ICYMI, I’ve hopped on the what are you reading WWW Wednesday posts, which are hosted by Taking on a World of Words, and my normal Wednesday posts, usually discussions, are moving to Thursdays. I somehow managed to accomplish almost all of my goals? Who is this person who adamantly refuses to let the world get the better of her right now? Someone asked me how I was today, and I said, “Everything’s crazy, but it’s all good!” And I do actually mean that. I’m exhausted, and every day is another trek through a million hundred things I have to do, but I am doing pretty okay! I’m happy, and I love work, and while I can’t wait for things to settle down (they finally are), I’m managing to strike a good balance.

what did you recently finish reading?

I actually managed most of my goals? What?? Not only did I read all of Magickal Tarot, despite really not liking it, I also finally finished Tolkien and the Great War, which I did really like! I also read The Falling in Love Montage in its entirety, and it was an utter delight. I didn’t do a whole ton of reading over the weekend since I was so focused on Tolkien and the Great War, but I managed to get through quite a few and even started some new ones.

what are you currently reading?

Out of nowhere, I started Letters From Father Christmas, which should be finished by the time this posts. I got through about half of it on Sunday night before deciding I wanted to save the other half for Monday night, and I’m glad I did because it’s just so wonderful and soothing to read.

I also started Mister Impossible, and I have some thoughts, and none of them are good. At the time of me drafting this, I’ve read the first 100 pages, and if this wasn’t a Stiefvater book, I probably would have DNF’d it. The characters, some of whom we’ve known for five books now, feel like complete strangers. And sure, I’m not the writer, so I’m never going to know Ronan as well as Maggie does, but the way she’s written him feels very OOC, and I’m not totally sure what’s going on. The writing is insanely highbrow and pompous, and it feels like a callback to the Maggie that wrote All the Crooked Saints, which was–well, a lot. Which is curious for me because, when I look back at my Goodreads review, I really liked it! But when I look back on it now, I really am not sure that I actually did. Which is how I feel about Call Down the Hawk, too, and you know what, I really need to change my rating on it because I five starred it because Maggie duh, but I didn’t actually like it all that much, and it took me eight months to start Mister Impossible because everything I was worried about is being proven true. TRC is about magic and mystery and mayhem, and the Dreamer trilogy explains the science behind that magic in a way that feels like learning the secrets behind a magician, which is just not at all a fun thing. It’s also mildly offensive at times and making me feel queerbaited, so. We’ll see how the next 250 pages go.

what do you think you’ll read next?

I’m hoping to finish up Mister Impossible relatively quickly because I don’t honestly want to be reading it for that long, so I’m going to try to have it done by Wednesday. In that time, I will have also finished Father Christmas on Monday, so I’m still sticking with wanting to read A Marvellous Light next. Next we chat, January will be over, too, and I’ve got some mighty plans for the the last week of the month. I’d also like to read both Farmer Giles of Ham & Smith of Wootton Major and Roverandom before the end of the month, but both of those are small (only 284 pages together), so. I think I can probably fit in a fourth book, though I have no idea what that book will be.

Part of me thinks I should finally start A Sky Beyond the Storm, and maybe I will, but a larger part of me just wants to say fuck it and read whatever first calls to my attention, and I have zero idea what that could be. Anything! I haven’t reread a book yet this month, and that’s one of my goals for the year, so maybe I’ll scoop up–somehow, I just forgot the OH MY GOSH what a loser, it’s DOSAB, all I could think of was Dreams of Gods & Monsters, and I don’t even know if that’s the right title because I can never remember the second two in that trilogy, but I did want to reread Daughter of Smoke & Bone this year, and I keep thinking about it, so you never know, I could pick up that, I could pick up Inkheart, I could pick up Eragon (WHAT), literally anything could happen this weekend.