#there was this Shirley jackson short story collection thing in there idk what it was but i wanna read it

[antmimicry]

physical therapy today.. ride is going to be hell. my neck and shoulder have been soo messed up (I went on a short bird walk like last week and I think I like.. did something, fucked up my shoulder somehow, bc of how I held the binoculars? wasn't a long walk bc I'm not capable of that but yeah :( really sucks bc it was fun but idk if I could even hold them at all now)

I think I might be having some shoulder subluxations at times?? might be totally wrong but like it just feels. really off sometimes. and then it pops or cracks in a way that's a lot more extreme or just weird-feeling than usual? (it's always popping cracking shifting, all my joints are, but sometimes it's like. Different.) I think I'm not great at identifying subluxations bc I don't think I get them a lot, but my main point of reference for dislocations/subluxations is. my knees. and when that happens to your knees you fucking KNOW lol so I think I'm expecting like even minor subluxations to be like extremely painful complete incapacitation? but like.. anyways what I call knee subluxations are actually like full dislocations, they just pop back in immediately (after I collapse) most of the time (with one very painful exception lol. that sucked) . I think maybe I'm actually having some more minor subluxations in my knee sometimes without knowing it (is it even possible to have like smaller subluxations in the knee or are the only options In or Out?? I'm too afraid to google it bc thinking about knee shit makes me terrified), like my knee just feels weird and I can't really put weight on it (or am too afraid to try) until I flex it around a bit and I can feel it pop/shift in a major way. (but like obviously not full dislocation level.. I can still move it after all lol).

no idea if that's true though. maybe I'm not having any subluxations and my joints are just being weird but in a non-subluxation way. genuinely idk

anyways I really hope my PT will have some advice or be able to help me somehow with my shoulder bc it's just like Bad for real. it's not just the normal joint pain shit something is UP. I don't think I have an impinged nerve or anything but I am getting some really weird sensations sometimes too

will be wearing my neck brace in the car (the soft one probably... don't think I'm supposed to wear a hard one even for something like that, but I wore one—idk why my mom had one but she did so that's cool—for a while when I was sleeping on a day when it really hurt and that thing fucking ruled). that should help a bit but honestly not much. at least I'm only a passenger since I can't drive lol but I can't take ibuprofen until after PT (or like. feel like I shouldn't, don't want to risk hurting myself without knowing it, need that sensation of pain to be safe... although it's not like ibuprofen even helps that much anyways lol) and since the drive there is an hour and a half and then there's the pt appointment itself.. and the ibuprofen won't start kicking in until we're almost home... and my shoulder and neck are already killing me and feeling tingly and numb and we haven't even left yet.. it's gonna be bad

think I'm going to download a collection of shirley jackson short stories to read on the way. maybe that'll distract me. really need to get like.. functional headphones so I can listen to music or podcasts in the car (I do NOT need my dad hearing the podcasts I listen to lol) bc with the current ones I have I can't hear anything with them, noise of the road just drowns everything out

[mercyisms]

hello do you have any book recs? we share similar taste and i would love to know what your picks are

oh!! what a fun question. i think i am fairly eclectic with my books (a whole mess), however, some very contemporary novels [etc] i've enjoyed recently are:

lote by shola von reinhold: which was a rec from @cristabel-oct that really has not left my mind since reading it. basically every other contemporary book that's trying to do stuff with gender or obsession (or even a sort of 'fandom') has paled in comparison to lote imo. the parody of art/academic culture is also v satisfying!!

piranesi by susanna clarke: possibly another one everyone else has heard of but, like! it's great stuff! i read it all in one sitting and it made me feel electrified and excited about books again (in the same way tlt has). so much voice + a engrossing, contained world. (a very obvious pair to borges' house of asterion, which is mb the best three page short story?)

megan whalen turner's entire queen's thief series: the first book is a breezier heist geared towards younger readers and yes the fourth book is the weakest but every other one is like so good. do you like eye and hand trauma! i think this series is my most natural rec for anyone who likes tlt (probably you have already read it!). i think it is some of the most clever plotwork and just a fully rendered world of nation-states and compelling actors throughout that always feel at motion. love when a schemey shady guy loves an incredibly cool, composed woman, what can i say?

also in the realm of 'big name' contemporary fiction, i am very energized by karen russell's writing in general? i've only read her short story collections but like. what a fun, expansive mind. she struggles with endings most, but i am usually in love with her prose decisions and the sheer level of weird, bizarre joy. her short story about presidents of the united states of america reincarnated as horses should not be one of the best stories of all time but, like, maybe it is?

i was also a big fan of hassan blasim's surreal the corpse exhibition and other stories of iraq. again, this feels cliche but words like 'visceral,' 'incisive' and 'playful' would not be out of place as descriptors. as much as it's about war, a lot of it is also a very macabre sort of borges. my favourite story is the one abt people who can just make knives appear and disappear. top tier power. reaching slightly farther back (although not much) fire and hemlock by diana wynne jones has no business being that much of a banger, david wojnarowicz's close to the knives is something i read for when i want to be jolted Awake by prose, we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson is a masterpiece, and changeling by joy williams lives in that same luxurious/creepy register. the prime of miss jean brodie still absolutely kills on a prose level. & revisiting borges was one of the best things i did last year! as quick hits, in addition to the karen russell short story above, ling ma's los angeles is very fun, as is anthony veasna so's maly, maly, maly (you'll need paris review access boo hiss), and ottessa moshfegh's (of rest and relaxation fame) novella mcglue is about gay pirates?? i feel like most of these are very obvious recs, but they are the first that come to mind! give me your recs, anon. making this little list made me feel like i really do not read enough. but those are probably too many of my personal faves and idk Recent Formative Texts.

[glatisants]

will u share ur audible reccs..... im thinking about picking up a free trial to listen to a parzival audiobook, n i also wanna get milage out of it

Idk how much of a help I’ll be, since I’m trying it for the first time and I don’t really know what I’m getting into; you might get better results scouting out things more to your individual taste. but I went through some of their catalogue, picked out some stuff I thought might interest me, and tried to come up with a list:

Arthurian stuff

There’s this translation of The Mabinogion by Sioned Davies that looks promising; it seems fairly fresh and original, and possibly better fitted to oral storytelling of an audio medium than the other versions. I really like the Mabinogion’s Arthurian stories, and as much as I like Charlotte Guest’s version, it can be cool to see different ways of telling the same legends. 

There’s a Sir Gawain and the Green Knight audiobook narrated by Terry Jones. It also includes Pearl and Sir Orfeo. I know these are all pretty easy to find online to read, but sometimes it can be nice to listen along while you read.

I also found an audiobook of the Romances of Chretien de Troyes. I’ve been reading de Troyes lately so I’ll probably skip this one myself, though I do kind of want to take a quick listen just so I can see if I’m pronouncing the characters’ names correctly (I have no idea how to say ‘Bagdemagus’ without feeling incredibly stupid).

Other stuff

I personally like plays! I’m planning on listening to Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, and Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. In general they have a pretty good selection of Greek tragedies, which aren’t totally up my alley, but I think other people might like them.

Dracula, ft Tim Curry, Alan Cumming, and a full voice cast for all the characters.

Carmilla, ft David Tennant and Rose Leslie, while we’re on the topic of vampires.

Kenneth Branagh narrated some stuff, and I find that his performances tend to be really engaging and fun (I absolutely love his film adaptations of Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing). I’m aiming to listen to Frankenstein, and either King Lear or Richard III.

There are some BBC Radio dramatizations, including Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained, and The Divine Comedy, and a bunch of other things that would probably be pleasant listening.

Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility, read by Rosamund Pike, bc I’ve been meaning to reread them, I like Rosamund Pike, and the preview I heard was lovely.

This is a bit of the departure from the rest of this list, but: Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, bc I want to reread it and I lost my physical copy. Her short stories are very good too.

Long things I might try if I have the time: The Shahnameh, The Kalevala, and Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (I read part of it in school but never finished it).

mostly I tried to look for things that I wouldn’t just be able to find in my local libraries’ online collections, but that was surprisingly challenging. I know I should probably be trying to seek out more Audible originals, but most of their original stuff just did not appeal to me. I’m going to keep looking, though.

If Albion: The Legend of Arthur turns out to be good, I’ll post about it for sure; and if it’s not good, I’ll probably still post about it. I think I’m probably going to start listening to it tomorrow or this weekend. tbh I’m kind of perplexed by Audible’s marketing/publicity—I’ve had a difficult time finding any information on it, with maybe two promotion articles and no professional reviews anywhere...like barely any effort’s been made, even though it’s got actors from things like Game of Thrones and Peaky Blinders. Hopefully that’s not a red flag.

anyway good luck with Parzival! and if you do find anything good I’d love to hear about it.