abgushte

@abgushte.bsky.social

405 Followers 488 Following

6'1" Amazon Princess, cat clowder caretaker, and lemonade enthusiast. Dabbler in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, weightlifting, highland games, and quad skates. Bookish and grannycore. M.Arts in Silly Goosery. She/her. https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/abgushte

The cover of Household Lore by Liza Frank

All 3 books of Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky Trilogy laid out on the floor: Black Sun, Fevered Star, and Mirrored Heavens. Text overlays indicate positive overall with some mixed feelings. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

**Left box (positives):**
- super interesting and original world building
- epic religious prophecy kinda like Dune ngl
- very diverse indigenous characters most of whom are badasses
- overall the ending was not disappointing

**Right box (criticisms):**
- sometimes the actions/motivations felt over explained and therefore forced
- Naranpa was a lil whiny b and then she became kinda cool but also weirdly useless
- weird Iktan fan service
- why does Okoa exist except to be thrown in the trash
- at many times felt like watching a very slow train wreck but then would go back on the rails

A text overlay also thanks Instagram user @whitandprose for recommending the trilogy

The cover of Tigest Girma’s debut novel “Immortal Dark”

The cover of Lisa Jewell’s novel “None of This Is True”

The cover of Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl

The cover of The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar

The cover of The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

The cover of The Fox Wife, a novel by Yangze Choo

A photo of a silly tall woman in shorts and a white tank open mouthed grinning next to her new black Hyundai IONIQ 5 in a parking lot. Her hands are placed on the hood and roof, declaring “this is all mine!”

The cover of This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

The cover of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness”

The cover of Callie Hart’s “Brimstone”

The cover of VE Schwab’s “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil”

The cover of The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley.

Angela Davis’s “Women Race & Class”

The cover of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The camera pans over a beach landscape showing the legs of the camera person laying in a hammock with The Priory of the Orange Tree at their side and the top of a bottle to stay hydrated. Khruangbin’s “Summer Madness” plays in lieu of the sounds of the beach.

The cover of The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson.

On a background of a cloudy Bahamas resort grounds through a slightly open patio door, an identified figure sits with their feet propped on a hotel chair and covered in a white down comforter. A book is open in their hand, and on a nearby table lies a bookmark and a to-go cup of coffee.

The original cover of Quicksilver by Callie Hart showing a brooding male with dark wavy hair covered in tattoos and a silver liquid falling from his left eye.

The cover of “The Fisherman: A Novel” by Josh Langan.

The cover of A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim.

The cover of Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by (Gerald) Brom. The illustration by the author is a painting of a woman with long red hair in a flower crown sitting astride a broom with the legs of a goat peaking out under her loose, torn chemise. She has holding the skull of a goat in her lap that is wearing a matching flower crown. An image of a full orange moon takes up the entire background with the witch centered in the foreground.

Playground satire
Even The Cat in the Hat had a political edge. In Jonathan Cott’s 1983 collection of interviews, Pipers at the Gates of Dawn, Seuss said in response to the suggestion that some of his books are subversive: “I’m subversive as hell! I’ve always had a mistrust of adults… Hilaire Belloc, whose writings I liked a lot, was a radical. Gulliver’s Travels was subversive, and both Swift and Voltaire influenced me. The Cat in the Hat is a revolt against authority, but it’s ameliorated by the fact that the cat cleans up everything in the end.” Spiegelman finds a precursor to the cat’s red-and-white striped hat in the headgear on the bird Seuss drew to depict the US in his political cartoons.

User Storygraph stats:
50 books
19,056 pages
Top genres - fantasy, romance, LGBTQIA+, historical, science fiction
Top authors - Naomi Novik, Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Average rating 4.14

A collage of 12 books:
A Deadly Education
Uprooted
The Bear and the Nightingale
Thorn Hedge
A Power Unbound
The Black Tides of Heaven
A Monsoon Rising
Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Buried Deep
Legendborn
Death of the Author
Deep End

Naomi Novik’s novel “The Golden Enclaves”, 3rd in the Scholomance trilogy

A Charmed Life by Dianna Wynne Jones

The cover of “Every Heart a Doorway” a novella by Seanan McGuire

“The Summer War” novella by Naomi Novik

The cover of the novel “Hammajang Luck” by Makana Yamamoto

The cover of the book “Uprooted” by Naomi Novik

The cover of Ali Hazelwood’s novel “Mate”

The cover of “Accomplice to the Villain” by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

A picture of a book titled “Water Moon: a novel” by Samantha Sotto Yambao.

A tall white woman wearing a lacy black top, black pleated mini skirt, black fishnets with thigh high socks attached to garters, and black high heeled platform loafers. A lacy choker with a dangling cameo between two delicate chains adorns her neck. She is wearing douyin style makeup with her dark hair in a high teased ponytail and large black bow. She is posing in front of a full length mirror to take photos of herself of her cellphone.

The cover of The Ex Hex, a novel by Erin Sterling

A photograph of the book Alchemised by SenLinYu with a blurry black cat in the background approaching smell a corner

A photo of the book Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The book is a black hard cover with a misty silhouette of a man on a rocky hillside. Is he looking menacingly upon us, or turned away in pensive reflection?

This is a photograph of a book lying on what appears to be a dark wooden surface. The book is “The Buffalo Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones, labeled as “A Novel” at the top. The cover features a dramatic close-up of a buffalo’s face in dark, moody tones, showing the animal’s eye, horn, and thick fur. The title “BUFFALO HUNTER” appears in large red block letters across the center, with “Hunter” written in an elegant red script font below it. At the bottom, the author’s name “STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES” is displayed in bold black letters. There’s also text indicating Jones is a “NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling Author of THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS.” A black cat’s paw is visible entering the frame from the right side of the image, partially covering the edge of the book, as if the cat is investigating or trying to interact with the book.

This image shows the cover of a hardcover book titled “Buried Deep and Other Stories” by Naomi Novik, who is identified as a New York Times bestselling author. The book has an elegant, fantasy-themed design with intricate decorative artwork.

The cover features a cream or off-white background with ornate blue and white illustrated borders that frame the text. The decorative elements include flowing, organic patterns with what appears to be flora and fauna - there are mushrooms, leaves, vines, and other natural motifs woven throughout the border design. At the top center of the ornamental frame, there’s what looks like a fierce creature or dragon head.

The author’s name “NAOMI NOVIK” appears in large red lettering at the top, followed by “NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR” in smaller black text. The title “BURIED DEEP” is prominently displayed in large red letters in the center, with “AND OTHER STORIES” in smaller black text below it.

The overall aesthetic is reminiscent of classic fairy tale or folklore book covers, with its intricate line art and fantasy elements creating an enchanting, storybook appearance. The book is photographed against what appears to be a gray carpet or fabric surface.

A romance novel cover that’s absolutely taking the piss out of itself, featuring “The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy” by Brigitte Knightley. The cover’s gone completely barmy with a hot pink border adorned with quills, potions, and other whimsical bits, surrounding two brooding characters who look like they’ve stepped straight out of a Jane Austen fever dream. There’s a woman in white giving off proper alchemist vibes with a mysterious potion, while her male counterpart sports the kind of silver hair and dark military jacket that screams “I’m definitely the sort of chap your mother warned you about.” The tagline cheekily declares “The best love stories begin with hate at first sight,” because apparently someone’s having a right laugh at the enemies-to-lovers trope. It’s romance novel camp at its most delightfully shameless.

This image shows the cover of “A Hunger Like No Other” by Kresley Cole, who is identified as a #1 New York Times bestselling author. The cover features dramatic fantasy artwork with a blonde woman with striking blue eyes in the foreground, and a dark, mysterious male figure behind her. The art style has flowing, dynamic elements with swirling colors in purples, blues, and teals, suggesting supernatural themes. There’s a prominent quote on a yellow circular background from Ali Hazelwood, also noted as a New York Times bestselling author, praising it as “The OG Alpha Werewolf + Vampire = Fated Mates romance, the one that started it all, the one that I always return to… look no further.” The overall design conveys this is a paranormal romance novel featuring werewolf and vampire characters.

This image shows the cover of a book titled “Under the Whispering Door” by TJ Klune, who is noted as a New York Times bestselling author of “The House in the Cerulean Sea.” The cover features a whimsical, stacked house with multiple colorful levels - including sections in red, yellow, and green - set against a dreamy blue-tinted forest background with tall trees. The title appears in large yellow lettering, and at the bottom of the cover is the tagline “Death is only their beginning.” The overall aesthetic has a magical, cozy fantasy feel with soft lighting and an enchanting atmosphere.

Behold “Butcher & Blackbird” by Brynne Weaver - a book cover that screams “romance with a body count.” The design is unapologetically hot pink and black, like someone dipped a Valentine’s card in blood and called it romantic.

The title sprawls across two crimson banners that look suspiciously like they’re dripping something you probably don’t want to identify. Scattered around like macabre confetti are pink silhouettes of flying birds (presumably the blackbirds, unless they’re vultures circling for dinner), tiny skulls that grin with the knowledge of terrible secrets, and what appears to be various implements that could either be kitchen utensils or… well, let’s just say they’re multipurpose tools.

At the bottom, two figures embrace atop a pink maze - because nothing says “true love” like finding each other while potentially disposing of evidence. The whole aesthetic suggests this is either a cookbook for the criminally romantic or a love story where “till death do us part” might be more of a threat than a promise.

The tagline “The Ruinous Love Trilogy” promises that this relationship will probably end with someone needing an alibi, and honestly, the hot pink skulls seem oddly cheerful about it.

This image shows two charming watercolor paintings of Totoro, the beloved forest spirit character from Studio Ghibli’s animated film “My Neighbor Totoro.” Both paintings are displayed on what appears to be a wooden surface.

The top painting depicts Totoro in a minimalist style against a white background. The character is rendered in soft gray watercolor washes, showing his round, pudgy body with his distinctive pointed ears and whiskers. A single green leaf is perched on top of a thin green stem that extends upward from his head, creating a whimsical umbrella-like effect. His characteristic belly markings are visible as lighter crescents on his gray form.

The bottom painting shows Totoro in a more detailed scene with a background wash of blues and earth tones. Here, Totoro appears to be sitting or resting, with the same green leaf positioned on his head. His expression is gentle and peaceful, with his small dark eyes and subtle mouth clearly visible. The cream-colored belly with its distinctive curved markings is prominently featured. The background suggests he might be in a forest setting, with various watercolor washes creating depth and atmosphere.

Both paintings capture the gentle, magical essence of the character through the soft, flowing nature of the watercolor medium, with the artist using a limited palette of grays, greens, and earth tones to create these endearing portraits.

Behold a most magical tome resting upon dark fabric like a spell book awaiting its reader! “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna sparkles with celestial wonder - golden stars and a crescent moon dance across a twilight sky of blues and purples. A cheerful witch in a sunny yellow dress soars through the air on her trusty broomstick, her dark hair flowing behind her like silk ribbons in the wind. Below, a charming Victorian house sits atop a mystical hill adorned with wildflowers in shades of purple and gold, while a bright yellow car winds up the magical path. A figure with golden hair and an armful of books tends to the enchanted garden at the hill’s base, surrounded by blooming flora that seems to shimmer with otherworldly energy. The cover promises “a warm and witchy hug of a book” according to author Tasha Suri’s endorsement, and indeed, this cover radiates the cozy magic of a perfect autumn evening when the veil between worlds grows thin and wonder fills the air.

The image shows a book cover lying on a blue fabric surface. The book is titled “How High We Go in the Dark” by Sequoia Nagamatsu. The cover features a sky-like background in shades of blue and white, with several golden celestial objects - including what appears to be a radiating sun in the center and various moon phases scattered around it. A “National Bestseller” badge appears in the upper right corner. At the bottom left, there’s a quote from NPR describing the book as “Ambitious… achingly poignant… an emotional roller coaster.” The author’s name appears in smaller text, and “a novel” is noted beneath the title.

**[DRAMATIC MOVIE TRAILER VOICE]**

In a world where books meet feline curiosity… ONE CAT dares to investigate the unknown!

*Thunder crashes*

From the shadows of a wooden floor, a MYSTERIOUS GRAY WARRIOR emerges! Four powerful paws surround the literary battleground - the New York Times Bestseller “LEGENDBORN” by Tracy Deonn!

*Suspenseful music builds*

With stealth precision, our feline protagonist positions themselves for the ultimate reconnaissance mission. Two paws flanking the left side… one paw claiming the right flank… and one strategic tail deployment for maximum intimidation!

*Epic orchestral swell*

The book’s cover glows with mystical blue and red energy, featuring a powerful young woman wielding otherworldly forces. Ancient symbols pulse with green light as magical creatures swirl in the background!

*Whispered dramatically*

Will the cat claim this tale of “grief, power, and self-discovery”? Will the secrets of the Legendborn be revealed? Or will this simply result in… the ultimate nap spot?

*Final booming voice*

THIS SUMMER… witness the most PURR-fect book review you’ve ever seen!

**“LEGENDBORN: FELINE EDITION” - Coming to a cozy reading nook near you!**

A hardcover book titled “Broken Souls and Bones” by LJ Andrews lies on a weathered wooden surface. The book features a striking blue cover with fantasy artwork depicting a person’s face partially obscured by an ornate, decorative dagger or blade. Blue flowers and foliage frame the composition. The subtitle reads “Enemy. Protector. Lover.” in smaller text below the main title. At the bottom, it identifies LJ Andrews as a “USA Today Bestselling Author of Curse of Shadows and Thorns.” The book’s spine appears to be a deep blue color matching the cover design.

"Zelu, listen to me. Today is a dark day. A dark, dark day." He pulled her face closer to his. "When you write your stories, you look into yourself and see into things. Be the writer today. Use that ability. You are the observer and the observed. You are the documentarian and the subject. You are the author and the reader. This is how you create. This is something you know how to do. Now let it be here for you. Do you understand?" She digested his words. After a moment, she felt relief.
"Bear witness," he said
She understood. She could protect herself from the despair that had been about to consume her. Not forever, but at least for this terrible day. It would get her through, even while she felt it all. After a few minutes, she said, "Okay. I'm ready."
He nodded. "Good. Let's go, then."

A sleek black cat lies stretched out on a cozy couch, resting its head directly on a closed book as if it has dozed off after a reading session. The couch is adorned with cat-themed throw pillows, including one featuring illustrated cats in soft green and beige tones, and another black and white striped pillow. The cat is positioned on what appears to be a gray blanket or throw, and warm sunlight streams across the scene, creating a peaceful, literary atmosphere that perfectly captures the moment when this studious feline grew sleepy and decided to use its book as a pillow.

Two black cats with bright green eyes sit close together behind a stack of six books on a wooden surface. The books are arranged from top to bottom: "Regarding the Pain of Others" by Susan Sontag, "Beauty" by McKinley, "The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels" by India Holton, "Empire of Sand" by Tasha Suri, "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood, and "The Heart Principle" by Helen Hoang. The cats appear curious and alert, with one cat's face slightly in front of the other. In the background, there are blurred items on a wooden table and what appears to be a bright ceiling light, creating a cozy indoor reading environment.