In which you stumble upon a selection of curator's favorites, labeled that way for one reason or another. ✩₊˚.⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
The Last Unicorn
(by Peter S. Beagle)
My very favorite book of all time, so much so that I made a dedicated shrine for it. With prose so beautiful that it aches, Beagle draws you into his world in the first paragraph alone. His characters leave a mark on your heart. Every single one of them is so sympathetic, with lots of care especially towards Molly Grue. The Last Unicorn embodies momento mori: Yes you will die, yes there is love, and yes, this is what it means to be human.
Quotes
“Whatever can die is beautiful — more beautiful than a unicorn, who lives forever, and who is the most beautiful creature in the world. Do you understand me?”
Highlights
How tightly the themes are interwoven in every element of the novel
Spectacular, sympathetic characterzation
The moon-misted, melancholic atmosphere
Everything
Their Eyes Were Watching God
(by Zora Neale Hurston)
Each page unfurls like a flower, thanks to the poetic prose. Just stunningly written, I can't get over it. Hurston writes with such a sense of clarity--easily one of the most well-done examples of narrative voice. And Janie!! Everything about Janie!! She's one of my favorite characters ever. No matter the challenges she face, she continues to strive to create the best life possible for herself. It's a beautiful thing to watch someone turn tragedy into an opportunity for self-actualization. There's so many layers within the text, angles to analyze from. Amazing amount of staying power.
Quotes
"She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see."
Anne of Green Gables
(by L.M. Montgomery)
Everyone has a book from their childhoods that changed my brain chemistry and this one is mine. When I first read Anne of Green Gables, I was at the perfect age for it: 11. Anne Shirley is a character that has stayed with me forever. The influence this book has had on my tastes, aesthetic sensibilities, value system, and outlook on life cannot be understated.
Quotes
"Isn't it splended to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world."
Demon Copperhead
Another brain chemistry altering book, this time with the craft of writing itself. The confidence and ease of Kingsolver's prose is incredible. She understands the power of perspective and POV deeply, how that can elevate your narrative. Also unlocked the distinct hell of having an OTP from a normie book, oops.
Quotes
"A good story doesn’t just copy life, it pushes back on it."
The Bloody Chamber
THEE Dark Fairytale(tm) Bible. Angela Carter digs into the psychological underbelly of these stories and retells them in a way that bring these themes into the forefront. Horror and blood in spades here. Carter's stories are super subversive and sensual, but never in a way that feels gratuitous.
Quotes
“Like the wild beasts, she lives without a future. She inhabits only the present tense, a fugue of the continuous, a world of sensual immediacy as without hope as it is without despair.”
Man's Search for Meaning
Life-altering. The first half is Frankl's autobiography about how he survived a Nazi concentration camp, and the other half is about his psychoptherapy practice called logotherapy and how experiences intersect with this. Incredibly affirming from start to finish.
Quotes
“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”
