A while ago Candyce and I wrote a couple ‘Last Year I Was Reading’ posts. I really enjoy looking back at what I was reading before and it’s a nice way to be reminded of those books again. We discovered Last Year I Was Reading on Cozy with Books. This meme was originally created by Reading Maria and started off on Instagram! Let’s check out what this is all about and what I was reading last year!

What I (and you!) do is:

Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?

I am very happy I track all the books I read in a spreadsheet so it’s very easy to look back and see what I was reading at any point.

Last Year I Was Reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet . . .

As in all wars, life goes on. The Weasley twins expand their business. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate – and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, through Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it’s the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complete story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort – and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

 

I’m Currently Reading: The King’s Men

Neil Josten is out of time. He knew when he came to PSU he wouldn’t survive the year, but with his death right around the corner he’s got more reasons than ever to live.

Befriending the Foxes was inadvisable. Kissing one is unthinkable. Neil should know better than to get involved with anyone this close to the end, but Andrew’s never been the easiest person to walk away from. If they both say it doesn’t mean anything, maybe Neil won’t regret losing it, but the one person Neil can’t lie to is himself.

He’s got promises to keep and a team to get to championships if he can just outrun Riko a little longer, but Riko’s not the only monster in Neil’s life. The truth might get them all killed—or be Neil’s one shot at getting out of this alive.

 

Comparing the Books:

I thought it was quite funny both of these books are rereads and the last or almost the last in their respective series. While I want to reread books more often, I don’t do it that much but apparently March is a good month for me to do some rereads haha. I have been very busy and hardly reading but the All For the Game series managed to grab my attention and I have finally been reading again. Looking at last year, I’ll admit those Harry Potter audiobooks are looking pretty good and I might just go for them again haha.

While one is a fantasy book and the other an university sports story they do have some things in common. Both have the main character player a sport (and being very good at it) and they both have a terrifying and brutal villain. I also love love love the characters in both haha. Oh! And both sports are made up by the writer! So they’re more alike than you’d think up front ;).

Have you read both? Can you see the similarities? Or do you think they’re completely different? Let me know in the comments!