Currently Reading: 10 January to 23 January 2021

Currently Reading

- The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah A. Wolf (35%)

- Greek Religion: A Sourcebook by Valerie M. Warrior (22%)

- A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara (23%)

- The Girl with the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson (26%)

- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (03%)

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Yearly Reading Goal

9/100

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Let's see how long I can actually remember to post!!! Been blazing clean through my reading list. I've one, two, books left from January's TBR by the end of the first week because you know, I contracted the plague here and have had ten days to myself to do nothing but read. 

I think I've decided on the books I want to work on for the year. I'm going to go with "The Lost Star", a fanfiction based on my dragon lair on Flights Rising, and "The Owl's Curse", an original fiction rewrite from, oh god, 2006? 2007? I don't even remember when I started it. I know I stopped writing when it was at ~89,000 words. I will copy out the old words to my docs and then work on the edits and continuation to completion....

Review: When Harry Met Minnie by Martha Teichman

 

I received this book from Celadon Books in exchange for an honest review, so thank you Celadon. 

There are true fairy tales. Stories that exist because impossible-to-explain coincidences change everything. Except in real life, not all of them have conventional, happily-ever-after endings. When Harry Met Minnie is that kind of fairy tale, with the vibrant, romantic New York City backdrop of its namesake, the movie When Harry Met Sally, and the bittersweet wisdom of Tuesdays with Morrie. There’s a special camaraderie among early-morning dog walkers. Gathering at dog runs in the park, or strolling through the farmer's market at Union Square before the bustling crowd appears, fellow pet owners become familiar–as do the personalities of their beloved animals. In this special space and time, a chance encounter with an old acquaintance changed Martha Teichner’s world. As fate would have it, her friend knew someone who was dying of cancer, from exposure to toxins after 9/11, and desperate to find a home for her dog, Harry. He was a Bull Terrier—the same breed as Martha’s dear Minnie. Would Martha consider giving Harry a safe, loving new home. In short order, boy dog meets girl dog, the fairy tale part of this story. But there is so much more to this book. After Martha agrees to meet Harry and his owner Carol, what begins as a transaction involving a dog becomes a deep and meaningful friendship between two women with complicated lives and a love of Bull Terriers in common. Through the heartbreak and grief of Carol’s illness, the bond that develops changed Martha’s life, Carol’s life, Minnie’s life, Harry’s life. As it changed Carol’s death as well. In this rich and touching narrative, Martha considers the ways our stories are shaped by the people we meet, and the profound love we can find by opening our hearts to unexpected encounters.

I was actually rather surprised to see the package in the mail from Celadon books. My truly first entirely unsolicited ARC. I didn't even know it was coming in the mail. Does this make me a "real" reviewer now? If they are sending me things to read without any variety of warning? 

This is the tale of the life of Harry and Minnie, Bull Terriers owned by what I can only describe as wonderfully fabulous New York socialites. I am not that. I am a terrier owner though, but mine's a Staffie not a Bull. Close enough, right? I loved how we aren't even really started with Harry. We're started before that with her previous dog, Goose. I now want to name a dog (or cat) Goose. I can understand Ms. Teichman's reluctance to get another BT after Goose. Especially with the special care Minnie the deaf would need. She would naturally be reluctant to get another dog. 

But then Fate threw Her hand in and decided that not only was she going to, but she was going to get this specific dog. I felt bad for Carol. She didn't deserve what life gave her, but it was good to see that Harry was going to a good home, possibly, maybe. She made sure to look after her own. Something not many pet owners would actually do. I am sure a lot of people would have just put their animals down instead of trying to find them homes when they were sick. 

The flashbacks in this one actually made sense. It gave us good insight into the kind of person that Martha is and pretty much sealed for the readers that there was no other way to go. Martha was going to adopt Harry. How could she not? It would be so far out of her nature to not take in a BT in need that it would have been unbelievable. 

I love that Harry got to live his best life with someone who really cared about him and his breed and was willing to put the effort into caring for him with his many health issues. I know so many people who would not have, and it makes my heart happy to know that even though he didn't have much time left, he was with someone caring. 

I recommend this book to everyone who wants a feel-good true story about dogs and their people. You won't be upset. 

Currently Reading: 01 to 09 January 2021

Currently Reading

- A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara (08%)

- Lovely War by Julie Barry (10%)

- The Girl with the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson (08%)

- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (03%)

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Yearly Reading Goal

4/100

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I forgot (again) to actually write the blog post. It isn't that I mean to, it's just that I have a terrible memory I guess and that I just don't always remember to do things that I tell myself to do. I even went and bought a small, cheap day planner to use so I could write down the reading and writing tasks that I had to accomplish so I wouldn't forget them. I am that bad apparently. Hence why this post is so far off from the last one. I told myself I would start over in January. Go back to the biweekly schedule and post on my day off from work. I may include other silly things on my days off during the week. I have one or two set up on the side. 

I started Les Miserables at last. It will take me probably a long time to actually read it. Hence why I only want to make it a quarter of the way through in three months. A somewhat reasonable goal considering the size of the font and number of pages total. Here's hoping I can actually get all the way through it in 2021. 

I'm wavering between two different set ups for the monthly TBRs. 2/2/2 or 3/2/1. Either way it will be physical-digital-audio. It takes me a long time to actually get through audiobooks because I don't actually listen to them that often. I will either have 24/24/24 or 36/24/12 total for the year in TBR books. I don't know what I want to do. The decision that breaks my January. How many print books to pick to read every month. First world struggles, I know. It doesn't help that there are HUNDREDS of books that I look at on my shelf and go "I want to read that..." even though I now know better than to keep putting more books on my Currently Reading list.

I meant to put up the January TBR post on 31 December 2020, but we see when I actually got it up. Life is a struggle. My plan of 6 books and only on the TBR has already gone right out the window. I have 3 group reads, 1 buddy read, and an ARC. Of which only 1 was on the TBR to begin with (the ARC). I gave myself too much to do in January. Eh, whatever I miss I will just roll over to next month. 

I have been considering deleting my old Goodreads account, the one I used Facebook to connect to, and just making a private account on the site. That way if I ever delete/lose/get hacked I won't need to worry that much about my Goodreads disappearing as well. Huh. Never mind. When I use the email log-in, it just takes me back to my page. That's fun. I guess I won't have to worry about it after all?

Ugh. So first book down for 2021 was a dud! A 1-star! Is that how the rest of the year will go? It wouldn't have been so bad if the voice had not been so sarcastic. She wrote it like she was making fun of the subject matter. Which, as a witch myself, I find appropriately offensive. She didn't even go through the four centuries like she claimed she would. She mostly stuck to 1690s, 1850s, and 1999. That's not four centuries, that's three decades. 

I gave up on The Gilded King by Josie Jaffrey. I couldn't stand the writing or how juvenile the cast was. People were being ostracized for things that they couldn't control. People were believing they were being punished when it was literally luck of the draw. I couldn't read any more. I will give the book another try later, but if I can't read it then either, it will go into the bin of books to be rid of. Sometimes you just hit that dud that you can't do anything about. 

Started listening to A Little Life again. Changed how it tracks the elapsed time so I can figure out my percentage better. Just to keep up. I have no idea how many pages I've read though. I could try to figure it out, but that seems like it may just be like too much work to me. I will just rely on the percentage for time elapsed. X3

With that, I think I will actually close this post. Before it gets too large and unruly. I love you all and I will see you in the next one~!!

January 2021 To-Be-Read

I though for a change of pace, I would begin keeping track of the small(ish) list of books that I was looking to read in a month. It's not something that I would normally do, and I think I was inspired by watching the TBRs of BookTubers. I try to keep my list to six books; 3 physical, 2 ebooks, and 1 audiobook. The beginning of each quarter (January, April, July, and October) there will be seven. I decided the best time to start would be January. So, with no further adieu, let us begin~

Physical Books

1. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - I don't actually intend to read the entire thing in January, just the first 1/4 of it or about 227 pages. I always pick one massive (usually classic) book to read for the entire length of the year. 2020's was IT by Stephen King, which I failed at. I got halfway through and lost interest. This upcoming year however, I intend to read Les Miserables. A book that has been on my to read list for a while. And now that I have a stunning Barnes & Noble classics edition, I cannot wait to get into it. I may not even be able to resist and may start reading it early. 

2. The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang - I want to read this one early in 2021, because I have already ordered the third and final book in the series, The Burning God, and it is due to arrive in January. I loved The Poppy War back when I read it a few months ago, and I think now would be an excellent time to finish it up. I am looking forward to the continuation of Rin's story and finding out how it all concludes when the third book arrives.

3. When Harry Met Minnie by Martha Teichner - This was randomly mailed to me from Celadon Books (by the way, thanks Celadon~) for review. I've never heard of it or the author. The book itself doesn't actually come out until February 2021, so I figure I would read and review it in January for them, closer to the release date. All I know for sure is that it's a memoir about a dog and his owner and early-morning dog walkers? Not a clue. Here's hoping this goes well. 

4. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - This was one of the first books I bought myself with a gift card in 2020, and I think it's high time I even read it! Harrow the Ninth is already out and Alecto the Ninth is due in 2022. Now is the perfect time to actually get off my lazy behind and read Gideon the Ninth! What drew me to this was partly the cover and partly, as I recall the descriptions, lesbian space necromancer pirates. Yeah. Tell me that does not spark even the slightest bit of curiosity in anyone. It has F/F romance, maybe. Pirates, space, necromancy, and probably other things that I am forgetting that are going to be a lot of fun to read about. I already put this on the cart for January 2021~

Digital Books

5. The Girl with the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson - This was acquired in one of the many caffeine fueled psychosis hauls where I was just getting anything that looked remotely interesting at a time when I should not have been allowed access to the internet (think like 3-4 in the morning) after a rather long shift at work. I have been obsessed with China and Chinese dramas lately and this is set in Chinatown and references the characters emigrating from China to the United States, specifically...California, I think. I started it in late December 2020, and intend to finish it some time this month. 

6. Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim - The cover is pretty. I'm a fan of Mulan, but definitely not Project Runway, so this ought to be a good go. I think the premise sounds rather interesting. I have no idea what I will think about it. This was one of those books that at one point or another was very popular on BookTube so I figured I would give it a try. Yeah.

Audio Books

7. American Witches by Susan Fair - I started this book back in December, and figured I would just add it on as my January TBR book. I had gone in expecting something about modern witches or witchcraft. Not whatever it is that I got. I am struggling (about halfway through it) to figure out if she is being serious or satirical. The way the narrator is reading it leads me to believe that the book itself isn't as serious as it is being made out to be? I have no idea. The whole thing is revolving around witches and "witchcraft" from the previous centuries, but not the actual witchcraft. This book seems dedicated to what most people assume witchcraft is, what the church told them it was, and nothing more. I do not know a single witch that behaves in such a manner. I'd be surprised if witches were not offended by this book. I know I am. Let's finish the listen and see where it goes.