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kendrainbloom.bsky.social
kendra.in.bloom
@kendrainbloom.bsky.social
160 followers 46 following 160 posts
30-something weirdo with a fondness for critters, witchy shit, and books
she/her
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kendrainbloom.bsky.social
October was a great month for reading. While it wasn't my highest rated, my favorite read of the month was actually The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling.

Here's to another month full of new stories and worlds.

#booksky #amreading
October Reading Wrap-Up from StoryGraph. 9 books read 2,206 pages read 4.03 avg rating
November 1, 2025 at 8:01 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
the bad news: i've felt like shit almost all month

the good news: I'm crushing my reading goals and making my cats happy

#booksky #amreading #catsky
A cat-shaped goblin named Juniper relaxes on a bed next to a splayed paperback copy of Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler.
October 28, 2025 at 7:11 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Just finished The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling!
4/5⭐

Wow! The world of this novel is vivid and inventive right from the first page. I absolutely devoured it (pun intended). It wasn't perfect, but it was undoubtedly one of my favorite reads of the year!

#booksky #horror #spookyseason
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
October 21, 2025 at 7:23 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
when your man goes out of town for a few days but you forgive him bc he brings back A FEAST 🥰

(all from small local bookshops and What Stalks the Deep is SIGNED!!)

#booksky
A fat stack of books on a coffee table. The titles are, from top to bottom: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan le Fanu Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin The Last Interview by Ursula K. Le Guin Borne by Jeff VanderMeer The Scar by China Miéville
October 19, 2025 at 12:27 AM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
This October, I'm trying to read some classic horror. I'm a little bit of a chicken, so wish me luck on this journey into The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

Any other classic horror recommendations I should add to my list?

#booksky #readersky #currentlyreading #horror
A hardcover copy The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson on a table surrounded by spooky accoutrements: a beaver tail skeleton, a muskrat skull, and two other books that you can't see the titles of.
October 11, 2025 at 7:27 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Taking a break from the heavy stuff and diving into something a little more seasonally appropriate! Got me feeling #witchy already ☺️🧹

#booksky #spooky #currentlyreading 📚💙
Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire
October 4, 2025 at 4:52 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
It's Thursday night... 🎶

#criticalrole #campaign4
A laptop screen showing the countdown to the first episode of Critical Role campaign 4
October 3, 2025 at 1:52 AM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Next up on my reading list is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

I know this will be a hard read but the question of purpose and meaning is one that has been weighing heavily on me in recent years. I hope to find guidance here.

#booksky #currentlyreading #readersky 📚💡
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
October 2, 2025 at 6:15 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
September reading wrap-up! Not my best month, not my worst. Certainly an eclectic list.

Katabasis was easily my favorite read of the month. Looking forward to an October full of new pages!

#booksky #readersky #amreading
September reading wrap-up: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey The Deluxe Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon Katabasis by R. F. Kuang This Immortal by Roger Zelazny Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
October 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Daily headaches are keeping me from writing as much, so here's something completely different. This beautiful orb weaver #spider took up residence on my deck this morning. I'm very honored to have her.

#nature #autumn #spooky
September 30, 2025 at 4:30 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
For every 2-4 fiction books I read, I try and slip something nonfiction in. This time, I'm trying to educate myself on the ideologies behind anarchism, communism, and socialism from one of the greats.

#currentlyreading #booksky #readersky 📚💡
The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin
September 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
I've taken a few days to let this short story stew before diving into revisions, but I think I'm ready! Wish me luck. 🪐📚💙

#booksky #writesky #writingcommunity #wipsnips
The waters of the pond swirled with the subtle undercurrents of minnows and frogs on their cyclical journey, tickling her bulbous belly. The rain had been relentless of late, raising the water level to new and fascinating heights. This did not bother Molb; it only meant that she could absorb water faster, attract bugs nearer. Little water skimmers, graceful and plentiful in the pond, usually didn’t stray far enough into the boggy bank to be lured by her, but now that their territory had grown, they nearly swarmed. She was well-fed. She was content.
September 25, 2025 at 6:52 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
I just finished this short yet meaningful little read. It's really best if you go into it without knowing much, so I won't spoil it. But it's a 4/5⭐ in my book and gave me a lot to think on.

#booksky #readersky
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
September 24, 2025 at 11:28 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
So excited! I just finished the first draft of this short story today and I am really pleased with the shape it's taking.

#booksky #writesky #writingcommunity #wipsnips
Molb froze. A flurry of far-away shuffling movements, tiny twitches in the earth, had just come into her circle of awareness and were growing louder as she focused. She shoved the toy car into her pocket, unwilling to trust that just because it hadn’t been touched didn’t mean it wouldn’t be. Her rock with the good grip was nowhere to be found nearby, so Molb did all she could do: stood, placed one hand on the wall of the shack to sense better, and waited. The small tremors–steps, Molb realized, feeling silly–ceased abruptly upon arriving at the doorway. The still morning stretched between them. And then the hum reached her again, the one Molb remembered from before, the frequency and tone climbing and sinking in a way that was unexpectedly soothing. She stepped forward, embodying an echo of the intense fever-induced curiosity and fearlessness that had overcome her before. If she had let fear dictate her actions, she would still be who she was before. What she was before. And she would not go back; so she must go forward
September 22, 2025 at 8:53 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
I'm actually always #currentlyreading Women Living Deliciously by Florence Given.

I try to re-read a few pages a night, as a reminder to myself. I recommend this to every woman (all inclusive! femme in any way!) who is looking to find their joy. More below 👇

#booksky #readersky
Women Living Deliciously by Florence Given
September 22, 2025 at 1:19 AM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
This isn't exactly new, but I was reminded the other day that many folks don't know I also embroider! I should really pick up a new project, it's so meditative...

#embroidery #artsky #artist
Many different flowers embroidered in the shape of a crescent moon.
September 20, 2025 at 10:06 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
In my ongoing efforts to read the classics of Sci Fi and Fantasy, next up on my reading list is This Immortal by Roger Zelazny.

Ursula K. Le Guin referenced it several times in her essays on #SFF and if I trust anyone's opinion, it's hers.

#booksky #readersky #writesky
This Immortal by Roger Zelazny on a coffee table surrounded by candles and Halloween decor
September 19, 2025 at 10:58 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
It's raining, the leaves are starting to change, and Marshmallow has reached a level of cozy previously unknown to human observation.

#catsky #autumn #cozy
September 18, 2025 at 7:17 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
For real, I always end up being like....

(I'm not, but it's a nice treat once in a while 😂)
September 18, 2025 at 3:57 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Okay, this fantasy short story is very very near completion and I'm about to start submitting it around. Still deciding on the final title, but that's the last piece!

Wish me luck, friends! ☺️

#booksky #writesky #writingcommunity #wipsnips
It wasn’t a lie, not exactly. I meant to leave Amos McConnell to his life and return to my own solitary study of this glorious world. And I did, for a time. After the intricacies of human conversation and convention, I sought a break. From the moors of Scotland, I eased between the shadows of this reality and came up again on the other side of the world where the barest trickle of a stream made its way southward for many, many miles. The landscape was wild and wildly different; creatures as big as I wandered the plains that stretched out below my sailing shadow and humans as I had just known them did not yet exist. What better place to escape embarrassment? My blunder was millennia from being made. Here, I had the time and space to consider what had occurred. I settled down under a tree draped with leaves bigger than my head to ponder the effects that Amos McConnell had had on my soul. The little stream that would one day become the mighty Nile River grew incrementally over a few hundred years of quiet thought.
September 17, 2025 at 9:09 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Are bookshelf tours a thing? This is my section of most loved/most influential books.

Does anyone else have a special spot for their faves? What's in there? I want to know!

#booksky #writesky #writingcommunity
A selection of books on a shelf. From left to right: The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Perdido Street Station by China Miéville The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
September 17, 2025 at 2:27 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
An early excerpt from my fantasy novel project, temporarily called "The Knight."

#booksky #writesky #writingcommunity #wipsnips
“Arabella!” The Duke shouted, slamming a hand into the arm of his chair. The nearby knife rattled and clattered to the floor. Startled, Arabella’s gaze snapped to the Duke’s. Finding her tongue did not come easily. “Yes,” she stammered. “Yes, your Grace?” “You are aware I’ve just returned from Cauron?” Realizing that, for some reason, Albin was now expecting her to speak and engage, Arabella did her best to oblige, despite being thoroughly out of practice. “For the oath renewal to King Robinet,” she said. “We have never discussed this, but I must ask you, Bell,” Albin seemed to steel himself for what he was about to say. “How does it make you feel that I have bent the knee–metaphorically speaking–” he gestured to his footless leg with a grim smile, “to the Cauron throne? Your father spent his life fighting them, and you alongside him for many years.” Your father. The words rang between Arabella’s ears, a gong struck that had been silent for years.
September 16, 2025 at 8:08 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Feeling this word of the day as the season starts to turn 🍂

#booksky #autumn #spookyseason
Psithurism: the rustling or whispering sound of leaves in the wind
September 16, 2025 at 2:30 AM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
Like many, I'm knee-deep in #Katabasis by R. F. Kuang. ~150 pages in and thoroughly enjoying it. I'd be further along if my day job quit getting in the way!
The book Katabasis by R. F. Kuang on a coffee table surrounded by home decor.
September 15, 2025 at 7:29 PM
kendrainbloom.bsky.social
I'm cheating a little because today's WIP is actually pretty well done. If there's interest, I might work up the courage to share the whole thing!

From "Bag of Bread", a fantasy short story.

#booksky #writesky #writingcommunity #wipsnips
I am endless, I am eternal, and I was basking in the glow of the morning sun and tasting the scent of sharp, salty sea air on my tongue and in my heart when I first met Amos McConnell. I had slipped between the threads of the fabric of time into a season of growing things and the sky was so blue it broke my heart. All around I could sense the plants, the animals, the insects aching toward the sun, yearning for it, their bodies brimming with the buzzing energy of mortal life. I stretched my wings and let them sprawl over the swaying grasses. The soft, dew-wet tendrils tickled me, a mother’s gentle caress. In all my eons of life I have never experienced such perfect serenity. Or at least I believe that must be so, otherwise how did I so let my guard down as to fail to hear the approach of two leather-booted feet crunching down the gravel road which I, in my largesse, had unintentionally sprawled across?
September 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM