2014 reading statistics

I've mentioned a couple of times in the last few days that I tracked my reading statistics last year and that I was going to be doing a full post about them. Guess what? IT'S STATISTICS TIME, Y'ALL.

Reading strategy
Okay, so first of all, I've mentioned a few times that I adopted a slightly different reading strategy during 2014. In the past, I've always been strictly a one-book-at-a-time reader. And when a book turns out to be dense or slow going or I'm just not into the story and don't really want to pick it up? It definitely had an impact on how many books I was reading.

But then I started my Classics Club challenge, which requires me to read a book a month through until 1 January 2019. And so that automatically meant that I was reading at least two books at a time, because I prefer to take my Classics Club books slowly and read them across the course of the month to get a true appreciation for them, rather than rushing through because I want to get back to more modern reads.

And one of my goals for 2014 was to reread more, so I decided to adopt a strategy of reading three books at any given time - one Classics Club book, one new book, and one reread. This meant that I was usually racing through either the new book or the reread, and I'm pretty sure this strategy is why I read 104 more books in 2014 than in 2013.

So. There you go.

Pages read
Another one of my reading goals for 2014 was to track how many pages I read a day. Sure, Goodreads tracks your total page count for you, but it inevitably ends up wonky because your edition isn't featured on Goodreads or it doesn't have the page numbers listed or the page count is out by like ten pages for some reason. Plus, I wanted to see what my average number of pages a day worked out to.

I read a total of 102,281 pages in 2014, an average of just over 280 pages a day. Obviously, I read more some days than others, and I generally read a lot less when I was travelling (partly because I was busy and partly because I was only reading one book at a time). The lowest number of pages I read in a day was 20 pages on our last day in Portugal, and the highest number of pages I read in a day was SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY back in February on a day when I clearly had no life whatsoever...

Rating

Yes, I made a series of pivot charts to tabulate my statistics. You're welcome. The vast majority of the books I read in 2014 got favourable reviews. As you can see, I used half stars quite a lot, and other fractions of stars a handful of times. Clearly, I'm pretty generous with my four star reviews, and fairly strict with my five star reviews. On the plus side, I only read eight one star books, which is reserved almost exclusively for "things I want to throw at the wall".

Genre

I'm kind of surprised by how many contemporary books I read in 2014. The vast majority of those 69 contemporary books were young adult or new adult. I'm also a little surprised that I read 57 fantasy books, considering urban fantasies (which is my fantasy sub-genre of choice) generally fell under the paranormal category (42 books). Although that DID include 14 Discworld books, every Throne of Glass book, and a decent chunk of Tolkien, so...yeah.

Really, the one I'm most surprised about is the dystopian books. I only read five books that classified best as dystopian in 2014, and I'm not sure if that's because the trend is on the wane or if it's because at some point I decided that the real world was close enough to a dystopia at times and stopped reading them... And the dystopian books that I DID read? I rated 80% of them at 2.5 stars or less.

Setting

Welp, that's a little depressing. Just shy of 40% of the books I read were set in the US. And another 22% were set in the UK. That big fat "Other" category? That's reserved for fictional universes created by the likes of Terry Pratchett, Sarah J. Maas, Garth Nix, and J.R.R. Tolkien. I read a mere 14 books set in Australia, and yet somehow manage to read two books set in Antarctica?!?! Go figure...

Gender of author

Admittedly, this category is a little problematic, because gender is a spectrum not a binary option etc etc etc. It's also a little problematic because in some cases, such as The Silkworm, the book was published under one gender but it was really the other. Or both (I'm looking at you, Ilona Andrews). But essentially, I read a crapton more books by women than men. Not intentionally, of course. That's just how it turned out. (Eight books into 2015, and I have yet to read anything by a male author. Whoops???)

Gender of narrator

Again, this is a little problematic because gender is complicated etc. But I still read far more books with female narrators than male narrators. Which probably says more about YA books than anything, I suspect...

Young adult books

This should surprise precisely no one. YA is my jam, and it's really obvious. I only needed to read five more YA books and five less other books (which, incidentally, includes middle grade books and new adult books), and it would have been a 50-50 split.

Australian books

38 books by Australian authors isn't too shabby, but it makes me a little sad that so many books written by Australian authors aren't set in Australia. Because seriously - only 36% of these books were set in Australia. I'm not saying that Australian authors HAVE to base their books here, that's crazy talk. And interestingly, this is one area where the books weren't US-based. Instead, the non-Australian based books were largely set in the UK or Europe.

Diverse books

I've talked about these already as part of my Diverse Books project for 2015, but it's worth representing in visual form because DAMN. That is pathetic. Especially when you consider the fact that those 24 diverse books? Twelve of them were only PARTLY from the perspective of a diverse narrator. Sigh.

Rereading

I reread a whopping twenty two books (out of 171 books) in 2013. And one of my goals was to reread more often in 2014. I still read far more new books than books I'd already read, but I think this was a fairly significant improvement! (104 rereads in 2014) I'd like to get this closer to a 50-50 split this year, but I'm not entirely sure that'll happen.

So. There you go. That's a break down of my reading in 2014!

Do you think there's anything else I should be tracking in 2015??

K xx

2014 end of year book survey

Like many other book bloggers, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and completing the end of year survey put out by the lovely Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner! (And I've pinched those category headers from her because they're just so preeeeeeeeetty)

I'm not really going to say a whole lot on this subject, because I'm going to be doing an entire post on this very subject in a couple of days. Because I tracked a bunch of different things over 2014, and I found it pretty interesting. So...yeah. Entire post. For now, I'll give you the absolute basics, as per Jamie's survey.

Number Of Books You Read: 275
Number of Re-Reads: 104
Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary (69 books)

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?
Easily Heir of Fire. Easily.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn't?
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding. WHY WAS THIS NECESSARY??? Literally nothing about this book was necessary... Also Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. So many people raved about this, and I was just...on the struggle bus. Sigh.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014?
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Holy wow.

4. Book You "Pushed" The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?
It's a tie between the Wilfair series by Alysia Gray Painter, and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Surprisingly, several people read both based on my recommendations. #librarianFTW

5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?
THRONE OF GLASS. HEIR OF FIRE. FAIRWIL. Too easy.

6. Favourite new author you discovered in 2014?
Sarah J. Maas. Seriously, this entirely survey is turning into a Sarah J. Maas worshipping session, but I just adored every single one of her books.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
The Enemy by Charlie Higson. I can't deal with zombie books as a general rule - and this one was no exception as evidenced by the fact that I woke up at 3am on my birthday from zombie-themed nightmares - but this one was INCREDIBLE. You know, provided I read it during daylight hours...

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Heir of Fire was the most action-packed. Fairwil was the one that I couldn't put down and kept having to email Alysia asking her to send me more of it #betareaderproblems

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Fairwil. Like I said, I beta read it, so I still haven't seen the finished version. But I'm waiting until the Kindle version comes out so that I can highlight my little heart out. If we're talking about books I haven't already mentioned, then it's probably Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. Fabulousness.

10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2014?

It's just so preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty, you guys...

11. Most memorable character of 2014?
Celaena Sardothian. James Mycroft from Ellie Marney's Every Word. And Clariel from Garth Nix's Clariel.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?
It's a tie between Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and Brown Girl Dreaming, both of which were stunning.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?
This may sound a little trite, but it's Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment. I'd read it before and had a very "yeah, yeah. Typical Pratchett" reaction to it. But upon reread, it's pretty much non-stop female empowerment. And once I'd started seeing it in that way, I couldn't stop.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?
Morris Gleitzman's Once series. Absolutely amazing.

15. Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?
"She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one." - Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas
"If someone had taken
that book out of my hand
said, You're too old for this
maybe
I'd never have believed
that someone who looked like me
could be in the pages of the book
that someone who looked like me
had a story." - Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson
"We all fight our own private wars" - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz
"I was suddenly awash with the magical feeling adjacent to love. It’s the emotion you experience when two people you care about connect in their own way, outside of your sphere, and you no longer have to coax them because they've found the particular friendship road they’re going to walk together." - Fairwil, Alysia Gray Painter (the beta'ed version, anyway)

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2014?
Just One Night (novella) - Gail Forman, 40 pages.
Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens, 900 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)
Definitely Dangerous Girls. That was one hell of a twist, and I definitely didn't see it coming.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
Fair Finley and Gomery Overbove, forever and always. Honourable mention to Rachel Watts and James Mycroft, holy hell.

19. Favourite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Fair Finley and Monty Overbove. BrOTP, yo. And the friendship between Beth and Jennifer in Rainbow Rowell's Attachments.

20. Favourite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You've Read Previously
Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger. I've loved all her books, but this one made me squee with excitement because my ship is finally sailing.

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
Morris Gleitzman's Once series. My boss recommended them to me for months, and then basically snatched them out of the hands of a small child and thrust them at me with orders to read them immediately.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?
James Mycroft from Ellie Marney's Every Breath. Totally and utterly messed up, but I just want to squish him. Also Henry Crosby from Morgan Matson's Second Chance Summer, because he's ridiculously sweet and also smells like cupcakes.

23. Best 2014 debut you read?
Solitaire by Alice Oseman. Pretty damned fabulous, especially if you spend too much of your life on the internet. Although also likely to cause feelings of inadequacy because the author is twenty and wrote the book when she was seventeen hahahahahaha ohgodkillmenow.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Probably Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass books. Although Robin LaFever's His Fair Assassin trilogy is pretty close behind.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Fairwil by Alysia Gray Painter. Said smiles were shipping-induced. Other than that, anything by Terry Pratchett is always an absolute blast to read.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?
What, just one?? I think the one that caused the ugliest cry session was Morgan Matson's Second Chance Summer. I did NOT read the blurb before I started it, and that was a big mistake (although the book was excellent). Morris Gleitzman's After. And Katie McGarry's Pushing the Limits. They're probably the big three. Fairwil caused happy crying because I was thrilled about what happened but didn't want it to be over.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Brandy Colbert's Pointe. I don't think I know anyone who's read it, and it was absolutely phenomenal, in a "I might have to go and throw up now because this is so nerve-wracking" kind of a way.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
I'm not sure that any books really crushed my soul in 2014. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick was pretty close though (WHY ARE THEY MAKING A MOVIE OF THIS HORRIBLY DEPRESSING BOOK??????????).

Unless we're talking soul crushing as in "WHY DOES THIS BOOK NEVER END OH MY GOD MAKE IT END", in which case it's a tie between Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn, and Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, both of which nearly killed me (sorry, Ashlea and Angie...)

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?
Fairwil. Always and forever.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn't necessarily mean you didn't like it)?
Any of the books in the True Believers series by Erin McCarthy. Those books were just...the worst. Also The Selection by Kiera Cass, which made me rage so hard that I created a hashtag on Twitter (#stupidbookisstupid)

1. New favourite book blog you discovered in 2014?
Paper Fury, formerly Notebook Sisters. I'm FAIRLY sure that I discovered Cait in 2014, but if not, I'm counting the fact that she changed her blog name and address and stuff as it being a new blog. Therefore, it totally counts.

2. Favourite review that you wrote in 2014?
Totally not one that I published on the blog, but I think my favourite review of 2014 was the (fairly scathing) review I wrote about The Selection on Goodreads.

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
Oh God, that's a really hard question. I don't know that it was the BEST, but this one about female characters that I think are better off not in relationships was one of my favourites.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
I've loved doing Top Ten Tuesday, and I really enjoyed Bout of Books, although it did leave me feeling a little burnt out!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?
When Alysia asked me if I wanted to read Fairwil. Because obviously.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
The post that got the most views is apparently my post about The Book Thief movie, which somehow has like 3000 views more than anything else.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
Any of the posts I've written so far about my trip to Europe.

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
Probably the Australian YA Bloggers and Readers group on Goodreads. I've met some fabulous people through that group.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I set myself a Goodreads goal of 175 books this year. I had to up that to 200 in the middle of the year. Then to 250. Then to 275. And I scraped in by the skin of my teeth with about an hour left of New Year's Eve. Phew!

1. One Book You Didn't Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?
I've already crossed it off my list, and it was Claudia Gray's A Thousand Pieces of You. And it was as fabulous as I thought it would be.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?
Probably Libba Bray's Lair of Dreams. Because that freaking book has been tormenting me with its constantly moving release date ever since I finished The Diviners. IN TWO THOUSAND AND TWELVE.

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
I.W. Gregorio's None of the Above sounds really interesting, and I can't wait to see how it compares to Alyssa Brugman's Alex As Well, which I just finished. (IDK, you guys. I never seem to know if things are a debut or not...)

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?
THE NEW THRONE OF GLASS BOOK. WHICH STILL DOESN'T HAVE A TITLE. Also Marissa Meyer's Winter. And Gail Carriger's Manners & Mutiny. And Ellie Marney's Every Move.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?
Okay, this is one that I'm actually going to go ahead and answer tomorrow, because I have an entire project that I want to complete this year, and I think it's pretty damned cool. So you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for details!

6. A 2015 Release You've Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
FAIRWIL. Have I mentioned Fairwil enough times yet? Because seriously. Fairwil.

Just go read Fairwil, okay?

K xx

2014 - Year in Review

And so we come to New Year's Eve. Another year over, as John Lennon would say in one of the most depressing Christmas songs of ever. And I honestly have no idea what I've done with this year. Other than reading 275 books, that is.

It's been a pretty mixed year for me. Yes, I travelled and read and hung out with my niece. But I also spent a lot of time feeling useless and rudderless and getting absolutely nowhere with my quest to find a job in my field.

But let's focus on the good stuff, because even I don't want to think about the bad stuff. I went to England and Portugal and Canberra (one of these things is not like the others). I not only completed but coordinated (along with Emily) VEDA. I gave up on Vlogmas half way through because other things got in the way, but I coordinated that too.

I successfully completed NaNoWriMo, although I have yet to actually finish the novel I wrote 52,000 words of during November.

I got to spend a couple of weeks with my little brother, several days with my BFF Sara, and I got to meet Willie and hang out together in London. And yes, I will eventually get around to telling you about the rest of my trip.

I cemented some fabulous friendships with wonderful people that I've never met before.

We finally finished recapping Buffy and Angel over on Snark Squad. We started recapping Dawson's Creek and Doctor Who. And I convinced Anna to join me in recapping Supernatural, a thankless task that I'm regularly on the struggle bus with.

I learnt that Phantom Eye is a thing, and that Alice In Wonderland syndrome is oddly fascinating. And I survived without seeing any pictures of eyeballs with pencils/arrows/whatever hanging out of them, for which I am eternally grateful.

I saw Les Miserables and The Book of Mormon live on stage.

I finished (sort of) my 101 in 1001.

I joined Mediavengers (which I promise I'll write more content for in the new year).

I hung out with this dork a lot, and it was fabulous.

And I had a job, albeit part time, for the entire year when I was expecting it to only last for first term. Plus, I'll be back there next year, which was unexpected but pretty exciting.

So it wasn't the best year ever. But it still had plenty of highlights. Here's to a 2015 that features lots of fun and good times, at least a little bit of a travel, and the end to my job hunting woes.

Happy New Year, friends.

K xx

Best of 2014: The worst of everything

We've already talked about my favourite books, movies, TV shows, and music for 2014. Now it's time for the opposite end of the scale: the stuff that brought nothing but pain and suffering, the stuff that months later, you still wish would go and die in a fire. Thankfully, there was nothing on the music side of things as horrific as last year's Blurred Lines (or at least nothing that gained as much hype), and the worst thing I could think of on the music spectrum this year was the Frozen soundtrack, and that's mostly because I work in a primary school and so I had to hear it on a NEVER ENDING LOOP FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. Anyway, on with the rest of the terrible things that should die in a fire.

I Know Who Killed Me
Oh, God, this film. This film was hands down the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. For starters, it features double Lindsay Lohan. And not in a The Parent Trap kind of a way. It was basically non-stop torture porn, and at one point she tries to duct-tape her severed fingers back on. I'm really not sure who picked it for #snarkathon, but they should be banished to the Shame Corner forever. Worst. Worst worst worst.

Platoon
Sweet mother of Jeebus, I hated this film. I actually stopped watching part way through because I was crying and fighting the urge to throw up, and life is too short for that. But the parts I did see? Were either incredibly brutal or incredibly boring. Probably a lot like the Vietnam War itself, if the truth be told, but I just couldn't take it any more.

The True Believers series
I'd heard good things about these books on Goodreads and at an industry event I went to. So when I found that they were only like $2 each, I bought all four of them on a whim, figuring I'd need books to read on the plane to London. Instead, what they brought me was rage and the desire to reach into my Kindle and punch fictional characters in the face. Rape is thrown around like it's nothing, all the main characters are in possession of magic vaginas that cure bad boys of their badness, there were non-stop cliches, and it made me want to throw things. Avoid at all costs. (Although they DID prove to be excellent #stupidbookisstupid fodder, so...there's that)

The Selection
This book seems to be pretty polarising. People either love it or they hate it, and I fell into the latter camp because it made me rage like nothing else. It's billed as a dystopian novel, but it's essentially the teenage girl version of The Bachelor in which you get to marry a prince. The writing was clunky, the characters were two dimensional, America Singer is possibly the dumbest girl to ever walk the pages of fiction, and don't even get me started on the fact that the "contestants" are made property of the state and have to prove their virginity in order to compete for the prince's heart. Basically, the world in which the book is set (which was poorly created) is riddled with misogyny and uuuuuuuuuugh.

Her
Reviewers have been raving about this movie all year, but I mostly thought it was gross. I mean, a guy falling in love with his computer operating system and ending up IN A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH IT?!?!?! What the hell even is that? It was just...no. No no no no no.

Charmed season 8
I didn't see this when it aired (and I have yet to post my thoughts on it. Or several of the previous seasons, for that matter...), but I'd heard that it wasn't great. Yeah, people really weren't kidding about how not great it was. It seemed to drag on forever, and then suddenly the show wasn't getting renewed and they had to try and tie everything up in a handful of episodes, and it just........ugh. Snore.

Get Him to the Greek
I really liked Russell Brand's character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. So I thought that him reprising the role here would be a good thing. Yeah, no. The added Jonah Hill factor was too much for me to deal with, and I gave up on the movie about 20 minutes in. Which, given that I made it through the whole of I Know Who Killed Me, is really saying something.

Winter Be My Shield
I bought this book in a Kindle sale for $1.99. And it may only be me who had problems with it, because the vast majority of reviewers on Goodreads seemed to love it. But for me? It was indescribably boring and dragged on for a thousand years. Seriously. I'd hit the "next page" button about fifty times on my Kindle and have only read about five pages. There's endless rape and torture, paedophilia and slavery. There's an incredibly complex society that's never properly explained, and very little world building. Essentially, it was about 350 pages of people wandering about in the snow and making big plans, and just over 100 pages of stuff that wasn't mind-numbingly boring but WAS kind of squicky.

In short, these things caused me to have one of two reactions:

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Sometimes both at once, now that I think about it...

And there we have it. What things are on your WORST OF EVER list from this year?

K xx

Best of 2014 - Music edition

I've covered off books, movies, and TV shows, so now it's time to talk about the best music I've discovered in 2014!

I probably say this every year, but I'm not really much of a music person. I can't stand the radio 99% of the time, and I basically only listen to music when I'm on public transport and want to block out the world. Still, there are a number of stand-out songs and albums for me this year.

Taylor Swift - Blank Space and Shake It Off

One of these days, I'll get enough iTunes credit to download the whole of 1989, but for now I've been obsessed with these two songs for the past few months. They're both absolutely amazing, and I'm kind of astonished (as are, it seems, many others) to find myself a big fan of Taylor Swift and the growth she seems to have undergone this year. And nothing shows this growth more strongly that songs like Blank Space.

Original Broadway Cast - The Book of Mormon Soundtrack

Eventually, I'll get around to telling you guys about the rest of my trip. For now, I'll simply say that C and I went to see Book of Mormon, and it was absolutely amazing from start to finish and the soundtrack never fails to make me ridiculously happy. Also, I'm kind of proud of my new life skill - listening to Book of Mormon on public transport with a total poker face.

The Basics - The Lucky Country

Technically, I heard them perform this song live last year, but it wasn't released until late this year, and it's pretty damned spectacular. It's a return to the great Aussie protest songs brought out by the likes of Paul Kelly and Midnight Oil, and I'm so glad I can finally listen to it over and over again.

Billy Boyd - The Last Goodbye

Excuse me while I ugly cry forever. I have yet to see The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, simply because it doesn't come out in Australia until Boxing Day. But I LOVE that they got Billy Boyd to sing the song for the end credits. Because Billy Boyd singing in Return of the King is such a huge part of what I love about that movie, and so it adds a nice sense of having come full circle to include him in the final part of The Hobbit, especially seeing as the video includes footage from all six films and behind the scenes.

Original Soundtrack - Guardians of the Galaxy

Seriously, there are no words for how much I adore this soundtrack. It's absolutely fabulous from start to finish. 10/10 would recommend.

Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark

I know, I'm late to the party on this one. But I've heard it A LOT this year at the gym, and it just keeps growing on me to the point where I finally downloaded it and listen to it on an endless loop because it's just so stinking good.

What songs/bands/musicians have you discovered this year?

Merry Christmas, y'all. I'll be back on the 29th with my Worst of 2014.

K xx

Best of 2014 - TV edition

I've already talked about books and movies, so now let's talk about the TV shows I discovered this year and promptly began binge-watching, because obviously nothing I started watching was a brand new, currently airing, wait-a-week-between-episodes sort of a thing.

Orange Is The New Black

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Holy hell, this show is solid gold awesome. Though Piper is ostensibly the main character, she's also possibly the least interesting (besides Larry. Go die in a fire, Larry). The multitude of supporting characters are all deep and nuanced and well developed and funny and generally fascinating, and it's just SO FREAKING GOOD WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING IT YOU SHOULD GO WATCH IT. Literally my only gripe (besides the existence of Larry, who's the actual worst) is that the theme song - while fabulous - goes for far too long. Ain't nobody got time to sit through a theme song that goes for over a minute...

The Office

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I know, I know. I'm totally late to the party on this one. And yes, we're talking about the US version. I'd always meant to watch it, I was just...putting it off because I'd seen some of the UK version and hated Ricky Gervais so much that I had to turn it off after about 10 minutes. Plus, I'm not a fan of Steve Carrell, so I was hesitant to watch like a million episodes of a show starring him. But then I saw the CPR clip on Tumblr and was like "OH MY GOD I NEED TO WATCH THIS SHOW IMMEDIATELY".

And so I go hold of season 1. And the second Jim looked longingly at Pam, I was like "Well, shit..." because I was firmly on the shipper train. It only took me a few months to get through the entire show, and it was fabulous. Sure, some seasons were rougher than others, and in those seasons, it was basically only Pam and Jim that kept me watching. But the finale was literally everything I ever wanted from a finale.

Friday Night Lights

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I'm only up to season 2 of this, because EVERYONE wants to watch it and Quickflix only has a couple of sets of it on DVD for the whole of Australia (or at least that's what I suspect) so I haven't seen it in several months, but it's pretty damned great. I was on the "why the hell am I watching a show about American football??" train for the first half a dozen episodes, but once it became less about football and more about the town, I was sold.

Criminal Minds

I don't care that the quality is terrible, this scene was AMAZING.
Source.

This one is totally Ashlea's fault, and I take great delight in blaming her when I freak myself out. Considering it's essentially a show in which they hunt down murderers and rapists and psychopaths over and over again, you'd think it would feel formulaic and repetitive after a while. But I'm half way through season 3, and NOPE. Still great. The characters are all fabulous and have well developed backstories and specific reasons behind why they ended up in such a horrific line of work, and Garcia will always and forever be my favourite because she's amazing.

The 100

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I honestly can't decide where I stand on this show. On the one hand, it has AMAZING female characters and it's really compelling viewing, and I love the idea of what's basically teenage Lost. But on the other hand, I have SO MANY ISSUES WITH IT. I mean, for starters the population size makes literally zero sense. And how the hell did they get water to keep the Ark running all those years? And wow this is really colonialist and kind of icky and oh my God please stop torturing people for information and why does everyone ship Clarke and Bellamy they're both horrible people and CHARLOTTE OH MY GOD NO STOP.

So I love it. But it makes me ranty. But it's so stinking good, and I have to know what happens and did I mention Octavia Biggest BAMF On The Planet Blake? Yeah... Plus, I tweeted about not liking Bellamy, and the writers retweeted it and that's basically my 15 minutes of internet fame right there.

I also watched Bitten and Siberia this year, but they haven't stuck in my mind quite as much as these ones have, though they were definitely worth the watch!

What shows have you discovered this year?

K xx

Best of 2014 - Movie edition

Yes, it's the one-off return of Movie Monday! It's the pointy end of the year, which means it's time to talk about all the best and worst things I've discovered this year. I've already done my best books, courtesy of last week's Top Ten Tuesday topic, and I'll get to best TV shows, best music, and worst of everything ever in the next few days.

Many of these aren't movies that were released this year. But they are movies that I *saw* for the first time this year, so it totally counts and if you haven't seen them you should rectify that immediately.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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It's no secret that I loved the absolute crap out of this movie. I've seen it twice more (I think??) since I shared my thoughts when it first came out, and I still love it just as much. It's got amazing female characters, amazing POC characters, and it manages to be surprisingly funny given the dark subject matter. And, perhaps most importantly, it feels a lot more like a political thriller than a superhero movie. 10/10 would recommend.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

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Nearly forty years after it was released, this movie still drops truth bombs left, right and centre. The performances are brilliant, especially from Spencer Tracey, and it's full of absolutely phenomenal quotes. And it's - sadly - still applicable today in an awful lot of ways.

Chef

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I watched this movie on the flight to London, not having heard anything about it beforehand other than knowing that Robert Downey Jr was involved somehow. So I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be pretty damned fabulous, even if it did make me really hungry. Seriously, don't watch it on a plane. You'll be devastated when they present you with a meal that looks like it's already been half eaten and then regurgitated...

Gone Girl

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I'm not sure I could say I enjoyed this movie, because it's indescribably disturbing in so many ways. But as a psychological thriller of "OMG NO MAKE IT STOP" proportions? It was utterly amazing. And Rosamund Pike, who I know best as Lady Harriet Cumnor from the 1999 adaptation of Wives & Daughters (closely followed by her turn as Jane Bennet in my least favourite version of Pride & Prejudice) was absolutely brilliant (and kind of terrifying) from start to finish.

The Fault in Our Stars

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Feels from start to finish. Shailene Woodley was fabulous as Hazel, and this is probably the most true-to-the-book adaptation I've ever seen. Plus, it was a hell of a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be, though when it delivered feels, they came in spades. It didn't hurt that the soundtrack is pretty damned fabulous either.

Guardians of the Galaxy

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Speaking of amazing soundtracks, this one is possibly the greatest movie soundtrack of EVER. The music fitted perfectly with the (more than a little ridiculous) film, and while it kind of proves that Marvel could make a movie about practically anything and we'd still turn out in our millions to watch it (as long as its cast is headed by a white dude named Chris), it was a hell of a lot of fun, and I loved how it tied in with the existing MCU.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

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Look, this one is a surprise even to me. With the exception of There's Something About Mary, I've disliked basically every Ben Stiller movie I've ever seen. But this one? This one was pretty astonishing. The blending of imagination and reality was great, and considering Ben Stiller acted, produced AND directed it, the level of seriousness was fairly surprising. Add in some gorgeous settings and you've got yourself a winner. Basically, it was amazing and you should see it even if you don't like Ben Stiller.

12 Angry Men

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Holy hell, is this movie amazing. It feels a lot more like a play than a movie. The shots are incredibly long, which is practically unheard of in cinema today. And it's pretty staggering that they managed to produce such an engaging movie given how long the shots are, and given that basically the entire film is just a bunch of dudes sitting around a table.

Veronica Mars

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Given that it was created thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, it's perhaps not surprising that this movie is full of sneaky little hints and cameos and Easter eggs for fans. To be honest, it felt a little like an extra long episode of a TV show that hasn't been on the air in a number of years, but I really didn't care. I loved the series, and rejoining the characters we know and love "ten" years on was amazing. Plus, Veronica is a total sass explosion from start to finish.

The Way, Way Back

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I really loved this movie. It's really feelsy, but it was a hell of a lot of fun. Sam Rockwell is absolutely brilliant from start to finish, as is Toni Collette. And you can never go wrong with Allison Janney. It's fabulously written and pretty damned great. Basically.

What are the best movies you've seen this year?

K xx

TTT - Top Ten Books I Read In 2014

It's time to link up with the Broke and the Bookish again! 

Well hello, pointy end of the year. You've come around FAR too quickly and I was 100% not prepared for it to be nearly the end of December already. I mean, seriously. I swear it was July about five minutes ago... 

Anyway, I'm limiting my list to new reads, because including rereads would be far too complicated. So here, without further ado, are the ten best books I've read for the first time in 2014:

1. Heir of Fire - Sarah J. Maas

This book was FLAWLESS. Abso-freaking-lutely flawless. I loved everything about it from start to finish, and I want to make everyone on earth read it. 

2. Fairwil - Alysia Gray Painter

Admittedly, I've still only read a draft version of this (you bet your sweet ass I'll be reading the ARC that Alysia sent me once the new year rolls around and it can count towards my 2015 Goodreads challenge!!), but it was SO FREAKING GOOD OMG. I just love the characters so much, and this final volume of the Wilfair series was everything I wanted and more. 

3. Every Breath - Ellie Marney

Melbourne + Sherlock Holmes inspired mystery + characters that I ship so stinking hard it's not even funny = YES OH MY GOD. I loved the characters, the diversity, the setting, the writing, and the parents who were actually present and concerned about their kid. Utterly magical. 

4. Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia - David Hunt

I was in fits of hysterical laughter the whole way through this book. It's the perfect non-fiction mix of humour and fact, and if you're even remotely interested in Australian colonial history, you should go and find a copy immediately. 

5. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

This book was ridiculously beautiful and filled with feels from start to finish. It's a book about secrets and discovering who you are and the importance of friendship and talking about things. 

6. Dangerous Girls - Abigail Haas

Okay, this one just flat out blew my mind. YA thrillers are pretty rare, and this one delivered in spectacular form.

7. The Once series - Morris Gleitzman

Surely I'm allowed one cheat where I can't decide between books?? This series (with the exception of Now, which was good but not great) was an astonishingly deep middle grade read. After, in particular, had me ugly crying for days. 

8. Waistcoats and Weaponry - Gail Carriger

This was pretty damned fabulous, but it's mostly in my top ten because OH MY GOD, MY SHIP IS SAILING WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT A YEAR FOR THE NEXT BOOK. 

9. Whisper the Dead - Alyxandra Harvey

This series is absolutely phenomenal and I loved everything about this book (except the cliffhanger ending, dammit). Despite being a middle book, it most definitely didn't suffer from middle book syndrome, and the characters were totally adorable together. 

10. Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry

Okay, this was easily my favourite Katie McGarry book. The characters were amazing, the story was feelsy, and the problems were real-world-y without feeling like they were over the top and created for the sake of additional drama. 

What's on your list?

K xx

TTT - New to Me Authors in 2014

It's time to link up with the Broke and the Bookish again!

I discovered a TON of authors this year. And I've read multiple books by all of these, except two. One of those I have another book waiting on my Kindle. And I really need to track down more books by the other one, because I adored the one book of his I did read. 

1. Sarah J. Maas

I know, I know. I've taken the Kool-Aid and I'm never ever ever getting over my love for Sarah J. Maas' books. I've read all four of her currently published books this year, and I'm dying to get my hands on more. MORE, GIVE ME MORE. 

2. Katie McGarry

I'm not quite sure how I went so long without knowing about Katie McGarry's books, but I've loved every single one of them that I've read this year. Which is seven. (Although two were novellas)

3. Ellie Marney

There are literally no words for how much I loved Every Breath. And as I said a few weeks ago, I'm physically retraining myself over Every Word because I know I won't survive until the final book in the trilogy is released in March otherwise... 

4. Alex Scarrow

I've merrily ploughed my way through the TimeRiders series this year, and for some reason we don't have the last two books in the series at work. So I need to track them down at my local library so I can finish it off and find out what happens because OMG I NEED TO KNOW. 

5. Morgan Matson

Honestly, I don't know how I went so long without reading a Morgan Matson book because I've LOVED both the ones I read. I really need to find a copy of Second Chance Summer. Like, now. 

6. Alyxandra Harvey

I've absolutely adored both of the Lovegrove Legacy books this year, and I suspect I'll be tracking down The Drake Chronicles pretty damned soon to tide me over until book 3 comes out.

7. Abigail Haas

OH MY GOD, DANGEROUS GIRLS. There are no words for how mindblowing that book was. Dangerous Boys I was less fond of, but I think it was partly because I'd read Dangerous Girls not long before, and so was comparing the two of them throughout. 

8. Laurie Halse Anderson

Excuse me, I'm not sure I requested this dagger to the feels, but I got it anyway. LHA's characters are amazing and dealing with all manner of real world stuff that gave me approximately a million feels. 

9. Huntley Fitzpatrick

Oh, the squees I squeed while reading My Life Next Door. So. Many. Squees. I didn't enjoy What I Thought Was True quiiiiiiiiite as much, because the pacing felt a little off, but it was still pretty adorable. 

10. Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was basically instant five star territory for me. Seriously. Such an amazingly beautiful book. And I really want to read more of his work, although I'm a little bit afraid that my expectations will be too high now....... 

Which authors are on your list this year?

K xx

The best books of 2014 to date

So last night, the lovely Cait from The Notebook Sisters wrote a post about her best books that have been published in 2014 to date. I contemplated writing a thesis length comment in response, but ultimately decided that it was easier just to write a blog post of my own!

So here you have my published-so-far-in-2014 top ten!

1. Fairwil - Alysia Gray Painter

Okay, this one is kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind of cheating because it hasn't officially been published yet. But I beta-read it for Alysia, and OH MY GOD IT WAS SO FREAKING GOOD THAT I HAVE NO WORDS. It was the cutest, most squee-worthy thing ever, and I actually reached the point where my comments on the manuscript stopped being creative or helpful and were just links to gifs of Jeremy Renner bouncing excitedly in his chair.

Yup. That's the one.

2. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet - Bernie Su and Kate Rorick

Okay, as a fan of the Youtube series, I was always going to love this book. And I think that it works very much as a companion to the videos, rather than as a stand-alone thing. But oh my God, I just loved it so much. There were so many little moments that we didn't get to see on camera that we got in the book, and so many characters - particularly Mr and Mrs Bennet - came into their own on the page.

3. The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J. Maas

I was honestly surprised that I loved a collection of short stories/novellas as much as I loved this. The stories all flowed together really wonderfully, and Celaena's backstory was incredible even when the reader knows exactly how things are going to end from the very first page.

4. Pointe - Brandy Colbert

This book was so dark and so creepy in a totally realistic way. It was really hard to read because of all the ick-tastic implications of the story, but it was so brilliantly written and Theo is such a wonderfully flawed character that despite how difficult it was to read, I couldn't put it down.

5. Since You've Been Gone - Morgan Matson

Admittedly, this one will leave you singing that irritating Kelly Clarkson song on an endless loop every single time you look at the cover, but it's totally worth it. The lists and the playlists and the best friend feels and the general adorableness of it all made it the perfect summer read. Even though I read it in the middle of winter. WHATEVER, I DO WHAT I WANT.

6. Cop Town - Karin Slaughter

I talked in depth about this one earlier in the week, so I won't go into too much detail here. It's hard to read at times because of the incredible amounts of prejudice shown towards pretty much EVERYONE EVER. But it's such a compelling story and features two awesome protagonists. Totally worth the read.

7. We Were Liars - E. Lockhart

I guessed the big plot twist in this story really early on in the piece, because I'm just that good. (I'm kidding. Mostly...) But it was still an incredible story. It's a really quick read, and the writing is quite choppy which I know has turned a lot of people off. But even if you guess the big twist, you don't know the how or the when or the why. Plus, how often do you get a book where the protagonist is totally unreliable and you know it from the get go??

8. The Impossible Knife of Memory - Laurie Halse Anderson

2014 seems to be my year for Reading Books About Real Life Problems. I read this one back in January, and it's stuck with me pretty well to date. It's such a heart-wrenching story and you can't help but have All The Feels for Hayley and her deeply problematic homelife. Definitely not one to read if you're in the mood for light and fluffy happy things, but still well worth reading.

9. Cress - Marissa Meyer

I love The Lunar Chronicles so much, I really do. The way Meyer ties the three stories together is really fantastic, and the relationship between Cress and Thorne is possibly my favourite to date. I read this in February, and I'm STILL not okay with how long I have to wait for the final installment of the series. I JUST WANT IT NOW, DAMMIT!!

10. The Gospel of Loki - Joanne Harris

How can you not love a retelling of the Norse legends from the perspective of a sassy yet massively unreliable narrator?? Loki is a fabulous character, and I loved everything about him in this delightful series of tales. The writing was gorgeous, and despite the fact that I'm totally not the type to highlight passages to go back to, I found myself doing so time and time again in this book (on my Kindle, it's okay).

What are the best books you've read that have been published this year?

K xx