Yuletide Friending Meme & Book meme
First, shameless advertising:
Yuletide Friending Meme
Secondly, a book meme snagged from Lysimache @ LJ. I did some very minor changes to fit what I've read better; hope you don't mind. :)
Total books: 67 (actually 68, I think, but one of my course books wasn't on GoodReads).
Total pages: 15564.
Comics/graphic novels: 10.
Doctor Who-related: 33 (*AVOIDS EYE-CONTACT*).
Non-fiction: 9.
Non-English: 9 (8 Swedish, 1 Danish).
Rereads: 2.
Best book(s): HARD. I had some unusually enjoyable reading experiences that stand out - Carmilla, The Penelopiad, Ten Little Aliens and The Circle in particular - but I'm not sure I'd dub any of them objectively the "best".
The first book you read this year: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. The first of only two re-reads, too; I was pretty young when I read this for the first time (15?) so I'd forgotten a lot. I didn't remember liking it as much as I did this time around.
The last book you finished this year: Autumn Mist by David A. McIntee, an EDA with Sam and Fitz. I'll probably end up doing a longer review for the Henrietta Street readalong when we get there, but at this point I'll say: it wasn't very enjoyable. I usually like McIntee's books just fine, and it's not that it's bad, just... the plot isn't very memorable. And invoves fairies. And the Doctor having off-page sex with the Queen of the Sidhe.
So that... happened.
On the other hand, he's pretty good at writing historical characters and balancing a big cast without it feeling too cluttered, which is nice.
The first book you will finish in the new year: I have no idea! Maybe the next EDA (The Taking of Planet 5), or some book I've started but have yet to finish (At the Mountains of Madness seems like a good bet in that case).
Your favorite "classic" you read this year: Carmilla was a short, but strangely engaging read. Also, Euripides' Medea, who is one of my favourite female characters evar. <3
The book series you read the most volumes of this year: COULD IT BE THE EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES?? Yes. Yes it can. 13 books this year, which makes 18 out of 73 overall. Still a long way to go...
The genre you read the most this year: Sci-fi/fantasy? Even if you don't count the Doctor Who novels, I think they'd win out.
The book that disappointed you: I rarely go into books with high expectations I think, but The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship of Her Own Making, while not bad, just didn't grab me? It's a fine children's book, but not much more, at least not to me. I enjoy Valente's prose and it had got such fine reviews I started to wonder if I was reading it wrong somehow.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was also... not abysmal, but way tropier than I'd expected from Holly Black. Considering the only reason I was willing to give a YA vampire novel a chance was because I've enjoyed her earlier books, that was painfully clear.
The Scarlet Empress by Paul Magrs was also a bit of a letdown, but that was because I REALLY enjoyed the entire book, but found the ending so unsatisfying.
The book you liked better than you expected to: The Circle, definitely. I don't usually enjoy YA because I have such a hard time connecting to the characters-- they often don't feel like teenagers, but an adult's idea of what modern teenagers are like (or maybe I've just never had Typical Teen Problems). And while The Circle is very teenagey, it... doesn't feel like the centre of the story, I suppose. Or maybe it's just that it's well-written so I don't mind. Idk. Anyway, I gobbled it up and I really didn't expect to.
The hardest book you read this year (topic or writing style): You mean that I finished? Either The Rime of the Ancient Mariner or The Time Machine. Because they were so mind-numbingly boring.
The funniest book you read this year: Awoken by "Serra Elinsen". Definitely, definitely Awoken. How can "Twilight with Cthulhu" go wrong?
The saddest book you read this year: Not sure anything struck me as deeply sad, but A Guide to Folktales in Fragile Dialects definitely had a melancholic feel to it.
The shortest book you read this year: Prooobably The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? Maybe Medea? Dunno.
The longest book you read this year: The Secret History by Donna Tartt, which was excellent.
A book that touched you: That's... surprisingly difficult. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, perhaps?
A(nother) book you read this year you want to recommend (maybe one that you haven't mentioned yet?): Saga is an absolutely lovely graphic novel bursting with creativity and you should all read it.
A book that you discovered this year that you will definitely read again: One of them? The Melanchoy of Mechagirl. But a couple of years might pass.
A book that you never want to read again: Goth Opera. *Shudder* Ilu Paul Cornell, but what was that heap of shit?
And finally, make a New Year's Resolution: 1. I will try to read 75 books in 2014.
2. If I succeed, at least 25 of them will be in Swedish. It's my native language, for Christ's sake.
3. Try to read at least two EDAs per month.
This entry was originally posted at http://regndoft.dreamwidth.org/210623.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Yuletide Friending Meme
Secondly, a book meme snagged from Lysimache @ LJ. I did some very minor changes to fit what I've read better; hope you don't mind. :)
Total books: 67 (actually 68, I think, but one of my course books wasn't on GoodReads).
Total pages: 15564.
Comics/graphic novels: 10.
Doctor Who-related: 33 (*AVOIDS EYE-CONTACT*).
Non-fiction: 9.
Non-English: 9 (8 Swedish, 1 Danish).
Rereads: 2.
Best book(s): HARD. I had some unusually enjoyable reading experiences that stand out - Carmilla, The Penelopiad, Ten Little Aliens and The Circle in particular - but I'm not sure I'd dub any of them objectively the "best".
The first book you read this year: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. The first of only two re-reads, too; I was pretty young when I read this for the first time (15?) so I'd forgotten a lot. I didn't remember liking it as much as I did this time around.
The last book you finished this year: Autumn Mist by David A. McIntee, an EDA with Sam and Fitz. I'll probably end up doing a longer review for the Henrietta Street readalong when we get there, but at this point I'll say: it wasn't very enjoyable. I usually like McIntee's books just fine, and it's not that it's bad, just... the plot isn't very memorable. And invoves fairies. And the Doctor having off-page sex with the Queen of the Sidhe.
So that... happened.
On the other hand, he's pretty good at writing historical characters and balancing a big cast without it feeling too cluttered, which is nice.
The first book you will finish in the new year: I have no idea! Maybe the next EDA (The Taking of Planet 5), or some book I've started but have yet to finish (At the Mountains of Madness seems like a good bet in that case).
Your favorite "classic" you read this year: Carmilla was a short, but strangely engaging read. Also, Euripides' Medea, who is one of my favourite female characters evar. <3
The book series you read the most volumes of this year: COULD IT BE THE EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES?? Yes. Yes it can. 13 books this year, which makes 18 out of 73 overall. Still a long way to go...
The genre you read the most this year: Sci-fi/fantasy? Even if you don't count the Doctor Who novels, I think they'd win out.
The book that disappointed you: I rarely go into books with high expectations I think, but The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship of Her Own Making, while not bad, just didn't grab me? It's a fine children's book, but not much more, at least not to me. I enjoy Valente's prose and it had got such fine reviews I started to wonder if I was reading it wrong somehow.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was also... not abysmal, but way tropier than I'd expected from Holly Black. Considering the only reason I was willing to give a YA vampire novel a chance was because I've enjoyed her earlier books, that was painfully clear.
The Scarlet Empress by Paul Magrs was also a bit of a letdown, but that was because I REALLY enjoyed the entire book, but found the ending so unsatisfying.
The book you liked better than you expected to: The Circle, definitely. I don't usually enjoy YA because I have such a hard time connecting to the characters-- they often don't feel like teenagers, but an adult's idea of what modern teenagers are like (or maybe I've just never had Typical Teen Problems). And while The Circle is very teenagey, it... doesn't feel like the centre of the story, I suppose. Or maybe it's just that it's well-written so I don't mind. Idk. Anyway, I gobbled it up and I really didn't expect to.
The hardest book you read this year (topic or writing style): You mean that I finished? Either The Rime of the Ancient Mariner or The Time Machine. Because they were so mind-numbingly boring.
The funniest book you read this year: Awoken by "Serra Elinsen". Definitely, definitely Awoken. How can "Twilight with Cthulhu" go wrong?
The saddest book you read this year: Not sure anything struck me as deeply sad, but A Guide to Folktales in Fragile Dialects definitely had a melancholic feel to it.
The shortest book you read this year: Prooobably The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? Maybe Medea? Dunno.
The longest book you read this year: The Secret History by Donna Tartt, which was excellent.
A book that touched you: That's... surprisingly difficult. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, perhaps?
A(nother) book you read this year you want to recommend (maybe one that you haven't mentioned yet?): Saga is an absolutely lovely graphic novel bursting with creativity and you should all read it.
A book that you discovered this year that you will definitely read again: One of them? The Melanchoy of Mechagirl. But a couple of years might pass.
A book that you never want to read again: Goth Opera. *Shudder* Ilu Paul Cornell, but what was that heap of shit?
And finally, make a New Year's Resolution: 1. I will try to read 75 books in 2014.
2. If I succeed, at least 25 of them will be in Swedish. It's my native language, for Christ's sake.
3. Try to read at least two EDAs per month.
This entry was originally posted at http://regndoft.dreamwidth.org/210623.html. Please comment there using OpenID.