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october reading journal || She is Beautiful -- October Monthly Reset || Cleaning House, Content Planning & Reading Journal

when my journaling inspo fails, spooky season will always help 🖤

#octoberbulletjournal #octoberbujo #octoberwalkthrough #octoberreadingjournal #octoberrejo #octoberbulletjournalwalkthrough #octoberreadingjournalwalkthrough #walkthrough #journalwalkthrough #journaling #journaler #booktuber #booktube #readingjournalsetup #readingjournalinspo #oct2023readingjournal #oct2023bulletjournal #reading #reader #bookblr #booklr #book tumblr

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end of year tbr || Textbook Overplanner -- End of the Year Book Tag

am I the only one who always makes an overambitious list of books I have to get to in fall? 🍂 thankfully, I’ve already finished Cherish Farrah and Legends & Lattes!

#booktuber #booktube #reading #reader #fall books #books for fall #book recs for fall #autumn books #books for autumn #book recs #book recommendations #horror books #fantasy books #bookblr #booklr #book tumblr #book stack

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I’ve been saying that T. Kingfisher is my comfort author for a while now, but I haven’t been able to fully articulate why until recently. It had something to do with her characters—that I knew. But what is it about her books that comforts me even when the books themselves are sad or scary?

While reading Thornhedge, I realized that I think it has something to do with the sense of duty Kingfisher gives her characters. Even when they are wholly unqualified to be the one doing the thing, they do it anyway because, well, someone has to, and aren’t they someone? Do her characters often wish someone would come along to take a task off their shoulders? Absolutely, but since that doesn’t happen, they do their best…even when they feel like they’re failing. And I love that sense of duty because doing good is often not easy and requires a lot of strength and perseverance, and I love seeing her characters grapple with this very human endeavor (even when they’re not fully human).

As for Thornhedge specifically, it’s short, sweet, and even a bit sad—a great fairytale retelling that I think is appropriate for readers young and old, and it encapsulates a lot of what I love about Kingfisher in general.

#tbr #q

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JOMP Book Photo Challenge

Sep 09, 2023 - Bookish Royalty

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time to bloom once again ♡

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🌙📖✨🤍

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JOMP Book Photo Challenge || July || 15 || Couldn't Put Down

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Excited to finally be reading this one.

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"A library is never complete. That’s the joy of it. We are always seeking one more book to add to our collection."

-The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente

#quotes #q

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Some of these books will be unhauled as I strive to have only books I am proud of/want to hug/reread.

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tea and little women

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book review || Rouge by Mona Awad

~Thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of *Rouge* in exchange for an honest review. ~

She does it again. So good. Fantastic.

Right from the start, we see that Mirabelle is obsessed with beauty and looking young— much like her mother before her we see in the small flashbacks Mira remembers of her mother. I was impressed at just how often beauty and style were brought up: - Mira’s mother owns a dress shop and Mira works in one as well - The constant references to Mira and her mother’s youthful appearances - The obsession Mira has with skincare products, using them as a way to calm herself, referencing what products other people could benefit from, obsessing over trying to cover the scar on her forehead - Seeing how Mira longs to be complimented by others - The “self-love” mentioned, but often is being sold by cosmetic companies who benefit from the idea. - colorism! Because Mira is half-Egyptian and was never able to see herself in those around her, particularly her mother. Mira definitely has a similar feel to Miranda in *All’s Well* and Samantha in *Bunny* — jaded, cold, and lonely, but in this we see her grief over her mother and the confusion that comes with it, especially once we see some of her memories with her mother. I was so intrigued by the maternal element of the story— seeing how the little comments and throwaway actions imprinted on Mirabelle so that she’s desperate to be seen as beautiful. She’s tied her entire value as a person to how people view her. It’s heartbreaking and hauntingly familiar for most people. Oh my god though, the way this theme in particular was wrapped up at the end? I adored it. It’s so wonderfully and terribly relatable. I loved how Awad worked in the bit about cults (and the beauty industry) somehow encouraging individuality while also making everyone as similar as possible. That desperation we all feel to conform to the ideal beauty standard, but how that also involves completely removing any sense of identity. How capitalism and the beauty industry feed on peoples’ insecurities to continue pushing products and the mirroring of that in the cult. While yes, Mira does fit into the stereotype of someone who falls victim to a cult, the beauty element shifts the perspective of it. The writing in this can only be described as surreal. It’s unsettling and dreamlike, constantly referring to the distorted view we tend to have about ourselves, but also the disorientation of grief. The atmosphere, the narrative, and the story is cinematic, so I’m simply devouring this book when I pick it up. I also loved the continuous references to numerous fairytales. Yes, it’s probably easiest to draw parallels between this and Snow White, but there’s also Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and even Hansel and Gretel, I’d argue. The blurb mentions Eyes Wide Shut (which, yeah, I can see that) but I’d also say there are definitely some bits that had me thinking of Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.

4.5 / 5 stars

#book review #rouge #rouge by mona awad #mona awad #book recs #book recommendations #horror book recs #horror book recommendations #bookblr #booklr #book tumblr #booktube #booktuber #book youtube #reading #reader #arcs #netgalley

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#same same #gpoy

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book review || The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu

y’all!!! 💀 I’m definitely going to watch out for more from Liu, this was a fantastic debut novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Death I Gave Him in exchange for an honest review. This cover is eye-catching, but selling the story of Hamlet as a locked-door queer, sci-fi, murder mystery was what made me request it and damn, was I right that I’d enjoy it. Nearly immediately I was sucked into the story. The footnotes and introductions show where each chapter’s information comes from and all add to the puzzle being put together in such a clever way. Liu’s writing style for each character is incredibly well done, as they each feel different and somehow so true to the voice I’d imagine from the characters. A (not super, if you know Hamlet) surprising twist takes place near the halfway point, but what had me most engaged was watching the characters’ reactions and reading their thoughts as they experience another shock. The same happened with a reveal that took place right before the climax. And both bring up something I loved in this book— the writing. Liu’s writing is so phenomenally matched with the story. It rides the line between scientific and sterile to hauntingly emotional. They continuously make callbacks to the original story but also weave in the many themes perfectly. You gotta pick this up, especially if you like Hamlet.

4 / 5 stars

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september tbr || It's Due to the Heat -- September TBR || Squash that Series & RomComathon

It’s September!! Fall is on her way here! I can’t wait for cooler weather and some spooky books. My TBR jars returned this month and I’ll also be participating in Squash That Series as well as RomComathon, so my tbr… is ambitious. Apart from these, I’ll also be reading:

Rouge by Mona Awad

Troy by Stephen Fry

Fence Vol 5 by C.S. Pacat

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Cursed by Thomas Wheeler

Totally Folked by Penny Reid

Getting Schooled by Christina C. Jones

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

#bookblr #booklr #book tumblr #booktube #booktuber #book youtube #sept tbr #september tbr #september reading plans #september reading goals #books to read in september #book recs #book recommendations #romance book recs #fantasy book recs #horror book recs #book series

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Got myself a copy of “Slewfoot” by Brom and I’m hooked after the first chapter.

An ancient spirit awakens in a dark wood. The wildfolk call him Father, Slayer, Protector. The colonists call him Slewfoot, demon, devil.

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“When something is broken, you can put it back together. It may not fit quite the same, or work like it did once before, but that doesn't mean it's no longer useful.”

T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

#quotes #faves #q