clong's 2019 challenge

started the year with

1. Who? by Algis Budrys - a cold ward novel about identity and futility, and then
2. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, 3. The Broken Kingdoms, and 4. The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin - this new-to-me author has a distinctive voice and creates an interesting universe for this fantasy trilogy. I enjoyed these books and at times found them hard to put down, but I never really loved the characters.

5. The Awakened Kingdom by N.K. Jemisin - more of the same...

6. Unnatural Death by Dorothy Sayers - to my taste this proved the most disappointing Wimsey novel to date.

7. Citizen in Space by Robert Sheckley - a collection of 1950s short stories...amusing but not his best.

8. Starburst by Alfred Bester - a solid collection.

9. Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson - a couple of very good stories in the mix here, as well as lots of clues as to how the Cosmere universe works.

10. Peace on Earth by Stanislaw Lem - I am a big fan, but this was not one of his best.

11. Warm Worlds and Otherwise by James Tiptree, Jr. - Some fantastic stories that were nice to come back to, combined with several stories that were new to me and not as compelling.

12. Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen - funny and entertaining.

13. Holding Wonder - by Zenna Henderson - It took me a more than a month to get through this collection, which provide a bit of a letdown for me (after having enjoyed the three previous collections I had ready by this author).

14. Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen - plenty of laughs, but not particularly satisfying.

15. Ylana of Callisto by Lin Carter - these books have generally been fun if mindless...there really wasn't much excuse for this one.

16. Medea: Harlan's World edited by Harlan Ellison - a cool concept that didn't really come together. Only 16 books so far this year?

17. Camp Concentration by Thomas Disch - I wanted to like this, but didn't particularly... especially Book II.

18. Strip Tease by Carl Hiassen - entertaining but not fantastic.

19. The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon - This early Sturgeon novel didn't do much for me.

20. Double or Quits by A.A. Fair - not one of the best from this series.

21. Agyar by Steven Brust - not really my cup of tea...plus never really cared about any of the characters.

22. Killer in the Rain by Raymond Chandler - I love aspects of Chandler's writing... but these stories were somewhat variable in engaging my interest.

23. The Traveler in Black by John Brunner - This short story maship had lots of potential, but didn't really deliver.

24. Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison - most of these were new to me, including a few that were pretty good .

25. Swords and Ice Magic by Fritz Leiber - a few entertaining moments, but not anywhere close to earlier entries.

26. The Best of James Blish - Even the best of Blish doesn't do a whole lot for me, but several of these stories were at least thought provoking.

27. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson - yet another unique magic system. Plus satisfying surprises (although I guessed where the Phantoms would come from). But I never really loved these characters.

28. The Rapture of the Nerds by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross - very disappointing

29. Razor Girl by Carl Hiassen - I seem to have liked this more than most... funny and entertaining.

>24 clong: I loved Razor Girl.

30. Venus on the Half Shell by Kigore Trout - not great, but quite a bit better than some of the other books by Farmer that I have read in the past few years.

31. Bats Fly at Dusk by A.A. Fair - a fun one...Bertha tries to solve a tricky case solo while Donald is off fighting WWII.

32. Fish or Cut Bait by A.A. Fair - Pretty much no one is telling the truth in this one, but of course Donald figures it out. Decent, but not as good as the best books in this series.

33. Deathworld 1 and 34. Deathworld 2 by Harry Harrison - I've never been a huge fan of Harrison, but I picked up an omnibus of the first three books in this series at a used book store. The first one was better than I expected, but the second was not.

35. Deathworld 3 by Harry Harrison - better than expected.

36. The Star King and 37. The Killing Machine by Jack Vance - vintage Vance.

38. The Palace of Love by Jack Vance - intriguing, but less effective than first two books.

39. The Face by Jack Vance - 4 down, 1 to go.

40. The Book of Dreams by Jack Vance - an ok conclusion to a good series.

Looks like this is going to be the first time in 20+ years that I haven't read 50 books in a year. :(