I honestly didn't mind the slow pace, but I kind of wish the story went more into Joshua's prophecy.

I also found him kind of wishy washy as a character. It might have been because he was still significantly young, but I did not care for him as much.

Also Val didn't deserve what happened to her, she was my favorite 😔

I'm so stoked for this book!

This was a nice collection of poetry and two Essays about nature, and more specifically various species of birds. I enjoyed most of them, but my favorite was “Wild Geese“

My only criticism is reading through her second essay about finding an injured gull, and instead of taking it to a wildlife facility or the vet, she and her partner started caring for it. It isn't what you fo with injured wildlife. You don't keep them as pets.

Can't believe it's my Litsyversary already or how long it has been haha

Some of these poems were profound and I had a lot of fun analyzing them and their meaning, others felt poorly edited, disjointed, and vulgar for the sake of vulgarity. Some also felt heavily inspired by Lana Del Rey's lyrics. I would not really recommend this poetry collection, there are better poetry collections out there.

#Bookreport

Last week was pretty productive in terms of reading. I finished Archmage and started a contemporary poetry collection because I wanted to read something different for a bit. I will wait until I finish it to really have any solid thoughts on it, but it has been an interesting experience.

📚CR:

📙Last Sext
🎧The Witness for the Dead
🎧Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Just finished this and it was okay. There were some really stupid plot points and decisions made but it was tolerable. This and the other two novels following it also seem to be taking place and are the cause of the events in The Out of the Abyss module. (My OOTA campaign is on a hiatus currently, but it's so amusing to me that my characters are unfortunately there to experience all of that mess)

#Bookreport

Last week was very off for me. I got very little reading done due to fatigue and things out of my control. Made little progress with Archmage, and was too tired for any physical reads. I hope this week will go better.

📚CR:

🎧Archmage
🎧The Witness for the Dead
🎧Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

#Bookreport

I am still struggling to find time to sit down and read WFTD, but I am aiming for next week. In the meantime I am continuing my Drizzt book binge, they are ones I can kind of zone out on and it wouldn't make much of a difference, so I listen to them when I play my fav MMO.

📚CR:

🎧Archmage
🎧The Witness for the Dead
🎧Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

This was one of the better ones in the series. at least one character finally got it through their head that Genocide Is Bad, Actually. MC really got on my nerves through this series, a bit less so in this particular installment.

I, in general, l don't like how he's written (omniscient yet substantial, having all the life experience and wisdom, yet learning basic life lessons like “not everyone is a bad person because of their background“

I remember reading and studying “Hands“ in college so I wanted to revisit it and read the whole collection.

The short stories are all somewhat interconnected and multifaceted. I found some a lot more interesting and deep than the others. There is a loose plot but mostly it's vignettes focusing on specific characters with one exaggerated theme (what used to be called grotesques)

A satisfying revenge story, plain and simple.

#Bookreport

Steady reading week, finished ROTK that I've been stalling. This weekend I started Winesburg, Ohio because I wanted something different. I remember studying a section of it in college, but I had forgotten all of it. I have some YouTube analysis videos prepared for when I finish it in a few days.

I will also start witness today, it has been too long.

📚CR:

🎧Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf
🎧The Witness for the Dead
🎧Winesburg, Ohio

I re-read this today and it still made me sad. I want to listen and read more of Hawthorne's work, he was my favorite author in high school. I always enjoyed his commentary on women's agency and rights and their treatment by men/the patriarchy. (The Scarlet Letter/Young Goodman Brown are also great examples of this.)

This short story at its core is about the ethical use of science and I find that interesting.

There is a lot to unpack here. Aside from being repetitive, this one and the previous book deal with themes of good vs evil, but they lean more towards trying to justify heinous actions because the characters we follow are “good“ and the enemy is “Bad“ As readers we know that there is a third party that manipulates things from the shadows. But certain good characters claiming it's okay to slaughter the enemies because they are evil is gross to me.

#Bookreport

Last week was a slow reading week, but I made progress with the tagged book and finished The Aeneid. I still need to take notes on 5 of the books, but I am satisfied with having finished it. Next week I will be starting Witness because I really want to catch up to the series before the new book comes out.

📚CR:

🎧Rise of the King
🎧The Witness for the Dead

This could have been a really interesting spiritual successor (at the time) to Homer, but this read more like Roman Empire propaganda than an original work.

Virgil does have *some* original ideas and portrayals of the characters and events in the overall story, but it still feels like you're better off reading the Iliad and the Odyssey.

#Bookreport

Pretty good reading week even if I only finished a single short story and a novel. The Aeneid is proving to be a whole project so I'm treating it like I treated Lud in the Mist, making various notes about the symbolism and history. It's been pretty interesting. It is a lot, but I will most likely finish it this week.

📚CR:

🎧Rise of the King
🎧The Witness for the Dead
🎧The Aeneid

This was an unsettling cosmic horror short story about a little boy with god-like powers, and like a god, he can be merciful or ruthless depending on how his neighbors or family treat him.

This was a poignant and visceral novel about womanhood and the mistreatment of women with a heavy subject matter. Most of the men in this novel are so awful and disgusting that I was rooting for their demise from my very being. It follows three generations of women from the same bloodline, their lives, and their struggles.

I would recommend this novel wholeheartedly but I will also issue a warning about explicit descriptions of SA, rape, and CSA

#Bookreport

Pretty nice week of finishing up some novels and starting ones that have been on hold for a while. I am almost halfway finished with Weyward so I will most likely finish it in a few days. I am looking forward to starting some epic poetry with the Aeneid and jumping back into Drizzt or witness for the dead, depending on my mood.

📚CR:

🎧Weyward
🎧Rise of the King
🎧The Witness for the Dead
🎧The Aeneid

I never know how to rate nonfiction books. I'm hoping this isn't too outdated and accurate enough with the information that was available at the time.

This was really fascinating, overall. The author had written out some questionable opinions, however (I doubt people in the future would laugh at chemotherapy, but I do believe in the distant future there will be better ways to treat diseases and illnesses)

This made me laugh so hard.

It's hard to divorce the background information about this book from the overall story, but I will say this was a delightful read. The protagonist subverts expectations and feels very refreshing to read. As this is a Pre-Tolkien fantasy novel it alludes to fey but they are left to the reader's interpretation. This had a very meandering pace with a pastoral setting, but it was to its advantage, like a calm walk in the park.

This went from a 4-star to a 2-star slowly but surely. I didn't hate it but there were a bunch of glaring problems with some plot points that made me scratch my head in confusion. The MCs remained stagnant in terms of character development which would have really helped with this premise.--

I'm about halfway through this so here are some thoughts:

I love the folklore stuff but I also wish the book kept focusing on that instead of side plots. I know it can get repetitive that way but I would prefer that tbh.

There's hints of MC being ND and thus making the hinted romance awkward and one sided. Not 100% sure its good rep

#Bookreport

Revamped my weekly summary post a bit. Holidays are always hectic and I'm glad I'm able to read again. This year I'll try to focus on getting through my TBR and then a challenge sprinkled in there as well occasionally.

📚CR:

🎧Lud in the Mist
🎧Rise of the King
🎧Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

I don't typically read detective or pulpy works, but this was pretty fun. This particular collection deals with a female criminal mastermind and her rival. As this collection was published in 1903, there are many issues, ranging from ableism to racism/orientalism and bad characterizations of anyone who isn't white or the good guy. A few stories feel repetitive and formulaic and follow the same overall structure.

Template by @/lacycstoner on Pinterest. Just as the title says these are my favorite reads of 2024, it was a really good year for me.

I set my goal really high this year but next year I will try to read a bit less to maintain time for other hobbies. This was a really good reading year, however, and I am glad I finally got through some books and series I've been meaning to read. Looking forward to whatever I choose to read next.

I wanted to finish this around Dec 31st but I had time today. It was a tough pick between Diavola, Dark Matter, and The Goblin Emperor, but The Goblin Emperor won 🎉 I don't think I'll get anything else read this year. The construction is still going on and on unpredictable days as well so it's difficult to keep on schedule. I've been treating this like a vacation.

(the template is by @/CSeydel)

#bookbracket2024
#ReadingBracket2024
#TopRead2024

Every time I read anything related to GRRM I am reminded of how spoiled and entitled people are with no regard for the author's mental or physical health, no regard for him losing anyone this year, burnout, and stress. No regard for his busy schedule with TV producers making adjustments to his work. Like toddlers demanding candy from their parents and throwing tantrums, adult women and men complain and whine and demand that they are owed books.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧Lud in the Mist
🎧Rise of the King

Progress: I had minimal reading done in the past two weeks due to siding replacements and the construction of an overhanging roof to this house. I'm afraid the following week will be the same 😭

Replacing the roofing and siding of the house has made it difficult to get any reading done. 😞

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧Lud in the Mist
🎧Rise of the King

Progress:
I finished all of my planned reading for December and my Goodreads challenge as a result. Got through a few hours of ROTK which was nice, rough week for Lud but I managed to get through a chapter on Friday. Monday is busy as always but I will pick it back up on Tuesday. I will focus on those for the rest of the year.

This was pretty good for an early vampire-centric story. You can definitely attribute a lot of the themes and vampire lore to contemporary vampire fiction (attractive vampires, inviting them inside, burning in the sun, etc) I know a lot of it was plagiarized later on by other writers, and in other cases inspired and adapted by others. It is important work, even if it is lacking in a lot of ways.

It suffers a lot from telling and not showing.-

“Who can say that the dead are not grateful for the loving thoughts of the living“

oh boy I'm terrible at these haha

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

3 that I didn't enjoy/like: A Christmas Story, Snowmance, The Mistle-Tones (to be fair most of these are not the best)

3 that should have been: Scrooge (2022) it's more aimed at kids, but it's so unique. Jingle All The Way, that one is fun. Hot Frosty is a classic at this point.

Tagging anyone who wishes to participate!

Well at first this was a really interesting read, but then the unnecessary sexism and racism happened so that takes a lot of enjoyment out of this survival story. This topic always comes up when reading older works but just because it was acceptable back then, it isn't an excuse not to talk about the harm it does or did. A work of fiction is not exempt from criticism.

Kafka never disappoints. This is a fairly short story about the nature of morality under pressure from authorities, and how easily people are swayed when their safety is in peril. It is scary to think how authority figures can manipulate the masses under pressure and how easily the masses are swayed to change their mind when the authority changes.

Since these will be the last 2 months I'll probably post them one after another, instead of bi-monthly like I did in the past. And with that out of the way, it's time for #2024bookbracket. Nov. has been my most active month with 14 books in total. A lot of it is due to reading Narnia novels, but also because I was aiming to hit my yearly goal.

(the template is by @/CSeydel)

#bookbracket2024
#ReadingBracket2024
#TopRead2024

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧Lud in the Mist
🎧Rise of the King
🎧The Midnight Library

Progress:
With all the holiday chaos I managed to do minimal reading last week. I am hoping to get back on track this December. I am still enjoying Lud a lot and started The Midnight Library, which is more depressing and relatable than I expected. Need to jump back into the Drizzt book, though, perhaps when I'll be drawing later/tomorrow

I really love the movie so I thought I'd give the book a try. I didn't hate it but I also didn't love it. The movie definitely did a better job telling a more cohesive story and took out the unnecessary POVs of essentially the same characters.

The book is definitely more loosey-goosey and full of tangents that feel awkward to read. It feels like the author added them in haste.

Adding the investigator 70% into the narrative felt off.

Boy, do I have a lot to say about this. I went into this book with little expectation but was still disappointed. I wasn't the biggest fan of Murderbot, but I thought if the same care was applied to the characters it would be a fun read. I was wrong. There was a general sense of lost potential and bad execution throughout the novel. I think it could have been negated with a short prologue introducing the world. --

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧Lud in the Mist
🎧Rise of the King
🎧Witch King

Progress:
I didn't finish anything last week, although I am very close to finishing Witch King (78% currently) so that will be done this upcoming week. I've mostly been trying to get through Witch King. I'm reading Lud chapter by chapter daily and I am really loving it. Not so much Witch King. Not sure when I'll finish Lud, but we shall see.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧Lud in the Mist
🎧Rise of the King

Progress:
Last week was a very productive reading week. Tried to get a lot of shorter work done to make it to my Goodreads reading goal of 70 books. My favorite read has been Diavola. Still slowly making my way through Lud and I might put the Drizzt book on hold again until after I'm done with the challenge. Will try to pick another audiobook as well this upcoming week.

Picked this up on a whim yesterday, and it had me hooked.

To be fair it dragged in the third half of the book, and a lot of the events could have been summarized in a chapter or two. But, towards the end the book picked up the pace again and the very ending was extremely satisfying.

The gothic horror delivered well enough, although Italy isn't really ideal for a “scary book“ Maybe that's just me.

I wanted whimsical poetry about fey and got a discussion about the evils of monarchies, wars, and institutions at the time. The fairy Mab takes the soul of a child and shows it humanity and its follies and mistakes.

This isn't surprising because Percy Bysshe Shelley was quite the activist in his time and many of the themes reflect his passions and views.

A story aimed at children, focusing on living life at a normal pace and not trying to grow up too fast.