Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher --First DNF in 2017--

I am DNF'ing this book at 229 pages (just shy of halfway)

I had heard so many amazing things about this series. I am currently in Japan for the next three months and I needed a good decently sized fantasy book to get me though a chunk of it....I got about halfway in about a week and couldn't take anymore.

So, I know this series was started with two silly topics, but I think both of them weren't really done that well. I understood the Pokemon references (I mean, there is a mountain (?) called Garados....XD) and I could see the roman legion-ness...but honestly neither of these things made the story any better for me.

I really hate when the author names the characters similar names...I guess that's common in Roman times to have names that honor others and such...but he didn't make them interesting enough for me to remember who was who. And as I'm dyslexic, having indistinguishable characters with similar names name it IMPOSSIBLE for me to keep them straight. Gaius Sextus.....honestly tho. Besides the shitty naming the characters were super boring. I honestly couldn't care less about what happened to any of them. I felt like they had no personality and when bad things happened to them, I didn't really feel myself rooting for them to win. I also felt like things would happen to them just to try and give the story substance...or to move the not so good plot forward. Kinda. I think there was so much action that I didn't know what the plot was....and then once I figured out the plot I felt like it had just been thrown in there randomly so that the story would have a plot. Period.

If you are looking for a rich world, you won't get it here. You are just kind of thrown in. The world history is thrown at you as you go along, almost as if the author is making it up as he wrote the book. And the furies? LAME! I didn't really understand how they worked. I mean, I understood that they chose you based on your skills to furycraft an element (like water or fire), but I had a hard time picturing what they looked like or how they did some of the things they did.

At the point I DNF'ed, I decided I didn't care if I came across any spoilers, so I looked up the book's fan-wiki. I was bored just reading the summary...At no point was anything the wiki said a surprise nor was it something that I thought would be interesting to read. I then read the last few pages and decided it really wasn't worth it to read all the middle bits, so I put it down. Also, I did find the plot points in the other books to be interesting enough for me to continue reading so I decided to sell all the books once I got back to the states.

I do plan on reading his Dresden Files series (as I did enjoy the first few chapters I read as a sampler), so I'm not completely giving up on Jim Butcher. I am just giving up on this series.

2017 Bookish Resolutions --The Better Late Than Never Edition--

So, we are currently half way through 2017 (wow....already?!) and I am now deciding that it's time for me to do a bookish resolution....Like they say, "Better late than never!" right?

I'm going to be trying a few goals that I know, for me personally, are achievable (especially with the amount of time I have left in 2017). They may seem silly or stupidly easy for some of you, but it's not about you. Sorry. 😅😅

 So let's get this party started!!

First of all, let's start off with something super easy. Manga goals. I have been super into manga again this year and I've been taking them out from the library like mad. They know who I am the second I walk in the door. VIP library stats for the win. 

I'm currently 10 volumes into Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi. Ever since I started reading manga and watching anime, this...this has been a constant. It's so nostalgic for me, it hurts. Being such a huge fan of it, I've never finished the manga or the anime. Until now. This year I'm planning on reading the entire series (Yes, all 58 of them). I currently have volumes 11 and 12 out (I'll probably read them after I'm done posting) and plan on taking two volumes out every couple of days or once a week depending on my reading mood...don't want to burn myself out, ya feel me? 

 I am also currently 10 volumes deep into Rin-ne, by the same author.  I didn't even know she had done this series until last summer. What kind of Rumiko Takahashi fan am I?! Apparently a bad one.  So I plan on finishing this series (24 volumes) by the end of this year as well. I have been reading it along with Inuyasha. It's a sweet deal. Rin-ne isn't nearly as deep as Inuyasha, as I believe it's for a younger audience, and it also repeats itself constantly (probably because it was a Shonen Sunday). Still, it's a really cute manga and I would recommend it.

I also have a few other series that I'm almost finished with that I want to get done this year (Kitchen Princess, Assassination Classroom...and a few others I can't remember at the moment...XD)

Now for the novels. This is the real challenge for me. I have been in the worst reading slump which has been going on since last year. This is going to be a struggle for me, but I'm going to try my hardest to get some of these finished!

 First I am 425 pages into A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin. I started reading this when I was in Japan (January-April, 2017). I would just like to finish it. That's all. Just before the end of this year. ^^''

I would like to finish the A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy by Sarah J. Maas. I am behind and I'm trying desperately to avoid spoilers and such. I really want to read the second book...but with my lack of reading drive, I just haven't.

I would also like to make some progress with Elantris by Brandon Sanderson...but it's not a priority. It's kind of slow going, so I don't know if I'll be up to it. 

Lastly I want to try and make TBRs every month. At least on here. I really want to try and set a monthly goal of some sort. At least one novel a month...even if it's just middle grade.


And that's it! Nothing too exciting....but yeah! That's all I have to say.......Haha! I know this is late and people are doing mid year "How I'm doing" updates...but meh. Whatever!

Until next time! Tootles!