Theodora Goss

The State of the Reader: 2/10/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 3 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 1/27/21         The State of the Reader: 2/24/21–>

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: $6.98

Books Finished: 3

Title: Medusa’s Daughters
Author: Various
Editor: Theodora Goss
Date Added: December 20, 2019
Date Started: December 14, 2020

Cover of Medusa's Daughters edited by Theodora GossMedia: eBook/Kindle

I didn’t love this.  I didn’t hate it obviously, but I didn’t love it.  It was an interesting collection of stories about “misbehaving” women, which is why I’m sad I didn’t love it, because that’s my aesthetic.  I might change my mind about it once I have the time to think about the stories more, but that’s my initial perspective (and also why I don’t often rate books as soon as I finish them).

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The State of the Reader: 1/27/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–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

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–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

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–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: 6/3/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 5/20/20         The State of the Reader: 6/17/20–>

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: 1

Title: The Valley of Amazement
Author: Amy Tan
Date Added: April 24, 2014
Date Started: March 1, 2020
Date Finished: June 3, 2020

Cover of The Valley of Amazement by Amy TanMedia: Hardback – Library

Amy Tan never fails to deliver.  I wound up finishing this due to extenuating circumstances I’ll get to later.  What amazes me most (besides the Valley, which tbh wasn’t that amazing…) is how seamlessly the author ties threads together with coincidences that don’t seem remotely contrived.  Because we see the present result the past laid foundation comes with a chill and not a shrug.

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The Books of 2019

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 5 Comments

Goodreads Challenge: 20
Books Finished: 20
Books DNF: 5

I lowered my challenge from 50 books to 20 in 2019, and I think this was a good idea.  I’m keeping that same energy in 2020, plus it goes with the number.  I still have book reviews from 2018 to write, so the lower number theoretically helps bring that down, too (not…really).

Because I only read 20 books, I’m going to list them all here in no particular order at first then the Top 10 after.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Classic)

You really have to keep your present sensibilities in check in order to garner what Fitzgerald was after.  It’s not a bad message about how we treat the very young vs. the very old, but it comes with a whole bunch of yikes.

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare (Classic)

The question of Cleopatra’s betrayal is still up in the air, and the ruminations on the concept are far more fascinating than the answer.

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (Classic)

Oh my fucking god, this was almost laughably bad in so many ways.  I’m glad I read it, but it was dry and plodding for so many chapters.  The most interesting parts involved the Persian who doesn’t even get a name.  Raoul’s character as well as Eric’s were greatly improved by Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical, which greatly improved upon many aspects of Leroux’s work.

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The State of the Reader: 9/11/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 12 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 8/28/19         The State of the Reader: 9/25/19–>

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: 1

Books Finished: 1

Title: Tigana
Author: Guy Gavriel Kay
Date Added: February 9, 2016
Date Started: December 8, 2018
Date Finished: September 7, 2019

TiganaMedia: Paperback

This was the best book I’ve read this year.  The very last line leaves you in speculation even as Kay so nicely and poignantly wraps everything up.  This will be an elaborate review when I get to it, but I highly, highly recommend.

Currently Reading

Title: Faust
Author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Date Added: August 24, 2014
Date Started: September 1, 2019

Faust by GoetheMedia: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 15%

Is this a fanfiction of the Book of Job, because it seems like the devil wants to torment Faust in a similar way, and God is like, “Eh, why not?”

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The State of the Reader: 8/28/19

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<–The State of the Reader: 8/14/19         The State of the Reader: 9/11/19–>

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: 1

Books Finished: 1

Title: Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems
Author: Theodora Goss
Date Added: February 5, 2019
Date Started: July 8, 2019
Date Finished: August 21, 2019

Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems by Theodora GossMedia: eBook/Kindle

This was amazing.  I’ll need to look at the table of contents and figure out all of my favorite stories.

Books DNF: 2

Title: The King in Yellow
Author: Robert W. Chambers
Date Added: January 5, 2018
Date Started: August 4, 2019
Date DNF: August 25, 2019

The King in Yellow by Robert W. ChambersMedia: eBook/Kindle

I am very interesting in the concept behind this story, but the writing just isn’t holding my attention.  I decided to DNF it, but I bookmarked an analysis of it as well as a YouTube video breaking it down.

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The State of the Reader: 8/14/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/31/19         The State of the Reader: 8/28/19–>

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: 1

Books Finished: 1

Title: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Author: H. P. Lovecraft
Date Added: March 15, 2013
Date Started: May 9, 2019
Date Finished: August 1, 2019

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward coverMedia: eBook/Kindle

Interesting tidbit: the MC of this isn’t the titular character, but rather Dr. Willett.  He’s the one who struggles to piece everything together before it’s too late, who traverses the horrors of the underground lair, who finds the alchemical dark materia used for nefarious purposes, and who uncovers the terrible truth.  Charles is a victim, and I definitely need to research alchemy.  I realized that after watching a Silent Hill video about it, which made me realize there’s a shit ton of it in FFVII, too.  More essays forthcoming.

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The State of the Reader: 7/31/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 7 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/17/19         The State of the Reader: 8/14/19–>

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

Currently Reading

Title: Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems
Author: Theodora Goss
Date Added: February 5, 2019
Date Started: May 5, 2019

Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems by Theodora GossMedia: eBook/Kindle
Progress: 41%

My favorite story so far is Blanchefleur and that’s not just because I love cats.

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