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Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet: Tragedies by William Shakespeare | Shakespeare
302 posts | 683 read | 5 reading | 37 to read
The play Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare's original. Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play. Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical and opera. During the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garrick's 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, and Georg Benda's operatic adaptation omitted much of the action and added a happy ending. Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushman's, restored the original text, and focused on greater realism. John Gielgud's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's text, and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. In the 20th and into the 21st century, the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as George Cukor's comparatively faithful 1936 production, Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version, Baz Luhrmann's 1996 MTV-inspired Romeo + Juliet and the 2013non-Shakespearian adaptation by Carlo Carlei. From Wikipedia
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Andrea313
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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Two weeks ago, I saw the new Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet, so of course I had to revisit the source material beforehand! Like a million others, R&J was my introduction to Shakespeare. I don't love this play but I'm grateful for the teacher who made my 6th grade class read it. It made me a stronger, more confident reader in general and got me curious enough to seek out more of Shakespeare's work, enriching my whole life as a result. ❤️

23 likes1 comment
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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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TheSpineView 🤩🤩🤩 1mo
dabbe @TheSpineView 🧡🤎💛 1mo
48 likes2 comments
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AroundTheBookWorld
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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A glooming peace this morning with it brings.
The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon‘d and some punished;
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Exeunt omnes.
#RomeoAndJuliet #WilliamShakespeare #lastline #closingline #book #books #bookshelf #stack #Plays #Fiction #Classics #School #ReadForSchool #Literature #HighSchool #Poetry #Tragedy 💙💙💙

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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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#HauntedShelf
@PuddleJumper @Jadams89 #FrightClub
#BookScavengerHunt
#moon
+16 points

And if you've never seen The Reduced Shakespeare Company perform ROMEO AND JULIET, you're in for a treat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzVyqiskpMk

PuddleJumper 🖤🖤 3mo
dabbe @PuddleJumper 🖤🌕🌕🌖🌗🖤 3mo
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IndoorDame
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#AboutABook #StunningCover @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Slowly supplementing the Oxford complete works from my college Shakespeare course with copies of the individual plays as I reread them, cause the complete works weighs like a bazillion pounds and is just not that much fun to read from… and I 💯 bought this one for the cover art and have zero regrets. I may get more of them in these Wordsworth Classics.

The_Book_Ninja I‘m mad envious of anyone who reads Shakespeare for fun. I‘ve seen two plays with my daughters (King Lear with Ian McKellen and Macbeth with James McAvoy — accidental Marvel Universe continuity) and been frustrated trying to keep up with the language. 4mo
Eggs Beautiful 🌹 4mo
IndoorDame @The_Book_Ninja I‘m pretty jealous of seeing Lear with Ian Mckellen! There are some really fantastic full cast audio recordings available that can sometimes be a fun way into the language since you get to hear it performed by the actors, but you can read along, or slow it down/rewind it when a scene frustrates you 4mo
The_Book_Ninja @IndoorDame My daughter recommends Baz Luhrmann‘s Romeo and Juliet with its modern visuals helping to clarify the dialogue. That‘s my next mission 4mo
IndoorDame @The_Book_Ninja love that version! Excellent plan! 4mo
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MariaW
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Pickpick

I finished reading the easy version of Romeo & Juliet with my 8th grade students. Even though the text was changed a lot they did not catch some parts of the the story. And I did not like the easy version because some of the best known quotes of this play have been changed. I prefer the original.

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MariaW
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I am currently reading the abriged version of my favourite Shakespeare tragedy because we are going to visit the theatre soon. 💪💪💪💪

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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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Eggs ❤️❤️‍🔥💔 9mo
dabbe @Eggs 💚☘️💚 9mo
dabbe @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 💚☘️💚 9mo
38 likes4 comments
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IndoorDame
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Eggs Lovely 🥰 10mo
47 likes1 comment
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AroundTheBookWorld
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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AroundTheBookWorld
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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dabbe 😂 12mo
13 likes1 comment
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dabbe
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ⭐️🌟✨ 13mo
dabbe @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🩵❄️🩵 13mo
Eggs 🥰😂😅🤣 13mo
48 likes3 comments
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AmandaBlaze
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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Eggs Perfect 🤩 14mo
30 likes1 comment
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IndoorDame
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#DownForTheCount really had me thinking about these two star crossed lovers. #IdiomInsight @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

sherrisilvera Love the cover! 1y
Eggs Beautiful cover 💔 1y
52 likes2 comments
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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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Eggs Perfection 🥰 1y
dabbe @Eggs 🧡💜💛 1y
55 likes2 comments
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Eggs
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“The haste within the pursuit for love leads to death for many involved.”

#HasteMakesWaste

#IdiomInsight

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

BethM I yelled R&J at my toddler to interrupt a tantrum1 I highly recommend 😂 1y
Eggs @BethM 😂 1y
dabbe You got there first! All I could think of was this play for today's idiom.
“Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.“ 🤩🤩🤩
1y
47 likes3 comments
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AroundTheBookWorld
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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dabbe 🤣🤣🤣 1y
7 likes1 comment
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Eggs
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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56 likes2 comments
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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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#poetrymatters
@TheSpineView
#sun

I couldn't resist. 🤷‍♀️

TheSpineView No one can resist Shakespeare! 2y
37 likes2 comments
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VioletMoonBooks
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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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#poetrymatters
@TheSpineView
#steed

Here is the link to the funny version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKUyq-uCZr0

The part I quoted starts at 2:20 into the youtube video. 🤩🤣🤩

SaunteringVaguelyDownwards Love this show/video! Getting to play the last act after my high school students finally finished reading Hamlet almost makes up for the struggle to get them there. 2y
TheSpineView So good!!!🌞🤣😊 2y
dabbe @SaunteringVaguelyDownwards YES! And the coolest part is they watch it, laugh, but the GET IT! Sometimes I would show them the whole thing, and even though they might not have totally understood the others, they still laughed and enjoyed it. After playing it tons of time, you'd think I wouldn't still watch it. But I do. Every single time. 🤣🤩🤗 2y
dabbe @TheSpineView 🤩🤗😘 2y
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VioletMoonBooks
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Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
#RomeoAndJuliet #WilliamShakespeare #firstline #openingline #book #books #bookshelf #bookshelves #bookshelfie #bookshelfies #shelfie #shelfies #bookstack #bookstacks #stack #stacks #bookstore #Classics #Romance #Plays #Fiction #Drama #Love #Historical #Adult #Relationships #Classic 🩶

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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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#poetrymatters
@TheSpineView
#star

I see the word “star“, I think of this play. Always.

E.Bolhafner I think it is interesting how star stands for fates, in Shakespeare negative fate, but in things like tarot or even general culture stars stand for good fortune or something positive/bright in the darkness... a blessing instead of a curse. 2y
dabbe @E.Bolhafner I totally agree. To even add to that, night and red can usually be symbols of danger and death but also of romance and love--or in R&J's case, both. The only times they're together in the play (except when marrying) is at night: “Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow'd night ... Give me my Romeo.“ 2y
TheSpineView ❤️ Shakespeare! 2y
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dabbe @TheSpineView Always. 😍 2y
TheLudicReader Love this play. Just collected my grade 10 essays. :-) 2y
dabbe @TheLudicReader Oooh! What did they have to write on if I may be so bold as to ask? 😀 2y
TheLudicReader @dabbe topics included who/what was to blame for R&J‘s deaths, is the play about love or violence, were Romeo and Juliet really in love, how did Romeo subvert gender norms…fun times. Lol 2y
dabbe @TheLudicReader LOVE these topics! My pick (if I had to write said essay) would be about who/what was to blame. Was it those accursed stars from the get-go? Oh, I could write volumes! I bet you get some good stuff. 💙💚💙 2y
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IndoorDame
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Pickpick

It was my 3rd or 4th time reading this, and I find something new in it each time. There really is a reason the classics endure. I tried to do a read/listen combo, but really disliked the audio on the Folgers Shakespeare version I have, so abandoned that plan. I‘m planning to read Chloe Gong this month, so I‘m excited to see the connections.

OriginalCyn620 That‘s a beautiful edition! 2y
IndoorDame @OriginalCyn620 it‘s my first Wordsworth special edition, but definitely not my last! I just discovered that they have several collections with the most gorgeous artwork!!! 2y
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IndoorDame
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#ThemedThursday While there are countless terrible adaptations of this, and while I have seen some IRL scenes of ‘if I can‘t be with you I‘ll kill myself‘ play out (and very much wish I hadn‘t!) I love the original play and the first few movie adaptations I ever saw, and have been wanting to revisit them recently. I actually realized last week that I no longer own a copy of the play or any of the movies!!! So I‘m on a quest to fix that.

LitStephanie Oh, have fun! I still love both Zefferelli's and Luhrman's versions, for different reasons. 2y
IndoorDame @LitStephanie thank you!!! 2y
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Suet624 @LitStephanie I'm with you. 2y
dabbe Ooh, yeah! Thanks! 💜🤗💜 This is the 1st one that popped into my head, too! I have a pdf-file of the whole play, if you're interested.

Have you seen the RSC's version of R&J? It's hilarious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzVyqiskpMk
2y
IndoorDame @dabbe ooh, I haven‘t. Thanks!!! 2y
46 likes7 comments
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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Went to see & Juliet tonight - what a talented young cast!

I was somewhat swayed by knowing that my early 00s crush - Millsy was in the cast (😍😍😍) - and while he was fantastic - he wasn‘t the best thing about the show.

Blasting millennial era pop songs & using Juliet not ending things with a dagger when she wakes up from her drugged sleep as a jumping off point - this honestly was just ridiculously fun - and the plot twists! Loved it!

janeycanuck Oh, I loved this, too! What they did with Shakespeare and Anne was so good!! 2y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @janeycanuck, yes! I love a bit of fourth wall breaking! The line about there never being another Anne Hathaway where they both side eyed the audience was 👌🏼. Excellent puns too - I especially enjoyed da bois band! (edited) 2y
DivineDiana Sounds fantastic! Adding to “must see” list! 2y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @DivineDiana, that‘s an excellent life choice ☺️ 2y
41 likes4 comments
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VioletMoonBooks
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TheKidUpstairs This guy's got the best tweets 💗 2y
34 likes1 comment
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GinaKButler
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No shame in my No Fear Shakespeare game. 😂
Rereading Romeo and Juliet. ❤️

#bookspinbingo

MyNamesParadise I had to use No Fear Shakespeare whenever I was assigned Shakespeare in school. I just don‘t understand old English. 🤷🏼‍♀️ 2y
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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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And now some FUN with ROMEO AND JULIET!

BTW, if you've never seen or heard of The Reduced Shakespeare Company, you are missing out! It's on the link below, 2nd from the 2nd column:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRDd1wABsJ3jr-3TH_aFyoWEQvo8Hq6n...

rwmg This reminds me of watching the Leo DiCaprio film with my Indonesian partner, who had sort of heard of Romeo and Juliet as a great romantic couple but didn't know the story. He was absolutely DEVASTATED by the ending. 2y
dabbe @rwmg Yeah, how many stories do we have where it ends like that? The students who had never read or seen it felt the same way. BTW, I LOVE the Leo version. Even though it's set in so-called modern times, the dialogue is EXACTLY what's in the play with nothing left out. Very dramatic, too! Well, it's a drama, right? 😀 2y
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dabbe
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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Mehso-so

My 2nd-to-last least favorite Shakespearean play (JULIUS CAESAR is last, sorry Will). Teenagers with angst and haste. No wonder our freshmen loved it! I also called it the “IF ONLY“ play, as in: “If only they had talked to their parents or tried to“/“If only they had waited for Friar Laurence“ ... Of course it's Shakespeare w/ beautiful words (especially the balcony scene, but I much prefer his darker tragedies). Still, a good start for the frosh.

RamsFan1963 I never found Romeo and Juliet to be a great love story. If you told it today, it's two angst ridden teens who take things too far with tragic results. Like National Enquirer headlines. 2y
dabbe Boy, do I agree! I sometimes wish I had filmed my classes before retiring just to relieve ALL. THE. DRAMA. Some teenagers can make a lost pen be the most angst in their lives that day. I guess (at least) with R&J, the angst was over so-called love at first sight. 2y
16 likes2 comments
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Texreader
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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#twofortuesday Thanks for the tag @Eggs

1) In 7th grade I decided to read Romeo and Juliet. Then I memorized the balcony scene. I‘ve quoted it ever since. When you‘ve memorized something so young and repeated it for so long, it‘s quite hard to forget in its entirety…”what‘s in a name…a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…” I was a weird child

2) Midnight would complain that I don‘t spend nearly enough time cuddling her or feeding her

TheSpineView Never enough cuddles and I'm typing this as my cuddler just tried to get closer. Thanks for playing 2y
Texreader @TheSpineView I‘m on a business trip tonight so she‘s probably really pouting that I‘m not there for making biscuits. I‘m the fortunate family member on whom and only on whom she will make biscuits. I always have to get a double batch when I return. 2y
SamAnne I remember memorizing the Queen Mab speech. Sadly I can‘t quote it now, but I could for years. 2y
TheSpineView @Texreader ❤️🐈❤️ 2y
Texreader @SamAnne wow! Impressive! 2y
44 likes5 comments
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AshleyHoss820
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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Mehso-so

There‘s nothing I can add about the plot that we all don‘t know. I‘ll tell you this, if you want me to teach irony and inference to students, I can find other ways. The only good time we had reading this was when they acted out the final scene and we had “dead bodies” laying all over the classroom. 🤣 This is a good way to teach caution in relationships, though…I‘ll say that… #RoryGilmoreChallenge

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Kimberlone
Romeo & Juliet | William Shakespeare
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#Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter #DailyPhotoPrompt #Day17 #Poison

Oops, another week and more photos to catch up on! I‘m going to post last week‘s photos before I tally my final Week 3 numbers later today.

In Romeo & Juliet, the star-crossed lovers meet their end partly due to poison.

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suvata
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kplovesbooks 💯 FACTS. 2y
52 likes1 comment
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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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A glooming peace this morning with it brings.
The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon‘d and some punished;
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
#RomeoAndJuliet #WilliamShakespeare #lastline #closingline #book #books #bookshelf #bookshelves #bookshelfie #bookshelfies #shelfie #shelfies #stack #stacks #Classics #Romance #Plays #Fiction ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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26 likes1 stack add
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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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ShyBookOwl 🤣🤣🤣 3y
27 likes1 comment
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jenniferw88
Romeo and Juliet (Updated) | William Shakespeare
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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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The_Penniless_Author
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#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. No, but I manage to read another 50 pages of The Pillars of the Earth. At this rate I hope to be done by the end of the month 😩
2. Oof, this is a hard one for me. Forbidden love, maybe? Romeo and Juliet style?

Tagging whoever wants to play...

RaeLovesToRead Forbidden love always makes a good story! 💀💋 I think I did get a book on Valentine's... does it count if I ordered it myself?! Haha 🤣 3y
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead Sure, I'll allow it 🤔lol 3y
TheSpineView Loved... but very long! 3y
The_Penniless_Author @TheSpineView I was knocking out Wheel of Time books in a week or two last year, but work/life has been very different in 2022 so far. Oh well, probably good to give my eyes a rest 🙂 3y
32 likes4 comments
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VioletMoonBooks
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VioletMoonBooks
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batsy 😂😂 3y
29 likes1 comment