Goodreads Unlinked My Blog, New Tracker, "Booking" Right Along

Somewhere along the way in the last couple months, in the move and as I focused on things other than the blog, Goodreads and this blog were unlinked. OOPS

With that being said, the last Review to be automatically posted here was my May 30, 2022 review of Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón which was completed in February of 2022. I had been trying to go back through and write reviews of everything, working somewhat backwards from April.

So that's disappointing.

It's linked back up to automatically post my Goodreads book reviews over here, but I've already read 6 books this year and reviewed 4, so... A little catch up.

I've made a new shelf for this year's reviews. The widget on the right lists the most recent.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Millennium Trilogy #1)

So this was some serious FOMO. I've heard about the various movies for years. Don't know that I'll watch them, although I adore two of the actresses who have played the titular character. I will be finishing the original trilogy of books. Remains to be seen if I will read the second trilogy that was written using Larsson's relatively fleshed out but unfinished manuscripts.

Be very forewarned: Trigger Warning, Trigger Warning, Trigger Warning. Not on my review. On the actual book. All the Trigger Warnings on the actual book.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Review at Goodreads

The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry (Cotton Malone #6)

I like Steve Berry's writing. I really like Scott Brick as his narrator. I really dislike the main character of the Cotton Malone series, Cotton Malone himself. During the first 5 books, I seriously disliked the budding relationship between Cotton and Cassiopeia Vitt. But the stories and Cotton's old boss, Stephanie Nelle? Now all of that I like.

And it's not that I hate how the characters are written. They are written superbly. It's not even that I dislike the relationship. It's actually written quite well. 

It's just that I really dislike Cotton as a person. Like, really detest him. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of my ex, who I was married to at the time I started reading this series, yet Cotton is much more intelligent. Somehow I didn't make the connection as to why I disliked the character until writing this post.

Cotton has this annoying habit of whining about being dragged into international intrigues when he's a retired agent and he just wants to sell his friggin' books in his retirement from government work in his quaint little bookstore in Copenhagen. (Ex isn't a reader so that's not the comparison, just FYI.) Every single adventure he complains about this and then a switch flips and he's suddenly in charge, telling people what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, while putting on the reluctant hero cape. Take that comparison to my ex however you will.

With the "Will They/Won't They" relationship finally decided and Cassiopeia's personality having grown on me (like a psychedelic mushroom), I started to have high hopes for their relationship changing Cotton for the better. After just getting out of my marriage to a narcissist, I should have known better. Read my review here: The Emperor's Tomb Review at Goodreads. Then move on to Cotton Malone #7...

The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry (Cotton Malone #7)

So you know how I just finished saying that book 6 had me believing there was a change around the corner for Cotton? Yeah, I was bored out of my skull during the first part of this book while Cotton waffled and moaned and because he did more of the "Why me? Why do you all come to me to fix your problems?" Yeah. He was doing that again. I really do not think Cassiopeia can redeem this dude. I'm learning Dudes and Men are both male usually. But the terms are definitely not synonyms.

I've said it many times while reading books 3-7: I. Want. A. Stephanie. Nelle. Spin. Off. Not a Vitt spin off. Sorry, not sorry. I'm tired of trying to spell her first name.

The only redeeming parts of this book, are the entirety of the story line and the "central side" characters of Stephanie Nelle and President Danny Daniels. If the two of them and the incredibly crafted stories didn't have my interest completely taken hostage, I'd have given up on this series. 

It honestly reminds me of how I stopped enjoying The Dresden Files. After DNFing book 3, I gave all the way up. Even listening to Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel (James Marsters, I do know his name, but he'll always be Spike to me) reading in his natural accent wasn't enough to save that experience. In that case the story couldn't even keep my interest. I detested Harry (although I love Paul Blackthorne's television version!!) and could care less about the stories. I miss Bob though. Bob the Skull was the shit. 

In Cotton's case, Cotton is the sole bad part of the books. Bob the Skull was the sole bright spot. Giving it a couple more goes, but if Cotton doesn't start growing as a person, I'm giving up. He's the protagonist and at least in his 40s for cripe's sake!! If he can't carry some of the emotional and entertainment load, we have got bigger issues. I'm done with 40-something males throwing temper tantrums, in person or in literature.

The Jefferson Key Review at Goodreads

Text for You by Sophie Cramer

Not really in the mood for Romance these days, but I needed a book for a January prompt that this one fit the bill for. Adapted to Screen is an easy enough theme to select for. But when the prompt says "in 2023", that narrows down due to the typical fare that is getting made into visual arts these days.

Since this was promising some "dealing with grief" tropes and I do recognize that I'm still grieving my destroyed marriage and my future dreams, I thought that perhaps this might help. It actually did to a degree. While I was reading it, I did have some really messed up dreams where I was confronting him all over again, but I was looking at the pain, assessing it, understanding it. You don't just move on like it never happened, not when it shaped so much of who you were and now you have to determine who you are. That's true growth, no matter how he gaslit me into thinking otherwise. Working through it and talking about it is becoming a better person and a healed person. There's nothing wrong with attempting to learn what the warning signs are so that if there is ever a next time, I get out sooner and save myself the years of unhappiness and the potential for the betrayal of this magnitude.

As for the book itself, I enjoyed it and in my Text for You Goodreads review I don't focus on my ex, so if you'd rather hear my true thoughts on the book, go read it over there. No one reads this stuff here anyway. I don't have my Meta Data set right or something. I don't get traffic here.

My Ultimate Reading Tracker

I have spent more time on my Reading Tracker than anything else the last few months. Once the weather turned nasty (Indiana seasons are torture man), I retreated into the house to nurse my pain and focus on non physical pursuits. This house needs a lot of work, but my body is saying "You kray-kray, Beech" and my SADD (or whatever they're calling it these days) literally says to me "Stay in bed until March 1st."

It could not have worked out better. I'm still tweaking as I go, but this thing is amazing for me! I've also made a new reading journal, Nalani, who I will write about here soon in a dedicated post. Until then, know that I am super happy with this crazy thing, even if everyone around me is going "You nuts!"

"Booking" Right Along

I know. I got Dad Jokes. Grin and Bear it. On the 24th of January I finished books #5 and #6 of the year/month. Book 6 was read in just one day, but the audiobook for the novella was literally only 3 hours so that was easy enough. It was not read in one sitting though. Another of my reading prompts I need to fulfill. I do have a day job in between all this reading and watching. I might count it anyway. I don't think I'm ever going to get one done in one actual sitting. 

Those reviews are just right around the corner. I've written #5 and just need to post it to Goodreads and the novella will be simple enough since I just finished it yesterday. I'm already 39% through book #7. Look. If I'm not at work or sleeping, I'm listening to audiobooks. And no. I'm not reading them at anything higher than 1x speed. Except The Count of Monte Cristo. Anything to get through that faster. I'm being stubborn and not DNFing it.