Celestial | The Past Is Red
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The Past Is Red
Catherynne M. Valente
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“The Candide of our #@$*%?! age.” — Ken Liu, award-winning author.
Catherynne M. Valente, the bestselling and award-winning creator of Space Opera and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, returns with The Past Is Red, the enchanting, dark, funny, angry story of a girl who made two terrible mistakes: she told the truth and she dared to love the world. A Hugo Award finalist! An inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction finalist! A Locus Award finalist!
The future is blue. Endless blue…except for a few small places that float across the hot, drowned world left behind by long-gone fossil fuel-guzzlers. One of those patches is a magical place called Garbagetown.
Tetley Abednego is the most beloved girl in Garbagetown, but she’s the only one who knows it. She’s the only one who knows a lot of things: that Garbagetown is the most wonderful place in the world, that it’s full of hope, that you can love someone and 66% hate them all at the same time. But Earth is a terrible mess, hope is a fragile thing, and a lot of people are very angry with her. Then Tetley discovers a new friend, a terrible secret, and more to her world than she ever expected.
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Posts about this title from Celestial
NO, DON’T TOUCH THAT! (be so for real though. would you?)
here are some adventurous science fiction and fantasy reads that will definitely quench your thirst for treasure hunts and galactic travels and also poking your head where you don’t belong.
📚 books mentioned: - The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei - Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman - The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente
👗💄: - shirt is from Out of Print (gifted) - eyeshadow is Blends Artistry Palette from Blend Bunny Cosmetics, In A Trance Palette from Colourpop, and The Spring Symphony Palette from Dandy Lion Cosmetics - mascara is Badi Lash from Kulfi Beauty - lip combo is Staining Lip Liner (Chellam) and Lassi Lips Staining Lip Oil (Sweet) from Kulfi Beauty
thank you to Flatiron Books and HarperCollins for the gifted copies!
#fantasybooks #scifibooks #adventurebooks #outofprintpartner #bookstagram @flatiron_books @harpercollins @tordotcompub @outofprint @blendbunnycosmetics @colourpopcosmetics @dandylionsco @kulfi.beauty
3 books
1
CHOOSE YOUR APOCALYPSE (part 2)!👀🌋💣
CHOOSE YOUR APOCALYPSE (part 2)!
👀🌋💣 let’s talk about post-apocalpytic, end-of-the-world reads.
📚 books mentioned: - The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente - The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin - The Seep by Chana Porter
👗💄: - sweater is from Altar’d State - eyeshadow is Ellis Atlantis Palette from Blend Bunny Cosmetics - eyeliner is Vegan Longwear Eyeliner (Lilac) from Pacifica Beauty - mascara is Liquid Lash Extensions Tubing Mascara (Oceanne) from Thrive Causemetics - lip is Lip Buttercream (Cinnamon Sugar) from Pacifica Beauty - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)
thank you to Orbit for the gifted copy!
#horrorbooks #scifibooks #apocalypsebooks #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @tordotcompub @orbitbooks_us @soho_press @altardstate @blendbunnycosmetics @pacificabeauty @thrivecausemetics
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end of the world books • apocalypse stories • dystopian books • horror books • sci fi books • science fiction book recs • world-ending stories • diverse books • Tordotcom • Soho Press
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 16 2025
what’s your favorite sci fi sub genre? science fiction books for lifeeee!!
what’s your favorite sci fi sub genre? science fiction books for lifeeee!!
📚 books mentioned: - The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente - Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon - The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei - This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - The Unmapping by Denise S. Robbins - Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Kindred by Octavia Butler - The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark - The Seep by Chana Porter - Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart - Sunrise: Radiant Stories by Erika Kobayashi
thank you to Pantheon, Flatiron, Bindery, and Astra House for the gifted copies!
#scifibooks #sciencefictionbooks #scifibookrecs #sciencefictionbookrecs #bestsciencefiction #FlatironPartner #binderybooks #celestial #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #diversebookstagram #nycbookstagram #bookstagram #nycbookstagram @tordotcompub @pantheonbooks @akashicbooks @flatiron_books @sagapressbooks @bindery_books @torbooks @beaconpress @titanbooks @delreybooks @ballantinebooks @astrahousebooks
13 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 1 2025
the shorter & weirder, the BETTER. these are perfect slump-breaking lil books!
📚 books mentioned: - Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino - But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo - The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente
#weirdbooks #shortbooks #horrorbooks #strangebooks #novellas #bookrecommendations #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @pushkinpress_us @pushkin_press @tordotcompub @tordotcom @torbooks
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 5 2024
book recs to gift your sci fi loving reader friends!
📚 books mentioned: - The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei - The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark - The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar - Singer Distance by Ethan Chatagnier - Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente - The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
#scifibooks #scifibookrecs #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #bookstagram
8 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jan 26 2024
what kind of book do you like to read in a waiting room?
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 7 2023
are you ready for rot girl winter? ❄️ i JUST saw the first snowflakes of the season, so i’m down to hibernate in bed with all my books.
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 10 2023
these are my birthday demands 😌. read these books or face my powerful birthday wrath!
5 books
Posts about this book from across Bindery
NO, DON’T TOUCH THAT! (be so for real though. would you?)
📚 books mentioned: - The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei - Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman - The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente
thank you to Flatiron Books and HarperCollins for the gifted copies!
3 books
1
CHOOSE YOUR APOCALYPSE (part 2)!👀🌋💣
CHOOSE YOUR APOCALYPSE (part 2)!
👀🌋💣 let’s talk about post-apocalpytic, end-of-the-world reads.
📚 books mentioned: - The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente - The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin - The Seep by Chana Porter
thank you to Orbit for the gifted copy!
.
3 books
Mareas\ \ Marines\ \ • Dec 13 2025
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books for your mid-twenties
4 books
30
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 16 2025
what’s your favorite sci fi sub genre? science fiction books for lifeeee!!
what’s your favorite sci fi sub genre? science fiction books for lifeeee!!
thank you to Pantheon, Flatiron, Bindery, and Astra House for the gifted copies!
13 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 1 2025
the shorter & weirder, the BETTER. these are perfect slump-breaking lil books!
📚 books mentioned: - Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino - But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo - The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente
3 books
JemilaBeReadin\ \ JemilaBeReadin\ \ • Feb 20 2025
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Books I’ve discovered through booktok
Books I’ve discovered through booktok. It’s been real y’all. I hope to continue talking about books with y’all elsewhere on the internet! 🫶🏾 People mentioned in this video: @dakota bossard @Amivi⁷ @Alex @IG/YT: bookbaddiebri ᥫ᭡ @sometimesrobinreads🤎📚 @Torri🌻 @Kennedy Ryan @Nisha Sharma @schizophrenicreads on Substack @aubrei @Mari - booktok + media reviews @ig: vivafalastinleen 🇵🇸 @Hana 🍉 @Viano Oniomoh 💖 #readersoftiktok #bookishthings #bookishtiktok #booktok #bookrecommendations #romancebooktok #nonfictionbooktok #literarytok #blackromance #bookishtok #readersofbooktok
22 books
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JemilaBeReadin\ \ JemilaBeReadin\ \ • Feb 20 2025
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You can find trigger/content warnings here: \* Storygraph \* https://booktriggerwarnings.com/index.php?title=Welcome
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22 books
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 5 2024
book recs to gift your sci fi loving reader friends!
#scifibooks #scifibookrecs #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #bookstagram
8 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jan 26 2024
what kind of book do you like to read in a waiting room?
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 7 2023
are you ready for rot girl winter? ❄️ i JUST saw the first snowflakes of the season, so i’m down to hibernate in bed with all my books.
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 10 2023
these are my birthday demands 😌. read these books or face my powerful birthday wrath!
5 books