so when you're done doing whatever
I think this is possibly the latest I've ever been, but yay! Book post!
italics used for books I especially liked
* asterisk for those that were rereads
^^ for those I didn't particularly care for
1. Seeker by Jack McDevitt
2. Prince Caspian by CS Lewis *
3. The Death of Sleep by Anne McCaffrey * ^^
4. The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
5. The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson
6. The Truth-Teller's Tale by Sharon Shinn *
7. Les Miserables Part One by Victor Hugo
8. Unveiled by Francine Rivers
9. Unashamed by Francine Rivers
10. Unshaken by Francine Rivers
11. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion ^^
12. Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones ^^
13. Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
14. The Queen in Winter by Sharon Shinn and others
15. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
16. Wrapt in Crystal by Sharon Shinn *
17. Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn *
18. The Shape Changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn *
19. A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers
20. Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller
21. Arkansas by Christine Lunxwiler
22. An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers
23. Polaris by Jack McDevitt
24. A Talent For War by Jack McDevitt
25. Moonfall by Jack McDevitt
26. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
27. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
28. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
29. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
30. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder
31. Juniper by Monica Furlong
32. Second Nature by Alice Hoffman
33. A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
34. The Dream-Maker's Magic by Sharon Shinn
35. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
36. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
37. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
38. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
39. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
40. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
41. Cordelia Underwood by Van Reid
42. Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts
43. Black Rose by Nora Roberts
44. Red Lily by Nora Roberts
45. Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon
46. A Dark Champion by Kinley McGregor ^^
47. Bride for a Bit by many
48. For All Eternity by Linda Lael Miller
49. Tonight and Always by " "
50. Forever and the Night by " "
51. Into the Night by " "
52. March by Geraldine Brooks
53. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
54. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
55. I Was Just Wondering by Philip Yancey
56. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley ^^
57. Crimson City by Liz Maverick
58. Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds
59. Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman
60. Lover Eternal by JR Ward
61. Dark Lover by JR Ward
62. Lover Awakened by JR Ward
63. Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
64. Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce
65. Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce
66. Wild Magic by TP
67. Wolf Speaker by TP
68. Emporer Mage by TP
69. The Realms of the Gods by TP
70. Alanna: The First Adventure by TP ^^
71. In the Hands of the Gods by TP ^^
72. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
73. Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris
74. Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
75. There and Now by Linda Lael Miller
76. Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas
77. Knight of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor
78. The Sharing Knife: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold
79. Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss
80. First Test by Tamora Pierce
81. Page by TP
82. Squire by TP
83. Knight by TP
84. Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence
85. Circle of Magic: Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce
86. COM: Tris's Book by TP
87. COM: Daja's Book by TP
88. COM: Briar's Book by TP
89. Circle Opens: Magic Steps by TP
90. Northern Lights by Nora Roberts
91. Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts
92. Street Mage by Tamora Pierce
93. Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip
94. Dark Piper by Andre Norton
The Numbers:
17 sci fi/fantasy
23 young adult
17 general fic
14 romance
8 Pulitzer's
4 rereads
3 nonfic
TOP TEN:
From the first half of the year
1. Seeker by Jack McDevitt
2. Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller
3. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
4. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
5. Cordelia Underwood by Van Reid
6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - I've seen the movies a million times but I'm relatively certain this is my first time making it all the way through the book. I quite predictably cried in all the appropriate places and I loved it dearly. Poor little Beth. *sniffle*
7. Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds - This guy is really smart. No, really. He writes sci fi the way sci fi was meant to be written and he makes you feel smarter for having read him. This book in particular was pretty stinking interesting, a worm hole is discovered to a perfect replica of pre-WW2 earth, which they call E2 in the book. Present day Earth has been decimated by nano-tech and is inhabitable. Travel occurs, bad things happen, and in the end the good guys may have actually won it.
8. Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce - Probably ties with the sequel, Trickster's Queen, but only one can get the coveted top ten spot, so I went with the first. I love the way this woman writes. Her characters are interesting, she's one of the best world-builders ever. Her dialogue is snappy and awesome things happen. Plus she's got really awesome female characters.
9. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - A Gothic novel in every sense of the word, it's also a love letter to readers, which was pretty awesome. I love the way she writes, the way she makes everything sound beautiful and interesting and the unraveling mystery of the main character's origins was intriguing.
10. Dark Piper by Andre Norton - Chilling. Seriously. This book completely freaked me out. I never want to be on a remote outpost ever. Not ever. And if something comes to kill my planet, I definitely want to be killed. I do not want to be 16 and left to figure everything out on my own, just to attempt to keep human life on my world alive. Sheesh. Creepifying.
And the bottom... whatever...
From the first half of the year
1. Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
2. Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
3. Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
4. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley - And this won a Pulitzer. *shakes head* It was a freaking creepy book. And not in the good way, like Dark Piper. It was just freaking sick and creepy. It had incest, murder, suicide, attempted murder, adultery, etc. And if that's not enough, no one, I mean no one, comes out happy in the end.
5. In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce - I like every single other thing she's written, but I hate her Alanna series for reasons you'd have to read to find out.
6. A Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss - Had such a strong beginning, I really thought it would be good. But the middle was something different from the beginning, and the end was something different from the middle, and it all had an odd focus and flow. Or it lacked focus, one of the two. It's hard to tell. But the writing was really pretty.
And that's it. My count was pathetic, but I tried to cut down on the brain candy, which lengthened reading times considerably. Only fourteen romance novels this year, compared to 40+ in past years, and I can finish, like, two of those in a day. *sigh* Oh well. My psyche is much happier. There are also way, way fewer rereads. You'll notice one remarkable absence. I didn't read LotR this year. It just didn't feel right. I started, and all I could think about was reading something else, and I didn't want reading LotR to become a chore, so I set it aside for later, because it will always be there.
Most exciting discoveries this year were Tamora Pierce and JR Ward, for completely different reasons. Tamora Pierce because she writes awesome young adult fiction with really strong female characters that kick ass and take names, and JR Ward because she writes really awesomely cheesy and embarassing vampire romance novels that I can't get enough of.
And that's my year in books.
italics used for books I especially liked
* asterisk for those that were rereads
^^ for those I didn't particularly care for
1. Seeker by Jack McDevitt
2. Prince Caspian by CS Lewis *
3. The Death of Sleep by Anne McCaffrey * ^^
4. The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
5. The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson
6. The Truth-Teller's Tale by Sharon Shinn *
7. Les Miserables Part One by Victor Hugo
8. Unveiled by Francine Rivers
9. Unashamed by Francine Rivers
10. Unshaken by Francine Rivers
11. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion ^^
12. Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones ^^
13. Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
14. The Queen in Winter by Sharon Shinn and others
15. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
16. Wrapt in Crystal by Sharon Shinn *
17. Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn *
18. The Shape Changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn *
19. A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers
20. Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller
21. Arkansas by Christine Lunxwiler
22. An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers
23. Polaris by Jack McDevitt
24. A Talent For War by Jack McDevitt
25. Moonfall by Jack McDevitt
26. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
27. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
28. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
29. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
30. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder
31. Juniper by Monica Furlong
32. Second Nature by Alice Hoffman
33. A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
34. The Dream-Maker's Magic by Sharon Shinn
35. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
36. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
37. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
38. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
39. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
40. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
41. Cordelia Underwood by Van Reid
42. Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts
43. Black Rose by Nora Roberts
44. Red Lily by Nora Roberts
45. Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon
46. A Dark Champion by Kinley McGregor ^^
47. Bride for a Bit by many
48. For All Eternity by Linda Lael Miller
49. Tonight and Always by " "
50. Forever and the Night by " "
51. Into the Night by " "
52. March by Geraldine Brooks
53. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
54. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
55. I Was Just Wondering by Philip Yancey
56. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley ^^
57. Crimson City by Liz Maverick
58. Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds
59. Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman
60. Lover Eternal by JR Ward
61. Dark Lover by JR Ward
62. Lover Awakened by JR Ward
63. Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
64. Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce
65. Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce
66. Wild Magic by TP
67. Wolf Speaker by TP
68. Emporer Mage by TP
69. The Realms of the Gods by TP
70. Alanna: The First Adventure by TP ^^
71. In the Hands of the Gods by TP ^^
72. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
73. Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris
74. Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
75. There and Now by Linda Lael Miller
76. Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas
77. Knight of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor
78. The Sharing Knife: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold
79. Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss
80. First Test by Tamora Pierce
81. Page by TP
82. Squire by TP
83. Knight by TP
84. Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence
85. Circle of Magic: Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce
86. COM: Tris's Book by TP
87. COM: Daja's Book by TP
88. COM: Briar's Book by TP
89. Circle Opens: Magic Steps by TP
90. Northern Lights by Nora Roberts
91. Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts
92. Street Mage by Tamora Pierce
93. Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip
94. Dark Piper by Andre Norton
The Numbers:
17 sci fi/fantasy
23 young adult
17 general fic
14 romance
8 Pulitzer's
4 rereads
3 nonfic
TOP TEN:
From the first half of the year
1. Seeker by Jack McDevitt
2. Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller
3. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
4. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
5. Cordelia Underwood by Van Reid
6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - I've seen the movies a million times but I'm relatively certain this is my first time making it all the way through the book. I quite predictably cried in all the appropriate places and I loved it dearly. Poor little Beth. *sniffle*
7. Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds - This guy is really smart. No, really. He writes sci fi the way sci fi was meant to be written and he makes you feel smarter for having read him. This book in particular was pretty stinking interesting, a worm hole is discovered to a perfect replica of pre-WW2 earth, which they call E2 in the book. Present day Earth has been decimated by nano-tech and is inhabitable. Travel occurs, bad things happen, and in the end the good guys may have actually won it.
8. Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce - Probably ties with the sequel, Trickster's Queen, but only one can get the coveted top ten spot, so I went with the first. I love the way this woman writes. Her characters are interesting, she's one of the best world-builders ever. Her dialogue is snappy and awesome things happen. Plus she's got really awesome female characters.
9. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - A Gothic novel in every sense of the word, it's also a love letter to readers, which was pretty awesome. I love the way she writes, the way she makes everything sound beautiful and interesting and the unraveling mystery of the main character's origins was intriguing.
10. Dark Piper by Andre Norton - Chilling. Seriously. This book completely freaked me out. I never want to be on a remote outpost ever. Not ever. And if something comes to kill my planet, I definitely want to be killed. I do not want to be 16 and left to figure everything out on my own, just to attempt to keep human life on my world alive. Sheesh. Creepifying.
And the bottom... whatever...
From the first half of the year
1. Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
2. Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
3. Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
4. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley - And this won a Pulitzer. *shakes head* It was a freaking creepy book. And not in the good way, like Dark Piper. It was just freaking sick and creepy. It had incest, murder, suicide, attempted murder, adultery, etc. And if that's not enough, no one, I mean no one, comes out happy in the end.
5. In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce - I like every single other thing she's written, but I hate her Alanna series for reasons you'd have to read to find out.
6. A Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss - Had such a strong beginning, I really thought it would be good. But the middle was something different from the beginning, and the end was something different from the middle, and it all had an odd focus and flow. Or it lacked focus, one of the two. It's hard to tell. But the writing was really pretty.
And that's it. My count was pathetic, but I tried to cut down on the brain candy, which lengthened reading times considerably. Only fourteen romance novels this year, compared to 40+ in past years, and I can finish, like, two of those in a day. *sigh* Oh well. My psyche is much happier. There are also way, way fewer rereads. You'll notice one remarkable absence. I didn't read LotR this year. It just didn't feel right. I started, and all I could think about was reading something else, and I didn't want reading LotR to become a chore, so I set it aside for later, because it will always be there.
Most exciting discoveries this year were Tamora Pierce and JR Ward, for completely different reasons. Tamora Pierce because she writes awesome young adult fiction with really strong female characters that kick ass and take names, and JR Ward because she writes really awesomely cheesy and embarassing vampire romance novels that I can't get enough of.
And that's my year in books.