Goodreads

The State of the Reader: 6/29/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 1 Comment

<–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.

Books Purchased: 4

Total: $12.87

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

Cover of The Last Anniversary by Liane MoriarityMedia: 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.

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The State of the Reader: 6/15/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 6/1/22         The State of the Reader: 6/29/22–>

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.

Books Purchased: 1

Total: $3.99

Books Finished: 1

Title: Black Hammer, Vol: 4: Age of Doom, Part Two
Series: Black Hammer
Author: Jeff Lemire
Illustrators: Dean Ormston, Rich Tommaso et al
Date Added: May 2, 2019
Date Started: May 1, 2022
Date Finished: June 9, 2022

Cover of Black Hammer, Vol 4: Age of Doom, Part Two by Jeff LemireMedia: Paperback

Even though I’m not as pressed as the people who did so, I think I know why this one was given a lower rating.  They didn’t like the end.  I was okay with it especially after finding out this isn’t the last volume.  I’m not sure who all is going to be including in any following ones, but I don’t really like to rate sequential works, and it can be hard to review them separately since they’re really just a part of a bigger narrative.  Regardless, I added the next volume to my reading list, though right now I don’t really have any graphic novels or manga I’m itching to read.  I might have to remedy that.  There is another Transformers/My Little Pony crossover 😍

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The State of the Reader: 6/1/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 10 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 5/18/22         The State of the Reader: 6/15/22–>

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.

Books Purchased: 7

Total: $17.93

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF: 0

Books On Hold: 1

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

The cover of The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin StarlingMedia: eBook/Kindle

I really thought I could finish this before it was due again, but one, I overestimated my reading prowess; and two, I forgot it was due over a weekend.  Oops.  I’m like 4th on the list on hold, so I put it, er, on hold myself.  One good thing about borrowing eBooks is it saves your place.

Books Reading: 7

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

Cover of Ecofeminism by Maria Mies & Vandana ShivaMedia: Paperback
Progress: 1%

Finally reached the point where I can put percentages.  Both prefaces were elucidating.  Now I’m in the introduction where Mies and Shiva talk about why they decided to write this together, and when you hear their credentials it makes sense.  Shiva is a theoretical physicist from the ecology movement, and Mies is social scientist from the feminist movement.  It’s like they were destined to get together.

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The State of the Reader: 5/18/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 5/4/22         The State of the Reader: 6/1/22–>

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.

Books Purchased: 2

Total: $21.58

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF: 0

Books On Hold: 0

Books Reading: 7

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

Cover of Ecofeminism by Maria Mies & Vandana ShivaMedia: Paperback
Progress: Preface

I haven’t even gotten out of the preface(s) yet and I have so many notes.  It’s just the authors talking about why they wrote the book, why it’s still valid, and what still needs to be done, and I already have enough for a multitude of essays.

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The State of the Reader: 5/4/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 8 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 4/20/22         The State of the Reader: 5/18/22–>

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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $36.08

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF: 1

Title: The Ladies of the Secret Circus
Author: Constance Sayers
Date Added: September 4, 2021
Date Started: April 12, 2022

Cover of The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance SayersMedia: eBook/Kindle

The exposition became too much, especially since the author spends far too much time giving background on side characters, and it throws off the pacing immensely.  What books like this do is teach me what to look out for in my own writing because I tend to be overly descriptive, but I try to not bombard people with too much information about characters who don’t matter.  There’s a scene where someone walks into a store, and there are paragraphs about this woman.  All I could think was “Why do I care?”  Even if it’s going to be pertinent later, info dumping like that is going to be too much for someone to keep track of.

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The State of the Reader: 4/20/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 5 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 4/6/22         The State of the Reader: 5/4/22–>

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.

Purchased: 4

Total: $13.46

Books Finished: 1

Title: The Comedy of Errors
Author: William Shakespeare
Date Added: March 6, 2018
Date Started: February 6, 2022

Cover of The Comedy of Errors by William ShakespeareMedia: eBook/Kindle

The end went exactly as I thought with the exception of one thing.  I thought two people were going to get together but that was never confirmed.  They’re still my OTP though, so if I write my own retelling it’s happening.

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The State of the Reader: 4/6/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 3/23/22         The State of the Reader: 4/20/22–>

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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $1.57

Books Finished: 2

Title: The Vela
Series Title: The Vela
Authors: Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, and SL Huang
Date Added: October 2, 2021
Date Started: December 21, 2021
Date Finished: April 2, 2022

Cover of The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, and SL HuangMedia: eBook/Kindle

Finally finished this, though to be fair I did take some breaks because the borrowed eBook was more engaging.  It was often difficult to stay motivated with this novel, though I can’t say it was uninteresting.  I liked the characters and their motivations were both logically and psychologically sounds.  It’s also nice to see non-binary people getting some representation without it being a “thing.”  All of the characters were morally grey even the ones with good intentions, and it was pretty realistic to what would happen in such a situation.  If the richest/most powerful i.e. capitalists of today were available, you’re goddamn right they’d try to mine the sun without any care for how it would affect them or the rest of the galaxy.  I saw Don’t Look Up.  I’m obsessed with FFVII, and they all have the same motif.  I mean fuck, we’re already doing it!  Climate change is driven by the richest nations, but it mostly affects the poorest.  Parts of the ending served to enrage me, but in a “good” way.  It goes along with the theme of “deserving” that permeates the latter parts of the story.

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The State of the Reader: 3/23/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 3/9/22         The State of the Reader: 4/6/22–>

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.

Purchased: 3

Total: $12.97

Books Finished: 0

Currently Reading

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

Cover of House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas (Crescent City)Media: Physical/Hardback
Progress: 7%

Slow progress is better than no progress at all.

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The Books of 2021

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 7 Comments

I’m following the same format from last year with some tweaks, because was 2021 really that different from 2020?  It’s all been just one continuous “year” hell state so let’s talk about books once more!

Favorite Book

Cover of House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (Crescent City)

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (Crescent City #1)

This book hit every single one of my buttons: fallen angel/general turned slave/assassin with a half-human, half-fae lady is just the jumping (falling?) off point.  It really made me wonder if there was just a satchel of tropes that come with fallen/dark angel characters because I’m noticing patterns between this, Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, FFVII, my own writing, Constantine (the film), and a slew of other narratives with them.  Like wtf is going on?  It’s something I definitely want to research down the line.

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The State of the Reader: 3/9/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 2/23/22         The State of the Reader: 3/23/22–>

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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $25.98

Books Finished: 0

Currently Reading

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

Cover of House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas (Crescent City)Media: Physical/Hardback
Progress: 5%

Maas knows how to make you care about someone in just a few pages.  The prologue concerns a character we’ve never met before, but what the author does with her is brilliant.  We were given a hint of what the world was like for humans, but with Sophie, it draws into brutal focus.

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