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@abitbetterbooks

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“Once you know better, do better.” - Maya Angelou
✨infrequent poster, hater with nuance, meme queen, @readwithcel pr momager🌿🌸🍁

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I thought it was about time I updated this post! Most things are the same, but I would like to make others abundantly clear. If you’re new here, I want you be here understanding what it is you’re signing up for.

This is my internet space and I’m particular about who gets to join it. I’ve lost a lot of followers in the last several months, which I really don’t care about, but I’ve also had to part ways from folks that I considered friends and whom I cared about. That really sucks.

For a long time, I thought that maybe it was my fault for letting people into my circle and that perhaps I had not made it obvious enough to booksta that I believe in a free Palestine and that I think genocide and military occupation is wrong. Perhaps I had not been clear enough about my values. Maybe people had made assumptions and didn’t realize that my being queer, being mixed race, being descended from survivors of race based state-sanctioned incarceration, informs every aspect of what I believe.

So now I’m trying to be extra clear. I’m not perfect, but I’m looking to hold space for myself and other imperfect folks who are trying to live life in line with our values and come from a place of fierce love and care for ALL people. Where we can recognize and grow in our own human messiness and not settle for good enough but instead are constantly trying to be better. Even if it’s only a little bit more than yesterday.

This booksta started as a way for me to meet like-minded people and scream about books that we loved, yes, but it’s also become inextricably linked with who I am and the community I cherish. I want to laugh and cry and protest and celebrate with you, people who will call me in, encourage me to be better, and feel lifted up by me trying to do the same. I want to find joy and genuine connection here, not pressures to only post the latest trending audio or algorithm pleasing stack, most expensive collectors editions or latest releases. Give me your used books, unheard of ARCs, audiobooks, library stacks, and your favourite childhood novel that has 12 reviews, and give them whenever the hell you want.

If that all sounds good to you, then welcome aboard. A blurry pastel multicolour background with a white box that says “WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW BEFORE FOLLOWING @ABITBETTERBOOKS?” in black letters. by @abitbetterbooks

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2 years ago

The vibes I bring to the function: making 6 pages of vibes that I bring to the function when most peoples have been 1-3 slides 🤪 maybe you’ll find something you relate to in the MANY images I’ve included in here.

Anyways I have been working on this for DAYS and I’m actually obsessed with it. It’s basically just a meet me in memes 2.0 but with the addition of media I love and actual pictures of me in my natural habitat. Think of it as a re-introduction of sorts for this next era of abitbetterbooks 🤷🏻‍♀️

Enjoy!

Image descriptions in pinned comments. by @abitbetterbooks

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2 years ago

📍 hamilton, ontario by @abitbetterbooks

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a month ago

💖HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE💖

Where do I even begin with this one?

I read the very first beta version of Grudge, and even then, before the editing and the literary agent and the starred reviews, I knew that this book was special.

Sometimes you just get a feeling that a book just has It™. That something that pulls you in, that makes you smile to yourself, the thing that keeps you invested and coming back for more.

I don’t know how @readwithcel does it exactly, but everything they write is just that little bit magic. This book covers the whole spectrum of emotions that you can feel while reading; therefore I am calling this post the Duality of Grudge, because it truly is the perfect splice together of deeply moving, emotional moments and also, some of the most unhinged hilarious (and sometimes horny) scenes you could imagine.

It’s hard to put into words, but the pride I feel for Asher and Caleb coming into their own, standing up for themselves, and being fiercely in love, isn’t just my heartstrings being pulled on by great character beats and a satisfying romance arc. It’s also the pride I feel watching someone I love fighting tooth and nail to make a dream a reality. The hope that shines so bright in these characters, even against all odds, is the hope that Cel creates by being in the world and writing stories that matter. The humour and the pain and the dogged resolve to make the world a better place, to thank the people who came before and pave the way for those who will come after: that’s all here in this story because the author has put themself whole-heartedly into every word on the page.

So to me, Grudge is more than a book that I finally (!) get to hold in my hands. It’s a souvenir from one hell of a journey over the last few years. Even if the rest of the world didn’t get a front-seat view to the creation of this story, I hope that readers will be able to appreciate Hold Me Like A Grudge for what it is: a truly great novel that, while a familiar romance in format, is unlike any other book out there.🩷💜 by @abitbetterbooks

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4 months ago

Hello everyone!!!!

Let’s get to know the characters in Hold Me Like A Grudge, exemplified by the chaos demon energy who is their author! I’ve been collecting @readwithcel texts for a little while and knew that this would be the perfect way to show off this coworker crew that turns into the most beautifully supportive found family your little queer heart could dream of💗

What are your fave books with a found family trope? (Get ready to add another to the list after you read Hold Me Like A Grudge!)

Grudge comes out in ONE WEEK so you still have plenty of time to prė0rdėr from your favourite local bookstore! And then you will be able to hold these precious babies in your hands for the first time in all of human history! What a time to be alive indeed! 💜

#holdmelikeagrudgebook #celineongauthor by @abitbetterbooks

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4 months ago

SEE YOU IN THE STARS 🚀✨

hello welcome back to another instalment of Very Niche Content!! Not a day goes by without the three of us talking about Dimension 20. And with how much Cel rewatches Battle of the Brands, we had to do a designated post about A Starstruck Odyssey. Right on.

If Fantasy High is a found family with the strongest bonds ever created, STODY is the (messy and chaotic) staff holiday party on drugs. Misfits in space that accidentally become some of the most wanted and important people in the galaxy. It might be the funniest season of D20. It’s full of optimism and teamwork and hot exits.

The overall plot is basically just: we need to pay rent and we’re broke. How do we get rich quick? Fulfilling requests on Smash N Grab, a galactic Craigslist with listings of a questionable and mysterious nature— disrupting competitive dog shows, retrieving contraband Kublacaine, and perhaps most importantly, “Tug up on it once, then I’m dead.” Maybe there’s a trip to the casino involved, where there are unimaginable losses, and yet the ball keeps rolling uphill.

But there’s so much more to it than that— beyond the gags and silliness and science fiction, it’s about holding on to what matters in the face of empire. It’s about helping the universe even when the universe has caused you nothing but pain, and standing up to monarchy, corporations, loan sharks, and (worst of all) performance artists. It’s about finding things that are lost and alone, and giving them the place and meaning to become who they’re supposed to be. And as always in D20, the importance of unions!

All of these characters have a past that’s haunting them or expectations hanging over their heads, but they all do it with a smile, and they do it together. Sometimes misfits simply belong to each other. Sometimes, what makes a hot dog shaped spaceship a home is: a clone looking for the last of his kind, a cyborg with an incomprehensible amount medical debt, an android that was never supposed to be built, a brain slug operating the body of a wanted criminal, a fish person in a pyramid scheme, and a boss bitch with a messy situationship. And also some freak named Loose Duke.

Tag yourself! by @abitbetterbooks

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4 months ago

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6 months ago

GRUDGE: STICKER EDITION 👹

without arts and crafts we are in hell!!

rumor has it that mariko and i—surprisingly—occasionally have the executive function to create things that don’t immediately descend into chaos (before i ruin it all with the rawdogging jokes). today we bring you stickers inspired by my debut queer sports romance Hold Me Like a Grudge!!

please enjoy the outcome of our folie à deux resulting from staying up way past our bedtimes and The Horrors. we have:

🎀 life’s hard but i’m harder
🎀 cringefail yearner
🎀 hot girls hate capitalism
🎀 rawdogging life!
🎀 let’s go lesbians
🎀 freak on a leash
🎀 stuck in horny jail
🎀 go fast eat ass
🎀 the only thing i’m fucking is stupid

uhh tag yourself i’m go fast eat ass. by @abitbetterbooks

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10 months ago

Wishing everyone a meaningful & powerful Trans Day of Visibility, and congratulations to the conclusion of another successful Trans Rights Readathon! Whether today is a day for celebration & joy for you, or a day of action & anger, a combination thereof, or something else entirely: we continue the work tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, too.

Despite the current state of the world, I am always so moved & excited to see people come together around a shared cause & collectively make an impact for things like the Trans Rights Readathon. Initiatives like this will always be instrumental in raising awareness (and funds!) to improve outcomes for both trans individuals & organizations working on systemic issues as well.

I’ve decided to donate to a local trans health coalition that is building capacity for improved gender-affirming healthcare for the occasion (despite not finishing any books for the readathon😅)

I thought now would be as good a time as any to finally post my review of the Sunbearer Trials duology, which I read this fall, in case you needed any more hype around Aiden Thomas😜

I absolutely loved these books & completely devoured them. There is something so beautiful about a queer & trans normative world filled with larger than life characters, allowing for complexity that is not often afforded to minorities, whether it be gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, or ability. Trans people can be the heroes, and the antagonists,& everything in between.

I loved Ocelo & their mean-spirited thembo punch-through-my-problems attitude, I loved Xio’s arc & struggle with people’s perception of them, and of course, I loved Teo & his growth throughout both novels. His kindness and willingness to see the best in people, even when it hurts him, his reckoning with his Golds vs. Jades perspective, and most importantly, his willingness to see the world differently and imagine that it could be a better, more just place for everyone.

I am so here for this new era of YA fantasy that gets to be unapologetically queer & trans. A better world is possible, and it doesn’t have to be fiction.

Image descriptions in pinned comment. A pale left hand holds up a black kobo eReader displaying the cover of The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas in black and white. The background is a sandy beach and a bright blue sky, with a large castle-looking building on the left along the horizon line. by @abitbetterbooks

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2 years ago

SAY HI INTREPID HEROES 🦉🐻

something you may have picked up lately about @abitbetterbooks, @booklooksbyjenna, and myself: we have been hardcore brainrotting over dimension 20—dropout’s dnd series. since then, jenna’s named her car “gorgug”, mariko’s completely addicted to making fantasy high stickers (actually send intervention), and i’m on my *checks notes* eleventh rewatch. please tell us how we got here. loving things a normal amount is very overrated. so. this is the only logical next step.

please behold: book recs for every bad kid—students at the aguefort adventuring academy. their arcs charted over the course of their freshman and sophomore years in the form of the readings we think they would vibe with. there is no part of this that isn’t completely unhinged.

(plus a bonus slide for their unpaid intern because this group project went off the rails within ten minutes.)

fantasy high has brought me such joy and whimsy in a time when i needed it most. it felt like a very real kind of magic i tucked safely into a crevice in my chest each day. it is, of course, also exceedingly gay and bonkers bananas.

spending hours expanding on dozens of headcanons and memes and combing them with a love for reading was so much fun. i loved picking jenna and mariko’s brains while we worked on this—they are terrifyingly brilliant. an absolute honor. i don’t think i sent them a single text that wasn’t in all caps. what a gift it is knowing i no longer have to hyperfixate on things alone—very riz gukgak coded honestly.

let us know which bad kid you are !!

for science, i am riz sun, adaine moon, fig rising. jenna is gorgug sun, fig moon and gilear rising. mariko is kristen sun, adaine moon, gorgug rising.

HOOT GROWL BABY

(ID pinned & in alt text) title text “book recs based on your fave bad kid” over a graphic of the bad kids—fabian, kristen, adaine, riz, gorgug, and fig—posing in front of the aguefort adventuring academy by @abitbetterbooks

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2 years ago

this is a friends of big bear valley eagle cam fan account now.. just kidding but we do love it 🙂‍↕️
jackie and shadow have been together since 2018, and just had 3 eaglets last week!! and they are all a mood

PS if you wanna watch it too just google big bear valley eagle cam! it is a live stream on YT on all day and perfect for putting on in the background

Image IDs in comments 🦅 by @abitbetterbooks

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2 years ago

Despite being published several years ago, this story feels deeply relevant today. With all of the hype over Kendrick Lamar’s wins at the Grammy’s and performance at the Super Bowl, plus the Diddy trials, the cultural conversation around predation and abuse of power by famous & wealthy men seems to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

I think it’s easy to give Kendrick his laurels, but I think the irony of a song like “not like us” is that while everyone is singing along to ~and it’s probably A minor~ it’s clearly much harder to recognize how these dynamics show up in every day life. Beyoncé was filmed singing along at the Grammy’s, but she herself was 16 when she met 28 year old Jay-Z, a very similar age gap to Enchanted and pop phenomenon Korey Fields when they meet at the start of Grown.

Grown, as it is so appropriately titled, is about the ways in which young Black women and girls are treated as though they are adults; where they must assume responsibility for not only the missteps they may make but also for the inappropriate behaviour of grown men. That she “knew what she was doing” when talking to a man privately, or when she was wearing tight clothing, that she doesn’t “look her age” or is “so mature”, or that she was the one who should have “known better”. It’s about how Black girls are seen as less innocent than their white peers, less worthy of protection, and less trustworthy sources when reporting abuses.

Grown shows is that despite feeling old enough to make decisions that have enormous consequences, there is no age in which you can properly process how quickly a dream can become a nightmare.

In Grown, we see the ways in which Black girls are commodified and taken advantage of, and then we see how they are punished and questioned for speaking their truth. We see the result of toxic fan culture, how people are willing to ignore the facts presented by survivors in favour of worshipping a celebrity.

Caption continued & image descriptions included in pinned comments. A pale hand holds up a kobo eReader, which displays a black and white cover of the novel Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson. It’s held in front of an old upright grand piano, which is covered in a stunning arrangement of succulents and greenery exploding out from the keys and draping down from the upper lid of the piano. There are artistically placed pieces of sheet music resting on the music rack. by @abitbetterbooks

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2 years ago