Zefariath's 100 books in 2012

Edit 8/18: added a picture from the start of this year. A view out my living room window Jan 16 2012; late night light snowstorm.

I decided to do this challenge this year ! Didn't get into really using LibraryThing till late last year. Not sure how / where i should list books though. already on book 10 :)

I put a few limitations on myself, to make it a bit harder:
  manga / comicstrip collections don't count;
  reread old books (or books I had started before and didn't finish) don't count;
  picture / photography / illustration books don't count.

Despite wanting to catch up on my over a hundred plus backlog of books, i foresee that i will be buying a bunch to keep me in reading material (alot of them aren't super exciting at the moment, which is why they are still sitting on the shelf)

Books so far:

Elminster in Hell
Elminster's Daughter
Elminster Must Die
The Bride Wore Black Leather
Prince of Wolves
Winter Witch
Plague of Shadows
The Worldwound Gambit
Master of Devils
The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives

Now if I can only keep up the pace!

Hiya! Best of luck with your challenge!

Good luck with the reading! Looks like you've made a solid start.

Welcome and good luck!

Past Time for an update:
(it's been a bit so i don't remember exact order of some of these)
* don't count toward my 100, would make it too easy.

11 The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs Quite good ! like to see him write more stories about Langdon St. Ives
12 The Bride Wore Black Leather
13 Bury Elminster Deep
14 Book Girl and the Captive Fool
* Natsume's Book of Friends, Volume 1
* Rosario + Vampire II, Volume 7
15 In the Company of Crows and Ravens Sat on my shelf for a few years... interesting though
16 Coders at Work interesting, (since I'm a programmer) but i had to look up quite a bit of stuff
17 Tai-Pan Finally read book given as gift years ago, decided to read the others in series before i get to Noble House (which was also a gift)
18 Gai-Jin slow going compared to the above
* Omamori Himari, Vol. 6
19 Lady of Devices Very good, couldn't face reading King Rat yet.
20 Her Own Devices Quite good also, look forward to the next in series
* Fairy Tail, Volume 17
* Fairy Tail, Volume 18
* Ninja Girls, Volume 9

Really slowed down the pace with 15-18, and now with King Rat. Need to find some more good Fantasy / Science fiction that i can just zoom through on the train and at night, or I'm going to have trouble with hitting 100!

A quick update: ...
21 The Invention of Hugo Cabret a very good book, even though aimed at a younger audience. Of course i had seen the movie Hugo first so wasn't going into it blind.
22 Crucible of Gold The newest Temeraire novel. I have enjoyed them all so far, just hate getting to the end and knowing now I have to wait again
23 King Rat finally... took a while to get through for such a short book... and stopped mid-book and read 21 and 22, just couldn't take it all at once.
* XXXHolic volume 19 an interesting story, love the folktale aspects but slow coming out
* The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Volume 11 more manga fun
24 The Litigators A good fast Grisham read. Wouldn't say it was one of his best though. Read in a day, been looking for stuff to read, putting off picking up Noble House for now, a bit worn out with Clavell.

I'm reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret now. The artwork is interesting, but the plot is a little...strange. Any desire to read Wonderstruck after finishing this one?

I have heard fairly universally that Wonderstruck isn't as good. But the art is lovely, it's still on my wishlist.

I didn't know about Wonderstruck but just looking at it, it looks like something I'll be getting to read soon. I didn't think the story strange, just interesting, but then I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman as well, so used to a bit off kilter stories.

A quick update. Need to hit 33 books by the end of April to be on target:

25 Micro This was quite intersesting, although i had issues with some of the basic physics. (I started college as a physics major, and find some things hard to suspend belief with
* Gideon's Sword I actually bought this kindle version not realizing i had read it (I still have to catalog 90%+ of my hardcover fiction) but i read it anyway. I realized I had read it as soon as i read the first few sentences. An ok read, but not as good as their Special Agent Pendergast books.
26 Gideon's Corpse A quick read, entertaining, but not great literature.
27 The Zero Game This actually came as a freebie with the kindle version of Gideon's Sword. I enjoyed it although i don't know how realistic it really was. It did lead me to try some more of his books.
28 The Tenth Justice Brad Meltzer's first book. I figured I would start here with my next book to get an idea. It was hard to decide on it, the reviews on amazon were all over the place. It was an entertaining read, but not great, not a book I would probably recommend to others, just because there are so many better books i could recommend. I was able to read it pretty quickly though. Now despite his other books being on the NY Times Bestsellers list, i am hesitant to try them.
* RIN-NE Volume 8 Enjoying this manga, typical Rumiko Takahashi fare, the only downside as with all manga is the wait between volumes.
* Gate 7 Volume 1 A new series by Clamp, I finally decided to pick it up. I've only read the two volumes that are out so far, but it is interesting. Alot of Japanese history being mixed in that might put off some people.
* Gate 7 Volume 2
* The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan Volume 5 a humor filled spin off manga series that is quite wacky and pokes fun at the original series ... it's hard to describe.

Another quick update...

29 Firebird (an Alex Benedict novel) -- Nice new novel in this science fiction series
* Snow Crash one of my favorite novels, which I decided to have in electronic form, and reread. highly recommended
In the finding of Firebird (an Alex Benedict novel) it made me think to go back and find other books by Jack McDevitt I hadn't read... leading to the next batch below...
30 Ancient Shores good for an early novel, perhaps a weak ending.
31 Eternity Road Interesting look at a very post apocalyptic U.S
32 Moonfall Not sure how likely but an end of the world type story.. interesting story and characters.
33 Infinity Beach Interesting look at the idea of whether or not we are alone in the universe
34 Time Travelers Never Die Most enjoyable of the recent five books (although the others were all good), kept me enthralled... felt like it could have gone on longer but was wrapped up quickly.

Now the search is on to find more books to read... think i need a little break from McDevitt before i go on to read other books I haven't yet. At least I'm on schedule for now!

About a month, time for another update:

35 Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel This was quite a good book, and looking forward to the next in the series soon.

36 Soulless After trying the first one, which I found enjoyable enough if not perfect, I went ahead and got the rest of the series.

37 Changeless
38 Blameless
39 Heartless
40 Timeless
41 Accidental Time Machine Reading Time Travelers Never Die got me interested in finding more time travel stories, ... this was good, it's been a while since I've read other works by Joe Haldeman, I read The Forever War decades ago, and remember it being a good story. I actually read this current book somewhere between the previous 4, taking a break at one point from The Parasol Protectorate series.

42 11/22/63 I'm not in general a reader of Stephen King, but looking for time travel, i found this interesting story. I do have to say I see why he is such a popular author. His storytelling here was excellent, and the story itself enthralling.

43 The Engines of God a good story, the beginning seems half remembered to me, but not the rest (and it wasn't in my collection anywhere) so I don't think i ever read it.

44 Deepsix the next in the Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins series by Jack McDevitt (who is getting a quite a few of my spending dollars indirectly through amazon lately) .. This one was interesting, if somewhat lacking in final suspense as i knew the main character survives since the series continues. (next I'll be re-reading Chindi and Omega (since I forgot most of the story of them both, and wouldn't want to skip over them.

45 The Time Ships First physical book in a while (not counting books with * that don't count) (since #21 The Invention of Hugo Cabret) I've been buying kindle editions, easier with commuting to Boston, but then, I go and buy the books again in batchs in physical version too, (basically now I end up buying books twice!) Not a big deal when they are paperbacks but ....a bit expensive for hardcovers. But to me, I still want that book on the bookshelf. Wonder if it's a habit...

46 The Power of Habit well I've cheated here, and haven't read all the notes in the back (I might go back and read all the notes) but I'm still listing this as a book read for now. I read an article that was based on this book in the New York Times online and it was quite interesting, so went and got the book. Some thought provoking info, though I'm not sure how easy it would be for me to change my habits, despite what it says. Thinking back on it, it makes me want to read some more Oliver Sacks books; I have quite a few (in the still uncatalogued section of my library).

Well that wraps it up for now, a bit ahead since I only need 50 by the end of next month !

Time for an update:

I ought to do this more often, since I'm no longer sure of the order!

* One Piece, vol. 60 more One Piece fun.
* One Piece, vol. 61
* One Piece, vol. 62 ... the only problem is having to wait for the next book.
* The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, vol. 12
* Omamori Himari, vol. 7
* Oh My Goddess, vol. 40 Been following this forever, from the original flopped release.
* Oh My Goddess, Vol. 41

47 The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel very good sequel to
the first book. Hoping for more.

* Chindi a reread, but didn't want to skip over in reading this series
* Omega another reread, see above

48 The Third Gate an enjoyable read, if a bit of a stretch, definitely requires some suspension of disbelief.

Two books to go by the end of this month, to stay on track, shouldn't be too hard, though the re-reading of books has cut some of the lead i had made (and right now I'm halfway through Odyssey

July 4th, and time for an update. Hit my 50+ mark for end of June, hopefully I stay on target. (There may be some misordering in this order... i should write them down as I read them.)

49 Odyssey an ok book, i find that this series wasn't one of my favorites.. the earlier books were stronger than the later ones.
50 Devil's Gate just a fun summer NUMA series book.
51 The Storm next book in the series afer Devil's Gate. I missed that when it came out so i had the pleasure of reading them back to back.
52 Bloodline another exciting Sigma Novel by James Rollins.
53 The Long Earth a great SF novel by Terry Pratchett, and Stephen Baxter, both of whom I have read. Not sure who did what parts, but it turned out to be a fun story, could have kept reading, when it was over.
54 Cauldron Last of the series (so far ?) again a bit weaker than the beginning books. I definately like his Alex Benedict series better.

----------End of June-------
Now, starting in July its been 3 physical books in a row! (most of the books this year I've read on my
Kindle app on the Xoom Tablet i have.

55 Song of the Serpent a decent pathfinder story, not the best of the ones out so far, but not the worst.
56 City of the Fallen Sky yet another pathfinder novel, again of average quality, which I rushed through to get to the next book i had been waiting for....
57 Spice and Wolf, Vol. 6 I really like this series, stayed up late to read the whole book through last night, now of course I have 6 months or more till the next comes out in English.
* One Piece, Vol. 63 more one piece fun.

I have fallen far behind in reading my magazines, though while i have been reading all these books, I may have to take some time and try to catch up with a couple of subscriptions at least.

That's all for now.

So, it's near the end of the month, Time for a recap of reading since the 4th, It's been a productive few weeks!

As per usual, they may not be in totally correct order...

* Fairy Tail 19 actually a while ago, but I missed listing it somehow.
58 The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya another in a fun series, glad there are quite a few more left to go.
* The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, Vol. 1 I really like Yuki ... she is cute, maybe cause she's a quiet bookish type.
59 the Power of Habit an interesting book, but I hoped for a bit more.
60 Subliminal How your Unconscious Mind Rules your Behavior This was interesting, I had read The Drunkard's Walk and and interested in learning more about the mind and how it works in any case, I had hoped for even more info though, like the previous book, the size is a bit deceptive as a sizable portion is take up with the notes at the end.

* Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 9 Continuing a suspense and action filled arc...
* Rin-ne, Vol. 9 Between this series, Ranma 1/2 and Inu Yasha, Rumiko Takahashi is the author I own the most books by. It's vintage Takahashi, light and enjoyable, unfortunately like all manga books, it seems to be forever until the next comes out.
* Sunshine Sketch, Vol. 6 ... to get read for the Specials DVD that came out soon after.
61 Book Girl and the Corrupted Angel Even though these books got off to a rough start, I've kept reading them, the story seems to be improving and going somewhere, though I'm not sure I'm fully impressed with the series.
62 Book Girl and the Wayfarer's Lamentation The previous book sat on my to be read shelf for some time, and then out of exciting things (or things I considered exciting at the moment) I picked it up and read it and this one in one day that I was home, back to a couple of physical books as well. This book definitely moved the characters forward.
* Fairy Tail 20 I really enjoy this series...
* Teamwork Means You Can't Pick the Side that's Right Dibert for a laugh for when I need something to smile about.
63 Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet Being a geek, and computer programmer to boot, as well as enjoying building computers this was interesting, both in the story itself, and the technical aspects. Just the idea that a company prints a book of the internet that cost $5,000 or a map of it each year on Yupo® that costs $250 was neat to know.
64 The Atrocity Archives ... it took a bit to get into this book, it gets caught up in its own jargon... a combination of esoteric magical phrases mixed with circuit diagrams and quantum mechanics, I did find it good enough to give the sequels a try though.
65 The Jennifer Morgue either I was getting used to the background or the fact that he wrote it in the style of an Ian Fleming novel made it easier
66 the Fuller Memorandum Next in the series, another decent read.
67 The Apocalypse Codex Newest in the series, left me wondering just what was going to happen next.
68 Ready Player One Wow, good book. Recommended to me by a friend. I think though I am probably part of the target audience, ... a lot of 80's references, and while I don't get nearly any of the music references, when it comes to the games and computers, I remember quite a bit. Times when going to a video arcade was a big thing, getting an atari 2600 and playing games with my brothers... but, still it was a good story that keep a steady pace, with some twists along the way, very good for a first novel.

Past 2/3rds of the way there, and July isn't over yet! I do have to say, reading on my tablet gives me the impulsiveness to buy stuff late at night, if I finish a book, i can just get another and keep reading, perhaps not always a good thing. I think that's it so far, it should be for books that count, I might have missed some of the extras though.

Oh, I've got The Atrocity Archives and Ready Player One on Mt TBR, better bump them up a bit!

Ready Player One most definitely. I don't really have a TBR list... at least as far as reading my 100 books go. I do have 2 bookcases full of "books bought but not read yet", (a shelf or so of which is started and put aside) most of it non-fiction, and a lot too bulky to read on the train! But I shall get to them, someday.

OK, Wrapping up July with 3 books, don't think I'll finish the one I just started tomorrow (new DVDs arriving )

69 Wired This was surprisingly good. Kept my interest, and a suspenseful read. Hunting on the Kindle store, I picked it out of the top Science Fiction sellers I think.

70 Amped The sequel to Wired, and at least as good, although some of the newness of the idea was lost, as with any sequel, there was enough plot twists and action to keep me reading it very quickly.

71 Present Danger As I've been cataloging my hardcovers, I came across my other books by Stella Rimington which I had enjoyed, and to my delight I found that while the hardcovers weren't out yet in the US, her latest 2 books in the Liz Carlyle series were available for download. Instant purchase.

I do want to focus the last few months on more non-fiction ... but finding books that are not too dry can be a challenge. And besides there is so much good fiction I haven't read.

I did manage to squeeze in one last book for July after all.
72 Rip Tide the newest book in the Liz Carlyle series. Comparing this and the one right before it, it's hard to say which I enjoyed more; both were good, mostly realistic thrillers. Didn't find a nonfiction book, so next I get to read some sci-fi.

Another update: been reading like crazy lately. Nine books finished in 9 days. The only problem with electronic books, is its hard to get a handle on exactly how long ("thick") a book is, so I'm not sure if a bunch of these were just shorter novels, and so it's not so amazing.

73 Avogadro corp.
74 A.I. Apocalypse
These too were very good. I probably enjoyed them a bit more because I'm in the computer industry, but definitely worthwhile books, especially as it is a new author. I believe Avogadro corp. is his first book. Looking forward to the third in the series, and definitely a recommend.

75 The Family Trade
76 The Hidden Family
77 The Clan Corporate
78 The Merchant's War
79 The Revolution Business
80 The Trade of Queens

The Six above books comprise the total of the series "the Merchant Princes" by Charles Stross. I decided to give the first a try, since i have read some books by him, some I've liked (and one I got stuck in the middle and just can't pick up and complete Rule 34 (I had no idea what Rule 34 was before I picked up the book thought it would be similar to the other one of his i had read before that Halting State)

Overall, it's hard for me to give a strong recommendation to this series. The were O.K. books, but not great, nowhere near the classic Amber Series (one of my favorite series of all time) Quite a few of the later books in the series end abruptly in cliffhanger situations, if the next book had not already been out I would have been quite annoyed. With so much other good science fiction out there... I can't give a go out and read it recommendation for them, unless you really are a fan of the author, or of the parallel world type story and need something to read. In fact, I probably won't bother to buy the physical versions, which I am still doing with most books that i buy a kindle version.

81 The Lions of Lucerne A decent thriller, again a first book by an author, I'm sure his newest books are more polished. The newest book in the Scot Harvath series Black List came up as a recommendation by Amazon for me, and I decided to start with the first in the series. I don't read alot of regular modern fiction, sticking more to science fiction or fantasy, but would put it in that same category as Tom Clancy's books, but again this was not as polished as most of his. Still it kept my interest, though it did require a bit of suspension of disbelief. (I'm probably used to doing that with Clive Cussler's books (and other authors I've read more books by) but it wasn't that bad, more something I've noticed now after finishing the book.

....now I need to decide if i go and read the rest of the series, or search for something else good to read.

That's it, for now.

I can't believe you are reading so fast :) Some interesting sci fi here, a genre I sadly neglect. Already got my eye on Avogadro Corp

Yeah, I was amazed how quickly I was going for a bit, slowed down now.

Time for a brief update.

* Berkeley Breathed's Outland: The Complete Collection I often read (or re-read) a few pages of a comic collection every night, to help me wind down and be able to sleep. This was ok... but I don't think the comic in general was as good as Bloom County... which itself isn't one of my favorites, but i thought worth reading.

82 Path of the Assassin This picks up not long after the Lions of Lucerne another thriller, after reading the first, I had an idea what to expect, as far as style went. It was a decent story.

83 Counting from Zero I decided to switch genre's a little, didn't feel like reading the whole series by Brad Thor, that might be a bit much all at one time. So I picked up this book. While the protagonist is a bit extreme in his computer security, i suppose he is a professional security guy and knows. The book was a fun read, and the basic premises plausible, although I don't know about taking it to the level that he did in the book.

84 Zero Day Continuing with the Cyber thriller theme, I looked for some other books to read. This caught my eye, since the author previously worked at Microsoft. It was a good read, and I am looking toward his next book coming out next month. Although some things seemed to stretch the imagination a little with their possibility... I do agree our society is more and more dependent on computers. I see this at work, being a computer programmer. And after all, all my bank balance is today, is numbers in my bank's (hopefully very secure and backed up) computer systems.

85 Daemon
86 Freedom TM (the sequel)
Another twist one computers causing havoc, but this one also pulling in the game world, and also new technology, (think Google glasses on steroids). And also deals with the questions about power in today's society, and freedom, and free will. I was happy to find that Freedom TM was out after I read the first book, the second wraps up things much clearer than the first does. It starts as a simple cyber thriller, but then alongside that continues as a commentary on society and the world today.

That's it for now. Starting on Thinking Fast and Slow, need a change of pace.

Wrapping up the year just past, only a few books I started (that would have counted here) but didn't finish: Thinking Fast and Slow stuck in the appendices; and Noble House where I barely made it 10% into book. I also, got distracted reading The Digging Leviathan but I will get back to it.

Haven't kept up with reading, so just listing the books I know count, for the rest of the year. The others i read for fun (manga, etc.), I don't remember which were read when, so just leaving them out of this list

87 The Island of Lost Maps actually got read a bit later, but it was a good book.

88 State of the Union and
89 Blowback and
90 Takedown : more by Brad Thor, decent thrillers if i remember them correctly

91 Trojan Horse Sequel to Zero Day, quite good technothriller.
92 Libriomancer: (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) I really enjoyed this, reminded me a bit in style and character of both the Dresden series, and the Laundry Series, looking forward to more novels by this author.

93 Geekomancy This was ok, but not amazing.

94 Year Zero: A Novel I had put off reading this at first, kept on coming up as recommended by the kindle app, but once I did try it I found it a quite enjoyable, if a bit outrageous science fiction tale.

95 Immortal: Gene Doucette This was quite good, as was the sequel,
96 Hellenic Immortal

97 Accelerated: Vaughn Heppner Enjoyable thriller, if some implausible bits.

98 M.O.D. Allen This was quite good.

99 On Stranger Tides It was an interesting read to see where some of the ideas came from, for the movie, but powers book was very different, and darker.

100 The Racketeer a quick read, this seemed a short Grisham novel.

* The Last Coin On my wish list and given as a gift, it took me a while to realize I had read this, but still a quite enjoyable book, definitely full of Blaylock's humor in spots.

101 The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One very good as was it's sequel,
102 The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two

103 Poseidon's Arrow Another enjoyable Dirk Pitt book, about par for the series

104 Dodger I had put off getting this for a while, since although it was by Terry Pratchett who i really like, it wasn't a discworld book. However, it turned out to be a very good book after all.

105 Cold Days: A Novel of the Dresden Files The newest Dresden book got devoured in a day or less, very enjoyable, but.. now I have so long to wait till the next.

106 The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya the newest book in the series (translated into English) consisted of 2 separate stories, both enjoyable, in general more straightforward stories than some of the convoluted (time wise) some of the others have been.

107 Two Graves The newest Pendergast novel, was quite suspenseful, and enjoyable, while exploring deeper into the past of supporting characters.

108 Magnificent Devices: A steampunk adventure novel third in the series, continues the story, enjoyable, but again too short.

109 Spin and
110 Axis (last book of the year)
These turned out to be more interesting in the copy, than the books themselves in some ways. I hoped for more from the story, though i will continue and finish the series at some point with the last book.

I managed to do it, 110 official books, for a year. I greatly slowed down after Guild Wars 2 came out, that has taken away quite a bit of my free time. Still it was a grand challenge.

Well Done ! Onto 2013 !