#and the books being reread soon

[skijumpingf1]

I am obsessed with maxton hall. Like it was soooo good. My expectations were pretty low (since German book adaptation usually suck) but I am blown away

[acaciapines]

i read dog boy by hornung weeks ago and man. im still thinking about this book. as a therian it just REALLY hit home, and. my god. that ending. heartbreaking! but how else could things have ended.

god i adore this book. i'd recommend it to anybody who has read and enjoyed my otherkin works--its about an orphaned russian boy raised by a pack of feral dogs and oh boy!!! does it scratch all the right itches!!! its heavy and it doesnt pull its punches but its just so effective, gah.

please read this book i cannot keep spiraling about it in my own head--

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: August Wrap-Up.

Hey, would you look at that, it's suddenly September! Rude and uncalled for. This month, I did a lot of knitting (two sets of gloves and two hats! gearing up for holiday season), and a LOT of writing (finished the first 16k draft of a scene, who???), and read uh. Some. I didn't finish a ton of books, but I did make it through what felt like a ton of pages.

Two-thirds of this month's reading were post-apocalyptic-community-oriented, on purpose, to feed into my current writing project, and that worked really well--either I'm very good at choosing books that match the vibe I need, or my ADHD brain is good at making connections, OR a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. Photos and/or reviews linked below:

GHOST STATION (pages-out stand-in book pictured above, because I checked it out from the library after canceling my paperback pre-order, which was a good call) - ★★ This was very bad. Bad science, stupid incompetent characters, JUST enough neat worldbuilding to make it FRUSTRATING that this missed so hard. I'm bummed because I wanted to read DEAD SILENCE by this author, too, but I don't trust her now :(

ALWAYS COMING HOME - ★★★★½ Loved this!! Dense and chewy, and it required a lot of patience, but it was very rewarding and I'm really glad I read it. My absolute favorite passage was about scrub oaks, but I posted a few other highlights and tagged them as "le guin posting," if you're interested! If you like Le Guin and/or utopias and better futures and/or huge books that push what it means to Be A Novel, check this out for sure.

ARCHANGELS OF FUNK - ★★★½ So. I didn't realize that this was attached to a few other novels she's already written. And I read it cold (oops). Goodreads informed me that it was Book #2 of Cinnamon Jones, and review-diving indicated that REDWOOD AND WILDFIRE is also implicated in its worldbuilding, but that didn't stop me because I can't read. I would like to revisit this one after I've read those other two, I think, but!: The community and vibes and Making Art At The End Of The World were all immaculate, and the character names made me feel vindicated in some of my own naming conventions (seriously: there's an Indigo in this, and a Game-Boy, and Hawk, I can't make this shit up).

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. I am refining this as I figure out my wrap up posts (epiphany of this month: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[timelessbian]

the greatest thing that's come from rereading the riordanverse books is that today a dad saw house of hades on the desk next to me and pointed it out to his kid who just lit up and started asking me if i knew the spinoffs and the short stories and i got to tell him heck yeah i know them!! what's your favorite?? and he was so excited to talk about it, and i just...idk there's something about little kids realizing that an adult genuinely likes something they love that's just so amazing and i love it

[pardonmydelays]

what’s your top 3 of books? 📚

in no particular order:

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, taylor jenkins reid

the hunger games series, suzanne collins

the cemetery of forgotten books series, carlos ruiz zafon

[punmster]

i've come to accept that i'm bad at writing romance, but at least i'm not as bad as the source material

[cafe-mouse]

my mom brought me my old warriors book collection that's been in her storage for years! 🐈

[sureuncertainty]

hopefully it's just tonight but i haven't written at all in the last couple of days and i tried again tonight and it didn't work AGAIN i just can't get myself to write idk sometimes i really feel like the sequel to silence agenda is literally never ever going to actually get written and there's no point in even trying

[toastsnaffler]

IN OTHER NEWS I FINISHED TRANSLATION STATE LAST NIGHT the ending had me sobbing not bc it's sad at all but WAAAAA

[goldenwaves]

first book of the year :)

[highwaydiamonds]

As someone who hates the sisyphean task of cleaning, how dare my mental health prefer a clean room.

[shatteredsnail]

i’m suffering from too many things disease. theres too much stuff i want to do or read or watch right now but i can only do so much at once

[rainingincale]

Its not the biggest deal but i may be losing all the annotations i did on the raven cycle series and i kinda wanna scream/cry ahaha

[pochx]

i'm finally getting around to reading house of leaves (not properly capitalized bc lazy). and it's not even because this is a major piece of modern horror lit. but because i'm obssessed with unique frames of storytelling and interesting prose.

like i'm only barely starting it but the formatting is so unconventional when i flip through the pages. and a story that's being told through an academic film analysis? plus all the different layers of plot?

it's so delicious.

[rosicheeks]

What books do you think everyone should read?

Have you ever considered that octopi may be the best huggers?

What's the best sound? (Personally I say windchimes)

What is the best thing to dip pizza in?

Is Bigfoot was real, he might be, would he be hot?

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Ngl I have not thought of that before 👀 I could see them being the best huggers……. Or just very slimy and slippery 😂

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Oooo windchimes are so so lovely 🥰🥰🥰

In my opinion the best sound is a cappella music. Or even just choir music. Where different voice types come together and create beautiful harmonies 😍💖

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I don’t typically dip my pizza in anything tbh

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I meeeaaaaannnn I could see it 👀👀

I’m into tall and hairy people 🫣🤭

[fingertipsmp3]

Lmao why is my chapter summaries of HtN document over 3000 words long already and I’m not even two thirds of the way into HtN