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justanorthernlight) wrote2023-12-31 02:50 am
justanorthernlight) wrote2023-12-31 02:50 am
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Extremely Belated Reading Wrap-Up: November 2023
Mindfulness In Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana (nonfiction) -
Basically a how-to guide for Buddhist-style vipassana/mindfulness meditation. I picked it up because I took a couple of meditation classes over the summer and was interested in going a bit deeper on my own. I'm not sure Buddhist-style meditation is the one for me but the book had a lot of helpful practical tips for how to go about letting go of conscious thought and emptying the mind, which guided meditation has never made clear to me.
Star Wars Volume 11: The Scourging of Shu-Torun (Star Wars (2015) #62-67 written by Kieron Gillen, art by Andrea Broccardo & Angel Unzueta) -
This is the climax of the story arc that began back in Volume 7: The Ashes of Jedha (which I read back in 2020/2021, before this volume went out of print in the physical edition for over a year and a half). Leia plots to destroy the Imperial mining facilities on Shu-Torun (and to get revenge on Queen Trios at the same time). To pull it off, she & the guys gathers together a crew of the various misfits they had teamed up with over the course of the previous issues, including a nervous slicer, a shapeshifting opera singer/actor, and the survivors of Saw's partisans led by Benthic Two-Tubes, who are looking for a slightly different kind of revenge of their own.
It's a good volume, I really like Gillen's handling of the canon characters and some of the weirder characters he creates himself (like the cult of the Central Isotpter). It's a pretty Leia-centric story, and without going into too much detail it has her showing a bit of her Anakin side, which we don't get to see much.
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays On A Human-Centered Planet by John Green (nonfiction) -
John Green reviews everything from the Lasceaux Cave Paintings, to Diet Dr Pepper, to the act of Googling Strangers on a 5 star scale. It's very heartfelt and I liked them a lot, but I read them very slowly, 2-3 at a time in between other books because he does tend to get a little naval-gaze-y at times.
As a taste, John just made his annual repost of his review of Auld Lang Syne on youtube again. It's one that made me cry.
Star Wars Volume 12: Rebels And Rogues (Star Wars (2015) #68-72 written by Greg Pak, art by Phil Noto) & Star Wars Volume 13: Rogues And Rebels (Star Wars (2015) #73-75 written by Greg Pak, art by Phil Noto, & Star Wars: Empire Ascendant, a multi-author anthology issue) -
In the final arc of the 2015 Star Wars run, General Rieekan sends the gang on a 3-pronged mission to distract the Empire from the Rebellion's attempt to set up their new base on Hoth. Han & Leia are sent to provoke a fight between the Empire and a crime syndicate controlling the world of Lanz Carpo, where an ex-boyfriend of Leia's has also become the head of local law enforcement, Chewie & Threepio set a trap for Imperial Star Destroyers on a tectonically-unstable world that is supposed to be devoid of life, and Luke tries to lure some Imperial probes away from a small rebel cell in the inner rim. Predictably, all three of these missions go wrong.
While I liked the Threepio & Chewie plot, I felt like the other two missed the mark from a characterization standpoint. In particular, Luke's naivete was way overplayed- on his adventure he meets a girl from Jedha who was a very limited Force connection and he becomes convinced that the Force brought him to her for her to ~teach him something~... and never gets the hint when she repeatedly tries to get rid of him and steal his lightsaber. It's just a complete flanderization of his character.
Empire Ascendant is 4 short stories about side-characters a variety of side characters from other comics: Poe's parents Kes & Shara on Hoth, Valence from Han Solo: Imperial Cadet being a bounty hunter, someone I haven't read about from the next Darth Vader run (also by Greg Pak), and the coda with Aphra's friends from the end of her series.
2023 Reading Goal Progress: 60 of 50 total books, 22 of 7 nonfiction. Finishing the 2015 Star Wars run was my last reading goal of the year, too, so yay that that's done!
Basically a how-to guide for Buddhist-style vipassana/mindfulness meditation. I picked it up because I took a couple of meditation classes over the summer and was interested in going a bit deeper on my own. I'm not sure Buddhist-style meditation is the one for me but the book had a lot of helpful practical tips for how to go about letting go of conscious thought and emptying the mind, which guided meditation has never made clear to me.
Star Wars Volume 11: The Scourging of Shu-Torun (Star Wars (2015) #62-67 written by Kieron Gillen, art by Andrea Broccardo & Angel Unzueta) -
This is the climax of the story arc that began back in Volume 7: The Ashes of Jedha (which I read back in 2020/2021, before this volume went out of print in the physical edition for over a year and a half). Leia plots to destroy the Imperial mining facilities on Shu-Torun (and to get revenge on Queen Trios at the same time). To pull it off, she & the guys gathers together a crew of the various misfits they had teamed up with over the course of the previous issues, including a nervous slicer, a shapeshifting opera singer/actor, and the survivors of Saw's partisans led by Benthic Two-Tubes, who are looking for a slightly different kind of revenge of their own.
It's a good volume, I really like Gillen's handling of the canon characters and some of the weirder characters he creates himself (like the cult of the Central Isotpter). It's a pretty Leia-centric story, and without going into too much detail it has her showing a bit of her Anakin side, which we don't get to see much.
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays On A Human-Centered Planet by John Green (nonfiction) -
John Green reviews everything from the Lasceaux Cave Paintings, to Diet Dr Pepper, to the act of Googling Strangers on a 5 star scale. It's very heartfelt and I liked them a lot, but I read them very slowly, 2-3 at a time in between other books because he does tend to get a little naval-gaze-y at times.
As a taste, John just made his annual repost of his review of Auld Lang Syne on youtube again. It's one that made me cry.
Star Wars Volume 12: Rebels And Rogues (Star Wars (2015) #68-72 written by Greg Pak, art by Phil Noto) & Star Wars Volume 13: Rogues And Rebels (Star Wars (2015) #73-75 written by Greg Pak, art by Phil Noto, & Star Wars: Empire Ascendant, a multi-author anthology issue) -
In the final arc of the 2015 Star Wars run, General Rieekan sends the gang on a 3-pronged mission to distract the Empire from the Rebellion's attempt to set up their new base on Hoth. Han & Leia are sent to provoke a fight between the Empire and a crime syndicate controlling the world of Lanz Carpo, where an ex-boyfriend of Leia's has also become the head of local law enforcement, Chewie & Threepio set a trap for Imperial Star Destroyers on a tectonically-unstable world that is supposed to be devoid of life, and Luke tries to lure some Imperial probes away from a small rebel cell in the inner rim. Predictably, all three of these missions go wrong.
While I liked the Threepio & Chewie plot, I felt like the other two missed the mark from a characterization standpoint. In particular, Luke's naivete was way overplayed- on his adventure he meets a girl from Jedha who was a very limited Force connection and he becomes convinced that the Force brought him to her for her to ~teach him something~... and never gets the hint when she repeatedly tries to get rid of him and steal his lightsaber. It's just a complete flanderization of his character.
Empire Ascendant is 4 short stories about side-characters a variety of side characters from other comics: Poe's parents Kes & Shara on Hoth, Valence from Han Solo: Imperial Cadet being a bounty hunter, someone I haven't read about from the next Darth Vader run (also by Greg Pak), and the coda with Aphra's friends from the end of her series.
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2023 Reading Goal Progress: 60 of 50 total books, 22 of 7 nonfiction. Finishing the 2015 Star Wars run was my last reading goal of the year, too, so yay that that's done!