As is my usual with stressful times, I'm retreating into fanfic and books. So why not post an update on my reading progress here?
Fiction:
Anatomy: A love story by Dana Schwartz
So far I'm enjoying this one! I love the Noble Blood podcast, but the writing of this novel is a little too YA for my tastes. Not that there's anything with YA! I just tend to avoid it.
Non-fiction:
All About Love b bell hooks
I've been reading this one for forever. I don't know why it's taking me so long to finish. Might sit down and sit with this one tonight. bell hooks usually isn't a struggle for me to get through - she's not purposefully obscure like other theorists.
The Way of the Rose b Clark Strand and Perdita Finn
This one is a bit unusual - it's a discussion of how to use the rosary as a way of connecting with the goddess (any goddess, not just Mary). I'm enjoying this one, but it's taking me a while to get through. I think I struggle with focus for this one.
Non-fiction: Witchy and pagan
Under the Witching Tree by Corinne Boyer
I actually have an excuse for how long this is taking me! I'm reading it by "season." It starts in the fall, then goes to winter, and now we're in spring. Though I might just read through summer. This is a really delightful look at the folklore and healing properties of trees - and not just in a Celtic way, as most tree magic books I've found have been.
New World Witchery by Corey Thomas Hutcheson
This one is great! It's a fast read once I pick it up. Unfortunately, because I'm experiencing quite a bit of burn-out, I haven't been wanting to read much occult stuff. It's a whole thing - basically because witchcraft is my job, I've been reaching for these titles less.
Loki and Sigyn: Lessons on Chaos, Laughter, and Loyalty from the Norse Gods
This one is a suuuuper fast read! I read half of it in one sitting on Saturday. The author has a very playful, snarky voice, which makes sense as this is about Loki. He's one of those gods in the Norse pantheon that I'm like "weeeeell ... I probably should be working with him" but haven't been. So we'll see what practical things I walk away with.
Fanfic:
Now, of course, when I'm SUPER burned out I tend to lose myself a bit in fandom. And if I'm being perfectly honest, this is where most of my reading has been lately. Here's what I finished that I loved:
“Oh, god,” Jon says, his eyes gone wide. The weight of everything crushing down upon him at once. They are in another universe, and they have brought hell with them. Jonah Magnus is dead, and will never find them again. Everyone they have ever known is gone, and will never find them again.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30334737/chapters/74776185 This month for Gothic and Horror Book Club, we read "Powers of Darkness: A Lost Translation of Dracula" by Bram Stoker/Valdimar Ásmundsson.
Rather than a pure translation of the finished work, this is instead a translation of what is believed to be an early draft. As it's a draft, it's far from finished. The whole structure seems to fall apart after Harker escapes from Dracula's castle. After that, there are some scenes that have been written out, and the epistolary/journal structure has been completely dropped. It's almost like reading a beat sheet in a lot of ways.
Of course, as someone who is a total nerd for Scandinavian culture and literature, there were a lot of really interesting little Easter eggs for me. They reference the Huldufolk, the Christmas Witch, and some other figures from folklore. And the way that Ásmundsson writes about supernatural things is incredibly Nordic.
It's been a long time since I read Dracula, so it's hard for me to compare the two.
The biggest differences are that in Transylvania there's just one Hot Blonde Vampire, and that Harker is very nearly taken in by her. This is opposed to scattered scenes with some nameless lady vampires. She also follows Dracula to England. Dracula meets Lucy and Mina in person, and then starts to host these kind of ... Bohemian swinger parties? It's all very horny. The Count is generally more evil and there is a whole host of cult followers that we meet that I don't remember from Dracula.
The book starts with a lot of front matter about the differences, and the potential relationship between Ásmundsson and Stoker. There is an introduction to the whole thing that is written by Stoker, and among the curiosities of that, there is a reference to the Jack the Ripper murders, saying that "what follows is just as bad as the Ripper murders." But we don't actually see what Dracula does once he gets to London - it's all in sketches here and there.
My rating is a 3/5 stars. This is fascinating as a relic, but I am not particularly a scholar of Dracula or Stoker. The read is fast once you get into it, so it's not too much time spent away from other books if you're interested.
Meanwhile, I've been trying to focus on anti-burnout strategies the last day and a half. I've definitely had to do some work stuff, but all in all it was pretty ok:
*Saturday night, instead of trying to force myself to write I went out with my partner to hir friend's birthday party. It was at a very fancy cocktail lounge and there was a live Bohemian folk band (fiddle, mandolin, and guitar).
*Sunday morning found me getting brunch with a friend I haven't seen in way too long. I've been a bit of a dingus and been afraid to reach out to them because they're super introverted (see: I have a tendency to try to manage everything in relationships and thus burn myself out)
*After brunch, we wandered to a vintage/thrift store and I finally bought a winter coat! It is fuzzy and black and has a bat wing decal on the collar
*Spent the afternoon alternately napping and talking with Anais's friend, who had come over while I was out
*Taught a 2 hour class on Earth Magic
*Came home, watched an episode of the Prisoner with my partner, then read Game of Thrones until I fell asleep.
I'm actually feeling a bit rejuvenated today, which I wasn't expecting. I've got an interview for a podcast later this morning (I'm the guest), then Mindful Meal + Therapy in the afternoon, and I'm going to try to finish the Tarotscopes for my patrons. All of this I am hoping to be done with by 3:30pm, and then: I get to RELAX. I will read FICTION. I will clean the HOUSE. I might even DO MY NAILS.
Oof. OOF. What to say about this one.
My book club chose this book because it was one of our members' favorite classics, and we all wanted to read more classics. And I have to say, this book was not at all what I thought it was, but it was also absolutely, out-of-the-blue fantastic! For some reason (probably because of this great Puppini Sisters cover), I thought it was a romance/satire, along the lines of Austrn. Not, in fact, true at all.
I think this is such a curious work of fiction because it's really hard to nail down a genre. I'm not sure if it's a romance, a tragedy, gothic, romantic ... I was engrossed, and blown away by the ending because I had no idea where Bronte was going. I can't think of one similar work. And I loved that.
It's amazing to me to read (relatively) early novels because the plot is so much more experimental. I can't imagine this book being written now. If it had been, I feel like it would have been either straight romance, or straight tragedy. Not this mix of both.
I think this resonated with me because I love stories where the characters aren't that like able. That's part of why I love Girls, and also part of why I can't watch it too faithfully.
Anyway, next up for book club is The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan. I've read it before, but I have a different impression every time.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
50bookchallenge 
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
branchandroot
