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OBVIOUS STATE

@obviousstate

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In Pursuit of Wisdom & Beauty
Art drawn from the classics since 2011 Books & prints🔻Bucks County, PA

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"What is a human being except the sum of her memories?" - Joyce Carol Oats, Hazards of Time Travel

Doing a reread of Hazards of Time Travel, I discovered so many new things in this novel that I had completely overlooked the first time around. I remembered the premise and the unsettling atmosphere, but this time I found myself paying much more attention to the little details, the repeated phrases, the strange identities, the things that seem familiar when they shouldn't, and all the little cracks in reality.

In this dystopian masterpiece by Joyce Carol Oates, we get a glimpse of a possible near future. Set partly in an authoritarian 2039, where it is treason to think too much, a crime to ask questions, and dangerous to show individuality, and partly in a deceptively harmless-looking 1959 Wisconsin, the novel moves between two worlds that gradually become much less straightforward than they first appear. In this world, defying the system can result in either Deletion (being vaporized, as though you had never existed), Execution, or Exile.

The novel follows a 17-year-old girl whose valedictorian speech, consisting largely of questions, is deemed treasonous by the authorities. Her punishment is Exile: four years in 1959 Wisconsin, where she is sent to college and subjected to rehabilitation.

But on rereading, it was the Wisconsin sections that fascinated me most.

There is something increasingly dreamlike about that world. Things look ordinary, but don't always behave as they should. A familiar phrase appearing in someone else's mouth. People who seem to carry traces of other people. Identities that begin to feel interchangeable. The suggestion that some characters may have experienced Exile themselves, or may be connected to the system in ways we aren't immediately meant to understand.

It made me wonder whether what we are seeing is really a journey through time at all, or whether we are moving through layers of constructed realities and punishments.

And perhaps the most disturbing possibility is that the punishment becomes progressively harsher: memories removed, identities stripped away, until there is less and less of the original person left.

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📚#BOOKREVIEW 📚

THE POET EMPRESS by Shen Tao, is a book I don’t usually gravitate toward. But Katy (@theshriekingshelf)’s review had me so curious, and since Las Vegas peeps do not read, I was able to immediately borrow the e-galley from the library. Not only did I fly through it, but I was thoroughly impressed.

In THE POET EMPRESS, we follow Wei, who lives in a small, impoverished village suffering from a country-wide famine. When she has the chance to become a concubine to the crown prince, Terren, and join the Azalea House, she willingly does so. Once she arrives at the palace, she quickly discovers it is indeed a very dangerous place.

💭 WHAT I THOUGHT:

The pacing, the plot, the character development, all worked so well. It’s a very fast and violent read as we learn about the Azalea family and the siblings’ thirst for the throne.

We also learn more about the characters and how none of them are purely good or evil. They all exist somewhere in between, in different shades of gray. Terren IS a villain, but we learn how he came to be one. And Wei isn’t quite as good as she first appears once she gets a taste of power and riches.

THE POET EMPRESS is about many things, but it especially had me thinking about sibling love, the power of words (as much of the book centers around poetry magic), and the cruel ways adults manipulate and control their children in pursuit of power.

Some scenes are quite dark and stomach-churningly violent (don’t let the beautiful cover fool you), but it makes sense considering how much of a violent tyrant Prince Terren becomes).

It is NOT Romantasy!

My one criticism is that I wished there had been more poetry magic and world-building. Wei’s journey from an impoverished rice farm to quickly learning how to read (in a world where it is forbidden for women) and then acquiring the skill, in secret!!, to write magical poems of love and death felt a bit far-fetched.

HOWEVER,

{ 💭 continued in comments.. }

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Here’s to Sunday. May you find shade beneath a green tree, an easy inhale, and a moment to yourself.

Today’s #sundaycollage is shared from the following accounts:
@sketchesbyboze
@charleston.travel
@womeninworldhistory
@lawofattractionlive
@verbatim.books
@obviousstate
@katiegrossbard
@bbcnews
@dirtyhistorian
@thebeeandthefox
@jimmy.nelson.official
@katiegrossbard
@oneawkwardmom
@dr.logvinsky
@inkcapjournal
@jendulacdesign
@ms.bea.kind
@green4ema
@anneofgreengablesofficial
@by.thepoets

#sunday #sundayvibes #quotes #life

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Last Christmas, I pulled a tin of @republicoftea blackberry sage tea out of my stocking. Santa’s elf (my mom) knew I liked that flavor, but she didn’t know I used to drink it almost daily during my college summers slinging lattes at the Ground Floor.

June is iris season, park yoga season, blackberry sage weather. Every time I savor a cup, I’m transported back two decades and also fully, happily present in this moment. Time is a kaleidoscope. 🩷☕️🌿 #tealover #memories #summervibes

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Create your own path
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Nothing speaks to us like great literature. This collection of 100 postcards shows graphic adaptation of the greatest literary quotes of all time. (Above quote by Henrik Ibsen)
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Available in our shop (link in bio)
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#booksetc #postcardset #mondaymotivation #bibliophile

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4.30.26 Closing out Dawn’s birthday month with a delicious and colorful sunset dinner at Monica’s. Dawn you bring vibrant color to all of our lives. Blessed for the friendship of my beautiful friends.❤️#birthdaygirl

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Here are the books I read for the #TransRightsReadathon (#TRR26).

I am just finishing up 2 of them, but since the majority of the books were read within the readathon timeframe I am counting them. So I reached my goal and will be donating $100 to @spectrumwaterlooregion.

How many books were you able to read for the readathon? What was your favourite read?

I enjoyed all of my book choices. However, as a classics fan I really loved This Wretched Beauty, by Elle Grenier, which is a beautifully poetic retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

[ID: a stack of five books sits on top of a plaid red, cream, and green scarf. The scarf is draped over a small, white bookshelf. To the right of the books is a framed art print and a 3D printed whale shark. On top of the books is a pink masquerade mask.]

Hashtags: #Bookstack #MarchReads #BooksAndArt A stack of five books sit on top of a cream, red, and green plaid scarf. The scarf is draped over a small, white bookshelf. To the right of the stack is a framed art print featuring the white silhouette of a woman holding a fan and the words, "Still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling. Edgar Allan Poe". In front of the print is a blue 3D printed whale shark. On top of the book stack is a pink masquerade mask. The books, from top to bottom, are pop classics it's only forever. labyrinth by Jes Battis, Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen, This Wretched Beauty by Elle Grenier, The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill, and Victories Greater than Death by Charlie Jane Anders.

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📚#BOOKREVIEW 📚
{#giftedbook @aaknopf }

There is something so special and magical about reading Ishiguro’s books for the first time. The way his writing seems so sparse, offering little by little, is something I both love and hate about his style. @jjoongie said it is best to go in blind when reading his books, and I agree.💔

While his writing and the unraveling of his novels take time and patience, each page makes you feel a multitude of emotions, mostly bleak ones. By the time you finish, you are left pondering life, humanity, and especially love.

Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m smart enough to fully comprehend his stories or the deeper moral of the book. But I love that he seems to trust his readers as he slowly reveals more and more, trusting that we will feel the emotional weight of his novels. He never explains. He simply lets you sit with the questions and wonder.

In KLARA AND THE SUN, Klara is an Artificial Friend (AF) who receives nourishment from the Sun. When she is chosen to be Josie’s AF, she is finally able to leave the store and become a friend and companion to her. From there, we slowly learn about Josie and her world, Rick, and what it means to be human. What it means to love.

I did get a bit bored in the middle of the book, but then the story delivers big revelations. Suddenly, you are left with questions like:

❤️What does it mean to love someone? Do we love their personality or their mannerisms? Do we love their heart, even if we cannot truly see it?

❤️What does it mean to be human? Why, with all these technological advances, do we feel lonely? Which led me to think of how the digital world, living in such a tech-heavy world is leading to more and more loneliness.

Doesn’t that mean we humans need human interaction, connection? We need nourishment from going outside, “touching the grass?” We need to do things that makes us feel big emotions, something AI cannot truly replicate.

{💬 continued in comments.. }

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#poetsofinstagram #poetry #empowerment #writerssupportingwriters Photo shared by Angelica L.N. Garcia 🌹Writer 🕊 on March 07, 2026 tagging @obviousstate, and @official_oneus. May be a black-and-white image of ‎magazine, newspaper, poster, book and ‎text that says '‎عم Women Writers COLLECTED COLLECTEDWORKEGRC COLLECTEDWDRKEGEFOEMS DWDRKS FOEMS My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, ny foes, and oh, my friends- -it gives a lovely light! EBHA IT. INCENT MFLLAY The Future is only dark from outside Leap into it, and it explodes with Light. MINA LOY BECOTE a voice. SAPPHO‎'‎‎.

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One week until The Great Gatsby with @edor42! 💚

📷: @obviousstate

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Adding to my Lord of the Rings collection with the most gorgeous 3 year diary inspired by Bilbo’s notebook, the Red Book of the Westmarch 📕

Thanks for making this a reality @insighteditions ❤️

Also loving my cute Women Writers desk calendar from @obviousstate 🖤 it was a lovely gift from my in laws, truly inspiring quotes each month to help my writing flow 🖋️

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It’s time for Kaffee Klatch with Ray! Come and join me as we talk about #life, #theCouncilofFrogs @second.at.best #emilydickenson @obviousstate #raydeforest #KaffeeKlatsch Come and join me for a cuppa

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