Post from the Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4) forum
aspiringcowboy commented on a post
Post from the Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4) forum
aspiringcowboy started reading...
Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)
Martha Wells
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Post from the Howlâs Moving Castle (Howlâs Moving Castle, #1) forum
"I feel ill," he announced. "I'm going to bed, where I may die."
me currently (chronic pain sufferer + i currently have a sore throat đ)
aspiringcowboy commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
i've just read a whole blurb thinking all the while this looks interesting. I move to add it to my tbr, and... SURPRISE! I've read it already. 3 years ago apparently How could the blurb not even remind me of anything?? Even after seeing the evidence that I have read it, still nothing comes to mind lol This not even the only time that this has happened Please tell me I'm not the only one!
aspiringcowboy commented on a post
The author allegedly... killed and tortured people?? "Allegedly" She must really be against the idea of separating the art from the artist
Post from the Howlâs Moving Castle (Howlâs Moving Castle, #1) forum
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aspiringcowboy commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Okay so Iâm having a bit of a moral conundrum and I would like to hear how others deal with this kind of thing. Letâs preface this by saying I do not want this turning into a big argument, but I think the Pagebound community is a safe space to respectfully discuss this.
TL;DR: IMO Rowling is a twat. Do you separate art from artist and read HP, or stop consuming their work altogether?
So, as many others, I have a soft spot in my heart for Harry Potter. I grew up with the movies, read all the books multiple times, played the games (those ps2 games were the shit). Itâs just one of those comfort franchises.
But now.. in the big year of 2025.. I have just rearranged my bookshelves. And my Harry Potter series has been demoted to some dusty old corner in the back where I canât see them anymore. All because J.K Rowling has become an absolute twat. I understand that we canât all have the same values. (Or I donât understand, when it comes to basic human rights but well) It is another thing altogether to use your big voice and money to demonize and actively go against a harmless group of minorities. A group whole already gets enough shit without someone like her piling it on.
I do not want to support such an hateful individual with my money. I will not buy any new versions of the books, I will not watch the new HBO show, I will not rewatch the movies on a place where she gets revenue from them. (đŽââ ïžđŽââ ïž)
But.. Now the weather is getting colder, Iâm feeling that itch to reread the books. To get swept away again in the magical world I loved as a kid. I wouldnât be giving her any money, since I still own my old copies. But if I reread.. do I log them in the app? 7 whole books not counting to my reading goal is a lot. Read, log, but donât engage in forms and reviews? I also donât necessarily want her to be among my top authors lol.
How do you deal with situations like this? Do you just donât care about authors opinions? Separate the art from the artist? Do you stop reading it all together? Do you reread it quietly?
Whether it be with works from She Who Must Not Be Named, or another author whose views you donât agree with.
aspiringcowboy commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Are you also on an impossible quest to make people around you stop enabling FamousTERF, who uses her money to fund anti-trans moves? I find it quite hard and exhausting. Books around magic are my favourite genre, though, so I found very nice and very queer alternatives, and I would LOVE to discover more!! My personal favourites? The Simon Snow trilogy and Sorcery and Small Magics!!! Please let me know your alternatives!!
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Translated Works
This is my master list of books translated to English! These all range into various different countries, cultures, and genres. It's beginning was as my August's Women in Translation TBR and has evolved to encompass more works by all genders
4
aspiringcowboy started reading...
Howlâs Moving Castle (Howlâs Moving Castle, #1)
Diana Wynne Jones
Post from the Captain's Dinner: A Shipwreck, An Act of Cannibalism, and a Murder Trial that Changed Legal History forum
"Apart from rainwater, sea turtle blood is one of the best sources of life-sustaining liquids available at sea. Fish blood is too rich with protein and salt to effectively ward off dehydration, but sea turtle blood has different chemistry and it is a highly effective substitute for fresh water."
you really learn something new every day. i do wonder when exactly they figured out how ineffective fish blood is, thoughâsomething to look up later
aspiringcowboy started reading...
Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
Martha Wells
aspiringcowboy wrote a review...
2025 read: I know, I said, if the humans were dead, who would make the media?
opinion hasn't changed much from my first read: still needs to be longer, still vastly improves from the first installment.
2024 read: "I guess you can't tell a story from the point of view of something that you don't think has a point of view."
really an improvement from the first installment. i do find myself wishing these were longer, though.
aspiringcowboy finished a book
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
Martha Wells
aspiringcowboy commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Okay folks, now that the app has launched on Android, and that app finally pops up in the Canadian Play Store if you write "Pagebound social book tracker" (sometimes "... trackers" because it is being extra finicky), my best friend has finally agreed to join!
Her username is Taryannasauras, and as you'll know from her bio, she likes fantasy, "Just fantasy. Ideally no, or little romance..."
She and I have been having a discussion about romantasy for ages that basically boils down to we are happy for folks who like it, but it just isn't what we are looking for.
So, I beg of you: recommend your favourite fantasy books that don't cross over into romantasy. If there is a romance side plot - that is fine! but should not be the main focus.
Bonus points if the lead is a woman/non-binary , and/or if it is queer, but neither are hard asks.
(Special note: neither of us are prudes; we are both incredibly sex positive! We are very happy for the folks who love reading sex scenes. We can even read them. But we value plot way above sexual content. Bestie most ends up skipping those parts to get back to the plot, which is why I wanna find stuff she can read all the way through.)