<–The State of the Reader: 12/4/19         The State of the Reader: 1/1/20–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

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Books Obtained: 5

• Air Awakens by Elisa Kova (Air Awakens) – $0.00 @ Amazon
• The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon – $1.99 @ Amazon
• Extracted by R. R. Haywood (Extracted Trilogy) – $0.99 @ Amazon
• The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke by Arthur C. Clarke – $0.00 @ Amazon
• Mirrorstrike by Benjanun Sriduangkaew  (Her Pitiless Command) – $4.99 @ Amazon

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Books Finished: 3

Title: Winterglass
Series: Her Pitiless Command
Author: Benjanun Sriduangkaew
Date Added: March 3, 2019
Date Started: November 21, 2019
Date Finished: December 5, 2019

Media: eBook/Kindle

The second book came out merely days after I finished this, and not only is that awesome because I can complete the duology, but it also proved me kind of right.  Let me explain…as mentioned in the last update, one of the main characters, the general Lussadh, uses she/her pronouns, but her titles are stereotypically masculine e.g. prince, lord, etc.  Later in the novel, Nuawa, the other MC mentions that she’s neither a man nor a woman (which means she’s non-binary or genderfluid I suppose), and in my head I’m seeing her as sort of a cross between my two favorite generals: Celes from FFVI and Sephiroth from FFVII who are female and male respectively but also super beautiful.  Lussadh is on the cover of the second book, and I WAS KINDA RIGHT.

Anyway, I loved this novel, and I’m unsure why it has a below 4.00 rating.  I don’t want to assume people are homophobic/transphobic assholes, but I’m pretty sure at least part of it has to do with people being homophobic/transphobic assholes.

Oh shit!  I almost forgot!!  I’m now following the author both on Twitter and her WordPress page A Bee Writes.

Title: The Hero With a Thousand Faces
Author: Joseph Campbell
Date Added: April 24, 2014
Date Started: December 3, 2018
Date Finished: December 6, 2019

Media: Hardback

Almost a year from start to finish, but I have some fantastic notes.  I’ve already rated this (5 stars of course), and I’m not sure if I’m going to review it.  I intend to save the notes for research.

Title: The Noise Effect
Author: Stevie Turner
Date Added: October 25, 2019
Date Started: December 6, 2019
Date Finished: December 8, 2019

Media: eBook/Kindle

This was both quick and fantastic.  While I wasn’t shocked by the conclusion, the author did a good job tying it all together.  The neighbors are more of an antagonistic force than actual people, though the one vibe I did kind of pick up was the author seems to have some sort of bias towards people on government assistance?  I don’t know…it kind of came out in some of her characters, even the ones we’re supposed to like, though I didn’t pick it up from Evelyn, the narrator.  I’d recommend this.  It’s only 64 pages, so it’s a fast read.

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Currently Reading

Title: The Prose Edda
Author: Snorri Sturluson
Date Added: May 31, 2017
Date Started: December 10, 2019

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 12%

The first thing I asked myself when I started this was “why is there a retelling of Genesis in this book about Norse Mythology?”  Then I found out Sturluson is a Christian, so he tried to figure out a way to incorporate this mythology into his belief system I guess?  He has high marks as one of the best translators of the Norse traditions, so I’m going to go with it, but now it makes sense why he’s calling the Aesir men as opposed to gods.  So far it’s so good though.  I still might have to reread the Poetic Edda just to do a proper comparison.

Title: The Nutcracker Curse
Series Title: Cursed Fairy Tale
Author: Margo Ryerkerk
Date Added: May 24, 2019
Date Started: December 9, 2019

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 50%

At this rate I’ll probably end up finishing this before Faust, but this is quite a bit easier to read.  It’s…shockingly engaging despite some frankly ridiculous aspects like the unicorn being named “Biscuit” ROFL.  There are a few editing issues like a random capitalization and quotation mark problems, as well as some trite fairy tale stuff.  However, Clara’s quest for the Crackatook is intriguing, as I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to play out (though I have some ideas), and I like how the POV shifts from her and her “evil” step-sister Griselda, which makes the latter a sympathetic character just ripe for a Heel Face Turn.

Title: The Dragonbone Chair
Series: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
Author: Tad Williams
Date Added: April 24, 2013
Date Started: October 30, 2019

Media: Paperback
Progress: 6%

I really l like this and wish I had more time to read it.  I feel like it’s falling into the same trap as Tigana did.

Title: Faust
Author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Date Added: August 24, 2014
Date Started: September 1, 2019

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 52%

I’m getting a little more done with this every week.  Maybe I’ll finish it before year end, maybe I won’t *shrug*

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Chances are I’ll finish Nutcracker before Faust and I’m fine with that.  I’m a little surprised at how short the Prose Edda is, too, but I’m less likely to complete that due to it being a research read.  I’m going to keep my challenge at 20 again next year. That seems to be a good number, though I still wanted to continue more series.  Maybe next year.

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/4/19         The State of the Reader: 1/1/20–>