Places to Chat
Book chat thread
Chatterbox: Down to Earth
Book chat thread
Book chat thread
Hi! I remembered that a few months ago we were going to make a book chat thread but either it got buried or we never got around to it, so if you're still interested we can use this thread! Just to kick off the conversation...what have you been reading lately? I've been buried in books that I have to read for school (1984 x_x) but I'm also reading Cinders and Sparrows, which is a spooky book about witches & haunted castles. It has lots of classic fantasy tropes but it's pretty fun to read.
submitted by Lupine@Celine, age she/her, Flourish & Blotts
(October 29, 2023 - 3:02 pm)
(October 29, 2023 - 3:02 pm)
Hello, keep forgetting to post this, sorry. But!!!!:
I'm a bit affronted that ND Stevenson gave you two exclamation marks and only gave me one though XDD
(May 12, 2024 - 10:39 am)
(May 13, 2024 - 12:10 am)
I WATCHED NIMONA IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!! I can't remember if there was that whole childhood friends thing with Nimona and Gloreth in the book (I read it about 3/4 of a year ago now -- woah), but I loved it!!! And really the whole thing in general!!! And Ambrosius and Bal!!! And wAiT is Ambrosius Asian?!?? :DDD Also I LOVED the credits and all the little cartoons in the margins!!! Oh, and happy Pride month! :D
(June 8, 2024 - 1:46 pm)
HI I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON YOU GOT ND STEVENSON AND MOLLY OSTERTAG TO SIGN FOR ME AND I GHOSTED YOU FOR 2 MONTHS AAAH
Okay so FIRST OFF it is SO EXCITING that you met ND Stevenson AND Molly Knox Ostertag! (I'm gonna keep using all caps, sorry I'm just very excited about this very old news). Thank you so much for getting a signature for me!!! You didn't have to and I'm so flattered that you did!!! I am going to treasure this photo forever :') What event was this at? Were they just amazing and fabulous human beings? I must know all the details. I've been obsessing over both of their comic blogs lately and I'm just baffled that they're both such creative and funny and deep people who are also MARRIED. Power couple for real.
And yesss, the Nimona movie was so good! Ambrosius is totally Asian and is voiced by an Asian actor! I know ND worked on the movie a lot so it's no wonder it was good :) I almost cried at the climax when Nimona turns into the monster. I should rewatch it...
I have also watched the Owl House! It's one of my favorites. The finale was SO GOOD. (No spoilers! Although it's been 2.5 months so you've probably finished it T_T) The worldbuilding & characters are so creative & fun.
I'm glad you liked the dawn EP! Those songs are kinda embedded in my soul. Inextricably. LOL. Do you have any music recommendations?
Ooh also I think we have talked about this but I'm so excited to read Molly's new book The Deep Dark! I read part of it as a webtoon because she was releasing it in her newsletter, but I'm going to read the rest when I can get my hands on a copy because I like prefer physical books.
Speaking of which...I went to Powell's Books in Portland this week, and absolutely splurged. Have you been there? If not, you absolutely should if you're ever in the area! It's one of the biggest bookstores in the US and their YA/middle grade section alone is bigger than a lot of small-town bookstores. Anyway, I got The Marble Queen, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Rumaysa, The Whole Story of Half a Girl, and another copy of Anne of Green Gables because I collect them. My library doesn't have a lot of those books, so I'm excited to read them! Bookstoressssss
Okay, that is all for now! THANKS AGAIN FOR GETTING THOSE AMAZING HUMANS' AUTOGRAPHS FOR ME I am forever in debt!! I saw a talk by Carson Ellis this week (she illustrated the Wildwood books and the Mysterious Benedict Society) and she signed my sketchbook with a cat drawing :') I love her but am admittedly freaking out more about ND and Molly.
I promise it won't be 2.5 months before I respond again. I am kind of in and out of the CB lately, but I'll try to at least check in on this thread.
(June 30, 2024 - 10:23 pm)
LUPINE!!!!!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!!! :DDD *tackle-hugs* and don't feel bad about how long it's been -- although actually now that you say that, woah, it's been much longer than I thought it had been -- as I've said, I'm super patient, and Ik you have a life outside the CB, so it really is fine! Also, I think on Random Thoughts/Things, you said you were going to/have gone to/are at a writing camp? That's soooo cool!!!! How is/was it (or... will it be?? Um. Time travel...)? And do you like just go and sit and write the whole time? :000 that is literally amazing and I have to ask my parents if I can do that next summer...
I got the signatures at a book festival, which was I think my first ever (maybe?) and such a cool experience!!! Spoils of war: Caraval and Six of Crows (I'm actually still not sure why they had SoC because all the other books they had were books by authors who were there, but Leigh Bardugo was definitely not there (I triple-checked)... but eh I got a cool bookmark to go with the book, so!)! And actually, I didn't really get the signature from ND, because apparently you need Special Wristbands for that, which my mom and I didn't have because you have to get there two hours before the event starts to get them (how do people know these things? Hm. We also needed to have wristbands to get an ARC of The Deep Dark...), but everyone there was so nice, so some people in line actually offered to help us get the fabulous piece of paper I brought (well, it's fabulous now!) signed!!! So yeah it was amazing!! I also got to attend a panel about comics with ND and Molly and they were so funny and even watching them sign the books of the people in line while waiting for our turn they were super friendly and took their time talking with each person and just in general were Great, so :DD
yess I was reading their blogs too and I was like NO WAY ND actually drew a picture of his actual autograph with the shark on there!!!!!! I was like, I KNOW THAT AUTOGRAPH!!!! XD and I'm a big fan of scrollover text, so I thought it was pretty cool how like Brennan Lee Mulligan or Molly Knox Ostertag put that on each page of SFP :D
Oh, also, I keep forgetting! I remember you saying you liked etymology, so have you ever read The Etymologicon?
yess I want to rewatch the Nimona movie too, and I literally just watched it haha. Btw, did you know the one year anniversary for the movie just passed? Like, June 23 or smth...
yes, I have finished TOH. I love it sm. And yess the finale (although the epilogue was like nO my Luz and Amity and Gus and Willow and Hunter and King are all gRoWn uP!!!!)!! I partly want to learn Spanish just so I can rewatch the whole thing and know what Luz and Camila (and I think like once Amity) are saying haha. Also, isn't it so interesting how the recent eclipse happened on like I think it was the same date the when the finale originally aired? o_O
Yess!!! Tangent but I also really love mxmtoon because she has so many good songs, so like each week I have a new favorite that I'll sing all day every day and annoy my family with until I learn about a new song and start listening to that one on repeat! I mean, first it was Prom Dress; then Cliché; Walk But in a Garden; 1, 2; Used to You; Almost Home; Coming of Age; Back from the Dead (technically Lyn Lapid, but it's mxmtoon); Dance! (End of the World); Unspoken Words; Frown; Seasonal Depression... and those are only the ones I was singing nonstop for at least a week, and the ones I remember. Although actually, though I did love all of them still as I went on, Prom Dress was the one that stayed consistent... okay yeah that was my tangent :P umm music recommendations?? Umm I have over 70+ favorite songs from like all the genres, so... well, it's in Mandarin, but I really love Fen Xiang by Sky Wu. It's super beautiful, and I'll definitely translate the lyrics if you want them because those are super beautiful too!!!
yesss The Deep Dark!!!! As I said above, I missed my chance to get an Advanced Reader Copy, so I'm currently just excitedly awaiting the arrival of the book in the library :DD so excited!!!
Powell's Books sounds so cool!! "If you know anything about the booksellers at Powell's Books, you know we love books and you know we love getting excited about books." XD that's definitely me. I'll definitely visit if I get the chance!! And ooh, I have the Whole Story of Half a Girl!! I... don't remember if it's good though... I think it was... but I should reread it. All I remember is her private school teacher is awesome XD. And ooh yes! there are some absolutely gorgeous editions of Anne of Green Gables!!! My favorite is that one that looks like it's engraved around the edges...
NO WAY that's so awesome!!!! I wasn't aware there was an illustrator for Mysterious Benedict haha, I thought Trenton Lee Stewart did all the drawings himself! And, again, it really is fine if it is 2.5 months before you respond again! I write... long posts. So. But really good to see you, and g'night now 'cuz it's 12:45am (wait I think the m stands for meridian... right?? What does the a stand for then... I think pm is post... huh...)!
(July 8, 2024 - 2:52 am)
I went to the library today and coincidentally found the book :D but wait idk if I can post the picture 'cuz it's still not my art, it's a picture I took of cover art (for Anne)... Ig I'll just try anyways? Though I doubt it's going to go through... :)
but anyways. I just finished reading Spindlefish and Stars, which was REALLY GOOD!!!! And I also just finished rereading Six of Crows, which, along with The Crooked Kingdom, is a masterpiece, as always :D I just started Caterpillar Summer (spoils from my trip to the library >:D I also got Jennifer Chan is Not Alone, Save the People, A Bit of Earth, and Darkstalker---time to finish my Wings of Fire journey (not counting Winglets) now that Tui T. Sutherland says arc 4 is on the way(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). *this doesn't show in the post bc this isn't irl so I have to use these arterisks to explain what happened but while I was rereading this part for grammar mistakes (use of inconsistent tenses noo!! I decided to keep that though :P) an inkling of something like uh doubt started spreading in my mind* Waittttt. Wait. Wait. What am I saying?!??? Wait I've read Darkstalker I forgot ahh how did I forget I read it what am I doinggg?!??!?!!!?
Okay so now I have to go return Darkstalker and borrow Dragonslayer because that's the order I'm going to reread all the WoF books. But anyways yeah I'm really happy with my books :DD), which is pretty good so far except that it made me hungry at the beginning so I had to stop reading to eat some hong dou bao (red bean bun) that I'm sooo glad we one left because the characters (well, one character) was literally just stuffing himself with basically red bean buns (and a pineapple bun (bo lo bao!) but those are sorta dry uh I mean, no offense they're really good ofc just... no thank you? :) ) and I was like ahhhhh I must have ittt it sounds so good!!!!! lol
uh but good night :D
We'll post this art because it's clearly identified as the cover of a book.
Admin
(July 21, 2024 - 1:27 am)
That's a beautiful copy of Anne! I tried to post my favorite copy, but my computer is refusing to upload the images; it should come up if you google "Anne of Green Gables Virago Modern Classics." Have you watched Anne with an E? I've been watching it all year, and have only three episodes left (sob). It's very different from the book, but for once I'm actually okay with that. It has a lot more social justice themes than the original, and some new interestinc characters. But it still has the cozy Avonlea vibe, which I love.
I'll try to check out The Etymologicon! I'm interested in etymology but don't actually know a lot about it; this book looks like a good place to start!
mxmtoon has a new album coming out! I'm interested to see what it'll be like--I didn't love "i hate texas," but that might have been because she promoted it on social media so much that I was already sick of it by the time it came out T_T The album cover art is really cool, though.
My writing camp was really fun! I made great friends, and the college campus it was on was so beautiful. We had a teacher who was a novelist, and she gave us a lot of great little prompts, as well as helping us with a longer piece. I bet you would enjoy a similar experience if you have the opportunity!
Right now I'm reading Son, which is the last book in the Giver quartet by Lois Lowry. I can't express how amazing this book is. Most people only read the first one or two books in the series and the last two are a bit underrated, but I don't know why because they are SO GOOD. Son is so profound, and emotional, and the characters are so interesting...I'm about 3/4 of the way done (it's a bit longer than the other three) and am thoroughly enjoying it.
(September 29, 2024 - 4:52 pm)
(September 29, 2024 - 4:54 pm)
Noo I think you responded like an hour 17 min ago I just missed it... well, I'll put this up anyways :)
Lupine!!! Hello!!! How are you? I can't believe you're already a senior o_O The CB Student Lounge just got topped and you were 13 when you posted there and now you're applying to colleges like wow that's crazy :00 How has senior year been?
Book updates! I recently finished reading Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating (honestly, ehh. Maybe romance just isn't really my genre, although I remember liking Summer of Impossibilities and Little Women) and recently finished REreading When Stars Are Scattered (awesome as always!!) and Look Both Ways (great book!!), and I've recently (like in the past few days---I have to say "recently" because there're some books that I've been reading for like a year straight now :P) been reading The Color of Magic (which is great, ofc---reflected sound of underground spirits!! /ref) and recently been REreading Narnia---just finished The Magician's Nephew, moving on to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; I try to reread Narnia like once every year because you really do come out with something new each reread :D and On A Sunbeam (I think we've talked about this one before---love it <33) and Solutions and Other Problems (it makes me sad but it also makes me crack up, so :P idk, I try not to read it too much because *sadness* but it's really good! If you like grammar at all, definitely check out the Alot by Allie Brosh (just look it up :) ), it's hilarious! :D), and also I've been rereading The Girl Who Drank the Moon (awesome book!!!) for a book club I'm hoping to start at my school which I'm so excited for!!! Wow I feel like I could've said that in a much simpler way, but... oh well! :P and that's not including my way too long tbr list plus all the books that I've been in the middle of reading for like a year now (noo The Poppy War!!). Also I don't remember if I already told you this but I think I read Spindlefish and Stars per your recommendation(??) and it was SO GOOD THANK YOU (this was over the summer :) )!!!! Have you read any good books lately?/What have you been reading recently?
Okiee and I've got to go now... oh I also wanted to say that recently (says I for the millionth time this post :P but I'm rushing this, so :) ), I've been loving Lessons and Fever Dream by mxmtoon (TYSM for recommending Dawn!!! I think it's one of my favorite---if not my favorite---mxmtoon EP/album!!) :DD and yess my location was a back from the dead by Lyn Lapid and mxmtoon reference---I mean that song is two of my favorite artists doing a collab soo... :P when I saw your post being like, I'm back from the void! (or smth like that), that's what I thought of, so that's why I had it as my location for that. And also mxmtoon's been releasing songs left and right recently and liminal space is coming out Nov 1 and she's going on tour and I sorta want to go haha but idk but EEEEK :DD I now understand why people have favorite artists and stuff and want to go to their concerts haha---I've never really had a favorite artist (save Imagine Dragons :) ), so this is sorta new for me :DD
also we watched Inside Out 2 and GROWING UP BY THE LINDA LINDAS WAS IN IT!!!!
and now I exit~
(September 29, 2024 - 6:37 pm)
Hii!! I looked up the cover you mentioned and it's so beautiful!! I love the way the art flows :DDD Thank you!! And yess I LOVE Anne with an E it's one of my favorite tv shows... I was watching it with my family when it came out but then everyone got busy and we just gradually never finished... I should bring it up again with them! They loved it too :D and yess new album!! Okay, honestly, I didn't really like i hate texas at first, but it's grown on me :) actually, same thing happened with back from the dead :) I don't loveee the situation, but I guess it's fine? I mean, I really like that part where it goes "you get older then you die" and the music, and the voices go really well together, but idk. I think I honestly prefer like the quiet ukelele over the more pop-y songs, but that's just my opinion :) it's sorta part of the reason why I'm not sure I really want to go to an mxmtoon concert---and also she's super social-media-y and I'm not (I don't think), soo. I love her songs sm though :DDD
(September 30, 2024 - 12:48 am)
Ahaha I like the situation now (and the other songs are growing on me. Still, I LOVE all the songs in Dawn I think that's my favorite ep by her thank you for recommending it to me like all of them are my favorite songs... :DD). Anyways, hello again, seeing you around! Reminds me I have to get a response out noo; after I do my accumulated homework...
also, did I tell you I have a book club at school now? I think so. We're really getting going now :D
(November 19, 2024 - 8:15 pm)