Tag Archives: books

My First Encounter with the Word “Queer”: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Ryn PB

I don’t have a great memory, but one that has stuck with me is the first time I consciously encountered the word “queer.” Young Ryn was under their floral covers, propped up on two pillows, and talking to their dad … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, LGBT+ | Tagged books, burnett, children's lit, classic, classic lit, classic literature, classics, etymology, found family, history, LGBT+, lgbtq, life lessons, mistress mary, oscar wilde, owlcrate, queer, queer history, queer lit, quite contrary, reading, the secret garden | Leave a comment

TBR Playlist: Fall Out Boy Edition

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Ryn PB

Just a few days ago, my sister, dad, and I went to see Fall Out Boy in concert (which was AMAZING), so of course I had to do a FOB edition of TBR Playlist to commemorate the day. Please enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, polysyllabic spree, TBR Playlist | Tagged act your age, akemi dawn bowman, ali novak, altamont, anna carey, book series, books, cale dietrich, chloe gong, concert, eve brown, fall out boy, fiction, FOB, hafsah faizal, if this gets out, kerri strug, LGBT+, live music, memoir, mental health, micah nemerever, music, music history, my life with the walter boys, novels, pop punk, queer lit, r.f. kuang, reading, rf kuang, rock, rock history, rock music, romance, series, sibling, sister, sophie gonzales, starfish, talia hibbert, tempest of tea, the poppy war, these violent delights, this is not the jess show, trilogy, we didnt start the fire, YA, young adult | Leave a comment

Problematic Faves: Why I Love Them, Why They’re Problematic, and Why I Give Them Passes

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Ryn PB

Introduction To me, the term “problematic fave” is a bit redundant, especially when in reference to a celebrity. Almost everyone and everything is “problematic” in some way, or has been in the past. Generally, I see people use the phrase … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, polysyllabic spree | Tagged art, bo burnham, books, boys love, cancel culture, comedy, content warning, detective show, fiction, gilmore girls, gravitation, high fidelity, hulu, LGBT+, make happy, manga, media, mental health, monk, murder mystery, music, mystery, netflix, nick hornby, ocd, problematic, problematic fave, psych, reading, trans, trigger, trigger warning, tv, tv series, tv show, warning, writing, yaoi, youtube, zoe kravitz | Leave a comment

Friends, Alone

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Ryn PB

Content Warnings: underage drinking and smoking, homophobia, violence/bullying, mild domestic abuse Even though she had a key to the house, and even though the Raneys usually kept their door unlocked anyway, Allison wasn’t in the habit of entering their house … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories, original writing | Tagged art, arts school, batman, batman the movie, books, cigarettes, friends, friendship, gay, high school, hot chocolate, LGBT+, movie, movie night, painting, photography, popcorn, queer, queer lit, reader, reading, robin, school, shark spray, siblings, smoking, twins, vivian maier, writing | Leave a comment

TBR Playlist: Saviors by Green Day

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Ryn PB

I’m starting a new blog installment purely for my own enjoyment… again. As we all know, I love pairing songs and books together, but I’m running out of books I’ve read that I want to recommend and that go well … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, LGBT+, original writing | Tagged 1990s, 2000s, 7fates: chakho, alice waler, alice walker, anna-marie mclemore, book, book tag, books, brian broome, bright young things, bts, chloe gong, classic lit, classics, emo, evelyn waugh, foul lady fortune, graphic novels, green day, hayley kiyoko, historical fiction, janelle monae, kpop, laura hankin, laura taylor namey, leigh bardugo, LGBT+, literature, memoir, mental health, mtv, music, music lit, nick hornby, ninth house, nonfiction, pop punk, punk, punk rock, queer lit, reading, rock, rock music, sci fi, science fiction, shanghai, sonora reyes, the color purple, the great gatsby, these violent delights, vile bodies, YA, YA lit | Leave a comment

My Favorite Books of 2023

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Ryn PB

It’s time for my 2023 Reading Wrap-up—a month late, but better late than never! Note: I discuss several sensitive topics in this post: sex, bigotry (specifically several types of queerphobia), suicide, substance misuse, and eating disorders. Read with caution. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, polysyllabic spree | Tagged 2023, 2024, alice oseman, books, celebrity, coffee, cozy lit, end, england, fantasy, gabrielle zevin, graphic memoir, graphic novels, heartstopper, january, lattes, lesbian, LGBT, lgbt lit, LGBT+, lit, literature, manga, myth, new year, nyc, parasocial, queer, queer lit, tag, teen lit, teens, tennis, tomorrow, trans, transmasculine, transphobia, us open, wrap up, writer, writing, YA, year, young adult | Leave a comment

A Christmas Cookie Contest

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Ryn PB

As he set down the cats’ food bowls, Benji’s phone buzzed insistently in his pocket. His parents had promised to check in when they landed, but they’d only left a few hours ago. When the phone had been wrestled out … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged books, christmas, christmas eve, christmas romance, christmas story, cookie decorating, cookies, eggnog, family, fiction, fireworks, friends, holiday romance, hot chocolate, kittens, LGBT+, magic, mental health, merry christmas, movies, party, queer lit, romance, santa claus, santa hat, scotland, sister, snow, straight no chaser, sweater, ugly christmas sweater, winter, writing | 1 Comment

Bonus Mini Post: Songs I Can’t Get Enough Of, Paired with Books I Can’t Get Enough Of

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Ryn PB

I love writing these song-book pairings, so I thought I would write a little mini one for fun because I’ve been listening to the same few songs on repeat lately. Plus, I’m gearing up for a Nebraska winter, a.k.a. “I … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, polysyllabic spree | Tagged adeem the artist, agust d, AJR, alice oseman, books, bts, erin morgenstern, fall out boy, fast and furious, favorites, graphic novels, hadestown, jimin, john green, jung kook, jungkook, kpop, LGBT, lgbt lit, LGBT+, love, love song, love story, lve, mental health, music, paper towns, queer lit, reading, songs, starless sea, the rose, YA, young adult | Leave a comment

Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Ryn PB

This is a tag I’ve seen on booktube and book blogs alike. Here is the original tag for anyone interested. So far this year, I’ve read 27 books, which means I’m a tiny bit ahead of my 52-book goal. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, polysyllabic spree | Tagged adeem the artist, anna-marie mclemore, blog, books, booktube, chloe gong, coffee, fantasy, favorites, gabrielle zevin, graphic novels, hobie, hobie brown, julia drake, lakelore, lakes, legends, legends and lattes, LGBT+, list, movie, music, new, queer lit, reading, releases, sequels, siblings, sister, spider-man-spiderman, spider-punk, spider-verse, spiderpunk, spiderverse, tag, tea, the mountain goats, tomorrow, trans, trans experience, trans lit, trans stories, translated lit, transphobia, wrap up, wrapup, writing | 2 Comments

Addy Kraz and the Case of the Stolen Cookies

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Ryn PB

“Meet me at the Orange Julius” was the mantra of our junior high years. Before Dijon O’Reilly got a job at Juice Stop and Kiera Moore became a vegan, the three of us would come from our different middle schools—Dijon … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged auntie anne, bakery, bffs, bojack horseman, books, candy, cookies, crush, diane nguyen, fake books, fake fiction, food court, friends, hardy boys, hot dogs, indian food, ivy tran food court detective, junior high, kiosk, life lessons, mall, middle grade, middle school, mystery, nancy drew, nonbinary, nostalgia, orange julius, series, shopping mall, short story, stealing, suspects, thief, toy, toys, tweens, writing | 1 Comment