The Year in Books
Ringo: Books are good.
Grandfather: *Parading's* better.
Ringo: Parading?
Grandfather: [nods eagerly] Parading the streets! Trailing your coat! Bowling along! LIVING!
Ringo: Well, I am living.
Grandfather: You? Living? When was the last time you gave a girl a pink-edged daisy? When did you last embarrass a sheila with your cool, appraising stare?
Ringo: You're a bit old for that sort of chat, aren't you?
Grandfather: Well at least I've got a backlog of memories! All you've got is - THAT BOOK!
Books are good...
Heat Wave - Richard Castle
Changes - Jim Butcher
Aftermath - Jim Butcher
My Man Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
Three for the Chair - Rex Stout
Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett
Faust Eric - Terry Pratchett
The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Stross
Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett
A Talent for War - Jack McDevitt
Polaris - Jack McDevitt
And Four to Go - Rex Stout
Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
The Girl Who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
And on Piano... Nicky Hopkins - Julian Dawson
Naked Heat - Richard Castle
The Fuller Memorandum - Charles Stross
Champagne for One - Rex Stout
Summer Knight - Jim Butcher
Death Masks - Jim Butcher
Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
Maskerade - Terry Pratchett
Forged in Fire - David Weber, ed.
Plot It Yourself - Rex Stout
Dogs Don't Lie - Clea Simon
Graceland - Deborah Grabien
Jaggers & Shad: ABC Is for Artificial Beings Crimes - Barry B. Longyear
Rule 34 - Charles Stross
Ghost Story - Jim Butcher
Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
The Final Deduction - Rex Stout
Homicide Trinity - Rex Stout
Too Many Clients - Rex Stout
Three at Wolfe's Door * - Rex Stout
Sherlock Holmes Through Time and Space - Asimov, Greenberg, and Waugh, ed.
The Man Who Counts -Poul Anderson
Desperate Measures - Joe Clifford Faust
Snuff - Terry Pratchett
The Children of the Sky - Vernor Vinge
Justice Hall - Laurie R. King
Christmas In Murder - C.S. Challinor
Murder in the Raw - C.S. Challinor
Phi Beta Murder - C.S. Challinor
Murder on the Moor - C.S. Challinor
Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman
A Cold Day in Paradise - Steve Hamilton
Winter of the Wolf Moon - Steve Hamilton
The Hunting Wind - Steve Hamilton
North of Nowhere - Steve Hamilton
Blood is the Sky - Steve Hamilton
Ice Run - Steve Hamilton
A Stolen Season - Steve Hamilton
Asterisked books were rereads.
---
I went out of my way to try to avoid rereads this year. Apart from one Wolfe book whose turn it was in the Wolfe sequence, all the books were new to me. Toward the end, I was sort of getting desperate to find new books, so I read two entire mystery series, one terrific and one terrible (the Hamiltons were the terrific ones). It was a good exercise. I finally got around to reading Pratchett's Witches sequence, which were wonderful and I highly recommend them. Plus there was a new Vimes novel, and Vernor Vinge's sequel to A Fire upon the Deep came out, as did Barry Longyear's long awaited (at least by me) collection of Jaggers and Shad stories.
There were some duds. I was looking forward to Charlie Stross's Rule 34, but was very disappointed by the ending, or lack thereof. I liked McDevitt's A Talent for War, but the sequel, Polaris, highlighted everything I dislike about his writing. The worst of the bunch, though, were the four Rex Graves mysteries written by C.S. Challinor. Badly plotted, badly written, they're only virtue is that they're short. I really should've cut my losses after the first one, but I already had the other three waiting.
Only one non-fiction, and no baseball books at all, although I have a couple on my night stand waiting to be read. Now I'm looking forward to rereading some favorites.
Grandfather: *Parading's* better.
Ringo: Parading?
Grandfather: [nods eagerly] Parading the streets! Trailing your coat! Bowling along! LIVING!
Ringo: Well, I am living.
Grandfather: You? Living? When was the last time you gave a girl a pink-edged daisy? When did you last embarrass a sheila with your cool, appraising stare?
Ringo: You're a bit old for that sort of chat, aren't you?
Grandfather: Well at least I've got a backlog of memories! All you've got is - THAT BOOK!
Books are good...
Heat Wave - Richard Castle
Changes - Jim Butcher
Aftermath - Jim Butcher
My Man Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
Three for the Chair - Rex Stout
Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett
Faust Eric - Terry Pratchett
The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Stross
Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett
A Talent for War - Jack McDevitt
Polaris - Jack McDevitt
And Four to Go - Rex Stout
Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
The Girl Who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
And on Piano... Nicky Hopkins - Julian Dawson
Naked Heat - Richard Castle
The Fuller Memorandum - Charles Stross
Champagne for One - Rex Stout
Summer Knight - Jim Butcher
Death Masks - Jim Butcher
Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
Maskerade - Terry Pratchett
Forged in Fire - David Weber, ed.
Plot It Yourself - Rex Stout
Dogs Don't Lie - Clea Simon
Graceland - Deborah Grabien
Jaggers & Shad: ABC Is for Artificial Beings Crimes - Barry B. Longyear
Rule 34 - Charles Stross
Ghost Story - Jim Butcher
Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
The Final Deduction - Rex Stout
Homicide Trinity - Rex Stout
Too Many Clients - Rex Stout
Three at Wolfe's Door * - Rex Stout
Sherlock Holmes Through Time and Space - Asimov, Greenberg, and Waugh, ed.
The Man Who Counts -Poul Anderson
Desperate Measures - Joe Clifford Faust
Snuff - Terry Pratchett
The Children of the Sky - Vernor Vinge
Justice Hall - Laurie R. King
Christmas In Murder - C.S. Challinor
Murder in the Raw - C.S. Challinor
Phi Beta Murder - C.S. Challinor
Murder on the Moor - C.S. Challinor
Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman
A Cold Day in Paradise - Steve Hamilton
Winter of the Wolf Moon - Steve Hamilton
The Hunting Wind - Steve Hamilton
North of Nowhere - Steve Hamilton
Blood is the Sky - Steve Hamilton
Ice Run - Steve Hamilton
A Stolen Season - Steve Hamilton
Asterisked books were rereads.
---
I went out of my way to try to avoid rereads this year. Apart from one Wolfe book whose turn it was in the Wolfe sequence, all the books were new to me. Toward the end, I was sort of getting desperate to find new books, so I read two entire mystery series, one terrific and one terrible (the Hamiltons were the terrific ones). It was a good exercise. I finally got around to reading Pratchett's Witches sequence, which were wonderful and I highly recommend them. Plus there was a new Vimes novel, and Vernor Vinge's sequel to A Fire upon the Deep came out, as did Barry Longyear's long awaited (at least by me) collection of Jaggers and Shad stories.
There were some duds. I was looking forward to Charlie Stross's Rule 34, but was very disappointed by the ending, or lack thereof. I liked McDevitt's A Talent for War, but the sequel, Polaris, highlighted everything I dislike about his writing. The worst of the bunch, though, were the four Rex Graves mysteries written by C.S. Challinor. Badly plotted, badly written, they're only virtue is that they're short. I really should've cut my losses after the first one, but I already had the other three waiting.
Only one non-fiction, and no baseball books at all, although I have a couple on my night stand waiting to be read. Now I'm looking forward to rereading some favorites.