Ouhh! Snacks! The secret to any successful migration! Who's up for some tasty fried meat products!?

Anya ,'Touched'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


sj - Dec 25, 2022 8:19:34 am PST #27500 of 27912
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

Whoever suggested the ology books for kids a whole back, thank you! ltc has been reading Dragonology all morning, and now she is teaching her stuffed dragon the dragon language in the book.


Cashmere - Dec 28, 2022 4:04:07 pm PST #27501 of 27912
Now tagless for your comfort.

The Ology books kick ASS! I love Pirateology.


Steph L. - Jan 14, 2023 5:10:50 pm PST #27502 of 27912
Apparently if you're enough of a power nerd, there is nothing that cannot be flowcharted.

I got in a mood to read some dark academia-themed stuff, so I recently read The World Cannot Give and Catherine House (I know I'm a little behind with Catherine House, but I'm behind with everything).

The World Cannot Give is basically "what if The Secret History, but with a boarding school choir?" I'm far from the only one to compare it to The Secret History, but it's a really fucking apt comparison. Even though it's really derivative, I liked it quite a bit.

I wanted to like Catherine House. Based on the description, it is right up my alley. I just think the world-building fell really really REALLY short, and the characterization was pretty flat, too. As a modern take on Bluebeard's castle, I get what it was doing, but it needed so much more heavy lifting in terms of the world-building and the characters.

Honestly, I think I just need to grab the OG dark academia book and re-read The Secret History (where everyone is a shithead but they're so fascinating anyway).


DavidS - Jan 15, 2023 12:33:27 am PST #27503 of 27912
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

If you're feeling the Dark Academia jones, I'll note that Leigh Bardugo's sequel to Ninth House, which is titled Hell Bent, is now out.

And if you haven't read Ninth House I highly recommend it.


Steph L. - Jan 15, 2023 8:12:19 am PST #27504 of 27912
Apparently if you're enough of a power nerd, there is nothing that cannot be flowcharted.

And if you haven't read Ninth House I highly recommend it.

I put it on hold at the library just the other day!


DavidS - Jan 15, 2023 9:29:07 am PST #27505 of 27912
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I put it on hold at the library just the other day!

Reading Ninth House I really appreciated Bardugo's honed storytelling expertise.

It's sort of like Suzanne Collins when she did Hunger Games, she had learned in the trenches how to tell a story that really moves.

Bardugo's long experience in YA paid off in her pacing and structure. It's not rushed and it does give plenty of room for the characters to breath and their dynamics grow. But as she shifts gears in the second half she drives the story hard and it pays off again and again. Just really well crafted.


Steph L. - Jan 15, 2023 4:09:13 pm PST #27506 of 27912
Apparently if you're enough of a power nerd, there is nothing that cannot be flowcharted.

I just checked my library holds list, and apparently I lied. The dark academia book I put on hold was If We Were Villains. For some reason I had Ninth House on my "for later" list (I don't know when my library started doing "for later" lists). But I just moved it over to on hold list.


-t - Jan 15, 2023 4:27:18 pm PST #27507 of 27912
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Ninth House is available through Kindle Unlimited right now if that is an option. I just finished Hell Bent and am thinking I might need to refresh my memory of Ninth House…


sj - Jan 15, 2023 4:43:57 pm PST #27508 of 27912
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

I'm going to reread Ninth House this week before starting Hell Bent. I actually really enjoyed Catherine House, and I keep waiting to see if there will be another book by the author.


Pix - Jan 15, 2023 7:01:05 pm PST #27509 of 27912
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie

Looking for some great authors, poets, and books? I recommend pretty much every writer I heard at the Key West Literary Seminar the past four days. You can read their names and the titles of their talks here:

[link]

Where to start? Well if you haven't read everything Jacqueline Woodson has written (she's known from children and YA but also writes for adults) maybe start with her. Her gorgeous novella "Another Brooklyn" or longer memoir in verse "Brown Girl Dreaming" are both ways to dive into her work. For middle grade fiction, check out "Harbor Me" (and for smaller children, "Visiting Day" or so many others).

Who else...hm, maybe the incredible memoir "Somebody's Daughter" by Ashley C. Ford or the horror of "Lakewood" by Megan Giddens or the gorgeous, rich poetry of Jericho Brown or Rowan Ricardo Phillips or the inimitable Kevin Young — or go all in and check out the incredible poetry collection he edited: "African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song."

Want history? Read anything by intellectual geniuses Annette Gordon-Reed and Kerri Greenidge. If you just want a taste, Gordon-Reed's historical, personal book on her family and Texas might be your in: "On Juneteenth."

Horror or gritty reality? Sure, how about S.A. Cosby, Tananarive Due, or Victor LaValle?

I could go on, but you can Google the authors from the link to see more. I have so much rich reading in my future!