seema commented on cowboyemoji's update
cowboyemoji finished a book

The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon, #2)
Kay O'Neill
Post from the An Arcane Study of Stars forum
I have never in my life had such a difficult time figuring out if a book was meant to be part of a series. I've seen comments online that the author confirmed it would be a standalone, but from the start the world felt like it could accommodate more stories and the way this book ends makes me really feel there could be some set up for more (no details on why to keep this spoiler free). For those that finished, does it feel like a standalone or series to you? & If anyone sees a definitive answer, please help a reader out and link it šš
seema commented on a post
āMaking peace with your body is your mighty act of revolution. It is your contribution to a changed planet where we might all live unapologetically in the bodies we have.ā
What I love the most about this is that you donāt have to be āfinishedā making peace with your body in order to contribute to the revolution. The fact that you are on a journey towards a more peaceful and loving relationship with your own body is what really matters. Wherever you are on your journey, you are helping to turn the tide towards a world that is more accepting and compassionate.
seema commented on seema's update
seema finished a book

An Arcane Study of Stars
Sydney J. Shields
seema finished a book

An Arcane Study of Stars
Sydney J. Shields
Post from the An Arcane Study of Stars forum
Post from the An Arcane Study of Stars forum
Post from the An Arcane Study of Stars forum
seema commented on beloved404's update
beloved404 started reading...

Book Lovers
Emily Henry
seema commented on a post
seema commented on crybabybea's update
crybabybea is re-reading...

Mad Sisters of Esi
Tashan Mehta
seema commented on sashareads's update
seema commented on seema's update
seema commented on seema's review of The Picture of Dorian Gray
This is my third time reading this book (almost decade since my last reading), and certainly the most I've ever appreciated it. This book poses some fascinating questions about morality and conscience and personal satisfaction, but the delivery is really where it was losing me. The first third was stellar as every concept was fresh and interesting to consider, the middle really dragged as everyone became unlikeable and prattled on and on, and the last third picked up the pace again and recaptured my attention to a really strong finish. Plenty of disagreeable misogynistic and racist and classist content, and while it's par for the course for a classic and arguably intentional, I still didn't enjoy that. My eyes definitely were glazing over for large sections at a time because man can these dudes yap.
I really appreciated that the edition I read including a biography of Oscar Wilde that helped to contextualize this work too, as well as discussion specifically around Wilde's claim that "Each man sees his own sin in Dorian Gray. What Dorian Gray's sins are no one knows. He who finds them has brought them." I think that those meta considerations of the book were really interesting, but I'm not sure that I can give credit to the book itself for them, though they were some of my favorite aspects of this reading experience.
seema commented on a post
Post from the An Arcane Study of Stars forum
The way this book portrays this dreamy nightmarish madness is sooooo š¤¤š¤¤ like simply delicious delectable and you MUST read it visually to get the impact of the textual formatting. Trying to recreate as best I can as an example of what currently has me gnawing (please excuse the _ to try to achieve spacing and also do not fear: out of context & no spoilers)
"I blinked, and I blinked, and I blinked. I blinked back to reality."
Followed closely after by
"This is over. I never want to see you again. Over ______Never _____________Over____________never ________________Never____________over Over ______________Over I hear those words in her voice Over and Over. Over."
And there are also poems in all sorts of wacky shapes, idk what the term for that is but I just can't imagine how an audiobook would read them to give the same effect. But I've just before rooted for characters to lose their sanity just so I could enjoy the way it gets depicted.
Post from the An Arcane Study of Stars forum