bluesalamanders 2013.2

2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
2011.1, 2011.2, 2012.1, 2012.2, 2013.1

Welcome to thread #2 of 2013!

Based on what I've read so far this year, I'm adjusting some of my goals a bit:

Total books: 150
Pages: 30,000 (and some amount of audiobooks)
New books: 75
Non-fiction: 3

Numbers subject to change without notice, management makes no guarantees, etc, etc.

Key:
*Asterisks denote new-to-me reads
^Carrots denote non-fiction

As I said in the last thread, a bunch of the following books were read by Mark Oshiro of Mark Reads and they're all out of order from when I actually listened to them (except Page and The Ordinary Princess, which I finished yesterday). Also, I took the lengths from the official audiobooks because it was easier than adding up the times in a bunch of youtube videos.

Finished Book 76: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
Song of the Lioness, book 3
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 5h24m

Finished Book 77: Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
Song of the Lioness, book 4
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 6h58m

Finished Book 78: Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
The Immortals, book 1
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 7h54m

Finished Book 79: Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
The Immortals, book 2
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 7h49m

Finished Book 80: Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
The Immortals, book 3
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 8h15m

80 / 150 books. 53% done.
27 / 75 *new books. 36% done.
1 / 5 ^non-fiction. 20% done.
13283 / 40000 pages. 33% done.
Audiobooks: 11d22h46m

Finished Book 81: The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
The Immortals, book 4
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 8h12m

Finished Book 82: First Test by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
Protector of the Small, book 1
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 5h46m

Finished Book 83: Page by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
Protector of the Small, book 2
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 6h28m

Finished Book 84: The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye, read by Mark Oshiro
Young Adult, Fantasy: Fairy Tale, Audiobook: 2h53m

Happy new thread!

Wow! Congrats on your 75! I was just looking at your thread #1 -- you may make it to 150 yet for the year! (I'm not sure I'll even make it to 100)

Do you still drop by the GD chat? I couldn't get in for the longest time, but it looks I can again now, so I may have to give it another go.

Thanks, Leah :)

Stream - Yeah, these audiobooks have really put me back on track. If I can only manage to keep it that way!

Regarding chat, I pretty much gave up after weeks of nobody else being there, but I would be happy to start going again. Soonest I can make it is the 2nd, though. I have plans the next couple Fridays.

Finished Book 85: *A Fantasy Medley 2 edited by Yanni Kuznia
Each story is part of a different series
Adult, Fantasy: Anthology, Dead Tree: 160p

I was only familiar with the world of McGuire's story, but all four stories were engaging and interesting.

Quartered by Tanya Huff
While I found this story interesting, it's missing some bits of backstory or worldbuilding that would make it much more understandable to someone unfamiliar to Huff's Quarters series.

Bone Garden by Amanda Downum
Creepy and atmospheric, this is the one story that may entice me to delve into the rest of its series.

The Sargent and the General by Jasper Kent
Didn't particularly care for this one. Trigger warning for animal harm.

Rat-Catcher by Seanan McGuire
I liked Rat-Catcher a lot, but that's not at all surprising since I love the October Daye books and every story McGuire writes in that universe. Plus the Cait Sidhe are my favorite of her different kinds of fey.

85 / 150 books. 57% done.
28 / 75 *new books. 37% done.
1 / 3 ^non-fiction. 33% done.
13443 / 30000 pages. 45% done.
Audiobooks: 11d22h46m

I love the Alanna series. Eventually I'm going to have to go back and reread her other series. I never liked the Immortals series as much as Alanna but Kel's series was a close second. :) Happy reading!

I love Kel's series. I have nostalgic love for Alanna's and I like Daine's, and also watching Mark fall in love with the books helped me fall in love with them all over again, but Kel is without question my favorite. I also like Beka a lot, although I have some issues with her books.

I'm curious to see how he'll react to the Trickster books - which I don't particularly care for - and if my opinion of them will improve any if he likes them as much as the rest.

I read the first Trickster book last year after not having read any Pierce since high school. It was okay but mostly just reminded me that I need to read more of her stuff.

Is Mark doing audio reads of the books, or are these his reaction videos to the books? I haven't looked at his site in a while. He is fun to watch, though.

Uh...both? He reads a chapter at a time, out loud, on video, and there are a lot of reactions as he reads. He's about to start Squire, which is my favorite of the Kel books.

Congrats on reaching the magic number!

I've been out of commission for awhile and am just getting caught up. Congrats on blowing past the 75 book mark!

Thanks, Micky! Thanks, Roni!

Finished Book 86: *The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson
Jenna Fox Chronicles, Book 2
Young Adult, Science Fiction, 304p

This review contains spoilers for The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

The first book in the series is a story of discovery, of Jenna's discovery of her new body and her new self and her parents' choices and deception. This book is less subtle, with less inner turmoil and more straightforward action. Backups of Locke and Kara's destroyed recordings were discovered and new bodies were created for them. Together they escape their "savior" and set off to find Jenna.

I enjoyed The Fox Inheritance, but it didn't seem as thorough or complete a story as the first book. There are hints of all kinds of things - Escapees and Non-Pacts, a civil war and a divided America - but it all happened while Locke and Kara were stuck in their computers, so we only learn the bits and pieces that they're told on their frantic journey. The book feels incomplete. Maybe the third book will fill in some of the gaps.

Finished Book 87: Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede
Enchanted Forest Chronicles, book 2
Young Adult, Fantasy, 242p

>16 bluesalamanders: I didn't like The Fox Inheritance nearly as much as Adoration, so I'll be waiting to see what you think of the third book. I thought, even as open-ended as the ending of the first book was, that it didn't really need a sequel, and then rather disappointingly the sequel retreaded the same ground, as you say, less subtly.

18 bell7 - I was surprised when I heard that there was a sequel to Adoration. I agree, it seems unnecessary and so far hasn't added a whole lot to the story. I did like Dot - or I came to like her - and Meisha was interesting, but she seemed a bit too neatly connected to everything once we found out who she was. But none of that was really explored. I'll read the next book when I find it (they didn't have it when I looked the other day) but I'm wary.

Swinging by. Congratulations on 75!

Thanks, humouress!

Finished Book 88: Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
InCryptid, book 1
Adult, Fantasy (Urban), Dead Tree: 344p

Discount Armageddon follows Verity Price - strip-club waitress by day, cryptozoologist by night, professional ballroom dancer in between - as she tries to figure out where the monsters - creatures - people she's trying to protect are disappearing to.

Finished Book 89: Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire, read by Mary Robinette Kowal
October Daye, book 1
Adult, Fantasy (Urban), Audiobook: 11h16m

Kowal generally has a pleasant reading voice, although I don't love her renditions of all the characters (for instance Tybalt and the Luidaeg).

I can't remember if you've read either of these before, although I think you must have read R&R. For some reason, the InCryptid books just don't resonate with me like the Toby Daye books do. Same author, should be same quality of writing...maybe I'm just a West Coast kind of girl?

Everything without an asterisk is a reread so yes, I've read them before.

There is definitely a difference in style and substance between them; the October Daye series are more substantial and more serious books, InCryptid are definitely goofier. In general I like the Daye series better, but I like both and there are things I love about InCryptid - the Aeslin mice are absolutely adorable, for instance, and there is a scene in the second book where one of Verity's coworkers meets her mice that is possibly my favorite scene in the series to date.

Finished Book 90: Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
InCryptid, book 2
Adult, Fantasy (Urban), Dead Tree: 333p

Fun times. I love McGuire's books. Her human characters are great fun and the nonhumans (or, in this series, cryptids) are fantastic.

90 / 150 books. 60% done.
29 / 75 *new books. 39% done.
1 / 3 ^non-fiction. 33% done.
14666 / 30,000 pages. 49% done.
Audiobooks: 12d10h2m

De-lurking to say hi! And I've been enjoying your reviews of McGuire's books - I love her Velveteen books and I'm working my way through the Toby Daye books. Looks like I need to add the InCryptid books to my reading list :-D

Have you read any of the books she's written as Mira Grant?

I'm also a big fan of Mark Oshiro's readings and reactions. He's so enthusiastic and he's made me look at them all over again in new ways.

25 archerygirl - Thanks! I like the Velveteen stories, too. I haven't read any of her Mira Grant books because I hate zombies, but I've heard good things about them from people who like that sort of thing.

Isn't Mark great? I've read Tamora Pierce's books so many times, I can't look at them with any kind of objectivity anymore, but listening to him read and react to them is fascinating. I agree, he makes me see them in new and different ways. I love that he's reading Squire right now, it may be my favorite of all Pierce's books.

I'm not usually a big fan of zombies but they were part of my reading for the Hugo Awards last year and this year and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them.

The Alanna series is still my favourite of Pierce's series (I can never pick just one of those) and I hadn't thought much about the gender issues in them and how relevant they'd be for teens struggling with that until Mark was reading them.

I will always love SotL, it was the first Pierce I discovered and will always hold a special place in my heart, but I'll be honest, I like Kel and Beka better.

July's stats are a bit messed up, since I've included all of the Tamora Pierce books from Mark Reads. They were actually spread out over the course of the year, but I hadn't been marking them as books read, so I plunked almost a dozen in the middle of July. Which also skews the results even more YA, female-authored, and in a series than normal (and also way more audiobooks than normal).

July Round-Up

Overview:
21 finished books, 0 abandoned books
1906 pages, 4d1h24m

Adult/YA:
17 YA, 4 Adult

Genre:
19 Fantasy, 2 Science Fiction
0 Fiction, 0 Non-Fiction

Format:
7 Dead Tree, 0 Graphic Novel
14 Audiobook, 0 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
21 female, 0 male

New or Old:
3 new reads, 18 rereads

Series:
20 in series, 1 standalone

Finished book 91: *Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer read by Katherine Kellgren
Bloody Jack Adventures, book 1
Young Adult, Fiction (historical), Audiobook: 7h22m

Finished Book 92: *The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Rithmatist, book 1
Young Adult, Fantasy, Dead tree: 370p

Finished Book 93: Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
Adult, Science Fiction, Dead tree: 301p

Finished book 94: Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
Fuzzies, book 1
Adult, Science Fiction, Ebook: 136p

So how would you compare Fuzzy Nation with Little Fuzzy? I've read the classic but not the Scalzi.

I like Little Fuzzy better. It's dated (ahaha the technology, and all the smoking and "cocktail hour") and there are some issues (non-white characters are all bad guys, only one main female character, some problematic language, etc) but I think it's overall a better story.

Fuzzy Nation doesn't have a lot of those problems (one of the reasons I like Scalzi's writing), but it's uneven, with interesting bits at the beginning and the end and not a great middle. In Little Fuzzy, Jack is basically a good guy, which allows a lot of the bad guys to be ambiguous. Scalzi turned Jack into the more ambiguous character (he's a jerk who does the right thing only if it helps him), which meant the the bad guys ended up almost cartoonishly evil in order to look worse than him.

There are certainly things I like about Fuzzy Nation. Carl is amusing, and the big twist at the end is a fun departure from the plot of Little Fuzzy. But overall, I prefer the original.

August was a slow month.

August Round-Up

Overview:
4 finished books, 0 abandoned books
807 pages, 0d7h22m

Adult/YA:
2 YA, 2 Adult

Genre:
1 Fantasy, 2 Science Fiction
1 Fiction, 0 Non-Fiction

Format:
2 Dead Tree, 0 Graphic Novel
1 Audiobook, 1 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
0 female, 4 male

New or Old:
2 new reads, 2 rereads

Series:
4 in series, 0 standalone

Finished Book 95: Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Young Adult, Fantasy: Fairy Tale, Dead Tree: 422p

I love this book - I probably liked fairy tales when I was a kid, but now the kind of story where the princess sits (or lays, as the case may be) around waiting for the prince to rescue her don't appeal to me. This is a much more active story, with the princess taking part in her own defense. The animal characters are fantastic - the different personalities they have seem so appropriate to the species. And as always with McKinley's books, the description is incredible, with so much detail that the world seems to come alive.

95 / 150 books. 63% done.
31 / 75 *new books. 41% done.
1 / 3 ^non-fiction. 33% done.
15895 / 30,000 pages. 53% done.
Audiobooks: 12d17h24m

I just reread that one last month. And yes, her characters always make the story for me.

I am also a fan of McKinley's fairy tale retellings. Glad you enjoyed Spindle's End. :)

Finished Book 96: Fire by Kristin Cashore, read by Xanthe Elbrick
Seven Kingdoms, book 2
Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 12h40m

Finished Book 97: *Ha'Penny by Jo Walton
Small Change, Book 2
Adult, Science Fiction: Alternate History, Dead Tree: 319p

I'll be honest, if I'd known more about this book, I never would have picked it up in the first place. Firstly, there is nothing on my copy to indicate it is the second book in a trilogy. Secondly, I generally avoid books set in and around the WWII era (as a personal preference). As it is, I didn't realize the setting until a couple of chapters in and didn't discover it was part of a series until I was done.

All that being said, while I can't precisely say I enjoyed it, I did find Ha'penny to be well-written, with impressively good pacing for a book with multiple points-of-view, and interesting enough that I finished it even after realizing it was something I normally avoid.

35 roni - The characters, and often the worldbuilding as well. I love the worldbuilding in Spindle's End.

36 Micky - McKinley is one of my favorite authors, I've probably read Spindle's End a dozen times :)

Finished Book 98: *By Honor Betray'd by Debra Doyle and James MacDonald
Mageworlds, book 3
Adult, Science Fiction: Space Opera, Dead Tree: 407

I got halfway through it awhile ago, but it had been sitting on my ever since. I decided to pull it off the shelf and finish it. It was lent to me by the same friend who lent me the first two. I enjoy the series well enough, but I'm unlikely to read the remaining four since said friend has moved far enough away that lending many more books would be inconvenient at best.

Spindle's End is the McKinley story that least sticks in my mind (I reread it three years ago). I remember the ending, mostly. Not like Deerskin, which has all those lovely middle bits, or the Damar books, with all the swords and dragons and stuff. Now I want to go reread Chalice.

Did you enjoy Fire? The Graceling trilogy has been some of my favorite reading from this year -- I hope you're enjoying as much as I did!

Yes, I like Fire a lot. I think it's my favorite of the trilogy.

Finished Book 99: Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 7
New Read, Adult, Fantasy: Urban, Dead Tree: 357p

Toby is investigating a threat to the changeling population when things take a turn for the even more wacked-out and dangerous. Because that's so unusual for her, right?

Fantastic addition to the October Daye series. I love these books.

Finished Book 100: Squire by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark O'Shiro
Protector of the Small, book 3
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy: Medieval, Audiobook: 10h48m

Squire is my favorite book in the PotS series, possibly my favorite book of Pierce's. I think one reason is because of how it is different from the other books: there is no archenemy who she must defeat or quest she must complete or anything like that. It's more about the daily battles she faces.

100 / 150 total books. 67% done.
34 / 75 new-to-me books. 45% done.
1 / 3 ^non-fiction. 33% done.
16978 / 30,000 pages. 56% done.
Audiobooks: 13d16h52m

Finished Book 101: Simon's Cat vs The World by Simon Tofield
Simon's Cat, book 4
New Read, Adult (?), Fiction: Humor, Dead Tree: 100p

This is more like a series of anecdotes than a complete story, with each page containing a single picture that is unrelated to the others. However, Tofield's art is eloquent and cat lovers and Simon's Cat fans can infer whole stories from many of the single drawings.

While I prefer Tofield's books with a theme or storyline (such as Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos) his art as adorable and amusing always.

Finished Book 102: Soulless by Gail Carriger, read by Emily Gray
Parasol Protectorate, book 1
Reread, Adult, Fantasy: Steampunk, Audiobook: 10h48m

Gah. Headache for the past few days, so to the audiobooks I go.

Finished Book 103: Heartless by Gail Carriger, read by Emily Gray
Parasol Protectorate, book 4
Reread, Adult, Fantasy: Steampunk, audiobook, 11h18m

Unfortunately this was the only book in the series that the library has in audio format, which is one of those things that makes me go "huh?"

Finished Book 104: The House of Discarded Dreams by Ekaterina Sedia
New Read, Adult, Fantasy, Dead Tree: 301p

I didn't like this as much as the other books by Sedia that I've read, but I did still enjoy the weird, twisting story that mixes folk tales up in unexpected ways.

A friend of mine recently ran across Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper series. He'd never heard of Pierce before, but he read the series and liked it enough that he's now picked up the Trickster books. We were talking Saturday and I mentioned that there are earlier books. He said oh, yes, I saw that there are four books about her mother. I had to laugh when I explained that there are actually twelve books that come before Trickster's Choice...

On a tangentially related subject, I was trying to participate in a "don't buy any new books this month" challenge, which I thought would be easy because how often do I actually buy books? Not really that often. That was before I realized that not one, not two, but four of my favorite authors have books coming out this month. That I know of, obviously, since I somehow missed the schedule on all of these. I already got Chimes at midnight, Shadows comes out on Thursday, I was at the bookstore yesterday to pick up John Scalzi's new book - which I couldn't find, there is something wacky there - and what should I run across but Tamora Pierce's new book, Battle Magic!

On the down side, I failed the challenge (honestly, after the list grew to three, I just gave up) and spent (and will spend) money I really shouldn't. On the up side, my favorite authors have new books out! Eeee! *hugs all the new books*

>47 bluesalamanders: It all depends on timing, doesn't it?? I have often gone months without buying a single book, but I have no hope if it is library-book-sale-month or National-book-festival-month or I have a LT meetup or one of my authors has a book coming out or . . . . .

September and October always seem to have a handful of exciting releases, for me. I'm also looking forward to Shadows and Battle Magic, and I've already read Boston Jacky and The Bitter Kingdom. And then there's House of Hades as well, and a new Temeraire . . .

I'll be curious to hear what you both think of Battle Magic. I'm really not looking forward to reading it, because the thought of going through all the trauma and misery just doesn't sound appealing at all. I'm hoping to hear from someone first that it actually manages to have some positive elements, or something.

I liked it, but you're not wrong, there is a lot of trauma and misery. And it's not that I necessarily enjoy reading about misery, but Battle Magic doesn't fit the current trend of everything is awful always, there is no hope, why even bother? sort of books. I can't stand "grimdark", and this isn't that. There are a lot of parts that aren't traumatic and miserable. In fact, there are cheerful and happy and neutral bits throughout the book.

Which isn't to say that the upsetting parts aren't upsetting, though. This book totally made me cry. I'm happy to give spoilers to anyone who likes that sort of thing (my sister like spoilers for things like major character death or near-death, for example, so she can prepare herself).

Thanks, I'm glad to hear that there are some happy and cheerful and neutral bits. I still can't say that I'm looking forward to reading it, but I'm feeling a bit less dread, anyway.

Oh my god you've already read Battle Magic! I've had it on pre-order from the Book Depository for months so I'm really hoping it turns up tomorrow or something because the excitment is going to kill me soon. I'm going on a Tammy binge these next few weeks so having something new to read from her will be simply delightful even if it does make me cry. Gah *flails*
Now I'm going to hit me up with some Circle of Magic re-reads.

I just finished it, like, half an hour ago :) I hope your copy turns up soon!

48 norabelle - It is all about timing, you're right, and this was just bad (bad? unbelievable! abysmal!) timing for me. There is also a library book sale, but I am being strong and not going since I'm spending so much money on new books this month.

49 foggi - Maybe it's a pre-Christmas thing. I mean, theoretically I could ask my sister to get me these books for Christmas. But there is no way I'm going to wait three months for the new McKinley or McGuire or Pierce...!

Finished Book 105: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Fiona Hardingham and Steve West
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 12h6m

Haven't listened to the audiobook of this one before. Aside from the occasional awkward pause in the middle of a sentence by Hardingham, both readers were very good. The story was as good - possibly better - the second time around.

Finished Book 106: Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce
Emelan, book 11 (pub)
New Read, Young Adult, Fantasy, Dead Tree: 440p

Set between the Circle Opens quartet and The Will of the Empress, Battle Magic tells the story of Rosethorn, Briar, and Evvy's travels, how they got involved with war between Yanjing and Gyongxe, and how Evvy met Luvo.

I really liked the book, although to say I "enjoyed" it is difficult because while it isn't really a dark and unhappy book, there is a lot of unpleasant stuff like war and torture and death and at least one section made me cry. I particularly liked how it filled in the details of that time. One of my consistent complaints about the Emelan books is how much is left out in between each series, and this deals with that perfectly.

106 / 150 total books. 70% done.
34 / 75 new-to-me books. 45% done.
1 / 3 ^non-fiction. 33% done.
17819 / 30,000 pages. 59% done.
Audiobooks: 15d3h4m

Battle Magic question...is it a standalone book, or part of a series?

Also, is the new Scalzi the collection of his posts?

quinaquisset - It's part of a series. I...have no idea if would make sense without reading the previous books (there are a lot of previous books). I think probably? But it's the 11th book in the series - well, the 11th book published, the 8th chronologically - so there's a lot of background.

And yes, the new Scalzi is another collection of blog posts.

I just got the new McKinley and started it today. I will have to get Battle Magic as well, since I've read all the others.

I had planned to get the new McKinley today, but was stuck in the house ill. Tomorrow...

Oops, yes, I meant a subseries, I guess. I've read the other ones; Will of the Empress for me counts as stand alone within that universe. (I just picked it up yesterday.)

quinaquisset - Oh, I see. It's not part of an existing subseries, but it's more directly related than Empress. It takes place at the same time as Shatterglass, Magic Steps, and Cold Fire, right after Street Magic. At least, that's my understanding.

Actually finished this in September:

Finished Book 107: A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Derek Partridge
Sherlock Holmes, book
New Read, Adult, Mystery, Audiobook: 4h10m

To be honest, I found it pretty boring, especially the rambling history of the murderer in the middle and Sherlock's extensive explanation at the end.

September Round-Up

Overview:
13 finished books, 0 abandoned books
2346 pages, 2d3h40m

Adult/YA:
5 YA, 8 Adult

Genre:
9 Fantasy, 2 Science Fiction
2 Fiction, 0 Non-Fiction

Format:
6 Dead Tree, 1 Graphic Novel
6 Audiobook, 0 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
11 female, 3 male

New or Old:
7 new reads, 6 rereads

Series:
10 in series, 3 standalone

Finished Book 108: Shadows by Robin McKinley
New Read, Young Adult, Fantasy: Urban, Dead Tree: 356p

Maggie lives in a world where magic and technology both exist. Where she lives is very anti-magic and pro-technology, but their technology is having increasing difficulty handling some of the dangers of their world. Maggie discovers she has some unusual abilities and learns to use them, through a combination of guesswork and help from others.

First the bad: there is a distinctly anti-science and -technology feel to this story that I didn't care for. Also, the end of Shadows makes it feel like the first book in a series but (knowing McKinley's style) it is unlikely that there will be sequels.

Shadows is set in a world a few steps sideways from Sunshine. There are obvious parallels, with the dangers of (and for) magicians, the magic-sniffing technology, and the government agencies going a little overboard in trying to protect the public from the magical menace. Maggie is another of McKinley's reluctant heroines, but this time she's backed up by a cadre of friends as well as various animal companions and other...things. One thing I really liked was how McKinley managed to make a textbook into a character that I cared about, kind of like the Really Useful Book in the movie Mirrormask.

Overall I enjoyed Shadows, but - mainly due to the anti-science feeling that permeates the story - it is unlikely to become one of my favorites.

>63 bluesalamanders: Have you read other Sherlock novels or short stories, Blue?

66 MickyFine - I read The Speckled Band in high school, but that's it. Do they get better?

>67 bluesalamanders: They're mixed quality. There are some brilliant ones and there are others where you can tell Doyle was writing them to pay the bills (He's actually notorious for it. He gets Watson's first name wrong in one of the stories. Watson's war wound moves around in one or two). In terms of the novels, Hound of the Baskervilles is probably the best. Some of my favourites of the short stories include A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Final Problem (which logically should always be followed by The Adventure of the Empty House), and The Adventure of the Dancing Men. But read Baskervilles and if that doesn't work for you the short stories probably aren't worth your time.

Funny, blue, I didn't pick that up as anti-science. Definitely anti-mechanistic world view, anti-authoritarian--but not against science per se, just against science used mechanistically to oppress free expression of magical talent. If that makes sense. The magic-using Old World countries didn't come off much better when they tried to control their magicians. I did like the book.

68 Micky - I'll try Baskervilles at some point and see if I like it any better. Thanks for the suggestions.

69 roni - Maybe I'll feel differently when I reread it, I don't know. I didn't like Sunshine much the first time around. There definitely are some things in Shadows that I did like. The textbook, for example. Hix. The sheep.

I liked the way that POSSIBLE SPOILERS
the stereotypes were not realized, re what you might think about the stepfather and the shadows.
END SPOILERS. That really made it for me, along with the relationships.

I agree, I really liked how a few of the standard tropes were twisted around. There were definitely a lot of things I did like about the book, and the quality of her writing is as good as ever.

Maybe it's because I've made the mistake of reading her blog. It turns out (unlike pretty much all my other favorite authors) that I don't actually like her very much and have gotten the impression that she is fairly anti-science and technology. So I could be projecting that into the book.

Yeah, I find it weird that I like some people as blogs, and some as books. One that goes the other way is that I like Jim Hines' blog, but can't get into his books. (I think I've looked at McKinley's blog before, is she the one into bell ringing? Not one I've starred.)

Yeah, she does bell ringing. If she just talked about bell ringing and crafts and dogs, it wouldn't be a problem, but there are...other things. I would just stop following it, but she's posting a serial story called Kes that I enjoy. And occasionally she does things like suggest that her fans have book-release parties for her new book. I met a woman who became one of my best friends at a book-release party for Pegasus. Although I guess she didn't suggest that for Shadows, or maybe I missed it because I skip most posts that aren't Kes.

Interestingly Jim Hines is one of the few authors whose blog I follow and books I haven't read yet. He's not the first author whose blog I followed first - John Scalzi and Cherie Priest fit into that category and I'm sure there are a couple others, I made a list once - but I just haven't gotten started on his. I want to try them at least, but whenever I look, I only find middle-of-the-series books.

Finished Book 109: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, read by Ellen Reilly
Petra/Calder Art Mysteries, 1
New Read, Young Adult, Fiction: Mystery, Audiobook: 4h46m

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. The characters were fun and the story reminded me of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. But I don't really care for stories (particularly supposedly realistic fiction) that rely so much on "no such thing as coincidence" to move the plot forward. I doubt I'll read more of this series.

Finished Book 110: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, read by Philip Pullman (and other people)
His Dark Materials, book 1
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 10h33m

110 / 150 total books. 73% done.
37 / 75 new-to-me books. 49% done.
1 / 3 non-fiction. 33% done.
18175 / 30,000 pages. 60% done.
Audiobooks: 15d22h33m

How was The Golden Compass as an audiobook? It's one of my all time favorite books and I've been meaning to reread it soon. Maybe audio is the way to go.

I really enjoyed the audiobook. Pullman is an excellent narrator and most of the voices are great. A few are a little odd, but non-human voices are always difficult.

Finished Book 111: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, read by Philip Pullman (and other people)
His Dark Materials, book 2
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 8h55m

Finished Book 112: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven Cycle, book 2
New Read, Young Adult, Fantasy, Dead Tree: 437p

I wish I had reread The Raven Boys before reading this, because a lot of things confused me. I really liked it, though. She's a fantastic writer.

Finished Book 113: Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce, read by Mark Oshiro
Protector of the Small, book 4
Reread, Young adult, Fantasy, Audiobook: 11h13m

I love Protector of the Small. It is my favorite of the Tortall series, followed closely by Beka Cooper. At some point Mark will be reading the Trickster books, which are my least favorite...I am curious to see how he reacts, and if and how his reactions and opinions change my thoughts on the series.

Finished Book 114: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin, read by Mark Oshiro
Inheritance Trilogy, book 1
Reread, adult, fantasy: epic, audiobook: 11h50m

Honestly, this is the only epic fantasy series I've ever read that I truly love. Epic fantasy is really not my genre but these are wonderful. Mark will be starting book 2 next week, I think. I haven't read book 3 yet, so I'll need to get that at some point and I can either read along with him when he gets there or (more likely) finish the paper copy long before and then watching the videos as they come (I hope people commission all of books 2 and 3! Jemisin is helping, which is awesome.).

October Round-Up

Overview:
7 finished books, 0 abandoned books
793 pages, 1d5h17m

Adult/YA:
6 YA, 1 Adult

Genre:
6 Fantasy, 0 Science Fiction
1 Fiction, 0 Non-Fiction

Format:
2 Dead Tree, 0 Graphic Novel
5 Audiobook, 0 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
5 female, 2 male

New or Old:
3 new reads, 4 rereads

Series:
6 in series, 1 standalone

I just picked up The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms as today's Kindle Daily Deal. I am looking forward to trying it.

I hope you like it! Jemisin is a fantastic author.

Finished Book 115: Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
InCryptid, book 1
Reread, Adult, Fantasy (Urban), Dead Tree: 344p

Finished Book 116: Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
InCryptid, book 2
Reread, Adult, Fantasy (Urban), Dead Tree: 333p

116 / 150 total books. 77% done.
38 / 75 new-to-me books. 51% done.
1 / 3 non-fiction. 33% done.
19289 / 30,000 pages. 64% done.
Audiobooks: 17d6h31m

So last month I got a job. Last week, I lost that job. Today, I start a new job (seasonal; it will only last until the end of the year). It's been a stressful time.

Currently reading:
The Mallet of Loving Correction by John Scalzi
So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld

I tried to listen to the audiobook of Red Seas Under Red Skies, but it got too gross for me. I remember that being an issue with the first book as well, but not so much that I had to give it up.

Sorry about your job troubles, blue :-(

It's been wacky. On the other hand, I'm going back to school in the spring, so a seasonal job isn't bad right now. I'll need a part-time job next year.

Finished Book 117: So yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
Reread, Young Adult, Fiction, 225p

Sorry about the job situation, happy about the school situation.
I've read some other Westerfeld (Uglies, Peeps, Leviathan). This sounds more contemporary?

Thanks :)

Yes, it is contemporary fiction and not f/sf. I can't think how to describe it without it sounding ridiculous, though. I don't think I've ever read a book that used the word "cool" so many times. But it's a really good book!

Happy Thanksgiving, Blue!

Happy Thanksgiving, Roni! (I would've sworn I replied to this! Huh.)

Finished Book 118: A Wizard Abroad: New Millennium Edition by Diane Duane
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy, Ebook: 322p

Finished Book 119: Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
New Read, Young Adult, Fantasy (steampunk), Dead Tree: 310p

November Round-Up

Overview:
5 finished books, 0 abandoned books
1534 pages, 0d0h0m

Adult/YA:
3 YA, 2 Adult

Genre:
4 Fantasy, 0 Science Fiction
1 Fiction, 0 Non-Fiction

Format:
4 Dead Tree, 0 Graphic Novel
0 Audiobook, 1 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
4 female, 1 male

New or Old:
1 new reads, 4 rereads

Series:
4 in series, 1 standalone

Sorry to hear about the job situation, blue. I hope the seasonal job will help until you go back to school. I've read all of your this-month books except the Westerfeld--a good bunch! Are you still working on the Scalzi? I've heard nothing about this title.

So Yesterday is a great book. The best way I know to describe it is like a YA Pattern Recognition, but that only works if you've read Pattern Recognition :)

I haven't gotten much farther on Mallet. For one, it's non-fiction, which always takes me a long time. For two, it's a collection of posts from Scalzi's blog and they really made some odd selections. It seems like half the posts are about politics, so they tend to be either out of date (talking about something that's "about to happen" or "just happened") or they're jokey in a way that's going to get very dated very quickly. I don't know who made those decisions, but it just seems strange. And I get tired of reading about politics so much, so I move to other things.

>65 bluesalamanders:: Oddly enough, I'd just watched the film Mirrormask when I read your post. (Sorry - I tend to lurk a lot without posting.)

And coincidently enough, I'm reading the first couple of books in Diane Duane's Young Wizards series. It may have been your influence. We're doing a stock take in our club library, and I've got the children's English section, so I've been spotting lots of books for my reading future.

Best of luck with the job and school situations.

Sorry to hear about your job situation...sounds tough and stressful, just the sort of thing that would send me running to my comfort reads!

95 humouress - I love Mirrormask! It's such a neat movie. Also, I am happy to have influenced you to read the YW books. That's one of my favorite series. I hope you like them!

Thanks. Things seem to be going well for now.

96 Cobscook - Thanks. I've definitely been rereading some favorites before bed :)

Finished Book 120: Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy (Urban), Dead tree: 312p

This is one of my favorite vampire stories. Vampirism as a parisitic disease.

Finished Book 121: Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest
New read, Adult, Fantasy (Steampunk), Dead tree: 366p

Fiddlehead is a wonderful book in the Clockwork Century series. The story is dramatic and exciting, the characters are wonderful (and sometimes terrible), and the writing is some of Priest's best yet.

121 / 150 total books. 81% done.
40 / 75 new-to-me books. 53% done.
1 / 3 non-fiction. 33% done.
20824 / 30,000 pages. 69% done.
Audiobooks: 17d6h31m

Finished Book 122: The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy (urban), Dead tree: 289p

Sequel to Peeps. Not as good as the first, but an entertaining story.

I particularly liked all the asides in Peeps about various real life parasites. I never made it through the second one, probably not missing much.

Nah, I enjoy it but Peeps is definitely the better book. I found the parasite chapters interesting the first time around, but I admit I skip them on rereads. They're a little too icky for me.

>98 bluesalamanders: I loved the Leviathan Trilogy, but hated the Uglies series, so I've been skeptical of Peeps. It sounds like my kind of thing though!

102 norabelle - I love them all, so I don't know what to say. Except it's a reasonably quick read, so even if you don't like it, you won't lose much time :)

Finished Book 123: Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock
Reread, Adult, Fantasy, Dead tree: 48p

It always feels a little silly to count this as a book read, but I've counted Simon's Cat books (pictures, no text) so this counts as well. And there is a lot packed into those few pages.

I love this series; it's a neat story but even more they're simply gorgeous. The books (Griffin & Sabine, Sabine's Notebook, and The Golden Mean) are comprised of letters and postcards between two people, both artists (Griffin...and Sabine), and the paintings and drawings on the postcards and envelopes are wonderful. The art is as much a part of the story as the words, which makes it feel like a bigger book.

Finished Book 124: Austenland by Shannon Hale
New Read, Adult, Fiction (romance), Audiobook: 6h20m

Frankly, I have trouble coming up with much more of a reaction than "eh" for this one.

Finished Book 125: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
New Read, Adult, Fiction (historical), Dead tree: 274p

I figured it's time to finish up books I'd mostly read but left off at some point during the year. I was already three-quarters done with this one but had gotten distracted at some point and moved on to other things.

I liked it pretty well but probably not enough to reread it, especially since it's related to WWII, which is a subject I generally try to avoid in fiction. It was well-written with engaging characters, however, and I enjoyed the mixture of letters, telegrams, and a few diary entries.

125 / 150 total books. 83% done.
42 / 75 new-to-me books. 56% done.
1 / 3 non-fiction. 33% done.
21435 / 30,000 pages. 71% done.
Audiobooks: 17d12h51m

(I'm not even close to my goals this year. Ah, well.)

I'm delurking to wish you for the festive season, and all the best for 2014.

Merry Christmas, Blue!

Happy holidays, humouress and roni! Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you!

You're welcome.

Merry Christmas blue!

Merry Christmas, Blue!

"It'd be a blue, blue Christmas without you..."

Thanks leah, Micky.

LOL roni :)

Finished Book 126: The Mallet of Loving Correction by John Scalzi
New Read, Adult, Non-Fiction, Dead tree: 484p

Well, that was a thing I read. Mallet is a collection of blog posts from Scalzi's blog the Whatever, from 2008-2012. I read most of them as they were posted, but a lot of them were worth reading again.

Some of them, though? Well, it was kind of a baffling collection. It seemed like two-thirds of them were about politics, and not about politics in general but a specific situations that made them timely rather than timeless. I remember having a similar reaction when I read Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded. Perhaps I'm simply not the right audience for these books.

Finished Book 127: Beauty by Robin McKinley
Reread, Young Adult, Fantasy: Fairy tale, Dead tree: 247p

I love this book, but perhaps less than I used to. There is a thread running through it equating Beauty's worth with her looks, and it's kind of sad.

The argument can be made that since the book is written in first person, all we get are Beauty's flawed perceptions of herself, but there is nothing in there disputing those perceptions. Nobody tells her that looks aren't the only important attribute and nobody challenges her when she talks about how ugly she is or was. To be fair, she is the only one who makes an issue of her looks, and her father encourages her intellectual pursuits.

However, at the end of the book, when she argues that she can't marry the former Beast, who became a very handsome human, he shows her a mirror to prove that she is beautiful. The best interpretation is that she didn't look in a mirror between the ages of about 15 and 19 and simply grew up, but couldn't he have just pointed out that they love each other?

I think this is why McKinley rewrote the story in later years as Rose Daughter--to eliminate that equation.

I dislike Rose Daughter even more, actually. It has never felt like a complete story to me, just a bunch of ideas throw in with little holding them together.

Finished Book 128: The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest
Clockwork Century, book 4
New Read, Adult, Fantasy: Steampunk, Dead tree: 366p

While I like this series as a whole, The Inexplicables is definitely the weakest book. The story and characters just weren't as interesting as the other books, the mystery and explanation of the "inexplicables" didn't seem especially important to the plot and everything seemed to wrap up a bit too quickly and tidily at the end.

In short, a disappointing book in an otherwise excellent series.

Finished Book 129: Cat Nap by Claire Donally
Sunny and Shadow Mystery, book 2
New Read, Adult, Fiction: Mystery, Dead tree: 296p

I enjoy Lilian Jackson Braun's Cat Who series, so my sister has given a few other cat-related mysteries. Not that we expect them to be great literature, but wow, this book was pretty bad. Heavy concentration on high school-style romance, main character makes a lot of silly decisions, and throughout, a very muddled mystery. Not recommended, even (especially?) if you're a fan of Koko and Yum Yum.

Finished Book 130: The Broken Kingdoms by NK Jemisin, read by Mark Oshiro
Inheritence Trilogy, book 2
Reread, Adult, Fantasy: Epic, Audiobook: 11h28m

I didn't think I was going to finish another book this year - I'm certainly not going to finish the paper book I'm reading - but Mark posted the final chapter of Broken Kingdoms today and voila, another book down.

I love this series. Now I need to go buy a copy of Kingdom of Gods, because he's starting that one on Friday and I actually haven't read it yet. Will I be able to read it a chapter at a time, as he posts them? Almost certainly not. But I might try for a while.

130 / 150 total books. 87% done.
45 / 75 new-to-me books. 60% done.
2 / 3 non-fiction. 66% done.
22828 / 30,000 pages. 76% done.
Audiobooks: 18d0h19m

December Round-Up

Overview:
11 finished books, 0 abandoned books
2679 pages, 0d17h48m

Adult/YA:
3 YA, 8 Adult

Genre:
7 Fantasy, 0 Science Fiction
3 Fiction, 1 Non-Fiction

Format:
9 Dead Tree, 0 Graphic Novel
2 Audiobook, 0 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
8 female, 4 male

New or Old:
6 new reads, 5 rereads

Series:
8 in series, 3 standalone

2013 End-of-Year Roundup (With Extra Stats)

Total books: 130 (last year: 143)
Total new books: 45 (last year: 60)
Total pages: 22828 (last year: 38711)
Total audiobook time: 18d0h19m (last year: 6d14h6m)

Fantasy: 94 (last year: 100)
Science fiction: 18 (last year: 29)
Fiction: 16 (last year: 11)
Nonfiction: 2 (last year: 3)

Unique books: 116 (last year: 137)
Books read more than once during 2013: 12 (last year: 6)

Adult/YA/J:
69 YA, 61 Adult

Format:
67 Dead Tree, 2 Graphic Novel
59 Audiobook, 2 eBook

Author/Editor gender:
108 female, 24 male

Series:
108 in series, 22 standalone

Based on these stats, my ideal book is still a fantasy series written by a woman, although YA just barely edges out Adult this year.

Nice stats, Blue. :)

Thanks, Micky!

In case you haven't found it, this way to my 2014 thread.