kcs in 2011 PAGE 2

85) The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean; terrific WW II fiction, a small group of men overcome overwhelming odds to knock out the Guns of Navarone... loved the movie too with Gregory Peck and David Niven.

link to page 1 of 2011

86) Eyewall by H.W. Bernard; written by a retired meteorologist, this exciting story traces the evolution of a monster hurricane through the eyes of three different groups of people. The science is not overwhelming, but it is present in this story as there is talk of millibars and eyewall rotation and formation... as a science teacher that only increased the appeal of the story. There are several unbelievable characters (Walker's wife, and Obermeyer's boss), and some of the dialogue was a little forced, but overall I really enjoyed this author's first effort.

I received this as an ARC a month or two ago, and noticed yesterday afternoon that it was offered as a free Kindle download (probably for a very short time), so if the book sounds at all interesting, and you have an e-reader, head over to Amazon and grab it...

87) The Battle of the Atlantic by Samuel Eliot Morison; the first book in Morison's epic history of the US Navy during WW II. Yawn. Interminable lists of convoys, ships, captains, more convoys... a couple of things I took away from this book... 1) battles are often portrayed as romantic exciting affairs (something that is almost never true), but THIS battle, the Battle of the Atlantic, was nothing but a monotonous, terrifying, grim affair. It was a numbers game from beginning to end, and all a sailor, whether he was in the Navy or the Merchant Marine could look forward to was days upon days in a cold wet dark environment with a strong likelihood of a sudden explosion and the sheer terror of a sinking ship followed by immersion in a freezing oily ocean; and 2) the citizenry of the United States, by and large, are a bunch of spoiled buffoons (still true IMO). Morison's description of Atlantic seaboard cities resisting and complaining about turning off the lights so the German U-boats couldn't see the merchant ships against the glow... is unbelievable. It was bad for the tourist business dont'yaknow...

Still, I'm glad I read it, and it truly gives one an appreciation for the difficulty of fighting and winning that particular battle.

88) Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout; Ok that's more like it! Nazi agents, spies from the Balkans... Stout is running his heroes right up to WW II in this convoluted account. Good stuff as always.

Ah, a nice new thread. :) Looking forward to your reading in the second half of the year. I've got a Rex Stout somewhere I must dig up and dust off...

Wookie, I'm attempting to read all of Stout's Nero Wolfe stories in order. It will be a multi-year process as there are some 40+ of them, and I mostly have to get each succeeding story via inter-library loan.

back from Scout camp, didn't get nearly as much reading done as I had hoped... mostly because I was working on two chunksters (so it's not the reading, it's the 'completing'...)

89) Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich; ho hum... about what you would expect from this series. She's out of new ideas and now, while it was silly before, it's getting too silly. Stephanie, of course, is no closer than ever to settling down with one man... while enjoying the benefits of both. Snooze...

90) The Bass Wore Scales by Mark Schweizer; this marks #5 in the series (and the last one that you can purchase for $.99 from Amazon)... I enjoyed this one the least of any of his silly mysteries... wait I take that back, there WAS one scene and development that I liked a lot, but other than that.. meh.

7 I hate it when series start to tail off, which with my attention span they tend to do. I then have the dilemma of whether I keep the half bough series on my shelves.. thinking do I want to reread a series that I couldn't finish :)

Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum started getting repetitive after the 3rd or 4th book... but she'd introduce a new character or something to keep your interest. At this point, I don't think that will help... but what do I know? Smokin' Seventeen sits at what... #5 or 6 on the NYT's best seller's list as we speak.

91) The Cincinnati Red Stalkings by Troy Soos; a very neat little mystery set in the early 1920's around the Cincinnati baseball team. Great setting, descriptions, and I loved the overall aura of baseball history. Don't miss this one!

92) Graveminder by Melissa Marr; yet another zombie/undead/paranormal romance offering... Ms. Marr is an accomplished writer and she creates a fascinating world populated with interesting characters. There was far too much relational hand-wringing to suit me.. but hey I'm a guy. Nice open ending with lots of unanswered questions allows for future installments...

93) Public Enemy Zero by Andrew Mayne; ok ok I know that I'm going to come across as maybe a little overexcited or gushing when I say that this guy's writing is REALLY VERY GOOD! I can not believe that he ever submitted this story to any of the big publishers... because if he had they would have snapped it up and Mayne and this book would be on the best seller's list everywhere... with a movie deal coming! $.99 on Amazon for e-readers only... a book about people who become zombies only when exposed to Mitchell Roberts, our protagonist. Government conspiracies, a few surprising twists, and non-stop action...

Yes there are a few typos (maybe a dozen), there are a few characters and storylines that didn't get fully developed, and maybe a few too many coincidences... but still, Random House etc. have really good editors... so far as I can tell, this guy edited himself.

If you liked The Andromeda Strain, Cell & The Stand, The Passage, World War Z..... this story compares favorably to all of those.

ok

/gush mode

Oh wow that sounds good! But was it scary?

It's on my wishlist!

>11 jfetting: yeah in the beginning it was pretty creepy. Mitchell doesn't understand what's going on at all... but every single person that he sees (or sees him) turns into a mindless zombie killing machine with the sole purpose of killing him. The mall scene is especially chilling and gruesome...

I notice that the LT Amazon link doesn't find an edition... here's a link to the US edition; notice the forty 4 and 5-star reviews...

94) State of Wonder by Ann Patchett; audible version; kind of drifted along, left lots of questions unanswered, satisfying twist on the ending. Terrific descriptions of the Amazon rain forest and natives along with a Medicine Man-like promise of drugs and cures for some of the world's most debilitating diseases...

I liked it...

Ooooh, I just bought that one today too. :)

after a day or two of perspective, I'm going to back off my claims that Public Enemy Zero is as good as I had claimed (I mean, come on... Stephen King's The Stand??)

but still, I was taken aback by how easy it read, and how I couldn't put it down (I read it pretty much straight through... finished in the early morning hours, which is something I very rarely do)

I look forward to you'alls opinions...

9 smokin seventeen??? lol! And I just read the fourth one. Luckily I don't think I have bought beyond nine or ten. Guess I'll decide if I want to keep going after I'm done reading the ones I do have!

95) Blackout by Connie Willis; audible version; didn't have a plot until 3/4 of the way through, lots of characters, characters didn't use much in the way of common sense, lots of technology errors.... and yet I still really liked this story. Mostly set in WW II London during the Blitz, Willis (despite her research errors) sets an evocative scene and builds compelling story-lines. I will definitely be listening to the second half of the story All Clear.

96) The Letter of Marque by Patrick O'Brian; The continuing adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.... this episode wraps up several ongoing story-lines from previous books, and begins a few new ones. The characters are certainly growing and maturing, and the background of war, politics, and intrigue remains terrific. This has to be one of the best military series ever written.

97) Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi; I imagine this is what you get when a good writer writes for fun... funny, tear-inducing ending, well plotted and some great characters... I liked this story better than some of Scalzi's later, better known works.

wow.. bit of a hiatus, school starting and all that

98) The Gathering Storm: The History of World War 2 Vol. 1 by Winston Churchill; as you would expect, an excellent introduction to the causes and beginnings of the war. Churchill does tend to bang his own drum a bit... but IMO he's entitled. I'm still laboriously working through the appendices (one wonders if all these leaders did was sit around and dictate letters, orders and memoranda...)

99) 'Twixt Land and Sea Tales by Joseph Conrad; three short stories headlined by his well known 'The Secret Sharer'.. which to be honest, was my least favorite of the three stories...

I know a lot of Australians (well, mainly my Dad, but I have run into the sentiment in others too) that don't think much of Churchill. He was responsible for a disastrous decision during WW1 that led to many Australian deaths (Gallipoli, where my great uncle Ted died).

Australians take Gallipoli very, very seriously.

22 haha yeah it's quite apparent that a lot of people didn't like Churchill.. he apparently believed (like most Brits) that the British Navy merely needed to be pointed at a military problem for that problem to be solved. Gallipoli was a perfect example of using the wrong tool for the job (and in that case the job itself was questionable). I haven't read Churchill's account of that particular battle... but it's on my list.

All that notwithstanding he WAS right about Hitler, and he was the man for the job of defeating Hitler. Much like Abraham Lincoln was the man for winning the US Civil War.. and much like Lincoln, he was hated by many.

Alas Mr. Churchill is not the most popular of British personages in this neck of the woods either. His racism, opposition to Indian independence and hatred for Gandhi are bad enough (see for example: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2005/06/19/stories/2005061900060300.htm) but then there is his culpability for the Bengal famine (3 million dead), which has been chronicled in Madhusree Mukerjee's book, Churchill's Secret War.

Shashi Tharoor had a pretty good review of the book: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2031992,00.html

But his attitude towards Britain's empire and colonial subjects aside, I think one of the best articles I've read about Churchill was by Christopher Hitchens in the Atlantic Monthy:
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2002/04/hitchens.htm

Overall I get the feeling that A. A. Gill, not someone I particularly find myself agreeing with very often, may have been on to something when he wrote "Churchill was a man who met a moment, and the moment was much shorter than he's given credit for - about six months. He made four speeches, all of which were derivative of Shakespeare and Macaulay. Everything else about his wearyingly long public life was self-serving and disastrous".

http://www.newstatesman.com/200212160058

100) The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly; a reread (actually I listened to this book a few years ago.. was one of the first audible books I purchased); I wanted to revisit the story because I heard the movie was pretty good. And the book is quite good. A tense dramatic courtroom thriller with an unsurprising twist at the end... I did notice a few questions unanswered and threads unfollowed... Connelly is usually pretty good about wrapping things up. Didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.

As usual, I cannot visit this thread without adding one or two to my wishlist. Can't wait for Public Enemy Zero now.

101) Carnacki the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson; this was my first exposure to Hodgson and I found it very satisfying reading... this book was a series of short stories featuring the ghost hunter Carnacki relating his adventures to his friends. Several were found to be hoaxes... but several were not.

Congratulations for reaching 100 books!

thanks Jennifer... almost missed it amongst all the back to school reading I was doing. Things are smoothing out now.. should be back in the reading groove by the end of the month.

Congratulations from me, too!

And from me . . .

Hey congrats!

102) The Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen by Norah Wilson; meh... was not a bad read.. I gave it 3 1/2 stars. Formulaic, the dialogue was decent, I do wish that the editors (whomever they are) would catch errors like "As we’d poured over the journal, we’d drawn closer together on the bed." ... an error repeated several times. Poured what over the journal? Anyway, I probably won't read any more in the series.. there's simply too many other, better, mystery series out there.

103) The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly; Mickey Haller, meet Harry Bosch! And also meet Jack McEvoy (although if he is your favorite Connelly character... McEvoy's part is very small in this novel). I think a large part of Connelly's appeal is his ability to write characters from different perspectives... i.e. seeing Harry Bosch through the eyes of Mickey Haller. He looks a lot different...and yet...somehow... the same. Great story as usual, with satisfying twists, turns and surprises. Connelly's courtroom scenes and drama match anything Grisham has written (although Grisham is not nearly so determinedly pessimistic and cynical as Connelly).

104) The Reversal by Michael Connelly; the third Mickey Haller, the umpteenth Harry Bosch, and the second with both of them together... Haller 'crosses the aisle' to work as a prosecutor... Bosch works as Haller's investigator and Maggie McFierce sits as a very uncomfortable second chair during a terrific courtroom drama. I was a little dissatisfied with the ending of this book... but otherwise this is a strong addition to the series.

105) Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne; ahhhhhh scratches an itch I didn't even know I had. Fiction that incorporates the pagan pantheon always stimulates and intrigues me. Plus he has a talking (well more like telepathic) dog! Who has a keen sense of humor!

I like this character and setting more than Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books... less grim, less introspective, but... very similar in a lot of ways. If you like Harry and/or urban fantasy type stuff.. I think this is a 'don't miss' series.

I like Harry, hadn't heard of Hounded, but, yes, it's on my radar now. :)

106) Hammered by Kevin Hearne; second in the Iron Druid Chronicles... picks up where Hounded left off. Oberon, the dog, develops a stronger, more intelligent voice; Atticus is still a chick magnet... all the goddesses want him apparently, so yawn on that part. Otherwise a fine continuation of the series...

107) Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli; an Italian mystery writer's first book featuring a police detective in World War II Italy.. short sharp story with a strong setting and decent characters. I do have one important question though...maybe it's just me... but read the following segment:

At the Gestapo they had to wait in the corridor...while a lieutenant in a black uniform...

"Would you show me your papers, please?"

He said vould, like in those American movies from before the war. De Luca handed him his badge. Another moment of silence.

"So you are the famous Commissario De Luca," said the lieutenant. "What a pleasure to meet you." Just like in the movies , vhat.

if the author is Italian, all the participants are presumably speaking either Italian or German... what's up with the Americanism movie reference of bad German? It doesn't really make sense unless Lucarelli isn't a native Italian speaker and writer... and then it's an egregious oversight.

Isn't it??

Maybe what he had written didn't translate well, and they went with the best equivalent they could think of.

I must admit, I often find myself pondering clunky sentences in translated books, wondering if they tried to translate the words literally, killing whatever metaphor was intended; or if they had to find some clunky "equivalent" idea in English.

108) Still Life by Louise Penny; um err ahem... well, I liked this book a lot. Not sure what to make of it... characters were all larger than life, especially the bad ones. Almost to the point of unbelievability. But that may have intentional on the author's part. I loved the art references, the small-town quaintness of the setting...and Inspector Gamache is rendered perfectly! Looking forward to reading more about him.

109) Tooth and Nail by Craig Dilouie; another zombie apocalypse... as is generally the case, humans are turned into zombies by a mutated virus... the setting is New York and the protagonists are a US Army unit trapped by a city full of zombies and the rapidly deteriorating chain of command. Lots of military jargon and swearing (the author seems particularly enamored of one ''descriptive' phrase... which he repeats a dozen times). Pretty gruesome... pretty average...

110) Slim to None by Jenny Gardiner; a nice cutesy feel good story featuring an overweight food columnist... who loses her job due to being too overweight. I read this because I'm .. ahem.. a bit on the weight challenged side as well, and while I don't face the challenges that women face.. I recognized a lot of myself in her struggle. Most of the guys in this story were jerks unfortunately... perhaps that's the way it is when you are an overweight woman.

I like the "weight challenged" tag. :)

As as a (*ahem*) "weight challenged" woman, I haven't noticed any particular jerkiness from men in the real world. But there may not be a story in that...

In my experience many overweight people are doubly cursed by nature (genetics) and nurture (mom scolds us to 'clean our plate', or, in my case, I was one of five boys, so we ate fast so as to get dibs on any seconds available...).

There are some very real biases and prejudices towards overweight people, and women especially with TV/movies/magazines/culture etc demanding they fit some impossible feminine mold (and of course calling them sluts when they do it too well).

I don't worry overmuch about it... I'm pretty comfortable in my skin. I do diet and exercise if I get too heavy because I feel much better when I'm fit... but I do like food...

Mmm, food. Always my downfall. :) Plus a dislike of exercise, which doesn't help. And a sedentary job. But I am being better this year, regular exercise, cut out soft drinks (soda for you Americans), and far less fried and far more salad. Feeling the health benefits (apart from today, when training included stairs, and now I just want to curl up in a corner for a while feeling pathetic).

The TV/magazines may require me to fit a particular mold, but I'm difficult when I'm told to do something. :) But I do worry for my kids, the world seems to be growing madder and madder, and I don't want them to be under stupid pressure to conform. This exercise/pseudo-diet* is mostly for their benefit: so I can run around with them in the park on weekends, and give them a decent role model.

* It's only a pseudo-diet because I'm not giving everything up. I have personal standards of self-indulgence that need to be maintained. Life without the occasional ice cream is not worth living.

interesting article about what it would take to look like Barbie

and of course, well known author Scott Westerfeld has plenty to say on the topic* (and said much of it in his Uglies trilogy)

*scroll down about halfway to find his interview on the topic

Sculpted kneecaps? Sculpted kneecaps? What is this world coming to?

111) The High Rocks by Loren Estleman; introducing Page Murdock, Deputy Marshall of the Bitterroot Mountain region of Montana. Murdock is caught in a three-way conflict between bounty hunters, Flathead Indians and a boyhood friend gone rogue... pretty good western.

112) Killing Floor by Lee Child; I know that there is a lot of Jack Reacher love out there in LT-land (and elsewhere)... but this first novel was atrocious. Gaping plot holes, coincidences, completely unbelievable actions and dialogue, and I figured out what was going on (if not exactly how) about 100 pages in (and that means it MUST be pretty obvious). If it hadn't been Reacher, I would have laid it aside as a bad effort and read something else.

But because it IS Reacher, and because I've read that Child's writing DOES get better, I'll give the second book a go...

Oh dear, I've been persuaded by Others to put Killing Floor at the top of Mt TBR. But I keep on hearing such wildly varying accounts of it! Still, it can't take too much time to read, can it?

no it's a fast read, and now I've probably spoiled it for you as you will be looking for the flaws that otherwise might have been overlooked... Child does do a good job of introducing Jack Reacher, and perhaps I was a bit harsh in my initial reaction. But I'm wondering if many who love these books maybe started with one further in and then came back and read this first one (something I'm more or less incapable of doing). Looking forward to your opinion of the story...

113) The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt; sort of a gloomy, meandering, violent western. This story was billed as a dark comedy by some... I didn't find much to smirk at. But for all that, I DID enjoy the story. I thought it was a realistic portrayal of the times (California gold rush) and setting and am glad for the insights into history.

Glad to hear you enjoyed The sisters Brothers its patiently waiting for me to read it on my TBR.

Did I call it a dark comedy? I think I was wincing more than smirking. But it's still one of my favourite reads for the year. So far. :)

114) Beat to Quarters by C.S. Forester; first book written about Horatio Hornblower (sixth chronologically). I had read the first 4 or 5 in the series many years ago, detailing Hornblower's early career, but I don't think I had read this particular story before. As usual, it is filled with Hornblower's obsessing over his image, and his self-contempt for being poor, ugly, occasionally imperfect, etc.

Forester's description of naval warfare ranks right up with Patrick O'Brian. And, like O'Brian, his descriptions of the settings and politics of the era are very good. Highly recommended for fans of this genre.

115) Doc by Mary Doria Russell; I cannot add much to the wonderful reviews that have already been written about this book. Terrific historical fiction featuring some well known characters and some not-so well known, and an absolutely horrifying illustration of the world of tuberculosis. My God! To think that this is still a very common disease in most of the world...

Hang on, Hornblower is meant to be ugly?? They forgot to tell the BBC that in their recent-ish adaptations...

heh heh well.. he has bad teeth so he rarely smiles (probably not uncommon in his time), he considers himself tall and ungainly. And yet, in the book I just finished, Lord Wellington's sister falls in love with him, so how ugly can he be? It's his continual self obsession over his faults that gets old after a while...

The fact that he had teeth then probably makes him better looking than most of his contemporaries.

it's an interesting coincidence I suppose, this discussion of teeth.. the last three books I've read; in The Sisters Brothers, Eli Sisters is given a toothbrush and some flavored tooth powder to brush with, he likes it so much that talks his brother into trying it; the very next book Beat to Quarters leads to the current discussion about teeth; and the book I just finished over the weekend Doc features the dentist Doc Holliday and mentions several times the joy he took in relieving tooth pain.

a good history of dentistry might be pretty good reading...

It would definitely be interesting, but, I hazard to say, for those of sterner stomachs than me. I'm a bit of a dentist-phobe...

116) In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson; every time I read a book about Germany, Nazis, Hitler, WW II, etc. I'm always struck by just how willfully blind and ignorant governments (and by extension, people in general) can be. This terrific biography of the United States Ambassador to Germany during the prewar years is no exception. I suppose that it's because we so rarely encounter true evil that we fail to recognize it until it's far too late. Mr. Larson commented in his afternotes that he was caught by surprise by 'how much the darkness would infiltrate my own soul' while researching this book.

Terrific biographical history for those interested in this period.

I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for that one, it's been gathering a bit of buzz. It is a fascinating period of history, although I can't always deal very well with it, so much damage was done to so many people.

117) Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne; I actually purchased this (a real book!) at B&N the other day (along with the sequel Day by Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile in a single volume...$18 for both in one volume vs. ~$30 for each individually, and ~$24 for both on the kindle). I picked it up while killing an hour or so waiting, read a few chapters ... and had to have it! This may be the first paper book I've actually bought this year.

Anyway, terrific first person zombie apocalypse story. A very likeable, capable narrator.. a realistic story arc (given that ANY zombie story can be realistic), a satisfying cliffhanger ending, AND I have the second book in hand! Recommended for fans of the genre.

118) Zoo City by Lauren Beukes; I thought this was a well-done science fiction story... very original with the combination of setting and idea (although Phillip Pullman gets a hearty nod). Zinzi is on the receiving end of just about every prejudice one can experience (plus the new one that is the basis for the story).. oh wait, she's decidedly heterosexual, so she misses that one... but she gets a dose of all the others at one point or another. A very sympathetic character with lots of backstory still untold. I look forward to learning more about her.

Oh, I loved Zinzi, she was great fun. Glad you liked the book too!

Loved Zoo City too, everyone should have a sloth :)

119) Raising Jake by Charlie Carillo; three men, father, son, and grandson, find a way to reconnect in this touching story. I'm not sure how moms will like it as the two moms in the story come off as the bad guys ...

Mothers aren't always the good guys! Although I'm sure all the mums here are. :) But, yes, it does depend on how it's written, I'm not a fan of the "it's all my mother's fault" miserable narrator. (I always want to reach into the book and slap them and tell them to grow up. *ahem*)

120) Foundation by Isaac Asimov; first of all you may notice that my user name has changed (due to some hacking issues with email)... secondly, I've set an ambitious 2012 reading project for myself which includes a lot of science fiction and fantasy (see the link for more detail).

Sooooo my first completed title towards the new challenge and 2012 reading year is a classic, a reread (its been at least 35 years however), and a fitting beginning to my challenge. Sadly, Foundation doesn't hold up well at all. It's hard to understand how such an accomplished mathematician and scientist like Asimov was so completely unaware of the coming ideas of chaos theory and how it would make his theory of 'psychohistory' so completely improbable and even faintly ridiculous. Secondly, it's 10,000 years into the future... and Asimov can't imagine beyond the common use of tobacco products, blasters, and nuclear power??

All that said (and I know it's been said in many reviews in far less kind terms than I have)... it's still a fun story, and one can see the roots and budding ideas of lots and lots of later authors. One can only wonder what science fiction will look like 70 years from now!

for those that enjoyed Zoo City and want to meet the author behind the story... go here for a marvelous interview with Lauren Beukes

Thanks for the link, great interview. Just starting looking at Angry Robots stuff, interesting publishing house..

Don describes Asimov (et al) sci-fi as "sci-fi with hats". They've thought up some cool technical stuff, but haven't been able to think about how society would change, so their scientists still go to work wearing hats.

I enjoyed Foundation at the time, I'm not sure I'm keen to revisit any Asimov though.

Good luck with the 12-in-12 challenge! I'm always humming and hawing about joining that group in its previous incarnations, but resist because I wasn't sure I'd do well reading to a theme. (I tend to impulse read a lot.) Are you going to stick around here as well? (In the 2012 group, of course.)

"Sci-fi with hats" is a great description! The 12 in 12 challenge has reached a critical mass point in that many (most?) of us aren't going to actually read 144 books... so we arrange our categories however we like while somehow relating the arrangement to 12 squared or 12 in 12 or 144. 2011 was my first (failed) effort at completing the challenge. But, like the 100 in 2011/2012 etc challenge, it isn't really the end, but the journey and what we learn, that's truly important.

And of course I'll still be here in the 100 in 2012.. you guys are my favorite!

Yay, your thread is always worth visiting!

And I forgot to say: commiserations on the email hacking. What a pain. (I had to change all my passwords recently-ish, and it's amazing how many websites I've signed up to...)

thank you

I've changed my main email over to a gmail address... yes I too have lots and lots of subscriptions, but I won't update most of them so as to start out clean.

the hacking wasn't anything too serious (I hope)... we received some bank charges (refunded thankfully) on 'Microsoft zune' through my son's X-box subscription and the bank/Microsoft suggested changing emails as a precaution...

I've had my credit card details stolen a couple of times, and the bank's always been good about refunding those charges. I keep a close eye on my CC statement now!!

My favourite is when they rang me to see if I'd tried to use my credit card for a couple of transactions that had been rejected - because they were 10 times my limit! I was a bit boggled, to say the least. (I have a very low limit on my credit card, to protect myself from going beserk at bookshops. ;)

121) American Gods by Neil Gaiman; well heck... where to begin with this story? First of all, in the beginning, I found myself comparing it to Stephen King's The Stand and wondering if THIS story was what King was aiming for (not that King missed with The Stand but still...). But I've got to say that in 200 years (assuming humans are still around and still reading) ... people will very likely not be reading King, but will still be reading American Gods.

My ex-pastor teacher friend asked me about the book when he saw me reading it this morning... I described it as mythological fantasy and described some of the plot and the symbolism. He is very open-minded and seemed interested but also a little alarmed.

In the end, this will be one of those books that I compare others to; replacing or perhaps joining those other stories that I've read through the years that I keep coming back to.

Yeah, American Gods is one of the few books I've re-read, and enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

I can't wait to read American Gods. Next year...

122) 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke; I was certain that I'd read this story before... surely... but I don't remember any parts of the story, so maybe not. And surely I would remember, because 2001 has earned its distinction as a science fiction classic. Clarke, like Asimov (and Heinlein, although Heinlein was more of an engineer), was a real scientist and, unlike Asimov, was far more interested in and imaginative about the details of how things would actually work in the future. His descriptions of space shuttles, interplanetary space ships and space flight, ground crawlers on the moon, etc are all magnificent and nearly spot on. And of course, somewhat tedious to those that just want him to get on with the story...

I found the ending somewhat ho-hum; I much more enjoyed the first 2/3rds of the book, and was, ****SPOILER ALERT**** like millions before me, seriously creeped out by HAL going psychotic (I think the movie voice helped here as I heard HAL talking in my head as I read) ****/end SPOILER****

anyway, I enjoyed this a lot more than Foundation, and am sorry that it took me this long to read it.

You haven't seen the movie yet? I haven't seen it for a while, but it's quite magnificent. (If a bit overly trippy towards the end.)

123) Dracula by Bram Stoker; the intrepid band of vampire hunters chases Dracula out of England and back to his native Transylvania before finally ending the saga. Stoker apparently finally got tired of the obnoxious Van Helsing (about 200 pages after I did) and wrapped up the final scene in about 2 pages...

orrrr Dracula finally just died of sheer boredom listening to Van Helsing's incessant yammering and butchering of the English language (personally I think VH was just jealous that Dracula, a native of southeastern Europe, could speak perfect English, while VH, a learned Dutch physician, could barely make himself understood in the language)...

the beginning of he story was great, the middle was tedious and infuriating, and the ending was pretty good up til the abrupt completion of the story. Glad I read it, but won't be rereading any time soon.

You want to know what makes Dracula so difficult for me? Not the existence of vampires, no. That's fine. It is when the three or four different guys do direct blood transfusions into Lucy. Hello! Unless she is AB+, or they are all O- (neither of which is very likely), she'd have died like immediately. It is scientifically inaccurate. Totally upsetting.

yah I noticed that too.. I put it down to doctors not really knowing about blood types in Stoker's day (but I haven't researched it to see if that's true or not). One wonders if doctors just tried it in emergencies... got lucky once in awhile and the patient miraculously improved (which lends credibility to the practice). If the patient died.. well they did all they could... God's will and all that.

124) Chicago Lightning: The Collected Nathan Heller Short Stories by Max Allan Collins; this is an excellent collection of true crime-written-as-fiction short stories featuring Nate Heller, Chicago PI in the 30's and 40's. Most are set in Chicago, with a couple in LA, Florida and Cleveland. Heller has ties with the Chicago mob aka Frank Nitti (heir to the Capone empire), and also works several cases with Eliot Ness.

Collins is a superb writer, his settings and characters are terrific, and I loved the fact that his stories were based on real cases. Heller is a true anti-hero, likeable but flawed. My favorite story was probably Scrap which features Jake Rubinstein... later known as Jack Ruby.

if you like gritty, noir, PI stories, this is a great collection to have. I will be rereading these I'm sure.

125) Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse ed. by John Joseph Adams; this collection of post-apocalyptic stories contains entries from Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Gene Wolfe, and several other 'big' names in SF & Fantasy. Go here for a table of contents and an introduction to each story.

As you would expect, most of the stories were superb... I could not pick a favorite, probably because, to avoid depression, I read the stories over a period of many months... but the King story was one that I went back and reread. This genre shows no signs of lessening popularity. Adams includes a reading list in an appendix containing a 100+ books (I've only read ~20 of them, but I came late to the genre), and of course we frequently have new additions to the list (The Hunger Games, World War Z, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Uglies, Life as We Knew It, etc)

Highly recommended for all fans of science fiction.

126) Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke; Well. Finished at last... I started this book in 2005... six years is about right for this rambling, meandering, compelling story. I'm glad that I didn't give up on it, and enjoyed the last quarter of the book very much (although I figured out the whole John Uskglass/Nameless Slave mystery fairly early on).

I will need to reread of course....

Wastelands sounds awesome - I love short stories & post-apocalyptic stories. Win-win!

I'm glad you liked Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, I read it earlier this year and enjoyed it.

I am impressed you stuck with it! I liked it (and the short story collection) but I am not sure I could ever reread it, far to winding and long

127) Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant Volume 1 by Ulysses S. Grant; an excellent autobiographical account of Grant's early military career and his Civil War experiences up through and including the Vicksburg campaign. I've always felt that U.S. Grant was a sort of overlooked hero of the Civil War, that his exploits and accomplishments were overshadowed by his unfortunate Presidency. Lincoln finally appointed Grant overall commander ONLY after trying nearly everyone else (and very nearly losing the war multiple times). Grant wasn't flashy, didn't have a pedigree, and was inclined to bend rules and take liberties.... but he got the job done. His account of the Vicksburg campaign describes overcoming incredible adversity, both in the field (poor terrain, ceaseless flooding, incredibly complex supply issues), and in his command (backstabbing generals and leaders both above and below).

Of course... Grant leaves out some of the perhaps valid criticisms of his style and campaigns... his drinking is never mentioned, and his failures tend to get blamed on subordinates. Overall however, I think Grant comes of very positively in this biography and I recommend it to anyone interested in the leaders of the Civil War.

128) Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook; for my 2012 reading I wanted to read some new fantasy/science fiction authors. Glen Cook has been on my radar for years... the Black Company books look good, I just never picked one up. This book, Sweet Silver Blues is actually the beginning of fantasy/mystery/PI type series. It's nothing too original... think Nero Wolfe/Elvis Cole/Spenser with elves and trolls... but it was a fun story and I'll likely continue the series.

129) Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout; Nero and Archie end up somewhere in the country at an exposition which includes orchids (the only reason Nero Wolfe will leave his townhouse) and livestock. Two murders plus a dead prize-winning bull ensnare them into a family feud turned murderous...

Not my favorite in the series so far... Stout is displaying his breadth of knowledge and anytime we see Nero Wolfe out of his comfort zone, it can be entertaining.... however this story just wasn't very...

130) River of Gods by Ian McDonald; Wow! I had not read anything by Ian McDonald up til now.. this is fantastic introduction to his work and a must read for anyone who is a fan of artificial intelligence stories. McDonald takes his time telling the story, weaving multiple storylines together into an unexpected and compelling climax. This is what I want my science fiction to be... a mixture of gritty reality, realistic possibilities, and the jaw-dropping wow factor. I'll be reading the rest of this author's work.

131) The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian; the previous book (The Letter of Marque) in this enormously entertaining series had wrapped up several ongoing plotlines and laid out several new ones for the dynamic Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin. Aubrey embarks upon a 'second' career as an English Naval officer as he and Maturin head to the far east to aid in the securing of an ally against the French... and one of the last hanging threads from previous stories is satisfactorily concluded. Maturin is not an enemy who ever forgets or forgives and when he takes his revenge... it is sweet indeed. Terrific story as usual.

I must admit I gave up half way through Master and Commander and I have a small grasp on nautical terms but it was too much! Slow start on the didn't help too.. I always wondered if it was worth persevering, I loved the characters.

Merry Belated Xmas and a Happy New Year too.

oh Claire it is so worth it! I did not start reading the series until just a few years ago... I had looked at the series in the bookstore many times, picked up the first one, read a few pages... and set it down. The style, the language, just seemed so dry and uninteresting. I'm not sure what motivated me to give the series another chance, but I'm very glad I did! Yes, there are still times I'm not real sure what the characters are talking about exactly, and times I get lost in the convolutions of the politics and economics of the day ... and O'Brian does love to go on about nautical terminology (but that ends up being a very large part of the joke, because Maturin is hopelessly ignorant of the terminology... despite having sailed around the world multiple times, and the reactions to his ignorance are extraordinarily funny).

well I've kind of gushed a bit here haven't I? I'm sure the books aren't for everybody (nothing ever really is), but if Napoleonic era naval historical fiction is within your realm of interest... I think you must give these books another chance.

and oh yes.. Happy Holidays to you and yours as well!!

132) The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes Neil Gaiman; a collection of the first 8 Sandman stories... self-described by Gaiman as awkward and ungainly... if so, the rest of the series must be extraordinary! Reading a graphic novel is NOT like reading a regular novel (something that probably seems obvious to graphic novel veterans), you have to slooowwww down and absorb the images along with the story. I've not read many graphic novels (Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen mainly) so I'm not very good at it... but practicing on the Sandman series promises to be very entertaining!

98 Well I how cannot I not pick it up after such a passionate response! :) I shall give it another go, maybe leap to book 2.

Glad you are enjoying Sandman, I think (along with a great many people) it hooked me back into comics again.

133) Foundation and Empire Isaac Asimov; continuing the 12,000 years-in-the-future saga of cigar chomping, blaster-totin', space-faring men and women (yes the women also lovingly smoke cigars... much to the consternation of the men) as they attempt to unravel the mystery of The Mule and The Second Foundation.

I cannot imagine anyone reading this series for the first time having any flicker of comprehension as to why it was so popular and how it garnered a lifetime Hugo award... but again.. kids these days have little appreciation for The Beatles and Elvis... so there you are.

134) Halting State Charles Stross; The future of gaming? Used as a cover for espionage and crime? I loved this story by Charles Stross, set just a few years into a very realistic looking future. Others have commented on the somewhat unique 2nd person narrative style... I wasn't bothered by it at all, and in fact found it somewhat refreshing. There IS a lot of jargon and acronyms... difficult for the noobs to comprehend... but I think it is well worth wading through to get to the outstanding story underneath.

Completely agree with your review of McDonald's River of Gods. I really liked it too and this is a good reminder that I need to read more of his stuff!

and the year ends with:

135) The Nutmeg of Consolation Patrick O'Brian; continuing the adventures in the far east, a visit to sad, dreary Australia and a very powerful climactic ending...

2011 wrap-up

- number of books read = 135; down from 2010's total, mainly due to the month-long hiatus around the start of school in the fall

- favorite reads, in no particular order:
Pandora's Star Peter Hamilton
A Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin
Doc Mary Doria Russell
The Contract Surgeon Dan O'Brien
The Letter of Marque Patrick O'Brian
American Gods Neil Gaiman
River of Gods Ian McDonald

- favorite 'discovered' author
Neil Gaiman
Ian McDonald

- most disappointing book
Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand & the Foundation series reread

- series completed (completing two series was one of my reading goals for 2011)
ummm none; although I did put a dent into the Aubrey/Maturin series

well that about does it. Wishing a Happy New Years and a great year of reading to all my LT friends!

Clif reads another hundred in 2012 thread

Happy New Year and now I am heading to the 2012 thread..