Ape's 50 Book Challenge for 2009

This is my first post in one of the challenge groups! While I wasn't a member last year, I did keep track of how many books I read and I had about 45, so I'm hoping to maybe reach 50 this year. I havn't had much time to read lately though, but hopefully I'll find some more time as the year goes on.

Books: 81
Pages: 24,492

1. Requiem by Graham Joyce
2. Shadowmoor
3. The Translator by Ward Just
4. Locked Doors by Blake Crouch
5. Waterloo Station by Emily Grayson
6. Modern Magic by Anne Cordwainer
7. The Screaming Skull
8. The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis
9. Spares by Michael Marshall Smith
10. The Cobra Event by Richard Preston
11. Phytosphere by Scott MacKay
12. The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith
13. The Terror by Dan Simmons
14. Stewards of the Flame by Sylvia Engdahl
15. Morningtide by Scott McGough and Cory J. Herndon
16. Eventide by Scott McGouh and Cory J. Herndon
17. Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
18. Saturn Rukh by Robert L. Forward
19. Grendel by John Gardner
20. The Coma by Alex Garland
21. Comes the Dark by Michael Prescott
22. The Book of the Lion by Michael Cadnum
23. The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks
24. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
25. The Muse Asylum by David Czuchlewski
26. Darkness Falls by Kyle Mills
27. The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley
28. Year Zero by Jeff Long
29. The Turnaround by George Pelecanos
30. The Bone Parade by Mark Nykanen
31. Jerusalem by Cecelia Holland
32. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
33. The Descent by Jeff Long
34. The Shephered by Frederick Forsythe
35. The Stand: The Extended and Uncut Edition by Stephen King
36. Aliens Vs. Predator Omnibus, Volume 1
37. Deeper by Jeff Long
38. The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips
39. The Red Raider by William Colt Macdonald
40. A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli
41. Do Andorids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
42. A Scattering of Jades by Alexander C. Irvine
43. The Preservationist by David Maine
44. Predator Omnibus Volume 1
45. The Laughter of Dark Gods (Warhammer)
46. The Incredible Hulk: Return of the Monster
47. Mars Crossing by Geoffrey A. Landis
48. Disquiet by Julia Leigh
49. River Runs Red by Jeffrey J. Mariotte
50. Over There by Bryon Farwell
51. Bump in the Night by Isabelle Holland
52. Jarhead by Anthony Swofford
53. The Sky People by S.M. Stirling
54. Haunted America by Michael Norman
55. In the Wake of the Plague by Norman F. Cantor
56. Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
57. Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
58. A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong
59. Atticus by Ron Hansen
60. Detective Story by Imre Kertesz
61. The Vietnam War by Maurice Isserman
62. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
63. Manga Shakespeare: Julius Caesar
64. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston
65. In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S.M. Stirling
66. Fleeing Hitler: France 1940 by Hanna Diamond
67. Unnatural Selection by Aaron Elkins
68. The Wrath of Alexander the Great by Terry McCarthy
69. The Overlook by Michael Connelly
70. Omega Sol by Scott MacKay
71. Death's Acre by Bill Bass
72. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
73. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
74. Trial By Fire by R.A. Salvatore
75. Soldier of Light by Tom Cool
76. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
77. The Little Book of the Big Bang by Craig J. Hogan
78. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
79. Flight (Volume 3)
80. Panic in Level 4 by Richard Preston
81. Stiff by Mary Roach

Good luck with your reading challenge!
--BJ

Thank you! I'll need it at my current pace.

I've realized keeping a master list with touchstones on the original post is no fun since every time I edit it they are reset.

1. Requiem by Graham Joyce
Pages: 288
Rating: 3/5
It was pretty interesting, enough to keep me turning the pages, and the ending was satsifying.

2. Shadowmoor
Pages: 309
Rating: 3/5
This is a collection of short stories based on a nerdy card game I used to play in high school. The books are usually poorly written to begin with, but with this one, since it is just an anthology, I guess they decided to have a little fun with it. Instead of having actual authors write the whole thing, there are a few stories written by random people who make the game. One is even written by someone who does the art for the cards. The stories are simple, to say the least. However, no one reads these books for the writing, it's the world-building that makes them readable. Shadowmoor is one of the cooler places I've been to in a fantasy novel, and that was enough to keep me interested throughout all 300 pages of it.

That book sounds really interesting!
--BJ

3. The Translator by Ward Just
Pages: 313
Rating: 4/5
I am kind of torn on this book. The writing was fantastic...but also very stale in some parts, to the point where I almost put it down about 100 pages in. The characters were deep and believable...but I didn't care about them until late in the book. The story was very engaging and I was very interested in finding out what would happen next...once it started on page 200. I think the problem is it just isn't my type of book. It's probably something I would recommend to a lot of people, I even gave it a very high rating. It deserves praise in my opinion, and I'm surprised it isn't more popular. I probably would appreciate it more if I read more books like this...perhaps it will help broaden my horizons though.

4. Locked Doors by Blake Crouch
Pages: 310
Rating: 5/5
Probably one of the better thrillers I've ever read. I couldn't put it down, and there was never a section where I got bored (except a 2 paragraph description of a baseball cap or something like that.) My only complaint is that there is NO indication that the book is a sequel to another book. I hate it when they do this. Even without reading the first book though, I thought it was great.

I keep wanting to read all the books you are reading.
--BJ

Haha, well if it helps narrow down the list...unless you were nerdy enough to play the card game in school (or now) you'd probably hate Shadwomoor.

That's the best I can do, you're on your own with the rest. :P

5. Waterloo Station by Emily Grayson
Pages: 199
Rating: 3/5
It was a decent story with a touching ending, but I just don't think I was in the intended audience with this one.

6. Modern Magic by Anne Cordwainer
Pages: 351
Rating: 5/5
I loved this book! The setting was interesting, I cared greatly about the characters, and the story had me guessing the ENTIRE way. I thought I was so smart because I swore I had everything figured out...but no, I was wrong. The ending was terrific. Would definitely recommend this to any fan of urban fantasy (or fantasy in general.)

7. The Screaming Skull
Pages: 217
Rating: 2/5
I had to force myself to finish this one, after putting it down once. It's a collection of short, fictional ghost stories by authors such as Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe. Some of them are really good, but it's hardly worth reading through the whole thing.

8. The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis
Pages: 239
Rating: 3/5
I enjoyed it. I really like the world that Robin Jarvis created, and the story is good enough. The writing is definitely intended for a younger audience though. Still, I don't mind some YA from time to time.

9 Spares by Michael Marshall Smith
Pages: 321
Rating: 5/5
I loved this book! I've read another book of his, One of Us which I also really liked (for the first 3/4ths) but this one just blew me away. I highly recommend it.

10. The Cobra Event by Richard Preston
Pages: 404
Rating: 4/5
Definitely one of the scariest book I've ever read. The potential of biological weapons is quite frightning.

You have introduced me to so many new books! This one looks like a good one. I am planning to read a book that my daughter had to read for school called The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston, which is a nonfiction book about the threat of biological weapons. She says that it is pretty scary, so I might til the days are longer.
Have a great day!
--BJ

I plan on looking into The Demon in the Freezer as well. :)

11. Phytosphere by Scott MacKay
Pages: 376
Rating: 4/5
I have a love for apocalypse lit, and lately I've been exploring science fiction a little bit, so finding a book that blends the two is perfect. Posting full review now.

I belong to the Group Reads -- SciFi Group and we nominate books for the next read. I don't really read that much sff. I am trying to expand my horizons there which is why I joined the group. So I am glad to read some comments on a book that I could nominate for a future read!
--BJ

12. The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith
Pages: 213
Rating: 4/5
I went into this book thinking it might be a somewhat childish "ghost" story trying to pass itself off as a horror novel. As it turns out, it's not a horror novel at all, and in fact is a quite intriguing little book about a young boy trying to deal with both a stepfather he doesn't get along with and a sick mother who never leaves the house. I honestly haven't read anything like this since high school (3 years ago,) there was so much symbolism, I've been reading so much of this simple fiction and fantasy, I was surprised how caught up I became in all the symbolism. I'm surprised this book isn't more popular than it is (then again, I'm surprised the AUTHOR isn't more popular than he is,) though, then again, it could just be me, since I havn't read anything like this in so long.

13. The Terror by Dan Simmons
Pages: 955
Rating: 3/5
This thing was MASSIVE, but I guess it balances things out since I've read so many short books so far this year. I posted a full review, didn't intend for it to be so huge, although I guess it's appropriate for a book of this size.

14. Stewards of the Flame by Sylvia Engdahl
Pages: 459
Rating: 4/5
I won this in the members giveaway section, and it was a great read! Something I never would have discovered or probably even heard of otherwise, and I loved it. It had a bit of a slow start, but after I got into it I really liked it. Full review posted.

15. Morningtide by Scott McGough and Cory J. Herndon
Pages: 311
Rating: 3/5
It's been a little while since I read a simple, straight-forward "adventure-y" fantasy book. This is book 2 of the Lorwyn cycle, connected to the Shadowmoor plane mentioned in post 4. It was ok, I nice simple read that I read through quickly in one of my favorite settings in fantasy. Unfortunately the world wasn't represnted as well as it could have been though.

16. Eventide by Scott McGough and Cory J. Herndon
Pages: 310
Rating: 3/5
I liked the ending to the series, slightly better than the average Magic: the Gathering novel, but still just another Magic: the Gathering novel. Still very enjoyable, and as mentioned earlier this year when I read Shadowmoor, Lorwyn/Shadowmoor is just a fantastic setting, in my opinion.

17. Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
Pages: 341
Rating: 4/5
This is why I love Michael Marshall Smith. He's just great, and I can't stop raving about him. I liked Spares better, but I definitely enjoyed reading Only Forward. It's a shame he doesn't have any more of this futuristic stuff published. I know he writies thrillers under a different name, but this is the stuff I like.

18. Saturn Rukh by Robert L. Forward
Pages: 302
Rating: 3/5
I'm glad I'm not one of those people who quickly put a book down when they aren't liking it. The first 100 pages of this were absolute torture, but I pushed my way through it and was rewarded with a very satisfying read. I'll probably never look into this author again, and I'll also probably avoid "heavy" science fiction in the near future, but overall I'm glad I stuck with it.

19. Grendel by John Gardner
Pages: 174
Rating: 3/5
The story of Beowulf told from Grendel's point of view. It is definitely a cool concept, and even though I expected it, I did find myself feeling for poor old Grendel in the beginning. It was good, but it could have been a lot better.

20. The Coma by Alex Garland
Pages: 200
Rating: 3/5
An interesting little novel about a man who gets put into a coma after being attacked on a subway and then struggles with amnesia. It was a little short(probably only 90-100 pages worth,) and I really wished the author would have spent time fleshing it out a bit more, but I did enjoy it for the short duration that it lasted.

You might try Garland's The Tesseract--you can see some of the same stylistic tendencies, but it's filled out instead of minimalist like The Coma. Every time I return to Garland's work, I have to think that as far as the novels go, The Coma is probably the weakest...

I'll have to look into them. because I really did like Garland's style.

21. Comes the Dark by Michael Prescott
Pages: 396
Rating: 4/5
I went into this book thinking it was just another thriller, but like any good thriller, I was quickly entralled and couldn't put it down, eagerly devouring pages to see what would happen next. This one started out at a blistering pace and never relented throughout. I really enjoyed it, I may have to look into more of this guy's work (of course, my "authors I need to read more of" list is so huge I could almost publish it as a book itself...)

Pretty good recommendation! :) I think that I have a thriller category for the genre challenge that I am doing, so I will keep this title in mind. Have a great day!
--BJ

22. The Book of the Lion by Michael Cadnum
Pages: 204
Rating: 2/5
A young adult historical fiction set during the crusades. It was pretty bad, the characters were flat, the beginning of the book was a bit random and hard to follow at times, and there was so little dialogue that by the end of the book I felt I barely even knew who the characters really were. Wouldn't recommend it.

23. The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks
Pages: 402
Rating: 4/5
A great finish to the series. It was a little repetitive, it almost felt like he copy/pasted the same paragraph over a couple times, but overall I was pleased with the conclusion.

24. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
Pages: 386
Rating: 5/5
This is a fantastic historical fiction set during the battle of Thermopylae. I loved it, and will probably post a full review later.
Edit: Review posted.

I added this one to my ever-growing wishlist. :)
--BJ

Haha, yea, I know how those wishlists go. Ever feel like your wishlist is longer than the actual books that make up the list? =P

It is getting rather long. And somewhat disorganized. If I knew what I was doing, I would make a spreadsheet. Alas, I do not!
--BJ

The Muse Asylum by David Czuchlewski
Pages: 225
Rating: 5/5
This book took me completely by surprise. I actually first saw it here on librarything. I had never heard of the author, but the tags for it interested me at the time and the cover seemed interesting, so I just added it to my library list to check out during my next trip. I really didn't expect anything like this. The story was very unique and imaginitive, the writing intelligent and thought-provoking, and the characters were all deep and very well developed. I would honestly recommend this to anyone who really likes books. I think it would make a fantastic book for a book club of some sort, there is lots of room for discussion. Highly recommended.

Darkness Falls by Kyle Mills
Pages: 301
Rating: 3/5
This book certainly has an interesting plot. Some radical environmentalist-gone-terrorists take a bacteria that eats oil (originally intended to clean oil spills) and begin releasing it into many of the worlds largest oils fields (Ghawar for example) and it begins to spread and leave the planet oil-less, which then creates a sort of "end of the world" scenario. I thought the concept seemed a bit over-the-top when I read the summary, but it wasn't so bad. And neither was the book. Nothing spectacular, but an interesting read.

27. The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Pages: 204
Rating: 2/5
This book was hard to read. Not because it was heavy on the science, it's actually a simple 'adventure' story that happens to take place on a distant planet. I just couldn't get into the story. It wasn't terrible, it had some interesting points, but I just couldn't bring myself to read more than a chapter or 2 at a time. I might not have finished it if it wasn't such a small book.

28. Year Zero by Jeff Long
Pages: 406
Rating: 4/5
A terrific apocalyptic story that unforunately ended too abruptly. I loved 90 percent of it but it just ended to abruptly and left too many things left unanswered to warrant a 5-star rating. Still a fantastic book though.

If you enjoyed year zero you might also enjoy Descent by Jeff Long. It was a British Fantasy Society Best Novel nominee in 1999. It's a variation of the hollow earth ideas of an earlier time. To quote the Baltimore Sun;

""Long's smart and epic tale takes the reader into a Dantesque world, a journey to the center of the earth for the new millennium. And what is found there is both horrific and entrancing: a system of tunnels that network beneath the earth, and homonid relatives of Homo sapiens evolved to live in the depths of what appears to be hell."

I planned on doing that actually. Descent sounds really good and I plan on looking for it. It's on my massively enormous wishlist.

I went to the library today, and I took the aforementioned MASSIVE wishlist hoping to take it down a notch. I walked out with 5 books... ...none of them were from the list.

I'm not making any progress here. =P

I have a similar problem, Ape! My local library has a "Quickpicks" shelf right when you walk in. They pick a theme, usually it's whatever holiday is coming up or the season or whatever, and they've got any book that relates to that theme somehow out on the shelf. No matter how hard I try to resist, I tend to walk out with something from that shelf.

I figure, if the books I picked up weren't on my TBR at the time, they just weren't on it YET. At least, that's what makes me feel better about the lack of progress :)

Haha, that IS a positive way to look at it. :)

I actually refuse to take a pen into the library, because if I do my wishlist will practically double in size before I walk out. D'oh.

29. The Turnaround by George Pelecanos
Pages: 294
Rating: 3/5
Pelecanos did an amazing job developing the characters in this book. I grew very attached to them quickly and cared very much for them when they were in danger. But sometimes it felt like the book was just droning along, and he had this annoying thing where he'd refer to the characters by different names all the time (sometimes their first name, sometimes their last) which would get confusing in the beginning. But overall I liked it, one of those books I'd probably recommend to people interested in the genre.

30. The Bone Parade by Mark Nykanen
Pages: 324
Rating: 3/5
A solid horror novel about an artist who kidnaps families and then tortures them so that he can capture their fear in bronze. Some nice twists and some very interesting characters. I think the scariest part about this book was the fact that I was siding with the serial killer in the end. 0.0

31. Jerusalem by Cecelia Holland
Pages: 320
Rating: 4/5
I wasn't intending on checking this book out, but it caught my eye while in the library, and after reading the not-so-good The Book of the Lion last month I thought I'd try another one set during the same time period. I'm not a huge fan of Knighthood and military/historical fiction set during the crusades, but I loved this one. A great read. It's too bad the ending was so...depressing.

32. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
Pages: 179
Rating: 4/5
A beautifully written little novel about time. Each chapter is a single dream of Einstein's about how time flows. What would happen if time skipped, or if each city's time moved at a different pace, if time moved so fast people lived their entire lives in 1 day or if time flowed slower at higher altitudes? Those are just some of the dreams/theories mentioned, and I found every last one of them fascinating. I felt like I learned a lot from the book, intentionally or not, it stresses that you don't want to live your life to fast or to slow, or put too much/little focus on the past or future, to not be a slave to a clock but to still be aware of it. It's a nice short read that I would recommend to just about everyone.

33. The Descent by Jeff Long
Pages: 450
Rating: 4/5
Jeff Long is definitely good at taking something like a simple thriller and turning it into something so much more. Once again though, despite the fact that it's REALLY good, I just felt like there was something missing. I think it could have been a lot more terrifying, but the "bad guys" became too human I think and I became less concerned about them. Still a gripping novel though. I really liked it. I'll have to check out the sequel the next time I take a trip to the library.

34. The Shepherd by Frederick Forsythe
Pages: 80
Rating: 3/5
A little short story about a pilot who has an electrical failure in midflight and has to struggle to bring his plane down again. It's actually a nice little novel that would be great to read around Christmas time.

I almost didn't count this as a book since it was so short, but I'm about to read The Stand (unabridged) by Stephen King (1,100 pages) so I figure that balances things out. :P

Hey guys, unfortunately my computer has been down for nearly a month or so, so I wasn't able to update. I'm back up and running now though so here is everything I've read since my last post.

35. The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition by Stephen King
Pages: 1,153
Rating: 4/5
(Finished June 21)
I thought this book was great for awhile, the post-apocalypse section of the book get's an easy 5/5 for me, however, about 800 pages in and I was just about exhausted. I really question why I opted to buy the extended edition - it was ridiculously large.

36. Aliens Vs. Predator Omnibus, Volume 1
Pages: 456
Rating: 4/5
(Finished June 23)
This is the first comic book I've ever read, and I really enjoyed it. My only complaint is the fact that the art (and some of the story) was written/drawn by different people in different books (this was an omnibus containing 7-8 comics.) It was cool seeing the different art styles as a first-time reader, but I would prefer some more consistency if I were to stick with a lenghty series.

37. Deeper by Jeff Long
Pages: 420
Rating: 3/5
(Finished June 28)
The sequel to The Descent, which I read about a month ago. I really did like this book, but it just felt like a re-hashing of the first novel. Also, the ending was a bit sudden and abrupt and left too much open. It seems there will be a 3rd novel, but I wish this one would have been more complete.

38. The Egyptologist by Aruthur Phillips
Pages: 383
Rating: 3/5
(Finished July 4)
This novel was fantastically well-written with a lot of intelligence and complexity. I loved that aspect of it. The problem was it felt like it was just dragging on and on and on. About 2/3's of the way through, despite the fact that I was enthralled in the plot, I felt like I was just waiting for it to end. It felt much longer than what it was.

39. The Red Raider by William Colt MacDonald
Pages: 235
Rating: 3/5
(Finished July 7)
This is the first Western I've ever read, and I grabbed it from the library as a spur of the moment decision. It certainly wasn't bad by any means, but it just wasn't my style. I wouldn't mind a historical fiction set during the time period, but I just couldn't get into the whole cowboys and indians "YEEE-HAW" atmosphere. Maybe I'll experiment with the genre again in the future, but not now.

40. A Choir of Ill-Children by Tom Piccirilli
Pages: 225
Rating: 4/5
(Finished July 10)
The imagery in this novel is frightening. The creepy atmosphere was pulled of amazingly well in the novel. My complaint about it is that the plot felt a little weak. But it's a horror novel, so I wasn't necessarily reading it for it's plot.

41. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Pages: 244
Rating: 4/5
This is my first novel by Philip K. Dick and I really enjoyed it. You can tell a little bit that it's an old science fiction novel (it's the year 2020 and people use casette tapes) but aside from a few of those minor instances it feels very modern. I'm tend to be more of a contemporary guy in general, not just with books but with movies/video games/music as well, and I tend to stay away from the 'classics' that are before my time and opt for more modern books/music/movies(not always of course, I've read Homer and Tolkien and whatnot, but I read contemporary stuff 90 percent of the time,) but this book appears to be timeless.

42. A Scattering of Jades by Alexander C. Irvine
Pages: 428
Rating: 3/5
The beginning of this novel was a mess. It took me a week to read the first 150 pages or so. But after the plot began to develop a bit and the characters became a little bit more interesting I began to really like it. It was very much like Saturn Rukh - which I read earlier this year - in the sense that I'm glad I didn't put it down 100 pages in because I would have missed out on a really good book. Sometimes it's just worth the effort to plow through a bad introduction.

43. The Preservationist by David Maine
Pages: 230
Rating: 4/5
A somewhat humorous take on the story of Noah's Ark. Maine did a fantastic job of bringing the chracters to life and giving them vivid personalities, and while I knew everything was going to turn out ok from the beginning, I still eagerly devoured the pages to see what would happen next. While I lean very strongly against all forms of religion, I still enjoyed this tale immensely.

44. Predator Omnibus Volume 1
Pages: 427
Rating: 3/5
75 percent of the omnibus was fantastic. The first 300 pages are composed of three 100-page 'graphic novels' that all feature a continuous storyline following a single character with a cohesive plot and a consistent artist. However, after 300 pages, with 100 more to go I figured it would be another 100 pager to conclude the story...but no. With a cliffhanger ending at the end of the 3rd comic, the final 100 pages are composed of a few short generic comics that have nothing to do with the initial plot. If this isn't bad enough, after I looked around I found out that the Concrete Jungle/Cold War/Dark River storyline was actually never completed. This is what I hate about comics so far. They always seem to be short stories with cliffhanger endings and plots that never really end...which I find to be incredibly annoying. If I could find more 'graphic novels,' That being a 300-400 page story with an actual conclusion, I'd love it...but I really don't like this format that I've read so far.

45. The Laughter of Dark Gods
Pages: 248
Rating: 3/5
This was just a collection of short stories set in the Warhammer universe. I really don't know anything about the game it's based on, but I still enjoyed it. Like any collection of short stories by many different authors, there were good ones and there were bad ones, but the good definitely outweighed the bad.

46. The Incredible Hulk: Return of the Monster by Bruce Jones
Pages: 346 (Aprox.)
Rating: 4/5
My 3rd try at comic books. This one I rather enjoyed, for the most part. The art was mostly spectacular, except for a few 'extra' comics at the end which had a strange art style that made the characters look like children. I was actually quite interested in the plot (read the whole thing in a day) and it did have atleast SOMEWHAT of an ending. Pretty cool stuff.

47. Mars Crossing by Geoffrey A. Landis
Pages: 331
Rating: 4/5
I wasn't sure what to think about this book because it was another hard science fiction, much like Saturn Rukh which I read earlier this year, but this one was great! The book was divided into very short chapters (over 150 chapters in 330 pages) so whenever the author got technical, it would never last for more than a couple of paragraphs because the chapters are so short, so it didn't feel like a physics textbook like Saturn Rukh did from time to time. The plot was great too, a nice "cozy" adventure/survival story in between all the technical stuff made it much easier to read. This was a great hard science fiction book, for someone like me who doesn't read it regularly. :)

48. Disquiet by Julia Leigh
Pages: 121
Rating: 4/5
I loved the atmosphere of this little novella. It has this very calm, quiet feel while the subject is very dark and intense. Disquiet, in fact, is a brilliant title. It's perfect for the book.

49. River Runs Red by Jeffrey J. Mariotte
Pages: 324
Rating: 3/5
An interesting horror/thriller with characters I mostly REALLY liked. I'm surprised so few people have read/entered this novel here on the site, it's pretty good.

50. Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917-1918 by Bryon Farwell
Pages: 314
Rating: 3/5
A lot of the book was very well written, and I found much of it to be incredibly fascinating and enjoyable to read...but then there were other parts where I was bored for 15-20 pages as the author explored a subject I found dull, and I had a hard time getting through them from time to time. Fortunately there was MUCH more good than bad, and the book turned out to be well worth the read for me. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone not interested in the subject though.

And thats 50 books! Hurray! I didn't expect to finish so early, with 3 months to spare. Hmmm, I wonder how many more I can read until the end of the year? =P I don't think I can hit 75, but maybe 65-70. :)

Books read: 50
Pages: 16,658
Date: August 27

51. Bump in the Night by Isabell Holland
Pages: 185
Rating: 3/5
Average suspense/thriller. A nice quick and enjoyable read but nothing spectacular.

Jarhead by Anthony Swofford
Pages: 260
Rating: 4/5
I saw the movie first, years ago, and it was one of my favorite movies of all time. Had no idea it was a book until I stumbled upon it at the library. I really liked it. Seeing the movie first hurt it a little, but despite that I still couldn't put it down. Very enjoyable.

53. The Sky People by S.M. Stirling
Pages: 301
Rating: 4/5
I loved this book. It's very simple adventure/science fiction that I couldn't put down (Ok ok, it's football season and I didn't read much on the weekend...but you get my point.) I'm hoping I'll see the 2nd novel in the series in the library my next trip.

54. Haunted America by Michael Norman
Pages: 114
Rating: 1/5
An absolutely dreadful little book about "real" hauntings in North America. It really makes me sad that people can still believe in this kind of stuff today. :(

55. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made by Norman F. Cantor
Pages: 232
Rating: 2/5
I started this book thinking it was going to be about the Black Death, and how it changed the world. Instead, I was excessively lectured on medieval politics and social structure with brief passages about post-plague ramfications. The history was dull and it didn't feel worth my time to read through it to learn how it changed after the plague. The short chapters discussing post-plague Europe were definitely interesting, but it wasn't worth reading through the bulky history chapters to get to them. While it did have it's high points, I can't really recommend this one.

56. Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
Pages: 345
Rating: 5/5
I tried to read this once, but I just couldn't get into it. The beginning was just a little bit confusing, and I wasn't really enjoying it. I tried it again after reading about the setting (which cleared up my confusion) and I LOVED it. The problem is the beginning is just a little vague and it's easy to get a little lost, I think. I'm glad I gave it another try, it's got to be at the top of my list of favorite fantasy novels.

57. Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
Pages: 390
Rating: 4/5
I finished this (near) 400 pager in a little over 2 days. It read really fast and I just couldn't put it down. Loved it.

58. A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong
Pages: 149
Rating: 3/5
A fascinating look at how mythology/religion has evolved as the human race has evolved, and how our modern rational/scientific way of thinking could lead to some serious problems in the future. While I disagreed with the last bit, I can understand her arguments and why religion can be important to keep people in check. It's a little short though, so not a lot of depth unfortunately.

59. Atticus by Ron Hansen
Pages: 247
Rating: 4/5
A touching story about a father's love for his son. I really liked this book. I checked it out from the library and it needs to be returned soon, but I think I'll wind up reading this one again in the future (and I rarely do that.)

60. Detective Story by Imre Kertesz
Pages: 112
Rating: 3/5
While the book had a good message and eventually led up to a strong finish, the bulk of the book (despite it's small size) was a little dry and I had a hard time getting into it at first. It's not bad.

61. The Vietnam War by Maurice Isserman (Tags not working)
Pages: 131
Rating: 2/5
A brief overview of the Vietnam war. I was pretty bored for the first 50 pages or so. Lot's of political back-history that I didn't care very much about. Also felt the information wasn't the most accurate (for example, he mentions that the death counts were often skewed by Americans, yet he continues to use them as if they are true.) There are much better books on the Vietnam war than this.

62. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Pages: 445
Rating: 3/5
This book could have had 5-stars, but there was a lot of little things wrong with it. Full review posted if you want more details.

63. Manga Shakespeare: Julius Caesar
Pages: 207
Rating: 3/5
An interesting combination of manga and classical literature. It wasn't bad, though the futuristic setting and middle english dialogue was kind of awkward, like that movie that was a modern take on Romeo and Juliet that was made a while back.

64. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston
Pages: 240
Rating: 5/5
Wow. This is scary...VERY scary. The Cobra Event was pretty horrifying, but it was centered around a fictional plot. This, however, is nonfiction, and there is definitely a lot of scary information in here. Both books are definitely worth reading. This one gives you the facts, and The Cobra Event is sort of like, "So, now you know the facts, now here's an example of how it could happen." Definitely an eye-opener. I will certainly be reading The Hot Zone by this author when I can get my hands on it.

65. In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S. M. Stirling
Pages: 304
Rating: 4/5
Sequel to The Sky People, which I read last month. The Sky People took place on Venus, which was covered in jungles and inhabited by dinosaurs and primitive neanderthals. In the Courts of the Crimson Kings takes place on Mars, which is covered in deserts and inhabited by a race of people highly technologically advanced. A very interesting contrast, and I really enjoyed it.

66. Fleeing Hitler by Hanna Diamond
Pages: 219
Rating: 3/5
A fascinating look at the Parisian exodus during the German invasion in 1940. I found the bulk of the novel to be engrossing, although it did drag a bit once it delved too far into French politics. Still, a good read.

67. Unnatural Selection by Aaron Elkins
Pages: 264
Rating: 4/5
A witty little mystery novel by an author I'd never heard of. The cover caught my eye and I grabbed the book from the library shelf for that reason alone. Very enjoyable, Gideon Oliver is a great character and I hope to read more of this books in the future.

Wow!! I must say, I'm jealous on how fast you can read and many books you can read. Half of these books are on my wishlist, and I'm really hoping to tackle at least some of them soon when winter sets in and I don't feel like cycling outside.

Obviously you've read hundreds of books so I'm curious if you've read:

Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind - The ONLY book in my library that I've read 5 times. Fantasy book and I absolutely love this book. Other books I only read once or twice (aside from the Harry Potter series, every time I got a new HP book, I go back to the first book and continue until the new book).

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi - Graphic novel of a woman suppressed in her country. I found this provoking. Easy read, and thought you'll enjoy it, since you've been reading graphic novels/comics. Get the Complete one, not the one that's broken in parts.

Keep reading. :-P

That's all I can think of right now.

I haven't read either of those. In fact, I haven't read ANY Terry Goodkind at all. For some strange reason, my library doesn't carry a lot of his books (and I'm pimarily a library user.)

Anyways, I checked the online card catalog. They don't have Wizard's First Rule, but they have Persepolis. I'll have to check for it the next time I'm in there. :)

68. The Wrath of Alexander the Great by Terry McCarthy
Pages: 381
Rating: 4/5
Review copy I won in the Member's Giveaway ssection. It had a rough start and I was very frustrated with it in the beginning...but the more I read it the more I liked it, and it wound up being a really good book. Full review soon.

69. The Overlook by Michael Connelly
Pages: 225
Rating: 4/5
A well written crime/thriller that I won in the members giveaway area.

I'd type more, but my wrist is killing me write now. Let's just say I really liked it.

70. Omega Sol by Scott MacKay
Pages: 357
Rating: 3/5
Not quite as good as Phytosphere, but still a very enjoyable novel. It baffles me that this had a 1.8 star rating here on LT. Granted it's not the best book I've ever read, but it deserves a lot better than that.

71. Death's Acre by Bill Bass
Pages: 280
Rating: 5/5
I didn't know a book about decomposing bodies would be so pleasant to read. It was a bit gruesome at times, but I still kept devouring the pages (unlike my lunch, which I couldn't eat while reading this at times.) A great book for fans of decomposing corpses...errr, I mean fans of forensic science. =P

72. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Pages: 228
Rating: 4/5
This is the first classic I've read since high school. It's also probably the first classic I've ever read that I've enjoyed. Attribute to maturity or simply that it's a genre that I actually like, I don't know, but I might have to investigate a few more books like this - that is, more than a few years old. :P

73. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
Pages: 256
Rating: 5/5
Wow! I don't think I possess the vocabulary to describe how much I loved this book. Let's just say it's one of the better books I've ever read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

74. DemonWars: Trial by Fire by R.A. Salvatore
Pages: 159
Rating: 2/5
Basically this is exactly what I expected. I was looking for a comic to read, and this one was fantasy-based and in color, so I simply grabbed it up for a quick read. Not great, but it helped pass Sunday morning as I was waiting for the football games to start. :)

75. Soldier of Light by Tom Cool
Pages: 319
Rating: 3/5
A rather interesting post-apocalyptic book where a select few survivors start gaining psychic abilities...which is explained with a heavy dose of science fiction. It was pretty good, but I liked it best when it was a simple apocalyptic story.

And that's 75 books. WOW! I didn't not expect to read that many books in 1 year. I wasn't even sure I'd make 50. I guess unemployment has atleast 1 benefit. D'oh!

Stats:
Books Read: 75
Pages: 23,008
Date: December 4

76. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
Pages: 153
Rating: 4/5
THANK YOU AilurophileDJ, for recommending this to me. I really enjoyed it! I'm going to have to badger someone at the library to get the 2nd half of the series in.

77. The Little Book of the Big Bang by Craig J. Hogan
Pages: 173
Rating: 2/5
While there were some enjoyable moments, when he delved into the more complex physics involved in the subject it was lost on me. I was in a bit over my head with this one, unfortunately.

78. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Pages: 300
Rating: 5/5
Richard Preston just doesn't disappoint. Another great novel on the potential threat of viruses. This one focuses on ebola, and I loved it. The book that is, not ebola. :o

79. Flight (Volume 3)
Pages: 345
Rating: 4/5
Gah, I hate my browser. I had a nice long post about how good this was, and then lost it. Let's just say it's a great comic book that I highly recommend!

-.-

80. Panic in Level 4 by Richard Preston
Pages: 219
Rating: 4/5
Another great book by Richard Preston. I was a little unsure going into this one. When I saw that it was a collection of essays from various subjects such as Mathematics and Art, I wasn't so sure I would enjoy it. Guess what? I loved it! I'm a math-moron, but Richard Preston managed to get me excited about Pi. It's amazing. I wasn't sure if I was going to try his other books outside of biology, but now that I've read this, I'm confident I'll love First Light...and I'm going to have to check it out of the library soon!

81. Stiff by Mary Roach
Pages: 294
Rating: 4/5
A humorous look at what happens to people after they die. Mary Roach's humor does a great job of distracting you from the morbidity of the subject, which gives her the ability to deliver informing accounts of things like dissection, organ harvesting, and head transplants without making you want to turn your head away and put the book down. Of course, having recently read things like Death's Acre, this wasn't so bad for me.

(Coincidently, The Body Farm made an appearance here)

And that seems to be it, 81 books in a single year. WOW! I never would have expected to read that much. Here are the (useless) stats. =)

Books: 81
Pages: 24,492
Average book length: 302 pages
Pages read per day: 67
per week: 470
per month: 2,041
On average, I finished a book about every: 4.5 days.