Sophie Chen Keller

The State of the Reader: 12/2/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 11/18/20         The State of the Reader: 12/16/20–>

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: 3

Books Finished: 1

Title: The Snow Queen
Series Title: The Snow Queen Cycle
Author: Joan D. Vinge
Date Added: December 11, 2014
Date Started: September 22, 2020
Date Finished: November 26, 2020

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

Another story about identity, huh…maybe if I’d read (more) sci-fi when I was younger, I wouldn’t be as shocked to find this trope.  I’m not really shocked; it’s common because it cuts to the core of what it means to be human.  “Who am I?” is a question all of us ask whether consciously or unconsciously at some point, and the answer is rarely simple, especially for those of us who experience Imposter Syndrome.

There are three other books in the series, but only one direct sequel The Summer Queen.  The other two focus on one of the cops or Blues.  I’d like to read them eventually.  The books are out of print, which makes them more expensive.  I’d like to pick up this one as well as the next, as I have to return it to the library in a few days, so I won’t have a reference for my eventual review when I get to it.

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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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The State of the Reader: 10/21/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 10/7/20         The State of the Reader: 11/4/20–>

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: 3

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: 46%

I’ve renewed this once and I have one more before I have to return it.  I plan to purchase this book anyway, probably along with it’s sequel.  The more I read the sadder I am that it was never made into a movie or rather series.  I’m already thinking of my dream cast.  Maybe Emilia Clarke for Moon/Arienrhod, but that could just be because she’s done the silver-blonde thing before with Danaerys, so I’m just stuck on that.  Obviously, the same actress would play the two characters since Moon is a clone of the queen (it’s in the blurb so it’s not a spoiler), though I suppose if you found two similar looking people or twins that would work, too.  I haven’t hashed everything out yet lol.

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The State of the Reader: 10/7/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 9/23/20         The State of the Reader: 10/21/20–>

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: 5

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: 26%

I’m getting really into this.  It reminds me of Dune, but with a more interesting and female main character lol.  I’ve been talking to the friend who lugged this book around with her all through high school, and she had a friendly “I told you so” about my Dune observations (it’s also another reason why she has no interest in Dune).  I’ve read Dune, which I enjoyed, but I wish I’d been into sci-fi back in high school because I would’ve loved this.

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The State of the Reader: 9/9/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 8/26/20         The State of the Reader: 9/23/20–>

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: 2

Finished: 2

Title: Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
Date Added: May 16, 2015
Date Started: February 13, 2020
Date Finished: August 30, 2020
Reading Duration: 199 Days

Cover of DraculaMedia: eBook/Kindle

Definitely see how this could’ve inspired/influenced GRRM’s Night King along with other malicious hive-minded entities that could have your friends spying for the enemy.  This novel was wild from start to finish in all the best ways possible, and its cultural influence cannot be understated.

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The State of the Reader: 8/26/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 8 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 8/12/20         The State of the Reader: 9/9/20–>

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: 1

Currently Reading

Title: The Luster of Lost of Things
Author: Sophie Chen Keller
Date Added: September 12, 2017
Date Started: July 22, 2020

Cover of The Luster of Lost Things by Sophie Chen KellerMedia: Paperback
Progress: 27%

I can see where this story is going with the landlord, and I love how Lucy called him out when he played the victim of the people he’s threatening to evict.

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The State of the Reader: 8/12/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 11 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/29/20         The State of the Reader: 8/26/20–>

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: 1

Currently Reading

Title: The Luster of Lost of Things
Author: Sophie Chen Keller
Date Added: September 12, 2017
Date Started: July 22, 2020

Cover of The Luster of Lost Things by Sophie Chen KellerMedia: Paperback
Progress: 20%

This is one of those story’s you’ll enjoy if you love winding, whimsical writing with a heavy heaping of eloquence.  If that’s not your bag, you’d probably consider this too purple for your tastes, which is fine.  I don’t like how “purple prose” is used as a pejorative since it’s really just a stylistic taste.  If you like it, you like it; if you don’t, you don’t.

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The State of the Reader: 7/29/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 7/15/20         The State of the Reader: 8/12/20–>

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: 3

Finished: 1

Title: Keturah and Lord Death
Author: Martine Leavitt
Date Added: August 16, 2016
Date Started: June 6, 2020
Date Finished: July 18, 2020

Cover of Keturah and Lord Death by Martine LeavittMedia: Hardback

This book hardcore reminds me I need to read Theodora Goss’s Heroine’s Journey essay.  It’s in my “to read” for research already, but it’s vital for essay references.  I’ve been trying to decide whether or not Death and the Maiden motifs are under the umbrella of Beauty and the Beast ones or vice versa.  I guess it’s sort of a literary “what came first?”  I want to say Death and the Maiden was first because motifs about Death are older than dirt, but I still wonder what fits as the better umbrella.  Is Death a “beast” type or is (being paired with) a beast a type of death?

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My Name in TBR Books Tag

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Here we have another awesome tag I saved a long time ago from Ignited Moth.  Using Goodreads (or whatever TBR list you have), you pick a book based on the letters in you name.  Like the lovely blogger I from which I borrowed this, I’m going to use my blogging name as well, but you can do whatever you choose if you choose to participate 🙂

T – Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Tigana coverI’m pretty sure I went out and bought this right after I read the sample.  It has that eloquent language I love, and within just a few pages, it presented characters you couldn’t help but care about.  Definitely a book I can’t wait to read.

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The State of the Reader: 9/13/17

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<–The State of the Reader: 9/6/17          The State of the Reader: 9/20/17–>

A weekly post updated every Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and where I am with them in addition to what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads to make it easier for interested parties to add any books that might strike their fancy.  I attempt to use the covers for the edition I’m reading, and I’ll mention if this is not the case.  If you have a Goodreads account feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Samples Read This Week

  1. The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey: Kept – Aliens inhabiting babies.  This book is singing my song, though I’m quite surprised.  The movie previews made it look like a Divergent clone with aliens.  I suppose I’ll find out, won’t I?
  2. Angel’s Blood by Nalina Singh: Kept – Angels keeping vampires in thrall.  Now that’s an interesting paradigm.  I have ideas about angels and vampires myself, so reading a book where they interact seems like a good idea.
  3. She Walks in Darkness by Evangeline Walton: Kept – This is by the author of The Mabinogion Tetralogy.  She writes her own fiction/fantasy as well.  I enjoyed how she rendered the Welsh myths, and from the sample, it seems like she has a good hand for telling her own stories.
  4. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus: Passed – Too much Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars for my taste. I was never into those types of stories.
  5. The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington: Kept – Definite Lord of the Rings vibe to it.  I’m not completely drawn from the get-go, but it has that old school fantasy feel, and that’s worth a trip to the library.
  6. Embassytown by China Miéville: Passed – It didn’t grip me.
  7. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman: Kept – I’m not surprised there’s a book, but I never really did much hunting for it.  According to the friend who put it into my mind to add it, it’s not remotely the same as the movie, but both of them are good.
  8. I Found You by Lisa Jewell: Kept – Unidentified persons always make for interesting novels.
  9. Parasite Eve by Hidaeki Sena: Kept – There wasn’t much question I was going to keep this.  I just wanted to make sure the translation was okay, and it is.  This is the basis for the video game series of the same name, and it’s also pretty clear that FFVII took some ideas from it.

Books Purchased This Week: 0

Books Finished This Week: 3

Title: Chobits, Vol. 1
Series Title: Chobits
Author: CLAMP
Translator: Shirley Kubo
Date Added: August 27, 2017
Date Started: August 28, 2017
Date Finished: September 10, 2017
Reading Duration: 13 days

Media: Physical/Paperback

Despite the flagrant sexism, there’s something both endearing and mysterious about this story.  Where did Chi come from?  Why was she in the trash?  Why is she so drawn to that picture book The City With No People?  What did the book mean by “them?”  It has to have something to do with her origins.  I haven’t quite surpassed where I stopped in the anime, but since manga is cheaper, I’m more than likely to find out through reading 😉

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