tardis' 2015 reading record

Starting the new thread, and looking forward to many excellent books (and a few guilty pleasures) in 2015.

2014 journal: http://www.librarything.com/topic/163304
2013 journal: http://www.librarything.com/topic/147262

Happy reading in 2015!

1. Healthy Vision : Prevent and Reverse Eye Disease through better nutrition by Neal Adams. I was recently told I have minor cataracts, might have glaucoma (or might just have weird-shaped optic nerves) and I've suffered from dry eyes for a while now, so when I saw this book on the library's acquisitions list I thought I should have a look.

The book is written at a layman's level by an ophthalmologist and it seems very much science-based. Has a good bibliography of peer-reviewed journal articles. The premise is that by eating properly the right things, some eye conditions can be improved (like dry eye) and the progression of others (like glaucoma and cataracts) can be slowed. He doesn't pretend that everything can be reversed. Of course, a lot of the advice boils down to "avoid processed food and eat a balanced diet with more veg and fruit" but he provides key nutrients for each condition and lists of which foods are highest in those nutrients. I was quite impressed and may even buy a copy for future reference.

That sounds like an interesting read. I might have to see if my library has it.

I hope 2015 is a great year of reading for you, but not so good that I get hit with too many BBs!

2. The Six-Gun Tarot
3. The Shotgun Arcana
both by R.S. Belcher.

Slightly steampunky Lovecraftian westerns. Hardly anyone in Golgotha, Nevada, is what they seem. The sheriff can't be killed because "it's not his time yet," the boy, Jim, has his Pa's old artificial eye, which is much more than it seems. Mutt, the Indian deputy is related to Coyote. Etc. Fast-moving, high body count, gripping horror. Recommended.

These are on my list. Looks like I should move 'em up to the top of the pile... :)

Those sound interesting. Might have to try them.

4. Symbiont by Mira Grant, aka Seanan McGuire. I've read some comments that it was not as good as Parasite but I didn't find that. Overall, I thought it was solid, fast-moving, and gripping. Wish I'd had a solid reading period to gulp it down all at once. The only thing I didn't like was the cliff-hanger ending, which happened because the story ended up being more than two books could manage, so now it's going to be a trilogy.

5. A Slip of the Keyboard : Collected non-fiction by Terry Pratchett. Articles written by Pterry, and transcriptions of speeches he has given. Funny and affecting and sometimes rage-inducing. He's a treasure, for sure. The last part of the book, mainly about his Alzheimer's diagnosis and the associated assisted dying controversy, was hard to read in places.

>10 tardis: So here's an interesting LT philosophical question: can there be vicarious book bullets? 'Cause I'm totally getting this for my son for his birthday.

>11 Marissa_Doyle: Ricochets?

Here's a book bullet for you non-fiction lovers:

6. Victorian City: Everyday life in Dickens' London by Judith Flanders. This was fascinating. This is daily life in the middle and lower classes, and it was hard. Work was hard to come by, wages were small, disease and starvation were endemic. Fires were common. Sanitation was appalling. Flanders ties it into Dickens' fiction and non-fiction writing and she has a lively style that keeps it interesting. Really recommend this book for anyone who likes history. My only quibble is that the reproduction of the black and white illustrations is poor.

Sounds like it would tie in well with the book I just read, Necropolis: London and Its Dead, which has a lot of information about death, burial, and mourning in Victorian London.

It also sounds like a subset of London: the biography, which I am reading now. Ackroyd traces the poverty, degradation and lack of sanitation back to the early middle ages and forward to today. Allow me to return the fire ;)

Ack! Drive-by author spam in MY thread! I am not pleased. Do not click on that link!
Go away, @Hovav-Heth, you are not welcome here unless you can contribute to the topic at hand!

>14 SylviaC:, >15 hfglen: - thanks, I think ;) I'll look at those, too. Some day when my library book pile is down...

7. The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow. Steampunk alt-history with sorcerers and mentaths (super logical thinkers). Good brain candy.

>18 tardis: I read that at the end of last year! It was fun, though to me it felt more like the second book in the series than the first (which it definitely is).

>19 Sakerfalcon: - you're right. I kept thinking I'd missed something as I was reading it because there was backstory missing. Anyway, it was good and I've got the rest of the series queued up to begin shortly.

8. A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch. This jumped the queue because it had to go back to the library, but it was pretty good. It seemed a bit... stodgy? Not sure the right word. Anyway, decent mystery, and I'll probably look for the next in the series.

That Charles Finch series is worth reading from the library. I don't think it's worth owning them, but the next 2 or maybe 3 that I read were pretty good.

9. The Damnation Affair by Lilith Saintcrow. Another in the universe of Bannon and Clare (The Iron Wyrm Affair but set in the US with completely different characters. And zombies.

10. The Red Plague Affair
11. The Ripper Affair
Both by Lilith Saintcrow. More of Bannon and Clare. Still pretty good, although not for purchase.

12. Raging Heat by Richard Castle. Ruggedly handsome Richard Castle has penned another winner as Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook try to figure out why a corpse crashed through the glass roof of the Hayden Planetarium.

Seriously, this book, like the ones before, is pretty much brain candy. It's decently written and I liked it a lot, but it's far from great literature. I enjoy the nods to the TV series and occasional shout-outs to star Fillion's home town, although this time the Canadian tourists standing in front of a bus with "Edmonton plates" annoyed me a bit because cities don't have plates - provinces do. Should have been "Alberta plates." And why anyone would take a bus trip from Edmonton to New York City is beyond me - it's at least a week of driving just to get there.

I've seen those books at the bookstore and wondered if they would be worth reading. I enjoy the TV show. I may have to read one this summer while lounging by the pool.

>25 catzteach: - They are worth it, especially if you enjoy the TV series. They do them as if Castle was real, right down to dedications, acknowledgements, author bio, and author photo, which amuses me. I get them from the library, though. Best to read them in series order.

13. Novel Interiors : Living in Enchanted Rooms Inspired by Literature by Lisa Borgnes Giramonti. "Classic novels contain all the details for a stylish life" says Giramonti. You can determine your own style by the novels you love. Cozy (Jane Austen, Wind in the Willows), refined (Edith Wharton, Evelyn Waugh), pared down (Thomas Hardy, Willa Cather), sleek (Fitzgerald, Maugham, Nichols), chaotic (Durrell, Dinesin), dramatic (Wilde, Proust). There are more authors for each, although how you can illuminate cozy without a hobbit hole, I don't know :)

That sounds like a cool book! Are there pictures? I'd love to see someone's vision of those ideas.

And when I read the Richard Castle books, they will definitely be library books. :)

>28 catzteach: Tons of pictures.

It's now on my wishlist.

It's on my list. Maybe I'll get some inspiration for my bedroom. :)

Can't we equate Mole's house in The Wind in the Willows with the same kind of coziness you'd find in a hobbit hole? I always loved that chapter in WitW where Mole and Rat revisit Mole's underground lodgings. (Of course, it's tied into Christmas so what's not to love?)

>32 jillmwo: I suppose :)

14. Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel Jose Elder. Pretty good urban fantasy about a guy who's not alive but also not dead.

15. The Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill. A Simon Serraller story. I almost didn't count this because I read it really fast and skimmed a lot. I really didn't enjoy it. It was well written, but child sex abuse is something I can't read about.

16. As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust by Alan Bradley. The 7th Flavia De Luce mystery. Flavia is awesome, as always. Manipulative, nosy, and precocious, she has to cope with life at boarding school (her mother's alma mater in Toronto, Canada), battle homesickness for her beloved Buckshaw (she even missed her sisters a little!), and solve the mystery of the body that fell out of the chimney in her room. I love this series, and this as good as the others.

>34 tardis: You got me there! I didn't know there was a new one in the series. It is on my wishlist now.

17. Saint Odd by Dean Koontz. Wrap up to the Odd Thomas series. Bit of a confusing mess towards the end, although I was tired when reading it, so maybe it was just me. Anyway, I've liked Odd and his pals, and it was okay. Not something I'll buy or re-read.

>34 tardis: I heard an interview with Alan Bradley on CBC North by Northwest this morning. Looking forward to catching up with Flavia.

18. The League of Seven by Alan Gratz. YA steampunk with clockwork robot servitors, airships, submarines, secret societies, and hidden evil monsters that are trying to escape. I like it :)

19. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch. Constable Peter Grant, apprentice to the last police wizard in Great Britain, has to go outside his comfort zone (London) to help solve the case of two missing girls. Has the same clever writing and witty dialogue as the previous installments, plus a gripping plot and a great feel for the country. Loved it.

>39 tardis: Good to see more love for the latest instalment.

20. Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham. Second Veronica Mars novel, and just like watching the TV show. I could hear Veronica, Logan, Keith, et al. in my head. It was excellent. The mystery was pretty good, too. Veronica tracks down a sexual predator who likes beating women.

21. Low Midnight by Carrie Vaughn. Part of the Kitty Norville series, but the protagonist is Cormac Bennett, the former werewolf hunter with a hundred years dead witch sharing his brain. Good addition to the series.

22. A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn. Long before Honor Harrington, the Royal Manticore Navy was a joke. This is the first volume in a series that covers the rebuilding. Typical Weber - even the co-author couldn't cut down the infodumping and long interior monologues much, but there's lots of action and politics so I enjoyed it anyway.

23. Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst by Vita Sackville-West and Sarah Raven. A fascinating look at the creation of one of the world's iconic gardens. Could have used more pictures, though.

24. The Dragon Conspiracy by Lisa Shearin. Enjoyable brain candy: urban fantasy about a secret organization that protects supernatural creatures and the unknowing humans from each other. Second in a series.

25. Kraken Bake by Karen Dudley. Chef Pelops (Food for the Gods) is back. He still has a problem with Poseidon, and as a result isn't able to cook kraken, which (thanks to Perseus) is almost the only thing available in the agora. And the big Bronze Chef competition is coming up and everyone KNOWS the secret ingredient is going to be kraken. Fast and loose with the Greek mythology and a ton of fun.

>45 tardis: I read the first book in the series last year and thought it was fun. I've got The Dragon Conspiracy sitting on my kindle.

>45 tardis:, >47 tottman: - I recently read the first in that series The Grendal Affair, and want to read The Dragon Conspiracy soon.

BTW - the Irish Rovers were excellent. It is 11°C here now - I think we are the hot spot in Canada.

26. Unbound by Jim C. Hines. Third (and last, I think) in the Magic Ex Libris series. A fun series. Love the idea of pulling useful things out of books.

27. A Dangerous Talent by Charlotte and Aaron Elkins. First in a series about an art restorer. Read the second last year and liked it, so went back for this one. Also good.

28. Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill. Second Jimm Juree mystery. Jimm, ace crime reporter, is still exiled to the back of nowhere, Thailand with her eccentric family. When a head washes up on the beach she goes into investigative mode.

29. The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill. Jimm Juree again. More hijinks, red herrings and an axe murderer.

Both of these are fun but I still don't like them quite as much as Cotterill's Dr. Siri mysteries.

The Dragon Conspiracy sounds like something I would love! I'll put it on my list. :)

30. Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire. Australia has a werewolf problem for the first time ever, and Alex Price, who has prior experience of werewolves, accompanies his girlfriend, Shelby Tanner, home to help her family and the rest of the Thirty-Six Society cope. Hostility from Shelby's family and a new and excitingly deadly ecosystem are just two of the challenges Alex and Shelby face. Very, very good.

31. Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton. The latest Hamish MacBeth mystery. Hamish dodges the ire of Blair (why has that scunner no' yet become a murder victim?) and moons over various women while solving several murders. Good, fast read.

32. The Nonstop Color Garden by Nellie Neal. Pretty pictures, but some of the info is questionable (she recommends Aegopodium (aka Bishop's weed, Goutweed) without a caveat about its invasiveness) and apparently nothing exists in any zone colder than zone 4. And I KNOW that a lot of the "zone 4" plants she mentions are just fine in zone 3 or even 2.

>53 tardis: Pocket apocalypse is on Mount Tbr waiting for me to have enough reading time that I won't have to keep putting it down. Glad to hear you liked it so much.

33. A Weed By Any Other Name by Nancy Gift. A chatty view of weeds and how they're not so bad after all. I still don't appreciate dandelions after reading it, but I do feel better about the fact that my lawn is not (and never will be) a mono-culture :) Actually, what I really want to do is get some clover seed and overseed the whole thing. I like clover. It's green and soft and the bees like it.

34. The World of Poo by Miss Felicity Beedle with help from T. Pratchett. Been meaning to read this for a long time, ever since I learned that Young Sam Vimes' favourite book was available for the rest of us. Fun, and now a bit nostalgic since the passing of the Great Pterry.

I had meant to buy The World of Poo some time ago, but it slipped by me. No longer, now it is MINE. Although I have to wait until April for it to arrive.

35. Night Owls by Lauren M. Roy. A recommendation from someone on LT, can't recall who. Pretty good light fun. Vampires, magic, first in a series.

>57 tardis: I just read Night owls so you might have seen it on my thread. Glad you enjoyed it.

>58 Sakerfalcon: Yes, thanks - I remember now. I went straight to the library website to put a hold on it. We do seem to like many of the same things :)

36. Stories of the Raksura by Martha Wells. Two novellas and a couple of longish short stories. Always good to be back with the Raksura.

37. Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear. Absolutely excellent book. Unlike some steampunk books, the steampunk trappings are secondary to the characters and the story, both of which are really well-done. This was a library book, but I think I'll be buying a copy when it comes out in paperback because I can see re-reading this. From the action-packed beginning when two injured girls show up at Madame Damnable's high-class bordello to the gripping ending, a great ride.

Always looking for good steampunk. I'll have to put this one on the list. :)

38. Pacific Fire by Greg Van Eekhout. A quick read, and just as good as his earlier book, California Bones. Heist, magic, dragon, golems. High body count.

39. The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber. Rival teams on each side of the Atlantic search for the secret of eternal life. In both cases all the scientists and mystics involved have been killed/disappeared. Not bad, but not outstanding, either.

40. Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson. Definite candidate for best title of the year award. Finn has been exiled for 25 years for a crime he didn't commit. The transfer back into his body is botched and things only get more complicated from there. Amusing and fun.

41. Tales from the Nightside by Simon R. Green. 9 short stories and a novella, all set in the Nightside, where it's always 3am and yadda yadda. That refrain got repeated at the beginning of almost every story and I got a bit tired of it. The stories were good, if about as noir as it's possible to be. Bleak, even. Especially liked the novella, which had John Taylor vs. Varney the Vampire.

42. Grave matters by Lauren M. Roy. Sequel to Night Owls. Pretty good. I like the characters. Can't say it's terribly original, but that's not a huge problem for me if it's well done.

43. Darned if you do by Monica Ferris. Another cozy needlework shop mystery. Murder-magnet and amateur investigator Betsy Devonshire gets nosy again, out-detecting the cops and saving the day. Decent brain candy.

44. Generation V by M.L. Brennan. V is for vampire, of course. Brennan has developed a fairly new mythology/biology for the vampires and other supernatural creatures around them, which is nice. Young proto-vampire Fortitude Scott has to fend off his relatives, work with a sassy kitsune (Suzume), and locate two kidnapped children.

45. Tainted Blood by M.L. Brennan. Third in the Generation V series, which I didn't know when I started it, but not having read book 2 wasn't too much of a handicap. More investigation by Fort and Suzume, this time to find the murderer of the leader of the werebears.

46. Prudence by Gail Carriger. Custard Protocol, book 1. A jolly romp featuring Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama, on a journey to India in her lovely airship, the Spotted Custard. Accompanied by best friend, Primrose Tunstall, Prim's brother Percy, Quesnel Lefoux, and a motley but efficient crew, Prudence goes to India to track down some tea wanted by her adoptive father, Lord Akeldama. Mayhem ensues. Tons of fun.

Generation V sounds fun! And I didn't know Prudence was out! I need to get it! I have read her other books and enjoyed them very much!

47. Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King. Another excellent Russell/Holmes mystery. Plots within plots, Japan, blackmail.

48. Madness in Solidar by L.E. Modesitt. Latest in the Imager Portfolio series. Centuries after the founding of the Collegium, it's losing power and money. New Maitre Alastar has to mediate on tax issues between the Rex and the High Holders, which leads to even more trouble than one might expect. Like the rest of the series, they're good enough reads, but curiously lacking in true suspense or danger.

49. Armageddon Rules by J.C. Nelson. Second in the Grimm Agency series. Grimms seem to be popular these days, what with the tv series and all. Marissa, agent of the agency, has to stop the apocolypse that she accidentally set in motion. Anyway, light-weight, amusing urban fantasy.

50. Escape to Persia by Katherine Hull and Pamela Whitlock. A very old kids' holiday adventure that I bought to give to my mum for her birthday because she loved it as a child. Very enjoyable and quite well written considering the youth of the co-authors (14 and 15) when they started writing the series, and probably both still under 20 when they finished the third book. This is, in fact, a kind of proto-fan fiction - Hull and Whitlock were mad fans of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books, and this and the two books before it were their attempts to do their own versions, except with ponies instead of boats.

>72 tardis: I really liked The far-distant Oxus, as a fan of both Arthur Ransome and pony books. I own the two sequels but haven't read them. Maybe I'll do so this summer. I like the Ransome-style illustrations.

>46 tardis: Taking a belated bullet on the Karen Dudley books--as soon as I finish the newest Anne Bishop, I'm going to try them.

51. Carousel Seas by Sharon Lee. 3rd in the Archer's Beach series. Enjoyable urban fantasy.

>75 tardis: You've reminded me that I still need to find a copy of Carousel sun - I've fallen behind on this series!

52. The Unadulterated Cat by Terry Pratchett, with illustrations by Gray Jolliffe. A small but funny book about Cats. Proper cats, not those weedy pedigreed ones.

53. Iron Night by M.L. Brennan. 2nd in the Generation V series. Good

54. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. Magicians manipulate man-made materials. Ceony wanted to be a smelter and work with metals, but instead she is apprenticed to a paper magician, and once bonded to paper, that will be her medium forevever. Enjoyable.

>78 tardis: The concept of The paper magician really appeals to me, but I've heard the romance is very insta-lovey, which has put me off. What did you think about that aspect?

>79 Sakerfalcon: - it is a bit quick, although Ceony is young (19) so I can see it - crushes happen fast, especially at that age. The thing that redeems it is that the male character doesn't reciprocate in this book, although he may in the future. The other thing is that Ceony doesn't let it get in the way of her studies or doing what has to be done. She doesn't know if her feelings will ever be reciprocated, but she does what she can anyway. I can't get the next book yet, so I don't know where it goes from there.

>80 tardis: Thank you. That sounds like something I could read and not end up rolling my eyes at! Onto my wishlist it goes.

55. The Cruise of the Saucy Jane by Ernest H. Robinson. A 1924 kids' holiday adventure with a yacht, smugglers, rescue at sea, and caves. Very much of its time in the gender roles and stuff, but fun anyway.

56. A Barricade in Hell by Jaime Lee Moyer. Sequel to Delia's Shadow which I liked very much. Historical urban fantasy/murder mystery set in 1917-ish San Francisco. Delia sees ghosts. Her husband, Gabe is a police captain. The violent ghost of a little girl and a series of gruesome murders and disappearances intersect. As good as the previous book.

57. Devil May Care by Elizabeth Peters. A slightly dated but enjoyable gothic mystery. Ellie goes to house-sit for her weird aunt and sees ghosts. Hunky gardener, Donald, helps out.

Oh, goodness, it's been years since I've read anything by Elizabeth Peters! I liked Devil-May-Care, and still have it tucked away with a few others in the back of the bookcase. I was disappointed when she stopped writing anything but Amelia Pebody books.

58. Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells. Urban fantasy/police procedural in a world where magic potions are the equivalent of drugs. The heroine gets seconded to a special task-force looking into a new street potion that turns people into sort of werewolves. Pretty good.

59. In Veronica's Garden by Margaret Cadwaladr. History of the development of the Milner Gardens and Woodland, which is located in the beautiful Qualicum Beach, BC. Veronica Milner was... a character... not always in a good way. She did love her gardens, though, and this book is packed with wonderful pictures of both the one in Ireland that she worked on with her first husband, and the Canadian one that she created with her second husband.

60. Garden Design for the Short Season Yard : Everything You Need to Know for the Chinook and Canadian Prairie Zones by Lyndon Penner. A chatty, witty, opinionated resource for people designing (or redesigning) gardens in the praires and foothills of Western Canada. Would also likely be useful for similar regions of the United States.

61 Old Man's War by John Scalzi. I've read this before, a fair while ago. Still good.

62. Vane Pursuit by Charlotte MacLeod. A fun cozy featuring professor and sleuth Peter Shandy, his clever librarian wife, Helen, and assorted friends and colleagues at Balaclava Agricultural College and environs. Someone is stealing valuable folk-art weathervanes and then burning down the buildings they were on. The Shandys must discover the culprits. Extremely complicated and relies heavily on coincidence, but what the heck - still fun!

63. Persona by Genevieve Valentine. Very good story extrapolating the future of diplomacy and celebrity culture. Suyana Sapaki is the "Face" of the United Amazonian Rainforest Confederation. She's a very minor player, and has a bit too much independence for her own good. She also has a secret. On the day someone attempts to assassinate her, she meets a "snap" (paparazzo), Daniel Park, and they go on the run from her mystery enemies.

64. Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. A Liaden book, set on Surebleak. Excellent as are all the rest of the series.

Yikes - so little reading lately! All my time and energy has been going into gardening.

65. Shadowscale by Rachel Hartman. Due to it being overdue at the library, I stayed up later than I should have last night to finish this off. I liked it very much, if not quite as much as my memory of how much I liked the previous book, Seraphina. I liked the characters, especially Seraphina herself, very much - despite her youth, she was mature in the sense that she could delay or forgo her own needs/wants for the greater good, and she wasn't destroyed by it - she could still be happy and have a good life..

66. Going for gold by Emma Lathen. An oldie but goodie, as banker John Putnam Thatcher helps discover a murderer at the Lake Placid Olympics. These books hold up very well, allowing for technological changes since they were published, and Thatcher and his banking cohorts are great characters.

I read and enjoyed a few of the John Putnam Thatcher books years ago. I was surprised at how interesting Lathen made the business of banking seem. Dick Francis did it too, in Banker.

>93 SylviaC: - I agree! After one of Lathen's books I actually understood futures markets :)

67. Cursed Moon by Jaye Wells. Sequel to Dirty Magic and about the same. The whole dirty/clean magic thing is a bit artificial, but I would read another in the series.

68. Ming Tea Murder by Laura Childs. I really ought to stop reading these. The mysteries are lame, the tea-lore is twee, and the characters are far too perfect. And for a change it was the main character's boyfriend that annoyed me most. No personality at all.

>95 tardis: I think I read the first two and decided the same thing, but I'm always attracted by the titles. :)

69. The Mad Apprentice by Django Wexler. Sequel to The Forbidden Library. A kid's book. Alice has been an apprentice Reader for some time now, and her master sends her to meet some other apprentices and the group are supposed to retrieve an apprentice who murdered his master while each making sure that none of the other apprentices steal any of the deceased Master's stuff. Alice is a great character - bright and tough and creative, and I enjoyed the story.

70. Steelheart
71. Firefight

both by Brandon Sanderson. Fun and action-packed. What happens if super-powered individuals are evil jerks and no good supes show up to save the day?

72.The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett. 4th book in the Demon Cycle series, and it's another &%^$*$ cliffhanger and no clue when the next book will be along. Complicated, switching from one group of protagonists to another frequently, lots of deaths. The next book better be the last or there'll be nobody left.

>99 tardis: sounds like he's learnt at the feet of George R R Martin ;)

>100 imyril: Exactly my thought!

73. The Edge of Dreams by Rhys Bowen. A historical mystery featuring former private detective Molly Murphy and her Police Captain husband. Molly's curiosity gets her in trouble, again, when trying to help her husband solve a serial killer case. Good.

74. The Body In the Birches by Katherine Hall Page. Nosy amateur time. For a minister's wife, Faith Fairchild sure does attract bodies. Decent mystery, anyway.

75. Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells. Third in the Prospero's War series (see also above), and still consistently good. Kate and team are trying to prevent a war between the covens that run Babylon, helped (sort of) by Kate's old flame (and the city's new mayor), John Volos.

76. Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal. I'm so sorry this book is over and sorrier that it's the last in the Glamourist series, which I have enjoyed very much. Jane and Vincent go to Antigua to settle Vincent's father's estate. Loved it.

>102 tardis: I really want to read this series.

>103 Sakerfalcon: it's very, very good. I highly recommend it.

77. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris. Set in the "True Blood" universe, but all-different characters... well, not quite. Some minor characters from TB do show up. Midnight, Texas is practically a ghost town - just a crossroad with a few buildings, not all of them even occupied. The few inhabitants are all unusual, though. An enjoyable series.

>104 tardis: And you've just reminded me that I need to get my hands on a copy of Day shift. I really enjoyed Midnight crossroad and want to spend more time with the characters.

>105 Sakerfalcon: based on our shared reading habits, you'll like this one just as much :)

78. From A High Tower by Mercedes Lackey. Latest in the Elemental Masters series, with a loose relationship to Rapunzel. I always enjoy these but they're total fluff. In a couple of months I won't be able to recall if I've read it or not.

79. Garden Inspirations by Charlotte Moss. A big, beautiful photo-packed book about Charlotte Moss' garden and the places that inspired it.

80. Six and a Half Deadly Sins by Colin Cotterill. A new Dr. Siri mystery! And it was excellent, too, although it really felt like the last in the series, which is sad. In this case a "sin" is a woven skirt, and Siri, Mme Daeng, Inspector Phosy, and the rest all end up chasing wild geese all over northern Laos.

81. Superfluous Women by Carola Dunn. Latest in the Daisy Dalyrymple Fletcher series of cozies. Daisy, recovering from bronchitis, toddles off to the sticks where the air is clean, and visits an old friend who lives in the neighbourhood. The old friend, one of many females left alone after so many young men were killed in the First World War, and two other "superfluous" friends have just moved into a house together. Of course, there's a corpse on the scene shortly, and of course Daisy and her Scotland Yard detective husband get involved. This is a fun series, though. I like it.

edited to add: I also really liked the three "spinster" characters - they had all lost people during the war, but they were getting on with it and making good lives relying on themselves and each other. There were hints that at least one might have found a man, but one knew she'd be okay either way.

82. A Study in Sorcery by Michael Kurland. A continuation of Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series of alt-history-with-magic detective stories. Not as good as Garrett's originals, but not terrible, either.

83. From a Drood to a Kill by Simon R. Green. Latest Secret Histories book featuring Eddie Drood and Molly Metcalf. The usual hi-jinks and tech, but the world of the Droods is changing.

>109 tardis: For some reason I read the title of #83 as "From a Drool to a King." :D

I find Carola Dunn to be "iffy", but you're tempting me with Superfluous Women.

84. Shattered Shields (anthology). Assorted fantasy stories with a war theme. Mostly pretty good.

85. Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant. In this novella (published in a small hardcover) Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) does for mermaids what Charles Stross did for unicorns in his story, Equoid. Not your Disney mermaids, these. Scary.

86. No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong. An Otherworld series novel featuring necromancer Jaime Vegas, with appearances by werewolf Alpha Jeremy and some other series characters. Pretty good.

87. Trade Secret by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I was pretty sure I'd read this in hardcover, and that this was a re-read due to acquiring the paperback, but either I didn't, or my memory is worse than usual. Anyway, it's a Liaden book, about Jethri Gobelyn ven'Deelin, trader, and as usual I really enjoyed it. And best of all, the library has another new Liaden book on hold for me and I just need to pick it up tomorrow :)

I loooooove the Liaden books!

88. The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs. A funny guide for geeks (mostly the younger ones, or the ones just getting into the geek universe. I'm not maybe the target audience, being an older geek, but I learned some things :) Chatty, slangy, and fun.

89. Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. A new Liaden book, on the adventures of Korval in exile on Surebleak. Loved it, as always (you will too, >114 reconditereader: :)

90. The Hanged Man by P.N. Elrod. Paranormal detective, alt-history Victorian England. Liked it and would read more in the series.

91. Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? how the famous sell us elixirs of health, beauty & happiness by Timothy Caulfield. Amusing take on celebrity culture and it's effect on society. Caulfield actually tried some of the diets and cleanses and looked at the science behind them. That was the part I liked best. The part about seeking fame and such was not quite so interesting to me although he writes in an amusing and engaging style that still kept me reading.

Oh, that sounds interesting. I often wonder how these famous people learn all these tricks and things.

>117 catzteach: - it's because they're just as gullible as anyone else, but with a wider forum to spread the word.

>118 tardis: hmm, I never thought about them being gullible. I bet they get pestered all the time by people representing the next big thing. That would get annoying.

92. Lord of Runes by Dave Gross. Latest in Dave's Pathfinder Tales series about Count Varian Jeggare and his hellspawn bodyguard, Radovan, adventurers. Dave is a friend, so I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the book, even though I'm not (and never have been) an RPG player. Had I been, possibly I would have recognized details that would have enhanced the story even more, but it was not necessary at all. It does help to have read the earlier books in this series, though.

93. The Clockwork Crown by Beth Cato. Second in a somewhat steampunky fantasy of magical healing and derring-do. Medician Octavia Leander and former Clockwork Dagger, Alonzo Garrett, must find the Lady's Tree to solve the mystery of her increasing power. Pretty good.

I just finished The Clockwork Crown myself! I'm getting so much good stuff from the library. I have The Gracekeepers waiting to read right now.

94. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. Loved To Kill A Mockingbird so had to read this, and I thought it was very good. Beautiful writing, but the story is both more challenging and less focused, and the ending is very open. Which is life, really, but I would have liked a bit more. It's also not a period in history that I enjoy reading about, so the combination of all the above means I doubt I will ever go back to it.

95. I've seen it all at the library: the view from behind the reference desk by Jonathan M. Farlow. An amusing take on public library service: the characters in front and behind the desk, by a long-time librarian. Except he's not quite as funny as he thinks he is and I found it a little too autobiographical. Definite "meh" from me.

96. Kyoto Gardens: masterworks of the Japanese gardener's art by Judith Clancy. A book with the potential to be stunning, wasted because it is TOO SMALL. The photographs deserve a coffee-table-sized volume, not the squibby 8 by 9 inch volume that they're in. Some were so tiny I had to hold the book right up to my face and squint to see them properly.

no touchstone for the first one.

97. The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross. Holy cats! Stross ratchets up the stakes and the tension in this latest installment of the Laundry Files series. This is the first from the point of view of Mo O'Brien, wife of Bob and bearer of the scary demon-killing violin she calls Lecter. Really, really good, but don't start the series with this. You need to go back to the beginning and ease into it. Also, contains many spoilers for earlier books in the series.

>124 tardis: I really want to read the Laundry files as they've been strongly recommended to me (and your enthusiasm is another driver!) but I can't find the first one anywhere. I guess I'm going to have to turn to amazon.

>125 Sakerfalcon: The Laundry Files series is on my "buy" list. In paperback, but still. I do like a good civil service fantasy. Or in this case fantasy/lovecraftian horror.

98. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. A re-read, because I just bought the paperback, and it is just as good (maybe better) the second time. It is probably going to make the "comfort read" list for me.

99. Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey. Elemental Masters book. Also a re-read due to acquisition of paperback. It was good, if not outstanding, but sometimes I just want a happy ending.

Gosh, I should maybe have tried for something a bit more impressive for my 100th book of 2015. Ah, well. I enjoyed it :)

100. The longer the thread by Emma Lathen. Another John Putnam Thatcher banking mystery. This one investigates the garment trade in Puerto Rico. As always, a good mystery and interesting milieu.

101. A Knight In Shining Armor by Jude Devereaux.
102. The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook.

I got these off a list of "swoon-worthy" romances (from NPR, maybe?) but I guess I'm not the right demographic or something. I thought the first, a time-travel romance, was silly and the heroine a wet blanket, and the second (steampunk alt-history) was better, but the heroine was still annoying and the hero mostly thought with his ... well, lets not go there... The sex scenes weren't the worst I've ever read, but honestly, they take up so much space, and they're so repetitive, and of course while they're happening the story just stops. I've got one more book from this list to read, and then I think I'll go back to Georgette Heyer if I ever need another romance fix.

>129 tardis: I'm finding that too many of the current generation of romances seem to just have a little bit of story written around the sex scenes.

103. The Serpent Garden by Judith Merkle Riley. The third and last of the "swoonworthy romances" that I got off that list. Much better than the other two - a proper story, a believable romance, history (early reign of Henry VIII), politics, intrigue, angels and demons. An artist's widow starts off by faking her late husband's work, then is recognized in her own right. Recommended.

104. A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume 3 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. If you like the Liaden books, you'll like this collection of short stories about side characters. I enjoyed it very much.

105. Lock In by John Scalzi. A re-read as I just bought the paperback. Police procedural, science fiction, and a darned good yarn.

106. Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews. Latest in the Kate Daniels series. Kate and Curran are trying to make a life away from the Pack, since Curran has resigned as Beast Lord, but of course things get out of hand fast. Fun.

107. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. An oldie but goodie - don't know how I missed it for so long.

That series by Megan Whelan Turner only gets better. I have Majkia to thank for those book bullets. Loved them.

>133 JannyWurts: You are so right, Janny! I just chewed through the next three books in the series. I even downloaded the last two as e-books from the public library, which I rarely do as I find the iPad heavy to read with, but I didn't want to wait for holds to come in. They were excellent. Good thing there's a lot of waiting around when making zucchini relish - I had time to read while things boiled. Also, with 15 jars of relish cooling on the counter I have such a sense of accomplishent that I don't feel guilty for spending the rest of the day reading. Highly recommended.

108. The Queen of Attolia
109. The King of Attolia
110. A Conspiracy of Kings
All by Megan Whalen Turner.

When you got finished, didn't you think there was room for ONE MORE sequel to finish it out?? I certainly wish.

>135 JannyWurts: So much so that I googled her and found some interviews she did after A Conspiracy of Kings that gives hope for another book or two :) Sounds like she's not a fast writer, though. One site had some "book five words" that were dirt, gold, slave, lion, ship.

111. Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay. I have kind of a divided reaction to the Dexter books. On the one hand, the idea of a serial killer with a moral code is interesting and they're entertainingly written. On the other hand... the protagonist is a serial killer. Anyway, last in the series so I don't have to be conflicted anymore, and at least the story was coherent, if somewhat abrupt in the ending.

112. Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold. An e-book that I actually bought because there was no alternative and I ALWAYS buy LMB books, usually in hardcover, because she's always that good. Lois says that Subterranean Press will be bringing it out in print next year, so will definitely also buy the print at that time. This is a novella set in the World of the Five Gods, and it's really excellent. Penric, a young man on the way to his betrothal ceremony, stops to help an old woman on the side of the road and learns that no good deed goes unpunished. I've had it a while now and read it twice in that time.

>136 tardis: I'm hoping that the ending can't be as bad as the TV series. I still have a couple left in the series but I'm not exactly in a rush to pick up the next one that's sitting on the tbr shelves.

>138 AHS-Wolfy: - I never watched the TV series, but from what I've heard this is better. Or different, anyway. The ending was, as I said, abrupt. Given that it's told in first person, one can make some assumptions, but I'd have liked a bit more wrap-up.

113. Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn. Kitty, talk-radio host and alpha werewolf of the Denver pack, faces off against power-hungry vampire Dux Bellorum (aka Roman), with the help of her friends. I think the title is a bit of a giveaway, but it's a fun ride.

114. Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews. Nosy amateur murder mystery time, except I love this series. Aside from the increasingly strained attempt to include birds in the titles, it has a warmth and humour that puts the whole series on my "comfort read" list. In this one, Meg and family are helping out with the town's fund-raising Halloween festival, and (of course) bodies turn up.

>141 tardis: I love this series so much. I'm saving Lord of the Wings for late October and I'm hoping she has another christmas themed one lined up. These books are the best comfort read.

115. The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout. An early Nero Wolfe mystery, one of several I purchased second-hand a while back. Always enjoyable. Stout's writing always impresses.

116. Dark Ascension by M.L. Brennan. Latest Generation V novel, in which Fort must accept his nature and work with his horrible sister and not-so-horrible brother to take over their mother's territory. More ass-kicking from kitsune girlfriend Suzume. Fun, if gory.

>143 tardis: Now you are making me want to reread my Nero Wolfe collection! I miss Archie.

>144 MrsLee: Archie and Wolfe are always good!

117. On the Edge by Ilona Andrews. First in the Edge Series. The Edge being the place between The Broken (our world) and The Weird (a world of magic). Pretty good. I have the next in the series on hold at the library.

118. The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe by Alexander McCall Smith. Another gentle No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book. I love the cadence of the speech, and visiting with the Ladies is always relaxing.

119. Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen. A Royal Spyness mystery. Georgie gets drafted to escort her royal cousin's fiancee around London before the wedding. Someone dumps a body in Kensington Palace. Fun.

120. Women Garden Designers, 1900 to the Present by Kristina Taylor. A beautiful book with tons of pictures. Very interesting women! I had heard of many of them - anyone who is interested in gardening history knows Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West, but this book had a lot of people I'd never heard of, too, and lots of pictures of their work.

121. The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. A good book, but like the others in the series, there's no feel of Pratchett in it. I'd be interested to know what his contribution was.

122. Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews. Sequel to On The Edge, this time in a swampy bit of the edge and the hero is William the Wolf, who was a minor character in the previous book. Still with the one true love thing, but with enough action and characterization to make it more tolerable.

123. Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews. Follows on Bayou Moon and hits the usual tropes: rake reformed (more or less) by love of a good woman, happy ever after, etc. Lots of action, though, and the sex is quite restrained for this type of book. At least it doesn't get in the way of the story.

Re the titles in #145, #147, and #148, those are characterized over on Amazon as being paranormal romances, but you refer to two worlds, one being ours and the other being a world of magic. Are these fairly typical romances with a bit of magic thrown in? Or is the fantasy element more important than that? I always hesitate over the word "paranormal" because to me it conveys something more like ghost stories and seances, but I don't pick that up so much from your description.

>149 jillmwo: Paranormal romances (hereafter PR) vary quite a bit, but generally, I'd say yes, they're typical romances with fantasy elements. Each PR book tends to follow one couple from meeting to happy-ever-after and the fantasy element is very important. "Paranormal" covers a broad range of powers and beings and the level of fantasy can vary from "a touch of magic" to magic/ghosts/psychic powers/vampires/werewolves (or other shifters)/faerie (and fairies)/angels/demons/djinns/whatever. If you can think of it, it's probably been done. There are very few PR writers that I can stomach. Ilona Andrews is one of the better ones, as "she" (quotes because it's actually a husband/wife writing team) tends to have more interesting and less ridiculous (for PR values of ridiculous!) plots, characters less likely to behave like idiots, and the romance is less mushy. Also, "her" sex scenes tend to be less gratuitous. For PR values of less gratuitous. I read very little PR (or other kinds of romance), and only if I've either had prior good experience of the author's work or it gets very good reviews from a source I trust.

124. The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. The very first in the Asey Mayo series, in which the "Codfish Sherlock" drawls his way through solving the murder of a nasty author. Suspects and red herrings (or in this case, sardines) galore. I love these classic mysteries - even the "nosy amateur" trope seems fresher, somehow.

>150 tardis: Thank you for the response. It saved me from making the wrong book recommendation to a friend.

125. A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire. The latest in the October Daye series. Toby and friends are shoved out of their comfort zone as they have to go to the Kingdom of Silences to prevent a war. Very good.

126. The September Society by Charles Finch. Second in the Charles Lenox series. I liked this one much better than the first. Charles didn't seem so stodgy.

127. The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard. Magic, fallen angels, ruined Paris. Very good.

>153 tardis: I'm way behind on this series - just started book 4! I'm glad it stays strong into the later books.

>154 tardis:: Man, I really want to try that Aliette de Bodard one, but $14 is just too rich for my blood for an ebook. x.x

>156 lohengrin: That's what libraries are for! I usually try new-to-me authors from the library. Sometimes I go on to buy the paperback when it comes out (e.g. The Goblin Emperor) but mostly not. I borrowed the de Bodard book in print, but my library also lends e-books, so could probably have done that instead. Paper is still my preferred format, though.

>157 tardis:: Sadly, my local library does not have it, and they won't do ILL for anything less than a year old. I could request they buy it, but IME that takes months. :/

>158 lohengrin: That sucks. You should move to Edmonton. Our library is one of the best anywhere :) It was Library Journal's Library of the Year in 2014.

>159 tardis:: Heh. If moving anywhere at all was an option, financially, I would probably pick Vancouver, but any actual major city (as opposed to suburb purgatory) would be an improvement, yes. ^^;

>160 lohengrin: pfff, Vancouver! Too expensive, and it rains all winter. Also, earthquakes. They do have a nice library, though.

>161 tardis:: Rain is preferable to being too far from a major body of water! The St. Lawrence is okay, but the Atlantic is my first love, having been born in Newfoundland. The Pacific would do nicely, though. ;)

>162 lohengrin: Lake Huron is nice! (But our library system is rather small.)

>163 SylviaC:: But saltwater is the best, man. Ocean air~

(And it's funny to me that I miss the coast as much as I do--I only lived in the Maritimes for the first four years of my life, and after that it was only biennial family visits in the summer. AND YET.)

Edited for brain fart on word choice.

>164 lohengrin: There's plenty of salt in the air when the salt mine is loading a freighter! But I love the Maritimes, too. Most of my relatives live out there. Someday I want to go to the west coast—that's the main item on my bucket list.

So what you're really telling me -- as an American citizen sweating it out in an unbearably hot and humid September in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US -- is that I ought to be planning to move to Canada. Will they allow me across the border?

Of course, if >160 lohengrin: etc. does something awful the enforcers could exile him to Port Nolloth? South Atlantic, cold and foggy most mornings -- except when the wind blows off the land, when it's hot as hell and the place stinks of rotting kelp, desert behind the town, library of sorts, a few thousand inhabitants, very brackish water ....

>162 lohengrin: I've never lived on either the Atlantic or Pacific coasts, but I've visited both quite often. My dad lives in Nova Scotia, and my mum is on Salt Spring Island, BC. I love the coasts and could happily live on either. However, I love where I am, too, and don't want to move.

>166 jillmwo: Pretty sure you'd be allowed in - you don't appear to have many bad habits, and I suspect your most disreputable associates are here on LT :) Of course, climate varies a lot, depending on what part of the Great White North you select. You could be trading unbearably hot and humid summers for unbearably cold winters. Although, as we always say on the Prairies "It's a dry cold." It doesn't get into your bones like a damp cold does. And you can always add more layers.

128. The Mystery of the Cape Cod Players by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. Another early Asey Mayo mystery, recently acquired to fill in gaps in my collection. I've never been to Cape Cod, and no idea if it's still much like it is in these books (I suspect not), but the sense of place and the culture of the area in the 1920s/1930s is strong and rather appealing. Some of the incidental characters are a bit similar from book to book, but the stories are always engaging for me.

129. Death Lights a Candle by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. The Cape Cod equivalent of a 1930s country house murder. As enjoyable as the other Asey Mayo mysteries.

130. Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara. I know I read this years ago, but can I remember it at all? No. And it's very good, too. Anyway, re-read as I realized how behind I was on the series, and needed the refresher.

>170 tardis: I reread this recently too, even though it was only about a year since the first time. I liked it a lot more second time around. However, I continued on to Cast in courtlight which I found very tedious - too much high-flown, evasive Barrani politicking. But I'm looking forward to the next book in the series which seems to return to the streets of Elantra.

>171 Sakerfalcon: We do seem to read along the same track!

131. Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara. A more internal, character-focused book than Cast in Shadow. Lots of politics, as Sakerfalcon mentions. The protagonist, Kaylin, seemed very immature, which seemed odd considering her background and training.

^I'm somewhere in that series, too. I'm convinced you're my doppelgaenger.

132. You're Never Weird On The Internet (almost) by Felicia Day. A funny memoir of growing up weird and geeky. Some serious stuff, too, like the effect of Gamergate and battling anxiety and depression, but Day is pretty honest about it, and about the value of being true to yourself.

133. Lumberjanes Volume 1 by Noelle Stevenson and others. Graphic novel, and pretty short, but charming. Must get more of these from the library!

>175 tardis: I just bought that to give as a present. I think I'm going to have to read it first!

I love the Lumberjanes!!!

>177 reconditereader: I'm not a big fan of graphic novels, but I think maybe I could be converted by this gang :)

134. Why Grow Here : Essays on Edmonton's Gardening History by Kathryn Chase Merrett. Kathryn is a fellow member of the local Horticultural Society, and she did the book launch at one of our meetings. This is a well-researched and fascinating look at the history of Edmonton through its gardeners. A bit pedantic in spots, but I enjoyed it a lot.

135. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Mixed feelings. Definitely interesting and epic story, but the second half, in the distant future he kept using comparisons relating back to pre-disaster times. After that long a gap, would that really make sense? A ton of descriptive stuff, too. Telling, not showing.

136. The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. Sequel to The Paper Magician. Very good. Ceony extends her abilities.

137. The Paradox by Charlie Fletcher. Reduced to a bare hand, the once-powerful Oversight have enemies at every turn, but also some unexpected allies in their efforts to protect England against evil. Really good, but suffers from middle-book syndrome - too many threads left hanging. I want the third book!!

138. The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch. Bogged down a bit in the middle of this one, but the beginning and end were good.

139. Driving Heat by Richard Castle. Nikki Heat makes Captain, Rook keeps secrets, and there are murders and politics and unethical business practices. As always, a fun ride.

You should try Nimona, which is by one of the authors of Lumberjanes, Noelle Stevenson. It's a standalone book that collects and adds to a webcomic, and I thought it was outstanding! Plus there's only the one book to deal with.

>179 tardis: I was pretty disappointed in Seveneves. I believe he dropped the ball with this one or else it was written by his second team. It is very poor compared to many of his previous novels. Snow Crash is still his best in my opinion, humble or otherwis.

>184 reconditereader: - I'll look out for Nimona - thanks!
>185 pgmcc: - Seveneves was enjoyable enough for me, but it was far too wordy. Not one I'll go back to.

140. Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. Third and last of the Ancillary series. Very good. As with the previous books, the unusual (for us) referring to everyone as "she" regardless of physical gender takes a bit of getting used to, but ultimately I liked it. Any character could have been either sex (or no sex at all).

141. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu. An odd experience. I read it because it won the 2015 Best Novel Hugo Award, and that seemed to make some people's heads explode. I'm all for metaphorically exploding those peoples' heads on the off chance some light might get in. It's a complicated, rather bleak book in some ways, but not entirely hopeless. I kept thinking I should give it up, but I couldn't. I really had to finish it. The thing that bothered me most about it were the translator's footnotes, which hauled me out of the story every time, until I learned to ignore them completely. They added nothing to the story.

142. Wish Bound by J.C. Nelson. Another Grimm Agency story. Pretty standard urban fantasy, but enjoyable.

143. A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch. Charles Lenox mystery. Lenox is taking his seat in Parliament and trying to solve the murder of a footman at the same time. Good.

>187 tardis: absolutely agreed on those foot notes. They were just distracting!

144. An Ancient Peace by Tanya Huff. Beginning of a new series about Torin Kerr and her team, now doing odd jobs for the Justice Dept., and having therapy to deal with the stuff that happened with the plastic aliens. They're asked to go after a team of mercenaries that are raiding a weapons cache on the H'san cemetery planet. Really good, as are all Huff's books.

>190 tardis: that sounds like one to look forward to!

I really love Tanya Huff. I've got to catch up on the Torin Kerr books. They're all just sitting on my TBR shelf.

145. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett. Oh, I'm sad. It was Good, and it's the last one and waaahhh.

>193 tardis: Yeah, me too.

146. Cast in Secret by Michelle Sagara. Kaylin Neva is the special girl.

147. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold. Only out as an e-ARC through Baen (proper publication in February 2016), and I bought it because I'm a huge LMB fan and on an LMB discussion list and I was tired of avoiding spoilers. I will buy the hardcover in due course, because that's what I do with LMB books. Very glad I read it now. It's good. Biology and politics and family and the Vorkosigans :). The title is a bit clunky, but it's a fine book.

148. A Call to Arms by David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope. About what you'd expect from Weber, et al., in this prequel to the Honor Harrington series.

>147 tardis: I've added that to the wishlist. Sadly, I read the first sentence of one of the reviews and there was a deadly spoiler for me. I know better than to do that. Oh well.

149. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. Power, magic, politics, race, and dragons (among other things) in alt-Regency England. An enjoyable diversion.

^ It's on my list! I really want to read it!

150.The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. First in a new series. Steampunkish but not in an alt-version of our world. Gwen and Bridget join the guard for their year of service, and war breaks out. Story includes awesome cats. Liked it very much.

151. A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch. Charles Lenox has to go to Egypt on a diplomatic mission, and there's murder aboard ship. Good.

152. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine. First in The Great Library series. I quite enjoyed it, although as a reader, it was a pretty dystopic view of a world where the printing press had been suppressed and the Library at Alexandria not destroyed, and actual original books are contraband to be confiscated by the library.

153. The Nest by Kenneth Oppel. A very creepy little book about a boy whose baby brother is very ill and a nest of unusual wasps.

154. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling). Gripping, lots of red herrings. I'm not a big fan of the serial killer thing, but this was pretty good.

I'm catching up on that series too!

155. Lumberjanes : Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson and quite a few others. Still love the Lumberjanes. Quirky art, great characters, fun story. All the awesome. Have v.3 on my library hold list but it's not out yet.

156. Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch. Another Charles Lenox mystery, set in the Victorian era. Another good one.

157. Darkness On His Bones by Barbara Hambly. Another of Hambly's excellent vampire books. in 1914, Lydia Asher is called to Paris because James has been attacked and is in the hospital. To protect him from the vampires of Paris, she contacts Don Simon Ysidro. Very good, and quite creepy.

158. Lady of Magick by Sylvia Izzo Hunter. Very enjoyable follow-up to Midnight Queen. Sophie and Gray go from Merlin College to Din Edin in the country of Alba (Scotland in our world) to continue their magical studies (or in Gray's case, teaching). Politics and adventure ensue. Sophie's sister Joanna is a more prominent character in this one.

159. Oudolf Hummelo : a journey through a Plantsman's life by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury. Beautifully illustrated with photos of Hummelo itself and many of the gardens that Oudolf designed, this is a lovely book about one of the greatest modern garden designers and plantsmen.

Ooooooh I didn't know the Izzo Hunter sequel was out yet. Excellent!

160. The Making of Home : the 500-Year Story of How Our Houses Became Our Homes by Judith Flanders. Another accessible history of domestic life from Judith Flanders. She has become one of my favourite non-fiction writers. This book looks at how homes developed, and how our nostalgia for the past is coloured by mis-interpretation of art (all those paintings of cozy Dutch houses) and convenient forgetting of exactly what plumbing and cooking were like in the "good old days."

Oh, that looks good! I haven't encountered Judith Flanders before—I'll have to look for her books.

161. Welcome to Night Vale : A Novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Weird, random, confusing - probably pretty much like the podcast it's based on. Kind of funny, though.

162. The Chess Queen Enigma by Colleen Gleason. Third in the Holmes and Stoker series - YA steampunk. Pretty good. And (o joy!) at the end the boy from the future goes home, and my goodness I hope he stays there. That was a subplot that hauled me out of an otherwise fun story every time. An Early Reviewer book.

163. The Eye of Strife by Dave Duncan. Another one off my rather backlogged Early Reviewer pile. Good secondary world fantasy. Dave is always reliable.

164. An Old Betrayal by Charles Finch. Decent historical mystery featuring Charles Lenox. MP and detective.

165. Chimera by Mira Grant. Third in her Parasitology series. The whole concept kind of squicks me but not in a really bad way, and it's a good story.

166. Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. Alt-historical fantasy, where Dracula came to England and married the widowed Queen Victoria, turning her and ushering in an era where everyone wants to be a vampire. Serial killer, detective, spies, historical personages repurposed. Quite a lot of fun :)

>214 tardis: I don't need another BB right now!

>215 mysterymax: hah! (tardis marks another notch on the bookshelf)

167. Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell. When I got this I was surprised at how slight a tome it was - only 144 pages - but it packs a lot in. Lychford is being torn apart by the opposing sides on a big grocery store development proposal, but the stakes are higher than anyone knows. Foreboding and a bit creepy. I really liked it.

Oh, the Anno Dracula sounds good!

168. Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard. Really liked this. Exciting eldritch horrors. Also, early in the book the hero, ex-cop and current PI Dan Carter, inherits a property from a mystery person, and it turns out to be A BOOKSTORE! An antiquarian bookstore. Such richness. Of course, it comes with the former owner's niece, who is an actual descendant of Lovecraft, and who had a reasonable expectation of inheriting it herself.

>218 tardis: I need to catch up on his JC books so I can get around to this one. Good to know he's not afraid to move on from established characters into new territory.

169. Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman. Alt-west, where the devil rules between the big muddy river and the mountains. Izzy becomes his Left Hand, and rides out with a mentor to learn the road. Really good.

>219 AHS-Wolfy: - well, you could just leap into this one. It has nothing to do with JC. Mind you, the JC series is really good, so you need to get caught up anyway :)

169. Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman. Alt-west, where the devil rules between the big muddy river and the mountains. Izzy becomes his Left Hand, and rides out with a mentor to learn the road. Really good.

170. Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I actually read this back in June but somehow it didn't get recorded, so adding it now. Very good book. Looking forward to acquiring a copy for the permanent collection :)

171. Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente. Another that was much slimmer than I exxpected, but packed a lot in. Fractured fairy tale where Snow White is a half-Crow girl who gets tired of her step-mother trying to make her white and hits the trail with her fancy pistol. Very enjoyable.

Polished off two books during my Do Nothing But Read Day, One was in progress at the beginning, the other I read completely. Started a third but probably won't finish it today.

172. Against a Brightening Sky by Jaime Lee Moyer. Last (?) book in the series that began with Delia's Shadow, about a woman who sees spirits. Set in post WW1 San Francisco, Delia and her police captain husband have to work out why Russian emigres are being killed, who's doing it, and why. Very good.

173. Thunderbird by Jack McDevitt. Sequel to Ancient Shores, wherein the Sioux "owners" of the star gate discovered in the previous book work out how to exploit it. Ethics, politics. Good.

174. Fated by Benedict Jacka. Alex Verus can see the futures. Useful! Fun wizard romp. Also enjoyed finding little easter-egg shout-outs to other authors - Morden who asks "What do you want?" and a wizard in Chicago who advertises in the phone book under "wizard" and a person called Barrayar.

175. The Laws of Murder by Charles Finch. Another Charles Lenox mystery. Pretty good. Once it got going it was hard to put down.

176. A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders. I love Judith Flanders' non-fiction so when I saw she had a mystery I had to try it. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Sam (Samantha) is an editor with a respected publisher in London. When her friend, Kit, disappears after sending her a tell-all book about the death of a fashion designer, she gets involved. Libel, international financial hi-jinks, and snarky commentary on publishing. I have to admit, though - still not sure why Flanders chose that title.

177. Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart. Another novel by someone I've known better for excellent non-fiction, and a very good novel, too. Based on historical events, this is the story of the Kopp sisters, especially the oldest, Constance, and their quest for justice after a factory owner hits their carriage with his motor car. When they attempt to collect the cost of the damages he begins a campaign of harassment.

>226 tardis: That one is on my list for 2016! Glad you gave it a thumbs up!

>226 tardis: I enjoyed that too. At first, it seemed a bit disappointing with the lack of dramatic finishes in the story, but when you realize that it was as close to nonfiction as she could get writing about a family she only knew from newsclippings and second hand stories, it's pretty fantastic.

178. Barbara Hale : A Doctor's Daughter
179. Barbara Hale and Cozette
both by Lilian C Garis. 1920s girl stories. Barbara is "as smart as a boy" and "has a scientific mind" and helps her bacteriologist father in his lab. She also larks about with local girls and helps a mysterious child recover from brain fever.

180. Simon's Cat : Off to the Vet by Simon Tofield. So there are no actual words in this, aside from the title page and a few acknowledgements. Sue me, I'm counting it anyway. I laughed quite a bit at Simon's cat's antics, as I always have at the little videos he does on the interwebs. Quite charming.

I love Simon's Cat, being owned by a bunch that think the same way! If I ever found a book of his, I'd count it regardless of the word count.

I've started my 2016 thread, but if anyone has comments related to 2015, of course they can still be left here.