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fiona 📚🐛

@literacyrocks

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1985

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🖇️ welcome to my inner world
🔖 reading through my secondhand book collection
📖 literary fiction & modern classics

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i cleaned my entire room for this #sundayshelfie since i felt that it was time for an updated shelf tour. my last one was from when i had just got my new shelving. it was a bit messy and i had the opportunity to settle in and tidy up and organize my books into sections a bit better since then

i mostly read modern classics from the 1900s, translated literature, contemporary lit fic and genre/general fiction, memoirs, and romance. since at least half of my collection is modern classics, the thing that has been a true game changer for me since getting my new shelves and having more room to work with has been sorting by general nationality. i sort mainly by american and british (english, scottish, irish) which are where most of my books herald from since english is my first and primary language. then i have translated literature, mostly european but i try to branch out. it helps to sort by nationality because it helps frame my mind going into them, what the author’s perspective may have been when they were writing it during war or post war eras, the political context, culture, etc.

the spines might not be legible because the photos are taken from a distance so this is mostly to show you guys what authors i collect and the general categories i have on my shelves. i’ve done a few tours of my author collections (steinbeck, hemingway, graham greene) but i want to do more in the future, most prominently, my kurt vonnegut collection because i believe i now own all of his novels

how do you sort your shelves? by @literacyrocks

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6 months ago

i promised to share my tips and advice for thrifting your own collection of books so here it is! i have over 1000 books and i can confidently say that ~90% of it is thrifted. i receive the occasional new book for free from my library, as gifts, or from publishers, but i go out at least once or twice a week to my local thrift stores, secondhand bookstores, library bookstores/sales, etc.

i will add a disclaimer that i mostly collect and read modern classics, which are easier to thrift than contemporary or fantasy, or anything more niche. but ive seen my fair share of contemporary and recent releases at the thrift, let alone pango. seriously, look up a book that was just released last year on pango and see how many show up

so sit down, grab a snack, and let me put you guys on. let me know what percentage of your collection is thrifted, if you prefer library or audiobooks, if you thrift your books online or in person, and your favorite tips! by @literacyrocks

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9 months ago

I wanted to shout out the first accounts who followed me, those of us who are still around after 4+ years, from veterans who were around far before the summer of 2022 when I made my first booksta post, to those who were just starting out around that same time just like me. All of us have a few things in common. # 1 is tenacity because who else would spend countless hours over the span of 4+ years putting together posts in what is often a very fruitless endeavor? A pure love for the game. # 2 is a passion for literature and our interests to such a level that making a whole separate hobby account just to be able to nerd out with other nerds who love what you love to feel understood in a world where the amount of readers seem to be diminishing. And # 3 is good taste because why else would we follow each other??

A lot of things have changed in my life and on my account since 2022. The quality of my content has improved and what I have to say is hopefully more well thought out and spoken. But what I don’t think has changed is my passion, my general sentiments, and my personality. These are just a few accounts who supported me before I really had anything to show, pre 500 followers if I had to guess. These are my day one mutuals, who engaged with me and vice versa before I had my bookshelves, before I knew how to write decent reviews or take decent photos. It’s largely thanks to people like them that this platform was a place I wanted to come back to again and again. Without them, my account would be nothing and I’m not exactly sure if that’s even an overstatement. I see every like, every reshare, every comment.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ by @literacyrocks

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3 days ago

I’ll never buy a book from Barnes and Noble, not because I’m against it as a big corporation, although that’s a valid reason to shop independent or used instead, but because they don’t have what I want. I want crumbly mass market paperbacks, worn edges and corners, paper that’ll rip with any folding, and dented spines. I want a book that looks like it’s from a different era, one I can never really understand, being born in the 21st century, but one I can try to understand from the other side. So my preference for old books rather than crisp clean fresh off the press books (there’s a time and a place for these in my bookshelf too though, so publishers, keep the advanced copies coming 🙏), is partially driven by my desire to really step into these times I can only attempt to engage in through these books and handling such books from a time closer to what’s being described in the text

Do you prefer an age gap or do you like new 🚼 books?

#vintagebooks #usedbooks #bookcollection #secondhandbooks #modernclassics by @literacyrocks

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3 days ago

I have a love hate relationship with short story collections. On one hand, I love how bite sized each “chapter” is, how self contained each story is in its own world with its own characters. The other part of me hates how they (kind of) encourage readers to speed through the stories, but it doesn’t make much sense to publish each one individually. Although I know Faber does publish a few in individual format

I’ve still read my fair share of these collections and have even more on my TBR. Do you have a favorite collection or specific short story?

#shortstories #shortstorycollection #classicliterature #modernclassics #japaneseliterature by @literacyrocks

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4 days ago

They want me to train a new guy at work, I suck at mini golf, I bought too many mushrooms at the Korean grocery store, I’m in a bit of a reading slump because I can’t stop scrolling after work to turn my brain off, I still need a haircut, I have to go to a networking event tomorrow and idk if my transportation is covered by my company, I’ve been eating terribly, and I’m tired of all of my music by @literacyrocks

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8 days ago

As I’ve built my personal collection of modern classics, I’ve slowly begun to amass more and more of the books that Jess reads in Gilmore Girls. Some overlap in taste perhaps. But I have to admit, I mostly read High Fidelity and Dante’s Inferno because of its mention in the show. So maybe it’s less overlap per say and more him influencing my taste

As the leaves begin to fall and everything on the coffee shop menu suddenly has spice somewhere in the title, I know we’re all thinking of shows like Gilmore Girls which feel like the quintessential autumnal thing to throw on the TV. I watched it through when I was a tween. While a lot of things about the show are good, like the complex depiction of relationships with maternal figures, I actually didn’t really care for the show too much. The humor doesn’t resonate with me and the cadence of the dialogue gets old kind of fast. My sister watched Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently which had the same writers as Gilmore Girls. She said the former was a bit better. But Gilmore Girls will always have a soft spot in my heart because of how deeply developed Jess’ taste in books was. He’s not a character to romanticize, he had a lot of character flaws and trauma he took out on the characters around him. But I personally haven’t experienced a character on screen with such a well developed taste in books (besides maybe Rory), most characters from shows or movies at the time are simply seen holding or reading a book once or twice rather than constantly

While I try not to engage with rage bait like the “performative reading” phenomenon (real readers know this is pretty ridiculous and definitely a recession indicator or some sign of the general population’s decreased intellectual stimulation), Jess was the one of the characters where his reading didn’t feel like it was gratuitous or trying to “prove” something. Being a reader through and through was just what he was. He’s a bit of a lit bro, if you really observe what he read. I’m surprised Philip Roth isn’t sprinkled in here

Do you have any kindred spirit characters in media? by @literacyrocks

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9 days ago

Originally, this post was supposed to be about love but I realized all of the quotes were lowkey super disillusioned so I had to change the subject so as to not mislead anyone. Most classics and literary books that discuss love or relationships lean more towards the depressing side of love, like the failure of love, the inevitable end of love via reality check, the likening of love to pity, etc. I suppose it’s hard to get in depth when writing about relationships or love without losing the merry idealized sheen that a lot of romance novels and romantic movies cover the concept with

I love reading about romantic relationships in classics, some other recs I have are Light Years by James Salter, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, and Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman by @literacyrocks

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10 days ago

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, trans. Philip Gabriel [review]

I’m going back to my roots, singlehandedly bringing back book reviews 🫡

I enjoy Japanese translated books because of the plain spoken writing and I find them easier to comprehend and digest. So when I’m busy with work, I gravitate towards these kinds of books. For this one in particular, I also knew it would be a bit easier to read since it’s nonfiction. It’s a memoir about his journey of running and becoming a novelist sort of in conjunction

What struck me was how deeply I felt seen by certain passages. While I share nothing in common with Murakami, his perceptions of humans and what it means to carve a life and career for yourself in this world touched me deeply. Particularly when he said he never “recommends” running to people, if someone isn’t interested in an activity or subject, no persuasion will make a difference. This is almost exactly the thought I’ve rolled around in my mind before when I think about book recommendations and telling people to read when they frankly haven’t developed much interest in the activity. I simply don’t believe in telling a grown adult to read more, thinking a person can develop reading as a true interest upon hearing someone’s opinion or recommendation. You can tell them it’s good for them, yadda yadda yadda but realistically, how many of us book lovers do it because it’s “good for us??” I find that concept ridiculous, I love it because it’s a coping mechanism, I need it like air. I read because it’s a lifeline, a means of understanding myself and humans and I feel a little less insane when I pick up a book. The concept of forcing oneself to read, or god forbid, read 10 pages every day for a health challenge is enough to give me an aneurysm

So that being said, Murakami had a lot of other lovely insights on human nature and more specifically, his nature. He’s aware of how “ridiculous” running and race running is as a hobby, he’s aware of how silly he must seem to others. He’s aware of his personal shortcomings, his stubbornness and negative characteristics. I appreciated the execution of this short and focused memoir a lot by @literacyrocks

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10 days ago

I read 6 books in September, a little low considering I usually read about 2 books a week and I read most of My Apprenticeship in August. However, work has been busy and so has been my personal life, so that’s why I mostly picked up easier reads and these two Greek myth retellings that have been languishing on my shelf for I kid you not, the past 3 years

While I usually read romance to fill the void when I’m stressed with work or life, I haven’t been gravitating towards it this past year. I actually DNF’d Twisted Love, maybe I would’ve been in the mood to read it out of curiosity and I can sometimes ignore annoying writing because of my true love for romance and giddiness, but I didn’t have it in me this month

Let me know if you’ve read any of these and your thoughts if so! by @literacyrocks

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13 days ago

As your local mass market paperback enjoyer, I spend a lot of time thrifting books because mass markets are not as popular anymore and are rumored to slowly stop being produced. I am not one to fear monger on my platform about these sorts of book and publishing news, as there are millions in circulation, even if they’re used, and trends come and go. Maybe the Japanese style pocket book will replace the humble mass market, although they will not be as affordable. But higher quality than the pulp paper these are made of

Anywho, I particularly like the Dell mass markets I find when I thrift my modern classics and literature, more specifically, the tiny ones. They are very charming to me and I love the size, the subtle sprayed edges, and the cover designs

I dug a bit more into this publisher/imprint, and like most publishers, they got acquired and are now a Penguin Random House imprint. But I think my editions are from before this acquisition. Something else I realized as I gathered my books for this post was that Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors, is primarily published by this imprint. Dial Press, Delacorte Press, Dell. They’re all the same thing. If you’ve bought contemporary editions or older editions, they’re almost certainly Dell except for the rare Avon, Berkley, and Delta editions I also own. I’m happy to do a Kurt Vonnegut collection tour another time since I own almost all of his work

Do you have a penchant for specific vintage/old book editions? I’ve also covered my modern library hardcover edition 🤭 by @literacyrocks

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20 days ago

A while back, I posted some books that bookstagram could not stop recommending that I read for the sole purpose of being in the know. To be honest, I realized I get more recs consciously and unconsciously from this platform than I had initially thought. Especially after 4 years of consuming this kind of book content

So here’s a more specific list, a list that I wholeheartedly think are worth the read (spoiler free!). Here’s the thing, I can’t guarantee that you’ll “love” these books. But I personally thought they were well executed, regardless of whether the genre or plot is up your alley. But who knows? Feel free to (respectfully) disagree in the comments

Once again, this is spoiler free, as I’m averse to spoilers too. This reveals something else about me, I don’t read reviews in-depth because I hate to spoil books for myself before I read them. So I usually skim the plethora of reviews I see on here for positive sentiment, and if it sticks in my brain enough (I could not turn without seeing that Earthlings hedgehog on my feed), I buy it promptly if I see it at the thrift store

Do you trust booksta recs? Personally I’ve had good luck with booksta recs, more so than booktok 😵‍💫 by @literacyrocks

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21 days ago