My Bookish Life, According to Goodreads - 2011

 I thought this would be an interesting thing to write about for a while. 2011 was the first year I joined Goodreads. I'm pretty sure it was during the summer. It was also the first full year I became a Kindle reader. I had received my first Kindle for Christmas in 2010, and it became a great tool for me to increase my reading. I ended up reading 89 books in 2011. I think my record previous to that was somewhere in the 60s. One of the big advantages of being a Kindle reader was having access to Project Gutenberg. I ended up reading a whole bunch of books that were in the public domain (about 15. I don't think I even came close to reaching that number ever again)

Shortest book I read: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery - I am so glad I was able to knock this off my list. It was so well written, but so sad.

Longest Book I read: Imajica by Clive Barker - This was one of the few years that I failed to read an 1,000 page monster for the year. This was my third book by Barker, my first being The Damnation Game, which I remember fairly enjoying, while the second book, Coldheart Canyon, was just okay. I remember, despite how odd I found Imajica to be, I quite enjoyed it, and for a while, it would be my favorite Barker until I read Weaveworld in 2017

Series I finished:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219205.Lord_Foul_s_Bane

My least favorite series of the year goes to the first series of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, and I must be in the minority because it's got a decent enough rating on Goodreads, but I just never found the overall appeal, although I must have liked something of it to want to continue the series, but I gave the whole trilogy 2 stars 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365.Dirk_Gently_s_Holistic_Detective_Agency

This one is an odd entry because I actually read this series backwards. I had read The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul a few years prior (which is my favorite of the two). The first book I remember feeling very meh about, but I wanted to see what else Douglas Adams was capable of other than Hitchhiker's Guide.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76658.On_a_Pale_Horse

Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony - I don't remember much about this series, but I remember it had to do with mortals taking over the position of deities, either because they were killed, as in the first book, or I think retirement played into it. Overall, it was a solid series for me, as most of them got four stars for me, except two which received three stars (the second one, which had to deal with Time, mostly because the time stuff was confusing for me, and the last book, which dealt with all these new entities having to select a new God). The first book about Death was easily the favorite for me 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7723926-the-hunger-games

The Hunger Games was a really solid series for me. I thought the first book was action packed and very fun. Catching Fire was even better, but then Mockingjay happened. I really don't think I need to say anything more

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2429135.The_Girl_with_the_Dragon_Tattoo?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=XCf5tEuBA0&rank=1

The Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larsson - I had read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo back in 2010, I believe, and I had never read a thriller so disturbing, nor so brilliant since reading Whispers and The Silence of the Lambs, so I had to check the rest of the series out. I may be in the minority on this, but I slightly like book two a bit more than the first one, and Hornet's Nest was just okay.

Least favorite book: A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul - On this one, I must have really been in the minority because I remember being bored to tears with this book and giving it one star. That is extremely rare for me, as you will find out, although this will happen again in 2012. I remember wanting to give more Indian literature a try, because years prior, I had fallen completely in love with The Life of Pi and The Namesake, but this did not work for me at all.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4667024-the-help?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=i9Lm3P67Vh&rank=1 

My favorite book of the year: The Help by Kathryn Stockett - When you read 89 books in one year, you hope to find some favorites, and I wound up with 13 of them this particular year (14 if you count my first reread of A Game of Thrones). Honorable mentions include The Three Musketeers (not as good as The Count of Monte Cristo, but pretty damn close), Let the Right One In (2011 was a very solid year of horror for me, which included being introduced to Joe Hill with both Heart Shaped Box and Horns, which was also in my tops for the year, and is still my favorite book by him) and The Art of Racing in the Rain (Enzo is one of the bestest boys), but The Help was heads and shoulders my favorite. At this time, I still had an extreme fondness for historical fiction. It would still be a number of years before I would switch the majority of my reads to SFF and horror (I quite enjoyed Water for Elephants this year as well). Anyway, I thought the trio of Abileen, Skeeter, and Minny were extremely strong characters. I forgot the character's name, but I wanted to badly slap the character that Bryce Howard played in the movie, and who doesn't like a chocolate pie?!

Anyway, that's mu highlights for 2011. You're not going to see those types of numbers for a while. 2012 next week

My favorite reads of 2022

 Hello friends, 2022 is at an end, and I am here to wrap up my reading year. I ended up consuming 117 things this year (115 books physically, 2 on audio). These numbers were a bit low for me, compared to other years. (174 books back in 2020, 172 in 2021). The main reason being I read 99.9% of The Wheel of Time series (haven't read New Spring yet). This was a great year for me quality wise. None of my reads were below 3 stars on Goodreads. Before I give you my favorites, here are some superlatives from this year

Favorite graphic novel: Since rereads don't count, I can't include the first omnibus of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. For a few months, The Last Ronin would have been my selection, but yesterday, I finished this:

I wish I had a physical copy of this book because the artwork is so unique. The story takes place in 1968 and centers around Karen, a ten year old girl who lives in an apartment complex with her mother and her much older brother Diego. One day, her upstairs neighbor Anka dies under unusual circumstances and Karen takes it upon herself to find out what really happened. Karen is a horror aficionado and loves the old movies. She envisions herself as a Wolfman like creature, and that's the ways she's depicted through most of the story, with the exception of one panel. This book is mostly a coming of age story for Karen as she tries to come to grips with her sexual identity and some heavy stuff occurring at home with her mother and brother. It also explores part of Anka's traumatic life. This kind of reminded me of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and a certain graphic novel, which I will not mention because spoilers. I think part two is supposed to come out the second half of 2023, which I really hope it does, because of course this ended on a cliffhanger

Favorite author: This year's pick goes to Brandon Sanderson. This was the year Sanderson finally clicked with me. I first read Mistborn back in 2015 and really enjoyed it. Three years ago, I made an attempt at Warbreaker, but I gave up a quarter of the way through. Then in 2020, I read the entire trilogy of Mistborn Era 1. I wasn't totally crazy about the sequels. I thought they were just okay. With reading The Wheel of Time though, I really enjoyed his contributions to the last three books of the series (I would say The Gathering Storm is maybe my 5th favorite book of the series), and then, two days ago, I decided to give Warbreaker another try and really enjoyed it. I pre-ordered his first secret book and can't wait to read it in a few weeks.

Most disappointing book: This pick goes to my favorite author of last year: Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Guns of the Dawn was my 2nd favorite book last year. I also quite enjoyed Elder Race and Spiderlight. I was so excited for Souls. It wasn't bad. I gave it 3 stars, but it felt like it dragged a lot for me. The good news is, he redeemed himself with both Ogres and Dogs of War. I look forward to at least reading one thing by him next year    

Favorite protagonists: I really enjoy stories revolving around King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, so it's really no surprise that I would encounter The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell eventually. I enjoyed our narrator Derfel immensely. Conversely, my favorite antagonist would be Lancelot from the same series. On the female side, my pick goes to Siri from Warbreaker  

Now, on to my favorite books this year. For the sake of length, I'm just going to present my top 5

5. The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston was my second 5 star book of the year all the way back in January and for the first half of the year, it was my favorite book; unfortunately, I read it so long ago, I don't recall a whole lot about this book, but it was a really cool take on The Magnificent Seven dealing with a necromancer, a vampire, a pirate queen, an ogre, and some other nasty creatures. I wouldn't necessarily call it grimdark, but it was dark in nature, considering the creatures involved. I just had a really fun time with it.

Dates read: January 26 - January 28 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57189884-he-who-fights-with-monsters?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=omJOahmWBb&rank=1

4. He Who Fights with Monsters: Book One by Shirtaloon - 2022 goes down as the year I discovered serialized works (I'm currently still working through the first volume of The Wandering Inn and hoping to start Mother of Learning in January). I really enjoy the portal subgenre of fantasy (Narnia, The Magicians, Alice, etc.). I enjoyed the concept of this guy Jason thinking he's stuck in a video game and the leveling up he goes through; although with all the dark type of magic he's been taking up, you almost wonder if he's eventually going to be the bad guy?

Dates read: September 22 - October 13

3. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson - Hooray for second chances. I don't know why on Earth I DNF'd this the first time around. Maybe I wasn't in the mood at the time? Anyway, I'm glad I decided to give this another try because this was great. It deserves the hype it gets. I fell in love with nearly all the main, and most of the supporting characters. I did struggle with Vivenna at times. I enjoyed this magic system of using Breaths more than the alomancy of Mistborn. I also quite enjoyed how Sanderson kept changing your perceptions. You think you know where the story is going, but not so fast!

Dates read: December 20 - December 29

   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29868612-a-life-in-parts?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=E2wrfKEFEy&rank=1

2. A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston - Back in November, I was browsing around Scribd looking for an audio book, just to give it a try. Lately, the new releases Scribd has come out have been in audio format, and I am much more of a reader than a listener, but I decided since this was the way of the future, I decided to might as well join them. I'm not a fan of Breaking Bad or of Malcolm in the Middle, but I think Cranston is an interesting guy, so I thought why not? This book is filled with such amazing anecdotes, from a disastrous school play performance, how the time he and his brother temporarily had to live on their grandparents farm and had to kill a chicken, the extended road trip he ended up going with his brother and the moment he decided to become a professional actor, how he landed a Mars bars commercial, and of course behind the scenes stories of Malcolm and BB, plus a whole lot more. One of the best celebrity memoirs I've ever experienced

Dates listened to: November 19 - November 20

1. The Story of Marvel Studios by Tara Bennett - For the first time since 2019, my two favorite books of the year are both nonfiction. This is a glorious history of the Marvel movies from its beginnings with Blade through Endgame. You learn how Kevin Fiege figuratively went from rags to riches at Marvel. Some of the drama that went on between Marvel and Disney when it came to female characters (did you know Marvel wanted to bring Hela in for Thor 2, but Disney nixed that because they thought female action toys wouldn't sell). There are tons of pictures. Even if you don't read the BTS stuff, every page is a feast for the eyes. If you are a fan of the MCU, I strongly urge you get this book. It's a hefty price, but well worth it!

Dates read: June 5 - August 25

Confessions of a Bibliophile: Beginnings

If my love for reading were to turn into a tall tale, the balladeers would probably claim I came out of the womb with a book already in hand and glasses firmly plastered on my face.

Having educators as family members, I was never in short supply of books. My cousins and my sister can attest to that fact. When I was little, I would pick out a handful of books for my parents to read to me; however, there was one book I would urge to be read to every single night, and I mean that literally people. It was a spinoff of Disney's Bambi called Bambi Gets Lost.

                                                                 And so it begins

I don't know what it was about this book that I adored it so much, maybe it was all the animal pictures. Anyway, my parents read it to me so much, I pretty much memorized the whole thing, and if my parents would forget a certain passage I would have to call shenanigans on them and tell them to read it right.

Like I said before, besides Bambi, there were a plethora of other books to keep me company: other Disney books (like Pinocchio, Cinderella, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh), some Sesame Street books, Golden Books (like the Little Red Caboose), and more Dr. Seuss and Berenstein Bears books than you can shake a stick at. My parents would alternate bedtime story time (Mom would read one day, Dad the next).

As I got older, my father taught me how to read, and the first book I can ever remember reading independently was Three Little Pigs.

                                        Today, Three Little Pigs; tomorrow, War and Peace

My father was also the springboard in getting me interested in "real" books. After I had reached a certain age, my father believed I had outgrown reading Dr. Seuss books and such and he read to me books like Charlotte's Web, Beverly Cleary's Ralph and The Motorcycle trilogy, her tales of Ramona Quimby and Harry, Bunnicula, and a children's book of stories from the Old Testament (which really gave me a leg up in CCD class at the time). Dad also introduced me to some classics in literature like Treasure Island and Tom Sawyer, and even though he's not much for fantasy literature or movies, he read to me such fantasy classics as The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, and all seven books of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. I'm sure there must have been other books my father read to me, but for the moment, they escape me.

           I'd probably have to say in all honesty, Tom Sawyer and Aslan were probably my first literary  heroes

This probably lasted until I was eleven years old when I decided that I was through with bedtime story time and I would simply read by myself from now on, although at the time, I wasn't as yet the obsessive reader I am today. That would start to occur a few years later, thanks to some colorful vampires, and I'm not talking about the ones who sparkle.
 

Introductions

Greetings blogosphere, my name is Marcus and I have come to invade just a teensy, tiny piece of the interwebs just like so many other bloggers have done. I created this place back in 2008, so I thought it was about bloody time I made an entry here. In this maiden post, I will explain two things: where I came up with the title for this blog, and what will be (hopefully) occuring here.

1. Who is Peter Quince and confessions of a whosit whatsits?

My life has so far been dominated by two passions: theater (both the attending of and acting in (that's the thespian part)) and literature (bibliophile). There's actually a third passion of mine and that's being a major fan of the New York Yankees, but that's a minor passion compared to the other two. Lately, I haven't been a performer in any theatrical productions, I've been more a spectactor. As for the reading, I have probably read close to 500 books in my young lifetime, 91 in the previous year alone.

As for the Peter Quince moniker: one of the last major productions I was in was William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, where I played, you guessed it, Peter Quince, almost twelve years ago. I'll most probably dedicate a fuller article about my remembrances of that show in the near future.

2. What's going to be here?

Pretty much anything I can think of at the time: books I've read, movies I've seen (both in the theaters and DVDs), TV shows (currently showing or the TV shows I have on DVD, and I have a good deal of those), venting/extolling about the Giants and the Yankees, the list goes on and on. I realize this is not an original concept. There are millions upon millions of blogs out there. I'm not trying to be original, I'm just doing this for fun. I can't promise you that I'll post an entry a day. I also might post more than one a day. I'll try to keep my language as PG-13 as possible (note earlier my use of bloody instead of using some less colorful word). More importantly, when talking about books, TV, etc. I WILL MOST LIKELY BE USING SPOILERS. I will try to warn beforehand, but until then, consider this your preliminary warning.

Now that I've covered all the preliminaries, let's try to have some fun here