75 Books...More or Less! discussion
Archive (2010 Challenge)
>
Jacob's 75 in 2010
Reading Goals for 2010:1) The short stories. Of course.
2) Science fiction. I've been out of the loop for a while, and it looks like there's some good stuff going on in the genre. Must give it a look.
3) More nonfiction. Only read a few last year, need to add some more. Topics I should try:
3a) History. Usually avoid the subject because there's just so much of it, but I think I'll narrow my study down to 1865-1914, get a good look at the Gilded Age/Victorian and Edwardian Eras, research the good ol' period before WWI--because that's what I'd really like to study, but I'm reluctant to jump in without knowing a bit about the events leading up to it.
3b) Science writing. Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything was a good introduction to, well, everything, but I should probably expand on certain subjects.
3c) Mythology/religion. I'm woefully ignorant of both.
3d) Speaking of religion and science: read up on atheism (Dawkins, Hitchens, etc.), evolution, maybe check out that creationism nonsense.
Like last year, I'll make sure to review what I read--but I should probably share my reviews here, instead of just listing the books I've read, right? Right.
Right!
Jacob wrote: "Reading Goals for 2010:1) The short stories. Of course.
2) Science fiction. I've been out of the loop for a while, and it looks like there's some good stuff going on in the genre. Must give i..."
Absolutely, Jacob! I always enjoy it when members do that . . . I'm more likely to read comments here and it's a great way to get more familiar with what folks are reading right now.
Mod
What's this? Everyone else has already read a dozen books since January 1? Man, I'm so behind!1) Intelligent Design, edited by Denise Little (Anthology: 11 stories) (305 pages) Read 1/4/2010 to 1/10/2010 (**)
Review: Intelligent design, that annoying love-child of evolution and creationism, is a tenacious little bugger that just won’t die. The theory that God (or an unamed designer a half-step away from being named as such) is responsible for the origin and evolution of life has caused no end of controversy here in the States (and, I hear, across the Pond as well), but that doesn’t mean the subject can’t be entertaining. As editor Denise Little shows in this anthology, the intersection of religion and science may be controversial, but it is also fodder for some very interesting--and fun--stories...(more)
Jacob wrote: "What's this? Everyone else has already read a dozen books since January 1? Man, I'm so behind!1) Intelligent Design, edited by Denise Little (***) (Anthology: 11 stories) (305 pages) Read 1/4..."
no, not a whole dozen for me, only half a dozen! lol...
Jacob wrote: "What's this? Everyone else has already read a dozen books since January 1? Man, I'm so behind!1) Intelligent Design, edited by Denise Little (***) (Anthology: 11 stories) (305 pages) Read 1/4..."
Fascinating review, Jacob.
I'm only on #6! hard to find time to read, knit AND work... I'd happily give up work, but I have a menacing boss (my husband!)
Robin, have you tried listening to audiobooks while knitting? It's my favorite multi-task :-D
JanB wrote: "Robin, have you tried listening to audiobooks while knitting? It's my favorite multi-task :-D"I'm with u on that!! I listen to audio books while I cross stitch! I used to think listening to books was "cheating" but not anymore! =)
2) Twenty Stories by Kristin Fouquet (Short fiction: 20 stories) (98 pages) Read 1/12/2010 to 1/19/2010 (*****)Review: Confession: I’m a bit skeptical about flash fiction. I like my stories with some meat on ‘em. 1-2 pages really don’t do anything for me; I’m usually left wondering really? That’s it? But I like free things, and I like books, and I especially like free books, so I’ve been signing up for First Reads contests willy-nilly. Short stories especially, and a title like Twenty Stories is hard to miss. When I won the contest, I looked it up and discovered that Twenty Stories was more like Five Stories and Fifteen Flash-Fictions, and it was under 100 pages. Well, I thought, it’ll be a quick read, I can give it three stars and a neutral review, and I’ll still have a free (albeit very slim) book. So I got it, and I read it, and--
Short review: Whoa.
Longer Review: No, seriously. Whoa…(more)
I've finished five books so far, and I'm reading two more (and will probably start one or two more in the next few days), but I'm behind on reviews. Lazy old me. I'm going to bend the rules (are there rules here?) and add a book from last year. I actually counted it for 2009 before I finished reading, but I only read a few chapters before the New Year hit. Then I abandoned it for about two weeks, and only recently read the rest, so I'm going to count it for 2010 instead. Still leaves me with 82 books for last year, so we're good.
I also changed my rating of Intelligent Design from 3 stars to 2. Wasn't as good as I first thought.
3) Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible by Arthur C. Clarke (213 pages) Read 12/24/2009 to 12/31/2009, 1/21/2010 to 1/28/2010 (*****) Review: Let’s face it, fellow readers: the last ten years were such a stupid decade. I don’t mean politically, culturally, etc. (although we can trash it in the comments if you want) I just mean in general. I imagine the Eighties were pretty cool (I wasn’t ensouled for most of it), and I personally enjoyed the Nineties, but this? It’s been ten years and we’re still unsure what to call it. The Oughties? The Noughts? Something equally stupid and unhip? Screw it. I don’t care anymore. The whole 200X dating convention always looked so cheap and tawdry anyway. Sure, The Year Two Thousand seemed exciting and futuristic way back in 1999, but by Two Thousand And Three, Two Thousand And Four, it just felt old. I never really liked dates with two consecutive zeroes in the number--and ten of them in a row was just too much. Good thing it’s all behind us. The name of this decade seems just as elusive, but at least it looks respectable. Properly futuristic. We just have to make it past all this Two Thousand And Twelve nonsense, and we’ll be in the clear...(more)
Mod
4) A Son of the Circus by John Irving (642 pages) Read 1/2/2010 to 2/1/2010 (****) Review: Dwarfs and beggars, whores and transvestites, murderers and movie stars and twins separated at birth, and the doctor/amateur geneticist/really amateur writer who knows them all...
Of what I’ve read, this is John Irving’s most raucous novel yet, a wild circus with a half-dozen acts all scrambling for the center spot. Easily worth five stars, but I probably read it wrong. Often, with Irving, you can set the book down and come back to it after a long absense, or even just pick a page at random and read from there--no matter how complex or dense the book is, it’s easy to pick up on a thread and go from there. I do it with Garp all the time (and I read the epilogue to that every few months). Here, though, I had to work at it: I thought I could read a chapter or two during my lunch break at work (very short chapters) but I kept getting confused, as Irving spent much of the first act jumping back and forth between the present (a single afternoon and evening) and various important events in the past--all flashbacks important to the rest of the story, of course, but not quite right for casual, light reading. Still, it’s full of fun, short scenes, typical and wonderful Irving-esque comedy, and the chapter “Blood from Dwarfs” is one of my favorite Irving chapters. (after “Life After Garp”) Wonderful story, worth five stars (and will certainly earn 'em, next time), but make sure to devote your time to this one. Definitely worth a re-read.
5) Dr. King’s Refrigerator and Other Bedtime Stories by Charles Johnson (Short fiction: 8 stories) (123 pages) Read 1/25/2010 to 2/2/2010 (***)Review: I didn’t expect much from this (very) slim collection of stories, mostly because it was a bargain book, but I was pleasantly surprised--a somewhat frequent occurance as of late. Most of the stories deal with themes of identity and race: cultural differences between an African prince and an American college student, a business executive forced to choose between two exceptional and diverse job applicants, a clash between a student and teacher at a martial arts school, etc. The title story follows Dr. Martin Luther King, jr., as a midnight snack brings about a revelation. The dysopian taxation and audit of dreams in “Sweet Dreams” is a bit over-the-top, but most of the rest, including the fateful meeting between Descartes and Queen Christina of Norway in “The Queen and the Philosopher,” are much lighter in mood and tone. Fairly good collection. I’ll have to check out Johnson’s other works.
6) The Collected Stories of Reynolds Price (Short fiction: 50 stories) (625 pages) Read 1/1/2010 to 2/8/2010 (****) Reviewed
7) Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card (469 pages) (Library) Read 2/2/2010 to 2/12/2010 (***) Reviewed
Jacob,Wow - you've had quite a run of books you really liked lately!
I make occasional ventures into Sci Fi. How highly do you recommend Orson Scott Card overall?
I know, and it bothers me a bit. Not the fact that I liked them--just that I keep rating them all the same. The real problem is that I've been a bit lazy about writing reviews lately, so it all looks sloppy and unfinished. Meh.I can't say much about Card's work overall (he's written a lot) but I read the Ender's Game series last year and I'm working through the Shadow series (same universe, different characters and settings) this year. Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead were excellent, but the next two went downhill very fast. Ender's Shadow (companion novel to Ender's Game) was somewhat good, but this series is starting to flounder too. If I were you, I'd read Game and Speaker, and maybe Ender's Shadow if you really feel like getting Ender's Game from a slightly different angle. The rest you can skip.
I'd recommend something else if I could, but my ventures into Sci-Fi are probably rarer than yours :)
8) Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card (365 pages) (Library) Read 2/13/2010 to 2/20/2010 (***) Reviewed
9) The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits: Stories by Emma Donoghue (Short fiction: 17 stories) (255 pages) Read 2/9/2010 to 2/25/2010 (***)Review: Okay, I admit it: I got this one because of the title. Bit of an attention-grabber, isn’t it? Seemed quirky enough. In this collection, Emma Donoghue fleshed out seventeen stories about real, but obscure and nearly forgotten, people and events from several centuries of British history: the woman in the title story, Mary Toft, managed to convince the 18th century medical profession (albeit briefly) that she had given birth to a vast number of rabbits.; in the 1850s and 60s, Dr. Isaac Baker Brown used clitoridectomies as a way to “cure” women of nonexistant ills; Caroline Crachami, possibly the smallest person who ever lived, was exhibited in England in 1823-24; as well as fourteen other small historical tales for the curious reader. Donoghue included notes at the end of each, for those trying to guess the historical figure (I got one right). Interesting stories, though a bit mixed, but worth a read for anyone who likes their trivia.
Jacob wrote: "I know, and it bothers me a bit. Not the fact that I liked them--just that I keep rating them all the same. The real problem is that I've been a bit lazy about writing reviews lately, so it all l..."Thanks for the insights and recommendation!
10) Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card (348 pages) (Library) Read 2/22/2010 to 3/3/2010 (**) Reviewed
11) Out of the Woods: Stories by Chris Offutt (Short fiction: 8 stories) (176 pages) Read 2/26/2010 to 3/5/2010 (*****)Review: It is not easy to go home again. It’s even harder to stay away. But often, when the traditions of the home hill mean more than anything, and when blood is stronger than law (and pride stronger than both), you should never have left at all.
Ok, this is good. No: this is really, really good. But I have reviewer’s block right now, which makes it hard to explain how good this is, so you’ll just have to trust me and find out for yourself. With near-perfect prose and very few wasted words (the last three words in “Target Practice” weren’t necessary, and the second half of “Two-Eleven All Around” was a bit shaky), Chris Offutt does nothing but shine. It's a slim collection (8 stories, 176 pages) but very powerful. I need to read the rest of Offutt's work STAT.
12) Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card (367 pages) (Library) Read 3/5/2010 to 3/10/2010 (**) Reviewed
13) Novelties & Souvenirs: Collected Short Fiction by John Crowley (Short fiction: 15 stories) (338 pages) Read 3/6/2010 to 3/20/2010 (***) Reviewed
14) Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63 by Taylor Branch (1,064 pages) (Library) Read 2/11/2010 to 3/21/2010 (*****) Reviewed
15) The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells (137 pages) Read 3/12/2010 to 3/21/2010 (***) Reviewed
Jacob wrote: "14) Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63 by Taylor Branch (1,064 pages) (Library) Read 2/11/2010 to 3/21/2010 (*****)"Oh, my gosh! I read Parting the Waters quite a few years ago - loved it. I'm always glad to see when someone else reads it.
Found it in the Black History Month display at my library and couldn't resist. It's exhaustive and dense, but well worth it, especially since my kowledge of the Civil Rights Movement was, um, extremely lacking before this. I want to read the other two (have you?) but I think I'll take a bit of a break first.
Jacob, yes I've read both "Pillar of Fire" and "At Canaan's Edge". Branch might be one of the foremost experts on the topic of the American Civil Rights movement in the 60's. I highly recommend all 3. You've summed up the entire series, really - dense but well worth it.
16) Bang Crunch: Stories by Neil Smith (Short fiction: 9 stories) (242 pages) Read 3/21/2010 to 3/29/2010 (****) Review: Saw this at the thrift store a few months back, later got it from an online bookswap. Very impressive collection, and from a relative newcomer, too. Finely-written stories, great prose, nowhere near as gimmicky or forced as other youngish, manly-male writers I've read lately. (see Craig Davidson; see, if you must, *mumblePalahniukmumble*)
In "Green Fluorescant Protein" and "Funny Weird or Funny Ha Ha?", a teenaged "Jock Philistine" struggles with unusual feelings for his best friend, while his mother talks to her dead husband's ashes--which she had embedded in a curling stone. A new mother tries to connect with her premature baby in "Isolettes." The girl in the title story has a rare disease that causes her to age and grow young again at a rapid pace, and the the support group in "The B9ers" try to understand the mystery of their benign tumors. And more--though the less said about "Extremities," the lone dud in the bunch, the better. A pair of gloves and an astronaut's severed foot. Um, yeah.
I sometimes feel as if I read too many short stories, but collections like these always tell me it's worth the time.
17) Let Me In (Let the Right One In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist (472 pages) (Library) Read 3/23/2/10 to 4/6/2010 (****)Review: Why it's difficult to review this book:
1) Everyone else has already called it the anti-Twilight.
2) The rating system doesn't really have a spot for "OH MY GOD, KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!"
That said, it's a great vampire story. Just bleak. And draining. Kinda like an actual vampire. Hey, I see what Lindqvist did there...
18) Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A. E. Moorat (375 pages) (First Reads) Read 4/8/2010 to 4/18/2010 (*)Review: First Reads win. I haven’t paid much attention to the recent flood of Classic Novels With A Supernatural/Horror/Sci-fi Twist, or the tsunami of Historical Figure As Secret Defender Of Mankind stories that followed. Truth is, I was really holding out for Cultist in the Rye (“After his expulsion from boarding school, as well as the Sacred Brotherhood of Blessed Darkness--no thanks to that phony Stradlater and his phony plastic skulls-and-candles rituals--teenaged satanist Holden Caulfield spends one final weekend in New York as he prepares to wake the Old Ones and bring an end to this phony, phony world”), but that’s probably not gonna happen. C’mon, Salinger’s been dead for months; surely his estate has cashed in by now! No? Aww. I guess I’ll have to console myself with lesser works--like this! Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter. Catchy title, catchy cover, and how could I ignore the following blurb? Colon:
"There were many staff at Kensington Palace, fulfilling many roles; a man who was employed to catch rats, another whose job it was to sweep the chimneys. That there was someone expected to hunt Demons did not shock the new Queen; that it was to be her was something of a surprise."
Oh, Goodreads, you lied to me...(More)
Oh, hey, this thing's still here. Almost forgot about it. 19) Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration by Paul Gilster (302 pages) (Library) Read 3/26/2010 to 4/25/2010 (****) Reviewed
20) The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story by Gavin Weightman (254 pages) (Library) Read 4/27/2010 to 5/4/2010 (*****) Reviewed
21) Call It What You Want: Stories by Keith Lee Morris (Short fiction: 15 stories) (264 pages) (First Reads) Read 4/20/2010 to 5/5/2010 (***) Reviewed
22) The Collected Stories of Grace Paley (Short fiction: 45 stories) (386 pages) Read 3/30/2010 to 5/12/2010 (**) Reviewed
23) Ares Express by Ian McDonald (388 pages) (Library) Read 4/22/2010 to 5/12/2010 (****) Reviewed
24) Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk (180 pages) (Library) Read 5/7/2010 to 5/16/2010 (*) Reviewed25) The Coast of Good Intentions: Stories by Michael Byers (Short fiction: 8 stories) (163 pages) Read 5/13/2010 to 5/20/2010 (*****) Reviewed
26) The November Criminals by Sam Munson (258 pages) (First Reads) Read 5/18/2010 to 5/23/2010 (****) Reviewed
27) The Rose City: Stories by David Ebershoff (Short fiction: 7 stories) (220 pages) Read 5/21/2010 to 5/27/2010 (****) Reviewed
28) The Martian General’s Daughter by Theodore Judson (252 pages) Read 5/29/2010 to 6/2/2010 (***) Reviewed
Jacob wrote: "Oh, hey, this thing's still here. Almost forgot about it. 19) Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration by Paul Gilster (302 pages) (Library) Read 3/26/2010 to 4/25/20..."
You forgot about us? =( Too busy yelling "NNNNNNOOOoooo" to my reading of War and Peace, huh? LOL! I finally saw that comment today....You crack me up!
Ok, you got me. But I stand by my scream. You could be reading other great books instead of spending time on War and Peace. I recommend anything by John Irving.
I gueeees soooo...I see some Garp in my near future...since according to you, between Owen Meany and the word according to Garp, You chose Garp over Owen...they are both already on my TBR list....just got to either buy them or find them online to read....=)
Ah, I see I've recommended him before. Definitely buy. I reommend re-reading them too :)
29) The Half-Mammals of Dixie: Stories by George Singleton (Short fiction: 15 stories) (287 pages) Read 5/28/2010 to 6/11/2010 (***) Reviewed30) The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (178 pages) Read 6/7/2010 to 6/15/2010 (****) Reviewed
31) The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff (736 pages) (Library) Read 5/11/2010 to 6/30/2010 (***)32) In the Gloaming: Stories by Alice Elliott Dark (Short fiction: 10 stories) (286 pages) Read 6/12/2010 to 6/30/2010 (**) Reviewed
33) Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente (367 pages) (Library) Read 6/21/2010 to 7/5/2010 (****) Reviewed
34) Uncommon Carriers by John McPhee (Audiobook: 8 CDs/9.5 hrs) (Library) Read 6/15/2010 to 7/9/2010 (*****) Reviewed
35) The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (359 pages) (Library) Read 7/2/2010 to 7/14/2010 (*****) Reviewed
36) Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets by John S. Lewis (274 pages) (Library) Read 5/24/2010 to 7/21/2010 (***)37) Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (Short fiction: 24 stories) (247 pages) Read 7/1/2010 to 7/23/2010 (***) Reviewed
38) Kraken by China Miéville (509 pages) (Library) Read 7/10/2010 to 8/3/2010 (**) Reviewed
39) Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories by Sandra McDonald (Short fiction: 15 stories) (283 pages) Read 7/25/2010 to 8/7/2010 (****)
40) Kentucky Straight: Stories by Chris Offutt (Short fiction: 9 stories) (167 pages) Read 8/8/2010 to 8/16/2010 (*****) Reviewed
41) Coming Into the Country by John McPhee (438 pages) (Library) Read 7/22/2010 to 8/21/2010 (***) Reviewed42) Survival Rates: Stories by Mary Clyde (Short fiction: 9 stories) (161 pages) Read 8/17/2010 to 8/26/2010 (**) Reviewed
43) The Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of All the Great Books Yoi'll Never Read by Stuart Kelly (345 pages) (Library) Read 8/7/2010 to 8/27/2010 (****)
44) There Are Jews in My House: Stories by Lara Vapnyar (Short fiction: 6 stories) (149 pages) Read 8/27/2010 to 9/1/2010 (****) Reviewed
45) The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories by Ivan Bunin (Short fiction: 17 stories) (224 pages) Read 9/2/2010 to 9/18/2010 (***)
46) The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (1,008 pages) (First Reads) Read 8/29/2010 to 9/21/2010 (*) Reviewed47) The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder: Essays by David Quammen (287 pages) (Library) Read 9/21/2010 to 9/30/2010 (****) Reviewed
48) The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards: Stories by Robert Boswell (Short fiction: 13 stories) (258 pages) (First Reads) Read 9/19/2010 to 10/1/2010 (****)
49) Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik (275 pages) (Library) Read 10/3/2010 to 10/14/2010 (**) Reviewed
50) The Winter Without Milk: Stories by Jane Avrich (Short fiction: 15 stories) (211 pages) Read 10/2/2010 to 10/16/2010 (***)
Well, made it to 50. Might manage to read another 10-15 before the year is out, but it doesn't look like I'll get to 75. *Shame*
No shame in that! You have quite the impressive reading list this year.
No shame at all! You've tackled quite a few chunksters this year and managed to write reviews that made me howl with laughter... I think you should get some kind of bonus for that!
51) The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's Online Pioneers by Tom Standage (227 pages) (Library) (Read 10/13/2010 to 10/23/2010) (***)52) Retromancer by Robert Rankin (368 pages) (Library) (Read 10/16/2010 to 10/27/2010) (**) Reviewed
53) The Atonement and Other Stories by Louis Auchincloss (Short fiction: 12 stories) (275 pages) (Read 10/17/2010 to 10/28/2010) (*****) Reviewed
54) Naked Pueblo: Stories by Mark Jude Poirier (Short fiction: 12 stories) (214 pages) (Read 10/29/2010 to 11/9/2010) (****) Reviewed
55) Night in Tunisia: Stories by Neil Jordan (Short fiction: 10 stories) (128 pages) (Read 11/10/2010 to 11/19/2010) (*) Reviewed
56) Manhattan Monologues: Stories by Louis Auchincloss (Short fiction: 10 stories) (240 pages) (Read 11/20/2010 to 12/2/2010) (****)57) Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (640 pages) (Read 10/30/2010 to 12/12/10) (*****)
58) Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard by Arthur Conan Doyle (Short fiction: 18 stories) (464 pages) (Read 12/4/2010 to 12/21/2010) (*****) Reviewed
59) Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter (108 pages) (Read 12/24/2010 to 12/25/2010) (***)
60) Fists by Pietro Grossi (Short fiction: 3 stories) (200 pages) (Read 12/23/2010 to 12/26/2010) (***) Reviewed
1) Short stories. Over the years I've amassed a rather large number of short story collections, and last year I decided to do something about that. Reading 1-2 short stories per day, on top of the other books I had going, I added an extra 28 books (27 single author, 1 anthology) to my final count. In all, I read 409 stories. I plan to continue the marathon this year (mostly because I haven't stopped buying them), so hopefully that'll give me 25-30 books to the count.
2) I was unemployed for several months. Which was nice for a while (plenty of free time) until I realized I was running out of money. Granted, I didn't spend the entire time reading (also read some graphic novels, watched all of Buffy for the first time--good show, that--and wasted my time on other things), so I think I'll keep my job this time around.