Remember that summer reading bingo card I mentioned awhile back?
I finally got a bingo.
The bingo is across the top row, where I connected Author’s Newest Book, Humor, Fantasy, Young Adult, and Nonhuman Main Character. I’m open to recommendations for the spots that aren’t colored in, so recommend away.
And now, on to what else I’ve been reading lately.
Son by Lois Lowry: Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful ending to the Giver. This book fills in the backstory of the characters in the previous books. And even though the ending wasn’t one that tied everything together, it was still realistic and touching.
Goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 deals
Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, eBooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business by Ann Hadley and C.C. Chapman: I read this as job research. I’m also pretty experienced at making online content, both here and for professional purposes, so a lot of stuff in this book was “well, duh”. A lot of chapters could be summarized by “tl;dr don’t be boring”. That said, I did get a lot out of the parts I wasn’t so experienced in. If you’re new to making content online, it’ll probably be a big help to you. Otherwise, just read the chapters you really need help on.
Goodreads rating: 3 out of 5 content posts
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: First, a confession–I’ve never seen the movie. But I knew the general premise and the rules of Fight Club, so I picked this book up at a used book sale and got to reading. And even though it’s confusing at first (due to a twist later in the book that explains all), I liked it. I’ll watch the movie sometime.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 review club rules
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: I met Leigh at the Decatur Book Festival last year, then promptly forgot about this until her new book came out a few weeks ago and everyone on Twitter was talking about it. That was when I decided to grab the first book. It has a lot of the same tropes as many YA fantasies, but for the most part they work well. I’ve already picked up the second book.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 Darkling encounters
Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So by Ian Stewart: I’ve been planning a mathverse for years, so this book was of particular interest to me. It’s brilliant. All the mathematical puns, the humor, the lighthearted storytelling. It’s almost everything I want in a mathverse, just written a few years before I started planning the idea. The math gets advanced at times, but the storytelling makes everything understandable and beautifully so.
Goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 noneuclidean geometries
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams: This is a posthumous collection of essays and stories and other things written by DNA. Because of this, there’s a lot of jumping around from topic to topic every few pages. Learning more about Douglas Adams and reading more of his works was wonderful despite the jumping around. I just wish he were still around.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 salmon
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Another confession. Okay a set of confessions. First, I started this book in eighth grade when the guy I liked recommended it. I didn’t get into it. I’ve also seen only the second movie and have never read the LOTR books. I did enjoy this book, though. The writing style is clear and conversational, and the story moves along at a good clip. That said, I’m not sure about committing to the LOTR books anytime soon.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 dwarves
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo: Pretty much everything I said about Shadow and Bone above is true here, though I like this book a tiny bit better than the first one. Time to get a hold of the third book.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 collars
The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau: If you’ve wanted to start a business or side project without a lot of money (or even with), this is your book. Seriously. It’s that good, and now I want to make all the things.
Goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 startups
Up next: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. That’s right, I’ve never read this book. I remember my seventh grade homeroom’s literature/reading class read this book, but I was in the gifted class, where this book wasn’t part of the curriculum. So now I’m fixing that.