This time I kept a running list, so it is both accurate and complete. I was so interested in the patterns showing in the first list that I thought I'd try it again. Rereads are marked with an (R). My personal impression is that I read somewhat less than average this last six months, due to spending a good deal of time working on writing instead. (If you count book-length things "I" wrote, then I also read through Ghost Dancer some unknown, but large, number of times, and this year's Nano some other large, unknown number of times.) If anyone wants my impression of any of these books, let me know in comments and I'll put up a review.
1. Jade Darcy and the Affair of Honor - Stephen Goldin & Mary Mason(R)
2. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
3. Magic Steps - Tamora Pierce(R)
4. Trickster Queen - Tamora Pierce
5. Eldest - Christopher Paolini
6. Mastery - George Leonard(R)
7. Jhereg - Stephen Brust(R)
8. White Knight - Jim Butcher
9. Small Favor - Jim Butcher
10. Best Karate: 2 Fundamentals - Nakayama
11. When the Air Hits Your Brain - Frank Vertosic (R)
12. Gaia & God - Rosemary Ruether
13. The Spriggan's Mirror - Lawrence Watt-Evans
14. Crystal Dragon - Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (R)
15. New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One - Cat Bordhi
16. Knitting Over the Edge - Nicky Epstein
17. Sister of the Dead - Barb & J.C. Hendee
18. Sliding Scales - Alan Dean Foster
19. The Lady on the Embankment (short story) - Lois McMaster Bujold
20. Wild Magic - Tamora Pierce (R)
21. Wolf-Speaker - Tamora Pierce (R)
22. Emperor Mage - Tamora Pierce (R)
23. The Realms of the Gods - Tamora Pierce (R)
24. Cry Wolf - Patricia Briggs (x2)
25. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein (R)
26. Speed Training - Loren Christensen (R)
27. Night Life - Caitlyn Kittredge
28. Where We Stand - bell hooks
29. Dust - Elizabeth Bear (R)
30. Fledgling - Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (online- in draft form)
31. Saltation - Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (online - in draft)
32. Dzur - Steven Brust (R)
33. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (R)
34. Living the Martial Way - Forrest Morgan (R)
35. Life in Cold Blood - David Attenborough
36. Journey to the City of the Dead - Alan Dean Foster (R)
37. Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien (R)
38. The Gift of Fear - Gavin de Becker (R)
39. Iron Kissed - Patricia Briggs (R)
40. Ill Wind - Nevada Barr
41. The Mummy Case - Elizabeth Peters
42. The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights - John Steinbeck
43. Reserved for the Cat - Mercedes Lackey
44. Yoga Body, Buddha Mind - Cyndi Lee
45. The Serpant in the Crown - Elizabeth Peters
46. Winter Study - Nevada Barr
47. The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold (R)
48. The Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold (R)
49. Low Port - Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
50. Balance of Trade - Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (R)
51. The White Dragon - Anne McCaffrey (R)
52. Backup - Jim Butcher (x 2)
53. Beyond Black Belt - Hanchi Duessel (R)
54. You Know You're A Writer When... - Adair Lara
55. Karate-do: My Way of Life - Gichin Funakoshi (R)
56. The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (R)
57. When Demons Walk - Patricia Briggs (R)
58. A Hole in Space - Larry Niven (R)
59. All the Weyrs of Pern - Anne McCaffrey (R)
60. Mister Monday - Garth Nix
61. Grim Tuesday - Garth Nix
62. Drowned Wednesday - Garth Nix
63. Making Money - Terry Pratchett
64. Storm Front - Jim Butcher (R)
65. The Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler
66. On Writing - Steven King
67. Good Omens -Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
68. My Son, The Wizard - Christopher Stasheff
69. On The Prowl - Patrica Briggs et al (novella compilation)
70. My Stroke of Insight - Jill Bolte Taylor
71. Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
72. Magic or Madness - Justine Larbalestier
73. Crystal Rain - Tobias Buckell
74. Emotional Awareness - the Dalai Lama & Paul Ekman
75. The Miracle Workout - W. Jackson Davis, Ph. D.
76. Ragamuffin - Tobias Buckell
77. Cry Wolf - Patricia Briggs (R) (x2 - yes again)
78. Graceling - Kristi Cashor
79. Mr. Popper's Penguins - Richard & Florence Atwater
The stand-out book of this lot (non-fiction) was Outliers, which I mentioned in an earlier post. The fiction selection had a lot of good ones. Obviously by the repeats, I'm currently obsessed with Cry Wolf, but I'm not quite sure why. Don't get me wrong, it's good - very good - but not inherently more wonderful than several others on the list - I'd probably be rereading Graceling right now if I hadn't had to give it back to the library.
8 comments:
That's a lotta books! Right now I can only remember one book I've read this entire year--make that two.
I read Dawn's Light by Terri Blackstock and Gentlemen, This Is A Football by Eric Zweig.
As far as I can tell historically, I read between 80-120 books pretty much every six months. I keep a book in my purse, in the bathrooms, by the bedside, in the car - I'll have up to six going at any one time, and never fewer than two unless I'm away from home. I started keeping a running list because when I tried to recall the last six months of reading this last July, I knew I was forgetting tons of them.
I once tried to go a month without reading, just to see if I could. It was an abject failure. I need my book fix as bad as any junkie. Fortunately they're a bit easier to get a hold of - and far more legal!
PB - You are about as obsessed with reading as I am! I just don't keep track of my books, although that might be interesting. But then again, it's one more thing I would need to add to my already unmanageable "TO DO" list. : )
I'm guessing a couple of those you actually read to the kids, no? I remember being quite fond of Tricksters Queen and Tricksters Choice, when they came out. They were better than some of her previous books mainly because Aly is a very engaging character.
Ah, to have access to a large selection of English books at the library.
Where did you find the draft versions of the Miller and Lee books?
Happy New Year! Keeping a list is a great idea. Six books at once...I am not sure if I could keep them straight.
One of my goals is to increase my martial arts library. I have gotten into the habit of keeping a book close at hand.
Kathryn, the Lee & Miller drafts are linked through Sharon Lee's livejournal at: http://rolanni.livejournal.com/ Look at the links in the right-hand column.
Off this list, The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Mr. Popper's Penguins were read to the boys. Garth Nix will probably be on this year's bedtime reading list.
MAM - I think you're probably right. I track mine by opening a blog post and adding to it without publishing each time I write a new post.
Michele - I'm out to increase my MA library too. About 2/3 of my current Amazon wishlist is MA-related.
Happy New Year to all!
I just read The Parable of the Sower a few weeks ago. I thought it was wonderful. Did you like it? I got Parable of the Talents from the library and hope to start on it tonight.
Was The Mummy Case any good?
I really liked the Parable of the Sower as well. The Parable of the Talents is coming home from the library as soon as our guests have gone home, but I have no time to hit a library until then.
The Mummy Case was not bad, but I like the mysteries where Ramses is grown better than the ones where he's a child. He's just a little too precocious in too many ways to be believable to me. Also, annoying. But Ramses as a grown man is an interesting person, and his children are smart without being such paragons.
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