sydney 🍓

however,, this is on thin ice with every passing headline! what an awful time to be a private sector education researcher with a policy background!!!

heyyyyy… I wouldn’t say I’m back from the void but we’re inches away from it not fully consuming me anymore :)

can’t believe I get to live in the year that will give us Katabasis by RF Kuang, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, and Oathbound by Tracy Deonn

Cover of The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas. Depicts a pale, nearly-frozen adolescent girl on a pale blue background.

Colorful map of Norway depicting cities and landmarks.

Flag of Norway. A red base with white and navy perpendicular lines.

Norway — The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas ⭐️ 4.5

The chill only grows as you see grief force Siss to leave her girlhood behind. Complex relationships knitted into such a simple story. The metaphors in this are still driving me wild.

Cover of The Rooftop by Fernanda Trías, translated by Annie McDermott. Cover is simplistic with a brown staircase on a beige background. There are two lines going down the stairs like shadows.

Colorful map of Uruguay showing cities and landmarks.

Flag of Uruguay. Alternating blue and white stripes with a yellow sun in the top left corner.

Uruguay — The Rooftop by Fernanda Trías, translated by Annie McDermott ⭐️ 4

You find yourself slowly descending into madness as Clara cages you in, much like her father’s canary. The longer I think about it, the more disturbed I am. Not for the lighthearted (or claustrophobic).

Cover of Catrachos by Roy G Guzmán. The cover has a texture like a painting depicting three red hands on blue streak and a white background.

Flag of Honduras. Three stripes in a blue, white, blue pattern. The white stripe has 5 blue stars.

Colorful map of Honduras depicting cities and landmarks.

Honduras — Catrachos by Roy G Guzmán ⭐️ 4

A poetry collection that inventively plays with language to illustrate themes of immigration, multilingualism, queerness, and navigating boarders.

every holiday I force my loved ones to buy me a book with completely no help from me. once I’m not a picky reader, it’s a fun time to see what they think sounds good and find something new.

Periwinkle, an orange and white cat, sitting on a desk next to a desk lamp and container full of colorful highlighters.

A small orange and white cat laying sleepily on a floral quilt in front of a sunny window.

for those of you wondering, tiny has been officially named!

Meet Periwinkle (aka peri, wink, winkie)

I have such an itch to start embroidery again

just saw wicked and now I’m craving a wizard of oz rewatch

A picture of the About the Author in Adulthood Rites by Octavia E Butler. The first line reads,”I’m a fifty-three-year-old writer who can remember being a ten-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an eighty-year-old writer.”

this thought is sponsored by the first line of her “about the author” at the end of adulthood rites. the fact that she died only a few years after writing this bio destroys me.

I love Dawn by her, but I think Kindred or Parable of the Sower would be a better starting point!

it should be a crime !!

every time I think about Octavia Butler and her works I feel like 8 newly discovered and impossible to name emotions

top view of a circular ice cream cake. topped with cool whip, Oreos, and caramel.

picture of a small white and orange cat laying on a chair in front of windows.

A white and orange cat with one blue eye and one green eye laying on a blanket. A tv console and Christmas tree are in the background.

ICYMI: I made an ice cream cake for my partner’s birthday and we picked up our newest baby (seeking name suggestions)

I’m currently reading Make the Season Bright! Also not usually one for second chance romance so 🤞🏻

EXCUSE ME !!! time to make this series my entire personality for a few months.

Cover of The Collector of Names by Miha Mazzini, translated by Maja Visenjak-Limon. A dark cover depicting a young boy holding a heart in front of a war tank.

A colorful map of Slovenia showing cities and landmarks.

The flag of Slovenia with a white, blue, and red stripe. A blue icon with a mountain and 3 stars is in the top left corner.

Slovenia — The Collector of Names by Miha Mazzini, translated by Maja Visenjak-Limon ⭐️ 3.25

Still searching for the horror and thrills and general explanation on this one. Incredible idea of an entity that steals names but it didn’t succeed in execution. So many pointless descriptions for 200 pgs.

Cover of The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk, translated by Christopher Moseley. Dark green cover with a bright yellow outline of a snake.

Colorful map of Estonia showing cities and landmarks.

Flag of Estonia with a light blue, black, and white stripe.

Estonia — The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk, translated by Christopher Moseley ⭐️ 2

While it was an incredible depiction of holding on to cultural tradition and resisting assimilation, I never want to think about this gruesome, slog of a book again. Need more folklore honestly.

Cover of the book Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, translated by Brian FitzGibbon. Blue background with pink and white letters. There is an illustrated pink typewriter with a woman laying on top. Instead of paper, there is a white, icy, active volcano coming out of it.

A colorful map of Iceland, showing cities and landmarks.

Flag of Iceland, blue base with white and red lines forming a perpendicular pattern.

Iceland — Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, translated by Brian FitzGibbon ⭐️ 4.25

The litfic besties are going to love Helka with her dry humor, matter-of-fact state of being, gay bestie, and all-around resistance to the patriarchy. Eager to read more from this author because I’m addicted.

a picture of an old globe, stopped on South America. there is a golden glow and horizontal shadows from what can assumed to be a window.

a thread for my reading around the world challenge…

I’ve been a loyal Scribd/Everand user for nearly 10 years and this is making me lose my mind !!

sure yeah… I’m handling it fine that I’ve read 10 books every month but only 8 in November…

crying at the beginning of moana is truly for the girls with (grand)mommy issues

middlegame is consuming my every thought and I’ve only read 120 pages (literally how did people not like this)

a dozen apples frozen in ziplock bags in a cooler

headed home for Thanksgiving… my most precious cargo being a dozen frozen, fresh picked apples.

I’m trying so hard to not be a hater but my November tbr wants me dead

life with my partner <3

my auditory processing disorder always surprises me. here’s one from this morning…

what I heard:
“I’ve gotta goose in my vehicle.”

what was actually said
“I’ve gotta go see my bagel.”

that cancelled tv show you’ll never stop thinking about

I can’t believe they took this from us