My only reading goal I wrote about on this blog was my rereadathon book series goal. I wanted to reread The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente, A Series of Unfortunate by Lemony Snicket, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, and The Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. I did not read any of these, so there, that's out of the way.
So what did I read?
Graphic novels and Neil Gaiman and these go together.
I was reintroduced Neil Gaiman by his wife, Amanda Palmer. I read her book,
The Art of Asking, at the very beginning of the year. After reading it, I made a note to:
a) check out her music (which I did, went to a concert of hers, loved it)
b) get back into Neil Gaiman.
I first listened to
A Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer and was reintroduced to how wonderful Gaiman's voice is. My library has a lot of his audio books read by him, so I got those. I listened to
Coraline, Fortunately the Milk, The Graveyard Book, Stardust, and
The View from the Cheap Seats.
I had never read any of Neil Gaiman's comic work, but I made it a priority to pick up
The Sandman. So glad I did! I read the original 10 volumes over the course of my summer holidays and went on to read a Death bind up and the prequel
Sandman Overture.
What can I say about
The Sandman? It is brilliant. The blend of original and old mythology, the dark fantasy, the great storytelling, the beautiful art, everything was just so new and exciting. I loved the Endless. All of them had moments that made me stop and put the book down to think. The characters that just showed up for a story arc to the characters that were in the story throughout the entire series all were people I wanted to learn more about, complex and grey. I am just so happy to have found this series and I can't recommend it more highly. Read it if you haven't!
After that amazing introduction, graphics novels became a priority.
Saga, I Hate Fairyland, Alex and Ada, Maus, Fun Home I picked up this year because I was enjoying
Sandman so much. I don't regret a single one. I also read many of Neil Gaiman's short work that had been turned into graphic novels.
So yeah this year has mostly been Neil Gaiman and graphic novels.
Anything else?
Yep. A few novels. My favourites were The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, and everything by Frances Hardinge.
Frances Hardinge is my favourite author of 2016. I read three of her books this year:
Twilight Robbery, Cuckoo Song, and
Gullstruck Island. All got at least four stars and recommended to everyone. Friends, family, teachers, strangers, didn't matter, I rec'd this book to anyone who expressed interest. I travelled to England in May and was sorely tempted to buy all of her books. I ended up taking home the two books of hers I have still not read yet,
The Lie Tree and
Verdigris Deep. I plan to read both in 2017.
Speaking of 2017, do I have any goals, considering how poorly I kept the last ones?
I never learn it turns out, so here are my 2017 reading goals:
1. Read more non-fiction.
Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon,
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, and
This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein are on my TBR, but I want to read at least 5 non-fiction books this year that aren't school related.
2. Read
Gone With the Wind. It's not mine, but I have had it for years and really should get around to returning it. Also, it has been long enough that scars the movie left no longer haunt me. (I liked the film, It's gorgeous. However, it is an ordeal to watch.)
3. Actually blog this year. Self explanatory. I didn't blog at all this year. I am pretty bad at this whole thing, so my hope post once a month at least, hopefully more.
So there it is, my 2016 reading year and my 2017 goals. Hope you enjoyed.
