Katherine McIntyre

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: 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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The State of the Reader: 1/26/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 5 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 1/12/22         The State of the Reader: 2/9/22–>

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: $30.96

Books Finished: 2

Title: Elric of Melniboné
Series: The Elric Saga
Author: Michael Moorcock
Date Added: October 21, 2016
Date Started: October 14, 2021
Date Finished: January 23, 2022

Cover of Elric of Melniboné by Michael MoorcockMedia: Paperback

This book surprised me.  I really wasn’t expecting the depth and paradigm subversions it provided.  I looked up some of the reviews and discovered the author was not a fan of Tolkien.  He liked him well enough as a person, but had some major critiques about his work, and the critiques are valid.  I respect Tolkien as a seminal foundation of modern fantasy, but it’s impossible to ignore the eugenics inherent in his work as well as what’s described as “Merry England,” a term I’d never heard, but a concept I’ve certainly encountered.

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The State of the Reader: 9/22/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 3 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 9/8/21         The State of the Reader: 10/6/21–>

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: 4

Total: $14.96

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF: 1

Title: Something from the Nightside
Series: Nightside
Author: Simon R. Green
Date Added: July 1, 2017
Date Started: August 27, 2021

Cover of Soomething from the Nightside by Simon R. GreenMedia: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 48%

I DNF’d it the day after I posted my last SOTR.  It was the cliched “two women characters who obviously hate each other” that did it for me (which makes me look like a hypocritical asshole, but it’s why I’m planning a major overhaul of my first novel so…).  It’s such a problematic trope on so many levels and was just the icing on the tombstone for this book.  I did check the reviews before I made my official decision and found a lot of my own critiques there.  I’m at the point now where if a piece of media does not spark joy, I’m not spending more time on it.

Currently Reading

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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: 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 State of the Reader: 4/22/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 7 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 4/8/20         The State of the Reader: 5/6/20–>

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.

Purchased

Books Finished: 1

Title: Archangel’s Kiss
Series Title: Guild Hunter
Author: Nalini Singh
Date Added: December 27, 2018
Date Started: January 15, 2020

Cover of Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter #2)Media: Physical

I didn’t get the foreshadowing exactly right, but I was kind of close.  I’m also glad it wasn’t what I feared, because I probably would’ve thrown the book against the wall.  The end seemed a little rushed especially with how much the event that happened there was hyped, and everything was wrapped up pretty quickly, but honestly?  It didn’t remotely detract from my enjoyment.  I’m not sure if the next book in the series will be my next read, but I will be reading it sooner rather than later.

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The State of the Reader: 6/5/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 5/22/19         The State of the Reader: 6/19/19–>

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: 25

  • They Don’t Make Plus Size Spacesuits by Ali Thompson – $2.99 @ Amazon
  • The Republic by Plato – $0.60 @ Amazon
  • A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett – $0.00 @ Amazon
  • Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie – $2.99 @ Amazon
  • The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton – $0.00 @ Amazon
  • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexendre Dumas – $0.00 @ Amazon
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde – $0.60 @ Amazon
  • The Last Stitch Goes Through the Nose by Moses Norton – $2.99 @ Amazon (Kindle)
  • Archangel’s Legion by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Prophecy by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Storm by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Consort by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Enigma by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Heart by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Shadow by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Viper by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter) – Gift from Barnes and Noble
  • The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë – $3.79 @ Amazon
  • Captivating Melody by Katherine McIntyre (Discord’s Desire) – $0.99 @ Amazon
  • Forged Alliances by Katherine McIntyre (Tribal Spirits) – $3.03 @ Amazon
  • The Last Stitch Goes Through the Nose by Moses Norton – $6.99 @ Amazon (Physical)
  • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney by Kenji Kuroda (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) – $10.99 @ Amazon
  • Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations by Kenji Kuroda (Ace Attorney Investigations) – $10.99 @ Amazon
  • A Wilderness of Glass by Grace Draven – $2.99 @ Amazon

Lots and lots of books this time.  My husband got me the entire Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh for my birthday, and I was overjoyed to be able to purchase Moses Norton’s  (aka The Well-Red Mage) novel The Last Stitch Goes Through the Nose on both Kindle and physical!  I also picked up a few more of Katherine McIntyre’s novels and made an Indie Author Shopping List on Amazon. The author of They  Don’t Make Plus Size Spacesuits is by one of my favorite people on Twitter (Mean Fat Girl).  She’s a fat activist whose done a shit ton of research on dieting/diet culture and how toxic it is.  Due to the number of books, I’m not going to put links to all of them, which is why I focused on the most important (aka indie) ones.

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The State of the Reader: 3/13/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 2/27/19         The State of the Reader: 3/27/19–>

A weekly 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

Books Finished: 0

Currently Reading

Title: Leviathan Wakes
Series Title: The Expanse
Author: James S. A. Corey
Date Added: June 6, 2018
Date Started: February 19, 2019

Leviathan Wakes coverMedia: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 39%

Someone is clearly pulling the strings of the galaxy in order to obtain…something.  We don’t know what yet, and the authorities still think this is beef between the Belt and Mars, when it’s fairly obvious someone is manipulating the narrative to seem so.

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The State of the Writer: 10/8/17

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 17 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 10/1/17          The State of the Writer: 10/15/17–>

A weekly post updated every Sunday discussing my current writing projects and where I stand with them.  This will include (but not be limited to) any and all work(s) in progress (WIPs) be they creative writing, essays/analyses, and reviews.  Additionally, this post will showcase what writing projects I’ve completed in the past week as a sort of weekly roundup, as I’ve seen other cooler bloggers do.

Finished This Week: 0

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 260,204
Prior Word Count: 260,270
Word Difference: -66
Status: Revising
Progress: Chapter 2

Did I make progress in my revisions this week?  Kind of…I did more prep than actual revising, but I guess that’s what happens when you decide to go back to the beginning.  I finished Chapter 1 fairly quickly, because there wasn’t much to change in Chapter 1, just some clean up of stuff I somehow missed in my multitude of edits.

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