DocoftheDarkArts | House in the Cerulean Sea
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House in the Cerulean Sea
TJ Klune
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A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER! A 2021 Alex Award winner! The 2021 RUSA Reading List: Fantasy Winner! An Indie Next Pick! One of Publishers Weekly's "Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020" One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies.” Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy that's "1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in." (Gail Carriger).
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.
But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
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Posts about this title from DocoftheDarkArts
DocoftheDarkArts\ \ Bob Stuntz\ \ • Jun 21
[Poll:\ \ Do your reading habits change in the summer?\ \ The Sunday Prescription \ \ One reading topic, one week of plans, and plenty of books administered weekly for chronic readers.\ \ Symptoms: Reading in the Summer \ \ Happy Sunday gang, and Happy Father's Day to any of the bookish dads out there! I hope everyone is doing well, and welcome back to my Sunday Newsletter. This week, I've been thinking a lot about summer reading patterns. \ \ As someone who yaps a lot about books online, I hear a lot of feedback about what other people do for reading, and it always fascinates me how different we all are! I have two beach trips coming up this summer, and for me, summer is always a time when I read more. I work from home these days, and the school year means driving kids all over the place, and having a lot of my free time taken up by activities during the school year. So when I get to go on a trip, and during the summer especially, I always wind up reading more. Having less time in the car and less time at teenage kid activities gives me more time to read. In addition, I'm outside working more, so I'm listening to more audiobooks, and generally just consuming more written and spoken stories. \ \ Now when it comes to packing for a trip, I always over do it when it comes to books. For a typical week long beach trip, you will usually find me packing 4-5 books along with my e-reader. As a certified feral mood reader, this gives me plenty of variety. On top of that, I usually find a local beach bookstore and make my way there as well. In terms of what I like to read, this is definitely when I'm going for shorter/less intense stuff. Cozy fantasies like the House in the Cerulean Sea and Tress of the Emerald Sea come to mind (which we're reading right now for our book club!). I of course love it when a book leans into the water, piracy, or hot/desert climates. Which reminds me, I need to start Children of Dune here soon!\ \ However, I hear from other people that when they head into the long, hot days of summer, and go on vacations, they read less. They cite more time in summer/outdoor activities as barriers, and say when they go on vacation they don't want to read more, or are too busy. It does seem an increase in audiobook consumption is pretty well agreed upon, given more time outside, and time spent on road trips in the car. So I'm interested to hear from you all - how does summer change your reading habits? Do you read more or less? Do you read more on vacation? Do you pack a ton of books like some sort of book goblin like me?\ \ The Rx: What I'm Reading and Doing \ \ I did announce this week that I was starting a new Fable Book Club! We will be starting July 1 with Our Sister's Keeper by Jasmine Holmes. The book club is called Dr. Bob's Literary Apothecary, and our goal is to read diverse authors, diverse genres, and try to find diverse books that aren't popping up on your algorithm! I'd love to have you join, we'll do a book a month, and no changes to our usual book club. \ \ In terms of reading, I finished off my reread of Tress of the Emerald Sea, and I just enjoyed it so much. I listened to the Michael Kramer version for the reread as I read it physical last year, and I'm not a graphic audio fan usually, especially abridged versions. I also finished an Arc of Songs of the Dead by Brandon Sanderson and Peter Orullian. More to come on that in a future review. And Today, I'll be finishing up Stoner by John Williams, which is our Dark Travelers monthly pick a book. That has met spellbound at the moment! If you want to read with us you should join up as a Dark Traveler!\ \ I also released this week's YouTube video, which is all about ARC's - what they are and why they exist, what you can do to start becoming an ARC reader, and the major Do's and Don't of reading ARCs. \ \ In terms of what's next, I have a bunch of options and I'm not sure where I'll go for sure!\ \
- A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab - probably next\ \
- Jade City by Fonda Lee - researching for next month's book club!\ \
- The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen - sent to me by the publisher, and sounds cool.\ \
- Valor by John Gwynne - Really want to continue, and my TBB versions should show up soon. \ \
- What Blood Remembers by C William Phillips - probably next on my e-reader. \ \
- Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove - Up next on audio!\ \ \ I also picked up an Assassin's Creed game for the Nintendo Switch, which I'm interested to give a try, and I heard a rumor that I might be getting a sweet Lego set for Father's Day!\ \ Like Discounts and Helping Me out? \ \ Did you know I have a bunch of different affiliate codes? I you head to the link in my bio, you'll see a bunch of affiliate codes. Some of these, like the Flowers and fantasy 10% off, the 15% off TBB regular publishing website, or the Pango books $5 off your first order codes, will save you money! Others, like the Broken Binding special edition code, my Bookshop.org Affiliate, and my wishlist are more just support for me. I also have links to all of my social sites if you're looking to follow elsewhere as well!](https://docofthedarkarts.binderybooks.com/item/RSKW1H0xzYOUFRxqBpH1/)
The Sunday Prescription: June 21, 2026
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Posts about this book from across Bindery
Book Fairies\ \ Sarah Lockwood\ \ • Jul 8
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You guys win, books only from now on!
#Fantasybookrecommendations #fantasybooks #romantasy #fantasyreads #bookstagram
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DocoftheDarkArts\ \ Bob Stuntz\ \ • Jun 21
The Sunday Prescription: June 21, 2026
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Laura Bookish Corner\ \ Laura\ \ • Jun 12
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\ \ Pride Month is the perfect time to highlight these incredible books featuring LGBTQ+ characters and authors, but they're worth reading all year long. 🌈📚\ \ This stack includes:\ \ ✨ Awakening of the Starborne by Louve-Ch\ \ ✨ The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune\ \ ✨ In Her Spotlight by Amy Spalding\ \ ✨ The Crack at the Heart of Everything by Fiona Fenn\ \ ✨ This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone\ \ ✨ International Relations by Zac Hammett\ \ ✨ The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher\ \ ✨ Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta\ \ ✨ Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin\ \ ✨ Hollow by M.L. Burns\ \ This stack includes everything from cozy fantasy and romantasy to sci-fi, contemporary romance, and dark fantasy, all featuring LGBTQ+ representation, queer authors, or both.\ \ And if you're curious, the four I rave about the most from this stack are The House in the Cerulean Sea, This Is How You Lose the Time War, Hollow, and Awakening of the Starborne.\ \
- 🏡 Cozy found family ( The House in the Cerulean Sea)\ \
- ⏳ Beautifully written sapphic sci-fi ( This Is How You Lose the Time War)\ \
- 🖤 Dark, emotional romance ( Hollow)\ \
- ✨ Epic traumantasy ( Awakening of the Starborne)\ \ \ I can’t wait to read the rest of these books.\ \ Have you read any of these, or are any on your TBR? I'd love to hear your favorites and get even more queer book recommendations! 🌈💜\ \ \ \ Join for free or login](https://laurabookish.binderybooks.com/item/EdEwmvk9qHmtHA5cYIon/)
Celebrating Pride Month with books
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The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Jun 5
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Happy Pride from The Inky Phoenix! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Some of our favorite LGBTQ+ books and authors
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The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Nov 5 2024
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For the love of books …
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The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Sep 10 2024
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What major author loves STRANGE BEASTS?
Hint: they have a highly anticipated sequel out TODAY …
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The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Oct 11 2023
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\ \ Upgrade for $12 or login](https://inkyphoenix.binderybooks.com/item/k817HohEEgUT63vglMMD/)
The Inky Phoenix | Chats: Episode 1
Welcome to Inky Phoenix Chats! Casual conversations inspired by the submission process.
How important are the opening chapters of a book? Lets continue this deep dive on our Discord page!
If you haven’t joined our Discord: https://discord.gg/b5XxWnfY
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The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Sep 23 2023
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Dressed as Inky Phoenix Books!
Here’s a sneak peek of our amazing friends dressing up as Inky Phoenix covers for our Inky Phoenix Press launch party @bluebicyclebooks ! A huge thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate, and we recorded my talk and loads of fun bits that will be available to subscribers soon! Become a member in our bio link. 💫
Slide 1: @kathrynbudig and Ragnar dressed as THEY’RE GOING TO LOVE YOU
Slide 2: @ashley.be.well dressed as HOOP MUSES
Slide 3: Mama Budig dressed as WHEN WE LOST OUR HEADS
Slide 4: @kca_fleming dressed as WILD BEAUTY
Slide 5: @itzlauren_ dressed as SHARK HEART
Slide 6 + 7: @katefagan3 and @tesscarver dressed as THE BOOK OF LONGINGS
Slide 8: My amazing @bluebicyclebooks family dressed as STILLNESS IS GHE KEY, TOMORROW AND TOMORROWAND TOMRROW (genius!), and LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE
The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Mar 17 2023
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WOW! Congrats to Inky fav @tjklunebooks for this well-deserved milestone! 🎉🎉🎉
WOW! Congrats to Inky fav @tjklunebooks for this well-deserved milestone! 🎉🎉🎉
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Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Dec 31 2022
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Today I'll be following in the steps of Daniel Greene and creating a tier list of all of the fantasy books I read in 2022! How do you think I did?
The Fantasy & Frens Book Club will begin reading A BROKEN BLADE by Melissa Blair in January! Join us and read along through the link below!
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS! 📖 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/39913560-zoranne-host 📸 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoranne\_/ 🎵 tiktok: http://tiktok.com/@zoranne\_ 🐦 twitter: http://twitter.com/zoranne\_ ☕️ buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/zoranne\_ ✨shop my favorite books: https://amzn.to/3Z3Nty8
JOIN THE FANTASY & FRENS COMMUNITY! 📚fable book club: http://l.fable.co/zoranne 👾discord: https://discord.gg/A3MPX5vEHX
BUSINESS INQUIRIES 💌 zoranne.host@gmail.com
*Some of these links are affiliate links which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase a product from one the links!*
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Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Dec 1 2022
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Every Book I Read In November 2022 || Reading Wrap Up
My first Youtube video! Can you believe it?! November was full of some fun reads! Does this mean I'm a booktuber now??? Let me know what the best book you read in November was!
The Fantasy & Frens Book Club will be reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson this December! Click the link to join the club and read along with us!
BOOKS MENTIONED: The Spear Cuts Through Water: https://amzn.to/3FVFomo Even Though I Knew The End: https://amzn.to/3vrlwmA Heart of the Sun Warrior: https://amzn.to/3CaTXl1 The House In The Cerulean Sea: https://amzn.to/3jxm4o5 Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail: https://amzn.to/3Gr65RD The Remnant Chronicles: https://amzn.to/3WzFRlr Her Soul to Take: https://amzn.to/3Z0n9VC Faking With Benefits: https://amzn.to/3YWFanW
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS! 📖 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/39913560-zoranne-host 📸 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoranne\_/ 🎵 tiktok: http://tiktok.com/@zoranne\_ 🐦 twitter: http://twitter.com/zoranne\_ ☕️ buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/zoranne\_ ✨ misc: https://linktr.ee/zoranne\_host
JOIN THE FANTASY & FRENS COMMUNITY! 📚fable book club: http://l.fable.co/zoranne 👾discord: https://discord.gg/A3MPX5vEHX
BUSINESS INQUIRIES 💌 zoranne.host@gmail.com
*Some of these links are affiliate links which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase a product from one the links!*
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Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Nov 30 2022
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#Inverted
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The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Nov 10 2022
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See this all-star stack? I have the honor of moderating a @yallfest panel with all of these magnificent writers: @melissaalbertauthor @nealshusterman @ayanagray_ @tjklunebooks and @thechloegong If you’re in Charleston, swing by! Saturday 11am at the Charleston Museum. We’ll be talking death, myths, and everything nice. 😉💥
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Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Nov 7 2022
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i’m gonna do these weekly reading updates for the rest of my life, i’ll tell ya that for free. #readingupdate #fantasybookrecs #spicybooks
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Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Oct 30 2022
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the spookiest thing about this reading update is that it’s almost november 💀 #readingupdatetime #gideontheninth #spicybooks #fantasybooktok
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