Mely
@coffeeandink.bsky.social
I uploaded a user icon so I guess I live here now. She/her.
#bookLoot
Me @ much greater length: https://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/
#bookLoot
Me @ much greater length: https://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/
Reposted by Mely
If you like Adrian Tchaikovsky, you might like Cherryh, too.
My gateway to a lifelong love of C.J. Cherryh was a used copy of The Pride of Chanur, now $1!!!
Alien POV, first contact, learning to communicate, alien culture, alien politics. A great place to start with this star of the field. #speculativefiction #sf #spaceopera
www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...
Alien POV, first contact, learning to communicate, alien culture, alien politics. A great place to start with this star of the field. #speculativefiction #sf #spaceopera
www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...
The Pride of Chanur ebook by C. J. Cherryh - Rakuten Kobo
Read "The Pride of Chanur" by C. J. Cherryh available from Rakuten Kobo. The first in a series of “lively tales of swashbuckling capitalism in space,” featuring a fascinating alien culture base...
www.kobo.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM
If you like Adrian Tchaikovsky, you might like Cherryh, too.
ME: Why is it so cold, is the heat not working?
MY PHONE: It is 7 degrees out.
MY PHONE: It is 7 degrees out.
February 8, 2026 at 12:25 PM
ME: Why is it so cold, is the heat not working?
MY PHONE: It is 7 degrees out.
MY PHONE: It is 7 degrees out.
Surprisingly sturdy cup. I may keep it as a souveneir.
Seeing Ragtime at the Beaumont Theater.
Seeing Ragtime at the Beaumont Theater.
February 5, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Surprisingly sturdy cup. I may keep it as a souveneir.
Seeing Ragtime at the Beaumont Theater.
Seeing Ragtime at the Beaumont Theater.
5 classes you took in university
1. Major English Poets
2. English Drama before Shakespeare
3. Female Transgression in American Culture
4. Basic Decadence in Translation
5. Introduction to Archaeology/Anthropology
1. Major English Poets
2. English Drama before Shakespeare
3. Female Transgression in American Culture
4. Basic Decadence in Translation
5. Introduction to Archaeology/Anthropology
5 classes you took in university
1. Costume Design for the Stage
2. Yeats and Auden
3. Numeric Analysis (blech)
4. Tudor and Stuart England (entirely sexism and Civil War battle diagrams; afterward we danced around a fire and burned our notes I am not kidding)
5. Self-created poetry seminar
1. Costume Design for the Stage
2. Yeats and Auden
3. Numeric Analysis (blech)
4. Tudor and Stuart England (entirely sexism and Civil War battle diagrams; afterward we danced around a fire and burned our notes I am not kidding)
5. Self-created poetry seminar
5 classes you took in university
1. Introduction to Byzantine History
2. Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Cultural History
3. The Reformation in Mecklenburg
4. German literature of the Crusades
5. NT Greek
1. Introduction to Byzantine History
2. Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Cultural History
3. The Reformation in Mecklenburg
4. German literature of the Crusades
5. NT Greek
February 1, 2026 at 4:22 PM
5 classes you took in university
1. Major English Poets
2. English Drama before Shakespeare
3. Female Transgression in American Culture
4. Basic Decadence in Translation
5. Introduction to Archaeology/Anthropology
1. Major English Poets
2. English Drama before Shakespeare
3. Female Transgression in American Culture
4. Basic Decadence in Translation
5. Introduction to Archaeology/Anthropology
Got my sister Rocky Horror tickets for her birthday & am very excited. That cast is stacked.
www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/...
www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/...
Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Sam Pinkleton (Oh, Mary!) directs the Broadway revival of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show.
www.roundabouttheatre.org
February 1, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Got my sister Rocky Horror tickets for her birthday & am very excited. That cast is stacked.
www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/...
www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/...
book checkpoint
last: a memory called empire, arkady martine
current: a desolation called peace, arkady martine
next: hexwood, diana wynne jones (reread)
last added tbr: mayi pelot, memories of tomorrow; sofia rhei, everything is made of letters; alice bell, the grapples of wrath (nye spree)
last: a memory called empire, arkady martine
current: a desolation called peace, arkady martine
next: hexwood, diana wynne jones (reread)
last added tbr: mayi pelot, memories of tomorrow; sofia rhei, everything is made of letters; alice bell, the grapples of wrath (nye spree)
book checkpoint
last: to say nothing of the dog, connie willis
current: lieutenant hornblower, cs forester
next: possibly a re-read of scum villain? maybe the view from saturday by el konigsburg? not sure!
last added tbr: the coconut children, vivian pham
last: to say nothing of the dog, connie willis
current: lieutenant hornblower, cs forester
next: possibly a re-read of scum villain? maybe the view from saturday by el konigsburg? not sure!
last added tbr: the coconut children, vivian pham
Book Checkpoint:
Last: Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura (it's so! good!)
Next: A Court of Mist and Fury (idk guys, I'm trying to see what the hype is)
Last added to to read: A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Last: Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura (it's so! good!)
Next: A Court of Mist and Fury (idk guys, I'm trying to see what the hype is)
Last added to to read: A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
January 31, 2026 at 2:55 PM
book checkpoint
last: a memory called empire, arkady martine
current: a desolation called peace, arkady martine
next: hexwood, diana wynne jones (reread)
last added tbr: mayi pelot, memories of tomorrow; sofia rhei, everything is made of letters; alice bell, the grapples of wrath (nye spree)
last: a memory called empire, arkady martine
current: a desolation called peace, arkady martine
next: hexwood, diana wynne jones (reread)
last added tbr: mayi pelot, memories of tomorrow; sofia rhei, everything is made of letters; alice bell, the grapples of wrath (nye spree)
Bridgerton: Penelope & Eloise continue to spark so much more than Penelope & Colin.
S4 continues the S3 trend of the female lead having vastly more personality & drive than the male, but Benedict does at least have a personality & Luke Thompson is much more charismatic than Luke Newton.
S4 continues the S3 trend of the female lead having vastly more personality & drive than the male, but Benedict does at least have a personality & Luke Thompson is much more charismatic than Luke Newton.
January 30, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Bridgerton: Penelope & Eloise continue to spark so much more than Penelope & Colin.
S4 continues the S3 trend of the female lead having vastly more personality & drive than the male, but Benedict does at least have a personality & Luke Thompson is much more charismatic than Luke Newton.
S4 continues the S3 trend of the female lead having vastly more personality & drive than the male, but Benedict does at least have a personality & Luke Thompson is much more charismatic than Luke Newton.
Not sure what to make of the queer (sub?)text in Wonder Man; maybe Simon would have come out if there'd been an S2? Maybe it's just underlining the slipperiness/unease both Simon & Trevor feel in their own lives?
January 29, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Not sure what to make of the queer (sub?)text in Wonder Man; maybe Simon would have come out if there'd been an S2? Maybe it's just underlining the slipperiness/unease both Simon & Trevor feel in their own lives?
"No application of armed violence can make the men with guns as heroic as the people who choose to stand in their path with empty hands in defense of their neighbors."
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
January 27, 2026 at 1:48 PM
"No application of armed violence can make the men with guns as heroic as the people who choose to stand in their path with empty hands in defense of their neighbors."
Reposted by Mely
"Americans, know that all Europeans hate you" is probably not the most useful way to approach the current situation. But as someone who has spent the last 2+ years scrolling past the opinion that my murder would be an act of decolonization, I feel like you guys could stand to practice some stoicism.
January 21, 2026 at 2:23 PM
"Americans, know that all Europeans hate you" is probably not the most useful way to approach the current situation. But as someone who has spent the last 2+ years scrolling past the opinion that my murder would be an act of decolonization, I feel like you guys could stand to practice some stoicism.
Reposted by Mely
Our first Recovered Book from @bhousepress.bsky.social to be mentioned in Kirkus Reviews gets a starred review! Vengeance is Mine by Friedrich Torberg was written in exile in 1943. One of the earliest examples of Holocaust fiction, it's never before been translated.
VENGEANCE IS MINE | Kirkus Reviews
This 1943 novella by the Austrian Jewish writer Torberg—published before the horrors of the Nazi death camps were widely known—describes a brutal showdown between a Jewish prisoner and the German SS officer who calmly tells him he is about to die.
www.kirkusreviews.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Our first Recovered Book from @bhousepress.bsky.social to be mentioned in Kirkus Reviews gets a starred review! Vengeance is Mine by Friedrich Torberg was written in exile in 1943. One of the earliest examples of Holocaust fiction, it's never before been translated.
Reposted by Mely
Open Letter is having a 40% off sale through the end of the month -- HIGHLY recommend just picking any few that look good and diving in -- becoming a subscriber to Open Letter changed my life! www.openletterbooks.org/products
Collections
Open Letter
www.openletterbooks.org
January 16, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Open Letter is having a 40% off sale through the end of the month -- HIGHLY recommend just picking any few that look good and diving in -- becoming a subscriber to Open Letter changed my life! www.openletterbooks.org/products
Reposted by Mely
I'm running a popular romance course at the University of Liverpool... but only if enough people sign up!
Come and join us!
www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...
Come and join us!
www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...
January 13, 2026 at 10:33 AM
I'm running a popular romance course at the University of Liverpool... but only if enough people sign up!
Come and join us!
www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...
Come and join us!
www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...
So excited!
Heads up for literary fantasy readers: new Greer Gilman (and her backlist reissued) in 2027!
#booksky
#booksky
January 12, 2026 at 3:54 PM
So excited!
Reposted by Mely
Look at this delightful cover for a delightful book, Naomi Mitchison's "Travel Light."
It's getting a UK reissue from #Virago (and is published in the US by #SmallBeerPress).
It's getting a UK reissue from #Virago (and is published in the US by #SmallBeerPress).
January 11, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Look at this delightful cover for a delightful book, Naomi Mitchison's "Travel Light."
It's getting a UK reissue from #Virago (and is published in the US by #SmallBeerPress).
It's getting a UK reissue from #Virago (and is published in the US by #SmallBeerPress).
I want Bhutanese food now.
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
January 9, 2026 at 10:44 PM
I want Bhutanese food now.
Reposted by Mely
TIL, about a bridge I crossed about at least once a month for the first 18 years of my life:
The Outerbridge Crossing, a cantilevered bridge connecting New Jersey and Staten Island, is named after Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge, the first chairman of the Port Authority of New York.
Eponyms/1
Eponyms/1
January 6, 2026 at 5:31 PM
TIL, about a bridge I crossed about at least once a month for the first 18 years of my life:
Based on straight male hockey podcasters' response to Heated Rivalry, particularly Epiaode 3, I would say there is a vast underserved (and possibly unknowing) male audience for romance.
to take one among approximately seventeen examples: the idea that romance is a genre for and by women. yes and no. it is a genre that women, mostly, built. women, mostly, consume it. but that's not, like, inevitable?
January 2, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Based on straight male hockey podcasters' response to Heated Rivalry, particularly Epiaode 3, I would say there is a vast underserved (and possibly unknowing) male audience for romance.
So, like, as a Jew I am probably not qualified to judge, but that church in Wake Up, Dead Man did not feel Catholic at all to me.
December 29, 2025 at 3:26 AM
So, like, as a Jew I am probably not qualified to judge, but that church in Wake Up, Dead Man did not feel Catholic at all to me.
Reposted by Mely
to me, carlos-manuel vesga is giving the best performance on PLURIBUS as manousos, who'd rather take on the Darién Gap alone than have anything to do with the Others who've taken over the world. we chatted about catholicism, language, & migration, for @vulture.com.
www.vulture.com/article/plur...
www.vulture.com/article/plur...
December 24, 2025 at 3:16 PM
to me, carlos-manuel vesga is giving the best performance on PLURIBUS as manousos, who'd rather take on the Darién Gap alone than have anything to do with the Others who've taken over the world. we chatted about catholicism, language, & migration, for @vulture.com.
www.vulture.com/article/plur...
www.vulture.com/article/plur...
The only one of her books I see people talk is Leviathan's Deep (sexist human men meet matriarchal aliens), but I am very fond of the Rabelais sequence, cyberpunk-influenced space opera set in an interstellar capitalist hellscape.
Jayge Carr sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/carr_j... died on this day, so here's some interior magazine art for some of her stories from 1978-1980 (Artist: Mike Hinge, Jack Gaughan, Wolfgang Hutter and Peter de Sève):
December 20, 2025 at 3:11 PM
The only one of her books I see people talk is Leviathan's Deep (sexist human men meet matriarchal aliens), but I am very fond of the Rabelais sequence, cyberpunk-influenced space opera set in an interstellar capitalist hellscape.