This reading journal was inspired by my dissatisfaction with all the reading journals I've ever owned. This is my personal take on the ideal reading journal — I hope you enjoy it! Here is a quick rundown of its components: The basics — title, author, publisher. I deliberately included publisher here because there are so many … Continue reading Free Downloadable Reading Journal
Call it September vibes if you want, but I'm on a bit of a dark academia binge at the moment (the genre, not the aesthetic—although I do love me some corduroy, if you must know). In pursuit of which I just read the viral sensation The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. I have conflicting thoughts … Continue reading Dark Academia: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
The Nomeolvides women are bound by three things: 1. Anyone they fall in love with vanishes.2. If they leave the bounds of La Pradera, the estate they live on, they will die. 3. They can make flowers grow from their fingertips. Feiwal and Friends, 2017 Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore is a gorgeous fairy tale … Continue reading Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
Once upon a time I had trouble finding books that I enjoyed. I am pretty picky with my reads, and often a book that is getting a lot of press and accolades leaves me cold. Suffice it to say that I had to figure out some ways to find books that I loved without relying … Continue reading Beyond the Bestsellers: How to Find Your Next Favourite Book
Content warning: child abuse, ritual sacrifice This novella was not quite what I was expecting. It tells the story of seventeen-year-old Silvie, who, along with her parents, is accompanying a group of university students and their professor on a 2-week "experimental archaeology" camp to reenact Iron Age life in northern England. Silvie is not a … Continue reading Heat, Haunting, and Heartbreak: Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
A heat wave book if I ever read one. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi is a book that colourfully conjures sun, sweat, and that shimmer in the air on a hot, hot day. Oh, yes, and a little splash of blood, too. Simon & Schuster, 2022 It is … Continue reading Furiously Alive: You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
I first heard of this anthology when Catherynne M. Valente tweeted about it back in May. She said: "Please please buy this, I genuinely think my story in it is one of my best, if not my actual best ever." Well. As a huge fan of hers, how could I refuse? And then...and then I … Continue reading Someone in Time: Tales of Time Crossed Romance
Content warning: transphobia, abuse, sexual assault One of the perks of having a wildly out of control TBR list is that sometimes you don't remember exactly what a certain book is or why it's on there. You just recognize its title and author one day in the library, and a little bell goes off in … Continue reading A Tonic Against Despair: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryko Aoki
The Awakening is one of those books that has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages, unread. I finally sat down and read it, and now I have Some Thoughts. The introductory note in my Dover Thrift edition teases with the following: Chopin's second and last novel, The Awakening, was published in 1899 and aroused … Continue reading (Sea) Salty Thoughts on The Awakening by Kate Chopin
I am eternally searching for murder mysteries that scratch a very specific itch. I have extremely high standards and a very particular set of criteria for my ideal mystery novel, which are: The mystery must be a satisfying puzzle; there can be none of that nonsense where the author springs a crucial piece of information … Continue reading A Murder Mystery After My Heart: Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely
topazliterary.com 