Pass It on 6

Dec. 27th, 2025 10:11 am
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malcolm in the middle family reunion episode

2025 Book Bingo

Dec. 27th, 2025 09:04 am
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[personal profile] lebateleur
Catching up on year end memes and housekeeping, here is my 2025 Book Bingo card. Or rather, my first completion--I whited out the board three times 🥳 Categories, titles, authors, and links to reviews are under the cut. Underlined categories indicate my two substitutions.



Read more... )


これで以上です。

Yuletide Recs 1

Dec. 27th, 2025 04:09 pm
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[personal profile] selenak
For some Darth Real Life reasons, I had less time than usual during the holidays to delve into the Yuletide archive, but I did have some chances, and here are some early results. ;)



Akhenaten - Glass

The lone and level sands stretch far away: or, Egptian historical fiction. Based on the opera, but can be read without having heard it yet knowing who Akhenaten was. Poetic and intense.


Greek Myths:

Mothers of the Brazen Spear: Andromache and three of her sisters-in-law after the Trojan war. Based on Euripides.

Homophrosyne: Penelope through twenty years.


Born with Teeth:

To Bite the World: in which Will and Kit talk and role play Richard III and Anne Neville. Matches the play really well.



Bride of the Rat God - Hambly :

A closer kinship: the crucial moment from the novel's backstory when Christine shows up in England to whisk Norah away. This is one of my favourite Barbara Hambly novels, and the characterisation of both women is perfect.


Copenhagen - Frayn:

Quantum Game Theory: Four alternate timelines where the Copenhagen meeting never happened, and one where it did. Clever, moving and profound.


Farscape:

Look after the Princess: in which Katralla from s2's Princess trilogy wakes up post- Peacekeeper Wars (there are plot reasons) to find herself in a mad adventure with Aeryn Sun. And Aeryn's baby. And the usual Farscape insanity. Really feels like an episode in the best way, and fleshes out Katralla to boot.


Also, there are still free spots if you want me to ramble on something on the January meme.

Speak Up Saturday

Dec. 27th, 2025 04:08 pm
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Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?
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[personal profile] merricatb posting in [community profile] smallfandomfest
Title: Nai-robbery
Author: MerricatB 
Fandom: Sense8 (tv)
Pairing/Characters: Wolfgang Bogdanow & Capheus Onyango
Rating/Category: Teen
Prompt: Sense8 (tv), Wolfgang & Capheus, Bonding over having loyal (and loud) childhood besties
Spoilers: Whole series
Summary: While visiting Capheus on an especially costly trip to Nairobi, Wolfgang reflects on the similarities between their childhood friends.
Notes/Warnings: N/A

Read on AO3
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[personal profile] dolorosa_12
I went back to the pool this morning, after having been away for over a week due to being unwell, and then the sports centre's Christmas closure. It was almost completely empty when I started my laps, and had filled up massively by the end; this is a strange time of year, when I can never judge how other people are planning to fill their time.

Another December talking meme prompt and response )

Other than the very low-effort books I mentioned in my previous post, I've read very little, although I am working my way through The Story of A New Name, the second book in Elena Ferrante's acclaimed Neapolitan quartet, and finding it as excellent as the first. This book covers our narrator's late teens and early adulthood, with that same mix of tightly observed specificity (the impoverished residents of a single block of apartments in 1960s Naples) and more universally relatable observations on the excruciating experiences of being a young woman.

I also read Motherland (Julia Ioffe), a memoir-history in the mode of Jung Chang's Wild Swans which follows the author's family through four generations of the twentieth century in what are now Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Being Jewish people in that part of the world during the Holocaust, World War II, and the Soviet Union's existence and collapse was obviously not easy, and Ioffe's various ancestors navigated these treacherous waters with ingenuity, resilience, and persistence. As well as being a family history, Ioffe attempts in the book to write a social history of 'Russian' women (inverted commas very much needed, because she has a frustrating habit of treating 'Russian' as synonymous with 'other regions of the Russian empire,' 'Soviet', and so on), from the birth of the Soviet Union to current times. Here, although she highlights some extraordinary people and episodes in history, I feel the book is weaker, because (other than the women of her own family), she focuses for the most part on elites — wives of Soviet leaders, Stalin's daughter, wives and mistresses of Putin and his oligarchs, Yulia Navalnaya, and so on — and although her thesis is that such women offer a sort of mirror into the changing society, I can't help but feel that they're not exactly representative.

And that's it in terms of reading for now. I picked up a couple of silly sounding romantasy ebooks, I've still got two Rosemary Sutcliff books out from the library, and Matthias returned from today's grocery shopping with an unexpected book gift for me, but I'm not sure how many of these I'll make it through before the year's end. In any case, my focus is still the Yuletide collection at the moment.

Challenge 30 - Results

Dec. 27th, 2025 05:05 am
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Congratulations everyone! 🎉🏆
Thank you very much to all the participants & voters.
The votes tally if needed is in the comments of the voting post.


Challenge 30 Just the Caps 3
⭐ 📽️ ⭐
WINNERS
icon
1st Place
by
[personal profile] luminousdaze
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2nd Place
by
[personal profile] magicrubbish
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3rd Place
by
[personal profile] magicrubbish
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4th Place
by
[personal profile] tinny
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Best Color
by
[personal profile] momentomoris
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Best Crop
by
[personal profile] picnicnic
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Best Composition
by
[personal profile] magicrubbish
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Mod's Choice
by
[personal profile] flareonfury

The end of Heated Rivalry season 1

Dec. 28th, 2025 12:36 am
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[personal profile] mific
So season one is over, and we have to wait a year and a bit for season 2, because the script isn't written yet (whereas a year ago Jacob Tierney had the S1 script completed). I've already watched the existing eps at least twice, some three times, and have watched popular scenes many more times than that, in gifs.

Watching episode six was such a trip as by then I was fully immersed in the fandom. It dropped here at 7pm each time, and I made myself wait until after 9pm when it was dark before watching, as I like to be cocooned in a lighted bubble with the show. Then after the ep was finished I went to tumblr for the gifs, reactions, and meta, and today I rewatched it, picking up several small things others had noticed and blogged about. I'll rewatch the show again off and on - it's a comfort watch for me now - and while we wait for season 2 there'll be art, and fanfic.

Read more... )

And in 2026 we'll get Connor in his first movie as a protagonist: April X. Dystopian sci-fi, already gathering kudos and in final production.

Day 26 Summary Post

Dec. 27th, 2025 07:23 am
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[personal profile] torino10154 posting in [community profile] adventdrabbles
Here's the summary of entries we got for December 26th. Do check them out and then give the creators some love. ♥

Harry Potter
[personal profile] digthewriter wrote Sand not Snow - Ginny/Luna
[personal profile] torino10154 wrote Christmas Secret [AO3] - Severus/Harry
[personal profile] enchanted_jae wrote Wish it was Christmas Every Day - Harry/Draco, other HP characters, ocs
[personal profile] enchanted_jae wrote It’s the Right Time - Harry/Draco, other HP characters, ocs
[personal profile] goddess47 wrote Seaside Holiday - Harry/Severus

Let us know if there are any omissions or errors. Thanks!
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[personal profile] beanside
It's Saturday! I just need to do 4 hours of work and I'll be done and can commence...whatever it is I want to do today.

I was thinking that I might make cinnamon rolls, but we'll see how much energy I can dig up to do it with. Right now, I'm very sleepy and want to take a post-work nap. There's a possiblity I can do it tomorrow, depending on game, but I don't neccessarily want to risk that. I'd rather do it today if I have the energy. We'll see.

My sister is going over to friends to exchange presents, so we'll be at home with the dog. Hopefully, she's not out too late. I would like to go to bed early, since I had game last night and was up late, then got up early for work. I've done it, before where I had a game Saturday night as well, but I prefer not.

Last night's game was so much fun. December has been a wasteland for games. People have actual lives, so it's thrown everything into a tumult. Today was our first campaign game in closer to a month. And while I love one shots, there's nothing quite like a campaign. Especially one that's been going for a little while. The characters kind of slot together and work as a team, and it's a lot of fun.

I'm not sure Vecna was the thematic game to play at the holidays, but oh well.

Work was fairly slow, though they kept me busy calling people for sooner appts.

Today, I'll watch the cancellations and try to get in as many people as I possibly can.

I got an email on Wednesday after I'd left from out big cheese. I went to reply today and realized that she'd only sent it to the Head manager, the assistant manager and me. May I just say WTF? How did I end up in this email chain? It's about getting a patient in sooner for a Cardiac, so it makes sense, but it's always a little disconcerting when the head of your department knows enough about you that she's addressing "lets get this done" emails to you. I mean, I absolutely will get this dude in. No issue there. But if I'm going to be one of the point people, I am definitely going to need more money.

I was looking at my calendar and realized that our vacations are creeping closer. First up is next weekend in Philly. Looking forward to it. We're going out for dinner with our friends on Friday night, then we're going to the zoo on Saturday. We may go back out to the zoo in the evening for their holiday lights, and then Sunday we shall have brunch and head home.

Then, on Feb 7, I ended up getting tickets to see Bianca Del Rio's comedy show. She's a drag queen who I loved on RuPaul's Drag Race. I'm not really a festival type of person, so when I saw that she had a solo show, I was interested. We got really good seats for not too much money, so I'm happy.

Then, April 18th, we head up to NYC for the Lost Boys musical. I'm looking forward to my 80's nostalgia binge. I'm debating between the train or getting us a car for the day. I'm going to check with the car company I use to see how much it would be to do that. If not, train it shall be, I'm just lazy and spoiled.

Then in May, the big one. Alaska. I truly cannot wait for that one. I'm really looking forward to it. Bucket List trip, first class all the way. I know it won't be perfect, no matter how much I want it to be. But hopefully getting there will be seamless. I can't plan it any more, for sure.

After we get settled in, I do want to run down to the Neptune Lounge and speak with our Concierge. I'd like to put in a standing order in the mornings for a pot of coffee and a plate of pastries to arrive, so that I can drink coffee and sit on the balcony to watch for whales and dolphins and seals.

We have a coffee maker, but a nice round of pastries would be nice. I'll probably head to the Lounge for my second, esspresso drink.

Breakfast will either be in the Club Orange dining room or the Lido Buffet, Lunch early at the buffet, and then dinner in the Club Orange Dining room. I'm going to come off this cruise so spoiled, having everything delivered to me or being waited on for every meal.

In between, Holland America is big on enrichment talks about the areas we're going, and there'll be bingo and pre dinner smoked old fashions in the ocean lounge.

And of course the ports! Juneau, we shall explore and do whale watching. Skagway, the White Pass Scenic Railroad and Ketchikan we shall have a crab feast and tour a brothel.

I want it to hurry up and get here! But alas, 131 days.

Which of course, means I have 131 days to get the dog acclimated to a sitter. That should be fun.

Okay, time for me to get myself together. Everyone have the very best Saturday!
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[personal profile] badly_knitted posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks

Title: Illegal Actions
Fandom: Babylon 5
Author: [personal profile] badly_knitted
Characters: Sheridan.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 200
Spoilers/Setting: No Surrender, No Retreat.
Summary: Sheridan can’t stand idly by while Earth Alliance destroyers fire on unarmed ships full of refugees.
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 501: Amnesty 83, using Challenge 83: Fight.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Babylon 5, or the characters. They belong to J. Michael Straczynski.
A/N: Double drabble.



multifandom icons.

Dec. 27th, 2025 12:55 pm
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Fandoms: 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star, 9-1-1: Nashville, Good Trouble, Ransom Canyon, Six Is Not A Crowd, Stay By My Side, XO, Kitty

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rest HERE[community profile] mundodefieras 
 

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Cozy winter still life: cup of hot coffee and book with warm plaid on windowsill against snow landscape from outside.This year is coming to a close! Here’s what we’re reading during the last week of December:

Lara: I’m catching up with Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series. I’m currently reading Archangel’s Lineage. ( A | BN | K | AB ) I’m desperately sad that this series will be coming to an end in May. It’s been a stalwart comfort for years.

Amanda: My Romance TBR Takedown board had me landing on “new series.” I’m starting my Alice Coldbreath journey with Her Baseborn Bridegroom, ( A ) which is book one in the Vawdrey Brothers series.

Sarah: I am reading The Astral Library by Kate Quinn – I’ll be interviewing her for the podcast. It’s catnip for people who love stories about being inside books.

Shana: I’m rereading Common Goal by Rachel Reid. It’s the only book in the Game Changers series I actually own, probably because I love the older bisexual hero. Someday my Heated Rivalry hold will come in, after 63 other people read it.

Amanda: I thought you read them, Shana? I remember you reviewing Long Game. Or is my memory shot?

The Astral Library
A | BN | K | AB
Shana: Your memory is perfect, as always! I have read all of the series, I’m just doing a reread since I’m obsessed with the show.

Amanda: It sounds like your hold will come in just as season two starts.

Shana: And by then I will have moved on to a new obsession and won’t be in the mood to read the book.

Elyse: I’m reading Mother Mary Comes to Me ( A | BN | K | AB )  which is a memoir by Arundhati Roy. It’s really beautifully written and I’m a sucker for a book about complicated relationships with moms.

Claudia: I am so curious about that book. The mom sounds terrible to the daughter but great to the world.

Kiki I’m listening to The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is a great companion while I’m semi-frantically trying to finish a cross stitch for my best friend’s wedding ceremony Monday! I’ve learned a lot about omnibuses and the intricacies of the mail coach system so far. I’ve been having a hard time falling into romance lately, and I feel like this is a good pivot: still historical, so I’m feeling immersed, but no plot that I have to buy in to.

Whatcha reading to end 2025? Let us know in the comments!

Our Favorite Reads of 2025

Dec. 27th, 2025 08:00 am
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Posted by Amanda

For our favorite reads, we had to choose one favorite read of 2025, but everyone is allowed two bonus picks for books not released this year. However, we typically have a few rulebreakers!

Here are our favorites of the year! We’d also love to hear about your best read of 2025!

Ladies in Hating

Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti

Author: Alexandra Vasti
Released: September 23, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: , , ,
Series: Belvoir's Library #3

A pair of Gothic novelists trade rivalry for love in this swoony, steamy, sapphic Regency by USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti.

Celebrated authoress Lady Georgiana Cleeve has achieved fame and fortune. Unfortunately, she’s also acquired an the enigmatic Lady Darling, whose spine-tingling plots appear to be pulled straight from Georgiana’s own manuscripts. What’s a stubborn, steely writer to do? Unmask her rival, of course.

But unmasking doesn’t go according to plan—because Lady Darling is actually Cat Lacey, the butler’s daughter and object of Georgiana’s very secret, very embarrassing teenage infatuation.

Cat Lacey has spent a decade clawing her family out of poverty. The last thing she needs is to be distracted by the stunning(ly pretentious) Lady Georgiana Cleeve. But Cat can’t seem to escape her infuriatingly beautiful rival—including at the eerie manor where they both plan to set their next books. The plot unexpectedly thickens, however, when the novelists find themselves trapped in the manor together. In between ghostly moans and spectral staff, Cat and Georgiana come face-to-face with real the scorching passion that’s been haunting their rivalry all along.

Sarah: I got to have Alexandra on the podcast twice this year to talk about the trilogy, and so I’m pretty spoiled. Not in the “I found out the ending” kind of way, but in the “I’ve been indulged with a truly opulent amount of history that makes the trilogy a more sumptuous reading experience” way. Worldbuilding, like comedy, is grounded and enhanced by detail and specificity, and the world of the two characters, the conflicts between and around them, and the charm of the whole series is precise in its elegance. Loved it.

Tara: Okay, I’m cheating a tiny bit because this book was also published this year, but it was another true standout for me. While I was drawn by the premise, with two rival gothic novel writers finding their HEA together, the true magic was in seeing them grow while experiencing traditional elements of gothic fiction.

Listen to Sarah’s podcast episode with the author!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Stone and Sky

Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Released: July 8, 2025 by DAW
Genre: ,
Series: Rivers of London #10

“This isn’t London. The rules are different up here…”

All Detective Constable Peter Grant wanted was a nice holiday up in Scotland.
He’ll need one once this is over…

check.
some.
sort of – but that’s not the only thing in the sky…

Sarah: I’ve said before this series is the one exception to some general policies I have about reading: I generally don’t like books about cops, and I don’t like books where characters of color are written by a White person. I have enjoyed many of the books in this series, and I particularly like the audiobooks, so listening to Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Shvorne Marks narrate was an extra treat. This book does have a romance of sorts in it – a queer one, too – and some of the plot points reflect current events in an eerie way, but I was so happy while I was listening to it. This book and “What Abigail Did That Summer” are probably my favorites in the series. It’s talking foxes, after all.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Never Over

Never Over by Clare Gilmore

Author: Clare Gilmore
Released: October 28, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: ,

A swoony second-chance romance where facing the one who broke your heart could be the thing that makes your dream come true.

Twenty-five-year-old Paige Lancaster is one contract away from earning a living doing her favorite thing in the world: writing songs. But when a music industry professional suggests she might be holding back with her lyrics to lessen the heartbreak of an old flame, Paige doubts if her music is ready to be heard.

In a rare, impulsive move, Paige contacts Liam Bishop after four years of no contact to ask him for a small favor: date her, and then re-break her heart, all so she can remember what those big, songworthy emotions felt like. And since Liam is the one who first set Paige on this career path, he hesitantly agrees.

Across three months of Liam’s summer work travel, the exes are forced to share hotel beds, rehash the past, and date in the present, all while navigating the building attraction between them they both swore was the one line of their agreement they wouldn’t cross.

But when it becomes near impossible not to act on their rippling chemistry, and as ever intensifying feelings blur the lines of what’s actually real and what’s driven by the music, Paige and Liam will both have to decide what’s more important: art for the sake of it, or love over everything.

Amanda: This book made me eat so much crow! It took two things in romance I typically avoid: characters who work in music and a second chance romance. There is so much pining and yearning and forced proximity. If you love emotional angst and obstacles, this is amazing. I also think if you like Cara Bastone’s books, this might work well for you, though it’s a little lighter on traumatic themes.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 1

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 1 by SUOL

Author: SUOL
Released: November 8, 2022 by Ize Press
Genre: , ,
Series: Villains Are Destined to Die #1

Playing Daughter of the Duke’s Super Love Project as the easy mode heroine, Ivonne, makes charming the male characters a breeze. But once you switch to hard mode and step into the shoes of Penelope, the misunderstood villain, it’s nearly impossible to even stay alive! So imagine the shock of suddenly waking up in Penelope’s body—you know right away that your life is on the line. With love interests who will kill you if their affection meters drop too low and the inability to speak without choosing from pre-selected dialogue, it quickly becomes clear that Penelope’s chances have been rigged from the start—and this villain might just be destined to die!

Amanda: I started reading this as a webtoon, but I am both impatient and impulsive. With over 150 chapters and one free chapter read a day, I was bereft that I couldn’t marathon this one until my eyeballs fell out of my head. Thankfully, there are eight volumes in paperback format in beautiful full color. The art is gorgeous and the concept is so fun. The only way this could be better is if it were a “why choose” book where she gets to be with everyone.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney

Author: Rebecca Romney
Released: February 18, 2025 by Simon & Schuster
Genre:

From rare book dealer and guest star of the hit show Pawn Stars, a page-turning literary adventure that introduces readers to the women writers who inspired Jane Austen—and investigates why their books have disappeared from our shelves.

Long before she was a rare book dealer, Rebecca Romney was a devoted reader of Jane Austen. She loved that Austen’s books took the lives of women seriously, explored relationships with wit and confidence, and always, allowed for the possibility of a happy ending. She read and reread them, often wishing Austen wrote just one more.

But Austen wasn’t a lone genius. She wrote at a time of great experimentation for women writers—and clues about those women, and the exceptional books they wrote, are sprinkled like breadcrumbs throughout Austen’s work. Every character in Northanger Abbey who isn’t a boor sings the praises of Ann Radcliffe. The play that causes such a stir in Mansfield Park is a real one by the playwright Elizabeth Inchbald. In fact, the phrase “pride and prejudice” came from Frances Burney’s second novel Cecilia. The women that populated Jane Austen’s bookshelf profoundly influenced her work; Austen looked up to them, passionately discussed their books with her friends, and used an appreciation of their books as a litmus test for whether someone had good taste. So where had these women gone? Why hadn’t Romney—despite her training—ever read them? Or, in some cases, even heard of them? And why were they no longer embraced as part of the wider literary canon?

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes—women writers who were erased from the Western canon—to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen, and how they were forgotten. Each chapter profiles a different writer including Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Charlotte Smith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth—and recounts Romney’s experience reading them, finding rare copies of their works, and drawing on connections between their words and Austen’s. Romney collects the once-famed works of these forgotten writers, physically recreating Austen’s bookshelf and making a convincing case for why these books should be placed back on the to-be-read pile of all book lovers today. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf will encourage you to look beyond assigned reading lists, question who decides what belongs there, and build your very own collection of favorite novels.

Carrie: This is an amazing nonfiction book about the women who wrote novels in the Georgian period who Jane Austen would have read or at least known of. Entertaining, informative, and changed the way I think about the literary landscape of that time!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

War for the Oaks

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

Author: Emma Bull
Released: July 1, 1987 by Ace
Genre:

Acclaimed by critics and readers on its first publication in 1987, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel, Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks is one of the novels that has defined modern urban fantasy.

Eddi McCandry sings rock and roll. But her boyfriend just dumped her, her band just broke up, and life could hardly be worse. Then, walking home through downtown Minneapolis on a dark night, she finds herself drafted into an invisible war between the faerie folk. Now, more than her own survival is at risk—and her own preferences, musical and personal, are very much beside the point.

By turns tough and lyrical, fabulous and down-to-earth, War for the Oaks is a fantasy novel that’s as much about this world as about the other one. It’s about real love and loyalty, about real music and musicians, about false glamour and true art. It will change the way you hear and see your own daily life.

Carrie: I re-read The War for the Oaks by Emma Bull for about the 1,000th time since I first read it in high school and not only is it just as good as every other time but, if possible, it’s even better. I find new things to delight in it every time.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Botanist’s Assistant

The Botanist’s Assistant by Peggy Townsend

Author: Peggy Townsend
Released: November 18, 2025 by Berkley
Genre:

A murder in the science lab shatters a woman’s quiet and ordered life when she decides she must solve the crime herself in this entertaining and uplifting mystery.

Plenty of people consider Margaret Finch odd. Six-feet-tall and big-boned, she lives alone in a small cabin in the woods, drives a 20-year-old truck, and schedules her life so precisely you can tell the time and day of the week by the chore she is doing and what she is wearing.  But the same attributes that cause her to be labeled eccentric—an obsessive attention to detail and the ability to organize almost anything—make her invaluable in her job as Research Assistant II to a talented and charismatic botanist.

It’s those very same qualities, however, that also turn Margaret into a target after a surprising death shakes the small university where she works. Even as authorities claim the death appears to be from natural causes, Margaret fears it might be something a murder born of jealousy and dark secrets. With the aid of a newly hired and enigmatic night custodian, Margaret finds herself thrust into the role of detective, forcing her to consider that she may not be able to find the killer before the killer finds her.

With a cast of quirky and likeable characters that one won’t soon forget, The Botanist’s Assistant is a delightful story of perseverance and the power in all of us to survive.

Lara: I read some fantastic books this year and there are about three real standouts, but this one is something special. So quiet, so good and so strong. I adored every second with this book.

Read Lara’s review!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Bone King and the Starling

The Bone King and the Starling by Elizabeth Stephens

Author: Elizabeth Stephens
Released: March 19, 2025
Genre: , ,

They call him the bone king.

A massive, beast of a male who worships the gods and is all too willing to provide them their sacrifices. Human sacrifices. He and his warriors have come to visit Winterbren, a poor little village on the outskirts of Wrath and my home.

I’ve never been more grateful to be a thrall, for my low status will ensure that I remain outside of his notice. But when he requests — nay, requires — a willing female to warm his furs for the duration of his stay, his selection falls to me. All I can do is pray to the gods that I survive the night…

And beg the bone king for mercy.

This book contains dark themes, including a Black woman in the position of thrall, graphic depictions of torture, non-con, and discussions of early childhood abuse. A full list of warnings can be found on my website.

Shana’s 2025 pick!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

This Could Be Us

This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

Author: Kennedy Ryan
Released: March 5, 2024 by Forever
Genre: ,
Series: Skyland #2

“Heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming.” ―EMILY HENRY, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who’s never met a party she couldn’t host or a charge she couldn’t lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.

But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.

But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?

After all she’s lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?

For fans of Tia Williams and Colleen Hoover comes a deeply moving and personal novel about sacrifice, self-reliance, and finding true happiness from “one of the finest romance writers of our age.” ―Entertainment Weekly

Shana’s bonus pick!

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Hen Fever

Hen Fever by Olivia Waite

Author: Olivia Waite
Released: December 11, 2022
Genre: , ,

Lydia Wraxhall is on her best behavior every day of the year—except one: the annual Bickerton Christmas Poultry Show. On that day she brushes her birds, sharpens her tongue, and engages in the closest thing the village knows to war.

Harriet Boyne is a soldier’s widow reeling from the worst years of her life. She and her friends have inherited a manor on the village outskirts, and Harriet is looking forward to a quiet holiday far from the anguish of the battlefield.

But a dispute over a flock of loose chickens — a rare local breed, which Lydia thinks could be champions and Harriet thinks could be delicious — draws Harriet into the competition under Lydia’s grudging guidance. Harriet’s frozen heart is thawed by Lydia’s gentleness, and lonely Lydia blossoms under Harriet’s keen regard. But the day of the poultry show is fast approaching, and everyone’s drawing up battle lines. And in the contest between secret love and public glory, there can only be one winner.

Shana’s bonus pick!

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Discovering Nicola

Discovering Nicola by Clare Ashton

Author: Clare Ashton
Released: May 1, 2025
Genre: , ,
Series: Oxford Romance #3

Sparks fly between Nicola Albright KC and Geeta Sachdeva, but not the good kind. They’re the sort that leave small fires, devastation, and everyone peeping between their fingers at arrogant lawyer, Nicola, on one side, and everyone’s favourite mum, Geeta, on the other.

Yet when both are divorced and at a new stage in life, they find themselves living within glowering distance of each other, in beautiful Iffley Village, Oxford. Reluctantly they call a truce and try to make friends. It’s tricky though, when there’s more than one reason they’ve circled and snapped for years.

For a start, Geeta’s lawyer daughter, Olivia, idolises the eminent King’s Counsel barrister, to eye rolls from Geeta. And to Nicola’s annoyance, her own daughter, Charlotte, has always turned to perfect mama Geeta for comfort and understanding. Animosity between the two is a given.

Until they force themselves to be nice to each other, that is, and then they’re compelled to question everything…

Tara: I don’t think I knew how much I needed to read a romance with two women in their fifties falling in love. Even better, two women who couldn’t stand each other! While the subject matter wasn’t always easy, this book was so refreshing and it left me with that big dreamy sigh that only comes from the most special stories.

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ysabetwordsmith: Text says New Year Resolutions on notebook (resolutions)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] goals_on_dw
End-of-year-ish questions from the NYT found via [personal profile] flexagon


* When did you feel the most joyful and carefree?

* What gave you energy -- and what drained it?

* What seemed impossible -- but you did it anyway?

* What habit, if you did it more consistently, would have a positive effect on your life?

* What did you try to control that was actually outside your control?

* Is there anyone you need to forgive in 2026?


[personal profile] partypaprika posting in [community profile] heavyartillery
Hi All! The deadline to post assignments has been extended to January 4, with the collection set to open on January 9. 

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