Year In Review: 2015 Edition: Pokémon: Gotta Blurb 'Em All

I haven't posted on here since the end of March. On top of that, this is only three posts removed from last year's "What the Hell Have You Been Up To? (WtHHYBUT?)" post.

Why, you ask (even if you had no intention of asking)?

I am now roughly 80,000 words into the first draft of my work in process (an epic fantasy novel), and I estimate it will be somewhere around 144,000 words upon completion (goal: finish first draft in 2016 - preferably by August month-end).



It's been a light year for book-reading/movie-going. Let's Pokémon it! Gotta Blurb 'Em All!

Let's go with alphabetical order by title.

Books!

Annihilation (Southern Reach #1) - Jeff VanderMeer
Like an anime. Good all along, but gets all weird on you at the end.  Liked it, but not enough to bump up the sequels on my eternally growing to-read list (but they are on the list).
***

Armada - Ernest Cline
Another fun pop culture fueled outing. Not as good as Ready Player One.
****

The Autumn Republic (The Powder Mage #3) - Brian McClellan
That ride you were afraid of, but someone dragged you on anyway, and it was awesome.
****

City of Stairs (The Divine Cities #1) - Robert Jackson Bennett
REVIEWED The Hulk. Maybe you don't expect much from Bruce Banner, but once you get into it, you realize there's some good stuff buried under there.
****

The Emperor's Blades (Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne #1) - Brian Staveley
When your wife says "this is the best piece of cake I have ever had," but you really like your own cake so you just don't try it, but she keeps shoving it in front of you saying "try it, you'll like it," and you hate that goddamn song, and on top of that you're a stubborn ass, but then the veiled (and not so veiled) threats start, so you give in and pick it up, albeit resentfully, and grudgingly taste it, and realize that you owe her a really big apology for waiting so long.
*****

Firefight (Reckoners #2) - Brandon Sanderson
REVIEWED Yippy kai ay. Sanderson dropped the major plot twist game for a more straight forward adventure. Still a good time. Waiting on Stormlight Archive #3 more than any Reckoners follow-up.
*****

Last Argument of Kings (The First Law #3) - Joe Abercrombie
Ending the meeting on a high note (but deep down you secretly hope that the project manager calls the team together again for more).
*****

Nemesis Games (Expanse #5) - James S.A. Corey
Continues to be my favorite Sci-Fi series.
*****

Psycho - Robert Bloch
Seen the movie? Of course you have. It's that, almost exactly (in the book, he's chubby).
*****

The Scarlet Gospels - Clive Barker
Sardines. People love them. Me, not so much. I want to like horror more than I do.
***

The Skull Throne (Demon Cycle #4) - Peter V. Brett
REVIEWED Like playing with Smurfs or GI Joe. Taking an existing world and going into much more depth for the characters, while not exactly advancing the plot all that much.
****

Unbound (Magic Ex Libris #3) - Jim C. Hines
KitKats (my favorite candy... hint hint).
*****

Bonus! Movies!

Ant-Man
Not that I doubted Marvel, but this was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be.
*****

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Marvel. Check. James Spader. Check. Some weak spots? Forgivable.
*****

Crimson Peak
Pretty. Eery. Not overly unique premise.
****

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
I liked the movies more than the books. Not sure how much that is saying. The end DRAGGED like Peter Jackson and The Return of the King (how many endings does this movie need?!?!).
***

Inside Out
Bingbong!
Quite surprised my daughter liked it (and she would tell me if she didn't... she HATED The Good Dinosaur, which she saw with her grandma, which I heard about for several hours upon her return home from the theater). This seemed a little slow and weird for kids to me. Remember that show Herman's Head?
****

Minions
I really wanted to like this. I didn't particularly care for it.
***

Shaun the Sheep
Love me some Wallace and Gromit. This was cute. Kept the kid's attention even without dialogue.
****

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Do I really need to say anything here?
I haven't even seen the thing yet (tickets purchased, two days and counting), but I'm going to (not really) go on a limb and preemptively rate it amongst the top of the year. I'll come back and edit the post and eat crow if it's not.
*****