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Ever since I graduated college (I was an English major), I haven't really felt the urge to read that much anymore, but I'm starting now (more like since 2022) and I don't think I have had this much fun reading since high school (I had an intense YA novel phase)
1. All About Love by bell hooks
- Obviously everyone on the internet knows this book and/or has heard about it somehow!! This book is a very basic book when it comes to people wanting to know more about themselves and how to love themselves and the community around them. It was mostly about stuff that I'm already thinking about so it was okay.
2. Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks
- NOW THIS ONE??? This one is fucking delicious!! It takes a more anecdotal look at how to incorporate love btwn self and community thru bell's own life thru the rise of feminism in the 60's and 70's. I found myself really jiving with this more bc oftentimes in my life I've felt invalidated when it comes to not only romantic love, but also just wanting to be loved and desired in general. So if ur a lovergirl/boy/person, I'd highly suggest reading this bc bell gives us the voice and tools to understand why we want love and care about the topic itself so much, while helping us to pursue it in a healthy way.
3. Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology for Women by Jean Shinoda Bolen M.D.
- This book is an interesting one bc it takes the archetype of 7 Greek goddesses: Hera, Persephone, Demeter, Hestia, Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite and talks about how each goddess can show up stronger in every woman at different parts of her life. It also explains if they have more than one goddess in them or more energy of one than the other, what the strengths and weaknesses are, and how to make them adapt to modern life
I'm reading this rn and I'm enjoying it fully (mostly bc I am a greek mythology buff), but it's also helping me recognize a lot of the parts of me that I knew were there, but it just helps me look at it from a different lens.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- He's like our generation's James Baldwin and he wrote this book as a letter for his son, and the first time I read this, I actually cried. It was that beautiful to see a black man taking the time to eloquently articulate how the world views black people and how his son (who has privilege) can operate within our society. An incredible book to read if u would want to read a father connect with his son in a very intimate and refreshing way :)
I'll make another post about the books I want to read this year :)))
Apr 23, 2024
Related Recs
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Courtesy of my handy dandy Storygraph app
The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of Domination
- I am a heavily involved BDSM girly (i love the movie Secretary if u guys get that reference), and I'm excited to see how this book navigates domination, authority, and pleasure mixed in together
Women Who Run with the Wolves
- I'm very excited to get into my Lilith era and see if this book speaks to her. I bought this book around the time I bought the Goddess book
East of Eden
- I saw Brittany Broski describe the book's plot and I knew I had to put it on my list
Dracula
- I'm obsessed with Bram Stoker's Dracula and I think it's time for me to dive into this masterpiece fr
The Iliad
- I saw a tiktok describing the intro of the book and the fact that people are saying Dr. Emily made this the easiest translation of the epic, and this will help me dive into classics more bc I really want to read more of them
The Fire Next Time
- I'm such a James Baldwin nerd and I want to get into more of his works so badly
The Inner Tarot: A Modern Approach to Self-Compassion and Empowered Healing Using the Tarot
- I'm an astrologer/tarot reader, and I want to try to integrate tarot in a more practical and tangible way in my life
Now will I get thru all of these books in 2024? Maybe! Maybe not, but I'm excited to see where the year takes me <3
Apr 23, 2024
This is actually just a list of my favourite reads so if you do check them out maybe I'll fall in love with you...
-The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
-At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop
-Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
-This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
-Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
-Foster by Claire Keegan
-Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
-Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
-Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
-Everything Salley Rooney and George Orwell :P
Jan 23, 2024
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It was spring break so I had a lot more time on my hands…
Articles/Essays/Short Stories/Newsletters
• Every Hair Casts a Shadow - Moira McCavana (via Paris Review)
• Meaghan Garvey’s interview with her crazy ex fiance (via her Substack SCARY COOL SAD GOODBYE #13 and unfortunately behind a paywall 🫤)
• I’m Looking to Jump Ship Sooner Than I Should: A Conversation with Percival Everett - Ayize Jama-Everett (via LA Review of Books)
•A Descendant’s Call for Whale Legal Personhood - Mere Takoko (via Atmos)
… did you know one whale can capture an average of 33 tons of carbon dioxide over its lifespan? and that when they die they sink (called a whale fall) and that carbon in their bodies gets trapped at the bottom of the sea floor! then their carcasses decompose and become a nutritious food source for deep see organisms! We 🩷 whales 🐋!
• Andrew Huberman’s Mechanisms of Control - Kerry Howley (via NY Mag) lol
Books
• Foster by Claire Keegan - posted a rec for this the other day… a girl is sent to live with relatives for the summer on the coastal countryside of Ireland and experiences a warmth + affection she’s not known before… had me crying on my red eye flight)
• Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson - It starts with two strangers meeting at a pub. Took me a little bit to get used to the second person point of view and I connected with it more once I read it as more of a narrative poem. Caleb’s writing is very lyrical with such lush descriptions throughout. It explores the complexities, community, and consequences that come with being Black. Ultimately an ode to Black joy, love, community, art, and music!
• Darryl by Jackie Ess (still reading… about halfway through) - “Darryl Cook is a man who seems to have everything: a quiet home in Western Oregon, a beautiful wife, and a lot of friends to fuck her while he watches” oooo baby!
Apr 1, 2024
Top Recs from @thewarblerette
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I finally started a new job I've been wanting to for months, and I have been there for a week
And I had a big breakthrough and I feel so good and so successful, I'm on cloud 9 and now I want to go into a coma all weekend and sleep bc I'm tired af LMAOOOOO
I'm so so proud of myself
Jul 13, 2024
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Idk who is into astrology on here (like really into it), these transits are fucking me up so badly my god
Apr 22, 2024
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Late last year I was saying (as an astrologer and I was looking at the 2024 transits and just things happening in my life) that Summer 2024 is going to feel like soooooo many people coming back to their interests or personality traits that they had when they were younger!!
We're just older, more mature, and now can actually really delve into our niche interests :)
in: wearing sunscreen, early morning walks with friends, yerbamate, skorts, summer playlists curated by friends, abandoning your phone for grass, trying new fruits, sincerity
out: plastic water bottles, sweating, irish exiting (guilty…..), being a pigeon hater (nyc people unleash urself from this fear)
Apr 16, 2024
Apr 27, 2024