m.a.greenereads

M. • 23 • she/her | Reader & aspiring author just trying to escape reality | asexual & anxious ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

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Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017

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19h

The Village Beyond the Mist

Sachiko Kashiwaba

With nostalgic charm and gentle magic so characteristic of award-winning Sachiko Kashiwaba, The Village Beyond the Mist, which inspired Spirited Away, will captivate and enchant readers of all ages. This timeless and enduring Japanese classic from 1975 served as the inspiration for the beloved Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away, and it's available for the first time to English-speaking readers. The story follows Lina, a sixth-grade girl who embarks on a solo train journey to spend the summer in a rural village. However, upon arrival, she discovers that the valley's might not exist! Through a mysterious encounter involving wind, mist, and a magic umbrella, she arrives at a grand house on a cobbled street. As Lina adapts to her new responsibilities around town, she learns more about friendship and herself than she previously thought possible.

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The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time. (Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)

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The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

m.a.greenereads commented on m.a.greenereads's review of The Awakening of Lora Abernathy (The Cosms Cycle, #1)

m.a.greenereads

Aug 22, 2025

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

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DNF @ 27% (not rating because of this) (TL;DR at the bottom 🙃) Some background: I was looking for horror recs (specifically subgenres within horror to check out) on Pagebound and the author mentioned their book was available to read for free as an ARC & had body horror. However, I fear this gave me wrong expectations going in and there was a miscommunication. I think they maybe thought I was looking for book recs in other (non-horror) genres but that have a subgenre of horror, rather than specific subgenres of horror where the main genre is still horror (i.e. body horror books: the main genre is just listed as “horror” but it’s more specifically “body horror”). Because of this, I expected the book to be horror fantasy, not fantasy with horror elements. And I actually DNFed before I even got to any horror elements. However, that’s not my only reason for DNFing. While I was intrigued by how Lorna, the first character we’re introduced to, and her dog-form worked (they seem to be separate identities/characters/beings that have to share a body), I pretty quickly lost interest as I read on. I think the main reason was the POV switch to a somewhat less interesting character and being so quickly introduced to new characters. Both things made it difficult to feel like I was getting to know any of the characters, their motivations, or really feel invested in any of them. And not being invested in the main characters makes continuing to read a story very difficult. On top of that there were two instances of the tense randomly switching from past tense to present tense. One felt like a definite mistake, while the other I couldn’t tell if it was purposeful or also a mistake. The first instance occurs in the middle of a chapter and is a is a single paragraph (pg. 18 of pdf version) and then the next paragraph goes back to past tense. The second instance occurs at the end of Chapter 3 and then the book seemingly continues using present tense when, until then, it was in past tense. Just kinda weird and random and feels like an error. Lastly there were a few personal taste and opinion-based things I didn’t like: I had trouble distinguishing the vibe of the setting… I think it’s medieval fantasy? However there is modern language (“nerd shit” & “girls girl”). I’m personally not a fan of modern aspects in an otherwise medieval/classic fantasy setting The writing felt a bit simplistic, cliche at times, and juvenile The dialogue (especially the flirting & banter) was quite cringey, cheesy, and/or unrealistic imo I don’t know a lot about DnD but it gives the vibes that it started out as a DnD campaign (or maybe WAS a full-on DnD campaign) that the author then turned into a novella. At the very least it feels set in a classic DnD-inspired world? Especially with some of the terminology (see: “adventurers”) and the worldbuilding/fantasy races (i.e. “tiefling”). Plus the general concept feels very DnD coded (different characters of different fantasy races come together to do a job). I’m not personally a fan of this but I could see others liking this aspect of it The PROS: I felt the description of character actions & facial expressions were quite good (setting descriptions were pretty good too) Tobias being a trans character was super cool Kind of piggybacking off the above, loved the diversity. There was a small side character in a wheelchair and lots of LGBTQ+ rep (especially trans/gender queer) TL;DR I had the wrong expectations going in (thought it was more horror than it was) but even upon realizing this, was willing to give it a shot. Was intrigued at first and loved the diversity (lots of gender queer rep), but didn’t feel any real investment in any of the characters. The final nail(s) in the coffin were jarring tense changes that felt like mistakes. On top of that though, there were some things that I’m personally not a fan of: unrealistic & cheesy dialogue, modern phrases in an otherwise medieval fantasy setting, and it felt like a DnD campaign turned into a novella. The combination of all this led me to DNF.

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m.a.greenereads

Aug 22, 2025

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

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m.a.greenereads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

m.a.greenereads

Edited

Horror Subgenre Recs 👀🤡👻🎃

I’ve recently gotten into reading horror and love that there’s such a variety of subgenres to explore! Some I’ve found I like are deep sea horror, body horror, and creature(??) horror (idk what to call it… it’s like where a creature/monster/nonhuman being(s) is the main spook but NOT werewolves, vampires, classic monsters, ghosts etc.). Some I don’t like are comedy horror, splatter horror, and gross (??) horror (aka horror that relies on gross elements like bugs, parasites, vomit, etc.). Paranormal (or is it supernatural?) horror (like spirits, ghosts, demons, etc.) is a 50/50 for me so far but I’ve only read like 3 or 4 in that genre so hard to know rlly. My questions for YOU: 1. Do you have any recs for horror subgenres I should explore next? 2. Do you have any horror book recs that fit in the subgenres I mentioned I like? 3. Any good paranormal/supernatural horror recs to help me figure out if I like the subgenre? 4. What’s the difference between paranormal and supernatural horror?🥴

m.a.greenereads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

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Edited

Horror Subgenre Recs 👀🤡👻🎃

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This Thing Between Us

Gus Moreno

It was Vera's idea to buy the Itza. The "world's most advanced smart speaker!" didn't interest Thiago, but Vera thought it would be a bit of fun for them amidst all the strange occurrences happening in the condo. It made things worse. The cold spots and scratching in the walls were weird enough, but peculiar packages started showing up at the house—who ordered industrial lye? Then there was the eerie music at odd hours, Thiago waking up to Itza projecting light shows in an empty room. It was funny and strange right up until Vera was killed, and Thiago's world became unbearable. Pundits and politicians all looking to turn his wife's death into a symbol for their own agendas. A barrage of texts from her well-meaning friends about letting go and moving on. Waking to the sound of Itza talking softly to someone in the living room... The only thing left to do was get far away from Chicago. Away from everything and everyone. A secluded cabin in Colorado seemed like the perfect place to hole up with his crushing grief. But soon Thiago realizes there is no escape—not from his guilt, not from his simmering rage, and not from the evil hunting him, feeding on his grief, determined to make its way into this world. A bold, original horror novel about grief, loneliness and the oppressive intimacy of technology, This Thing Between Us marks the arrival of a spectacular new talent.

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Hell Followed With Us

Andrew Joseph White

Prepare to die. His kingdom is near. Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with. But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all. Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own. A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors. Perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and Annihilation.

m.a.greenereads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

m.a.greenereads

Edited

Horror Subgenre Recs 👀🤡👻🎃

Post from the Pagebound Club forum

m.a.greenereads

Edited

Horror Subgenre Recs 👀🤡👻🎃

m.a.greenereads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

salted.tangerines

Edited

BiPOC Fantasy suggestions?

Hi everyone! I am looking to expand our BIPOC fantasy shelf in our library and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions? We need the books appropriate for a high school age group, but some adult content is okay! (I will review the suggestions) I have made a list on my page, but would love to add more!! Please let me know if there are any hidden gems I haven't added :)

m.a.greenereads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

Atheshootingstar

Book organizing?

I rly wanna be active when it comes to reading, like annotating and writing reviews and everything, but I was wondering if anyone is struggling with this? Like in this site especially I would like to have a rating for every book I've read, maybe a nice self where they could fit, but it feels like so much work. I think I wanna push for the reviews but book journaling and everything else is so hard to get into, eventually it makes reading a chore and ruins the cute, aesthetic organizing. Does anyone have any fun suggestions for making reading more interesting as an activity? Cause I don't think book journaling is for me

m.a.greenereads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

AshedPotato

book recs — Victorian era England/Europe

hello everyone ! Recently I’ve been craving Victorian era stories (of any genre) and if anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated ! I would especially love queer rep from this time period, since that’s the project I’m working on, but I’m open to anything :)

m.a.greenereads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

DisasterAce

Fantasy book recommendations with ace or aroace characters in it?

As my name might suggest, I am asexual. I love the fantasy genre, and I love reading diversely. But I don't think I've come across a fantasy with an ace character in it yet. I'm sure they're out there! So I would ask you guys if you have any recommendations on this front. If it's a book where you only headcanon the character as ace or aroace, I would still love to hear from you, and why you think that! I'm always interested in a good theory.

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