2017 In Books

I usually don’t do any of these summaries. Or maybe I just didn’t do them, for I didn’t have much material to write from before. But this year I managed to reach my book goal, and since I challenged myself through the whole year, I figured there’s no reason to stop on the last day either. So, thanks to Goodreads helping me keep track, I decided to apply the one day / day one here too, and tell you what I achieved this year among the books.

• Officially I’ve read 101 book. Unofficially a 103, one still awaits a review, and one more is reviewed, but waiting (and will wait as long as it needs) for a little cookie entry in my new favorite blog: [Pen&Pin]
• The longest book I’ve read this year was “Blood and Gold” by Anne Rice, with 752 pages. The shortest one was “The Smuggler and the Warlord” by K.J. Charles with mere, but so very glorious 3 pages of awesome.
• This year I’ve read “1984” by George Orwell, fully for the first time.

The Best:

1. Felicia Day “You’re Never Weird on the Internet (almost)“
2. V.E. Schwab “A Gathering of Shadows“
3. Jeaniene Frost “Bound by Flames“
4. Laini Taylor “Strange the Dreamer“
5. A.R. Torre “If You Dare“
6. Neven Iliev “Morningwood: Everybody Loves Large Chests“
7. Adrian Tchaikovsky “Guns of the Dawn“
8. Andy Weir “Artemis“
9. N.K. Jemisin “The Fifth Season“
10. Angie Thomas “The Hate U Give“

The Worst:

1. Hugh Howey “Wool“
2. Kristin Cashore “Graceling“
3. Stephanie Garber “Caraval“
4. Dmitry Glukhovsky “Metro 2035“
5. David Ebershoff “The Danish Girl“
6. Jessica Day George “Silver in Blood“
7. Stephen King “The Gunslinger“
8. Anthony Horowitz “Moriarty“
9. Seth Grahame-Smith “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies“
10. Stephen Seitz “Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula“

• I’ve only read 3 paper books this year, the rest were one way or another all in digital form. I regret nothing.
• I’ve read 5 biographies / memoirs
• I finished 12 series, among them being the whole of Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.

I hope your book year was good too, and the next will be even better. Have a great Yellow Earth Dog 2018 Year!

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Tag: Halloween 2

So far I’ve been lucky in finding one spooky tag a week, well see how it continues to go! As per usual, if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged. The original was created by Clever Fox, I’m leaving you with her video:

1. What goes bump in the night?: Name a book that has legitimately scared you while reading it.
– “Metro 2033” by Dmitry Glukhovsky, some place in the dark tunnels.

2. Jack O Lanterns and Classic Costumes: A book you always reach for during halloween time.
– I don’t have such, but hey, I do always like me a vampire book on this time of the year.

3. Black Cats and Magic Mirrors: A book you love that is laced with superstition and/or magic.
– Does high-fantasy count? If so, Victoria Schwab “Shades of Magic” trilogy, and if it doesn’t count, then K.J. Charles “A Charm of Magpies” trilogy.

4. Witch’s Brew: Favorite witch character in any book/series.
– Stephen Day from A Charm of Magpies trilogy, or Hermione from Harry Potter.

5. Ghouls and Ghosts: A book that still haunts you to this day (good or bad).
– In a good way, the very first to start haunt me, and stay with me to this day, so the oldest one on the list is C.C. Humphreys “Vlad: The Last Confession”

6. Haunted Graveyard: You’re all alone in a haunted graveyard, you get ONE book to give you comfort, which is it?
– Haruki Murakami “Afterdark”

7. The Undead: Favorite supernatural creatures to read about (i.e. vamps, zombies, werewolves, etc).
– Do elves count as supernatural, or are they a different category? If they do, then The Witcher Saga by A. Sapkowski. If not, then vampires, and there’s many great books with those.

8. In the dead of night: Pick a book with a black cover.
– Victoria Schwab “This Savage Song“!

9. Trick or Treat?
– Treat, thank you. Unless it’s a toy, then trick please!

Tag: Halloween!

Since it’s the month of Halloween (yep.), I figured I’ll just go ahead and do any Halloweenish book tags that I find. This was the first that came around, very short and easy:

1. Carving pumpkins- what book would you carve up and light on fire?
– “Metro 2035” by Dmitry Glukhovsky; I reviewed this book, will not repeat myself.

2. Trick or treat- what character is a treat, what character is a trick? 
– Treat – Lucien Vaudrey from A Charm of Magpies; Trick – Nicaise from Captive Prince

3. Candy corn- what book is always sweet?
– The Holy Trinity of Trilogies: “Shades of Magic” by V.E. Schwab; “A Charm of Magpies” by K.J. Charles; “Captive Prince” by C.S. Pacat

4. Ghosts- what character would you love to visit you as a ghost?
– Alucard from Shades of Magic. But I hope he lives too long for that ever to happen.

5. Dressing up in costume- what character would you want to be for a day?
– Lucien Vaudrey from A Charm of Magpies…

6. Wizards and witches- what is your favorite Harry Potter moment?
– The moment I realized Snape rewrote the textbook he was learning from. Dude!

7. Blood and gore- what book was so creepy that you had to take a break from it for awhile?
– Paige Dearth “Born Mobster“. I have a hard time reading of things like that in general.

A to Z book tag!

You know what I haven’t done in a while? A book tag. So here’s one, taken from [PerpetualPageTurner]:

Author you’ve read the most books from:

• Probably Anne Rice books. Or Charlaine Harris.

Best Sequel Ever:

• I dislike most first books, so, second book of Captive Prince, and many more.

Currently Reading:

• “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” and “Stuck in Central America“

Drink of Choice While Reading:

• Sweet, carbonated, and preferably in a can. Or just tea.

E-reader or Physical Book?

• Both are fine!

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:

• Any one of the three main characters from “Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue”, Stephan Day from Magpie Lord, Lord Crane, Lila from Shades of Magic…

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:

• N.K. Jemisin “The Fifth Season“

Hidden Gem Book:

• Jim McDoniel “An Unattractive Vampire“

Important Moment in your Reading Life:

• Probably starting blogging about books. Or finding well-reading friends.

Just Finished:

• – Chloe Neill “Friday Night Bites“

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:

• I refuse to spit into this well.

Longest Book You’ve Read:

• I don’t even know tbh, many are very long nowadays, from Anne Rice’s stuff, to Martin.

 

Major book hangover because of:

• Hangovers are good things, right? Because I think then, the book I had to take a break after was Captive Prince trilogy.

Number of Bookcases You Own:

• Two. Three if we count the one that is not purely mine.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:

• Witcher saga, but the most time per book was the very first that made me realize how amazing books can be, that being John E. Stitch book “Reckoning Infinity”

Preferred Place To Read:

• Other side of my bookshelf (this side is my work place), on the couch, in front of the window.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:

• Oh there were many, there are many, and there’ll be more, sadly I can’t recall one from the top of my head.

Reading Regret:

• I’ve none. If it was bad – I know it was bad, because I’ve read it myself.

Series You Started And Need To Finish(all books are out in series):

• There’s many still. Nightrunner, Chicagoland vampires, Night Prince, Anno Dracula…

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:

• V.E. Schwab “A Gathering of Shadows“; C.S. Pacat “Kings Rising“; K.J. Charles “The Magpie Lord“

Unapologetic Fanboy For:

• K.J. Charles “A Charm of Magpies” trilogy, and C.S. Pacat “Captive Prince” trilogy.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:

• V.E. Schwab is writing second book for “Vicious“, it’s gonna be called “Vengeful“

Worst Bookish Habit:

• I guess, like most, I just add to the already infinite to-read list, by physical copies, e-books, or mere “want to read” button on goodreads.com

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:

• Henry James “The Turn of the Screw“

Your latest book purchase:

• Martynas Starkus “Stuck in Central America“

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):

• Andy Weir “The Martian“

Promo: Bookmark [2]

[etsy]

Promo: Bookmarks

[etsy]

Tag: The Outlander

What time is it? Oh, it’s time to steal another tag from P.S. I love that book! This time it’s a tad Outlander themed. Have you seen the series, or read the book? Kilts.

1. 1. You touch some standing stones, and get transported back in time. What year would you hope to land in?
      – Probably some time around WWII, because if I’m honest with you, I don’t find past all that attractive. Historical novels lie to you, never forget that when you’re feeling you’re starting to romanticize a time period where a common cold could’ve killed you, and gods forbid you were a woman.
   2. Claire is a very good nurse. What type of skill would you want to have that a fictional character excels at?
      – I’d still make jewelry, and possibly continue painting portraits too. Like elves, you know?
      
   3. Jamie and Claire are ultimate relationship goals. Who is your favorite fictional couple?
      – Lucien Vaudrey and Stephan Day from A Charm of Magpies.
   4. Scotland has lots of castles, and we see quite a few in outlander. What fictional kingdom would you want as your own?
      – The Night Court.
   5. Outlander has some very steamy scenes. What is your favorite romance novel?
      – I think A Charm of Magpies wins here again!
      
   6. The Jacobite rising is a huge plot point in the Outlander series. What book has your favorite battle in it?
      – There’s three. Vlad: The Last Confession had many good scenes. Dracula Vs. Hitler made me laugh when Dracula tore off man’s arm to slap another one with it. And then there’s Anno Dracula: Bloody Red Baron – the draconic creatures that attacked the British air craft. And they’re all Dracula books… There were a few real good scenes in A Charm of Magpies tho too.
   7. Jamie and Claire get married very unexpectedly. What fictional character would you want to marry on a whim?
      – No thank you. Lovers, friends, besties, that’s perfect.
   8. Scotland is a very beautiful place. What is one fictional world you would love to visit?
      – Red London!
      
   9. If you could change the past, would you?
      – No. All things that happened might have resulted me ending up in this bad place, but then the people I met along the way are worth to suffer for.

Diversity: The Danish Girl

I sat here, thinking. So I failed to write about people of color, which has no excuse really, seeing how I’ve read plenty of books on Far East. And I didn’t want to just randomly skip a Friday, and then make a half-assed entry either. But most of all, I didn’t want to wait more before talking about the Danish Girl. So I’ll owe people of color a good post after this one, but here we go.

Transgenders. I thought I’ll write about past books I’ve read, and tell you all about the shitty message they spread. For instance, Palahniuk’s book Invisible Monsters has a seemingly trans character. Then they go ahead and admit they did this to spite their parents. They chose to change sex to spite parents. Let that sink in. And there’s a couple more I would’ve bashed. Including The Danish Girl. I fumed after reading it, and ranted on my social media, until a friend told me to go ahead and watch the movie, because what she saw, was not what I’ve read. So today let’s talk about the movie, and next Friday – about the book.

Einar is a painted married to another painter. He paints nature. She paints portraits. And when one day her model doesn’t come in, she asks her husband to pull on some socks and hold the hem of the dress so she could continue with her work. She doesn’t realize that by doing so she touched and woke someone Einar buried deep. She woke Lilly.

I assume that in the past understanding what you are, when you’re not cis, was even harder than it is now, when we actually have words to describe it, and internet to explain it. So, most likely due to defensive mechanisms that got triggered in Einar’s head, he takes Lilly as another person. What she does is not what he does. And yet soon he comes to understand that he alone is able to split the two like this.

After a couple rough attempts to figure out what is wrong with him, his wife finds a doctor who can actually fix his body, rather than attempt to fix his mind. In books he was sort of given a choice: another crazy scientist that’ll screw holes in your skull to make your brain masculine again, or a different crazy scientist who will reassemble you to make your body right for you. In both scenarios, even if in the movie it’s a mere fleeting hint of a suggestion, Einar chose surgery. Simply here he was sure of it, he knew this was the right path.

The movie is, sadly, a drama, so after a few successful steps in transition, there’s no happy ending for it. Or, rather, there is, as good as circumstances allow, but I, per se, hate when this is the “good” ending kind we get.

I’m glad to see this movie to be fairly popular. And yet I hope people will be too lazy to pick up the book. The book sends off a wrong message, believe me. There, Einar is very much mentally ill, and I have great doubts about him being trans as a foremost reason for it. But we’ll talk about it on Friday.

[Promo]: P.S. I Love That Book on YouTube

BookTube is a fairly new thing for me, but little by little the subscription box is getting fuller. One of the first ones I ever subbed to was P.S. I Love That Book. It was pretty new back when I got there, I think I saw the first video as it came out, or maybe the second one… Anyway, it’s just nice to see how everything got so much better, and turned so perfected!

Hannah tells us of all kinds of books, even thou it all started with YA and fantasy. Now anyone can get recommendations there, and best of all – not just for things that would’ve ended up in your alley anyway. No, she picks up books some of us would never get to read if this didn’t happen, either due to it being too obscure, not a popular topic, or just in general a tad overseen book. Thanks to her I’ve read Shades of Magic, and they’re my very favorite now!

Any of you got a booktube? Or even just vlogs, or gaming channels?