Octane's Challenge 2011

Last year I managed to achieve all my goals (at least reading-wise), so I hope 2011 will be successful as well! Right now I'm in the middle of at least 5 books, so hopefully I'll soon be able to start adding to this thread. My tastes run pretty wide, but with a fairly heavy focus on fantasy. Generally I prefer fiction, but am trying to throw some non-fiction books in as well. Also, I recently came across two boxes of books from my childhood in the attic and couldn't resist revisiting some of them. Because they are usually pretty short I decided against setting myself a goal in the form of a total book count, instead I'll go with the page total. Assuming the average book has about 300 pages, this gives me a goal of 75 * 300 = 22500 pages for 2011! For ebooks and audiobooks I'll use the page count listed on LT.

Other goals I'll hope to achieve:
- Keep on reading at least a few non-fiction books
- Read a few books that I'd consider classics
- Reduce the size of the pile of unread books in my room
- Catch up on my ER/MG books

Last year's thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80769

Read: 0/22500 pages

Welcome back!

Happy New Year! I like your goals, straight-forward and sensible. :)

I think a lot of us have the goal of reducing the pile of unread books in their homes, I certainly do! Good luck with you goals.

Octane - My goals are pretty much the same as yours. I will add keeping track of pages this year. I would like to know how many I will flip this year. The kids in school have a million-word challenge and it would be fun to track the number of words but they are not always available. I might try, though, for the fun of it. Good luck!

Welcome to the group, Jan!

Like you, I am hoping to read a lot of my books that I keep tripping over here at home.

Oh wow, I didn't expect this many responses, this group sure is a lot more talkative than I'm used to from the 50 books challenge! Thanks!

Anyway, I should finally start adding books to this thread, hopefully I'll be able to remember them all...

First up is one of my SantaThing books:

1. The Android's Dream by John Scalzi



My second Scalzi, after Old Man's War. While Old Man's War is more military SF this book is a political thriller with a lot of humour. Some of the plot twists are a bit too obvious (in the case of the final twist perhaps intentionally so), but it doesn't really hurt the story. My main point of critique is that, although Scalzi does a great job on characterization, the only female character of any importance doesn't seem to have much of a personality at all and is more of a talking MacGuffin than a character in her own right. Apart from that, this book was a fun read and some of Scalzi's ideas wouldn't seem out of place in a book by Douglas Adams (for example the Church of the Evolved Lamb is absolutely hilarious)

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 400/22500

2. Als ich ein kleiner Junge war by Erich Kaestner



Kästner's books are among my absolute childhood favorites and this autobiographical account of his childhood is no exception. The book starts with a detailed account of his parent's families and ends with the start of the first world war, covering Kästner's life in Dresden until the time he was forced to become a soldier. He manages to write with a great warmth, while still poking fun at the people he writes about and society in general.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 608/22500 Pages

Does The Android's Dream relate at all to Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

3. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross



Another SantaThing book, my first Stross. A mix of Lovecraftian horror, a James Bond novel and the Bastard Operator from Hell. It's funny definitely funny how the main character struggles with saving the world from unspeakable horrors while fighting an unwinnable battle against bureaucracy with the other hand. Stross liberally mixes mythology with highly advanced mathematics and physics and throws a few nazis in for good measure. He certainly knows what he's talking about but manages to avoid overly detailed scientific explanations that would only hinder the plot. I wasn't overly impressed with the end, but Stross clearly is a very skilled and inventive writer and I'm looking forward to the sequel (another SantaThing book waiting to be read!).

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 976/22500 Pages

The Stross book sounds way-cool. I'm looking for that one. Thanks.

9: I haven't read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (I did see Blade Runner a few years ago, but don't remember that much of the plot) so I don't really know how far they relate. A special breed of sheep called "The Android's Dream" plays a major role in Scalzi's novel, and when asked about the name one character replies that it is "a obscure literary reference". It is entirely possible that there is a deeper connection between the two books, but if there is I've unfortunately missed it.

Thank you. That's interesting.

Some catching up to do...

4. First Stringers by Gerald M. Weinberg



This book has a lot of potential, even though the premise isn't the most original - several young people discover that they have special abilities and band together to fight an evil organization that seeks to exploit them. What's interesting is that each of them suffers from a handicap, for example blindness, a crippled leg or Down syndrome.

While the book managed to keep me interested until the end and definitely has some enjoyable moments, it also suffers from a few shortcomings. First, the scientific explanation for the superpowers doesn't go any further than a diffuse connection to string theory ("pulling at the strings of the universe") which is a bit disappointing, especially since string theory is even referenced in the title.

A few times I felt that certain scenes could have been shortened or just plain cut without hurting the plot. There were also some loose ends that are never picked up again and at the end there were too many questions left unanswered for my taste.

Overall, in my opinion this isn't a bad book, but it would have profitted from a good editor (and perhaps a bit more proofreading).

Rating: 2.5 Stars
Read: 1590/22500 Pages

#14: Too bad the book was not better for you. I hope your next read is, Jan!

5. Die Glücksritter von Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
6. Die Gruseltour von Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
7. Der schwarze Schwan von Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
8. Dicke Luft auf Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
9. Das Phantom von Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
10. Geheimcode Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
11. Der bunte Hund von Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
12. Der Sportwettkampf von Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
13. Ritterturnier von Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp
14. Geflüster auf Burg Schreckenstein by Oliver Hassencamp

The last ten books of one of my absolute favorite series of children's books which I decided to finally reread again this year (and the main reason why I'm counting pages this year - they're only about a 130 pages long and it takes me little more than an hour to read one of them). I can't really say how often I read this series when I was younger, but even about 10 years after the last time I still remember all the plots, characters etc.. I don't know why I love these books so much, perhaps it stems from the setting - a boarding school in a old castle, where the students have a lot of freedom, play pranks on other schools and each other, solve a few crimes etc.

Reading them now, I realize that they are a bit simplistic and the latter books become very repetitive. Also they are by now a bit old fashioned, the first book was published in 1959, the last one in 1988 (the year the author was tragically killed in a accident, coincidentally a few weeks before I was born). Still, I could probably start the series again right now and enjoy them almost as much as I did when I picked them up for the first time.

Read: 2870/22500 Pages

#16: I could probably start the series again right now and enjoy them almost as much as I did when I picked them up for the first time.

Good for you! I enjoy revisiting childhood books from time to time too.

15. The Great Bazaar and Other Stories by Peter V. Brett



I enjoyed The Painted Man very much and I've been looking for this book for a long time. However the first (and only) printed edition was a bit too expensive for me (current rates are between 400 and 500$), so I was very happy when I was able to pick it up relatively cheaply for the Kindle. The book contains one full short story set in the same world as The Painted Man and two shorter pieces that were cut from the original novel. As the second volume in the series, The Desert Spear, comes out in paperback in a few weeks, this was a great way to remind myself of the characters and setting, without having to reread the whole first book. I enjoyed the stories, but I'm glad that I didn't buy the book when it first came out. Even then it was over 20$ and for me that's clearly too much for a book with just about a hundred pages, even if it has the usual great quality of any Subterranean Press product. Another novella was just published, also for 20 bucks, with a bit of luck it will be available as an e-book just before the final volume of the trilogy comes out.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 2974/22500 Pages

16. How I Escaped My Certain Fate by Stewart Lee



I have admired Lee's stand-up comedy for a long time, and this book offers great insights into his work. It isn't a "normal" autobiography", instead Lee quickly describes his life from his birth in 1968, over his growing interest in comedy and his success in the nineties, to him quitting stand-up in 2001 and his return in 2004. All in the first chapter. Two more short chapters and an afterword describe what has happened to him since then.
The highlights are however the full transcripts of the three comedy shows he performed during that time, which come between these chapters. For themselves these are brilliant enough, but through the extensive (and I mean EXTENSIVE) footnotes, they become absolutely fantastic. Lee already often seems to make fun of comedy itself, his newest live DVD starts with him repeatedly and deliberately messing up the start of the show, getting angrier and angrier, culminating in him musing about how it's funny that a comedian just enters the stage and starts talking about some topic. In the footnotes this reaches a whole new level. He analyzes and explains his act, somehow managing to give the razor-sharp wit displayed in his shows another edge. There are a lot of interesting things in this book, anecdotes/stories from Lee's live (for example his prosecution for blasphemy because of "Jerry Springer: The Opera"), his views on comedy...

I'd recommend this book (and Stewart Lee's DVDs) to anybody who is at all interested in comedy. Fans of one-liners may be disappointed (To quote from the book: "Within a few years these "jokes", as we comedians call them, will have been entirely purged from my work in favour, exclusively, of grinding repetition, embarassing silences and passive-aggressive monotony"), but I find the way in which Lee antagonizes the viewers on purpose, then labours for half an hour to win them back only to start the whole thing again absolutely fascinating. (There are a lot of clips of his act on Youtube, for example this. I realize that I sound like a gushing fanboy. I will shut up now.)

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 3358

17. Nul Points by Tim Moore



I don't really know why I read this. I had read a book by Moore before, and quite liked it, but for the last decade I managed to successfully ignore the Eurovision Song Contest, so why read a book in which the author tries to find and interview all ESC contestants who failed to get even a single point. Apart from that however, I enjoyed this book. The way in which he describes the entertaining things that just somehow seem to happen to him is very refreshing. Also, almost all of the encounters with the Nul-pointers are at least interesting (some are very entertaining, others border on disturbing). I suppose in a contest that seems to celebrate gaudiness, lack of creativity and pretty much the lowest common denominator in pop music, coming last is the only achievement that really counts.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 3662/22500 Pages

18. Robin Ince's Bad Book Club by Robin Ince



From the moment I first read about it, I absolutely fell in love with the concept of this book: Robin Ince frequently visits all kinds of charity shops all over the UK and came across some very weird books. This led to a quest to seek out the most obscure, weird, disturbing or just plain funny books he could find for less than 3 pounds. In this book he introduces some of the most interesting specimens from his collection, sorted by genre (Christian gynaecologist romance doesn't get it's own chapter, because Sign of the Speculum is the only example Ince has found so far). There are however chapters about bogus science books, romance novels, celebrity autobiographies, thrillers, self-help books, each featuring books you would not have thought could possibly be published or even written. There are lots of hilarious quotes and Robin Ince certainly has spent a lot of time researching his material. My favorite of the books described is The Secrets of Picking Up Sexy Girls, the quote "Thus frigid girls and lesbians are 'PENSIONERS' for our purpose" is only marginally more inexplicably weird when taken out of context, and there are a few other gems as well.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 4014/22500 Pages

#21: Sounds fun! I will have to track down a copy of that one.

19. Do Not Pass Go by Tim Moore



A very interesting trip around London, featuring the streets on the UK Monopoly board. I used to play Monopoly quite a lot, so his Moore's fascination with the game isn't entirely alien to me. I'm more used to the German board - featuring only generic, made-up street names, but my grandfather had a pretty old UK edition, so this book was a nice trip down memory lane. Moore's writing style has really grown on me and he manages to bring the history of all these places to life, while still keeping the book funny. Be it his attempt to buy jellied eels or gems like "But now I felt myself contemplating the stark reality that in a purely physiological sense, we are all pre-operation transsexuals", there are a lot of laughs in here.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 4366/22500 Pages

20. Die Geishas des Captain Fisby (The Teahouse of the August Moon) by Vern Sneider



An all-time favorite of mine, this book never fails to cheer me up. I always felt that it ends a bit too soon, but I can't really fault a book for making me like the characters so much that I want to know more about them. Read this on a rather bad day and it managed to brighten it up a little.

Rating: 5 Stars
Read: 4685/22500 Pages

21. Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne



The first of Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires. I read several of his better known works as a child and long wanted to try to read the whole series in order. This particular book hasn't aged very well, even though the things that made From the Earth to the Moon or Around the World in 80 Days such successes are already showing. The tale of the exploration of Africa, by crossing it in a balloon, encountering many dangers on the way, is overshadowed by a very racist depiction of the natives. This is somehow understandable, considering that at the time the novel was written Africa was not really known to Europeans, but it still rubs me the wrong way. Apart from that though, this book doesn't have any major flaws - well, perhaps the term Deus ex machina springs to mind - and I'm looking forward to Verne's next books.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 5041/22500 Pages

22. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome



A hilariously funny book with an exceptionally dry humour. The author describes a boat trip on the Thames with two friends (and his dog), which serves as a backdrop for lots of anecdotes and great slapstick. Sometimes the bits are joined together a bit awkwardly - "That reminds me of.." is used as an introduction to yet another anecdote a few times too often for example - and some parts seem entirely out of place (perhaps because the author originally intended to write a travel guide). The laughs however more than make up for it, the first-person narrators talent for self-delusion and self-aggrandizement had me laughing out loud at times.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 5149/22500 Pages

Oh, Teahouse of the August Moon, that's such a great book. Jules Verne, too. What a terrific book company you've been keeping. :)

Because I'm horribly lazy about updating this thread this year, I haven't even managed to add my reads for Fantasy February yet. I hope I can catch up over the next few days...

23.The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones



First up, I thought it would be nice to read a travel guide to avoid getting lost. I haven't read anything by this author before, but I heard excellent things about her work. This book lists and describes all the clichés a reader of fantasy literature might encounter, like stew, magic weapons, ambushes and different types of wizards. Very funny and helpful, I'll probably be trying to find the different tropes in every fantasy book I read from now on.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 5405/22500 Pages

24. Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card



After reading and enjoying the Alvin the Maker short story The Grinning Man in Legends I wanted to try this series. Not bad, but too slow and predictable to really draw me in. Also a bit too religious for my taste, but Card avoids sounding preachy. I listened to the unabridged audio version of this and the narrators did an excellent job. Not sure if I'll continue the series.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 5661/22500 Pages

25. Magyk by Angie Sage



Amazon offered this for free, so I decided to try this series out. I wasn't overly impressed. The characters lack depth, the plot is highly predictable and the villains are wholly unbelievable. They are clearly portrayed as evil, but their motivation is never really clear. A necromancer trying to achieve immortality I can believe, but what is the benefit to abduct little children and raise them in the "Young Army" where they are treated horribly?There are a few obvious parallels to Harry Potter and a few minor annoyances, like the intentional misspelling of words like Magyk or Darke and the fact that every spell name is in bold, which makes them seem more like product names in an ad (I kept looking for a © symbol).

There are some YA fantasy novels that can be enjoyed by adults, but for this wasn't one. It kept me interested enough to finish the book, but I'm not planning to read the rest of the series.

Rating: 2.5 Stars
Read: 6269/22500 Pages

26. The Purple Emperor by Herbie Brennan



The sequel to Faerie Wars and while not quite as good, still fun to read. I like the worldbuilding and the humour. It avoids most of the things that kept me from liking Magyk.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 6692/22500 Pages

27. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie



A slow start for a trilogy I long wanted to read. The first book is mostly exposition, introducing the characters and the world. Abercrombies world-building isn't as detailed as I normally like it and a bit generic, but the book doesn't suffer from it because the whole setting is really only there to serve as a backdrop for the fantastic, multi-faceted characters. The main characters definitely aren't your typical fantasy heroes, none of them could be described as "good", but the author captures their inner conflicts and thoughts perfectly. Very dark, gritty and bloody, but a great read.

Rating: 4 Stars

28. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie



After the main characters finally met at the end of the first book they are separated again, with one of them involved in a siege and two others going on a "quest" to retrieve... something. Abercrombie seems to be intent on subverting every fantasy cliché there is.

Also a good book, but it suffers a bit from being the middle book of a trilogy.

Rating: 4 Stars

29. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie



Well, after the first two books and from what I heard about the series before I started it I wasn't really expecting a happy end, so in a way this is a worthy conclusion, but... bloody hell. I really enjoyed this trilogy and the characters Abercrombie created, so I hope that this story is continued sometime (there are already two stand-alone novels featuring other characters in the series and the author is contracted to write four more). I tried to find flaws with this book, mostly because the end depressed me a bit, but a story that provokes an emotional reaction isn't really a fault. Perhaps Abercrombie is a little bit too fond of catchphrases, his characters use them constantly (Say one thing about Logen Ninefingers, say he is...) and there are a few distinct phrases that are repeated in the text ("head hanging of by a flap of gristle" appears at least 3 times). The one or two sex scenes are more excruciating to read than the very graphic descriptions of torture, but overall these books are really good.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 7982/22500 Pages

30. One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde



After the First Law trilogy I needed something a bit more fun, so the new Thursday Next book was absolutely perfect. It's different from the rest of the series, since the protagonist isn't the actual Thursday Next, but the Thursday Next who plays her in the Thursday Next novels in the BookWorld, who originally only appeared in the fifth book but then took over the rest of the series after the Thursday Next who played Thursday Next in the first four books died... er, yes, I guess it's safe to say that this isn't a book for readers new to the series. But if reading the first five books in this series is the price you have to pay to enjoy this book, it is definitely worth paying.

Anyway Thursday Next is missing, so Thursday Next has to go and find her, before a cross genre war breaks out. On the way there are robot butlers, a steamboat journey and puns. Lots and lots of puns.

This book had me laughing out loud every other page, even though I suspect I missed a lot of the literary references. Great read, but it really should come with a poster version of the map of Fiction Island.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 8398/22500 Pages

31. Zombie Spaceship Wasteland by Patton Oswalt



I just can't resist books by stand-up comedians I like. However this falls a bit short when compared with Oswalt's other work. It has aspects of an autobiography but is interspersed with random humorous bits, like fictitious greeting cards. It has some laughs, but is altogether too short and too pieced together to really be great.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 8606/22500 Pages

32. The Internet is a Playground by David Thorne



A collection of texts and e-mail exchanges first published on Thorne's website http://www.27bslash6.com/ plus some extra stuff. Really funny, and even though I had already read most of the book for free on the internet, Thorne definitely deserves to make some money from being the king of internet trolls.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 8832/22500 Pages

34. Thick of it: The Missing DoSAC Files



A tie-in to the TV show "The Thick of It", by the writers of the show. It's a fictitious collection of e-mails and letters by the members of the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship, containing the usual amount of incompetence, backstabbing and swearing. However it never really reaches the same brilliance as the TV version, although it has its moments.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 8968/22500 Pages

35. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss



Ever since I read The Name of the Wind about three years ago, I was waiting for this sequel, regularly reading the author's blog, watching how the book was coming along. So when it finally came out I was almost afraid to read it, because it might not live up to my expectations. I could not have been more wrong.

There are several reasons why this is an absolutely great book, but what makes it really special in my opinion is the world-building. While many authors create detailed and varied backgrounds for the stories they tell, this is probably the only series I read so far, where a fictional setting almost seems to come alive. There is such a level of degree in the history, magic system, mythology of this world that the novel seems to only scratch the surface. Rothfuss has talked about his world-building in interviews and blog posts before and all the work he puts in definitely pays of.

The story itself is great as well, but I'm really wondering if Rothfuss will manage to keep this a trilogy. It's a story in a story, with the Kvothe, main character, narrating his life to a scribe over the course of three days (the three books of the planned trilogy), and it seems that over the course of the second book Kvothe doesn't come significantly closer to his original goal of avenging the death of his parents. Also, it seems that there is quite a lot going on at the time when Kvothe tells his story (there is quite a big cliffhanger). I'm looking forward to seeing how Rothfuss manages to bring this saga to a deserving finale, but after this book I can't imagine that he will disappoint his readers.

I noticed that I don't quite remember all the details of the first book, so maybe a reread is in order.

Rating: 5 Stars
Read: 9976/22500 Pages

I've heard great things about Rothfuss. Your 5 stars is definitely an encouragement for me to pick up his books and give it a try!

I hope you'll enjoy it, his books are among the best fantasy novels I've ever read!

36. Bite Me by Christopher Moore



I love Moore's humour and the sometimes bizarre characters he creates, but while this book has plenty of that, there are also a few weak points. Abby Normal was already annoying in the previous book (You Suck) and so I didn't exactly jump for joy when I discovered that large parts of this book are written as her diary entries. Perhaps Moore manages to capture the voice of a sixteen year old narcissistic goth girl perfectly, but everytime a paragraph starts with the word(?) "'Kayso," or the word "like" is used (which is a lot of times) I grew more annoyed. It's still a fun book and other parts make up for this, but I'd still appreciate it greatly if Abby won't feature in his future books.

Loved the end.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 10328/22500 Pages

37. A Beginner's Guide to Acting English by Shappi Khorsandi



Very enjoyable, Khorsandi writes about her childhood in Iran and the move to England, where her family planned to stay only for a year or two. However, after the Iranian revolution her father, a satirist, criticised the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini, they were forced to stay. It's a very touching story, she captures the differences in the Iranian and British culture and the difficulties she faced when trying to reconcile them very well. It's a very personal book with many memorable passages.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 10640/22500 Pages

38. Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock



Except for one short story my first Moorcock, and I wasn't overly impressed. I know that the Elric saga is considered to be among the most important sword and sorcery fiction, but this book just didn't do it for me. I couldn't empathise with any of the characters and the story seemed formulaic and unoriginal to me. Of course that's probably unfair, because the book was originally published long before other books I'm comparing it to, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen the same thing done better before.

Rating: 2.5 Stars
Read: 10721/22500 Pages

39. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik



Even though I'm usually not a huge fan of dragons, I really liked the concept of the Napoleonic wars being fought on dragonback. A captain of the Royal Navy finds himself suddenly in charge of an especially rare breed of dragon, which completely changes the plans he had for his life. I liked the character development of Laurence and Temeraire, but most of the side cast stayed a little too one-dimensional for me.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 11105/22500 Pages

40. How Not to Grow Up: A Coming of Age Memoir. Sort Of. by Richard Herring



Herring's memoir mainly deals with the year he turned 40 and suddenly realized that, at the same age his father was married, had three children, a house and was headmaster of a school, he himself is single, tours the country as a stand-up comedian and spends his days mostly the same way he did as a child. The self-proclaimed "kidult" then details the series of events that led to him becoming a bit more mature and responsible, a journey which features many laugh-out-loud moments. Perhaps this book will be more relevant to me in a few years, but for now I'm at an age where a little immaturity from time to time can still be excused :P

I'd also recommend his free podcasts on Itunes, As It Occurs To Me and the Collings and Herrin podcast with Andrew Collins.(/advertisment)

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 11425/22500 Pages

>38 jolerie:. I had the same feeling with Elric. And with Hawkmoon. And with Corum. My brother is a Moorcock fan, so I've tried several books but apparently I just don't "get" him.

41. Siege of Darkness by R. A. Salvatore



The Legacy of the Drow series has been sitting on my shelves for a long time, but I only ever read the first two books, no idea why. Anyway, this book continues the story from Starless Night. It's more or less standard Salvatore fare, with the usual spectacular battles. He is pretty inventive and has the huge well of Forgotten Realms lore to draw from and add to. I really like the characters he has created and the way they are developing from being a tad cliché (in the Icewind Dale trilogy) to being more complex and believable.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 11809/22500 Pages

42. Passage to Dawn by R. A. Salvatore



The last book in the Legacy of the Drow series. It's has a different setting as the other three books - six years have passed and instead of Mithral Hall the book is mostly set on the Sea of Swords and Icewind Dale. The book is in some ways a step back for the series. Salvatore re-introduces a few characters from previous books and the plot is in parts very similar to The Crystal Shard, his first Forgotten Realms book. I still enjoyed the book, but it lacked the inventiveness of the other books about Drizzt and his companions.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 12161/22500 Pages

Some books to add - I got a lot of reading done over the last weekend and this week, especially because I didn't have an internet connection for the last few days (and, after my ISP tried to fix it, no telephone). Everything working again though, so I'll better start bringing this thread up to date!

43. Politische Texte (Political Texts) by Kurt Tucholsky



Brilliant but depressing book. Tucholsky satirises and exposes brutality and militarism in the German society and the horrors of WW1 in these texts, published mostly in the 1920s. I don't remember reading anything else that explained so succinctly the politic climate that enabled the NSDAP to come to power, but I find it very depressing that Tucholsky's warnings fell on deaf ears and he was more or less forced into exile, where he (perhaps fortunately) died before he had to witness the second world war. I'll definitely have to seek out more of his works.

Rating: 5 Stars
Read: 12289/22500 Pages

44. The Audacity of Hype by Armando Iannucci



I love Iannucci's work on TV, especially The Thick Of It, but this collection of his newspaper articles fell flat for me. There are some great satirical pieces in there, but for the most part his writings failed to elicit a chuckle from me. Also, the whole thing seemed to have been put together pretty haphazardly, I'd have liked at least some kind of introduction and some information on when and where the pieces where originally published. Oh well, at least the new series of The Thick Of It has finally been commissioned by the BBC and a new show (Veep) by Iannucci has been picked up by HBO, so I've got something to look forward to!

Rating: 2.5 Stars
Read: 12609/22500 Pages

45. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde



Fforde's first foray into writing YA novels, and a very successful one. Fforde continues to combine the inventiveness of Douglas Adams with the storytelling ability of Terry Pratchett and adds his own considerable talent to that mix. In some of his other novels the plot becomes a bit convoluted towards the end but he avoids that here. The story is set more or less in the present, however there are a few crucial differences to our world. The United Kingdom is very much un-united with dozens of small kingdoms fighting for power, magic exists, but its power is waning and the last dragon is about to die. Jennifer Strange, an orphan working as an indentured servant for one of the last magical agencies, is suddenly the center of attention and her actions will determine the future of the UUK.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 12913/22500 Pages

46. Among Thieves: A Tale of the Kin by Douglas Hulick



This book is set in a rather standard fantasy world, but with a few interesting twists and populated by several great characters. The plot is perhaps a bit contrived but fast-paced and it kept me gripped. Perhaps not great literature but a very entertaining novel. If you like other fantasy novels set in the "underworld" of thieves, assassins etc. like those by Scott Lynch or Brent Weeks there is a good chance that you'll enjoy this book as well, even if it doesn't quite live up to those other books.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 13345/22500 Pages

47. Earth, Air, Fire and Custard by Tom Holt



I liked the first two books in the series, but this never managed to draw me in. It just seems way too long for the story it tells, a few of the final plot twists were completely unnecessary and seemed to only be there to add a few more pages. The main character is not very likable either, which already was a problem in the first two books but not as much, because they were stronger novels overall. All his whining and total incompetence in everything really got on my nerves.

Rating: 2 Stars
Read: 13761/22500 Pages

48. Epic by Conor Kostick



I came across this book because someone was searching for it on the "Name that Book" group and it sounded very interesting. It's set in the future, humanity has settled on a new planet after Earth was destroyed by wars. Because of that all violence is banned and punishable by exile. Instead, all disputes are settled in Epic, a computer game that is very similar to WoW and others, with some elements from D&D. People spend a lot of their time in the game, because their status in the real world depends on their success in the game. Erik, the main character becomes involved in a power struggle both in-game and in the real world when he decides to try out a new way to play the game. Great book, I really liked the ending and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 14145/22500 Pages

49. Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez



Another SantaThing book, but sadly not as good as the others. The protagonists are a vampire and a werewolf who stop at an all-night diner that is suffering from zombie attacks and when trying to find out what is causing them have to save the world. The book has all the usual horror staples, demons, ghosts, ghouls etc. and while it is trying to parody the genre, I would have liked a bit more creativity. The dialogues are occasionally funny, but on the whole I couldn't shake the feeling that the author was trying to emulate Christopher Moore, but never came close to his level. Meh.

Rating: 2.5 Stars
Read: 14433/22500 Pages

50. For Richer, For Poorer by Victoria Coren



I have long been a fan of Victoria Coren's articles in the Guardian and her TV work, so I was expecting a lot from this autobiography. And I wasn't disappointed: The book is mostly about her career as a poker player, from playing with her brother and his friends to winning a million dollars at the European Poker Tour, and she manages to be both funny and charming enough to make a "sport" I usually have absolutely no interest in, be it as a player or as a TV viewer, interesting enough to keep me hooked until the last page. Very good.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 14785/22500 Pages

51. The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross



My final SantaThing book and the sequel to The Atrocity Archives. I compared the first book to a mix of Lovecraft and Ian Fleming, but this description is a lot more accurate for this one. Stross strives to copy Fleming's style and the James Bond movies/books play a central role in the plot. This book is funny, intelligent, fast-paced, with a few brilliant twists. The additional short story and the essay about Fleming's work are really just the icing on the cake.

Overall, I got three great and one not-so-great books from SantaThing this year. Discovering Charles Stross alone was almost worth the 25$ so I'm already looking forward to December!

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 15201/22500 Pages

52. Ein Buch namens Zimbo by Max Goldt



Goldt is one of the funniest writers I know. This is a collection of columns from various magazines, published between 2007 and 2010, and his brilliant acceptance speech for the Kleist-Preis, one of the most prestigious literature prizes in Germany. Many, many laugh-out-loud moments.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 15409/22500 Pages

53. I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells



Over the last few weeks I listened to many episodes of Writing Excuses, a podcast about writing Wells does with Brandon Sanderson and Howard Tayler. He talks a lot about his books there, so I decided to give it a try. Sadly I had a few problems with this book. The main character is a fifteen year old sociopath who fears that he may become a serial killer. Then suddenly there is a string of murders in his hometown and he tries to find out more about the killer who turns out to be a demon. I'm usually not a big reader of horror, mostly because I somehow find it harder to suspend disbelief in this genre than for example in fantasy. It's also very hard to empathize with the main character, because he feels somehow inconsistent. In one moment he goes on about being a sociopath and not feeling any emotions, and in the next moment he seems to have emotions, but just isn't able to understand them. The ending is also just a bit too neat and the book went in a different direction than I feel I was lead to expect. Not a bad story, but with a few flaws. There are two sequels, but I haven't yet decided if I'll give them another try.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend the aforementioned podcast: www.writingexcuses.com

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 15681/22500 Pages

#57: I have seen rather mixed reviews of that one. I think I will continue to give it a pass. I hope your next read is more enjoyable for you, Jan.

>58 alcottacre:: It's not that it's bad, my expectations were probably just very high after hearing the author talk about writing so much. Wells seems very knowledgeable, but doesn't avoid all of the mistakes he talks about on his podcast. For example, there are one or two info dumps about serial killers which feel more like a lecture the main character gives to the reader, than his actual thoughts.

54. Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks



A novella set in Weeks' Night Angel world, focussing on the backstory of one of the main characters. I liked it a lot, but everyone who hasn't read the other books before would be totally lost. Weeks' usual great dialogue and fast paced action, in a very gritty setting. It shows some new facets of already great characters and is in my opinion a nice addition to the series.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 15761/22500 Pages

55. The Book of Biff #5 Split Personality by Chris Hallbeck



Got this through Member Giveaways (as an ebook). It's a collection of single-panel comic strips from www.thebookofbiff.com.

Sadly, it didn't really work for me for a variety of reasons:

First of all, I don't really see the point of releasing an already digital comic strip as an ebook. If I decide to spend money on something that is already available for free on the internet, I would definitely prefer to purchase a paper copy (to be fair, those are also available for purchase), especially because many e-readers only have black and white e-ink screens, so I couldn't even view the comic in color.

Secondly, I've seen and bought collections of other webcomics before, and almost all of them include something extra in the published version. A few exclusive comics, an introduction or, my favorite, comments for the comic strips. This collection doesn't have any of those, it's simply the single panels and their captions, nothing else. On the website there is usually a small comment from the author, that puts the comic into some kind of perspective and in my opinion adding these to the book would

The last thing I had problems with, is the comic itself: Too often the captions didn't add to and in some cases even detracted from the humor of the drawings, and very few actually made me laugh. Again, often the comments by the author are what makes the strip funny for me in the first place. I like the drawing style and I will continue to read the comic online, but in my opinion the e-books aren't good value for money.

Rating: 2.5 Stars
Read: 15903/22500 Pages

56. Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook
57. Bitter Gold Hearts by Glen Cook
58. Cold Copper Tears by Glen Cook
59. Old Tin Sorrows by Glen Cook
60. Dread Brass Shadows by Glen Cook
61. Red Iron Nights by Glen Cook
62. Deadly Quicksilver Lies by Glen Cook
63. Petty Pewter Gods by Glen Cook
64. Faded Steel Heat by Glen Cook



The first nine books of the Garrett P.I. series. Because I read them in rather quick succession, I'm combining them into one post.

The series is set in a fantasy universe, with the exception of the first book everything takes place in the city of TunFaire, where humans live alongside other standard fantasy races, like dwarves, elves, trolls etc.. The main character is an ex-soldier turned private detective, whose cases usually involve magic, political intrigue, organized crime, gods or any combination of those. The books are noire mysteries in a fantasy setting, taking themes and tropes from both genres and having a lot of fun with them. Garrett himself reminds me a lot of Harry Dresden and I'd recommend these books to anyone who enjoyed the Dresden Files. Don't let the almost comically bad cover art fool you (seriously, the first cover has gnomes with machine pistols...), these books are great fun.

1: Sweet Silver Blues
It differs from the other books, in that it isn't set in the city of TunFaire, but in the wartorn Cantard. It introduces some important characters, like the Dead Man, Morley Dotes and Tinnie Tate. Garrett is hired to find the ex-girlfriend of an old friend who died and bequeathed his fortune on her. He has some trouble tracking her down and even more trouble is waiting for him when he finds her...

2. Bitter Gold Hearts
Back in TunFaire, Garrett becomes involved in what at first seems like a pretty normal abduction. Needless to say, it's a little more complicated than it seems.

3. Cold Copper Tears
Some religious relics have disappeared and Garrett reluctantly accepts the job of recovering them. Some plot twists are a bit too foreseeable, but the book still has some surprises.

4. Old Tin Sorrows
An old army colleague of Garrett approaches him to get him to investigate who is responsible for the illness of his current employer, a former general. Garrett moves to his mansion and soon after he starts snooping around there are several mysterious things going on. Ghostly apparitions only Garrett can see, people get murdered, zombies... This novel is more of a classical whodunit than the other books in the series. The ending is rather bleak, everybody gets what they deserve but none of those who are left have much of a reason to be happy about it.

5. Dread Brass Shadows
Garrett's girlfriend is attacked by a mysterious assailant, for no apparent reason. Only when a new client who looks very similar to her approaches Garrett he realizes that there has been a mistake. His new job is to track down a magical tome, but if course he isn't the only one searching for it. Some plot twists are very similar to those in Cold Copper Tears.

6. Red Iron Nights
A serial killer is terrorizing TunFaire and the watch pulls Garrett in to help. He also helps the daughter of the local crimelord, who is trying to take back power over the underworld from the men who took over from her father.

7. Deadly Quicksilver Nights
A new client hires Garrett to find her lost daughter. Pretty soon things get complicated.

8. Petty Pewter Gods
Two rival pantheons of gods are competing for the last available temple in TunFaire's temple district. Garrett gets caught between them when both want him to find the key to their survival.

9. Faded Steel Heat
After the war in the Cantard is over and the soldiers return, the human rights movement in TunFaire gains more and more power. Of course, in a city where humans live alongside elves, dwarves, ogres, trolls and centaurs this means something quite different than in our world. When one of his regular clients (and his main beer supplier) is threatened Garrett finds himself caught in the middle of a web of intrigue and violence.

Getting through the ninth book took a lot longer than the previous ones, so I'll take a break from this series. There are three more books which I'm definitely going to read, but I need to cleanse my palate, so to speak.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 18591/22500

65. The Boy & Little Witch by Ben White



I came across this book on the Members Giveaway list and liked the description (especially the comparison to the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. I didn't receive a copy, but the ebook was only 99 cents on Amazon so I got it anyway. It's a nice children's book, with interesting characters and some fun dialogue. This is also one of very few books where I thought the ending was completely spot on.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 18827/22500 Pages

66. Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn



I always loved Star Wars and after rewatching the original trilogy a few weeks ago, it occurred to me that it had been a really long time that I read any of the Star Wars novels. Because Zahn's Thrawn trilogy are considered to be among the very best of them and I had never read them before, they were the obvious choice. The book is set after Episode 6, the New Republic is trying to eliminate the rest of the Empire's forces, which are led by a previously unknown Grand Admiral. I liked the book, it's a great space opera and I'm already a few chapters into the second book.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 19243/22500 Pages

67. Why England Lose: And Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski



This book's premise is similar to Freakonomics (the US version is even called Soccernomics, but it focusses on football. A journalist and an economist use economics to find out why some clubs/national teams do better than others, which country does better than it should according to their statistics etc. The book is a very entertaining read, although it feels a bit "padded out" towards the end. As the title promises there is a detailed analysis of England's disappointing performances at major tournaments (World Cup & European Championship) in the last decades, which was great fun to read. Of course this has nothing to do with the traditional football rivalry between England and Germany (they seem to take that a lot more serious than most of us :P).

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 19611/22500 Pages

68. Pink Moon by Frank Goosen



Goosen is one of my favorite German authors, but sadly this book just didn't work for me. He still manages to create believable, yet often slightly bizarre characters in just a few sentences and the book definitely has the mix of light comedy and melancholy that I enjoyed so much in Liegen Lernen and Pokorny Lacht. However, I just don't understand what the point of this book is. The plot meanders around, with several subplots which are never fully resolved, flahbacks which leave too much unsaid... About halfway through I was wondering if there was any point in finishing the novel at all. The ending did make up a bit for all of that, but then a truly amateurish mistake left with me with a bit of a bitter aftertaste (The main character leaves his car a few streets from where he wants to go, walks the rest of the way and into the building, *final scene*, then steps out, crosses the street and gets in his car). There are still some great, touching scenes in this book, which is why it gets 2.5 Stars, but it doesn't live up to the rest of the author's work.

Rating: 2.5 Stars
read: 19963/22500 Pages

69. Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson



Since the football season is over since May and doesn't start again until August, I'm suffering from a little bit of withdrawal :P. That's why I picked up my second football book in two weeks, and this one was a truly great read. It chronicles, as the title promises, the history of football, from it's beginnings in Britain to the game that is played today. The author manages to keep what could have been a very dry read interesting almost all the way through. He shows the major changes in tactics by focussing on the several great teams and innovative managers, explaining how they changed the game, with a lot of great anecdotes thrown in. Brilliant.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 20347/22500 Pages

70. Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn



The second book in the Thrawn trilogy, still having a great time. It's been a few years, but I used to read every Star Wars book my local library had, and none of them managed to capture what makes the movies so great this well.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 20877/22500 Pages

#61: I have only read the first book in that series, although I own several of them. Thanks for the reminder that I need to pick them up again!

71. The Last Command by Timothy Zahn



A great conclusion to the Thrawn trilogy. Great characters, a solid plot and, most important of all, it still "feels" like the movies.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 21357/22500 Pages

72. Just A Geek by Wil Wheaton



I decided to pick this up after reading a gushing review of it on Patrick Rothfuss' blog (I originally assumed that the book was new, but it was published in 2004, before Wheaton was the huge internet celebrity he is today). I don't follow Wheaton's blog, but he was a guest on a few podcasts I listen to, so I know at least a bit about him. The book mainly covers the period in his life when he was struggling to move on from being the teenage star of Star Trek, being rejected at audition after audition, trying to support his wife and stepchildren. The book consists largely of posts from his blog, which he started during that time. I appreciate his honesty and even though I've never been a Star Trek fan, I enjoyed this book very much.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 21653/22500

73. Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice by John Jackson Miller
74. Lost Tribe of the Sith: Skyborn by John Jackson Miller
75. Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon by John Jackson Miller
76. Lost Tribe of the Sith: Savior by John Jackson Miller
77. Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory by John Jackson Miller
78. Lost Tribe of the Sith: Sentinel by John Jackson Miller
79. Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pantheon by John Jackson Miller



A series of Star Wars novellas, published online for free. The stories chronicle the life of a colony of survivors of a spaceship crash on a formerly unknown planet over several millennia. The first books are a bit too predictable and cliché but the last three make up for that. The eighth and final novella will be published next march and I'm very much looking forward to that.

Rating: 3-3.5 Stars
Read: 21803/22500

80. I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee



Hilariously funny. Samantha Bee always was one of my favourite people on the Daily Show and in this book she shows that she is also a very entertaining writer. This book isn't so much an autobiography as a collection of vaguely autobiographical essays. Several laugh out loud moments, I'd definitely recommend this book.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 22059/22500

81. Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole
82. Wedge's Gamble by Michael A. Stackpole
83. The Krytos Trap by Michael A. Stackpole
84. The Bacta War by Michael A. Stackpole



The first four novels of the X-Wing series (yes, still reading Star Wars novels), chronicling the adventures of Rogue Squadron, an elite starfighter unit of the New Republic. I liked the plot for the most part, and while some of the characters stayed a little flat, some of them were really great. The dialogue was very stilted and unnatural in some parts, but it didn't really detract much from the rest of the book.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 23580/22500 pages

Since I've reached my goal of 22500 pages a bit early, I'll make my new goal 35000 which should be reachable if I manage to keep up my current speed.

85. Naked City edited by Ellen Datlow



A collection of 20 urban fantasy stories and the city in which each story is set should be important to the story itself. Needless to say, some authors do a better job with this than others. The stories I enjoyed most, in the order they appear in the book:

"Curses" by Jim Butcher - It's a Harry Dresden story, of the usual quality. The story is about a curse that was placed on a Chicago baseball team, so baseball fans will probably get more out of this story than me, but I still enjoyed it. A nice opener for the collection.

"How the Pooka came to New York City" by Delia Sherman - A story about an Irish immigrant coming to New York in 1855, bringing an Irish spirit with him. Well written and entertaining.

"Oblivion by Calvin Klein" by Christopher Fowler - Very, very funny.

"Fairy Gifts" by Patricia Briggs - The ending was a bit too rushed for my taste, but I still like the story.

"Priced to Sell" by Naomi Novik - Perhaps the best story in the whole book. It's basically just estate against going about their usual business, however their clients are vampires, sorcerers, zombies etc. Not what expected from her after the Temeraire series, but a fun read nonetheless.

"The Projected Girl" by Lavie Tidhar - The fantasy aspect isn't very prominent in this story, but Haifa, the city in which it is set, and the characters really came to life for me. It' probably not the most original story, but very well executed and interesting. The only story in the book where I felt that I actually learned something new :P

"King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree" by Elizabeth Bear - The last story in the collection, and it at least partially makes up for the generally low quality of the second half of the book (there are seven other stories between "The Projected Girl" and this). Set in Las Vegas, the spirit of the city has to go up against a casino tycoon to preserve his memories.

The other stories in the book aren't necessarily bad (well, some are), but these are the ones that stood out for me.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 24140/35000

A few more updates...

86. Ghost Story by Jim Butcher



The long awaited thirteenth book in the Dresden Files series. After the cliffhanger ending of the last book, I was anxious to get my hand on this, especially after the release was pushed back a few months. Butcher really wasn't kidding around with the title of the last book - Changes - this book is very different from the earlier part of the series. Some major characters have changed quite severely and Harry is, as the title suggests, a ghost. It was really interesting to see how Butcher brought him back to life and there are also some interesting glimpses into Harry's past. The only criticism I have is that this book has a certain "second-book-of-the-trilogy" feel. It's pretty clear that Harry won't stay a ghost, so it's not a big surprise when he is brought back. The whole novel seems to be designed to wrap up some loose threads and set up the next installments of the series. The ending is only marginally less foreboding than that of Changes, so I'm very much looking forward to the next book. However I might have to reread at least part of the series, I seem to have forgotten quite a few details over the last year or so.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 24636/35000 Pages

87. Pizza, Pauken und Trompeten/Funkenflug by Steffen Kent



Another childhood favorite of mine, however this one sadly didn't stand the test of time. It's one of the many, many books that feature a group of teenagers solving crimes, which seem to have made up a large part of my early reading. There are some books I still enjoy as much now as I did then, but this isn't one of them. One-dimensional characters, bad dialogue, unoriginal plots... sigh.

Rating: 2.5 Stars
Read: 24908/35000 Pages

88. Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons by Greg Fitzsimmons



I love stand-up comedy and books by stand-up comedians are kind of an equivalent to fast food to me. I usually read them when I just finished a "heavier" read and don't feel like starting something similarly heavy right away. Instead I trawl the Kindle store for something that seems entertaining, light and reasonably cheap - brain candy, essentially. I heard about this book on a podcast I listen to occasionally and it seemed interesting. It's basically an autobiography, using the many letters that were sent to Fitzsimmons' parents by teachers, the police etc. as focal points. The book has its funny moments, but overall it never really rises above mediocre.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 25132/35000 Pages

89. Angry Lead Skies by Glen Cook



After a couple of months I decided to pick up the next volume in the Garrett, P.I series, but I think it was still a little bit too early. The book isn't bad, but by no means the best in the series. The inclusion of spaceships and aliens ("silver elves" who come from a far away land and use various modern technologies) seemed kind of ridiculous. There are still three more books left and I'll get to them... someday.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 25496/35000 Pages

90. Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston
91. Iron Fist by Aaron Allston
92. Solo Command by Aaron Allston



While the first four novels of the X-Wing series focus on Rogue Squadron, the next three feature the newly formed sister squadron, the Wraiths. Some key characters feature in both sub-series, but there are a lot of new faces as well and of course a new enemy, rogue Warlord Zsinj. Compared to the Rogue Squadron arc, the plot is at least equally surprising and interesting. The characters are a lot more complex and the dialogue is a lot more natural as well. Overall, these books are a lot of fun to read.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 26584/35000 Pages

93. Halting State by Charles Stross



This book starts with a bank robbery, and Sue Smith, detective in the Edinburgh police is called in to investigate. This seems like the beginning of an ordinary mystery novel, however there are a few things that make this different: It's set about ten years in the future, technology (especially the Internet) has evolved rapidly, Scotland is an independent republic... oh, and the robbery was committed by a gang of orcs in an online game. The book is split between the perspectives of three main characters, Sue, Elaine (a fraud investigator) and Jack (a programmer). What starts as a small, if slightly weird, robbery quickly becomes an international espionage thriller with lots of twists. I loved the book, but I had some trouble with the fact that it is written in second person. It reminded me a bit of old text adventure games (You wake up in a strange room. To your right is a light switch. You decide to switch the light on...), but it was sometimes slightly confusing and disorienting, especially after longer dialogue sections.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 26920/35000 Pages

94. Sleepwalk With Me by Mike Birbiglia



It feels a bit lazy to just write "See post #77" but it pretty much sums up my feelings on this book. Nice, but nothing special. A quick, fun, but not very memorable read to "cleanse my palate" before starting another "real" book.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 27128/35000 Pages

95. Warriors by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois



A cross genre anthology featuring short stories by some great authors, all about warriors past, present or future. The overall quality of the stories really surprised me, usually any anthology will feature a few clunkers, but while the quality of the stories varies, there aren't really any that completely sucked.

"Stories from the Spinner Rack," by George R. R. Martin
An introduction to the anthology, Martin reminisces about the rack full of paperback novels from all kinds of genres in the store of his hometown, which inspired this collection of stories about warriors.

"The King of Norway," by Cecelia Holland
A sea battle between vikings. The characters didn't do much for me, but the writing is great and the plot kept me interested until the end.

"Forever Bound," by Joe Haldeman
Sci-Fi, a group of people get drafted into the military and are forced to get implants that enable them to control cybernetic soldiers, but also keep them in communication (or rather aware of each other) 24/7. I'm probably doing a very bad job describing the story, but it's one of my favorites in this book.

"The Triumph," by Robin Hobb
Why don't I read more of Robin Hobb's books? I loved the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies and the Liveship Traders books have been on my Kindle for almost two years, but I never get around to reading them. This story will hopefully change that. It's set in Carthage and the title is slightly... misleading, as the main characters don't seem particularly triumphant. Beautiful writing, strong characters, loved the story.

"Clean Slate," by Lawrence Block
This story didn't do much for me. It's hard to describe the story without giving too much away, so let's just say that the main character is a woman trying to deal with her damaged childhood in a way that is reminiscent of a praying mantis.

"And Ministers of Grace," by Tad Williams
Another great science fiction story, in the future humanity has spread through the universe, but is split into two major factions. On the one side extreme rationalists, on the other religious fundamentalists. The story concentrates on an assassin from the religious side trying to infiltrate a rationalist planet. The story took some very unexpected turns and is definitely among the best in this anthology. Need to read more Tad Williams.

"Soldierin'," by Joe Lansdale
A (hilarious) story about two ex-slaves in the cavalry, fighting apaches in the old west.

"Dirae," by Peter S. Beagle
I'm not sure what to make of Peter S. Beagle. I've read several of his short stories and while some were good, some didn't work for me at all. And then he comes up with a story as absolutely beautiful as this. The first few paragraphs were rather odd (but for a good reason) but then this tale of a woman with seemingly superhuman powers appearing wherever someone was in danger completely drew me in. The ending was, while sad, as great as the rest of the story and completely surprising.

"The Eagle and the Rabbit," by Steven Saylor
Another story set in Carthage, this time from the viewpoint of two Carthaginians who are captured by Roman slavers after the town is destroyed. A bit too bleak for my tastes, but the writing was very good.

"Seven Years from Home," by Naomi Novik
I read the first book in the Temeraire series and wasn't overly impressed, but this is the second short story by Novik I've read and both were absolutely excellent. The story is set in the future and features a human trying to make contact with a new species and getting involved in a war. The story raises some pretty important questions about loyalty and the way humanity treats its environment. Probably the best story in this anthology.

"The Custom of the Army," by Diana Gabaldon
A story featuring John Grey from the Outlander universe. Since I haven't read anything by this author before, I felt a bit lost and never completely got into the story, because I constantly worried that I might be missing some references etc. The story isn't bad, but this spoiled it a bit for me.

"The Pit," by James Rollins
This story is a bit different from the rest, because the warriors in questions are dogs and the pit is an illegal dogfighting ring, It feels cynical to say that the story is a bit cliché, since I enjoyed reading it very much (although I'm slightly worried that I found it easier to empathize with the dog protagonist in this story than with any human character in the whole book).

"Out of the Dark," by David Weber
This story starts with an alien invasion of earth, the perspective alternates between humans fighting back and the would-be conquerors. Sadly the ending damaged an otherwise brilliant story pretty badly, because it's so absolutely ridiculous and seems so cheap. Let's just say that a big part of the story is set in a certain region of Romania and if you think about the first thing you associate with that "Well, he couldn't possibly put that in an alien invasion story...", you're wrong.

"The Girls from Avenger," by Carrie Vaughn
From the title I originally expected another sci-fi story, however this is actually set during WWII, featuring the WASPs. Different from the other stories, since it doesn't actually feature any battles (at least not in the literal sense) but very interesting and nicely written.

"Ancient Ways," by S. M. Stirling
A very odd story. It's set in a future Russia, for some reason all technology has stopped working and humanity has reverted back to the middle ages, with lots of small constantly warring feudal states, warriors on horseback with swords and bows. The story itself isn't bad, although nothing groundbreakingly new (Two warriors trying to free a captured princess..). However, I just don't get why it has to be set in the future - except for some jokey references to today's technology it adds absolutely zero. Why not just set it in the actual middle ages Definitely one of the weaker entries.

"Ninieslando" by Howard Waldrop
I loved the idea of this story, a secret pacifist haven hidden under the trenches of WWI, but it could have been executed a lot better.

"Recidivist" by Gardner Dozois
Dozois did a great job editing this anthology, but his story is probably the one I enjoyed least. The whole concept seemed kind of ridiculous to me, so I never really got into it.

"My Name is Legion," by David Morrell
A story about the French Foreign Legion during WWII. Well written, interesting and apparently based on real events.

"Defenders of the Frontier," by Robert Silverberg
A group of soldiers who are left to defend a frontier start worrying as fewer and fewer enemies appear, they haven't heard from their own people in decades and their own numbers dwindle. I'd have liked a bit more details about the setting, it might have helped with the slightly depressing bleakness I felt about this story. Overall it reminded me of Glen Cook's Black Company books.

"The Scroll," by David Ball
This took depressing to a whole new level. The story is well written, but the story isn't going to end well and Ball really seems to enjoy torturing his main character.

"The Mystery Knight," by George R. R. Martin
The third story featuring Dunk and Egg, as enjoyable as the other two. I really like the Song of Ice and Fire setting, but I'm still reluctant to continue with the main novels because I don't want to have to wait for another series to finish.

Rating: 5 Stars
Read: 27864/35000 Pages

#80: That one sounds interesting. I will have to see if the local library has a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Jan!

Glad to see someone is still reading this :P With every of his books I read like Charles Stross more. Discovering his work alone was worth the 25$ for last year's SantaThing!

As a freshly baked library science student I should probably be a bit more conscientious about updating this thread... so here goes:

96. Rule 34 by Charles Stross



This is the sequel to Halting State, it's also written in second person, which is still slightly irritating. The book is set a few years after the first book and has different protagonists. One of them works for the Meme Squad of Edinburgh police and the plot starts with her being drawn into a case concerning spammers being murdered in weird circumstances. The title is a reference to the Rule 34 meme which basically says that "If it exists there is porn of it. No exceptions." As this title suggests the book is in parts pretty graphic and slightly disturbing. The future Stross' has created here is a bit more dystopian than it was in Halting State and I'm looking forward to seeing where he will take it in the next book, especially because the ending of Rule 34 was a bit disappointing.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 28232/35000 Pages

97. Unicorn Precinct by Keith R. A. DeCandido



The sequel to Dragon Precinct. It follows the adventures of various members of the guard of the cliché fantasy city solving different cases. It's not terribly complicated or inventive, but a nice quick read and I just love a mix of fantasy and mystery so this was worth the 3€ for the ebook version.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 28410/35000 Pages

I've not gotten into Stross yet--I've only read The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue and thought he could have done more with them. I do have several of his Merchant Princes books here, though, waiting for me.

Second person always throws me off, too.

98. The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross



I got the first two books in the Laundry series as SantaThing presents and enjoyed them very much. This is the third book in that series and picks up a while after the events of The Jennifer Morgue. A mix of evil cultists, Old Gods, bureaucrats, demons, spies, zombies, mathematics and computers... this is pretty much geek heaven. Or hell, more likely. Definitely funny and entertaining as hell!

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 28730/35000 Pages

Oh completely missed your post there! In which way do you think he could have done "more" with the books? After the third book I've got the feeling that he is building the series towards something pretty big (Case Nightmare Green) and I really enjoy the geeky humour and all the little references (at least the ones I get)...

99. The Magicians by Lev Grossman



I read this book when it came out about two years ago, but decided to revisit it before I read the sequel (see below). I loved it then and I love it even more now. Grossman's wanted to write a more grown-up version of Harry Potter (and the Narnia books), with college-age protagonists and without the constant threat of evil (Voldemort) hovering over their heads and shaping their experience. The book has a gew weaknesses, some parts feel a bit rushed (I would have liked a few more details about Quentin et. al.'s time at Brakebills college), and the middle part that connects the "Brakebills/Hogwarts" part and the "Fillory/Narnia" part is a bit weaker than the rest, possibly because Grossman stands fully on his own there. The protagonist is a bit too whiny, some side characters aren't fully fleshed out... in the end, that all doesn't really matter. This book is, in essence, about having all your childhood dreams come true, only to find out that they're not all that you imagined them to be. It perfectly captures that bitter-sweet feeling of revisiting a book from your childhood, only to realise that a lot of what you enjoyed about it was only in your imagination and you no longer are able to enjoy it as much as you did when you were younger.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

100. The Magician King by Lev Grossman



The sequel has the main characters from the first book now living in Fillory and serving as kings and queens. Quentin however is still looking for his great adventure and he finally finds it, although in the end he may find that it involves more than he bargained for. I enjoyed the book a lot, it was nice to learn more about what happened to Julia during and after The Magicians and Grossman seems to have grown as a writer, the whole book is a lot tighter, not so much a series of events connected with long periods of nothing like the first book was in some places. The end however was a bit of a shock. I get the whole theme of "The hero pays the price" but this didn't feel so much like a slap in the face than like two feinted punches to the face followed by a kick in the groin. I'm looking forward to the final book in the trilogy, hopefully that one ends a bit more satisfyingly.

Rating: 4 Stars

Read: 29562/35000 Pages

100 books! \o/

Re: the first two books of the Laundry series. It's been a couple of years so details are dim, but I indeed remember them being very clever action films without much in the way of character development--lots of computer in-jokes and thriller tropes, but all on the surface. They are enjoyable but not engaging in the sense of pulling you into the story and caring about the people--not that that genre typically does that, which I suppose is one of the reasons I'm not big on thrillers and a little meh on these.

Hm, yeah I suppose that's not too far from the truth. I generally share your feelings about thrillers, but the Laundry books still had enough to offer for me to ignore some shortcomings. Thanks for clarifying what you meant!

101. The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 1 by Ambrose Bierce



I've had The Devil's Dictionary for years and love to pick it up occasionally and browse through a few of the definitions. I just never got around to check out some of Bierce's other stuff. This first volume of his collected works is split into two quite distinctive parts. The first half is a mix of science fiction and biting satire, several short pieces written from the perspective of future humans exploring the remains of 19th/20th century civilization. There's also Bierce's version of Gulliver's Travels, which is absolutely brilliant and while some of the social commentary is a bit dated, other bits are still relevant today. The second half of the volume is devoted to various autobiographical pieces, most about the author's days fighting in the American civil war. Not quite as good as the first half, but it still had it's moments. For some reason only the first, second and eight volume of the collected works (12 volumes in total) seem to be available online and I haven't even managed to track down paper copies of the rest. No idea if they went out of print or why they are nowhere to be found...

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 29750/35000 Pages

102. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline



This book is set in a dystopian near future. Civilization is slowly crumbling away, because people spend more and more time in the OASIS, a virtual reality that has supplanted the internet and rules almost every aspect of life. When James Halliday, the creator of OASIS, dies, it's the start of a great hunt for the easter egg he hid somewhere in this virtual world. Three keys have to be found and three challenges completed before someone will win the prize: Ownership of the OASIS and Halliday's multi-billion dollar fortune. The story starts when the main character becomes the first person to find the first key, after the hunt has been going on for 5 years. It rapidly becomes a race to the finish line, because a ruthless corporation is using every resource at it's disposal to solve the riddles first to take control of OASIS.
I loved this book, it's full of references to 80's and 90's po culture, movies, TV, books, music and especially video games, and Cline creates a very interesting world. The story kept me hooked to the very end and I finished the book over the course of two nights. There are a few things to criticize as well, the main character is a bit of a Mary Sue and the end is just too perfect (it was kind of obvious where it was going and I expected another twist to give me at least a little bit ambiguity, but then it just abruptly ended). At some points I also felt that the "inner workings" of the novel were too exposed: The three act structure is pretty obvious through the three keys and once or twice I found myself mentally ticking of points on the Hollywood Formula checklist/thinking "Ah, I was wondering when that would show up again, Chekhov's gun eh?". Nevertheless, it's a great book and I'd definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 30134/35000 Pages

103. Snuff by Terry Pratchett



After the last few Discworld books (Making Money and Unseen Academicals especially) I was a bit worried that Pratchett's writing ability was suffering from his illness, but this is probably one of my favorite Discworld novels yet. I love Sam Vimes as a character and it's just great to see how the Discworld is slowly evolving. I just checked this thread and apparently this is the first Pratchett book I've read this year, so I'll probably throw one or two in, perhaps over the holidays...

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 30550/35000 Pages

104. The Way of the Wizard by John Joseph Adams



A collection of 30 stories about wizards, some new, some reprinted. There are some of the fantasy greats among the authors (George R. R. Martin, Ursula K. LeGuin, Robert Silverberg, Neil Gaiman...) but some new writers too. The stories are pretty mixed, both in quality and the way they approach the subject. Definitely worth the 5 bucks for the eBook version, although the book wouldn't have suffered much if it was trimmed down to about 20 stories.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 31027/35000 Pages

Sadly I didn't get much reading done over the last two months, due to being busy at school and other distractions getting in the way (Skyrim...). I doubt that I'll get to 35000 pages, but at least I reached my original goal.

105. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie



Perhaps even grittier/bloodier than the First Law trilogy I read earlier this year. In my opinion Abercrombie's character driven style worked a lot better here, because things are happening on a smaller scale in this book. Instead of a huge war that could change the fate of the world, Best Served Cold is about a mercenary leader trying to get revenge on the people who murdered her brother and tried to kill her as well. The only thing that kept me from fully enjoying the book is its utter bleakness. There really wasn't a point where I thought that a "happy" ending of any kind was really possible. It's really hard to empathize with any of the characters, however interesting they may be. This book is about the futility of revenge and how it transforms people into the very thing they hate. I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't fazed by graphic descriptions of torture, cannibalism, poisoning... and is looking for a book that is almost impossible to put down once you've started.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 31939/35000 Pages

106. The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton



Ok, I've read several Star Wars tie-in novels this year and none of them were among the best books I've ever read. However, I still enjoyed them. This book on the other hand is among the worst reads I remember. I only finished it out of sheer bloody-mindedness. Bad dialogue, a laughable plot, a complete lack of understanding of the Star Wars universe, the characters act completely differently than in the movies/other books... This book is worse than Jar-Jar Binks.

Rating: 1 Stars
Read: 32323/35000 Pages

107. Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Palin



I rewatched a couple of Monty Python episodes over the last weeks, and somehow came across this book while searching for Graham Chapman's autobiography. It's a recreation of the journey described by Jules Verne. The whole thing took place in 1988 and was filmed for a BBC series, with Palin being banned from using air travel, because that would be too easy. The book is basically a diary, with a lot of interesting anecdotes. Fun read.

Rating: 4 Stars
Read: 32611/35000 Pages

108. Toast by Charles Stross



Stross' first published work, a collection of short stories written between the late eighties and 2000. Because most of them are near future SF, some of them are of course hopelessly outdated. A bigger problem for me was the amount of "technobabble" that anybody without a maths/physics/computer science background probably wouldn't be able to decipher. Some of the stories are still good, "Big Brother Iron" is a nice take on 1984 and "Extracts from the Club Diary" is very funny. "Antibodies" and "Bear Trap" are also good. The eBook is available for free on Stross' website.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 32869/35000 Pages

109. God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens



I finished this book only a few days before Hitchens' death. I already agreed with most of what Hitchens has to say about religious belief, so he was (ahem) preaching to the choir here. The book is excellently written and Hitchens makes his case very eloquently. Compared to The God Delusion, Hitchens argues more from a philosophical standpoint, drawing from history, instead of taking a fully science-based approach. He also manages not to come of as smug and arrogant as Richard Dawkins.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 33205/35000 Pages

I finished a few books I was about halfway through in the last days, to try and get at least a bit closer to my goal.

110. Do You Think You're Clever? by John Farndon



The book tries to provide answers to questions that are commonly asked during the entrance exams at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, like "Why is there salt in the sea?", "Why isn't there a global government?" or "Do you think you're clever?". Entertaining, but I wasn't overly impressed.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 33429/35000 Pages

111. Der Bierzauberer by Günter Thömmes



A historical novel set in 13th century Germany. The main character is a brewer and there is a lot of interesting stuff about the history of beer in here, it certainly helps that the author is a brewer himself and knows what he's talking about. The novel is based on a book the author found, written by the main character himself, but Thömmes added some elements as well. And those sadly detract from my overall enjoyment of the book, because the protagonist's rival just doesn't work. It never really becomes clear why he hates him so much and tries to destroy his life's work. My main problem with historical fiction is often that I can never be quite sure how historically accurate the book is and if there is one definite mistake, I'm likely to question the author's knowledge of his topic. In this case, I think it's quite unlikely that a 11 year-old in Germany, around 1270, would claim that some herb reminded him of eucalyptus, a plant that wasn't introduced to Europe until a few centuries later.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: 33803/35000 Pages

112. Verrat auf See by Ingvar Ambjornsen



Somehow this book was better when I first read it at 14... now the characters feel one-dimensional, the plot cliché and the dialogue just ridiculous.

Rating: 2 Stars
Read: 33991/35000 Pages

113. The English at the North Pole by Jules Verne



I started reading Verne earlier this year, but somehow stopped about halfway through this book because I was distracted by other books. This novel is a lot better than Five Weeks in a Balloon (there is certainly a lot less racism), and I'm determined to continue with Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Read: 34355/35000 Pages

114. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman



Neil Gaiman is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors. While American Gods is still my favorite book of his, I enjoyed the story of Nobody Owens a lot. It also made me realise that I never read Kipling's Jungle Book, something I'm definitely going to change.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Read: 34691/35000

Probably my last book of the year, unless I unexpectedly get sick and have to spend New Year's Eve in bed like last year, which I'm not hoping for. So close to my goal *sigh*