#book rec

riyl witty banter fighting for the underdog and endless crativity

hey, hope you're doing well! have you watched/read/listened to anything recently that you'd recommend?

Thank you lovely anon 💖😊 sorry for taking a few days to answer this but it kinda tripped me up because…I haven’t really been consuming new-to-me media lately? 😅 When it comes to reading I basically exclusively read fanfiction (a habit I do want to break - I’m hoping rearranging my bookshelves and therefore reminding myself what books I actually have will perk my interest), and when it comes to watching movies/shows I tend to rewatch things a lot. It’s been a while since I watched something I hadn’t seen before and I can’t for the life of me remember which I would have seen last (2 semi-recent new watches were Jurassic World: Rebirth and Ready or Not; both enjoyable but I didn’t exactly love them, so…neutral rec? Can that be a thing? 🙈) And it wasn’t until I was typing out this answer today that I realised that you didn’t actually specify new to me 🤦‍♀️ A reread I’ve been veryyyy slowly working my way through is the audiobook for The Martian, have also rewatched the movie semi-recently - definitely recommend both, I love them. Rewatched some of Julie and the Phantoms recently, I love that show & highly rec if you have Netflix, same for Kpop Demon Hunters Rewatched the first few Pirates of the Caribbean movies, they’re always a fun time Oh and just a few days ago I recommended the anime Kaze No Stigma to a friend and watched the first episode with them - I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else talk about that anime but years ago I actually enjoyed it enough to hunt down the DVD set. So yeah, if you like anime maybe see if that one would be up your alley

currents.23 [2026] my week in media* [ 31 may - 7 june 2026 ] It was another book heavy week and very little drama watching. I spent the week listening to SHINee’s new album (it’s a daily listen at this point) and reading for the competitive readathon I’m participating in this month. [ anticipating ] Yes, I’m in a drama slump, but also I have the urge to rewatch Taikan Yoho for the umpteenth time. And I miss Yang Yang’s face, so I definitely need to get back to Zhan Zhao Adventures . [ finishing ] Sunward by William Alexander {4 stars} - cozy sci-fi novella When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley {5 stars} - fantasy historical romance - This was the book highlight of my week. It has one of my favorite covers of all time, with spot illustrations throughout the book, all done by the author. It’s a gorgeous book with a story to match. It was such a beautiful tale and I couldn’t put it down. [ listening ] still here : This week’s favorite tracks: Atmos / Anti-Believer / Thousand Miles Away [ reading ] Abolish Private Property by fonduebroski314 - Game Changers outsider pov chat fic Clippings From the New Yorker series by agatestones - Game Changers epistolary Heist of the Century by songstress - Game Changers alternate coming out + outsider pov The Mad Mad Shadowhunter by Aria_Lerendeair - Shadowhunters AU canon divergence [ watching ] Double Helix , ep 2-4 - I almost dropped this one, but the episode endings keep drawing me back in. So the pacing is terrible, I hate that they keep staring into the camera, and conflicts are getting introduced and resolved lickey split, but I also need to see what else is going to happen. So I’ll keep watching. I do wish all the episodes were done airing, so I could speed run through the rest. It’s very much a speed run kind of show. Shadowhunters , s1-2 - It’s been years since I last watched this and wow are Clary and Simon as annoying as ever. I fast forward a lot and am back to wishing Isabelle and Alec were the anchor characters. I get all wistful and dreamy thinking about the possibilities. - That was my week! Tune in next Sunday for more rambling about books, fic, and dramas I am barely keeping up with. - previous 2026 Currents posts * this is usually just a sampling, rather than a complete list of everything I engaged with this week

🏳️‍🌈 FAVE GENRE STACK 🏳️‍🌈 QOTD: What is your fave genre? Fantasy is mine, so here’s a stack of some of my fave ever queer fantasy books for you to add to your tbr! [ instagram ] Books pictured: - Heretic Behaviour by EC Glynn - Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab - A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab - A Crown of Deceit & Ruin by Jessaca Willis - Pantomime by LR Lam - The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman - Nevernight by Jay Kristoff - Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree - Honour & Heresy by Max Francis - Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab - Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff - Voyage of the Damned by Frances White - The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake - Faebound by Saara-El Arifi - The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

May 2026 books 🚀 The Serpent’s Shadow (Rick Riordan) - 3,5/5 I finally finished the Kane chronicles this month! Now that I have, I can say with absolute certainty that this trilogy is my least favourite Riordan series. The biggest reason for this was Carter, who showed so much disdain for his sister in this book, it was actually sickening. One instance I remember very vividly is right after the chapter from Sadie’s pov where she witnesses Walt dying. And Carter starts his pov right after that with “ while Sadie was having her supernatural guy drama …”. That alone should be enough, but this entire book was filled with disdain from Carter towards Sadie. Also storywise there were a couple inconsistencies that were… annoying. At the end of the day, it was Sadie’s chapters that saved this book for me, I wouldn’t have been able to stand reading it entirely from Carter’s pov. And the funny thing about this is that after finishing the series, I read the short stories with the Percy and Annabeth crossover, the first one being from Carter’s pov and it was FANTASTIC. So I really don’t know what was up with this but… it wasn’t it. Atmosphere (Taylor Jenkins Reid) ♾️/10 I was ugly crying at the end of this. Like full on ugly crying. I loved this book so so so much, you can’t even imagine. I loved everything about this, I loved the writing, the dialogue, the setting, the characters (except for Barbara, fuck you, Barbara). I just loved everything. Another thing that really stuck with me is that yes this book is a love story, but it’s not just a romantic love story. It’s a story about love for earth, love for science, love for humanity. But it’s also love for family, the kind that makes you step up and do what needs to be done. It’s about romantic love, about trying to do the right thing for the person you love, about wanting and aching to be with them. There were so many different kinds of love in this story. So yes, that second title that says “a love story” is right. But it’s not just about the romance, it’s about all the rest too. Anyways, since finishing this, Bowie songs make me cry so that’s awesomeb Remarkably bright creatures (Shelby Van Pelt) 7,5/10 I bought it because of the film. Not be ause I liked the film, but because I wanted to read the book before watching the movie in the first place. I rather enjoyed it, though I am very curious about the whole “reveal” of how Cameron and Tova are related. Because it was completely unsurprising and that really bothered me. There was nothing in this book that surprised me or made me go “damn, didn’t see that one coming”. In that regard I liked the movie better, it showed less of Cameron’s backstory, which made the reveal more surprising. Speaking of Cameron, I absolutely hated him for most of the book. He was such a manchild! Then there’s Marcellus, who in my opinion should have been more present in the book. For a book that markets itself as “ that octopus book”, the octopus wasn’t in this often enough. That aside, I could suspend disbelief that an octopus could understand humans, their interactions, emotions and recognize familial patterns. I draw the line at an octopus knowing the word “cuckold”. If you haven’t read this book and you’re now thinking “what the fuck???” Yes, this actually happened: So yeah. Now Tova I absolutely love. I found it interesting to read from the perspective of a lady in her seventies, I’ve never read from this pov before and it was quite interesting. She was also just such a nice lady, it was a delight to be in her head during this book. Wishful drinking (Carrie Fisher) I find it hard to rate an autobiography because it comes down to “I rate your life this many stars”. So I won’t do that. I will say this, Carrie Fisher was a fantastic storyteller, I was laughing so much during this. Which is impressive because the things she described were really not funny at all. It was just the way she described them. I read the whole thing in a couple of hours and just enjoyed myself throughout the whole thing! Happy Place (Emily Henry) 2,5/5 I was not in a happy place when finishing this book. The first half was fine, slow but fine. But I’ll tell you exactly when this book lost me: chapter 28 (out of 40). Second chance romance can be good if it’s well done but this just pissed me off because the whole thing would never have happened if Harriet and Wyn had just TALKED. I can understand some of it from Wyn’s side with the whole depression thing. You know what I can’t forgive? That Harriet called him upset because a coworker of hers followed her home and kissed her against her will and Wyn chooses that moment to break up with her. Like OF COURSE she assumes you think she betrayed you somehow, what poor timing was that?! It just went downhill from there. Wyn also often throws some random objectifying stuff in the middle of conversations. Like she tells him “describe yourself how I would” and he’s like “if I did that for you I’d say how good you were in bed” or something along those lines and ???? They were talking about job interviews for fuck’s sake! Then there’s the other characters and… oof. Kimmy was just there to be Cleo’s girlfriend, she had no other personality traits. Cleo was the embodiment of basically every lesbian stereotype out there. Parth was a useless fool who for some reason got more background story then Kimmy and Cleo, which I found weird. And Sabrina… you know what, let’s not talk about Sabrina. The book ends with Harriet giving up everything she worked for and “choosing her happiness over her hard work”. Which in this case means she drops out of her surgical residency and moves to Montana to be with Wyn and work in a pottery studio. I wish I was joking. Would it be so hard to have a story with a main character staying a baddie at her job and the romance happening to the side??? Is it that hard??? You know what, now that I think of it, I think this story would have been better if it had been about Sabrina and Parth working to try to save Harriet and Wyn’s relationship. It would have been more interesting to see the shenanigans from their side. It certainly would have been less infuriating to read. Now that all of that is aside… I am quite excited to begin my June readong month because I wanna read only queer books. Which will mostly be wlw since that’s what I mostly buy (for obvious reasons…) but I am still VERY excited for that!!!

Just finished Babel by R.F. Kuang. Premise is four students who have come to Oxford to study to become magical silversmiths known as translators. They’re entangled in British colonialism, the threat of the first Opium War, and a secret society that’s trying to impede imperialism. Overall, okay. A bit preachy in places. And I would have liked more from Rami and Victoire as part of the narrative rather than interlude chapters when it no longer matters? Also nerd me wanted more etymology. 5 / 10

Every Taylor Song Reading Challenge | Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) Innocent : Read a book about forgiveness. WOW. What a powerful, emotional, gripping story. While based on real life events , the author calls this a work of fiction. Your House Will Pay focuses on two different contextual moments in time. Starting with California in the 90s when LA is experiencing civil unrest after Rodney King was beat by police. We are introduced to Shawn Matthews , a 13 year old Black boy out for a night with friends and his older sister Ava, who he idolizes. They’re planning to go see a movie. The second moment is in 2019 after another act of police violence against Black youth and the Black Lives Matter movement gains momentum. It’s then that we meet Grace , a Korean woman in her 20s, who is sheltered, oblivious, and at times ignorant about the racial tensions in the US and her own city. Over the course of the novel, we learn how their two stories, families, and histories are connected . Chapters alternate focusing on each character and their family. Despite the heavy topics, I really enjoyed the reading experience. There were surprises I didn’t see coming, emotional moments, and hard choices to be made. I read this book in just 3 days, reading about 75-100 pages at a time because I just could not put it down !! I’m not familiar with the rest of Steph Cha’s work, but I would absolutely read something by her again. And if you haven’t read Your House Will Pay , please do - this should be on everyone’s reading list ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a suspenseful , well-told story about racism, violence, and modern American culture

For the mystery book rec thing…how about 138?

Oh man I love weird things happening in or due to space. This book has a guy semi-forced into a space expedition and then when the team returns there’s a bunch of weird changes that I don’t think anyone else is aware of but his team

A book recommendation from one of my favorite bookstores (Village Books in Bellingham, WA) that sounds like it might appeal to MANY of my moots and followers.

do yourself a favor and get a copy of nothing to know by @landrybrennan this is a grand story full of love, meaning, grief, and the passage of time. and today in particular is a perfect day to take it outside and enjoy mateo and jamie’s story amidst the flowers and plants and fading sunlight so get going! this is her best yet (which is astounding because every book is beautiful) and you definitely don’t want to miss it

10 Reasons to read Bokura no Kiseki Summary: Minami Harusumi remembers his past life as Princess Veronika. After getting bullied throughout elementary and middle school for claiming to be a princess, he’s learned to shut up by the time he reaches high school. One day, after his notebook, containing his memories of his past life, gets passed around more and more of his classmates remember their past as well. Unfortunately, they have more than just that in common: all of them died on the same day. In Princess Veronika’s castle. Under mysterious circumstances. And they were on opposing sides. Not your typical Isekai story: instead of getting dropped in a fantasy land, our protagonist Minami Harusumi remembers his past life as a princess of a medieval fantasy kingdom. Unfortunately for him (and his classmates) she died under mysterious circumstances. And before long, he’s not the only one who remembers. We’re talking Gender , baby: Minami used to be female, and that is plot relevant. Even more so, as more and more people remember their past lives, there are also others who switched genders since then. And that is not always easy - especially if you remember how your body used to be. Holy PTSD Batman: turns out dying in the middle of a war under suspicious circumstances only to be suddenly dropped in the reality of a modern Japanese high school triggers some fight or flight instincts in most people. Sucks if these people have access to offensive attack magic. And the plot chickens: this is a plot driven story. Both the characters and you, the reader, are trying to uncover why the members of class 1-4 died in their previous lives. Everyone has secrets. Most people are lying. There is always a different motive to consider. This ain’t Naruto: Minami is intelligent. So are most of his friends. So was Veronika, his past life. The characters are clever and driven, sometimes the most Machiavellian asshole is a 15 year old girl (whose side you are on <3), and it is fun. Hell, at one point a character acknowledges that he is attack dog coded and decides to stop trying to solve the mystery and instead listen to the people who know better. I think therefore I am: What is the self? What is your TRUE self? Remembering the past means changing. These teenagers cannot stay the same once their past life comes back to haunt them. That is scary. That is - in some ways - death of the self. And, oh boy, are we dealing with that. Mamma Mia but make it sad. Like, really sad: Veronika was a Princess, duty-bound by her heritage to marry well and have children. Veronika saw her own body as a product sold by her country to ensure peace. Many of the people she met along the way, she loved, only she could never put a name to her feelings. More than just a few hearts got broken. Including her own. Harold, they are lesbians: while not explicitly a queer story, we should not ignore the amounts of gender being had by some of these characters. And the fact that Rida had romantic feelings for Veronika. Or that Hiroki Yuu pulls girls like no other. Or that Vince only ever compared beauty to his prince. Or that Minami is someone’s ex-wife. Is there such thing as free will?: the past of our characters is deeply ruled by society’s expectations and boundaries. Magic has rules. Religion has rules. Life has rules. The path forward is fated. As such, Minami and his friends struggle in a world in which they are technically free but still bound by the obligations and values of their past. And the shadows that have followed them to the future. Lets get Brandon Sanderson in here: this world has genuinely good world building. The magic system is relatively simple but almost the more genius for it. The implications of things get properly explored. The differences between modern times and the fantasy world get discussed. IT IS PRE-COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE. I REPEAT. THIS FANTASY MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN SETTING DOES NOT HAVE POTATOES. NO POTATOES. Please check it out. I need people to talk to.

I just skimmed through “Social Service or Social Change”, one of the chapters in The Revolution Will Not be Funded: Beyond the Non-profit Industrial Complex edited by INCITE!. I really need to read it again now that I’m working for a non-profit. I also need to read the whole book, but for now it needs to go on my reading list. Here’s a link if anyone’s interested: https://files.libcom.org/files/incite-the-revolution-will-not-be-funded-beyond-the-nonprofit-industrial-complex-2.pdf

Yea I'll bite gimme uhhhhhhh book 211

Tbh mostly just think this book is really pretty. I’m not a romantasy fan but this is a questing story where a formerly invisible girl is tapped to retrieve a relic that will save their dying god but she'sore focused on refusing to die for the sake of these people’s quest

🏳️‍🌈 QUEER BOOKSTAGRAMMER TOUR 🏳️‍🌈 QOTD: What’s one of your all time favourite books? [ instagram ] Hello! My name’s Cherie and I’m an aroace nonbinary bookstagrammer from Wiradjuri country, Australia. For my stop on the bookstagrammer tour, I’ve decided to share a photoshoot of me and some of my all time fave LGBTQIA+ books that are perfect to pick up this June (and all year tbh). I couldn’t choose between these godawful pics so you get them all. If you’re new here, this is absolutely not an exhaustive list. My friends and followers know I never shut up about queer books! Huge thanks to Andy and DJ for setting this up over on instagram! Books featured: - After the Siren by Darcy Green - Radio Silence by Alice Oseman - Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall - Ribbonwood by Ruby Landers - Pantomime by LR Lam - One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston - The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

before i again forget to do this: i’m reading necessary fiction currently and it is taking me out. i keep meaning to rec it and then i get busy. so, voila

Books cited by Ursula Murray Husted ALT Art on My Mind by bell hooks Great Painters by Piero Ventura The Bookseller of Florence by Ross King Medieval Pets by Kathleen Walker-Meikle A Treatise on Painting by Leonardo da Vinci Botticelli: Life and Work by Ronald Lightbrown Invincible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence by Jane Fortune Egg Tempera Painting: A Comprehensive Guide by Koo Schadler Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? by Linda Nochlin City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction by David Macaulay Il libro dell'arte by Cennino d'Andrea Cennini , translated by Daniel V. Thompson, Jr. Sacred Narratives: Lucrezia Tornabuoni de’ Medici edited and translated by Jane Tylus Women Artists, Their Patrons, and Their Publics in Early Modern Bologna by Babette Bohn Toksvig’s Almanac 2021: An Eclectic Meander Through the Historical Year by Sandi Toksvig Letters to Her Sons, 1447 - 1470: Alessandra Machinghi Strozzi edited and translated by Judith Bryce The Measure of Man: Liberty, Virtue, and Beauty in the Florentine Renaissance by Lawrence Rothfield The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan, translated and annotated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (I read a book) ALT

currents.22 [2026] my week in media* [ 24-30 may 2026 ] This week started out stressful af but by Tuesday afternoon it was all over. I got caught up on the Murderbot series, watched a bunch of Midsomer Murders , finished a 5 star book, and listened to a lot of SHINee. [ anticipating ] I need it to be 2027 so the sequel to Princeweaver comes out soon. That ending broke my heart into itty bitty pieces and I need to know what happens next. [ finishing ] Cassandras of the Internet Age by OtherWaysHome - Game Changers alternate coming out/social media fic Major League Hockey’s Worst Kept Secret by majorasmasque - Game Changers chatfic Operation O Canada or The Hollander-Rozanov Method of Soft Launching a Marriage by robbinscinquefoil - Game Changers AU-canon divergence Princeweaver by Elian J Morgan { 5 stars } - queer fantasy romance - My best book of the month. This was such a fantastic read. I was hooked by the first few pages so I tried to slow down to enjoy it but I ended up finishing it in two days. As I said above, I am desperate to find out what happens next. But I’m also very worried everything will go even more wrong. It was so good! System Collapse (Murderbot Diaries #7) by Martha Wells {3.5 stars} [ listening ] [ reading ] I’ll build a house inside of you by jtimu - Heated Rivalry au-canon divergence Platform Decay (Murderbot Diaries #8) by Martha Wells [ watching ] Project Hail Mary { 4.5 stars } - I adored the book but couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie until now, because I had a feeling that ending wasn’t going to get any better. I’m of two minds about it: on the one hand, it’s heartwarming to see aliens and humans creating such a wonderful connection and finding ways to co-exist and thrive together. On the other hand, Grace is choosing to live the rest of his life in a bubble, with no other human beings for company. The existential dread of it all is soul crushing. And yeah, maybe he’ll eventually make the choice to leave, since the Eridians fixed his ship. But that last scene was so pointed. He’s staying. SHINee World VIII concert day 1 - I know these guys are upper level professionals, whose job it is to go out and sing and dance the way that they do. But it doesn’t change how in awe I am every time I see a concert. Even a shortened version of Everybody was intense just to watch and they did that at the end of an almost three hour concert?! Insane. - previous 2026 Currents posts * this is usually just a sampling, rather than a complete list of everything I engaged with this week

bookshelf pick: progeny by rebecca rathe for the readers who love mystery, longing, and stories that feel bigger than life. reading is my calm place. ✦ free bookmarks on ko-fi

A handful of books that I feel like are Mine™️ which you can read and think of me if you choose to celebrate this international holiday (the birth of meeee)