There's been a lot of lists floating around twitter of 100 books of a particular genre, or of a particular level of 'literary' merit.
Well, this is my list.
If you don't like it, make your own.
In no particular order:
1 Exquisite Corpse, Poppy Z Brite
2 Lost Souls, Poppy Z Brite
3 Call Me By Your Name, Andre Aciman
4 Leash, Jane DeLynn
5 The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
6 Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Eric Larocca
7 The Last of the Wine, Mary Renault
8 I, Claudius, Robert Graves
9 Sarah, JT LeRoy
10 Dogs of War, Adrian Tchaikovsky
11 Moby Dick, Herman Melville
12 Dead Silence, SA Barnes
13 Ghost Ride, Hope Zane
14 Dark Rise, CS Pacat
15 All Systems Red, Martha Wells
16 Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time, KM Szpara
17 The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
18 Everyone On the Moon is Essential Personnel, Julian K Jarboe
19 The Willows, Algernon Blackwood
20 To Be Taught If Fortunate, Becky Chambers
21 Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake
22 Deerskin, Robin McKinley
23 A Dowry of Blood, ST Gibson
24 The Putrescent Vein, Dorian Bridges
25 The Wingspan of Severed Hands, Joe Koch
26 The Faerie Hounds of York, Arden Powell
27 The Monster of Elendhaven, Jennifer Giesbrecht
28 The Apple Tree Throne, Premee Mohumad
29 An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon
30 The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
31 Slippery Creatures, KJ Charles
32 The First Man In Rome, Colleen McCullough
33 A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine
34 Mexican Gothic, Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
35 Psycho, Robert Bloch
36 Under the Pendulum Sun, Jeanette Ng
37 The Crows, CM Rosens
38 Ritual, David Pinner
39 Dear Laura, Gemma Amor
40 Here, the World Entire, Anwen Kya Hayward
41 The Orange Eats Creeps, Grace Krilanovich
42 Death in Venice, Thomas Mann
43 Philip and Alexander, Adrian Goldsworthy
44 The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
45 Babel, RF Kuang
46 As Simple as Hunger, D Des Anges
47 Heavy, D Des Anges
48 The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit, Storm Constantine
49 God's War, Kameron Hurley
50 Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee
51 Perdido Street Station, China Miéville
52 Midnight Sun, Stephanie Meyer
53 Damascus, Christos Tsiolkas
54 Penhallow, Georgette Heyer
55 Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss
56 Valiant, Holly Black
57 Interview With the Vampire, Anne Rice
58 The Secret History, Donna Tartt
59 Flowers in the Attic, Virginia Andrews
60 Generals Die in Bed, Charles Yale Harrison
61 Picnic at Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsay
62 Dune, Frank Herbert
63 Red Dragon, Thomas Harris
64 The Fifth Season, NK Jemisin
65 A Kiss Before Dying, Ira Levin
66 Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
67 Orlando, Virginia Woolf
68 The Tommyknockers, Stephen King
69 Midnight in Chernobyl, Adam Higgenbothem
70 Strain, Amelia C Gormley
71 Sons of Devils, Alex Beecroft
72 Carnivore, Jonathan Lyon
73 Passchendaele, Paul Ham
74 Let the Dead Bury their Dead, Randall Keenan
75 Angel Mage, Garth Nix
76 The Long Walk, Stephen King
77 The Black Jewels Trilogy, Anne Bishop
78 Huge Rat Comforts Himself With Lies, Mikko Harvey
79 The Two-Headed Calf, Laura Gilpin
80 Sisters of the Vast Black, Lina Rather
81 Your Mind is a Terrible Thing, Hailey Piper
82 Vagabonds!, Eloghosa Osunde
83 The Boy in the Dress, Jonathan Butler
84 Salome, Oscar Wilde
85 Macbeth, Shakespeare
86 Killing for Company, Brian Masters
87 The Stranger Beside Me, Anne Rule
88 The Dawn of Everything, David Graeber & David Wengrow
89 Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
90 The Trauma Cleaner, Sara Krasnostein
91 Iron Widow, Ciran Jay Zhao
92 Kursk, Robert Moore
93 The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben
94 Spectred Isle, KJ Charles
95 The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
96 Catch-22, Joseph Heller
97 Dead Europe, Christos Tsiolkas
98 All I See is Mud, Andrew Dunkley
99 To Hell and Back, Sydney Loch
100 The Wicked Boy, Kate Summerscale
How's that for a list of 100 books that fuck!
orig
Because I've seen you discuss nutrition & basic life skills: do you know of any trustworthy websites/resources that teach food safety? I learned all my cooking info from my mom, but she doesn't believe food poisoning is real, so tldr I've realized that some things that I learned/do are unsafe. (Eating disorder cw) I have tried to find online resources but searching for food safety has led me to some psychologically unsafe results, hence asking a person instead. (1/2)
(2/2) thank you if you can help, and no worries if you can't; either way, thank you for all of the advice that you have shared with all of us on here!
Okay so for good basic food safety you probably want to start with something simple, and the FDA has you covered!
This is the very, very basic introduction to major food safety concepts.
Here is some more in-depth information about food safety in the home kitchen.
Here is food safety information for young adults who might be doing most of their food shopping and cooking on their own for the first time.
Here is a more in-depth selection of food safety topics.
If you're interested in getting a better handle on this stuff, you might want to consider taking a food handler certification course online. In many US states you have to pass a food handler certification course in order to work in restaurants, so there are good, comprehensive online courses and assessments available at a fairly low cost ($15). ServSafe is one of the major companies that offers these courses.
Here's a basic video on food safety:
There are actually many kinds of food-borne illnesses that we call "food poisoning." It sounds like it's difficult to deal with someone who doesn't think it's real, but that's a more common attitude than you might think.
If you'd like to learn more about food poisoning, here's a video about how the FDA tracks outbreaks of food-borne illness:
And here's a video for doctors discussing how to handle and recognize food-borne illnesses:
Anyway I'm glad you like the blog, and you have correctly guessed that I am PRETTY SERIOUS about food safety, so I'm glad I could share some resources about it! I hope this helps!
I wish kinky sex ed wasn't so stigmatized even among left-leaning "sex positive" circles. Everyone's all "uwu I'm a sub I'll do anything you ask" okay mommy wants you to read The New Bottoming Book so you learn how to sub without hurting yourself since your sex ed up to this point is porn and your ex boyfriend Jared who liked to choke you incorrectly
So you don’t have to watch the video every time you need one of these hacks immediately:
1. If you feel nauseated, smell rubbing alcohol.
2. If you feel like throwing up, start humming.
3. If you have a runny nose, put your tongue to the roof of your mouth and press your thumb to your forehead for about 20 seconds.
4. If you have a headache, pinch the webbing between your fingers and rub it back and forth for about 1 minute.
5. If you’re lightheaded from standing up too quickly, clench your butt cheeks.
6. If your arm’s dead/has the pins and needles feeling, rock your head back and forth.
7. If you need to pee badly, think of sex to trick your brain and relieve the pressure.
8. If you have a migraine, stick your hands in ice water.
9. If you wanna calm your racing heart, blow on your thumb.
Midnight Train is a well crafted narrative-driven mystery horror adventure where a spooky train takes a deadly detour.
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This isn’t funny like most of my story posts but enough people have asked some for my opinions about lubricants and general tips that I figured I’d do a little master post about it.
I’m not a doctor! I just worked in a sex shop for several years and picked up a bunch of helpful nuggets, here they are.
All the links will be funny stories though, if you’re looking for a laugh.
Silicone Lube Pros: This stuff is the energizer bunny of lubricant. A very small amount goes a really long way and cannot be absorbed into the body. For anal, those experiencing vaginal dryness, or just really good penetrative sex between partners silicone is wonderful. Silicone is also extremely inert and by itself cannot cause yeast infections or allergic reactions*. Doesn’t taste or smell of anything.
*Some manufactures may add things to silicone to cut costs that could negatively impact genitals, read ingredients.
Silicone Lube Cons: Not safe with toys. Silicone lube can bond to silicone toys, this is basically always terrible. Because of its nature it can be very difficult to clean up, rags might be necessary as water will not help you much. This lubricant can feel very thin to some people who might prefer a more substantial feel. Also it can stain clothes or bedding in large quantities so having a dedicated sex blanket or towel can save sheets.
Favorite Brand: Pjur. Spendier but best overall feeling to me, nice and silky and a single bottle will last ages.
Water Based Pros: This lube is the work horse and skeleton key of lube. If you never want to worry about what bottle you reach for, water based always has your back. It’s safe with toys, condoms, you name it. It comes in a variety of thicknesses and viscosity, there’s truly a water based lube for every preference.
Water Based Cons: Tragically, we are made of water. Human bodies love to absorb the water part of this equation, meaning it needs to be reapplied more frequently. For certain activities or bodies it’s nicer to have a lube that doesn’t need quite so much reapplication. Additionally you have to be careful of what ingredients* get added, many cost saving ones are a yeast infection in a bottle.
*Never use Astroglide, KY, or Vaseline, they bank on brand recognition and make the shittiest lube in feel, performance, and body safety. Glycerin or glycol is always a red flag ingredient for vaginal use.
Favorite Brand: Earthly bodies WaterSlide. There are So Many water based options that it’s hard to pick. This was my go to because it has a pretty okay feel but its ingredients list is short and to the point with nothing offensive like glycol to watch out for. It rehydrates very nicely if you lick it, it doesn’t throw off vaginal pH, and it’s inexpensive and easy to get. Even Walmart has it.
Hybrid Lube Pros: As the name suggests this is like silicone and water based had a baby. This lubricant has more body than a traditional silicone while being much more long lasting than a water based on its own. It cleans up easier than silicone and is still a good option for any type of sex except toys.
Hybrid Lube Cons: Still not safe to use with toys. That’s basically it. It’s pretty great.
Favorite Brand: Sliquid. I love their hybrid, it feels very nice with more substance than a silicone on its own and they’re a very nice brand overall in every category.
Oil Based Pros: Oil based is almost always on hand in either olive or coconut oil, it’s second only to silicone in butt stuff territory and some people prefer oil. Like the Roman Empire, which, I can’t blame them. Tastes and smells pretty nice.
Oil based Cons: Cannot be used with condoms. Kind of a big deal! Using condoms with anal is still a good idea but oil based lost favor when it turned out it destroys the most common modern prophylactic. Additionally oil can mess with vaginal pH. Anecdotally I’ve had people tell me it was infection after infection and others who only ever used oil. Similar to silicone, tough to clean up.
Favorite Brand: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ve never had personal experience with them and I don’t know which way to steer you, sorry. Messing with condoms mean that this lube has struggled commercially.
More Below, just don’t want this getting too long. (Also in case I need to add to this it’ll keep current version circulating if this blows up.)
Spermicidal lube: Truly terrible for you. It causes micro tears and irritation which open you up to more disease and infections, besides which it tastes repulsive and is not a very effective preventative. Just don’t.
Flavored lube: I really don’t recommend this? Good lube doesn’t taste like anything, I don’t see that this needs to exist. Vaginas do not like anything sugary in them, which all flavored lubes are by nature. For health reasons it’s extremely Inadvisable to eat out butts without protection. If you must use flavored lube on a vagina haver try to focus it on the clit and not internally.
Condoms come pre-lubricated but did you know: Most condom tearing is the result of insufficient lube inside the condom? For safer sex put a few extra drops of lube inside the condom to increase sensation and decrease risk of tearing
Don’t store them in your wallet. Your body heat will break down the condom much quicker than storing in a drawer. If you’re going to carry one grab it fresh for a date.
Condoms stretch but they need to be tight at the base. Tight however doesn’t meet cutting off circulation. That’s a cock ring. If you need to wear condoms I recommend trying a few singles to see what brand feels the best for your body.
There are lambskin condoms but I don’t recommend them at all. They cannot be tested for tears, they still transmit STIs and they feel like wax paper. Polyisoprene is better in virtually every way for those with allergies.
Most people suffer from low grade latex allergies making a lot of condoms unpleasant. Latex was the first material able to be tested for structural integrity (they run a small electrical charge through it to test for breakages, neat right?). However! A new material hit the market called polyisoprene. It passes all the same safety regulations as latex while being hypoallergenic and contains much lower odor which brings me to…
Favorite Brand: Skyns. These condoms are truly excellent, smell and taste of nothing, and are just as safe as latex! The best. Really.
Do not just stick a dick in a butt. Anal is about patience and many people have an awful first time. I cannot count the number of men who came in to ask, “How do I convince my girlfriend to do anal?” No. Start small, little plugs or fingers, and work your way up. Make sure things are relaxed and very very very like so very lubricated.
Do not. Ever. Numb your ass. Many products try to sell you on numbing your butt for anal. This is how emergency room trips happen. You need to listen to your butt, numbing it is how tearing happens.
Don’t rip out anal beads. I feel like it should be clear why ripping anything out of your body like you’re trying to start a chainsaw is a mistake but it bears repeating.
Butts. Will. Consume. Do not ever insert anything into your ass that doesn’t have a flared base. A flared base should have a perpendicular width of two inches to be safe. Don’t end up an ER horror story.
Of Love and Eternity is a beautiful retro styled horror game where a dead knight seeks his soulmate in purgatory.
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>First, we’ve discovered that about a quarter of all the internet connection in or out of the house were ad related. In a few hours, that’s about 10,000 out of 40,000 processed.
>We also discovered that every link on Twitter was blocked. This was solved by whitelisting the https://t.co domain.
>Once out browsing the Web, everything is loading pretty much instantly. It turns out most of that Page Loading malarkey we’ve been accustomed to is related to sites running auctions to sell Ad space to show you before the page loads. All gone now.
>We then found that the Samsung TV (which I really like) is very fond of yapping all about itself to Samsung HQ. All stopped now. No sign of any breakages in its function, so I’m happy enough with that.
>The primary source of distress came from the habitual Lemmings player in the house, who found they could no longer watch ads to build up their in-app gold. A workaround is being considered for this.
>The next ambition is to advance the Ad blocking so that it seamlessly removed YouTube Ads. This is the subject of ongoing research, and tinkering continues. All in all, a very successful experiment.
>Certainly this exceeds my equivalent childhood project of disassembling and assembling our rotary dial telephone. A project whose only utility was finding out how to make the phone ring when nobody was calling.
>Update: All4 on the telly appears not to have any ads any more. Goodbye Arnold Clarke!
>Lemmings problem now solved.
>Can confirm, after small tests, that RTÉ Player ads are now gone and the player on the phone is now just delivering swift, ad free streams at first click.
>Some queries along the lines of “Are you not stealing the internet?” Firstly, this is my network, so I may set it up as I please (or, you know, my son can do it and I can give him a stupid thumbs up in response). But there is a wider question, based on the ads=internet model.
>I’m afraid I passed the You Wouldn’t Download A Car point back when I first installed ad-blocking plug-ins on a browser. But consider my chatty TV. Individual consumer choice is not the method of addressing pervasive commercial surveillance.
>Should I feel morally obliged not to mute the TV when the ads come on? No, this is a standing tension- a clash of interests. But I think my interest in my family not being under intrusive or covert surveillance at home is superior to the ad company’s wish to profile them.
>Aside: 24 hours of Pi Hole stats suggests that Samsung TVs are very chatty. 14,170 chats a day.
>YouTube blocking seems difficult, as the ads usually come from the same domain as the videos. Haven’t tried it, but all of the content can also be delivered from a no-cookies version of the YouTube domain, which doesn’t have the ads. I have asked my son to poke at that idea.