Ape's 2017 Challenge (2)

Hello everyone and welcome to my thread! My name is Stephen and, well, I like to read. I suppose you already knew that. I used to complete the challenge fairly easily but over the past few years I've barely managed to finish 50 books. I'd aspire to do better, but I've embraced my subpar performance and set my reading goal for 50 books instead of 75. Hurray!



Currently Reading: The Titan's Curse
Currently Playing: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath


Books read: 27
Pages read: 7,834

January:
1. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
2. Rage Therapy by Daniel Kalla
3. The Fall of the House of Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard

February:
4. The Firebug of Balrog County by David Oppegaard
5. Prophet of Bones by Ted Kosmatka
6. The Diagnosis by Alan Lightman
7. The Beggar's Opera by John Gay

March:
8. The City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier
9. Arctic Rising by Tobias S. Buckell
10. Big Appetites by Christopher Boffoli
11. Spawn: Origins (Volume 1) by Todd McFarlane
12. Surrounded by Sharks by Michael Northrop

April:
13. Cannibalism by Bill Schutt

May:
14. Baneblade by Guy Haley
15. Bird Box by Josh Malerman

June
16. East by Edith Pattou
17. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
18. The Witches' Kitchen by Allen Williams
19. Spawn: Origins (Volume 2) by Todd McFarlane

July
20. Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez

August:
21. The Fixer and Other Stories by Joe Sacco
22. Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace

September:
Well, this is awkward....

October:
23. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya
24. Darkwater by Catherine Fisher

November:
25. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
26. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

December:
27. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

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Video Games: 5

January:
1. Watch Dogs 2
2. Lords of the Fallen

May:
3. Horizon: Zero Dawn

June:
4. The Last Tinker: City of Colors

July:
5. Monster Jam: Crush It

November:
6. Defense Grid 2

Last year, I spent most of the year reading Great Tales of Horror by H. P. Lovecraft. I normally only read 1 book at a time, and it was the first time I had an ongoing collection of short stories, and I really liked it! So I'm doing it again this year, except this time I'm reading Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales. I don't yet know how I'm going to post about them, most of the stories are under 5 pages and there is something like 200+ of them, so I might do a weekly roundup or something like that. Anyway, I'll be keeping track of my overall progress on this post!



Pages read: 241 out of 682
Stories read: a few out of a bazillion

Pages read by month (and page I ended on to make next month's calculation easier.)
January: 66 (Page: 67)
February: 35 (Page: 102)
March: 9 (Page: 111)
April: 26 (Page: 137)
May: 12 (Page: 149)
June: 9 (Page: 158)
July: 72 (Page: 230)
August: 11 (Page: 241)

In case you missed it, this is a thing I'm doing now. Feel free to cringe. It's okay.

>2 Ape: I really need to read Lovecraft. I have played enough games set is his Mythos!

Happy new thread!

>3 Ape: oh. i thought AFM meant "a fire monster".

Happy New Thread, Stephen!

Oh, also, this summer, we'll be in Columbus for something like a week. I feel like this WILL BE the year we have a meet-up! YES! Yes? Yes. Let's do this!!

Happy new thread!

>7 scaifea: Ooh, count me in! Hope I am in town that week.

>8 foggidawn: WOOT!! It'll be the last week in June...

>9 scaifea: I'll be away the last weekend in June, but I'd be up for a meetup during the week.

Happy new thread, Ape-man!

>10 foggidawn: Excellent!

Happy new thread!!

Happy new thread buddy.

Waves*

How's the Grimm going so far?

Happy new thread, Stephen!

Thank you and welcome Stasia, Jim, Megan, Amber, Misti, Micky, Kim, Paul, Melissa, Leah, and Jennifer!

Phew, that was a lot of people.

Stasia: Definitely! Some of his work can be a bit of a drag but I liked the vast majority of it! :)

Megan: Close....

Amber/Misti: Cool! Um, things should be okay on my end, provided I don't find a reason to flake out somehow. P

Leah: It's a little repetitive, and occasionally alarming.

10. Big Appetites by Chrisopher Boffoli



Pages: 250
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2013

Nonfiction - Photography
Library checkout

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Book of photography featuring small figurines posed with various foods, intended to show texture and occasionally make a clever statement.

11. Spawn: Origins Volume 1 by Todd McFarlane



Pages: 144
Rating: 5/5
Publication: Early 90's

Fiction: Comic Book
Library checkout

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Collects the first 6 issues of the original Spawn series. Awesome! I'm not a huge fan of the superhero comic genre, but this is totally my style.

>18 Ape: That was my feeling a lot of the time with the Grimm collection I read. Interesting but totally messed up when not being a bit boring. ;)

Leah: Sounds like a perfect description of my challenge thread here on Librarything. :P

Happy new thread Stephano!! Cool photos.

Thanks Kim! :) I added the book to my wishlist years ago when someone else on LT read it (Laura, I think?) and it took me this long to get around to it. Mostly I'm just using it to cheat because editing for Youtube is turning into a real time sink.

>19 Ape: That is cool- I'll have to see if my library has Big Appetites.

Jennifer: Definitely! It's a super quick read too.

Happy new thread, Stephen! Going back to your previous thread, I want to thank you for your excellent review of The Brothers Cabal. I have read and enjoyed the first three books in the series and now I am looking forward to enjoying book 4 in the series next month!

>19 Ape: - Love those images!

Lori: I'm just happy there is another Johannes Cabal fan other than myself. It's kind of an obscure series, but it's SO GOOD. :)

12. Surrounded by Sharks by Michael Northrop



Pages: 208
Rating: 3/5
Publication: 2014

Fiction - Young Adult
Library Checkout

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Boy gets sucked into the ocean by a riptide without anyone knowing and tries to survive floating on a water cooler bottle. Also, sharks.

Awesome plot summary! Especially the last bit there. So understated. : 0

Lol. I agree with Kim.

Ha, well, I'm pretty sure I covered everything in the book. Maybe I could have added "fat British guy," but that wasn't really all that important to the story.

March Summary:

Books read: 5
Pages read: 1,208
(1,199 + 9 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 4
Nonfiction: 1

Owned: 2
Library checkout: 3

Popping in to say Hi!! Happy Sunday.

>19 Ape: aw, that food book is awesome! I think it's very clever.

Hi Kim! Happy Sunday! You caught me being a stranger, haven't been around in a week. I'm almost done with a book though and its an ER book, so expect a full review soon. About Cannibalism. Yum.

Megan: It is! Most of the time. Have you read it, or are you just going by the pictures I posted? If not, look into it, it's pretty cool. :)

Hi Stephen just passing by to say there is a vote going on on my thread.

Bryony: The problem with voting is that my opinion becomes decreasingly less relevant as more people participate. This is unacceptable. :P

13. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt



Pages: 309
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2017

Nonfiction: Science/Natural History
Owned

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Bill Schutt explores cannibalism and the many hypocrisies involved with it. It is an act that the human species deplores, and often denies, despite how prevalent and natural it is among many species on the planet. The book discusses when and why certain species are driven to cannibalism, and the evolutionary implications of an organism that kills its own.

The book goes over human cannibalism, covering things like ritual cannibalism among the Fore of New Guinea and the resulting instances of deadly Kuru epidemics, as well as covering things like Mad Cow Disease. (Something that resulted when cows were fed cow by-products in their diets)

It's certainly an interesting, if not slightly morbid, topic. It's a very scientific look at the phenomenon, the author is a Zoologist and look at it and doesn't delve into the topic from a political or ethical perspective, which I appreciate. Though it was a little weird when he described his experience eating a woman's placenta....

Anyway, the book is probably not for everyone, but I enjoyed it and would recommend both this and the other book I've read by the author: Dark Banquet. Which is a book about sanguivores, or animals that feed on blood. Looks like the author enjoys that kind of thing, huh? Let's hope he keeps writing about it!

I read this one just a few weeks ago. The author does a good job at keeping things scientific rather than morbid, and it was really interesting. I didn't think it was possible to find new info about the Donner Party, but it seems that he did.
But the placenta chapter- yuckyuckyuckyuck!

Yeah...no offense ladies, but you can keep your placentas to yourself, thank you very much.

Hello ape, I am parachuting in to say hello. Finally got started on this years thread and catching up with others. I also found a new series that might be right up your alley.

You were gone... then I was...someday we'll hang out together!! Happy Sunday!

Hi Xymon! I've been behind all year so I know how it feels. Which series is it?

Kim: Happy 2-days-later day!

>44 Ape: The Invisible Library. It is about a collector for a library that sits inbetween multiple realities of earth. Thier job is to collect unique books from differant realities for preservation.

I'll look into it!

In other news, I might not be READING books but I'm still buying them. I had to renew my driver's license today and rewarded myself with a trip to the dollar store, for $7 I bought the following hardcovers:

The Inventor and the Tycoon: A Gilded Age Murder and the Birth of Moving Pictures by Edward Ball
Fallen Land by Patrick Flanery
The Sadness of the Samurai by Victor del Arboi
Eve and Adam by Michael Grant/Katherine Applegate
Unbreakable by Kami Garcia
The Nightmare by Lars Kepler
The Misfortunates by Dimitri Verhulst

And since I'm only going to read 1 or 2 books this month (I'm 170 pages into a 400 pager with only 9 days left), let's enjoy pictures of these books instead of a nice hefty monthly summary. :)

Well look at you, making the best of the situation. Those are some cool covers. I've just received notice that I have to go get my license photo re-done, so maybe I'll follow your lead and buy myself a little something after.

>44 Ape: >45 xymon81: That sounds interesting, going to have to WL that one. The touchstone came out wrong, went to Crime and Punishment for some reason. Try The Invisible Library

Driving through Columbus while silently weeping that I can't pick you up and take you to DC

mstrust: Definitely! I always happen to come home with a bag full of books whenever I have to do something like that. :P

mahsdad: The "for some reason" is that LT touchstones are bad. I've complained about them many times. =/

Rachel: Ha! I'm sure Nora would have liked that. Unfortunately I couldn't have gone even if I wanted to, my mom is traveling this weekend and I'm watching her dogs, so I have a real legitimate excuse! :P

>51 Ape: I'm usually pretty careful about that. Doesn't help I typed it on my phone. It is a good series though. I have book three but have been too swamped with work to start it yet and book four is due out soon. And seven books for under ten bucks is a good deal, I wouldn't pass it up either, my downfall is the free book cart outside my library and when they do the clothing and book swap. This year I donated like four bags of books that we both knew we were never going to get to and I still came back with some.

You should at least WANT to come. It's me and Nora. What could go wrong? And it would have been a free trip.

Xymon: Oh no, not your fault, the Touchstone system does that all the time. Donate books? Never heard of such a thing. Their all mine, MINE I tell you!

Rachel: Right, of course I want to come. It's really too bad that I can't. Darn.

As for what can go wrong, I can think of a million things! Cow on the highway. Spontaneous lightning strikes. necrotizing fasciitis.

In 365 days I'll be turning 30. Someone send help.

>55 Ape: Whats that? Oh you need a box with icyhot, Epsom salt, and pamphlets for AARP, reverse mortgages and life alert. I will provide. Well have a good birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Hey, 30 is nothing. 27 was harder for me for some reason. I'm creeping up on 35 now and I don't mind. Much. Most of the time.

>55 Ape: Whippersnapper. Happy birthday!

>55 Ape: Happy 29th! :)

Happy birthday Stephen!

>36 Ape: I haven't seen the book, but I am about to post the title on Joe's thread, as he had some little art on there a while ago.

>57 leahbird: 27 was really hard for me too!! 30 was awesome, as I had already admitted to myself that I was grown up then ;)

Happy Belated Stephen!!

Happy birthday, Stephen!!!

>56 xymon81: *snork!*

Happy Birthday!

>55 Ape: No, in 365 days you will be celebrating your 2nd 29th birthday ;-)

Happy birthday a little late!

Happy birthday from me too - a little later than Rachel :)

Hope it was a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday the Late-ilist so far, Stephen!

>63 FAMeulstee: hey, that is cool! And this year I am celebrating my 2nd 21st. Meaning not that I am 22, but that I am going to be 42.
*faints*

>68 LovingLit: Where is the fainting couch, Stephen, it is needed over here!
There are so many ways to play with the numbers of your age ;-)

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone!

And now for my spectacular monthly summary. That's sarcasm, it's dreadful.

April Summary:

Books read: 1
Pages read: 335
(309 + 26 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 0
Nonfiction: 1

Owned: 1
Library checkout: 0

>71 Ape: When I ordered that book for work, I thought of you. Have you seen The Seeds of Life? That one also made me think of you when I ordered it. Also, who doesn't love a book cover with a picture of a frog wearing pants for science?

>71 Ape: Oh well, at least the one book was a good one.

Micky: I have not seen it, but the title sounds interesting! (There doesn't seem to be much info on Librarything's page for it.) Frog's should always wear pants to cover their tadpoles. Gross.

Jennifer: Definitely! :)

14. Baneblade by Guy Haley



Pages: 405
Rating: 2/5
Publication: 2013

Military Science Fiction
Owned

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Action. Lots of action. LOOOOOOOOOTS of action. Very boring.

>74 Ape: Publication date of June 6 so you still have a bit of a wait.

Wishing you a great weekend, Stephen.

Hi Stephano!! Hope you have a great week!

And that you read more in May. : P

Micky: But I'm impatient!!

Paul: Thanks! (several days into the week.)

Hi Kim! So far reading is going at a much quicker pace, thankfully. :)

15. Bird Box by Josh Malerman



Pages: 262
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2014

Psychological horror
Borrowed from sister

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The planet is decimated by some mysterious ~thing~ that drives people insane/suicidal when they see it. The few survivors must shut themselves indoors, and wear blindfolds whenever they leave their homes. Very suspenseful psychological horror, but leaves you wanting more in the end.

>80 Ape: Look! You have already finished a book! And you liked it. : )

Yep! But now I'm leaning towards starting a 450 pager....

Ummmm....Good luck?! : )

Good Luck young man!

I opted out of the 450 pager and chose a 500 pager instead. :P

I just finished a 450-pager, myself. You can do it!

>85 Ape: Oh, smart move! LOL

Foggi: I did it! Just a day late to count for last month's stats. D'oh.

Kim: Oh yeah, I'm full of those. :P

Well, it was another dismal month! Not only am I catastrophically behind on the reading challenge, but I'm also not going to finish Grimm's Fairy Tales this year at my current reading pace. I've only manged to read 150 pages out of 680+ in the first 5 months of the year.

May Summary:

Books read: 2
Pages read: 679
(667 + 12 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 2
Nonfiction: 0

Owned: 1
Library checkout: 0
Borrowed (from sister): 1

----------------------------------------------------------------

Video Game Summary

Playstation 4: 1

But are you enjoying what you are reading? This is supposed to be fun, remember! : )

If you review each Grimm's fairy tale separately I feel like you can count them as one book each.

Last weekend I went to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, which is a museum of medical specimens mostly from the 1850s. They had a special exhibit relating to Grimm's fairy tales, which I found very interesting. They had a huge hairball extracted from the stomach of someone with Rapunzel syndrome, for example. My favorite display in the exhibit was about The Three Army Surgeons. Have you read that one yet?

Kim: But it's fun to be ahead in the challenge! :P

Nora: Ha! Well, in that case, I've completed the challenge!

I haven't read that one, I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Sounds like a my kind of museum! :)

16. East by Edith Pattou



Pages: 507
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2003

Juvenile Fantasy
Owned

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Girl wins the heart of a prince by way of proficient housework. Don't look at me, I didn't write the thing...

>94 Ape: I assume that's a retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Either the retelling missed something or you did. :P

>92 norabelle414: I just read Dr. Mutter's Marvels this year and loved it. I really want to see the museum some day.

Hi Stephen!

Yep, it's a retelling, and I don't think I missed anything.

Prince gets kidnapped by troll, underage girls falls in love with prince. After 500 pages, when prince is about to be forcibly married to troll, the girl challenges her to a laundry-off. The troll can't adequately clean the prince's shirt, and when the girl does his laundry perfectly they fall in love and get married.

Hi Kim!

>97 Ape: Huh. I can recommend a much better retelling that isn't 500 pages.

That's okay, I haven't been using libraries as much of late. So far 11 out of the 16 books I've read this year have been my own (or my sister's) so hurray for me...minus the fact that I've only read 16 books this year. :)

>99 Ape: I need to get reading my own books too - and am going to be forced to, it looks like due to the fire at my local library.

>94 Ape: It's been a while since I read that one, but I think I enjoyed it more than you did!

Stasia: Oh dear, that's terrible!

Foggi: Oh, I liked the book, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars, I just wanted to distance myself from plot is all. :P

17. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov



Pages: 228
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 1950

Classic - Science Fiction
Library checkout

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A collection of inter-connected short stories by Isaac Asimov that establishes the 3 rules of robotics that make it impossible for robots to harm humans, and then demonstrates how robots could easily circumvent the rules for the "greater good," even if that includes world domination.

>94 Ape: must be the season for chunksters, I just finished a 500+ book as well! *phew*

I liked I, Robot. I really should read the Foundation books.

>103 Ape: Haven't read that one...yet! Happy Sunday.

Megan: I can appreciate a lady who is into chunksters. :P

Rachel: I was thinking the same thing, maybe I'll get around to them sometime in the next decade...but it seems doubtful.

Kim: It's certainly fascinating, and Happy Friday! :P

18. The Witches' Kitchen by Allen Williams



Pages: 288
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2010

YA dark fantasy/adventure
Owned

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A toad escapes being dropped into a bubbling cauldron only to have to trek the dark and menacing landscape of the witches' kitchen. Very Tim Burton-esque.

You're posting about as fast as I am this year, Stephen! :)

Yeah, I've made a bad habit out of simply not visiting Librarything very much this year. I'm completely behind on everyone's threads (and by that I mean I haven't read them at all) and I miss you all! :(

19. Spawn Origins Collection, Volume 2 by Todd McFarlane



Pages: 172
Rating: 4/5
Publication: Early 90's or something.

Comic Books Collection
Library Checkout

------------------------------------------

I may have said this before, but this is one of the few comic book series I've genuinely been into. Definitely want to read ALL of them. This particular edition collections volumes 7-9, 11-14. I'm assuming Issue 10 was omitted because it contained copyrighted characters (such as Superman) but I read it online. I'm including those pages in the "pages" stat.

Well, you could come visit! Just saying. : ) I miss you too. Glad your last book was a good one and of course you should include the pages.

The problem is I seem to be lacking that "free time" stuff that I had way too much of a few months ago. :P

Also, just to clarify, I meant I counted the pages I read online as part of the book. The book it's self is around 150-ish pages, but I added the 20 or so from the Issue 10 that I read on my computer. :)

Also also, I'm reading another book by A. Lee Martinez and even though I'm only 30 page into it, it's pretty much the best thing ever so far. I wish more people read his book!

Hey, a rare @Ape sighting! I was just wondering what had become of you. I hope things are going well in your life.

Hi Misti! Things are pretty much the same as they have always been for me, just grinding away hours of my day editing videos. I am actually currently without a vehicle, my car finally reached its end and had to be sold last fall. I'd normally be bemoaning my cruel, terrible fate, but I'm too busy to care.

Anyway, I'm around, just not necessarily HERE, unfortunately. *shrug* =/

>107 Ape: of course *you* can....

I am, indeed, quite chunky. :P

June Summary:

Books read: 4
Pages read: 1,207
(1,198 + 9 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 4
Nonfiction: 0

Owned: 2
Library checkout: 2

----------------------------------------------------------------

Video Game Summary

Playstation 4: 1

>113 Ape: Um. Did you just seriously type "the book it's self?!" Really?

Hahaha, I guess I did. Well, I'm definitely not editing that. Get triggered! :P

*waves at the rogue Ape appearnace*

*Waves back 4 days later*

Another *wave*!!!

Hi Kim!

20 days into the month and I've only just now finished my first book for July. *Hangs head in shame*

20. Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez



Pages: 310
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2011

Humor/Science Fiction
Library Checkout

------------------------------------------------

I really like this author, and I really liked this book, but there really isn't a plot to speak of. I liked everything about it, it just moves a little slow.

>125 Ape: Think of it this way: you finished a book this month! Yay! Great job!

But that would be...optimistic... *shudders*

Dust your hands off with pride and start planning for August.

>128 Ape: You'll live. We promise.

I don't remember whether I've finished a book this month. I think that's worse.

Jennifer: Sounds like a plan. I hereby decree I plan to start planning. I'll do it tomorrow.

Micky: Just because I'll live doesn't mean I have to like it.

Rachel: Yes, yes, clearly you are a despicable human being. That's okay though, I find that relatable. :P

July Summary:

Books read: 1
Pages read: 382
(310 + 72 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 1
Nonfiction: 0

Owned: 0
Library checkout: 1

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Video Game Summary:

Playstation 4: 1

Duhn, Duhn, Duhn....(Or however you spell that ominous sound)...

It is now August. What are your reading plans? Hmmmmm?

Haha, well, I'm currently cheating by reading a graphic novel (The Fixer and Other Stories) and I have Archivist Wasp checked out from the library. Should last me a couple months. :P

Ha! You are not cheating--GNs count ya know. And you can't keep library books forever, so you'd best get cracking! Hope it's a good one. : )

I sure hope graphic novels aren't cheating, because I've read like 15 of them this year

Kim: You can't keep library books forever, but you can keep them for several months at a time thanks to being able to renew the checkout online! :P The library I checked them out from does 3-week checkout, but with 7-10 renewals depending on how popular the book is.

Nora: I've read a few, but I really should read 15 of them! I'm something like 8+ books behind schedule to reach just 50 books this year. Yikes!

21. The Fixer and Other Stories by Joe Sacco



Pages: 173
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2009

Graphic Novel/Nonfiction/Journalism
Library checkout

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Joe Sacco is a journalist of a sort, except he presents his stories in the form of graphic novels. This one is about the Bosnian War/Genocide of the early 90's, in which he interviews various people who took part in the "war" and illustrates what they have to say.

4/5 sounds pretty good. Glad you enjoyed that one! Hope your weather is good--ours is HORRIBLE!! Yesterday was 105 degrees and we have an air quality warning because of all the fires and the particulates in the air. Asthmatics (me) are warned to stay inside. Ugh.

We had the opposite problem for awhile, we were saturated with rain from constant storms for weeks and had lots of flooding issues. My mom had most of a pine tree fall on her porch and it split the roof, in fact!

Hopefully they get a handle on those fires soon. I haven't heard that much about it though, because Game of Thrones is "in-season" and I can't watch the episodes live, and for some reason news outlets LOVE to spoil that show, so I'm living under a rock at the moment. Which isn't too out of the ordinary, to be fair. :P

Oooh! Sorry about your Mom's house. That is worse than a little heat.

I have Game of Thrones in the queue, but haven't started it yet. Glad to hear it is so popular and I have it to look forward to! Um...Hope you have chosen nice rock. : )

Have you never watched any episode ever? Fair warning, the first season is basically softcore porn, but it's only for a season or 2, I swear. :P

Ha! That's what my daughter told me, too. We have been watching The Vikings and that has a lot of skin and sex, so we might be okay. Having trouble getting the hubby interested though, because GoT is less historical.

Miss not seeing you as active as you used to be Stephen.

Have a great weekend.

Kim: I haven't watched The Vikings, but Game of Thrones is on HBO so you get full frontal nudity, wieners included! Best of luck. :)

Paul: I miss being more active. It's weird that I haven't a clue what has gone on in the lives of all my favorite LT friends. I feel significantly less creepy and stalkerish, I suppose.

>147 Ape: Well, you could visit a thread and say Hi! Just saying. LOL ; )

Right! I'll definitely do that. Tomorrow. :)

>140 Ape: I had something else by him, and remember very much liking it, even if it was sad and told traumatising stories....

>147 Ape: I will admit to starting to watch one of the episodes of GoT with my youngest daughter (mother and son love it) and being a little uncomfortable at the amount of skin on display. It was very attractive skin though I must say.

I've only seen the first two episodes of GoT, and they were pretty generous with the nudity. I'd wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but the story didn't grab me at all. I've never been interested in dragons, even if they be naked dragons.

Paul: Haha, yeah, my sister lent me the DVDs, very glad I didn't watch it with her. :P

Jennifer: Aw man, but you didn't get to any of the good stuff! :P

Apparently it's my Thingaversary...thing! It's absolutely unbelievable to think I've been here nearly a decade. I first joined in 2008...9 years! Where did the time go? Sounds like a long time, and somehow a few of you aren't sick of me yet. I am impressed by your perseverance. :)

>155 foggidawn: Happy Thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary!!

Happy Thingaversary, Stephen!!

Happy belated Thingaversary!

Happy even more belated Thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary!
Cake! Who brought the cake?!

Thanks everyone!

Cake!

22. Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace



Pages: 270
Rating: 4/5
Publication: 2015

Young Adult - Science Fiction/Dystopia
Library checkout

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Really cool introduction to a dystopian setting but kinda devolves into a more stereotypical "trippy/weird alternate reality" type of thing. Still really good though.

Hope you had a good Thingaversary, Stephen. Did you get any books to celebrate it?

Thanks Joe! I didn't buy any books, but there's always tomorrow. :P

>165 jnwelch: :-)

>162 Ape: Cake! Hurray! And the design captures the cake bellow perfectly. I always shake a whip when I scream for cake.

August Summary:

Books read: 2
Pages read: 428
(417 + 11 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 1
Nonfiction: 1

Owned: 0
Library checkout: 2

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Look! You doubled your number of books read. Go Stephen!

Go Stephen! Go Stephen!

Eeek, optimism!

>171 PaulCranswick: I hope that is jelly on the spoon.

Have a great weekend.

And how is the month going, Stephano? : ) Did you eat the jello?

Thanks, Paul! (One weekend later...)

Kim: In terms of reading, it's not-so-good. I've on page 50 of the book I started at the beginning of the month, and I don't think I'll be finished a book in September. I'm about a month ahead on editing videos for my Youtube channel though, so I've technically got a month off from doing that. Maybe October will be better? Maybe...?

You have a youtube channel?! Do you mind sharing the link?

Amber: A really, really bad one, but yes. I intended it as a hobby, something that would force me to speak regularly, and in that regard it has been hugely successful. I'm also learning a lot about video editing, graphic art, and audio engineering, so all that is useful as well, and I could potentially use it as a psuedo-job resume in the future. I have no relevant work experience, but if I can say "Hey, look at this, this is a thing I do" then maybe that will count for something. *Shrug*

Anyway, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqjQcdrhMFyZdS1sT3yv9bQ

I should note that the channel art/banner is in a constant state of flux and is definitely not permanent. :P

Unfortunately, the Youtube channel did kind of get in the way of reading, though. Not been a good year in that department, but while I haven't read many books I've created something like 70+ videos! They just don't count towards my reading challenge, that's the problem. :P

Thanks for the link!! I'll check it out soon (we're having our kitchen worked on, and so my life is a bit chaotic right now)!

Hi! Oooh! I'll have to go check out your YouTube stuff. I also thought of you on this thread--it is all Halloween themed reads. Check it out!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/270049#6189958

Amber: I don't recommend it, but suit yourself. :P

Kim: Ah, yeah, Halloween Reading, I don't think that's going to be happening for me this year, but I'll check out the thread! :)

Saw you on you tube!!! Saw you on you tube!!! Saw you on you tube!!!
Well, I saw your hands, and then I heard your voice. Cool!!

>181 Berly: What Megan said!! I saw you!!!

Megan/Kim: I apologize if you are scarred for life.

On the topic of the YT channel, I mentioned one of the reasons I was doing it was to help me become more comfortable speaking. I really do think it has helped a lot. Just compare the first few seconds of these two videos. The first one is the first video I ever spoke in, ever, and it's terribly awkward and monotone. The second is a more recent one. It's also terribly awkward and monotone, but marginally less so. :P

First video ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHPiYRkCFHg
More recent vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a78qUGn67Qc

That's progress, I guess. Video editing is also getting more in-depth. I honestly don't know if that will have any relevance whatsoever, but it's a skill I'm acquiring. *Shrug*

September Summary

I have no monthly summary because I didn't read. What have I become?

A YouTube guru!!

Hey, Stephen! FABULOUS job on the youtube videos!! I watched bits and pieces here and there, and although I have not idea what you're talking about (I've never played those kinds of games), I could tell that you're doing really well with them! It was fun to put a voice to your thread, too, if that makes any sense...

Kim: I would say "amateur" but hey, I'm working on it. :P

Amber: Yeah, I've played Magic: the Gathering for about 15 years now, which makes me one of the "old guys" in that circle of people. I hope you enjoy reading this thread in my almost-eeyore voice. :P

That's so cool that you're an expert on the game! And also very cool that you're sharing it. Is it weird that I get excited when I find something like your videos, which make me realize how much stuff there is out there that I have NO IDEA about, but that there are people out there who do?

Amber: Not at all! Heck, I never realized just HOW MUCH FRICKIN CONTENT is on Youtube until I started my own channel, and then started networking/befriending other small channels. I'm a part of a big group of small Magic: the Gathering content creators that must amount to something like 20-30+ people, and most of them are under 2,000 subscribers, and that's just for 1 single game. I can't imagine how many small little niches exist on Youtube that most of us never see.

I mean, heck, a year ago I thought a channel with under 1 million subscribers was teeny tiny. Now I realize how impressive it is just for someone to have more than a few thousand, and I have a inkling of just how many people are beneath that number. So many awesome people out there making legitimately good videos that no one will probably ever hear about because they won't have that lucky viral video to set their channel off. I guess it's like discovering underground music, or local artists? Well, hey, I guess we all know what that's like, it's like when you find a book you fall in love with only to find that less than 100 people have it catalogued here on Librarything. :)

Ha! I like the comparison to books! Youtube is amazing, really. I love that you can search for how to do pretty much anything and find a video that will teach you.

I finished a book! I finished a book! I started this AUGUST 30TH! o.o

23. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya



Pages: 277
Rating: 2/5
Publication: 2012

Fiction - Military
Owned

-------------------------------------------------------

I'm just glad it's over....

>192 foggidawn: Ouch. Hope your next book is better!

Thanks! I'll be starting some horror for October. Hoping I'll finish the first book by Christmas. :P

I read 3 days out of 5. That's good, right?

Definitely!

I heartily second that.

>192 foggidawn: Look at you! Whoohoo!

Now if only I could visit Librarything that frequently...

I did finish a book though! Also, I'm going to start the Percy Jackson series, which apparently people like. I finally convinced my sister to read Harry Potter earlier this year, and she absolutely loved it! In fact, she went a little crazy and ordered multiple copies of the series based on the covers. She has the recent UK editions, the Hufflepuff edition, and she's accumulating the illustrated version as they are released. Anyway, Percy Jackson is her favorite series ever and since she DID read a massive multi-thousand page series just because I wanted her to I guess I should do the same.

Sooooooo, Percy Jackson, that's a thing. Starting it tomorrow. I think.

23. Darkwater by Catherine Fisher



Pages: 230
Rating: 3/5
Publication: 2000

Gothic Fiction thing
Owned

-------------------------------------------------------

I started this under the impression it was a horror novel for Halloween, but it turns out it's mostly just a kind of Gothic-y fiction thing set in a spooky manor house. Sort of. Mostly it takes place away from the spooky manor house, and is about the spooky manor house. Except it's not really about anything. In fact, in 230 pages, not a whole lot happened. Felt a bit pointless, to be honest, though technically not a terrible book.

>199 Ape: Hope you enjoy Percy Jackson! I thought it was fun.

I'm enjoying it so far! I've been averaging 50 pages per day since starting it, though I don't know if I'll get any reading done today or tomorrow. Either way, it has certainly piqued my interest. :)

Hallo! I'll be in Dayton in after-Christmas December. Whete exactly are you again? I may be able to jog over to Columbus.

Hi Rachel! I live about an hour south/south-eastish of Columbus, so somewhere south of Columbus would probably be closer for both of us. Except that's basically a veritable wasteland of nothingness.

Unfortunately, I can't really do meet ups at the moment. My car broke for the final time last year and I sold it last spring. I'm currently running errands when I can by borrowing my mom's/step-dad's vehicles, but I can't reliably schedule anything as I never know when a car is going to be available.

October Summary:

Books read: 2
Pages read: 507
(507 + 0 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 2
Nonfiction: 0

Owned: 2
Library checkout: 0

-------------------------------------------

Yay for reading in October!

>200 foggidawn: A book!!? a book! GO you :)

Micky: Yeah! And the Percy Jackson book has been moving fairly quickly, even if I haven't read it over the past couple days...

Megan: Indeed! 2, actually! :D

Missing your presence around the threads, Stephen.

My early days of the group were filled with you whizzing here there and everywhere.

Get your mojo back, buddy.

Have a great Sunday.

Hi Paul! Yeah, editing videos has become a real time sink for me. I'm getting better at optimizing things though so it moves faster and faster with time. Hopefully that means I'll be more active in 2018! :)

>210 scaifea: I hope so - I've been missing you, too, Stephen!

Hi Amber! Huh, sounds like some weird form of pseudo-Stockholm Syndrome. :P

>212 scaifea: *snork!*

25. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan



Pages: 377
Rating: 5/5
Publication date: 2005

YA Fantasy - Greek Mythology
Borrowed from sister

-------------------------------------------------------

Highly enjoyed, I'm not quite sure if it's a 5-star book, but certainly better than 4, and I refute the existence of half-stars. The story felt a bit hokey at times and the portrayal of the Gods felt a bit weird at times, though I liked Hades and Medusa. Still, I enjoyed it quite a bit and look forward to continuing the series.

What?! Two in October and already one in November?! You book fiend you! : )

I echo everyone else...hope to see more of you around here. xoxo

>214 Berly: I refute the existence of half-stars

But, but... all it really does is allow us to put 10 stars in a 5 star system, see.

Kim: I know, right? Watch out everyone, I might finish 30 books this year!
Actually, that number suddenly seems intimidating for some reason...

Mary: Bah! Nonsense! That's entirely too logical.

I am all for the half star! Quarter stars, no way, but halves, yee ha!

>217 LovingLit: *snort*

26. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan



Pages: 279
Rating: 5/5
Publication: 2006

Young Adult Fantasy - Greek Mythology
Borrowed

-----------------------------------------------------------

These books are starting to feel very formulaic the book whizzes through various Greek myths at the speed of light, each chapter is dedicated to a myth, and they always just scrape by and get out of a hairy situation at the end of the chapter. The sense of danger/adventure is dampened by the very repetitive nature of the chapter layout. I know, every single chapter, that they kids will get into some kind of trouble and I know, every single time, that they'll get out of it as the chapter is ending. EVERY chapter.

I'm still enjoying it quite a bit, but if this continues throughout the next book I might change my mind on that front.

This is a time of year when I as a non-American ponder over what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this group and its ability to keep me sane during topsy-turvy times.

I am thankful that you are part of this group.

I am thankful for this opportunity to say thank you.

On this day of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for many things, one of them being my wonderful

Glad you are liking Rick Riordan. He is a good writer and the stories are interesting. I felt they were also rather formulaic (look at what worked in Harry Potter, and reformulate it with Greek gods and in an American summer camp setting instead of a British boarding school). Still, the formula works because it is a good one.

Sorry I wasn't around during Thanksgiving, Paul and Kim, but thanks!

Sirfurboy: Oh yeah, I get some pretty serious Harry Potter vibes ever time I read it. :)

November Summary:

Books read: 2
Pages read: 656
(656 + 0 pages in Grimm's Fairy Tales)

Fiction: 2
Nonfiction: 0

Owned: 0
Library checkout: 0
Borrowed: 2

-------------------------------------------

Video Game Summary:

Playstation 4: 1

....soooooo...I kind of haven't been reading again...

>227 norabelle414: Reading is dumb. Who likes reading??

How are your videos going?

Hi Nora! I saw you were doing quite well for yourself this year in terms of reading!

As for my videos, well, I hit 10k views so I'm currently under review for monetization. I've also downloaded a new audio-editing software which is amazing! Granted I had to download it because I had a major recording issue that ruined my audio for several videos and needed the program to salvage what I had, so the next month's audio is going to be kind of terrible, but it looks promising going forward.

Overall, I've been able to maintain fairly constant and consistent growth, so I'm not complaining. Here is a monthly views graph*...errr, that last one is only counting the first 5 days of December, so ignore that. :P



*That's views-per-month, not totals.

10K views?! That's amazing! Go, Stephen!!

>229 scaifea: I was reading a lot but then some stuff happened and now I'm not. Oh well!

That's so great!

Thanks Amber! :)

Nora: Stuff is bullshit.

Congrats on the views -- that's great! And, hey, look at it this way: you've gotten almost as many views in the first five days of December as you did in the entire month of March!

Congrats on your videos, Stephen! That's fantastic!

Foggi/Micky: Thanks! :)

Also, I finished a book!

27. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan



Pages: 312
Rating: 5/5
Publication: 2007

YA Fantasy - Greek Mythology
Borrowed

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Pretty much on par with the rest, though a bit more dramatic, and not in a bad way.

And you said you hadn't been reading... :P

>236 MickyFine: That may be my favorite of that series .

Stopping by to wish you a great weekend. I love your viewing graph. My reading graph has suffered its ups and downs this year.

Thousands of views AND books!! Life is good right now, huh? : )

Micky: Well, I han't been, I was 100 pages from the end of that book for a long time, but I finally made the push! :)

Foggi: I think it might be my favorite so far, just because it was a lot less formulaic than the previous ones. :)

Paul: Thanks! I don't know what my reading graph would look like. I think it's flatlined. :P

Kim: Well now, that makes it sound like I've read thousands of books!

As for life, it's still a bitterly miserable experience fraught with despair and loathing as I hurdle towards the comforting, all-consuming embrace of death. But, y'know, I'm a little bit more distracted, so that's nice, right? *High fives*

I've brought some Christmas cheer:

Nailed it!

Jennifer: Lovely, just lovely. :P

Congrats that your videos are going well, Stephen!

Hi Stephen, stopping by to wish you and your loved ones peace, joy and happiness this holiday season and for 2018!

Happy holidays! I am thankful this holiday season for all the good friends I have made in this group. You are all so supportive. I don't know what I'd do without you!

It is that time of year again, between Solstice and Christmas, just after Hanukkah, when our thoughts turn to wishing each other well in whatever language or image is meaningful to the recipient. So, whether I wish you Happy Solstice or Merry Christmas, know that what I really wish you, and for you, is this:

Wishing you all good things this holiday season and beyond.

Happy Boxing Day!!

Well I kind of haven't been reading again but happy holidays, happy New Year, and happy whatever-else-you-might-be-celebrating, everyone! I would promise to do better next year, but I probably won't. :P

I don't think I have time to do my usual year-end stats. And by that I mean I didn't spend the last week doing my year-end stats. I'll do some quick stuff later. Maybe. (Probably not.)

A man of indecision. I will! I won't. : P

I look forward to your books, your stats, your gaming, your snark, and whatever else you bring next year. : )

Also obligatory celebratory new year firework gif.

Ever the cheerful outlook on life!

What can I say, I try to remain optimistic. I mean sure, the planet is overburdened by a rampant, parasitic species that is rapidly turning their home into a literal cesspit of human filth and garbage...but hey, we have the technology to remedy the situation, to wipe it out entirely!

See? I can be good at optimism. :P

You must have just read Sixth Extinction like I did!

(Also that was a sarcastic joke please don't take that too seriously.)

Happy New Year! I wish you to read many good books in 2018.

Kim: I haven't, but it sounds delightful. :)

Rachel: Thanks! Back atcha!

Here are my stats for the year. Now I'm just depressed.

Books read: 27
Pages read: 7,834
Average book size: 290 pages

I averaged:
21 pages per day
147 pages per week
653 pages per month

On average, I finished a book every: 13.5 days

Fiction books read: 24
Nonfiction books read: 3

Owned books read: 16
Library books read: 7
Borrowed from sister: 4

My increasingly dismal year-by-year stats, now with EXTRA dismal.

Books read:
2009: 81
2010: 87
2011: 81
2012: 75
2013: 53
2014: 54
2015: 54
2016: 57
2017: 27

Pages read:
2009: 24,492
2010: 25,958
2011: 19,935
2012: 19,168
2013: 17,643
2014: 16,073
2015: 16,217
2016: 19,236
2017: 7,834

Average book size:
2009: 302 pages
2010: 298 pages
2011: 246 pages
2012: 255 pages
2013: 333 pages
2014: 297 pages
2015: 300 pages
2016: 337 pages
2017: 290 pages

Average pages read per day:
2009: 67 pages
2010: 71 pages
2011: 54 pages
2012: 52 pages
2013: 48 pages
2014: 44 pages
2015: 44 pages
2016: 53 pages
2017: 21 pages

2018 thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/279766