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wordcrown

wordcrown

Joined May 2016

party never, read forever
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wordcrown
The Vorrh | Brian Catling
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Panpan

That was... something.

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I‘ve had worse Saturday nights.

Tanzy13 🐱 7y
4 likes1 comment
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Ship of Magic | Robin Hobb
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Sweet moment in the sun with my little buddy, shortly before I found out my copy of Ship of Magic is misprinted and has 50 pages of some kind of collection of Byron's poetry right in the middle of it. 🙃

Lcsmcat You've been #smittenbylittens! (And I'm smitten by your kitten!) 7y
RaimeyGallant You've been #SmittenByLittens as part of today's #WordLove challenge. :) I'm also smitten with the kitten. :) @Lcsmcat 7y
8 likes2 comments
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Black Dog | Neil Gaiman
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Black Dog, red kitten. Can't get over how absolutely stunning these editions illustrated by Daniel Egnéus are. ??

Nebklvr Have never heard of this! 8y
wordcrown @Nebklvr It's an American Gods novella, originally published in an anthology and then later included in Gaiman's Trigger Warning collection. And now you can get it in this amazing edition ☺ (edited) 8y
Nebklvr @wordcrown Thanks! 8y
4 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Proxima | Stephen Baxter
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First read of the year! Bit of a slow start, but it's growing on me 💫

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Knitting, tea, and books. Sounds like my kind of Saturday ☕️📚

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Pickpick

These stories feel like they are woven into a dreamscape where they all dip into one another, connected by their shared cosmos. However, they never feel too similar to one another, which is something that can sometimes happen with short story collections. This collection centers around childhood and growing up, brought forth in imagery rooted in both reality and dream. The title story is one of the best short stories I've ever read. 🐺

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Mehso-so

Liked the first in the series a lot more. I found all of the plot twists predictable, and was a bit annoyed by how often the characters exclaimed "Bleeding skies!" and "Ten bleeding hells!" (Or just "skies!" or "ten hells!"). Also, the writing felt a bit telly rather than showy. Not sure if I'll continue the series or not.

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wordcrown

To be perfectly honest - this love polygon thing is very tiresome.

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The Tidal Zone | Sarah Moss
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Pickpick

Loved this to death. Such a quiet, yet powerful, story about the freak occurences in life that can leave you scrambling, and how we still manage to build ourselves up when our whole life changes forever. Gorgeous writing, funny, REAL characters that you get to know intimately. Read this if you want to feel everything from sadness and despair to hope and happiness.

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Americanah | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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How flipping good is this book??? Damn

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Pickpick

Logan's writing style is intimate and direct in a way that made me fall in love. I struggle to remember some of the stories, but on the other hand there were some that were pretty amazing and that both filled me with wonder and left me unsettled.

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Charlotte Bront: A Life | Claire Harman
Pickpick

I am very much a newbie when it comes to biographies, so I can't say that I know what makes a good one. But this was so compelling and told the story of Charlotte's life in such a detailed, yet well rounded way, that I was hooked from the beginning. What a life she had, what a remarkable woman!

4 likes1 stack add
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One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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Back in my favourite reading spot at my folks' house and finally picking this one up. This edition is not only very orange, but the print is also teeny-tiny, which is the reason I've been putting it off for so long. 🍊

MrBook Great room! 8y
4 likes1 comment
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Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson
Pickpick

My first delve into hard sci-fi, and it was a solid novel. It felt like there was a little too much of telling rather than showing, but I get that there may not be any other options when you need to explain orbital mechanics and such.

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The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath
Pickpick

Once again I am completely shattered by the utter perfection of this book.

BookishFeminist One of my favorites 8y
6 likes1 stack add1 comment
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The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath
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Summer feels like the perfect time to revisit this old favourite 🗽

6 likes1 stack add
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Satin Island: A novel | Tom McCarthy
Mehso-so

I just don't know. I kinda see where McCarthy was going and the philosophical aspect is very ambitious, but the writing just put me off. The sentences felt very longwinded and needlessly intricate. HOWEVER, that writing style fit perfectly with the narrator. Ugh. I don't know.

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The Master and Margarita | Mikhail Bulgakov
Pickpick

Fun and clever but with a lot of depth. However, I didn't always feel like I was following along in the philosophical twist and turns. Liked it, but didn't love it.

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The Story of My Teeth | Valeria Luiselli
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Pickpick

Loved this. It has so many elements that speak to me: unreliable narrator, stories within stories (within stories), the power of stories, the power of words, the value of art. Highly recommend!

BookishFeminist Loved this book so much. Valeria Luiselli 🙌🏽 8y
wordcrown @BookishFeminist Yes! 🙌🏽 will definitely be picking up all of her translated works ASAP! 8y
4 likes2 comments
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The Story of My Teeth | Valeria Luiselli
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"All I do is give them new content." This book has some gorgeous, whimsy writing, and the protag is ridiculous. ?

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Leviathan Wakes | James S.A. Corey
Pickpick

A fun read with furious pacing and an intriguing mystery at the center of its plot. However, archetypical male characters and female characters reduced to love interests spoiled the fun for me a bit. Will be continuing on with the series though, keeping my fingers crossed for character development.

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Leviathan Wakes | James S.A. Corey
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This has been a wild ride from the start. Currently 173 pages in and it's seriously addicting, the pacing is great 🚀

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The Idiot | Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Pickpick

This book read like a comedy a lot of the time, but there was a prevalent seriousness beneath it. More than anything it asks the question whether anything beautiful, good, and pure can endure in our world. There's some great characters in here, with writing subtly getting the point across.

thelibraryofmars I read this when I was maybe 17 and it took me an entire summer to make it through, but I did love it. Someday I'll revisit. 8y
wordcrown @asketchyeducation That was my situation with Crime and punishment! 8y
3 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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The Idiot | Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Honestly enjoying this so much 👌🏽

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The Idiot | Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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I'd forgotten how wonderfully smooth and easy Dostoyevsky's prose is (okay, monologues aside I guess), very much enjoying this so far.

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Sleeping Giants | Sylvain Neuvel
Pickpick

Liked the premise of this, and the interview-style narrative. However, sometimes the characters said things in the interviews that didn't feel believable in that setting, and it also lacked a bit of a punch, I think. But I still recommend it and am looking forward to the sequel!

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Panpan

This started out well enough but later turned into an info-dump that put the first 50 pages of The Lord of the Rings to shame. And it made no sense.

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Panpan

Boy, I sure am glad that's over. So. Many. Adjectives.

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Hey HP Lovecraft, have anyone ever talked to you about the concept of "show don't tell"? Because man this is the most telly tale ever told I kid you not

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Finally decided to read some HP Lovecraft but am struggling immensly with this story.

BookishFeminist I love HP Lovecraft (even though he's problematic as heck) but not a fan of this one either. Try some Cthulhu ones or Dagon--those are some of his more well-known works. 8y
BooksTeasAndBookishThings I have an extra hardback copy of a collection of his work. Giving away to a Litsy user if you are interested. You can see the post on my page =) 8y
wordcrown @BookishFeminist I'm reading a collection of some of his works, with some short stories as well as novellas, and some of the later ones are from the Cthulu mythos, so hopefully I'll like them better. I liked the short stories well enough though :) 8y
2 likes3 comments
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Pickpick

This book has left me feeling very conflicted. A lot of interesting POVs, a lush, blooming language and even more unsettling developments in the plot. Unfortunately I was not very satisfied with the ending, though I appreciate what VanderMeer was trying to do.

Shortstack I hear you. I wanted more answers but I also realize that I don't think a definite answer can always be reached. I ended up finding it satisfying! 8y
wordcrown @Shortstack I think his point may be that we have to accept (hence the title) that some things will always be left unanswered. And the mysteries we are left with are the questions that can't be answered by the POVs of the book. Which makes sense, but it's still frustrating! 8y
Shortstack @wordcrown also I think you get enough theories where you can choose your own answer. I'm sure if they make all 3 into movies, they will Hollywoodize it and give us all the answers. 8y
4 likes3 comments
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Pickpick

Loved everything about this book, from the sketchy narrator to the well-written female characters to the language. This might actually be one of the best novels I've ever read.

4 likes2 stack adds
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OH. My god I literally cannot care less about Control, give me all of the other POVs except his.

Shortstack Truth. Especially after Authority. Where he has no Authority. 8y
wordcrown @Shortstack Lol yes, out of all the characters he's the one who seems to have the least of their shit together to be honest. 8y
Shortstack @wordcrown - I'm rereading the series right now with my boyfriend and I'm not looking forward to having to tackle all the mommy issues in Authority again. 8y
4 likes3 comments
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Authority: A Novel | Jeff VanderMeer
Mehso-so

This book suffered severely from Second Book Syndrome. The plot drags, the protag is incredibly boring compared with the dazzling Biologist from the first book, and it really just feels like transportation. It does have some exciting elements towards the end though.

MissSarahLou I agree. While I enjoyed them all, Annihilation was the best of the trilogy in my opinion. 8y
wordcrown @SarahA Yes! The language in Annihilation was absolutely beautiful, and the novel as a whole was so atmospheric and creepy. I'm reading Acceptance now and am excited to see how it all comes together in the end. 8y
1 like1 stack add2 comments
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Authority: A Novel | Jeff VanderMeer

So far I'm not even close to enjoying this as much as I did Annihilation. Mainly because I care approximately 0% about Control and his life.

Shortstack Yeah, Control is not nearly as interesting as the Biologist. The ending to this one is great and the third book is much better. Also you learn a lot in the second book. 8y
wordcrown @Shortstack Yeah, the Biologist was a much more compelling protagonist. But I'm still enjoying the mystery and am eager to know how it all comes together in the end :) 8y
2 likes2 comments
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Annihilation | Jeff VanderMeer
Pickpick

I was completely mesmerised by the voice of the Biologist from the start. The writing is some of the most spellbinding I have come across, bewitching and at the same time deeply unsettling. The ending leaves more questions than it answers.

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Annihilation | Jeff VanderMeer

This book contains some seriously gorgeous writing and some damn freaky stuff.

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The haunted aura they radiate is merely the effect of tight corsets. Too constrained to inhale enough oxygen, they're ethereal only in the sense that they might as well be gasping the ether of Everest.

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Continuing with my exploration of books out of my comfort zone, I am ready to plunge into this 900+ pages historical fiction novel. Very happy with this edition paperback that has the soft, flippy spine that opens flat without breaking!

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Wide Sargasso Sea | Jean Rhys
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Pickpick

Absolutely loved this. It addresses the unreliable narrators in Jane Eyre in a masterful way, and gives a very believable account of Rochester's relationship with Antoinette (Bertha) before she was brought to Thornfield. Will definitely be re-reading this in the future.

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Wide Sargasso Sea | Jean Rhys
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Been wanting to pick this up since I re-read Jane Eyre in April. So excited about this one!

1 like1 stack add
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Annihilation | Jeff VanderMeer
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Starting this and couldn't be more excited! Have only heard great things about it.

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An Ember in the Ashes | Sabaa Tahir
Pickpick

(Audio) Great pacing, likeable (and unlikeable) characters, and at times simply beautiful writing. The setting (a fantasy world inspired by the Roman Empire) is one I haven't come across in YA before, and it worked nicely. A bit of a predictable storyline, but very well executed.

rhondita95 Just finished both reading this and listening to the audio (something I do a lot) and loved it. Such rich world building and well developed characters! I wasn't ready to leave them yet! It's been on my TBR list for quite a while, now I can't wait until Aug. when the next book comes out! 8y
wordcrown @rhondita95 I agree! I had some slight issues with the whole love square-ish things, but really enjoyed it otherwise and are looking forward to reading the sequal! :) 8y
2 likes2 comments
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The Graveyard Book | Neil Gaiman
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Pickpick

Why I decided to rate this 4 stars back when I first read it I will never understand, since it clearly deserves five. The writing is as stellar as anything Gaiman has ever written, and the story is perfectly crafted so as to leave you content but yet wanting for more. As a good story should.

6 likes1 stack add
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The Graveyard Book | Neil Gaiman
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I ❤️ Neil+Chris

4 likes2 stack adds