I set my Goodreads challenge to complete 15 books, and I read 73. There’s something to be said for underestimation. I low-balled it because last year, I put 20 on my challenge, but only finished 19; however, I discovered that by putting books on my schedule/to-do list, I could complete them like a fiend. At some points I was reading eight at a time, but I mostly stuck with my favorite number: seven. That…was too much though, and while I love to read, I also want to have enough time to do other things. So I cut down to four, which might still sound like a lot, but one is a Kindle that I read on my lunch break; one is a fiction/fantasy; one varies between a classic or a non-fiction/reference (before I was reading one of each); and the last is a graphic novel/manga, which are easy to breeze through. Compare this to two Kindles, one fiction/fantasy, one classic, one non-fiction/reference, one graphic novel/manga, and one library book. I’m currently borrowing Death Note from the library for my manga, and I’ll borrow fictions/fantasies from there, too.
Total Books Read: 73
- Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin
- In the House of the Wyrm by George R. R. Martin
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
- The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
- Rest in Piece by B. W. Ginsburg
- The Missing Orchid by Fia Black
- The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
- The Quantum Door by Jonathan Ballagh
- Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
- The Illustrated A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
- Descendants by Rae Else
- The Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
- Riddled With Senses by Petra Jacob
- The Quantum Ghost by Jonathan Ballagh
- Radiance by Grace Draven
- Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K, Vaughn
- The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
- Eidolon by Grace Draven
- A Father’s Protection by K. J. Hawkins
- Saga: Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughn
- The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia (edited) by Patrick Thorpe
- Saga: Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughn
- Silent Child by Sarah K. Denzil
- A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
- Saga: Volume 4 by Brian K, Vaughn
- Saga: Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughn
- Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
- Saga: Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughn
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
- Talon by Julie Kagawa
- Saga: Volume 7 by Brian K. Vaughn
- Stone & Iris by Jonathan Ballagh
- Gaslight Hades by Grace Draven
- A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
- Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Volume 1 by Katie Cook
- Poetic Edda: The Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes by Anonymous
- Never Never: Part One by Colleen Hoover
- The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
- Never Never: Part Two by Colleen Hoover
- Never Never: Part Three by Colleen Hoover
- The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess by Akira Himekawa
- Goldie Vance Volume 1 by Hope Larson
- Shadows on Snow by Starla Huchton
- Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora Goss
- Monstress #1: Awakening
- An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel
- A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
- Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman
- The Archived by Victoria Schwab
- Dweller by Jeff Strand
- Abstract Clarity by B. W. Ginsburg
- Chobits, Vol. 1 by CLAMP
- The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare
- The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
- Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom by Tsugumi Ohba
- Master of Crows by Grace Draven
- Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
- The Diamond Tree by Michael Matson
- Promethea, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore
- Blink Once by Cylin Busby
- Death Note, Vol. 2: Confluence by Tsugumi Ohba
- The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau
- The Daemoniac by Kat Ross
- The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
- Death Note, Vol. 3: Hard Run by Tsugumi Ohba
- Death Note, Vol 4: Love by Tsugumi Ohba
- Gyo by Junji Ito
- The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
- Parallel by Anthony Vicino
- Death Note, Vol. 5: Whiteout
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- Death Note, Vol 7: Give-and-Take by Tsugumi Ohba
Total Fiction/Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 46 (63%)
Total Classic: 3 (4%)
Total Non-Fiction/Reference: 4 (5%)
Total Graphic Novels/Manga: 20 (27%)
I was going to do this whole shebang with “Most Read Author,” “Favorite New Author,” “Favorite Series,” and all this other stuff, but I decided on just doing a Top 20 with that number as an increase from the original 10. I marked around 14 books as potential Tops and figured I could find six more.
One of the best parts of reading this book was the perfect timing when I read it: in the midst of watching a Let’s Play of SOMA, which I’ve spoken of at great length (even though the review/essay is still to come). Incognito explores the intricacies of conscious, subconscious, and unconscious processes and how the latter two form the foundation of the first. It’s written in such a way that psychological novices can still follow with relatable analogies and examples, but the volume is not without some major issues, which I started noticing around Chapter 4 with Eagleman’s views on beauty/attractiveness that spiraled unfortunately towards racism (yes…really). He also didn’t fully explore the reasons behind why we have unconscious biases, which never just come out of a vacuum. While the author has a flair for piquing interest in subjects that could easily come off as tedious, his essentialism and (seemingly) unwillingness to take environmental influences into account raises my brows (and hackles) a bit (e.g. his insistence that having a Y chromosome essentially makes one more violent without considering this propensity could be due to how those perceived as having a Y chromosome are treated from [often before] birth is only one of many). While I enjoyed the book for what information it imparted, especially for those unfamiliar with psychology, the fore mentioned (and other) issues prompt me to insist it be read with a discerning eye and copious grains of salt.
This novel was like a more fucked up version of Harry and the Hendersons, if the Hendersons were a once brutally bullied loner and Harry was a man eating abomination. I really wanted to know where the monster came from. Was he some government experiment gone wrong? A throwback from an early time? A creature from an alien dimension? Everything about him just breeds more questions, but his relationship with Toby is both poignant and disturbing. A lot of fucked up things happen in this book. I was initially unsure about Strand’s writing style, but it grew on me as did Toby’s character. It made sense why the author wrote it in this way: it perfectly reflected the MC’s mental state. This is one of those books that has the perfect ending, as in there’s no other way it could’ve ended for these characters that would’ve been as satisfactory.
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I know she’s a middle-aged white lady and that’s the “low-fat and diet everything” generation, but it’s really pervasive. She also has the “tough it out” mentality about marriages that really should end, but that’s a boomer battle cry, too. All this sounds like I didn’t like the book when I loved it. I kind of figured out what was going on, but that doesn’t take anything away from the author’s planning; I’m just kind good at figuring out the pattern of stories lol. I was hoping one aspect wouldn’t be there, but it honestly only made sense, too. Moriarity is a master at misleading and misdirection, and this one didn’t disappoint.
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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