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

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

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

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

Progress:

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

Thank you for tagging me @TieDyeDude !

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

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

#wondrouswednesday

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

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

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

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

Progress:

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

still trying to get back into my other picks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This was a neat short story that established the setting a bit more. Thara Calahar is featured more prominently here and I suppose it sets him up as the upcoming focus in the larger series. I enjoyed the slightly ambiguous ending. It didn't exactly give closure but it was sweet.

It had a bit of an unexpectedly unfamiliar start but it quickly went back to the usual. This book felt like a “cleaning up plot threads“ book but it was still as enjoyable as the rest in the series thus far. Looking forward to ADWD!

Oh damn. I didn't realize my copy looked so... rancid

I don't even remember where I got it. I have half a mind to just get a digital copy 😅

(Not sure how to attach a photo in Canva) but for my next #Book20 read I got a nat20. That means my next book is Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. I didn't expect to be jumping back into horror but I'm sure it will still be refreshing.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📙Haunted
📙Artemis

Progress:
Finished 2 books this week, and I will be finishing AFfC on Monday, most likely. As I've finished TGE my next #Book20 read is Haunted (rolled a 20, what are the odds) my next audiobook is Artemis, I wanted to jump back into an author I really enjoyed.

This took WAY longer to finish than I initially planned. This book has been such a fun ride, it's true I was very hesitant at first about liking this but I ended up loving it through and through. The court intrigue was immaculate and Maia was such a likable protagonist that although not educated in the nuanced details of court he wasn't completely clueless and didn't let his courtiers influence his decision-making.

I didn't expect this to be such a bummer to read, but that's what happens when you don't read a blurb prior to reading a book.

This was beautifully written with stunning descriptions of an apocalyptic future. The story felt detached but it was not really the point of the book. All the characters were one dimensional but that was because they were in survival mode. It lacked a lot of things but it made sense in context.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
📙The Drowned World

Progress:

Finished a novel and novella this week. I have 30% left on The Drowned World but my brain is fried for today so I will have to finish it on Monday, on top of other things. I feel pretty good about the upcoming week and hopefully jump back into TGE (I keep stalling with it and it's frustrating)

As a story it's convoluted, but there is plenty of nuance to it. The themes of colonialism and imperialism, exploitation of people and land, and deeply rooted racism are horrific.

The pacing and quirky writing style was engaging. The treatment of the housewives in this novel was terrible and the men in this book ranged from irritating to downright disgusting. I can't say I enjoyed the multiple SAs in this book, but aside from that, the horror element was handled really well. The ending feels unsatisfying because the threat was dealt with but wasn't permanently ended. I still can't tell if the SA was *REALLY* necessary--

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
📙The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Progress:

I had a pretty productive week in terms of reading, despite only finishing a short story from a collection. However, I also felt like I wasn't reading enough this week so I don't know what that's about. Hoping to read more this week.

An interesting story about generational divide and expectations

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
📙The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Progress:

Finished Dr. Moreau and a short story this week. Made some progress with the tagged book. Hoping to get through it faster this upcoming week. Hoping to hop back into TGE and the rest this upcoming week as well.

This is such a captivating and profound short story. in truth I saw a TikTok talking about it and had to seek it out for myself, I was not disappointed.

There are a lot of themes in this book but they are not explored thoroughly. Some authors hammer the point in, but this doesn't feel like it hammers the point enough. MC waffled back and forth between liking and hating the beast folk. The plot meanders through most of the book. The book itself is written well but the thinly veiled racism and antisemitism do great harm to the whole book.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
📙The Island of Dr. Moreau

Progress:

Finished 2 books last week which was nice. Also made some progress with The Goblin Emperor (finally) (things are getting very intense) I alsomst read more of Lord of the Necropolis when I was making pizza on Thursday but alas. Hoping ot finish Dr. Moreau this week but we shall see. Originally it was my palette cleanser.

Started this a few hours ago, digging the eerie vibes, not sure if racism plays a big part in this or not, though 😬

It was fine in terms of writing style but all the adults aside from Angus felt dumbed down which felt like a disservice. It felt odd to read about existential subjects aimed at 10-year-olds (gotta start them early on philosophy I guess)

The age gaps feel a bit awkward, even if the adults feel very childlike. It was all over the place and messy in other aspects.

It's almost May so it's time to post my #2024bookbracket These picks surprise nobody. (GRRM is a phenomenal writer) I was having trouble deciding between the two ASOIAF books, but ultimately, I love them equally.

I also had my first bonus pick of the year!

(the template is by @/CSeydel)

#bookbracket2024
#ReadingBracket2024
#TopRead2024

I was excited to hear about Silvia Moreno-Garcia releasing a Fantasy story as it's my favorite genre.

This was a very ambitious novella. I'm not sure if my copy was a bit mangled and the typos weren't on purpose but this read like something a beginner author would write.

The dialogue felt awkward at times and the novella would have benefitted from a larger page count to develop the world. I enjoyed it well enough but it felt flawed.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
📙The Return of the Sorceress

Progress:

I haven't finished anything this week but I will this following week. I was very tired and distracted most of last week and as a result, my reading suffered. On Tuesday I will probably finish the tagged book, but on Monday I have other things to do first.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
📙The Return of the Sorceress

Progress:

Productive reading week, finished 2 novels. I am hoping to finish The Return of the Sorceress in the upcoming week and jump back into The Goblin Emperor proper.

Although the premise was interesting the writing style of this novel was too erratic and jumped from idea to idea without any transition. I shouldn't have been surprised by the racism but that was another very unpleasant experience reading this.

The author's life experience was a huge inspiration for this, considering that she is of mixed race. (As an immigrant who moved a lot I can completely relate to all of that)

I wanted to read something Gothic and this satisfied that craving. A beautifully written novel but it also had plenty of shortcomings. There were many racist comments, the too-convenient plot resolutions. I found a lot of the story beats too overdramatic, even for a gothic novel. Jane, although sweet and relatable also comes off as an “I'm not like other girls“ type character because although she is not described as pretty men still desire her.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
🎧Jane Eyre

Progress:

Good reading week aside from Friday. I Finished A Storm of Swords with the buddy reads group, which was really good. I am still making steady progress with Jane Eyre, I hope to finish it this upcoming week.

Can't wait to jump into these

I became absorbed in the audiobook and finished it. Oops. I loved it to bits, just like the other books in the series. These are a solid 5 stars for me.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Storm of Swords
🎧Jane Eyre

Progress:

Taking out a lot of books that I am not really focusing on atm. Finished Emma this week and it was really fun and clever but I also expected more out of it. Picked up Jane Eyre after it, and I have been making steady progress with it. I'm pretty sure I will be finishing ASOS this week, so looking forward to that.

Doing some late night reading

Mr. Martin always has a way with words

A fun read, but I was hoping to like it more than I did. I can't say I'm entirely disappointed but I was hoping for more substance out of it and more fun matchmaking shenanigans instead of the gossip which took the majority of the book.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕The Goblin Emperor
📕A Storm of Swords
📙Lord of The Necropolis
🎧Emma
🎧Night of the Hunter

Progress:

I keep forgetting to post these. I finished Gods of Jade and Shadow and it was amazing, it was a pretty good reading week last week. This week I plan to finish Emma (I only have 5 chapters left) and hopefully jump back into The Goblin Emperor.

It was a fun ride through and through. MC was relatable. For a time, I was worried that the romance would turn out a certain way, but thankfully it didn't. This book totally didn't make me cry (a lot) definitely a 5-star read. I highly recommend it if one enjoys mythology and magical realism.

Hoping I can finish this later today. I have about 18% left of it. So far it's been a fun ride.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕The Goblin Emperor
📕A Storm of Swords
📙Lord of The Necropolis
🎧Emma
🎧Night of the Hunter
🎧 Gods of Jade and Shadow

Progress:

I haven't finished anything this week, but I made steady progress in Emma and Gods of Jade and Shadow, I hope to do better next week.

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕The Goblin Emperor
📕A Storm of Swords
📙Lord of The Necropolis
🎧Emma
🎧Night of the Hunter
🎧 Gods of Jade and Shadow

Progress:

Overall a slow week reading, even if I stayed on track for daily readings. I finished The Martian! That was pretty great. I started another Silvia Moreno-Garcia novel and am already loving it.

I can't wait for my hand to heal so I can read in bed again.

I loved this novel. I haven't read a Man vs Nature story in a long time and this was a very interesting spin on it. I do think some characters lacked characterization but they all felt unique in their own right. I love how everyone came together in the end and different parties working towards the same goal. It really made me feel hope for humanity. Great read.

Half way done with this book already and it does not cease to make me laugh every time.