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garbagewitchcraft · 2 years

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Elemental Correspondences

~*~WATER~*~

Direction: West. Time of the Day: Sunset. Season: Autumn. Colors: blue, purple. Sense: Taste. Cycle of Life: Maturity. Instruments: anything that is resonant. Plants: underwater plants, algae, lily, plants living near water. Animals: water animals (frogs, water insects, fish, swan, crab etc.). Places: lakes/ponds, sea/ocean, beaches, swimming pools, bathroom, cold climate, tides.

Gender: Feminine. Tarot: Cups/Chalices/Goblets. Zodiac: Pisces, Scorpio, Cancer. Planets: Moon, Neptune, Pluto. Energy: Receptive. Emotional. Changeable. Crystals: blue crystals. Mythical Beings: Mermaids/Sirens, Water Fae, Nymphs/Nereids, Rusalka, Selkie, Kraken, Nessie, Leviathan, Titans, Undines.

Ritual Tools: fish bone, shark teeth, teapot, teacup, mirror, crystal ball, sea shell, sand, spray bottle, seaweed, comb, bowl, pearls, fishing nest. Ritual Forms: brewing, making tea, cooking with water (boiling), cleaning (windows, floors, dishes), taking a bath, cold herbal infusions. Ritual Types: divination, enchanting, cleansing, dowsing, astral travel, lucid dreaming, healing, lunar magic, scrying.

MAGICK NOTES:

Introducing water magic to everyday life is the easiest of all the elements!

While making tea, imagine putting good energy/intention into it and then drink it to have a good day! Afterwards (if you have time and skills) you can feel free to do divination, using leftover tea leaves.

While taking a bath/shower in the evening, imagine the water pouring onto you to be white/light in color and the water dripping off of you to be black/greyish color. I use it to cleanse myself of all the negative energy.

Looking into mirror as a divination is a very disturbing experience for me! Like, it’s effective, it can get weird though.

Water in a spray bottle can be used for space cleansing if you don’t wanna use incense all the time. Also it’s good for the indoor plants if you have any!

Washing dishes is another ritual of mine and it’s a good way to meditate. I just get lost in thought.

If you want to practice water magic, follow moon phases and use them to your advantage!

Water magic is not necessarily only gathering water and using it, but also perfoming spells or doing anything spiritual during specific weather conditions (ex.: raining, storm, snowing, hail stones).

TYPES OF WATER USED IN SPELLS:

Moon Water - great for all kinds of spells and craft! Moon water can have different abilities, all depending on during which moon phase we charged it in. The best water is the one charged during full moon or super moon as it is the most powerful.

Sun Water - keywords: positivity, strenght, happiness, courage, good health.

Rain Water - good for cleansing, meditation and relaxation. Keywords: growth, regeneration, cleansing, rest.

River Water - good for warding or spells with a clear goal as river water has a focused energy. Keywords: movement, action, flow.

Lake/Pond Water - I find it good for connecting with nature or animals. Could be used in animal magic. Keywords: wildness, nature, hidden, isolation.

Swamp/Mud Water - good for curses, hexes, binding, wishing someone bad health. Keywords: disease, dirty work, sticky, messy.

Sea Water - good for protection, banishing and any form of spell that needs powerful but calm energy. Keywords: vastness, life, fear.

Dew Water - keywords: vulnerability, peace, refreshing, delicate, calm, waiting. Good for Fae communication or any creature that is elusive.

Storm Water - good for spells that needs a lot of power. Be warned though, it’s very different from the sea water; it’s uncontrolled, chaotic and doesn’t last long. There’s a lot of anger and destructive energy.

Ice/Snow Water - keywords: endings, change, patience, harmony, growth.

Cemetery Water - good for necromancy, of course. You can put some in a spray bottle and spray it in a room in which you want to communicate with the dead.

Well Water - keywords: wishing, domesticity, home, family, community. Could be good for communicating with spirits/creatures living near or in your house.

Fog/Mist - keywords: invisibility, mystery, hidden, blindness. Spells including ‘clouding someone’s judgement’, those in which you want to stay anonymous as much as you can or those who will slowly start working over time.

~*~FIRE~*~

Direction: South. Time of the Day: Noon. Season: Summer. Colors: red, orange, yellow, gold. Sense: Sight. Cycle of Life: Youth. Instruments: string instruments (guitar, violin etc.) Plants: spices, strong-smelling, stinging or irritating the skin, resembles sun or fire, thrives in warm weather/sun/hot climate. Animals: lion, tigers, cats, lizards, foxes, snakes, scorpions, coyote. Places: hot climate, bedroom, hot springs, volcanoes, desert.

Gender: Masculine. Tarot: Wands/Torches. Zodiac: Leo, Sagittarius, Aries. Planets: Jupiter, Mars, Sun. Energy: Projective. Creative. Transformative. Crystals: red/orange/yellow/pink crystals. Mythical Beings: Dragons, Phoenix, Demons, Fire Giants, Golems, Jinns, Cyclops, Chimera, Fire Fae.

Ritual Tools: candles, lamp, sunlight, spices, ashes, metals, bones, hair/nails, firewood, matches, knives, alcohol, charcoal. Ritual Forms: cooking, baking, grilling, heating, sunbathing, having sex, intimacy, dancing, candle work, cauldron work, taking a risk, burning. Ritual Types: divination, enchanting, cleansing, protection, purification, transformation, destructive magic, banishing.

MAGICK NOTES

It’s not as easy to introduce fire to everyday life as it was with water but it’s not impossible!

The easiest thing to do is to use fire/heat in baking/cooking/grilling. For me, the fire is all about protection and destruction (sometimes cleansing but it’s cleansing by destructive force) so by using it, we get rid of all the bad stuff inside of us.

Sun is the ultimate ally to fire magic and so are stars! Sun brings us life and happiness but it also makes us sweat like pigs so, for me, it’s still cleansing by destruction. Meditation during star gazing is great and I feel like spending time with someone under starry night sky is the best thing to deepen the connection! It’s also good to just talk out loud to either a deity or a spirit guide.

I find all physical sports to be fire-related but dancing is the biggest one! Sweating, lots of energy but also fun is a great way to connect to your inner fire. Sports involving adrenaline are also fire-y.

The most common way to practice fire magick is to burn stuff. Incense, paper, bay leaves. It’s good for manifestation, protection or banishing.

In general, be careful with fire. I find the safest option is to just use candles. Down below, there’s not many examples of how to use different types in spells but I included keywords so you can decide on your own if it speaks to you or if you want to try it at all.

TYPES OF FIRE USED IN SPELLS:

Bonfire - keywords: friendship, community peace, happiness, fun.

Torch Flame/Lantern - keywords: wildness, rawness, travel, guidance, focused.

Lightning - keywords: chaos, destruction, power, fear.

Sunlight - happiness, positivity, joy, strenght, courage.

Candle Flame - generally good for everything and commonly used. The main type of fire magick.

Burning Flame - it could be small burning flame (aka candle flame) or when you take specific things (like your ex’s things) and burn them in a big pile to move on/banish them. All depends on the intention.

Match’s Flame - keywords: elusive, short-lasting, quick. Can be used in any types of spells or even divination. We light the match and wait for it to burn. If it doesn’t then the spell won’t work/the answer is no, etc. I’ll elaborate in a different post.

Grilling Fire/Heat - keywords: abundance, prosperity, survival.

Cemetery Candle Flame - necromancy again. Better to perform at a cemetery, rather than at home.

Heat - keywords: energy flow, cleansing.

~*~AIR~*~

Direction: East. Time of the Day: Morning/Sunrise. Season: Spring. Colors: white, transparent, gray. Sense: Hearing. Cycle of Life: Infancy. Instruments: wind instruments (flute etc.). Plants: plants with strong aroma, plants located high, plants with pollen/heavily pollinating. Animals: birds, flying insects. Places: mountains, high buildings, schools, offices, libraries, airports, travel agencies.

Gender: Masculine. Tarot: Swords/Knives/Daggers. Zodiac: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius. Planets: Uranus, Venus, Mercury. Energy: Projective. Mental. Elusive. Crystals: white/clear/gray crystals. Mythical Beings: Pegasus, Gryphons, Zephyrs, Fae of Trees, Striga, Gremlins.

Ritual Tools: feathers, bells, incense, brooms, wands, fans, balloons, ribbons, wind chimes, dream catchers. Ritual Forms: music (singing, playing instruments, creating), burning incense, listening/talking/communicating, writing, meditation, spending time outside, hanging objects, learning. Ritual Types: divination, enchanting, learning, chaos magic, storm magic.

MAGICK NOTES

Not much I can say about air magic but I’ll try my hardest.

Air is a very elusive element so there are no actual material uses.

As you can see in ‘Ritual Forms’ I listed some examples of how I see practicing air magic which is mostly through music (but also painting/drawing!). It’s all the things that require your brain and focus.

However, there are some actual spiritual option for all the folks that wants to practice air magick.

Follow atmospheric conditions and perform spells accordingly. Spend time outside and focus on the wind surrounding you.

Work with birds! There is a form of divination called crow counting.

There’s a lot of types of air divination like shuffling songs, throwing stuff, by pendulum or Nephomancy (by clouds). There’s a whole wikipedia page about that!

~*~EARTH~*~

Direction: North. Time of the Day: Midnight. Season: Winter. Colors: green, brown, black. Sense: Touch. Cycle of Life: Advanced Age. Instruments: drums. Plants: all plants, mushrooms, moss. Animals: dogs, wolves, insects, cow, horse, bull. Places: forest, meadow, park, kitchen, basement, caves, canyon, mines.

Gender: Feminine. Tarot: Pentacles/Coins/Discs. Zodiac: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo. Planets: Saturn, Venus, Mercury. Energy: Perceptive. Physical. Crystals: green/brown/black crystals. Mythical Beings: Dwarves, Fae, Dryads, Gnomes, Goblins, Trolls.

Ritual Tools: rocks, crystals, leaves, herbs, seeds, flowers, dirt, coins, food, wood, cards, books. Ritual Forms: cooking, baking, gardening, handmade stuff, walks in the nature, spending time with animals, offerings, cleaning the house/nature. Ritual Types: divination, enchanting, grounding, binding, animal magic, leaving the old behind.

MAGICK NOTES:

Practicing earth magick is really easy. It’s all about grounding, nature work, animals and using your two hands.

The most recognizable form of earth magick is kitchen and animal magick!

I find earth magic to be the most peaceful but isolated and unburdened magick of all! It minds its own business, it just want to be left alone and do whatever it does the best. It’s my favourite!

There’s not much to say because I think earth magick is pretty self-explanatory.

TYPES OF EARTH USED IN SPELLS:

Ashes - it all depends on what we burnt. Sage ashes are good for protection/cleansing, bay leaves ashes for wishing/manifesting. In case of paper ashes it depends on what we used the paper for/what was written on it.

Cemetery Dirt - necromancy again!

Regular Dirt - can be used in spell involving banishing, letting go, unbinding, manifestation.

Used Tea Leaves - if we made the intention, then the usage of the leaves depend on the intention! If not, then we might focus on the type of tea we drank. The leaves are also good for divination.

Destroyed Crystals (in small particles) - depends on the crystal!

Ashes From The Bonfire - or so called wood ashes. Can be used in spells involving cleansing/banishing/letting go/unbinding.

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2mysticmoons · 2 years

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#elements #four elements #earth #air #fire #water #elemental correspondence #elemental #elemental correspondences #correspondences #symbols #symbolism #magick #crystals #plants #astrology #tarot #spirituality #zodiac

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transsexualjoanofarc · 1 month

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Idk why I can't send this through my alt but what thw fuck is up with Depeche Mode. You have to see them because what the hell

CRYINGGGGGFRHEHRHDHS

#me.txt #correspondence #my friends :)#depeche mode #BOTTOM LEFT CLEARLY YOU DONT OWN AN AIR FRYER.JPEG

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expatesque · 7 months

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Amber, crow and cosy???

Wishing you a wonderful autumn - hope you get to enjoy fires in cosy pubs, warm cafes and see as many autumn colours as you want ♥️🧡💛

Amber - what's something you do every day? Something to help future me, whether that's loading the dishwasher or making an appointment or not listening to that album that I know will have me spiraling until 2am. I'm trying to do one nice thing for future me every day until it's second nature.

Crow - what's an unpopular opinion you have on autumn? I'm not very big into Halloween -- I like seeing the little kids dressed up for trick or treating but I don't really like dressing up myself and I hate Halloween parties.

Cozy - describe your ideal fall day. It's sunny but cool, with a good breeze. I play morning tennis followed by reading in Russel Square with a tea from the cafe there. Then drinks with a friend at a favorite pub, maybe the one with 3 fire places. Or, on a Sunday, museum in the morning, something cooking low and slow on the stove in the afternoon, evening spent curled up watching an autumnal movie, window cracked and blankets piled up.

+ autumn asks

#thanks babe!#i hope you have a fantastic autumn too #feeling the cleansing power of crisp air and warm clothes healing me minute by minute #about s #correspondence #ask games

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fruitzbat · 3 months

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fuck man i love my research. italian communists are some of the funniest people on earth

#it's such a breath of fresh air to be coming from like incredibly dour soviet correspondence #and then the head of the PCI is out here in a letter like 'i actually got into politics bc my town magistrate had a cool dog'#'realized as i got older that the cool dog i could have regardless. stayed anyway'#everything about gramsci makes way more sense when you realize he was a 4'10 sardinian organizing on the mainland #remy yells #remy does a doctorate

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chiropteracupola · 1 year

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been having the window open now that it's warm out. here are some sounds that I've enjoyed so far:

people digging a hole

inexpert but nonetheless very pleasant recorder playing

assorted small birds

geese!!

singing

Trains, Amplified and High-Definition :)

#news from the cupola #this has been today's instalment of the Minnesotan Correspondent. spring is in the air (also the train)

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tma-entity-song-poll · 3 months

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Battle of the Fear Bands B2R2: The Corruption

Fear and Delight:

"Toxic Love!!!! A song about loving somebody who is almost certainly going to ruin you."

youtube

This is Love:

“Violent, abusive, controlling love that leaves its victim thinking it’s right and good. “This is love.””

youtube

Lyrics below the line!

Fear & Delight:

Oh, but I know you'll cause me grief Close friends of mine are in disbelief As they can see what's underneath Fluttering lashes, red lips and pearly white teeth I don't show it but I quiver whenever you come near And I cannot decipher between the thrill and the fear I wanna stop it but like it too much to let it stop here It's wrong but I want you tonight It's not my own volition but I fell in deep By running the distance I've been advised to keep I trot to the wolf as a doting sheep It's wrong but I want you tonight Fear and delight All the way through the night With a little derring-do Oh, I'll fall in love with you Fear and delight All the way through the night With a little derring-do Oh, I'll fall in love with you I'm a little boy that's gonna be getting his fingers burned But I can see this lesson's gotta, gotta, gotta be learned They say that boys have been destroyed but they weren't It's wrong but I want you tonight In any case, my friends, it's too late Like a moth to light, like a beast to bate And I know the black widow eats its mate It's wrong but I want you tonight Fear and delight All the way through the night With a little derring-do Oh, I'll fall in love with you Fear and delight All the way through the night With a little derring-do Oh, I'll fall in love with you I'm an innocent being seduced by your charms I'm a young boy tickled to death in your arms Your kisses taste like bitter almonds It's wrong but I want you tonight Addiction pulling me to a grave end You're an enemy who I'm keen to defend Down the black hole of my lust I descend It's wrong but I want you tonight (It's wrong but I want you tonight) (It's wrong but I want you tonight) (It's wrong but I want you tonight) (It's wrong but I want you tonight) (It's wrong but I want you tonight) (It's wrong but I want you tonight) (It's wrong but I want you tonight) Fear and delight All the way through the night With a little derring-do Oh, I'll fall in love with you Why is it that I'm keen to be devoured by you When there's the option of a love affair that's pure and true? I always choose the dungeon over the sea view It's wrong but I want you tonight When I'm out the other side I say never again But when I'm out and about I wanna find the next vixen Someone who'll be sure to drive me 'round the bend It's wrong but I want you tonight Fear and delight All the way through the night With a little derring-do Oh, I'll fall in love with you Fear and delight All the way through the night With a little derring-do Oh, I'll fall in love with you

This is Love:

You're no good, you're no good You could kill me and you should I'm an idiot for thinking This was anything but blood On the wall, on the couch On the corner of my mouth You must like being the victim You've done nothing to get out Of this pattern of pain Washed away by the rain You'll forgive me if I promise And do nothing but the same This is life until death Could be my last dying breath But this is love, love, shut up, this is love Forget everything you used to know I think you better tell your friends to go Stick around 'cause I'm about to show you The beginning is the end Yeah, I know wrong, I know right But I just love to pick a fight And I can sleep with one eye open If there's any sleep at night I got my knife, got my gun Let's see how fast you can run You might think that you can hurt me But the damage has been done It's pathetic, I know A jealous fool who won't let go If I was sorry for my actions Would I ever stoop so low Got no reason to live And I've got nothing left to give you But my love, love, fuck it, this is love Forget everything you used to know I think you better tell your friends to go Stick around 'cause I'm about to show you The beginning is the end Oh I was hit as a kid I was good but then I quit Everyone that tried to fix me Knows that I can't change a bit I've got no shame, got no pride Only skeletons to hide And if you try to talk to someone Well then someone has to die Once you chase me down the hole Yeah once you think you're in control You'll believe that we are partners And you're feeling comfortable Oh then the darkness rolls in And you'll forget who I have been Oh but you'll love, love, love it, this is love Forget everything you used to know I think you better tell your friends to go Stick around 'cause I'm about to show you The beginning is the end The simple love that your grandparents had This kind of love will only make you mad, honey It hurts at first but it ain't that bad You gotta wonder what it meant This is love This is love (Ooh-ooh) This is love This is love (Ah-ah) This is love This is love (Ooh-ooh) This is love This is love

#the magnus archives #tma #poll #the corruption #the correspondents #air traffic control #Youtube

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bibliophileiz · 4 months

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2023 in Books, Part 2

(posting a day late, oops)

This was a pretty great literary year for me. Even the books at the end of this list I enjoyed reading. I left out an anthology I read for class (Peach Pit is ... interesting) and a book of poetry written by someone I know, just because I don't know anything about poetry and don't want my personal feelings about the poet (she's great) to muddle it even further. I also already posted a separate list ranking the six children's/YA books I read. That still leaves thirty-one books to rank, though.

As usual, this is based entirely on personal preference/enjoyment and not necessarily on quality of writing or story. I reserve the right to change my mind about this ranking as soon as I post it because I am fickle like that. (Although I don't think I'm going to change my mind about my number 1 choice.) Here ya go.

31. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling Dates Read: Dec. 12-13 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: A witch accidentally curses her ex-boyfriend, and by extension her small magical Georgia town. She and her ex have to lift the curse without falling in love (which of course they do anyway). One-sentence review: (directly from my GR review) Cute and witchy, just the thing to get you through finals week.

30. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld Dates Read: April 28-May 7 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: A musician and comedy writer seem to hit it off when the musician guest stars on the comedy writer’s late-night show, only for the writer to blow it by assuming the musician is a shallow womanizer. A few years later, they rekindle their connection during pandemic lockdowns. One-sentence review: I liked the characters, but as usual Sittenfeld is more interested in commenting on whatever she saw on Twitter while she was writing this then she was on, like, writing a dramatic plot.

29. The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray Dates Read: Aug. 19-27 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: All of Jane Austen’s beloved couples (except the Tilneys), plus the Darcys’ son and the Tilneys’ daughter, attend a house party at the Knightleys’ where Mr. Wickham turns up and is immediately murdered. One-sentence review: This is what P.D. James’ Death Comes to Pemberley SHOULD have been.

28. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Dates Read: May 24-27 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: It’s the 1960s, and chemist Elizabeth Zott was kicked out of her Ph.D. program for reporting her supervisor for rape, and then loses her job after she becomes pregnant outside wedlock, and ends up starting her own STEM cooking show and some other stuff happens, look, I know you already read the reviews of this one. One-sentence review: It was fine, I just thought it was overrated.

27. The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull Dates Read: Aug. 23-Sept. 7 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Two women immersed in the French art world in the 1930s and ‘40s defy their German occupiers by hiding, documenting, and sometimes copying “degenerate” art to keep it from the hands of high-ranking Nazi officials and sympathizers, or to keep it from being destroyed. One-sentence review: The main characters were great and I really like the focus on protecting art and culture from extermination, but the constant time jumps drove me nuts.

26. Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid Dates Read: April 3-5 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Less than two weeks into her marriage, a young woman is widowed and only meets her mother-in-law at the hospital. The two strangers find a way to navigate their grief together. One-sentence review: While the grief could be gut-wrenching due to Reid’s fantastic writing, the characters were nothing spectacular.

25. Hell’s Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, America’s First Serial Killer Family by Susan Jonusas Dates Read: Jan. 29-31 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: The Benders were a creepy family in late 19th Century Kansas who murdered people who stayed at their boarding house and then disappeared before they could be arrested. One-sentence review: I’m not super into true crime—it has to be historical for me to even start it--but I did like the look at life in the Midwest.

24. Galatea by Madeline Miller Dates Read: Jan. 6 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Madeline Miller retells the Pygmalion myth in a way that doesn’t suck. One-sentence review: Miller smartly skips the gender misery by making this a short story and then delivers an extremely satisfying ending.

23. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Dates Read: July 26 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Korede and Ayoola are sisters who fall for the same man. Ayoola is hot and a serial killer, and Korede is getting pretty tired of covering for her. One-sentence review: Despite (or perhaps because) all the characters are awful, this book STAYS with you, and I feel like it would be a blast to talk about in a drunken book club. Note: I listened to the audiobook and want to give narrator Adepero Oduye a shout out.

22. The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec Dates Read: July 24-Aug. 17 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: Three friends in Medieval Scandinavia find themselves in the middle of a Game of Thrones-esque rivalry for the crown and a deadly battle between supernatural forces. One-sentence review: Good story and I liked the characters, but it moved too slowly sometimes.

21. The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan Dates Read: May 7-10 GoodReads Rating: Four stars (I was feeling more generous about Grace marrying Hugh than I am right now) Summary: A sewing circle in a small English village in the 1940s decide to pool their talents and resources to help English brides wear the perfect white gown to their weddings, clothing rations be damned. One-sentence review: Ryan excels at writing about women and civilians in wartime, and I would have ranked this so much higher if it hadn’t ended with the best character marrying the worst one.

20. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Dates Read: Jan. 31-Feb. 8 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Aging actress Evelyn Hugo (who is not Elizabeth Taylor, by which I mean she absolutely is Elizabeth Taylor) invites a young journalist to write her life story. One-sentence review: The plot was engaging and thought-provoking, but I never could decide how I felt about Evelyn.

19. A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher Dates Read: Oct. 28-Nov. 1 GoodReads Rating: Three stars Summary: An archaeologist visits her mother at the family home in North Carolina only to find that her grandmother’s ghost is haunting it. But how do you banish a ghost once you learn it’s keeping something far worse at bay? One-sentence review: Of all the haunted house books I read this year, this one was the worst, and yet it was still great.

19. To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Waters (That’s right, I ranked a trashy Regency romance above both Romantic Comedy AND Lessons in Chemistry) Dates Read: May 17-24 GoodReads Rating: Four stars (Objectively, this was too many, but I also don’t care.) Summary: When Viscount Penvale’s uncle promises to sell him back the family estate for a steal if Penvale marries his uncle’s ward Jane, Penvale reluctantly agrees. He and Jane make an agreement to leave each other alone, but Penvale didn’t expect to fall in love with her. Nor did he expect his family house to be haunted. One-sentence review: The Regency Vows series just keeps getting better, honestly.

17. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson Dates Read: Aug. 31-Oct. 13 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Humor writer Bill Bryson and his on-again-off-again friend Katz decide to hike the Appalachian Trail, and Bryson tells you all about its history and natural resources along the way. There are moose, but no (confirmed) bears. One-sentence review: This book got me really into nature and hiking again.

16. The Shining by Stephen King Dates Read: Dec. 1-4 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: I know you know what this book’s about. One-sentence review: Super tense, riveting look into the mind of a toxic, self-absorbed abuser who doesn’t need to be anywhere near blizzards, haunted houses, or children.

15. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid Dates Read: July 12-23 GoodReads Rating: Five stars (Objectively, this book probably deserves that. Subjectively, I like Regency romances and journalists better than sports stars.) Summary: A retired tennis star full of rage and ambition makes a comeback to keep a younger player from breaking her record. One-sentence review: An absorbing, balanced take on the pressures women athletes face, plus a heart-warming father-daughter story, with some romance and female friendships to round it out.

14. Swamp Story by Dave Barry Dates Read: Dec. 30 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: There is actually too much going on to summarize this book, but suffice to say it involves a desperate single mom, her shirtless fame-hounding ex-boyfriend, a failed journalist with a drinking problem, and a lot of people in the Florida Everglades looking for a cryptid OR Confederate gold OR pythons. One-sentence review: Dave Barry writes about Florida like it’s a drunk, eccentric relative who everyone hangs around at the family reunion even though he smells bad, because he has the best stories.

13. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas Dates Read: Oct. 15-28 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: During the Mexican-American War, a Wuthering Heights-esque couple learn their homeland is being stalked by vampires. One-sentence review: You root for the couple, you root for the Mexicans, you even root for the vampires once or twice, but you never root for the Texas Rangers. Note: The couple is Wuthering Heights-esque in the sense that he is poor, she is rich, they were childhood sweethearts, and then they were separated—not in the toxic incest way.

12. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall Dates Read: July 12-23 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: A trans woman believed to be dead at the Battle of Waterloo reinvents herself and returns home to England, only to find that her best friend has been consumed by grief over her death. As she helps him heal—and he slowly falls for her—she battles with whether to tell him who she really is. One-sentence review: I'm a sucker for love stories in which the couple are torn asunder, believe they will never see each other again, and then are reunited unexpectedly. Note: This actually would have ranked a lot higher if all the main couple’s angst wasn’t basically resolved in the first half. The second half is fine but not as good.

11. The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Dates Read: Dec. 26 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: A young woman must choose between two potential “lovers” who come from the woods in this dark fairy tale novella. One-sentence review: Finally, a good werewolf book.

10. The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak Dates Read: April 4-14 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Puhak writes about the feud between rival Merovingian queens Fredegund and Brunhild in sixth century western Europe. One-sentence review: It’s like Game of Thrones, but real, shorter, and with more women and less sexual assault.

9. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Dates Read: Dec. 14-25 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Vowell writes Lafayette’s biography, focusing on his and the larger French role in the American Revolution, all while musing on our country’s inability to agree on anything. One-sentence review: Vowell’s irreverent essay style is just the tone needed to tackle the oft-romanticized American Revolution.

8. The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas Dates Read: July 23-26 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: In the aftermath of the Mexican War for Independence, a young bride moves to her landed husband’s country estate, only to find that the house is super haunted and her new in-laws super racist. One-sentence review: Your standard haunted house story, except the ghost is colonialism.

7. Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune Dates Read: Oct. 29-31 GoodReads Rating: Five stars (was probably generous, but the ending had just made me cry, so) Summary: When workaholic Wallace dies, his spirit is sent to a teashop for transition to the afterlife. But after a few weeks of hanging around teashop owner and “ferryman” Hugo, his reaper, and the ghosts of Hugo’s dog and grandfather, Wallace realizes he doesn’t want to leave what he’s coming to think of as his family. One-sentence review: A lovely mixture of funny and sad, this book is a nuanced look at death and found family.

6. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Dates Read: Nov. 1-6 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: A debutante from Mexico City visits her cousin’s haunted house in the countryside where she’s pulled into a mystery surrounding her cousin’s eugenics-obsessed in-laws. One-sentence review: Noemi is a fantastic character, and the plot is engrossing, which is good because you will hate all the other characters.

5. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Dates Read: Aug. 9-29 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: In 1996, Outside magazine sent Jon Krakauer to cover the burgeoning commercialization of Mount Everest. When Krakauer climbed the mountain himself, he and his team got caught in a freak snowstorm that resulted in what was then the worst disaster in the history of the mountain. One-sentence review: Apart from being a really tense and riveting account of a brutal natural disaster in an already brutal environment, Krakauer’s account of the 1996 storm on Everest raises questions about who should be on the world’s highest mountain and whether money and fame have blinded guides and climbers to the risks of tackling the summit.

4. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty Dates Read: Nov. 20-30 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: Amina al-Sirafi, a retired smuggler and single mom on the Arabian peninsula, has to get her old band crew back together for the promise of more money than they’ve ever dreamed of when wealthy grandmother hires Amina to rescue her kidnapped granddaughter. But things go awry when the crew learns the girl is with an evil crusader with plans to unleash dark magic and monsters on the world. Inspired by the rich mythology, religions, and history of the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean. One-sentence review: I have not had so much fun reading a fantasy novel since I was a kid reading Harry Potter and I can’t wait for the sequel.

3. Lone Women by Victor LaValle Dates Read: Oct. 5-12 GoodReads Rating: Four stars Summary: In the early 1900s, a woman burns her parents’ mangled bodies in their California farmhouse and flees to Montana with a secret locked in a heavy trunk. One-sentence review: Frankenstein meets Calamity Jane in this horror Western about race and female friendships.

2. We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian Dates Read: Oct. 28-Nov. 9 GoodReads Rating: Five stars Summary: Two men reporting for a progressive newspaper in 1950s New York fall in love. One-sentence review: I mean, it’s journalists in love in the 1950s, and one of them is investigating police corruption and the other covered a Civil Rights meeting in DC, so of course I loved this book.

1. The Correspondents: Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II by Judith Mackrell Dates Read: Nov. 27-Dec. 26 (during finals and holidays with family—I don’t think I could have finished the book if it wasn’t so good) GoodReads Rating: Five stars Summary: Mackrell covers the WWII careers of six journalists—a correspondent in Berlin who ingratiated herself in the Nazi Party to tell America about Hitler’s plans for world domination; a photojournalist for Vogue who took pictures from the Blitz to Dachau; a young American whose coverage of both sides of the Spanish Civil War catapulted her to journalistic stardom; Martha Gellhorn whose fury at her husband (you’ve heard of him) compelled her to illegally stow away on board a hospital ship and cover the invasion of Normandy from Omaha Beach while helping wounded soldiers; a rogue freelancer who broke the story of the invasion of Poland and whose thrill-chasing career took her from there to Greece to North Africa and beyond; and Helen Kirkpatrick, who covered the liberation of Paris while Hemingway was getting plastered at the Ritz.

Review: There is too much to say about this book. Mackrell did an incredible job. These journalists’ triumphs and tragedies play out alongside the triumphs and tragedies of the world’s biggest conflict. Each woman had different motivations and goals, from thrill-seeking to career-making, from spite to idealism to simply a love of journalism and dogged search for the truth. While Sigrid Schultz’s Chicago editor applauded Hitler’s control of Germany, Sigrid warned his readers of Hitler’s ambition. When the world turned a blind eye to Hitler’s military build-up and annexation of half of Europe, Virginia Cowles and Helen Kirkpatrick wrote furiously against Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement. And while the rest of the world celebrated the end of the war in Europe, Lee Miller swept through Dachau taking pictures and refusing to ignore the human cost of fascism and war.

All of this was at great personal risk. The Nazis tapped Sigrid’s phone and searched her house until she was finally forced to flee to America in the early 1940s (where her editor promptly benched her for three and a half years). Virginia dodged bombs in Madrid, and Helen dodged bullets in Paris. And Lee Miller defiantly washed off the stink of Dachau in Hitler’s own bath, which was immortalized in a photo her equally defiant boyfriend took in the days after the Fuhrer’s death. Mackrell’s prose also gets into the nitty gritty of correspondent life, how the reporters all camped out in hotels and spent their days chasing stories and their nights drinking whiskey. She discusses the friendships and rivalries—Marth and Virginia became great friends in Spain and eventually wrote a play together satirizing the misogyny they faced during the war. And while the stars are the six I mentioned above, cameos include Mary Welch (Hemingway’s wife after Martha), Dorothy Thompson, Vogue editor Audrey Withers, and “Maggie the indestructible” who convinced an American commander to let her go on a bombing mission over North Africa, paving the way for other women correspondents on the front line after the US entered the war. Plus there are appearances from Picasso, both Randolph and Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, David Lloyd George, the Duke of Windsor after he abdicated, Hemingway of course, and half the Nazi high command. Mackrell uses the women’s own words to describe the bombing of Madrid, the mass evacuation from Paris, the refugee crises in Eastern Europe, and the Night of Long Knives in Germany. Every moment is riveting as Mackrell and the women she writes about pull you into Europe of the 1940s.

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