I'm reading

- Hara - I read a mix of things but most often it's fantasy or speculative fiction. I love a heavy, well-built plot, but I can just as easily enjoy a smutty, meaningless romp.

[linskiiii]

in each other's gravity

[boltlightning]

I DONT CARE HOW MANY BEDS THERE WERE. WHAT IS YOUR BOOK ABOUT

[trekkiesagainstchastity]

(tearfully) w- working at the mattress store

[boltlightning]

i'm so fucking sorry. can you ever forgive me

[thestrangerreads]

Just Finished

Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe

I would like to preface this by saying that I did enjoy my time in this book. There were a few spots in the middle I wasn't in love with and this was not a book I "couldn't put down" like it's been for others. But it's a great... vibe read. Excellent vibes here.

Buuuut, it does fall into the exact same trap that I've felt with every late 2000's post-apocalyptic dystopian teen novel. That being some absolutely absurd world building.

What do you mean the elite of this city just accepted having to wear full-face masks all day every day in front of anyone who isn't their spouse or direct kin? These would 100% be the same people who cried about mask mandates during the pandemic. And while I get that there are plenty of billionaires out there whose names and faces we don't know because they want to be completely out of the public eye to protect themselves and their shady dealings, I just can't see the mask thing being a good equivalent. It felt more like a flimsy device to make some key plot points work, but it's reasoning and acceptance was poorly integrated.

The greater world outside of the city is also pretty much non-existent and New Found Haven itself feels really really small (big pet peeve of mine). You're telling me it only takes a few minutes to run to the middle of the center ring? Also, for some reason it was a big crime to love outside of your ring (still not sure why), but a Boundary assassin could be married to what is essentially a prince with no issues. No one thought that was objectionable.

This and so many more things made it really hard to keep up my suspension of disbelief. But, despite this I did have a good time like I said at the beginning. I liked the characters at least, even when they said some silly things (there's a line at the end that nearly took me out it sounded so bad) but eventually my brain gave up caring about the weirdness and just vibed.

I will be reading book two when it comes out.

[thestrangerreads]

Current Read

The Very Definition of Love by Sophia Benoit

I may or may not be barreling through this book despite only starting it this morning... during work.

138 pages in and I'm having a blast if you couldn't tell. It reads easy and quick and a bit witty. The characters are also quite easy to like. And yes it's a little raunchy.

So sue me.

[thestrangerreads]

Whoops. I loved loved loved this and am actually sad I don't have more to read.

I do still have volume 8 of Emma M Lion which I think will give me similar feelings (far less romance but a lot more wit), but I'm saving that one for when I really need it.

I'm holding out hope that this doesn't drive me into a reading slump cause damn do I want more, but nothing else I have will give me what I want. And I'm trying very hard not to run to the bookstore or library when I've got half a dozen books I NEED to read just on my bed.

Anyway, this was great. If you like Regency with some cute banter and lots of steaminess, you'll enjoy this.

[thestrangerreads]

Current Read

The Very Definition of Love by Sophia Benoit

I may or may not be barreling through this book despite only starting it this morning... during work.

138 pages in and I'm having a blast if you couldn't tell. It reads easy and quick and a bit witty. The characters are also quite easy to like. And yes it's a little raunchy.

So sue me.

[thestrangerreads]

Last and Current Reads

Last: Baby & The Late Night Howlers by Kathryn Moon

This is an omegaverse why-choose and it's essentially just 400+ pages of erotica*. Which is often said in a demeaning way but I knew what I was getting into in that sense and had a good time. The writing is actually fairly solid and enjoyable, and while I was expecting something fairly dark but I should've known something called the "Sweetverse" wouldn't make the MMCs anything but soft and well... sweet. Which was a good thing because Billy romances are not my thing and dark romance is so often just that.

Overall I liked my read and I am planning on picking up a copy of the next book when it releases on the 30th.

*If you see the paperback in the wild you may be confused as to why I said 400+ when it's clearly 500+. That's because there's a 100 page unrelated novella in the back that's for a different series. I don't know why they did this because it takes place smack in the middle of those books.

Current: Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian

This is the 3rd book I'm reading for my Horror book club, and honestly so far it's my favorite (not that that's a super high bar when Coffin Moon was fairly bland and didn't feel like anyone had grown by the end and Ring was just insultingly bad). So far I'm really digging it and there are genuine elements of horror here where the others just kind of told you you should be scared without actually making it true or giving the story any feeling of suspense. And yes, there's a lot of misogyny, but it feels very purposeful to the story this time instead of just sounding like the author hates women (looking at you Suzuki Koji).

I'm only half way through so far, but I see good things ahead and I'm excited to see what my book club is going to say about it.

Next: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[thestrangerreads]

I want to drive over to a couple local book stores and a half price books and just peruse. But I live at home and don't want the judgement from my father...

[scarlct-vvitch]

grace, who has been alone for five minutes: oh my god. an alien! im not alone anymore! i hope he wants to be friends :)

rocky, coming up on 50 years of solitude, imprinting on grace in ways baby ducklings can only dream of: if you leave me to sleep where i can't watch your heart beat i am blowing up this tunnel with us both in it

[scarlct-vvitch]

free fic idea up for grabs. godspeed

[thestrangerreads]

Finishing a book in the evening—late enough that you don't have the energy to do chores or sunlight to do activities, but early enough that you aren't ready to sleep—is such a weird experience.

Like what do I do with myself now? I can't start a new book while still processing the previous. But picking up another piece of media also sounds unappealing when all I want to be doing is riding that reading high. Guess I'll just pace my house for the next hour and then tuck myself into bed.

[gyrovagi]

unethical nonmonogamy where god is the third

[hazbeenandeggs]

This is the plot of Harrow the Ninth

[szynkaaa]

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Ended the year with The Everlasting being my top 2025 read, starting with The Everlasting as my first book bind post in 2026

✦ printed on 185gsm cotton canva with @cottonbee_stoffe ✦ Spine and front title are done with HTV

Art close up can be found here

[szynkaaa]

It begins where it ends: beneath the yew tree.

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

This book was my last read of 2025 and BOY am I glad the year ended on such an amazing book.

I honestly don't even know how to describe the book, words cannot do justice it was, so I hope it shows in my art how much I loved the novel.

I wanted to go for a fairy tale book kind of vibe, and asked myself, "if I was a character living in the present-day in the book, what would a book about Una the Everlasting look like" and this is what I came up with.

for the ornamented frame, I took inspiration from the original book cover that has various flowers, and added a hanging yew tree fruit, and I added red drops that is the yew tree seed.

IIRC Una does not have a red cape in the novel, I added it to make Una stand out more, but it is also a nod towards her moniker "the Red Knight"

The five ghost swords pointing at her is a nod towards the five deaths of Una.

For the backcover, I wanted it to be the same yew tree Una is standing in front of the front cover - to not make it to empty, I added her sword into the tree

[rovermcfly]

shoutout to project hail mary for showing one of the biggest and what sometimes feels like most unattainable aroace fantasies coming true: having a best friend who doesn't value you less than their romantic partner.

[thefourthnorn]

Stop leaving this GAS in the tags

[oysters-aint-for-me]

there’s a used bookstore in rural western massachusetts (the montague book mill) whose motto is “books you don’t need in a place you can’t find” and i just feel like that summarizes tumblr too

[oysters-aint-for-me]

posts you don’t need on a site you can’t search

[massachusetts-official]

Official Post of Massachusetts

[cpericardium]

hey everyone "I" have something to show "you"

[cpericardium]

[cpericardium]

[dabouse]

I have never once, in all my years, thought that someone could be so dense so as to think a book in first person POV is meant to be the reader’s pov.

Like bitch that’s what second person POV is. There’s a reason why it’s so rare

[leoreturns-deactivated20110811]

[tumboner]

omg

[merspers]

This has been in my queue for months.

[mcgooglykins]

I missed it last year and I vowed that would NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

[altorinaart]

«A Patchwork of Hope» 👎