Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

I'm trying to figure out what I want for lunch today. I've got a choice between a sandwich (a really good one but I already had it once this week), Vietnamese, Mediterranean, or McDonald's (this one is really low on the list honestly). Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Yup, it was the best possible outcome. There is a part of me that wonders if they just had the wrong date and are actually showing up today or something. As I was typing that I actually triple checked the date again. Oh well, if they do they will have to deal with the fact that my place isn't 100% set up for them.

It's actually kind of odd really. I'm not sure if anyone was actually in today. My bed kind of looks like it was moved but I could also be imagining things. Outside of that nothing looks like it was moved, touched, or anything else. I even double checked the entry permit to make sure it was supposed to be today and it was.

The inevitable anxiety before I get home after the pest inspection. The logic part of my brain knows things will be fine. My things will be moved and I'll have to put some things away but everything will be fine. The other part of my brain is expecting to get home to find caution tape and biohazard signs on the door to my place.

I'm not sure why it can't be done. The only reason I see it existing might be because manga can have multiple releases in the same year versus a book that might take a year or two between books (depending on the author). It should be a basic feature though for all series.

Today is the annual pest inspection in my building, aka my least favorite day of the year. Tons of strangers walking through my place, pawing through my things, moving all my stuff, etc. Hopefully today is busy at work so I don't dwell on it to much.

Good luck Belles!

I am reading The Supernatural Enhancements and this is one weird book. I'm about 70 pages in and I'm not sure exactly what the heck is going on. Our main character, A, gets a house from his second cousin in a will. He has never heard of this cousin before and he travels to Virginia from Europe with his companion Niamh. His cousin committed suicide by throwing himself out of the third floor window exactly like his father did and at exactly the same age. There are rumors of all sorts of spooky things at the house and suspicious "rites". This mysterious group of people get together once a year just before Christmas for two weeks before splitting up again. I have so many questions and every page just adds more questions. There are questions about A, about Niamh, the house, the history of the place, the mysterious group, the spooky happenings. The writing style just adds to the questions as the entire book is told through diary entries, audio recordings, letters, security footage, phone bills, etc. I just don't know what to make of this thing.

Time for that weekly roundup and this has been a week of ups and downs.

Off Kilter -4 Stars
This was the first of two novels that I read for challenges this week and it was pretty good. I have developed some pretty mixed feelings in regards to cozy mysteries over the years. On one hand they are great for challenges. You can find cozy mysteries set in all sorts of places with MC's doing all sorts of jobs. Combine that with covers full of all sorts of things and they are prime challenge material. On the other hand there are so many of them that are formulaic and dull as dishwater. Not necessarily bad but just bland and paint by numbers. Now this mystery has a lot of the expected tropes but it was entertaining. It's set in small town Scotland and our MC finds herself involved with a local murder mystery. You can figure out the killer by applying a little cozy mystery logic. It's obviously not the "friend" character, it's obviously not the "love interest" character, it's also not the police character, or the character/s that the author is try to make look guilty. It's the other named character that is barely on the page. I'm not sure how I can explain why I liked this so lets chalk it up to the Scottish brogue that I got to listen to while listening to this book. Not the "what the hell did you just say to me" brogue but the made for TV one that is pleasant to the ear.

The Scent Keeper -3 Waters
This book is about a billion miles away from anything even remotely close to what I normally read and I had a hard time with this one. I gave this a three star rating because there is a part of me that can appreciate what this book was trying to do even if it was so not for me. This book has a lot of messages about fairy tales vs reality, about trauma passed from generation to generation, and probably a few other things that I just couldn't care to pick up. This was squarely in the camp of literary fiction the only hint of anything even mystical was some fairy tale stuff in the beginning that was basically the kids imagination. In my opinion this book was about the MC getting the stuffing kicked out of them by life in general. This might make for compelling reading for some and I'm not going to knock you if this is what you like. I get enough of that though in my everyday life. Every time I watch/read the news, browse the internet, etc, etc, etc. I don't need more of it in my escape from all that stuff. I'd rather read about vampires getting shot by shotguns then someone coming to a self realization about their inner feelings and what it means in regard to their relationship with their mother/father. By the end of the book I was just wanting it to end but even I wasn't prepared for the abrupt ending that this book had. It just got to this big revelation point and the book just said "screw it, I'm done, going home now". It resolved none of the story points at all. It just left you hanging with the barest of hints about what happened to anyone in the book. If I was more invested in things I'd probably be a lot more upset about that ending.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 19 -3 Stars
Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 20 -4 Stars
Maybe it was because I was in a mood but I'm kind of becoming a bit split on this series. When it's telling a story I'm really enjoying the series. Volume twenty was a great example of that. There was a story with character moments and development that was fun to read. Then we have volumes like volume nineteen that is just gags and not even new ones but repeats of gags that have already been done a few times in the series. It just kind of feels phoned in. Like the author had writers block but still had a deadline so it was just throw things on the page and go.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 2 -4 Stars
I finally got the second volume of this series and I'm floored by this story. This is a story that is throwing everything into the mix. Martial arts, sci-fi, dimension hopping, all out warfare, reincarnation, mysticism, and magic all mixed into one story. It's just bonkers the shifts in story telling that can happen in this series and I'm loving every moment of it. I am also loving all the little references to the various iterations of the Turtles that came before this. I am now waiting "patiently" for the next volume to come in.

Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, Vol. 4 -4 Stars
More of this series and more progress for our characters as they try to save their apartment building and get a clothing company up off the ground.

Berserk Deluxe Edition Volume 10 -5 Stars
More Berserk and at this point I think my love of the series is well established. I was spoiled for a big reveal that happens later on and it makes moments in this book both make more sense and suddenly hit so much different. I won't spoil anything but there was certain scenes in here that suddenly felt completely different from the first few times I read this series.

As for what is next.

The Mist I needed a quick book for a challenge when the one I was working on fell through. This is not my first time reading this book but it will be the first time on audio so I'm interested to see if that changes anything.

The Supernatural Enhancements Another challenge book and an author I've been meaning to return to since I read Meddling Kids. After that I'm not sure and will play it by ear.

Only 30 minutes left in my book. It's nearly done and then I can move on.

Hmmm, I consider this to be one of the hardest questions ever but I'll give it a shot.

Introverted
Weird
Reader/book lover
Hermit like
Loner

Man do I feel called out after reading that. I think I'm guilty, no, no, I know I'm guilty of all of those things. It's not a conscious thing either. There are just times where I just don't want to interact with people. I'm tired, I'm just done with things, I could try to interact but anything I say would be construed as being rude, so I just shut my mouth and retreat inside.

Today... today has been a day. A day I do not want to repeat any time soon. There was an urgent rush that was the result of, lets just say poor communication to remain polite and today has been a blur. I came in 7, that's earlier than my normal start time, and I've worked 8.5 hours straight with no breaks for anything. I did pause a couple times to pour water down my throat when I felt dust puffing out when I breathed out. The work got done, still not sure how, and now I get to enjoy all the aches and pains catching up to me after pulling a stunt like that. I was going to walk home this evening but I think those plans are cancelled. I just want my chair, some snacks, and a nap.

Our companies requirement is 6" boots but those rest on my ankle bone and drive me insane. I've worn 8" boots for nearly 20 years now and these are the ones that I find the most comfortable and what works best for what I do. While my feet don't do all the work that my hands do using my feet as tools is common. Something doesn't move, kick it/nudge it/persuade it. Can't reach something under your bench, use your foot. That kind of mindset plus just all the miles and stress you put on your boots. That's why I have no issue dropping $200+ bucks on a pair of boots. I went cheap once and only once. That was a decision I regretted immensely.

My work ones are the ones that got the new insoles. My work boots are pretty heavy duty. Steel toed, steel shank, 8" high, thick soles, size 12. It all makes for a heavy boot.

I got a new pair of insoles for my boots today and man was that an excellent move. It's breathed new life into my boots and it's once again like walking on clouds. It might sound like something silly to be happy about but when you have 5-10 pounds of leather strapped to your feet for 8+ hours a day it's the little things that matter.

I have the same issue with some horror novels, looking at you Hill House, where it will go super hard on the spooky elements only to shatter the illusion and disprove it. It's a fine line to walk as it can be a done well to instill doubt in what is happening but once that illusion is broken there is just no going back.

I got started on it and a couple of early observations. I don't hate the writing but I'm not exactly vibing with it either. It's hard to explain but I'd describe it as kind of whimsical with lots of metaphors. The other thing that is kind of bugging me is a problem I have with magical realism in general. I'm finally feeling the writing, I'm getting lost in the whimsy, settling in for a magical adventure, then bam, it's shattered by something to remind you that this is not fantasy, this is not whimsical, it's just some flowery writing in a modern setting and it just irks me. I don't know why but it just gets under my skin and irks me. If you want to write fantastical stuff then do it. Full on commit to it already. Don't sit here teasing me with all this fantastical stuff to then rip it all away from me.

Holding my nose and plunging into a book that is not my normal wheelhouse. I'm going to be starting The Scent Keeper so I can work on closing off a challenge that has been sitting for a while. This book can either go one of two ways in my opinion. It somehow wins me over and I enjoy the book or I'm bored to tears.

Nice selection!