Norse Myths That Inspired Final Fantasy VII

The Books of 2021

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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: 4/7/21

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<–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

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<–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

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<–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: 2/24/21

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<–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: 1/27/21

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<–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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The State of the Reader: 1/13/21

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/30/20         The State of the Reader: 1/27/21–>

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: 11

Total: $133.14

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The State of the Reader: 12/30/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/16/20         The State of the Reader: 1/13/21–>

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: 1

Title: As You Like It
Author: William Shakespeare
Date Added: March 6, 2018
Date Started: September 3, 2020

Cover of As You Like It by William ShakespeareMedia: eBook/Kindle

I only had like one page left to read of this and finished it last session.  It is such a comedy in both the Shakespeare and “there are only seven types of plot” sense i.e. everyone gets married.  Oh and “rags to riches,” too, as the usurper duke finds Jesus, sees the error of his ways, and gives the old duke back his position.  There was a review on Goodreads that literally summed it up thus.   I still need to look up my own summary to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but this was one of Shakespeare’s easier plays to follow (despite the convoluted irony of Rosalind pretending to be Ganymede pretending to Rosalind, which frankly was hilarious), so I’m just doing that as a formality.

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The State of the Reader: 11/4/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 10/21/20         The State of the Reader: 11/18/20–>

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: 4

Title: The Snow Queen
Series Title: The Snow Queen Cycle
Author: Joan D. Vinge
Date Added: December 11, 2014
Date Started: September 22, 2020

Cover of the Snow Queen by Joan D. VingeMedia: Hardback (Library)
Progress: 61%

I like this better than Dune.  There.  I said it.  I don’t dislike Dune, and I feel like I want to do a comparison of the two novels when I’m done, but that’s my feeling at the moment.

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