2017 Reading Challenge: The Lightning Thief

I’m probably the last person in America to have started this series. I mean, at this point Rick Riordan is writing a dozen other series he started after concluding this one. Oh well. Better late than never, right? Anyway, I have only good things to say about this one! Watch and see!

This book was the 7th book from my 2017 Reading Challenge and satisfied the requirement to read a book everyone else seems to have read already. This is also 1 of Amazon’s 100 Books Everyone Should Read. Two birds with one…book? Ha!

What did you think of this book?

Top Five Wednesday: Books That Need a Sequel

Today’s topic is standalone books that NEED a sequel. But it’s time we take a trip down memory lane.

I first began buying my own books in high school and college. I know at that point in time I’d started reading a handful of series, but I always tried finding standalones. At the library. At the bookstore. Or online. I’d search for hours to find a standalone I wanted to read. I often successfully found one. I discovered several of my favorite authors this way.

But as time has passed on I’ve had to change up my strategy. Now whenever I happen to be looking for something new I’m searching for the first book in a new series. This isn’t inherently worse, just different.

All this to say that once upon a time I wanted to read as many standalone novels as I could, but now I’m reading a million series at once. I’ve never read a solid standalone I felt needed a sequel. Not once. And some of the best books I’ve ever read have been standalones.

So my answer to today’s topic is simple: A good standalone shouldn’t need a sequel. What do you think!?

No, These Book Series are not the Same

A few nights ago I was working a closing shift, right? Which generally means it’s pretty slow toward the end of the night. But then I was awakened by a comment a co worker made. She said Twilight is the same as The Hunger Games. You can imagine my reaction to this.

I couldn’t believe it. And she was quire serious. Though another worker did immediately tell her that she was quite incorrect, I was the only one there who’d actually read any of the books around Katniss. So no one could really jump in with me.

Anyway, sure both series are obviously young adult, but to say that they are the exact same thing is outrageous to me. And disrespectful toward Suzanne Collins. Ugh. Have you ever heard anyone compare two books or series that don’t belong in the same sentence?

What’s the Difference Between Comics and Graphic Novels?

Okay. I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I don’t read comics. And recently I started thinking of the difference between comics and graphic novels. And I can’t seem to find one.

We sell both at my store and the only difference I can see is that graphic novels often come in hardback and are priced extremely high. Which is so unnecessary when they’re less than 100 pages. I’ve looked through a handful of both comics and graphic novels and still don’t know the difference. All the characters you can think of seem to appear in both. I don’t know.

So what’s the difference between graphic novels and comics? I haven’t a clue.