Books

The State of the Reader: 5/5/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 1 Comment

<–The State of the Reader: 4/21/21         The State of the Reader: 5/19/21–>

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.

Purchased: 1

Books Finished: 0

Currently Reading

Title: Psychology and Alchemy
Series: Jung’s Collected Works
Author: C. G. Jung
Date Added: July 20, 2019
Date Started: April 9, 2021

Cover of Psychology and Alchemy by C. G. JungMedia: Paperback
Progress: 4%

I think I read about two paragraphs a session with this, because there’s just so much to absorb.  I haven’t even gotten to anything alchemical yet lol; I’m still in the introduction which is about the religious and psychological problems of alchemy.  Again, I’m really considering jumping back and forth between these heavier volumes.  Like after I finish the introduction for this, I might read the next chapter of Ireland’s Immortals then after that maybe start something else.  I don’t know; I need to figure out a good system for it.

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The State of the Reader: 4/21/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 8 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 4/7/21         The State of the Reader: 5/5/21–>

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.

Purchased: 6

Total: $31.94

Books Finished: 1

Title: Agents of Dreamland
Series: Tinfoil Dossier
Author: Caitlín R. Kiernan
Date Added: October 31, 2020
Date Started: March 30, 2021
Date Finished: April 19, 2021

Cover of Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Tinfoil Dossier)Media: eBook/Kindle

The close of this came abruptly, which I suppose is how normal people will experience the end of the world.  It was very much in the spirit of Lovecraft with more horrifying questions for each answer.  Each chapter had me wondering when the hell it was taking place, which is pretty meta for one of the characters who mentally travels through time.

I bought the next book immediately (as seen in the Purchased section above).  It has a mien of both Lovecraft and a hardboiled detective story, not a combination I’ve seen before.

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The State of the Reader: 4/7/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 5 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 3/24/21         The State of the Reader: 4/21/21–>

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.

Purchased: 1

Books Finished: 3

Title: Night Fire
Series Title: Night Fire Trilogy
Author: Catherine Coulter
Date Added: February 22, 2021
Date Started: February 23, 2021
Date Finished: March 26, 2021

Cover of Night Fire by Catherine CoulterMedia: eBook/Kindle

Rereading something you haven’t read in years is similar to rereading old writing in that you realize how much you’ve grown as a person.  Anything I wrote ten plus years ago is full of cringe (even if some parts might still be salvageable…at least that’s what I hope for The Serpent’s Tale lol).  That’s what reading this was like.  When I did so in high school I loved certain parts of it, but now that I’m more aware of problematic tropes, they greatly lesson my ardor.  This is one of those novels where I learn what not to do (especially in a hurt/comfort motif) by reading it.  It was also written in the late 80’s, which had a wildly different ethos for romance.  It’s grown up as much as I have in that time.

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The State of the Reader: 3/24/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 7 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 3/10/21         The State of the Reader: 4/7/21–>

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.

Purchased: 0

Books Finished: 0

Currently Reading

Title: The Oedipus Trilogy
Series: The Theban Plays
Author: Sophocles
Date Added: July 25, 2020
Date Started: March 18, 2021

Cover of The Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles

Media: Paperback
Progress: 7%

As mentioned last week, I’ve read Oedipus Rex, but not the other two books in the Cycle, and I’m obviously reading/rereading this for research purposes even though I’ve already used it in an essay.  Oops.

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The State of the Reader: 3/10/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $12.98

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

Cover of Crier's War by Nina VarelaMedia: 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.

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The Books of 2020

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 3 Comments

So 2020, am I right?  What else can be said about the year that hasn’t already been spoken?

Let’s talk books!

I’m going to do it a bit differently than I did it last year.  I found a template that I created but never used so this year I decided to remedy that.

Favorite Book

Cover of Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

I haven’t reviewed this yet, so I don’t want to say too much, but I knew this had the highest chance of being my GOAT for 2020.  A bold claim, I know, since I finished reading it in February, and indeed, there was another book that almost edged it out, but I’m a sucker for fantasy/sci-fi with realistic emotional impact, and the female MC is so 2020 it hurts.  We all know the 2020 attitude of *shrug* “Yeah that might as well happen” regardless of what batshit crazy thing occurs, and after surviving literal pestilence, Sarah would react just like that to our own.

Favorite Series

Set of Guild Hunter books by Nalini Singh

Guild Hunter Series by Nalini Singh

I have so far completed the second book of this series, but it’s still my favorite for 2020.  I mean it’s a paranormal romance series about ANGELS ffs, so easy sell.  Anyway, per the the third book’s blurb, the main angel’s evil mom shows back up to drive him into wrathful insanity so that’ll be a totally new thing for me to read about *nods* EXCITING.

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The State of the Reader: 2/24/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 7 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 2/10/21         The State of the Reader: 3/10/21–>

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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $7.98

Books Finished: 1

Title: The House on Abigail Lane
Author: Kealan Patrick Burke
Date Added: January 9, 2021
Date Started: February 5, 2021

Cover of The House on Abigail Lane by Kealan Patrick BurkeMedia: eBook/Kindle

This was…really good.  Lovecraftian in how it never really answered the questions behind the horror, and only gave you enough to let the potential implications wash over you.  You almost think you’re going to have answers, but then the information you’re given just leads to more questions.  The writing is so solid you believe you’re reading about events that actually happened.  Definitely a five star book and the author now has a new follower.

Currently Reading

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

Cover of Night Fire by Catherine CoulterMedia: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 19%

Ten years ago me would say “I have no defense for myself for reading this!” Current me couldn’t give a fuck. I’m a mess; this book is messy AF, and there’s a story behind it that might actually be the explanation for my own (paranormal) romance writing paired of course with my love and discovery of Aeriseph fanfic :p

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The State of the Reader: 2/10/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 3 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 1/27/21         The State of the Reader: 2/24/21–>

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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $6.98

Books Finished: 3

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

Cover of Medusa's Daughters edited by Theodora GossMedia: eBook/Kindle

I didn’t love this.  I didn’t hate it obviously, but I didn’t love it.  It was an interesting collection of stories about “misbehaving” women, which is why I’m sad I didn’t love it, because that’s my aesthetic.  I might change my mind about it once I have the time to think about the stories more, but that’s my initial perspective (and also why I don’t often rate books as soon as I finish them).

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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Date Added: April 13, 2013
Date Started: August 9, 2018
Date Finished: September 13, 2018
Reading Duration: 35 days
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal/Supernatural, Young Adult (YA), Mid-Grade

Cover of The Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanPages: 286
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
Publisher: HarperCollins
Media: Paperback

In this ingenious and captivating reimagining of Rudyard Kipling’s classic adventure The Jungle Book, Neil Gaiman tells the unforgettable story of Nobody Owens, a living, breathing boy whose home is a graveyard, raised by a guardian who belongs neither to the mortal world nor the realm of the dead. Among the mausoleums and headstones of his home, Bod experiences things most mortals can barely imagine. But real, flesh-and-blood danger waits just outside the cemetery walls: the man who murdered the infant Bod’s family will not rest until he finds Nobody Owens and finishes the job he began many years ago.

A #1 New York Times bestseller and winner of many international awards, including the Hugo Award for best novel and the Locus Award, The Graveyard Book is a glorious meditation on love, loss, survival, and sacrifice . . . and what it means to truly be alive.

Per the blurb, this is a retelling/fanfiction of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, but without the blatantly racist aspects of the original work.  In using the graveyard as a paranormal stand-in for Mowgli’s jungle, Gaiman’s novel serves as a perfect parallel to the “return to your own world” narrative, and could in fact surpass Kipling’s motif to the same.  While Mowgli will never belong to the jungle, one day the graveyard will be Nobody’s place, and the somber meaning of his name will be fulfilled.

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The State of the Reader: 1/27/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 1/13/21         The State of the Reader: 2/10/21–>

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.

Purchased: 3

Total: $4.98

Books Finished: 0

On Hold

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

Cover of Norse Myths That Inspired Final Fantasy VII by M. J. GallagherMedia: Paperback
Progress: 15%

I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back to this.  Just thinking about picking it back up triggers my gag reflex because of where I had to stop.  I’ve started reading an online translation of “The Maiden Who Travels the Planet” as a  non-fiction/reference/research replacement.  Not sure if I’m going to count it toward my book challenge total, but I probably will since it is on Goodreads.  I’ll probably read On the Way to a Smile and The Kids Are Alright next since I have physical copies of them both.

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