Richer Reading Life Quarterly Update

Since we have finished the first 25% of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to see how I'm doing overall on having a richer reading life.

Reading

By a woman - The Bell Jar
By a POC - Bad Feminist
By a LGBT+ person
Deals with Mental Illness
Woman in Politics
Author over 65
Author from Africa
Takes place in Asia
Indie press - Pedal Zombies
Translation
Poetry
Published before 1850
Genre I typically avoid
Award Winner
Audiobook
Recommendation

I'm just shy of the 25% mark. While I could have counted The Bell Jar for Mental Illness, I didn't want to. There are other books about depression that I'm very interested to read. At the same time, finding a book by a woman on my shelves is not difficult. However, books in Asia, African authors, and authors over 65 are a bit sparse.

I've started on poetry but I've always viewed poetry as a small dose thing that has to be digested over time. You don't fully experience it if you binge. I've got a few things earmarked for some of the remaining categories but we'll just have to see what happens. I'll try to up my game in the next quarter.

Activities

Ask a local librarian for a recommendation
Ask someone I respect for a recommendation and read it right away
Read outside
Read a book that looks like it will make you uncomfortable
Read out loud to someone I love
Dog ear a page - Never Open Desert Diner quotes
Write in margins
Give away a book that's been in my TBR a long time
Cull 10 books from my collection and don't bring any home for a month
Attend a reading event near me - This Is Why You're Single sketch show and book tour
Read the book, watch the movie, debate which is better
Listen to an audio book of a physical book I DNF
Listen to a podcast about books - Dear Book Nerd and BookTube
Memorize a poem
Read one page of a holy book of faith I was not raised with

Have a conversation about books with someone you've never talked books with before
Not ideal. All of my friends are readers so it's something we talk about with some frequency although there are a few I haven't talked books with before. We've got a road trip coming up in May so it's the perfect opportunity.

I plan on accomplishing the cull by not procuring any new books in the month of April. I cull well over 10 and don't need anymore in the immediate future. I've started on reading outside but I do it pretty rarely so I want to do it a few times before I finally cross it off. It's just starting to be the time of year where I can do it.

I'm waiting on some of the others like When a Monster Calls by Patrick Ness coming to theaters this fall. Failing that, there's always the last Hunger Games movie which I haven't seen yet.

Books

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You're Single by Laura Lane & Angela Spera
3. Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken & Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Green Man by Ellen Datlow
5. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer

I'm at about 30% of my final 16 for the year. Staying within that limit is not looking good but my money situation is helping keep my book purchases down. Hopefully my plan for a no-buy April will give me an edge since a lot of what I want to get comes out this summer.

2016 Books #5

Yes, I bought myself another book. I blame a combination of circumstance and personal weakness.

The Long Version

I signed up to be a regifter in reddit's Color git exchange. I had several things I wanted to order off amazon for my person. Sam (not his real name) offered to place an amazon order for me through his prime account with my credit card. I brought it up to him 3 times via technology but life happened in between face-to-face meetings and neither of us mentioned it, least of all him.

I finally give up on him acknowledging he ever made the damn offer, let alone me taking him up on it, and just order the stuff. This involved a lot of fancy footwork since Amazon raised the free shipping minimum, again (bastards). Hours later I got my match for the sci-fi exchange. Had I waited 4 hours, this might not have happened. Instead, I had to make 2 orders in the same day and do the cart dance of "I'm too stubborn to get prime" to get free shipping. With a $25 order of books to get free shipping, it wasn't that difficult.

The Short Version

I was buying a reddit gift, the price was good, I've been wanting it for a while, I wanted free shipping (which was only $25 for books), and I'm weak.

Either version ends with me getting a feminist speculative fiction anthology.

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You're Single by Laura Lane & Angela Spera
3. Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken & Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Green Man by Ellen Datlow
5. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer

2016 Books #4 and Book Wish List

I was weak and getting a little twitchy. I was altering my Amazon lists after by birthday and saw this one book was out of print. I clicked on it and saw hardbacks were going pretty cheap used. I decided to look at what condition they were in. I now have a like new hardcover copy of The Green Man edited by Ellen Datlow coming my way.

I feel guilty since there were a lot of books I was excited about this year but it's also out of print. There is a finite about of copies in excellent condition floating around. I'm also consoling myself that I get to return a book and swap it for something else on my wish list for the year.

Books Purchased in 2016

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You're Single by Lauran Lane & Angela Spera
3. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson & The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
4. The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest edited by Ellen Datlow

For those of you wondering what's on my 2016 book wish list:

Book Wish List for 2016

1. Archie Vol 1 by Mark Waid (3/29/16)
2. Deadpool Vol 1 by Gerry Duggan (5/3/16)
3. Deadpool & Cable: Split Second (5/3/16)
4. Shrill by Lindy West (5/17/19)
5. Sex Object by Jessica Valenti (6/7/16)
6. Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley (6/14/16)
7. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (7/5/16)
8. Deadpool & the Mercs for Money (8/30/16)
9. Shades of Blue edited by Amy Ferris
10. Something New by Lucy Knisley
11. Here at Hogwarts by Lucy Knisley
12. Fables: Wolf Among Us Vol 2 (6/28/16)
13. Spiderman/Deadpool Vol 0 (5/24/16)
14. Spiderman/Deadpool Vol 1 (8/23/16)
15. Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars
16. Guardians Team Up 1
17. Guardians Team Up 2
18. Octavia's Brood edited by Walidah Imarisha
19. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer
20. Deadpool Firsts
21. Deadpool Flashbacks
22. Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon
23. Michael Muller: Sharks, face-to-face
24. Sandman Slipcase

Yes, I am aware I've only got 12 more books before I hit 16 and well above that on my list. Some will likely make it to my Christmas list while others I might just have to sit on until I either get gift cards or it's 2016. I'm going to make an honest effort to stick to 16 books but I'm starting to think I might not be able to pull it off after all.

2016 Book #3

In February I posted about partaking in the Reddit books gift exchange. My person got some great stuff and early next week I’ll be matched with someone who got stiffed. Fortunately, my person was very thoughtful.

I was debating on how best to count this for my 16 books for 2016. While it’s technically a gift, it was one I chose to participate in. I also opted to be someone’s backup Santa so I think that buys me karma points. Ergo, I decided to balance the scales with 1-2 books counting as 1 and anything beyond that counting as 2. How did I make out?

It came with my address in lovely script and closed with Hello Kitty duct tape. Each book was wrapped with yellow tissue paper like a present (also with Hello Kitty). I own several hundred books so I linked my GoodReads account to make life easier. My very thoughtful Santa used that to give me 2 books from my TBR list.

The Darkest Minds and Steelheart were books I found out about from BookTube and sounded fun. I’m impressed she got me a signed copy. She also included a bacon bookmark and thoughtful card. I get the sense she’s a bit younger but I’ve very happy with my haul.

My 2016 book acquisition totals are:

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You’re Single by Laura Lane and Angela Spera
3. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson & The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Richer Reading Life Activity #2 and 2016 Book #2

My second activity that I'm checking off is attending a book event. This Is Why You're Single had a book event last Tuesday and yours truly was in attendance. I'm not sure how everyone else heard about it but I listen to the podcast. When they had people from the podcast clap, there was a second where I wondered "Really? Just me?"

Despite that, Boyfriend and I had a great time. We did activities for our V-Day this year. He's listened to a few episodes of the podcast with me and has enjoyed it so he was excited for the show. Since the writers, Laura Lane and Angela Spera, are performers, they did comedy sketches of the different reasons along with 3 guys.

My favorite reason was "You Travel in Packs" where Spera, Lane, and a dude in drag were actively keeping one guy away from each other. The final guy was narrating it Crocodile Hunter-style. It was phenomenal. My second favorite was "You Want a Good How-We-Met Story" where the grandparents are explaining how they met to their grandkids. The written word can't do justice to trying to make swiping right sound romantic or 'getting poke' sound quaint. I wish there'd been more silliness.

They did a few Q&As with a local Post columnist and then signed books. A surprising number of folks weren't interested in getting their book signed so I was able to go right up and tell both of them why Boyfriend and I were there. We got hugs and Laura took our picture! It was a very fun night and we made it home in time to catch most of the hockey game.

I want to check off a few challenge books before I read theirs but I'm looking forward to see Lane and Spera's wit in print. Did I also mention that it was only $4 extra to get the book? Yup. We've got book #2 of 2016 on our hands.

Shore Leave #2 or Book Round Up

Because I have a very large amount of books, I’ve been keeping track of them on GoodReads. This has been somewhat complicated given my recent purges but overall, it’s been helpful. The neurotic little crazy person in my likes knowing how many books I own.

Books were by far my biggest splurge at ShoreLeave. I bought 11, all of which I was able to get signed. Some folks were cool and gave me a deal for buying more than one, proving it never hurts to ask.

One was a speculative fiction anthology called Pangea. The continents never shifted and Neanderthals still exist as second class citizens. Everybody go! I bit. When I went to add it to my GoodReads, I couldn’t find it. I had to do some searching before I discovered it’s not out yet. I got a very cool anthology before the rest of the world? Sweet!

Otherwise, my list includes:

-No Small Bills by Aaron Rosenberg (There was a whole think involving free rubber duckies with purchase last year. It was too perfect.)

-Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens by Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier

-Beauty Has Her Way edited by Joshua Palmatier

-Heroes!: The 2013 Fiction Anthology edited by Kelly Swails

-Into a Strange Land by Ben Anderson

-The Witch and the Walking Tree by Ben Anderson

-Taming the Goblin by Ben Anderson

-Snyper: A Matter of Caliber by J. Merideth Harmon

July Shopfessions

Kickstarter
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls - $49
Elysian Springs - $20

Clothes
Skull sweater - $35
Two Dresses and Leggings - $107

Books
BookOutlet - $26
Amazon - $43
The Reading Room - $23

Music
Jillian Aversa - $10
zircon - $6

Makeup
Bite Duo Lipstick - $12
Makeup Forever Lipstick Shade 51 - $20
Sephora Eyeliner Shade 12 - $13

MISC
Shipping - $9.95
Hot Topic - $54.81

Returns/Extra Earned
eshakti - $39.45
PoshMark - $32
Sold books - $25

I found out about the Kickstarter from BuzzFeed. I've been trying to avoid Kickstarter but they seem to find me.

I wanted some more work dresses so I used a discount code for Torrid and shipped it for free to my local store. The sweater? See Poshmark below. Can't sell without seeing what's for sale.

Book outlet had given me a $5 off coupon so I got several books I'd been wanting to get my hands on. The Reading Room offered me a 40% off + free shipping code the same day the author of one of my favorite books drops a new title. I'm actually reading it now along with someone else as part of the PopSugar Challenge.

I tried 4 different bookstores to find Living Well, Spending Less by Ruth Soukup before I gave up and got it on Amazon. I added some other things to get the free shipping. I really hope Ms. Soukup can help me in not spending any more.

As for makeup, I figured out how to work everything that wasn't mascara after the age of 25. In a few short years I've escalated to the point where I can't be left unsupervised in Sephora. I stopped by to pick up a few basic pieces to build my nonexistent face collection and this resulted in a few impulse purchases. From Amazon I ordered 3 lipsticks, 2 of which were for costumes.

I don't have a good excuse for Hot Topic. I wanted a smaller backpack for the weekend and the necklace was perfect for a cosplay Boyfriend and I do.

My grand total of unnecessary stuff for July? $359.76 Ouch. Another month confirms what rubbish I am at not spending money. For almost all of these I can hear a voice in my head saying "Excuses, not reasons." With a regular rent check to go along with my cell phone, COBRA, and car insurance bills, it has become very clear to me that I need to do a lot better than I've been doing.

At least I've gotten better at counteracting my spending habit. PoshMark was a recent discovery via a Hello Giggles article. One woman managed to pay off her student loans with the site so I decided to sell clothes that didn't fit or I didn't need. I bought a sweater but I've culled my closet once again and have several pieces that will hopefully earn more than the $0 I was getting with them sitting in my closet unused.

Earnings for July? $96.45. That counteracts the spending total to $263.31. With the new budget I'll have to be on, that's still too much but I'm hoping a budget app will help me really see where my money needs to go, not just where it doesn't need to have been.

Bookfession

September was the month for the Baltimore Comic Con and the National Book Festival so I have a few purchases to confess.

Once Upon a Time Machine (comic anthology)

Betty & Veronica: Storybook by Dan Parent

Love and Capes Vol. 3 by Thomas Zahler

A Hero by Any Other Name edited by Brad Young

Go To Hell by Pab Sugenis

I was better at the National Book Festival. I used a coupon on the second one.

More Than This by Patrick Ness

Clockwork Fairy Tales edited by Kat Richardson

As for the current challenge, I’ve made a dent in Poetry, read a third of Food, am about halfway done Animal, and mostly finished my Wild Card. I’ve also made a dent in Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic since I needed some fiction. After I finish those I’ve still got Zombie, Noteworthy, Holiday, Future, and Library left to go after all those.

I’ve accepted there’s a good chance I won’t finish the entire challenge. My social calendar is pretty packed, Boy Toy and I are going strong, and hockey season starts in a week. I’ll still try but I’ve got a lot of things pulling at me and reading was one of the things that had to give. I’m not sure if I miss that or sleep more.

With limited time, I’m going to have to look into whether or not I want to do a challenge at all next year.

Music: Levon by Elton John

Bookfession

I am well overdo for a Bookfession and with Baltimore Comic Con coming up, now’s as good a time as any. A couple I bought with a gift card so they didn’t cost anything. Most of the convention purchases and both Alaska books are signed. Others I read right away and they were reviewed here.

I went through a bunch of my books and figured out what I’m willing to rehome without having read. I want to sell some of them so I can make some of that money back but most used book stores I’ve been to are kind of a rip-off. Anyone know any decent used bookstores I can sell at or any rummage sales going on in the next couple of months?

Books

The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity edited by Joshua Palnatier

Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Desssen

Sleep Talkin’ Man by Karen Slavick-Lennard

A Briefer History of Time by Eric Schulman

Archie The Married Life #3 by Paul Kupperberg

Kevin by Paul Kupperberg

The First Husband by Laura Dave

Call of the Jersey Devil by Aurelio Voltaire

Heroic Park by Lance Woods

Talkeetna Good Time by Dennis Brown

Lessons from Alaska by Jack Hodnik

Survive the Bomb: The Radioactive Citizens Guide to Nuclear Survival by Eric Swedin

Ebooks

You’re Not Pretty Enough by Jennifer Tress

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

The Banks of Certain Rivers by Jon Harrison

Puppy Kisses Are Good for the Soul by Howard Weinstein

One Perfect Day: The Selling of the America Wedding by Rebecca Mead

Survive the Movie Plot by A. E. Hawkins

Cruising Altitude by Heather Poole

Futureland by Walter Mosley

Music: Oh, Mr. Darcy by The Doubleclicks

Bookfession, Again

My family tends to buck tradition so when it came time for Easter, my mom and I headed to Geppi’s Entertainment Museum in downtown Baltimore. Depending on how many signs you read and how much you interact with the exhibit, you can easily kill 2 hours there. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the American Visionary Art Museum but I expected a little more out of the gift shop. They had some cool stuff but not as much as I was expecting.

The staff was great. I’m planning on buying the Sandman box set sometime this year. Most of the items in the store are at least 20% off the cover price. If I order it through them, they’ll stay open late enough for me to swing by and pick it up as long as they know I’m coming. He was also very helpful in giving me some ideas on how to put together my Jayne Cobb costume that I’ve been failing epically to cobble together.

With a museum full of comics and a staff this helpful and cool, it was inevitable I’d buy stuff. I also had $75 in Barnes and Noble gift cards and a 20% coupon. That’s as good a time as any to buy a new book I bring you my latest bookfession

Mr. Stuffins by Andrew Cosby It’s about a badass teddy bear. ‘Nuff said.

Archie Meets Kiss by Alex Segura My mom was talking about how she let me read whatever Archie comics I wanted and is convinced that helped with my current love of reading. She’s not wrong.

Cash and Carry by Tim Broderick Interesting premise, autographed, and 20% off.

Path of the Just edited by James Lowder A $2 superhero fiction anthology. So not apologizing for this one.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan I’ve wanted to read it and I’ve heard good things. Plus the staff helped talk me into it.

Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon Like you would have said no?

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov That particular book has popped up many times in the last year. I waited until B&N sent me a coupon and paired it with a gift card so it was free. Since I went into the bookstore, I ended up with another book that caught my attention

Point Your Face at This by Dmitri Martin I really enjoyed his last book and this one was only $13. With the coupon and the gift card both Lolita and Point Your Face didn’t cost anything. At least I know what I’m doing for Classic and Free

Music: Hometown Glory by ADELE