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Fantasy and Sci-Fi with a Side of Romance đđđ
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Dramatic battles, tense political intrigue, unique world building...and is that maybe some romance I'm sensing? These books are not Romantasy but focus primarily on the SFF elements. Romance is a subplot and may not appear until later in the series, but when it does, you won't be disappointed.
ppaula commented on a post
Itâs become somewhat of a running joke in my reading updates that âdamn weâre {some significant amount of time} into this thing and sheâs still not at the White House wthâ. But after arriving at the White House, and hearing Michelle talk about the campaign trail and how everything in her life revolves around Barack, how sheâs not Michelle the accomplished lawyer with dreams and aspirations but simply Barackâs Harvard educated wife⊠I totally get why she spent 70% of her own memoir telling us who she was before she became First Lady to the President. And Iâm glad she did; I actually feel a little guilty now wishing sheâd hurry up and spend more time talking about the presidency. She deserves to be known outside of her relation to her husband; sheâs a full person with wisdom and stories in her own right.
ppaula wrote a review...
I am very rarely so inspired, but the notes on optimism, resilience, and determination in this were amazing...
âfailure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result.â
âitâs remarkable how a stereotype functions as an actual trap.â
ppaula completed their yearly reading goal of 40 books!







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Becoming
Michelle Obama
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Three Women
Lisa Taddeo
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âWhen you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You canât erase what you know. You canât forget who you are.â
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Classic Literature from the United States
Bronze: Finished 5 Main Quest books.
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The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros
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Cozy Fantasy âšâïžđ€
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Fictional books that feel like a warm hug, featuring magic and whimsy and perfectly happy endings. These are lower on stakes and higher on good vibes!
ppaula is interested in reading...

The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon
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Legends & Lattes
Travis Baldree
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Found Family in Fantasy đĄâïžđ«¶đœ
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Outcasts, rebels, and misfits unite in magical worlds. Here, strangers become chosen family, facing every challenge together and proving that home is found, not given.
ppaula commented on a post
I thought this was an excellent interview with Jamaica Kincaid: Salon - Jamaica Kincaid: People say Iâm angry because Iâm black and Iâm a woman
I appreciated reading it after reading Lucy. In the article she address critics who say she includes too many autobiographical references in her fiction. Lucy is so clearly inspired by her own life, but at the same time so clearly a character that's been created.
I think Lucy could also be read as an angry character by someone who is looking to detract from the merits of the novel. I instead see her as a passionate, self-assured character. If she's ever angry she has every right to be, and it's so reductionistic to write off the works of a Black woman simply as "angry," to not be able to go further in your understanding of the work and reduce its author to a stereotype.
ppaula started reading...

The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros
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âYet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.â
âFor a moment a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted like a dumb manâs, as though there was more struggling upon them than a wisp of startled air. But they made no sound, and what I had almost remembered was uncommunicable forever.â
ppaula finished a book

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald