antqueen's 2011 reading

I'm in the 11 in 11 challenge and planned to hang out there... but then I discovered the TIOLI challenges and decided to join in the fun here too. I haven't decided how I'll handle posting both groups yet... but I'm sure others are in both. What are y'all doing with that?

My 11 in 11 groups:

1. Person, place or thing? - Non-fiction (NF Challenge thread)
2. Dusting the shelves - on my tbr shelves before 1/1/2010 (since a year old hardly counts as tbr)
3. Somebody must like it - Prize winners
4. Who is it? - authors I've never read
5. The show must go on - continuing series
6. Oldies - historical settings
7. Magical mayhem - fantasy
8. To boldly go... - science fiction
9. Random fun - TIOLI challenge books
10. The Bard - Shakespeare, of course
11. The sky's the limit - everything else




January
1. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (T1)
2. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (T1)
3. Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare (T3)
4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (audio) (T10)
5. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney (T4)
6. The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky (T11)
7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (T1)
8. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (T5)
9. Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare (T10)
10. Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 9/10 2010
11. Singularity Sky by Charles Stross (T2)
12. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (T7)
13. Nation by Terry Pratchett (audio) (T7)

February
14. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (T3)
15. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King (T10)
16. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (audio) (T15)
17. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (audio) (T16)
18. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 1-2 2011
19. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (audio) (T15)
20. The Waste Lands by Stephen King (T1)
21. Winter World by Bernd Heinrich (T2)
22. The Defiant Agents by Andre Norton (T10)
23. Wild Seed by Octavia Butler (T6)

March
24. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (T1)
25. The Spiral Labyrinth by Matthew Hughes (T1)
26. The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare (T17)
27. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (T7)
28. Horse, Flower, Bird by Kate Bernheimer (T8)
29. The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold (audio) (T9)
30. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (T9)
30a. A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (audio)
31. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (T15)
32. Truckers by Terry Pratchett (audio) (T18)
33. The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene (T6)
34. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King (T4)
35. Apples from the Desert by Savyon Liebrecht (T3)

April
36. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (audio) (T10)
37. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (T2)
38. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (T5)
39. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (T19)
40. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (audio) (T3)
41. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster (T13)
42. Lord Byron by Lord Byron (T18)
43. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (audio) (T15)
44. Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay (T1)
45. A Robe of Feathers by Thersa Matsuura (T8)

May
46. Bernheim Research Forest and Arboretum (T9)
47. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell (T16)
48. Othello by William Shakespeare (T1)
49. Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich (T14)
50. Polaris by Jack McDevitt (audio) (T12)
51. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (T13)
52. Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 3-4 2011
53. Como Agua Para Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (T3)
54. Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King (T5)

June
55. Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn (audio)
56. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (T6)
57. Something Wicked This Way Comes & A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury (audio) (T15)
58. Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (T1)
59. Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 5-6 2011 (T21)
60. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (T3)
61. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (audio) (T5)

July
62. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (audio)
63. Classic Science Fiction, Vol. 4 (audio)
64. The Gates by John Connolly (T6)
65. All's Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare (T2)
66. The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (T1)
67. The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold (T7)
68. Why Do Buses Come in Threes? by Robert Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham (T1)
69. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (T5)
70. The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy by James Evans (T1)
71. Analog, April 2011
72. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois (T22)
73. Emma by Jane Austen (audio) (T1)
74. King Lear by William Shakespeare (T18)
75. As You Like It by William Shakespeare (T5)
76. The Lord of the Fire Lands by Dave Duncan (T1)

August
77. The Life and Death of King John by William Shakespeare (T16)
78. The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (T22)
79. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (T16)
80. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (T21)
81. The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (T1)
82. Song of Susannah by Stephen King (T18)
83. Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky (T15)
84. Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare (T4)

September
85. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (T1)
86. The Incas by Daniel Peters (T5)
87. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (audio) (T17)
88. The Collected Short Fiction of C. J. Cherryh by C. J. Cherryh (T15)
89. The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (T5)
90. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (T7)
91. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 7-8 2011
92. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (audio) (T3)
93. To Trade the Stars by Julie E. Czerneda (T1)
94. Pericles, Prince of Tyre by William Shakespeare (T9)
95. Earthlight and Other Stories by Arthur C. Clarke (audio) (T14)

October
96. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez Reverte (T9)
97. The Dark Tower by Stephen King (T19)
98. The Sonnets and other poems by William Shakespeare
99. Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (T14)
100. Labyrinth by Lois McMaster Bujold (T18)
101. Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick (T11)
102. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (T1)
103. The Tragedy of King Richard II by William Shakespeare (T18)
104. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 9/10 2011
105. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (audio) (T4)
106. Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold (T7)

November
107. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 11/12 2011
108. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (T12)
109. The Code Book by Simon Singh (T4)
110. Steel Magic by Andre Norton (T16)
111. King Henry VI, Part 1 by William Shakespeare (T13)
112. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (audio) (T11)
113. A Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss (T18)
114. Sleight of Hand by Peter S. Beagle (T1)

December
115. The Tower of Ravens by Kate Forsyth (T18)
116. The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester (T1)
117. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey (audio) (T3)
118. To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust (T6)
119. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (audio) (T20)
120. King Henry VI, Part 2 by William Shakespeare (T8)
121. The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (audio) (T9)
122. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (T4)
123. An Ocean of Air by Gabrielle Walker (T5)
124. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (T7)
125. The View from the Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeyer (T15)
126. On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (T1)
127. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (T21)

Welcome to the group!

Welcome! Several folks are copying reviews from one group to the other, I think. You'll get different comments on your reviews but that's ok!

Thanks! I think I'll do that, for the time being at least.

And on to:



1. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare.

My first book of 2011 is, well, a play. I don't remember at this point if I've read this before, or seen it, or maybe I just knew what the story was. It's a play-within-a-play, though the outer doesn't come back in the end, which seemed odd, to me. The inner is the story referred to by the title. There's the common suitors-in-disguise plot, focussing on Kate's (the 'shrew') sister, and of course Petruchio, who 'tames' Kate. The way it's written, it would be easy to spin the ending a lot of ways on stage. Personally, I'd play it as Kate playing along with Petruchio, perhaps finding someone who can challenge her enough to keep her interested. But that's just me.

Science fiction and fantasy as categories? 486 books in common? Got you starred and will be interested in following your reading this year.

>4 antqueen: Many directors have taken it that way, especially as she seems to ally herself with her husband in that last payback scene. John Cleese took the position that it was a take on Puritan utility, which was interesting but not nearly as funny as most productions.

My most memorable Shrew was from ACT in San Francisco, done as commedia del arte with Marc Singer as Petruchio. You may be able to find a recording - I saw it on TV many years ago.

>6 ffortsa: Thanks for the rec... I'll check it out.



Book 2: Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

I always like Zelazny's books, but I never know what to say about them. Colonists suppress technology and rule as Hindu gods, and are challenged by one of their number who introduces Buddhism and fights against them. Which is an accurate summary, but limited enough to not be very accurate at all. I enjoyed watching the story unfold. A good book. I like the way he writes. What else can I say?

#7: I enjoyed watching the story unfold. A good book. I like the way he writes. What else can I say?

That pretty well sums it up!

Book 3. Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

I've never read this one before. It's a tale of justice vs mercy, with a side of 'power corrupts', and the obligatory person in disguise. An enjoyable read. I liked it more than The Taming of the Shrew, though Duke-in-Disguise did draw things out rather longer than I thought necessary. And why is it that no one ever recognizes anyone's voice in these things?

Book 4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

It's been a long time since I read this, and I didn't remember it as well as I thought I had. A few scenes, like the eclipse at the beginning, stuck in my mind well enough, but others not so much. And there was one scene I could have sworn was in this book... it wasn't. I even went back to make sure my audiobook was unabridged. (In case you're curious, the non-existent scene was one where the Yankee wowed the locals by lighting a match... in some other book, maybe? Or maybe I just dreamed it.) It's a little repetitive at times, such as when Twain goes off on yet another royalty-and-knight-errantry-bashing diatribe, but pretty sharp otherwise. The narrator had the character down too. All in all, a nice way to spend a few days' commute.

Hi there, You got me with Shakespeare as your first book although I know that story more from the high school production of 'Kiss Me Kate' that we did about 20 years ago. Interesting reading and I've got you starred.

#10: I do not think I have ever read that one.

The scene about the match I know is in the Bing Crosby movie version of the book. Maybe that is what you were thinking of?

#11: The plan is to read all of his plays this year. Should be fun.

#12: And now I'm wondering if I've ever seen the movie. I'm going to have to find a copy now (yeah, yeah, I'm the only person in the US who doesn't have Netflix...)

#13: No, you are not the only person in the US who does not have Netflix. I have it, but one of my best friends does not.

#14: Woo hoo! Not the only one!



Book 5. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney

I'm not going to say too much here, because I commented in the Beowulf thread. It's a good translation, and I enjoyed trying to figure out the Old English too.

Book 6. The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky

A Victorianish steampunk fantasy, in which the main character, Luzelle, sets off on a race around the world in the hopes of both financial independence and the chance of acquiring a weapon to save her country from an invading empire. It was fun, but I would have enjoyed it more if I'd had to wonder more about certain of the characters. As it was, it was too clear whose side everyone was on, and too clear what the ending would be. There were also a few things (and people) I expected to show back up at the end, but they never did. I don't regret reading it, but I do wish it had been done just a little differently.

Book 7: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (group read thread)

A story about the romantic troubles and designs of Elinor and Marianne, two sisters of limited means. I like Austen. I enjoyed this one too, but it isn't my favorite of hers. I found it difficult to care too much about Marianne, and I spent a lot of the novel wishing Elinor would just tell her to get over herself. That may say more about my mindset at the moment than Austen, though :)

In any case, I'm looking forward to rereading Pride and Prejudice later this year.

Book 8: Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

This was a Christmas present from my brother, who read it last year. I didn't know much about Einstein himself before, and I only have a basic understanding of his work in physics. From that start, I found this a fascinating and well-written biography, touching on both his personal and professional lives, the latter in less depth than the former (in the interests, I'm sure, of not swamping the poor non-physicist in equations). Still, there were interesting overviews of various theories as well. Highly recommended.

>7 antqueen: Thanks for stopping by my thread. I like your reading choices! Lord of Light sounds particularly interesting and I am not familiar with that author's work. I may have to check it out.

#19 I hope you enjoy it if you do!



Book 9: Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare

The Iliad as a play, with focus on a romance between Troilus, Priam's youngest son, and Cressida, a Trojan woman who winds up being traded to the Greeks in exchange for a prisoner of war. The Trojan War with Roman god names threw me for a loop at first, and (I'm sure this is some kind of major sin) overall it reminded me of a Monty Python sketch, what with the language and the oddly comic bawdy character whose name I forget (Thersides? It was abbreviated Ther anyway) who prodded at everyone indiscriminately.

Book 10: F&SF Magazine, 9-10 2010

I read this rather late, since ours got lost in the mail and we didn't realize it until the next one came. Anyway, a decent issue, but no stories that really stood out. I was glad to see a return of Chwedyk's toy saur stories, but I think this one would have been confusing if you hadn't read at least one or two of the previous ones. My favorite, I think, was Gerrold's F&SF Mailbag, which had me laughing out loud (written as a series of letters from him to the editor complaining about various science-fictiony replacements for real authors).

Congratulations on reading ten books thus far in 2011.

#16: I have that one in the BlackHole already. I really enjoy steampunk, so I am going to give it a try.

Thanks, Whisper1 :)

#23 I so rarely hear people talking about Volsky, but I had a few comments on my 11/11 thread too. I really enjoyed the others of hers I've read... I added another one to my wish list when I finished this one.



Book 11: Singularity Sky by Charles Stross

I'm having a hard time coming up with a one-sentence blurb, so I'll forgo the run-on and go with two. A travelling bunch of non-corporeal entities shows up at a repressive, enforced-low-tech world and starts granting wishes, triggering a revolution. An engineer with an ulterior motive and a governmental agent from Earth join forces (and bodies) to prevent Big Problems when the off-world government tries to send an invasion force.

I went back and forth about this one while I was reading it. I enjoyed finding out about the Festival (the non-corporeal ones) and the rest of the story-world, and I liked the parts about the revolution on the planet's surface. I didn't find the parts with the main characters in the invading fleet as interesting... the characters came across a bit flat, the romance was rather forced, and I would have been happier if the opposition hadn't been quite so bumbling. I don't know if I'll pick up the next one in the series or not.

#24: It is nice to know that Volsky has written other books as well. Thanks!

Maybe if enough people pick up her books she'll write a new one :)



Book 12: Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

This was a silly, fun play. Disguises, convoluted romance plots, mistaken twins, a shipwrecked woman deciding to disguise herself as a man for no readily apparent reason. Just what I needed today :)

#26: Just what I needed today

I love it when you come across a book that just fits what you need - whether you knew it or not!

And that one was purely accidental too :)



Book 13: Nation by Terry Pratchett (audio)

Terry Pratchett's books defy blurbing too. Too many interwoven threads to do justice to them. But there's a tsunami, and a boy who is the sole survivor of an island nation, and the shipwrecked daughter of an English aristocrat, alone on an island. And then things happen. I read this about a year ago in print. I liked it then, and I think I enjoyed it even more the second time around. I'm not sure if it was different circumstances on my part or just that the second time around I paid more attention to the details. It made the transition to audio well too (most of Pratchett's do).

I loved the reference to the tree octopus, one of my favorite hoax websites used to evaluate websites.

#28: I just read that one the other day. I really liked it too.

#29 - Oh, that's hilarious... I hadn't seen it before.

Book 14: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (TIOLI 3 - Read a 75-Book-Challenge Favourite Book of 2010)

Bod escapes his family's killer when he's a toddler and is raised in a graveyard and protected from said killer by ghosts and various supernatural beings. It's an episodic book, with the individual stories tied together by the main one. Not generally my favorite format, but it worked very well. I really like Neil Gaiman. But I generally prefer non-YA, and while I like his novels it's his short fiction that really shines for me, so I didn't pick this one up right away. I wish I had. I wound up reading the whole thing yesterday... it's not unusual for me to do this, especially on a lazy, grey Saturday, but it was not my intent this time :)

I bought this for the TIOLI challenge... I was trying to avoid that. Oh well. At least I made it through January...

All the edits today were because I decided I wanted cover images. So pretty :)

>32 antqueen: I have The Graveyard Book on my TBR list. Glad to know you liked it - I may have to bump it up higher on the list!

>33 antqueen: Looks very nice :) I just updated all of mine the other day, too!

#32: I loved The Graveyard Book, the first Gaiman I ever read. I am glad you enjoyed it too!

Book 15: Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King (TIOLI 10: Ghosts of TIOLI Past Remix)

A very interesting book about Michelangelo, focusing on the painting of the Sistine Chapel. It's not a subject I knew much about. I didn't know how little painting he had done before this, for example. This was one of several books I got for Christmas last year.

#36: I can give that one a miss since I have already read it. I am glad you found the book interesting!

#37 Sometimes it's a relief when you find one not to add to your wishlist, isn't it :)

#38: Yes, it is!

re. book 15, would you recommend it? Michelangelo fascinates me.

#40 - Yes, I would. It's a fun book to read as well as being interesting... King interleaved the historical events and the actual fresco painting well. I think it would hold up to someone who's more familiar with Michelangelo than me too.

I think I'll put that title aside for later. I'm thinking of doing an art category for next year. (Is it bad or good that I'm already thinking of next year's challenges in February?)

Next year! And here I thought I was doing good thinking about this year's stuff last fall :)

Book 16: The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (audio) - (TIOLI 15: Seconds)

This is the second Earthsea novel, and a reread for me. Tenar was taken as a child to be priestess to old, half-forgotten gods and mistress over their dark, underground labyrinth. Her world is dull, if lonely, until the mage Sparrowhawk shows up to take back a treasure hidden for centuries, and Tenar must decide whether to help him or stay true to her gods. I have mixed feelings about this one. It's deeper in a lot of ways than A Wizard of Earthsea and has a much darker feel. But Tenar frustrates me as much as she draws me in. Still, that isn't all bad. In any case, it's a good book, worth reading. The narrator fit the story as well, though it took me a while to get used to her.

I do not think I ever read beyond the first book in the Earthsea series. I will have to pick the books back up again.

I enjoyed all of them. I think the first three were the best, though if you asked me in a week I might change my mind... Favorites are such ephemeral things :)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (audio) - (TIOLI 16: Doctor, Doctor)

Also a re-read... most of my audiobooks are. Hard to believe how little I really remembered, though. It's one of those stories that are retold so much that it's hard to remember what happened in the original. I didn't care for the narrator... he read too fast and without enough distinction between dialogue and narration, or between the characters' voices. It was a little hard to follow.

#46: Thanks for the input!

#47: I still need to read that one!

Book 18: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 1-2 2011

I don't have much to say about this one. Glad I read it, but there seemed to be more stories I wished I liked more than those I really liked.

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (audio) - 2nd in the Thursday Next series - (TIOLI 15: Seconds)

Thursday Next, a literary detective in a book-mad alternate Britain, is having a bad time of it. Everyone's out to get her, time travelers have eradicated her husband to force her cooperation, and the coincidences are building up. A silly, fun book, with people and characters jumping between books, and from books to "reality" and back again (just don't let Miss Havisham borrow your car). And the entropy-detection device cracked me up.

The Waste Lands by Stephen King - (TIOLI 1: Embedded Word)

My husband read the Dark Towers series a few years ago (when the last one came out, if I remember correctly), but I didn't pick them up until recently. I think I like the 2nd (The Drawing of the Three) the best so far. The Waste Lands was good, but it didn't hold me in the same way as the first two. Still, I'm enjoying the ride with Roland & company. And c'mon. Blaine may be a pain, but so was that ending. I can't imagine reading that and then having to wait until he wrote the next book... I'm glad they're all right here on my shelf :)

Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich (TIOLI 2: Nonfiction Book About Winter)

This was an interesting book discussing the many ways that various animals survive the cold temperatures and often famine conditions of winter, especially the animals around the author's own home in the NE United States. It seemed a little disjointed at times, a series of loosely connected tidbits, sometimes essays, and an uneven depth of coverage of the animals and survival techniques mentioned. Not a complaint, really, but not what I expected, and something I had to get used to. Recommended, to those interested in such things.

The Defiant Agents by Andre Norton (TIOLI 10: Ghosts of TIOLI Past Remix)

Mindless space opera, my guilty pleasure. This one wasn't the best, though. It's the third book in the Time Traders series, which I have read all out of order. Very cold war, very US good guys vs commie baddies. Travis Fox and some fellow Apaches are given a treatment that causes them to gain ancestral memories/skills (intentional) and, to some degree, forget their modern experiences and training (not so intentional). I never quite understood why this was necessary, incidentally. Anyway, they're sent to a world which the Russians have already started to colonize with similarly treated Mongols, except they use mind control too. 'Cause Reds are Bad :)

I think I would have a lot of difficulty listening to a Thursday Next book--there are so many details that I would have difficulty sorting out. On the other hand, it would make certain of his allusions stand out sharply, as in "You don't know Jack Schitt."

Definitely, the Time Traders series was definitely a product of the Cold War. But I will never forget reading the second, Galactic Derelict as a teen and sitting on the edge of my seat to see if they'd make it back to Earth. Would that fueling hose make it out to the ship on the way back, and would those creatures give it time to refuel if it did so? High drama at the time.

I solve that problem by reading them first :) Actually, my audiobooks are almost always rereads... it's too easy to miss things when I'm driving (most of my audio time) and too hard to go back to hear it again. Anyway, taking that long to finish a book for the first time would drive me crazy. Not to mention stopping at such random spots.

And yeah, Galactic Derelict was fun mindless space opera. I think I just wanted more space in this one too, and less Cowboys--er, I mean Commies--& Indians.

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler - (TIOLI 6: Black History Month)

I've put off writing anything about this because I can't figure out what I want to say, but it's been long enough. I think I'll just ramble... Anyway, this a story about Anyanwu, a woman with healing and shapeshifting powers that grant her immortality, and Doro, a man whose own immortality requires taking the lives of others. It deals with, among other things, slavery, family, and loneliness, and the different ways the characters cope. I liked it more the more I read; though it started out a little slow, by the end I couldn't put it down. An excellent book.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking - (TIOLI 1: Cities on pg 17 -- Newton, a city or town in rather a lot of places)

Somehow I've never read this. I can see why it's such a popular book. An understandable (and brief, as the title says) intro to a lot of physics topics, in a very readable, almost chatty style. Funny too, in places, when he adds an anecdote or two. I've been on something of a physics kick lately (Brian Greene is up next) and this was a nice, easy interlude.

Edited to fix a stubborn touchstone.

Just dropping by to let you know I feel your pain literally.. :/ Hopefully your daughter will feel better soon. On my end it was really only 1 day where my son (he is 6 months as well!) was inconsolable but then both tooth cut through the gums and he's all back to normal now!

I'm glad your son's feeling good again :) With the first two my daughter just had a few little spells, but these top ones seem worse... she was miserable all day yesterday. Hopefully today will be better.

The Spiral Labyrinth by Matthew Hughes - (TIOLI 1: Cities on pg 17 -- Hardy)

This is a fantasy/science fiction/mystery series set in a universe where rationality is giving way to sympathetic association (aka magic). The series really started in short stories printed (mostly, at least) in F&SF magazine... some are also embedded in the novels, and he has a story collection out that includes others. Anyway, Hapthorne is a very rational Holmes-esque detective who, in this book, is stranded in a totally magic-using place and time. This installment was weaker than the first, but still fun. I'll have to read the third sometime.

YOur review of the Stephen Hawking book has reminded me that I haven't read that either espite it sitting on my bookshelf for years. Another one to work towards for this year, good review.

Hello. I hope your birthday on Monday was a special day.

Hope you get lots of good books! Happy Birthday!

Happy Belated birthday! :) Hopefully your little one is feeling better today so you can celebrate!!!

A month early, actually, but thanks anyway :) And yep, she's happy again!

Book 26:



The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 17: World Storytelling Day)

Paranoid kings, lost heirs, royalty in disguise, forbidden romance. What more can you ask for? I have to say, though, the ending is rather bizarre, however you read it.

Just found your thread; love the Shakespeare reviews. Reminds me that I've never read Measure for Measure - about the only one I've still to read. What has prompted you to be reading so many Shakespeare plays this year?

Nothing in particular prompted me, really. We've had a copy of the complete works for quite a while and I've dipped into it a couple of times, but I've never read them all, so... why not now?

And wow, I'm behind on my little mini-reviews. Maybe later this week I can catch up.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (TIOLI 7: LT's Top 50 Wishlisted Books)

The story of a German girl in Germany in WWII whose foster family hides a Jewish man in their basement. The flash-forwards and little asides put in by the narrator, Death, were an interesting device. You know certain details of the ending long before you get there, though many of them are misleading at first, especially since the book also meanders in and out of the main timeline. It worked, for me at least, because, while you know what, you don't know when, or, sometimes, how. You're a little uncertain about when you are to begin with, and you keep expecting what you know is going to happen. Highly recommended.

Horse, Flower, Bird by Kate Bernheimer (TIOLI 8: Short stories)

This is a collection of short stories, mostly about young girls and often with a more or less unspoken theme of violence or abuse in the background. They're all quite short and have a distant and dreamy feel. I'm not entirely sure what I think about all of the stories. Not bad, but it isn't going to be one of my favorite books this year.

You've had an interesting mix of reads recently. I absolutely loved The Book Thief it was one of my favorite reads last year.

I think I'll pass on Horse, Flower, Bird, but the cover looks very interesting.

Yeah, I'm going to have to pick up more of Zusak's books.

I confess, the cover was one reason I grabbed Horse, Flower, Bird :) There are funky little pictures like that before all of the stories, too.

The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold (audio) (TIOLI 9: Break it Down)

Another audio reread for me. This is the 3rd in the Chalion series (well, it's the 3rd book set in the same world, though none of the characters are the same and it is not, in fact, set in Chalion). I've found that I enjoy Bujold's books even more the second time around, when I can slow down and watch how everything is set up. There tends to be a lot in them. Which also makes them difficult to summarize. Ingrey, who was the unwilling recipient of a forbidden wolf spirit as a child, is sent to the scene of a prince's murder. The killer is Ijada, who you find out early on is the unwilling recipient of a likewise forbidden leopard spirit. There's a romance, and a dying king, and a polar bear, and old, old magic, and many machinations personal, political, and divine. I liked Ingrey and several of the secondary characters, but Ijada never really grabbed me as a character. Still, a very good book.

Sounds like an interesting book with interesting characters. Anytime a re-read is still good the second time around, you know you've got a gem on your hands. :)

I've yet to find one of Bujold's books I don't like... in fact, I picked up another of her books at a Borders closing sale. Which reminds me that they've dropped the prices again. I really should resist the temptation...



Book 30: A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (TIOLI 9: Break it Down)

The first Sherlock Holmes story, and one of the few that are novel-length. Holmes meets Watson here and, of course, is called in to solve a mystery. I read most (or maybe all? I don't remember if my big book had all of them or not) of the short stories years ago... I'll have to get it back out sometime.

I also listened to Neil Gaiman's short story A Study in Emerald. It starts out similarly to A Study in Scarlet, with a Holmes counterpart meeting a Watson counterpart (I don't think either is actually named in the story), but in a Cthulhu-inspired London. Very interesting to read along with the actual Holmes story.

Book 31: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (TIOLI 15: 17 Letter Titles)

This is still my favorite of Austen's books. I won't bother with a summery, but will just say that I love Elizabeth and Darcy, and while Mr. Bennett might not be the best father ever, he still makes me laugh :)

Truckers by Terry Pratchett (audio) (TIOLI 18: YA Fantasy/SF)

Truckers, the first of the Bromeliad series, stars a group of Nomes (yes, without the G) who find their way into a department store where a Nome civilization has grown up believing that there is nothing outside the store. If you get your dander up when people poke gentle fun at religion then I suggest you pass on this one. Otherwise, it's a quick, fun story.

I was going through your message board, I love the way you organized what you read by months. I am inspired ;)

I'd lose track otherwise :)



Book 33: The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene (TIOLI 6: Lucky 13)

An excellent, readable explanation of relativity, quantum theory, and string/M theory. There were parts that were over my head (which isn't entirely surprising), and parts where I wished he'd gone into more detail (though the detail would probably have been over my head too). Overall, though, it was a good introduction to the details of the theory for me. Highly recommended, if you're interested in physics and cosmology.

78: I read maybe half of The Elegant Universe several years ago, taking notes which made it slow going, and since then I've moved and don't know where the notes are. I've begun The Hidden Reality, which was a gift so I feel obligated to read it, and I actually want to read it, but I seem to want to read other books more. Always useful to see mentions and reviews here, reminders that one of these days...

dah, I realized I made an error on my records.

Your birthday is tomorrow..

Happy Day to you

78, 79: There is a DVD of The Elegant Universe--it was a TV show, I think. But the DVD was really helpful to me as the topics are presented in a very clear and visual manner. It feels like they repeat things, but I think that was planned. The DVD was a fun intro to the topic, and I think would help prepare one for reading the book.

I actually had the book checked out from my library, but had to return it unread as someone else needed it. Oh, well, it's still on my TBR list!

Karen O.

81: And I think I have the DVD too, somewhere in a box since I moved a couple years ago. Thanks for the reminder. The repetition of TV science shows tends to bug people who already know the subject, but it's often useful for me.

#79 It's one I'll pick back up sometime after I've read more on the subject.

#80 Thanks for the birthday wishes (both of them!) :)

#81 That's interesting. I'll keep an eye out for it.

#83... ? Hello to you too :)

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King (TIOLI 4: Up/Down)

The 4th in the Dark Tower series. This one takes us back to Roland's youth, where we meet several characters he's mentioned before and see the events that set him off on his quest for the Dark Tower. I think this may be my favorite, so far, though the second one is in the running too.

Book 35: Apples From the Desert by Savyon Liebrecht (TIOLI 3: Middle East)

A beautiful collection of short stories, mostly featuring Israeli women, and with views into Israeli life that you (well, I, at least) don't often see. Several of the stories will stick with me, I think, and I'm sure I'll pick up the book again to reread them. Highly recommended.

Apples from the Desert sounds good. I'll have to keep that in mind for a future TIOLI challenge, maybe with fruit in the title ;)

I hope you enjoy it :)



Book 36: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (audio) (TIOLI 10: Books made into movies)

One of the Hercule Poirot novels. My mother had a lot of Agatha Christie's books when I was growing up, and I read this one then. I remembered whodunit, but absolutely nothing else, so I enjoyed watching the pieces fall into place. I'll have to pick up some more of hers in audio... I wasn't sure how well I'd like them in audio (I tend to flip back to check on things I remember in mysteries) but this one was quite fun.

My husband and I started listening to Roger Ackroyd on audio on a vacation drive a couple of years ago but I got behind after the trip and never finished it. You are reminding me I should try again.

I already have Apples from the Desert in the BlackHole. I just wish my local library would get a copy!

#89 I've never listened to one with my husband, but we'll have a long drive this summer ourselves... maybe I'll suggest it. He reads a lot, but I don't think he's ever listened to an audiobook. Hmm...

#90 Prod 'em a bit, it's worth it! And welcome back, by the way :)



To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (TIOLI 2 - Prepositional Phrases)

A book about a group of family and friends in a vacation house in the Hebrides, and their ties to each other. I'm not sure what to say about this. I read some of Woolf's shorter work years ago, and this wasn't quite what I was expecting. Not that I'm sure what I was expecting. I couldn't always get into the flow, but when I did it was... well, I can't think of the word I want. Anyway. I enjoyed it. I think I might get more out of it reading it a second time. Someday...

Book 38: I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (TIOLI 5 - 4th book)

This is the 4th Tiffany Aching book, set in Discworld. Tiffany has awakened something that is fomenting distrust of witches, and has to figure out what it is and how to stop it (with the help, of course, of the Nac Mac Feegles). And deal with the fact that Roland has a fiancee. I still like his non-YA books best, but after two so-so entries in the series I really enjoyed this one.

#91: Thanks for the welcome back. It is good to be here again!

To the Lighthouse is one of my favorites by Woolf. Definitely not an 'easy' read, but worth the effort.

Very true!



Book 39: A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 19 - Nested narratives)

I've always liked this one, and it was fun to read it again. It's been a long time since I've seen a performance of it. In fact, I thought of Dead Poet's Society when I read the end of it :)

Book 40: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (audio) (TIOLI 3 - Paris)

I think everyone knows the story here. The book is darker than the musical, and written from the perspective of an investigator looking into the affair. I'm afraid both Christine and Raoul got a bit irritating at times, with her helplessness and his impulsive attempts to help. But I enjoyed listening to it, overall.



Book 41: A Passage to India by E. M. Forster (TIOLI 13 - Published before I was born)

A story of culture clash and racism in British controlled India. I wasn't impressed by the female characters -- I thought Adela, who started out promisingly, disintegrated far too easily -- but I enjoyed watching the progress of the friendship between Fielding and Dr. Aziz, and the way Forster brought in cultural issues not only between British rulers and Indian subjects, but also within each group.

Book 42: Lord Byron - a collection of his poetry... I'm sure there's a touchstone in there somewhere, but I have no idea which one it is :) (TIOLI 18 - National Poetry Month)

I picked this up at a library sale last year (which explains the lack of a cover image. I don't see much point in scanning a blank, dull-blue cover that probably used to have a dust jacket). It seemed to me like an odd selection, with a few short poems and what seems like random sections from longer works, like Childe Harold's Pilgramage and Don Juan. I'm not a big poetry reader -- I tend to feel that either I'm missing something or that everyone else is reading too much into it. But I do like narrative poems (so the snippets from the two I mentioned above were good), and I like the rhythms of poetry that's, well, rhythmic. And I've always found "She Walks In Beauty Like the Night" memorable, so that was nice to revisit.

And I find it amusing that I've written more about a poetry book than anything else for quite a while :)



Book 43: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (audio) (T15 - read a book by DWJ)

Another YA fantasy audio reread... what can I say, they tend to be good books to listen to in the car. Sophie, having been aged by a witch's curse, winds up staying in Howl's floating castle in the hope that his fire demon can break the spell... if she can break his contract with Howl. A fun story, and I love the characters (after the story gets going, at least). And this reminds me that I need to pick up the next one in the series...

Loving the last 5 reads you've done, very good choices, and I urge you to source the movie of Howl's Moving Castle if you haven't seen it already - it's really good.

Ooh, no, I didn't even know there'd been a movie. Thanks for mentioning it!

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victory Finlay (TIOLI 1 - Striking cover art)

A nonfiction book about the history of various pigments and dyes and the author's travels and experiences as she did her research. There are a lot of fascinating stories here. It's a good book to read a little at a time, since the chapters are distinct... good for me last month :) She's written another book, on jewels, that I'll have to pick up some day.

#94: A Midsummer Night's Dream has always been one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. I am glad to see you enjoyed it too.

#99: I think I already have that book in the BlackHole. Off to check. . .

The Color book looks great so I went to the library and ordered it... so much for my off the shelf challenge this year.

That cover is very hard to resist! I bet the one on gems would also be very attractive.

Well, I had to go look at the covers for Jewels: A Secret History :) I like this one:

A Robe of Feathers and Other Stories by Thersa Matsuura (TIOLI 8 - Japan) (yeah, yeah, the April one... no, I'm not behind at all))

The stories here were a little uneven, but I suppose most collections are like that. I really enjoyed most of them. They're set in Japan, on the border of reality and fantasy, often in a way that lets you interpret them as you choose on a sliding scale ("real" to "mythical") that slides even within a story. I enjoy stories like that. She doesn't have any other books out yet, but I'll keep an eye out and pick up another if she publishes one.

Book 46: Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest by Sharon Receveur and Tavia Cathcart (TIOLI 5 - Oversized books)

Bernheim forest is a privately owned forest/park, open to the public, near Louisville, KY. Hiking trails, easy walks, fun events (actually, we're going there this weekend, assuming it's not still 50 degrees and rainy). My mother got me this book for my birthday... a history of the forest and its founder, with some beautiful photographs. It was neat to see pictures from years ago, and try to place them before I read the captions. A lovely coffee table book, even though I don't have a coffee table :)



Book 47: The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell (TIOLI 16 - Birds)

Another book where you know some of what happens at the end, and read to find out how and why. It seems like I'm picking up more than usual of those lately, but that's ok because I enjoy the style. In this one, alien life is discovered on a nearby planet and the Jesuits send a party, which ends in disaster. The chapters alternate at first between the Jesuits' investigation after the fact and the actual events years before, and it lends a sense of fate that hangs over everything. Not a fast read, but one that was hard to put down.

Hi antqueen!

'Love your moniker, 'great job on Shakespeare, and I am looking forward to hearing about The Mind of the Raven. I've enjoyed everything I've read of Mr. Heinrich.

I have The Sparrow on hand, and every review I see reminds me that I want to read it when I finish several books in progress.

#104: A Robe of Feathers looks terrific! Thanks for the review and recommendation!

#106: What good timing... the next 2 books I haven't posted about yet are by Shakespeare and Heinrich. I've slowed down on Shakespeare a little, but I think I'll still get to most of them this year.

#107: I had it on my shelf for a couple of years. I have no idea why I waited so long...

#108: And she's an LT author too. Though this is the only book she has in her library. Ah, well. Maybe she's busy writing or something :)

And on to the next few books, before I get too behind!



Book 48: Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 1 - Linked titles)

A tragic love story, featuring an elopement, a nefarious, conniving servant, and much poorly placed trust. I saw Verdi's opera a few years ago, but never Shakespeare's play. It's very, well, tragic. Moreso, in my opinion, than a play like Romeo and Juliet, which always makes me want to grab them and shake them and ask them what they're thinking. Even as a teen myself. Perhaps this will tell you something about me :) Anyway, back to Othello... there's something so much more tragic about people being led astray by someone they trust (though I confess a certain desire for some shaking at a few points here too). At least Iago didn't get away with it.



Book 49: Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich (TIOLI 14 - NF book about wild animals)

Overall, a very good book. There are a few places where I wished he'd summarized his details a little, and I skimmed through the (fortunately few) spots where he grumbled about the scientific establishment. His experiments into raven intelligence and consciousness are very interesting, and his stories about individual birds, both wild and tame, are fascinating as well. He wrote another book about ravens (Ravens in Winter) before this one, which I gather prompted him to make the experiments that led to this book. That one would be worth picking up sometime too.



Book 50: Polaris by Jack McDevitt (audio) (TIOLI 12 - 1 word title that isn't a character name)

Alex Benedict and Chase the first-person narrator whose last name I don't remember are antique dealers in the distant future. This book revolves around the mystery of the disappearance of the passengers of the spaceship Polaris some 60 years before. It's not deep by any means, but it's a fun book, good for listening to in the car. It's actually the second in the series, though it stands alone. I'll have to read the first one of these days.

Unfortunately for me, my local library does not have either of Heinrich's books on ravens or Polaris.

Congratulations on hitting 50 books for the year!

I'm surprised how many books I've read this year. I think overall they're shorter than last year, but still...



Book 51: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (TIOLI 13 - repeating vowels)

For some reason I felt like I should like this more than I did. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't really care about any of the characters. Fanny's too self-effacing. Mary's too self-absorbedly clueless. Edmund has his moments, but I never warmed to him; if he'd changed his mind for another reason, maybe, but as it was... meh. I liked him in the play scenes, though. Henry's alternately amusing and irritating, but the whole thing at the end was just random. Which perhaps was the point but it seemed so even given his character. It never really meshed for me. Not my favorite of Austen's books.



Book 52: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April 2011

Some good stories here, and some odd (both good and just... odd) ones. No clear favorites, but I think I liked The Paper Menagerie best. Who can resist origami that comes to life?

Book 53: Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water For Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel (TIOLI 3 - Mexican or Chicano authors)

Two pretty big caveats about this one:

1) I read it in Spanish. Ten years ago I could hold a conversation in Spanish, if the other person was patient and helpful (and in my experience they invariably were, even the gypsy lady who really wanted me to pay her for that little sprig of something or other she shoved into my hands). Now? They'd have to be decent at charades too. Reading's easier, but even so... The story itself I got, but any subtleties I won't swear to catching.

2) Magical realism isn't my genre. I don't get it. Maybe it's just the books I've read, but the magic seems tacked on, as if it's just there for some added sparkle rather than because it really matters to the story. I felt the same way about this one. I mean, some of the details would have to change, but nothing at all about the story itself. I dunno. Maybe that's the point? In which case... why bother?

Anyway. That said... Tita is Mamá Elena's youngest daughter, which means, in her family, that she's destined to stay single and care for her mother all her life. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, who winds up marrying her sister instead. I mentioned Romeo and Juliet a few posts back, and said that I wanted to shake some sense into them. Well, that goes here too. I felt sorry for poor Tita in quite a few places, especially when she has to deal with her mother. But Pedro? Seriously, chica? Your guy marries your sister fully intending to get into your bed too, and you think this is romantic behavior? I'd have given him dry toast for dinner for 30 years. On the plus side, I like Gertrudis (a different sister). She cracked me up.

I remember really enjoying the movie of this one, still need to find a copy of the book but I like your review, especially your comments on Pedro.

#111: I'm surprised how many books I've read this year. I think overall they're shorter than last year, but still...

'But still' is right! If it is between covers, it counts! :)

#113 I can see a movie being good. I doubt I'd be able to convince my husband to watch it, though. And thinking of Pedro, I changed my mind. He can make his own toast. I'd have run off with John.

#114 Even sometimes when it's not :)



Book 54: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King (TIOLI 5 - 5th book in a series, w/a 5 letter word in the title)

The 5th book in the Dark Tower series. In this one, Roland & company are in a farming town in the Calla which is beset by the Wolves of the title, raiders who come every 20 or so years to take one of each pair of twins (most kids there are) and send them back later severely mentally damaged. I might have appreciated the bits about Father Callahan more if I'd ever read 'Salem's Lot, but still, a good entry. I'm liking Jake more and Susannah and her various personalities less. And I like Oy. I will be very sad if anything bad happens to Oy.

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn (audio)

This was originally for the TBR TIOLI challenge in May, but I got sick at the end of the last week and so I didn't have enough driving time to finish it. Ah, well. I do wish I'd stop catching every nasty bug that comes around...

But on to the story. Across the Nightingale Floor is a fantasy/romance set in a fantasy feudal Japan. Takeo is adopted by Lord Otori Shigeru after his own family is killed, and discovers that he has certain magical skills as the story goes on. Kaede has been a hostage of another noble family for years, until she's sent to a marriage with Shigeru that neither of them want. My audio version was narrated by two people, one for Takeo and one for Kaede... Takeo's guy was good, but Kaede's was a little flat... I think she was trying too hard to enunciate clearly. Anyway, it's a good story, full of intrigue and secrets. I liked it enough to pick up the second one (like most of my audio books this was a reread... the second is pretty good too).

#116: My oldest daughter owns that series of books. I really need to borrow them from her.

I hope you are feeling better now!

Yep, doing better now. And hoping I won't catch the next one...



Book 56: The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (TIOLI 6 - new-to-you author with 2+ books on your TBR list)

A satire of '80s New York, which I'm too sleepy to summarize in any meaningful way just now. It was a good book that I didn't really like much, if you know what I mean. I got it for my husband a few years ago and have meant to read it since, because I'd heard about it and because it was already here (so hooray for TIOLI #6!). I think the biggest problem was that I didn't give a rat's rear what happened to anyone in the book, though I guess I was vaguely rooting for Sherman (the main character) by the end. I realize that I wasn't really supposed to find them very sympathetic. It doesn't matter. Anyway, I'm glad I read it, but it's not one I'll reread.



Book 57: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (audio) (TIOLI 15 - This or that)

Two boys from the US midwest are drawn in and then pursued by the soul-stealing owners of a carnival. I thought I'd read this a long time ago, but it turns out that I hadn't... this one is a good example of why I usually don't pick up the audio version until I've read the story. It just takes too long :) The audio was good, but I think I'd have enjoyed it even more on paper... too much of the suspense is lost when you have to stop in the middle of something and not come back to it for hours or days. A good story.

Edited because I can't count

Book 58: Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (TIOLI 1 - low books)

The overly-brief summary: a grumpy old poet cured of Alzheimer's, his clever tech-savvy granddaughter, and his bumbling teen school-mate get tangled up in some international intrigue. I've gone back and forth about how I feel about this one a few times since I've finished it. It alternately felt like very near future and not-so-near... for much of the book I felt like the timing couldn't work out (backstory/long-term, I mean... I actually counted up years at one point and grudgingly conceded that it might), but that may just be because the tech felt unevenly advanced. It was entertaining, funny in places, clever in others, just weird in a few. It ended well enough as a stand-alone, but I was surprised to find that there wasn't a sequel... enough loose (or loosely tied) ends that I expected to find one. Apparently he's considering one, though.

You've been reading some well known authors recently, all great reviews. We own a Vernor Vinge but for the life of me I can't think which one it is, this is one area where my chaotic library organising system lets me down big time - I wouldn't know where to start looking.

Thanks :) You know, I always say mine's alphabetical by author. But then there's the TBR shelves, and the upstairs favorite-book shelves, and the nonfiction shelves over the computer, and, well, ok, and the separation of books by size because I can't fit them all in otherwise, and the fact that I can't fit them all anyway so they're stacked up on top of other books (but they're stacked in vaguely alphabetic groupings! Really!) It's funny, though... I can tell you exactly where any of them are. My husband gives me weird looks when I can tell him where on a shelf something is, but then he knows where all the CDs are and if they're in any sort of order at all I couldn't tell you what it is...

Book 59: Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 5/6 2011 (TIOLI 21 - short works)

There were several good stories in this one. Also, a couple that were rather light on the sf/fantasy side of things. Not necessarily bad, but...



Book 60: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (TIOLI 3 - Caribbean author)

Oscar's a hopeless nerd living in New Jersey, but this is really a story about his family as much as about Oscar himself, jumping between characters, generations, and locations, mostly Jersey and the Dominican Republic, where his family is from. Sometimes it took me a page or two to figure out who I was reading about... it's written in a casual, chatty style, which I think contributed to that. It took me a little while to get into it, but I really liked it by the end. Poor Oscar, and his poor family...



Book 61: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (audio) (TIOLI 5 - Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar)

Another fun Hercule Poirot mystery for my commute. I won't say much about it, but it was a fun puzzle with good characters (and suspects!) and a rather unusual situation. The narrator was good too.

Book 62: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (audio)

A connected collection of Asimov's robot short stories. They show their age, but are still fun. Listening to this reminded me, though, of that movie that came out a while ago. The one that, when I saw the previews, I said, "What, are they talking about Asimov's I, Robot? Really?" I never did see it. Still not going to. Why is it that they feel the need to make everything explode, anyway? For that matter, why do they feel the need to hook their movies on books when they're very loosely based at best? (Sherlock Holmes, anyone? I admit, I didn't see that one either, but the previews were about as non-Sherlock-Holmes as you can get).

Why yes, I do feel better now, thanks.


 
Book 63: Classic Science Fiction, Volume 4 (audio)

More older science fiction short stories. "The Dwindling Sphere" by Willard Hawkins, "Billennium" by J. G. Ballard, and "Rust" by Joseph E. Kelleam. All three are of the humanity doesn't know how to take care of itself variety. Not bad, but not my favorites.



Book 64: The Gates by John Connolly (TIOLI 6: Double double letters)

This is a humorous YA fantasy, a depiction of the near-apocalypse, in which Samuel and friends save the world from a host of rather incompetent demons. Cute and silly, and a nice vacation read. Apparently there's a sequel (pretty obvious that there would be, from the ending, though it did end well) which I'll pick up sometime.



Book 65: All's Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 2: Middle initial)

A young count is forced into marriage and runs off to war to escape it. Naturally, his bride follows him and engages in much duplicity to regain him. And all ends well, even for the slimy guy :) I think Helena might have done better than dear Bertram, though.



Book 66: The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold

One of the Miles Vorkosigan stories. I've read two that feature his mother, but this is my first actual Miles book. In this one, the young Miles accidentally finds himself gathering and commanding a mercenary troop. It was fun, and had me chuckling more than once. A few times I thought things worked out a little too easily for him, mostly near the beginning... it was the set-up for the main plot, really, but it was still a part of the story. Anyway, I enjoyed it, as I've liked everything I've read by Bujold, so far. Her characters are well-written and her worlds are convincing. I'll be moving on to the next story in my omnibus soon.

#123: I need to read the Connolly book. Thanks for the mention!

All's Well is a classic Shakespeare 'problem play' - precisely because no one really likes Bertram, and thinks Helena could have done better. In that time and in that society, maybe not, but our view is from our time, of course.

As for movies, the 'Sherlock Holmes' was not what we would predict for that particular title, but it was great fun, and the interpretation of the Watson character was a joy to behold. Of course, not for purists.

Hello antqueen. I just came to find your thread because I saw you listed The Warrior's Apprentice on the TIOLI challenge for this month and you've prompted me to start reading it too. I've starred your thread so I can find you again in future.

#124 It's a fun one!

#125 I don't know, Helena had the choice of the first 5 suitors (too soon to know about Bertram, of course), and she obviously had the king's favor. Divorce may have been out of the question, but was an unconsummated marriage considered legally binding then?

About the Sherlock Holmes movie, that's my point. It may have been great fun, but it wasn't Sherlock Holmes... so why bother calling it that? I probably would have seen it if it hadn't been. I don't get why they do that at all.

#126 Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy it too.

And speaking of Miles...



Book 67: The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold (TIOLI 7 - America the Beautiful)

This one's a novella set just a few years after The Warrior's Apprentice. It's a mystery, of a sort. Miles is sent to take care of a reported infanticide in the boonies of his father's lands, where killing infants with birth defects has only recently been outlawed. He has to manage not only justice, but also the villagers' opinions of he himself because of his own birth defects.

And for anyone who is interested, the novella can be found in its entirety at http://www.baen.com/library/1011250002/1011250002.htm

Book 68: Why Do Buses Come in Threes? by Robert Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham (TIOLI 1 - Titles in order)

A quick, simple book with lots of little math trivia tidbits, mostly about why seemingly improbable things really aren't improbable at all. I'd seen most of it before, but it was fun, and I think would be a good introduction to things like this. I do wish my niece was a couple of years older so I could try out the card tricks in the last chapter :)



Book 69: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (TIOLI 5 - Cover without illustrations)

Well, now I'm going to have to see the movie, if only to see how much they differ. My husband kept wandering by and humming the theme song while I was reading it. Anyway, Zhivago is a doctor and poet caught up in and trying to survive the Russian revolution. I think I was expecting more of a love story, probably because of what I'd heard about the movie... the romance(s) were important, but not the focus. That's not a complaint, by the way. I like the big, sweeping Russian novels.



Book 70: The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy by James Evans (T1 - Titles in order)

This book explains the ways ancient astronomers did their work, and how they came by (or may have come by) various theories. Too much detail for me, sometimes... I had dipped into it before, but it took me a while to read all the way through, even without doing most of the exercises he gives. There are instructions and in some cases patterns for building instruments like sundials and astrolabes too. A pretty neat book.



Book 71: Analog, April 2011

More science fiction short stories, of course, and a mixed bag as usual. I seem to have read several lately about unintentional and un- or sub-conscious telepathy brought on by some sort of medical treatment. Not sure why that is.



Book 72: The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois (TIOLI 22 - Newbery winner)

A young adult book about a professor who takes a balloon ride and ends up stranded on Krakatoa, where he finds an unexpected group of rather odd inhabitants. One thing that surprised me a little was the way the futuristic inventions on the island didn't seem nearly as dated as they should have. I think it was because they were so zany... and now I want a room full of bumper chairs :) I don't remember why I picked this up, but it was fun, and I'm glad I did.



Book 73: Emma by Jane Austen (audio) (T1 - Titles in order)

Another audio reread. I think this is my 2nd favorite of Austen's novels, after Pride and Prejudice, though I had forgotten just how meddling and sometimes irritating Emma was at the beginning. Fun and clever and full of happy endings.

My oldest daughter would probably like The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. I will have to see if I can find a copy for her.

I do not believe I have ever read The Twenty-One Balloons. I will have to give that one a try some time.

I hope you both enjoy them if you pick them up!



Book 74 - King Lear by William Shakespeare (T18 - Title in alphabetical order)

In which elderly King Lear chooses poorly among his daughters and advisors, to everyone's detriment. I read this in school, along with A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. I was too busy being scholarly about it the last time to enjoy it much, so I was a little surprised at how much I did this time. I'm also surprised at how much I remember... though maybe that's due to the scholarly-ness of the first time too :) It's one I haven't seen performed. I'll have to go sometime.



Book 75 - As You Like It by William Shakespeare (T5 - Cover without illustrations)

A comedy with exiled and runaway nobles in a Robin-Hood-esque setting. Silly and fun, though not my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies.



Book 76 - The Lord of the Fire Lands by Dave Duncan (T1 - Titles in order)

Two would-be Blades (sort of super-bodyguards, highly-trained and magically-bound to their wards) refuse to serve their king, an unprecedented insult. The book's divided between the boys' history and what comes after their refusal. This is the 2nd of the King's Blades series. Apparently the first three are linked together, dealing with some of the same times and events, though all standalone novels. It's been long enough since I read the first that I thought perhaps I'd misremembered a few things, but it seems that the third is supposed to answer all of my questions. These are fast-paced swashbuckling, sword and sorcery books, fun and just what I needed this weekend :)

Productions of King Lear can be hard to find, although Sam Waterston is heading up a production this fall at New York's Public Theater. He wouldn't be the first actor to come to my mind, but he's the right age and very skilled. It's a killer role, and most actors who have reached the maturity to take it on don't have the strength left to play it 8 times a week. I don't know of a movie (which of course doesn't mean there isn't one - the BBC has probably filmed a stage version or two).

'As You Like It' is wonderful on the stage, funny and scary and playable and serious, with lots of interesting characters actors love to play. As a comedy, it's generally better on its feet than on the page, but maybe that's my love of theater showing.

This past week, Jim and I saw two of what are called Shakespeare's 'problem plays' - problems in that modern audiences often don't 'get' the characters' choices. The first, 'All's Well That Ends Well', was beautifully done, which goes a long way to justifying those choices - 'Measure for Measure' lay there like the dead, alas - no new insights there. Still, free tickets, in Central Park, in an idea open air theater - what could be bad?

I'm impressed by the variety of your reading, especially your (re)reads of Shakespeare. I did Lear at school too, and have seen a couple of performances since then; the most recent had Ian McKellen playing Lear, and it was extremely well done (this was a Royal Shakespeare Company production - they come up to the North of England where I live for a short season every year, which is great). I also saw McKellen and Patrick Stewart together in Waiting for Godot - a different sort of disintegrating old man...

oh my, McKellen and Stewart - that must have been interesting. We saw Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane a few years ago. I wouldn't have thought Lane disciplined enough to do it, but he was breathtaking, Irwin heartbreaking. The rest of the case was very good as well.

I see there's a film with Barry McGovern (is that the right name?) - done in Ireland. I think I've seen it some time ago.

I get bored if I read too much of the same sort of thing all in a row. I don't even like to read a series straight through, without anything else between. And you all are making me jealous with the theater talk... I think most plays are better on stage. With good acting at least (she says, remembering one or two...)



Book 77: The Life and Death of King John by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 16 - Same # of syllables)

I had never seen or read any of the history plays before, and I wasn't sure quite what to expect. Ok, so I grant that Shakespeare may have jumbled the history up, but it does make for a good story :)



Book 78: The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (TIOLI 22 - Unusual main character name)

The next Miles Vorkosigan story. In this one, Miles is trying to fit into Barrayar's military, but, surprisingly to no one (not even the characters!), it doesn't work out that way. I thought this was stronger than Warrior's Apprentice overall, though it felt like two separate stories. Fewer glosses over story points, and still with the excellent characters. Bujold does tend to lean on coincidences a little more than I might prefer--there's one in particular in this book that left me thinking it was a little too unlikely--but... well. I can overlook that, since I get all the rest :)



Book 79: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (TIOLI 16 - Same # of syllables)

This has had so much written about it that I hardly know where to start. Basically, Diamond argues that geography was the key point that directed the (broad) course of human civilizations. I think he has a lot of good points. He glossed over a lot (necessary, in a book of this scope), and sometimes I felt like he was choosing his examples a little too carefully, but I tend to agree more than disagree with his argument.

Congratulations on passing 75!

Congrats on passing the 75 book mark! And yes, the Miles books just get better from here on.

Congrats on reaching 75! I have had G G & S waiting for me to tackle it for some time. Next school break, I promise. It's assigned reading for our AP World History class.

Congrats!

Many congrats on reaching 75!

Thanks, everyone :) And gosh, am I behind...



Book 80: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (TIOLI 21 - Man Booker prize winner)

Yeah, I should have commented on this one earlier. This is the story of Saleem Sinai, who was born at the moment of India's independence from Britain. Saleem and the 1000 other children born in the hour after midnight have various supernatural powers, and their fates are tied to (or they believe them tied to) India's, in many ways. I've read two other of Rushdie's books; this one isn't as intense as Shalimar the Clown, or as... hmm... engrossing may be the best word... as The Moor's Last Sigh (my favorite of his so far). Midnight's Children is more what I tend to think of as magical realism, with odd little random magical things that don't seem to make much difference to the story, though how much is "true" and how much is a product of the narrator's (Saleem later in life) not-entirely-reliable memory could be debated. I like reading Rushdie's writing. The way he writes, I mean. Some books you read for the story and the actual words make no impression, but with his both are noteworthy, and lean on each other. I confess, though, that I wish I'd read up a little on post-independence India first. There were some parts that clearly would have made more of an impact if I'd been more familiar with the history.



Book 81: The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (TIOLI 1 - tagged with an adjective starting with "w" (witty))

In this, the third of the Thursday Next books, Thursday is taking (rather, trying to take) a breather from her problems in the Well of Lost Plots, where unpublished stories stay until they're either published or broken down to make other stories. This one is as wild, wacky, and witty as the last two, with lots to laugh at... Rushdie is a wonderful author, but I always need something like Fforde when I finish his books...



Book 82: Song of Susannah by Stephen King (TIOLI 18 - music in the title)

The penultimate Dark Tower novel. I don't know quite what to say about this. It was, well, very penultimate :) Susannah is still battling her demon-mother personality Mia, the rest of the ka-tet is still striving toward the dark tower, and they still haven't met the Crimson King. Roland and Eddie do meet Stephen King, though, which was somewhat odd. It worked better than I might have expected it to, though.

Book 83: Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky (TIOLI 15 - food)

A light, quick book with a lot of history and tidbits about cod and cod-fishing. It's an interesting book, especially since, being 10 or so hours from the nearest ocean, I don't think much about fishing fleets normally. It has recipes before each chapter and more at the end, some of which I would like to try. Others, not so much... he comments at one point about how in many fishing cultures nothing of the cod went to waste. Enough said :)



Book 84: Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 4 - 3 word title w/"of" in the middle)

In which Timon discovers just how fair-weather his friends are and storms out into the wilderness to rave at them. An odd play, and somewhat disjointed, but I enjoyed reading it. I think it would be better performed (not that most aren't, but this more than many, I think) And it has some great insults :)



Book 85: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 1 (finally up to September in my reviews!) - Short first sentence ("Hence!"))

A play about, of course, the assassination of Julius Caesar, focusing on Brutus and, to a lesser extent, Antony. I don't think I've ever read the play before, though I've heard enough of the lines that sometimes I had to wonder. I enjoyed it more than I expected to. Brutus was a good, conflicted protagonist.

Wow, lots of good reading! I love the Ffordes too.

Loving the Shakespeare reading.

Book 86: The Incas by Daniel Peters (TIOLI 5: Authors never before read for a TIOLI challenge)

A story set in the Inca empire in the years just before the Spanish conquest, focussing on Cusi Huaman, a young Inca warrior, and Micay, a rebellious chieftain's daughter who is taken to live among the Incas. There is, of course, a romance between them, and the novel follows them from city to city as they cope with war and rebellion within the empire, Cusi's rather rocky relationship with the Inca ruler, and the rumors and reality of the Spaniards and their weapons and diseases. I'm no Inca scholar, but I suspect that the society in the novel is rather filtered through a modern Western filter. I was also a little disappointed at the ending, which, to avoid going into too many details, I'll just say seemed anti-climactic. Still, it was a good book, and I enjoyed the time I spent in the Andes with the characters.



Book 87: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (audio) (TIOLI 17 - Character's full name in the title)

This one was started for an August TIOLI challenge (elements in the title) but I neglected to look at how long the audio version actually was. 36+ hours! I'm just glad I'd read it before. I should know better than to get a 36+ hour audiobook... I was very glad when it was done, but that's the fault of 36+ hours and over a month listening to it, not of the book (or the narrator, who was good). Anyway, on to the story. It's the story of David Copperfield from his unhappy boyhood to his final successes in life, and is filled with all the quirky, memorable characters (and unlikely coincidences) you might expect from Dickens. It's one of my favorite of Dickens' novels, long audio notwithstanding :)



Book 88: The Collected Short Fiction of C. J. Cherryh by C. J. Cherryh (TIOLI 15 - Authors born in September)

I think I like Cherryh's novels better than her short stories, but there were quite a few good ones here. This collection includes all the stories in Sunfall and Visible Light, plus a bunch of others. All the Sunfall stories are set in cities on a very-distant-future Earth -- some good stories here, but the cultures and city names were modern or historical, which I found disconcerting. The stories in Visible Light are told as if by a traveller talking to a fellow passenger on a spaceship. The rest are a mixture of fantasy and science fiction. Some are set in her Alliance-Union universe (I've never read any of the novels, but there were common planet names, etc in the stories). Overall, a good collection.



Book 89: The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (TIOLI 5: Authors never before read for a TIOLI challenge)

In which Charles Unwin, a clerk for the Agency, is unexpectedly (and un-desired-ly) promoted to detective when Sivart, the detective whose cases he handles, disappears. Unwin really just wants his old job back, and, in lieu of actually knowing what it is he's supposed to be doing, goes in search of Sivart so they can both go back to what they were doing before. It's hard to know just what to say about this one. It starts out rather surreal, and before long you're not entirely sure how much is dreaming and how much is in the real world, or even whether it matters. It reminded me, in feel, of The Man Who Was Thursday, at least at first, except that one got more surreal as it went on rather than less. Nothing terribly surprising in the ending, but it was a fun book with some rather odd characters and settings to spice it up.

Book 90: Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (TIOLI 7 - 9 letter title)

David Balfour, a young Scottish man, is kidnapped, shipwrecked, and drawn into the midst of Highlander outlaws fighting against English rule. A quick, adventurous young adult story. I read it on Talk Like a Pirate Day. There are not, in fact, any actual pirates in the book. But hey, he was kidnapped and trapped on board a ship whose captain intended to sell him into slavery. Close enough for me :)



Book 91: Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 7-8 2011

There were quite a few good stories in this one. I keep changing my mind about which was my favorite story, which is always a good sign...


Book 92: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (audio) (TIOLI 3 - school-related tags)

A romance featuring Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney, whose father owns Northanger Abbey, which provides quite fertile grounds for Catherine's obsession with Gothic novels. Not my favorite of Austen's, though I understood the satire a lot better than I did the first time I read it. She had me laughing out loud more than once.



Book 93: To Trade the Stars by Julie E. Czerneda (TIOLI 1 - short first sentence ("Don't they ever knock?"))

The 3rd book of the Trade Pact series, in which Sira, a member of the telepathic Clan and her husband/partner Jason Morgan, a non-Clan telepath, deal with alien intrigues, psychotic ex-friends, and mysterious powers. I like the aliens in these books, and the misunderstandings caused by the basic assumptions made by the various species.

Just reading through your thread and wanted to say how much I enjoy your summaries.

Thanks, Nancy :) It's fun coming up with quick little summaries. Sometimes I read other threads and think I should try for real reviews, but then I'd really get behind...



Book 94: Pericles, Prince of Tyre by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 9 - LT work number ends in 9)

Fleeing kings, false deaths, and unlikely reunions. The lesson to be learned is that virtue (or perhaps virginity) triumphs over all. I don't think I had ever even heard of this one before, and it was at the back of the omnibus so I expected it to be a tragedy. I realize I say this about a lot of the plays, but this one was a fun read.



Book 95: Earthlight and Other Stories by Arthur C. Clarke (audio) (TIOLI 14 - Title related to one of the 5 senses)

The touchstone isn't right on this, but the work is so tangled up I'm not about to try to recombine it right now. Maybe when I have a few days free... Anyway, this is a collection of Clarke's science fiction short stories. Somewhat dated, but enjoyable. It's interesting to see was thought likely to change, and what wasn't, both technologically and socially.



Book 96: Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez Reverte (TIOLI 9 (October, finally!) - author name that begins and ends with a vowel)

A swashbuckler set in Spain in the tradition of The Three Musketeers, with Alatriste, a down-on-his-luck ex-soldier, as protagonist, and the young son of his friend killed in battle as narrator. I was going to write something about Alatriste's negotiable morals, but really, they're not nearly as negotiable as even he expected them to be, or there wouldn't have been much of a story at all. Not my favorite of Reverte's novels, but as a series it shows promise, and the next one is already on my wish list.



Book 97: The Dark Tower by Stephen King (TIOLI 19 - considered for 2 other 2011 TIOLI challenges)

The end of the Dark Tower series. I had a hard time getting past the authorial presence in this one. Not King as a character, which worked, but the odd little intrusions with the "we's" and "I's" that refer to King the writer rather than King the character. Perhaps the point was that they were supposed to be the same. Didn't work for me. I really have no idea why it bugged me so much. Perhaps just because I liked the flow of all the previous novels and this stopped it in its tracks for me. Anyway, I liked the series as a whole a lot. And-- I can't think of how to make this sound less confusing if you haven't read the books-- the first part of the ending made me mad. But the second part of the ending made the first part not only work, but seem like the only right choice. I think that's one of the things I most like about King. If only he could have done it with the "we" junk...

Playing catch-up... I'll be brief...



98. The Sonnets and other poems by William Shakespeare

Trying to think of what to say about these makes me feel like I'm back in high school. I like some, others didn't do so much for me. I'll leave it at that :)



99. Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (TIOLI 14 - a book from the International Space Station's Legacy Library)

This is a novel set in the Vorkosigan universe, but generations earlier than Miles. Leo Graf is assigned to a space station populated by the quaddies, an experimental, genetically engineered (and very naive) group of kids with four arms and no legs - perfect for maneuvering in free fall, not so great on land. Leo winds up having to choose between his own career and the well-being of the quaddies. Fairly predictable, but fun.



100. Labyrinth by Lois McMaster Bujold (TIOLI 18 - a book mentioned in 150 conversations or less)

A novella in which Miles meets a quaddie and is trapped in a dungeon with a beast-like woman who has been genetically engineered to be the perfect infantry soldier. A little heavy-handed in parts, but also a fun story.



101. Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick (TIOLI 11 - author 1st and last names w/same number of letters)

The story of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, which set out to explore and survey the islands of the Pacific, what would later become known as Antarctica, and the west coast of North America. It deals a lot with the interactions between the officers and scientists, as recorded in their journals, and Wilkes, the commander, who, from a combination of his own personality and what seems like poor decisions on the part of those who sent them out, was far from an ideal leader. I'd never heard of the expedition before, so it was interesting reading.



102. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (T1 - a novel assigned in an English class)

A story of the love triangle between Ethan Frome, his hypochondriac wife Zeena, and her cousin Maddie. A bleak, tragic, and powerful story.



103. The Tragedy of King Richard II by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 18 - a book mentioned in 150 conversations or less)

A vaguely historical treatment of King Richard II. Not bad, but not my favorite. Some pretty good lines, though.



104. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 9/10 2011

Some good stories in this one.



105. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (audio) (TIOLI 4 - author not using the simplest version of their name)

Another fantasy audio reread, the first in the Farseer trilogy. Fitz, the bastard son of the heir, is abandoned into the keeping of a stableman, trained as an assassin, and taught one magical ability while trying to keep another forbidden ability secret. Oh, and the kingdom's being raided, and alliances are being forged, and... yeah. It's a busy book with lots of personal and political machinations and intrigues. And it introduces the Fool, who shows up in various guises in Hobb's later books. Not a quick read or a cheery one, but a good story. I obviously liked it enough to read it again :)



106. Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold (TIOLI 7 - government office in the title)

I usually prefer to read series in either publication or chronological order, but Bujold jumps around so much with Miles & Co., and this one was in an omnibus with two earlier ones, so I went ahead and read it. I have to admit it was something of a jolt to jump ahead to Miles so much later in life :) In this one, he's called in to handle a problem between the Barrayaran military and the quaddie space station they're docked at. In which there are missing persons, misunderstandings, political pressures, and plagues, and Miles has to save the day. I suppose Bujold could write something I didn't like, but I haven't found it yet.

And... that's October! Only a month behind!

I did not know about Sea of Glory. Added to the wishlist I have Mayflower on the TBR stack, intended for early 2012.

I've had Mayflower on my wishlist for a while now. One of these days...



107. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 11/12 2011

Some better than others, of course, but a pretty good set of stories all around.



108. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (TIOLI 12 - mystery published before I was born)

Claudia and her brother Jamie run away and hide in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where they see a sculpture that fascinates them both by its beauty and the mystery of whether or not it was sculpted by Michelangelo. I wish I'd come across this as a child. It's fun to read now too, but I think I'd really have eaten it up then.



109. The Code Book by Simon Singh (TIOLI 4 - author's last name is a profession)

A history of cryptography, with a brief detour into deciphering ancient languages. A little dated at the end, by this time, but the history and the explanations of the codes and ciphers used were very well written. I'll have to read more of his books.



110. Steel Magic by Andre Norton (TIOLI 16 - a book with titled chapters)

A young adult fantasy, in which three siblings from Earth find a portal to Avalon and help Merlin and company by finding three stolen items, with each child being sent alone after an item, on which quest they have to face their greatest fear. There's not much interaction, since they're apart for most of the book; I think that's why it was a little simplistic for me as an adult. I can see a younger child enjoying it, though.



111. King Henry VI, Part 1 by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 13 - stepped - next in series)

I seem not to have much to say about the history plays. French rebellions, Joan of Arc, and not really very much King Henry VI :) Not as good reading as some, but not bad.



112. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (audio) (TIOLI 11 - Flower in the title)

Charlie is a mentally disabled man who takes part in an experiment to vastly increase his IQ. Algernon is the mouse who underwent the same procedure shortly before Charlie did. It's written as Charlie's journal, and we follow along as his intelligence increases and he discovers--often to his dismay--what other people are really saying and doing. I read the book years ago, and listening to it was a little odd. The narrator did a good job, but the changes in things like spelling, grammar and punctuation don't come across nearly as easily in speech. I found myself wishing the ending could be different this time around. Poor Charlie, and poor Algernon. I think I liked it even better the second time around.



113. A Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss (TIOLI 18 - LT author)

The sequel to A Conspiracy of Paper, which was the novel that introduced Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish boxer and then thief-taker in 18th century London. In this one, he's framed for a murder and caught up in a number of political intrigues during an election (hence the title). Weaver's not exactly a nice guy, but he's a good protagonist. I enjoyed the first one better than this, but I'll pick up the next one.



114. Sleight of Hand by Peter S. Beagle (TIOLI 1 - animal on page 50)

Peter S. Beagle is... is... I don't know how to say it. He makes me happy. If I can't read anything else, I can pick up something he's written and everything falls into place. This is a collection of his short stories, only one of which I'd read before, ranging from centaurs in New York City, dragons causing traffic jams, mysterious photos, the Berlin Wall, and Schmendrick the magician (from The Last Unicorn) in his younger days. They're all wonderful. Even the ones that are less wonderful than the others are wonderful. Did I mention that I like Mr. Beagle's writing?

And... that's November! So close to being caught up!

151: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was a childhood favorite.

I think it's brave to attempt the Henry VI plays - probably among the very worst Shakespeare ever wrote, and some of the earliest. Usually parts 1, 2 and 3 are condensed into one performance because there's so much that can be left out!

The second of the Henry VI plays is certainly a muddle... but more about that below, if I get to it this round of reviews.



115. The Tower of Ravens by Kate Forsyth (TIOLI 18 - from your 11 in 11 challenge)

Rhiannon is a half-human, half-satyricorn girl who captures a winged horse to escape from her people, who despise her because she looks human rather than satyricorn-ish. She joins a group of students setting off for the witch's school in the capitol, which journey is, of course, beset by all sorts of problems, from snooty travelling companions to reanimated corpses and kidnapped children. I really wanted to like this more than I did. I tend to roll my eyes at the so-beautiful-every-male-within-a-million-miles-falls-in-love-with-her gals, which didn't help, even though she is untypical in that she's rather volatile and violent due to her upbringing. Mainly, though, I think it was that she didn't really seem consistent. Sometimes it seemed that she understood too much about human society (or picked it up astoundingly quickly), and at other times she knew much less. And I found the main male character, Lewen, to be irritatingly goody-goody. Not bad, I guess, but despite the hanging ending I doubt I'll pick up the next one.



116. The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester (TIOLI 1 - stepped authors)

The story of William Smith, who created the first geological map of the British Isles. It's a biography more than a scientific account, though it discusses geology too, of course. A lot of time is spent on Smith's financial troubles and the various problems caused by his class background and lack of a formal education in a scientific world mostly composed of upper class men with lots of time on their hands. I do wish my copy (a trade paperback) had a better map of England. Town names are tossed around like candy at a parade, and I very quickly got tired of finding some other reference to see where they were. There was a small map at the front, but the names were too tiny and blurry to make out... possibly this would have been better in the hardcover edition. But that's a minor quibble, especially since I think most nonfiction books could do with more maps and diagrams. It was an interesting glimpse into the early years of geological science.



117. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey (audio) (TIOLI 3 - a book by Anne McCaffrey)

Another YA fantasy audio reread for me. Menolly is a musically talented girl born into a strict family where fishing is everything and only boys become Harpers. She winds up running away and gradually discovering that many of the things she had assumed were true back at home aren't so cut and dried after all. A fun story, with music and dragons big and small.



118. To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust (TIOLI 6 - same title as another work on LT)

A non-traditional story of the fall of Satan from heaven and the creation of the earth, with Satan as the sympathetic character. I didn't enjoy this as much as some of Brust's other works, the Jhereg books in particular. The characters were fairly simplistic, which I think was intentional, but it did leave me wishing for a little more depth in them. I like Brust's sense of humor and style, though.



119. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (audio) (TIOLI 20 - 'time' in the title)

For anyone who doesn't know the story, a scientist builds a time machine and travels into the future, where he finds that humans have diverged into a beautiful and childlike race on the surface and a technological but vicious race that lives underground. Another one where I couldn't remember whether I'd read it before or whether I just knew the story.

154: But that's a minor quibble, especially since I think most nonfiction books could do with more maps and diagrams.
Yes! I griped about the limited/absent maps and diagrams for several books I read this year.
Despite its map issues, you might be interested in The Man Who Found Time, which is along similar lines to The Map that Changed the World. A book that does pretty well in the map department is 1491.

I'm glad someone else feels that way too. Funny thing, I was thinking about picking up another book about early geology after reading The Map that Changed the World, and then the book I just finished (An Ocean of Air) mentioned Hutton, just in an off-hand list of people, which got me looking at books about him... it's fate, I'll have to pick up a copy of The Man Who Found Time :) And my father has 1491 and really enjoyed it. I think about borrowing it from time to time, but then I look at my own list of books I need to read... one of these days I'll do it.



120. King Henry VI, Part 2 by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 8 - title has a noun from the Nativity story)

Gosh, this one's a muddle of people and events just sweeping past in a whirlwind. Characters come and go, never to be seen again. I'm reminded of some movies based on books that try to shove every tiny little event in and it just doesn't make much sense as a narrative.



121. The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (audio) (TIOLI 9 - a book about books)

Lucas Corso is a sort of free agent in the world of rare books - he'll investigate, find, acquire (even legally, if possible) books for the right price. He winds up with a manuscript of a chapter of The Three Musketeers to find out if it's genuine, and also with a copy of a book called The Nine Doors, which allegedly contains instructions for summoning the devil; his task there is to examine the other two known copies and find out which, if any, are forgeries. His involvement runs deeper than he had expected, with a mysterious girl who follows him around, a mysterious pair who look suspiciously like Rochefort and Milady from The Three Musketeers and who keep trying to steal his books, and a mysterious, on-going discovery about the copies of The Nine Doors. Corso's fun to follow around, and I liked the narrator. I didn't like that my audio version was abridged... I obviously didn't check before I got it. Ah, well. That's hardly the book's fault :)



122. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (TIOLI 4 - long-time TBR books)

The third in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm not even going to try to summarize this in any meaningful way; it's a 1200 page book with a lot of intense and involved storylines, and it's in the middle of a series. Good, but I liked the first two better. I liked Jon's parts in this one, and Tyrion's. In general I like Arya but her chapters here got to be repetitive. I could have done with less of Daenarys, who has never been my favorite character. Melisandre is shaping up to be interesting. Martin surprised me with a few things, more in the when rather than the what, given the way he treats his main characters. I have put the next one, Feast of Crows, on my wishlist already.



123. An Ocean of Air by Gabrielle Walker (TIOLI 5 - title w/a word that can be made from the letters in Christmas)

A quick overview of discoveries about air and the atmosphere. I think this one could have been better than it was. Or maybe it's just that it's a little too far on the popular science side of things for me (and I like popular science books). There were several things that either weren't accurate or were way too oversimplified. Minor things, that Walker was using for illustration or analogy, mostly, and for a few of them she at least mentioned in the endnotes that there was more to it than that, but still... meh. It wasn't all bad, though. She approached the history as a series of mini-biographies of the people making the discoveries, and while I'm not convinced that all of her details are accurate (or perhaps just not accurately portrayed) it at least was a good overview, and her writing is entertaining.

Wow, you are churning them out with a vengeance! Steel Magic is one of my least favorite of Andre Norton's Magic books--my favorite is Octagon Magic with Dragon Magic and Lavender-Green Magic following behind. Of course, they are intended for intermediate kids, but these are still good stories.

Dragonsong is one of my favorite McCaffrey books, and I'm a great fan of Bujold too. Have you read Cetaganda yet? Written fairly late but much earlier in the timeline, it is one of her best.

Happy Holidays!

Thanks qebo :)

I know I've read Lavender-Green Magic, but it was when I was a kid myself. I don't really remember much about it now. I haven't read Cetaganda but I have it... in fact, it came in the mail on Thursday, thanks to an Amazon gift card I got for Christmas.

And now for the last books of 2011!



124. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (TiOLI 7 - Last or Final in the title)

A unicorn discovers she's the only one of her kind left and goes to find what happened to the others. One of my few actual reading-rereads (as opposed to audio rereads) this year. It was a good book to read over Christmas.



125. The View from the Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeyer (TIOLI 15 - less than 5 reviews)

This is a book of short stories with a sort of gentle fantasy feel to them. I never know what to say about short story books. They're pretty good. I'll take a look at his other books.



126. On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (TIOLI 1 - stepped authors)

John Chandagnac is sailing from Europe to Jamaica to find his uncle when his ship is attacked by pirates and he's forced to join them. He winds up facing magicians, zombies and ghosts, all the while trying to save his damsel-in-distress. Quite Pirates of the Caribbean-y -- I'm not surprised they made a movie out of it. Entertaining, but I think it could have been better. It was a little too inconsistently episodic for me, and in a few places it seemed unrealistic, given the internal world of the story. I also wish that said damsel had a more interesting role. There were times I thought she might start to, but no.



127. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (TIOLI 21 - end the year w/the same author you started with)

Prospero, a magician and deposed duke stranded on an island with his daughter, causes the ship carrying his deposers to crash and arranges things to his liking with the help of the spirits he controls. Maybe even Caliban gets a happy ending, if everybody really does go away and leave him alone...