December 2016 Wrap-Up & Favorites

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Wow, it’s the end of the year! Or rather, beginning of a new year considering the time I post this wrap-up. December was okay. Writing this wrap-up, I realized that I only read comics/ graphic novels in December. I’m currently reading Roxanne Gay’s Difficult Women though, and I enjoy it so far. So here are the books/comics I read in December.

Books read in December

	Amazing Fantasy Vol. 2 #15 (★★)
	Amazing Fantasy is a collection of short stories by various writers and illustrators. Each story supposedly introduces new superheroes to the Marvel Universe. I read this comic solely because it was recommended to me as a prequel to the Planet Hulk storyline. As I stated before in my November Wrap-Up post, I am currently reading comics related to the Planet Hulk storyline. So I picked this comic. I … didn’t like it. I think the short stories in this comic are too short that I didn’t get enough from the characters introduced. I wasn’t excited for any of the characters. Most of the time, I was confused, but I managed to just go with the flow. The most disappointing thing is, I don’t even understand which part of this comic will contribute to the Planet Hulk storyline. Yeah, sadly I didn’t enjoy it.
	New Avengers: Illuminati #1 – Brian Michael Bendis (★★★.5)
	I was going to write a mini review to sum up my thoughts about this comic. But I ended up writing a full review. So I won’t talk about it much here. This comic is an introduction of the secret society Illuminati. It also serves as a prequel of Planet Hulk storyline and Civil War storyline. You don’t have to read this comic to understand those storylines. Well, for Planet Hulk, this comic is kind of necessary but not for the Civil War storyline. Nevertheless, it’s a nice tie-in to those two storylines.
	The Incredible Hulk: Prelude To Planet Hulk – Daniel Way (★★★)
	This comic is a ‘prelude’ to the Planet Hulk storyline. It opens with Bruce Banner living peacefully in Alaska, where hopefully he won’t cause disturbance and killing people. From Illuminati comic, even though Banner seems like he won’t cause problems (yet, again), I know that sooner or later he would be sent into space. He was sent to space under the guise that he would destroy ‘HYDRA’s satellite’. It’s implied that Hulk is the only one who could do that. The plan went smoothly until somehow the satellite absorbed Hulk’s gamma radiation. There’s a fight and panic ensued, but in the end, the plan worked. Since I’ve been reading Planet Hulk starts from its prequel, I’m excited for the main storyline. Reading this makes me even more excited for Planet Hulk. It was a fun read and the art of the Alaska issue is beautiful.
	The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Vol. 1 (★★★★)
	This book is so cute! In this book, there are mini stories which consist of two to four sentences. Each also has an illustration that goes along with the story. Reading this book is relaxing. I read it before I went to bed and it was calming. Even though some of the stories are a bit creepy, some are still cute though. Oh, I just love this cute book.
	Hulk: Planet Hulk – Greg Pak (★★★★)
	After all the built-up I finally read the Planet Hulk. I must say, it didn’t disappoint me. I enjoyed it very much. I was going to give a brief paragraph on my thoughts about this comic, but I ended up writing a full review. So there’s that.

Review Posts in December
Emerald Green – Kerstin Gier
In the Land of Broken Time – Max Evan & Maria Evan
Fantastic Four: The Life Fantastic - J. Michael Straczynski
New Avengers: Illuminati #1 - Brian Michael Bendis

Non-Review Posts in December
Top 10 New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2016
Top 5 Books You Want to Finally Read in 2017

December Favorites

Books

Planet Hulk
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Vol 1

TV shows

Hart of Dixie

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If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll notice that I love Gilmore Girls. After watching the revival, I feel the need to fill the void Gilmore Girls left. So I looked for another show, which has similarities to Gilmore Girls, and yes I’ve watched Bunheads. First of all, Hart of Dixie is set in a small town of Bluebell and the show is shot in the same studio lot as Gilmore Girls with the gazebo and all. Second, Bluebell has townies with their own quirks and not to mention the many town events occurring in Bluebell. Hart of Dixie is about Dr. Zoe Hart, played by Rachel Bilson, a New Yorker who strives to be a heart surgeon. Somehow, her life doesn’t go according to her plan and she ends up moving to a small town in Alabama named Bluebell. Of course it takes a while for her to fit in. She turns her life from a city girl to a southern girl. The show revolves around her life and the townies and all the shenanigans within it. The show was cancelled after four seasons, which is a shame because I enjoyed it. It’s one of those guilty pleasure shows. It’s fun to watch and the characters might be not all perfect and lovable. But they show developments throughout its entire run. The first season focused on Zoe trying to fit in the Bluebell community. If what I described about Hart of Dixie intrigued you, please try watching the show.

Miscellaneous

Here’s some of the tiny stories from The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories vol. 1 which I like:

The Sun is such a lonely star.
Whenever he comes out to see
his friends, they all disappear.

you can’t sleep?
me either.
let’s can’t sleep together.

There you have it, the final wrap-up for 2016. If I’m not too lazy (ha ha), I’ll post a wrap up for my 2016 reading challenges as well (which is not much). Anyway, I don’t celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or any holiday in December so nothing special really happened. I wish you had a great December though!