Tag / Anna Kendrick

by jim

2016: The Year In Books

With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 31 books I read over the past year, even with last year and tied for my highest total ever, surpassing the 27 books I read back in 1992.  Of those 31, 9 were non-fiction and, of the 22 novels, only 5 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 4 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 8 were e-books.  I read over 11,000 pages, the most in 1 year since 1992 and my second straight year reaching the 9000 mark.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 12 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Doug Wilson
Jennie Garth
Emily Heckman
J.K. Rowling
Jen Kirkman
Jack Ketchum
John Dean
Judy Greer
Jenny Lawson
Gary Dell’Abate
Anna Kendrick
Emily V. Gordon

There were 3 authors I read multiple titles from during 2016, the ghost writer for Richard Castle, Jeffery Deaver, and J.K. Rowling.

Only 2 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacations in March, November, and December certainly helped pad their totals a tad bit.

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Autographed Books – Scrappy Little Nobody

scrappylittlenobodyMove over Bald Bryan!  Our penultimate look at the hardcover books I’ve gotten autographed over the years, Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick, replaces his Shrinkage as the most recent addition to my collection.  Kendrick’s memoir tells the tale of her rise from a Maine schoolgirl to a Broadway star to an Oscar-nominated actress.

The autograph was acquired last month when I bought the book and saw her do a Q&A about the book.  Sadly, the books were pre-signed and I didn’t get the chance to meet Ms. Kendrick, but it was autographed none-the-less.

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Book 24 (of 52) – Scrappy Little Nobody

Scrappy Little Nobody - Anna Kendrick

Scrappy Little Nobody – Anna Kendrick

I can’t say that I really planned on picking up Anna Kendrick’s new memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody, but a chance to hear her talk about it in person and get an autographed copy changed my mind.  And I’m glad it did.  Kendrick displays a healthy, self-deprecating sense of humor in telling the tale of her journey from Maine to Broadway and then to Hollywood.  She doesn’t take herself too seriously, which helps to make her relatable to those of us outside the industry and makes this one of the better celebrity memoirs I’ve read this year.

 

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An Evening With Anna Kendrick

annakLast night, I headed out to Naperville to pick up a signed book and a Q&A with Anna Kendrick for her new tome, Scrappy Little Nobody.  Greta Johnsen, co-host of the WBEZ’s Nerdette Podcast, was on hand to moderate the evening’s festivities, in which Kendrick charmed the audience with tales from the book and how to strive for success after “making it”.  The two went back and forth for about an hour, with Kendrick apologizing to Jesus for cursing in the church where the event took place.

This was my second experience with a signing run through Anderson’s Bookshop, and the first since Adam Carolla came to town in 2014.  Other than paying full retail for the book and a small screw up in ordering tickets which led to me buying the last ticket and attending alone, everything ran smoothly and was worth the effort of heading out to the western suburbs after work.  I’ll continue to keep an eye out to see if they have anyone else interesting coming through town.