<–The State of the Reader: 7/5/17 The State of the Reader: 7/19/17–>
A weekly post updated every Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and where I am with them in addition to what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list. Title links go to Goodreads to make it easier for interested parties to add any books that might strike their fancy. I attempt to use the covers for the edition I’m reading, and I’ll mention if this is not the case. If you have a Goodreads account feel free to friend me! I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.
Samples Read This Week
- The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson: Kept – The princess runs away from her arranged marriage, and eventually the jilted prince and a hired assassin come after her, but she (and presumably the reader) don’t know which is which. I really hope she chooses the assassin :p
- Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodor Goss: Kept/Purchased – I’ve followed Ms. Goss’s blog for a bit, and really love her Heroine’s Journey essay. It’s something I want to keep as a reference for comparison in the least (I immediately thought of Aeris when I read it; the maiden in the woods indeed). I’m a lover of fairy tales (as you well know), and this story certainly has that feel.
- Iron Cast by Destiny Soria: Kept – One of the main characters is a woman of color in a Victorian setting! The writing is solid, and the hematobes seem like an interesting bunch.
- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery: Kept/Purchased – I found a stupendous deal on this book/series. I’ve never read it, but one of my more intelligent friends from high school has talked about it on Facebook, and I figured it was worth a look.
- RoseBlood by A. G. Howard: Kept – A modern Phantom of the Opera retelling where I’m not sure whether the female character is taking more of the role of the Phantom, but the cover seems to suggest that. There’s some weird stuff going on with her family, and in just the brief sample, I saw little references to the original like her Aunt Lottie (short for Charlotte), but certainly a reference to “Little Lottie.”
- The Stolen Child by Keith Donahue: Kept – I removed it from my really-want-to-read list, not because I didn’t like it. I really do. The writing is lush; the first page has a Latin phrase I had to look up; and it brings up several good questions about the origin of changelings. However, I’m trying to determine if a book is RWTR by the sample, and per that, I’m taking it off that list.
- The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron: Kept (RWTR) – I was only able to read a few pages of this on my lunch break, but what I did told me it needed to be added to my RWTR list. Everyone in the city of Canaan forgets everything they know after a certain number of days, and only a select few are given books of remembering. The protagonist is one of these people.
- Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson: Kept (RWTR) – Sexy vampires with English accents and Victorian garb? Yes please. The main character/heroine is extremely likeable, and the author was quite ingenious making her so since she steals a locket within the first few pages. However Tish is a nurse, which already adds points to her credit, because she’s a legitimate, caring nurse. She escaped a bad relationship and among doing hospice for others, she takes care of her ailing ,but still feisty grandmother. This is a definite a really-want-to-read.
- The Rescuers by Margery Sharp: Passed – I spent a good deal of my teenage years reading books that Disney movies were based on if I could find them at my school and/or local library. It’s how I read Bambi, which is quite a bit different than the movie. I was hoping I’d find this book as charming and interesting as the others so co-opted for movies, but I was frankly bored. The narrative was too scattered as if the author didn’t have a thorough editing job performed. Maybe it gets better later, but I have too many books on my TBR list to gamble on that.
Books Purchased This Week: 9
Title: Red as Blood and White as Bone
Author: Theodora Goss
Date Added: September 10, 2016
Date Purchased: July 7, 2017
Media: eBook/Kindle
Price: $0.99
Retailer: Amazon
Title: Anne of Green Gables
Series Title: Anne of Green Gables & Chronicles of Avonlea
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Date Added: September 2, 2016
Date Purchased: July 7, 2017
- Anne of Avonlea
- Anne of the Island
- Anne’s House of Dreams
- Rainbow Valley
- Rilla of Avonlea
- Chronicles of Avonlea
- Further Chronicles of Avonlea
Media: ebook/Kindle
Price: $0.99
Retailer: Amazon
It was $0.99 for all eight books. I couldn’t turn down such a deal, and this is the best and easiest way I could think to show that on here.
Total: $1.98
Average Price: $0.22
Books Finished This Week: 1
Title: Gaslight Hades
Series Title: The Bonekeeper Chronicles
Author: Grace Draven
Date Added: June 11, 2017
Date Started: July 2, 2017
I absolutely love how Grace Draven writes romance, probably because I’m a narcissistic elitist who likes writing that’s similar to her own, but is that really so terrible? We tend to be drawn to the familiar, and I modeled my writing style after authors who use a certain type of eloquent prose.
Draven has a lovely wit to her main characters, and her heroines are capable, brilliant, and well rounded, and between this novel and her Wraith Kings series, she doesn’t go for moony maids pining over some unreachable godlike guy, even if the guy is not quite human…and has some godlike powers. This is something I can definitely respect.
Also, fucking thank you for subverting the White Hair, Black Heart trope.
#blessed
It was glorious to see an angel of death-like character (who incidentally was created by a mad scientist/doctor through horrible experiments) not be the antagonist in a published original. I only had one “major” problem with this story, and the good points almost override it, but it’s a moderately dire dalliance, so I’m struggling to decide how badly I should penalize.
The novella shares paradigms with FFVII, SOMA (yes, really. You’ll have to listen to me talk about that game now ad nauseum, too), Lovecraft Mythos, and Poe’s “The Raven.” I’ll obviously elaborate on these claims in my review.
Books Currently Reading: 7
Title: A Torch Against the Night
Series Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Date Added: June 7, 2017
Date Started: July 12, 2017
Media: Hardback
Progress: 4%
Picking up right where Ember left off, this novel also explodes right off the page. I really hope the third one is out by the time I finish this, otherwise I’ll be in the same situation I’m in with Grace Draven’s Wraith Kings D:
The review for the first is sixth down on my list.
Title: The Archived
Series Title: The Archived
Author: Victoria Schwab
Date Added: July 12, 2016
Date Started: July 11, 2017
Media: Hardback/Library
Progress: 6%
There’s a huge question already presented within the first three chapters of this. The fact that Mackenzie doesn’t know all the details about the Archives and where Returns leads to. I have a feeling there are some dark truths that are going to be revealed in this novel. The Narrows definitely gives me an “in between” and “upside down” vibe.
Title: Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft
Series Title: Locke & Key
Authors: Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez
Date Added: September 28, 2016
Date Started: July 3, 2017
Media: Paperback
Progress: 49%
This is an excellent graphic novel. It’s very different from Saga (though I’d say that Saga definitely does have some Lovecraftian influence, just used in a different way), and it’s yet another narrative that tells me to listen to a child if they ever tell me something weird.
Title: Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
Author: David Eagleman
Date Added: May 7, 2017
Date Started: July 2, 2017
Media: Paperback
Progress: 25%
I would’ve had another chapter read before today, if SOMA hadn’t freaked me out of delving into anything about the brain/consciousness. I’m a bit better now (though who knows what’ll happen when I sit down to review it and have to go through all of that again), so I’ll read more of it next time it comes up on my schedule.
Title: The Scorpion Rules
Series Title: Prisoners of Peace
Author: Erin Bow
Date Added: April 18, 2016
Date Started: June 29, 2017
Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 45%
What I thought would be a bit of a boring story has gotten so much more intense. I’m still going to hold off on adding the next book in the series until I’m closer to the end.
Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Series Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Date Added: May 26, 2017
Date Started: June 12, 2017
Media: Hardback
Progress: 81%
So close, so close. I am terrified that someone important is going to die. I don’t want to be spoiled, but I also want to know that at the very least this will have a fairy tale ending even if the majority of the narrative isn’t so much in that vein. Here’s my list of demands:
- Neither Feyre nor Rhys are killed or if one of them is killed, there’s a way to resurrect them (I don’t give a shit. BREAK ALL THE RULES!). They also have that “promised” child.
- Nesta and Cassian end up together
This is really not too much to ask…
Title: The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes
Author: Anonymous
Date Added: June 19, 2016
Date Started: May 8, 2017
Media: Paperback
Progress: 75%
I wish I didn’t find this book as plodding as I do. It’s just one of those situations where a more cohesive order would’ve better fit what I was looking for.
Fanfictions Finished: 0
Fanfictions Currently Reading: 2
Title: I’m the Darkness, You’re the Starlight
Author: runicmagitek
Fandom: FFVI
Pairing: Celes Chere/Setzer Gabbiani
Progress: Awaiting update
Title: I Will Call You Home: A Recounting of the Fifth Blight
Author: AthenaTseta
Fandom: Dragon Age
Pairing: Leilana/Various
Progress: Chapter 24
Being a Grey Warden means you often have to help those who detest you for what you are. I’m happy Renya is a much better person than many of the humans shes come across.
Books Added to Goodreads TBR List This Week: 7
Title: Anne of Avonlea
Series Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Date Added: July 7, 2017
Title: Anne of the Island
Series Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Date Added: July 7, 2017
Title: Anne’s House of Dreams
Series Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Date Added: July 7, 2017
Title: Rainbow Valley
Series Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Date Added: July 7, 2017
Title: Rilla of Ingleside
Series Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Date Added: July 7, 2017
Title: Chronicles of Avonlea
Series Title: Chronicles of Avonlea
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Date Added: July 7, 2017
Title: Further Chronicles of Avonlea
Series Title: Chronicles of Avonlea
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Date Added: July 7, 2017
I have no clue if I’ll like any of these books, but I thought the first one was decent enough per its sample, and all of these books were $0.99 together
Total Books on Goodreads TBR List: 471
Change from Last Week: +4
Books Added to Reread List This Week: 0
What are you currently reading and/or what’s on your radar to read next? What would you recommend based on my current and recently added? As always I look forward to your comments and suggestions!
<–The State of the Reader: 7/5/17 The State of the Reader: 7/19/17–>
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
Pingback: The State of the Reader: 7/5/17 | The Shameful Narcissist Speaks
I absolutely DEVOURED the Anne Of Green Gables series when I was a child! I’d actually like to re-read it if I ever find the time, as that and The Chronicles Of Narnia are two of my favorites. Do you get Netflix Adrienne? There’s a new series on there based on the books.
That short story by Theodora Goss looks lovely. I just finished reading her new book “The Strange Case Of the Alchemist’s Daughter”. I’m hoping to review it in the next week, but I can tell you it’s already one of my favorite books of 2017!😊
LikeLike
Anne of Green Gables is one of those books I keep thinking that I’ll read one day, and then literally any other book comes along and I wind up not. So I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts! haha
I’m considering bringing Incognito when I go on vacation with my family, because I bring the weirdest books to the beach, but not I’m not so sure haha. Anyway, I’m still going through the Miss Peregrine’s series, then I’ll be picking up The Panopticon, and either Incognito or finishing up NeuroTribes (haha?).
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a much higher chance of reading it since it’s on my Kindle lol. I’ll let you know what I think.
How was the second Miss Peregrine? I read the first and really liked it though the ending seemed a bit weak.
You will not regret it if you decide to bring Incognito!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The second Miss Peregrine… well it’s a little slow, and then picks up around halfway through. I got the feeling that he found some old photographs and tried to weave them into the story, instead of telling the story and then having the pictures to go with them. I’m only a little way into #3, and it started with a bang, but I’m a little worried that we’re going to see another slow down before the final build. As much as I liked the slow burn of the first book, since the reader and Jacob were left with threads and breadcrumbs that they just wanted to follow, that same slowness didn’t translate as well to the next installments. I’m withholding judgment until I finish the whole thing, but… I think one longer book might have been a little better than three books. Definitely worth reading, just because the subject is so original, but this is one of the few times I liked the movie a tad more than the series as a whole… but we’ll see if I change my opinion when I read the ending of the third one!
LikeLike
Hmm… I didn’t realize the Locke & Key was Lovecraft themed. And now I have to read it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The name of the locale is literally called Lovecraft! It’s intense. I’m not sure what the other books in the series are like, but this is a fantastic opener.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Locke & Key is great! I love how dark it is.
I’m currently reading Providence of Fire, the second in the Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne trilogy. After that, I think I need to polish off some shorter books to keep up with my Goodreads yearly challenge. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have the first on my list! Graphic novels will easily pad your challenge. How many books do you have on it and how many have you read so far? I reached my 15 in March lol. Next year, I might make it 50 because I’ve been reading so much more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am at 34/67. I’ve done a couple of graphic novels this year and I pretty much wait for Ignited Moth to hand me the next great graphic novel lol. I have plenty of shorter books I could read, I just still to unpack them. 😛
LikeLike
Yay for Anne of Green Gables! I never read the series (and it looks sooo boring to me lol) but it’s based in the province of P.E.I., which is a little north of me, and written by an Atlantic Canadian author so I support the reading of it. I’ve never actually been there either. I don’t like going out into the cruel world unless I absolutely have to, haha. Let me know if it actually isn’t boring 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m hoping I at least like the first one enough to finish it. I’m not going to say it wasn’t something I would’ve read as a child, but I was more into fantasy, though I did really enjoy Black Beauty and other classics.
I didn’t know it took place in Canada! We Americans just assume everything happens here lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It just doesn’t seem like something that would hold my interest, but hopefully you enjoy it! I am looking forward to reading your thoughts on it.
Never underestimate the quiet countries… 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed seeing the latest picks! Grace Draven’s work sounds most intriguing to me. And I need to dive into some of your stuff, too. Did you make some changes to your page? Seems a lot different than last time I looked and I could swear there was only fan fiction listed previously. Myself, I’m on a mission to read more of Neil Gaiman. Right now I’m reading the one he co-authored with Terry Pratchett called Good Omens.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She is currently my favorite paranormal romance author. The way she writes couples and relationships is just perfect. It’s similar to my methodology, and well, I AM the Shameful Narcissist hehe.
I don’t think so! It’s been a while since I’ve even changed the northern lights background. There are a lot of changes I want to make, but I need to find the time to do that. There IS another fanfiction up. I’m editing and posting chapters of The Broken Rose as I complete my edit of them. It’s slow going, but it’s going still.
I used to dislike Neil Gaiman, but I think it’s because I started with either American Gods or Neverwhere, and I was more into high fantasy as opposed to urban. Once I read Star Dust, I was perfectly fine with his style, and I absolutely loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Sadly, I’ve never been able to get into Good Omens, and I’ve tried to read it twice. Oddly enough even though I now like Gaiman, and I’ve always liked Pratchett. Years ago, one of my friends introduced me to his Discworld, and I’ve enjoyed his novels ever since.
LikeLike
You know what, it’s your Blogspot page I’m thinking of. When I click on your avatar and it brings me to the little description and lists your websites, that one with the black background is the only one listed and the one I’ve been to, not this WordPress site. And on BlogSpot it looks like the last post was from 2015. So how I managed to get on this wordpress page of yours I don’t even know, haha. *sings* “A whole new wooorrrrrld…..”
I’ve only read Coraline which I love, and would like to continue reading more. But I’m relieved to hear I’m not the only one that can’t get into Good Omens. Everyone freakin’ raves about it and the style is similar to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which I enjoyed, but this is the third time now I’ve put it down and let it rest for a week or more and then forced myself to pick it back up. Not a good sign. Looks like I may be grabbing Discworld from the library, then. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did abandon that a long time ago, didn’t I? I actually still go there every now and then because I have a ton of drafts saved there that I pull from. Hopefully, they never decide to shut the site down otherwise I’ll be SOL.
Oh good…I’m glad I’m not the only one either! I’d start reading it, and not hate it, but not really connect with it. I’d put it down, and then find something else to read, and then forget about it. If they ever make a movie, I’ll definitely watch it though 😀 It doesn’t have a Hitchhikers’ style, but I don’t know, that just didn’t work for me in that story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used to have a Blogspot account, too. I usually save stuff on an external hard drive as well and email copies to a few friends to read, so hopefully nothing terrible will ever happen with me losing a piece.
It’s funny, I’ll be relaxing at the lake this weekend and cruising on a boat for a while so I’m going to bring Good Omens with me and see if I can’t finish it after all. My guess is I’ll just come back with a few pages read and a sunburn, though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m trying to think if/where I have them all saved. I…think I do, but I also physically wrote out a lot of those posts, because it was my editing journal for one of my fanfictions. I wanted to keep a record of my editing process and I wound up writing all this comparative, essay, meta stuff lol. I figure, “Why not? I’ll post my rambly thoughts in case people want a glimpse to the madness of a writer’s mind.” I wish I had more time to work on those editing posts. I schedule time once a month, but even then.
You’ll have to let me know how it is if you do finish it!
LikeLike
I can’t imagine physically writing out anything these days that I’m working on except for an outline. But it might be nice to take a notebook out in nature and record my thoughts. Rambly thoughts make awesome poems, too! I’ve heard the hardest part of writing is the first step – sitting your ass down. 😀
And yeah, I picked up the book this last weekend, read a few pages, and put it away. I don’t think I’ll be finishing. Boo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m far more terrified of a blank computer screen than a blank page oddly enough. The latter is an invitation, but the former is a repellent, and I don’t know why! I can just start physically writing on a page, and I feel much less neurotic when I have that physical copy. I know there are advantages to both, and in all honesty, physically writing out a novel doesn’t take any longer! You’d think it would, but you’re still going through all of the same steps whether you start in a notebook or on a computer.
You’re having a same problem I did! It wasn’t that I hated it. I just didn’t hold my attention. Maybe they’ll make a movie or a TV series of it one day lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
lol the part where you wrote “listen to a child if they ever tell me something weird” made me laugh out loud. So true! haha So often they and their observations go ignored in horror stories until it’s too late. 😛
One of these days I’ll get around to reading some of Joe Hill’s actual novels, but I’m definitely a fan just based off the writing he does for Locke & Key. Not sure if you’ve ever watched the old horror anthology movie Creepshow, but Joe Hill is actually in that movie. He played the little boy who collects the Creepshow comics. His dad (Stephen King) is in the movie too, but a different portion of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right?? How many times have you seen a movie or read a book where a kid is trying to tell an adult some weird shit is going on, and the adult brushes them off because it’s out of the realm of what they think is possibility. Adults are so useless in those types of stories.
Oh really? I’m curious about his novels as well. I’ve heard of Creepshow, but I haven’t seen any of it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: The State of the Reader: 7/19/17 | The Shameful Narcissist Speaks
Probably because we’re so used to overstimulation. You’re into all kinds of lively things involving screens like movies and gaming and writing, so a blank screen is like…the death of everything you love. A soul-sucking horror. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
That…makes a lot of sense. And you really hit the nail on the head with the overstimulation idea. I hate loud noises, and the sound of chewing makes me want to murder. I read recently that things like that are a sign of overstimulation especially if you have anxiety. It makes a lot of sense in that case.
LikeLike
Haha, the one noise that drives me insane at work is when this guy in my department uses a nail clipper. That little “snip…snip….SNIP…” just makes me want to curl up and scream. Makes sense for me as well since I definitely struggle with some anxiety issues. I keep saying one day I’ll try meditating more. Maybe I need to try an app.
LikeLiked by 1 person