I love getting media reccs from people who have shared favorites and have found some great stuff that way over the years.
My question for all of you: What are your favorite TP books, least favorite TP books, and then what are your favorites for other books, shows, movies, etc.?
I'll start!
Favorite TP books: The Immortals series. Emperor Mage is top for me.
Least favorite TP books: Mastiff (DNF), Trickster's Queen
Book reccs

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Fantasy, strange magic, and a girl who bristles at wearing fancy dresses. I read this twice in a year. Really adored this.
The Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik
So much fun. And so snarky. Novik looked at Hogwarts and went "Huh, that seems dangerous" and went all in. There's a line in her acknowledgments where she thanks her editors for when she told them she had an idea for a YA book, told her that no, she had a book for 30-year-old women, that was so on point I felt attacked.
Howls' Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones
Probably the most charming book I've ever read.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Truly unique fantasy. Cannot recommend this enough.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
This book (and series) is so sharp and unique and such a wild ride. I'm not even going to try and explain it, but I'm obsessed.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
Deeply obsessed with Ursula K Le Guin and this book is tops for me. It lives rent-free in my head. It's very slow, and very reflective and probably isn't for everyone but not a word is wasted.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
This hurt me and I'm not okay. 10/10.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Horror all mixed up with slice of life and humor. Grady Hendrix has several books with this unique mix, and I find them very enjoyable. My Best Friends Exorcism is another one I'd recommend if you're interested in horror.

Movie reccs

Not going to go into descriptions, but love the following:
Gladiator
Braveheart
The Mummy
Jurassic Park
The Lost World
Titanic
Price & Prejudice (2006)
Memoirs of a Geisha
What We Do in the Shadows
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Crazy Rich Asians
About Time
Annihilation
A Quiet Place
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
The Prince of Egypt

TV show reccs

Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel
Tops. Will never not love these.
Gilmore Girls
My go-to comfort show
The Empress
Excellent period piece
The Great
Sassy and ridiculous and the costumes.
Girls
I have a weird relationship with this. I hated it when I first saw it, but it grew on me and now I love it. It's definitely targeted to a very specific demographic/age range.
True Detective - Seasons 1 & 4 (Night Country)
If you like gritty detective shows, season 1 of True Detective can't be beat. I also heavily support the newest season and really enjoyed it.

Other stuff

[Webtoon] Lore Olympus
I do think the first couple seasons are better than the later ones, but I really enjoyed this. It's wrapping up now as a series, and I believe all episodes will be out for free by Fall.
[Comic] Saga
Explicit and intense and so, so good. Space-wester, family-based epic.
[Podcast] Old Gods of Appalachia
Creepy audio horror-stories set in Appalachia
[Video Game] Baldur's Gate 3
I don't want to talk about how much time I've sunk into this.
[Video Games] Final Fantasy X
Peak early 2000's high-fantasy RPG
[Video Game] Disco Elysium
Bizarre and unhinged.

Edit: Added quote blocks to make reccs easier to read.

Either nobody seemed to get it the first time around, or nobody cared. Given the most common complaint was about how I misquoted the show, I'll try one more time.
I realized some time ago that this quote from the fictional book "Devilwood" that Debra asked Raymond to read is actually a parody of a real book titled: "The Poisonwood Bible". The first line of which reads "Imagine a ruin so strange, it must never have happened."
Personally, I thought it was interesting to read the first paragraph of the real book that Devilwood was based on. And what put Raymond into a coma. (because I imagine the first paragraph of Devilwood would be very similar to this as well)
Apologies for posting this again if nobody else does.
The Poisonwod Bible begins like this:

Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened. First, picture the forest. I want you to be its conscience, the eyes in the trees. The trees are columns of slick, brindled bark like muscular animals overgrown beyond all reason. Every space is filled with life: delicate, poisonous frogs war-painted like skeletons, clutched in copulation, secreting their precious eggs onto dripping leaves. Vines strangling their own kin in the everlasting wrestle for sunlight. The breathing of monkeys. A glide of snake belly on branch. A single-file army of ants biting a mammoth tree into uniform grains and hauling it down to the dark for their ravenous queen. And, in reply, a choir of seedlings arching their necks out of rotted tree stumps, sucking life out of death. This forest eats itself and lives forever. (5)

I loved Frank Herberts clever writing, I wish I had been reading it because I wanted to highlight so many great quotes about society and government. I loved the strong female characters and how we saw the rise AND fall of characters.
Then I followed it up with Song of Achilles after hearing how popular it was and wow, amazing prose, I loved the slow burn of Patroclus and Achilles relationship set against the backdrop of war.
Other books I’ve loved have been Flowers for Algernon, Brave New World, The Bell Jar, Jitterbug Perfume, The Poisonwood Bible, Harry Potter (of course), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Le Petit Prince, Ecstasia/Primavera…Off the top of my head.
I like fantasy, thought provoking, mythology, romance, slow burns, massive world building….
I used to read a lot as a teen but before I started with Dune hadn’t read a book in about 5 years, I’ve been trying to get back into it. I basically have no time to sit and read so I’ve been using Audible. So any books that have great narrators I’d love to try!
Thanks!

It’s due at 7:30 am tomorrow so I have to do it all tonight, but the thing is I haven’t started and I just want to keep waiting so that I don’t have to put forth effort but I gotta wake up at 6:40 and the longer I wait the more I will suffer
It’s kinda easy too bc it’s only 1.5 pages & I just need to find like 2 quotes & can bs it but still
Anyway The Poisonwood Bible is a very interesting book
Edit: ok fine I’ll write it thanks y’all

This is the first year of my adult life in which I haven't been working crazy night shifts or studying full time. At the end of 2018, I decided to make time in the coming year to read 52 books of my own choosing, purely for pleasure. I've always loved reading, but as an adult I often forgot to prioritise reading for pleasure. Today, I realised I've actually read 62 books since the 1st of January. Here they are, with short reviews. (Also, I'm no expert at reviewing books, so if you have any tips for me they'd be much appreciated!)
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I woke at 5.30am to read in silence in an armchair in the corner of my lounge room, under blankets with the light on. I listened to audio books while I drove a long, straight highway between two towns in the middle of nowhere. I got home from work, kicked off my shoes, made a cup of tea and swung in my hammock, pausing between paragraphs to throw a ball for my doggo. It's been very relaxing and rewarding and I'm planning to do this again in 2020!
​
The problem is, I've been reading alone all year, and now I'm dying to talk about these fabulous stories! If you've read anything here and liked it, or disliked it, please share your thoughts- I'd love to know what and why.
​
I'm writing my must-read list for 2020 at the moment, so if anything you read here jumps out at you and you think of a recommendation, please throw it at me in the comments!

1. a closed and common orbit by becky chambers. I received the first of this trilogy for Christmas, 2019, and quickly fell through the final two books. They are quirky, space-soapy and read like a television series, each chapter an episode, characters developed neatly and one at a time. Think Firefly, but with overwhelming positivity and a deep faith in the humanity of our human future. 4/5
2. record of a spaceborn few by becky chambers. The final book in the (loosely connected) trilogy. Sex positive, human and non-human positive. Big thoughts about death and dying and conservation for a common future neatly packaged in small, entertaining chapters. 4/5
3. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. Somehow the complete opposite of those folks over at menwritingwomen. I love the way these witches choose to do the right thing, and often fail. Can’t go past a great Pratchett. This isn’t my favourite (my heart belongs to Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free), but it’s right up there. 4/5
4. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. I read this laying on my friends couch on the south coast of Australia, keeping half an eye on her toddler while she provided the other 1.5. It’s an easy read, weird, nice to wander in and out of. I enjoyed it, particularly the structure with changing points of view. I found the last perspective and the ending a little jarring, but still, strong commentary on death and fate. 3/5
5. The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper. Non-Fiction. This was a ripper of a read. It covers the absolutely devastating impacts of the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. The investigation into the cause of the fire, and the humane, empathic conclusions shared by Hooper juxtapose sharply with the irrevocable terror and damage caused by the arsonist’s actions. **5/5**
6. Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. Autobiography. This guy is nuts. He has a huge and unusual personality and a life story to match. I listened to the audio for this one and I would recommend that mode. A good story that left me scratching my head at several points at the sheer difference of this guy’s brain to my bookworm grey matter. 3/5
7. The Binding by Bridgette Collins. A fantastical investigation into love, taboo and power. I found this well-written and intriguing, but none of the characters particularly got under my skin. 3/5
8. The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood. I probably don’t need to rave about this here, or do I? Twelve women find themselves imprisoned on a remote farm in the Australian outback, corralled by the orders of men from their pasts who are fearful of their voices. The story unfurls into darkness, a warped mirror of the twisted corners of contemporary feminism and misogyny. In the era of #MeToo and new truth, this is a must read. Highly, highly recommend. 5/5
9. Lullaby by Leila Slimani. Original in French, English translation by Sam Taylor. I read this in one long sitting, starting early in the morning and finishing late at night. It is neat and haunting, a thriller that is too tightly woven to give you space to put it down. 4/5
10. Secret Letters From 0 to 10 by Susie Morgenstern. Original in French, translated by Gill Rosner. For me this was a re-read of a childhood favourite, which can sometimes disappoint. Not Morgenstern though. It’s full of an adult kind of whimsy which I missed as a kid. A sweet little junior romance story about families and love lost and found. 4/5
11. Problems With People by David Guterson. I read this due to a longstanding love of Snow Falling on Cedars. These short stories were enjoyable, and I read one per sitting, but I missed the pacing and suspense of his longer form work. 3/5
12. Mort by Terry Pratchett. A new favourite Pratchett. How could I not fall head over heels for Mort, a gangly red-head recruited by Death as his apprentice? I marvel at Pratchett’s light touch and the way entire lives are sold to us, fully wrapped and ready to be bought into, in a single scene. A scene in which a young boy comes bringing the end of life, for example. 5/5
13. Dingo: The Story of Our Mob by Sally Dingo. Written by Yamaji entertainer Ernie Dingo’s non-Indigenous (white Tasmanian) wife Sally, this book was both highly informative and entertaining read. Because Sally grew up an outsider to Yamaji culture, the way she describes customs and way of life made a lot of sense to me (another white Australian). I found this an incredible insight into one of the oldest continuing culture’s on Earth, and I appreciated the way cultural aspects were described in a way that I could understand. The stories here you won’t find in an encyclopaedia, textbook, history book or government publication. 5/5
14. Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko. Lucashenko has Bundjalung and European heritage and this book is written both English and Aboriginal English. It’s a rollicking family drama and romance, super readable and winner of the Miles Franklin 2019. The protagonist Kerry and the book itself have enormous personalities. I really enjoyed. 4/5
15. The Bridge by Enza Gandolfo. This one really stuck with me, lodged somewhere deep. Two parallel storylines run forty years apart and equally gripping. The first delves deep into the aftermath of the Melbourne West Gate Bridge collapse (killed thirty-five workers, helped to birth a strong union movement in Australia) and the second, the aftermath of a modern young woman’s poor decision making. I couldn’t put this book down. It’s rich in historical details, in the migrant culture of the Bridge workers and in the way this culture has shaped modern Australia. Based in truth, extremely powerful, highly recommend. 5/5
16. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. This wasn’t as polished or as complex as some of Kingsolver’s other work. I felt it was like a colouring in, partly completed, in comparison to the richness of character and setting in Poisonwood Bible and Pigs in Heaven. The book was clearly a personal response to modern issues, and the dialogue between an aging, working mother and her young and reckless daughter hit home in terms of generational gap and what it is that contemporary youth allow themselves to expect from later life. The dual narrative with 1860s Mary Treat is slightly less compelling, but the relinquishing of shelter in exchange for freedom is a neat and subtle echo between both storylines. 3/5
17. The Rapids by Sam Twyford Moore. An analysis of bipolar disorder, mostly written in a manic episode. This book and its writing style taught me a lot about the issue. Fascinating, but not a mainstream or straightforward read. Rambling and wild, referencing every man, woman, and their dogs. 3/5
18. The Editor by Steven Rowley. A rom-com but a novel. I read it in 1-2 sittings, as though as I were watching a movie, and it was okay. Kind of meta, but nothing special. 2/5
19. kaddish.com by Nathan Englander. Weird as heck, excellently well written. A son hires a stranger from the internet to say kaddish for his dead father… or does he? The decision comes back to haunt him. The downside for me was that I didn’t love any of the characters. 3/5
20. Other People’s Country by Maureen Helen. Non-fiction. In later life, Helen signs up to be a Remote Area Nurse for the Martu people of Jigalong. This book was published in 2008, and her experience was in 1990. I felt that she gave a strong depiction of culture shock and the life-changing nature of her experiences. In a few places I thought perhaps that Helen veered towards culturally inappropriate value judgements, but at the same time I could understand why- what a completely alien experience it was for her. Overall, a very informative and interesting, easy-to-read book. 4/5
21. Cleared Out by Sue Davenport, Peter Johnson and Yuwali. Patrol officers were instructed to ‘clear out’ the Western Desert in 1964 so that rockets fired from Woomera wouldn’t kill the traditional owners. For Yuwali and her family, this was their first, terrifying contact with Europeans. An incredible read. 5/5
22. Typhoon Kingdom by Matthew Hooton. Historical fiction. A dual narrative exploring the journal of a seventeenth century shipwrecked Dutch sailor and the experiences of Korean ‘Comfort Women’ during the Korean War. Well-written, very dark. I’m not sure why I didn’t love this book- I think my character investment was low. 2/5
23. Things in Jars by Jess Kidd. 1800s detective story story set in London. I loved the usual romance with a handsome boxing ghost. Weird and wonderful and very readable. 3/5
24. Dog Ear Cafe: How the Mt Theo Program Beat the Curse of Petrol Sniffing by Andrew Stojanovski. I wish everyone could read this book. A white guy heads up to Yuendumu and works with the community to put in place culturally appropriate intervention for the sniffing kids. Well-written, considerate and considered and very eye-opening. 5/5
25. Follow The Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington and Nugi Garimara. This is an adventure epic. I’d never read it before or seen the movie and holy heck. 2 little girls walk 1600 kilometres to get home to their family in Jigalong after being stolen and taken to Moore River. Incredible story. 4/5
26. Talking To My Country by Stan Grant. I’m not sure why I couldn’t get in to this one. Grant’s personal musings on race and culture in Australia. It just didn’t quite capture me as other books on this topic have. Perhaps too broad in scope rather than following individual stories and lives? 2/5
27. Love For Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection by Haemin Sunim. A bit self-helpy, a bit biography, very philosophical. My favourite quote of the year came out of this book, although it’s not my favourite genre. Big world, some weirdos. 3/5
28. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. A beaut novel set in the marshes of a town on the North Carolina coast, which I have never visited, but now feel that I have. Beautiful prose, lovely and realistic characters, and a satisfying ending. One of those books I felt sad to leave. 5/5
29. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. This was a re-read for me, of one of my all time favourites. Each time I revisit the story I realised how much I have changed. This time around I particularly appreciated the writing of character and setting, and the futile love of the mother in the story. Always, always 5/5
30. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Another re-read of a favourite. The construction of this book is what I love: the ‘abridgement’, the ‘film adaptation’, the whimsy of the narration in the main story. A joy every time. 5/5
31. City Without Stories by Jakob Boyd. The only cover-to-cover poetry I read this year. Boyd is a Perth boy born and raised, and I like the idea that ‘none of my favourite bands come here, but neither will the nukes’. Overall though, the ideas and language became repetitive. 2/5
32. In a Great Southern Land by Mary-Anne O’Connor. This historical (Australian colonial) fiction was an easy and enjoyable read, but the writing was nothing special and I found nothing particularly unique about the characters or landscape. 2/5
33. Do You Dream Of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh. Science fiction involving six intensely trained eighteen year olds sent to space. More of a fascinating psychological investigation than anything else. Unique ideas and characters and very, very compelling. I felt it was a little short- I was unsatisfied by the ending, not because it was jarring but because it felt premature. 4/5
34. The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo. I read this in one sitting at a library while waiting for my sister to do her shopping. Pretty average chick-lit. 2/5
35. Don’t Take Your Love To Town by Ruby May Ginibi. Ginibi was a Bundjalung woman who lived from 1934-2011 and had a singularly incredible life. Her writing is engaging and friendly- it’s as though you are sitting across from her, listening to her yarn. There are countless stories in here that were so unique and wonderful that I told them to all my friends and family- I can’t choose just one to write here. There were a few spots where I got lost and distracted in all the family members and found the story hard to follow, but that’s probably just my binge-reading style. 4/5
36. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. A beaut little sci-fi story with some unpredictable twists. It was absolutely brought to life for me on audio by Sophie Aldred, definitely the best narrator I’ve come across so far. 4/5 (3/5 without the fantastic narration)
37. Storm Front [Dresden Files] by Jim Butcher. I didn’t love this at all, and I think I only finished it because I had it on audio while I drove for 5 hours without stopping. menwritingwomen please. 1/5
38. The Art of Growing Up by John Marsden. Marsden is the author of the Tomorrow series, and has opening two schools in Victoria. I found this a very interesting and direct missive, although bordering on overly pessimistic or judgemental and a little narrow in scope (seemed to discuss a lot of middle to upper class issues). 3/5
39. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Thanks Harper Lee for all your research assistance. This true crime story was compelling and terrifying. 5/5
40. Stolen by Lucy Christopher. Popular YA novel about a girl abducted and kept in the Australian desert by some creepy hot guy. I found it pretty disturbing in terms of a book for teenagers, mainly due to the excuses made for old mate kidnapper. Well written though, and very readable. 2/5
41. Plainsong by Kent Haruf. This book was very peaceful, written consistently with lovely pacing and kind, understated characters. 4/5
42. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe. Pascoe has gathered the journals and writing of early Europeans who explored Australia, as well as archaeological and oral histories, to counter the myth of Aboriginal Australia as a society of transient hunter-gatherers. Another book I wish everyone could read. It’s really stuck with me, especially in the midst of the fires here at the moment. 5/5
43. Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link. These short stories were weird and wacky and definitely not predictable. Again though, I didn’t really connect with her characters. Maybe short story just isn’t my genre. 2/5
44. The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory by Corey White. White is a comedian who grew up in the foster care system in Australia. This book is dark and painful and very funny. It’s another one I can’t stop thinking about, and it’s really altered my understanding of the impacts of troubled childhoods. 5/5
45. Voices in the Night by Steven Milhauser. Another short story book that I didn’t love, despite the quality of writing. 2/5
46. The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger. Non-Fiction memoir by the current CEO of Disney… This was a very interesting read, but he was planning to run for US president and it felt a bit like a long advertisement for what a good person he was. He kept backing away from the juicy bits. 3/5 mainly for interesting content.
47. Dare To Lead by Brené Browne. I don’t know why I read this. I hate self-help and particularly ones with made up words in it and all the stories only about a self-help company and not even the real world. 2/5
48. The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein. An intense and gritty exploration of the life of Sandra Pankhurst, a trauma cleaner with a hectic story. Very readable, confronting and ultimately humanising. 4/5
49. Three Women by Sarah Taddeo. If you haven’t heard of this, you probably haven’t read down this far anyway! Wow. 5/5
50. State of the Union by Nick Hornby. Very short, comedic chapters centring around the meeting of a separated husband and wife in a bar before they go in to marriage counselling each week. A cute and enjoyable read. 3/5
51. Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford. This is written by one of the Mitford sisters. I didn’t know who they were, and the completely true story is utterly wild, involving Hitler, sisters who become fascists and communists, and a random stint of bartending in the US. A great read! 4/5
52. The Dry by Jane Harper. A tightly wound murder mystery taking place in a very Australian setting. I read it in one sitting, although this isn’t my usual genre. 4/5
53. The Secret Commonwealth by Phillip Pullman. I love how Pullman doesn’t celebrate innocence, but ageing and the damage and wisdom that come from trauma. Adult Lyra is more loveable than the little girl from His Dark Materials, and much, much more broken. 4/5
54. The Lost Man by Jane Harper. Another great Australian mystery. 4/5
55. Force of Nature by Jane Harper. A group of women go hiking in the Australian bush. One doesn’t return. A gripping story with a realistic setting. Again, not my favourite genre. 4/5
56. Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly by Jim DeRogatis. I had somehow missed 99% of the R. Kelly saga, which made this in depth look triply shocking. Disgusting man and story, fantastic journalism. 4/5
57. An Awesome Ride by by Graeme Leslie Brosnan and Shaun Wilson-Miller. This book sucked because the personable, friendly and charming author dies, and then his Dad carries on the story through his heartbreak. Definitely worth a read, Shaun seems like he was one hell of a person. 3/5
58. One Life by Kate Grenville. This is not the most well-known or lauded of Grenville’s work, but it his close to home for me. It’s the story of Grenville’s mother, growing up in a family with little love, surviving the great depression, marrying and navigating motherhood and work. The distance in time shrinks with the accessibility of Grenville’s writing. I could easily identify with Grenville’s mother throughout the book. 5/5
59. Wednesdays With Bob by Bob Hawke and Derek Rielly. Written from conversations with Bob, his friends and adversaries, it was nice to get this insight into the man in the year of his passing. A giant of Australian politics, he shaped our nation despite his personal flaws. Google Bob Hawke Canoe Joke if you’re in need of a chuckle. 4/5
60. Educated by Tara Westover. This is an amazing memoir, written in exact and painful prose. Westover’s story is heartbreaking- I won’t give anything away because the book unfolded itself in my hands and mind in an unforgettable way. I cringed and laughed reading this book, and sometimes had to close my eyes. 5/5
61. Life Lessons From A Brain Surgeon by Rahul Jandial. Non-fiction. I liked the way Jandial juxtaposed his clinical experiences with some practical lessons and myth busting about the brain. A little too pop-science-y for me overall, but there were still some very interesting ideas in here. 3/5
62. The Glad Shout by Alice Robinson. Post-climate disaster Melbourne, a mother fights to protect her own life and that of her daughter. Painfully close to home with the fires in Australia at the moment. Unsettling and scary and difficult to forget. 5/5

So I finished reading the Poisonwood Bible (great book btw, although it’s not very “fun” to read) and I finished the last chapter where the character Adah talked about her worldview and I couldn’t help but realize that it’s fairly similar to Nurgle worship. Here are some quotes I found.
“My work is to discover the life histories of viruses, and I seem to be very good at it. I don’t think of the viruses as my work, actually. I think of them as my relations. I don’t have cats or children, I have viruses. I visit them daily in their spacious glass dishes, and like any good mother I cajole, I celebrate when they reproduce, and I take special note when they behave oddly. I think about them when I am not with them. I have made important discoveries about the AIDS and Ebola viruses. As a consequence, I must sometimes appear at public functions where I am lauded as a saviour of the public health. This startles me. I am nothing of the kind. Certainly I’m no mad exterminator bent on killing devil microbes; on the contrary, I admire them. That is the secret of my success.”
“Believing in all things equally. Believing fundamentally in the right of a plant or a virus to rule the earth. Mother says I have no heart for my own kind. She doesn’t know. I have too much. I know what we have done, and what we deserve.”
“As a teenager reading African parasitology books in the medical library, I was boggled by the array of creatures equipped to take root upon a human body. I’m boggled still, but with a finer appreciation for the partnership. Back then I was still a bit appalled that God would set down his barefoot boy and girl dollies into an Eden where, presumably, He had just turned loose elephantiasis and microbes that eat the human cornea. Now I understand, God is not just rooting for the dollies. We and our vermin all blossomed together out of the same humid soil in the Great Rift Valley, and so far no one is really winning. Five million years is a long partnership. If you could for a moment rise up out of your own beloved skin and appraise ant, human, and virus as equally resourceful beings, you might admire the accord they have all struck in Africa.”
“Back in your skin, of course, you’ll shriek for a cure. But remember: air travel, roads, cities, prostitution, the congregation of people for efficient commerce—these are gifts of godspeed to the virus. Gifts of the foreign magi, brought from afar. In the service of saving Africa’s babies and extracting its mineral soul, the West has built a path to its own door and thrown it wide for the plague.”
All quote taken from the Poisonwood Bible by Barbra Kingsolver. Chapter: the Song of Three Children.

Hi, I'm reading Poisonwood Bible for my literature class and I have to analyze the diction used in this specific quote, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to do it.
Quote: "The boys said, “Patrice Lumumba!” I told Leah that means the new soul of Africa, and he’s gone to jail and Jesus is real mad about it. I told her all that! I was the youngest one but I knew it. I lay so still against the tree branch I was just the same everything as the tree. I was like a green mamba snake. Poison. I could be right next to you and you wouldn’t ever know it."

I've been re-reading it and I've noticed some things said connect with the Price family overall the Congo, if that makes sense.
"When it seemed there was no more air, no more hope, the animals began to run out through the fire into the open, where spears and arrows waited. The antelopes did not leap gracefully as I imagined they would; they wheeled like spooked horses around the inside of the circle, then suddenly veered out as if by accident or blindness"
Do you think this connect with the people in the Congo, or the Price family?

While enjoying Barbara Kingsolver's book The Poisonwood Bible (first published in 1998, set in 1959), I came across this quote: "she used a flat rock and the force of her will to smash groundnuts into passable peanut butter...all she wished for in the world was "Jiffy, smooth. Not crunchy"" (page 94, Kingsolver, Harperperennial, 2002).
http://www.novelyes.com/poisonwood-bible-barbara-kingsolver?page=0%25252C171,39

I'm reading "The Poisonwood Bible" for a summer assignment in school and found some wicked theories, ideas, and "threads" that happened from the book. "Threads" are basically reoccurring events, themes, or symbols that happen throughout the book with underlying significance.
For example:Did anyone else here see connections to the Bible, specifically the Old Testament? I think that the name "Poisonwood Bible" may be taken literally. As I see it, Congo represents the land of Canaan. The Americans are the Chosen People. Just as the Israelites were provided for in the desert for forty years without having to work, so the Americans are provided for excessively. Just as the Israelites conquered Canaan, renamed it, killed many of the people, and forced their religion and leadership upon it, so the Americans did to Congo. With an ironic twist, Kingsolver presents the Chosen People as the bad guys, directly contradicting the Bible. On a smaller scale, the village in which the Prices resided for some time can represent Egypt. Geographically, both this village and Egypt are in Africa. Also, the girls are held there unwillingly by an evil master for whom they must work, like the Israelite slaves for Pharaoh. Just like babies were killed in Egypt, so the youngest, Ruth May, was killed here. Finally, later in the novel, when the girls and their mother ask a local market woman about the town (which she should know about as she lives right next to it), she reports that she has never heard of it. Inexplicably, the town has been destroyed beyond remembrance - just as the Egyptian civilization was completely destroyed after the Israelites left it.
I'd love to hear what anyone else has found in "The Poisonwood Bible" just please remember to write down any quotes for reference and provide a little bit of context. :)

This is a great quote I read from the book The Poisonwood Bible, said by Anatole in the chapter called "The Judges"

MeetLGBT Featured Member: June 22, 2011

septimus_smith

Stats

• Age: Twenty-four years old.
• Gender: Male.
• Location: Currently, I’m living in Eastern Europe. I’m originally from California. I don’t know if I’ll return.
• Pictures: Hi.

Life

• Job: Currently, I’m a Peace Corps volunteer. Previously, I was a teacher. I did my undergraduate work in history and English and I have a Masters in Education. I don’t know what I’ll do after this. I eventually want to get a doctorate in history.
• Hobbies: I enjoy reading and writing prose and poetry. You can hear one of my poems here. I want to train for the marathon in Istanbul next year, so hopefully running will become a hobby. I study French and German in my free time. I like cooking, taking pictures, making websites, watching cartoons, and drawing.
• Interests: I’m interested in Modernist and Postmodernist literature, mythology, continental philosophy, linguistics, archival studies, web development, social theory, the philosophy of language and the mind, the history of literature, and Nineteenth and Twentieth Century European Intellectual History.
• Pets: I don’t generally like pets, so no.
• Political views: I’m a liberal on social issues and socialist on economic issues. Being outside the United States has made me somewhat more apathetic though.
• Religious views: I’m comfortable calling myself an existentialist. I don’t believe in any inherent meaning, and accept that my life is objectively absurd. I’m not religious, but I’m not strictly a materialist either, so I’m not really comfortable identifying with most atheists.

What makes you ____ :

Cartoons make me laugh. Bizarre people make me laugh. Seeing new places and learning new things makes me happy. Having friends makes me happy. Reading a good novel makes me happy. The rain makes me happy. Knowing that no one will ever really understand me makes me sad. Feeling left out makes me sad. Hateful and ignorant people make me sad. Selfish people make me angry. Emotional people irritate me. People who speak indirectly irritate me.

Favorite Things

• Movies: Lost in Translation, Diary of a Country Priest, Hayao Miyazaki films, Inception, Vertigo, Three Colors: Red, Ingmar Bergman films, Amélie, Stanley Kubrick films, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The NeverEnding Story, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Psycho, 28 Days Later, Misery, My Own Private Idaho, Shortbus, Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Children of Men, Coraline, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Garden State, I Heart Huckabees, The Pink Panther movies, Juno, Napoleon Dynamite, Wes Anderson films, Election, The Breakfast Club, Les Diaboliques, Finding Nemo, Bend It Like Beckham, Outrageous!, Little Miss Sunshine, Silence Of The Lambs, Fried Green Tomatoes, Shelter, The Matrix, Different for Girls, Edward Scissorhands, The Birdcage, Muriel's Wedding, WALL•E, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, A.I., Breakfast on Pluto, Man on Wire, Paris Is Burning
  
• Music: Elliott Smith, Rufus Wainwright, Nirvana, Adele, The Beetles, Weezer, The Strokes, Smashing Pumpkins, Sheryl Crow, Lady Gaga, Scissor Sisters, Queen, Modest Mouse, Feist, Fleetwook Mac, many artists in the alternative rock spectrum
  
• TV shows: Rocko's Modern Life, Samurai Jack, Invader Zim, Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, Inyuyasha, The Simpsons, Trigun, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Malcolm in the Middle, Cowboy Bebop, Daria, The Boondocks, FLCL, The Powerpuff Girls, Futurama, Hellsing, most anime
  
• Books: Anything by Virgina Woolf or Kurt Vonnegut, Through the Looking-Glass, Crime and Punishment, Peter Pan, The Count of Monte Cristo, Treasure Island, The Grapes of Wrath, The Razor's Edge, The Great Gatsby, Life of Pi, The Poisonwood Bible, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Beloved, The Giver, Tuck Everlasting, A Handful of Dust, Jurassic Park, The Return of the King, A Wrinkle in Time, The Sound and the Fury, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Hero and the Crown, The High King, The Once and Future King, The Time Machine, Animal Farm, Stuart Little, James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, A Wizard of Earthsea, Parzival, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Good Earth, Rain of Gold, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Ulysses, The Minister's Wooing, Frankenstein, Gravity's Rainbow, The Color Purple, The Unicorn, St Mawr, Up the Down Staircase
  
• Food: Thai food, Mexican food, Italian food, vegetarian food
  
• Quotes:
  -“Americans...are forever searching for love in forms it never takes, in places it can never be. It must have something to do with the vanished frontier.” (Kurt Vonnegut, “Cat's Cradle”)
  -“How everything turns away / quite leisurely from the disaster; the plowman may / Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, / But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone / As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green / Water.” (W. H. Auden, “Museé des Beaux Arts”)
  -“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (The Preacher, “Ecclesiastes”)
  -“The fate of this man or that man was less than a drop, although it was a sparkling one, in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea.” (T.H. White, “The Once and Future King”)
  

Sexuality

• Orientation: Gay.
  
• Coming out: Coming out was a long process. My family didn’t take it particularly well and mostly copes with denial. My friends are supportive.
  
• Relationship status/background: Currently I’m single. I’ve had a few short-term relationships in the past. Lately I’ve begin doubting the feasibility of a future long-term relationship.
  

Misc.

• About Me: My favorite colour is grey. I'm introverted, observant, judgmental, and quiet. I like theories, rain, oranges, frozen yogurt, open spaces, games, and the cold. I'm a vegetarian. I don't like large groups of people. I wonder about abstract concepts and over-think things. I have no sense of direction and get lost easily. I don’t like competition or arguments. I like wandering aimlessly.
  
• Nice to Meet You: I like writing letters and meeting new people, so feel free to strike-up a conversation. You get bonus points if you know where I got my username.
  

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_Kita_

STATS:

Male or female?

Female

Age?

30

Relationship Status?

Seeing someone, and he's a redditor!

FAVORITES:

Cats or Dogs?

Cats, but I haven't had one in several years.
I do love dogs though, I’m a fan of the low-maintenance kind.

Favorite beverage?

Like every good Southerner, sweet tea.
Favorite alcoholic drink: Amaretto sour.

Food?

I'm a total foodie, so really, it's hard for me to chose a favorite. I love Italian and French food. I'm getting to know Spanish. I like Mexican, Chinese, and I'm learning to like Thai. I am open to trying new things and have tried some fairly odd foods - rattlesnake,squirrel, alligator, and the like. On the food thing - I consider myself a bit of a foodie, I'm secretly in love with Anthony Bourdain, Alton Brown, and Nigella Lawson. My idea of heaven is sort of like Dean and Deluca.

Favorite movie and tv shows?:

Movies: Where to start...All the movies everyone my age is legally required to like. Fight Club, American Beauty. I love Amélie, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Tim Burton movies, but I really hate romantic comedy. It lacks a necessary authenticity. I also like movies that are somewhat intense - The Piano, Smilla's Sense of Snow, Raise the Red Lantern, etc. I also like irreverent humor a bit, as in Eddie Izzard and the like. Oooh, I also love The Royal Tenenbaums, but not so much the other Wes Anderson movies. Up in the Air was really touching.
Television-wise, I like Dexter, Rome, House, and I just discovered Big Bang Theory.

Music?:

I used to write a music column in college because I love music but can't make it. I like all sorts of very diffemusic. However, I'm a complete philistine, haven't had much music education and wish I could appreciate "real" music more. Public radio makes me feel guilty sometimes because I don’t “get” enough classical music. I do love NPR too, and I must confess that if the world were a slightly different place, I'd be stalking Ira Glass because This American Life is damn sexy. More specifically (and back on topic) I've been listening to a lot of Antony and the Johnsons and Sia not long ago.

Book?

Oh dear. This could be a real problem. I just read Apathy and Other Small Victories by Paul Neilan and it was pretty great. I love The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, anything by Jon Krakauer, almost anything by T C Boyle, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Anything and everything by Oliver Sacks, Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrestein, The Once and Future King by T H White, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, almost everything by Chuck Palahniuk, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, anything by Jeffery Eugenides, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (ok anything by Vonnegut, really), The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, The Lovely Bones and Lucky by Alice Sebold, The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, most recently House of Leaves.

Game?

I just played about fifty games of Catan over Thanksgiving vacation.

What is your favorite word or quote or expression?

“In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed most of their vices are attempted short cuts to love. When a man comes to die, no matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror.” - John Steinbeck, East of Eden

MISCELLANEA:

What makes you laugh?

Shameless flirting, rapier-like wit.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

Evo psych nonsense used to justify bad behavior.

What general area of your country you live in?

Southwestern Virginia

Do you love it?

In some ways, yes. The Smokey Mountains can be breathtakingly gorgeous, but being so far away from my friends is rough sometimes. I moved here from Atlanta about a year and a half ago and my awesome brother DaTaco is my roommate.

What was the best thing about the last 12 months?

I had a really terrible kidney infection last year and was hospitalized for a week. So I'm going to say my favorite part of the last year was not dying. The rally in DC was fantastic. Joining reddit has been pretty kickass, and it’s lead to meeting some awesome friends on the 2X irc channel. They’re great and seals in particular has been a lifesaver.

What are you looking forward to in the next 12 months?

Also not dying, if at all possible.

A butterfly flaps its wings... what small thing have you done or said that lead to something disproportionately larger?

I'm not sure. I've helped a few of my friends get into therapy this year, which I think might be leading them somewhere good, eventually. But, the most obvious thing I've done is raise about two million dollars for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

CONCERNING REDDIT:

What is the origin or meaning of your user name?

It’s an acronym for my email address –KindnessIsTheAnswer.

What is your favorite part of reddit?

I’m the founder and a mod at BodyAcceptance, feminisms, 2X, and a friend just started CraftsGoneWild (NSFW)

Do you think reddit has changed in the last year or so?

I’ve been a redditor for about 11 months and honestly I think the misogyny seems to cycle up and down, but lately the hateful language seems to be getting worse. It’s difficult to take part in a discussion that’s so hostile to women, or really to be anyone who might not fit the dominant hivemind mindset. And it does matter.
Many of the women I know on here lurk or have unsubscribed to many of the largest reddits for this reason. That’s not to dismiss the good things reddit is capable of.

If so, do you think it’s been for the better?

The misogyny isn’t alright, and if it’s growing, then no, it’s not for the better.

FINAL QUESTION:

Is there anything you'd like to plug/promote/advocate?

Therapy If you think you need it, seek it out. If you can’t afford it, try to find a way. There are resources out there for you. OkCupid I’ve introduced the site to several of my close friends and seen three marriages and two long-term relationships result.

• (If you'd like to nominate someone for 'Redditor of the Day,' please message us!)