Books - Blog Posts
Man, Dark Academia as a literary subgenre is something that I have struggled with.
On paper, it ticks all the boxes. A heavy focus on academic life, learning for the sake of learning, a love of history, linguistics and myth, the cutthroat nature of elitism, the hollow feeling of disillusionment. Just everything that should make me absolutely love it. Seriously, compiling all of those things together into a book should make that my favorite book.
AND YET.....every dark academia book I've read as been absolute garbage. Books so bad they made me forget why I love reading.
Donna Tartt, Alex Michaelides....it's on sight with these fuckers. I get genuinely angry thinking about these books. I was not even able to write actual reviews of them because I got so fucking angry whenever I tried.
Other DA books I've read have been mostly just meh. So forgettable that I couldn't even give a synopsis of them.
It's a subgenre that I want to love, but all of my attempts have failed so miserably.
I'm currently reading The Cloisters and Babel right now and if these are bad too, I'm just giving up.
I've heard a lot of praise for Babel so I'm hoping it's going to be a light in the darkness for me. But I also heard people praise The Secret History to the moon and back and that book's so horrible in every way that I literally want to burn it.
Please let there actually be good Dark Academia books out there. I can't take anymore disappointment
I am finally done with The Secret History. I never have to read a single word of that awful book ever again. It is one of the worst things I've ever read and I hate that it exists. But now I'm done with it. It's over. I'm finally free.
And now, I just want to ask one little question.
How on earth are so many people hyping up a book this racist, this misogynistic, this homophobic, this incredibly overwritten?
I just don't understand how so many people can say that it's good when it's one of the most bigoted things I've ever seen.
Someone please explain to me why I'm putting so much effort into a book I hate
Secret History drinking game: Take a shot every time Tartt makes a ghost analogy
Literally learning how to speed read just so I can get through The Secret History faster. I just want to be done with this terrible book
I can't decide what to read. Opinions?
I am really tempted to try to take an inventory of all the books I own. It'd be useful for me to keep track of what I have so I don't accidentally get duplicates. And it'd be kind of neat to post it here because I love to see what people have in their libraries.
But.....
I own over 300 books, at least. Probably a lot more. And, due to limited shelf space, I kind of have them stashed everywhere around my house.
It would be a huge undertaking for me just to make a full list of them all. And then organize that list. And I know myself. I would absolutely include details about what specific edition I have. Have I finished them? For the unread ones, have I just not started them yet, or are they dnf? And on and on and on....
So much effort and I'm not sure if I can really commit to it
Me: ok, this show/manga/book I've started is really good, let's enjoy it without getting spoiler.
Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube and all the social media in my phone: I don't think so! *Proceed to make appear all the spoilers in my fyp*
Anyway, I'm starting to watch The umbrella academy, and I'm super invested in it.
I'm finally back and I'm reading a book that makes me want the world to end.
Join me now on twitch to watch me suffer through Left Behind
Come join me on twitch for some more Left Behind!
It's a terrible book and watching me suffer is fun!
I'm still sick.
But apparently I feel the need to torture myself, so I will be reading Left Behind on twitch tonight. Who knows? Maybe a good sporking will help me feel better.
Please join me. I need emotional support.
Anyone else think Joe Hill might have a problem with women?
I just finished The Fireman, and I've been reading through the short stories in 20th Century Ghosts, and, uh....I don't think he likes women much.
I'm thinking of re-reading Heart Shaped Box next and see if the issue is as prevalent in that as I remember.
Also, I could rant for hours about all the problems I have with The Fireman. I might just do that soon. But thinking about that book too much makes me kind of mad, so I try to keep my mind on other things.
i'm never getting over the fact that romance as a genre, as the HIGHEST selling genre, exists largely because straight women fantasise about being loved and treated kindly by men and men constantly make fun of this because they think it's just that unrealistic that they could cherish women and that women are stupid in the first place for wanting such an impossible thing
Okay, I'm sorry... BUT THERE'S A BOOK!!??? I grew up my whole life thinking that the movies were the original and there never was a book! This has changed my point of view on everything. I might try to get the books now, and find out how much their screwing up in the love action.
laughing at the entire conceit of live action httyd being "animation is for babies so we HAVE to remake this shot-for-shot in live action" but also they need to sell a new wave of plushies at universal studios orlando so toothless still looks like a fucking cartoon character
Does anyone have The Case Files of Jeweler Richard light novels in PDF or epub form to read?
That's why God made this blorbo of a blog site. Keep writing. Soon, this grief will become indistinguishable from the rest.
So listen i have this book coming out in uhhh 10 days and I am Worried about it, because it is a Comedy, and comedy is really hard to market (why????? it's funny pirates, what's not to like??) even when it is, yanno, normal mainstream comedy.
It is even worse when it is Unhinged Comedy That's Mostly Going To Be Funny To People On Tumblr. (For example, the main character being a supreme gremlin made of 90% memes by weight (examples: carries around a bag that is never called anything but his "little rucksack"; has a near-verbatim "stick me legy out real far" moment; talks about his metaphorical "orphan gruel bowl" which is a direct reference to that one Oliver Twist gif) because those are funny to me personally.) Unhinged Tumblr Comedy is difficult because tumblr is not a platform where it is easy to market things to people, because we are generally violently anti-capitalist and LOATHE advertisements and reflexively resist being marketed to for most anything. I LOVE that about this website. Except for right now, because I have bills to pay and a cat to feed. So look, fellow tumblr gremlins, I am just trying to say that if your personal brand of comedy is laughing at the kind of jokes that could only be produced on this hell website, and:
you like pirates
you're queer and want to read more books by queer authors
you want your fictional queer characters to be a hell of a lot more Messy and Unhinged than they often are depicted as being
you're interested in seeing a love triangle (M/M/NB) that resolves into polyamory
you want books where the hottest character gets to makes Passionate Speeches about rebelling against oppressive institutional regimes like governments and organized religions
you believe that capitalism is the most oppressive institutional regime of them all
you think it's fun when two characters have been in a 15-year-long relationship where the vibes have been "We're Newly Divorced" nearly since day one
you believe that All Cops Are Bastards and want to know what to do when you get pulled over by the boat cops
you think the Great British Bake-Off would be improved with weaponry, ritualized bribery/coercion of judges, and elaborate shit-talk
then this book might be for you. Beneath the wall-to-wall hijinks, it is political and it is righteously angry and it is the funniest thing I have ever written (which is saying something, because I have written some funny shit). It's called RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND. Here's a picture of it.
If all that sounds cool, you can read a review of it here and the first chapter of it here to see if it as funny as I am claiming it is, and then if you think that it is, you can preorder it here. It comes out on June 11! Ten days from now!
Thank you for letting me market to you for a minute. Signal boosting would be very much appreciated.
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!
HELLO! I WOULD LIKE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!! any book really but im mainly looking for something revolving around nature/science/math!! something like that!! fiction for nature is okay but i would like nonfiction for the math and science books :3 (example for fic. nature is like "hatchet") THANKS!!! other genres/books i like are psychology, fantasy, sci-fi, mangas (just not romance), philosophy, and history!!! IF ANYONE COMMENTS I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT OK THANK YOU
Hi-Lo Arthuriana
Have a high interest in Arthurian Legend but low readability?
Here's a collection of adapted or abridged books to help ease you into the literary tradition. This list is ordered from simplest to most complex, beginning with picture books and ending with "translations" of Middle English texts into modern English or abridged versions of longer texts such as the Vulgate. Books in a series are numbered.
As always, if the book is still in print, I link to the Internet Archive to read, Goodreads to learn more, or where you can purchase. Supporting living authors is very important! Otherwise, enjoy a PDF, on me, to keep the legacy of these authors alive.
Picture Books
Young Merlin (Young Series #1) by Robert D San Souci & Jamichael Henterly (1989)
Tales From the Mabinogion Gwyn Thomas, Kevin Crossley-Holland, & Margaret Jones (1992)
Sir Gawain and The Loathly Lady by Selina Hastings & Juan Wijngaard (1985)
The Quest for Olwen by Gwyn Thomas, Kevin Crossley-Holland, & Margaret Jones (1988)
The Kitchen Knight by Margaret Hodges & Trina Schart Hyman (1990)
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight by Selina Hastings & Juan Wijngaard (1991)
The Tale of Taliesin by Gwyn Thomas, Kevin Crossley-Holland, & Margaret Jones (1992)
Young Guinevere (Young Series #2) by Robert D San Souci & Jamichael Henterly (1992)
The Knight with The Lion by John Howe (1996)
Young Lancelot (Young Series #3) by Robert D San Souci & Jamichael Henterly (1996)
Young Arthur (Young Series #4) by Robert D San Souci & Jamichael Henterly (1997)
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight by Michael Morpurgo & Michael Foreman (2004)
Perceval: King Arthur's Knight of The Holy Grail by John Perkins & Gennady Spirin (2007)
Comics
Prince Valiant by Hal Foster & many others (1937-present)
Camelot 3000 by Brian Bolland and Mike W. Barr (1982-1985)
Arthur, King of Time and Space by Paul Gadzikowski (2004-2014)
Tristan & Isolde: The Warrior and The Princess by Jeff Limke (2008)
Muppets King Arthur by Paul Benjamin & Patrick Storick (2010)
Gradalis WEBTOON [carrd] by @kochei0 (2021-present)
Chivalry by Neil Gaiman & Colleen Doran (2022)
Children's Chapter Books
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great (The Knights' Tales #1) by Gerald Morris (2009)
The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short (The Knights' Tales #2) by Gerald Morris (2009)
The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True (The Knights' Tales #3) by Gerald Morris (2013)
The Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated (The Knights' Tales #4) by Gerald Morris (2013)
The Legends of King Arthur: Merlin, Magic, and Dragons (#1-#10) by Tracey Mayhew (2020)
Intermediate Retellings
The Idylls of The King by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1859)
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (#1) by Howard Pyle (1903)
The Story of the Champions of The Round Table (#2) by Howard Pyle (1905)
The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions (#3) by Howard Pyle (1907)
The Story of The Grail and The Passing of Arthur (#4) by Howard Pyle (1910)
Hero Myths & Legends of the British Race by M. I. Ebbutts (1910)
The Squire’s Tale (The Squire’s Tales #1) by Gerald Morris (1998)
The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady (The Squire’s Tales #2) by Gerald Morris (1999)
The Savage Damsel and The Dwarf (The Squire’s Tales #3) by Gerald Morris (2000)
Parsifal’s Page (The Squire’s Tales #4) by Gerald Morris (2001)
The Ballad of Sir Dinadan (The Squire’s Tales #5) by Gerald Morris (2003)
The Princess, The Crone, and The Dung-Cart Knight (The Squire’s Tales #6) by Gerald Morris (2004)
The Lioness and Her Knight (The Squire’s Tales #7) by Gerald Morris (2005)
The Quest of The Fair Unknown (The Squire’s Tales #8) by Gerald Morris (2006)
The Squire’s Quest (The Squire’s Tales #9) by Gerald Morris (2009)
The Legend of The King (The Squire’s Tales #10) by Gerald Morris (2010)
Abridged Medieval Literature Translations
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight (Unrepresented #1) by Jessie Weston (1889)
Tristan & Iseult (Unrepresented #2) by Jessie Weston (1899)
Guingamor, Lanval, Tyolet, Bisclaveret (Unrepresented #3) by Jessie Weston (1900)
Morien (Unrepresented #4) by Jessie Weston (1901)
Sir Cleges, Sir Libeaus Desconus (Unrepresented #5) by Jessie Weston (1902)
Sir Gawain At The Grail Castle (Unrepresented #6) by Jessie Weston (1903)
Sir Gawain & The Lady of Lys (Unrepresented #7) by Jessie Weston (1907)
The Story of Sir Galahad by Mary Blackwell Sterling & William Ernest Chapman (1908)
The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of The Round Table by Alfred W Pollard & Arthur Rackham (1917)
Le Morte d'Arthur by Keith Baines (1962)
The Lancelot-Grail Reader by Norris J. Lacy (2000)
Lancelot and The Lord of The Distant Isles by Patricia Terry, Samuel N. Rosenberg, & Judith Jaidinger (2007)
The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell by David Breeden (????)
Informational Resources
Warriors of Arthur by John Matthews, Bob Stewart, & Richard Hook (1987)
The New Arthurian Encyclopedia by Norris J. Lacy (1991)
The Arthurian Companion by Phyllis Ann Karr (1997)
The Arthurian Name Dictionary by Christopher W. Bruce (1999)
A copy of The Tale of Balen by Algernon Charles Swinburne
JOMP Book Photo Challenge || November || 4 || Gives Me the Giggles
Jane Austen
When I said that I want to be a main character in a book I didn't mean a Russian novel.
Just finished reading Long Live Evil. Straight couple so tragic it reminds you of the gays and gay couple so awkward and I love them all. God help me. This is all I will be thinking of for the next month. Thank you and good night.
Michael Crichton’s idea that humans are inherently selfish and will look out for their own survival vs. Andy Weir’s idea that as social creatures humans will connect with and help others, fight.
Fantasy LGBTQ books besides six of crows (these descriptions are bare minimal, go check out the actual summaries)
The Smoke Thieves
Demons exist and are killed for their highly-prized smoke. Political turmoil with plots for thrones and for war, all with demon smoke somewhere woven in.
Wicked as you Wish
An alternate reality where magic is an important part of life, with the tales of King Arthur at the center.
Timekeeper
When time is dependent on clock towers, it is up to mechanics to keep them up and running.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
Set in the 19th century, this story is about a supposedly ordinary man and a clairvoyant.
01.27.2021 / winter blues