Currently Reading: 15 January to 28 January 2023

Currently Reading

- The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne (58%)

- Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose (05%)

- Wicka by Christy Deveaux (17%)

- Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (34%)

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Yearly Reading Goal

5/100

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So I'm sure you've noticed my Currently Reading list has changed as well as my goal for the year. I realized it was silly to pick any other number. I never cared if I fully reached the goal or not, so why would I set it to anything other than my favorite reading goal number? I figure I'll just put it to the number I like (which also makes finding the percentage easy, it's literally just the number of books I've finished!). 

I don't know really what happened from the 15th to the 21st that I didn't....oh wait, yes I do. I was just reading. Nonstop. I think Saturday the 21st just ended up being a hell of a lazy day here where I did nothing but read. Then Sunday was Session 1 of Krystophan Mk-II, where we realized exactly ONE party member (out of five of us) could actually enter the capital city. The rest of us are all some flavor of Evil. He's Chaotic Neutral. He'd be the only one who can actually cross the boundary and into the city. 

I cleared quite a few books from my list, added some new ones, and am curious about the status of one of the boxes I ordered. Picked up 26 (lol 24 individual titles) from BookOutlet. One of the boxes made it in yesterday. The other one did not. I don't know if the box was damaged or if someone stole it or what happened. I am going to give them until Tuesday for it to make it to me before I email the site and let them know what happened. Hopefully they will either give me a credit to the store or resend the books that I ordered. They are usually pretty good with customer service. I don't know what happened to the package, except maybe it was damaged in transit (the other one was) and they didn't know who the stuff belonged to or perhaps it got left behind or someone stole it. Though, I cannot imagine why someone would steal a box of books of all things. 

I joined a few new reading and writing servers and one of them (The Writer's Palace) has this section where they do a fiction book of the month and a nonfiction book of the month, and this month into February they are reading Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (which I am holding off on as I am reading Hell Bent) and Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. I want to participate more in bookish things, so of course I had to grab it. 

I think I will close for now and go about reading the rest of the books on my currently reading list. See you all in a week~

Currently Reading: 08 - 14 January 2023

Currently Reading

- The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne (32%)

- In a Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo (59%)

- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (18%)

- The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (10%)

- Wilder Girls by Rory Powers (28%)

- Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly (11%)

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Yearly Reading Goal

1/75

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I am, somewhat unfortunately still at 1 of 75 for the year. I did enjoy the book, but I seem to have been starting more than I've finished. Not that it will harm anything, as none of them are over 500 pages. I had thought for sure that John Gwynne's would be, but no. It's actually 478 pages. At least, the edition I have is. Ah well, perhaps I can get through more of these as I go through the month. 

Picked up John Gwynne's book, incidentally, to buddy...listen...with a friend of mine. She and I have been friends for a very long time, and we are both avid readers and we never once thought to actually read something together until 2023? Despite having known each other for close to a decade. You would think we'd have come up with paired books to read together many times. Usually she reads much faster than I do (she could get away with listening to audiobooks at work, I can't). This year however, we've actually decided on two books! An audio edition of The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne, and then I'm going to read the print while she reads the digital of Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. It looked good and I can't wait to get at it. 

I've started up my beta reading for FictionPress/FanFiction again. So far it's been interesting. I have one project right now that I'm working on with a newer author, and I am not sure how they will be able to rewrite it, but you never know. Stranger things have happened. It's just very...new writer to me? I don't know how best to describe what I mean. There is a lot of potential. A lot of promise that I can see, it's just very rough around the edges right now. I hope I can help them shape their masterpiece into something people will want to read.

I've decided on two works to keep me occupied with writing during the year. "Carpe Librum" for FictionPress which follows a young man realizing his dream and opening up a bookstore in a small town where all the town's 'outcasts' can just exist without worry about anything happening to them. "Proj. Oz [Title: TBA]" for FanFiction, which will follow a random (nearly self-insert) OC in the Stranger Things universe because really I just need something to keep me occupied while it's dead at work. It will be all about a young man named Ethan who finds himself transplanted from his home town of Wichita, Kansas to Hawkins, Indiana and what happens with that. Still working on the worldbuilding and characters. 

I don't think there's anything else really to talk about? Oh! Yes, I finally found and picked up a copy of A Clockwork Reader's reading journal. I had to get ink for my printer, and since we were going to be passing the parking lot for the Barnes & Noble anyway, we decided to stop in. I went to the journal section and found they had exactly one copy left for an absurd amount of money. Naturally I couldn't leave it behind. I like the way she modeled this one, with a few sections, but then not breaking up the actual reviews area with other things to do. She just puts a few inspirational quotes in it, which I like. The fact the cover is in a brighter green certainly helped sway me toward the purchase. That shade is my actual favorite shade of green. Not quite eye-burning, but close. I've already filled in one finished read, and I've put a bunch of currently reading books on there to fill in as I finish them. 

I suppose that is all for this week, my sweets. If I can think of anything else, I'll be sure to let you know in the next update! Have a wonderful week and I'll see you on the 21st. 

Currently Reading: 01 - 07 January 2023

Currently Reading

- The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne (09%)

- In a Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo (59%)

- The Lady of the Lake by Andrej Sapkowski (00%)

- Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly (11%)

* * *

Yearly Reading Goal

1/75

* * *

Welcome welcome to 2023~ I love when the year starts on a Sunday. Makes starting the Currently Reading posts rather easy for me. Shall we get on with the show then? Let's begin with this year's reading...resolutions? Goals? Whatever you feel like calling them. It matters not to me what word you use to make sense of it. 

2023 Bookish Goals

1. Read 75 books

2. Purchase fewer books

3. Use my Kindle more

4. Do not force reviews

5. Stick to To-Be-Read

6. Keep better track of hauls, wrap-ups, and TBRs

7. Put away $5 for every book finished in 2023

Not bad, I don't think. Pretty similar to the rest of the ones that I have done. Changed the number of books I plan to read for the year and got rid of the idea that I must read an 800+ page behemoth during the year. If it happens, it happens, otherwise I'm not all that concerned with it. 

So far in 2023, I've already finished a single book. Then, naturally, I got distracted by all kinds of other things that made it hard to actually read anything. Ah well, hopefully I can actually keep up with the goals that I have and get back into reading for myself.

I've already posted my January To-Be-Read and I've even managed to already get through one of the books on the list. I'm proud of myself for January. Let's keep up the good work, yeah? 

I think, though, I will end the blog post now. I'll consider my writing goals to go along with my reading goals for the year. Until next week~

January 2023 To Be Read

We're going to try something else new this year. Instead of adding my to-be-read to the Currently Reading posts, I'm going to give it it's own post. Let us commence then with what and why~

Physical

1. In a Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo - I don't so much want to start this book, as I want to actually finish it. Ended 2023 about halfway through, maybe a little less. It's pretty good for as much as I've read of it. I am relatively confident that I can get it done in January. 

2. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo - The sequel to Ninth House, this is one that intrigued me when I saw it on BookTube and then found it on Book of the Month club. Pending it actually arrives in January when it ought to, as it is meant to ship between Monday the 9th and Wednesday the 11th. It looks good and I am very much excited to get to it. 

3. The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski - The fifth book in the Witcher series, I'm definitely overdue to get around to it. I have greatly enjoyed the story so far, despite not being able to pronounce half the words in Elder Speech and now in honest Welsh. This would leave only one book left in the series. 

Digital

4. All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley - One of the two ARCs I received from NetGalley. This one looks rather interesting. There isn't much else I have to say about it. 

5. Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly - The other ARC that I got. This one seemed quite interesting. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about it, but it certainly looked interesting. I haven't really come across any books featuring genderfluid main characters in the past, or rather any books with them period. I'm definitely looking forward to it. 

Audio

7. The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne - The first book from Chirp that I'm listening to. Acquired to actually listen to with a friend. I've seen it a few times on BookTube, and nearly purchased the physical edition a few times at the bookstore, so now I'm excited to actually get to it.