Books read in 2009 (also TV)
Finished for the first time:
January:
'Tales of Beedle the Bard' - J.K. Rowling
Entertaining, cute stories with an unexpected vein of puckish humour running through it. Enjoyed it very much!
'Liberation' - Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore.
Controversial interpretations of Blake's 7 characters. A lot of their analyses appealed to me (though I wouldn't necessarily suggest the writers intended most of it). They were however a bit hard on Vila - and indeed on Michael Keating, whose performance I would argue was subtle, not superficial. He was probably the best actor of the lot, in terms of consistency. Just 'cos he doesn't wave his hands around and Thesp till his gums bleed - like The Darrow - does not make him a wishy-washy actor! Other than, I found their assessment of many of the characters compelling - particularly Gan and poor maligned Travis, lol.
'Disordered Minds' - Minette Walters.
Interesting main character, some good social commentary, but the mystery was in the end a bit thin and the ending rather abrupt and disappointing.
'Number Ten' - Sue Townsend
Brilliant as usual, funny, bittersweet, but with an incredibly depressing ending and some slightly uncomfortable social commentary. Nonetheless, my reaction to it is my failing and not hers.
'One Child' - Torey Hayden
Recommended by my dad, her biggest fan. Would have been better had she written it as a psychologist, not from the point of view of a teacher crossed with a social worker, which made it a bit soppy. Would have preferred a more technical depiction of the kid's issues, but still a very compelling story. Would recommend to a non-scientist!
'The Oxford Murders' - Guillermo Martinez
One of the best and most interesting crime novels I've ever read. Would recommend to anybody interested in crime or maths or both :D I didn't guess the ending.
'Silent Boy' - Torey Hayden
Better than the first one; very interesting case, better writing, but I'm still not keen on her style or attitude. There's something a bit aggressive about it.
February:
'Renfield:- Slave of Dracula' - Barbara Hambly
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :D It's actually well-written! I was expecting it to be horrible, but I enjoyed it. Yay. Not a book to set the world on fire, but an entertaining read if you're already a Dracula fan. Fills in a lot of gaps.
'Our Haunted Planet' - John Keel.
Rather bizarre, but informative, review of 'evidence' for an advanced civilisation that died out before humans stole the Earth. Some of the bits and bobs are very interesting, though I certainly wouldn't concur with the conclusions a lot of people are apparently drawing from them!
'The Associate' - Philip Margolin.
Entertaining, light legal thriller. Enjoyed and would read more; make good books to veg out to in the bath.
'At Swim, Two Boys' - Jamie O'Neill
Incredible book. All I can say is 0-0 and ;-; and read it!
March:
'Haunted House Stories' - Peter Haining
Very nice collection of spooky stories. Some classic, some innovative, some just plain enjoyable.
'The Innocent Man' - Peter Margolin
Shite - racist, sexist, highly derivative shite.
'The Godfather' - Mario Puzo
Brilliant! An absolutely superb read; in fact I've already started reading it again, lol.
April:
'Ghost Girl' - Torey Hayden.
Read a couple more of hers while visiting my folks; my dad's a big fan. This one was rather disturbing and weird, and I still think her style is a bit irritating, but interesting content.
'Tiger's Child' - Torey Hayden.
Somewhat convenient follow-up to 'One Child' - a very engaging read. The website's interesting too.
'Lisey's Story' - Stephen King.
Another one for the favourites list - virtually nothing happens, it's all from one character's POV, but it's just so *rich*, like Gerald's Game and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Bag of Bones (it's the flipside to Bag of Bones, in a way). One of the reviewers commented that King's power is to make the most mundane events seem epic, and it's true. Ordinary people, ordinary lives, with that creeping touch of the supernatural, the utterly horrible, which no matter how extraordinary is made to seem possible by that normal everyday context. It is yayful.
'Cop Hater' - Ed McBain.
Amusing, short, callous evil-wife police procedural romp. Was engaged by the entertaining trope-characters and the writer's matter-of-factness. Liked it.
'The Sicilian' - Mario Puzo.
Guh. Just guh. Even better than The Godfather, and I re-read that immediately after finishing it for the first time. He writes in parables of death and it's extraordinarily beautiful, like watching an extremely violent ballet. Amazing.
'V for Vendetta' - Alan Moore
Possibly one of the best things ever. V says everything I can't find the words for, and he does it with impeccable style.
'Renfield' - Lawrence Barker.
Bizarre book. Nothing really to do with 'Dracula' save the character names, but with an interesting and original story and some cool original characters. Would have done better as its own novel, without the 'Dracula' association, tbh. Rather a surprisingly open-minded ending. Overall I enjoyed it, a fun, quick read.
May
'Watchmen' - Alan Moore.
There are no words for its coolness. There are no words for how emo and angry the ending makes me. Renewed respect for human life, indeed. Big blue asshole.
'The Bone Yard' - Paul Johnston.
Took me two tries to get into this one, but once I started visualising Mark Sheppard as the main character I decided I liked him ;) Weirdish book. I usually love sci-fi noir and I did end up loving this, but it's a little too close in the future to be realistic. Decided it was supposed to be AU and that made it easier to read. The author has some nice turns of phrase - wry parodies of the stereotypical hardboiled detective story cliches - and his characters are strange, but engaging. I wasn't desperately enamoured of the plot, but plot is tertiary to my interests - I go for character first and atmosphere second. Will probably read the other books in the series eventually.
'Neuromancer' - William Gibson.
Without reservation, one of the best books I have ever read. A pioneering giant of the genre. *The* pioneering giant of the genre. The glorious origin of cyberpunk. Fantastic characters, too.
'Last Tango in Aberystwyth' - Malcolm Pryce.
Bizarre, surreal detective-noir comedy, like a cross between Raymond Chandler and Mony Python. Weird, but funny.
'Ghosts of Sleath' - James Herbert.
I only got this because I like David Ash, the main character, who also appeared in 'Haunted'. This one's rather better written - I think he ate a thesaurus the first time - but it's still fairly cliched. I was quite impressed by the unexpectedly gross conclusion, though, and one or two of the secondary characters were interesting. On the whole quite a good leave-your-brain-out-of-it read. Will read again.
'The Terminal Man' - Michael Crichton.
'Casino Royale' - Ian Fleming.
June, July
(too busy to read much, and lost track - mostly read short stories and re-read old books).
August
'A Quantum Murder' - Peter Hamilton (courtesy of Nic)
Re-reads, partial reads:
'Evil Holds the Key' - Normal Russell.
Read a few chapters. Can't finish it. It's one of the worst-written books I've ever read - I could feel my IQ dropping with every page. Argh!
'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle.
Re-reading for the two millionth time :)
'Five Have a Mystery to Solve' - Enid Blyton.
Not one of my favourites but it happened to be within easy reach of the bathroom.
'Second Form at Malory Towers' - Enid Blyton
Hee.
'Third Year at Malory Towers' - Enid Blyton
'Haunted' - James Herbert
'The Godfather' - Mario Puzo
'LXG' - Kevin J. Anderson.
I am unashamed to say that I skimmed it for the Skinner bits :)
'Fallen Dragon' - Peter Hamilton.
'Five on a Treasure Island' - Enid Blyton
'Five go to Mystery Moor' - Enid Blyton
One of the few FF books I didn't manage to read as a kid, which makes it impossible for me to get into it as an adult :/
'Secret Seven Mystery' - Enid Blyton.
'Holmes and Watson' - June Thomson.
Mildly entertaining but has very little in the way of original speculation (though there are a couple of interesting theories). Not much in there you can't get from reading the stories by themselves, plus a basic knowledge of Victorian culture, technology, and history. Then again I understand it wasn't really intended as a scholarly work but a popular book for casual fans. Which is cool - so many Holmesians seem to think they're somehow smarter than the average bear just because they're Holmes fans.
'Ghosts of Sleath' - James Herbert.
'In the Fifth at Malory Towers' - Enid Blyton
'The Secret of Crickley Hall' - James Herbert
'Pet Sematary' - Stephen King
'The Historian' - Elizabeth Kostova
'The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
(Unfinished; couldn't get past how dated it is in the end; will try again sometime)
A variety of short stories, mainly horror.
Currently reading:
'Designer Evolution' - Simon Young
'Don Quixote' - Cervantes
'Resurrection Day'
'Pompeii' - Robert Harris (courtesy of Nic)
Next on the list:
'Musicology' - Oliver Sacks
'Migraine' - Oliver Sacks
'Ending Aging' - Aubrey de Grey
Various works of Cicero
'Star Trek: Symmetry'
A couple of monk books
House of the Dead
Planned re-reads:
(Kilbrack)
(Ripliad)
(Imperium)
(Archangel)
(The Ghost)
(Neuromancer)
TV watched this year:
Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett version)
BSG (final season)
Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles (second and final season)
Dollhouse (first season)
Firefly (what there is of it)
Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 3, 4, 5)
Ashes to Ashes (season 2)
Currently watching:
Babylon 5 (second complete watchthrough on DVD)
Star Trek: TNG (re-watching random episodes on Virgin 1)
Scrubs (watching or rewatching random episodes on comedy central)
Starsky and Hutch (first watch of random eps as the need takes me)
Spanish Life on Mars (first watch, as becomes available)
The Likely Lads (watching/rewatching, periodically when we visit my folks)
...periodic snippets/random eps of any of the below.
Current active fandoms:
Active meaning reading and/or writing (or at least having plot bunnies for) fic, and/or discussing with others, and/or RPing.
Blake's 7
Star Trek (all)
Ashes to Ashes
Dollhouse
Watchmen
Sarah Connor (bastards bastards bastards!)
BSG
Starsky & Hutch
Neuromancer (not that it has much of one)
Jonathan Creek
Sherlock Holmes
Dresden Files
Babylon 5
January:
'Tales of Beedle the Bard' - J.K. Rowling
Entertaining, cute stories with an unexpected vein of puckish humour running through it. Enjoyed it very much!
'Liberation' - Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore.
Controversial interpretations of Blake's 7 characters. A lot of their analyses appealed to me (though I wouldn't necessarily suggest the writers intended most of it). They were however a bit hard on Vila - and indeed on Michael Keating, whose performance I would argue was subtle, not superficial. He was probably the best actor of the lot, in terms of consistency. Just 'cos he doesn't wave his hands around and Thesp till his gums bleed - like The Darrow - does not make him a wishy-washy actor! Other than, I found their assessment of many of the characters compelling - particularly Gan and poor maligned Travis, lol.
'Disordered Minds' - Minette Walters.
Interesting main character, some good social commentary, but the mystery was in the end a bit thin and the ending rather abrupt and disappointing.
'Number Ten' - Sue Townsend
Brilliant as usual, funny, bittersweet, but with an incredibly depressing ending and some slightly uncomfortable social commentary. Nonetheless, my reaction to it is my failing and not hers.
'One Child' - Torey Hayden
Recommended by my dad, her biggest fan. Would have been better had she written it as a psychologist, not from the point of view of a teacher crossed with a social worker, which made it a bit soppy. Would have preferred a more technical depiction of the kid's issues, but still a very compelling story. Would recommend to a non-scientist!
'The Oxford Murders' - Guillermo Martinez
One of the best and most interesting crime novels I've ever read. Would recommend to anybody interested in crime or maths or both :D I didn't guess the ending.
'Silent Boy' - Torey Hayden
Better than the first one; very interesting case, better writing, but I'm still not keen on her style or attitude. There's something a bit aggressive about it.
February:
'Renfield:- Slave of Dracula' - Barbara Hambly
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :D It's actually well-written! I was expecting it to be horrible, but I enjoyed it. Yay. Not a book to set the world on fire, but an entertaining read if you're already a Dracula fan. Fills in a lot of gaps.
'Our Haunted Planet' - John Keel.
Rather bizarre, but informative, review of 'evidence' for an advanced civilisation that died out before humans stole the Earth. Some of the bits and bobs are very interesting, though I certainly wouldn't concur with the conclusions a lot of people are apparently drawing from them!
'The Associate' - Philip Margolin.
Entertaining, light legal thriller. Enjoyed and would read more; make good books to veg out to in the bath.
'At Swim, Two Boys' - Jamie O'Neill
Incredible book. All I can say is 0-0 and ;-; and read it!
March:
'Haunted House Stories' - Peter Haining
Very nice collection of spooky stories. Some classic, some innovative, some just plain enjoyable.
'The Innocent Man' - Peter Margolin
Shite - racist, sexist, highly derivative shite.
'The Godfather' - Mario Puzo
Brilliant! An absolutely superb read; in fact I've already started reading it again, lol.
April:
'Ghost Girl' - Torey Hayden.
Read a couple more of hers while visiting my folks; my dad's a big fan. This one was rather disturbing and weird, and I still think her style is a bit irritating, but interesting content.
'Tiger's Child' - Torey Hayden.
Somewhat convenient follow-up to 'One Child' - a very engaging read. The website's interesting too.
'Lisey's Story' - Stephen King.
Another one for the favourites list - virtually nothing happens, it's all from one character's POV, but it's just so *rich*, like Gerald's Game and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Bag of Bones (it's the flipside to Bag of Bones, in a way). One of the reviewers commented that King's power is to make the most mundane events seem epic, and it's true. Ordinary people, ordinary lives, with that creeping touch of the supernatural, the utterly horrible, which no matter how extraordinary is made to seem possible by that normal everyday context. It is yayful.
'Cop Hater' - Ed McBain.
Amusing, short, callous evil-wife police procedural romp. Was engaged by the entertaining trope-characters and the writer's matter-of-factness. Liked it.
'The Sicilian' - Mario Puzo.
Guh. Just guh. Even better than The Godfather, and I re-read that immediately after finishing it for the first time. He writes in parables of death and it's extraordinarily beautiful, like watching an extremely violent ballet. Amazing.
'V for Vendetta' - Alan Moore
Possibly one of the best things ever. V says everything I can't find the words for, and he does it with impeccable style.
'Renfield' - Lawrence Barker.
Bizarre book. Nothing really to do with 'Dracula' save the character names, but with an interesting and original story and some cool original characters. Would have done better as its own novel, without the 'Dracula' association, tbh. Rather a surprisingly open-minded ending. Overall I enjoyed it, a fun, quick read.
May
'Watchmen' - Alan Moore.
There are no words for its coolness. There are no words for how emo and angry the ending makes me. Renewed respect for human life, indeed. Big blue asshole.
'The Bone Yard' - Paul Johnston.
Took me two tries to get into this one, but once I started visualising Mark Sheppard as the main character I decided I liked him ;) Weirdish book. I usually love sci-fi noir and I did end up loving this, but it's a little too close in the future to be realistic. Decided it was supposed to be AU and that made it easier to read. The author has some nice turns of phrase - wry parodies of the stereotypical hardboiled detective story cliches - and his characters are strange, but engaging. I wasn't desperately enamoured of the plot, but plot is tertiary to my interests - I go for character first and atmosphere second. Will probably read the other books in the series eventually.
'Neuromancer' - William Gibson.
Without reservation, one of the best books I have ever read. A pioneering giant of the genre. *The* pioneering giant of the genre. The glorious origin of cyberpunk. Fantastic characters, too.
'Last Tango in Aberystwyth' - Malcolm Pryce.
Bizarre, surreal detective-noir comedy, like a cross between Raymond Chandler and Mony Python. Weird, but funny.
'Ghosts of Sleath' - James Herbert.
I only got this because I like David Ash, the main character, who also appeared in 'Haunted'. This one's rather better written - I think he ate a thesaurus the first time - but it's still fairly cliched. I was quite impressed by the unexpectedly gross conclusion, though, and one or two of the secondary characters were interesting. On the whole quite a good leave-your-brain-out-of-it read. Will read again.
'The Terminal Man' - Michael Crichton.
'Casino Royale' - Ian Fleming.
June, July
(too busy to read much, and lost track - mostly read short stories and re-read old books).
August
'A Quantum Murder' - Peter Hamilton (courtesy of Nic)
Re-reads, partial reads:
'Evil Holds the Key' - Normal Russell.
Read a few chapters. Can't finish it. It's one of the worst-written books I've ever read - I could feel my IQ dropping with every page. Argh!
'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle.
Re-reading for the two millionth time :)
'Five Have a Mystery to Solve' - Enid Blyton.
Not one of my favourites but it happened to be within easy reach of the bathroom.
'Second Form at Malory Towers' - Enid Blyton
Hee.
'Third Year at Malory Towers' - Enid Blyton
'Haunted' - James Herbert
'The Godfather' - Mario Puzo
'LXG' - Kevin J. Anderson.
I am unashamed to say that I skimmed it for the Skinner bits :)
'Fallen Dragon' - Peter Hamilton.
'Five on a Treasure Island' - Enid Blyton
'Five go to Mystery Moor' - Enid Blyton
One of the few FF books I didn't manage to read as a kid, which makes it impossible for me to get into it as an adult :/
'Secret Seven Mystery' - Enid Blyton.
'Holmes and Watson' - June Thomson.
Mildly entertaining but has very little in the way of original speculation (though there are a couple of interesting theories). Not much in there you can't get from reading the stories by themselves, plus a basic knowledge of Victorian culture, technology, and history. Then again I understand it wasn't really intended as a scholarly work but a popular book for casual fans. Which is cool - so many Holmesians seem to think they're somehow smarter than the average bear just because they're Holmes fans.
'Ghosts of Sleath' - James Herbert.
'In the Fifth at Malory Towers' - Enid Blyton
'The Secret of Crickley Hall' - James Herbert
'Pet Sematary' - Stephen King
'The Historian' - Elizabeth Kostova
'The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
(Unfinished; couldn't get past how dated it is in the end; will try again sometime)
A variety of short stories, mainly horror.
Currently reading:
'Designer Evolution' - Simon Young
'Don Quixote' - Cervantes
'Resurrection Day'
'Pompeii' - Robert Harris (courtesy of Nic)
Next on the list:
'Musicology' - Oliver Sacks
'Migraine' - Oliver Sacks
'Ending Aging' - Aubrey de Grey
Various works of Cicero
'Star Trek: Symmetry'
A couple of monk books
House of the Dead
Planned re-reads:
(Kilbrack)
(Ripliad)
(Imperium)
(Archangel)
(The Ghost)
(Neuromancer)
TV watched this year:
Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett version)
BSG (final season)
Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles (second and final season)
Dollhouse (first season)
Firefly (what there is of it)
Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 3, 4, 5)
Ashes to Ashes (season 2)
Currently watching:
Babylon 5 (second complete watchthrough on DVD)
Star Trek: TNG (re-watching random episodes on Virgin 1)
Scrubs (watching or rewatching random episodes on comedy central)
Starsky and Hutch (first watch of random eps as the need takes me)
Spanish Life on Mars (first watch, as becomes available)
The Likely Lads (watching/rewatching, periodically when we visit my folks)
...periodic snippets/random eps of any of the below.
Current active fandoms:
Active meaning reading and/or writing (or at least having plot bunnies for) fic, and/or discussing with others, and/or RPing.
Blake's 7
Star Trek (all)
Ashes to Ashes
Dollhouse
Watchmen
Sarah Connor (bastards bastards bastards!)
BSG
Starsky & Hutch
Neuromancer (not that it has much of one)
Jonathan Creek
Sherlock Holmes
Dresden Files
Babylon 5