I thought I could do a little book haul for this week, but it turns out I’ve acquired a looooot more books than I originally thought. Also, at the end there is a little life update for you guys about my most recent crazy life adventures and why I’ve got a new background to my videos. Remember to leave a comment and tell me what to read next!
update
Autumn Reading Tag | Betwixt the Books
LOOK. MICHAELA AND I MADE A VIDEO TOGETHER! We were tagged by the lovely Amanda Center to do this tag, literally at the moment when Michaela and I were searching for something to do as our first #bibliomansion video. Clearly, Amanda is tuned in to our thoughts. Check out this video for some great horror recommendations as well as a sneak peek into some upcoming Betwixt the Books and Bibliomancy for Beginners plans!
MAJOR Betwixt the Book UPDATE #bibliomansion
Okay, so, it’s not THAT much of a secret that Michaela and I have been working on moving in with each other for a while. HOWEVER, in case this is the first you’re hearing about it, it finally happened last Tuesday! I’ve been focused on getting moved in, but we’re getting ready to get this show on the road! My computer is still without some essential parts, so editing is difficult, but hopefully the piece (my battery) should be here by the end of this week! Here’s to moving on up!
MASSIVE End of the Year TBR
Do you guys remember that PopSugar Reading Challenge TBR I did at the beginning of the year? Well, it really wasn’t cutting it. I haven’t been reading nearly enough of my challenge picks, and it’s time to change all that. I’ve updated my TBR and gotten serious about this thing! Here we go!
January Reading Wrap Up + PopSugar Reading Challenge Status
Thesis Thursday is taking a break this week because lol I’m not doing that work yet, I’m lazy as hell. Anyways. This post is as much for you as it is me, because I realized that while Michaela has been keeping track of her PopSugar reads while she’s been going along, I’ve been winging it. Even if I did make myself a wonderful TBR and everything. So. Here’s where we stand right now.
I read 9 books in January. 7 were young adult novels, 1 was historical fiction and 1 was general fantasy. Somehow, I also managed to tick off SIX different PopSugar challenge boxes as well! Here’s how:
Thesis Thursday: Merry Christmas and Here’s What’s Happening in the New Year
Thesis Thursdays is a weekly(ish) feature where I rant, love and talk about young adult books I’m reading because I’m conning my college into thinking this is all for academia! Find out more here!
Praise Santa because I’m finally home. I made it out of my penultimate semester as an undergrad alive. (Mostly.) Honestly, since I’ve gotten home I’ve mostly been sleeping around requisite holiday stuff.
But anyways. You aren’t here to read about how tired I’ve been. You’re probably here to read about my thesis. Otherwise I’m confused why you clicked on a post titled Thesis Thursday.
I don’t know if I ever spelled this out, but the two thesis projects I had this
semester had two very different goals. One was for my Writing BA, and that necessitated me writing at least 50 pages of original work. I wrote way over 50 before I even considered participating in NaNoWriMo in November. I think I hit about 170 pages of the novel when I won. It’s still not done. Maybe like … 3/5ths done, if you want to get specific. I’m never really sure when I’m writing because I don’t plan a damn thing. But anyways, that one is completely finished and done as far as the school is concerned. I’m going to finish it, but on my own time.
The English thesis, on the other hand, is still a massive work in progress. The goal for this last semester was to research things for it and then write the first chapter, and the goal for next semester is to write the last two chapters, defend it and present it. Not necessarily in that order, as I’ve learned, since my presentation is in the middle of freaking April and it’s assumed I’ll still be writing it then.
The finished chapter is currently titled “Taming of the Tropes: How the 
Female Assassin in YA Literature Showcases the Biggest Issues and Best Possible Subversions of YA’s Most Popular Tropes” and basically it’s about how so much of YA lit presents a supposedly empowering female main character and then takes away all her power and agency with a really creepy and terrible romance arc. Specifically, I looked at female assassin literature using Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, Poison by Bridget Zinn, Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton and–of course–Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. If you want the fangirl version of my thesis, it’s that Throne of Glass is the only one that gets close to present a truly empowered female character while also presenting a plot that thoroughly subverts popular tropes that I’m sick and tired of seeing.
The origin of this thesis was me trying to figure out how I could just re-read ToG forever and this is what happened. I’m happy to say that it held up to my intense scrutiny (mostly), because some of them did not. I wrote a blog post about how shattered I was by this re-reading of Grave Mercy, and I reviewed Poison, so if I get around to it I’ll post a reaction to my re-reading of Graceling (mostly okay) and a review of Seeker (mostly not okay).
However, Thesis Thursdays is a long way from over! My second chapter is 
going to deal with marketing strategies for YA books, like cover trends, blurbing, etc, and how that factors in to commodification and tropes, and my third will tackle different publishing strategies as weapons for and against this war of commodification and tropeism. (While still talking about how amazing Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury and the Throne of Glass series are.)
Basically, sit tight and wait for next semester. Expect a bunch of bleary-eyed rants about more things that frustrate me. Whether I’m doing research for my thesis or just writing it.
Also, Michaela and I have not forgotten our Betwixt the Books goals. Look for new videos–both solo and together–as we try to figure out how to keep making BookTube videos while separated, since Michaela graduated a semester early and LEFT ME. Coming after the holidays is our promised #imbibliomancy episode on Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant!
Thanks for reading, guys, and happy holidays!
Update: What in the World is Going On Here?
I know, I know, it’s the second Wednesday in a row without a Worth It Wednesdays post. I haven’t run out of worthwhile reads.
Though I’ve been doing my best to keep up with Nostalgia Junkie, the return to school has basically wiped out everything else. For now, anyways.
I’m about to start up a couple of projects very near and dear to my heart, and hopefully you guys will be able to follow them here. One is my thesis. The reading list for this has a list on my Goodreads, and I’m really excited about it. If I get my stuff together, hopefully I’ll find a fun way to incorporate all the books I’m reading for that into this blog.
The second is my senior project for my Creative Writing major. This is my first novel attempt in years–damn you, college!–and it promises to be a wild ride. Again, if I can find a witty way to incorporate that here, I plan to.
Last but CERTAINLY NOT LEAST is a project hopefully coming to you soon from me and
my Bibliomancer gang. It has several facets. One is that me and Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls want to start doing some shorter videos to entertain y’all. Second is that me, Michaela, Taylor and maybe even Casey from The Drunk Librarian are thinking of doing one book a month while school is in session. Except sitting around the SAME TABLE and imbibing alcohol. Because we’re 21 and we can do that now.
All this amounts to some more blogging that will hopefully be going on! I know, I’ve promised that before. But this time I’ve got teachers and friends all looking at me to git’r’done so maybe–just maybe–I’ll actually do it. Fingers crossed!
My Life is a Notebook 