Category: discussion

discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Problematic Tropes

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

FEBRUARY 4: PROBLEMATIC TROPES IN BOOKS (ELE @ ELE’S BOOKISH CORNER)

Prompts:  There are many problematic tropes out there. The entire genre of horror is notoriously full of ableism, romance choke-full of sexism, and fantasy dripping in racial stereotypes. What are the boundaries for their usage? Is it OK to use problematic tropes if you repurpose them to be otherwise? Can they be “reclaimed” in the way some people reclaim offensive terms?

Happy February everyone! The first LTB of the month has arrived and it’s certainly an interesting topic! Luckily, I don’t think I walk into them too too much, not reading romance and horror (nor romantic horror) on a regular basis. Still, I do have some opinions on the matter.

There are indeed many problematic tropes out there. I suppose the main question is how much influence do such tropes have over our general population and vulnerable population? Arguably a lot, since I feel that books really did have the biggest impression on me as a child. Like the media, even as an adult, there’s a level of absorption of public perspective that just cannot be avoided.

I struggle with just saying that these things should be flat-out prohibited. I’m not convinced that these notorious tropes are really that bad in and of themselves. The problem seems to lie in cases where they become glorified or become something that we want to replicate and attain. I’m actually not really sure what makes a trope particularly popular and subsequently notorious (and possibly overused). But I imagine if we were to take all these kinds of tropes and ideas with a grain of salt, it wouldn’t be so huge.

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anticipations, discussion

2022 Five Star Predictions

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

I have never tried this before because I can barely predict what books I read each year. But I’ve been seeing a number of these posts pop up over the last month and I thought I’d see how accurate (or not) I’d be predicting books I’ll enjoy this year (if I even read them).

I’ll post something in December then to look back on these predictions. Until then, here are the ones I feel I’ll really enjoy!

Book of Night by Holly Black

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus

In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you read, light isn’t playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.

I’ve been getting into dark academia lately. I absolutely adored A Deadly Education and Ninth House. I have no idea if this will be absolutely amazing but the synopsis has me super excited.

Continue reading “2022 Five Star Predictions” →
discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Rereading Books

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

JANUARY 28: REREADING BOOKS (Fives @ Down the Rabbit Hole)

How many times is enough? Why re-read at all? Is re-reading just a comforting pastime? Or is there excitement to be relived? What kind of books do you re-read? Do you ever re-read books you don’t like in hopes that it will be better the second time? Were there any books you didn’t like as a child but liked as an adult, or vice versa?

Welcome back to another week of LTB here at DTRH! This week’s topic is suggested by none other than yours truly! I actually suggested it a while back, and I almost forgot that I did so. Still, it’s an interesting topic that I wanted to share with you all, and would love to hear your thoughts on it too!

Funnily enough, I just reread a book, albeit by accident (review out soon!). But it was strange, since it was a thriller. Usually I’d remember the endings much more clearly so I am not inclined to reread then. For some reason this time I just had a strange inkling that I’ve read the story before. Luckily it was a very quick read, so I just breezed through it anyway. Surprisingly, I still enjoyed it!

If we’re talking about the old classics like Harry Potter, undoubtedly I’ve read it many many times. And let’s be serious, for things that you love, it’s never enough. But I think for the most part I reread for the nostalgia, and the feeling that I felt the first time reading it. There is a tiny bit of excitement involved if I’ve forgotten certain details, but I’d say for the most part it’s the whole reliving process that I reread for.

I rarely give books a second chance. If I didn’t want to finish it the first time, I doubt I want to finish it even the second time. That being said, if I finished the book and I didn’t feel it was that good, I don’t really have the urge to re-read that either. I will occasionally try for classics though, like Pride and Prejudice, but honestly not too much success with that.

Here’s an embarrassing anecdote though—do you all have bathroom reads? Books that kind of live in your bathroom for those times where you just feel like hiding out or chilling in your bathroom? Sounds kind of weird, but I definitely feel like a good bath and book (an admittedly dangerous affair) is often a good time to reread a book, when you’re not really committed to finishing it from beginning to end.

One post that I came across mentioned that they reread books in different languages. Now that is a great idea I had not thought of when I made this prompt. That is certainly something I’d like to do, and a great reason to reread a book. It would be easier to try and see the differences across languages across translations, as opposed to reading a whole new book in a new language, which would be much more challenging. Definitely something I would like to try out this year!

What do you all think about rereading books? No time for it? Or something of a guilty pleasure? Let me know in the comments below!