<–The State of the Reader: 2/24/21         The State of the Reader: 3/24/21–>

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: 2

• Midnight Heist by Katherine McIntyre (Outlaws) – $2.99 @ Amazon Kindle
• Iron Heart by Nina Varela (Crier’s War) – $9.99 @ Amazon Kindle

Total: $12.98

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Books Finished: 2

Title: Crier’s War
Series Title: Crier’s War
Author: Nina Varela
Date Added: January 9, 2021
Date Started: February 16, 2021
Date Finished: March 5, 2021

Media: eBook/Kindle

I immediately bought and started reading the next book in the duology (?).  The stakes of both the overarching plot and intimate one between the two girls is so high.  I’m also very interesting in what else this author has to offer.

Also I just have to say seeing duologies out in the wild is really heartening since my first novel was actually more novels because I had to split it into two.

Title: House of Earth and Blood
Series Title: Crescent City
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Date Added: February 7, 2020
Date Started: December 16, 2020
Date Finished: March 7, 2021

Media: Hardback

WHERE THE FUCK IS THE NEXT BOOK???!!!!  I…need to keep reading this series holy lord it’s so fucking good.  I signed up for Maas’ newsletter because the next book doesn’t even have a title yet, and I need to know everything I can about it immediately.  It has to be about Bryce and Hunt because their story isn’t done yet.  The end leaves more questions than answers, like wtf are some characters even into??  I need someone to talk to about this because holy shit…

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Currently Reading

Title: Iron Heart
Series Title: Crier’s War
Author: Nina Varela
Date Added: March 3, 2021
Date Started: March 8, 2021

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 19%

This picks up right where the prior one leaves off, and as I’m reading, I’m picking up the subtle/not so subtle commentary the author is making about the (false) dichotomy of logic vs. emotion, cultural appropriation with regards to colonization, and allyship.  I will have a lot to say about this series when I finish it.

Title: Night Fire
Series Title: Night Fire Trilogy
Author: Catherine Coulter
Date Added: February 22, 2021
Date Started: February 23, 2021

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 58%

Holy fuck this book is worse than I remember.  Like I definitely see where I got the hurt/comfort aspect of The Broken Rose from in it, but I (if I can be a little prideful) was so much better about consent and agency in my fanfic than this story could ever hope to be.  This is very much your typical late 20th century romance novel where all the men are abusive, but the “hero” is slightly less so.  I’ll do a full breakdown when I review of course.

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: 61%

The author never replied to me, but meh?  It’s not like that’s never happened before lol.  I don’t know what notifications people receive.  I should check out his Patreon page since the hubs now has a job and I could support.

Never considered Vincent as a berserker as it relates to Norse Mythology, probably because I wasn’t very informed about them.  So berserkers are related to “bear-shirts” and “wolf-skins,” and if you’re a fan of ASOIAF/GOT, that latter one should ring a bell.  The berserkers were symbolically connected to an animal totem like a bear or a wolf.  In Song, we have the obvious wolf connection with the Starks who are skinchangers, but there’s another person who can put themselves into the minds of animals and…others (which is also something in FFVII, so), and that person has a bear.  FFVII is pretty heavy with the wolf symbolism and Zack/Cloud even having the name of the bike be Fenrir.

Anyway, the next chapter is about Loki’s children, the fore mentioned Fenrir and Jormangandr (which I’m probably horribly misspelling), so that will be fun.

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I was supposed to start The Oedipus Cycle this week for my next classic, but I kept not because I didn’t feel like getting up to get it.  Now I have it sitting on the table in front of me, so next time I have reading a classic on my to do list (tomorrow) I’ll start it.  I’ve only actually read Oedipus Rex, but not the other two plays Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus.  I know Antigone is his daughter/sister (oh my god), but that’s about it.  It seems pretty ass backwards that I already wrote an essay about this (and one of my better ones) before reading/rereading the play(s), but that’s what I did.

Anyway, I’ve been watching this show The Sinner and I’m kind of hooked.  Like a bitch is invested, so I think I might go back to that tonight and eat the rest of my Indian food.

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<–The State of the Reader: 2/24/21         The State of the Reader: 3/24/21–>