Karla E. Melendez

Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler
WILMAI: How prescient it is, how real the characters and the world are. How individuals who have lost it all find each other and band together to survive, it the hopes of forming a healing community.

Wild Nights, by Kim Addonizio
WILMAI: A collection of her poems from 1994 to 2015. As always, they’re frank, honest, at times edgy and gritty. Universal feelings are dissected. Lives alien to me are explored.

Butter, by Asako Yuzuki, trans by Polly Barton
WILMAI: The protagonist’s character growth, first going through similarities to the antagonist, then diverging radically so her end is diametrically opposite from the antagonist.

Cathedral, by Raymond Carver
WILMAI: It’s clear that Gordon Lish was Raymond Carver’s editor. The repetition style is very much reflective of Lish, and it’s not unlike Amy Hempel’s and Tom Spanbauer’s repetition. And yet the style is all Carver’s, and the stories, and the themes.

The Plague, by Kevin Chong
WILMAI: The clear use of various writing techniques: the establishment of the omni voice at the start, the purposeful authorial interjection, the natural weaving in of reader context warnings. I also love that it’s set in a Canadian city, Vancouver.

Milkman, by Anna Burns
WILMAI: Unusual writing technique, where no character is given a proper name aside from two, and there is a plethora of commas and adjectives, all done to immerse the reader in the unusualness of the situation lived by the protagonist in the 1970s during The Troubles.

Beneath the Moon: Fairy Tales, Myths, and Divine Stories from Around the World, by Yoshi Yoshitani.
WILMAI: Beautifully illustrated. Provides a one-page summary of the stories. I wish the whole story had been included, but the title makes it easier to search for the stories that interest the most.

Wilderness Tips, by Margaret Atwood
WILMAI: The study of human behaviour, of the messiness of life, through fiction: surviving betrayals–romantic and otherwise, aging, continuing to live after losing a best friend, etc. Margaret Atwood is awesome at showing us our humanity.

Demian, by Hermann Hesse
WILMAI: The philosophical study of good and evil present in all humans, of the fact that the world is gradations of grey, all told within the narrative and development of the plot.

Nightfall and Other Stories, by Isaac Asimov
WILMAI: Asimov’s incredibly prolific imagination. I also love that the stories are chock full of techniques a writer can study and analyse to enrich their own writing.

Octopuses use microbes to "taste" their surroundings with their arms As if octopuses weren't stunning enough.

Fun article: Octopuses use microbes to “taste” their surroundings with their arms.

Stone Mattress, by Margaret Atwood
WILMAI: Nine stories that show how awful humanity can really be, but not in a preachy way at all. An absolutely fun read!

Pay attention to your author’s bio pic One of the elements of a self-published book that shouldn’t be overlooked is the author’s photograph. While the photo often is a thumbnail or even smaller, it can subtly affect a reader’s deci…

#writingq #writer #writing #amwriting #writingcommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...

#bookhoarder #booksky

"Pipe down!"

Aboard a ship, a boatswain's pipe is used to relay orders.

To dismiss a crew, the pipe is sounded, and the command "pipe down" is given.

Because it got much quieter after the dismissal, the command became associated with quieting down or making less noise.

The Wind’s Twelve Quarters, by Ursula K Le Guin
WILMAI: Each short story starts with Le Guin’s thoughts on the story she wrote: where the inspiration came from, what novel it engendered (if it did), what influenced the story. The stories themselves are full of imagination, but so believable, too.

What We See When We Read, by Peter Mendelsund
WILMAI: A treatise from a visual artist, book cover designer, recovering classical pianist, and writer, on what actually happens in our brains and minds when we read. Intuitive and common-sensical, yet eye opening.

Florida school vouchers leave a giant hole in the state budget | Column A Pinellas School Board member lays out the numbers.

As Congress takes up the issue of universal vouchers in the ECCA, let FL be a warning:

Nearly 70% of new voucher recipients this year were already enrolled in private schools.

40% came from families too wealthy to have qualified under the original rules.

www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025...

Lawmakers demand answers after a Haitian woman dies at an ICE detention center ICE says it is investigating the cause of death of 44-year-old Marie Ange Blaise in a Florida detention center on Friday. A local congresswoman says Blaise had complained of chest pains "for hours."

ICE says it is investigating the cause of death of 44-year-old Marie Ange Blaise in a Florida detention center on Friday. A local congresswoman says Blaise had complained of chest pains "for hours."

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
WILMAI: Entirely different from the Netflix series, though I can see what elements and characters the series pulled from the book. It’s a hauntingly wonderful story, and the ending gave me absolute chills. You must read it to understand why.

Human Acts, by Han Kang
WILMAI: A very human perspective of what people endure in the name of freedom and democracy. This is an account of the Gwuangju democratic uprising in South Korea. If you think it can’t happen elsewhere, think again.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt
WILMAI: A non-fiction book that totally reads like fiction. The cast of characters is superb and Savannah is magical. Makes me want to visit!

Solito, by Javier Zamora
WILMAI: A courageous account of a nine year-old boy who migrates alone from El Salvador to Tucson, through the Sonora Desert, and the people he meets and befriends along the way.

The image is a screenshot of a post on X by a user named BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan ). The post reads: "HAHA, folks in Greenland are making these hats go viral ahead of Usha Vance’s visit there. I LOVE THIS!!! " Below the text, there is an image of a red baseball cap being held by a hand. The cap has the text "MAKE AMERICA GO AWAY" written on it in white letters, along with a small circular logo on the side that appears to be the Greenland flag.

The whole world now feels this way toward us, TBH.

Almond, by Sohn Won-Pyung
WILMAI: A beautiful, wonderful story of two very different boys who grow to love each other immensely. The characters and their experiences are vivid and realistic.

'St. Paddy's Day' is usually preferred over 'St. Patty's Day.'

'Paddy' is the shortened form of the original Irish spelling of 'Patrick,' which is 'Pádraig.'

'Patty' is the shortened form of 'Patricia.'

French Lawmaker Suggests The U.S. Return The Statue Of Liberty In Fiery Takedown Of Trump Can't say I blame him.

Can you blame him?

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
WILMAI: Without being a ghost story, it’s unsettling in the same way. The greedy cousin & the awful townspeople are fun to hate, & the sisters & their uncle are lovable, even if one of the sister’s is the real cause of the family’s misfortunes.

A Gentleman's Gentleman: A Novel A Novel

If you are looking for alternative ways to buy A Gentleman's Gentleman that are not Bezos-related, may I suggest @bookshop-org.bsky.social which is also carrying the ebook?

This is my affiliate link, which I think gives me like $1-2 if you buy from it:

bookshop.org/p/books/a-ge...