Dec 17, 2025
Ok, one more picture of my book stamp, almond with a book I’m excited to read. @the-forest-library sends the best gifts 😭
Happy Jólabókaflóð, my friend!
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Ok, one more picture of my book stamp, almond with a book I’m excited to read. @the-forest-library sends the best gifts 😭
Happy Jólabókaflóð, my friend!
"I remember sitting down and thinking: I am terribly depressed and this cannot go on. And then I thought: You can kill yourself or you can get interested in absolutely everything. I read the newspaper every day; I read scientific books and geographical books and historical books and books in other languages, as well as the books that professionally I had to read, and suddenly the world became wonderful. There are two bits of it — one of it is one’s bad memories and the other is all the amazing things — and there are amazing things." - A.S. Byatt
Passions of the Mind (1991) A.S. Byatt
Reading Possession by A.S. Byatt under stormy lavender skies 💜
"I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed."
- A.S. Byatt, Possession
What I read in April.
Nothing I absolutely love this month, which is a shame, not many books either compared to the rest of the year so far.
I liked Pnin, very well observed and some very funny bits. Similarly, I loved sections of The Biographer’s Tale but didn’t feel like it amounted to anything particularly interesting, my least favourite Byatt I’ve read. Road Dogs was fine, but nothing like as witty or readable as other Elmore Leonard books I’ve read.
Saga 9 and 10 both good as usual, some big twists, lots of beautiful art.
Oh well, not every month brings a new favourite! I’m halfway through a couple of things I’m very much enjoying, so fingers crossed for May
Shop / Instagram
i finished another book last night!
i absolutely love this book; i only picked it up on monday!
ragnarok is an interesting mix of fiction & literary criticism that i find works really well, with the stories told around the conceit of a child reading 'asgard & the gods'. it's set during the second world war, & i find the comparison between the child's perception of the world she lives in & the story of ragnarok especially compelling. as part of this i actually really like the non-hopeful ending. it's a story about grief & death & life & creation & - most importantly - STORIES
as byatt i love your writing style, & im now even more looking forward to reading her two science/spiritualism victorian novellas i found!
@b-plot-butch :)
Possession, AS Byatt.
April 2024 Wrap Up
Not me posting my April wrap up over halfway through May...
Books Read: 13
Look at all these! I mean, to be fair, five are picture books. But still. My favorite was, of course, The Sunshine Court. I can't believe that the year of our lord 2024 gave us a new All for the Game book. It was amazing! My least favorite was The Biographer's Tale. A serious disappointment from the author of one of my favorite books. I was also unable to finish Apt Pupil, although I thought it was well-written. Almost too well-written. I was seriously disturbed. Books marked with ® are rereads.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King - 4 stars
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - 4 stars
In the night I dream of home by Vagelis Iliopoulos, illustrated by Hariton Bekiaris - 4 stars
The Sleeping Beauty retold and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman - 4 stars
The Idiot by Elif Batuman - 4 stars
Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey - 4 stars
Molly by Joseph S. Bonsall, illustrated by Erin Marie Mauterer - 4 stars ®
Sea Tale by Gail E. Haley - 4 stars ®
An Ellis Island Christmas by Maxinne Rhea Leighton, illustrated by Dennis Nolan - 4 stars ®
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot - 5 stars ®
The Biographer's Tale by A. S. Byatt - 2 stars
The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic - 5 stars
The Ways of Life by Margaret Oliphant - 4.5 stars
Books DNFed: 1
Apt Pupil by Stephen King - due to violent animal death
On Tumblr:
There's not much here, but @thehobbitwithstickyuppyhair helped me find a childhood picture book that I've been trying to find for years, and I am so grateful!
March 2024 Wrap Up
Book Quotes: The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Book Quotes: Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
Help me find this picture book? - Solved!
More Victorian Novels Connections
On YouTube:
And a good mix here, including a Fairy Tale Friday.
March Wrap Up | 8 reads, 1 DNF
Fairy Tale Friday | The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn
Quarter Year Crisis Book Tag 2024
Currently Reading 4/15/24
The George Eliot Project | Middlemarch
1st Book Haul of 2024 | January to March
May TBR | Mental Health May & more!
What I Read for Picture This 2024