Currently reading:
Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene that Transformed Rock by Jonathan Gould
Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
Books finished this week: 1
★★⯪☆☆
Where this book came from: Purchased at Split Rock Books after my spooky short story contest reading.
Why this book: The author read the first chapter and I was all in!
Thoughts: For at least the first few chapters, I thought this would be at least a four-star read. The story was unhinged and over-the-top, but in a way that felt fun and like it was all leading to a bigger point. But as the narrative progressed, it just kind of continued at an eleven out of ten, and I found myself stressed out and exhausted if I read more than maybe twenty pages in a sitting. Characters came and went without having much effect on the story; plotlines were raised and dropped; the finale was truly out of left field. I was really excited to read this one, but I felt like it lost the plot——quite literally——early on and just never really found the same groove again. It was wonderful meeting the author, though, and I look forward to reading more by her!
Library updates:
Goodreads recently introduced fractional ratings, and now, so have I! At least, I’ve added half-stars, which is already incredibly helpful. Because sometimes, a book isn’t that bad, but it isn’t that good either.
Anyhow, not too many updates this week, though I’m glad I finished reading Ravenous and had time to write up a review for you all right under the wire. I don’t want to jinx myself, but my workload recently has felt more manageable, and I’m enjoying being able to get things done on a crisp fall day. My aim is to work in third spaces——my favorite local coffee shops, mostly——this month and going forward, as long as weather allows. I can lock in at home and I get a good amount done at the office (usually), but a girl needs some cafe ambience.
I’d also like to introduce a new segment of the Library: Comics Corner! I used to read a lot of comics——superhero, horror, crime, anything that sounded fun and interesting. And then the pandemic happened, and I fell off my pull list bandwagon and just stopped keeping up with new series and stopped reading the trades I had on my shelves.
I’m not making any promises, but I am thinking of making some changes on the comic book front. This week, I picked up a few first issues from Midtown Comics——namely, Midnight X-Men #1, Mary Sue #1, and Six of Us #1. Mary Sue was cute and fun and has potential; Midnight X-Men was kind of a lot (I don’t think I’m a Hickman girlie; sorry), but the art was gorgeous, and I got the variant cover featuring vampire!Gambit, so; and Six of Us has the potential to be a favorite, though I think I need to get deeper into the story.
Mary Sue is already out as a trade, so I think I’m going to snag that, and I’m going to try to keep up with the other two. I mean, one features vampiric X-Men and the other is a murder mystery narrated by one of the (dead) leads of a fictional popular ’90s sitcom. If you know me, you know those are the exact things I want, no matter the format.
Closing thoughts:
Return to some old favorites and see where they lead you.
