#currentlyreading

[pantheonbooks]

"Keep your nose in a book—and keep other people's noses out of which books you choose to stick your nose into." —Art Spiegelman

Stand with the Banned—enjoy these Banned Books Week reads from the Pantheon Graphic Library.

[torpublishinggroup]

Hello everyone and happy January 31!! It’s the most special of days–a birthday! Specifically the fantastical @olivieblake’s birthday. HAPPY HAPPY DAY, OLIVIE!!! 🥳🎂🎉

For such a special day, we have to have a special celebration to match, so we’re giving YOU the first look at the stunning interior art of #GiftedandTalented, created by the incredible @polartss! Take a look now and don’t forget to pre-order Gifted & Talented, on sale 4/1!

[alwaysbeenjessica]

will always treasure mornings like these

[chiimi-png]

TBR Diaries EP03 - Coffee shops and gothic tragedies

Wuthering heights is definitely becoming on of my favourite classics, although I have to admit I was kind of hesitant of liking it and it took me a while to get properly into it. I have to admit I kinda held a grudge to it from my first reading (like the one I held on Crime and Punishment for like 10 years until I said it can’t be that boring) so when I set myself the goal of reading the classics I knew that it was inevitable and just ripped it like a bandaid and started and now I can’t stop!!

[xompeii]

Currently reading!

[theboookwitch]

I am obsessed with Ya Meng and Ya En's friendship in the novel (the drama too but the novel goes a bit deeper).

Like when Ya En's fuck ass husband calls Ya Meng a slut, so she eviscerates him.

WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO ME?!?!? (devastating blow)

Or this perfect description of this kind of love and support. Truly unconditional.

I love them.

[peterrsthomas]

Book Review: The Great Gatsby and Brideshead Revisited

I’ve just finished reading The Great Gatsby for the first time, and yes, I can see why it’s become a classic of American literature. The underlying themes, the gradual reveal of the Gatsby’s elusive past, the inevitable tragedy, are subtle and enduring. It reminded me of Brideshead Revisited in a way. The tragic nature of wealth, the decay beneath all that glitz and glamour—Gatsby is to American literature what Brideshead is to English.

Both are narrated by outside observers, Nick Carraway (Gatsby) and Charles Ryder (Brideshead). And both of these men are drawn into the world of wealth from modest backgrounds, and both are simultaneously invested and detached in what they see. Nick establishes a relationship with Jordan Baker, a socialite part of Gatsby’s world, and Charles with Julia, the sister of Sebastian Flyte. And both watch as Gatsby and Sebastian struggle through their personal issues.

Those observed are haunted in their own way by their past. Gatsby is obsessed with Daisy Buchanan, while Sebastian and his family are consumed by their heritage, the death of the English nobility and struggling Catholic traditions. And Gatsby and Sebastian’s family are both eventually consumed—Gatsby is killed following the attempted renewal of his relationship with Daisy, and Sebastian descends into alcoholism.

But there are, of course, key differences. Brideshead’s driving theme is the Catholic religion and English aristocracy; Gatsby’s is the American Dream, a quasi-religion in itself, I suppose, and chased with similar fervour. Fitzgerald critiques a particular form of social mobility and how it can be achieved, and amidst this the hidden classes that define American society, while Waugh explores, with nostalgia, the decline of English nobility, its relationship to faith, education, and tradition. Significantly, wealth, for Gatsby, comes from questionable means, and for the Flytes, wealth is inherited and comes with its own obligations. But, of course, wealth ends up destroying them both, and the people they love.

Do these differences reveal the contrasting nature of English and American societies? Or do they simply represent the differing perspectives of their authors on the nature of wealth and status? There’s something of both, clearly, in this. But regardless, both are significant reads.

[letstalkbeautyuk]

📚 We have such a lovely selection of reading & bookish themed badges. This fun smutty bookish order is heading out to a lovely customer in Brighton