Quarantining has given me a lot of time to do other stuff. So I decided to look at the blog posts I never finished and lo and behold, here's this one from last year. I thought to myself: "self, why don't you post it anyway?" to which I replied: "Great idea me! You're so smart!" So here's an unpublished blog from last year about all the books I DNF'd.

One of the downsides of expanding my reading horizons has been finding some of the books on my most hated book in 2019 list. A downside of doing a year long reading challenge is sometimes feeling like you don't have a choice in what you read. When both of those things combine I found these books, books I DNFd. Though I didn't "did not finish" these because they're all bad. For some it just wasn't the right time and for others I just couldn't get interested.


Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire By J.K. Rowling
Premise: Come on, you know it.

I love me some Harry Potter. I've loved the series since I first picked it up back in 2000 with the release of Goblet of Fire. Back in 2018 I said that 2019 would be the year I reread Harry Potter. Not only that, but I would marathon all of the books, something I haven't done since 2007 when The Deathly Hallows came out. So September rolls around and I still haven't picked up the first book and I felt like I had to. So I forced myself into a series I just wasn't in the mood for and I made it to book 4 before I gave up.

My DNFing of The Goblet of Fire has nothing to do with it's quality. It's still a great book. But I forced myself into a marathon of the Harry Potter books, and that was the wrong move. What should have been a fun and enjoyable reread turned into a boring chore and an old favorite book should never be a chore. So I put this down and will pick it back up later. When I try the reread again, I won't do the first three books as I'm super familiar with them. I'll just start with this one.




Gil's All Fright Diner by A Lee Martinez
Premise: Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up when the stop at Gil's All Night Diner right before a zombie horde attacks. Loretta, the diner's owner, asks Duke and Earl to stay and help. But what she doesn't know is that Duke is a werewolf and Earl is a vampire, so this is right up their ally.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from The Goblet of Fire is this book. Let me start out by saying that I've read two other books by A Lee Martinez and liked them quite a bit. I think he's very funny and a good writer. What's his trick? Maybe he took every bad idea he was ever going to have and put it into one book just to get rid of it. Gil's All Fright Diner has none of the humor or enjoyability that his other books have. The jokes felt forced, the characters are more wooden than Lincoln's cabin, and the pacing is slower than a stoned sloth. The story was contrived and the two main characters were just awful.



Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter by Ben Goldfarb
Premise: Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers.

I didn't hate this book. I just couldn't focus. This was an audio book I picked up during a sale on Audible and was very interested in the history and current status of the beaver. However I just couldn't concentrate on it. I would have to rewind entire chapters because it would finish and I wouldn't remember what had just happened. I don't think it was the audio book's fault. I think I had too many mental distractions so I had to change to a different book. I want to revisit this next year though. We'll see if 2020 is the year of the beaver.


The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Premise: Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome or fight the invasion.

I had been in the market for a new sci-fi book and this had been at the top of all the lists. This was a highly rated and highly recommended book so I thought it was a sure-fire win. As I got farther and farther into it, I was getting more and more lost. I thought that maybe I was too used to lighter toned book and that this book was deeper than I was giving it credit for. So I tried to be a more active reader, but that wasn't what the problem was. It was just a meandering and pointless book. I got about halfway through and I still had no idea what it was about. All I knew is that the main character was trying to get into some sort of secret society and one of the keys to that was a virtual reality game called "Thee Body" which was more confusing than D&D to a toddler.  There may be promise in this book. Maybe it gets better after the first half. But I didn't want to stick around to find out. There was even supposed to be an alien invasion but the story was so slow that there wasn't even a hint of it up to halfway through.


The Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman
Premise: Violet's husband disappears just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He gives no clue as to why he left or where he's going and the only person who may know is Violet's daughter Ella, but she' not saying a word.  As the war in the Pacific escalates, more and more soldiers come to their small Hawaiian town. As a way to make ends meet, Violet and her friends start to make pies to sell to the soldiers.

If you've read any of my past book blogs you may have noticed that I'm taking part in the 2019 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge. I have since completed the challenge but my final prompt was "read a book with sweet, salty, bitter, or spicy in the title." I was having a hard time with it. I stumbled upon this book while enjoying a free trial for Scribd, an app that has ebooks and audio books. I gave this book the "old college try," but just couldn't get into it. I just didn't find it interesting even though it seems like a book right up my alley. A slice of life book set during WWII and involves Japanese people and culture. But I found that I just couldn't wait to put this book down.

In true Billiam fashion, I've decided to post my Quarterly TBR partway into the first month. In my defense for my recent lack of posting and delayed Quarterly TBR, life is chaotic right now as I'm still going to work amid Covid-19 and, on a more positive note, I've been playing a lot of Animal Crossing New Horizons. As I'm not a huge planner, I plan on reading way  more books that are on this list, but I like to keep my TBR a bit open and only lock a few books into stone. So let's not waste anymore time and jump right into what I plan on reading this quarter.



Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Premise: Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet. So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. (From Goodreads).

This is a book that my wife has been trying to get me to read for a while now. I'm not just being stubborn. There was usually some reading challenge I had to complete or library loan (digital) that I had to finish before it went away, but I decided that this quarter will be my last stand. I will finally sit down to read this book that she's been suggesting for a while now. 




NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
Premise: Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.” Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son. (From Goodreads but edited)

I've read a lot of Stephen King. I read the book Stephen King wrote with his son Owen. I've read Joe Hill's comics, but I've never read an actual Joe Hill novel. King's pseudonym loving son has been around a while now and has a few well loved novels. There was even a NOS4A2 show that started last year but I still have never picked up a Joe Hill book. That stops this quarter.




The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana
Premise: The evil Emperor Sikander comes to the land of Shalingar and Princess Amrita has offered herself as a bride in order to save her people. But it isn't enough. She flees in the night with an oracle named Thala, who was kept as a slave by Sikander. Amrita wants to warn and help her people, but Thala thinks they should go search for the fabled Library of All Things, where they can find the power to change their fates and stop Sikander.

This book was a random buy.After watching a Book Outlet haul from Books with Emily Fox, I decided to make some Book Outlet purchases myself. The books were so cheap, and shipping was free if you spend over a certain amount, so I bough a lot of books that I had never heard of. This was one of those books. I'm thankful for sites like Book Outlet and Book Depository because it helps me find books that otherwise would have slipped past me.


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Premise: Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it. Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

My wife and I have a series of prompts we came up with and each month with pick one out of a bowl. Each prompt has a book that comes with it that we chose for the other. We each get one veto if we're just not in the mood. However this month's prompt was "A book that the other can't veto." This is the book that Anne picked for me, so I have to read this no matter what. I picked To Kill A Mocking Bird for her.



The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
Premise: In this captivating narrative (enlivened with more than seventy original illustrations and photographs), Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field—naming fifteen new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork—masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy. Captivating and revelatory, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a book for the ages.

Like most children, I went through a huge dinosaur phase. Like a lot of adults, I still love dinosaurs. I mean, come on! Who doesn't? This book is still daunting to me as it's 349 pages of dense non-fiction. I may be interested, but even an interesting non-fiction book isn't as gripping as a fictional tale. Thanks to this very blog, I learned that my favorite dinosaur isn't a dinosaur after all. Quetzalcoatlus is a Pterosaur, which isn't technically a dinosaur. So I'll have to go with the good old T-Rex for now.




Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Premise: The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare. Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

This wasn't originally on my Quarterly TBR, but Anne and I like to buy books for each other for special occasions and it was recently our 2nd wedding anniversary so we did the book thing and this is what she got me. She knows me so well that I trust her taste for me... that and Books with Emily Fox highly rated it and we both trust Emily.


The Dark Legacy of Shannara: Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks
Premise: Tumultuous times are upon the world now known as the Four Lands. Users of magic are in conflict with proponents of science. The dwindling Druid order is threatened with extinction. A sinister politician has used treachery and murder to rise as prime minister of the mighty Federation. Meanwhile, poring through a long-forgotten diary, the young Druid Aphenglow Elessedil has stumbled upon the secret account of an Elven girl’s heartbreak and the shocking truth about the vanished Elfstones, which once warded the lands and kept evil at bay. But never has a little knowledge been so very dangerous—as Aphenglow quickly learns when she’s set upon by assassins. Yet there can be no turning back from the road to which fate has steered her. Whoever captures the Elfstones and their untold powers will surely hold the advantage in the devastating clash to come.

Terry Brooks's Shannara series was the first ever high fantasy series I ever read. I dove headfirst into it and quickly caught up to where the series was and then read them each year they came out. That was until this book came out. For some reason I could never finish it. I'd start it, then something else came out that interested me more, or some game came out that took up my time and I lost my place. But for one reason or another, I never finished this book. Now the Shannara series is coming to an end and I find myself woefully behind. Can I catch up before the final book is released? Probably not. But I'll try.


The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Premise: On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money. Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.

I'm fairly new to the thriller genre. Like most of my new book ventures, Anne introduced me to it. I've read a Ruth Ware book before and quite enjoyed it and she put this one on my TBR for me, so I decided that this quarter I'll pick it up. The good thing is, since I'm so new to the genre, I'm surprised by everything... unlike Anne who now guesses the ending of most thrillers she reads before the halfway mark. I'm still untainted by experience and time.



Paper Girls volumes 4-6 by Brian K Vaughan
Premise: It's the early morning after Halloween and 4 newspaper delivery girls are out on the job. In the wee hours they find themselves in the middle of a huge and secret war that traverses time and space.

It was hard to write a premise for this one as I can't say much without spoiling what happens in the first three volumes. So I just gave a bare bones explanation. If you've ever read any comics by Brian K Vaughan, you'll know that beneath the surface is a truly unique and wild ride and I'm enjoying this one immensely.


So there's my quarterly TBR. I'll start getting better about monthly wrap ups so I can give recommendations or warnings as applicable. But for now just tell me, what do you plan on reading?

I know that a lot of people have already blogged and vlogged about Animal Crossing New Horizons and that I'm pretty late to the party but I wanted some time with the game. I wanted to make sure that my excitement and love of past Animal Crossing games weren't just clouding my judgment. So what did I think? My friends, we may have the best Animal Crossing game yet. But this blog isn't a review. What this is, is just me talking about some of the new things introduced in this new adventure as well as some tips that may help some of you who haven't had a lot of time to play recently.



First, I must be honest. I haven't played every AC game there is. I've played the first one back on the Gamecube, I played Animal Crossing New Leaf on the Nintendo 3DS, I played Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer, and finally the mobile game Animal Crossing Pocket Camp. I never played Wide World, City Folk, or Amiibo Festival. With that in mind, I still think I have enough experience with the series as a whole to give a reliable review. Want to add me as a friend for either New Horizons or Pocket Camp? Just comment and we can swap friend codes.

If you've ever played an Animal Crossing game before then you'll know just what to expect. The characters will be familiar, paying back Tom Nook will be familiar, and collecting bugs, fish, fossils, and furniture will be familiar. There are a few new aspects which makes this game fresh while allowing it to stick to it's roots which made it so popular. The first notable thing that's different in this game is the crafting element. You have to craft quite a bit, everything from the tools you use (which will break after a certain amount of use) and key pieces of furniture which can be used by you or to help an animal decorate their house before they even move in.

There are new goals in the game which provide you with “Nook Miles” upon completion. Everything ranging from collecting supplies to having a balloon present fall into the water. You can use these miles to buy things from Tom Nook. Some goals are obvious while others are hidden and are only revealed once you complete it. That was the only upside to my misjudging where a balloon present would land and loosing it to the water. Speaking of those presents, unlike New Leaf, the balloon presents have all kinds of furniture in them instead of only balloon themed furniture.



If you remember the island from New Leaf, New Horizons has something similar but each time you visit an island it's a randomly generated one. It could be just like your island and provide the same supplies, or it could be a unique island like one that's full of money rocks or covered in tarantulas (which not only would make Blather's cry, but can be sold for quite a bit).

        Isabelle, Blathers, and the Able sisters have to be earned before they come to your island. Isabelle will only come when Resident Services is upgraded from a tent to a building. Blathers will arrive after you give Tom Nook 5 new fish or bugs and then you must pick the site that the museum will go. Mable Able will show up after you unlock the museum and Nook's Cranny. She'll have a pop up store and once you spend enough bells there, you can help her build the tailor shop. I've heard that ReTail's Reese and Cyrus will be included in the game but I don't know how to unlock them yet. Nintendo Direct announced that Leif will unlock on Earth Day (April 22).




Here are some tips! You may already know this stuff and if so, yay! But maybe you'll learn something :)

Tip: Don't worry about hoarding Nook Miles. You'll get plenty of them. My initial concern was what would happen when I complete all the challenges, but even then there will be a constant stream of smaller repeating challenges to help you collect miles.

Tip: Try to visit an island once a day. It's not a big deal if you forget and miss a day, but the more you travel the higher your chances of finding one of the rare islands. So make sure you empty your pockets before you go, taking with you only what you need.

Tip: When you travel to different islands you may run into a random animal. You can invite them to move to your island. But don't worry if you've invited animals and they haven't come yet. They will, they'll remember your invite.

Tip: Don't be afraid to mess with your Switch's clock. I normally can only play at night after work, so I mess with the clock so I can experience morning and afternoon times. Also, it's worth it if you normally play during the day because sometimes at night you'll find a whisp (spirit/ghost) wandering around your island. Talk to them and you'll scare them and have to hunt down five pieces of their spirit. Do so and you'll get your choice of expensive furniture or furniture you're guaranteed not to have.



Tip: If you play Pocket Camp, go to the menu (the four grey boxes above “social”) and click on “My Nintendo.” You'll see one called “Animal Crossing: New Horizons with a cost of 0 points. If you accept it you'll get 50 leaf bucks for Pocket Camp and a code. If you enter the code in the Nintendo Shop on your Switch, you'll unlock Pocket Camp themed items that will be sold in Tom Nook's NookStop store.

Tip: Decorate outside too! Have fun. You find out early on that you can place things outside (especially if you're hoarding bugs and fish while you're waiting for the Museum). But it's easy to forget that you have free reign to decorate how you want. Set up a camp on the beach? Sure! Make an outdoor arcade? Of course!

Tip: If you see one of your island's animals in their house, visit them! They may be working at their DIY station and if they are, they'll give you a new DIY recipe.

Tip: Don't forget to search for all the daily things on your island:

Buried things: 4 buried fossils, 1 gold glowing patch (which contains bells but if you replant the money you find a money tree will bloom). As far as I can tell there are no pitfall seeds.

Laying Around: A DIY recipe in a bottle somewhere on your beaches.

In The Trees: 2 pieces of furniture, money.

Hitting Rocks: Money (remember to dig two holes behind you to avoid knock back but don't dig the holes so close that it takes away from the room around the rock.)

Timmy and Tommy's “Hot Item.” Sometimes it's something well worth the time to either hunt down or craft.

The new items in Timmy and Tommy's store and Tom Nooks NookStop store.

And finally any visiting animals like Sahara and Daisy Mae. I haven't seen him yet but I've heard that Crazy Redd is confirmed to return.



Tip: You may have already realized that eating fruit actually does something in this game. Be careful though, as one hit from a shovel after eating fruit will break the rocks and they take a few days to respawn. If you want to get rid of fruit you ate you can either uproot trees (and then replant them if you want to keep them) or, if you have one, sit on a toilet until the number reaches zero.

Tip: As you know from previous AC games, if you shake tress you run the risk of knocking down a wasps nest. Most of us veterans know that you should always hold a net when shaking trees but there should only be 3 to 4 nests a day. I won't promise that there will never be more or less than, but I've averaged 3 to 4 a day. Always shake a tree before hitting it with an ax because hitting it with an ax will cause wasp nests to fall too.

Tip: Use the stone ax to harvest wood. Only use the regular (or 3rd upgraded) ax if you want to chop the tree down. Burying an ax in the golden hole you found bells in won't turn it into a golden ax. For that you have to break 100 axes then you'll get the idea for the DIY recipe. (Thanks to Polygon for that one as I've yet to achieve this)

Are there any tips that you think I should have added? Let me know in the comments and I'll add your tip (and credit you of course)

I was originally going to do a post about my favorite audiobooks from 2019, but seeing as it's already February, I figured I'd change this one into an ongoing series where I give suggestions of audiobooks I loved. When I'm at work I spend about half the time in an office at a desk. I bought a set of Bluetooth ear buds so I keep one in as I work which allows me a lot of time each week to enjoy books from Audible, Libby, Overdrive, and other great services. So let us begin with my first ever Awesome Audiobooks!




The Land Series by Aleron Kong
Narrator: Nick Podehl
Premise: Richter was playing an MMORPG one day and completed what he thought was a hidden mission. Instead of loot, gold, or experience, he finds himself transported to a strange land. What's even stranger is that he finds the world is just like a video game. He has a character sheet, he can gain levels, he has abilities, but so does everyone else. What is new new world? Can Richter survive? Can he ever get home?

This is one of my favorite series of all time. I got the first book as the daily sale book on Audible and I'm so thankful I did. This was the first book I ever listened to that was narrated by Nick Podehl who quickly became my favorite narrator of all time. He's a true voice actor who has a different voice for every character and it helped me get immersed into the series. When I'm listening to The Land, Kong could leave out who said what line and I'd know just from Podehl's voice.

But there's a catch with this. This is from the new(ish) genre LitRPG, which I love but is also a very very specific genre. Last year the PopSugar Reading Challege had LitRPG as a prompt and boy did people bitch about it. Read something out of your comfort zone? Heaven forbid! This isn't like Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romance, or Thrillers which are very broad genres. This is a very unique and limiting genre. So if you don't think you can broaden your horizons and give it a shot, then don't even try.

But if you do want to give it a shot, I want to press the fact that this is a wonderfully written and enjoyable series that is up to 7 books at this point. So you're not jumping into a series that after two books you'll have to wait years for the next one.  Kong isn't like Patrick Rothfus, he can actually finish a book! So give this series a chance. It's a wonderfully fun and deep story with the best narrator in the world of audiobooks and there are enough books in the series to keep you entertained for months.



Sadie by Courtney Summers
Narrators: Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, Rebecca Soler, and Fred Berman.
Premise: Sadie has had a hard life. She grew up basically on her own, caring for her younger sister Mattie in a small town and tries her best to provide a life for her. When Mattie is found dead, Sadie's world crumbles. After the police are unable to find the killer, Sadie takes it upon herself to find the killer and starts her own investigation. Wes McCray is a radio host starting his own podcast about small town America. He hears Sadie's story and becomes obsessed with finding out who killed Mattie and what ever happened to Sadie. Can he help her before it's too late.

Sadie was the perfect book to get the audio treatment. The story is presented in two parts. The first is Sadie's side of things then we're presented with Wes's experience as told through his podcast. This audio book has a full cast and "reads" like an old radio drama, but not as campy. Not only is it a good story, but if you listen to a lot of audio books, it comes as a nice break. It's not presented in the classic fashion so it breaks up any possible monotony from back to back to back audiobooks.

The pacing of the story is quite impressive as we hear Sadie's story then we hear Wes's point of view as he's a week or two behind her (if I remember correctly). So you can see the effects of Sadie and her actions and the impact she left in her wake.

The ending kind of bothered me and I think it would have been a deal breaker if I didn't enjoy the story leading up to the conclusion. So just a warning if an ending can kill a book for you. I didn't hate the ending, I just found it lacking. Courtney Summer's conclusion was either lazy or attempted to be avant garde but fell into a tired trope instead. Either way I was left mildly cold, but the rest of the book was enjoyable enough to keep this on my list.



The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Premise: When you read this book you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement - a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing... (taken from Goodreads).

Earlier on in this very blog I told you that my favorite narrator was Nick Podehl, that was incorrect. He's tied for first place with Julia Whelan who may not do the insane amount of voices that Podehl does, but she has a very smooth and enjoyable cadence to her voice that made me hang on to every word she uttered. Each of her voices were unique and even her male voices were different. Let's be honest, for both men and women narrators, doing a voice of the opposite sex isn't the easiest thing. But she can do it (Podehl can too, but we're talking about Whelan here).

But enough about the narrator. What about the story? This is a solid thriller. I'm fairly new to the genre so maybe I'm not as well versed as others may be, but I didn't see the big twists coming. My wife, on the other hand, did see them coming, but still enjoyed the book which is why I feel that this is a good one to recommend. Both of us enjoyed this. One who guessed the twist and one who was blindsided by it. Hendricks and Pekkanen weave an intriguing story that was strong enough to hold up to my wife's superhuman ability to pick up on book twists. All of the characters avoided the standard genre tropes and in the end it was a gripping and enjoyable story.


I hope you enjoyed this first installment of Amazingly Awesome Audiobooks. Maybe this will catch on and we can call it Triple A like Guy Fieri's Triple D or Triple G.... maybe?

I hate “meh” books. I hate books that are only disappointing and not terrible. I’d rather hate a book. That way I can either DNF it or I can use my outwardly negative passion to speed through it to write a scathing review. But those books that aren’t bad enough to hate but not good enough to enjoy fall into this aggravating grey area. The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin is one of those books.



Let’s discuss the plot first. Michael Grace Martin, aka MG, is as nerdy as they come. She even works as a writer for her favorite comic book company, designs costumes, and has her hair dyed wacky colors! Oh snap! Her life takes a turn when she meets the handsome Detective Kildaire, a man on a case that hits close to home. A group of drug dealers were recently capture by a vigilante. The catch is that this case matches up perfectly with a classic comic book that MG knows well. Can she help the handsome detective solve his case? And are any of her ragtag group of friends involved in it all?

The plot is basic. We’ve seen books, movies, and TV shows about a criminal who takes inspiration from comics or some other media and the creator or some other nerdy expert is the only one who can solve the crime. It’s okay to have a plot similar to other books when you can set your work apart from those before it. Meghan Scott Molin couldn’t do that.

The plot was predictable in the worst way. Even when I didn’t see something coming, I still didn’t care. The suspect was innocent? Eh, whatever. Someone died? Oh shucks, I’ll send flowers. Nothing mattered in this book. Even things that were important to MG passed without any consequence. One big thing that she had been stressing about for about half the book came and went and it might as well have been spilled coffee. No one cared. One of the things that would help shape her future happened and it was forgettable to her and the reader.

Let's take a break and talk about the good. I liked the drag queens and the character of Lawrence. I wouldn't mind Lawrence getting his own book. I also liked the cop who didn't like MG. I forgot his name and at this point I can't be bothered to look it up, but anyone who hates MG is a friend of mine. I also liked the back story of the creator of the comic MG likes so much. It was interesting and could be a book on it's own.

The worst part on this painful journey was the constant bombardment of nerdy references. We get it, Meghan, MG is a nerd. Good job. It felt like every page had at least one reference and not even all of them were correct. Out of all the cons I’ve gone to, the comic stores and game stores I’ve shopped at, and all my nerdy friends, no one I’ve met has made as many references and jokes as MG. It got old. It got old real fast. I’d rather be friends with anyone from Big Bang Theory than MG and that show has terrible characters.

MG has made the list as one of my most disliked main characters. While I do understand the struggles of being a women in a historically male dominated niche (as best I can), I couldn’t get behind someone who was as judgmental and shallow as her. At one point she complained about the nerds at Comic-con seeing the equivalent of a pair of breasts with legs when they look at her but then she goes and objectifies Detective Kildaire the same way. I get that eye candy is called eye candy for a reason. Because it’s something easily accessible for the eyes to enjoy. But don’t stand on a soapbox and put yourself above others and then do the same things you judge them for.  MG also hated it when people put her in a box but she talked about types of nerds she hated, lumping them all in the same box too. She's a huge hypocrite. Part of the book was MG’s journey from angry hermit like nerd to less angry, friendlier nerd, but the two previously mentioned aspects of her were so distracting that I didn’t care.

When all is said and done the story isn’t bad. It may be basic. It may have been done before. And MG may be an insufferable character, but I’ve read worse. A lot worse (Seanan McGuire anyone?). But I’ve also read a lot better. Unless I get many MANY people telling me the second book is worth my time, I will forever leave MG and her ultra-nerd life behind me.

The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin gets a 4 out of 11

I had to wait to see this film. Star Wars "fans" drive me crazy. It seems like they auto-hate anything new and swear that the only good thing about Star Wars are the old movies and now defunct expanded universe. Even though I go into these films with more of an open mind than some of my nerdy friends, I consider The Last Jedi one of the worst of all 9 films. So was J.J. Abrams able to pick up the ball that Rian Johnson dropped? More importantly, was he able to give the saga a complete ending? Here's my review.



Let me start by saying Ewan McGregor was the best part of the prequel trilogy. In that same way, Adam Driver was the best part of this final trilogy. Adam Driver is one of the best actors of our time. I bring up this point because a big part of my enjoyment of this trilogy, was his story. So I was already going into this film expecting to like one part of it. I also was a big fan or Rey. Her story wasn't as developed as I would have liked, but she was interesting and brought something new to the Star Wars table.

Kylo Ren's story and the story of the resistance saved the new trilogy. I know I've mention disliking The Last Jedi already, but I have to bring it up one more time as it's because of that movie that the newer trilogy feels so disjointed. It seems like Abrams had his own story he was telling but Johnson popped up in the middle and effed it all up. I do like Johnson's other work. I've seen Knives Out, Looper, and The Brothers Bloom and they were all good. But I think something went wrong, it could be Johnson's fault, Abrams fault, or even Disney's fault, but the fact of the matter is the new trilogy is disjointed because of TLJ. But I truly believe that there was enough good in this film that the Skywalker Saga ended on a good note.




The old characters, Leia, Chewie, Lando, C-3PO, R2-D2 had good stories, but it was important to remember that it was no longer their tale. This was the tale of Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, and BB-8. I liked this new story and I'm glad it got the ending it did.

But let's pause and talk about the things I didn't like. I didn't like the fact that the Emperor came out of nowhere. It felt like Deus Ex Machina for the bad guys. Oh, you're about to lose? Here's the original big baddie! I would much rather have had hints dropped the whole time then a quick flashback montage showing everything we missed. But Snoke is dead, Kylo Ren is in charge, but guess what, he's not!

Also, it felt like the whole thing was rushed because Abrams had to fix or deal with everything that happened in The Last Jedi. I had just rewatched The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi before seeing this so I could tell there were huge pacing issues with the trilogy as a whole.



There, see! I can admit this wasn't a perfect film. None of the Star Wars films are. But you shouldn't watch these movies if you're looking for a perfect cinematic experience. You should watch these movies if you're looking for fun space fantasy with enjoyable characters, flashy sci-fi antics, and the classic story of good versus evil.

I liked this movie. And, as you can see, I can admit it's faults, but in the end I really enjoyed it. I feel sorry for those aholes who sit back and shit on the movie because it "ruined" their childhood. I feel sorry that they're so fragile. I feel sorry for any Star Wars hater because there's so much to love about all the movies, why spend so much time being a hateful nerd?

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker gets an 8 out of 11

If you’ve never heard the term “Oscar bait,” allow me to tell you about it. It’s actually quite straightforward. Oscar bait movies are movies that seem to be made just to rack up Oscar nominations. You may be thinking: “But Billiam, can’t a good, award winning movie just happen to be a good film?” Yes, my friend, yes they can, but Oscar bait movies are a special breed. Need an example? Here’s my review of Marriage Story.



To dive a bit more into what signifies Oscar bait films I'll say that they’re just films that seem like they’re trying too hard. They get a great cast with an emotional story that boarders on, or sometimes becomes, melodramatic. Films like The Revenant, The Theory of Everything, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Wrestler, and The King’s Speech are just a few examples. “But Billiam,” you may be saying “I love some of those films.” Of course you do. I do too. Oscar bait movies can be great or have good elements to it.

There’s been a lot of buzz around Marriage Story for its fantastic performances and it’s true. Scarlett Johansson has never been better. Seriously, I've never seen her this good before. Adam Driver was also amazing but that’s like saying Wayne Gretzky was good at hockey. He’s a legend, of course he he's good. This movie was well acted all around, but the problem isn’t with the acting.

Let’s talk about Laura Dern for a quick sec, ‘kay? I love Laura Dern. She’s in her renascence now. But getting awards for her performance in Marriage Story over her performance in Little Women boarders on criminal. She was good in Marriage Story. Really good. But she was better in Little Women.



So back to that problem I was talking about. This was a hard movie to watch because no one was likable. I know. I get it. Before anyone tries to tell me, “That’s the point. Divorce is when people are at their worst,” I get it. I know what Noah Bambauch was going for. I just never cared. Movies have to have someone to root for. Even movies about bad people, you need someone to root for. Either that or the “bad” characters need to pull you in so you can’t help but care what happens. Marriage Story didn’t have that.

It was so real, so plausible, so realistically negative, that there was nothing that made me care or want to care about anyone. Even their kid. I don’t care what happens to him, but I should. Divorce is a big deal for kids and I should have cared that the kid got some sort of stable life after it all, but either Baumbach’s writing or directing couldn’t do that.



Marriage Story is the perfect example of a movie with great acting, that doesn’t have any glaring errors in its presentation, but it still fell short. There are a plethora of people out there who don’t have the same issues with this movie that I do. They have no problem with a film that has no one to root for in it. They’re artsy types who flock to Oscar bait movies like animals to an oasis, and that’s okay. Good for them. Good for you if you’re one of them. But I’m not.

I found Marriage Story to be a film with some amazing performances in it that suffers from a lack of people to empathize with. I thought Johanssen, Driver, Dern, and even Alda and Liotta gave what could be the performances of their careers, but it’ll forever be buried in a movie with a forgettable plot that never again grace my television screen.

Marriage Story gets a 4.5 out of 11

I already did a blog post about the movies I'm most excited for this year and my wife had the good idea to talk about the films on the other side of the fence. Those that I have no interest in. Those I probably won't even give a second thought. So which films made the list? Read on and find out.



Birds of Prey: February 7

IMDB Premise: After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.

Let me just say this. I do like the Birds of Prey. I have some of the comics and have always enjoyed them more than even tales of the Justice League. But this film looks like it misses the mark so much that the chances of this being any good is slimmer than a drunk with vertigo would have a better chance of winning Ninja Warrior.

There's too much focus on Harley Quinn and it's all just misplaced fan service.  I like Margot Robbie. I think she does a great job of the character and really is the best person to play Joker's former partner. But the story for this movie comes across as too tryhard. I do want to see a Birds of Prey movie. Just not this one.

Early reviews are positive, but I don't trust critics, let alone when it comes to comic book movies.


Fantasy Island: February 14

IMDB Premise: The enigmatic Mr. Roarke, makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives.

I wish I was in the pitch meeting for this film so I could slap whoever pitched it in the face. What sort of idiot had this idea? “I know! Let's make a movie based on the campy 70's TV show but instead, make it a horror!” The fact that this clown basket didn't lose their job for even thinking of such a dumb idea, is ridiculous.

Each year there are one ore two stupid horrors that not only somehow get greenlit, but they also get a sizable release and it makes me scratch my  head.  This film looks like a mess and even though I like a few of the actors, I will still skip this.


Invisible Man: February 28

IMDB Premise:When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

I think we can all agree that Universal's Dark Universe was a bad idea, right? I mean, it could have been cool, but it never really had a chance. The Mummy was one of those movies that are bad, but entertaining. I saw it in theaters, I admit it, but it was also a Tom Cruise action flick, so why not give it a shot? This movie doesn't have the same appeal. I like Elizabeth Moss. I've liked her since West Wing. But this film just looks uninspired and half-assed.

I don't mind remakes or re-imaginings but something different or interesting has to be presenting to show why the movie was needed. This feels like a forgettable thriller that was "inspired by" The Invisible Man and would go straight to the discount dvd bin at Walmart.


Bloodshot: March 13

IMDB Premise: Ray Garrison, an elite soldier who was killed in battle, is brought back to life by an advanced technology that gives him the ability of super human strength and fast healing. With his new abilities, he goes after the man who killed his wife, or at least, who he believes killed his wife. He soon comes to learn that not everything he learns can be trusted. The true question his: Can he even trust himself?

Normally I like dumb action films. Especially ones with a sci-fi twist to it. But I watched the trailer for this and I just can't get behind it. I just couldn't bring myself to care. Vin Diesel is usually a pretty reliable action star. His movies may not be great, but they're fun. But this film looks like it misses the fun entirely and is just going to be bad with no flashy entertainment value to make it work anyone's time.


The New Mutants: April 3 (Ignore the poster's release date)

IMDB Premise: Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.

Come on. You knew this had to be on the list, right? This is the movie that was pushed back so much it might as well have been a scarecrow in a sumo match. It's also the final comic book movie from 20th Century Fox and they were woefully unreliable when it came to those films. Some of them were truly great while others were so bad I fell asleep in the theater. From the look of the trailer this film is going to be more of the latter and less of the former.


Trolls World Tour April 17

IMDB Premise: Poppy and Branch discover that they are but one of six different Troll tribes scattered over six different lands devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder. A member of hard-rock royalty, Queen Barb, aided by her father King Thrash, wants to destroy all other kinds of music to let rock reign supreme. With the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch, along with their friends, set out to visit all the other lands to unify the Trolls in harmony against Barb, who's looking to upstage them all.

Every year or so there's an animated movie that comes out that, instead of selling itself as a good film, focuses on the music in it. Trolls did this, The most recent movie to do this was Ugly Dolls and if you saw that trailer, you'll know what I'm talking about. A bit about the story and then they showboat their soundtrack. Trolls didn't interest me at all. There are better quality animated movies out there to spend my time watching. If you have kids, they might like this and that's perfectly fine. But there are too many movies out there for me to waste any time on some waste of time film.


Scoob: May 15

IMDB Premise: Scooby and the gang face their most challenging mystery ever: a plot to unleash the ghost dog Cerberus upon the world. As they race to stop this dogpocalypse, the gang discovers that Scooby has an epic destiny greater than anyone imagined.

I love Scooby-Doo. I really doo. But this film looks like utter horse shit. Who even asked for some sappy origin story that feels more cringy than cute? If it was you, I hate you. This looks stupid and I even enjoyed The New Scooby Doo Mysteries. That was the one that had Scrappy in EVERY EPISODE! And still I give zero shits about this.


Morbius: July 31

IMDB Premise: Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.

To be perfectly honest, I just don't give a shit about Morbius. The end.


Tom and Jerry: December 25

IMDB Premise: Jerry, a small mouse, lives within the walls of a large, New England country home where he's befriended the longtime owners, a loving elderly couple. Their unique, comedic friendship comes to an end after the elderly couple passes on and their house is put up for sale. When a young family moves in, Jerry's determined to scare them away from taking over his home. The family quickly adopts a stray cat, later named Tom, to help rid them of their pest problem. In an epic battle for the house, Tom & Jerry soon discover their growing adoration for the family and must work together to protect them from an outside threat. Through their teamwork, they both learn the ultimate value of family and friendship.

Let the past be. Let these old cartoons live in the hearts of those of us who enjoyed them when we were kids. There hasn't even been a trailer or teaser released for this film yet. The only reason this is on the list is because IMDB said it was coming out this year, of course they still claim there's an untitled DC film coming out in April, so we know that IMDB isn't always right.

If the timing of this review and my forthcoming Rise of Skywalker review is a sign of anything, it's that I don't exactly see movies with any sense of urgency. I want to make sure to see them, but I don't make a point of going to anything opening weekend. That being said my wife and I wanted a few weeks to see Little Women and the theater was still packed. I waited even longer to write a review because... well... I forgot that I didn't post this yet. Though it was half price day at our local movie viewing venue, it's still impressive that so many people turned out for a weeks old film. But did this 7th theatrical retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic book worth the hype? Here's my review.



I have to admit that I went into this film expecting to like it and that could have colored my overall enjoyment, but I had good sources that said it was good and frankly the trailers had done a wonderful job of getting me stoked to see Greta Gerwig's interpretation of the book. I must admit one more thing. I have yet to see Lady Bird. In my defense, the trailer made it look like utter artsy indie garbage, but after experiencing Gerwig's vision with Little Women, I'm curious to see how she did with a story I had no interest in.



But let's talk about Little Women. It was engrossing, it was endearing, and it was delightful. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen from beginning to end and by the end I felt like I knew Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth better than ever before. This old story was equal parts new and familiar. As you may know, Little Women is told across two major periods in the lives of the sisters and Gerwig's vision had to story jumping back and forth. Even though the movie jumped so much, it was easy to follow and the reasoning behind the timing of the jumps made a lot of sense. It never once altered the flow of the film.

The acting was mostly superb. I say mostly because Emma Watson is in it and she's more one note than the last post-it in a stack. She's more wooden than Huck Finn's raft and the fact that she was with some amazing actors didn't help much. Saoirse Ronan and Laura Dern stole the show. Florence Pugh made Amy into a relateable character and Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper served as backbones to their various parts of the film. Let's not forget Timothee Chalamet as the representation of growth from child to adult as Laurie learns to not be such a wiener. With such outstanding acting, Emma Watson's lackluster ability stuck out like Star Trek cosplayer at a Ren Faire.



Hermionie Granger aside, Little Women was a fantastic movie and it was something I'd recommend to anyone. Even if you've seen each and every version of Little Women, this one sets itself apart from the rest not only through it's acting but its pacing and rearranged story. I don't own any versions of Little Women yet, but this is the one I'll buy. I don't need any others.

Little Women gets an 11 out of 11

Okay, I'm a little late with this one but I thought I'd share my quarterly To Be Read list. I try not to have a TBR set in stone as my mood can change. I can have a book that's burning a hole through my TBR but then I finish my current book and suddenly the burning desire to pick up that book has dwindled and I go to something else instead. Also, this year I'm trying to read more manga as there are series I really want to finish, so I'm tossing a lot of those into my TBR list.

So when you read this, please keep in mind that these books could or could not be exactly what I read. I also plan on reading more than just these ten books in the three month period, but I like to give myself some wiggle room. So here we go.

Note; The word is pronounced mah*n*gah not main*gah. Come on gaijin, get it right.

The Books

Let's start with the book so anyone not interested in manga can move onto something else.



The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes

Tippy the Triceratops is a detective. He was also once the imaginary friend of a little girl. When the girl's father dies, Tippy finds himself in the Stillreal, the place where once beloved imaginary friends go when they're no longer needed. Tippy sets himself up as a detective and things go well, until one day when he stumbles upon something that shouldn't happen. Tippy stumbles across a nightmare who can kill an idea permanently, something that should never be able to happen.

This is one of the books I'm currently reading. It was my pick for my first book of the year. It seemed right up my alley but so far it's mediocre at it's best moments. Time will tell if it can save itself.

UPDATE: Since writing this post I have DNFd this book. I like the idea, I think it's very clever. But it's just so slow and hard to get through. Also there's a subplot of transgendered issues and acceptance that doesn't come across well. Tippy, at times, is too concerned about getting characters pronouns right that instead of being an example of how to act, it makes him seem like it's a joke, which it shouldn't be.



Calamity by Brandon Sanderson (Book 3 of The Reckoners)

I won't talk about the premise of this book since it contains huge spoilers for the first two books. Instead I'll move onto my thoughts. This is a book I had started near the end of last year but put it down temporarily in favor of my first book of the year. I loved the first two books in The Reckoners series and thought book two was better than the first. So I was hoping that the 3rd would be even better than the last. So far it's been just as good, but not better.



Family Outing: What Happened When I Found Out My Mother Was Gay by Troy Johnson

Troy Johnson was 8 when his mother was outed by her lover at the time and let's just say that the early 80's wasn't a time where people were very “woke.” This revelation affected Troy and shaped his early years. Now, as an adult, Troy is more aware and acknowledges that he handled the situation poorly. Despite it possibly reflecting poorly on him, he wrote this candid memoir where he admits to his negative thoughts and reactions to the whole thing.

I've picked this book up already and am questioning it. The Troy Johnson I'm familiar with now is a food blogger and friend of Guy Fieri. He's kind and funny and a joy to watch. The Troy who wrote this book may be the same person, but I get a different vibe from it and so far, I'm not liking it. I still think it's brave of him to admit what his adolescent self thought but his brash words in the book tend to put me off. We'll see if I can finish it.

UPDATE: This is another book I've tried and decided to DNF (for now). I like what Troy is trying to do. He's admitting that as a kid he wasn't very “woke” and is being honest about it. He's not parading it. He's not saying he's proud of it. He's being honest which takes balls in today's world of cancel culture. But it's just so cringy that I had trouble reading it.



On The Shoulders of Titans by Andrew Rowe (Arcane Ascension book 2)

This is the continuation of the story started in Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Just like with the Brandon Sanderson book, I'm not going to talk about the premise for this one as the first line of the official description is a spoiler for a big question in book 1.

Update: I have since finished this book and it was quite good. I'll write a review later.



Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer

It's been several months since the 2016 presidential election and “Uncle Joe” Biden is puttering around his house feeling lost and adrift in an America that doesn't make sense anymore. When his favorite Amtrak conductor dies in a suspicious accident, Joe feels a familiar desire to serve and leaps into the role of amateur sleuth with a little help from his old friend President Barack Obama. Together they'll dive deep into this investigation that takes them deep into the heart of America's opioid epidemic.

This book just sounds so fun and goofy. Obama and Biden had become so beloved by about half the country that it seems fitting that someone did the equivalent of political fanfiction.



The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (Hitchiker's Guide book 2)

Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons is a curious time to have a cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his curious comrades in arms as they hurtle through space powered by pure improbability and desperately in search of a place to eat.

I read the first book a while back and never continued with it. So I figured it was time to pick it back up. By putting this on my TBR I'm hoping that I won't need to reread the first one to remember what's going on.



Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

As the Empire reels from its critical defeats at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance, now a fledgling New Republic, presses its advantage by hunting down the enemy's scattered forces before they can regroup and retaliate. Hero piolet Wedge Antilles is trapped on a Star Destroyer high above Akiva, one of the last bastions for the Empire. Down below on the planet's surface, another rebel piolet, Norra Wexley has returned home to see her family, only to intercept Wedge's distress call. She realizes that her time as rebel isn't quite finished yet.

I've been on a Star Wars kick ever since I saw Rise of Skywalker and this was the first book released in the new canon. It's no longer the first as far as the timeline goes, but I figured it'd be a great place to start. Just like the old canon, the Star Wars stories jump around in time so it'd be a fool's errand to try and read them all in chronological order.



The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Goodreads Premise: When Carrie Fisher discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved. Plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naivete, and vulnerability that she barely recognized. Before passing, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon was indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford.

I'm actually ashamed it's taken me so long to pick this up. But now is the time.

The Manga

I want to read a lot more manga this year. I used to read a lot. I used to be a huge weeb. But those days are behind me. But even though I'm not a con going anime super nerd anymore, that doesn't mean I'm not interested. So 2020 is the year I want to "kind of" get back into it.



20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa

In 1969, a group of young boys build a secret base, and inside that base they come up with an idea. An idea to save the world. But to save the world they have to know how it's going to end, so they figure out the best way for a villain to try. It's now the 1990's and the boys are men with their own families and lives of their own. One of them, Kenji, finds a letter sent to him by one of his old group. A letter he sent before taking his life. The letter leads Kenji to believe his old buddy didn't kill himself and instead it's tied to a mysterious cult leader calling himself Friend. Friend and his cult use a symbol, a symbol Kenji and his group came up with as children. This cult starts implementing a plan to take over the world, a plan that's very familiar to Kenji. This mysterious “Friend” is one of his old crew. Who is it? And can Kenji save the world before Friend becomes too powerful?

Doesn't that sound awesome? At one point in my life I had almost finished this. What stopped me? I was reading this as it was coming out in Japan and caught up entirely. Instead of reading chapter by chapter as it was released by scanlators, I decided to wait until the whole final book was out to read it. The problem? It took so long that I forgot. Now I don't remember enough to pick up where I left off. So it's time to read the whole thing again.



Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Come on, you know what Naruto is about, right? You don't? Really? Okay, here we go with a BASIC premise. Naruto Uzumaki is a young ninja student rejected by his village for having a terrible demon sealed within him. Naruto must work harder than others to overcome his disadvantage in his dreams to become a Hokage, the leader of the village.

There's so much more to the manga (and anime) than that, but it's hard to say any more without some pretty substantial spoilers. This manga has about 700 chapters spread over 72 volumes, so I can only give the most basic premise.

I don't forsee myself finishing 20th Century Boys this quarter, but if I do, Naruto is my next manga. Just like with 20th Century Boys, I started reading (and watching) this when it was new and just fell behind and eventually gave up. I want to finish it. I want to know how it ended. I know a bit about it, like the couples that ended up together, but not much else.