Hello my loves!

This year has been…well I don’t want to say 2020 2.0, but it is kind of shaping up that way. To counteract the sheer chaos that is in the world, I am getting back to my organization roots by forcing myself to continue going through the metric ton of books in my Good Reads TBR. Same rules apply as before. I will go through ten of the books on the page and decide whether to remove them or if they can stay and my reasoning why.

First up:

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

This is a story set during the Civil War and Sherman’s March to the Sea. It tells the story of Scarlet O’Hara, the spoiled, selfish daughter of a plantation owner during the Civil War. While it has been out since 1937, there is still a lot of controversy surrounding this book. Some feel as if the book idealizes the South during the Civil War and after. It shows the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and how the idea of the South rising again was born. Others claim it is “racist garbage.” Some say it is a romantic book that shows how people are flawed.

I am hesitant to pick this up. Let me clarify that this isn’t because it is controversial, but rather because (A) I’m very picky on my romances. (B) I struggle with historical fiction at the best of times. and (C) I don’t like unlikable main characters. For these reasons, I think I’m going to take it of my TBR shelf for now.

Verdict: Gone.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a story about a man who fights against a tyrannical head nurse in an Oregon State Mental Hospital. Nurse Ratchet and the main character go head to head over how she runs the hospital ward where he is a patient.

This is also a controversial book. A modern classic it was made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick. With this being said I am hesitant in picking it up. First, I’ve heard it has racist and misogynistic undertones. If I remember correctly, the main character is only in the hospital because he faked insanity, which is concerning. Finally, I’m not big on the post-modernist literary movement. It is just not something I really enjoy. I’m willing to give it a shot, but probably not any time soon.

Verdict: Kept, with a note.

A Room with a View by E.M. Forester

I need to go back to Mariah in 2012 and smack her…repeatedly.

A Room with a View is about Lucy who visits Florence, Italy with her cousin, Charlotte, from uptight Edwardian England. While visiting, Lucy is knocked off balance with the vibrancy of life in Italy. She meets a cast of colorful characters and begins to fall in love with a young man who is the son of one of the guests at the hotel. Unfortunately, she’s already engaged to upper-class, dull Cecil Vyse back in England. Will she choose the stability and expected life of Cecil Vyse or the lower-class man who she knows will make her happy?

I just…I don’t really jive with romances like this anymore. I understand WHY it was important in the time it was written and if I had read it around the same time I read Jane Austen I probably would have been all over it. Now? it doesn’t really catch my attention or interest.

Verdict: Gone, but without prejudice.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy

This one is easy to describe, because I can’t really. This is the third book in a series written by Baronness Orczy. The first book is the Laughing Cavalier and gives me distinct Count of Monte Cristo meets The Three Musketeers meets The Black Tulip vibes.

The Laughing Cavalier follows the Scarlet Pimpernel’s ancestor who works with his friends to defend the royalist cause and justice. I’ll give it a shot.

Verdict: Replaced by the first book in the series.

Middlemarch by George Eliot

This huge book (800+ pages) looks at the lives of a cast of interesting characters who live in Middlemarch. It covers a few years before the Reform Bill of 1832.

This sounds very Jane Austen-y. However, its hard not to want to read something by a female author in the 1850s who scandalized society on the regular. Everything from how she wrote (described by one contemporary as an insurgent) to her relationships. I want to read this and see what this unusual Victorian author wanted to give to us. (And she also read and commented on Jane Eyre soo…)

Verdict: Kept, but very very hesitantly.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

When he is hired as a drawing instructor to a beautiful young woman, Walter Hartright is drawn in to the sinister machinations of Sir Percival Glyde and Count Fosco, who is fond of white mice, vanilla bonbons, and poison. The line between sanity and insanity, and what identity is travels the labyrinthine halls of British country houses and a mad house. This book is considered among the first and the most influential of Victorian Gothic horror mixed with psychological realizations.

I adore gothic fiction. Two of my favorite books of all time, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, are gothic horror. I am actually excited to read this one.

Verdict: KEPT!

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

This is a novel that has no hero. Following two women who could not be more different, the book compares the two and follows their lives.

I have no interest in this book at this point in my life. I do not like unlikable characters on a whole and a whole cast of unlikable characters is just too much to fathom right now.. I appreciate the importance of this book in literary history and how rich the ideas behind it are, but it just does not sound like my cup of tea. Also have a not-so-tiny problem with the phrase “a woman of loose morals.” It just annoys me.

Verdict: Removed.

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

This is a play that poked fun at the English class system through a retelling of Pygmalion and Galatea. The story is about a girl named Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl with a decidedly urban accent, who is taken in and mentored by Professor Henry Higgins as part of a bet. The idea is he can pass off any girl, even a cockney flower seller, as a polished young woman by teaching her proper manners and learning how to speak. Shenanigans ensue.

I saw the Aubrey Hepburn movie, My Fair Lady, several years ago and loved it, for the most part. For this reason, I would love to pick this up and see what the source material is.

Verdict: Keep.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

A famous comedy about mistaken identity that takes Wilde’s ridicule of propriety and etiquette to a funny turn.

I loved The Picture of Dorian Gray and Oscar Wilde is an iconic writer. While I am hesitant to pick up a comedy, I have heard a lot of good things about this novella.

Verdict: Cautiously keep.

The Time Machine and the Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

In The Time Machine, a scientist travels 800,000 years into the future and finds the world populated by two races: The brutal Morlocks and the helpless Eloi. In The Invisible Man, a scientist goes mad when he discovers a way to turn himself invisible and begins to terrorize those around him.

I have seen the movie adaptations of both of these and loved them. Each of these offers a different aspect of one of the founders of science fiction and I cannot wait to dive in.

Verdict: Keep.

OKAY I am done with another half of a page. This page apparently focused on classics and I hope you don’t take anything I said about these as an attack against your favorites.

If you have any reasons why I should read the ones I have decided to get rid of, let me know. Otherwise, let me know if you’ve read any of these or if you are clearing out your own TBR.

Until next time, all the best coffee, wine, and books to you.

Mariah

I finally have a quiet place to sit down and write this out before I have to move again. The beldam moves as if walls mean nothing. Meanwhile I’m toting around a bag full of art supplies and who knows what else. The key to unlocking these glass spheres, what the children’s ghosts call eyes, seems to be to read to them. Maybe that’s the key to getting out of here without having to give my eyes away. I’ve locked myself in the secret room that the jumping mice led me too. The door locks on both sides, which is suspicious, but I’m thankful for. So far, I’ve managed to hear from the tall girl…her name still escapes me….Beth maybe? It’s like all my memories of her before she disappeared when we were kids have vanished, like she was totally erased somehow.

When I read her favorite book to her, her voice rang out suddenly and the marble changed from a dull gray to a brilliant blue. Her favorite thing in the world was a sky blue jacket she wore everywhere. It came back to me suddenly as I read the last word.

“You did it! You’ve freed me.” The voice was sweet, but confident. “You have to keep facing your fears. She can’t get you if you’re not afraid of her. Keep reading.”

“I don’t have time! I have to get out of here.”

“Then you leave the other two behind and give in. It’s up to you. Just remember all actions have consequences.” She’s right of course. I could leave, but the truth is that I know I’m the only one who can stop this monster. I’m halfway through another book. I know the answer to defeating her forever is in one of these books I’ve found. Just have to get through them as quickly as I can.

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I hope y’all enjoyed the first character diary for my new TBR game, which you can view the video for down below. Let me summarize this week and we’ll go from there.

Since the first, I have finished two books and DNF’d one.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman satisfied one of the three Middle Grade Horror novels I had to read for the main challenge in my TBR game. This is a story about a girl named Coraline who discovers a new world behind the walls of her new apartment and the mysterious creature who controls it. Spooky, chilling, and one of my all time favorites. This was a joy to reread.

The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher is the first in the Cinder Spires series. I carried this book over from December. It tells the story of a group of people tasked with saving their home spire from invaders and beginning to unraveling the mysterious powers that underlie the conflict. The main characters in this book feature a wealthy aristocrat who is not what she seems, her mysterious Warrior Born cousin marked with superhuman strength and feline eyes, a disgraced air Captain and his crew, a normal girl who is a descendant, a girl who can only talk to crystals, and a cat who has very high opinions of himself. This was worth every second of the 22 hour audiobook. I cannot wait to continue this series.

DNF’d:

The Metal Skeleton by Tyler Col. This was a mystery adventure thriller concept where an anthropologist and a police detective investigating a group of missing villagers are led to a secret, man-made island. The concept was interesting, but the writing and plot points were inconsistent and simplistic. I DNF’d this half-way through its 103 pages.

In Progress:

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste. A middle-grade horror set in the Carribbean and based on Haitian fairy tales. This tells the story of a girl named Corrine who isn’t afraid of anything, especially Jumbies. That is until one starts enchanting her father with a beautiful disguise and sweet words. It is up to Corrine and her friends to stop the Jumbie before she takes over the island. About 2.5 hours in out of the 5 hour audio book.

Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon. A historic expose on how a loophole in the 13th amendment allowed Black Americans to be exploited for free labor.

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto. A story of sisters torn apart by secrets, of Phoenix Riders, of warrior queens, and evil empires. I’m really enjoying this so far, but also have CONCERNS. 🙂

That wraps up this week’s reading wrap-up. Let me know how you’re reading is going this month. What are you reading and how are you enjoying it?

Hope you have a relaxing weekend filled with self-care after the horrific news week we’ve had. Remember to be a good global citizen!

All the best coffee, wine and books to you and yours!

Hello, my loves.

I can’t believe it is finally the new year. 2020 was possibly the longest year of my life, not the worst. 2018 takes the prize for that. It was a pretty awful year though for the world. In 2020, I got married to a wonderful man who makes me smile every day, I read around 120 books, diversified my shelves and reading tastes, and fell in love with reading again. I read more books this year than I have any year since I was in my teens. My friendships deepened and my therapy finally started taking hold. 2020 forced me to confront my demons and the fact that my health is not great. It taught me how to deal with chronic pain and how that doesn’t make me a failure as a person. I started my BookTube channel and this blog. I gave to causes that needed my help and I started aiming to be an accomplice instead of assuming I’m doing everything I can.

Now that we’ve looked at the past. Let’s look forward to the future.

This year I wanted to stop focusing so much on measured goals. I’m not reading for the rat race of keeping up with the biggest booktubers and bloggers. Would I like to read 200 books? Sure. That’s not my goal though. My goal is to read as many books as I can without forcing myself to lose my love of reading. My Storygraph book goal is set for 52: a book a week. If I get more awesome, if I get less, than I probably did everything I could.

I don’t have follower goals for here or YouTube. I’m going to keep being me and keep speaking my truth. Hope you will join me for the ride. This is me and I can’t hide that without also hiding the pieces of me that led me to become a booktuber and blogger, my passion and love for books.

This year, I’m going to do two readalongs: Tamora Pierce on YouTube and Les Miserables here on the blog. I am also doing the Buzzword Reading Challenge by Kayla at Booksandlala on booktube and Jeff at Dreadedandreaded’s book club Nougats and Novels. The key to this year is consistency and community. Solidifying routines, perfecting my craft, and speaking my truth.

Here on the blog. I’m also going to include my character diaries to wrap up how my character from my TBR game is doing on their quest to Escape the Haunted Library.

What are some of your goals this year? Are you planning in year long challenges?

All the best coffee, wine, and books to you.

Mariah

Hey everyone,

I don’t know about you, but I have a driving fear of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It has been sitting there as a weapon on my TBR bookshelf for the better part of three years. I’m not scared of big books. It is this specific book. 1200 pages of Victor Hugo’s writing and a lot of people saying it is hard to get through. It is terrifying.

Well this year I am going to conquer it and I invite you to come along. Starting in January we will be reading between 100-150 pages a month. We’ll talk about it at the end of the month.

Please let me know if you want to take part.

All my love to you,

Mariah

How to participate in the meme:
1. Credit the creator of this tag (Lyn @Nomadic Worlds ) and link back.
2. Answer the four questions to the best of your ability.
3. Most important of all, enjoy yourself!

Questions:
F – Feature your latest book obsession (it doesn’t have to be your current read)
I – Indicate which book/s you are looking forward to reading this weekend.
F – Favorite quote of the week/day
F – Five things you’re happy or grateful for this week.

F – Feature your latest book obsession

My latest obsessions have been finding diverse books to add to my TBR. It doesn’t take a lot of work, but it adds some fantastic reads and promotes things I really believe in.

I – Indicate which books you are looking forward to reading this weekend.

I’m currently reading The Shining by Stephen King and Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno Garcia. Hopefully, I get through those, The Facefaker’s Game, and The Silent Patient by December 1st.

F – Favorite Quote of the Week/Day

When you inherit a broken family, you can’t throw it away and get a new one. What you can do is find people and situations that provide for you what your family cannot. – Iyanla Vanzant

F – Five things you’re happy or grateful this week.

1. Being able to get away from the house for a bit.

2. Great friends and a wonderful husband.

3. A growing YouTube channel

4. Making a stance and believing in my self.

5. Having some much needed time off

Today we’re going to keep up building a list of Diverse books I want to read.

Prompt 5: Middle East Inspired

Inspired by ancient Arabia, this book tells the story of Zafira, the Hunter, who disguises herself as a man to feed her people. She sets out on a quest to uncover and restore magic to the land. Nasir, the Prince of Death and his father’s assassin, simultaneously sets out on a similar mission: get the artifact and kill the Hunter. As each of them rush forward towards their goal, an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds and truths are revealed about the artifact.

This book has been on my shelf for so long and now there’s a sequel. I really want to get to this as soon as I can.

Other Prompts satisfied: Different Culture than Yours, POC on the cover, non-western setting, Diverse Book with More than 300 Pages.

Prompt 6: Focuses on Identity

How Beautiful the Ordinary is a collection of short stories and nontraditional narratives that focus on various identities.

I’m really interested to see where this goes and hope it will get me out of my comfort zone. It is always good to broaden your horizons regularly and growth happens outside the comfort zone.

Other Prompts: Diverse read more than 300 pages.

Prompt 7: Diverse Contemporary

The Hate U Give focuses on Starr Carter who is caught between her suburban prep school and her poor inner city neighborhood. Everything screeches to a halt when she witnesses the death of her childhood friends at the hands of police. Facing threats from both the police and a drug kingpin, Starr is the only one who knows what happened that night and her words can change her community forever.

I must be the last person who hasn’t read this book. I don’t usually read contemporary books, but I growth happens outside the comfort zone.

Other Prompts: POC on cover, Own Voice, Diverse book with more than 300 pages

Prompt 8: By a LatinX author

Shortly after her cousin marries a charming white aristocratic family, Noemi and her family receive a letter claiming she is being poisoned. Noemi leaves her posh 1950s Mexican City socialite life to go tend to her. When she arrives, things aren’t quite as they seem. As Noemi stays longer, she begins to realize things are not at all as they should be or seem and things are very dangerous.

A gothic horror novel set in 1950s Mexico that has been billed as Jane Eyre (a favorite) meets Lovecraft (total racist and xenophobe, but the work people have done with the mythos is fantastic). Its on my TBR this month. I swear I will finish it. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a fantastic author and one of my new must-read authors. Pick up one of her books now.

That wraps up this week’s very late Monday post. I am thrilled to pick this up again and to diversify my TBR. As always, thanks to Noura at The Perks of Being Noura (@NunuKz) for letting me use their graphic. Read diverse and challenge your comfort zone.

See you later this week. Have a safe and happy week.

Mariah

Hello, my lovely book nerds. Today I am doing a tag that I found over at The Book Nut and I am very excited.

1. You have 20,000 books in your TBR, how in the world do you decide what to read next?

My TBR game. I do 12 rolls a month, plus any punishment books. It makes choosing things so much easier. SO much easier. Just gotta take it a roll at a time.

2. You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you put it down or are you committed?

I give it just over the halfway mark. If I’m still not loving it then I DNF it and put it aside. Life is too short to be reading things I hate.

3. The end of the year is coming and you’re behind on your reading challenge, do you try to catch up? And if so, how?

I will attempt to catch up by reading some of the shorter books and listening to nothing but audio books. I love my audio books.

4. The covers of a series you love do not match, how do you cope?

I pout for a good long while. Then, I research to find out if there are any other covers that I like and then I buy the series in those covers, giving away my copies and replacing them with the new covers.

5. Everyone and their mother loves a book that you do not. Who do you bond with over your shared feelings?

My friend Julia and I usually have similar feelings about books. I complain to her the whole time.

6. You’re reading a book in public and you’re about to start crying. How do you deal?

I will look down and breath deeply. Then I will go to the bathroom and wipe away the tears as quickly as possible. I’m usually reading at work and am in a managerial position so its important that I don’t seem like I’m losing my cool.

7. The sequel to a book you loved just came out but you’ve forgotten a lot of what happens. Are you going to reread it?

Probably. It will take me a while though. I have a massive back log of stuff that I’ve had for ages. New books are on my list, but they’re not high on my list.

8. You do not want anyone to borrow your books, how do you politely say no when someone asks?

I ask if they prefer other formats and that they can find it for free on services like Scribd or at their library. Also 2020 rules say that we shouldn’t borrow or lend books. (Honestly, I don’t mind lending people books. Especially if I never plan on reading them again or I think they will really love it.)

9. You have picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over this reading slump?

Two options for me. First, I will switch to a different medium. I.e. physical to audiobook. Second, I will pick up something entirely different or way shorter and that usually fixes it. If its a persistent reading slump, then I will binge YouTube, Animal Crossing, and Hulu until I feel better.

10. There are so many books coming out that you are dying to read, how many do you end up buying?

Usually very very few. I tend to prioritize older books and try not to focus on new releases hardly at all.

11. After you purchase all of these books that you’re dying to read how long do they sit on your shelves before you get to them?

Depends on the TBR game gods. If they fit a prompt, then relatively soon. If not, they stay until they do or I have some free reading time.

Hello, my dear book nerds.

It is good to be back. The last few months have been a perfect storm of awfulness and amazing things. It has been exhausting, but let’s go over a few things.

September:

• Started my capstone course and my 20 page paper
• Got married (Thanks COVID).
• Struggled with a reading slump
• Read 10 books

October

• Kept plugging away at the paper
• Went to the ER and ended up in bed for a week in severe pain
• Found out I have a TON Of medical issues and started fighting with the drs.
• Sister had a heart attack at 25 (she’s okay)
• Therapy, lots of therapy
• Read 9 books, DNF’d 1, started 2 more.

This month is going to be an interesting one. I have two whole weeks off of work starting at the end of this week and I cannot wait to just have time to binge read. I am currently reading:

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I will be continuing my series cleaning up my TBR and the Diversity TBR. I’m going to also be debuting my new TBR game in the next few months. As soon as I finish it. I hope all of you are doing great and I will see you on Friday for the F is for Friday.

Hello, my dear book nerds.

It has been a while since I did a tag, so I thought I would do the TBR Book Tag. I found this at Panic At The Book Store.

How do you keep track on your TBR list?

I used to use GoodReads, but now I am all about The StoryGraph. Think goodreads, but better. I’ve been focusing mainly on my physical and e-book TBRs, as well as on Scribd with their saved for later list.

Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?

Usually, I focus on print books, but have been branching out! Slowly.

A book that has been on your TBR the longest.

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare has been on my TBR for a long time. I read the first book City of Bones forever ago, but I think I just maybe too late to the game. I think I’m going to unhaul them if I don’t read them by the end of the year.

A book that you recently added to your TBR list?

I really want to get to Rage of Dragons by Evan Winters. It was the group book for the Draconathon ReadAThon, but I just did not have time to read it. The story is an African inspired epic fantasy that goes into caste societies, identity, loyalty, love, heartbreak, colonialism, and dragons. It sounds so amazing, but I just did not have time.

A book on your TBR list strictly because of its beautiful cover.

I don’t really cover buy so none….?

A book on your TBR that you never plan on actually reading.

I’m clearing out my TBRs on GoodReads and my phone, so I don’t have an answer for this right now. I’ll let you know.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for.

Ravage the Dark by Tara Sim. I need it. I need it now. I’m sure there are others, but I’m tired and can’t think.

A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read but you

Smoke and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I’m getting to it. I swear. Probably.

A book on your TBR everyone recommends you.

Children of Blood and Bone. This has been recommended about a billion times, which is awesome because I’m reading it in September.

A book on your TBR you’re very excited to read.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia. I am so so ready for this book. So ready. It is on September’s TBR, which is linked down below.