the beta male chapter did me in. i have zero patience for toxic masculinity.

i was looking forward to reading this one because it sounded so interesting, but the narrator for the audiobook was so awful i had to stop. i plan to give this another chance when i have time to physically read it.

i had to read this for my university book club and it definitely brought me out of my comfort zone 😅 the constant pining and lusting over men was kinda grating

a cozy afternoon of reading and halloween lofi 🎃

grad school is killing me and i barely have any time to read 🫠 i‘ve been relying on audiobooks lately and this one was great. it has an amazing narrator! i enjoyed sav‘s coming of age, finding community, and processing her trauma. if you love a good found family trope, this one is for you.
cw: sexual assault, biphobia

#lgbt #literaryfiction #audiobook

this bookstore is adorable! it‘s a little queer sanctuary in my hyper conservative state. i loved the murals covering the walls and the owner was so lovely. my only complaint is that their adult section is tiny. but they really cater to teens and i can‘t fault them for that. i would love to visit this place again!
#bookstore #lgbt

the book buying ban has failed successfully 👍🏻

#bookhaul #lgbt #literaryfiction

this novel follows china iron, the spouse of the famous gaucho martín fierro, and her journey with her companions liz and rosa through the pampas of argentina. there are discussions of colonialism/imperialism, sexuality, and gender. and i live for found families in books, so i enjoyed this.
this is the first book i‘ve read published in south america! if anyone has some more recs for south american authors, please share! #translatedfiction #lgbt

such a beautiful graphic novel that embraces being rather than searching. k. o‘neill‘s books are all wonderful (and if you have lepidopterophobia like me, the moths are illustrated in a gentle and non-detailed way, which is a huge bonus)
#graphicnovels

i actually didn‘t care for this too much. the characters just weren‘t developed as much as i‘d like. overrated in my opinion, but i can see how others enjoy it.
#lgbt #cozyfantasy #audiobook

i would have liked to have gotten to know the characters a little more intimately, but overall i enjoyed the gorgeous prose and the examination of loss. this is my first han kang novel, so i‘m looking forward to reading more of her works.
#womenintranslation #translatedfiction

i powered through a quarter of the audiobook and none of it was appealing or even slightly amusing to me… i had high hopes because i‘ve seen irby‘s books recommended all the time. maybe i started with the wrong one?

guys, my book buying has gotten a little out of hand for me. i think i blacked out the last six weeks because i don‘t even know what happened. i am putting myself on a book buying ban for the next while, but i‘m so excited for all of these! #bookhaul

how beautiful is this vintage uk paperback edition 😍

fungi are crazy awesome 😲 i had no idea how useful and versatile they are. definitely an interesting listen and Merlin Sheldrake narrates his book well. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

wow 😲 definitely worth the hype

“I‘m exhausted from the burden of representing almost two billion people.”

Gilda as a narrator was so relatable. Most of this was just a string of intrusive thoughts and sarcasm and I was here for all of it. This was simultaneously macabrely funny and heartwarming ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All I can see are the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg… 👀

This was not worth the 1000 pages and 2 months it took me to read this. I wanted so desperately to like this book, but neither the plot nor the characters were at all appealing enough to keep me. Clarke mimicked 19th century style writing (which she did well) and it‘s a very “tell not show” style with flat characters. It can work for a shorter book, but it‘s a slog for 1000 pages. I would have DNFed this, but, of course, book club 😕

I‘m so glad I listened to this memoir. Tegan and Sara narrate it themselves and they did a really good job. I love how they included old recordings of their songs in between the chapters. It was fun to hear the original versions of the songs from their album Hey, I‘m Just Like You and how they evolved 20 years later. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I watched the Hilda Netflix show and found out that it was adapted from a graphic novel series. This series is short, delightful, and cozy. Definitely got me out of a reading slump. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think Joe Jameson is my new favorite audiobook narrator. This was hilarious and really cute. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had the sudden urge to reread If We Were Villains and I‘m so glad I indulged. The Halloween performance of Macbeth just hits right every single time.

New bookshelves have been completed! Now I have lots of growing space. Perfect excuse to do a little book shopping 😍

The only thought I had after finishing this book was: “please get away from each other and seek competent help.” This relationship was toxic af, and I get that that is the point, but it was done poorly and felt romanticized. ⭐️⭐️

This was such a heartbreaking, hopeful, and moving book. It is a generational novel that spans over 200 years, with each chapter having a different POV. I‘ve never read a book told in this way and I really enjoyed it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I cannot put my finger on why I didn‘t enjoy this book. There were multiple moments while reading when I wanted to dnf the book. But then something would grab my attention and I would keep reading. It‘s strange, because normally I can pinpoint at least one reason why I dislike a book, but with this one I can‘t quite articulate it… I just didn‘t vibe with it…

I had to teach a class at my state library association‘s annual conference, so to cope with the stress I finally went book shopping! There was a Barnes & Noble right next to my hotel. It was wonderful. The last time I went book shopping in person was before the pandemic. I‘ve missed it so much 🥲

I read The Goldfinch as a teenager and absolutely detested it. But then so many people I trust have said that this book is amazing, so I gave it a chance. I loved it. I love the dark academia vibes, the writing, and the examination of power and privilege and how things have a way of catching up to the rich and powerful in the end. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*walks in with a very unpopular opinion* I hated this book. It was too long, pretentious, the characters were flatter than paper, and the writing style was overly simplistic and unenjoyable. *slinks back into the darkness*

I read the first four books in this series over a decade ago and I‘m really glad I returned to finish it off. I didn‘t understand the allusions to Greek mythology my first time reading as a kid, so my experience was much more enjoyable this time around. I loved the moral ambiguity of the characters and the politics of the court and war. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“That man is a goddamn bunion on the foot of my life” is pure poetry 👌🏻

Made it through the semester and I‘m still alive 😮‍💨 So with my sweet, sweet free time I was finally able to finish this beautiful book. It was gentle and thoughtful and just altogether a very wholesome book. I really hope that schools will start to pick this up because the lessons taught in here are so valuable.

I‘m not even two chapters into this book and it‘s already dropping deep thought on me. I love it.

I can‘t really say that I enjoyed this book, but I appreciated it. Even though I live on a reservation and went to school along side indigenous students, I was completely ignorant of Native American history, the criminal justice system, everything. This book addresses the extreme rates of violence against Native women and the flawed jurisdiction laws, leaving many perpetrators walking free.

This book was so wholesome and made me feel way too many things. Also, I cannot resist the found family trope no matter how hard I try. It gets me every time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

College has officially dominated my every waking moment when I‘m not at work 😮‍💨 however, the reading for my Multicultural American Lit class almost feels like a break

I think this is hands down the best dark academia book I‘ve read. Not all the characters were straight up awful which was so refreshing. While the mystery was extremely predictable, I still really loved the book. The complete immersion of Shakespeare was just 👌🏻 I‘m really glad my Shakespeare class is starting in a couple weeks because I now have a fierce craving for his plays, specifically Macbeth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved this translation of The Odyssey. Emily Wilson did such a good job modernizing the language while still retaining some lyricism by writing the verses in iambic pentameter. I also appreciate that she broke free from the language commonly used in past translations that was influenced by sexism and colonialism. The introduction and note at the beginning were fascinating. Just everything was overall enjoyable and easy to read. 4⭐️

A queer historical fiction set in 14th century China during the Mongol rule with heavy military and political themes and a dash of fantasy. I especially enjoyed the examination of gender identity and moral ambiguity. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I just couldn‘t deal with this series any more. The romance is so toxic and stupid that it made it impossible to read. And since this one takes place in Elizabethan England, it gave Matthew the excuse to be even more sexist, possessive, and controlling towards Diana. I‘m not a fan of promoting unhealthy relationships. This series is just dark academia Twilight. And that‘s not a compliment.

I grew up reading Brandon Sanderson‘s Alcatraz series and The Rithmatist, both of which I enjoyed, but then never bothered with any of his adult fantasies. I read Elantris for book club and now I‘m upset with myself for sleeping on this author like I have. This was insanely good. Needless to say, I will now be bingeing Sanderson‘s adult novels.

I love these characters so much ❤️ This was a wonderful conclusion to the trilogy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoy how Michaelides incorporates so much Greek mythology and tragedy into his books. This was definitely interesting and a page turner, so I have to give it credit for being enjoyable. However, this was more predictable than The Silent Patient and the ending felt rushed and quite meh in my opinion. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jennifer Saint did an amazing job with this retelling. I enjoyed the examination of how all too often women are forced to pay the price for the arrogance and selfishness of men.

This was such a beautifully written book! It definitely deserved the Newbery it received ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this retelling of The Great Gatsby from Jordan‘s perspective. I found her character very interesting in the original, so I was glad to have her be the main focus. Vo‘s writing style was gorgeous and she incorporated magic into the story so well that it felt like it was always meant to be there.

This was good and I found the message extremely applicable. However, as I have found with all self help books I‘ve read, it was just too repetitive. I think if this were an essay it would have been more effective.