🧍book ask. 2 + 6 + 20 :^)
2. top 5 books of all time
ok i’m going with non-childrens lit novels 🤨 so
the tombs of atuan (ursula leguin)
annihilation (jeff vandermeer)
east of eden (john steinbeck)
royal assassin (robin hobb)
parable of the sower (octavia butler)
6. read this month
the golden compass (philip pullman)
powers (ursula leguin)
20. what i look for in a book
for getting into a book, i want “disappearing” prose that doesn’t distract me from the scene with unnatural rhythm or silly word choice, dialogue that’s either naturalist or theatrical but NOT forced to set up stupid lil quips, place descriptions that take me away, a feeling of promise that smth will happen.
for remembering & loving it after i’m done reading—a striking turn & sudden illumination towards the end of the book about what it all meant (even if the answer is “nothing” or “we don’t get to know”), a main character who got to be selfish, magnetic, and cunning, a world that felt wider & deeper than what was seen in this story, an ending that satisfied. doesn’t have to be uplifting or unpredictable as long as i hear the door click shut behind me on my way out yk.