Athena_Elmar

She/her ~ I like my books bleak and devoid of hope, with a sprinkle of madness, female rage, social commentary and radicalisation 🤟 I love greekmyth and litfic ✨️esp/cat/eng 🇪🇺

1078 points

0% overlap

My Taste

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Reading...

This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial

54%

18%

Athena_Elmar is interested in reading...

Happening

Annie Ernaux

In 1963, Annie Ernaux, 23 and unattached, realizes she is pregnant. Shame arises in her like a Understanding that her pregnancy will mark her and her family as social failures, she knows she cannot keep that child. This is the story, written forty years later, of a trauma Ernaux never overcame. In a France where abortion was illegal, she attempted, in vain, to self-administer the abortion with a knitting needle. Fearful and desperate, she finally located an abortionist, and ends up in a hospital emergency ward where she nearly dies. In Happening, Ernaux sifts through her memories and her journal entries dating from those days. Clearly, cleanly, she gleans the meanings of her experience.

Athena_Elmar is interested in reading...

Tener la carne

Carla Nyman

El brutal debut novelístico de Carla Nyman, «firme promesa» de la escritura en lengua española. — El Cultural Una madre y una hija han cometido un crimen y están dispuestas a confesarlo. Un delirante thriller almodovariano en la costa de Almería. «Tremendamente perturbadora y divertida. Una novela donde el deseo y la muerte salen a tomar el sol». —Mónica Ojeda «Con toda la seguridad, uno de los debuts más originales del panorama literario español». —Sara Barquinero Una chica ha matado a su novio con la ayuda de su madre. Es verano y el calor aprieta en la costa de Almería mientras pasean su cadáver en una silla de ruedas. Tomando el sol y bebiendo cócteles en garitos de playa acompañadas del muerto, la hija llama insistentemente al juez que tal vez podría instruir su caso para ponerle las cosas fá son culpables y está dispuesta a contarle con todo detalle cómo lo han matado y por qué. Pero el juez no contesta y salta el buzón de voz. La premiada dramaturga y poeta Carla Nyman debuta en la novela con este delirio almodovariano, un machetazo revestido de risa histérica que lanza bruscos interrogantes sobre el deseo, la feminidad, los celos, el sexo y el amor. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION The stunning first novel by Carla Nyman, “a promising talent” in Spanish-language literature ( El Cultural ). A mother and daughter commit a murder and are ready to confess. An outrageous Almodóvar-type thriller set on the Almería coast. “Hugely perturbing and fun. A novel where death and desire bask in the sun.” – Mónica Ojeda “With utmost certainty, one of the most original debuts on the Spanish literary scene.” – Sara Barquinero A young woman murders her boyfriend, with her mother’s help. The summer heat beats down on Almería, on the southeastern coast of Spain, as the women push the corpse around town in a wheelchair. Strolling in the sun and drinking cocktails in beachside bars with the body for company, the women repeatedly phone a local judge to ask him to handle the case. They’ll make it easy for They are guilty and willing to give a detailed account of why and how they committed the murder. But the judge doesn’t answer, and their messages go straight to voicemail. This debut novel by award-winning playwright and poet Carla Nyman is a fever dream in the style of Almodóvar, a dark comedy that raises uncomfortable questions about desire, femininity, jealousy, sex and love.

Athena_Elmar is interested in reading...

15h

Lost Lambs

Madeline Cash

Rippling with humor, warmth, and style, Lost Lambs is a new vision of the charms and pitfalls of family dysfunction. The Flynn family is coming undone. Catherine and Bud's open marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaotic Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone—or something—is monitoring the town’s citizens. Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a billionaire shipping magnate. Rumors of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with a mysterious shipping container sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy—one that may just bring them closer together. Irreverent and addictive, pinging between the voices of the Flynn family and those of the panorama of characters around them, Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs is a debut novel of quick-witted observation and surprising tenderness. With Lost Lambs, Cash has crafted a family saga for the twenty-first century, all held together with crazy glue.

Athena_Elmar is interested in reading...

18h

El ataque de las cabras

Laura Chivite

El regreso de una de las autoras de imaginación más desbordante Premio Ojo Crítico de Narrativa 2022 por "Gente que ríe" «Con su humor fascinante, entre el golpe surrealista, el costumbrismo y la fantasía, esta novela nos cuenta cómo nos buscamos por entre los demás. Nada fácil de olvidar». Berta García Faet «Laura Chivite va a su aire y no se deja llevar por modas». Jonás Trueba Tras una década sin saber nada de ella, la narradora de esta novela sorprende a Tía Lidia sentada en una cafetería de Madrid. Ese momento, como una aparición fantasmal, desencadena una serie de recuerdos, y los dos años que la protagonista convivió con su tía caen en cascada. El ataque de las cabras es una historia de crecimiento, pero también una crónica familiar que hará las delicias del lector. Con un flujo narrativo que alterna el desarrollo emocional típico de los primeros años de juventud con las hilarantes fábulas de una cabra insolente, la narradora irá descubriendo poco a poco tragicómicos secretos familiares que le permitirán entender las rarezas de su familia. Como una maga que quizá se hizo escritora para poder lanzar sus hechizos en forma de historias, Laura Chivite despliega su indiscutible talento y su singular sentido del humor para explorar el paso del tiempo con sus penas y decepciones revelándonos, página tras página, una exquisita sabiduría. «Un libro sorprendente y vital con notas melancólicas, como el sonido que queda en el aire tras un brindis. ¡Extraordinario!». Bárbara Mingo «Una fascinante mezcla de El hombre y la Tierra y un disco de los Sex Pistols. Laura Chivite posee el sentido mágico de la narración». Javier Pérez-Andújar «Qué raro es crecer, qué necesitamos modelos que nos inspiren y nos abran la cabeza... para luego huir de ellos con velocidad punk. Con su humor fascinante, entre el golpe surrealista, el costumbrismo y la fantasía, esta novela nos cuenta cómo nos buscamos por entre los demá la familia, la novia... Y, como centro gravitatorio, con telequinesis y todo, la amistad ambigua entre una sobrina y su tía. Nada fácil de olvidar». Berta García Faet Sobre Gente que ríe han dicho… «Una voz nueva con una técnica literaria sorprendente. Gente que ríe [es] un volumen de cuentos lleno de hallazgos que abre caminos en la literatura española Jurado del premio Ojo Crítico «Desde Vonnegut nunca fue tan dulce y real viajar en el tiempo». Isabel Bono «Gente que ríe evidencia la dificultad de la proeza, del misterio, que supone conocer a alguien. […] Esta ópera prima supone una revelación del potencial de su innegable talento literario Bruno Padilla, Revista Mercurio «No me sorprendería que Laura Chivite llegara lejos». Alberto Olmos, El Confidencial

Athena_Elmar commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

codingclown

The Pitt book recs

So...how do I say this? I've been watching The Pitt recently, and I realized I am INTO it, like really into it. I think it's my current fixation tbh. That led me to wonder: does anyone have any books that give "the pitt" vibes? It doesn't have to be medical/medical-related books. For example, I started reading "A Magical Girl Retires", and I was thinking "Robby should read this book" (yeah, it's that bad lol) due to its story dealing with a burnt out, near the end of her rope protagonist who is just looking for a way out, and she's struggling with grief. So yeah, any books that give the vibes of the different characters, maybe or plot points. Thanks!!!

Athena_Elmar TBR'd a book

The Dispossessed

Ursula K. Le Guin

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

Athena_Elmar commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

NotableMagpie

Post-capitalist book recs?

Hi! I usually read a lot of dystopias but I'd like to read books that would help me envision a positive post-capitalist society. So far I think I've only come across The Monk and the Robot by Becky Chambers and I really really loved it. Do you have any similar recs ?

Athena_Elmar TBR'd a book

Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072

M.E. O'Brien

By the middle of the twenty-first century, war, famine, economic collapse, and climate catastrophe had toppled the world's governments. In the 2050s, the insurrections reached the nerve center of global capitalism—New York City. This book, a collection of interviews with the people who made the revolution, was published to mark the twentieth anniversary of the New York Commune, a radically new social order forged in the ashes of capitalist collapse. Here is the insurrection in the words of the people who made it, a cast as diverse as the city itself. Nurses, sex workers, antifascist militants, and survivors of all stripes recall the collapse of life as they knew it and the emergence of a collective alternative. Their stories, delivered in deeply human fashion, together outline how ordinary people's efforts to survive in the face of crisis contain the seeds of a new world.

Athena_Elmar made progress on...

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi

18%

Athena_Elmar commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

baberry

Feliç Sant Jordi! 🌹

This thursday, the 23rd of April, is the day of the book and the rose in Catalonia, Spain. I wanted to make this post on thursday but something in me wanted to give some time in case anyone wanted to celebrate alongside me and my country!

On this day, Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia is painted with roses and books all over. You can search for images of Sant Jordi day and you will find stops on the streets, colour everywhere, and lots of love in the air.

The tradicion says lovers give a book and a rose to each other (typically a man gives a rose and a woman gives a book but... I think you understand why we take that part more freely) because of the legend of Sant Jordi.

It's about a dragon taking a princess hostage and a knight coming to rescue her. In the process he kills the dragon, and from the spilled blood a rose blooms, which he gifts to her. There are many versions and retellings, but this is roughly what you can find in all of them.

This is my favourite day of the year, I love everyone buying books and roses and taking a stroll to spend this gorgeous festivity. Did you know about it? Is there any similar festivity in your culture? Will you gift a book and a rose this Thursday, too? Let me know, and happy Sant Jordi everyone!!! ❤️🌹🐉📚

Athena_Elmar TBR'd a book

On Earth As It Is Beneath

Ana Paula Maia

On land where enslaved people were once tortured and murdered, the state built a penal colony in the wilderness, where inmates could be rehabilitated, but never escape. Now, decades later, and having only succeeded in trapping men, not changing them for the better, its operations are winding down. But in the prison’s waning days, a new horror is unleashed: every full-moon night, the inmates are released, the warden is armed with rifles, and the hunt begins. Every man plans his escape, not knowing if his end will come at the hands of a familiar face, or from the unknown dangers beyond the prison walls. Ana Paula Maia has once again delivered a bracing vision of our potential for violence, and our collective failure to account for the consequences of our social and political action, or inaction. No crime is committed out of view for this novelist, and her raw, brutal power enlists us all as witness.

Athena_Elmar made progress on...

This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial

Helen Garner

54%

Athena_Elmar wrote a review...

Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal

Athena_Elmar

Apr 17, 2026

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

🇵🇸

😡

💔

I don't think I can write any possible review that would reflect how important and deeply devastating this book is, so I'll just leave a quote that I feel reflects very well what being Palestinian must feel like 💔

"It is not my fault that they are Jewish. I have zero interest in apologizing for centuries-old tropes created by Europeans, when millions of us confront real, tangible oppression, living behind cement walls, or under siege, or in exile, and living with woes too expansive to summarize. I am tired of the impulse to preemptively distance myself from something of which I am not guilty, and particularly tired of the constant burden to prove that I am not inherently bigoted. I’m tired of the pearl-clutching pretense that should such animosity exist, its existence would be inexplicable and rootless, of the academics and the intellectuals punching down on the unfiltered among us. Most of all, I am tired of the false equivalence between semantic “violence” and systemic violence: only one party in this “conflict” is actively engaged in the intentional and systematic attempted eradication of an entire population."

Athena_Elmar finished a book

Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal

Mohammed El-Kurd

Perfect Victims is an urgent affirmation of the Palestinian condition of resistance and refusal―an ode to the steadfastness of a nation. Palestine is a microcosm of the on fire, stubborn, fragmented, dignified. While a settler colonial state continues to inflict devastating violence, fundamental truths are deliberately obscured—the perpetrators are coddled while the victims are blamed and placed on trial. Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation. How we see Palestine reveals how we see each other; how we see everything else. Masterfully combining candid testimony, history, and reportage, Perfect Victims presents a powerfully simple dignity for the Palestinian.

Athena_Elmar commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

kyaaaah

I need book recs!

I want to read books that have pov from animals, any recommendations?

Athena_Elmar TBR'd a book

Ring Shout

P. Djèlí Clark

In America, demons wear white hoods. In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan's ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die. Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan's demons straight to Hell. But something awful's brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up. Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?

Athena_Elmar commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

kimikat

I Love a Good Book, But What I Want is the STUFF

Boundlings! I need help from people who have actually survived the book box rabbit hole because I have officially reached decision paralysis…

This started after a conversation I had with @linguini on another post about our love for stationery and the fact that book boxes are basically “serotonin in a box,” and honestly… I would like some serotonin please. I spiraled into researching them, which I thought would be simple. It is not. I keep thinking I’ve narrowed it down, then I find another one and I’m right back at square one.

For context, I love a good surprise book. If there’s a “blind date with a book” at a store or library, there’s a very high chance I’m picking one up. I do not need help acquiring random books or special editions, which I noticed is a big reason people choose certain boxes based on when I searched through previous posts. Also, I don’t even have the space for a pretty bookshelf right now, so those would honestly be wasted on me since I wouldn’t be able to display them and admire them. (One day 🤞🏽)

What I do want is the full book box experience. The extras. The stuff. I love stuff.

So I need honest input:

Which box actually has extras you still use or genuinely love, not just cute clutter?

Do any boxes make the “stuff” feel curated and intentional instead of random filler?

Send help before I subscribe to five and call it “research” 🫠

Athena_Elmar TBR'd a book

Flights

Olga Tokarczuk

From the incomparably original Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, Flights interweaves reflections on travel with an in-depth exploration of the human body, broaching life, death, motion, and migration. Chopin’s heart is carried back to Warsaw in secret by his adoring sister. A woman must return to her native Poland in order to poison her terminally ill high school sweetheart, and a young man slowly descends into madness when his wife and child mysteriously vanish during a vacation and just as suddenly reappear. Through these brilliantly imagined characters and stories, interwoven with haunting, playful, and revelatory meditations, Flights explores what it means to be a traveler, a wanderer, a body in motion not only through space but through time. Where are you from? Where are you coming in from? Where are you going? we call to the traveler. Enchanting, unsettling, and wholly original, Flights is a master storyteller’s answer. Here I am -- World in your head -- Your head in the world -- Syndrome -- Cabinet of curiosities -- Seeing is knowing -- Seven years of trips -- Guidance from Cioran -- Kunicki: water (I) -- Benedictus, quivenit

Athena_Elmar commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

thejilmar

Mythology learning recs

I'm looking for a book where I can learn about mythology but that is easy/understandable to read and also makes it fun and interesting to learn about it. Specifically looking to learn about how all the different types of creatures came to be, the gods, that kind of thing. Hopefully my description makes sense, but I myself don't know 100% what type of book I'm looking for 😅 I only know I want to know how dragons and wyverns and gods came to exist in literature.

Athena_Elmar TBR'd a book

The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness

Hannah Murray

He sat me down in a chair and he told me, in no uncertain terms, that magic was real.This is the true story of a spiritual awakening that turned into a mental breakdown. At the age of twenty-seven, an actress joins a wellness organisation and falls in love with its leader. She is sectioned for a psychotic break and diagnosed with bipolar disorder.The Make-Believe is a deeply personal account of these events. It is a wild ride, a searching attempt for understanding and a call for radical empathy. Lyrical and playful, exploring light and dark, it takes readers on a journey to the edges of reality, to a seductive and dangerous world where magic seems possible.

Gift Pagebound Royalty Merch Store Roadmap Founder Announcements

Support

FAQ Contact Us Report a bug

team@pagebound.co

Company

About Us Terms of Use Privacy Policy Content Policy

Gift Pagebound Royalty Merch Store Roadmap Founder Announcements