#reading list.

[petrokhelidon]

as part of my 2025 resolution i've decided to read more books again, going for at least one book a month. writing down a list here of the books i plan on reading, crossing off those i've already read just to keep track for myself :D the list's already far longer than 12 so....

the book that wouldn't burn - m. lawrence the book that broke the world - m. lawrence the tainted cup - r. j. bennett foundryside - r. j. bennett shorefall - r. j. bennett locklands - r. j. bennett nevernight - j. kristoff godsgrave - j. kristoff darkdawn - j. kristoff empire of the vampire - j. kristoff empire of the damned - j. kristoff welcome to forever - n. tavares the storm beneath the world - m. r. fletcher the fox wife - yangsze choo the familiar - l. bardugo the night ends with fire - r.x. song a song to drown rivers - ann liang - DNF what feasts at night - t. kingfisher what moves the dead - t. kingfisher a sorceress comes to call - t. kingfisher the god of the woods - l. moore the return of ellie black - emiko jean southern reach trilogy ( annihilation, authority, acceptance ) - j. vandermeer broken empire trilogy ( prince / king / empire of thorns ) - m. lawrence shutter island - d. lehane shroud - a. tchaikovsky the staircase in the woods - c. wendig (tbp april 2025) something in the walls - d. pearce (tbp feb 2025) old soul - s. barker (tbp jan 2025) wake up and open your eyes - c.m. chapman witchcraft for wayward girls - g. hendrix the starlight heir - a. howard katabasis - r.f. kuang (tbp august 2025) immortal - s.l. tann the invocations - k. sutherland don't let the forest in - c.g. drews a master of djinn - clark p. djèli slewfoot: a tale of bewitchery - brom the book that held her heart - m. lawrence (tbp april 2025) a drop of corruption - r.j. bennett (tbp april 2025) rook and rose trilogy (tmam, tlk, lh) - m.a. carrick our share of night - mariana enriquez

[bringsfires]

SO YOU WANNA READ ABOUT TORO, the original human torch’s sidekick ( in mostly modern comics )

i’ll be attempting to go in order of how to put together his history from origins - now but tom’s appearances are uh, something to be pieced together sometimes since he’s usually featured in other people’s stories.

i have not read the true old school material but a lot of tom’s early history has been retconned in more recent publications. his campy 40’s young allies, human torch and kid commandos adventures are fictionalized in the marvel universe, published as propaganda comics. his time with the invaders is also compromised but there’s snippets here and there in flashbacks.

ORIGINS :

thomas raymond first appeared in HUMAN TORCH COMICS #2 if you want to go to the very beginning.

THE SAGA OF THE ORIGINAL HUMAN TORCH is a great start. it focuses on jim, but heavily features tom and his origins and jim’s relationship to tom from issue #2 on. it goes from tom being taken in by jim to jim’s deactivation that led to toro’s retirement.

THE MARVELS PROJECT #6, 7, and 8 features jim’s origin and shows a bit of tom’s history in tangent with that. ( the first time tom’s powers activated, the train crash, jim taking him in, torch and toro fighting at pearl harbor )

SUB - MARINER #14 is the issue that tom dies fighting against the mad thinker.

and he’s not really seen again until ...

NOW :

AVENGERS/INVADERS sees the invaders being transported into modern day new york after the cosmic cube is wished upon by citizen’s longing to have their captain america ( steve rogers ) back. this was during the death of captain america storyline. tom is seen in his invaders form, helping the avengers to fight a new threat when the cosmic cube gets into the wrong hands, and is shocked to find out he’s dead in the future. buckycap gets a hold of the cosmic cube and revives tom into the modern world in the only way he can without damaging the time stream.

THE TORCH follows after avengers/invaders, and tom is the main character! he’s struggling to find out what he’s supposed to do after being revived and eventually ends up reuniting with jim after being captured again by the mad thinker. torch and toro work together again to stop the mad thinker and this dude who has an ... underground android run fake nazi germany??? it’s wild but one of the only comics to feature tom so heavily in present.

INVADERS NOW! sees the invaders being reunited in modern day to repent (?) for a past decision they had to make during the war that ended in them massacring a town because it’s citizens were transformed into monsters. — tom’s cute in the first pages. doesn’t know what an earpiece is. he’s there. i don’t have much else to say of this run oops.

ALL NEW INVADERS reunites the invaders again against a kree threat, however, toro is kept in a terrigenesis cocoon for most of the series. ( he’s mainly in #14 and 15) this comic is where tom is revealed to have been an inhuman. after the activation of his chemical transformation abilities he becomes a citizen of new attilan.

SQUADRON SUPREME tom appeared in issues #6, 7, and 8 working undercover on an alien base as a spy for new attilan.

and on to the most current run — INVADERS ( 2019 ) is ongoing and tom has come from new attilan to reunite with jim and help the invaders stop namor from declaring war on the surface due to a psychological construct from charles xavier gone wild.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING ( aka, stuff i think is fun to check out ) : 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: FOREVER ALLIES is a story told through bucky in flashbacks as he fights against an old foe, lady lotus, as captain america. he reminisces over the first run in he had with her during WWII with the young allies — which featured, guess who — toro! it’s a fun little story and the flashback section is about half of the book, so tom’s there quite a good amount. the YOUNG ALLIES 70TH ANNIVERSARY ties in with forever allies and tom is also there in an adventure flashback.

THE LIFE STORY OF BUCKY BARNES tom doesn’t really get to do much here because it’s bucky’s origin, but #2 has some moments that briefly show his friendship to bucky and #3 shows them on an actual adventure together that is very significant to bucky’s life. 

AVENGERS WEST COAST ( 1989 ) had a side - plot that featured tom’s widowed wife, ann raymond, travelling to california after hearing that the avengers had found the original human torch in a hope that her husband is still alive. she became friends with jim, here. it ran in issues #48 - 53, 56, 63, and 65. 

[agapian]

But love, first learned in a lady's eyes, Lives not alone immured in the brain But with the motion of all elements Courses as swift as thought in every power And gives to every power a double power, Above their functions and their offices. It adds a precious seeing to the eye: A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind. A lover's ear will hear the lowest sound, When the suspicious head of theft is stopped. Love's feeling is more soft and sensible Than are the tender horns of cockled snails. Love's tongue proves dainty Bacchus gross in taste. For valour, is not Love a Hercules, Still climbing trees in the Hesperides? Subtle as Sphinx, as sweet and musical As bright Apollo's lute, strung with his hair. And when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods Make heaven drowsy with the harmony.

love’s labor lost.

[nichevo-ya]

What I’ve Read This Year:

Glass Sword (Red Queen series) by Victoria Aveyard

Queen Song (RQ Novella) by Victoria Aveyard

Steel Scars by (RQ Novella) Victoria Aveyard

Shadow and Bone (Grisha Trilogy) by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm (Grisha Trilogy) by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising (Grisha Trilogy) by Leigh Bardugo

The Tailor (Grisha Novella) by Leigh Bardugo.

[nichevo-ya]

to read: - A Court of Thorns and Roses - A Throne of Glass - Sea of Shadows - The Young Elites - Prophecy of the Sisters

[meteorstrikc-archive-blog]

[fullmoonovertampabay]

Happy Banned Books Week!

Here is the list. The ones I've read are in bold.

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling 2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier 4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell 5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck 6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou 7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz 8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman 9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Myracle, Lauren 10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky 11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers 12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris 13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey 14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain 15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison 16. Forever, by Judy Blume 17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker 18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous 19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 20. King and King, by Linda de Haan 21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar 23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry 24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak 25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan 26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison 27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier 28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson 29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney 30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier 31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones 32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya 33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson 34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler 35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison 36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley 37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris 38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles 39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane 40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank 41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher 42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi 43. Blubber, by Judy Blume 44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher 45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly 46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard 48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez 49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey 50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini 51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan 52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson 53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco 54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole 55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green 56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester 57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause 58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going 59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes 60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson 61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle 62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard 63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney 64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park 65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien 66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor 67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham 68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez 69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury 70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen 71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park 72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison 73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras 74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold 75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry 76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving 77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert 78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein 79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss 80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck 81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright 82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill 83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds 84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins 85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher 86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick 87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume 88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood 89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger 90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle 91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George 92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar 93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard 94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine 95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix 96. Grendel, by John Gardner 97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende 98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte 99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume 100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

I really need to read some more of these.