2018 Reading: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

#7 A book set in a country that fascinates you

This was another one of those books that I was supposed to read in one of my college classes, but never actually finished it because at the time, I just could not get into the story. I couldn't focus on the plot or the characters because it was not what I wanted to be reading at that time. So I fudged my way through it and BSed my way through tests until it was over.

.... And now I remember why.

DEAR GOD, this book is boring! Is there a central plot that I am missing or something? One entire chapter was nothing but a church sermon!!! Am I supposed to be getting a moral out of this in any way? Because I got nothing. NOTHING.

And there's no real ending, either. He's just *POOF* off to become a hermit...

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

2018 Reading: The Pocket Book of Death

#10 A book about death or grief

I've had this on my shelf for a while and just flipped through it before without actually reading the full thing. It's a cute little book of small useless facts about death and dying that are actually kind of funny.

Good info in there.

2018 Reading: Breathing Underwater

#49 A book about a problem facing society today

Violence is always a problem. Always.

This book was required summer reading a few summers ago and I kept seeing it check out at the library so I thought I would give it a chance. I like the journal quality to it, but only because it was interspersed with another first person narrative that had a more broad scope. It was also a way to distinguish the past from the present.

The sad thing is, this type of situation is way too common with people. On both sides, both the abuser and the abused and we give the abuser hell for doing what they do, but most of the time, they don't even know how bad it really is because that was the way they were brought up and is, therefore, all they know. So, they glide over the facts with an heir of it not being that bad because it is something that they have been through themselves.

And the victims... well, the victims... I honestly don't know what I could say about them without offending someone (or anyone). There are things that can be prevented and there are things that cannot. Each person has a different threshold for abuse and sadly, sometimes it is just too high and it never ends well. For anyone.

2018 Reading: Inside the Mind of BTK

#2 True Crime

Yet another serial killer book that I have in my collection. This one is particularly interesting because a) it is about someone from near my parents' home town and b) just the general nature of this killer. A very rare killer who could go for year without having to indulge in his crimes. This makes for a very interesting read. I have another BTK book somewhere and I might get back to that at some point in the future now that I know more about him.

2018 Reading: Of Books and Bagpipes

#39 A book that involves a bookstore or library

I actually finished this last week but have been so busy with other things that I forgot to write about it.

I figured I would continue on with this series because it is a semi-easy read and I don't have to put much effort into it. Plus, it is sort of interesting even though the style of book is not really my cup of tea. It's a little too chic-lit for me.