December books

A mixed month:

Zig Zag by Jose Carlos Somoza - not the best book by this superb author but still worth a read.

The Trial and Death of Socrates - surprisingly moving, even after a mere 2,400 years!

Inkspell enjoyable fluff. Luckily, the book reached me before the hype did, which improved my reading of it no end.

Loving Frank - a real gem, beautifully written and full of heart. The ending left me feeling as if I'd been clumped on the head with a brick.

A Doll's House - my reread for this month. Still probably one of the best plays ever written or performed.

Where Three Roads Meet - a modern retelling of the Oedipus story and part of the Canongate Myths series. Maybe not the best book in the terrific series but worth reading all the same.

Lullabies For Little Criminals - I really enjoyed this story of a teenager's life on the underside of society. The protagonist, Baby, is one of the nicest people I've met in a book all year and the book is my runner-up for December.

A Christmas Carol - another reread but, hey, it was Christmas!

The Pocket Muse - a wonderful little book for those of us who write or aspire to do so (or both). Packed full of hints, tips and inspiration and ideal for thumbing through whenever writer's block strikes.

What the Victorians Didn't Do For Us by Beatrice Hemsworth - This was one of those novelty books that came as a Christmas present. It only took about half an hour to read but it was half an hour well spent - all those little Victorian ideas and inventions that never quite took off, like monthly trimming of the eyelashes to make them look longer, the feeding of 'light and well-fermented table beer' to two-year-olds and (and I suspect the disappearance of this particular custom will be mourned, if not hastily resurrected by many modern male readers) the habit of placing the picture of a bee above public urinals to encourage users to aim straight. There are some bits of useless information you wonder how you lived without.

The Pilgrim Hawk - an unexpected gift and one of those delightful surprises I might never have bought myself but found I loved. This novella tackles its themes of freedom and captivity in what should be a lesson in succinctness to all writers. In under 200 pages the author tells us more about the human condition than many of us learn in a lifetime.

The Mighty Book of Boosh - one that will be required reading of all who are fans and will mean nothing whatsoever to all who aren't.

The Ballad of Peckham Rye - another short novel that gives the reader a glimpse into the unlovelier side of human nature.

The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration - the follow-up to The Pocket Muse and every bit as Inspiring.

The Gargoyle - I bought this book with tokens just after Christmas and chose it during a semi-manic blitz on my local Waterstones: I saw it, it spoke to me, I grabbed it - sometimes those are the best choices and sometimes they are the worst and, in this case, the grab was inspired. The Gargoyle is about a formerly beautiful young man who loses his looks, and very nearly his life, in a horrific car accident. On awakening in hospital, he is joined by a woman sculptress who claims to have known and loved him throughout a number of former lives. The book takes us through a series of semi-magical stories that run from medieval times to the present day (incidentally teaching me, at least, more than I ever really wanted to know about the treatment of burns victims through the ages). I was utterly lost in this book from page 1 onwards and stayed up until the early hours of the morning on two occasions because I couldn't bear to stop reading. It was touch and go as to whether this one fitted into my 2008 reading (I finished it at 4am on New Year's Day) but I decided to squeeze it in and, from there, to my favourites of the year, which I'll be listing any day now.

So it's obvious which one I'm nominating for December, though I am going to add to The Gargoyle Loving Frank, which also deserves a top spot. Two books that made December well and truly worth living!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and continues to have a wonderful New Year. Can't wait to see what you all nominate for Dec and for your faves of 2008!

ETA another stab at some of those failed touchstones

Booksloth, you did an amazing amount of reading in December. Thanks for the update.

I was in a dither much of the month over what to read. I knew I wouldn't make my 888 challenge, so basically read lots of light weight books. I enjoyed most of them. Here are my December reads in order:

Death of an Outsider by M. C. Beaton - a very enjoyable mystery - the type they call 'cozy'. I love Hamish Macbeth, just discovered him very recently.

Death of a Prankster by M. C. Beaton - ditto

Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin - last for my 888 challenge. It was witty and fun. I went to read The Glimpses of the Moon, but discovered that about 10-15 pages are missing within the first 50 or so. Horrors! I'll have to get another copy.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy I really liked this book, although the prose was occasionally rather florid and a bit overwrought. It was probably the original inspiration for many books, but having read quite a few of those books nothing was surprising. Everything was pretty much telegraphed, however the prose that wasn't florid and overwrought was quite pleasing and the period details were nice. I'm not sure I'll read any more of the Pimpernel adventures, though.

The Spare by Carolyn Jewel Aack! Regency romance time. What can I say? Very stressful time and so I lost myself in my favorite genre.

Anna's Book by Barbara Vine This book was extremely good. It's part diary excerpts from Anna Westerby, a Danish immigrant to England in 1904, and part commentary by her granddaughter Ann. I didn't particularly like Anna herself, but enjoyed the levels of the book and the leisurely way things happened. I'd recommend it to anybody in this group. Barbara Vine is a nom-de-plume for Ruth Rendell, one of my favorite authors of all time.

The American Journey of Barack Obama by The Editors of Life Magazine My November ER book, and I enjoyed it immensely. It gives a good overview of Barack Obama's family background and his biography. The parts I liked were the pictures (I love photos!) and the essays at the end by various people about various aspects of his political life and politics. I wouldn't spend retail price on it, but if you can get it on the cheap, or even from the library, it's a good book to spend a day on if you're interested in the President elect of the US of A.

I’m going to give Anna’s Book the nod for December because it was so engrossing and well written.

#2 I had that 'missing pages' thing happen to me once with Zorba the Greek - the whole end signature (of about 20 pages) was missing! Luckily I had no problem exchanging it for a 'full' copy but by then I'd learnt to always take a peek at the back. Good practice for avoiding the same situation again but terribly risky for getting a quick glimpse at something you really didn't want to know until you got there!

And, btw, quite a few of my December reads were very short! Anna's Book sounds interesting, I must give that a try sometime. I'm not really a Ruth Rendell fan but I do like her when she writes as Barbara Vine - a bit darker and edgier.

ETA When I tried to touchstone Anna's Book was nowhere to be found, but there IS a link to Asta's Book by Ruth Rendell - any idea if these two are the same book?

This is what I read in December '08:

Galileo, Bertholt Brecht
Picnic at Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsay
Holy War, Inc., Peter Bergen
Surfacing, Margaret Atwood
the Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, Peter Handke
God's Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

Other than Sense and Sensibility, I wasn't terribly excited about any of these, but I guess they were okay in their own way. Comments on books here.

Ouch! You just dismissed two of my all-times favourites there - Hanging Rock and Jean Brodie - but I'll try not to take it personally;-)

#5 Booksloth - I looked on Amazon and they both described the same story. I don't know where the reference to Asta comes in - I don't remember a character named Asta, only Anna. So go with Asta's Book if you can find it.

Hi Nickelini. I've heard of 3 of your books, although I've heard of 2 more of the authors (Brecht and Atwood).

#5- Ouch! You just dismissed two of my all-times favourites there - Hanging Rock and Jean Brodie - but I'll try not to take it personally;-)
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Booksloth--please don't take it personally. I didn't dislike them. I find that not much impresses me these days. Reading burnout, perhaps.

I know what you mean Nickelini, some days nothing fits the bill. I can cope with that, it's the thought that I may have corresponding days of the opposite kind - where I think any old rubbish is fantastic - that worries me.

Here's my list ...
Audiobooks - perfect for all the cleaning and baking during the holidays!
Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
Charlie Bone and the Hidden King
The Time Paradox - I love Artemis Fowl (but I was sad to see a change in narrators)
Feed
The Circular Staircase
My Newberry project - I'm trying to read them all - eventually. I hadn't realized I had read so many this month. They are mostly short. My favorite was probably The Dark Frigate
Gay Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
The Cat Who Went to Heaven
Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women
The Dark Frigate
Shen of The Sea: Chinese Stories for Children
The Trumpeter of Krakow
Non-fiction
The Last Lecture - very good, read for my local bookclub group
The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design
Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother
All the rest ...
God's Grace
Something Rotten - jasper fforde makes me laugh
Street of Shadows: Coruscant Nights II - star wars is perfect for entertaining reading
There's an Enemy Sub in Potter's Pond - read for GRTB challenge
Inkheart - darker than I expected, but an enjoyable adventure
Nothing really sticks out this month as being awesome, though I did read a larger than normal amount of children/ya books - I'd have to choose The Time Paradox as my favorite!

Hello all! Sorry to be so late in my posting.. but I am here finally! I don't have a ton to report, I was a busy girl this month. But here they are:

*Maus I, by Art Spiegelman
*My Lady of Cleves, by Margaret Campbell Barnes
*Beast, by Donna Jo Napoli
*I Am Mary Tudor, by Hilda Lewis
*A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray
*Rebel Angels, by Libba Bray
*The Sweet Far Thing, by Libba Bray
*Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

I really enjoyed the Libba Bray series... It's not nearly as good as the Twilight saga, but it doesn't try to be the same thing. I found myself constantly wanting to know what was going to happen to this girl (Gemma Doyle) next, which was why I knocked out the entire series this month. If you liked Twilight stuff and are looking for something of somewhat the same tone, go for this keeping in mind that it's not as good, but worthy.

I really enjoyed both of my Tudor novels. I got a chance to read more about Henry's first daughter, Mary, and his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. I hadn't really known much about them prior to this. So those were treats and are most definitely worth reading if you like historical fiction or want to read about the Tudor family. I Am Mary Tudor covers everything in Mary's life, from birth to coronation... so it's beast of a book, but very well written.

My pick for the month has to be Miss Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I've seen the movie version with Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Emma Thompson about a million times because I love it so much. I thought it was high time that I read the book. I was not disappointed. I loved it, as I knew I would. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the rest of my Jane Austen collection in 2009.

So good to hear from you all!

Hi all. I joined a while ago and have been lurking. I thought I would post for the last month of the year, and be ready for the start of the new year.

I reread one book:

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
It is about the Discworld version of Christmas, and Santa (Hogswatch, Hogfather).

I re-read it both because of the time of year, but also because I was watching the movie on DVD, and was a bit rusty on the details.

I loved it as much as the first time. DEATH is my favorite character, and to see him trying to be Santa/Hogfather is just priceless.

Then I read the following SF/F books:

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents also by Terry Pratchett. This was for a RL book group. This book is the first in the YA Discworld sub-series he is doing.

It is a twist on the Pied Piper legend. It was OK, but not great for a Discworld book.

Then I read a 2 book series Grimspace and Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre. They are SF adventure books, no science and no big ideas.

The main character is a navigator who through her genes has the ability to see in Grimspace, and navigate a ship through a FTL Jump. The navigators are following beacons left by an elder alien race who are no longer around.

The first book is about a rebellion against a corporate/government entity which controls the navigators and all long distance space travel.

The second book is about the main character and her crew being tasked to recruit a reluctant alien planet for the new power structure. The new order is shaky and being preyed upon by criminals and dangerous aliens who like to eat humans.

They were quick light reads, with a rather cliched romance included. The author's next book is about a different character, so the series may be over, or it could continue later. What can I say I am a sucker for Jump stories.

Then I read a couple of wacky books that are set in the real world in the modern day.

Casual Rex by Eric Garcia
About a PI who also happens to be a dinosaur, a Raptor. In this series dinos never died out, they evolved, and live among us. They wear latex people suits and pass as human. This book was a prequel for the first book in the series: Anonymous Rex. Doesn't quite have the whimsy the first one generated because of the shock value of the idea, but still fun.

The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo
About a soldier in Iraq who ends up being turned into a vampire. He comes home and becomes a PI. He is hired to investigate an outbreak of nymphomania at the Rocky Flats nuclear facility. Very silly, involves aliens, vampires, sex, and body parts. A bit crude at times.

Historical Fiction

The Poison in the Blood by Tom Holland
Very short chapbook supposedly about the death of Paris at the battle of Troy. Actually more about the adventures of Heracles. Not bad, a myth/legend re-telling.

Ovid by David Wishart
The first book in the Marcus Corvinus mystery series
Set in Imperial Rome during the reign of Tiberius. The relatives of Ovid wish to obtain permission to have his ashes brought back an interred in Rome. Augustus banished him for unspecified crimes. Tiberius refuses and Marcus is on the hunt for the reason why. Mostly its a re-telling of I, Claudius by Robert Graves, who does it better. Marcus is jarringly modern in his speech and characterization.

An Imaginary Life by David Malouf
Also about Ovid, but set during his exile in a village at the edge of the steppes and the Black Sea. Since little is know about the reality, the author made up a story. It is more philosophical than a typical HF book. It muses on language, and the connections between people, with nature, and with memory and family.

Fiction

Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
A work of fiction, set in an unnamed West African nation. It follows a young boy whose family is destroyed and he becomes a child soldier to survive. It is written in pidgin and from the boy's POV. It is very hard to read, and jumps around between current day, past, and creation myths.
The method overwhelms the message for me.

The author is an American with connections to Nigeria, and not one of the reformed boy soldiers who are currently writing books.

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
Set in a Red Lobster restaurant in a working class town in Connecticut. It is just before Christmas, there is a snow storm raging, and it is the last night the restaurant will be open. It has been losing money and the corporation closed it. Most of the workers have been fired, and they are bitter and angry. They take out their frustrations on each other, and the manager tries to keep everything functioning.

It was a sad and low key story, and they all eventually just fade into the snow and the night.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Set in modern day, in a New England university town. The story is about a mixed race family and their struggles with each other and with society and the expectations and labels used to define them. They also are not above using or hiding behind labels for themselves and others.

Tried real hard, but was just off.

The Shack by William P. Young
Story about a religious man who is dealing with the kidnapping and brutal murder of his 6 year old daughter. He gets a note from god and spends the weekend in the shack where his daughter was probably killed, with the trinity, trying to sort out his issues.

Very sappy to start, then very searing. Well done, though sure to offend the religiously rigid. Generates a lot of discussion about why bad things happen to good people, and whether it is more important to follow form (church, bible, rules, social status) or function (love, compassion, helping others).
I probably would have never read this because I am not into religion, but it was a book for a RL book group.

Non-Fiction

Ronnie by Ronnie Wood
Auto-biography of Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones. Covers not only his life with the Stones, but his early years. It is not just a biography but a good bit of Rock history too.

My best books of the month would be
The Shack and Ronnie.

So great to welcome a lurker into the fold, FicusFan! Hope you'll be sticking with us for 2009! Maybe this is a good point to mention how much I feel I've gained from keeping track of what I've read for a year. One thing I've come to realise is how diverse and non-diverse my tastes are. Diverse in that there are quite a few diferent subjects in there, yet non-diverse in that the genres don't change around a lot - it's still mostly literary and historical fiction with a bit of N/F social history thrown in. I really thought I read around a lot more genres than that! It's also made me take a hard look at how many books I get through (and therefore, how much money I spend) per year. I am a buyer, not a borrower, but it looks as if it will be only sensible to frequent the used-book shops a bit more in future - and it's also made me realise that I have at least enough books on Mount TBR to keep me quiet for the next year (though I don't suppose that will stop me adding to them).

I've picked up on quite a few recommendations from other members (and thanks to you all for that!) and just because I haven't read your particular favourite yet doesn't mean it isn't somewhere on 'the mountain'. And, of course, I've made a bunch of new friends. There's something about this group - maybe it's because we all check in regularly every month? - that really feels closer than many other LT threads. I really feel as if I know all the regulars on here (and, hopefully, the soon-to-be-regulars as well).

And I've also realised just how many different tastes there are out there. Considering how many books we've posted over the year between us, I am still amazed at how many of those I haven't yet read and, in many cases, had never heard of before. It's good to know that when we're all in our hundreds and still LT-ing like mad (let's face it, it might well be all we CAN do by then) there'll still be plenty of books out there to tackle. I don't think any of us are going to run out of reading matter any time soon. Great, isn't it?

ETA - And you just reminded me FF, that The Shack should have been in my list too - obviously forgot to write that one down. Still, everything you said pretty much echoes what I thought of it too, so you kind of saved me the trouble!

Welcome FicusFan! It's good to have you here.

I was particularly interested in your comment that "Marcus is jarringly modern in his speech and characterization."

It is my biggest criticism of the historical fiction and Regency romances that I read. I feel that people need to be part of their environment and if they don't speak the language they can't think the thoughts and can't behave in a historically correct manner. I hate anachronism. I especially hate books taking place in the early 19th century that have women thinking and behaving as today's women would think and behave.

I was spoiled by reading Georgette Heyer's Regency romances starting when I was about 13 or so. I don't remember when I first read Jane Austen but the authentic voice cemented my desire to read historically accurate books.

Hi Hols and tjsjohanna!

Sometime in the next few days I'm going to tackle the 'year in review.' I started the other day during a lull at work, but couldn't give it the attention it deserved. Today I have to get some budget information prepared for tomorrow's Band Boosters Budget meeting. Since I'm the Treasurer, I have to do this and have to be there! I only took over the books mid-year, and my predecessor did not keep the level of detail I would have expected. Fortunately the rest of the Executive Committee understands that I can't answer some questions. 2009 will be different, that's for sure!

Thank you both for the welcome.

Booksloth, I have an Access database I developed for my books. I have been cataloging and tracking my books by month and year (purchased, read, cost ) since 2001.

I agree, it is beneficial to look back and see what you have read for the year. I don't expect anything wildly different, because after all the books reflect my taste. However, it is interesting to see something unexpected now and then, often from one of the 4 RL book groups I belong to. Of course they also contribute their share of clunkers, but that is the nature of a book group.

I do look to see if I am in a rut, and reading too much of one thing, and not enough of something else. I code them by fiction/non-fiction and then subject/genre codes so I can query what I read in each category.

Karenmarie,

One of the favorite sayings of Marcus was to call people 'Sunshine'. Like OK Sunshine, when he was being a wise ass. I am sure they may have had something equivalent in terms of slang in ancient Rome, but I doubt that was it, and I also don't believe a Patrician would speak that way in public.

I realize in HF that you can't be absolutely true to the time. We often don't know enough, and even if we did it would be confusing and probably boring. What I want is something that respects the time period, and is not deliberately modern. Apparently Wishart (who is a historian), doesn't care if Marcus sounds more like modern NYC/London.

One of my favorite books is by Georgette Heyer: The Conqueror about William the bastard of Normandy AKA the Conqueror. That book is the gold standard for me in terms of books about Normandy of William's time. I once tried one of Edward Marston's Domesday mystery books The Wolves of Savernake and it was very poor in comparison.

I've only gotten one Heyer under my belt... but I'm going to try to do the 999 Challenge this year, and one of my categories is Georgette Heyer... so thanks for the recommendation!! I'll add that one to my list!

Year end review will be up at some point, I promise! Always good to hear from someone new to get new iseas about reading selections also... I hope you all had a wonderful New Year!

Glad to be of help. I think that book is very different than her others. It has a lot of action, and battles, and close escapes. Wonderful setting, description and period details. I also love the characters. There is one chapter about William's wife Matilda, and their courtship. Its called the Rough Wooing, and it is.

Don't be fooled by the horrible new cover that they have on the re-issue. It isn't a romance or a comedy of manners.