End of the Year Reading Meme
Found this reading meme and since I got back into reading this year (I read 31 books this year as opposed to none last year) thought I'd fill it out. Hope to see a few people on my friendlist fill it out as well because well reading is great and its a helpful way to get recommendations :)
What's the best book you read this year?
Absolutely Berlin Diary: A Journal of a Foreign Corespondent 1934-1941 because this journal was actually written in Germany & Europe during Hitler's rise of power I found it incredibly raw. It was like I was experiencing the major events of WWII with the author.
Now I should point out that there are some things about the journal that are uncomfortable. The author living in Germany at the time and I guess seeing the Nazis rise to power is a bit prejudice against Germans, he also uses the term Jap in the book. Obviously I don't agree with these things but this was published in 1941 so its a reflection of the times.
The author also made some changes to his journal to make it more exciting and to make him look better. For example early on in the journal he talks about Hitler making a speech about peace and how everyone is taking it in, not mentioning that he was taken in too.
Although that being said the journal was published in 1941 before the US entered the war so its look back on attitudes at the time about the war were fascinating. US gets blamed a lot for not entering the war sooner but sadly Europe gave Hitler a free pass for a long time and he was in their back yard not the US. Of course a lot of this stems from the anti-war attitude from WWI. No one wanted another war that soon it's just a shame how wrong people were.
This book affected me in so many ways. I found it humorous at parts like the back and forth between Stalin & Hitler (first their enemies than best friends, and then well we know what happened later), sad watching Europe fall to the Nazis, and inspiring watching England fight by itself against the Nazis and never give up. It was an amazing read. And when they say truth is stranger than fiction I think this book applies.
I only bought it because it was Kindle's deal of the day. Who knew this would become my favorite book of the year. I liked it so much that I plan to read the author's book on the history of Nazi Germany: The Rise and Fall of Third Reich. It's pretty famous (moreso than the journal) but its 1000 pages so if not for the journal I probably wouldn't have checked it out.
What's the worst book you read this year
For me it was definitely Gulliver's Travels. For the subject matter, a fantastical travelogue I found the book frankly boring. I didn't find the places Gulliver traveled to all that interesting and what's worse the book was really sexist. Granted I tend to "forgive" old books for sexism, racism, antisemitism etc but this book wasn't even enjoyable.
Your favourite "classic" you read this year:
I have two that I can't decide between
* Doll House- This was a play written in written in the late 1800's and well it is the exact opposite of Gulliver's. It is written by a man but it is a very feminist work (although the author Ibsen said he meant it to be a work about human rights in general) about how this woman is treated like a doll and not a real person. It's short and you can pretty much read it for free Online so I highly recommend it.
* Animal Farm- This is a book a lot of people probably read in school but I never did but I thought it was a great satire of the political situation at the time. It's weird I felt the same way when I first read 1984 why did I take so long to read this. Orwell definitely lives up to his reputation.
The book that disappointed you:
Kafka on the Shore First of all I want to say I didn't hate this one and there were definitely aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. But a lot of Murakami fans say this is one of his best and even compare it to my favorite The Wind Up Bird Chronicle but overall I thought it was just ok.
But it's okay this year I also read The Elephant Vanishes, a collection of Murakami's short stories, and that I absolutely loved.
I would like to read more Murakami this coming year. I am most interested in his non-fiction book on the Tokyo Gas attacks. It's a bit pricey on Kindle but I might splurge.
Another book that disappointed me was a Star Trek Book called Renegade I mean the description sounds exactly like I wanted Kirk thinks Spock & McCoy are dead and they have to fend for themselves in a hostile environment. But unfortunately the drama & character moments were few and the plot of the story was boring. A very meh experience overall.
The hardest book you read this year (topic or writing style):
I am trying to think of something but I can't think of anything that was difficult for me to read, I guess that is a good thing.
The funniest book you read this year:
I haven't read many funny books this year but I think I will go with the short Doctor Who story written by Neil Gaiman Nothing O'Clock. It's not funny in an amusing way but more in a macabre way that Gaiman excels in. I found the monsters he created both scary & somewhat playful. They were delightful. And well the Doctor had a lot of funny lines as well.
The saddest book you read this year:
The ending of the Book Thief made me tear up but I am going to go back to Berlin Diary the parts when Europe was being taken over one country at a time to the Nazis and when France surrendered. I know it is history now but I was so affected by this journal that I actually started to cry.
A book that touched you:
I thought about this for a bit and I think I am going to go with I am Malala. I have been a fan of Malala's since I saw a post about her on tumblr. This young girl who strives for education for girls and spoke out against the Taliban & got shot in the head for her efforts. But thankfully she survived. She is getting criticized in some corners in her country and I feel that must be hard for her (because you can tell from her words she really loves her country and culture). I find her very inspirational and I think girls need role models like her.
A(nother) book you read this year you want to recommend (maybe one that you haven't mentioned yet?):
I think I talked about them all so I will just make a list of the books I especially liked this year. These would get 4.5 or 5 stars. There were quite a few more that would get 4 stars.
The Elephant Vanishes
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
I am Spock (Nimoy autobiography)
From Sawdust to Stardust (Deforest Kelley Biography)
The Disassociation of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Book Thief
Dollhouse
Animal Farm
Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941
I am Malala
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya
Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock
Star Trek: The Covenant of the Crown
That's not bad out of 31 books.
I also want to give special mention to Wheel of Time: Memory of Light since it was the end of a series I read for 12+ years. It was not perfect but still the series was a great experience overall.
A book that you discovered this year that you will definitely read again
Yikes nothing is definite and I usually like to concentrate on new books but I wouldn't mind reading any of the above.
A book that you never want to read again:
Well I certainly would never read Gulliver's Travels again
Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2013?
Nagaru Tanigawa 4 from the Haruhi Series (talk about this below)
Diane Duane 4 Star Trek novels (they were all good, although Wounded Sky had a slow start it's 2nd half was really lovely. My favorite of hers though was probably My Enemy My Ally)
Neil Gaiman 2 (Loved both Nothing O'Clock & The Ocean at the End of the Lane)
Haruki Murakami 2 (was okay with Kafka on the Shore loved The Elephant Vanishes)
The book series you read the most volumes of this year:
Well the only actual series I read this year was I finished the Haruhi Suzumiya series (at least there is no more written at this point) starting with Intrigues book 7 and ending on Surprise
I will have to say Intrigues & Indignation were pretty meh for me overall. But I did highly enjoy Dissociation & Surprise. Of course I hope there will be more novels in the series but if this is the last at least it ended on a good note.
Although thinking about my first sentence I forgot I did read the first book of the Silo Series:Wool & the last book of the Wheel of Time series but since I only read one of each (so far in Silo's case) the Haruhi Suzumiya series still wins.
The last book you finished this year:
Star Trek: The Covenant of the Crown unlike Renegade I highly enjoyed this one. In fact I might even say it was my favorite of the fictional Star Trek books I read this year. It felt more fantasy than sci-fi but it had great Spock/McCoy interaction, I actually liked the McCoy romance in the book and I really liked the female lead. And it was funny my fascination with Star Trek was beginning to wane when I decided to read this one so I wasn't even expecting to enjoy it as much as I did.
The first book you will finish in the new year:
Lucky Man an autobiography of Michael J. Fox. As I mentioned on twitter I like Fox well enough, especially in the Back to the Future movies but I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan. My main reason I started to his read his autobiography is because of his fight with Parkinson's disease. Both my grandmother & grandfather had Parkinson's and so I feel this autobiography is a bit personal for me.
Although from reading the book I also found out that Fox has the same birthday as me on June 9th and I have also watched a bunch of Family Ties episodes.
The genre you read the most this year:
I don't think there is a particular genre I read most of but as mentioned before I read a lot of Star Trek novels & related books. In total I read 9- 7 novels, Leonard Nimoy's autobiography, & Deforest Kelley's biography (of all the cast he is the only one who never wrote his autobiography).
I already mentioned that Covenant of the Crown was probably my favorite and Renegade my least favorite. I did also highly enjoy Nimoy's autobiography & Kelley's biography.
Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2014?
I have a bunch on my kindle: a few more Star Trek books, The Rise and Fall of Third Reich, some plays, more of the Silo Saga, Starship Troopers, Slaughterhouse Five, Vincent van Gogh's letters
Not on my Kindle yet but I would like to read more Murakami.
But really what I end up reading is wherever my mood takes me.
finally, make a New Year's Resolution: How many books do you think you will read in the new year?:
I read 31 this year so my resolution is more than 31.
There were a couple questions about reading challenges in this meme but I decided to remove them.
What's the best book you read this year?
Absolutely Berlin Diary: A Journal of a Foreign Corespondent 1934-1941 because this journal was actually written in Germany & Europe during Hitler's rise of power I found it incredibly raw. It was like I was experiencing the major events of WWII with the author.
Now I should point out that there are some things about the journal that are uncomfortable. The author living in Germany at the time and I guess seeing the Nazis rise to power is a bit prejudice against Germans, he also uses the term Jap in the book. Obviously I don't agree with these things but this was published in 1941 so its a reflection of the times.
The author also made some changes to his journal to make it more exciting and to make him look better. For example early on in the journal he talks about Hitler making a speech about peace and how everyone is taking it in, not mentioning that he was taken in too.
Although that being said the journal was published in 1941 before the US entered the war so its look back on attitudes at the time about the war were fascinating. US gets blamed a lot for not entering the war sooner but sadly Europe gave Hitler a free pass for a long time and he was in their back yard not the US. Of course a lot of this stems from the anti-war attitude from WWI. No one wanted another war that soon it's just a shame how wrong people were.
This book affected me in so many ways. I found it humorous at parts like the back and forth between Stalin & Hitler (first their enemies than best friends, and then well we know what happened later), sad watching Europe fall to the Nazis, and inspiring watching England fight by itself against the Nazis and never give up. It was an amazing read. And when they say truth is stranger than fiction I think this book applies.
I only bought it because it was Kindle's deal of the day. Who knew this would become my favorite book of the year. I liked it so much that I plan to read the author's book on the history of Nazi Germany: The Rise and Fall of Third Reich. It's pretty famous (moreso than the journal) but its 1000 pages so if not for the journal I probably wouldn't have checked it out.
What's the worst book you read this year
For me it was definitely Gulliver's Travels. For the subject matter, a fantastical travelogue I found the book frankly boring. I didn't find the places Gulliver traveled to all that interesting and what's worse the book was really sexist. Granted I tend to "forgive" old books for sexism, racism, antisemitism etc but this book wasn't even enjoyable.
Your favourite "classic" you read this year:
I have two that I can't decide between
* Doll House- This was a play written in written in the late 1800's and well it is the exact opposite of Gulliver's. It is written by a man but it is a very feminist work (although the author Ibsen said he meant it to be a work about human rights in general) about how this woman is treated like a doll and not a real person. It's short and you can pretty much read it for free Online so I highly recommend it.
* Animal Farm- This is a book a lot of people probably read in school but I never did but I thought it was a great satire of the political situation at the time. It's weird I felt the same way when I first read 1984 why did I take so long to read this. Orwell definitely lives up to his reputation.
The book that disappointed you:
Kafka on the Shore First of all I want to say I didn't hate this one and there were definitely aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. But a lot of Murakami fans say this is one of his best and even compare it to my favorite The Wind Up Bird Chronicle but overall I thought it was just ok.
But it's okay this year I also read The Elephant Vanishes, a collection of Murakami's short stories, and that I absolutely loved.
I would like to read more Murakami this coming year. I am most interested in his non-fiction book on the Tokyo Gas attacks. It's a bit pricey on Kindle but I might splurge.
Another book that disappointed me was a Star Trek Book called Renegade I mean the description sounds exactly like I wanted Kirk thinks Spock & McCoy are dead and they have to fend for themselves in a hostile environment. But unfortunately the drama & character moments were few and the plot of the story was boring. A very meh experience overall.
The hardest book you read this year (topic or writing style):
I am trying to think of something but I can't think of anything that was difficult for me to read, I guess that is a good thing.
The funniest book you read this year:
I haven't read many funny books this year but I think I will go with the short Doctor Who story written by Neil Gaiman Nothing O'Clock. It's not funny in an amusing way but more in a macabre way that Gaiman excels in. I found the monsters he created both scary & somewhat playful. They were delightful. And well the Doctor had a lot of funny lines as well.
The saddest book you read this year:
The ending of the Book Thief made me tear up but I am going to go back to Berlin Diary the parts when Europe was being taken over one country at a time to the Nazis and when France surrendered. I know it is history now but I was so affected by this journal that I actually started to cry.
A book that touched you:
I thought about this for a bit and I think I am going to go with I am Malala. I have been a fan of Malala's since I saw a post about her on tumblr. This young girl who strives for education for girls and spoke out against the Taliban & got shot in the head for her efforts. But thankfully she survived. She is getting criticized in some corners in her country and I feel that must be hard for her (because you can tell from her words she really loves her country and culture). I find her very inspirational and I think girls need role models like her.
A(nother) book you read this year you want to recommend (maybe one that you haven't mentioned yet?):
I think I talked about them all so I will just make a list of the books I especially liked this year. These would get 4.5 or 5 stars. There were quite a few more that would get 4 stars.
The Elephant Vanishes
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
I am Spock (Nimoy autobiography)
From Sawdust to Stardust (Deforest Kelley Biography)
The Disassociation of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Book Thief
Dollhouse
Animal Farm
Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941
I am Malala
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya
Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock
Star Trek: The Covenant of the Crown
That's not bad out of 31 books.
I also want to give special mention to Wheel of Time: Memory of Light since it was the end of a series I read for 12+ years. It was not perfect but still the series was a great experience overall.
A book that you discovered this year that you will definitely read again
Yikes nothing is definite and I usually like to concentrate on new books but I wouldn't mind reading any of the above.
A book that you never want to read again:
Well I certainly would never read Gulliver's Travels again
Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2013?
Nagaru Tanigawa 4 from the Haruhi Series (talk about this below)
Diane Duane 4 Star Trek novels (they were all good, although Wounded Sky had a slow start it's 2nd half was really lovely. My favorite of hers though was probably My Enemy My Ally)
Neil Gaiman 2 (Loved both Nothing O'Clock & The Ocean at the End of the Lane)
Haruki Murakami 2 (was okay with Kafka on the Shore loved The Elephant Vanishes)
The book series you read the most volumes of this year:
Well the only actual series I read this year was I finished the Haruhi Suzumiya series (at least there is no more written at this point) starting with Intrigues book 7 and ending on Surprise
I will have to say Intrigues & Indignation were pretty meh for me overall. But I did highly enjoy Dissociation & Surprise. Of course I hope there will be more novels in the series but if this is the last at least it ended on a good note.
Although thinking about my first sentence I forgot I did read the first book of the Silo Series:Wool & the last book of the Wheel of Time series but since I only read one of each (so far in Silo's case) the Haruhi Suzumiya series still wins.
The last book you finished this year:
Star Trek: The Covenant of the Crown unlike Renegade I highly enjoyed this one. In fact I might even say it was my favorite of the fictional Star Trek books I read this year. It felt more fantasy than sci-fi but it had great Spock/McCoy interaction, I actually liked the McCoy romance in the book and I really liked the female lead. And it was funny my fascination with Star Trek was beginning to wane when I decided to read this one so I wasn't even expecting to enjoy it as much as I did.
The first book you will finish in the new year:
Lucky Man an autobiography of Michael J. Fox. As I mentioned on twitter I like Fox well enough, especially in the Back to the Future movies but I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan. My main reason I started to his read his autobiography is because of his fight with Parkinson's disease. Both my grandmother & grandfather had Parkinson's and so I feel this autobiography is a bit personal for me.
Although from reading the book I also found out that Fox has the same birthday as me on June 9th and I have also watched a bunch of Family Ties episodes.
The genre you read the most this year:
I don't think there is a particular genre I read most of but as mentioned before I read a lot of Star Trek novels & related books. In total I read 9- 7 novels, Leonard Nimoy's autobiography, & Deforest Kelley's biography (of all the cast he is the only one who never wrote his autobiography).
I already mentioned that Covenant of the Crown was probably my favorite and Renegade my least favorite. I did also highly enjoy Nimoy's autobiography & Kelley's biography.
Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2014?
I have a bunch on my kindle: a few more Star Trek books, The Rise and Fall of Third Reich, some plays, more of the Silo Saga, Starship Troopers, Slaughterhouse Five, Vincent van Gogh's letters
Not on my Kindle yet but I would like to read more Murakami.
But really what I end up reading is wherever my mood takes me.
finally, make a New Year's Resolution: How many books do you think you will read in the new year?:
I read 31 this year so my resolution is more than 31.
There were a couple questions about reading challenges in this meme but I decided to remove them.