Seanie's 2014 Reading Journal

It seems I get worse at this every year! I really do want to keep track of my reading & have these threads to refer back to, but I'm hopeless at remembering to update them!

Here’s my rating system:
= terrible, I couldn't finish it (I havn't found a book yet that would get this rating)

= not so good, wouldn't recommend to others, but something kept me going to the end

= an enjoyable read

= a really good read, would recommend to others

= Wow! It’s on my favourites list & I think everyone should read it!

&
half stars for those that fall between...

I've been lost in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time since November last year, so in a way, I haven't really missed much despite starting the thread so late in the year!

Series 1:
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
reading dates:November 2013 - May 2014
rating:
Notes: I'm surprised at just how much I loved this re-read! The quality of writing was more noticeable to me than previous reads, but despite that, I love the characters & loved immersing myself in their world for so long :) I was impressed at how seamless the transition from Jordan's writing to Sanderson's was - Sanderson managed to write better but still keep to Jordan's style. Its a slog to get through this series that's for sure, but well worth it IMO :)

SPOILER's
I'm quite pleased with the ending, I wish Egwene & Suian hadn't died & I would have liked more of an explanation of HOW Rand switched bodies at the very end, but generally it was all tied together & wrapped up quite well IMO :)

ETA: Had a few thoughts about the series last night that I wanted to add:

I have to mention that the 2nd last book is probably my fave of the series, so many characters coming back together after not seeing each other for a long time - I laughed out loud, I cried out loud & I really think its prob the best written book of the series as well as having a very satisfying story line.

Also wanted to add that I really liked reading about Mat, I laughed out loud in a lot of parts about him :)

& The Sharan's came out of nowhere! Part of me knows that if they had have been introduced earlier in the series it would have spoiled the shock value, but I did feel like a thread of the story was missing when they came in so late.

Book 2:
The Inheritance and Other Stories by Megan Lindholm & Robin Hobb
reading dates: May 9th 2014 to May 11th 2014
rating:
Notes: Hmm, too many dead cats in these stories! But apart from that I did really enjoy this collection. Its interesting how I like her writing as Hobb much more than as Lindholm - I do like Lindholm, but I love Hobb! So much so that I decided to do a full re-read of all 13 six duchies books :)

Book 3:
Assasin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
reading dates: May 11th 2014 to May 17th 2014
rating:
Notes: Love Love Love :) So many lil flashes of the story to come have gone through my head when reading this :)

Book 4:
Royal Assasin by Robin Hobb
reading dates: May 18th 2014 to May 26th 2014
rating:
Notes: So absorbing & such an enjoyable read, how can anyone not love this world?

Book 5:
Assasin's Quest by Robin Hobb
reading dates: May 26th 2014 to June 4th 2014
rating:

Book 6:
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
reading dates: June 4th 2014 to June 16th 2014
rating:

Book 7:
The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
reading dates: June 16th 2014 to June 25th 2014
rating:

Book 8:
Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb
reading dates: June 25th 2014 to July 7th 2014
rating:

Book 9:
The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
reading dates: July 7th 2014 to July 20th 2014
rating:

Book 10:
Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb
reading dates: July 20th 2014 to July 30th 2014
rating:

Book 11:
Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb
reading dates: July 30th 2014 to August 12th 2014
rating:

Book 12:
Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb
reading dates: August 13th 2014 to August 18th 2014
rating:

Book 13:
City of Dragons by Robin Hobb
reading dates: August 19th 2014 to August 22nd 2014
rating:

Book 14:
Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb
reading dates: August 22nd 2014 to August 24th 2014
rating:

Book 15:
Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb
reading dates: August 26th 2014 to September 2nd 2014
rating:

Book 16:
The Emerald Tablets (touchstone not working?) by Paul Garrety
reading dates: September 3rd 2014 to September 12th 2014
rating:

Book 17:
To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts
reading dates: September 13th 2014 to September 24th 2014
rating:

Book 18:
Un Lun Dun by China Melville
reading dates: September 25th 2014 to October 3rd 2014
rating:

Book 19:
Perdido Street Station by China Melville
reading dates: October 14th 2014 to November 4th 2014
rating:

Book 20:
The Scar by China Melville
reading dates: October 8th 2014
Paused October 14th
Resumed November 4th
Finished November 12th 2014
rating:

Book 21:
The Iron Council by China Melville
reading dates:November 12th to November 24th
rating:

Book 22:
Seekers of the Chalice by Brian Cullen
reading dates: November 24th to December 2nd
rating:

Book 23:
Strange Fortune by Josh Lanyon
reading dates: December 2nd to December 5th
rating:

Book 24:
Fallen by Tim Lebbon
reading dates: December 5th to December 17th
rating:

Book 25:
Wolf's Blood by Jane Lindskold
reading dates: December 17th to December 25th
rating:

Book 26:
The Abduction of Sita by R. K. Narayan
reading dates: December 27th
rating:

Book 27:
The Sunjata Story by Gordon Innes & Bakari Sidibe
reading dates: December 28th to December 29th
rating:

Book 28:
Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand by Gail Carson Levine
reading dates: December 29th to December 31st
rating:

Wow, I know I didn't have to read the spoiler, but...wow.  I'm still sloshing through Jordan's final book.  I've heard some say that Sanderson is more concise, and I'm curious to see it.  I guess I still care a bit about the characters, since the spoiler surprised me.  I still find them annoying, though.  Always "arranging their skirts", whatever the hell that means, and tugging at their gloves.

As my brother corrects me, "You mean her light blue gloves with a golden floral pattern depicting a rose stem wrapping around a dark brown moose as he stands on his hind legs, with his massive antlers blocking out an orange sun setting over a crystal ocean."

Yeah, something like that.

2> Rozax! Or rather, Rozax's brother! Hahaha!

He has his moments. ^_^

Oh Rozax Sorry! I debated whether to post that spoiler or not, hope it hasn't spoiled the story for you!

& your brother sounds like my dad, I was talking to him about reading fantasy once & he said "I don't want to read a 2 page description of how the dew looks on the grass over the hill" :)

>5 Seanie: well hell, it's saves me having to read it :) Thank you - from the bottom of my heart. I'm assuming Rand works it all out in the end, and I find I don't much care how. I got bored in the latter Jordan volumes, and felt there was a noticeable difference in style when Sanderson took over that didn't make me like his first volume any more than I was already to disposed to. I knew there was a OMG-he-killed-WHO? death and now I know who it is... I'll save the reading time :)

I am laughing at all of your comments. They had the first 6 or 7 books of the WoT series at our last used book sale for $1 a piece. I kept poking them and eying them hungrily, but I managed to resist. I think I'll just finish the other 87 series that I've started before considering getting into this one.

>1 Seanie: Good to see you posting again! :o)

>1 Seanie: the touchstone for Robert Jordan leads to an author of books about the Civil War.

I've read much of Brandon Sanderson's solo work, but I haven't read any of his Wheel of Time books and I'm not planning on it. I gave up on the series part way into book three because the plot was moving too slowly and it felt bogged down. Same thing happened with the Dune series actually.

Have you read any of Sanderson's solo works? I'd highly recommend them.

I've definitely read Brandon's solo works & love them - he is up there with Hobb as a fave author for me :)

I was thinking about WoT last night & have added a few thoughts to my post above :)

#8 fuzzi - how do I fix that? I tried, but it seemed to only lead to works & I couldn't find the right author link?

>10 Seanie: it's probably a bug/software glitch. You can post a bug report in the "bug" section of LT:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/bugcollectors

>10 Seanie: You removed the bad link so it's hard to tell what you two are talking about, but before you submit a bug report, are you sure that you put a pair of double square brackets around the author name instead of enclosing it in a single pair of brackets?

>12 jjwilson61: it's working now in my post, (8). It wasn't before.

>13 fuzzi: It was working in post 8 when I checked it the day you posted it, so if it stopped working it must have been a temporary glitch.

ETA: But that link is just to the disambiguation page. Is there a way to make it point to the real author page?

>14 jjwilson61: I tried to fix it to link to the correct Robert Jordan, but the alternative touchstones leads to a "works" list.

And yes, I have two square brackets before and after Robert Jordan's name.

Must be a glitch.

I've been adding my reads to the first post, not sure if that's the best way to manage this thread tho so that might change...

Note about the start of Assasin's Quest - I balled my eyes out reading about Fitz coming back to himself & pushing Burrich & Chade away, so heartbreaking!

If you are just keeping track for yourself, adding your titles to the first post works fine, but if you want to share with the rest of us, adding new posts means we can tell whenever you add a new one. Yes, some of us are nosy. :) Well, I am, anyway. At least when it comes to other people's books.

What you could do is keep a list in your first post and add reviews as new posts. That way you've got a a handy quick reference at the top and the rest of us get to see what you've been up to.

16> I've just read Assassin's Apprentice - I loved it and am eager to get my hands on the next one!

>16 Seanie: Like you, I update my first post to maintain a complete list. Then I link from there to the review post, which I add at the bottom. Keeping the list all in one place makes it easier for me to get an overview. The downside is that until I write a review, or at least post comments, there's nothing to show that my thread has been updated. Right now I'm behind in my reviews by about 10 titles.

I'm into the Liveship traders now, have edited my stars on the Assassin's series from 4.5 to 4 - not because i think less of them, but because I love the Liveship books more & cant quite give them a 5 - as much as they are up there with my fave books of all time, I know that not everyone would enjoy them, so Liveship books will be 4.5 stars (unless the suck fairy unexpectedly visits which I cant see happening)...

I'd forgotten just how much I want to reach into these books & strangle Malta! I definitely remembered loving how Hobb could make me change my mind so much about a character coz I know I love Malta in later books, but I didn't remember just how much I dislike her at this stage!

21> I just got my hands on the first book in the series. Good to know that I have something to look forward to,

>21 Seanie: Malta's growth as a character is so well done; it's one of my favourite things in the Liveship books.

Finished the Fool books - they are so lovely, despite how heartbreaking they are at times - much crying about Nighteyes happened for me, to the point that I had to not read the book at work for a few days coz getting all teary on my lunch break does not help me get through the rest of the day!

I wish I had thought of it while I was reading, but I'd love to collect all of Fennel's quotes from the books, partly coz they made me laugh out loud & partly so I can show them to Kerri & we can name a cat from The Cat Corner with similar temperament after him :)

Now I'm into the Rain Wilds books, looking forward to Alise's development as a character, not as intense or dramatic as Malta's transformation, but from memory I think it was written really well how she learned to respect & value herself...

I finished Dragon Keeper last night, I have so many lil teaser memories of what is to come, like Alise's development, Sedric & Daavie, a pregnant keeper & the first flight -but the joy of not having a great memory is I cant remember all the details :)

Also looking forward to Sintara's development, its funny, a few times over the last week Tilly has chosen moments when I've been reading about Sintara being a bit arrogant & demanding to plonk herself on the book in front of me & demand attention, gotta giggle at my Tilly cat having some dragonish personality traits, tehehe :)

Edited because I'd mixed up Selden & Sedric's names, I keep doing that for some reason, the characters are clearly very different in my head but I keep calling Sedric Selden

>25 Seanie: or do the dragons in the book aspire to feline personalities? ;)

Well, just to prove how bad my memory is it's Sedric & Carson that get interesting, not Sedric & Daavie, lol :)

>25 Seanie: I don't know the book, but I feel strongly about characters' names in general and think an author should know better than to use two such similar ones.

I might have stayed up past midnight last night finishing Dragon Haven & I might be paying for it a bit today - oops!

But Oh So Good! I'm loving the Dragons' development, loving the developing relationships between characters: Sintara & Thymara, Thymara & Alise, Alise & Leftrin, Sedric & Carson :)

So looking forward to diving in to book 3 :)

So I whipped through City of Dragons & Blood of Dragons, loved them so much I couldn't put them down :)

Then I didn't read for a couple of days because I was so sick :(

But I've started Fool's Assassin & before anything even happened I was getting teary, Fitz is just such a heartbreaking character, the things he puts himself through!

*****SPOLIER ALERT*****
The baby has thrown me! I'm not sure where this is going at all! Right now it seems quite awkward in the story, that Molly was pregnant for 2 years to deliver a miniature baby - what the? I have full faith in Robin Hobb that it will all come together & cant wait for it all to unfold & make some more sense! But I have a feeling I might regret starting this series before it's finished, lol :)

I bought Fool's assassin on Sunday and finished it by Monday evening. I look forward to finding out what you think of it by the end of the book.

Still got about a fifth of the book left, but so much to think about! I'm still not sure exactly what's going on, but its not jarring me anymore, tho the POV changes have tripped me up a couple of times...

***SPOILER ALERT***
So I'm assuming that Bee is somehow part White Prophet? Maybe something to do with Fitz & the Fool's skill sharing in the past made Fitz pass on White traits to his daughter?

Further question - is the Skill & Silver (from the last rain wilds book) the same thing?

Finished last night & wow! Just WOW!

Its amazing how Robin Hobb can make Fitz's actions seem so inevitable, even while I'm wanting to scream at him to make better choices.

I cant wait for the next book, I’m glad I read this straight away, but it does reinforce for me why I like to wait til a series is finished before I read them, these waits are hard!

****POSSIBLE SPOILERS****
I do feel like some of the story points didn't feel as smooth or natural as they have in other books, I mean I took talking liveships in my stride without a second thought the first time I read the liveships books, but the 2 year pregnancy really did throw me at the start, it is explained in some of the scroll snippets at the start of the chapters tho & makes sense in the end. I guess the Liveships are a ‘normal’ part of the world so as a reader I’m pretty much meant to take them in my stride, but White’s are rare so it makes sense that I was as baffled by the 2 year pregnancy as some of the characters.

I love Bee as a character, she’s so complex but like Fitz, her actions feel inevitable even when her choices don’t seem to make sense. At first I kind of resented the perspective changes because it felt like it should be Fitz’s story, but I quickly started looking forward to the chapters from her perspective. I was thinking for a while that she must be skilled because of how reluctant she is to touch Fitz or look him in the eyes, but I’m thinking more now that its because he’s a Catalyst & she’s so sensitive to all of the possible futures that branch out from him.

& to clarify my question about Skill vs Silver from above, I'm thinking of the Skill River where Verity dipped his hands to help make his dragon & the Silver well in Kelsingra - are they both the same stuff?

& will the dragons come into this story? I hope so!

One other thing that bothered me a lil is the cover art, its very pretty, but I cant place it in the story at all? This is the cover I have:


ETA: OMG Shun! Hobb is so good at writing spoilt, obnoxious, bratty female characters that I want to reach into the book & strangle! I didn't think it was possible but she may be almost as annoying as Malta was in the early Liveship books!

>33 Seanie: "the 2 year pregnancy really did throw me"

One of the things I love about the GD is the differences in background of Dragoneers. Seanie, mine included several visits to the then Museu Alvaro de Castro (now Natural History Museum) in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo). The museum is still there, and its Manueline building is as spectacular as ever. The exhibits inside are, I believe, still intact and recommended to tourists. They include an amazing diorama of a lion killing a zebra, placed in the middle of the hall and so seen from all sides: no space for skimping there! And the one that triggered that memory: a series of 22 preserved elephant foetuses, charting the development each month from conception to birth. That's right: elephants normally carry their young for 22 months, so a 2-year pregnancy for a large animal in Africa is far from incredible.

>33 Seanie: It was a great read, wasn't it! I agree with you about wanting Fitz to make better choices - in that respect he hasn't grown up at all. He still can't share information with others even when they really should know what is going on. I can see that someone who found Fitz frustrating in the earlier books is going to have just as much of an issue with him in this one - he is older but not wiser. Like you, I loved Bee and looked forward to her sections. I figured out what she was from the chapter headings, although the wrong gender in the prophecy was a deliberate mislead. And gah! Shun! I wonder if Hobb will do a Malta and turn her around in the books to come. Mind you, part of her obnoxiousness was because Chade had obviously led her to believe she would be going to the lap of luxury and be treated like a princess. He still can't resist meddling! I really enjoyed the slow build up as you immerse yourself in Fitz's world and see all the puzzle pieces come together at the end of the book. Looking forward to the next one!

Twas VERY hard to jump into another book after Fool’s Assassin, so I made sure it was one that I couldn’t try & compare & went for a sci fi rather than fantasy. I spent a bit of the book confused, thought it was because its sci fi & I don’t usually do sci fi, but I’ve just realised its book 2 in a series, lol :) I did enjoy the book & will get book 1 to read at some stage, but not rushing out to get it or to recommend it to anyone.

Finished To Ride Hell's Chasm last night, twas a good read, did feel a bit over wordy at times, but I enjoyed the story & have already passed it on to a friend as a recommendation :)

Started China Melville's Un Lun Dun today & am enjoying it so far. It feels a little like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere to me but I'm very early in the book so that will prob change :)

I finished Un Lun Dun & really enjoyed it :) Have passed it on to a friend to read now.

Question - what age bracket is this book aimed at? The style of writing felt young adult or even younger, but it was much longer book than most YA books that I know...

Then I had to have a few days without reading *gasp* I've been having headaches/eye aches for a while & my doc suggested I rest my eyes for a week, so minimal TV, no computer & minimal reading - was sooo hard! & didnt fix the problem either *sigh*

So after a few days I was browsing my bookshelves for what to read next & decided to stick with China Mieville so picked up The Scar, I'm about a third of the way through & I've realised its book 2 in a series!!! Eek!!! No wonder I've been confused!!! I didn't pick up Perdido Street Station because its a pretty big book & I've been reading pretty slowly lately so didn't want to commit to a long story, but now I'm gonna have to stop reading The Scar & read Perdido Street Station first *sigh*

Authors - actually its probably the publishers not the authors - really should be better at letting us know when the book is part of a series!!!

>38 Seanie: You don't really need to read the Bas-Lag series in order. There's no real continuation of characters or storyline involved. It's more that they're connected by place rather than anything else.

Will reading the first book help me understand the 2nd book better? I got through the first 2 chapters of Perdido Street Station last night & already found the description of the khepri to be quite informative, so thinking that reading book 1 will give me a better understanding of the world for book 2 even if there aren’t shared characters or storylines…

Question – are these books classified as Sci Fi or Fantasy? I see China Mieville is listed as a fantasy author, but this feels much more like Sci Fi to me….

>40 Seanie: Somebody once described China Miéville to me as terminally weird. So somewhere in the badlands in between.

I recently read The scar and hadn't read Perdido street station either. I had no problems. Of course, it is a weird world, so it takes a toll on the imagination at times, but I imagine it would be the same regardless of with which book you start. I quite liked it, by the way.

OK, so I finished Perdido Street Station & quite enjoyed it :) I'm still not sure why it would be classed as fantasy rather than science fiction, but I guess terminally weird covers it, lol :) I did feel like there were some unresolved storylines in the end, but still enjoyed the book overall & I am now a bit more used to the world & to his writing style so think that I will find The Scar a bit easier now than I did when I started it...

Finished The Scar a couple of days ago, I did find it easier going after Perdido Street Station but didn't enjoy it as much.

OK, delays between updates again, I'm hopeless! But at least I have a reading list :)

I cant remember exact titles of books 22 & 23 right now, but they are on my bedside table so I will fill in the details later, I do have a little to say about each (as long as I remember to update this thread soon before the memories fade, lol).

The Iron Council - Similar to The Scar, I didn't enjoy as much as Perdido Street Station & it didn't feel like it flowed that well - I think the order of the chapters was wrong, it started the story, then went back in time, then went back to the story, would have been better (IMO) had the historical stuff been part 1 & then the current story part 2 rather than split like it was - but I did enjoy the read.

I'm really enjoying Fallen so far! Its funny I put it off, I think maybe because of the cover, but I'm enjoying it more than the last 2 books I've read :)

OK - books 22 & 23 filled in :)

Seekers of the Chalice by Brian Cullen - An enjoyable story & I liked the characters, but found the writing very annoying, too simple or something. I couldn't get lost in the story & I kind of felt like I was having the story told to me by a pushy teacher or something if that makes any sense. Also got tricked because I thought it was a standalone right up until the last chapter, but its part of a series - & an unfinished one at that! Book 2 was written in 2009 so I'm not even confident it will ever be finished *sigh*

Strange Fortune by Josh Lanyon - I did enjoy the read & the story flowed nicely, but no particularly memorable moments, places or people...

So I really enjoyed Wolf's Blood by Jane Lindskold - despite the fact that I thought it was a standalone & then discovered its the last book in a series - although maybe story arc is a better description than series as the book stood pretty well on its own. But I enjoyed it so much I've ordered the others in the story arc/series & also another series co-written by the same author :)

So while waiting for the online order to arrive I thought I'd read some different to my usual fare books :)

The Abduction of Sita by R. K. Narayan was really quite enjoyable! Although I could tell it was simplified, it made me intrigued by the rest of the Rama Story & I might have to investigate other versions to read :)

The Sunjata Story by Gordon Innes & Bakari Sidibe was a lil less enjoyable than The Abduction of Sita, I did enjoy the story but found the poetry style a lil harder to follow & the regular repetition of names threw me out of the story regularly.

I think I'd like to get the rest of this Penguin Epics Collection - but my first attempt found its not so easy to hunt down the right versions online.

I'm pretty sure that the Jane Lindskold books are sitting in the mail room at work, but the mail room's closed til next week - doh! So I'm looking for things to read in the mean time that I wont get too involved in, went to my kids books/picture book shelves & found Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand by Gail Carson Levine which is beautifully illustrated by David Christiana & is a sweet story so far :)

>47 Seanie: I recently read the first of Lindskold's Wolf books, Through wolf's eyes, and really enjoyed it. I'd tried it some years ago and thought it was boring but this time I was completely hooked. I'm definitely going to read the rest of the series. Hope you can get into the mail room soon!

Got into the mailroom on friday thankfully! I had a bit of a hectic weekend tho so didn't get to read much, but I got properly into Through Wolf's Eyes last night & had to force myself to stop reading & go to sleep! I think I'm going to really enjoy these books :)