Treasure At The Heart Of The Tanglewood

Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood

I loved this one, and it was interesting because it's not by an author I know. But i found it so fascinating.

Spoilers I guess?

The protagonist starts off as this mysterious girl living alone in the tanglewood, a mysterious forest. She eventually leaves the tanglewood and goes on an adventure. She has vines and leaves in her hair, and it later turns out she is the tanglewood. Her journey affects the seasons of the lands she visits. As she travels, the plants in her hair change. I don't remember a lot of it (obviously) but this is probably one of the first books I read where a character was also a place/thing

Book shelf clean out: young wizards

I loved this series! I don't know where my copy of the 1st book went but the others are on their way to the library bookstore, and I hope they find a new home there

It was hard to say bye to these books (but I plan to get the new millennium editions in ebook soon... and i need the space). I read them when I was in high school and college.

They're really excellent, set in Our World (not fantasy whatever land). They remind me in some ways of Terry Pratchett's work--not the setting or voice, but in the underlying ethos of the work. Although the characters go through difficult things (big warning for A Wizard's Dilemma), the world overall feels... kind?

More things to love about this series

Hispanic & queer representation, if you pay attention. In other, more recently-written series, these aspects of the characters might have been played up. In this series, those aspects are still present but more subtly. I actually like this because it's more fitting with my experience of the world. It also serves the story itself better and allows the characters' choices and actions to be the focus of the story.

Even in the case of the antagonists, the characters are... They extend civility and understanding to the antagonists, but they don't veer into "all-forgiving hero" territory. The story doesn't get into really black-and-white good-and-evil morality, but it isn't that tiresome "everyone sucks enjoy your undifferentiated grey." The heroes are heroic because of how they choose to treat others.

I love it when stories say "the way you treat others does matter." Kindness is repaid with kindness.

The styles of magic are cool too! I think many people have read "this character has a connection with plants and growing things" magic before. One of the other characters has a connection with mechanical and technical things! There's a scene in one of the books where he communes with, I think it's an airplane? And he can feel its eagerness to be flying, its fierce joy in speed and movement. I think that's lovely.

There are some good jokes in there, like the pig!

If you love space and astronomy, you'll probably like this series :) Especially the later books.

If you like alien cultures (and more traditional fantasy other-cultures) you'll probably like this seriies

Overall I just really enjoy these books and recommend them okay byeeee

Book shelf clean out: Bruce Coville

I loved these two series.

The Magic Shop books were fantasy about kids getting magical creatures they had to care for. It was my introduction to "little magical shop that wasnt there yesterday." I so badly wanted to be Jeremy and have my own dragon ^_^ there was another in this series too but I must have just borrowed it from the library.

The Aliens Ate My Homework series was sci fi. It was about a kid who gets pulled into adventures with some nonhuman aliens. Among other concepts, it talked a out how the worst thing you could be was cruel. It talked about the importance of finding a code of conduct that worked for you. It had cool aliens with cool alien jobs, including a Mr Snout who could mentally bond with people. There were relationships I didnt really understand (not in a sexual way just like they were aliens!). There was a guy who has modules that his friends click into and iut of his brain to give him different uhhh behavior patterns. There is a funny height joke. There was a talking plant who went by Phil O Dendron. The family characters (mom and siblings) come back during the series and clearly have been doing some character growth offscreen.

Pure Dead...

This series was so fun and so weird. Kind of Addams Family. Very weird. There is this sort of kitchen sink magic going on in the setting.

The mom is an aspiring witch (she isnt very good). Brother is a coder/hacker (not really also these books are like from the 90s). Sister actually does do some magic. Their nanny is secretly incredibly competent & also is great at magic (secretly). So is the baby. Also they have a pet dragon who is a moody teen. Also at one point in the series the Italian mafia shows up??? And there are clones but they're tiny. Also a spider who wears bright pink lipstick. Also this series taught me the symptoms of rabies?? Also also also... this is just such a weird series and I love it a lot. I think the actual The Devil shows up at one point.

Drop in recommendation

I read the Heart Test by Helen Hoang tonight and it was really good.

Emotionally harrowing in some parts*, but I found the HFN/HEA conclusion extremely satisfying. I cried and cheered and urgently wished for a specific character to be launched into the sun

More detailed thoughts to come but! Another recommendation

Spoilers below for what made it harrowing (not detailed, just like in the form of content warnings)

Parental death. Ableism. Suicidal ideation. Austistic burnout following masking. Cancer (character had testicular cancer innpast year)

Oh and there are sex scenes! Those aren't harrowing but JSYK. They're nice sex scenes though.

Book shelf clean out: The adventures of Charley Tooth

This one was weird and I liked it. The protagonist Charley accidentally ends up on an interstellar adventure(?) What I remember most is that the scifi alien setting really did feel interestingly alien. I don't remember much about the plot or the characters, but I remember it wasnt much like anything else I had already read. Lovely book.