<–The State of the Reader: 6/15/22         The State of the Reader: 7/13/22–>

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 Purchased: 4

• The Light Within by Grace Draven (Master of Crows) – $0.99 @ Amazon Kindle
• The Brush of Black Wings by Grace Draven (Master of Crows) – $2.99 @ Amazon Kindle
• Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Hyde Ryan – $5.99 @ Amazon Kindle
• The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak – $2.99 @ Amazon Kindle

Total: $12.87

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Books Finished: 3

Title: The Last Anniversary
Author: Liane Moriarity
Date Added: June 3, 2022
Date Started: June 3, 2022
Date Finished: June 22, 2022

Media: eBook/Kindle

I finished this quickly one, because it was a library book (I just got in under the wire); and two, Liane Moriarity is always engaging.  I really, really wish she didn’t hate fat people so much though   I know she’s a middle-aged white lady and that’s the “low-fat and diet everything” generation, but it’s really pervasive.  She also has the “tough it out” mentality about marriages that really should end, but that’s a boomer battle cry, too.  All this sounds like I didn’t like the book when I loved it.  I kind of figured out what was going on, but that doesn’t take anything away from the author’s planning; I’m just kind good at figuring out the pattern of stories lol.  I was hoping one aspect wouldn’t be there, but it honestly only made sense, too.  Moriarity is a master at misleading and misdirection, and this one didn’t disappoint.

I think I’m sadly up to date on all of her books, at least all of the ones that hold my interest.  I’m sure she’s not finished writing.  I’d be surprised since she’s popular enough to have two TV series made of her books.

Title: The Death of Jane Lawrence
Author: Caitlin Starling
Date Added: July 25, 2021
Date Started: April 7, 2022

Media: eBook/Kindle

I can’t believe I had to borrow this three separate times to finish it.  It’s weird because sometimes you’ll get the option to renew, but I guess if the book is in high demand i.e. there are people on the waiting list, you can’t do that.  Either way I’m glad I finished it.  Now I understand why it has a less than stellar rating.  The premise and set up is decent, but the execution is messy.  Starling tries to keep things too vague so the last third of the book is a jumble of random events and rules that arise based on the situation.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of non-systematic magic where you don’t know what might happen, but there were too many convenient things that occurred without explanation.

I have another of her books The Luminous Dead on my list.  It was published prior so I suppose we’ll see if maybe Jane Lawrence just missed some marks.

Title: Parasite Eve
Author: Hideaki Sena
Translator: Tyran Grillo
Date Added: June 8, 2017
Date Started: April 14, 2022

Media: eBook/Kindle

Whew…I know I keep saying this but this was an obvious inspiration for Square Enix not just for FFVII but other games in that series and other series.  Of course there’s a Parasite Eve game, which I need to find a Let’s Play of.  There’s a part in the book that’s reminiscent of the start of the game because the Eve in that also has the power to set things on fire.

The author has a pharmacology Ph. D, which was obvious from how much he knew about medicine, but there’s also a bibliography of what he researched in order to write accurately about transplants.  Those chapters were uncomfortable to say the least, but that’s because they were so detailed and well done.  Funnily enough, one of the critiques is that the book is boring lol.  Every likes different things though.  I couldn’t stop reading until I got to some of the more graphic surgery parts because I usually read during lunch haha.

One of the reviews mentioned another Japanese author whose name is escaping me now, but he wrote The Ring.  Yeah…that “ring.”  I knew it was a movie, but I didn’t know it was a novel.  I think I need to read more Japanese horror, because I’m sure I’ll get some insights from that.

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Books DNF: 0

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Books On Hold: 0

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Books Reading: 6

Title: The Ippos King
Series: Wraith Kings
Author: Grace Draven
Date Added: May 25, 2017
Date Started: June 29, 2022

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 2%

I’d meant to read this years ago and set my notifications to tell me when it came out.  I loved the first two Wraith Kings books and actually wanted to reread them, but never got around to it just like I didn’t get around to reading this until now.  I think what happened was I read the blurb and it was following side characters, and I loved the mains so I put it on the backburner.  The writing is just as good though and I’m into it.

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Date Added: June 21, 2016
Date Started: June 28, 2022

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 6%

It took me a beat to realize that this was taking place in modern times.  iPods were mentioned and that’s how I knew.  All the kids party out in the forest near the glass coffin of a horned boy.  His sleep is endless and the glass is unbreakable, but I’m sure that’s all about to change.

Title: Ecofeminism
Series Title: Critique Influence Change
Authors: Maria Mies & Vandana Shiva
Date Added: July 13, 2020
Date Started: May 3, 2022

Media: Paperback
Progress: 4%

I’m still reading the introduction lol.  This is going to be a long read, but I have it tagged as a reference for several essays so it’s worth it.

Title: Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness
Author: Da’Shaun Harrison
Date Added: February 11, 2022
Date Started: May 2, 2022

Media: Paperback
Progress: 13%

I’m too tired to really say much about this, but it’s depressing how accurate it is.

Title: The King in Yellow
Author: Robert W. Chambers
Date Added: August 4, 2019
Date Restarted: April 17, 2022

Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 45%

I haven’t made as much progress as I want, but I am in the midst of the next story “The Mademoiselle d’Ys.”

Title: House of Sky and Breath
Series: Crescent City
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Date Added: March 7, 2021
Date Started: February 23, 2022

Media: Physical/Hardback
Progress: 37%

I love seeing how other authors depict characters that can teleport (when they decide to divulge the deets).  I always compare it to how I do it.

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This took an exceptionally long time to do this week because I finished three books and started two.  It’s a lot of steps to update my spreadsheet and then put all the information here.  I usually don’t schedule any series/book drafting on these days, but I still try to do it if I have the time.  I hope I have it after I finish proofreading this.

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<–The State of the Reader: 6/15/22         The State of the Reader: 7/13/22–>