#booktalk

[keplercryptids]

"Why did you offend her initially?"

"Because I did not ask her permission to interview the villagers."

Again he shook his head. "That was part of it. But you also refused to allow her to treat you as a guest. If you do not admit kindness from others, you cannot be surprised when they fail to offer any."

- Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett

[charlottan]

that said im really loving the dead zone its written so well and the concept is great ive read like almost half of it in a couple days which is really fast for me. its a really funny book because i didnt expect him to spend like 150 pages with the main character in a coma but he did it. i thought johnny would be out on the town using his psychic powers by page 50 but it took until like 200 for it to really stsrt happening. and then i feel like he takes it real cool like theres not really any monologuing in his head about "what the fuck is going on". like it didnt faze him is what im saying. i also didnt expect the religion angle from his mom becoming so evangelical and joining cults and stuff. thats a very interesting plot point to put in Funny Guy Get Psychic Powers book. his books are always kind kf like that though its like if you had two or three book ideas and combined them. thats how he does it. so its a story of mind powers as well as recovery from physical trauma as well as Religion Bad, all these plotlines bundled up. and for that matter theres also the Nazi sidestory and the Killer sidestory and the Lightning Rod Salesman sidestory. it really feels like way more of a Packed story than what you could fit in even 579 pages. very excited to see how this all comes together

[waluigistits]

A man can say he loves you but would he recognise you by touch alone, by smell? Would he know you blind, by the way your breaths came and your feet struck the earth? Would he know you in death, at the end of the world? Wake up and break up

[kittymaine]

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

I'm gonna try and use my tumblr as a book journal. Wish me luck buckaroos.

I finished The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers yesterday. It was my second time checking it out from the library. I had checked it out before, but had to give it back before I finished it.

I'm not a stranger to Becky Chambers. I read the Monk & Robot series and absolutely loved it and then read her novella To Be Taught, If Fortunate a few months ago. She's steadily becoming one of my favorite authors, so I'm definitely biased when it comes to her books, so I guess keep that in mind.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is a story that will feel familiar if you enjoyed Firefly. A group of misfits, only some of whom are human, travel aboard a cobbled together spaceship from one side of the galaxy to another. We go along with them on family dinner dates and tense hostage negotiations alike. It's a story about found family, and surviving and thriving in otherwise unlivable conditions, and about adventure, of course.

I'll start with my likes, which were many. This is both a setting and character heavy book. It's hard to chose which I liked more or which were more important. It's unusual to find a book that balances them so evenly. The characters are all really varied, but also nuanced. And, not just in their species or physical appearance or races or genders or sexual orientations, although they are varied in that way for sure. But, they also feel like real, nuanced people with strong personalities and differences and biases and beliefs. But the setting is just as rich and well crafted. As our crew travels across the galaxy we meet a wide variety of alien species, all with their own way of communication, their own unique cultures and beliefs, and fascinating and unique physiologies. This is definitely an alien heavy setting and the aliens really FEEL alien, which I loved. There are politics and infighting and resource issues, but it feels real because our crew isn't being asked to solve any of their problems. They're just normal people trying to navigate dangerous waters.

I'm definitely a character reader first, but man this setting really made me question whether that was true.

The downsides are that if you're a plot reader, this book may disappoint you. I've heard people say it feels like it just meanders around, which I can understand. There is a driving plot, but it's basically just a frame. The ship and crew must get from point A to point B and most of the actual content happens in the in between. Also, the book sort of just ends. Something really heavy happens at the end and our crew is left shaken but resilient. I'd love to see how they recover from the ending of this book, but it's my understanding that the second book doesn't follow them but another smaller character that shows up right at the end.

All that being said, I really really REALLY loved this book and I am 100% down to read the rest of them. I highly recommend it to scifi fans who are okay with a character heavy story.

[seeleybooth]

Couples by Ali Hazelwood: Bee Königswasser and Levi Ward - Love On the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

“Levi, this was never meant to . . . I’m just trying to be honest.” “Honest.” He lets out a noiseless, bitter laugh; stares at the hummingbird feeder, his tongue roaming the inside of his cheek. “Honesty. You want some honesty?” “Yes. I just want to be as honest as possible—”

“Here’s the honesty: I’m in love with you. But that’s not news. Not to me, and not to you, I don’t think. Not if you’re honest with yourself—which you say you are, right?” My eyes widen. He powers on, ruthless, merciless. Levi Ward: force of nature. Sucking the air out of my lungs. “Here’s something else that’s honest: you’re in love with me, too.” “Levi.” I shake my head, panic licking up my spine. “I—”

[chrissybooksandberries]

I'm in love with Yukio Mishima.

[gahooliganspod]

Who wore it better? We discuss in episode 6: Flintmops and Fratricide! Listen now, anywhere you find your Ga’Hooligans podcast!

[mjxlnir]

instagram meets goodreads!

[pipperoni32-blog]

After he got exiled to the mortal world, stuck with that geas that kept him from picking up a weapon, he was completely at a loss. Started working shifts at a slaughter house just for the smell of blood. Trained me in the combat he was barred from. Got involved in playing politics with the neighbors in his apartment building. Had them all at each other’s throats inside of a month. Last I heard, one of the old ladies stabbed a young guy in the neck with a pen.

- The Stolen Heir

I’ve always wondered what would become of Madoc, and somehow this is even better than I could have imagined. Of course he would find ways to create conflict and discord!

[power-rings]

Please check out my friend’s book! ❤️

[keplercryptids]

according to goodreads i just finished reading my 300th ebook from the library 🥰 thank you library for allowing me to read 300 books without leaving my house

[charlottan]

nobody talks about it but dhalgren is very much tge book version of nonagon infinity by king gizzard i love mysterious cryptic apocalypse stories and spaces

[hastthouconsideredthetetrapod]

I have Got to finish this book my ggoood

the beginning was good and the middle went by fast but it feels too damn long neow

[kittymaine]

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I read Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir last week, the sequel to Gideon the Ninth and second in the Locked Tomb series. I read Gideon the Ninth last year and, like Bookshops & Bonedust, finally scrounged around and found a used copy of the sequel so that I could continue with the series.

And, holy shit, this book CONSUMED every bit of brain space I had to spare. I started this book as a way to tell myself, "Come on, stop reading ebooks. Read a physical book, okay? You liked the first one!" I was hoping it would hook me enough to keep me from picking up my ereader. Boy, did it ever.

This book is so incredibly different from the first book. It's also almost impossible to talk about the second book without spoiling the ending of the first book, so I'm going to put the rest of my review under the cut.

This book follows Harrowhark, picking up immediately from the conclusion of the first book. She is mentally devastated from losing Gideon in the way she did, haunting the med bay of God's spaceship like a vengeful ghost. She's hallucinating constantly, hearing thing that aren't there, feeling sensations that aren't real, and especially seeing Gideon or some sort of shade of her haunting her steps. Despite all this, God needs her to step into her role as a Lyctor and start learning how to support him. Because all this time, God has been fighting a secret battle of his own. He needs more Lyctors to help him, which is why he put out the call to all the nine houses in the first place. Now, Harrow needs to struggle against not just her own fractured mind and failing body, but against her fellow Lyctors and their web of cruel lies and assassination attempts.

This book is so dark, guys. But, it's also so much fun. This is the kind of book that makes you constantly question what is real and what isn't. Harrowhark is an unreliable narrator in such an amazing way. While we, the reader, may question whether what she's seeing and hearing is real, so is she! You're on the journey of the mystery with her, but you have the context of the first book to work from, while she does not. It has a small cast, but they feel very dense. The other Lyctors have been alive for 10,000 years, and they all have these laundry lists of problems with each other, while also having a sort of fatalistic affection for one another. Even though the cast and setting are relatively small, it has a similar theme of distrust weaved together with a desperation for survival.

I would recommend that if you're squeamish to look up a list of trigger warnings for this one, especially if you're sensitive to blood and gore or mind games. Or, feel free to ask me and I can put one together. But, if that stuff sounds more enticing than off-putting, I think you should definitely dive into this one. It won't make sense without reading the first book, but I thought it was such a great sequel. I immediately bought the third book, so I'll be reading Nona the Ninth soon. I'm looking forward to it!

[laiinereads]

 “I want the wedding sooner rather than later. I’m not wasting another minute without making you my wife. You can have anything you want. A big church wedding. A backyard barbecue. A five-figure wedding dress. But I have one demand.”

“What’s that?”

“I want daisies in your hair.”

𝐼𝑌𝐾𝑌𝐾 🌼🌼🌼

📖 Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

[lbbutch]

Brazilian cover of If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich

cover by Helder Oliveira