rebelaessedai's 2009 challenge

I'd like to read 50 books this year, and to top that, I'd like 12 of them to be either books that I've started and couldn't finish, or books that I am afraid that will happen with.
So far, I've got:
1. Stardust- Neil Gaiman
I thought Stardust was kinda meh. It was a cute little fairy tale kind of story, with a bitter twist to it. Books about faerie aren't really my type, though, so it doesn't surprise me much.
2. The Final Key- Catherine Asaro
Finally, I got the answer to that question that's been bugging me so much since I read Schism. I have the last four to read, plus the prequel, and I want to stretch it out because I want it to last!
3. The Ruins- Scott Smith
Very creepy book, although it's not as harrowing as I'd hoped it would be. It's definitely a character study, which is why it deserves more than your average "scary" book. And there are definitely a few parts that are either wtfcreepy or squicky creepy.
4. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Ok, so I finally decided to try First Law, and I'm excited to go get the second book this week. Straightforward storytelling, and one thing I like about it is that we don't get bogged down in details like I remember in Jordan and Martin. I'm hoping for more violence coming, but for goodness sake, don't kill all the main characters!

You are off to a good start! Good luck with your challenge.
--BJ

Thanks bj!
Finished two more:
5. Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
I picked this book up on a whim because it looked interesting. I like what it ended up being, which was a war between AI and "natural" sentience that somehow fucked up the world and brought modern humans into the mess. It added a new twist to a favorite idea.
6. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
I got this book for Christmas from a coworker and it is by far the weirdest thing I have ever read. Dunn uses a family of "freaks" to question the nature of that which is considered strange, and to show that love can be true even if it's twisted.

Another update:
7. Before they are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
What a book! Abercrombie just got better and better as he went along, unraveling a book that asks the question: what would happen if a group in a fantasy novel actually failed at their quest?

8. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
And it ends. Completely satisfactory to me? No; there are still some loose ends. But not everybody gets what they deserve at the end of things. And that's what's best about Abercrombie's first work: it's fantasy, but not typical fantasy. It's gritty, not to sound too trite. You want realistic, read this series.

9. Why Don't Cats Go Bald by Skip Sullivan
Aha, a light twist to my reading list! If you know anything about me, you know I am in love with the kittehs! Sometimes funny, sometimes educational, and always honest, Dr. Sullivan tells of his experience as a cat savior. Lot of fun and lighthearted.

10. Another Day in the Frontal Lobe by Katrina Firlik
Not quite as light as Cats, but still a very humane look at the day-to-day life of a neurosurgeon, both the good and the bad.

11. Duma Key by Stephen King
You want a true-to-form King novel, complete with eerie and creepy imagery, psychological horror, and plain terror (usually on your part, I mean jesus, don't scare me like that!) you've got yourself a gem. King delivers in top form. Magical realism, existentialist style absurdity... that's why we love him. And the imagery; I just can't get past that damn upside-down heron. Simple but psychologically grueling. I don't know how he does it.

12. Hope's Folly by Linnea Sinclair
I had to go out and buy this right away. We want more books in Sully's universe, even if they're not about him! Taking on a new group of people, with the old tale of rebellion in an unjust universe, Sinclair re-establishes herself as the best sci-fi romance writer around.

13. Watership Down by Richard Adams
Did I mention I also love all animals? Beautiful tale about the journey of a group of young rabbits, off to find their destiny in a world of men. They face their own sort of terror, but find courage inside themselves along the way. Beautiful story. A classic you can actually enjoy.

14. The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction edited by George Mann
A great collection of stories from sci-fi authors, both seasoned and new to the scene. While short stories aren't really "my thing," some of these are true gems. My favorite had to be Last Contact. Haunting.

15. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
I expected more from this book. I'm a big fan of these kinds of hopeful lessons of life, and it was good in that regard, but it was no Jonathan Livingston Seagull- either that or I'm becoming too cynical.

16. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
A little detour from King's usual style, it's nevertheless a great story with some haunting aspects. Check out my review on my blog.

Sounds like Duma Key was a good one. I am going to read my first King book in years: The Stand. Have you read that one? You have a great selection of books that you are reading. Have a great day!
--BJ

Hey BJ!
I read The Stand waaaay back when. It is hit or miss for people, I think. It's not my style of King book but I know a lot of King fans who think it's the best he's written. Hope you enjoy!

Alright, the next group-
17. The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin
I was on a classics-buying kick. It was interesting enough, kept my attention anyway, but I wouldn't call it groundbreaking. Just a nice anti-establishment/ warning novel.

18. Maledicte by Lane Robins
I loved this book right up until the end. Maledicte is about the vengeance of a character possessed by a dark god. While I enjoyed the characters a lot, I thought that by the end, the darkness of the main character was a little overdone.

19. Watchmen by Alan Moore
I got this after watching the movie, which was very well done. I preferred the movie, it's true. I'm not much for graphic novels in the first place. Interesting story, very well-developed characters. The end was a little meh. The movie ending was better, I think.

20. Corambis by Sarah Monette
I've been looking forward to this since I finished the first three in the series. While not as good as The Virtu, it pretty nicely wrapped up the story, maybe not in the way I would have, but I was decently happy with it. Felix finally comes to his senses, and his relationship with Mildmay solidifies- which was the reason for reading the books for me.

21. The Woman Who Swallowed a Toothbrush by Rob Myers
I needed a little break from fiction. I like reading weird medical tales- they certainly provide some amusement, especially when you realize people will do some weird freakin' things. There was a woman who put a 35-mm film bottle in her vagina, a guy who ate so much his stomach actually exploded... pretty weird stuff.

22. The Moon's Shadow by Catherine Asaro
Since I had some trouble reading, I picked up one of those "I know I'll like this" books. I hate that I'm running out of them. The Moon's Shadow is essentially about the beginning of Jaibriol III's reign of the Eubian Concord. He starts the process of bringing the Traders and the Skolians to the peace table.

23. Spherical Harmonic by Catherine Asaro
This is the story of Dehya, around the same time as the Moon's Shadow. Dehya finally coalesces from psiberspace. The story was a little too linear for my taste- Asaro is usually adept at creating a more complex story web, no pun intended. What I loved was learning the way she thought- in terms of math and physics, which helped her read probabilities of the future. It reminded me of the genius behind Story of your Life by Ted Chiang.

24. The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
You would think something that sounds this cheesy would be awful, right? But no, no it's not. Lee uses a trite concept to weave a tale of heartbreaking beauty, in a story about the nature of the soul and what love really means. My favorite of the year so far.

25. Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse
I dunno, really. It's supposed to be the first in a short series. There are a lot of social problems in the story that make me uncomfortable. And I'm not sure what the author is trying to say about religion.

26. Last Last Chance by Fiona Maazel
My first ER book! Really enjoyed it. Read my review!

27. Dante's Equation by Jane Jensen
Quite a mind-blowing piece of science fiction. I liked its mix of spirituality and science- pretty neat. Great characters. I also liked the fact that the religious nut went to the lowest "hell", if you will. Sue me, I'm prejudiced.

28. The Empire of the Ants by Bernard Werber
What a strange book! About the complexity of ant population and its similarities and differences with human society, mixed in with a Watership Down- like story. And a bit of House of Leaves freakiness thrown in as well.

It's been entirely too long! I'm over 50 for the year, but I'll be posting these in short bursts.

29. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
OK, don't shoot me, but I didn't like this book at all. I felt like it went nowhere. I didn't see the point. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that it's old and not really relevant to someone of my generation.

30. Planet Cat by Sandra Choron
If you ever want a historical, literary, all-around everything book about cats, this is the book to get. Hours of reading from serious history to funny little poems.

31. Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper
This was my second review copy from librarything. Read my review. It's an amazing story about a blind cat who "teaches" his owner about courage. Not a surprise to me; I think cats are amazing.

32. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
It was ok. I was interested in seeing the movie just to find out what it was about. It wasn't a mind-blowing revelation, but the character of Hannah is pretty three-dimensional. I felt bad for her towards the end, but I figure you're supposed to.

33. Cell by Stephen King
Not SK's best work, but very enjoyable. Fun and fast, but it's no Duma Key.

34. Summer of the Apocalypse by James Van Pelt
Another one of those so-so books I read this year. Post-apocalyptic is hard to pull off. I certainly found this deeper than The Road. But then again, that's easy to do.

35. Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre
Ann Aguirre comes to the urban fantasy arena with this one. I'm not a big urban fantasy fan, but she delivers a pretty fun tale here. I still like her SF stuff a bit more, but I'll continue reading this series as well.

Next little group!

36. Skyfall by Catherine Asaro
Cute little story about the origins of the current Skolian generation. Like some others, I think the character of Roca is a little too perfect. But I got to see some of Kurj's softer side, and it was a nice background to his current cynical ideals.

37. Of Darkness, Light, and Fire by Tanya Huff
I have to just say here that I love slash. For some strange reason. The first tale is Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light. Urban fantasy with a bit of slash. Nicely written, fun story. The Fire's Stone, though, was awesome. An early story of Huff's, it has a bit of a rough style, but is somehow more charming for that. The love story of two flawed men had me all warm and fuzzy. A must read.

38. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Stephen King's son went under a pseudonym, didn't tell the publisher who he was, and made a big hit. Definitely worth it. Great horror story with some real-life themes of abuse. Very impressed and hope he writes more.

39. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Still not published in his native Russia? Good dystopian story with a slightly disturbing ending. I thought it was pretty 1984-ish in a lot of ways, which is to say it was a good warning.

40. Hart's Hope by Orson Scott Card
I read Ender's Game in high school and thought that Card's writing style could use a little maturity but he had some great, thoughtful ideas. This one is an earlier, darker fantasy- not at all what I expected from Card, which is one of the reasons it intrigued me. I was very impressed- another favorite of the year. Haunting and beautiful.

41. Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa
This guy offered me his book in exchange for a review which I sadly haven't yet written. (I will though, promise!) Good book, reminded me a bit of Catcher in the Rye which I read earlier this year. More geared for my generation I think.

42. Year's Best Fantasy ed. David Hartwell
I'm not much of an anthology fan, but this one was hard to put down. A couple of the stories were great, and there was also one of my favorite chapters from A Storm of Swords in it. I hope the rest are good. I'd like to pick them up, even if they are anthologies.

43. The Annunciate by Severna Park
This could've been better. Interesting idea, underwhelming follow through.

44. The Cat's IQ Test by Melissa Miller
Cute little book describing different forms of intelligence cats can have.

45. The Simple and Savvy Wine Guide by Leslie Sbrocco
I'm new to wine: I think this book was a big help in finding wines and learning about wines for all different occasions.

46. The Phoenix Code by Catherine Asaro
A fun read, some pretty crazy things happening. Not as good as the Skolian books, but still pretty solid.

47. Sea Dragon Heir by Storm Constantine
48. The Crown of Silence by Storm Constantine
49. The Way of Light by Storm Constantine
Awesome books. She's my favorite author. I don't know why these get such bad reviews- her characters are so three-dimensional, believable and flawed.

50. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
Wow, did Sanderson bring this back to life. One of my favorites of the series, some great moments. Some heartbreaking ones too. Can't wait to continue.

51. John Dies at the End by David Wong
Impulse buy at the bookstore. It sounded funny (and was.) Though I'm not normally one for comedy. It was kind of a spoof.

52. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
It wasn't as good as Fight Club. Still fun and absurd.

53. The Kingdom of Auschwitz by Otto Friedrich
Pretty short and to the point account of the horrors of Auschwitz. The sheer number of deaths during the Holocaust always amazes me.

54. The Hollow Man by Dan Simmons
Not as good as his Hyperion books, but still a deep read nonetheless. Kind of what you expect from him, which is unfair since he outdoes pretty much everyone on that front.

55. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Pretty good book. Not as outright misogynistic as I'd feared- it appeared that both men and women were screwed over. Pretty haunting and sad though.

56. Undercover by Lauren Dane
Hee! This a dirty book! Some BDSM mixed in with a good beginning to a light scifi story. I wanted a little more of the scifi honestly- I think it could be a really solid story with a bit more balance between sex and plot.

57. My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
My first book of hers; a friend highly recommends her. It's pretty good, compelling characters and a thin line between good and evil.

58. Fire by Kristin Cashore
YA-ish book that is a pretty solid story for anyone. There's a cute love story and an interesting, original concept here.

59. Servant of a Dark God by John Brown
Early reviewer book- check out my review.

60. Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair
Not as good as Gabriel's Ghost, but fun. Love the furzels!