Hello Everyone!
Ok. 2016 was not my best reading year. Compared to the 61 books that I read last year, the 35 books that I read this year are nothing. I didn’t even reach my Goodreads goal. Even though Goodreads goals are abstract estimates of the number of books we want to read for the year and do not define the reading experience, this is the first year that I haven’t reached my goal. This really isn’t surprising. January through May of this year I was focusing on finished my senior year of high school. Then, at the end of May, one of my friends suddenly passed away and it was incredibly difficult for me. After that, all of my plans for summer reading were crushed with a reading slump. At the same time, I was going through a series of anti-anxiety and depression meds, which was a similarly difficult process that is still not over. Then at the end of June, I nailed the role of Antigone in Burning Coal Theatre Company’s production of Antigone as it was adapted by Ian Finley. I had an emotionally, physically and spiritually intensive month of rehearsals before the show opened at the end of July. Antigone helped me process a lot of my emotions and was one of the most fantastic shows that I have ever been in, and I got to lead our amazing cast! It was a once in a lifetime experience that ended my summer with a bang. After that, I became really depressed as school started and my friends from high school left for their various colleges. It took me awhile to get used to the new dynamic of not being with my old theatre family, my old teachers or any of the younger friends that I left behind when I graduated. Also, not to whine or be a millennial stereotype but man is adulting difficult. Also, looking back on the semester that I just finished, I took the most difficult semester I could first. I finally started to get my footing at the end of this last semester, and my mental health is probably the best it has ever been. 2017 promises to be a fantastic year and I can’t wait to do more reading, reviewing and generally fun stuff with the blog.
The point of the above paragraph is to say that I am not surprised that I did not read that much this year. However, I still managed to read 35 books. Here are my reading stats for the year:
Total Books: 35 books
Total Page Count: 9,588 pages
Shortest Book: The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Longest Book: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan (I listed to this one on audiobook and I highly recommend it!)
Average Length: 274 pages
Average Rating: 3.9 stars
Number of ARCS: 4
Now for my favorite books of 2016!
Firstly, I started off the year reading Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. I loved this book. It was the perfect balance of funny and poignant. I loved it so much that I used the epilogue from Furiously Happy as my monologue for my last ASCI Speech Meet, and I ended up winning Superior for my performance.
Right after I read Furiously Happy, I read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This book is like eighties game culture was mashed up with Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. I really enjoyed this book and I also listened to it on the audiobook, which is narrated by Wil Wheaton and it is amazing. Highly recommend the audiobook version of this book.
Later on in the year I read King Lear and I realized how much I was missing out on. I love Shakespeare, but I hadn’t designated time to read all of his work, until now. I can’t wait to read more of his work and fall in love with them. Needless to say, I really loved King Lear by William Shakespeare, even though it was a tragedy.
Lastly, over the summer, I ended up reading Six of Crows (finally) and loving it. The story is complex and the band of characters that Leigh Bardugo established reminded me of the gang of misfits from Alexandra Bracken's The Darkest Minds series. I have yet to read Crooked Kingdom, but it is on the top of my list.
Even though these four books were my favorite books of the year, I would like to give honorable mentions to Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider and The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan. Both of these were very easy and quick reads that helped me get out of my reading slump. I read Extraordinary Means at the end of the summer and it was another very poignant book that I am glad that I read before I graduated because I am not sure it would have had the same impact if I would have waited any longer. I actually listed to The Trials of Apollo and, again, I highly recommend this audiobook. I actually enjoyed The Trials of Apollo more than I enjoyed Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, although I did enjoy both. I also want to mention Rat Queens by Kurtis K. Wiebe and Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson. These were my first real comic books and I loved both art styles, storylines and characters. If you are looking for some comics to get you started in the world of graphic novels and comic books, start with these two.
I want to thank you all for a great year. The blog wasn’t as big this year as it was last year, but I hope to change that next year. Still, I thank everyone who stuck with me. I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Genevieve Cogman, interviewing her and receiving my first physical copy of an ARC, which was a big deal to me. I was also able to host the Banned Bookathon. This was a dream come true. I am so passionate about Banned Books and it was an amazing opportunity that could have only happened with the help of everyone of you. Thank you all so much!
A toast to 2017!
With love,
Jaime