Bookstooge Reviews 2016

2016 was on the whole a very good year for me. There will be lots of pictures and links in this post and the wordcount is the highest so far this year, so lets get cracking!

The Year in Visual Review. I continue to use Ipiccy.com for my collages, as their 25picture box works very well with the number of books I read each month and their iphone4 setting keeps all the squares pretty close to the cover sizes so the covers don’t get chopped off. I am sure there is a lot more I could be doing, but a monthly roundup is about the limit of my artsy-fartsy’ness.






I read 228 books this year. This was up from last years 183. Much of that is due to starting up Manga Monday again.








My pages read went up as well. From just under 63000 to just over 77000. Even though, in all fairness that includes the full number of pages for books that I DNF’d and abandoned. So take that number with a pinch or two of salt.




Each month stayed pretty steady in terms of overall books read with only 3 months dipping below the 18book mark. Even in August when I had to take some emergency time off to go move my parents when they unexpectedly sold their house in 2 weeks instead of the 3 months everyone was planning on. Which just means that I’ve made reading my main hobby this year and put most of my time and attention into it.






The Stars shall speak


13  
8   
58 
53 
49 
13 
12 
1   
14 
4   
3   

That makes my average for the year right around 3.25. Considering that a 3 is a good and completely average read, 3.25 means I pulled ahead of just plain good. I am more than satisfied with that.



On to the Books themselves!

Venetia was probably the best 1Star of the Year. It was fun to do a buddy read outside of my genre. It did reinforce my thoughts on the Romance genre however.

Worst 1Star was a tossup between Obsidian Worlds and The Store. Both got my stomach churning with disgust and outrage.

Best Non-Fiction wasn’t that hard because it was the only real N0n-fiction I read AND it was a 5Star’r. The Many Faces of Evil. It was just what I needed this year with my friend Amy losing her preemie twins and dealing with stage 4 cancer, all at the same time.

Best 5Star was once again a tossup. This time it was between 2 Re-reads, Dune & Way-farer. If I had to pick a new book, I’d go with Heirs of Empire, as it just hit me right at the right time.

Weirdest book of the year was definitely Gregor Xane‘s Taboogasm.  It just doesn’t get any weirder than that. If it does, I don’t want to know about it😀


Project ReRead
This was a complete success. 11 books that I had read before being read again with the aim of comparing how my tastes had changed and how that was reflected in my enjoyment and rating of said books. I still enjoyed every single book. However, I was able to determine that this was the last time I would read some of them.

I cherry picked specific books just so I wouldn’t bog down. That did lead to me realizing that some of these books are going to be favorites of mine for quite some time.  It also lead to the realization that while I’ve matured as a reader and can articulate the why’s and wherefores better, at heart, I’m still just a big geek/nerd.

Because it was such a success, I decided to expand upon the whole idea in a big way for ’17 and quite possibly into ’18. I’ve got a whole bunch of SERIES that I’m going to be rereading. They are:

I) Malazan books of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
II) Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert
III) Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede
IV) Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks
V) Patricia McKillip’s books
VI) Space trilogy by C.S. Lewis
VII) Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky
VIII) The Malaz Empire novels by Iain Esslemont
IX) Swan’s War trilogy by Sean Russell
X) Polity books by Neal Asher

So be prepared for a lot of whining and angst from me as I rip into these. I did choose books that I think will stand up to my high standards, hahhaaha.

For my other plans for 2017, please feel free to read them HERE.






2016 is the year that Booklikes crashed. Crashed and Burned. Staff literally disappeared, the site kept breaking in new and varied ways, people left, people couldn’t join up. Some of the more patient and determined members made a supreme effort to stick around, figure out ways to work around the broken bits and keep members from totally hemorrhaging away. One staff member has returned at the end of the year but the site still crawls or doesn’t load right for long stretches at a time.

I am staying at Booklikes but it is no longer my primary social booksite. When it takes me 3 tries and 5minutes to just comment, that pretty much kills my desire to be there. You can find me there at: Bookstooge.booklikes.com

To anyone who I have followed at wordpress who also is on booklikes, just let me know which site you prefer interaction at. I unfollowed a lot of people at Booklikes who started up blogs at WP but I know not everyone will make the move to WP and I don’t want to lose interaction if I can help it😀





I joined Librarything with a free lifetime membership, thanks to some other Bookliker’s. I am using it as a backup catalogue site since I can’t export from Booklikes and I don’t know how long BL will last.

It is VERY different from what I am used to and you’re going to hear me complain about those differences, a lot! That doesn’t mean I will stop using it or that I hate the site. It just means that I am set in my ways and learning a new way brings out my inner cranky.

You can find me there at: librarything.com/profile/BookstoogeLT




I’ve been on WP.com since ’13, but more as a backup than as anything serious. As BL kept pushing me away, I started looking around at other booksites to find an alternative. I tried a lot of places but one thing or another just made them unpalatable. So finally I started making a serious effort to find new people here on WordPress and connect with fellow Booklikers who also had backup blogs here.

I’d like to thank you all who I follow for writing such fun things and I’d like to thank all of you who have chosen to follow me. It is nice to know that I am not screaming into the void. I plan on find another handful of bloggers to follow and to refine those I already do, as I see who posts regularly and who does it sporadically.



AND I think that about wraps it up. I’m plum out of words anyway, so that forces the issue. So onward to 2017 and a lot of Good Books!

December '16 Roundup & Ramblings

Another good month overall.

Only Tropic of Serpents was 1star and that was because it bored me rather than because it was poorly executed. Several 4 & 4 1/2 Star reads, so I'm pretty happy with that.

The Blood Mirror was probably my best read this month, as it had a mix of Epic SFF, Complete Tomenosity [weighing in at just over 700 pages] and a solid hefty storyline. However, Heirs of Empire was definitely the most fun book of the month and it hit the sweet spot even while I was able to acknowledge that it wasn't in the same league as Blood Mirror.

Manga Monday is continuing strong with Eyeshield 21. This manga series is really keeping my interest and is doing a great job of mixing the sports with the personal. Christmas brought me lots of giftcards so I'm going to be using them to start buying my next manga series to read, Oh My Goddess!. With 48 volumes, I'm going to need all the time that the next 20 volumes of Eyeshield 21 can give me.

Project Re-Read finished on a decent note with the rest of the Icerigger Trilogy. I'll be talking more about that in my 2016 Yearly Roundup tomorrow or Sunday.

Working out the kinks with being on Wordpress, Booklikes and now Librarything. Once again, more of that in detail in the Yearly Roundup.

My reading of Don Quixote slowed down but that was because of Christmas and New Years and not working so much. Once I hit January and am back to a vacationless working schedule, Sunday's should be filled with updates from it again.

And to end, here's some cover art love:

Now is that just great looking or what? I also happened to love the story!

Who ever is doing Week's covers for the hardcovers sure has my number. They are great!

November '16 Roundup & Ramblings

This month was pretty good, in the scheme of things. Made my way through 20 books, 4 of which were manga and 1 graphic novel.

I did have 3 DNF's, which is higher than usual, but each was for a different reason, so that helped soften the blow of wasting my time on something I didn't/couldn't finish. To balance that out, I did have One 5Star read and Five(!!) 4Star reads. Getting even a single 5star is a good accomplishment and to have so many 4's is wonderful.

After 6 months I finally got Superman: Doomed scratched off my list. That was a real weight off my shoulders. I'd left it on the couch arm where I sit to remind myself to keep on trying to read it, even a page here or there. That just never happened, so I had to dive in, seize the beast by the throat and just choke it into submission.

In general terms, I solidified the next years reading plans, started the move from Booklikes to Wordpress and continued my reading of Don Quixote. All of which made for a busy but satisfying month.

In finishing, here are my two picks of the month for cover love:

I LOVE hooded figures on covers. They are just cool.

I have always been, and most likely always will be, a Superman fan. Even though I was disappointed by the storyline, the Idea of Superman and Doomsday as one is wicked cool.

October '16 Roundup & Ramblings

This past month was the the most up and down that I've had for some time. Quite a few DNF's and then on the other side of the spectrum I had several 4.5 or 5 stars read. So really, quality wise it all kind of evened out to my typical 3 star life :-)

Booklikes drove me as close as it ever has to making me leave. Weekends were consistently unusable and there was one whole week of the same. Things have smoothed out, but in that time I've begun preparations to be social over at Wordpress. I'm sticking around here until the New Years [hence the Don Quixote buddy read] but if at least one staff member doesn't return by then and start giving us signs of life, then I'll be leaving. I've let a lot go, worked around things, put up with a site that didn't work. I haven't really drawn any lines in the sand, but the time has come for me to decide what I can or can't deal with here at booklikes. So, a staff member needs to be appear, and stick around, by the end of the year. If that happens, I'll keep on sticking around even if the site issues continue. But no staff and I'm gone, even if the site dramatically improves. Just so you all know what my thoughts and plans are. I'm not just going to up and disappear one day without a word.

I'm also cross posting everything at Wordpress. So to you "new to me" WP peeps, thanks.  And sorry about dragging you through my Booklikes issues.

And since this has been more about Booklikes issues than about the books I've read, it is time to wrench this train back on the tracks. I'll wrap this post up with my 2 favorite covers.

First one is Caliban. It just screams Space Opera and I LIKE Space Opera.





This second one, Vets Might Fly, appeals to me because of it's simplicity. Very calming, just like the stories within.





I am looking forward to the Buddy Read of Don Quixote starting in 2 weeks. I plan on doing a Pre-Post about it tomorrow, so if it sounds like something you might like to be a part of, stay tuned.

September '16 Roundup & Ramblings

Welp, another month has flown by. And I do mean flown! It really feels like August is ending, not September.  This month was pretty good. 20 books. Knocked another Calvin & Hobbes book of the ol' TBR pile and started up my Manga Monday posts again, now that I have Eyeshield 21 on hand. That will up the numbers as I'll be reading one volume a week and reviewing it each Monday.

Best book of the month was Dune. I knew going in that I was going to love it, as it was part of my Project Reread, so it almost feels like cheating to put it as Best Book of the Month. But it was, so it stands :-)

Worst book of the month was easily, hands down, Obsidian Worlds.  Not much to say outside of what my review states.

Bookwraiths, over at Bookwraiths.com, has been doing a section called Friday Face Off, where he compares various covers of one book and picks which one he likes the best. I'm not going to be doing that, but I do think that highlighting covers can be a fun thing. Considering that I read almost exclusively ebooks, the only time I even see the cover is when the book is in Calibre before I put it on my kindle. So to take a minute and LOOK at the covers seems worthwhile.  I know the collage picture has them all, but they are small. So here's my 2 picks from this month:                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                      
                           





                                                                                                                                      

August '16 Roundup & Ramblings

This is a couple of days early, but I know I won't be finishing anymore books by months end so I figured I'd better write this while I still had some oomph in me.

This month has been something else. I knew going into August that there would be some disruption, but I wasn't expecting to have a full month of bleh. After moving my parents, things just never picked up. Life just kept throwing little curve balls.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been a bad month. I've had no DNF's, only one 1Star and one 2 1/2Star, so that qualifies as a good month. No 5 Stars, but those are rare enough that I don't expect them. This was just a solid read month. Nothing really bad, nothing really good.

My weirdest read was definitely Taboogasm by Gregor Xane. When I say weird, I mean alien clone baby, living dolls in space and alien butt holes kind of weird :-D

I'm hoping I get my reading mojo back for September.

.

July '16 Roundup & Ramblings

I was pretty satisfied with this month. No dnf's, which is always nice. Started my audio book adventures and while it was ok and I'll be continuing it with various random books, it is apparent to me that audio and I just don't quite hit it off.

My top reads this month were Talion: Revenant, part of my Project Reread and The New Watch, the latest in the Russian Night Watch series. Talion was a good re-re-re-read but I suspect this will be close to my final read of it. New Watch brought us full circle from new member to mature member and the writing has matured and mellowed.

There were no real stinkers this month, but some pretty Meh reads. Jupiter Theft and Nephilim: Genesis of Evil were both outstanding in their lack lustre'ness and mediocrity.

I am still working my way through Superman: Doomed, and by that I mean I keep thinking about getting back into it and just finishing it off in one fell swoop. I've got 125 books on my kindle so my Priority collection and Reread collection are both taking a place in the regular rotation as I need to get through some of the other books. My Misc collection is the only one that I'm keeping at the front of the queue. Read 8 other books, read a Misc book, rinse and repeat. That collection has grown to over 25, so I really need to work through it and get it under 15, otherwise the books are going to sit in that collection for at least another year.

Hope your July was a good one as well. August will be a slower month for me as I'm going to be helping various family members [some near, some far] move throughout the month. Cheers!

June '16 Roundup & Ramblings

19 books this month. However, 3 of them were Abandoned, so really, that made things a bit less hectic. Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 I had been really looking forward to, so it wasn't a good "Abandoned".

Unlike last month, where the future of booklikes and everything else seemed to be up in the air, this month was Solid.

I had my 2500th Review. I imported all my reviews from Leafmarks into Calibre, so I now have my reviews in an offline program. I read Venetia as a challenge and enjoyed the group read updates.

The only 5 Star book this month, and deservedly so, was:

1)  The Complete Stories Vol 1 by Isaac Asimov

The other end of the spectrum had:

1) Blowback by Brad Thor. Nothing nice to say about this book. Nothing.


Overall, I count this month a win on the ledger. Let's hope July reads strong.

RIP Leafmarks

Today is the last day that Leafmarks will exist. They started up right after the Free Speech debacle at Goodreads in '13. Sadly, while quite a few high rollers from GR came over, they just never stuck around. They all went back to GR where the people's adoration was. Throw in the fact that one of the co-founders left after a couple of months to concentrate on her own blog [and stay active at GR as well] and things were off to a rough start.  Sadly, it just never really took off after that.

I enjoyed the site mainly because it gave me Librarian experience, which I've used here. It also had an export function. Which has been a lifesaver recently when I wanted to start keeping my reviews in an offline format.

I downloaded all my top Leafs and made a collage of them. I have to say, collecting Leafs made things a lot more fun. It was also nice to be in the Top 100 of several categories. I know, "big" fish in a small pond, but for my ego, it was enough.

So thank you Leafmarks. You tried valiantly. It just wasn't enough.

16 Years of Book Recording

In April 2000 I began tracking what I read. I started with a little Mead 3x5 spiral notebook, much like one of these:


In it, I simply noted the date/day, title, author and genre.  Mind you, this was before Goodreads was even a thought [that I'm aware of] and reviews tended to be either word of mouth or by professionals in a newspaper. I wasn't reviewing but simply recording what I'd read, so that I wouldn't spend "precious" reading time reading the same thing over by mistake. That had happened several times in Bible School. As my mortality was now within my gaze (I did a lot of growing up during those 3 years], I realized that I didn't have time to accidentally re-read books, and this was before the plague of indie dreck inundated the reading world. It was also a natural outgrowth of my journaling every day during those 3 years.

In 2004-5, blogging hit my social group and we all began our own blogs and for about a year it was an explosion of words. Things began to wind down and I thought about how else I might make use of blogger. It was also at this point that my notebook began falling apart and I realized I needed to replace it. The thought of writing it all down, AGAIN, was not a nice prospect. So I decided to start typing it, at least that way it would stay online.

In 2007 I joined Goodreads but didn't really start utilizing it until 2009. Even then, I never made more than a literal handful of friends and I think it stayed in the single digits. However, in '13, with the free speech ban, I left GR. I came to booklikes, along with a lot of other people and made my home.

And let's be honest. In the 2 1/2 years that I've been there, I've dealt with and dealt out, more drama than in the last 13 1/2 years. People I've insulted, people insulting me. Some on purpose, some by accident. Seeing people come, seeing people go.
Making friends. Making a LOT of friends. For those who are introverted, you know what I mean.  Of course, with the uncertainty of recent times at Booklikes and with Leafmarks shutting down, I've been wondering if I'd have to move again.

Thankfully, that won't be the case as long as Booklikes stays open. I am starting to backup my reviews using a separate Calibre Library filled with empty books, so I'll be able to back them up and not have to worry about losing them online.

So to wrap up this little maudlin interlude, a lot has changed in 16 years and a lot has stayed the same. And please ignore me as I go up and down here at Booklikes. I review the books I read, everything else, well, I guess that is part of being human.

May '16 Roundup & Ramblings

21 books this month that really ran the gamut.

On the high end, I had:

1) Red Rising by Pierce Brown
2) Renegade by Joel Shepherd
3) Weirdos from Another Planet by Bill Watterson

On the low end,

1) Night of the Swarm by Robert Redick - Couldn't even get TO the 10% mark.
2) Ecko Burning by Danie Ware - Finished it but have to admit, I really wish I hadn't.

Then everything in the middle. Thankfully, neither of the low books were back to back, so I had some breathing room to recover. That can make a real difference.

Of course, the end of the month was tough with the news/notnews about Booklikes being sold, being denied, blah, blah, blah. Then finding out yesterday that Leafmarks IS shutting down in a month was just a big cup of manure on top of the crap cake I was munching on. Thankfully today was pretty physical at work, so I was able to clear my head and think about things instead of just "feel" and end up panic'ing, which is what I did most of yesterday.

So I am REALLY hoping that June is a better month than May.

March '16 Roundup & Ramblings

Another strong month for 2016.

21 books, although I had 3 DNF's. I also only read 4 comics [manga, graphic novels and comics] where I was hoping for close to twice that number.

Project Re-read went on a Hiatus, as one week was so busy that I didn't read at all and I wanted to concentrate on new reads. Definitely going to be making that a priority this coming month though.

My most enjoyable book of the month was Dead Six.

My average rating was 3.14, if you include the 2 dnf'd but unrated books. If you take those out, it goes up to a whopping 3.47.

My idea from last month of adding books to a draft post as I read them didn't work out. Not sure if I want to try it for April. So lets all read some more good books in April!

February '16 Roundup & Rambles

18 Books for the month. Only 1 DNF and quite a few graphic novels, comics and manga. This month just flew by, so having the lightness of the GN's and mangas was nice. Kind of like a no pressure read.

The only book that really stood out to me this month was the graphic novel Death of Superman. The DNF, Atlantis Endgame, was only 5% in, so I didn't feel like I'd wasted any time whatsoever on it.

My Project Reread book, Way-farer, was a success and I enjoyed it this time around just as much as all the previous times. So it fared much better than last month's Jurassic Park.

I've also started to map out a reading plan for the manga I want to read/reread this year. It will take probably most of this month to get it really together, but since I still have a couple of Yu-Gi-Oh! R volumes to read, that shouldn't be an issue.  Probably going after Eyeshield 21 and then either W Juliet or Kare Kano.

I have started Madame Bovary, but it is my "phone" book, so I just read a page or two here and there when I'm waiting in line, or something like that. I've only read about 10%, which is why I haven't listed it yet. I really like the writing and am wondering about powering through it this month to see if I enjoy the plot or not.

Every month I think I'm going to type out the books I've read. And each month as I start to do it, I realize what a chore it is and my will to do so evaporates like the morning dew on a summer's day. I am thinking I might start a Roundup & Rambles post at the BEGINNING of the month and simply add each book as I review it. That way at the end of the month I can simply add the Rambles part of the post, along with the pic, and voila, Instant Post. We'll see.

I've enjoyed reading everyone elses wrap ups, roundups, end of months, etc posts. Thanks to everyone who made my feed a fun time yesterday and today. I do appreciate your hard work and ask humbly that you keep at it.

Kanpai!