Books Read 2014

[Jeff V]

I was looking for a way to listen to books in the car and considered Audible.com, but $15/month for one book seemed pretty steep.

Emusic is about $10 per credit -- many books are 1 credit, some though are 2. I used to use them before I discovered Overdrive - a phone app that lets me borrow audiobooks from the library without ever actually having to go to the library. I get them for 21 days after which they turn into a pumpkin. I almost always finish early and "return" them by deleting from my phone -- that frees up the title to be borrowed by someone else. The library has somewhere around 6,000 titles available to borrow. I haven't paid for an audiobook in nearly 2 years now.

[Kasey Chang]

I was looking for a way to listen to books in the car

According to Amazon, "Kindle Unlimited" (i.e. all the books you can read) also applies to their pro-narration for at least SOME books.

Alternate means is get a Kindle w/ TTS (Fire HD / HDX) and have it Text-to-speech the books. Robotic, but tolerable with occasional quirks.

[McNutt]

I downloaded the Audible app and my books can be loaded into it. So far I haven't had it lose my place.

[Jeff V]

Limbus, Inc. - Book II by Jonathan Maberry

The second volume of short stories (well, this one includes a novella) involving interesting work assignments doled out by the shadowy recruitment firm, Limbus. Limbus' motto is "We employ" and assignments range from the mundane but bizarre to the supernatural. For some who are down on their luck, Limbus offers redemption, fixing them up with a job uniquely suited to them. Lumbus also seeks the perfect candidate for jobs in hand. Some refuse and yet do Limbus' bidding anyway. Limbus always pays well, just not always in cash or other valuables.

The authors in this book, Mayberry, Lansdale and Braumbeck are Journalstone staples. Two books in, this reminds me a bit of the Thieves World series in the early 80's -- a small number of characters are recurring and the novella continues a character introduced in Volume 1. Like the first book, the tales are told as par of a recruiting campaign targeting a wary candidate during a meta-story told in interstitial between stories. . Some of the stories have a Twilight Zone vibe, while the novella involves werewolves.

[Jeff V]

https://www.librarything.com/work/89738 ... /114423974

Richard Mayhew is an entirely uninteresting cube dweller leading a tepid life of ordinary expectations in London. Richard is betrothed to a women, Jessica, who calls the shots -- someone he met at an art expo and who he led to believe he is an art connoisseur -- when in fact he ambivalent at best. The two of them are on their way to a restaurant to meet her boss when a bloody girl appears out of nowhere and falls at Richard's feet. In a hurry, Jessica wants to just leave her to become someone else's problem, but Richard can't do that and despite Jessica's anger he takes the girl back to his apartment when she insists he not take her to a hospital. Moments later, he is visited by a strange couple - Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, two assassins looking to finish the job they started. The young girl, Door, is nowhere to be found when they search Richard's apartment.

Door recovers, and tries to dismiss Richard but he follows her anyway. He enters a world of "London Underground", populated by the sort of denizens that are all but invisible to those above. Rats are revered and even spoken to; there are sill some feudal structures and even an Angel. Richard becomes one of them, forgotten by those above, even Jessica. In a world where life and death have no particular attachment, he must learn how to survive.

The pacing of the book was good until the end, it lingered too long after the climatic scene. The audiobook was read by Gaiman himself, and he a superb reader providing a lot of atmosphere.

[El Guapo]

Just finished Neuromancer, by William Gibson.

As you probably know it's a classic sci-fi 'cyberpunk' novel. I really enjoyed it. It was a bit difficult to get into at first, partly due to the style of the writing. Basically the book doesn't really explain much, it just basically drops you into the action and describes the countries, cities, world, etc. very matter-of-factually, from a perspective like you already know the basics (the book references places like Chiba City like you and I would talk about Boston or Detroit). Which makes things kind of confusing at time, but which also means that the book doesn't get bogged down in explanatory monologues, and makes it kind of interesting to piece the world together. Also makes me think it would benefit from a re-read eventually.

Anyway it's both an enjoyable read, and is also nice to read as it is cultural background for all cyberpunk related books, TV, and film.

[stessier]

Paper Towns - John Green

John Green is part of the duo known as the Vlogbrothers on Youtube. Anyone familiar with their videos will be familiar with the themes in this book - imagining people complexly and struggling to reconcile the reality of others with your perception of them. The book explores this through the backdrop of 5 seniors going through their last few months of high school when one of them mysteriously disappears. I don't want to give too much away as it is mostly a detective novel. I thought it was very well written with a lot of touching and funny points.

Paper Towns was the book he wrote just before The Fault in Our Stars which came out as a movie this year.

out of 8

[stessier]

• Chronicles of the Black Company
  • The Black Company
  • Shadows Linger
  • The White Rose
  The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company
  • Shadow Games
  • Dreams of Steel
  • The Silver Spike
  The Return of the Black Company
  • Bleak Seasons
  • She is the Darkness
  The Many Deaths of the Black Company
  • Water Sleeps
  • Soldiers Live

The one good thing I can say is that the last book actually wraps up the series. I really didn't like them very much - there is very little depth to anything and problems are frequently solved via deus ex machina. The first book was the most frustrating as you are dropped into a world with no explanation and only get to view it through an imperfect observer. It feels like whole chapters are missing. That sense goes away in later books so they are less frustrating but also less suspenseful.

So why did I read them all? Mostly because I'm a completionist - I've never put a book down. However, they are short reads and it took me most of the year to finish, so I guess that says something as well.

out of 8

[Bad Demographic]

Bujold's 'The Curse of Chalion' just finished. Thanks, OO, for the excellent suggestion. Top shelf stuff, IMO, and highly recommended. Not GRR Martin level, but way up there for the genre.

I guess I will read the whole trilogy, but I got a very definite sense of closure/satisfaction even after reading just the first one. I'm almost hesitant to continue based on recent experiences with poor follow ups.

Did you ever continue this series, Carpet? I recall liking the 2nd book quite a bit (continues from the 1st book) but I think the 3rd book takes place in the same universe but much, much earlier. No connection (character-wise) to Chalion or the next book. I thought the 3rd book was okay but not even close to as good as the first two.

[Bad Demographic]

My sister got me reading Brandon Sanderson (as you can tell by looking at my list on page 1). The Mistborn series was good but partway through the 3rd book I got bored with the main characters. Fortunately, I wanted to know what became of the lesser characters so I finished up. I really liked the ending.

Of the Sanderson books I've read, I liked The Rithmatistthe most. I thought the magic system was interesting and I liked the main characters. It's a YA book, so if you refuse to read books for a younger audience you may want to skip this one. And if you don't like to read an incomplete series, definitely hold off on this - I think I saw (in Goodreads) that we shouldn't expect the sequel until 2017 (groan!).

I felt Steelheart dragged for about the first 1/3 but I stuck with it. Now I'm waiting for the next book!

Sanderson's strength in the fantasy genre is his magic systems. No pseudo-Latin and waving of wands (a la Harry Potter).
In the Mistborn series, metals are the key to all the magic systems. There are three systems and they use metals differently.
In The Rithmatist, special chalk is used (by Rithmatists) to draw defensive barriers and to draw small figures (chalklings) that attack the other side. Chalk of any kind has no special power for non-rithmatists, thus they have no defense against magic.

[Scuzz]

• Chronicles of the Black Company
  • The Black Company
  • Shadows Linger
  • The White Rose
  The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company
  • Shadow Games
  • Dreams of Steel
  • The Silver Spike
  The Return of the Black Company
  • Bleak Seasons
  • She is the Darkness
  The Many Deaths of the Black Company
  • Water Sleeps
  • Soldiers Live

The one good thing I can say is that the last book actually wraps up the series. I really didn't like them very much - there is very little depth to anything and problems are frequently solved via deus ex machina. The first book was the most frustrating as you are dropped into a world with no explanation and only get to view it through an imperfect observer. It feels like whole chapters are missing. That sense goes away in later books so they are less frustrating but also less suspenseful.

So why did I read them all? Mostly because I'm a completionist - I've never put a book down. However, they are short reads and it took me most of the year to finish, so I guess that says something as well.

out of 8

I only recommend the first three books of the series, the First Omnibus if you will. It can basically stand alone and is really the only good books of the series. I say that as someone who has read them all. The last one does wrap things up but damn, he could have got there a lot faster.

[Rumpy]

Finished The Janson Option by Paul Garrison, a series Robert Ludlum had started. Liked it quite a bit. Going to have to go back and read the earlier ones now.

[Jeff V]

The Clean Eating 28-Day Plan: A Healthy Cookbook and 4-Week Plan for Eating Clean by Rockridge Press

The Clean Eating 28-Day Plan is more than a simple recipe collection. It covers (albeit superficially) the reasons why one should strive for a "clean" diet high in nutrition and low in toxins. It provides foods and food substitutes that are good and bad so one knows the difference. After educating the reader on why, it moves on to how. This includes more than 100 recipes that cover an entire month. Furthermore, the recipes are complementary -- anticipated leftovers from one day dovetail into the meal plan for the next.

I found the recipes and suggestions listed here rather less stringent than what is suggested in books that focus hard on the why but are less clear on the how. This is more likely to result in a positive outcome as not the food you're used to is consigned to the trash bin (but a lot is, and the book starts with telling you what to throw away). Replacements for favorite dishes probably is the single most important element in a successful transition -- pure deprivation is not likely to work in the short term, much less foment lifestyle change.

I've tried some of the recipes -- cherry picking those I know I would like. I haven't yet committed to all-in for the whole 28 days (and beyond).

[Carpet_pissr]

Bujold's 'The Curse of Chalion' just finished. Thanks, OO, for the excellent suggestion. Top shelf stuff, IMO, and highly recommended. Not GRR Martin level, but way up there for the genre.

I guess I will read the whole trilogy, but I got a very definite sense of closure/satisfaction even after reading just the first one. I'm almost hesitant to continue based on recent experiences with poor follow ups.

Did you ever continue this series, Carpet? I recall liking the 2nd book quite a bit (continues from the 1st book) but I think the 3rd book takes place in the same universe but much, much earlier. No connection (character-wise) to Chalion or the next book. I thought the 3rd book was okay but not even close to as good as the first two.

I did not, but thanks for reminding me....just put the second one in my list of books to buy when I have some credit. Really liked that first one.

[Jeff V]

Beginning with the biblical David and Goliath story, Malcom Gladwell establishes a premise that the book will be about scenarios where the weak and meek will overcome the strong and powerful. He doesn't do a good job sticking to this theme, however, and what we end up with is a book more in the vein of Freakonomics.
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell


The book is really about unanticipated outcomes, then analyzing why this is the case. Catastrophic panic was anticipated in London at the outset of the Battle of Britain, yet citizens were calm and defiant in spite of daily bombings. Attempts to crack down on Catholic malcontents in Northern Ireland by British soldiers led to a 30 year struggle when it was thought overwhelming brutality would cow them quickly. After tens of billions spent on California's 3-strikes law where a 3rd crime, no matter how minor, would result in harsh penalties ranging from 25-years to life was proven to have no discernable effect on violent crime, but did lead to instances such a first-degree murderer serving an 8-year prison term (first offense) while his cell mate was in for at least 25 because he was caught stealing candy (third offense).

One of the more interesting chapters had to do with learning disabilities -- dyslexia in particular. We generally regard this as a major handicap that can prevent otherwise bright kids from excelling in school. Gladwell cites figures that suggest, however, that perhaps 40% of some of the most successful people atop the most successful companies are dyslexic. Overcoming the obstacle that makes reading difficult resulted in them compensating by honing other talents and skills; particularly memory and persuasion. It would have been irresponsible had Gladwell been remiss to mention a large percentage of the prison population (maybe as large as 70%) also suffer learning disabilities but didn't rise to the challenge in an admirable way. He doesn't give that statistic equal time, though -- he is just more impressed by those who successfully overcame their handicap.

Despite not sticking with the theme of the book very well; Gladwell does present some interesting data and some of the stories even relate to each other. But in the end, I was not motivated to go slay a giant, which was sort of my expectation for this book.

[Jeff V]

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

I've had Massie's biography of Peter the Great on my shelf for some time, and probably should have read it first, but I came across this in audiobook form at the library.

Catherine (nee Sophia) was an usurper, deposing her incompetent husband, Peter III. Massie appears a little too enamored with her colorful love life, and cuts short some of the achievements that made Catherine great -- such as bringing Russia out of the feudal era and bringing an enlightened Russia into equality with the rest of Europe. Militarily, she expanded the empire to the Black Sea, first gaining concessions from Ottoman Turkey and then defending them in war. Catherine was a very intelligent, well educated women that had the fortune of having a lot of strong, loyal men who weren't quite as sharp and could be counted on to do her bidding (real or imagined -- it seems she really didn't want them to kill her husband, Peter).

Catherine was the third and last empress of Russia. Peter the Great's widow, Anne, was the first. Upon her death, her son, still a child, was imprisoned by Elizabeth, Peter the Great's grand daughter who enjoyed a long reign as empress. After Peter III's brief reign where he sidled up with state enemy Frederick II (The Great) from Prussia and abandoning a long alliance with Austria; Catherine took firm control and held it through her 34 year reign. The change during this span was profound -- but not always in the interests of the clergy or the nobility and after her death laws were changed that ensured Catherine was the last female ruler of that nation.

In war, peace and culture, Catherine the Great's reign matched much of what was going on elsewhere in Europe. It was a golden age for their culture; starting with the Napoleonic Wars fought by her grandson Alexander, Russia started having a hard time keeping up with the rest of Europe, eventually becoming a classless bully of an autocracy under Stalin and his successors. One wonders how European history would have turned out had Catherine's successors continued her initiatives.

[paulbaxter]

I'm halfway through reading Pat Conroy's The Death of Santini.

About twelve years ago or so I was in the gym. I always brought a book with me to read either in the sauna or on the treadmill. One of the older guys got talking to me about books and mentioned that he'd recently really enjoyed reading Pat Conroy. Something about the way he said it made it sound like there was something really special there, so I've read all of his books over the intervening years (other than his first novel which isn't widely available).

If you've ever read The Great Santini or The Lords of Discipline, you know something of Conroy's life and writing ability. I don't know anyone else who can write so well about the sorts of suffering that people subject each other to. There also aren't many writers who have suffered quite so much in their lives, though there is more competition for that sort of thing. Anyhow, reading Conroy is always an experience you don't easily forget.

The Death of Santini is a nonfiction account of his family, starting with his father. I had assumed that the fictional portrait of his father in The Great Santini was more or less accurate, but it turned out that Conroy's editor insisted that he add some kinder touches to his father to make him seem more human. The Conroy household was one where the father physically beat the mother every day save for the times he was called up for active duty. He never inquired about the welfare of any of his children, never once said a positive word about them during their childhoods. He occasionally attended Pat's high school football games where he would yell out encouragement to the opposing teams to "cut Conroy's legs out from under him."

The book goes on to discuss his parent's divorce, his father's eventual mellowing, and stories of the other members of his family. All of that would have the potential to be either boring or melodramatic, but Conroy's writing style is like those "office linebacker" ads from a few years ago. Out of nowhere he just knocks you on your ass as a reader and you wonder what happened.

Highly recommended, though it would perhaps be better to read through his earlier works first. Either way, this is a gem of a book, in the real sense that it was crafted out of immense pressure into something quite beautiful.

[rshetts2]

The Clean Eating 28-Day Plan: A Healthy Cookbook and 4-Week Plan for Eating Clean by Rockridge Press

The Clean Eating 28-Day Plan is more than a simple recipe collection. It covers (albeit superficially) the reasons why one should strive for a "clean" diet high in nutrition and low in toxins. It provides foods and food substitutes that are good and bad so one knows the difference. After educating the reader on why, it moves on to how. This includes more than 100 recipes that cover an entire month. Furthermore, the recipes are complementary -- anticipated leftovers from one day dovetail into the meal plan for the next.

I found the recipes and suggestions listed here rather less stringent than what is suggested in books that focus hard on the why but are less clear on the how. This is more likely to result in a positive outcome as not the food you're used to is consigned to the trash bin (but a lot is, and the book starts with telling you what to throw away). Replacements for favorite dishes probably is the single most important element in a successful transition -- pure deprivation is not likely to work in the short term, much less foment lifestyle change.

I've tried some of the recipes -- cherry picking those I know I would like. I haven't yet committed to all-in for the whole 28 days (and beyond).

Just a heads up, if youre interested in this book, its available today on Amazon (for the Kindle) for a buck. I looked it up on a whim.

[Jeff V]

$1 is probably about right. My mother gave me all of her cookbooks, some which she paid $30-40 for. The going price on the secondary market is $0.01 for every damn one of them. Since you can find recipes online for just about anything these days, the cookbook market has to be pretty much dried up.

[YellowKing]

I took things really old school and read Agatha Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I'm not usually one for traditional whodunits, but I really enjoyed this one. You can probably trace tons of mystery novel tropes back to her early books.

[Carpet_pissr]

I'm halfway through reading Pat Conroy's The Death of Santini.

About twelve years ago or so I was in the gym. I always brought a book with me to read either in the sauna or on the treadmill. One of the older guys got talking to me about books and mentioned that he'd recently really enjoyed reading Pat Conroy. Something about the way he said it made it sound like there was something really special there, so I've read all of his books over the intervening years (other than his first novel which isn't widely available).

If you've ever read The Great Santini or The Lords of Discipline, you know something of Conroy's life and writing ability. I don't know anyone else who can write so well about the sorts of suffering that people subject each other to. There also aren't many writers who have suffered quite so much in their lives, though there is more competition for that sort of thing. Anyhow, reading Conroy is always an experience you don't easily forget.

The Death of Santini is a nonfiction account of his family, starting with his father. I had assumed that the fictional portrait of his father in The Great Santini was more or less accurate, but it turned out that Conroy's editor insisted that he add some kinder touches to his father to make him seem more human. The Conroy household was one where the father physically beat the mother every day save for the times he was called up for active duty. He never inquired about the welfare of any of his children, never once said a positive word about them during their childhoods. He occasionally attended Pat's high school football games where he would yell out encouragement to the opposing teams to "cut Conroy's legs out from under him."

The book goes on to discuss his parent's divorce, his father's eventual mellowing, and stories of the other members of his family. All of that would have the potential to be either boring or melodramatic, but Conroy's writing style is like those "office linebacker" ads from a few years ago. Out of nowhere he just knocks you on your ass as a reader and you wonder what happened.

Highly recommended, though it would perhaps be better to read through his earlier works first. Either way, this is a gem of a book, in the real sense that it was crafted out of immense pressure into something quite beautiful.

Have you seen The Prince of Tides movie? And if so, did you watch it before or after reading the book? (same for Conrack)

He's quite the celebrity around here, and seems to have kind of come out of his shell (locally at least) in the past few years. I hear him interviewed on the radio quite often (and it's hard to turn the dial when he is on, it's pretty damn engaging).

[paulbaxter]

I'm halfway through reading Pat Conroy's The Death of Santini.

About twelve years ago or so I was in the gym. I always brought a book with me to read either in the sauna or on the treadmill. One of the older guys got talking to me about books and mentioned that he'd recently really enjoyed reading Pat Conroy. Something about the way he said it made it sound like there was something really special there, so I've read all of his books over the intervening years (other than his first novel which isn't widely available).

If you've ever read The Great Santini or The Lords of Discipline, you know something of Conroy's life and writing ability. I don't know anyone else who can write so well about the sorts of suffering that people subject each other to. There also aren't many writers who have suffered quite so much in their lives, though there is more competition for that sort of thing. Anyhow, reading Conroy is always an experience you don't easily forget.

The Death of Santini is a nonfiction account of his family, starting with his father. I had assumed that the fictional portrait of his father in The Great Santini was more or less accurate, but it turned out that Conroy's editor insisted that he add some kinder touches to his father to make him seem more human. The Conroy household was one where the father physically beat the mother every day save for the times he was called up for active duty. He never inquired about the welfare of any of his children, never once said a positive word about them during their childhoods. He occasionally attended Pat's high school football games where he would yell out encouragement to the opposing teams to "cut Conroy's legs out from under him."

The book goes on to discuss his parent's divorce, his father's eventual mellowing, and stories of the other members of his family. All of that would have the potential to be either boring or melodramatic, but Conroy's writing style is like those "office linebacker" ads from a few years ago. Out of nowhere he just knocks you on your ass as a reader and you wonder what happened.

Highly recommended, though it would perhaps be better to read through his earlier works first. Either way, this is a gem of a book, in the real sense that it was crafted out of immense pressure into something quite beautiful.

Have you seen The Prince of Tides movie? And if so, did you watch it before or after reading the book? (same for Conrack)

He's quite the celebrity around here, and seems to have kind of come out of his shell (locally at least) in the past few years. I hear him interviewed on the radio quite often (and it's hard to turn the dial when he is on, it's pretty damn engaging).

If I saw it it was long ago, but I don't think I did. I haven't seen Conrack either. Last I checked Netflix didn't have it and I wasn't that motivated to go track it down. I did see The Great Santini film and thought it was terrific.

[Pyperkub]

I always enjoy Pat Conroy's work.

[rshetts2]

I just finished book 2 of James S.A. Corey's Expanse series. Caliban's War takes place immediately after the events in the first book Leviathan Wakes. Excellent read! If youre looking for a great space opera, look no further than James S.A. Corey's ( a pseudonym for co-authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck ) Expanse series.

On a related note, the series has been picked up by SyFy in their recent rush to become a viable outlet for good genre material. They can be very hit and miss but they seem to be recently committed to improving the network with a focus on sci-fi based series. If they can do this justice, it should be one helluva show.

[WYBaugh]

Haven't updated in awhile so here goes:

The Red Knight by Miles Cameron - Good book ruined by way, way too many POV's and POV shifts. Especially when listening to it as an audio book and have to hear the location/persons name over and over again.

Hard Luck Hank: Screw the Galaxy - Fun, light book. If you want easy reading and enjoy a little light/weird book check it out.

Hard Luck Hank: Basketful of Crap - See above

The Dark Lord's Handbook by Paul Dale - an interesting idea for a book and it's a pretty decent book. The only knock would be a lot of introspection rather than dialog.

[Kasey Chang]

I was reading "Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales", sort of e-Book intro bundle from 10 authors for $1 as teasers to their respective series. I'm about half way through. Some of those are not too bad, the military adventure type, but some are just lame riffs off popular themes like the Matrix, but with a few twists.

[Isgrimnur]

Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

Published in 2006, this gives a very good (imo) look at the prewar planning and the military operations up through the occupation of Baghdad. It certainly digs deep and shows the failings in planning and inability to listen to skilled military minds regarding combat and postwar administration needs.