#book backcovers

[qbplolqdp]

Back covers illustrated by Eric Nyquist for the eco-fiction and sci-fi trilogy The Southern Reach (2014) by Jeff VanderMeer, whose award-winning first volume (Annihilation) was adapted for film as Annihilation (2018) by Alex Garland, starring Natalie Portman.

[kyouka-supremacy]

BUNGO STRAY DOGS ANIME GUIDEBOOKS

[valiantarcher]

If he were here to begin the account, I believe Dad would say what he said to Swede and me on the worst night of all our lives: We and the world, my children, will always be at war. Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves.

Leif Enger, Peace Like a River

[szynkaaa]

Manacled by SenLinYu

You can read it for free on AO3.

Full disclosure, this is a spite bind. So much hatred and annoyance and spite when into this bind. And now it's gonna sit on my bookshelf as a trophy bind, never be read (because thematically Manacled is just not my cup fo tea).

✦ Inspired by floralbearies (IG) bible manacled bind, I made my own typeset. 7.5 font size, 3 columns bible style - all three books are squeezed onto 410 pages. ✦ Foiled page design is based on The Queen's Bible Vol 1 Backcover that I found on the New York Public Library digital Collection ✦ Hardcover design inspired by James Fenner's illustrations and use of bright color palettes ✦ I originally wanted to do a dust jacket, but after consulting some friends opted for a slipcase ✦ Decked edges have been roughen up with a dinner knife

[teal-skull]

Hi I saw your post about the phrase "se ei ole mistään kotoisin" and the book you linked looks interesting I just might get it 👀 I have an Amazon gift card that I want to spend on something fun and I was wondering if you have any Finnish book recommendations!! Either with translation or in simpler Finnish works too :D

Omg!

Ngl you were in my mind when I was writing that book recommendation :3 I hope you will enjoy it if you end up getting it! But keep in mind that because it is humorous it is not a deeb dive but rather scracthing the surface.

I will have to do a confession here that I don't read too much of finnish literature (something that I need to fix)

A general tip: try adding "selkokirja" (or selkosuomi/selkokielinen) to your search. Selkokirjat are books writen, or re-writen into simpler finnish than the original. (yle's website has a section "selkouutiset" where you find news in selkosuomi

Sorry, I wrote you a really long list, but maybe more is better so you can pick and choose.

-The moomin books by Tove Janson! Pick any one, Comet in Moominland and Midsommer Madness are my faves. They were originally written in swedish because Tove was swedish-speaking finn, so finnish editions are translations. There's also comics.

-Not Before Sundown by Johanna Sinisalo. English translation (and many other) is available of this one. This book is about a gay man called Enkeli (angel) who takes a baby troll into his house and tries to take care of it. But troll is part of a wild nature and the night. From tiny snippets we follow how this turns out. Finlandia Prize winner.

-The Unkown Soldier by Väinö Linna. This is THE Book in Finland. A finnish classic and the nation's "collective memory" of the Continuation war against Russia. Many movies made out of this one. According to wikipedia there is a new english translation from 2015, which is better than the previous but some of the localization has been critizied.

-The Purge by Sofi Oksanen. A very dark and depressing book set in the soviet occupation of Estonia. Haven't read this one yet but it is widely popular. Check wikipedia for more info.

-Ja hän huutaa: Splatterpunk-Antologia (Aaave Taajuus, 2014) I took you like violence and blood, well here's a collection of splatterunk short stories writen by different finnish horror authors. Havent read all of them yet, but the ones I have read have been... good in a way of "I wanted to be disgusted and I got what I wanted". Let me tell you, these shortstories are propably the most gruesome shit writen in finnish horror scene. All warnigns ably. You honestly just need to read the backcover. It's only available in finnish but I don't think the language will be too complex.

-Pyöveli by Anneli Kanto. Only available in finnish but it's a humortictic, grotesk story set in medieval Finland following the son of an executioner, a newly (un)happily married judge in Vaasa and a peasant determined to get a new, succesfull life.

- Magdalena Hai writes speculative finnish fiction

Some recomendations by my friends: -Ilkka Remes is a thriler writer but I couldn't find any of his works translated

-Childrens books: Risto Räppääjä -books (K makes references to him in few songs!) and Heinähattu ja Vilttitossu.

-Kepler62 by Timo Parvela (Scifi)

-Varjot by Timo Parvela (fantasy)

-Hirviöasiakaspalvelu, kuinka voin auttaa by Anni Nupponen (monster customer service), the publisher is Osuuskumma

-Leena Krohn writes horror/fantasy

Also some classic finnish books are:

-The seven brothers by Aleksis Kivi, the first novel writen completely in finnish. I read this one, at first it was fun but near the ending draged on way too long, sori Aleksi. You will see this one being referenced all the time.

-The Egyptian (Sinuhe egyptiläinen) by Mika Waltari.

-Minna Canth's plays like Työmiehen Vaimo or Annaliisa. They deal with women's position in the victorian era.

[foxes-that-run]

Reputation has 2 parts

With the release of Reputation Taylor provided a Parody Tabloid which included a prolog letter:

"When this album comes out, gossip blogs will scour the lyrics for the men they can attribute to each song, as if the inspiration for music is as simple and basic as a paternity test," 

See also: Reputation timeline

Reputation Magazines has 2 volumes

Reputation was released with two variants of TS Parody Tabloids, with different backcovers. Taylor discussed the album having two sides in her Lover interview with Zane Lowe (at 4:30 in). There she said one half was weaponized and the other was the real story about love and friendship.

One refers to this awful real piece of journalism about Haylor and this one. The paternity test in the letter, 'who is Olivia's real father' and references to pregnancy rumours in tabloids are interesting. It's possible Bigger than the Whole Sky was from the Rep vault. :( which sadly tracks with disappearing for a year and the more serious things covered in Miss Americana.

There are you tube videos that go through every page of them both magazine.

They had the lyrics for different songs, which was a hint that the album covered more than one phase, ta(y)ble of contents didn't follow the track listing:

Vol 1 "Who is Olivia's real father?"

Harry Styles is Olivia's real father, and most of this first part relates to Haylor and the events in the first half of 2016 before she disappeared.

Gorgeous is the most obvious clue of this split, it is track 8 so if that was the order it would be in Vol 2, but it's in the Vol 1 Magazine because it is part of the April 29 story. LAWYMMD is in both, it's the point of change and retreating.

Based on her hair in the Making of Reputation clips you can see her hair in these songs was before she bleached it. Most of these songs were all recorded before she met Joe or Tom H at the Met.

Ready for it

End Game

I did something bad

Gorgeous

Don't blame me

Delicate

So it goes, and

Look at what you made me do

Vol 2: Why she disappeared

The second half is about Taylor retreating and healing after she disappeared. The songs about Joe are here, though not all relate to Joe. Miss Americana continues from this volume, and was filmed during the Rep Tour.

This is why we can't have nice things

Look at what you made me do

Getaway Car

King of my Heart

Dress

Dancing with our hands tied

Call it what you want, and

New Years Day

The volumes also had different paintings and an 'is this the end of all the endings poster' The paintings were the same, but they each had a lyrics and different poems:

Vol 1 - who is meredith's real father, has these New Years Day lyrics.

Don't read the last page

... but I stay. and,

Why she disappeared Poem

New Years Day is in the Vol 2 book because it is about being settled, but it was possibly cut from 1989.

Vol 2 - why she disappeared, has lyrics from Call it what you want which was in Vol 2.

All the liars are calling me one, nobody's heard from me for months..

I'm doing better than I ever was. and,

If your anything like me Poem

[shaykarniel]

Mickey Mouse komt op bezoek - book backcover 1984

[corinne-eaglebridge-sso]

A rundown of all the Gouden Paarden books

So, these are my favourite horse books of all time. Written by Christine Linneweever and with cover art by George Schriemer, these all follow the point of view from the titular horse. They have sadly never been translated to any other languages than Dutch, but I'll give a rundown of all of the currently out books anyways! Most if not all will just be the translated backcover synopsis, so some might be shorter than others, and they'll be listed in order of release.

Aurea de wilde pony - Aurea the wild pony On the rugged plains in England, the mare Darinde gives birth to a beautiful foal. The filly's coat shines like gold and her mane and tail are pure white. Life for the ponies of the plain is beautiful, but hard, Aura is two years old when one day a truck drives onto the plain. Her mother is shocked and warns Aurea. She knows what the arrival of the humans means. (The pony Aurea is born in a nature reserve. When she’s two years old, she is caught. That is the beginning of an exciting journey.)

De zoektocht van Pico - Pico's Search Pico has felt unwanted from birth. His mother is a purebred New Forest pony and she should never have had a foal from that Appaloosa stallion. Who likes appaloosas, with those strange spots? Nobody, right? When Pico is sold at the horse market and ends up at the Sissende S Ranch, he cannot believe his eyes. There are all kinds of Appaloosas living here! He finally feels at home. Pico makes many new friends and learns to ride the western way. But the most important thing for Pico is that someone really loves him: the owners' daughter, Martine. Until everything goes wrong and Pico has to leave the ranch...

Maisa de dappere Arabier - Maisa the brave Arabian 'And this is perhaps our most famous Arabian thoroughbred, Maisa Bint Makloufa!' A soft 'oooh' sounds through the stable. The visitors of the tour at GS Arabians are deeply impressed by Maisa's beauty. But one night the precious mare is taken by strangers. Will Maisa manage to escape? (Maisa, a beautiful thoroughbred mare, is stolen. When she tries to flee, she gets heavily disfigured and disabled and ends up at a stable that specializes in teaching disabled children to ride.)

De ontsnapping van Rafal - Rafal's Escape Rafal is a konik and lives with his herd in a nature reserve in the middle of the Netherlands. It's a tough life for the horses now that it's winter. There is a thick layer of snow and the animals can hardly find food. In the reserve, the koniks are not fed additionally and the herd cannot leave the area to look for food. One day the horses see no other way out: they have to cross the lake that forms the border of the reserve, hoping that something edible can be found on the other side. However, to do so they have to cross a snow-covered ice field. Rafal is afraid of the ice, but he realizes he has no other choice. Will he make it to the other side? And what awaits him on the other side of the lake, where he has never been before? (The stallion Rafal is so hungry that he leaves his herd and escapes the nature reserve. He meets the girl Sam, who takes him to a stable. But does Rafal want to stay there?)

De droom van Fabio - Fabio's Dream Fabio is a Haflinger who is extremely good at dressage. With his owner Lara he wins many competitions. Now they're even allowed to start doing Z-dressage! Fabio finds it amazing and wants to put in all his effort, but he has the feeling Lara isn't as enthusiastic. She rides less and less and seems to be losing interest in him. In the mean time, she expects him to keep performing at the same high level. To minimize risk, he isn't even allowed into the meadows anymore. Fabio does what he can, but it is heavy for him and often he's stiff from muscle pain. On top of that, some of the jury at competitions find it weird that a Haflinger is competing at this high level. Fabio starts to doubt everything: Lara, himself, and his life as a dressage pony. Of course, he wants to do well and shine in the dressage arena. But he also wants to feel the wind in his manes...

De redding van Roan - Roan's Rescue Roan is a big, tough, friendly Friesian. He is perfectly happy in his stable in Friesland, with his owner Dieuwertje. Together they enjoy wonderful outdoor rides and are quite successful in dressage competitions. But when Dieuwertje comes to the stable one day crying, Roan's world collapses. Dieuwertje's mother has lost her job and they can no longer afford to keep Roan. To his great sorrow he has to be sold. His new boss is very different from Dieuwertje. Roan has to work very hard in a pair, together with Tjeerd. The two horses become great friends, but they also have a hard time and receive little food. Moreover, Tjeerd is terrified of water. Roan does what he can to help his new friend overcome his fear. It seems to work, until they participate in a big competition. Something happens there that will turn Roan's world upside down once again...

Bowi komt in opstand - Bowi Revolts Bowi is a happy Shetland pony who loves to see the world. He's incredibly happy when he gets sold to amusement park Ponyworld. Because of how smart and funny he is, he's allowed to participate in the shows. Bowi loves August, the trainer. But one day August suddenly disappears, after a fight about him spending too much money on the showponies. Bowi's life changes completely when Hugo, the owner's son, becomes the new trainer. Hugo doesn't train the ponies by rewarding them, but by punishing them, and he is too lazy to take proper care of them. The other ponies accept their fate, but Bowi revolts! But is that a smart idea? Because Hugo can decide what is going to happen to him. And sometimes ponies that have too leave Ponyworld end up at the butcher's... Or can the twins Yara and Dominique save Bowi when he pulls yet another prank?

Nola, met hart en ziel - Nola, with heart and soul Nola is terribly disappointed that she is being sold again. Twice now she has given her all for her riders, who then simply exchange her for a bigger horse. She will never do that again! She ends up with Floyd, who doesn't know exactly what he wants. Despite Nota's reluctance, a bond slowly grows between them. When an attempt is made to steal the most expensive horse from the stable, Nola and Floyd can only prevent it by working together. To do this, they must overcome dangerous obstacles...

Het vuur van Bajka - Bajka's Fire Bajka was born in Poland on a stud farm with racehorses. She always trains with them and is often the fastest, yet she is not allowed to participate in horse racing because she is not a true thoroughbred. When her owner goes to college, Bajka is sold to a trader from the Netherlands. After a terrible journey, she soon finds a sweet new owner, Julia. But she soon learns that life here is very different from the racetrack in Poland. Here you can't gallop endlessly and Julia gets scared when Bajka wants to stretch her legs. It makes Julia and Bajka both unhappy. Can Julia find a way to channel all of Bajka's energy?

De heimwee van Faxi - Faxi's Homesickness Faxi and Noor are a golden duo. Faxi loves participating in competitions with Noor and guiding tourist tours in Iceland. Unfortunately, this suddenly comes to an end when Noor has to move to Finland. Faxi is inconsolable. Even when Noor has been gone for a while, he still thinks about her. Then he hears that the world championships will be held in the Netherlands this year. That's the country where Noor comes from! Faxi is freaking out when his owner Ingaborg chooses him to come along. He doesn't believe Baldur, who claims that all horses that leave Iceland to go abroad never return. Ingaborg would never let that happen, would she?

Vidar wil dansen - Vidar wants to dance Vidar, a fjord, works in forestry with his boss Steven, but he hates dragging trees; it's tough and always the same. He would love to dance like a dressage pony! According to his mother, he is absolutely not suitable for dressage. Vidar has to give up his dream and accept his fate as a workhorse. Until boss Steven has an accident and breaks his leg. Steven's granddaughter Fay has to take care of Vidar for so long, even though she thinks he is a clumsy and fat animal and she has absolutely no desire to do so. Gradually, Fay and Vidar get to know each other better... When Steven has recovered, Vidar has to return to the forest, but can he and Fay still live without each other?

De liefde van Luna - Luna's Love The three-year-old mare Luna has had little luck in life. She was bought by a trader who wanted to make her saddle broken as quickly as possible so that he could resell her. His stablehand Rico does this with so much violence that poor Luna becomes terrified of riding. One day Sterre comes to visit her and it is love at first sight! Sterre sees how poorly Luna is treated and decides to buy her. But she soon finds out that Luna is a nervous pony and as soon as she wants to ride her, things go wrong...

Izar de Spaanse beauty - Izar the Spanish Beauty Izar was bred by the famous Spanish horse breeder Dona Alvarez. Despite his excess energy, Dona has enormous confidence in him. His future has a silver lining. Until everything goes wrong and Izar experiences something terrible, which almost causes his death. He is rescued in the nick of time, but there is nothing left of his energy. And that means that he is the ideal horse for Marit, who became afraid after a fall. But what if Marit manages to give him his energy back? Will she still be brave enough to ride him then?

De overwinning van Erin - Erin's Victory Erin is a police horse: as gentle as anything and afraid of nothing. That is, until she is bitten by an aggressive dog. She is left with a significant wound, which is healing nicely. But the wound in her heart is less easy to heal. No matter what Jeanine, her rider, tries, Erin maintains a deep-seated fear of dogs. This means that, to her great sadness, Erin is no longer allowed to remain in the police force. She ends up with Lieke, who she immediately has a connection with. Lieke, just like Erin, would love to go on outdoor rides. She decides to help Erin with her fear, but how can one girl succeed where all the police specialists have failed?

Een veulen voor Rose - A foal for Rose Rose is a surrogate mother at a breeding farm for Arabian thoroughbreds. She has already given birth to four foals that she knows are not her own. She's had more than enough. Most of all, she wants a foal of her own. And someone who cares for her and loves her for who she is. Out of sadness and loneliness, Rose starts eating more and more. When the extra kilos cause her to fail to get pregnant again, Rose is fine with that, but the owner of the Arabian breeding farm is not. Rose is transferred to a covered wagon company to lose weight. She has to work terribly hard for the mean owner and is barely cared for. Will she ever get out of here? And does she have to go back to the breeding farm? In the meantime, she continues to long for a nice life and her own foal...

Ferron, een echte vriend - Ferron, a true friend Ferron and Bravo are best friends. They live and work at a beer brewery in Zeeland, where they run in a beautiful six-horse team together with four other draft horses. They are well cared for by Joris. But everything changes when Bravo becomes very ill and then suddenly disappears, and Joris is fired. Ferron does not get along at all with the new horse caretaker Lars. And he shows it too! When the brewery owner decides to continue with four horses instead of six, Ferron is sold to a horse trader. Where will he end up now? And will he ever see his best friend Bravo again?

[oolong-strawbby]

“We have been known from the very start. Our eye color, our hairline, our jawline, the shape of our big toe, the tone of our voice. These things have been designed from the very beginning.

What kind of music we listen to. The sort of skirt that looks good. The sort of cap that fits right. We have been made to find these things for ourselves and take them in as ours, like adopted children: habits, hobbies, idiosyncrasies, gestures, moods, tastes, tendencies, worries. We are all these things. They have been put in us for good measure.

Perhaps we don’t like what we see: our shapeless hair, our loss of hair, our shoe size, our dimples, our knuckles too big, our eating habits, our disposition. We have disclosed these things in secret, likes and dislikes, behind doors with locks, our lonely rooms, our messy desks, our empty hearts, our sudden bursts of energy, our sudden bouts of depression.

Don’t worry. Put away your mirrors and your beauty magazines and your books on tape. There is someone right here who knows you more than you do, who is making room on the couch, who is fixing a meal, who is putting on your favorite record, who is listening intently to what you have to say, who is standing there with you, face to face, hand to hand, eye to eye, mouth to mouth. There is no space left uncovered.”

- Sufjan Stevens (Michigan vinyl backcover)

[lazaruspitreborn]

Give muse an item: Tim puts a book in Jason's lap as he's passing by. It's not a first edition copy but it's definitely an older printing with a very pretty cover. @arobinwithoutbatman

@arobinwithoutbatman

Jason sat up, confuse for a moment before he looked at the book and carefully examined the cover and first pages, then, gently bended it to the side to check the art on the edges of it, the images of small scenes of the book showed according to the angle he inclined the old pages, then disappeared as simple faded gold trims when the book was straight again.

This was a rarity!

Still in shock, he flipped to the backcover and double checks for the low press number on it. Thirty-one of fifty. He felt it with his fingers. A true collector's piece. A very special one.

It took a couple of seconds more, but, eventually, the sound escaped him. High-fucking-pitched and strong as only his lungs could make it be, the sound of Jason Todd's excitement as he wheezed and tried to hold back on the way his feet skipped on the floor as he brought the book all the way to his bedroom - he wasn't leaving this one to the Belfry's library, no sir! This was his!

[hide-in-imagination]

Yall. I'm here again. I may or may not have finished all your fanfics in less than a week whilst my Six of Crows book is collecting dust... You cannot judge me for this. It's a damn good fanfic that I have not been able to stop thinking about. You're really doing gods work. I don't know what my life would be like if Roads that cross didn't exist. It is so cute and my everything. You're a great writer at everything. I usually struggle with fics that have smut in them. Not because I don't like reading about it (The very opposite 😏😏) but because I find it so hard to find something that speaks to me. When I do (like now) it is my everything. I think a big part of the problem is I feel a lot of authors just copy and paste the same smut scenes across however many chapters. Roads that cross, how do I say this kept everything delightfully fun, fresh and interesting 😌😌😌. Chefs kiss. Also I doubt I would ever get bored of these two.

I am so excited for the next chapter already. Keep doing what you're doing. This fic is so much more than just one thing, it has everything. Simon and Ambar are literally made for each other and you really have me believing in them, despite having still not seen the show yet.

Also I hope you're having a good day/night/evening/timezone appropriate period. If you ever need anything like prompt or romantic situation ideas, let me know because I have so so many. But respect if not because it's your fic after all!!

Lots of love, Jellie xx

Oh my Jellie Jellie bean, you are so sweet!! I wanna print this and hang it on my bedroom wall <3

(sorry for the nickname, I just think it's cute ksjdnf)

"I may or may not have finished all your fanfics in less than a week whilst my Six of Crows book is collecting dust... You cannot judge me for this." And I do not! I have all the Harry Potter books my parents gifted to me 3 years ago and the whole collection of Sherlock Holmes book that I bought myself because the box was pretty, and you think I've read any of that?? No 😂😂 I totally get you, don't worry.

"You're really doing gods work. I don't know what my life would be like if Roads that cross didn't exist." Oh my god, thank you!! kjsdnfls. That's is- wow. So heartwarming. So gratifying. It's the kind of words that keep me going. To be honest, I don't know what my life would be like without RTC either. It's been 5 years and it feels like a lifetime. I can't wait to finish the story so that I can focus on other wips, but I guess Roads will really be THE one even after I'm done with it. (I mean, with that word count? I might as well print it and bind it 😂)

"a lot of authors just copy and paste the same smut scenes across however many chapters." oh my god, who does that?? You've been reading the wrong fics, what is up with those people?? I always try to make each scene mean something different, explore something different, especially since in Roads they're just starting a relationship which means they're learning each other's bodies, what makes the other tick, they're trying different things just for the fun of it or because as their bond gets deeper they find new ways to express it. I'm so happy you think it's "delightfully fun, fresh and interesting"-- That's all I ever wanted.

(Btw, that sounds like a New York Times review on the backcover of a book and I love that 😂💕)

I gotta admit, I'm not very confident on the quality of this story since I started writing it many years ago and I feel like the first 15 chapters or so don't reflect everything that I've learned since then. I've been working on editing those past chapters when I have the time, but there's still a long way to go, so I'm relieved that you managed to consider it good and engaging even with the... sometimes deplorable narrative choices I made back then sdkjfsn. (I gotta learn to be kinder to myself, I know; tell my perfectionism that.)

"Simon and Ambar are literally made for each other and you really have me believing in them, despite having still not seen the show yet." Oh my god, they really sound made for each other?? That's so sweet. I don't know if I ever thought that about them while watching the show. I mean, of course I believe in their love and I think they could be great together, but made for each other? Wow. It's so interesting that my writing conveyed that, it's very flattering. I'm so happy you've fallen in love with them through my writing 💕 Now I'm scared you'll watch the show and go "Wait, this is how they act around each other?" 😂😂 Maybe it'll be very different or maybe they'll give you the same vibe, who knows, only time will tell 😂

I've read this in the morning but now it's afternoon! 😂 It's taken me a while to type this. Thank you for offering your help 💕 I think I have enough ideas for now (sometimes I fear I have too many as my wips folder gets longer and longer) but if the opportunity ever presents itself I'll let you know!

Eternally grateful, - C

[pinespittinink]

can you explain the lightlark thing? I'm very confused. If the book doesn't even come out until September, how can anyone know if it's good or bad? Wouldn't all they have to go off of be a super short summary (that always try and make things sound better than they are)? and you mentioned some blurbs from other YA authors. But that doesn't tell you much about a book. And I saw someone say something about a movie deal? How can there be a movie deal on a book that's not even released yet??? Doesn't that usually happen after a book makes it big? My brain is hurting trying to understand this. I've never heard the title Lightlark in the first place but I saw someone mention tiktok, so that probably explains why I don't know it. I avoid that place like the plague.

Gratefully and sincerely, A very confused writeblr.

I feel like I could make a PowerPoint about the entire Lightlark debacle by now, but I’ll try to put everything I know out here as unbiased as possible!

I made an error in my og post and I guess Lightlark is coming out later this month, not September- regardless, it’s currently unreleased. Basically, the early readers have been given access to advance reader copies— called ARCs— which is how they’ve read the book prior to the drop date. The purpose of ARCs is to spread word of mouth and generally drum up good press for the book ahead of time; you get an ARC for free, you write an honest review (most of those tend to paint the book in a favorable light, though of course everyone has their own honest opinions), and people read the reviews and get an idea of what it’s like beforehand. They’re like reviews from laymen rather than industry professionals, like Chloe Gong (These Violent Delights), who read early copies to provide backcover promo blurbs.

So that’s where the initial reviews are coming from! The distribution of ARCs and relation to goodreads reviews is super important to how well a book may sell and be received upon release. Pretty commonly, you’ll see positive ARC reviews, and then the rating will naturally drop a little and even out post-release, once the greater public can read and give way more opinions, good or bad or any range between.

Now, as it turns out still, the vast majority of readers don’t check goodreads prior to picking up or buying a book. They see a cool cover or read a backcover and are like “huh, sounds neat” and go about their day. But that doesn’t undercut the fact that this process is still a HUGE part of the pre-release period.

The movie deal is actually not that uncommon of a thing. Books will get optioned for tv or film adaptations, but the key kicker here is that way more often than not, they aren’t made public knowledge until production is beginning and it’s a known thing that the adaption will actually happen. The fact that Alex Aster is sharing that her YA fantasy romance debut is getting a movie is… well you can make up your own mind about that but the fact is that it’s not the normal course of events! Those things are generally kept way underwraps. Lightlark may die in production hell, for all we know.

The other integral piece of information to this current blowup is that Alex Aster is rich. She lives in NYC, her sister makes an absurd amount of money (she’s nearing the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, there’s an article floating around about that), and this is how she was able to have her cover reveal done on a New York Times Square billboard. She is not a rags to riches story, and while she’s been querying from a very young age, she is still a young author in her twenties who has published a successful (I believe) MG fantasy series, and is also white-passing, conventionally attractive, and frankly, a marketing genius, if the way tiktok has taken off with Lightlark is any indication.

People are giving her a lot of flack for lying about how she’s promoting the book, which is boiling down to her talking about various tropes/scenes/dialogue that happen in the story which….apparently don’t happen on the page, according to people who have read the book already. I can’t speak to this personally, and only regurgitate what everyone’s been passing around, which is that the bulk of what she’s presenting the book as is falling far from the mark. Lightlark is pitched as The Hunger Games meets A Court of Thorns and Roses in a dark fantasy setting, and suffers the most (in my opinion) from - MASSIVE case of “cool concept, bad execution.”

Genuine readers of the ARC have torn this book a new one in varying levels of language from professional to juvenile hole-poking, but the general consensus right now is the book is bad. Not the scummiest literature on the block by any means, but just a poorly written overhyped book.

Now some people (the twitter/tiktok crowd) are even going after the other YA authors who blurbed her book, calling them out for leaving glowing reviews, which is behavior I frankly think is uncalled for and juvenile. But that’s the nature of a nasty bandwagon and negativity train. It’s fun and cool to be a hater sometimes, right? Get in with the crowd? 💀

I think everything surrounding Lightlark is genuinely fascinating. Will I read it when it comes out? Probably not, unless I rent it from the library. But I do think that what’s happening right now, the review bombing of people going onto goodreads to leave one star reviews for the sheer hell of it, calling Alex Aster nasty things and accusing her of things unrelated to the hype and promotion of the book, is really gross and a very negative side of the entire relationship between traditional publishing and social media. The current rating for Lightlark is 2.35 stars. It’s been dropping all day and I haven’t seen something like this happen ever. If anything I’m curious what will come next, if anything good, and I’m resigned about the hive mind of the internet.

[docpiplup]

Now that Hallowen is near, I have decided to share an interesting book I have been reading in these weeks, its title is Toledo: La Ciudad de los Muertos (Toledo: The City of the Dead), writen by Ventura Leblic García. The topic is to divulge about the stories and death rites of people of the several cultures and religions which have inhabitated the city throughout history. I'll be sharing scans of the pages of the book through posts here on Tumblr if anyone it's curious about the topic. Here's the first set:

PART 1

Cover

Toledo: The City of the Dead

Ventura Leblic García

Covarrubias Editions

Backcover

Toledo is a city that the living and the dead share. It is a great historical necropolis. But do we really know our "neighbors"? Do we know where they "live"? Do we know the cultural and social environment in which their lives were spent? Do we know the culture of death in the different civilizations that inhabited the crag of Toledo? Carpetans, Romans, Visigoths, Muslims, Jews, Christians... their rites around death, beliefs, customs, the evolution of cemetery spaces... It is time to know what history has left us, trying to unravel the truth in the uncertainty of a tomb.

Toledo: The City of the Dead

Ventura Leblic García

Covarrubias Editions 2013

INDEX

Introduction. Page 9

Chapter I. Funerary practices in ancient times. Page 12

The indigenous people. Page 14

Chapter II. The cemetery spaces outside the walls of Toledo. Page 19

Roman cemeteries. Page 19

The early Christian cemetery. Page 24

Visigoth times. Page 31

Toledo's maqbara. The Muslim cemetery. Page 38

Toledo's Mozarabic cemeteries. Page 47

The Jewish cemetery. Page 50

Chapter III. The interior of churches as cementary spaces. Page 63

Chapter IV. Parish cemeteries. Page 70

Chapter V. The cemetery and the municipal cemetery. Page 103

Chapter VI. Royal burials in Toledo. Page 112

The New Kings Chapel. Page 136

New chapel. Page 139

Royal funerals in Toledo. Page 144

Chapter VII. Tombs of royal lineage in Toledo. Page 149

Chapter VIII. Other tombs in Toledo of people who made history. Page 170

The tomb of Doménikos Theotokópoulos "El Greco". Page 178

A frustrated pantheon of illustrious men. Page 182

Don Álvaro de Luna and Doña Juana de Pimentel. Page 188

An empty tomb for four hundred years. Page 191

The tomb of Cardinal Mendoza. Page 194

Francisco de Pisa. Page 196

The flying priest. Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão. Page 197

Chapter IX. The Cistercian monastery of Monte Sión. A case of pantheon foundation. Page 201

The graves. Page 204

Chapter X. Bodies of saints and blesseds venerated in Toledo. Page 215

Chapter XI. Those who did not return. Page 232

Saint Ildefonso of Toledo. Page 232

Grave of Alfonso VI, king of Castile. Page 237

Alfonso X the Wise. Page 239

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros. Page 240

Queen Joanna I of Castile. Page 242

Alfonso III de Fonseca, archbishop of Toledo. Page 243

Juan de Padilla. Page 244

Francisco de Rojas. Page 248

Cardinal Lorenzana. Page 249

Bibliography. Page 251

[linked-fountain]

Brainrot so strong I made book cover/backcover for @st0rmyskies Townhouse AU series

[jedivoodoochile]

That's THE SPIRIT: The Spirit by Neal Adams, 1975 - Vivid Colors by Richard Corben (Yeah, that Richard Corben)

Note: This ran as the backcover of The Art of Neal Adams book by SQP.

[wuekka]

I have listened 86% of Fairest of all, Serena Valentino's Disney book about the snow white's queen before I had to stop.

To my understanding, Valentino's the tale of series is marketed to older people than Twisted tales series, but..I feel like twisted tales are more mature in writing. Though first part of Fairest of all was good, it very quickly just...rushed character of the queen into the villain when it decided it was time for the movie's timeline. Then there's the fact Tales of books seem to be the same, main character is abused by their family, get manipulated by the odd sisters (which are just creepy crones..) and then becomes evil almost contradictary to their earlier characterization. Like here's Hades's books backcover.

Lonely, ignored by family, meet odd sisters. The queen was abused by her father, her husband dies, meets odd sisters who keep fueling her obsession with magic mirror. Cinderella's stepmother story makes Cinderella's father abusive.

...Point is, if you're an adult wanting some fun Disney movies reading, read Twisted tales, where stories are more different and little more political even. (Things happening in twisted tales, Ursula wants to become an empress to sacrifice countries worth of people in blood magic to summon elder gods power, Jafar gives poor money and bread but it creates inflation.)