Some northeastern US accents do something similar. Not sure the exact term for it but it is a linguistic thing. Words that end in A get turned into an R sound, like Emma sounding like Emmer.

I don’t have one particular favorite, but up there is Akwaeke Emezi, who wrote Freshwater and The Death of Vivek Oji (among many, many others). Something about their writing style just sings to my soul.

deleted by creator

I loved I’m Glad My Mom Died! It was my favorite memoir of 2022 for sure.

Yeah of course the comment on who likes/dislikes it isn’t universal, it’s just something I heard mentioned at some point.

I’m someone who can struggle with minutae like what I mentioned in the spoiler section, so that’s probably a big part of why I disliked it. Like I said, I do understand why so many people like it - Gabrielle Zevin has great prose and the overall character development is interesting and compelling. I just struggled with some parts.

I’m glad you liked it!

I recently finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and while I can see why other people enjoyed it, it was not for me.

I’ll list two, nonfiction and fiction.

For nonfiction, I’d have to say How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair. It’s a memoir of a woman who grew up in a strict Rastafari household in Jamaica. Safiya is a poet and she has a beautiful command of language that makes her descriptions lyrical, haunting, or painful as needs be. However, if you generally need content warnings I would highly recommend looking them up for this book because she does not pull any punches.

For fiction, my favorite would probably be Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (Storygraph went down in the middle of me writing this lol, will edit the link in later). It’s a lovely fantasy novel set in an alternate Earth where fae are real. You follow a Dryadologist as she works on documenting a rare type of fae while she works on her encyclopaedia of faeries (hence the title lol). I enjoyed being in Emily’s head as she worked through the problems presented to her, and as she interacted with her colleague.

I have been reading the Wheel of Time series for the first time (by Robert Jordan). Currently starting Crown of Swords, book 7.

Recently placed a request in my library for the following, hopefully they’ll be coming in within the next week:

• How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

• Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

I’m from America so of course our literary classics are pretty widely known in the western world, so I’m going to recommend something a bit more niche: There There by Tommy Orange. It shines light on many different aspects of the Native American experience, specifically in Oakland, California. It covers addiction, poverty, culture, and heritage in a way that I (not Native myself) found moving.

I have 3 cross stitch projects I’m working on right now.

This first one is actually finished, but I need to get around to washing and framing it. It was a Christmas present for my father, so hopefully I can get it done soon 😅 It’s of Zion National Park which is in Utah, and is one of his favorites. The pattern is by Awesome Pattern Studio

This next one is a silly one that I started last pride month and has been sitting at about 80% done for a year, so I intend to finish this pride month - the bi pride opossum. Just need to finish the foliage. The pattern is by Studio Ansitru

Finally my monster WIP, the 2021 stitchalong from Modern Folk Embroidery. Hoping to get this one done within this year. Since it’s only 2 colors it actually works up pretty quickly. Pattern is by Modern Folk Embroidery

Those are all of my WIPs for now. I have the materials for another project on order and possibly arriving on Friday.

Margaret Atwood’s Dearly helped me through a time of grief.

Danez Smith’s Don’t Call Us Dead is a collection that deals with police violence against black people, and about AIDS in the queer community. One poem in it made me instantly cry.