@shelfunstable.bsky.social
Posting about books I like. Mostly fantasy, horror, and historical fiction.
Reposted
It's now officially 2026, so in honor of the death of 2025 here's our annual list of some cool (new to me) horror (mostly) reading that we did this year. I'm always behind the curve, so most of these books didn't actually debut in 2025, but... well, you get the idea.
January 1, 2026 at 8:25 PM
It's now officially 2026, so in honor of the death of 2025 here's our annual list of some cool (new to me) horror (mostly) reading that we did this year. I'm always behind the curve, so most of these books didn't actually debut in 2025, but... well, you get the idea.
Reposted
Here in the Midwest, data centers threaten to suck up fresh water from our Great Lakes. Just one of may examples includes a Microsoft plant now under construction near Racine, WI that is expected to use upwards of 8 MILLION gallons a day. A day! That is not okay.
Bernie Sanders: "We need to be thinking seriously about a moratorium on data centers. You gotta slow this process down. It's not good enough for the oligarchs to tell us 'you adapt.' Are they gonna guarantee healthcare to all people? What are they gonna do when there are no jobs? Make housing free?"
December 28, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Here in the Midwest, data centers threaten to suck up fresh water from our Great Lakes. Just one of may examples includes a Microsoft plant now under construction near Racine, WI that is expected to use upwards of 8 MILLION gallons a day. A day! That is not okay.
Reposted
ALL OF US MURDERERS is on cheap on Amazon today! Get your Gothic second chance romance for £/$1.99! (I have no idea how long for or if it's going to other sites, sorry.)
www.amazon.co.uk/All-Us-Murde...
www.amazon.co.uk/All-Us-Murde...
All of Us Murderers
All of Us Murderers eBook : Charles, KJ: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
www.amazon.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
ALL OF US MURDERERS is on cheap on Amazon today! Get your Gothic second chance romance for £/$1.99! (I have no idea how long for or if it's going to other sites, sorry.)
www.amazon.co.uk/All-Us-Murde...
www.amazon.co.uk/All-Us-Murde...
I love and recommend the whole bibliography of @kjcharleswriter.com (I’m always rereading something by her!), but my mom is a jeweler and man oh man did Gilded Cage add a weird vibe to the beautiful Australian opal jewelry she has made for me, including a necklace this Christmas.
December 29, 2025 at 3:00 AM
I love and recommend the whole bibliography of @kjcharleswriter.com (I’m always rereading something by her!), but my mom is a jeweler and man oh man did Gilded Cage add a weird vibe to the beautiful Australian opal jewelry she has made for me, including a necklace this Christmas.
Reposted
The bloody ghost of my ancestor Lt. John Bacon, shot dead by a redcoat musket during the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19th, 1775, appeared at the side of my bed last night and said anyone can be American as long as they aren’t English
December 26, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The bloody ghost of my ancestor Lt. John Bacon, shot dead by a redcoat musket during the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19th, 1775, appeared at the side of my bed last night and said anyone can be American as long as they aren’t English
Reposted
My one resolution for 2026 is to refer to all my meals as either “wet food” or “dry food”
December 27, 2025 at 11:07 AM
My one resolution for 2026 is to refer to all my meals as either “wet food” or “dry food”
Reposted
"This story doesn't need a sandworm"
This is almost always wrong. Arguably, EVERY story benefits from adding a huge subterranean worm with quasi-mystical or semi-supernatural powers, or equivalent (similar to Moby Dick).
Obviously the bigger the worm, the more literary quality it adds.
This is almost always wrong. Arguably, EVERY story benefits from adding a huge subterranean worm with quasi-mystical or semi-supernatural powers, or equivalent (similar to Moby Dick).
Obviously the bigger the worm, the more literary quality it adds.
what is your least favorite piece of writing advice and why? 👀
December 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
"This story doesn't need a sandworm"
This is almost always wrong. Arguably, EVERY story benefits from adding a huge subterranean worm with quasi-mystical or semi-supernatural powers, or equivalent (similar to Moby Dick).
Obviously the bigger the worm, the more literary quality it adds.
This is almost always wrong. Arguably, EVERY story benefits from adding a huge subterranean worm with quasi-mystical or semi-supernatural powers, or equivalent (similar to Moby Dick).
Obviously the bigger the worm, the more literary quality it adds.
Reposted
So if you wanna read more stories about guys in their early twenties dealing with closeted queer desire, masculinity, grief, and ultimately coming to terms with their sexuality… might I suggest Summer Sons?
December 23, 2025 at 3:09 PM
So if you wanna read more stories about guys in their early twenties dealing with closeted queer desire, masculinity, grief, and ultimately coming to terms with their sexuality… might I suggest Summer Sons?
Reposted
It is about this: because so many people do not give a shit about romance, shit gets tried in romance first.
You should pay attention to romance publishing news and care about it, because they will try that shit here first.
You should pay attention to romance publishing news and care about it, because they will try that shit here first.
December 24, 2025 at 2:52 AM
It is about this: because so many people do not give a shit about romance, shit gets tried in romance first.
You should pay attention to romance publishing news and care about it, because they will try that shit here first.
You should pay attention to romance publishing news and care about it, because they will try that shit here first.
Just this morning I was thinking about how good this book is!
Sebastian has been scandalizing polite society with his scientific theories of sexual inheritance. But there’s one small problem. They’re not his theories. They’re Violet’s.
/jb
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Count...
Apple: itunes.apple.com/us/...
/jb
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Count...
Apple: itunes.apple.com/us/...
December 22, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Just this morning I was thinking about how good this book is!
Reposted
THIS SO MUCH THIS
If you want to know "has this specific species been observed on this small island in Alaska", odds are the answer is not online, but in some typewritten USFWS or USFS report in the library
Even with wonderful resources like iNat and eBird, huge gaps remain!
If you want to know "has this specific species been observed on this small island in Alaska", odds are the answer is not online, but in some typewritten USFWS or USFS report in the library
Even with wonderful resources like iNat and eBird, huge gaps remain!
Wait until you hear that LLMs can only train on digitized/datafied info.
Most of the FACTS scholars use are in archives/libraries.
Less than 1% of archival colletions worldwide have been digitized.
Also: lots of facts are not even in archives, but in the attics.
Most of the FACTS scholars use are in archives/libraries.
Less than 1% of archival colletions worldwide have been digitized.
Also: lots of facts are not even in archives, but in the attics.
suspect a big reason why many academics and others who work in areas where getting facts RIGHT is key are disinterested in using LLMs for research:
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
December 22, 2025 at 4:57 PM
THIS SO MUCH THIS
If you want to know "has this specific species been observed on this small island in Alaska", odds are the answer is not online, but in some typewritten USFWS or USFS report in the library
Even with wonderful resources like iNat and eBird, huge gaps remain!
If you want to know "has this specific species been observed on this small island in Alaska", odds are the answer is not online, but in some typewritten USFWS or USFS report in the library
Even with wonderful resources like iNat and eBird, huge gaps remain!
Reposted
re-reading the Locked Tomb books as one sometimes must and man: John's narration in Nona the Ninth really is the best villain monologue ever written. by the end you understand why they exist as a trope in the first place! because only a villain has the ego required to monologue!
December 22, 2025 at 6:44 PM
re-reading the Locked Tomb books as one sometimes must and man: John's narration in Nona the Ninth really is the best villain monologue ever written. by the end you understand why they exist as a trope in the first place! because only a villain has the ego required to monologue!
Reposted
That’s what these ‘debates’ are really about: framing old fashioned oppression as some kind of high-brow concern for women’s happiness.
You know what makes us happy? Bank accounts. Voting rights. The ability to leave a bad marriage and not have a miscarriage kill us.
You know what makes us happy? Bank accounts. Voting rights. The ability to leave a bad marriage and not have a miscarriage kill us.
December 21, 2025 at 12:29 AM
That’s what these ‘debates’ are really about: framing old fashioned oppression as some kind of high-brow concern for women’s happiness.
You know what makes us happy? Bank accounts. Voting rights. The ability to leave a bad marriage and not have a miscarriage kill us.
You know what makes us happy? Bank accounts. Voting rights. The ability to leave a bad marriage and not have a miscarriage kill us.
Reposted
This is my biggest worry: that it's going to tank discovery for new authors because there's so much slop that people can't find anything worthwhile
The thing I worry about is the complete obliteration of self-publishing of at least non-web serials. Like if for every genuine book available, there's 1000 ai-slop books, however are you supposed to find anything?
December 18, 2025 at 11:52 PM
This is my biggest worry: that it's going to tank discovery for new authors because there's so much slop that people can't find anything worthwhile
Reposted
Feels like the US has spent the last 5+ years on the verge of some kind of secular moral revival that keeps getting channeled into weirdo lifestyle puritanism
Cafes across the U.S. are embracing the low- and no-caffeine lifestyle, with options that are a far cry from dusty tea bags and rewarmed decaf. nyti.ms/3XKlqoj
December 10, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Feels like the US has spent the last 5+ years on the verge of some kind of secular moral revival that keeps getting channeled into weirdo lifestyle puritanism
Reposted
OMG everyone!!! Mr Collins in Love is one of the 10 New York Times Best Romances of 2025!!!!
I'm literally dancing round the living room with joy 🥰
I'm literally dancing round the living room with joy 🥰
Mr. Collins in Love by @leewelchwriter.bsky.social. Truly a “hold my beer” romance premise — what if one of the most annoying characters in literature was the hero and he’s still Mr. Collins but now you loved him and wanted him to get the queer HEA he deserves? Landscapes Tolkien would die for.
New book! Mr Collins in Love – a Pride and Prejudice retelling
If you like Pride and Prejudice, you probably remember Mr Collins? He’s the odious clergyman who asks lovely heroine Elizabeth Bennet to marry him. She refuses. He’s one of the most ridiculed chara…
leewelchwriter.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:15 PM
OMG everyone!!! Mr Collins in Love is one of the 10 New York Times Best Romances of 2025!!!!
I'm literally dancing round the living room with joy 🥰
I'm literally dancing round the living room with joy 🥰
also true for biology
my number one most serious writing tip is to make cool friends. in the last year I've needed to know about blacksmithing, neo-medievalism in the american empire, and mid-century lesbian pulp publishing and each time I've been able to just. call a guy.
December 5, 2025 at 6:02 PM
also true for biology
Reposted
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
Reposted
i am not usually shrill about media consumption as a moral metric. i read historical romances, a genre riddled with colonial fantasies and gender essentialism! but the thing is that none of those authors are billionaires converting my money directly into anti-trans violence
December 3, 2025 at 3:59 PM
i am not usually shrill about media consumption as a moral metric. i read historical romances, a genre riddled with colonial fantasies and gender essentialism! but the thing is that none of those authors are billionaires converting my money directly into anti-trans violence
Reposted
I keep coming back to this (murky, so far poorly articulated) idea that this cultural obsession we have with optimization is so fucking destructive. No, you don’t actually have to be as good and efficient at everything in your life as you think.
December 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I keep coming back to this (murky, so far poorly articulated) idea that this cultural obsession we have with optimization is so fucking destructive. No, you don’t actually have to be as good and efficient at everything in your life as you think.
Reposted
If you feel the need to retreat into the past, can't think why, Death in the Spires is currently discounted to $7.99 on Audible US!
Death in the Spires
Check out this great listen on Audible.com. The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered. 1905. A decade after the grisl...
www.audible.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:49 PM
If you feel the need to retreat into the past, can't think why, Death in the Spires is currently discounted to $7.99 on Audible US!
one of my absolute favorite books!
fanart for The Death of Jane Lawrence by @caitlinstarling.com 🕸️🩸💉🕯️🫀
(My favorite book I’ve read this year!)
(My favorite book I’ve read this year!)
November 27, 2025 at 8:30 PM
one of my absolute favorite books!
Reposted
fanart for The Death of Jane Lawrence by @caitlinstarling.com 🕸️🩸💉🕯️🫀
(My favorite book I’ve read this year!)
(My favorite book I’ve read this year!)
November 27, 2025 at 7:36 PM
fanart for The Death of Jane Lawrence by @caitlinstarling.com 🕸️🩸💉🕯️🫀
(My favorite book I’ve read this year!)
(My favorite book I’ve read this year!)
Reposted
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷