Reading in a Big Room February 2026: Should I have liked Katabasis by R.F. Kuang?

Not sure if the February newsletter is a review of Katabasis or a review of reviewing or a review of me 🤔🧐

open.substack.com/pub/theredra...

This year the newsletter is a patchwork project, a once-a-month, freewheeling reflection and projection. Read if you’re interested!

open.substack.com/pub/theredra...

Thank you Avery for your insightful responses! 💕

Opinion | The Delusion of Porn’s Harmlessness

Christine Emba's undaunted critique of the porn industry (and our reluctance to condemn it) is definitely worth the read.

The Delusion of Porn’s Harmlessness www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/o...

my notion library is the only thing keeping me going

we keep on keepin on 🍏

I didn’t realize how common power outages were in my life until I moved to Japan and they ceased to occur. What’s the difference? Sheer number of lines?

wouldn’t mind if it was just the system language but it seems like foreign indie games will largely be locked since you can only access the Japanese shop 🫠
just have me show proof of residence😭

not including four in progress

those four being:
Europe and the People Without History
The Return of the King
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
L'Etranger

goal for april - to hit 20 books! why not!

so much Japanese literature seems to thrive on the acknowledgment (and thus deconstruction) of these 'widely-held assumptions' - love to see it expressed so elegantly here

why are all of your ~intellectual faves~ hot?

how are you guys posting every day

all in a day

Making plans making moves !!!!!

Also switching my posting day to Thursday because Mondays are proving lethal 🫡

Reading Roundup: January 2025 Le Guin, Kafka & Mitchell, Chung & Hur, and more.

January reading roundup! 💙📚

open.substack.com/pub/theredra...

#bookreview #reading #translation #booksky

hazy hike up mt shosha

Bella Creel's Carrd Resume of a photographer, literary critic, and editor.

I've updated my Carrd, so here it is for all—a little digital collection of my latest writings, my socials, and myself!

bellacreel.carrd.co

This post also features one of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken - look at this little wood dragon, taken in the year of the wood dragon!!! 🐉🌳

⭐︎ new post!! ⭐︎

Did you walk in the woods as a child? A post on luck, intent, and twinkling memories.

And a small goodbye to the year of the dragon 🐉♡

#photography #writing

open.substack.com/pub/theredra...

me rn

self-published writers with AI book covers 🤮🤮 pls be so fr

Would love to be added!!

Mosaic in Harborland!!! I think the store is called Gigo?

🦛

a little odd! a little reflective! a little bit a lot of me!

substack.com/@bellacreel/...

#writing #poetry #photography

⭐︎2025 reading progress⭐︎

② five stars: YOUR UTOPIA by Bora Chung in Anton Hur’s translation, and THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula K Le Guin

I’ll have mini reviews/reflections up on Substack at the end of the month~

Aiming to finish two or three more before then 💙📚

do any other women feel really weird about how our ova were there at birth or is that just me.

getting oddly romantic in the rough draft tonight lads

#writing #translation #wip