My second #Victober read, probably gonna stretch this out to a chapter a day.

The first #Victober read of the year is done. I honestly had no memory of this but it is a nice little short story/novella. Very simple story that is probably inspired by Frankenstein in some aspects.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧The Terror

Progress:
I put down WFTD and AK because I just cannot find the time to sit down and read. Will come back to them at some point in the near future. I have been listening to The Terror and I might finish it this upcoming week, on top of my #victober read.

I'm so excited for #Victober this year, and I think I'll start with the tagged

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧The Terror
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:
I finished two novels last week (plus a short story) and I'm pretty happy with that. I plan to do reading sprints with one of the detective books (I have just been too preoccupied with other things to really make time for physical books) I will try to get some reading done either way.

I haven't read a lot of true crime, but this particular Angela Carter short story is fascinating in terms of the negligence and incompetence of the justice system.

Thank you for tagging me! #wondrouswednesday

1. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver - spooky and haunting, I find myself thinking back to it often.

2. Functionally I enjoy audiobooks most, they help me get so much done. But also I like all forms.

3. I think that might be classic lit. But fantasy is a close second.

Might be in the minority here but I really loved this!

This was a very interesting read. It is one of the few pieces of literature in which the ambiguity adds to the experience and atmosphere rather than hinders the narrative. The prose was very beautiful, although I think a lot of people might find it too “wordy“ Overall it was a solid ghost story with hints of feminism. Definitely a classic for a reason.

This was such an interesting read. The Targaryens are such a fascinating house, the illustrations in this are also quite lovely. I don't really know what to say except I am looking forward to Blood and Fire and to learning about more of this wild, dysfunctional family and its history.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:
Not a very eventful reading week, but I am very close to finishing F&B, so possibly I will finish it this week. After that, I will hopefully be able to focus on the two detective books.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:

Didn't listen to a lot of F&B last week due to the construction noise of our roof, but I did manage to finish one book. I hope to jump back into F&B this week.

Definitely an interesting read, but like Jackson's other work seems to be that I've read, it's very bare bones in terms of plot, even for a short book. I feel as if it gave us a bit more it would have been far more interesting. What I mean is instead of developing the plot points, the author leaves them as statements. The atmosphere was chilling and the character study was fascinating. I found myself wanting to read it more.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:

I Didn't read at all last week due to headaches and eye strain, but I am feeling better this week and jumping back into F&B

I'm almost 500 pages in and things are growing more and more chaotic. I knew a civil war was breaking out and it affecting the smallfolk greatly but I didn't expect it to get so messy. 😅 I'm sure it will get far far worse though.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:

Almost forgot to post this week.

I Finished both of the Michelle Paver books. Dark Matter was far better than Thin Air but they were both enjoyable enough. Been making very good progress with F&B though I am trying to pace myself a bit to not finish it in a few days.

It has been two months so it's time to post the new installment of my #2024bookbracket. I read a lot more in August than I did in July but I still struggled a bit to decide which one is my top read for August. Looking forward to seeing what I pick for September.

(the template is by @/CSeydel)

#bookbracket2024
#ReadingBracket2024
#TopRead2024

The setting was interesting, though this was a bit less character driver than Dark Matter was. I can't say the characters were completely flat but they felt a bit more trope-y than the other book.

My main gripe with it is that a lot of the plot was copy-pasted from Dark Matter and followed the exact same story structure. You can literally draw direct parallels from both, it's a bit too on the nose if you read both.

overall it was good, though.

I'm gonna finish this tomorrow. I'm really liking it so far but some plot elements feel directly copy-pasted from Dark Matter which is a bit disappointing.

I think I tried to pick this up years ago, but didn't get into it. I now finished it in two days.

I really enjoyed how atmospheric it was and the profound feeling of loneliness persisted so well when I got deeper into the book. It definitely echoes Man vs Nature with a sprinkling of Man vs. Himself. In essence, it is a story of survival and perseverance.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead
🎧 Thin Air & Dark Matter

Progress:

I didn't finish anything this week but I am sure that I will finish both of the Michelle Paver books as they are on the short end of things. Made good progress with F&B, I need to stop being tired in order to read the physical books.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:
last week was super productive in terms of books I've finished. 4 anthologies and Project Hail Mary was a delight. I moved on to Fire & Blood, but I still need to pick something lighter to listen to between F&B and detective fiction. Hoping next week will be similarly productive.

These were really interesting. This one included some sketches as well.

These are getting harder to find, but I am really enjoying the variety in these complications.

These were all so interesting, would definitely recommend these anthologies, especially for the Halloween season.

I'm surprised I haven't heard much about Edward Gorey before, his work is so morbidly delightful.

I've been told this is a “perfect“ book but the ending is a tiny bit lacking for me to make it absolutely perfect. Either way, this book made me laugh and cry and was a joy to read as the other Weir books were. Still would highly recommend this author for an entertaining read.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead
📙Project Hail Mary

Progress:
finished ADWD. I am reaching the end of Project Hail Mary and the other palette cleansers I've picked up. My next BIG read is F&B and then I need to find time to start the other ones I've been wanting to start. When will my motivation come back from the war?

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Dance with Dragons
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead
📙Project Hail Mary

Progress:
Made steady progress with ADWD and PHM though I was busy during the last week and didn't manage to finish anything. I will probably finish one book this week.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Dance with Dragons
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead
📙Project Hail Mary

Progress:
It felt like a slow week but I made steady progress with ADWD and finished My Best Friend's Exorcism which was an extremely fun read. I also started Project Hail Mary which I've been wanting to start for a while, as I keep hearing a lot of praise for it. So far it's been a good listen. Will continue with the same pace

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Dance with Dragons
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:
Almost forgot to post this. Finished 2 novels last week and 1 short story, so I will call that a productive week. Steadily getting through ADWD, need to find time to start the other 2 I've been swamped with life stuff.

This was a pretty short listen (around 5 ish hours) it felt kind of... disappointing. The characters were flat and relied heavily on horror tropes, though Amy was way too relatable. the spooky shit was definitely spooky but also very one-dimensional, the ending was hopeful but also didn't feel like it wrapped anything up.

needed something short to listen to as I was cleaning, and this was something I always wanted to read. Short and atmospheric.

The book was very atmospheric and the prose was beautiful, the characters felt very flat and nothing was really happening for half of the book so it was a bit boring. Overall a nice quick read.

July is approaching so it's time to post my #2024bookbracket. Both May and June's picks were very fun in different ways. I am looking forward to starting my July reads.

(the template is by @/CSeydel)

#bookbracket2024
#ReadingBracket2024
#TopRead2024

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Dance with Dragons
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:
cleaned up my book report reads because I haven't touched them in months. Made steady progress with ADWD, and I'm thinking of starting Witness for the Dead next month, as well as Akechi Kogoro. They both seem to be detective fiction which is neat.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Dance with Dragons
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:
thus was a hectic week so I haven't got much reading done. Making steady progress with ADWD, I hope to go back to normal scheduling this upcoming week. Switched out I, Lucifer because I was just not feeling like experimenting with long overdue books.

I'm very excited to read this. While ADWD got me back into reading I couldn't get into any other book. When I was adjusting some things the gagged made me remember how much I enjoyed the writer so I'm hoping to jump into it either this weekend or the upcoming week

Can't really get into the tagged right now to give it a fair try, so I picked up a different book I was meaning to read

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Dance with Dragons
📕I, Lucifer
📙The Witness for the Dead

Progress:

Finished 2 books this week, but I am either in a reading slump or burnt out. I am hoping that tomorrow will fix that. I am looking forward to jumping into ASOAIF again.

Thank you for tagging me @TieDyeDude !

I would like to try Stephen King again. I used to have a short story collection of his, but it didn't do it for me, so I would like to read his more mainstream work.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, you'd think I'd like this book because it's very nerdy but it mostly felt like an excuse to shove as many nerdy references in a book as the author could and it lacked substance.

#wondrouswednesday

This incomplete manuscript could have been an interesting novel were it was finished. The characters weren't exactly interesting but the events surrounding them were.

Aside from some questionable takes it was a really fun and quick read. Andy Weir is so funny and writes diversity really well, there wasn't a lot of character development but it still felt like the MC changed with what was thrown at her.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕The Love of the Last Tycoon
📙The Witness for the Dead
📙Artemis

Progress:

I finished AFfC last week and a short story, overall a productive week. Will be finishing Artemis this upcoming week. Started a bunch of ebooks too, still fantasy-dominated but I am balancing that with The Last Tycoon.

still trying to get back into my other picks.

Third time's the charm. I got a 19 so let's try to read through this one. I enjoy F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing style and prose so this should not be a bad pick.

Two DNF's in one week is a new record for me.

I just couldn't get through this poorly edited mess. There is a huge difference between writing mundane characters and boring characters. These are all unfortunately boring. The seemingly random stream of consciousness did nothing for the story and was just weird and unnecessary.

Having a lot of mixed feelings about this book. Reading up about the author a bit and he is a genuinely nice guy so judging it harshly feels unfair.

But this book is edited shoddily and the writing itself is disjointed and rambling. Not to mention how writing about a real life kid who died tragically and writing from his POV is weird and unethical especially making money off of it. 🤷‍♀️

Since Haunted was a no-go, I rolled again and got an 11. Irish Wake was actually written by one of my college professors, so it would be nice to read something by someone I've known.

I love horror and I genuinely thought I would love this, but I found it pretty shallow and misogynistic and I'm only 10 pages in. The writing style feels very juvenile, from the start it felt like I was reading something by a 15-year-old, experimenting with 'edgy' content for the first time.

I am CONVINCED that you can write transgressive fiction without making it shallow and go for low-hanging fruit like misogyny and blatant shock value.