archerygirl tries to tame Mount TBR in 2011 (part 2)

Previous thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104810

This is the 2011 list. I won't be putting Touchstones in this post - those will be found in the thread with my thoughts on the books. Reviews for books 1 to 52 can be found in the previous threads.

I'm aiming to tackle a reasonable number of the books on Mount TBR this year and hopefully get a fair few things ticked off the wishlist. I'm also planning to do the Austen-along (maybe this will be the year that I get through the whole of Mansfield Park?) and get a few other classics under my belt.

Everyone can point and laugh at me in December 2011 when Mount TBR is higher than ever and my wishlist has quadrupled.

1. A Suitable Vengeance - Elizabeth George
2. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
3. Daughter of Time - Joshephine Tey
4. Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
5. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (January 2011)
6. The Sleeping Beauty - Mercedes Lackey
7. The Alchemyst - Michael Scott
8. The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson
9. Septimus Heap Book One: Magyk - Angie Sage
10. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (Feburary 2011)
11. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
12. Cotillion - Georgette Heyer
13. Soulless - Gail Carriger
14. From Doon With Death - Ruth Rendell
15. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
16. Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
17. Terrier: The Legend of Beka Cooper book 1 - Tamora Pierce
18. Changeless - Gail Carriger
19. To Say Nothing Of The Dog - Connie Willis
20. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (March 2011)
21. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
22. Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
23. Blameless - Gail Carriger
24. Foundation: Intrigues - Mercedes Lackey
25. Mistborn: The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
26. For the Sake of Elena - Elizabeth George
27. The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation - Ian Mortimer
28. Declare - Tim Powers
29. Archer's Goon - Diana Wynne Jones
30. Logopolis - Christopher H. Bidmead
31. Dancing Shoes - Noel Streatfield
32. Rivers of London/Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovitch
33. Sea Glass - Maria V. Snyder
34. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (April/May 2011)
35. Generosity - Richard Powers
36. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
37. The Exploits of the Chalet School - Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
38. Rosemary and Rue - Seannan McGuire
39. Joey and Co. in the Tirol - Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
40. Jo Returns to the Chalet School - Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
41. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (June 2011)
42. Pheonix and Ashes - Mercedes Lackey
43. Firerose - Mercedes Lackey
44. Tortall and other lands - Tamora Pierce
45. Heartless - Gail Carriger
46. Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch
47. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (July 2011)
48. Unnatural Issue - Mercedes Lackey
49. Bloodhound - Tamora Pierce
50. Tongues of Serpents - Naomi Novik
51. Maise Dobbs - Jacqueline Winspear
52. The Last Dragonlord - Joanne Bertin
53. Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear
54. Dissolution - C J Sansom
55. The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole
56. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (August 2011)
57. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent - Galen Beckett
58. Hospital Sketches - Louise May Alcott
59. The Children of Green Knowe - Lucy M. Boston
60. Witch Week - Diana Wynne Jones
61. Perdito Street Station - China Mieville
62. Ash - Melinda Lao
63. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
64. Missing Joseph - Elizabeth George
65. Changes - Mercedes Lackey
66. Blackout - Connie Willis
67. All Clear - Connie Willis
68. Charmed Life - Diana Wynne Jones
69. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (September 2011)
70. Fables: Legends in Exile - Bill Willingham (Vertigo)
71. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (October/November 2011)
72. The Curse of Fenric - Ian Briggs
73. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
74. Point One: Issue #1 (Marvel)
75. Dark Fire - C J Sansom
76. Thud! - Terry Pratchett
77. Book Smart - Jimmy Palmiotti (Kickstart)
78. Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
79. Virals - Kathy Reichs
80. Mastiff - Tamora Pierce
81. Batgirl Issues 1-4 - Gail Simone (DC New 52)
82. Persuasion - Jane Austen
83. Astonishing X-Men Vol 3. Issues 1-6 - Joss Whedon and John Cassady
84. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

I've managed to finish several things over the last couple of weeks without finding time to review them, so here they are:

53. Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear
Having enjoyed the first book so much, I had to buy the next book immediately and I wasn't disappointed. Now that we know the main characters and the set-up, the book focused much more on the mystery and it was a more detailed, nuanced mystery this time. It harked back to World War I again but this time on one of the lesser known aspects and it shows just how complicated the entire thing was. There was also a bit more about Billy and his backstory, which I enjoyed, and Maisie is growing into a lovely, well-rounded character. This is definitely a series that I'll be continuing.

54. Dissolution - C J Sansom
Another 75 books recommendation, this was an excellent book that combined the mystery and the historical fiction beautifully. It's set during the early stages of the dissolution of the monasteries, with Cromwell sending a lawyer to act as his commissioner and investigate a death at one of the monasteries that he's trying to close. The main character, Shardlake, was one that I initially wasn't sure that I would like but he grew and learned through the book and now I'm going to be very happy to meet him again in the next one. The other characters were well-drawn and the solution to the mystery was one that I wouldn't have guessed, even though the clues were there. Nicely done! The politics of the time - and the way Shardlake works around them - added an extra depth to the novel and I found it completely gripping.

55. The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole
This was read in preparation for reading Northanger Abbey next month. It was recommended for containing all the important gothic cliches and being short. I'm very glad that it was short because it was convoluted, insane and very hard to take seriously. I can definitely see why Jane Austen found the gothic novel so ripe for mockery and it gives me a much better understanding of how silly Catherine would have been to be so addicted to them!

56. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (August 2011)
Two stories stood out for me in this issue. 'Corn Teeth' by Melanie Tem was very weird and quite disturbing. At the other end of the spectrum, "Paradise is a Walled Garden' by Lisa Goldstein was a steampunk story with a difference: it was set during Elizabeth I's reign (rather than Victoria's as so many are) and a large part of the action took place in a Moorish Spain that had lasted longer than the real Moorish Spain did. The author created a world that I'd love to see more of and she thought through the impact of steam technology at that point in history really well. Her characters were vivid and I was left both satisfied and wanting more. None of the stories in this issues were really duds, but those were the two that have stayed with me.

Checking in. . .

Got you starred. Good reading!

Dropping off a star. Your recent gothic novel read makes me want to push the Ann Radcliffe novels I have on the TBR list further up. Glad you enjoyed Walpole and I look forward to your thoughts on Northanger Abbey.

Hello! Just stopping by to let you know I've been quietly lurking all this time, and will continue to do so. Cue the creepy music. :)

#3> Hello!

#4> Hi! I'm having a good reading year :-)

#5> I think it was more than I found the Walpole vastly entertaining (in a 'laughing at it' way) and surreal and now understand why Austen found those novels so ripe for commentary. I'm looking forward to reading Nothanger Abbey now and it feels like I'll understand it better. Not sure that I can cope with another gothic, though!

#6> I feel like there needs to be maniacal laughter somewhere in your comment :-D

I finished one last book in August. I also learned that when reading for five hours straight after work, it's a good idea to order the pizza at the end of hour one (when you think of it) rather than the end of hour three. The pizza will not arrive until hour 4.25 and you'll have a dreadful headache from all that reading and not eating anything for a number of hours.

Also, I need to remind myself that it's not always a bad thing to order pizza so I have more time to read and finish a particularly gripping book!

57. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent - Galen Beckett
This was one that I've had on my wishlist for a while. The reviews that I've seen have been mixed, with some people rather 'meh' about it and others loving it. I'm firmly in the loving it camp! Describing it is difficult. The book is split into three sections. The first was rather Austen-esque, with maybe hints of Heyer, and lots of hints at the background plot and magic but nothing overt. The middle section reminded me a great deal of both Jane Eyre and The Turn of the Screw, but this time the magic was a much more central part of the plot. It was spooky, haunting and completely compelling. The final section is back to being a little Austen-esque, but it concentrated much more on the magic and the plot and the conclusion to everything that the book had been building up to. I was left with the satisfied feeling of a good book and some intrigue about the things that had not been tied up and will hopefully be addressed in the next book. It was an unusual book, combining elements of other books and familiar tropes in a new way that I thought was quite creative and a bit unusual. I will definitely be getting the next one!

I have also finished the first book of September a few minutes ago. Now onto Perdito Street Station! My reading habits are a wee bit eclectic, yes.

58. Hospital Sketches - Louise May Alcott
I think this one may have come from alcottacre's thread. It's a fairly short book about Alcott's experiences as a civil war nurse. The tales are told in bright, lively way and the various patients are described beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

#8: I was one of those in the 'meh' camp on The Magicians and Mrs. Quent. I am glad to see that you loved it, Kathy.

Glad to see that you enjoyed Hospital Sketches too.

#9> I could definitely see why opinions were so mixed on Magicians! It wouldn't suit everyone and I think that I was in just the right mood to enjoy it. If I'd been in a different mood, I might not have been so enthralled.

Hospital Sketches was lovely and I'm glad that I knew to look for it :-)

I liked The Magicians and Mrs. Quent more the second time I read it--I think my expectations were different--in preparation for The House on Durrow Street, which I actually liked better!

#12> Sounds like I'm going to enjoy The House on Durrow Street!

Two more books finished, both from my large stack of second hand children's books and both definite successes.

59. The Children of Green Knowe - Lucy M. Boston
Sweet, charming and quite enchanting. It's not got a big, important central plot and it's hard to know what to say without giving a lot of it away. This is a children's book from the fifties with quite a young protagonist. It has that slightly misty feel of a lot of magical books from that time, with the magic never made explicit, and there was a bit of the atmosphere of Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series. I thoroughly enjoyed it although it didn't have the "cant put it down" pull of many books.

60. Witch Week - Diana Wynne Jones
I suspect that I should have read this before Charmed Life, but everything made sense and I didn't feel that I'd missed something major so I'll look forward to reading Charmed Life in a week or two :-) This was so compelling that I read most of it in a marathon session ended only when my back complained that I'd been sitting too long. It was terrific. The boarding school was beautifully drawn, the characters were vivid and engaging, the plot threads were addictive and the final resolution was absolutely perfect. Possibly I wouldn't have quite 'got' Chrestomanci if I hadn't previously read a Chrestomanci book (The Magicians of Caprona) so I wouldn't pitch this as the right intro book to this series, but I loved it to pieces. Highly recommended.

I adore Diana Wynne Jones and the Chrestomanci series is probably my favorite of hers - I look forward to seeing what you think of Charmed Life! Do you have plans to read The Lives of Christopher Chant, too? Hint: you should. I brought my dual copy to school with me and now you're tempting me to reread them...

#13> It's on my list :-)

I'm starting to fear that Perdito Street Station will never end. It's good and I'm enjoying it a lot, but it's thinky and thus slow going at times and OMG it never ends!

For all Lackey fans, the final part of the Collegium Chronicles (Changes), has just come out. It's on its way to me, although I've ordered my mother to confiscate it until my vacation (two weeks!) so that I can appreciate it properly by spending an entire day just reading it.

I just read Intrigues because the hardcover at the Borders closing sale was cheaper than the paperback will be, but I fear I will have to wait until the library gets Changes.

Definitely read both Charmed Life (my first Chrestomanci) and The Lives of Christopher Chant, which fills in Chrestomanci's life and character a lot. Don't overlook Conrad's Fate and The Pinhoe Egg either, although they should come after the other two.

Oops, it's been a month since I last popped in here. Not because I'm not reading, more because I got stuck on a review.

These are the last couple of books that I read in September and Perdido Street took me over 2 weeks, so September was rather a sparse month for books.

61. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
It's taken me a long time to write down my thoughts on this one. I think that is because this is a difficult book, both to read and describer, and I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it. The story is only tangentially about the station in the title, instead it is a huge, complex novel with the station as the centre of the city it is set in. There are so many ideas in this book that it can be a bit overwhelming, which may be a large part of why it took me so long to read and why I'm still a bit conflicted. I found myself either liking or loathing all the characters - it was hard to be indifferent - and they all had their flaws. Combining the ideas, multiple plot threads and characters with writing that pulled up some vivid and often disturbing imagery makes this a difficult book. While I am still conflicted over how I feel about it, I can say that I don't regret reading it and I'm probably going to need to read it again (in a few years!) to really pull everything out of it.

62. Ash - Melinda Lao
This was a bit of a palate-cleanser from Perdido Street. It is a Cinderella re-telling with a difference - the titular Ash falls for the King's beautiful Huntress rather than the Prince. The story is lovely and has some interesting ideas in addition to the romance. There is another book out there - a prequel called Huntress - that many people tell me is better than Ash so I may need to hunt it down.

So far, October has been an excellent months for books. Having a week of vacation in the middle helped a lot and I saved a couple of books specially so that I could have some good stuff to read and some uninterrupted time with things that I knew would need that time :-)

63. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
Read as part of the 75 books Austenathon challenge. We were recommended to read a gothic before reading this (I read the Castle of Otranto) and I think the exposure to that genre made Northanger even funnier. Austen is not as subtle in her with and humour here as she is in later books like Pride and Prejudice, but it is a very funny book. The writing style lacked a bit of maturity so I can easily believe that this is her first completed novel. The central heroine, Catherine, is naive and innocent, but not as foolish as the TV adaptations I've seen often portray her. The various villains of the pieces (male and female) are cads in the extreme and felt, to me, like early, rough sketches of characters that Austen worked much better in her later novels. Overall, a fun novel that I thoroughly enjoyed and will read again but not Austen at her best.

64. Missing Joseph - Elizabeth George
I needed something a tiny bit mindless on my Kindle to recover from the Mieville and this fit the bill nicely. It's an Inspector Lynley mystery set in the snowy north filled with poisonous plants, secrets, betrayals and village secrets. So, a fairly typical entry. The mystery plot is neatly counter-pointed by Deborah and St. James' storyline and Havers (and Lynley to a degree) have their personal stories pushed largely to the background. Not one of the best in the series, but a solid book and nicely diverting.

65. Collegium Chronicles: Changes - Mercedes Lackey
I have been really enjoying the Collegium series and this is a terrific book in that sequence. Mags' growing maturity is shining through and it's great to see the other characters fleshed out more. There was a suitable amount of action, espionage and adventure and hints at a much wider plot going on that we are just seeing the edges of. Lackey usually writes trilogies so I suspect that this may be the last book in the Collegium series. I wouldn't mind another chance to see these characters, though, and I really hope that Lackey continues to write in this era of her Valdemar world so that I can see how that wider plot develops.

66. Blackout - Connie Willis
I'd been saving this one (and it's second part) for my vacation and I'm glad that I treated it as something special. I've loved the Oxford Time Travel books and they'll definitely be on my list of top 2011 reads. This one is largely set in, around and through WWII. One of the aspects that I've really enjoyed is seeing the Blitz through the eyes of historians who know about it from their research, but are experiencing the reality of it and the every day life away from the iconic photos. Willis creates terrific characters that you engage with and become attached to, which gives this book an added tension: will a character that I adore make it through? Not necessarily. Previous books have mentioned the theories and ideas behind time-travel, but that aspect has never been a big part of the books except where slippage causes issues for our heroes. This seems to be the series where Willis addresses that and she does it in a creative and fascinating way. The book ended on a cliff-hanger that made me grateful to be able to immediately dive into the second part.

Really great list of books. So glad you like Northanger Abbey (I have a big soft spot for it). And I'm happy to hear yet more praise of Blackout which is hanging out on the TBR list but which I have yet to get around to.

Looks like it HAS been a good month for reading! I just read Intrigues--a library copy. I've given up on buying Lackey in hard cover. But I am enjoying this trilogy. I just have to wait until the library gets the newest one.

Woo hoo! If you loved Blackout, you cannot believe how much you are going to adore All Clear!

#19> You should get round to Blackout pronto - it's brilliant :-)

#20> The Collegium books are very good and you'll love the latest one. I'm most of the way through All Clear and loving it even more than Blackout, if that's possible. October is proving to be excellent - I've also just picked up Charmed Life and it's wonderful. I must get my hands on The Lives of Christopher Chant soon.

I'm most of the way through All Clear and loving it even more than Blackout, if that's possible.

What did I say!

It's the last day of the month and I'm not likely to finish my current reads today, so here are the rest of the October books:

67. All Clear - Connie Willis
This is the second part of the story begun in Blackout and it is even better than the first part. Willis creates plenty of tension and there are several points where it looks like our characters could be rescued but something unexpected happens each time to prevent it. It was fascinating to see how each character adapts to their situation, the way they grow from naive historians into whatever is needed to survive the war. I was genuinely attached to them all so there are some heart-wrenching parts to this book, but at the same time I ended it with a huge smile and a deep sense of satisfaction. The resolution to everything was not what I had expected and I found that I liked the ending that Willis wrote far better than anything I could have imagined. This is a wonderful set of books that I’d recommend to anyone.

68. Charmed Life - Diana Wynne Jones
DWJ writes such compelling books that I consumed this in a couple of days. This is another Chrestomanci book and it gives a bit of information about Chrestomanci, while leaving me itching to read more books and learn more. The characters are vivid, with a couple that you absolutely loathe and the rest more subtle: they’re likable, but flawed, and thus more real than the a character like Gwendolyn who is pure nastiness. There is enough sophistication of ideas amidst the adventure and magic to keep adults and kids alike interested. Fabulous.

69. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (September 2011)
I knew that there would be a dud issue at some stage and this appears to be it. In previous editions there have been one or two stand-out short stories even in issues where the longer stories are uninteresting, but none of the stories in this issue really grabbed me. There were a couple of stories that I couldn’t finish, a couple that left a sour taste in my mouth and the rest were rather blah. A rather forgettable issue.

A friend showed me the ways of digital comics and I appear to be getting addicted. I've been trying to figure out what I want to classify as a 'book' for this purpose and I think that I'll be counting a volume that contains one story over several issues as a book.

And if there are things out there that aren't formatted that way (some of the DC New 52), then every five or six issues I'll count as a book. And on that note...

70. Fables: Legends in Exile - Bill Willingham (Vertigo)
I expressed an interest in the new ABC show Once Upon a Time and a friend recommended this comic/graphic novel series because the show sounded rather similar to it. The TV show is actually nothing like Fables (although I enjoyed it a lot) and I’m very happy that my friend recommended this one. It seems to have triggered a latent interest in comics (my poor iPod is doing its best and will probably happy to turn this duty over to the iPad when I get it) but the first volume of Fables is the first thing that I’ve actually collected and finished. The idea of fairy tale characters in exile in our world is not original, but the way that it’s written is unique and I already feel attached to the characters. Willingham created an intro story that gives us just enough information on the backstory to grab the reader’s interest without revealing everything. The main plot, about the murder of Snow White’s sister, is an interesting police procedural and it left enough hanging threads and unanswered questions to guarantee that I will be returning for more.

I forgot to do the Q3 round up at the end of September. Oops! So, here we go:

Books acquired in July - September 2011

Total: 15
Dead tree: 1
Kindle: 14
Magazine (Kindle): 3

Books read/books bought: 8/15

Read in July - September 2011

Total: 19
Purchased pre-2011: 2
Purchased in 2011: 16
Borrowed: 1
Kindle: 12
Dead tree: 6

Mount TBR: 128 (previously 133)
Kindle to be read collection: 22 (previously 20)

That's actually better than I expected. Mount TBR shrunk, I read more than expected despite what felt like some slow months and I read more than half the books that entered my house. So good!

Now, next goal is to have Mount TBR under 125 by the end of the year. That may be doable. It is at 128 today and if I can read as more books than I receive for birthday and Christmas, it might happen.

First finished book of the month! After my disappointment with September's Asimov's, it was a relief that the double issue was much better.

71. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (October/November 2011)
This was a double-issue so there were a couple of longer novellas, a couple of novelettes, and six short stories. Happily, none of them were duds and most of them were thoroughly enjoyable. There was a spooky theme to several of the short stories - a couple were downright creepy - which was appropriate to the season. The novelettes were both a bit weird and thoroughly compelling. It was the novellas that really captured me. They were quite different: the first was thoroughly sci-fi and the second more fantasy. They were both a mixture of adventure and thoughtful consideration of an idea and they were definitely worth the subscription on their own. Good issue.

Connie Willis is writing the novella (a Christmas story) in December's issue. I've got that on my Kindle already. I'm going to try to resist it until December but...

Is the Connie Willis Christmas story a new one or one from her Christmas short story collection?

#27> According to the Asimov's website, it's a new one written for this issue :-)

Cool, I'll look for that issue. Thanks.

I have a feeling this may end up being my favourite issue of the year.

Connie Willis has certainly been my favourite discovery of the year :-D

Connie Willis is one of my favorite authors and Doomsday Book is on my Top 10 books of all time list. There are people in my book group who re-read that book every Christmas. I'm planning on joining in next year.

#31> Doomsday Book has rather a Christmassy feel despite the plagues and so on. I'm going to be very tempted to go for a re-read of it!

Another book finished!

Now I need a bit of comfort reading to recover from the last couple of creepy reads, so I've picked up a new-to-me Agatha Christie :-)

72. The Curse of Fenric - Ian Briggs
This is the novelisation of one of the Seventh Doctor adventures and it is a complex story with an overtone of horror and some wonderful hints at how Ace’s storyline might have gone if the series had not been cancelled. One of the things that I love about the Target novelisations is that most of them are done by the writers of the scripts and they were allowed to elaborate on their scripts. Gaps are filled in, explanations are given that were hard to do in a TV script, and the story is allowed to really flow into what the author intended which is often a much richer, more complete story that we see on the screen. This is one of my favourite Seventh Doctor stories, although it is also one of the most disturbing, involving ancient evil, code breaking and espionage set in England in 1943. It helps to have a familiarity with the Doctor and Ace, but it is not one where you need to have watched the episode in order to understand the story or see it in your head. For me, it added depth to a story that was sometimes confusing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

More books! Well, and a comic. Hmm.

73. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
As a big Christie fan, I should probably have read this, her masterwork, years ago. In my defence I prefer Miss Marple over Poirot and that is why it has taken me so long to get to this one. It is incredibly clever, filled with characters you quickly become fond of and Poirot is really at his best. One of the things that I enjoy about Agatha Christie is that the characters feel quite real as you read them and, unlike some more modern mystery writers, there are always some sympathetic characters to be invested in. The final revelation of who the murderer is provides a wonderful shock because, although the information is there, it is really impossible to work it out before Poirot does. This is not my favourite of Christie’s books (see my Marple preference) but it is quite brilliant and I can see why it is regarded as one of her best.

74. Point One: Issue #1 (Marvel)
This is, apparently, the serial that is setting up the Marvel re-boot. With so much backstory in all their lines, I have found it difficult to jump in with any of the serials and really understand them so I’m looking forward to the re-boot and the chance to start again with lines like X-Men and Spiderman. Point One is formatted as several stories from different Marvel lines with a framing story about them. In this first issue there is a quick potted history, an unsubtle info-dump, at the beginning of each ‘thread’ so it’s not impossible to pick up each one. I had preferences: the Scarlet Spiderman and the Avengers threads are both quite compelling. The artwork is good, although some of the DC New 52 lines are much better, and I am looking forward to seeing where this serial goes.

Now I'm finally starting Thud! and I'm halfway through Dark Fire, which is proving to be hard to put down.

I'm currently very tired, thanks to the return of the horrible back pain, but I'm noticing that I stay awake while reading comics far better than while reading black and white print. I wonder why that is?

Hive mind of 75 book-ers! I need help!

My dad is reading The Daughter of Time (I might have raved about it to him so he wanted to try it) and he's really enjoying it, but he's realising that he has some fairly big gaps in his knowledge of history. Mostly about who is who, who is descended from who, and why everything happened and what led to Richard III taking the throne.

So, er, the key stuff really.

I've read a couple of texts on the Wars of the Roses and the lead-up to it, but one is rather academic (probably not suitable) and the other is by Alison Weir and although it is very readable, I felt that she was a bit more biased in her writing that I was comfortable with.

Can anyone recommend me an accessible book on the subject, preferably with a decent amount about the period leading up to the first king-swapping, that is fairly neutral in its outlook? I'm thinking Christmas present for Dad :-)

My library has inundated me with books! My reading plans are awry!

Their hold list lied to me and books that I thought had a bit of a waiting list...er...didn't.

I'm determined to finish Thud! within the next day or two (and Mastiff will stay as my Kindle book) and then all reading energies will be focused on reading my library book mountain.

This did not stop me dedicating most of yesterday to setting up my gorgeous new iPad and re-reading some comics on it so that I could see how beautiful they look on the screen.

When the library backlog is gone, I'll be able to start reading Sandman :-)

#35 - When my book club read Daughter of Time these were the other books on the subject that were recommended:
The Princes in the Tower - Alison Weir
Royal Blood - Bertram Fields
The Mystery of the Princes - Audrey Williamson
To Prove a Villian- Taylor Littleton

I've read the Alison Weir, but the others are unfamiliar - I'll take a look. Thank you!

Can't help with the Richard III history, but hope you are enjoying Thud!. I think the Vimes books are my favorite of the Discworld books, although DEATH is close behind (with Susan). And I enjoyed Mastiff too, so good reading!

The Bertram Fields book looks like a good option - the reviews indicate that it's relatively unbiased and provides a good intro to the subject which is what I was looking for.

I've thoroughly enjoyed Thud so I'll be reviewing that shortly and now I'm making a start on the library pile. Mastiff is wonderful :-)

I'm definitely experiencing the 'too many good books, not enought time' problem right now!

Finally got reviews written for the last couple of books! And I'm now buried in the first of my library mountain, Anna and the French Kiss.

75. Dark Fire - C J Sansom
This is the second in Sanson's series about Matthew Sharlake, this time set a few years after Dissolution during the final days of Thomas Cromwell's time as Henry VIII's chief chancellor. As with the previous book, there is a good mix of politics along with this mystery and Shardlake is a character that the reader quickly becomes attached to. A new assistant is assigned to him and I have high hopes for future books with him. There are two mysteries for Shardlake to solve and refreshingly they do not turn out to haves linked resolutions. Their only link is that Cromwell uses one to force Shardlake to investigate the other. Both the murder and the search for Darkfire from the title are fascinating and I found myself gripped throughout the novel. Highly recommended.

76. Thud! - Terry Pratchett
It's Pratchett and it's a Vimes book, so it was always going to be a strong entry for me. There are racial tensions between dwarves and trolls, international politics, and a little boy who needs his bedtime story all combining to make a great story. I can't decide which cultures the dwarves and the trolls are metaphors for but the final resolution of that story is quite insane and brilliant. Possibly one of my favourite bits was most of the Watch helping Vimes to read that children's classic "Where's my cow" to Young Sam at one point. Pratchett's humour is on fine form and the culture he has built up in the Watch series is so rich now that each visit is a treat.

Felicitations on reaching the magic number! Look forward to your thoughts on Anna and the French Kiss as it's hanging out on my TBR LIST.

Thank you! It's nice to get that far with time to spare :-) And most of them have been terrific.

So far, I'm enjoying Anna more than I expected. It's definitely teen lit, but nicely written and a bit smarter than your average teen book. I'm less than a quarter of the way through and it's shaping up nicely already.

Woo hoo! Congratulations on passing the 75 book mark!

Congrats!

#44> Thank you!

#45> Thank you!

Had an exhausting day yesterday at the rheumatologist (possibly early stage ankylosing spondylitis, waiting on x-rays) so I took out some frustrations by killing trolls on my new iPad and then curling up with a graphic novel on the iPad as well. Love my new toy :-)

77. Book Smart - Jimmy Palmiotti (Kickstart)
This is one of the first comics that I bought and I waited until I had my iPad to read it because it’s a fairly decent length - much too long to read on an iPod! The preview looked interesting: woman hiking in the Himalayas, guides attack her as she finds a mysterious doorway and she temporarily looses her memory but retains muscle-memory for interesting fighting skills. The search for what happened to her and why she keeps getting attacked by criminals was quite interesting and it was a fun book, but it petered out slightly towards the end and there was a very cliche romance to it. Not one to rush out and buy, but fun if you spot it at a library.

>41 archerygirl: archiegirl, I have all the Shardlake books and I have recently finished listening to the audio version of Dark Fire which is absolutely brilliant. The reader, Christian Rodska, is superb. He provides a voice for each of the characters, which he maintains throughout the book, which is a marvel to me. He enhances an already brilliant book. I thoroughly recommend both. I love the character of Barak, and I am happy that Sansom uses him as Shardlake's assistant in the subsequent books.

Alan/TT

#47> That sounds like some audiobooks I might need to look for! I'd been hoping that Barak would be kept as Shardlake's assistant: it was the implication at the end and he's a character that I thought had a lot of depth to explore.

Total excitement in Archerygirl Towers today - the BBC has launched the iPlayer for iPads in Canada. Woo!

The line-up of what they're making available even includes Holby City. Much dancing ensued.

Now I've got a long, painful wait for work to finish so that I can go home and get my iPad working on some lovely BBC things. Argh!

My plans to spend the weekend buried in library books may get slightly derailed...

>Archerygirl, good choice, I only ever watch BBC I-player, it's all anyone needs!

Alan/TT

I watch a few American shows, but a large percentage of what I watch is BBC stuff (thank you, library loans and Netflix) and the BBC is one of the few things that I missed when I left England.

It's not that it's been impossible to get some of the things that I watch, but it's been impossible to do it legally. Now I can pay a subscription and it looks like most of the things that I'd been 'acquiring' plus the stuff I'd been watching through library/Netflix will be right there on my iPad.

Very, very exciting.

Looks like it's time to think about getting the HDMI adaptor to hook the iPad up to the TV. Although curling up in bed with Newsnight and Holby has its appeal...

I have a book to review Anna and the French Kiss, which I will try to do at the weekend.

Firstly, though, I shall recommend people not to read Virals unless you find it in the library and are looking for a book of meh.

I'm finishing the dratted thing so that I can take it back to the library on Saturday, but wow. Very meh. Don't hate it, don't love it, but am looking forward to leaving the very 2D characters and predictable plot behind.

Virals got its revenge on me - I dislocated a rib when I was putting it into the returns thingy at the library. Argh. Stupid hypermobile joints.

Now I am finishing Mastiff and I plan to get Persuasion started at the weekend. I've got the whole of Christmas/New Year off this year, so there should be a wee bit of reading.

Er, and a fair bit of TV. So far I have DVD box-sets at the ready of:

Fringe season 2
Deep Space Nine seasons 2 and 3
Lewis season 3
Big Bang Theory seasons 1 and 2

There is a possibility that more will arrive on Christmas morning (new Doctor Who!). And I have Netflix and Global BBC iPlayer to play with as well. I'm doing a Buffy re-watch on Netflix, including the really bad ones, so I have Inca Mummy Girl to watch tonight.

I really must remember to do some knitting while I watch TV, to feel a little less lazy. It's so tempting to just curl up with the kitties...

Anyway, books!

78. Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins(?)
This was raved about in various 75 books threads this year so I had to put it on the hold list at the library. My main issue with YA romance is that the kids in them are, in my opinion, far too young to be putting their entire lives and hopes into a high school romance and so it feels unrealistic. The thing that I really enjoyed about this book is that there is a lot more meat to it than a temporary crush: the characters have plots that force them to grow and mature in a more realistic way and the romance storyline is nicely handled with no over-blown future plan, but a nice sense of hope at the end. The characters feel ‘real’, being likable but flawed and never going into territories where I wanted to slap them even when things aren’t going well. I enjoyed this one a lot.

79. Virals - Kathy Reichs
I found this book a bit of a slog. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not a good book either. My reaction to it was very much ‘meh’ and I only finished it out of an inability to abandon anything except utter dross. The characters were very 2D and the plot was nothing that I haven’t seen in other places, often done slightly better. It felt like the author was having to make a conscious effort to stay within the parameters of a YA novel so the characters vacillated between overly adult and overly pop cultured teens. Reichs is a writer that I enjoy when she is writing for adults, but her YA stuff isn’t working for me.

Watching TV isn't lazy. It's engaging with narratives in a different (serialized) medium. :)

That would be more convincing if I was watching adaptations of books...

:-D

I am looking forward to my DS9 re-watch (S1 won't arrive until after Christmas *gnashes teeth*) because I never got to see the final season due to scheduling.

Believe me, I'm a librarian. :)

Gaaaargh! *runs around like headless chicken* Why am I panicking? Why won't mince pies make themselves?

Where the heck is the base of the Christmas tree?

This is what happens when I over-book my day. Eeeep!

Just saw the Hobbit trailer - doesn't it look amazing?

I suspect that I'm adding a Hobbit re-read to my 2012 plans. These would be the 2012 plans that are already at least 10 books long...

It looks SO good! I might add a Hobbit reread to my plans for the next week... I won't have time once I go back to school! Plus I don't want to take my nice big hardcover on any planes. We'll see.

When is the Hobbit movie due out? I'm glad for you to get access to all that BBC programming and know what you mean about watching TV--I'd been crocheting like crazy while watching TV to get my Christmas gifts done. Good reading and happy holidays! Don't let the mince pies get to you.

#59> I'm trying to remember when I last read The Hobbit - it may have been in my teens. Eeep! The trailer looks amazing. And yup, I wouldn't want to be carting big hardcovers onto planes either.

#60> December 14, 2012. It's going to be such an incredibly long wait.

The BBC is one of the few things that I miss about England. While the iPlayer doesn't give me everything, it does fill a big gap so I'm very happy :-) It's amazing how much TV you watch when there is serious crafting to do!

Happy holidays! I have lots of mince pies and yummy stuff to accompany my Christmas TV and reading marathons. Hope you have a terrific time :-)

Merry Christmas, arecherygirl!

That's beautiful! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Belated Happy Christmas everyone!

I'm currently using the final readathon of the year as a way to finish Persuasion (I hope) although I'm feeling rather sleepy. Oops!

There are two other book reviews to go up so overall 2011 has been a good year for books.

OK, reviews for the last batch of books for 2011 and they were all terrific :-)

80. Mastiff - Tamora Pierce
This is the final part in Pierce's trilogy about Bekah Cooper, an ancestor of George Cooper. As befits the final part, the story in this one is the biggest yet and, I suspect, the hardest one that Bekah will face in her career. There is political intrigue, personal heartbreak and nothing is ever quite as it seems. I loved the new characters that were introduced and was caught up completely in the story. Bekah has become one of Pierce's greatest characters and I'm going to miss her now that her story has finished. Highly recommended although you do need to have read the preceding two books for this to work.

81. Batgirl Issues 1-4 - Gail Simone (DC New 52)
This serial was initially recommended to me for the artwork and I can confirm that the art is absolutely gorgeous. There were panels that took my breath away. Thankfully the series also has a good storyline as well. These initial issues gradually provide a bit of background on Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and her history, although they leave enough intriguing gaps to keep me reading and make me want to check out some of the pre-New 52 books to fill in the gaps. The main villain in these books is Mirror and his mission and relationship with Batgirl is fascinating. That story is tied up by the end of issue 4, but a new storyline begins in the final panel that has me excited for the next issue. A good blend of exciting story, intriguing characters and beautiful artwork makes this a great series to follow.

82. Persuasion - Jane Austen
This has been my favourite Austen for years and a re-read did nothing to change that! It’s her most mature work and there is a feeling of melancholy for things missed in life throughout it. In many ways, it is that feeling of sadness that makes the final chapters so beautiful and uplifting as Anne achieves everything her heart could wish. What really stood out to me this time is the way that Anne acknowledges that the years between her first engagement to Wentworth and their reunion allowed her to grow and mature, so that their relationship is better than it could have been had nothing come between them when they were younger.

83. Astonishing X-Men Vol 3. Issues 1-6 - Joss Whedon and John Cassady
This is the kind of series that keeps you reading because the story is so completely compelling. The artwork is fantastic, but it is the writing that kept me completely absorbed. Wonderful.

84. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
This got recommended everywhere and I can easily see why. It’s witty, enthralling, sweet and sad all at once. The basic idea - of the Queen discovering the joy of books - is so much fun but Bennett makes it a much deeper book as well. It’s about the things that books bring to readers and the relationship between a reader and the written word. Delightful and a wonderful book to end the year on.

Important stuff! My 2012 thread is now here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/129650

I'm very fond of Persuasion although for me Pride and Prejudice edges it out as my favourite Austen. A very nice bunch of reads to end the year with. :D

I'm always conflicted because P&P is so funny but Persuasion gives me the biggest happy at the end. They're both so good!

It's good to end the year on a high note :-)