Currently Consuming:
I miss making booktube videos over on my YouTube channel, Bookstahooda, but i don’t currently have the energy/motivation to make it a priority. However! I do have the motivation to type things! So, instead of filming videos and leaving them forever unedited (I probably have about 30 such videos—which I may someday put up as a series called Bookstahooda Backlog), I will instead utilize this space, for this new series: Currently Consuming!
Likely, this will overlap with my Current Obsessions page sometimes. (As right now.)
People who know me, or have watched my channel in the past, know that I read many things at once. I generally read one book of each genre I like at the same time so that when I feel like I need to change, I can switch over to a different genre.
So here’s what I’m reading/watching/writing right now:
READING:
Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. Lisa Cron.
I bought this in a Writer’s Digest book sale on a whim. What an excellent impulse buy it’s turned out to be. It’s so good I’m annoyed at myself for waiting until now to read it.
It covers scientific research about the brain and how it interacts with stories—it’s about how to keep the brain interested in the question of survival and how that makes brains produce dopamine. It’s been as useful in my writing as it’s been in understanding my reaction to a certain anime….
WATCHING:
Bananafish. Banana Fish?
However it’s spelled/punctuated, etc. Oh my god. I watched all of this 24-episode anime in about 48 hours (cue Eiji and Ash saying “48 hours” to each other and me crawling in a ball and crying for for the same duration).
[this will be spoiler free, except for the emotions it made me experience]
I have been on quite a Yaoi kick lately, and this, I have to believe, is the epitome. It’s one of the greatest love stories I’ve ever seen. Ash and Eiji have entered my favorite couples of all time echelon—my All Time OTPs —which will likely be a blog post (a listicle?!) in the future.
I’m already 6 episodes into my first rewatch, because it deserves it. I’ve bought two volumes of the 19 volume manga series. (I intend to buy them all, but you know… budgeting. SIGH.)
I’m lowkey cosplaying Ash today. Red converse, ripped black jeans, white tee-shirt and the only blue jacket I had. I would be wearing a jade earring if I had one (don’t worry, I’ll be buying one). Tomorrow, I’ll likely wear my red converse, blue ripped jeans and a red jacket. I just love Ash so much.
The story of Bananafish is so intricate—I’m not sure I’ve found a plot hole yet—each one I think I find, the story answers/explains. It’s so well crafted, AND THE CHARACTERS. UGH.
Ash’s character development is so detailed and wonderful. His journey from beginning to end is completely believable and realistic. His and Eiji’s attachment is like Victor and Yuuri’s from Yuuri on Ice!!!, except the dark side of the coin, but the same level of pure—perhaps even more pure?! (assuming that’s possible). A meme captures it perfectly: Two roads, YOI on one side and Bananafish on the other—Happy feels for the former and heart wrenching agony for the latter. Thinking about Ash and Eiji literally makes my stomach clench. That feeling is rare and precious as it is painful. Another comparison I could make is Damen and Laurent from The Captive Prince trilogy which I read twice in a row last year.
Do I have a new Pinterest board titled “Break My Banana Heart”? You fucking bet I do. (Here it is, if you feel like breaking your own heart—spoilers: https://www.pinterest.com/bookstahooda/break-my-banana-heart/ )
Will I dissolve into a crying puddle the next time I watch the final episode? As the guy who burned down the Banana stand (that wasn’t even intentional) in Arrested Development said, “Most definitely.” I mean, I’m almost crying thinking about it now—was almost crying when I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it. Almost cried as I drove to get my lunch while listening to my Spotify playlist for them I’ve compiled over the past day.
I cannot recommend Bananafish highly enough. Up until Covid settled in, I rarely watched anime anymore. But I know I’ll be watching this over and over again periodically for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be.
Bananafish is perfect, and as an author whose dream it is to write a book that makes readers feel like this show made me feel, it’s educational.
I will likely write a spoilery post about it soon because I don’t think this story will leave my conscious ever. Great art changes you, and Bananafish changed me as a person and as a creator.
Speaking of creating….
back to
Reading!
I’m reading The Artist’s Way, a birthday gift from my friend, Brittany.
I’m in the third week of the twelve week journey, and it has been helping me get through some blocks I wasn’t aware I still had. If you’re a creator—and more especially if you’re not yet—read it.
WRITING:
I’ve finished the first half of my revision of the first book of my first ever trilogy attempt, Relic of Storms: Scimitar. Can I rewrite that sentence with fewer prepositions? Let’s see.
I am going to begin the second phase of revising Scimitar, the first book of my in progress fantasy trilogy, Relic of Storms. Better? J-Hope so. (Now you know who my bias is, if you had any doubt.)
Since the revision for my previous book, now querying, however lazily, Neither Devil Nor Saint, went so well, I’m sticking to that revision system hence forth. It’s the system created by Susan Dennard, which is available on her website https://susandennard.com/ . It’s a brilliant system for someone who loves checklists as much as I do.
I won’t give details, but the takeaway is that her system makes one realize what book one has actually written, and what one needs to do in order to make it the book one wants it to be. SO HELPFUL.
Writing this series — eeek— has been a journey already. My friend, again, the wonderful Brittany, one of my few trusted beta readers, read my original, VERY rough draft of Scimitar and bluntly told me, “Sandy this is a trilogy. “ Once I picked my jaw up off her kitchen table, I realized, OH DAMN she’s right.
Cue a month of rereading, reoutlining, and looooots of time worldbuilding.
Vastly helpful in this regard is Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on his YouTube channel re: writing fantasy. Amazing free resource. (Also helpful in this time is V. E. Schwab’s No Write Way interview series, on her YouTube channel.)
And, just for this time, GAMING!
I’m about halfway through the remake of FF7 on PS4. It’s wonderful, though the battle system is very reminiscent of FFXV—not that that’s a bad thing; it’s what XV’s should have been.
Thank you for reading! What art are you currently consuming? Any yaoi show/manga recommendations for when I ever get over my Bananafish hangover?
