Another
fulfilling year of reading. As usual I have scattered my favorite
genres in the midst of all the books. I will always be curious about
the supernatural and include stories of both "fact" and
"fiction"about it in my reading choices. Science fiction,
Fantasy, and History are usually favorite categories, too. I had a
goal of 70 books total for the year and I have made it to 68 with a
few more hours left in the year, and I am currently about half way
through the next book that I am currently reading.
Only a few
things on this years list would be considered busts- those being
Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkein, which I just
could not get into, even though I love The Hobbit and
Lord of the Rings books by this author. Maybe it was my
mindset, I'm not sure, it was not that fulfilling to delve into. The
other bust was one which seemed to have so much potential but made me
want to skip all future zombie stories ever, it was the compilation
Zombies vs. Unicorns, it had such a fun premise but really,
only the unicorn stories were good! I'm just not a zombie type of
gal even though I liked I am Legend in both book and movie
forms, but not having liked the zombie book The Forest of Hands
and Teeth, and never getting into The Walking Dead in any
way, shape, or form.
The other
disappointment was Cassandra Claire's City of Bones series.
The first one or two books were good but the series devolved after
that. It became full of angst that was never resolved, made me
dislike the characters for their spineless personalities, and became
an uninteresting story of Alex, an older teen who did not have a
starring role (but was always a support character) trying to have a
relationship with an ageless warlock. One of the
main characters, Jase, also turned into an abusive twit and I could
go on no longer. There are so many other better things to be read and
I felt a bit cheated after investing time into four of the author's
novels. (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of
Fallen Angels, then I stopped.)
Generally I enjoy reading YA but it is hard to stomach characters
doing these earth shattering feats and then being immature boo boos
while they make a bunch of stupid decisions that just increase their
trouble, making the reader feel like the carrot that is out of reach
is not worth the effort to catch by reading further.
I always enjoy
Alexander McCall Smith's series about Precious and the Ladies
Detective Agency and am slowly working my way through it. (I
have not seen any of the TV adaptations so cannot offer any
comparison there.) In fact, I can reliably turn to that series when I
am looking for something interesting to read and want some
consistency I can count on from an author.
I explored more
of Carrie Vaughn's Kitty series and like the character of Kitty (she
is a werewolf with a late night radio show), better now that she has
learned to stick up for herself. Kitty predictably gets herself into
unusual circumstances and always entertains as she works her way out
of them. Carrie Vaughn wins the jackpot for the author I read the
most books from (8) this year.
Now that I have
read all the Gideon and Agent Pendergast books by Preston and Child, I explored some
of their other writings together as a winning author pair and as
separate authors, they never dissapoint. I purchased Child's newest
Full Wolf Moon (Jeremy Logan series) and I am impatiently
awaiting the January release of their newest Agent Pendergast book,
City of Endless Night. Preston does a good job writing
non-fiction as well (Dinosaurs in the Attic, Lost City of the
Monkey God, etc.)
Hot off the
press was Pullman's Book of Dust. Having enjoyed the golden
compass books I was looking forward to this new one. It is set in the
time when Lyra, of the golden compass series, is a baby. It is a good
mix of real and fantasy, but the author belabored some of his
anti-religious dogma a little too much in it. I don't remember this
really being a problem in the previous books but some people find
this aspect of his writing a good reason to like his books. He tells
a good fantasy with engaging characters and that is why I read his
books. It does not really matter to me what his political or
religious views are if he is telling a good story and can deliver
that to the reader without being too preachy about it.
Titles I read
for exploring more gothic literature were Ghost Stories of
California, Ghost Stories of Virginia, She is not Invisible, The
Foreshadowing, Oxford Book of 20th Century
Ghost Stories, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket,
Kwaidan Stories of the Strange, Porcelain, Among the Shadows, Dark
Shadows Angelique's Descent, April's Grave, Call in the Night,
Ghostlight, In Ghostly Japan, and
The Haunted House Handbook (15).
I discovered a
new author of classic science fiction, Clifford Simak, and read two
titles by him, The Trouble with Tycho, and Way Station.
I might have to visit Way Station again, it is that kind of
story. He is an oldie but somehow I had never read anything by him
before. I hope to read some more of his work in the coming year.
When I moved my
residence back in 2000, packing was made easier by donating many of
the books I had to the local second-hand charity store. I regretted
that decision later and have tried to rebuild some of the series I
had then but had not been able to read yet. I can say I have remade a
healthy library here in this house, now book shelves seem to be
taking over! That is perfectly fine with me, but then again I am not
the only one that lives here. My challenge now is finding a place for
everything. I alphabetized my books by author recently instead of by
genre which is how I had it before and it is a bit easier to keep
track of what I have now. One of the ways I'd like to work through
reading in 2018 is by taking one book from each successive shelf and
going through my library that way to get a nice variety of subjects
and different authors to read. I have to limit trips to the library
or else I will always be reading books I don't own and would never
work my way through the "to be read" shelves here in the
house.
Definitely on
my list of author's next year are: Brandon Sanderson, Preston and
Child (together and separate, and Carrie Vaughn. I'd also like to
catch up with the full books of some titles I have read previews of
on kindle, and I'd like to delve into more History and
science/medical stuff this year.
2017 Reading List
- Ghost Stories of California by Barbara Smith (True tales of ghostly encounters in California)
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith (Book 10 of the Ladies' Detective Agency series)
- The Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (oldie but goodie Children's literature)
- The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith (#9 in series)
- Ghost Stories of Virginia by Dan Asfar (True tales of ghostly encounters in Virginia)
- There Were Jaredites by Hugh Nibley (Ancient History and religion)
- Atlantis Rising Issues (New age book-magazine publication)
- She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick (YA and fits in gothic category)
- The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allen Poe (Poe!)
- Porcelain by Benjamin Read (Gothic graphic novel, independent press in the UK)
- Science Set Free by Rupert Sheldrake (Science and a bit of new ageness)
- Among the Shadows by L.M. Montgomery (author of Little House on the Prairie books, but this is a compilation of gothic tales)
- Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston (Non-fiction, archeology discovery in Central America)
- Oxford Book of 20th Century Ghost Stories Ed. By Michael Cox (A meaty offering of tales)
- The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick (YA and a bit gothic)
- Tales From the Perilous Realm by J.R.R Tolkein (Fantasy/Folk Tales)
- The Ice Limit by Preston and Child (Action and Adventure)
- Beyond the Ice Limit by Preston and Child (Action and Adventure)
- Kwaidan Stories of the Strange by Leftcadio Hearn (Ghost and strange stories/asian)
- The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child (Action and Adventure, mystery)
- Deep Storm by Lincoln Child (Action and Adventure)
- Dark Shadows Angelique's Descent by Lara Parker (Old soap opera popular in the 70's, continuing drama with Barnabus Collins the Vampire)
- The Abraham Enigma by Jack Lyons (LDS author, Adventure)
- Readings in Social Studies: Ancient Times Prentice Hall Library (compilation)
- The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith (#11 in the series)
- The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith (#12 in the series)
- April's Grave by Susan Howatch (70's gothic)
- Call in the Night bySusan Howatch (70's gothic)
- The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith (#13 in series)
- The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis (YA Fantasy)
- The Companions by R.A. Salvatore (Fantasy)
- Ghostlight by Marion Zimmer Bradley (70's gothic)
- City of Bones by Cassandra Claire (YA Urban fantasy)
- Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand by Carrie Vaughn (Paranormal/fantasy)
- City of Ashes by Cassandra Claire (YA Urban Fantasy)
- Billy Blacksmith Demon Slayer by Ben Ireland (YA Urban Fantasy)
- Unfettered: compiled by Patrick Rothfuss (Sci Fi collection of stories)
- Underground Bases by James and Lance Morcan (NF)
- Beyond the Fur by Tammy Billups (NF for animal lovers)
- Kitty Raises Hell by Carrie Vaughn (Paranormal/fantasy)
- Kitty's House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn (Para/fantasy)
- Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn (Para/fantasy)
- Classic Mystery Stories by Dover (Mystery)
- Low Midnight by Carrie Vaughn (Para/fantasy)
- City of Glass by Cassandra Claire (Urban fantasy)
- In Ghostly Japan by Leftcadio Hearne (Paranormal tales with a Japanese twist)
- City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Claire (Urban fantasy)
- Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn (Fantasy)
- Refuge of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn (Fantasy)
- The Trouble with Tycho by Clifford Simak (Science Fiction)
- The Haunted House Handbook by D. Scott Rogo (NF)
- Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn (Fantasy)
- Stuff Matters by Mark Midownik (NF)
- A Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley (Fantasy)
- The BFG by Roald Dahl (Children's Lit Fantasy)
- Old Venus by G R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (Sci Fi compilation of stories)
- Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black (Fantasy compilation of stories)
- Dr. Mutter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (NF, medical/science)
- The Dragon of Lonely Island by Rebecca Rupp (Children's Lit/fantasy)
- The Return of the Dragon by Rebecca Rupp (Children's Lit/fantasy)
- Kitty's Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn (Paranormal/fantasy)
- The Cabinet of Curiosities by Preston and Child (Action and Adventure/mystery)
- The Book of Dust by Phillip Pullman (Fantasy)
- Justinian's Flea by William Rosen (NF, History, Roman Empire, Science, Biology of plague)
- The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume 1. (compilation)
- Proofread of a new book, not yet published (Sci Fi)
- Way Station by Clifford Simak (Sci Fi)
- The Reaper by Eric Niven (Western)
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