January Wrap-Up / February TBR

Wrap-Up:
This is kind of late, I know, since it is already halfway through the month almost, but it's been crazier then normal (which is saying something) and next week will find me at Disney World. I still wanted to post a wrap-up and TBR, just because I want to have one for every month.

I've been in a reading slump for months now, I'm sure you guys have noticed this, which has brought down how much I've been reading to a painful level. I only read three books in January.

• Ubik by Philip K. Dick
• You Have to Stop This (Secret #5) by Pseudonymous Bosh
• My Story by Marilyn Monroe 

All of them were fantastic. I've only posted a review of one of them so far, Ubik, and I'm unsure of how I'm going to review the Secret series yet and if I even will review My Story.

TBR:
Since it's already halfway through the month, I have read a book in February, but only one. I'd love to break out of my reading slump this month, but it's not looking good for me so far. Considering the traveling and Disney adventures.

So I have no list of books, I'm just going to try and read what I'm feeling like and hope to finish at least one.

Book Review: Ubik (And thoughts about SciFi)

Title: Ubik
Author: Philip K. Dick
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 5/5
Publication Date: (originally) 1969

Story Notion: (Initial thoughts upon finishing) It is 3am and that was fantastic. Ahhhh. Oh my god such a good first book of 2013. And now I must read everything by Philip K. Dick.

Plot summary: (From Goodreads)
(NOTE: I'd suggest not reading the plot unless you REALLY want to know exactly what it's about. It doesn't have spoilers, but it's better for this if you're learning as you read, I think, at least).

Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business—deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in “half-life,” a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter’s face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time. As consumables deteriorate and technology gets ever more primitive, the group needs to find out what is causing the shifts and what a mysterious product called Ubik has to do with it all.

Review:
This is the first book I read by Philip K. Dick and I'm really glad it was. It's taken me a couple days to fully soak in this one and still my initial thought on it is still "oh my god what did I read? It was soooooo goooddd." Which is good, but not good for trying to tell you why I loved this book so much, or to help you in deciding tor ead it.

I learned about it through Sword and Laser, they had that video in the middle of their video show talking all about Philip K. Dick, who I had never heard of until then (which is shocking considering how much I feel like I'm hearing about him now). I'm not big into SciFi, but it's not because I feel against it (I feel the opposite, really), but I'm never been sure where to start. I've read SciFi before, and some of my favorite shows are SciFi, but I've definitely read more Fantasy.

In that video previously mentioned it says Ubik is comparable to Inception, which is probably the best way to introduce it to someone because it's hard to explain otherwise. (I told my mom it was like Inception times 10). And I think the best thing about this book, besides the fantastic character, plots, attention to detail, is the fact that it's easily understood. I grew up watching Stargate SG-1 so I'm not new to the science jargon that kind of makes sense (theoretically), but this is just normal people and they're just as confused as you are at the beginning.

I just want to mention the other things I briefly said up there, characters, plot, and attention to detail. The thing is, I loved the details in the book, the writing, and the way somethings were described was just so well done that I could see it. And I love that. A lot. The characters are also so interesting and complex and the whole plot. I'm not going to say a word about it, but - it was amazing, I'd suggest giving it a try if any of my rambling have ignited some interest.                            

January TBR (2013) + 2013 challenge(s)

For 2012, I challenged myself to 100 books and I barely scraped by and I know that this year is going to be much more stressful, it already is, so - I'm not going to go for 100, my initial goal is 50, but I'm really hoping to get more then that.

I don't know what other challenges I'll take on, I was thinking of doing the A-Z author challenge, but I'm bad at things like that, since I normally just pick up with I feel like reading.

My TBR this week is kind of short, also, I would like to finish up some books (The Hobbit and Throne of Glass), but besides that, I'm not really sure. Here are some possible books I'll end up reading.

• The Walking Dead: Book Two 
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• Hunter's Prayer (Jill Kismet #2) by Lilith Saintcrow

There are a lot of others, I have a lot of books I want to read, but I don't want to hold myself to any books this month because I just don't know. I'd really like to get back into Walking Dead, I read the first omnibus of comics and completely loved it, so I don't know why it's taken me so long to read it.

Do you guys do TBRs or do you just leave it up to whatever you feel like? I guess I kind of do both, really, but - there are too many books right now. Way too many. And I hope all of your years go swell, yes I said swell, and that 2013 is kind to you and to me.

December Wrap-Up (2012)

And it's the end of the year! I don't even know what to say, this year went by so fast and I'm not ready for it to end at all. Anyway, though, here we go for my December Wrap-Up.

World War Z by Max Brooks (5/5)
I posted a review of this early in the month which you can find here. Review in a sentence: I really, really loved this one.

Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid #1) by Richelle Meade (5/5)
For a bookclub on the Goodreas and surprisingly really, really enjoyed this one.

Jack the Ripper: Hell Blade, Vol. 1 (2/5)
We're pretending this never happened, why did I read this. I kind of love Jack the Ripper stuff (Maureen's book coming out last year was just like me squealing), but this was just - weird. Very, very - just no.

How They Met, and other stories by David Levithan (5/5)
I always love David's books so I wasn't surprised at all when I was reading this one and found myself feeling the same why. I always end up getting all teared up, though, but they're just so very good.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (5/5)
This took me too long to read, but it was like I had to soak up what I'd read and kind of let it sit. It was so very good, though.

Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels #1) by Anne Bishop (4/5)
Really good, I've been 'currently-reading' this book for months and finally just sat down and finished it.

Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine #1) by Lilith Saintcrow (4/5)
I liked this one, but there was something that just stopped me from giving it the full 5, I felt like there was something off about it. To me, at least.

Ender's Game (Ender's Saga #1) by Orson Scott Card (5/5)
This book took me a very, very long time to read, but it was worth it. There was something about it that I couldn't read too much at a time until I just sat down and finished it.

Night Shift (Jill Kismet #1) by Lilith Saintcrow (5/5)
This book was really good. I don't know why I liked it more then the other Lilith Saintcrow book, but for some reason I did.

I also read two others that were short and really not worth mentioning. I finished my 100 book challenge by the skin of my teeth, but at least I finished it.

Audio Review: Dead Air

Title: Dead Air
Author: James Goss
Narrator: David Tennant
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy, Adventure, TV tie-in
Rating:5/5
Favorite Character: Probably, besides the Doctor, it would have to be Layla. I mean, the whole radio crew is fantastic, but I think Layla is my favorite
Publication Date: May 11th, 2010

Plot Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
At the bottom of the sea, in the wreck of a floating radio station, a lost recording has been discovered. After careful restoration, it is played for the first time to reveal something incredible. It is the voice of the Doctor, broadcasting from Radio Bravo in 1966. He has travelled to Earth in search of the Hush a terrible weapon that kills, silences and devours anything that makes noise

Review:
I really liked this Doctor Who audiobook. I've been listening to a lot of them and none of them really stuck with me, this one, though, for some reason did. Maybe because it's just done really well. It's a great use of having David Tennant narrate it since it's suppose to be a lost recording found and it's suppose to be the (10th) Doctor speaking to us anyway, I just thought it was a nice touch.

Also, I really liked the story and something I didn't see coming and it really did surprise me and I love when something surprises me. I also felt that the Doctor didn't fall out of characters, sometimes with books based on TV shows it can feel like the character isn't themselves or that they don't feel right for whatever reason (one of my problems with many of the audiobooks I've listen to).

WWW Wednesday (11)

And it is that time of the week again. I was going to start with these every other week, like I was doing them before, but I kind of really enjoy doing them. I like seeing what other people are reading and sharing what I'm reading. WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and it's asked you answer there three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll read next?

Currently-Reading:
So, so many things. Why do I read so many books at once? But, in all seriousness, I am trying to get through quite a few books currently. So many. Recently, however, I started Treasure Island and am a good 1/3 through it, probably, and it's pretty good so far, I'm liking it. I alo found my copy of Throne of Glass that I started a long time ago and then couldn't find to finish.

Read:
How They Met, and other stories by David Levithan (5/5)
So very, very good. I've loved everything I have read by David and I expect to continue to.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (5/5)
I loved this one. I don't know why it took me so long to read, but it was just fantastic.

Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels Trilogy #1) by Anne Bishop (4/5)
I've been reading this one for what feels like forever and I was finally able to just sit down and finish it while I had a cold and it was pretty good, actually. I didn't really know what to think of this one, but I ended up really liking it.

Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine #1) by Lilith Saintcrow (5/5)
I'm going to be posting a full review of this very soon and I'll add it to this most when I do, however, I really did enjoy this book. There were a couple things that just annoyed me, but I'm good at just kind of accepting (ignoring) things like that. Technically finished it really, really early Wednesday morning, but - I don't count it as the next day until I've slept.


Want To Read:
Too many books to read. There are currently over 900 books on my to-read list on Goodreads and I'm sure that there are thousands more I simply just don't know about yet.

Book Review: Guilty Pleasures

Title: Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #1)
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance, Mystery
Rating: 4/5
Favorite Character: Jean Claude, definitely. I try not to say the main character everytime because if I liked the book then it's probably a good chance I liked the main character (I did like Anita by the way), but I found Jean Claude every interesting.
Publication Date: 1993 (first published)

Plot: (From Goodreads)
"My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me "The Executioner". What I call them isn't repeatable.

Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folks with fangs. I know better. I've seen their victims. I carry the scars...

But now a serial killer is murdering vampires—and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer... "

"In a world where vampires, zombies and werewolves have been declared legal citizens of the United States, Anita Blake is an "animator" - a profession that involves raising the dead for mourning relatives. But Anita is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she's often employed to investigate cases that are far too much for conventional police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters of her hometown of St Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself - the source of her unusual strength and power.


Review:
This book was pretty good. I've heard that later in the series things get a little... weird, but I was willing to read the first couple. And this one as not half bad, I was actually kind of surprised about it, actually. I really liked the characters and what was happening. I also really liked the fact that she wasn't someone that was working with the police department, at least, that wasn't her main gig, because I have read that again and again and it's good to see something a little different.

I think the characters and Anita's backstory were my favorite parts of this. I like that she had this horrifying thing that had happened to her and yet she was still doing what she knew she was good at. I just like things like that. The characters, though, were very interesting. Aren't people around vampires always a little interesting?

Overall, it was pretty good. I mean, I don't really know what I was expecting but it wasn't what I read. It had much more to it then I thought it would. I'll probably end up reading the next couple, as I said, I've been told it's not really worth reading beyond like the 4th one, but if you've read this series, I'd be happy to hear your opinion on it!