(no subject)
I barely remembered it in time, but, without further ado, here are the final books from 2007:
The Winter Prince- E. Wein- interesting. I like the characterization, but I’m not sure why Mordred is always so dark? And moody because his father didn’t love him? I like this Mordred, but I’d be really interested to read one that doesn’t immediately write him off as an emo child, interesting one or not.
47th Samurai- Stephen Hunter- Well. This is the guy who did Point of Impact, which the movie Shooter was based off of. Usually very epic, a little bit dry, filled with enough technical firearms knowledge to drown a horse, but in a good way. Well, this book is essentially Bob Lee Swagger going to Japan and getting involved in the samurai mafia. With swords. …yeah. While his plots aren’t always realistic, they usually involve a lot more suspension of disbelief that makes it easier to overlook; this one was written like an action movie. Complete with the cheesy dialogue.
The City of Dreaming Books- W. Moer- It’s like Douglas Adams meets Terry Pratchett and Dinotopia. With books. It’s just a little bit jarring in the beginning, as you figure out what on earth is going on- his style definitely takes adjusting to, and the setting is far from normal. But there are awesome illustrations, and the kind of ridiculous imagination you only see in kids books, and lots of snark. Thoroughly entertaining.
Blacklight- Stephen Hunter- Not sure what order he wrote this in, but Bob Lee Swagger is becoming a little bit of a Gary Stu. International top-secret military conspiracy? Sure. He just knows. Other than that, though, it’s still written well enough that you don’t mind.
Eragon- Christopher Paolini- I read these to see what the fuss was about, after having piles of people asking me when the third book was coming out. Oh, god. Other people have said it much better than I, but it’s completely derivative, of roughly everything and with absolutely no subtlety. Not to mention that the main characters are all wimps.(I lost track of how many times Eragon passes out.) The side characters are all information dumps. There is one actually interesting character that they meet, far too late in the book, and guess what happens to him?
Year of Living Biblically- A.J. Jacobs- by the author of the Know-It-All. Very, very good. Exactly what it sounds like- one guy spends a year trying to follow the Bible as literally as possible. Despite his own skepticism, he does it with a fair amount of respect to all religious groups he involves with, and has a better knowledge of fine details (of the rules, at least) than most Christians that I’ve heard defending them.
Eldest- Christopher Paolini- second verse, same as the first. But with less fainting, and even more amazing abilities and stolen concepts.
Endymion Spring- Michael Skelton- Yay. The book I was looking for in reading Eragon. It has library mysteries, secret book societies, renaissance flashbacks, life-like characters. I would have loved to read this book when I was twelve. Very well done, even though you know where it’s going, it doesn’t reveal anything until it gets there. Definitely getting a copy of this one for myself.
My Name is Asher Lev- Chaim Potek- very, very powerful book. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone put art into words before. Resonating.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell- Susanna Clarke- This felt to me like one of those novels that is incredibly long just because it could be. Something like this, you don’t want to shorten into some fast-paced novel in a day, it’s meant to be ponderous; but there were definite points when I just wasn’t sure why it kept going. The characters are good, the concepts are very cool; I love the sheer amount of history/mythology she put into it.
The Naming- Allison Croggan- YA. It started out entertaining, it not entirely creative, but by about halfway through the book, the main characters suddenly had to sidestep into the land of the elves (for no particular reason) and everything became barely one step back from outright plagiarism of Tolkien. It was painful.
The Blue Girl- Charles de Lint- he really needs to get a new prototype for female characters. Other than that, very interesting to read him doing young adult, definitely engaging & light. He managed to keep his mythology & his twisted sort of creepiness and keep it at a YA level, which is kind of impressive.
Pillars of the Earth- Ken Follett- Apparently I read this book when I was 13-14 and forgot what it was. There was a particular scene that I remembered quite vividly, though, and that was the reason I hated the book the first time. Outside of that…It’s how many pages long? (many hundred.) And carries over a couple of decades in time. One would assume, given that, that the plot would develop past its original occurrences and keep altering with time. Well… it doesn’t. It’s broken into three or four mini-books, and each one is exactly the same, just the characters are a little bit older.
Meaning of Night- Michael Cox -I’m not usually one for vengeance themes, but I liked this one quite a lot. He slipped so entirely into the Victorian world, very much like reading one of the novels of that time but more engaging to the modern standards.
Stardust- Neil Gaiman- My favorite of his yet. As some people say, the characters need a little… something on occasion, but the tone & the feeling from this book is just perfect fairytale.
Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman- wasn’t sure about this one the whole way through. It was one of those that I didn’t want to read too much of at any time because of the characters, but didn’t want to put it down because of the story. It could have very easily been cheesy in the end, but he kept it deliberately light and just a little off-kilter instead.
Mouse Guard- David Peterson- hardly smashing writing, but the illustrations amuse me. I’m not entirely sure how good it is, but the sheer fact that it’s a graphic novel about mice warriors is enough to entertain me.
Currently Reading:
Pride & Prejudice
Classic X-Men #2
Bridei Chronicles
I made it to at least 83, quite possibly more, because I'm sure I didn't remember them all. Maybe next year, I will actually keep track of the list as I go, rather than trying to remember everything a month and a half later.
The Winter Prince- E. Wein- interesting. I like the characterization, but I’m not sure why Mordred is always so dark? And moody because his father didn’t love him? I like this Mordred, but I’d be really interested to read one that doesn’t immediately write him off as an emo child, interesting one or not.
47th Samurai- Stephen Hunter- Well. This is the guy who did Point of Impact, which the movie Shooter was based off of. Usually very epic, a little bit dry, filled with enough technical firearms knowledge to drown a horse, but in a good way. Well, this book is essentially Bob Lee Swagger going to Japan and getting involved in the samurai mafia. With swords. …yeah. While his plots aren’t always realistic, they usually involve a lot more suspension of disbelief that makes it easier to overlook; this one was written like an action movie. Complete with the cheesy dialogue.
The City of Dreaming Books- W. Moer- It’s like Douglas Adams meets Terry Pratchett and Dinotopia. With books. It’s just a little bit jarring in the beginning, as you figure out what on earth is going on- his style definitely takes adjusting to, and the setting is far from normal. But there are awesome illustrations, and the kind of ridiculous imagination you only see in kids books, and lots of snark. Thoroughly entertaining.
Blacklight- Stephen Hunter- Not sure what order he wrote this in, but Bob Lee Swagger is becoming a little bit of a Gary Stu. International top-secret military conspiracy? Sure. He just knows. Other than that, though, it’s still written well enough that you don’t mind.
Eragon- Christopher Paolini- I read these to see what the fuss was about, after having piles of people asking me when the third book was coming out. Oh, god. Other people have said it much better than I, but it’s completely derivative, of roughly everything and with absolutely no subtlety. Not to mention that the main characters are all wimps.(I lost track of how many times Eragon passes out.) The side characters are all information dumps. There is one actually interesting character that they meet, far too late in the book, and guess what happens to him?
Year of Living Biblically- A.J. Jacobs- by the author of the Know-It-All. Very, very good. Exactly what it sounds like- one guy spends a year trying to follow the Bible as literally as possible. Despite his own skepticism, he does it with a fair amount of respect to all religious groups he involves with, and has a better knowledge of fine details (of the rules, at least) than most Christians that I’ve heard defending them.
Eldest- Christopher Paolini- second verse, same as the first. But with less fainting, and even more amazing abilities and stolen concepts.
Endymion Spring- Michael Skelton- Yay. The book I was looking for in reading Eragon. It has library mysteries, secret book societies, renaissance flashbacks, life-like characters. I would have loved to read this book when I was twelve. Very well done, even though you know where it’s going, it doesn’t reveal anything until it gets there. Definitely getting a copy of this one for myself.
My Name is Asher Lev- Chaim Potek- very, very powerful book. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone put art into words before. Resonating.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell- Susanna Clarke- This felt to me like one of those novels that is incredibly long just because it could be. Something like this, you don’t want to shorten into some fast-paced novel in a day, it’s meant to be ponderous; but there were definite points when I just wasn’t sure why it kept going. The characters are good, the concepts are very cool; I love the sheer amount of history/mythology she put into it.
The Naming- Allison Croggan- YA. It started out entertaining, it not entirely creative, but by about halfway through the book, the main characters suddenly had to sidestep into the land of the elves (for no particular reason) and everything became barely one step back from outright plagiarism of Tolkien. It was painful.
The Blue Girl- Charles de Lint- he really needs to get a new prototype for female characters. Other than that, very interesting to read him doing young adult, definitely engaging & light. He managed to keep his mythology & his twisted sort of creepiness and keep it at a YA level, which is kind of impressive.
Pillars of the Earth- Ken Follett- Apparently I read this book when I was 13-14 and forgot what it was. There was a particular scene that I remembered quite vividly, though, and that was the reason I hated the book the first time. Outside of that…It’s how many pages long? (many hundred.) And carries over a couple of decades in time. One would assume, given that, that the plot would develop past its original occurrences and keep altering with time. Well… it doesn’t. It’s broken into three or four mini-books, and each one is exactly the same, just the characters are a little bit older.
Meaning of Night- Michael Cox -I’m not usually one for vengeance themes, but I liked this one quite a lot. He slipped so entirely into the Victorian world, very much like reading one of the novels of that time but more engaging to the modern standards.
Stardust- Neil Gaiman- My favorite of his yet. As some people say, the characters need a little… something on occasion, but the tone & the feeling from this book is just perfect fairytale.
Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman- wasn’t sure about this one the whole way through. It was one of those that I didn’t want to read too much of at any time because of the characters, but didn’t want to put it down because of the story. It could have very easily been cheesy in the end, but he kept it deliberately light and just a little off-kilter instead.
Mouse Guard- David Peterson- hardly smashing writing, but the illustrations amuse me. I’m not entirely sure how good it is, but the sheer fact that it’s a graphic novel about mice warriors is enough to entertain me.
Currently Reading:
Pride & Prejudice
Classic X-Men #2
Bridei Chronicles
I made it to at least 83, quite possibly more, because I'm sure I didn't remember them all. Maybe next year, I will actually keep track of the list as I go, rather than trying to remember everything a month and a half later.