2013 Reading Review

At the end of 2012 I promised myself that I was going to try to read more books in 2013, and write more reviews.

I did manage to read a few more more books than in 2012 (according to Goodreads I read 25 books total, with A Memory of the Light being the longest) but I failed miserably at writing more reviews.

That's an issue that I find myself wrestling with, and ultimately is the reason I haven't written as many this last year.  I feel like I'm not really "qualified' to "review" books.  I don't know why though.  What makes one "qualified" to write a review?  Further, does what I actually write about a book qualify AS a review?  I don't know how to answer these questions, and I kind of fell off the wagon, so to speak, and didn't even try.  But I do enjoy talking about books, so this year I'm going to TRY to try harder.

And If that doesn't say commitment, folks, I don't know what does!

But you know what I mean, I'm sure.  So - on to the books!!

In 2013 I read 25 books in total.  Somehow, this year became the "Accidental Young Adult Year," because 13 of those books, or 52%, were YA.  (I think?  Again the definition is somewhat nebulous to me).  And while I have been somewhat indifferent to YA in general, after reading so many this year, I believe I'm beginning to understand why they are so popular among "Adult Adults."

I've always had the impression that YA books are always written from the POV of females, usually teen girls - like The Hunger Games or Divergent.  And while there's nothing wrong with that and I applaud the fact that there are so many books for, by, and about girls and young women, I have to admit that I found it very refreshing to find YA books with a male POV (like Beautiful Creatures), or a POV that shifted between the male and female POV (like the Sky Chasers series), providing what to me feels like a more balanced approach to storytelling.  But without a doubt, my eyes have been opened and I no longer feel that YA books are somehow "less than" Adult novels.

I've noticed a lot of bloggers talking about their reading plans and goals for 2104.  I think that's a great idea from a blogging viewpoint, but not so much fun from a reading viewpoint.  I don't want reading to feel like a chore.  Ever.

But having said that, of course, here's my reading plans for 2014:
1.  Read whatever the heck I want.
2.  Revisit some of my old favorites.
3.  Continue reading what I like.

The last few years I've noticed that I've gotten super caught up in trying to stay current with what's being published.  Unfortunately, I just don't have that much time, and as a result I've neglected some of my faithful friends that I like to pull out and reread every few years.  In fact, I've already started!

I've started rereading Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn, one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels, and while I'm not going to treat it like an actual "Read and React" feature, I am going to try to put the book down every couple of chapters and talk about it here on the blog as I work my way through it.  If anyone would like to join me in discussing it I think that would be fantastic and I would welcome your thoughts and comments!  But more about that later; let's get on with what I read in 2013 before this becomes the never ending blog post!

So, here's my list of books read in 2013:

	Title	Author	My Rating	Date Read
	The Kingdom of Gods   (The Inheritance Trilogy, #3)	Jemisin, N.K.	4 of 5 stars	Jan 26, 2013
	A Memory of Light   (Wheel of Time, #14)	Jordan, Rober	5 of 5 star	Mar 27, 2013
	Notorious Nineteen   (Stephanie Plum, #19)	Evanovich, Janet	3 of 5 stars	Apr 05, 2013
	Gone   (Gone, #1)	Grant, Michael	3 of 5 stars	Apr 22, 2013
	Hunger   (Gone, #2)	Grant, Michael	3 of 5 stars	May 09, 2013
	The Emperor's Soul	Sanderson, Brandon	4 of 5 stars	May 14, 2013
	And Then There Were None	Christie, Agath	4 of 5 stars	May 21, 2013
	Allanon's Quest   (Paladins of Shannara, #1)	Brooks, Terry	3 of 5 stars	May 22, 2013
	The Weapons Master's Choice (Paladins of Shannara, #2)	Brooks, Terry	3 of 5 stars	May 24, 2013
	Perfect Shadow   (Night Angel, #0.5)	Weeks, Brent	3 of 5 stars	May 26, 2013
	Firstborn	Sanderson, Brandon	3 of 5 stars	May 30, 2013
	Theft of Swords   (The Riyria Revelations, #1-2)	Sullivan, Michael J.	4 of 5 stars	Jul 2013
	City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)	Clare, Cassandra	4 of 5 stars	Jul 17, 2013
	Divergent (Divergent, #1)	Roth, Veronica	4 of 5 stars	Jul 21, 2013
	Rise of Empire   (The Riyria Revelations, #3-4)	Sullivan, Michael J.	4 of 5 stars	Aug 26, 2013
	Insurgent   (Divergent, #2)	Roth, Veronica	3 of 5 stars	Sep 15, 2013
	Lady of Ashes	Trent, Christine	3 of 5 stars	Oct 03, 2013
	The Black Irix (Paladins of Shannara #3)	Brooks, Terry	3 of 5 stars	Oct 05, 2013
	Beautiful Creatures   (Caster Chronicles, #1)	Garcia, Kami	4 of 5 stars	Oct 28, 2013
	Born   (Born, #1)	Brown, Tara	3 of 5 stars	Nov 06, 2013
	Steelheart   (Reckoners, #1)	Sanderson, Brandon	4 of 5 stars	Nov 20, 2013
	Catching Fire  (The Hunger Games, #2)	Collins, Suzanne	4 of 5 stars	Nov 29, 2013
	World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War	Brooks, Max	3 of 5 stars	Dec 18, 2013
	Glow   (Sky Chasers, #1)	Ryan, Amy Kathleen	3 of 5 stars	Dec 27, 2013
	Spark   (Sky Chasers, #2)	Ryan, Amy Kathleen	3 of 5 stars	Dec 31, 2013

Did you read any of these books this year?  Do you have a favorite among them?  What are your thoughts about the whole "qualified to review" issue, and what a "review" should actually be?  Let me know in the comments - I'd love to hear all y'all's thoughts!  And stay tuned for the first look at Dragon Prince - coming soon!

What I Found - The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks

This past weekend I was visiting the local mall, and decided to duck into Barnes & Noble for a quick moment.  As I approached the entrance to the store I passed the Bargain Rack that usually sits just outside the entrance, which I usually ignore.  But for some reason this time I stopped to take a look, and what to my wondering eyes should appear?

This:

The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks.

I've been intending to read this series "eventually" but wasn't in a hurry to start it.  I figured I'd just download it to my Nook at some point when I could devour the whole series at once.  But when I realized that the Hardback version of the book was on sale, I really couldn't pass it by.  I mean, really - a hardback novel for under five dollars?!  That's CRAZY!!!

So of course I brought it home, and now it lives in my bookcase.  I'm so excited!

What bargain books have you found lately?

2012 Reading Recap

I'm a little late getting to the recap this year, and to my disappointment, I find that my reading total has dropped yet again, from 26 books in 2011, down to 21 books in 2012.  Once again there were several novels with higher-page counts, including A Dance With Dragons (1016 pages), 2312 (444 pages), The Casual Vacancy (503 pages), and Blue Remembered Earth (512 pages).

So, for your viewing pleasure, here's the list of books that I finished in 2012, with the date I finished reading the book, and links to reviews.

A Dance with Dragons	George R R Martin	1/28/2012
Explosive Eighteen	Janet Evanovich	2/1/2012
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children	Ransom Riggs	2/7/2012
The Mephisto Club (Rizzoli & Isles #6)	Tess Gerritsen	2/16/2012
The Hunger Games	Suzanne Collins	2/20/2012
Ender's Game	Orson Scott Card	2/27/2012
Timeless	Gail Carriger	3/6/2012
A Princess of Mars	Edgar Rice Burroughs	3/13/2012
The Gods of Mars	Edgar Rice Burroughs	3/26/2012
Warlord of Mars	Edgar Rice Burroughs	4/1/2012
Thuvia, Maid of Mars	Edgar Rice Burroughs	4/9/2012
The Chessmen of Mars	Edgar Rice Burroughs	4/24/2012
The Watchers of Ur: Cradle	Lamonte Fowler	5/11/2012
The Desert of Souls	Howard Andrew Jones	5/27/2012
The Seventh Scroll	Wilbur Smith	7/8/2012
2312	Kim Stanley Robinson	8/12/2012
Blue Remembered Earth	Alastair Reynolds	9/11/2012
Shadow of Night	Deborah Harkness	10/21/2012
The Casual Vacancy	J. K. Rowling	11/25/2012
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms	N. K. Jemisin	12/13/2012
The Broken Kingdoms	N. K. Jemisin	12/31/2012

Not a bad list, eh?  Although I'm reminded again just how far behind I am with writing reviews. Something to work on in the new year, I guess!
What did you read in 2012?

Quick Meme: Last - Now - Next

John DeNardo over at SF Signal poses three questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you reading now?
3. What will you read next?

I recently finished reading The Desert of Souls, by Howard Andrew Jones, which I totally loved (my review here).

Right now I'm reading The Seventh Scroll, by Wilbur Smith, and I'm finding it very entertaining.

What will I read next?  It's difficult to say for certain, but probably Blue Remembered Earth, by Alastair Reynolds, which I am really looking forward to.


So what about you?  Leave a comment below, and also check out the original post at SF Signal for some fantastic recommendations!

Reading Stuff...

So, upon completion (late last night) of The Mephisto Club, by Tess Gerritsen, I have now officially finished all of the books that I either received for Christmas, been loaned, or just randomly had laying around my room that I hadn't read yet.  I've been pushing to get caught up on everything that I already HAD before I purchased anything new.

So now I'm all caught up, and that leaves me with a bit of a dilemma.

When I revived this blog a year and half ago, "Mockingjay" - the 3rd book in the Hunger Games trilogy (which I had never even heard of) - was just about a month away from publication, and the internet was wild with anticipation.  Everyone with a book blog, it seemed, was reading advance review copies and writing ecstatically loving reviews, gushing endlessly about the wonders of Panem, the horrors of the Games, the extraordinary prowess of Katniss, and running rampant with speculation of which boy she would end up with.   Team Peeta and Team Gale badges began appearing on every YA blog, and I began to seriously wonder what kind of strange world I had wandered into with my whole "Hey let's start a blog where I can talk about books!" idea.

Then "Mockingjay" was actually released.  The hubbub and commotion surrounding the series escalated by a factor of 10, reaching nauseating proportions, and I decided that this whole YA/Hunger Games/feverish obsession was simply not for me, and vowed a solemn and sacred vow that I would not be joining the crowds, would not be swayed by peer pressure, and would not be reading this series! 

A vow that I am now about to break.

Because, as I'm sure you already know, the movie is coming out in March 2012 (next month!), and every time I see a preview for it I really really really really want to see it.  I know - I'm so ashamed of myself, but sweet grilled cheezus I really do! And I have a very strict rule that, whenever possible, if a movie is based on a book, I always make a point to read the book first.  (This is the only reason I read Twilight, because I wanted to see the movie.  What a mistake that was...).

Thus you see my dilemma.  I am now required to read a book that I vowed I would not read.  I know, #FirstWorldProblems, but still...

And so it is, my dear little Little Addicts, that this weekend I will be downloading "The Hunger Games" to my NookColor and begin reading it.  Try not to think any less of me for breaking my vow.

But if this weekend you happen to notice a strange and eerie coldness emanating from beneath the ground, or see something that looks suspiciously like a pig soaring above the clouds, at least now you will know why.

Bits & Pieces

Over at AwesomeSauce Book Club, Amber has posed what I find to be an interesting question - What do you look for in a review?  Do you prefer a brief synopsis about the story with minor spoilers?  Some people prefer less about the story and more about one's thoughts on the writing itself and characters' development, while others want to know nothing more than if you liked it or not.

While thinking about it I realized that I don't know if I have a very strong opinion here, although I think that I tend to like the brief synopsis type of review myself.  I never judge a book by its' cover, but I often judge it by the blurb on the back!  I've read many a book simply because a friend I trusted said I should, and I don't mind minor spoilers before I read something.  (I'll watch movies even if I know how they end, too!)  But I'm curious to know what kind of review my little Addicts would prefer?

Anyway, it seemed like an entertaining topic for a Wednesday afternoon, so if you wouldn't mind, head on over to AwesomeSauce Book Club and leave an answer in her comments, and if you'd like to leave one here also, I'd appreciate it!

Have a happy rest of the week!