September 1 means it‘s time to board the Hogwarts Express!

Pretty cool of Starbucks to launch this year‘s pumpkin spice latte the same day as PUMPKINHEADS. 🎃

I‘m onto Prisoner of Azkaban in my slow but steady read through of the French translations of the Harry Potter series! ⚡️

Loving this important & thoughtful book so far, even if I‘m going against its fundamental principles by posting about it on social media... oops.

Every street lamp that I pass
Beats like a fatalistic drum,
And through the spaces of the dark
Midnight shakes the memory
As a madman shakes a dead geranium.

I discovered Helen Oyeyemi earlier this year and now I can‘t stop devouring her books. This short story collection is the first I‘ve given less than 5 stars to (4.5, though, come on), because some of the stories simply aren‘t as effective as others, but even so, her writing shimmers and purrs and twists, it is muscular and delicate and exquisite and sharp, it is a voice that is both intensely powerful and entirely unique.

Tartt‘s writing is inarguably compelling & gorgeous, but it gave me intense anxiety for all 800-ish pages, and I found that so much bleakness and tragic twists of fate were extraordinarily triggering to me, to be candid. But was it good? In some large, technical, objective sense of the word? Unquestionably. Am I glad I finally read it? Absolutely. Am I going to need some time to get over feeling like I‘ve been drowned by a novel? Yeah, probably.⁣

Veronica Mars investigates a murder at Hogwarts? Who knew that was exactly what I‘ve been wanting? Magic for Liars is a kind of culture clash between Chosen One fantasy and crime noir, playing with tropes of both genres in all the best ways; it hits every note dead on, and manages to come up with a solution that feels both satisfactory and unexpected.

Après-swim reading: How To Do Nothing, by Jenny Odell. ?

A solid, engaging story with intriguing supernatural elements, an evocative, creepy atmosphere, and authentic characters whose fates I cared about right off the bat. I was hooked pretty much from the first page, and I‘m looking forward to reading the sequel next year!

Maurene Goo‘s modern K-pop riff on Roman Holiday charmingly captures the heart and spirit of its source. Which sometimes means trying to find modern versions of certain tropes that are more palatable than the original. Goo manages this update fairly well, but it‘s unavoidably sketchy. Still, all in all, it‘s a fun, sweet, candy-colored love letter to romantic comedies, Hong Kong, and following your dreams. 💖 ⁣

There‘s a lot to like in the premise of this odd, grim story, but also a lot lacking in its execution. Gilda is a sketch more than a character; the plot moves at a muddied pace, ricocheting from one climax to another, though it picks up speed near the end when it turns into a reverse portal fantasy that‘s absolutely delightful in a way. But the inventiveness and exquisite detail of the dark world of the Westside mostly make up for these failings.

I truly loved Like a Love Story, by Abdi Nazemian, a moving, big-hearted, literally rainbow-filled story about an Iranian American teen figuring out who he is, who he loves, and how to love himself in New York City at the height of the AIDS crisis. 🌈

Summer means reading outside all afternoon.

I‘m not super in love with this mystery so far, but it‘s got its good points. And I hate DNFing a whodunnit - the resolution can make or break it so entirely.

Hello sunshine 💋

Fantastic beasts: I found ‘em. #harrypotter

Audiobookin‘ it.

#riotgrams Day 2: Books and Socks. 📗
Dobby is free! 🧦

#riotgrams Day 1: Shelfie.
My much-loved Aubrey-Maturin adventures, looking like candy on the library shelf 📚

Been a minute since I‘ve been on here, but I couldn‘t resist sharing this adorable new book. The story is just as cute and charming as its exterior, def recommend if you‘re looking for a sweet #YA #ownvoices romance with a journey of self-discovery, touching family dynamics, and LOTS of mouthwatering descriptions of food. (I ate multiple donuts while reading.)

Stoked to finally start reading Gingerbread!

#poetry

Oh, Prunella, I‘ve missed you.

A jug of wine*, a book of verse**, and thou

*iced tea
**YA fantasy?

I‘m sorry, what now?? #milkmines #SaltSugarFat

This book sounded tailor-made for me. Revolutionary (well, immediately preceding) France fantasy with magic, masquerades, and not exclusively straight white characters? I‘m so there. and yet...

I did really enjoy it- i finished in just a few days- despite some frustrating petty details I wished were different. Dramatic (sometimes over the top), ultimately satisfying, and left me wanting a sequel, because I know what‘s coming, historically! 😬

#TheTrueQueen is out today and I‘m so excited to finally read it!!

My first reason I want to learn Farsi is so I can speak with my relatives, but my second is to read Forough‘s poems in her own, original words.

Zen Cho‘s writing is as original and quirky as her heroine, and this charming little story, which manages to pack a heck of a lot into only a few pages, is sharply funny, honest, and whimsical. There are shades of Heyer, of course, but it‘s Heyer with people of color! & bluntness about sex! & colonialism! & gender relations! All through a fresh and much-appreciated lens that is entirely Cho‘s own.

Suddenly realized I‘ve got two books out right now with the name Fox. 🦊

“Who is that, in the mirror? That‘s me, in the past, a moment ago, when the light bounced off me.”

Now that‘s a thought that‘s gonna fester.

Got China Rich Girlfriend from the library for a plane read, but I might finish it before tomorrow‘s flight!

Rainy day means copious amounts of tea and reading.

A welcome and worthy addition to the rather crowded assortment of books about Rodgers, Hammerstein, or Rodgers & Hammerstein that already exist. The audio is well-read by Purdum himself, though I hear the physical copy has pictures...oh well!

Just learned Sean Connery was in the ensemble of the original London cast of South Pacific. I can‘t handle the thought.

“I call you a sad incompetent, and your toad-eaters a pack of cowards, to seek to murder a man by committee.” You tell ‘em, Damerell.

This book was...fine. It did what it set out to do adequately and solidly, but I had, perhaps unreasonably, high expectations and wanted something more from it. I‘m being picky - everyone else clearly has been raving about it - but it just didn‘t strike a very strong note with me. I wish there was a level between “pick” and “so-so” because its GOOD, truly, if not great, and just not...special to me.

I‘m only a dozen or so pages in and I‘m already in love with this book. This is the second book I‘ve read in the last few months that I stumbled upon purely by accident, but which felt like it was written specifically and entirely for me alone.

It‘s 11pm with book club at 1pm tomorrow. With this much left in the book, can I finish our January read, Garth Nix‘s Sabriel, in time? ...not if I spend all my time taking pictures instead of reading, I can‘t.

TIL the out of town script for Carousel included an “actually god is female too” scene that didn‘t go over well with the critics, so they cut it and gave us the starkeeper instead.

Thanks a lot, old critics.

"Culture does not make people. People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture."

Main reason I keep reading this series is bc the protagonist lives in the same street I did when I lived in Paris. It's a better book than it is a reason. #murderandmayhem #historicalfiction

First post, first favorite. My original bucket list.