July Reading

Since my last post, I did a fair amount of reading.

I finished with most of the Star Wars teen fiction in July (and completely finished it in early August). My favorite books in the young adult portion of the canon has to be the Servants of the Empire series.

Servants of the Empire follows Zare Leonis, as he navigates through the imperial systems in an attempt to bring the empire down from within. I can't really go into more detail without spoilers, so I won't. But it's good.

Edge of the Galaxy - The first in the Servants of the Empire series

All in all, I read 12 books in July: Star Wars #6, Darth Vader #6, Princess Leia #5, Kanan The Last Padawan #3, Lando #1, Darth Vader #7, Dark Disciple, Servants of the Empire: Edge of the Galaxy, Ezra's Gamble, Rise of the Rebels, The Rebellion Begins, Droids in Distress. Many of them were comics (which really brought my book count up), and many of them were young adult novels (which also brought my book count up). All of the books I read in July were Star Wars.

Pages read per day in July -- I should include a date reference along the bottom next month...

August has already seen quite a few Star Wars novels being read, but (unless I get more comics in the mail), I've completely caught up with the Star Wars EU!

Currently, I've read Rebel in the Ranks, Ezra's Duel With Danger, Kanan The Last Padawan #4, Imperial Justice, Battle to the End, The Color of Magic, The Clone Army Attacketh, Star Wars #7, You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost).

7 of the 9 books I've already read this month are Star Wars. Two of those are comics, four are young adult novels, and one is a telling of the second film in Shakesperian style. I say Shakespearian style rather than iambic pentameter because (while it is in iambic pentameter), the series is rife with references to Shakespeare's plays, which is an added fun note to the book.

The other 2 books I've already read this month are "The Color of Magic" by Terry Pratchett (the first Discworld novel), and "You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)" by Felicia Day. Both were very good. I'm excited to read further Discworld novels.

I plan to read at least two more books this month: Clash of Eagles and Go Set a Watchman. Clash of Eagles came highly recommended by a very close friend, while Go Set a Watchman was lent to me by a coworker who read it and isn't sure what to think about it.

Next month, Force Friday will take over my life! Aftermath, Lost Stars, Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure, Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo Adventure, and The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure all come out on Force Friday (September 4th). Later in the month, more Star Wars novels that I've preordered release as well! William Shakespeare's Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge releases on September 8th, while September 22nd sees the release of A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy; The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to be a Jedi; and Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side!

Oh, and the 1st season of Rebels comes out on September 1st. I've been waiting for this release to watch the season, so I'll power through that before embarking on the 9 books that release in September.

Sick and Reading

On Friday and Saturday I was sick. Hardly able to leave the bed, sleeping all day sick. On the plus side, I was able to read a few pages in between each bout of sleep, something that brought me back into the fold(ed page).

I had just finished Interview with the Vampire late last week, a book I picked up in May. Not that it took me that long to read, just that I wasn't very committed to the book. It really grabbed me at the end.

But this weekend, I read Dark Disciple, the latest installment in the new Star Wars EU. It was fantastic. Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos (who you may recognize from the Clone Wars TV series) made a rather unlikely pair to attempt to cut down Count Dooku. The character progression for both of the main characters was fantastic, and I particularly enjoyed Obi-Wan Kenobi serving as moral compass for the reader in the morally ambiguous debacle in the Clone Wars. I was a big fan. 9/10, great book.

Dark Disciple

I also read a few Star Wars comics (Star Wars #6, Darth Vader #6 and #7, Princess Leia #5, Kanan: The Last Padawan #3, and Lando #1. Comics count in Goodreads, which is making me rocket through my reading goal.

I picked up a couple of young adult books in the new Star Wars EU, and have begun with Servants of the Empire: Edge of the Galaxy today. It's a rather short book (at 172 pages), and I'm on pace to finish it this evening. I hope to start in on the Discworld series soon with The Color of Magic.

If you're not already my friend on Goodreads, feel free to add me on http://www.goodreads.com/j11harms. I'm much more consistent about providing updates about my reading on there, even if it is just an update, without comment.

Comic Book Stories

Today, my friend Danny and I came up with interesting ways to explain comic book characters. The results are below!

Thor, the story of a man who couldn't pick up a hammer, and then he could. 

Green Lantern, the story of a man who loved green and wore a ring. 

Superman, the story of a busy city dweller who only has time to change in phone booths. 

Spider-Man, the story of a hip teen photographer who gets himself into and out of sticky situations. 

Batman, the story of an eccentric billionaire with a karate fetish. 

Robin, the story of a boy adopted by an eccentric billionaire who forces him to masquerade as a different boy, wearing tights.

Martian Manhunter, the story of an illegal immigrant forced to bounty hunt to survive. 

The Hulk: A scientist with a real anger management problem. 

The Flash : an american abusing performance enhancing substances. 

Iron Man: An eccentric billionaire who likes wearing eccentric suits. 

Guardians of the Galaxy : a group of thieves learn that while they're a little amoral, they're not fully genocidal.

Captain America: The story of a very patriotic american soldier. 

Green Arrow : even in the face of empirically better weaponry, a man refuses to give up fighting with his bow. 

Hawkeye: Another story of a man dedicated to his bow. He also likes purple. 

Catwoman : an orphan is forced into a life of crime to survive the brutal city streets.

Wonder Woman: The story of an Amazonian woman finding her place in a metropolis larger than she is.