Jen > Recent Status Updates

Much like our protagonists, I’ve been having a lot of shit days lately. This book is bleak, and while my approach to this series is to read it lightly I’ve found myself getting kinda anxious while reading it. I did something I’ve never done before: specifically looked up spoilers so I wouldn’t be surprised (thanks screen rant). I still might put it aside for something lighter.

I finally found these! More accurately, Pat found them for me on the Internet archive.

This is the most ridiculous book I’ve read in a long time. I’m basically torturing myself by continuing it to see how ridiculous it gets.

This book feels weirdly familiar. I wonder if I’ve started it before but not finished. Also, the narrator sounds a lot like Neil Gaiman, which is quite pleasant.

I’ve had this book on a bookshelf for years. I picked at it for a while, then discovered a planner I really liked and never came back to it. However, I’ve stopped using a lot of said planner’s features over the years and hav come to the conclusion they don’t work for me anymore and it’s time to let go. I also want some flexibility, so back into the BuJo exploration I go.

I started the most recent book and couldn’t remember what was going on, so I’m restarting the series. It has excellent audio drama narration, which I don’t usually like but works well here. Jeff Hays is excellent at what he does.

It’s a weird series. Creative, entertaining, smart, and complex. But also incredibly vulgar, gross, and offensive at times. I have to power through some stuff.

I am so sick of Totho.

To quote our favorite sarcastic Wasp: “trudge, trudge, trudge.” I love Tchaikovsky’s world building and stories, but this one is SO bogged down with a whole new world and politics and new POV characters. I’m trudging through because I really want to get to the next book.

Kind of a mind fuck in some ways having just finished up the series. The art is beautiful, the main story is interesting, and I always enjoy Cat Morpheus, but a lot of what I thought I understood about the Endless has kind of been turned on its head. Plus, still a bit sad from The Kindly Ones and The Wake. I might put Overture aside for a bit.

I already knew how this series ended in a general sense, but even though I thought I was prepared for it I’m thoroughly sad now.

Preparing myself for this one to finish ripping out the pieces of my heart that remained after Brief Lives.

I am obsessed with the Netflix series. I think I never read the comics because I’ve never been that into comics, but damn if this isn’t a great story.

I’m listening to the recording of Douglas Adams doing a live reading.

The narrator of this story just referred to a fascistic presidential candidate in the 2030s that “seduces his followers with talk of making America great again”, spouts religious nonsense, and riles up his followers. I had to check the publication date to confirm that Octavia Butler published this in 2001.

This book is amazing, but it’s a little uncomfortable to be reading a book set in a dystopian American in the 2020s while actually IN the 2020s and seeing the similar issues happening around us.

The audiobook narrator really nails the tone of the actor who played Garak on the show. Such a nice touch.

I’m going to put this aside for a while. Perhaps forever. It’s an easy listen, but repetitive, slow, and focused on two main characters that never seem to grow as people.

I’m reading this to challenge myself, but damn it’s frustrating how the author frames education as being job training.

This book is so delightful I ordered my own copy! Gonna return this one to the library early for the next person to start enjoying it.

It bothers me that the pronunciation guide for the names gives the incorrect pronunciation for all of the Irish names. I tried to suspend disbelief and assume the pronunciation shifted over time, but this ended up being one of the reasons I stopped listening to the audiobook and switched to the ebook.

I really want to enjoy this book more than I am actually enjoying it. Normally I am a fan of Bahni Turpin’s narration but it’s a huge turnoff for me in this book; forced accent and all the characters sound exactly the same. I also don’t care about any of the characters at all. They’re not given much depth. I might try switching to the ebook to finish this one, but I am just t

I'm going to reread the last part of this book to refresh myself on the series before starting Rhythm of War. I'm also going to count it as a full book for the 2021 reading challenge because have you seen how long the books in this series are?!!

It's been a good run but I think I'm done with this series. The scene that broke me features a seriously injured Karrin Murphy—whose doctor is optimistic that she'll regain 50% of her previous mobility—using a grinder to cut off her upper body cast because she thinks Dresden needs help. She put the grinder to the cast and I just noped right out because it's just so ridiculous.

I like these books overall, but I’d like it even more if the author described men the same way as women. The entertainment value would go through the roof.

DNF only because I was really busy at the time and my library loan ended. It’s going back on the want to read shelf for later, though. He’s making excellent points from what I’ve read so far.

I really want all my friends and colleagues in the tech bubble (and other “elites”) to read this and understand what life is like for the rest of America.