What I've Read--2015

First things first:

Ratings Rationales
* not worth the paper it's printed on
*½ maybe not a waste of paper, but probably a waste of time
** not awful, but not terribly good, either
**½ worth a read, satisfying, but not one for the ages
*** solid, a worthy representative of its genre
***½ really, really good
**** exceptional
****½ practically perfect in every way
***** might as well have been written by the deity of your choice

I rate the books right after reading them. Upon reflection, I sometimes re-rate, either down (usually--I hate grade inflation) or up. So sue me.

January (7)

The Transcriptionist, Amy Rowland ****
The Lola Quartet, Emily St. John Mandel ***½
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, David Shafer ***½
The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides ***
Among Others, Jo Walton ****½
Alif the UnseenG. Willow Wilson ****
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer ***

February (8)

Directive 51, John Barnes **½ (started in January)
Cairo, G. Willow Wilson ***½ (Graphic Novel)
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North ***½
The Darwin Elevator, Jason M. Hough **
Veracity, Laura Bynum **½
Mermaids in Paradise, Lydia Millet ***½
Uprooted, Naomi Novik ***½
Act of God, Jill Ciment ****

March (7)

Find Me: A Novel, Laura van den Berg ***½
Woundabout, Lev Rosen *** (Middle Grade)
Bird Box, Josh Malerman ****
Going Bovine, Libba Bray **** (Young Adult)
Karen Memory, Elizabeth Bear ****
Dark Rooms, Lili Anolik ***½
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling ****½ (Middle Grade)

April (8)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling **** (Middle Grade)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling ****½ (Middle Grade)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling ****½ (Middle Grade)
Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixJ.K. Rowling ****½ (Middle Grade)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,J.K.Rowling ****½ (Middle Grade)
An Abundance of Katherines, John Green ***½ (Young Adult)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.k. Rowling ****½ (Middle Grade)
The Princess Bride, William Goldman ****

May (3)

God Help the Child, Toni Morrison ****
A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab ***½
The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon**½

June (3)

The Stand, Stephen King ***½
Fates and Furies, Lauren Groff ****½
Fear of Dying, Erica Jong ***½

July (4)

Armada, Ernest Cline ****
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee ****
Seveneves, Neal Stephenson ***½
Gold Fame Citrus, Claire Vaye Watkins ****

August

The Stone Rose, Jacqueline Raynor ***½
Go Set A Watchman, Harper Lee ***
Another Day, David Levithan **** (Young Adult)
And Again, Jessica Chiarella ***
Amy Falls Down, Jincey Willett ****½
Sting of the Zygons, Stephen Cole ***½
The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Patrick Ness ****½ (Young Adult)
Crenshaw, Katherine Applegate ****½ (Middle Grade)

Moving along a little more slowly than I had hoped. But so much good stuff!

You only read three books in May? That's gotta be an all time low for you in a single month, eh?

Yes. Most of it was spent reading The Stand, which usually goes so much faster for me. Sigh...

Oh, and that Samantha Shannon thing was a slog, too.

A note on the rating for Seveneves. I really loved the book--such scope, ambition, breadth, vision. But good lord this man needs an editor. Page upon page of technospeak infodumps. Important, in a sense, but probably could have been done far more concisely.

Infinite Jest set aside for a little while...

What the hell do you mean, Becky, "Infinite Jest set aside for a little while..."? You're not disrespecting the novel that surpassed Gravity's Rainbow in literary merit and magnitude are you?

Ha!

Too much concentration needed with all that's been going on. Poor lil me.

Well again, Becky, I'm sorry you had to close the Book Frog. You can poor 'lil me all you want. May I ask is the closing permanent or is there still a chance on finding a new location? Sounded like that was up in the air last I heard. Hope you're otherwise at least semi-okay w/all that's been going on.

As we packed everything up and put it into storage we had every intention of reopening in another location. Then the adrenaline rush went away, our sore muscles began to heal, and we realized there's not a chance in hell of that happening.

So, we're looking for buyers of fixtures and stock. Oh, and looking for jobs. Well, job--Pete's got a good one, at Centinela Feed and Pet (if you can't work with books, nice to work with dogs). I, on the other hand, have a part-time really-sucks holiday-temp job at--gods help me--Toys R Us. Argh.

Hoping to figure out some way to sell books online for a (partial) living. Oh, but first we have to save our house from foreclosure.

Huzzah!

Hope all is well on the Higgins front.