Welcome to the Library

Where I hope to talk all about books, but will probably end up talking about everything else...

[sosuperawesome]

SewBeautifulx on Etsy

[skygemspeaks]

someone recommend me some good fantasy books that aren’t centred on a war, please, my crops are dying

[ninja-muse]

The Greta Helsing novels by Vivian Shaw - practical doctor to the undead defeats mildly ominous interdimensional threats with the aid of domestic vampires and a demon accountant.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley - practical baker is captured by vampires, escapes, reluctantly teams up with better vampire to kill the bad one.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - young hat maker ages 60 years overnight, proceeds to upend the life of a disaster wizard while learning self-confidence.

the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett - hard to encapsulate, but equally funny and hard-hitting, tackling race and gender and corruption and other forms of inequality while also, like, making fun of post offices and Hollywood and Shakespeare. Three or four tackle war, true, but there’s something like 35 others to choose from.

the Accidental Turn series by J.M. Frey - recent Ph.D of colour lands in the Fantasyland™ she did her thesis on, goes off about agency and diversity while recovering from the Dark Lord’s attentions and learning the truth about her fictional crush.

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire - evil alchemist creates superpowered children to assist world takeover; children just want to be a family; family is complicated.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - young woman takes over family business, must outwit fairies with a love of gold.

the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede - princess runs away to become a dragon’s housekeeper, fights off rescuers, solves problems large and small, melts wizards.

the October Daye novels by Seanan Mcguire - Half-fae detective solves murders, finds missing persons, develops found family, can’t stop self from upending the social order.

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker - A quiet golem, a tempestuous djinn, Gilded Age New York. Immigrants, identity, friendship, hope, and self-discovery.

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard - A witch from an outsider House enters New York’s magical Hunger Games, to prove a point. The problems of magic were not intended.

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes - Part-time con artist gets hired to find two missing pop stars, with the help of the magical sloth on her back. Noir ensues.

Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica - Nature photographer lands on water-world, discovers lost family, tries to convince self magic is impossible.

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - Greek gods, washed up in North London, curse Apollo to fall for the cleaner. Existential crisis, meet rom-com.

Among Others by Jo Walton - Loner teen sent to boarding school, discovers science fiction, might know fairies and do magic.

[hermitknut]

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton - Austenesque story except all the characters are dragons.

Every Heart a Doorway (and sequels) by Seanan McGuire - the children of portal fantasy end up in boarding school coping with being kicked out of their various worlds, then some of them start getting murdered. 

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan - the world is flooded, there’s a lady who works with a bear at a circus that sails to different places to perform, and a lady who is sort of an undertaker, and they fall in love

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees - there are fairies but no one talks about them anymore because That’s Just Not How We Are except this state of affairs cannot possibly last and people start getting lured to fairyland

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - fifth son of emperor who’s lived his whole life away from court abruptly becomes emperor when his father and older brothers are killed in an accident, spends entire book trying to make friends and figure how the fuck to do a) confidence and b) ruling ethically

The Various by Steven Augarde - girl spends summer at uncle’s farm, finds the group of “various” (no direct parallel, but think somewhere between gnomes and pixies) that live in the woods, mysterious history, flying horse, The Cat Is Evil (this is technically middle grade but it’s so good I can’t even)

Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan - working on the translation of an ancient text is complicated when it might have a huge impact on the public perception of a highly stigmatised group; subterfuge, found family, mythology, and the rejection of men who steal other people’s work. 

[vr-trakowski]

So You Want to Be a Wizard or Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses by Diane Duane.  

Tam Lin, Juniper Gentian and Rosemary, and The Secret Country by Pamela Dean (all different stories).  

The Spellkey by Ann Downer.  

Swordheart  or Summer in Orcus by T. Kingfisher.  

The Curse of Chalion or the Penric series by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Green Year Dragonfly by Kaye Bellot.  

[blueelectricangels]

If by “no war” you mean “no or not focused on violence”:

The Terrier/Bloodhound/Mastiff series by Tamora Pierce Teenage former street rat aspires to and joins law enforcement in pseudo-medieval fantasy land, proves to have moral code forged of adamantium and more determination than an entire battalion. Also talks to unquiet ghosts carried by pigeons.

the Winding Circle books by Tamora Pierce (with the exception of Battle Magic) Four teenagers are snatched from the jaws of peril, discover they have incredibly strong yet overlooked magical powers, slowly become a found family, survive an earthquake, pirates, forest fires, plague, and puberty.

The Keeper Chronicles, by Tanya Huff Magic user accidentally gets roped into running a boarding house in Toronto. The decor is from the 50s, the handyman is an incredibly handsome and pureminded myopic Newfoundlander, and there is a (literal) portal to Hell in the basement. The third book adds lesbians and a mall that eats street kids to the mix. (Enchantment Emporium and its sequels are in the same world btw)

——————————————————————

If by “no war” you legitimately just mean that war is not the driving plot force:

the Hawk and Fisher books by Simon R Green  Fairytale-destined prince and princess decide that destiny is bullshit, ditch their kindgoms, become the only honest pseudo-cops in fantasy-Gotham because strangely being a prince/princess doesn’t actually give you life skills that are not applicable to being a mercenary. Buildings eat people, gods are murdered, street drugs turn people into animals, Hawk and Fisher are so very tired.

Oath of Swords and its sequels, by David Weber

Guy from a species generally (unfairly) derided by “civilized people” as barbaric and evil thinks he’s going mad, but actually he’s been chosen as paladin by a god and he’s just stubbornly refusing to listen. Continues to go off and do heroic shit while doing the equivalent of jamming his fingers in his ears and saying “LA LA LA”. This does absolutely nothing to dissuade the god in question.

[uovoc]

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner A thief’s prison sentence is cut short when he is sent on a mission to steal an important (and magical?) object for the King. BIG plot twist at the end. Imagine going on a fun road trip through the fantasy pseudo-Byzantine Empire, except that all your fellow travelers have their own secret agendas.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Catherine Webb  In this universe, there are a handful of time travelers –  people who are forced to live the same life over and over, retaining their memories with each rebirth.  As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside with the following message: the end of the world is getting faster.

Dark Lord of Derkholm, by Diana Wynne Jones The citizens of a fantasy world are getting really tired of being overrun by non-magical tourists from our world. This year, the role of Evil Wizard falls to Derk, who wants nothing more than to be left in peace on his farm/magical genetic engineering laboratory. Derk’s 2 human children, 5 griffin children, and 1 enchantress wife feel much the same. Wouldn’t it be a shame if someone were to sabotage this planet’s shitty contract once and for all? 

[yggidee]

(For personal records)

[marzipanandminutiae]

The Athena Club series, by Theodora Goss Daughters and/or female creations of mad scientists from 19th-century literature team up to figure out what their “fathers” were up to and what, exactly, the secret society that seems to control all such experiments intends to do next. Sort of an all-female League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in the best way. Kind of an odd frame narrative, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

[carry-on-wayward-sister]

The Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier

Love, Time travel, secret societies, and a dark secret at the heart of a prophecy.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

A hidden world of magic wielders in modern day Ireland, a skeleton detective and his associate solving crimes, a race of Gods trying to conquer the world, and a dark prophecy declaring the end of all things. This one does have battles in every book but it isn’t your classical war.

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver

Set in a time when the woods were still dark and dangerous (European Bronze Age, most likely Finland), a boy and his wolf friend have to survive beasts and other clans. Includes Demons, Soul Eaters, Spirit Walkers, and Changelings.

[queerasaurus-rexx]

A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

A young wizard named Ged explores the depths of his own power after accidentally releasing a mysterious shadowy evil upon the world. In order to defeat it, he must confront his own ego and look inward. Includes dragons, demons, wizards, typical fantasy fare. Most of the main cast are people of colour.

[biloveyou]

Visit Original Link

did you know That’s When (Taylor’s Version) and August are in the same key and bpm? well here’s a quick mashup

[babybear]

evictions will begin again in NYC in about a month, and this will leave many people and families homeless, which in the heart of this country's epidemic could be a death sentence. shelters are already overcrowded as it is.

please donate to the NYC Eviction Fund started by Esteban Martinez here:

Eviction Prevention organized by Esteban Martinez

Hello my name is Esteban Martinez, also known as Creative Gold. I live in NYC and it has recently… Esteban Martinez needs your support for E

many cities are also about to be facing a mass eviction crisis. one way to help is donate to or start mutual aid funds like this specifically for eviction prevention in your city. housing is a human right!

[babybear]

more NY orgs to donate to:

https://vocal.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?id=23&reset=1

https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/make-a-gift-to-help-us-build-power

https://www.unhny.org/donate

https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/donate/

[autisticadvocacy]

Where To Donate To Help Black People With Disabilities

Having a disability, whether it be physical or cognitive, puts Black people at an even greater risk of arrest or violence by the police.

Check out this list of opportunities to support Black people with disabilities, including the Autistic People of Color Fund!

[transplutonium]

This deserves an Oscar

[carrionbeast]

Halloween is almost over. You know what that means!

MOTHER

FUCKIN

HANUKKAH 

SEASON

YEAH!

[phycorb]

To all my Jewish followers: Happy Hanukkah!!

[theansweris-a]

Okay but

This is actually something I haven’t seen before, someone so excited about Hanukkah

It’s great to see!!

[dopeluminarydreamer-blog]

Great Hanukkah to my Jewish followers and mutuals

[scheharazade]

Visit Original Link

work song by hozier but you’re standing at the edge of the forest on a warm summer evening. the sun hasn’t quite set yet but the shadows are long and deep. music filters up from the earth. the grass is soft and cool under your feet. you have salt in your pockets. you think you might go home soon. 

[stopdoopy]

this sounds exactly like Hozier is just in the woods and you heard it distantly from your house so you come out there and find him singing all alone and if you asked by he’s there by himself he’d reply a smile and something like “i’m not” and you’d just have to realize he’s singing to the fae or whatever else- maybe just the trees even and nod and be on your merry way or hang out and try to understand it all at the risk of being whisked away never to return

[shadrow]

The smash hit of the summer.

[alexacadia]

I’M SCREAMING!!!!!!!

[slayfulness]

I’m… shook

[livelegatolagrange-deactivated2]

[strongorcbutch-deactivated20220]

Well I heard this with my own ears and now you must also.

[nest-of-bears-blog]

JESUS

[ookumspookumswastakensomehow]

Y’KNOW WHAT THIS SOUNDS LIKE IT BELONGS IN?

[cosmic-aria]

EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK OF THE KINGDOM HEARTS III THEME SONG

[gar-dev-oirs-deactivated2018111]

[rabbitgoblin]

fucked up how cooking and baking from scratch is viewed as a luxury…..like baking a loaf of bread or whatever is seen as something that only people with money/time can do. I’m not sure why capitalism decided to sell us the idea that we can’t make our own damn food bc it’s a special expensive thing that’s exclusive to wealthy retirees but it’s stupid as hell and it makes me angry

[rabbitgoblin]

bread takes like max 4 ingredients counting water and sure it takes a couple hours but 80% of that is just waiting around while it does the thing and you can do other things while it’s rising/baking plus im not gonna say baking cured my depression bc it didn’t but man is it hard to feel down when you’re eating slices of fresh bread you just made yourself. feels like everything’s gonna be a little more ok than you thought. it’s good.

[pluckedanarchist]

bread is amazing and it’s also been sold to us as something really hard to make? Every time I tell someone I made a loaf of bread I get reactions like “you made it yourself???” and “do you have a bread machine then?” I haven’t touched a bread machine in probably 10 years. You CAN make your own bread, folks, and it’s actually pretty cheap to do so. I believe the most expensive thing I needed for it was the jar of yeast. It was about $6 at the grocery store and lasted me MONTHS (just keep it in the fridge.) The packets are even cheaper. destroy capitalism. bake your own bread.

[boonbucks-city-beach]

You can also make your own yeast by making a sourdough starter, so that cuts cost even more.

But you have to feed the starter daily/weekly and that means it grows quickly, but there are tons of recipes online for what to do with your excess starter. Cookies, pretzels, crackers, pancakes, waffles, you name it!!

[unbossed-deactivated20251218]

Here’s a link to The Home Baking Association’s site. It has recipes and tips.

[petermorwood]

Make it even easier - “No-Knead Bread”. All YOU do is mix the ingredients together and wait until it’s time to heat the oven. The yeast does all the rest.

Here’s @dduane​’s first take on it and the finished product. We’ve made even more photogenic batches since.

Kneading is easy as well; either let your machine do it, or if you don’t want to or don’t have one, get hands-on. It’s like mixing two colours of Plasticine to make a third. Flatten, stretch, fold, half-turn, repeat - it takes about 10 minutes - until the gloopy conglomeration of flour, yeast, salt and water that clings to your hands at the beginning, becomes a compact ball that doesn’t stick to things and feels silky-smooth.

Here’s what before and after look like.

My Mum used to say that if you were feeling out of sorts with someone, it was good to make bread because you could transfer your annoyance into kneading the dough REALLY WELL, and both you and the bread would be better for it.

Then you put it into a bowl, cover it with cling-film and let it rise until it doubles in size, turn it out and “knock it back” (more kneading, until it’s getting back to the size it started, this means there won’t be huge “is something living in here?” holes in the bread), put it into your loaf-tin or whatever - we’ve used a regular oblong tin, a rectangular Pullman tin with a lid, a small glass casserole, an earthenware chicken roaster…

You can even use a clean terracotta flowerpot.

Let the dough rise again until it’s high enough to look like an unbaked but otherwise real loaf, then pop it in the preheated oven. On average we give ours 180°C / 355°F for 45-50 minutes. YM (and oven) MV.

Here’s some of our bread…

Here’s our default bread recipe - it takes about 3-4 hours from flour jar to cutting board depending on climate (warmer is faster) most of which is rise time and baking; hands-on mixing, kneading and knocking-back is about 20 minutes, tops, and less if using a mixer.

Here ( or indeed any of the other pics) is the finished product. This one was given an egg-wash to make it look glossy and keep the poppy-seeds in place; mostly we don’t bother with that or the slash down the middle, but all the extras were intentional as a “ready for my close-up” glamour shot.

I think any shop would be happy to have something this good-looking on their shelf. We’re happy to have it on our table.

Even if your first attempts don’t work out quite as well as you hope, you can always make something like this…

[rae-napier-deactivated20180822]

can we have more posts like this in future please? this is really useful and could help those who are struggling

[abyss-tidalpunk]

i’ve made several of these recipes myself! they’re great!

~ mod abalone ~

[the-original-book-worm]

what's your favorite book/author

My favorite book series would have to be the Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce. There are three series in that universe, all focused on the same quartet of magic users that specialize in unusual types of magic.

[the-memeblades-chosen-one]

[phantoms-lair]

[rainy-autumn-day]

[lilacinn]

Wait, why are there no bedrooms on Shadow Ranch? That always bugged me when I was younger, but I never figured out why lol

In the book the house is described as having a long portico/covered porch that bedrooms are accessible from. So they’d have to go outside to get into a bedroom. Here’s some examples of it:

“She said hello to Nancy and shyly followed the others along the portico to Bess and George’s room, which Nancy was to share. Another door led into the main hallway of the house” Pg. 23

“Just after midnight she awoke suddenly, startled by a noise on the portico. She sensed someone pausing at the door to listen. Then stealthy footsteps moved on. (…) Quickly she arose, put on a robe and slippers, and cautiously opened the screen door. No one was nearby, but at the far end of the portico she saw a dark figure slip into the kitchen.” Pg. 29

Nancys room being accessible from outside is actually very important to the plot since her room is trespassed upon multiple times by someone who couldn’t openly walk into the house.

I’ve read this book at least a dozen times, I can’t believe it took me so long to make the connection to the game.

[nancydrew428]

Nancy Drew Video Games (by date)

Secrets Can Kill (SCK)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: December 23rd, 1998

Stay Tuned for Danger (STFD)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: November 13th, 1999

Message in a Haunted Mansion (MHM)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: November 1st, 2000

Treasure in the Royal Tower (TRT)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: August 1st, 2001

The Final Scene (FIN)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: November 1st, 2001

Message in a Haunted Mansion (MHM)

Available On: Game Boy Advance

Release Date: November 13th, 2001

Secret of the Scarlet Hand (SSH)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: August 12th, 2002

Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (DOG)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: November 1st, 2002

The Haunted Carousel (CAR)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: August 22nd, 2003

Danger on Deception Island (DDI)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: October 3rd, 2003

The Secret of Shadow Ranch (SHA)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: August 30th, 2004

Curse of Blackmoor Manor (CUR)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: October 5th, 2004

Secret of the Old Clock (CLK)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: July 12th, 2005

Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (TRN)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: September 15th, 2005

Curse of Blackmoor Manor (CUR)

Available On: DVD

Release Date: June, 2006

Danger by Design (DAN)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: July 24th, 2006

The Creature of Kapu Cave (CRE)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: October 1st, 2006

The White Wolf of Icicle Creek (ICE)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: June 7th, 2007

The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park

Available On: DS

Release Date: September 18th, 2007

Legend of the Crystal Skull (CRY)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: October 8th, 2007

The Phantom of Venice (VEN)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: July 11th, 2008

The Mystery in Hollywood Hills

Available On: Leapfrog

Release Date: Before August, 2008

The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society

Available On: DS

Release Date: July 15th, 2008

The Hidden Staircase

Available On: DS

Release Date: September 22nd, 2008

The Haunting of Castle Malloy (HAU)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: October 16th, 2008

Lights, Camera, Curses!

Available On: Windows

Release Date: November 11th, 2008

The White Wolf of Icicle Creek (ICE)

Available On: Wii

Release Date: December 2nd, 2008

Ransom of the Seven Ships (RAN)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: July 14th, 2009

Resorting to Danger!

Available On: Windows

Release Date: August 25th, 2009

Warnings at Waverly Academy (WAC)

Available On: Windows

Release Date: October 13th, 2009

The Model Mysteries

Available On: DS

Release Date: February 16th, 2010

Trail of the Twister (TOT)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: June 29th, 2010

Secrets Can Kill Remastered (SCKR/SCK Remastered)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: August 24th, 2010

Shadow at the Water’s Edge

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: October 19th, 2010

Shadow Ranch

Available On: iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad

Release Date: February 23rd, 2011

The Captive Curse (CAP)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: June 28th, 2011

Alibi in Ashes (ASH)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: October 18th, 2011

Tomb of the Lost Queen (TMB)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: May 8th, 2012

The Deadly Device (DED)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: October 23rd, 2012

Ghost of Thornton Hall (GTH)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: May 14th, 2013

The Silent Spy (SPY)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: October 22nd, 2013

Ghost of Thornton Hall (GTH)

Available On: iPad

Release Date: March 4th, 2014

Ghost of Thornton Hall (GTH)

Available On: Kindle

Release Date: April 11th, 2014

Ghost of Thornton Hall (GTH)

Available On: Android

Release Date: May 6th, 2014

The Shattered Medallion (MED)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: May 20th, 2014

Labyrinth of Lies (LIE)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: October 14th, 2014

Sea of Darkness (SEA)

Available On: Windows/Mac

Release Date: May 19th, 2015

Codes & Clues

Available On: iPad/iPhone/Android/Kindle Fire

Release Date: May 13th, 2016

I got this information from Her Interactive’s website and Wikipedia. I got the pictures from Google. And I got the abbreviations/acronyms from NikitaMaria’s Tumblr.

[mrsashketchum]

“It’s Called Black Magic”

You would have thought the jump from phone stealing and breaking and entering to actual literal love spells would have been harder to take than it was. But black magic isn’t as straightforward as thievery, and it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to.

I had the ultimate pleasure to be working with @probably-voldemort (challenger) and @the-original-book-worm (another responder) for this year’s Miraculous Big Bang ( @miraculousbigbang )!

Even though we all had busy schedules and other priorities, joining together and conversing about this fic and Marichat was one of the fun moments I’ve had and I’m glad to have made their acquaintance! :D

see the fic here and the playlist here! (will add the link to the playlist later)

[the-original-book-worm]

Here’s the beautiful art for our MBB Fic ^_^

[the-original-book-worm]

MBB Response

I participated in the Miraculous Big Bang this year and worked with the wonderful probably-voldemort, mrsashketchum, and GreenParisPavement as a responder to the fic “It’s Called Black Magic” (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12849399/chapters/29342490).

I made a playlist for it, so here you go ^_^

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQbCj5KjEQEAguM2TDbdSefI1mYquy0L-

1. Black Magic - Little Mix 2. The elephant love medley - Moulin Rouge 3. Do you believe in magic - cover by Aly and Aj 4. I won't say I'm in Love - Hercules 5. Oh, it is love - Hellogoodbye 6. Every time we touch - Cascada 7. I want it that way - Backstreet Boys 8. You gotta be - Des'ree 9. One week - Bare naked ladies 10. If my heart was a house - Owl city 11. I really like you - Carly Rae Jepson 12. Hot air balloon - Owl city 13. Gorgeous - Taylor Swift 14. Kiss you - One Direction 15. Oops - Little mix and Charlie Puth 16. Black Magic (acoustic) - Little Mix