Writerlust

  This year was such a tough one in so many ways I'm too exhausted to even recount. But you know what? One area that didn't suffer was my reading for pleasure. I read so many books this year, the most I've read in a long time. According to Goodreads:  That's fantastic! I'm very proud of that number. And I read some awesome books this year. A dud here and there, but some that were off the charts good. This year I hope to discover some more new-to-me authors that I just fall in love with and devour. I'm also looking forward to a lot of books from my favorite authors.  2024 looks like it will be the year for ending trilogies as Stephen Graham Jones and Adam Cesare are both publishing the final book in the Indian Lake and Clown in a Cornfield trilogies respectfully. I enjoyed both of those so much, I can't wait to read the epic finales. Jones also has a book called I Was a Teenage Slasher that I am very hyped about. Paul Tremblay is releasing Horror Movie (he...

  I have been a fan of the Discworld series by the late great British author Sir Terry Pratchett for decades now. I first discovered the Discworld in a box of books my mother had bought at a yard sale. Feet of Clay was among the books jumbled together in that cardboard box. I was probably seven years old, pulled the book out, intrigued by it's bright blue and yellow cover. I tried to read it, found the prose a bit beyond my reading ability at the time, and tossed it aside.  Years later, I unearthed the mass market paperback from the back of my closet and I remember thinking, "I should give this another go." I did. I loved it. I devoured that book. I told all my friends about it. I raved and championed that book and immediately went to my local library and checked out every Discworld novel they had, not caring that they didn't have the specific ones I needed to be able to read them in any sort of order. I went to the bookstore and sat in the aisles reading the books m...

  This year is starting off so much better than 2021, and my voracious reading habits reflect that. It's often hard for me to read when things around me are in shambles. Reading is a self-care activity for me, and as much as it pains me to admit, self-care is one of the first things to go out the window when I am truly stressed, feeling down, or out of sorts. I'm writing this introduction super early in the year, and in fact, today is my 33rd birthday (February 7). So far this year I have already read 6 books, plus I'm halfway through a seventh, and I started the New Year about 85% through "The Once and Future Witches" by Alix E. Harrow. See last year's blog post to see my review of that book. I digress. I'm already reading a lot this year and I hope this momentum can carry through 2022.  We'll see! Update: December 28, 2022. So I didn't even mention it in the introduction to this year's literary recap, but I decided about 2/3 through the year ...

  Here we are again, fellow readers, where I recap the books I've read over the past year. This year has been trying, to say the least. But I've fit in fiction where I can, some inspiring non-fiction, and books on craft, and I've found some great reads! I started out the year with a challenge to myself to only read books by female authors. Don't ask me why, I'm not that sure. I just wanted to expand my horizons and support women in writing! But I got a bit discouraged when I discovered that one or two of the books I'd read had actually been written by men with female pennames. Ugh. And then when the horror bug bit me, as it always does around autumn and Halloween, I read more male authors than I initially intended this year.... But anyway! Here are my thoughts on the books I read this year. Total Books Read: 33 Thrillers: 6 Horror: 11 Non-Fiction: 7 Female-Driven Stories: 8 Romance: 1 The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn A.J. Finn snuck onto my list, I actually ...

  I started a blogging practice in 2018 where I kept track of the books I'd read the whole year and wrote out my thoughts on them as a blog post. I enjoyed it so much, here I am continuing the tradition into 2020! This year has been insane, and I tried to keep up with my reading as best I could despite handling Covid-19, the intense US presidential election, BLM protests, civil unrest... it's been hectic. Emotionally, physically, psychologically draining to say the least. Not to mention I bought a house, moved out of state, had a big health scare, got a dog... it was an eventful year and I'm glad it's over! But I am very happy that I still managed to read quite a few books that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I read 11 Fiction Novels, 1 Graphic Novel, 1 Craft Book on Writing, and 3 Non-Fiction Books. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon The third installment in Gabaldon's Outlander series, Voyager was quite unique in that we get to see Jamie's life without Claire. I enjoyed that, a...