Mosque, Cordoba Spain

Saturday Night In by expatesque

Flickering candles, face masks, a few glasses of wine, the whisper of silk, cascading hair, lazy luxury.

Source: c-lubwolf

Claude Monet, Six versions of Arm of the Seine near Giverny (1896-1897)

In the Deep South, God is a cotton king, Trussed up in plantation whites and powdered over smooth with a little bit of talcum from Momma’s compact. He’s the Georgia dust that gets on everything, in everything, Caking the soles of bare feet sifting through cracks in church pews, and catching in your lover’s eyelashes. In the Deep South, the Devil is a beautiful boy who swears and cheats at billiards on Sunday. He is the one who reaches up your skirt, pulls out the prayers your were saving for someday and lights them on fire with his tongue. He will sing hymns while feasting on your forfeit heart, call you blessed while peeling away dignity like stockings, then drag you out in front of the church to be stoned. In the Deep South, the Holy Spirit is an old woman with hands brown and gnarled as the nuts she boils and a voice soft and dark as the Appalachian sky. She is the swamp kingdom matriarch children are sent to when sins need to be wished away like warts, the presence of whom straightens the spines of wayward souls and coaxes a “Yes Ma’am” from the devil’s own. In the Deep South, Jesus is a mixed-race child with drops of destiny mingled into his blood and the names of the saints tattooed along his spine. He has his mother’s bearing, one that wears suffering nobly, and baleful eyes that speak of the sins of his forefathers. The word of God flutters from his mouth like butterflies with bodies baptized in tears and wings dipped in steel. In the Deep South, angels drink too much. They sashay and guffaw and forget to return calls. They tell white lies and agonize over what to wear. In the Deep South, angels look very much like you and it, and they cling to each other with dustbowl desperation and replenish their failing reserves of grace with ritual in the hopes of remembering what they once were, what wonders they once were capable of performing.

Hossana Americana by S.T. Gibson (via sarahtaylorgibson)

Giveaway Contest: We’re giving away ten vintage paperback classics by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Harper Lee, Walt Whitman, George Orwell, and others. Won’t these look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these classics, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will randomly choose a winner on April 22, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, we’ll ship to any country. Easy, right? Good luck!

Hello friends! 

It has been nearly one year since I decided to re-focus my blog on book blogging.  I chose the date based on the date I changed my URL to b00kstorebabe.  In one year, I have made countless amazing friends, read hundreds of wonderful books, and have gained almost 9k followers! In order to thank y’all for being so welcoming, kind, and lovely to me, I’ve decided to host a giveaway!

Rules:

you must be following me

you can also follow my review blog, instagram, and twitter!

reblogs and likes count

 No giveaway blogs! 

you have to be 18+ or have your parents/guardians permission

this giveaway is international, as long as book depository ships to your country

the winner will be chosen through a random number generator.

you must have your ask box open

you will have 72 hours to respond once I’ve messaged you

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, May 26th at 9:30 PM EST

The Prize:

$25 to spend on any book(s) of your choice.  I’ll order from either book depository or amazon (if you’re US)

(This giveaway is not affiliated with tumblr)

Good luck!

Chicago Cultural Center (Old Chicago Public Library)

78 East Washington Street (Washington and Michigan Avenue), Chicago IL 

Giveaway Contest: We’re giving away ten vintage paperback classics by Kurt Vonnegut, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Kate Chopin, and others. Won’t these look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these classics, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will randomly choose a winner on July 15, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, we’ll ship to any country. Easy, right? Good luck!

Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2005

Photo by Candida Höfer

See more Candida Höfer posts here.

Giveaway Contest: Thanks to the generosity of @harperperennial, we’re giving away all eight of the new, limited edition 2016-17 Harper Perennial Olive Editions! Won’t these look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these books, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will randomly choose a winner on December 15, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, Harper Perennial has agreed to make this an International giveaway! Easy, right? Good luck!