StJust
Knitting, singing, language nerding, but mostly reading. Looking for historical fiction, fantasy and diverse author recs
12144 points
StJust commented on shanethe_readingrat's update
shanethe_readingrat made progress on...
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
Sarah Wynn-Williams
10StJust commented on a post
StJust commented on d_nicolas's update
d_nicolas TBR'd a book
Lobster
Guillaume Lecasble
5StJust commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
New ick is the word “balls” when referring to male anatomy. Really took me out of the scene. Will be reporting back soon for a more detailed review. I have some things to say.
83Post from the War and Peace forum
This is a bit of a sidebar, but it’s really fascinating (from a historical perspective) how Tolstoy writes about and treats larger bodies. The two I’m thinking of are Pierre and Anisya Fyodorovna in this, Chapter 7, part 4, volume 2. I’m using the P/V translation for reference.
Firstly, Pierre is constantly described as fat, huge, etc., and it’s pretty much always associated with one of two things: either his own feeling of awkwardness, or others’ perception of him as pleasant, solid, or approachable. It’s one of the things Natasha thinks is most pleasing about him, and there have been references to his whole aspect being very nice from her perspective.
Here, Anisya Fyodorovna is described as fat, beautiful, corpulent, and plump, and just by looking at her, Natasha and Nikolai immediately understand why their uncle keeps his household with her as he does. Her size is linked to the simple but delightful abundance of food, good cheer, merriment, music and overall pleasant atmosphere of the household, and it’s clear that everyone finds her very attractive.
I suppose it’s also linked to an earthy kind of living; she’s the uncle’s housekeeper and his obvious partner, but he wouldn’t marry her because of her lower class status. The younger aristocratic girls/women like Natasha and Sonya are pretty consistently described as slender, but again it’s clear that they appreciate the attractions of someone like Anisya.
Similarly, Pierre’s size has been linked to his feeling of being awkward in the society he’s surrounded by - it’s something that makes him stand out amongst his fellow aristocrats and adds to his sense of distance from them. But again it’s not really off putting to anyone; it just makes him stand out.
Anyway, I don’t think Tolstoy consciously intended this kind of representation, because he wouldn’t have had the cultural baggage about fatphobia and judgment that we have today. I just find his approach to it really interesting, and it reflects on the attitudes people of his class in Russia might have had at the time.
1StJust commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
I recently had a discussion with my younger brother about books and we inevitably ended up talking about how I still haven’t read Lord of the rings (his favourite books), which he read at 15 and then haven’t picked up a book since.
So we made a deal, for every one of Tolkien's books I read he will read a book too. The problem is that we have a little bit different taste in media so I’m struggling with recommendations for him, which is why I now turn to you the wider Pagebound community for help.
He’s said he’s interested in Classic fantasy/sci-fi as well as Humoristic fantasy/sci-fi and I quote “Something political but not only political but there can be a bunch of politics” (he then made the comparison to Clone Wars that have a lot of politics but also a bunch of filler and other stuff as well). He also seemed interested in stories with morally grey characters or villain protagonists (this is based on how he raved about Maul Shadow lord so if you know of any books with similar vibes let us know).
Also please let us know if the audiobooks of your recomendations are any good (should you know).
Some things my brother likes for inspiration: Movies/Tv Shows: -Lord of the rings (both the books and movies) -Star Wars (the entire universe minus sequels & Acolyte) -Marvel (as a franchise not just MCU) -The Bear -Vikings Video Games: -Expedition 33 -God of War Hobbies/Interests: -Cooking (He’s a chef) -Mythologies (He’s read some Norse, Greek and Chinese mythology in the past but he said he’s interested in reading about any mythology) -History
Thanks in advance for any and all recs.
45StJust commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
question’s in the title! what book, just based on how much you love it/how much you yap about it/etc etc etc pick your own criteria, do you think your PB friends would see and think immediately “oh yeah, [insert your username]!!”? for me,
the fact that i made this in the first place really says it all for my answer honestly
210StJust commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Hello hoomans! Good morning from my side of the world. Can't believe we are halfway through May. I hope everyone's reading is going well.
Have you ever read a book where you paused and say: you know what that's a valid reason to be a villian? 😅😂
So tell me, if you were to be a villian in a story what will be your origin story? 😆 NOTE: It can only because of inconvenience/pettiness. Nothing too serious like someone died. For example: all your ex-boyfriends keep bringing you pads when you ask them to buy you tampons. 😂😂
For me it will be, my barista keeps making my iced coffee watered down with barely any ice and too much milk. 🤫😮💨 OR telling me my dog is just a "dog" and not my baby. 😒
PS. As they say, we're all villians on someone elses story. 😉
94StJust commented on a post
This feels like a torture train. Is there a glimmer of hope? Is there some light to look forward to at least in the flashbacks? I want something good to happen for once damn 😭
3StJust commented on a post
StJust commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
in honour of the Backrooms film being released this month, I’m looking for books with that weird, creepy, liminal space vibe. pretty much like Severance on Apple tv! or even Pan’s Labrinyth? something along the lines of characters finding a world that shouldn’t exist, that defies the logic of the normal world, becoming trapped, and it’s either empty or has monsters. i’m not fussed by either! if there aren’t any books exactly like this, then something close would be appreciated too. i love horror as a genre but i’m still quite new to it, other than classics like The Exorcist. 👻
48StJust wrote a review...
I listened to this on audiobook, and I think that might have slightly affected my enjoyment - mostly because I wanted to go back and reference some sections again but can’t really do that on audio.
Anyway, I enjoyed this one overall, but it didn’t blow me away like it has some other readers. I felt that overall it was a strong, ambitious debut, and it tackled the chosen themes with a boldness and acerbity I wasn’t really expecting. I appreciated that Burke not only dunks on the tradwife/religious hypocrite community, but also liberal feminism and expectations of women from all sides.
I particularly liked the juxtaposition of Natalie and Reena’s situations early on (at least in Natalie’s mind): Natalie imagines Reena’s miserable future as a “women can have it all” girlboss feminist who feels pressure to have full, perfect success in a high-powered career and as a wife and mother, while Natalie’s own future is equally miserable and proscribed as a tradwife.
Because we see everything from Natalie’s perspective, the rants about “angry women” and feminism in general can go on for a while and leave you wondering a little bit about the book’s message.
This brings me to the next thing I really loved: Natalie as a character study. This is where the book really shines. We get so deep in her mind that it’s almost hard to unstick ourselves. She’s a hypocrite, mean spirited, superior, condescending, frustrating, sometimes horrifying. It’s genuinely hard to sit in her brain at times. But that’s kind of the point, and a major theme of the book. It is hard to be Natalie, not because she’s a tradwife, but because she’s an unpleasant, horrible person. And yet we’re able to understand her on a deep level and even sympathize with her somewhat.
I also liked how Burke dealt with the religious aspect - Natalie’s specific sect is left rather ambiguous, but the overall vibes seem able to apply to a wide swath of conservative Christians, and even other conservative religious groups.
Unfortunately, though, the premise of the book didn’t really live up to its promise. We get very little time in the 1800s setting, and when we do we’re almost immediately pulled back into flashbacks. It’s like a little side mystery to the main plot, which is how Natalie and Caleb got to be the way they are. How/why Natalie goes back in time and her life there is almost a sidebar. Also, the reader can pretty much figure out what’s going on a little more than halfway through the book, because it’s the only solution that makes sense in the world Burke builds.
Although I liked the clues that were dropped around the 1800s section, reading those bits themselves felt like you’re just going in circles: you don’t know what’s going on, Natalie doesn’t know, she wants to leave, she doesn’t know how to live that way. Rinse, repeat. Some of the little bits and pieces also just straight up don’t make a lot of sense in light of the conclusion.
So, the pacing between the 1800s storyline and the main storyline is off, but the pacing of the main storyline is also uneven and didn’t quite work. Again we get this feeling of circling the same ideas over and over without getting very far - it takes way too long to get to the point of becoming and influencer, and then we rush past the beginnings of that pretty quickly.
So although I stayed interested and it kept my attention the whole time, I wasn’t fully engrossed in this one. It’s on the good side of neutral for me, at a 3.5. I am really interested to see the movie version, however, as I think a lot of this will be more compelling on screen! And I think the emphasis on visual hypocrisy and social media will play out better in a film, too.
It’s worth reading and I’m sure a lot of people will love it, but it’s not a knockout for me!
0StJust commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
See, I love the genre as a whole, and especially grimdark as a concept. The problem is, I don't like romance, and with the exception of romantasy, fantasy is very much dominated by male authors.
now I really, REALLY dislike how the vast majority of male fantasy authors write women. It puts me off, destroys my immersion, and it's starting to ruin my relationship with the genre as a whole. In fact, there are only two authors I haven't had this problem with: Tolkien and Terry Pratchett. And I've read a bunch of fantasy.
Right now I'm reading the Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb, and let me tell you: I'm terrified of going through these books too fast and dread the day I inevitably finish the series. Because what do I read next? Yes, there's Ursula Le Guin, and Sussana Clark but who else? (Appreciate suggestions! I don't like R.F. Kuang)
I miss the sensitivity, the imaginativeness, the care that goes into developing each character and world-building, the emotional depth of the story, and the beautiful prose that I've only come across in fantasy written by women. Swordfights, politics and war strategy are cool, sure, but I need MORE from my books. 😭
TL;DR: GIRLS PLEASE WRITE MORE FANTASY I'M BEGGING YOU DON'T LEAVE ME TO THE BOOK-BRO SPHERE
39StJust commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Hi all!
I’ve been thinking about the kind of books I like and what I tend to rate 5 stars, and the themes (or I suppose maybe tropes is a better word?) that seem to come up surprisingly often in the books I love. I’ve noticed some of them are very specific, and wondered if anyone else has very specific things you enjoy reading about in books.
My top specific topics are:
- Books about Tea
- Creepy Sentient Forests
- Female Rage or Revenge in a fantasy/academic setting
- Books Featuring Tarot Cards (or similar, but especially if magic is linked to them)
Also if you have any recommendations please let me know, especially if it fits more than one of the topics.
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