On Finishing Two Books and a TV Series on the Same Day
That title makes it sound so much more impressive than it truly was - both Grace and I happened to finish books that we’d both been reading on the same day and then followed that up with finishing off all that’s currently available for a TV show we’d been watching with dinner. I am completely blanking on what Grace was reading, I was reading Congo by Michael Crichton, and we finished off season three of Vox Machina. Having managed to coincidentally time it so we did all that on a single day, Grace said it deserved a post. Thus here I sit, contemplating what to write. The show is fun. Think Grace was trying to struggle through her book for a month, so I don’t think it was very good, and I read Congo a few pages a night while going to sleep for the better part of two weeks. Crichton was a master of thrilling books….right up until the end. No matter that I’ve read from him, be it the posthumously released Eruption or his greatest hit Jurassic Park it’s always the same - the book is pretty good, better, phenomenal, shit. The endings are always so dissatisfying. Oh god, oh god, we’re all gonna die. Just kidding, we’re all fine, everything’s fine here now. It always felt like Crichton wanted to end his books on a down note, to kill everyone, and his publisher and editor would sit him down and tell him no and he’d rewrite the last three pages to save everyone who was still alive at that point. Having seen the movie Congo multiple times and just buying it last week while in the middle of the book to watch again, it makes the book even worse. All I want is a good ending. I can’t have it. Neither can you.
-B
It’s more incredible happenstance than anything that we managed to complete a TV show and each complete a book within the same 24 hour timeframe. With work and life and a wedding and work and life, I’ve been reading books at a snail’s pace lately. I used to average a solid 100 books a year while I was in college - particularly undergrad - with the final week in the year becoming a read-a-thon for me to get to that sweet, sweet triple number. My goal bumped down to fifty-ish in grad school, and since graduating I’ve barely been able to clock 25 books a year. The good news is I’m reading more research and non-fiction for work, but that’s really cutting in on my quota of sci-fi, fantasy, romance, and comics.
Anyway, Brian was at work so he couldn’t reference my book journal. I was reading Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne. It was a sweet almost-romance fantasy that I bought on impulse solely because the edges were sprayed with a pretty color and the sequel had a witty dedication. It’s the first in a series (two are out now and two are planned for release next year) and seems like the author’s first foray into the genre. It wasn’t a bad read, but it did take a while to “get good” and lacked what I typically look for in a romance. It’s marked as “cozy fantasy” online and maybe that’s why the romance was very PG and the themes didn’t get too dark. The ending was semi-satisfying, but I felt that it came a little too quickly and easily, almost as if the author had more to tell but decided to save it for the sequel instead or the editor cut a few chapters to save on publishing costs. It was a 3-star read and I have the sequel sitting in my TBR, but I’m deciding to bop back to a different series for now.
On the note of The Legend of Vox Machina, it’s a great watch for anyone who likes fantasy, violence, romance or D&D, especially if you’ve played D&D. We spent a good bit of time asking each other “what level is that character” or “what spell is that” or “how are they making that spell work in that context” among other things. You don’t have to have a whole lot of context when it comes to D&D or Critical Role’s first campaign to enjoy the story and characters, plus there’s a 4th season on the way with teases of overarching plots that harken back to the first season. The writing seems solid and the animation really got kicked up a notch in season 3. We’re undecided on what to make our new “dinner show” but we have an excel spreadsheet of ideas. I just have to get B to pick one…
-G