January 2014 Readling List

Happy New Year! Even though I have no set goal for numbers of books to read in 2014, I still want to record what I have read and impressions of those books.  With that being said the following books are what I completed this past month:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling
2. The Seventh Day by Scott Shepherd
3. Revelations by Elaine Pagels
4. The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
5. The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck
6. The Zero by Jess Walter

Finally finished the Harry Potter series.  Haven't finished watching the movies yet but I almost think they couldn't capture the pictures in my mind.  I do have to admit though that Part 1 so far has kept pretty close to the book.  Definitely glad I read the books though.  I even did a QuizUp challenge based on the books and did ok!

With Seventh Day I had no idea what to expect.  A pirate ship floating across the land?  That's weird (and never really got explained).  By the end I was pretty much hooked and I'll be looking for the sequel(s).  It was written as a serial so Shepherd had no way to go back and revise previous portions of the story.  That being said it is still pretty cohesive.

I'm a sucker for debunking history as we understand it and especially history twisted by religious institutions.  So if you're up for that then you'd love this non fictional account of the true purpose of the Book of Revelation.  Not my first by Pagels and certainly won't be my last.

I really enjoyed Lost Gate and already have Gate Thief on my virtual shelf.  Classic Card stuff.  He weaves together many of the magical histories of different cultures into one framework and then extends it across planets.  Perhaps not as good as Alvin or Ender but still very enjoyable.

The Good Earth is practically a classic.  I enjoyed it as the writing was solid and intelligent.  However it read as a "story" in the traditional sense of how a storyteller might relay it and I found that a little distracting at times.  This book was followed by two sequels but you get the sense at the end of Good Earth that the story is done.  I am with it anyway.

If you enjoyed Beautiful Ruins then leave it at that.  The Zero is nothing like that.  Don't get me wrong -- it's a clever story but I should've been paying attention to what other folks have said about it.  The protagonist has "gaps in his memory" which relates to gaps in the narrative which I think detract from the flow.  I got lost so often I despaired of ever finishing.  At the end I almost felt let down but I do have to give Walter credit where its due -- he has a masterful skill but I don't think this use of that skill is universally received.

December Booklist

We've reached the end of the year and the final tally was 107 books.  I added only 6 books to the total this month and I think the reasons for this were: (a) I got some kind of weird knee injury that put a hold on my running; (b) the holidays meant there were other distractions going on; and (c) there was a pressing work need forcing me to work longer hours than I normally would.  But all in all I am very happy with meeting my goal this year.  The 6 books I completed in December were:

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J K Rowling
2. 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
3. Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz
4. Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
5. Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey
6. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Now that I have caught up in books where I'd gotten to with the films I am very excited to complete the Harry Potter series!  And it all makes so much more sense to me now!

22 Britannia Road is a good read about a Polish couple who come together after again in 1946 after being split apart by the events of WWII.  Their different experiences of survival are what get in the way of picking up where they left off.  Well written story but just a little predictable.

I've been following along the Odd Thomas series from the beginning and Apocalypse is the 5th in the series (there's #6 out already).  I am getting a bit tired of the formula though.  Odd's narrative is always amusing and entertaining but unless events are going to come to some kind of completion in #6 I won't bother going any further.

I loved Await Your Reply.  Such an interesting topic to select to write about.  The book explores the psychological impact on different personalities as they undergo a conscious decision to reinvent themselves (or the impact of knowing someone who has disappeared in this way).  Not until the end do we learn how three seemingly different stories are linked together.  Great book that I would recommend.

Same too with Too Bright (i.e. I loved it).  I kept thinking about this story long after I completed it.  We follow the narrator's experience with his descent into and out of a severe bipolar disorder.  The way the story unfolds is every bit as fragmented as his loss and recovery of memories as treatment for the disorder ensues.

My daughter had to read Watching God for high school.  I picked it up this month out of curiosity.  Although the story is straightforward as events unfold I loved the parts of the story where the dialog has stopped and the characters contemplate.  The prose is just beautiful as the name of the book suggests.  I enjoyed stopping and thinking about the imagery of those words when the book was in this mode.

>>>>>>>>>>

I've decided to continue keeping a monthly summary of my readings going forward -- even though I have no set goal in mind for 2014.  If nothing else, its a record of what I've read and impressions that I have.  Some friends ask for recommendations on what to read based on my thoughts so if nothing else this blog might help others.

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!

October Booklist

Down in numbers this month -- the 4th Harry Potter book was a bit longer than I was planning (a downside to eBooks is they don't take up more shelf space so its feasible to overlook how big a book is before you start it).  Still, I got 8 books read this month bringing the total to 93.  Just 7 more to go!  Here's October's list:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
2. A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis
3. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
4. Edward Adrift by Craig Lancaster
5. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
6. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
7. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
8. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Everyone (except me) has read the HP books so I don't need to go on about those.  Suffice to say that I'm picking up on LOTS of details that I didn't know about before so I am enjoying that immensely.  HP5 is definitely on the list for November though I realize this time that it is about the same length as #4.

Useful Hurt was just ok.  A tattooist learns that tattooing the ashes of deceased persons into a design brings about a strange connection between the living and the dead.  A mystery ensues that must get solved.  An interesting idea played out well enough.

Orphan Train is one of those books that you think will make it to Hollywood because people will lap it up as a movie.  A common device of linking the present with the past is used to tell the story of what becomes of the protagonist when they are newly orphaned in late 1920s New York.

Edward Adrift is the sequel to a book I read last month (600 Hours of Edward) that I think was funnier and more enjoyable than the original.  Some real LOL moments as Edward, an adult male with Asperger's, grapples with some of the harder lessons that life throws in his way.

Flowers for Algernon is a classic.  The theme of following the experiences of someone who goes from nothing to something and back again has been explored in numerous ways since this book was written so its nice to get at the topic in a more original form.  I enjoyed it.

Likewise with Therese Raquin the exploration of the psychological effects of committing murder has been explored before too (thinking Dostoevsky here).  However what makes this classic different is the tension is maintained across two characters instead of Crime and Punishment's single protagonist. I found the ending a little anticlimatic but the exploration and escalation of circumstances up to that point kept me interested.

Burial Rites is also connected to murder and its psychological effects.  This time however the setting is 19th century Iceland and following the last days of one of the convicted murderers while they await the confirmation of their sentences of death.  Based on a true story the author does a great job of putting us in the middle of what must have been a harrowing experience of waiting for the outcome.  At times the prose is poignant when contrasted with the harsh environment that life in Iceland must've been like at that time.

Lastly, the 100 year old man.  What a treat.  The story unfolds as some weird mashup of Forrest Gump, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  But if you enjoyed at least two out of three of those then you should read this book.  You'll never look at 20th century history in quite the same way.

September Booklist

Not sure how this happened but I got through 10 books again this month bringing the total year to date to 85.  Only 15 to go and three months to do it.  Here's what I read in September:

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
2. 600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster
3. American Spirit by Dan Kennedy
4. Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
5. The Call of Earth by Orson Scott Card
6. Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kusher
7. The Silence of Bonadventure Arrow by Rita Leganski
8. Waiting for Columbus byThomas Trofimuk
9. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
10. Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles

As I mentioned last month I started the Harry Potter series and read the next in the series.  I'm enjoying them a lot.

Many of the books I bought and read this past month were choices made through the Amazon Whispersync for Voice mechanism to synchronize kindle ebooks with the Audible versions.  Aside from the mechanism itself, Amazon offers very reasonably priced kindle ebooks (daily and monthly deals) and heavily discounted audio versions.  I went crazy and downloaded a whole bunch and six of the ten books above were purchased this way.  I knew nothing of the authors beforehand but all of them without exception were enjoyable.  600 Hours deals with how an adult man with Asperger's gets on in a social context with new life-changing challenges.  I enjoyed it so much I bought the sequel.  American Spirit reminded me of Douglas Coupland's writing style and it appears I'm not the only person to think that.  Kennedy makes some amazing descriptions of every day objects and events that we all ignore as ordinary.  Telex from Cuba reads like little snippets of news as it might peel off from a telex machine as it describes the events of the Cuban revolution through the 50s from the perspective of lives that it impacted.  Bonadventure Arrow was not something I was expecting -- a beautiful story told like a fable or fairy tale about how a mute child with incredible hearing heals the broken lives of those around him.  Crooked Letter seemed like a genre I don't usually go for -- a crime novel.  But the story unfolded making Faulkner-esque observations about the South which I really liked.  Last of the ebooks was Care of Wooden Floors.  I loved the protagonist who reminded me a lot of the Timothy Cavendish character in Cloud Atlas who suffers in a comically cruel way from events seemingly beyond his control.

Now for the other books I already had.  Revenge was a bust.  I don't know how or why I finished it.  I hoped, I guess, that it would get better.  In the last 10% of the book there were hints of former greatness but the rest was boring drivel.  Call of Earth is a second installment of the Homecoming series.  It was ok but not as enjoyable as the Alvin Maker or Ender series.  I'll keep going with it though.  Waiting for Columbus wasn't at all like I thought it would be.  But for all that, it was a good read.  An amnesiac patient thinks he Christopher Columbus.  He charms those around him with his tales of adventure that work up to the point of where the past meets the present.

October will be a breeze...

August Booklist

Added 10 more books to the list of titles read bringing the total year-to-date to 75.  Meeting my goal of 100 books by the end of the year should be a walk in the park now.

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J K Rowling
3. Room by Emma Donoghue
4. Every Day by David Levithan
5. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
6. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
7. The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card
8. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
9. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
10. Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield

I've never finished watching the Harry Potter movies and have put this off because, frankly, I was lost with what was going on after so long.  I want to appreciate them with context so I started to read the series of books.  I'm glad I have because it fills in so many gaps as to why things happen the way they do.  I have also found that the movies are very faithful to the books -- so far anyway.  So I am enjoying both.

Room is great.  Not since The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time have I enjoyed a story told from the perspective of someone who sees the world from a different perspective.  This is a serious story told with seriousness but in such a way that you can't help but laugh out loud every now and again.

With Every Day my first reaction was: "oh no I've bought another YA novel".  And it is a YA novel more or less.  But its one with a premise that really makes you think how much we take for granted in our linear progression of life events.  What was more surprising is the end and how it suggests a sequel which is likely to take another quite different turn.  I think I'll read that if it ever surfaces.

Mudbound was an impulse buy because it was cheap.  But it turned out to be a pretty good tale of tragedy so complicated its hard to say who was at fault (if you like to apportion blame).  Mostly enjoyable, which really means that some aspects of the plot were predictable but the journey was still good.

Moonwalking is an odd one on the list.  The author decided to apply the principles of memory enhancement to compete in the "memory olympics" inside of one year.  He did great which only goes to prove that if we apply such techniques in our own lives we can reverse the effect that modern technology is having on eroding what we choose to remember vs where to find what technology remembers for us.  A great treatise on how the skills of recall have changed over the past 2,500 years.

One of my favorite authors is Orson Scott Card and I am as excited as the next person about Ender's Game coming up in the movies.  But a while ago I bought the Homecoming series and thought it was a good time to get started on that.  Its typical Card stuff and is as enjoyable (so far) as other series he's written, though my favorite is still the Alvin Maker series which I WISH HE'D FINISH!  (Hint hint).

TransAtlantic is my favorite book this month.  Loved it.  Full of loss but also the connectedness of generations in both the US and Ireland. Makes me wish I was Irish but it could almost be about any culture that has ranged out beyond its own initial borders.  What makes this story very good is how it integrates the lives of fictional characters with real historical events and real characters, lending itself more credibility in the process.  Beautifully written with metaphors that had me stopping to contemplate their fullness and implications to the imagery in my mind.

And then immediately after reading TransAtlantic I read Shards of Honor.  Ouch!  This scifi book is the beginning of a very successful series of stories that many people love and rave about.  Hmm, not me.  I found it cliched and dull.  I obviously failed to appreciate it and I feel a little guilty about that.  But I give myself some slack by being convinced that reading "great" literature is changing my tastes.  There is also a growing trend (imo) of "literate" scifi authors who don't resort to a lower standard of writing but are lifting the genre to new heights.  I seek those books out now.

As with Mudbound, Garden of Stones is a story of the implications of racial intolerance and this time within the context of the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.  I enjoyed it a great deal and was suitably surprised at the twists towards the end of the story.

July Booklist

Nine books in July brings the year to date total to 65.  Here's the list:

1. Kings of Infinite Space by James Hynes
2. Redshirts by John Scalzi
3. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
4. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
5. And One Last Thing... by Molly Harper
6. The Mongoliad: Book 2 by Neal Stephenson et al
7. The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Wait
8. Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto
9. Wedding Night bySophie Kinsella

It was a bit of a mixed bunch really.  I enjoyed Remains, One Last Thing, The View and Wedding Night -- a little disappointed in the rest.  The View was a harrowing account of how depression for a family member could impact the entire family.  One Last Thing and Wedding Night were just comedic romps -- light hearted and at time hilarious.  Descartes Bones was an interesting-ish non-fictional account of how Descartes' ideas influenced science and religion over the past 400 years or so but it was kinda dry overall.  Oh well, 9 books closer to my goal...