An Apology: I apologize for the inaccessibility of these resources to folks outside of the US, and for failing to think internationally in this space today.

Update: I fucking hate that knowledge isn’t free. I hate that we live in a system where joy and knowledge often have a price tag. My point in posting was to point out that authors and artists suffer because of this. Most authors aren’t wealthy, and not compensating them affects their livelihood.

Authors should receive compensation for their books as long as this capitalist hellscape exists, and consent is important.

If money is a barrier, take these steps:

Utilize your local library (you can always request that they add a book to their collection—this is good for authors).

If your library won’t add a copy or you need the book immediately, get a non-resident library card at a library with the book.

There are online non-profit libraries where you can apply for cards.

Borrow a copy from a friend or community member.

Apply for a review copy.

There are so many options that respect authors.

I'm Italian. In my country basically everything you find if you go in a library are either old classics, trending books from English speaking countries translated in Italian, and very few books from Italian authors which change their name for it to look as English as possible.

I never had a problem with it, especially now that I read in English. But a lot of English speakers, and in general readers from many different countries, have been looking for recommendations from literature around the world. I love giving recommendations, both of the books I read and of books I heard about. Due to this I noticed how I could give a whole list of titles from classic authors, from middle ages to 1900s, but no contemporary one. Maybe just a bunch of Italian authors I followed on tiktok, but whose books I never got my hands on. Most adopted English names as well, so if you stumble on them in the library you don't even realise they are Italian. And not even one of my friends would know them or their books if I told them about it.

To be honest, this is making me a little sad. I want a favourite author in my native language. One who still publishes. One that I can be excited about over a new book coming out. One to follow on social media. One to recommend when people ask me about literature from my country.

I love the classics I studied at school (after I'm done studying them that is), and think people from other countries absolutely should read those, but how is it that there's nothing new to recommend? How is it that the two lists about Italian literature don't have any title published in the past ten years, or just about one or two? How is it possible that I can barely think of a contemporary author from where I live? I find it to be pretty unfair. Once, in the past, my country had flourishing literature. Authors everywhere.

Does anyone else live this? Does any Italian speaker have any recommendation for books from Italian authors?

Should I read Carmilla first?? 🫣

Basically what the title says - when where you directly inspired to do something because you read about it in a book (e.g. getting a specific pastry or trying archery etc.)? I was reading Atmosphere by TJR and when the MC talked about rearranging glowy stars I impulsively bought some and then stuck a lot of them to the walls and I love it so much so I was wondering if y'all had a similar experience :)

(Edit: typo in the title was driving me crazy)