2016 Reading: Never Let Me Go

#7 A romance set in the future

I got the suggestion for this as my romance set in the future by someone from GoodReads, but when I began reading it, I noticed that it is in no way set in the future. It's actually set in the past. But it's a past that was more advanced than ours and therefore made it more advanced than our future, but with a lot of similarities.  I don't know how else to describe it. I'm going to go ahead and count it anyway.

I had never heard anything about this book before so I didn't know what to expect. I ended up really liking the book despite the fact that the main characters seemed to have no idea what they were doing. With anything. No one spoke their mind or were unique in any way. And I know that they turned out to be clones, but the whole point of the special school was to prove that they could be their own people yet they just followed orders even when they knew that they would end up dying from the "donations." They accepted that that's all they were good for instead of fighting back.

Also, the point of the school was to give the children the greatest possible life they could ever hope for despite their clone status and the fact that their whole purpose was to die for the sake of "real people." I don't think I agree with that. I think that would be a cruel reminder of what they were never be able to sustain. They were treated nicely and shown a world, but kept away from it because they could never live in it. They are destined to die and they can do nothing about it. They CHOOSE not to do anything about it. They just lay down and take it.

2016 Reading: The Help

#5 A book set in your home state

Living in Mississippi is more than I can handle on a good day, so reading about it is something that I have no interest in whatsoever. I just, kind of, passed this book/movie by and never sat down with it. Until now.

I was familiar with the concept, so I knew what I was getting into. It amazes me how stupid people can be. I know that it was a different time blah blah blah but still. People are idiots. And that goes for today, too.

I think I want to watch the movie, but part of me still wants to avoid it. I don't know why. Maybe it's the way it ended, maybe it's the pie thing, maybe it's the horrible accents I know people are going to have...

Whatever the reason, I may or may not watch the movie. Until then, on to the next book.

2016 Reading: Lamb

#21 A book recommended by a family member

Now, I hate talking about religion. It's one of those things that I don't think people should do. Like, I have no problem with religion itself, but if you believe in something, more power to you, just shut up about it. I don't care what you believe, just don't bother me with it. Having said that, I was reluctant to read this, but my sister insisted that I would enjoy it so I went ahead and started it.

I did, in fact, enjoy this book. I thought it was hilarious as well as being real. Reading the bible, everyone seems to be this worldly scholar with perfect grammar and no discernible emotions, but this book paints there characters as real people (and if you are the religious, it can make them more relatable rather than some untouchable entity that you must strive to be like.)

There were parts that made me laugh out loud and I love the character of Biff. Biff is us. He is all of us who are inherently good, but don't always strictly follow the rules. He means well and he has the kind of street smarts that you can always count on in a pinch. I like him.

2016 Reading: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I had no idea what to expect from this because even though I work in a library, I had no idea it existed until my mother mentioned it.

I like the idea of a Potter going into Slytherin. I like that idea a lot, especially since Harry was originally supposed to go into Slytherin. I also like the thought of his becoming good friends with Draco's son. (Yes, I like the idea because I totally shipped Drarry and I am not sorry for it.)

At first, I had no idea what was going on, I had no idea it was a play, I didn't know where it was going... By the end of it, I was kind of... not changed.

I don't know how else to put it. By the end of the original series, I felt like my life had changed (as lame as that sounds), and then I read the epilogue and wanted to vomit all over the book.... But, that's another story. At the end of this book, I didn't really feel anything. It was just a thing that happened and it seemed to not effect me emotionally at all. My mom asked me how I liked it and my only response was, "Well, that certainly was a book."

I don't know. Maybe I'm jaded by Harry Potter's past.

(However, I ship Albus/Scorpius now. So, that's something.)

2016 Reading: Mother, Can You Not?

A friend of mine sent me this book and it was hilarious! I was both entertained and horrified by some of the things that were described in the relationship between this mother and daughter pair. I like to think that I have a pretty good relationship with my mother, but I don't think it could ever be as weird as this one seems to be.

I was not aware of the online presence of this pair before reading the book, but reading it made me want to take a peek at some of the things that I have gone on that have not made the pages.

Not part of the year challenge list, but it was a quick read and thoroughly enjoyable.

2016 Reading: Adulthood is a Myth

I'm a big fan of Sarah's stuff on the internet and I found this book on the shelf and knew I needed to take a peek. Some of them I'd seen before, some of them I hadn't, but it was a fun little read that kept me entertained for a while. Some of her drawings make me laugh because they're TRUE! All of them. I can identify with nearly all of her stories. Definitely recommend her stuff.

2016 Reading: The Martian

#20 A science-fiction novel

I was originally going to read The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov but I found out that it was a series of short stories and I really wasn't in the mood for that so I went with something that my mother recommended because she said it was hilarious.

And it was.

There was a lot of technical jargon to get through at various points, but considering that the main character is a stranded astronaut, it's to be expected. I found myself laughing out loud as I read this and I finished it in one day because I could not put it down. I have been avoiding watching the movie until I could finish the book and now that I have, I look forward to watching it and seeing if it holds up.

2016 Reading: Goosebumps (62 books)

ERMAGERD GERSBERMS!!!

I don't know what made me decide to read all the Goosebump books again. I guess that I just wanted something small to go in between the larger books so that I didn't get burned out.

1. Welcome to Dead House
2. Stay Out of the Basement
3. Monster Blood
4. Say Cheese and Die
5. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
6. Let's Get Invisible
7. Night of the Living Dummy
8. The Girl Who Cried Monster
9. Welcome to Camp Nightmare
10. The Ghost Next Door
11. The Haunted Mask
12. Be Careful What You Wish For
13. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder
14. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp
15. You Can't Scare Me!
16. One Day at HorrorLand
17. Why I'm Afraid of Bees
18. Monster Blood II
19. Deep Trouble
20. The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight
21. Go Eat Worms!
22. Ghost Beach
23. Return of the Mummy
24. Phantom of the Auditorium
25. Attack of the Mutant
26. My Hairiest Adventure
27. A Night in Terror Tower
28. The Cuckoo Clock of Doom
29. Monster Blood III
30. It Came From Beneath the Sink!
31. Night of the Living Dummy II
32. The Barking Ghost
33. The Horror at Camp Jellyjam
34. Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes
35. A Shocker on Shock Street
36. The Haunted Mask II
37. The Headless Ghost
38. The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena
39. How I Got My Shrunken Head
40. Night of the Living Dummy III
41. Bad Hare Day
42. Egg Monsters From Mars
43. The Beast from the East
44. Say Cheese and Die -- Again!
45. Ghost Camp
46. How to Kill a Monster
47. Legend of the Lost Legend
48. Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns
49. Vampire Breath
50. Calling All Creeps
51. Beware the Snowman
52. How I Learned to Fly
53. Chicken Chicken
54. Don't Go to Sleep
55. The Blob That Ate Everyone
56. The Curse of Camp Cold Lake
57. My Best Friend is Invisible
58. Deep Trouble II
59. The Haunted School
60. Werewolf Skin
61. I Live in Your Basement
62. Monster Blood IV