ella kirshbaum
@ella-celeste.bsky.social
📤 72
📥 123
📝 144
reader. reviewer. editor. language-lover. (she/her).
can someone convince me that i should have liked Virginia Woolf's novel To The Lighthouse? because everyone talks about it so glowingly but i just. could not.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/02/to-l...
#booksky
#classics
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To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/02/to-lighthouse-by-virginia-woolf.html
12 days ago
0
0
0
why do i keep taking classes that make me read Oedipus Rex? somebody save me pleaseee i hope i never have to read it again, but also—we already know Oedipus is a killer; why does it only become a problem when he realizes his victim was his dad?
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/02/oedi...
#booksky
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Oedipus the King by Sophocles
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/02/oedipus-king-by-sophocles.html
12 days ago
0
2
0
is anyone searching desperately for a short, escapist novel so they can stop thinking about the world for two seconds? here's my pitch. (yes, it inspired the movie. no, it's nothing like the movie.)
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/02/anni...
#booksky
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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach # 1)
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/02/annihilation-by-jeff-vandermeer.html
12 days ago
0
2
0
did any of you read A–Z Mysteries as a kid? i forgot how clever they are
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
#booksky
#kidlit
#mystery
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The Quicksand Question by Ron Roy (A-Z Mysteries # Q)
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-quicksand-question-by-ron-roy-z.html
30 days ago
0
3
0
can anyone recommend a *very good* ann patchett to me? i read Tom Lake and was underwhelmed, but i've heard such good things i want to give her another try
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/tom-...
#booksky
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Tom Lake by Anne Patchett
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/tom-lake-by-anne-patchett.html
about 1 month ago
2
4
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i picked up Disappoint Me by chance in a bookstore, and was blown away within the first pages by how strong the narrative voice is
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/disa...
#booksky
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Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/disappoint-me-by-nicola-dinan.html
about 1 month ago
0
2
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i was NOT expecting to love Anna Karenina this much. if you haven't read it, i would recommend adding it to the top of your list
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/anna...
#booksky
#classic
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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/anna-karenina-by-leo-tolstoy.html
about 1 month ago
0
0
0
i love getting pleasantly surprised by a classic—The Count of Monte Cristo was so exciting?? as long as i was able to tune out all of the patriarchal classist weirdness, i was on the edge of my seat through every page
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
#booksky
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Book by Book: 365 Days of Reading
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/
about 1 month ago
1
1
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was the movie or the book better? usually i think the answer to this question is very clear, but in the case of Hamnet, i'm not so sure.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/hamn...
#booksky
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Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2026/01/hamnet-by-maggie-ofarrell.html
about 1 month ago
0
1
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if anyone is looking for a good way to dip their toe into theory surrounding modern-day criticism, i highly recommend this book. it's both broadly intelligent and gloriously scathing:
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/auth...
#booksky
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Authority by Andrea Long Chu
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/authority-by-andrea-long-chu.html
about 2 months ago
0
1
1
for all i'd heard about A Room of One's Own, it honestly doesn't seem to be worth its page count.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-ro...
#booksky
#classics
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A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-room-of-ones-own-by-virginia-woolf.html
about 2 months ago
0
3
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"The girl had nothing on under her shirt. Her skin was pleasantly sunburned and her shoulders and fine breasts shone with health ... the impression of a healthy animal peasant girl was heightened by the chunky hips ..." um. help.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/from...
#booksky
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From Russia, With Love by Ian Fleming (James Bond # 5)
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/from-russia-with-love-by-ian-fleming.html
about 2 months ago
0
0
0
wow the james bond novels have not held up well over time
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
#booksky
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The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-southern-book-clubs-guide-to.html
about 2 months ago
1
3
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i had some issues with this novel (horror is not at its best when it's purely overt commentary!!) but for being a book about sexism written by a man, i was quite impressed
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
#booksky
#horrorsky
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The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-southern-book-clubs-guide-to.html
about 2 months ago
0
2
1
if you haven't read barbara kingsolver's Demon Copperhead, you're missing out on a dickens retelling, a story of love and family and opioid addiction, and one of the most charming and compelling narrators i've ever read.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/demo...
#booksky
#classics
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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/demon-copperhead-by-barbara-kingsolver.html
about 2 months ago
0
6
1
y'all if you haven't read The Scar by china miéville, you need to get on it—there's a giant pirate city, a whole slough of badass protagonists, an island populated by deadly bloodsucking mosquito women, and a very very big fish.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
#booksky
#linguistics
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The Scar by China Miéville
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-scar-by-china-mieville.html
2 months ago
0
2
1
for all the readers who love a good book-within-a-book situation, i highly recommend you check out The History of Love
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
#booksky
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The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-history-of-love-by-nicole-krauss.html
2 months ago
0
1
0
i'm not sure if i would consider isabel allende's novel Maya's Notebook to be true YA, but it was certainly a compelling read. for allende fans interested in seeing her do something new, i highly recommend you check this book out.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/maya...
#booksky
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Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/mayas-notebook-by-isabel-allende.html
2 months ago
0
3
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if you love toni morrison's Beloved, i highly recommend you read maggie stiefvater's The Raven Cycle series. the series' second book, The Dream Thieves, is both lovely & similar in a lot of interesting ways
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
#booksky
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The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle # 2)
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-dream-thieves-by-maggie-stiefvater.html
2 months ago
1
3
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i think we would all be a lot better off if we were reading more books by aging women about aging women. isabel allende's The Japanese Lover is a great place to start.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com
#booksky
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Book by Book: 365 Days of Reading
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/
3 months ago
0
6
0
for anyone who has audible and likes metafiction or thought experiments in pretty packages: you should absolutely listen to the audioplay of david henry hwang's "yellow face." it's incredible, and very thought-provoking.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com
#booksky
#theater
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Book by Book: 365 Days of Reading
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/
3 months ago
0
1
0
what is your favorite poe story? i (re)read & reviewed half a dozen of my favorites this weekend, but i'm ready to branch out. give me your recs!!
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/asso...
#booksky
#horror
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Assorted Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, read by Basil Rathbone
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/assorted-short-stories-by-edgar-allan.html
3 months ago
0
5
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is Toni Morrison's novel Beloved a gothic novel? no. is it a southern gothic? absolutely.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/belo...
#booksky
#ghosts
#gothic
#classic
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Beloved by Toni Morrison
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/beloved-by-toni-morrison.html
3 months ago
2
4
0
people are not kidding when they say carmilla is very queer
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/carm...
#booksky
#vampire
#classics
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Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/carmilla-by-sheridan-le-fanu.html
3 months ago
0
7
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even if Fourth Wing is basically just a genre-bent, aged-up Divergent, it's still an impressively fun read
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/four...
#booksky
#romantasy
#romance
#fantasy
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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/11/fourth-wing-by-rebecca-yarros.html
4 months ago
2
3
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what makes a good middle grade novel? i think kelly yang's Front Desk is a pretty solid example of one
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/10/fron...
#booksky
#middlegrade
#readers
#fiction
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Front Desk by Kelly Yang
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/10/front-desk-by-kelly-yang.html
4 months ago
0
2
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i love when people set vaguely gothic stories in unconventional places—case in point: this book, where instead of a gothic manor it's a very very creepy island
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/09/wild...
#booksky
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Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/09/wild-dark-shore-by-charlotte-mcconaghy.html
5 months ago
0
1
0
The Raven Boys is a beautiful book, but the plot structure is surprisingly hard to pin down
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-...
#booksky
#trc
#ya
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The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-raven-boys-by-maggie-stiefvater.html
6 months ago
1
1
0
i cannot stop thinking about Ivan in Intermezzo. his brother is arguably never presented as desirable, but Ivan is—purely because we view him (and never his brother) through the eyes of someone who thinks he is. excellent use of mimetic desire!
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/inte...
#booksky
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Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/intermezzo-by-sally-rooney.html
6 months ago
1
2
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Sally Rooney's Intermezzo is not about good people—it's simply about people, an honest snapshot of two brothers grieving. if you like character-based stories, or gorgeous and syntactically interesting writing, you should give this one a try.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/inte...
#booksky
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Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
book, book review, books, reading, reader
http://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/intermezzo-by-sally-rooney.html
6 months ago
0
0
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this has to be one of the more creative book premises i've ever seen: a serial killer's daughter who becomes a matchmaker for psychopaths. (spoiler alert: things go horribly wrong.)
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/matc...
#booksky
#horror
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Matchmaking for Psychopaths by Tasha Coryell
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/matchmaking-for-psychopaths-by-tasha.html
6 months ago
0
2
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the seven husbands of evelyn hugo meets the great gatsby—if you like beautiful writing and an effortlessly clever female protagonist, this should be your next read
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/rule...
#booksky
#literature
#classics
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Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/rules-of-civility-by-amor-towles.html
6 months ago
0
2
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if you're looking for one last fun beach-y read before the summer is up, here's my pitch: a billionaire's island. a complicated game to win the inheritance. a family full of secrets. a very sexy stranger. 'nuff said.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/thes...
#booksky
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These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/these-summer-storms-by-sarah-maclean.html
6 months ago
0
1
1
it's so upsetting when a twist ruins a book. they are . . . not supposed to do that? how rude.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/leav...
#booksky
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Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/08/leaving-time-by-jodi-picoult.html
6 months ago
0
2
1
i read this book over a month ago and i'm still not over it. it's absolutely fascinating??? i review a ton of books; i genuinely approve of very few of them. i promise, this one is worth reading.
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
0
0
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novelists currently trying to get published—are you overwhelmed by all the options (what is hybrid pub?) and all the no's? getting a book published is hard, and if you're looking for some guidance this book might really help.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/imag...
#booksky
#writers
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Imagine A Door by Laura Stanfill
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/imagine-door-by-laura-stanfill.html
7 months ago
1
1
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y'all if you read & loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, you HAVE to read Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch. it's a super nuanced novel about a golden age hollywood gossip columnist, and it's fabulous.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/do-t...
#booksky
#hollywood
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Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/do-tell-by-lindsay-lynch.html
7 months ago
2
3
1
i love a good bald and unapologetic baring of the horrible thought processes that patriarchy forces women to have and then hide. this is a fucked up novel, but a really compelling one.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/love...
#booksky
#thriller
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Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/love-letters-to-serial-killer-by-tasha.html
7 months ago
0
2
0
is Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn's novel The Shadow of the Wind horrifyingly misogynistic, to the point of being a little intolerable? yes. is it a very fun read when you're in Barcelona? also yes.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/shad...
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Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/shadow-of-wind-by-carlos-ruiz-zafon.html
8 months ago
0
0
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i wasn't totally sold on Sunrise on the Reaping—Haymitch was kind of. boring?—but my god Collins is genius for using The Raven as a conceit, a theme, and a blueprint for her protagonist's grief
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/sunr...
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Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games 0.5)
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/07/sunrise-on-reaping-by-suzanne-collins.html
8 months ago
0
1
0
for anyone who likes reading books about books, i highly recommend The Book of Form and Emptiness. it’s literary fiction that plays with metafiction and form to tell a story about a boy and his mother, objects and illness and loss.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...
#booksky
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The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-book-of-form-and-emptiness-by-ruth.html?m=1
9 months ago
1
5
1
is nancy drew still worth reading in 2025? i think so.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...
#booksky
#mystery
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The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew #4)
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-mystery-at-lilac-inn-by-carolyn.html?m=1
9 months ago
0
3
0
love a good messy protagonist on a road trip
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/we-a...
#booksky
#translation
#queer
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We All Loved Cowboys by Carol Bensimon
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/we-all-loved-cowboys-by-carol-bensimon.html
9 months ago
0
3
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if anyone has read the very beautiful but deeply confusing sff graphic novel Arclight & actually had a clue of what was going on, please tell me
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/arcl...
#booksky
#comic
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Arclight by Brandon Graham, art by Marian Churchland
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/arclight-by-brandon-graham-art-by.html
9 months ago
0
1
0
what even is a non-fiction novel? john berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is more an ethnography of Savannah than a real story. the plot wasn't satisfying, but i learned a lot (too much?) about the South from this one.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/midn...
#booksky
#reading
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/midnight-in-garden-of-good-and-evil-by.html
9 months ago
0
3
0
it's so disappointing when a novel doesn't live up to an amazing premise
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/deat...
#booksky
#scifi
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Death of the Author by Nnedio Okorafor
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/death-of-author-by-nnedio-okorafor.html
9 months ago
0
3
0
the national theater’s coriolanus starring tom hiddleston??? where coriolanus showers off blood in act 1 and then aufidius showers in coriolanus’s blood in act 5??? fucking genius directing set design
9 months ago
1
2
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has anyone read The America Play? it's an incredible look at American history, race, and mourning as labor. the writing is incredible; i highly reccommend.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...
#booksky
#classics
#theater
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The America Play by Suzan-Lori Parks
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-america-play-by-suzan-lori-parks.html
10 months ago
0
0
0
as human beings, i generally think we do not get to experience radical acceptance very often but the rejection of shame in Conversations with Friends seems to be one of the rare exceptions to that rule. for that fact alone, this book is worth reading
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/04/conv...
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Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/04/conversations-with-friends-by-sally.html
10 months ago
0
0
0
y'all if you have not read M. Butterfly, you are missing out on one of the most incredible metatheatrical, texturally complex, tony-award-winning spy dramas in existence. if that sounds interesting, go read it asap.
bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/04/m-bu...
#booksky
#classics
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M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
book, book review, books, reading, reader
https://bookbybook365.blogspot.com/2025/04/m-butterfly-by-david-henry-hwang.html
10 months ago
0
3
0
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