Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Challenge - 2016 Diversity on the Shelf Challenge


I am participating in the 2016 Diversity on the Shelf Challenge, a challenge aimed at getting readers to read more books by authors of color. I have a fair number of books in my to-be-read pile that meet this criteria, including The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard, and The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, and I'm sure I'll end up with more as the year goes on. One set of books I'm not certain about are anthologies: For example the Nebula Awards Showcase 2015 has stories by Samuel R. Delany, Ken Liu, and Alaya Dawn Johnson, but also has stories by non-minority authors such as Ann Leckie and Rachel Swirsky. I'm leaning towards saying it and other books like it count, but I am not certain on this point.

2016 Diversity on the Shelf Challenge:

2016 Challenge Tracking Pages
9th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2016
100+ Books Challenge 2016
2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge
Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

Not a Challenge:
The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2016

2016 Challenges     Home
Posted by Aaron Pound at 12:00 PM 0 comments
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Challenge - 100+ Books Challenge 2016


I am participating in the 100+ Books Challenge 2016 hosted by Freda's Voice. Although I have participated in a 100+ book challenge in the past, I did not last year, mostly because the one I had been participating in ceased operating. I am looking forward to this challenge, mostly because I am hoping it will help me get to my goal of reading and reviewing multiple books per week in the upcoming year.

The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2016:

Other 2016 Challenges:
9th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2016
2016 Diversity on the Shelf Challenge
2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge
Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

Not a Challenge:
The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2016

2016 Challenges     Home
Posted by Aaron Pound at 11:00 AM 2 comments
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Challenge - 9th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2016


In 2016 I am going to once again take on the graphic novels challenge hosted by the 9th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2016 blog. I don't have a firm plan, although I will definitely be following up on all of the graphic novels I read in 2015, including Bitch Planet, ODY-C, Rat Queens, Saga, and Sex Criminals. I still have several volumes of Girl Genius, and the entire run of Order of the Stick to get to as well. If I get ambitious, I'll get a start on reviewing my Asterix collection and some of the Batman compilations I have.

The 9th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2016:

Other 2016 Challenges:
100+ Books Challenge 2016
2016 Diversity on the Shelf Challenge
2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge
Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

Not a Challenge:
The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2016

2016 Challenges     Home
Posted by Aaron Pound at 10:00 AM 2 comments
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Monday, January 4, 2016

Musical Monday - Thanskgiving by Paul & Storm


This song isn't actually about Thanksgiving.

I recently went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. To sum up my reaction briefly, it was the best Star Wars movie released in the last quarter century. Yes, there were plenty of reused plot elements. Yes, there were plenty of insider references that were included just to call back to the original trilogy. Yes, there was a Firefly reference. Yes, there were plot holes big enough to drive a truck through. Yes, actors like Max von Sydow and Gwendoline Christie were criminally underused.

And I don't care.

Because The Force Awakens got the one thing right that it had to get right: It felt more like a Star Wars movie than anything that has come out since Return of the Jedi was originally released in theaters. From the opening notes of the theme song, to the wind swept dunes of Jakku, to the ruffian-filled tables of Maz's cantina on Takodana, to the space battles between X-Wings and TIE Fighters, to the light saber duels, everything was exactly as it should be. Even with the older characters showing up in the story, the movie makes the universe feel bigger than any of the prequels did. The movie entirely avoids going back to Tattooine, or Coruscant, and any of the other planets we've been to before. When the characters talked to one another, it felt like people talking, and not automatons. Finn was a fun character. Poe was fun to follow around. Rey was a great character.

In short, it was entirely unlike anything that Lucas had done in any of the prequels, or even any of the revisions he made to the original series over the last couple of decades. It seems that the only way for Paul and Storm to get their Thanksgiving wish was for Lucas to sell Star Wars to Disney and let them take over running the franchise. So far, this seems to be working well. I hope it continues.

Previous Musical Monday: Overrated New Year by Sarah Donner
Subsequent Musical Monday: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

Paul & Storm     Musical Monday     Home
Posted by Aaron Pound at 10:28 PM 0 comments
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Sunday, January 3, 2016

Challenge - The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2016


I am participating in the 100+ Books Challenge 2016 hosted by Freda's Voice. This appears to be a good challenge, but while I can use that challenge to provide an annual catalog of the books I read and reviewed in the year, it is not quite comprehensive enough for my needs. In addition to reviewing books I also review magazine issues, movies, and television episodes, and in order to capture all of these reviews as well as my book reviews I've created this tracking page, which I will use to provide links to my reviews as I post them. This isn't really a "challenge", but I'm listing it with my challenge pages anyway, just because I did this way last year, and it is now an established tradition.

The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2016:
Tomorrowland

Other 2016 Challenges:
9th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2016
100+ Books Challenge 2016
2016 Diversity on the Shelf Challenge
2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge
Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

2016 Challenges     Home
Posted by Aaron Pound at 8:52 PM 0 comments
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