#sense and sensibility and sea monsters

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Favorite niche book genre

[bennetsbonnet]

The things you find in the book sections of charity shops... is this a masterpiece or a monstrosity? Not sure yet but I'm quite excited, if slightly terrified, to find out!!

[bethanydelleman]

Okay while we are on it. What’s about sense/sensibility and sea monsters. Have you read it? I have looked into the gratis preview and it look so bonkers! In a good way?

I have read it. I didn't like it as much as P&P&Z, which is by a different author. The plot is pretty wild and Colonel Brandon is not only old, he's a half-octopus mutant. As a spoiler, I don't like that Lucy turns out to be a sea witch, I think it's important that Edward's engagement was formed voluntarily.

Anyone else have thoughts? It's been a while since I read it personally.

[akylk0]

Эпичный момент.

Ещё один.

Тот самый, пробуждение которого ждал культ лысых.

Спасение.

О мистере Палмере ещё раз.

Мило.

Приоритеты.

Интересная тема.

Этот момент не очень нравится. Будто семья продавливает девушку.

Тентакли?

Финал и вопросы.

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Consider this a part 2 of Can't Escape the Nightmares cuz I keep getting ideas for this story 🙃

Pairing(s): Jasper Hale x Human!Reader, platonic!Rosalie Hale x Human!Reader

Warnings: mentions of past assault, mentions of past rape, noncon themes discussed, reader is jasper's mate, platonic!rosaliexreader, human!reader, nightmares, trauma, ptsd, dark content, mention of blood, brief mention of murder/death, hurt&comfort, ft the cullen fam, yes i'd like to sign up to be protected by rosalie ✋🏼, and my depressive ass could certainly use a man like jasper lol

Words: 1253

Summary: It was hard for you to be outside. Not after what happened. And with the Cullen house surrounded by a sea of towering trees. . . It was difficult for you to even step onto the wrap around porch. Everything about the outside reminded you of that day in the woods.

They'd smelled your blood from miles away, noticing that it grew closer and closer until Rosalie was upon the doorstep with you dangling in her arms. Your eyes were open, though void of expression; merely staring at these near angelic looking family with gold hued eyes.

Your injuries were nothing major, yet your blood yanked at their olfactory senses.

And Jasper was helpless when, eyes being engulfed by jet black.

The expression in Rosalie's expression though kept him at bay.

"Get him out of here. He can't handle it." Rosalie snaps, her hold on you growing tighter.

Intently watching Jasper's every move, you see the rigidity of his frame and the back and forth sawing motion of his jaw. He must have ground his teeth to oblivion, at least that's what you thought.

Never imagining the true inner turmoil that was engulfing his every sensibility. Jasper's perpetually cold skin suddenly felt like it was on fire. A monster scratched at his mental door. A monster that wanted to taste every inch of your skin before sinking his straight, razor teeth into your delicate paper-like flesh.

"Jazz, snap out of it." Edward motions for Emmett to keep him back. His hiss is low as not to scare you further. Knowing all the horrors you had just gone through

The fog that reduced his head to a warm flush lifts enough for him to finally notice the state you were in.

Large splotches of red and rich purple are smattered across the entirety of your arms and legs, with a giant one blooming on your jaw. His stomach recoils at your lack of clothes. Connecting the visual clues together to realize what had happened and why Rosalie was dyed in a mess of different blood types that didn't belong to you.

You were already broken.

Suddenly that monster was silent, it too watching with baited breath as Rosalie carries you up the staircase and to Carlisle's office. The older blonde vampire quick and on her heels.

Jasper's monster seemed to take that moment to decide something that was against its very nature: it would protect you, guard you and keep you.

There will always be that hunger in him for your blood. But no longer would he be ruled by it.

When exhaustion finally swept over you, Jasper peeks his head into Carlisle's office. Rosalie sat on the floor in front of the couch you were asleep on.

She's in front of him in a flash, barring him entrance with a fatal snarl.

He dare not mess with this gold mama bear.

It was hard for you to be outside. Not after what happened. And with the Cullen house surrounded by a sea of towering trees. . . It was difficult for you to even step onto the wrap around porch. Everything about the outside reminded you of-

"They can't hurt you again." Edward mentions behind you as you stood in the front door, hand quaking above the doorknob.

That didn't relive the nausea in your stomach. Your eyes shut tight and Edward winces when your mind immediately goes to the day that you were assaulted.

When you catch yourself you immediately apologize and take a step back. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, don't apologize." He's firm on this and finally you turn around. Surprisingly, the Cullens had understood the trauma you had gone through more than you would have thought. Every one of them had gone through a horrifying event much like your own. Rosalie's was almost identical to your's and possibly the very reason why she had saved you and killed those monsters who abducted you. And has protected you since then. She reminded you of a mother hen.

When Jasper first showed interest in you, Rosalie actually became aggressive toward him; telling him that you weren't ready for such a relationship. That you needed to heal more.

Jasper never stepped over any boundaries. He never came close to it. He waited. Helped you whenever you asked for it. Approached you tentatively until you told him that he didn't have to tiptoe around you. Many months were required before this. In the meantime you allowed Rosalie (and to a smaller extent, Alice and Esme) to tend to you and repair your fragmented body.

The only time he used his power on you without your permission was when you were asleep and suffering from your all too frequent nightmares.

"If you want, I can go outside with you. Maybe we can take a short walk around the house." He softly offers when you glance back at the door.

They were all so kind to you, never asking when you'd be ready to leave their house. It never came up. In fact you had the suspicion that Rosalie would insist on you living with them from now on. An unofficial part of the Cullen family.

You knew their secret. Living there, it didn't take long to discover that they were not human. From their perfect pale skin, to their golden eyes, there was something different about them. The way Edward was able to anticipate your every needs or how even being in the same room with Jasper had your anxiety simmering down. Even Alice displayed odd signs that you would have normally passed off as some kind of mental illness when she'd stare off into the distance. You now knew it was her getting a glimpse of the future.

"Thank you, but maybe today isn't the day. . ." You force your trembling lips to quirk up into a tentative smile though it could not fool Edward who could hear the inner turmoil in your mind. He never pushed.

He nods and lets you amble back upstairs to safety. The Cullens required no sleep so their bedrooms were essentially just for decoration. Rosalie and Emmett happily gave up their room so that you could seek out privacy when you were too overstimulated to be in their company. They even bought a tv just to put in the room for you. You didn't know what you did in your life to deserve them.

But before you go to your own designated room, you stop in front of Jasper's with a tentative hand raised to knock on his door. You were always nervous when asking him to hang out with you while Rosalie was gone. You'd heard Rosalie whisper to Emmett one night about you being Jasper's 'mate'. She must have thought you were fast asleep but you heard them discuss the possibility of a relationship between you and the other blonde Hale.

It made you self conscious now when you were near him. You'd known that he was. . . attracted to you.

You jump when his bedroom door opens to reveal his figure. "H-Hi."

His smile is always so sweet and even shy. "Hello."

"Um," Your fingers twist the hem of your shirt anxiously. " well, Rosalie is gone. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out for a little bit. . . Esme bought me a new dvd. We can watch it?"

Adoring the way his eyes crinkle when his smile broadens, you take a step back to allow Jasper to exit his room and close the door behind him. "Lead the way, ma'am." Your chest squeezes when that southern drawl of his comes out.

Trusting anyone again wasn't an easy journey. But being cradled by the Cullen family was bound to heal some wounds.

And perhaps water the seed of love that had been planted in your heart by Jasper.

[sarcophagid]

Night Watch 2024 Letter - Breakdown and Personal Thoughts

my personal thoughts and initial analysis of ithaqua's letter!

these are mostly just my own opinions and will bounce off some pre-existing ideas i have, so feel free to let me know if you'd like anything clarified or if you want to discuss your own thoughts!

readmore because it's very long:

A Stack of Unsent Letters to Home (2024) (It's speculated that this stack of 18th-century letters was frequently examined. The papers are worn and damaged to varying degrees. Below are excerpts from the organized and restored legible text.)

The 18th century line really throws me off. IDV's main events and manor games take place in the 1880s-1910s, and this detail states that the letters were written before 1800, which wouldn't make much sense if we assume both Ithaqua and Lagertha lived at the time of the manor games. It's also not a mistranslated '1800s' because the original Chinese version also states '18th century'.

Avoiding rambling as best as I can there are two main ideas this brings to mind:

The plateau of Leng is considered old itself, with practices that are possibly centuries behind 'modern' practice for the time. Lagertha and the Vilulf clan seem to be based off of vikings which were also figments of a much earlier past. This could be an effort to ease the time gap by setting the story earlier.

However, I still severely doubt either Ithaqua or Lagertha have lived all the way from the 1700s to the 1900s. As aforementioned, I have no concrete proof, but it's just not sensible for either of them to be supernatural beings themselves, given the thematic importance of Night Watch being a human disguised as a monster. If we assume the 18th century thing is true, then they died. If we assume it's not true, then Ithaqua is alive and Lagertha's fate is unknown.

EDIT: I started this analysis before Brynhildr Vilfulf dropped. Her weibo lore seems to imply Ithaqua's story did in fact take place 200 years ago, but I will leave this part up because I'm petty and the detail bothers me for reasons I will expand on in a later post. 

[I] The star cluster of Vilulf will fall into the fourth house, symbolizing the law of "disintegration." This powerful force compels the life chart to discard the old and embrace the new—not in a gentle manner like a snake shedding its skin, but rather with the sudden breaking of a dragon bone, causing thousands of tons of iron and wood to sink to the depths of the sea. —The prophecy of the star atlas foretells suffering. My brave Ragnar, how have you fared? You were still young when I left Medan, yet I believed you would ultimately choose to follow the old man and navigate the oceans. I have no idea where to send this letter, but I trust that the power of the universe will carry my thoughts to you as I write under the moon.

I will have to check the original chinese text to see if there's any nuance I missed for many of these terms TOT. I think I may make a separate post looking into these specific terms, but for now I will look at the general idea.

Lagertha seems to be describing the movements of a fictional star cluster associated with the Vilulf clan, fortelling of a sudden, possibly dangerous event that would change the trajectory of her life (most likely foreshadowing meeting Eta/Ithaqua). 

As stated on the wiki, Ragnar and Lagertha are based off of Viking folk figures who were married. But in this letter, she seems to talk about him more as a younger relative than a spouse (I'm going off the wiki's old note on the chinese translation but I will come back to confirm/deny). The 'old man' could be another relative and also possibly a clan leader. 

I hope that when you gaze up at it, your spirit will be stirred to heed my guidance: Ragnar, do not attempt to conquer lands with ships. Our era has passed. Ragnar, gather our people and leave the Indian Ocean. Head north to Scandinavia, where you can rest and recuperate for at least a century.

The Vilulf clan is presumably Scandinavian. Lagertha in Viking legend is also from Norway. The Vilulf clan isn't explicitly stated to be Vikings, but they seem a bit inspired by general writing stereotypes associated with them.

They also engaged in some sort of "conquering".

Ragnar, I do not wish for you to abandon your beliefs, but please understand that the rationality and morality of humanity form the true foundation of a just society. A well-ordered world is the only environment where true freedom can thrive, and it is this discipline that will illuminate the world with the light of civilization.

Lagertha has clear and firm ideas about morality and order. She believes that people require a sense of structure and logic to adhere to, and sees civilization in a positive light. This is a detail I will come back to later with more context.*

Anyways, her ideas constrast Ithaqua's philosophy of giving up civility and humanity in general - he believes these things to be unhelpful, false, harmful. Ithaqua most closely associates them with the society in Leng, and the society that Nathaniel represented. But we now see that Lagertha was also a very order and structure oriented person, just in a different manner. 

[II] Back then, the old man often said that in the brief span of life, you and I would eventually be gone; he urged us to be bolder. I understood that he was imparting the values of our family—honor, freedom, adventure, and the spirit of resilience. Yet, his words also inspired me to explore an alternate path in life. I found solace by the shore, wisdom in books, energy in the city, and peace in the wilderness. Amid the winds of the grasslands, I discovered a different kind of faith that resonated deeply with my soul. Had the old man known, he would have deemed me a traitor and perhaps even broken my legs. But the call of the north was undeniable, and it held true transcendence and meaning, guided by the sea of stars.

The Vilulf clan values freedom, she also mentioned freedom in the previous letter. There's a degree of tragic irony given what eventually happens.

Lagertha followed the same faith as the other Vilulf clan members, but after travelling north, she converted to a different one. It is possible this is the same faith as the dominant, christianity-analogous religion in the Plateau of Leng. This detail is corroborated by the weibo description of her as "devout/god-praising" and Ithaqua finding it illogical and hypocritical to claim she was transgressing against it. 

However, my journey was far from smooth. The remote northern lands were as perilous as the sea, filled with their own brutalities and sins. Each time I offered seed pods to pregnant women or rowan berries to those in need, I felt the watchful eyes of the local church committee upon me. The already tense atmosphere became dangerously charged, forcing me to move on before I could linger too long.

I'll tentatively assume Leng is the product of a few creative liberties, because there aren't many countries farther north than Norway that are also a close match for the British-esque culture in Leng. 

Her practice of offering medicine and berries was most likely misconstrued as witchcraft, and her being an outsider also likely contributed to the distrust. 

Ragnar, you might think I am struggling. Lagertha, who once fought valiantly before you, now lives like a deserter, avoiding bloodshed. Yet, I find myself questioning whether my true self ever existed at sea. The concept of "my true self" is fluid, and the quest to "become my true self" is a journey without end.

*To expand on the aforementioned detail about valuing civilization and morality: Lagertha's past, and the Vilulf clan in general are no strangers to violence, conflict, and potentially disorder. At least some of this conflict arises from a practice of 'conquering' or otherwise invading other lands. There's not enough details nor do I plan on making statements on anyone's political views from this scant knowledge, but it's clear that Lagertha underwent a significant personal shift after leaving her clan, where she now adopts a less violent lifestyle, valuing order and civility.

EDIT: Brynhildr Vilulf's new weibo post gives some more context - the Vilulf clan was considered socially separate from the other clans, disliked for their isolation and rejection of other clans norms. However, this is not necessarily a negative trait, as they also did not have the prejudices of that time.

This is purely personal interpretation, but "true self" is very interesting considering the issue posed by Ithaqua and Nathaniel's birth - two identical people have drastically different personalities and values because of mostly environmental factors - implying a "true self" is not concrete, but rather a mutable identity that changes over time. The fact that Lagertha transitions from the lifestyle associated with the Vilulf clan to a much more peaceful one is another example of this concept. 

[III] I believe I have discovered a piece of the "meaning." I have named him Eta. The star η Ursae Majoris hangs in the northern sky, serving as my guide. 

Eta is the 7th letter of the Greek alphabet, and his character day is Dec 7. 

The star is also known as Alkaid, and Beidouqi in Chinese (North Dipper Seventh, as the star is considered the 7th star in the constellation).

Ursa Major is also related to the "mother bear" constellation. 

Remarkably, this star has led me to this young life. He is intelligent and tenacious, possessing the courage and strength to stand firm. Unlike you, his strength is deeply internalized, making him perhaps more like me. 

Ithaqua canonically not the beefiest guy around, but from his design that was probably inferable TOT.

The old man valued character above lineage, and he would surely recognize Ithaqua as a member of our clan. So, when you come to visit, please remember to address him by his name: Eta Vilulf. As for me, I might not be able to wait for your arrival, as the star atlas indicates I must travel far after three years. But he is still so young. Will a few years together be enough for him to learn to thrive on his own?

[IV] Dear Ragnar,I am truly happy to hear that your astrolabe is back on track! This is a promising sign.  This opening implies that she had gotten a response from Ragnar, but her letters were unsent, so I'm not sure if they communicated through some other way. Eta has kept me from stargazing for quite some time, possibly because he was worried about my strange behavior when I predicted that my star cluster would fall into the fourth house. He tends to treat me like a fragile being who can't manage even the simplest tasks. I wonder how he would react if he knew his mother was the second mate on the Medan. But I digress. You are on your way to the peninsula, are you not?

As stated on the IDV wiki, 'Medan' may be a reference to the ship 'Ourang Medan' which disappeared in Indonesia (this would've been in the Indian Ocean). 

Ithaqua has always been a bit protective of Lagertha… he also might be skeptical of Lagertha's astrological predictions, given he would rather her not stargaze. 

It also seems she predicted the event of the attack as referenced earlier, but chose to stay. 

This change has taken fifteen years longer than I initially expected. 

I have a tentative guess at Ithaqua's 'canon' age: In the previous letter, Lagertha said that she predicted she had to leave Ithaqua after three years. Adding this to her prediction, it's been at least 18 years since she found Ithaqua as an infant. However, this letter was also probably unsent, and most likely was written close to the time of the hunters attack. 

This is in line with Ithaqua's weibo post saying that the attack happened when he "became an adult". Ithaqua probably remained as Night Watch for any time between a few months - a few years, but this is a bit more evidence that he's a 'young adult'. 

Perhaps I should adjust my interpretation: everything has a natural trajectory toward improvement. "Disintegration" can signify both the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. By recalibrating the ego's inertial patterns, one can harness a powerful regenerative force. Just like the treasures controlled by Pluto can only be unearthed amid peril, as long as you stay steadfast in the face of danger, you will ultimately prevail. Perhaps the danger I foresaw is not destruction after all; it may nurture life and grant me a few more years with him. Forever your family, Lagertha Vilulf

As a final general note, this series of letters solidifies Lagertha as a character who's very spiritual, and has an open minded and optimistic viewpoint on her predictions even when they don't seem to bode well. But as the audience, we know what happens eventually

[raptorfae53]

Ever After High Reimagined: Raven Queen Character Bio/Redesign:

Raven Queen

Daughter of the Evil Queen (Punjabi)

Bisexual (she/her)

The Evil Queen was at one point the terror of the whole world, a matchless sorceress and conquerer, her daughter Raven on the other hand…isn't. Growing up in isolated poverty in her mothers scorched,crumbling fortress across the sea, Raven despite her gothic sensibilities is a kind, artsy optimist who believes in the inherent good of everybody, and is wholly new to (and feverently dislikes) Ever Afters way of doing things. Small wonder she's ended up the unassuming leader of a rebellion against the destiny system after eschewing her mother's destiny at thronecoming…

Likes: playing bass,gothic and punky fashion and music,writing, kaiju movies and having friends like the Rebels.

Dislikes: headmaster grimm, her destiny ,unnecessary conflict, silly or unjust rules and mirrors.

Spellbinding Style: gothy and alternative with plenty of handmade,hand-repaired and personalised patches and flourishes added by Raven for the people and things she loves best. Raven is a dab hand with a needle and thread after a whole childhood of nessecary practice mending and modifying her and her mother’s clothes.

Companion creature: Nevermore the crow, a friendly corvid that befriended raven in her early teens through gifts of crumbs, and who followed her boat across the ocean to ever after high.

Hexworthy vex: that people would stop assuming she's evil. Anything and everything raven enjoys has been used against her as “proof” that she's as wicked as her mother and having to explain that every aspect of your personality is really just something you do or enjoy really gets on raven's nerves sometimes.

“Oh Curses” moment: inability to control her powers. It's hard to seem non-threatening to your peers when every other week you cause an involuntary explosion. It also doesn't help that the faculty at ever after high have essentially left her to figure it out herself (or don't know what to do with her, as raven suspects)

Storied Secret: To have known her mother better. Despite her understandably negative reputation, Raven is sure there was a better side,even if it was never on show, to her mother than everyone says, after all nobody's truly evil deep down,right?

Deepest wish: to create and live her own future,to sing and write and be nice and good to people, destiny be damned!

5 Fantastical Facts:

Raven plays bass and sings as the lead of the band “Raven and the Rebels” with her friends Maddie,Cerise,Hunter and Cedar, though playing for years at this point (the instrument a treasured 10th birthday gift) Raven has never had the friends to form a band, so it's a new and exciting experience.

Raven is an avid reader of scifi and horror books and in turn an avid writer of her own original work, one of her favourite things to do in her alone time is to sit and type up her latest tale in the back of the Hatters Tea Shoppe, posting them under a pseudonym on Ao3…

Raven has an odd resentment with mirrors, she's never liked looking in them (she and her mother have a very similar face, Raven having a more forlorn resting face to her mothers scowl) but beyond that raven knew her mother spent more time talking with her magic mirror than her and her dad, and while she knows it's silly,Raven still wants to know what they could hold that enticed her mother so much…

Raven has enjoyed watching giant monster movies since she was a kid, her and her dad watching one from his well-loved collection together on Friday nights, a tradition raven has continued with her friends at ever after high. One of the things she loves about them is that the monsters themselves aren't characterised one way or another, some being scary,silly,heroic and villainous in kind, she finds them relatable, in a sense…

Raven finds the “high society” she is supposedly a part of really very confusing. There's a million and one rules that don't make sense to her and and her very grounded,compassionate sensibilities clash with what is expected of her as a princess, causing no manner of scandal and gossip from the upper-class,well…more scandal and gossip from the upper class. (Her dad has a lot of stories like that from his own youth that always made raven laugh as a kid,raven's comforted by the fact it seemingly runs in the family…)

Hello again everyone, welcome to the first of several pairs of character bio's I'll be releasing on here as a part of a new project, Ever After High Reimagined!

Like my MH writing this is the base for a ground up rewrite of Ever After High, and like those rewrites these will be released weekly on Fridays throughout March and April, I've seven pairs of profiles each with a Royal and a Rebel and this week's rebel is Raven Queen.

Extra thoughts down below:

Raven Queen is one of those characters that I've been rattling around my brain for ages now, mostly because I find her whole deal really compelling from the multiple perspectives it can be read from.

My idea for raven's backstory is that she's basically been living in her mothers shadow her whole life and hasn't really had a chance to be or do anything else because of those consequences. In my rewrite, the evil queen essentially tried to conquer the world whilst messing with as many destinies as possible to really get to her adversaries (ie,basically everyone but particularly grimm,snow white and king charming, who fought against her with military means), the result of the "Queen war" was basically the Evil queen being seemingly destroyed along with her kingdom, which whilst never the nicest place was reduced to a scorched,lifeless wreck by the powers that be, Raven having to grow up here as not only did the royals not exactly know what to do with her (a running theme as we'll see...) but we're also kinda terrified of this wholly innocent 6-7 year old due to what her mother achieved with similar powers. (Another tidbit I think could be interesting is Raven being magically modified by her mother to look more like her, the aforementioned similar looking faces being intentional on her mothers end and spooking the royals further...)

The kicker is that Raven never really knew her mother that well in the first place anyways, the Evil queen being so busy with her aforementioned plans for world domination and the like raven kinda got pushed to one side, to be raised almost exclusively by her dad, himself neglected by his spouse and terrified to say anything on either count for fear of being turned into a carrot should he do so,or worse... So if it wasn't obvious, raven's had it rough basically her whole life, but she presses on despite all her classmates and sometimes teachers assume or expect of her. Idk I just like having a character who despite going through a lot of terrible stuff and wearing dark and gothic clothing is actually pretty optimistic regarding people, it makes her a good contrast towards some of the more jaded or nihilistic characters wearing bright or saturated colours. (I see you Briar and Duchess...)

Finally, speaking of dark and gothic clothing, the bio's header is a selection of pictures and outfits I imagine raven's patchwork, tradgoth style draws inspiration from, as well as some desi goths since my version of Raven is south asian and I think that they're criminally underrepresented in the alt scene.

[kirric-the-fan]

Dancing in the tides; Cure Splash!

"Play on, precure of delight!"

Minato/Cure Splash is the second of my All animals precure, and is water/jellyfish themed.

Minato lives, loves, and breathes water (not literally, though she can in cure form), and ever since she was a kid she's loved swimming, and playing in water- she'd have the biggest grin just being able to jump in puddles.

As Minato grew up, she never lost that love of water, and as well as frequently snorkelling and scuba diving around the beaches with her family, she does board diving too, and is a key part of the school team.

She is very knowledgeable about sea creatures, particularly the ones found around the reefs.

Minato has a very sensible and straightforward head on her wrt looking after those around her- especially Ame with her anxiety, but Minato also has a very mischievous side, and a good sense of humour. She is the one who would surreptitiously splash someone to get them to stop being so uptight (*cough*CureSilky/Sayako*cough*), and will try to use humour to lighten a mood or a situation.

Minato is good friends with Sayako from before they joined middle school: Minato often does litter picking on her reef dives, and on the beach, and met Sayako at one of the beach cleans. The mismatched pair became unlikely friends over their care and appreciation for underappreciated creatures.

However, their becoming cures almost destroys that friendship entirely, Sayako refusing to work with Splash and Kindness because of their apparent support for the entrapment of animals and other creatures, once she realises who they are.

Minato is the only one who can seem to control the hyperactive Chizuru: in reality, she's the only one willing to be upfront and direct enough for Chizuru to hear and understand clearly.

Kururun and the Tropical Rouge girls: Because of their seaside location, the all animals cures get along well with Tropical Rouge girls: Their enthusiasm for unexpected and less loved creatures endeared themselves to Manatsu, and when Kururun came to town to warn the All Animals that a sea creature monster was coming, Minato was the only one able to understand them- and could do so a lot more than the others, especially Ferren had thought possible. Minato: *Reels off an impossibly detailed itinerary of the problem that lead Kururun to be here*. Haruna, gobsmacked: "...you got all of that from 'Kururun'?"

Minato quickly became good buddies with Kururun, including them in her hijinks, and always looking out for them in the all stars meets to the point that Laura gets jealous and has to resort to pointedly stealing Kururun back whenever Cure Splash is around.

Part of Cure Splash's magic/ outfit is a magical umbrella, that she can use in the traditional sense, but also as a bit of a shield.

Cure Splash's outfit also changes when she enters a body of water: the bell of her skirt sweeps down and turns into a mermaid's tail (the boots disappear), allowing her to swim even better and faster underwater.

...there is a bit of irony to the fact that the most waterproof cure outfit is on the cure that gets the most wet.

Minato will happily stand up for the others, and comes across as the outgoing, reliable one, but on a quiet day will admit that she struggles with her own confidence and self-image sometimes, being on the shorter and bigger size of her peers.

(I should do an edit/design of her in her mermaid tail form. Will probs add that later)

Original design concept:

[inventors-fair]

Leaps and Bounds: Animated Adaptation Winners

Our winners this week are @milfannihilator, @mudthing, and @nine-effing-hells!

~

@milfannihilator — Whisperwood Ceremony

I'm glad the addition of face-down cards to the contest purview got picked up and run with by so many people, truly. I think there's a lot of interesting design space there waiting to be explored, and this card serves as an excellent proof-of-concept. In a lot of ways it's brilliant in its simplicity, with the end result always being a handful of face down cards and a few cards dumped graveyardways. I feel like that description is doing it a disservice, though, because in practice there's a lot going on here. We've seen plenty of instants and sorceries that get value from the graveyard, but it's generally in the way of a second hurrah and then it's gone for good, or occasionally a hurdle to get it back to hand. This one falls squarely into the hurdle camp, but ending up on the battlefield is a delightfully unusual take. I also want to praise how this design did specifically need to be a sorcery: going straight to the graveyard means that the card it manifests can be immediately used to bring it back for double the value.

@mudthing — Through the Deep Ways//Deep-Lurker Tanglestar

Art is, as always, completely and utterly optional in these contests. That said, it is always good for a reminder every so often as to how much a piece of art can elevate a design. There's not a whole lot of mechanical cohesion going on here, but the flavorful picture you've painted is absolutely phenomenal. First of, instants and sorceries with disturb is just a genuinely good idea, full stop. Putting the body on the "backup" mode creates a lot of interesting decisions because of how many more hoops you need to jump through to get the field presence. Plus, the use of disturb here really resonates with the aforementioned excellent flavor. What better way to get a dreadful sea monster (or Starfish Kraken, in this case, which by the way I adore) to action is to, well, disturb it unwittingly in your travel Through the Deep Ways. I'm instantly fascinated to learn about both the set and the world that this card is hypothetically taken from, and I can't say much better than that for a card.

@nine-effing-hells — Prismari Thesis Defense//Octavia, the Magnum OctOpus

First of all, a thousand apologies for completely overlooking the excellent pun in the name in the entries post. But anyway, speaking of excellent flavor pictures, this fits the bill nicely as well. First off, the idea of casting a thesis defense as a literal Siege is at once hilarious and also makes complete sense. After all, who says a battle card has to be two armies clashing when we fight battles in our every day lives? Adding an alternate method for removing loyalty is both cool from a design perspective and eminently sensible. After all, Arcavios being a plane largely focused on its instants and sorceries naturally leads to an on-average lower board presence, so ensuring that plays into battles too is smart. If this were expanded to an entire hypothetical set, I could easily see that magecraft ability as a recurring feature on battles. And naturally for a battle, the back side makes all the effort you put into it very much worth it. Octavia certainly does a lot, and while it's not quite as adept at increasing power as its previous version, the card draw is a tempting carrot on the end of a tempting stick. Plus, I love the gameplay of Octavia being a less-than-ideal target of its own ability, but offering the certainty that it can always hit the magic number of 8 if you're otherwise unable.

~

We're not done yet, so don't go anywhere! Runners up are hot on your heels. —@spooky-bard

[inertia-is-a-statue-of-a-man]

Roy: so let me get this straight- the Persuasion movie-

Me: so bad it pissed me off to the point my water broke

Roy: but Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Me: also bad, too much wildly unnecessary orientalism, even for Regency England

Roy: right……

Me: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is a masterpiece though

Roy: uh huh

Me: and I’m looking forward to Little Women and Werewolves

Roy: that’s a book for sure

Me: it’s got to be better than Henry VIII: Wolfman

Roy: exactly how many of these are there?

Jason: too many, go to sleep

[oaktaro]

The Birth of the Horror Game Genre

What was the first horror game?

Killer Shark – 1972? – Cabinet When the question of the first horror game comes up, the poorly kept, early history of video games as a whole becomes an obstacle. You can find conversations about what the first horror game is, bring up seemingly lost cabinets of uncertain construction, or a scene in the 1975 movie Jaws in which it cuts to gameplay of an arcade game called Killer Shark where the player is a deep sea diver, armed with a speargun, shooting said killer shark, who appears from the darkness of the deep ocean… The arcade cabinet has a Sega logo, with various websites sighting it as having a 1972 release in the U.S. with no month or day specified. There's also a flyer, circulating, that shows the machine with 2 play prices, whose currency implies a Japanese release that may have been simultaneous or prior, considering the space for its second coin slot still exists in all the pictures of the U.S. release. Both sensible information and interest in this game are sparse due to its stroboscopic disk approach to film being considered so primitive that it becomes divisive as to if people even consider it video, thus making its historical value as a horror game as divisive, causing the credit of the earliest known horror game to often be split between it and another 1972 game, Haunted House. 

Haunted House – 1972, Aug-Oct? – Odyssey When attempting to create a variety of first-party games for their new home console, horror would join the likes of sports, education, and science fiction games, the Odyssey would see. While the creative mind behind the console would be against packing in games that required more than TV and controller to play, the console was under Magnavox, who would ultimately lean into the more board game design, relying on physical pieces in attempting to capture the family market. Released around September of ‘72, Haunted House would take advantage of the video game format by having a multiplayer game where one player is a ghost that can hide within things with the illumination of their body standing out while also blending in with the natural illumination of a CRT screen that lit the entire environment. The other player would be the detective, attempting to survive the mansion, with physical cards guiding the game without having to approach condensing text into hardware, which was meant to be cheap and thus simple. The game’s approach to horror relied on the tension of anticipating a failure state that allowed the player controlling the ghost to initiate a jump scare that would flash the screen white while they screamed “BOO!” Real scary, I know.

So what’s the earliest known survival horror game?

Hunt The Wumpus – 1973 – printed BASIC code After arcade and console players got their horror fix, the following year would see the release of a desktop computer horror game that would rely less on visuals and more on painting a picture through text like a horror novel. Gregory Yob found the output of the trend of hide and seek games published by People’s Computer Company to be… underwhelming considering what could be accomplished. He would avoid the easy grid pattern level design and have the player explore a cave system where a man-eating beast called the Wumpus was sleeping somewhere around. Also within the cave… were bottomless pits and bats—so great, they can carry a person right off! The player, armed with 5 crooked arrows, named for their… unrealistically generous movement through the air in the game’s dodecahedron-shaped world, would need to explore the cave system to hunt the Wumpus in complete darkness via their other senses like smell and feel, as light would alert the beast, and if you move too close to it, you’ll turn into it’s prey. Because of this, it’s retroactively referred to as the earliest known example of a survival horror game: exploring it’s cave system, managing your limited arrows, to hunt the monster while trying not to squander your limited inventory and become its prey. It was sold via mail order in 1973 and People’s Computer Company who advertised it as a possible tool to teach first grader’s math is credited as its publisher.

It became a franchise.

By 1975, multiple horror games were being released per year. Hunt the Wumpus’s source code was released in Creative Computing Magazine and became a series with ports, sequels, and custom alterations. Wumpus 2 would focus on re-playability. It’s new cave systems bringing changing difficulty and strategy, being described as “the same old Wumpus in a different setting, including those of your own design,"  referring to the ability to create your own cave system in this new entry. Wumpus 3 would advertise new hazards to the mix like earthquakes and bat migrations. Jack Emmerichs is credited with the creation of Super Wumpus, a more complex version of Wumpus where the beast would be aggressively active, while an Altair 8800 parody of the original, titled Wampus, would give players the option to primarily try to escape the cave and avoid confrontation all together.

What was the first video game adaptation of a horror movie? Could it have been inspired by:

Maneater – 1975 Mar? – Cabinet In 1975, Project Support Engineering released Maneater, advertising up to 2 players can indulge in it’s “video terror!” Controlling divers in shark-infested waters, players are to retrieve packages from the bottom and bring them to the surface, and this would be far from the last shark game…

Shark Jaws – 1975 Sep 25th – Cabinet Video game adaptations of other media predate Pong, and Pong’s company, Atari, would join on this, forming Horror Games, a front to take the bullet in case they were sued for their unlicensed adaptation, Shark Jaws, though keen eyes would recognize it using an Atari Tank II cabinet, and those who got inside might note its circuit board, marked "Atari,"  whose marketing VP is quoted as saying the company behind Jaws would find out Atari is behind Horror Games in only 3 days. Advertised as “exciting underwater video terror!” Shark Jaws had you swimming for fish in a third person while trying to avoid being shark food. It’s been praised for it’s sound design, using heavy reverb to emulate its setting, and despite claims of it selling thousands, tracking serial numbers have led to collectors finding it, more likely, only had 500 ever even made. Coincidentally, much like Killer Shark, it too would be used in a movie and 3 years after its release, to boot!

What was the first journalist attack on horror games?

DeathRace – 1976 April - Cabinet Games in the horror genre would, of course, eventually attract backlash. In December of 1975, Destruction Derby would release where the player, controlling a car, would attempt to ram into others. It was licensed to Chicago Coin by Exidy, who would clone the game to also profit from it without competing with their licensee. New hire, Howell Ivy, said the easy approach would be to replace the visuals, which was done by replacing the other cars with fleeing people! Allegedly titled Pedestrian before becoming Death Race 98 and then shortened to Death Race. The cabinet featured 2 Grim Reapers, driving cars, with the pedestrians being named Gremlins, who would scream before being run over. A reporter would see kids lined up to play Death Race and run a story in Seattle, beginning a snowball of media covering the controversial game about running over fleeing pedestrians. Becoming taboo, of course, caused the game’s sales to shoot from hundreds to thousands, with video game magazines reporting it in the top 10 highest grossing arcade games for 2 years! 

How much of an arcade game is in the cabinet’s construction, itself?

Triple Hunt – 1977 April – Cabinet On the market in 1977 was a new 3 in 1 arcade cabinet by Atari, Triple Hunt: a collection of shooting games, featuring Raccoon Hunt, where you shoot raccoons before they get to the top of a tree; Hit the Bear, where you take aim at bears with attached targets that, because the sprites display horizontally stretched, look more like eyes; and a game called Witch Hunt, where you’re firing at a haunted mansion where a witch circles the sky. The game tracks the gun’s position on the screen via 2 potentiometers in the gun, while a display mask and a one-way mirror in front of the monitor let light through and reflect the game’s sprites, creating a sense of depth and allowing them to pass behind and in front of objects. This allows the game to advertise multiple 3D environments. The game’s creator, Owen Rubin, would explain that the more complex method of gun tracking was chosen over using a light-gun, sensing the sprites when they’re not behind objects out of fear that outside lights like fluorescents would get in the way. This cabinet’s construction is an example of how I think so much of the experience is often lost when trying to translate an arcade game to a 2D screen. So much of the experience is in the cabinet’s construction itself, which is often not even attempted to be replicated. The game’s spooky sound design came from a combination of the game’s microprocessor producing sound effects and an 8-track tape producing the ambient environmental noise. Witch Hunt would have the most tape and not be the only witch game of this error.

There’s a horror game of a city’s tourist attraction.

The House of Seven Gables - 1978 - Apple II, TRS-80, Sorcerer Perhaps the most well-known thing about Salem, Massachusetts, is the witch trials of the 1600s. During the time, stood the Turner house that would eventually sell to the family of Susanna Ingersoll, who would entertain her cousin there, telling him stories of its old history. The attic had bits of framing and plaster from former gables built in 1668. This cousin would make the house famous by being inspired to write the 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables. The house is now an icon of Salem, becoming a museum and one with a horror game. Greg Hassett’s 1978 text adventure, The House of Seven Gables, advertises you raid for valuables but must defeat the witch to escape…  and said witch is not the only danger. Lurking the house are life-threatening ghouls who—you can throw chemicals in their face. A GHOST who also doesn’t want you to leave with valuables and can be life-threatening himself if you refuse to relinquish your plunder. There’s even a vampire who you can drive off with garlic found in the kitchen, but it won’t work forever… so you might want to prepare to combat it a different way.

Conclusion The number of horror games released was increasing every year, but what even constitutes a video game is divisive, from Killer Shark’s stroboscopic disk approach to Haunted House’s absence of memory or a processor to the House of Seven Gables' absence of motion picture. The line of what is video and what are video games may be forever debated, and especially when a game lacks a stereotypically horror setting or characters, it can become as divisive to decipher which game’s creator’s intentions were horror or if that’s even what YOU define as a horror game. What is certain is the word "horror" can catch the interest of many people who previously enjoyed media described as such.

[praxidice-carcajou]

Cryptid of the Day!

Side note: Later on your going to see a LOT of creatures from Brazil, because god DAMN do they have some interesting stuff. It’s funny, all around the world you see repeats of similar cryptids with slightly different aspects and names. I could spend all day talking about different cryptids from different parts of the world that are bipedal, unusually large primates, or long necked, humongous sea monsters the seem to find their way into any lake big enough to fit a kayak. But Brazil?? If you want something unique and original , look to almost any cryptid that’s popped up in Brazil.

Capelobo: NOW, I best be getting to the actual topic of the day; the capelobo of Brazil! Capelobo’s are lycanthropes, like Werewolves! ….. except werewolves are probably not the best comparison. So let’s go through the process of the Capelobo. Let’s say you’re old, wrinkly, hunched over and frankly just sick of being well…. Old. So! You do what any sensible senior citizen such as yourself would do: sell your humanity and sense of morality in exchange for a new body, your Capelobo body!! Now remember, once you have chosen to become a capelobo, you may never return to your human body or your humanity, but you are gifted with two new forms! These two forms would include your animal form, a tapir with some oddly dog like features, and your humanoid form. Now, the animal form is really just for disguise, what capelobos are REALLY known for is their primary humanoid, ‘werewolf’ form. You are given the head of an anteater (or in some, rare myths, the head of a tapir or a dog), the body of an incredibly buff man (plus a bunch of fur), long, powerful anteater claws, and two bottle shaped legs with PERFECTLY rounded hooves that make your tracks especially unique! Plus! You are also gifted with a banshee screech that can be heard from over ten miles away and drive victims straight up insane, incredible strength, basketball player hight, impenetrable skin, and a foul smell! And yes I know, compared to all of your other new abilities, foul smell sounds like an insult, but honestly….. it’s kind of your new best weapon. When I say foul, I mean FOUL. The sheer power of the capelobo’s stinky-ness is enough to stun its prey, rendering it completely unconscious and giving it headaches and dizziness for days after if it were to somehow survive the encounter. All together, I don’t know about you but that sounds like a pretty damn good deal to me! You could waste away in a nursing home watching jeopardy as you slowly fade into eternal unconsciousness, OR, you could spontaneously become an (honestly ) kind of over powered buff ass furry that lives significantly longer life being a forest goblin! I mean, really, of course my default answer would initially be “FUCK YEAH!! FURRY-IFY ME!” But before we get to hasty, let us into our ‘lovely’ little capelobo life style first….

The Tea:

Despite what you may assume from their giant claws and muscles capable of ripping a man in half without a sweat, capelobos aren’t necessarily meat eaters. But they sure as hell are carnivores! Capelobos are actually vampiric! They survive primarily out of sucking the blood out of their victims, and sometimes sucking the brains of their prey straight out of their skull.

Capelobo’s are beasts, and they are considered evil, but not because they’re man eaters. Don’t get me wrong, capelobo’s are known for draining a guy who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time, but humans really aren’t on their list of common prey. See, it’s the diet that me back the hell out, and drops these guys out of lost for my top three favorite cryptids. These guys just live off cute baby animals. Specially kittens, puppies and baby goats. Like- all of the cutest baby animals of all time.

Where to find in other media:

Capelobo is a monster that can be found in DND, and an inscription mod set! Unfortunately though, that’s all I could really find for this one!

credit to cryptidwiki and H. Kyoht Luterman!

TW: FOR MILD BLOOD AND VIOLENCE

credit to Oddityhive on Reddit!

[keegan-askblog]

Hey, Keegan. I heard you wanted to read a book, so imma lend one to you, it's Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Do not ruin it.

- @callsignravenna

well thanks kid. i’ll make sure to take care of it

[bethanydelleman]

The Ultimate Austen Showdown

Henry Crawford, John Willoughby, George Wickham, Captain Frederick Tilney, and William Elliot have one mission: seduce a love-lorn Anne Elliot, six months before Wentworth is set to return.

Will our most perceptive Austen heroine prevail? Or will she fall victim to the machinations of Austen's most charming and persuasive men? You decide!

[akylk0]

Бен Уинтерс "Разум и чувства и гады морские" (2009)

Остин не указываю среди авторов, потому что её не спросили. Среди жанров написан мешап. Первый раз читаю что-то подобное. Книга вышла в один год с более известным "Гордость и предубеждение и зомби". Комментарии возмущены обращением с классикой. Мне же понравилось. Возможно потому что в детстве зачитывалась Гоголем и По. Несмотря на явное влияние Лавкрафта как раз именно По отдаёт книга. Он тоже был склонен к иронии порой. Особенно запомнился в этом плане рассказ, где герой оскверняет труп, чтобы сделать из него джека-в-коробке, напугав таким образом виновного. До такого объяснения кажется будто история мистическая. Да и не люблю Остин особо. Пыталась начать "Эмму" и "Аббатство". В итоге слишком душно от местных героев. Сказывается воспитание на советских книжках, где герои что-то делали на пользу другим, а не сплетничали и ходили в гости пока их крепостные зарабатывают им деньги. Тем не менее автор хорошо урезал оригинальный текст местами и его собственный вполне хорош. Запомнилось описание мига падения купола станции. Оно отличное.

Ещё понравилось как автор гиперболизирует характерную тем книгам жестокость. Местные слуги вынуждены участвовать в гладиаторских боях с мутантами из моря. Дурной тон спасать рабочего станции, которого заживо ест рыба. Дети-отличный способ кормить монстров, есть орангутаны, испражняющиеся в центре гостиной. Звучит сюром, но хорошо отмечает некоторые особенности тех произведений. Что норма для того времени, сильно смущает нас. Например, в "Острове сокровищ" убийство чаек героем-подростком отличный поступок и поощряется. В "Белом клыке" норма, что животное загрызло шерифа из-за его неосторожности. Потенциально опасного зверя никто не собирается убивать. В историях о индейцах они не люди. Хотя их возмущение отниманием их исконных земель разумно. В "Смерти на Ниле" один из персонажей описывает как бы хотел расправится с пожилой женщиной, потому что она видите ли поучала его пару раз. Обратите внимание, последний пример из произведения начало прошлого века.

Отсюда вытекает ещё одна крутая деталь книги. Автор не делает персонажей более близкими к нашему времени, чтобы они вызвали симпатию. Сестрам Дэшвуд плевать на несчастного рабочего станции. Другой бы автор сделал бы временную тягу к наукам Марианны в конце поводом стать учёной. Здесь это временное увлечение, которое исправило замужество. К сожалению.

Не могу не отметить как уникальны до сих пор отношения Элинор и полковника. Редко даже сейчас найдёшь такую дружбу между мужчиной и женщиной. Они заботятся друг о друге и всегда могут найти темы для разговоров. В конце девушка даже не испытывает тошноту от его щупалец.

Идея сделать ловеласа Уиллоби, пользующегося осьминожим манком, чтобы знакомится с дамами удалась. Голливуд хорошо показал какие кидалы любители сокровищ. Серьёзно, только у Рика О'Коннела во всех фильмах одна и та же левушка рядом. И то из-за кастинга третьей части не совсем. Идея сделать мистера Палмера классическим героем Лавкрафта, а миссис Мидлтон похищенной трофейной женой тоже удалась. Последняя радовала кровожадностью и холодностью. В конце рада, что ей удалось уйти, хотя жаль детей. Но не понять не могу.

В конце в вопросах к тесту сравнивается желание героинь выйти замуж, тогда как она бежит от брака. В её случае логично. Она гордая островная принцесса, которую похитили. Конечно ей милей свобода и опостылела Англия. Тогда как героини обычные белые девушки, которым всю жизнь внушают, что без брака ни куда. Увы, тогда особо не поработаешь сама на себя.

Минисом могу назвать одну логическую несостыковку. Постоянно подчёркивается нелюдимость острова, поэтому что едят героини не ясно.

Вывод: удачное осовременивание классики

P.S. Танцующие как кастаньеты щупальца полковника отличное сравнение.

Никогда не понимала зачем нужны карты в книгах, но ок.

Одна из теорий.

В лучших традициях, герой успел написать целый текст.

С пенсиями было всегда трудно.

То как их высокопарные разговоры разбиваются подобными действиями очень весело.

Мать героинь может быть крутой.

Ещё одна версия.

Леди явна недовольна положением украденной наложницы при старике, проявляя пассивную агрессию.

Старый добрый Лавкрафт забегает иногда.

Главные качества молодых людей тех лет.

Комичное прощание.

Эдвард тоже может быть крутым.

Мистер Палмер.

Мнение благородных о более простых.

Морские монстры не повод прерывать беседы.

На одержимую культом Марианну всем плевать.

Крутая леди Мидлтон.

Про подопечную полковника.

Местное правосудие.

Пираты.

Ей удалось.

Момент с куполом.

Прям как все мы, когда любимый пейринг медлит.

Классная фраза про кошек.

Эдвард держит слово, данное нелюбимой

[spicebiter]

Reading List (Latest Update April 9, 2025)

The full list of books I'm interested in reading. Spoiler before you open the read-more: This list has 500+ entries so it's a tad long.

I'm pretty much constantly adding things to all of my lists- hence why I'm amending when this was last updated to the title itself- and will update this post anytime I update the wheel I use to randomize my next choice, which usually happens after I've added or subtracted a significant number of options.

Beowulf

Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism; Third Edition

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee

Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

I Am Not Sick I Don’t Need Help! by Xavier Amador, Ph.D

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

Andersen’s Fairy Tales by H.C Andersen

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Animorphs Series by K.A Applegate

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Emma by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Oracle Night by Paul Auster

Bunny by Mona Awad

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Borderline by Mishell Baker

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

Just Above My Head by James Baldwin

Crash by J.G Ballard

North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud

Cousin Betty by Honore de Balzac

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

I’m With the Band by Pamela Des Barres

The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron

Gateways to Abomination by Matthew M. Bartlett

Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone De Beauvoir

The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir

Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett

Art of Fiction by Walter Besant and Henry James

Pushkin; A Biography by T.J Binyon

The Etched City by K.J Bishop

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Out of Africa by Karen Blixen

In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette De Bodard

Dandelion Daughter by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay

Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Slewfoot by Brom

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Sonnets From The Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

The Serpent and the Rose by Kathleen Bryan

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

Notes of a Dirty old Man by Charles Bukowski

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess

Song of the Simple Truth by Julia de Burgos

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

Parable of the Sower Octavia E. Butler

American Predator by Maureen Callahan

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

A Most Wanted Man by John Le Carre

Through the Woods by Emily Carrol

An Oresteia translated by Anne Carson

Glass, Irony, and God by Anne Carson

The Vorrh by B. Catling

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

The City of Brass by SA Chakraborty

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Moliere Biography by H.C Chatfield-Taylor

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Journey to the West by Wu Cheng-en

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

The Awakening by Kat Chopin

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Finna by Nino Cipri

The Divinity Student by Michael Cisco

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Parasite by Darcy Coates

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer

Swimming With Giants by Anne Collet

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Inherit the Wind by Linda Cushman

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Dreadnought by April Daniels

The Devourers by Indra Das

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

Bones & All by Camille Deangelis

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

The Memory Palace by Nate Dimeo

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Toad by Katherine Dunn

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

A Little Bit of Auras by Cassandra Eason

The New Bottoming Book by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy

The New Topping Book by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

The Collected Stories by Welty Eudora

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Introducing Evolutionary Psychology by Dylan Evans and Oscar Zarate

A Collapse of Horses by Brian Evenson

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Sanctuary by William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

It Devours! by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Time and Again by Jack Finney

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

A Passage to India by E.M Forster

Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox by Forthright

The Diary of Anne Frank

Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them) by Al Franken

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

At Fear’s Altar by Richard Gavin

Count Zero by William Gibson

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson

Neuromancer by William Gibson

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg

The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Marathon Man by William Goldman

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Come Closer by Sara Gran

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

My Life in Orange by Tim Guest

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J Hackwith

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Empire of Light by Alex Harrow

The Little Locksmith by Katherine Butler Hathaway

City of Lies by Sam Hawke

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix

Dune Series by Frank Herbert

Cover-Up by Seymour M. Hersh

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Rule of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman

The Iliad by Homer

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Songbook by Nick Hornby

To Escape the Stars by Robert Hoskins

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt

Warrior Cats Series by Erin Hunter

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Daisy Miller by Henry James

False Bingo by Jac Jemc

The City We Became by N.K Jemisin

The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin

Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce

Ulysses by James Joyce

The Trial by Franz Kafka

The Archidamian War by Donald Kagan

The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan

The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan

Hell on Wheels by Raven Kaldera

Kneeling in Spirit by Raven Kaldera

Real Service by Raven Kaldera and Joshua Tenpenny

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

Out of Control by Kevin Kelly

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Liu Ken

Ironweed by William Kennedy

You By Caroline Kepnes

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Very Best of Caitlin R Kiernan

Carrie by Stephen King

Christine by Stephen King

Cujo by Stephen King

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

The Shining by Stephen King

The Stand by Stephen King

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles and Sir Thomas Malory

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Gidget by Frederick Kohner

The Cipher by Kathe Koja

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Extravagance by Gary Krist

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Babel by R.F Kuang

The Poppy War by R.F Kuang

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

False Hearts by Laura Lam

The Wide, Carnivorous Sky by John Langan

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Changeling by Victor Lavelle

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by David Herbert Lawrence

Lies of the Fae by M.J Lawrie

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

The Dirt; Confessions of the Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

The Complete Pyramids by Mark Lehner

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin

Human Errors by Nathan H. Lents

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Small Island by Andrea Levy

A Ruin of Shadows by L.D Lewis

Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

Let the Right One In by John Lindquist

Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link

The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

His Black Tongue by Mitchell Luthi

The Hike by Drew Magary

The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Gregory Rabassa

A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin

Property by Valerie Martin

North Woods by Daniel Mason

The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy

The Group by Mary McCarthy

Women in the Picture by Catherine McCormack

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Fletch by Gregory Mcdonald

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Rapture by Claire McGlasson

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Quattrocento by James McKean

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin

Penric’s Progress by Lois McMaster Bujold

Terms of Endearment Larry McMurtry

The Throne of Bones by Brian McNaughton

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi

A Mencken Chrestomathy by H.L Mencken

My Life as Author and Editor by H.L Mencken

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyer

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Iron Council by China Mieville

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

The Life of Edna by St. Vincent Millay

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Sexus by Henry Miller

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Slade House by David Mitchell

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

No One Will Come Back For Us by Premee Mohamed

Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy by Barrington Moore Jr.

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Jazz by Toni Morrison

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami

In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Vurt by Jeff Noon

Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Bernard Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The Morningside by Tea Obreht

The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht

Twelve Nights at Rotter House by J.W Ocker

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Revenge by Yoko Ogawa

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Flowers of the Sea by Reggie Oliver

Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen

How To Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Chouette by Claire Oshetsky

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi

White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Certain Dark Things by M.J Pack

The Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

Complete Stories of Dorothy Parker

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

Gormenghast Series by Mervyn Peake

The West Passage by Jared Pechacek

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

How the Light Gets In by Jolina Petersheim

The Song the Owl God Sang by Benjamin Peterson

A Mankind Beyond Earth by Claude A. Piantadosi

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodie Piccoult

We Owe You Nothing by Punk Planet

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe

Witchmark by C.L Polk

Complete Novels by Dawn Powell

Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell

The Overstory by Richard Powers

Truth and Beauty by Ann Pratchett

Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett

The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett

The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield

Enough To Make You Blush by Princess Kali

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

High Moor by Graeme Reynolds

Sybil by Schreiber Flora Rheta

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

If We Were Villains by M.L Rio

Stiff by Mary Roach

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry M. Robert

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

The Language Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder

The Planet Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder

The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful by Milo Rossi

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Lisa and David by Theodore Isaac Rubin, M.D

The Hacker and the Ants by Rudy Rucker

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Sallinger

Franny and Zooey by J.D Sallinger

The Man Who Collected Machen by Mark Samuels

Ariah by B.R Sanders

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Shane by Jack Schaefer

Vicious by V.E Schwab

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

Bhagavad Gita by Graham M. Schweig

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Love Story by Erich Segal

The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Unless by Carol Shields

City Come A-Walkin’ by John Shirley

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Crush by Richard Siken

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The Terror by Dan Simmons

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Oil! by Upton Sinclair

Mindfucking Mindfully by Sir Ezra

Of Sorrow and Such by Angela Slatter

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Flinch by Julien Smith

Chlorine by Jade Song

Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria

Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza

Why Christianity Must Change or Die by John Shelby Spong

Last Breath by Peter Stark

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Earle Stegner

Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

City Under the Moon Hugh Sterbakov

Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

Goodbye, Again by Jonny Sunday

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susane

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom

Curiosity by Joan Thomas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Walden by Henry D. Thoreau

An Affair of Poisons by Addie Thorley

Secrets of the Flesh by Judith Thurman

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Sisyphean by Dempow Torishima

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes

Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

The Strange Bird by Jeff Vandermeer

Bondage For Every Body by Evie Vane

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne

The Last Empire- Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal

Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

Candide by Voltaire

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Anomia by Jade Wallace

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Fire in the Sky; The Walton Experience by Travis Walton

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L Wang

The Graduate by Charles Webb

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells

The Invisible Man by H.G Wells

The Time Machine by H.G Wells

The War of the Worlds by H.G Wells

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

Prophesy Deliverance by Cornel West

Educated by Tara Westover

Ship of Smoke and Steel by Django Wexler

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Roman Fever by Edith Wharton

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

The Code of the Woosters by P.G Wodehouse

Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

The Electric Koolaid Test by Tom Wolfe

Old School by Tobias Wolff

John Dies at the End by David Wong

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dolloway by Virginia Woolf

Bitch; In Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel

The Black Tides of Heaven by Jy Yang

Negative Space by B.R Yeager

Beneath the Moon by Yoshi Yoshitani

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Tomorrow, and Tommorow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin