Steve's 2012 75 Book Challenge; 1st Movement (Allegro Assai)

Hello to you all and welcome. This is my second year with the group. Last year I easily exceeded 75 books, but did it on the back of a bunch of graphic novels. So I expect the list to be less impressive this year.

I read science, SF, fantasy, history, historical fiction, mystery, and others. I hope to include some literature in Italian this year too! If you're interested in seeing more of what I read, my profile is here.

My grading scale looks like this:
- Just say no
- Some might like it, but it's not my thing
- I don't regret reading it, but once was probably enough
- A good solid book, well worth the time; might read again
- Great book; I'm likely to read it again

And finally, let me warn you that I'm a lurker. I rarely comment, but I may be reading YOUR thread! (*Evil grin*)

THE WHOLE BOOK LIST (without touchstones - but with a link to the month in which the book was read)

JANUARY
01. Asterix e i Goti di Goscinny e Uderzo
02. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
03. Asterix gladiatore di Goscinny e Uderzo
04. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
05. Tulipomania by Mike Dash
06. Asterix Omnibus 10 (Asterix and the Magic Carpet, Asterix and the Secret Weapon, Asterix and Obelix All at Sea) by Albert Uderzo
07. A Rare Benedictine by Ellis Peters
08. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
09. Asterix Omnibus 11 (Asterix and the Actress, Asterix and the Class Act, Asterix and the Falling Sky) by Goscinny and Uderzo
10. Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 by John Whenham
11. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
12. One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

FEBRUARY
13. Riddle Master (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind) by Patricia A. McKillip
14. Soul Made Flesh by Carl Zimmer
15. Farthing by Jo Walton
16. The First Americans by J. M. Adovasio

MARCH
17. Vlad: The Last Confession by C. C. Humphreys
18. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
19. Vögelein: Old Ghosts by Jane Irwin
20. Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins
21. Biography of a Tenement House in New York City by Andrew Dolkart
22. Asterix e Cleopatra di Goscinny e Uderzo
23. The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
24. Roma Eterna by Robert Silverberg
25. A City So Grand by Stephen Puleo

APRIL
26. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
27. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
28. Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman

MAY
29. Vögelein: Clockwork Faerie by Irwin and Berndt
30. Fables: Super Team by Bill Willingham and others
31. Mi piaci da morire di Federica Bosco
32. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
33. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

JUNE
34. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
35. The Dragon Scroll by I.J. Parker
36. Tales Too Ticklish to Tell by Berkeley Breathed
37. Justinian's Flea by William Rosen
38. All About Emily by Connie Willis
39. Asterix Omnibus 3 (Asterix and the Big Fight, Asterix in Britain, Asterix and the Normans) by Goscinny and Uderzo
40. Ball Peen Hammer by Adam Rapp
41. Spock's Word by Diane Duane
42. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison and others

JULY
43. Asterix Omnibus 4 (Asterix the Legionary, Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield, Asterix at the Olympic Games) by Goscinny and Uderzo
44. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Tim Hamilton
45. A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich
46. Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters
47. Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon and others
48. Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters
49. Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon and others
50. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale by Zack Whedon and others
51. Get a Life by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian

AUGUST
52. The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters
53. The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters
54. The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters
55. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer
56. Batman: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and others
57. Batman: Death by Design by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor
58. The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher

SEPTEMBER
59. The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer
60. The Seeds of Speech by Jean Aitchison
61. The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell
62. Broken Harbor by Tana French
63. Fables: Inherit the Wind by Bill Willingham and others
64. Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques

OCTOBER
65. Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
66. Rebirth of a Nation by Jackson Lears
67. Mortal Fire by C. F. Dunn
68. Redshirts by John Sclazi

NOVEMBER
69. Master and God by Lindsey Davis
70. America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar
71. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker
72. The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver

DECEMBER
73. Rashomon Gate by I. J. Parker
74. God Save the Child by Robert B. Parker
75. Black Arrow by I. J. Parker
76. Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and others
77. Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker
78. Green Lantern: Secret Origins by Geoff Johns and others
79. Batman Detective Comics: Faces of Death by Tony S. Daniel and others
80. Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
81. Island of Exiles by I. J. Parker

NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2012 (4.5 and 5 stars, and others that caught my attention)
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Soul Made Flesh by Carl Zimmer
Farthing by Jo Walton
Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins
Biography of a Tenement House in New York City by Andrew Dolkart
The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mi piaci da morire di Federica Bosco
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Get a Life by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian
The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters
The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters
The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher
Broken Harbor by Tana French
Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques (Not really a book. Too bad.)
America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar
The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver
Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker

Abandoned Without Prejudice
Mexico: from the Olmecs to the Aztecs by Stephen Coe (March)
Life, in Pictures by Will Eisner (March)
100 Decisive Battles by Paul K. Davis (April)

JANUARY BOOKS

01. Asterix e i Goti di Goscinny e Uderzo
02. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
03. Asterix gladiatore di Goscinny e Uderzo
04. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
05. Tulipomania by Mike Dash
06. Asterix Omnibus 10 (Asterix and the Magic Carpet, Asterix and the Secret Weapon, Asterix and Obelix All at Sea) by Albert Uderzo
07. A Rare Benedictine by Ellis Peters
08. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
09. Asterix Omnibus 11 (Asterix and the Actress, Asterix and the Class Act, Asterix and the Falling Sky) by Goscinny and Uderzo
10. Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 by John Whenham
11.The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
12. One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

FEBRUARY BOOKS

13. Riddle Master (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind) by Patricia A. McKillip
14. Soul Made Flesh by Carl Zimmer
15. Farthing by Jo Walton
16. The First Americans by J. M. Adovasio

MARCH BOOKS

17. Vlad: The Last Confession by C. C. Humphreys
18. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
19. Vögelein: Old Ghosts by Jane Irwin
20. Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins
21. Biography of a Tenement House in New York City by Andrew Dolkart
22. Asterix e Cleopatra di Goscinny e Uderzo
23. The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
24. Roma Eterna by Robert Silverberg
25. A City So Grand by Stephen Puleo

AWP:
Mexico: from the Olmecs to the Aztecs by Stephen Coe
Life, in Pictures by Will Eisner

Lurker too.. here.. Your thread and profile look interesting. Welcome to the group, Starred :)

Welcome back!

I'll definitely be lurking here:)

Peeking in. :)

Nice profile, welcome! :) starred!

Here I am, setting a star of my own! Happy reading!!

I'll be lurking here too. Especially looking forward to the Italian titles, as I am doing the same (learning Italian, trying to read Italian books). Happy Reading Year!

Deern, that's excellent! We'll have to compare notes. I just started reading Melania Mazzucco's Vita. The first paragraph only took me half an hour! (With many references to the online dictionary) And I just got a delivery of 3 Asterix books in Italian which I plan to start in on ASAP!

Glad to see you back, Steve!

Hi Steve! Have a great reading year!

Happy New Year, Steve!

Asterix e i Goti di Goscinny e Uderzo



I'm not going to rate this because I've read it a hundred times and Asterix is just generally great. However, this is the first book (short as it is) that I've read, complete, in Italian! Yes, I needed lots of references to the dictionary, but I got through it with very little that didn't make sense in the end. Comic books in multiple translations are, I think, a great way to start reading in a foreign language (not that I have that much experience doing so).

That is a great adventure!

I think so too!

I have read it a hundred times too, in spanish and french, and it is indeed a good way to learn foreign languages :) Great starting!

Oh, I have to see if my library owns that one. They have some Asterix, I hope it's among them.
Congratulations for finishing it! (I know what it means...)

Reading helped me a lot when learning English. In my case it was the Adrian Mole series which got me hooked. Diaries are quite perfect in general - short chapters, direct speech, everyday vocabulary. I am still looking for something similar in Italian.

Hey, Steve, I missed your thread last year, but have you starred this year as another science fiction/fantasy reader and Connie Willis fan.

Diaries. I have to remember that. This is not the best Asterix book, but it's not a bad one either. Asterix and Cleopatra is a personal favorite and is one of the three in Italian I have. Going to start on Asterix Gladiatore next though. In fact, in about 2 minutes ...

Roni - I, on the other hand, lurked a little on your thread a little last year! ;-) Tell you what: I'll try to poke my head up every once in a while... Thanks for stopping by.

I would love to read Asterix in any language. Sadly, my local library does not carry the books.

Congrats on reading your first book in Italian, Steve! What a terrific accomplishment!

Hi, just dropping by to star your thread, I'm especially looking forward to seeing what nonfiction you read this year!

You know Al, in my humble opinion Asterix is worth buying. The problem is, once you start you can't stop and before you know it you've bought 20 or 30 books! Guess you better ask your library to pick up a few!

karspeak (I'll find your name in a minute), I'm reading Your Inner Fish right now (subway reading) and it's quite good. It's written by the guy who found the Tiktaalic fossil. I saw him speak at a conference recently and he was quite good. The book is teaching me more than I though it would about, mostly, embryology in which I find that I'm out of date! He's not a perfect writer, but certainly competent and easy to read.

Double post for some reason - deleted.

#25: Yeah, but I am supposed to be reading books I own or library books. I really cannot buy the books. I must have a strong discussion with my local library :)

BTW - Karspeak's name is Karen, I believe.

25: Oh, I read Your Inner Fish a few years ago and loved it. Other reviewers are less enthusiastic, but I give major points to books that provide an ample supply of diagrams.

qebo - agreed!

#2. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin



A fine book. I think I mostly didn't rate it higher because I knew a lot of what was in it already, though not some details, and it was just a little too 'colloquial' for me. Not that I have to have incredibly erudite writing, but it was just a little too conversational. Anyway, if you want to learn about some of the advances in embryology and paleontology of the last few years, this is a nice book written in laymen's language.

#30: I think I will give that one a pass.

I hope your next read is more to your taste, Steve!

#3. Asterix gladiatore di Goscinny e Uderzo



Il mio secondo libro d'Asterix in italiano. Boy, if I'm not careful, I might end up expanding my vocabulary!

Congratulations, Steve! Your Italian must be progressing very well.

Your idea of reading comic books to improve your language is a really good one- I think I might try it. I've previously tried reading a children's book that I am very familiar with in French which I can just about do- something like Harry Potter - but the length puts me off as I do find it hard going. Asterix would be just right and I could always consult my son's copy if I got stuck.

I've starred your thread as I see you read a lot of science books which I also like to do. Not all mine are on LT though as my non-fiction bookshelves need a bit more cataloging,

>34 SandDune: - I agree that the length is draw. It just doesn't seem so imposing as an honest-to-good book. Thanks for stopping by and for commenting! I'll check you out!

#4. Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

A murder in the family can provide a frisson of excitement at fashionable dinner parties, but little social credit can be expected from the brutal despatch of an undistinguished captain of the infantry, without money or breeding to render him interesting.

Look. It's P.D. James. So you know it will be a well written and well constructed mystery, and it is. It's not the most complicated and 'mysterious' of mysteries, but a good one none-the-less.

The real question is, is it Elizabeth and Darcy and the rest of the familiar characters? And does it feel like Jane Austin? Well, yes and no. The characters are there, and they seem mostly to be true to who they where in P&P, but for that reason there's not much character development here. On the other hand James does try to get the "feel" for Jane Austin, and I think she's partly successful. The above quote is a good example. But having said that, I'm not sure the style fits the subject. I mean, how much social humor can there be to a brutal murder?

Look, if you're looking for Jane Austin, go read Jane Austin. If you're looking for a murder mystery, read P.D. James. If you're looking for both, well this is probably as good as you're going to get, but I'm not sure it's going to completely satisfy you.

Review (same as above) here

I like your review and thumbed it. And now I am wondering if this is something I might read. I usually ignore those 'sequels' not written by the original author. But a nice murder mystery is something I enjoy in between the classics. And this one would be almost like reading a classic. And I haven't read any P.D. James yet.
I'll put it on my watchlist for now.

You know, I have the same tendency. I've avoided all the other 'sequels', but I got sucked in by the name in this case. The idea of P.D. James doing this was just irresistible to me.

OK, I've abandoned Vita but hopefully only temporarily. My wife convinced me that I'm starting with a book that's too hard and too long. She's encouraged me instead to read Accabadora by Michela Murgia. I'm doing so, but I'm not sure it's any easier than Vita! At least it's shorter, I guess ...

#5. Tulipomania by Mike Dash



Mixed feelings about this I'm afraid, which is really kind of disappointing because I really wanted to read it. About half of the book is quite fascinating: a look at the tulip craze that took place in the Netherlands in the 1630s. Quite fascinating, with obvious parallels to the mortgage/housing bubble of the last decade. But then the rest of the book feels mostly like padding to fill the book out to 200 pages or so. I mean, yes the history of the tulip is mildly interesting, and yes, the Ottoman Empire's role is worth commenting on, but they seemed to be peripheral to the central story. So three starts overall.

Ah the Dutch and tulip trading. It is a fascinating little piece of history. Maybe I'll skim this book at some point. :)

40: I got this book last year, haven't read it yet, would be interested enough in the "padding" topics too, I think. In a short book anyway.

41 and 42 - it is indeed an easy and short read. Certainly worth a skim!

#6. Asterix Omnibus 10 by Albert Uderzo



Includes Asterix and the Magic Carpet, Asterix and the Secret Weapon, and Asterix and Obelix All at Sea

I'm not going to give this a formal rating, but I will say that I find the later Asterix books - those written after Goscinny's death - to be less satisfying than the others. I feels like Uderzo relies too much on in-jokes and puns, and the stories start to get a little nutty (even by Asterixian standards!). For instance in Asterix and Obelix All at Sea, they end up in Atlantis of all places! I know, they go everywhere else, why not Atlantis? None-the-less, at this point it starts to feel more like a gimmick. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed these books, but they're not of the quality some of the earlier stories IMHO.

By the way, this was not an Italian Asterix. I have not read these stories before though, and thought it was high time I did.

I'm somewhat interested in the tulip book. If I run across it, I might pick it up.

#7. A Rare Benedictine by Ellis Peters



I first read Cadfael many years ago but have kept the books around to re-read. Since I'm looking for some light reading, I've decided to go back to them every now and then. This is not the 'first' of them, but is a short collection of short stories, one of which is the story of his transition from soldier to monk, so I thought I'd start with it.

I have a little hesitation trying to rate these; it's hard to be objective when you've read them before and are coming back to them. At least I find it so. This one is good.

I read most of the Peters books years ago. I have no idea which ones I read and which I didn't. I wouldn't mind going back and re-reading them from the first in series on. Maybe if I can make a better dent in what is in Mount TBR, I can do that!

The Brother Cadfael series is one enjoyed!

#8. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters



The first of the Cadfael novels, and one of the better ones if I remember correctly. This one was written without the idea of a series in mind, and is one of the few that takes place away from the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury with most of the events taking place in neighboring Wales; as such, a few of the regular characters that appear in the later novels are absent, but not all...

The plot is deftly crafted and the writing fluid and easy to read. As with many Cadfael books, there's a boy-meets-girl tale (or two) and, except for the murder at the center of the book, all ends happily, if a little unexpectedly. Cadfael is an appealing character and I suddenly remember why I read all these books the first time almost 20 years ago. He holds up well.

The story: After several portents, monks from the abbey near Shrewsbury set off to find the bones of a Welsh saint to bring back to the abbey. Cadfael worms himself in as one of the delegation, to serve as a translater. But not all of the Welsh of Glytherin are keen to let their saint be taken away, creating conflict between the monks and the village people. And then one of the villagers turns up dead ...

#9. Asterix Omnibus 11 by Goscinny and Uderzo



Includes Asterix and the Actress, Asterix and the Class Act and Asterix and the Falling Sky

A mixed bag. The central volume, Asterix and the Class Act, I thought was delightful. It's a collection of short Asterix stories from over the years, some written by Goscinny, some by Uderzo, and they were fun. The other two volumes were OK. The last one, Asterix and the Falling Sky, is a sort of hommage to contemporary comix (hee hee!) and was pretty goofy.

I want to go back and re-read the Ellis Peters books. They were quite enjoyable when I read them.

I stopped buying the Asterix books alltogether after I think the third solo book by Uderzo and never saw the omnibus collection. I don't remember details from any of the newer books. Most of the old ones used to be intelligent fun with a certain 'bite', with jokes/puns for all generations, but in my opinion they became quite flat in the last years. Now I feel like rereading all the 'classics'.

Nathalie - unfortunately I agree with you. There's a reason I've never read any of the 6 stories before - just not as interested. And you're right, they're just not as strong. I admit I bought them more for completeness sake since I think I'm going to go back and buy/re-read all of them.

Two old favourite series mentioned in one thread! I read all of the Cadfael books starting over 20 years ago, and have most of them in my collection still (though not in the bit that I've catalogued). Ideal comfort reads/re-reads! And Asterix takes me back even further...

I need to return to the Cadfael books. Thanks for the reminder, Steve!

#10. Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 by John Whenham



I admit that I'm probably under-rating this. To get the most out of this, you need a score of the piece and need to know it fairly well, neither of which I had/did. Having said that, I did learn something, and I'm more inclined to dig into the piece more. I'll be re-listening to it in the coming days. This is a book where one needs some basic, and maybe non-so-basic, background in music theory, including renaissance modes so it's not necessarily for the amateur.

I took some intro music courses in undergrad to fulfill my fine arts requirement (plus the obligatory childhood piano lessons) but I'm not sure that would be enough to get me through the book. Glad you kind of enjoyed it. :)

#11. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins



Well, that was an easy read! I read this because it received a high recommendation from my 16 year old niece and her mother, as well as a few people on LT, and I agree with them; it's very well written, well plotted, good characters (it's very nice to have a very strong female protagonist), and pretty exciting. And like all good SF there is a feel of good, well-thought out background that hasn't been completely revealed yet. That leaves me hopeful for the remaining books in the series...

That one is on my book shelf to be read, hmmm I may have to pull it off in the near future. Thanks for the recommendation

#12. One Corpse Too Many by Eliis Peters



The second of the Cadfael mysteries, but almost like the first as there is absolutely no reference to the first novel. In it we meet characters that will be present for the rest of the series (I won't give away who, even though it's pretty easy to figure out - there aren't that many characters!), and get to know Shrewsbury where most of the series takes place. And most important, we are introduced to the Civil War between Stephen and Matilda (or as Ellis calls her, Maud), the defining event that will thread through the novels.

This is a good one. Good plot, well put together, good characters. The love story sub-plot which is a feature of most of these novels is there too, and Cadfael is at his detecting best. Recommended.

A visit to your thread is a trip down memory lane for reading! Love it!

> 61- It kind of is for me too. The older I get (I'm mid-40s now) the more I'm looking back at things that I've read and re-reading what I've remembered fondly. Hence, Asterix and Cadfael. I suspect there'll be more this year too. I'm thinking that I haven't read Tolkien in about a decade ...

Matilda/Maud -- that must have been confusing... Stephen's wife was another Matilda/Maud, and I believe the Empress Maud's cousin or niece was married to the Earl of Chester, an important player in that civil war, and was also a Maud. Enuf to drive you bonkers. Throw in the whimsical spelling of the era...

I wish I knew what happened to my Cadfael books! I was sure I had kept them (I bought the series when they were reprinted in the late 80s, and bought the last two in hardcover.) But I went hunting for them a year or two ago, and unless they are packed away in boxes in the basement (which would be odd...) I have no idea where they have gone.

The Monteverdi intrigues me, as I enjoy the music, but I'm sure it would fly over my head as I've done no music theory whatsoever. Still, have enjoyed Eric Siblin's book about Bach and his cello suites and some other music-related books of late, so I can't complain.

Yeah, I believe that's why Peters calls her Maud (maybe?) because there are so many other Matildas around at about the same time. Go find your Cadfael books! Necessary re-reading! Luckily my sister kept all my mom's old copies stored in a box in her garage so it wasn't too hard to dig them back out again.

I'm enjoying the nostalgia experience of your thread also. I too read all the Cadfaels in the late 80s onwards. I first noticed them in shops - probably the late 80s reprints Suzanne mentions - just after I'd read The Name of the Rose, and at first I thought that the author was cashing in on the popularity of Eco's idea of a medieval whodunnit. Then I checked original publication dates and realised Peters had got there first, albeit with a very different style aAnd nd without the semiotics!

I have a partial collection of the series, and haven't yet catalogued that bit of the library so until I do, I shan't try to complete the set, but I'd love to do a re-read one of these days/years.

A re-read of Tolkien is also overdue for me...

#13. Riddle Master (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind) by Patricia A. McKillip



I haven't read any 'hard' fantasy in a long, long time and this was a nice return. I'd never heard of this particular series or author before, but I picked it up on the recommendation of some LT members.

Having said that, I'm a little unsure how to rate it. I'm giving it 4 stars, mostly because I think I will read it again (see post #1) just because I think I missed a lot. It's the kind of book that needs a second read to really understand what is going on I think. At that point, I think I'll be able to judge it better.

#14. Soul Made Flesh by Carl Zimmer



This was my first big surprise of the year. I read his blog, so I knew Carl Zimmer was a good science writer, but I had no idea he was also a great history writer!

Ostensibly about Thomas Willis, a 17th century physician and anatomist, and his discovery of the the brain as the seat of intelligence and the 'command center' of the rest of the body, the book actually documents what is essentially the transition from 'natural philosophy' to 'science'. It centers on Oxford in the mid 17th century and the extraordinary men who working there, men who were willing to discard centuries of accepted wisdom about the natural world, including medicine, in favor of doing actual experiments to discover how things, including the human body, actually worked. Unlike Willis, many of these men did not limit themselves to medicine, and the list of them reads like a who's who of 17th C science, philosophy, and of all things, architecture! The cast, besides Willis, includes: Descartes, Hobbes, Boyle, Vesalius, Paracelsus, Harvey, Hooke, Locke, Wallis, Ward, Wilkins, Wren, Sydenham, and many others.

The ferment of ideas in this period is extraordinary and Zimmer does an excellent job in summarizing them and tying them together, showing how discoveries in one 'area', like chemistry, affected other in other 'areas', like medicine (though these men certainly had not conceived of our modern 'areas' of science like chemistry and physics), and how these discoveries both were influenced by, and influenced in turn, the way we view the world around us.

Zimmer's centerpiece is Willis' investigations into the brain and nerves, and he argues that his discoveries essentially presaged much of modern neurology, limited mostly by Willis' lack of knowledge of electricity. He further argues that these discoveries had a profound effect on how we viewed sickness and health, and how we understand 'the soul'.

For all students of science and history, this is a wonderful book and is well worth your time.

My review is here.

67: I read it several years ago, and much has faded from memory. Thanks for the review and the reminder. Can't go wrong with Carl Zimmer.

Argh, a book bullet!!! Adding to my must-read list; I love books that combine history and science, as long as no equations are involved.

Oh, arghh, a book bullet in a vital zone! I'm looking into Soul Made Flesh immediately!

69, 70 - Hee, hee, hee! Yes science and history are indeed deadly.

#15. Farthing by Jo Walton



Excellent! My second big surprise of the year!

This was a SantaThing book from last year, and all I can say is: Thank You Santa! You did an excellent job. You obviously actually looked at my profile and saw that I liked mystery and historical fiction, and also read SF and fantasy; hence, this book was a great choice. A writer I had never heard of, writing what looks like a nice cozy little post-WWII country mystery. Which it is. Kind of. Except that it's not.

The teaser: Lucy is the daughter of an influential English political family, recently married. A typical debutante; kind of. Unfortunately her brother was killed in the war (in 1940 - nine years ago), and she does not get along with her mother very well. Part of the reason for this (but by no means all) is that Lucy married a Jew. That certainly stirs up the family. But her parents have invited her and her husband to the country home (Farthing) for a weekend party. Unfortunately, one of the guests, an influential member of Parliament, ends up dead. Guess who the prime suspect is? And from there, it simply gets less and less typical.

Well written, good characters, quite dark in outlook. I haven't decided yet whether to read the sequels as I'm suspicious that they can't be as fresh and entertaining as the this first book. But we'll see...

72: I read her Among Others last year, and loved it.

#16. The First Americans by J. M. Adovasio



So, a while back I read 1491 which dipped into new findings in various aspects of pre-columbian American history. It was very interesting. This was kind of a follow-up. It deals with one of the areas covered in 1491, namely the question of when humans arrived in the Americas. Adovasio is an archaeologist who was responsible for the dig at Meadowcroft, an incredibly important site that provided the first solid evidence that humans inhabited N. America before 'Clovis man', i.e. prior to about 11,000 years ago. This book is his version of American archaeology leading up to this discovery, and how it and other similar digs has changed how we look at American pre-history.

This is Adovasio's personal story, as his and other recent finds generated a lot of controversy and heat from 'Clovis first' nay-sayers who firmly believed that humans could not been here prior to 11,000 years ago, and Adovasio doesn't mince many words in his opinions of them. Not that he should; I think it's clear that a lot of criticism of him and his work was very much undeserved and rooted in dogma rather than good science. And from this point of view it's a successful book. In between his obvious irritation, which is really only present in a couple of chapters, he successfully describes the history of American archaeology over the last two centuries and traces what it is we know, and how we got to knowing it. And he discusses the controversies that have raged over this entire time and how they eventually became resolved, including the one he was personally involved in.

A book for those with an interest in pre-history and in finding out how science is really done.

My review is here.

74: Ooh. Want. Like you, as a followup to 1491.

#17. Vlad: The Last Confession by C. C. Humphreys



I began this book expecting not to like it. My name and heritage are such that I know a little bit about Vlad Țepeș, and I know a few words of Romanian, and have visited some of the locations talked about in the book - always a set up to be disappointed. And my experience with historical novels that reproduce the life of a historical figure has been mixed. But I'm glad to say that I enjoyed this considerably more than I expected.

The novel is a fictionalization of the life of Vlad Țepeș "the Impaler", a 15th century Wallachian prince and one of the inspirations for Stoker's Dracula. There's little known about him aside from a few major events, so maybe that's why the novel works: it gives the author room to create his own character(s) and their own motivations. And he does this pretty well. They were compelling and fairly real. Bringing 15th century Romania to life was a little less successful (compared to, for example, Sansom's success in bringing 16th century London to life in the Shardlake novels) but not a major impediment.

I have a few niggly complaints: the lack of diacritical marks for all the foreign words (Romanian, Hungarian, Turkish) is distracting for those of us who expect them and know that they actually help us pronounce the words correctly. And I have not figured out what the author was doing with some of these words. For instance the major church in Tîrgovişte, where some of the action takes place, is the Biserica Domneascǎ which is consistently called the Bisierica Domnesc. Is this a mistake? If not, then what am I missing? And the fortress of Giurgiu! OMG! In three pages it's spelled three different ways (Giurgiu, Guirgui, Giurgui) and this continues throughout the book. At first I thought it was bad copy editing, but now I think the author must be foolin' with us. If so, I wish he would let us in on the joke.

Anyway, minor distractions aside, it was enjoyable. Oh, by the way. If you are thinking of reading it, you better have a strong stomach. Vlad was not a nice guy and if you can't stomach descriptions of impalement and other tortures you might want to give this book a pass.

Review here.

Glad to see you found Vlad: The Last Confession to be overall enjoyable. I have been looking at that one for some time - I found his books The French Executioner and the sequel Blood Ties to be good reads, and yes, Humphreys does go into so gruesome details in his books but it is part of the topics that he chooses to write about.

>77 lkernagh:. This is the first of his that I've read. I didn't realize that he tended to focus on the gruesome! But I may look for some of his other books now.

#18. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller



This was a re-read that I picked up from the library because it was there and I couldn't really remember it. And I knew I'd burn through it quickly which I was in the mood for. I feel like it was better the first time. Anyway it was OK - enjoyable enough. I remember the sequel was less good so I'll probably just stop here.

#19. Vögelein: Old Ghosts by Jane Irwin



Cute. Maybe it deserves more stars and I'm just in a picky mood. Graphic novel about a wind up fairy in the modern world. Maybe I'd be more favorably inclined if I'd read the 1st book.

The Jo Walton sequels aren't as fresh and exciting as the debut -- but who cares?? You'll get to find out what happens next...

Btw, does your Vlad book portray him as a kind of general purpose sociopath, or as partly a nationalist crusader against the Ottomans??

>81 Chatterbox:. Both actually. It makes him out to be a ruthless guy with psychopathic qualities but who believes he's being ruthless for the right reasons. The authors idea is just to write the 'facts' and let readers judge for him/herself. He doesn't fall for all the propaganda, but doesn't pretend that it's ALL propaganda. And I think it works well enough.

#20. Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins



Despite the really horrible cover, which does not at all represent the art in the book, this was quite excellent. The story was good and well paced, the characters interesting. The art was spectacular; all in black and white and you would think that it was traced from photographs it's so realistic, yet still kind of surreal. This was surprisingly enjoyable.

There is apparently a sequel which I'm hesitant about. Why dilute the strength of this book with a sequel? We'll see. Anyway, highly recommended for graphic novel and noir fans.

#21. Biography of a Tenement House in New York City by Andrew Dolkart



This was quite delightful.

I picked it up after a visit to the Tenement Museum on the lower East Side of Manhattan. The visit was great (if you're in NY you should definitely make the time to go). The book is equally great. It is of course really a history of immigration, especially of poor immigrants, into New York in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But it's also a history of building in NY at this time, especially in poor areas, and of social changes affecting what is considered to be adequate housing. It's all held together by reference to this particular building at 97 Orchard Street as it is built and changes over the years.

It's an easy read; short, concisely written, lots of pictures and illustrations. But also full of good information including vignettes of the people who lived in this particular building. Well worth reading if you enjoy architecture, social history, or maybe just seeing what life was like for your grandparents.

Review here.

Tenement House sounds very good - thanks, Steven! I'll keep watch for it.

ETA Eeeep! It's not cheap - new paperback $140 at Amazon!!!! I'll to check InterLibrary Loan at the library.

The museum is fab -- one of my fave places to send people when they come here. I read a great book last year about a great heatwave at the time Teddy Roosevelt was police commissioner -- Hot Time in the Old Town. It really gave me a vivid sense of what it would have been like to live in one of those buildings!!

$140! You've got to be kidding! I suspect that it's got something to do with availability - probably only really available from the museum or something. Go there if you have the chance.

I'll have to check out Hot Time. Love good history. Indeed living in one of those buildings must have been hellish sometimes.

The house history of the tenement house looks interesting.

I thought Vlad was very compelling. Yeah, you had to get through the impalement, but I couldn't put it down!

Whew! My hard drive failed last Sunday and I've been essentially computerless for the last few days. But now I seem to be up and running again; surprisingly with not too much fuss once I got the new drive. So here are some updates:

#22. Asterix e Cleopatra di Goscinny e Uderzo



My third Italian edition Asterix book. Great fun as always. The Italian studies have been a little slow lately as I've got hung up in other work, but I hope I'll be getting a little more into it again.

#23. The Technologists by Matthew Pearl



Is this historical fiction? Well yes; it's firmly set in 1868 Boston and is well grounded historically. Is it a mystery? Well yes; not a typical whodunnit type of mystery, but there is definitely a mystery to be solved here, clues, etc. Is it science fiction? Well yes, kind-of, it's that too. Now that seems a little weird I know, but I would argue that this novel is firmly based in science and science is a major actor as in 'generic' SF. So I think it's SF. But there are no aliens or dystopian futures, and all the science is appropriate to the time period. None-the-less I think it counts. However, it is NOT steampunk. That has much more of a fantasy element that this does not have.

I think all these features make this kind of a unique novel. And a very enjoyable one. It also has good characters, most of whom are based on real persons, and a good story with lots of fun twists, and some good plot deception.

I won't try to summarize the plot here: there's plenty of summaries on the review page. But if you enjoy any of the above listed genres, I think you'll find this a fun read.

And with that, I need to find a new book! I'm punting on Accabadora for now - it's a little above my level - but am going to try Le piccole virtù; it looks more reasonable. But I still need an English book ...

#24. Roma Eterna by Robert Silverberg



And this was what I decided to read, picked up at the library sale for a buck. It was fine. Silverberg is a good writer. But I just didn't get into it as much as I hoped.

It's not a novel, but a collection of short stories set in an alternative Earth where the western Roman Empire never fell. A few of the stories are poignant; some just OK. I found the overall universe a little unsatisfying - it was just a little too similar to actual history (would a Roman industrial revolution really have waited until the 1800s to happen?). Anyway, it was enjoyable enough, but not a fave. Might think about reading the Majipoor Chronicles though ...

Oh, and I was reading Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs but am going to put it aside for now. Not bad by any means, just other things that I want to read first. I only read about 4 pages ...

Abandoned: Life, in Pictures by Will Eisner



There is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. I'm just having trouble getting into it, so I'm sending it back to the library. Maybe I'll get back to it one day.

Steve, I call those "Abandoned Without Prejudice" in my book timeline. They're not bad, I'm just not feeling it at the moment. :)

I like that. "Abandoned Without Prejudice" it is!

#25. A City So Grand by Stephen Puleo



Slipping in one more before the month ends. A good book though not a great one. I'm sure each of the subjects the author covers are treated in more depth in other venues, but this was a decent enough overview of Boston in the last half of the 19th century. I found the writing style a little too much 'Go Team!' for my taste - Boston was an important city, OK, got it - but the author writes well enough and gets the ideas across. I'm more interested now in its bibliography ...

And now we're 1/4 the way through the year! I thought this first thread might be a little longer at this point, and that it might be time for a new one in April, but I don't think there's much point yet. So I'll put April's books in the post to follow, and see where we go from there.

But consider part 2 of the year "Adagio appasionatto" and off we go ...

APRIL BOOKS

26. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
27. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
28. Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman

AWP
100 Decisive Battles by Paul K. Davis

Abandoned without prejudice: 100 Decisive Battles by Paul K. Davis



Nothing wrong with this book. Just not the kind of thing that you read cover to cover. It's a series of short articles about - you guessed it - decisive battles! Each is only about 2-3 pages. I wish they focused a little more on strategy and tactics, but like I said, how much detail can you get into in 2-3 pages?

Damn. Hate having to break off a book in the middle, but I finally got Catching Fire from the library, and since it's a 14 day book with no renewal I better get started on it. Perdido Street Station is quite good, but it's also long and I'm not reading as much as I would like - other commitments. I would probably get it done in time to do Catching Fire before the return date, but why take the chance. New Crobuzon will wait.

Besides, I'll probably cruise though CF in 2 or 3 days. It's short.

Looking forward to your thoughts on Catching Fire, Steve. I think I probably blitzed through that one in a day or two. :)

Yeah, I'm already half way through and I've pretty much just been reading it on the bus! One of the nice features of YA books!

#26. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins



Well I was right; I burned through that quickly.

I've read a lot of LTers who apparently thought the second book was not as good as the first. I don't think I agree. I think it's at least equally as strong. I think Collins does a good job at continuing her characters' growth, and I think she has a sure hand with plot.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS BEGIN

I think it was very gutsy of her to send Katniss and Peeta back to the arena; in fact I was very surprised at first that she did it at all. I was assuming she was going to have to continue the story outside in the real world. When she did it (send them to another games), I was sure it was going to be a bad move on her part; been there done that, right? But I thought she pulled it off. This was not a repeat of the last book. The dynamics of these games are very different from the first set, as were the players and how we were allowed to know them. This was clearly a game of adults, not a bunch of kids. And it was obvious from the start that this couldn't end in another 'win' for Katniss/Peeta; something different clearly had to be coming.

And she continued to let Katniss, if maybe not Peeta so much, grow. In a world of now adult tributes, Katniss is now starting to make adult decisions too - rather than just staying alive among a bunch of other kids, the games are now about keeping other people alive, more difficult decisions, and a greater recognition of moral implications. (Yes, there was some of that before, but I thought it was deeper this time.)

POTENTIAL SPOILERS END

So I was quite satisfied. I thought it was a strong second book and hopefully it's going to set up the third book well. Needless to say, it's already ordered from the library. Hope I don't have to wait TOO long ...

I think I almost enjoyed Catching Fire more than Hunger Games. At least equally. Glad to see you liked it too, Steve.

A little bored right now, so going to do this. (Not normally my thing)

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

Hardcover. If it's worth keeping it's worth having in hardcover - they last longer and look better. If I'm not going to keep it then I don't care. (I have limited shelf space; it has to be worth keeping to be kept!)

Amazon or brick and mortar?

Amazon I'm afraid. I like real stores, but they often don't have what I want and Amazon is just so darn convenient...

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

Neither

Bookmark or dogear?

If you dogear my book I will never lend to you again! And no writing in my books either! Take notes! And no destroying the spine! (Another reason to prefer hardcovers!)

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

By content. History all together, science all together, fiction, etc. If I can get organized I'll alphabetize by author within content groups, but that happens rarely these days ...

Keep, throw away, or sell?

I usually donate mine to the local library: if it goes in the collection, cool; if not, then at least they make some money off it. I only keep books that are really worth it, and preferably as hardcovers (see above).

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

Keep where possible, but no great loss if the jacket is missing, and if it looks bad then chuck it.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?

Remove. Easier to read and I hate torn dust jackets.

Short story or novel?

Novels but short stories are fine too.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?

Collections usually, but I'm not that picky.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

Harry Potter but I've only read one or two Snickets and they seemed fine too.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Chapter breaks of course! It drives my wife nuts that I can't just put a book down whenever. And of course I don't understand how she can just stop reading at any random spot ...

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?

No preference

Buy or Borrow?

Either is fine. Borrowing is good though because it means I won't end up trying to find space for another book. But if it's a really great book, I like to have it on the shelf.

New or used?

Usually favor new, but don't feel that strongly about it. I have some perfectly acceptable used hardcovers on my shelves ...

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?

Any or all. These days, I'll often borrow it from the library and only buy it if it's clearly something I'll read again one day.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

Either. I can enjoy ambiguity (e.g. In the Woods) but if you're going to have a tidy ending, don't leave any loose ends.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?

Often commuting, but otherwise whenever. I used to read in bed, but then I got married and now I usually do the crossword with my wife in bed ...

Stand-alone or series?

Either.

Favorite series?

Probably Lindsey Davis's Marcus Didius Falco books: 20 books and most of them good! But also Harry Potter, Dune, Inspector Morse, Cadfael, Stephen J. Gould for non-fiction. Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlow of course, and Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op (though not really a series). If I think of any more I'll let you know. Oh, don't forget Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.

Favorite children's book?

Don't read 'em.

Favorite book of which "nobody" else has heard?

I read The Unfolding of Language last year and thought it was spectacular.

Favorite books read last year?

The Unfolding of Language as above, the Fables series, Carl Zimmer's Soul Made Flesh.

Favorite books of all time?

The Lord of the Rings hands down. There's just so much that's good in it. Also Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Team of Rivals, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Shelby Foote's Civil War, Sagan's The Demon Haunted World, Pride and Prejudice (a little schmalzy but funny), and John Adams. A few others that you can find in my catalog if you really want.

Least favorite book you finished last year?

I'm glad to say I can't remember.

What are you reading right now?

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

What are you reading next?

I've got Jesus, Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman all lined up and ready to go!

#27. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville



Long.

That, unfortunately, is what I came away thinking when I finally finished this book. I really wanted to like it. I read The City and the City last year and thought it was quite fascinating, and was looking forward to this, but somehow the story just didn't grab me the way that one did. I didn't not like it, I just didn't get absorbed in it. And so its 710 pages felt L O N G. I don't regret reading it - hence its 3 stars - but I just can't give it more than that. I have a feeling I'm under-rating it, but there it is.

This will not, however, stop me from reading more of his books. He is certainly a very unique and creative author and I will certainly want to continue to see what he comes up with.

*waving* at Steve

I am not a China Mieville fan. I have tried. I tried 3 times to read Perdido Street Station and finally gave up. I did read his The City & the City and Un Lun Dun and liked them well enough, but on the whole, he is just not an author for me. I hope you have better success than I did!

Hey Al! Haven't seen you in ages (though I'm still lurking)! Hope all is well.

Yeah, we'll have to see about China. I might write a little more about this book tomorrow if I feel inspired because he does have a very creative mind. But I can understand why this book would not be for some people ...

>106 scvlad: I've had that feeling about other books, Steve, so you definitely have my sympathies. Based on synopses and reviews, I don't think China Mieville is for me but luckily there are many other authors out there. Hope your next book is a more enjoyable reading experience.

Hi Steven, I like your meme. I might do it as well one of these days.

I've seen so many recommendations for the Miéville books now, that I had put this one on my WL. I didn't realize though that it is that long, so thanks for the info. It will have remain on the WL a little longer, I already have too many chunksters going and need to fill in the 'gaps' with much shorter books.

Hey Nathalie! Not my meme, I just stole it, but it's kind of fun.

If you've never read Miéville before I'd start with something else. The City and the City was very good (and shorter!) . I'm going to check out his other books still, but if I'd started with this one I'm not sure I would have read any others.

More about Perdido Street Station:

So, in light of the above conversation, I wanted to say a little more about this book. What is great about it, is that Miéville creates an alt universe city that is very finely detailed and very creative. It's inhabited by so many different beings, humans, insect-humans, frog-humans, bird-humans, and other sentient beasts not at all human (of course he calls all these species by other names). And his city, inhabited by these beings, feels like a city - slums and upscale areas, the university district, the docs, unions, union-busters, crime, corruption, public transportation. It's really quite remarkable.

In fact the story itself centers on one kind of these fantasy creatures - a kind that ... we'll I don't really want to say. Because they aren't introduced until about 1/2 way into the book, and that was one of my problems. Miéville took an awful lot of time just to get to this main story. The first couple hundred pages dealt with other things - getting to know the city and the main characters, one of whom is an artist, the other of whom is a kind of genius who is doing a commission for a bird-man who has lost the ability to fly. And you think the story is going to go in one direction when it suddenly flies off in another. And in some ways that's good. I mean the unexpected can be a good thing. And this story-line was certainly creative and interesting, and turned out to be a good old-fashioned thriller.

But I felt like there were just too many stories and sub-stories all going on at once. And so the book just felt, again, L O N G. I really don't know. In some ways all the diversity and plots felt right, unique, like a manifestation of the author's great creativity. But in some ways, it just felt like it could have been 1/3 as long and the other stories could have gone elsewhere.

Oh, and the end. It just didn't do it for me. Too much despair and betrayal and sadness. I can usually deal with that if it's for a good reason, but in this case it just felt gratuitous.

Anyway, I suspect you get the sense from this rambling that I just don't really know where to come down on Perdido Street. Maybe I'll try it again one day. Or maybe I'll just try other books my Miévile and see where his imagination takes him ...

#28. Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman



So I downgraded this from and initial 4 star rating to 3.5 stars. :"Why?" you ask? Because I know that I won't read it ever again, and at least considering doing so is a 4 star requirement. "But why won't you read it again Steve?" you ask?

Well first, there honestly wasn't that much in it that I didn't already know. I've already read a number of books on early Christianity and its first few hundred years of development and this repeated much of what I already knew. I already know that there appears to be a big difference between the 'religion of Christ' and the 'religion about Christ', as the author puts it.

Second, I'm not really the audience the author is addressing here. He is trying to help Christians understand where their religion came from, and make them think about their faith. I'm, bluntly, not a Christian, so I'm not the right audience. I find the history of Christianity and its early development very interesting, but I'm not really interested in the theology and I don't find anything he says controversial or thought-provoking.

Third, I find some of his arguments disingenuous, especially the last chapter. And after writing a long paragraph explaining why, I've decided to just delete it say that if you read the book, I suspect you'll see what I mean.

Having said that, it's well written, easy to read, is well organized, makes (mostly) good logical sense, and is thought provoking.

Recommended for: those who like history; those who like to see how ideas come to be and evolve; those Christians who want to challenge their basic assumptions about their religion.

'Nough said.

Looking forward to your comments on the Ehrman book. I've read his Misquoting Jesus and found it interesting.

See above for revised thoughts on Jesus Interrupted (bad title, by the way) if you're interested.

Now going to concentrate on an easier Italian book and TRY TO GET THROUGH IT!

Well I guess I'm not going to be able to squeeze another book into April (I'm blaming it all on Perdido Street Station!). I better get my buns in gear or I'm not going to hit 75 this year and we all know how much of a disaster that would be! (Suffering! Humiliation! Death! Dismemberment!). Anyways, I'll list May's books starting in the next post ...

MAY BOOKS
29. Vögelein: Clockwork Faerie by Irwin and Berndt
30. Fables: Super Team by Bill Willingham and others
31. Mi piaci da morire di Federica Bosco
32. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
33. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

AWP

#29. Vögelein: Clockwork Faerie by Jane Irwin and Jeff Berndt



Cute. A story about a 'clockwork faerie' now living in a big city. It was a break from my Italian novel. And it was fine. There are better graphic novels, but this was nice enough.

I went and read Jesus, Interrupted and concur with your statements. After reading Pagans & Christians, The Gnostic Gospels and The Closing of the Western Mind this year, as well as John P. Meier's books on the historical Jesus in past years, I didn't really learn anything new, and I'm pretty much in the same position as you are.

Hi Roni. I saw that you had read it as well. Coincidence hunh!? Yeah, I think if I had read it 20 years ago I would have been fascinated, and would probably have given it a much higher rating. But as the author says, he doesn't present anything that's not already well known in academic circles, so no surprises at this point in my life. You and I were just the wrong audience for this one ...

I went to the library the last couple of days and picked up a haul of books. Among them:

In the Garden of Beasts by the same author who wrote Devil in the White City. I heard him talk about it on the radio (Fresh Air) and it sounds fascinating. It's basically about a diplomatic family in Berlin while Hitler took over and how the Americans kind of ignored him since they thought that he wouldn't be that bad. They were more concerned about German debt payment ...

The Dragon Scroll, a mystery set in early Japan. I think I've read it before but am not sure. I know I read the next one in the series ...

The Godwulf Manuscript. The first of the Spencer novels apparently. Heard about this on the radio too (the author died and someone else has taken over the series, apparently to raves), and since it's set in Boston I thought it might be fun. Apparently many more follow ...

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making. I read good things about this on LT and thought I'd give it a shot.

I also bought a few things at the library book sale:

Spock's World. I've never read a Star Trek book though I've seen all of the Original Series and am working through the Next Generation (now in season 5), and have seen lots of episodes from the other shows too. Honestly, though, I never wanted to read any of the take-off novels: the idea of derivative works that clearly are just a ploy to make more money off a franchise kind of bothers me. However, I read very good things about this one so thought I'd give it a try ...

A Short History of Byzantium. Something I've always been interested in but never read about. About time.

Justinian's Flea. Another one that I've heard about but never read. When they're this cheap though, you buy them. About the great plague during Justinian's reign.

God knows when I'm going to find time to read all these. I'm still trying to finish up some Italian chick lit: Mi piaci da morire. I should be done soon (I hope).

And finally, one more to count in the tally. From the library:

#30. Fables: Super Team by Bill Willingham and others



I zipped through this this morning. It felt like a transitional work, like it was the bridge to get to some new plots. But then it suddenly wrapped up a major plot line. I'm not sure what I think about that; it was kind of anti-climactic. But it's got the humor and interesting story lines of the other Fables books, so no major complaints.

#31. Mi piaci da morire di Federica Bosco



Whoo Hoo! Finally finished it! A whole novel in another language! I'm feeling very accomplished right now.

So this was good, honest-to-god Italian chick lit. But it was fun. Bosco is definitely a funny writer (at least I think I got most of the humor) and the writing seems very fluid (as far as I can tell with Italian writing). The story, like much chick lit, is a little predictable, but she pulls it off well, and the ending actually turned out to be a little bit of a surprise. The point is that I think I would have enjoyed this in English too. I may try to read the next book in the series ...

I don't know why I never found your thread before, but I've read through it and been entertained and informed. Thanks!
I'm writing to say that I am a great China Miéville fan, and Perdido Street Station remains my favorite. I didn't mind that it was so long and that it took so many turns and turn-backs - very like the streets in New Crobuzon. I simply rejoiced in somebody's having all that creativity, so much that he couldn't begin to contain it. I once read a comment that the slake moths were copied from a graphic novel, but I had never met them, so I was carried away. And thoughts of the Garuda, going out into the city to face the rest of his life, haven't let me go yet.
I haven't read Embassytown; hope to get to it this year, but I even enjoyed Kraken. So yeah. I'm a fan.
CONGRATULATIONS on read the Italian novel!!

Liz (can I call you Liz?), thanks for coming by, it's nice to have a new face. And now I have to make sure you're on my reading list!

You know, as I said, I'm not sure I rated Perdido Street fairly. Maybe it was just the wrong book at the wrong time. He is incredibly creative, and I had not thought about your point concerning the plot mimicking the streets of the city; that's a very interesting thought and I'll have to consider if I ever come back the novel. As I said though, I still plan on reading other of his works.

Congratulations on finishing a novel in Italian!!
And although I am not a fan of chick lit (anymore I must say, I had too much of it) I'll put this on my WL, there's a good chance I'll find it in my library. English chick lit helped me a lot with the language - where else would I have found expressions like 'sophisticated' or 'fling' or 'to have a crush'? And I so need a fun read!

Nathalie - that's one of the reasons that my wife and I read this. The language is very colloquial as opposed to that in other novels that we tried. And so we feel like we're getting a better feel for the spoken language this way. We've run across a lot of common idioms (and for that matter now know a few good cusses and curses!) and have a much better handle on the spoken tenses (as opposed to the bloody passato remoto!) And it was fun enough that it was relatively easy to keep plowing through.

#32. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson



By the writer of Devil in the White City, this was an equally well written book though perhaps not as good a story. It covers the first year of the ambassadorship of William Edward Dodd and his family to Nazi Germany. The Nazis were newly in power, and FDR had recently begun his presidency appointing Dodd to the post essentially because he spoke German and no one else wanted it.

The time was fascinating, and looking at how Hitler consolidated his power was informative. Also interesting was the view of FDR's foreign policy and his foreign service. It's hard to know whether to blame them (FDR and the foreign service) for their failure to act on behalf of Germany's jews, or to accept that there was politically very little that they could have done at the time. Their focus on getting Germany to pay their outstanding debts surely looks a little short-sighted though.

My only problem with the book is that it seems more appropriate for a scholarly audience rather than a lay one. It's well written, as I said, but it's all from the point of view of Dodd and his daughter Martha. Very well researched, very detailed, but perhaps not so interesting to us lay readers.

For this reason, it gets 3.5 rather than 4 or 4.5 stars.

Now then, I just got 1Q84 from the library, and as I'm willing to bet that I won't be able to renew it since I had to wait several weeks just for my turn on the hold list, and as it's over 900 pages, I better get started on it despite my plans to read other things ...

I like (and agree with) your review of In the Garden of Beasts, Steve. And I'm looking forward to your reaction to 1Q84, which I read earlier this year.

Dagnabbed library! I get one heavily requested book (1Q84) and just get into it when they notify me that another heavily requested book is now available for me (Mockingjay)! Not that big a deal, except that I can't renew either of them, and 1Q84 is over 900 pages, and even though I'm already 300 pages in, I can't guarantee I'll be done in another week.

So once again, I have to pause my reading of one book to read the other. I hate doing that. At least Mockingjay is going to be a short easy read - I'm sure I can polish it off this weekend and then get back to the very interesting Murakami book.

#33. Mockinjay by Suzanne Collins



BOOM! And just like that it's done ...

Started yesterday, finished today. And am generally satisfied.

SLIGHT SPOILER

I think what I actually found most satisfying was that there was no 'happily ever after'. At least not quite. Which makes sense. Like The Lord of the Rings it's kind of realistic, in that given a certain amount of horror, you just aren't going to be the same. And yet, there's also our inherent ability to overcome an awful lot of horror and to go on living and to have a life that, while changed, is still a life; as most (I hope) of the people who've survived concentration camps, dictators, rapes, oppression, etc. etc. have done.

SPOILER END

So kudos, Ms. Collins, for a good yarn that doesn't condescend to young (and older) adults, and makes us all think about life and death and what's important.

#122 again: I read this book now and quite liked it. While it was fun to read and I hope I learned some new expressions, I have clearly read too much (English and American) chick-lit in my life, so for most of the time it felt like an Italian trying to copy those authors and add a good dose of "Friends" and SatC. I am sure the book was successful in Italy, they love to read about Italians in NY. (There's a really awful crime mystery by Giorgio Faletti set in NY, Niente di vero tranne gli occhi where NY is the other stereotype - all soulless, anonymous, dangerous. Very successful book here!).

I was quite happy with the ending where Bosco avoided most of the clichés. And I loved the scene where Monica finally gets a good scolding from Mark! The very last sentence however almost killed the book for me, but then I realized it's very special Italian humor, it adds a 'twinkle' to the story and would work really well in an Italian movie version of the book, with some loud and happy music starting at this point and then the credits rolling.

I'll look out if I find more Bosco books. Thanks for recommending this one!

#130: I also liked the ending and the epilogue a lot.

Nathalie - I'm glad you enjoyed! I kind of agree. It was very much an Italian 'Bridget Jones' but so what? it was still a fun read. I certainly learned a little colloquial Italian If I can remember it!) and am always happy to update my cursing skills!

There are two more books which follow this one - Monica in Italy and Scotland, etc. I'm going to keep reading them, mostly for the practice rather than the story. I expect they won't be great, but so what!

#34. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami



Another long one, but in a good way. More to follow ...

JUNE BOOKS
34. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
35. The Dragon Scroll by I.J Parker
36. Tales Too Ticklish to Tell by Berkeley Breathed
37. Justinian's Flea by Willam Rosen
38. All About Emily by Connie Willis
39. Asterix Omnibus 3 (Asterix and the Big Fight, Asterix in Britain, Asterix and the Normans) by Goscinny and Uderzo
40. Ball Peen Hammer by Adam Rapp
41. Spock's World by Diane Duane
42. Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison and others

Just a little more about 1Q84. There are lots of reviews about this so book I'm not going to go into great detail. But what struck me most about this book was the leisurely pacing. And yet, I didn't find it boring. The prose, I thought, was quite nice (in translation of course) and I didn't have a lot of trouble with events that took a L O N G time to unfold.

Why only 3 1/2 stars? Because I honestly don't see myself ever even thinking about reading it again. Though good, it's just too long for the bang. From a purely artistic standpoint, maybe it's 4 or 4.5 stars.

I'm back and was less than carried away with 1Q84 although The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle stopped me in my tracks. I will reread *Bird*, but like you, I expect I'm through with *1Q*. Somehow, even though it was well-done, there didn't seem to be that much to it. Nor did the translation have the crackle of *Bird* or *Kafka*. I need to read more Murakami!

Agree completely. Let's go on to other Murakamis and then we'll touch base again ...

35. The Dragon Scroll by I.J. Parker



A good solid mystery set in 11th Century Japan. That Japan is very different from the 'Samurai' Japan of later years and I think the author (apparently) captures the time pretty well. Good and appealing characters, well paced, no complaints.

Oh, and no, I did not intentionally read two back-to-back 'Japan' books. It just worked out that way ...

36. Tales Too Ticklish to Tell by Berkeley Breathed



I love Bloom County. I'm not sure why it took my so long to read this one. Thinking about getting the 'Complete' Library of America collection ...

Boy, June's almost done. I better step up my pace or I'll never get to 75. On the other hand, I should probably take my job more seriously ...

37. Justinian's Flea by Willam Rosen



Good. The argument is that the first wave of bubonic plague in the 6th and early 7th centuries played a major role in Justinian's failure to re-unite the Roman (i.e. East Roman = Byzantine) Empire despite his military success against successive waves of barbarians. The book is far-ranging, going into the epidemiology and pathogenesis of Y. pestis, as well as much of the convoluted history of the 6th century. Maybe a little far-reaching, but Rosen pulls it off reasonably successfully. An enjoyable read.

38. All About Emily by Connie Willis



I love Connie Willis. She has a knack for taking very stereotypical plots and then putting a spin on them so that they aren't so typical anymore. And I love her frequent references to the things she loves, in this case musical theater and old movies. The story is modeled on "All About Eve" (which I have to admit I've never seen) which itself is about an aging actress and the young actress who replaces her. Here, we also have an actress maybe just slightly past her prime, and the young, attractive woman who seems to be set up to take her job away from her. And that's all I'm going to say.

And the reason for that is that I can't really say anything else without giving away a large part of the story. Because, despite the fact that this is a hardcover Connie Willis 'book', it's really a Connie Willis story, barely, if even, the length of a novella. Which irks me a bit. Willis' publishers have clearly figured out that there are enough dingbats like me out there who will buy these tiny little books for them to publish them and know that they will sell at least a few. Even though you can read them in about an hour (or less). Honestly, her last three or so 'books' should probably have been published in a collection (with a few more stories thrown in!)

But anyway, if you like Connie Willis stories, you'll like this. It has her typical wit and charm and keeps you guessing until the end. If you've never read her, you'll probably want to pick this up second hand or something, but I recommend it none-the-less. If you're a devoted fan like me, it's a must-have.

Review (exactly the same as the above) here.

39. Asterix Omnibus 3 by Goscinny and Uderzo



Includes Asterix and the Big Fight, Asterix in Britain, and Asterix and the Normans

As usual, I'm not going to rate Asterix. He's just too good. At this point in their writing the authors are really settling in. These are three of the great stories, especially Asterix in Britain which is a classic. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, as the next three are equally classics ...

And with the slew of completions over the last few days, I might be back on track to finish 75 ...

I SO love Asterix in Britain, it's among the best in the series. Full of things I only understood when I reread it as an adult (and after I had been to England).

Agreed. You have to know something about all the things Britons are steeped in: tea and Hastings and stiff upper lips ... Great fun.

40. Ball Peen Hammer by Adam Rapp



Jeez, what a let-down! I'm into post-apocalyptic dark stories and all, but being dark and pessimistic solely for the sake of being dark and pessimistic is no fun. The art work was OK, but the story didn't do it for me at all. Just dark for the sake of being dark as far as I can see. No great loss if you give this one a miss, in my opinion.

41. Spock's World by Diane Duane



Surprisingly good. I don't usually read 'derivative' works like this - after all they're just a way for the parent company to make more money - but I'd heard that this was decent. And it was. A kind-of-standard Star Trek story (Vulcan threatens to leave the Federation - will the usual gang prevent it?) mixed with short stories covering the history of Vulcan and it's people. The stories were not bad.

So all-in-all an easy read and I have no regrets. But if this is the supposedly the best of this very long series of books, I doubt I'll be reading (m)any more...

42. Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison and others



I'm not sure why I keep trying Grant Morrison. I feel like he makes great efforts to be subtle and grandiose, but I'm just left scratching my head. I'm just not gettin' it. Here Bruce is traveling through time doing something - I'm still not sure what - but he's actually a booby trap set by Darksied - don't ask me how that's supposed to work, I still don't get it. Something to do with 'omega energy' whatever that is. In the meantime, he gets to be a caveman ('Me man. Who you?'), a cowboy, a puritan, a pirate (complete with 'Argg!s - give me a break!), etc, etc.

Meh!

I'm only giving it 2 1/2 stars because I'm sure that some people find this really cool and I can't say it's execrable.

And with that, the year is half over. I'm back on track with the aid of a couple of graphic novels - not intentional but I'm not complaining.

Think I'm going to start a short history of Byzantium now. Or maybe a little more fiction. Who knows ...

JULY BOOKS
43. Asterix Omnibus 4 (Asterix the Legionary, Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield, Asterix at the Olympic Games) by Goscinny and Uderzo
44. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Tim Hamilton
45. A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich
46. Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters
47. Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon and others
48. Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters
49. Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon and others
50. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale by Zack Whedon and others
51. Get a Life by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian

43. Asterix Omnibus 4 by Goscinny and Uderzo



Includes Asterix the Legionary, Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield, and Asterix at the Olympic Games

This is a great collection. Wonderful stories, great art work. Legionary is a fun romp full of stereotypes (in a good way) and puns. The Chieftain's Shield is a good little story with a little bit of mystery, spoiled only by a little racism that wouldn't be acceptable today (negro servants with big lips).

The Olympic Games is a personal favorite of mine for a number of reasons: First, it is the first Asterix book I ever read and I don't remember a time when it wasn't around the house. So I grew up on it. Second, it's a great story with very little 'bash-'em-up' and a lot of humor, some of it quite subtle. Third, there's some really great art work. Uderzo took time to really draw the buildings of ancient Athens and Olympia. You feel like you're there. Fourth, it's pretty well researched and true to history in a lot of ways - you can actually learn something about the ancient Olympics (even though the athletes should be nude). Fifth, the Gaulish village is starting to fill out and the secondary characters are getting developed. Here we have a fully developed Fulliautomatix, and a wonderful introduction to Geriatrix who in some ways is the star of the book and is a great character. (Impedimenta was introduced in Shield.) And I could go on.

Anyway, if you've never read Asterix, this would be a great collection to get you started and hooked.

44. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Tim Hamilton



A graphic novel adaptation, with Bradbury's approval. From his introduction it sounds like he was involved in the script adaptation as well. None-the-less it really just made me want to go back and read the original. Knocked it off in about an hour.

I'm currently reading the original for the first time. It's interesting to think of what I've read so far in graphic novel form and I'm almost not sure I'd want to, just because I already have such set images in my mind of the word Bradbury created.

45. A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich



Four stars, because it's pretty well written and pretty easy to read, which I think must have been difficult considering how much time the work covers. It's actually a distillation of the author's 3 volume history of Byzantium. But it still works on it's own I think. More later...

46. Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters



Cadfael is just good reading. The plot of this one is not remarkable and is even pretty predicable, but it's just so well written, how can you not enjoy it?

47. Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon and others



I've read this before, but then I caught a panel at one of the cons of the 'Firefly' cast and it was fun. Whedon also said they have plans to come out with more comics, so I found this and re-read. I think I actually liked it more the second time. It takes place after the show, before the movie, and helps to explain why the characters are where they are when the movie begins. Typical Whedon style and fun.

48. Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters



You know, the funny thing about Cadfael is that the stories are kind of predictable. Yet still fun to read. Go figure. In this one, there is murder and mayhem during the annual abbey fair.

49. Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon and others



A very Firefly-esque story, which means I liked it. It's short - I knocked it out in about an hour. Set in the Firefly (series) time line it reads very much like it could have been an episode in the series. That's good.

50. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale by Zach Whedon and others



Good, but mostly for Firefly fans. It delves into the backstory of Shepherd Book, tells us where he came from. I'm undecided as to whether it works on its own without knowing something about him first. I suppose it does to some extent. Certainly a book Firefly fans will want to read.

51. Get a Life by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian



What a pleasant surprise! I picked this up at the library a couple of days ago on a lark, and much to my surprise it's quite wonderful!

Jean is a late twentyish Parisian writer, single, and looking for love. This is a collection of stories about his life, some 2 pages, some much longer. But it is delightfully witty, self-referential, and sometimes touching. A great cast of fun supporting characters. I can't wait to find and read the next one!

Review here.

AUGUST BOOKS
52. The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters
53. The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters
54. The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters
55. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer
56. Batman: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and others
57. Batman: Death by Design by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor
58. The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher

52. The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters



Another fine Cadfael novel. Peters always writes well and this is another good example. In this one a young girl with a lot of land is going to marry an old guy who could be her grandfather. She's not pleased but there's not much she can do about it. Of course she's actually in love with someone else. But then, something happens ...

53. The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters



This is a good one. Well plotted with a bit of heroics and other action. The mystery is pretty good, and this is one of the first novels that starts to develop Cadfael's backstory in more detail.

I started reading the Ellis Peters series and got sidetracked. I need to get back to the books! Thanks for the reminder, Steve.

54. The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters



This and the last one are two of the very good Cadfael books, at least I think. They are better paced than many, have a good mix of mystery and action, and have good characters. Here, a young jongleur invades the Abbey of Saints Peter and Paul to claim sanctuary from a lynch mob. Apparently he's killed a man and stolen his riches. Of course, Cadfael doesn't believe it and there is more going on in a local family's life than meets the eye ...

Well recommended.

55. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer



This is a short little book (less than 100 pages), actually a collection of essays. Each essay discusses a virus (tobacco mosaic, HIV, West Nile, mimivirus, etc) and uses it to discuss some issue of virus 'life': how they evolve, change, spread, kill, etc. Very non-technical (if there's a flaw it might be that it could be more so) and easy to read. Recommended.

#165: I have that one in the BlackHole already, but my local library does not have it. Rats. Glad to see you liked it!

56. Batman: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and others



Well call me impressed! If this is what 'The New 52' is going to be like I might become a fan. This is a good solid Batman story. Some action, some detecting, narrow escapes, dark artwork and darker moods, this story captures the spirit of Batman very well. The story is well structured and well put together.

The basic premise: a new murder in Gotham by someone who appears to be very skilled with knives, and who appears to be connected with a very old Gotham legend about owls. And there's a connection to Bruce Wayne's ancestors and, apparently, someone very close to Bruce and Batman ...

>165 scvlad:. Hey Al! Thanks for stopping by! As you can see, traffic is not very high around here right now, which is fine, but it's still always nice to have a visitor!

Read Cadfael! Some of them are just great. And don't worry about Viruses - there are other great Carl Zimmer books around that equally, if not more more, worth it.

Hmmm. The Batman gn sounds like a winner!

Always reading your reviews, just not commenting unless I have something specific to say.

>170 ronincats: - Nice to hear! thanks for hanging out with me.

57. Batman: Death by Design by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor



Wow. Surprisingly good! More later ...

So what makes Batman: Death by Design so delightful?

First, it's set in a Gotham 'golden age' which is very well rendered in the artwork - it appears to be the 40s. Bruce Wayne looks like a young rich guy, not some muscle-bound pseudohulk. And everyone else is the same, they look more 'normal'. The art is almost completely in black and white with splashes of color every now and then for effect - this is very effective. Both Batman and the Joker, who makes an appearance, are delightfully retro-styled. The big B looks a little like he looked in the very early days of Batman strips, with a less 'buff' costume and bigger ears. But the setting also offers the opportunity to add some Batman gizmos with a decidedly steampunk look.

And the story is a homage to ... architecture! Yea, go figure! So the Wayne Central Station, though an architectural masterpiece, is a decaying hulk and Bruce is going to raze it and build a new, avant-garde one. A young woman (otherwise not horribly well developed) is trying to convince him not to destroy the original masterpiece - she serves as the traditional heroine in distress, which works only because of the retro setting - you can get away with some conventions more easily. The problem is that someone seems to be sabotaging the work site. But why?

Anyway, this is a good Batman story in a traditional style and the architectural slant and retro design makes it quite delightful. Recommended.

Review

58. The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher



This was the second time I read this, and I still think very highly of it. It's just such a nice introduction to how languages evolve over time, and a nice introduction to some of the mechanisms that 'make' it evolve. The style is very light-hearted (maybe too much so?) and it's full of good and informative examples. He takes pains to make sure the reader realizes that he is talking about general processes and not necessarily specifics or mechanisms that apply to every language - something that I as an academic really appreciate. Anyway, I still think that if you have any interest in how languages 'move' this is a great place to start. And I guarantee that you will stop being quite so pedantic and adamant about 'good grammar' ...

SEPTEMBER BOOKS
59. The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer
60. The Seeds of Speech by Jean Aitchison
61. The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell
62. Broken Harbor by Tana French
63. Fables: Inherit the Wind by Bill Willingham and others
64. Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques

59. The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer



Not sure why it took me so long to get through, but I finally did. A bit of a mixed picture on this one.

There are 4 parts. The first looks at 3 'case histories' of people who have changed their beliefs, why and how, and the effect that it's had on their lives. The second is the meat of the book and examines how belief works. I.e. it literally tries to look at what the neurologic processes involved in belief are, and how the way we believe evolved. The basic gist is that we form beliefs on very limited data by finding patterns, whether they exist or not. We then tend to find evidence that supports our beliefs and disregard evidence that does not. Part 4 (bear with me) then examines the consequences of this. It looks at the consequences of how we believe - specifically the biases we use to maintain those beliefs - and gives an argument as to why science is the best hope of overcoming our inherent limitations and finding truth.

If these were the only parts this probably would have been a 4.5 or 5 star book. The problem for me is that part 3 seemed to be extraneous and not fit the general argument. In this section Shermer looks at some beliefs and, kind of, why they are believed and also seems to spend time debunking some of these beliefs. There's nothing wrong with that, but as I said it seems to not fit with the main argument of the book, i.e. how and why we believe and what we do about it. I kind of had trouble getting through this section which is surprising because I found the other sections very interesting.

None-the-less, because of the good stuff in the other sections, it gets 4 stars.

60. The Seeds of Speech by Jean Aitchison



Mixed feelings. First, it's a textbook and reads like one. I got tired very quickly of lines at the end of chapters like '... that is the subject of the next chapter'. At EVERY chapter end. And it was a little on the shallow side. Which makes sense as it's an introductory linguistics text. But compared to The Unfolding of Language, which went into all kinds of detail, it felt a little, well, shallow.

But, I learned a few things and that was the point. I was hoping to learn why language evolved, but that question was not answered here. Instead I learned a little about language diffusion and brain processing, and that's not such a bad thing.

Nice review of The Believing Brain. I plan on starting it in a few days.

>177 The_Hibernator:. I'll be interested to hear about your impressions.

#173: Have you read Deutscher's Through the Language Glass yet, Steve? I used it as a reference for a paper I was writing for sociology and, although I did not read the entire book, what I did read of it was very good.

>179 alcottacre:. Al, I have NOT read that. I'm going to my library page right now ... hmmm, this sounds very different from The Unfolding of Language. But it's available, and I'm requesting it! And we'll see how it goes. Thanks Al!

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal



It doesn't count as a 'read' book, but I spent a few hours with this yesterday. I was curious about the development/history of the English language. The first few sections of this were a nice summary. It's just so not-obvious that Old English was an inflected language but all those inflections were lost over 1000 years; and that 85% of Old English vocabulary is lost too; and that so much of the present language came about due to continued invasions by other languages. Great stuff. I think I'd be a linguist in a different life ...

61. The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell



I picked this up as it had gotten a good review on another thread. Unfortunately I was disappointed. A lot of that was just because I don't understand the author. I don't understand her great need to tell this very personal family story to a general audience. For some reason she seems to feel it is necessary and cathartic, but I just can't see it that way. It's also a somewhat selfish book. That's not necessarily bad; I mean that's what autobiographies are right? But I can't help but feel that she's putting an awful lot of blame for her personal problems onto her father. Yes he's a strange and, bluntly, untrustworthy man. But is that really why she worked in Japan as a stripper, or why she became addicted to Ambien? It just feels too self-serving to me. *SLIGHT SPOILER* I also don't have much patience with tales where the author goes to rehab, finds God, and now everything is right in his/her life. It certainly appears that in this case she still needed to spill the secrets of her still -living family! *SPOILER END*

Having said that, it was easy to read, and I certainly was not bored with it. The art was adequate. And I am confirmed in my previous belief that Ashely Judd just seems to be a nice person and is more than the typical starlet.

#180: I will be interested in seeing what you think of the book once you have read it. One of these days I will go back and read it in its entirety.

62. Broken Harbor by Tana French



Tana French is a helluva writer. I read her In the Woods based on the New York Times review and was blown away. Her next book, The Likeness, while not quite as awesome, was still a good read, and her third book Faithful Place was pretty close to the level of the first one. This one is also excellent - still not quite In the Woods caliber, but that's simply not a level one can reach every time.

Each of her books takes a minor character from the preceding one and makes them the protagonist. It's amazing that it works really well. The stories are all different, of course. The protagonist gets fleshed out and there's always good backstory. And her mysteries are more than just mysteries; they are psychological character studies, looking at the way each character's background interacts with their work and the case they're working on. It works really well.

In this one, a family of four is found slaughtered. 'Scorcher' Kennedy is assigned the case with a rookie detective. It starts as police procedural. But then there's a turn, and though it continues as a procedural there's a new focus. And the rookie turns out to be good and he and Scorcher develop rapport. And then of course there's another turn and you're someplace completely different. And weaving in and out of the story is Scorcher's own family life and especially his sister who is, shall we say, a little unique.

That's all I'll say. It's well worth reading, as are all French's book. Did I mention they all take place in Dublin and the local flavor is also great fun?

63. Fables: Inherit the Wind by Bill Willingham and others



Just OK I'm afraid. Clearly a volume intended to get us from one place to another. I'll read the next one of course, but ...

The Tana French is going on my wishlist, Steven. At first I was thrown off by the way the series doesn't focus on the same characters all the time, especially after In the Woods, when I wanted more with Cassie and Rob. But I've grown to really like the concept, and as you say she is a terrific writer.

64. Questionable Content by Jeph Jaques



OK, so this is not a book. However, I've spent all my spare time over the last 5-6 days reading this strip from start to (current) finish! That's over 2000 weekday strips written over more than 9 years! So I'm counting it, dammit!

I like it quite a bit. It's about a bunch of post-college 20-somethings dealing with life, set in a Western Mass college town. Lots of music references, no politics. It's kind of like a big long episode of 'Friends' except funny. And they have anthroPCs.

This panel alone is not going to make much sense out of context but it at leaves gives you an idea of the artwork and the humor. It's from fairly early on. And the title link will take you to current strip. If you get inspired, the strip starts here, and the first thing you'll see is that the art work was incredibly different when he first started the strip. It was fun to see how it developed.

65. Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques

Yup, I'm taking credit for it again. I went back and read the whole thing again, all 2293 comics. This time I paid more attention to the art. It was very interesting to see its evolution from very simplistic to very detailed - shade and shadow, interesting perspectives, etc, etc. It was fun to see how it developed. And I still think the writing is really a lot of fun.

In the meantime, I'm having trouble finishing a book on the American Golden Age. I've been slogging away for weeks now. The book is not bad by any means, I'm just having trouble really sitting down and reading it. Of course part of the problem is that I've been reading comics, and the other part is that I haven't been commuting every day lately (I'm in the middle of a job switch). I'll read a big chunk tomorrow while I'm getting the car serviced I hope and maybe I'll manage to finish it up this weekend ...

OCTOBER BOOKS

65. Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
66. Rebirth of a Nation by Jackson Lears
67. Mortal Fire by C. F. Dunn
68. Redshirts by John Sclazi

Sorry, I've been absent for a while. Just read some of those strips and I fear they are oddly addictive. Bookmarked the site and doubtlessly will continue reading during the weekend.

>190 Deern:. Don't apologize. I've barely been around too and have been doing some very cursory thread reading lately. Glad you stopped by and hope you don't get quite as addicted as I did.

66. Rebirth of a Nation by Jackson Lears



I might try to review this in the future, but not right now. It took way to long to get through, and I'm just not sure what I think about it accept that it left me ultimately unsatisfied. Very briefly, it is a history of 'Gilded Age' America from the end of Reconstruction (1877) through the end of the Wilson administration (1920). In some ways it is a very thorough history of the period, in others it felt very lacking and highly skewed in interpretation. I guess it ultimately did what I wanted it to do though, which was to give me an overview of the period.

The best news is that I just yesterday got an Early Reviewer book, and it's fiction, and I'm totally in the mood for it!

67. Mortal Fire by C. F. Dunn



My first Early Reviewers review! The review is here. The summary opinion: good but not great. Good enough that I'll look for the next book in the series, but not good enough that I'm likely to ever read it again.

68. Redshirts by John Scalzi



What fun!

If you have ever watched 'Star Trek' (the original series) you will know that a 'redshirt' is the guy on the away mission who is not a main character who is almost certainly going to be killed so that someone, but not a main character, can die. But with a track record of deaths on away missions, don't you think the Enterprise crew might notice that being on one is likely to result in death?

Hence, Redshirts. The novel focuses on what would normally be 5 minor characters, in a universe an awful lot like that in 'Star Trek', who join the crew of the Intrepid and can't help but get the feeling that the regular crew is not quite being forthcoming with them. The story is funny and if you know your 'Star Trek' you'll get the many references.

The major device is the mixing of reality and fiction, and Scalzi pulls it off as well as anyone could.

Even more interestingly, he ends the novel with 3 short stories that focus on how the events of the novel affect 3 minor characters in this story. Their feel is completely different, and 2 of them really aren't funny at all, but turn out to be quite poignant. I liked them as much as the main story.

If you're a Star Trek fan, go find it. You'll have fun!

NOVEMBER BOOKS

69. Master and God by Lindsey Davis
70. America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar
71. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker
72. The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver

69. Master and God by Lindsey Davis



This is not Lindsey Davis' best book, but it is still an easy read and fun. It is NOT a Falco book, though, so be warned. Instead it's a love story set in the reign of Domitian. The love story itself is OK, the history is interesting. I find this book fits the mold of several history-driven books, including others by Davis. Falco works better, because the plot is always about the mystery, which just happens to be in Rome. This feels like it's more about the history with a story superimposed on top. But don't let that stop you ...

70. America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar



This is a great book. If you have any interest at all in the American Constitution you should read this book. A combination of history, law, and political science, it is very well written and incredibly informative. I have nothing else to say.

71. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker



Well that was very enjoyable. This was my first Spenser novel. Parker is channeling Raymond Chandler here, but that's OK. He writes well, the story is fun, and the dialogue snappy. Set in mid-70s Boston, it's full of local color and locations too which is fun for those of us who are historically minded. I'll read more of Mr. Parker.

72. The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver



A good book. More to follow.

73. Rashomon Gate by I. J. Parker



Excellent. Better than the first in the series. Reviews for this and the above to follow.

DECEMBER BOOKS

73. Rashomon Gate by I. J. Parker
74. God Save the Child by Robert B. Parker
75. Black Arrow by I. J. Parker
76. Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and others
77. Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker
78. Green Lantern: Secret Origins by Geoff Johns and others
79. Batman Detective Comics: Faces of Death by Tony S. Daniel and others
80. Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
81. Island of Exiles by I. J. Parker

74. God Save the Child by Robert B. Parker



The 2nd Spenser novel. And I don't feel like writing a rewiew.

75. Black Arrow by I. J. Parker



And this was also very good.

I owe at least 4 comments on the last 4 books I read, if not reviews, and I'll try to do that soon. But the end of the year has had some fun reads and I've enjoyed both Spenser and Akitada quite a bit. More later, I hope...

Congrats!

Congrats on reaching the magic number, Steve!

Thank you, thank you. I'd like to thank all the little people who made this possible ...

Oh, I had to look twice at Black Arrow, as the first time my eyes passed over the cover I was thinking The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson, a childhood favorite. Very different books.

76. Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and others



Surprisingly good! Good story, good art, characters that aren't too two-dimensional. If there are more like this one, I'll read them.

Got my Santa Thing books yesterday! I was going to wait to open them until Christmas, but I wasn't sure they were for me. I got my sister a Santa Thing too (shh! don't tell!) and they could have been for her. Anyway, I got a good haul: The Destiny of the Republic, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, and Sonata Mulattica. The latter I would never have bough on my own, or even taken out from the library, so I'm quite happy about it; it's a nice chance to try something outside my comfort zone.

Thanks Santa! Good choices!

To wait or not to wait . . . that is the question! With so many others taking peeks at SantaThing, I'm tempted to do the same!

Do it! Do it!

77. Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker



Excellent! Parker and Spenser are really starting to come into their own in this one. Good story, good character development. I'm pleased.

Mortal Stakes was the first Spenser novel I ever read. I found it at the library in the "big city" (pop. 30,000) one town over from where i lived one day when I was skipping school (I was a junior in high school, and had a drivers' license). I'd never heard of Robert B. Parker before but I loved mysteries and I loved baseball, so I figured I'd give it a try. I was so infatuated I sat there in the library and read the whole book in one day. I highly recommend it (the book, that is, not skipping school).

>214 rosalita:. That is awesome! It's fun being in the Boston area and reading these. I work just down the street from Spenser's first office (now torn down) and know a lot of the locations. Makes it a lot of fun!

78. Green Lantern: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and others



Meh.

79. Batman Detective Comics: Faces of Death by Tony S. Daniel



OK. That's all.

80. Promised Land by Robert B. Parker



I am enjoying Spenser. He's an interesting character. And the dialogue is great. He's not quite Phillip Marlowe or Sam Spade, but he shouldn't be, and he's coming into his own well enough. I can't help wondering, though, whether he's magically going to stay about 40 forever, or whether he's going to end up being in 60s when the series ends...

81. Island of Exiles by I. J. Parker



Very much enjoying this series. Good history, pretty good mysteries, good characters. Glad I chose to investigate it again.

Note to self for next year: n=non-fiction; f=fiction; p=plays and poetry; g=graphic novels or comics; {}=number of pages read.

Glitterfy.com - Christmas Glitter Graphics

I want to wish you a glorious celebration of that time of year when we all try to unite around a desire for Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward All. Merry Christmas, Steve!

Hi Steve, I can't catch up on posts, but I'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!!

Merry Christmas, Steve!

Well, thank you all for the Xmas wishes. As it is now clear that I'm not going to finish another book in 2012, I will invite you to find me in 2013 here.. Happy New Year!