Shiny Things
Currently reading:
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
1000 Words by Jami Attenberg
Radiant Heat by Sarah-Jane Collins (that is so weird but so exciting to write!!)
Books finished this week: 2
★★☆☆☆
Where this book came from: I literally dug back into the Moratorium Library archive and found out I bought it at either Green Apple or Black Bird while in San Francisco back in June 2022.
Why this book: Okay, I can’t lie: I kind of misread the synopsis of this book and I thought it was going to be about someone who dealt with a killer in her college years having to face down the guy in the modern era. And that was . . . very much not what it was.
Thoughts: This book got two stars because the writing—meaning the words on the page—wasn’t bad and I did feel compelled to read to the end and find out the whodunnit of it all. But otherwise, I had a pretty bad experience reading this book. The writing felt amateurish at best, with non-exciting “cliffhangers” ending almost every chapter and a woman at the center of the story who felt like a Mary Sue: beautiful, helpless, incredibly intelligent yet needing the help of the dozens of men seemingly swarming around her. Characterization was for shit. I really don’t recommend this for mystery fans (or any readers).
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: Books Are Magic
Why this book: As a Dracula fanatic, I have meant to read this book for so long. Finally!!
Thoughts: Not quite as gay as I thought it would be, but pretty progressive and incredibly readable, especially considering the time in which it was written, and engaging.
Library updates:
I find myself sitting before this Google doc draft at almost 11pm on Saturday night without a single idea for what to write here. I don’t have anything pithy or fun to share. I’ve done some fun things over the last few weeks, but mostly, to be honest, I just find myself tired. Mostly mentally. My brain feels overloaded with family concerns, work to-do lists, the start of a new semester. So I’ll leave you with the two (admittedly slightly half-assed—sorry) book reviews above, and then I’m going to bed.
Oh! I did go back to my Meetup writing group this past week, and I wrote 1700 words in an hour. A new 2024 goal now is to go at least once a month. The words are somewhere in my brain; they just need the right time and focus to come out.
Closing thoughts:
Let yourself be unproductive, then find the space and time to focus on what matters. You’ll feel shitty for a little while, but that fallow period will kickstart your creativity again.
Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 59
(Total books added to the Library: 119)
I couldn’t resist that gorgeous, shiny copy of Carmilla. (I was at Books Are Magic to pick up another book and, since I’d never been there before, I had to browse, of course.)
