Reading List 2009: Final Post, # 59 - 66
Jan. 1st, 2010 12:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercup9 books in the last 7 weeks: one apocalpytic future scifi, one supernatural crime, two alternate history, one historical non-fiction, one epic fantasy, one supernatural regency, one mystery, and one Star Trek book. Quite a mixed bag to finish off the year! (I'd have posted this sooner, but three of them were related to Yuletide, so...)
59. Choice of the Cat by E. E. Knight. Paperback, 334pp. 2nd of the Vampire Earth. The worldbuilding in this series-- the rather different-than-usual blend of post-apocalyptic recovery, aliens, and werewolf/vampire mythology-- continue to draw me in, and I rather like the central character. Unfortunately, gauging by how many books of this series are out there-- and the ominous tone certain developments are taking-- I get the impression things are going to get a whole hell of a lot worse for the "good guys", without much hope of getting better until the author decides it's time to wrap up the 'verse. I'm not sure I have the endurance for that.
60. Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. Hardback, 306pp. 4th of Harper Connelly series. I'd wondered when this series would circle back to Harper's own personal mystery. I don't know what to say without totally giving the plot away to anyone who hasn't read it; but I was satisfied with this entry. The series occupies the borderland between ordinary murder mysteries and outright supernatural tales, and the main characters are very three-dimensional in their lives and ways of coping; they're going to stick in my brain for a long time.
61. 1812: The Rivers of War by Eric Flint. Hardback, 483pp. 1st of Trail of Glory. Reread. I'd been meaning to pick these up again for awhile, and Yuletide gave me a good excuse to. Is it obvious yet that I have a worldbuilding kink? I get lost in his 1632 series-- it's turned into a sprawling monster-- but this one, and its sequel, are tightly woven and engaging enough that they make me want to sign up for history classes at the local community college.
62. 1824: The Arkansas War by Eric Flint. Hardback, 427pp. 2nd of Trail of Glory. Reread. This book led to my picking up the next-listed one to read; and put down "The Raven", a biography of Sam Houston, on my list for the new year. I've always been frustrated that Flint skipped over some of the events between these two novels rather than writing about them in their own right-- what happened to Henry Crowell, and the Battle of Algiers, the actual move of the Cherokees and Creek to Arkansas, and some of Sam Houston's visits, and so on and so forth; but am totally in love with the alternate history he's built here, and wish he'd continue it eventually. I'd love to see how the events here, which basically set up an alternative to both the Trail of Tears and the Civil War, would shake out for the modern era.
63. The Trail of Tears by John Ehle. Paperback non-fiction, 397pp. Lots of historical documents from the time period, mixed in with glimpses written from the historical individuals' points of view. Those bits are obviously biased toward The Ridge's point of view and away from John Ross', and tend to showcase mostly the mixed-race Cherokee in general and their degrees of adaptation toward white ways over pure/traditionalist culture, but for all that, a comprehensive overlook with tons of inclusions from primary sources. Fascinating, and very, very saddening. Put the books above a little more into perspective for me.
64. First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 465pp. 6th of the Codex Alera. Well, the previous five books in the series were building obviously toward apocalypse and last-minute heroic salvation; I saw someone opine elsewhere that this is practice for Butcher against the eventual apocalyptic trilogy he plans to cap off the Dresden series in a decade or so. I wouldn't disagree. He pulled it off fairly well here, I think; the day is saved, not everything comes easily (though a few events were pretty damned convenient), and the reading kept me thoroughly engrossed the entire time. I'll be sad not to see any more in this 'verse. (And curious to see what he's going to give us come this November, instead).
65. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange. Paperback, 320pp. I saw the cover of this and just could not resist. I had two quibbles: the fact that the drawbacks of vampyre-hood were rather minor in this 'verse; and that the way the story resolved seemed a bit of a cop-out. Other than that, though, this was an enjoyable light read. Not quite as good a twist on Austen as P&P&Z, but much, much better than S&S&SM.
65. Heat Wave by "Richard Castle". Hardback, 208pp. The only quibble I had with this book was that it was much too short. Basically, it read pretty much like a regular episode of the Castle TV show with extra added sexual elements. I could totally buy this as the product of the imagination of the writer character; but it also reads well enough as a standalone mystery-- if, as I said, a little on the short side. And it made me smile-- a lot.
66. How Much For Just The Planet? by John M. Ford. TOS #36. Paperback, 250pp. Reread. This one, on the other hand: alas, I have spoiled one of the great ST book memories of my youth. I did laugh hysterically at many segments of this, but read with adult eyes, the cracks are very visible; this book is one long set-up for a joke, and does not bother trying to present a coherent or consistent or even believable plot. *sigh*
In summary: I read 22,474 pages this year in 66 books for an average of 341 pages per book.
In comparison, I read 100 books in 2007 at an average of 409ppb; and 80/388 in 2008. I'm not surpised at that, really, given how busy I've otherwise been this year. Still, I end the year with about as many in my "owned but unread" pile as ever-- more than ninety-- and I'd really like to make a dent in that in 2010.
~
59. Choice of the Cat by E. E. Knight. Paperback, 334pp. 2nd of the Vampire Earth. The worldbuilding in this series-- the rather different-than-usual blend of post-apocalyptic recovery, aliens, and werewolf/vampire mythology-- continue to draw me in, and I rather like the central character. Unfortunately, gauging by how many books of this series are out there-- and the ominous tone certain developments are taking-- I get the impression things are going to get a whole hell of a lot worse for the "good guys", without much hope of getting better until the author decides it's time to wrap up the 'verse. I'm not sure I have the endurance for that.
60. Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. Hardback, 306pp. 4th of Harper Connelly series. I'd wondered when this series would circle back to Harper's own personal mystery. I don't know what to say without totally giving the plot away to anyone who hasn't read it; but I was satisfied with this entry. The series occupies the borderland between ordinary murder mysteries and outright supernatural tales, and the main characters are very three-dimensional in their lives and ways of coping; they're going to stick in my brain for a long time.
61. 1812: The Rivers of War by Eric Flint. Hardback, 483pp. 1st of Trail of Glory. Reread. I'd been meaning to pick these up again for awhile, and Yuletide gave me a good excuse to. Is it obvious yet that I have a worldbuilding kink? I get lost in his 1632 series-- it's turned into a sprawling monster-- but this one, and its sequel, are tightly woven and engaging enough that they make me want to sign up for history classes at the local community college.
62. 1824: The Arkansas War by Eric Flint. Hardback, 427pp. 2nd of Trail of Glory. Reread. This book led to my picking up the next-listed one to read; and put down "The Raven", a biography of Sam Houston, on my list for the new year. I've always been frustrated that Flint skipped over some of the events between these two novels rather than writing about them in their own right-- what happened to Henry Crowell, and the Battle of Algiers, the actual move of the Cherokees and Creek to Arkansas, and some of Sam Houston's visits, and so on and so forth; but am totally in love with the alternate history he's built here, and wish he'd continue it eventually. I'd love to see how the events here, which basically set up an alternative to both the Trail of Tears and the Civil War, would shake out for the modern era.
63. The Trail of Tears by John Ehle. Paperback non-fiction, 397pp. Lots of historical documents from the time period, mixed in with glimpses written from the historical individuals' points of view. Those bits are obviously biased toward The Ridge's point of view and away from John Ross', and tend to showcase mostly the mixed-race Cherokee in general and their degrees of adaptation toward white ways over pure/traditionalist culture, but for all that, a comprehensive overlook with tons of inclusions from primary sources. Fascinating, and very, very saddening. Put the books above a little more into perspective for me.
64. First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 465pp. 6th of the Codex Alera. Well, the previous five books in the series were building obviously toward apocalypse and last-minute heroic salvation; I saw someone opine elsewhere that this is practice for Butcher against the eventual apocalyptic trilogy he plans to cap off the Dresden series in a decade or so. I wouldn't disagree. He pulled it off fairly well here, I think; the day is saved, not everything comes easily (though a few events were pretty damned convenient), and the reading kept me thoroughly engrossed the entire time. I'll be sad not to see any more in this 'verse. (And curious to see what he's going to give us come this November, instead).
65. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange. Paperback, 320pp. I saw the cover of this and just could not resist. I had two quibbles: the fact that the drawbacks of vampyre-hood were rather minor in this 'verse; and that the way the story resolved seemed a bit of a cop-out. Other than that, though, this was an enjoyable light read. Not quite as good a twist on Austen as P&P&Z, but much, much better than S&S&SM.
65. Heat Wave by "Richard Castle". Hardback, 208pp. The only quibble I had with this book was that it was much too short. Basically, it read pretty much like a regular episode of the Castle TV show with extra added sexual elements. I could totally buy this as the product of the imagination of the writer character; but it also reads well enough as a standalone mystery-- if, as I said, a little on the short side. And it made me smile-- a lot.
66. How Much For Just The Planet? by John M. Ford. TOS #36. Paperback, 250pp. Reread. This one, on the other hand: alas, I have spoiled one of the great ST book memories of my youth. I did laugh hysterically at many segments of this, but read with adult eyes, the cracks are very visible; this book is one long set-up for a joke, and does not bother trying to present a coherent or consistent or even believable plot. *sigh*
In summary: I read 22,474 pages this year in 66 books for an average of 341 pages per book.
In comparison, I read 100 books in 2007 at an average of 409ppb; and 80/388 in 2008. I'm not surpised at that, really, given how busy I've otherwise been this year. Still, I end the year with about as many in my "owned but unread" pile as ever-- more than ninety-- and I'd really like to make a dent in that in 2010.
~
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Date: 2010-01-02 11:09 pm (UTC)