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Seeing as my final total of books in 2013 was 52, that will be the initial number of books for 2014. I've also finished my first book for 2014. #1: Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell. Yeah, I know I started reading it at the end of last year. I finished it this year, so it counts. (Not sure if I will read any GRRM this year).
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Jan 2, 2014 02:48
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Quick update: #2: Fighting on the Home Front: The Legacy of Women in World War One - Kate Adie. #3: Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History - Robert Hughes. #4: Wake - Elizabeth Knox. #5: When We Wake - Karen Healey.
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Jan 12, 2014 02:01
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More books: #6: You're Mine Now - Hans Koppel. #7: The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created A New Mythology - Tom Shippey. #8: The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut. #9: Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell. Currently reading: And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life - Charles J. Shields.
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Jan 19, 2014 22:42
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Just got back from my summer holiday (Southern hemisphere, yo), and I've read a few books. The first four were read prior to going on holiday. #10: And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life - Charles J. Shields. #11: You Don't Know Me But You Don't Like Me: Phish, Insane Clown Posse, and My Misadventures with Two of Music's Most Maligned Tribes - Nathan Rabin. #12: The Conquest of Gaul - Julius Caesar. #13: What Fresh Lunacy Is This? The Authorized Biography of Oliver Reed - Robert Sellers. #14: Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops - Ken Mandelbaum. #15: Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life - Stephanie Staal. #16: Best Books of 2013: Reader's Guide - Amazon Book Editors. #17: Terms of Enlistment - Marko Kloos. #18: Lines of Departure - Marko Kloos. #19: On Such A Full Sea - Chang-Rae Lee. #20: Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea - Barbara Demick. #21: Life After Life - Kate Atkinson. #22: Feed - Mira Grant. #23: High Sobriety: My Year Without Booze - Jill Stark. #24: I Just Want To Pee Alone: A Collection of Humorous Essays by Kick-rear end Mom Bloggers - Stacey Hatton. (Not a mother, just thought this looked like it might be interesting). Currently reading: The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt. OK, so some of these books were pretty darn short, and most of them were on Kindle. I didn't do a whole lot other than sit around and read.
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Feb 12, 2014 05:38
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OK, if I have to say things about the books as well as listing them, I'll do that, but only for the ones I actually have comments about. #25: The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt: I'd been meaning to read this since last year, but its size made me leave it until summer. I've also read The Secret History, and while I liked that book a lot, I think this book is even better. I think someone somewhere in the Book Barn said something negative about the ending, and I think that person had a point, in that the ending is a bit inconclusive. Didn't stop me from giving it five points on Goodreads. IDK if that counts as a spoiler, but better safe than sorry. #26 & #27: Deadline and Blackout - Mira Grant: The second and third books in the Newsflesh series. Not quite as good as the first book, Feed, but I enjoyed them a fair bit. The third book had the return of the first book's protagonist, but at least Mira Grant set up said return well in advance, so it didn't feel like a cop-out. #28: A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent - Marie Brennan: This book is a fictional account of the first part of the aforementioned protagonist's life (so the title may be a little bit misleading). The book is focused more on the science of dragons rather than battles or whatever, so people expecting pulse-pounding action may be disappointed. #29: The Interestings - Meg Wolitzer. #30: Boot Camp - Todd Strasser: The story of some kid who gets sent to a Tranquility Bay-style correction camp for wayward teens. Didn't really learn anything new, but the book itself was OK. #31: The People In The Trees - Hanya Yanagihara: A book about a scientist travelling to a remote Pacific Island country and finding a society of people whose habit of eating meat from a specific species of indigenous turtle makes them long-lived but eventually senile. (OK, that's a rather potted description, but it's the best I can do). If you have trouble with child rape, there is that in the book. It only happens twice and it isn't overly graphic, but it's there. I still gave the book a good score on Goodreads due to the good writing, but I can see why they didn't advertise its existence. #32: Ido in Autismland: Climbing Out of Autism's Silent Prison - Ido Kedar: The book was written by a non-verbal autistic boy about getting people to stop assuming that he was stupid as well as unable to speak and his life in general. It got a bit repetitive at times, but it was interesting to read a book from the perspective of a non-verbal autistic kid. Currently reading: Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie. (Kindle) Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your rear end - Meg Medina. (Print)
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Mar 6, 2014 04:12
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Updating March to May: #33: Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your rear end - Meg Medina: The main reason I read this book was to see if there was anything about this book to merit controversy besides the word 'rear end' in the title. There was not. I still can't believe there are people so sheltered they think 'rear end' is a word that merits making a complete you-know-what of themselves. I'm not sure if that's more or less stupid than getting upset because of the land "Middle Zealand" in the Lego Movie. (For the record: that happened. Way to embarrass us way more than any jokes ever could). The book itself is OK, and a nice quick read. #34: The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah' - Alan Light: It's about the song by Leonard Cohen and why it became so darn popular. I like Leonard Cohen's music, but I'm not a big fan of 'Hallelujah', and the massive over-covering has certainly contributed to that. That said, it is an interesting song, and the book talks about other people who have covered it (such as Jeff Buckley, obviously). #35: The Gospel of Loki - M. Joanne Harris: Ask me about Norse mythology. I know way too much about it. #36: The Flame Throwers - Rachel Kushner: This was one of those books everyone and their book-reading dog was losing their poo poo about last year (it was on a lot of best-of-2013 book lists). I thought it was OK. Not really sure what else to say about it. #37: Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie: This was one of the books nominated for the Hugo Awards. While it was decent (and certainly better than some of the Hugo nominees), it wasn't the best thing ever. It definitely took a while to get going, and it was a bit confusing at the beginning, but once I got an idea of where the book was headed, I ended up enjoying it. There's a sequel out, but I'm not sure if I'll read it anytime soon. #38: The Flame Alphabet - Ben Marcus: The premise of the book is that children's speech becomes lethal. The premise is probably more interesting than the book itself. Another book that's hard to talk about. #39: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke: I'd heard about this book for a while, and wasn't sure about reading it because of the writing style. I am an idiot. I tore through this book (which is 800+ pages) in just over a week. I've read longer books, but few that were as much fun. If you haven't read it yet, do so. I read it on Kindle, which is a good idea for big books in general. #40: So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned A Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life - Jacob Slichter: I first encountered the band Semisonic the way the vast majority of people did - through 'Closing Time', their sole hit from the late '90s. I first heard said song around the same time as it was popular, and I utterly love it. I think it's one of the best rock hits of the '90s. I first heard about this book through Todd In The Shadows' One Hit Wonderland episode on this song (spoiler alert: he's a much bigger Semisonic fan than I am). In case you haven't figured it out, Jacob Slichter used to be the drummer of Semisonic. The book in question is pretty good, if a touch depressing in the politics of the music industry. In a fair world, this band would be known for more than one song. When you consider their rock contemporaries, it's even more heartbreaking. (Looking at you, Limp Bizkit. Ugh). #41: A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee's Guide to Saving the World - Rachel Cantor: This book is OK, if a touch too quirky for its own good. Like 'Ancillary Justice', this book didn't grab me from the beginning, but I liked it. The combination of philosophy and food was interesting. #42: Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed The World - David Maraniss: The Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the titular Olympics and the changing times. Although the most focus was placed on the USA athletes (and with good reason - there were some interesting stories, such as Wilma Rudolph and Cassius Clay, a.k.a the future Muhammad Ali), there was some mention of the New Zealand Olympic team (such as the gold medalists Peter Snell and Murray Halberg). The marathon was especially interesting: the guy who won that event was Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia. If you know anything about Italian colonial history, you will know that Italy took over Ethiopia in the 1930s until the end of World War II, fewer than twenty years prior to 1960. It must have been incredibly satisfying for the Ethiopians to win a gold medal in Italy. The bronze medalist was another Kiwi, Barry Magee. #43: Tropic of Serpents - Marie Brennan: The sequel to A Natural History of Dragons. Not quite as good as the first one, but still decent. In comparison to the first book, there was more politics and anthropology, and it takes place in Not-Africa as opposed to Not-Russia. If you liked ANHOD, give this one a go. #44: The Bear - Claire Cameron: A book about a kid camping in the woods with her family, her parents get eaten and she has to survive with her little brother. It was OK. I thought the book-from-a-little-kid's-POV thing was done better in Emily Donoghue's 'Room'. #45: Composer to Composer: Conversations about Contemporary Music - Andrew Ford: A bunch of interviews with a variety of composers (some of whom are now deceased). On the whole, reasonably interesting. Currently reading: Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century - Paul Kildea.
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May 13, 2014 07:34
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Hey guys, I know I haven't updated my reading list in a long time. I have been reading books, I just haven't been talking about them here. I'll list them all, and then put relevant comments at the bottom. #46: The Golem and the Djinni - Helene Wecker. #47: Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century - Paul Kildea. #48: Shapely Ankle Preferr’d: A History of the Lonely Hearts Ad 1695-2010 – Francesca Beauman #49: Tooth and Claw - Jo Walton. #50: The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family – Josh Hanagarne #51: How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain’s Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate – Wendy Moore At this point, I reached my original goal of 52 books, and decided to continue to 90. #52: The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach. #53: My Lunches with Orson - Henry Jaglom. #54: Stoner - John Williams. #55: The Undertaking - Audrey Magee. #56: Fingersmith - Sarah Waters. #57: Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir - Beth Ditto. #58: The Bees - Laline Paull. #59: The Winner's Curse - Marie Rutkoski. #60: Red Rising - Pierce Brown. #61: Orfeo - Richard Powers. #62: Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America - John Waters. #63: Four Sisters - Helen Rappaport. #64: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 - Edwin G. Burrows. #65: Play It Again: An Amateur Against the Impossible - Alan Rusbridger. #66: First Light - Linda Nagata. #67: Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War - R.M. Douglas. #68: Byzantium: The Early Centuries - John Julius Norwich. #69: Watching The English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour - Kate Fox. #70: Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy. #71: Tankborn - Karen Sandler. #72: 1913: The Year Before the Storm - Florian Illies. #73: The Postman - David Brin. #74: The Paying Guests - Sarah Waters. #75: Burial Rites - Hannah Kent. #76: Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb. #77: Seven Years in Tibet - Heinrich Harrer. #78: The Magician's Land - Lev Grossman. #79: Quiet Flows The Don - Mikhail Sholokhov. #80: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina - Misty Copeland. #81: Hild - Nicola Griffith. #82: Cyteen - C.J. Cherryh, #83: Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel. #84: James Joyce - Richard Ellmann. #85: The Mystery of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria's Rebellious Daughter - Lucinda Hawksley. #86: Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb. Comments: The Golem and the Djinni should have won the Nebula over Ancillary Justice - it was that much better. Tooth and Claw: Anthony Trollope + dragons? Turns out I like that kind of book. Will read actual AT books in the future. Both Sarah Waters books were great - Fingersmith slightly more so. Had a similar opinion of both Ancillary Justice and Red Rising: OK books, but mediocre. Could have read the one-book version of Norwich's histories of Byzantium, but I want all the details. The Postman was much better than the movie it's based on. (OK, so I haven't seen the movie. IDK if I should). The Magician's Land was probably the best book in the series. It's certainly the one where Quentin was the least whiny. Hild was another Nebula nominee that was better than Ancillary Justice. I haven't read A Stranger in Olondria yet, but I wouldn't bet against that being better than AJ. Cyteen was a great book. It's such a pity that it's published by Hachette, because that means that I couldn't get it on Amazon (due to both companies being butthurt against each other). I was in Melbourne for the Penny Arcade expo, and I got it at Minotaur (which is awesome). Still have four more books to read by the end of the year, but I've got two on the go currently, one of which is the third book in the Farseer trilogy. One guy on the forums a long time ago said that he stopped reading those books because bad things kept happening to the protagonist. I'm actually interested to see how he copes with said bad things.
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Dec 15, 2014 03:53
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guppy posted:Several of those are on my to-read list, so the comments are very welcome. What did you think of Station Eleven? WRT Station Eleven, I thought it was surprisingly good. Not all the widely-praised books I've read have been great (a certain recent Hugo winner comes to mind), but I thought SE genuinely deserved the praise, and I thought it connected all the characters and stories together in a satisfactory manner. I don't have many other thoughts about it, but if you want to read it, go for it.
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Dec 17, 2014 05:11
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:So how should I chastise all those who have failed their challenge this past year? You don't have to chastise me, because I'm finished! 90 books (previously 52), over 50% women authors. Last 4 books: #87: As Meat Loves Salt - Maria McCann. #88: Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb. #89: Tyrant's Daughter - J.C. Carleson. #90: Runemarks - Joanne Harris. As Meat Loves Salt is a book set during the English Civil War (so mid-17th century) about an English man and his boyfriend. The writing was very good, but I found the protagonist to be rather unlikeable. Runemarks is Joanne Harris' YA book based on Norse mythology, which came out before The Gospel of Loki. There is a sequel, Runelight, which I will probably read later next year. At present, I am reading Ship of Magic, the next book in the next trilogy in Robin Hobb's Farseer universe. It is in the same setting and chronology as the previous trilogy but in a different part of the world. I also have a book about Cab Calloway and Peter Heller's The Dog Stars from the library. The latter book is similar to Station Eleven in that they both take place in the post-apocalypse.
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Dec 29, 2014 23:50
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