Related Recs

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Revenge of the scapegoat by caroline beilin

I mean first of all look at that cover. But second third fourth fifth sixth seventh and beyond - I have never read a book like this. Heady, tender, animated, fascinating, deeply sad, a strange hodge podge of fonversation and dreamlike occurrence. For anyone who needs to be reminded that it’s ok to be in chronic pain - especially chronic physical pain - and your way of coping is a heroic act. It is a part of you. Also hates on the ultra rich atheistic establishment in a way that rocks. This writer is so brilliant. We’re lucky to have her.

@whatcanibring

Mar 12, 2024

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books to read in sunshine

at 1st the only sunny books i could think of were Klara and the Sun (sad), Dry (traumatising) and The God of Small Things (sad & traumatic but sooo beautiful - these r all great books but this 1 is leagues ahead) i started typing this hoping i would have some cheerier recs by the time i got to this point but i think that’s it.. that’s all i have in me…… it seems i simply associate the sun with soul-crushing devastation

@nikau

May 12, 2024

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Books

I just finished reading “I will greet the sun again” by Khashayar J. Khabushani. Such a beautiful layered book about a young queer iranian boy growing up in LA with his family In the 90’s/00’s. Some of the reviews say it’s devastating and beautiful. It really is. I left it with knots in my stomach and a real want for freedom. What are some of your recommendations?

@musicalalien4ever

Mar 27, 2025

Top Recs from @emibee

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not relinquishing your pre-digital memories to the machine

I made a Goodreads account recently and it asked me to rate some popular books I’d read before. Little did I know, every time I ranked a book, it would give me 5 more similar to that one, and then 5 more from that, and on and on until a neverending phylogenetic tree of books emerged on my screen. I was on FaceTime with my friend as I did this, and we compared which books we’d both read, ones we loved, ones we got forced to read in school, ones we read as preteens, etc. But half an hour in and no end to the Goodreads algorithm, but stuck in The Very Hungry Caterpillar-y children’s book branch of the algorithm tree that I couldn’t escape, I started to get mad. So I command-Q’d chrome and called it a day. This week I went back to organise my To Read list and to purge all the loose one-book memos on my notes app. My professor recently gave me her recommendations on queer literature and I wanted to properly organise them. On my profile it said I’d already read some 100+ books and I’d given them all 5 star ratings. Ok well now that’s pissing me off. Why is there digital clutter on my brand new account, and why did I give all that information to them anyways.? I love to categorise, but did I really need to log my readership of the individual 39 Clues books? I feel similarly about when I first downloaded letterboxd and it made me go down a similar never ending algorithm of potential movies I’d watched before. I did spend an unreasonable amount of time swiping through those movies trying to remember if I really did watch Horton Hears a Who in 2008(?) or not. Why do I feel the need to share this with the algorithm? genuinely what purpose does this serve me? Why am I volunteering memories from my 7 year old self when I learnt English by reading Geronimo Stilton books for the first time? Anyways, I deleted all the past data from my Goodreads account. There’s only logs from my current reads, and the list of books I want to read next. There’s comfort in organising and seeing your life laid out in list/grid categories, like unlocking achievements on video games - oh did you know I read so and so and yeah I was a pretentious little bitch in high school and every YA book I read in 2013 has gotta be logged and But there’s another type of comfort in keeping that information away from the internet where they’ll find a way to use that data against you. I can‘t think of a single occasion I’d need personalised ads for the chick-lit books I read in primary school but I know the algorithm is going to eventually find a way to sell my nostalgia back to me somehow… I‘m going to open any of my little apps and see hyper specific #ad on my screen. I know I’ve given so much of me away online already - and look what I’m doing right now(!) , sharing my interests and recommendations to strangers online hah .. I won’t lie about the fact that it brings me joy to live online - it’s been my playground for so much of my life - Like sorry I am literally the internet explorer -But there was a time before I lived on the internet. I don’t think they need to know everything about Then. I recommend not giving up everything about yourself to the machine

@emibee

Mar 8, 2024

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Reading novels on your phone

Holding a physical paperback is one of the Core Experiences of reading pleasure— but the option of having your book at all times, no matter the lighting, body position or situation, is going to make you so much more likely to read. The way you can read for 5 minutes, text your friend, check notifs and seamlessly come back to your page is kind of brainrot but you know what. Idgaf :33 For me, the convenience of skipping a trip to the library and just downloading an epub file is one of the purest indulgences of instant gratification… very gluttonous but it feels very Nice

@emibee

Mar 8, 2024

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No music while walking

Rawdog the sound of society while you walk… the tea is crazy

@emibee

May 17, 2024