#reading lists

I actually don't have a lot of literature recommendations on this, but I will open the floor to my beloved followers and mutuals for their recommendations.

What I will say is that, as with any reading, take everything with a grain of salt. One authors perspective is one authors perspective. Many authors have also made comments on their past publications and clarified or changed their opinions about the subject, admitting their shortcomings or past biases. No one book or article is the end all and be all.

Here they are as I initially wrote them. My top 10 novels:

10. My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

9. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

8. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

7. The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

6. Carrie by Stephen King (only king I've read.. I love him can't wait to read more)

5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

4. Middlemarch by George Elliot

3. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

2. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

1. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively

But then I think maybe I who have never known men needs to be on there, and convenience store woman but the guardian list was books published in English so I think I get away without these on a technicality? Also.. the kite runner.. could I bump something off and put the kite runner on here? My list so white that someone is going to make a devastating joke about it on tiktok and they'd be absolutely right. If I bump number 10 then I lose the only book that feels like one only I would have because it's less well known or less loved.. except maybe moon tiger. A book I freaking love.. it won the booker and I think it won the best booker prize winner of that decade too and now no one talks about it?? Maybe I should bump Carrie in favour of never let me go? I don't know if Carrie is one of the best books I've ever read.. I just really like it and I want king on there.

So there's some of the process of this as it went down in my brain. What I've learned is that it's really hard to do this! I am most confident about my top 4 in that I think they do reflect my top 4 books I've read so far in my life.. that were written in english. The others will change all the time and I'm left shrugging as to whether I've made the right choices.

Salman has me dialed in so far...

a friend recently asked me for book recs on the history of the gothic novel, so I thought I'd throw together a quick, non-exhaustive list of non-fiction recommendations:

The Gothic by Fred Bottling: roughly 200 pages long, this book is such a great introduction to the gothic and its many iterations since its emergence in the mid-18th century. very accessible, gives you a good overview rather than very specificized or niche depth.

The Contested Castle: Gothic Novels and the Subversion of Domestic Ideology by Kate Ferguson Ellis: Focusing especially on the emergence of the middle-class female reading audience in the 18th century, Ellis traces the direct connection between the growing idealization of the home/domestic sphere and the popularity of the Gothic genre (women, importantly, were the primary consumers of Gothic fiction!)

Colonial and Post Colonial Gothic: The Carribean by Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert: a really fantastic article which highlights the role of imperialism, colonialization, and slavery within the early Gothic genre. I found the full PDF online -- please enjoy!

The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction: another really fantastic collection of essays which outline the history and the progression of the gothic across time (from the 1700's to the present) and space (starting in Great Britain than moving through and across the Atlantic). Like Bottling's text, this book would serve as a great critical introduction for those new to the genre.

Monster Culture (Seven Theses) by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen: this essay isn't strictly about the gothic, but it gives a useful and very popular framework for how to culturally and critically interpret the monster which lends itself very helpfully, i think, with studying Gothic texts. full article available here.

The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar: again, not strictly about the Gothic but still a worthwhile book to check out. at 700 pages, this is a tome of critical essays. some of it is a bit outdated, i don't personally agree with some of their interpretations (but that, arguably, makes their criticism all the more useful!) -- I don't think you need to read this entire book if you're not inclined, but their interpretations of Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights is worth skimming if you're interested in a feminist analysis of these gothic and gothic-adjacent texts.

There's Beginner Recs, A Recommended list, a spreadsheet with a few cool things and an additional 4 for some relationships I really like. Unfortunately they're just Post-Crisis for the time being.

It's pretty simple. All his pre-crisis appearances are going to be as Quicksilver.

National Comics (1940) #5-#70 is his entire Golden Age run.

After that, I don't believe you see him until post-crisis as Max Mercury in the DC universe.

I also feel like it's important to note that as Quicksilver he has NOTHING to do with DC. He is not affiliated with Superman or Batman or anyone, he is a solo hero in National Comics and is basically an entirely different character (it is unclear if he even has speed powers they come and go it's a whole thing). He doesn't even have a real name, he's just this weirdo that bounces between being Bugs Bunny and Zorro.