Reading Update (11/05/19)

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope your having a good start to your week, as well as a good start to November!

Now that October is over, and November has begun, I figured I should do a little reading update, because a lot has changed since the last one I wrote a month ago.

First of all, I have currently stopped reading the following:

Great Horror Stories by Stefan Dziemianowicz
The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy

I didn’t finish any of these books; I just didn’t want to read them anymore because I lost interest. However, I think the only one I truly won’t go back to (as of right now) is The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood. The writing style didn’t click with me, and I had no interest in the characters, to the point the story seemed to drag on. With each chapter being about 20 pages long, it was a chore getting through them, so I thought “Why am I doing this to myself?” and put it down.

I would definitely be interested in going back to Great Horror Stories or Sweet Pea at some point in the future, as I really liked the stories and characters, the only issue was I simply wasn’t in the mood to continue with these stories right now.

I was in a mini reading slump for a moment, as I couldn’t maintain my interest in any of the books I started. However, I managed to get out of it, although I am slowly getting through what I’m reading right now. I’m at least reading a little bit at a time, which is working for me right now, so I’m going to stick with that.

Currently, I am reading two books, which are:

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

I first started reading Stephen King’s book because I feel stuck in my creative writing endeavors, and wanted some inspiration. I’m only about 36 pages in so far, but I’ve been enjoying it a lot.

The Girl in the Tower is the second book in the Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. I read the first book, The Bear and the Nightingale, last year and fell in love with the writing style and story. The story is based around Vasilisa Petrovna, who is the daughter of a Russian Lord in the back woods of the country during the mid fourteenth century. During this period, Christianity is becoming more popular, replacing the Russians beliefs in spirits of the hearth, the woods etc. who require offerings to survive. I don’t want to give away too much more than that, but if you enjoy fantastical fairy tale type stories, you will love the Winternight Trilogy. Katherine Arden’s writing style fits perfectly with the mystical fairy tale feel of the book, and I’m also a sucker for any stories that take place in Russia. I don’t really know why, it’s just how I am 🤣