75 Books...More or Less! discussion

While I made the 75 book goal for 2009, when I was tallying up my books I discovered that almost a third of them were re-reads. This year my goal is to read 75 new (to me, anyway) books. With any luck that will get my TBR shelves under some semblance of control :)

Stacie, that's a great goal. Good luck!

1. Wi'tch Storm- James Clemens (The magic system in Clemens' Wi'tch books is interesting and unusual. And pretty disturbing ;) The story itself is entertaining and solidly told, even if the plot is totally predictable. The author's use of random apostrophes made me roll my eyes fairly often, and his attempt at creating a 'dialect' by replacing the word 'is' with the word 'be' was just sad, but I enjoyed the story and expect that I'll pick up the next in the series.)

496pp

2. Magyk- Angie Sage (I'd been tempted by the series for a long time now and thought "What the heck... why not give it a try?" Sadly, I came across several reasons while reading: the most prominent were plot, pacing and character development. Granted, I read this while sick and running a fever so individual mileage may vary but I found the writing choppy and rushed, and the attempts at being humorous or clever were clumsy and forced. The whole thing just fell flat for me.)

608pp

3. The Warded Man- Peter V. Brett (I enjoyed this one. It's almost entirely set up for future books- world building and character development with limited plot- but it works because the characters and places are believable and complex without becoming unnecessarily convoluted and tedious.)

416pp

4. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins (Wow... just wow!. I've been hearing fantastic things about this book but figured it couldn't live up to the hype. Fortunately for me, it does. I really, really want to jump into the second one but I've been warned by a reliable source that if I get to the end of the second book without the third being immediately available I'll scream. Why is August so far away?!)

374pp

5. The Lair of the White Worm- Bram Stoker (This book wasn't entirely awful. Just mostly. Clumsy and disjointed with ridiculous dialog. 120 pages was about 115 too long.)

120pp

6. Heat Stroke- Rachel Caine (Brain candy... but definitely addicting! I was almost late for work today, was late getting back from lunch break, and sat in my car straining my eyes under the streetlight before driving home because of this book. Then when I got to the end I had to flip the last page a couple of times to make sure it was the last one and gasped indignantly because that was just a mean place to stop and make someone wait for the next installment :D I'm so glad I've got the third one in my grubby- metaphorically speaking- little hands already!)

335pp

Stacie what a great review for Heat Stroke. I laughed out loud over you sitting under the streetlight reading. What a picture you painted. I'm off to check out that book!! You've intrigued me.

Michele wrote: "Stacie what a great review for Heat Stroke. I laughed out loud over you sitting under the streetlight reading. What a picture you painted. I'm off to check out that book!! You've intrigued me."

It's a really fun read :) Be warned, it's the second book of the Weather Warden series (book 1 is Ill Wind, also very fun) which seems to be large and addicting (there's something like 9 or 10 books out already).

Stacie I downloaded Ill Wind to my Kindle this morning and I'm loving it already. Thanks for the heads up. I think I'll be reading all day! Yay to you for the great read.

7. Chill Factor- Rachel Caine (It's official... I have a new series to follow ;) The story is fast paced and entertaining and the heroine is sarcastic, pushy and stubborn. Just the way I like 'em, LOL.)

352pp

8. Northanger Abbey- Jane Austen (I thought that my dislike of Jane Austen might have been because I was forced to read her books for school. Turns out it wasn't. I've now read three books by her and I fully expect there will never be a fourth. Ah well... 'different strokes for different folks' I suppose.)

288pp

Stacie wrote: "8. Northanger Abbey- Jane Austen (I thought that my dislike of Jane Austen might have been because I was forced to read her books for school. Turns out it wasn't. I've now read three books by her..."

Stacie, you certainly aren't along. I bought a collection of Jane Austen novels thinking I would really like them. I've picked up the volume several times but have never gotten past the first ten pages . . . I admire you for getting to the end!

9. The Adventure of English: the Biography of a Language- Melvyn Bragg (If this doesn't brand me as a Wordnerd nothing will! I loved this. I listened to this on audio and I suspect it would have been frustrating in the extreme to read without an in depth understanding of phonetic notation- which I don't have. Without being able to hear the changes to the language being written about the book wouldn't have made much sense to me. The audio version, however, was great! There is also a video series of the same name, hosted by the author... I've only seen a little bit of it but what I saw was very good :D )

12 hr. 12 min.

10. The Living Dead- John Joseph Adams, ed. (I wasn't really impressed with this collection. There were a few stories that I really enjoyed- the Stephen King piece springs to mind- but for the most part these stories aren't heart-pounding, blood curdling monster stories... they're small studies on the 'human condition', which is not what I wanted when I picked this up.)

486pp

11. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society- Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (I was curious to see what all the hubbub was about so I downloaded the sample yesterday. As soon as I reached the end of the sample- mid sentence, really!- I had to buy the book. It's not at all the kind of thing I read- it's epistolary, it's historical fiction, it's a light romance and very much influenced by Jane Austen- but I could not put it down! I finished it in a single sitting because I simply couldn't stop reading... as soon as I'd just about convinced myself to put my Nook down and get to sleep something would make me start laughing so hard I'd almost choke... immediately followed by something that would wrench my heart, and then make me smile wistfully. I kept telling myself 'Ok, just one more letter' and then 'just one more'. I finally gave up deluding myself around four in the morning and just accepted that I wasn't going to bed tonight. Er, last night. Whatever...)

288pp

12. The True History of Tea- Victor H. Mair & Erling Hoh (I liked that this book covered more than just the usual 'tea triangle' of England/China/India. There's just enough information on the uses and cultural impact of tea and the tea trade in other areas- Russia, Japan, America, Persia, etc.- to be interesting and informative but it still manages not to be overwhelming. There are places where it bogs down, but overall it's well written and interesting.)

280pp

Stacie wrote: "11. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society- Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (I was curious to see what all the hubbub was about so I downloaded the sample yesterday. As soon as I reached..."



I loved this book!

Since I'm not close to finishing anything else right now I think I'm going to go ahead and call January 'done' :)

January Total
11 books, 4,043pp
1 audiobook, 12hr. 12min.

2010 Total
11 books, 4,043pp
1 audiobook, 12hr. 12min.

Stacie, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society was one of my favs last year!

13. Bard of the Middle Ages- Michael Drout (This is one of the Modern Scholars audio titles- which are technically lectures but which I'm counting as audiobooks because of their length- usually between 8 and 14 hrs- the fact that I'm addicted to them, and because... well... i can! ;p This one is the best explanation of Chaucer I've encountered, covering a wide variety of his work not just the Canterbury Tales. I'd recommend it to anyone who's ever tried to pick up Chaucer -or anyone who might have to- and been stricken with 'WTH?!' syndrome.)

8hr. 9min.

Well, February has not exactly been a good month for reading :( There's still about a week left so I might get another title under my belt but really... one new book. I think that's an all-time low for me. Granted I did have to move this month, but still... sheesh! My brain feels like a lump of oatmeal. Cold oatmeal.*sigh*

14. Color: A Natural History of the Palette- Victoria Finlay (I wouldn't recommend this one. There were some interesting bits, but Finlay's writing was so disorganized that reading it was frustrating. It's very hard for me to believe the woman is a journalist, she did a spectacularly bad job of concluding ideas/themes. The subject matter was interesting, fascinating even, but the writing was not well done. As a whole, the book was not effective at communicating its information and it made me want to slam the book repeatedly against the desk which- as I was reading it on my phone- would have been very bad!)

448pp

Stacie wrote: "13. Bard of the Middle Ages- Michael Drout (This is one of the Modern Scholars audio titles- which are technically lectures but which I'm counting as audiobooks because of their length- usually aro..."

Aw! don't beat yourself up!! You're right where you should be, if you figure out the average of 6 and a quarter books per month, you're not behind at all! Although I know the feeling of feeling like you should have done more. It's ok, though, you have been busy, and life does have to be lived, it would be nice if we could just sit and read all the time! lol...You're doing great! and good luck with the move and settling in everything!!

15. The Anglo-Saxon World- Michael Drout (This is another of the Modern Scholar audio series... and if you have an inner nerd, this will make it happy :) One of the biggest problems I've had in the past with trying to read about this time period is that I have no idea how to pronounce half of what I read and it's very distracting and frustrating... well, that and the fact that very many of the people being discussed have the same names- also very frustrating and confusing! Prof. Drout is very good at clearing up that confusion and since this is an audio and he can actually speak Anglo-Saxon you can hear what things should sound like. For some reason that makes it loads easier for me to follow along.)

7hr. 50min.

Joy wrote: "Aw! don't beat yourself up!! You're right where you should be, if you figure out the average of 6 and a quarter books per month, you're not behind at all!"

Joy, thanks for the 'tea and sympathy' :) I wasn't really feeling bad about myself... I was feeling bad for myself, LOL! Kind of like a kid who missed out on a treat because he took too long to finish his chores ;) Reading is my escape and my recharge... when I miss out on it- especially because of things that I don't enjoy- I guess I get cranky!

I feel the same way Stacie- I just hate missing out on reading time :( Right now school, work, and family come first which does not leave much in the way of reading time.

February Total

1 book, 448pp
2 Audiobooks, 15hr. 59 min.

2010 Total

12 books, 4,491pp
3 audiobooks, 18hr. 11min.

16. Beowulf- Chauncy Brewster Tinker, trans. (I debated not counting this as a 'new read' since I've technically read Beowulf before, but I discovered that the different translations can vary so widely as to be practically different stories. This is a prose translation, so it was quite a bit easier to follow than some of the poetic translations I've picked up but it also lacked the... grace, for lack of a better word, of some of the poetry translations. You get the story, but not the power.)

172pp

17. Out of the Silent Planet- C.S. Lewis (The only things I'd read by Lewis were his Chronicles of Narnia so I thought I'd branch out. I'd give this one 3 stars, which is a bit disappointing to me- I really love the Narnia books and was hoping for something on that level. The writing in this book is different, older... and Lewis spends a lot of time trying to explain the fantastic and unrealistic elements instead of just letting the reader experience them. I thought the 'twist' had interesting implications but over all, I was a bit underwhelmed by the story. Oh, and I thought that the main character was a bit of a ninny so that may have coloured my impressions a bit, lol.)

5hr. 29 min.

18. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll (This has been on my TBR pile for quite a while- I'd read graphic novel treatments and abridgements but never the original work. Now that I have, I've got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it is written well- the characters are each unique and distinct and Alice could easily be every little girl I've ever known. The dreamlike 'logic' stays consistent throughout and it's whimsical. On the other hand, there is absolutely no point. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it when I was much younger, or if it had been very late at night- or I'd had some form of chemical assistance ;p)

98pp

19. Stoneheart- Charlie Fletcher (I picked this up because, well... I'll listen to anything narrated by Jim Dale ;p But by the time I was halfway through the story I'd already gone out and bought the second and third volumes of the series. There's something about this story, about it's world, that just grabbed my imagination and wouldn't let go. I found myself wanting to go see this London for myself! I absolutely love this story so far.)

9hr. 39min.

20. Ironhand- Charlie Fletcher (The second in the trilogy, and just as good as the first. I'm almost afraid to start the next one, though, because I don't want the series to end!)

9h. 22min.

March Total

2 books, 270pp
3 Audiobooks, 24hr. 30 min.

2010 Total

14 books, 4,761pp
6 audiobooks, 42hr. 41min.

21. The Dead Zone- Stephen King (King's writing, as usual IMO, is good. You get inside and really identify with the main characters- they are believable and you come to care about them. However, the plotting is not as tightly put together as some of his other works and I thought the ending was weak. I still enjoyed it, and I'll probably read it again at some point, but it's not going to get moved to my 'favorites' shelf.)

416pp

22. Silvertongue- Charlie Fletcher (Not quite as good as the first two in the series but still really good. I can't quite figure out what the author was thinking when he picked the title though ;) The first two titles in the series made sense- they referred to a central idea or event. The third title... not so much! I really loved the series, though, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy/adventure fiction. I'll definitely be listening to these again!)

10 hrs 52 min

Stacie wrote: "Joy wrote: "Aw! don't beat yourself up!! You're right where you should be, if you figure out the average of 6 and a quarter books per month, you're not behind at all!"

Joy, thanks for the 'tea and..."

I feel you on that! when I was in school, and working I felt that way....Reading is my escape too and when I can't go to my escape I would go crazy. When I was working, I used to get up an hour earlier just so I could read and drink my coffee and ease my way into my day....yup, I give up sleep for reading...nope, I'm not addicted! lol

23. Wi'tch War- James Clemmens (This is the third book in a multi book series. The first two were entertaining and at least fairly solidly written. This one... well, this one is written so badly that I'm not even sure that it was actually written by Clemmens. If it was, he should fall on his knees and beg forgiveness. I can not think of a single positive thing to say about this book. The dialogue is *shudder* idiotic, the 'plot' is ridiculously contrived and melodramatic, and the characterizations are so flat they aren't even two dimensional. The world building and magic system- which had seemed so promising at first- suffers from a fatal lack of imagination in this one. I very much regret that actually I paid money for it, and that I purchased the next in the series (which I have no desire to read now) at the same time. Blech.)

560pp

I've been wondering about this for a while now, but...what's with the apostrophe in wi'tch?

Jacob wrote: "I've been wondering about this for a while now, but...what's with the apostrophe in wi'tch?"

It's the author apparently trying to be 'creative' (or lazy, as I've come to believe). He also has one character use the word 'be' instead of 'is' as a form of dialect... of course, since that's the only word that the character uses differently it doesn't work very well.

24. Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs: a Popular History of Ancient Egypt- Barbara Mertz (A very entertaining and easy to follow history. I found myself laughing out loud at the wry humor.)

12 hrs 45 min

25. the Forrest of Hands and Teeth- Carrie Ryan (I'd heard mixed reviews about this one but, really... how can you resist something with such a great title? ;) Despite the fact that the external pressure on the main character was supplied by zombies, and I'm utterly terrified by zombies, I couldn't put the book down. Every time I tried I found my brain buzzing with the real conflict in the story- that between the duty to the community and duty to the self, and how messy and confusing and impossible that decision is... and of the unfair sacrifices either choice demands.)

336pp

26. Drowned Wednesday- Garth Nix (Another fun entry into the series, this one with pirates. Evil, sorcerous pirates. :D)

8 hrs 45 min

April Total

3 books, 1,342pp
3 Audiobooks, 32 hr. 22 min.

2010 Total

17 books, 6,103pp
9 audiobooks, 75hr. 3min.

27. Sir Thursday- Garth Nix (This one doesn't focus as much on the 'villain' of the title as the first two did... in fact there's a lot of conflict with Superior Saturday- which should be two books down the line. The result is that there's a feeling that Nix is more interested in that future story than the one he's telling now and it does distract a little as it pulls the reader's attention away from present events in the story. There were hints of a 'bigger bad' in each of the first two but they were much more subtle and so didn't distract as much. Still, this was very fun and as always I loved the descriptions of the various parts of the House and it's Denizens.)

7 hr. 56 min.

28. The Crocodile on the Sandbank- Elizabeth Peters (I was surprised to find out that Barbara Mertz, the author of an Egyptian history book that I read and loved, also wrote under the pen name of Elizabeth Peters- and Barbara Michaels... the woman is very prolific! Now, period romantic mysteries aren't my usual genre but I'd enjoyed the writing style in her non-fiction so much I thought I'd use an Audible credit and give her a try. I'm so glad I did! The narrator wasn't the best I've ever listened to but I still can't remember the last time I finished an audiobook in a single day, at least not in a day I wasn't stuck driving cross-country. It isn't a very strong mystery, more of a light romantic comedy... nothing very mysterious happens until about the last third of the novel and you know who, what and why right away, but it is funny, and the information on archaeology and Egyptology was fascinating and accurate- to be expected, I guess, since the author has a PhD in the field ;) I love Amelia! There are 19 books in this series and she's written 70 books, total, under her various noms de plume. I hope the rest continue to be as entertaining. I love finding an author I like and finding out they've practically written an entire section of the library :D)

9hr. 51min.

29. The Curse of the Pharaohs- Elizabeth Peters (This audiobook had me either grinning like an idiot or outright laughing from beginning to end. The mystery itself was better than in the first book in the series, but it was the characters themselves that kept me glued to my earphones more than any plot twists.)

11hr. 36min.

30. The Mummy Case- Elizabeth Peters (The third book in the series, and just as humorous as the first two {just two words here: mosquito netting. Hahahaha!}. We get to see a lot more of Ramses too, and he's a perfect addition to the family. I haven't quite decided how to best classify these books though. The closest I can describe them is as historical romance/mystery/comedy/victorian melodrama which doesn't sound nearly as entertaining as they are :p)

11hr. 56min.

Stacie, I looked up Elizabeth Peters on cozy-mystery.com. Apparently, she has a Ph.D. in Egyptology, and writes nonfiction books on this subject under the name of Barbara Mertz.

I'm going to have to read some from this mystery series - they do sound like fun and intriguing books.

Kay wrote: "Stacie, I looked up Elizabeth Peters on cozy-mystery.com. Apparently, she has a Ph.D. in Egyptology, and writes nonfiction books on this subject under the name of Barbara Mertz.

I'm going to have..."

I recommend the Peabody series to, well, everybody! They are so funny :D I am listening to the 4th one on audiobook (with Barbara Rosenblat narrating) right now and loving it.