Books Read 2011

[Bad Demographic]

Just finished The Magician King by Lev Grossman, the sequel to "The Magicians". For the most part, I liked this more than "The Magicians", maybe because I felt the plot was more involved, and maybe because Quentin grew up in this book. However, for some reason the parts about Julia (the Julia story and main story chapters alternated for much of the book) dragged for me - even though they are an important part of the story. I guess I just like Quentin more.

At the end of "The Magicians", Quentin joins his friends Eliot, Jane and Julia and becomes one of the kings of Fillory (their Narnia). In The Magician Kings Quentin and Julia set out to visit a far-flung island that is part of Fillory and from there, go on a quest to find a golden key. They get transported back to Brooklyn and have to find their way back to Fillory. And when they get back, they find the quest for the golden key was just the start of a much large quest.
The alternating chapters are about Julia's pre-Fillory desperate struggle to learn magic.


Really, the hardest thing for me about this book was that I borrowed it from the library and, when I was just about halfway through, the 2nd Patrick Rothfuss book popped up in my ebook-library queue and I can see that the next Sookie Stackhouse book is about hit my regular-library queue.And since I can't renew any of these books (two are very new and one still has several hundred people waiting for it), everything else I want to do (spare time-wise) is being put on hold. I need to be able to split time.

[Isgrimnur]

White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War 1919-1920 and The Miracle on the Vistula

A decent survey of the scuffle between the Poles and the Russians. It goes into some of the political mindset, including the fight of the Poles no not live under the puppet control of the Entente after The Great War and some of the internal power struggles of the newly-formed Soviet Russians as they also fought consolidate their empire, while also trying to foster the worldwide worker's revolution.

It took me a significant time frame to get through the book, as my ASoIaF re-read was in there as well and not being familiar with any of the names on the Polish side of things or the geography of the area made it a bit harder to follow than most other history tomes I've read.

[Bad Demographic]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Another book where a brilliant young man attends a school for learning magic. Not much like Harry Potter at all - darker, more intriguing (why is this guy running an inn in a backwater town and hiding that he's a powerful magician?). There are points where I felt it dragged but mostly I enjoyed this. Book 2 is on request at the library. (but I sure hope book 3 is more than just his telling the story of his life).

For what it's worth I actually enjoyed Book 2 more than Book 1. It's also a reaaally slow burn but by about midway through you start to realize that the pace only serves to make the story that much richer and deep. I criticized Rothfuss early on, but I stuck with it and got really hooked.

I've now read the second book in the KingKiller Chonicle: The Wise Man's Fear and I also liked it better than the first book. I didn't have too much problem with the pacing.
For those of you who have read the first book but haven't yet read the second, The Wise Man's Fear is day two of the story of Kvothe the Arcane. In a nutshell, the young Kvothe takes time off from the University and seeks a patron. He grows older (somewhat) and wiser (somewhat) and even becomes experienced - though not in the Jimi Hendrix way - but he still retains the boyish impertinence that keeps him in hot water.

I guess book three isn't due out until May 2012. Sigh.

[theohall]

... and even becomes experienced - though not in the Jimi Hendrix way...

This could be debated.

[YellowKing]

I started reading the critically acclaimed A Discovery of Witches but I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it.

200+ pages in and really the only thing I've seen happen is a woman stare at a book in a library and go to some yoga classes. Seriously. It's horrible.

I almost never, ever quit a book midway through, no matter how bad it is. But this might be the exception to the rule. It seriously reads like a Twilight knock-off for adults, except half as entertaining (and I say that from the perspective of someone who absolutely loathes Twilight).

[WYBaugh]

Finished Leviathan Wakes and it is a very good read. The blurbs say it's a space opera, which I guess it its, but less Honor Harrington type and more space detective and mystery....with brown puking zombies.

Description stolen from Amazon:

The story that's settled in the world is one that works well: the destruction of a ship travelling through the solar system on a transit run, when they come across an abandoned ship, The Scopuli. When their ship is destroyed, a wave of outrage runs across the solar system, angering two sides of a brewing conflict, and pitting the Belters, Earthers and Martians against one another. At the same time, a cop is tasked with tracking down a girl for a family, bringing him on another track towards The Scopuli, and soon, the main characters are caught between revolution and corporate interests. The story really surprised me at points as the authors angled things in unexpected ways, and they manage to pack quite a bit into the pages. The book falls roughly into three parts (and I thought that it could have transitioned a bit better between each of the acts), that bring the story higher and higher to the end, and the entire thing is really a rush from beginning to end.

[Scuzz]

The Hobbitt by JRR Tolkien



I think this was the third time I have read this book. Compared to the LOTR this is such a light and easy read. I still prefer it and I am looking forward to the movie.

PS....the book was a 1973 edition that I paid all of $1.25 for.

[GreenGoo]

The Hobbitt by JRR Tolkien



I think this was the third time I have read this book. Compared to the LOTR this is such a light and easy read. I still prefer it and I am looking forward to the movie.

PS....the book was a 1973 edition that I paid all of $1.25 for.

$1.25 in 1973 had the same buying power as $6.45 in 2011.

Annual inflation over this period was 4.41%.

I have no idea what possessed me to look that up.

[Scuzz]

The Hobbitt by JRR Tolkien



I think this was the third time I have read this book. Compared to the LOTR this is such a light and easy read. I still prefer it and I am looking forward to the movie.

PS....the book was a 1973 edition that I paid all of $1.25 for.

$1.25 in 1973 had the same buying power as $6.45 in 2011.

Annual inflation over this period was 4.41%.

I have no idea what possessed me to look that up.

geez, now I feel like i was ripped off.......

[Bad Demographic]

Finished Leviathan Wakes and it is a very good read. The blurbs say it's a space opera, which I guess it its, but less Honor Harrington type and more space detective and mystery....with brown puking zombies.

Maybe I'll check this out. Being not like an Honor Harrington book is a plus to me -- I enjoyed the first book in that series but,for me, it was all downhill from there.

[Jolor]

Just picked up The Sisters Brothers. Looking forward to reading this Giller/Booker nominee. Sounds like a fun ride and something a little different.

[Zarathud]

Finished Leviathan Wakes and it is a very good read. The blurbs say it's a space opera, which I guess it its, but less Honor Harrington type and more space detective and mystery....with brown puking zombies.

Description stolen from Amazon:

The story that's settled in the world is one that works well: the destruction of a ship travelling through the solar system on a transit run, when they come across an abandoned ship, The Scopuli. When their ship is destroyed, a wave of outrage runs across the solar system, angering two sides of a brewing conflict, and pitting the Belters, Earthers and Martians against one another. At the same time, a cop is tasked with tracking down a girl for a family, bringing him on another track towards The Scopuli, and soon, the main characters are caught between revolution and corporate interests. The story really surprised me at points as the authors angled things in unexpected ways, and they manage to pack quite a bit into the pages. The book falls roughly into three parts (and I thought that it could have transitioned a bit better between each of the acts), that bring the story higher and higher to the end, and the entire thing is really a rush from beginning to end.

The first third was so slow, I almost quit reading. I was not expecting the space zombies, which made things more interesting.

[silverjon]

I started reading the critically acclaimed A Discovery of Witches but I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it.

200+ pages in and really the only thing I've seen happen is a woman stare at a book in a library and go to some yoga classes. Seriously. It's horrible.

I almost never, ever quit a book midway through, no matter how bad it is. But this might be the exception to the rule. It seriously reads like a Twilight knock-off for adults, except half as entertaining (and I say that from the perspective of someone who absolutely loathes Twilight).

Sometimes when that comes up in the recently reviewed items on my library's website, I read the plot summary, and always end up dismissing it as a book that sounds about 300 pages longer than it needs to be, even if the subject matter does grab me, which it doesn't.

Seriously, if you catch the slightest whiff of "paranormal romance", steer clear. Genre savvy. It pays.

[Isgrimnur]

Judging a book by its genre? How provincial!

[silverjon]

Actually, it's more like judging a book by predicting its tropes.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished "The Battle of the Hammer Worlds" by Graham Sharp Paul.

Battle of the Hammer Worlds is second book in Helfort's War series. Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort, who had thwarted Hammer World's attack on the Federated Worlds twice already, and gotten into a bit of celebrity status in itself (Book 1, Battle of Hell's Moons) is serving on a heavy cruiser, but really down on the totem pole. The ship's company hates him, the captain is a joke, the wardroom is divided, and the whole ship's about to mutiny. When the Hammer Worlds launched Q-ships, to blast merchants and caught Helfort's heavy cruiser, Helfort and roughly 300 survivors are imprisoned deep in enemy space.

Except they can't hold him there, and despite the new weapons that Hammer came up with, and their brutal security troops, they can't hold Helfort there... and when Helfort wants revenge...

The book's light on the technical details (except for the vacuum stuff it may as well be on Earth). Ships only have two weapons: railguns, and missiles. There are some defense, such as ablative "sheilding" but mostly it's the best firecontrol and who fires first wins. Raiding is simple: drop out of warp (or in this case "Pinchspace") get your firing solutions, launch missiles and/or a railgun salvo, go to warp (okay, jump into pinchspace). The ships are clearly modeled after navy ships as there's various "qualification" trials and such and junior officers are given plenty of scut work.

The battles are okay, though not that much 3D maneuvering or such. I can't decide whether this style is better or worse than the other scifi series, such as "Lost Fleet" series, "Honor Harrington" series, or even "Kris Longknife" series. Got this book cheap, so I am starting in the middle. So far, not bad. I may buy the other books in the series just for the fun of it.

[Bad Demographic]

To Fetch A Thief by Spencer Quinn
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones
Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

Spencer Quinn's "Chet and Bernie" stories make a nice break from more serious reading. They're light pulp fiction novels told from by Chet the dog. I'm sure I've mentioned before that the Chet voice is hilariously doggy. He'll start to tell you what is going on or what he is trying to think about but then gets distracted by a cat going by in a car or a piece of food on the floor. In To Fetch a Thief, Chet and Bernie end up investigating the disappearance of a circus elephant. Their investigation takes them to Mexico where Chet and Bernie get separated. Somehow, Chet finds the elephant and Bernie (but not all at once) and, everything is wrapped up satisfactorily. This is not mystery writing at its best and I wouldn't recommend you sit down and read several (up to 4) of these books all at once, but when spread out, they are an enjoyable read.

Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones. I bought this book years ago for my (then) teen-aged nephew but never got around to giving it to him. And then it migrated to the basement with hundreds of other books (to make way for yet more books on the bookshelves). Then I started cleaning out the basement and found it. And since I found I like Diana Wynne Jones' writing, it was migrated back to my reading pile.
Howard Sykes comes home from school one day and finds his family's apartment occupied by a goon (a really big guy with a really small head). According to the goon, Howard's father owes a 2000 word essay to the goon's boss, Archer, and the goon is not leaving until he gets the 2000 words. Why are the 2000 words important? And who is this mysterious Archer whom Howard's father doesn't even seem to know? Howard and his younger sister Anthea (nicknamed Awful) decide to find out and to get rid of the annoying goon. They soon learn that the mystery of the 2000 words is much deeper than they realized: Archer's six siblings are also somehow involved and nobody seems to know who the 2000 words really go to.

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett. This follows Pratchett's "Witches Abroad" and sort of focuses on the upcoming wedding of Magrat Garlick (once a witch, now a soon-to-be-queen) to King Verence II (once a Fool, now the King of Lancre). Of course, Pratchett stories are never simple. The other two witches of Magrat's coven - Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg - discover that the Fae are about to invade Lancre. And the Fae are truly evil. They must be stopped somehow.
When I bought this book I wondered why there were little bees on the cover. Bees and wasps. It's like an analogy.
I am a big fan of Granny Weatherwax.

[Isgrimnur]

Delta Force: The U.S. Counter-Terrorist Unit and the Iran Hostage Rescue Mission by Col. Charlie A. Beckwith, USA (Ret.) and Donald Knox

This book is as much memoir for Col. Beckwith with his exchange program with the SAS, adventures in his career, and fights with the Powers That Be as much as it is a book about Operation Eagle Claw. Th book as a whole was enjoyable, and I really enjoyed seeing his take on things and his attitudes to try and get Delta off the ground over the course of his career.

As an investigation of Eagle Claw, the view of the operation is limited by his viewpoint. He was not as involved in the complete planning as Col. James H. Kyle (The Guts to Try). But you do get closer to the operators that were expected to go in and perform the heavy lifting of actually taking down the compound. You get to see the information gathering, preparation, training, and issues from the view of the unit commander.

That being said, I still have Bowden's book out from the library to read with the grand historical perspective on deck.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

This work of fiction starts off in a promising manner. It's a universe that was created, has it's own science fiction rules, roles of protagonist, antagonist, sidekicks, etc. But there was an issue and things went a bit south in the creation, so there are quirks, and the universe isn't quite right. The setting is ripe for a sort of ludicrous comedy in a vein of a Douglas Adams novel.

Instead we get a main character that's a depressed, undriven 30 year-old time machine repairman that's stuck in a holding pattern, not really living life after his father disappeared ~10 years prior after doing all of the theoretical and practical work to invent time travel.

While I didn't find the character to be unsympathetic, at times, I didn't really care that much about him either. I guess that's as much part of the design as any failings of the author. He's not a protagonist to start. He's as much a background character as most other people in the universe. But I felt like I didn't quite get the book that it could have been, one as much amusing as poignant.

And then the book just kind of ends. You get a bit of resolution, things go a bit differently than you're led to believe, you get a perfunctory look at what's beyond the denouement, and then it ends. A winner is you, thanks for playing.

Meh. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a good book. It's an interesting setting let down with a mediocre story.

[lildrgn]

Finished Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville. Reading War by Sebastian Junger.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished "Shooters: A Presidential Agent Novel" by W.E. B. Griffin

http://www.amazon.com/Shooters-Presiden ... 039915440X" target="_blank

For a novel named "Shooters", there sure isn't much shooting in the whole darn book. Instead, the book is "global adventures of Charley G. Castillo".

Lt. Col Charles G. Castillo is half German, half Texican (that's a Texan with Mexican roots), and his daddy is a CMOH winner (posthumous). He enjoys a special status as a special operator (a green beenie) with special president authorized powers to do a LOT of things. As this is the fourth book in the series, there's a lot of references to previous actions.

W.E.B. Griffin's style of writing is basically "no action", but is more suitable for a... sitcom. Everybody has secrets, and some secrets more embarassing than others. It's an adventure novel, and there's remarkably LITTLE action. Basically what Castillo did was fly around the world, convincing some people to do some things because it's a good idea, or use his presidential powers to convince people that NOT following his orders is a bad idea.

The setup is a DEA agent in Paraguay was kidnapped by bad guys. He'll end up two ways: either dead... or returned as an addict to heroine and need to be detoxed. His friend, an army lieutenant, found local cops to be no help, decided to play a hunch, and went to find Castillo, who was then ordered by no less than POTUS to find this agent and get him back. So Castillo flies around the world, pissing off morons, annoying bureaucrats, and delighting people who want things done and don't care how, all to setup the mission without alerting the bad guys. There's also a few dozen pages detailing his earlier exploits at Ft. Rucker, where he... ahem... nailed someone's fiancee 5 days before the wedding.

The actual shooting, as explained, took maybe 2-3 pages, at most. Argh! I felt as if I was reading some pulp fiction from the sixties! (Actually, I've not read any of that either!) All this setup, and not much of a climax and resolution! Yes, the guy did get rescued. Yes, Castillo survived with wounds. And yes, POTUS is happy. Hah.

NOT recommended unless you like WEB Griffin's style.

[Isgrimnur]

I think you'd be better off reading Richard Marcinko's books if you're looking for some action.

[WYBaugh]

Finished Snuff by Sir Terry and it is a great read. Very comfortable for Pratchett fans.

[Paingod]

Just finished Ringworld (for the first time), and found myself feeling more than a little let down by the driving force behind everything that happened.

[Kasey Chang]

I think you'd be better off reading Richard Marcinko's books if you're looking for some action.

I've read his books. I thought I reviewed a couple.

[Isgrimnur]

2005, apparently. Before my time.

[GreenGoo]

Quick, somebody suggest something to read. Headed past the library on the way home and would love to grab something. Seasonally relevant (halloweenie/scary/horrorish) a plus, but not necessary.

Back scanning the thread now.

[silverjon]

Quick, somebody suggest something to read. Headed past the library on the way home and would love to grab something. Seasonally relevant (halloweenie/scary/horrorish) a plus, but not necessary.

Back scanning the thread now.

Ah, your system does have this
http://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/sh ... ber_dreams" target="_blank
Worth putting on hold if it's not available at your branch.

Recommended for all you Halloween heads out there if you can get your hands on a copy of October Dreams. It's a kickass anthology of stories, essays, and personal Halloween memoirs from horror writers.

[Isgrimnur]

Quick, somebody suggest something to read. Headed past the library on the way home and would love to grab something. Seasonally relevant (halloweenie/scary/horrorish) a plus, but not necessary.

Back scanning the thread now.

That's what this thread was for.

[GreenGoo]

Quick, somebody suggest something to read. Headed past the library on the way home and would love to grab something. Seasonally relevant (halloweenie/scary/horrorish) a plus, but not necessary.

Back scanning the thread now.

That's what this thread was for.

Didn't have time to find it. That's how time sensitive this is.

[silverjon]

Speaking of scary stories, I just finished the fourth volume of Locke & Key. I cannot say enough good things about this series, and this volume ups the innovation and the tension. Brilliant.

[rshetts2]

Speaking of scary stories, I just finished the fourth volume of Locke & Key. I cannot say enough good things about this series, and this volume ups the innovation and the tension. Brilliant.

Its a pity the TV series didnt fly, I heard the pilot was quite good but for some reason too edgy for the networks here.

[silverjon]

It would be really expensive to try to do justice to all the key powers with sfx, and since there's no zombies to fuel trend-driven interest in this one, it would likely have struggled to find an audience.

[J.D.]

Just diving into the Steve Jobs biography now. It's a thick book but looks like it'll be a fascinating read.

[lildrgn]

Finished War by Sebastian Junger, reading Cherry Bomb by J.A. Konrath.

[GreenGoo]

Had to go home last night with nothing. None of the recommendations were available at that branch.

Picked up Transition by Iain M. Banks today. We'll see.

[Lassr]

one thing I am learning, you get what you pay for in the kindle books. I grabbed a lot of the cheaper .99 to $3.99 kindle books when I first got my Kindle and some got good reviews...well, almost all of them have been mediocre to sucks.

[wire]

Just started Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams. A mix of Inca and Spanish Conquistador history and Adams trek to retrace Hiram Bingham III (the suspected inspiration for Indiana Jones) trek to discovering Machu Picchu. About a quarter of the way through and I'm really enjoying it.

[rshetts2]

For those of you who have read Vernor Vinge's awesome novel, A Fire Upon The Deep, (and if you havent you should, it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards and is one of the best sci-fi books Ive ever read) he just released a direct sequel to it. Its called The Children of the Sky and its available for the Nook for $12.99 Its likely on Kindle as well. I wasnt aware he was even writing this so it was a cool surprise when I saw it in the new releases. Cant wait to read it.

[hitbyambulance]

because of that 100 Sci-Fi novels list from last month, i got around to reading Orson Scott Card's _Ender's Game_. it was ok. are the 'sequels' worth reading?

[theohall]

because of that 100 Sci-Fi novels list from last month, i got around to reading Orson Scott Card's _Ender's Game_. it was ok. are the 'sequels' worth reading?

Ender's Shadow, which is a parallel story to Ender's Game is worth reading. The sequels to Ender's Game take a completely different tack. They are essentially about Ender over-coming is self-imposed guilt

Spoiler:

for wiping a species out of existence and re-connecting with his siblings.

Spoiler for those who haven't read Ender's Game. I did not like the sequels.