klarusu's 2011 Challenge

Currently Reading

22nd September, 2011

Scott's Last Expedition by R.F. Scott
2666 by Roberto Bolano
Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones
Fingersmith by Sarah Walters
The Thousand Autums of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (Audio)
Montaillou by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks
A Journey by Tony Blair (Kindle)
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (Audio)
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (Kindle)
Sex on Six Legs by Marlene Zuk
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

75 Books in 2011

(1) The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
(2) Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
(3) A Brief History of Tea by Roy Moxham
(4) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
(5) Feed by Mira Grant
(6) Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
(7) Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
(8) Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
(9) Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
(10) Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
(11) White Line Fever by Lemmy
(12) Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
(13) Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
(14) Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
(15) The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
(16) Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
(17) Wired by Bob Woodward
(18) The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
(19) Tommyland by Tommy Lee
(20) All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
(21) I, Claudius by Robert Graves
(22) Game of Thrones by George R R Martin
(23) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
(24) City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
(25) Autumn Term by Antonia Forest
(26) Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart
(27) Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith
(28) City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
(29) City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
(30) Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes
(31) Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
(32) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
(33) We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
(34) The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo
(35) Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart
(36) Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
(37) The Wolf Hunters by James Curwood
(38) Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater
(39) Life by Keith Richards
(40) Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
(41) Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
(42) Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
(43) Wild: An Elemental Journey by Jay Griffiths
(44) Blood River by Tim Butcher
(45) Dreams in a Time of War by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
(46) Silence by Shusaku Endo

January Reading Plans

The books I hope to finish this month.

(1) I, Claudius by Robert Graves

January TIOLI Reads
http://www.librarything.com/topic/105623

(1) The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
(2) Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
(3) All Passions Spent by Vita Sackville-West
(4) Life: Keith Richards by Keith Richards (Audiobook)
(5) Scott's Last Expedition by R.F. Scott
(6) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
(7) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
(8) Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
(9) The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
(10) Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
(11) The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (Audiobook)
(12) A Brief History of Tea by Roy Moxham
(13) Feed by Mira Grant (Audiobook)

Wayhey! 2011 is almost upon us. I've filled in my Moleskine with the books I just *must* read this year. I'm fully prepared to throw the plan out the window by the end of January. I can't wait for another reading year to be upon us.

I shall endeavour to keep Messages 1 & 2 up to date on this thread. I don't know how often I'll be able to post as my time is a bit work and mini-klarusu dependent but I shall definitely post at the beginning of each month with my planned reads and at the end of the month with a wrap up of my favourite bits.

Sometimes I don't have time to log on and post quickly but I always read comments and try and post replies. Recommendations are, as always, encouraged!

May all your pages turn crisply in 2011!

Found you!

Welcome back!

Glad to see you back with us again, Claire!

*grabs a cup of piping hot peppermint (!) coffee and settles in comfortably*

Wrap Up Post for 1st-7th January reads

I've got quite a few reads on the go at the end of this week, all very satisfying, but I only finished up one:

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Really enjoyed this one. It was a re-read because I have the second book sitting pristinely on my shelf begging my attention. It's s dynamic take on the Wonderland universe. It has a modern edge to it and I like what Beddor has done with characters we're so familiar with. I'd definitely say that this is worth reading - it was a quick read too. Maybe I'll have time to read the original Alice books this month. This has whetted my appetite.

#9: I need to read that one! I own it, but unfortunately only that one in the series and the local library does not own them either. OK, I just talked myself into waiting until I can get my hands on books 2, lol.

#10 Ha! I don't blame you for waiting. I love having a series stack-up on the shelves. Plus, if it takes you a while to get the second book, I always feel that I need to re-read the earlier book before launching into the latest one. I'm going to move onto the second one this week so I'll let you know what I think.

Good! Then I will know whether or not I need to even bother reading book one :)

Have you abandoned this group? :(

January Reading Wrap-Up

Most Enjoyable Reads were Clockwork Angel & A Brief History of Tea. Cassandra Clare is one of my guilty pleasures, much like gummy bears, and her writing and characterisation have improved in this first book of The Infernal Devices series; and well, tea, who doesn’t need to know more about tea? Moxham’s book was broad enough to give a good feel of the history and politics involved with the production of tea but detailed enough that I didn’t feel like I was skimming through. I was most impressed with the fact that the British government identified tea as being integral to the war effort. Being a Brit, I can assure you that it is not an urban legend, we do in fact brew up as a reflex reaction in times of crisis (at least our house does).

Mediocre Reads were Feed on audio (my love of zombies outweighed by my irritation with bloggers, bad writing and pop-culture references made to appear clever but that will just leave this book appearing dated within a short period of time), both Frank Beddor’s Looking Glass Wars books, which are not dreadful but suffer from poor characterisation and somehow just miss the spot entirely for me and Sense and Sensibility which is one of my less favourite Austen’s.

February Reading Wrap-Up

Most Enjoyable Reads were Red Mars and all the Percy Jackson books which were about all I could cope with whilst starting a new job. They are an entertaining series of books and it makes a change to see some mythology rather than a profusion of vampires or werewolves. Red Mars was a commitment but well worth the effort. I liked the depth Robinson went to in creating the Martian world.

Mediocre Reads were Summer Knight (I love Dresden but I can’t pretend that the books aren’t flawless) and White Line Fever which was interesting from the perspective of the history Lemmy & Motorhead and a kind of stream of consciousness recital of his life so far but I prefer a more in depth and balanced (auto)biographical approach.

March Reading Wrap-Up

So, March was the month that heralded my introduction to Jasper Fforde (entertaining but not as wonderful as I was led to believe)

Most Enjoyable Reads were The Forever War, which was proper, bona-fide, traditional sci-fi; Wired, which is a superb biography of John Belushi, as detailed and well-crafted as you would expect from Bob Woodward; All Passion Spent, which quietly crept up on me as a beautifully formed story; and a reread of I, Claudius – always a p-p-p-pleasure.

Mediocre Reads were Rivers of London, which was innovative but spoilt by poor characterisation and articulation of the main character’s literary ‘voice’ and a fair share of stereotypical minor characters. I really liked the idea though so I’m giving Aaronovitch another chance with the sequel in case his writing is maturing.

The ‘I’m Really Not Sure About This’ award goes to Tommyland – any book where part of the narrative is given over to the main subject’s penis’ voice really defies classification. However, it being Motley Crue, this was, in a weird and wonderful way, somewhat fitting.

April Reading Wrap-Up

April was the cruellest month for reading, with Game of Thrones premiering in the UK. I reread it because it would be rude not to really and, as always, I loved it. Also started working on a re-read of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series in preparation for City of Fallen Angels.

May Reading Wrap-Up

Most Enjoyable Reads were Wicked Plants which is a small coffee-table book about the dark side of plants but the book itself is lovely and the subject matter lent itself well to the format of short entries about individual demonic plants. Also Feet in the Clouds which is a wonderful little book about the sport of fell running and made me want to go run down slopes as fast as I can with my arms wheeling. Luckily, this desire wore off shortly after the conclusion of the book so my legs and arms are still intact.

Mediocre Read was City of Fallen Angels – this series is coming off the boil for me. I have a feeling it is one that is going to run for a few books more than it should have. I think, based on the latest offering, that Clare should have wrapped this up as a trilogy.

The ‘Don’t Touch It With A Bargepole’ award goes to Ultramarathon Man. Not only is it badly written but the guy is an unmitigated arse. I just came away wishing he would keep right on running out of my life forever.

June Reading Wrap-Up

Most Enjoyable Reads were Dark Matter on audio (downright spooky, in the traditional sense, a proper ghost story with a wonderfully slow build up) and Ender’s Game which worked well on audio. I really wish I could expunge Orson Scott Card’s books from my shelves but Ender is such an old friend that I just have to separate the objectionable nature of the author from the story he tells.

Mediocre Read was We by Zamyatin which was disappointing. For all its good points, there were times when it was just too obtuse for me to be bothered. It did leave a thought-provoking message but I can’t say I loved it.

Finally, I've found my way back to my thread again! I started a new job earlier in the year doing something completely different and without daytime internet access. Between that and my 4 year old's social party season (thankfully over now), I haven't been on the web too much recently. The upside is that I've been doing a mighty large amount of reading. Hopefully I'll be able to ease back into LT Talk now that the pressure's off a bit (although it's taken a grounding with an ear/throat infection for me to get up to date!).

I'm glad you're back! I hope the new job is going well.

Thanks! It pays the bills but I miss daytime Internet ;-)

Oh, I can imagine that would be difficult! On the other hand, I'm sure my productivity would increase immensely....

Ah, but it depends what productivity we're talking about here ;-)

Claire, I was browsing in another person's library after they reviewed a book in my tbr pile, saw they had a book my grandparents had when I was a child, and I have it now, and saw the wonderful review you wrote of it on the book page. So now, thanks to The Little Grey Men, I have found your thread and starred it.

Thank you ronincats! I love that book. I discovered it as a child & it transports me back every time I read it. So pleased that someone else has childhood memories attached to it.

Hi There. I'm way behind on wishing our group members a Happy Birthday. I believe your birthday was August 7th. I hope it was a good day for you.

I'm way behind on LT at the moment but this was such a nice, cheery way to come back. Thanks whisper!