75 Books...More or Less! discussion

All right, let's get this party started. In no particular order, things I've finished between January first and now:

1. The Library at Night- Alberto Manguel (I love his writing... plus I love seeing that people love books and reading as much- and in a very similar way- as I do. I also loved his "A History Of Reading" and may indulge myself in a re-read of that this year)

2. A City Of Words- Alberto Manguel (Ok, so I mostly love his writing. This one only gets a "liked it" out of me. The writing- the nuts and bolts of it- was good but "City" didn't really touch me. The other things I've read from Manguel have all affected me deeply- slipped inside and plopped down in my favorite chair, put their dirty sneakers on the table and looked at me as if saying "What? I was in here first!")

3. Marriage, A History- Stephanie Coontz (One of my non-brain candy choices. I devoured it. Not for everyone, but I found it fascinating.)

4. The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman (This was in audiobook form. It would have been faster for me to read it myself, but I really like Neil Gaiman's narration. I have several of his works in both printed and audio form and like to use the audio as a special treat. "Coraline" and "Stardust" are still my favorites but this was a really fun read- and the descriptions are beautifully creepy. Creepily beautiful? However you want to word it, it's worth a read/listen)

5. Greywalker- Kat Richardson (I like the Urban Fantasy genre, but I just couldn't get into this one. The descriptions of the 'Grey' never really make sense- I couldn't 'see' it in my head- and the rest of the story never 'gelled' for me. Disappointing)

6. Once Bitten, Twice Shy- Jennifer Rardin (Brain candy. I liked the 'voice' of the main character and the story was kinda of fun. Ok, so I kept laughing out loud. Not really sure I was satisfied with the ending, but I'll probably give the second book in the series a try too)

7. A Room Of One's Own- Virginia Wolf (This is one of the books I've got left over from one of my Lit classes. I didn't read it at the time because I despised the Professor and refused to read on principle. Rather stupid of me since I failed the course- which mattered not a whit to him- and wound up really liking it when I finally got desperate enough for something new to read that I pulled it off of the shelf)

8. Steeped In The World Of Tea- Sharon Bard et al (disappointing. A mix of prose and poetry all linked by, of course, a 'tea' theme. There were only a couple of selections inside that I liked)

9. Cry Wolf- Patricia Briggs (didn't like this one at all, though I loved the first two Mercy Thompson books)

10. The Celts- Aedeen Cremin (more non-brain candy, though it was a short easy read. The writing was clear and the photographs were things I hadn't already seen in other history books.)

11. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone- J.K. Rowling (I absolutely adore these books, so of course this is a re-read. I wind up reading the entire series about once a year or so. I also listen to the audiobooks- Jim Dale does a fantastic job narrating them- fairly frequently. I love Rowling's names and the way they perfectly fit their characters!)

11b. The Tales Of Beedle The Bard- J.K. Rowling (I enjoyed this book- the best thing about it wasn't even the stories, though they were good. The best part were the 'commentaries' by Dumbledore. Still, it's so tiny I can't really justify it being counted toward my 75)

12. They Have Not Seen The Stars- Ray Bradbury (this is actually two of his books of poetry put together in a single edition and I loved it!)

13. Golden Apples Of The Sun- Ray Bradbury (One of Bradbury's collection of short stories. I discovered that I adore his Science Fiction and am ambivalent about his realistic fiction. Good to know!)

14. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets- J.K. Rowling (again, this was a re-read, simply for the love of it)

15. The Fellowship Of The Rings- J.R.R. Tolkien (another re-read, although I don't read these as often as I do the Potter books. The trilogy kind of 'grows' on me. The first time I read the LotR I didn't really like it... and yet I wound up reading it again later on :) There's something about them that makes me return to them- I think this is the fourth time I've read "Fellowship" and I seem to like it better every time. I also have the entire set in audio format- the unabridged version preformed by Rob Inglis is excellent, even if his singing of all the poetry, and there's a lot of it, get annoying.)

16. The Two Towers- J.R.R. Tolkien (re-read)

17. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban- J.K. Rowling (re-read)

18. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire- J.K. Rowling (re-read)

19. The Story Of Tea: A Cultural History And Drinking Guide- Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Hess (Reads like a mix between a textbook and an informercial. Not recommended for anything other than a reference book.)

20. The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower 1- Stephen King (This is the third time I've picked this book up. I actually managed to finish it this time and I'm kind of ambivalent about it. The story... well, nothing really happens. It's like a very long prologue... 300 pages of prologue. There is some beautiful writing, the kind that makes you slow down and savor the texture and rhythm... but nothing really happens. I've read some short stories set in the Dark Tower universe, and excerpts from other books, and really liked them... but the rest of the series makes absolutely no sense if you haven't managed to slog through "The Gunslinger". So, I slogged. I'm glad I did- or at least I'm glad that it's out of the way. Now I can move onto the other books in the series!)

Yeah, The Gunslinger isn't the best introduction to the series, but it gets better. The next three books are especially great. The last three are a bit shaky (due to King's 1999 accident, which caused him to finish the series at a much faster pace than was the norm for him), but overall it's a fine series. Enjoy!

21. Touch The Dark- Karen Chance (Finally had the chance to finish this. I got a copy at Christmas but gave it away before I could finish it- not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because the person I gave it to really, really wanted to read it and I knew I'd get another copy eventually. A bit more... detailed... in the 'romance' than I tend to go for, but over-all a quick entertaining read. Finished in a few hours and considering picking up the second in the series to see where the author goes with the world she's setting up, though I do foresee the main character eventually becoming too all-powerful to be interesting.)

22. Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt- Joyce Tyldesley (I like her writing, it's clear without being bone dry and boring, and she's extremely knowledgeable about her subject... buy I just couldn't buy into her interpretations, especially as she kept stating that there was no evidence at all to either contradict or support them. There's a lot in this book that was interesting and new to me, but whenever she started making conclusions that she fully admitted had no evidence to back them up, she lost me and I'd have to skim ahead until she was back on 'solid ground'. This wasn't a waste of time or anything, but I was disappointed.)

23. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle- David Wroblewski (wow... that was boring! This fell under the heading of 'try something outside my usual genre choices'. What was I thinking?! I loved the 'inspiration' for this book- I don't want to spoil anyone so I won't give any more details- and I thought "Surely no one can screw up that story." Incorrect! I wish I could get the hours I spent reading this back. Sigh.)

24. The Tommyknockers- Stephen King (Once I got past the very slow start- first 140 pages or so- I really enjoyed this book.)

25. Interworld- Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves (Quick, light read, but very fun. I could easily see it sparking a series of comics or graphic novels... but with my luck it would wind up being adapted to a Sci-Fi channel special!)

26. The City of Ember- Jeanne DuPrau (I was rather disappointed in this one. I'd heard lots of good things about it but I just didn't find the two main characters or the world believable. It's kind of embarrassing but I kept thinking "This is an awful lot like 'Fallout 3' except that the writing for the game is more believable".)

27. Into the Looking-Glass Wood: Essays on Books, Reading, and the World (Well, more essays on the world and less so on books and reading. These essays are very well written and very personal slices of life. Unfortunately, I couldn't relate to most of them so they didn't hold my interest. I think this is a collection that you go back through and sample through various periods of your life, so I'll probably give it another go in a few years. The style and technique are good enough that I'm willing to give the subject another try later!)

Hi, Stacie. Just dropping by to say "hi" - and I'm glad you've joined this group. You are certainly well on your way towards the "75" goal!

Kay wrote: "Hi, Stacie. Just dropping by to say "hi" - and I'm glad you've joined this group. You are certainly well on your way towards the "75" goal!"

Thanks! I always wondered how much I read in a year (I'm beginning to think I vastly underestimated myself, LOL). I'm enjoying watching my list grow but I'm also a little disturbed by how little of a dent I'm making in my Waiting-to-be- Read-One-Day shelves (20 of the books I've read so far have come off of those shelves, and they are still really full). Perhaps I should stop buying new books until I've finished all the ones I've already got... nah, that's just crazy talk!

28. 'Salem's Lot- Stephen King This was a re-read; it's the book of the month for March on the "Stephen King Fans" group. I love this story! It's creepy and frightening and these vampires aren't heroic, romantic or glittery! It's a good, old-fashioned 'Read-Only-in-the-Middle-of-a-Sunny-Day' horror tale. Which might explain why it took me almost a month to finish it :) I refuse to go to work and have to explain that I'm tired because I gave myself nightmares!

29. Nero's Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable Fourteenth Legion- Stephen Dando-Collins(I loved this book. The author has been criticized for not being 'academic' enough, for being 'too accessible'- which is more than a little insulting in my not-so-humble opinion- but I can honestly recommend his books to anyone and everyone with even a passing interest in Roman history. He's very good at synthesizing the patchy primary sources and biased secondary sources into a believable, coherent compelling whole. I can't vouch for how good a scholar he is, but he's a very good teacher.)

The Watchmen- Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (Things decided to get stressful at work so I decided to counteract with some comfort reading. Perhaps I should have chosen something that wasn't depressing... It's a really good story and it gets inside your head and makes you think, but it's depressing! I think I shall take over the comfy chair for a couple of days and surround myself with stacks of Tolkien, Rowling and Lewis... and a really really big mug of tea.)

30. The Return of the King- J.R.R. Tolkien (This is one of my comfort reads; I usually read it once every year or two. There's some really good writing in this one... and then there's the line "Praise them with great praise!" I really hate that line. To paraphrase Mark Twain, it makes me want to dig Tolkien up and hit him over the head with his own shin bone.)

31. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- C.S. Lewis This is the first book I ever read that made me see pictures in my head, and as such holds a very special place in my heart. I tend to return to it when I need a quick escape from 'Grown-up' life- and it's never let me down yet. Now that I'm an adult part of the fun is remembering just how much 7 yr old me wanted to be able to walk into my closet and find a magical world with talking animals! Ah, good times :) Objectively I can see (if I try real hard) that parts of this book are a little... unpolished... and others are kind of... heavy handed. It's still my favorite book though ;)

32. Looking Glass- James R. Strickland(Cyber-punk. I guess it's not for everyone but I've always enjoyed it. Like most cyber-punk 'Looking Glass' has more technobabble than strictly needed for storytelling purposes but on the other hand it's generously laced with really good literary allusions. Oh, and it's also got my favorite 'Dune' reference ever. I enjoyed this book enough that I wound up staying up 3 hours later than I should have to finish it and didn't really notice until I hit the end that my back was spasming. Believe me, a story has to be engrossing to distract from that. I downloaded his second book 'Irreconcilable Differences' this morning and am hoping I have as much fun with it as I did the first. BTW, the author is on GoodReads in case any of you are interested. I'm not affiliated in any way but I don't mind plugging things I enjoy :p )

33. Carrie- Stephen King (This was the April selection for one of my book clubs. It's a re-read but it has been a while since I read it- half a lifetime ago, Yikes! I remember that I had enjoyed the story but what I didn't remember- or more likely just hadn't noticed when I was sixteen- is that it is really well written. It's hard to believe that Carrie was King's first novel. Well, first published novel anyway.)

34. Magic Strikes- Ilona Andrews (Ok, so she's starting to reach a bit with the titles but the book itself was really fun! I love the world that Andrews creates and her main character makes me laugh out loud. Also, the way she is dealing with the dominance factor in her Pack dynamics doesn't nauseate me the way some of the other authors in this genre are starting to.)

35. Rogue Angel: Destiny- Alex Archer (This was... not good. Not horrible, but not good. It reminded me of mediocre fanfic for a bad cable tv show. Starring Tia Carrera maybe... "Relic Hunter" with a magic sword.)

36. Queen Emma and the Vikings- Harriet O'Brien (This was so much better than the first book on the time period I tried to slog through! It helps that Ms. O'Brien is a journalist and so knows how to put facts together into a linear progression. The book is a well written and accessible overview for those of us whose knowledge of of the eleventh century England stops at the fact that there was one ;) No footnotes, which I find distract from the basic text anyway, but there are end notes and a bibliography- complete with some nice websites- for those with a more scholarly bent to follow up on.)

37. The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkien (I love this book! Most people write it off as just a 'prequel' to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but the pacing and writing style are completely different and 'The Hobbit' should be enjoyed for it's own merits. And not read back to back with LotR, unless you enjoy mental whiplash :) It's a very fast read, but I consider it time well spent.)

Halfway mark- yay me :) Of course, I just realized that a third of my books this year have been re-reads (which seems like cheating) and far from diminishing, my 'to read' pile is actually growing. Ok, new rule for Stacie: three new books for every re-read. Yeah... we'll see how long that lasts, LOL.

38. Irreconcilable Differences- James R. Strickland (The second book by this author and it's good, but not quite as good as the first, IMHO. The technical aspects of the writing itself tighten up, but the plotting and pacing aren't quite as good. Still good though. I'll be keeping an eye out for more books from this author.)

39. Claimed by Shadow- Karen Chance (The more I think about this entry into the Cassandra Palmer series the less I like it. The plot is clumsy and more contrived than I'm generally willing to forgive, the action is confusing and in three hundred eighty some-odd pages nothing gets resolved. There were some interesting bits- I liked the tattoos and the descriptions of Faerie- and I liked some of the characters but at the end of the book I was left wondering just what the point was.)

40. Turn Coat- Jim Butcher (I love the Dresden books and this is a worthy entry into the series. It isn't as strong a stand alone story as some of the other books but it's fun and it's an excellent set up for future storylines. Plus there are some really good descriptive passages. If you are already a fan, definitely pick it up. If you're not a fan yet I recommend starting with his earlier Dresden books- you don't have to read them in order but they work better that way.)

41. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America- David Hajdu (I really liked this one. I'm not sure how interesting it would be to someone who was not interested in comic books or in American society of that time period, but I was fascinated. I'd give it four out of five stars because it's written well but there is a lot of name dropping that sometimes doesn't contribute very much to the narrative. Otherwise I'd have given it a five out of five.)

42. The Long Walk- Richard Bachman, aka Stephen King (This is the may read for the Stephen King Book Club and it's fantastic. Most of the 'action' is internal, taking place in the main character's head as he goes through this grueling competition- not normally my type of story- but at the same time it's incredibly hard to put down.)

43. Running With The Demon- Terry Brooks (Not really sure about this one. There's some good writing, some very good descriptions and it's an interesting idea, trying to show how our current world becomes the world in his high-fantasy Shannara series. I'm just not sure it's very effective- it feels like the 'set up' to the main story, instead of a story in it's own right.)

44. The Lightning Thief- Rick Riordan (A fun quick read. I picked this up and finished it in an evening. It kind of reminded me of the Young Hercules tv show.)

45. Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England- Alison Weir (This book dragged. Some of the chapters were almost painful to get through, they were so boring. Parts of it were interesting and it's obvious that Ms. Weir knows her subject and was very thorough in her research... but it is unlikely that I'll ever pick up anything else by her.)

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft- Joe Hill/ Gabriel Rodriguez (I'm not counting graphic novels towards my total- it would feel like counting a short story as a book- but this might be my favorite new read this year. I got this two days ago and have read it three times. There's something about it that gets inside your head and won't let go ;) It's haunting and creepy and disturbing... and suprisingly compelling! If you like horror stories, even if you don't read graphic novels, I highly recommend this.)

46. The Sea of Monsters- Rick Riordan (These are quick easy reads. I love Greek mythology and Riordan's interpretations are entertaining.)

47. The Titan's Curse- Rick Riordan (These are addictive. They aren't 'literary masterpieces' or anything, but they are lots of fun... and before I knew it I'd gone out and bought the whole series :-D )

48. All Together Dead- Charlaine Harris (Ok, but not the best in the series.)

Hi Stacie!

Boy do you have an interesting list!!! :-)

I am glad I wasn't the only who disliked The City of Ember. I just COULD NOT get into that book. I was really disappointed as I had heard great things about it. Blah!

I agree about The Hobbit. I LOVED that book. I loved the writing and the story and everything. And then I moved on to LotR trilogy and found myself faltering. To be honest, I only got 1/2way through The Two Towers. I know I have to go back someday and re-read them all, but WOW! that seems very daunting to me!

I too LOVE Harry. And Narnia. And the books by Rick Riordan are on my list.

Have 1 more to read before I get to All Together Dead. I am enjoying the series though. Have you read her Harper Connelly series? VERY VERY good!!!

I can barely walk BY a bookstore without something flying out at me and coming home with me. So no worries about your shelves. They will hold it all up. And eventually we will get it all read! :-)

Dawn Michelle wrote: "Have 1 more to read before I get to All Together Dead. I am enjoying the series though. Have you read her Harper Connelly series? VERY VERY good!!!"

I haven't read any of that series yet... but the first book is in my (growing) to-read pile :D

49. The Running Man- Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) (Good book, nothing like the movie of course, but it was a fun read. It isn't one of King's stronger works- The Long Walk is much stronger- but I enjoyed it)

50. The Battle of the Labyrinth- Rick Riordan(Riordan finally got around to explaining how Athena, one of the three great virgin goddesses, can have children at Camp- something that has been irritating me for the last three books, LOL- and much to my surprise, his explanation worked for me!)

51. The Stand- Stephen King (this thing's 1153 pages long- I should get to count it as more than one book, LOL! A fantastic read, as expected. I'd read it once many years ago... so many, in fact, that I kept going 'what happens to him again? Gasp! NO!' :) The first portion of the book, where the characters step out in to the eerie, empty towns and cities is still my favorite but I found that I enjoyed the 'recreating society' portion more this time around.)

I was feeling whimsical and curious- sometimes a dangerous combination- so I did a bit o' math. Those 51 books total 18,476 pages (according to Amazon). At an industry average of 350 words a (paperback) page that comes out to 6,466,600 words read so far! Gawrsh, I feel so smart! (rofl)

That just tickled my sense of the ridiculous, so I thought I'd share :D

Stacie, those are some AMAZING stats! You get my nomination for reading goddess of the year!

Kay wrote: "Stacie, those are some AMAZING stats! You get my nomination for reading goddess of the year!"

LOL! It's a crowded pantheon... Nan and Kiwiria put my stats to shame ;)

52. Grave Sight- Charlaine Harris(Solid writing, predictable plot- I'd figured out who & why by chapter 3- but still entertaining. I plan on reading at least the next in the series, and seriously hope that Harper gets less neurotic further on...)

53. From Dead to Worse- Charlaine Harris (A quick read. I finished this one in about five hours, though insomnia could have a lot to do with that- good for reading, bad for working the next day! Anyway, despite a horribly clunky beginning, I enjoyed this one. It was a 'tie up loose ends' kind of book but the solutions were, for the most part, satisfying and it leaves the reader with a sense of anticipation for the next batch of story lines.)

54. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- J.K. Rowling (This was, of course, a re-read. It's a tradition to read the books right before watching the movies :) This is an excellent book but it is the most difficult one in the series for me to read because of how horrible Umbridge is... I always feel so bad for Harry!)

55. Grave Surprise- Charlaine Harris (I didn't have as much fun with this one as I did with the first in the series, though the mystery itself was better.)

56. Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero- E. Paul Zehr (This is a 'learning book' ;p. It uses science to answer the question "is it physically possible for a normal human being to become Batman... or at least to do the things that Batman can do?" I found the book really interesting, but I would say that if someone weren't interested in either science or the human body- it is not enough to be interested in Batman or superheroes in general- they would be bored stiff!)

57. The War of the Worlds- H.G. Wells (How is it possible that I've managed to go through my entire reading life, until now, without reading this?! I've seen- and loved- every movie, radio and graphic novel adaptation to date, but for some reason it's taken me 30 years to get around to reading the original. Well, better late than never I guess! It's a terrific story, and more than that, it's well written. This is one of those times when I'm reminded that no matter how fast or how many books I read I will never be able to read all of the good ones out there. Of course, I'm still determined to die trying ;p)