Reading for the past year...
Dec. 24th, 2003 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmePartial reading list of the year. This is one of my resolutions for next year: to keep better track of what I read, because I know I'm missing a bunch of the books I read on this list. :P
Cross-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50bookchallenge.
"A room without books is like a body without a soul."
--Cicero
1- Deathscent (Robin Jarvis); a well-written novel in the fantasy genre, with a well-conceived background, finely crafted plotlines and likeable characters. Can't say much as I highly recommend it as an afternoon read and there would be major spoilers involved.
2- The Ill-Made Mute (Cecilia Dart-Thornton); a book which made me want to scream in frustration, because everything was excellent except for the writing, which ruined the whole thing. It's a fantasy novel, and the setting obviously had a lot of thought put into it and was incredibly elaborate and consistent (which is difficult). The characters were credible and three-dimensional, and the plot had a lot of merit. The author just seemed to feel compelled to write in that horrid pseudo-middle-English which just makes me cringe. It was also grammatically incorrect, although not many people short of Middle English scholars would be able to tell, for what that's worth.
3- Sir À Propos of Nothing (Peter David); (can we tell I was doing holiday reading?) This was a fun romp, again in a fantasy setting, starring an unlikely hero named Apropos, son of a whore in the kingdom of good king Runcible.
4- La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes (Gaétan Soucy); roughly translated: The Little Girl Who Loved Matches too much. A bizarre, very twisted tale of a little girl who's convinced she's a boy. The language is exquisite, sometimes too much so the way French novels can be, the characterisation subtle, at once punitive and gentle with the two main characters. The ending is very disturbing, though. Not for the faint of heart. It's just a few shades short of genius, IMNSHO.
5- One Good Story, That One (Thomas King); one of my favourite collections of short stories: subtle, ironic, sarcastic, yet gentle and probing at the same time. A thoughtful yet not abusive look at how Native Americans are perceived by white people, and what has become of the tradition of oral storytelling. Edited to add: I re-read this one a few times over the course of the year, actually.
6- Traitor's Purse (Margery Allingham); an Albert Campion mystery, which I always enjoy no matter how silly they are. This one reads much like any other Campion (which is a good thing), and I can heartily recommend it to any fancier of British Detective novels.
7- The Bone Doll's Twin (Lynn Flewelling); the first in what promises to be a truly excellent fantasy series. The writing is a tad uneven, but it has moments of chilling intensity. It's the story of a kingdom condemned to plague and famine and drought as long as a man rules, but the current king is intent on having the male line inherit the throne. In a terrifying biblical parallel, he has all the daughters born into his house and the rest of the families in his line put to death. Only one wizard and her apprentice decide to seal the fate of the kingdom by saving one girl, but at a price they aren't sure they can ever fully accept.
8- Why Cats Paint (I don't remember the author offhand); people with nothing better to do than give their cats some watercolour gouache paint to play with noticed that their cats actually were capable of representational art. I found myself unable to take it entirely seriously, but at the same time had to fight the urge to head off to my local art supply shop and see if my kitties could do the same thing. The last thing I need is coloured paw prints in my apartment!
9- City Magick (Christopher Penczak); recommended by a friend, it's a look at how practitioners of the modern pagan/wiccan faiths which are closely in tune with nature can coexist with the urban landscape. Not for everyone, obviously, but it has some definite points of interest.
10- The Annotated Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, E. Baring-Gould); I'm hesitant about putting that as a reading, as it's more a re-reading. I go back to old books like comfort food.
11- The Life of Pi (Yann Martel); an extraordinary allegory about religion and love of life, and winner of the Man Booker Prize 2002. Highly recommend it, as it reads beautifully and on so many levels.
12- Post Captain (Patrick O'Brian); I struggled through this one. Apart from the naval battle scenes, which sprang to life under O'Brian's pen, I found the writing stilted, the characters' motivations always unclear, and the sentence structure sometimes baffling. There were leaps in logic, tremendous holes in the plot, no resolution anywhere to be seen, and events that I would classify as red herrings would it not be an injustice to the herrings to do so. In other words, it wasn't bad enough that I didn't finish it, but I wasn't impressed either.
13- A Test of Wills (Charles Todd); a masterfully crafted mystery, set in the English countryside after the end of the First World War. Apart from an ever so slightly Agatha Christie-esque ending, the book proved to show great insight into the workings of the human mind, and drew a detailed and sensitive portrait of its subject matter.
14- Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk); read it against my better judgement as I found the movie to be pretty pointless and predictable. The book wasn't much better, except that I loved the ending: the movie copped out, while the book didn't. Thus, my theory of "the book is always better than the movie" still stands.
15- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey); a re-read, and still as good as ever. A moving and insightful classic about the struggles of the inmates of a psychiatric hospital to come to grips with their humanity, among other things.
16- Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Stephanie Barron); take Jane Austen and turn her into a Victorian Miss Marple, and there you go. It works surprisingly well for such an odd premise. The author decided that Jane Austen, with her uncanny insight into human nature, would make a great amateur detective, and she does. The voice of the books, written in the first person, is dry, witty, and utterly believable. Not a very serious read, but a good one nonetheless.
17- The Deadly Percheron (John Franklin Bardin); this book begins with the lines: "Jacob Blunt was my last patient. He came into my office wearing a scarlet hibiscus in his curly blond hair. He sat down in an easy chair across from my desk, and said, 'Doctor, I think I'm losing my mind.'" Need I say more? It's an old murder mystery, but it is sheer brilliance and I will never ever stop recommending it.
18- The Last of Phillip Banter (John Franlin Bardin); the second in the trilogy. Not quite as good as The Deadly Percheron, but still really good.
19- Devil Take the Blue Tail Fly (John Frankling Bardin); a spectacular descent into madness and murder. Again, not quite as good as The Deadly Percheron, but pretty amazing still.
20- Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen); a re-read, inspired by Stephanie Barron's book. Still genius, not that you needed to be told that.
21- Masks of the Illuminati (Robert Anton Wilson); technically I shouldn't include it as I haven't quite finished it, but I don't know when I'll get back to this journal, and I know I'll have it finished by tomorrow at latest. It's another mystery (although I didn't know that when I started it), and the two amateur detectives this time are James Joyce and Albert Einstein, shortly before they're to become famous. I'll admit to being perplexed by the plot so far, which seems to be mixing in a whole lot of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu mythos in there along with a number of other occult themes and tends to jump around wildly. Edited to add: I never did get through it. It bogged down and became incomprehensible, and thus I abandoned the attempt.
22- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (J.K. Rowling)
23- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
24- Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
25- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter has become comfort reading for me, and I can read all four books in about two days now. I kind of feel awkward including them here, but they are reading nonetheless.
26- Love Shook My Heart (varied authors); a collection of short stories about lesbian relationships. Not fantastic, but some of the stories had some interesting insights.
27- The Lady of the Sorrows (Cecilia Dart–Thornton); what a disappointment this second book of hers was for me. The writing improved, but the storytelling (for which I had liked the first book) went way downhill. It was really far too derivative, and if the story it was copying hadn't been too old to be copyrighted, I suspect Ms. Dart-Thornton might be worried about plagiarism suits right now. :P Not to mention that she slipped into a series of clichés each worse than the last. I read the entire book at the Chapters bookstore so I wouldn't have to buy it (it's still in hardcover) because it really wasn't worth the money, and I doubt I'll even bother looking at the third book at all when it comes out.
28- The Names of the Moons of Mars (Patricia Roth Schwartz); another book of short stories revolving around female relationships: mother-daughter, lesbian, friendship, what have you. Thoughtful and insightful at times, a wee bit boring and/or heavy–handed at others. Not a bad read.
29- The Black Dudley Murder (Margery Allingham); put a bunch of English people in a remote manor in the countryside, introduce an elaborately-decorated antique and exotic knife with a suitably gory myth surrounding it, then make them all play a game of "murder in the dark." There you go. Standard English murder-mystery fare, but entertaining nonetheless.
30- No Fat Chicks (Terry Poulton); non-fiction; a cogently-argued book whose basic premise is that America's current preoccupation (not to say obsession) with weight is due to what she terms the "billion-dollar brainwash" orchestrated by the dieting and food industries (owned by the same people). The book loses some of its punch due to a bit of sensationalised writing and some pet statistics that Poulton feels the need to bring up again and again and again, but it does stop to make you think, so I'd recommend it.
31- Orlando (Virginia Woolf); thus I renewed my love affair with Virginia Woolf this year. As happens every time I read a piece of hers, I didn't realise how much I was enjoying the book, nor how much it had captivated my attention, until I tried to put it down. It's a brilliantly-crafted tale with a spectacularly unlikely plot that is nonetheless captivating in the extreme. Recommended reading, folks. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.
32- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J. K. Rowling); read overnight due to a bout of insomnia. IMNSHO, Rowling gets better with every book. The same small problems with her writing are there, but they pale in comparison with the rest of the work. The characters are evolving in very credible ways, and she's added a great deal of depth to some of the secondary characters which wasn't there before. Some good plot twists, although the end seemed a bit rushed. Nothing truly bad, though.
33- Watership Down (Richard Adams); the classic story of the rabbit Hazel's search for a new warren with his friends when their warren is destroyed by developers. Fabulous stuff, if you like animal stories, and Adams creates a very convincing rabbit "culture."
34- Traveller (Richard Adams); the Civil War as told from the perspective of General Robert E. Lee's horse, Traveller. Again, beautiful storytelling, as long as you like animal stories.
35- Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf); if you haven't read this, then go do so now, and then go watch The Hours. A spine-chilling insight into madness, futility and death, and all on one sunny day in London, when Mrs. Dalloway is preparing to throw a party.
36- The Fur Person (May Sarton); why do I keep getting the feeling I've already written about this book here? That one, and Orlando, for some reason. :/ Anyway, this is one of my favourite books, which tells the story of Tom Jones and how he evolves from a Cat About Town to a Fur Person. It's supposedly a children's book, but any cat lover should adore this book. It's also fairly short (120 pages), and not too taxing a read.
37- Daggerspell (Katharine Kerr)
38- Darkspell (Katharine Kerr)
39- The Bristling Wood (Katharine Kerr)
40- The Dragon Revenant (Katharine Kerr)
41- A Time of Exile (Katharine Kerr)
42- A Time of Omens (Katharine Kerr)
43- Days of Blood and Fire (Katharine Kerr)
44- Days of Air and Darkness (Katharine Kerr)
45- The Red Wyvern (Katharine Kerr)
46- The Black Raven (Katharine Kerr)
47- The Fire Dragon (Katharine Kerr)
Welcome to my latest obsession. ;) I read all of those in twelve days, and am now waiting with baited breath for the next one to come out next year. *bounce* Spectacular fantasy writing, with a plot so intricately woven that it lasts through all eleven books, without so much as a hitch in the storytelling. Each book stands up well on its own, and she has mastered the art of the "information dump" (i.e. letting the uninformed reader know what happened in past books) without boring the readers who already know what she's talking about. Very thoughtful and complete rendering of an entire world, several different "philosophies" of life (we are talking fantasy books, here, so it's not exactly a complete treatise), and a serious approach to magic and religion.
48- A Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin)
49- A Clash of Kings (George R. R. Martin)
50- A Storm of Swords (George R. R. Martin)
Another new fantasy obsession, but with fewer books available to read. Very different feel from the Katharine Kerr novels, these are far more "realistic" (for lack of a better word) and gritty, and are quite gripping in spite of being flipping long (each book is over 800 pages). The fourth book is already "behind schedule" if there is such a thing, and driving all fans insane in the process. ;) This author is certainly not afraid of killing off his characters quite brutally if it serves the needs of his story (he doesn't do it often, don't worry), and doesn't balk at controversial or upsetting subject matter if that's what he needs to make the story go forward. Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.
51- Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy (S.D. Perry)
52- Resident Evil: Caliban Cove (S.D. Perry)
53- Resident Evil: City of the Dead (S.D. Perry)
54- Resident Evil: Underworld (S.D. Perry)
55- Resident Evil: Nemesis (S.D. Perry)
56- Resident Evil: Code Name: Veronica (S.D. Perry)
Surprisingly good novelisations of the Resident Evil video games. The author avoided purple prose and melodrama, which made for quick and gripping reads. Very good for light reading on a Sunday afternoon when you have time on your hands and little inclination to do anything else.
57- Hidden Warrior (Lynn Flewelling); the sequel to The Bone Doll's Twin. Good stuff. Consistent writing, not too many clichés, convincing character development. I'm very happy with the way this series is turning out.
58- The Concrete Blonde (Michael Connelly); a murder-mystery set in a vibrant if sordid Los Angeles, following Detective Harry Bosch's investigation of a series of crimes long-thought solved. The Dollmaker, a serial rapist and killer, has seemingly begun to strike again, although Bosch himself killed the man four years ago. Did Bosch kill the wrong man, as the deceased's wife claims (she's suing him and the LAPD for wrongful death)? Or is it the work of a copy cat? Compellingly written, with very few dull moments (although the scenes with Bosch's current girlfriend may as well have been left out —they appear to have been thrown in just so he could have some sort of love interest, and they add little to the overall story).
59- Moby Dick (Herman Melville); I finally waded through the ponderous classic, and while I'm not sorry I did it, I'm glad it's over. Five hundred pages of text, and three of them featured the whale. I'm not exactly difficult to please either: I don't demand thrills and excitement every three seconds. I think that most of my difficulty lay in the narrator's claims to scientific authenticity, which no doubt were valid enough in the XIXth-century, but to a modern reader, and especially a modern reader who was more than a little obsessed with whales in her youth, a lot of the "facts" were a little hard to swallow. Still, I'm glad to have read it.
60- Hidden Talents (David Lubar); a sweet children's book (maybe it would be considered young adult?) about a boy sent to a school for troubled kids because he just can't seem to abide authority figures. He falls in with another bunch of misfit kids, and discovers that each of his newfound friends actually has a secret, hidden talent that might just be their ticket out of their. This is the author's first book, and it's a really great start, if you want my opinion.
61- Giving Up the Ghost (Hilary Mantel); this was a really irritating, frustrating book to read. It's a memoir by the author, and I must confess that by the end all I wanted to do was grab the author by her shirt and shake her until her teeth rattled in her head. She writes beautifully, but I never forgot that I was reading crafted prose. This is a good thing for some, but it just irritates me. Also, what I would have found most interesting about her life (her marriage, her seven-year sojourn in Africa) she dismisses in a few sentences, lingering instead on aspects that seemed to me less important. It's her memoir, let her write what she wants, but I don't have to like it. ^_-
62- Aux Fruits de la passion (Daniel Pennac); he's one of my favourite authors, and this is one of my favourite series of novels, but I found this latest one a bit forced. Then again it is the sixth one, and there's only so many ways one can ruin the life of a family living in a Paris ghetto. He still has a great gift for phrasing, though. No doubt about that. There's also a story twist which absolutely made me cry. I'd recommend reading these ones in order, though, otherwise you'll be completely lost. Also, read them in the original French if you can, because I'm quite sure the word play doesn't translate well (trust me on this: I'm a professional translator).
63- East of Eden (John Steinbeck); a re-read, from many years ago. I'd forgotten how poignant Steinbeck could be. Whether describing the beating of a whore in the dirt or discussing a Bible passage, there is something of the sublime in each of his words. East of Eden is considered to be one of his best works, and I'm not about to disagree.
64- The Pastures of Heaven (John Steinbeck); high from the literary marvel that was East of Eden, I decided to try my hand at a new Steinbeck. The Pastures of Heaven is a very odd collection of related stories, and I certainly found the reading of them a rewarding experience. Very different from the usual Steinbeck fare, and yet somehow familiar.
65- The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Laurie R. King)
66- A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Laurie R. King)
67- A Letter of Mary (Laurie R. King)
68- The Moor (Laurie R. King)
69- O Jerusalem (Laurie R. King)
Another obsession of mine. The first five novels in a very promising detective series based upon the fictional character Sherlock Holmes. King has made some very bold decisions, and all of them have worked wonderfully. I am a Holmesian purist: I don't like people mucking about with canon characters and changing the stories I love. Yet King has gone and done the unthinkable: given Holmes a young, female partner, and made *her* the narrator and thus the focus of the stories. That is why I think it works, though. Recommended reading. It's very light fare, but well-researched and very well documented. Good stuff, and gripping detective fare.
70- The Last Taboo (Scott Simmie); non-fiction, by a journalist with bi-polar affective disorder, about the state of mental health care in Canada and what it means to the average person to live with a mental illness. Basically it's a Mental Illness 101 type of book, and it's very useful in that sense. There's nothing new if you're already a "consumer" as the lingo would have it these days, but if you're new to the game, or just need a clear and concise overview, then this is the book for you. :)
71- Guérir (David Servan-Schreiber); more non-fiction, about alternative treatments of mental illness. Interesting book, if that's what you're into. Well-written, well-researched and compelling.
72- A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engle)
73- A Wind in the Door (Madeleine L'Engle)
74- A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Madeleine L'Engle)
75- Many Waters (Madeleine L'Engle)
One of my early favourites, and a series that weaves together fantasy and science fiction seamlessly I love to re-read periodically.
That's it for now, I think. There might be more, but I can't think of them. :)
But I made the goal for the year, and then some. *bounce* Go me!
:::Edit::: I *always* forget some.
76- Legions of Hell (C.J. Cherryh); one of the most entertaining S-F books I've read in a while. Really good stuff, even if it isn't one of her best-known works. The novel is was originally published in the form of several short stories which were then cobbled together to form this story. It reads well, and the premise is very very fun. Also, her Latin is very entertaining.
77- Russalka (C.J. Cherryh); a Russian ghost story by the same author, not that you'd be able to tell if you took the author's name off the book covers. I suppose that's a good and a bad thing. I couldn't put this one down, but then I'm a freak for Russian folk tales, and for fantasy, and especially for fantasy that mingles very closely with the "real" world. So this book rocked my world.
Cross-posted to
50bookchallenge."A room without books is like a body without a soul."
--Cicero
1- Deathscent (Robin Jarvis); a well-written novel in the fantasy genre, with a well-conceived background, finely crafted plotlines and likeable characters. Can't say much as I highly recommend it as an afternoon read and there would be major spoilers involved.
2- The Ill-Made Mute (Cecilia Dart-Thornton); a book which made me want to scream in frustration, because everything was excellent except for the writing, which ruined the whole thing. It's a fantasy novel, and the setting obviously had a lot of thought put into it and was incredibly elaborate and consistent (which is difficult). The characters were credible and three-dimensional, and the plot had a lot of merit. The author just seemed to feel compelled to write in that horrid pseudo-middle-English which just makes me cringe. It was also grammatically incorrect, although not many people short of Middle English scholars would be able to tell, for what that's worth.
3- Sir À Propos of Nothing (Peter David); (can we tell I was doing holiday reading?) This was a fun romp, again in a fantasy setting, starring an unlikely hero named Apropos, son of a whore in the kingdom of good king Runcible.
4- La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes (Gaétan Soucy); roughly translated: The Little Girl Who Loved Matches too much. A bizarre, very twisted tale of a little girl who's convinced she's a boy. The language is exquisite, sometimes too much so the way French novels can be, the characterisation subtle, at once punitive and gentle with the two main characters. The ending is very disturbing, though. Not for the faint of heart. It's just a few shades short of genius, IMNSHO.
5- One Good Story, That One (Thomas King); one of my favourite collections of short stories: subtle, ironic, sarcastic, yet gentle and probing at the same time. A thoughtful yet not abusive look at how Native Americans are perceived by white people, and what has become of the tradition of oral storytelling. Edited to add: I re-read this one a few times over the course of the year, actually.
6- Traitor's Purse (Margery Allingham); an Albert Campion mystery, which I always enjoy no matter how silly they are. This one reads much like any other Campion (which is a good thing), and I can heartily recommend it to any fancier of British Detective novels.
7- The Bone Doll's Twin (Lynn Flewelling); the first in what promises to be a truly excellent fantasy series. The writing is a tad uneven, but it has moments of chilling intensity. It's the story of a kingdom condemned to plague and famine and drought as long as a man rules, but the current king is intent on having the male line inherit the throne. In a terrifying biblical parallel, he has all the daughters born into his house and the rest of the families in his line put to death. Only one wizard and her apprentice decide to seal the fate of the kingdom by saving one girl, but at a price they aren't sure they can ever fully accept.
8- Why Cats Paint (I don't remember the author offhand); people with nothing better to do than give their cats some watercolour gouache paint to play with noticed that their cats actually were capable of representational art. I found myself unable to take it entirely seriously, but at the same time had to fight the urge to head off to my local art supply shop and see if my kitties could do the same thing. The last thing I need is coloured paw prints in my apartment!
9- City Magick (Christopher Penczak); recommended by a friend, it's a look at how practitioners of the modern pagan/wiccan faiths which are closely in tune with nature can coexist with the urban landscape. Not for everyone, obviously, but it has some definite points of interest.
10- The Annotated Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, E. Baring-Gould); I'm hesitant about putting that as a reading, as it's more a re-reading. I go back to old books like comfort food.
11- The Life of Pi (Yann Martel); an extraordinary allegory about religion and love of life, and winner of the Man Booker Prize 2002. Highly recommend it, as it reads beautifully and on so many levels.
12- Post Captain (Patrick O'Brian); I struggled through this one. Apart from the naval battle scenes, which sprang to life under O'Brian's pen, I found the writing stilted, the characters' motivations always unclear, and the sentence structure sometimes baffling. There were leaps in logic, tremendous holes in the plot, no resolution anywhere to be seen, and events that I would classify as red herrings would it not be an injustice to the herrings to do so. In other words, it wasn't bad enough that I didn't finish it, but I wasn't impressed either.
13- A Test of Wills (Charles Todd); a masterfully crafted mystery, set in the English countryside after the end of the First World War. Apart from an ever so slightly Agatha Christie-esque ending, the book proved to show great insight into the workings of the human mind, and drew a detailed and sensitive portrait of its subject matter.
14- Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk); read it against my better judgement as I found the movie to be pretty pointless and predictable. The book wasn't much better, except that I loved the ending: the movie copped out, while the book didn't. Thus, my theory of "the book is always better than the movie" still stands.
15- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey); a re-read, and still as good as ever. A moving and insightful classic about the struggles of the inmates of a psychiatric hospital to come to grips with their humanity, among other things.
16- Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Stephanie Barron); take Jane Austen and turn her into a Victorian Miss Marple, and there you go. It works surprisingly well for such an odd premise. The author decided that Jane Austen, with her uncanny insight into human nature, would make a great amateur detective, and she does. The voice of the books, written in the first person, is dry, witty, and utterly believable. Not a very serious read, but a good one nonetheless.
17- The Deadly Percheron (John Franklin Bardin); this book begins with the lines: "Jacob Blunt was my last patient. He came into my office wearing a scarlet hibiscus in his curly blond hair. He sat down in an easy chair across from my desk, and said, 'Doctor, I think I'm losing my mind.'" Need I say more? It's an old murder mystery, but it is sheer brilliance and I will never ever stop recommending it.
18- The Last of Phillip Banter (John Franlin Bardin); the second in the trilogy. Not quite as good as The Deadly Percheron, but still really good.
19- Devil Take the Blue Tail Fly (John Frankling Bardin); a spectacular descent into madness and murder. Again, not quite as good as The Deadly Percheron, but pretty amazing still.
20- Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen); a re-read, inspired by Stephanie Barron's book. Still genius, not that you needed to be told that.
21- Masks of the Illuminati (Robert Anton Wilson); technically I shouldn't include it as I haven't quite finished it, but I don't know when I'll get back to this journal, and I know I'll have it finished by tomorrow at latest. It's another mystery (although I didn't know that when I started it), and the two amateur detectives this time are James Joyce and Albert Einstein, shortly before they're to become famous. I'll admit to being perplexed by the plot so far, which seems to be mixing in a whole lot of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu mythos in there along with a number of other occult themes and tends to jump around wildly. Edited to add: I never did get through it. It bogged down and became incomprehensible, and thus I abandoned the attempt.
22- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (J.K. Rowling)
23- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
24- Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
25- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter has become comfort reading for me, and I can read all four books in about two days now. I kind of feel awkward including them here, but they are reading nonetheless.
26- Love Shook My Heart (varied authors); a collection of short stories about lesbian relationships. Not fantastic, but some of the stories had some interesting insights.
27- The Lady of the Sorrows (Cecilia Dart–Thornton); what a disappointment this second book of hers was for me. The writing improved, but the storytelling (for which I had liked the first book) went way downhill. It was really far too derivative, and if the story it was copying hadn't been too old to be copyrighted, I suspect Ms. Dart-Thornton might be worried about plagiarism suits right now. :P Not to mention that she slipped into a series of clichés each worse than the last. I read the entire book at the Chapters bookstore so I wouldn't have to buy it (it's still in hardcover) because it really wasn't worth the money, and I doubt I'll even bother looking at the third book at all when it comes out.
28- The Names of the Moons of Mars (Patricia Roth Schwartz); another book of short stories revolving around female relationships: mother-daughter, lesbian, friendship, what have you. Thoughtful and insightful at times, a wee bit boring and/or heavy–handed at others. Not a bad read.
29- The Black Dudley Murder (Margery Allingham); put a bunch of English people in a remote manor in the countryside, introduce an elaborately-decorated antique and exotic knife with a suitably gory myth surrounding it, then make them all play a game of "murder in the dark." There you go. Standard English murder-mystery fare, but entertaining nonetheless.
30- No Fat Chicks (Terry Poulton); non-fiction; a cogently-argued book whose basic premise is that America's current preoccupation (not to say obsession) with weight is due to what she terms the "billion-dollar brainwash" orchestrated by the dieting and food industries (owned by the same people). The book loses some of its punch due to a bit of sensationalised writing and some pet statistics that Poulton feels the need to bring up again and again and again, but it does stop to make you think, so I'd recommend it.
31- Orlando (Virginia Woolf); thus I renewed my love affair with Virginia Woolf this year. As happens every time I read a piece of hers, I didn't realise how much I was enjoying the book, nor how much it had captivated my attention, until I tried to put it down. It's a brilliantly-crafted tale with a spectacularly unlikely plot that is nonetheless captivating in the extreme. Recommended reading, folks. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.
32- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J. K. Rowling); read overnight due to a bout of insomnia. IMNSHO, Rowling gets better with every book. The same small problems with her writing are there, but they pale in comparison with the rest of the work. The characters are evolving in very credible ways, and she's added a great deal of depth to some of the secondary characters which wasn't there before. Some good plot twists, although the end seemed a bit rushed. Nothing truly bad, though.
33- Watership Down (Richard Adams); the classic story of the rabbit Hazel's search for a new warren with his friends when their warren is destroyed by developers. Fabulous stuff, if you like animal stories, and Adams creates a very convincing rabbit "culture."
34- Traveller (Richard Adams); the Civil War as told from the perspective of General Robert E. Lee's horse, Traveller. Again, beautiful storytelling, as long as you like animal stories.
35- Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf); if you haven't read this, then go do so now, and then go watch The Hours. A spine-chilling insight into madness, futility and death, and all on one sunny day in London, when Mrs. Dalloway is preparing to throw a party.
36- The Fur Person (May Sarton); why do I keep getting the feeling I've already written about this book here? That one, and Orlando, for some reason. :/ Anyway, this is one of my favourite books, which tells the story of Tom Jones and how he evolves from a Cat About Town to a Fur Person. It's supposedly a children's book, but any cat lover should adore this book. It's also fairly short (120 pages), and not too taxing a read.
37- Daggerspell (Katharine Kerr)
38- Darkspell (Katharine Kerr)
39- The Bristling Wood (Katharine Kerr)
40- The Dragon Revenant (Katharine Kerr)
41- A Time of Exile (Katharine Kerr)
42- A Time of Omens (Katharine Kerr)
43- Days of Blood and Fire (Katharine Kerr)
44- Days of Air and Darkness (Katharine Kerr)
45- The Red Wyvern (Katharine Kerr)
46- The Black Raven (Katharine Kerr)
47- The Fire Dragon (Katharine Kerr)
Welcome to my latest obsession. ;) I read all of those in twelve days, and am now waiting with baited breath for the next one to come out next year. *bounce* Spectacular fantasy writing, with a plot so intricately woven that it lasts through all eleven books, without so much as a hitch in the storytelling. Each book stands up well on its own, and she has mastered the art of the "information dump" (i.e. letting the uninformed reader know what happened in past books) without boring the readers who already know what she's talking about. Very thoughtful and complete rendering of an entire world, several different "philosophies" of life (we are talking fantasy books, here, so it's not exactly a complete treatise), and a serious approach to magic and religion.
48- A Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin)
49- A Clash of Kings (George R. R. Martin)
50- A Storm of Swords (George R. R. Martin)
Another new fantasy obsession, but with fewer books available to read. Very different feel from the Katharine Kerr novels, these are far more "realistic" (for lack of a better word) and gritty, and are quite gripping in spite of being flipping long (each book is over 800 pages). The fourth book is already "behind schedule" if there is such a thing, and driving all fans insane in the process. ;) This author is certainly not afraid of killing off his characters quite brutally if it serves the needs of his story (he doesn't do it often, don't worry), and doesn't balk at controversial or upsetting subject matter if that's what he needs to make the story go forward. Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.
51- Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy (S.D. Perry)
52- Resident Evil: Caliban Cove (S.D. Perry)
53- Resident Evil: City of the Dead (S.D. Perry)
54- Resident Evil: Underworld (S.D. Perry)
55- Resident Evil: Nemesis (S.D. Perry)
56- Resident Evil: Code Name: Veronica (S.D. Perry)
Surprisingly good novelisations of the Resident Evil video games. The author avoided purple prose and melodrama, which made for quick and gripping reads. Very good for light reading on a Sunday afternoon when you have time on your hands and little inclination to do anything else.
57- Hidden Warrior (Lynn Flewelling); the sequel to The Bone Doll's Twin. Good stuff. Consistent writing, not too many clichés, convincing character development. I'm very happy with the way this series is turning out.
58- The Concrete Blonde (Michael Connelly); a murder-mystery set in a vibrant if sordid Los Angeles, following Detective Harry Bosch's investigation of a series of crimes long-thought solved. The Dollmaker, a serial rapist and killer, has seemingly begun to strike again, although Bosch himself killed the man four years ago. Did Bosch kill the wrong man, as the deceased's wife claims (she's suing him and the LAPD for wrongful death)? Or is it the work of a copy cat? Compellingly written, with very few dull moments (although the scenes with Bosch's current girlfriend may as well have been left out —they appear to have been thrown in just so he could have some sort of love interest, and they add little to the overall story).
59- Moby Dick (Herman Melville); I finally waded through the ponderous classic, and while I'm not sorry I did it, I'm glad it's over. Five hundred pages of text, and three of them featured the whale. I'm not exactly difficult to please either: I don't demand thrills and excitement every three seconds. I think that most of my difficulty lay in the narrator's claims to scientific authenticity, which no doubt were valid enough in the XIXth-century, but to a modern reader, and especially a modern reader who was more than a little obsessed with whales in her youth, a lot of the "facts" were a little hard to swallow. Still, I'm glad to have read it.
60- Hidden Talents (David Lubar); a sweet children's book (maybe it would be considered young adult?) about a boy sent to a school for troubled kids because he just can't seem to abide authority figures. He falls in with another bunch of misfit kids, and discovers that each of his newfound friends actually has a secret, hidden talent that might just be their ticket out of their. This is the author's first book, and it's a really great start, if you want my opinion.
61- Giving Up the Ghost (Hilary Mantel); this was a really irritating, frustrating book to read. It's a memoir by the author, and I must confess that by the end all I wanted to do was grab the author by her shirt and shake her until her teeth rattled in her head. She writes beautifully, but I never forgot that I was reading crafted prose. This is a good thing for some, but it just irritates me. Also, what I would have found most interesting about her life (her marriage, her seven-year sojourn in Africa) she dismisses in a few sentences, lingering instead on aspects that seemed to me less important. It's her memoir, let her write what she wants, but I don't have to like it. ^_-
62- Aux Fruits de la passion (Daniel Pennac); he's one of my favourite authors, and this is one of my favourite series of novels, but I found this latest one a bit forced. Then again it is the sixth one, and there's only so many ways one can ruin the life of a family living in a Paris ghetto. He still has a great gift for phrasing, though. No doubt about that. There's also a story twist which absolutely made me cry. I'd recommend reading these ones in order, though, otherwise you'll be completely lost. Also, read them in the original French if you can, because I'm quite sure the word play doesn't translate well (trust me on this: I'm a professional translator).
63- East of Eden (John Steinbeck); a re-read, from many years ago. I'd forgotten how poignant Steinbeck could be. Whether describing the beating of a whore in the dirt or discussing a Bible passage, there is something of the sublime in each of his words. East of Eden is considered to be one of his best works, and I'm not about to disagree.
64- The Pastures of Heaven (John Steinbeck); high from the literary marvel that was East of Eden, I decided to try my hand at a new Steinbeck. The Pastures of Heaven is a very odd collection of related stories, and I certainly found the reading of them a rewarding experience. Very different from the usual Steinbeck fare, and yet somehow familiar.
65- The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Laurie R. King)
66- A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Laurie R. King)
67- A Letter of Mary (Laurie R. King)
68- The Moor (Laurie R. King)
69- O Jerusalem (Laurie R. King)
Another obsession of mine. The first five novels in a very promising detective series based upon the fictional character Sherlock Holmes. King has made some very bold decisions, and all of them have worked wonderfully. I am a Holmesian purist: I don't like people mucking about with canon characters and changing the stories I love. Yet King has gone and done the unthinkable: given Holmes a young, female partner, and made *her* the narrator and thus the focus of the stories. That is why I think it works, though. Recommended reading. It's very light fare, but well-researched and very well documented. Good stuff, and gripping detective fare.
70- The Last Taboo (Scott Simmie); non-fiction, by a journalist with bi-polar affective disorder, about the state of mental health care in Canada and what it means to the average person to live with a mental illness. Basically it's a Mental Illness 101 type of book, and it's very useful in that sense. There's nothing new if you're already a "consumer" as the lingo would have it these days, but if you're new to the game, or just need a clear and concise overview, then this is the book for you. :)
71- Guérir (David Servan-Schreiber); more non-fiction, about alternative treatments of mental illness. Interesting book, if that's what you're into. Well-written, well-researched and compelling.
72- A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engle)
73- A Wind in the Door (Madeleine L'Engle)
74- A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Madeleine L'Engle)
75- Many Waters (Madeleine L'Engle)
One of my early favourites, and a series that weaves together fantasy and science fiction seamlessly I love to re-read periodically.
That's it for now, I think. There might be more, but I can't think of them. :)
But I made the goal for the year, and then some. *bounce* Go me!
:::Edit::: I *always* forget some.
76- Legions of Hell (C.J. Cherryh); one of the most entertaining S-F books I've read in a while. Really good stuff, even if it isn't one of her best-known works. The novel is was originally published in the form of several short stories which were then cobbled together to form this story. It reads well, and the premise is very very fun. Also, her Latin is very entertaining.
77- Russalka (C.J. Cherryh); a Russian ghost story by the same author, not that you'd be able to tell if you took the author's name off the book covers. I suppose that's a good and a bad thing. I couldn't put this one down, but then I'm a freak for Russian folk tales, and for fantasy, and especially for fantasy that mingles very closely with the "real" world. So this book rocked my world.
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Date: 2003-12-24 09:25 am (UTC)Just the other day I was thinking about getting ready for next year and this, since I didn't keep track this year. Now I think I'll toss your post in my memories so I can look up some of the books that are on it. :D
And Merry Christmas!