I’ve heard a ton of people say this is a book about minimalism and I would like to state for the record that it is NOT. It’s more about figuring out what you really like and holding onto JUST that. If that means a billion bowls, well, so be it.

An interesting part was the author’s insistence that cleaning is so much more than just cleaning. In testimonials at the beginning of the book, people say they cleaned and it made everything in their life make sense and they got divorced.

I could kind of see revealing a person’s passions by way of seeing what you keep versus what you get rid of.

But divorce?

Seems rash.

Honestly, the most interesting part of this book is the author’s attitude that all things have souls and missions and they all deserve respect. If you treat them as humans with jobs, they last longer and you are happier.

On one hand, it makes sense that they last longer because you’ll naturally take better care of them when you, you know, care about them.

But the real perk to this is that it makes it so much easier to let it go. Is the forgotten toy happy in the back of the closet instead of being played with? It’s a toy that is meant to be played with, after all! Donate it so some child can put it to good use!

It’s pretty brilliant.

And she goes on repeatedly about the lack of rebounds while crediting her tidying method but I think the whole sentience thing probably plays a bigger part. If you get that into your head and operate with that in mind, even prospective purchases have to go through this filter (will this Steam game that’s on sale ever be played and happy, or will it occupy hard drive space until I get a new computer?) and THAT is what keeps people from rebounding.

At least that’s my theory.

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #mariekondo #tidyingup #minimalism #cleanhouse

I reached 75% while I was at work today. This book has a lot more depth to it than I remembered, but it's also been like 13 years since I last read it. I loved seeing Rae help Con, but I had higher hopes for it. #bookstodon #reader #readersofpixelfed #readersofmastodon #vampires #magicusers #SunshineRobinMcKinley #Sunshine #RobinMcKinley #vampires #magicusers #urbanfantasy #darkromance #horror #RaeSeddon #RavenBlaise #Con #Constantine #Mel

I'm now 50% done with my reread of Sunshine. It's so good, and I love how Con acts as a vampire. I can't wait to see how everything goes when they go after Bo. #reader #readersofpixelfed #readersofmastodon #book #bookstodon #Sunshine #RobinMcKinley #vampires #urbanfantasy #darkromance #horror #magicusers #tinyone7 #hethey #demiboy

I liked Book 2 of the #stephenking Dark Tower series because it was a crazy story with VERY different characters, all in an uncomfortable relationship.

This one… a lot of those differences have been sanded down and I feel like some identity was lost.

That said, this book is a wild ride and I liked bringing Jake back into the fold. I liked Oy as well, even if he seems REALLY convenient at points.

It’s a really good book.

I didn’t like the ending at all, though. It’s super frustrating when books end on cliffhangers (book 2 of Hunger Games or Girl With the Dragon Tattoo immediately jump to mind). It’s pretty frustrating as a reader.

What’s more frustrating is that I know Wizard & Glass is next and, as frustrating as books ending on cliffhangers are, whole damn books about the past that interrupt the story are even worse.

Side note: I tracked down the original cover art sans titles because just LOOK AT IT. That has got to be the most beautiful, creepy piece ever used on a book. Really puts today’s covers to shame because, for me, unless it’s romance, I want REAL artwork on my covers. Right? Who’s with me

#bringbackrealbookart #books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #stephenking #darktower #wastelands #stephenkingbook stephenkingrules #constantreader

I'm officially 25% done with Sunshine. There's so much I forgot or didn't quite pick up on the significance of when I read this as a middle schooler. It's interesting to see how the vampires act and "live."
#reader #booklover #readersofmastodon #readersofpixelfed #bookstodon #bookdragon #vampires #magicusers #urbanfantasy #darkromance #horror #tinyone7 #hethey #demiboy

I like to use Fable to track my reading and they have the option to create a shelfie with 5-8 books of your choosing. This is my second shelfie, and I focused on the dark romance genre for this! We've got mafia, motorcycle club, urban fantasy, high fantasy, Greek mythology retelling all represented here!
#WhenTheMoonHatched #Catalyst #HateToLoveYou #SaviorBookOne #Bad #JailerToTheDeathGod #Sunshine #NeonGods #SarahAParker #NicoleFanning #CharlyNicole #RebeccaFKenney #KateeRobert #JennSaviano #StevieJCole #LPLovell #RobinMcKinley #bookstodon #booksofpixelfed #readersofpixelfed #readersofmastodon #bookdragon #darkromance #fantasy #urbanfantasy #mafiaromance #mcromance #Greekgods #vampires #dragons #tinyone7 #hethey #demiboy

I need a change of pace, a palate cleanser. So, I've decided to reread #Sunshine by #RobinMcKinley. We're not gonna talk about how young I was when I first read it, in my defense, it was in the YA section and I'd read other books by her. #bookstodon #booksofpixelfed #reader #bookdragon #booklover #readersofmastodon #readersofpixelfed #urbanfantasy #horror #fantasy #tinyone7 #hethey #demiboy

I got visited by the Book Fairy while I was at work today!! A fellow book club member surprised me with The Witch of Crimson Arrows by AK Mulford and I'm so excited to read it! I follow AK Mulford on TikTok and I love their vibe, I need to read The High Mountain Court, cause that's the first in this series (TWoCA is the first novella of this series and I don't know which one I should read first, so I might leave a comment on a video asking) but I have a really good feeling I'm gonna enjoy it!
#AKMulford #TheWitchofCrimsonArrows #TheOkrithNovellas #fantasy #reader #bookdragon #bookstodon #readersofmastodon #readersofpixelfed #tinyone7 #hethey #demiboy

Let’s talk about the #kindle for a minute.

When the Kindle first came out, I fell in love. I’m a huge book guy, but books are expensive, big, and heavy. For a guy that moves a lot, they could be a problem.

But here, I saw the solution. The prices could be way lower. Scarcity wouldn’t be a thing anymore. Textbooks could be cheaper and easier to navigate. You could keep a whole library on one device!

But it took until the Kindle3G for me to be able to afford one of these guys. Now I have a Paperwhite but, honestly, miss the 3G for the ability to shop anywhere and PHYSICAL BUTTONS!

The real disappointment was that the cost of books wasn’t that much lower and scarcity was still a thing. Old Marvel prose novels never (or at least hadn’t for years and I’ve given up on the idea) made it to the device.

Which is RIDICULOUS. If I were a publishing house, every single thing I published would be available. They left money on the table.

Anyway… King also seemed like a huge Kindle fan as his was one of the biggest voices used to push it and it seemed inevitable to me that he would write a story involving one.

It also deals with the Dark Tower.

The story is fine. It’s more a fun story about a Kindle and a chance for him to talk about authors - something he loves to do.

It’s fine. It’s an interesting story.

I wonder if King’s changed his mind on the Kindle. Besides bringing mine on flights and to donate plasma, I know I’ve gone back to physical books.

What are your thoughts on the Kindle?

#bookstagram #book #books #bookreview #bookrecommendation #bookrecommendations #booklover #booknerd #bookaddict #bookcover #read #wordywordsonwords #readmore #readmorebooks #readersofinstagram #reader #constantreader #stephenking #stephenkingbooks #ur #stephenkingfans #stephenkingrules #darktower #readersofpixelfed

Classic.

Jeez Louise, folks, what do else do you want from me? They can’t all be pushing the 2,000 character limit!

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog

I’m a big King reader and when people find out, I usually get one of two reactions:

1) Ew. I don’t like horror/King/white male authors.

2) I’ve never read a King book but I know he’s popular. If I WANTED to read one, which one should I pick?

I suspect the reason people haven’t read Kings (when they don’t hate the idea in the first place) is because they’ve seen the size of It, Needful Things, The Stand, Tommyknockers, etc etc etc and are intimidated.

So I ask if they like horror, as King does so much more than just horror.

If they say yes, I direct them to this book.

I wouldn’t say it’s his strongest book, but I would say it probably has the most King tropes boiled down to the minimum level before the sauce turns to goop, if you know what I mean.

It’s short but loaded with horror and the werewolf aspect is a comfortable cultural touchstone. People know what werewolves are where they might not be familiar with the lore of, say, killer shapeshifting sewer clowns.

It’s also got enough of King’s… we’ll say social commentary.

There’s more of everything in other books, but if anyone wanted to give King a shot and they liked horror, this is a good taste.

This edition, though… ugh. H&S printed this as part of their big re-do of the Kingbow and it’s a size that doesn’t match with a spine that doesn’t match in an already questionable theme.

For context, for whatever reason, this second stab at a Kingbow features neutral and pastel colors and absolutely zero organization as a total collection. They could have gone ROYGBIV from first book to last but no. Or they could have kept this fuckin’ thing going to fill in the big gaps but no - newer paperbacks have different spines with colors that don’t fit the theme.

Seriously guys, what the hell? All the heavy lifting was already done! How hard is it to just KEEP GOING?

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #stephenking #cycleofthewerewolf #hodder

I read that we’re halfway through the year and got excited.

But that’s false. It’s day 174 with 191 days remaining. That’s… that’s close, I’ll give it that. But close only counts in horseshoes, hand-grenades, and area spells.

What a bummer to start the day on because next year is going to be VERY exciting for me. This year is more just the drag. The slog. The tortuous calm before the storm and I’m fuckin’ STOKED to get on with it.

Anyway. The Babysitter.

RL Stine, I have always said, is pretty awful at writing sequels. He had a bad habit of resetting any character growth and the stories feel like either retreads like with the Silent Night series or WILD jumps like with the 99 Fear Street series (which we’ll get to - don’t worry).

This is a weird mix of the two.

Honestly, you’d expect that this girl would stop interacting with children either because murderers always seem to be close to them or because, you know, she grows up.

Serious question: in the fourth entry with the same protagonist, why is she not just an adult out in a sane world doing sane things at this point?

Anyway, the kid nextdoor is a ghost and you might think I just spoiled the story, but you’d be wrong; it’s pretty obvious from the word “go.”

And with this “twist” telegraphed so starkly and so early, you’re left with only the story and writing to validate the book’s worth and I think the sad truth is that the greatest worth of this book is that it’s short.

I didn’t have a good time.

“But you’re an adult!” You might yell in a fit of nostalgic defense.

True enough. My 12yo also tried to read it - PRIME Stine age, I would argue - and didn’t even finish it because they were so bored.

It’s just not all that great.

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #thebabysitter

So… I’m either reading or re-reading all of Stephen King’s stuff and this is a thing that he wrote and published as an Amazon single.

It’s interesting.

He makes a lot of good points as a guy who owns and seems to like guns. There’s space for nuance here somewhere between “guns are evil,” and “all guns should be open-carried all the time in all the places by all the people,” that I feel not enough people want to acknowledge.

More importantly (to me), though, was the defeated tone that comes from having watched shooting after shooting after shooting. All the thoughts and prayers that don’t amount to shit, all the legal measures blocked by politicians that live in gun manufacturer’s pockets, and the crushing depression that comes from the certainty that this will continue to happen until the end of time or until something substantial happens.

But the thing that’s interesting to me is that so many people who obviously can’t read subtext in King’s books freaked out when this came out. They said he shouldn’t get political or opine on serious matters but held been doing that literally since his first book.

These are the idiots who failed English in high school for not being able to recognize symbolism, subtext, or meaning. The people who are taking everything at face value.

You know. Morons.

And these people were upset but I don’t get it. This isn’t anti-gun. This isn’t anti-gun owner. This is a measured appeal for common sense that made people upset because it dared to ask for limits on supposed freedoms.

Look, take it or leave it, okay? People believe what they want to believe. But I think there’s something wrong with someone who ignores literally everything except the boo-scares in a series of over 60 novels and then complains when the author’s feelings become too obvious to ignore.

Maybe King just isn’t for them.

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #stephenking #guns

I used to read my oldest Roald Dahl when they were young. One of my favorite pictures in the world is of them looking up at me as I sat next to their bed reading Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. They were really into that story.

I don’t blame them. Great book.

And I grew up reading every bit of Dahl I could find, too.

Ah, but the present spares no person, right? And stories about Dahl being a misogynist, anti-Semitic person who abused the publishing staff to the point where they didn’t even try to renew his contract - when he was selling a TON of books in the height of his popularity.

Do you know how much it says when a BUSINESS says you’re too much of an asshole for them to tolerate when you’re making them a load of money?

And it would be foolish of me to think I am immune to letting these revelations creep into my own appreciation of him and/or his writing.

Anyway, this is one of my least favorite books from him.

Maybe it’s because I read it as an adult away from the warm glow of a child’s appreciation. Maybe it was the stories about how much of a dick he was.

But maybe - just MAYBE - it just plain wasn’t all that great.

For me. Your mileage may vary of course.

I found it boring and I didn’t like the characters NEARLY as much as ones from his other books.

Even his autobiography was more entertaining than this.

Honestly, I’m kind of scared to re-read my favorites from him now.

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog

I really like cozy mysteries but there’s no getting around that someone somewhere told pretty much all cozy authors that the unbreakable RULES of the genre can basically be described as “write a book for Grandma.”

No sex. No explicit violence. Nothing too exciting. Also, make sure the sleuth is a woman that the cops don’t think is worth their time and that is attractive, but thinks she’s nothing special, not overly sexual but make sure you explicitly say she’s no prude either, and for god’s sake don’t curse.

Bonus points if you can shoehorn in a cute animal and a hobby in a quirky wannabe Star’s Hollow for maximum relating from the reader.

And, honestly, this gets pretty fuckin’ boring after a while.

And, to an outsider like me, Evanovich was questionable. Her books are a series with cutesy titles and a lot of the cozy tropes are there EXCEPT there are actual stakes, actual violence (nothing too extreme, though), some sex - even some questionable consent stuff in this one, some cursing, and, probably most critical for me, the protagonist makes sense.

Sure, you can make a baker or a quilt maker or a cook or whatever a sleuth for one book but you really have to wonder why they’re ALWAYS the sleuth as time goes on.

Making the sleuth a bounty hunter? That not only means they’ll be near the crimes but that they’ll be TRYING to solve cases without the cops or risk losing out on money.

A SMART move as an author.

Honestly, this is one of the best cozies I’ve ever read because it’s not retirement home tapioca. It’s an actual story and it’s great because of it. I would 100% be down to read more.

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #cozymystery

I’m big on movie novelizations. They’re usually written with the original script before cuts/alterations are made which USUALLY means that scenes deemed unnecessary in the finished movie are included in the book.

It made the book discovery scene in Ghostbusters 2016 make sense.

They also scratch an itch while I wait for the physical release.

AND I fucking love Batman.

I actually think the 1989 Batman novelization was the first adult book I ever tried to tackle as a kid. I definitely read Batman Forever, though.

So when I watched the best Batman movie yet (wanna fight about it?), I had to look for a novelization.

Result? One fucking book and it’s a kid’s book. Not even a junior novelization like with Jurassic World, either.

It’s a prequel book. About how Bruce Wayne is an illegal street racer.

A smidge lame.

But it also leans hard into the Riddler and his struggles as a kid and adds more meat to his story. It wasn’t so tragic it’s funny, but actually done pretty well.

I liked it.

I do REALLY wish there was an actual movie novelization.

Maybe with the next one?

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #batman #thebatman #movienovelization

Oh man, I can’t wait for Pixelfed to slowly degrade this image like it’s done for SO many of my others!

Anyway.

Just in case you were curious, it’s impolite to ask a vet (or anyone, I guess?) if they’ve killed someone. It’s usually not something they’re stoked or wanting to talk about.

If you HAVE to ask, you ask “did you see any action?”

That’s the most polite way to ask an impolite question.

Just FYI.

Anyway, Beauchamp served in the Army and learned lessons that just about all vets learn like how you don’t fight for leadership but rather to keep the person next to you alive.

But the most interesting part is his identity crisis. After he got out of the Army he leaned hard into becoming a professional writer and found himself not fitting in with the typical city-dwelling writer crowd.

Or THINKING he didn’t.

I actually have doubts about this. There’s a lot of internalized “these people wouldn’t get me,” that is brought out of the service but I think the civilian population - while not being able to FULLY understand - could certainly understand ENOUGH to realize the nuance of the individual within the larger body of the military branch. They might not support wars or missions (or even the specific branch) but I have to believe that they won’t fully dismiss the vet for serving.

Anyway, I don’t think military service acts as a worthwhile contrast to critique modern culture. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Actually, it sounds more like regret than anything else. It’s like Beauchamp resents civilians for not going through or learning what he did. Kind of like how you envy/hate children because they don’t know the absolute joy of paying bills.

I didn’t hate it. There’s a lot of applicable stuff in here that would shed some light on typical service stuff for civilians if anyone is interested.

I wouldn’t hold it against anyone if they weren’t, though.

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog

It's #PrideMonth! That means it's finally time for me to start #HellFollowedWithUs by #AndrewJosephWhite. The main character is a trans guy, which is why I saved this book for June.
#bookstodon #readersofmastodon #readersofpixelfed #bookdragon #reader #transgender #transrep #dystopianfantasyhorror #tinyone7 #demiboy #hethey

I like comics, I like pugs. This was a must-buy at the used bookshop.

That said, I’m sure thinking about moving to New Zealand to go to university and I’ll need to pay to ship all my stuff so now I’m looking at my books with a critical eye.

How many of these things do I want to pay a LOT (probably) to ship to the other side of the planet just so I can try to jam them into a tiny (affordable) apartment?

How much do I want to pay weekly (they do rent by the week there) to let my books live with me?

It’s not only made me critical of the books I’ve read but also the books I HAVEN’T read. My TBR is looking less like a wine cellar waiting for me to be in just the right mood to dip into a book and more like a serious gamble as to whether it’s worth paying for the trip/real estate.

Anyway, I don’t think this one’s going to make the cut. It’s cute, but I don’t see me re-reading it often enough to bring it with me everywhere.

#books #bookrecommendation #booktok #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksky #readersofpixelfed #read #readinglog #newzealand #moving #tbr