Can you believe Thanksgiving is over and we are fully into December now?! I have been trying to get into the mood of writing my daily blog post but I honestly feel so stifled that talking about myself sounds down right disgusting. I think it had something to do with the 10 page paper I had to write this weekend but that is just a *eye roll* wild guess.

I tried to write a daily blog today but all I want to do is sit and read my book. Minded today I am working in the office and it is tech week for Christmas Carol so my time to read is almost none. Saying that though here I am writing a blog post about a book I have barely had the time to read but have greatly fallen in love with.

Also I posted the link to this blog on my Instagram story today so maybe I have a few new readers?

Okay… back to the book, I am 8% of the way through it and by the end of page two I was reminded how much I love the writing style of Erin Morgenstern. I want to say I am reading this on my Kobo Libra Colour so my pages are going to be weird so just know that, okay. The last thing I need is some angry reader going “Um, actually Trevor, that quote was on page 78 in the first edition hardcover copy of the novel.” Well guess what Richard, I don’t care. I am in Book 1: Sweet Sorrows. That is all you are going to get.

Spoilers… Handle with Caution

Back to the writing… I wrote in my book “Oh wow, have I missed Erin M writing or what. Just the way she writes is so simple but I feel so immersed. The beginning is simple but I am hooked.”

Like who is this Pirate? I now know that the third part is Zachary so who is the first part about? I picture him dirty and messy but oh so very handsome.

Who is the second part about… (have you watch Kaos on Netflix? The cutting of the tongue, so they can tell the stories of other rather than their own…). Now of course we have no idea yet what the Starless Sea is yet but would you be willing to cut off your tongue for something like a maze of books? Maybe. There was a quote that I liked

…Once her voice had been muted, then her ear awaken.

Like come on. That is so true even outside of whatever is happening to the acolytes. One of the standards that we learn in counseling is that if we are trying to talk to our clients constantly then we are not actually listening to what they are saying. We need to sit back and hear the words, the inflection, the body language to truly start understanding and hearing what they have to say. I know those two things are no unrelated I made that connection in my head and look forward to seeing where that woman story goes.

Main Character

I feel so represented in this character. A introverted video game playing book reading nerd. (and potentially gay?) I mean come on Ms. Morgenstern, could you have found a better depiction of me. In 2015 I was 19 years old, so about 5 years younger than Zachry but I still feel connected to his general demeanor.

One thing the narrator said for Zachary is that he wishes choose-you-own-adventures would come back and I could not agree anymore. I missed the height of those due to my age and I try to find supplements but they are LitRPG – a solo like D&D type book where you have to roll dice and have a character sheet. I just want to read and not write in my adventures. (I say this as I actively take notes in my books so I can write this blog)

If he’d spent five and a half years studying literature he would probably be growing weary of it by now, too. A reading major, that’s what he wants. No response papers, no exams, no analysis, just the reading.

This quote captures why I picked the major I picked in college. I love acting and I love reading (and a little writing) but to have learned that for my undergrad program I think would have sucked the fun out of everything. To have learned and been graded on my acting choices and knowledge would have sucked the fun out for me. I mean it happened with the sciences. I will always love biology and genetics but having such a graded edge to it really took out some of the love. It took my natural curiosity and forced it to be graded and sometimes forced it into direction I did not want to take it.

So I understand Zachary and I wish I could just read. I want to just pause the work sometimes and just read. No rehearsals to worry about, no TV shows to miss out on, and no friends to stress my self out over the idea that I am not giving them enough of my attention. Just an hour a day where the world is frozen and I can be in peace. But alas that is not how the world works.

The other thing I wanted to point out about Zachary was his focus in school: “[he] mostly [studies] video-game design with a focus on psychology and gender issues.” Like are we KIDDING. I want to look at Role-playing games with a focus on mental health and queer issues. I mean we are two sides of the same coin and I freaked out when I read that.

So all in all get ready for me to keep talking about this character and how related to him I feel.

Tasting Notes

So overall I am obsessed with this book. The writing is vivid (the smell of sage is in everything, down to his shoelaces.) and I do not struggle picturing while I am reading. I feel like I am in a movie theater in my brain when I power on my e-reader to start my next reading session. This book is great for me and I hope it is for you too.

Let me know your initial thoughts of this book so far if you are or have read this book.

Also… should we do a book club starting in the new year?