Books read in 2012

[vilakins]

This is a slightly incomplete list as I know I read more swap books from the local second-hand bookshop but I can't remember them all. I've bolded my top three. The first is there because although I hated the murder aspect the description of the artist character is just brilliant; the other two are highly recommended although they're very different. As for the struck-out one, I've been meaning to post about that before it goes to the SPCA shop; next up!

The list

Two for the dough - Janet Evanovich
Parthian shot - David Wishart
The game - Laurie R King
Sing vila in the mountain - Amelia Batistich
Dogsbody - Diana Wynne Jones
Alchemy - Margaret Mahy
Food for the fishes - David Wishart
The changeover : a supernatural romance - Margaret Mahy
Dark Lord of Derkholm - Diana Wynne Jones
Snuff - Terry Pratchett
Locked rooms - Laurie R King
The girl who circumnavigated Fairyland in a ship of her own making - Catherynne M Valente
Powder and patch - Georgette Heyer
The nutmeg of consolation - Patrick O'Brien
Beware of God - Shalom Auslander
The reverse of the medal - Patrick O'Brien
Full moon - Michael Light
Invader - C J Cherryh
The letter of marque - Patrick O'Brien
The language of bees - Laurie R King
A grave talent - Laurie R King
The thirteen-gun salute - Patrick O'Brien
These old shades - Georgette Heyer
Saucer - Stephen Coonts
The Conquest - Stephen Coonts
The masqueraders - Georgette Heyer
Perilous planets - Brian Aldiss
Clarissa Oakes - Patrick O'Brien
The wine-dark sea - Patrick O'Brien
The Morgaine saga - C J Cherryh (3 in 1)
The riddle-master of Hed - Patricia A McKillip
Captain Corelli's mandolin - Louis de Bernières
A soldier's duty - Jean Johnson
Rifling through my drawers - Clarissa Dickson Wright
The god of the hive - Laurie R King
Years in the making - L Sprague de Camp
The magicians - Lev Grossman
The Laertian gamble - Robert Sheckley (appallingly bad; see next post)
To play the fool - Laurie R King
3 2nd-hand SF collections whose titles and editors I've forgotten and have since swapped
Devil's cub - Georgette Heyer
The commodore - Patrick O'Brien
The yellow admiral - Patrick O'Brien
Major Pettigrew's last stand - Helen Simonson
Ready player one - Ernest Cline
Pirate king - Laurie R King
Valor's choice - Tanya Huff (in progress)

A full-time job meant that my usual 80 or so has dropped to about a book a week on average. Feel free to ask me about any.

Inspired by usuallyhats, I did some basic analysis.

27 female authors
24 male authors

  3 contemporary detective
  2 contemporary fiction
  8 fantasy
10 historical
  7 historical detective
  4 historical romance (I'm trying Georgette Heyer on various people's recs)
  2 non-fiction
11 science fiction

Comments

[watervole]

I keep meaning to read more Patrick O'Brien. I tend to save him for times when I'm pain free as he needs concentration.

[vilakins]

I've found that increasing familiarity with the universe as I go through the series makes it much easier. I can read one quite quickly now, often laughing out loud at the funny bits.

[lolmac]

Oh, geez, Sheckley. I don't remember exactly what it was that I read of his, but I do remember swearing never to pick up anything by him again.

[vilakins]

His old stuff was pretty good. I'm never going to touch anything new by him again though.

[silverowl]

How did you like the Catherynne M Valente book (The girl who circumnavigated Fairyland in a ship of her own making)? I've had it in my 'to borrow' list for awhile, but have yet to move it into the 'tbr' pile.

[jhall1]

I was wondering that too. I read a review somewhere a year or so ago, and it sounded really intriguing.

I haven't read any of the books on the list. I've read one or two short stories by Sheckley though in anthologies, years ago. I remember them as "laugh out loud" funny. Maybe he's one of those writers who is very uneven, or maybe he can;t write well at novel length.

(I was going to respond on LJ, but gave up!)

[vilakins]

I really enjoyed it; give it a go!

Some of the reviewers on Amazon thought he was going for funny this time but he missed by parsec or two. Most agreed with me that it was a load of crap. I did like his old stuff; pity.

I like your icon!

[vilakins]

I really liked it! Put it in your tbr pile. :-)

[pebblerocker]

I read the Morgaine saga because it came in a Trademe auction with a book I needed to complete a series, and was glad to have found it. It's won a place among my personal list of classics. How did you like it?

[vilakins]

I read it years ago so it was good coming back to it. It's a classic indeed!

[ultrapsychobrat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree about Laurie King's book--the artist is fantastic! You still read an incredible number of books, full-time job or not. Your list reminds me--I have to get out my Georgette Heyer books and reread them.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

And I have to get back into them. I know the highly recced ones are yet to come.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Ooh, a very nice year of reading there, I think! Almost all the ones I've read, I liked, some of them a lot. I think The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland was one of my faves from last year.

I remember being deeply annoyed by The Laertian Gamble as well. I mean, I'm used to a lot of Trek novels being bad, but you expect a lot better from Sheckley!.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I thought I'd restrict myself to three or I'd be bolding most of them! I've recced it to two enquirers on DW. :-)

Deeply annoyed? That's all? I expect a lot better from any writer; it was worse than a lot of the fanfic I've backed away from. I finally found where I'd put it (out of sight) and will post some excerpts to warn others off.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I don't actually really remember quite what my reaction was, other than being very negative. It was quite a while ago, and I think I've blocked the details of the book out of my brain. :)

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

If I remember the title correctly, the Georgette Heyer, 'These Old Shades', features a character called the Earl of Avon who has a striking resemblance in looks and character to another Avon we both know.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He does indeed, though he predated our one and I doubt Terry Nation read Heyer. Her Avon has an excellent line in snark and haughtiness, and I imagined him as looking like ours.

[thisbluespirit]

:lol: I seem to remember a Heyer conversation - and you're still stuck on the really early ones there, aren't you? (Oh, no, I see there's Devil's Cub as well, that one's a little more like her later style. ;-D)

I keep a book diary - I started it as a teenager and never quite stopped. I must have missed writing some in over the years, but it's fairly complete. I just got into the habit, and it is useful.

Also, looking at your stats, which was the novel that was both historical detection and historical romance?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I keep forgetting to order more Heyer, but I will.

I rely on the library reading history for mine but I should note the ones I read that aren't from there. I'm just not that organised even though I keep thinking of cataloguing my books and DVDs.

I didn't save the spreadsheet so I now have no idea. I can't have counted one twice as I used a pivot table so something odd happened.

[thisbluespirit]

:-)

Heh, I've never got around to cataloguing my books and DVDs. Although, actually, what's worse is I don't need to. I know what I have (well, except for which PG Wodehouse titles, they're all so similar and it's not like looking at the summaries helps much). Which maybe is a bit scary now that I come to think of it. Although it's in alphabetical order and the NF is in vague Dewey order, which helps... :lol:

Oh, shame, I was intrigued!