B Reads Books!: No-Go-Wrimo

Wow. It's like this blog just won't die... one year, I'm going to update this thing enough so that I don't have to have these reunion-type posts. One day...
But probably not.

Anyway. This year has been a wreck. There has been a lot of good stuff scattered throughout the whole thing, but overall, I'm not a fan. I'm already looking at like food stuff that's labeled "Best by: 12/15" and going "oh, that's expired..." because I'm just so damn over it. Needless to say, but I'm going to say it anyway, this poor blog has been woefully neglected since... January...

And now it's November. Oops.

Normally November is the worst month for this sort of thing, because it's usually Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month, yay!). But I'm at least 10,000 words behind already. I haven't written since day four, I think. I had the best story started and it was super funny and witty and awesome, and the Hubby considered it akin to like Douglas Adams (the BEST compliment ever!) and it was great!
And then I went out of town for a weekend, and then another week, and now here I am throwing words at this thing while neglecting my actual word count. Boo.
It doesn't help that a big hurdle I had yet to overcome was figuring out the damn plot. I pretty much had like a weird episode of Seinfeld going, where nothing really was happening but it was kind damn fun anyway? I set the bar too high, I suppose...

Anyway. I'm out.

But I'm also back!

Books are probably more important to me now than ever. My Goodreads "currently-reading" list is a whopping 10 books long right now. A new record, I think. Granted, some of them I semi-abandoned, but there is still hope for them, if there is still hope for me... I'm still 2 books behind on my goal of 40 books for the year, so I guess between reading and writing, I'm some how failing at both still. Technically. That's cool...

I've been all of the place too in my quest for awesome books. I've tried re-reading Harry Potter (good gravy, still. I have not finished the series yet. It is killing me. I love the books, I swear. But sometimes, I just can't...) And while I won't attempt to retroactively review everything I've already read from months ago, let's go with a..

Top 5 Books I've Already Read This Year and Should've Reviewed But Didn't:

The Martian -- are you surprised? If you are, that just means you didn't read it. Dummy.
Hondo -- I dabbled with Westerns during what can probably be described as mild depression. I wasn't just reading Hondo, I was Hondo. Out in the wilderness just doing the best I can to survive... it's good. Dated (and not just historically) but good.

Me, circa April 2015.
Why Can't I Be You -- an interesting chick lit built on mistaken identity. It was unique and endearing. I dig it.
The Girl With All the Gifts -- oooh, soooo goood. This should be #2, really. I don't want to talk about it. I just want you to read it.
The Just City -- disclaimer, I didn't like it. But it gets an honorable mention, because it's so unique. If you've read Plato's Republic, I'd be curious as to your thoughts. Well, even if you hadn't I want to know what you think. Because it's just so weird.

Also, I'm back into comics, the money-drain obsession that I had (apparently, only temporarily) abandoned. Yikes. And according to my reading list from this past year, this was the year of comics and graphic novels... So many! ...so, how fitting for a:

Top 5 Graphic Novels that I've Already Read This Year and Should've Reviewed But Didn't!

RAT QUEENS -- no, it's not supposed to be in all caps. That's just my enthusiasm showing! I effin' LOVE Rat Queens. They are snarky, mean, drunk, drugged, sexed, crazy, badass chickas that are rockin' out to some lovely fantasy tropes. It's like, I dunno... if a roller derby team played out a game of Dungeons & Dragons, you get Rat Queens. I adore it!
Persepolis -- WOW. This one was so good. So eye-opening. Basically, and not to get too political here, but it shows how Iran changed so quickly and so much. I found it especially interesting that the people who speak out the most about how dangerous Iran is, are the people who most match the way Persepolis characterizes their government -- fundamentalism is the same no matter which side of the Atlantic you are on... just something to cook on...
The Wicked + The Divine -- oooh, this is not like any graphic novel I've read lately. It's intense and confusing, and beautiful. I just really enjoy it. So much that I bought the t-shirt and walked around Disney Springs feeling like a rock star...
The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy -- this is just so darn cute and neat. It really explains stuff in detail without getting complicated. It's just fun! If you have been on the fence or curious about some of the big ideas, this is a great place to start. I thought it was so nifty I bought a second copy and sent it to my former undergrad professor.
The New Teen Titans Vol. 1 (Wolfman & Perez) -- I started watching Teen Titans Go! this year, and honestly it's so bizarre and funny and awesome (I love Beast Boy.... he is my "spirit animal" haha). So I figured it's about time to get into the comics and actually learn something. It's so neat! I enjoy seeing the early forms of all my current favorite characters, and see how their personalities have stayed fairly the same since the 80s. Just fun!