#book recommendation

[tryin-my-best]

ok so I've heard about Assistant to The Villain (mostly from youtube reviews talking about how shit it is) but how come I'd never heard anyone talk about Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots??? It's literally so good? It's like The Boys, if it also had supervillains and henchman temp agencies. The MC is one of said temp henchmen - a data analyst. Things go to hell for her and she winds up using her skills to completely fuck with the heroes from behind the scenes, very satisfying. The ML appeals to my Tumblr sensibilities, though I didn't really catch romantic vibe that much. (SPOILER -> -> -> -> ->) They're not yet an item at the end of the book, so that could change in the second novel, which I haven't read yet. She writes body horror really well, pretty fucking grotesque. And there always felt like there was a reason for it, not just shock value. I wouldn't recommend the audiobook though, the VA goes mad with vocal fry-itis with some of the male characters (unfortunately, mostly the more prominent ones)

[wadicalweftist]

Book rec: the Iron Garden Sutra by A.D. Sui

i cant get it out of my head. its like if murderbot were way more fucked up.

[creativables]

📖 Book of the Month: Power vs. Force by Dr David R. Hawkins

What makes something powerful? And what makes it forceful?

This month's Book of the Month explores the difference between the two, and what it can reveal about how we think, act and influence others.

Read the key takeaways in Issue 29. 

☕Download issue 29 via Kofi: here

💻Read online: here

⬇️Download via Google Drive: here

[theinterpretingbookworm]

Hi Meta, it's Ellie👋

I'm a perfume enthusiast, so obviously my ask will be about perfume.

Do you use perfume? What are your favorite fragrance families/notes/concentration levels? Any recommendations?

You can use this guide to help you with your answer. Thank you in advance ✨🌹

First of all, THANK you for taking your time to write this! I love questions like these 🤭

To answer your question; I actually don't use any perfume.

Honestly, it's generally really hard for me to use anything scented, because I am extremely sensitive to smell. Most of the time, I tend to use scentless products. I would like to get more into scents, though. To that, I have a bit of a story to tell hehe.

Once I went on this school trip to a perfumery, and we got to try all of the scents in the collection. And I had a bit of an epiphany ;) There were more 'masculine' scents, and there were more 'feminine' scents, which, if I am honest, smelt a bit pervasive to me. I do remember very specifically, though, that I really liked the unisex 2 sample hehe.

So yeah, maybe I simply prefer more of a subtle scent that doesn't really allude to anything, whether it is masculine or feminine;)

Outside of that, I've taken notice that I kind of like the scent of pear, patchouli (contradiction, I know) - it's just incredibly intense but in a good way. It smells very comforting to me. Also, I slightly like the smell of oriental body mist.

P.s: So my conclusion is that I don't really use a lot of scented products because I am very sensitive to a lot of smells, but I'm willing to try new things;)

P.s: I've been told often that I smell nice? (So take that as you want 🤭)

P.p.s: Unfortunately, I don't really have any suggestions, as I am a complete and utter noob. BUT I can recommend The Perfume to you, by Süßkind (the protagonist is weird and the book is kind of freaky in a disturbing way, but it made me think of it because ✨perfume)

P.p.p.s: I didn't know u liked perfume; so my question for you is: what kind of perfume do you like? I'm curious 🤭)

[danica-reads]

Hamnet

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recently I finished Hamnet, a book that's been on my shelf for a long time and was brought back to my attention by the release of the movie. I had to sit with it for a few days to be able to write anything about it, and I honestly still feel lost for words. Hamnet is the kind of book that makes aspiring writers like myself feel both excited to write and completely hopeless that anything we produce will be half as good. Half as magical. 

Hamnet follows the life of William Shakespeare’s family, primarily his wife Agnes, as they reckon with the death of their son Hamnet. It was a deeply moving story about grief and the way families can fall apart in the face of it, but also about how they can come back together. I genuinely loved every second of this book. Even the most simple sentences are filled with so much imagery and emotion that not only is it beautiful to read, but it is also completely transportive.

One of my favourite parts of Hamnet is the chapter in which we are told the story of Agnes’ childhood, of her fae-like mother and affinity for walking through the forest. This chapter truly does feel like a fairytale and the idle gossip of townsfolk all at once. It does a fantastic job of setting up Agnes’ character for the rest of the story, and creating an emotional connection to her that stays with you far beyond the last page. 

As soon as I finished chapter one I knew I was gonna fall in love with it. Take this excerpt for example: "Him standing here, at the back of the house, calling for the people who had fed him, swaddled him, rocked him to sleep, held his hand as he took his first steps, taught him to use a spoon, to blow on broth before he ate it, to take care crossing the street, to let sleeping dogs lie, to swill a cup out before drinking, to stay away from deep water."

I loved that line! Picturing the entire life of Hamnet, from infancy to when the story takes place makes the inevitability of his death even more painful. It is also such a treat to read, to let it roll around in your head while you marvel at O’Farrel’s craftsmanship. 

Hamnet is an incredible book, and I highly recommend it!

[raffaellopalandri]

Book of the Day - Worshipping Power: An Anarchist View of Early State Formation

Today’s Book of the Day is Worshipping Power: An Anarchist View of Early State Formation, written by Peter Gelderloos in 2017 and published by AK Press. Peter Gelderloos is an American anarchist writer whose work has consistently challenged the institutional assumptions underlying modern political thought, particularly the narratives that present states, capitalism, hierarchy, policing, prisons,…

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[thebookishbottle]

bookshelf pick:

Broken Trust by R.A. Smyth

for readers who know the sweetest smiles sometimes hide the biggest secrets.

reading is my calm place.

✦ Free printable bookmarks on Ko-fi