2018 Year End Recap

This particular blog post, unlike the rest of its type, does not have the usual first part that documents what was supposedly published here on this blog in 2018, because I literally published nothing; I don't believe I even drafted anything. There are several reasons for this, and while to the (yet-to-be-confirmed) casual blog viewers here, I'm probably this really vague blob of something lmao (since there's hardly any personal info), I'ma share a little to give at least parts of the picture:

• Had to retire my iPhone 4S at some point after Feburary due to battery health. Not a fun thing to get used to, when the nature of syncing was no longer the same, and couldn't access my iTunes stuff because it's on an even older device that isn't worth upgrading. It was also because of this device-switch that prevented me from accessing my NetGalley ARCs via my phone. I used to be able to cram in some books over time as I commuted back and forth from home to school, and could no longer do so.
• My MacBook Pro had recurring issue since it was getting old.
• Walked my commencement ceremony on May 10. For most people like myself, we all still had classes! It was sad in a way that my parents flew all the way to attend, and we barely had time to spend together. When not in class, I was in the Mac Lab taking full advantage, since my device just couldn't handle the workload. That said, the environment there was helpful.
• You thought I'd be free after the semester ended? Nah, I walked first, and still had classes during Summer semester. Then my school did this rediculous thing, reducing Lab opening hours for Summer, making life hard. Had to borrow my sister's HP, which is even more ancient than my unstable MacBook Pro.
• One of my classes didn't work out, so I was still in school during Fall. Both my laptop and the HP refused to cooperate not long after the semester started. My laptop did die at one point, and I think the recovery was unable to retrieve my iBooks bookmarks, highlights etc. This likely further contributed to my hiatus here on this blog, because one of the books I read had enough material for [Food in Books] and the data was just all gone so.
• I know I was still taking advantage of the Lab at least on December 19, because that was the rare moment I actually posted something on my social media. I remember working to the very last day of the semester though. FYI, it wasn't just this blog, I was honestly quiet in 2018 on Facebook, too.
• Not to be misleading, I did have another hobbie that kept me entertained during this stressful year, I played Hogwarts Mystery.

This very post itself, is, unsurprisingly, actually published in 2021 and backdated. Looking back though, I'm glad everything adds up, as in, it really wasn't like I picked hobbies over my future. I'm able to recount the above because that really was the gist of my life in 2018. Might sound a bit depressing, but the important part is that it's over lol. I did successfully get my diploma, hehe. And that's like the biggest glimpse of myself I ever revealed here on this blog, other than the "About Moi" post, haha.

2018 Reading Challenge

Sammm has completed her goal of reading 10 books in 2018!

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80 of 80 (100%)

view books

Anyhow, here comes the second purpose of the post, muahaha. On Goodreads, there's the My Year in Books function they provided that give some statistics, [check out mine for 2018!] (My GR profile is set for GR Users only, so this one, you'd have to login in order to view.) There's also the Goodreads Year in Review, [read mine!] (no GR account required.) I only whipped up the latter after I finished putting together the one for 2019! Really wasn't kidding about being busy.

So what's different here is that I'm going to rank what I've read, but limited to series that concluded or standalones published in this year. The amount of books I've read published the same year made it enough for a fun ranking. Ladies and gents, drum roll....!

Note: First books of series represent said entire series. I know the cut-off was the final book, but I believe people are usually more familiar with the cover and title of first installments so.

1. 

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2. 

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3. 

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4. 

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5. 

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6. 

In case people don't feel like counting, there are 14 series and standalones in total. That said, there's at least 2 series that, as of 2021/4/12, I have yet to have time shelving. The list may eventually be updated. The reason why some have been stacked, is because, 1 per slot made the ranking list lengthy, which in itself isn't too big of a deal, however, I feel bad for the ones closer to the bottom. It really wasn't like "it's the second to the last place"; trust me, certain gaps are super huge. Since it's still not reflecting well enough, I figure grouping what I feel the similar amount of like, would make me feel less guilty, haha. There you have it!

What series concluded or standalone published in 2018 do you like the most? Feel free to share!

[Series Overview] Flame in the Mist duology - Renée Ahdieh

I started this series on: September 7, 2018
I finished this series on: September 8, 2018 (main series)
Cover editions here updated on: November 15, 2020
Written content here updated on: November 10, 2019

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts As I struggled to decide which book series to cover overviews for, it dawned to me that I'd never get started at this rate. It became clear to me that, it's rather unlikely for me to use this blog as my "main" reviewing spot since I have Goodreads for that, and chances of someone miraculously stumbling across this blog out of the countless ones out there, is just rather slim, therefore, I'd put up links to my GR reviews (in English,) and this post would be in Chinese for people who are curious about the series but either aren't comfortable with or just don't prefer reading in English. Please also note that, sometimes I don't have time to write actual reviews, HOWEVER, I do always put down thoughts when I document my reading status updates, so for GR desktop users, remember to scroll down if it appears to contain little, it'd be under the quotes I liked from that book (when applicable lol;) for mobile app users, remember to switch to "Reading Activity," which would not be the default as "Review" is.

Goodreads Choice Award：第一集入圍Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction（2017）

首要事：這不是retelling！這不是retelling！這不是retelling！

這部真的是被一堆閱讀能力有問題的人給害到了= = 不是第一次婊GR書籍頁面"GENRES"的顯示過失，但這就是一個很好的例子。我說閱讀能力有問題，是因為這部當時是主打"Mulan meets 47 Ronin"，這代表什麼？這是請大家想像如果把這兩項東西結合起來可能有的成果，啊結果一堆人就自己理解錯誤，自己在那邊爽說太棒了、木蘭的retelling！啊奇怪了，怎麼沒聽人喊是浪人47的retelling？因為就都不是啊！沒用腦，真的。我第一時間也是因為一堆有追蹤的人都在那邊加書櫃寫pre-review、散佈錯誤認知，所以有非常短暫的不以為然，想說，圈叉，你木蘭retelling設定什麼日本啦？基本上已經抱著要仇視的心情來看待（笑死）但讀了一下敘述就知道根本是另一回事。到現在，還是有很多人讀完後在說"這哪裡是木蘭的retelling了"... 啊本來就不是啊（鬼打牆）亞裔女扮男裝這個共通點不夠好嗎真是。真心認為，如果有人沒看這部但有加retelling這櫃，還請撤掉不要誤導更多人那樣。

The actual review is, as usual, WIP, but like I said above, getting the post out there first.

GR stats (linking default edition)	Editions I'm privy to
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]

Author: Unofficial:

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts The following section, basically a gallery of editions around the world with different book cover art, is largely inspired by treatments of fellow blogger Amethyst, who unfortunately hasn't done those types of blog posts for a while. Please DO NOT mistaken the following to be all existing editions; I'm only including completed sets with matching designs. All clickable images are linked to respective editions on GR; people, shelving correct editions ain't that hard. Highly recommend accurate shelving. =D

español | Spanish | 西班牙文

這次先列非原著語言不像上次Rebel of the Sands那樣；純粹是因為這版是唯一有有心沿用第一集封面風格來出第二集的啦！那隻iconic的鳥鳳凰當初可是被讚嘆的要死、說終於有不是人當封面的fantasy系列了；結果英美倆都在第二集時就變卦，實在很哭笑不得。（主要是很想哭啦，而且這還是我這麼一個不是此系列的fan的感想耶）（附帶一提，有出續集的其他語言，印尼版也是嘗試要配合原封面（不採用更新的圖源），但我覺得真的是西班牙這個看起來超一致所以囉）

British English | 英式英文

放英國版的因為美國後來又出新封面，但美國一度也是用這新設計啦，只是第一集有色差而已。嘛，我當初還覺得能安慰要買續作的人、想說起碼出版社也有重新推出配合的第一集新封面，但擺在一起看，我個人是覺得其實並沒有說搭到哪裡去啦（被揍）第二集的花幾乎融入了背景，並沒有第一集那樣的對比。就... 真的不是很好看= = 順便分享有趣事，繪製原版第一集那隻美美的鳥鳳凰的Francesca Resta^{[繪師官網]}，也負責了這版第二集那兩隻龍^{[繪師ArtStation文]}。個人覺得有點大器小用了可惜。

American English | 美式英文 （2019平裝）

結論就是：美國封面越改越糟。#SorryNotSorry（超認真）並不是說覺得醜，但就完全沒有特色啊囧>

Deutsch | German | 德文


فارسی | Persian | 波斯文

[Series Overview] Themis Files - Sylvain Neuvel

I started this series on: July 19, 2018
I finished this series on: July 22, 2018 (main series)
Cover editions here updated on: March 6, 2024
Written content here updated on: February 28, 2020

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts As I struggled to decide which book series to cover overviews for, it dawned to me that I'd never get started at this rate. It became clear to me that, it's rather unlikely for me to use this blog as my "main" reviewing spot since I have Goodreads for that, and chances of someone miraculously stumbling across this blog out of the countless ones out there, is just rather slim, therefore, I'd put up links to my GR reviews (in English,) and this post would be in Chinese for people who are curious about the series but either aren't comfortable with or just don't prefer reading in English. Please also note that, sometimes I don't have time to write actual reviews, HOWEVER, I do always put down thoughts when I document my reading status updates, so for GR desktop users, remember to scroll down if it appears to contain little, it'd be under the quotes I liked from that book (when applicable lol;) for mobile app users, remember to switch to "Reading Activity," which would not be the default as "Review" is.

Goodreads Choice Award：三集都入圍Science Fiction（2016、2017和2018）

第一集連出版都還沒確認前就於2014年10月宣布被Sony相中改編^[Deadline]、隔年不久又追加報上團隊^[Deadline]，可惜書實際出來後反而沒什麼下文了？

客觀中文簡介^{[博達著作權代理有限公司]}、出版社們趕快看一看去買（喂喂）。

這部我第三集從NetGalley上歡天喜地的拿到了ARC，在那之前當然就有耳聞這部作品，想說太好了我好幸運！但是翻了一下馬上察覺到這部會有點被掩埋的原因... 就... 呈現方式明顯無法媲美另一部以檔案構成的sci-fi三部曲Orz（好啦，明講，就是美編氣勢不如The Illuminae Files）所以，我只能呼籲讀者，如果有先讀過另外那部作品，請不要以為這部也有視覺上的饗宴。並沒有。長相非常的陽春。但內容很豐富！xDDDD

The actual review is, as usual, WIP, but like I said above, getting the post out there first.

GR stats (linking default edition)	Editions I'm privy to
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]

Author:
Series:

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts The following section, basically a gallery of editions around the world with different book cover art, is largely inspired by treatments of fellow blogger Amethyst, who unfortunately hasn't done those types of blog posts for a while. Please DO NOT mistaken the following to be all existing editions; I'm only including completed sets with matching designs. All clickable images are linked to respective editions on GR; people, shelving correct editions ain't that hard. Highly recommend accurate shelving. =D

目前可能可以期待再增加2款ww 如果西班牙文有出齊的話啦！感覺機率不太大就是了，時間有點久了？另一個沒放上來，對不起那是因為我個人真的很討厭立體示意圖Orz 如果GR頁面換成平面我就會放上來了！^{[简体中文Goodreads頁面1][2][3]}。

以下涵蓋7款，記得看全文以觀賞喔 >:3


American English | 美式英文


British English | 英式英文


Deutsch | German | 德文


magyar | Hungarian | 匈牙利文