Books Archives - Stacy Lyn Jensen

52 Book Challenge 2023

Last year, I stumbled across the 52 book challenge 2023. I thought it sounded like a fun idea, and decided to give it a try. I’m a busy mom, and a full-time employee, so I wasn’t sure if I was up to the challenge. I wasn’t going to put too much pressure on myself. However, I did want to discuss what I got out of the challenge, where I ended up. And my favorite books of 2023.

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52 Book Challenge 2023

What I got out of it

There are several things that I got out of the challenge. The first one was to actually keep track of how many books I was reading. I have a tendency to read whatever I feel like, and possibly put a book down if I’m not feeling it anymore. This is mainly because, since I did major in English, I like to read for pleasure. The pure joy of the thing. But, with the challenge, I pushed myself to continue reading. This was a good thing, because a lot of books have those ‘saggy’ middles. But are completely worth the read in the end.

Another thing that I got out of the challenge was reading some books that I would have never picked up otherwise. Long gone are the days when I browse shelves reading the backs of books, or the inner covers, just looking for something that catches my eye. But, with this challenge, I was constantly on the lookout for a new book to read. Because of that, I was either in different forums searching for books, authors, even titles that caught my eye, or even looking through the Libby app for a book that just sounded good to me. This reminded me of being a kid in the library, just wandering around and discovering new books.

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I am a big reader of series, I have different authors who I follow and cannot wait for their next book to come out. I think anyone who is a lifelong reader has their favorites. But, because of the challenge I was able to discover new authors who I can now read their catalog, and also enjoy their newest works once they come out.

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52 Book Challenge 2023

Where I ended up

I did not read 52 books. As I mentioned, I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I ended up reading 35 books for the year 2023. I did not count any audiobooks. I don’t know how many audiobooks I listened to. That works out to be 2.91 books a month. Which is not bad. I noticed when I was in the middle of the challenge that during the summer when I was busy in my garden and with my kiddos when they were out of school, I did not read as much. This challenge is something that was done for fun, and to keep track of the books that I was reading.

52 Book Challenge 2023

My favorite reads

I read a lot of books that I enjoyed immensely in 2023. Some of my absolute favorites were: Station Eleven, The Sea of Tranquility and The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Mister Magic by Kiersten White, The Running Graves by Robert Galbraith, Holly by Stephen King and pretty much all of Sarah J Maas’s work.

My favorite new author that I found in 2023 was Emily St. John Mandel. Not only did I read Station Eleven for the first time last year, but I also watched the series on HBO for the first time last year. I cannot stop telling people about how amazing the book and the show are. I am a fan of Emily’s. Her prose is spare and sophisticated, and she has a lovely way of thinking about the future and the past and life that just speaks to me.

I will be writing about each book later on. Did anyone else do the 52 book challenge in 2023, and did you read anything you didn’t expect to like but loved?

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Station Eleven Book Review

I have been challenging myself this year to read a book a week. Since beginning this challenge, and exposing myself to many genres or literary novels. I have found some real gems that I would like to share what we can learn from their genius works. The first one I would like to discuss is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Without further ado, here is my Station Eleven book review.

This book falls into the dystopian genre, if you wanted to put it in a genre. However, it is more literary in the way that it was written. It begins with the end, if you will. The way that it is written, is what I would call non-linear. It is something that would take most readers by surprise. I think that most people have an expectation of a linear storyline, they want A, B, and C to happen in order, and then X, Y and Z wrap the story up at the end. That is how a normal story will advance, and what a reader expects. This story doesn’t work that way, but it does work.

Station Eleven Book Review

Character Development

All the important characters, have lives that weave in and out of each others. The beginning of the book starts with a death, it’s this person’s death that is the glue that all the rest of the character’s lives spin off of. This is a moment that affects not only the world of the novel, but all the character’s lives.

Writer’s takeaways

The way that this book is written is very unconventional. As I said earlier, it’s not linear, it’s in categories. Each category is important to the world of the book. In addition to the categories, the book centers around characters that have rich backstories that the book discusses in detail. The book is interested in the ways in which each character handled the end of things, which varied, depending on the age of the character. The book also uses the end of the world to study the ways in which people will continue to gather, the ways in which smaller societies will develop as larger infrastructure crumble.

I think it is worth studying this type of work, looking at non-linear storytelling and how well it can work when it’s done right. And then looking at how important it is to care about the characters, even in a story with high stakes. A person’s life may be on the line, but, you need to care about them in order for it to matter.

Thank you for reading my book review of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Please let me know what you thought of the book, and if you think it was amazing as I did, Thanks!

Writing Goals, Reading Goals

I am one of “those people,” I make goals. I like to make clear goals for myself. I make goals, and I write them down. There are people who go a step farther and even tell other people about their goals. I don’t want to be the really annoying person who keeps bringing up their goals. I have found a few things that are really important when it comes to actually keeping resolutions, and/or new goals. I would like to talk about writing goals, reading goals, and in general, just making resolutions that matter to you.

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Goal Making

Writing Goals

Making writing goals is easy, it’s just like any other goal, right? You can say you’re going to write 1000 words every day. Or you can say that you are going to write 50 words every day. Whatever it is, wonderful.

Now that you have your number goal. Think about time. How much time do you actually have to write every day? Do you have time to write every day? When are you able to write? Is it late at night? Or early morning? On your lunch break?

Once you have an idea of the time you have to set aside for writing. Does this change your number? If you only have a lunch break. You may want to give yourself a lower number, than if you have several hours in the morning.

Writing Goals: Reasons for Writing

Another consideration is the reason you are writing. Are you working on short stories, poetry, blog posts, a novella, a novel? For me, I am currently working on finishing a draft of a novel, and some blog posts. So when I am thinking about my word count goals. I usually have a smaller count for my novel, because I like to make sure I hit it. Then I finish at least one blog post each time I post.

If I were working on short stories or poetry, I would write a draft of a short story each time I sat down to write. I would say that you could probably get a polished story in a week or a month, depending on the length. With poetry, you could write several drafts of the same poem, or several poems in one writing session.

A good idea is to treat a writing goal just as seriously as you would treat learning a new skill, or building a new habit. Because that is part of what you are doing, you need to get into the habit of writing in order to reach those word-count goals.

Reading Goals

As the old saying goes, in order to be a writer, one must read. So, as the year begins anew, it is important to have reading goals. Personally, I have not had specific reading goals before. Usually I do things like “focus on reading classics” or “focus on reading outside the horror genre.” This year, though, I am doing a 52 book challenge. Which works out to be a book a week.

I think that goals are well done (like I’ve said) when they are written down, when they are specific, and when they are time based. I’m sure that many people have run into this method of goal-setting. I ran into it the first time, actually, at work. I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes really hard at the concept, but I made the goals that were asked of me, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with trying to move your own life forward purposefully.

A thought on reading goals, when you read widely from authors that write well, that exposure is sure to find its way into your work. It’s like an artist studying celebrated works from Rembrandt or Dali, by investigating how those artists created their art, the budding artist is all the better for it. Their work doesn’t have to be the same as the ones who came before, but it’s okay to be influenced by those you admire.

Resolutions

Making them Matter

Every year, when New Year’s Eve comes around, peoples all over the world will give lip service to what they are looking for in their next year. All of us are looking to be a thinner, wiser, funnier, healthier version of ourselves. But, all of us are also guilty of making resolutions that we don’t care about. So, my advice, is to take some time now, tomorrow, before next new year to really think about what it is that you want to resolve to be. There are a million things out there in a world that you could resolve to do. I believe that what most want to do, and what we resolve to do, are two different things.

So, my challenge to anyone that reads this, is: next New Years, resolve to do something that you would love to do but haven’t yet. Something that will take time to do. Something that is hard to do, but maybe doesn’t cost you anything but time, and you will learn something from.

Book Review: Two for One

I’m enough of a dork to be a frequent visitor on Reddit. One of the sub-Reddits that I like to visit is called “horrorlit.” In this space, horror fans will ask for and receive book recommendations. I recently came across a post where the OP was requesting books with an unreliable narrator. I thought this was interesting. So, I took a look myself, and grabbed some of the titles to read. I ran through two such books fairly quickly. Because I read them back-to-back, I am reviewing them together, in this double book review post. Enjoy!

Book Review #1

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

I will start by reviewing Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things. It’s worth noting that there is a Netflix series made from this book. I’ve not seen the series. So, I won’t make any comparisons there. The plot of the book is simple, on the surface. It’s a journey/travel novel. A lot of the action takes place in a car, or at places that are unknown to the protagonist.

Once you reach the end, it’s hard to say whether the narrator is unreliable or not. Are they really that unreliable? Or are they simply playing out a fantasy? Do they believe the fantasy? Or do they understand everything that happened? You have to decide. The ending is not ambiguous, but the reliability or unreliability of the narrator, in my opinion, is up for debate.

The prose is incredibly precise, and the book is a work of art unto itself. Yes, I picked it out of a horror literature forum, and that’s probably where it’s shelved in a bookstore. However, based off of the character-driven plot and the beauty of the prose, this book is very likely considered literary.

If you are reading this book as a writer, and you are looking precisely at how to write unreliable narrators, this is a great book to read.

Book Review #2

A Head Full of Ghosts

So the next review, Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts, is a very different tale from the first. This one is the story of a crumbling family. There is a mentally ill sister, a suddenly religious father, a stressed mother, and a little sister who is witness. In addition to this, there is a camera crew who is there to record the family’s undoing.

This story is one that wants you to ask questions from the start. It invites you to try and figure out what’s going on. The argument for the unreliability of the narrator is made because she’s young.

But the narrator presents herself as reliable, and the readers never find any reason not to trust her. Even at the end, where the audience learns that things happened differently than everyone would have believed in the world of the book, she still doesn’t appear, to me, at least; to be an untrustworthy narrator.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, if you are looking to write something with an unreliable narrator. It is important to present evidence for the readers that shows the differences between the world the character sees, and the way things actually are.

In, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, the title itself has two meanings. By the end of the book, the tragedy of the whole thing crashes down on the reader. How much do I misunderstand? How much of a life can pass a person by? In A Head Full of Ghosts, much of the misunderstandings can be explained either by the youngness of the narrator, or by the fact that she wouldn’t have been told certain things, etc.

Both books are excellent examples of their genre. Both are stories worth reading, but only one has a truly unreliable narrator, even though they are both first person, which does mean that the narrators will be unreliable–to a degree.

Thank you for reading! Let me know if you enjoyed this double book review and if you would like to see more of this, or if you’d like to see something different. Thank you!

Literary Fiction

How does literary fiction differ from genre fiction? There are several differences, but also a lot of similarities. It’s a type of fiction where people win awards, considered a prestige category. It’s normally the kind that you are assigned to read in school.

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Literary Fiction Definition

Literary fiction’s definition is: a category of novels that emphasize character, theme, and style over plot. Basically, if you have a work that is more concerned with the inner character arc over the plot and moving it forward, that work is a literary work.

There is a lot of crossover between genre fiction and literary fiction. The determining factor is if the work is focused on the plot, or other elements of literature. If you are writing something, and you think it will be awesome to write the entire thing without using the letter c or something, to emphasize your character’s complex emotions around their own cock; that is going to be a literary piece. If, however, said character is going around killing people with a chainsaw that he calls Zip instead of using the word chainsaw (because of the letter c) then, it may be more of a horror novel. However, it does depend on how it’s written more than anything.

Differences in Vocabulary

Literary novels have a tendency to use words like magical realism (instead of fantasy) and verisimilitude when talking about great world-building. Because this is a ‘prestige’ category, they have a tendency to use different words from other genres when they mean the same thing. The books are normally about the inner journey about one person. Someone said that genre works are about extraordinary events happening to regular people, and literary works are about ordinary events happening to extraordinary people. Basically, plot v. character driven.

Length

The length of the literary novel: anywhere between 40 and 120,000 words, new authors should stick between 70 and 100,000 words. Good advice for any new author to any genre, if you are attempting to get traditionally published, do not submit something over 100,000 words. Also, do not say that it’s the first in a series of 17 or whatever. Although queries are their own thing, their own post.

Thank you for reading!! Let me know if this information is helpful or if you would like me to write about something different.

Warbreaker Book Review

If you are a reader of contemporary fantasy, you’ve heard of the author Brandon Sanderson. Whether you’re a fan of his work, is a different story. I have recently finished one of his standalone novels, Warbreaker, and I would like to discuss it. Here is my Warbreaker book review.

Warbreaker Book Review

Worldbuilding

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The highlight of Sanderson’s work is always the worldbuilding. If you are a lover of fantasy, this is always a major component of the work. The audience of fantasy has certain expectations that they will step into a new world, alien from our own, and that want to be completely immersed in it. Sanderson does this better than almost any other author I’ve read. He always takes religion, commerce, trade, etc. and he weaves them into the story so that the reader understands the tapestry that the characters are build upon.

If we think of our story as if it’s a rug; then, Sanderson uses all of the browns and tans to weave the background into a rich landscape–with some greens and blues really making the entire thing a rich piece. And then, he takes the main characters and makes them bright colors (relevant due to the story I’m reviewing) that we want to see, but the whole picture is fascinating too. Essentially, what I am saying, is that Sanderson is successful at world building because he not only makes us care about the characters, he also makes us fascinated in the world.

Characters

Sanderson’s books are not character studies. They are books where there is action. Think Epic battles, in some of them there are literally world altering events and battles where everything changes. These are not books where you can figure out how to imitate the quiet psychological horror a woman feels when she realizes that she’s being stalked, or something. However, that is not to say that the characters are not interesting.

Having read several of his books, I do feel like he has some archetypes that he likes to go back to, for his characters. Which is totally fine, he is a really fast writer and the characters he likes to draw on more than one time, they tend to be background characters. Personally, I don’t feel like Sanderson is the author to emulate if you are a writer who is looking to write a book that takes place in one location and is mostly in a person’s head.

Plotting

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Sanderson has a lot of ideas about plot that are more complicated than I’ve discussed. Although I have discussed that basic plot structure, which doesn’t really vary all that much–I mean really, we begin, see our main character living their life, something happens, the hero doesn’t want to change, then they have to change, a bunch of trial and error happens, and then the big action scene happens where they finally are triumphant, and then the story ends. There are a bunch of different things that happen in the middle, depending on what kind of plot you are following.

Sanderson has a LOT of thoughts about plot. He has a tendency to notice a “heist” plot, and then want to mix it with a “romance” plot or an “overthrow the government” plot. I find it interesting that he labels everything like that. I suppose that they are all plots, but I think of the plot as the structure, and then the story itself is the meat. But, it can all be the plot.

Review

As far as the actual review of the story. Warbreaker is an interesting concept, and it is well-written. The plot of the story has more romance elements than other stories of his that I’ve read. This story is one about a girl who is unexpectedly ripped from her home, and has to adapt to a new culture. It’s also about sisters, and kind of about zombies, in a very small way.

For an aspiring writer, if you are looking to write in the fantasy space, all of Sanderson’s writing is important to study. Not as important as like Anne McCaffrey or J.R.R. Tolkien, maybe, but still important. Also, he is an author that engages with his fan-base, and he also puts a bunch of writing advice out. Sanderson, as a person, is admirable. He seems to be a genuine person who wants to give others a hand up. Also, Warbreaker is available for free on his website for download.

I also want to mention, that you can view differing versions of the book on his website, so like you can view his process and how it got to be the polished end product.

Earthlings Book Review

Ever since I finished this book, I’ve wondered what to say about it. What can I say that wouldn’t spoil some part of it for someone else? Also, what is there to say that the book doesn’t? How can I talk about what to take from the book as a writer? Even though I’m not really sure I can give this book the proper review, I will make an attempt. Earthlings Book Review.

Earthlings is by Sayaka Murata. This book is hard to pin down. I found it suggested by a horror novel reading group. However, it doesn’t fit nicely into any category. It’s part coming-of-age novel, in a really strange way, in other ways it talks about subjects that aren’t really discussed, but in an interesting way, that not only makes some of the horror more acute, but also makes it feel as though the character is real.

Earthlings Book Review

Culture

The main point this book was making, was a discussion about culture. And the topic of silence within that culture. How a simple action could brand someone forever, and could ruin their abilities to cope with life in a normal way. A simple action, done as a child, a frightened child; changes the entire course of several people’s lives.

Horror

The horror aspects, which it had to at least have some since I did it suggested in a group of horror enthustists, they weren’t an afterthought. But they also were not the main point of the text. This novel is talking more about the struggles that some people have fitting into society, and how, they can finally break from that struggle.

Narration

This book is a good example of an unreliable narrator. Unreliable narrators are best suited for a first-person point-of-view. This one was done in an amazing way. The audience can tell that there is something wrong with their narrator. But the narrator is likable in a way that makes the reader still want the narrator to come out on top.

This book is a great read for a writer who is looking for some insight about how to put horror aspects into a more literary book. Or for a writer who is looking to figure out how to write an unreliable narrator, or for a writer who is looking to write a piece that discusses a certain culture and the way that people interact. That is my Earthlings Book Review.

I didn’t want to spoil anything, so it is purposefully vague. Let me know if you would like to see some more detailed information than what I’ve put.

Survive The Night Book Review

I came across Danielle Vega as an author on social media. She was in a list of female horror authors, one of many. I wrote her down, and made a goal to check her writing out, along with the others on the list. I checked out Survive the Night from my local library on my Kindle. Not only that, but I went into the book “blind,” having not looked at any other reviews, or even what the book was about, I liked the name and the cover. Here is my Survive the Night book review.

This book is YA. I didn’t expect it going in. I should have known that there is young adult horror, but for some reason, I just didn’t. The main features of this book are: the protagonist’s pain, her addiction (although, I would argue that she almost has that forced on her) and toxic friendship, and a big ol’ monster. Let’s look at these one-by-one:

Pain

The protagonist (Casey) and her pain is something that is ever-present in the story. It takes a backseat, but colors her worldview as she moves throughout the tale. She grits her teeth against it, she fights it, it almost gets her, it is the thing that nearly wins. Her pain is a shadow, a monkey-on-her-back. It’s another character.

Survive the Night Book Review

Addiction

The story of Casey’s addiction is told through memory. WSe know this story is about addiction from the beginning, but we only see her addiction through flashes. It makes us wonder, is she really addicted? Or did her parents overreact like she keeps on saying, it layers the story with that infamous unreliable narrator feeling. Is she addicted, or does she only think she is? How can someone so young be addicted to something besides their phone?

Toxic Friendship

The heart of this story lives in the friendship between Casey and Shana. It takes minutes to realize that Shana is not a good person. This part of the story, along with the strange romance between Casey and her ex-boyfriend, reminded me why I don’t read YA anymore. However, the toxic relationship, one that you would hope would only happen during those teen-years was heartbreaking, yet relatable. Shana and her larger-than-life antics, her “look at me” ways, reminds all of us of people we know or knew. Their relationship is the one that kept the pages turning.

The Monster

Why pick up a horror novel if there isn’t going to be something horrific? This book certainly delivers. Although the simple prose may not have been something that I was expecting (that’s what I get for not knowing anything about the book beforehand). The monster lurking in the water, something straight out of a Lovecraft story, was something beyond any kind of hopes I had for the novel. I was thinking of a knife-wielding killer, but to get an actual monster? It was so much more than I could have hoped for.

I would say that this is a book for you if you are an actual teenager. Better yet, if you are a female teen who likes scary novels, this book would be a wonderful read. Or, I guess, if you are a writer of teenaged scary novels, this book would be a good read for you. That concludes my Survive the Night book review. Here’s a link to buy it, if you’re interested: Survive the Night

What Books to Read as a Writer

Last time we talked about books, we talked about how to read like a writer. Today, I want to talk about what books to read, as a writer.

First off, you need to know what kind of writer you are. Are you a literary writer, a genre writer, do you write middle grade, or young adult? If you aren’t sure yet, then the answer is to read as much good writing as you can. If you know, then see below.

Genre

An author who is looking to get traditionally published in any genre, will need to have comp (comparable) titles for their work. These titles need to have been published recently (in the last two or so years), and exhibit something that is similar to your own work.

It could be that a story about a girl who learns about herself, in a young adult work, or maybe the tone and narrative voice are really similar to your own, even if the plot and characters are different. You need two of these when you are at the query stage.

With this in mind, as a genre author, you will need to read books within your genre. You need to read enough genre books that you have a good idea what the regular tropes and clichés are that regularly show up. In short, what do writers of the genre expect?

Sometimes, you will be told to stay away from your own genre while you are writing it. I think this really depends on the author. If you find that your work is becoming derivative as you are writing, simply because you are reading things that are similar to what you are writing; then see my next suggestion.

Literary/Classics

Any writer worth their salt should be able to discuss many classic novels. You don’t have to have read everything, but you should be well-versed in the classics (or canon) and you should understand the forerunners of your own genre and why those books are considered the first. For a horror author, you will want to read Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, H.P Lovecraft, and Edgar Allen Poe, among others. A mystery writer will need to read Agatha Christy, and Arthur Conan Doyle, among others.

You can always look up a list of classic authors, and start reading. You can find authors that you like their writing style and read those.

If you are a literary author, you will want to look to your contemporary peers and read their work. There are lists of award winners in the literary world, and that would be where you would want to start looking for books that will work for you. This also works for genre authors. All genres have their own awards that celebrate great writers. These lists are easy to find:

Here is a Wikipedia page with that shows all the awards. The list is lengthy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_awards

The answer to what to read, is read a lot, read good writers and find award-winning writing. But, if you are looking for those tricky comps, look in your genre!

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you want more of this kind of stuff, or something different.

How to Read like a Writer

As a starting out writer, an aspiring writer, I was constantly told to read. It wasn’t a hard thing for me, and it isn’t to this day. I’ve always been a reader, as are most people who are or want to be writers. The hard part, for most writers’ comes with the other half of well-meant, often repeated advice. Read like a writer. What exactly does that mean? Let’s explore.

Reading like a writer purple picture — Photo by Nick Collins

Before you can read like a writer, you need to start thinking of yourself as a writer. It’s a bit more complicated than that. You can’t just say that you’re a writer now, so anytime you are reading, you are reading like a writer. Some tips to mastering this kind of reading are listed below:

Tips for reading like a writer

When reading like a writer, you will want to focus on an element in the text that you want to figure out or learn how to write well. Maybe you’ve been struggling with structure. You can go to a book that does it well. Then read with that thing in mind. How did they structure their story? What made the structure special in that book? You can take tips on how to structure yours from reading with focus. For example: The Way of Kings begins with a fight scene, and then jumps in time. Every other book in that series has looked at the same night through a different character’s eyes.

Common things to focus on while reading are:

Plot
Point of View
Narration
Atmosphere
Tone
Setting
Characterization
Sentence Structure
Chronography

What is important is that, while reading, you read closely. Reading closely means paying attention to sentence length, word choice, paragraph length. It’s important to take notes. You are not just reading the words and letting them play inside your head, you are not just enjoying the movie that your imagination is lighting up for you. You are dissecting the work, you are learning its secrets.

Another tip is to write out sentences you love. Those amazing pieces of prose from the authors you can’t get enough of, go ahead and copy them down as if you are in grade school again. This will help you to understand their word choices, their sentence structures, and it will give you a better understanding of why the work is so good.

In summary, you will want to pick an element of the text to focus on, then you will want to read closely and take notes so that you can pick apart the text. If there is a particular passage that you love, go ahead and copy it down. Once you have mastered the art of reading like a writer, you will find that your own writing will improve.

Thank you for reading! Are there any other tips for reading like a writer that I’ve forgotten?

52 Book Challenge 2023

What I got out of it

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52 Book Challenge 2023

Where I ended up

52 Book Challenge 2023

My favorite reads

Station Eleven Book Review

Categories

Character Development

Writer’s takeaways

Goal Making

Writing Goals

Writing Goals: Reasons for Writing

Reading Goals

Resolutions

Making them Matter

Book Review #1

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Book Review #2

A Head Full of Ghosts

Conclusion

Literary Fiction Definition

Differences in Vocabulary

Length

Warbreaker Book Review

Worldbuilding

Characters

Plotting

Review

Earthlings Book Review

Culture

Horror

Narration

Pain

Survive the Night Book Review

Addiction

Toxic Friendship

The Monster

Genre

Literary/Classics

Tips for reading like a writer