Hello and good day everyone! So with 2015 coming to an end, I’m happy to say that I was able to live up to my resolution of reading at least twelve books (One for each month). In fact, I actually read thirteen, a whole one more than planned. The books consisted of the following:
- The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
- Coraline by Neil Gaiman
- The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
- The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
- The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan
- The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
- The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
- The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
- The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
- The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
& - The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
Now, if you didn’t notice, NINE of my thirteen books were by Rick Riordan. That was not intentional, I swear, and I’ve decided that no more will I do something like that again. Don’t get me wrong, I love his books and he is my favorite author, but that wasn’t enough diversity for me. I just had such a huge backlog of his books and I was so behind that I just wanted to get all caught up for his new series.
So, in keeping with 2015, I’ve decided that I want my 2016 resolution to be the same, but with more books. As opposed to twelve, I want to read fourteen this coming year. And this time, no one author is going to completely dominate my list.
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is probably my second favorite author right behind Mr. Riordan. I don’t remember where or when I heard about American Gods but I thought the title and the concept sounded really cool, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
- Peter and the Starcatcher by DaveBarry and Ridley Pearson
Peter Pan has always been one of my favorite literary characters. I remember this book was actually my brother’s, and when he left it behind when he moved out so I adopted it, but I never got around to reading it. I actually forgot about it until fairly recently.
- Age of Odin by James Lovegrove
This book was literally just a spur of the moment purchase when I was at Barnes and Nobles one day. There’s really not much else to it.
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
After reading through The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I knew I’d have to read this one. The first book cracked me up so much, I seriously felt like I didn’t have any option.
- The Singular & Extraordinary Tale of Mirror & Goliath by Ishbelle Bee
The title really grabbed my attention. I literally know nothing about this book, except that the title is quite the mouthful.
- The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
I bought this book when I went on a trip to New York to visit my brother. I know very little about the whole His Dark Materials series, but I do know that it has a lot of controversy surrounding it due to its negative portrayal of religion as a whole.
- The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
Yes, another Rick Riordan book. However, I’m gonna be well into the year this time. This is the first in a new pentalogy following the events of the Heroes of Olympus series and let me just say that I’m super excited!
- “A” is for the Alchemist by James Larson
This book is actually a one written by a local writer. I found it at the comic/coffee shop I usually visit and thought I’d give it a read to help out the community.
- Blood & Iron by Gail and Larry Martin
Another book I just saw on the shelf at a local bookstore and figured I’d give it a shot. Plus, it’s steampunk, and that’s always cool.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Growing up, I read this book in middle school, and I’m glad I did, but I was far too young. I want to come back to this book and appreciate it now that I’m older.
- In Eden’s Shadow by AL Swanson
I found this book this past year at a convention. I got to talking with the writer and he was a really cool guy. This is one that I’ve had on my shelf for a while and I really want to give it a shot.
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The second Neil Gaiman book for the year and this is one that I love just for the name. The name Neverwhere to me is super cool and I love how simple it is and the feeling it gives. It’s beautiful.
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Like with To Kill a Mockingbird, this is one that most read in school, but I never got a chance because I had to choose between an advanced literature class or an advanced composition class my senior year. This book was read by the lit class, and I, like a fool, chose the comp class.
- Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
And the final book of the year is going to be, yet again, a Rick Riordan book. The second in the Magnus Chase series, I need to make sure I keep up with this series so it doesn’t slip out from under me.
And there we have it everyone, my To Reads for 2016. Now, I may not read them exactly in this order, but this is what I want to try and follow.
So, what books are on your 2016 To Reads? Anything on your backlog that you have to catch up to? Anything you’re excited for? Leave it in the comments. It might inspire me to pick up something for 2017.
