tardis' 2013 Reading Journal

I haven't done a reading journal before, although I always keep track of what I read. I'm not a big book reviewer, and I don't see that changing, but it will be nice to have a place where I can make minor notes. Also will be nice to have one place where I list all the books I read - my LT catalogue only includes what I own, and I keep a separate list on my calendar of the ones I borrow from the library or friends, or anything I bought but didn't like enough to keep.

Edited to add: I read 173 books in 2012 (76 owned, 97 borrowed). I read quickly, but I also read a lot of "light" literature - cozy mysteries, for example, and fantasy.

We share so many books that I'll be sure to watch your thread. This is the first year that I'm trying to keep a reading thread for making notes, too. I hope you have fun with it!

Looking forward to reading your thoughts. :o)

We'll be keeping an eye out for your notes. I am personally blown away by your capacity to read 173 books in a single year, no matter how light you felt the content to be!

I have a lot of trouble with reviews trying to avoid spoilers. Instead this year I'm going to try to focus more on comments and asides and maybe quotes from what I'm reading, rather than attempting to do reviews of everything.

173!! Wow, I thought I was doing well with 87. :)

I don't like writing extensive reviews either. I just like to say, "Yep, liked it" or "nope, didn't like it." :)

First book of 2013, although it was my July Early Reviewer book and I've been working on it for months. And because it was an ER book I've actually reviewed it but I won't reproduce that here.

1. The Organic Home Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide To Growing Food / text by Patrick Lima, Illustrations and photography by John Scanlan. Neustadt, Ontario : Five Rivers Chapmanry, 2011.

A good book but a bit disappointing as it wasn't 100% new, and I have the previous edition.

One of the reasons it took so long to finish and review was the deficiencies in the e-ARC. For one, all the pictures were out of context at the very end of the book and all in black and white. It also lacked an index, and a lot of the punctuation appeared as gibberish characters and made reading a chore. I assume that in the proper for-sale version these problems are corrected but I haven’t checked to be sure.

I started my first reading journal last year and really enjoyed the experience. I like being able to look back at the notes I made and see if my reactions to a book have changed in the months since I read it. Looking forward to reading your thoughts!

2. Split Infinity by Piers Anthony. This is the first of my SantaThing books and on the surface it was a good choice for me, but I was a bit disappointed. Not a bad book, but it seemed like male wish fulfillment, with gorgeous naked women, a too-amazing hero (even though he was short), unicorns (okay, maybe that bit is female wish fulfillment) , and friendly werewolves. Enjoyed it well enough but will not be seeking out the rest of the series.

Have you read any other Piers Anthony books? If you haven't, I would recommend you don't start. I read a whole bunch of them as a teenager, until it dawned on me that he presented a consistently misogynistic world view. All his women are whiney, manipulative, and scantily clad. But he can tell an entertaining story.

Is this the one that starts off with some kind of life size virtual reality game competition, and then the main character somehow gets sucked into a fantasy world? I tried some of Piers Anthony's series in high school and, while the Xanth and the Incarnations of Immortality series were entertaining enough, I never got into anything else of his. I didn't make it to any unicorns here. Actually I don't think I made it past the VR game.

Have you read any David Brin? His Practice Effect was a much better portal type story.

The only other Piers Anthony book I have is Macroscope, which I remember liking a lot but it's probably 25 years since I read it. It's also more straight (and serious) SF as best I remember. I think I read some early Xanth, but must have been from the library and I obviously didn't feel it worth continuing. Split Infinity reminded me of Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series, which I also don't care for anymore.

Sandragon, that's the one. Like I say, it wasn't that hard to finish but I won't be reading any more. I have read some Brin but not that one - will keep an eye out for it.

3. The Wild Ways by Tanya Huff. This was a re-read for me because I just bought the paperback - read the hardcover last year from the library. Still a great book. I LOVE Tanya Huff - I think she might be my second favourite author, after Lois McMaster Bujold. She writes SF, traditional fantasy and urban fantasy and I've enjoyed it all, and many of them are on my comfort books list for re-reading when I need to.

The Wild Ways is a sequel to The Enchantment Emporium and it's full of the same quirky humour and also set in Canada, although mostly in Cape Breton, rather than Calgary.

I've read one Huff, Blood Price, and wasn't that impressed. Can you give me another one to try?

Morphy, the Blood books were my least-favourite Huff books, although I still liked them a lot. There's a spinoff series starting with Smoke and Mirrors that I prefer. Summon the Keeper is the first of the Keeper series (recently released in an omnibus edition) which is urban fantasy and one I go back to. I also highly recommend her newest book, The Silvered. It's traditional fantasy in the sense of not being set in our world, but otherwise quite original. The Valor series is great military science fiction and I've heard from people who actually have served in the military that Huff really nailed what it's like.

I have heard good things about The Slivered and may be giving it a try.

I think I'll try Summon the Keeper. I'll let you know how it goes!

Please do, Morphy! I hope you enjoy it because I love it when friends like my favourite books, too :)

(adding Tanya Huff to authors to investigate... somehow the list never shrinks. I keep running into the limit that the library places on the "my list" feature ;-(

19> I feel your pain! My library only allows 25 holds and I've been at the limit for over a month now! I'm back to keeping a paper list and every time one book comes in I place a new hold from the list. A lot of my holds are "on order" which is very aggravating because quite a few were published ages ago. I don't understand what's taking so long and as a librarian I do know the process - there is no reason it should take so long unless all the library staff are reading the darned things before they send them out to clients!

Haha. I understand how those new aquisitions might tempt the most honourable of library staff. I can see them hunched in a tight circle in a dim corner with new books, occasionally looking over their shoulders to make sure a library patron isn't approaching. Passing them back and forth to share the choice tidbits.

Many years ago, before big computer systems, my local librarians were always stressed right after the newest Book of the Month Club catalogue was sent out. But they were also happy that I could give them descriptions of the books from the catalogue. And I'm pretty sure they read the books before they got to the shelves. I loved that library (Kitchener Public Library).

Tardis, I just now have found your thread and have given it a star. Your comments sound just right to me. And I expect I'll enjoy see what you've been reading.

4. Waking in Dreamland by Jody Lynn Nye. I bought this because it's the first in a series, and I'd already bought the second. Dreamland is a mysterious, changeable landscape controlled by the dreams of seven sleepers. A group of scientists are out to see what happens if the Sleepers are waked, and have to be stopped. Pleasant enough to finish and to mean I'll go on to read the second book, but not a keeper.

5. School of Light by Jody Lynn Nye. Sequel to Waking in Dreamland. Student artists take over the government of dreamland. I liked this one better, but still not a keeper.

6. Deadly Patterns by Melissa Bourbon. A cozy paranormal mystery set in Bliss, Texas. All the women in the Cassidy family have "gifts" thanks to their ancestor, Butch Cassidy's wish. Harlow Jane Cassidy's gift is that people who wear the clothes that she makes get what they most desire. Her mum makes plants grow, grandma talks to goats, great grandma is dead but not gone. Pretty silly, really, and the mystery was lightweight, but pleasant enough.

You make me feel like such a slacker, tardis. ;o)

27> And here I was feeling pressed because I wasn't getting enough reading done ;)

7. The Corpse-Rat King by Lee Battersby. Good book. Would probably appeal to anyone who liked The Lies of Locke Lamora, although it isn't nearly so violent and it has a lot more dry humour. I think Battersby is going to be an author to watch.

Oooooooo. Looks like book bullet then, cuz I loved The Lies of Locke Lamora

30> I did, too. Corpse-Rat King isn't as dense, dark and complicated as Lies, but very good. I read most of it in one sitting.

8> Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. What a hoot! I was never a gamer but I watched a lot of tv and movies in the 80s, so this book really took me back. It's a good enough story that I think people who didn't live through the 80s will still like it, too. At least, I hope so because I gave it to my 15 year old nephew for Christmas before I'd read it myself.

32 - I was just trying to decide if I should get this for my brother for his birthday. I'd narrowed it down to this and World War Z.

Both good choices! I read WWZ last year - really liked it.

Sold! He'd requested an Eric Ambler, so I'll get Ready Player One to go with it, and save World War Z for his Christmas present.

I loved Ready player one, despite not being a gamer, too. The characters were great and it was just such a fun romp.

9> Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. Lovely book about an albino African girl born in the US whose family moved back to Africa when she was 9. At 12 she discovers she's one of the Leopard People, who have special gifts and can use juju. This was recommended to me by @bluesalamanders on Green Dragon Chat on Friday evening, and I was fortunate that it was on the shelf of my local public library branch when I was in there on Saturday. It was a good follow-up to Ready Player One, not that they're anything similar (other than featuring young protagonists), but both excellent stand-alone novels.

10. Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. This is the latest of the subseries featuring Theo Waitley. I really like Lee&Miller's Liaden series, and this book doesn't disappoint, except insofar as (in common with other of the Liaden books) it bloody stops instead of ending.

11. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. People on LT have been raving about this for ages and I finally got it from the library. Enjoyed it very much.

12. The Diamond Throne by David Eddings. Another SantaThing gift. I used to have all of Eddings' books and got rid of them, because they got so unoriginal after a while, and the Belgariad seemed to go on forever. However, I owed it to my Santa to re-read, and it was worth it. The Diamond Throne series is one of Eddings' better works, IMO. Will have to see if the other two books in this series are still available from the library

13. The Ruby Knight by David Eddings - borrowed from the library to follow up The Diamond Throne.

14. Johannes Cabal, the detective by Johnathan L. Howard. Started reading this on the 27th, put it aside to read The Ruby Knight and then went back to it. Amusing. I have the next book on hold at the library.

Wow. You are a reading power-house!

Good to know the 2nd in the Johannes Cabal series is just as much fun as the 1st.

What did you think of The Ruby Knight? Still liking the series?

I liked The Ruby Knight although it's typical Eddings - he's not the most original author around. Fairly predictable and I don't think it's because I read it back when it first came out. Still, likeable characters, no surprises - a good "mind candy" read. I've got the third book from the library now so will probably read it this weekend.

On the strength of comments in this thread, I've just ordered the first Johannes Cabal novel. Yet another find that I never heard of before LT. I love him for his name alone.

15. Imager's Battalion by LE Modesitt Jr. I enjoy the Imager portfolio series, although the heroes tend to be a bit too good to be true and the in-book religion doesn't work for me. A good addition to the series.

16. The Sapphire Rose by David Eddings wraps up the Elenium series and pretty much marks the place where my interest in continuing with Eddings' work drops off. Not that it was bad, just predictable.

17. Dodger by Terry Pratchett. A fun romp through the sewers of London. Pterry inspired me to research on some of the characters that he drew from real history - not so much Dickens and Disraeli (with whom I have passing acquaintance), but Henry Mayhew and Joseph Bazalgette.

18. The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen. A 1930s country-house cozy mystery featuring Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 35th in line for the English throne. Fun.

re post 51, #18 - I read that from the library recently and enjoyed it too.

19. Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley. Number 5 in the Flavia de Luce mystery series. Good story, fun characters, and my biggest complaint is that I'll have to wait a year for the next book, because the last line of the story was a corker.

Oh, heck! Now I have to go add SEVERAL more books to my wishlist... you make things sound so interesting!

20. Immortal Lycanthropes by Hal Johnson. I saw this recommended on BoingBoing, and asked the public library to buy it, and they did. Kind of an odd book, but in a good way. Myron, a horribly ugly twelve year old boy, bullied and beaten up at school, discovers that he's an immortal lycanthrope, although lycanthrope means werewolf, and the ITs are all kinds of animals (literally every one is a different kind) and the only way they can die is at the hands (teeth, claws, poison bite, whatever) of another IT. The story is of Myron's quest to find out what the heck is going on and where he fits into the picture. A fast read - I started this book at about 4:30 this morning because I couldn't sleep, and finished it at lunch time. Good, though. I recommend it. I do not recommend the 4:30 am thing - I'm some sleepy now. Going for more caffiene to get me through the afternoon.

reconditereader, turnabout is fair play. Everyone here does it to me :)

I read the first Flavia De Luce book last year, but can't find any of the sequels used; clearly they are very good books that no-one wants to get rid of! I'll have to try the library.

21. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig. So, you remember the Scarlet Pimpernel? You may not know that after he was found out, another hero took over - the Purple Gentian. And then there was the Pink Carnation. This is a story within a story. The framing story is of Eloise Kelly, who is doing graduate work in London doing research to discover the identity of the mysterious Pink Carnation, who, unlike the Pimernel and Gentian was never identified. The inner story is what she finds in old diaries and papers during her study trip to London. Fun but silly.

22. Nerd Do Well : A Small Boy's Journey to Becoming A Big Kid by Simon Pegg. A funny autobiography by a funny guy. Leaps around in time a bit, and rather more info than I wanted about his youthful crushes and girlfriends, but the story zips along and his commentary on films and stuff is good. He's just so gleefully geeky and I enjoyed it.

I remember Clam (?) enjoying this book as well, has been on the lookout for it. Holding off book-buying presently as I'm in a major slump at the moment, but maybe this is something I could use to turn the leaf, literally.
It beckons to my inner geek!
:)

Yeah, I totally related to his gobsmacked wonder at the first Star Wars movie and stuff like that, although I'm somewhat older than he is and was at a less impressionable age when I first saw it.

23. Billy Boyle by James R. Benn. A good mystery set during WW2 and featuring a young Boston cop who joins the army and goes to work in London for his "Uncle Ike" (Eisenhower). He ends up working as an investigator. Someone on LibraryThing recommended this and it was very good - I will definitely be looking for the rest of the series (fortunately, my public library has them all).

24. The Devil You Know by Mike Carey. First in the Felix Castor series. Felix is a broke (possibly in more than one sense of the word) necromancer in London. Hired to exorcise a ghost at an archive, he finds more than he expects. Not exactly Harry Dresden, but pretty good. Will have to look out for the rest of the series. Because I really NEED another series of books to read. Oh, well. Better to many than too few.

Two gardening books, although I won't count them in my totals because I mainly looked at the pictures.

The Layered Garden by David L. Culp. One garden - very nice.
A World of Gardens by John Dixon Hunt. Scholarly, historical look at gardens around the world. Loved the diagrams of ancient Roman and Chinese gardens especially, although I'm partial to all kinds of gardens.

I have The Devil You Know in Mount TBR. I might have to excavate to find it. :)

Because I really NEED another series of books to read.

I'm with ya! :)

25. The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest. A new entry in Priest's Clockwork Century series. Good story. I've enjoyed all Priest's books and she clearly has more planned in this series.

oooooh, Cherie Priest. I love her!

26. The Orchid Thief: a true story of beauty and obsession by Susan Orlean. Pretty much what the title says. Centred around the story of one particular thief, but touching on the history of the orchid obsession. Fascinating. I have a few orchids myself, and attend the local orchid show annually and although I am not at all obsessed (really!) I can certainly see how one could become so.

27. The Burning Time by JG Faherty. An Early Reviewer book. Decent enough Lovecraftian horror page-turner with an unsatisfying ending (for my taste, anyway). Not a keeper, even though it was an e-book and takes up no precious shelf space. Not something I will ever read again - I'd rather re-read my Manly Wade Wellman collection.

I've got The Burning Time coming up next. Oh dear.

majkia, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. For one thing (and I never take this for granted with Early Reviewer books anymore) the author has a decent grasp on spelling, punctuation and dialogue. Also, I read it in less than a day without having to force myself, but aside from the ending, I just couldn't quite believe that in this day and age nobody outside the town would notice the number of horrible things happening there, despite the evil one's supernatural blockage. Also, the hero was called John - so not original. After I wrote my review I read some of the other reviews and some people really liked it.

28. And Then You Dye by Monica Ferris. Latest in her Betsy Devonshire Needlework mysteries, complete with free counted cross-stitch pattern. I like these cozy mysteries, although I find the craft patterns in these and the recipes in many of the others rather twee, and the amateur detective thing stretches belief. Still, I do like the characters in this series.

29. The First Wave by James R. Benn. Second in the Billy Boyle WW2 mysteries. Good stuff.

30. The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark. Urban (small town?) fantasy. Succubi, incubi, vampires, witches, etc. Borrowed the e-book from the library as I had previously borrowed the second book in the series and I hate to start a series in the middle. Not bad. Will read the second book.

31. Blood Alone by James R. Benn. 3rd in the Billy Boyle WW2 mysteries. The only copies of these books held in my local library are large print, which is great. Also I've got at least 4 more in the series, which is also good since they're staying strong.

32. The Water Witch by Juliet Dark (touchstone says Carol Goodman - must be the same person because the series title is correct). Sequel to the Demon Lover. Was okay. Will read the third book eventually.

33.The Chalet School Does It Again by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. The Chalet School series is in the nature of a guilty pleasure for me. The series starts in the 30s and finishes in the 50s or 60s. The stories are gentle and fun, and they feed my probably totally erroneous romantic view of boarding school life. This particular book is from the 1950s. Good fun.

Now I'm horribly jealous! There are only two Chalet School books that I don't own, and guess what one on them is? I had managed to miss noticing that you are another Chalet School fan. I also notice now that we share an appreciation for Giles, too.

I'm still missing quite a few. I just got this one from Amazon.co.uk - it's a reprint edition from Girls Gone By Publishers. I've got a couple more on order. Hoping they show up soon.

Oh, and I adore Giles :) My dad always seemed to get the latest Giles for Christmas when I was a kid, and I think I've got all his old ones, plus I add to my collection when I see one I don't have.

Are the Girls Gone By editions the same size as the Armada paperbacks, or are they trade paperbacks?

They're trade pb. Basically facsimile editions of the original hardcovers. Annoying format, but also not abridged or edited, which is on balance a good thing, although occasionally disconcerting, as in The Chalet School Does It Again where one of the characters is behind in her studies and "works like a nigger" to catch up. I read that line twice because I couldn't believe it the first time.

Yeah, that sort of thing can be kind of startling. As far as the size goes, I'll have to live with it if that's the only way I can get the book, but it'll mess up my storage system. When I'm feeling richer, I'll see if I can find it.

34. Kennelmaid Nan by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. A non-Chalet series book. A good girl, a bad girl, their stern-but-fair employer and a pack of cocker spaniels. Fun.

An academic friend of mine is a great proponent and fan of the series! I think she secretly wishes the style of these books would come back into fashion. I've dipped into the books by Angela Brazil which fall into the same category of "school" books.

#59 & #60 - Yes, I loved it. Though I have to agree with tardis that there was a bit too much info about his childhood girlfriends. LOL

I've only read one Angela Brazil (hard to find around here) but I liked it. I also have a fondness for what I call "ripping yarns" - antique adventure stories for boys and/or girls. Have to admit, some have aged better than others, though. I don't find Enid Blyton as enjoyable as I did when I was a kid. The Chalet series, though, has weathered reasonably well.

I think part of the charm of the Chalet series is that it takes place over such a long span of time. We get to see the characters grow up and have kids of their own. And there isn't a lot of popular culture that slips in to make them terribly dated, although WWII does play a major role in the series.

35. Evil for Evil by James R. Benn. Another Billy Boyle mystery. In this one, Billy (whose Boston family are all Irish Catholic IRA supporters) gets to go to Ireland and (surprise) finds out it's not as cut and dried as all that. Good.

36. Vicious Circle by Mike Carey. 2nd Felix Castor book. Good although a bit grim urban fantasy.

I've got Carey's first in the TBR pile.

37. Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey. 3rd Felix Castor. Still a good series, but man, is knowing Fix hard on his friends!

38. Rag and Bone by James R. Benn. Another Billy Boyle mystery. Billy has to figure out who killed a Russian officer in London. Good book.

39. Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire. Second in her InCryptid series and it was excellent. I enjoyed it so much that when I finished it I went back and started again from the beginning. Fast, occasionally funny, great characters, a clever world. Plus bonus more of the talking mice. Loved it.

94 - Wasn't it great? I really do like the InCryptid books better than the Toby books so far, though I think I am in the minority there.

Also, Istas is the best character ever and if she is not in the next few books (since the POV is switching to Alex) I will be sad. But hopefully someone new and almost as cool will distract me from missing her.

Good to hear - I've got that one on order, should have it next week some time. There is a short story set in that world available online, which also features the mice.

Istas is awesome. I like the Toby Daye books a lot, but like you, lohengrin, I like InCryptid even more. Looking forward to the next one - wish the wait was going to be shorter.

Oh, and there are three InCryptid shorts on McGuire's website, plus one in an anthology which I've just put on hold from the library and one in another anthology that isn't out yet.

On the up side, next year there will hopefully be both the first Alex book and the Rose Marshall book, so that's two in the InCryptid 'verse for 2014. :)

I can't believe I haven't finished a book since March 8th! I've got two on the go: The Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock, which is an Early Reviewer book, and Lawn Gone by Pam Pennick, which is nonfiction about alternatives to grass in the yard. However, I've been so busy with Master Composter/Recycler classes and volunteer work and that pesky day job that they're going very slowly. I should finish at least one this week.

40. Homeland by Cory Doctorow. Excellent book. Sequel to Little Brother, which I also really enjoyed. The power of media, technology, and people. All-to-believable near future. I recommend it.

41. Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman. Yeah, it's a picture book, but I'm counting it anyway :) Very short, and very cute. The illustrations are great - I examined them with great enjoyment. Especially liked the mice using the empty card catalogue drawers as computer workstations.

42. The Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock. An Early Reviewer book. Good, although not exactly how I expected Holmes' teen years to be.

Little Brother has been my only experience of Cory Doctorow's work so far but definitely want to read more. Good to know that the sequel holds up well.

43. Shadow of Freedom by David Weber. Another in the continuing Honorverse saga. Lots of politics (good), jumbles of acronyms and infodumps (less good) as Manticore, now allied with their old enemies from Haven, moves against the Solarian League and a mystery enemy. Not a book you want to touch if you haven't read any of the series before, but rewarding enough if you're already into the series.

I've got Chu's Day on hold at the library. It's still on order and I'm getting impatient! I don't even know what it's about but seems strange to me - that's quite the cute cover for a Gaiman story.

sandragon, you could find it in a bookstore and read it in a few minutes :)

:o) True! I could even do that tonight after I drop off the munchkin at gymnastics and wander over to the bookstore.

44. Johannes Cabal: the Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard. 3rd in the Johannes Cabal series, and deeply weird, but also quite good.

108: I'm just about to begin the second Johannes Cabal. It's nice to be able to anticipate the third as both good and deeply weird. Sometimes you just can't beat deeply weird.

Liked the first Johannes Cabal book but haven't read the second yet never mind the third in the series. Good to hear you liked it well enough though.

Ooh I didn't realise Johannes Cabal was a series. The first one is buried in my tbr pile somewhere, from the sounds of it I should dig it out. I can embrace deeply weird!

45. Westward Weird edited by Martin H. Greenberg, et al. An anthology of western short stories with a sf/fantasy/horror twist. I borrowed it from the library because I wanted to read the Incryptid short story by Seanan McGuire, but the rest of the stories were good, too.

46. The Family Way by Rhys Bowen. Early 20th century mystery, set in New York. Good, although the societal expectations of women grate on me.

47. For The Sake Of the School by Angela Brazil. A jolly girls' school story from 1911. Love these - the genre is responsible for my no doubt totally wrong view of boarding school life.

I like boarding school books, too, but every one I read confirms how much I would have HATED to attend one. I would have been the unathletic girl that everyone looks down on.

48. The New Girl At St. Chad's by Angela Brazil. My second purchase from the antique show. Another ripping boarding school yarn.

Sylvia, I'm with you - I'm unathletic plus a bookish swot ;)

And I like my privacy too much!

49. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger. Another kind of school story - also boarding school, but a finishing school with a very unusual curriculum. Tons of fun - looking forward to the next installment.

was it as good as her first series, tardis?

I thought so, majkia. Same universe, earlier time period, some familiar characters. I think less complex, as it is aimed at a lower age group, but that never bothers me as long as the author isn't talking down to the audience.

I read a kindle preview of the first three chapters, and thought it looked promising.

50. Thicker than water by Mike Carey. 4th Felix Castor book. Still good, but getting darker all the time.

am currently reading the first one The Devil You Know. Pretty dark already.

51. Dying on the vine by Aaron Elkins. Another mystery for the "Skeleton Detective," forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver. A good, light read. Also really made me want to visit Florence, Italy. The food, the museums, the food, the scenery... sounds lovely.

My first Elkins was Icy Clutches. Really good.

I especially like the ones with his buddy, John Lau, in tham.

My first Gideon Oliver book was Old Bones which I thought was quite good.

52. Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs. A cozy set in Charleston, SC. The detective, Theodosia Browning, owns a tea shop and every book in the series comes with pages of recipes and "tea time tips" at the end. Same issues with this book as with book #28 - amateur detectives are a harder and harder sell with me, especially if they attract corpses like flies. This was pleasant enough, but not outstanding.

If you haven't tried anything by G.M. Malliet but still want something roughly approximating a cozy or soft-boiled, you might want to take a look at her two sleuths -- Arthur St. Just is a Cambridge (UK) detective inspector and Max Tudor is a clergyman who was formerly with MI5. But I found them more satisfying than Laura Childs' stuff.

Thank, jillmwo! I find cozies much easier to take when the detective has a REASON for being constantly around murders. I'll give those a try!

I've completely lost patience with amateur detectives who are involved in murders for absolutely no reason other than the fact that they are nosy busybodies. And who take inexcusable risks and ask really obvious questions to potentially dangerous suspects.

I was not much impressed by Laura Child's books either, but I LOVE the tea titles. :) I think that the titles may be my favorite thing about all cozies.

I'll actually be posting something on the weekend coming up, but I think I can also recommend Eleven Pipers Piping by C.C. Benison as a good read. I find the people in his English village are quite real and while Thomas Christmas is a member of the clergy, he comes across as an ordinary human being faced with awkward circumstances in the form of an unexpected death. The only caveat I have is to point out that I'm only 8 chapters in and we haven't really started interrogating suspects as yet (although I've identified two really *obvious* candidates).

53. The Chalet School and Barbara by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. Another school story in The Chalet School series, of which (as previously mentioned) I am very fond.

54. Rooftop Gardens: The Terraces, Conservatories, and Balconies of New York. The most AMAZING book. Beautiful photos. The text is interesting enough although compared to the pictures quite dull. The featured gardens are STUNNING. I can't begin to guess the price of those places, though! Millions, I bet.

55. This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong (pseud). What can I say? I don't follow direction well. I not only touched it, I read it. A funny, weird sort of story featuring a couple of slackers, the girlfriend of one of the slackers, a dog, and spider things.

56. Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood. Latest Phryne Fisher mystery. Fun stuff. Phryne is rich, promiscuous, supernaturally confident and unnaturally good at everything, but I like these stories anyway. This is a good, twisty, non-obvious story.

I love the Chalet School books! I've been collecting the Girls Gone By reprints which include the full text and am discovering just how much was cut out of some of the ones I read as a child.

137> I have a few of the Girls Gone By reprints - they're pretty expensive by the time they get over here but it is nice to see the full text. I have a couple of original hardcovers, too - I buy them when I see them, even if I already have the pbk just because of the abridgements.

I've never even seen any of the hardcovers. I'm so far into the Armada paperbacks that it just wouldn't make any sense to switch now. I guess I'll just never know what I'm missing.

I have mostly the Armada paperbacks, too, Sylvia. I've only bought the GGB reprints for titles I've never found in paperback. I didn't even know the pbks were abridged until recently and I've never done a comparison to see what/how much was taken out, so I'm with you. If you ever do see a cheap hardback, though, BUY IT. I looked on ABEBooks and they seem to go for quite a lot of money.

I've found some hardcovers in second hand shops but never at a price I can afford :-(

If you are curious about the cuts, this page on the FOCS website lists which books were cut and how severely.

I know that in a few of the books it is pretty obvious that there are cuts. There might be girls suddenly appearing halfway through a book with no introduction, or reference to events that didn't happen. I found the inconsistencies in Peggy of the Chalet School particularly jarring, although I liked the book overall. The chart Sakerfalcon linked to says Head Girl of the Chalet School has very major cuts, and I always felt that one didn't hold together well. (Of course, it doesn't help that I never liked Grizel.) Unfortunately, I see that some of my favourites also have very major cuts, so now I'm curious.

Re #135, have you read John Dies at the End? I saw an enthusiastic review and tried it but couldn't get excited. It was a bit more horrific than I can stomach too.

143> I have not read John Dies at the End - didn't know it existed until I got This Book is Full of Spiders. I don't usually do "horrific" well so will keep your comment in mind if I decide to go looking for that one. TBIFOS is readable as a stand-alone. It was a bit gory.

57. Death of a Cozy Writer by GM Malliet. Recommended by jillmwo in 128 above. Pretty good cozy. Both victims were horrible people (which I actually prefer, LOL), and most of the rest of the suspects little better. I've got the next two in the series on hold at the library but they haven't come in yet.

58. Widow's Tears by Susan Wittig Albert. A well-crafted mystery in the cozy genre, this one with a supernatural edge. Ex-lawyer and herb shop owner China Bayles is the main character, but Albert manages to make the amateur detective thing non-annoying. In fact, in this one, although there is death, it's not really the source of the mystery, which is rooted in a storm over a century ago.

59. Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet. British village mystery with Anglican priest as main character. First book in a new series. Can really see that Malliet's writing has improved since her first book, mentioned in #145 above.

60. Wide Open by Deborah Coates. Really liked this one - excellent sense of place, good characters and a gripping plot as Hallie tries to track down her sister's murderer, with the help of various ghosts (including her sister's).

61. Death and the Lit Chick by G.M. Malliet. 2nd in the St. Just mysteries.
62. Death at the Alma Mater by G.M. Malliet. 3rd in the St. Just mysteries.
These were decent cozies, harking back to Ngaio Marsh's books although not in Marsh's league. Nothing earthshaking but decent.

Wicked Autumn is sitting near by me in my living room and I really want to try to get time to read it before I go down to the Malice Domestic con in Maryland. That starts in just about twelve days from now and the author is supposed to actually be there. (It's always nice to be able to say something intelligent about an author's work if one is lucky enough to meet in person. Anything I might be able to share with her on your behalf, @tardis? Or question of curiosity that is niggling at the back of your mind?)

Thanks, jillmwo - I can't think of a question, but do tell her that I have enjoyed her books so far.

63. Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey. Saw this on a shelf at the library yesterday and grabbed it as I couldn't remember if I'd read it or not. I had, which might tell you something about Lackey's writing, although I always enjoy them so I guess that's not really a major problem. Anyway, it was just the mind-candy I needed yesterday after my long cold volunteering stint.

64. Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer. "Murder on the mean streets of Mars" - a noir private eye novel on the red planet. Action-packed and fun. I saw Robert reading from this book a couple of weeks ago. He's good value at readings - quite the raconteur. I recommend seeing him if he comes anywhere near you.

65. Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb. 4th in the Rain Wild series. It was really good. I stayed up much too late last night reading it, and I paid the price at work today.

66. They Both Liked Dogs by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. Nice story of cousins, Freda and Erica (both christened Frederica) sent back to England by their parents (one from India, one from Tasmania) to live with their Aunt Molly. They bond over shared love of dogs. Typical Brent-Dyer - I can't believe how fragile her girls are, and the story is gentle, but I enjoyed it.

67. The Chalet School in the Oberland by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. Another new acquisition, from Amazon.co.uk. First term of the Chalet School's "finishing branch" in Switzerland. The usual alarums and excursions.

68. Kitty Rocks the House by Carrie Vaughn. Alpha werewolf Kitty Norville deals with a challenger for pack leadership while trying to build an alliance against an ancient eviller-than-usual vampire who wants to take over the world. A good installment of one of my current favourite series.

69. Death of Yesterday by M.C. Beaton. The latest Hamish MacBeth. The mystery was fine but I'm getting a bit tired of Hamish's love life.

>153 tardis:: I always wished EBD had written more stories about the older girls. There was potential for some different plotlines to the usual ones. But I guess her target readers still enjoyed reading about the naughty Middles!

70. Mary-Lou of the chalet school by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. The usual CS stuff. Good fun.

I always like Mary-Lou.

Why, thank you! (Mary Lou is my RL name!!)

I like Mary Lou and Mary-Lou, too!

:-)

***Possible spoiler***

I liked that the Chalet School Mary-Lou didn't marry a doctor!

162> That certainly does put her outside the norm LOL

*gasp* 70 books since January? *blink - blink*

71. London Falling by Paul Cornell. Wow, was this intense! Urban fantasy police procedural. Very dark, very good. At the beginning I wasn't sure, but once the team got going it never let up and the stakes were high (higher than anyone knew until the last bit). Will appeal to fans of Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant fantasy/mysteries, but darker than those. First of a new series (Shadow Police).

Thanks for the tip, sounds like another for the list! I really enjoyed the first Grant book.

Caroline (@craso) already gave me the book bullet for London Falling but it's always good to see confirmation via positive comments for it.

72. Publish and be Murdered by Ruth Dudley Edwards. Good British cozy with overtones of political satire, set in the offices of a right wing news journal.

73. Unraveled sleeve by Monica Ferris. Another Betsy Devonshire needlework mystery, but an early one that I somehow missed. I like the characters well enough which is why I keep reading this nosy amateur-type mystery series.

74. The Snow Queen's Shadow by Jim C. Hines. A fairy tale, um... pastiche? Not sure. An after the Happily Ever After, anyway. Somewhat darker than I expected and quite good although not something I will read again.

75. Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee. Good standalone urban (well, small town) fantasy.

76. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: the Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by the Countess of Carnarvon. Fascinating historical look at Highclere Castle and inhabitants from the 1890s through to the 1920s (with a few bits about after that). Lady Almina enjoyed a privileged life but threw herself into nursing wounded soldiers during WW1 when she turned Highclere into a hospital. Quite well-written, and my major complaint is that there should have been even more pictures. Also floorplans of Highclere.

>171 tardis:: I've been reading Carousel tides veeeerrry slowly. I really need to sit down with it and make a serious attempt at it. I like the Maine setting.

77. Deep Down by Deborah Coates. Sequel to Wide Open (see above #60) and just as good.

re Book #76 Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: the Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle -- I agree with you that floorplans would have been a real value-add.

78. Killer Librarian by Mary Lou Kirwin. More like chick-lit than a mystery. Not special. I think the title made my husband nervous, though - like he thought I was maybe doing research LOL.

#175 Tardis, you reminded me of an exchange I had with my 16 year old son last week. I asked what he was working on and he told me it was a project on the rise of Stalin.
I had to verify he was doing it for his History class and not his career planning group.

I tried that Killer Librarian for a chapter or two, but the chick-lit element of it drove me away. I'm glad to hear I didn't miss much.

79. The Queen is Dead by Kate Locke. Second in the Immortal Empire series, after God Save the Queen. Alternate universe vampires and werewolves with a steampunky feel. Fun stuff.

80. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. Getting caught up on the Sookie Stackhouse books, since the end is nigh. I do enjoy them more than the tv series.

I don't read much non-fiction, but when I do it is often gardening books, and I don't list the ones where I skim the text and look mainly at the photos. For all three of these I read them all the way through.

81. Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-tenth of An Acre and the Making of An Edible Garden Oasis in the City by Eric Toensmeier. Interesting look at the establishment of a permaculture garden on a city lot. The two geeks in question started as roommates, then bought a duplex so that when they finally attracted the right women they could continue to share their garden.

82. Yards : your low-cost, no-cost way to a beautiful, useful, sustainable garden by Billy Goodnick. A cheery, basic, logical guide to home landscape design. Aimed at beginners, but usable by anyone, and with a list of resources for more advanced work included. I liked it. Goodnick is not a big fan of grass, but acknowledges that it's the right choice for some people's needs.

83. Lawn gone! : low-maintenance, sustainable, attractive alternatives for your yard by Pam Penick. Another good resource for those who want to replace some or all of that boring grass with something more interesting. Penick goes through a lot of the issues in a clear and readable way, with lots of pictures.

84. The Jaguar Knights by Dave Duncan. Dave's books are reliably good reads and this is no exception. One of the King's Blades series. Not my favourite, but as I said, a good read. Plus Dave is a really nice man - have met him at several cons.

Would you recommend any of the titles in #180 above the rest more particularly for beginners? I know you indicated that Yards: Your low-cost, no-cost way to a beautiful, useful, sustainable garden was aimed at beginners, but would it really be the best of the three for someone like me who has no green thumb at all?

Yes, of those three, Yards is the best for beginners. It's not a "how to garden" book, though - it's a "how to design your home landscape" book.

85. A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh. An oldie but a goodie. A re-read but originally read so long ago that I had forgotten the details.

86. River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay. A lovely book. The story did not go as I expected, but it was right. I'm sure I will re-read this in years to come.

did you read River of Stars since 5/29? Are you now returning to eating and sleeping?

Yeah, I started it about then. I didn't give up eating, sleeping or my day job, though. If I had, I'd have been finished in a day or so :) I tried to read it slowly to savour it, but I had quite a busy week and weekend, and because RoS was such a big book, I was reading another, more portable, book part of the time. Which I am still working on since finishing RoS. Quite a comedown after GGK's beautiful language.

87. Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. A hold that came in from the library yesterday and jumped the queue ahead of the paperback I was already working on. Another good Liaden book, set on Surebleak during the social re-engineering following the arrival of Clan Korval. Nice interlude while waiting for the next Theo Waitley book.

88. Deathstalker by Simon R. Green. Decent space opera although I like Green's Eddie Drood books better. I've been working on this one off and on for a couple of weeks, in between other things. Have the next 4 books in the series on Mt. TBR.

89. The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer. first book in a new YA series by the author of the Artemis Fowl books. Time travel, the FBI and a serial killer.

190 - Is the new series as much fun as the Artemis Fowl books? The boys and I loved listening to Nathaniel Parker read them.

Sandragon, the new Colfer series is (IMO) aimed at a somewhat higher age than Artemis Fowl. It's got humour but not the slapstick of the Fowl books.

90. The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett. Finally finished this! Not that it wasn't good (it was!) but I've been so busy that reading time has been short. Third in his Warded Man series, it won't make a lot of sense if you haven't read the earlier books. In fact, it had been long enough since I read the last book (The Desert Spear) that I had a bit of trouble at first. It soon came back, though. Also, there are two books left in the series after this one so don't expect an ending. It just stops - almost a literal cliff-hanger.

Whoa, thanks for the warning. I hate cliffhangers that make me wait for the next book to be published. Perhaps I should hold off on The Desert Spear for a little while until book 4 is near publication.... hm....

91. Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood. A Phryne Fisher mystery that I seem to have missed when I was bingeing on them before. This is the one where she meets Lin Chung. She also solves a mystery involving murder, practical jokes, and a ghost.

92. The Human Division by John Scalzi. Another great book from Scalzi. Loved the interplay between Schmidt and Wilson.

93. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill. First book about Dr. Siri Paiboun, a Laotian coroner who sees spirits in 1970s post-revolution Laos. HIGHLY recommended! Also makes me think I should have some lunch of my own.

94. Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews. Lightweight chicklit romance. Andrews' books are kind of interchangeable but a pleasant way to while away a summer afternoon.

95. Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey. Elemental Masters series. I enjoyed it.

96. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. Very good book. Has dragons. You should read it.

I loved Seraphina.

97. Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal. Another winner. I really like how Kowal weaves her magic system around genuine history.

98. Antiagon Fire by L.E. Modesitt. An okay addition to the series. Dragged a bit, and I got a bit tired of repetitive battles where the imagers "image" away walls and stuff. Still, I'll keep on with the series.

99. In defense of food : an eater's manifesto by Michael Pollan. Seemed like I worked on this for ages. It was actually well written and interesting, but other books kept demanding to be read first :)

100. Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill. Another winner, featuring the unique Dr. Siri Paiboun. Quirky, good mystery, and great characters.

101. Crystal Variation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. An omnibus edition of three Liaden books: Crystal Soldier, Crystal Dragon, and Balance of Trade. Read all three a long time ago, but had forgotten most of the details.

102. A Liaden Constellation volume 1 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Collection of short stories previously published in chapbooks and magazines. Many stories fill in details not included in the novels, like Val Con's meeting with the Clutch Turtles.

103. Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York by Robin Nagle. A sort of history of garbage collection (and snow removal) in New York. Quite interesting.

104. Good Man Friday by Barbara Hambly. Latest Benjamin January mystery. I always come out of these books feeling is that it would have been horrid to live in 1830s southern US, even if you weren't black. I guess it was what they knew, but damn! Anyway, excellent book, highly recommended, as are all Hambly's works IMO.

105. Casino Infernale by Simon R. Green. Latest "Secret Histories" series book, featuring Eddie Drood and Molly Metcalfe taking on the Shadow Bank. High body count, humour and fun.

I had to stop reading the Benjamin January books because they were way too grim for me, though I love Hambly.

reconditereader, my sister agrees with you. I don't know why I like them anyway, but I do. I guess I like seeing Ben get ahead (and he does, even if it's two steps forward, one step back). And the history in them, and the characters.

106. Deathstalker Rebellion by Simon R. Green. More space opera, lots of gore. Kind of fun anyway.

107. The Body In the Piazza by Katherine Hall Page. Another nosy amateur sleuth and a plot that stretches credulity, but I like the characters and the descriptions of Italian cuisine are mouth-watering.

108. Deathstalker's War by Simon R. Green. More blood and thunder space opera as the Owen Deathstalker's merry band of rebels take the fight back to the Empress.

Just another vote here for the Benjamin January series by Hambly. I thought A Free Man of Color was really quite good. The presentation of the New Orleans social structures, the family dynamics, his history -- all made for a really compelling launch.

109. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris. Last book about Sookie Stackhouse. I enjoyed it - wrapped up a lot of threads. I prefer the books to the tv series.

110. The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Sequel to The Long Earth. Not as funny as Pterry's solo works, but still amusing, and a good story.

111. Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill. Another Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery. Excellent, eccentric, amusing. Time to request the next from the library :)

Also I don't count it but after I fell on Monday night (tripped, attempted to crack sidewalk with head, bled copiously, winded myself, pulled at least one muscle & jarred everything else, etc.) I needed a comfort read, so went back to Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, which I have probably read a dozen times, not to mention watched the tv adaptation a few times as well. Always happy to revisit Ankh-Morpork :)

I hope you're feeling better! That sounds like a bad fall.

Ouch. Your fall sounds painful. Hope it heals away quickly.

The only thing wrong with reading a Discworld book at a time like that is that it might hurt to laugh! Heal well and soon.

112. Introducing Garrett, P.I. by Glen Cook. Hard-boiled detective fantasy. Omnibus edition containing three novels: Sweet Silver Blues, Bitter Gold Hearts, and Cold Copper Tears. Good, but three in a row was a bit much and now I need a palate cleanser - something totally different.

113. Stealing Magic: the complete stories of Magdelene and Terazin by Tanya Huff. Collection of fun short stories originally published in various magazines. Also the first book off Mt. TBR for August.

I am sorry to hear about your fall. I hope you are getting better and that you are not too uncomfortable. Your accident does not appear to be hindering your reading.

I see you are reading a book by Tanya Huff. I had the pleasure of meeting her at WorldCon in Glasgow in 2005. She is lovely and was good enough to sign a copy of Albedo 1 magazine in which I had a review of one of her books.

Thanks for all the good wishes - aside from a black eye I'm pretty much back to normal.

223> I met Tanya at a con here - she was great and signed some of my books, too. Nice person and one of my favourite writers :)

Being on vacation is awesome. I knocked off another TBR-pile book today.

114. Cat in a Golden Garland by Carole Nelson Douglas. Lightweight cat mystery. Not twee and less than usually annoying amateur detective. The titular cat, Midnight Louie, reminds me of my dear old Tucker, gone two years, now. I love black cats.

115. The St Trinian's Story - history of the famous school, the anti-Chalet School if there ever was one. Includes a large number of Ronald Searle cartoons.

116. The Saltmarsh Murders
117. When Last I Died
118. Tom Brown's Body
Classic mysteries by Gladys Mitchell. Twisty and surprising.

119. Kitty in the Underworld by Carrie Vaughn. Good.

120. Deathstalker Honor by Simon R. Green. More blood and thunder as, having successfully deposed the Empress, Owen Deathstalker, Hazel D'Ark & co. work on cleaning up after the Empire and fighting Hadenmen and Shub. That last sentence will make no sense if you haven't read the series.

121. A Hebridean Omnibus by Lillian Beckwith. Contains The Hills Is Lonely, The Sea For Breakfast, The Loud Halo. Genial anecdotes by a woman living in Scotland. Not sure how much is fact and how much fiction, but enjoyable anyway.

I was completely unfamiliar with St. Trinian's and had to google it to get the bare bones of what it was and the connection to Ronald Searle. Can you offer up any more details? I'm really rather intrigued! And more about the Gladys Mitchell mysteries? I've not read ANY of those yet, although I did watch the BBC versions with Diana Rigg playing the lead. (They are Mrs. Bradley mysteries, right?)

St. Trinians was just a series of cartoons featuring schoolgirls doing appalling things. They became sort of iconic in their era in Britain and were spun off into movies and stuff. There's one sort of novel, which I have still in the TBR pile. One of the more recent movies has David Tennant as the baddie. Haven't seen it yet but want to :)

Yes, the Mrs Bradley Mysteries are based on Gladys Mitchell's mysteries about Dame Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, Freudian psychiatrist. I haven't seen much of the TV series yet, but Diana Rigg is way to beautiful to be Mrs. Bradley, who is described as yellowish and reptilian. They're (as you might expect) psychological mysteries, and they tend to be much twistier than TV could portray. Well written.

122. Hominids
123. Humans
124. Hybrids
All by Robert J. Sawyer. Anthropological SF. Interesting exploration of a kind of first contact situation. Sawyer isn't the best writer in the world but he's a darn good storyteller.

125. Storm Front by Richard Castle. Dumb fun for fans of the Castle tv series. Lots of in-jokes and action.

126. A Cookbook Conspiracy by Kate Carlisle. Professional bookbinder and nosy-parker murder magnet, Brooklyn Wainwright, gets involved in solving the murder of a professional chef. Good time-waster, given that I'm short of reading material.

I read Hominids last year and really enjoyed it. I felt the same as you about Sawyer not being the most amazing writer. I had a whale of a time reading the first story in the trilogy, but wasn't that fussed about going out and getting the other two.

127. A Bat in the Belfry by Sarah Graves. Not a bad story but the changing pov from 1st person to 3rd person is darned annoying.

128. Accounting for Murder
129. Sweet and Low
Both by Emma Lathen. Really excellent mysteries set in the financial markets of Wall Street in the 60s and 70s. Well written, and despite the number of smokers and the mostly "traditional" roles of women, they don't seem all that dated.

When I used to read Emma Lathen, I was always surprised at how interesting she made the world of finance.

I know! I almost understand futures markets now :)

130. Saturn's Children by Charles Stross. Liked it, but not as much as his Laundry novels.

131. Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz. The further adventures of Odd Thomas. Borderline horror.

132. The Executioner's Heart by George Mann. Victorian-era steampunk.

133. The Hen of the Baskervilles by Donna Andrews. Yeah, amateur nosy parker murder-magnet sleuth, but I do enjoy this series. The hyper-organized Meg Langslow, her arsenal of family, assorted neighbours, friends, and animals, always amuse me. Great light reading.

134. Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill. Another Dr. Siri mystery. Still a great series.

135. Blood in the Water by Jane Haddam. Another of my favourite mystery authors, although I have to say, in this one, her misdirection at the beginning was too much - it really didn't feel like the murderer could have done it based on what we were shown.

136. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling). I really liked this book. Rowling's previous book The Casual Vacancy was, IMO, a good book but I really didn't like it much. This one is a better book, plus I really enjoyed it. I can see myself reading it again some day. Maybe not as many times as I've read the Potter books, though :)

137. Heirs and Graces by Rhys Bowen. Latest "Royal Spyness" mystery, in which Lady Georgiana Rannoch is asked to help polish a rough diamond of a Duke's heir, recently imported from Australia. Good fun, except I keep imagining the cast of Downton Abbey in many of the parts.

138. Quiet Beauty: The Japanese Gardens of North America by Kendall H. Brown. Lovely book with lots of wonderful pictures. I love Japanese style gardens and have actually visited one of the ones profiled here.

139. The Last Word by Lisa Lutz. The final Spellman novel (sob!). About what you'd expect if you've read the previous documents in the series. Izzy Spellman is awesome.

140. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Lovely story.

#246 - I'm so glad to see someone that I know enjoyed this. It's on my kindle though I am not sure when I'll get to it. And the new Gaiman is on my wishlist.

But how do you manage to read so much, tardis??? I am flabbergasted by your totals.

Clam, I read fairly quickly and I squeeze in as much reading time as I can. I read instead of watching TV (especially this time of year when it's all reruns LOL). I read on the bus. I read at lunchtime and bedtime and in waiting rooms and when I'm walking (good peripheral vision :) ). Also, you'll note that nothing on my journal here is exactly tough going.

141. Some Like it Hawk by Donna Andrews. A quick re-read because I just bought it in paperback.

142. Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire. Latest in the October Daye series. I love the way McGuire mixes humour in with high stakes and blood. This time, Toby is banished by the Queen and has to take desperate measures to get un-banished. Looking forward to the next installment. Will refrain from begging Seanan to hurry up with it via Twitter or her blog.

143. Deathstalker Destiny by Simon R. Green. Had trouble caring about any of the characters and the gore was a bit much. I generally enjoy Green's books, but I think that the Deathstalker saga is one I won't revisit.

144. The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill. Another great Dr. Siri mystery which got me through several hours of waiting around the hospital while younger son saw various people about his infected ear.

145. Hearts of Sand by Jane Haddam. Latest Gregor Demarkian mystery. Better than the previous one (#135 on my list). I didn't feel cheated by the solution to the mystery this time.

146. Codex Born by Jim C. Hines. This series (Magic Ex Libris) is fun.

147. The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. Interesting exploration of 4 plants that have affected and been affected by humankind.

148. Love Songs From A Shallow Grave by Colin Cotterill. Another great Dr. Siri mystery.

150. Condemned to Repeat by Janice MacDonald. Good mystery by a local Edmonton author. My only quibble is that sometimes she goes a bit far in injecting the local colour. I mean, I didn't REALLY need a history of the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant chain.

151. Cat in an Alien X-Ray by Carole Nelson Douglas. A new Midnight Louie mystery. The very epitome of light weight mystery, set in Las Vegas. Fun.

152. The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot. A fun series. I haven't read much of Meg Cabot's work (and there's a lot of it) and can't recall why I picked up the first book in this series, but I like the quirky cast of characters and the heroine.

153. Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross. SF, economics, galactic-scale financial fraud - excellent book! Set in the same universe as Saturn's Children but thousands of years later.

I enjoyed Saturn's Children so I might give Neptune's Brood a try sometime.

154. Slash and Burn by Colin Cotterill. Another great Dr. Siri mystery. Siri and co. (including the inimitable transvestite psychic Auntie Bpoo) go with a bunch of Americans to try to find the remains of an MIA pilot. Diplomacy, drugs and murder ensue.

155. King of Chaos by Dave Gross. Dave's a friend so I might be a bit biased, but I enjoy his books, even though they're based on a role-playing game that I don't play.

156. The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill. Latest Dr. Siri mystery. Excellent. 1970s Laos is not a place I'd want to live, though. Hard times.

I was able to get an inexpensive ebook copy of the first Dr. Siri mystery, and really liked it, but will have to get the rest by interlibrary loan. I have the next couple on order, but it may take a while. sigh

157. Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. What a great book! Wonderfully written and a world and magic system that are unusual but fascinating. I look forward to more books by Ahmed.

I'm reading some of his short stories during my commute time; they're collected in Engraved on the Eye. I really enjoyed Throne of the Crescent Moon!

Feels like a while since I added a book here - I've been reading but work has been stressful so I've been going for comfort re-reads that I won't post here. Finished first new book today.

158. Deadly Heat by the inimitable (and ruggedly handsome) Richard Castle. Will never be mistaken for great literature, but it sure is great fun. Love watching for the in-jokes (like detectives Malcolm and Reynolds) and the little shout-out to my (and Nathan Fillion's) home-town, Edmonton.

#271 Good to hear a positive comment on the Castle books. We (my wife and I) enjoy watching the TV programme, despite the constant misuse of of the word "Theory", and find it real comfort viewing. When we discovered novels were being brought out uner the Richard Castle name we wondered.

Yours is the second positive comment we have received, the first coming from one of our daughters who has also read one of the novels and thought it was good, if not, as you say, great literature. So far I have not heard any negative comments. I now have candidate books as Christmas gifts for my wife. :-)

159. Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole. A Doctor Who tie-in featuring the tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. Fun but light.

#273 @tardis My son read and enjoyed Sting of the Zygons and then recommended it to me. I read it and would agree with your assessment.

160. The Krillitane Storm by Christopher Cooper. Another Doctor Who book, this one featuring the Tenth Doctor on his own. Not great literature, but, like the other Doctor Who book I read (and, I hope, the next one) good fun.

161. The Slitheen Excursion by Simon Guerrier. See above :)

162. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. Sayers is one of my all-time favourite authors, but it's been quite a few years since I last read this one. Got it out for Morphy's November read. A very fine book.

163. Automated Alice by Jeff Noon. Alice follows her aunt's parrot through a grandfather clock and ends up in a weird version of 1998. A weird little book, not entirely to my taste.

I've loved the Jeff Noon books that I've read so far though I haven't read that one. I will agree that they are weird though.

164. Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews. Another Meg Langslow mystery, set (as you would expect from the title) at Christmas. Somebody's playing nasty pranks on Caerphilly churches - skunks in a choir loft, a boa constrictor in a Christmas tree, ducks in a sanctuary. And then there's murder, too. Cozy fun.

165. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers. My bedside-table book for the last week or so, and a re-read, but up to recently I didn't have a copy so it had been a long time since I last read it. In fact, I'd forgotten "whodunnit" (although I was sure it was NOT Lord Peter's brother or sister) so it was really great. Excellent book.

You are really tempting me with all the praise for Sayers.
:o/

It's been so long since I read Clouds of Witness that I barely remember anything but the basic plot and, I think, one key piece of evidence. I've gone and moved it from the back layer of my bookcase to the front. If I can see it I might be more likely to re-read it.

166. The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason. My latest early reviewer book. A fun steampunk version of London in 1889, featuring Sherlock Holmes' niece (following in his detecting footsteps) and Bram Stoker's sister (hereditary Buffy vampire hunter). Young Adult.

I just reread Clouds of Witness this year also. Love it.

Come on clamairy, you know you want to.

Do it do it!

@tardis, given you penchant for all things Whovian, you might be interested in my comments on The Day of the Doctor. Of course, on the other hand, you may not. I will let you be the judge of that.

Comments welcome.

E&OE

287> I did read (and enjoy) it, thanks. Very thoughtful. One thing I haven't seen anyone pick up on (although I have by no means done an exhaustive survey :) ) is that the school where Clara is teaching at the beginning is the school the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan, was attending in the very first episode all those years ago. Also, when the camera pans past the school sign it looks very much like the headmaster is I. Chesterton :)

I must check that out on the BBC iPlayer. I hadn't picked up on the name of the school either but it fits with a thoughtful attempt to bring people back to that first broadcast. Well done on spotting that. Of course, Ian would be quite old at this stage. Perhaps it's an old sign. ;)

167. Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest. Wow! Talk about action-packed. I've liked all her Clockwork Century books but this was the best yet, although (sadly) possibly the last.

168. The Silvered by Tanya Huff. Excellent stand-alone (for now, anyway) fantasy. A re-read, because I just bought the paperback.

169. The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White. Love the idea of a secret society dedicated to making the world better one tiny thing at a time. Excellent book, too.

Ooh, I just finished The incrementalists! I liked it a lot.

I recently finished The Silvered too (but first time for me) - really enjoyed it. I wonder if there will be another book set in that world?

170. The Day of the Drones by A. M. Lightner. Post-apocalyptic. Decent story but somewhat preachy.

171. The Dragon Men by Steven Harper. A bit creeped out because the author's name is so similar to that of our Prime Minister (except with v instead of ph) and I am NOT a fan of this PM. However, this (3rd in the Clockwork Empire series) is actually pretty decent, if one doesn't mind the mushy stuff between the two main characters.

172. Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger. Dangerous doilies, poisons, vampires, werewolves, steampunk - yes, Gail Carriger is back an on top form with the second of her Finishing School series. Plus, first appearance of the divine Lord Akeldama (one of the highlights of the Parasol Protectorate series) in this series.

173. Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder. Mixed feelings about this series, as with Snyder's previous (connected) one. It's fine but not something I'll buy.

The Storm Glass series did nothing for me; I didn't make it past the first book. Though I loved the Poison Study series and have read it several times. And I loved Curtsies and Conspiracies too!

174. Sea Glass
175. Spy Glass

Both by Maria V. Snyder. See note from Storm Glass, #173 above. I was interested enough in plot and characters to keep reading, but occasional anachronisms pulled me out of the story, and Opal's love life continued to annoy me.

176. Parasite by Mira Grant. Oooh, good book. Made me think a lot about Monsanto and it's genetically engineered crops and how they've been adopted in many places. Glad the next book is on the way because I want to find out what happens next!

I really liked Parasite too. I hope the next book is coming soon, though.

177. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. Another tour de force from Lynch. Locke and Jean are hired to fix an election, which uses all their many skills.

>300 tardis:: I just finished this too, and found it absolutely gripping.

178. The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty. Fun urban fantasy about an out-of-work editor (human) who finds work at a publisher that caters to not-humans.

179. Those Left Behind
180. Better Days and other Stories
181. The Shepherd's Tale
Three of the Dark Horse Serenity series graphic novels. Not really into graphic novels/comics anymore but it was fun to be back in Joss Whedon's 'Verse. I do miss Firefly.

182. Moonfall by Jack McDevitt. Big, fast comet going to collide with moon. Disaster! Actually a really good read - edge of seat gripping.

My brain is having trouble processing that number, 182. :o)
Congrats to you on another year of bountiful reading, tardis.

Hey, not done yet! Three reading days left until the new year!

183. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. Finally knocked this off Mt. TBR. Conclusion to Eragon series. Underwhelming, but not completely unreadable.

184. The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia A. McKillip. Another off Mt. TBR. Good story, beautifully written.

You're amazing!

185. What Ho, Magic! by Tanya Huff. Probably the last book I will finish in 2013. It's another off my TBR pile, where it has languished for a ridiculous length of time considering how much I like Tanya Huff's word. This is a collection of short stories, some creepy, some black, some fun. Includes 3 Vicky Nelson (Blood Ties) stories at the end.

Nicely done! Looking forward to more in 2014. :)