Ceallaigh
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ceallaigh.bsky.social
Ceallaigh
@ceallaigh.bsky.social
🏳️‍⚧️🧚🏻‍♂️ (she/they/fae)
📖𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈: fairytales, retellings, queer, folkhorror, gothic, litfic, Indigenous…
🏀🏒🏉🎿🎾
🧬DID, Autism
📍Piscataway + Nacotchtank land
Pinned
✨New Reading List:✨ Indigenous Literature—Sápmi // “Can you hear the sound of life / in the roaring of the creek / in the blowing of the wind / That is all I want to say / that is all…" - Nils-Aslak Valkeapää ❤️💙💛💚
open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
Indigenous Literature—Sápmi
“Can you hear the sound of life / in the roaring of the creek / in the blowing of the wind / That is all I want to say / that is all…" - Nils-Aslak Valkeapää
open.substack.com
Fyi re: usa's women's hockey team... (via: www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...) #Olympics
February 16, 2026 at 9:58 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ .75 - My tips for reading this book are 1: do the audiobook, 2: trust the author, & 3: the title is important on multiple levels. Now go enjoy the brilliance that is Erdrich’s literary mind!

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
THE MIGHTY RED by Louise Erdrich (2024)
★ ★ ★ ★ .75 - My tips for reading this book are 1: do the audiobook, 2: trust the author, & 3: the title is important on multiple levels. Now go enjoy the brilliance that is Erdrich’s literary mind!
open.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 9:02 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ - a stopover in London & occultist hijinx at the British Museum for book 5. I liked seeing more tension in the Emerson marriage tbh. It was cute. Ramses, however, remains the star of the show.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
THE DEEDS OF THE DISTURBER by Elizabeth Peters (1988)
★ ★ ★ ★ - a stopover in London & occultist hijinx at the British Museum for book 5. I liked seeing more tension in the Emerson marriage tbh. It was cute. Ramses, however, remains the star of the show.
open.substack.com
February 14, 2026 at 5:38 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - A truly masterful, moving, impressive, & satisfying ending to the best spec-fic / sci-fi / fantasy series I’ve ever read. My number one rec for these revolutionary times.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
A RUIN, GREAT AND FREE by Cadwell Turnbull (2025)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - A truly masterful, moving, impressive, & satisfying ending to the best spec-fic / sci-fi / fantasy series I’ve ever read. My number one rec for these revolutionary times.
open.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:20 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ .5 - a brief overview of the history of the Algonquian, Siouan-Catawban, & Iroquoian languages speaking peoples, particularly the Cherokee & Lumbee tribes, of North Carolina.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
NATIVE CAROLINIANS by Theda Perdue & Christopher Arris Oakley (2010)
★ ★ ★ ★ .5 - a brief overview of the history of the Algonquian, Siouan-Catawban, & Iroquoian languages speaking peoples, particularly the Cherokee & Lumbee tribes, of North Carolina.
open.substack.com
February 7, 2026 at 6:51 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ .75 - a thoughtful overview of the history of the Algonquian, Siouan-Catawban, & Iroquoian languages speaking peoples of the Outer Banks with a focus on Indigenous experiences & perspectives.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
MANTEO'S WORLD by Helen C. Rountree (2021)
★ ★ ★ ★ .75 - a thoughtful overview of the history of the Algonquian, Siouan-Catawban, & Iroquoian languages speaking peoples of the Outer Banks with a focus on Indigenous experiences & perspectives.
open.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:03 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - an exceptionally deep & intentional contribution to the procedural thriller genre focusing on museum ethics & Indigenous culture, history & mythology.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
THE HATAK WITCHES by Devon A Mihesuah (2021)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - an exceptionally deep & intentional contribution to the procedural thriller genre focusing on museum ethics & Indigenous culture, history & mythology.
open.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 10:27 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - a really special genre-defying, memoir-adjacent read about the modern Inuit experience through the eyes of two-spirit artist, musician, & shaman, Tanya Tagaq—must read on audiobook!

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/split-toot...
SPLIT TOOTH by Tanya Tagaq (2018)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - a really special genre-defying, memoir-adjacent read about the modern Inuit experience through the eyes of two-spirit artist, musician, & shaman, Tanya Tagaq—must read on audiobook!
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:57 PM
★ ★ .5 - a generally informative book with an exhausting amount of cisheteronormative assumptions, christian & imperial apologism, & queer & neurodivergency erasure.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
THE FOSSIL HUNTER by Shelley Emling (2009)
★ ★ .5 - a generally informative book with an exhausting amount of cisheteronormative assumptions, christian & imperial apologism, & queer & neurodivergency erasure.
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:32 AM
★ ★ ★ ★ - a fun, hilarious, clever, & charming coming-into-one’s-self story about a young boy who is apprenticed by Death.

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/mort-by-te...
MORT by Terry Pratchett (1987)
★ ★ ★ ★ - a fun, hilarious, clever, & charming coming-into-one’s-self story about a young boy who is apprenticed by Death.
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:33 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - for lovers of whimsical, brilliant, unusual writing, characters that undergo affirming transformations, & storylines that explore under-examined, charmingly mundane, ND human experiences.

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/a-new-new-...
A NEW NEW ME by Helen Oyeyemi (2025)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - for lovers of whimsical, brilliant, unusual writing, characters that undergo affirming transformations, & storylines that explore under-examined, charmingly mundane, ND human experiences.
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:21 PM
★ ★ ★ - disturbing, mysterious, dark, felt a bit thriller-tropey, ultimately just left me confused…

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
THE NIGHT GUEST
★ ★ ★ - disturbing, mysterious, dark, felt a bit thriller-tropey, ultimately just left me confused…
open.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:36 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ .5 - a brutal, honest vignette of the violence of misogyny & the insidious way it shapes the psyche & directs all relationships.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
TRIFLES by Susan Glaspell (1916)
★ ★ ★ ★ .5 - a brutal, honest vignette of the violence of misogyny & the insidious way it shapes the psyche & directs all relationships.
open.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ - the very autistic-coded mother-son duo of Amelia & Ramses is making this series for me. They keep getting better!

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/lion-in-th...
LION IN THE VALLEY by Elizabeth Peters (1986)
★ ★ ★ ★ - the very autistic-coded mother-son duo of Amelia & Ramses is making this series for me. They keep getting better!
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
★ ★ ★ - interesting & informative, thoughtful & thorough, with some problematic moments—a self-published work so go in expecting a lack of editing oversight & an amateurish writing style.

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/the-haunte...
THE HAUNTED HISTORY OF THE TRANS-ALLEGHENY LUNATIC ASYLUM by Sherri Brake (2014)
★ ★ ★ - interesting & informative, thoughtful & thorough, with some problematic elements—a self-published work so go in expecting a lack of editing oversight & an amateurish writing style.
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:42 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ - a compulsively readable, heart-rending, hilarious, sweet, & incredibly tragic vignette of modern Penobscot life—the kind of literature destined to be a future classic.

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/night-of-t...
NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZ by Morgan Talty (2022)
★ ★ ★ ★ - a compulsively readable, heart-rending, hilarious, sweet, & incredibly tragic vignette of modern Penobscot life—the kind of literature destined to be a future classic.
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - an equal parts absorbing, satisfying, & infuriating dark academia mystery/thriller about co-ed private boarding schools, the dynamics of privilege, found family, & systemic misogyny.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
WHERE SLEEPING GIRLS LIE by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (2024)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - an equal parts absorbing, satisfying, & infuriating dark academia mystery/thriller about co-ed private boarding schools, the dynamics of privilege, found family, & systemic misogyny.
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:39 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ - My first time read of this horror classic - surprised to find that it's less about dual sides of one's identity & more about 'what if your worst intrusive thoughts were a person?'

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/the-strang...
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
★ ★ ★ ★ - My first time read of this horror classic - surprised to find that it's less about dual sides of one's identity & more about 'what if your worst intrusive thoughts were a person?'
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 8:52 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ .75 - Fairytale retellings that are as magical as they are horrorific, unhinged, flowery, feminist, & spectacular: my third time reading Carter’s collection has finally made me a fan!

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/the-bloody...
THE BLOODY CHAMBER by Angela Carter
★ ★ ★ ★ .75 - Fairytale retellings that are as magical as they are horrorific, unhinged, flowery, feminist, & spectacular: my third time reading Carter’s collection has finally made me a fan!
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 8:28 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ .5 - Brilliant & heart breaking with a powerful, believable, beautiful, & (mostly) satisfying ending. Three cheers for disability rep in historical fiction!

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
THE INSTRUMENTALIST by Harriet Constable (2024)
★ ★ ★ ★ .5 - Brilliant & heart breaking with a powerful, believable, beautiful, & (mostly) satisfying ending. Three cheers for disability rep in historical fiction!
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:00 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - for readers who love to be philosophically & intellectually challenged by their fantasy / sci-fi reads, especially when they have ultimately wholesome & very queer themes.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
NO GODS, NO MONSTERS by Cadwell Turnbull (2021)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - for readers who love to be philosophically & intellectually challenged by their fantasy / sci-fi reads, especially when they have ultimately wholesome & very queer themes.
open.substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:04 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ - a dark but powerful look at the (young adult) Autistic experience & the search for belonging, community, mothering, love, & acceptance as one’s true, whole self.

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/hollow-by-...
HOLLOW by Taylor Grothe (2025)
★ ★ ★ ★ - a dark but powerful look at the (young adult) Autistic experience & the search for belonging, community, mothering, love, & acceptance as one’s true, whole self.
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 8:15 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - more dreamy Victorian worldbuilding, witty, relatable & lovable characters, themes of progressive politics, feminism, queer love, & found family, with lotsss of delectable spice!

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
YOU'RE THE PROBLEM, IT'S YOU! by Emma R. Alban (2024)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - more dreamy Victorian worldbuilding, witty, relatable & lovable characters, themes of progressive politics, feminism, queer love, & found family, with lotsss of delectable spice!
open.substack.com
October 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
★ ★ ★ .5 - it should have been five stars because of the overall content (fascinating, challenging, & extremely important), but the writing style & the tone made it positively excruciating to read.

open.substack.com/pub/stopands...
THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED by Ichiro Kishimi& Fumitake Koga (2017)
★ ★ ★ .5 - it should have been five stars because of the overall content (fascinating, challenging, & extremely important), but the writing style & the tone made it positively excruciating to read.
open.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:46 PM
★ ★ ★ ★ - a thrilling ride with lovable characters & hilarious banter; a bit repetitive at times & an MC that drove me CRAZY but it all comes together for a very satisfying end. Sequel??

stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/hammajang-...
HAMMAJANG LUCK by Makana Yamamoto (2024)
★ ★ ★ ★ - a thrilling ride with lovable characters & hilarious banter; a bit repetitive at times & an MC that drove me CRAZY but it all comes together for a very satisfying end. Sequel??
stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 5:31 PM