Reading, Writing, and Me

We're in the final few days of 2023, so that means it's prime time for goals – both reflecting on the ones we set this time last year and setting new ones for 2024. Usually, I include goals with my stats, but I think this year, I want to separate the posts so that they're both a little shorter. Stay tuned for the full stats breakdown in the style of last year's post on New Year's Day, and if you want to see where I was this time last year, you can check out this post.   Usually, these goal posts have a somewhat sad tone as I generally fail to meet most of my goals, particularly the one everyone looks to each year – books read. College has not been the greatest thing that ever happened to my personal reading life. However, this year looks a little different for the better. I'm thrilled to announce that I far exceeded my wildest dreams on number of books read, and I hope to keep that up into the new year. I also kept these goals in mind as I selected books out of

The Pisces  by Melissa Broder Overview: Lucy's life is falling apart. She's 9 years into a PhD with a thesis she can't bring herself to finish. Her longterm boyfriend won't commit, so they've finally broken up. She has no self esteem and no direction. So when her sister plans on leaving her Venice house for the summer, she invites Lucy to come to California to reset and dog sit. Instead of getting to know herself better, Lucy looks for validation from every man the internet can provide for her. This is a whirlwind story that definitely gets more than a little weird halfway through. Overall: 3.5 Characters: 3.5 Having read Broder's two later books first, it's clear how her Lucy was the blueprint for her subsequent main characters. She has the signature over-honesty and prickly edges that I love from Broder's later work. Her sharp tongue is a bit less refined and confident, though, than the later characters. All the pieces are there, they just haven't