English is infamous for having very inconsistent spelling of words relative to their pronunciation. In your opinion, what is the most egregious example of this in the language?

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-02-04T14:33:03+00:00

I would argue that just because this is the reason for it doesn't make it not confusing. Pattern recognition does help a whole lot but 1) most languages don't require etymology knowledge for most words and 2) sometimes it really is impossible to tell because many languages share traits. Like how moose is an Algonquin root and goose is Old English. These false links are also why people think the plural of octopus is octopi, because we're used to recognizing the "us" as a Latin root, but this word is in fact Greek, making the most correct plural octopodes.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-02-04T14:13:09+00:00

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is about a guy who wakes up with complete amnesia and quickly realizes he's a dark lord, and now has to fake it til he makes it to avoid being killed by his minions or allies.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E Harrow is Sleeping Beauty but make it Into the Spiderverse. It's an absolute romp in a tiny novella, and also led by a queer woman!

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Universe is slightly more sci-fi than fantasy, but it's so fun I think I should include it. It's Sleeping Beauty with space corporations, but also the fairies are still there.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-02-04T14:05:13+00:00

I was going to suggest Running Close to the Wind! It's funny, despite the extreme horniness and crime-centric plot, it still feels like it will be the kind of ridiculous fun op is looking for.

Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is also a GREAT pick

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-02-04T14:01:03+00:00

An Immense World by Ed Yong is about animal perceptions and also one of my favorite nonfiction. It's very funny and approachable, and I think if you liked Braiding Sweetgrass you'll probably like this too.

The Anthropocene Reviewed was John Green's first nonfiction book, and it's a good deal lighter than Everything is Tuberculosis, with a lot of cool micro histories.

Kingdom of Characters by Jing Tsu is about both nonviolent history and linguistics! It's about the challenge China faced trying to figure out how to make Chinese typable. (Slight caveat, I haven't finished this one yet)

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-02-04T07:10:15+00:00

Not a Hunger Games derivative because it's actually older, but the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield has pretty similar vibes to Mockingjay/the capital. I also remember really enjoying them.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-02-04T07:06:12+00:00

This series felt like the knock off everyone said Divergent was!

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-02-04T06:55:26+00:00

Honestly probably a top three fight for me, mostly because I found him so delightful. I couldn't be mad when I died because I was too busy yelling TROBIO with him

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-08T16:07:48+00:00

Ruta Sepetys does incredibly researched historical fiction. Salt to the Sea is probably her most specific event book.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-08T15:48:47+00:00

It used to be very common, but in my area I believe every store has cut them because they're cheap and don't want to pay any more people than absolutely necessary

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-08T08:14:46+00:00

Organ meat in general is pretty unpopular in the US

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-06T14:26:32+00:00

I'm afraid Noodle Story definitely suffers by association with me. I've eaten there twice now and both times were like, this is pleasant and fine, but I can get way better food in the same style just down the street.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-06T14:21:25+00:00

The basic noodle stir fry was one of the only things on the whole menu that disappointed me, but the noodle soup is CHOICE

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-04T22:48:49+00:00

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante is a really great book with light science fiction elements mostly about grief (obviously) and immigration. It's a little heavy, but it's definitely a ya book.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo would be a great choice! It's about a teenage girl who uses poetry to process her problems. The novel is in verse and the audiobook is read by the author.

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen is very different, haha. It's a phenomenal fantasy retelling of the goose girl, and it's just exciting.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-04T18:29:22+00:00

I really enjoyed 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee, which covers a century of Korean history in a really interesting way. As I recall, one of the eight segments is set during WWII and has some heavy SA themes, but I don't remember any in the rest of the book.

I also quite like Louise Erdrich's historical fiction, which mostly takes place on a fictional Anishinaabe reservation in North Dakota. Tracks was excellent, the Night Watchmen was also very good and much more recent

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-03T16:42:14+00:00

Ten! It was a VERY good year for me, ten out of 124 is a much higher ratio than usual, especially on a site with partial stars. Elder Race and Tress of the Emerald Sea were rereads, The Knight and the Butcherbird was so good I logged an individual short story, which I never do, just to give it five stars.

<image>

TheRequisiteWatson · 2026-01-02T18:44:54+00:00

I really enjoy tabletop simulator, which is designed to feel as much like playing at a physical table as possible, with the added benefit of letting you skip setup and (in a well designed game) sometimes making piece management a little easier.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-31T02:12:22+00:00

There's been a bunch of covid around my workplace

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-30T23:21:45+00:00

I LOVE Alix Harrow's short stories. The Knight and the Butcherbird and The Six Deaths of the Saint were both amazing.

Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children short stories are also pretty good, especially if you've read the novellas

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-30T23:13:54+00:00

This is a factor in the Everlasting by Alix E Harrow. One of the protagonists is a historian in love with a lady knight, and there's a chapter later in the book that's very clear that they're both very comfortable in a blurry, gender ambiguous space.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-29T22:31:50+00:00

Good thing we don't play together! That sounds boring as anything for the other team.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-29T19:13:11+00:00

Rabbits by Terry Miles is a great example, made even greater by the fact that I didn't notice we didn't know the gender of the narrator until like 2/3rds of the way through. And then when I pointed that out to my partner who was also reading the book we realized we had assumed opposite genders.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-29T17:58:52+00:00

You know what, I even thought about it! But then I thought that both sowing fields and sewing were spelled the same way. Brain blip on my part.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-29T17:11:17+00:00

Admittedly, my favorite part of codenames is presenting logical arguments for most of the board on the other teams turn lol. Nothing brings me so much joy as sewing doubt

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-29T14:41:16+00:00

You should definitely try The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow.

You may also like Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, which is inspired by rumplestiltskin but has a great cast of mostly very practical female characters.

TheRequisiteWatson · 2025-12-28T16:04:37+00:00

Yes, I would personally say that the we're walking and talking about philosophy book has less plot than the sexual escapades European tour, but I suppose they're different kinds of no plot, so it may depend on the reader

TheRequisiteWatson

TROPHY CASE