I read 83 books last year, so I want to see if I can do the same this year. I suspect no, since I am only at 21 so far, but who knows?

Here is what I have read so far:

1. Going Postal: a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett

I always enjoy Pratchett books, they make me laugh. They aren't important or anything, but they are fun and quick reads.

2. She May Not Leave by Fay Weldon

I was really surprised by the ending to this book, which makes me fond of it; I love to be surprised. It was well done in that it seemed to be one story and ended up to be another one entirely, but it makes sense when you looked back.

3. Schrodinger's Ball: A Novel by Adam Felber

This was a very bizarre book. Again, I was surprised at the end, but that was partially because the book was so odd that it was difficult to have any idea what was going on. I really thought it hung together well at then end, but you have to be willing to go along with it to get there without knowing where you are going.

4. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Excellent book. I have read short stories by Lahiri before and loved them, so I was expecting this to be good, and it definitely was. I read this at the beginning of the year, and I still occasionally picture the opening scene in my head near the end of June. It was so well written I can actually see it. Beautiful book.

5. The End of the Game by Sheri S. Tepper

Interesting trilogy from early in Tepper's career. I think these were written for a YA market, but you can see a lot of themes that are present in her more recent adult novels. This was a quick read and interesting.

6. The True Game by Sheri S. Tepper

I had read this before, but it was in the same world as The End of the Game, so I thought I would read it again. Some of the stuff that happened in it were in the same timeframe, but from a different character's perspective.

7. Born In Death by J.D. Robb

I love this series. I like the characters and the mysteries are interesting. Fluff reading.

8. The Year's Best Science Fiction: 2005 edited by Gardner Dozois

Science Fiction has a big short story culture. It is easy to find a lot of short stories out there if you are looking at them. This collection is always a good read, I try to get it every year.

9. Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

I like Jennifer Weiner. I started with her by reading Good In Bed, which was fabulous, so I am working my way through her other books now (I bought In Her Shoes last night). This one had a murder mystery involved, which I wasn't expecting (from Weiner--I did read the back of the book and know what it was about), but I love mysteries, so that was extra good for me. What I really love about Weiner in general, though, is the way she describes her characters and fleshes them out to be real people with a strange mix of insecurities and confidence. The ending wasn't easy, either, which is impressive in chick lit, at least to me.

10. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel

Great memoir. I was impressed with Kimmel's ability to tell a surface story and deeper story that is very different at the same time.

11. Innocent In Death by J. D. Robb

See #7

12. Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky

When a very white couple has a child with African-American features, they set out to learn the secrets of their family trees. Although they definitely encounter racism, the story is more about the secrets and self-identities that we may not even know we have. Very thought-provoking, but also easy to read. Excellent book.

13. The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

Loosly based on the Hans Christian Anderson story, this book is a fully realized world of it's own. It is very compelling and well-told.

14. A Canticle for Liebowitz by William M. Miller, Jr.

A science fiction classic. This book was kind of depressing, watching people make the same mistakes over a long period of time (post-apocalyptic), but it also shows humanity's will to survive.

15. Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next Novels) by Jasper Fforde

Clever, funny, mysterious. It combines nearly all the things I love--classic fiction, science fiction, mysteries, humor--into one book.

16. The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

Sequel to above. Also great.

17. A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve

Very interesting. A group of friends meets many years after they knew each other in high school for the wedding of two members. There is a mystery in the past, and there are a lot of unresolved issues that come up during the weekend. I really enjoyed this book.

18. The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy A. Pickard

Fascinating story of the lies we tell ourselves. The central crime takes place many years before the main story of the book, but that crime has continued to be the dominant influence on the characters' lives.

19. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Not as good as Case Histories: a novel, but still good.

20. Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Normally, I don't really read cookbooks. This one had enough information in addition to the recipes, along with clever recipe-intros, that I really did read it through like a novel. Plus, the recipes are really awesome!

21. The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper

One of my favorite books ever. I've read it before, and I would have been perfectly content to turn around and start reading it immediately after finishing it this time. Well-written, thought-provoking, just wonderful.

21 / 83
(25.3%)

Message edited by its author, Jun 22, 2007, 4:43pm.

22. Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly by Jospeh Minton Amann and Tom Breuer

Great book! Very funny. Since I have read Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (and because I have a brain and a grandma who loves Bill O'Reilly, so I've had to watch him before), it didn't have anything surprising, but it's always nice to see the record set straight.

I am now working on Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez, which is fascinating so far.

Message edited by its author, May 6, 2007, 5:09pm.

23. Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

Such a great book, I finished it in one day. Of course, this means I didn't get my bookshelves put together, but there is always tomorrow for that.

Edited to add:

I wrote the above just after finishing this book, but upon reflection, this reflects my enthusiasm for the subject more than the actual book. Rodriquez is not a terribly reliable narrator, in that some of the choices she makes seem downright odd to me. It is difficult to know how much is interpretation and how much is fact. But, I am still glad I read this, as it gave me some insight into a culture that is so foreign to me.

Message edited by its author, Jul 24, 2007, 1:49pm.

Wow--83! Impressive goal.

What did you think of A Girl Named Zippy? I've heard it's funny.

I really liked A Girl Named Zippy. I was really impressed with Kimmel's ability to tell the story from a child's viewpoint, but still convey the information that she didn't realize was there until she was an adult, if that makes sense. It was hysterical, though, literally laugh out loud funny. My nine year old daughter read it after me because she was so curious after she heard me laughing all the time.

I don't know if I will make 83 this year, because I am off-pace from last year. On the other hand, I have read almost the same number of pages this year, so I realized I am reading much longer books at this time. It will be summer soon, though, so I am betting my pace will pick up some. There are just so many books that I want to read, that I feel I need to hurry up and get to them all!

24. The Children of Men by PD James

This was an excellent book. I wanted to read it because the movie was so incredibly good, and it didn't disappoint. I was really surprised at how much of the book was in the movie while at the same time the book and the movie were so different. The movie was very intense, and so was the book, but not in the same way. I heartily recommend both.

Man, I am so off pace! I just realized that to be on pace, I should have 41.5 books read by the end of this month, and I don't think there is any way that will happen, especially since I am moving to a new apartment. It's in my building, so I don't have to do a full out packing and renting a truck thing, but it is still taking a ton of time to get organized. And then I will have to do a lot of carrying stuff to the new place.

I am not totally giving up my challenge, though, because I know I will read a lot this summer, because the kids will be at their dad's house for six weeks. I always get a lot of reading in during that time. Plus, last year on vacation I read three books, and one of them was Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. If I bring some shorter books this year, I should be able to do 4 or 5, so that will be an opportunity to catch up some.

25. Cover Her Face by P.D. James

Excellent book. I should be packing for a move, but how can I when there are such excellent mysteries to read? I am diving right into the next one.

What did you think of One Good Turn and The Namesake?

I'm glad you enjoyed The Children of Men, and you're right, it's so close to the movie, but so so different at the same time. What I liked about the ending of the book was that there's a chance that he'll follow his cousin's footsteps and take control of the country. There's just a little hint that he's not the do-gooder he's been portrayed as. That's why I wasn't crazy about him having been married to Julian in the movie - I liked in the book that he really had no ties to the Fishes.

I'm also glad to see you like other P.D. James... I haven't read anything else of her's, but I definitely will check them out.

I really loved The Namesake. I had read a few short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri before and been very impressed, and I enjoyed this book quite a bit, too. I love books about immigrants' experiences, and how people can be so similar to what we are used to and so foreign at the same time.

One Good Turn: a novel, well, I liked it, but not as much as Case Histories: a novel. In Case Histories: a novel, all these seemingly disparate stories came together, and not even all of the people involved knew how they were connected. In One Good Turn: a novel, it was fairly obvious how they were all connected, and not that surprising how it ended. Plus, I found Jackson to be a lot more broody, which I didn't like at all. I still liked it, but it was a let down as a sequel, I thought.

Paghababian, I liked the ambiguous ending, too. I think throughout the whole book he was going back and forth between being disinterested and remote on the one hand, and trying to do good on the other. I think he thought of himself as not being good, but often found himself doing good anyway. But that kind of power is an interesting temptation.

Message edited by its author, May 29, 2007, 3:59pm.

26. A Mind to Murder by P.D. James
27. Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson
28. Unnatural Causes by P.D. James

I love the P.D. James mysteries. They are clever, well-written, and satisfying. I want to buy more, and I know I will, even though my bookshelves are full (even with the two new ones!), and I still have books to put up--lots of them. I am running out of places to put books!

The Eva Ibbotson book is the one I have been reading aloud to my daughter. It was a very clever book. If you have a child about 8-12, I really recommend this for a nice read aloud book that you will enjoy as well. We have a couple of other Ibbotson books as well, and I am looking forward to reading those soon.

28 / 83
(33.7%)


Ack, the year is nearly 50% over, and I am only at 33.7% of my goal! I did read an entire book this past Friday even though I was moving, so there is still hope.

Now I am reading The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper

Message edited by its author, May 21, 2007, 10:21am.

29. The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper

This was a re-read, but enough time has passed that I had pretty much forgotten it. It was good, and I loved the universe that it postulates, but I can see how it has a lot of preachiness, and if you don't agree with her positions, it would seem very heavy-handed. I do agree, though, so I liked it, but it isn't Tepper's best work (that's probably The Gate to Women's Country).

Now I need to go finish moving my stuff from my old apartment. I will definitely need some quiet reading time later!

Let me steer you to an early P D James. Death of an Expert Witness is a great book and my favorite of hers. She also went non-fiction once, The Maul and the Pear Tree and did a great cold case file job.

I am planning on working through all of the P.D. James books in order, as soon as I can get back to the bookstore to pick up some more. I have really enjoyed what I have read so far. Thanks for the endorsement!

I am reading James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon now. I thought it looked interesting, and after you endorsed it so heartily, I figured I had to pick it up. I am really light on non-fiction this year, anyway. So far it is fascinating.

30. James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips

I went camping for four days, and only managed to finish this on, and get about 400 pages into Free Food For Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. Last year on vacation, I read 3 books, and one of them was Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is around 900 pages! Of course, last year we went from Saturday to Saturday, and this year it was Monday to Friday, and the Tiptree book was very dense. It was really fascinating, though. Alice Sheldon was an incredibly talented and complex person. It kind of scares me how much I recognize myself in her personality, given her hard life and the terrible end to it (she shot her husband and then herself). I really enjoyed the book a lot.

31. Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. I really liked this book. It touched on a lot of themes that I find interesting, including immigrants, class, money, and finding out what you really want out of life. Also, whether the fact that you are good at something means you should do it, and how independent do you need to be from others to maintain your sense of self. I would definitely recommend this book.

32. The Visitor by Sheri S. Tepper. This was good, but there was an awful lot of explanation at the end, especially about how to interpret what happened. It was a fascinating story, but I think you should be able to convey what happened in a book without explaining it to people. Still, I loved the book, but then, I agree with Tepper's world view. I still think The Gate to Women's Country is BY FAR her best book, though.

In between these I read about 200 pages of The United States of Arugula: How we became a gourmet nation by David Kamp. That was interesting, too, but not a particularly quick read. Or maybe it was just that I decided I had to read The Visitor, so I lost patience with it. I think I will come back to this one, but not yet.

32 / 83
(38.6%)

Message edited by its author, Jun 18, 2007, 4:29pm.

33. Southern Discomfort by Rita Mae Brown I really enjoyed this book. I like how the characters learn to get along and have real relationships while pretending to preserve the social order. I liked that the characters were not perfect, but they tried to live lives that meant something to themselves.

I am now reading Great Expectations. This edition is driving me crazy. First of all, I hate it when classics have an introduction. I didn't read this one, but these introductions invariably give away the whole book. Like people wouldn't want to read the book for, say, fun. Then, whoever did the footnoting of this book either thinks everyone who reads it is an idiot, or they actually hate Dickens. The notes are insultingly obvious--one section about a fight between Pip and another boy refers to the boy "seconding himself" with a footnote that this means "acting as his own second." The book is astonishingly easy to read and understand, and it's difficult to believe that anyone who really likes it would break it up with these insulting, highly distracting footnotes. I'm all for literary criticism, really, but it ought to be done outside of the book, and people who just want to read the book and enjoy it should be left to do so.

Not that I feel strongly about it or anything ;-).

Message edited by its author, Jun 19, 2007, 10:20pm.

34. The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper

I was doing well in Great Expectations. I liked the book, but I bought The Margarets early this week, and I just couldn't keep myself from reading it any longer. Tepper is one of my favorite authors, and I have been reading a lot of her lately anyway, so I was really itching to read the new book. I really enjoyed it, too. It was a little complicated, with one woman being split into seven alternate people, but they each had distinct personalities that made it easier to keep track. It was a really fascinating book, with only intermittent heavy-handedness. This book was similar to The Visitor, but much better at showing the end rather than degenerating into a chapters-long explanation. The explaining that did happen was interrupted by action, and everything was not explicitly lectured on. The explicit lecturing that did happen made sense within the story. I highly recommend this book.

As for Great Expectations, I don't know when I will get back to it. I bought some more P.D. James books tonight, and I dove right into Shroud for a Nightingale. Even when I really do like a book, interrupting a reading seems to take me away for a long time. I will probably get back to it, though, I want to read the end, although I pretty much know what happens.

35. Shroud for a Nightingale by P.D. James

I enjoyed this book, with it's themes of betrayal, and whether a person can really change. The mystery was fun, too. I admit, though, I like to be surprised, so I don't try really hard to figure these mysteries out. I enjoy the characters and the way James writes.

I am reading The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin now. Very good, and short--I'll finish it today.

36. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

Very thought-provoking and interesting book.

37. Parable of the Sower by Ocatavia E. Butler

Again with the thought-provoking dystopia. This one was much scarier than The Lathe of Heaven, with an easy-to-see future of hyper-inflation, lawlessness and a return to debt slavery to companies. Lots of death, very vivid. And, a bit preachy, but not in the normal way. Very good.

I am back to my lighter P.D. James series--An Unsuitable Job for a Woman this time. Good so far.

38. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James

I really enjoyed this book about a young woman who is taking on a detective agency. She is clever, but still convincingly young. The ending was very different than the Dalgleish books, which makes sense with a protaganist that is a private eye vs. a CID Commander. I was impressed with the way the book was different than the main series, but still interesting, and somewhat connected.

I ordered some more science fiction books from Amazon today, and I also went to the bookstore tonight. There is no hope for me, really; I will never read all that I have, since I keep buying more....

39. The Black Tower by P.D. James

I was a little bit worried about this one. Not too long ago, I read a bunch of Martha Grimes mysteries, 19 of them to be exact. The first 15 or so were good, but then her main character started to get a little broody, and then the stories got totally ridiculous and incomprehensible. This book began with Commander Dalgleish recovering from an illness thought to be worse than it actually was, and his subsequent half-formed decision to quit his job. Now, Inspector Jury in Ms. Grimes' books has been contemplating quitting his job for 4 or 5 books now, so this made me concerned. It all turned out well, though, and I really enjoyed this book.

I wish I had more P.D. James books on hand. But, I do have plenty of other things to read, so I am going to try to force myself to read some of those before I go out and buy still more books. Of course, I bought one book tonight, recommended on here. There is no hope for me....

40. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Fantastic book. I've seen this compared to The Historian, which I can sort of see, but I thought this was much, MUCH better. I cared about these characters, and the timeline was much shorter. The writing was just beautiful, and the mystery was a page turner. I figured out who was burning the books fairly early, but not why. This was a very satisfying read.


40 / 83
(48.2%)

Message edited by its author, Jul 14, 2007, 12:06am.

Oh, I'm so glad you liked Shadow of the Wind. It's so enchanting.

I really did love it. Thanks for the recommendation!

41. The Female Man by Joanna Russ

Oh, how I loved this book. It is a very angry book, but deadly accurate, and also such an interesting concept. I love the way she plays with the novel form, occasionally addressing the reader, and even addressing the book at the end. Just fascinating and wonderful.

42. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester

43. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

I have been going back and reading classic science fiction that I have either missed or forgotten. I really liked these books, although of course they are tremendously sexist. Part of it is the contrast between these books and The Female Man, but part of it is that they are truly repulsive in some ways. First of all, the women all fall devotedly in love with the main characters, even when he treats them poorly. The self-sacrifice is revolting "Even if you don't really love me, even if it's only temporary, I'll take it and be happy just to spend the time with YOU." Gag. In TDM, the main love relationship, the one that works out, is between a woman who is regressed back to the infant stage, and the man who takes the place of her father. Even when she "grows up," he treats her like a child, but now one that is available for sex. In the second, teleportation means that anyone can move anywhere, and society considers it perfectly logical to respond to this by locking up all women except whores. A few exceptional women don't like it, but it doesn't generate any controversy; Bester states it baldly, as an obvious fact. Scary stuff.

On the other hand, the novels are fascinating in that Bester really thought through the consequences of widespread telepahty and teleportation on the world. I was really impressed with the non-obvious but totally logical societal changes he postulates. And the stories were definitely page turners, with a lot of action. No wasted words here.

Overall, I am glad I read them, but the total sexism has really haunted me. How can otherwise intelligent people think that infantilizing half of the population is a good idea in any way?

Message edited by its author, Jul 18, 2007, 9:17am.

44. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

This was a fun and easy read. The themes were fairly serious (good vs. evil, free will, friendshitp, etc.), and the points made were thought out and semi-deep, but the writing was fun and the points were made with humor. I like Pratchett and Gaiman a lot, so I was expecting to like this, and I was not disappointed.

Here is my current progress:


44 / 83
(53.0%)

I am still off pace, but not so much as I have been this year. To be on pace for 83 books, I should have 48 books complete by the end of July. I don't think I will do that, but I will have at least 45, and maybe 46, so I only have two books to catch up in August, which is totally possible. Again, not that I care (much) in the sense of meeting this rather arbitrary goal, but there are so many books I want to read!

Message edited by its author, Jul 23, 2007, 6:01pm.

45. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

I don't think I could plant a garden that would supply me for most of a year, even if I didn't live in an apartment with no ground space, but I did learn a lot of things that I can do to try to eat a more local diet. I am seriously considering buying a food dehydrator and making my own "sun"-dried tomatoes, for instance. I don't see myself slaughtering poultry, though (especially since I don't eat meat). Overall, this was a very interesting book, with a lot of good information. It was interesting to read about a normal family that is dealing with school days and jobs and PTA and all of that while trying to eat more locally.

46. Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James

I really like P.D. James (as you can tell by my list so far this year), and this one did not disappoint. I really enjoy the way James gets into the minds of the characters without giving away too much, or taking away from the central mystery. She really has a gift for making her characters real, in a very short period of time.

47. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

I had never read this one. I would not say I am a huge fan, which is obvious by the fact that I haven't read this until now, but I am surprised at how compulsively readable these books are. This was 870 pages, and I read it in three days, even though I had my kids with me, and I went to the theater on Monday night, so that whole night was out. This was a fun read, even though it was definitely a lot darker than the previous ones. Dolores Umbridge really made me mad, I hate people like that. She was convincingly really scary because she was so real.

48. Identical Strangers by Elyse Schein and Paula Burstein

More review to come.

49. The Baby Merchant by Kit Reed

Fantastic book about how we lie to ourselves. The titular character, Tom Starbird, rescues babies from less than ideal family lives, and delivers them for a very high price to couples who have difficulty adopting. He honestly sees himself as providing a service to all parties, including the harried mothers from whom he steals the babies (or, as he puts it, the suppliers from whom is acquires the product). Of course, it is all much more complicated than that, and he ends up his final case ends up going against everything he believes about himself.

One of the things that I found fascinating about this book was his obvious compassion and love for the mothers he deals with, whether the suppliers or the clients of his transactions. His own mother attempted to abandon him when he was small, and never was very loving, so perhaps he was touched by their obvious love for the babies involved, but that doesn't completely explain his regard for the suppliers. He thinks he is doing them a favor, by taking a baby that they do not want. His occupation seems to be an act of love to his own mother, who he could never please as a young boy. He still loves her, though, and he thinks that removing the burden of the baby might have made her happy, so he provides this service for other mothers. Although he doesn't come out and tell them this is what he doing, he does convince himself that they would thank him if it weren't socially unacceptable to do so, especially in a world with a baby shortage (increasing infertility, and the borders are closed to foreign adoption by Homeland Security).

This book is frighteningly possible. It made me think about my own parenting skills, and also the society that we live in quite a bit. Many people do view babies as products--the baby merchant's clients, while obviously sincere in their desire to be parents, are incredibly specific about what they want in a child (e.g. one of the parents must have attended Juilliard). They want to be parents, but they think they can order up talents, looks and a personality for their child like they might order up color, cut and material for their newest winter coat. They tell themselves they just want to be parents, the husbands just want to make their wives happy, but they mean they want to be parents of specific children that will turn out well and make them proud. In the end, they are just as sefish as Tom's mother, who only had him to help her with her poetry, and wanted to discard him when she found out that a baby is a dependent being, not a muse.

This is the kind of book that stays with you and makes you think for a long time.

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2007, 11:25am.

50. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Excellent, excellent book. This was a re-read, so I knew I would love it, but I had forgotten how wonderful it is, and how truly subversive it is. I still want to live on Anarres, though. This book really made me think, and was totally fascinating all the way through.

Before I read this, I read about 236 pages of The Brothers Karamazov. I liked it, but I found I just couldn't face 470 more pages of it, not when I knew that The Dispossessed was waiting.

51. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Again, compulsively readable. Since my best friend gave me a lot of details about the 7th book, the end wasn't a surprise to me, but I still really enjoyed it. I wanted to pick up the last one right away, but my daughter left it at her father's house, so I have to wait for her to bring it home, hopefully tomorrow.

I started Slan by A. E. van Vogt, but then I misplaced it, so I am reading a short mystery called The James Joyce Murder by Amanda Cross. I read a really good Cross book a while back with a character who was obsessed with John Le Carre's character George Smiley, which I enjoyed on its own, but also for prompting me to read more Le Carre.

52. The James Joyce Murder by Amanda Cross

This was a very quick, easy read, and I suspect that I have read it before. I like the dry, intelligent characters in this series, with the main characters being Kate Fansler, a literature professor, and Reed Amhearst, an assistant district attorney. The books are fun to read, and interesting little character studies/mysteries.

I found my copy of Slan, so I am continuing on that now.

53. Slan by A. E. Van Vogt

I can see why this book is considered a classic. Although some of the perspectives and ideas that Vogt has about the future are a bit dated, the story itself is clearly the basis of every other book I have read about human evolution. When I read Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear, I thought it was so original, but now I see that it is not. It's still a good book, but Vogt came up with the major themes many years earlier. The book is very short, but packed with ideas. No word is wasted, and the story moves quickly. Very impressive, and I am glad I read it.

54. Slan Hunter by A. E. Van Vogt and Kevin Anderson

So incredibly disappointing.

Vogt started this book, but couldn't finish due to Alzheimer's. Anderson finished it, and it is difficult to imagine how he could have done a worse job. Not only is the book not even remotely consistent with the first book, it isn't internally consistent. Anderson took the real people that populated Vogt's book, characters with complicated motivations for their actions, and turned them into silly caricatures. The plot consisted mainly of people frantically running from place to place so that when they got there, they could sit around and explain things to each other. The tone was sentimental and insipid. The ending was horrifyingly atrocious. On the plus side, I recognize the genius of Slan even more after reading this horrible sequel. That's the most positive thing I can think to say.

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2007, 9:39pm.

Slan sounds really interesting and exactly the kind of novel I read voraciously back when I was in my 20s and 30s. I wonder how I missed it ~ hope they have it at the library or somewhere so I can remedy the omission! :)

I definitely recommend Slan! It is well worth the time to search it out.

55. The Average American: the extraordinary search for the nation's most ordinary citizen by Kevin O'Keefe

The author set out to learn more about being average, after a life spent trying to avoid averageness in nearly every way. This was an interesting book, if you like statistics, but despite the fact that O'Keefe really did seem to learn a lot and become less snobby and superior, he somehow seemed to remain out of touch with the average American anyway. The writing didn't grab me, and the numbers didn't seem to make a lot of sense. But, the topic was interesting, and I do like statistics, so I enjoyed it.

56. What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

Fantastic book. I stayed up way too late to finish this because I could not go to sleep without knowing the end. I was really surprised by the end, but it made perfect sense.

57. Innocent Blood by P.D. James

This is very different from James' more straightforward mysteries, and it is very thought-provoking. I will have to think about this one for a while.

58. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brilliant, thought-provoking book. This was a subtle and fascinating exploration into the meaning of life. The non-fiction afterword by Huxley is a little more difficult to take. He makes good poitns, but his superior tone is not going to win a lot of converts. He was much better off making his points fictionally.

I skipped one! So, this is really 58, but I am going to label it 59:

59. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

Fascinating book on a possible future human evolution. This book postulates a social organism with different people making up a group that functions as a whole. It seems unlikely, especially since the people involved are born into normal families and then have to find each other, and procreation in general seems problematic, but the ideas investigated are intriguing.

60. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

Pulitzer Prize winner. I have read one other book by Shields (Larry's Party), so I knew that she is a fantastic writer, and this book was not a disappointment. The main character of this book is just an ordinary person, which is refreshing. Very good book.

61. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Book 7 by J. K. Rowling

Why doesn't this touchstone seem to work? Anyway, I enjoyed this book--I read the whole thing yesterday. I pretty much knew what happened already, but it was nice to read it all. I am obviously not an obsessive fan, but I do find these books compulsively readable when I do read it.

I find that I am ahead of schedule suddenly, after spending nearly the entire year behind. Well, not schedule, but pace, I guess. So, maybe I can get even more books in! Probably not, with Christmas at the end of the year, I am sure I will slow down in December.

62. The Skull Beneath the Skin by P.D. James

I really like James' Cordelia Gray books. Gray is a private investigator, as opposed to James' other series protaganist, CID Commandar Adam Dagleish. It is nice to see a less black and white character (and it was only when typing this that I realized the significance of her name), and more nuance to the criminals as well. Not that the Dagleish books are lacking in nuance, this is just a different perspective, and a very interesting one.

63. Herland and Selected Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Herland was part of my effort to read more science fiction classics. Gilman has a rather bracing tone in her fiction, as a rule, and that was quite evident in the short novel. I have read other treatments of an all-female society, and I have to say that I thought this one was a bit too optimistic. I do think that overall, a society run by women would probably be more humane than one run by men, but I have a hard time believing it would be quite as smooth as Gilman postulates. Still, centuries of selective breeding, with an emphasis on social skills and getting along, might do the trick. The stories were interesting, and I can see why she was thought to be so ahead of her time. It was refreshing to read some feminist stories that were positive and turned out well, and nice to see that Gilman doesn't assume that all men are evil.

64. The Maquisarde by Louise Marley

I read this one based on a recommendation from Storeetllr, and it was well worth it. It was a story that lends itself to black and white, with an evil organization repressing people and an innocent victim, but the book was much more nuanced than that. I loved the strong female characters, but also that there were strong male characters, too. I will have to read more Marley.

Glad you enjoyed it, sussabmax. So far I've not been disappointed with any of Marley's novels that I've read.

65. Dune by Frank Herbert

Fantastic! I can't believe I haven't read this in about 20 years. I love this book.

66. The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart

This was a really good book about how friendships shape our identity. Also about how you can be so close to someone and still separate. And how scary loving someone is. And so on. It was a quick read, but fairly deep. I definitely recommend this one.

67. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Disturbing. Sad. Thought-provoking. I need to think more about this one.

Current progress:

67 / 83
(80.7%)

Not bad for being 75% through the year. I am reading a big anthology now, though, so we shall see how long that takes me.

Message edited by its author, Oct 2, 2007, 5:25pm.

68. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

I have been reading this out loud to my daughter for a while now. Last night when I read the last chapter, she kept wiping her eyes, saying that she was yawning (which was making her eyes water). I remembered that I had read this when I was young and liked it, but I didn't remember the book at all, so I really enjoyed this. I read about a chapter a night, and after I read the second to the last chapter to S, I read ahead and did the last chapter while she went off to bed.

69. The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois

Wonderful as usual. Dozois is a very good editor, and he puts together a consistently high quality collection every year.

70. To the Power of Three by Laura Lippman

Structurally, this was very similar to What the Dead Know. There was a traumatic event, a witness who was not telling all she knew (although she clearly would at some point) and a lot of flashbacks. But again, the payoff was satisfying, and I really enjoyed the book. If all of her books follow this formula, I am not sure I want to read them, even though they are well-told, but this one was definitely enjoyable.

71. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

This was an interesting book on the benefits of the vegan diet. On the one hand, I liked the way they tried to take some of the mainstream stigma away from a vegan diet with their tough-love tone and complete lack of "crunchiness." I don't have a problem with alternative lifestyle stuff, but it was nice to read a book with straightforward, practical reasons for veganism, not the kind of touchy-feely stuff that turns off a lot of people, or strident, disapproving activism. Not that they were shy about talking about the abuse of animals that occurs on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, but they did it in a more informational tone than a condemning one. On the other hand, their use of profanity was gratuitous and over the top. Overall, though, I enjoyed this short book, which had a nice balance of information on why people should change and practical tips to make the change.

72. The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson

I didn't bring enough books on my long weekend camping trip, so I ended up borrowing this from my friend. It's the only reason I would read a James Patterson book. I can't stand the way he is so cutesy about everything. I hate the "sensitive man" character that he reveres and populates all of his novels with. I read one of his romances years ago (Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, I believe), and it was horrible. I can just barely stand his Alex Cross books because at least they have a gruesome crime to counteract the sickening sweetness. And, the crime puzzles are a bit intriguing. But still, the faults! Some that drive me particularly crazy:

The 2-3 page chapters. All of them are short. This could create drama, used sparingly. Used for every chapter, it just makes the book seem extremely disjointed.

The constant use of italics and exclamation points. Like the short chapters, these things lose their effect when every page makes use of them. They aren't really emphasizing anything if they are used constantly.

****SPOILERS*****

The endless "climaxes." Okay, we've solved the crime! No wait, it's not the right guy! But there he is! No, still the wrong guy! Hey, here's another really bad guy! Can you believe this guy that seemed like a good guy way back in Chapter 15 (approximately page 42), that we haven't heard from again, actually turns out to be a bad guy?!?!?! And, he's REALLY BAD! Oh, we think we found the bad guy over here! Nope, wrong again!

I could go on, but really, I have used enough energy on this guy. I really don't understand why he has such a successful career.

73. Count Zero by William Gibson

I started to read Spook Country, Gibson's latest, and about 60 pages in, I realized that I just didn't care about any of the characters. So, I wondered, am I just not in a Gibson mood, or do I really not like this book? I had Count Zero sitting on my shelf, so I decided to give it a try. 28 pages in, with only brief character sketches of at least 3 major characters under my belt, I did care about them, so I am thinking I wasted my money buying the hardcover Spook Country.

CZ was an interesting blend of the corporation-is-all, cyberspace technological society with religiosity, in the form of voodoo. It is frighteningly easy to imagine a world where corporations practically own the people who work for them, and governments can't do much about it. The huge class differences in this book, where the rich, talented company employees seem to live in an entirely different world than the poorer people also seems like not too much of a stretch. The characters in this book seem like real people, with interesting motivations, strengths and flaws. This was a very good book.

74. Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters: From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire, by Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa

I had never really heard of evolutionary psychology before I picked up this book this weekend, but I think I will be reading more about this soon. This was really fascinating. They did a couple of things I really liked, one about how they treated the material, and one involving the end notes. First, they made a point of saying that just because something is shown scientifically to be the way things are, it doesn't mean they are good or that we shouldn't try to change things. But, if we want to change things, first we need to understand what is going on, even if we don't like it; we can only make effective changes if we are looking at reality rather than what we would like it to be.

Second, on the endnotes, they used a regular superscript for notes that were just citations of studies, and bracketted superscript for notes that contained additional information. I have never seen a book that did that, but it was wonderful. I hate paging back and forth just to read something like Miller, Brown and Doe, 1987. It was nice to know when it was really worth it to go to the back of the book.

More about the actual topic--fascinating. Not shockingly, it turns out that the motivation for almost everything we do is sex and reproduction. It is interesting to see how different behaviors make their way back to sex and reproduction, though. The sections on risk evaluation were interesting, too. I am very motivated to find more in depth books on this topic.

75. I Am American (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert

Absolutely hilarious. I am so impressed with people who can write to ostensibly portray one message while clearly portraying another. This book also included the transcript of Colbert's speed at the White House Correspondents' dinner last year, which was absolutely brilliant.

76. A Taste for Death by P.D. James

Excellent book. The end was shocking, I actually found myself responding to it out loud, without meaning to--good thing I was alone in my car. The mystery was clever, and even when you found out who did it, it was suspenseful. I liked the new character of Inspector Kate Miskin, and I thought he development of both her and Chief Inspector Massingham was very well done. There were several places when I thought James was headed for something trite and stereotypical, but she did not.

Glad to hear you're enjoying the PD James. I think it's well worth reading them in order to see the way she matures from fairly run of the mill but fun mysteries to something much more.

I totally agree--the books have gotten less and less like conventional mysteries. I am reading Devices and Desires now, and it is interesting to see Dalgleish on the outside of the case, but still involved. It has been a lot of fun to read them so close together.

77. Devices and Desires by P.D. James

James gets better with every book. I would have liked this a little better if Rickards had been able to keep up with Dalgleish a little bit more, but the story overall was very satisfying. I really like the way that James doesn't feel the need to explain every little thing in total detail, and the way none of her characters has the full picture of what happened. I do like the traditional mysteries where the whole group gathers in the drawing room and the whole thing is explained for a fun read, but this is much more realistic, nuanced and interesting.

I can't wait to read more James' books, although I am thinking I should read some of the 100+ books I already own first. I think I am going to update my TBR list soon so I can see exactly how many books I already have. Maybe that will actually deter me from going to the bookstore and spending all that money. Probably not for more than a month or so, but maybe longer. Hope springs eternal and all that.

Message edited by its author, Nov 6, 2007, 1:37pm.

78. And Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

Brilliant. The workers at this failing advertising agency become increasingly paranoid as layoffs get closer and closer to them personally. The ridiculous things that they do seem reasonable when they are in the thick of them, but when you pull back a bit, you wonder how intelligent people can find themselves in those situations. But, I can tell you that it happens all the time in big corporations. This was more insightful than I expected, and also hilarious.

79. The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs

I love A. J. Jacobs. He is clever and funny and interesting. This project, following the rules of the Bible as literally as possible, could have been done very poorly. I am not religious, but I don't want to read a book about someone making fun of religious people. But Jacobs was able to do this well and even learn a lot, despite not changing many of his beliefs about God or religion. I even went out and bought two Bibles, inspired by this book. I am not planning on trying to follow the rules any more than I do in the normal course of my life (haven't killed anyone yet!), but it is such a large influence on our culture and literature, that I thought I might as well read more of it.

Edited to add: The reason it took me so long to finish another book is that I also read half of The Feminine Mystique since And Then We Came to the End, which I will be getting back to next.

Message edited by its author, Nov 20, 2007, 10:04am.

80. Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Very interesting. I am guessing this was early in Scalzi's career, since the writing was a bit juvenile at times, but the story was well-thought out and I enjoyed the characters. I am looking forward to reading the next books in the series.

81. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

I don't know where I got the idea that I wouldn't like Hemingway. I do see why we didn't read this in high school, though--the drinking! It never stops! This was an excellent book, though, and I am glad I read it.

82. Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton

Touchstones don't appear to be working. This was a quick and easy read, basically a survey of several different effective charity efforts, both global and local. It was very inspiring, and I got several different ideas of things I could do to help others.

Edited to add: Only 1 book away from my goal! I haven't really been that focused on the goal per se, but it does feel good to read as much as I did last year in 11 months. That means I can get in that many more books that I have waiting to be read. AND, I only bought 3 books this month, 2 of which were bibles that I will not read straight through, so my TBR list actually went down for a change! Woohoo!

Message edited by its author, Nov 29, 2007, 5:26pm.

83. The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN, and stayed up too late last night to finish it. On the other hand, it was kind of an obvious story. It was very obvious how Annie felt about Mitch and Jake, and kind of weird how delusional she was about it. The characters were fully realized and interesting, but I just wanted to shake them sometimes.

And, here I am at my goal, with a whole month left for the year. Go me!

Go you! Congratulations...

Wow! Good job.

congratulations

Thanks!

84. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

This was an odd book. Blue, the main character, is a very gifted girl with an interesting past that involves much travelling around with her Dad. The mystery of her life, and her Dad, is at once more thrilling and more mundane than she expects. At first, she seemed overly melodramatic to me, but after a while, I realized that it was just the way she spoke; she actually had a fairly realistic view of what was happening to her. I really enjoyed this book, but I understand why I have seen people both praise it and pan it. It can be a bit difficult to access.

85. Post Secret by Frank Warren

Warren asked people to send him secrets via postcard, to participate in a public art project. The only requirements were that they be true, and something the sender had never told anyone else. Also, they were told to send the secrets anonymously. Apparently he did exhibit many of these secrets, and I think he still is, but he also has a series of books. I think I will buy more--it is fascinating to see what people send. Some of the secrets are truly horrible, some are the kind of thing you recognize.

I thought that Innocent Blood was fantastic. I just finished reading it yesterday and I am still thinking about it today. P. D. James' writing is evocative and mesmerizing. I just can't put her books down. Like you, I am working through them in order (from the library...) There has only been one that I wasn't amazed with. I am currently reading Devices and Desires (1989). I am also really looking forward to the autobiography that she wrote in 2000.

Happy reading!

Message edited by its author, Dec 3, 2007, 9:33pm.

I saw one of the Post Secret exhibits and had the same reaction. Some secrets were mundane, some shocking, and some sweet. It was weird to read them, but impossible to stop!

Ckbrouwer--I agree on Innocent Blood. It really was an interesting book. I like the way James writes such different stuff, it isn't formulaic at all. I need to go get some more, and I agree, I will be getting her autobiography, too.

Carlym, I can see that I will end up getting the other Post Secret books, too. I have read his blog, too, which is very interesting.

86. The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz

This was a very interesting look at how, while having no choice is definitely bad, too much choice can almost as detrimental to our psychological well-being. Schwartz examines the differences between maximizers, who attempt to get the absolute best of everything, and satisficers, who are willing to settle for good enough. Good enough could very well be high quality, but satisficers are all right with the idea that there may still be something out there that is even better. Maximizers are bothered by this, and have difficulty making choices, since there are always more options available that might be better.

I tend to fall on the satificer end of the scale for most things, but there are some exceptions. I have a hard time picking a meal in a restaurant, for instance, because I can't decide which one will be the best experience. This book was an interesting look at how unlimited choice can make us less happy with what we have, and I picked up some good tips for being satisfied with my life, even though the tips themselves weren't anything I hadn't heard before. Having more of an explanation behind them makes it easier to apply these ideas to my life.

Message edited by its author, Dec 22, 2007, 11:59pm.

87. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I am not sure how I missed this book before now. This was incredibly well-written, and the topics that it covers, class divides and class mobility, are some in which I am particularly interested. I liked the detached narrator who frames the story. Gatsby, of course, was a very flawed person, but his flaws were much more appealling that Daisy's and Tom's flaws. His flaws stemmed from a yearning to improve his life, and be with someone that he loves, whereas Daisy and Tom only care about their own comfort and feelings. This was a very thought-provoking book.

I was happy to see your review of The Year of Living Biblically. I recently bought it, but have not started it yet. Now after reading your thoughts on it, I'm ready to pick it up.

Congrats on beating your record from last year! WAHOO!

Thanks! It does feel good to read even more than before, although it does make me wish for more of a social life to some extent ;-). Actually, I have a fine social life, I don't know where I come up with the time to do this reading. Enjoy the Jacobs book--I love his writing, he really is great.

Congrats on reaching and exceeding your goal. :) I had no idea how many books I read in a year because I've never kept track before. When I started my list, it was kind of like the "At Least 50 Book Challenge." I just finished my 99th book, and I'm now going for 100 by the end of December. I had NO IDEA I read so much, and I have no social life whatsoever. Guess my goal for next year will have to be the 100 Book Challenge. :

Message edited by its author, Dec 15, 2007, 12:55pm.

I have really fallen behind here!

88. Original Sin by P.D. James

This one made me cry. The story was absolutely tragic, and it very, very sad. James really works at her craft, exploring interesting questions, and transcending the mystery genre. Her characters are fully realized people, not stock characters that just move the puzzle along.

89. A Certain Justice by P.D. James

I enjoyed this one, as I do all of James' books, but I am not sure it was as good as Original Sin. Still, the story was intriguing, and the characters were fascinating, as always.

90. Have You Found Her by Janice Erlbaum

This was an Early Reviewer's book.

This was a fantastic book, for many reasons. First, Erlbaum is a great storyteller, keeping me turning pages all the way through. She is also very honest. As she describes her efforts to help Sam, a homeless junkie, and other girls at the same homeless shelter that she used when she was a teenage runaway, she reveals a lot about her own personality and life, not all of it flattering. Since she describes her behavior with a great deal of insight, she clearly learned a lot and grew as a person due to the experience, but it still must have been difficult to describe herself, flaws and all, so candidly. At times I wanted to shake her--how could she not realize that these girls were so damaged? Sure, she had gone through a similar experience and emerged successful and relatively stable, but she must have known many other street kids who did not have such good outcomes. When she describes her friends and family, none of them seem to have pasts that encompass street living. Yet, she seems to think that a little bit of care and listening from her will turn these kids around.

To be fair, she really does do a lot to help these girls, especially Sam, and she obviously does really care for them and want them to have better lives, from the very beginning. Also, she learns a lot from her experiences, obviously becoming a stronger person and more clear-headed about this all as the story progresses.

Most people who want to help those less fortunate themselves have this idealistic view of what helping others means. Even with a background that should help them to know better, they think they can just give a little and make a big difference. It also seems easy to compartmentalize this kind of giving—it’s something that a person does at certain specific times, and it doesn’t encroach on normal life, except for short anecdotes at parties to show how caring and noble the volunteer is. But when you work with damaged people, it isn’t that simple. These people have enormous needs that can’t be covered from 6:00 until 9:00 on Wednesday evenings, and they demand more than a casual volunteer with a life elsewhere is comfortable giving. Erlbaum does a great job of describing how she struggled with the desire to do more, help more, and still live her hard-won normal life.

91. Solar Lottery by Philip K. Dick

Even in a world that seems to be governed by totally random forces, people struggle to impose meaning and control on their lives. Or, some people do, at least. This was a short book that managed to get in some very interesting discussions about the nature of free will and the laws that govern our universe.

Differentbeat, I am thinking about doing a 100 book challenge next year, too, although I don't know if I will make it. I am about 8 books ahead of last year now (although I keep thinking I am forgetting something! I need to check my stack at home...), but I don't see how I can read more next year. I think I will go ahead and up it, though, since it's not like it would be the end of the world if I didn't hit the goal.

Oh, you're so close this year! I bet you could do it. I keep thinking that the key is not to get lazy in the beginning of the year. That's where I fell behind last year. And what the heck, sometimes setting a goal that's a little bit above what you think you can do is what inspires you to do it. :)

Yes, I was thinking that having a goal like that would inspire me. And, lately I have been reading at a faster pace, so who knows? There are plenty of books out there that I want to read, so I want to get through as many as I can while still retaining what I read. Thanks for the encouragement!

Message edited by its author, Dec 27, 2007, 11:23pm.

92. The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
93. The Last Colony by John Scalzi

I got The Last Colony from the Science Fiction Book Club (before their TERRIBLE customer service forced me to leave, which is a shame, because I liked the books), only to realize it was the third book in a series, forcing me to buy Old Man's War and TGB before I could read it. I am sure I could have read it alone and liked it, but I prefer to read books in order. I am really glad I got all three books, especially these two. I really like the way that Scalzi sets up a situation that seems rather straightforward and then shades the gray in there. The characters are well-drawn, too, and I like the way he handles his male and female characters, making them whole people who sometimes behave in stereotypically gendered ways, but generally just behave like themselves, not a man or a woman primarily, but a person. And, although I liked the characters a lot and I wonder what happens next, I was glad to see him say he is done with them. It is good to leave on a high note, not drag things out until people get tired of reading about your characters and your world.

So, that is 10 more than I read last year (or, rather, in 2006, since I am behind here). Much more than I thought I would read this year!

And if you read 10 more this year, you'll easily make the 100 challenge! I hope you enjoy the next year of reading.

Thanks for the support! It looks like you read as fast as I do, if not faster. Can't wait to see how we both do. GL