#so this verse is her ...... menace to society but mostly her father verse which is every verse but LOLLLL

[sacrificialflowers]

her stomach twists in comical delight as she weaves through the dark corners of the building with the most valuable item in this dead museum of gems, curated by her dearest most hated father. she supposes that this has become a game to her, a winner - takes - all sort of mindset spliced into these violently juvenile acts of revenge. night turns to a flash of daylight with the flash of lightning illuminating the rain, & she breathes out an annoyed breath upon realizing some wannabe hero has stumbled upon her mischief. " who would you be. "

starter for @meantome .

[cielrouge]

YA SFF Books by Black Authors 

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow: About the strength of black sisterhood set in Portland, OR, best friends Tavi and Effie discover their true supernatural identity when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical siren voice during a police stop.

A Chorus Rises (A Song Below Water #2) by Bethany C. Morrow: Teen influencer Naema Bradshaw is an Eloko, a person who’s gifted with a song that woos anyone who hears it. Everyone loves her — well, until she's cast as the awful person who exposed Tavia’s secret siren powers. When a new, flourishing segment of Naema’s online supporters start targeting black girls, however, Naema must discover the true purpose of her magical voice.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown: Inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess, Karina, and a desperate refugee, Malik, find themselves on a collision course to murder each other, despite their growing attraction.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor: Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.

Akata Warrior (Akata Witch #2) by Nnedi Okorafor: Now stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny Nwazue, along with her friends from the the Leopard Society, travel through worlds, both visible and invisible, to the mysterious town of Osisi, where they fight in a climactic battle to save humanity.

Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis: For fans of Us and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comes a witchy story full of black girl magic as one girl’s dark ability to summon the dead offers her a chance at a new life, while revealing to her an even darker future.

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi: After he eats the sin of a royal, Taj, a talented aki, or sin-eater who consumes the guilt of others whose transgressions are exorcised from them by powerful but corrupt Mages, is drawn into a plot to destroy the city, and he must fight to save the princess he loves and his own life.

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray: Two Black teenagers, talented Beastkeeper Koffi and warrior-in-training Ekon, must trek into a magical jungle to take down an ancient creature menacing the city of Lkossa, before they become the hunted.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton: In the opulent world of Orléans, where Beauty is a commodity only a few control, Belle Camellia Beauregard will learn the dark secrets behind her powers, and rise up to change the world. 

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney: A whimsical and butt-kicking Alice in Wonderland retelling featuring a black teen heroine who battles Nightmares in the dark and terrifying dream realm known as Wonderland. 

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves: 16-year-old Hanna reunites with her estranged mother in an East Texas town that is haunted with doors to dimensions of the dead and protected by demon hunters called Mortmaine.

Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury: Set in near-future Toronto in which, after failing to come into her powers, 16-year-old Black witch Voya Thomas must choose between losing her family’s magic forever or murdering her first love.

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley: Set in Victorian England, African tightrope walker Iris cannot die; but soon gets drafted in the fight-to-the-death tournament of freaks where she learns the terrible truth of who and what she really is.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris: A gripping, evocative novel about Black teen Alex Rufus, who has the power to see into the future, and whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: 17-year-old Zélie and companions journey to a mythic island seeking a chance to bring back magic to the land of Orïsha, in a fantasy world infused with the textures of West Africa.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi: After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But with civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron: 16-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia flees, hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris: A gripping, evocative novel about Black teen Alex Rufus, who has the power to see into the future, and whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death.

Crown of Thunder (Beasts Made of Night #2) by Tochi Onyebuchi: Taj has escaped Kos, but Queen Karima will go to any means necessary--including using the most deadly magic--to track him down. 

A Crown So Cursed (Nightmare Verse #3) by L.L. McKinney: Alice is ready to jump into battle when she learns that someone is building an army of Nightmares to attack the mortal world, before she learns of a personal connection to Wonderland.

Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron: In Jim Crow South, black teen Evalene Deschamps finds her place among a family of women gifted with magical abilities, known as jubilation - a gift passed down from generations of black women since the time of slavery.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland: The Civil War is over, but mostly because the dead rose at Gettysburg—and then started rising everywhere else. Fighting the undead is a breeze for Jane McKenne, an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. But the fight for freedom? That’s a different story.

Deathless Divide (Dread Nation #2) by Justina Ireland: After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler. But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to Nicodermus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880’s America.

A Dream So Dark (Nightmare Verse #2) by L.L. McKinney: Still reeling from her recent battle (and grounded until she graduates) Alice must cross the Veil to rescue her friends and stop the Black Knight once and for all in Wonderland.

Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds: Jamal’s best friend Q is brought back to life after a freak accident … but they only have a short time together before he will die again.  How can Jamal fix his friendship without the truth?

Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley:  Before they can save the world from the monstrous phantoms, four girls who have the power to control the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water must first try to figure out how to work together. 

For All Time by Shanna Miles: Tamar and Fayard, two Black teens, are fated to repeat their love story across hundreds of lifetimes, from 14th-century Mali to the distant future, as they struggle to break the cycle.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna: Inspired by the culture of West Africa, a feminist fantasy debut traces the experiences of 16-year-old Deka, who is invited to leave her discriminatory village to join the emperor’s army of near-immortal women warriors.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis: The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls--they know their luck is anything but. Sold to a "welcome house" as children and branded with cursed markings. When Clementine accidentally kills a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape to find freedom, justice, and revenge.

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron: Set in a West African-inspired fantasy kingdom, Arrah comes from a long line of powerful witchdoctors, yet fails at magic. When Arrah trade years off her life for magic to stop the Demon King from destroying the world—that is if it doesn’t kill her first.

Legacy of Light (The Effgies #3) by Sarah Raughley: After Saul’s strike on Oslo—one seemingly led by Maia herself—the Effigies’ reputation is in shambles. Belle has gone rogue, Chae Rin and Lake have disappeared, and the Sect is being dismantled and replaced by a terrifying new world order helmed by Blackwell. If the Effigies can’t put the pieces together soon, there may not be much left of the world they’ve fought so desperately to save.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn: In this King Arthur retelling, Black teen Bree Matthews infiltrates a secret society of powerful magic wielders to find out the truth behind her mother’s untimely death.

Mem by Bethany C. Morrow: In alternate reality Montreal (1925), a young woman’s personality is the result of a startling experimental procedure, leaving her to struggle with the question of who she really is.

Miles Morales, Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds: But Miles Morales accidentally discovers a villainous teacher's plan to turn good kids bad, he will need to come to terms with his own destiny as the new Spider-man. 

Oh My Gods by Alexandra Sheppard: Half-mortal teenager Helen Thomas goes to live with her father—who is Zeus, masquerading as a university professor—and must do her best to keep the family secret intact.

The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds: After falling for Kate, her unexpected death sends Jack back in time to the moment they first met, but he soon learns that his actions have consequences when someone else close to him dies.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith: Set in a futuristic, hostile Orleans landscape, Fen de la Guerre must deliver her tribe leader's baby over the Wall into the Outer States before her blood becomes tainted with Delta Fever. 

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney & Robyn Smith: When Nubia’s best friend, Quisha, is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia will risk it all—her safety, her home, and her crush on that cute kid in English class—to become the hero society tells her she isn’t.

A Phoenix First Must Burn: 16 Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope edited by Patrice Caldwell: Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron: In this contemporary fantasy inspired by The Secret Garden, Black teen Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants with a single touch. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family, when a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir.

A Psalm of Storm and Silence (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #2) by Roseanne A. Brown: As the fabric holding Sonande together begins to tear, Malik and Karina once again find themselves torn between their duties and their desires.

A Queen of Gilded Horns (A River of Royal Blood #2) by Amanda Joy: After learning the truth of her heritage, Eva is on the run with her sister Isa as her captive, but with the Queendom of Myre on the brink of revolution, Eva and Isa must make peace with each other to save their kingdom.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko: In a West African-inspired empire, Tarisai is raised by The Lady and sent to kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?

Redemptor (Raybearer #2) by Jordan Ifueko: For the first time, an Empress Redemptor sits on Aritsar's throne. To appease the sinister spirits of the dead, Tarisai must now anoint a council of her own, coming into her full power as a Raybearer.

The Ravens by Danielle Page & Kass Morgan: The sisters of Kappu Rho Nu share a secret: they’re a coven of witches. For Vivi Deveraux, being one of Kappa Rho Nu’s Ravens means getting a chance to redefine herself. For Scarlett Winters, a bonafide Raven and daughter of a legacy Raven. When Vivi and Scarlett are paired as big and little for initiation, they find themselves sinking into the sinister world of blood oaths and betrayals.

Rebel Sisters (War Girls #2) by Tochi Onyebuchi: Though they are working toward common goals of helping those who suffered, Ify and Uzo are worlds apart. But when a mysterious virus breaks out among the children in the Space Colonies, their paths collide.

Reaper of Souls (Kingdom of Souls #2) by Rena Barron: After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted—at a terrible price. But the Demon King’s shadow looms closer than she thinks. And as Arrah struggles to unravel her connection to him, defeating him begins to seem more and more impossible.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy: A North African-inspired feminist fantasy in which two sisters, Eva and Isa must compete in a magical duel to the death for the right to inherit the queendom of Myre.  

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves: In Portero, Texas, teens Kit and Fancy Cordelle, daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, bring two boys with similar tendencies to a world of endless possibilities they have discovered behind a mysterious door.

Siege of Shadows (The Effigies #2) by Sarah Raughley:  After Saul reappears with an army of soldiers with Effigy-like abilities, threatening to unleash the monstrous Phantoms, e-year-old Maia and the other Effigies hope to defeat him by discovering the source of their power over the four classical elements, but they are betrayed by the Sect and bogged down by questions about the previous Fire Effigy's murder.

The Sisters of Reckoning (The Good Luck Girls #2) by Charlotte Nicole Davis: The blockbuster sequel to an alternate Old West-set commercial fantasy adventure.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow: Set in the near-future, in which a captive teen human and a young alien leader—bonded by their love of forbidden books and music—embark on a desperate road trip as they attempt to overturn alien rule and save humankind. 

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi: Set in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria, sisters Onyii and Ify, separated by a devastating civil war, must fight their way back to each other against all odds.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst: When the goddess Bayla fails to take over Liyana's body, Liyana's people abandon her in the desert to find a more worthy vessel, but she soon meets Korbyn, who says the souls of seven deities have been stolen and he needs Liyana's help to find them.

The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum: After a horrific accident brings loners Ryann and Alexandria together, Ryann learns that Alexandria's mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson: Black teen Marigold and her blended family move into a newly renovated, picture-perfect home in a dilapidated Midwestern city, and are haunted by what she thinks are ghosts, but might be far worse.

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle: Black teen Rue, from a poor neighborhood who, after learning she is half-human, half-goddess, must embrace both sides of her heritage to unlock her magic and destroy the racist gods poisoning her neighborhood with violence, drugs, and crime.

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Thomas: In this Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut, two witches from enemy castes—one seeking power, and one seeking revenge—will stop at nothing to overthrow the witch queen, even if it means forming an alliance with each other and unleashing chaos on their island nation.

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood: An Ethiopian-inspired Jane Eyre retelling in which an unlicensed debtera, or exorcist, Andromeda, is hired to rid a castle of its dangerous curses, only to fall in love with Magnus Rochester, a boy whose life hangs in the balance.

Yesterday Is History by Kosoko Jackson: Black teen Andre Cobb undergoes a liver transplant and as a side effect winds up slipping through time from present-day Boston to 1969 NYC on the eve of the Stonewall riots, delivering a story that is part romance, part gay history, and part time-travel drama, exploring how far we have and haven't come. 

[singswan-springswan]

Not to be obsessed bUT,,, mermaid Shang teehee :3

And not like

Little Mermaid AU. Because they deserve better than that. But if it was a similar plot structure, and if you spent a lot more time developing the characters and their relationships, it has the potential to make a pretty good story.

I think the main thing needs to be redesigning the “mermaids’ of the verse, since the classic vibe definitely DOESN’T fit with Shang. A good alternative is making them more like sirens, so kind of leaning towards the bestial, mythical, dangerous side—but obviously not at the expense of their person-hood! They’d have a very structured culture, and society, and they’d obviously speak languages like humans do, but maybe they just don’t look as human as Ariel does. I think it’d be cool if they all had special powers or abilities (not so much like “magic” if you know what I mean, mostly because that would open the door for plenty of other mythical species to populate the story and I think it’s better if things are focused, since there isn’t a huge cast to draw from).

Another thing to consider is the era. I kind of like the period set by Ariel’s Little Mermaid: the whole coastal kingdom, roughly Victorian culture/society (I’m a HUGE fan of Victorian fashion btw X3) which—it probably wouldn’t make sense to stick the characters in an 1800s European kingdom. What really matters is fitting the characters into a society where myths and magical realism are considered forces to be revered. That way, the angst doesn’t come from a timid Shang (let’s be honest, it’s just not his vibe), but a dangerous, menacing Shang who’s actually a real cinnamon roll on the inside and just wants to be loved.

That being said, there’s a lot of tension centered on him trying to keep his secret because a) he doesn’t want Mulan to think he’s a monster, and b) he doesn’t want to be killed because people think he’s a monster. That’s some good angst, right? Like, Shang falls in love with Mulan but thinks he has to be human if he wants to win her over because most humans are terrified of mer and would kill them on sight. Even Shang’s father has taught him that he must only interact with a human if he’s going to kill it because they’re too dangerous to be left alive. Some humans hunt mer for their beauty, or the superstition that their bodies have magical power (China?), and some people are just plain scared of them because they’re known to be vicious and cunning beasts that are easily able to overpower an unsuspecting person and kill them which—is not inaccurate, but the stereotype definitely doesn’t help improve inter special relations.

By the way, yes, Shang is positively gorgeous. His dad brags that he gets it from his side of the family (the red and gold aesthetic IS 10/10 to be fair), but the fact of the matter is that Shang is stunning in his true form 👀 should I sketch up some imagines? I got a few ideas. However, in spite of his beauty, Shang is also super scary because that’s an undeniable aspect of his character as well. Him got the big muskles and sharp teeth (mm kinky) and the fierce eyes so he can see when it’s dark underwater. Probs I’d keep the hairstyle because it suits his personality so well. In this line of reasoning, keeping his shirt off is also perfectly reasonable. He’s definitely a beast, and most humans that see him are definitely scared out of their minds. What kind of power does he have? Fireworks? Can he do fireworks and tiny explosions? Let’s make this a thing.

I think for the sake of this AU, all humans know that mer exist. Just because it’s convenient. The two species don’t interact much since all they do is kill each other. Also because some adventurous souls like to hunt mer for whatever reason, they have like, bodies and stuff in markets…? Like in a fish market. They just have a dead mer. Chilling on a pile of ice. The first time Shang sees that, he feeds the fishes, and Mulan has to hold his arm on the way home.

Idea! For added angst and suspense or whatever, Shang doesn’t fully transform into a human when he goes on land. Like he LOOKS human, but maybe just at night, and/or maybe just if he gets wet, he changes back… or something. What if at night he technically doesn’t change back, but after the sun sets, it starts to be really painful to stay in his human form, like it was in the original mermaid fairytale. You know, the whole walking on glass thing, and if he doesn’t get in the water to change back he’ll just be in excruciating pain. It’d be kind of funny if Grandma spilled tea on him the first time he went to meet Mulan’s family and he just gets up really really quickly and “excuse me for a moment” (because his mama taught him MANNERS, thank you very much) and just books it before the scales that are cropping up on his face become any more obvious. Grandma knows. She pretends that she does not. She’s chill.

Who’s going to be the sea witch? Uh… that’s the one role that no one from the movie really fits. Maybe Mushu? If you stretch it? Then Mushu accidentally becomes invested in this relationship and goes on land with Shang so he can watch the drama and also eat some barbecue (plot twist, he actually shipped them for a really long time and was waiting for an excuse to bring them together). I want to keep Shan Yu as a human so he can be like Gaston except he simps for Mulan and thinks she’s really cool because she can totally kick his butt except he only cares about her achievements and not about her as a person. Ling, Po, and Yao are humans too. They’re like. Mulan’s protective brother-friends/wingmen. Chi-Fu be the dude constantly campaigning for mass genocide. The Emperor secretly doesn’t care about mer, good or bad, but he never mentions it to his assistant who actually endorses hunters and stuff.

Mulan comes from a very respected family of?? Farmers?? Or should we say fishermen? Sailors? She likes boats is my point, which is convenient, and she’s a very effective business woman. Very respected in her community, also kind of nobility maybe and she helped Ling Po and Yao bodyguard the princesses before retiring to inherit her family’s business or somethin. OR she’s like, a naval captain. OoOoh that would be cool. As a sea-farer, she knows very well the threat that mer pose to her men, so while not a total homicidal jack about it, she is pretty wary.

Idk how she and Shang meet? Obviously he’s seen her before, but until he decides to pursue a relationship, Mulan doesn’t really know him at all. Shipwreck seems too cliché. Maybe another mer tries to drown her and he saves her…? Idk, just make it exciting.

Shang is 100% a warrior or soldier wherever he comes from, which makes him a total threat on land since he’s used to water resistance and that stuff. Just barely beats Mulan in a spar. Which she thinks is hot. They simp for each other. It’s great.

aLSO. For identity reveal, let’s get the whole city involved. That’d be exciting. It could be a huge progressive thing where they all learn to respect each other as people, though not before Shan Yu—maybe the prince of the neighboring kingdom? (What is he doing there? Freeloading? It’s definitely not a political escapade)—attempts to execute Shang like the homicidal maniac that he is.

How long is Shang on land? Please do NOT say three days. Knowing Mushu, it’s actually an indefinite period of time. Maybe we can give them about a month and a half…? About the same time they had together in the movie. But Mushu really wants them to get together so he’s just making an empty threat when he says he’ll take Shang’s spell away if he doesn’t get Mulan to kiss him in that period.

Mulan’s parents are wary of Shang when they first meet him, even though they’re delighted that Mulan finally has a suitor who actually cares about her. “There’s something strange about that man” ahahaha only Grandma knows the truth and she’s keeping mum. I’d love to see Shang win her parents over. Another cool thing would be if Shang—to prove how invested he was in the relationship—essentially tied himself to life on land by like, joining the navy idk. And the Emperor really likes him for his prowess and strategic ability and even though Chi-Fu is really antagonistic Shang quickly rises through the military ranks. And then everyone starts shipping him and Mulan. Because they're complimented so well. Even the Matchmaker can't argue with their dynamic chemistry and has to redact her disgraceful assessment of Mulan's love-life.

Shooting is the one thing Shang can't do well. He's horrible with a bow (I know that's not canon just let it happen) and Mulan makes fun of him constantly.

Maybe when Shang finally gets Mulan to agree to marry him, Mushu is able to cast a more powerful spell (fueled by the power of love) that allows Shang to change his shape at will so he can stay on land but also visit his dad and let Lonnie see her grandpa.

Mulan really likes his tail. She also thinks it's pretty, haha. Shang pretends to be offended but secretly he loves it when she says so.

I imagine the first time Shang saw Mulan, he was up on the surface somewhere practicing his power and Mulan happened to see the pretty lights in the sky so she came over with her friends “wow, it’s like—“ “fireworks. Only real” and Shang is really flattered even though they don’t know that he’s doing it because he never gets appreciation because mer don’t go to the surface and his power doesn’t light up underwater. And Mulan keeps coming back to see his practices even though she has no idea he’s there and Shang keeps coming back to put on a show for her because she’s kind, and quiet, and strong-willed, and in awe of what he does and he likes her. Maybe that happened a couple of months before they officially met? Or somethin. Be pretty neat to have that background to their relationship.

(Bonus if she calls him “my sea dragon”)

[coffeebased]

It’s been a whole year since I posted last. Part of me wants to apologise for being gone so long, but mostly I’m just glad that I’m here.

Instead of doing a GIANT 2018 READING POST, I’m going to chop it up into three posts:

Favourite Books Read in 2018

2018 Reading Data and Goal-setting for 2019

2013-2018 Reading Data Trends

I was going to do a bigass one like I usually do but it just felt so daunting. Probably because I read 256 books in 2018 and it was pretty tempting to just close that Excel sheet and move on to an empty one for 2019. But what is the point of an unexamined life, anyway?

So this post is basically a listicle with summaries grabbed from Goodreads, as well as the complete list of the books I read in 2018. I really enjoyed all these books immensely and they’re all in my personal canon now.

My Top 10 Reads for 2018:

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.In this fresh, authoritative version—the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman—this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, this engrossing translation matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer’s sprightly pace and singing with a voice that echoes Homer’s music.

Circe by Madeline Miller

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

3. The World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold

A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril, has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, as the secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule.

It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it will ultimately lead him to the place he fears most, the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies, who once placed him in chains, now occupy lofty positions. In addition to the traitorous intrigues of villains, Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle, are faced with a sinister curse that hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion and all who stand in their circle. Only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics, can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge—an act that will mark the loyal, damaged servant as a tool of the miraculous, and trap him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death

4. Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal, Translated by Harold Augenbraum

In more than a century since its appearance, José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere has become widely known as the great novel of the Philippines. A passionate love story set against the ugly political backdrop of repression, torture, and murder, “The Noli,” as it is called in the Philippines, was the first major artistic manifestation of Asian resistance to European colonialism, and Rizal became a guiding conscience—and martyr—for the revolution that would subsequently rise up in the Spanish province.

5. America is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo

Three generations of women from one immigrant family trying to reconcile the home they left behind with the life they’re building in America.

How many lives can one person lead in a single lifetime? When Hero de Vera arrives in America, disowned by her parents in the Philippines, she’s already on her third. Her uncle, Pol, who has offered her a fresh start and a place to stay in the Bay Area, knows not to ask about her past. And his younger wife, Paz, has learned enough about the might and secrecy of the De Vera family to keep her head down. Only their daughter Roni asks Hero why her hands seem to constantly ache.

Illuminating the violent political history of the Philippines in the 1980s and 1990s and the insular immigrant communities that spring up in the suburban United States with an uncanny ear for the unspoken intimacies and pain that get buried by the duties of everyday life and family ritual, Castillo delivers a powerful, increasingly relevant novel about the promise of the American dream and the unshakable power of the past. In a voice as immediate and startling as those of Junot Diaz and NoViolet Bulawayo, America Is Not the Heart is a sprawling, soulful telenovela of a debut novel. With exuberance, muscularity, and tenderness, here is a family saga; an origin story; a romance; a narrative of two nations and the people who leave home to grasp at another, sometimes turning back.

6. The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson

A rollicking true-crime adventure and a thought-provoking exploration of the human drive to possess natural beauty for readers of The Stranger in the Woods, The Lost City of Z, and The Orchid Thief.

On a cool June evening in 2009, after performing a concert at London’s Royal Academy of Music, twenty-year-old American flautist Edwin Rist boarded a train for a suburban outpost of the British Museum of Natural History. Home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world, the Tring museum was full of rare bird specimens whose gorgeous feathers were worth staggering amounts of money to the men who shared Edwin’s obsession: the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Once inside the museum, the champion fly-tier grabbed hundreds of bird skins–some collected 150 years earlier by a contemporary of Darwin’s, Alfred Russel Wallace, who’d risked everything to gather them–and escaped into the darkness.

Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist high in a river in northern New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide told him about the heist. He was soon consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? Had Edwin paid the price for his crime? What became of the missing skins? In his search for answers, Johnson was catapulted into a years-long, worldwide investigation. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man’s relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man’s destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature.

7. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

An unforgettable memoir in the tradition of The Glass Castle about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University

Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills bag”. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father’s junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes and the will to change it.

8. The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 7 and 8 by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, André Lima Araújo, Matt Wilson, Kris Anka, Jen Bartel

In the past: awful stuff. In the present: awful stuff. But, increasingly, answers.

Modernist poets trapped in an Agatha Christie Murder Mystery. The Romantics gathering in Lake Geneva to resurrect the dead. What really happened during the fall of Rome. The Lucifer who was a nun, hearing Ananke’s Black Death confession. As we approach the end, we start to see the full picture. Also includes the delights of the WicDiv Christmas Annual and the Comedy special.

9. Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads

Mister Miracle is magical, dark, intimate and unlike anything you’ve read before.

Scott Free is the greatest escape artist who ever lived. So great, he escaped Granny Goodness’ gruesome orphanage and the dangers of Apokolips to travel across galaxies and set up a new life on Earth with his wife, Big Barda. Using the stage alter ego of Mister Miracle, he has made quite a career for himself showing off his acrobatic escape techniques. He even caught the attention of the Justice League, who has counted him among its ranks.

You might say Scott Free has everything–so why isn’t it enough? Mister Miracle has mastered every illusion, achieved every stunt, pulled off every trick–except one. He has never escaped death. Is it even possible? Our hero is going to have to kill himself if he wants to find out.

10. The Band, #1–2

Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best — the meanest, dirtiest, most feared crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.

Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk – or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay’s door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.

It’s time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld.

PHEW. Did you guys read any of those books? Did you like them? Hit me up!

The books I read in 2018:

Okay, thank you for reading. Keep a weather eye out for the next post, hopefully very soon.

My Ten Favourite Books from 2018 It's been a whole year since I posted last. Part of me wants to apologise for being gone so long, but mostly I'm just glad that I'm here.

[wiggimus]

My journey through a shitty album...

Metallica's St. Anger. For years, I described how much I absolutely fucking hated it, despite the fact that I never actually heard it. So I decided to actually hear it. The whole fucking thing.

*deep breath*

Let's do this...

"Frantic"

The opening track to an album is everything. It (usually) lets the listener know exactly what they're getting for the rest of their audio journey. In that, Frantic succeeds. It lets you know you're drinking a cup of shit. A cup that's an hour and fifteen minutes deep.

The song opens up very confusingly. The guitars are very simplistic. This wouldn't be so bad on its own, because songs like Pantera's "Walk" or Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness" make simple sound great. But here, it's too simple. It sounds like the result of waking someone up from a deep sleep, handing them a guitar and screaming "PLAY SOMETHING METALISH! NOW! RIGHT NOW!" until they did. The way the drums equate almost feels like it was doing its best, but without trying above the guitar's level of effort. It honestly sounds like the music was written by a child. Not just any child; a child that had never actually heard any Metallica. A child that overheard people talking about Metallica (complete with vocalizing riffs and such) and tried writing what the child thought was a Metallica song based on what those people said.

Lyrically, it's a fucking mess. At first, I gave off this confused "Okayyyyy...". Mostly because you kind of see where they're going, but they fall just short of truly making sense. I'm tempted to say they drop off after "You live it or lie it", or even "My lifestyle determines my deathstyle" *shudder*, but definitively, it's when he actually sings "Fran-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic tock". He tries SO HARD to sell that terrible fucking line. And it's not even like he says it once or twice. No, it's THE SONG'S HOOK! THAT FUCKING POOR EXCUSE OF LYRICAL AFTERBIRTH IS MEANT TO CARRY THE SONG! Amazingly, the embarrassment doesn't end there. Not at all. On top of that, the more he says it, the worse the delivery. I don't know if he's trying to growl or scream it, but it comes out just sounding messy and shameful. I swear, if any other band tried "singing" like that, it would get rejected so quickly. Well, unless the singer had enough money to get the studio to shut the fuck up and call it a successful take.

Ugh. Now I have to take a shit.

"St. Anger"

I'm actually going to start this off on a positive note!

*gasp*, *collapse*

Right? I did that at first, too! Anyhoo, here it is: the video to this is awesome. No, really, go look it up. It's Metallica playing a set for the inmates at San Quentin. It does a good job at looking at the prisoners in a more realistic, down-to-earth light, portraying them as real people who were handed shitty cards in life rather than the scum of society. Plus, the guard makes the band verbally agree to an awesome disclaimer in the beginning of the video, which is a plus.

Okay, no more positives. This song blows. It sounds unfinished. The difference between the verses and the rest of the song is jarring. Hearing the intro just makes you breathe "Uh oh..." under your breath. The drums are obnoxious and overbearing and all the stringed instruments sound half-assed. When it kicks in stronger, it sounds so disorganized, like the stringed instruments are all trying to play over each other in an attempt to be heard over the drums. Then out of nowhere, it switches to what sounds like what was supposed to be an entirely different song. The verses DO NOT match the intro AT ALL.

These fucking lyrics. They're... awful. Just... awful. He repeats the same 3 or 4 lines far too many times. Not only that, each line is either painfully weak or excessively shameful. It all culminates in what is easily one of the absolute worst lines I've ever heard in any metal song I've heard in all my 33 years: "I'm madly in anger with you!". Who fucking thought that would be a good lyric? That's something a person would say if their grasp on the English language was shaky at best. Seriously, if someone didn't know how to say "laundry detergent", but instead said "shampoo for clothes", that type of weak grasp of English would be required to say "I'm madly in anger with you" in serious context.

Fuck this song.

"Some Kind of Monster"

This is the type of song you would only say is good when you wanna be nice to that one person you know who is in that band that really wants you to like them. This whole song is just plain messy. You can tell the people involved have more to offer, but they're just not. This is the first song that actually tries to sound Metallica-y, but it just weighted down by suck and effortlessness.

Instrumentally, this stands a little above the first 2 tracks in the sense that they're not constantly grating. For the most part, they're just meh. But the end of the song is bad. It tries for some top string, nu-metal-ish thing that just falls flat.

The lyrics combine "St. Anger"'s repetition with the cringe you get from "Frantic". Do you know happy I was that no one was around to hear me listen to this? I'd have been less embarrassed to have been caught with my dick in a stuffed animal.

"Dirty Window"

Not even 5 seconds in, I paused this, facepalmed and asked "What the fuck am I doing?" rhetorically. Immediately, it sounds like that band you humored by saying you liked "Some Kind of Monster" says "Yay! I have another one!" and you just respond with a resounding "FUUUUUUUUCK!!!"

On YouTube, there is a sketch from the British comedy show A Bit of Frye & Laurie where the two invent a subgenre called "light metal", which they sell as "heavy metal, but without all the weight". "Dirty Window" is the light metal version of a Metallica song. It's so "safe". It's metal suitable for kindergarten.

I am 100% convinced that James Hetfield had no hand in writing these lyrics. I do not believe it. If anyone says otherwise, I will tell them they're lying. There is no way an adult man wrote these. Nevermind the same man who penned "Fade to Black", "Hero of the Day" and "One". You can take their entire discography out of the picture. I am not convinced that an adult man who has fathered children, gotten married, bought a house, gotten a driver's license and pays bills on time wrote the words he sings in this song. Not at all. My daughter, who is currently only 6 years of age, would write these words. Her classmates would write these words. A teenager waking up from a month-long coma would write these words. ANYONE ELSE WOULD FUCKING TRY HARDER!

Luckily, it's the 2nd shortest song on the album. But, we go on to the 2nd longest...

"Invisible Kid"

Whoa... The opening riff... isn't bad? It's not great, but it's certainly the best this album has offered to this point!

Actually, this track features the least-worst music to this point, aside from blatantly stealing from "Frantic" at one point. It fluctuates between being tolerable and decent. You could actually see a crowd getting into it. Not a big crowd, but about 30 or 40 people. The drums still do that annoying snare-love bullshit, but they're not overbearing like in the previous 4 tracks. In fact, I might learn how to play this one day!

Fuck you, Hetfield! The moment you start singing, you ruin everything this song had going! It's like you dropped pubes into my cereal after I watched you yank them out! In his defense, the lyrics don't sound juvenile. Nope, here, they sound emo. Here's an example: "Invisible kid/never see what he did/got stuck where he hid/fallen through the grid". That's just the opening line. It gets worse from there! Fucking worse! Not even in just lyrical content, but also in delivery. What amazes me is that people let this happen. I can only imagine that the people who were helping record this album on the technical side must have felt like the film crew watching George Lucas make The Phantom Menace. They knew they were enabling pure shit but didn't (couldn’t?) stop it. I fucking hate every vocal aspect of this song. Before, the lyrics were childish, so you could go "Haha! Can you believe he said that?". But here, the words are awful, the delivery is awkward and the quality just sinks like a stone the longer the song continues.

I think the fact that the music is okay makes the whole song far worse.

"My World"

Fuck! Not only does this intro give me flashbacks to "Dirty Window", it's making me realize I already have flashbacks to "Dirty Window" Fuck! Well, actually, the main riff sounds like "St. Anger" with a tad more effort.

Is there a word that means "serviceable, but ignorable"? I'm too lazy to look it up. Either way, that word describes the music. Literally, I just finished listening to the song and I can't fucking remember how it goes. No, really, I paused it right after the song ended, started typing this and I can't remember a damn thing, other than that I don't remember hating it or anything. I know it has "St. Anger" vibes in the beginning, but not through the whole thing.

Well, the lyrics go right back to being childish. I bet you that they're written in crayon, on a piece of construction paper, hanging on a refrigerator by a magnet. But I'd say that this was written by a kid of about 8 or 9 who is starting to really discover swearing, but before they get all X-Box Live about it. It made me facepalm more than once, but brought me close to genuine laughter at its awkward uses of "motherfucker" and "son of a bitch". Mind you, I'm unopposed to vulgarity, but make it feel natural. There's one line that could easily be misheard as "give mama head", which is this album's unintentional greatest gift to music. Other than that, there's nothing good to be derived from this. It even joins "Frantic" on the Reasons Why James Hetfield Shouldn't Scream list.

"Shoot Me Again"

There are one-word descriptions for these songs. "St. Anger" is incomplete, "My World" is forgettable, etc. "Shoot Me Again" is directionless. The intro alone sounds like pieces of 3 different bad songs. The main riff sounds like Metallica's impression of KoRn. The verses sound like Metallica's impression of Staind.

Even more, if you played each instrument indivually, it sounds like each one is playing its own genre of music. Well, more like its own metal subgenre, but still, like a few different corpses Frankenstein'ed together. At one point, I honestly thought the song ended, so I started typing out my thoughts on the following track, but then it cuts back to "All the shots I taaaaaaake!". If that was supposed to be a breakdown, they need to listen to some Psychostick on how properly breakdown.

The vocals are just dumb. Yeah, they're childish and stuff, but overall, they're dumb and full of needless swearing.

"Sweet Amber"

Oh no. Don't do it. Don't you do it, St. Anger! You're not that good an album! Don't try for a slow, emotional song! Oh... you... listened to me? But then why was the intro all soft and clean? Fuck. Whatever. At least the following riff is okay.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, this may be the least-worst song on the album. Musically, at least. It's better than "Invisible Kid". I know that's like saying a sunburn is better than an acid burn, but better is still better. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty bad, but in comparison to what I heard to get here, it's at least tolerable.

But again, the lyrics ruin what was potentially a good song! Fuck the words and fuck the delivery. They're not "Invisible Kid" bad, but they suuuuuuuuuuck.

"The Unnamed Feeling"

Bland. Bland bland bland. The intro to this song is just so BLAND. Fucking emote. You're Metallica. Act like you want the listener to feel something! There is a name for my feeling: it's BOREDOM. Well, I'm bored until it takes a Mudvayne turn. Then I'm confused. Well, Mudvayne without the amazing drums and bass.

Overall, the music stays boring. So. Boring. This is just like "My World" where I can't remember the rhythm to this song AT ALL. It's so forgettable. All I can really recall is that the song just ends. It just drops. That's it.

To Hetfield's credit, these are possibly his "best" lyrics on the whole album. But I used the quotation marks because they're still bad, just not bad enough to make me piss myself in shame & regret. He swears again here, but it actually feels natural, as though it was a natural progression of the song for the f-bombs to reach that point.

"Purify"

Huh. An intro with energy. Dare I say, an impressive intro? No, wait, I'm stupid. It reverts right back into suck territory. Thanks for getting my hopes up...

Metallica doesn't wear nu-metal well. They just don't. Believe me, I actually like some nu-metal, but not this. This just sounds weak. That's all I have. It's weak. Moving on...

Okay, so I'm guessing Hetfield wanted to write lyrics in KoRn's style, but without the crying and the begging for hugs. Yet another song that goes on the Reasons Why James Hetfield Shouldn't Scream list. The lyrics & delivery aren't as overwhelmingly terrible like the rest of the album, but they're not redeemable in any sense of the word. They're just not good.

Thankfully, this is the shortest song on the album. But the next one is the longest *sobs*

"All Within My Hands"

I once started watching The Bourne Supremacy. You know, the one without Matt Damon. I got about 30 minutes into it but stopped once I realized that I asked "What is the point?" after about a dozen times. I felt that exact same feeling after only 1 minute into this song. That's only 1/9 of the total time of the track! I shouldn't feel so checked out so quickly. But I'm powering through this. It's the last track. I'm almost there...

Okay, so the music would probably be more interesting from a different band. If I heard an indie band play it with different lyrics, I'd probably like it. It has energy and power. I even bobbed my head to it once or twice. Shit, I may actually learn this song too one day. Maybe. I have a lot of Zelda music to learn first. Except for the fact that the last note played is so dissonant and awful. It's like kicking someone annoying out of your house, but they take a shit on your floor right before leaving.

I guess Hetfield's approach was to remind everyone the name of the song he was playing, because he repeats it to no end. The delivery is actually pretty good, but the actual words he recorded just suck. I need to listen to this again in the future to count how many times he says the song's name, because it must be at least 50. Honestly, try saying "All Within My Hands" 50 times in a span of 9 minutes. You'll piss yourself off, nevermind anyone else stuck listening to you. At the end of the song, he repeats the word "kill" in a way that made me chuckle. It reminded me of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

...

HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I'M DONE. I will never do that again. Fuck this album. Seriously, I think that aged me. That 75 minutes felt like 150. I am beyond thankful that they followed this up with Death Magnetic. Could you imagine if this was the last album Metallica ever released? I would be so sad! I would feel so bad for them for the rest of my life. In fact, Death Magnetic just got so much better for me. Knowing they went from St. Shit to a modern masterpiece like Death Magnetic just makes their 2008 (holy shit!) release seem like the sweetest nectar from Mount Olympus.