Reading
I finished The Bear and the Serpent this past week. I found myself binging the last 130 pages or so, as it was getting tense, with a lot of things revealed all at once. I won’t say anything since this is the second book in a trilogy and it would be nothing but spoilers. If you’re into people who can shapeshift into animals, then this is your jam. There are also epic battles and the politics of empires. I’m looking forward to book three.
I listened to Fool Moon, the second book in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. There isn’t much to say about the Dresden Files. It’s about a private detective in Chicago who’s also a wizard. While the first book focused on magical rituals and drugs, this one dealt with werewolves. I liked this book, and the narration by James Marsters is excellent. He is Harry Dresden. I will be continuing this series throughout the year. There’s 17 novels with an 18th and 19th announced, so plenty to enjoy.
I started The Forgetting Moon by Brian Lee Durfee on audio, but was having trouble following the story because of the massive amounts of characters that are introduced in the beginning (it’s an epic fantasy, so there’s A LOT of unfamiliar names). I put the paperback on hold at the library. It’s a massive book, so hopefully no one has it on hold after me. I’m not sure I can finish such a long book in 3 weeks. I like it so far. It’s a novel that likes to spend its time in the setting and with the characters, which I don’t mind at all. Durfee’s writing is dripping with atmosphere.
After dropping the Forgetting Moon on audio, I decided to replace it with The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. I read The Goldfinch many years ago around the time of its release and loved it. I read The Secret History last year, and it was one of the best books I read in 2024. I have high hopes for The Little Friend.
Writing
My critique group looked at the second and last part of my magi-themed story. Again, they unexpectedly loved the story, and had some great suggestions on things that could make it even better. I will definitely be taking a look at their notes and seeing what I can do to improve the story. I’m running out of time though; the deadline for the submission is February 28th.
I’ve been making great progress in writing an outline for a novel idea. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s a contemporary horror novel that grew out of a half-finished short story. This outline is by no means final, but it’s giving me a place to start and a place to journey toward. Because of this project, and because of my lack of other stories, I’m going to be absent from my critique group for a few weeks. I might find time to conjure another short story in the near future, but until this novel manuscript is done, I will have nothing for anyone to critique.
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What have you been reading and/or writing this week? Let me know in the comments below.
The Night Bulletin 