Zoe's 2010 Challenge

I'm back for more! I love the 75 Book Challenge people. I don't think I'll actually make 75 books this year, but that's not really the point.

My reading for this year will be largely based on my 1010 categories: Dewey Decimal Challenge; Ancient World; Math/Science; Foreign Languge; Dystopias: Fact and Fiction; Fairies, Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Myth; Fantasy and Supernatural; Education and Intelligence; New York; and Just Because.

Suggestions are always appreciated--by me if not by my TBR pile! I will be making an effort to keep my stacks of unread books under control, so I'm also going to keep track of the books I buy in this thread.

Books Read in 2010

January
1. Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
2. Elisha's Bones
3. Soulless
4. The Dead and the Gone

February
5. When You Reach Me
6. Shiver
7. Mr. Impossible
8. Born to Run

March
9. The Anubis Gates
10. Briar Rose
11. Puppet Master
12. The Things That Keep Us Here
13. His Majesty's Dragon
14. Throne of Jade
15. Black Powder War
16. Empire of Ivory
17. Victory of Eagles
18. Three Cups of Tea
19. Changeless

Books Acquired 2010

For Fun--Reading

1. Shiver
2. Soulless
3. I've Got a Home in Glory Land
4. The Inimitable Jeeves
5. Thank You, Jeeves
6. The Dead and the Gone
7. Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau
8. The Anubis Gates
9. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
10. The Carbon Diaries, 2015
11. Puppet Master
12. The Things That Keep Us Here
13. Victory of Eagles
14. How I Live Now
15. On Stranger Tides
16. Changeless

For Fun--Reference
1. Florida Keys and Everglades

School-Related--Reading
1. Science and Civilization in Islam
2. Scandalous Knowledge
3. Inventing Superstition

School-Related--Reference
1. The Epic of Gilgamesh
2. A Grammar of the Arabic Language, Vol I
3. A Grammar of the Arabic Language, Vol II
4. Lengths, Widths, Surfaces
5. Mathematical Cuneiform Texts

Books Acquired 2009

1. Travels with Herodotus
2. The Silver Pigs
3. Elisha's Bones
4. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
5. Much Obliged, Jeeves
6. Blandings Castle and Elsewhere
7. Eclipse (previously read)
8. Time Out 1000 Things to Do in New York
9. The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall
10. Interworld
11. The Light-Bearer's Daughter
12. Obernewtyn
13. War for the Oaks
14. Edison's Eve
15. Galileo's Daughter
16. Brave New World Revisited
17. Enna Burning
18. The Diamond of Darkhold
19. Aladdin's Lamp
20. In Arabian Nights
21. Homer's History: Mycenaean or Dark Age?
22. Secrets of the Exodus
23. The World of Herodotus
24. Beyond the Edge of the Sea
25. Ornament of the World
26. Inside the Apple
27. Homer and Mycenae
28. Three Cups of Tea
29. The Host
30. Wise Child
31. Motel of the Mysteries
32. The Arabian Nights: A Companion
33. A History of the Ancient Near East
34. The Luxe
35. Daughter of Venice
36. Flow Down Like Silver
37. Across the Endless River
38. Straw Into Gold
39. The Lost World of Old Europe
40. The Heavenly Writing
41. $20 Per Gallon
42. Ancient Astrology
43. Murder on Astor Place
44. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language
45. The Blank Slate
46. The Eagle of the Ninth

Starred! Looking forward to the fairies/folklore category; I have a number of those sitting around myself that I want to read, and am always interested in reading new books in that area. I have a bit of a folklore/mythology obsession, you might say :) Please, fuel the fire! Heehee.

Welcome back!

Please, fuel the fire! Heehee.

I'll do my best! :D

>5 drneutron: Thanks!

I have a Dystopia category as well for my 1010 challenge. I'm excited to see what you'll read for that one!

If it's anything like this year's, a lot of it may end up being filled with fairly fluffy children's/YA books. But this time I'm also hoping to focus more on the non-fiction dystopias (about peak oil, etc.). And maybe I'll fit in either The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake for Atwood in April.

I just read The Handmaid's Tale. It was amazing, definitely one of my top reads. Oryx and Crake is on my TBR list for next year.

Oh, I'm glad to hear that! The Handmaid's Tale has been sitting neglected in my TBR pile for probably five years now, so any encouragement to read it is definitely appreciated.

Glad to see you back, Zoe!

I read Oryx and Crake in 2009 (my first ever Atwood book) and really enjoyed it. I have The Year of the Flood home from the library now to read - it would also fit your Dystopian category.

I have not yet read anything by Atwood that I didn't enjoy. My favorite, though, is The Handmaid's Tale

I'm looking forward to seeing what ends up in your "Education and Intelligence" category, Zoe. See you next year!

I'm glad to hear all the good things about Atwood. Maybe I'll end up reading more than one of her books. Of course, I make no promises about anything.

Thanks for stopping by, Bonnie! I'm looking forward to that category too. I have a lot of relevant books that I've acquired over the years, but I'm tempted by several that I don't yet own as well....

Got ya starred Zoe.
Boy, I really missed the boat on The Handmaids Tale but I'm trying Atwood again in January.
Hope you enjoy it more than I.

Got ya starred as well, Zoe! Your dystopia category looks interesting. Waiting to see exactly which books in that category you'll read...

Carmenere, I have a feeling I could easily be one of the ones who "misses the boat" there too. I think Atwood is more literary than I'd usually like. Still, I won't know until I try....

I'm excited to see all the interest in my Dystopias category! It wasn't in my original 1010 plan, and I only squeezed it in a few days ago. I'm already glad I did.

Also, have I mentioned lately how much I love this group? So many friendly posts before the challenge has even started!

>17 _Zoe_:: I had to read The Handmaid's Tale for a class and found it quite a refreshingly easy read in comparison. Easy to understand, not many big words, a good (slightly creepy) story overall. Lots of literary stuff you could theorize about but a good book to just kick back with too :)

>18 RebeccaAnn: Sounds good to me. I may even end up getting to this one before the scheduled 1010 Atwood in April!

From memory, I think The Handmaid's Tale is less 'literary' than Oryx and Crake. Both were good reads, but I liked The Handmaid's Tale better, so I'd recommend reading that one first... Dystopians are always fun, as a general category; I'm in the midst of reading Atlas Shrugged from a friend, which I think qualifies well under that category too, although I can't agree with the philosophy underlying it...

I like your categories. I can't wait to see what you read and what gets suggested.

You have a lot of really interesting categories. I've got you starred and I can't wait to see what you read for them :-)

Hey, Zoe! Starred you again. Can't wait to see what you read this year. The dystopia category and the fairy tale category both sound especially intriguing.

Thanks for all your kind words about my categories! I hope my reading lives up to your expectations ;)

#23 - I agree. I love dystopian fiction, so I'll certainly be back here to find some good rec's!

I love The Handmaid's Tale too. I liked Oryx and Crake but not nearly as much as The Handmaid's Tale. I have Surfacing and Cat's Eye waiting to be read. I am not sure if they are dystopian. I do love Atwood's writing though. I think it is very accessible and fairly easy to read. I am not one to linger over passages or anything. But when I finished the books, I definately had something to think about.

I especially like your Just Because category. What a great idea. I've got you starred now.

Just Because is probably my most important category! I don't think I could do the challenge without it.

Just saying hi, Zoe!

Hi to you too! Thanks for stopping by :)

I'd set up a dystopian category for my 1010 challenge -- and then found this thread! Atwood is def. a good idea -- I've got both year of the flood and oryx & crake on my list. Handmaid's Tale is a book I know well and have just finished re-reading, so I reluctantly left it off that list. But it's good and very accessible. Two kind of related books are The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Both raise interesting questions about the individual's needs/wishes vs those of the broader society. I'll be reading Jasper Fforde's about-to-be-published book and discovering some classics (Fahrenheit 451) and rediscovering a few books not read since the 80s (Orwell & Huxley). My real challenge there will be DeLillo, I think.

Oh, thanks for all the ideas! I'd never even heard of The Unit; it sounds very interesting. And I didn't know Jasper Fforde was writing a dystopia! I've never read any of his books, but it's not what I would have expected from him. I have read and really enjoyed Never Let Me Go, but I wasn't actually a fan of Fahrenheit 451. And I finally got around to reading Brave New World just this year, so it's not yet time for a reread.

If you haven't already read it, Ayn Rand's Anthem may be a good one to add to your dystopia list. I picked it up to give Rand a try (without investing myself in one of her tomes), and really enjoyed it. The Signet centennial edition includes a reproduction of the original British publication with Rand's editorial marks.

For some reason Ayn Rand has never particularly appealed to me, so maybe that would be a good one to start with. Do you think the editorial marks add to the reading experience?

I read the unmarked version first, and only skimmed the marked copy. According to the editors, Rand rewrote the book for the American publication in order to make it more brief and concise, and to eliminate purple prose. It's interesting to see what she felt she needed to take out, but I don't know that it really changed my reading of it in general. I have yet to read any other Rand, so I'm not sure how it compares. If you give it a try I hope you like it!

I've read Anthem in the Project Gutenberg edition. It's pretty different from The Fountainhead and (from what I gather) Atlas Shrugged, in that it's a short story (19,070 words; long short story or short novella) and it's very stark writing with little characterization. The philosophic position is clear, but there's no space wasted on speeches. I'd say it's one of my favorite dystopias; I don't believe in it anymore than I believe in 1984, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it. It's probably a decent start to Ayn Rand as an author, but it wasn't a whole lot like the Fountainhead.

Oh, that's much shorter than I'd expected! With two recommendations and not at all long, I really should get around to it sooner rather than later.

I like your categories for your 2010. I'll be interested to see what books you cover in the Facts and Fiction category. In your Foreign Language category, are you planning on reading translated works or works in a different language, and if the latter, what language will you read in?

Zoe, I can't remember if you were among those who read On the Beach in 2009 or not? If you weren't, may I recommend that for your Dystopia category?

Hi cameling! I'm planning to read either books written in a foreign language or books that help with learning a foreign language. The only foreign language I can really read decently is French, but I'm also hoping to get through some German and Greek in dual-language editions. I have an Arabic grammar on the list too.

Flissp, I think I talked about On the Beach in 2009 but didn't actually read it :). I started it once before and didn't finish it, but I should probably give it another chance because lots of people here loved it.

I would so love to read some popular fiction that had German on one side, with the English on the other. Much better than juggling two books and a dictionary. Tell me if you find anything good, Zoe!

Will do! I have a feeling popular fiction isn't the most common in that format, though. Currently all I have is a book of Grimm's fairy tales.

Thanks for stopping by my thread! Starred for future reading!!

I'm starring this one--it looks like you're going to be reading some cool stuff this year. Good luck!

Thanks!

Hi, got you starred. Seems to be some nice books here.

Hi FrkFrigg! Thanks for stopping by.

I realized that in order to choose a book for the TIOLI challenge, I first need to get some vague idea of what I'm planning to read this month.... So, here's a tentative plan:

Herodotus Book 1
Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
Voyage au Centre de la Terre (already started)
Les Trois Mousquetaires
The Heavenly Writing (already started)
Ancient Astrology (barely started)
The Lost World of Old Europe (barely started)
Shiver

I hope I haven't forgotten any impending group reads that I was planing to take part in....

For my TIOLI challenge, I'll go with Finish a Book in Foreign Language. I think my best bet is Voyage au Centre de la Terre. "Foreign language" is used loosely here in the sense of "not my native language"--French isn't actually foreign in Canada.

Ooh -- I could spend whole year just having fun with fairy and folk tales! Especially adaptations/rewrites. For awhile I was on a Rumpelstiltskin kick, A Curse Dark as Gold is a great read.

Thanks for that suggestion! I've been sort of on a Rumpelstiltskin kick myself--I read Spinners and The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, and I have Straw Into Gold waiting in my TBR pile. On reflection, it seems that I'm mostly just copying Linda's (Whisper1's) Rumpelstiltskin kick, but that works too :)

If you're still looking for dystopias, I'll recommend Battle Royale. I was impressed by it.

Thanks for reminding me about that one. I've heard good things about it in the past, so I really should get around to it one of these days....

I enjoyed A Curse Dark as Gold, too! Have you read Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days, Zoe? It was one of my favorite reads of last year, and it's a retelling of the Maid Maleen fairy tale.

No, I haven't read Book of a Thousand Days yet. I've heard enough good things about it that I really should, though! I enjoyed The Goose Girl by the same author last year, so I was thinking that I should read the sequels to that before moving on to her other books--especially since I already own the first sequel! But for some reason it didn't really appeal to me, so maybe I should just go straight to Book of a Thousand Days.

Also, the year got off to a slow start for me, but now that I've finished two essays I finally had a chance to read a book!



1. Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia. This is the third book in a children's series by Brandon Sanderson, who also wrote Elantris and Mistborn and the most recent Wheel of Time book. The tone of these books is completely different, though; they're generally light and silly with a lot of over-the-top humour. I was loving this book at first, but eventually I found the writing a bit grating. Still, I enjoyed both the tone and the story overall, and I'm definitely planning to continue with this series. I would recommend these books, though I know they're not for everyone--but you have to start with the first one, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians.

I read The Goose Girl last year and liked it, too, but haven't been able to get into the sequels yet, either. I've started Enna Burning at least twice and put it down a few pages in. IMO, Book of a Thousand Days is a much better book than The Goose Girl. It's set in a fantasy world based on medieval Mongolia, which is a really great change from the usual Eurocentric fantasies we see. And the heroine is absolutely wonderful, as is the description.

Book of a Thousand Days is very good! I hope you have a chance to read it, Zoe.

Marcia, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who set down Enna Burning after a few pages! I really don't understand what's wrong, but at least now I know I'm not crazy.

I will definitely get to Book of a Thousand Days eventually, it's just a matter of when.

2. Elisha's Bones

Ah, some guilt assuaged! I have to admit, this is an ER book that I received last January and was then reluctant to read for various reasons. It's an archaeological thriller, and the bones of the title reportedly have the power to bring back the dead to life....

Here's my review: I have to say, this book was not nearly as bad as I'd expected. I requested it from Early Reviewers because I was intrigued by the description, but came to expect the worst when I found out after the fact that a) It was from a Christian publisher and b) The average rating was below 3 stars, which is pretty terrible.

My first concern turned out to be entirely unfounded. Despite coming from a Christian publisher, this book isn't particularly preachy; the main character is extremely skeptical about the existence of God throughout most of the book, and as a non-Christian I found nothing to be troubled by even at the end.

My second concern was a bit more valid; this isn't a great book by any means. Especially after the halfway point, I got a bit tired of the repetitious nature of the plot: Protagonist visits old friend to ask for help. Old friend is assassinated in front of protagonist, while protagonist barely escapes with his life. Rinse and repeat. Still, the book wasn't nearly as awful as it could have been either. There was enough of interest to keep me reading, and I did ultimately come to care about the characters. I've certainly received ER books that were much worse. Considering that this is an Advanced Reader Copy of a debut book, I'm perhaps inclined to be more forgiving than some. While I can't really recommend this novel in itself, I do think the author has potential for the future.

#57 Ah good to know I'm not alone with an extremely out of date ER review pending! (must read that book....)

Sounds like one to miss nonetheless...

Ha, I'm also glad to know that I'm not alone!

I'll do better next time, I promise....

Whew ... this one flies past my wishlist with the speed of light. Thanks for the review, Zoe.

Think I'll pass on this one. Although... I do love the review. Especially the 'wash and repeat' part.

I've had to give up on requesting ER books because I never get around to reviewing them and then I feel soooo guilty and I keep getting reminders on my profile and I'm paralyzed by guilt and can't even read them. Lol. Anyway, I need to read all my old ER books this year. Yeah.

Glad I didn't get that one though. Sounds not like something I'd enjoy.

>61 PamFamilyLibrary: Heh, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

I definitely think I need to be more careful about requesting ER books. I don't think I've ever gotten a really good one, just some that were average and some that were terrible. I'd be much better off sticking to the recommendations from this group.

But I actually still have one ER book left to review, from September... I had good intentions about bringing it with me to my parents' for the holidays, but I had so many other books with me (including many for school) that I just couldn't fit another hardcover!

I'm very selective when I request ER books and so far, the goodies are outweighing the mehs. So there are some months where I may not request any at all if they don't sound remotely promising.

I like to think I'm getting better... My most recently-arrived ER book was the best yet, and I haven't requested anything this month. But sometimes the books just seem so tempting at the time....

#63 I was thinking that exact same thing the other day. I've been incredibly lucky lately to be getting ER books most months, but it seems like many of the recent ones have been more burden than pleasure. Currently, I'm only half way through with my November book - and I've been working on it for nearly 3 weeks! It's supposed to be humorous, but so far it's just a slog. I received the December book the other day and it looks better. I hope so!

Hi Zoe

Congratulations on your hot review listed on today's home page!

I'll keep my fingers crossed that your December book turns out better, Sandy!

I think to a certain extent LT has spoiled us and given us higher expectations for books. I used to go frequently into bookstores and pick a random book off the shelf, with the expected results in terms of uneven quality; now that I'm more concerned with reviews and ratings and recommendations in my usual reading, the unscreened books stand out more, in a bad way.

Linda, thanks for pointing out the hot review!

I realized that I forgot to mention that Elisha's Bones falls into the debut book category for the TIOLI challenge. I also just started another debut book, Soulless, based on hearing about it in this group, and it's a lot of fun so far. So far I'm really enjoying TIOLI!

Also, I just noticed that Cait is listing movies she watches as well, so I thought it might be fun to do that too. I saw The Princess and the Frog last night, and I thought it was great! Now I want to find out more about New Orleans and voodoo and related things. I'm hoping to read that Voodoo Queen book that Marcia read last year (though really, I'm supposed to be focusing on my TBR pile), and maybe other similar things. Definitely the most interesting Disney movie I can remember in a long time.

I hope you like Soulless! I just finished it over the weekend and loved it.

I really enjoyed The Princess and the Frog as well. I've been a fan of Disney animation my whole life, so I was elated when they announced they were returning to traditional hand animation, and can say after seeing the film that I was very pleased with the outcome. Hopefully we'll see more hand animated films in the future. Computer animation is pretty, but to me, there's just something amazing about hand animation. **done with hijacking the thread momentarily!**

>63 _Zoe_: That's what I do and that seems to be working out for me. Right now I'm reading my ER book from a few months ago (I didn't say I got to them right away) and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I have the one from last month lined up to read very soon and it's by an author I love and the one I received in the mail yesterday is by a Booker nominee so I think it will be a good one also.

However, a few months back I took a chance on Monica Ali's book In the Kitchen because I absolutely loved Brick Lane and it was a terrible book, didn't like it at all. But all in all I've chosen pretty carefully and liked what I've received.

>63 _Zoe_:: I definitely think I need to be more careful about requesting ER books. I don't think I've ever gotten a really good one, just some that were average and some that were terrible. I'd be much better off sticking to the recommendations from this group.

I've had the same experience, Zoe, though it may just be me in my case, as some of the books I've received have received glowing reviews from other LT-ers. I've read all the ER's I've gotten, but I just haven't been able to make myself write the reviews of the last few--and it only gets harder, the farther away I get from them. I'll eventually do my duty, but I don't even bother to look at the offerings anymore; my wish list is getting way too big as it is!

I do not think I have had an ER book that I have given more than 3.5 stars to, but I keep trying!

ETA: Actually, there was one - The Witch Doctor's Wife by Tamar Myers, to which I gave 4 stars.

I've only received three ER books in my LT life. I've liked only 1.

But, this month has the sequel (Dragon Factory) to the one I liked, so yay.

Every time I think of being even more selective, or not even bothering to check the listings like Bonnie said, all I have to do is remember that I got Scottsboro from the ER program - after requesting it on a whim! So, I try to be careful in what I ask for. I don't mind getting bad books - I bring them home all the time from the library. It's the pressure of being required to finish them and then review them that is hard. If this one I'm reading now was from the library, I'd have taken it back a week ago!

ETA - #73 Hope you get that book you're hoping for - no competition for it from me!

>69 tapestry100: Oh, you're welcome to hijack my thread anytime! I'm definitely happy to see a return to traditional Disney animation too. More importantly, I'm happy to see a film that's multicultural in a historically-appropriate way. The last "traditional" Disney movie I remember seeing is Atlantis, where it drove me crazy that the nineteenth-century Englishman had a Hispanic female mechanic sidekick. Also, I think the animation in The Princess and the Frog was better too--I remember thinking that some of the characters in Atlantis seemed a bit flat.

it may just be me in my case, as some of the books I've received have received glowing reviews from other LT-ers.

I wonder whether the pressuring of "needing" to read a book can negatively impact the whole reading process.

Stasia, I'm glad to hear that The Witch Doctor's Wife was good. I requested that one but didn't win it, so maybe I'll have to seek it out eventually.

>68 _Zoe_:, Ooh, I hope you do read Voodoo Queen... I absolutely loved that book! So informative and well written and made me want to learn more about New Orleans. I haven't seen The Princess and the Frog yet, but it looks really good!

I won't be at all surprised if Voodoo Queen makes it into my next Amazon order... but I'm still hoping to delay that order as much as possible. I've already bought two books this year, so that should really be it until February if I'm hoping to make any progress at all on the TBR pile.

3. Soulless. This was a really fun read; thanks to BeSerene and tapestry100 for recommending it! Soulless combines elements of a lot of different genres: it's set in a Victorian world where vampires and werewolves are integrated into society, and there are some steampunk elements too. I was intrigued by the whole premise, and I found the worldbuilding very satisfying. The story was entertaining too, with plenty of amusing social interactions and also an engaging overall plot. I do have to add a minor complaint about the proofreading: at first I was willing to forgive all the sentence fragments as deliberate attempts at emphasis, but then I came to one horribly mangled Latin phrase that pulled me completely out of the story. Apparently this sentence was constructed by looking up the relevant words in the dictionary and paying no attention to how they should fit together grammatically, which is just lazy. I really don't appreciate it when the editors count on the reader's ignorance to save them from the bother of doing their work properly.

That said, I'm happy to have read this book and am definitely looking forward to the sequel. I was glad to see that it's only a couple of months away!

Also, I forgot again to mention that this is a debut novel for the TIOLI challenge! I'm glad to have discovered a new author.

Nice review, but I've gone off vampires and werewolves about 4 months ago, so I won't be adding this to my wish list ...... unless the desire to read this genre returns.

I take it that means you read a lot of vampires and werewolves before--are there any you would particularly recommend? Not that I need more books to add to the TBR pile, but just out of curiosity....

Glad you enjoyed Soulless! And I'm probably one of those readers that the lazy editors love - I took the Latin for what it was, assuming that they were telling me correctly! My ignorance = an easier job for them...

All said and done, I agree - can't wait for the next one.

>81 _Zoe_:.

I know the question wasn't directed at me, but I'll butt in anyway:

Gil's All Fright Diner is a humor (humour) book in which the main characters are a werewolf named Duke and a vampire named Earl. It's set in a small Texas town that has a problem with zombies, ghosts, an occult teenage sorceress, and various lovecraftian happenings.

>83 aethercowboy: Thanks for the suggestion! Butting in is always welcome.

Have you read The Vampire Within : The Beginning, The Vampire Within: New Blood and The Vampire Within : Life Eternal by Drew Silver? *sorry.. I had to list the entire title because the touchstones wouldn't work properly otherwise*

There was also the Legacy of the Dark Kind : Blood Tears and Legacy of the Dark Kind : Blood Lament by Raven Dane that I liked.

I think the touchstones don't like anything vampiric. ;-)

Thanks for those recommendations too! They look intriguing--although I can't say I'm happy that Blood Tears is a $28 paperback.

Not that I'm buying more books anyway, of course. Ha. We'll see how that goes....

a $28 paperback. Yikes!

$28!?

And that's in American Dollars, right?

Yes, American dollars. Though with the Canadian dollar at $0.97 US right now, there really isn't that much difference :P.

Well, except that Canadian books do remain very overpriced....

Note to self: I've read the first three chapters of Anne of the Island (unfortunately the book must now be returned to the library).

Oh I'm glad to hear Soulless is good. I checked it out from the library, but I keep getting distracted every time I try and sit down with it!

>91 legxleg: I hope you do get around to reading Soulless soon. I've decided that I like it even more with time, especially since I can't seem to find any other books like it. I found myself reading the author's blog and even emailing the publisher when I found out that they've only contracted for three books!

Following the lead of various other people, I've decided to post about my new book acquisitions. I'm already recording them at the top of my thread, but it feels almost like I'm hiding from my purchases when I just list them there stealthily. So, in the interests of full disclosure:

I was doing really well this month, with only two books purchased--Shiver and Soulless--but of course, that can only last so long. In the past four or five days I've bought four books in stores:

I've Got a Home in Glory Land
Thank You, Jeeves
The Inimitable Jeeves
The Dead and the Gone

and I have three more on the way from Amazon:

Voodoo Queen
The Epic of Gilgamesh
and an Arabic grammar whose exact title I can't remember right now.

The last two are for school, so they don't really count....

Onto the wishlist Soulless goes! As far as vampire lit, have you read Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books? Another favorite of mine is Peeps - Scott Westerfeld.

I hope you like it as much as I did! I haven't read the Sookie Stackhouse books, though I keep thinking about giving them a try. Peeps I actually own, but it hasn't yet made it out of the TBR pile... maybe this will be the year ;)

Yes, sadly Blood Tears is pretty expensive. Try and mooch it... that is what I did although I've since sent it on to another home.

#92: Nice haul, Zoe!

4. The Dead and the Gone. This is the companion to Life as We Knew It, a YA novel about the struggle to survive in a world crippled by natural disasters. Life As We Knew It was fantastic, so I decided to read this one as well even though I had heard that it wasn't as good.

And the reviews were right; this was a disappointment, especially coming as a follow-up to such a great book. I don't regret the tiime spent reading it, but it managed to fall a bit flat for me despite containing some pretty horrific goings-on. I think, compared to Life As We Knew It, there were two main reasons that this didn't really work for me. First, I found it much more difficult to relate to the main character. The protagonist of Life As We Knew It is female, middle class, growing up in a suburban lifestyle pretty much the same as I did. The male protagonist in The Dead and the Gone comes from an extremely traditional and religious family, where the man of the house makes all the decisions, to the extent that a teenaged boy left in charge of his family might choose to send his two-years-younger sister off to a convent and not bother telling her until he came to take her from school and put her on the bus. A twelve-year-old girl is expected to do all the cooking and cleaning for her older brother, who has no idea what to do with a box of pasta. Becoming a nun is mentioned as a likely future on more than one occasion. This just isn't my world, and I think the effect of seeing the familiar world crumbling as the novel unfolds is lessened when it wasn't that familiar to begin with.

My other issue is that I really like books where the characters struggle for survival, relying on their ingenuity and so on to get by. This is what I expected to happen here, but throughout most of the book they didn't really have to do anything. Lunches were provided at school and other food handouts were provided once a week, so that starvation never really seemed like it could be an issue until the very end. Likewise, the electricity came on periodically so that they could boil water in the microwave, and the heating oil lasted almost until the end, and the whole survival thing just didn't seem like a lot of work.

And yet, despite all that, I'm still tempted to read the third book in the series when it comes out later this year, so this one can't have been all bad. I definitely recommend Life As We Knew It, anyway; just proceed with caution after that.

I'll probably read this one as I enjoyed Life as We Knew It, though will lower my expectations. Have you read The Carbon Diaries, 2015, which is set on the cusp of a global warming catastrophe.

#97: I did not like The Dead and the Gone nearly as much as I liked Life As We Knew It, which I loved. I was very disappointed in the second book for many of the same reasons that you were, Zoe. I am not sure if I will read book 3 or not.

I haven't yet read The Carbon Diaries, 2015, but I've been considering it. It's definitely a theme that I enjoy, though I've heard mixed things about the book. What did you think of it?

Stasia, I think I'll wait and see what the reviews are like for the third book. But I have a feeling that even if they aren't great and I don't rush out to buy the book, I may end up picking it up a few years down the line.

Again, I'm going to note down the books I'm hoping to get through next month. I'm aiming for a better balance of fiction and non-fiction; this month's list was too challenging and not particularly successful.

So, if all goes well, I will read:

Fiction
When You Reach Me (TIOLI - Newbery Medal Winner)
The Anubis Gates
Shiver
Obernewtyn
Inkheart (TIOLI - Bright Red Spine)

Non-Fiction
Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York (TIOLI - Bright Red Spine)
I've Got a Home in Glory Land (TIOLI - Sentence Title)
Educating Scholars
$20 Per Gallon
Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau

This should be manageable, especially since I'm already partway through three of those non-fiction books, but knowing me I'll end up starting new ones instead of finishing the old....

edited to add Inkheart to the list.

#101: I salute you, Zoe, for being able to be that organized in your reading. Mine is so haphazard it is unreal :)

I hope you enjoy When You Reach Me. I read it last year and loved it.

Interesting list of books, Zoe. I have read NONE of them, so will look forward to your evaluation and prepare for more TBR additions.

>102 alcottacre: There's a big difference between making lists and actually following through! You should probably hold off on the salute until the end of the month ;)

I'm sure I will enjoy When You Reach Me, since I've heard so many good things about it from so many people.

>103 kiwidoc: I hope they'll turn out to be worthy of addition to the TBR pile :). I've Got a Home in Glory Land and Educating Scholars are both promising so far.

(Warning: potential spoilers, though if you've looked at the tag cloud you've seen it already)

5. When You Reach Me. I fully expected to love this children's book; I had heard great things about it from several trustworthy people in this group, and it had just won the Newbery Medal, and it had been heavily influenced by A Wrinkle in Time and included elements of time travel. What could go wrong?

Unfortunately, I think I may have suffered from too-high expectations going into this book, because it ultimately left me feeling flat. The interactions between the characters didn't seem real to me; relationships tended to be based on sudden, grand revelations rather than gradual and natural developments. When the main character did carry on real conversations with others, I found that I didn't particularly like her; for someone who had read A Wrinkle in Time a hundred times, she showed remarkably little curiosity about the puzzles posed by time travel and preferred to scornfully dismiss the topic as "too weird" than to have fun imagining the possible implications. And when time travel did make an appearance in the story itself, the revelations felt almost anti-climactic after the elaborate build-up. There just wasn't enough complexity there. I was especially disappointed when the promised explanation for one character's strange behaviour turned out to have nothing to do with the main mystery at all, but instead was an exaggerated reaction to one of those "grand revelations" that apparently determined the course of all relationships.

Overall, this wasn't a bad book, but I don't think I'd recommend it.

I hope your next read is better for you, Zoe!

Thanks, Stasia! I hope so too.

I'd also love to find someone else who had the same reaction as I did to When You Reach Me. I feel a strong urge to complain about Sal to someone, but I don't want to taint the perceptions of those who loved the book.

Sorry you didn't enjoy When You Reach Me as much as you'd hoped. I have to admit I felt a teensy bit disappointed with The Giver, I think only because my expectations were so high and it was so short. But it was still really good.

Which reminds me that I actually need to go over to my thread and update things. Why do I have book review avoidance?

Hi Zoe - I read When you reach me last year before too much of the fuss began and overall said in my blurb - 'The story is unusual and mysterious and though I was able to guess much of the ending it was still a good read.' I thought it would appeal to children more than adults.
I sometimes feel we almost (maybe) expect too much from children's books though some are exceptional. If you haven't read it yet I strongly recommend The Underneath which was a Newbery Honour Book last year.

>108 souloftherose:: Why do I have book review avoidance?

I do that too! And I have absolutely no idea why... some weeks I just put it off and put it off until I have 5 or 6 books to review and I feel completely overwhelmed... and yet I'll put it off again. Auugh. I'm behind already and I meant to keep up this year...

It's a disease, I think. Maybe it's contagious and I caught it from you? LOL

>108 souloftherose: I'm glad you still liked The Giver despite your too-high expectations.

I seem to be falling behind in my threads too; I don't think I've updated my 1010 thread with When You Reach Me yet.

>109 avatiakh: I'd be really curious to see what children think of When You Reach Me. I think it might come on a bit too strong with the moralizing to fully appeal to a child; there seemed to be a lot of pretty blatant lessons about what friendship should be like.

Thanks for the recommendation of The Underneath. I think I saw it lying around in the house of a family member over the holidays, so I'll see if I can get a hold of it.

>108 souloftherose: and 110

I force myself to write my review before I can start another book otherwise....well, just the problem you so aptly describe as a disease;-)

Maybe in some ways I'm fortunate to read so slowly!

#109/110 See my method of dealing with that is not to review every book I read - just the ones that I feel I have something to say about... I still put it off though!

I often think of not reviewing a book. The only problem I find with that, though, is then later, when I look back at a book, I often can't remember exactly what I liked or disliked about a book that was not as noteworthy as others. Even though I like a book less, it helps me to note why in my reviews. This is especially true for books I've read a long time ago and later can remember nothing about! :)

The only problem I find with that, though, is then later, when I look back at a book, I often can't remember

Exactly! I can't remember much of anything but then I read my review and it all comes back:)

#110 Oh no! Only a month in the group and I'm spreading a review-avoidance disease!

Or maybe I'm an infiltrator from another group on LibraryThing trying to stop the 75 book challenge group getting all the hot reviews? Mwah hah hah!

#117 chuckle ;o)

#115 It's partly because I lack the dedication, I admit! It's also partly because I'm not always capable of being particularly lucid ;)

You're right - there are books I now can't remember very well - mostly though, I think that that tends to mean that they were the mediocre ones - and I don't really mind forgetting those. The wonderful and the truly terrible stick in my mind - and of course, I do try to write at least a couple of comments on my thread (if not a review) about these ones anyway...

I do try to write at least a couple of comments on my thread (if not a review) about these ones anyway...

What I usually do, if I truly don't want to write a review (and that happen sometimes) is to post private comments on the book edit page. Later I'm never going to be able to find the thread I want. I think it's so much simpler to post reviews and comments directly to my book details. In addition, if my comments are particularly poorly written, no one will see them in private comments besides me. :)

#119 That's a very good idea - I may steal it! :)

It's also a very good excuse for not writing a review! :)

ETA: You do know what drudgery it is to write a review on a book that you *really* don't feel like reviewing... Ugh!

What an interesting question - but I'm a little puzzled why it is such a problem? Like SqueakyChu, I post a short (3 sentences max) comment on the book edit page just to remind myself of the basic premise of the book. I also usually write a short "review" about the books I read in my thread. These are not literary masterpieces - read a few and you'll understand why I don't write for a living. But I've begun to post them as reviews simply because it is similar comments posted by others that are sometimes the most useful for me in deciding whether to not to read a book for myself. If I really don't feel like doing that, then I don't. The only time I feel any obligation or drudgery attached to this little exercise is when I've got an ER book that requires a review - for some reason I get all worked up about writing a "proper" review for those books, and have to tell myself to calm down and just say what I think. I will say - by going back and browsing all the "reviews" I've posted, it is much easier to remember all the books I read and why I liked them or not. But, if you don't want to write a review, then why do it? This isn't school.

This is an interesting debate. I started out with the nobel goal of writing at least a tiny review of every book I read, but pretty soon I discovered how difficult that is. Sometimes I just haven't really got anything to say about a book, but most of the time my main problem is that since English is not my native language I often find that I can't properly express what I want to say. I could write my reviews in Danish, but since there are so few Danes on LT and a great part of the joy is sharing books and thoughts about book, it would hardly make sense. But I think I'll start writing some notes for my own benefit in danish on the private comments field. That's a great idea.

I like writing reviews even for books I don't like to read .... the reviews serve as little reminders for me if I look back and can't remember what the book was about and more importantly, if I had liked it. But my reviews tend to have absolutely no style whatsoever and I'm sure some people cringe when they read it.... and since I can't see these people, I guess I don't have to care. ;-)

I'm with Caroline, I enjoy writing the reviews of books...even those I didn't like...so that, later, I can remember a bit of what I was thinking at that time. Often my feelings about a book change on a second reading and it's fun to compare. I wish I had done that back in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s...oh well.

There's also the side of it that, if I simply said "I read XXX book", it's probably pretty boring for everyone else. If people find my reviews painful, I'm sure they simply 'X' my thread...I'm not offended in the slightest because they're just my thoughts, not deathless prose. ;-D

I generally review every book I read. The exceptions are those that already have many reviews or those for which I don't think one more review will add much. I post my reviews in my thread or if I didn't write a review, I'll post my thoughts on the book.

One of my goals is to get better at writing reviews. Obviously, in every batch of works, some are better than others, but I think all the practice is paying off.

I don't generally distinguish between comments and reviews in the writing stage. I start by writing what I think about the book in this thread, and copy it to the review field if it seems like it might be helpful to someone else. If it turns out that I don't have much to say and my thoughts don't make it past this page, that's perfectly fine with me.

Here's an example: ;)



6. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. This is a YA werewolf novel that I think I initially heard about in ER; it was also on LT's Popular This Month list for a long time, and kept showing up in my Amazon recommendations too.

The premise is slightly different from a lot of YA novels of this type, in that the initial girl-falling-in-love-with-werewolf part isn't the main focus of the book. The werewolf, Sam, saved Grace from a wolf attack when she was a child, and has watched her ever since from the forest in her backyard. She's seen him watching, and it's through this silent but constant interaction that they've fallen in love, well before they actually meet in human form six years later at the time the story begins.

The problem, instead, is that werewolves in this world can change back and forth for only a limited number of years before they finally remain in wolf form forever. Sam thinks his time is almost up.

There are also various other issues with a new and out-of-control werewolf on the loose, tensions and jealousies within Sam's pack, conflicts with Grace's friends at school, etc.

Overall, I appreciated Stiefvater's different approach to a familiar theme, but I didn't find myself fully loving the book. I think the doomed romance aspect just wasn't very exciting for me; I'd rather read about things actually happening than about two people who are in love but expect soon to be torn apart forever. Still, there were enough actual happenings that the book did hold my attention, and I expect that I'll probably read the sequel eventually.

#127: I am hoping to have my hands on that one soon. My local library has it 'in processing.'

#127 Unless the book I've just read is an ARC, I tend to do the same with my reviews/comments - I'll update my thread first and if I feel very strongly about the book, or think I've said something I think may be helpful (or contradictory to other reviews), then I'll post it, but otherwise I'll just leave it at that (unless someone says that they've liked my comments/found them useful!). I very much like the idea of writing a couple of comments in pencil inside the book itself, if it's one you're going to keep though - I may have to start doing that.

#126 drneutron, you're probably very right, the more you practice writing reviews, the better you get at them - I certainly usually write a bit more than I used to when I first joined this group (whether or not it's any better, I am not a judge!) - and in some cases, it's made me think a little bit harder about what I've read. Usually though, the ones I don't post reviews for aren't the ones I dislike they're the ones I've thought were mediocre or if they're fluff-reading ;0)

#127 Re Shiver - that sounds like it has a lot of potential, but that it isn't quite realised? I can't decide whether to add it to my wishlist or not...

Chiming in on the book review conversation, I have to say that I enjoy writing reviews. I love to write and my professional life is spent helping students to write clearly.

Writing a review helps me to focus on what I did or did not like about a book. For example, I recently finished a few excellent books written by Lois Lowry, and in writing the reviews I realized just how much I love her clear, crisp writing.

>129 flissp: I think Shiver is partially just a matter of taste; I've seen plenty of really favourable reviews and the average rating is pretty high (4.07). If it sounds like the sort of thing that would interest you, I'd recommend giving it a try from the library.

Thanks for the reminder about using "private comments" on the book page. I've heard people talk about this, but haven't tried it yet. And just today, I had that problem you were talking about. Someone was talking about Well an Mine and I wanted to see what I had actually written but was too lazy to go back into my threads. If I wrote reviews, I could access them more easily that way, but I don't write reviews, more just personal reactions/comments and many times they feel just too personal to post as a review. On my thread, I just feel like my friends are reading my comments, but your suggestion is even better if I just want to jot down a few words or phrases to jog my memory later.

Interesting discussion about writing reviews and putting off writing reviews. I've taken on doing reviews again for a website, and sometimes it does seem tough but I feel a sense of obligation. I still feel guilty about the books I failed to review for another website a few years ago - I had a bit of a personal crisis and simply never reviewed the last two books I took from there.

I've also hung on to a few library books for months after reading them recently intending to write reviews - there is no obligation in the sense that I haven't offered to do something to get the books and not done it (that makes me feel bad!) - but now I've been meaning to write for so long I'm reluctant to return the books not having done so. I did manage to do a couple of those reviews this month Noah's Compass and Blood Line.

I found that when I started writing revews here, it was easer to remeber the books that I read. As I read I jot down notes for my reviews and stick a post-it-note in where there is a particular quote that I want to include. I try to write my review within 24 hours of finishing the book unless I'm having a really strange reaction to it and want to think about whether I liked it or not.

7. Mr. Impossible. Well, my mother and sister will be overjoyed: after years of resistance, I've finally given in and read a romance novel. When I was under a lot of stress over the holidays, my mother declared that I needed some light reads, and somehow seven romances ended up in my suitcase. So as I was trying to recover from a horrible cold this past week, I decided to give one a try. And I admit, I enjoyed it.

First, I loved the setting: Mr. Impossible takes place in Egypt in the early 19th century, where the English are competing with the French to discover valuable antiquities and be the first to decipher hieroglyphics. Daphne Pembroke is a widow and a scholar working hard to solve the mystery of ancient Egyptian writing, but since a female scholar wouldn't be taken seriously, she pretends that her brother Miles is the scholar and presents her work in his name. But when Miles purchases an expensive papyrus as a gift for his sister, suspicions that he's discovered the secret of hieroglyphics and directions to a pharaoh's treasure result in his kidnapping, and Daphne must try to save him....

The beginning of the book was really a lot of fun, with a sort of over-the-top political intriguing that actually had me laughing out loud at times. I want to read more stories like this, that have an interesting historical setting but don't take themselves too seriously.

And then there's the romance aspect. The male hero is certainly appealing, and I enjoyed the non-physical development of their relationship--the banter, and so on. I was less interested in their thoughts about each other's bodies, and toward the end of the book I felt like the romance really slowed down the plot. I know, the romance is supposed to be the plot, but I wanted more than that. So, I don't think I've quite been converted into a regular romance-reader yet, but I do plan to read more of them occasionally. I give this book 3.5 stars overall.

I've broken my list of acquisitions (message 2) into four categories: For Fun--Reading; For Fun--Reference; School-Related--Reading; and School-Related--Reference.

I think this is a self-deceptive attempt to justify my purchases, or at least make them seem less unreasonable. Still, it may be useful.

>136 _Zoe_:: Ha! That works for me!

#136: I love it!

I liked the Goose girl better than The book of a thousand days. :)

#136 To me the list seems very reasonable. I thought about doing something similar but I'm far too ashamed to admit how many books I have acquired so far this year....

>142 souloftherose: Accepting that you may have a problem is the first step! Heehee. I actually found that it was very helpful to keep track of my purchases last year, shameful though it may be--46 of the non-reference books purchased didn't get read. I'm hoping to improve on that this year.

I was actually about to say that the number of For Fun--Reading purchases was the same as the number of books I've read this year, but then I realized that The Anubis Gates arrived this morning! So I'm actually one behind already (or two behind if you count the school-related one... which I choose not to at this time ;)).

Also: thanks for stopping by, aptech and bongobash, and welcome to the group! Do you have threads set up yet to keep track of your reading?

8. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. I'm not a runner, but the description of this book intrigued me. It's just fun to read about travels to exotic locations in search of isolated peoples who are capable of incredible physical feats. My complete inability to run probably made the whole thing even more awe-inspiring to me; though I'd like to, I can't really imagine myself running a hundred-mile race.

Other highlights of the book included a discussion of how running shoes are actually bad for our feet (one study showed that runners wearing shoes that cost $95 or more had more than twice as many injuries as those whose shoes cost less than $40), because it's pretty shocking that an enormous and profitable industry can be based entirely on false premises.

And there was a fascinating section on the role running played in human evolution, including ideas about why homo sapiens survived when the stronger, bigger-brained Neanderthals disappeared.

Basically, there's probably something for everyone here. While I did feel that the book dragged slightly with the profiles of individual runners near the middle, in general I found that the interesting subject-matter and casual writing style kept me turning the pages quickly. I've come away from the book with a sense that I've learned a lot and with a desire to take up running myself (though I'm not particularly optimistic about my chances of success there!). I'm wavering between 4 and 4.5 stars.

#145: Well, I cannot run, belong to no tribe that I know of, am decidedly not an athlete of any kind (super or otherwise), but the book still appeals. I will have to look for it. Thanks for the recommendation and review, Zoe!

Thank you for saying that, Stasia! I just read my Dewey Decimal Challenge thread where the only response to the same review was two people expressing doubts about the validity of the study on shoes, so it's a relief that at least one person thinks the book sounds interesting!

I really love this group.

#146 Stasia, over on her Dewey Decimal Challenge thread, Zoe's got a link to a very interesting article about the shoes-cause-injuries theory. Seems counter-intuitive at first, but the arguments are persuasive.

I'll add the link here too for convenience: http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html

#147: I do not understand why people would question the validity of a study on shoes? Oh, well, I guess I really do not need to.

#149: Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

I should add that since then, Sandy also posted in the DDC thread saying that the book sounded good, so I may have maligned the DDC group unjustly.

#151: You can still love this group though :)

I read the article and found it very interesting. I guess I should be glad I spend 99% of my time barefoot!

>152 alcottacre: Oh, don't worry, this is still easily my favourite group!

Whew! You had me worried for a minute there.

:D

#151 I was stunned when I read your comment at #147, but then I realized that I was the 3rd person to comment over there and that you weren't talking about me! It does seem odd that people who are fond enough of non-fiction writing to be doing the Dewey challenge would so summarily dismiss the validity of a study that you chose to highlight from the book you just finished. However, that particular theory does go against popular thought. When I first heard it and shared it with my husband, he responded in exactly the same way.

#152 I want to know more, though. Like, does wearing soft slippers or socks count as going barefoot? And, how do we go about regaining the lost muscle tone in our feet?

#156: You make valid points, Sandy, about material missing from the article, but I have no idea how you would find out that information.

I would think that to regain muscle tone, you would do the same thing you would do elsewhere on your body: exercise.

#157 Well, yes. But is just walking around in bare feet exercise enough, or do I actually need to run? (Please say no). I'll be looking for the "flats" mentioned in the article the next time I need shoes.

I think maybe I'm just a contrarian by nature; it's exactly because the studies go so strongly against popular thought that I find them so interesting.

I'd assume that going around in socks would help, and probably soft slippers too. There are even actual shoes being sold that apparently help get closer to barefoot, so it seems like it's not an all-or-nothing thing (though of course, shoe companies aren't the best source of information here).

I think this line from the article is encouraging for a start: "Kick your shoes off as soon as you get home and spend your evenings and weekends barefoot." I like the every-little-bit-helps sort of approach.

#158: If you actually have to run, I would definitely be out. As to the rest, no idea.

I personally wear walking shoes, rather than running shoes, since I never run anywhere at any time. I love my walkers, but am not sure they would be any better than running shoes.

#159 I guess I'm that way, too, a little. I was intrigued by that claim as soon as I heard it - a while ago now. I shared it with hubby and later pointed out a story on internet or TV that showed a picture of a barefoot running group - both of which he scoffed.

#160 I've been doing that for years - this is encouraging! When I was single I used to keep my shoes in a row next to the front door - where I took them off the minute I came home, and didn't step back into them until I left again.

When I was single I used to keep my shoes in a row next to the front door - where I took them off the minute I came home, and didn't step back into them until I left again.

I always do this too. I actually always thought it was just the normal thing to do, and I take off my shoes when I go into someone else's house as well, but apparently keeping shoes on is more common in the United States than in Canada. That's what my formerly-American father says, anyway.

I can't imagine keeping shoes on inside the house! I just don't see how that would be comfortable... I love going barefoot, sometimes my socks annoy me and I throw them across the room in frustration (er... and clean them up later, of course...). But think of all the extra cleaning you'd have to do if you wore the same shoes inside and outside... no thanks!!!

#163 Yes, I think it is. I never take my shoes off at someone else's house - unless I'm spending the night or they've got mud on them. I thought it was odd when I got married that my husband kept his shoes on in the house - just as he thought it strange that I took mine off. The difference is that at home you can relax and be comfortable. I also take off the panty hose and put on sweats. But when I go to someone else's house, I dress for public viewing and that means real clothes and shoes. :-)

IMHO, it's amazing how many of our perceived needs are based on marketing. Of course, the people who make running shoes are going to claim that they are great for you, and scoff at anything which suggests the contrary.

#163 There are definitely differences between different countries and even different regions within the US regarding whether people keep shoes on when they enter a house.

In my own house, I normally run around in socks or slippers unless I go to the cellar or attic, or am moving items where I want some foot protection in case I drop something. I had an ankle injury a while back where I couldn't walk unless I had shoes on for support, and it drove me crazy!

Barefoot is not an option in my house in winter!

Now that March's TIOLI categories are up, it's time to start thinking about what books I hope to finish next month. Of course, I never stick to my plans, but I like to make them anyway.

Fiction
Briar Rose (1010 Group Read)
The Well of Ascension (TIOLI--LT Author)
His Majesty's Dragon (TIOLI--LT Author)
Across the Endless River (overdue ER--eek!)

Non-Fiction
I've Got a Home in Glory Land
Educating Scholars (borrowed two months ago)

I'm so glad that I caught up on your thread Zoe. I just happen to be in the market for new running/walking shoes and I jotted down the better ones mentioned in the article. This LibraryThing is turning into ShoeThing, RecipeThing, ArtThing....You-name-it-Thing. :D

Good timing! I hope you'll let me know what you think if you end up getting some of the more unusual ones.

#167: I brought home His Majesty's Dragon from the library the other day, Zoe, so I will join you in that one.

You know, I should join in on His Majesty's Dragon as well... I got a boxed set of the first 3 books for Christmas a few years ago and just haven't got around to them yet, so this is good incentive!

Oh, good! Now I'll actually have an incentive to follow through with it :).

I've been meaning to read it for ages too; my whole family read and loved the series maybe two years ago, and they bought all the books that were then available, so I've seen them sitting there on the shelf....

More points for the challenge if we all get it read :)

Yup :). And I think it is a popular enough book that we may be able to attract some more people too.

I might join in.
They have it at the public library, but first I want to finnish the Harry Potter books and I have two library books at home that should be finished before I go to the library...

I just got caught up on your thread, Zoe, and I am intrigued by Born to Run and will definitely check this out. I am one of those who believe that one should be barefoot as much as possible ... indoors where one is less likely to step on objects that will cut one's foot or worms that burrow into one's flesh causing all sorts of nasty infections.

To those who would like to take this one step further and try shun 'proper' shoes outdoors, there is a barefoot alternative ... the Vibram Five Finger shoes. http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ I've tried them out at the store and while I think they make me look like I have Hobbit feet, I have to say they felt quite comfortable. My cousin bought a lighter pair for herself which she wears at the gym and walking around, and her husband has a tougher one which he uses on his daily 10k runs and on hikes.

His Majesty's Dragon sounds good (although I was momentarily confused by that fact that it's been released as Temeraire in the UK). I really shouldn't order another book from the library this month though!

#177: Wait until Monday - it will be a different month!

Wait until Monday - it will be a different month!

I love that!

>176 cameling: I'm not quite convinced that shoes with toes would be comfortable (I think the toes would be either to loose or too tight, especially since my toes don't seem to be the standard length--my second toe is longer than my big toe), but it would be interesting to give them a try. If I were actually going to buy something, though, I think I'd go with one of the slightly more standard alternatives. But I'm glad to hear that some people actually do use these things!

#179 This is kind of the same thing I was thinking. I'd like to take a look at the toe-shoes, though. Maybe if they constructed a thin top covering over the shoe to hide the "toes" - like the tights that dance teams and figure skaters use to cover their shoes/skates - they would look more conventional and still have these special feaures.

Why didn't I know about those crazy toe-shoes a couple of months ago, when I had to buy a new pair of running shoes?! I have to have such a pair of VFFs. I love walking and runnning barefooted - inside and outside. It's always been a great annoyance of mine that you can hardly walk barefooted outside when you live in a city with all the glass and other unpleasanties lying around. This is wonderful news (even though it does look silly).

Hey - LT says I have His Majesty's Dragon on the Kindle. I'll join in for that TIOLI read this month.

Yay, it looks like we'll have a good-sized group reading His Majesty's Dragon!

Tanja, I hope you'll let us know what you think of the VFFs. They're definitely intriguing.

Also, a book completed today:



9. The Anubis Gates. Just in time for the group read! And because it's a group read, I don't think I should say anything about it here. I'm really glad I read it, though.

#183 - I just ordered a pair. I'll let you know as soon as I've tried them.

Hi, Zoe! Sorry, I'm way behind again, so am just now responding to your comments about Born to Run. A very interesting book--fun and easy to read--and the author totally sold me.

You all should love His Majesty's Dragon. I just finished the fourth in the series and I'm chomping at the bit per se to get to the next one.

I need to get the 2nd one: Throne of Jade.

Bonnie, I'm glad to hear that you liked Born to Run too. And don't worry about being behind--I'm apparently four days behind on my own thread, not to mention anyone else's!

I'm definitely looking forward to His Majesty's Dragon. I just have to wait until I visit my parents next week to get a hold of a copy.... if it's anywhere near as good as people say, I may end up abandoning all my other planned reads for the month and just going through the whole series!

I finished another book this morning:



10. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. This is a group read in the 1010 Challenge group, and it's definitely worth picking up. Yolen combines a retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a story of Holocaust survival, and it works very well.

I read Briar Rose a few years ago, and while I didn't love it, I thought it was very well done and the story has stayed with me over time. Certainly worthwhile.

Briar Rose sounds really interesting so that's another one for the wishlist!

I succumbed to the peer pressure and got His Majesty's Dragon out of the library for the TIOLI challenge. Unfortunately my library visit meant I also got another 7 books out along with that one (I have no self control).

You're all a bad influence on me.

#190: Be glad you only came out with 7 extra! I have been known to go in to pick up a hold book and come out with 10 more, lol. I have no self-restraint, either.

#191 The real reason I only came out with another 7 was that my library card was maxed out! Unfortunately I picked up seven books at the local charity book shop last week too and there's no way those are going to get read for a while.

Luckily, my library has a maximum of 99 items, although I have been known to max that out.

I know what you mean about buying books and not getting to them for a while. I tell everyone my house is the place books come not to be read!

Faith, I don't know if I would say I loved Briar Rose either, but I'm certainly glad I read it.

Unfortunately my library visit meant I also got another 7 books out along with that one (I have no self control).

I was going to say control doesn't matter at the library, and then I got to your next post about how you bought seven books at the charity shop the week before... oh well, what can you do? It's so hard to resist a good bargain!

I'm looking forward to starting His Majesty's Dragon next week.

For now, I read a children's book that I bought on a whim a couple of days ago:



11. Puppet Master by Joanne Owen. Set in 1898 Prague, this story revolves are the Puppet Master of the title and his scheme to take control of the land, hypnotizing the crowds who come to his puppet shows and using some sort of dark magic to transform people into marionettes.

The heroine, Milena, is trying to come to terms with the disappearance of her mother, who vanished shortly after Milena's father plummeted to his death while setting up for his own puppet show. Of course, the different plot threads turn out to be connected in various ways....

I know exactly why I picked up this book--the description reminded me of aspects of The Anubis Gates, which I loved when I read it last week for the group discussion. Unfortunately, Owen is not Tim Powers. While her ideas had a lot of potential, I found that the story never really gripped me. Maybe it's not fair to compare a children's book to an adult novel and expect that they'll have equal depth, but after reading the two so close together, the comparison is inevitable.

Strangely, I find that I actually like Puppet Master more now that I'm done with it than I did as I was reading. There are certain images and concepts that will stick with me, despite the lack of excitement of the story itself.

One minor rant: why do publishers put the pronunciation guide at the end of the story? Do they expect that people read the end of the book before the beginning? I still enjoyed finding out about the pronunciation after the fact, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I could have had all the Czech names right in my head as I went along! Of course, I also found it strange that accents were included in the pronunciation guide and glossary but not in the story itself, so I'm not sure how much the pronunciation guide would have helped, but still!

Zoe
I read Briar Rose last year and thought it was very creative.

12. The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley.

This is the story of one family's struggle to survive an avian influenza pandemic. I love this sort of apocalyptic survival story, so I had to pick this one up immediately when I read about it on Steph Su's thread.

In some ways, The Things That Keep Us Here reminded me a lot of Life As We Knew It, a book that I loved when I read it a couple of years ago. Society shuts down and people withdraw into their houses, trying to draw out their food supplies and gathering firewood to keep them warm through a winter without electricity.

Where Life As We Knew It is YA, though, this is an adult book, maybe more specifically a "woman's book". Ann is a mother going through a divorce and still trying to come to grips with the death of her infant son ten years before.

I appreciated the extra length and depth that an adult book allows, but I did find it hard to relate to relate to Ann's character, especially at first. Maybe it's because I'm not a mother myself. There was one scene in particular, near the middle of the book--don't read this paragraph if you're afraid of slight spoilers--, where Ann's best friend, dying of influenza, knocks on the door and begs Ann to take her baby. She says that the baby already had the flu, so he's now immune and not carrying the virus. But Ann, thinking that a mother would say anything to save her child, doesn't believe her and leaves the baby outside on the doorstep in the cold, rather than risk infecting her own daughters. I have to say, I found this really shocking. But at the same time, the fact that the book raises such difficult moral issues is one of its greatest strengths.

I do want to emphasize that this book is about family, not about society. Other than the increasing lawlessness, we hear hardly anything about what's going on in the outside world. And maybe this is for the best, because I found the parts that dealt with society's broader response to the problem were some of the weakest in the book and often just didn't ring true. We know that schools would close, yes. But would the university dorms close with only a few hours' notice, leaving some students with nowhere to spend the night? Would researchers studying avian influenza immediately be told that the building was closing and they had to go home? All of this supposedly happened when the WHO pandemic alert level reached Stage 5, but we actually got to Stage 6 last year, and the world didn't pre-emptively shut down.

So it was just as well that this book focused on family. As contact with the outside world disappeared, the story just got better. And it was fast-paced and interesting all the way. I'm definitely glad I read this one.

Wow, #12 sounds like a very interesting book and I've added it to the ole wishlist. Thanks for the rec.

#196 - Regarding your slight spoiler - I am not at all surprised by Ann's actions. Back during the post WWI flu epidemic, my grandmother abandoned my grandfather who had the flu and my father who was a year old at the time because she was afraid that he might have the flu. Just walked out leaving him alone with his father who was very ill and nearly died. Fear will make you do terrible things.

>197 Carmenere: I hope you enjoy it too!

>198 Fourpawz2: Thanks for sharing that anecdote. It's even more shocking hearing about these things in real life.

If you enjoy these apocalyptic stories, you may want to check out Laura Kasischke's In a Perfect World. I'll be honest and admit that I have not read it, but I have read Kasishke's The Life Before Her Eyes and was mesmerized by her writing in that book. She did a reading at a local store not too long ago, and the premise of The Things That Keep Us Here sounds very similar to how Kasischke described the events in In a Perfect World. Who knows, it may not be that good, but if it's written anything like The Life Before Her Eyes, I'd recommend it.

So there you go, my totally unhelpful, unfounded recommendation for further reading. lol

Your recommendation is both helpful and founded! You've read another book by the author, so you have a reason for recommending this one. And I'm always happy to know about more books like this, so it's helpful. Thank you.

Hi, Zoe! Caught up on your thread finally. :) Looks like you've had some good reads lately. The Things That Keep Us Here is going on my neverending wishlist!

Yup, I've been really lucky lately, thanks to LT--the three good books I read this month were either group reads or recommendations found here, and the one merely okay book was the one I picked up randomly from the shelf in the store. I think there's a lesson to be learned here....

Hey Zoe, I'm glad to see you enjoyed The Things That Keep Us Here as much as I did! I agree with you that it reminded me of Life As We Knew It but the genres they're in are so different, both just very interesting and different approaches to apocalyptic scenarios. And I did enjoy the "women's book" approach that Carla Buckley took to her book. Great review!

Oh, have you read the companion novel to Life As We Knew It? It's called The Dead and the Gone, about the same time period as it unfolds in NYC. I'm reading it right now. VERY different from LAWKI!

#196: I already have that one in the BlackHole thanks to Steph's review, or I would have added it again.

I've added both The Things That Keep Us Here and Life as We Knew it}

Zoe, I loved your description of The Things That Keep Us Here..

Charlotte, you are right, fear makes people do strange things. It sounds like your father's early years were not easy one.

I love Life as We Knew It. I did not care for The Dead and the Gone nearly as much.

Steph, my reaction to The Dead and the Gone was the same as Stasia's--I found it disappointing after Life As We Knew It. I'll be curious to hear what you think of it when you're done. There's a third one coming out, too, but I'm going to wait to hear how people like it before deciding whether to read it.

Linda, you have some good reads ahead of you!

Just put Life As We Knew It and The Things That Keep Us Here on the TBR list. They sound really good.

#183 - I just took my new Vibram Five Fingers for a run. I love wearing them, though they do make my feet look like gorilla feet as someone mentioned. But I was surprised it wasn't more of a sensation to run in them, Perhaps it's just because I'm used to walk in shoes with thin soles, so being able to feel the ground isn't strange to me.

I didn't like wearing them without socks, but with socks (toe-socks of course) they are extremely comfortable to walk and run in IMO. I can't wait to go hiking with them.

I sound like a commercial... Well, it's just that I really like them. I just wish they weren't so ugly.

>209 FrkFrigg: Thanks for the update. I'm intrigued, but not quite convinced enough to buy a pair. I've always found toe-socks pretty uncomfortable.



13. His Majesty's Dragon, aka Temeraire (not sure why the touchstones will only work for the second title). I read this for the LT Author TIOLI challenge, and I'm glad I did! Such a good book, probably a contender for my top 5 of the year. Even if you're a bit dubious about the idea of the Napoleonic Wars with dragons, I'd recommend giving this one a try.

I finished my copy last night... thoroughly enjoyed it, though I didn't expect to like it as much as I did since I typically don't like "talking animal" stories... but I do love dragons... so maybe that's why this one worked for me :)

#210: I will be reading it this week. I hope I like it as much as you did!

Okay, I 'll have to track this one down despite my own dubicity.

> 210
Waiting for my copy from the library.
There should be a copy in our library, but that one is missing... so now I am waiting for a copy from an other library :-(

14. Throne of Jade. The second Temeraire book, I didn't like this one *quite* as much as the first, but it's still a great book--thoroughly interesting, absorbing, and quick-moving. I'll probably start the third one tomorrow.

#215 Wow! That was quick - and I still haven't posted my thoughts on the first book!

I'm lucky to be on Spring Break right now, so I have a lot of free time--by next week I'll be back to my usual slow reading pace!

Watch out - book three isn't as good IMO, but #4 was great!

>218 cyderry: I stopped after book 3 because I felt they were going downhill, and we weren't getting the relationship between the two any more. Are you telling me I should forge ahead?

I had actually been considering pausing after this one, but maybe I'll go ahead too (I think there are TIOLI points to be had for reading the fourth one this month, after all!). I'm glad to hear they get better. I think I've currently gotten a bit tired of descriptions of battles etc.

15. Black Powder War. This is the third Temeraire book, and while it wasn't quite as interesting as the others, I still enjoyed it. I think I will go ahead with the fourth one after all; I have a long bus ride tonight and I'd rather stick with a story that I'm already involved in.

I think the reason why I liked #4 so much was because I was tired of the battle descriptions and this one wasn't like that at all. It was more moralistic and definitely had the connection between Laurence and Temaraire. That's all I'll say.

Phew - finally caught up! I will be back ;o)

...back to the subject of shoes, if I didn't wear them in my flat, I'd end up with chillblaines all year round (I know this from childhood experience) as the flooring is all lino and the flat is naturally cold... That said, I do tend to put on slippers almost as soon as I get home (provided noone is coming to visit ;o))

I was tired of the battle descriptions and this one wasn't like that at all.

Oh, good! I'm getting tired of battle descriptions too.

Phew - finally caught up!

It's always a relief to hear that I'm not the only one who keeps falling behind!

the flooring is all lino and the flat is naturally cold...

I still have a bad habit of going around without shoes or even socks, and then I wonder why my feet are so cold....

I've always been a total physical coward, so I seldom go barefoot because my imagination can provide a ton of things that could happen to cause injury. Socks at least, almost always shoes of some type, preferably closed-toe (for protection you know).

A few summers ago I did figure out that it would be cooler if I stayed barefoot in the house, so I've gotten wild and crazy in my middle-age years. I have even, *gasp*, walked to the mailbox in my bare feet a few times.

16. Empire of Ivory. Chèli was right, I did enjoy this more than the last one, though I think the first is still my favourite. Empire of Ivory is less about battles and more about political/ethical issues. There was only one point that troubled me, when I realized that I really had no grasp of the moral beliefs of the time--possibly. These books are set against the background of the Napoleonic Wars, and I thought that victory in the war was a matter of the utmost importance. But when the idea of biological warfare arises, it's rejected outright, at least by some people, and there's no examination of the issue at all. I would have liked a more nuanced view of this; the fact that some people immediately saw it as wrong while others thought it was okay suggests that it may not be as black-and-white as it seemed, and so could have benefited from further attention.

I was really planning to take a break from this series, but the ending of this one was sort of a cliffhanger, so I guess I'll read on after all. But I'm annoyed that the back of the book contained an ad for the next one that seemed to reveal a key plot point.

Uuummmm, still undecided whether to pick the series up again at this point. I think I wait until you read the next one before I decide.

How many have you read so far?

I read the first 3 and felt the second two kept getting further and further away from the relationship between dragon and man that I thought made the first book so special.

I've nearly finished Throne of Jade (book 2) and I'm also not enjoying it quite as much as I enjoyed the first. It feels like I've just been waiting for them to get to China so far.

I just finished His Majesty's Dragon this weekend based partly on your recommendation, and loved it! I'm going to keep going with the series, and hopefully the books passed 3 will continue to get better. Thanks for the recommend!

>231 tapestry100: Oh, I'm glad to hear you liked it as much as I did! Are you going to list it in the TIOLI challenge too? I think seven people reading the same book might be a new record!

>229 ronincats:, 230 Well, I think I'd recommend continuing on. I just finished the fifth one, and I feel thoroughly satisfied.



17. Victory of Eagles. This is the fifth Temeraire book, and I think the series is still going strong. Victory of Eagles focuses more on Temeraire's attempts to gain a place for dragons in English society, and we even get some parts written from his perspective. Now I have to wait until July for the next one, but I have a feeling I'll end up buying it as soon as it comes out, even in hardcover. In the meantime, I have to get back to my regular life and stop spending so much time reading.... But it's great to discover an absorbing new series, and I've had a thoroughly enjoyable spring break thanks to Naomi Novik.

I'm so glad to hear that the series has remained strong! And I may have to pick up the sixth when it comes out, too.

And yes, I'm heading over to the TIOLI challenge next to list it there. =)

It has been fun (and enlightening) to follow your series of reviews about Novik's dragon books. I loved His Majesty’s Dragon and am very excited that you have found the rest of the storyline entertaining. I need the 2nd book!!

I have been following your readings of the Temeraire books. I finished the first book yesterday and just got from the library with the second, third and fourth Temeraire book :-)
The fifth is just published in translation, but not yet available at the library, so I'll have to live with the cliffhanger for a while...

Anita

>233 tapestry100: I was looking at Amazon, and it seems like the sixth book is less than 300 pages long... but I think I'll buy it anyway.

>234 jadebird: I'm glad you enjoyed the reviews! I always struggle to write about later books in a series, because I don't want to give anything away, so it's nice to hear that my vague comments were still worth reading.

>235 FAMeulstee: Is the library planning to order the book eventually? I assume they would complete the series. So maybe you just need to give them a friendly reminder....

Now that I'm mostly done with TIOLI for the month, I'm looking forward to planning my April reading. There's a lot to look forward to--Changeless is being released on March 30 (or 31?), and I also want to read Birthmarked, which is coming out on the same day, and my hold on The Affinity Bridge for the Steampunk read should be coming in any day now*.... So much good reading to do!

*Maybe. It's been showing as available at another branch for a while now, with no progress being made in getting it to me. Gah.

> 236: Zoe
Even if the library gets a copy of book 5 soon, I need some luck to get it.
New books can not be reserved the first year, but I can see online if it is present at our branch of the library.

Now that April's TIOLI challenges are being posted, it's time to start planning next month's reads. I still have two books that I'm hoping to get through by the end of March, and I think my April plans may already be too ambitious:

March

Three Cups of Tea
Changeless

April Fiction
Across the Endless River (ER, TIOLI)
The Affinity Bridge (Steampunk Group Read)
Some Rain Must Fall (TIOLI - short stories)
The Handmaid's Tale (1010 Atwood in April)
The Silver Pigs (TIOLI)

April Non-Fiction
Inside the Apple
The Heavenly Writing
I've Got a Home in Glory Land

Basically, I haven't included any free choice in fiction, and all the non-fiction books are ones I've already started and really should finish sooner rather than later. Needless to say, I think I'll be straying from this plan....

Zoe, glad to see you enjoyed the Temeraire series; the fifth was among my favorites for the year it came out (2008, I think?). When folks started reading them for the TIOLI challenge, I considered a reread, but I've lent the first book to my cousin and I feel really silly checking out a book I own from the library... Oh, and thanks for the heads up that the next one is coming out in July. Nothing makes me happier than knowing I can soon get my hands on the next book in a series I enjoy. :-)

Nothing makes me happier than knowing I can soon get my hands on the next book in a series I enjoy. :-)

Agreed!

I've experienced the silliness of checking out library books that I already own, though. At least having lent it to someone else, you have a good excuse; I had to get Anne of Green Gables from the library last year just because I couldn't find it.



18. Three Cups of Tea. I'm sure everyone is already familiar with the premise of this book: after a failed mountain-climbing expedition, Greg Mortenson is taken in by a small village in northern Pakistan, and vows to repay their generosity by returning to build them a school. He keeps his promise, and ends up building many more schools in other impoverished villages as well.

I enjoyed this book, both for the story of philanthropy and for the amount that I learned about Pakistan and Afghanistan. I'll probably read Mortenson's next book eventually, which I've heard is even better.

Also, this was a red-spine book for the TIOLI challenge.

#240: I'll probably read Mortenson's next book eventually, which I've heard is even better.

It is, IMHO.

Stasia, how similar is it to the first one? The main reason I'm not hugely eager to read it is because I feel like Three Cups of Tea was pretty complete, and a sequel would just be more of the same.

And speaking of sequels....



19. Changeless. Ugh. Please don't force me to read the next book in a series by introducing major new plot elements a few pages from the end and leaving them totally unresolved. I want to go on with a series because I'm enjoying spending time in that world, not because I was tricked by a cliffhanger ending. The ending of Changeless just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Of course, I'm more forgiving of these underhanded tactics when I've been thoroughly enjoying the reading experience up to that point. Unfortunately, I can't quite say that that was the case here. It took about half the book before I was really engaged in the story at all, and even then there were elements that irked me.

I read in an author interview that while Soulless was structured like a romance, Changeless was supposed to be more like a mystery. Unfortunately, I think that some of the silliness that worked so well in a lighthearted romance didn't quite hit the mark here. It was one thing for Alexia's empty-headed friend Ivy Hisselpenny to be concerned only with hats and manners when there wasn't really much at stake, or at least nothing that wasn't being concealed from her; but in the context of someone hanging on for dear life, at risk of plummeting to sure death at any moment, or when people were being poisoned or shot at, her absolute idiocy was just grating.

I also think that Changeless in general is lacking some of the interest of Soulless because the world is already established, and we mainly have to rely on plot and characters to keep us engaged now. One of the things I loved about Soulless was the unique setting and the descriptions of how vampires and werewolves were integrated into Victorian society.

Let me re-iterate here that these comments are coming from someone who absolutely loved Soulless. It's not by coincidence that I read Changeless as soon as it was released; I had been looking forward to this book for months. I'm sad to say that it was ultimately a bit of a disappointment.

And yet, when it comes to the final judgement, should you read this book? If you liked Soulless, of course you should, though I might advise waiting until September when the third book is released. And if you haven't read Soulless, I would highly recommend it. Even after being underwhelmed by Changeless, I'm looking forward to reading more of Carriger's work in the future.

Zoe, Three Cups of Tea is more of how the work began, Stones into Schools is more about how the work continues on and the other countries that have been opened to Mortenson since the initial work.

Sorry to hear about Changeless. I still have not read Soulless yet, but am rethinking whether or not to read it.

I would still recommend Soulless, which works fine as a standalone.

#244: OK, thanks for the input. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy. My local library still does not have it.

#242 A shame Changeless was a bit disappointing but congratulations on having the first review! I'm still going to read it.

>246 souloftherose: I think David actually read it before I did; I guess he just didn't post a review. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of Changeless, and Stasia, I'm also looking forward to your thoughts on Soulless when you eventually get a hold of it.

Just a note, if anyone's interested: I also posted my review on Amazon, and of course the negative thumbs have started already: I'm at 0 of 2 helpful votes just overnight. I can never quite decide whether to be amused or sad about the fact that some people can't stand to hear dissenting opinions.

Well, I for one appreciate your opinion and review :) I'm planning to pick up my copy today, though I'm not sure if I'll get to reading it this month. Either way, I plan to approach it a bit differently, based on your comments and the author interviews I've read. I'll try not to expect wonderful things, and then maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised...? Or at least moderately content. I'd settle for that.

#248 I just went to give you a "yes" on Amazon - after all, negative/meh-feeling reviews are just as important for judging if you want to read something as positive ones and your review decided me that I still want to read the first book, but will approach it as a stand-alone... Silly people.

Interesting thoughts on Changeless! I'll read it, but I'm a little less enthused with the change in feel.

Please don't force me to read the next book in a series by introducing major new plot elements a few pages from the end and leaving them totally unresolved. I want to go on with a series because I'm enjoying spending time in that world, not because I was tricked by a cliffhanger ending. The ending of Changeless just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I hate that too! And the flip side is when authors crudely fill you in with all the details of a previous book in a series.

I really should get back to my resolve of only reading series once all the books are published. I thought with Carriger I would at least avoid the problem of forgetting earlier books, because she writes so quickly, but now I have to deal with the cliffhangers! Cliffhangers make me so grumpy.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's opinions about Changeless.

Zoe

Regarding message 248 and Amazon reviews. I posted a review of a book I absolutely hated. Not Just The Levees Broke was written poorly filled with profanity and the F word, the author was whining about how the government should have taken care of her during Katrina. She was hoping for steak and merlot instead of what she rec'd!!!

Not only did I get negative feedback, but actually, it was downright nasty, bitter and scathing. The author wrote to me with more hatefilled diatribes.

What a rude comment. I reported it as inappropriate, so maybe it will be removed. It certainly makes my problems look trivial. (Especially since I've had no more negative feedback--I guess the people who are eagerly watching the page for new reviews are the ones who are least likely to tolerate critical ones.)

--> 248

LOL! I stopped posting reviews on Amazon a long time ago (except for some Early Reviewer books) because people there *always* vote that reviews are not helpful if they don't agree with the point of view of the reviewer. To me, your post just made me laugh. Sorry!

--> 254

Gruesome! I think that's *exactly* what LT wants to avoid by not allowing comments on reviews. However, I think a reviewer should have the option to block out such negative comments. The reason? Because it has nothing to do with the review, but rather much to do with blasting the person who is the reviewer. Sad, isn't it?

>256 SqueakyChu: I only started posting reviews on Amazon a few months ago, both to see how the comments turned out and (I admit it!) in hopes of getting a Vine invitation someday. My experience with comments has so far been completely unexciting; I think I have two comments in total on 32 reviews.

I've suggested that LT review comments should have stricter enforcement of community policing, where offensive comments are actually deleted rather than just hidden. All it would take is a single Talk thread where people mentioned the comments that required attention, and ones like Linda received would be gone almost immediately. I think in the end it would be just as effective as letting people delete comments on their own reviews, but without the tendency toward automatic deletion of any dissenting views.

I think I have two comments in total on 32 reviews.

After all of the commotion and negativity about even the suggestion of comments on reviews here at LT, I think we'd see the same "few in number" of comments on reviews here as well.

*runs to count her own Amazon comments on reviews*

stricter enforcement of community policing

That makes more sense. You win again, Zoe! Now I agree with you.

>259 SqueakyChu: Now you just need to convince everyone else! ;)

Hey! I tried!!

I just counted my last 100 Amazon reviews, granted that most of them are from a long time ago, but they have ZERO comments on them! The last review I posted there was on 2/10/2010. That wasn't too long ago. Most of my reviews were positive, though, because I'm picky about the books I choose to read. If there's a book I don't like, I usually don't finish it; hence it doesn't get a review. It's not worth wasting my time.

The worst reviews I've given (and they haven't been *that* bad) were for Early Reviewer books because I have to finish them in order to review them. I'm also pretty picky when I choose those as well.

Zoe and Linda, I thought both your reviews were helpful and thumbed them on Amazon to help sway things a little.

Congratulations on a hot review for Changeless here on LT anyway!

>261 SqueakyChu: Zero comments on 100 reviews! That's very surprising to me.

>262 souloftherose: Oh, thanks for pointing out the hot review! It's been a while since I had one of those. And thanks for the support on Amazon as well.

That's very surprising to me.

Absence of comments on my reviews at Amazon was not surprising to me. First of all, most of my reviews were posted there prior to Amazon's allowing comments on reviews. Second, most of my reviews were neither negative nor controversial.

My reviews that got "not helpful" marks, though, were either those that did not seem to praise a book enough or those that had some political leaning that opposed someone else's viewpoint.

I really don't think that the "helpful" marks on Amazon reflect the content of the reviews that much. I think some people mark reviews "not helpful" just to boost their own Amazon review ratings.

For fun, I used to keep track of my reviewer rank on Amazon. On 12/03/00, I was reviewer #973. Now I'm reviewer #3,898 (classical) and #12,246 (new reviewer, whatever that means, and, frankly, I don't care!).

I still like to post reviews on Amazon if I find a book of a midlist author that I'd like very much to promote. I think that's the best place to do it. In addition, I sometimes post an Early Reviewer book review there at the request of the publisher.

#242,

Excellent review Zoe. Do you think I should wait for the 3rd book before reading Changeless?

#242 - Just found your review - sounds like you and I had just about the EXACT same thoughts on the entire book! lol

>264 SqueakyChu: Madeline, those are some impressive reviewer ranks! I think the main difference between the classic and new rankings is that the new one gives more weight to recent reviews.

>266 PamFamilyLibrary: Pam, if you have the patience I think you would probably be better off waiting for the third one in September. But at the same time, I know it's more exciting to read a new book as soon as it's released. I was so happy that Changeless was released in paperback, so I didn't have to spend a year pretending that I wasn't really interested in it.

>267 tapestry100: I know, it is really uncanny! I was glad to see that we agree, because I always worry when I write a negative review that maybe I'm somehow being unfair to the author.

Since everyone else seems to be doing it, here's a summary of my reading for the quarter:

19 books read (if I can keep this up, I'll actually manage to complete the challenge for once!)

25 books acquired (but some were for school, so I'm actually doing okay here)

17 fiction
2 non-fiction

5 children's/YA
14 adult

2 library
5 owned by family members
12 owned by me, of which 3 were "off the shelf" and 9 were purchased during the quarter

I was going to do a genre breakdown, but decided it's too hard. Anyway, I'm happy with my reading overall.

A very nice quarter for you, Zoe!

Thanks, Stasia!

I had to borrow Anne of Green Gables from the library a few months ago, Zoe, because I couldn't find my multiple copies at home, either! If I don't find Anne of Avonlea soon, I may have to do the same with that, although I might just download it for the Kindle as it's old enough to be free.

I'm disappointed you didn't enjoy Changeless as much as Soulless, though I will definitely be reading it anyway, as I absolutely loved the first one. Plus, I pre-ordered it already, lol, so it gets delivered to my Kindle as soon as it's available.

Marcia, do you follow Carriger's blog? I am sad to announce that, as Orbit is part of Hachette, electronic Changeless has been effected by the latest oddness in print publishing's relationship with the ebook format.... What this means is, I have no idea when an electronic version of Book II will be available. It sounds like you may have a while to wait.

In other news, my thread is now continued here