Ivia > Recent Status Updates

I legit love everything about this, but I'm not in a headspace to click with this specific kind of novel right now. I'll come back to it soon, when I can hopefully sink into it a little more thoroughly (and my second hold on it comes available with my library).

A little more "not like other girls" than I'd usually go for, and I'm not sure it has time to do anything with that against all the other stuff going on. Also, the whole gay best friend trope is a little played out, I hope Icarus gets more development than those usually get. I'm just not seeing much reason to have faith in this story yet. Not quitting, just... Hesitant.

Ohh, I've wanted to read this since I first heard of it, and the library just accepted my rec for it. Genuinely excited to see how this goes!

Sometimes you have two books due back with the library inside the week but the lure of Just One More in the series that's stuck in your brain is just irresistible. Toby is like catnip to me. And I'm not the only one...

It's kind of taken me forever to click with this book, the style makes it a lot harder to pick back up after I put it down. But, I think I'm finally getting there (and it's about darned time)

Made it this far before finally acknowledging that I'm going to have to reread Gideon, or read some summaries, to remember what all happened there before I can continue with Harrow. I definitely feel like I've forgotten too much in 7 months.

I have no good reason or explanation. Twilight got me through a really intense period of my life and I'm dying of curiosity about this book and how Meyer's grown (or not) as a writer.

I don't know if it's possible to hit more of my happy buttons at once. Not only is this a totally new-to-me kind of magic system & playing with chosen one tropes, it's also a big ol' heist story about bringing down a shitty "government", and the story does things like talk about the fuzzy consent issues inherent in influencing one's mood to make them susceptible to suggestions and requests. MORE PLEASE!

Still not super holding my attention but I have a feeling that the next time I sit down to it, I'll race to the end. Starting to get to the tipping point that happens in most Discworld books.

Sorry if that spammed anyone, I'm rearranging my shelves (moving my "reevaluate" category into to-read to minimize the places I have to look for things) so ~300 books just got updated, twice. ^^; Also, I've been mostly chugging away at the tomes (and avoiding the Sandman) hence the lack of updates in a few days.

Could really have done without all the racist jokes about Asian food names. Especially since certain entire instalments in the series have been dedicated to anti-Asian racism in the guise of parody. I'm given to understand that this was mainly written after his diagnosis with Alzheimer's, but this shouldn't have passed editing in this state regardless.

I've been reading one chapter every morning to wake up to, because it felt appropriate to read about doors to other worlds on either side of sleep, the only true door to another world we have. Anyway this is approximately my tipping point: I'm going to have to marathon through the entire rest of the book in one sitting over the weekend because THIS IS TOO MUCH, TOO GOOD, TOO MANY FEELS!

Right so there's a preacher who's going full "this is post-Rapture and we are in hell" but everything else about the story is really interesting so far. Y'know, for a YA vampire story that's cheesy as any other.

There's a lot going on in this, for a book with so little plot. The bombing subplot feels super tacked on, as if an editor or beta reader said there wasn't enough conflict or movement in the story. Also, I find it difficult to believe that Sawyer did much research on birth control or abortion before bringing those subjects up, even for what was available 20 years ago. (The book makes me so nostalgic for Toronto tho.)

Working through it, just, the Watch books aren't my favourite, and I'm not entirely sure where this one's going yet, where usually I have at least some idea by now.

It's a pretty quick read when I sink into it. Just, most chapters are so long, I really need to allot it time, rather than drifting in and out in the many 5-to-10 minute breaks in the day. That's the singular down side so far. This is SO GOOD!

New decade, same me and my weakness for vampire stories to read in a bubble bath.

When you read a Nora Roberts, you get a Nora Roberts. She's very consistent. I'm obviously not completing this as quickly as previous installments, more owing to reading during the holidays (family and fatigue days) than to a drop in enjoyment or engagement level. It's not a difficult read, if you know to expect her writing quirks.

Considering its age, I'm really impressed with this book. It feels like it could have been written this year. Something about the phrasing and the tone, and focusing on a young woman instead of the fantasy standard young man... Yeah. I didn't even mean to get so far into it this morning, it just sort of won't let me go. I love that feeling.

Ran into a great big plot twist that's so full of feelings I'm having trouble picking this back up again. Will try to finish before the new year, but gosh Mark's been giving me feelings on his blogs for almost ten years and no sign of stopping yet in his writing. Dang.

This book has been a real problem for me. It's very low-key, it's easy to read and easy to follow, I can pick up where I left off with zero problems after not touching it for six months or more. Then I get sidetracked by everything else in front of me and de-prioritize it again. It's quite enjoyable so far, it's just not demanding my attention.

NYOOM! But for real, I always forget how much I love the early books, and how much there is to find on subsequent rereads. I keep itching to read past my schedule, despite the fact that scheduling x chapters/day finally let me finish rereading ASOIAF in 2018 despite burning out on it 3 times before that, and I've had a similar problem with this series.

Not quite a third of the way in, and we've already got heavy substance use, overdose, ritual bloodletting/self harm, and on-page rape of a child. Beginning to wish I'd read a little more about this book before starting it. I don't think any of it's done insensitively, but it might be extremely difficult to read about for some regardless.

Time to start this reread for real, on a loose schedule. Fingers crossed that I finish by the new year. But, gosh, I love this series, even with all its problems and difficult sequences.

Anxiety Is The Dizziness Of Freedom is a strange title for this last story. Being able to communicate with alternate selves in parallel universes leads to... people discovering who they are, and who they want or don't want to be. What an interesting way to examine the consequence of choice on the self, and the existence or illusion of free will.

Omphalos is an old story told in a way I've never seen before. The framing device of prayer is very effective at guiding us through Dorothea's experience as her faith, backed by evidence, is tested. Her world is on the line between familiar and strange that Chiang tiptoes across so wonderfully.

The Great Silence is an all-too-often ignored bit of wisdom. We spend so much time looking for intelligence in the universe, when there are so many species here on earth that we ignore despite so much evidence that they are or could be sapient. We should value what we have even as we search for more.

Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling is an incredible play on the dichotomy between the cold truth of a recording of what happened, and the warm subjectivity of individual recollection, how that warmth can be deceiving, but even the bare facts can be twisted to suit a bias.

Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling is an incredible play on the dichotomy between the cold truth of a recording of what happened, and the warm subjectivity of individual recollection, how that warmth can be deceiving, but even the bare facts can be twisted to suit a bias.

Dacey's Patent Automated Nanny is a weird one. I can see the themes of parental responsibility/affection and child psychology and attachment theory at play, but something about the tone and structure hit me the wrong way. Extremely likely this is a Me Problem.