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#lisa rereads asoiaf
capinejghafa · 10 months
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BOOKS
tagged by @saritasoyyo thank you!
Rules: in a text post, list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard — they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you.
ok, so i’ve read a lot crap... and sometimes i question my taste in books. so, don't think of this as recommendations. what so ever. Also, I don't tend to read solo books, and 9 out 10 times I accidentally pick up a series.
ASOIAF by grrm. I have a tattoo of the House Martell sigil enough said.
Six of Crows by leigh Bardugo. I first listened to this on audible and I know shocking... but if you've never experienced the audio version, it's such a good listen to. But also it's good on it's own too! I read/listened to this after reading a miserable series and it helped me out my depression. So say what you want about audiobooks lol
Wallflower verse by Lisa Kleypas. Did the series age well? No. But did this insp my love of historical romance? Yes. Also, I have read all of this series... there's a lot. I'm unashamed.
Scarlet Scars Series by J.M. Darhower. Tbh this is a spinoff of a pretty awful series and none of this should work for me... but there's something about reading this when you're in a depression or self-destructive mood that put things in an interesting pov.
Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. I read this when I was 14 going on 15. And oof reading it now it tough but I did love it as a kid and have three complete editions of this specific series.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. This list doesn't have to be good lol I have the longest history with this series and it's just part of me... whether or not I like it.
Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones. Such a promising start that left me hate reading by book 8. but did i finish the series? yes.
Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. I debated on adding this because I don’t know if it stuck with me for the right reasons, but i think about it sometimes and I even did a reread a few months ago.
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. I read this as an adult™ and the entire time I was like Meg definitely didn’t know how to write a character with depression respectfully and it shows. But I think for what it’s worth, as I’m not the targeted audience, it’s a fast and somewhat charming read. And the reason why I can never watch PD2 again lol
Beautiful Creatures Series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. This is another one that i was not the targeted demo, but it stayed with me in a way that some of the books I was reading around this time didn’t *coughs in romance novels*. I love the potential of the world and what it could have been. And I think about that potential a lot.
did you all need an explanation? no. but i was in a mood to talk about my weird book choices lol i did not follow the rules *looks away*
tagging (no pressure): @totchipanda @linearao3 @whatanybodygets @genuineformality and anyone who wants to talk about books
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poetlcs · 4 years
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books I’ve read in 2020 (so far) + their ratings
non-fiction
crossing the line: australia’s secret history in the timor sea by kim mcgrath: important research into australia’s theft of oil in timor leste. didn’t rate
hood feminism: notes from the women that a movement forgot by mikki kendall: essay collection dissecting modern feminism, pointing out the exclusionary practices of mainstream feminism and offering new frameworks through which feminism should operate. really recommend. didn’t rate
the uninhabitable earth: life after warming by david wallace-wells: good introduction to environmentalism and the climate disaster. a little too introductory for me but good for those new to the topic. ★★★
homo deus: a brief history of tomorrow by yuval noah harari: it is simply not Sapiens nor as good as Sapiens. Looks at potentials for our future but, thought it was a little poorly researched. Some parts were still interesting though.  ★★★
SPQR: a history of ancient rome by mary beard: a little dense at times, but super interesting and detailed look at ancient rome. enjoyed it a lot. ★★★★
sister outsider by audre lorde: collection of audre lorde’s essays and speeches, about feminism, lesbianism, the queer community, being Black and a lesbian ect ect. outstanding, important collection anyone interested in intersectional feminism must read. ★★★★★
all boys aren’t blue by george m. johnson: memoir about johnson’s experiences growing up as a Black gay boy in a poor neighbourhood. Very poignant memoir, written in such accessible language which I liked. guarenteed to get you emotional, another one everyone should read. didn’t rate because it’s so highly personal that felt wrong but highly recommend. 
under a biliari tree i born by alice biari smith: memoir by an Aboriginal Australian detailing her life growing up learning traditional Aboriginal ways and how the lives of Indigenous Australian’s have been impacted through the years, specifically in Western Australia. Probably more aimed at school age people but still a 101 I think many Australian’s (and non Australian’s) can benefit from. didn’t rate 
classics
maurice by e.m forster: gay man coming of age story in college + themes around class and sexuality. forster’s end note saying he thought it imperative to write a happy ending because we need that in fiction, i love him. ★★★★★
emma by jane austen: read before seeing the movie. loved emma as a character but thought this was okay compared to other Austen I’ve read. ★★★½
perfume by patrick suskind: a man with an incredible sense of smell starts murdering young women to try and bottle their scent for a perfume. weirdest shit I ever read still don’t know how to feel about it. ★★★
the color purple by alice walker: follows the life of Celie, an Black woman living in rural Georgia. deals with her relationship with her sister Nettie, her lover Shug Avery, and with God. this tore my heart to shreds absolutely everyone must read it, like even just for the beautiful writing ALONE. ★★★★
a study in scarlet by arthur conan doyle: its sherlock holmes #1 no further explanation required. not my fave sherlock story, was the weird morman subplot needed? ★★½
dracula by bram stoker: yeah vampires!! this was way easier to read and also way funnier than I expected. we STAN gothic aesthetics and Miss Mina Harker here. ★★★★
fantasy
the diviners by libba bray: teens with magical powers/abilities solving mysteries in 1920′s new york. reread. ★★★★★
lair of dreams by libba bray: the diviners #2. reread. ★★★★½
before the devil breaks you by libba bray: the diviners #3. reread. best one in the series hands down.  ★★★★★
the king of crows by libba bray: waited so long for this series ender and it let me down lol. ★★★
clockwork princess by cassandra clare: the infernal devices #3. dont @ me this is my comfort reread series and I was travelling. ★★★★★
we unleash the merciless storm by tehlor kay mejia: we set the dark on fire #2. latinx inspired fantasy about overthrowing a corrupt government with an f/f romance. didn’t like as much as book one but still good, BEST girlfriends ever. ★★★½
wolfsong by t.j klune: basically feral gay werewolves and witches living in a town together. feels like a teen wolf episode but way more gayer. despite that hated the writing style and I don’t like age gap romances so yay the concept no the execution.  ★★
the fate of the tearling by erika johansan: the tearling #3. finally finished this series, dunno why everyone loathes the ending so much I thought it was cool. underrated fantasy because it’s very unique. ★★★★
girl, serpent, thorn by melissa bashardoust: persian inspired fantasy about a girl who is cursed by a div to kill anyone she touches. has an f/f romance. bashardoust writes the most aesthetically rich settings I love her. ★★★★
crier’s war by nina varela: reread. f/f enemies to lovers where the main character poses as a handmaiden in order to try and murder the princess whose father killed her family. PEAK gay content literally a modern classic. ★★★★★
we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal: I was so disinterested in this book I barely can describe the plot but basically it’s a prince and a hunter who are enemies but are forced to go looking for this magical artifact together anyway it was boring.  ★
ghosts of the shadow market by cassandra clare + others: short story collection set in the shadowhunter world. probably the strongest of her collections but they just don’t hit the same as her full length books. didn’t rate. 
a storm of swords: part two by george r.r martin: a song of ice and fire #3. I WILL finish reading these books eventually i swear !! probably the best one yet though. ★★★★
amarah by l.l mcneil: world of linaria #3. high fantasy with politics, dragons, warring races. tolkein/asoiaf vibes if they had more women with agency. didn’t rate because I haven’t decided my feelings on the end yet. 
science fiction
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: f/f enemies to lovers between spies on rival sides of a time war. good book but writing style wasn’t for me (others love this so eh take my opinion with a grain os salt:  ★★★
not your sidekick by c.b lee: main character is from a superhero family but has no powers herself, so she takes an internship working with a superhero corp. has an f/f romance with a villain character. so much fun and super cute
speculative fiction:
the deep by rivers solomon: speculative fiction wherein pregnant African women thrown overboard by slave ships gave birth to babies that became mermaids. main character holds all the memories of her people’s past but runs away after being unable to deal with the burden. about self discovery, intergenerational trauma and the burden of remembering. a little short imo but still all round excellent book ★★★★
how long ‘til black future month? by n.k jemisin: short story collection, many with an afro-futurism focus. hard to explain because there is such a wide variety of stories but this is an AMAZING collection. didn’t rate because I don’t like rating short story collections but wish more people would read it. 
mystery
the family upstairs by lisa jewell: woman inherits an english house and starts to unravel the secrets of a mass cult suicide that happened there years ago. loved it because it was wild. ★★★★★
the hand on the wall by maureen johnson: truly devious #3. boarding school mystery where the main character has to solve a murder that happened in the 1920s at her school while another mystery is happening in present time. my least favourite of the series but satisfying conclusion nonetheless. ★★★½
contemporary fiction
maybe in another life by taylor jenkins reid: dual timeline book showing the two outcomes of a decision the main character makes. cool concept but ultimately boring book because I didn’t care about the main character at all.  didn’t rate because I didn’t finish it. 
girl, woman, other by bernadine evaristo: vignette stories of various women whose lives are vaguely interconnected. incredibly well written with such vivid characters. deserves the hype. ★★★★
tin heart by shivan plozza: australian YA, the recipient of a heart transplant wishes to connect with the family of her donor, after she discovers the identity of her donor. good story but didn’t like the writing style. ★★★
a little life by hanya yanigahara: follows the life of a group of friends living in life, especially that of jude, a closed off and damaged man with a troubling past. a little too torture-porny/Tragic Gays but I cannot deny the author has a beautiful writing style and I went through all the emotions. didn’t rate
a girl like that by tanaz bhathena: explores the events leading up to the main character dying in a car crash. set in Jeddah, saudi arabia and explores expectations on women, feminism and expressions of sexuality and relationships between women during teenage years. kinda no good characters but I loved it for it’s messy depiction of teen girls (whilst not condemning them for this). underrated. ★★★★
little fires everywhere by celeste ng: drama in white american suburbs when a new family moves in and the neighbours start investigating their past. eh, I heard a lot about this and thought it was just okay. ★★★
stay gold by tobly mcsmith: trans boy decides to go stealth at his new school and falls for a cheerleader, georgia. about navigating being trans and definitely felt like it was written to educate cis people. it was okay but ultimately not my thing and not really the story I was looking for, even though I respect it being written by a trans author and still would recommend to certain people. ★★½
everything leads to you by nina lacour: main character and her best friend have to unravel a hollywood mystery, all while the main character is trying to get over her ex-girlfriend and find work as a set designer. f/f romance and loved the focus on movie making and the power of stories. ★★★½
the falling in love montage by ciara smyth: a girl meets another girl at a party, but she’s not looking to date due to the amount of family issues she has going on. so her and the girl decide to spend the summer having fun, renacting scenes from rom-coms, but never dating. awesome family dynamics and the relationship between the two girls was sweet also set in ireland which is fun. 
normal people by sally rooney: explores the relationship between connell and marianne, who meet in school, date secretly, and then are inexplicably drawn to each other for the rest of their lives. explores power dynamics, relationships, love and trust, and what we owe to eachother. great book, great mini-series, love it to bits. ★★★★★
the glass hotel by emily st john mandel: impossible to explain this book, but there’s a mystery about grafitti, a ponzi scheme and a character falling to their death on a boat under suspicious circumstances. honestly idk what happened in this book but I liked it. ★★★½
historical fiction
half of a yellow sun by chimamanda ngozi adichie: historical fiction about the biafran war loosely based on adichie’s family experiences. incredibly well written with an ending that punches you in the gut. ★★★★
hamnet by maggie o’farrell: explores the shakespeare family after the death of their child, Hamnet, from the plague, and how this leads to Shakespeare writing Hamlet. cool as fuck concept and boring as fuck book with such tropey female characters. ★★
all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr: WW2 fiction, dual perspective between a blind girl living in france and a german boy forced into nazi youth. I cannot believe this book is award winning it’s so boring and predictable and i reget the time i wasted on it. ★
poetry:
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong: poetry memoir. vuong writes a letter to his illiterate mother, knowing she’ll never read it, exploring their relationship, his experiences growing up as second generation Vietnamese-American, and hers during the Vietnam War. My favorite book I’ve read so far this year, just too good to explain, genuinely just feel like everyone is better off for having read this. ★★★★★
currrently reading:
girls of storm and shadow by natasha ngan
meet me at the intersection: edited by rebecca lim & ambelin kwaymullina
stamped from the beginning: the definitive history of racist ideas in america by ibram x. kendi
get a life, chloe brown by talia hibbert
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fineosaur · 5 years
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2 13 20
2. What’s next on your ‘to-read’ list? (Fan fiction or otherwise)
for fanfiction i really want to read @gizkasparadise‘s the fury . i literally have no time lately so that is like at the top of my list. (also if i start now, I KNOWW that i will continue reading till im all caught up because i have no restraint when it comes to good fics)
for others i’ve been meaning to catch up with asoiaf, i need to get started on AFFC but i still have to buy it and apparently im illiterate lately
13. Exes or established relationship?
Exes, i love a good, we ended things cause the timing wasn't write, kinda romance. because it always has a certain degree of light angst
20. Do you have a favorite fanfic or author? If so, tag them/post a link and share the love!
fanfic author would be be a honourable mentions of those i’ve read more than one of their works and loved (i dont have a favourite but these should work)
sneetchstar - i fell in love with her merlin fics that i literally am unable to read anything in that fandom that isn’t written by her 
aryasbadbenergy - jess has top tier gendrya aus, i started reading ‘jilted lovers’ before season 8 aired and i remember constantly checking for updates lol
obsessivewriter - ‘the king and the master of war’ has me floored, i don’t think i’ve read a gendrya canon fic which has the fluidity and descriptions as hers 
for other authors - Lisa See & Anchee Min have been some of my favourite authors for years now, i constantly find myself wanting to reread their books
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aerltarg · 2 years
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“dragons can't be the lightbringer” crowd pls don't cry but grrm made fun of you years ago and through stannis' own mouth at that LMAO
honestly the fact that THEE lightbringer can't possibly be a literal sword should be obvious for so long. ever since beric and thoros using their flaming swords were introduced ppl should've figured this out bc no way all of them could be THE burning sword aka lightbringer from the prophecy.
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aerltarg · 2 years
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my little prince already knowing so much abt his ppl at his young age 🥺
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aerltarg · 2 years
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your daily reminder how straightforward grrm actually is w his foreshadowing
asos:
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adwd:
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aerltarg · 2 years
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honestly fuck every “dany doesn't have any idea what courtesy means” or “dany just The Angry TeenagerTM” bullshit. these ppl literally have never read any of her chapters.
just look how many times kraznys mo nakloz insulted her, while she actually understood him, but did she lose her temper? did she throw a temper tantrum bc she wasn't getting any respect, let's alone the one fit for a queen she is? did she forget her purpose bc of any of that?
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just tell me how many characters in this series would be able to keep a straight face hearing such insults directed at them.
but when did dany come close to losing it?
as one of the quotes above shows, when kraznys started to harm others, the unsullied in front of them, “it was hard to pretend not to understand”.
and even more so there:
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some characters in these books can't master a single drop of sympathy when ppl are dying in front of them but dany gets so angry and sick after hearing all of this that she started to feel faint. long dead infants whom she never met, long dead dogs she never saw, and yet she almost dropped her play after just hearing abt them and carried these feelings towards the very end of the chapter, after many hours since she left kraznys.
it's the first chapter where we actually get to meet the slaver's bay and the real face of slavery. and grrm went out of his way to show us how ugly it is w every single detail. the main representative of slavers there is kraznys and the man managed to insult literally everyone around him almost w his every breath, revealed himself as not only incredibly cruel slaver but also a misogynistic piece of shit at that.
in these quotes i also highlighted some passages, like kraznys laughing at dany for showing kindness and compassion and openly despising her for this as well as talking without blinking abt men being sold “for less than the price of their swords”, abt many atrocities done to unsullied, abt forcing them to murder infants in front of their mothers, calling incitement of a bear on three little boys w non-existent intention to allow any of them survive “a nice folly”, etc.
and i dare anyone to look me in the eye and say that “slavery is complicated”, “it's a part of their culture” or “grrm doesn't write slavery as clearly evil and deserved to be destroyed practice”. i dare you to try and say that kraznys didn't deserve to die, that dany is wrong for killing him, that dany is mad for doing so, that we aren't supposed to cheer for her, that she isn't a hero for that and freeing unsullied and the whole anti slavery campaign.
i can't imagine how anyone can read these books and come to the conclusion that “slavers are innocent” LMFAO
btw, a child murder is portrayed as one of the biggest sins and the worst crimes possible (if not the biggest and the worse) by the narrative all the time. so grrm filling the very first chapter we spent in the slaver's bay w the great variety of violence, abuse and horrible deaths of children inflicted by slavers is NOT setting up slavery as “complex issue”.
it was pointed out again and again but i will repeat once more. grrm doesn't give the purely evil monsters any redeeming qualities in his books. not a drop of greyness. it should be obvious enough already. and yet fandom doesn't have problems for acknowledging this w gregor clegane or boltons. but when it comes to dany? suddenly it's “why wouldn't anyone think abt poor slavers” and “but what abt the economy” or “it's their cUlTuRe” lmao
i also would like to point out a really tiny but curious detail that probably isn't a thing put there w a purpose from grrm. though, maybe it is... but anyway, this chapter is Daenerys II, ASOS, that that comes after Arya IV, where we have gendry talking abt thoros of myr, how he used to bargain w a blacksmith over a price of his swords (“slave swordsmen can be had for less than the price of their swords”, remember?), and Bran II is the chapter that comes after Daenerys II where we have the line “Some people hurt others just because they can” in the context of winterfell being taken by ramsay and boltons' men w the great unnecessary violence, e.g. murdering all the ppl living in the castle.
tldr; you need to open just one (1) random chapter to see what a nonsense bullshit antis invent in their obsessive attempts to hate on dany. 1) dany is very smart, perfectly knows what courtesy and self-control is, but also is a very kind and compassionate person w a strong sense of justice who can let any insults against her personally slide but gets infuriated when meets injustice and violence against others, esp innocent and defenceless ones like children. 2) dany is the hero we are supposed to root for in her fight against slavery just like we are supposed to root for jon when he decided to march against boltons or even for oberyn when he fought gregor clegane demanding justice for elia. dany is quite different from these men, though, bc she fights not over any personal reason but for the greater good, for many ppl she doesn't even know. bc slavery IS evil and it's needed to disappear, full stop. the “slavery is complex”/“some slavers are innocent” narrative is nowhere to be seen.
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aerltarg · 2 years
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continuing my slow and lazy asos reread and realising for 152536 time that the fandom would never forgive dany and arya for the little things sansa actually does
“A new gown?” she said, as wary as she was astonished.
“More lovely than any you have worn, my lady,” the old woman promised. She measured Sansa’s hips with a length of knotted string. “All silk and Myrish lace, with satin linings. You will be very beautiful. The queen herself has commanded it.”
“Which queen?” Margaery was not yet Joff’s queen, but she had been Renly’s. Or did she mean the Queen of Thorns? Or…
“The Queen Regent, to be sure.”
“Queen Cersei?”
“None other. She has honored me with her custom for many a year.” (Sansa II, ASOS)
antis would never shut up how dany or arya are super dumb for thinking that anyone in kl would refer to margaery as a queen bc of her marriage to renly or to olenna as the queen just bc she's called the queen of thorns lmfao. yet here we are and have fanon political genius sansa while in the books she is lit like that lol
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aerltarg · 2 years
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i've finished my (slow and lazy) acok reread and it just strikes me once again how real main characters should act. however much ppl might criticize dany's acok arc she's very active in every chapter, SHE moves the plot, not the other way around. she's doing smth, learning, changing, making a difference.
and the same can be said abt the rest of the key five. while others are lucky to be cameras yk
like certain ppl can get mad however much they want but they can't change the fact that if in someone's pov there are only actions of other characters and sometimes even the lack of respond and reaction from the one whose pov it actually is, then it's just a camera lmao, just a convenient way for the author to describe certain scenes in certain places that can't be shown any other way.
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