Summer Reading Club recap
Aug. 10th, 2013 12:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
monkey5sTotal 56 books
1. Here comes everybody: the power of organizing without organizations, by Clay Shirky / non-fiction. Dated, but very interesting. He notes that, as he was proofreading the manuscript, he needed to include Twitter, which was just getting off the ground. Things are changing so fast, and the point of the book was that changes didn't go mainstream until society adjusted around them. But once they did, that was it, no going back.
2. Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore, by Robin Sloan / fantasy with reading of books in print and by technology. Difficult to describe, great fun to read.
3. The best of all possible worlds, by Karen Lord / Sci-fi that deals with the emotions of planetary immigration because of their homeworld being destroyed. The only ones left are the mostly-male explorers who were off-planet.
4. Soft apocalypse, by Will McIntosh / Sci-fi, a difficult and frustrating read for me. This apocalypse involves the further polarization of the wealthy and the poor, to the point where there is NO middle ground at all. The protagonist forms a loose group with fellow college graduates who find themselves homeless and unable to find work. Much is made of genetically altered life forms.
5. The Interestings, by Meg Wolitzer / aka, the book I really expected to like a lot, but that became tiresome and irritating and difficult to finish. Unexpectedly related to Soft Apocalypse because of the group that forms. Also dismissive attitude towards llamas (AR AR AR!).
6. Ella Minnow Pea, by Mark Dunn / The gimmick involved (story told as a series of postal letters written by different people in the community, as the government there decided to remove letters of the alphabet from allowed usage) made it increasingly challenging to read, but on the whole I enjoyed it. Even if I did have to slow way down as the book progressed.
7. Where'd you go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple / A fairly quick read, had a plot point that juuuust would not quite work for me. Related to the previous book, unexpectedly, because several sections were e-mails or notes written to people. 'Family misery' plot.
8. Red moon, by Benjamin Percy / Technically another 'family misery' plot, but had supernatural factors. First started learning that there is "paranormal romance" and "urban fantasy" but not "supernatural fiction", which is what I felt this was. But that it's intended to encompass our real world, as it exists today, with the supernatural elements added in.
9. The Family Fang, by Kevin Wilson / Really hardcore 'family misery' plot. HATED the parents in this. HATED. They may have called themselves performance artists, but I thought of them as disgusting sociopaths.
10. Moon over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London, #2) / Great fun, definitely qualifies as "urban fantasy" and I got the clear sense that London was a character in the book. In addition to the rivers themselves, of course.
11. Gun machine, by Warren Ellis / This was from a rec list of "most hotly anticipated sci-fi/fantasy books" from a website. It was TERRIFIC. I am not a fan of serial killer murder mysteries, but this was just fantastic enough that it swept me along. I actually went looking for more by this author.
12. One salt sea, by Seanan McGuire (an October Daye novel) / Definitely qualifies as "urban fantasy" since she anchors it in San Francisco. Greatly enjoy this series.
13. Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood / Ugh. Another difficult read. The sequel was another on that list of hotly anticipated books, so I thought I should go back and find the first one. Having made it through, I know I have NO INTEREST in reading that sequel. Very much the genetic manipulation of people for this one, and the world falling apart.
14. Life after life, by Kate Atkinson / Hard to explain, but I have seen it described as reincarnation fic, and that is just completely incorrect. It's more an exploration of many alternative universes for the protagonist, where we skip her early years until we get to the difference, and then follow her to death. Every. Time. Yeah.
15. The shambling guide to New York City, by Mur Lafferty / Wanted to like this one. Urban fantasy that needed a proofreader, and maybe the author will get better with more experience writing?
16. The windup girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi / Forget how I found this originally, but didn't end up reading it before. Decided to try again after reading a YA book by this author. This one was total sci-fi dealing with the dangers of allowing agribusiness giants like Monsanto to own all the genetically-modified food crop sources.
17. Nightshifted, by Cassie Alexander / Another one I wanted to like, but it was weakly written and not very interesting. Won't be looking for others by this author.
18. Redemption in indigo, by Karen Lord / I so loved her second book, 'The best of all possible worlds', that I went back and picked up her first book. Glad I did it in that order. I know this one got great reviews, but I did not really enjoy it.
19. Shadow ops: fortress frontier, by Myke Cole / This is the second Shadow Ops book, and it is one that SHOULD be allowed to be called 'supernatural fiction'. You can tell the publisher is hoping to get men to read it because they claim that it's "Bourne Identity meets the X-Files" and both claims are WRONG. AR AR AR! It's militarization of Harry Potter more than anything else. This second book deals with another person's pov of most of the events surrounding the first book, with plot threads that the protagonist of the first book would have no way of knowing. I'm really interested to see what this author makes of this series.
20. The Friday night knitting club, by Kate Jacobs / Mild-mannered yet heavily cliched, I tagged the entire plot, including the death, early in the book.
21. Flash forward, by Robert J. Sawyer / An older sci-fi book, that was more fun in the early pages. The end smacked of "author either ran out of ideas or was sadly mistaken in working toward this lame ending from a promising beginning."
22. Ashes of honor, by Seanan McGuire (an October Daye novel) / and now I am caught up with her writing of this series, and have to wait until the next comes out in November. Grump.
23. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell / Truly desperately gut-wrenching 'family misery' plot. I found it compelling, nonetheless, but plot-wise it was really pat. I felt miserable on behalf of pretty much everyone involved, including the swamp itself. Well, except the Birdman. He turned out to be as bad as he could have been.
24. Cold days, by Jim Butcher (a novel of the Dresden files) / Felt less obsessive about this now that I've found other urban fantasy authors. But it was interesting, and I expect I will read whatever further Dresden files books he writes. Felt less of an urge to slap Harry and more of an urge to slap the author. I will count that as progress!
25. Crooked little vein, by Warren Ellis / Got this on the strength of 'Gun Machine', which was terrific. This was... raw. Yucky in a lot of ways. But that's probably because I am not a fan of reading about people's fetishes. On the plus side, it was a quick read. Disgusting, and ridiculous, but quick.
26. A history of the world in 100 objects, by Neil MacGregor / non-fiction. Very English in tone, since it's based on the collection of the British Museum. The director of the museum gave items from the collection and told where the museum got them, what each object signified, how it fit into the history of the world and what it all meant to mankind. I learned a lot.
27. Paladin of souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold / this one was from a list of people's best sci-fi and fantasy books of all time. This is a sequel and I hadn't read the first, but decided to try it since I see a lot of people rec Lois McMaster Bujold. It was really good, very intriguing religious structure, very fantastic in the fantasy.
28. A hologram for the king, by Dave Eggers / Waiting for Godot in the Middle East. Sort of.
29. Three parts dead, by Max Gladstone / Steampunk does fantasy! No, wait. There's baffling religious world building, strong female characters, intriguing plot points. I would compare/contrast it with the religious world-building in 'Paladin of Souls.'
30. The song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller / Well-written, read with a sense of fatalism since we know the gist of what happened with Achilles.
31. Soon I will be invincible, by Austin Grossman / Interesting spin on superheroes vs. their villains. We get both pov, and it's fun to see how something that was a random lucky break for the villain is interpreted as his extreme cunning by the heroes.
32. Discount Armageddon, by Seanan McGuire (an InCryptid novel) / Since I was caught up on her October Daye series, I elected to try this series by the author, since I have become quite a fan. Not as good as the other, but entertaining.
33. The resilient gardener: food production and self-reliance in uncertain times, by Carol Deppe / non-fiction, very specific for people who want to be able to garden despite limitations. The "resilience" is for both the gardener and the garden.
34. The silvered, by Tanya Huff / another tricky one to define, fantasy from a strictly paranormal pov (werewolves in a steampunky fantasy world where the Empire of non-were people is conquering all). I'm hoping it's the first in a series.
35. Child of Saturn, by Teresa Edgerton (The green lion trilogy, #1) / Took awhile to get started, then it took off. An older book but the fantasy world is strong and was completely valid today. I had problems getting my hands on a copy of this (because it's old), and have so far failed to get the second one.
36. While my pretty one knits, by Anne Canadeo (Black sheep knitting mystery #1) / Ugh what a simplistic and crappily-plotted book. REALLY needed an editor or even just a proofreader familiar with knitting. I won't be reading any more of this series.
37. Range of Ghosts, by Elizabeth Bear (Eternal sky #1) / REALLY intriguing world building! The different cultures that inhabit this world even have different skies and celestial bodies (the sun even rises in different directions from one place to the next). When there is a war, you realize immediately when one side has won because the sky changes overhead. So many intriguing characters, so many plot threads, but she keeps it moving and you don't get lost.
38. Catching fire: how cooking made us human, by Richard Wrangham / non-fiction. The author has his theories for how evolution progressed, and he gives his argument and gives opposing viewpoints. He doesn't go so far as to proclaim that he must, obviously, be correct (so no career in Fox News for him).
39. The love song of Jonny Valentine, by Teddy Wayne / Story of a pre-teen boy who becomes a pop singer phenomenon, told from his pov. Things would happen to him, and he would be pressured by the various adults around him, and I kept thinking, 'but, he's ONLY THIRTEEN!' which, yeah, was the point (the author starts with a quote from Justin Bieber in all its vacuous preteen glory). Tough read, bordering on child abuse.
40. The life of an oak: an intimate portrait, by Glenn Keator / non-fiction. I thought it might be inclusive of the Sudden Oak Death disease cropping up in California and Oregon, but it's a book about the various species of oak and where they live (MANY different varieties, living in many different climates around the world), how they probably developed. I learned a lot.
41. The antagonist, by Lynn Coady / Intriguing book written mostly as a series of e-mails that the protagonist is sending to the author of a book. They went to college together, and the protagonist has just found out that this guy wrote a book that uses him as a character. And not in a good way. He spends the time in this book reflecting on his own family history, and uses a second person pov in many of the e-mails as he tries to rationalize why his former friend might have remembered him that way. Very good read.
42. The Bone Palace, by Amanda Downum / second of the Necromancer chronicles, which I didn't realize when I requested it (another rec from a website). I gave it a shot despite not having read the first one, and it was fine without the full background. Another fantasy of exhausted people doing magic beyond their real abilities. Not sure I care enough to pursue others in the series, though.
43. Truth in advertising, by John Kenney / kind of a twin to 'The antagonist', as far as dealing with family trauma from the past. It's couched in the jargon of advertising, making commercials for products. But it's done with a great sense of humor along the way.
44. Fated, by Benedict Jacka (an Alex Verus novel) / urban fantasy, once again set in London, with great storytelling and good characterizations. I raced through this one, and am looking forward to getting more by him.
45. Dark currents: Agent of Hel, by Jacqueline Carey / Is it still 'urban fantasy' when the locale involved is a small town in western Michigan? Much the same territory, plot-wise, as the October Daye novels, and I know this author is reknown for her good storytelling. I liked it, would probably read more of this as a series. And this makes me more likely to go ahead and start on the other series she wrote that I have seen recommended, the Kushiel's Dart books.
46. Child of vengeance, by David Kirk / Oof. WHY did I think historical fiction of Japanese samurai culture would be an easy read? Took some time to settle into this one, and I felt like it could have used some, I dunno, Japanese input? It's supposed to be based on a real, and significant, samurai from a time of rapid change in that country. It felt like it was a very Western interpretation of Japanese society. Well written, yes, but didn't feel Eastern at all.
47. Midnight blue-light special, by Seanan McGuire (InCryptid, #2) / Less fun than the first, will probably read more as she writes them, but not as good as the October Daye books.
48. I capture the castle, by Dodie Smith / I expected to like this, but it got tiresome. I guess I am past feeling the bildunsroman interest. Possibly it was just too specifically time-stamped (my mother's generation), or too England-specific.
49. Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente / Ugh. The Russian Revolution and the rise of socialism told by way of Russian fairy tales. Dismal, hopeless, miserable fatalism, with a side order of bloody death, famine, and so on. By the time we got to where she had her fairy tale husband, the Tsar of Life, chained to the wall of the cellar in her derelict house in whatever the current name of her real-world city was at the time, I had my jaw clenched with the effort to finish this book. I was unwilling to let it defeat me. The author should cherish that pull quote from Cory Doctorow on the cover, I would have been less willing to keep pushing if he hadn't recommended it.
50. Guardian of the horizon, by Elizabeth Peters / historical fiction, one of a long, long series about English archaeological work in Egypt and south of there. Nowhere near as fun as I was led to believe from excerpts that I had read- though those were from other books in the series, I don't feel like looking at any more of them.
51. Shattered pillars, by Elizabeth Bear (Eternal sky, #2) / slams us right back into the action from the end of the first book. Very well told. Looking forward to #3.
52. Jumper, by Steven Gould / written in 1992, it was the book on which the movie by that name was based. OR SO THEY CLAIM. Wow, how very far away from this book was that movie. This was serious child abuse as a plot, way beyond your basic 'family misery'. And our protagonist was really just dealing with that emotional fallout for the duration of the book.
53. Metzger's dog, by Thomas Perry / another old-school book, this one was written in, what, 1983? 'Comic thriller' is how its billed, and it was fun. Metzger, by the way, is a cat, named Doctor Henry Metzger. Nope, we don't know why.
54. Whispers under ground, by Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London, #3) / Great fun! Really enjoyed this one (despite needing extra hand-waving for one plot point), hope he writes more of them.
55. John dies at the end, by David Wong / Talk about beating a plot to death. What started out madcap or bizarre and entertaining just turned tiresome and mean-spirited towards the end. Did not enjoy, won't be reading more by this author.
56. Time warped: unlocking the mysteries of time perception, by Claudia Hammond / non-fiction, and I highly recommend it- if only for the horrific experiments cooked up by researchers over the years.
Wrap-up:
Non-fiction = 6: sociology, gardening, archaeology, anthropology, nature study, and human brain study.
Historical fiction = 3: life of Achilles, 16th century Japan, late 19th century England (and Egypt).
Thriller = 2
Sci-fi = 5
Modern fiction = 10 (more than I thought I would have)
Fantasy, all sub-genres inclusive = 26
The rest were fiction that I found hard to categorize.
Unexpected links:
Three that dealt with genetic manipulation, one of people and food crops, the other two just food crops (and the results of terrorist acts that hacked those genetic manipulations)
Two that covered how technology changes our life, one non-fiction, one fiction
Four (though one is a sequel) involved religion in the fantasy world-building
Two had werewolves as the main focus, one was an urban fantasy type, with the second taking place on a fantasy world
Three were epistolary novels (to some degree), with a fourth that I could argue also qualified (the gimmick being that it was supposedly edited from different people's journals).
***
Thirteen were what I would consider urban fantasy/supernatural fiction (fantasy aspects imposed on our real world)- including a couple that were categorized as regular fiction.
Of these 13, I found patterns that I didn't expect. There was a split between protagonists who merely dealt with the supernatural elements, and those who were different from regular humans. Of the regular folks, some did magic spells, others didn't.
Of the ones who did magic spells, whether the character was part-supernatural or plain human, it seemed a frequent plot device that the character became exhausted by their magical efforts as the book progressed. In some cases there were actual plot points involved. Also this "overexertion of magic" held for some pure fantasy books that involved characters doing magic.
Of the three series that seemed most related, the Dresden files, the Rivers of London, and the Alex Verus books, only the Rivers of London books took this exhaustion seriously. In the first of the series, one regular character nearly dies after a magical creature forces her to transform physically. She becomes seriously, severely deformed from it (though she escapes the death that the other victims got), but we see her beginning to cope with her disability and also begin to learn to do magic herself. As she's learning, she is forced to time her efforts very closely, because she will do herself greater damage if she isn't careful. The protagonist is also restricted on the length of time he is allowed to perform spells, also for reasons of damage from overexertion. Rivers of London also gets props for the protagonist trying to apply the scientific method to analyzing the magic he's learning.
The books I considered urban fantasy (taking place in our modern world) for this counting:
Red Moon- supernatural fiction. No actual magic, other than the transformation of people, which is linked to a virus.
Moon over Soho (Rives of London)- definitely urban fantasy. And he's learning to do magic.
One salt sea- urban fantasy. The character October Daye is half-faery, and the world of Fae is all around us, though hidden. The different fae have different talents (forms of magic, for us normals, but they have it by birth and only learn to use it best). The author provides us with a handy guide to pronunciation and abilities of the types of fae in each book.
The shambling guide to New York City- urban fantasy. The protagonist is non-magical, but works with the fantastical and paranormal creatures who live side by side with the regular folk.
Nightshifted- urban fantasy. Protagonist is a nurse who ends up working the secret ward where the paranormal creatures come for medical attention.
Shadow ops: Fortress Frontier- supernatural fiction. Magic is the main focus. People have started, well, 'breaking out' with magic, is the only way to say it. They are catagorized, and some forms are strictly forbidden (as if the people who manifest have ANY CHOICE), and we learn that the military and the government don't have things quite as sewed up tight as they want you to believe.
Ashes of honor- urban fantasy. Another October Daye novel.
Cold days, a novel of the Dresden files- urban fantasy. Very much related to Moon over Soho.
Discount Armageddon, and InCryptid novel- urban fantasy. Protagonist is not magical, but she knows about the paranormal creatures that inhabit our world.
Fated, an Alex Verus novel- urban fantasy. Protagonist is a mage whose only real talent is seeing the future. Other mages have other talents, like casting different spells. In this manner it's related to Rivers of London, and Dresden files.
Dark currents: agent of Hel- urban fantasy. Protagonist is half-demon, working to keep the supernatural residents of her location from becoming too difficult for the normal folks to live with.
Midnight blue-light special: an InCryptid novel- urban fantasy.
Whispers under ground- urban fantasy. Another Rivers of London novel.
***
So, of the 56 I read, only 8 were ones I would likely have declined to keep reading after the first 50-100 pages. Of those 8, 2 were modern retellings of fairy tales that were outside my childhood experience. I don't know if I might have found them more appealing if I had recognized them as such. The other 6 were worth the battle, mostly. Except that awful 'While my pretty one knits'- that just stunk clear through. Fortunately it was a quick read.
And finally, the award for "most bizarrely related book cover art" goes to the pairing of 'Song of Achilles' with 'Soon I will be invincible'. The first is historical fiction about Achilles, the second is fantasy about superheroes and the villains that oppose them. Both covers feature a helmet.
1. Here comes everybody: the power of organizing without organizations, by Clay Shirky / non-fiction. Dated, but very interesting. He notes that, as he was proofreading the manuscript, he needed to include Twitter, which was just getting off the ground. Things are changing so fast, and the point of the book was that changes didn't go mainstream until society adjusted around them. But once they did, that was it, no going back.
2. Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore, by Robin Sloan / fantasy with reading of books in print and by technology. Difficult to describe, great fun to read.
3. The best of all possible worlds, by Karen Lord / Sci-fi that deals with the emotions of planetary immigration because of their homeworld being destroyed. The only ones left are the mostly-male explorers who were off-planet.
4. Soft apocalypse, by Will McIntosh / Sci-fi, a difficult and frustrating read for me. This apocalypse involves the further polarization of the wealthy and the poor, to the point where there is NO middle ground at all. The protagonist forms a loose group with fellow college graduates who find themselves homeless and unable to find work. Much is made of genetically altered life forms.
5. The Interestings, by Meg Wolitzer / aka, the book I really expected to like a lot, but that became tiresome and irritating and difficult to finish. Unexpectedly related to Soft Apocalypse because of the group that forms. Also dismissive attitude towards llamas (AR AR AR!).
6. Ella Minnow Pea, by Mark Dunn / The gimmick involved (story told as a series of postal letters written by different people in the community, as the government there decided to remove letters of the alphabet from allowed usage) made it increasingly challenging to read, but on the whole I enjoyed it. Even if I did have to slow way down as the book progressed.
7. Where'd you go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple / A fairly quick read, had a plot point that juuuust would not quite work for me. Related to the previous book, unexpectedly, because several sections were e-mails or notes written to people. 'Family misery' plot.
8. Red moon, by Benjamin Percy / Technically another 'family misery' plot, but had supernatural factors. First started learning that there is "paranormal romance" and "urban fantasy" but not "supernatural fiction", which is what I felt this was. But that it's intended to encompass our real world, as it exists today, with the supernatural elements added in.
9. The Family Fang, by Kevin Wilson / Really hardcore 'family misery' plot. HATED the parents in this. HATED. They may have called themselves performance artists, but I thought of them as disgusting sociopaths.
10. Moon over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London, #2) / Great fun, definitely qualifies as "urban fantasy" and I got the clear sense that London was a character in the book. In addition to the rivers themselves, of course.
11. Gun machine, by Warren Ellis / This was from a rec list of "most hotly anticipated sci-fi/fantasy books" from a website. It was TERRIFIC. I am not a fan of serial killer murder mysteries, but this was just fantastic enough that it swept me along. I actually went looking for more by this author.
12. One salt sea, by Seanan McGuire (an October Daye novel) / Definitely qualifies as "urban fantasy" since she anchors it in San Francisco. Greatly enjoy this series.
13. Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood / Ugh. Another difficult read. The sequel was another on that list of hotly anticipated books, so I thought I should go back and find the first one. Having made it through, I know I have NO INTEREST in reading that sequel. Very much the genetic manipulation of people for this one, and the world falling apart.
14. Life after life, by Kate Atkinson / Hard to explain, but I have seen it described as reincarnation fic, and that is just completely incorrect. It's more an exploration of many alternative universes for the protagonist, where we skip her early years until we get to the difference, and then follow her to death. Every. Time. Yeah.
15. The shambling guide to New York City, by Mur Lafferty / Wanted to like this one. Urban fantasy that needed a proofreader, and maybe the author will get better with more experience writing?
16. The windup girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi / Forget how I found this originally, but didn't end up reading it before. Decided to try again after reading a YA book by this author. This one was total sci-fi dealing with the dangers of allowing agribusiness giants like Monsanto to own all the genetically-modified food crop sources.
17. Nightshifted, by Cassie Alexander / Another one I wanted to like, but it was weakly written and not very interesting. Won't be looking for others by this author.
18. Redemption in indigo, by Karen Lord / I so loved her second book, 'The best of all possible worlds', that I went back and picked up her first book. Glad I did it in that order. I know this one got great reviews, but I did not really enjoy it.
19. Shadow ops: fortress frontier, by Myke Cole / This is the second Shadow Ops book, and it is one that SHOULD be allowed to be called 'supernatural fiction'. You can tell the publisher is hoping to get men to read it because they claim that it's "Bourne Identity meets the X-Files" and both claims are WRONG. AR AR AR! It's militarization of Harry Potter more than anything else. This second book deals with another person's pov of most of the events surrounding the first book, with plot threads that the protagonist of the first book would have no way of knowing. I'm really interested to see what this author makes of this series.
20. The Friday night knitting club, by Kate Jacobs / Mild-mannered yet heavily cliched, I tagged the entire plot, including the death, early in the book.
21. Flash forward, by Robert J. Sawyer / An older sci-fi book, that was more fun in the early pages. The end smacked of "author either ran out of ideas or was sadly mistaken in working toward this lame ending from a promising beginning."
22. Ashes of honor, by Seanan McGuire (an October Daye novel) / and now I am caught up with her writing of this series, and have to wait until the next comes out in November. Grump.
23. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell / Truly desperately gut-wrenching 'family misery' plot. I found it compelling, nonetheless, but plot-wise it was really pat. I felt miserable on behalf of pretty much everyone involved, including the swamp itself. Well, except the Birdman. He turned out to be as bad as he could have been.
24. Cold days, by Jim Butcher (a novel of the Dresden files) / Felt less obsessive about this now that I've found other urban fantasy authors. But it was interesting, and I expect I will read whatever further Dresden files books he writes. Felt less of an urge to slap Harry and more of an urge to slap the author. I will count that as progress!
25. Crooked little vein, by Warren Ellis / Got this on the strength of 'Gun Machine', which was terrific. This was... raw. Yucky in a lot of ways. But that's probably because I am not a fan of reading about people's fetishes. On the plus side, it was a quick read. Disgusting, and ridiculous, but quick.
26. A history of the world in 100 objects, by Neil MacGregor / non-fiction. Very English in tone, since it's based on the collection of the British Museum. The director of the museum gave items from the collection and told where the museum got them, what each object signified, how it fit into the history of the world and what it all meant to mankind. I learned a lot.
27. Paladin of souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold / this one was from a list of people's best sci-fi and fantasy books of all time. This is a sequel and I hadn't read the first, but decided to try it since I see a lot of people rec Lois McMaster Bujold. It was really good, very intriguing religious structure, very fantastic in the fantasy.
28. A hologram for the king, by Dave Eggers / Waiting for Godot in the Middle East. Sort of.
29. Three parts dead, by Max Gladstone / Steampunk does fantasy! No, wait. There's baffling religious world building, strong female characters, intriguing plot points. I would compare/contrast it with the religious world-building in 'Paladin of Souls.'
30. The song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller / Well-written, read with a sense of fatalism since we know the gist of what happened with Achilles.
31. Soon I will be invincible, by Austin Grossman / Interesting spin on superheroes vs. their villains. We get both pov, and it's fun to see how something that was a random lucky break for the villain is interpreted as his extreme cunning by the heroes.
32. Discount Armageddon, by Seanan McGuire (an InCryptid novel) / Since I was caught up on her October Daye series, I elected to try this series by the author, since I have become quite a fan. Not as good as the other, but entertaining.
33. The resilient gardener: food production and self-reliance in uncertain times, by Carol Deppe / non-fiction, very specific for people who want to be able to garden despite limitations. The "resilience" is for both the gardener and the garden.
34. The silvered, by Tanya Huff / another tricky one to define, fantasy from a strictly paranormal pov (werewolves in a steampunky fantasy world where the Empire of non-were people is conquering all). I'm hoping it's the first in a series.
35. Child of Saturn, by Teresa Edgerton (The green lion trilogy, #1) / Took awhile to get started, then it took off. An older book but the fantasy world is strong and was completely valid today. I had problems getting my hands on a copy of this (because it's old), and have so far failed to get the second one.
36. While my pretty one knits, by Anne Canadeo (Black sheep knitting mystery #1) / Ugh what a simplistic and crappily-plotted book. REALLY needed an editor or even just a proofreader familiar with knitting. I won't be reading any more of this series.
37. Range of Ghosts, by Elizabeth Bear (Eternal sky #1) / REALLY intriguing world building! The different cultures that inhabit this world even have different skies and celestial bodies (the sun even rises in different directions from one place to the next). When there is a war, you realize immediately when one side has won because the sky changes overhead. So many intriguing characters, so many plot threads, but she keeps it moving and you don't get lost.
38. Catching fire: how cooking made us human, by Richard Wrangham / non-fiction. The author has his theories for how evolution progressed, and he gives his argument and gives opposing viewpoints. He doesn't go so far as to proclaim that he must, obviously, be correct (so no career in Fox News for him).
39. The love song of Jonny Valentine, by Teddy Wayne / Story of a pre-teen boy who becomes a pop singer phenomenon, told from his pov. Things would happen to him, and he would be pressured by the various adults around him, and I kept thinking, 'but, he's ONLY THIRTEEN!' which, yeah, was the point (the author starts with a quote from Justin Bieber in all its vacuous preteen glory). Tough read, bordering on child abuse.
40. The life of an oak: an intimate portrait, by Glenn Keator / non-fiction. I thought it might be inclusive of the Sudden Oak Death disease cropping up in California and Oregon, but it's a book about the various species of oak and where they live (MANY different varieties, living in many different climates around the world), how they probably developed. I learned a lot.
41. The antagonist, by Lynn Coady / Intriguing book written mostly as a series of e-mails that the protagonist is sending to the author of a book. They went to college together, and the protagonist has just found out that this guy wrote a book that uses him as a character. And not in a good way. He spends the time in this book reflecting on his own family history, and uses a second person pov in many of the e-mails as he tries to rationalize why his former friend might have remembered him that way. Very good read.
42. The Bone Palace, by Amanda Downum / second of the Necromancer chronicles, which I didn't realize when I requested it (another rec from a website). I gave it a shot despite not having read the first one, and it was fine without the full background. Another fantasy of exhausted people doing magic beyond their real abilities. Not sure I care enough to pursue others in the series, though.
43. Truth in advertising, by John Kenney / kind of a twin to 'The antagonist', as far as dealing with family trauma from the past. It's couched in the jargon of advertising, making commercials for products. But it's done with a great sense of humor along the way.
44. Fated, by Benedict Jacka (an Alex Verus novel) / urban fantasy, once again set in London, with great storytelling and good characterizations. I raced through this one, and am looking forward to getting more by him.
45. Dark currents: Agent of Hel, by Jacqueline Carey / Is it still 'urban fantasy' when the locale involved is a small town in western Michigan? Much the same territory, plot-wise, as the October Daye novels, and I know this author is reknown for her good storytelling. I liked it, would probably read more of this as a series. And this makes me more likely to go ahead and start on the other series she wrote that I have seen recommended, the Kushiel's Dart books.
46. Child of vengeance, by David Kirk / Oof. WHY did I think historical fiction of Japanese samurai culture would be an easy read? Took some time to settle into this one, and I felt like it could have used some, I dunno, Japanese input? It's supposed to be based on a real, and significant, samurai from a time of rapid change in that country. It felt like it was a very Western interpretation of Japanese society. Well written, yes, but didn't feel Eastern at all.
47. Midnight blue-light special, by Seanan McGuire (InCryptid, #2) / Less fun than the first, will probably read more as she writes them, but not as good as the October Daye books.
48. I capture the castle, by Dodie Smith / I expected to like this, but it got tiresome. I guess I am past feeling the bildunsroman interest. Possibly it was just too specifically time-stamped (my mother's generation), or too England-specific.
49. Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente / Ugh. The Russian Revolution and the rise of socialism told by way of Russian fairy tales. Dismal, hopeless, miserable fatalism, with a side order of bloody death, famine, and so on. By the time we got to where she had her fairy tale husband, the Tsar of Life, chained to the wall of the cellar in her derelict house in whatever the current name of her real-world city was at the time, I had my jaw clenched with the effort to finish this book. I was unwilling to let it defeat me. The author should cherish that pull quote from Cory Doctorow on the cover, I would have been less willing to keep pushing if he hadn't recommended it.
50. Guardian of the horizon, by Elizabeth Peters / historical fiction, one of a long, long series about English archaeological work in Egypt and south of there. Nowhere near as fun as I was led to believe from excerpts that I had read- though those were from other books in the series, I don't feel like looking at any more of them.
51. Shattered pillars, by Elizabeth Bear (Eternal sky, #2) / slams us right back into the action from the end of the first book. Very well told. Looking forward to #3.
52. Jumper, by Steven Gould / written in 1992, it was the book on which the movie by that name was based. OR SO THEY CLAIM. Wow, how very far away from this book was that movie. This was serious child abuse as a plot, way beyond your basic 'family misery'. And our protagonist was really just dealing with that emotional fallout for the duration of the book.
53. Metzger's dog, by Thomas Perry / another old-school book, this one was written in, what, 1983? 'Comic thriller' is how its billed, and it was fun. Metzger, by the way, is a cat, named Doctor Henry Metzger. Nope, we don't know why.
54. Whispers under ground, by Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London, #3) / Great fun! Really enjoyed this one (despite needing extra hand-waving for one plot point), hope he writes more of them.
55. John dies at the end, by David Wong / Talk about beating a plot to death. What started out madcap or bizarre and entertaining just turned tiresome and mean-spirited towards the end. Did not enjoy, won't be reading more by this author.
56. Time warped: unlocking the mysteries of time perception, by Claudia Hammond / non-fiction, and I highly recommend it- if only for the horrific experiments cooked up by researchers over the years.
Wrap-up:
Non-fiction = 6: sociology, gardening, archaeology, anthropology, nature study, and human brain study.
Historical fiction = 3: life of Achilles, 16th century Japan, late 19th century England (and Egypt).
Thriller = 2
Sci-fi = 5
Modern fiction = 10 (more than I thought I would have)
Fantasy, all sub-genres inclusive = 26
The rest were fiction that I found hard to categorize.
Unexpected links:
Three that dealt with genetic manipulation, one of people and food crops, the other two just food crops (and the results of terrorist acts that hacked those genetic manipulations)
Two that covered how technology changes our life, one non-fiction, one fiction
Four (though one is a sequel) involved religion in the fantasy world-building
Two had werewolves as the main focus, one was an urban fantasy type, with the second taking place on a fantasy world
Three were epistolary novels (to some degree), with a fourth that I could argue also qualified (the gimmick being that it was supposedly edited from different people's journals).
***
Thirteen were what I would consider urban fantasy/supernatural fiction (fantasy aspects imposed on our real world)- including a couple that were categorized as regular fiction.
Of these 13, I found patterns that I didn't expect. There was a split between protagonists who merely dealt with the supernatural elements, and those who were different from regular humans. Of the regular folks, some did magic spells, others didn't.
Of the ones who did magic spells, whether the character was part-supernatural or plain human, it seemed a frequent plot device that the character became exhausted by their magical efforts as the book progressed. In some cases there were actual plot points involved. Also this "overexertion of magic" held for some pure fantasy books that involved characters doing magic.
Of the three series that seemed most related, the Dresden files, the Rivers of London, and the Alex Verus books, only the Rivers of London books took this exhaustion seriously. In the first of the series, one regular character nearly dies after a magical creature forces her to transform physically. She becomes seriously, severely deformed from it (though she escapes the death that the other victims got), but we see her beginning to cope with her disability and also begin to learn to do magic herself. As she's learning, she is forced to time her efforts very closely, because she will do herself greater damage if she isn't careful. The protagonist is also restricted on the length of time he is allowed to perform spells, also for reasons of damage from overexertion. Rivers of London also gets props for the protagonist trying to apply the scientific method to analyzing the magic he's learning.
The books I considered urban fantasy (taking place in our modern world) for this counting:
Red Moon- supernatural fiction. No actual magic, other than the transformation of people, which is linked to a virus.
Moon over Soho (Rives of London)- definitely urban fantasy. And he's learning to do magic.
One salt sea- urban fantasy. The character October Daye is half-faery, and the world of Fae is all around us, though hidden. The different fae have different talents (forms of magic, for us normals, but they have it by birth and only learn to use it best). The author provides us with a handy guide to pronunciation and abilities of the types of fae in each book.
The shambling guide to New York City- urban fantasy. The protagonist is non-magical, but works with the fantastical and paranormal creatures who live side by side with the regular folk.
Nightshifted- urban fantasy. Protagonist is a nurse who ends up working the secret ward where the paranormal creatures come for medical attention.
Shadow ops: Fortress Frontier- supernatural fiction. Magic is the main focus. People have started, well, 'breaking out' with magic, is the only way to say it. They are catagorized, and some forms are strictly forbidden (as if the people who manifest have ANY CHOICE), and we learn that the military and the government don't have things quite as sewed up tight as they want you to believe.
Ashes of honor- urban fantasy. Another October Daye novel.
Cold days, a novel of the Dresden files- urban fantasy. Very much related to Moon over Soho.
Discount Armageddon, and InCryptid novel- urban fantasy. Protagonist is not magical, but she knows about the paranormal creatures that inhabit our world.
Fated, an Alex Verus novel- urban fantasy. Protagonist is a mage whose only real talent is seeing the future. Other mages have other talents, like casting different spells. In this manner it's related to Rivers of London, and Dresden files.
Dark currents: agent of Hel- urban fantasy. Protagonist is half-demon, working to keep the supernatural residents of her location from becoming too difficult for the normal folks to live with.
Midnight blue-light special: an InCryptid novel- urban fantasy.
Whispers under ground- urban fantasy. Another Rivers of London novel.
***
So, of the 56 I read, only 8 were ones I would likely have declined to keep reading after the first 50-100 pages. Of those 8, 2 were modern retellings of fairy tales that were outside my childhood experience. I don't know if I might have found them more appealing if I had recognized them as such. The other 6 were worth the battle, mostly. Except that awful 'While my pretty one knits'- that just stunk clear through. Fortunately it was a quick read.
And finally, the award for "most bizarrely related book cover art" goes to the pairing of 'Song of Achilles' with 'Soon I will be invincible'. The first is historical fiction about Achilles, the second is fantasy about superheroes and the villains that oppose them. Both covers feature a helmet.
