2008: Books in Review
So I managed to read 54 books in 2008 (55 if I end up finishing "Living With the Dead" before New Years. Oh Kelley Armstrong, I wish I could quit you. Really.) and I wanted to list my top Fives, both what I loved and what I loved to hate. I'm categorizing these books as disliked by me, but not "worst books of 2008" because I know people have different ideas about what makes a book good to them. And you can always check my goodreads account for what I'm reading and what I hated:)
My favorites:
1. I'm going to cheat and list a series here, "The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" by Greg Keyes. Loved the world building, the complex characters, and some of the better written female characters I've seen in a long time.
2. Another series here, the Mediator books by Meg Cabot. Great protagonist (another strong female - I believed Suz was from NYC) and just a fun read (though I do have one sticking point with the last book.)
3. I enjoyed "The Name of the Wind" the first in a new fantasy series by Patrick Rothfuss.
4. "Luck in the Shadows" - the first of the Nighrunner series, one that's absolutely sucked me in.
5. "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" this first book gets so many things right, an unreliable narrator and an inventive use of language. Unfortunately it's the best of the series, which just gets worse as it goes on.
Books I really really disliked:
5. "Dexter in the Dark" Good lord did this book suck. All of a sudden Dexter's insanity is a supernatural entity? Babylonian gods? Stop drinking the happy juice Jeff Lindsay.
4. "Dark Gold." I'd say I didn't know how you made it to the NY Times bestselling list, Christine Feehan, with you love of helpless females, alpha men and soul bonds, but I've seen the Twilight insanity....
3. "Twilight" Yeah, I really disliked it. Although I will say that it made me remember what it felt like to be a 14 year old girl and man, I really hate feeling like that! The gender issues in the novel have been discussed by better minds than I.
2. I'm going to list "The Dracula Dossier" and "A Flaw in the Blood" as a tie for historical fiction gone bad. You can choose from Queen Victoria being the murderer of her husband or a bumbling and rambling Bram Stoker with the most unsatisifying climax since "The Historian."
1. The book I hated the absolute most? It has to be "Any Given Doomsday." Every time I think about it, I find another thing to annoy me. From the author thinking she's oh so clever with her two-bit witicisms, to the long erotic rape scene at the end of the novel, never mind the random stereotyping of Italian Americans for no reason...It seemed to be just another author's attempt at cashing in on the Urban Fantasy phenomena without giving thought to decent world building or creative, complex characters.
Comments? Suggestions? Cookies?
My favorites:
1. I'm going to cheat and list a series here, "The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" by Greg Keyes. Loved the world building, the complex characters, and some of the better written female characters I've seen in a long time.
2. Another series here, the Mediator books by Meg Cabot. Great protagonist (another strong female - I believed Suz was from NYC) and just a fun read (though I do have one sticking point with the last book.)
3. I enjoyed "The Name of the Wind" the first in a new fantasy series by Patrick Rothfuss.
4. "Luck in the Shadows" - the first of the Nighrunner series, one that's absolutely sucked me in.
5. "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" this first book gets so many things right, an unreliable narrator and an inventive use of language. Unfortunately it's the best of the series, which just gets worse as it goes on.
Books I really really disliked:
5. "Dexter in the Dark" Good lord did this book suck. All of a sudden Dexter's insanity is a supernatural entity? Babylonian gods? Stop drinking the happy juice Jeff Lindsay.
4. "Dark Gold." I'd say I didn't know how you made it to the NY Times bestselling list, Christine Feehan, with you love of helpless females, alpha men and soul bonds, but I've seen the Twilight insanity....
3. "Twilight" Yeah, I really disliked it. Although I will say that it made me remember what it felt like to be a 14 year old girl and man, I really hate feeling like that! The gender issues in the novel have been discussed by better minds than I.
2. I'm going to list "The Dracula Dossier" and "A Flaw in the Blood" as a tie for historical fiction gone bad. You can choose from Queen Victoria being the murderer of her husband or a bumbling and rambling Bram Stoker with the most unsatisifying climax since "The Historian."
1. The book I hated the absolute most? It has to be "Any Given Doomsday." Every time I think about it, I find another thing to annoy me. From the author thinking she's oh so clever with her two-bit witicisms, to the long erotic rape scene at the end of the novel, never mind the random stereotyping of Italian Americans for no reason...It seemed to be just another author's attempt at cashing in on the Urban Fantasy phenomena without giving thought to decent world building or creative, complex characters.
Comments? Suggestions? Cookies?