William Shakespeare

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: 12/2/20

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<–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: 11/18/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 11/4/20         The State of the Reader: 12/2/20–>

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 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: 82%

Sparks is the most useless man ever like oh my god I’m so glad I’m reading this now and not when I was some moony teenager who would’ve been into that.  Dear god I hope Moon realizes he’s not worth her time.  I need to hurry up and finish this because it’s due December 9 and I don’t have any more renewals left.  I plan to buy the novel anyway as well as the sequel, though it’s a bit more expensive than most.  I thought this was one half of a duology with The Summer Queen (whom I’m assuming is going to be Moon), but there are apparently four novels in the Cycle.  According to the friend who put me onto this, they have more to do with the Blues aka space police that Moon and Sparks interact with, but I like those characters so I’m okay with that.

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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

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<–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: 9/23/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 9/9/20         The State of the Reader: 10/7/20–>

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: 2

Title: The Twisted Ones
Author: T. Kingfisher
Date Added: August 26, 2020
Date Started: September 7, 2020
Date Finished: September 15, 2020

Cover of The Twisted Ones by T. KingfisherMedia: eBook/Kindle

Holy shit, I couldn’t put this down, but I had to at night because I’m a fraidy cat.  Foxy is the greatest fucking character ever written, and this is up for my Book of the Year competing with Pestilence.  I did not understand why this has a rating under 4 stars on Goodreads, and reading the comments, I still don’t understand.  Apparently, some people found the mood whiplash to be unrealistic, like how Mouse would be making jokes in the most dire of circumstances.  Do these chuckle fucks not understand morbid/gallows humor?!!  That is EXACTLY how my terrified ass would be acting!  I am definitely reading more T. Kingfisher.

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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 Books of 2019

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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: 2/27/19

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<–The State of the Reader: 2/13/19         The State of the Reader: 3/13/19–>

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: 0

Books Finished: 1

Title: Antony and Cleopatra
Author: William Shakespeare
Date Added: January 16, 2019
Date Started: January 17, 2019
Date Finished: February 18, 2019

Antony and Cleopatra coverMedia: eBook/Kindle

I enjoyed this much better than All’s Well That Ends Well and did absorb most of the major points of it.  I checked Wikipedia afterwards for a summary/synopsis, and while I missed a few things (e.g. Lepidus being one of the triumvirates along with Caesar and Antony, and Caesar imprisoning him after they betray Pompey), I did pick up the potential that Cleopatra might have betrayed Antony, though that seems to be more of an implication as opposed to a matter of fact.  It could go either way, and I wonder if Shakes meant to do that.  This is considered one of his problem plays.  I do like that it’s a direct sequel to Julius Caesar, which I plan to reread in this Bard project of mine.

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