Steve the Curmurdgeon (scvlad) 2015

Keskustelu75 Books Challenge for 2015

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Steve the Curmurdgeon (scvlad) 2015

Tämä viestiketju on "uinuva" —viimeisin viesti on vanhempi kuin 90 päivää. Ryhmä "virkoaa", kun lähetät vastauksen.

1scvlad
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 17, 2015, 9:44 pm

Dammit! It's supposed to be curmudgeon not curmurdgeon. That makes me curmudgeonly for sure! But I'm not changing it! Hmphh. And get off my lawn!

Anyway, this is my 5th year.

My grading scale looks like this:
- Just say no
- Some might like it, but it's not my thing
- I don't regret reading it, but once was probably enough
- A good solid book, well worth the time; might read again
- Great book; I'm almost certain to read it again

I also keep track of what kinds of books I'm reading. So:
n = nonfiction
f = fiction
p = plays and poetry
g = graphic novels and comics
r = reference
{X} = the number of words read (not including indeces, etc. - fiction and non-fiction only)

Thus, an entry looks like this:
01. n01. A Nonfiction Book of Some Kind by An Author {5,000,000}

These days my reading includes a lot of historical fiction, mystery, and history, but I also do SF/fantasy, science, biography, and even occasional 'literature'.

Italian language books count as 2 books and double the word count since I essentially have to read every word at least twice to understand anything.

I'm not a heavy conversationalist, but I do look through threads and am always interested in what people are reading.

Last year's thread is here.
The 2014 wrap up is here.

That's all I have to say this year! Let's get started!

2scvlad
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 28, 2015, 7:46 pm

THE COMPLETE 2015 BOOK LIST BY MONTH

JANUARY
01. f01. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin {59,000}
02. n01. Marathon by Richard A. Billows {83,000}
03. f02. Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg {200,000}
04. n02. Jumbo: This Being the True Story of the Most Famous Elephant in the World by Paul Chambers {79,000}
05. f03. The Just City by Jo Walton {118,000}
06. n03. Dr. Mütter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz {120,000}
07. f04. Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg {116,000}
{Month = 775,000}
{Total = 775,000}

FEBRUARY
08. n04. The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin {358,000}
09. f05. My Real Children by Jo Walton {119,000}
10. f06. Shards of Honor by Jois McMaster Bujold {89,000}
{Month = 566,000}
{Total = 1,341,000}

MARCH
11. f07. Lamentation by C. J. Sansom {230,000}
12. f08. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan {103,000}
NP1. Bedlam by Catharine Arnold {22,000}
13. f09. Medicus by Ruth Downie {140,000}
14. f10. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett {115,000}
15. f11. Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie {147,000}
{Month = 757,000}
{Total = 2,098,000}

APRIL
16. g01. Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and others
17. n05. The Plantagenets by Dan Jones {221,000}
18. f12. A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham {139,000}
19. f13. A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham {134,000}
20. n06. By the Spear by Ian Worthington {120,000}
{Month = 614,000}
{Total = 2,712,000}

MAY
21. f14. An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham {149,000}
22. r01. The Elements of F*cking Style by Chris Baker and Jacob Hansen {23,000}
23/24. f15/16. Via Chanel Nº5 by Daniela Farnese {83,000 X 2 = 166,000}
25. f17. The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham {138,000}
NP2. The Finish: The Progress of a Murder Uncovered by Angela Elliott {25,000}
{Month = 501,000}
{Total = 3,213,000}

JUNE
26. n07. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang {89,000}
27. f18. Death ex Machina by Gary Corby {112,000}
28. f19. Forgotten Suns by Judith Tarr {170,000}
29. g02. Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson and others
30/31. f 20/21. Pazze di me by Federica Bosco {60,000 X 2 = 120,000}
32. n08. The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones {133,000}
33. f22. Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie {136,000}
{Month = 760,000}
{Total = 3,973,000}

JULY
34/35. n09/10. In altre parole by Jhumpa Lahiri {29,000 X 2 = 58,000}
36. f23. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett {100,000}
37. f24. Mort by Terry Pratchett {80,000}
38. f25. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen {121,763}
39. f26. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin {97,000}
{Month = 457,000}
{Total = 4,379,000}

AUGUST
40. f27. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton {112,000}
41. g03. Captain Marvel Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue Deconnick
42. f28. Longbourn by Jo Baker {141,000}
43. f29. The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton {121,000}
NP3. The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolmick {10,000}
44. g04. Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1: The Tomorrow People by Mark Millar and Others
45. g05. Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2: Return to Weapon X by Mark Millar and others
46. f30. The King's Peace by Jo Walton {199,000}
47. n11. Lost Christianities by Bart D. Ehrman {128,000}
{Month = 702,000}
{Total = 5,081,000}

SEPTEMBER
48. f31. The King's Name by Jo Walton {134,000}
49. f32. The Master of Rain by Tom Bradby {119,000}
50. n12. The Pursuit of Italy by David Gilmour {158,000}
51. g06. Bacchus: Immortality Isn't Forever by Eddie Campbell
52. f33. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon {137,000}
53. g07. Saga, Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and others
54/55. g08/09. Corto Maltese: Favola di Venezia by Hugo Pratt
{Month = 549,000}
{Total = 5,630,000}

OCTOBER
56/57. f34/35. A noi donne piace il rosso by Daniela Farnese {82,000 X 2 = 164,000}
58. f36. Deadly Election by Lindsey Davis {126,000}
{Month = 290,000}
{Total = 5,920,000}

NOVEMBER
59/60. f37/38. Replay di un amore by Vittorio Catani {15,000 X 2 = 30,000}
61. f39. The Spook Who Spoke Again by Lindsey Davis {30,000}
62. g10. Asterix Omnibus 9: Asterix and the Great Divide / Asterix and the Black Gold / Asterix and Son by Albert Uderzo
63. n13. SPQR by Mary Beard {200,000}
64/65. f40/41. Chew-9 by Franco Forte {8000 X 2 = 16,000}
66. g11. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis
{Month = 281,000}
{Total = 6,196,000}

DECEMBER
67. g12. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 2 by Brian Michael Bendis
68. g13. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 3 by Brian Michael Bendis
69/70. g14/15. Corto Maltese: La giovinezza by Hugo Pratt
71. g16. Sex Criminals, Volume 1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction
72. g17. Sex Criminals, Volume 2: Two Worlds, One Cop by Matt Fraction
73/74. f42/43. La guerra coi Rems by Franco Forte {18,000 X 2 = 36,000}
75. f44. The Rosetta Man by Claire McCague {113,000}
{Month = 149,000}
{Total = 6,335,000}

3scvlad
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 28, 2015, 7:47 pm

2015 BOOK LIST BY GENRE

FICTION
f01. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin {59,000}
f02. Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg {200,000}
f03. The Just City by Jo Walton {118,000}
f04. Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg {116,000}
f05. My Real Children by Jo Walton {119,000}
f06. Shards of Honor by Jois McMaster Bujold {89,000}
f07. Lamentation by C. J. Sansom {230,000}
f08. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan {103,000}
f09. Medicus by Ruth Downie {140,000}
f10. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett {115,000}
f11. Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie {147,000}
f12. A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham {139,000}
f13. A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham {134,000}
f14. An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham {149,000}
f15/16. Via Chanel Nº5 by Daniela Farnese {83,000 X 2 = 166,000}
f17. The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham {138,000}
f18. Death ex Machina by Gary Corby {112,000}
f19. Forgotten Suns by Judith Tarr {170,000}
f 20/21. Pazze di me by Federica Bosco {60,000 X 2 = 120,000}
f22. Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie {136,000}
f23. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett {100,000}
f24. Mort by Terry Pratchett {80,000}
f25. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen {121,763}
f26. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin {97,000}
f27. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton {112,000}
f28. Longbourn by Jo Baker {141,000}
f29. The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton {121,000}
f30. The King's Peace by Jo Walton {199,000}
f31. The King's Name by Jo Walton {134,000}
f32. The Master of Rain by Tom Bradby {119,000}
f33. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon {137,000}
f34/35. A noi donne piace il rosso by Daniela Farnese {82,000 X 2 = 164,000}
f36. Deadly Election by Lindsey Davis {126,000}
f37/38. Replay di un amore by Vittorio Catani {15,000 X 2 = 30,000}
f39. The Spook Who Spoke Again by Lindsey Davis {30,000}
f40/41. Chew-9 by Franco Forte {8000 X 2 = 16,000}
f42/43. La guerra coi Rems by Franco Forte {18,000 X 2 = 36,000}
f44. The Rosetta Man by Claire McCague {113,000}
{Total = 4,558,000}

NON-FICTION
n01. Marathon by Richard A. Billows {83,000}
n02. Jumbo: This Being the True Story of the Most Famous Elephant in the World by Paul Chambers {79,000}
n03. Dr. Mütter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz {120,000}
n04. The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin {358,000}
n05. The Plantagenets by Dan Jones {221,000}
n06. By the Spear by Ian Worthington {120,000}
n07. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang {89,000}
n08. The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones {133,000}
n09/10. In altre parole by Jhumpa Lahiri {29,000 X 2 = 58,000}
n11. Lost Christianities by Bart D. Ehrman {128,000}
n12. The Pursuit of Italy by David Gilmour {158,000}
n13. SPQR by Mary Beard {200,000}
{Total = 1,769,000}

REFERENCE
r01. The Elements of F*cking Style by Chris Baker and Jacob Hansen {23,000}
{Total = 23,000}

GRAPHIC NOVELS
g01. Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and others
g02. Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson and others
g03. Captain Marvel Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue Deconnick
g04. Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1: The Tomorrow People by Mark Millar and others
g05. Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2: Return to Weapon X by Mark Millar and others
g06. Bacchus: Immortality Isn't Forever by Eddie Campbell
g07. Saga, Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and others
g08/09. Corto Maltese: Favola di Venezia by Hugo Pratt
g10. Asterix Omnibus 9: Asterix and the Great Divide / Asterix and the Black Gold / Asterix and Son by Albert Uderzo
g11. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis
g12. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 2 by Brian Michael Bendis
g13. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 3 by Brian Michael Bendis
g14/15. Corto Maltese: La giovinezza by Hugo Pratt
g16. Sex Criminals, Volume 1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction
g17. Sex Criminals, Volume 2: Two Worlds, One Cop by Matt Fraction

NANCY PEARLED
NP1. Bedlam by Catharine Arnold {22,000}
NP2. The Finish: The Progress of a Murder Uncovered by Angela Elliott {25,000}
NP3. The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolmick {10,000}

4scvlad
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 23, 2015, 11:50 am

LIBRI IN ITALIANO
Via Chanel Nº5 di Daniela Farnese {83,000 X 2 = 166,000}
Pazze di me di Federica Bosco {60,000 X 2 = 120,000}
In altre parole di Jhumpa Lahiri {29,000 X 2 = 58,000}
Corto Maltese: Favola di Venezia di Hugo Pratt
A noi donne piace il rosso di Daniela Farnese {82,000 X 2 = 164,000}
Replay di un amore di Vittorio Catani {15,000 X 2 = 30,000}
Chew-9 di Franco Forte {8000 X 2 = 16,000}
Corto Maltese: La giovinezza di Hugo Pratt
La guerra coi Rems di Franco Forte {18,000 X 2 = 36,000}

5drneutron
joulukuu 31, 2014, 12:14 pm

Welcome back!

6mahsdad
tammikuu 1, 2015, 12:21 pm

Stopping by for a visit. Good Luck this year.

7qebo
tammikuu 1, 2015, 12:25 pm

Happy New Year!

8SandDune
tammikuu 1, 2015, 12:27 pm

Happy New Year!

9cameling
tammikuu 1, 2015, 12:41 pm

Happy New Year! Can't wait to see what you'll be reading this year.

10PaulCranswick
tammikuu 1, 2015, 12:43 pm

Wishing you a very happy new year Steve and I hope to visit your thread a little more often in 2015.

11LoisB
tammikuu 1, 2015, 2:30 pm

Happy New Year from a former Bostonian!

12scaifea
tammikuu 1, 2015, 4:00 pm

Happy New Year, Steve!

13tloeffler
tammikuu 1, 2015, 5:11 pm

Happy New Year, Steve!

14MickyFine
tammikuu 1, 2015, 6:28 pm

It's my favourite curmudgeon! Happy new year, Steve!

15Kassilem
tammikuu 1, 2015, 7:09 pm

I'm looking forward to seeing what you read in 2015!

16The_Hibernator
tammikuu 1, 2015, 7:24 pm

Happy new year!

17ronincats
tammikuu 1, 2015, 8:38 pm

18karspeak
tammikuu 2, 2015, 4:29 am

Starred for another year

19scvlad
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 6, 2015, 11:21 am

01. 0f1. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin {59,000}



I'm starting my year with a good classic fantasy from Ursula K. Le Guin. I don't know why I've never read her books (except for one or two) but I think that's something I have to fix. This is the first step. It's a nice book written in a 'legend' or 'saga' style that works very well for it. Conventional in many respects - magic, growth, quest - but still just a nice tale.

My impetus to read this came from reading Among Others by Jo Walton, which is her homage to 60s and 70s SF and fantasy and which reminded me how much good stuff there is in this 'genre' that I haven't read. I read a lot of it when I was younger, but have gotten away from it with age. Not because I thought it was childish or sub-par literature, but just because I was exploring other things. I think it's time for me to start digging back into it again ...

20scvlad
tammikuu 2, 2015, 7:46 am

Hey, a question for you librarians out there: Does Le Guin get catalogued under 'L' or 'G'? For that matter, how about Beethoven? 'B' or 'v' for 'von Beethoven'? And Josquin des Prés? (also Josquin Despres and Josquin Depres?) And Leonardo da Vinci?

21scaifea
tammikuu 2, 2015, 8:36 am

>19 scvlad: I loved Wizard of Earthsea - so glad that you did, too!

22MickyFine
tammikuu 2, 2015, 6:31 pm

>20 scvlad: Cataloguing class is too long ago now, I can't remember what the rules around this are sadly.

23ronincats
tammikuu 2, 2015, 7:15 pm

Le Guin is typically filed under L, in libraries, for example.

I love the trilogy, but agree that the first book is the most simplistic. Also, this was written at a time when it was one of the first quest stories in the genre after Tolkien that wasn't a clone thereof, and so the format was not nearly as stale as it is now. And they were written for what would now be considered a YA market...but I still love them and try to reread them every decade, just like I do with LOTR.

24swynn
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 3, 2015, 10:41 am

>19 scvlad: That one has been swimming in the Someday Swamp since as long as I can remember. I also read a lot of fantasy when I was younger but even then I knew of more books than I ever got around to reading.

>20 scvlad: "L", "B", and "J", respectively. (The presidential monogram is purely coincidental, I expect.)

Warning: library-nerdiness follows.

The rules for indexing names aren't always obvious, and are often language-dependent. I don't pretend to know all the rules, nor I expect do most (in the sense of "more than half") catalogers. Instead we rely on "authority records": these are files defining the standard form of a person's name, following all the rules, and created by very savvy catalogers at the Library of Congress and specially-trained catalogers at libraries around the country.

The Library of Congress's authority files are publicly searchable online at:

http://authorities.loc.gov/

Searching LC Authorities for "Le guin" leads you to the authorized heading:

Le Guin, Ursula K., 1929-

This tells you that Ursula Le Guin files under "L". If it were otherwise, the authorized heading would be "Guin, Ursula K. Le, 1929-". In fact, if you follow the link to the MARC record, you can see that there is a cross-reference (in a MARC 400 field) to "Le Guin ..." from "Guin, ... Le".

Similarly, authorized forms for Beethoven and Josquin des Prez are:
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827
Josquin, des Prez, -1521

25scaifea
tammikuu 3, 2015, 7:27 am

>24 swynn: Oooh, I love the nerdiness! Thanks for that, Steve!

Oh, and hi, uh, Steve! *grins*

26scvlad
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 3, 2015, 10:28 am

>24 swynn: I'm totally into that nerndiess too! Actually this is really helpful information. I have a large collection of music, especially classical, and iTunes does a horrible job with any kind of standardized indexing, so I go through every album that comes into my library and re-index every field. Otherwise it's just too hard for me to find things.

But it leaves me with the occasional puzzle as to how to index composers with multiple name-variants. this means I actually have a source to go to! That's awesome! You've satisfied my OCD for the day! Thanks Steve!

>23 ronincats: I actually didn't find it all that simplistic. I thought, even now, that it felt pretty fresh. Or rather, it feels sufficiently archaic, and suited the story/style. I'll probably dig into the next ones in the series with pleasure.

>25 scaifea: I know; confusing, hunh?

27swynn
tammikuu 3, 2015, 10:48 am

>26 scvlad: Glad to help!

28scvlad
tammikuu 3, 2015, 2:06 pm

In honor of the new year, I took a look at my TBR list, which I haven't done in a very long time. There are 140 books on it! Geez, when did that happen? I really need to start reading from my own shelf don't I?

29tymfos
tammikuu 3, 2015, 6:11 pm

Happy New Year! Thanks for stopping by my thread today.

30scaifea
tammikuu 3, 2015, 7:13 pm

>28 scvlad: Yeah, I'm not even gonna look at my TBR list. Nope. I don't need that kind of guilt right now. Ha!

31rosalita
tammikuu 4, 2015, 10:32 am

>19 scvlad: What a great first read of the year, Steve! I just read that one last year myself, and it was a similar 5-star read for me. I have the second one sitting here waiting to be read, sent to me very kindly by Stephanie (auntieclio). I hope I can fit that in this month, maybe. For me, I read hardly any fantasy or science fiction when I was younger — the only exceptions were Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series and Arthur C. Clark's Rendezvous With Rama. So dipping my toes into the SF/F (is that the right acronym) genre over the past year or so has been great fun.

And I'm totally digging the cataloguing nerdiness, too! In my next life I hope I'm a librarian.

Oh, we're comparing TBR lists? I have 240 books I have catalogued on LT that are in my To Read collection, meaning I own them and haven't read them. There are many more on my shelves that are not yet catalogued. And we won't even talk about the two wishlists (one for books I want to buy, the other for books I want to borrow)!

32scvlad
tammikuu 4, 2015, 11:50 am

>31 rosalita: Yes, I know my TBR list is probably not so impressive compared to some others', but I just had not realized that there there were that many books sitting unread on my shelves! You have to realize that my wife limits me to three book cases. I am not allowed to get another book case and if I can't fit everything on them then some books have to go. My idea has always been to save the cases for the really special books that I want an MY SHELVES, and get rid of everything else. But apparently the shelves have been taken over by books not read. Oh well!

33LauraBrook
tammikuu 4, 2015, 5:05 pm

Happy New Year, Steve!

34scvlad
tammikuu 4, 2015, 5:26 pm

Grazie, Laura! And to you!

35swynn
tammikuu 4, 2015, 6:41 pm

>32 scvlad: my wife limits me to three book cases

Goodness gracious you must love that woman. :-)

36rosalita
tammikuu 4, 2015, 9:24 pm

>32 scvlad: Oh dear. Three bookcases. I've told this story before, but when I downsized from a house to one-bedroom apartment I had to decide between keeping the 9 bookcases or the bed. I sleep on the couch. :-)

37scvlad
tammikuu 5, 2015, 8:06 am

>35 swynn: Yes indeed! She's right though. We live in a one bedroom apartment and we just don't have the room to collect all kinds of junk. Including books. She's just as hard on herself though. Even though she's not a book collector like I am, she keeps a very close eye on what she's not using and junks it pretty quickly if it's not getting used regularly.

On the other hand, the switch to e-books is bringing out some bad habits in me again ...

>36 rosalita: Hah!

38scvlad
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 6, 2015, 11:39 am

02. n01. Marathon by Richard A. Billows {83,000}



And I got my first non-fiction book out of the way early this year.

The author argues, probably correctly, that the battle of Marathon, where the Athenian army defeated a much larger force of invading Persians in 490 B.C.E., was one of the most important battles in Western history and that without it, the western world would be a very different place.

Now, I've certainly heard of Marathon before and I understood that it was an important battle. But I was initially worried that Billows was going to have trouble with a book-length treatment of it. After all, though we know the broad outlines of the battle, we know very little of the details. I therefore suspected that the initial chapters were going to give important background, and I suspected that I'd already know quite a bit of that.

I'm glad to say that was not the case. The initial chapters are indeed given over to background: Billows covers the development of the Greek city-states and their methods of war; the development of the Persian empire; the development of 5th century Athenian democracy; and the reasons for hostilities between the Greeks, especially the Athenians, and the Persians. But Billows gave a nicely detailed and nicely written account of all of these in which I learned quite a bit. Indeed this turned out to be one of the better summaries of pre-5th century Greek and Middle-Eastern history that I've read.

The discussion of the battle itself is a little short on detail, but that's what we've been left with from the historical record so we can't fault the author for that. The final chapter on the legacy of Marathon and how the world would be different without it I probably could have done without: lots of speculation. However I certainly agree with the main conclusion that the world would have been a very different place now had the Athenians lost the battle on that August morning.

My review (which is essentially the above) is here.

By the way, this is a SantaThing book, so thanks again Santa! (You know who you are.)

39AuntieClio
tammikuu 8, 2015, 5:18 am

When I moved into my 244 sq ft one car garage apartment, I refused to put my 42+ boxes of books into storage. It looks like I live in a Tetris game, and it really disturbs my landlord because he can't understand why someone would want books at all, much less my collection. He also could not understand why I was studying for a BA in history because there's not an immediate way to make money with that. I didn't bother to tell him I was studying history for the hell of it with no real expectation of ever making a living with it.

Oh, and hi! I finally made it.

40scvlad
tammikuu 8, 2015, 11:31 am

>39 AuntieClio: Nice of you to drop in! I understand about books in the apartment. I have trouble going over to peoples' places and findings no bookshelves at all. I admit it; I judge them.

41mahsdad
tammikuu 8, 2015, 11:41 am

I do too, at least a little bit. I think we are a different breed. Couldn't imagine life with out books. A co-worker of mine asked me when he should start reading to his son (who was about 6 months old at the time), I immediately said; 6 MONTHS AGO! :) He looked at me like I was a little bit off.

The book I'm reading right now is The Flame Alphabet and the conceit is that speech/language (specifically from kids in the beginning) is deadly, including the written word. The ultimate nightmare in my mind.

42swynn
tammikuu 8, 2015, 11:53 am

>38 scvlad: That one looks good, I'll toss it in the swamp. I'm curious: in what ways (does he think or you think) would the world be different had the Athenians lost?

43qebo
tammikuu 8, 2015, 11:58 am

>39 AuntieClio: I lived in a one-car garage apartment for awhile, but it was before I could afford to buy books or really much of anything else, so I didn't have a storage problem. It helps though to remember that space and try to imagine where 42 boxes of books might go...

44norabelle414
tammikuu 8, 2015, 12:02 pm

IMO there is only one thing worse than someone who has no books in their house/apartment - someone who has books but only for "decoration". Yuck!!!

45ronincats
tammikuu 8, 2015, 1:19 pm

>26 scvlad: By simplistic, I meant the plot line was pretty straightforward and linear, not that the story itself lacked detail and richness, so I should have clarified. I love her world-building in this series.

I think it's pretty clear how I feel about having books in the house! I would die having only 3 bookcases, however. When we moved to San Diego 35 years ago from a 1 bedroom apartment, I already had over 20 boxes of books to be moved. Of course, I had built a bookcase across and around the window wall of our bedroom, and had put a wall of bookcases down in the basement while we lived there...

46AuntieClio
tammikuu 8, 2015, 7:41 pm

>40 scvlad: Yeah I have problems not judging people who don't have books. A guy who wanted to date me knew I loved books so he would tell me he had books too. But every time I asked to know more about his books, he changed the subject. Guess who never got a date with me?

>43 qebo: I was forced to move after living in the same place for 20 years, lots of time to accumulate books. As I go through my "Mysterious Boxes," I keep finding books which make me wonder what I was thinking at the time. Plus, I had the idea I had to be a completist even if I didn't like everything an author wrote. Living in 244 sq ft has at least taught me to be more picky.

47kgriffith
tammikuu 8, 2015, 8:00 pm

>39 AuntieClio: 42 boxes of books I wouldn't part with here, too, but this was for a cross-country move - I had to upgrade my box truck, but I wouldn't change it for anything :)

Hi, Steve! I'm Kirsten; I've been away from the 75 for a bit but jumped back in mid-year last year and am in it for the long haul. We have some similar reading tastes, but you also may have some suggestions to bring me in from the fringes of, for example, graphic novels. Happy reading!

48scvlad
tammikuu 8, 2015, 9:06 pm

Regarding books and space: I have little else to say. Like you, Steph, and Roni, and Steve, Nora, qebo, and I'm sure I missed someone, I collected them for quite a while and ended up moving a lot of heavy boxes on a lot of occasions. When I married my wife I was ready to buy more space, but she put her foot down. I'm actually really glad she did. One of the things I really liked about Jo Walton's Among Others, where she talks about all the books she read when she was young (well, her protagonist at least, but it's pretty clear she's talking about herself), is that she makes it clear that for her, it's not the physical books themselves that are important but the contents that are important. I like that philosophy and agree with it. And now I'm trying to live it. So more library books, and more cataloguing here so that I know what I read and what I thought without having to have a physical book on my shelf. Therefore, the only thing on my shelves are what I am going to read, and books that I absolutely love.

>42 swynn: Ok Steve, here it is. If the Athenians had lost Marathon the Persians would have, at least, depopulated the city and moved the population to another site in the mid-East. We know this because it's exactly what they did to a number of other city's in Greece who had rebelled against Persian rule in the few years before. They might have done worse and sold the entire population into slavery. In all the other cities treated thus, none of them, though somewhat repopulated given time, came anywhere close to their previous power and influence.

So, Athens would not have existed. No Athens means that democracy ends after 15 years instead of 150; that all means no Eurypides or Aeschylus; no Greek (read Athenian) tragedy or comedy; no Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle, and no Academy - i.e. no western philosophy. No Praxiteles, etc and no 'advanced' sculpture, art, or architecture. No schools of rhetoric or eduction. Why? Because either these people are in the mid-East scrambling to make a living, or they were never born.

Now remember that the Romans absorbed a lot of Greek (again, read Athenian) culture and learning and spread it around the western world. Also , remember that the Renaissance was very intentionally trying to imitate and give a 'rebirth' to Greek (again Athenian) art, writing, thinking, music, etc. So without them, the Renaissance would have developed very differently. And everything that sprang from that, i.e. our world, would have looked very different.

Does that mean that we would have no Renaissance, modern science, etc? Of course not, there's a good chance we would still have developed those as others would probably develop a lot of what the Athenians developed, but it would have looked very different, and as a results our world would have looked very different too.

And that's what the author argues. That what we think of as 'Greek culture' is to a large extent Athenian culture, and that without Athens the world would have looked very different. So if the Athenians had lost at Marathon ....

Whew!

49swynn
tammikuu 8, 2015, 11:03 pm

Whew indeed! Thanks Steve for the summary. I can see the author's point that an Athens cut down early would have had far-reaching effects. But it seems very difficult to speculate beyond "very different." Thanks for the summary!

50scvlad
tammikuu 9, 2015, 7:14 am

>49 swynn: Yes, it is indeed. He certainly did not try to make exact predictions. Impossible of course.

51scvlad
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 9, 2015, 11:38 am

>42 swynn: >43 qebo: and others: I think 'readers' are a different breed in some ways. When I did my residency I would bring a book along with me when I was on call to read during the few minutes when things were quiet, often just before I tried to get some sleep. Very few of my fellow residents understood why or how I could do this. They didn't understand how I could read fiction or biography when there was so much else to do and so much medical stuff to read, and why I would delay sleep in order to read for a few minutes. They could not understand that I needed to keep reading some non-medical books, just for my sanity's sake. Even if only for 10 minutes before I dropped off. The concept of making time to read was completely foreign to them. Yes, I read a lot fewer books those years, but I certainly never stopped. Oh well. To each their own.

Oh and >44 norabelle414: I entirely agree. Horribly tacky. If you're not going to read, at least have the strength of character to be who you are and not pretend.

52arubabookwoman
tammikuu 9, 2015, 3:08 pm

Hi Steve--Thought I would return your visit to my thread. I left a rather long message to you there re the photo posting issue.

Interesting discussion here about retaining books. We have the space. I still cull regularly, but keep books I love, may want to reread, think any one of my kids/grandkids might ever want to read, or any friend or anyone else might want to read at some time in the future, so I end up keeping a lot. A bigger problem for me are the TBR's, of which I am approaching 1500. Fortunately a large percentage of these are on the Kindle.

You mention a residency. Are you a doctor? One of my daughters is a doctor (pediatrician). Another daughter is working on her PhD in genetics.

53scvlad
tammikuu 9, 2015, 7:56 pm

>52 arubabookwoman: Indeed, I am a doctor. But don't say it too loud! Someone might hear you!

You have a good strategy regarding keeping books. My TBR pile is much smaller than yours; I don't know how you do it. I'm curious to hear your daughters' experiences. I often wonder if getting an MD is worth it, especially if what you want to do is research. Do you get a sense of whether either of your daughters wishes she'd done something differently?

54scvlad
tammikuu 12, 2015, 7:29 pm

03. f02. Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg {200,000}



Technically, maybe, this deserves 4 stars since this was the second reading, but the first reading was long ago, and though it is a good fantasy-epic, I don't think it's a great one. Silverberg tells a good story here. I only wish some of the characters were a little more fleshed out. Carabella, the love interest, especially seems a little shallow. I never felt like she became an actual person.

The story: Valentine finds himself overlooking the city of Pidruid with little memory but a surprisingly large amount of money. He quickly makes friends and takes up juggling. But his dreams are disturbed and he slowly realizes that his fate is more than just juggling.

The best of the book is the world: Majipoor is huge, filled with humans and aliens, and all kinds of wonders, most of them very large. At least 6 intelligent species rub shoulders besides humans, including the native metamorphs. Technology has been forgotten, but is still active and Majipoorians know that they are one of thousands of worlds, and they still get visitors from time to time. Dreams are especially important; a source of knowledge and communication. And there is magic as well. It's never explained how that works - a lot is left unexplained - but that's OK. It works as a whole.

The book was good enough that I'll continue with others in the series, but not good enough that I'll read it a third time.

55swynn
tammikuu 12, 2015, 8:47 pm

>54 scvlad: Another series that I've known about forever and never gotten around to.

56arubabookwoman
tammikuu 13, 2015, 4:44 pm

Steve--near the end of her residency my daughter was grumbling a bit about med school not being worth it, especially with the mammoth med school loans she had. (She was also very pregnant, which may have contribute to her attitude). She is now in the final year of a fellowship in developmental pediatrics at Texas Children's Hospital, and that's where she is planning to stay. She does a mix of clinic/seeing patients, research, and teaching, which she likes very much. She also has regular and reasonable hours, which helps since she now has two kids.

My younger daughter always knew that she only wanted to do research, and never had any interest in medical school. During undergrad and for a year after she graduated she worked in a lab at the U of Wa where she was researching a particular protein which led to some interesting implications for heart aneurysms. She ended up sharing first author status on a paper on this, apparently unusual for one without a graduate degree. when she went to grad school, she changed her focus to genetics, and since the one aspect of her prior research she hated was killing mice, she works with yeast. Interestingly, even though she's working on her PhD, she's at the Stanford Medical School.

57scvlad
tammikuu 13, 2015, 5:25 pm

>56 arubabookwoman: Awesome on both counts. I'm glad both of your daughters seem to have found something that works for them. And I'm glad your youngest realized that medical school was not where she wanted to go. I sometimes see young people who think they'll just go ahead and do medical school even though their interests are in research - not worth it. It's not time well spent if you think you're going to be a researcher. I wish them both success!

58scvlad
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 16, 2015, 6:44 pm

04. n02. Jumbo: This Being the True Story of the Most Famous Elephant in the World by Paul Chambers {79,000}



How many of you know what 'jumbo' means? All of you, right? It means big, or rather BIG, as in jumbo jet, jumbo hot dog, jumbo sized packages of cookies, etc. How many of you know where the word 'jumbo' comes from? I kind of sort of did, but didn't really. It comes from the first African elephant to be seen in Europe since Roman times. Reputed to be the largest living land creature (probably not true - he probably wasn't even the biggest African elephant), he gave his name to all things large.

Probably born in 1860, Jumbo was captured at around 2 years of age and shipped first to Paris and then to London to be displayed in their zoos. This was the early days of modern zoos, and a big (literally) attraction like this went a long way to luring people in. Jumbo later went to America to star in Barnum's 'Greatest Show on Earth' and a died in a tragic train accident - he was literally hit by a train. In the meantime he was one of the most famous things of his day throughout the world.

This is the first time I've read the biography of an animal. It was OK. There's quite a bit of focus on the personalities of various zoo administrators and Jumbo's handler Matthew Scott who played a jumbo-sized role in Jumbo's life, not always for the better. Not a lot about the times and environment though you pick up some flavor of Victorian London and the USA.

A good book, though not a great one. If you're interested in elephants, go for it.

59Helenoel
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 17, 2015, 9:08 am

>58 scvlad: Jumbo was/is my college mascot at Tufts. We used to put pennies in his trunk for luck on exams. The taxidermy mount of his skin was in the biology Dept lobby until the building burned in, I think, 1975 or 76. He was big. They have other statues, but somehow it is not the same without the real thing.

60scvlad
tammikuu 17, 2015, 8:57 am

>59 Helenoel: I knew all this! One of the reason I picked up the book is that it was on sale at the local Tufts bookstore. My office is on the medical campus right across the street! We appear to have a Tufts connection ....

61Helenoel
tammikuu 17, 2015, 9:06 am

>60 scvlad:
I was an undergrad many years ago- on the other campus.

62scvlad
tammikuu 17, 2015, 9:06 am

>59 Helenoel: By the way, did you know that the only part of Jumbo (aside from his skeleton) that remains is his tail? Apparently they had to take it off because unruly undergrads used to *ahem* put coins in his trunk for and then pull his tail for luck. They finally had to take his tail off to keep it from getting wrecked. Because it wasn't on him, it survived the fire.

63Helenoel
tammikuu 17, 2015, 9:11 am

>62 scvlad: I did not know that. I suppose it is a good thing. I was still in the area and remember the fire- The coins were pretty benign - the trunk was curled up at the tip and formed a nice cup. Tail pulling would have been a problem. I'd ask my Dad if he were still available to ask. He graduated in 1929- maybe the tail was still there then.

64scvlad
tammikuu 17, 2015, 9:41 am

>63 Helenoel: According to the book they removed the tail later than 1929 though I don't remember exactly when.

Another related story: When they dissected Jumbo's stomach after he was killed they found hundreds of coins, keys, rivets, and a police whistle! So Jumbo was getting fed coins long before you or your dad came along!

65rosalita
tammikuu 17, 2015, 10:53 pm

>58 scvlad: Nice review of an intriguing book, Steve. So, if "jumbo" didn't mean jumbo until Jumbo came along, what did the word mean when they named him? Is it an anglicized version of an African word?

66scvlad
tammikuu 18, 2015, 4:10 pm

>65 rosalita: Sounds like it's not really known. But the phrase 'mumbo jumbo' preceded the name and was in use in England to express what 'uncivilized witch doctors' did. The author (and we in general) don't really know how Jumbo got his name. But something like this is presumed - i.e. some sort of take on what was perceived to be some kind of African word.

It's actually kind of interesting because in the London zoo at the time, they tended to favor good English names like Jack, Alice, etc. The author speculates that he was named while in Paris (he was there for a year or two (?) before he ended up in London) but we have no idea who named him and why.

67scvlad
tammikuu 20, 2015, 7:49 pm

05. f03. The Just City by Jo Walton {118,000}



The goddess Athene decides to recreate Plato's Just City from The Republic. She brings together lovers of Plato from all the eras of Earth's history to a pre-Trojan Greek island to help build the city and train the 10,000 plus children who will live there. Aided by futuristic robot-workers they set out to build this ideal place where everyone can strive for excellence and make themselves the best that they can possibly be. What could go wrong?

Jo Walton has great ideas. She's clearly a lover of philosophy and Plato, and though I've never read The Republic or any other Plato for that matter, my lack of knowledge did not detract. The key concepts are all there and available to the casual reader. Once again, her characters are well built, and I love the fact that she doesn't acquiesce to the easy plot device of 'good' vs. 'evil' people; everyone is just human, and all of them have flaws, it's just a matter of when and how. The book is not action-packed but, appropriately, thoughtful and in that sense slow. And yet it never drags. I enjoyed it a great deal and will certainly be reading more of Ms. Walton in the near future.

68swynn
tammikuu 20, 2015, 9:47 pm

I hear nothing but good about Jo Walton. I must get around to something of hers.

69qebo
tammikuu 20, 2015, 10:25 pm

>67 scvlad: Oh, that looks good.

70SandDune
tammikuu 21, 2015, 4:09 am

>67 scvlad: I hadn't heard of The Perfect City before.
I enjoy Jo Walton a lot so I'll be looking out for that one.

71scaifea
tammikuu 21, 2015, 7:15 am

>68 swynn: Yep, what Steve said. Need to get round to some of her stuff.

72scvlad
tammikuu 21, 2015, 7:53 am

>68 swynn: >69 qebo: >70 SandDune: >71 scaifea: Definitely worth a trip to the library. I just spent the last 10 minutes looking up editions of Plato. I hope that the Project Gutenberg editions are readable since you can't go wrong with the price! As for reading Jo Walton, this would not be a bad one to start with; the first of hers that someone pointed me to was Farthing which is excellent.

>70 SandDune: Careful! It's a Just City, not a Perfect one! Which actually is a key point in the book ...

73scvlad
tammikuu 21, 2015, 2:10 pm

I shared these on the What We Are Reading: SF & Fantasy thread and am going to share them here too. Two blog posts by Jo Walton: one is eight books from the last decade that made her excited about fantasy, and the other is eight books from the last decade that made her excited about SF. They are both worth looking at.

74swynn
tammikuu 21, 2015, 2:30 pm

>73 scvlad: I've read exactly one of the books she mentions, though several of the others are already in the Swamp. (Anathem in particular is near the top of things to read sometime when I have a week with nothing to distract me. Wonder why it's taking so long ....) I guess I have some good reading to look forward to.

75scvlad
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 21, 2015, 2:50 pm

> 73 Yeah, I've read precisely one too (Dzur). But I respect her opinion (at least for now) so I'll have to look seriously into the rest too.

After looking a little more closely, I realized these are re-posts of articles from 2013. Doesn't make much difference, but just thought I'd set the record straight ...

76rosalita
tammikuu 21, 2015, 8:13 pm

>66 scvlad: Thanks for the jumbo information. I love learning more about how words and language evolve over time.

77scvlad
tammikuu 21, 2015, 8:54 pm

>76 rosalita: Good stuff, hunh? If you've never read The Unfolding of Language I recommend it. It's all about how languages change from one thing to something else. I thought is was absolutely fascinating.

78rosalita
tammikuu 21, 2015, 9:10 pm

>77 scvlad: Sigh. Onto the wishlist it goes.

79kgodey
tammikuu 22, 2015, 2:47 pm

All those recommendations by Jo Walton went straight onto my wishlist. Fantasy-wise, I've read the Kingkiller Chronicles and first book of the Long Prince Quartet, and both are indeed good. I have only read Anathem from the sci-fi list, and I loved it (I have read The City and the City, which she mentions at the end, although my Mieville pick would be Embassytown).

80scvlad
tammikuu 22, 2015, 9:33 pm

>79 kgodey: Excellent and good to know. Nice to hear some agreement, and I'll have to look up Embassytown too.

81SandDune
tammikuu 23, 2015, 5:00 pm

>73 scvlad: I'll be adding a few of those to the wishlist as well, although I wasn't all that taken with The Kingkiller chronicles. I do like the Vlad Taltos books though but I haven't got as far as Dzur yet. And China Mieville is already one of my favourite authors ever.

82arubabookwoman
tammikuu 24, 2015, 5:16 pm

I just recently read my first book by Jo Walton, and now have a couple of others waiting on my Kindle. I've added The Just City to my wish list.

BTW her book What Makes This Book So Great is a collection of her blog posts, and is also on my WL.

83scvlad
tammikuu 25, 2015, 10:53 am

06. n03. Dr. Mütter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz {120,000}



Thomas Dent Mütter was an American physician and surgeon, born in 1811. He was well know in his time for being a brilliant and caring surgeon/physician and teacher at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He was one of the early embracers of ether for anesthesia and created a number of surgical techniques still in use today. He is also the 'founder' of the Mütter Museum which houses a large collection of unique specimens and preparations from his time and later.

This apparently is his first biography. It's quite interesting and paints a reasonably good picture of the man and his time, and particularly the state of medicine in the early-mid 19th century. It's certainly not a catalogue of the oddities in his museum, but it has whet my appetite to go there the next time I'm in Philadelphia.

84mahsdad
tammikuu 25, 2015, 4:07 pm

Thanx for the BB on Just City, that sounds really interesting.

I also read the Mutter last year. Got it in an ER batch. I thought it was really good. And like you, I can't wait to find an excuse to go to Philadelphia to visit the museum.

85qebo
tammikuu 25, 2015, 7:41 pm

>83 scvlad:, >84 mahsdad: I read Dr. Mütter last year as an ER, appreciated knowing more about the man behind the oddities. I have been to the museum, but not in a number of years. Maybe the next time Darryl convenes a Philadelphia meetup...

86scvlad
tammikuu 26, 2015, 11:21 am

>84 mahsdad: >85 qebo: My problem is that I can't conceive of any reason that I'll be in Philly at any point in the near future ...

87mahsdad
tammikuu 27, 2015, 1:10 am

Oh me too. I'm from Pittsburgh and genetically predisposed to avoid Philly. :)

88scvlad
tammikuu 27, 2015, 8:32 am

>87 mahsdad: *snort*

89scvlad
tammikuu 27, 2015, 8:33 am

>87 mahsdad: Actually, I went to school with a guy from Pittsburgh who constantly raved about it, and I've heard good things about it from many sources. Yet, I've never been. One day I need to correct that, but I'm not sure when ...

90scvlad
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 27, 2015, 5:28 pm

07. f04. Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg {116,000}



Once again I find myself somewhat underwhelmed by Robert Silverberg stories. Because that's what this book is: a series of stories set in his Majipoor - the giant world of mostly ocean with many sentient species - loosely tied together into a pseudo-novel. The stories are fine, but they just didn't excite me much. Rather than introduce more of Majipoor, I felt like they recycled the world of Lord Valentine's Castle rather than added to it. A few of the stories were quite good, but taken as a whole I was underwhelmed.

I'm not sure that I shouldn't have Nancy Pearled it.

However, I will also say that I'm sustaining enough interest that I will probably read the third in the series.

91scvlad
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 1, 2015, 11:46 am

Read 7 books in January. Good start, if I may say so myself! Though I'm sure I'll slow down later in the year ...

3/4 of a million pages finished with about a third of that in non-fiction. That will go up soon since I'm reading 2 big fat non-fiction books now (The Bully Pulpit (mostly) and the Oxford Illustrated History of Opera (one chapter a week on weekends)).

92scvlad
helmikuu 17, 2015, 10:25 am

08. n04. The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin {358,000}



Yup, I'm still here. But this was a big book and it took me a while. And snow.

Doris Kearns Goodwin writes good history and good books though they are pretty sizable. I really enjoyed Team of Rivals and really enjoyed this one too. It focuses on the lives, careers, and friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft, and the unfortunate breakdown of that friendship during Taft's presidency and Roosevelt's decision to run for a third term in 1912.

I felt like I knew something about TR already, having read two of three of Edmund Morris's trilogy about him. But the part I didn't get to - his post-presidential life - is in many ways the most interesting and the most damaging to him. There is no doubt that this was an incredibly smart, talented, dynamic man who did the US a lot of good during his presidency, and for that he is to be admired. But he went off the rails afterwards. He succumbed to that pernicious temptation of the talented politician - he thought that he was indispensable. And it cost him. He thought too much of himself and treated Taft badly. What a shame. And in the process he gave the election to the Democrats.

I did not know anything about William Taft, and he comes out looking very good. He was clearly another smart, talented man who was also apparently incredibly friendly and a genuine nice guy. He had major accomplishments both before his presidency and during it, but he has not really gotten the credit he deserves, mostly because he got caught up in the wake of TR and his decision to run as a third party candidate. I came away genuinely liking Taft. He deserved better than he got; and yet by all accounts he dealt with it all with incredible equanimity.

The third part of the book is about McClure's Magazine, the very talented writers who worked for it, and how they contributed to the reform movement in the early part of the century and the reforms instituted by both TR and Taft. In some ways it doesn't belong with the rest of the book, but in other ways, it's quite integral. Regardless, it was quite fascinating. The golden years of the press were certainly in the first decade of the century.

So a good, if long, book and well worth reading.

93ronincats
helmikuu 17, 2015, 5:59 pm

At least Taft got to realize his dream of being the Chief Supreme Court Justice after all that!

94scvlad
helmikuu 17, 2015, 9:01 pm

>93 ronincats:. Indeed! And by all measures he appears to have been a damn good chief justice!

95Oberon
helmikuu 18, 2015, 10:16 am

>92 scvlad: Haven't bought this one yet but I am going to have to look for it. Great review.

96scvlad
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 23, 2015, 3:35 pm

09. f05. My Real Children by Jo Walton {119,000}



An old woman in a home, clearly demented, clearly very confused. But also with two sets of memories. One set of a happy life, one set of a life much less happy. Which are real? Which are fantasy? Which are 'better'?

Jo Walton is one of those writers who (like another of my favorites, Connie Willis) can take a very typical, predictable, even clichéd plot and yet make it engrossing. I'm not giving away anything by saying that this is a very typical, in some ways, dual (or, accurately for once, alternate) reality story. Someone makes a small decision and we see how the effects of that decision play out over time in the two different universes that are created through that act. Walton just happens to do it exceptionally well, and in a way that makes you think hard. Throw in a little bit of alternative (or again, alternate) history and you've got a wonderful novel.

97kgodey
helmikuu 21, 2015, 6:53 pm

I need to get around to more Jo Walton!

98MickyFine
helmikuu 22, 2015, 2:42 pm

>96 scvlad: I'm wounded. May have to add that one to the list with such a good review.

99scvlad
helmikuu 23, 2015, 3:36 pm

>98 MickyFine: pew! pew!

100scvlad
helmikuu 24, 2015, 8:13 pm

10. f06. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold {89,000}



Space opera! Liked it. Didn't love it. I'll certainly read the next one in the series, and then we'll see from there.

101rosalita
helmikuu 27, 2015, 8:34 pm

>92 scvlad: That one's in the wishlist, Steve. It sounds like you would recommend the Morris three-volume bio of Roosevelt, too?

102scvlad
helmikuu 28, 2015, 7:20 pm

>101 rosalita: You know, I just don't remember. I think is was quite readable, but I'm going back a good 15 years so I'm not sure.

103scvlad
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 7, 2015, 8:29 pm

11. f07. Lamentation by C. J. Sansom {230,000}



This is a great series. Sansom gives a really great feel for the Tudor age, and Shardlake and his colleagues are compelling characters. This is not the best of the series, but is still very good. Shardlake is called upon by Queen Catherine Parr to help find her "Lamentations", the book she wrote confessing her sins and her thoughts on religion. The problem is that it may be heretical and now it's been stolen. If the king hears of it, it might be a big problem.

104scvlad
maaliskuu 12, 2015, 7:54 pm

12. f08. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan {103,000}



Quite delightful. Steampunk-y, in that it takes place in an alternative Victorian England and Europe (though by different names and with different histories). Quaint in its writing and style. Fantastic in its dragons. The first story of Lady Trent, or rather Isabella Camherst, soon to be the great dragon naturalist. It's a pleasant tale with a little action and adventure and sufficient science to make it interesting. Worth reading if you're into this kind of thing.

105Kassilem
maaliskuu 13, 2015, 11:11 pm

I'm into that kind of thing :) Looking forward to it

106kgodey
maaliskuu 13, 2015, 11:28 pm

>104 scvlad: I love that series.

107scvlad
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 15, 2015, 10:24 am

NP. Bedlam by Catharine Arnold {22,000}



I'm Nancy Pearling this one. I mean, it's OK, but it's just not sustaining my interest. It's a history of the hospital for the insane in London known as Bethlam or Bedlam. But if you're not looking forward to getting back to it, then it's not worth it ...

108scvlad
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 17, 2015, 3:55 pm

I'm putting this chart here as a reminder to myself to read more Terry Pratchett. The only books I've read are the very first two, and they apparently are not representative. Have to take care of this one day ...

109AuntieClio
maaliskuu 17, 2015, 11:47 pm

>108 scvlad: I think I just jumped in after I read Good Omens. Order? Why would you read them in order? *snicker*

110mahsdad
maaliskuu 18, 2015, 1:12 pm

Thanks for that chart. I started with The Truth that I got in Santathing 2012

Then read Pyramids and The Light Fantastic

Order means nothing to me. However this will help me group the ones with hard links together

111scvlad
maaliskuu 20, 2015, 4:32 pm

>109 AuntieClio: >110 mahsdad:. I like a little order and organization. But I try not to obsess about it. I' planning on jumping in with Guards! Guards!

112scvlad
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 20, 2015, 5:07 pm

13. f09. Medicus by Ruth Downie {140,000}



First of a series set in 2nd century Imperial Britannia. I've read it before and thought I recalled it being pretty good. I was right. Not bad history and a good protagonist. Good plot.

Gaius Petreius Ruso is the new doctor with the Legio XX Victrix in Deva, Britannia. He's just transferred in from Africa after a failed marriage. He's got little money and lots of debt. One day he runs across a girl being abused in the street ...

113rosalita
maaliskuu 21, 2015, 2:10 pm

>104 scvlad: I keep seeing this one mentioned around LT, and I keep thinking I need to read it because it sounds great. Last time I checked the library didn't have it but I should check again.

114charl08
maaliskuu 21, 2015, 2:17 pm

>112 scvlad: Not come across this, sounds good. Thanks!

115scvlad
maaliskuu 21, 2015, 4:26 pm

>113 rosalita: >114 charl08: Do. It's worth reading.

I started reading The Mime Order but have stopped. I'm two chapters in and it's very clear that it's going to be more enjoyable if I re-read The Bone Season again. Might not do that right away, but in the not-too-distant future.

116scvlad
maaliskuu 25, 2015, 4:54 pm

14. f10. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett {115,000}



Ok, I get it now. I understand why everyone loves Pratchett. This was a lot of fun. A satire with references to every Three Musketeers, Dragon, Castle, Magic, Advneture, etc story that you can think of. It was great fun. I'll read more.

117norabelle414
maaliskuu 27, 2015, 10:12 am

118ronincats
maaliskuu 27, 2015, 3:23 pm

>116 scvlad: Great place to start! The City Watch strand and the DEATH strand (after Mort) are my favorites. Well, and the Tiffany Aching books, and some of the witches...

I predict you will like Barrayar better than Shards of Honor--it's the 6th book Lois wrote instead of the 1st and the writing shows it--but will not fall in love until you hit the Miles books after that.

119scvlad
maaliskuu 27, 2015, 6:25 pm

>118 ronincats:. Good advice Roni and much appreciated. I'll keep it in mind as I move on.

As for Disk World I'll probably stick with this line for now, get into others later. Fun, fun!

120scvlad
maaliskuu 29, 2015, 4:11 pm

15. f11. Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie {147,000}



Medicus Gaius Petreius Ruso of the XXth is up in the north of Britannia and gets caught up in local affairs. A little better than the first volume in this series I think. Enjoyable historical mystery.

121scvlad
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 31, 2015, 2:41 pm

16. g01. Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and others



I zipped through my first graphic novel of the year last evening, as a short break from The Plantagenets. This is good. Ms. Marvel turns out to be a young Pakistani-American who is just trying to fit in, and for some reason thinks that being a superhero would take her above all the pettiness of life. Well, that didn't work out like she planned did it ...

A nice book with a nice story about fitting in, coming of age, learning about yourself, and the place of women in multiple societies. Quibble: I hated the art. It's that nouveau 'cool' style that I don't care for. Give me realism any day ...

122scvlad
huhtikuu 11, 2015, 5:53 pm

17. n05. The Plantagenets by Dan Jones {221,000}



Excellent. A well written popular history of English kings from the war between Stephen and Matilda to the deposition of Henry II. Well worth the time.

Quibbles: 1) The trick of starting a chapter with a brief description of some event in the near future, and then going back and explaining the history of how we got there is a useful technique and adds variety. But starting virtually every chapter like that is a little much. 2) Though I recognize that this is a history of the English kings, I wish Jones had spent just a little more time on the development of Parliament and the practicalities of law-making during this period.

123Kassilem
huhtikuu 12, 2015, 1:07 am

I might have to look into those Ruth Downie books myself. I'm a big fan of the classical times. Add a little mystery in there as well and I'm sure those are interesting books :)

124scvlad
huhtikuu 17, 2015, 12:44 pm

18. f12. A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham {139,000}



I chose to read this because it was on a list of fantasy books worth reading compiled by Jo Walton, a writer I like. I'm glad I did. The setting is somewhere in some world in a society based loosely, as far as I can tell, on Japan. The cities here are protected by the ability of 'poets' to bind 'andats', or personifications of natural processes - very Shinto-like - who protect or are otherwise of value to the cities. It's an interesting premise and was pulled off well. The book is ultimately about justice, betrayal, and forgiveness, and the conflicts between them. Quite lovely and I plan on reading the other 3 books in the series.

125thornton37814
huhtikuu 21, 2015, 7:05 pm

>122 scvlad: That Dan Jones book has been on my radar for awhile. Glad you enjoyed it so much.

126scvlad
huhtikuu 27, 2015, 7:46 pm

19. f13. A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham {134,000}



The second in this series, and almost as good as the first. Again, it's about betrayal, and, maybe, justice and forgiveness. The world is good, the characters convincing, the plot flows.

I took a break from reading a book of serious history to read this. I have not yet decided whether I'm going to finish it or not - it is not quite so gripping, though not so uninteresting that I've decided to dump it for sure. I'll get back to you ...

127scvlad
huhtikuu 29, 2015, 8:26 pm

20. n06. By the Spear by Ian Worthington {120,000}



This is a history of Phillip of Macedonia and his famous son Alexander. It's mostly a history of their wars and conquests, but that probably reflects a lack of primary sources about other more mundane matters, and the facts that they were, let's say, conquerors, and therefore almost constantly at war.

Factually, it was kind of interesting; I knew the vague outlines of Alexander but that's about it. But it was also kind of dry. Hence the 2 1/2 stars. I had to struggle a little to get though it. Glad I did, I think, but none-the-less. For history buffs.

128ronincats
toukokuu 1, 2015, 5:02 pm

I have a hard time with books about betrayal, but I do want to give that Abraham series a try.

129scvlad
toukokuu 1, 2015, 7:56 pm

>128 ronincats: Roni, it's worth it. It's a nice book and is turning into a nice series.

130scvlad
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 20, 2015, 3:00 pm

21. f14. An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham {149,000}



Excellent, really excellent. This third book of the series smacked it out of the park as far as I am concerned. It showed just how carefully constructed the previous two books of the series were and how they lead logically to this one. This is a wonderful world and wonderful story telling.

There is only one new character in this book, a Galtic general who has decided that it's time to eliminate the threat posed by the andat once and for all. After all, the andat are basically the equivalent of a nuclear bomb hanging over the heads of everyone who doesn't have it. The story makes it very hard to distinguish between good and evil - do ends justify means? Is slaughter sometimes justified? Good, big questions, but posed in an interesting way in a well written story. I have absolutely no idea where he going to go with the last book and look forward to reading it.

131scvlad
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 20, 2015, 2:58 pm

22. r01. The Elements of F*cking Style by Chris Baker and Jacob Hansen {23,000}



Cute. A kind of parody of The Elements of Style directed, supposedly, towards college kids. The examples are raunchy, in a college male kind of way. The idea is OK, but really, the kind of kids who talk and think like this are unlikely to pick up any kind of book to help their writing, no matter how 'hip'. It got old quickly. But the style points are for the most part valid, so ...

132scvlad
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 17, 2015, 9:47 pm

23/24. f15/16. Via Chanel Nº5 by Daniela Farnese {83,000}



Finalmente! I finally managed to finish another book in Italian. The nice thing about chick-lit in Italian is it's not too difficult. It went fairly smoothly though it still took me about twice as long as it otherwise would have. I'm not going to bother summarizing the plot; it's a standard romance. Decent enough for what it is. But I read it for the language not the story.

Can I read some easy Fantasy now?

133MickyFine
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 23, 2015, 1:07 am

I hope you've picked up some fantasy by now. :)

134scvlad
toukokuu 29, 2015, 6:17 pm

25. f 17. The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham {138,000}



This is the last book of this series, which I liked a lot. The themes of the previous books continue throughout this one: loyalty and betrayal. I'm sure there are other themes which I haven't caught on to, but those are the two big ones I see. I thought there was great character development through the four books, and I really liked the world. This was the most predictable of the 4 books, but I don't care. It worked as the capstone of the series. If you read and enjoy fantasy, I definitely recommend this series.

135scvlad
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 31, 2015, 2:37 pm

NP2. The Finish: The Progress of a Murder Uncovered by Angela Elliott {25,000}



Oh, my. I'm afraid I have another Nancy Pearl. I feel kind of bad about it because this is an Early Review and the author is an LT Author so she might read the review. But I just cannot get into this book.

Set in 18th century London, Kitty is a prostitute in Covent Garden. She entertains a young man one evening to find herself pinned to the bed by him, dead, the next morning, his throat cut. And she is off into the London underworld to find out why.

I suspect there are many readers who would find this to be a pleasant read, and I'm not quite sure why it did not draw me in. I can only say that after reading the first quarter, I found that the protagonist failed to interest me and the story was not holding my attention. The history seems adequate and reasonably well researched and it's nice to see a story told from this point of view. But in the end, I felt like the plot was not flowing naturally and it was distracting me. Sorry, Ms. Elliott. I hope others enjoy it, but I must pass.

136scvlad
kesäkuu 1, 2015, 1:47 pm

26. n07. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang {89,000}



Not a fun book, but a necessary book. I continue to think that we in the west have a very skewed picture of WWII and that we are all too ready to paint ourselves as the good guys and the Germans and Japanese as the bad guys. And then we ignore everything else.

Like the fact that in Asia, WWII really began in the '30s with the Japanese invasion of China (and, I think, Korea). And that the Japanese did some horrible things to the Chinese. This is one. After the taking of Nanking in December 1937 the Japanese went on a 6 week rampage killing some 350,000 Chinese, raping or selling into prostitution thousands of women, and torturing and maiming indiscriminately. And yet this deed is not known to an awful lot of us westerners and for decades the Japanese government flat out denied it happened.

It's worth reading about, but I have to say it's not for the faint of heart. Some of the pictures are horrific. But WWII was horrific in ways that most of us ignore. Don't ever forget about the Allied bombings of Tokyo and Dresden, and the fact that we dropped nuclear bombs on defenseless civilians. If we don't read about and internalize these things, how can avoid them in the future?

137scvlad
kesäkuu 5, 2015, 6:40 pm

27. f18. Death ex Machina by Gary Corby {112,000}



This is a fun series which I really enjoy. Diotima and Nicholaos are immersed in the world of classical Athenian theater trying to figure out who's causing dangerous happenings backstage during rehearsals for the Dionysian festival. Could it be Aeschylus? Or Sophocles? And why?

138scvlad
kesäkuu 12, 2015, 3:58 pm

28. f19. Forgotten Suns by Judith Tarr {170,000}



Space opera! Fun space opera! The universe is some point in the future where the United Planets exist with help from SpaceForce and PsiForce. Aisha lives on a strange world that's classified as a reservation - so no colonists. But the grant supporting her parents' research is tenuous and when Aisha accidentally blows the top off of a mountain and lets out something that is going to change her life.

I enjoyed this. It's not perfect and I found it almost ridiculously wide-ranging and the plot a little all-over, but it's fun. The writer knows what she's doing and it's easy to read. Like space opera? Go read!

139scvlad
kesäkuu 12, 2015, 8:56 pm

29. g02. Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson and others



Good series. Fun. Maybe slightly preachy, but not too much. Nice to have a young, feminist, non-white superhero.

140scvlad
kesäkuu 20, 2015, 11:54 am

30/31. f20/21. Pazze di me by Federica Bosco {60,000 X 2 = 120,000}



More Italian humor. Bosco is a fun writer with a good sense of humor. I quite enjoyed this. Basically it's about Andrea who is trying to manage a relationship while dealing with the antics of his 3 sisters, mother, grandmother, and grandmother's caregiver.

141scvlad
kesäkuu 28, 2015, 9:48 am

32. n08. The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones {133,000}



Good. I'm better informed. But I wish he would quit with the trope of painting the set piece (something like 'the boy and the man rode towards the castle, knowing that it was their last chance at freedom') and then revealing who the people are and going back over the history for the last few years. Every. Bloody. Chapter. It gets old.

142scvlad
kesäkuu 29, 2015, 4:19 pm

33. f22. Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie {136,000}



This continues the story of the Roman medicus Ruso and his companion Tilla the Briton. They are back home in what will once day become Nîmes where Ruso is having some family problems. A good series.

143scvlad
kesäkuu 30, 2015, 9:14 pm

Well, well. Half way through the year and only 33 books read. That would seem to predict only 66 for the year. Well, I don't really have any plans to try to pick up the pace - there's too much other stuff to do - so we'll just see how it turns out. Hope ya'll are having a good half-year.

144MickyFine
heinäkuu 1, 2015, 3:36 pm

33 is perfectly respectable, especially if you've enjoyed the majority of your reads.

145scvlad
Muokkaaja: elokuu 28, 2015, 5:47 pm

34/35. n09/10. In altre parole by Jhumpa Lahiri {29,000 X 2 = 58,000}



This was not the right book for me at this time. I just didn't find it engaging enough and only pushed through it as an exercise in Italian - that's why it took me so long.

It's about the author's experience with, and love of Italian (her native languages are Bengalese and English), which caused her to move to Rome and start writing in it. It's fine. Another day I might like it more.

146scvlad
Muokkaaja: heinäkuu 18, 2015, 9:01 pm

36. f23. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett {100,000}



Oh, good fun. Corporal Carrot and Captain Vimes are back, as are some new people. A good time is had by all ...

147scvlad
heinäkuu 19, 2015, 12:59 pm

37. f24. Mort by Terry Pratchett {80,000}



Well that was fun too. I may almost be ready to get back to something serious ...

Maybe.

148scvlad
heinäkuu 22, 2015, 9:46 pm

38. f25. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen {121,763}



Do we all love P&P? Well of course we do. One of the things I had forgotten is just how funny the second last chapter is. What a hoot!

149MickyFine
heinäkuu 25, 2015, 3:42 pm

>148 scvlad: Mr Collins letter after the engagement cracks me up every time. I'm glad you enjoyed your reread.

150scvlad
heinäkuu 26, 2015, 8:56 pm

151scvlad
heinäkuu 28, 2015, 10:02 am

39. f26. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin {97,000}



An SF classic. This is the first time I've read it. For some reason I have not read much of Le Guin but I am slowly correcting that. I'm not sure why I only gave it four stars. It may be the kind of book that improves with a second reading. Still very enjoyable.

152scvlad
elokuu 1, 2015, 12:24 pm

40. f27. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton {112,000}



Jo Walton is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. She has such a fresh take and such unique ideas which she then spins out into a world. Lovely.

Here we have a lovely Austen-esque comedy of manners set in a world very much like Austen's. The old Respected Bon Agornin has just died, leaving his limited riches to his five children, three of which are still unmarried and not yet established in society. Unfortunately there is some irregularity in how the will is being interpreted and they are being deprived of some of their birthright. The two youngest daughters must be split up to be cared for by their established brother and by their older sister's not-so-wonderful rich husband - who also is the one who has deprived them of their birthright. A law suit is filed. Love is in the air.

And they're all dragons.

153scvlad
Muokkaaja: elokuu 1, 2015, 3:02 pm

154MickyFine
elokuu 1, 2015, 10:24 pm

>152 scvlad: And they're all dragons. Talk about burying the lead. :P

155scvlad
elokuu 3, 2015, 4:04 pm

>154 MickyFine: You're durn tootin! If you haven't read this yet you should. You'd like it.

156scvlad
Muokkaaja: elokuu 4, 2015, 7:31 pm

42. f28. Longbourn by Jo Baker {141,000}



So first of all, I got this by mistake. I thought it was by Jo Walton. Whatever.

The book takes place, if you don't know, 'downstairs' at Longbourn at the same time as the events in Pride and Prejudice. That's not bad. The author is smart enough to write a new story with new characters rather than a 'P&PII' which makes it more tolerable and more interesting. She fiddles a little bit with some of the minor P&P characters, like Mary, to add new perspective, but otherwise leaves the main characters alone.

But it just didn't do it for me. Lots of good history and probably very true to the time, but I was not completely sold on the plot and didn't like the ending. And the writing was just not my style. But I'm an armchair writer so you can take my opinion for what it's worth ...

157MickyFine
elokuu 8, 2015, 1:06 am

>155 scvlad: I'm usually not one for dragon books but I'll stick it on The List.

>156 scvlad: I'm always so hesitant with any Austen sequel-ish thing so I was going to avoid this one anyway. But if you're in an Austen mood, I actually really enjoyed Alexander McCall Smith's Emma.

158scvlad
Muokkaaja: elokuu 22, 2015, 2:35 pm

43. f29. The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton {121,000}



Much to hard to review on an iPad. Good book though.

159scvlad
Muokkaaja: elokuu 11, 2015, 9:05 pm

NP3. The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolmick {10,000}



The subject of forgery is, I think, very interesting. But this book did not grab me. Not interested in an incompetent forger who just happened to get away with it. Awarding myself 10,000 words.

160scvlad
elokuu 16, 2015, 2:04 pm

44. g04. Ultimate X-Men Vol.1: The Tomorrow People by Mark Millar and others



Not bad. Good enough that I might continue the series. It's an X-Men restart.

161scvlad
elokuu 20, 2015, 7:37 pm

45. g05. Ultimate X-Men Vol.2: Return to Weapon X by Mark Millar and others



Not bad. The story continues. The X-Men are captured and forced to do the 'government's' bidding.

162scvlad
Muokkaaja: elokuu 22, 2015, 7:35 pm

46. f30. The King's Peace by Jo Walton {199,000}



The story is set in an alternate world that looks a lot like early 6th century Britain. But there are some big differences, the biggest being that women are fully equal in society. It is into this world that Sulien, our heroine, is born. Raped by marauders at 16 (no spoiler here; it happens in the first few pages) she sets off to get help for her overrun town. And falls right into the lap of Urdo, the high king, to whom she almost immediately pledges her allegiance and whose ranks she joins. Thus begins the rise of Sulien as one of the great warriors of the age.

Ok, so maybe a minor spoiler here (honestly it becomes pretty obvious early on and is referred to in the liner notes, online, etc. But for those of you, like me, who like to go in with minimal information, you can skip this part.): This is a re-telling of the Arthur story. Characters from the classic tale map almost exactly to characters in the novel. Urdo is Arthur, Ellen is Guenevere, and Sulien is, I think, Lancelot. There is a Gawain, a Morwen, a Mordred, etc, etc. though under different names. Tristam and Isolde make an appearance. Even the places are readily identifiable as Britain, Wales, Ireland, France, Rome, etc. And the history is pretty much as you'll find it in, for example, Mary Stewart - Britons, Angles, Saxons, Irish, etc. But Walton, as she usually does, puts a little spin in it: in this case the full equality of women (well, and a few other things). And it's fun. The changes make it that much more interesting, and if you know a little about what might be coming, how she gets there continues to hold your interest.

I don't feel like this is the best of Jo Walton - it's a sprawling epic and maybe sprawls just a little too much? - but I have certainly enjoyed it enough and I'll certainly continue into future volumes.

163scvlad
Muokkaaja: elokuu 28, 2015, 5:47 pm

47. n11. Lost Christianities by Bart D. Ehrman {128,000}



A lovely study of the diversity of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It covers a number of 'apocryphal' books, forgeries, and other incidental literature that never made it into the Christian canon, and how they reflect the many forms of worship that never made it. It also looks at, to a certain degree, where these books came from and how they were repressed. Highly recommended to those interested in the history of the Christian church.

164Kassilem
syyskuu 16, 2015, 8:48 am

Hi! I'm here to lurk for book recommendations a little bit as I get my LT thread-watching groove back under my feet. :)

165scvlad
syyskuu 20, 2015, 1:15 pm

>164 Kassilem: Glad to have you!

166scvlad
syyskuu 20, 2015, 1:19 pm

The last 3 weeks have been busy. Still reading, but limited computer access. Here's an update:

48. f31. The King's Name by Jo Walton {134,000}



The conclusion to the story begun in The King's Peace. An nice book. Still not Walton's best, in my opinion, but still a good read.

49. f32. The Master of Rain by Tom Bradby {119,000}



A mystery/thriller set in 1926 Shanghai. A little predicable but a good summer read.

167scvlad
syyskuu 21, 2015, 5:31 pm

50. n12. The Pursuit of Italy by David Gilmour {158,000}



A history of Italy and the Italians. Decent. The author's final judgement is that a united Italy was never a very good idea and that it's greatness lies in it's communities, not in its 'nationality'.

168scvlad
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 22, 2015, 8:24 pm

51. g06. Bacchus: Immortality Isn't Forever by Eddie Campbell



Some of the Greek gods are still alive; Bacchus for instance. As are a few other Greek heroes. But most of them are dead, killed by a renegade ... well, monster I guess. It's an OK premise, but I'm just not that into it. I probably will stop here.

169ronincats
syyskuu 25, 2015, 3:04 pm

*waves cast*

170scvlad
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 27, 2015, 2:53 pm

52. f33. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon {137,000}



About two chapters in I thought "Crap. It's Flowers for Algernon." I'm glad to say it's not. A nice book with an autistic protagonist about what makes personality, normalcy, and what change is.

171scvlad
syyskuu 27, 2015, 2:58 pm

53. g07. Saga, Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and others



Still a really good SF graphic novel. Can't wait for the next volume.

172scvlad
syyskuu 29, 2015, 9:10 pm

54/55. g08/09. Corto Maltese: Favola di Venezia by Hugo Pratt



An Italian graphic novel from the 70s (I think). Corto Maltese is a Maltese mariner and gets into all kinds of shenanigans. I quite like the art work and the stories are full of history and are quite wordy, which is all right with me. I read it in the Italian, but the stories are available in lots of languages.

173ronincats
lokakuu 8, 2015, 11:50 pm

Reading much, or is RL interfering?

174scvlad
lokakuu 20, 2015, 11:32 am

>173 ronincats:. Hi Roni. It's true, I have not been much on LT recently. I'm still reading - but I'm focusing on Italian studies for a little while so one book is being read quite slowly, and more time is being spent on other aspects of listening, etc.

Honestly, I suspect that my LT involvement is going to drop sharply for the rest of the year. I'll keep cataloging as I go, but I doubt I'll be doing much else here.

Thanks for checking in though! Hope all is well with you and that your reading progresses apace!

175scvlad
lokakuu 26, 2015, 12:14 pm

56/57. f34/35. A noi donne piace il rosso by Daniela Farnese {82,000}



One month to finish and only 82,000 words!?!? Oh well...

A nice enough book. A very predictable love story, a la Hallmark Movies variety, about a busy young woman obsessed with her career who suddenly learns that the grandfather she though dead for years, in fact just died a few days ago, and that she is invited back to her native Italy for the funeral. This being a very predictable story, you can guess that she will find family, love, and a very different way of life.

One fun aspect is that there are frequent references to Romeo and Juliette which of course takes place in Verona; and of course that's where she was born and raised and to where she is returning. Also, it's no coincidence that she and her love interest became separated at ages 13 and 17 respectively, exactly Romeo and Juliette's ages. Now is it a little creepy that a 17 year old boy was infatuated with a 13 year old girl in their childhood? Well yes, but I guess we can overlook that for purposes of the story...

176ronincats
lokakuu 26, 2015, 3:49 pm

Congratulations on finishing 82,000 words in a foreign language!! I don't think you would want a more dense storyline for that experience.

177scvlad
lokakuu 30, 2015, 10:27 pm

>176 ronincats: Thanks Roni! True!

178scvlad
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 30, 2015, 10:29 pm

58. f36. Deadly Election by Lindsey Davis {126,000}



One of her good ones. Hope this series lasts ...

179scvlad
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 6, 2015, 9:01 pm

59/60. f37/38. Replay di un amore by Vittorio Catani {15,000 X 2 = 30,000}



Good. In Italian. I need to read it again as there is lots I didn't catch.

180scvlad
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 7, 2015, 7:46 pm

61. f39. The Spook Who Spoke Again by Lindsey Davis {30,000}



A short story written by Didius Falco's son Postumus. If you haven't read any of the series don't bother. Otherwise, fun.

181scvlad
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 21, 2015, 6:03 pm

62. g10. Asterix Omnibus 09 (Asterix and the Great Divide / Asterix and the Black Gold / Asterix and Son) by Albert Uderzo



Not the best Asterix, but all Asterix is good

182Oberon
marraskuu 23, 2015, 1:10 pm

>181 scvlad: Not the best Asterix, but all Asterix is good

Totally agree!

183scvlad
marraskuu 26, 2015, 10:42 am

63. n13. SPQR by Mary Beard {200,000}



An excellent, well written history of the first Roman millennium.

184Kassilem
marraskuu 28, 2015, 8:17 am

I'm really looking forward to this book!

185scvlad
marraskuu 29, 2015, 11:07 am

64/65. f40/41. Chew-9 by Franco Forte {8000 X 2 = 16,000}



Italian SF. Nice. The most potent drug in the universe that confounds reality with fantasy ...

186drneutron
marraskuu 30, 2015, 8:11 am

>185 scvlad: Sooo... It's about the Internet, then? :)

187scvlad
marraskuu 30, 2015, 1:40 pm

>186 drneutron: Hah! No, actually it's not. Even better, it's about a drug that is shall we say injected in an interesting way. I won't say any more because I think there is an English translation.

188scvlad
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 2, 2015, 5:33 pm

66. g11. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis



A down-and-out not-so-super hero makes a living as a private detective. Her super powers have not been a great source of happiness. Interesting. Marvel comics for adults. I'll probably read the next volume. But I wish it wasn't so expensive. Basis for Netlix's 'Jessica Jones'.

189scvlad
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 2, 2015, 5:42 pm

67. g12. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 2 by Brian Michael Bendis



Still a good volume.

190scvlad
joulukuu 4, 2015, 6:54 pm

68. g13. Jessica Jones: Alias, Volume 3 by Brian Michael Bendis



I enjoyed this one a lot. It's a good series. I'm disappointed that the next few issues seem to not be collected anywhere.

191scvlad
joulukuu 6, 2015, 11:11 am

69/70. g14/15. Corto Maltese: La giovinezza by Hugo Pratt



Decent. I'll keep reading these because they are in Italian and because the stories are OK.

192scvlad
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 18, 2015, 8:42 am

71. g16. Sex Criminals, Volume 1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction



Fun. R-rated. When Suze and John climax, time stops. Literally.

193scvlad
joulukuu 18, 2015, 8:42 am

72. g17. Sex Criminals, Volume 2: Two Worlds, One Cop by Matt Fraction



And right on to volume 2. I look forward to the next one.

194rosalita
joulukuu 18, 2015, 9:47 am

>183 scvlad: I've got that one on my wishlist! So glad to see you give it such a high rating.

195scvlad
joulukuu 23, 2015, 11:34 am

73/74. f42/43. La guerra coi Rems by Franco Forte {18,000 X 2 = 36,000}



Pretty good.

196ronincats
joulukuu 23, 2015, 3:34 pm



For my Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Holiday image this year (we are so diverse!), I've chosen this photograph by local photographer Mark Lenoce of the pier at Pacific Beach to express my holiday wishes to you: Peace on Earth and Good Will toward All!

197scvlad
joulukuu 24, 2015, 1:22 pm

198scvlad
joulukuu 28, 2015, 7:38 pm

75. f44. The Rosetta Man by Claire McCague {113,000}



Fun. I liked it. Since it was part off the Early Reviewers program I left a review

And that's 75. Kind of. Anyway there it is.

199scvlad
joulukuu 28, 2015, 7:44 pm

So about next year ...

I'm not sure I'm going to keep participating in this group next year. My thread is now pretty much just what I read, and my monitoring of other threads (and participation) has dropped to almost nil for various reasons. I have not completely decided yet, but I may just choose to leave it here.

If I do, let me just say: It was fun. I may be back sometime. Until then, stay well.

200rosalita
joulukuu 29, 2015, 10:18 am

Well, as someone who did not have a thread this year I can hardly insist that you do so if your heart's not in it. But I for one will miss your reviews as I've learned about a lot of books I might not have discovered without you. And I've been reading your thread all year, though I haven't posted much lately, so don't think your work has been thrown out into the ether with no one noticing.

But if you do decide to hang it up ...

So long, and thanks for all the recces!

201karspeak
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 29, 2015, 10:34 am

202ronincats
joulukuu 29, 2015, 11:27 am

I've also enjoyed your comments on the books you've read.

203MickyFine
joulukuu 29, 2015, 3:25 pm

I'll miss you if you opt out next year, but I understand your choice either way.

204Kassilem
joulukuu 29, 2015, 4:06 pm

I've enjoyed lurking. :) Best wishes to you. Thanks for all your recommendations.

205scvlad
joulukuu 31, 2015, 11:16 pm

OK, new thread (despite what I posted) is here. Follow at your own risk ...

206rosalita
tammikuu 1, 2016, 8:59 pm

Yay!!!!

So glad you decided to come back, Steve.