I made a New Year’s resolutions in 2015 and 2016 to read more books and share what it is I have been reading.

Non-Fiction

Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown – Really interesting look at a kind of activity that we don’t think about much. Brown draw from a wide range of disciplines to make his case for the importance of play. “The opposite of play is not work; it is depression.” Even with that praise, I lost some interest about halfway through and decided to move onto another book. Still recommend it. 7.5/10

Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenburg – I finally read this book after hearing about it for a very long time. I like the model alot – observations, feelings, needs, requests. Rosenberg had been doing working in the field for so long that the book is filled with nothing but stories, similar style to Covey’s 7 Habits. Even if the title doesn’t feel right (I didn’t for me), consider giving it a shot. I plan to do a yearly read on the book from this point forward. 10/10

Graphics Novels

East of West Volume 2, Volume 3, and Volume 4 by Jonathan Hickman and Nicholas Dragotta- I continue to really enjoy this series. There are certainly well worn tropes in use but I can’t help but like this ride into the Apacolypse. 9/10

Lazarus Volume 4 by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark – The story pushes forward as House Caryle struggles with war on several fronts and Forever continues to save the day. 9/10

Ms Marvel Volume 4 by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona- Kamala dealing with an ex-boyfriend, family, the boy next door and parallel universes. Luckily, she is gets a little help from her namesake – Captain Marvel. Liking this series more and more. 9/10

Guardian of the Galaxy: Legacy Volume 1 by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning – This is the start of the 2008 run that served as the base material for the movie version. There are a few more members to the team in the comics series, but it shares the same challenges of pulling a group of misfits together toward a common goal. I’ll keep reading. 8/10

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics Volume 4 by Simon Oliver and Alberto Ponticelli – This collection closes out the series. This is one of those stories where you don’t 100% believe what the characters do at the end of the book. I am still a big fan of Oliver did with this series and the premise is so interesting.  This issue – 6.5/10 Overall: I recommend Volume 1 and 2 of FBP and stopping 9/10

Other Stuff

Oprah Winfrey presents BELIEF  – This seven part series originally broadcast last fall look at belief systems from all over the world. Oprah says she was inspired by the Planet Earth series and the photography in Belief is beautiful. The series is about struggle, faith and forgiveness. The stories inspire to differing degrees, but the real strength of the series is its creation of a mosaic of spirituality that show striking similarities, not decisive differences. 8/10 (and there is follow-up stories on the website)