I am telling you, Peeta's arc is SO IMPORTANT right now . . . his whole thing about not letting the capitol change him is so inspiring to me rn. Your comment just made my entire Monday :)
I LOVE that that Hunger Games fic author has only written 4 fics, but they all have a billion comments and kudos. Also love that she appears to be middle-aged because some of the best fic writers are middle-aged people who still love their fandoms. Good for her!!!
I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks--re-listening to some memoirs I find comforting. And as always, I'm rereading the same 3 Star Wars fix-it fics, plus the Agents of SHIELD fics written by my best fandom friend.
I generally read a lot, but this year for reason I am reading way more than usual and I'm trying to figure out what it means. Am I very stressed out? Do I have more free time? 😂 I'm cautiously optimistic it's actually a good sign that I have more time to focus on things I'm interested in.
I saw your rec for the HG fic and said out loud “oh no” because my last 6 months or so has been me going down a wormhole of Harry Potter fics (mostly Hermione centered ones) and they have been so satisfying in finding new ways to love this world that felt like it had been ruined for me/so many. And now I am 100 percent going to get sucked into the HG fic world, aren’t I? 😆
thank you D.L. and everyone for your recommendations! I've been re-reading a lot of shorter novels I love...the three that come to mind are White Noise (DeLillo) & American Pastoral / So I Married a Communist (Roth). all prescient, funny, thought-provoking.
// 5* so far this year: We, by Zamyatin (in translation) - written 100 years ago, basically where 1984 stole his ideas from, oddly sort of about A.I./automation...just the greatest novel;
What My Bones Know, Stephanie Foo - healing from complex trauma (I skipped a lot of the details of her specific traumas) - a D.L. recommendation!;
Juneteenth, Ralph Ellison - if you haven't read Invisible Man, start there, but otherwise this unfinished novel is incredible also, if a bit harder to understand.
I keep meaning to do a deep dive on Wilhelm Reich, who I’ve been fascinated by since Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” and then learning about how his work was suppressed here in the United States. Have you read Olivia Laing’s Everybody, which dives into her fascination with Reich, yet?
I love loved the Miss Tilney/Mr. Darcy mysteries so much. I loved how the author describes young Mr. Darcy as autistic, without using the word since it didn’t exist back then, in such a loving way.
On a similar note, A Most Agreeable Murder is delightfully Jane Austen coded. It’s kind of like if Elizabeth Bennett were attempting to solve a murder, while her sister Mary is trying to tell everyone about her real identity and of course no one is paying attention (except one woman knows, I hope they go into that more in the next book). I had so much fun reading it and guessing which JA character inspired which character.
A comfort book for me has been The Complete Bramblyhedge. It is a collection of picture books about a very charming world where neighbors love each other, share resources, and have beautiful communal rituals. They are all also nice or other animals. So cozy! So comforting! Also a picture of communal living, mutual aid, living seasonally and off the land. I keep coming back to looking at the detailed pictures.
I've also loved reading the Saint of Steal series by T Kingfisher. They are a series of fantasy romance books about beserker paladins who's God has died. So there are major religious themes, skip of that is a trigger for you. I've enjoyed listening as the characters come back to life after their God dies and it gets ugly. Good news, everyone is in their 30s or older, and the world building is fantastic.
Generally I've also loved picture books with rich illustrations. Slowing down to look at the art and really get pulled into familiar stories had been a gift. Some favorites: Pockets by Jennifer Armstrong, The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brambeau, and My Momma Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray.
I devoured book 1 & 2 of the Legendborn cycle by tracy deonn in the last couple of weeks. So good! Can't wait to read book 3 which got released recently. YA Arthurian fantasy with a Black female protagonist. Can see myself re-reading the series regularly.
So many good recs above. My ridiculous TBR is about to get more ridiculous 😂
Over the weekend, I finished Margo's Got Money Problems, which I did not expect to like. However, I loved it! It's a pretty breezy read, but it easily touches on so many contemporary late-stage capitalist issues, all while maintaining a compelling voice and narrative. We watched Anora over the weekend (which I didn't love), but I felt MGMP was a much more nuanced and human look at sex work.
We're also re-reading Harriet the Spy! You're right about not all of it aging very well. But god, Harriet makes me laugh so much, just with her abruptness and frankness. I was desperate to be Harriet the Spy as a kid!
I love all the witchy recommendations. I've been really enjoying the "All Souls" series by Deborah Harkness. It's filled with fantasy, magic, and romance. Harkness is still writing more books in the series, too, which is exciting.
Funny you should mention fanfic, because a lot of authors in my favorite genre (sapphic romance) got their start writing fanfic! There are some incredible writers out there doing fanfic. The downside is you can find something that blows you away, get 100K words in, and realize they are never going to finish it. The pain.
I've also been really into nature writing this year. "Something in the Woods Loves You" by Jarod K. Anderson was great. I've burned through all of Katherine May's books, too. "The Place of Tides" by James Rebanks was beautiful.
"The Cult of CrossFit" by by Katie Rose Hejtmanek was interesting–fitness x Christian nationalism, basically.
I also read "Farm Boys" by Will Fellows, and, oof... that one was hard to get through and I have so many thoughts about it. It's stories from gay men that grew up on farms in the midwest from the 1930's-1970's. German families x abuse x homophobia; and what happens when there is no sex education. I had to put it down a few times, because it's so heartbreaking and infuriating. This is also the book that Annie Proulx used as research for Brokeback Mountain.
Did I use up most of my weekend reading Peeta's games and the author's entire canon? Yes.
Could I have found a better use for my time? Nope! Not at all.
I am telling you, Peeta's arc is SO IMPORTANT right now . . . his whole thing about not letting the capitol change him is so inspiring to me rn. Your comment just made my entire Monday :)
I LOVE that that Hunger Games fic author has only written 4 fics, but they all have a billion comments and kudos. Also love that she appears to be middle-aged because some of the best fic writers are middle-aged people who still love their fandoms. Good for her!!!
I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks--re-listening to some memoirs I find comforting. And as always, I'm rereading the same 3 Star Wars fix-it fics, plus the Agents of SHIELD fics written by my best fandom friend.
I generally read a lot, but this year for reason I am reading way more than usual and I'm trying to figure out what it means. Am I very stressed out? Do I have more free time? 😂 I'm cautiously optimistic it's actually a good sign that I have more time to focus on things I'm interested in.
I saw your rec for the HG fic and said out loud “oh no” because my last 6 months or so has been me going down a wormhole of Harry Potter fics (mostly Hermione centered ones) and they have been so satisfying in finding new ways to love this world that felt like it had been ruined for me/so many. And now I am 100 percent going to get sucked into the HG fic world, aren’t I? 😆
Yesssssssss come join the HG vortex
I’m already onto Book 2!
thank you D.L. and everyone for your recommendations! I've been re-reading a lot of shorter novels I love...the three that come to mind are White Noise (DeLillo) & American Pastoral / So I Married a Communist (Roth). all prescient, funny, thought-provoking.
// 5* so far this year: We, by Zamyatin (in translation) - written 100 years ago, basically where 1984 stole his ideas from, oddly sort of about A.I./automation...just the greatest novel;
What My Bones Know, Stephanie Foo - healing from complex trauma (I skipped a lot of the details of her specific traumas) - a D.L. recommendation!;
Juneteenth, Ralph Ellison - if you haven't read Invisible Man, start there, but otherwise this unfinished novel is incredible also, if a bit harder to understand.
I keep meaning to do a deep dive on Wilhelm Reich, who I’ve been fascinated by since Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” and then learning about how his work was suppressed here in the United States. Have you read Olivia Laing’s Everybody, which dives into her fascination with Reich, yet?
I’ve read parts of Olivia Laing’s book! But for some reason (I mean, I know why) I just keep coming back to his original work
I have a train ride coming up tomorrow, so that's as good a time as any to crack open The Mass Psychology of Fascism! Thanks for the mental spur.
Kids book!
Once I was Very Very Scared by Chandra Ghosh Ippen. I just got it & I love it.
Animals have tricky feelings, their bodies express them in different ways, and they learn what they can do to feel better.
It makes me feel like I can do something about all the everything coursing through me.
I love loved the Miss Tilney/Mr. Darcy mysteries so much. I loved how the author describes young Mr. Darcy as autistic, without using the word since it didn’t exist back then, in such a loving way.
On a similar note, A Most Agreeable Murder is delightfully Jane Austen coded. It’s kind of like if Elizabeth Bennett were attempting to solve a murder, while her sister Mary is trying to tell everyone about her real identity and of course no one is paying attention (except one woman knows, I hope they go into that more in the next book). I had so much fun reading it and guessing which JA character inspired which character.
A comfort book for me has been The Complete Bramblyhedge. It is a collection of picture books about a very charming world where neighbors love each other, share resources, and have beautiful communal rituals. They are all also nice or other animals. So cozy! So comforting! Also a picture of communal living, mutual aid, living seasonally and off the land. I keep coming back to looking at the detailed pictures.
I've also loved reading the Saint of Steal series by T Kingfisher. They are a series of fantasy romance books about beserker paladins who's God has died. So there are major religious themes, skip of that is a trigger for you. I've enjoyed listening as the characters come back to life after their God dies and it gets ugly. Good news, everyone is in their 30s or older, and the world building is fantastic.
Generally I've also loved picture books with rich illustrations. Slowing down to look at the art and really get pulled into familiar stories had been a gift. Some favorites: Pockets by Jennifer Armstrong, The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brambeau, and My Momma Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray.
*shrieks* I LOVE Kingfisher’s series!! Obsessed. Only read the first 2 so far, need to find the rest.
OMG same!!!! There hasn't been a bad one yet! I am foaming at the mouth for the last 3 books in the Saint of Steele series!!
I devoured book 1 & 2 of the Legendborn cycle by tracy deonn in the last couple of weeks. So good! Can't wait to read book 3 which got released recently. YA Arthurian fantasy with a Black female protagonist. Can see myself re-reading the series regularly.
So many good recs above. My ridiculous TBR is about to get more ridiculous 😂
Over the weekend, I finished Margo's Got Money Problems, which I did not expect to like. However, I loved it! It's a pretty breezy read, but it easily touches on so many contemporary late-stage capitalist issues, all while maintaining a compelling voice and narrative. We watched Anora over the weekend (which I didn't love), but I felt MGMP was a much more nuanced and human look at sex work.
We're also re-reading Harriet the Spy! You're right about not all of it aging very well. But god, Harriet makes me laugh so much, just with her abruptness and frankness. I was desperate to be Harriet the Spy as a kid!
😍😍😍 I just finished rereading the trilogy and cannot wait to check out Peeta’s Games
I love all the witchy recommendations. I've been really enjoying the "All Souls" series by Deborah Harkness. It's filled with fantasy, magic, and romance. Harkness is still writing more books in the series, too, which is exciting.
Funny you should mention fanfic, because a lot of authors in my favorite genre (sapphic romance) got their start writing fanfic! There are some incredible writers out there doing fanfic. The downside is you can find something that blows you away, get 100K words in, and realize they are never going to finish it. The pain.
I've also been really into nature writing this year. "Something in the Woods Loves You" by Jarod K. Anderson was great. I've burned through all of Katherine May's books, too. "The Place of Tides" by James Rebanks was beautiful.
"The Cult of CrossFit" by by Katie Rose Hejtmanek was interesting–fitness x Christian nationalism, basically.
I also read "Farm Boys" by Will Fellows, and, oof... that one was hard to get through and I have so many thoughts about it. It's stories from gay men that grew up on farms in the midwest from the 1930's-1970's. German families x abuse x homophobia; and what happens when there is no sex education. I had to put it down a few times, because it's so heartbreaking and infuriating. This is also the book that Annie Proulx used as research for Brokeback Mountain.