House of Sky and Breath

The State of the Reader: 10/19/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 10/5/22         The State of the Reader: 11/2/22–>

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: 3

Total: $19.12

Books Finished: 2

Title: The Girl from the Well
Series: The Girl from the Well
Author: Rin Chupeco
Date Added: February 28, 2022
Date Started: September 22, 2022
Date Finished: October 17, 2022

Cover of The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco (The Girl from the Well)Media: eBook/Kindle

It’s time for a new library book.  I finished this a few days prior to its due date.  Read some of the comments/critiques and apparently people found it boring and not scary?  I guess they were expecting it to be scary like The Ring, but even though I noticed the similarities (and with a little digging found out it’s a very common trope in Japanese horror), I wasn’t expecting the story to be like that.  Idk.  There’s no accounting for taste, but I think people judged the book based on their expectations not on what it was (the same thing happened with Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement).  I’m interested in reading the sequel The Suffering.

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The State of the Reader: 10/5/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 1 Comment

<–The State of the Reader: 9/21/22         The State of the Reader: 10/19/22–>

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: 3

Total: $7.97

Books Finished: 1

Title: We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Author: Shirley Jackson
Date Added: September 18, 2019
Date Started: September 20, 2022
Date Finished: September 28, 2022

Cover of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonMedia: eBook/Kindle

I think I understand why this book has a rating under 4.00 on Goodreads, though I disagree with the reasoning; people didn’t like the ending, but it made perfect sense for these characters.  I’ll even admit I was hoping for something different as it was closing out, but after I finished and thought about it, it was the best ending it could gotten, and it wasn’t what I expected.

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The State of the Reader: 9/21/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 9/7/22         The State of the Reader: 10/5/22–>

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: $47.66

Books Finished: 1

Title: Sharp Objects
Author: Gillian Flynn
Date Added: December 26, 2021
Date Started: September 8, 2022
Date Finished: September 19, 2022

Cover of Sharp Objects by Gillian FlynnMedia: eBook/Kindle

I read this so quickly it wasn’t even on an update…well not until now.  You can tell this is Flynn’s debut novel, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t well worth the read.  I wasn’t entirely wrong about what happened, but I wasn’t entirely right either.

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The State of the Reader: 8/10/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 5 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/27/22         The State of the Reader: 8/24/22–>

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: $3.98

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF: 0

Books On Hold: 1

Title: Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness
Author: Da’Shaun L. Harrison
Date Added: February 11, 2022
Date Started: May 2, 2022
Date On Hold: August 1, 2022

Cover of Belly of the Beast by Da'Shaun HarrisonMedia: Paperback
Progress: 13%

This book is too heavy for me right now.  I’ve been struggling with what to watch lately, too.  I know those two sentences don’t seem to fit together, but they do.  There’s been this awkward balance of me needing something that will hold my attention but not be too intense.  Anyway, I’m going to shelve this for a bit and come back to it later.

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The State of the Reader: 7/27/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/13/22         The State of the Reader: 8/10/22–>

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: $2.98

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF: 1

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

Cover of The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly BlackMedia: eBook/Kindle

I called it quits, and I think I understand why it has the lower rating.  It’s one of those intriguing at the outset stories that can’t keep up its momentum, and this one is more egregious because the author presents a thing we know has to happen (coffin boy waking up) and she has to maintain interest once that happens.  That can be accomplished by keeping some mystery about him or making him appealing in some other way.  Unfortunately, she does neither.  He’s…kind of a jackass lol, and the only reason either of the characters are interested in him romantically is for the sake of the plot.

I’m also not a big fan of the “fairies vs. humans” motif especially since the Fair Folk are indigenous to the land and, well, yeah, it’s their land.  Not that I think the tourists who wind up on their bad side deserve their fate, but if you’re going to ask me to pick sides in a land war, I’m siding with who was there first.

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The State of the Reader: 7/13/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 6/29/22         The State of the Reader: 7/27/22–>

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: 0

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF: 0

Books On Hold: 0

Books Reading: 6

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

Cover of The Ippos King by Grace Draven (Wraith Kings #3)Media: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 16%

Even though it’s not about the original characters, I’m still totally into it.  Draven knows how to write slow burn romance.  It’s not so much enemies to lovers as it is “I’m repulsed yet somehow drawn to you” dynamics and I’m here for it as someone whose attraction to people can change (for good or ill) based on their personality/mien.

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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: 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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