2017 Reading: Almost Adulting

I saw this book on the YA shelf at work and thought it sounded hilarious.

I was right.

Since reading it, I am convinced that it is probably not, in fact, a YA book, but meh, who am I to make such decisions?

I love some of the things that she goes over in this book. I sometimes feel like I don't quite know what adulting means, and most times, try to avoid it at all costs anyway. I definitely think I might take a look at her YouTube page (along with her hot English boyfriend) to see if it's something that I can add to my long list of subscriptions that keep me busy on a daily basis.

I call them "my stories."

2017 Reading: A Clash of Kings

#48 A book that's more than 800 pages

It seems like this book went by really quickly. I always forget how much the show differs from the books but I'm glad I am reading them to notice all the little details that I would have never known from watching the show.

I am intrigued by the sequence where Dany has the visions brought on by the Undead or whatever they were. I wrote them all down and I think they might be spoilers to what happens in later books. I'm going to be going by the books when I look at them because the show is just different enough that  the visions may not apply anymore.

I probably won't get to the next one any time soon, but I will definitely go through all of them at some point. These books are always good for challenges that have books over a certain amount of pages because they are SO damn thick.

2017 Reading: A Bad Case of Stripes

Adorable. A nice way to let kids know they can be themselves.

2017 Reading: You Don't Want a Unicorn

I wanted to know why I shouldn't have a unicorn. Now I know.

2017 Reading: How to Win Friends and Influence People

#20 A book with career advice

I have no idea why, but this book has been in my shelf for the longest time and I think I might have picked it up with some small hope of actually learning the secrets to making friends and somehow magically learning the ability to talk to people instead of cowering in a corner like I do now and have always done.

This book is very old-fashioned but I can definitely see some things that would still work and even some things that I KNOW people have done with me to make me do something that they want me to do.

I tried some of the principles from the book at work and they seemed to work. I might out them into practice more often. They seemed to make the day go by faster and it let me get along with my coworkers a little better.

2017 Reading: Razzle Dazzle Unicorn & Unicorn Crossing (2 books)

I like these books because they're just little bits of wit and cuteness that are easy to get through and make me happy while I read them.

2017 Reading: Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature

I've always been interested in Fibonacci and the spiral phenomena so when I saw this book about spirals in nature, I knew that I was going to love it. I know that you can find them nearly everywhere and it is so beautiful when you think about it.

These illustrations were just gorgeous, I think they were meant to look like wood carvings and the colors were muted and on a black background. Beautiful.

2017 Reading: The Jane Austen Book Club

#12 A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read

This book just wasn't my cup of tea. There's usually a reason that I never really read this genre. It just doesn't interest me.I mean, there were parts of the book that were a little interesting, but on the whole, I just really wasn't that into it.

I like Jane Austen's work, but this book just didn't pan out for me. The lives of the characters (some of them, not all) were okay and might have been nice to have learned more. But everything felt rushed (because the chapters only spanned a few days and took place months apart at times).

 I could never tell who was the one speaking. It was in first person sometimes, but I never knew who that person was because it seemed like everyone was already accounted for! Who is this mystery POV?

Oh, well. On to the next.

2017 Reading: Murder on the Orient Express

#37 A book that's becoming a movie in 2017

I watched this movie many many years ago (because Sean Connery) so when I heard that they were making remaking it this year with Kenneth Branagh directing and starring, I thought it was time I read the actual story.

It amazed me the conclusions that Poirot leapt to when interviewing everyone on the train. Simply amazing. I don't think anyone, past or present, could have come up with such conclusions. I also think that in this situation, no one would have been indicted because it is just so far fetched that 13 separate people could mastermind this whole thing YEARS in advance. They would have all gotten off scot-free anyway. (Yeah, like that episode of CSI in the plane. I remember that.)

2017 Reading: Octopussy & The Living Daylights

#4 An audiobook

To make this fair, I read along in the book while I listened.

Mmmm, Tom Hiddleston's voice.

I was surprised by how little James Bond actually DID in the books. Like, he was hardly even IN Octopussy. There were no Bond Girls, no guns, no car chases... Nothing!

I don't know if I'll eventually go on to read more of the James Bond series, but if I do, it will be at another time.