Just finished reading The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett and one of the many things I loved about this book was the way that it represented neurodivergency. I don't think I've ever read another book which has explored that to this depth (granted I haven't really gone out of my way to do this).

Like, Din having dyslexia was really influential to the plot and his character arc, but also wasn't like the only thing he was struggling with. And I loved seeing Ana being just...well very Ana, aka very autistic coded.

The moment at the end of the book (spoilers I guess) where there is just a beautiful moment of neurodivergent solidarity between the two. How Ana tells him that she chose him BECAUSE of his neurodivergency, and how she saw it as a strength. How she believes that the empire needs to be able to work for all of them. Low key made me emotional.

Anyway, would highly recommend the book. Its a fun murder mystery fantasy book with leviathans, spontaneous eruption of trees from the body (not a euphemism), and two very neurodivergent detectives with a very funny and endearing dynamic.

Omg i forgot about my fav part of the Fires of Popeii Target Novellisation. This bit HIT HARD so if youre gonna read it then scroll cause SPOILERS inc

Ok so the scene where they hit the switch to blow up vesuvius, chapter 13 ends at them hitting it, the next page?

Then turn the page and onto chapter 15

Chapter 14 takes us out of the story, out of doctor who and into the real lives of people in pompeii, its their chapter of that awful day, and it needs few words to tell that story cause all they knew was, in pompeii the world ended.

the archive undying is a book that was made so precisely for me to enjoy and i know this because i tried to tell my best friend about it and i literally couldn’t because they kept being like “that’s exactly what i thought you’d say that’s exactly what i thought you’d say” over every single word starting from the title

not me finishing seven husbands of evelyn hugo in two days, (5 reading hours) girl bye. I am too much.

Whenever a woman without children loved an animal or a cause or anything else – anything else besides that which she ought to love most in the world, that which she ought to spend all her days trying and longing for – it was thought to be a substitute for what she did not have. No matter that all three of us had looked upon the Creature with pride and joy; I alone was not its creator, or its artist, or its inventor, but merely a mother, most qualified to care for it not due to any intelligence or observation on my part, but due to the perversion of some natural urge.

Our Hideous Progeny, C.E. McGill

Just finished Thirteen Storeys and spoilers but I gotta say my favorite part was that a billionaire was getting hunted by ghosts every time he left the building and his only plan was ‘let’s invite them to dinner’

Slaughterhouse Five is a lot sadder when you reread it and realize Billy Pilgrim is just Kurt Vonnegut in a coat. What I mean by this of course is that in the very first chapter, the introduction really, you notice things. Most of Billy's stories are just Vonnegut's reworded tales, most of the things Billy feels are just Vonnegut's thoughts. It's why Slaughterhouse Five is so good, it is tales of war from someone who went to war about someone who went to war. There is no glamorization, war isn't romanticized. It's ugly and true.

Just finished reading this book and it was really good. While I was reading it, it put me in mind of the Hollywood Ghost Club from Julie and the Phantoms a little bit. Mysterious sorcerer, exclusive guest list, sophisticated setting and magic that has to been seen to be believed? All of that can be found in Hotel Magnifique, with a little bit of darkness thrown in as well. If you enjoyed that storyline in the show, then you’ll love this book.

When he was in high school he had promised himself to walk all the neighborhoods of Los Angeles in order to be able to understand his city in all its complexity. As he continued to fulfill his goal over the years, he realized that the exercise would prove impossible. In every area he got to roam, he'd confirm what he already suspected: there were hundreds of cities within his city, each telling a different story. He'd need several lifetimes to understand its many incarnations.

Maria Amparo Escandon, "L.A. Weather"

“When you can tell the story and it doesn’t bring up any pain, you know it’s healed.”

Don't you imagine the leaves think how

comfortable it will be to touch

the earth instead of the

nothingness of air and the endless

freshets of the wind?

well i finished my sister the serial killer. and oddly enough? i love the ending. spoilers under the cut

so even tho i hated ayoola nd wanted korede i think how it ended was the best life korede’s was ever gonna get in that state. when she was on the fence she was suffering. she definitely deserves a true love beyond what she could provide but tade was colorstruck and was willing to blame her for everything bc she wasnt the pretty sister and must be jealous.

the sisters are codependent as hell from all that trauma and i find their relationship to be interesting. like while splitting from ayoola and developing as her own person would be what’s BEST for korede they’ve become so enmeshed with each other where that’s the norm. so atp the best korede is gonna get in the fucked up situation she’s in is picking the most beneficial side. and in a fucked up way the side that was looking out for her was ayoola :/

as selfish and short sided and off her rocker as ayoola is. tade knew korede for s long and was quick to turn on her. granted, ayoola is the one that poisoned the well but when it came down to it she was willing to kill to stop a man from passing the blame onto her sister. like i said its fucked up but in the situation where korede is isolated from everyone i get why she’s sticking with the devil she knows.

i totally understand the ending and while you really WANT a big blow up. a giant change. realistically. with the one person korede wanting to save being so quick to treat her like shit.  there’s no way she’d have that perfect ending. i get it

From experience, I knew what to do. Write. Write anything. Bad sentences, meaningless sentences, anything to get the mind fixed again to that sheet of paper and oblivious of the 'real' world. Write until the words begin to make sense, the cogs mesh, the wheels start to turn, the creaking movement quickens and becomes a smooth, oiled run, and then, with luck, exhaustion will be forgotten, and the real writing will begin. But look up once from that paper, get up from the table to make coffee, or stir the fire, even just raise your head to look outside the window, and you may as well give up until tomorrow. Or forever.

-Stormy Petrel, Mary Stewart

I read "To Be Taught, If Fortunate" yesterday. What a lovely book. What a lovely story. Such great character development, such interesting sci-fi tech (Somaforming! Very cool!), and what a resonant ending.

Mona Awads “Bunny” got me fucked up. What even happened?!? The final quarter of that book was just vibes.