<–The State of the Reader: 12/16/20         The State of the Reader: 1/13/21–>

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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Purchased: 1

• Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner (Bones of Faerie) – $2.99 @ Amazon Kindle

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Books Finished: 1

Title: As You Like It
Author: William Shakespeare
Date Added: March 6, 2018
Date Started: September 3, 2020

Media: eBook/Kindle

I only had like one page left to read of this and finished it last session.  It is such a comedy in both the Shakespeare and “there are only seven types of plot” sense i.e. everyone gets married.  Oh and “rags to riches,” too, as the usurper duke finds Jesus, sees the error of his ways, and gives the old duke back his position.  There was a review on Goodreads that literally summed it up thus.   I still need to look up my own summary to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but this was one of Shakespeare’s easier plays to follow (despite the convoluted irony of Rosalind pretending to be Ganymede pretending to Rosalind, which frankly was hilarious), so I’m just doing that as a formality.

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Currently Reading

Title: House of Earth and Blood
Series Title: Crescent City
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Date Added: February 7, 2020
Date Started: December 16, 2020

Media: Hardback
Progress: 13%

Ooooh this one is going to be a slow burn.  It’s an urban fantasy where the one MC is a half-fae, half human and the other MC is a fallen angel, so you know I’m all in.  The lore and worldbuilding is amazing, and Maas is a master at dribbling it in appropriately, a skill I hope to improve upon.  I have a ton of notes on this already, and I have kind of a hypothesis about why all the murders are happening.

Title: Medusa’s Daughters
Author: Various
Editor: Theodora Goss
Date Added: December 20, 2019
Date Started: December 14, 2020

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 28%

Just finished one of the longest stories so far called “Dionea.”  It was told through a series of letters by an Italian doctor in the 1800’s to a Lady Evelina, and I’m pretty sure the titular character was an incarnation of Venus.

Title: Norse Myths That Inspired Final Fantasy VII
Author: M. J. Gallagher
Date Added: October 26, 2020
Date Started: December 8, 2020

Media: Paperback
Progress: 15%

*heavy sigh*  I might have to put this on hold and I’m really pissed off about it.  I started reading the Compilation recap, and I got to something triggering that caused me to start dry heaving, because that’s a reaction I have to certain words put together.  It…sucks.  I need to figure out a way to handle my shit, and of course because it never rains but it pours, there’s even MORE shit involving this subject being thrown at me by my family.  Y’all don’t need to hear my problems; I just wanted to give you the heads up if this winds up on my On Hold list, which I’m not happy about.  I really, really need to be able to research this is I’m going to write my essays, and I need to know about, oh I don’t know, what the fuck happens in the story if I’m going to write about it.  Granted, I intend to either play or watch the games myself, but this volume seems like a great resource for comparing VII’s narrative to what inspired it.

I’ve spent the last few times I’m supposed to be reading it watching videos from the same guy who did the amazing presentation on Silent Hill.  He has a series on The Legend of Zelda, which has a lot of symbolic similarities with Final Fantasy VII, too.  There’s a latter video with the Triforce and the Sephirotic Tree of Life as its thumbnail, and you have NO idea how fucking excited I am about watching that.  I already had ideas about their shared symbolism, and I can’t wait to hear Reinstall Paul’s breakdown.  So either way, I’m still doing research, just maybe not in the way I wanted/intended to.

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I have been enjoying the days after Christmas way more than prior lol.  Like actually listening to Christmas music and feeling holly jolly.  Christmas is stressful as fuck, and I’m sure that was contributing to my less than stellar mental state.  I’m still waiting for some presents to be delivered and received.  I had my BFF send her thing for us to the office, so we need to go pick it up.  I also bought a ton of books with the Amazon gift cards I got, so I’ll have that to post next time.

So glad I’m off tomorrow, though I do have to jump my car, hope it starts then drive it to the mechanic.  I’m pretty sure all I need is a new battery, though I might finally get the steering pump replaced since I’ve paid off the card.  We’ll see.  I rarely drive it because Covid, but of course I want to have a working vehicle.

We have alcohol in the house for NYE and I plan to pick up some snacks.  I hope you all have a happy and safe one!

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/16/20         The State of the Reader: 1/13/21–>