Eclectic Reviewer December Wrap-Up
It's time for the final wrap-up of the year. Just like last year, I finished a bunch of books I haven't had time to review yet, so the last few don't have links yet. Once I get the reviews posted (and written and drafted) (in reverse order, of course) I'll update these.
A Thousand Mornings, Mary Oliver
<3<3<3<3<3
The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
In which I build a shrine to Ms. Bujold for being wonderful and writing exactly the kinds of books I like.
Orlando, Virginia Woolf
Why is everyone immortal? I get the sex changes, but immortality?
The Witches: Salem, 1692, Stacy Schiff
A dense read, but very informative.
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
The Golden Bough, James George Frazier
Another dense read, but very interesting. Bit Victorian, though.
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
In which the Bujold Shrine grows taller.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche
I should have read this a couple of years ago when it would have been more (personally) timely.
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
I would like a history department time machine, please.
The Hallowed Hunt, Lois McMaster Bujold
Werewolves and wereleopards and werehorses, oh my!
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
My absolute favorite Shakespeare play.
The Wisdom of Crowds, Joe Abercrombie
The men in this book, without exception, are all idiots. The women have a modicum of sense except for Rikke who's the only one who consistently knows her head from a hole in the ground.
Silver Pigs, Lindsay Davis
A murder mystery set in Imperial Rome. Be still my history/mystery loving heart!
Don Juan, Lord Byron
Byron had an excellent sense of humor and it's one of history's great tragedies that he didn't live long enough to finish this poem.
Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe
If my end-of-year procrastination had been less strong, this would have won the Best Book Set in NC award in the blog awards ceremony. As it is, it'll have to wait until next year.
Selected Poems, John Crowe Ransom
I did not expect to like this as much as I did.
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
The perfect detective novel that became the perfect movie.
The Devil in the White City: Magic, Murder, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Erik Larson
The fair-planning bits dragged a bit, but the murder parts were fantastic.
The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
The original spy novel that doesn't share much in common with the Hitchcock film. Book's better.
*~*~*~*
I only posted one Saturday Short this month because I hit the end of my draft backlog and never got around to filling it back up. December's just a bad time to do things for me.
Snap Out of It!
We go back to the office of Mr. Edmunds, the hip young principal who studied psychology, to learn more reasons why teenagers are idiots.
*~*~*~*
And because it is the end of the year, I leave you with the 2021 Worst and Best Awards. The biggest surprise is that I only threw one book this year. Why? There were at least two or three more that deserved it.
A Thousand Mornings, Mary Oliver
<3<3<3<3<3
The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
In which I build a shrine to Ms. Bujold for being wonderful and writing exactly the kinds of books I like.
Orlando, Virginia Woolf
Why is everyone immortal? I get the sex changes, but immortality?
The Witches: Salem, 1692, Stacy Schiff
A dense read, but very informative.
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
The Golden Bough, James George Frazier
Another dense read, but very interesting. Bit Victorian, though.
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
In which the Bujold Shrine grows taller.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche
I should have read this a couple of years ago when it would have been more (personally) timely.
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
I would like a history department time machine, please.
The Hallowed Hunt, Lois McMaster Bujold
Werewolves and wereleopards and werehorses, oh my!
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
My absolute favorite Shakespeare play.
The Wisdom of Crowds, Joe Abercrombie
The men in this book, without exception, are all idiots. The women have a modicum of sense except for Rikke who's the only one who consistently knows her head from a hole in the ground.
Silver Pigs, Lindsay Davis
A murder mystery set in Imperial Rome. Be still my history/mystery loving heart!
Don Juan, Lord Byron
Byron had an excellent sense of humor and it's one of history's great tragedies that he didn't live long enough to finish this poem.
Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe
If my end-of-year procrastination had been less strong, this would have won the Best Book Set in NC award in the blog awards ceremony. As it is, it'll have to wait until next year.
Selected Poems, John Crowe Ransom
I did not expect to like this as much as I did.
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
The perfect detective novel that became the perfect movie.
The Devil in the White City: Magic, Murder, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Erik Larson
The fair-planning bits dragged a bit, but the murder parts were fantastic.
The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
The original spy novel that doesn't share much in common with the Hitchcock film. Book's better.
*~*~*~*
I only posted one Saturday Short this month because I hit the end of my draft backlog and never got around to filling it back up. December's just a bad time to do things for me.
Snap Out of It!
We go back to the office of Mr. Edmunds, the hip young principal who studied psychology, to learn more reasons why teenagers are idiots.
*~*~*~*
And because it is the end of the year, I leave you with the 2021 Worst and Best Awards. The biggest surprise is that I only threw one book this year. Why? There were at least two or three more that deserved it.