"Aren't you afraid of dying?"

"Death comes for everyone. I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying ????. I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still."

𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦, he'd say. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵.

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘳, she'd answer. 𝘐𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦?

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵, she'd say. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

Still in a slump update + first post with my new cats!

No longer pressuring myself to get out of the slump but finding it easy to read ADSOM. Probably because I've wanted to read this for so long + Schwab is familiar. Doesn't matter as long as I'm reading, eh?

Cats! Meet Sir Footsock and Joferlyn. Adopted these brothers about 3 weeks ago and they just turned 3 months last week. 😻

Still recovering from my slump.

I liked this.

I was going to post this yesterday for #firstlineFridays but I still wasn't sure if this was the one to get me out of my slump.

Well, I'm sure now. I just finished 10 chapters and am now on page 106. 🙌

(It's still Friday somewhere, right? 😅)

I'm in a slump and I hate it.

Not just reading but also crocheting and playing the kalimba—2 other things I like doing in my free time. Over the past 2 weeks, I've started 2 books but haven't gotten past 50 pages with each.

Regardless, I still visit the bookstore every week and today I got new books!

I remember saying that I will not buy and read Schwab's graphic novels—not just hers, just not really into GNs—yet here we are.

But I'm weak! Also, I didn't have any signed Schwab so... 🤷‍♀️

On another note: my challenge last month was a success (only read books by new-to-me authors)! For June, I will only read books by LGBTQIA+ authors. Of course, I started with one of my favorites.

#HappyPrideMonth 🤍💖💙🤎🖤🏳️‍🌈

One of my favorite books of all-time and my fourth copy!

This is Owlcrate's TSR 10th anniversary collector's edition box which was released last October. And yes, I just got it. But better late than never, eh?

In my defense, I don't subscribe to Owlcrate (or any other bookish subscription services for that matter). Nor do I consider myself a Maggie Stiefvater fan (this is the only book of hers I've ever read—will try to remedy that, though).

Last book of the month!

I liked this. This was good.

"... one of the hardest things to admit is that we weren't loved when we needed it most. It's a terrible feeling, the pain of not being loved."

"About love. About how we often mistake love for fireworks—for drama and dysfunction. But real love is very quiet, very still. It's boring, if seen from the perspective of high drama. Love is deep and calm—and constant. I imagine you do give [her] love—in the true sense of the word. Whether or not she is capable of giving it back to you is another question."

She used to say we are made up of different parts, some good, some bad, and that a healthy mind can tolerate this ambivalence and juggle both good and bad at the same time. Mental illness is precisely about a lack of this kind of integration—we end up losing contact with the unacceptable parts of ourselves.

It reminded me that there was a world outside this house: a world of vastness and unimaginable beauty; a world that, for now, remained out of my reach.

Thanks for the tag, @Enchanted_Bibliophile

#ThinkPositiveBePositive
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I wish this was longer.
I wish it was the first book in a series.
There's just so much more to explore in this world.

But I also like that it's a standalone.
Make it make sense, haha.

I just loved it.
Looking forward to more books by this author.

Don't know what they're called... Part dividers? Anyway, I just want to say that I love these.

𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘯, I decide as I observe Tang Wei flirting with our waiter.

That's what she is. A violent, glorious roar of wind and water that turns everything upside down and leaves you standing in awe of its raw beauty.

Back cover - Pg 302

Life is but a dream, and death is returning home.

Title!

Children are not born with the fear of falling. It is life that conditions them to be afraid.

It is said that the gods test a man for a purpose; that they would never place on him a burden he could not bear. But the boy held a different view. The gods were cruel, and men were merely puppets in a grand play staged for the amusement of bored immortals.

And the priests and the palace have done too good a job erasing the true history of the Empire. Pages can be burned; words, erased. Scribes can be persuaded to write new tales, new books. A new past to suit the agenda of those in power.

Their home was no longer safe—not with their father dead and the stench of betrayal in the air.

#FirstLinefFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Excited to read the tagged book!

+ I finally have all of Schwab's novels.

#bookmail

Hmm, nope.
Didn't know much about this when I picked it up, I just liked the cover.
Ending was abrupt and dissatisfying.
Not gonna read the sequel (if there'd be one).

Kindle edition: found a couple of typos so far.

Quote + Blurb

I've already reached my reading goal this year! 🥳

Still going to read, of course. But with a challenge! Will try to do it monthly.

This month: only read books by new-to-me authors.

I find it fitting that I finished this today. Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and mother figures out there! 💖
--
I loved this! I cried 😭
Made me want to read more about Norse mythology (and/or retellings) as I know very little of it.

Got this on Kindle for only $1.99. Enjoying it so far.
Thanks for the recommendation, @Ericalambbrown 😄

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

So there's an exception: I don't like Japanese contemporary romance. (But I do like romance in my manga.)
Maybe it's the translation but I also didn't like the writing style. It's a short book but I had a hard time getting into it. The long chapters didn't help.
This was a little funny, though—that, I liked.

Short and sweet.
Japanese literature really tugs at my heartstrings and makes me think about life.

'Bean paste is very difficult, you know. Listen, lady—err, Ma'am. Have you ever made it?'

'I certainly have. I've been making it for fifty years.'

Sentaro almost dropped the dorayaki he was about to put in a paper bag. 'Fifty years?'

'Yes, half a century. Bean paste is all about feeling, young man.'

After 50%, it got more interesting and easier to read. But, I'm not going to pretend to like the prose. Because in the end, I don't think I understood anything.

I'm enjoying this book but I've been reading it for 4 days now and I just got past 50%. It's not readable for me.

I suppose I just contradicted myself. Sigh.

"Is it not that bad to be trapped somewhere, then? Depending on where you're trapped?"

"I suppose it depends on how much you like the place you're trapped in."

"And how much you like whoever you're stuck there with."

He did not receive as clear an answer about his future as he had expected, but somehow the issue does not seem as heavy as it had before.

I don't like the helmet cover.

I wanted the UK ed (with the heart bow & arrow cover) but got the US one instead. The shop I ordered it from ran out of it but didn't tell me.

So I looked for alternatives without buying another copy. Found this dust jacket designed by a local (PH) artist. Sigh, so beautiful. 🫶

"I'm just browsing."

I lied.

"Celia," he says without looking up at her, "why do we wind our watch?"
"Because everything requires energy," she recites obediently, eyes still focused on her hand.

Prospero the Enchanter's immediate reaction upon meeting his daughter is a simple declaration of: "????, ????."

I've had this book for over 7 years now and I'm finally reading it.