Ten (million) points to me this month. I read enough books, I read books, and I (finally) finished my first craft book of the year. Similarly, I was able to check one book off of my overall reading list. So yeah, go me.
This was the next installment of the Life after War series that I’ve been following for quite some time. It came out a while ago, but I finally decided to buy it now that I’m getting myself back into gear. These books are quite long and I hadn’t felt up to the challenge with the way I’d been feeling.
Anyway, I wasn’t that thrilled with the book. I sort of felt like I was reading it just because I was already so invested in the series. There wasn’t a whole lot of action in this one, even with it being over 1000 pages. It dragged in parts and I felt like so much of it could have been skipped over to get to the next big thing in the plot.
I’ve also started having issues remembering who everyone is. This has happened earlier in the series, because so many different characters are introduced throughout – new survivors joining their camp, new enemies, etc. – but then some disaster would happen and kill a bunch of them and I’d be back to the main people again. Well, disaster struck again in this one, and a bunch of people died, but I just don’t seem to be connected to many of the characters anymore. I’m having a hard time deciding if I even want to read the next one in the series. Part of me wants to know what happens next, if they’ll ever make it to the island, who will die when the take on the enemy again, will Marc and Adrian ever work out their differences? But I also don’t want to skim 1000 pages to only get 150 with some juice.
The Messengers by Lindsay Joelle
So, this month was kind of busy for me. I had inventory at work, plus all the virus stuff made it ultra-crazy every day of the week and I had a hard time finding time to read a lot. Instead, I took audible up on the two free audible originals I could get this month. This is the first one I picked.
It was kind of a cute story. I liked that it was more theatrical than just someone reading the book. Different actors for the different characters and sound effects were a nice touch. Not something I’d want with every book, but it was enjoyable here.
There wasn’t a whole lot of meat to the story, and I was a little bit confused at first. Not much world building, but you’re thrown right into the heart of what’s going on so you can pick it up as you go along. It also goes back and forth between two sets of people and it doesn’t make sense why until the very end, but when it all came together, I was really happy that I’d picked it to listen to.
Blood Territory: The Death of Jimmy O’connell by Mark Whittaker (Can’t seem to find it to link)
This was my second choice for my audible original. It was considerably longer and had a whole lot more going on. He’s investigating the murder of Jimmy and the conviction of his friend Philip to see if there was wrong done by the police.
It’s a roller coaster of a tale and I went back and forth believing in his innocence and then his guilt. There’s so much evidence going both ways and there was the corruption in the police to make it even harder to decide. I wish he’d been able to find out more, but overall it was a good listen.
This was a book of poetry. I’ve been wanting to read more poetry lately because I feel like there’s something to learn from the lyrical way it’s written that’s different from novels (not saying novels don’t have rhythm). Plus, I’ve always had a hard time getting into poetry and really understanding them so I wanted to challenge myself to read more of it.
This collection went through a love life. The beginning, the fall, the restarting, the new love. It was all very sweet and relatable. He spoke about the feelings of wanting her back when he knew it was wrong. Knowing that pain was inevitable. Dating others, but comparing them. And then finding one he didn’t want to compare with. It was a great journey through love and loss.
The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell
Here is my craft book and mark off my reading list. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Of all that I’ve read in my journey to become a better writer, this one has had some of the best tips and tricks. It covered so many things; the brainstorming process, the writing process, and the publishing endeavors. There are so many tabs sticking out of the side for later reference.
The most important thing I learned from this book was another way to get around writer’s block or character block. I’m definitely going to implement the voice journal for my characters when I get stuck with where they’re going.
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I feel pretty accomplished this month and hope that I can keep up the momentum in April. I’m going to push myself to read more paper books again and get through my craft book in only one month this time instead of three. And I’m going to spend a little bit more time reflecting on them so maybe these posts will be a little bit more informative for you. What are your goals this month?