Book Blogger Hop January 5th - January 11th: Scipio Africanus Is Believed to Have Been Born in 236 B.C.

Jen at Crazy for Books restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another, but then couldn't continue, so she handed the hosting responsibilities off to Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them.

This week Billy asks: What are your five most favorite books in 2017?


I didn't read very many books that were actually published in 2017, so I am going to interpret this question to be asking what my favorites were from the books I that I read in 2017. This means that most of these choices were actually published before 2017 - I just didn't get to read them until then. In alphabetical order, the books I liked the most that I read last year were:

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

The Jewel and Her Lapidary by Fran Wilde
Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios
The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley
The Wizard of Macatawa and Other Stories by Tom Doyle

I read a lot of other good books - in fact, most of the books I read last year were at least good, but those were my five favorites from the year.

Previous Book Blogger Hop: U-235 Is the Uranium Isotope That Was Used to Make Little Boy

Subsequent Book Blogger Hop: "Room 237" Is a Documentary About the Meanings in Kubrick's Version of "The Shining"

Book Blogger Hop     Home

Challenge - 2018 Review Writing Challenge

Although it is not technically a reading challenge, I am treating the 2018 Review Writing Challenge as if it were one. As I have in previous years, I am aiming to try to read and review 100 books this year. I haven't hit that mark for the past couple of years, but I am hoping to turn that around this year and reach that goal.

2018 Review Writing Challenge:

Captain Marvel: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez

Saga, Volume Seven by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Star Brand: New Universe, Vol. 1 by Jim Shooter and John Romita

War and Craft by Tom Doyle

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne Valente

Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer

Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts

Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, Peter David, and Colleen Doran

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Javier Pulido

2018 Challenge Tracking Pages
11^th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2018
2018 Blogger Shame Challenge
2018 Swords and Stars Reading Challenge
Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018
New Authors: A 2018 Reading Challenge
Science Fiction vs. Fantasy Bingo 2018

Multi-Year Challenge Tracking Pages
101 Fantasy Reading Challenge
Read All the Books Challenge

Not a Challenge:
The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2018

2018 Challenges     Home

Challenge - 11th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2018

In 2018 I am going to once again take on the graphic novels challenge hosted by the 11^th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2018 Facebook group. I don't have a firm plan, although I will definitely be following up on all of the graphic novels I read in 2017 and trying to read more Bitch Planet, Captain Marvel, Lumberjanes, Monstress, Ms. Marvel, 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. This may be the year that I finally get to reviewing my collection of For Better or for Worse.

The 11^th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2018:

Captain Marvel: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez

Saga, Volume Seven by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Star Brand: New Universe, Vol. 1 by Jim Shooter and John Romita

Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, Peter David, and Colleen Doran

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Javier Pulido

2018 Challenge Tracking Pages
2018 Blogger Shame Challenge
2018 Review Writing Challenge
2018 Swords and Stars Reading Challenge
Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018
New Authors: A 2018 Reading Challenge
Science Fiction vs. Fantasy Bingo 2018

Multi-Year Challenge Tracking Pages
101 Fantasy Reading Challenge
Read All the Books Challenge

Not a Challenge:
The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2018

2018 Challenges     Home

Challenge - The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2018

Once again, I am participating in multiple reading challenges this year. They all appear to be good challenges, but while I can use them to provide an annual catalog of the books I read and reviewed in the year, they are not quite comprehensive enough for my needs. In addition to reviewing books I also review magazine issues, movies, television episodes, and albums, 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 in each of the last two years, and it is now a hoary old established tradition.

The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2018:

Captain Marvel: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez

Saga: Volume Seven by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Star Brand: New Universe, Vol. 1 by Jim Shooter and John Romita

War and Craft by Tom Doyle

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne Valente

Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer

Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts

Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible by Stan Lee, Peter David, and Colleen Doran

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Javier Pulido

2018 Challenge Tracking Pages
11^th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2018
2018 Blogger Shame Challenge
2018 Review Writing Challenge
2018 Swords and Stars Reading Challenge
Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018
New Authors: A 2018 Reading Challenge
Science Fiction vs. Fantasy Bingo 2018

Multi-Year Challenge Tracking Pages
101 Fantasy Reading Challenge
Read All the Books Challenge

2018 Challenges     Home

2018 Challenges

I'm tracking the reading blog-based challenges I'm participating in on this page. For 2018, I'm participating in the 11^th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2018, the 2018 Review Writing Challenge, the 2018 Blogger Shame Challenge, the 2018 Swords and Stars Reading Challenge, the Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge, the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018, the New Authors: A 2018 Reading Challenge, and Science Fiction vs. Fantasy Bingo 2018. I am also participating in two multi-year challenges: The 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge, and the Read All the Books Challenge. The links below will take you to the tracking pages for each challenge.

2018 Challenge Tracking Pages
11^th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge 2018
2018 Blogger Shame Challenge
2018 Review Writing Challenge
2018 Swords and Stars Reading Challenge
Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018
New Authors: A 2018 Reading Challenge
Science Fiction vs. Fantasy Bingo 2018

Multi-Year Challenge Tracking Pages
101 Fantasy Reading Challenge
Read All the Books Challenge

Not a Challenge:
The Big List of Everything I've Reviewed in 2018

Home

Musical Monday - Talking with My Father by Dougie MacLean

It is a New Year. These sorts of markers serve to remind us that time is passing, and that our time is finite. When people make New Year's resolutions, they are really saying how they would like to spend their time, or how they want other people to think they would like to spend their time.

I think I'd like to spend more time in this next year talking to my son. And, to the extent possible, talking to my father, although he lives a lot farther away. Also the Redhead and the Littlest Starship Captain. Ideally, I'd like to spend more time with the Czarina, but that's dependent upon her behaving a little less like a Czarina before she heads off to college in the autumn.

Previous Musical Monday: Christmas Eve/Sarajevo by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Subsequent Musical Monday: The Lumberjack Song by Monty Python

Dougie MacLean     Musical Monday     Home

Book Blogger Hop December 29th - January 4th: U-235 Is the Uranium Isotope That Was Used to Make Little Boy

Jen at Crazy for Books restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another, but then couldn't continue, so she handed the hosting responsibilities off to Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them.

This week Billy asks: What character or characters would you not mind sharing a New Year’s kiss with?

In books, I'm not sure. Heinlein had a lot of possible prospects in his books, but given that so many of them were basically thinly veiled versions of his wife, that might be a little weird. I suppose that Chani or Irulan from Dune would be good choices, or possibly Eowyn or Arwen from the Lord of the Rings. Now that I think about it, Eilonwy from the Chronicles of Prydain would be a good choice as well.

In other media, I'd be happy to share a New Year's kiss with Amy Pond, or possibly Nyssa. I'd definitely kiss Princess Leia. Or Rey. Or Doctor Crusher. Louise Banks would also be high on my list, although given that the linearity of time is meaningless to her, celebrating a moment in time with her might be awkward.

Previous Book Blogger Hop: 234 Is the Country Code for Nigeria

Subsequent Book Blogger Hop: Scipio Africanus Is Believed to Have Been Born in 236 B.C.

Book Blogger Hop     Home