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I am in. Same parameters as last year: Booklord challenge Vanilla number: 40 (so 8 by women and 8 by nonwhite authors) At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) At least 5 nonfiction books Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals)
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Dec 27, 2016 08:09
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Oh yeah, wildcard me something, please.
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Dec 27, 2016 13:53
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Franchescanado posted:Aquarium by David Vann Thanks, looks interesting.
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Dec 27, 2016 18:47
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mdemone posted:
That fucker took me two and a half months! Glad I read it though.
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Jan 2, 2017 18:06
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January update! Books read: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. Straight-up space opera adventure set in a distant future where humans inhabit a vast number of microworlds in a ruined solar system (unclear if ours or not) and digging through the ruins of past civilizations is a major career path. Solar-sail space pirates, revenge, lost siblings, mysterious aliens, fun stuff. Liked it. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. Short and arguably kind of banal, but felt genuine enough; the focus was on her experiences during the filming of the original Star Wars movie. 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. BOTM for January, and one of a handful of Vonnegut novels I hadn't already read. The story of an American playwright/radio personality who lived in Germany during the war and was used as a Nazi propaganda mouthpiece as well as being an Allied double agent, and the long aftermath ending in his trial. Nobody and nothing is to be accepted at face value. Utterly great. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. Really just a novella at under 100 pages but what the hell, if I count a monstrosity like Jerusalem as a single book then the flipside is that I also get to count short books as a whole book. It's a galactic future for humanity, and the main character is a member of small and "primitive" African ethnic group who's the first of her people to be accepted into a prestigious alien university and leave their ancestral homelands for another world. I'm just going to assume that Okorafor treats the Himba people with accuracy and respect, in the future they're apparently some kind of technological specialists but have kept a lot of their current customs. A main theme is overcoming prejudices and past injustice and hostility. Enjoyed the author's voice, will be picking up the sequel soon. 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. Finale of the trilogy that started with The Three-Body Problem. Imaginative and cosmic-scale, with pretty sketchy characters and an almost absurdist approach to the problem of apocalypse. Liked it. 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. Picks up the thread of the Merchant Princes series. Involves cross-world travel between a vast number of alternate Earths; it's actually set a few years into the future from now (alternate future given that the existence of parallel Earths was not made public in the early 2000s). Not going to say much about the plot because it would spoil the first series, but I thought it was a very promising new start. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. Set in 1979/1980, it's either the tale of a 15-year-old Welsh girl dealing with reconnecting with her estranged father after losing her twin sister and getting away from an unstable and abusive mother; or the same girl wading in fairies and magic and saving the world from her mother who's an evil witch. In either case she's doing it while trying to adapt to boarding-school life, getting some kind of social life together, and reading an awful lot of classic and then-current science fiction, and discovering SF fandom. Obviously has some elements of autobiography in there (presumably not so much in the fairies and saving-the-world department). Thought this was a sweet book. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 7/40 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 3/7 = 42.9% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/7 = 28.6% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 0/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 1/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 1/1 as of January No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 0/5 so far
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Jan 31, 2017 11:09
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February update! Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman This month, as I am unlikely to finish another whole book by the end of tomorrow: 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. This was a pretty fun, quick read. Bob is a present-day software millionaire with a techno-optimistic outlook and a contract with a cryogenics facility. Then he is killed in an accident and wakes up as a downloaded version of his flesh-and-blood mind, in a moderately hosed-up authoritarian future where AIs and downloaded personalities have no rights. Then they stick him in an interstellar Von Neumann probe and send him to the stars just as the poo poo hits the fan on Earth. Then he sets about reproducing himself and exploring the stellar neighbourhood and trying to fix as many fixable problems as possible (still being an optimist and a general good guy). 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. Title translates as "Your brother on the prairie". Sequel to Slåttekar I himmelen which I read last year. The author's fictionalized saga of his own extended family -- grandparents, great-grandparents and their various offspring and entanglements, both the branch of the family that emigrated to the Americas and the branch that stayed in Norway. This volume takes the story through the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, and spans the deaths of several of the original main characters. Beautiful prose as one may expect (author is a grand old man of Norwegian literature), lovely windows into the internal lives of people long dead. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. BOTM for February and my first reread (previously read it in Norwegian translation many years ago, barely remembered any details). Fine, bleak depiction of life under prolonged extreme stress, demanding a quiet heroism of endurance, where death takes whom it pleases when it pleases. Widely accepted as an allegory for the Third Reich and/or fascist oppression in general, but also works in my mind as an allegory for life in general. Because we are all under constraints, we are all subject to the plague even as we are in health, etc. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. # whatever in an ongoing series of pretty old-school crime novels. Set in the recent-ish past (the series has gone through the late 1960s and is now up to 1972). This time it's a confined mystery: Ten years previously, a young child was brutally murdered at an island hotel, the case was never conclusively solved; now, a mysterious letter-writer has summoned all still-living guests from that day back to the hotel in an attempt to finally try to solve the case. Also the two main characters of the series (a police detective and his brilliant but acerbic young female wheelchair-bound assistant) are invited. Across the space of 48 hours, a series of old secrets are dragged to light, of course in a manner that involves more deaths. Pretty good although I increasingly think the main characters are dicks (as in, I wouldn't like either one of them as a person; they're okay to read about, though). +1 Norwegian 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. Sequel to #9 above, very much more of the same and just as lovely. This volume takes the family history through about twenty years starting around 1905 and ending up in the mid-1920s; most of the rest of the "original" generation pass, and the story increasingly focuses on the author's own grandfather (who stayed in Norway) and his brother (who ended up in Alberta, Canada). +1 Norwegian 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 12/40 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 3/12 = 25% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/12 = 16.7% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 3/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 1/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 2/2 as of January No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 1/5 so far Slacking off a little on the black woman writers quota this month but I've got some good stuff queued up that will fix it (just started on some Jemisin, for example). Groke fucked around with this message at 12:29 on Mar 15, 2017 |
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Feb 27, 2017 10:10
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mdemone posted:
Huh, the idea never even crossed my mind of counting the perspective of multiple branching copies of a computer simulation of a dead human brain controlling self-replicating interstellar space probes as "non-human". I guess that says something about my own internalized attitudes toward what is or is not "human".
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Mar 6, 2017 13:36
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Franchescanado posted:Aquarium by David Vann Just got around to reading this and it was awesome; thank you for the recommendation.
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Mar 17, 2017 10:39
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March update! And what a month it's been for reading! Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. This month I got a surprising amount of reading done; granted, some of these books were pretty short and quick reads, but not all of them: 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. An apocalyptic tale set before and during the collapse of an unstable world. Can't really say much about it that's not spoileriffic, but this book was great. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. Also pretty sure it ticks off the "wrath" box as far as the seven deadly sins are concerned. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. #5 and probably last in this multiple-earth series. It was... okay, I guess, the best bits were (as usual for Baxter) the ones involving exploration of weird-rear end milieus. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. BOTM for March and a fine choice it was. Seventies classic showing the contrast between a very Earthlike world and its neighbor planet colonized by utopian Anarchists, drawing both societies into a pretty harsh critical light. Loved this a bunch and my respect for LeGuin only grew (had read several of her books before but never this one). +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. This was my wildcard. A pre-teen girl lives alone with her mother (a hard-working dockworker) in Seattle in the 90s. They are all alone in the world and the girl spends a lot of time hanging around the aquarium near her school, looking at the fish. She befriends and old man and then a series of horrible secrets are brought to light. A quick and beautiful but also very painful read, lovely prose. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren (well, that's its English title, it's originally Swedish, I read it in Norwegian). Read this aloud to my oldest. It's a towering classic of 1970s Scandinavian children's literature, and a book I dearly, dearly love from my own childhood. The narrator is a young boy who lives in poor conditions with his mother and his older brother (clearly implied to be in Scandinavia some decades previous to when it was written); he has a disease which is expected to kill him (probably tuberculosis, which kids used to die from back in the day) and his older brother comforts him with stories of a fairy tale-like afterlife. Older brother dies first (heroically saving his little bro from a fire, even though he hasn't long to live either) and the bulk of the book is set in that afterlife. Which turns out to have its own scary parts as the idyll is threatened by an evil warlord with an army of brutal thugs and a HUGE AND loving TERRIFYING DRAGON which has traumatized generations of Scandinavian kids. It's all about brotherhood, love, self-sacrifice and facing up to your fears (which are many, and justified). There are things you have to do, even if it's dangerous, or you're not a human being but only a little piece of dirt. +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the North African city of Algiers was nominally part of the Ottoman Empire but in practice nearly independent; and a powerful naval and economic force, as the main center of operation for the so-called Barbary pirates. They frequently made war on European shipping and coastal areas, and captured large numbers of people into slavery. This book is based (in part) on the first-hand accounts of two Norwegians who were both held there as slaves in the 1770s (alongside many others who didn't leave written accounts), and chronicles their experience as well as an attempt by the Danish-Norwegian state to resolve the "they took our people as slaves" issue by means of a great naval expedition. Fascinating read, well-researched. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. A companion story to her novel Planetfall, this is set back on Earth, a dystopian science-fiction mystery. A religious sect leader has been murdered, an indentured police detective who long ago grew up in the same sect is set on the case. Things get worse from there. Neatly plotted, fine prose, lots of nastiness. Good book. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. Norwegian author apparently self-publishing in English, hadn't really heard anything about this guy before, this book was dirt cheap on the Kindle and is apparently #1 in a longer series (or trilogy of trilogies or whatever). Pretty much a paint-by-numbers SF technothriller where the Earth is hosed by an astronomical accident and there's a last-ditch attempt at rushing an interstellar colony mission. It was... okay, I guess. Nothing very original or exciting here (at least to a veteran reader of nerd-genre books such as myself) and the characters were pretty cardboard but that's not exactly unusual either. Was a quick and easy read and the later books may have more interesting things going on, might check them out eventually. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. Now this was great. Continuation of the story from Binti, where the main character (a girl from the Himba culture of Africa, in a future where humanity is finding its place in a greater galactic society) has now spent a year as a student on an alien planet, and is returning home for a pilgrimage, with her friend from a formerly-hostile alien race tagging along on a sort of diplomatic mission. Things subsequently go pear-shaped in a very weird manner. Again, lovely prose, interesting point of view (the main thing that struck me with the first book remains true of this one, how the viewpoint character from her position as part of a discriminated-against minority culture barely distinguishes between aliens who are other humans and aliens who are nonhuman -- here, however, she is also confronted with her own attitude towards a different human minority culture which her own people look down upon, and then there are major questions about the border between human and non-human). +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 21/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 8/21 =38% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4/21 = 19% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 4/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 2/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 3/3 as of March No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far Groke fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Mar 31, 2017 |
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Mar 31, 2017 09:55
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April update. A much slower month (in part due to home improvement project eating up time and energy) but nonetheless got through three whole books. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. New: 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. #1 in a series, 2000s technothriller with semi-mystical aspects. Okay although I could not buy the quasi-science at all. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. Sequel to We Are Legion (We Are Bob) and hit exactly the same good spot. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. BOTM for April, a great mystical poem about medieval sufi Islam, written in 12th century Persia. Great. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 24/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 8/24 =33% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4/24 = 17% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 4/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 2/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 4/4 as of April No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far
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May 1, 2017 22:00
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May update. Another very slow reading month; on the other hand, the bedroom renovation project is coming along nicely. I'm tearing out old drywall and laminate flooring, putting in modern wall panels and parquet floors, fixing lots of poo poo I never knew how to do before. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. New, two whole books! 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. Sequel to The Fifth Season and pretty much just as good and horrible. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. BOTM for May. Utterly loved this, I've got a long-standing interest in classical history and Roman matters (to the point where I once took a whole year's worth of Latin classes just for fun) but somehow I hadn't read this before. Worthy of its reputation. Went straight on to the sequel Claudius the God but won't finish before the month is over, so. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 26/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 9/26 =35% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/26 = 19% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 4/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 2/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 5/5 as of April No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far
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May 31, 2017 08:40
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Tiggum posted:Consider Phlebas is the first one and it's a bit different to the later ones. I liked it, but I wouldn't call it representative of the series. For someone who's already started with Consider Phlebas I think there's no good reason not to read the rest in publication order. So, Player of Games and then Use of Weapons and if you're not hooked on the Culture by then, you probably never will be.
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Jun 2, 2017 09:00
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Radio! posted:Omon Ra- extremely funny I read that a couple of years ago and it was indeed hilarious. Must remember to check out some more Pelevin.
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Jun 2, 2017 09:01
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The Berzerker posted:
You will probably not be disappointed.
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Jun 22, 2017 07:29
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June update. Closer to normal reading pace again. Can see that I'm going to have to work on the black transgender lesbian quota, but I've got a few books in proximity to the top of my to-read pile which should help fix that. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. New: 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. Utterly great, Herod Agrippa is a hilarious motherfucker until everything goes wrong. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. BOTM for June, and an interesting read it was. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. Norwegian post-cyber-whatever semi-dystopian SF! Obviously the first in a series (#2 is out and #3 is pending). It's a hundred years in the future and things may not be entirely crapsack everywhere in the world but there are definitely crapsack areas. Protagonist is a former special forces soldier on whom dangerous medical experiments and enhancements were performed, living in hiding in Albania and dealing with the criminal underworld, until he faces the risk of discovery by powers that want him safely decomissioned. Then a bunch of hosed-up and interesting poo poo happens. Good book. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. Longwinded (but pretty funny) and farcical tale of magical time travel as handled by an upstart US government agency. Allegedly more Galland (of whom I've not read anything before) than Stephenson, although it sure does have the trademark digressions and abrupt ending. It was... okay shading towards good, not really great, but a snappy read despite its length and I'd be game for a sequel or whatever. +1 woman. Currently reading The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, a book I've long wanted to read... I'm only about up to the actual start of the war (spoiler: nobody manages to prevent World War 1 from breaking out, and it's going to suck for everyone) but it is as great as its reputation would have it. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 30/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 10/30 =33% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/30 = 17% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 5/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 3/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 6/6 as of June No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far Groke fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Jul 2, 2017 |
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Jul 1, 2017 07:48
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ToxicFrog posted:
The original book has also been published as three separate paperbacks, long before there was a sequel.
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Jul 5, 2017 14:59
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There's only two Cyteen books (Cyteen and Regenesis). I wish it were a trilogy; Regenesis was kind of filler that didn't address any of the big questions raised by Cyteen and I think it would really benefit from a third book, set decades later, to round things out.
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July update. Three-week holiday in Spain, got through eight books inbetween the swimming and overindulgence in Spanish food. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. +1 woman. New: 31. Min drøm om frihet by Amal Aden. Title translates as "my dream of freedom". Autobiography of a somewhat prominent public figure (author/lecturer/social critic) in Norway, who spent her early years as an orphan on the streets of war-torn Somalia, came to Norway as a teenager about twenty years ago, went on to have further problems involving drugs and dysfunctional elements of the Norwegian-Somalian community (of which she is rather critical) before growing into a useful adult. This book actually hits six of the booklord and personal challenge points since the author is a genuine black Norwegian lesbian: LGBTQ, +1 woman, +1 nonwhite, +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction, biography. Was an interesting but uncomfortable read. 32. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. BOTM for July and a cracking good read. Had read a couple of these stories before so I was well aware of the awesomeness of Borges; getting a concentrated dose like that was extra-awesome. 33. Predikanten ("The Preacher") by Camilla Läckberg. Rather good scandi-crime novel by one of the more popular current Swedish authors of such things; my first encounter with this particular author. Part of a series set in a fairly tranquil coastal community with old fishermen and tourists and such, where people murder the gently caress out of each other because of old family secrets or whatnot. Sympathetic and memorable central characters, intricate mysteries, a slight tendency to overuse of cliffhangers/keeping information from the reader but nothing to complain about. +1 woman. 34. Steinhoggeren ("The Stonecutter") by Camilla Läckberg. More of the same. Summer vacation is a good time to binge decent crime fiction. +1 woman. 35. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. Actually read this in between various works of fiction. Towering classic covering the run-up to and first month or so of the First World War, in great detail. Very readable and interesting. Spoiler: A few people try to prevent the war from breaking out but they don't succeed. Most of the great powers have wonderful plans for a swift and glorious victory. None of these plans go exactly right and everyone ends up in a world of poo poo. +1 woman, +1 nonfiction, First World War. 36. The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross. Latest entry in the Laundry series, where British civil servants try to hold back the tide of the semi-Lovecraftian apocalypse. Things are getting increasingly grim and desperate and real damage is being done. I remain sold on this series and will follow it to the (probably quite bitter) end. 37. Ulykkesfuglen by Camilla Läckberg. Another bit of more of the same. Note to self: Avoid tranquil fishing/tourism communities on the Swedish coast, they're loving dangerous places to visit, live or even have a tenuous connection to. +1 woman. 38. Sporvekslingsmordet by Hans Olav Lahlum. Another entry in this increasingly long-running crime fiction series by this Norwegian author. The timeline is up to 1973, and a teenage girl who's a talented rising star in cross-country skiing is shot dead during a race. Subsequent investigation digs up a lot of rancid old secrets going back to the previous generation's misadventures during and before the Second World War. The series remans of consistent quality. +1 Norwegian. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 38/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 15/38 =39% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 6/38 = 16% 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 15) Read a play. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 7/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 5/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 7/7 as of July No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far
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Aug 3, 2017 12:01
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Safety Biscuits posted:Wildcard me droogs The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma.
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Aug 10, 2017 11:31
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August update. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. +1 woman. 31. Min drøm om frihet by Amal Aden. LGBTQ, +1 woman, +1 nonwhite, +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction, biography. 32. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. BOTM for July. 33. Predikanten ("The Preacher") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 34. Steinhoggeren ("The Stonecutter") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 35. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.+1 woman, +1 nonfiction, First World War. 36. The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross. 37. Ulykkesfuglen by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 38. Sporvekslingsmordet by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. New: 39. Devil's Due by Taylor Anderson. #12 in the "Destroyermen" series, where a couple of WW2-era USN ships are transported to a weird alternate Earth full of nonhumans and other weird poo poo. The previous few books have shown signs of losing a bit of steam but this time he picks up the pace and actually permanently ends at least one major plot strand. Remains good. 40. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. Childhood and family tragedy in 1990s Nigeria. loving great, doom-laden and grim yet somehow hopeful. +1 nonwhite. Also quite definitely hits the "something about fear" point. 41. All These Worlds by Dennis Taylor. #3 and last in the Bobiverse series; comfort-reading SF for nerds. Enjoyed it but not quite as much as the first two, it largely felt like "okay, time to wrap this up and go home". 42. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin. #3 and last in the "Broken Earth" thingy. Now this was NOT comfort reading, especially for readers who are parents themselves this series is emotionally devastating. Mysteries are explained, sacrifices are made, an ending is reached. Very fine stuff, will remain onboard the Jemisin train. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 43. My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber. BOTM for August. Very funny little collection of anecdotes from the author's youth in pre- and mid-WW1 Ohio. Was only vaguely familiar with Thurber before. +1 nonfiction 44. Discovering Scarfolk by Richard Littler. Scarfolk is a fictional English town forever stuck in the 1970s where everything is horrible in a way only possible in the 1970s; there's a Scarfolk Council blog containing loads of satirical public information publications, which also make up much of the content of this book. The rest is a purportedly non-fictional framing story about a family inadvertently trapped in Scarfolk for the whole of the 1970s, or possibly about a failed academic making up the whole story about that family. A very mean-spirited, blackly funny satire of the recent past (and maybe of our present as well). 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 44/40 - goal crushed; new stretch goal of 60 books. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 16/44 =36% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 8/44 = 18% 11) Read something political. 15) Read a play. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 20) Read something about honour. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 7/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 6/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 8/8 as of August No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far
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Aug 31, 2017 09:11
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September/October update. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. +1 woman. 31. Min drøm om frihet by Amal Aden. LGBTQ, +1 woman, +1 nonwhite, +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction, biography. 32. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. BOTM for July. 33. Predikanten ("The Preacher") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 34. Steinhoggeren ("The Stonecutter") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 35. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.+1 woman, +1 nonfiction, First World War. 36. The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross. 37. Ulykkesfuglen by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 38. Sporvekslingsmordet by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 39. Devil's Due by Taylor Anderson. 40. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. +1 nonwhite. 41. All These Worlds by Dennis Taylor. 42. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 43. My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber. BOTM for August. +1 nonfiction 44. Discovering Scarfolk by Richard Littler. New: 45. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. Very interesting debut novel set in a very weird future, with a very weird narrator. +1 woman. 46. The Peregrine by J.A. Baker. Birdwatching in 1960s England, loving hardcore. Some of the best depictions of nature I've ever read. +1 nonfiction. 47. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. A strong toss-em-in-the-deep-end weird space fantasy opera debut novel. +1 nonwhite author (also I understand Lee is a trans dude but it's hardly relevant for this book and I've got that point covered already). The last couple of months have sucked very hard as far as reading time goes, but I'm overall in OK shape to finish what I set out to do. (I am almost but not quite done with this month's BOTM.) Only have like three or four specific booklord points to hit and have candidates lined up for all of them. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 47/40 - goal crushed; new stretch goal of 60 books. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 17/47 =36% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 9/47 = 19% 11) Read something political. 15) Read a play. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 20) Read something about honour. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 7/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 7/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 10/10 as of October (well, almost done with the latest one) No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far
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Nov 1, 2017 13:31
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November update. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. +1 woman. 31. Min drøm om frihet by Amal Aden. LGBTQ, +1 woman, +1 nonwhite, +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction, biography. 32. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. BOTM for July. 33. Predikanten ("The Preacher") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 34. Steinhoggeren ("The Stonecutter") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 35. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.+1 woman, +1 nonfiction, First World War. 36. The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross. 37. Ulykkesfuglen by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 38. Sporvekslingsmordet by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 39. Devil's Due by Taylor Anderson. 40. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. +1 nonwhite. 41. All These Worlds by Dennis Taylor. 42. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 43. My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber. BOTM for August. +1 nonfiction 44. Discovering Scarfolk by Richard Littler. 45. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. +1 woman. 46. The Peregrine by J.A. Baker. +1 nonfiction. 47. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. +1 nonwhite. New: 48-53. Blackwater volumes 1-6 by Michael McDowell. BOTM for October (and I did start it a good while before October ended). Huge generational Southern Gothic family saga with bonus semi-Lovecraftian river monsters. Owned very hard. (Also apparently the author was gay but that's beside the point, already hit that challenge.) 54. South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami. A very Murakami novel about love and longing and whatnot. +1 nonwhite. 55. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. In a near future (about thirty years from when the book was written in the 1990s), society is close to collapsing under ecological and economic stress. One young girl attempts to become a leader and form the nucleus of a new type of society; but mere survival is challenging enough. Harrowing. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 56. Native Son by Richard Wright. 1940 novel about a young black man who's more or less destined for death row. Frequently challenged and banned; I knew it by reputation before (in fact 20+ years ago I held in my hand and nearly started reading a copy in my school library; the Norwegian translation came out around 1960 and actually bore the title "friend of the family") but I was not aware of its strong Marxist take on American economic and social structures. Certainly hits the "something political" point. Extremely good but gently caress, man, not an easy or comfortable read. +1 nonwhite. 57. Tung tids tale by Olaug Nilssen. Very recent little Norwegian book which I guess may be described as something like a documentary novel. Describes the author's own relationship with her severely autistic son, and her struggles with the system as she tries to get more appropriate assistance for him. Very painful and yet beautiful. (I also have a tenuous connection to the author, so that some of the people obliquely referred to in this book are people I know in real life.) Godlike simple yet near-poetic prose. +1 woman, +1 Norwegian. Arguably +1 nonfiction as well. ..goddamn, after those last three I need something light, the literary equivalent of cotton candy or something. Have two or three more booklord points to hit and need two more Norwegian books. BOTM for November was Aquarium by David Vann, which I've already read earlier this same year (in fact it was my wildcard book), so am counting it. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 57/40 - goal crushed; new stretch goal of 60 books. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 19/57 =33% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 12/57 = 21% 15) Read a play. 20) Read something about honour. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 8/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 8/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 11/11 as of November No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far
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Nov 30, 2017 11:21
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Guy A. Person posted:Next year read The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion by Henry J. Darger Is that thing even available to read in any useful format?
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Dec 15, 2017 22:12
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Closing out the year with a December update. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. +1 woman. 31. Min drøm om frihet by Amal Aden. LGBTQ, +1 woman, +1 nonwhite, +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction, biography. 32. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. BOTM for July. 33. Predikanten ("The Preacher") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 34. Steinhoggeren ("The Stonecutter") by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 35. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.+1 woman, +1 nonfiction, First World War. 36. The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross. 37. Ulykkesfuglen by Camilla Läckberg. +1 woman. 38. Sporvekslingsmordet by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 39. Devil's Due by Taylor Anderson. 40. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. +1 nonwhite. 41. All These Worlds by Dennis Taylor. 42. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 43. My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber. BOTM for August. +1 nonfiction 44. Discovering Scarfolk by Richard Littler. 45. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. +1 woman. 46. The Peregrine by J.A. Baker. +1 nonfiction. 47. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. +1 nonwhite. 48-53. Blackwater volumes 1-6 by Michael McDowell. BOTM for October. 54. South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami. +1 nonwhite. 55. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 56. Native Son by Richard Wright.+1 nonwhite, political, banned. 57. Tung tids tale by Olaug Nilssen. +1 woman, +1 Norwegian. Arguably +1 nonfiction as well. New: 58. Aurora by Andreas Christensen. Kind of meh, basic story about interstellar colonisation and whatnot. Some entertainment value though. 59. The Call of the Wild by Jack London. The tale of a dog stolen from a cushy existence to be used as a working animal in the northern frontier during a gold rush; he gradually goes wild and reverts to wolfhood. Good poo poo. Hits the "nonhuman perspective" point. 60. Gawain and the Green Knight, I chose the Tolkien translation. BOTM for December. Was pretty cool. Hits the "poetry" and "something about honor" points for sure. 61. Stort og stygt by Olaug Nilssen. A play about society's expectations about parenthood, and about having a child that's different and not so easy to like. +1 woman, +1 Norwegian, hits the "play" point. 62. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Colonialism from a native African point of view, considered the first proper African novel written in English. Amazing work; the main character is rather a dick and the society he lives in has its rather awful sides, but the author manages to elicit sympathy for them and the things lost. +1 nonwhite. 63. Liv andre har levd by Edvard Hoem. The author finishes up his rather impressive fictionalized account of his extended family's history both among those who emigrated to the Americas and those who stayed home. This volume takes place from the 1920s through the war and postwar years, with some brief bits going as far as the present day. In fact the author himself shows up both as a third-person character (when he was a boy in the 1950s) and in the first person (we get a few glimpses of how he researched the material that went into these novels, e.g. him travelling around the relevant bits of the USA and Canada, digging into public records and interviewing distant relations, etc.) +1 Norwegian. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 63/40 - goal crushed. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 20/63 =31% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 13/63 = 21% [s}20) Read something about honour.[/s] - Gawain and the Green Knight Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 10/10, goal met. At least 5 nonfiction books - 8/5, goal exceeded. Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 12/12, goal met. No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5, within tolerance. That's it, 100% completion. Have already reported in the 2018 thread, where I'm going a bit easier and not doing any extra stuff beyond the main challenge (we're having another kid in a few months and that will eat up a lot of time and concentration ability). Groke fucked around with this message at 11:21 on Jan 9, 2018 |
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Jan 2, 2018 11:38
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