one of my creative writing professors once said that to evaluate a work as good or not, first you ask what the work is attempting to do, and then you evaluate how well it does it. and this is how to judge everything from critical essays to romance novels to snack packaging to theory tracts.
Other people have said this in notes, but the Bulwer-Lytton contest involves writing the most absurd opener you can think of and submitting it to the contest. It's not a judgment like the Razzies or the bad sex in books award or something; it's a game. Diana Murtaugh of Baltimore is to be congratulated for this win.
🌈 Hey Reading Rainbows! It’s time for our recommendation post for next month’s theme! Here are twenty-four books that we think also fit the August theme of Sun & Moon! These are a mix of Adult and Young Adult titles.
What other book would you add to our Sun & Moon theme?
First Row: Kestrel by Adrienne Lothy, Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, A Circle of Stars by Craig Montgomery, Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jazdia Axelrod, The Sun-Blessed Prince by Lindsey Byrd, Fragments of a Fallen Star by Viano Oniomoh.
Second Row: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan, The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas, Faebound by Saara El-Arifi, The Prince’s Poisoned Vow by Hailey Turner.
Third Row: Lunar Boy by Cin & Jes Wibowo, Tethered by TJ Williams, The Sun & the Star by Mark Oshiro & Rick Riordan, The Stars too Fondly by Emily Hamilton.
Fourth Row: On Wings of Fallen Stars by Khalida Başar, Alpha of Mortal Flesh by Ben Alderson, Of Tides & Snow by Darva Green, Song of a Starlit Sea by S.R. Garcia.
Fifth Row: Mercy by Ian Haramaki, A Maroon Star & a Silver Thread by Caroline Sophia Hamel, On Silver Shores by V. T. Hoàng, As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel, Under the Dragon Moon by Mawce Hanlin, Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley.
ID: A post of book recommendations based on the Rainbow Crate August’s 2026 theme. Twenty-four books in five rows: the first and fifth row have six book covers which stretch across the entire width of the graphic. Rows two, three, and four have four books with two on each side. In the middle of these is a graphic with a blue sky background. A Rainbow Crate logo with no text is at the top. Text below reads “Aug 2026 Sun & Moon Book Recs” in all caps. “Sun & Moon” is in a yellow glowing font, while “Aug 2026 Book Recs” is in a white font. End ID.
Happy International Cat Day, book lovers and bookish bats!
To celebrate International Cat Day, here are a few books I think would belong on Luna and Cleo's tbr. Based on their personalities, which books would you add?
Do you have a cat? If so, what's their name? What are they like? And would books would you put on their tbr?
Fun fact: International Cat Day first came to be in 2002. It was started by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and managed by International Cat Care to focus on global feline welfare, safety, and adoption awareness.
Now, some sadder cat facts:
About 1/3 of the US shelter population is comprised of black cats
Black cats take 24% longer to get adopted (namely because of superstition and stigma, which can also lead to cruelty and abuse)
Black cats are the least likely to get adopted
This may shock a few of you, but I was never a cat person growing up. My family had two tiny, yippy Maltese Yorkie mixes (Maxie and Lucky, who we've both said goodbye to this past year), but they were more my sisters' dogs than mine.
Bae, however, was so eager to get a cat. The year before I moved in with her, I caved and agreed. Over the span of months, she met over a dozen cats waiting to be adopted, searching for the right fit, but none seemed right.
One day, while she played with six cats in a tiny room, I stepped out (my allergies couldn't handle it). There were two carrier cases on a table outside the room--both pitch black and therefore seemingly empty. Until, through the shadows, two golden eyes blinked back at me. The kitty foster mom told me that this little black cat, Clove, didn't play well with others and had to be excluded from the meet and greet room.
Obviously, I convinced bae to take her home right away. And so Luna Pancake Clove came into our lives.
While we found Luna (sweet baby Lu), CleoCatra found US. She was a tiny little stray, caught in a ditch, found by bae's sister's dogs--and the sneaky little soot gremlin convinced them to take her home. She was presented to me as a birthday gift, and so we took home our second black cat, CleoCatra HaBeastie King.
Both cats were named after cartoon kitties (can you recognize which two? I'm holding out for a Russian Blue as our third, to name her Yzma). Each one is like a familiar to our witchy spirits (Luna, who is very much like me, is bae's familiar, while Cleo, who is so much like bae, is mine). Both have turned our little Owl House, full of weirdos, into a home.
Good afternoon, book lovers and bookish bats! I hope you've had an amazing summer full of beloved books. Personally, I'm an autumn, but that doesn't stop me from diving into a stack of amazing sapphic summer reads every year. Here are a few sapphic summer books recs for your ever-growing tbr. Did I miss any of your favorites?
What's your favorite sapphic book for summer?❓
(For my autumn girls who are desperate to cool down and cozy up, check out the fantasy slide at the end! Remember to read queer all year!)
Good afternoon, book lovers and bookish bats! As many of you know, I've already done a "What to Read After Watching Ted Lasso" book guide (which you can find in my Watch + Read" highlight), which primarily featured soccer romance books. I've also done multiple sports romance book guides, including a queer sports romance book guide, earlier this year. ⚽
Given that, I wanted to make sure this version of my What to Read After Watching Ted Lasso book guide was a bit different. Though these books may seem like random recommendations, I tried to choose a mix of sports romance books, queer soccer books, and, perhaps most predominately, books of hope and kindness. I hope you find a new favorite among them! ⚽
As a reminder, this is one of only a FEW woman's soccer team adaptations you'll see on your screen! Cleat Cute was announced for an adaptation years ago, and I'm sure my fellow sapphic book lovers are eager to see it's adaptation. These stories represent and communicate far more than you realize. Woman's sports teams are underfunded. They're not given even half the time, attention, support, or funding as men's teams. Ted Lasso is doing an amazing job at addressing these problems (the second episode is INCREDIBLE), even as the show itself is belittled for focusing on women (the irony). ⚽
It's not only a commentary on sexism. Ted Lasso had always prioritized how mental health is stigmatized among athletes and coaches. Mental health plays an important role in Cleat Cute's story as well. I'm excited to see how both shows approach this topic when focused on female athletes, who are already judged for so much. ⚽
Are you watching the new season of Ted Lasso (featuring a woman's soccer team)?❓
I'm gratitudemaxxing rn. I love my comfy bed and chocolate chip cookies and my weird gay friends and blorbo from my shows. I love libraries and parks and movie theaters and restaurants and festivals. I love bubble tea and hip hop and honeysuckle. I love everyone who's reading this.
genuinely I'm so sick of people wanting all fiction to be ethical. can we all just get a little gross with it. the point of fiction is that it's not real. we can be unethical in fiction; same goes with being perverted with fiction, being unrealistic with fiction, and being grotesque with fiction. not all fiction has to be ethical, not every character has to be ethical, and that's okay. can we stop with the puritanism. be gross. be unrealistic. be whatever. if I don't like it it's not my business as long as we're all clear that its fictional.
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