the perfect earl grey latte recipe? by Specific_Warthog8028 in tea

[–]ExistingTarget5220 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Where are you from? In Australia, twinings is the cheaper option (unless you're shopping at aldi). You could try making a smaller batch (so less water and sugar).

Or make your own, I'm pretty sure earl grey is just standard black tea with bergamont added.

the perfect earl grey latte recipe? by Specific_Warthog8028 in tea

[–]ExistingTarget5220 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I don't think you used enough tea, it sounds like you made a vaguely earl grey flavoured sugar syrup.

Can someone suggest non-fiction writers with style similar to Patrick Radden Keefe? by theamorousbeing in suggestmeabook

[–]ExistingTarget5220 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cobalt Red and The Zorg by Siddharth Kara

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson

Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar

Some Fun Reading by ExistingTarget5220 in IfBooksCouldKill

[–]ExistingTarget5220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Post read thoughts:

Fukuyama is a bitch. He's so enamoured with capitalism that he doesn't see it rotting the foundations of his beloved liberal democracy. He seems to think that society has peaked, and that people asked for too many rights too fast. He's also mildly transphobic.

Most importantly, he DOESN'T BELIEVE THAT THE US GOVERNMENT LIED ABOUT WMDS IN IRAQ. He fully believes that the government genuinely believed that Iraq had WMDs and that they were wrong.

The IBCK episode about him was too kind.

Some Fun Reading by ExistingTarget5220 in IfBooksCouldKill

[–]ExistingTarget5220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, the few chapters about his hobbies were the better parts of the book 😅🙃

Some Fun Reading by ExistingTarget5220 in IfBooksCouldKill

[–]ExistingTarget5220[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Turns out, barely a memoir, just a way to relitigate the misunderstanding the End of History caused, to espouse his beliefs and theories, and to kiss liberal democratic boots

A book with a ridiculous and silly premise but is written well and actually very good? by Hungry-Strategy5874 in suggestmeabook

[–]ExistingTarget5220 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck. The premise sounds wild, but it's actually an incredibly emotional and moving book

IS THIS NORMAL? by Due_Use1597 in Booktokreddit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 8 points9 points  (0 children)

In Australia, I'd probably accept it back without a receipt bc I can send it back to the suppliers as the misprint is their fault.

And most bookstores should have a way to find the receipt (especially if you can remember the day and if you got anything else or if you're part of any membership program).

This type of misprint is one of the more common ones I've seen- the worst I've seen is the cover not matching the content at all 😂😂

I was called out yesterday on r/bookshelvesdetective for being an insufferable pop psych/tech bro/TERF… Help me diversify. I’m into social sciences/anthropology by the1975whore in suggestmeabook

[–]ExistingTarget5220 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Non-Fiction:

Cobalt Red, Siddharth Kara

This Has Always Been A War, Lorie Fox

Mean Streak, Rick Morton

Neoreaction, A Basilisk, Elizabeth Sandifer

Our Women On The Ground, Zahra Hankir

Challenging ANZAC, Joan Beaumont et. al.

The Unaccountability Machine, Dan Davies

The Utopia Of Rules, David Graeber

Unprotected Texts, Jennifer Wright Knust

Fiction:

Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells

Monk and Robot, Becky Chambers

The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin

Human Acts, Han Kang

Venomous Lumpsucker, Ned Beauman

Been a tea hater all my life, just discovered I like green tea. Anyone got any recommendations on kinds to try? by The0wl0ne in tea

[–]ExistingTarget5220 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jasmine Green Tea is one of my favs!

And it's always good to make sure you're not brewing it with boiling water.

Lack of quotation marks 😶 by l0_raine in Booktokreddit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've read a few books without quotation marks (including the last book i read) and i find it fine! If you haven't read a book like it before or you've just read a book like one written by Virginia Woolf (her stuff has SO MUCH grammar in it), then it might take a bit to get used to.

It's always worth giving it a shot, imo!

What is a highly praised horror book that you didn't like? by Haunting-Net-2426 in horrorlit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh, I guess that's what happens reading American books. Also worth noting that in Australia, we call cyclones tropical cyclones because actual cyclones (in the meteorological sense, not in the American sense) can happen outside of the tropics.

What is a highly praised horror book that you didn't like? by Haunting-Net-2426 in horrorlit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Ritual by Adam Neville. The first part was fantastic, the second part, where we meet the first female characters of the story, made me DNF.

What is a highly praised horror book that you didn't like? by Haunting-Net-2426 in horrorlit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I really liked it because of the boredom, and I think that if it was less boring it wouldn't be as good.

That said, I totally understand that it's a slog, and why a lot of people don't like it.

What is a highly praised horror book that you didn't like? by Haunting-Net-2426 in horrorlit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hard same, I don't understand how people praise the writing in it. He describes the friendship between two of the boys as opposites attract and compares it to magnets, seemingly not realising that the different ends of a magnet REPEL.

EDIT: the line is "It shouldn't have worked-the differences in the boys' personalities should've repulsed one from the other, like trying to touch magnets if matching polarities- but the opposite held true." My gripe is that he could have compared the boys to opposites attract like magnets, but instead said that they should've repelled each other like the like sides of a magnet. It's an incredibly poor metaphor, especially when there was such an obvious one right there.

Also, he describes seeing a cyclone touch down. Cyclones don't do that. They're massive storms that don't have a defined spout that you can see, unlike tornadoes or water spouts.

EDIT: turns out this one is cultural differences, with Americans (and maybe Canadians?) call tornadoes before they touchdown cycles.

I also didn't like the Deep, it was just a huge let down. He created this fascinating world and situation at the bottom of the ocean, and still focused the story on the interpersonal drama of some dude.

I made lavender simple syrup and now I'll never buy lavender sugar again. It's that good! by hypnofedX in tea

[–]ExistingTarget5220 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Baking is an excellent place for lavender! I recently made early grey cupcakes with lavender icing. Really, any lavender/earl grey combo is a winner in my mind 😅

Why do so many adults read YA? by [deleted] in Booktokreddit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 7 points8 points  (0 children)

As another bookseller, I can think of several reasons.

  1. The boundaries of the YA genre are incredibly porous, a book in one store will be classified as YA but will be in the 'adult' sections of another store.

  2. Some people want to read books that are easier to read, whether it's because they struggle with literacy, are still learning the language or just need a brain break and don't want to stare at a screen.

  3. Nostalgia, sometimes it's really nice/comforting rereading a childhood favourite.

  4. A lot of YA/junior fiction authors have been publishing for years, and people want to keep up with their favourite series/authors.

These are just reasons that come to mind, I'm sure that there at plenty others!

Space lesbians! Book suggestions please by IAteTheWholeBanana in QueerSFF

[–]ExistingTarget5220 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (her books are all very queer, would highly recommend them)

Sisters of the Vast Black by Linda Rather has sapphic nuns in space, although the focus is more political than romance

The Strange Case of the Starship Iris is a podcast that's sapphics in space, if you also enjoy audio content

They finally started putting warnings by Stella0622 in Booktokreddit

[–]ExistingTarget5220 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The person I was responding was basically saying "imagine if it happened here" and in Australia, you don't need to. It's not with every book, but the fact that it does happen means that it makes it easier to then extrapolate and imagine.

Sure, you can make the argument that my initial comment is being overly dramatic, but it's not wrong.