Even with all of the hiking, camping, mountains climbing, and traveling that happened this summer, I'm pretty happy with this book list.
(Roughly starting from when I arrived in Japan around August 3rd)
20 Total: 12 New 8 Re-read
READ:
Chronicles of Elantra: Cast in Fury
Chronicles of Elantra: Cast in Silence
The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero
Northanger Abbey
North and South
Daughter of the Forest
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Chronicles of Elantra: Cast in Chaos
The Name of the Wind
Green Rider
The Wise Man's Fear
Mistborn: The Well of Ascension
A Discovery of Witches
The Maze Runner
First Rider's Call
Divergent
The High King's Tomb
Blackveil
Mistborn: The Hero of Ages
Mirror Sight
READING:
Hyperbole and a Half
Shadow of Night
STALLED:
Albrecht Durer: A Biography
The Scorch Trials
Insurgent
DROPPED:
Cold Mountain
PLANNING TO READ:
The Third Kingdom
Ready Player One
Chronicles of Elantra: Cast in Ruin
Allegiant
The Book of Life
(any and all of the eReader books I want to re-read)
Listened to:
The Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune
The Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena
The Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades
The Maze Runner (Maze Runner #1)
I honestly hadn't heard of this book until I found out there was a movie being made of it. And since I happen to like the actor playing the main character, and I needed a quick "cheeseburger" read as a friend dubbed it, I found the book on the JDL online resources list and borrowed it.
Though thrown in with other young adult distopian reads such as The Hunger Games and Divergent, I didn't stick to this story as quickly or as strongly as I did the others. It was interesting, but maybe not as elaborate as the others. I'm reserving full assessment for when I finish the trilogy, since I'm sure much of the explanation lacking in the first book will be made up in the following installments.
First Rider's Call (Green Rider Series #2)
There is so much to this book that I hadn't recalled! I know this is only my second read through, but it's strange how I only remember one or two points from this book. I thought much of it happened in the later books, so now I wonder what trauma is in store for me next (since it only gets worse). I like some characters much more, and notice their involvement in actions that will ripple to later events. Other characters I once blindly followed at this point last time I am now already wary of their potential betrayal (well, at least what I feel as a betrayal...)
The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4)
I really need someone to talk with about this series. Even with the attention lag of listening to this as an audio book and not actively reading it, I still found myself jumping up and down in triumph as I walked around cleaning my house or making dinner at every beautifully delivered line. It's as if all of the snarky sassy-ness of the first four Harry Potter books were condensed down and mixed with the last three's sense of impending doom. With the chapter split character perspectives, the level of characterization and development never dragged. The final book in the series will come out in the beginning of October, but I doubt the JDL will get the audio-book, (let alone the eBook) for a while...
Divergent (Divergent Trilogy #1)
After a long wait (two years...) I finally was able to re-read this. The first time that I finished it, I wanted to flip it back open and immediately start it again (that was the first summer I started cataloging my reading lists on here and had a mountain I wanted to accomplish). As always, I liked the perspective on fear that is explored in the story, but I think maybe this time I was a little too caught up in the way I thought things happened and was a little let down by how fast things progress? It seemed less believable to me this time around how much of a beating they take during training just to get up the day after next and be fine, and that they'd develop such advanced skills and strength within the span of days (not even two weeks). I enjoyed it, but I didn't have enough steam to continue reading Insurgent much farther than was needed to solve the minor cliff-hanger at the end of the story.
High King's Tomb (Green Rider Series #3)
(And this story is why I didn't bother continuing with Insurgent~) I truly adore this series and continue to be amazed by the details (and glaring plot developments) that I've forgotten. This one sticks with me a little more because the characters are on very clear trajectories and major players are beginning to show their hands. The Second Empire becomes more than a cult-ish, inbred group of radicals as it teams up with Mirwellian thugs opposing the king. The White World continues to play an important role, and Karigan continues to persevere through the various difficulties and heart-aching revelations that come at her daily.
Blackveil (Green Rider Series #4)
(moving right along...) I pushed through this almost as fast as when I first read it three summers ago--also in Japan. Re-reading this connected me back to the feelings I held for it then, but I was surprised to find I had unfairly been harboring ill-will towards a character for her help in events to which she was actually opposed. I also led myself on while reading into believing something devastating wasn't going to happen and that it was my skewed feelings about it distorting my memory--but of course that ended up being the one true memory I kept... I'm glad that this time around, I knew the terrible cliff-hanger is coming! So I didn't throw the book at the ending and instead could get right to starting the new installment: Mirror Sight.
Mistborn: Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3) (original rec. by Valerie)
I feel bad that it's taken me this long to complete this great series! It was hard at times, because I would confuse abilities in this world with the Kingkiller Chronicles world and with the Green Rider World (since those were also pretty immersive worlds). But this series, and this final book especially, held more plot revelations from seemingly insignificant data spread about the previous two installments than I can remember reading in another series. Everything fit together so spectacularly, and I never saw 97% of them coming. I really appreciate being kept on my toes so thoroughly to the very last page!
Mirror Sight (Green Rider Series #5)
.....how to describe this book with out spoilers and with out driving anyone away from the first four books in the series....
Well, to just be frank and non-lyrical about this: I didn't like this book. I really didn't like this book. And it's not because the story progressed in a way I didn't like. This is just my opinion, but while I respect the author for wanting to try new things in her writing, experimenting in this already established series felt like a betrayal. Despite vehement assertions from "the opposition", I don't think that Karigan grew at all in this story. In fact, I saw her as acting more childish than when we first meet her on the road running away from school in the first book. We're forced to read on and on about flat characters that have only just been introduced and hold little to no consequence, while not hearing any progress from everyone we've been waiting for. Precedents and laws established for this story's "universe" previously honored are seemingly tossed aside in the interest of shock-value and convenience. Loose ends abound as insignificant details are teased at the reader and then hold absolutely no significance later.
I can go on, but it's already been too painful reading it, I don't really care to write anymore about it. Needless to say I will not be re-reading it when the next book comes out in a few years. I sincerely want to believe in the author and the series, because the first four installments are so perfect to me. But I'm worried what the future of the series will look like, now. And that's something I never had to fear for before...
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