Raven's (On Time) Attempt at 75 Books in 2026! (Chapter One)

Hello, my dears! Blessed be, and welcome to my little internet niche.
If you're new here, hi. My name is Angela; I also answer to Raven (one of my favorite birds).


I am a 30-something lady from Illinois - the majestic land of Lincoln, soybeans, and terrible governors. I work a modest retail position and will be going back to college this year to get a master's degree in Library Sciences. My loves are simple: Plants, cats, hot drinks, books, yarn crafts, and delicious food. I live with two kitties (only one mine) and write in my spare time. Despite my desire to be an author someday, my grammar and spelling are occasionally FUBAR. Mea maxima culpa.

I was a voracious reader as a teenager before I fell off the wagon as an adult. I've returned to the hobby now and have been Doing My Best(tm) to read 75 books in a year. This thread (and hopefully others) will chronicle my reading journey. This occasionally intersects with my mental health journey, but all things triggering will be tagged.

Join me for my fourth (I think) attempt; maybe we'll be friends!


This is Salem, my Cat/Son. He's a little dusty sometimes; forgive him. The bean crop certainly looks good this year...

Favorite Generes
- Horror
- Thriller
- Mystery

Favorite Teas
(in no particular order)
- English Breakfast or Irish
- Chai
- A flavor from Bigalow called "constant comment"
- Hibiscus
- Matcha
- Rose Hips
-My blend of Chamomille, Peppermint, and Spearmint

Generes This Year
- Horror
I started notcing I wasn't having much of a reaction to horror at one point, so I took an extended break. Now I'm back and so excited to be spooked.

- Non-fiction: Chasing my Hyperfixations!
This year, my resolution is to be curious again and chase whatever fascinates me. This could include my fascination with Neopaganism/Wicca, my love of plants, or other topics I have a healthy/morbid curiosity about.

-Romance/Romantacy
It's time for me to see what has everyone so spellbound. While still giving myself the option to DNF if I get bored, or find myself not enjoying the ride.

-YA Novels
Same as above; but with the added bonus of wanting to see what the group I wanna work with someday is reading.

-Whatever is still unread on my bookshelf.
I'm proud of myself for not buying many, if any, new books in 2025. Now, let's keep combing through what we have.

Stats

January: 1 Book
- Kitchen Witchcraft For Beginners

February
- Alley
- Black Paradox
- A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants

March
- Wicked Plants
- The Green Witch

April
- Tink&Wendy
- Metadata

May
- Ancient Magus Bride Vol.1

June
None.

July

Welcome back for 2026, Angela.

Hello Angela! I love your username and Raven is one of my fave birds too and also because I love Harry Potter and I am a Ravenclaw. Salem is adorable and I love his name! I look forward to seeing your reads this year.

Welcome back!

>3 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!
>4 crazy4reading: Hello, Monica, nice to meet you :)
Thanks, he's named after Sabrina; I found clips from the show in the 90s on Youtube and fell head-over-heels.

I starred your thread and look forward to see your reads too.

>5 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

Happy new thread Angela/Raven!! Wishing you lots of good books and I hope you thoroughly enjoy going for your Master's Degree! : )

Happy to see you back again, Angela. Love the photo of Salem up top. Such a cutie.

New Year greetings from Kuala Lumpur. My project is at least physically completed and an addition to the city scape.

Look forward to keeping up with you in 2026

Happy New Year Raven and Salem!

Hello my lovelies, happy 2026!
Tea and Chat time; let's get cozy.


Fun fact: I know this brand of teaware. Can vouch for the quality.

So, life in 2026 is off to a fine start overall. Spent the last day of 2026 working (there's poetry there) and then the first day of the new year off at my folks' place for a fancy dinner. My roommate and I finally have a day off together from our jobs, so we're gonna go hang out, go out to eat, and all that stuff. I've gotten most of my ducks in a row for classes by double-checking my aid and getting a digital notebook/ereader to deal with notes/textbooks. It still blows my mind that I'm going back to school this month; I'll need to re-familiarize myself with campus.

Salem is also starting the year fine. The last vet visit of the year gave him a clean bill of health, minus some goop in his ears. He's got a new joint supplement (that I'm totally not hiding in his dinner, no...) and I'm switching the flavor of his prescription food...because he makes frequent attempts to steal the other cats' food. It feels like I live with a Toddler sometimes.

Book Report
- Started my first venture back into horror with House Of Leaves. I can't wait to be messed with on a subconcious level.
- Still reading For The Wolf. I think we met the wolf.
He was described as dark-haired, hard-faced, being "Too tall, shadows too dark" and, because I read a lot of scary stories...I started picturing Peter Steele from Type O-Negative if he were Slender Man.
- Still reading about Kitchen Witchcraft as well.
- The audio adventure of Pride and Prejudice continues.
Mrs. Bennett's attempt to use her sick daughter as a Cuckoo bird in the nest of Neitherfield has been foiled by her other daughter, who's sick and tired of Caroline's stupid face and Darcy's handsome face.

>12 Ravenwoodwitch: OOoooOOOooo, House of Leaves. I *love* that one.

>12 Ravenwoodwitch:, >13 scaifea: Yeah, me too. I picked up a copy last year, it’s on my list for a reread this year. It’ll be my third time, I think.

>14 drneutron: I've only read it once, but I bet it's a book that feels new every time.

>13 scaifea: >14 drneutron: >15 scaifea: Oh, the suspense is delicious.
I'm on the introduction and already feeling nervous, lol.

Happy new year, Angela! Looking forward to keeping up with you and Salem this year :)

>16 Ravenwoodwitch: I must find a copy of it too, Angela, but all the copies I have seen in Malaysia have been ridiculously expensive.

Books Finished in 2026 #1 - Kitchen Witchcraft for Beginners(Ebook)

In books like this, I'm very keen to research who is talking to me and what their goals are; I refuse to give attention, free or otherwise, to someone telling people to drink apple cider vinegar for cancer or stick things where they do not belong (I'm looking at you, Paltrow).
From my research, Miss Hunt is another pagan practitioner who sells food for metaphysical purposes (olive oil infused with garlic and rosemary for protection and prosperity, that kind of thing) and not a snakeoil salesman who could cause much harm. Of course, if I'm wrong, I want people to tell me and I'll update here.
The book DOES have a section of "traditional medicines" that I would caution against, however. Think Fire Cider for sore throats, that sort of thing.
As for me, I found this book interesting, if a bit underwhelming. There are some ideas I'll be exploring for my own day-to-day, but I prefer to keep my food free of any meanings beyond the basics; it makes it easier to keep food guilt/shame free.

Well, hello everyone!
Life update again, so, let me pour you a cup. Or three.

Let's go classy this time with one of my favorite stories...

A very merry UnBirthday to me...and soon to be an actual Happy Birthday...well, tomorrow.

On that, I celebrated with my roomie by going out to eat - most of my other friends had plans and couldn't make it - and will be celebrating with my parents today. I requested a meal from my childhood as a gift (my mama's oven-roasted chicken is to die for), and I'm quite excited. My age...ah, well, still in my 30-somethings *wink*. I'm also excited because my classes start up this week. I went to a required orientation for on-campus students a few days ago and really enjoyed it. It's fascinating to me to learn the different fields everyone came from: medieval literature, art, music, etc...

The rest of my time has just been sorting out all the boring adult crap: student insurance, student loan stuff, etc. Work has been slow with hours few; Salem has been feeling so well he's been testing my patience by looking for scraps off the floor (*sigh*); and I still haven't taken our christmas tree down. Maybe I should fix that.

Or...not. *shrug*.

Book Report
My audiobooks have hit pause because my headphones broke. Right before I'll be spending a lot of time on the bus, too, because of of course.
- Finished my first neo-pagan book and thought it was "meh."
- Still working on: For The Wolf, House of Leaves, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
- It's time. Starting A Court Of Thorns and Roses as my ebook when my physical books aren't in reach.

>20 Ravenwoodwitch: I thoroughly approve of your current reads, plus ACOTAR WOOT!!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday! 🎉

Happy birthday! 🎁

Happy belated birthday, Angela!

Happy belated birthday!! I hope it was excellent.

I will also chime in with belated birthday wishes, Angela. xx

Happy belated birthday!

I wish you luck with ACOTAR. I know it's loved by many but it was a hate read for me. I read the whole series so a friend would have someone to chat about it with (she was also not a fan but we did have fun mocking it).

It's just two classes and I'm already behind—so much fun.

Hi everybody. As you can see, I started school last week; and my free time has shrunken to a stolen moment here and there. I did not realize there was reading that *I* was supposed to track down before the first day of class and have done by now. But now I know, and I should be caught up by my next class. In the meantime...ho boy am I tired.

Joking aside, I like my courses so far. This semester, I'm getting the required courses out of the way. First is Information Organization (Metadata, Schemas and Catalogs, oh my!) and then a class on the current issues facing Libraries and other information science specialists in society (this week is about online privacy; more specifically, our lack thereof. That one has me in a tizzy). This is thick stuff but it helps that I'm actually quite interested in the subject.

Oh, fun thing! One of my readings actually mentioned this website.

Anyway, not much is happening besides that. I survived snowpacolypse by doing homework inside; I still haven't finished a teddybear for my nephew (just gotta sew stuff on); and I haven't had much reading time that wasn't an academic text. I may include those on my total if I finish any actual books. So far, all my reading has been articles and single chapters (all free! Perks of professors who share my belief that paywalls are evil).

>22 drneutron: >23 elorin: >24 figsfromthistle: >25 norabelle414: >26 curioussquared: >27 PaulCranswick: >28 MickyFine: Thanks everyone!
>21 scaifea: >28 MickyFine: Lol I haven't even started it yet. If my ereader is on I'm probably doing homework, but I'm hoping to change that soon!

Yay (and also ooof) for grad school! Your classes sound cool, and yeah, you'll get caught up, of course. I remember that I was a couple of years into grad school before I figured out a balance that let me get back into reading my own stuff on the regular again, but I hope you have better luck in that department. I'm sure you will - I was a hot mess my first couple of years.

Grad school is definitely tough and I was so fortunate to find pals in my cohort that made the whole process survivable. Are you planning to do course-based or thesis for your program (if those are options at your school?)?

I hope you're catching up, Angela! You should definitely count your academic articles and chapters toward your books for the year.

>32 norabelle414: For sure, Nora!

I am thinking of taking another degree possibly through the Open University in England when I finally manage to relocate. Since I have Construction Management and Law already I thought that something traditional would be great. Either English Literature or History probably. When I was at Warwick I took English, History and Politics but faced with the distinct possibility of unemployment I changed course and took Construction Management at the nearby and Coventry Polytechnic (then under the awarding aegis of Warwick). English and History are my first loves at least in an academic sense.

>30 scaifea: >31 MickyFine: Thanks guys! I'm doing okay on finding a balance, and I've made some changes recently that I think will keep that going.
I have a thesis option, though I'm not sure what I'd write about. Currently, it's based on reaching 40 hours with two required courses (which I'm getting both out of the way this year, hence why I'm so busy). They have a "pathways" program that I'll be speaking to a counciler about, though, to get an idea on what courses would work for me.
>32 norabelle414: Thanks Nora,
So far so good. Fell behind again earlier this week because I got a little sick, but we're back on course.
And, you know what? that should count. If I read enough chapters from a book I'll count it.
>33 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul!
I think you should go for it. It makes me kinda sad that our systems encourage chasing what's lucrative over what makes us happy (at least academically speaking).

Hello again, everyone!
I looked up from my homework and realized it was almost March. Let's have a sip and a chat, shall we?

FYI, I am taking pains never include AI images in these little updates; if I falter, please feel free to let me know.

In school, little has changed since our last catch-up. I continue to be piled on the daily with readings and minor homework assignments. But I do feel a little less like the outsider looking in these days. A classmate actually reached out to me for help on a chapter we were both going to present on. It feels good to see that people on the inside of the field already also find this stuff thick (if you wanna see me rant, ask me why the Library of Congress Subject Headings are so, so very annoying). The major difference is that I'm seeking some medical help from my doctor to manage my neurodivergency. I'm finding it difficult to focus in class.

Also, fun fact: This website gets mentioned multiple times in my reading. They don't like our user-tag system, lol.

Homelife is also fine. We had a scare a couple nights ago; the cat got sick with a very stubborn hairball that, thankfully, did not escalate. But he's otherwise doing absolutely fine, as am I. I'm finding the time to read stuff I want this time, though I found that it helped this month if I focused on shorter reads I can sneak in. To accommodate this, I'm limiting myself to one "large" book plus one smaller book this time, and the same for my audiobook/ebook. This does mean several books I started (because my Neurodivergent brain gets all the dopamine off checking out new books) are on pause. There was one DNF that I will discuss, though.

I'm going on vacation soon as well. We're hitting up Washington, D.C., where I hope to see the Botanical Gardens, the Smithsonian, and the zoo. But I'll pass on visiting the government landmarks; I'm not feeling patriotic this year. I can't imagine why. *sips tea in frustration*.

Some reviews to come soon. I'll be trying to catch up on all of you as well!

>35 Ravenwoodwitch: I'm glad you're doing well!
No pressure, obviously, but let me know if you want to have a meet-up while you're in DC! Or if you need any recommendations.

Firstly:
DNF- For The Wolf
I got halfway through the book; and I still could not be bothered to care what was happening. I think it's a problem when a character mentions caring for the love interest, and the first words out of my mouth are "But why?"
Review specifies my main concerns, but I can sum it all up in one big "meh."

Second.
Books Finished in 2026 #2- Alley (Physical Book)
Diving back into my favorite genre with my favorite author; alphabetically. This collection is not his best work, but still a fun read.

Third.
Books Finished in 2026 #3 -Black Paradox (physical book)
I forgot about this one; that's a crying shame because it's even better the second time around.

Fourth.
Books Finished in 2026 #4 -A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants (audiobook)
A rare instance where my penchant for plants and morbid topics/horror has intersected. I want this book for my coffee table.

Lastly, the current lineup.

Reading
- House of Leaves (and making progress. I'd say I'm about 1/4th of the way in.)
The house has grown by that fated less-than-an-inch! And Johnny had a rant about his dad in the middle of sleeping with a woman who used to read to the old man....he's a complicated man, I suspect. Also, something may be following him. Just saying.
I'm curious by the way: To those who have read it, how close do I pay attention to edits that aren't Johnny?

- The Green Witch (Started. Research on Miss Mirphy-Hiscock doesn't suggest any scams or Goop-like health fiascos, so we're off to a good start).

- Pride and Prejudice (Still listening, and we are about halfway done!)
Darcy is attempting to flirt with Elizabeth while she's visiting Charlotte and Parson Insufferable. T-Minus until the bomb is dropped about Jane...)

There's another one sitting in my ebook reader; I'll make it known if I decide to read it or return it.

>37 Ravenwoodwitch: Yep, those were pretty much my thoughts too. It's not a good sign when you think, "Who cares?!"

>38 Ravenwoodwitch: >39 Ravenwoodwitch: Oooh, I need to get back to Junji Ito soon.

>41 Ravenwoodwitch: I struggled with trying to pay attention to *everything* in that book. But that's probably part of the point.

>42 scaifea: You'll pick up some possible reads from Ito this year; I have a LARGE collection and I'm going through it all. I have almost everything currently available in English print, I'd say. I just haven't been able to buy the latest stuff (being a broke college student has its drawbacks. Le sigh,)

>43 Ravenwoodwitch: Excellent! I can't wait to see your reviews!

Books Finished in 2026 #5-Deserter
The content warnings are in my review; I highly encourage you pay attention to them because they are intense. The cover itself is also kinda gnarly so let me know if I need to hide it.
Spoilers to further elaborate on the content warnings.
Also, I feel like "creative bodyhorror" doesn't get across what I mean so here's one spoiler. In "Where The Sandman Lives", a man's dream self is trying to escape into the real world by turning the man inside out...from the inside. Imagine one of those inflatable floppy men sucking inward, and you get the idea.
The "Infantacide" comes from the "Village of the Siren." It's standard B-movie satanism stuff that involves this in mass.

That said, I changed my rating to 5 stars after reading this again. It's much better than I remember.

Hello all!
Heading here before my trip. Spring break is here, and I turned in my final homework assignment a couple of days ago. I've been packing for the trip, deciding what will and won't fit in my bags, and trying to get my house in working order; I hate coming home to chores.

I also dropped the cats off at the vet's boarding facility. The way Salem cried out when I put him in the carrier made me feel like the worst owner that ever walked the earth. This house is empty without him. It's been a couple of hours, and I already miss him so damn bad.

For books, I'm only bringing books I own. The idea of losing a library book abroad makes me wanna shriek into the void. So, the reading lineup is gonna change but I'm anticipating getting more done this time.

Naturally, I'll have pictures. See you all when I get back!

Whelp. That's what I get for tempting fate. When I tell you I was literally on the plane, I mean that I was literally buckled into the plane, when a single sentence changed everything for the worse: The flight is delayed, and we're going to Deplane the aircraft.

A bad storm rolled through my state on Sunday, delaying flights at first. We got off the plane and saw that we were rebooked for a different flight after (basically, we had two planes to take to get to DC, which became three planes) before the worst-case scenario hit. All flights out of Chicago were canceled on Sunday due to the weather. We were clearly going nowhere that day, so we tried to rebook a flight for Monday, figuring we could just stay at a hotel one night, only for it to get worse. All attempts to book another flight to take us out of Chicago were full. And, by this point, my roommate and I had lost our tempers with the two clearly overwhelmed workers behind the desk at the gate. So, we cut our losses for mental health and canceled the trip. Thus, my trip has become a staycation.

This sucks so very hard. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, and I'd planned to meet with Nora, so I feel awful that I couldn't keep my promise. But today I'm more even-keeled about it. We got our refunds on both the flight and the hotel in DC; and I still have a whole week off class and work. There's always summer or next year. We're gonna let the cats stay at the boarder to make it easier if we decide to take a day trip during the week (and I wanna reinforce with him that ANY amount of time I'm away will always end with me coming to get him).

Today I made up for things by visiting the local used book store, because there's no better way to lick my wounds than new books on the cheap. I walked away with...
- The Winter Witch
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (given my love of Pride, Prejudice and Zombies, this seemed like a great find).
- Every Heart a Doorway

We also visited a small shop that sells certified fairtrade goods from places like Kenya, Uganda, etc. All handmade and usually tied to a fund or charity of some kind (I saw signs for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and The Starfish Project). I bought some Tea that comes from Kenya. I never get to explore this place as often as I'd like so it was fun to look inside today. That's my goal overall right now to salvage this week: go places I don't normally go around town, relax, and organize around the house when I feel like I have time and energy.

Not that the whole thing still doesn't suck. Because it does. *sigh*

>47 Ravenwoodwitch: I'm sorry we didn't get to meet up, too! If it makes you feel better the weather has been crazy here today and no flights are getting in so you definitely made the right choice to cancel.

Oh I'm sorry your plans were cancelled that is a definite bummer. But it sounds like you're going to make the most of your staycation so wishing you lots of fun at home!

Oh dang, it's so disappointing when things get canceled. I'm sorry. But yay for a trip to the bookstore!

Hello everyone!
I have some reviews to write, so I won't be long here. I am well, as well as a mostly-broke grad student can be.

I'm still buried under piles of work, but I've managed not to be crushed. I enjoyed the last half of my stay-cation with more relaxation time than I expected, but I think it was needed. It felt nice to just lay around and watch more YouTube videos. I just finished an appointment with the academic advisor to get some class recommendations for the fall semester (can't believe we're almost done with this one). I'm actually excited about the final project I'm working on for one of my current classes. I'm researching information literacy gaps; mainly, how a lack of knowledge on using electronics, computers, and the internet at large comes from unequal distribution of access to said items (and not just 'older person = doesn't get technology' as so many people believe). My other class also wants a proposal for an "information problem within an organization' so I picked my job, and how to solve the never-ending question I always get: "What was the name of the scent you guys had that looked like x/y/z..?"

Salem is doing very well. I heard him howling in the vet hallway when we picked him up, and he clung to me for a couple of nights after we brought him home. I'm hoping, as stressful as this was for him, that he'll understand now that he'll always come home.

Anyhow, I gotta get ready to do volunteer stuff. Reviews to come!

Hi Angela! It sounds like school is going well -- hooray! And I'm glad you had a nice staycation :D

It's *so* nice when you can be excited about a project you have to do, isn't it? I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying your classes so far!

>51 Ravenwoodwitch: Glad you're doing well! Looking forward to your reviews.

Glad to hear you're finding your classes engaging, Angela. Good luck with making it through the final push to the end of term.

Books Finished in 2026 #6 - The Green Witch (physical book)
It's lovely when two of my hyperfixations can meet in the middle.
To my knowledge, this author is not running any kind of health scam/religious scam, and is, in fact, well respected for this book in the pagan community. As always, if I'm wrong, please let me know.
I found this one very interesting; there's some work here about being present in nature that I think will fit perfectly in my day-to-day. And while I adore a good cup of herbal tea (and all forms of plants) I'm not much for essential oils or kitchen magic. It is better for me that food remains neutral and to keep essential oils as far, far away from this cat-household as possible.

Books Finished in 2026 #7-Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
The answer is snakeroot. Look up 'Milk Sickness' if you wanna be paranoid.
I appear to have a curiosity about this subject, and that's okay.
I didn't quite finish this one because my checkout time was running out, but I got so damn close that I decided to include it. Beautiful illustrations, great information, a great book if you have a passing curiousity about the subject.
There are so many kitchen staples that are in the nightshade family! Potatos, tomatos, and peppers just to name a few....

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Have a cup of coffee with me before I head to class?
Yes, I drink that too, especially when I haven't slept well.


That same day I posted to all of you that we were great was the day Salem got sick again, late in the evening. Maybe he saw me saying we were in the clear and decided to be cheeky. Either way, he started throwing up every hour. Given his history, I took him to the ER late evening into early morning. The jury is still out on what made him so sick, but it was determined that he didn't have another blockage. My vote is that he ate something he shouldn't have. The little bugger is doing fine, maybe a little bored of the bland food I have to feed him while his stomach calms down.

I'm doing fine, all that aside. I get to sign up for new classes later today. My garden starters are sprouting (red peppers and swiss chard so far; I'm gonna add more once I do some research on companion planting). I was made aware that it was "Halfway to Halloween," so I picked up some spooky stuff from the library to watch. I watched Child's Play yesterday evening (that's the original Chucky film for those that don't know) and it's so much better than I thought it was. After I sign up for classes today, I will indulge in another.

Which do you guys think should be next:
1. Creepshow?
or
2. Godzilla On Monster Island? (not a horror movie, but i do love giant monsters)
or
3. Hellboy (again, not a horror movie, but I'm told it's fun. It's got that mallgoth/2000s vibe with the trench coats and the monochrome sets).

Book Report
- I promise I'm still working on House of Leaves.
Johnny just had some weird rant about a girl he liked; and Davidson nearly lost his kids in the extended hallway.

- We just crossed the halfway marker of Pride and Prejudice!
meaning Elizabeth just learned the truth about Wickem, Darcy, and her entire misinterpretation about the situation at large. This perspective shift extends to us as well, and its bloody brilliant.

Oh no! Sorry Salem was ill but glad he is doing better. Goose did the same thing on Sunday -- he was totally lethargic and listless and wouldn't eat even high-value treats, so I rushed him to the ER vet. He had a fever but they couldn't find a cause. Lots of expensive diagnostic tests later and his fever had disappeared on its own, and two days later he seems pretty much back to normal 🤷‍♀️

>59 curioussquared: Oh gosh, poor Goose! And poor you; that kind of stress is no bueno right now, I'm sure.
But thank you. His diagnostics also came back mostly clean, minus some gastritis and elevated liver enzymes. I'm glad he's better, but I would have loved some answers.
I soothe myself by chuckling at where they shaved him for IVs, right on the arms. My roommate and I have been joking that he's got the "boots with the fur."

Well, hello everyone; guess who's finally FREE (for at least a couple months)?

Me, for the past month

I survived my first semester of Grad school! And now my brain is so fried that any kind of reading has been like climbing up a muddy hill. I find myself starring at youtube videos and playing games that don't involve too much of my attention, like Slay the Spre and Potioncraft. And, if I can wave my report card around like a proud preschooler, I walked away from this with 90%+ in both classes. Off to a good start!

I'm back now because I think I've rested from social interactions long enough. I do have some books to add to the total, and I'll be playing catch-up with all of the other threads. Free to answer any questions as well!

Books Finished in 2026 #8 - Tink And Wendy (Physical Book)

So, hey, anyone remember that period in the 2000s? When Fanfiction writers were under the impression that the key to being the best writer was to write something as unnecessarily dark and overly sad as possible?
This book has that vibe real hard. Jokes on them, though, because that was MY era and I live for this shit. I imagine my review will still get people mad at me since they seem to love this book, but I enjoyed it more like I enjoy watching a ridiculous anime.

Books Finished in 2026 #9-Metadata

The only book I finished in full for class reading this semester. And, honestly? I'm keeping it. Pomerantz has a fantstic writing style and I feel like I have a better understanding of Metadata now.
The whole thing is still confusing, and I admire my professor for attempting to teach it, but I got a better idea of it!
(So, how many of my fellow librarians had to read this one too?)

>63 Ravenwoodwitch: I took a course on Metadata but this was published a few years after I finished library school. Glad you enjoyed it though!

>62 Ravenwoodwitch: Ha! Oh yeah, you definitely need to read Darling. Funny that we read such similar books at the same time!

>64 MickyFine: Fascinating, thank you.
This was for a broad class on Information Organization (Taxonomies, Catalogs, and Indexes, oh my!) that was part of the required courses. I can't say I find what I learned here *easy* but it did give me a better idea of how we leave digital footprints. That actually sticks with me; it bothers me how much this is behind the scenes and how little people actually understand about the data being collected about them. Not the data itself, just the fact that people aren't being given the education to make informed decisions about it.

>62 Ravenwoodwitch: Got me with this - added to my wishlist.

Hello Hello everyone. I should probably now give a more coherent, less scattered update.
First of all, Happy Pride Month!

Second, as mentioned in another thread and maybe here, my life is discombobulated because we are redoing the bathroom. It's gonna look great - there's a deepsoak tub waiting for me on the other side, and more legroom - but the interim involves strangers walking about my house, and the use of an outdoor potty. It's such a mindfuck to use a port-a-potty at my own home.

Less trouble and more just odd, one of the men - the TileMan as I've been calling him - is Amish. I confess my experience with them is limited, so I'm not sure if the oddities I'm seeing are cultural or just him personally, but it has been interesting. He apologized when he ate lunch at our dinner table (I assured him this was fine), he's been very unresponsive to small talk (also fine) and, during today's lunch, I saw that he took a book to read off my shelf. I debated for a while whether I should warn him that the book he picked, The Lady Of Secrets, features both witchcraft and erotica. Decided against it, and he put it back where he found it.
At any rate, he's otherwise when polite and professional. They all have, which is the saving grace.

As mentioned, I finished my first semester of Grad school with passing grades. I have enjoyed the experience thus far, even though it's entailed tones of work. I feel more connected to the material and it feels less like memorizing facts for a test and more like actual job training. I'm a litle sad that both of my classes for next semester have to be online (I will need to keep a running list of excuses to leave the house) but I'm very excited for them both. We'll be actually taking courses about the public library sector in the fall. This first one for the spring was more nuts and bolts of information organization and the theories behind information science.
TL/DR: I learned that, yes, there are big differences between an "Index" and a "Catalog," and that "Information Professionals" have a lot of issues in the back of their mind. Fun times.

Ah, lastly, the books. YES the books.
(Real quick, I saw a video by Daniel Greene about the death of the Mass Market Paperback and how it could make the prices of physical books hella expensive now. Good video; do recommend.)

Books Currently Reading:
- Still reading House of Leaves when I have the mental energy for it and listening to Pride and Prejudice (halfway done, woo-hoo!)
- Started and will keep reading The Witch's Daughter.
- Finished another Manga
- Starting again on my favorite manga series, The Ancient Magus Bride! I'm so excited.

WAIT.

My hold for Dungeon Crawler Carl just came through.
Pivot time!

>69 Ravenwoodwitch: Congrats on getting through your first semester of grad school. I hope you enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl even half as much as I did. Happy Pride Month! 🌈

Hi Angela!!

Congrats on surviving your first semester!! That's huge :)

I hope the bathroom remodel is done soon. The port-a-potty situation sounds awful. I did LOL at the book the Amish tile guy chose.

>69 Ravenwoodwitch: Lucky you! I still have ~50 people ahead of me

Mr. Fine bought all the Dungeon Crawler Carl books so when I'm ready to give them a try, I'll have easy access. 😊

What's the timeline for your bathroom reno? Is having an indoor toilet on the near horizon?

Hi everybody, been a long time. I think I went dark for the entirty of june. Sorry. My mental health this year has been interesting.

The good news is that June passed with no major events or disruptions. The only thing that's causing me trouble is the same heatwave everyone else is dealing with right now. This past week, we were in the 90s with a heat advisory for several days. But, yesterday, we had some much needed rain that finally broke the humidity. It was wonderful news for my garden, though it's hardly suffered this season. I have three VERY bushy acorn squash plants (whose vines I keep having to re-position or trim), a whole lot of dill I've managed to harvest, and some growing lemon balm. I also planted some onions which look to be doing spectatcular. I have decided this month to get back to weight-lifting and working out. I seem to be more likely to take better care of myself (eating, sleeping and hydrating) when I know that a heavy weight seisson is ahead of me, so, we're back to pumping iron. Maybe I'll walk away looking like Karlach (I'd settle for Lucy Lawless when she was Xena). My financial aid for this next academic year also came in. Yay...more debt, lol (It's fine, we'll figure it out.) My classes next semester are all online, which sucks, but I'm looking forward to them. I'll actually be digging into public librarianship and youth librarianship specifically!

As for the reading, it's been a bit rough. When my mood is low (which is had been this month) I dont find myself reading much, and often end up scrolling more. It's a habit I'm addressing, and I've managed to get myself back to my shelves. I got a good chunk done of Dungeon Crawler Carl but my checkout is about to expire and someone is waiting in line, so I'm gonna set it down here and pick it back up at a later date. I got decently far in Pride and Prejudice too, but my checked out audiobook is also due and I'm gonna set it down again and come back to it later. To be continued!

And now...we're on Chapter 9 of House of Leaves. I skimmed ahead and saw what's waiting for me and nearly quit there. Famously, this is the point where the book wants to plunge readers into the Labyrinth and send you in circles. I do confess I looked up online and on reddit to see what will help me out here and how to follow the footnotes. I also caved, and asked Google Gemini (I am aware of how bad for the enviornment AI is and am not proud here; one of the things I'm doing for the sake of my mental health is extracting AI out of my digital day-to-day). So I know generally how to approch this but I suspect the rest will be up to my patience and persistance.
I've got a bookmark, and mutliple stick notes. I'm putting everything else to the side, and I'm going in.

Anyhow, if you're still feeling partiotic at all (I'm not) happy belated 4th to my american readers and just...a happy day to everyone else, lol. I'll be catching up as best as I can.

Books Finished in 2026 #10-The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 1: Enter the Magician's Apprentice
Review to come.

>74 Ravenwoodwitch: Nice to see you posting, Angela! Good luck with your current read. :)

Dungeon Crawler Carl and the sequels were like candy to me and I binged until I ran out. I hope you are able to get back to Carl and Princess Donut sooner rather than later and enjoy them half as much as I did, at least. Congrats on a relatively quiet June!

>76 MickyFine: thanks Micky! Always happy to see you drop by.
>77 elorin: hey Robyn! Yeah, I do like what I saw. It'll be fun when I'm ready to fully sit down with it.

Hello everyone. To quote the lovely Nora, "it's Thursday."

I have work today in the afternoon, and then I have an honest-to-goddess dinner date with a bumble match. That *should* be an exciting thing, but my brain treats first dates as a terrifying ordeal so my stomach is in knots. I needed a triple espresso this morning to get started. The good news is that he seems like a sweet dude: plays jazz music as a hobby, works an escape room, loves nerdy TV shows and board games. He's me to a nice place tonight, so, all green flags so far. (not 'Nice' with a capital N and "$$" which is also a green flag for me. I'm not impressed when someone starts off immedietly with a place that's too fancy.)

I also finally got my summer haircut yesterday. That was already scheduled and just turned out to be clandestine timing. My hair is quite thick and has a tendency to get very blanket-like and heavy as it gets longer, and begins to lose its curls the linger it gets. It's now back to being bouncy ringlets and I'm SO happy to get the weight off my shoulders in this heat.

Reading:
Still working on House of Leaves .
Finally out of the inital footnotes of chapter 9, but jumping around the chapter now like a bunny. Why is some of this text upside down? Because....because. I guess.

Glad to see you posting Angela! Sorry your mental health took a bit of a dive but I hope you're on the upswing. I hope the date goes well and is fun instead of stressful!

Wishing you all the luck for your date!