Let’s Do Some Reading: Goals for 2015

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So today Kate and I will discuss our reading goals for 2015.  It’s hard to believe that this year is almost over.  Like, Seriously!  Where did the year go?

I hit my apex in 2012 when I read 94 books.  My goal that year was 90. So yeah, me, I made it! but it left me with little time to really enjoy the books I was reading.  It meant that I had to immediately start a new book as soon I finished one.  I also had to rush through books when I started to fall behind in my goal.  I think there were a lot of books I read that year that I would have enjoyed more if I had given the time to really let them sink in as I read.  Let’s just say, it was stressful.  I promised myself that I would never set a goal that high again.  Last year, my goal started at 65.  Totally doable but half way though the year, I lowered my goal to 50.  I know cheating! but it was taking me forever to get through the first 3 books of Game of Thrones.  I guess when you reading 300-400 page teen novels the pace of GoT was a snail’s pace.  It turns out I didn’t need to worry since I ended up reading 74 books this.

I’m going to set my goal again for 65. Why? Obviously, I know I can read that many books in a year since I’ve read more than 65 in the last four years running.  I’m purposefully setting a low goal because I don’t want to be rushed and also there are a lot of books that I want to reread.  Books that you have already read don’t count in your total book count.  (So really, I read more then 74 books this year, if you count my rereading of The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves before Blue Lily Lily Blue came out, also my yearly read of Wuthering Heights, etc.)

I know I should say something, like my goal is also to whittle down on my to-read stack and I will but maybe I’ve come to the realization that my to-read is really never going to shrink.  There are far too many new books going to come out this year that I can’t wait to read.  There are so many books and authors that I have yet to discover and who knows what ARCs publishers are going to send out.  So, I’m going to do my best and read as many books I already own as I can but I will refuse to feel bad if the stacks pile up.  At least I know I will always have something to read.

Oh, one more goal for 2015. To finally buy more bookcases!

So Kate, whats your goal?

Thanks, Beth! I think it is wise to accept that one’s to-read list will
never really shrink. I get really excited thinking about the new year and what the next year is going to be like. (I get really excited about the same thing at my birthday, too.) What will the next 365 days bring? Will there be adventure? Romance? Sadness? Bravery? Victory? Travel? The answer to these questions is always yes because no matter what else will be in the next year there will always be books. In the past I’ve put together lists of things to read in the next year and while that has been fun this year I’m giving that a pass. I am setting myself a number and some guidelines and then I’m just going to let myself go.

In 2014 I read 53 books (I just finished Junot Diaz’s Drown); this means I surpassed my goodreads goal by 13 books. This year, I am setting the number to 50. It is a nice round number. It will be a challenge because I do a lot of reading for my day job. In fact, I should probably do more reading for my day job. That’s a post for a different day. And, now the restrictions: the books have to come from my endless stacks, the library or be ebooks. I am not to buy physical copies. That’s going to be the real challenge.

Reading Challenges

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As 2014 comes to a close many readers are considering how to challenge themselves in 2015. Tomorrow Beth and I will be discussing our 2015 challenges but until then you can check out this fun list of reading challenges published by popsugar.

What do you think of this list? Could you do it? (How many boxes can a single book check?)

Books that Rocked My Face off, Part two

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Kate has already posted her list. We have some of the same books in common but unlike my sister, I don’t have any qualms about reading only fiction and mostly teen fiction.  There are a few non-fiction novels I do want to read.  I’m quite interested in the Secret History of Wonder Woman. I’ll get to it eventually.  Anyway, this is about what I read this year so let’s get on with it.  I omitted a few books from contention because I read them as ARCs and they have not been released yet.  That will have to be a post for another day.

1.Blue Lily Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater.

I love her. I might have mentioned that before but I really do love Maggie’s writing style.  Blue Lily Lily Blue is the third book of her The Raven Cycle.  The search for the Welsh King, Glendower, is back with more earnest as Blue’s Mom, Maura has gone missing. Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Noah all have grown up so much in the last three books and yet, if we know anything about Maggie, they have so much to learn before the series ends in the next book.

2.The Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

I’m going to miss Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Leo, Hazel, Frank and Reina.  I’ll even miss Jason and Piper too.  They both did grow on me.  I thought it was a fitting ending for a great series. As a team, the Heroes came together, defeated the Giants and brought the Greeks and Romans together.  They all got a happy ending and there was a little bit of opening for some to return in Rick’s next series.

3. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

This was such a satisfying book. Georgie McCool is a TV screenwriter on a crappy show but she and her writing partner finally have a chance to get their own show going.  The problem is they have to write six episodes over Christmas, meaning Georgie has to stay in LA, while her family goes to Omaha.  Georgie’s marriage is already on thin ice; can it survive this?  While spending the night in her old room at her Mom’s house, she plugs in her old landline phone and magically calls her husband Neal in the past.  It soulds fantastical but it is based in the real world.  Rainbow has such a way of creating characters that you can’t help but fall in love with and want to be friends with.

4. The Young Elites by Marie Lu

In a revision of history, after the blood fever in the middle ages, the children who survived are left with scars.  Some were left with mysterious powers. They call themselves the Young Elite. Adelina is one of them. The blood fever left her disfigured with a scar over her left eye.  She has been shunned and abused by her father and when her powers surfaced, she’s a danger to herself and everyone else.  Marie creates a world with so much atmosphere that it was easy to get lost in it. Adelina, is filled with anger about how she is treated; you feel that it’s valid.  There are so many other layers of intrigue and one shocking ending, that the next book can not come too soon.

5. Cress by Marissa Meyer

I really do love the Lunar Chronicles.  A retelling of fairy tales with an alien twist.  I think they are really clever and the characters are so likable.  Cress is a take on Rapunzel.  She is a lunar and is hidden away in a satelite so she can spy on Earth for Queen Levana.  She is rescued from her prison but of course things don’t go as planned. She and Throne crash land in the desert.  Cinder seeks the doctors help for wolf, who is injured and Scarlet is captured by the Lunars.  Oh, and they only have a few days to stop Prince Kai from marrying Queen Levana.  I’m kind of mad that I have to wait until October or November for Winter, the final book but I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

6. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

In the final book of the Grisha Trilogy, the Darkling has taken over Ravka and only Alina, the Sun Summoner can stop him.  I feel in the past, I have been too hard on Alina, especially how she treated Mal in the last book.  It really started to get me to think how far more critical we are on female characters then we are of male.  Alina, is a  young girl who discovers she has a frightening power that can save them or destroy them.  It is a lot to take in.  She needed someone to understand and for a while, the Darkling was really the only one who could or so she thought.  It is a fitting ending to a dark series.  I felt like all the stories were wrapped up right and they all found some kind of peace.

7. Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan

Part Gothic Novel, part Nancy Drew.  Not your usual combination but it worked for the whole trilogy.  It was funny, scary and heartbreaking without missing a beat.  It was also one of the rare YA novels that not all of the main characters get a happy ending. I sometimes feel that authors feel they have to keep them alive or they will upset their readers but lets be honest.  That’s not realistic.  How many near death experiences can one character live through?  Kami is smart, resourceful and brave and really someone I would love to be friends with.  I’m going to miss this series but I am happy with how it ended.

8. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Yet another conclusion to a fantastic Trilogy.  Excluding the last half of the first book, this series grabbed me and never let me go.  It was heartwarming and heartbreaking.  The sacrifices that had to be made were real gut punchers but necessary. In the end Karou and Akiva achieved what they set out to do and a surprising relationship for Liraz was perfect.

9. Firebug by Lish McBride

Firebug doesn’t have the clever names as Lish’s other books but has the sense of humor and urgency.  Set in the same world as Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and Necromancing the Stone (see what I mean about those titles) but in Maine and not Seattle.  Ava is a firebug, a rare gift. She is forced to work for the Coterie, a magical mafia.  When she refuses to kill a family friend, she and her team, Locke, a dryad, and Ezra, a werefox, go on the run.  It really is funny.  Lish has such a great sense of humor that comes out in such surprising ways.  I can’t wait for the next one.

10. Raging Starr by Moira Young

Apparently 2014 was the year to end trilogies.  This is the last book in the Dust Lands series.  A dystopian series that goes beyond what the Hunger Games did.  Miss Young has no problems killing off characters or being seduced.  Saba has found her brother and reunited with Jack and is now ready to take down DeMalo.  The problem is that Saba does not disagree entirely with what DeMalo is trying to do.  Maybe not with how he is going about it and it puts her in direct conflict with both Jack and her brother, Lugh.  I really had no idea where this series was going to take me and it was quite a ride.

Books I loved so much, that I read the whole series:

A Song of Ice and Fire aka A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Ok so I technically haven’t finished all the books that are out.  I just started A Dance of Dragons.  Also, I did take a 8-month hiatus to watch the series and then read other things but I do love this series.  It’s so rich and challenging.  So many characters and places and plots.  How does he keep them all straight?

Obsidian, Onyx, Opal, Origin and Opposition. The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Daemon is a jerk and I love him for it.  He is also loyal and will do anything for his family and the ones he loves.  So the jerk with a heart of gold.  Obsidian got me hooked and well, I immediately bought the other books.  Were they the best books I’ve read this year.  No but damn, they were entertaining.

Legend, Prodigy and Champions by Marie Lu

I’ve been wanting to read these for a while and finally gave in and I’m glad. June and Day are perfectly matched heroes,  The ending was bittersweet but it did leave us with some hope.

Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Sometimes you just need a couple of good romances.  It’s really not a series but three companion novels that happen to have overlapping characters.  Anna is a new girl in an American high school in Paris, who falls for the charming St. Clair. Lola is a girl who knows exactly what she wants, except when it comes to Cricket, who lives next door and Isla has been in love with Josh, all for years of school but was to shy to do anything about it until a chance meeting over the summer. Isla is my favorite with Anna close second. Lola is ok but I just didn’t relate to her as much as the other two.  If you are looking for a sweet story with a lot of heart, you couldn’t do much better then these three.

Etiquette and Espoinage, Curtsies and Conspiraces, and Waistcoasts and Weaponry.  The Finishing Series by Gail Carriger

Sophronia is a handful for her mother. Always getting into trouble so when she is accepted into a prestigious finishing school, she’s sent packing.  However, this is no ordinary finishing school.  Not only do they teach the finer points of being a lady, they also teach the best ways to hide weapons in your skirts and what is the best poison to use.  All for Queen and Country, of course.  This steampunk look at Victorian Englad is full of humor that I did literally laugh out loud.

Ola!

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I would like to diverge a minute from our regularly scheduled broadcasts of discussion of published works to rep for a friend doing some awesome work.

I spent much of my summer at the Institute on Collaborative Language Research (CoLang for short) which is a biennial summer language program for linguists, language revitalization experts and speakers of any and all languages. While at CoLang I met an awesome woman named Hali Dardar, who was working with Houma Language Project. Houma is a language of Lousiana, it is endangered, and the speakers are looking for ways to change that for the better. At CoLang, Hali put together the first draft of an excellent guide for language investigation, specifically, language investigation in small groups with some native speakers and some learners. Since this summer she has continued to work on it and it now has a kickstarter! This book that she has put together is a guide to language discovery for small groups. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in practical language acquisition in small groups working with native speakers, I recommend you check this out!

Or, if you yourself are interested in what linguists do when they go to the field, you may want to check it out, too. A mere 15 bucks would get you a copy of the book!

GoT Update

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I’m still working on my Top 10 list for books I have read but in the mean time, a little update. I have finished A Feast For Crows!  Finally!  As I stated before, it started off slow.  So many new characters.  So many characters that were only briefly mentioned before came back, that then I had to spend time trying to remember who they were.  And the Iron Born.  At first I wasn’t sure why I should care what was going on in the Iron Isles but figured, Mr. Martin wouldn’t write it if it didn’t matter but damn, some of those early chapters were painful.

After, I got through all of that, the book picked up and boy did it pick up.  Cersei got off the local train to crazy town and got on the Express.  As the reader, we have the benefit of knowing what is going on the realm that Cersei doesn’t but then again, if she wasn’t so paranoid and short sighted, she might have been able to tell good advice from bad.  And what happened with Brienne? What did she say?  Did it save her?  and Jamie, so proud of you.  Littlefinger, still creepy. Arya? What?  Is she blind blind?

So many questions.  Can’t wait to dive into A Dance of Dragons.  What’s going on with Tyrion?  How is Commander Snow faring?  Are Dany’s Dragons behaving themselves?  Ok, Mr, Martin.  Bring it.

Books that Rocked My Face off in 2014

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This year I had intended to intersperse non-fiction with my fiction. It was one of my New Year’s resolutions. And, I started out strong. Seven of the first twelve books posted on my goodreads challenge for the year were non-fiction (and one of them was even relevant to my day job!) But, the end of the year saw a lot of binging my way through series many people have suggested many, many times. In 2014, I finished reading the available books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I read twelve (!) of the Stephanie Plum books. I read all five of Jennifer Armentrout’s Lux books (these I read on my phone). My goodreads goal was to finish forty books this year. I over shot that and read fifty-two. Realizing that, I thought this would be a hard list to make. A lot of good…well, reads, were devoured this year. But, upon looking at the list ten books immediately jumped out at me. Here they are:

1. Wild by Cheryl Strayed

This book was moving in all the right ways. I cried repeatedly while reading it. Strayed tells the story of how her life fell apart when her mother died and slowly fell back together while she planned and executed a trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. She survives not being appropriately prepared, a monster backpack, shoes that are too small, snow, and deserts. The solitude and physical hardship gives her a chance to deal with the real difficulty: having never gotten over the heartbreak of losing her mother and her best friend. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I cannot wait.

2. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff

I enjoyed this book immensely because it turns out that Cleopatra is an interesting lady. Prior to reading this book, my first thoughts of Cleopatra ran towards the stereotypical. She was beautiful. She survived by attaching herself to powerful men. She was a Ptolemaic girl in an Egyptian world. So, I learned a lot about her reading this book. It would seem that she was an efficient Queen who had the respect and love of our people. It was a pleasure to find that this historical figure often portrayed as a temptress and a whore but who was instead a strong leader who got shit done.

3. A History of the World in Six Glasses

I listened to, rather than read, this book while on a road trip. The text is a social history of humanity traced through its most favored beverages. Detailing the making of beer, wine, coffee, tea, spirits and coca-cola (with an epilogue about water), the author tells the stories of rising and falling empires, changing economies and social movements that make up the history of the world (women weren’t allowed in the first coffee houses making ladies’ tea rooms a popular alternative! And, Twinings, yes the Twinings you find at the supermarket, had a hand in that!). The recording from audible was great with a good narrator. After I finished, I looked for some of the modern brewers that were suggested in the epilogue. (Who wouldn’t want to try beer made from an Ancient recipe? I’ve not yet gotten my hands on a bottle, but when I do I will let you know!)

4. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell tells an alternate history of England contemporary with Napoleonic France in which there is magic in the world. Mr. Norrell is England’s last practicing magician and Jonathan Strange is his student. Where Mr. Norrell is as uptight as you’d expect an English magician Jonathan Strange is into trying new things and pushing the boundaries of magic. This was a fun, if enormous novel, with often hilarious footnotes (“promiscuous celery”. I don’t remember what it means, but I do know I found it funny/important enough to comment on it on goodreads). The tale follows Norrell, Strange, Norrell’s wife, a servant named Stephen, a Fairy King, the wife of an Upperclass Englishman, and a Magic historian from Yorkshire who chronicles the life of Mr.Norrell. The ending was curious but good and I was so happy to have finally read this book that I’ve owned since it came out! (That being said: I listened to this one, too, which means I have an unread read book on my shelf.)

5. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Oh my god this book. Sigh, the Warden. And, Nic. And, Jackson. And, PAIGE OH MY GOD PAIGE! I cannot wait for the Mime Order to come out! I am so jealous of Beth who has already read it!

This was another book I listened to.

6. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

It was tough to pick a favorite of these books since I read all five available this year. I know from looking on goodreads that lots of people thought the story in books 4 and 5 suffered, but since I binge-read them they came as a really cathartic pay-off for having gotten through the first three books. But, there was a lot of catharsis in this book as well. I got way too attached to characters in the first book so by the time I got to this book I had learned my lesson. Looking back on it, my favorite thing about these books is the Small Folk. Hang in there, Small Folk, with your clever naming of weddings!

7. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich

All of your favorites are back. Stephanie’s crazy grandma, Stephanie herself. Ranger and Joe Morelli. Joe’s grandma. And, this book introduces us to Sally Sweet. I laughed my way through this book and then immediately started reading the next one. Stephanie Plum is ridiculous and for that I love her.

8. Origin by Jennifer Armentrout

All hell breaks lose because two teenagers fell in love. And, unlike classics like Romeo and Juliet, I’m pretty sure this is just meant to be fluffy, fun mayhem and not a satire. Which is good, because I tore through it like fluffy, fun mayhem.

9. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

This was on a list of books to read before the movie came out around this time last year. Well, I read it and then I looked for the movie and it was gone. Already out of the theater. Total Sadface. But, Rose Hathaway is such a badass and if they did a crap job bringing her to the silver screen then I’m glad I missed the movie. Also, I started reading this about the same time I started watching Sleepy Hollow, so Dmitri in my mind looks exactly like Ichabod Crane. I’m totally okay with this.

10. Zealot by Reza Aslan

I always have time to read books by fellow Iowa Alumni. This is another history/biography in the same vein of Cleopatra. Aslan keeps you interested with his writing style and puts the historical Jesus in a context that, frankly, just made me like him even more cool. (I realize that “him” at the end of the last sentence is ambiguous. I did that intentionally because the book made me like both Jesus and Aslan more.) Jesus would have been a man in an occupied Kingdom yearning to be free. It’s hard to not sympathize with that. And, then how this man who fought for freedom went from freedom fighter to global religious figure is also interesting to consider. I thought this was an interesting and thought provoking book and I’m happy I read it.

Books I started but never finished

1. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Guh. I didn’t care about the characters. I found much of the set up and background for the yarn shop to be unrealistic (what kind of sweaters was she making on contract to pay her bills in New York City?!?!). Couldn’t even be bothered to get to the main drama, that’s how early I put this one down. As a knitter, I’m always incredibly disappointed when knitting is the only thing interesting in a novel. People with a hobby might be a built-in audience but if you can’t be bothered to develop interesting characters or intriguing story lines then don’t bother.

2. The Waves by Virginia Woolf

This is a beautiful stream-of-consciousness novella that follows a group of friends from the school yard through their lives and I expect I’ll one day get back to it. But, I started reading it while I was traveling for work and it was too much for the end of the day reading I was using it for. Instead, I ended up reading the Armentrout books on my phone, so I’m grateful for that.

3. The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Good, and I’ll probably try to finish it one day. But, Harry Hole isn’t Kurt Wallander. I kind of love Kurt Wallander.

4. Vegan before Six by Mark Bittman

This is where I’m at with health books: I’m kind of done with them. I like this concept, reducing the amount of animal products you eat by eating plant-based for most of the day. And, if you’re anything like me (who cooks like, three or four times a weeks and eats toast and oatmeal and leftovers for the rest of your meals) this basically means either all vegan all the time or that it’s not a workable solution. I was thinking in the New Year I might give it a try (as a more or less all-vegan-all-the-time solution with occasional meat sometimes). We’ll see.

5. The Fault in our Stars by John Green

I just don’t like John Green, what can I say? Not his writing, mind you, him. I just don’t like him. I enjoyed what I read of this novel but I’d put it down and end up thinking about the author and I’d just get mad at myself for putting money in his pocket. I know I’m probably the only one who doesn’t like him, but there you have it. I might try it again, but with the world full of good books written by authors I like, I probably won’t.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

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Last night with my friends Annie and Rebecca went to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 last night.  I know, finally.  Hey, We’ve all been busy with jobs ok.  Jeesh.  I’ll try to keep this spoiler free as possible but read on at your own risk.

The movie itself is fine.  It’s not great but it’s also not bad, either.  There really wasn’t anything that I really disliked about it, to be honest, except for the whole Part 1 bit.  I think splitting the book into two movies really hurt this one.  I want to say to movie companies, that just because it worked for Harry Potter does not mean it will work for all YA adaptations. I mean, it only partly worked for Twilight.  Breaking Dawn Part 1 was a big ol’ mess but Part 2 was actually pretty good since it wasn’t weighed down by all the nonsense of Vampire/human pregnancy drama.  I’m not saying that Mockingjay will be Breaking Dawn because Mockingjay Part 1 was a good movie, not great but good.  Breaking Dawn Part 1 was just bad.

So what are my issues with Mockingjay P1?  First, it started off slow.  To make the first half of the book into a full length feature film, they had to add scenes and draw out scenes to make them longer.  This really slowed down the pace of the film.  Many would argue that this was also a flaw of the book as well.  The first half of the book, is the attempt to make Katniss the Mockingjay and the internal politics of District 13.  Not exactly the most exciting stuff in the series. This is really only highlighted in the slow start of the movie.  The movie follows Katniss as she tries to grasp what has happened and try to be who they want her to be.  She (and Jennifer Lawrence) only really shine is when Katniss is able to be herself and not some manufactured rebel.  By the time the movie really starts to pick up momentum, the movie ends.  As one reviewer put it, that wasn’t a cliffhanger, that was a tease of an ending.

As I said before, it wasn’t bad.  It just wasn’t as good as the previous two.  I did enjoy the scenes of the other districts rebellions.  In the book, they mention the rebellions going on in the other districts but since the book is from Katniss point of view and she’s not see what is going on District 8, 7 or 5, so we don’t.  It was good to see how much influence the Mockingjay, truly has. To see the rebels take up what Katniss says as battle cries and actions.  It puts a whole new weight to her power that she truly doesn’t understand.  I’ve always liked the little glimpses into the Capital and President Snow throughout the series but this time, we truly get to see who ruthless he really is.  We obviously know that by what happens in the book but to see a man so calmly order a hospital of wounded men, women and children is chilling.

It really isn’t fair to judge Part 1 just yet as we haven’t seen Part 2.  For all we know, Part 2  is going to be so amazing that splitting Mockingjay into two parts was the right call but we won’t know that until next year.  I have a feeling that even if Part 2 is better, Mockingjay still would have been better as one movie.

What are your favorite books of 2014?

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Kate and I will be posting our lists for our favorite books we read this year soon but before we do, we want to hear some your favorite books.  So, what did you read this year that you loved so much, you had to tell all your friends? What books did you give 5 stars on Goodreads? What books did read again, right after you just finished reading it the first time? I can’t be the only one who does that.

Post your favorite books in the comment. Don’t be shy.