The Map Shop

Hello everyone, This is a slightly different blog post than what I normally do. Since it is the last Sunday of the year, I'd like to take the time to look back at everything I've read in 2018 and let you know what my plans are for the new year. So . . . 2018. At the beginning of the year, I decided I wanted to try to read at least 26 books. I forget how I came to this number but I think it had something to do with the fact I'd tried for 100 books the year before that and I'd only gotten about twenty or so read. According to Goodreads, I managed to read 48 books this year. Yay! That's 185% of my goal. I tried to push it all the way to 200% but then the holidays happened and I had to focus on making the Christmas presents for my family (I crochet everyone a present every year). For those of you who are interested, here's the list of books I read this year: Noragami volume 1 Noragami volume 2 Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature Tokyo Ghoul volume 2 Burn...

  #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. If you're interested in reading the works of emerging writers, please see the link at the end of this post. Blissful Land volume one is written by Ichimon Izumi and published by Kodansha Comics (2018). From what I can find, Izumi is a new manga artist and author with only two title (Blissful Land volumes one and two) credits. Little is known about the author.  I was given the opportunity to read a digital copy of Blissful Land volume one (thank you Kodansha Comics! Thank you NetGalley!). The opinions below are my own. Blissful Land takes place in 18 th century Tibet when Khang Zhipa, a thirteen-year-old doctor in training, arrives home to discover the bride his parents have arranged for him to marry. While the wedding is still a few months away, his bride—Moshi Rati—begins living with him and his family. She is not from their village and has learned their language but is still learning their local...

  #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. If you're interested in reading the works of emerging writers, please see the link at the end of this post. Illuminae is the first book in the Illuminae Files series. It is written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff and published by Ember in 2015. This is a Young Adult science fiction involving interplanetary travel, plagues, space zombies, and artificial intelligence. The entire story is compiled like a dossier for a governmental inquery so there are no chapters or traditional story narrations. This might deture some readers but anyone looking for a fast paced sci-fi, especially if you’re just starting in the genre, needs to read this book! The main characters are Kady Grant—a high school computer hacker—and her ex-boyfriend Ezra Mason—the high school jock. There are others who play varying roles of importance such as Dolan and Jimmy, both friends of Ezra, and Byron, Kady’s hacking teacher. The captain of t...

  #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. Anyone interested in reading the works of emerging writers please see the note at the end of the post.  My Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi and published   by Shueisha in 2014. Horikoshi is known for his series Omagadoki Dobutsuen and Barrage . He also assisted Yasuki Tanaka with Hitomi no Catoblepas and Kagijin .   My Hero Academia is rated T for teen for cartoon violence and peril and some language. Spoiler Alert!   Volume three picks up with All Might arriving at the training ground in the middle of the villain’s attack. He rescues Midoriya and his team before launching into his own fight with the villains. Unfortunately, the leader appears to know about All Might’s weakness and is using it to his advantage.   All Might is in danger and Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Kirishima step in to help him. Other heroes arrive in time to chase away the vi...

  #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. If anyone is interested in reading the works of emerging author's please see the links at the bottom of the page. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs was written in 2011 and published by Quirk Books. It is a Young Adult supernatural/paranormal fantasy book with a historical fiction twist. This is Rigg’s debut novel, utilizing odd antique photographs to create a mythological world where certain people have strange powers and monsters hunt them for their souls. This book was adapted directed by Tim Burton into a movie in 2016 staring Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, and Ella Purnell, to some mixed reviews. I picked this book up at my library in order to prepare for the fourth book—The Map of Days—released October 2 nd , 2018. My cousins had read this before the movie came out and told me to read it but it really didn’t seem like my thing so I put it off. I watched the movie and thought it ...