Challenge dates: October 1, 2009 - October 1, 2010Here are my categories and some preliminary titles for 2010. Might as well really challenge myself and go for the full 100. Since many of these are already on my shelves or on Kindle awaiting my attention, this will help me focus on them instead of getting more, and also help with two other challenges I'm doing: US Presidents (which I've enjoying tremendously) and Pulitzer Prize Fiction (about which I'm somewhat ambivalent). Not all the books in my Prize Winners category won Pulitzers (or are even fiction), but there are a few in there.
1. TBR
2. 19th Century Presidents
3. Classics Old and New
4. Science
5. Mysteries/Suspense
6. Introduced by the Kindle
7. Prize Winners
8. Library and LibraryThing Discoveries
9. Fiction
10. Sci Fi
(Categories have been separated - see messages 7-16.)
Message edited by its author, Oct 15, 2009, 9:59am.
Marge, I too have a large pile of TBR's and yet I visit the library at least twice a week. I can't fit all the good books out there on my shelves,m I have to let the library have some!
Looks like a nice, diverse list.
I agree. Your actual reading selections within the categories are very interesting and I hope you will find time to report out on them.
>3, 4
Thanks. And I do hope to review most of the books, a practice I've gotten into since joining early Reviewers.
I read
Killer Angels a few years ago and really enjoyed it.
Welcome to the group!
Hi there auntmarge! What a fascinating collection of things to read. Most smorgasbords have terrible food but your smorgasbord looks delectable. I just clicked through on all your science reads and had to add most of them to my wishlist. I hope you will find the time to comment on your reading here because I will be checking back.
>17
I see you're a Kindler too. It's great, isn't it? Will you be reading any of your 2010 Challenge on Kindle?
I use my Kindle for R&R reading: light fantasy, SF, mysteries, you get the drift ... When it comes to really READ reading, I still prefer hardcopy: When it comes to hard work, I want a paperback I can mark up even if I get a hardback later. I am not diminishing the value of the Kindle to me, however. What it's going to save me in additional shelving (or crates) is going to pay me back for the cost of the thing because I go through lighter reading like a sad lady through chocolate. Plus it is a real blessing for business travel: I will never be bookless in an airport again in life!
This message has been deleted by its author.
Well, since I was ready to go, and for me it's about trying to read 100 books in a year (no matter when I start that year), I've begun. I prefer to read 3 or 4 at a time, and I've got three quick reads going to give me a boost before I start on the heavy stuff. Right now I'm reading:
James Madison by
Garry Wills (U.S. Presidents Challenge)
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by
Rhoda Janzen (Early Reviewer book I just received, so a Library Thing discovery)
Down River by
John Hart (suspense)
and I have
Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution and
James Monroe (The American Presidents) ready to start, both borrowed from the library. After that I'll start on the large pile of books I own, in both paper copy and Kindle version, and work through some of the heavier things I've been wanting to get to. Herodotus will wait till the group read starts, presumably after Jan 1.
Message edited by its author, Oct 15, 2009, 10:49am.
I loved Down River. I hope you enjoy it! I have since read two others by Hart but they didn't leave me with the same impact as River. I'm hoping it's just that chemistry a reader encounters when discovering a new author and that they aren't duds for everyone.
I've read his other two already too, while waiting to start this challenge and read Down River. I finished
The Last Child about two weeks ago and enjoyed it tremendously. I began to read
King of Lies right after that but the Kindle formatting was terrible and I "returned" it. However, it was also very familiar, and I think I've read it before. Nothing like having some dynamite suspense (I hope!) to look forward to.
I've finished the first three I set out with, and given 3-3½ stars to each.
1.
James Madison by Garry Wills, part of the American Presidents Series edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. It's a brief, informative introduction but not meant to be in depth, and this President needs depth, given his work on the Constitution and separation of church and state. I can't say I thought he was all that successful as a President. I'll have to read more about him in the future.
2.
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. This was an Early Reviewer book, and my reivew is posted if anyone wants to read further. There's some wonderful humor, as well as priceless observations of the author's relationship with her mother. Other parts held my attention less.
3. Down River by John Hart. I didn't like this as much as his latest,
The Last Child, which I gave 5 stars, but it was a fast and enjoyable suspense novel.
Next up:
Dead On by Robert Walker (this mystery was a free Kindle download from the publisher)
James Monroe by Gary Hart, also from the American Presidents series, OR
The Last Founding Father, also on Monroe.
Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey
I'm getting a few easy ones out of the way for encouragement, because some of the books I plan to read, such as Herodotus and, for instance,
Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes's Bicameral Mind Theory Revisited, will take months.
Message edited by its author, Oct 7, 2009, 7:07pm.
4.
Dead On by Robert W. Walker. 3 stars. So-so suspense. Lots of action, very scattered in actual implementation.
Message edited by its author, Oct 8, 2009, 7:44am.
Wow! You are cruising right along. I know what you mean about having some books that will take some doing to get through. I have some planned that I know will take me a while to make it through but that I have wanted to read for ages. Hopefully I won't chicken out during the year!
>26
Well, we'll see how the cruising along goes by the time I get to more of the science and TBR titles. I'm going to try to really stick to the titles I have listed, many of which are TBR whatever the category, as well as some new ones I'll add. Of the 4 I'm reading now, three are on the Kindle.
5.
The Hidden Man by David Ellis. 4 stars. The beginning of a new suspense series, a bit slower than some suspense novels but this should be a great series. Interesting characters, pitch perfect dialogue, a whopper of a resolution.
6.
Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution by
Richard Fortey - 4 stars
I started this with no idea how interesting I'd find it, but it was recommended on one of my LT groups (probably History at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture). I could never be a scientist (I haven't the attention span), but I've become a fan of trilobites.
Trilobites were a group of arthropods which lived during the pre-Cambrian to Permian time periods. IOW, from approximately 540-250 ma (million years ago). They ranged in size from a less than a millimeter to that of a dinner plate. They were salt-water creatures, some deep water crawlers and blind, some free-swimming, some along shallow shorelines. Their eyes (of those who had them) were made of calcite. Fossils abound worldwide, and that's what makes them particularly interesting even to the layperson: because of how long this class of animals survived, and their easily-fossilized exoskeleton, they have been of crucial help in plotting the movements of continental masses through several comings together and breakups, including Pangaea, about 300 ma, and the previous supercontinent, Pannotia (about 600 ma). For instance, did you know that England and Wales used to be part of a land mass which included eastern (but not western) Newfoundland? The land grouping is now referred to as Avalonia (who said scientists have no sense of humor?) Western Newfoundland was an ocean away. During the Ordovician (say 485 ma), the Laurentian continent, including North America and Greenland, lay along the equator -
at a 90-degree angle to today's position. Northern Africa was at the South Pole.
Well, I'm getting carried away, so will conclude by saying that the author, a British paleontologist, uses biography, natural history, geology, and even a bit of travelogue to reel in the reader. I was enchanted.
Just requested
Trilobite from the library as you made it sound very interesting and I need another science book for my 999!
>30
Do let me know what you think. There are quite a few b&w photos and drawings, and some of the animals are quite appealing.
#28~ I'll have to request
The Hidden Man from the library. I'm always on the lookout for a new suspense series and the LT predictor says I'll love it. We'll see if it's right!
Trilobite does sound interesting too. These threads are so dangerous to my TBR pile.
> 32: These threads are so dangerous to my TBR pile.
Oh yeah. Many of mine came from LT groups, and the topics of interest keep growing.
7.
Rough Country by John Sandford. I still prefer the Lucas Davenport stories, but wouldn't miss a Virgil Flowers suspense novel either.
VictoriaPL and I are planning a tandem read of
Storm Front for next year. I don't remember if we set a time. You are welcome to participate if you'd like.
>35
Thanks. Are you planning to read just the first, or decide whether to continue after you see how you like the first?
8.
The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness by
Harlow Giles Unger. This is a brand new publication, and I'd hoped for a thoughtful treatment of Monroe's life and career such as McCullough or Ellis might offer. Instead, the book earned just 3½ stars. My main complaints are that the author appears overly enamored with his subject, using effusive and extravagant descriptions of him at every opportunity, and that Monroe never quite stands out as the main character in his own story. I can't quite put my finger on why this is so, unless the author meant the book less as a biography and more as a history of the times. I've posted a more detailed review on the US Presidents Challenge:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/51508 (post 25).
9.
Middlesex by
Jeffrey Eugenides. This was most definitely not what I expected. "Middlesex": now if that doesn't sound like something British what does? Instead, the reader is treated to this opening sentence:
I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. O-kaaaay. How can you not read on?
The book is stunning. Through the story of three generations of Greek Americans, from incestuous grandparents fleeing the Turks to the narrator's final discovery and coming-to-terms with his/her true nature in 1970s San Francisco, this is a mesmerizing tale of immigration, life in Henry Ford's Detroit, and a side of the sexual nature of humanity few of us will know. You will not want this story to end! 5 stars.
Message edited by its author, Oct 30, 2009, 9:04am.
10.
Trouble with Lichen by
John Wyndham. 3 stars.
I was lucky to find a copy of this available via ILL. It's a shorty, just 160 pages, vintage Wyndham, very light (not even really) SF set in his contemporary England of mid-20th c. (first published in 1960). As always Wyndham is enjoyable, with plots concerning the Brits trying to make sense of and coping with some new unexpected event. Usually it's an alien invasion of some kind, but in this case it's the social implications of a scientific discovery guaranteed to change human history forever.
Message edited by its author, Nov 3, 2009, 5:59pm.
11.
Life in the Medieval Cloister by
Julie KerrThis book was advertised in the History Book Club's brochure, but I was unable to find additional reviews or a description of the target audience. There was one copy available through the consortium used by my public library, which includes most large and public libraries in NJ, and I was able to borrow that copy to read (thank you, Drew University).
I expected a general history with some analysis, and while the book is simple enough for a lay audience and also a quick read, it's written in the style of a term paper or extended Wikipedia article. The text is primarily strung together from anecdotes attributed to or about various historical figures, and some anecdotes are mentioned two or even three times when the story concerns different topics. Each chapter begins and ends with a summary, with subchapters of a page or two given separate headings and sometimes quotes. The quotes are frequently restated as a prominent part of the limited discussion which follows. Many anecdotes have no conclusions, leading the reader to wonder what happened to the participants. It would have been gratifying to at least be told why the outcomes are not included, even if because they are unknown. There is no discussion of how people who were forced to live in a monastic community for some reason affected the other inhabitants. There are, however, lengthy descriptions of the lack of cleanliness, which apparently resulted at times from rules against bathing or cleaning, which were viewed as a means to vanity. That part is really gross - thank goodness smells are not yet available to accompany print.
Both miracles and visitations (by the devil, saints, or deceased) are treated as though factual, which might be just a style of writing (and the reader trusted to understand that the author is describing the participants' viewpoints) or might indicate this was written for an audience which accepts the reality of such events.
The book includes a very helpful glossary. Illustrations are limited to a few b&w medieval renderings of the cloistered life. There are no maps or diagrams of monastery layouts, which would have been welcome. All-in-all, I'm glad to read have read this, but it could have been much more than it is.
12.
The God Wars by
Sierra Philpin. Available via download for the Kindle.
This is a tough novel to describe. The story is told from the viewpoints of three people who meet casually one day: a world-famous, world-weary, world-traveling feature writer for
The New Yorker; a mathematics professor obsessed with the nature of time; and a young woman making herself over in New York City who attracts the interest of both men. The writing is wonderful, the three main characters fully drawn and interesting to the reader. What happens to them as they draw closer and closer to an understanding of the natures of time and reality is challenging, magical, and suspenseful all at once. Superb.
>42
Fortey is quite a good science writer. I'm now reading the 4th edition of his
Fossils: The History of Life, which was just published, and look forward to reading his other books in the future. It's hard getting my mind around the time frames he's talking about. I found this site, which has some interesting animations of continental drift and future predictions of how land masses will change:
http://www.scotese.com/.
>43 Have you read
Dry Store Room No. 1: the Secret History of the Natural History Museum? That was the first of his books that I read, and I thought it was fascinating. It started me off wanting to read his science books. I love his writing - but I know what you mean about how hard it is to absorb the reality of the time frames properly.
That site looks interesting - I shall have to go and explore it properly.
>44
I actually have it at home to read, but I have to read the Fossils book first since it's on loan from another library system.
13.
Consider Her Ways and Others by
John Wyndham I'm working my way through as many of John Wyndham's novels and collections as I can find. Most are OP, but some are available via ILL, which was the case for this collection of 6 novellas and short stories. The title story is about 40% of the volume and one of his most entertaining tales. Other stories include: "Odd", "Oh, Where, Now, is Peggy Macrafferty", "Stitch in Time", "Random Quest", and "A Long Spoon". Four of the stories concern time-travel or travel between parallel realities. The other two have a bit of O. Henry in them but are not science fiction.
The title novella (copyrighted 1956) reminded me somewhat of the premise of Atwood's
A Handmaid's Tale, although that book was so distasteful it stopped me from reading anything else she wrote. (After all the positive comments about her work by members of this challenge, though, I've decided to give her another try with
Oryx and Crake.) Wyndham's rather less-horrifying take revolves around a society in which all men have died and female humans have become specialized (think of the Biblical quote, "Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways").
14. Genesis by
Bernard Beckett - 4 stars. There is no title touchstone (the 100 possibilities which come up don't include it), so if interested use the author touchstone.
In a not-too-distant dystopic future, a student takes an oral examination in hopes of joining the elite Academy which runs her society. Her area of expertise is the study of a magnetic historical personage named Adam, whose actions changed the development of the society in ways which are revealed only in the last few pages. Thought-provoking (and that's an inside joke which only a reader of the book will get) and disturbing post-apocalyptic fiction at its most memorable.
15.
Fossils: The History of Life by
Richard Fortey - 5 stars.
This is the second of Fortey's books I've read recently, and it's even better than
Trilobite! (although now whenever I see an illustration of a trilobite that's exactly what goes through my mind: trilobite! The book is in its 4th edition, published in 2009, and I encourage anyone who is going to read it to try to get this latest version. Fortey points out in his preface that "new chapters have been introduced to take in some of the recent discoveries about mankind's history, and to nod briefly towards the new science of molecular palaeontology". There are about 250 illustrations, mostly color photographs, reproduced in a glossy, slightly oversized book of 251 pages. About a third of the book is taken up with discussion of the families of fossils which have been found, and there are chapters on geological ages, the origin of life, extinction and evolution, fossil DNA, uses of fossils (in industry and as decoration), and, briefly, thoughts on making a collection. Superb.
Message edited by its author, Nov 15, 2009, 8:28pm.
Fossils: The History of Life is going on my wishlist to read after I've got to
Trilobite!.
am64, I read
Dry Storeroom No. 1 by Fortey last year and enjoyed it. Trilobite was good as you mentioned. I think I have Earth and Life around here somewhere also but I haven't read them yet.
I think at this point I'll have to read "Earth", "Life", and
Dry Storeroom No. 1, too. He's just such a good writer. Happily, my library system has them all.
Message edited by its author, Nov 15, 2009, 8:33pm.
17.
Frankenstein - ***½ stars.
Never knew the whole story, have quite a bit of sympathy for the monster, none for the Doc - and what a whiner! (I know, it was the writing style of the time, but geez.)
18.
Nine Dragons by
Michael Connelly. 4 stars. This has a very slow start, but I kept at it because I like the Harry Bosch series and have read the previous 14 volumes. By mid-way it suddenly picks up steam, and action and surprises come fast.
19.
Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate by
William F. Ruddiman. 4 stars. The central hypothesis by Ruddiman, a palaeoclimatologist, is that forest clearing, agriculture, rice production, and pandemics had begun to artificially change the climate as early as 8000 years ago, with the recent enormous effects of carbon use (oil, gas, and coal) building on the earlier changes. Ruddiman came to his conclusion when he noticed that the major forces in climate change normally caused by cycles in the earth's orbit (100,000 years), tilt (41,000 years) and precession, or wobble, (22,000 years), which had a clear pattern of increases and decreases of methane and CO2, began to veer off course starting about the time agriculture became common and humans began living in settlements. In addition, Ruddiman states that Earth should be in a glaciation of some sort at this part of the normal cycle and that global warming has delayed or, possibly, canceled it. A discussion with Ruddiman can be read at
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/arc.... The book is short (200 pages), very readable, and thought-provoking.
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