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Sign me up for 30 books. I'm going to try to read at least 5 non-fiction, and at least 5 (unique) female authors. Feel free to add me on Goodreads.
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Jan 1, 2015 23:31
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 04:49 |
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January! 1. Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson. Gosh it was so great to get back into the Malazan world. I wasn't that impressed with Assail from last year, but FoD blew me away. Can't wait for Fall of Light. 2. What Judgments Come by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore. Very disillusioned with this series and Star Trek books in general. One more and then I'll probably take a break from Star Trek books for a while. 3. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. A horrifyingly tragic story, both the events detailed in the book, and the afterword about Chang herself. Well written documentation of the horrors perpetrated in Nanking. 4. Storming Heaven by David Mack. Finally finished this series. Truth be told, now that it's done I'm wondering why I stuck with it for 8 books! It had its moments, and I did enjoy a lot of the characters. I've also started The Golem and the Jinni but I won't have it finished before February starts. It's fantastic so far. So that's 4/30, and 1/5 for both nonfiction as well as female authors. I'm kind of at a loss for nonfiction stuff to read though, I'll have to poke around and find a few more interesting books. apophenium fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Feb 1, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 23:27
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apophenium posted:1. Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson. Gosh it was so great to get back into the Malazan world. I wasn't that impressed with Assail from last year, but FoD blew me away. Can't wait for Fall of Light. 5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Quite a sweet story of two magical beings enduing immigrant experience of early 1900s America. Eager for more from Wecker. 6. Joyland by Stephen King. Read this in one day. Once again King nails a story, but completely flops the ending. Still worth reading, however. 7. Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. The exact opposite type of fantasy I enjoy. Hated this basically from page one, but kept reading. It did not get better. 8. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. The exact type of fantasy I enjoy. Loved this basically from page one, and kept reading. It got even better. 8/30, 1/5 non-fiction, 2/5 female authors. Not sure what to read next...
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Mar 25, 2015 17:27
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1. Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson. Gosh it was so great to get back into the Malazan world. I wasn't that impressed with Assail from last year, but FoD blew me away. Can't wait for Fall of Light. 2. What Judgments Come by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore. Very disillusioned with this series and Star Trek books in general. One more and then I'll probably take a break from Star Trek books for a while. 3. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. A horrifyingly tragic story, both the events detailed in the book, and the afterword about Chang herself. Well written documentation of the horrors perpetrated in Nanking. 4. Storming Heaven by David Mack. Finally finished this series. Truth be told, now that it's done I'm wondering why I stuck with it for 8 books! It had its moments, and I did enjoy a lot of the characters. 5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Quite a sweet story of two magical beings enduing immigrant experience of early 1900s America. Eager for more from Wecker. 6. Joyland by Stephen King. Read this in one day. Once again King nails a story, but completely flops the ending. Still worth reading, however. 7. Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. The exact opposite type of fantasy I enjoy. Hated this basically from page one, but kept reading. It did not get better. 8. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. The exact type of fantasy I enjoy. Loved this basically from page one, and kept reading. It got even better. 9. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. I think everyone should read this book. Made me informed and angry to a huge problem. Wonderfully written. 10. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Relatively enjoyable. I'm writing this blurb a month or more since I read this. I liked it, but it didn't really leave a huge impression. I plan on reading the sequel. 11. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. I feel like this one was completely over my head, but I still found it enjoyable. Definitely didn't make me want to convert to Catholicism. 12. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. This one had been hyped up a bit. It was good, but not great. Strongly recommended if you enjoy fun characters. Not recommended if you feel bad if there are only 2 female characters in the whole book. 13. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. Holy loving poo poo. This is the kind of book that makes me unashamed to admit I enjoy sci-fi. Brilliant from start to finish. Highly anticipating the 2nd and 3rd books. 2/5 non-fiction, 4/5 unique female authors. Reading Hunger next, on ulvir's suggestion. Could use a few non-fiction suggestions, if the thread obliges.
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May 29, 2015 05:54
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apophenium posted:1. Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson. Gosh it was so great to get back into the Malazan world. I wasn't that impressed with Assail from last year, but FoD blew me away. Can't wait for Fall of Light. 14. Hunger by Knut Hamsun. A strange and twisted tale. Darkly humorous and thoroughly enjoyable. 15. Star Trek: Vulcan's Heart by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz. A sequel of sorts to Vulcan's Forge, which I read last year. No where near as fun as the first book, with some creepy moments. I'm very cynical about Star Trek books now. 16. The Pale King by David Foster Wallace. The first sentence of this book made me cry a little bit. Painfully fragmented, but beautiful nonetheless. Boredom as transcendence. Would have been interesting to see where DFW would have taken the plot. 17. Inversions by Iain M. Banks. Finishing a Culture book is bittersweet. I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would, given that it's only barely a Culture book. Very unique format. 18. Culture and Imperialism by Edward Said. Whew, this book was a struggle. I'm trying to acclimate myself to non-fiction. I enjoyed this, but it was tough at times to motivate myself to pick it up. 19. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu. Superb followup to The Three Body Problem. While not as inventive as the first book, it still brings in some interesting ideas. Tie that in with some better pacing and you've got a real winner. Eager for the third book. 19/30 books for the year, 5/5 on unique female authors, 3/5 on non-fiction. Currently reading Black Against Empire and Star Trek: Seekers - Second Nature.
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Aug 28, 2015 15:18
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 04:49 |
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I have now finished my challenge of reading 30 books this year! 1. Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson. Gosh it was so great to get back into the Malazan world. I wasn't that impressed with Assail from last year, but FoD blew me away. Can't wait for Fall of Light. 2. What Judgments Come by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore. Very disillusioned with this series and Star Trek books in general. One more and then I'll probably take a break from Star Trek books for a while. 3. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. A horrifyingly tragic story, both the events detailed in the book, and the afterword about Chang herself. Well written documentation of the horrors perpetrated in Nanking. Non-fiction 1, Female Author 1 4. Storming Heaven by David Mack. Finally finished this series. Truth be told, now that it's done I'm wondering why I stuck with it for 8 books! It had its moments, and I did enjoy a lot of the characters. 5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Quite a sweet story of two magical beings enduing immigrant experience of early 1900s America. Eager for more from Wecker. Female Author 2 6. Joyland by Stephen King. Read this in one day. Once again King nails a story, but completely flops the ending. Still worth reading, however. 7. Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. The exact opposite type of fantasy I enjoy. Hated this basically from page one, but kept reading. It did not get better. 8. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. The exact type of fantasy I enjoy. Loved this basically from page one, and kept reading. It got even better. 9. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. I think everyone should read this book. Made me informed and angry to a huge problem. Wonderfully written. Non-fiction 2, Female Author, 3 10. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Relatively enjoyable. I'm writing this blurb a month or more since I read this. I liked it, but it didn't really leave a huge impression. I plan on reading the sequel. Female Author 4 11. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. I feel like this one was completely over my head, but I still found it enjoyable. Definitely didn't make me want to convert to Catholicism. 12. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. This one had been hyped up a bit. It was good, but not great. Strongly recommended if you enjoy fun characters. Not recommended if you feel bad if there are only 2 female characters in the whole book. 13. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Holy loving poo poo. This is the kind of book that makes me unashamed to admit I enjoy sci-fi. Brilliant from start to finish. Highly anticipating the 2nd and 3rd books. 14. Hunger by Knut Hamsun. A strange and twisted tale. Darkly humorous and thoroughly enjoyable. 15. Star Trek: Vulcan's Heart by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz. A sequel of sorts to Vulcan's Forge, which I read last year. No where near as fun as the first book, with some creepy moments. I'm very cynical about Star Trek books now. Female Author 5 16. The Pale King by David Foster Wallace. The first sentence of this book made me cry a little bit. Painfully fragmented, but beautiful nonetheless. Boredom as transcendence. Would have been interesting to see where DFW would have taken the plot. 17. Inversions by Iain M. Banks. Finishing a Culture book is bittersweet. I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would, given that it's only barely a Culture book. Very unique format. 18. Culture and Imperialism by Edward Said. Whew, this book was a struggle. I'm trying to acclimate myself to non-fiction. I enjoyed this, but it was tough at times to motivate myself to pick it up. Non-fiction 3 19. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu. Superb followup to The Three Body Problem. While not as inventive as the first book, it still brings in some interesting ideas. Tie that in with some better pacing and you've got a real winner. Eager for the third book. 20. Second Nature by David Mack. Mack can churn these things out. Lazy dialogue with tons of Trekkie pandering, flat characters and an overall boring and pointless plot. 21. Black Against Empire by Joshua Bloom. Very interesting as a history book. Would have enjoyed more analysis from the author, but still an insightful read. Non-fiction 4 22. The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. A roller coaster ride full of awesome characters and a hugely gut wrenching twist. 23. Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard. Good, but firmly over my head. Kierkegaard's writing is easily approachable, but I found his ideas of faith slightly harder to grasp. Non-fiction 5 24. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. My fiancee is a big Harry Potter fan and I felt bad for never finishing the series. This book is fun and a lightning fast read. Female author 6 25. Chamber of Secrets by Rowling. More of the same, but still good. 26. Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling. More of the same, but with slightly darker themes. Very enjoyable. 27. Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling. More experimental than the last three and certainly longer. I enjoyed this one when I read it a long time ago, but not so much on the reread. 28. Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling. Meandering and with far more relationship scenes than I would have liked, but with a slightly more interesting plot and finale than book 4. 29. Willful Child by Steven Erikson. What a letdown. Erikson falls into the trap of satire for satire's sake, without really showing an alternative to the regressive sc-fi shows of the 60s. Instead he just relishes in it, turning the sexism and transphobia up to 11 while repeating the same unfunny jokes for ~300 pages. 30. Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling. Much better edited than the prior two books in the series with a HUGE finale that sets up for the final book exceedingly well. My side-goals of reading 5 non-fiction and 5 unique female authors is also complete! Glad I did this, as I would not have read any of the non-fiction stuff this year. I'll probably finish at least one more book before the year's out. Not really planning on doing a reading challenge in 2016. I really want to finish wildbow's Worm and start rereading the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Maybe I'll change my mind though, we'll see.
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Nov 20, 2015 23:04
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