Currently Reading: 27 November to 03 December 2022

Currently Reading

- Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan (12%)

- The Shadows by Alex North (29%)

* * *

Book Goal

51/50

Page Goal

18,725/20,000

* * *

You'll notice that I've dropped quite a few books from the actual currently reading list. That's because a good number of the books have just been put on pause for the time being. The Orilium mini winter readathon is this month, and as I know myself and how long it takes me to read a book, especially with my work schedule, instead of taking the allotted time (9-18 December), I'm actually using the entire month for the challenge. There are five books I would need to get through, then ten more "bonus" books that I can add. I'm looking at definitely six. The first five, then Aurin needs a bone-cat. So..yeah....here are the books I'm aiming for in December:

• Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan
• The Shadows by Alex North
• Cujo by Stephen King
• Upgrade by Blake Crouch 
• The Piper by Lynn Hightower
• In A Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo

(bonus) 

• At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
• The Noel Letters by Richard Paul Evans
• The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter
• Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw
• The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho
• We Seek No King by T. Thorn Coyle
• Artemis by Andy Weir
• Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
• Nightbooks by J.A. White

Not a terrible list all things told. I just highly doubt I will clear fifteen books in December with all the other things that still need to be done (holiday shopping, birthdays, dance recitals, actual holidays), so as long as I get the top six done, I'll be happy with that. Today (02 December) I'm working on Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan. The character art reminded me a lot of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, which I have read the first two volumes of and intend to get however many are going to be released. 

Currently Reading: 30 October - 26 November 2022

Currently Reading

- Scum Villain's Self-Saving System #2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (19%)

- In a Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo (11%)

- The Shadows by Alex North (02%)

- All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley (07%)

* * *

Book Goal

51/50

Page Goal

18,506/20,000

* * *

I have absolutely no idea how I---never mind, yes I do. First weekend of October I was in Massachusetts (with no signal). Second weekend of October I was in Maryland (with no signal). Third weekend I was at work. That's why nothing was reported in the last few weeks. Hehe. I remember perfectly well what I was doing. 

In somewhat positive news, I have started using my library's app again. The one I had completely forgotten I even had access to because I rarely used it. I got hooked on Audible and Kindle and it entirely slipped my mind that I could borrow books digitally from my library. So far, I've only gotten one audiobook and one ebook. Just as a sort of test run to see how far I can make it in the book before it is returned. Each borrow is 2 weeks. So...I have until halfway through the month to finish them! 

I do not have an excuse for November however. I have no idea what is going on with me and forgetting to update the blog. It's not like I don't have reminders on my phone and in my day-planner. Nope....

NaNoWriMo is going well. So far I'm just shy of 30k of the total 50k, and we aren't even at the halfway mark of the month. I'm working on a story that has been in my mind for a while. 

October 2022 Wrap Up

Normally, I would keep track and write down what I liked about my book when I finish it, but I forgot last month so we're going to start again in October. Here goes~

I read 4 books in October: 

1. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson - I am giving this one a 4.5/5 stars. It was definitely an interesting read and I enjoyed it. Even though Oliver literally only made it maybe a quarter of the way through one of the mentioned books within the novel itself, I don't think this detracted from the overall reaction. You definitely don't see the end coming. I thought I'd had it figured out a few times. Rather glad I was wrong! We follow Malcolm Kershaw as he thinks he is being accused of a string of murders based on a blog post he had written a long time ago. He works with police to learn who is behind it and why. I am going to look more into Peter Swanson's other books. This was worth the read and I'm curious about the rest of his work.

2. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao - This one was not quite as good as the first one of hers that I read, but definitely still better than I had initially thought it was going to be. We follow a young man who is disconnected from his family's heritage having to go on a grand adventure to save a country he has no actual memory of. I liked the way it was told and how we learn a lot about Chinese history and culture sort of through the people who lived it. This one is getting a 4/5 stars. I'm curious if there is another in the works to continue the storyline and find out what will happen next. 

3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - I think we read this back in high school, but I do not remember much about it. I do know that in this reading, I was disappointed. There were several times where I nearly just DNF'd it because I didn't much care for the story. I had no idea who exactly it was I was supposed to feel the most empathy for, Viktor or the monster. It felt like Viktor was trying to get us to be on his side, even though he was the one who created the creature in the first place. I am giving this one a 4 out 5, as it is an okay story for the season, but really I was just bored through most of it. 

4. The Bookseller by Cynthia Swan - I liked it. It was an interesting take. We follow this person through two different realities. One of which is real, and the other which is entirely a fantasy. I will not divulge which is which, but you do learn about halfway through the book. I loved how things changed and when you learn various points of Katherine/Kitty's life. Worth the read. I'm glad I picked this one up. 4/5. 

October 2022 Book Haul

So I entirely forgot to update my Book Haul in September, so we're just gonna skip right ahead to October and pretend September never happened? I don't recall what I got or why anyway...so...moving on: 

I acquired 23 books in October: 

1. Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong - Book of the Month selection for October. It looked good. A woman cannot die, and uses that to her advantage and looks into a series of murders in Shanghai. I saw it on BookTube and was immediately intrigued and couldn't resist when it came up on Book of the Month's selections. 

2. CUNT by Inga Muscio - My roommate asked if we could put this on our reading pile when we saw what it was about. I am curious myself. It's entirely about the history of the word. I do enjoy a good nonfiction periodically and with this, I will learn how this word came to be the curse that it is today. It looks intriguing and I cannot wait. 

3. The Celtic Tradition by Caitlin Matthews - Some of my family history is Celtic. So this was more a good way to look into traditions of my people! Picked it up from a friend of mine who was going through her bookshelves to slim down. 

4. Old World Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi - It was among the three Grimassi books that I was specifically given by my good friend, TS. I have no idea what to expect. I've heard many good and bad things about Grimassi. Some people love him, other people hate him. I don't know at all what the premise is, but I am looking forward to adding this to my witchcraft collection. 

5. The Cauldron of Memory by Raven Grimassi - The second of the three. I don't know anything about this one either. TS really just spoiled me absolutely silly. I will definitely let you all know what I think of this when I actually get to it. 

6. Ways of the Strega by Raven Grimassi - The third, and the best of the three. I knew this one was coming. Sort of? She had told me that she had a book for me on Italian witchcraft. Much like the Celtic book, I have Italian ancestry and I am interested in learning more about the folk magic of the places my family comes from. So when she handed it to me, I was quite excited. This is going up early on the to be read list. 

7. William Wordsworth ed. by Antonia Till - I have been meaning to read more poetry, and get into the classics...and this book was being given away to a new home. I am somewhat intimidated by the fact it is 1120 pages long. Talk about a chunker. However, I think, depending on the section, it may be easier to get through than some other huge books as it is poetry. I'll give it a try to see what I think of it. 

8. The Odyssey by Homer - I know somewhere in my house I have an old edition of this book, however, I have it on trusted authority that this was the ultimate translation as of yet. When I saw it in the books up for grabs, I immediately snatched it. I follow the Greek pantheon in my craft and I like to read the ancient works. It is directly what they thought of the gods and how they interacted over how scholars today think they did. I am excited!!

9. The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon - I remember seeing this kind of peak on BookTube a few months ago, then it fell again. I only made it to the word "transgender" in the synopsis and immediately blew my monthly credit for Audible to get it to listen to while on my road trips or whatever else we're up to. It looks good.

10. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch - I have absolutely no clue. My best reading buddy suggested it and it was available on Audible, so I figured I'd get it and give it a go. I'm not sure when exactly I'll get to this...but yeah. That's all. I know nothing other than they like it and we have a similar reading taste. Hopefully I'll like it as well. 

11. Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier - I will totally admit to being attracted to the cover at first. Then I read the synopsis and was very intrigued. I kind of want to know what's going to happen. It reminds me of several other books that I've read in the not too distant past and I'm quite curious about how it's going to go. Of course I can see who the romantic interest is meant to be immediately. 

12. Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson - I own and have read Sorcery of Thorns which I thought was very good. So when I saw this at Page After Page (at the Maryland Renaissance Fair), I had to pick it up. It was in my cart online, but as a fan of instant gratification, I couldn't resist getting it immediately over waiting. I cannot wait to start this one. It may be among my print book selections in November. 

13. Priestess and the Pen by Sonja Sadovsky - I have read multiple of Marion Zimmer Bradley's books and when I saw her name in the subtitle, it immediately drew my attention. This is kind of the theme I'm working with this year for my writing project in November. Almost...proper representation of witchcraft in modern fiction. I'm greatly looking forward to my thoughts on this book. 

14. Commonwealth by Anne Patchett - I would swear at one point or another in history, I had this. I can't remember or find it in my logs. So I bought a new copy of it. I've heard it's good and it was only $10 at Second Story Books...so I figured I may as well pick it up, right? Right. I can only hope I like it. I cannot remember the synopsis at all. 

15. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline - I already own and have read the first book in this series and I was looking so forward to reading the second one. I finally got my hands on a copy of it. I don't even care that the editions are different at this point (a normal pet peeve of mine). 

16. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - Much like The Hangman's Daughter, I have absolutely no idea what I'm getting into. It was $7. Worth the risk in my opinion. It had a huge following on BookTube a few years back so let's see what I think of it. 

17. The Bondmaid by Catherine Lim - Right now brain is saying "Chinese Romeo and Juliet" which I am entirely sure is wrong. I saw it and had to have it because it looked simply wonderful. I don't know much else about it other than the fact that the book centers around a young woman who had been sold into slavery at the age of four and how she falls in love with the young master of the house as she grows up and what becomes of the relationship between them. 

18. American War by Omar El Akkad - Completely bought it because it was a Book of the Month selection (from April 2017). Fits well with a few of the other books that I've acquired in the recent past. It involves America basically fighting itself. I didn't know a thing about it and I'm looking forward to it now. 

19. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - I know I leant a John Steinbeck novel out. I can't remember if it was this one or East of Eden. If it was the other one, oh well, now I have two copies of this and will just loan it out. If not...then I have replaced the one I gave away! I really need to start keeping better track of when I loan out books. 

20. Secrets from a Stargazer's Notebook by Debbie Kempton-Smith - I spent a weekend (plus) up at a retreat in Massachusetts (I'm sure I've spelled that wrong), and we learned a bit about our own star charts and how to read them to see just how it influences our lives. I started reading this while we were still there and was absolutely taken with the way she presents astrology. Naturally the minute I was home, I ordered a copy of it. (had to excuse myself for taking a picture when phone were sort of not allowed, as I knew there was no way I was gonna remember it). 

21. In the Woods by Tana French - This was me making and uh-oh. I had picked up The Likeness and Faithful Place which it turns out are volumes 2 and 3 in a series where you kind of have to start from the beginning or you won't have a clue what's happening. You could probably muddle your way along, but that just seems silly. So I went on an app I haven't used (at all, since downloading it) and found a reasonably priced copy of the first book so that way I could start this series. I've heard a lot of good things about Tana French and the Dublin Murder Squad books. I am greatly looking forward to it. 

22. Eye of the Storm by Jack Higgins - This is the only one (so far) that I did not purchase for myself. I got it for my father, so there won't even be any updates or anything on it. I have no idea what it is about. I have never heard of the author before in my life, and odds are I'm never actually going to read it, but it was one he wanted and it was fairly affordable from Thrift Books. So....yeah. 

23. Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco - This was one that I have been looking forward to for a few months. The seventh book by Ms. Maniscalco and the third in the Kingdom series, I preordered this back in February. There was a small hiccup in the delivery, but now that I've got it, I cannot wait to get into it!!

Bookish Third Quarter Review

I have absolutely no idea whether or not I remembered to actually review the last quarter or not, in June, however, we may as well just go over what I've done in the last quarter (July/August/September) so that way I can see where I am and what I may need to work harder on in this final quarter of the year. 

1. Read 100 books - Okay, so this is already sort of a failure? Kind of. I changed the goal from 100 books, which I realized was just entirely unrealistic to only 50 books. Right now, October 01, I'm sitting at 42/50 books, so I think I'll be able to get to it. I believe next year I'll set my goal at either 50 or 75. Something more realistic to hit with my new hours at work and the other commitments I make to keep my social life active. 

2. Buy fewer books - I guess this is going okay? I don't recall buying super many books over the third quarter. One or two for Book of the Month, but then there were one or two splurges at Barnes & Noble or like the local library sale (what? $4/bag). I'll give this one a pass for the quarter as well. 

3. Use Kindle more - Fail. I read one book, then actually managed to lose the Kindle itself. I forgot about the app on my phone, as per usual, but then I didn't know where I put the physical Kindle Touch 4th gen that I own. Either of them. Though I found dad's in my desk. So this is failed for the quarter, but hopefully we can pick it up again in the final quarter. 

4. Do not force reviews - I'm not sure I even wrote a review in the past quarter? I was thinking of changing this one as well, but that's fine. I'll give this one a pass since I didn't really write reviews so that should count under not forcing them at all. 

5. Stick to TBR - This prompt has been going pretty well. I have not deviated too much from my planned TBRs at all in any month. This one is a pass. Even months where I have no real goals in mind, I don't venture far (I've also been picking a lot of very large books).

6. Keep track of Hauls, TBRs, and Wrap-ups - I think I only missed September, so this is a pass. I forgot to keep track of the books so I decided to simply skip that month. I'll be more diligent in October-December. This way we will be better at it and see if we can keep the goal going into 2023. 

7. Put away $5 for every book read - I have been doing this one. Granted, I may need to start physically removing the money from the bank and locking it away at the end of the month instead of putting it into like my Growth account. I had to raid the account a few times for expenses I either completely forgot about or didn't see coming. We will try more. 

8. Keep up with Bookstagram - I have not been doing this the way I intended to, but I will try to go back to it in the future. Starting in October I will work on posting an image and small review (if I have anything to say) for each book as soon as I've finished reading it. I'll try to remember to post my TBRs as well. (Speaking of -- mental note, post TBR to Instagram later), Wrap-Ups, and Hauls. 

9. Read The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan - I read an entirely different huge book. Instead of reading The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, I read An Echo of All that Falls by James Islington, which is actually like ~150 pages longer in the end over the entire month of like April? I forget exactly. Either way I read a completely different huge book. So....pass?

I'm giving myself a pass so far for the quarter. I did do most of what I had intended, just not in the manner expected. Some things are still a bit off, but we will work on it and hopefully be caught up and on the right track come January 2023!! See you then, lovelies~

Currently Reading: 04 September - 01 October 2022

Currently Reading

- The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson (41%)

- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (16%)

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (57%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (40%)

* * *

Book Goal

42/50

Page Goal

15,781/25,000

* * *

Apparently no progress was made whatsoever. I never even finished the first post of the month of September and the day I'm writing this is the first of October. An entire month went by without an update from me. I apologize for that. I got distracted with work. It was nothing particularly exciting that distracted me either. Just being at work and planning. 

Now next week there will not be a post update, since I will be on the side of a mountain in Massachusetts learning about astrology over the weekend. I will definitely update from that when I get home, so be prepared!!!

Now, let's get on with the update from apparently the entire month of September. Let's see what all happened in the last month. I decided that I am going to do off-week posting on my two projects that I'm working on (Proj. Degree and Proj. Book) which both are partially finished and I'm using this as some kind of spur to keep me going with writing otherwise I know I would likely forget.  So far I've gotten the prologue (Degree) and first chapter (Book) up and I'm working on the next one. That's exciting. I am currently working through the next part of Proj. Degree to get it up and on the site. 

I have been thinking about my October TBR and it hasn't changed much since September's, as is the way of the TBR pile. I'm going to just jump whatever I'm still working on to this month and then add new ones to replace what I've finished. 

Physical

1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 

2. The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

3. The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski 

Digital

4. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

5. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Audio

6. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

I'm not sure yet what I want to add into the two spots that are blank. I'm considering one of two KU titles to fill in the spot in Digital: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (which I found out was popular after picking it up) or Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney. I think we're going with Legends & Lattes. I read the prologue and absolutely get the D&D vibe from it. I think the main character, Viv, is a half-orc? Maybe full-blooded. I don't know quite yet, but there is definitely one on the cover and it intrigues me to see. Now I just have to choose what I'm going to add for physical book. There are a lot of options. Maybe I'll go with My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix? I don't know. I'm wanting to do something more spooky for the season, but I have so many to pick from that I'm just struggling.

I ended up picking nothing from my maybes list, and something from a series I would like to finish. Sounds right. I had entirely forgotten that I wasn't quite done with the Witcher series yet. I have The Lady of the Lake and The Season of Storms and then I'm finished. 

I suppose that will about do it for now. See you in two weeks for an update~

August 2022 Book Haul

I didn't buy as many books in August as I did in any other month. That's not to say I didn't acquire as many, just there are a few I didn't actually purchase myself. 

1. The Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen - It looked pretty good and I can't say as I've read any books featuring ancient Vietnam. I can't wait to see what it's all about. I don't recall offhand if it's a debut or not, but that doesn't really matter I suppose. I do know it's based on a real historical account of some sisters who helped their country. 

2. Frankly in Love by David Yoon - I have read a book by his wife, and this one just sounded interesting to me. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. If I remember correctly, their cover up does not go quite as planned. They end up falling for each other while only using each other as a cover so their oddly strict Korean parents don't freak about them dating non-Korean people. I think...don't hold me to that. 

3. The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century by George Friedman - Not a clue. Bestie said I should read it and I found a copy on Thriftbooks for $4. May as well give it a go, right? 

4. Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson - Been hearing about this one like every other day on BookTube and it sparked my interest as it's about a group of witches employed by the Queen of England to protect her. I'm already about halfway through at the posting of this haul, and I have to say I am enjoying it. 

5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - The cover was pretty. I'm a sucker. I remember hearing about this, but I don't recall if the general consensus was positive or negative. Only that it was among the 2020 popular books, possibly even before that (before I was really into BookTube) since this was published in 2013.

6. Scum Villain's Self-Saving System #2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu - Stumbled across the table while looking for other books in the science fiction/fantasy section. Loved the first one and had to get the second. 

7. Heaven Official's Blessing #2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu - I've seen the animated donghua and I adored it. Hua Cheng is funny in his approach to earning Xie Lian's affection. Xie Lian literally does not remember him at all at first. I can't wait to see how it continues. 

8-10. Penryn & the End of Days (series) by Susan Ee - I have no idea what this is about. It was sent to me by Rowan because I needed to feel the same things she did. Past that I couldn't tell you much more than I've heard of the series and have seen it on shelves at te library and bookstore.  

11. The Shining by Stephen King - Picked this one up partly because I liked the cover of the edition I found and, I kid you not, partly because it's headcanon that it's Eddie Munson's favorite book/movie combo. (I'm sure if he was around in the 2000s he'd be all for the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings movies). I want to know what it's about. I've seen bits of the movie and am interested in watching it once I finish the book. 

12. Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz - I've read at least one book of his (Magpie Murders) and I own another two (Murder is the Word and Moriarty) so when I saw this middle grade, I couldn't pass it up. I have absolutely no idea what it's about, but I like Horowitz's style, so here's hoping I like it?

13. The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson - It looked good. I like books that combine my interests. Especially reading about books and reading. I am curious about the plot and how she reconciles her real life with her dream life. 

14. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand - Literally just replacing a copy of it that I had. I already owned a mass-market paperback copy of the book, but it was so thick that I literally could not read the content in the center of the pages without nearly ripping my copy in half. So I found a trade paperback with wider margins. Now I can read it!

15. The Woman In the Window by A.J. Finn - I've already read this one. Picked up a library copy a few years back. Loved it, but now have very limited access to the library that has the copy. So, when the same libary had it in the bin during their bag sale, I couldn't resisst and grabbed it. I may put it on October's TBR for spooky season. 

16. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Not a clue. Maybe just because it was big and pretty. I know absolutely nothing about this book. Haven't even looked it up yet. I know its a standalone and the author branching out into a genre he doesn't normally write in. That's it. That's what I know. 

17. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace - It's huge. It looks good. I have no idea. My old thing of collecting ridiculously thick novels sort of kicked in and figured, why not? I paid the equivalent of $0.33 for it ($4 per bag and I had 12 books in my bag), so it was worth the price. I can't wait to see if I like it or what it's even about. 

18. The Likeness by Tana French - I remember this one also from BookTube. There was another (not the one directly below) that was mentioned, but this one was one of the two that they had. I am looking forward to reading this soon and seeing what the hype was all about. 

19. Faithful Place by Tana French - Grabbed it because it was literally another Tana French novel and I was paying $0.33/book, so why the hell not? If I don't like it, I'll just post it on eBay or Pango. Not a big deal really. I now know that I picked up volumes 2 & 3 in the series. Just need to grab volume 1 and it will be perfect....

20. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - Replacing a copy that I wanted to reread that got destroyed by water damage. I liked the storyline and am interested in continuing....I just only had volume 3 and 3.5 at the time. They got out unscathed. I found this in a matching edition to what I already owned and grabbed it so I could replace my lost copies. 

21. The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James - I forget why I wanted this offhand, other than it is some psych thriller that looks pretty good (I think it's also the only proper hardback I got...The Shining doesn't count because it was rebound with Permabound). No idea what it's about, but definitely interesting cover. 

22. The Last Days of Socrates by Plato - I'm a pseudo-practicing Hellenic witch, so I like to grab as much as I can about Greek history, religion, and culture. When I saw this, I knew it was coming home with me. I like to read not just current non-fiction about Greece and her culture/history/religion...but also ancient fiction and non-fiction alike. It can tell you a lot about the people when you read stuff from the people. Looking forward to this one. 

Currently Reading: 21 August to 03 September 2022

Currently Reading

- A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin (47%)

- Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson (43%)

- The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson (01%)

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (21%)

- The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton (02%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (25%)

* * *

Book Goal

40/50

Page Goal

14,894/25,000

* * *

I know. I know. I forgot to post last week. The thing is, I wasn't home either. I was down my family's house celebrating birthdays. Dad and sister have their birthdays within a week and a half of each other. They are both born at the end of August. It was a bit busy. Anyway....let's get on with the post!!

I did fail Orilium Fall Semester. I still have something like six books on my list. It's all for fun, so I'm not worried about it but still. I shouldn't have overestimated myself and what I could accomplish. Didn't help that they changed my work schedule to something that just does not work with reading all that much. Used to have the mornings Thursday and Friday to read. Now I'm at work by 08:30 or 09:00 and not home until 17:15 to 18:15. So yeah. I get home, and have just enough energy to make dinner and then veg out to television until I fall asleep. I end up with just no energy to read. 

With that said, I'm not going to force myself to read the rest of my books. I'll just read what I like. There was a book sale that happened on the way down to dad's....I picked up a probably terrible number of books.  I got 11 books. 2 of which I've already read. One needed to be replaced after water damage (I told him it was a leak in the foundation, but he insisted it was just humidity) destroyed the first and second volumes in the All Souls trilogy. I found the first book again: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Then I got A.J. Finn's The Woman in the Window, which I had borrowed from the library and loved and wanted my own copy of. Ironically it was that library, but I had borrowed a hardcover edition. 

Nothing else particularly exciting has happened. Picked up new reading/writing candles. Have been writing out thoughts for one-shots for Stranger Things fics. Yeah, I'm obsessed with Eddie Munson now. He's my favorite, followed by Steve Harrington, then Billy Hargrove. I just like the unusual ones. I'll share more about that as it works itself out. 

Still pretty set on Project Degree as my NaNoWriMo 2022 project for the year. I have a bit of work to do on it to get it ready for the month, but I don't think it will be that hard. Perhaps it will end up the first one that's on my FictionPress account after how many years of hiatus? Hehe we will see. 

That's all folks~ I'll see you (hopefully) next week!

Currently Reading: 14 to 20 August 2022

Currently Reading

- Descendant of the Crane by Joan He (12%)

- Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin (47%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse (16%)

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (21%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (23%)

* * *

Yearly Goal

39/50 (78%)

Page Goal

14,416/25,000 (58%)

* * *

Been thinking about NaNoWriMo again, and if I want to participate in it or not in 2022. At first I was against it. Wanted a year to relax to myself. Then I remembered solidly that what I do at home for fun when I am not reading is write. Why would I stop doing something that brings me joy? Makes no sense. So I've been working on prepping for my project for the year. I think I'm going to go with one that's been sitting on the back burner for a fair while, Proj. Degree. A book that I've been meaning to write for a few years, sort of started, then stopped after I kid you not, 850 words. I need to keep going. I wanna write it out. 

As far as reading goes, between Saturday of last week when I finished The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, I then started and finished two other books: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller. Both for the Orilium readathon. That puts me at just above halfway through my list. 8 out of 15, or 53% of the way through my TBR! I can totally make it by the end of the month. The longest books are already done. The rest are all at or under 400 pages. I think right now, Descendant of the Crane by Joan He is the next longest one I have and it's 401 pages. Go figure, it's actually the third. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater has 408, and The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco has 406. Ah well. 

From what I gather in my notes, Aurin's managed to complete all of his Ordinary levels. He's starting on his Qualified levels with Descendant of the Crane. Irwyn still has one Ordinary left and then he's on to his only two Qualified levels. I'm proud of these boys and how much we've gotten done for them.

Nothing else of much importance happened in the last week that I can think of that would go into my reading blog. If something should come up that I remember, I'll add it. 

Currently Reading: 31 July to 13 August 2022

Currently Reading

- Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller (01%)

- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (01%)

- A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin (47%)

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (21%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse (16%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (23%)

* * *

Yearly Goal

37/50

-

Page Goal

13,583/25,000

* * *

Forgot to post last week, I spent most of the day out and about or at home reading. So far in August, I've read through SIX books and it's only the end of the second week. I still have two and a half weeks to go. I am thinking I will actually get through the readathon! Five of the six books I read during the last week alone! I finished one book on Sunday, one on Monday, rested Tuesday, one Wednesday, one Thursday, rested Friday, one Saturday. If this keeps up then it will be a rest day on Monday with pick up again Tuesday/Wednesday. 

I'm debating changing one of my books over to the BooksandTea monthly book for August. It definitely fits the prompt for Lore - Qualified, which is a book featuring a betrayal. I have picked The Merciless by Danielle Vega but I also think that A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin would work as well as they are constantly betraying one another in order to win the competition. I don't have all that much left of the book, so if I can finish the readathon in time, I may just tack it on to the end of the month and try for 16 books finished in August. Otherwise it will be the first of September's~

Not much else exciting has happened. I've literally just been reading books all week. Irwyn is close to finishing his and passing the tests for Spellsword. I think I have three left for him: Animal Studies - Qualified, Restoration - Ordinary, and Restoration - Qualified. Aurin still needs: Conjuration - Ordinary, Conjuration - Qualified, Demonology - Ordinary, Lore - Qualified, Lore - Distinguished, and Restoration - Qualified. Nine all together. I can do that!

July 2022 Book Haul

 I've been doing really good about keeping my book hauls down. Like I think the only physical book I got last month was the Book of the Month pick...anyway in July I acquired 2 book: 

1. Upgrade by Blake Crouch - I already have two of his books and this one looked pretty good. I've read Dark Matter and half think I got Recursion as a different BotM pick, but I can't remember off hand. It looks brilliant. Kind of gives me the vibe of the beginning of the Borg or Cybermen. Like, you have no control over it. Normally I don't like science-fiction books, but this one just called to me. I'm hoping I'll like it. 

2. Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury - I made myself the promise that for every 6,000 words I completed toward my Camp NaNo July 2022 goal, I'd buy a new book. I hit the first goal on the 5th and ordered my book. I've been following Liselle on YouTube for a while and decided that this would make as good a choice as any other to pick up for my reward. I'm so beyond glad I did! I read the synopsis and this sounds simply amazing. I cannot wait to read it. 

3. Lord of Eternal Night by Ben Alderson - I used to follow Ben on BookTube back when he was posting content. I'm not sure he still is, I'd have to go through my subscriptions. Now I follow him on TikTok and when I found this available on Kindle Unlimited, figured why not? I know it's an m/m Beauty and the Beast retelling and literally that's it. That's what I know. I am intrigued. 

4. The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan - I remember seeing this on PeruseProject's page...but that's it. It looked good and involved an Empire of the Wolf. I am looking forward to it after checking the synopsis. It's one of the books on my TBR for August for the Orilium read-a-thon Autumn Equinox Semester. 

5. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski - I bought this not because I needed to read it, but because it's a beautiful illustrated copy. I read the book last year in its paperback edition. But this one was just too gorgeous to pass up. I love the story. 

6. A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin - I remember this from BookTube again, but not where I saw it. I may have also seen it on Bookstagram. That's entirely possible. However, the idea of someone making up for something that they did as an accident that they had not intended it sounded amazing. The idea that the protagonist can only undo the accident by using the same medium that caused it in the first place? Wonderful! 

7. A Starless Crown by James Rollins - No idea. I saw it. It's the first and the cover looked pretty. Picked it up on the Buy-On-Get-One-Half-Off sale at Barnes & Noble. That's as much as I can say about it. I have no idea what the plot is. I have no idea what the series is, but that seems like as good an idea as any going in!!

8. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao - Stumbled across it while scrolling through Bookstagram, and picked up an audio edition via my subscription to Audible. Had 3 credits I could spend, so this was one well spent. I read The Iron Widow and was excited to find more by Ms. Zhao. This is going to be good!

July 2022 Wrap Up

In keeping with the theme for the year now, let us commence with our July Wrap Up for 2022. I've read 4 book this month!

1. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan - I've had this book for a while, and hadn't read it yet. Shelf Space chose it as their July read along book for the month, and at that point I decided why not. It was interesting. I liked the setting and how women were expected to be meek little things only concerning themselves with romance novels and frilly "ladylike" things that Isabella nearly wanted nothing to do with. I'm glad that eventually we overcome this. Her journey was brilliant. I wholeheartedly believe that if it weren't for Isabella just dashing off on life-threatening adventures with and without her husband's permission, they never would have learned half the stuff they did. I'm definitely going to pick up A Sea of Serpents soon to see how her adventures continue. 

2. Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury - This book was pretty good. I loved the way we follow her and how she agonizes over what choice she'd make. Or not make. She gets her task, fails it, then gets a second chance and it's almost a worse one. Voya has to figure out how to complete her task and get a power to fully call herself a witch. There were moments I definitely didn't understand, but then I am not part of any poc community (yep, I'm whiter than a piece of paper), but I did enjoy the way it was told and how she overcame it in the end. Four stars and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the next. 

3. The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski - I think I'm down to only two books remaining now. The Lady of the Lake and Season of Storms, which I heard you're supposed to read last because it has spoilers for the rest of the series in it. This is the fourth volume in the series and so far I've liked it better than the others. The writing has gotten much better. I still live for the Witcher sass. Looking forward to volume five!

4. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - I liked the story very much. There were times where I could guess where the plot was going, and definitely times where I couldn't. She was quite imaginative in her telling of the tales of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Omar), Aladdin (Mazen), and probably a few other variants on the 1,001 Nights. Which also featured in and of itself as a plot device. I loved it and I'm looking forward to the next volume in the series!

August 2022 To-Be-Read Orilium Academy Autumnal Equinox Semester

This one has a bit going with it, so bear with me. This month is the Orilium Academy Autumnal Equinox Semester (hosted by G at Book Roast) and as I have two characters "attending" the Orilium Academy, I will need to fill in the various prompts for the readathon. 

Each character has their career path now and these classes in August will determine whether or not they can continue on said path to take on said career. I have two: Aurin Beileth the Godseer and Irwyn Gaerotan the Spellsword. They each need to reach certain levels within their courses in order to pass. These levels are: O - Ordinary, Q - Qualified, and D - Distinguished. In order to read the Distinguished level book, you have to have already read the Ordinary and Qualified level books first, thus the to-be-read list, with that in mind, is as such: 

Aurin Beileth - Godseer

Conjuration - Qualified

- O: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Read a book with Necromancy themes)
- Q: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (Read a book with a bone on the cover or in the title)

Inscription - Ordinary

- O: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky (Read a childhood favorite)

Demonology - Ordinary 

- O: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller (Read a fantasy) 

Lore - Distinguished 

- O: The Foreseeable Future by Emily Adrian (Read a book featuring the color(s) of your country's flag)

- Q: The Merciless by Danielle Vega (Read a story featuring a betrayal)

- D: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (Read a book featuring a desert setting)

Restoration - Qualified 

- O: Survive the Night by Danielle Vega (Read a book with a single object as the focus on the cover)

- Q: Descendant of the Crane by Elizabeth Lim (Read a book that's among the oldest on your TBR)

Irwyn Gaerotan - Spellsword

Animal Studies - Qualified 

- O: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (Read a book featuring familiars or animal companions)

- Q: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Read a book with a raven on the cover or in the title)

Demonology - Ordinary 

- O: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan (Read a fantasy) 

Spells and Incantations - Ordinary

- O: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman (Spin a color wheel and read a book with that color cover [I got Navy Blue]) 

Restoration - Qualified

- O: Eve by Wm. Paul Young (Read a book with a single object as the focus on the cover)

- Q: Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner (Read a book that's among the oldest on your TBR) 

Currently Reading: 24 to 30 July 2022

Currently Reading

- The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah (74%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse (14%) 

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (21%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (23%)

* * *

Yearly Reading Goal

30/50

-

Yearly Page Goal

11,167/25,000

* * *

In the last week or so, I've made a new decision. Instead of $5 for each book I finish, I'm going to instead put away (either withdraw entirely or just move to another account) $10 for each book. History has already resoundingly taught me that I cannot afford any more. However, if there is someone else who would like to match me for the books I finish...we both put $5 or $10 into my bank account when I finish reading a book, that would also be nice. Help me save up for the new house. 

Realized either last night or this morning, I don't quite recall which, that I'm not quite going to make my reading goal for the month of July. There will likely be 2-3 books that get left out. I've not even started one of them yet, and it's rather long. Something like 650+ pages. It will get up onto September's TBR then. Started, I think, on April's. August already has a full claimed TBR for a readathon that I will be posting soon. So much to do.

Failed Camp NaNo. Only got about halfway through the word count goal that I wanted and then just sort of gave up? Not even going to bother with today and tomorrow. It's like that sometimes. I'm considering not participating in NaNoWriMo in November (which we all know is an outright lie, I just feel better announcing it?). I'm not even sure what I would put for my project. There's nothing really speaking to me right now and I prefer definitely doing original works in November over fanfictions. I'll give thought to it. Perhaps we will end up just continuing Project Book or Project Gorge. Who knows?! 

Nothing else particularly exciting has occurred. I realize I didn't mention the sale I talked my roommate into taking me to. Barnes & Noble was doing a BOGO sale of sorts, Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Off. I proceeded to spend $105. I got three new books that I wanted to read that looked interesting (one I even vaguely remember being popular last year on BookTube) and just a new edition of The Last Wish. It's ILLUSTRATED. My heart. I couldn't resist it. It was entirely worth the $36 I paid for it. Geralt on the cover looks amazing. Can you tell what my latest literary obsession might be?

With that, I'm also out of news of the week for reading! Finished one book, almost finished another. Might be able to squeeze in a third before Monday, August 1st....so I shall see you in the next one!

Currently Reading: 17 July to 23 July 2022

 Currently Reading

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (14%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (36%)

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (11%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (23%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

29/50

-

Yearly Page Goal

10,319/25,000

* * *

Just like that I've stopped writing for the Camp project. Lost all interest in writing for the time. I'm back to reading. I've also cut my reading goal in half. There was no way I was going to read 100 books this year with the schedule they give me at work and other non-work/non-reading things I have to do...so we opted for 50. That way I can still meet the goal even though I know I won't be reading nearly as much. 

Doing pretty well as far as reading actually goes, too. Have about half my TBR to go yet for the month, but I think if I dedicate myself, I can get it done. I need to read fifteen books in August to "pass" the various courses that the two characters have and officially move on to the next level of "training" in the Orilium readathon hosted by G at BookRoast. I'm hoping to get at least one of them all the way through. I don't know what would happen if I miss?

Other than that, nothing really exciting has occurred. My week's been pretty steady. I'll see you all in the next one~

Currently Reading: 10 to 16 July 2022

 Currently Reading

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (14%)

- Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury (18%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (18%)

- Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney (05%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

28/100

-

Yearly Page Goal

9,899/25,000

-

Camp NaNo Goal

19,427/31,000

* * *

My copy of Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury arrived yesterday. It's such a struggle to not actually start it right off. I've already got enough books on my currently reading, including one over 800 pages long. Which of course means the new book that I just got is the one that I want to read more than any other (when I can even convince myself to read).

I have been thinking about my reading life as well lately. Decided on a new "goal" that I'm going to set for myself for the back half of 2022. Because I don't really review as many books as I should, when I finish one I'll write up a shorter review for it and post it here, on Instagram, and on StoryGraph. I post them here regardless, but I rarely ever keep track. From now on, as a promise to myself, I'll start up again with it!!

So I completely lost the bet with myself. I've started reading Blood Like Magic and kicked two books that I wasn't actively picking up at all. Why leave them on the list if I'm not going to bother? I like the list to help push myself, but I don't think now is the time for the big book. Instead I've swapped out to books that I know I'm going to like and will want to read. 

I checked my StoryGraph progress the other day to learn just how far behind goal I am. I logged book 28/100 two days ago. I am supposed to have already reached book 54/100 according to the site. This means that starting in August, I really need to buckle down and read my books. Try to see if I can find shorter YA or Middle Grade novels that I can use to read quickly and fill in the backlog that I owe to myself. Let's see if I can complete the mission!!

That's all for now folks. I'll see you next time~

2022 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

 I rarely do any tags I see these days. Mostly it's people using that tier system to "rank" their books, which really I don't bother because I don't see the point in ranking books that way. However, I will participate in one of the largest tags that I see come across the Bookish community. The Mid-Year Book Freakout. With that said, let's get into the questions (and my answers!) 

1. What is your favorite book so far in 2022? The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh. I loved the storyline and the way it was told. You could almost feel the same emotions the main character was going through as it was happening. 

2) What is the best sequel you've read so far in 2022? The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski, being (at the time) the only sequel I've read in 2022 thus far. I watched the first two or three episodes of the Witcher series on Netflix and I've seen the animated movie, Wolf's Nightmare. Before I finish the television program, I'd like to read all the way through the series. As of the writing of this, I am on volume 4. 

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to? The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah. It reminded me a lot of a combination of Aladdin and the Forty Thieves and what I've heard about the Daevabad series. (Did I spell that right? I'm not sure I did). Either way it looked really interesting and I am looking forward to reading it. 

4. What is your most anticipated release for the second half of 2022? Easily Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan. I bought myself the first book in the duology, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, being already somewhat familiar with the legend that inspired it and I am curious to see where she goes with the rest of the tale. 

5. What was your biggest surprise so far of 2022? How terrible Everyday Magic by Semra Haksever was. I was so disappointed in what she wrote. I wouldn't be surprised to learn she's a TERF or anything. She seemed to be of the impression only women could be witches (insisted on using she/her pronouns and referring to witches only in the feminine) and a good deal of what she wrote was meant to be taken as 100% the only way when I am positive that's not correct. 

6. Who is your new favorite author? That's a tie. Solidly. Between James Islington (Licanius Trilogy) and Matthew Ward (Legacy Trilogy), both of which are epic adult high fantasy authors published by Orbit. I guess my new favorite publisher in 2022 is Orbit? 

7. Who is your newest fictional crush? Another easy one. That is [Sir] Geralt of Rivia. He doesn't strike one as the kind of person you would have a crush on, but his morals are so sound that he is willing to do just about anything to uphold them. He's strong, smart, almost foolishly brave, and not to mention really nice to look at (in any of his many versions). I will forever be enamored by Geralt. 

8. What book made you cry? I can't really think of one? I sometimes get misty-eyed, but so far this year there hasn't been a single book that's actually moved me to tears. Not even tears of joy or frustration. I suppose the closest I came was when I was reading I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai? But that was long enough ago that my memory is quite hazy now of the event. 

9. What book made you happy? This one is easy: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. Being already familiar with the legend of Chang'e, I was quite pleased by the way she retold the legend and then added to it with Xingyi. It was well written. 

10. What was the most beautiful book you bought this year? As of the typing of this, I want to say its between Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury. The cover is stunning for it. I love the way the purples, pinks, and silver smoke trails mesh together on the cover with how the main character is cast almost in shadows. It is very pretty. 

11. What books do you need to read before the end of the year? I want to finish up the Witcher series (The Tower of Swallows, The Lady of the Lake, and Season of Storms) by Andrzej Sapkowski...I also want to finish The Light of All that Falls by James Islington and the two books left in Matthew Ward's Legacy trilogy (Legacy of Steel & Legacy of Light). I also want to read Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury, The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, and the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. 

What are your answers to the tag? Do it yourself and let me know!!

Currently Reading: 03 to 09 July 2022

 Currently Reading

- A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (54%)

- The Light of All that Falls by James Islington (02%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (10%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (03%)

- Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney (05%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

27/100

-

Yearly Page Goal

9,558/25,000

* * *

Camp NaNo Goal

11,323/31,000

* * *

Camp NaNo is going well. I've given up on one of the projects entirely and have since removed it from my computer and all websites it was attached to. Decided to work on one of my original fiction pieces for the rest of the month and then take August as a break and go back to it in September to read over and edit my draft before sending it on to beta readers. I'm about 2500 words ahead of where I am supposed to be, which is interesting. Usually I'm falling behind. We will see what happens later!

I've succeeded in hitting one goal already for Camp NaNo. On July 5th, I made it to the 6,000 word mark, which means I can get one new book this month so far (not including my Book of the Month pick). I went with Liselle Samsbury's Blood Like Magic. I've been following her for a bit on YouTube and thought it was only a good choice for my reward for myself for hitting my writing goal. It's expected to arrive some time today between 16:00 and 19:00. It started at 15:45-18:45, then went to 14:30-17:30...like no one has any idea. 

Reading has been going fairly well. Haven't finished anything, but I have been making good progress on A Natural History of Dragons, which if you'll notice was not at all even on my to be read for July. I learned that Shelf Space, one of the Discord servers I'm in, was reading it as their July book and as I have a copy...I figured I'd read it. I love it so far. I'm just over halfway through, and should be able to finish it probably tomorrow if I dedicate myself. 

Not much else is going on. Just writing up the next chapter of Project Book and continuing my reading. I'm waiting [in]patiently for my book to arrive in the mail and then we will probably start reading it or see if we can hold off and use it in a prompt for August's Orilium readathon. 

Currently Reading: 01 to 02 July 2022

Currently Reading

- The Light of All that Falls by James Islington (02%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (10%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (03%)

- Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney (05%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

27/100

-

Yearly Page Goal

9,304/25,000

* * *

Camp NaNo Goal

1,211/31,000

* * *

I am quite aware that we jumped from May to July. Figured with the start of the second half of the year, I'd just start over again as far as the blog posts go. Was pretty much starting all new books anyway with the exception of literally one (which will take me a quite a while to get through, and it's not the one you think it is.) ANYWAY let's get moving in the blog!!

Failed the Guild-a-Thon with flying colors. Only read one book, and that was An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington. I am proud of myself for finishing a 700+ page book in a single month though. I've never done that before. There's that and that's pretty much all of the reading updates from June. 

I picked a rather reasonable bookish TBR this month as mentioned here for those of you who are interested in reading it. If not that's totally okay. I doubt highly that I'll finish the first one. I believe there's a grand total of about 3,500 pages' worth of reading on that list. One book taking up nearly a third of that on it's own. I can't wait to see how far I get!

Camp NaNo July has started. I'm sitting pretty at 1211/1000 on Day 1. We'll see how far we can keep that going before I stop writing. I picked my project for the month as the "fanfiction" one featuring my Wolvden pack as the main focus. There was a lot I needed to do with it anyway, so we'll see if we can't keep it up by making it our idea. I think in November, I'm going to work on the rewrite of Project Book. It needs to be started again from basically the ground up. 

I'm going to add the Camp NaNo goal listing here as well, just because it makes me happy. This month my self-set goal is 31,000. I always aim for 1,000 words a day during the camp seasons. I don't know why. I could push myself to write more, but I never felt the need to? It's not really about winning. Never has been. It's about building that daily writing practice. I'm looking forward to seeing if I get to the 31,000. 

I suppose that will be all this week. See you all next Saturday~

July 2022 To-Be-Read

So to keep up with the new ideas that we have been following, I have my new July 2022 To-Be-Read list. Let's see how many of these I can actually get through before the end of the month!!

Physical

1. The Light of All that Falls by James Islington - The third and final volume (also the largest by far) in the Licanius Trilogy. I am quite looking forward to this. With how the second volume ended, I am definitely putting this one a little higher up on the reading list than the other books becuase I absolutely need to know. I am wondering exactly what the plan is and how the one thing I know of that had to happen is going to take up 816 pages. 

2. The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski - I was supposed to read this last month and never got that far. The fourth book in the Witcher series, this follows more of the journey between Cirilla and Geralt and how they fare against their enemies. I can't exactly go into detail since this is the fourth book and you need to have read the first three to understand, regardless of the show (which does change a few things...). I am interested in learning about how Geralt deals once again with the rogue bard Dandelion following him and/or just turning up wherever he happens to be. 

3. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - This was my June 2022 Book of the Month pick and it looks amazing. Did I realize it was Orbit at the time? No. Am I even more intrigued, knowing the kind of books they publish (of which I have read a few)? Yes. Definitely yes. The synopsis of this book gives me very strong 1,001 Nights vibes, especially Aladdin and the Forty Thieves. I cannot wait to find out more. 

Digital

4. The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton - Another book I was supposed to have read in May and June. (or was it April and June....maybe all three?) Following the new tradition, since I started it and did not finish it before the end of the month, it's being transferred over to the July TBR. Hopefully I can actually get through it this month!!

5. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson - It looked interesting and I needed a murder or murder/mystery book for last month, which I never got to. Hoping to read it this month. I need a good spook now and then. From what I gather, someone is recreating murders from famous books and people suspect a bookseller who had previously compiled a list of the most unsolvable murders from those popular books. It looked really good and I am very much curious to see if it was him or someone else looking to frame him. 

Audio

6. A Hero Born by Jin Yong - I've read this book in the past, having been on the hunt for translated works and stumbling across this on BookOutlet. I've since gotten the other three books in the series and want to re-read it before diving in because frankly, it's just been too long since I've read it. Literally all I can remember is that involves someone who is raised thinking they are Mongol and they are actually Han Chinese? My memory of four-ish years ago is a bit hazy. In any event, I'm looking forward to listening to this one and refreshing my memory before jumping into the next one. Who knows, maybe I'll find the others on audio and make it a series. 

Bonus

* Alcestis by Euripides - It's a short series of plays by the famous Greek playwright. I've been learning about Greek culture and history lately and figured what better source (albeit mangled) than the original works? Who would better tell me how the ancient Greeks perceived their gods and their religion than said ancient Greeks?

* Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney - I have no idea. It showed up in my BookBub freebies, and it looked interesting. Discovered it was free with Kindle Unlimited (which I now have for my sister). Thought I'd give it a go. If I don't finish it before the end of the month, that's okay. I'm not particularly worried about it. I liked the little rhyme at the front and know almost nothing else about it beyond that.

June 2022 Wrap Up

I'm getting much better at remembering to post and upload these. Can we keep the momentum going? 

In June, I read 2 books: 

1. Llewellyn's 2022 Almanac ed. by Llewellyn Publications - I like to read the articles in these and I found quite a few of them to be actually good. Especially one about magickal protection for protesting. With the current political climate, it seemed oddly appropriate. I also am rather fond of the coloring pages that they have at the back of the book. 

2. An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington - This chunker of a book took me the entire month to read, but I did get through it and that makes me proud. I enjoyed this book. we get more of Caeden's memories returning and the weight of his past coming back to haunt him. I won't and really can't go into too much detail, as this is the second book in the trilogy. I will say it was wonderfully done. I loved how captivating Mr. Islington's writing is. I had put it down for a while, but went right back into it reading 75-100 pages a day. I feel for them over the sacrifices they made, either the ones they volunteered for or the ones that were forced upon them. It was not fair. Sometimes they were forced onto paths that they otherwise would not normally have taken. I am greatly looking forward to finishing the series.

June 2022 Book Haul

I'm going to try to be better at remembering to actually write up and post these. So far in my goal of purchasing less books, I'm actually doing fairly well. Last month I bought 2 and so far this month I've purchased 3. 

1. Magpie Training by Irene Glasse and Caine Dreamwalker - The first reason I bought this? I am personally acquainted with Irene Glasse. I've been down to her CUUPs chapter to attend Full Moon walks in the past and I've met up with her at a Pagan retreat last year. So when I heard she had a book coming out, I rushed right off to order it. Both she and Caine refer to their series as Blackfeather Mystery School, which I think is a good name. The object of this, and what I assume will be subsequent volumes in the series is: a foundational, full-spectrum training in empowered witchcraft. It focuses on reducing self-sabotage while providing a solid grounding in magickal theory, devotional practices, mysticism, spellcasting, and ritual work. So says the back of the book. I'm looking forward to reading this in a group with my own CUUPs chapter. 

2. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - I went with this for my June 2022 Book of the Month selection because it looked rather interesting. Strikes me as a sort of Aladdin retelling? Maybe Thousand and One Nights. I'm not sure really. In either case, it still looked good. We follow Loulie al-Nazari, the "Midnight Merchant" who steals and sells magic. She saves a prince and draws the attention of the sultan. Said sultan blackmails her into going in search of a lamp in the desert. Starting to sound familiar? I think I've seen this before....grabbed it wanting to know more. Then realized it was from one of my favorite publishers: Orbit. First book in the Sandsea Trilogy. 

3. Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat - I bought this one on the recommendation of a friend from Discord. We were discussing our May reads and June TBRs and she asked if anyone had read it yet. I looked it up and was intrigued by the synopsis and the fact she said it made her angry. I want to know. I have to know. So when it appeared on my BookBub bargain email at the very top for only $1.99, you know this little goblin couldn't resist. I hope I like it. All I know right now is that it's portal magic and LGBTQIA+, which is really all I need to know. 

May 2022 Book Haul

I swear I will get this. I will work more on my promises to myself and keep this up! Let's get into the books I bought in May! 

1. Darling Girl by Liz Michalski - I picked this book up because out of the selections for May's Book of the Month because it looked rather interesting. I've seen TikTok videos claiming it is Peter Pan, only Peter's the bad guy. I have no idea if that's true or not, but I'm entirely looking forward to reading it now and finding out for myself. Perhaps it will end up on June's TBR?

2. A Hero Born by Jin Yong - Yes, I did already own this book in paperback (and once upon a time in hardcover as well). I bought an audio copy to listen to in June for my audiobook selection. I've already read the physical book once, and I'm excited to listen to it and see how that differs from the print experience. 

May 2022 Wrap-Up

Okay so we got off to a rocky start in 2022. Let's see if we can get back into the swing of things in May. Over the course of the month I read 7 books. 

1. Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski - I can't say too too much about this, as it is the third book in the Witcher series. With the popularity of the show (which I've seen exactly three episodes of), and the game that I recently picked up and have so far only put maybe half an hour into, I thought I'd jump back into the books. This one was pretty good, but again we had a few moments of confusion. Most of this book follows Geralt and Dandelion as they gather this small team of folk as they are heading to collect Ciri from where they think she may be. I enjoyed the writing style and some of Geralt's quips that you don't get to hear much of in the show. I'm definitely looking forward to picking up Tower of Swallows in June. 

2. The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec - This one shot to the top of my TBR when my close friend announced she was going to do a virtual discussion about Lokean worship and the worship of the Jotun. I enjoyed the story. We follow Angrboda after she escapes being burned at the stake. Again. She has few memories of anything that happened prior to her waking after the burning. She flees into a deep wood to hide and recover. That's where she meets Loki. He spends a lot of time with her and eventually they fall in love and bear three children. As she raises the children she has a prophetic vision, and tries her best to keep the fate she saw from occurring. I loved it. I was familiar with some of the stories of her children and definitely of Loki. Was not as aware of her own story. I liked the way Ms. Gornichec told it. I rated this book a 4/5 stars. Unlike the Aesir, Angrboda never tried to force Loki to be anything other than who he was. She let him be his chaotic self and do what he pleased, regardless of how she felt about it. I felt for her when she learned all that there was and knew what she needed to do. 

3. Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda & Valynne E. Maetani - This one left a lot to be desired in the end. This young high-school age girl, Kira Fujikawa, can see the yokai "hiding" in the human world. Most of them are harmless, some are quite dangerous, and a few actually work to protect people. One evening, her family's shrine is attacked by the dangerous yokai which sends her on this mission. The title is a tad misleading. At first I thought it meant there would be seven challenges or tasks she had to accomplish, then we learn she has to gather seven shinigami in order to defeat this demon king. What bothered me was the clear deus ex machina of her many-greats-grandmother helping her create a weapon that she used (with very little training) to fight this centuries-old demon. 3/5. I'd not likely read it again. The time line was kind of all over the place. She'd say something about weeks passing, when to the reader it was only three or four days at most. Maybe I'll try other books by these authors to see if they are for me. 

4. Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee - I already owned The Dragon Pearl by this author (which I have yet to read) and when I saw they had some books on Kindle for relatively cheap, I thought I'd try it. This book follows a young non-binary person, Gyen Jebi, through a few months of their life. It was certainly interesting. The setting is the fictional version of Korea known as Hwaguk, where another empire has invaded and taken over. Jebi wants nothing more than to be a painter, but because of their sister, they end up working for the foreign government on a project. It is kind of all over the place after that. We get information in discordant chunks. I didn't much care for this book either, but then I think I'd accidentally turned myself off from Asian-inspired young adult novels by that point. Ah well. I'm hoping The Dragon Pearl is a better read. I gave this one a 3/5 as well and am probably not going to re-read it at all. 

5. Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - 5/5 stars, definitely. I loved this book. We follow Xingyin, daughter of Chang'e. All she wants to do is help her mother escape from the punishment that she feels is entirely unfair. Even though as far as everyone else knows, Xingyin doesn't exist. She claws her way to the top after fleeing the moon in a rush and works as hard as she can to get her mother freed. I probably could've done without the love triangle, but this is a Harper Voyager book so I'm not actually surprised it was included. I adored the way Xingyin never let anything fully stop her on her quest to save her mother. She proved herself not just to the celestial kingdom, but to the Demon Realm, the Four Seas, and almost everyone involved. I'm very much looking forward to the sequel, Heart of the Sun Warrior, which is due out in November. 

6. Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett - I had no idea what I was getting into with this one other than we were following a thief who finds a Fae. Rags is captured while trying to steal something from someone, and as a result is sent to the local jail. From there he is given the task of finding this lost Fae treasure. What he finds, however, is not a treasure, but just a lost Fae. We then follow as Rags and Shining Talon (the lost Fae) go on this mission to find more pieces of this thing that Talon was meant to guard until the right people are found. I loved the different POVs and just how different they were from one another in their tones. My favorite is Rags and how colorful he could be with his descriptions of people and places. I will say, I did guess a few of the "masters" (out of order) as they were introduced to us but still found it impressive the way it was done. Another 5/5. 

7. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai - I don't often read memoirs, but my roommate read this one for the Orilium readathon and suggested that I read it. I'm glad I did. I always forget just how recently all of this happened with Malala and her family. It is definitely a heart-wrenching story. How could people be so against the education of young girls that they would try to murder people for standing up for it? I highly recommend everyone read this and learn more about the life of one of the pioneers in the campaign for education for all.