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Monday, January 5, 2015

Thank you 2014

I was feeling a little blah about 2014, thinking it was a crappy year overall, until I remembered. 2014 was the year I got a job I actually love - at a pawn shop of all things. I've never had a job a looked forward to going to (well...except for that summer I was painting and there was this really cute guy on the crew...) and all I can say is it's pretty cool getting up without the dread of having my soul sucked out of me for eight hours. So thank you 2014 for my awesome job! In addition to my exceedingly cool job at the pawn shop, I also read a few books in 2014 - 34!!! Not as many as last year but hey, I bet it's more than the average joe so I'll take it!

Books read in 2014


1. The Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
2. Ice Dogs by Terry Lynn Johnson
3. The Boy Who Loved Fire by Julie Musil
4. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
5. Screwing up Time by C.M. Keller
6. Greybeard by Brian Aldiss
7. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
8.  Among Others by Jo Walton
9. The Mad Scientists Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clark
10. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
11. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Forde
12. The Eighth Day by Dianne K. Salerni
13. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
14. The Lady in White by Wilkie Collins
15. Open Minds by Susan Quinn
16. I am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith
17. Reality Boy by A.S. King
18. The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey
19. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
20. As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka (didn’t finish)
21. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
22. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
23. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
24. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
25. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (for the umpteenth time)
26. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
27. Red Glove by Holly Black
28. Origin by Jessica Khoury
29. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
30. Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
31. The Heist by Daniel Silva
32. The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
33. The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
34. Stealing History by William D. Andrews


Short Stories:

The Skull by Phillip K. Dick
Samsa in Love by Haruki Murakami (LOVED this – it was in The New Yorker, Oct. 2013)
The Scavenger by Sean McLachlan
Out of Magic by CD Coffelt

What I’m reading now:

1. Moby Deck by Herman Melville - I’m at the part where Ishmael and Queequeeg are on board the Pequod and have just begun to get glimpses of Captain Ahab…

2. The Great Influenza by John M. Barry (the second book on my WIP research list - the first was The Johnstown Flood - can you tell bad things are going to happen? Mwahahaha...) 



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40 comments:

  1. Alex J. Cavanaugh5/1/15 6:31 AM

    That's an impressive list of books!
    Glad you have a job you enjoy now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hart Johnson5/1/15 8:07 AM

    A job you love is HUGE. We spend so much time working. I like my job, but it is BIG so I often feel stressed about it. I'd like a job that wasn't stressful, I think. And contrary to popular opinion, I loved Moby Dick. I like reading classics in my mix. There is a reason they've survived.

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    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:27 AM

      Agreed! And I'm enjoying Moby Dick although it is not the sort of book one whips through...

      Delete
  3. M.J. Fifield5/1/15 8:27 AM

    Having a job you love is huge. I'm more or less unemployed now, so maybe I'll find that with my next one.

    So many of the books you read last year are sitting on my TBR list. Perhaps I shall get to them this year.

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    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:08 PM

      I feel very fortunate to have found this job. I hope you find something you love :)

      Delete
  4. Julie Flanders5/1/15 8:58 AM

    It's definitely a gift to have a job you love - glad you found that! And a pawn shop seems like a super cool place to work. I can imagine you see some really interesting things sometimes!
    I know all about the soul sucking so I'm happy for you. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:09 PM

      It is most definitely an interesting place to work. We get lots of characters.

      Delete
  5. Luanne G. Smith5/1/15 9:41 AM

    Ha! That's about as far as I got in Moby-Dick. And I'm so glad you found a job you love (besides writing). Can't ask for better than that. :)

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  6. Dianne K. Salerni5/1/15 9:46 AM

    Ahem. Didn't you also publish your first book in 2014?
    A book with over 40 reviews on Amazon and a better Kindle ranking than any of mine?
    How could you forget West of Paradise?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:13 PM

      oops. It seems so long ago I totally forgot it was this year! Poor West of Paradise! How could I have forgotten my firstborn?I must be a horrible mother...

      Delete
  7. Christine Rains5/1/15 9:47 AM

    To have a job you even like is a great thing! :) Here's to a marvelous 2015 for all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Natalie Aguirre5/1/15 10:54 AM

    Glad you found a job you love. Hoping I will this year too. And like Dianne said, you left out y;our debut book. So awesome. Loved seeing your book list. I've read a few on it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Julie Dao5/1/15 12:13 PM

    I'm so glad you found a great job, Marcy! 2014 also found me a new job, one that I don't dread waking up to like I did with the previous one. Your book list is so much more impressive than mine is! I'm hoping to read a lot more this year! Happy 2015!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:14 PM

      Isn't it lovely waking up and not dreading the day? What a treat!

      Delete
  10. Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader5/1/15 1:04 PM

    Congratulations on all the books you've read. I hope to read more this year. I'm currently reading a Mercedes Lackey series after having recently finished Woven.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Angela Brown5/1/15 1:07 PM

    It's amazing how a quick review of the year can give you a different perspective on how things really went. Glad you were able to the wonderful of 2014.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:15 PM

      I'm glad 2014 was better than I thought it was!

      Delete
  12. Susan Gourley/Kelley5/1/15 1:15 PM

    A few of the books you read are on my lists. I love hearing about your new job. It is really interesting.

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    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:16 PM

      I think it's pretty interesting, too - and I'll be posting more about it. It's a gold mine of topics.

      Delete
  13. Elephant's Child5/1/15 3:43 PM

    Loving your list of books. Some of which I read and loved. Yay for rereading.
    And how wonderful to have a job you enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Happy Whisk5/1/15 4:09 PM

    All good things to be thankful for, indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mshatch5/1/15 8:17 PM

      Sometimes there's more than we think...

      Delete
    2. The Happy Whisk13/1/15 6:53 PM

      I'm a thankful person, each day I feel that way and if I get to put my head down on the pillow at night, then I'm thankful for that too. For having had another day on the planet.

      Delete
  15. Liz A.5/1/15 9:19 PM

    Good on the job. And the books. When I was a teen I kept a list of the books I finished. I have no idea where that list went. I haven't done it since. (I know, I know--Goodreads. Maybe one of these days...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mshatch6/1/15 8:09 AM

      I just keep a list on my computer and add to it as I read :)

      Delete
  16. shelly6/1/15 5:32 PM

    Good for you! Love your blog pic!

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    Replies
    1. mshatch6/1/15 7:01 PM

      Well...it was time to take the Christmas tree down...until next year :)

      Delete
  17. Stephanie Faris6/1/15 6:10 PM

    What a great list! I love that you have a job you love--both because it makes you happy and we get to hear all the good stories!

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    Replies
    1. mshatch6/1/15 7:02 PM

      I love having a job I love! It's a first - besides the writing of course!

      Delete
  18. Crystal Collier7/1/15 3:40 PM

    Awesome. 2014 was a reading year for me. 100 books, and so many were fabulous. I sometimes wonder why I can't hit the pause button on life and just read until I'm done. (Probably because I would be prematurely aged by 5 years or more...)

    I'm wishing you the best 2015 ever!

    ReplyDelete
  19. LD Masterson8/1/15 12:30 PM

    Nice reading list.

    I was fortunate to have a job I really enjoyed for 20 years. Retirement is nice - especially having time to write - but sometimes I do miss that job. Enjoy yours.

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    Replies
    1. mshatch9/1/15 7:07 PM

      I will! But I don't think I'll be sorry to retire and write...maybe work part time...

      Delete
  20. DEZMOND14/1/15 8:57 AM

    I loved Terry Lynn's ICE DOGS too! Read it in one afternoon :)

    ReplyDelete

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