bedda's books in 2010

I did the 50 book challenge in 2009 and read quite a few more than that so this year I’m going to try for 75. I should be able to make it. I certainly have no shortage of reading material.

Welcome!

Welcome to the group!

First book of the new year

1. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

#4: I had that one home from the library but did not get a chance to read it. Did you like it?

#5: It was good. I really liked the detective with his pet tortoises. I was fun and fast moving. I think I actually liked the first part of the book better when it was just about the kids and not about the magic merry-go-round but it was all good.

#6: I will have to check it out again. Thanks for the input!

Welcome. I read The Thief Lord a few years ago and the merry-go-round part was a little strange, but the overall story was good.

2. The Firebrand by George Challis
This is a lot of fun if you like swashbuckling adventure. Which I do.

3. By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie

#9: I am into swashbuckling! I will have to look for The Firebrand.

4. Company of Liars by Karen Maitland

5. Transition by Vonda McIntyre

6. Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman
I have to admit that I started this in 2009 but two thirds was read in 2010 so I'm counting it. I feel like I have been reading it for a very long time.

>12 bedda: What did you think of Stones of Summer?

Stones of Summer wasn’t my kind of book. The way Mossman used language just didn’t do it for me. It was full of things like ‘the horizon was like a stone melon’ and ‘the day was like summer on stilts’ (those are made up but the point is there) and all sorts of metaphors I didn’t really get. Paragraph after paragraph of it for 550 odd pages. The characters were interesting and the story itself was pretty good but picking it out of the rest of the writing was hard and I found it tedious. I had to read it in small chunks between other things. But I guess it got a great review when it first came out and someone liked it so much that after reading it he made a documentary about his search for the author to find out why he never wrote anything else. So maybe I missed something. I won’t say don’t read the book but I will recommend that if you try it and it doesn’t grab you right up front not to keep reading because I don’t think it will grow on you.

7. Romeo's Ex by Lisa Fiedler
I like the new perspective but I’m not sure I like the way she changed the Romeo and Juliet story right at the end. In fact everything that happened in the crypt around Romeo and Juliet’s bodies was a little strange to me but everything before and after that I thought was pretty good.

8. Unfallen Dead by Mark del Franco

9. Shambling Towards Hiroshima by James Morrow

#17: That one looks interesting. Did you like it?

I liked Shambling Towards Hiroshima. It was interesting. I always like when I read a book and think that I have not heard this stuff before and this book did that for me. Funny in a sad sort of way. Very quick to read. A little anti-bomb preachy at the end but that’s part of the point. I would say it is worth a look, especially if you like old monster movies. Which I do.

#19: Thanks for the input. I will see if I can locate a copy.

10. Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
I liked it but it seemed like it was so much set up for the series that it didn't quite make it to the real story.

11. Huckleberry Finished by Livia J. Washburn

12. Omega by Patrick Lynch

13. Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon
A dark twist on the Cinderella story.

14. Tarzan Triumphant by Edgar Rice Burroughs

15. Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King

16. Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

17. Off the Mangrove Coast by Louis L'Amour

18. House of Wolves by Matt Bronleewe
Made me interested to go back and read the first in the series.

19. The Voyage of Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes

20. Dull Boy by Sarah Cross

Can you tell me some about The voyage of Argo?
Anita

#27: It’s Jason and the Argonauts so it’s a fun story with monsters and magic and all of that but there are times when Apollonius lists names or tells you the course that the ship took and the names and places were often unfamiliar to me and it got slightly tedious at times and the people hard to keep track of. It was interesting the way Apollonius depicted Jason, he doesn’t come off as the bold, daring hero that you get in the movies. I liked it. And it isn’t that long and isn’t hard to read (at least my translation, by E.V. Rieu, wasn’t.) But I have to admit that it was somehow less dramatic then I expected and when they get the fleece slightly anticlimactic. If you are already interested in Greek myth then it is definitely worth reading but I don’t think I would recommend this as a starting point.

thanks!
I am interested in Greek mythology and have the book on the shelf.
I just wondered if I would move it up in the TBR pile.
The Dutch translation I have should be a good one ;-)

Anita

21. Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
Gotta love killer unicorns.

22. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

#30: Those two look interesting. I am adding them to the BlackHole.

23. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
I liked it. Fast, fun. Had some romance, some magic, some fighting, and some Shakespeare.

24. The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari
Interesting but I haven't really decided how I feel about it yet.

25. Dead and Buried by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Nice and creepy

26. Dino Vicelli by Lori Weiner

27. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

#35: I did not much care for that one. Hopefully you liked it better than I did.

#36: I was expecting it to be better. It was kind of cliché and goofy. I wouldn’t say it was bad but it wasn’t all that good either. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

#37: I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Neither would I.

28. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Another trilogy? I seem to be running into trilogies everywhere lately. I liked it but I wish I didn't have to wait for two more books now.

29. The Firm by John Grisham
Not a trilogy. One complete whole story in one book.

30. A Corpse at St Andrew's Chapel by Melvin Starr

31. Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green

32. Hawk by Brian Neary

33. The Time of Terror by Seth Hunter

34. The Pencil by Henry Petroski
Surprisingly interesting for a book about pencils.

35. Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing With Fire by Derek Landy
Still good but I don't think I liked it quite as much as the first one. Maybe some of the novelty has worn off.

36. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman
Feynman is a very interesting guy.

#42: I really need to get around to reading the Feynman book. I read his Six Easy Pieces last year and enjoyed it. Thanks for the reminder!

#43: I can't even remember what made me pick it up in the first place but I'm glad I did. I think I'll be looking for his other stuff now. Glad I could help out! :)

#44: Well, if you have not read his Six Easy Pieces I can recommend that one.

37. The Land That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs

38. The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs

39. Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

40. Out of Time's Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs

41. Shylock's Daughter by Mirjam Pressler

42. The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy
It's the 3rd Skulduggery Pleasant.

It's amazing how many books I can read when they are all children's books.

#It's amazing how many books I can read when they are all children's books.

But they still count!

#49 - I know! Isn't it great? I love that.

And sometimes they're just plain better than some "adult" books ;)

#51: Isn't that the truth?

#51- I agree. But I do like to throw an adult book in there every once in a while, you know, to add verity or to have something I won’t be embarrassed to be caught reading on the train. :)

43. What's So Funny? by Donald E. Westlake
Not the best Dortmunder book but still good.

44. Hold the Enlightenment by Tim Cahill

I have never read any of Westlake's books. I am going to have to correct that one of these days!

55 - You definitely should! He writes some stuff that isn’t funny that I like as well but I think his Dortmunder series are my favorites.

#56: I will have to see what I can find at my local library. Thanks for the input!

45. Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

46. Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

47. Flight of Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer
An early reviewer book but for some reason I'm having trouble writing a review. I really have to get that done though.

48. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

49. Unperfect Souls by Mark Del Franco
I like this series but this is not my favorite one of the bunch.

50. Nobody's Prize by Esther Friesner
I liked how she worked the myths into the story without making it fantasy. I'm not sure I like Helen though. She's kind of a brat at times.

51. The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers

52. The Return of Captain Conquer by Mel Gilden
Cute, fun little story.

53. The Man Who Ate the World by Jay Rayner

54. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Sad and dark.

Congratulations on making it 2/3 of the way through the challenge. Nice going!

63: Thanks!

55. Under the Western Acacia by Christian Jacq

56. Dracula by Bram Stoker
I can't believe I've never read this before. It was just one of those books I was going to get around to. Well, I finally did. I liked it but some the characters are rather long winded.

#65: One of the best things about books is that they patiently wait until the time is right for us to get to them!

#66: True. It's one of the reasons I get along better with books than I do with people. :)

#67: So do I!

57. My French Whore by Gene Wilder

58. Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem

What did you think of Gun, With Occasional Music? What a fantastic title!

Two fantastic titles in a row, in my opinion. I had no idea Gene Wilder was an author as well.

71: It was the title that made me pick up Gun, With Occasional Music in the first place. I liked it. It takes place in the future and in this case it is kind of a dark and depressing one. Sort of a noir feel, but with talking kangaroos. The tough guy detective with a good heart type of thing but it manages not to be cliché. If you like detective stories that have a dark feel to them then you should take a look. And don’t let the talking kangaroos scare you. It is obviously the future but I wouldn’t call the book science fiction.

72: I didn't know Gene Wilder was an author either until my sister handed me that book. It is a short fast read. It takes place during WWI so it is not a happy story but it is kind of bitter sweet in a way. And except for the title I wouldn’t even be embarrassed if my mother caught me reading it. I’d be interested to read more by him.

59a. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
59b. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

60. Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell

61. The Woman Who Wouldn't by Gene Wilder
I think I liked his other one better but I liked this one too.

62. Dog Days by John Levitt

63. The White Mary by Kira Salak
Okay, but not as good as I'd hoped.

You are getting very close to 75! Good going!

64. Another Faust by Daniel Nayeri
I was unimpressed.

65. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
More of a zombie book than I expected. I didn't like the main character and wasn't sure what the big revelation at the end was supposed to make me feel. It was sort of just thrown out there and fell flat for me.

#78: Sorry to hear that, as I have this one set aside to read this month.

I hope your next read is more to your liking!

#79: I like zombie books so it wasn’t as much of a disappointment as it could have been. It just wasn’t what I expected and since I didn’t like Briar, or more was indifferent to her which made her uninteresting to me, I found I didn’t care about her personal story much. Other people loved it though so it is probably just me.

#80: Actually, in the past 12 hours I have seen 3 different people in the group who did not much care for it :)

#81: I'm glad I'm not the only one. :)

66. The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry
This continues my streak of so-so books. And the two I’ve got going now don’t seem to be much better. I’m beginning to think it’s me and my bad attitude and not the books at all.

I hope you run into a book you love soon!

Me too! Maybe I should just be more careful about what I'm reading but I am surprised I didn't like some of them more than I did. So maybe I just hit a bad patch. It can't go on forever.

I am a very moody reader, so it does not matter what the book is, if I am not in the mood to read it, it will not get read. I just went through such a book funk. I cured it by falling back on BC and comfort reads. Maybe try that for a couple of days and see if your mood lifts?

67. Skin Deep by Mark Del Franco
I like his other series better.

68. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
I got some of the answers to questions the first one left me with but was still not overjoyed with the book.

>83 bedda: I didn't care much for The Templar Legacy either. I found, though, that this series improved with each book. Hopefully, you'll read a winner soon.

#88: I got The Charlemagne Pursuit from Early Reviewers and liked it enough to go out and get The Templar Legacy so I could start from the beginning. I think that made it even more disappointing that I didn’t really care for this one. But if they get better along the way maybe I’ll give Berry another shot and try the new one. Thanks.

69. One Of Us Is Wrong by Donald Westlake or Samuel Holt depending on your point of view
I liked this one. I should have known that to get out of my slump all I had to do was pick up a Donald Westlake book.

One of these centuries I will read some Westlake :)

Glad to know you are out of the slump!

70. Epic: The Story God is Telling and the Role That is Yours to Play by John Eldredge

71. The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Third in a trilogy. Moves really quickly, is fun and exciting and I wasn't even annoyed by the teenage romance, which can sometimes get on my nerves.

72. 99 Coffins by David Wellington
I like the historical aspects.

73. Vampyre: The Terrifying Lost Journal of Dr. Cornelius Van Helsing by Dr. Cornelius Van Helsing of course. Although I think someone named Mary-Jane Knight probably helped.
It's a silly little book where you lift flaps and pull tabs. It's set up like a journal so there are bits of paper and notes and maps and such. Kind of fun.

#93: One of these days, I will get to my copy of 99 Coffins. *sigh* I really need to be twins.

#94: I know! I don't think I will live even half as long as it would take to read everything I 'intend to read some day'. Even if I stop adding things to the list right now. Which, of course, is impossible.

Exactly. I have to live forever now just to read the contents of the BlackHole. And that is just the contents as of right this second!

74. Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith

75. Murder Mirage by Kenneth Robeson

#98: Thanks!! I guess next year all have to set a higher goal.

76. Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart
Um, I'm not sure I wanted to know all of this.

77. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier

78. The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

#101: I have not gotten around to Frenchman's Creek yet. How did you like it?

#100: How did you like that one? I read her earthworm book and found it surprisingly fascinating.

#102: I liked Frenchman’s Creek. It had a lot more romance than some of her other stuff I’ve read but it had some adventure story too, with the pirates and all. I think she did a god job of getting you to like the main character even though sometimes you weren’t sure you approved of her actions. There are a lot of interesting characters.

#103: It was very interesting. I learned some things about plants that I see all the time that I didn’t know. And about some plants that I had never heard of. I like that she included, not just the deadly plants, but also the ones that are invasive or that intoxicate and stuff. And the anecdotes about when these plants show up in history are very interesting.

#104: Thanks for the input!

Congrats on 75!

79. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Good characters, good mystery. Dark but with rays of light. Kind of grisly but not gruesome.

#107: I like that series, although it tends to be a bit uneven. I hope you get a chance to read the other books.

I've had Wicked Plants on the TBR list for a long time... really, really want to read it! Though, it'll probably just end up making me MORE paranoid... hrm o_O

#109: I know! I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at a fig the same way again.

80. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

81. Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker
I really liked this and the movie that is based on it, which stayed very true to the novel.

>104 bedda:: Sounds interesting--I'm adding Wicked Plants to my wishlist.

82. The Passing of the Third Floor Back by Jerome Jerome
I liked it but I don't think I'm good at reading plays because all the stage direction was slightly tedious to follow for me.

83. Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell

84. Poison by Chris Wooding
It was alright but I wasn't loving it.

85. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

86. Roma by Steven Saylor

#114: How did you like Roma? I downloaded it for my Nook last week but have not gotten to it yet.

#115: I liked Roma. It covers a lot of time so there are gaps in the narrative that jump over 50 or 100 years or whatever but he stops at the highlights of the history of Rome. And I thought he did a good job of giving you a sense of continuity by following one family through time. And I like the way he introduces a character or a festival and then you get to see how they are remembered or passed down through time. Of course Rome was full of intrigue, plots, wars (civil or otherwise) and all sorts of exciting stuff. And you get to see all of it here. You also get a rather detailed look at Roman roads and aqueducts and I’ll let you decide if that is a good thing or not. I did find it was rather long to read. Which is not particularly a bad thing but…

87. The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell
This was able to surprise me. And with all the zombie books I've been reading lately that's saying something.

#116: Thanks for the input on Roma. Sounds like it is a pretty good read, all in all.

I already have The Reapers Are the Angels in the BlackHole. I look forward to getting hold of it one of these days.

88. Silver: My Own Tale As Written by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder by Edward Chupack
I wanted to like this more than I did. It was okay but there were times that it dragged and I was disappointed that it didn't line up with the story in Treasure Island.

89. Monster Planet by David Wellington
I really need to stop reading zombie books for a while I think.

90. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

So, what did you think of it?

#120: Let the Right One In was good overall but I think I expected more from it. I had heard great things but I wasn’t blown away by any of it. I liked that it was about the people around the vampire as much as it was about the vampire and some of those characters were very interesting. But I found one of the characters creepy, and not in a good horror sort of creepy way but in uncomfortable odd sort of way. The flashbacks were not as elucidating as I had hoped they would be and sometimes the pace seemed a little slow. I do like that it is filled with moral ambiguity and that everything isn’t all nice and sweet nor is it all gore and evil.

That's similar to my reaction, except I was a bit more in the blown-away camp. I just finished up Handling the Undead by the same author. Lindqvist keeps that moral ambiguity, slow pace, similar atmosphere in terms of nice&sweet/gore&evil. Only this time with zombies. It's definitely not for the Romero-style zombie gorefest fans. Most of the zombies are rather passive and he uses them as a jumping-off point for talking about how people reacted in various ways to the reanimation of their dead friends and family.

91. Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie

92. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Finished this last night and I'm still trying to figure out if I liked the way Collins wrapped this up.

93. Fragment by Warren Fahy
Eh. Scenes of extreme action and danger alternated with long lectures and science lessons.

123: Did you figure it out? I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)

125: I concluded that I'm content with it. I still think that Collins seemed to skip over some things that maybe shouldn’t have been skipped over. It felt almost like she didn’t know how to wrap something up so she removed Katniss from the action so there would be a reason not to write that scene. So I guess I haven’t figured it out. There were some good points and some not so good points for me.

94. Jennifer Government by Max Barry
I liked it. I like the concept of a whole world gone corporate where everything has been privatized and seeing what impact such a world might have on people.

95. Princess Bride by William Goldman
Oddly, I think I like the movie better.

96. Donegal: Irish Justice by James Lower

97. Weight by Jeanette Winterson

98. Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

99. Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer

Almost to 100! I hope it proves to be a great read!

100. Arizona Free by Doug Martin
Not the great read both alcottacre and I were hoping for. It turned out to be oddly unsatisfying.

Too bad about that one!

101. Vampire Zero by David Wellington

102. Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen
Graphic novel. I love the art. And the fact that there are not paragraphs and paragraphs of text so the graphics actually get to tell a lot of the story.

#131: I will have to look for Mouse Guard. Thanks for the recommendation, Rebecca.

ETA: How gory was the Wellington book? Just curious as I own 3 of them, but have never read them.

#131: Wellington is kind of gory. These vampires rip people apart, literally. But it really isn't that bad. When the vampires kill it is ugly but there is a lot of the book that doesn't have any gore in it at all. I can't remember about the first one in the series because I read it awhile ago but the second and third aren't bad. Moments of gore and blood but not all the time. I think the zombies ones were icky and creeped me out more but you have to expect that sort of thing from zombies I guess.

#133: Thanks for the input!

103. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

104. 2% of 2% of All the World's Stories

105. Sky Burial by Xinran

106. Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 by David Peterson

107. The Front Porch Prophet by Raymond L. Atkins
A lot of wonderful characters that you get to know and since it is told mostly in flash backs you get to see how they got to where they are.

108. Dead Pan by Gayle Trent
Typical cozy mystery with an amateur sleuth only this one has a lot of baking.

#137: The Front Porch Prophet looks interesting. I will have to see if I can find a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Rebecca.

109. The Bait and the Trap by George Challis
Swashbuckling fun

110. The Pets by Bragi Olafsson
Slow start, then it got interesting, but I didn't like how it ended

111. Prostho Plus by Piers Anthony

112. Resolution by Robert B. Parker
I really like this series.

113. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

#140: How was the Jacqueline Kelly book? It looks interesting.

#141: I liked it. Calpurnia is sufficiently whiny about being forced to do things she doesn’t want to do so she is realistic without becoming completely annoying. And I think Kelly does a good job of capturing the wonder of discovering things for the first time and the frustration of being expected to be someone you don’t want to be. It’s a coming of age story about a girl who doesn’t want to just cook and sew but it doesn’t sound cliché or old. And there are good characters.

#142: My local library has it, so I will give it a shot. Thanks for the input, Rebecca!

114. Discoveries: Writing by Georges Jean

115. The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley

116. The Journals of Lewis and Clark

117. Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittridge

118. The History of Food by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat
I started this back in January and have been reading a little at a time hoping to finish it before the year was out. There were a couple of times I didn't think I was going to make it so I'm happy I managed to finish it up. A lot of info here.

119. Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor by Chuck Black

Rebecca, the 2011 group is up and running. I do hope you will be joining us again: http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin20111

120. Outlaw The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee
I like graphic novels and I like Robin Hood, so I liked this too.

121. Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon
Big words with lots and lots of pictures. It's cute and fun.

122. Sons of Liberty by Alexander Lagos
Another graphic novel. It is interesting but I think the second one might be better. This one is a lot of set up and back story.

#147: I wish my local library had more selection of graphic novels! I would really like to read that Robin Hood one.

Happy Holidays, Rebecca!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

The graphic novels are kind of a new thing at my library. It's is nice though. And I think it gets the kids reading too.

123. Tarzan and the City of Gold by Edgar Rice Burroughs

124. Rebecca the Rock 'n' Roll Fairy by Daisy Meadows
My niece gave me this one for Christmas. She knows I love to read and my name was in the title so she thought I had to have it. It isn't something I would have picked for myself but it was sweet just the same.

125. Boots and Pieces by Emily Ecton

126. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
My very last book in 2010. I think I ended my year on a high note.

#152: I think I ended my year on a high note.

Good going and congratulations, Rebecca!