Books

The State of the Reader: 1/15/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 5 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 1/1/20         The State of the Reader: 1/29/20–>

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.

Books Purchased

Books Finished: 2

Title: Star Trek: Picard – Countdown #1
Series Title: Star Trek: Picard – Countdown
Author: Kirsten Beyer
Artists: Mike Johnson & Ángel Hernández
Date Added: January 5, 2020
Date Started: January 5, 2020
Date Finished: January 8, 2020

Star Trek: Picard - Countdown #1 coverMedia: eBook/Kindle

I don’t know if this is common knowledge, but I try to live my life in a way that Captain Picard would be proud.  He is best captain (don’t even @ me), my favorite one (sorry Steve Rogers, you’re second though), and only the most English man to ever English playing a French man.  I’m so stoked for the Picard series and this comic is a precursor to that.  If you’re into Star Trek and are planning to watch the Picard series, I highly recommend.

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Black Butler, Vol. 1 by Yana Toboso (Kuroshitsuji #1)

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Title: Black Butler, Vol. 1
Series Title: Kuroshitsuji
Author: Yana Toboso
Translator: Tomo Kimura
Date Added: January 8, 2018
Date Started: July 26, 2018
Date Finished: August 2, 2018
Reading Duration: 7 days
Genre: Manga/Graphic Novel, Young Adult (YA), Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror

Black Butler, Vol. 1 coverPages: 192
Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: February 27, 2007
Media: Paperback (Library)

In the Victorian ages of London The Earl of the Phantomhive house, Ciel Phantomhive, needs to get his revenge on those who had humiliated him and destroyed what he loved. Not being able to do it alone he sells his soul to a demon he names Sebastian Michaelis. Now working as his butler, Sebastian must help the Earl Phantomhive in this suspenseful, exciting, thriller manga.

This is one of those books where the blurb tells you more than the initial chapters.  I didn’t realize Sebastian was a demon Ciel sold his soul to until I neared the end, though I did peak at the chapter titles and the last one is called “The Butler Most Evil.”  I spent the entire book wondering about the Earl of Phantomhive’s eye patch and wondering if that had anything to do with his dark deal.  Sadly, I doubt I’ll even find out unless I watch the anime or look up the wiki.

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The State of the Reader: 1/1/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/18/19         The State of the Reader: 1/15/20–>

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.

Books Finished: 1

Title: The Nutcracker Curse
Series Title: Cursed Fairy Tale
Author: Margo Ryerkerk
Date Added: May 24, 2019
Date Started: December 9, 2019
Date Finished: December 25, 2019

The Nutcracker Curse by Margo RyerkerkMedia: eBook/Kindle

Blatantly obvious conclusion but still an oddly enjoyable novel.  It’s not the type of story I’d gush about, but it was interesting enough to keep me reading.  I do think it would benefit from some better editing, nor do I think I’m going to rush to get the author’s next book, but I wouldn’t necessarily say no to reading another.

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Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson (Lumberjanes #1) (DNF)

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Title: Beware the Kitten Holy
Series Title: Lumberjanes
Author: Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, & Faith Hicks
Artists: Brooke A. Allen, Shannon Waters, Kay Leyh, Carolyn Nowak, & Carey Pietsch
Date Added: January 13, 2017
Date Started: July 19, 2018
Date DNF: July 25, 2018
Reading Duration: 6 days
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult (YA), Fantasy

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten HolyPages: 128
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
Media: Paperback (Library)

At Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s camp for hard-core lady-types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together… And they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! The mystery keeps getting bigger, and it all begins here.

I feel like this was definitely geared towards a different demographic than yours truly’s, which is why I ended up DNFing it.  So much wacky stuff was going on that I never got much of a sense of the characters, but to be fair I didn’t get much past Chapter 1.  There was a pattern of the girls finding and/or running from three-eyed creatures .  They start off facing three-eyed foxes, run into a three-eyed river monster, and then Ripley tries to get her candy bar back from a three-eyed eagle (believe it or not).  From what I read, the characters seemed pretty interchangeable, except for the one girl who could recite the Lumberjanes pledge by memory.  I’m hoping they became more distinct as the story went on.  There was decent representation, at least in terms of racial diversity, and I can see the appeal; it just wasn’t appealing to me.  Kinda like Mamma Mia lol.

Wytches, Volume 1 by Scott Snyder (Wytches #1-6)

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Title: Wytches, Volume 1
Series Title: Wytches
Author: Scott Snyder
Artists: Jock, Matt Hollingsworth, & Clem Robins
Date Added: October 9, 2017
Date Started: July 8, 2018
Date Finished: July 15, 2018
Reading Duration: 7 days
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror, Fantasy

Wytches, Volume 1 CoverPages: 192
Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: October 8, 2014
Media: Paperback (Library)

Everything you thought you knew about witches is wrong. They are much darker, and they are much more horrifying. Wytches takes the mythology of witches to a far creepier, bone-chilling place than readers have dared venture before. When the Rooks family moves to the remote town of Litchfield, NH to escape a haunting trauma, they’re hopeful about starting over. But something evil is waiting for them in the woods just beyond town. Watching from the trees. Ancient…and hungry.

This was…okay.  I liked how the novel was cleverly bookended with everything occurring tying in with an incident in the beginning.  There was also an in-story comic that cleverly connected with the book’s plot, and the artwork is decent.

I liked the relationship Sailor had with Charlie, her father, but her character is not well developed.  She had a cool, quirky look, which may have been Snyder’s way of hinting why she’d been bullied, but no personality to fill that role.

Sailor from Wytches. She has reddish and is wearing a yellow hat and yellow tinted, rectangular glasses. Her expression is troubled. Her speech bubble says, "I don't know. What if they all know about me?" where the "know" is in bold.

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The State of the Reader: 12/18/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 11 Comments

<–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.

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

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

Winterglass coverMedia: 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.

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The State of the Reader: 12/4/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 10/23/19         The State of the Reader: 12/18/19–>

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.

Books Obtained: 7

Books Finished: 1

Title: Vita Nostra
Series: Метаморфозы (Metamorphoses)
Author: Marina & Sergey Dyachenko
Date Added: December 22, 2018
Date Started: September 23, 2019
Date Finished: November 20, 2019

Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey DyachenkoMedia: eBook/Kindle

Most of my notes for this are in my Kindle copy, but this book was fantastic.  It’s described as similar to Harry Potter, but the only similarity is that both books are about going away to school.  While Rowling’s series certainly has its positives (and negatives, mostly due to the author not knowing when to just stop), Vita Nostra is an existential masterpiece that shares more paradigms with time loop narratives than HP, but I hesitate to compare it fully to any of those either.  It really is unique and shows why it’s so important to experience media from different cultures.  I’m sad none of the other books in the series have been translated, and I really hope that happens soon.

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