“Most centuries-old ‘classics’ we read today carry some lasting beauty; a deep human truth that transpires age. And many of them are painfully dry—you only read them because you want to be able to say, ‘I felt Hugo expressed more pathos for the French underclasses in Les Miserables than in The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ at parties. (And you will remember to pronounce ‘Dame’ as ‘Dahm.’)But don’t forget, people who lived 100 years ago wanted entertaining tales, too. Mysteries, thrillers, romances, and fantasy abounded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We’ve just forgotten about them because not enough English professors write dissertations about the crime-fighting ladies of the Edwardian Age.”Beach reads done been a thing! “When you think of gothic storytelling, you might immediately think of yellowed pages and archaic esoteric language. Fear and threat wrapped up in patriarchy and pallid characters. Though the tradition of gothic horror and fantasy is a long one, there is a spate of wonderful new writers creating brilliant gothic novels with a twist…”Twisty gothic lit from diverse perspectives is my catnip. “How to Take Awesome Photos of Cats is a fun and instructional guide filled with photography concepts as they specifically pertain to capturing cats. Inside its pages you’ll find Andrew’s incredible photos, as well as visual examples of how to fix common photography errors and take photos that require little editing. And even though Andrew and his fianceé, Hannah Shaw — better-known as The Kitten Lady — run a kitten foster rescue that gives him access to tons of new cats all the time, you can practice all of these skills at home with your own furballs.” I went looking for levity and meow, did I find it.
