Vanye's 2009 Challenge List

These are the ones i am currently reading:
X=have finished reading

X 1) Equal Rites
X 2) Wyrrd Sisters
X 3) Harry, A History
X 4) An Excellent Mystery
X 5) Moving Pictures
X 6) The Heretics Apprentice
X 7) The Pilgrim of Hate
X 8) Wizard's Hall
X 9) The Summer of The Danes
X10) A Morbid Taste for Bones
X11) The Holy Thief
X12) A Rare Benedictine
X13) The Rose Rent
X14) Journal: The Short Life & Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason
X15) Life in the Middle Ages
X16) Dragon's Wild
X17) The Confession of Brother Haluin
X18) Angels & Demons
X19) Dead Man's Ransom
X20) Act of Mercy
X21) The Last Lecture
X22) The Spider's Web
X23) A Walk in the Woods
X24) Badger's Moon
X25) The young Merlin Trilogy
X26) Merlin & the Dragons
X27) The Door in The Wall
X28) Our Lady of Darkness
X29) The Catnappers
X30) The Mating Season
X31) Notes From a Small Island
X32) The Leper's Bell
X33) Master of Souls
X34) Interesting Times
X35) How the Irish Saved Civilization
X35) Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban
X36) Tavern at Morning
X37) The Haunted Abbot
X38) The Crystal Cave
X39) The Hollow Hills
X40) The Last Enchantment
X41) The Worst Hard Time
X42) Hogfather
X43) The Red Pony
These are on deck:
Saving Fish From Drowning
Sailing The Wine Dark Sea
Son of a Witch
Bretz's Flood
Tales From Earthsea
Marley & Me
Brisingr

This list up to date as of 03 Dec. 09. 8^)

Now Reading: Mysteries of the Middle Ages, Saving Fish From Drowning,Hogfather.

8^)

Welcome to the group! Sounds like you have started your reading year off with a bang!

Ooh, I love A Walk in the Woods. I think it's my favorite Bill Bryson book.

Terry Pratchett is always entertaining, even if the witches aren't my favorite thread of his. But Always Coming Home is one of my favorite Le Guin's. What did you think of it? The Earthsea books are my other favorites, of course.

I'm only about half way through Always Coming Home & have just acquired a 2nd copy that includes the cassette of the music too! So i have yet to listen to it & finish the book. I like it but have to remind my self that while the landscape is familiar the story is set in the future not the past.

I have read all of the Earthsea books except Tales of Earthsea & i loved Tehanu.

I love so many of the Discworld characters it is impossible to choose only one. Love The Luggage, The Librarian, Death, The Guards, Rincewind, & the delightfully creepy Mr. Teatime among many.

I have to say, I really like Susan! Also Moist von Lipwig and... er, I can't remember the name, but the vampire who turns himself into dust every time he takes a photograph. HILARIOUS.

Also, I've got The Crystal Cave on the lineup for this year... someone sent it to me for this year's SantaThing! I'll keep checking in to see what you think of it.

>6 dk_phoenix:: I read The Crystal Cave 20 years ago or so. I was (and am) totally burned out on retellings of the Arthurian Legend but it was different and fresh enough that I really enjoyed it. The focus on Merlin, the time period (pre-Arthur), the fact that it wasn't a T. H. White–derivative work, all made it quite appealing, and Mary Stewart's writing was very smooth. I read the first sequel (The Hollow Hills) and started the second sequel (The Last Enchantment) but didn't enjoy them nearly as much. I think my Arthur-aversion had kicked back in.

I know there are many Arthurian tellings out there, many of them quite good and many people partisan to this one or that, but I usually just recommend White's The Once and Future King, Stewart's The Crystal Cave and...if you're a fantasy buff...Kay's The Fionavar Tapestry, which has the legends as a side story.

Vampire = Otto

Edit: spelling

>7 TadAD:: Otto!!! Of course... how could I forget... *note to self: drink more coffee* Also, I'm now very intrigued by the The Fionavar Tapestry, I think I've had it sitting on my shelf for quite some time now and I never knew what it was about... and have no recollection of how it got there... oh well! I haven't read too many retellings to be disillusioned with them yet; my favorite so far is Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle. The first book, Taliesin, is my favorite - it focuses on who the Lady of the Lake was, essentially tying her to Minoan Crete!

>8 dk_phoenix:: Well, The Fionavar Tapestry is a hellacious good read, imo. I avoided it for years because the blurb on the back in those days (mid-80s) was so bad; it sounded completely idiotic and Kay hadn't yet made the reputation he has now. Finally, I gave it a try and kicked myself for waiting. I'll read pretty much everything he writes with the possible exception of his book of poetry (I'm not a huge poetry person).

I think Fionavar and The Last Light of the Sun are his absolute bests. Many folks think Tigana. All three are top-notch.

>8 dk_phoenix:: dk_phoenix, how fantastic to find someone else who's read those books. Taliesin is definitely my favourite too (I have to confess that 'Charis' stayed on my list of "future children's names" right up until 2006, when my daughter was born and I had to regretfully give it up as an option...).

My memory is of it starting out as a projected four-book cycle, with the fourth, Pendragon, never appearing - or at least, it didn't while I was reading them. Was there a later addition?

>8 dk_phoenix:: You're right... the blurb IS bad! I went down and found it, and... turns out the copy I have is an old 80s one. Maybe that's why I never read it... I'm glad I know better now!

>10 FlossieT:: Oh, yay! I'd been losing hope of ever meeting someone else who'd read them! I'll also admit, I adore the name 'Charis', and I think her character stayed my favorite all the way through. Looking at my bookshelf, the order goes: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail. I remember enjoying the first four and then being mildly disappointed with the fifth. Some time later, Lawhead released a book called Avalon: The Return of King Arthur that was intended to be read as a "P.S." after the Pendragon Cycle. I'll admit... I haven't got around to reading it yet, though it stares at me from my shelf! I've heard good things about it, however.

>11 dk_phoenix:: oh me oh my - a whole TWO books in this series that I didn't know about?? You've just made me a very happy lady :) I can remember waiting impatiently for Arthur to come out, and then being distraught when I realised on turning the last page that the "coming soon" graphic for Pendragon had vanished. It's that "telltale compression of the pages" only much, much worse...

This year is not looking good for my resolution not to buy (many) more books.

ETA: I couldn't work out why those books weren't showing in our 'shared books' list - until I searched my own library and discovered I hadn't catalogued them (gasp). Now rectified (apart from Arthur, which is worryingly not on the shelf....).

Well, I now have two more Arthurian legend retellings to add to my list! I took an Arthur course in my undergrad, and fell in love with the literature. One of my favourites is The Mists of Avalon, though I have never read any of the others in the cycle. Have you read the series by Jack Whyte called A Dream of Eagles (sometimes called The Camulod Chronicles)? The first book is The Skystone. It is a fantastic series!

Well i finished Equal Rites & it was great-but am disappointed to find out that Esk is not in any of the other books. Darn it-would like read more about her & Simon. 8^)

Reading Wyrdd Sisters got into Discworld & can't seem to make good my escape (not trying real hard either)! Trying to keep my list from sinking to the 10th page as well. 8^)

You'll escape eventually. The crisp satire of Discworld is better appreciated with some more mundane writing in between to leaven it. I can usually do about 4 or 5 in a row before I need to leave for a book or two to reboot!

Finished Wyrd Sisters, still reading Harry, A History & going back to In the Land of Invisible Women. 8^)

Finished Harry, A History & getting back to Marley & Me Read on! 8^)

More books for my TBR list
An Excellent Mystery
A Short History of Nearly Everthing
Moving Pictures
Saving Fish from Drowning
The Sourcerer's Companion
Hogfather

I'm now reading: Marley & Me, In the Land Of Invisible Women, Always Coming Home, An Excellent Mystery, Hog Father & The Sourcerer's Companion. 8^)

I did a very dumb thing... waited until the entire Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon cycle was out.. bought all of the books at once ( I am a fast reader) and sat down to get busy. Those books made me want to claw out my eyes. I read them all because I had so stupidly bought them.. so I guess I did two stupid things.

White's The Once and Future King and The Book of Merlin are so much better.. as are Stewart's The Crystal Cave , The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment and The Wicked Day are far more appealing to me, as is Mists of Avalon.

I carried the lot of them down and gave them to the Library to sell, so they at least went to a new home. I have to say that I gave thought to the recycle bin~ I hated them that much...

Hated The Road too. I am still in intense therapy from it.. or should be anyway :P

Just finished the fourth book for the year An Excellent Mystery.

#20-I've got all of Mary Stewart's Merlin Cycle w/the exception of The Hollow Hills & they are on my TBR pile. I read The Mists of Avalon a few years ago & have the other books in the series also. I also have the Jack Whyte series The Camulod Chronicles & have read the first one & started the second but the testeserone level is a mite high. I have also read l' Morte de Artur. As you can tell i'm in to the Arthurian stuff. Have missed the Pendragon series, somehow! 8^)

>20 mckait:: Sorry to hear that!!! But to each their own. I really liked the Pendragon Cycle, at least up until book 4. I thought the 4th one was okay, and didn't care for the 5th. But I loved Taliesin. I have yet to read Mary Stewart's work though (but I have the first 2 on my shelf) so I can't fairly compare the two.

Just can't seem to find my way out of Discworld-reading Moving Pictures now & still reading In the Land of Invisible Women. 8^)

I loved Taliesin too! I never actually finished the series, though... I think I read Merlin and maybe Arthur and then stopped. I own them all, too, so I do feel sort of guilty about it... but I wasn't about to force myself to read books that I didn't want to read. Maybe someday.

>24 _Zoe_:: Fair enough! The first three were the best ones anyway... honestly, I think I just skimmed most of book 5. Lol!

Finished Moving Pictures #5 in my quest. I will have to speed up if i'm to come anywhere near 75. 8^)

Have now finished The Rose Rent, The Heretic's Apprentice, & The Pilgrim of Hate,& still obsessed w/Brother Cadfael & the 12th century . In between reading the books have been viewing the videos. While reading the books i sometimes play CDs of Gregorian chants for the atmospherics. 8 books & it is the 5th of March. Ah, well i'm enjoying my reading & that's what's important. On to my next one in my TBR pile. 8^)

Just finished Wizard's Hall & still reading The Summer of the Danes. 8^)

Finished The Summer of the Danes#9 & now reading The Holy Thief-still hooked on this series! 8^)

book #10 finished The Holy Thief. Now on to the next - Brother Cadfael's Penance. 8^)

>20 mckait:.

mckait, what did you not like about Lawhead's Pendragon series? Granted, I haven't read it. I've only read the first of his Empyrion and the first of his Celtic Crusade (though I also have his complete Dragon King series, which has as of yet been unopened). I thought the former, written as Christian Science Fiction, was a bit annoying (esp. the fact that the "bad guys" used euphemisms when they were being crass), but did enjoy the latter.

Have you read any of Maguire's other books? Did you enjoy them?

I've got them on my "to read" list -- I'll nab them as soon as I see them at the Thrift shop. :)

I've got Son of a Witc & it is on my TBR list! When ever i get out of the 12th century Welsh/English border country i'll get to some of the other stuff on my list. I've just become so immersed in that time & place i just cannot leave it yet. 8^)

#11-A Rare Benedictine. Only 64 to go! Ha ha! 8^)

#12-A Morbid Taste for Bones I love this series & one of the things i enjoy about is the language-it is so much a part of the flavor, some might call it arcane, but it adds immeasurably to the atmosphere & really takes you back to the Welsh border country of the 12th Century. They didn't talk as we do today & i wouldn't want them to. Ellis Peters writes wonderful dialog & descriptions & her plots are spot on she never leaves any loose threads dangling.

I know that a lot of people do not like The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings because of the language-but i love it for that very reason. Tolkien did not have the Hobbits talking like 20th or 21st century homo sapiens because they were Middle-earth residents of the 3rd Age.

I have now read 5 of the 20 Chronicles in the Bother Cadfael series so i have lots more reading delight ahead of me. 8^)

One of these centuries I will have to give the Ellis Peters books a go. I have only read her work when she wrote under her true name Edith Pargeter and those books are historical fiction, not mysteries.

Oh wow, I'd completely forgotten about Ellis Peters...! I have A Morbid Taste for Bones down on the shelves somewhere, but its existence was somehow wiped from my brain... guess that means it's time to dig it out again (the book, not my brain... though that might help on a Monday like this).

I read A Morbid Taste for Bones this month (my first Ellis Peters mystery and really enjoyed it. I'll be reading more in the series and also checking out her historical fiction.

edited for spelling

Finished #13-The Rose Rent & am now leaving the 12th century for awhile. 8^)

#14-Journal:The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason. Now reading Dragons Wild. 8^)

#15-Life in the Middle Ages: The Church. Still reading Dragons Wild now also reading Angels & Demons since the movie will be out soon. 8^)

#16-Dragons Wild it's an interesting premise but i'll not continue reading the series-however i am going to try his 'Myth' series. Still reading Angels & Demons as there are about 5 weeks till the movie comes out! Also still reading Marley & Me.
I seem to be reading-on average a book a week so should be able to have at least 50 by years end anyway. 8^)

#17-The Confession of Brother Haluin & now back to Angels & Demons 200+ pages to go! 8^)

#18-Angels & Demons a very long book. Uptill today i've read aproximately 1 book a week ,Angels & Demons is 700 pages & took a bit more than a week. Now it's back to my favorite time & place-the Welsh border country in the 12th century. 8^)

#44: What are you reading that is set in the Welsh border country in the 12th century? I am very curious!

>45 alcottacre:: The Brother Cadfael books are set there. They were great!

#46: Thanks for the info, Tad. I have never read any of them. I will have to check them out.

>47 alcottacre:: They start with A Morbid Taste for Bones and go for 20 volumes. If you like historical mysteries, you really should try them.

A Morbid Taste for Bones is winging its way to me and I have the second as well. Can't wait!!!

I'm trying to acquire the whole series & have 7 of them as of now. Thirteen of the stories were filmed by the BBC w/Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael & are available on DVD. Speaking of Derek Jacobi-he is the lead in the BBC production of The Olde Curiosity Shop which will be on PBS on sunday. I'll be watching! 8^)

I am now reading a book from a series i've not read before by Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma. The one i'm reading is Act of Mercy. 8^)

My computer is out of action @ present so am @ the library. 'There is more than one way to skin a cat'. as my late mother used to say (not that she had any cat skinning experience of course! Anyway Hi to Alll & i am still on the planet! 8^)

I hope you get your computer up and running soon!

Computer still not working-but i check in when i'm able. 8^)

Whenever you can, we will love to hear from you and know how you are settling in your new home.

Well, i now have an apartment in town & do as i damn well pleease. That son-in-law is a turkey & i only hope my daughter throws him overboard one of these days when she's had enough of his nonsense. Do not have the internet at home yet but when i get more settled maybe-meantime you'll find me at the library! I'm going to Oregon to see my brother & my sister is coming up there from California. That will be the extent of my travels for this summer. Hope you are all having a good summer! I'm reading even more than i did before & will post my latest reads. Vanye 8^)

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Well i'm getting lots of reading done. In this heat i don't want to do much of anything else they are predicting 106 degrees. So i'm going home to read a few more chapters. 8^)

It was 107 here today, so I can relate. I hope you got lots of reading done!

Two days ago we got a break in the weather-the high pressure center moved off & was hurried along by a lot of wind & a low pressure cell & we even got quite a bit of rain. All the ACs got turned off & we all went outside to enjoy all that cool air. That was on Wed. & my AC is still off & my windows are srill open. Enjoying it a lot & hoping it lasts awhile. I' reading Interesting Times Pratchett is hilarious as usual! 8^)

It is lovely and cooler here, too, but still no significant rain. This is hard on the usually wet west side of the mountains. Many of my yard bushes are showing stress; many dry brown leaves and not on plants which lose their leaves in the fall. Many Rhodies look awful. But I am comfortable and happy. No heat, and no air conditioning = smaller electricity bills. yay!

How you doing in your new digs?

Much better now that i'm back in touch w/the world-as of yesterday when my phone, cable & internet were hooked up! 8^)

Congratulations on being back in touch!

Just finished The Haunted Abbot which is the 8th book in the Sister Fidelma series i have read thus far & am enjoying them a great deal. Sister Fidelma lives in 7th Cent. Ireland & she is the sister of a regional king, a lawyer & a nun. Women in that time had many rights, priveleges & educational opportunities than women in other parts of Europe. She is a very strong character & the author puts a lot of information about the cultures, landscape & legal system of the Ireland of those days not to mention the convoluted mysteries Fidelma must solve which make the books very riveting reads. 8^)

Have just finished #38The Crystal Cave but must now get my hands on The Hollow Hills to continue the saga. I have The Last Enchantment & The Wicked Day but have not yet found The Hollow Hills even in the library!

So am now reading Saving Fish From Drowning. I have enjoyed many of Amy Tan's books in the past & this one is sure to be another goody.

Still reading Mysteries of the Middle Ages. I shall probably not reach 75 by years end but will make 50+. My library has no other Sister Fidelma books besides the ones i've already listed so i'm very frustrated about that! 8^)

>65 Vanye:.

Have you tried looking for the omnibus edition of the Merlin books? I think the first three or four are collected in one volume.

If you can find it, I won't tell anybody that you're reading an omnibus.

Well it's fairly sure i will not reach 75 but i'm certain to achieve 50 or more-moving house & all the uproar that goes w/it has slowed my reading down considerably! I'm reading Mary Stewart's trilogy written from Merlin's view point( The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment ).I have become fascinated w/all the different permutations of the Arthurian legends. The authors seem to take the characters & shuffle them & come up w/a version in which the characters interact in ways which differ from the other versions but in the end the results are pretty much the same. So far it is a fascinating adventure in reading tho i may have to come up for air in the near future. Just like reading Terry Pratchett you can OD on Arthur! 8^)

I am a big fan of Mary Stewart. I will be interested in your take of her spin on the Arthurian legend.

Alcottacre: I have enjoyed the books very much-Mary Stewart takes an entirely different slant on the Arthurian legend-she makes Merlin the first person narrator & has him tell it as he sees & lives it. Merlin comes across as very human instead of the 'standard' wizard type of character of many other versions of this story. I'm not going to read The Wicked Day which i understand to be the story according to Mordred. May read it later on, however.

Well it is obvious that i will not get 75 this year as i'm reading more slowly now than i was earlier in the year but-i might make it to 50 for 2009 & will gieve 75 another go in 2010!

Aethercowboy: I found them all as individual books but i do have a couple of omnibus editions i.e. The Gormenghast Trilogy & The Chronicles of Narnia as well as Annals of the Former World-just don't tell anybody,OK!

I have read Stewart's entire Arthurian series, I was just curious as to how you liked them. Stewart is one of my favorite authors - she knows how to tell a good story well, something of a lost art these days it seems.

As far as the book count for the year goes, do not worry about the numbers so much. Just have fun reading!

Well I may get through 45 books for this year. Gonna try for 75 again next year tho-someday i may even succeed! At any rate i'm gonna enjoy all the reading time however many books i read! 8^)

That's the spirit!

I'm doing the Do Nothing But Read Day on the 20th so i may add a few to my total! Even audio books count so i will listen to an audio book during meals etc. I have several of Steinbeck's short stories that i have yet to read in an Omnibus edition & so will be tackling them. 8^)

Sounds to me like you are going to make it!

After chatting yesterday I thought I would check out your thread. You read some very good books this year and I look forward to following your thread next year.

Well, i'm glad to be able to access my thread again. It was most frustrating. I am attempting to make up for my failure last week in carrying out the DNBRD plan-tho progress is thus far slow! Trying to finish a couple of books i set aside earlier. An so,back to my reading. 8^)

I have gone back to reading Saving Fish From Drowning i put it down about 2 months ago & was about half way through-its taken awhile to become reoriented to the characters & plot. Amy Tan is a favorite author but this book is even quirkier than hers usually are! I am hanging in there cuz i really want to know what happens next! 8^)