2002: Ruth's Year in Books
Last year, I decided that I would keep a list of all the books I read. It would be, I thought, interesting to see how much, and what, I actually read. So when I read a book, I wrote it down in my writing binder. I liked the whole project so much that I did it again this year.
What's here:
What's not here:
January 1-2 Dagger's Edge by Anne Logston. First of the books about Jael, Shadow's goddaughter. Not bad, but not great either. Second reading.
January 3 Dagger's Point by Anne Logston. The second book about Jael. Somewhat more interesting than Dagger's Edge. Second reading.
January 4-5 Nekropolis by Maureen F. McHugh. The newest book by the author of China Mountain Zhang. Not as good as China Mountain Zhang. First reading.
January 7 White as Snow by Tanith Lee. A dark and dirty--in a bad way--telling of the Snow White story. First reading.
January 8 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. There's a reason this book won the Newberry award. It holds up quite well. Second or third reading.
January 10 Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt. The first in a loosely-related series about The Kingdom. Second reading.
January 11-18 The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope. This has an intriguing plot--girl exiled to a castle finds a way into the land of Faerie and true love too--but it's badly done and makes for extremely slow reading. Second reading.
January 19-25 The Prestige Christopher Priest. An intriguing idea about dueling magicians and their descendants, but not a particularly good book. First reading.
January 26 Flipped Wendelin Van Draanen. An absolutely wonderful book with antagonism, true-to-life teenagers, and chickens. First reading.
February 2-5 City of Diamond by Jane Emerson. Jane Emerson is another pseudonym of a woman who also writes under the name of Doris Egan. City of Diamond is wonderful. It has lots and lots of characters and an intriguing plot. Its only flaw is the ending which cries out for the unpublished sequel. First reading.
February 15-16 The Onion Girl by Charles deLint. This is a very depressing book, and it suffers from Charles deLint's tendency to lecture. It seems thrown together. First reading.
February 17- Druids by Morgan Llywelyn. I had the urge to read this again, but couldn't get into it. Second reading (unfinished).
February 27-28 When the King Comes Home by Caroline Stevermer. An excellent book about an artist and a king set in the same world as A College of Magics. First reading.
March 1-8 Dreams Underfoot by Charles deLint. A short story collection that can't have been that good as I no longer remember anything about it. First reading.
March 9-10 On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt. Second book in the series about the Kingdom. Second reading.
March 11 The Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voigt. Third book in the series about the Kingdom. This one has quite the twist in the middle. First reading.
March 12 The Gate of Ivory by Doris Egan. The first in an excellent trilogy with magic, true love, and family intrigue. Second or third reading.
March 14-15 Two-Bit Heroes by Doris Egan. The second in the trilogy. In which Theo and Ran become criminals. Second or third reading.
March 15 Guilt-Edged Ivory by Doris Egan. The third in the trilogy. Theo has a run-in with Cormallon family politics. Second or third reading.
March 17-20 Sable, Shadow, and Ice by Cheryl J. Franklin. A wonderful post-apocalyptic fantasy novel. Third or fourth reading.
April 10-12 The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. This book totally lives up to its hype. It moves from hilarious to heartbreaking without falling out of character. First reading.
April 13 Silver Woven in My Hair by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. My favorite Cinderella retelling. Third or fourth reading.
April 13 Vertical Run by Joseph R. Garber. A great thriller about a guy who goes to work one morning to find that everyone wants to kill him. First reading.
April 26-28 Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. A wonderful Sleeping Beauty retelling. Second reading.
April 30-May 5 The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer. A thriller that is at least twice as long as it should be for the story it tells. First reading.
May 6-7 The China Garden by Liz Berry. The novel is intriguing, but there's a severe flaw in her theology. First reading.
May 10-11 Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy. Much, much more modern than anything else she's written. First reading.
May 13 Ammonite by Nicola Griffith. The book starts out like a sci fi novel, falls apart into a too slow lesbian fantasy novel and picks up again for only a few moments at the end. This book furnishes further proof that Nicola Griffith neither has a good sense of timing nor is the genre writer she's presented as. First reading.
May 22 A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Heartbreaking, yes, but it never quite reaches the same level of greatness as The Deep End of the Ocean. First reading.
May 24 The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy. One of my two favorite Maeve Binchy novels. Fourth or fifth reading.
May 26 Fools Errant by Matt Hughes. I gave up after putting the book down to find something else to do several times in the first chapter. First reading (unfinished).
May 27 Slow River by Nicola Griffith. Nicola Griffith's best book, not so much for the plot but for the creative use of verb tenses, which appeals to the grammar geek inside me. Second reading.
June 1 Hit List by Lawrence Block. An amusing novel about a hit man. First reading.
June 3 Moment of Truth by Lisa Scottoline. What good is a thriller where you know what's happened in the first five pages? First reading.
June 4 The Overseer by Jonathan Rabb. This is the scariest book I have ever read in my life. First reading.
June 5 Gideon by Russell Andrews. Russell Andrews is the pseudonym of a pair of authors who should have stuck to creating pseudonyms. The book is far too predictable. First reading.
June 8 Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede. A great book about a Regency-era magician, a pickpocket, and a stolen silver dish. Third or fourth reading.
June 8 Magician's Ward by Patricia C. Wrede. Sequel to Mairelon the Magician. Also great. Second or third reading.
June 10 Young Wives by Olivia Goldsmith. Not worth the effort to read it. First reading.
June 11 Fashionably Late by Olivia Goldsmith. Slightly better than Young Wives. First reading.
June 15 High Crimes by Joseph Finder. Despite the intriguing premise, I decided I would wait until the movie comes to network TV to find out what happens. First reading (unfinished).
June 15 The Marching Season by Daniel Silva. I really liked The Mark of the Assassin, but I had no interest in reading more about the same characters. First reading (unfinished).
June 16 Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith. This was previously published in two volumes, Crown Duel and Court Duel. Her battle scenes are extremely weak, but I love her main character. Forget the extra story at the end of the book--it doesn't even begin to live up to the standard set by the rest of the book. First reading.
June 18 The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry. The first in her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, in which Charlotte and Thomas meet for the first time. Second reading.
June 19 Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. First in the Marcus Didius Falco series, and one of the best. Second reading.
June 20-21 Shadows in Bronze by Lindsey Davis. Second Falco novel. Second reading.
June 21 Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede. First of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Quite fun. Second or third reading.
June 22 Callander Square by Anne Perry. Second of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels. Not as interesting once they're married. Second reading (unfinished).
June 22-24 The Assassini by Thomas Gifford. A wonderful thriller about the Catholic Church. Well worth reading. First reading.
June 25 Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis. Third and best Falco novel. Second reading.
June 26 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. An absolutely marvelous book about four friends who share a pair of magic jeans during their first summer apart. First reading.
June 27 Elske by Cynthia Voigt. Fourth and last, to date, book in the loosely related series about The Kingdom. First reading.
June 28-29 The Books of Great Alta by Jane Yolen. Two books in one volume, neither of which is all that great. First reading.
June 30 The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Laid-up Scotland Yard Inspector becomes intrigued by Richard II. Good book. First reading.
July 1 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Hilarious novel. I can't wait for the sequel. First reading.
July 2-4 The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis. Fourth Falco novel. Second reading.
July 4-5 Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis. Fifth Falco novel. Second reading.
July 7 Light Raid by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice. A marvelous sci fi novel. Second reading.
July 8 Of Time and of Seasons by Norma Johnston. Historical novel set at the beginning of the Civil War. Third or fourth reading.
July 8 A Striving After Wind by Norma Johnston. Sequel to Of Time and of Seasons. Third or fourth reading.
July 9 The Keeping Days by Norma Johnston. Set at the turn of the century. First book about Tish Sterling. Third or fourth reading.
July 9-10 Glory in the Flower by Norma Johnston. Sequel to The Keeping Days. Third or fourth reading.
July 10 The Sanctuary Tree by Norma Johnston. Sequel to Glory in the Flower. Third or fourth reading.
July 10 A Mustard Seed of Magic by Norma Johnston. Sequel to The Sanctuary Tree. Third or fourth reading.
July 11 A Nice Girl Like You by Norma Johnston. Takes place at the beginning of World War I. The story of Tish's neice. Third or fourth reading.
July 11 Myself and I by Norma Johnston. Sequel to A Nice Girl Like You. Third or fourth reading.
July 11 Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp (J.K. Rowling). Hilarious rundown of the history of Quidditch.
July 13-23 The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. A horrendously long book with a horribly written romance. First reading.
July 27 Borrowed Light by Anna Fienberg. A great novel about an astronomy-obsessed pregnant teenager. First reading.
July 28 Don't Blame the Music by Caroline B. Cooney. Not very good. First reading.
July 29 Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. Just as the story's picking up, the book ends. First reading.
July 30 The Education of Robert Nifkin by Daniel Pinkwater. Amusing story from an NPR guy. First reading.
July 31-August 1 What Became of Her by M.E. Kerr. Not very good. First reading.
August 5 The Year Without Michael by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Not actually that good a book, but the ending was worth the second reading. Second reading.
August 14-16 Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells. Incredibly good book with one of my absolute favorite formulas--the travelling magic user (in this case, a priestess) and the travelling warrior who meet up, travel together, defeat evil, and fall in love. First reading.
August 17-22 The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. Three novels in one volume that tell the story of Paksenarrion. Still quite good. Third reading.
August 23-24 Queen's Own by Mercedes Lackey. Also three novels in one volume, these telling the story of Talia. The series holds up much better than I thought the last time I tried to reread it. Second or third reading.
August 24-25 By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey. Quite possibly the best of the Valdemar novels, this tells the story of Kerowyn, who is definitely the best Valdemar heroine. Second or third reading.
August 26 Water Witch by Cynthia Felice and Connie Willis. Fairly good, and what you would expect from the collaboration. Second reading.
August 28-29 Deerskin by Robin McKinley. Another fairy tale retelling, and one of my most favorite books. Fourth or fifth reading.
August 31 The Oathbound by Mercedes Lackey. The book doesn't hold up well because many of the chapters are previously published short stories in differing styles, yet it's presented as a novel. Second or third reading.
September 1 The Oathbreakers by Mercedes Lackey. The sequel to The Oathbound, and a better book. Second or third reading.
September 2 Winds of Fate by Mercedes Lackey. The first book about Elspeth. Not a great book, but it has the best sex scenes of the Valdemar novels. Second reading.
September 3-7 Winds of Change by Mercedes Lackey. Second book about Elspeth, and the point at which the Valdemar novels start to fall apart. Second reading.
September 7-8 Falcon by Emma Bull. An excellent book. Second reading.
September 8-9 Persuasion by Jane Austen. Not a great book, but it didn't make me want to gouge my eyes out with a rusty nail. The movie's better. First reading.
September 9-12 The Rising of the Moon by Flynn Connolly. A great feminist novel set in a near-future Ireland. Second reading.
September 13-14 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. A classic. Second reading.
September 14-15 Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. Still good. Second reading.
September 15-16 Finder by Emma Bull. A novel of the Borderlands. Quite good. Second reading.
September 17-19 How To Be Good by Nick Hornby. Amazon.com kept recommending it to me, but I didn't like it. First reading (unfinished).
September 19-20 Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery. The last good Anne book, as she stops being interesting once she and Gilbert are heavily in love. First reading.
September 21 A Dance for Three by Louise Plummer. Another pregnant Australian teenager novel. Not as good as Borrowed Light. First reading.
September 21 The Summons by John Grisham. Not very good. I don't know why I keep reading his books. First reading.
September 22 A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Another classic. Fifth or sixth reading.
September 23 The Bird's Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin. Rather more preachy than I remembered it being. Third reading.
September 23 The Secret Garden by France Hodgson Burnett. Yet another classic. Fourth or fifth reading.
September 28 Facing the Music by Margaret Willey. Fairly standard teen novel. First reading.
September 28-29 Circa 2000: Lesbian Fiction at the Millenium edited by Terry Wolverton and Robert Drake. If this is any example, lesbian fiction is in trouble. First reading.
October 1-2 Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff. An extraordinarily good piece of military sci fi with a female protagonist who kicks some serious ass. First reading.
October 3-5 Dragon's Bones by Patricia Briggs. Good fantasy, great ending. First reading.
October 5 The Tattoed Potato and other clues by Ellen Raskin. Fun mystery story by the author of The Westing Game. Third reading.
October 5-6 The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman. Too predictable story of guilt in a private school. First reading.
October 9-11 Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith. Good enough to read twice in one year. Second reading.
October 13 No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman. Funny, but not up to his usual standards. First reading.
October 13-14 The Better Part of Valor by Tanya Huff. Equally excellent sequel to Valor's Choice. First reading.
October 15-17 The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. I couldn't even make it 80 pages into the book. First reading (unfinished).
October 19 Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Excellent young adult novel. First reading.
October 20 The Divine Economy of Salvation by Priscila Uppal. Another guilt in a private school story. I have to stop listening to Amazon.com about this sort of thing. First reading.
October 25 The Children on the Top Floor by Noel Streatfeild. Four adopted children with sensible English names take up careers in show business. Not as good as I remember. Third or fourth reading.
October 27 Uncharted Territory by Connie Willis. A very good book, and I again own a copy. Third reading.
October 27-30 Bone Dance by Emma Bull. Fascinating novel about gender, identity, and energy. Second reading.
November 2 Picklemania by Jerry Spinelli. I had the urge to read the School Daze series after realizing that Hermione reminds me of Salem Brownmiller, but this was the only book I could get my hands on. Second reading.
November 2 Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis. Great Christmas stories by one of my favorite authors. Second reading.
November 9- Diana's Boys by Christopher Anderson. I tried really hard to read this, but despite renewing it for another three weeks, I could only make it halfway through the melodrama. Perhaps next year I can finish it. First reading (unfinished).
November 16 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. One of the best Christmas books ever. Second reading.
November 18-20 Once a Hero by Elizabeth Moon. Good, but for the fact that Esmay is too much like Paksenarrion. First reading.
November 28 The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye. A wonderful, wonderful fairy tale. Fourth or fifth reading.
November 29 The Wanderer by Sharon Creech. Fairly good if predictable children's book. First reading.
November 30-December 1 Echoes by Maeve Binchy. The other of my two favorite Maeve Binchy books. Third or fourth reading.
December 1 Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty. A good young adult novel. Sometimes Amazon.com gets it right. First reading.
December 2-6 Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. Two very good books in one volume. First reading.
December 15-18 The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. Another good book, this one with a great theology. First reading.
December 24 Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn. Okay novel about a girl with father issues. First reading.
December 25 Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. Another excellent book. First reading.
December 29-30 The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold. Not as good as Cordelia's Honor or The Curse of Chalion. First reading.
What's here:
- Books I read in 2002.
- Authors of the books.
- Dates I read the books.
- Short notes about each book.
- Approximately how many times I've read the book.
What's not here:
- Books I read for school.
- Magazine and newspaper articles I read, either for school or for fun.
- Web-published fiction I read.
- Short stories and individual chapters I read to remind myself of what the book was about.
January 1-2 Dagger's Edge by Anne Logston. First of the books about Jael, Shadow's goddaughter. Not bad, but not great either. Second reading.
January 3 Dagger's Point by Anne Logston. The second book about Jael. Somewhat more interesting than Dagger's Edge. Second reading.
January 4-5 Nekropolis by Maureen F. McHugh. The newest book by the author of China Mountain Zhang. Not as good as China Mountain Zhang. First reading.
January 7 White as Snow by Tanith Lee. A dark and dirty--in a bad way--telling of the Snow White story. First reading.
January 8 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. There's a reason this book won the Newberry award. It holds up quite well. Second or third reading.
January 10 Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt. The first in a loosely-related series about The Kingdom. Second reading.
January 11-18 The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope. This has an intriguing plot--girl exiled to a castle finds a way into the land of Faerie and true love too--but it's badly done and makes for extremely slow reading. Second reading.
January 19-25 The Prestige Christopher Priest. An intriguing idea about dueling magicians and their descendants, but not a particularly good book. First reading.
January 26 Flipped Wendelin Van Draanen. An absolutely wonderful book with antagonism, true-to-life teenagers, and chickens. First reading.
February 2-5 City of Diamond by Jane Emerson. Jane Emerson is another pseudonym of a woman who also writes under the name of Doris Egan. City of Diamond is wonderful. It has lots and lots of characters and an intriguing plot. Its only flaw is the ending which cries out for the unpublished sequel. First reading.
February 15-16 The Onion Girl by Charles deLint. This is a very depressing book, and it suffers from Charles deLint's tendency to lecture. It seems thrown together. First reading.
February 17- Druids by Morgan Llywelyn. I had the urge to read this again, but couldn't get into it. Second reading (unfinished).
February 27-28 When the King Comes Home by Caroline Stevermer. An excellent book about an artist and a king set in the same world as A College of Magics. First reading.
March 1-8 Dreams Underfoot by Charles deLint. A short story collection that can't have been that good as I no longer remember anything about it. First reading.
March 9-10 On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt. Second book in the series about the Kingdom. Second reading.
March 11 The Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voigt. Third book in the series about the Kingdom. This one has quite the twist in the middle. First reading.
March 12 The Gate of Ivory by Doris Egan. The first in an excellent trilogy with magic, true love, and family intrigue. Second or third reading.
March 14-15 Two-Bit Heroes by Doris Egan. The second in the trilogy. In which Theo and Ran become criminals. Second or third reading.
March 15 Guilt-Edged Ivory by Doris Egan. The third in the trilogy. Theo has a run-in with Cormallon family politics. Second or third reading.
March 17-20 Sable, Shadow, and Ice by Cheryl J. Franklin. A wonderful post-apocalyptic fantasy novel. Third or fourth reading.
April 10-12 The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. This book totally lives up to its hype. It moves from hilarious to heartbreaking without falling out of character. First reading.
April 13 Silver Woven in My Hair by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. My favorite Cinderella retelling. Third or fourth reading.
April 13 Vertical Run by Joseph R. Garber. A great thriller about a guy who goes to work one morning to find that everyone wants to kill him. First reading.
April 26-28 Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. A wonderful Sleeping Beauty retelling. Second reading.
April 30-May 5 The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer. A thriller that is at least twice as long as it should be for the story it tells. First reading.
May 6-7 The China Garden by Liz Berry. The novel is intriguing, but there's a severe flaw in her theology. First reading.
May 10-11 Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy. Much, much more modern than anything else she's written. First reading.
May 13 Ammonite by Nicola Griffith. The book starts out like a sci fi novel, falls apart into a too slow lesbian fantasy novel and picks up again for only a few moments at the end. This book furnishes further proof that Nicola Griffith neither has a good sense of timing nor is the genre writer she's presented as. First reading.
May 22 A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Heartbreaking, yes, but it never quite reaches the same level of greatness as The Deep End of the Ocean. First reading.
May 24 The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy. One of my two favorite Maeve Binchy novels. Fourth or fifth reading.
May 26 Fools Errant by Matt Hughes. I gave up after putting the book down to find something else to do several times in the first chapter. First reading (unfinished).
May 27 Slow River by Nicola Griffith. Nicola Griffith's best book, not so much for the plot but for the creative use of verb tenses, which appeals to the grammar geek inside me. Second reading.
June 1 Hit List by Lawrence Block. An amusing novel about a hit man. First reading.
June 3 Moment of Truth by Lisa Scottoline. What good is a thriller where you know what's happened in the first five pages? First reading.
June 4 The Overseer by Jonathan Rabb. This is the scariest book I have ever read in my life. First reading.
June 5 Gideon by Russell Andrews. Russell Andrews is the pseudonym of a pair of authors who should have stuck to creating pseudonyms. The book is far too predictable. First reading.
June 8 Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede. A great book about a Regency-era magician, a pickpocket, and a stolen silver dish. Third or fourth reading.
June 8 Magician's Ward by Patricia C. Wrede. Sequel to Mairelon the Magician. Also great. Second or third reading.
June 10 Young Wives by Olivia Goldsmith. Not worth the effort to read it. First reading.
June 11 Fashionably Late by Olivia Goldsmith. Slightly better than Young Wives. First reading.
June 15 High Crimes by Joseph Finder. Despite the intriguing premise, I decided I would wait until the movie comes to network TV to find out what happens. First reading (unfinished).
June 15 The Marching Season by Daniel Silva. I really liked The Mark of the Assassin, but I had no interest in reading more about the same characters. First reading (unfinished).
June 16 Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith. This was previously published in two volumes, Crown Duel and Court Duel. Her battle scenes are extremely weak, but I love her main character. Forget the extra story at the end of the book--it doesn't even begin to live up to the standard set by the rest of the book. First reading.
June 18 The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry. The first in her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, in which Charlotte and Thomas meet for the first time. Second reading.
June 19 Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. First in the Marcus Didius Falco series, and one of the best. Second reading.
June 20-21 Shadows in Bronze by Lindsey Davis. Second Falco novel. Second reading.
June 21 Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede. First of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Quite fun. Second or third reading.
June 22 Callander Square by Anne Perry. Second of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels. Not as interesting once they're married. Second reading (unfinished).
June 22-24 The Assassini by Thomas Gifford. A wonderful thriller about the Catholic Church. Well worth reading. First reading.
June 25 Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis. Third and best Falco novel. Second reading.
June 26 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. An absolutely marvelous book about four friends who share a pair of magic jeans during their first summer apart. First reading.
June 27 Elske by Cynthia Voigt. Fourth and last, to date, book in the loosely related series about The Kingdom. First reading.
June 28-29 The Books of Great Alta by Jane Yolen. Two books in one volume, neither of which is all that great. First reading.
June 30 The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Laid-up Scotland Yard Inspector becomes intrigued by Richard II. Good book. First reading.
July 1 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Hilarious novel. I can't wait for the sequel. First reading.
July 2-4 The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis. Fourth Falco novel. Second reading.
July 4-5 Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis. Fifth Falco novel. Second reading.
July 7 Light Raid by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice. A marvelous sci fi novel. Second reading.
July 8 Of Time and of Seasons by Norma Johnston. Historical novel set at the beginning of the Civil War. Third or fourth reading.
July 8 A Striving After Wind by Norma Johnston. Sequel to Of Time and of Seasons. Third or fourth reading.
July 9 The Keeping Days by Norma Johnston. Set at the turn of the century. First book about Tish Sterling. Third or fourth reading.
July 9-10 Glory in the Flower by Norma Johnston. Sequel to The Keeping Days. Third or fourth reading.
July 10 The Sanctuary Tree by Norma Johnston. Sequel to Glory in the Flower. Third or fourth reading.
July 10 A Mustard Seed of Magic by Norma Johnston. Sequel to The Sanctuary Tree. Third or fourth reading.
July 11 A Nice Girl Like You by Norma Johnston. Takes place at the beginning of World War I. The story of Tish's neice. Third or fourth reading.
July 11 Myself and I by Norma Johnston. Sequel to A Nice Girl Like You. Third or fourth reading.
July 11 Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp (J.K. Rowling). Hilarious rundown of the history of Quidditch.
July 13-23 The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. A horrendously long book with a horribly written romance. First reading.
July 27 Borrowed Light by Anna Fienberg. A great novel about an astronomy-obsessed pregnant teenager. First reading.
July 28 Don't Blame the Music by Caroline B. Cooney. Not very good. First reading.
July 29 Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. Just as the story's picking up, the book ends. First reading.
July 30 The Education of Robert Nifkin by Daniel Pinkwater. Amusing story from an NPR guy. First reading.
July 31-August 1 What Became of Her by M.E. Kerr. Not very good. First reading.
August 5 The Year Without Michael by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Not actually that good a book, but the ending was worth the second reading. Second reading.
August 14-16 Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells. Incredibly good book with one of my absolute favorite formulas--the travelling magic user (in this case, a priestess) and the travelling warrior who meet up, travel together, defeat evil, and fall in love. First reading.
August 17-22 The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. Three novels in one volume that tell the story of Paksenarrion. Still quite good. Third reading.
August 23-24 Queen's Own by Mercedes Lackey. Also three novels in one volume, these telling the story of Talia. The series holds up much better than I thought the last time I tried to reread it. Second or third reading.
August 24-25 By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey. Quite possibly the best of the Valdemar novels, this tells the story of Kerowyn, who is definitely the best Valdemar heroine. Second or third reading.
August 26 Water Witch by Cynthia Felice and Connie Willis. Fairly good, and what you would expect from the collaboration. Second reading.
August 28-29 Deerskin by Robin McKinley. Another fairy tale retelling, and one of my most favorite books. Fourth or fifth reading.
August 31 The Oathbound by Mercedes Lackey. The book doesn't hold up well because many of the chapters are previously published short stories in differing styles, yet it's presented as a novel. Second or third reading.
September 1 The Oathbreakers by Mercedes Lackey. The sequel to The Oathbound, and a better book. Second or third reading.
September 2 Winds of Fate by Mercedes Lackey. The first book about Elspeth. Not a great book, but it has the best sex scenes of the Valdemar novels. Second reading.
September 3-7 Winds of Change by Mercedes Lackey. Second book about Elspeth, and the point at which the Valdemar novels start to fall apart. Second reading.
September 7-8 Falcon by Emma Bull. An excellent book. Second reading.
September 8-9 Persuasion by Jane Austen. Not a great book, but it didn't make me want to gouge my eyes out with a rusty nail. The movie's better. First reading.
September 9-12 The Rising of the Moon by Flynn Connolly. A great feminist novel set in a near-future Ireland. Second reading.
September 13-14 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. A classic. Second reading.
September 14-15 Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. Still good. Second reading.
September 15-16 Finder by Emma Bull. A novel of the Borderlands. Quite good. Second reading.
September 17-19 How To Be Good by Nick Hornby. Amazon.com kept recommending it to me, but I didn't like it. First reading (unfinished).
September 19-20 Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery. The last good Anne book, as she stops being interesting once she and Gilbert are heavily in love. First reading.
September 21 A Dance for Three by Louise Plummer. Another pregnant Australian teenager novel. Not as good as Borrowed Light. First reading.
September 21 The Summons by John Grisham. Not very good. I don't know why I keep reading his books. First reading.
September 22 A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Another classic. Fifth or sixth reading.
September 23 The Bird's Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin. Rather more preachy than I remembered it being. Third reading.
September 23 The Secret Garden by France Hodgson Burnett. Yet another classic. Fourth or fifth reading.
September 28 Facing the Music by Margaret Willey. Fairly standard teen novel. First reading.
September 28-29 Circa 2000: Lesbian Fiction at the Millenium edited by Terry Wolverton and Robert Drake. If this is any example, lesbian fiction is in trouble. First reading.
October 1-2 Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff. An extraordinarily good piece of military sci fi with a female protagonist who kicks some serious ass. First reading.
October 3-5 Dragon's Bones by Patricia Briggs. Good fantasy, great ending. First reading.
October 5 The Tattoed Potato and other clues by Ellen Raskin. Fun mystery story by the author of The Westing Game. Third reading.
October 5-6 The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman. Too predictable story of guilt in a private school. First reading.
October 9-11 Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith. Good enough to read twice in one year. Second reading.
October 13 No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman. Funny, but not up to his usual standards. First reading.
October 13-14 The Better Part of Valor by Tanya Huff. Equally excellent sequel to Valor's Choice. First reading.
October 15-17 The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. I couldn't even make it 80 pages into the book. First reading (unfinished).
October 19 Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Excellent young adult novel. First reading.
October 20 The Divine Economy of Salvation by Priscila Uppal. Another guilt in a private school story. I have to stop listening to Amazon.com about this sort of thing. First reading.
October 25 The Children on the Top Floor by Noel Streatfeild. Four adopted children with sensible English names take up careers in show business. Not as good as I remember. Third or fourth reading.
October 27 Uncharted Territory by Connie Willis. A very good book, and I again own a copy. Third reading.
October 27-30 Bone Dance by Emma Bull. Fascinating novel about gender, identity, and energy. Second reading.
November 2 Picklemania by Jerry Spinelli. I had the urge to read the School Daze series after realizing that Hermione reminds me of Salem Brownmiller, but this was the only book I could get my hands on. Second reading.
November 2 Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis. Great Christmas stories by one of my favorite authors. Second reading.
November 9- Diana's Boys by Christopher Anderson. I tried really hard to read this, but despite renewing it for another three weeks, I could only make it halfway through the melodrama. Perhaps next year I can finish it. First reading (unfinished).
November 16 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. One of the best Christmas books ever. Second reading.
November 18-20 Once a Hero by Elizabeth Moon. Good, but for the fact that Esmay is too much like Paksenarrion. First reading.
November 28 The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye. A wonderful, wonderful fairy tale. Fourth or fifth reading.
November 29 The Wanderer by Sharon Creech. Fairly good if predictable children's book. First reading.
November 30-December 1 Echoes by Maeve Binchy. The other of my two favorite Maeve Binchy books. Third or fourth reading.
December 1 Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty. A good young adult novel. Sometimes Amazon.com gets it right. First reading.
December 2-6 Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. Two very good books in one volume. First reading.
December 15-18 The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. Another good book, this one with a great theology. First reading.
December 24 Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn. Okay novel about a girl with father issues. First reading.
December 25 Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. Another excellent book. First reading.
December 29-30 The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold. Not as good as Cordelia's Honor or The Curse of Chalion. First reading.