A drawing of a realistic dog wearing a tie saying; "I need to lock in and prove that I am capable. I need to be taken seriously." While a drawing of a cartoon dog says; "I need to stay silly and whimsical lest I lose the very essence of myself." Perpetrating an endless cycle
Endless cycle
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Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko
Good lord this was so sad. Follows Russian history for roughly the past 100 years from the perspective of two neighbours. It's interested in memory, trauma (on both a personal and societal level), and guilt.
Really good but prep for tragedy.
Cover of Burning Grass by Cyprian Ekwensi. It is mostly a bright orange with zigzag lines adding texture. Under the authors name is some light blue painted stripes that look like water. Above the title are more blue stripes that look like the sky.
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Burning Grass by Cyprian Ekwensi
A Nigerian novel about a nomadic family constantly wandering away from each other and finding each other again. Has a feel of an oral story tradition so I bet this would sound great as an audio book.
Cover for Rosarita by Anita Desai. Two women look away from each other and the viewer. The one on the right's head is painted in while their torso is sketched. The one on the left is opposite, the head is sketched and the torso is painted
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Rosarita by Anita Desai
A bitesize (95 pages) look at realising too late you dont really know someone. A chance encounter leads to chasing ghosts across Mexico with no certainty if they ever existed.
It's also mostly in second person! Super unusual.
I wanted more but that felt purposeful.
An image of the cover of The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft. In the centre is a painting of blue trees in a forest with yellow mushrooms on the ground and greenery in the middle distance.
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The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
Picked because of the title and the cover.
About translators who meet to work on a new book. The author disappears. Nobody deals with it well.
Enjoyed, but I wish I knew another language well enough to understand the playfulness of the book more!
Two books stacked on a blanket. The bottom book is The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft and the second is Snuff by Terry Pratchett.
There's a plan to make pesto pasta, wine in the fridge, and an Easter egg to enjoy.
I'm cracking on with book number one with a second in the chamber.
It's a Friday night with a week off stretched out ahead. 🥰
A photo of one side of a magic the gathering game. Kemba Kha Enduring has a Leyline Axe and a Colossus Hammer attached. There is a Sigarda's Aid and a Soul ring also on board.
I dont usually post any mtg game states, but I entered Magical Christmas Land yesterday and hit turn 3 with a 14/14 double strike trampling commander. Took a photo so I don't forget my crazy luck.
Usually our games take at minimum 8 turns to finish so this was extremely out of the blue. #MTG
Ok so reviewer 2 was more critical than the first (a universal constant) but in a really supportive way!
Going to tweak some things, then do some 💫manifesting💫 and maybe (???) cross fingers 🤞 I'll have some good news to share.
Brilliant, I will keep my eye out for it being uploaded. Thanks!
A doodle titled “yeah I love the writing process” and showing four different scenes. A figure hunched over a piece of paper, another hunched ferally over a laptop, a third making a “werk queen” face at a keyboard, and a fourth dissociating in their chair.
Back at it again in the mines
This sounds fab! Is there any chance this will be recorded? 😊
Cover for Black Magic by Marjorie Bowen. In the centre there is a black and white androgynous figure mostly in shadow holding a mirrored ball which is reflecting something hard to see. In the background wild and wavy lines of colour go outwards from the figure. It is very eye catching.
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Black Magic by Marjorie Bowen
When I saw this in the library, I knew this would be up my alley. Published in 1909 it read like a love letter to books like The Monk (1796). A Gothic tale that plays with gender, power, and temptation.
I had never heard if it. So pleased I picked it up!
Cover of Not a River by Selva Almada. It is a deep sea green with what looks like a river with two strips of red a d lots of tributaries in white and blue.
The cover for The Lord by Soraya Antonius. The cover has a black and white picture of the view from the Acropolis to Lebanon.
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The folly of this plan is revealed: picking only one book is hard.
Not a River was a >100 word novella following a fishing trip gone wrong. Hauntings, rotting fish, dance halls. ✅️
The Lord depicts a journalist gathering the details of one guy's life during the British Mandate of Palestine. ✅️
I'm trying a different reading challenge this year (beyond aiming to read a book a week).
The plan is to read through the alphabet via author surname. All books will be picked through what is on offer at the library. Hopefully this will push me to read things I wouldn't normally!
Thread below:
Love AGDQ and all the work they do to raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation!
Looking forward to having this as a companion to help make returning to work tomorrow easier.
A photo of the cover of Yume Kitasei's novel Saltcrop against a background of a green blanket. The cover is green and black with a striking pink used for the title and a little boat sailing across the front.
Finished on Christmas Eve after snagging from the library impulsively when I saw it was in. Loved The Stardust Grail so had to read this!
Thanks @yumewrites.bsky.social for a stunning book about sisterhood, environmental collapse, and sailing. It was exactly what I needed right now in my life! 🌱⛵️💚
Ace, it's great to hear someone else also did the same thing 😊
So far loving it. Did you have a good time with it too?
Photo of a sticker of meme king Jack Karlson. It says "what is the charge? Taking a piss? A scandalous transsexual piss?" With a trans flag below.
I love roller derby and I love roller derby merch 💙🤍🩷
Excellent time had watching Arcadia's annual sevens tournament!
A copy of Homer's The Iliad translated by Emily Wilson. The Book is out a fluffy green blanket.
A screenshot of Hades 2 of Poseidon. He is saying: " Ask any god upon Olympus whether we think you ought to join in our defense here, or take the fight to Chronos in your father's realm, and you'll get a range of views! A range of highly civil views, which we dont fight about at all!"
A screenshot of Hades 2 of Odysseus. He is saying: "Fishing! My greatest weakness. Goddess! The waters and I haven't always mixed, but perhaps it'll go better for me now. Besides, I'm overdue for a short leave. Let's go!"
I've been going proper Greek Myth Mode recently.
As I read I hear the dialogue of the Gods and Odysseus in The Iliad with the Hades 2 voice actors. It's very entertaining!
These books mean a lot to me. I have some reservations/queries with aspects of the story, but the "plot" isn't the main reason for the writing (to me). This is a book about the act of making meaning and perceiving connections.
The Book of Dust says fuck Occam's Razor add more leprechauns/gryphons
A top down photo of The Rose Field hardback next to a hot chocolate and a cake.
Finished The Rose Field by Philip Pullman today. Thus ends my back to back reading of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust.
I come away with a realisation that my interest in matter, storytelling, and agency (academic and beyond) was seeded in HDM and it continues through TBoD.
I got the first of two reports back on a proposal and it was very supportive! Positive and the suggestions are considered, help clarify the argument, and are do-able. A boost I sorely needed this week.
Now we hope and pray reviewer 2 is uncharacteristically similar in their kindness! 🙏
Book cover for The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran translated by Gene Png. A starry sky with clouds coming in on the right. A hand stabbed through with a rose.
The book cover for Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad
The book cover of Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers. A mossy robot hand reaches from the top towards a human hand reaching from the bottom.
The book cover for That's All I Know by Elisa Levi and translated by Christina MacSweeney. A greyhound looking dog looks down at a dead hare in a pool of its own blood which goes from red to gold. In real life the gold is really reflective.
Treated myself to some books yesterday as it was National Bookshop Day.
Got some Korean translated vampires, the Emily Wilson translation of The Iliad, a collection of the two Monk and Robot books, and a Spanish coming of age novel.
Now to find space to store them 😬
I'm feeling unwell, but I got pitbull tickets for next summer, so it all balances out.
The cover for Bury our bones in the midnight soil by V.E. Schwab. It is a majority black cover with illustrated dark blue roses. The title is in a shocking yellow that really jumps off the page.
The book cover for The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling. Depict a hooded nun-like figure holding some nasty looking honeycomb. Instead of a face the inside of the hood is full of three faces with mouths open. Is that in pain or pleasure? Dealer's choice.
Look, I enjoy horror/supernatural fiction all year, but it's vibes appropriate now to share what im reading. So:
Just finished - Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
Just started - The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
Truly revelling in women's wrongs with this selection. 🩸💀
baby pigeon looking insanely strung out next to a quarter (presumably for scale)
this is how October has felt so far
The speed. The blur. He had a mass to get to and nothing was going to stop him. Also the absurdity of it makes me smile. We didn't realise he was visiting until the day before, after translating the posters we saw everywhere in the city.
A blurred image of Pope Francis driving past very fast in the pope mobile
8 years ago, my partner and I "met" Pope Francis in Bologna. The pope-mobile was way faster than I anticipated, but I managed to snap this picture, which still makes me laugh.
A picture of the book House of Bone and Rain bu Gabino Iglesias.
I've been looking forward to reading this for a while!