Book Things

Thoughts, feelings, whatever.

[natalieironside]

Mad At You Island is where the events of William Shakespeare's The Tempest take place

[esotericstar]

got my girlfriend into chuck tingle’s horror and we both bought a different book of his to the pool which summoned a bear who came over and was like MY MAN CHUCK TINGLE before diving into the pool

[drchucktingle]

you see what happens when you enter the tingleverse?

[willgrahamscock]

I think we are focusing on the wrong thing when talking about mainstream romantasy adult books, instead of shaming straight cis women for reading kinky books, we should tralk about how most of the newer books aimed at that demographic are just conservative propoganda, rebranding patriarchy as a kink.

[willgrahamscock]

There's nothing inherently wrong about liking the types of kinks that are present, control, power imbalance, dark themes, but when you really look at the top performing novels (which they are mass prodicing at questionable speeds) it's hard to ignore the ever present morally grey man, who's posessive over the heroine who starts off as otherworldly different from the 'regular woman' aka damsel in distress), is cruel to everyone except her, and the fantasy world revolves around the control of women, especially when it comes to forced pregnancy.

[willgrahamscock]

I'm seeing a lot of responses to this saying "this is why I read queer stories" but you're missing the point! You can relate to queer media because you're queer, cis straight women should also have material that aren't turning their opression into kinks in almost every. single. book. If they want to choose to read those stories, that's absolutely fine, again nothing wrong with exploring those dynamics, but the concerning part is how fast they're being made with the rise of booktok, and the looming threat to women's autonomy.

Remember when all mlm stories were borderine assault stories in the early 90s-2000s? and how long it took for other queer stories to be made? we all used our voices to make a change, it didn't magically stop we fought for it to not be the only type of story.

[lyricwritesprose]

And the solution to this, for people who are wondering, isn't to try to suppress romantasy books because they're not "good for women." That's an old, old game and never goes anywhere good. The solution is not less kink and less porn. The solution is more kink and more porn.

Because when you think about it, the problem isn't that you can go to your chosen bookseller and find a story where Sparklia Special gets semi-forced to have babies for Broody McDarkenfay (it's okay, she's into it). The problem is that it is unnecessarily difficult to look a little further down the shelf and find a vampire princess domming the hell out of the hunter who knows he shouldn't love her. Reducing people's choices always serves the reactionary agenda one way or another. Expanding choices. That's where it's at.

(If this sounds like I am making a pitch that we should write porn to defeat fascism, that's…not entirely a mischaracterization. I mean, of course it won't defeat fascism, but I do feel that while we work to defeat fascism, we should at least have diverse and satisfying porn.)

[mongeese]

The Murderbot Diaries are a power fantasy about being aromantic and still developing extremely important dedicated emotionally intimate partnerships where you are a top priority in a person's life, equal to their other family or romantic attachments despite your own emotional difficulties. And having guns in your arms

[whatkindofnameisella]

ursula k le guin affirmations for your day:

it is our differences which make us dearer to one another

it is never too late to start loving

the enemy is not the foreigner, but the ones who tell you to hate the foreigner

everyone should have food, shelter, and work

everything is a yin and yang metaphor if you try hard enough

sci-fi is important

[splend-42]

If I were a murderer, and I'd meticulously planned a murder, and then I turned up at the place to do the murder and found that world-famous-murder-solver Hercule Poirot was also there, I would simply not do the murder.

[warmfuzzybutch-deactivated20210]

[patron-saints]

[Image text: two tweets from orville perker @ literate_coyote. the first says “stone butch blues does not end with jess figuring out where exactly they fit between “butch lesbian” and “trans masc” but ends with them becoming a communist. organized labor and revolutionary politics is what saved them, not figuring out a specific identity. this is important.”

The second tweet says, “the book isn’t really about figuring out where you fit in this huge spectrum of labels (esp micro identities) but to find solidarity with workers like yourself, to organize along lines of shared needs like workplace safety or healthcare, because that’s how we get liberation.” End Text.]

[portraitofhealing]

Does anyone know where I can find this text because????? Holy hell that’s not happening

[warmfuzzybutch-deactivated20210]

This book is free in PDF form and you can by a print copy at cost at https://www.lesliefeinberg.net/

https://www.lesliefeinberg.net/

[queeranarchism]

Leslie Feinberg worked up to a few days before hir death to make sure hir groundbreaking book was available to all, for free. Never ever pay a dirtbag who charges a fortune for some rare old copy. Download this book for free or buy a print copy for dirt cheap. It’s what Leslie wants.

[moreclaypigeons]

Sometimes there's an elaborate bit, and then you commit to it and put a lot of time into creating something with it, pick up a new hobby or two... anyway. Here's Gatsby Great The

[moreclaypigeons]

Wow people really liked this, or were at least confused by it!

Here's a digital copy of it, along with a plaintext version, prepared-to-bind version, and the cover.

Free to use, go wild. Gatsby is in the public domain after all<3 Just don't claim as your own y'all know how this goes right

[moreclaypigeons]

i forgot to put it in the original, but when I went to fedex to pick up the pages, the employee said,

"If only there was an efficient way to read The Great Gatsby"

[itsbenedict]

[sandersstudies]

My Shakespeare students (they are 12) wanted to summarize the lessons they learned this semester. If. Um. Anybody would like to see.

[sandersstudies]

I cannot emphasize enough that they made these with very little input from me.

Henry the Fifth

- ALWAYS encourage others to do their best.

- NEVER talk about people behind their back.

Antony and Cleopatra

- ALWAYS check your produce for pests. [They liked this one so much made a rap about it.]

- NEVER count your chickens before they hatch.

Hamlet

- ALWAYS act decisively

- NEVER tell your girlfriend to go to a convent and become a nun [Oh boy they REALLY liked this one]

Romeo and Juliet

- ALWAYS collect all the important information before making an important decision

- NEVER bite your thumb at us, sir. [They enacted this scene in the original language a lot, except they swapped every “sir” for “bro.”]

The Merchant of Venice

- ALWAYS pay your debts.

- NEVER judge based on appearances, because “all that glisters is not gold.”

The Tempest

- ALWAYS try to forgive others.

- NEVER be a colonizer. [Yes, a middle schooler said this]

Midsummer Night’s Dream

- ALWAYS stay on forest trails

- NEVER fall in love with an ass. [They were excited about this one for obvious reasons.]

Twelfth Night

- ALWAYS stay in touch with those important to us

- NEVER read other people’s mail

Macbeth

- ALWAYS wash your hands. [One of the girls performed Lady Macbeth’s entire Out Damn Spot monologue at the end of the semester]

- NEVER succumb to peer pressure.

[0v9]

A truthberry might make you tell the truth... But a lieberry? A lieberry will loan you books

[readingworldwanderer]

You may think the phrase "He's just a little guy" comes from internet memes, but you would be wrong.

The true origin of the phrase belongs to celebrated author Tamora Pierce, in her 1983 novel Alanna: The First Adventure, when Gary says, "Still—what can Alan do for you? He's just a little guy"(49).

Thus, whenever we say of someone or some creature that they are "just a little guy," what we are really saying is that they are a short redheaded knight-in-training with some sort of Gender going on who will kick your butt given half a chance.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. May we all be the little guys we wish to see in the world.

Pierce, Tamora. Alanna: The First Adventure. New York, Random House, 1983.

[nitewrighter]

You might be frustrated by the library never having a complete manga collection on its shelves at any given time, but the 12 year old checking out 14 volumes of One Piece at once is vital to the library ecosystem. He's like the sea otter keeping the kelp forest from being devastated by an excess of sea urchins.

[chess-blackmyre]

To those curious some other keystone library species include:

—the retirees who’ve read more murder mysteries than I’ve had hot meals

—the paperback romance girlies (gender neutral) who check out every single bodice ripper the second it hits the shelves

—the dads very slowly making their way through a ‘1001 movies to see before you die’ list

—the one-man criterion collection who checks out like, three movies per day and brings them back the next. (TV series are only a minor roadblock.)

—kids who like Minecraft

[nitewrighter]

---The new parents checking out 47 picture books for their 7 month old baby who clearly has nothing going on in their head except the Wii Sports Resort theme song

[isuggestusingyourlocallibrary]

I suggest using your local library!

[astroargonaut]

@official-library-posts

[official-library-posts]

official library post

[turtlebot113]

My own (possibly controversial) additions:

—Old men who come in every day to read the latest issue of a particular newspaper in a particular comfy armchair for exactly one hour and then leave

—Overworked nannies who come to storytime primarily so they can stand in the back and gossip with the other nannies about their employers

—Tweens voraciously searching for any and every book that's violent, scary, and/or salacious enough to outrage their overly strict parent(s)

[shreekofjoy]

Tybalt (The Shakespeare Character) is named after Tibert (The Prince of Cats), a character from the then popular story Reynard the Fox. Mercutio, in fact, mocks him as 'The Prince of Cats' in reference to this.

Therefore, I propose we name him "Garfield" in all modern retellings of Hamlet

[mightymo63]

Wasn't Tybalt a character in Romeo and Juliet?

[shreekofjoy]

I am stupid.

[erratic-dragon-fruit]

I mean as long as we’re here we should put Garfield in hamlet anyway

[hamletkin]

[lazaruspiss]

People know that the whole "don't portray [harmful action] because viewers might recreate it" thing is a rule for children's shows right? It's supposed to be shit like "don't show peppa pig playing with fire so we don't get sued if a kid watches it and burns their house down." Not like, fanfiction for adults.

[lazaruspiss]

prev i hope u dont mind me sharing ur tags bc yeah this is an interesting add on

[morhath]

I hate when king arthur has all these fussy little steps in the instructions and you're like "no way do these fussy little steps matter" but you try it and they do. they matter so much.

[bookaddict7342]

I thought you meant Camelot quests and I was like "that's fair, 'never pick a four leaf clover on the last Wednesday of the month' IS a fussy little step that shouldn't matter" but then I was like "wait isn't that also a flour company"

[morhath]

nooo I am not a beleaguered knight of the round table I am making elaborate focaccia 😭

[mephistopheles]

midsummer: if the feudal strictness of your home kingdom can’t give you what you want, try going on an adventure guided by magical supernatural beings

macbeth: but not like that

hamlet: if you’re in a duplicitous violent world, your king and your peers and your girlfriend may lie to you, so only follow the advice of your steadfast best friend

othello: but not like that

as you like it: if you undergo a misfortune that causes you to hate your life in your city, give yourself a makeover and run away to the woods

timon of athens: but not like that

two gents: if you’re in love in italy, you can quickly and easily communicate important information via the verona postal service

romeo and juliet: but not like that

[little-cereal-draws]

I wholeheartedly believe ppl should start saying, “But Brutus is an honorable man" instead of "I'm going to kill myself" when something inconveniencing happens