Apologies

So I begin this post with an apology, both to my readers and to a particular writer. I haven’t written a damn thing on this blog, or any of my other blogs, since I’ve come home, and I have no good reason as to why. I didn’t have writer’s block, I don’t work so much that I couldn’t make the time, and, even if I’m not reading novels, I’m still reading a ton of fanfiction. But I haven’t been writing, and that really sucks.

Earlier this year I met an author at work, and I told him that I would review his book on this blog. Honestly, it was an attempt to get myself back into the hang of it. I figured I was pretty okay at this reviewing thing, and his book shouldn’t have been a problem. Except it was.

Top 5 Wednesdays:Books I’d Want To See As TV Shows

Don’t be surprised if this posts on Thursday morning, it’ll still count as a Top 5 Wednesday post.

This week we’re talking about Books We’d Like to See As TV Shows. And while I’d watch a show based on any book in my personal library, there are a few that I would specifically go to bat for.

#FridayReads – The Obelisk Gate

If someone ever asks you who my favorite author is, I want you to tell them that it’s N.K. Jemisin. Not that old man in New Mexico, not the lady from the UK, not even Tamora Pierce. Nora K. Jemisin. Tell them I love her; tell them she destroyed my life. I’ve been screaming her praises for the past year, and nothing in this world can make me regret it. Why? Because The Fifth Season was phenomenal, and its sequel, The Obelisk Gate, did not disappoint.

Picking up almost directly from the end of The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate is essentially about Essun’s quest to save what remains of the world, if only to have some place to continue rasing her still-missing daughter, Nassun. Nassun, on the other hand, learns how to cope in a world that fears her, with a father that despises her.

#FridayReads – “Folding Beijing”

I might not always be reviewing something, but I’m definitely always reading. Most days, it’s fan fiction, but sometimes I like to check out original works. For this #FridayReads,  I decided to look up Hugo Award winner, Hao Jingfang’s “Folding Beijing”.

In “Folding Beijing”, waste worker, Lao Dao, makes a trip from the Third Space to the First Space and back, in order to obtain the money to send his daughter to a good kindergarten. Along the way, Lao Dao’s eyes are opened to the reality of his place in the folding city.

Top 5 Wednesdays: Books You Want To Read Before The End of The Year

So my physical, personal library is actually about 650 books deep. That’s a lot, I know, but it’s also probably nothing compared to some others. In any case, within my personal library, I have a bookshelf specially dedicated to all of the novels that I have yet to read. That’s about 30-something books – not counting another 20-something unread trade paperbacks – just waiting for me to get to them. So at any given time, I have a book waiting to be read.

Still, some books are more of a priority than others, and this week’s Top 5 Wednesday is about the books I want to read before the end of the year. You’ll notice that N.K. Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate is not on this list, because I know that I won’t have a problem knocking that out as soon as I’m done rereading The Fifth Season. In fact, you can expect that review by the end of next week.

However, for this list, I want to focus on the books that are already on my shelf that I need to get done with as soon as possible. So these are the five that I need to read before the end of the year:  

#FridayReads – Fanfiction

Would you believe me if I said that I’ve been trying to write this post for three weeks now? If I only make it to 250 words, you gotta let me live, okay? Okay.

So this week for #FridayReads, I chose to talk about fanfiction. Also, shoutout to L Jones Edition for starting this community blogging event. I don’t know that last time I tagged their wordpress, but I’m going to try to do better going forward.

So anyways, I like fanfiction. I know that I say that a lot, but you have to understand that I read the stuff like every day. The entire reason that I am so big on fandom is because I partake in the consumption of fanfiction. I love new headcanons, I read a ton of meta, and I even just wrote my first big fan theory. I’m just out here checking off all of the points on my fangirl list.

Top 5 Wednesday: Authors You’re Waiting On Another Book From

It’s a good thing that I didn’t set this post to publish yet, because I would have had a blank page on my site right now. Thankfully, I knew that I wasn’t done.

In this week’s Top 5 Wednesday, I’m listing the five authors that I’m waiting for another book from. Four of the five authors were people I reviewed last summer, which is fine because a lot of my favorites are dead. One of my picks has a book being released in January, which is technically against the rules because I know when the book is coming. However, because January doesn’t count as the end of this year, this particular author still counts for me.

That being said, here’s my list:

Top 5 Wednesday: Most Unlikeable Characters

If I somehow manage to push out 5 posts in the next 5 days, I’ll be surprised and terribly accomplished. If not, I’ll still have managed to do one post for every week in July. That doesn’t seem like much, but anything is plenty when you’re depressed.

Today’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is Most Unlikeable (non-villain) Characters, which might be a bit of a reach for me. The thing about it is that it’s so much easier for me to pick out unlikeable characters in a show than I do in a book. In a book you end up knowing everyone’s motivations, so you tend to sympathize with them more. In a show, you only know what the directors and writers want you to know, so you make your own opinions. For me, that’s a little easier.

Yet and still, every written character is not meant to be liked.

Top 5 Wednesday: Most Recent Additions To Your Wish List

Oh gosh, when was the last time that I did a Top 5 Wednesday post? According to my calendar, it was March. Now I can’t vouch for April or May, but I’m pretty damn sure that I couldn’t relate to  any of June’s topics. July though? Only my own poor timing could stop me from doing any of these.

Everything on today’s list is coming from Amazon, because that’s where I’m most likely to build a wish list. GoodReads is great for tracking my reading, but my To-Read list doesn’t make much of a distinction between what’s already in my library and what’s still in the store waiting for me to buy it. I could clean it up a bit, but all of the secondary lists are connected to the three main ones, so it’s never as clean as you want it to be.

In any case, here are the most recent additions to my Amazon wish list (for books):