Night Island

Go this from tamsin.

1. What are the five newest additions to your to-read list?
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
And Then We Grew UP: On Creativity, Potential, and the Imperfect Art of Adulthood by Rachel Friedman
The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters

2. What are the five oldest additions to your to-read list?
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Odyssey by Homer

Clearly, I was trying to make up for all the books I didn't read in school! Notably, almost all of this is American.

3. How many books do you have listed as read?
264

4. How many books are in your to-read-list?
361

5. Are there any authors who are more heavily represented in your have read list?
Probably Rick Riordan and Jim Butcher. Wasn't there a tool that used to let users see what their most read authors were?

6. Are there any authors who are more heavily represented in your to-read list?
Probably C. S. Lewis... seriously, is there an easy way to check this?

7. How do you sort your books?
Not very well. I used to add a lot of descriptive tags to comment on the books, but I don't do that much anymore. I've been thinking about reorganizing them.
8. Do you participate in the 2020 reading challenge?
Yes, my goal is a modest 33.

9. Do you participate in any discussion groups?
I've always wanted to, but I never really have.

10. How many books have you read so far this year?
12

11. How many books are in you currently reading?
Just one--The Book of Yoaki by Michael Dylan Foster.

12. Do you write reviews? Do you read reviews?
Sometimes. I want to get in the habit of writing reviews more regularly. I usually read reviews by people I follow, books I'm interested in, and books I've just finished.

13. Any other goodreads feature you use?
I like to check the recommendations, quotes, and trivia sections now and then. I want to get more into groups.

14. Do you follow any interesting authors or other people worth mentioning?
Rick Riordan is always fun. I can't think of any others without looking them up.

Well, that other entry, as so often happens, did not come to fruition. -_-; The title of this post is brought to you by the song of the same name by Joseph Fink, which was used as the weather in an episode of Welcome to Night Vale. The song sounds a little nicer than my actual morning, though. This is from one of the earlier episodes, but I've continued to listen to WTNV faithfully even after the fervor died down a few years ago. Mostly, it has been out of habit and love of the world, but some of the recent episodes have been surprisingly great. The second novel, It Devours, is one of my favorite things to come out in the last few years out of anything.

But that's enough about older fandoms that are past their expiration date. Back to reality, boo.

I have reached the halfway mark in my final semester as an undergraduate. Come December, I will be done with my undergraduate career forever. Graduate school will probably come next, but the point is that I'm done with this chapter of my life finally.

As for more immediate concerns, I should probably be doing other things right now. I have to write 600 words about the partition of India like I know what I'm talking about in my post-colonial lit class. I have to catch up on my responses to the short stories and poems from my creative writing classes. I've been trying to keep up, but I'm always so exhausted when I come home from school, and I can't seem to accomplish very much in the mornings before I leave. Finally, I have to pretend that I know what I'm talking about on my American poetry midterm this Wednesday. It'll probably be fine, but I feel pretty scattered and disorganized.

My poetry has been extremely well-received this semester. It has gone even better than I had hoped. I've only taken one poetry creative writing class before, but it feels like something in my mind has just clicked. I feel like I am flourishing creatively. Yet, none of this creative flourishing has found its way into my fannish life. I would really like to participate in Yuletide for once, but my time management skills say no. I hope I can try to squeeze in a treat or two, but again, my time management skills and finals may work against me.

I've been trying to have some fun this semester without overloading myself. It's so hard to strike a happy medium, though. On Friday, I went to Downtown Disney for a break. As it just so happens, I ate at the new Salt and Straw location on opening day, and I didn't even realize it until afterwards. The store was absolutely swamped, though, so that should have been a clue. I got one of their Halloween flavors called Creepy Crawly Critters, which actually contained real bugs unless my reading comprehension skills are totally worthless. When I was in the store, I thought that "real bugs" was just a joke, but based on their other flavors, it wasn't. So, I had real chocolate-covered crickets and mealworms in my matcha green tea ice cream. I also had a chicken tamale at Tortilla Jo's and a flor de Jamaica agua fresca, which I loved. *_* I'm currently
obsessed with that flavor and anything hibiscus. Downtown Disney isn't quite as fun now that it has all the security and increased prices for the parking lot, but I was happy to be there before the rain hit. I feel like I should be madder at the Walt Disney Company than I actually am.

Yesterday, I went to the grand opening of the Tokyo Central store in Yorba Linda. I've been meaning to go for aaages but never found the time. We ate from the buffet, and I had yakisoba for the first time. It's really good! ^_^

This morning, I woke up and turned my TV on to find a showing of Toy Story on Disney XD. I knew it was on yesterday, but I didn't realize that they'd be showing it again. This movie came out when I was in elementary school, so it is hugely nostalgic for me. I think that I love it even more as an adult, but that's Pixar for you. Toy Story 2 is on now, which I don't think I've ever watched in its entirety. I know I watched part of it on a bus ride during my school trip to Washington D.C., and I've caught bits and pieces when it has been on TV.

I'm behind on the new season of The Good Place, but I've watched the first episode of the 13th Doctor on Doctor Who. I really like her, and I'm happy to see the Doctor as a woman. I have a tendency to think of the Doctor as more male, but I really like the idea of Time Lords changing biological sex and/or gender. It jus makes sense. Watching Doctor Who again makes me want to catch up on the episodes with the Twelfth Doctor that I've missed because I really enjoyed Capaldi. I still have older seasons with David Tennant and Matt Smith to catch up on, though. It just reminded me of how much I love the show's mythos and concept.

Anyway, I was feeling a little depressed before I wrote this, but I guess I just wrote my way out. :3

I also just read Anne Rice's latest Vampire Chronicles book, Blood Communion, because hey, why not? It was short, but it felt like a return to form in many ways. Needless to say, I quite enjoyed it because it wasn't as out there as the one about Atlantis. There were some good parts, and the new characters didn't annoy me that much. However, ( A little bit spoilery ) I may have more to say later.

I had a hell of a time getting this entry to post correctly, so I'm just posting it now even though I wrote it this morning. I'm trying to clean up the typos right now because they make me self-conscious, but I will probably miss some.

It has been a long while since I have done one of these. Since I’m trying to kick my summer reading goals into gear, here we go…

What are you currently reading?

Two things—At the Existentialist Café, which is non-fiction an philosophical, and Dubliners by James Joyce, which is a short story collection of Joyce’s early works. At the Existentialist Café is over half done, but I haven’t made much progress on it as of late because it is not the sort of thing I can listen to while drifting off to sleep. I just started Dubliners and have only read the first story. Last year, one of my professors said that all English majors should read Dubliners before they graduate, so I took the plunge and thanked God that he didn’t say Ulysses.

What did you recently finish reading?

( Everything from this month with minor spoilers for Norse Mythology )

What do you think you'll read next?

Well, melannen is going to read Enchantress from the Stars, which is also on my to-read list, so probably that because I want to compare thoughts and have something to say.

Look, I just wrote ~700 words of babbling about books! Better quit while I’m ahead.

Edit: Why can't I get this cut to work? I use them so infrequently that I constantly screw them up. Am I not allowed to use punctuation in the cut text? Is it too long? What am I doing wrong?

All right, it has been a long while since I've done one of these posts. Conveniently enough, I remembered that it's Wednesday, and I'm actually reading something! Despite this not being the first Wednesday of the year, this is my first reading post for 2017.

What are you currently reading?

I picked up Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis again, but I haven’t made much progress on that as of late. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve already read quotes of the best bits, but it’s interesting to see into his childhood through this autobiography since we seem to share similar taste in literature. This author is probably the main reason that I’m studying literature in the first place, and now that I’m better acquainted with classic literature, it’s fun to pick out the references and know what he’s talking about.

What did you recently finish reading?

Today, I just finished The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling. I feel pretty bad for not getting around to this sooner, but obviously, it’s very different from Harry Potter. It took me awhile to get into it, but I ended up not wanting to put it down and really enjoying it by the end. I’m not really the kind of person to cry over books these days, but if I were, this book would have been one of them. I felt that the ending was sad but satisfying with a glimmer of hope for the future. I don’t feel like the characters were as memorable as those from Rowling’s other books, though. I rated the first Cormoran Strike book lower than this one on GoodReads (and I feel like I should reevaluate that rating), but the characters from that series stick out much better in my mind even though I read that book a few years ago. In this book, I kept forgetting who people were, and it was hard to like anyone at first because all of the characters are so flawed. It was definitely not a good versus evil kind of story with clear-cut heroes and villains like in Harry Potter, but it dealt with some of the same issues of class and prejudice that Rowling included in Harry Potter. Even though the subject matter was very different, it was easy to keep in mind that this was a book by J. K. Rowling. Plus, it’s always refreshing to die back into her prose and see how it has been changed by this genre.

What do you think you'll read next?

I have a couple things in mind, but I haven’t made a decision yet. I was considering Captive Prince or the second Cormoran Strike book. It all depends on my mood.

What are you currently reading?

Currently reading and enjoying American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I am on chapter thirteen and feeling enthusiastic, so I will probably have it done by tomorrow. I haven’t made much progress on the Dresden Files book, though.

What did you recently finish reading?

The House on Mango Street, and I will post my brief review later.

What do you think you'll read next?

I have no idea.

I’m doing this now because I need some more structure to my life and posting while I’m out of school. I don’t have the threat of deadlines and assignments hanging over my head to keep me reading and writing on a regular basis, so this is it.

What are you currently reading?

I just started The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and I already passed the part that I read as assigned reading in an English class. I also started reading the tenth book of the Dresden Files called Small Favor.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs – Like Lina said on Goodreads, I thought this might be a bit too “beginner” for me, but I’m always looking for something to expand my geeky knowledge, and I really appreciated the book’s feminist perspective.

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (almost) by Felicia Day – Despite only vaguely knowing who Felicia Day is, I loved this book. I was first exposed to this memoir when I downloaded 12 Books You Can’t Miss at Book con in order to read the Welcome to Night Vale novel preview, and I ended up reading all of the previews and adding some to my "to read" list. This book immediately struck a chord with me because I grew up liking nerdy things and I was homeschooled like Felicia. I also attended a small, private Lutheran school for elementary school, but overall, my experience sounds better than hers. There was a comment about wanting to write and finding the creative process to be excruciating at times, and I could totally relate. I felt like I could relate a lot to her issues with mental health and perfectionism as well. Overall, it made me want to get out there and create something. It was very inspiring.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – It was only a matter of time before I read this because I love “The Lottery” so. It didn’t quite live up to that short story, but I really enjoyed it. Is it wrong that I identified with Eleanor? I sincerely hope that I’m not that screwed up. ( ”Spoilers” )

What do you think you'll read next?

I definitely want to finish up what I’m reading right now, and I think that’s doable.

Day 09

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include
a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I've been meaning to write up a New Year's resolution post, so I'm glad that this was today's challenge.

( Goals for 2016 )

I could put more, but it's good to start small, isn't it? I will have my hands full with these goals already, and any additional goals could probably fit under the above categories. At least I know that many of these goals are common, so I won't be alone in trying to live a better life in 2016.

I was technically finished with my finals yesterday, but I had to go back to school today to take care of some business for spring 2016, so it didn't feel like I was done with the semester. My brain is still winding down from the stress of the semester. Earlier, it was really bugging me a lot with this nagging feeling that I had forgotten something, but that has quieted down. The hardest part of vacation time is losing that sense of purpose that keeps me going in even the darkest of times. Still, it is just great to be writing for once and not pressured about a bunch of assignments to do. I am fairly sure about my Spanish grade, but philosophy is still a big question mark in my mind. However, I did manage to visit favorite guy and give him his present, so that worked out fine. I'm hoping that everything else works out for the best. *crosses fingers*

Now that the semester is over, I can get back to the very important business of actually living, otherwise known as spending way too much of my time on the computer. :D Seriously though, I do plan on going out more over my break because the only fun thing I did during the semester was go to visit my friend in Berkley over Thanksgiving. I will probably make my way out to see the new Star Wars movie. I wasn't fortunate enough to grow up watching the series, but the hype has certainly enticed me. I watched the original trilogy and the first two prequels for the first time last summer when I finally caved into peer pressure after waiting far too long to watch them. By the time I had finally watched the movies, I was already familiar with Joseph Campbell's wonderful The Power of Myth and the hero's journey stuff. I should probably get around to watching Revenge of the Sith while I'm at it because I have heard its the only good prequel. Besides, I'm still working on my "getting into science fiction" project," so it's about time to kick that back into full swing.

Speaking of which, I hope to use this time to catch up on my shows and reading. I'll probably give tumblr some more attention, too. Basically, media binging. There's not a lot of time to extend my yearly reading, but I do hope to finish up the books that have been marked as "currently reading" for at least months now without much progress. Maybe I can fit some sci-fi in there somewhere. To be honest, I want to drop everything and just read more of the Dresden Files, but I should finish up the year with some more diversity. I read the first six books this year, so there will be plenty of time to finish up the series next year if I so choose. I love Thomas, and Harry, of course. I wish I had started reading this series a long time ago when Harry Potter ended because it fills that hole in my heart nicely. I'm not sure I would put my enjoyment and love on the same level as my love for Harry Potter as it was still coming out, but the Dresden Files is still very addictive. I love the lush world it gives me to play around in and explore.

I've been tweeting all evening, so I think my journal should get some love too.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell has consumed my waking mind. I'm nearly done with the book, and it is a massive book. I don't think I have fallen in love with a magical world this much since Harry Potter. The world building is that good. I also love the historical setting. A historical novel mixed with magic? Yes, please! Maybe the book is a bit long, but it's charming and intricate enough to make up for that. Naturally, I have been watching the mini-series and enjoying it as well. In fact, it's the entire reason that I dared to read the novel in the first place. It seems to be a pretty good adaptation thus far. Anyway, it's good to have something to look forward to on Saturday nights again.

It's getting late, but I may stay up to watch Michiko and Hachin. It's premiering on Toonami tonight.

I'm laying here caught between the gentle sound of wind outside and a Glee rerun...

Anyway, I have been hiding away from the world for the last few days. I skipped Spanish again. In the meantime, playing through the original Pokemon game has been a wonderful distraction. I'm almost ready to battle Lt. Surge, so that's pretty cool. I'm glad that not everything has to change. Too bad my old strategy of ignoring my real life when I get stressed is as strong a tendency as ever.

It feels good and productive to be typing this, but my brain feels sluggish. I've been thinking a lot about just what I want to do with this journal. It would certainly help if I tried to write fanfic more. I feel so dead and out-of-touch fandom-wise. :(

I don't think that I've mentioned it yet, but the Percy Jackson series and its sequel The Heroes of Olympus have taken over one little fangirlish corner of my brain. It reminds me a lot of the kind of anime I used to watch and love as a kid. In particular, it gives me a Digimon vibe. That makes sense the way that the characters are presented and the fact that they're constantly fighting monsters. Plus, they both have important events at summer camp. Now that I think of it, some of the mythology overlaps as well. Digimon drew heavily from world mythology, and it was my first introduction to some Greek myths such as Arachne and the chimera. Along with the Chronicles of Narnia, it was one of my earliest introductions to Greek and Roman mythology.

Of course, all this gushing over young adult fiction has made me feel bad that I haven't been more academically-minded in my reading. I *could* and should read the actual Greek texts that these works were based on. Yet, there is a big part of me that wants to keep up with what's young, hip, and fannish. So sue me.

Actually, I've been doing a lot of thinking about why I am drawn to young adult novels now. For one thing, I didn't have nearly as much access to books when I was a teen. Sometimes, I think that I may be emotionally stunted, too. That's not to say that everyone who reads YA is emotionally stunted, but given how lackluster my adolescent years were, it wouldn't be a surprise. Maybe it's theraputic to focus on an idealized version of what might have been. For the most part, I don't find myself drawn to "realistic" high school stories. I like the ones which have some level of fantasy even if its as silly and problematic as something like Twilight.

What else have I done today? Nothing except reading fanfic. I read a handful of Welcome to Night Vale fics and a lone Twilight fic. Recs are on my FF.Net account and AO3.

I can't think of what else to say--it feels like my thoughts have dried up for the time being--but at least I'm writing!