Erynn's Books of 2019

Erynn and I have connected many times over the past months about books, book blogging, reviewing and so much more! I am glad we finally have the chance to do a proper collaboration about books. Remember the Yokai Calling series that I talked about before? Erynn is the author of that series and you have met her before!

Like all posts in the 2019 in books series, remember that Erynn’s words are in italics and since this is a bookish discussion, all book links open in a new tab so that you can refer to them afterwards.

Welcome back to Armed with A Book, Erynn. 🙂 Tell me a little bit about your love for books.

Hi Kriti, great to be back! It’s always a joy talking to you, and I’m excited to talk about books today! I’ve always been a book lover, it’s been ingrained in me since I was a kid when me and my sister would sit in the living room by the fire listening to our dad read us stories. Our favorites were the Magic Tree House books because they always took us on magical adventures! 🙂

I like to think that’s one of the reasons I love books so much, and why I’ve gravitated toward the fantasy genre in particular. My mother was a big reader as well, always pushing me to read more and more as I was growing up. In high school, I read more books than I paid attention in class, haha. I don’t read quite as much as I used to then (university has been a little more demanding than that!) but I’m always on the lookout for new books to read.

You obviously love books a lot, since you’ve dedicated a significant amount of time to reading and writing about them on your blog. Are there any influences that drove you to this point, or fostered your love of books? What made you decide you needed to start a blog?

My reading habits grew partly out of resistance I think – as I mentioned in my Who are you as a reader? series, my dad’s side of the family loved reading and I loved the summer times when all I did was read books with them. But that was not the case in my home life. Studies were always prioritized and though I had many books, me spending time reading wasn’t always taken well. But it doesn’t matter because I kept reading! 🙂

That’s very interesting! I find that most people pursuing their studies (myself included) end up forced to minimize, or completely eliminate, the time they spend reading for pleasure. I’m glad to hear that you took the opposite route instead. It takes extreme dedication to persevere with something like that.

I converted my blog to a book blog when I was looking for a reason to find another niche. It’s actually a neat little story! 

I finished my last degree in April 2019 – it was a teaching degree and I was still deciding between applying for a teaching job and taking a job in IT at an organization I worked part-time for the last 3 years. I had this one week when I was done with school and didn’t have to restart work yet, and that was my time to think about next steps. 

I spent a lot of time thinking but also reading that week – just books I had wanted to catch up on. I had started my website the year before and was looking for ways to promote it when I came across a website called the book blogger list. That gave me the idea for being a book blogger since I have always loved books. Previously, I had been writing about teaching and had been worried if I did not go into it, what would the blog be about? The book blogger list gave me direction and people on twitter gave me some feedback and opportunities to expand. Here we are now! 🙂

It sounds like once you learned of the possibilities, you were sold! I’m glad you decided to become a book blogger. You’re very well suited for it!

Thank you, Erynn. 🙂 I have always used Goodreads to keep track of my books and am curious if you do the same. Do you participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge or set reading goals for yourself? If yes, how do you usually chose this goal and what was your goal for this year?

Yes! My goal for this year was 50 books, but I’ve already surpassed it with 58. Since it’s break for me and there’s still lots of time left in December, I’ll definitely round that out to at least 60. But there are several books I still want to read by the end of the year, so maybe I’ll get higher than that.

Usually, I choose my goal based on how busy I think my year will be. Last year, I had a very full course load while also working and knew I wouldn’t be able to read much for pleasure, so my goal was only 25. I increased it this year because I knew I’d have more time, and because I’m trying to find more time to read regardless of how busy I am because it’s a good mental reset for me. Setting goals like this helps push me to make that happen. For 2020, I’m going to kick it up a notch and aim for 100!

In an earlier conversation, I believe you said that you read just under 100 books this year and think you can read more next year. Besides the 20 books you’ve already set aside to read in 2020, do you have a plan on how you’re going to pick the remaining 80 or so?

Most of the 80 will come from ARCs from NetGalley and authors who want their books reviewed. 🙂 I did a buddy read with my friend, Ariel, this year and loved it! We ended up shortlisting some books for buddy reading next year so some of my reads will come from her. That’s one of the things I love about buddy reading – you have to try out your buddy’s interests too, and that might open up a whole new genre or author.

Buddy reads sound great! I’ve sort of done this with a very small book club, where we take the time to discuss the book while we’re reading and once we’re done, but never with just one other person. I’m excited for our buddy read of The Starless Sea in 2020. We’ll have to pick out a date to start reading soon!

How do you choose your books to read?

Hmm, it really depends. A lot of my reading falls into 3 categories:

1. Research for writing. So this could be non-fiction craft books, stuff on marketing, publishing, etc. or maybe histories, myths, or science related to what I’m writing. I also tend to put books that are adjacent to the subgenre I write in into this category because I’m trying to keep an eye on what other people are writing. Typically that means fantasy with Asian or mythological elements in it, since that’s what I write about. I’ve fallen a bit behind with the fiction side of my research over the last few months, unfortunately!
2. It’s written by an author I already know and love. When looking for a new book to read, usually my first go-to’s are written by some of my favourites, since I haven’t been reading nearly as much as I’d like over the last few years and have fallen behind on their catalogues. Sometimes these books also fall into the research category, though, because I tend to like the things closely related to what I write (or what I want to write ;)).
3. It had a pretty cover and I fell in love. I’m a firm believer in judging books by their covers (sorry! But this is why I also plan on updating the covers on my books) so if I find a book cover I adore usually it’s usually enough for me to give it a shot unless it’s in a genre I don’t like. This is why I’ve accumulated such a massive TBR pile, though, so I’m trying to cut back on this, haha. Recently I saw The Priory of the Orange Tree in the bookstore and the cover was so insanely gorgeous omg it was difficult to resist getting that $40 behemoth.

We are all guilty of the pretty cover! I will admit The Starless Sea is that book for me. 🙂

Yes, I love the cover of The Starless Sea, too! I thought about just getting the ebook version, but, ah, the cover… so simple and intriguing.

I’ll read anything, though, so long as it passes my initial inspection. Usually, that comes down to cool cover, interesting blurb, and/or a recommendation by a friend (or trusted blogger!) because I like to try and read widely, although I’m not always successful. Makes me a better writer, I hope.

I noticed that you read quite a few different genres on your blog. Is there a reason you choose to read and review so many different things, instead of specializing in one in particular?

People have their set niches. In the last few months, I have met authors dedicated to YA and Science fiction, which is really cool because there is no shortage of books. If I am buying a book, I stick to the genres I like but if I get a review request about a book that looks quite different, I give it a chance because its an opportunity to learn more!

For example, I got a request a couple months back about a book about webcaming. I was really conflicted about it but the author reached out to me and it really made me think about why I wanted to say no. Because I was uncomfortable with this topic? Because I wasn’t sure how it would work out on the blog? I talked to my trusted friends and family and decided to give the book a chance. I’ll be reviewing it in January. I have not yet decided how I will review it because it has explicit material I am sure, but I don’t want to miss the chance to know myself better and understand why this makes me uncomfortable when webcam is a part of reality in our technology infused world.

I think your approach to reviewing is wonderful. While I understand blogs that focus on single genres (that is probably how I would approach it if I were doing lots of book reviews) it’s good to have a varied taste in books, especially when it lets you read cross-genre and try new things.

There’s a lot to learn about the world from books, and being open to new experiences makes that possible.

Your resistance to the idea of reading a book by a camgirl is a good example of that because as you said, it forced you to think about why it made you uncomfortable. I’m sure you’ll find a good way to review it on the blog, and I look forward to seeing how you handle the material, and your thoughts on it.

About the books this year

Were there any books this year that challenged your thinking or you learned a lot from?

It’s crazy different from what I usually read, but I would say The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt perfectly fits this description. It was one of the assigned books for an upper-level anthropology course I took this semester—specifically political ecology. The book follows the author’s research through stories on matsutake supply chains from Oregon all the way to Japan, using her fieldwork, research, and experiences to describe how capitalism is destroying the environment and reducing it to the ruins we now live in. All of this heavy stuff about war and destruction while simultaneously offering up matsutake mushrooms as a source of hope for us to survive and even thrive in ruins. It was a very complex book, and I’m certainly not doing it justice in this short description.

That sounds like an amazing read! I’m going to add it to my TBR. Since we are in Canada, can I borrow it from you? 🙂

Of course, I’d be happy to send it to you. Let’s sort out the details soon!

Since I read this book for a class, I actually had to write an essay on it. One of the key points that I found most interesting is that ruins aren’t described as merely the physical destruction of the environment or the degradation of place, but also a physical and mental state of being. One such example off the top of my head would be how the structure of capitalism makes many people, especially younger generations, nervous about the future. The “American dream” of going to school, getting a good-paying job, buying a house, and retiring with financial security and a nice pension plan. For most people, these days such a direct path to success and prosperity simply doesn’t exist.

Anyway, I learned a lot from this book. It’s made me think twice about my values and participating in a consumerist culture. But if I had read it outside of class, I’m not sure how much of it I would have actually understood.

You haven’t lived in Canada for your whole life, so maybe you have a different perspective on consumerism, capitalism, and environmental ruin. Any thoughts you would like to share from your experiences?

That’s a great question! And thank you for asking that! 

It’s quite different here and takes some getting used to. I think Christmas has been the most shocking for me, and in some ways, I’m still getting used to how much it is about buying gifts for family and friends. Seeing everyone and going to parties is part of the culture, but the commercialization just blows me mind. I grew up in India and I did not celebrate Christmas there. Our other main festivals – Diwali, Holi, Dusherra – the gifts, if people do exchange them, are dry fruits, fruits, sweets. Things to eat and consume. 

I’m still making up my mind about the rest. 🙂

Very interesting. I don’t know much about festivals in India, so I’ll have to ask you about them sometime and learn more. In Canada, and North America in general, Christmas definitely comes to mind when I think about consumerism. My family has never played a huge part in gift-giving, but it’s easy to look around us and see that’s the expectation, of buying more and more things. I’ve tried to break away from this, as I find myself surrounded by more and more things I don’t need. This year, I’ve asked only to receive purposeful gifts that better my lifestyle (including writing!) and I’ve been working to give gifts like that, too. I love that, in the Indian festivals you mentioned, gifts are consumable. It seems more genuine that way, more about experiences than the objects.

Moving on to writing, did you read any books this year that got you thinking about your writing style? How did these books inspire you?

It’s difficult for me to completely turn off my writing/editing brains when I’m reading, so most books that I read get me thinking about my writing style. If there’s something in a book that I like, I try to stop and think about why I like it, how I can adopt that into my own style (if possible, because it isn’t always).

• 

• 

To be honest, I think most of the books I read this year got me thinking about what isn’t my writing style. Namely, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and K. Rivera Arsenault’s The Tiger’s Daughter. Both are written with flowery, elegant prose which just… isn’t my style at all. I like to be more utilitarian with my writing, so for the most part, I only describe and explain what’s necessary. Sometimes I do find myself writing beautiful passages, though. 🙂 I can’t say either particularly inspired me, but I like to think that reading these books has made me more confident in my own style because I can look at the writing and say hey, that might be beautifully written, but that’s not what I like to read and therefore that’s not what I like to write, and that’s okay.

What are your personal thoughts on flowery and utilitarian prose? Do you think a writer has to choose one or the other?

I honestly don’t think much about writing style unless it really stands out to me. There are advantages to both styles. With flowery, the reader has to use their imagination more and make sure their vision matches the authors. With utilitarian, we have more control over the imagination and can add a more personal touch to the writing itself. When I read, I often find myself in this visual landscape – I have noticed it more and more as I am reading – this film running in my head. And that happens regardless of style of prose.

Are there any books you read this year that made you a better writer?

I’m going to go back to The Tiger’s Daughter for this question because I feel like it taught me a lot about what not to do as a writer and sometimes that’s more important than learning how to do things. There are lots of resources for that. The book is heavily inspired by Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian cultures, so I was reading it as part of my “research” for my own writing. The book’s description had a lot going for it, lesbian warrior women, and an interesting setting and premise. But the writing style was strange—written in the second person perspective in the form of a letter. It was also filled with what could be (and has been) referred to as racist and orientalist language and worldbuilding.

This is something I’m terribly afraid of accidentally doing in my own books, so I’ve been using it as an example of what not to do in that regard (supplemented by a lot of other readings and research, of course). The negative reviews of this book have also helped me to suss out exactly what readers were opposed to so I know how to avoid making the same mistakes.

Have there been any books that you didn’t particularly like, but you felt like you had to pay close attention to?

None that I can think of, unfortunately, or fortunately! 😉

Did you read any books that had practical strategies to apply to life?

I didn’t read any self-help, improvement, or similar genres this year since I’ve mostly been focused on upping my writing and marketing game, as I’ve already accepted that my life is a trainwreck… (ahahah, just kidding. Sort of.) But I suppose you could say that I’ve learned through several books that ambitious super-villainy doesn’t lead to anywhere but defeat, so that might be a good life lesson to remember going into 2020. Maybe I’ll have to re-evaluate my plans of taking over the world with books…

What about you? Have there been any practical strategies that you’ve either started implementing or plan to get started on in the new year?

I love reading about habits and got some great pointers from many of the books I read this year. I plan to compile the ideas in a blog post at the end of the year and then I’ll be able to answer that question better. The one thing I can remember that I want to do comes from Atomic Habits – it provided a very good strategy for creating and getting rid of habits, which I want to keep in mind for next year. Maybe use them to get better at promoting my blog? 🙂 

If you love books about habits, I would recommend also reading The Habit Blueprint by Patrik Edblad. He takes a very practical scientific and psychological approach to habit building that I’m quite fond of, and maybe it will further reinforce everything you’ve read about habits this year. 🙂 You should definitely think some more about how habits can serve your blog better, too!

I know it is hard to give recommendations, especially when we read so many books in a year! If you had to choose, tell me about four books that I should check out and why.

• Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff was my number one favourite of the year, hands-down. It’s the third book in my favourite series, the Nevernight Chronicle, which I mentioned last time I was on your blog. 🙂 I’ve adored this series since the beginning because there’s just the right amount of bloodbath, sex, and wonderful characters and worldbuilding. Seriously, I was so enamoured by the vivid world and characters I couldn’t put the book down for like two days straight. I started reading it during the end of the school year hustle period, and I might have almost missed a couple deadlines because I was reading this instead… heh.

I actually started the first book of the Nevernight Chronicle, but just into the preface of the book, I was like “I can’t listen to this as an audiobook! This is totally reading worthy!” The book was delivered yesterday!. 🙂

Yay!! That’s so exciting. I hope you love the book as much as I do. It’s truly excellent and I hope to read the series many times over—for me, that’s saying something, as I don’t re-read books often!

• Poison Study by Maria V. Synder was another excellent read from this year. It’s an older book, but one I’ve had on my TBR list for a long time and decided it was time to knock it off. I wish I had read it sooner! I just found the premise so intriguing—a young woman is on death row for murder, but her life is spared when she becomes a food taster to check for poisons in the reigning commander’s meals. It’s a story of determination, strength, and overcoming a history of abuse against impossible odds. It also has assassins, magic, and other cool stuff, which is a bonus. I loved this book enough to start making my way through her other books.

For my last two picks, I would say The Author’s Guide to Working with Book Bloggers by Barb Drozdowich and Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse.

• The former I picked up because I’m making plans to, in 2020, reach out to a bunch of bloggers about potentially reading my books and wanted to know the best ways to do that. A lot of what was outlined in this book seemed like common sense to me, but after talking to you, Kriti, I found that maybe they weren’t… hence maybe why the book was written in the first place. Things like reading review policies, being polite and impressionable, not taking reviewers for granted… I was surprised to hear how often book bloggers struggled with this during their interactions with authors. I wish more authors would read this book so it would be easier for all you amazing bloggers! 

Yes, we have talked a bit about it this past month and I plan to read and promote it too. 🙂

This book also taught me about a lot of other best practices and opportunities to consider. Like what information to give bloggers, sharing posts, being around in the comments to answer questions, etc. Stuff I probably wouldn’t have thought of since I don’t blog much anymore. Overall, I think any author looking to make the best out of interacting with book bloggers needs to read this.

• As for the latter, Trail of Lightning, I read this as part of an indigenous literature class specializing in speculative fiction. It’s a post-apocalyptic novel that takes place after an environmental catastrophe where most of the world has supposedly been wiped out. It takes place on a Navajo reservation, which is isolated from the rest of the world because they built a massive, unscalable wall before the apocalypse happened. Around the same time as the big disasters, figures from Navajo religion—gods and monsters—came into the world. It was a very cool book, and much in-line with what I like to read. It’s also very culturally relevant right now because of growing environment anxiety and awareness of indigenous issues, especially in Canada. I recently picked up the second book and hope to finish that one, too, before the end of the year (guessing from how the book is going so far, I’ll be anxiously awaiting the third pretty shortly).

I hope you have the chance to read some of these wonderful books. Speaking of which, three of the four I’ve mentioned here, while absolutely excellent works of fiction, are pretty dark stories. Do you have any preferences toward books that are more lighthearted and feels good, or gory and/or serious, and why?

I read all kinds of books and if the synopsis speaks out to me, I’ll read it. 🙂

The Year Ahead

Would you change anything, whether it is your reading habits, review routine or reading goal, for 2020?

I want to start reading a lot more (hence my significantly larger reading goal for next year), but I also want to be more selective. Since I have shiny object syndrome, I tend to pick up books with beautiful covers and get distracted from my actual reading goals. I read a lot of great books in 2019, but all these “impulse” reads mean I’ve fallen behind on reading books by my favourite authors and related to what I write. It’s important for me, going into 2020, to stay more focused with the books I choose to read, at least until I catch up on those specific goals. Soon, I’ll be making a list of all the books I need to read next year, then I’ll plan my “impulse” reads around that schedule. Overall, in 2020, I want to be more organized, and sticking to a mostly predetermined list of books is going to be part of that.

Do you have any favourite authors, ones that you love so much you go out of your way to read all of their books, even if it messes up your plans or schedules?

That used to happen before I started reviewing, though there are books that mess with my monthly book list and that has nothing to do with author and more with the shiny cover syndrome. 🙂 I love reading Jodi Picoult and her books often make me ignore the TBR. Which authors are like that for you?

Jay Kristoff and Michael J. Sullivan. They both have a lot of books I haven’t gotten around to reading yet, but I love their work and their books keep slipping into my reading schedule even when I should be doing/reading other things. Whoops! Haha. I’m hoping to read through most if not all of their books in 2020.

Thanks so much for joining me in this series, Erynn! It is great to make friends with authors and see a new side to them. 🙂

Thanks so much for having me! I hope we can chat and collaborate like this again soon.

I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Erynn! Please let us know what you think and share with your circles!

Erynn’s first novella, Ramshackled, is available for free on her website! If you are looking to get one quick read in before the year ends, that’s the place to go! The book is amazing too! 🙂

Ways to connect with Erynn:

Website

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Next up tomorrow, I’ll have my author friend, Alak! Stay tuned! 🙂

Thanks for reading! ❤️