November Booklist

Well, I made it -- a month ahead of schedule.  I added 8 books this month to the previous figure of 93 to bring the total to 101.  I've been debating about whether I'll try to get the end of year number up as high as it can go or just get on with some books I've been meaning to read (e.g.  A Dance with Dragons) that are a bit longer than I could usually spend the time on.  I think I'll go for quantity.

This month was the first time all year that I started a book and after about 20% of it just had to give up -- and all that effort wasted in the process.  I won't name the book in case I might affect anyone else that liked or might like it.  After all its more my fault than the author's.  I have developed a passionate dislike for YA fiction.  The premise of such books is often intriguing but the protagonists invariably seem to be teen girls which have these tedious thoughts about so much stuff that normal people would have no trouble sorting through.  Ugh!  This time I got to a point where this girl was trying to deny her lurid thoughts about a boy -- OMG! Just kill me.

Here are the 8 books read this month:

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling (my 100th book!)
2. When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde
3. The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace
4. Faking It by Elisa Lorello
5. The Sisterhood by Helen Bryan
6. METAtropolis by Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Ken Scholes
7. The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
8. The Habit by Susan Morse

This month's Harry Potter installment was the longest -- phew!  But it was also good stuff.  Can't wait to finish the last two in the series.  This was also my 100th book completed.  I had 3 or 4 on the go including this one but since it took so long it was almost last finished.  I squeezed in one more before month end (The Habit).

When I Found You was great.  I was expecting sappiness but instead I got a story that was genuinely moving.  I will probably read more by this author.

Didn't really like Kings and Queens.  It was sort of told like a fable in this made up out-of-the-way town in America.  Couldn't quite get into it even though its characters were interesting.

Faking It was an odd choice by me for sure.  I listened to the audiobook version with my wife and we both ended up enjoying it but for different reasons.  Two people learn something from each other in a business like relationship with strict taboos about falling in love -- but of course they do anyway.

The Sisterhood was another one of those novels that linked present with past -- this time being the spanish inquisition and settling of South America.  The present portion of the story was boring but the past was fascinating and I thought quite well researched.  Overall I enjoyed it.

METAtropilis is a collection of related and linked novellas by recognized SF authors.  There are two "sequels" that I probably won't read but I found this collection of near future American cities intriguing.

Loved Family Fang!  I read that Nicole Kidman bought the book rights and is putting out a movie version of this book next year.  I think it will be great.  Hard to describe the story other than two kids are brought up in a most unconventional way and find challenges later in life because of it.

Also loved The Habit by Susan Morse, wife of David Morse of The Green Mile and St Elsewhere fame.  This book is a memoir of Susan's improving (but trying!) relationship with her eccentric mother in the latter years of her life.  Very funny and very readable.  I initially thought I was buying a novel but after seeing photos in the book I realized it was a true story!