Seconding "After Hours at Dooryard Books". I'm not as big a fan or her 60s-era books as I am her more historical ones (I love, love love, "The Queer Principles of Kit Webb"), but Dooryard Books is a real comfort read.
Take jobs as they come -- and we'll never be under the heel of nobody ever again. No matter how long the arm of the Alliance might get, we'll just get ourselves a little further.
Mal ,'Out Of Gas'
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."
bennett - Dec 30, 2025 9:23:34 am PST #28518 of 28558
meara - Dec 30, 2025 11:54:40 am PST #28519 of 28558
Cait Nary is good, also Tal Bauer, if you're wanting more M/M sports romance (and some non-sports romance)
Jessica - Dec 30, 2025 12:04:25 pm PST #28520 of 28558
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Tal Bauer is amazing - You & Me is a frequent comfort reread, but his latest ( The Fall ) was so stressful to read I finished it in one sitting because I could not STAND not knowing how it would resolve itself.
Calli - Dec 31, 2025 11:09:08 am PST #28521 of 28558
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
I’m thinking of upping my new poetry reading in 2026. And I was wondering if anyone had any recs, please. I’m pretty good on pre-20th century English poets, but I’m weak on American poets (aside from Edna St. Vincent Millay and Mary Oliver) and most post-WWI poetry. I’d love to expand my range a bit. I’m afraid I’m monolingual. At least, I’m not good enough in any other language to really appreciate the poetry, even if I can order a vin blanc or kaffee mit schlag. But I’m open to especially good translations.
dcp - Dec 31, 2025 1:48:47 pm PST #28522 of 28558
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
Robert Service? Don Marquis? Guy Wetmore Carryl?
I never much liked Robert Frost or Carl Sandburg, but I think that is because we were forced to study them in high school.
When I try to think of more modern poetry, I keep coming up with song lyrics. Woodie Guthrie. Simon & Garfunkel. Jimmy Buffet. John Prine. Jim Croce. Joan Baez. Carole King.
DavidS - Dec 31, 2025 2:59:57 pm PST #28523 of 28558
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I’m thinking of upping my new poetry reading in 2026. And I was wondering if anyone had any recs, please.
I just suggested Marianne Moore and Elizabeth Bishop (with links) on the year-end thread.
erikaj - Jan 01, 2026 11:51:48 am PST #28524 of 28558
"already on the kiss-cam with Karl Marx"-
Adrienne Rich is good. And I do think some lyrics count.
Calli - Jan 01, 2026 4:17:58 pm PST #28525 of 28558
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
I read a couple of Marianne Moore’s poems today. She’s good. I can see some influences from her to Mary Oliver.
Even better, I found a daily poem subscription at the Poetry Foundation, which should help a lot with my resolution.
Kate P. - Jan 01, 2026 4:19:50 pm PST #28526 of 28558
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
I like Sharon Olds and Marie Howe.
Pix - Jan 01, 2026 5:33:41 pm PST #28527 of 28558
The status is NOT quo.
All of these recs and also Mary Oliver, always.