#recommended books

[sideshrimp]

my forever obsession

[golden-flute]

Just finished The Nightrunner series (7 books) by Lynn Flewelling, and I’m having all sorts of feelings about it. What a magnificent end for such a beautiful cast of characters.

I first found this series when I was looking up lists of older epic fantasy books with LGBTQIA+ rep. Lynn Flewelling’s first book “Luck in the Shadows” came out in 1996 (and I’m crying that I consider it an “older” book when it’s younger than me) and wrapped up with a cryptic “for now” in 2014. The series definitely felt like it had different eras, and I enjoyed them all immensely. I have an intense desire to pull out book one and start reading from the beginning.

The series isn’t without its faults and does incorporate some tired tropes that were more popular in their day than they are now, but I think having Seregil and Alec at the helm of a dream team of characters, all living in a beautifully fleshed-out world more than makes up for any imperfections.

The relationship between Seregil and Alec is a slow burn, but when it takes off, it takes off. Though their relationship isn’t the main focus of the series, it becomes the foundation of their strength as they face off against dark, antagonistic forces. Between these two and Xie Lian and Hua Cheng from Heaven Official’s Blessing, they make this cynical soul believe in the power of love again.

In general, I have a tendency to gravitate towards one or two characters in stories which leads me to dread reading about the other characters. Not so for Nightrunner! Each character became so dear to me that I never felt a need to skim over parts.

So, if you’re looking for something to pick up, I highly recommend this series. (4.75/5)

[lexiklecksi]

Happy STS! What is your favourite genre to read? Is it the same as your favourite genre to write? What subgenres within that genre are your favourite to read? Are they the same ones you like to write?

Thanks for asking! My favourite genre to read is fantasy and I'm writing a fantasy novel. I firmly belive to write what you read. :,-) I'm writing a fantasy novel about a dragon girl with many queer characters and mythical associations, roughly set during industrialization. So I take a lot of inspiration from the fantasy books I'm reading while creating my own fantasy world.

My favourite fantasy sub-genres are:

high fantasy

young adult fantasy

historical fantasy

queer fantasy

dragon fantasy

magical realism

mythical fantasy

political fantasy

portal fantasy

romantic fantasy

comedic fantasy

coming-of-age fantasy

futuristic fantasy

Here's a source explaining all fantasy sub-genres with a book recommendation

Some of my favourite fantasy books/ book series:

Strange the Dreamer/ Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

The Witcher saga by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Mirror Visitor by Christelle Dabos

The Gemstone trilogy by Kerstin Gier

Lady Trent's Memoirs by Marie Brennan

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer

Magic Girls by Marliese Arold

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Miss Peregrins Peculiar Children by Ransome Riggs

Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers

[little-tiffany]

Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern. Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in the same familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet. It Ends With Us.

-Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us

[deadpresidents]

HERBERT HOOVER •An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover by Richard Norton Smith (BOOK) •Herbert Hoover: A Biography by Eugene Lyons (BOOK) •Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of the Presidency by Charles Rappleye (BOOK | KINDLE) •Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times by Kenneth Whyte (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT •Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by Jon Meacham (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Traitor To His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by H.W. Brands (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom by Conrad Black (BOOK | KINDLE) •Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life by Robert Dallek (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

HARRY S. TRUMAN •Truman by David McCullough (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year That Transformed America by David Pietrusza (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman by Merle Miller (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman by Harry S. Truman, Edited by Robert H. Ferrell (BOOK) •Harry S. Truman by Margaret Truman (BOOK)

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER •Eisenhower by Geoffrey Perret (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Eisenhower, Volume I: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 by Stephen E. Ambrose (BOOK | KINDLE) •Eisenhower, Volume II: The President by Stephen E. Ambrose (BOOK | KINDLE) •The Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower by Stephen E. Ambrose (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

JOHN F. KENNEDY •An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (BOOK | KINDLE) •Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency by Mark K. Updegrove (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 by Fredrik Logevall (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

[s6m123]

just a notice

so the story "the one piece is real" that I made is also available on Wattpad if you want the reading experience. And I'll try to work on part 2, thanks for reading guys! 😘

[bruzzzchi]

highly recommended russian books ৎ୭

[ghostflowerdreams]

Books Similar to Stranger Things

The most obvious starting point is to check out the officially authorized novels that further expand the canonical Stranger Things world, such as Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond. It's a prequel novel that follows Eleven's mother and her time as a test subject in the MKUltra program. Then there's Darkness on the Edge of Town by Adam Christopher, which is about Chief Jim Hopper's old life as a police detective in New York City.

There's more novels that delve into the past of a few of the show’s characters like Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff, which explores Max's past--the good and the bad--as well as how she came to find her newfound sense of home in Hawkins, Indiana.

However, if that still isn't enough the next best thing is to find books that are similar to Stranger Things or give off the same feels via plot, the friendship, theme and aspects of it. I know I'm not the only one on the search and so while scouring the web I've compiled a list of the most common book recommendations I've seen people suggest.

I like making lists like these as this is how I also usually form my 'To Be Read' list. Oh, and this isn't any particular order either.

Paper Girls Vol. #1 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Cliff Chiang (Artist) & Matt Wilson (Colorist) — is a graphic novel that follows a group of 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls in the early hours after Halloween of 1988, who uncover the most important story of all time. [1]

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix — The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. After an evening of skinny-dipping Gretchen disappears in the woods but returns a few hours later, naked and…different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby.

Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries—and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

Ghoul by Brian Keene — There is something in the local cemetery that comes out at night. Something that is unearthing corpses and killing people. It’s the summer of 1984 and Timmy and his friends are looking forward to no school, comic books, and adventure. But instead they will be fighting for their lives. 

The ghoul has smelled their blood and it is after them. But that’s not the only monster they will face this summer...

The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson — Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls--a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place--Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories.

The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly lighthearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined.

Summer of Night (Seasons of Horror #1) by Dan Simmons — It's the summer of 1960 in Elm Haven, Illinois, and five 12-year old boys are forming the bonds that a lifetime of changes will never erase. But then a dark cloud threatens the bright promise of summer vacation: on the last day of school, their classmate Tubby Cooke vanishes.

Soon, the group discovers stories of other children who once disappeared from Elm Haven. And there are other strange things happening in town: unexplained holes in the ground, a stranger dressed as a World War I soldier, and a rendering-plant truck that seems to be following the five boys. The friends realize that there is a terrible evil lurking in Elm Haven...and they must be the ones to stop it.

Haven by Tom Deady — In 1961, the small town of Haven thought they'd gotten rid of their monster.

After a series of child killings, Paul Greymore was caught carrying a wounded girl. His face, disfigured from a childhood accident, seemed to confirm he was the monster the community hoped to banish. With Paul in prison, the killings stopped.

For seventeen years, Haven was peaceful again. But Paul served his time and has now returned to Haven--the town where he grew up, and the scene of his alleged crimes. Paul insists he didn't commit those crimes, and several townspeople believe him including the local priest, a young boy named Denny, and his best friend Billy.

Trouble is, now that Paul is back home, the bizarre killings have started again--and the patterns match the deaths from Haven's past. If Paul isn't the killer, who is?

Or WHAT is? An unlikely band of adventurers attempts to uncover the truth, delving into long-hidden tunnels that might actually be inhabited by a strange, predatory creature.

One Word Kill (Impossible Times #1) by Mark Lawrence — In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week.

Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now.

He finds himself in a race against time to unravel an impossible mystery and save the girl. And all that stands in his way is a probably terminal disease, a knife-wielding maniac and the laws of physics.

Starr Creek by Nathan Carson — Set in 1986 rural Oregon, Starr Creek features Heavy Metal teens, Christian biker gangs, and hopped up kids on 3-wheeled ATVs. They all collide when strange occurrences unveil an alien world inhabiting the Oregon woods.

Inside by D. M. Siciliano — Set in 1987. Reid is a bully, but he’s still Alex’s best friend. When Reid pushes Alex and their friends into invading a historically haunted Massachusetts house, Alex knows it’s a terrible idea, but indulges his friend. What could go wrong?

Inside, a mysterious Shadow looms in the darkness. The door to the house vanishes, leaving them trapped. The group flees through the tiny, one-roomed house that defies logic, constantly shifting, presenting them with new doors, hallways, and rooms that seem to be plucked from their memories and fears. One by one, the Shadow hunts them, intent on burning them all from within.

Is there any way to escape? Or will they be burned from the inside out?

The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek by Link Neal & Rhett James McLaughlin — It’s 1992 in Bleak Creek, North Carolina—a sleepy little place with all the trappings of an ordinary Southern town: two Baptist churches, friendly smiles coupled with silent judgments, and an unquenchable appetite for pork products. Beneath the town’s cheerful façade, however, Bleak Creek teens live in constant fear of being sent to the Whitewood School, a local reformatory with a history of putting unruly youths back on the straight and narrow—a record so impeccable that almost everyone is willing to ignore the suspicious deaths that have occurred there over the past decade.

At first, high school freshmen Rex McClendon and Leif Nelson believe what they’ve been told: that the students’ strange demises were all just tragic accidents, the unfortunate consequence of succumbing to vices like Marlboro Lights and Nirvana. But when the shoot for their low-budget horror masterpiece, PolterDog, goes horribly awry—and their best friend, Alicia Boykins, is sent to Whitewood as punishment—Rex and Leif are forced to question everything they know about their unassuming hometown and its cherished school for delinquents.

Eager to rescue their friend, Rex and Leif pair up with recent NYU film school graduate Janine Blitstein to begin piecing together the unsettling truth of the school and its mysterious founder, Wayne Whitewood. What they find will leave them battling an evil beyond their wildest imaginations—one that will shake Bleak Creek to its core.

Dead Flip by Sara Farizan — Growing up, Cori, Maz, and Sam were inseparable best friends, sharing their love for Halloween, arcade games, and one another. Now it’s 1992, Sam has been missing for five years, and Cori and Maz aren’t speaking anymore. How could they be, when Cori is sure Sam is dead and Maz thinks he may have been kidnapped by a supernatural pinball machine?   These days, all Maz wants to do is party, buy CDs at Sam Goody, and run away from his past. Meanwhile, Cori is a homecoming queen, hiding her abiding love of horror movies and her queer self under the bubblegum veneer of a high school queen bee. But when Sam returns—still twelve years old while his best friends are now seventeen—Maz and Cori are thrown back together to solve the mystery of what really happened to Sam the night he went missing. Beneath the surface of that mystery lurk secrets the friends never told one another, then and now. And Sam’s is the darkest of all...

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman — Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

Whispering Pines (Whispering Pines #1) by Heidi Lang & Kati Bartkowski — Rae’s father vanished without a trace—and Rae knows what happened to him. But no one believes her when she says that her father didn’t run off, that he was actually taken. Now, a year of therapy later, Rae’s mother decides they need a fresh start, and so they move to a new town in the hope that life can return to normal.

The problem is, there is nothing normal about the town of Whispering Pines.

No one knows this better than Caden. He’s lived in Whispering Pines his entire life, and he’s seen more than his fair share of weird—starting with his own family, as the town is the perfect home base for his mother’s ghost hunting business.

When several kids go missing and then show up like zombies with their eyes removed, many locals brush it off. Just another day in Whispering Pines. But Caden has a dark secret, one that may explain why someone is stealing eyes. And Rae, who knows how it feels to not be believed, may be just the person Caden needs to help him put things right.

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand — On the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.

Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.

Three teenage girls who come together to face an ancient evil.

Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

The Devouring Gray (The Devouring Gray #1) by C.L. Herman — On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening…

Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn’t have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.

When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland — Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.

Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.

It by Stephen King — is about seven adults who return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first stumbled on as teenagers…an evil without a name: It.

Welcome to Derry, Main. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real...

They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children.

Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers. [2]

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero — It takes place in a small mining town in Oregon, first in 1977 where a group of kids who call themselves the Blyton Summer Detective Club have uncovered the truth behind a creature called the Sleepy Lake monster and a supposedly haunted mansion.

Years later, in 1990, the meddling kids are all grown up but are called back to that small town when the mystery resurfaces, apparently not as resolved as they had once all thought.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury — is a dark fantasy about two 13-year-old best friends, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, and their nightmarish experience with a traveling carnival called 'Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Show' that comes to their Midwestern home, Green Town, Illinois, on October 24th.

Whisper (Whispers 1) by Lynette Noni — “Lengard is a secret government facility for extraordinary people,” they told me. I believed them. That was my mistake. There isn’t anyone else in the world like me. I’m different. I’m an anomaly. I’m a monster.

For two years, six months, fourteen days, eleven hours and sixteen minutes, Subject Six-Eight-Four — ‘Jane Doe’ — has been locked away and experimented on, without uttering a single word.

As Jane’s resolve begins to crack under the influence of her new — and unexpectedly kind — evaluator, she uncovers the truth about Lengard’s mysterious ‘program’, discovering that her own secret is at the heart of a sinister plot … and one wrong move, one wrong word, could change the world.

The Lightning Tree (The NI Revolution Trilogy #1) by Lene Fogelberg — Nature finally rises against humanity.

Flora Reed discovers a lifeless body in her front yard the morning after the last day of her junior year of high school. Matters get worse when more people from her small town are found dead under mysterious circumstances and police take an interest in the boy next door, Carl.

Flora is convinced that Carl is innocent, suspecting that the deaths are somehow connected to her younger sister Fauna's tragic accident a year earlier. What she learns changes everything, and she has to race against time to prevent the killings from spreading. Flora and a small group of friends soon find themselves at the onset of an apocalyptic battle between man and nature, with no one believing their story.

The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín — is set in a unique future of Ireland—or what once was Ireland. Everyday children from as young as 10, fear the day they will get “The Call” – a point in which they are sent the Grey Lands, where they must survive being hunted by the Sidhe for twenty-four hours. Some come back alive, some dead, and some come back…different.

The story focuses mainly on Nessa, a fourteen-year-old girl with twisted legs thanks to polio. While not immune to the taunts and whispers she receives about her disability, she trains hard and is determined to prove to everyone that she can not only survive The Call, but that she deserves to be there.

All Our Hidden Gifts (The Gifts #1) by Caroline O’Donoghue — is set in an Irish town where the church’s tight hold has loosened and new freedoms are trying to take root.

It follows sixteen-year-old Maeve after she finds a deck of tarot cards while cleaning out an old closet in her Catholic school. She quickly becomes the most sought-after diviner at school.

But when Maeve’s ex–best friend, Lily, draws an unsettling card called The Housekeeper that Maeve has never seen before, the session devolves into a heated argument that ends with Maeve wishing aloud that Lily would disappear. When Lily isn’t at school the next Monday, Maeve learns her ex-friend has vanished without a trace.

The Door to December by Dean Koontz — Little Melanie had been kidnapped when she was only three. She was nine when she was found wandering the L.A. streets, with blank eyes. What had become of her in all those years of darkness... and what was the terrible secret, clutching at her soul, that she dared not even whisper?

Her loving mother and the police desperately hunted for the answer. They needed Melanie to help get to the bottom of the most savage scene of carnage the city had ever seen. And they would do anything to save her from whatever dreadful force or thing had invaded her young life. But first, they would have to save themselves from a rising tide of terror... and from an icy evil howling through The Door to December.

Infinity's Doorway by David Wind — Arren Blaine is a cop, he doesn't believe in the paranormal. He knows there is no such things as Werewolves or Shifters, until...

"Find me..." The words uttered by the mysterious woman he'd swerved off the road to miss, echo continually in Dallas policeman Arren Blaine's head as he fights to get back into the world of the living, after the almost fatal car crash.

"Find me..." So begins an odyssey of discovery that takes him far from the Dallas P.D. forensic labs and into the frightening world of the supernatural in his search for the woman who had saved his life. A woman he is destined to share eternity with, if he can find her... If he can save her...if she is even human...

Notes:

[1] — There's actually a live-action adaptation of Paper Girls on Amazon Prime. So, if you really like it you can also check it out. This is recommended a lot because there's plenty of striking similarities between Paper Girls and Stranger Things. Both feature a group of young heroes; ordinary kids who grew up in the '80s and are plunged into a series of adventures. 

However, Paper Girls is it's own thing and is not an Stranger Things imitation as some people going into it expected it to be. It actually has a different tone, message and concept.

[2] — Stranger Things has many tropes inspired by Stephen King's works such as Carrie, Firestarter, It, The Mist and The Talisman (with a bit of The Body thrown in). This is why whenever someone asks for recommendations his books are always suggested.

[penna-nomen]

so many great books, so little time to rave about them

... or, amazing audiobooks I listened to in the last month.

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher - a unique take on the Sleeping Beauty story, from the perspective of the fairy who bespelled the girl. I really enjoyed this point of view.

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman - another unique take on a familiar story, this one based on Sherlock Holmes with a Cthulhu mythos twist. Narrated by the author, this was a quick treat to get me into a Halloween spirit.

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall - loved this! Such a delightful romcom. The lead character fakes amnesia in the hopes of softening a Scrooge-like boss. Set in December where major plot elements include planning Christmas celebrations, this is going on my re-read list for the holidays.

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen - second in a trilogy about a con artist and her love interest who investigates supernatural crimes. It's set in a Grimm's fairytale setting, with magic and minor gods; my only complaint is that the third book isn't released yet.

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel - this was my non-fiction read, about a thief who stole an estimated $2 billion worth of art in Europe in the 1990s. It became rather distressing when I learned the fate of some of the stolen pieces, but it was a fascinating case study.

Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes -- let me preface this by saying that I love my job and have no intention of harming anyone at work :) The premise is to take the concept of a school of magic for tweens, but turn it into a school of murder for adults. The book follows three students who train to murder their horrific bosses.

All highly recommended!

[lizzybgood]

A huge shout out to the blogger who recommended The Untamed to me. Thank You. It took over my life and I am grateful.

A huge shout out to Exiled Rebels for translating the web book to English so I could read The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation and fall even more in love with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.

A huge shout out to Seven Seas, so I could have an actual physical copy of the books.

[edgeoflight]

I read A Garter As A Lesser Gift in a couple of hours the other day and I just really really loved it. It’s a World War 2 retelling of Gawain and the Green Knight with a happy m/m/f ending. A short, sweet book that didn’t pretend to be more than it was, stayed tightly grounded in one character and one plot, and overall was a delightful treat of an evening’s read.

I think that’s something so valuable. A book can change your life and all that, but it can also be just a nice evening reading a little story with a happy ending.

[rec-review8890]

Recommened Greek Mythology Books

Please use discretion and look at the warnings. Many of my books are for mature audiences, so with those books minors do not interact. This could be because of sexual content, SA, or other mature topics/content that will be put into the warning section of the books review. If I consider something “mild” content, then whatever the warning it is more of a mention or the topic is glossed over instead of having a full scene.

My notes and even warnings do contain spoilers, so be wary of that. 

I recommended also reading other reviews on the website GoodReads. I’ve read most of my books on Kindle, and I know you can either buy them on Amazon for the paperback/hard cover version or read them online with AppleBooks.

Full reviews will be linked under the summaries for each book.

Title: Metamorphoses

Author: Ovid

Summary: Prized through the ages for its splendor and its savage, sophisticated wit, The Metamorphoses is a masterpiece of Western culture--the first attempt to link all the Greek myths, before and after Homer, in a cohesive whole, to the Roman myths of Ovid's day. Horace Gregory, in this modern translation, turns his poetic gifts toward a deft reconstruction of Ovid's ancient themes, using contemporary idiom to bring today's reader all the ageless drama and psychological truths vividly intact. 

Warning(s): Rape 

Pages: 723

Full Review: LINK

A/N: It’s a book of poetry that relays multiple stories. Not a singular story book. 

Title: Receiver of Many

Author: Rachel Alexander 

Summary: Persephone's life has been one of leisure among the verdant fields: the maiden of flowers, sheltered by her mother, the Harvest Goddess Demeter. Now she is a woman, a goddess in her own right, yearning for freedom— even as the terms of an ancient pact are about to come due. Hades's life has been one of solitude in the somber land of the dead: the God of the Underworld, he lives without attachments, eternally governing the souls of mortals. But he dreams of the young goddess who was promised to be his wife, and knows it is time for his Kingdom to have a Queen. When Hades arrives to claim his betrothed, he finds a young goddess eager to unearth her divine potential— and a powerful mother unwilling to let go. Receiver of Many begins an erotic story of passion and possession, duty and desire, and a struggle that threatens both ancient Greece and the Realm of the Dead itself.

Warning(s): Sexual content, Loss of virginity, Kidnapping, Betrayal, Greek mythology, Arranged marriage, Supernatural/Paranormal, (Mild) Sexual assault, (Mild) Violence.

Pages: 492

Full Review: LINK

Title: A Veil of Gods and Kings

Summary: A god fighting his fate. A prince burdened with secrets. And a romance that could end in flames. Apollo is a deity… almost. Half mortal and refusing to take his position as god of the sun, he spends his nights drowning out haunting memories and his days avoiding responsibilities. Until his father forces him into an ultimatum: Ascend immediately. Or spend the year mentoring under the obnoxious Prince Hyacinth. Forced together, Apollo and Hyacinth grapple with their mutual disdain for each other. But what starts as a kindling of irritation begins to burn into something new. A spark that, if it turns to flame, could incinerate everything they’ve always protected. A reimagining of the Greek myth of Apollo and Prince Hyacinth, this NA, enemies-to-lovers fantasy series is a whirlwind journey full of romance, intrigue, and enthralling characters.

Warning(s): Greek Mythology, M/M, and (mild) Sexual Content.

Pages: 347

Full Review: LINK

A/N: This is book 1 of a series, and out of the 3 books published so far - the final book will be published in September, 2022 - Book 3 is my favorite. 

Title: The Song of Achilles

Summary: Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath. 

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Warning(s): War, Violence, Murder, Descriptions of Blood, Greek Mythology, M/M, and (Mild) Sexual Content.

Pages: 378

Full Review: LINK

Title: Keep Me Close

Summary: She is the closest thing Khaos Falls has to a goddess… And Aphrodite is feared and worshipped in equal measure. She has dedicated her life to being a savior for the lost regardless of the risk, but when unknown enemies nearly assassinate her in her own club, she realizes her reckless vigilante tactics won’t cut it anymore. He is the furthest thing Khaos Falls has from a hero… In fact, Hephaestus is who you call when all the heroes have fallen. Still, he is the best at what he does, strengthening the city’s weaknesses and keeping his feelings out of it. When tasked with Aphrodite’s personal security, it’s easy for him to detach himself from their mutual disdain. Until disdain is no longer the only thing he feels for her. With their enemies elusive and snakes in their midst, good hearts and sharp wit may not be enough. But he made a vow, and he will keep it. Even if it means turning newfound feelings into newfound strengths and using them as a weapon to protect her.

Warning(s): Sexual content, Kinky sex, Sex trafficking, Sex slavery, Sex clubs, Greek mythology alternative universe, Murder, Violence, Descriptions of blood and torture.

Pages: 348

Full Review: LINK

[lexiklecksi]

Fun media tag game

I decided to do this fun media tag game again and invite some of my new followers to tag along. I’ll tag some of you here who said they like tag games; no pressure, though! If you like to be tagged in future tag games, just comment on this post or in your post. :-)

@lockejhaven @cafe-and-diner @happystarfishnightmare @bookish-galaxy @mjjune @dontjudgemeimawriter

Last watched (series):

The last series I watched alone, which is the funny and scary Ginny & Georgia. The flashbacks were brilliantly used to unfold a crime story and I love how morally ambiguous all characters are. Can’t wait for season 2!

The last series I’ve watched with my fiancé, which was Marvel’s She-Hulk. I don’t get why it’s so difficult for Marvel to write strong female lead roles who are relatable and likeable. To be fair, I don’t hate Jennifer Walters but she could use some deeper character development and her storyline was funny but mostly boring. And why did the conflict come so late in the last episodes; why not in the middle of the season? It felt rushed to spin a superhero story where there never was one to begin with. Also the CGI seemed to be a bit on a budget and the show making self-conscious jokes about it and the unfitting ending didn’t make it better.

Currently watching (series):

I’ve started watching season 6 of Rick and Morty with my fiancé. So far, there were only two episodes I really enjoyed watching; one was the exceptionally creative and funny episode about the fortune cookie manufactory. But I dislike the whole incest plot, that’s just weird and disgusting.

For once, I trusted the Netflix algorithm and watched a recommendation: The ya drama series Al-Rawabi School for Girls. I watched it in original with German subtitles and realised how beautiful Arabic sounds. I can’t say much about the plot because that would spoil it, but I was very surprised by both humour and violence portrayed in this mini-series. After the cliffhanger I can’t wait for season 2!

Last read (book):

The perfect book for the Halloween season! How the story is told using real vintage photos is very peculiar (pun intended) but it works so well! I’ve already watched the movie but reading the book made me realise they change so much in the adaptation. Why did they change the girlfriend from Emma to Olive? Anyway, I might read the whole series at some point because I really like the characters.

Currently reading (book):

I’m taking two typography classes this semester, so this book is the perfect read to learn even more about typography. It’s fascinating and fun to read about the stories behind popular type fonts. I can recommend this book for everyone because we are surrounded by type fonts in our everyday lives and it’s interesting to learn more about them. Or just distinguish and perceive type faces in a different way.

[little-tiffany]

Books that made me question everything, laugh out loud, cry like a baby, feel less alone, think deeply, question my beliefs, transported me to another place, stayed up all night reading, and feel more open-minded.

[reading-that-book]

When Women Were Dragons

Author: Kelly Barnhill Year of Publication: 3 May 2022 PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING: 5/5 CLIMAX: 5/5 ENTERTAINMENT: 5/5 Plot: This is the book you should read if you only read one this year. An unashamed feminist story called When Women Were Dragons tackles millennia of female wrath brought on by misogyny, brutality, and subjugation, which causes women to turn into DRAGONS out of…

[sideshrimp]

Timothèe Chalamet’s recommended books