Tuesday, January 14, 2020

2020 Reading: Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey

#6 A bildungsroman


Not gonna lie, I totally had to look up what this word meant because I had never seen it before in my life.

Much like the Anonymous book series, I liked reading this because it was  a short read and it also appealed to my somewhat awkward and weird fascinating love of Schadenfreude. I normally don't go for books written in the diary style, however, it fit in with the narrative of the story and ultimately helped with the timeline and with the type of character development that this type of story really called for.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

2020 Reading: Stay Awake

#40 Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


I have this chapbook that I bought straight from the source (got it from Billy himself, signed and everything). I had heard that this was a story in which features more of Steve and Ghost, who are arguably my two favorite characters in the PZB universe and I knew I had to have it. I don't know what it is, but I just love them both so much. I think that I relate to Steve so much with his anger and helplessness, but then also with Ghost is his love for Steve and need to care for him despite his own pain...

I loved the story. It was such a small thing, a little glimpse into their lives after the events of Lost Souls but it really speaks to their relationship with each other and the depth of Ghost's love for Steve.

Ugh. I just... I want someone to love me as much as Ghost loves Steve.

2020 Reading: Brokeback Mountain

#37: A western


I actually finished this a few days ago but I didn't get a chance to write up a review until now.

I must say that the people who took this short story and wrote up a script (I learned it was Western writer Larry McMurtry and another person) did a magnificent job taking the little that was on these pages and fleshing it out onto a screenplay. The dialog was word-for-word and they managed to take what few descriptions that Proulx provided and along with Ang Lee, make a magnificent movie out of it.

I knew as soon as I saw the category "western" on the list for this year that I was going to read this book because this genre is just not in my wheelhouse so I was going to get away with reading something that catered to me no matter what, but I think that this story is just beautiful without being overly sentimental and flowery (which I'm not really overly fond of anyway) while maintaining the characteristics of the genre.

First book of the year! Woo!

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

2019 Reading Challenge List

#1 A book becoming a movie in 2019 : Pet Semetary
#2 A book that makes you nostalgic : David Bowie
#3 A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction) : Burning Up
#4 A book you think should be turned into a movie : Vintage Murder (5-9-20)
#5 A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads : Fellowship of the Ring
#6 A book with a plant in the title or on the cover : Tales of Accidental Genius
#7 A reread of a favorite book : Lost Souls
#8 A book about a hobby : Fangirl
#9 A book you meant to read in 2018 : Blood Communion
#10 A book with "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title : Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol
#11 A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover : Tweaked
#12 A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore : Fairy Tales
#13 A book published posthumously : The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
#14 A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie : Waiting for Godot
#15 A retelling of a classic : Sense & Sensibility (graphic novel)
#16 A book with a question in the title : Are You There God, It's Me Margaret
#17 A book set on a college or university campus : The Rules of Attraction
#18 A book about someone with a superpower : Library of Souls (10-20-20)
#19 A book told from multiple character POVs : The Informers
#20 A book set in space : Feed
#21 A book by two female authors : Marked
#22 A book with a title that contains "salty," "sweet," "bitter," or "spicy" : Sweetbitter
#23 A book set in Scandinavia : The Girl in the Spider's Web
#24 A book that takes place in a single day : The Dinner
#25 A debut novel : Wuthering Heights
#26 A book that's published in 2019 : Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered
#27 A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature : Dead Boy
#28 A book recommended by a celebrity you admire : Faust
#29 A book with "love" in the title : Obsessive Love
#30 A book featuring an amateur detective : I Hunt Killers
#31 A book about a family : King Lear
#32 A book written by an author from Asia, Africa, or South America : The Joy Luck Club
#33 A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title : Escape from the Island of Aquarius
#34 A book that includes a wedding : A Storm of Swords
#35 A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter : The History of Punishment
#36 A ghost story : Thirteen Chairs
#37 A book with a two-word title : Beautiful Boy
#38 A novel based on a true story : The Shining
#39 A book revolving around a puzzle or game : Jumanji (5-15-20)
#40 Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge : Bloodlust
#41 A "cli-fi" (climate fiction) book : New York 2140
#42 A "choose-your-own-adventure" book : Romeo and/or Juliet
#43 An "own voices" book : To All the Boys I've Loved Before
#44 Read a book during the season it is set in :
#45 A LitRPG book : The Eye of Minds
#46 A book with no chapters / unusual chapter headings / unconventionally numbered chapters : We Need to Talk About Kevin
#47 Two books that share the same title (1) : The Lost World
#48 Two books that share the same title (2) : The Lost World
#49 A book that has inspired a common phrase of idiom : Othello
#50 A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent : The Murder at the Vicarage

Date Started: January 1, 2019
Date completed: December 31, 2019
Books finished in challenge:  8 of 50
Books finished in total for year: 51

2019 Reading: The Shining

#38 A novel based on a true story


I finally finished it! I think I really want to read more Stephen King this coming year. There is just something I like about it. His stuff is coming back into popularity with a vengeance lately and I recently realized that I have not read as much of his stuff as I would have liked and I would like to change that.

I enjoyed the book version of this (because of COURSE I've seen the Stanley Kubrick movie version) and now that I know how this one ends, I am very anxious to read Doctor Sleep to see how the story continues with Danny as a grown up.

I also like to discuss this story with my friend Tara sometimes (well, the movie, anyway). We talk about all the theories that fly around, especially from the Room 237 documentary and all of the different ideas that people have about the hotel and the reasons why Jack went insane and what or how the "shining" effects Danny and his parents and it was good to get to the source material so that I could have the original perspective to then about for the future.

This is the last book for the year, I didn't do too well for the PopSugar Reading Challenge, but I hop that I'll be able to catch up and do better next year.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

2019 Reading: Fellowship of the Ring

#5 A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads


Despite my better judgement, I decided to give this one a try. I really don't enjoy his writing style and am not the biggest fan of fantasy to begin with, but I stuck with it. IT TOOK ME FOREVER BECAUSE I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF IT!

Dear God, just shut up!!!! You throw out all of these names of people and places that have no context and instead of creating an epic fantasy world that I want to live in, you just confuse me more and make me want to shoot everyone with one of Legolas's arrows and then throw myself into Mount Doom because this is boring as SHIT!!!

Why am I still reading this, you may ask? Because I hate myself. And I am a completion-ist. I started it. Must finish. But I really don't want to read the other ones and I don't think I will. It's just too much. There are a million other things I would rather read and I just don't have the patience to sit through two more of these abominations of "classic literature."

I started it in May...

It is now December...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

BUTTONS!

I have literally spent the last few days lounging around and doing exactly NOTHING because some part of me felt like I deserved it for finishing a bunch of major school stuff without killing anyone outright. That's an accomplishment, right? Well, it's time to get back to it.

I got my first draft back with the notes and apparently, it was a good draft and I won't have much to alter for the final draft! WOOOO!!!!!!! I was so nervous about that. I think that was what was causing a lot of the stress. That and the two very similar group projects that are happening at the exact same time that I keep mixing up. I need to work on those next. Those are the things that I am going to be doing this coming week for 605 and 645.

So close. SO CLOOOOOSSSSEEEEE.....

The 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge was posted the other day. I am so bummed that I have been too busy with grad school work to read much of anything this year. I have literally only finished 6 of the 50 from this year's list and probably won't finish much more my the end of the year. I think what I'm going to do it try to finish is along with the 2020 and add along the 2015 as well because I never did that one... Because apparently I hate myself... and I love reading.

BTW, if anyone ever asks why I never want to wear my name tag... this is why.