<–The State of the Reader: 8/26/20 The State of the Reader: 9/23/20–>
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.
Purchased: 2
Finished: 2
Title: Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
Date Added: May 16, 2015
Date Started: February 13, 2020
Date Finished: August 30, 2020
Reading Duration: 199 Days
Media: eBook/Kindle
Definitely see how this could’ve inspired/influenced GRRM’s Night King along with other malicious hive-minded entities that could have your friends spying for the enemy. This novel was wild from start to finish in all the best ways possible, and its cultural influence cannot be understated.
Title: The Killing Moon
Series: Dreamblood
Author: N. K. Jemisin
Date Added: August 17, 2017
Date Started: July 13, 2020
Date Finished: September 2, 2020
Reading Duration: 51 Days
Media: eBook/Kindle
Jemisin definitely had a vampiric motif to this without directly writing about vampires. I’m not sure if that was intentional, though I wouldn’t be surprised since she clearly knows that she’s doing. I’m very curious about the second book in the duology as this wrapped its narrative very nicely, though of course there’s a huge thing that happens in the world that can obviously be explored. In the end even though the narrative focuses on Ehiru, I think he’s more of a vehicle for Nijiri’s story, which is a fantastic bait and switch.
On Hold
Title: Prophecy of Three
Series Title: The Starseed Trilogy
Author: Ashley McLeo
Date Added: August 3, 2018
Date Started: September 3, 2020
Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 3%
I really like this book. Library of Alexandria? A book literally rewritten from memory and hidden by magic until the right heiress comes along. I fully intend to pick this back up.
Currently Reading
Title: The Twisted Ones
Author: T. Kingfisher
Date Added: August 26, 2020
Date Started: September 7, 2020
Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 24%
Holy shit…this book, y’all. So I was reading my sample downloads as I do on Mondays. I try to catch them all up, but I only wound up reading two and buying them both (See Purchased above). I almost started reading Bad Monkey, because that one caught me, as well, but this one got me. I couldn’t stop reading with the promise of secret aliens in my ken. So I put Prophecy of Three on hold, because I fully intend to finish it. It’s really good, and I was definitely interested in the story, but SECRET ALIENS.
Title: As You Like It
Author: William Shakespeare
Date Added: March 6, 2018
Date Started: September 3, 2020
Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: Act I, Scene II
I love that I know nothing about a lot of these Shakespeare plays I’m reading. I’m loving this one so far.
Title: The Luster of Lost of Things
Author: Sophie Chen Keller
Date Added: September 12, 2017
Date Started: July 22, 2020
Media: Paperback
Progress: 44%
…I roll up my cuffs and stand ankle-deep in the water and out there in the early-morning calm, my silence is, for once, the thing that connects me.
There is a stream of consciousness mien to this story/Walter’s thoughts that I love.
Title: Gods and Myths of Northern Europe
Author: Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson
Date Added: September 21, 2017
Date Started: May 1, 2020
Media: Paperback
Progress: 56%
I finished the chapter on the sea gods and the next one is about the death ones.
Guess who has two thumbs and is having computer problems again? So last night I’m watching a Let’s Play on YouTube when all of a sudden Windows runs into a problem and had to restart. When it did all of my files were gone. Gone. GONE. I had nothing. I didn’t even panic. I just smiled like a loon because what else could I do? I had backups, though not on the edits I’d just done on The Broken Rose the night before (and I was proud of them, too, nor did I think I could remember what the hell I’d done to redo it just the way it was). So, I googled “Windows crashed and deleted my files.” God bless google…it’s probably gotten that frantic message a lot. The first thing that came up was profile corruption. I found a video that walked me through deleting the temporary one and removing the “corrupted” extension. No dice. So I went to bed…around six in the morning. Today I went back to the google and found instructions for how to move the files from the corrupted profile to a new one I created. It took some hours and here I am. I emailed myself all of my writing projects as well as the audio for Northern Lights. Until I get a new computer this is happening at least once a week, and yes, I am definitely getting a new computer…like tomorrow. I’m too tired to shop for one right now, but it’s happening. My computer is still doing some weird things, and I’m afraid to watch anything on YouTube, but for now, it’s working.
Alright, TSN is sleepy, and I have games I want to play. I couldn’t relax enough to do so while my writing and projects et al were in limbo.
<–The State of the Reader: 8/26/20 The State of the Reader: 9/23/20–>
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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Way behind on your blog so hoping the computer things are working better now. Damn, technology! *shakes fist*
I had all my video game screenshots and blog files (including ones that are deleted) on an external hard drive that I accidentally dropped and broke something inside. A data recovery company is saying it will cost $500-$1400 to recover my data 😶
My lesson? Always backup stuff 😔
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Much better! Because I bought a new one lol. I really, really need to download the streaming software so I can do a test drive on that.
Oh my god that is the worst. I’ve lost things before…more times than I can count tbh. The worst thing I ever lost was a story. I’m still upset about that. Seriously?? That much???
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Replacing it is the best way to fix issues, haha! Join the trying to stream for the first time club. I made a deal with Later Levels if they beat Final Fantasy XIII on their stream, I’d stream the other two games. Well, the beat it yesterday. I have NO IDEA how OBS streaming software works… this should be fun, haha.
Apparently, mechanical failures are pricey because the lab has to physically rebuild the hard drive to get the data out of it. Data loss sucks 😦
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Ahhhh, okay, you HAVE to let me know when/if you do that. I think I’m following you on Twitch now so I should get the notification. Hehe, for me it’s just finding the time. I wanted to at least download the software this weekend, but I didn’t even get to do that. Do you have the equipment for it? I have something Brian had lying around. I think it works okay; it was just my old computer that didn’t. I know you can stream through the PS4, but I think you still need a capture card? Look at me acting like I know what the hell I’m talking about lol.
Ugh, that makes sense I guess 😦
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I will tell you when I stream only if you promise to tell me when you stream 🙂
I got OBS software downloaded and a mic, and that’s it. Planning to just stream PC games until I get a decent capture card. And not sure if I’ll ever do the webcam thing but we’ll see, haha.
I’m pretty sure the PS4 and Xbox One let you stream to Twitch directly through their network with no need for a PC or Capture Card middleman. People still use capture cards to pipe their streams through PC and OBS to add their layouts and whatnot. They have generic layouts otherwise.
My biggest problem is I can’t talk very well so I forced myself to do a test YouTube video for XP. Let me know what you think if ya want to check it out: https://youtu.be/j4ysx_YhNVA
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Of course! I *was* thinking of doing a Halloween stream, but I’m not sure not. We’re doing stuff for Fig’s birthday that day, but maybe later? I need to do my setup/testing today, or that would be a good idea if I don’t want to be cursing past me in the future lol.
Yeah I’m on the fence about the webcam. I AM vain though so I just might lol. I would LOVE to see what HG looks like, put a face to the awesome voice, but I completely understand why she doesn’t do that. My location and appearance is already compromised, but she was smart with that. I just know she’s in Canada, but as you’re well aware Canada is gigantic, so that tells us very little.
I thought PS4 did that, but I wasn’t sure how it worked. I think maybe I’d like a layout? I honestly don’t know, which is probably why I should do testing.
Awwww, so damn near EVERYONE hates the sound of their own voice. I’m the narcissistic weirdo who actually likes mine BUT that came through years and years of getting used to it when I did hate it (yay for getting mocked for it!). I was bullied for it being kind of high/nasal sounding when I was, oh, a CHILD *rolls eyes* so I kind of crafted this fancy talking voice that was bolstered by being in choir where we had to learn to sing with better vowels. Pennsylvania has TERRIBLE vowels for singing so we learned how to round them out. I realized if I sang with an English accent it just worked out much better, and I realized I could just sort of talk like that, too. Now would I fool a legit Brit? Probably not, but most other Americans don’t know any better 😀 I’m also used to talking to myself since I read aloud a LOT for editing and I find I’ll remember things better if I hear them, so if I’m trying to figure things out, I’ll just talk to myself…in an empty apartment…hey! I NEVER said I was sane lol.
I only watched a few minutes since I don’t want spoilers, but if you’ll accept my opitnion you sound better than the majority of people I’ve heard on YouTube/Twitch. We’re always our worst critics. I think you’re just not used to hearing yourself, so it’s jarring when you do, and then you’re self-conscious because you’re wondering how other people hear you, but the majority of us just sound normal.
Plus now I follow your YouTube so score!
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HG is definitely the queen of identity protection, haha (I’m actually watching her stream while typing this comment :D). Hope you get a sweet streaming setup soon so I can bug you on Twitch!
Thank you so much for the support! My sanity level went out the window a while ago so I’m not sure why I still feel weird talking to myself 😆
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Ah I hope she streams tonight! I could use a distraction. As you know the meth lab beneath Canada might just explode soon.
When you’re not used to hearing your own voice it’s good to hear that you don’t sound too weird. We ALL sound weird to ourselves if you’re not used to it.
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