Tag: Brandon Sanderson

WRAP-UP: Reading Goals for 2020

Maybe you saw my original post for my 2020 reading goals? Honestly, I thought I did a pretty good job of setting attainable goals, but then (as we all know) 2020 changed drastically. Despite all of that, by September I had made pretty good headway on my goals (see my update here). Between September and the end of the year, however, I went through a bit of a slump. Finally, I discovered that the only books I could really get through were romances for some reason. In the last couple months of 2020 I decided to really embrace that and have been reading romances almost exclusively since then. With that being said, here’s how my 2020 goals ended up shaking out:

It’s in the exact same place that I left it in September, but I don’t really mind. I still feel like I got a lot accomplished and I think the two I didn’t finish will fit in with my 2021 reading goals as well.

How did you do accomplishing any 2020 reading goals? And how did COVID effect your reading this year?

Reading Goals for 2020

New year, same reader! My reading goals for last year were such a success that I decided to do it again! I tried to get a good mix of classics, rereads, and new books similar to last year.

Reading Goals for 2020

So there you have it! What are your reading goals for 2020? If you’ve already posted about it, link it up in the comments!

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Book Deals

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!
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Recommended from this post:

Thieves Attempt to Overthrow an Evil Government | Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

V51e2b7v-pdyl-_sy344_bo1204203200_in is lucky to be part of a crew instead of in one of the whore houses–even if her crew mates are abusive at times. Her whole life is changed when Kelsier walks through the door. Kelsier is Mistborn and claims that Vin is too. The Mistborn have a special ability to burn metals which give them special powers. Vin immediately takes to these powers, which are called Allomancy, and Kelsier asks her to join his crew on a very special job–to overthrow the Lord Ruler along with his Obligators and Inquisitors. Vin doesn’t believe this can be done, but she’s eager to learn more about Allomancy and wants to see how Kelsier’s plan will play out.

This book has been on my radar for a while now, but it took a book club to get me to actually read it. The size itself is pretty daunting (the book is 600+ pages) and as I started reading the book I felt a distinct lack of enthusiasm. I liked the story fine, but I just felt like a fish out of water–I don’t really read much heavy fantasy, I try to stick to YA. I felt overwhelmed at first by this new world and the magic and keeping the metals straight and all of the different characters. That being said, 600 pages later I still have trouble remembering what each of the metals do, but I have the characters down and feel like I have a better understanding of the world and Allomancy in general. I do want to read the next two books…but it might be a little while. These books are LONG and take some commitment.

Getting into the plot itself, I thought the pacing could have been a little quicker, but it wasn’t bad. I appreciated that the entire “job” is supposed to be completed over the course of a year. A lot of times I feel like authors rush the timeline, but I thought Sanderson did a really great job of having a reasonable timeline while keeping the story moving. The world was interesting, but I admit to not really getting it. The world itself doesn’t play that big of a role in this book, but I feel like it’ll play a bigger role in the next two. Allomancy is a really interesting concept to me and I really liked the scenes where we see how it’s used from Vin or Kelsier’s eyes. However, I don’t really understand the “burning” of metals in one’s stomach–that just seems so weird to me. I also don’t get why it’s an “either you can burn one metal or you can burn them all” kind of thing. That part just seems a little forced to match what the author wants to do with the story. Lastly, I wasn’t very happy when Sanderson introduced a second type of magic into the story. Yeah, I understand why it was necessary for the overall plotline, but I still don’t like it. Let’s just have ONE type of magic in a world at a time, okay?

The characters themselves were interesting. I really liked the cast of secondary characters and I wish that we had gotten to know them a bit deeper–maybe in the next books. Kelsier’s motives were a little hard to understand at times, but in the end I really liked him. Vin, on the other hand, was harder for me to like. I just felt like she kept making these dumb, stubborn decisions. I understand that she’s been raised to expect betrayal and to not trust anyone, but still… I guess her actions may have been consistent with the character that Sanderson was trying to develop, but I had a hard time connecting with her as a reader.

Overall, I thought this book was really intriguing and I’m glad that I read it. Like I said earlier, I plan to get to the other two books…but maybe not right away.

Overall Rating: 4
Language: Mild
Violence: Extreme
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate
Sexual Content: Moderate

 

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

This is the second book in The Reckoners series and so my review may contain spoilers if you have not read the first book.

Steelheart is gone, Newcago is free, and David is finally a Reckoner. He knows he should be enjoying life, but this would all be a lot better if Megan–otherwise known as Firefight–was there with him. Unfortunately, there are rumors that she’s killed another Reckoner in Babylon Restored (what used to be known as New York). David knows that this rumor cannot possibly be true (Megan is still good!) so he goes with Prof and Tia to Babilar to clear her name. When they arrive, they quickly learn that Regalia, the leader of Babilar, wants something with Prof. The only question is, does she want to kill him? Or have him kill her?Cover_of_Brandon_Sanderson's_book_-Firefight-

I just want to start by saying that I do not read this series for the characters. They’re a little two-dimensional for me and I can’t find myself relating to any of them. That being said, HOLY WORLD BUILDING. The reason that I’m keeping up with this series is because the world building is amazing. Sanderson has brilliantly constructed an alternate future (or is it supposed to be the present…?) This is a world ruled by cruel beings with superpowers. The people aren’t necessarily inherently evil, but using the superpower makes you evil. Literally, that’s what happens. Now that I think about it, this may be somewhat of a commentary on the effects of power…but I won’t get into that here.

While the characters are only vaguely described and given somewhat flat personalities, the world that Sanderson has built rises off the pages. I can see what New York looks like as Babilar and the entire world is so convincing that I wonder why I haven’t heard about these things on the news. I’ve also been trying to imagine what state Provo, Utah would be in after Calamity’s rise. Probably incinerated. I think the whole city would just be gone. If world building is something that you’re into, YOU HAVE TO READ THESE BOOKS.

Okay, but enough gushing. I think you guys get the point. I did have a few more issues even though I’m more than willing to overlook them. First, David seems a little more immature than he should be for his age. If I’m going to be reading from a guy’s point of view, I’d like them to take things a little more seriously than David does and, you know, act his age. Second, there’s a lot of action. A LOT of action and at times I was confused as to what was going on. Third, there might have been too many twists.  I’m a little on the fence about this one. You want to keep readers on their toes, but if you’re giving them whiplash…no bueno. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good plot twist (especially one that I don’t see coming) but plot twists in these types of books are usually negative in nature and make the book feel a little hopeless. I like to have hope when I read.

Overall, a good read but maybe not one that I’d reread. I’ll definitely be looking to pick up the third book, Calamity, when it comes out Spring 2016. I think the series is looking to wrap it up in this third books, but who knows?

Overall Rating: 3
Violence: Heavy
Language: None
Sexual Content: Mild
Smoking/Drinking: None