Now that 2015 is almost done, it’s time to review my reading year. Thanks to GoodReads, I have a very good idea of how I did. I had set my reading goal at 75 books, and I completed 87 with a total of 29,110 pages. This is a little lower than the last few years, but I did enjoy many of these books in audiobook format, which does take longer. The shortest book I read was Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne which had a total of 39 pages, and the longest was Voyager by Diana Gabaldon which weighed in at a hefty 870 pages. I read some pretty amazing books this year. So without further ado, in no particular order, here are the books I enjoyed most. Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb is pretty much defaulted to my top books list because I am so, so invested in the characters of Fitz and the Fool and their unconventional friendship. Of course I was going to soak up every nuance of their continuing tale. Hobb would have had to really mess it up for me not to like it. Fortunately, she produced a wonderful continuation to…
Now that 2015 is almost done, it’s time to review my reading year. Thanks to GoodReads, I have a very good idea of how I did. I had set my reading goal at 75 books, and I completed 87 with a total of 29,110 pages. This is a little lower than the last few years, but I did enjoy many of these books in audiobook format, which does take longer. The shortest book I read was Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne which had a total of 39 pages, and the longest was Voyager by Diana Gabaldon which weighed in at a hefty 870 pages. I read some pretty amazing books this year. So without further ado, in no particular order, here are the books I enjoyed most. Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb is pretty much defaulted to my top books list because I am so, so invested in the characters of Fitz and the Fool and their unconventional friendship. Of course I was going to soak up every nuance of their continuing tale. Hobb would have had to really mess it up for me not to like it. Fortunately, she produced a wonderful continuation to…
Now, pretty much anyone who has an interest in popular culture is aware that the first Star Wars movie since 2005, The Force Awakens, was released on December 18th 2015. Full disclosure: while I consider myself a fan of Star Wars, I have only dabbled in the Extended Universe/Legends supplementary material. Like many, though, I was anxious to see what J.J. Abrams would make of Lucas’ legacy and booked my ticket to a showing on release day. In anticipation of the event, I did a fair amount of preparation. This blog post details my immersion in the world of Star Wars during the month of December. Out of respect for the three of you out there who have not yet seen The Force Awakens, I will place my thoughts on the movie/audiobook itself below the cut. The Rewatch Naturally, the main part of my pre Force Awakens preparation was a rewatch of the Star Wars movies released prior to Episode 7. I chose to do this following machete order. I urge you to check out the full link on why this order works, but in summary, you watch Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and then switch to the…
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin is a young adult alternative history novel set in a world in which the Nazis won the Second World War. We follow our protagonist, Yael, who is a death camp survivor, and her mission to kill Hitler. This mission hangs on the fact that Yael’s experiences in the death camp gave her the ability to change her appearance to look like any other woman. She must impersonate famous motor cyclist Adele Wolfe, the only person in recent times who has been able to get close to the Führer. To achieve this goal she must first compete in a trans continental bike race from Germania (Berlin) to Tokyo while not revealing her secret to Adele’s brother and former flame Luka Löwe. I have to say this book really got under my skin. I was completely invested in Yael’s story and rooting for her. I lay awake at night thinking of her story What I liked The protagonist. I loved that Yael is a blend of kick ass heroine and vulnerability. Graudin did an excellent job of making the mission personal to Yael through the use of flashbacks and the imagery of the wolf tattoos. Her…