#The Halloween Tree - Ray Bradbury, Joseph Mugnaini (Illustrator)

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worldly pagodaBOT
worldly pagodaBOT
obsidian delta
worldly pagodaBOT
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@undone ravine,@obsidian delta,@meager vigil,@rotund talon,@slate nest,@gray cove,@brazen carbon,@torpid vector,@safe fossil,@lime umbra,@tough whale

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HI!
This is an INSANELY LATE announcement, thank goodness this book is short and the BR duration is long! I genuinely didn't think this went though so I'm PSYCHED to have you all join me for my yearly tradition!!!

  1. Do you have any Halloween traditions? What does a typical Halloween look like to you?

  2. Have you read anything from Ray Bradbury before?

  3. What is your dream Halloween costume?

worldly pagodaBOT
slate nest
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  1. I like to decorate and give out candy.
  2. I have read a bit of Ray. I like it.
  3. I want to be so many things, cannot pick
brazen carbon
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cloudHappy I live in a very religious country and some people still think that halloween is like, satanic, lol, so I don‘t see it a lot outside of my part of town—in here there are usually events held in clubs ETC
cloudHappy never but I joined this for vaude
cloudHappy me dead in a coffin but let‘s not make it a costume /j I only ever dressed up twice I think, one time as a schoolgirl (which was odd because I was literally still in school at that time and so I was a schoolgirl) and another as an angel. it was a costume I did together with my best friend, she came as a demon

torpid vector
meager vigil
safe fossil
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  1. i go trick or treating (i'm still a teenager it's okay) 2. i've read The Veldt and I looved it 5 star read
  2. I don't really have one
slate nest
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Starting this!

slate nest
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Chapter 1-3:
|| I’m worried about Pipkin. Is he sick? Sounds like he is afraid of his parents. Abused?||

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Chapter 4:
|| The mansion and creepy person and the Halloween tree!||

undone ravine
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I may or may not have wanted to start reading this and then accidentally read the whole thing TH_shy

slate nest
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9-10:
|| I didn’t realize all cultures have some sort of Halloween festival to honor the dead. I am familiar with Osiris, but not super familiar. It makes sense as I’ve heard about how different cultures treat death, like the Egyptians.||

slate nest
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Chapter 14;
|| The truth about witches. They had smarts and were criticized for it. But they were criticized by other people who had some smarts but also had power. Witches didn’t want power, they didn’t seek to manipulate, so they were cast out instead||

slate nest
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Chapter 18:
|| Loved reading about Día de los Muertos. I studied Spanish since I was 6 in school and grew up in New Mexico so it’s very familiar to me.

Oh no, not Pipkin! I did suspect it though.||

slate nest
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Finished!

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This was a truly delightful book. ||enough balance between dark and light and the imagery was top tier|| chef_kiss

undone ravine
undone ravine
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||“It was a small town by a small river and a small lake in a small northern part of a Midwest state. There wasn't so much wilderness around you couldn't see the town. But on the other hand there wasn't so much town you couldn't see and feel and touch and smell the wilderness. The town was full of trees. And dry grass and dead flowers now that autumn was here. And full of fences to walk on and sidewalks to skate on and a large ravine to tumble in and yell across.||

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/AOsAAOSwxH1UEdll/s-l400.jpg

"There must have been a thousand pumpkins on this tree, hung high and on every branch. A thousand smiles. A thousand grimaces."

This was so good for my soul; it was like getting chicken soup while bundled up in bed or going through old photographs, I absolutely love this book. I firmly recommend checking out the movie too - it's a little bit different because they couldn't explore the|| subtle criticisms of Christianity replacing paganism ||and much of the story is different. I love the book's quieter, reserved and more patient vibe in exploring the origins of Halloween compared to the more fast paced energy of the movie BUT RAY BRADURY NARRATES IN THE MOVIE AND LEONARD NEMOY IS ||MOUNDSHROUD|| SUCC

ANYWAY
||Mr. Moundshroud teaches the boys about Halloween across the ages while they look for their missing friend Pipkin. There aren't a lot of childrens' books that reference druids, mummies, witches, gargoyles, and the day of the dead. The prose is poetic and flows like water from a hose. Some of it has an almost Doctor Seussian flair but at the same time provides an almost divided sense of comfort and eeriness. This book is full of the energy of children running around, playing in heaps of leaves, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins and laughing all the while. Bradbury seems to have many different voices, depending on what kind of story he's telling, and this is one of pure joy. ||

||To me, this is one of the BEST Halloween books and certainly longs to exist in any Autumn TBR. In terms of setup and pacing it reminds me a little bit of A Christmas Carol? ||
Honestly straight after shot gunning this book I went onto reread Dandelion Wine because he encapsulates Summer in that book in the same way that he does for Autumn in this one. I just love Ray Bradbury.

||“When you reach the stars, boy, yes, and live there forever, all the fears will go, and Death himself will die.”||

https://grisgrimly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/halloweentree.jpg

slate nest
torpid vector
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Started this last night! The prologue (?) took me by surprise but glad to know it wasn't the actual first chapter. Although i was kind of distracted because shortly after reading the first chapter, i found out my google storage was actually full and i spent 30 minutes trying to delete old videos to clear up space 😅

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so i'm hoping to finish this this week. the beginning was just a little confusing for me

brazen carbon
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I'm up to chapter 5 of this and it's very spooky and boy childhood vibes. No real thoughts yet

brazen carbon
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Six ||Uh oh, Pip has been taken. The Undiscovered Country sounds a little bit colonial also||

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I am loving the illustrations so far oct_pumpkin especially in chapter seven, ||that Kite with all its eyes and human/animal features freaked me the fuck out omg||

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Eight ||OH FUCK YES we are in ancient Egypt! 9_yes Also I forgot Moundshroud is not the typical human being and I was like *How do you smell Pip from that far away, does he smell really bad?||

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Nine ||Oh no Pip is mummified TH_mummy Also why would you cry at a funeral procession like yeah your friend‘s there but what good is it to be getting attention to yourselves a_wmeowinginsanity ||
Also this reminds me of a movie called “Mr. Peabody and Sherman”
||Hot take but I do love how Death is such a central event in ancient Egyptian culture. Kind of reminds you not to lose sight and to live life how you want. Don‘t know if the ancient Egyptians got that same lesson though. I love Moundshroud‘s explanation of how Halloween came to be here.||

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Twelve ||J.J. (no other name needed) cracked me up for some reason) AND ah Samhain! I've always wanted to know more about the deity/festival||

Also this is slightly off topic I guess but ||with how they're travelling to different civilisations at different times||, this has been on my mind—it does make me sad how ||the emergence of Abrahamic religions wipes out local culture and celebrations like the funeral proceedings in ancient Egypt and now Samhain. It makes sense why some countries are choosing to embrace religion in a secular manner to preserve local culture. Imagine calling something your ancestors did millions of years ago blasphemic. Insane||

||England is no place to be a sinner. LMAO||

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Thirteen ||Chopped at his ankles ewe TH_pepecry I like what Moundshroud said about religions being replaced depending on who the ruler is 8_catwiggleC2U||

||It's so funny to be like Oh yes the Dark Ages are here and Pipkin is just on a broom somewhere ia_lul_haha poor kid||

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Seventeen ||Pipkin is so composed about having been turned into a gargoyle because if this was me I would have cried so much. And yay Mexico!||

brazen carbon
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Eighteen ||Awe, Tom worryBackPat I get him though, it‘s so sad that he‘s feeling this way||

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Nineteen ||This is so grim. It‘s so sweet that they‘re all agreeing to give a year for Pipkin but Moundshroud‘s explanation about how the boys will have to die one year earlier makes me so sad||

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Ah this was so cute 3_frogsip1

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Final thoughts oct_pumpkin thank you for introducing me to this Vaude, it was pleasant awe_uwu

undone ravine
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This is literally my favourite thing ever

polar cloak
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Hoping to read this this month

torpid vector
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read up to ch 5 last night - ||WHAT'S GOING ON WITH PIPKIN???? He tells them to meet him at the Ravine, they knock on a creepy house that seems to come to life, and now they see a tree full of pumpkins?? I've been reading this before bed but lowkey I'm getting kind of scared lol ||

torpid vector
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just finished! ||I wasn't quite sure where it was going, but it was fun! I'm used to writing that's a lot more straightforward so it was a different reading this because i was constantly confused and having to figure out what was going on. i think it's sweet they cared so much about Pipkin, but i wonder if this meant that he was going to die on the table until they all pledged 1 yr off their own life? It was cool learning about different origin stories of halloween and what they all do. I thought it was kind of funny that for witches, they basically they weren't real but people wanted them to be so they pretended 😂 .||

obsidian citrus
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Starting!

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  1. I used to go trick or treating but now I just go out. Lookin at Meow Wolf’s Halloween party this year ngl
  2. Yep! Something Wicked This Way Comes and Fahrenheit 451
  3. Honestly just a more fantastical version of my feminine Ren Faire costume
obsidian citrus
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Fell asleep 15 minutes in kekCry

Chp 1- ||I love that velvet description of autumn. It really is like that in places that have real seasons.||

Chp 5- ||I feel like Pipkin already went to the tree and he was just waiting for them so he wouldn’t go to the Undiscovered Country alone.||

obsidian citrus
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Chp 10- ||Every time the narrator says “the boys” all I can hear is Justin and/or Griffin McElroy. Like “kite with a boy tail. Just a bunch of rowdy kite boys.”

Oooohhh I love the caveman bit.||

obsidian citrus
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Finished!

||I was half zoned-out because it felt like a Magic School Bus “How different cultures do Halloween or something adjacent” special, right up until “Will you bargain a year of your life to get Pipkin back?” and I was Back In.

It was a nice “power of platonic love but make it creepy” listen. Going through the different cultures was cool.||

undone ravine
obsidian citrus
undone ravine
rotund talon
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Started this!

rotund talon
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Up to ch5
|| First of all, idk if it's just my audiobook, but pipkin sounds so drunk kek
Also, the Halloween tree song was so fire 🔥 ||

rotund talon
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Ch9 || I liked the little explanation about Egypt ||

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|| idk why but the idea of this creepy mummy entity and his posse of boys in costumes is just so funny to me 😂 ||

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Ch10 || wait pipkins funeral?? Wonder if they can save him! ||

rotund talon
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Finished! || the boys all giving up a year to save pip was so kind 🥺||

rotund talon
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|| I thought the tree with all the pumpkins was really cool. I also loved the idea of that mansion with all floors in different time periods. Also thought the boys were a cute group. Definitely enjoyed this! At no point was I able to predict what would happen next 😆 ||

rotund talon
obsidian citrus
rotund talon
dreamy pike
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starting pepeSalute

dreamy pike
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ch7 ||im gon go ahead and guess Pipkin is probably Moundshroud, but that might be a misdirect hmmEvil ||

dreamy pike
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ch13 ||damn we got a history lesson too. them damn Romans bro||

dreamy pike
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ch17 ||ok maybe Pipkin isnt Moundshroud. girl what tf is goin on LMAOO||

dreamy pike
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ch19 ||"their folks couldnt pay the rent on their graves, so the gravedigger dug up these people and put them down here" bruh is/was that real 😭 rent on graves???||

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ch19 ||holy shit i wish i guessed, holding the right side dammit. he was fr almost dead too, thats crazy||

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finished da book

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that was fire actually

undone ravine
dreamy pike
sand token
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Ch 3 ||Ngl I’m really sick about hearing about Pipkin||

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Ch 5 ||Not more fucking rhyming||

sand token
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Ch 13 ||idk what I expected but a wishbone/magical school bus style tour of all the forms Halloween has taken over the years is def not it||

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Ch 14 ||I’m like 90% sure that’s not the etymology of witch||

sand token
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Can’t tell if I’m just in a grouchy mood or something ||but this was just kind of ok at best and at worst kind of boring and bad. The oversimplification of different cultures was mildly annoying, I found the kids to be annoying, Pipkin is not a real name wtf is that, and he is also annoying. I’m just sad and depressed and nothing is interesting anymore. Do I even like Halloween? Anymore it’s too hot and I’m irritable and things just feel hollow and joyless. Anyway 3/5||

brazen carbon
sand token
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I get it, I just didn’t like it

dreamy pike
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+1 its too fuckin hot in OCTOBER!!!!

gray cove
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Starting this!

gray cove
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Ch. 1-4: ||Oooh they said the title pepemegaSUCC very cute so far. I am going in blind so I have no idea what to expect, and as such I am a lil nervous about poor Pipkin and where he's at||

gray cove
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Ch. 6:

||They thought of Pipkin, no more than a thimbleful of boy and sheer summer delight, torn out like a tooth and carried off on a black tide of web and horn and black soot.||

really like this paragraph 👌

gray cove
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Up to Ch. 11: ||I like how this is a cute way to talk about different cultures ways of remembering the dead!||

lime umbra
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I know this is almost over, but I really wanted to re-read it right at Halloween. So hoping to zip through it tomorrow 🎃

undone ravine
lime umbra
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Ch 1-5 || LOOOOOOVE the vibes of this. No one does Small Town Americana ™ like Bradbury. No one. All the phrasing and the descriptions and the unconventional metaphors. I just love it so much. I mean… “a perspiration of boys”? Genius. I wish I’d been aware of this book when my kids were young. It is such a perfect read-aloud and I’d love to do that sometime

The way Bradbury perfectly captures the excitement but also the nervousness of trick or treating is great. All this group of boys out on their own for the night with no parents. But also without their hero Pipkin at first. Courage is needed, but Mr Moundshroud is not playing. We had a house in our town that we thought was haunted because it was painted brown, and looked kinda rundown. It was on the street to our elementary school (which was at the end of a dead-end, so everyone knew about this house since all of us walked past it twice a day). Gave us shivers all year, but especially in October. I loved trick or treating as a kid. It felt so thrilling just to be running around outside at night, but also to be able to approach all these strange houses was so unnerving. Shout out to Henry-Hank’s bravery for not caring about gender roles and sporting that witch’s hat too||

gray cove
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Ch. 15: ||Pipkin imma lasso you myself at this point, get your soul in order

also I am sure it is the point of this writing style, but I have a hard time visualizing literally anything that is happening at any point kekCry everything is sort of just a jumble in my head, vague notions of where they are and what's going on||

gray cove
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Ch. 17: ||Poor Fred Fryer, doesn't get to experience his costumes origin pensiveworm

And poor Pipkin! At first I thought he was taking it rather well, then he got scared again. So he's sick, then? Given the mention of a hospital and him holding his stomach at the beginning. Poor lad||

gray cove
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Finished!

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Final thoughts:

||This was a very cute and lovely read. I actually did get a wee bit emotional in the dia de los muertos chapters, because that message of 'we've forgotten that this is what it's all about' kind of hit me in the throat

I think this story over all would benefit from being read aloud and I really think I would have eaten this up as a kid, though I think I woulda just had fun with it rather than finding any real emotional meaning as I do now

And I enjoyed the balance of discussing different versions of Halloween/celebrations of the dead and how at the end we still got a way to wrap things up with Pipkin. How they all universally agreed to give up a year of life for their friends sake is just omg childhood friendships do go that hard||

Overall a great time and a lovely read for Halloween. Certainly has me hype for tomorrow pepemegaSUCC ~~the only time I'm glad I saved a BR for the last minute kekCry ~~

lime umbra
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Ch 6-10 || whoosh. There goes Pipkin! I am expecting him to have appendicitis. (This is a re-read, but I don’t actually remember lol) Also all this business with circus posters makes me think of Something Wicked This Way Comes lol I’m not sure if any of these boys are the same ones from his Green Town series.

Also, I love how we had the riff on the Marley knocker on the “haunted house” and now we’re going to be traveling through the history of Halloween instead of a timeline of Christmases. Nice parallel for the different holidays

We used to decorate a Halloween Tree when my kids were teens. We put it out by the front door for the Trick or Treaters too. Haven’t done that for a while now, but we still have the stuff for it (orange lights, spider webs, and lots of plastic bats/skulls/ghosts/skeletons etc. We had a big flat glittery spider thing for the top like a star lol)

So many traditions for the dead, and it makes sense to start out with the opulence of Egypt||

lime umbra
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Ch 11-15 || Love the imagery of the falling leaves being little kites to bring them along their journey. So much of our life experience is tied to the seasons and that’s why I always see time as a giant spiral instead of an eternal line. Round we go over and over, and it’s so beautiful. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live somewhere without distinct seasonal change.

The Grim Reaper is always such a pervasive fear. Harvest time is usually so busy and cheerful, but Samhain shows the other side of the bounty in the cornucopia. Life yes, but also eventual harvest of souls in death.

Nice way to explain mass religious intolerance and genocide to children. Sigh||

meager vigil
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unfortunately i dont think i'll be able to participate in this br anymore sobAUGH i placed a hold in Libby over a month ago and im still 8th in line catSadKitten with over a month wait time sadBear

lime umbra
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Ch 16-19 ||I love the cathedral of Notre Dame so much. When I was a student in Paris I would go there frequently just to wander through and soak in the peace. It is a glorious space surrounded by all the horrors the medieval artists could conceive. And that is utterly amazing to me beyond any aspect of Christianity

I am so happy that this brings us around to the Mexican Day of the Dead because it is such a celebration of life and love and remembrance. It feels very much like a full circle moment and ofc is still actively happening (more or less the same traditions I think?) after so very long and that is worth highlighting.

Yep, knew Pipkin had appendicitis. But this whole concept of bargaining away a year of your life as a child is pretty freaking chilling. Ofc they all do it, and without a lot of thought because tweens. But it really hits home how precious life actually is. A year is actually a really long cycle of seasons. Nothing is as scary as Death when it arrives face-to-face. But I think about the famous line from the Sandman version of that idea (definitely still my favorite incarnation)… and we all get what we get. A lifetime.||

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done.

lime umbra
lime umbra
worldly pagodaBOT
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@undone ravine,@obsidian delta,@rotund talon,@slate nest,@gray cove,@brazen carbon,@torpid vector,@safe fossil,@lime umbra,@tough whale

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Hello everyone and happy November! This BR is now over. For finished readers I have: sparks, vaude, jana, Ulysses, ctrlaltmerdel, celine, iggy, tink, pilot and lemondrop. As far I saw, there's nobody currently reading it that we need to wait for. If I missed anyone, please ping me!!
Thanks for participating!! <3

worldly pagodaBOT
slate nest
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Thanks for hosting! I loved this book

undone ravine
torpid vector
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thank you for hosting!! it was an enjoyable read, not something i would've known about or picked off the shelf if i hadn't come across it here!