Interim
Currently reading:
A Taste for Death by P. D. James
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson [ongoing]
Books finished this week: 1
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: I deeply wish I could remember when and where I purchased this, but it escapes me. I’ll update if I find it in the Library somewhere!
Why this book: CAT. Also villains. This makes a pretty good comp for my WIP.
Thoughts: This was fun! To be totally honest, I was 100 percent in at the start, then I started to feel myself burning out on the sarcasm, and then I came around to enjoying it again. This book is a bit surface level and it really lost me with some of the cringey humor. It also felt a bit long in places, despite being relatively short. I did actually enjoy the worldbuilding (even the pieces that might have seemed like more of an exposition dump than anything else) more than a lot of the dialogue, which I feel could’ve used some tightening to be really funny, and not just to seem like it was trying desperately to be funny. This is probably more of a three-and-a-half-star read for me, though I’ve rounded up for some of the more clever ideas.
Library updates:
For the first time in a very long time, I have nothing to do this holiday season. Okay, that’s partially a lie—I do have a freelance project I can and should be working on. But the deadline isn’t (yet) pressing, so it feels good to approach every day, every to-do list, with ease, rather than panic. In years past, it’s been editing to do, freelance work to polish, maybe homework or writing to get done. I either never had those things to do in the first place or took steps to make sure they weren’t stressors this time around, and I’m immensely grateful for it.
In that spirit, I thought I might also skip this week’s missive, since we’re right in the middle of the no-man’s-land of the holiday season. The year is almost over and I’ll be doing some kind of wrap-up soon/eventually, and I don’t feel like I have much to say right now. But I did finish a book (as you’ve seen above) and wanted to share that. I also just wanted to say that I hope you’re having a nice holiday season, wherever you are, whoever you’re with (or not), and whatever you might be up to. The year will end soon, which you can take as a signal to turn over new leaves, or which you can feel free to completely ignore, if the idea of resolutions just gives you anxiety. Personally, I do like lists of resolutions, though I usually don’t accomplish most of them, if any. I haven’t come up with a formal list yet for 2025, but right now, and always, at the top of the list is “survive,” followed closely by “find some contentment, maybe even joy.” So I also wish you that.
Closing thoughts:
Happy holidays! Do whatever you need or want to do to enjoy this time.
Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 120
(Total books added to the Moratorium Library: 240)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when I have a friend in town, I will bring her to every bookstore we can possibly squeeze in during her visit. And we made it to three this Sunday.
(Scrap from Bibliotheque, Strong Poison from Housing Works, other five books——ACK——from McNally Jackson Seaport.)
(Please ignore the books in the background omg omg)
