#issylra we also don't talk much but i love everything u write and also ur vibes so i just tag u in games all the time lol

[honeyteacakes]

Ten Books to Know Me Better

Tagged by my beloved wife @immacaria <3

Rules: Name 10 books for people to know you better or that you really like.

This one was actually so difficult for me to do. There's so many books that I love, and I had a hard time choosing which ones to list- especially since I haven't been a frequent reader in a long time. I'm working on getting back into the habit, though, so hopefully this will inspire me to keep attacking my To-Read book pile!

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

My favorite YA series. I was obsessed with it during my senior year of high school, and I reread the books while in college. I should probably reread the whole series again. It helped me process a lot as I was striking out on my own.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

One of my best friends in high school recommended the book to me and I LOVED it. We used to talk about it together all the time, and it's definitely a comfort book for me. She and I were So Excited when the TV series was made. I should probably text her again so we can fangirl about the upcoming second season for old times' sake.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

One of my absolute favorite novels. It's got some uncomfortable old-timey bigotry, but the main plot is to DIE for. It's one of the original, if not the original, masked vigilante stories told in English.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

@immacaria and I happen to have this favorite in common. There's something so electric and compelling in Adam's grief and growth over the course of the novel, and the gay little interludes from the ship captain make me giggle. (Yes I'm absolutely convinced that the captain had an unhealthy crush on the grimy half-dead Frankenstein. He had terrible taste but I love him as a narrator anyways.)

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

This one is also a semi-regular reread. I think it might be because (1) I love spooky stories (2) I love women. It's novella length, so it's not too difficult to get through if you have free time and are looking for a fun gothic story. Yes, I understand the author was likely using the Fear of Female Homosexuality in the story, however as a Queer I choose to instead read it as a fucked up little crush that my favorite murder princess has on our darling Laura. I think more women need obsessive vampire girlfriends.

After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre

Time to shamefully remind everyone that I read a lot of philosophy shit in college. It's terrible writing stylistically. It makes you want to tear your hair out. Unfortunately, the book's main argument fucks like a champion. It's essentially a history of western moral philosophy, and an exploration about how the chronology of western philosophy affects the language we use to describe morality, and how the language we've developed creates problems for contemporary moral discourse. Again, it's written like the author wants you to throw yourself into traffic, but the book literally changed how I understand my own morality. If anyone wants to talk about this book without having to inflict its Horrors on themself, I'm your gal.

Broken Harbor by Tana French

One of the best, if not *the* best, murder mystery novels that I've ever read. I don't want to give the plot away, but I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes the murder/mystery/suspense genres.

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

This book is absolutely incredible. It's a ghost story, and a story about self growth, and about running a book shop, and defining yourself, and about the violent colonization of the United States told by a cool and charismatic narrator working at an indie book shop and trying to navigate the Covid pandemic and BLM movement. It's timely; it's fresh; and the plot absolutely FUCKS. I wanted to reread this book immediately after I was done with it.

Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams

This isn't a book I'm listing for itself so much as I'm listing it out of nostalgia. This is a book that my favorite English teacher used to instruct our classes. He was an excellent teacher and an all around cool guy. I feel like being in his class taught me a lot, not just about English but about what I wanted to do and who I wanted to try to be. I don't think I would have studied English in college if he hadn't taught me and mentored me in high school.

Instead of a tenth book, which I've been agonizing over choosing, I'm going to request book recommendations. It was difficult for me to think of books that I've felt strongly about because I used up all my energy reading course books for uni, so making this list helped me realize just how disconnected I've felt from so much of the stuff I've studied for the past few years. I'd love recommendations of any kind from anyone, just so I can add more fun/interesting/etc. titles to my to-read list to motivate myself to get back into reading as a hobby.

Tagging: @chaosheadspace ; @quillingwords ; @academicblorbo ; @moorishflower ; @mathomhouse-e ; @gabessquishytum ; @issylra