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violetephemera.bsky.social
Teacher, ex-academic, avid reader, houseplant keeper, and cat person. PhD in Victorian literature and science 📚 🐈 🌻🍉
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Book 4 of 2025 📚💙 The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, which I wanted to like more, based on its first half, but the second half was missing the same emotional depth. Family dramas are more often misses than hits for me, so it's very much a taste issue, rather than the writing or story itself.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

A terrarium I made from a salvaged coffee pot in December is a success, with new leaves on all the plants: pepperomia red ripple, hoya Matilde, and Geogenanthus ciliatus. They're high-humidity plants that weren't thriving in regular pots, so it was a relief to see them finally growing. #plantsky

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

Book 3 of 2025 📚💙 is "Death of the Author" by Nnedi Okorafor, a novel about so many things: authorship, creativity, family, belonging, self-acceptance... I was engrossed for weeks in the dual narratives of Zelu and Ankara, then that final twist hit - amazing!

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

Snowed in for the weekend, with more snow expected. The ice is so thick that the road feels like a pot-holed country driveway. Here's a picture of my cat, Ivy, who's happy I can't go anywhere.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

Book 2 of 2025! 💙📚 "The Apple-Tree Throne" by Premee Mohamed, a ghost story with a clever twist that asks, what is the real cause of horror, the ghost or his family? It reads like an Victorian Gothic story, but with the added treat of rich speculative worldbuilding.

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Volunteering at the local humane society is fun because I get to meet sweet creatures like Buttons here who, though shyly hiding in her cubby, is still eager for pets. For me, it's a way to help the community without further draining my energy. For the cats, it's the next step toward adoption.

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

My reading goal always includes "read more long books", though I resort to novellas, graphic novels, and poetry after a few weeks, like those who drop the gym routine by February. But I have to remind myself that longer isn't better, and longer novels don't make a person more intelligent.

submitted 35 days ago • 1 comment

My first book of the year! 📚💙 I received There are Rivers in the Sky as a gift and was pleasantly surprised with the writing, especially the well-researched Victorian chapters. I might try another of Shafak's novels in the future.

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

I promise to begin posting regularly soon! It's the end of the semester at work, so I'm mired in a pile of student essays. They're pretty good, but are consuming my time and energy. In a week or two, I'll be in a better place to get involved here. 😊

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments