Day 02 - Travel & Vacation #BookReviewBlogChallenge

Find info about this challenge here. Keep up with prompts here.

And you can still sign up until the 25th here.

The second prompt for the Book Review Blog Challenge hosted by Ann over at Great New Reads is travel/vacation. Don't we all wish we could be traveling and on vacation? I'm dreaming of white sands and the pitter patter of rain on my tent. Hopefully, things start settling down soon so that we're able to do some camping this summer.

But anyway, the book I chose is Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon by Chuck Palahniuk. This was the very first book I bought with my own money a good 12 or so years ago. It fueled my obsession with the Pacific Northwest. It was a fascinating look at a seedy place I didn't think I'd ever get to see. I gave it four out of five stars. The info in the book, being 17 years old at this point, is a bit dated and it's definitely leaning to the more grungy underground part of Portland, so it's not for everyone.

I grew up in Texas, spent some time in my teens living in North Carolina and then moved back to Texas. Texas has SO much to see and visit, but damn does it take some time to get there. I missed the quick trips out to the shore when we lived in North Carolina, the day trips up to DC or down to Myrtle Beach (this could be another post in of itself).

Four years ago, without any plan or net, we had the opportunity to move to Portland. It felt like some sort of bizarre dream and so, we did. There's been a lot of ups and downs, but it's been pretty amazing. I've seen quite a few things mentioned in this book (the bubblers, the U.S.S. Blueback, the amazingness that is Powell's). And from here, we've done a lot of traveling, up into Washington and all around the state.

It's a unique place and while it isn't quite how it was back in the 90s, early 2000s when I first fell in love with the dumpsterfire of a city, it still has it's charm and we may move again, but I'll always want to come back and it's crazy to me how this little book changed the course of my life.

Thanks, Chuck!

Day 01 - Dreams & Ambitions #BookReviewBlogChallenge

Find info about this challenge here. Keep up with prompts here.

And you can still sign up until the 25th here. 

My copy of Frankenstein

The first official prompt for the Book Review Blog Challenge hosted by Ann over at Great New Reads, is dreams and ambitions. I know a few people are probably going to pick self-help books or memoirs of people achieving their dreams/ambitions, but those aren't typically my jam (and I honestly couldn't think of any I actually own that would fit the bill).

So, if you couldn't tell, I'm using Frankenstein for this prompt. Victor Frankenstein had a dark dream and enough ambition to fulfill it. Didn't really work out for him in the end, and he knew it, but boy is it a trip.

I read this waaay back in high school. Gave it a four out of five stars. I loved it - it's truly a masterpiece and Mary Shelley was one of the original mothers of horror. Though, I'd argue this has more sci-fi elements than true horror, but another Ted talk, another day.

"For when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion, which afterwards ruled my destiny, I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys."

Without Victor's ambition, there is no story. He put aside health and family and happiness in his pursuit of this other, perverse form of life. It destroyed him and pretty much everyone he loved. I like how the story is relayed, being told to other people. It's a cool format that can be done poorly, but is done well here. You don't see it too often.

A fun tidbit: the whole lightening bring to life thing that most people associate with the monster... that's not how it's written in the book at all. It's pretty ambiguous actually. Some sorta science-y stuff that he's studying. The first movie in 1910 (which most people haven't actually seen - it's 13 or so minutes, watch it here) has a pretty good vague interpretation of how he pulled it off. This short film is really interesting! The practical effects on how they filmed creating the monster are really cool! The 'it's alive!' moment is more associated with the 1931 movie, which is pretty great in its own right.

This is due for a reread (I actually started reading it when I pulled it down for the picture) but man, I have too much on the docket now so it'll have to wait.

Have you read this one? What's your favorite classic?

Welcome! #BookReviewBlogChallenge

Find info about this challenge here.

Sign up if you want to participate (before April 25th) here. 

Bullet journal page for challenge

Basically, you'll be reading books that match up to the 8 prompts and making blog posts about them with pictures. You can use books you've already read/reviewed, just will need to make a new post linking to it explaining why you chose that one, but you cannot use the same book for multiple prompts. There's a prize for most points accrued, but I'm pretty sure I won't get close to first place haha .. it just sounds fun!

A book that sparks joy

A book of mine that sparks joy is this upside down bound book. It's a very cute story that I've read to my kiddos a few times. Having to flip it over to read it really cracks them up! (Find the welcome post here.)

But anyway, just posting my intentions of trying (we'll see if I'll get any done during April due to Camp Nano) and good luck to everyone participating! ❤️

Quarantine Update

The boredom is real.

We've reorganized our bedroom, deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, reorganized/cleaned the back patio and front space. Even attempted to organize the board/video game shelf (in progress project with that). I fixed up my little writing area.

Using old filing cabinet for writing space

The TV is getting a workout. Caught up to everything I give a shit about catching up on. It's been endless B-rate horror or YouTube nonsense anytime I'm actually watching anything now.

I've managed to actually keep up with writing daily for camp NaNoWriMo (with the exception of one day). Which for me is a goddamn miracle I'm pretty proud of.

I restarted Fallout 4. We're still playing Borderlands 3. We bought The Outer World. It's fun, would recommend.

I shaved half my head. 😬

Going on family walks way more than usual (social distancing of course) which has been nice.

Big old tree from a walk

Everyone's going a little stir crazy, but we'll be OK I think. Just you know, work on your projects or binge watch the shows or clean that junk you've been avoiding or if you just can't even... napping is fine. It's ok to nap or just sit on your couch and read or whatever. And if you have to work, be careful out there. 💚

Arcs

OK, I'm bad at reading these, but sure are quick to ask for them. So one of my goals for this year was to read (some of them long overdue) all the arcs or otherwise free books I've been sent for review. I'm reading two right now, on and off (one I'm having a hard time getting into), but they're not priority compared to the book swap read that I was supposed to have done and sent off by the end of this month though that's likely not going to happen. This one is also an arc, so two bird one stone right? Ahem.

I guess I'm just going to list them here and will cross off/link when done. With the libraries closed for now, I have very few books that need read immediately, so hopefully I can jump on this? I'm going to list from the oldest to newest to the best of my knowledge.

Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley
Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore
Deep Roots by Ruthanna Emrys
Woman No 17 by Edan Lepucki
The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
The Last of the Stanfields by Marc Levy (translator Daniel Wasserman)
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by KAte Winkler Dawson (current read)
The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence (review)
Mermaid Moon by Susann Cokal
The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey
I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman
A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
Stolen by Shadows by Evelyn Avery

I also have about 15 or so that were gifts that I don't necessarily want to include on this list, but would really like to try and get to if I can get all these read soonish. This ties into my spring cleaning as I'm wanting to try and get as many of my physical books read so I can determine if I want to keep or purge. I have so many books and a vast majority of them sit pretty, collecting dust, unread. Also, I'd be nice if at some point in the future, I'm able to not have 10+ boxes of books while moving. Not that we're planning on moving, but positive thoughts?

Anyway, if I receive anymore, I'll add them to this.

Camp Nanowrimo

Posting my intentions to try this year. I figure, I have time and I have an idea, so why not? Not liking the new layout of the website, but whatever.

Always a pantster, but this year I did make a page in my bullet journal to try and keep track of this. 

bullet journal page with calendar

I haven't done nano in a while and haven't actually completed it since being a teenager when I had way more time (I'm bad at managing my "free" time). That story is actually on a final draft? Maybe? Everytime I look it over, I find issues and want to rewrite or ditch all together. It's been in progress for over a decade. It's a YA fantasy and I've pretty much left behind YA so I don't know.

The idea I have for camp is primarily going to be a roadtrip to scatter some remains. Fantasy, always. Social issues, always. I'm toying with multiple POVs, which typically isn't how I do it but I've got a lot of personal issues with a lot of the characters I want to explore. I may be terrible at it as sorta karmic retribution for hating on many of the multiple POV books I've read.

Anyway, are you doing camp this year?

March 2020 Wrap-Up + April Goals

This month has been absolutely chaotic between the oldest's school being cancelled for basically forever (I think the tentative date back right now is April 28th?), other shutdowns (libraries, bookstores are my most upsetting ones - especially the ones that may not come back after all this starts getting better),  and my job's hours being reduced before me ultimately getting temporarily laid off (I spoke to our HR gal and she's assured me they'll call all of us back - we'll see). I've had to nativagate filing for unemployment for the first time in my life, avoid people more than usual (because certain people I live with either can't or won't). I've been trying to support as locally as I can, but it's going to start getting tough if the other earners in the apartment get laid off as well.

So of my goals I set in February, I've solidly finished two. I got everything for my book swap and got the box sent out, luckily before the post office closed (currently, it's still open, but a lot of the other folks in the swap have been talking about theirs being closed, so I doubt everyone's going to get their box when they're supposed to). I spoke with the person that's supposed to send me my swap and I likely will fall into that 'get it later' category. That's ok. The world is crazy right now.

I also posted about Twelve Nights at Rotter House. See that here. My goal about that book club was only really half completed as there's no longer going to be face-to-face meetings and I haven't heard of a virtual one for horror group yet. But I got The Exorcist and listen/read it and also watched the movie. See that here.

I've been chugging away at The Girls and The Stars and while it is so fast paced and interesting, I think it's also bogging me down at bit with how breakneck it is and the world building is just so vast. It's lovely, but it's taking me longer to complete than expected. I may not get it out to the next in line before I get the one sent to me.

Have been social distancing and haven't been able to get out to do any magnet fishing. I think technically we can, so long as we stay away from anyone else, but the motivation to do things like that with everyone is slim. I also wrote next to nothing besides a few notes and scenes over the course of the month.

The chaotic-ness of me trying to get any work done (piles of notebooks, books, cords, and my laptop)

All those people saying that this time of being cooped up should be time everyone should be working on their creative endeavors obviously hasn't had a houseful of kids and paranoid people, with an endless barrage of bad news on their phone, and stress shutting off every creative synapses in their brain. I've been an almost useless puddle of goo.

I finished three books.

The Exorcist, obviously. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (translated by Gunny Tapley Takemori), which was a quick and entertaining palate cleanser. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, which I listened to it narrated by him and it was a little bittersweet. I miss seeing the man travel around to interesting places and eat interesting things.

Anyway, I'm not going to give my self any strict April goals as I got a feeling it's going to be just a ridiculous as March.

• Finish a book
• Write anything at all
• Try not to be on social media 24-7