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WWW Wednesday: April 11, 2018

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  White Oleander by Janet Fitch

This book was recommended to me by a friend in a Book Club I am in as part of a “buddy reads” program. This is absolutely not my usual genre, and I was pretty nervous about that, but so far I am loving it.

I’ve had to take a bit of a break from it for a few days because the excellent writing which easy drew me into the main character’s world and mind, also makes for excellent dissociation fodder. By which I mean, I over-empathize and get so caught up in the emotions and thoughts of the character that I get stuck in them and it takes me a little while to recover. This is how I know a character/book is really well written, because a poorly written novel wouldn’t suck me in so deeply. But it also means that if the subject matter is a little darker or the protag a little more troubled than my usual YA genre novels, then I need breaks to keep from being overwhelmed by it.

Totally fucking worth it though.

Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (Twilight Saga, book 1.75) by Stephenie Meyer

Welp, I’m reading another Twilight Saga novel, and before you ask, yes I am Suffering. Honestly I’ve been having trouble going through this one as quickly as some of the others because I keep having to stop and reorient my thinking due to the gender and name swapping. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve taken to keeping a list of each character and their new gender swap name so I can refer to it when I get confused.

Of course, I also keep getting held up by the amount of times I have to stop and heave an exhausted sigh or roll my eyes or groan or some combination of the three.

I’m in the middle of this one, but will definitely finish it by the end of the day today.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

*** Audiobook ***

So basically I have very little self-control, so when I learned of the existence of full-cast audiobooks I was incapable of stopping myself from checking them out. I listened to one full one already, and then started this one because it was recommended to me as a quality FCA.

I have to say though, listening to some man reading me that Bilquis scene was pretty damn awkward!

Right now I’m paused at the part where Shadow is at the funeral and he’s about to learn some hard truths!

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

I’m still reading this technically, but I’m taking a short break because I have 5 other books I have commited to reading this month, and 2 others that I’d like to finish within the week. Because moderation is for quitters!

Recently Finished:  Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, book 5) by Sarah J. Maas

Well it took me like a month, but I did finally finish it. Don’t even talk to me about the ending I’m not dealing with that right now. I refuse.

I had some troubles which I’ll talk about in my April Reading Wrap-Up, but one thing I have to say is like…. Why is everyone having sex every 10 seconds? Like I was trying to read a book about magic and war and all that. And my husband and I have theorized that if you cut out all the sex scenes the book would lose like half its volume so seriously, why was all that necessary?? Can we just chill even a little bit because I didn’t sign up for erotica at this time.

The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, book 1) by Shannon Hale

*** Audiobook **

I decided to listen to this on a whim. As I mentioned earlier I have only just learned about full-cast audiobooks, and when I discovered that one of my favorite stories had been done in that way I had to try it.

I wrote a Mini-Review, specifically about the audiobook version I listened to, not about the story itself. The story itself was as enjoyable as I have always found it to be.

It was more of a test of the FCA format, so I probably won’t keep going with the entire series at this time, especially since I’ve got so many other books to read right now.

Reading Next:  Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

I’ve been meaning to get to this one, and I found the perfect motivator. That book club I’m in has monthly challenges, and one of them is to read a book with a pastel cover.

I have some others that I need to read this month, but I’ve also been reading a lot of fantasy this year so I figured I should extend my genre break by reading a Dessen novel.

And if I’m honest, all the talking about Dessen novels I’ve been doing I’ve been considering a reread anyway, but I can hardly justify a Dessen reread if I haven’t even read the two newer novels of hers yet.

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: April 4, 2018

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What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, book 5) by Sarah J. Maas
  2. And despite the Fae Prince armed beside him, despite the ghost leopard with unsheathed claws sniffing at him, the sight of Aelin’s fire made his face go deathly pale.
  3. As beautiful as the world seems, it’s just got too much evil for me! No thanks.

 

WWW Wednesday: April 4, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, book 5) by Sarah J. Maas

So I’ve been working on this book for like 3 weeks now, which is frustrating since it’s the first one of the series that I haven’t read before, but I feel like I’m finally getting back to making some progress on it.

I’m about a quarter of the way through, and my main thought right now is “oh no, Manon!” so we’ll see where that goes. I’m pretty worried right now.

I’m hoping to finish this within a week so I can move on to the next one.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

I’ve only barely started this one, but I’m aiming to take it a chapter or two at a time so I’m doing pretty well.

I learned when I read Persuasion last year that I pay a lot better attention to the minutia of a classic text when I read it really slow. Not to mention, a lot of them have a very dense feeling to them because of how people spoke and wrote at the time, and reading them slow helps to not get sick of that.

So far I’m really liking it, even though nothing much has happened yet. Mostly just a girl met some ladies. But I’ve seen a screen adaptation of this so I know when things will start happening and I’m not discouraged in the least.

Recently Finished:  The Twilight Saga // Stephenie Meyer

I hate myself for rereading these, but they served their purpose.

I explained the purpose in this post, but basically I wanted to punish myself for being stuck on Empire of Storms for weeks.

Of course I also had an ulterior motive. That is, I am a lot more likely to make a post complaining about something I hate than I am to make a post about something I like. Because the things I like I’m engrossed in, and the things I hate I want to procrastinate on! So I hoped that reading a book I knew I’d want to complain about would make me blog more.

Oh look, it totally did! Success!

Reading Next:  Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, book 6) by Sarah J. Maas

To be honest, I’m not sure what to expect here so there’s not much to say. I’ve heard both good and bad things, but I’m hopeful.

If anyone has read this and has an opinion I’d love to hear it.

So here’s what I’ve figured out about Twilight so far…

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Reading the Twilight Saga is the same as when you’re looking at an intersection and you realize two cars are about to collide. Your brain is screaming at you to look away! But your eyes are like, “I’M STILL LOOKING HELP!!!!”

I don’t remember much from reading these back when they first came out. It was a favor for a friend who loved them and, despite quickly realizing I didn’t like them, when we discussed the series I tried to say diplomatic things, like:

  • “Well it’s certainly a unique piece of writing.”
  • “Sometimes it got rather cheesy, but I suppose that could happen in any romance novel.”
  • “Oh, was I supposed to pick a team? Um…”
  • “Yeah, I get what you’re saying, he loves her too much to ~damn her~ to immortality. But if he really loves her so much, why doesn’t he value her feelings on the matter or her right to choose what happens to her own life? My mom says if a man doesn’t respect your wishes then he doesn’t really love you.”

But my only lasting thoughts on the matter were:

  • Edward is too controlling.
  • It seems highly improbable, even factoring in novelty value, that every boy Bella meets would suddenly want to date her.
  • All of these characters are annoying and/or boring…
  • Sparkly vampires are fucking stupid.

Now reading them again as an adult I have come to several more conclusions, first among them:  I DON’T KNOW WHY I’M STILL READING THESE BOOKS PLEASE HELP ME!  And then following, in no particular order:

  • It is literally impossible to trip that many times in a row with nothing in your path, and I should know because I am the definition of clumsy. (Watch me break a bowl by accidentally slamming it into another bowl in the cabinet, it is tragic.)
  • She swoons a lot? Does she have blood pressure problems?
  • Edward is a douche.
  • Jacob is sweet, but dillusional.
  • Bella is incredibly annoying. (But still not as annoying as if the books had been written from Edward’s POV as I have recently been horrified to learn.)
  • If I’m ever trying to fly under the radar, I definitely will not move to a town so small that everyone literally knows everyone else. That would never work.
  • The expression “making a mountain out of a molehill” was probably invented specifically to describe every so-called problem these characters will ever face.

And now I guess I’ll go continue with my torture and read Eclipse…

I’d love to know your thoughts on the Twilight Saga too!

It’s Not Over Yet…

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So I went ahead and tortured myself with Twilight, and I think it may have helped, but I’m not done yet.

I’ve got about an hour before the NASA Live Stream I’m waiting on, so I’m going to read that draft of Twilight from Edward’s POV (Midnight Sun, I think it’s called) just for a laugh.

I feel like it’s going to be really, really emo. Wish me luck!

 

Twilight Torture

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I’ve been stuck in the middle (not even the middle, like 20%) of Empire of Storms for weeks now. I’ve actually read like 4 other books since I got stuck… Which is good, because if I stop reading entirely while I’m stuck I’ll wind up in a full-on slump, but I’m getting really frustrated since I’ve been trying to finish the Throne of Glass series for literal years…

So basically I’ve been thinking about torturing myself.

Sometimes when I’m stuck for things to watch I will watch something really comically bad to sort of reset my brain. And I thought maybe I should try applying the same technique here.

Which brings me to the method of torture:  Twilight

I’m not sure I’d even be able to get through one of them because of the cringe factor, but if it works like tv/movies then it might reset my brain and let me get back into Empire of Storms. (Mostly because I would appreciate that it wasn’t Twilight…)

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: February 7, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, book 1) by Sarah J. Maas
  2. It was gargantuan, a vertical city of shimmering, crystalline towers and bridges, chambers and turrets, domed ballrooms and long, endless hallways. It had been built above the original stone castle, and cost a kingdom’s wealth to construct.
  3. Hahahahahaaa! No! Everyone sucks and everyone who doesn’t suffers.