-punched with memories of his big brother, Jaxon, who died in an accident.

When Jaxon’s former teammates on the varsity team offer to take Tre under their wing, he sees this as his shot to represent his Ojibwe rez all the way to their first state championship. This is the first step toward his dream of playing in the NBA, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him.

But stepping into his brother’s shoes as a star player means that Tre can’t mess up. Not on the court, not at school, and not with his new friend, gamer Khiana, who he is definitely not falling in love with.

After decades of rez teams almost making it, Tre needs to take his team to state. Because if he can live up to Jaxon’s dreams, their story isn’t over yet.

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley Henry Holt and Company [My Review]

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is – the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won’t ever take her far from home, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot – will not – stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.

Sometimes, the truth shouldn’t stay buried.

Gloria Buenrostro is Not My Girlfriend by Brandon Hoàng Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) [My Review]

Gary Võ is one of the few Vietnamese kids in his school and has been shy for as long as he can remember—being ignored and excluded by his classmates comes with the territory. So when the most popular guy in his grade offers Gary the opportunity to break into his inner circle, Gary jumps at the chance. All he needs to do is steal the prized possession of the most beautiful and untouchable girl they know—Gloria Buenrostro.

But as Gary gets to know Gloria, he’s taken in by her authenticity and genuine interest in who he really is. Soon, they’re best friends. Being part of the “in crowd” has always been Gary’s dream, but as he comes closer to achieving infamy, he risks losing the first person who recognizes his true self. Gary must consider if any amount of popularity is worth losing a true friend.

Throwback by Maurene Goo Zando Young Readers [My Review]

Back to the Future meets The Joy Luck Club in this YA contemporary romance about a Korean American girl sent back to the ’90s to (reluctantly) help her teenage mom win Homecoming Queen.

Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You know what’s harder? Being the daughter of one. Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla—and has never understood her bougie-nightmare, John Hughes high school expectations. After a huge fight between them, Sam is desperate to move forward—but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.

To her shock, Sam finds herself back in high school . . . in the ’90s . . . with a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now this Gen Z girl must try to fit into an analog world. She’s got the fashion down, but everything else is baffling. What is “microfiche”? What’s with the casual racism and misogyny? And why does it feel like Priscilla is someone she could actually be . . . friends with?

Sam’s blast to the past has her finding the right romance in the wrong time while questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. Will Sam figure out what she needs to do to fix things for her mom so that she can go back to a time she understands? Brimming with heart and humor, Maurene Goo’s time-travel romance asks big questions about what exactly one inherits and loses in the immigrant experience.

Reggie & Delilah by Elise Bryant Harper Collins [My Review]

Delilah always keeps her messy, gooey insides hidden behind a wall of shrugs and yeah, whatevers. She goes with the flow—which is how she ends up singing in her friends’ punk band as a favor, even though she’d prefer to hide at the merch table.

Reggie is a D&D Dungeon Master and self-declared Blerd. He spends his free time leading quests and writing essays critiquing the game under a pseudonym, keeping it all under wraps from his disapproving family.

These two, who have practically nothing in common, meet for the first time on New Year’s Eve. And then again on Valentine’s Day. And then again on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s almost like the universe is pushing them together for a reason.

Delilah wishes she were more like Reggie—open about what she likes and who she is, even if it’s not cool. Except . . . it’s all a front. Reggie is just role-playing someone confident. The kind of guy who could be with a girl like Delilah.

As their holiday meetings continue, the two begin to fall for each other. But what happens once they realize they’ve each fallen for a version of the other that doesn’t really exist?

[theunfortunateplace]

Homecoming (Namor X Black OC) Chapter 3

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description: After being away from home for so many years due to school keeping Adella busy she's finally able to go home after her hard work pays off but what she didn't expect was such an eventful homecoming.

Four days that’s how long I’ve been here four days. It’s not that I hated it here it’s quite peaceful. I’m sure someone is worried about me there but non other bit the king himself lets me know he has everything under control. 

At least I’m not kept in this room by force. Everyone I met so far has been nice except the girl named Namora. I don’t know what her deal is but she’s constantly side-eyeing me as if I called her dog an ugly rat or stepping on her white shoes. 

Attuma, on the other hand, has been very friendly well that’s whenever he does come around. 

“The shaman is here to speak with us.” I jump from the sudden boom in volume. I clutch my chest and turn around.

“ I’m gonna need to put a bell on you or something because you can’t keep doing that.” He smiled and crossed his hands behind him. 

“ I did make myself known you simply were deep in thought.” He gestured to the door and we exited the room

“Did you enjoy your breakfast?” He asked trying to make small talk as we ventured down the hallway.

“Mhm it was nice but lonely….. the only person I talk to is Attuma but he isn’t always around and you.” 

He hummed “ what about-“

“She does not like me K'uk'ulkan.” 

“You don’t know that.” I stopped mid-stride and stared at him.

“ I know when someone likes me and when they don’t and she does not either you have seen the looks she has given me or you choose to be oblivious to the fact that she believes I don’t belong here.” 

He took a deep breath but didn’t say anything only clenched his jaw as if I had disrespected him. 

“We should go before we are late.” He cleared his throat and waited for me to start walking again. 

He held the door open for me and I walked in greeted by a couple of people. 

K'uk'ulkan and the others conversed back and forth then the man led me to sit down. 

“Since you don’t know the language yet I’ll translate.” 

I nodded my head and sat there. Hopefully there’s some clarity from this because things are still not making sense. 

“There was no escaping this even if we wanted to essentially everything was planned out by our god.” 

“So your god had my life planned out how does that make any sense when I don’t worship him?” 

“You might have not but your ancestors did well your other ones.” I assume he’s talking about my nonblack ancestors the ones that come from my dad's side 

“ I’m not sure that’s true just like the other indigenous people. My ancestors were colonized by the Spanish, and all the families that I know of are Catholic.” 

He hummed and looked back at the man who just stared at me. He shook his head and started talking to K'uk'ulkan

“He said our tribe wasn’t the only one who believed in the same god…the name of them is unknown seeing as how they got forced by the Spanish but they never consumed the plant but they farmed with the same soil it came from.”

I nodded my head all of this was just crazy to me. What is that supposed to mean? 

“ so….”

“ meaning that your ancestors only got part of the gift from our shared god.”

Gift? What could that-

“So that’s why my family were good swimmers and always loved by the ocean.” I gasped and bit my thumb nervously. 

“ which explains why you were dangerously deep in the ocean.” He said watching me nervously nibble at my finger. 

“ I happen to be a great swimmer with excellent lung capacity that depth was nothing compared to what I could really do without needing an oxygen tank and before the pressure gets too much.” 

“You still shouldn’t have been that far down not for a surface dweller.” Is he scolding me? Sure it’s my fault but I was trying to help. 

“Well, excuse me for putting my marine biology degree to use. I don’t just go frolicking around hoping to get killed but saved in the last minute by a handsome man that I saved hours  before.”  He raised an eyebrow 

“The gods definitely picked a good one out for me.” He scoffed. 

“You know you’re the last person that should be talking because look how many times I saved you that night?”  I rolled my eyes and huffed some nerve of that man. 

The man cleared his throat and we both looked at him. He gave both of us a serious face but only  K'uk'ulkan had a face that expressed terror.

“What? What did he say?” 

“The more we reject our fate of being destined for one another, spending time apart due to quarrels and fail to consummate our marriage bad things will continue to happen which will eventually end in both of our deaths.” 

I gulped and ferociously started to move onto biting on my nail so being able to leave is out of the picture. Going back to my regular life is long gone I’m stuck here. 

I lower my head and cover my face with my hands overwhelmed by feeling tears begin to fall from my eyes.

I’m never gonna get to see my only family left, they are probably worried sick I should’ve minded my own damn business. 

I soon felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me only making me cry harder mourning the life I once had. All because of a god I don’t even worship had my life planned out. 

I felt his plump lips briefly press against my forehead shocking me but the tears still flowed. Was this his way of trying to comfort me? 

“We will figure it out okay.” He rubbed my back and hummed. I blocked out the rest of the conversation they were having. I no longer was interested and truthfully I was over it. Shortly after he lifted me up placing his hands under my butt I instinctively wrapped my legs around him not wanting to fall. Once again his lips met my forehead, “if there were another way I wouldn't put you through this.”

-

He dropped me back off to my room and talked for a bit before he had to leave once again, but Attuma kept me company when he stopped by to talk 

As I conversed with Attuma joking around and enjoying downtime with him I felt a pair of eyes burning holes into the side of my face. 

I look over and see K'uk'ulkan glaring at me while clutching his jaw. I raised my brow confused if something was bothering him. He needed to say something I don’t read minds. 

“Once you're able to come out  and meet everyone I’ll take you to where the whales stay.” My eyes went wide and clapped my hands 

“No, you're pulling my leg you guys have whales.” 

He nodded, “yes, when we have long trips we take them out as transportation.”

“So how does dating work here fill me in? I’m sure it’s much different than what I’m used to.”  Attuma went to open his mouth but got interrupted by a scoff coming from the corner of the room. 

“Um,” he cleared his throat, “yes though I don’t know too much about how surface dwellers date we do courting it’s a process.” 

“Ah I see, I’m sure that’s a wonderful experience.” 

“  Yaan deberes ku, kin tsoolik u xeej a beetej le je'elo'”    (You have duties to attend to I advise you to go do that) 

I jump from the sudden base in K'uk'ulkan voice. I shoot a glare at him and Attuma swiftly stood up. I go to reach out for his hand 

But once again I’m startled by his shouting. Attuma nodded his head and didn’t look back.

“Why did you do that why did you make him leave?” I stood the only person that  wants to talk to me forced to leave because someone wants to have a hissy fit 

“You learned nothing today did you?” He cursed under his breath and walked closer to me. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

He scoffed, “you act like you don’t know what I’m talking about how can someone so smart be so-“

“Don't you dare finish that sentence!”  I said sternly 

“You bat your eyes at my best worrier and reach out for his hand, YOU ARE MY WIFE ADELLA!” 

I chuckled and rubbed my temples, “you mistake my kindness for flirting” 

“ I didn't mistake anything I know what I saw!”

“Well, get your fucking eyes checked out because you saw wrong. And it’s clear you need that hearing if yours checked as well because if YOU recall I told you he’s the only one that talks to me!”

“Bullshit Adella BULL FUCKING SHIT if you just tried to be nice to nam-“

I scoffed and threw my hands up in the air. “ I’m done with this conversation.” 

I walked away only for him to grip my wrist trying to pull me back. I look at my wrist and up at him and snatch it away from him.

“How can you call me your wife when  you don’t care to spend time with me, stick up for your cousin when she’s the one being rude to me respectfully, fuck you K'uk'ulkan.” I scoff. “It's funny that I thought when you were comforting me this morning that I could accept my fate, but no, I think I would rather die.” 

I didn’t care to listen to his response I needed to get away from here. 

_

I sit at the edge of the cave with my toes dipped into the water that delves deeper into the ocean. I couldn’t help but admire the glow worms they mimicked the night sky. Who would have thought I would have missed something as small as that something that’s a given and often taken for granted? 

Will I ever be able to go back home? What’s the point of staying here especially when it feels like I’m not wanted?

My breath hitched as I heard footsteps moving closer to me. I turned around to see  

K'uk'ulkan was not dressed in his usual royal attire his eyes were soft as if they were calling out to me.

“ Adella.” His voice echoed bouncing off the cave walls.  He gestured to the spot near me and I hesitantly nodded my head. He owns the cave after all who am I to deny him? 

“ I want to apologize to you.” He cleared his throat and looked over at me, “I'm disgusted and disappointed by the behavior I exhibited hours ago. It wasn't right for me to curse at you much less raise my voice. I let jealousy blind me.”

“I-I'm just new to all of this. These emotions six days ago I was just a king looking after my people and keeping them safe then out of nowhere I get hit with this intense feeling towards you….that’s why I was trying to leave so quickly when you saved me… I didn’t like the feeling because it was unnatural to me unknown but how I acted back there is not how I was raised and I feel ashamed that the side even got out.” 

He looked away but quickly pinned his eyes back on me. 

“ And you were right about Namora. You are my partner now my wife In reina I should have believed you when you expressed how you felt. As for my cousin, she simply doesn’t do well towards people outside our tribe, and I’m not taking her side when I say this nor does it excuse her behavior but she just doesn’t know how to properly express herself.”

All of this could have been avoided if he had just talked to me and listened.

“And with that, I'm sorry In reina” I looked at him he didn’t have that stern look on his face he was extremely apologetic. Not that his words hadn’t expressed that.

“ I’m sorry too I also shouldn’t have cursed at you or said I would rather die that was a little bit extreme. I accept your apology as well…after having some time to cool down I realized I was just hurt by your actions and acted on emotions.” 

He nodded his head and maintained eye contact. I looked down at my feet feeling intimidated by his gaze. “I just felt attacked. Attuma is the only person that talks to me. The women who come and bring me food and clothes just smile and don’t say a word. You're never around only when it’s important matters or to see how I was doing. When trying to talk to the girl I thought looked like a fun person to be friends with constantly looked down at me like I was chum it hurt.” 

“ I wasn’t trying to come off as flirting in that conversation I had with him I simply wanted to know more about the people I would be spending my life with. And knowing that you guys haven’t been taken over by the Spanish made me wonder what are the differences and dating was the first thing that popped up.”

“My mother would be very disappointed in my actions and I’m deeply sorry for that not just because I know my mother would disapprove but because I misunderstood you.” 

I looked up from my feet and our eyes met. I had him a soft smile. I laid back on the surprisingly warm rock and started up at the glow worms.

“Emotions are crazy,” I said. He chuckled softly and joined me in laying on the rock. 

“Out of the  five hundred years I’ve been alive not once have I met a woman that drives me crazy as much as you do.” 

“If I were given the chance I wouldn’t have turned you right away. I would have courted you taught you my language showered you with your favorite fruit and jewels.” 

“It's not too late for all those things. We might be married but we know nothing about each other.” He hummed agreeing with me well at least I think that’s what he was doing 

“ You're right.” He got up and held his hand out for me to grab. I take it, “come on let me take you somewhere.” 

He smiled at me and before I knew it we were in the water. You know that feeling you get when you get a strong gust of cool air that’s what I felt like being in the water again.

He smiled at me and gestured for me to follow him. I didn’t stall to see what was in store. This was the first time I actually had left the cave. I was excited to be anywhere but there.

“follow the current, don’t fight it.” He said shortly after I felt a rush of water push past me he grabbed my hand and nodded his head to reassure me that everything was okay.

I wasn’t used to this speed back on land. If you get caught in something like this it meant death but here it meant faster transport to wherever we were going. The feeling almost replicated what it was like going head first down a slide in those play areas they have at fast food restaurants. 

But soon enough I was there. 

“ welcome to Talokan.” 

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[charisreads]

ALL THE BOOKS I READ IN 2022

This year I was mostly focused on my career (and I fell in loveeee) so I’ve not had much time for reading. Nonetheless, here are the books I managed to get through. (I'll do another post on the books I bought but haven't finished!)

This has been a bad reading year for me, so I was surprised to see that I read as many as I did. I think the reason for this is that now I have multiple ways to read eg. My kindle, the kindle app on my phone, audible, and hard copies. I bought myself a Kindle last year for Christmas, worried that I wouldn’t ever pick it up, but I use it all the time! (Hasn’t curbed my love for physical books though.)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

I highly doubt Tumblr needs to be told how great this book is. I loved every second, I cried, I’ll buy whatever the author releases next.

Normal People ✨fastest read!✨

I really needed an easy read after stopping and starting so many books and I just swam right through this one. I finished it. I sulked. I watched the BBC series. I find it hard to recommend because it’s not satisfying but it’s real.

They Both Die At The End

I read the entirety of this book commuting. To and from London, up north and back to Manchester. It was great to dip in and out of. It made time pass by quickly. I cried like a bitch. Highly recommend.

Ark

It’s a short story but a lovely one. I was looking for more Veronica Roth books like a hungry dog, this satisfied the itch.

Press Reset

This was work related. It’s a great insight into the video game industry, probably not interesting if you’re not in this field.

Chess ✨new all-time favourite book✨

London Euston station bookshop staff I owe you so much!! I was looking for a short read for my long journey back to Manchester. I spotted this short book with a handwritten recommendation. It surprised me. Stefan Zweig is an author I’ve never heard of before. With a book name like “Chess” I expected a strategic story. To me it is colourful, people focused and wonderful. I love how he clearly writes the motivations of characters and how the story seems fantastical but real. I sent my writer friend 7 voice notes about it then bought her a copy of it for her birthday.

Primal Branding

Another work one. Marketing related, interesting case studies, goes on a bit.

Fatal Attraction 😶least favourite😶

My auntie gave me a bunch of books a while back and this thriller caught my eye. Sadly, it had potential to follow through but didn’t.

Whoever Fights Monsters

Non-fiction! This book was written by the man who invented the term serial killer. He writes about many cases he helped solve and serial killers he interviewed. It's very interesting, not just the parts about serial killers but his determination. He's worked in some very difficult and slow-moving agencies, yet got through the bureaucracy to get this work done.

The Thursday Murder Club

I really wanted to like it. I really, really, really did. But I didn’t. I couldn’t get attached to the characters and it felt like it was aimed at an older audience that wanted to be seen, which is lovely! But not meant for me.

Poirot’s Finest Cases

Audiobook. Top lad that Poirot.

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

Work related read. I wrote a blog post about it on my work website here. https://www.charisreid.co.uk/blog/charisreidstribe

Project Hail Mary ✨recommend the most✨

A friend recommended me this and I loved it. It’s only available on audible right now but I really recommend it. It’s fun, heartwarming and I love how the problems the character faces are all science-based. Really rad. 10/10.

(I also reread the Hunger Games trilogy bc it’s my comfort series, so let’s include that)

✨16 total books finished in 2022✨

I'll do another post about aims for next year and what I'll be starting to read in January!

[star0mania]

HTTYD OC :)

Name: Loki  Jackson Raini

Ages: 17-19 19(sequel)  20(third movie) 29(homecoming

Gender/Pronouns: Loki: Non/Binary- They/them Jackson: Male- He/him Raini: Demigirl-- She/they

Sexuality: Loki: Bisexual Jackson: Omnisexual Raini: Lesbian/Demisexual

Good or Bad: Good

Dragon: Jackson: Light Fury (Kaida) Crush/Mate: Toothless Loki: Changewing (Tanwen) Crush/Mate: none Raini: Cloudcarver (Aurora)  Crush/Mate: None

Abilities: Talking to dragons Loki: Electric powers Raini: Fire powes Jackson: snow powers 

Crush: Loki: Open

Jackson: Hiccup ship name: Hiccson Jackcup ship song:  The Lumineers-- Ho Hey "I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart <3" variants: Reddie- IT Steddie- ST Karlnap- Dream SNP Narlie- Heartstopper

Raini: none (legends say she has a crush on Astrid lol) ship name: Rainstrid, Asni ship song: Katy Perry-I kissed a girl "I kissed a girl and I liked it~" variants:  -Catradora- She-Ra -Lumity- TOH

Family: Ingirid-mom-deceased 43 can't remember her- formally good relationship.

Starolf-father-deceased  46 can't remember him - formally good relationship.

Their dragons lol

Friends: The good guys

Enemies: The bad guys

FC: Loki:  Edric Blight from TOH

Jackson: Jack Frost from ROTG

Raini: Moana from Moana

VC: 

Loki: Nick Nelson from  Heartstopper

Raini: Maddison Russell from Godzilla vs King Kong

Jackson: Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Allergies: Loki: stings Jackson: no allergies Rainia: pollen

Variants: Loki: -Sokka (AVATAR the last airbender) -Carlos (Decendants) -Graystripe (Warriors) -Jonathan (ST)

Jackson: -Will Byers (ST) -Richie (IT) -Jay (Decendants) -Michael Afton (FNAF) -Tarzan (Tarzan) -Loralei (Gilmore Girls) 

Rainia: -Eleven (ST) -Velma (Scooby Doo) -Brightheart (Warriors) -Jenna (Balto)

Theme song: Son of Man

Backstory: Loki was born to Starolf and Ingirid along with his two other siblings, a brother named Jackson and a sister, Raini. When they were just 5 months old, their tribe was attacked by dragons, killing their father and mother. The dragons stole the triplets and raised them as their own, making them meet their dragon buddies. Soon, a week later, another person came and her name was  Valka. Valka treated them as her own as well. Several years later, they meet Hiccup and the gang and  only time can tell what happened next.  

[antonjesus]

Book 16- Day 1: Sebastian Junger “Tribe- On Homecoming and Belonging”

[ferstaidkit]

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

[beerwithorange]

188. “How do you become an adult in a society that doesn’t ask for sacrifice? How do you become a man in a world that doesn’t require courage?”

--Sebastian Junger, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

[welcomemmorg]

Red tribal body paint

It also meant that the warrior was a hero, led a good life, and was willing to fight till the end or death. It was made from clay, limestone, ground gypsum, eggshells, and seashells. White was a color for mourning, but also signified peace and prosperity when used as a face paint. It also symbolized victory and homecoming to the camp. It signified strength and also that the warrior had proved himself in the battle. It was painted on the face to prepare for war. Red-colored paint was made from clay containing iron oxides, roots, berries, beets, etc.īlack color symbolized “living” and was considered to be an aggressive color. Red color symbolized war, violence, blood, strength, energy, power, and success in a war, and also symbolized happiness and beauty in face paint. The symbols and colors were a reflection of the happenings and events during a war.įirst let us see the meanings and symbolism of different war paint colors. They believed that the designs that they painted had certain magical powers that would protect them. Each color and symbol had its own significance. Even the horses were painted or imprinted with symbols and signs to communicate with each other during wars. They were also used as a camouflage while hunting or during wars. They were usually based on geometric drawings of celestial bodies, thunder, lightning, animals, birds, reptiles, etc.Īpart from decoration purposes, the paint colors and symbols were mainly used during wars to convey secret messages to the other members of the tribe. They were highly spiritual people who conveyed and communicated their thoughts and ideas through symbols and colors. The use of symbols is what distinguished the tribes from each other. Although the exact reason is unknown, it is speculated that it was for protection from insects.įace painting holds a unique significance for Native Indians or Native American Indians. They used to cover almost everything from their hair and face to clothing and belongings, even in burials. Did You Know?īeothuk, a Native American Indian tribe, used red color extensively. You may not want to miss out on learning about different symbols and meanings of Native American Indians. Native Indians have long embraced the practice of face paint to communicate messages via colors and different symbols, especially during wars.

[ladygreyslibrary]

Something to Think About

From an evolutionary perspective, it’s (PTSD) exactly the response you want to have when your life is in danger: you want to be vigilant, you want to avoid situations where you are not in control, you want to react to strange noises, you want to sleep lightly and wake easily, you want to have flashbacks and nightmares that remind you of specific threats to your life, and you want to be, by turns, angry and depressed. Anger keeps you ready to fight, and depression keeps you from being too active and putting yourself in more danger. Flashbacks also serve to remind you of the danger that’s out there -- “a highly efficient single-event survival-learning mechanism,” as one researcher termed it. All humans react to trauma in this way, and most mammals do as well. It may be unpleasant, but it’s preferable to getting killed.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

"Two of the behaviors that set early humans apart were the systemic sharing of food and altruistic group defense. Other primates did very little of either but, increasingly, hominids did, and those behaviors helped set them on an evolutionary path that produced the modern world"

— Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger

For the next time someone says it's in our nature to be only out for ourselves. No, actually, it's really really not.

[thebookbin]

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

Sebastian Junger

Publisher: Twelve Genre: nonfiction, psychology Year: 2016

I just finished Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger, a fascinating look on how the construction of western society is destructive to the human conscious through PTSD. Junger articulated that the way we in the west have constructed our society leaves us bereft of the human interaction that humanity has continuously had up until the rise of the Industrial Revolution. The lack of community and of these intimate relationships, has had detrimental impacts on our society. He compares times throughout history: people living in London during the Blitz were overall happier and suffered less PTSD than those of surrounding villages who saw no attacks. Frontiersmen and women would abandon their colonies to live with the native peoples when they arrived in the US. American soldiers suffer more accounts and more severe PTSD than soldiers in places with much more violence and much higher casualty rates, and their symptoms only worsen when they get back stateside. Rape victims experience far more severe symptoms than veterans, but also appear to heal faster, and that is because soldiers experience their trauma alongside the closest moments of their lives: for the first time they are part of a tight knit community that western society deprives them of.

Overall, this fascinating read that definitely requires further extrapolation is marred by the author’s own inherent racism, classism, and imperialist tendencies. Even though, for all intents and purposes, the author is admitting that the way Native American society is superior to western society when it comes to mental health and community bonds, and yet the language he uses to describe these societies belies the white imperialist tradition from which he comes, and still clearly subscribes to, at least partly. His glorification of the military contradicts the very point he tries to make about nature of violence and the bonds of society.

This subject matter is so important and so very fascinating and Junger scratches the surface of something that I think is truly powerful, but he is so clearly the wrong person to discover it and the wrong voice to deliver it.

storygraph | bookshop.org | local houston

★★ traumatized stars

[mousetrapmouse]

Most higher primates, including humans, are intensely social, and there are few examples of individuals surviving outside of a group. A modern soldier returning from combat goes from the kind of close-knit situation that humans evolved for into a society where most people work outside the home, children are educated by strangers, families are isolated from wider communities, personal gain almost completely eclipses collective good, and people sleep alone or with a partner. Even if he or she is in a family, that is not the same as belonging to a large, self-sufficient group that shares and experiences almost everything collectively. Whatever the technological advances of modern society—and they’re nearly miraculous—the individual lifestyles that those technologies spawn may be deeply brutalizing to the human spirit. “You’ll have to be prepared to say that we are not a good society—that we are an anti-human society,” anthropologist Sharon Abramowitz warned when I tried this theory out on her. Abramowitz was in Ivory Coast during the start of the civil war there in 2002 and experienced, firsthand, the extremely close bonds created by hardship and danger. “We are not good to each other. Our tribalism is about an extremely narrow group of people: our children, our spouse, maybe our parents. Our society is alienating, technical, cold, and mystifying. Our fundamental desire, as human beings, is to be close to others, and our society does not allow for that.”

Sebastian Junger, PTSD: The War Disorder That Goes Beyond the Battlefield

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/05/ptsd-war-home-sebastian-junger

Anyway, everybody please read this essay

[harrypotterhousequotes]

HUFFLEPUFF: “Humans don't mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary.” –Sebastian Junger (Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging)