Moss

Two books including Katabasis by R.F. Kuang and Epic Earth: A Wild Ride Through the History of Life on Our Planet by Lindsay Nikole.

Feeling loved and grateful. Received some thoughtful bday gifts that I am excited to read. 💙📚

Reads Part 1: Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, The Willows by Algernon Blackwood, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in a Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson, Macbeth by Shakespeare, and King Lear by Shakespeare.

Reads Part 2: Ring Koji Suzuki, Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark, Leech by Hiron Ennes, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Pow, Herai by Aaron D. Key, The Crystal Egg by H.G. Wells, Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green, and Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler.

Reads Part 3: Comics Exquisite Corpses by James Tynion IV Volumes 1 - 5 and When I Arrived at the Castle by E.M. Carroll

A mixed treat bag of spooky reads this October. Loved having some comics in the mix, it’s not Halloween without one! Most were hits, but I ended the month with Ring, and oof…that one left a sour taste. Sometimes adaptations really do trim the fat for a reason imo. #booksky

Leech by Hiron Ennes

About 35% in and absolutely devouring this book. A hive-minded doctor investigating another entity? So superbly weird and perfect for the spooky season. 💙📚

Books read part one, including Heroes by Stephen Fry, Pandora’ Jar by Natalie Haynes, The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers, An Inhabitant of Carcosa by Ambrose Bierce, The Poems of Sappho translated by John Myers O’Hara, Ode to Aphrodite by Sappho, Divine Might by Natalie Haynes, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, and Sappho Poems & Fragments by Josephine Balmer.

Books read part two, including Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes, The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious by Carl Jung, Six Creepy Stories by Edgar Allen Poe, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmillia: A Critical Edition by Sheridan Le Fanu, At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft, Carmilla: the First Vampire by Amy Chu, Hungerstone by Kay Dunn, and Selected Poems of Oscar Wilde.

Wrapped up 18 books this September, helped along by some spooky shorts, poems, a couple carry-overs from August, and plenty of audiobooks. I seem to read more when I’m anxious…and this month shows it. #booksky

Nice! Great roundup of reads.📚 I also read and enjoyed The Alchemist this year.

It was a great read! Glad you also enjoyed it.

Omg adored this as a kiddo.💙

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

Finished The God in the Woods audiobook on Friday and glad I listened instead of read. It’s a slow-burn mystery that unfolds over three decades through multiple POVs. Beautifully written, but definitely a gradual build. 💙📚

Ode to Aphrodite The Poems and Fragments of Sappho translated by Kohn Myers o’Hara a d Henry De Vere Stapoole and Sappho Poem & Fragments translated by Josephine Balmer new expanded edition.

For Sapphic September, I decided to go to the source and read the original diva. I’ve been comparing different versions and so far, I prefer the Josephine Balmer translation. 💙📚

2025 Reading Goals. You have read 60/60 books this year.

I did it! Completed my goal and am still hungry for more reads. 💙📚

Sappho didn’t write tiny poems with giant leaps. They were torn. Everybody, mostly men, Swinburne, for example, has been filling her holes ever since. She said…well, actually, you can say Sappho said anything. She says about two words and then everyone, the world, jumps in.

Eileen Myles, Inferno

The book cover of The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers beside an excerpt of the poem that starts the first chapter of the book. The poem reads: Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen In Carcosa. Strange is the night where black stars rise, And strange moons circle through the skies, But stranger still is Lost Carcosa. Songs that the Hyades shall sing, Where flap the tatters of the King, Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa. Song of my soul, my voice is dead, Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed Shall dry and die in Lost Carcosa. Cassilda’s Song in “The King in Yellow.” Act i, Scene 2

Spooky season is creeping closer. I’m warming up with The King in Yellow. I didn’t expect it to be so romantic. Perfect way to set the mood and ease into my list of horror reads. 📚💙

Libby, Hoopla, and Internet Archive have been great resources to borrow books (I’m a big fan of trying before buying.) Everything having a due date helps. I also started the Iliad early in the spring and recently got the motivation to finish.

August reads including the War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V, Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, Dune by Frank Herbert, The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells, The Fisherman and His Soul by Oscar Wilde, The Iliad by Homer.

August reading round up. It was a month of sci-fi adventures and classic reads for me. #booksky

Knowing his biography adds another layer of context to Lily’s world in Telegraph Club, specifically how science, politics, and identity all tangled together in 1950s America.

Two book covers side-by-side. One is Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo and the other is the Thread of the Silkworm by Iris Chang.

Glad I read Iris Chang’s The Thread of the Silkworm before picking up Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Chang’s book traces the life of Tsien Hsue-Shen, founder of JPL, later deported during the Red Scare. #booksky

On a table sits a lavender cocktail decorated with two flowers. The drink rests on the corner of a sheet of paper with discussion questions for Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo.

The interior of the Small Format cafe. The door hangs open in welcome to usher guests to sit on a peach-colored bench and table. On the table is a bouquet of lavender in an orange glass vase along with a collection of glass bottles filled with complementary water.

Love an in-depth book talk. It was a delight going to Small Format’s discussion of Last Night at the Telegraph Club and getting to meet fellow local book lovers. 📚 Cozy spaces with new faces are a treasure. #booksky

Several bookmarks arranged on a wooden table. On the left are two floral corner bookmarks with a metal cat clip resting on them, and below is a tasseled paper bookmark showing a skeleton reading. In the center is a fan spread of bookmarks from East Coast bookstores, including The Strand, Atomic City Comics, Brookline Booksmith, Lovecraft Arts & Sciences (now named Weird Providence), Riff Raff, Paper Nautilus, and Weird Providence. Above the fan spread is a metal anchor bookmark, with an illustrated magnetic moth bookmark beside it.

To make reading feel even more magical, I’ve started collecting bookmarks from every bookstore I visit. If we're ✨romanticizing life✨, we start with the pages.

David Lynch’s Dune is so fun! It’s not perfect, but it’s made with heart and has so many stunning elements and set pieces. Worst has got to be the new War of the Worlds. More like War of the Product Placement.

Creativity vs. Control: Bridge to Terabithia, The Boy and the Heron, and A.I. "Art" - Reactor Wendy Xu discusses creativity and the importance of getting through hardship.

ChatGPT will only ever give you what you want, which is why it'll never surprise you. Wendy Xu (@wendyxu.bsky.social) on Bridge to Terabithia, The Boy and the Heron, and the shock of unfairness:

reactormag.com/creativity-v...

Screenshot of a StoryGraph challenge that shows “2025 Reading Goals”. The text of the image say that, “You have read 48 books this year”. Below the text is a graph that shows the goal is 80% complete with 48 out of 60 books read.

After a long dry spell with reading, I’m thrilled to be 80% into my goal. I don’t know if 60 books is going to be the annual goal moving forward, and am interested to check out other challenges, but this pace has been good to rebuild the habit. It has definitely helped curb my doomscrolling. 📚💙

A tabby cat laying in white sheets with her front paws flex softly toward the camera.

The sweetest baby who loves to snooze and flex her beans while I read.

Screenshot of the LibbyApp that shows the rented book Dune by Frank Herbert. It’s 75% complete and due in three days.

I can do it! I’m sooo close 💙📚

Insightful breakdown.

Island of Doctor Moreau but yuri
((I’m gonna write out the name of the book on every post, apologies in advance))

I had no idea about the Oscar Wilde trial connection when I started, I just hit play. I’ve read The Time Machine and The Invisible Man before, so the different commentary in Dr. Moreau really stood out to me…and now I see why.

And this is why I love Bsky. When I’m onto something (or even a little off), cool people will jump in with insights and great reading suggestions. Thank you so much for the essay rec! I’ll definitely check it out.

The audiobook cover for the LibriVox version of The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. This cover displays the title of the book overtop a lush, dense background of tropical plants.

Picked up The Island of Dr. Moreau because I like a short audiobook for work. About halfway in and I can’t help but view it through a queer-coded lens, tho I’m certain that wasn’t in the intent. The laws, however loudly they are recited, cannot extinguish the truths we carry in within us. #booksky

Right? Love a character who is a well of knowledge and can peel back the layers time so poetically. 10/10 he’s the best travel companion.

Yes! 👏 Nicephorus is such an earnest character. Thrilled to see another finding and delighting in Nicked this year.