What I Read: December 2017

It's such a great feeling to know I read so many cool books this year. I managed to round out the year by reading 44 books in December, putting my total for the year at 222. That's probably the most I've read in a year throughout my whole life. It was fun, but I definitely won't be reading as much next year. I'm going to be doing another post soon where I talk a little more about my favorites of 2017 and some interesting stats of what I read. Let's get into some of my favorites and disappointments for the month of December.

I finished 6 graphic novels of The Walking Dead like I've been doing for the past few months. The ones I finished in December were Volumes 18 through 23. I'm very happy to be almost done with them. I've enjoyed these last few ones more than the ones at the beginning of the series, since it's finally stuff I've never seen happen before.

The only two books I rated 5/5 stars this month were The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer and Matilda by Roald Dahl. The Chemist was so good and had me on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book. I liked most of the characters, and how the plot follows this secret agent type person that is on the run. It's one of my favorite reads of the year. Matilda was really neat, since I've seen the movies a few times as a kid. I thought it was a cute and fun story. I'm trying to read all of Roald Dahl's books in the new year.

Next up, these are some of the 4/5 star books I read. The one I just recently finished is Bonfire by Krysten Ritter. She's an actress in a few of my favorite TV shows, like Jessica Jones, and this was her debut novel. I really enjoyed it! It follows an environmental lawyer that is trying to uncover the truth of what is happening in her small hometown. There's a lot of twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. I hope she continues writing more books. I Can't Make This Up by Kevin Hart really surprised me. I didn't like Kevin Hart much before reading his memoir, but I've got a lot of newfound respect for him. He worked so hard to get where he is today, and I can respect that. It was funny and interesting to hear more about his life. I also enjoyed American Sniper by Chris Kyle. It's always cool for me to read about people in the military, as that's something I'll never join. The last one I'll mention here is Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. I knew nothing about Norse mythology before reading this book. I thought Gaiman did a good job putting together a knowledgeable and entertaining read. He's an author I'd like to read more of in 2018.

Moving onto 3 star books, I'm not going to go that in-depth with each one, as this post is already getting pretty long. I read World War Z by Max Brooks, which I thought lacked action. I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This one had a lot of potential, but I thought there was quite a bit of unnecessary info. My expectations were very high, so I think that was why I was ultimately disappointed with it. Artemis by Andy Weir was a fast-paced read, yet there were quite a few cringey moments. Some other ones I got to are Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley, and The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis.

Lastly, let's round this post out with my biggest disappointments that were 1 or 2 star books. I read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood with very high hopes, but ultimately found it very boring. The writing style was not my thing, and I hated the characters. I rated that 1/5 stars. I also read 1984 by George Orwell and was disappointed. It got 2/5 stars from me. I liked the concept, though I found the main character to be annoying and whiny. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was another 2 star read. My biggest problem with it was how much unnecessary information there was. It was the longest book I read this year, and it devoted so much time to things that didn't advance the plot. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson tried too hard in my opinion. I thought his advice was stupid. There are definitely more motivating self-help books out there. I gave that book 2/5 stars.

I'm going to end it here. I hope you've enjoyed all my reading posts this year. I'm going to have a 2017 wrap-up up soon where I'll be going over some of my stats and favorites of the year. This was by far my best reading month of 2017. Thanks for looking!

Recommended EDC Gear of 2017

Now that 2017 is almost over, it's time to talk about some of my favorite gear I've used this year. I've had the chance to try a decent amount of gear throughout 2017, so here's what I've really enjoyed carrying and using.

I'd say this was the year of Victorinox for me. I've found that I always reach for one of their knives on a regular basis. My most used tool this year was the Victorinox Classic (link to Amazon here). I think it has finally beaten my Spyderco Ladybug (link to Amazon here) out as my go-to tool. I still love my Ladybug, but I didn't find myself reaching for it that much this year. I've started using Victorinoxs in the kitchen a lot too. The Alox Pioneer (link to Amazon here) and Alox Bantam have come in very handy. I love the Bantam for chopping vegetables, since it's such a slim tool. The Pioneer is quickly impressing me as a multitool with its great toolset. I don't have many other multitools with an awl, so it's nice that the Pioneer has one. I would say I prefer the Pioneer over the Cadet. 

As far as other knives go, I've loved the Ontario Rat 1 and 2, and the Spyderco Cricket. The Rat 2 (link to Amazon here) is easily my best purchase and favorite knife of the year. The Rats are such smooth, quality knives that function great for EDC. The Rat 2 stays in my college backpack at all times, while the Rat 1 (link to Amazon here) goes in my hiking bag. I really regret not picking up a Rat earlier. I thought they were extremely overhyped, but boy was I wrong. The Cricket (link to Amazon here) is probably my favorite knife design I picked up and used this year. It looks so cool with the reverse S blade. I love the form factor and the slimness. 

Onto the last few things, my favorite light would have to be the new FourSevens Preon P1. I surprisingly think I'm starting to prefer it to the Classic Preon I loved for so long. I think that's mostly because I love having tailcaps on my EDC light. They're much more convenient and easy to use than a twisty light. I also started EDCing a headlamp this year, so that's been a favorite. This is one I picked up on Amazon for like $15 (linked here). I love the convenience and all the modes that it offers. I'm still loving my Case Logic camera pouch that I use to carry my EDC in. Lastly, I've got a newfound appreciation for my Pelican 1120 case this year (link to Amazon here), as I'm constantly traveling back and forth between my college and home. I brought all my gear to college this year, so having the Pelican with me has allowed me to easily transport all my gear.

That about wraps up my favorite gear I've tried this year. I highly recommend you pick up any of these things. I've really appreciated having them as part of my EDC this year. It'll be interesting to see what makes the list in 2018. Thanks for looking!

Some Of My Favorite Video Games

This is going to be a post about some of my favorite video games of all time. I'm going to mostly focus on PS4 with a 3DS game mixed in.

My favorite 3DS game would have to be Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I've played Animal Crossing on the GameCube as a kid all the time, and I fell in love with the DS and 3DS versions. It's such a fun game. It doesn't really have a true story, but it's one of those simulation games that's so addicting. You get to earn money, decorate your home, be the mayor of your town, etc. There's always something you can be doing. I picked up a Switch earlier this year and am hoping Nintendo has a version of Animal Crossing coming out for it soon. I've easily spent hundreds of hours playing it.

The PS4 is one of my newer console pickups. I got it for Black Friday a few years ago, but I don't seem to play it as much as my Nintendo consoles. I'm a bigger fan of handheld consoles, just because you can play them anywhere. I use the PS4 mostly for sports or shooting games. I'm a huge football fan, so I've played a lot of Madden 16 over the years. My favorite shooting game would have to be Mafia III. As the title suggests, it deals with the Italian mob where the main character is a Vietnam war vet. I love the graphics and the open-world. You can drive around in super cool cars and explore the city. I played Mafia II back on the PS3, which I do actually think is better than Mafia III. I do still enjoy Mafia III, because it's got a different vibe than Mafia II. I still need to work on finishing it, so hopefully I can do that over my winter break. My newest game that I can already tell will be a favorite is The Sims 4. I've been a huge Sims fan ever since I was a kid. I was beyond stoked when they announced they were bringing it to consoles. It's another life simulation game. It's hours upon hours of fun. Check out one of my previous posts with my first impressions if you're interested in hearing more about it. Stay tuned for some more video game posts in the future! Thanks for looking!

Guyot Designs SplashGuard Thoughts

I used to hate drinking out of the wide mouth Nalgenes. I'd always end up spilling water all over myself. I found out about this splash guard made by Guyot Designs and figured it was worth a try. It has solved all the problems I had with the wide mouth Nalgenes. If you're not going to read any further, definitely pick one up if you're not the biggest fan of the wide mouth Nalgene.

So this is basically just a silicone insert that you put in the mouth of a Nalgene. I'm not sure if this could fit in any other bottles. You can find them for less than $5, so it's not going to break the bank either. It's nothing fancy, but it works so well. Its sole purpose is to help restrict the flow of water, and it does extremely well at that.

I've been using it for a few months now, and I've had no problems. It's a BPA-free silicone that is very easy to clean and use. It holds well in the mouth of the water. I thought it might slip into the bottle, but it always stays firm. It doesn't get in the way of screwing the bottle open and closed. I love that they come in all sorts of different colors and designs. I like the little alien head on mine. Honestly that's about all there is to stay. I didn't know they were a thing at first, so hopefully this post at least helps expose you to them if you're like me and hate widemouth bottles. It's turned a bottle that I never thought I'd use into one that I use all the time. I highly recommend it for sure!