Your 2012 Booklist

[Kastrel]

Just curious to see what people read, list everything you finished in the year 2012!

Personally . . .

Bioshock: Rapture

Anne Rice's Vampire Series
- Queen of the Damned
- Tale of the Body Thief

The Stand

Dark Tower series
- The Gunslinger
- Drawing of the Three
- The Wastelands
- Wizard and Glass
- Wolves of the Calla
- Song of Susannah
- The Dark Tower

World War series
- In the Balance
- Tilting the Balance
- Upsetting the Balance
- Striking the Balance
- Second Contact
- Down to Earth
- Aftershocks
- Homeward Bound

Riverworld Series
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go
- The Fabulous Riverboat
- The Dark Design
- The Magic Labyrinth
- Gods of Riverworld

The Fall - Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
The Night Eternal - Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Parallel Worlds - by Michio Kaku

Pretty good year, all in all.

[GS4-Seomanthe]

This may not be a complete list... I'm sure I got others out of the library, and they don't make a history of checked out items available. I'm currently reading the last book in the Baroque Cycle, and Guns, Germs & Steel. And a book on Toyota manufacturing principles, but that's for work.

Angelmaker
Harkaway, Nick

Reamde: A Novel
Stephenson, Neal

Among Others
Walton, Jo

Pump Six and Other Stories
Paolo Bacigalupi

Changes: A Novel of the Dresden Files
Butcher, Jim

Ghost Story: A Novel of the Dresden Files
Butcher, Jim

Cold Days: A Novel of the Dresden Files
Butcher, Jim

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
William B. Irvine

The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs

Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle No. 1)
Stephenson, Neal

The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle No. 2)
Stephenson, Neal

The Time of the Ghost
Diana Wynne Jones

A Dance With Dragons
George R. R. Martin

Snuff
Terry Pratchett

Mirage
Matt Ruff

The Illustrated Man
Ray Bradbury

[Latrinsorm]

A compilation of Dex's posts from the What Are You Wearing Thread. Several times. In private.
I'm sure I got others out of the library, and they don't make a history of checked out items available.Tell them you work for DHS!

[Delias]

I don't really remember them all... I am sure I re-read the moon is a harsh mistress and starship troopers. I know I was feeling nostalgic and spent a lot of time re-reading old dragonlance books. Also read The Verbal Behavior Approach, re-read the Art of War, started reading De Bello Gallico but haven't finished it yet, same with Micromegas. I partially read a book on herbs... because it is sort of a comprehensive book and I was skipping the magical healing properties and concentrating on their culinary properties.

I'm sure there were more, but I can't really recall what.

[Kastrel]

I really need to read Starship Troopers.

[Delias]

I really need to read Starship Troopers.

You can easily do it in an afternoon if you want. It's only like 200 some odd pages.

[WRoss]

About 20 text books, which I won't list.

I reread the entire Saga of Recluce to get back up to date for the latest book:


The Magic of Recluce
The Towers of the Sunset
The Magic Engineer
The Order War
The Death of Chaos
The Fall of Angels
The Chaos Balance
The White Order
Colors of Chaos
Magi'i of Cyador
Scion of Cyador
Wellspring of Chaos
Ordermaster
Natural Ordermage
Mage-Guard of Hamor
Arms-Commander

I also reread the Wheel of Time up to book 11:

The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers
Winter's Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams

Then, for the hell of it, I read:

No Easy Day
Unbreakable (The WWII Story)
The Federalist Papers (not really a book, but they were in a series of books)
The Anti-Federalist Papers (again, not a book, but in a series of books)
Through My Eyes: Tim Tebow

I probably forgot some, which I'll add later.

[Jhynnifer]

Let's see... This was my year of rereading Classics

Pride and Prejudice (twice, I'm such a bitch for Austen)
The Importance of being Earnest
Jane Austen

Anna Karenina
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy

Tess of d'Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy

The Silmarillion
J R Tolkien

Snow Crash
Neal Stephenson

Vanity Fair
William Makepeace Thackeray

Deadlocked
Charlaine Harris (I keep hoping these will get good again)

Anne of Avonlea
Anne of Green Gables
LM Montgomery

Building From Ashes
Hidden Fire
A Fall of Water
The Force of Wind
The Same Earth
Elizabeth Hunter Series

Serenity
Keith R.A. DeCandido


Finally started the Dark Tower Series... can't find half of them in my many boxes of books
The Gunslinger
Drawing of the Three

[thefarmer]

And a book on Toyota manufacturing principles, but that's for work.


The Toyota way?

Wasn't a bad book, but like the Six Sigma stuff, I found it was just a fancy jargon-laden way to just use common sense.

[GS4-Seomanthe]

The Toyota way?

Wasn't a bad book, but like the Six Sigma stuff, I found it was just a fancy jargon-laden way to just use common sense.

Actually it's even further back than that, Lean Thinking. And I agree, it's mostly a lot of jargon and unnecessary use of Japanese words when we have perfectly good English equivalents. I can see how it's common sense but it may not be self-evident to leads on the floor until they start considering the entire process versus their own piece of it (at least, it's not to the leads on my floor). I'll probably be reading the Toyota Way sometime this year though. And I'll probably get to visit Boeing, which is actually pretty exciting.

[Ardwen]

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and Children of Hurin - Tolkein
Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon - Stephenson
Midst Toil and Tribulation -Weber
Sprits End - Aaron
American Gods, Anansi Boys - Gaiman
Lord of Mountains - Stirling
Charon's Claw - Salvatore
Caliban's War - Corey
The Hangman's Daughter - Potzsch
Redliners and The Tank Lords - Drake
The Prince - Pournelle
I Am Legend - Matheson
Who Goes There - Campbell
First 6 Tremaire books - Novik
Chronicles of the Black Company - Cook
Red, Blue and Green Mars - Robinson
Kings of the North - Moon
Name of the Wind , Wise Man's Fear - Rothfuss
The Windup Girl , The Alchemist - Bacigalupi
Complete Wars Stories - Burroughs
The Old Man and the Wasteland - Cole
Nueromancer and Count Zero - Gibson
Hundred Thousand Kingdoms , The Broken Kingdoms , Kingdom of God - Jemisin
The Lies of Locke Lemora , Red Seas Under Red Skies - Lynch
A Dance of Dragons - Martin
Kraken , The City & The City - Mieville
The Way of Kings - Sanderson

Not Including lots I am sure, especially stuff I reread beyond the Tolkien

[GS4-Seomanthe]

Hundred Thousand Kingdoms , The Broken Kingdoms , Kingdom of God - Jemisin


I liked the first one in this series a lot, I am looking forward to reading the second and third soon.

[Delias]

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and Children of Hurin - Tolkein
Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon - Stephenson
Midst Toil and Tribulation -Weber
Sprits End - Aaron
American Gods, Anansi Boys - Gaiman
Lord of Mountains - Stirling
Charon's Claw - Salvatore
Caliban's War - Corey
The Hangman's Daughter - Potzsch
Redliners and The Tank Lords - Drake
The Prince - Pournelle
I Am Legend - Matheson
Who Goes There - Campbell
First 6 Tremaire books - Novik
Chronicles of the Black Company - Cook
Red, Blue and Green Mars - Robinson
Kings of the North - Moon
Name of the Wind , Wise Man's Fear - Rothfuss
The Windup Girl , The Alchemist - Bacigalupi
Complete Wars Stories - Burroughs
The Old Man and the Wasteland - Cole
Nueromancer and Count Zero - Gibson
Hundred Thousand Kingdoms , The Broken Kingdoms , Kingdom of God - Jemisin
The Lies of Locke Lemora , Red Seas Under Red Skies - Lynch
A Dance of Dragons - Martin
Kraken , The City & The City - Mieville
The Way of Kings - Sanderson

Not Including lots I am sure, especially stuff I reread beyond the Tolkien

That reminds me, I re-read a bunch of salvatore books. I knew there were more. There are always more.

[TheLastShamurai]

The Tipping Point - Gladwell
The Wordy Shipmates - Vowell
Consider Phlebas - Banks
The Player of Games - Banks
Mindless Eating -Wansink

My list betrays how much I read; but most of my reading now-a-days is weight lifting books, blog posts, articles, and eBooks. I didn't list them because they usually take no time to read, but there are a bazillion of them. I also read a lot of research reviews.

2013 looks more promising for my book list. I'd like to finish most/all the Culture novels; I'm currently reading Dan Pink's new book. I've already finished the Tao of Poo, and am going to start The Te of Piglet soon. And I'd like to get through this Edmund Morris series on Roosevelt that has been staring at me from my library.

[GS4-Seomanthe]

Yes! Here's another one I read from the library.. it took me forever to remember the name of this one.

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace
Tamar Adler

[Sarika]

Oooh. My favorite topic. Ok first my comments!

Kastrel's booklist
Oh I loved the Stand. It took me awhile to get through that super thick book though when I was in secondary school (like high school). It was my first really thick book and I was daunted at first, but I liked it.

Dark Tower is on my to-read list, but not very high priority.

Seomanthe's booklist
Did you like "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"? I read such mixed reviews about it that I decided to set it aside for the moment.

WRoss' booklist (and whoever else reread the entire WOT in anticipation of the final book release)
Wow. You read them all. I kept trying but the memory of what lay ahead of me was too daunting. Also, there are way, way, way, way too many interesting new fantasy books that keep coming out!

Jhynnifer's booklist
Oh I love Anne of Avonlea, but up until before she marries. After that...meh. I've read "Earnest" too many times to count. One of my favorite comedic plays.

OK! Now mine! I didn't read as much as I thought after going through my list. :(

Sarika's Player's 2012 booklist

Fantasy

-General

The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling


[*=2]Luck in the Shadows
[*=2]Stalking Darkness
[*=2]Traitor's Moon
[*=2]Shadows Return
[*=2]The White Road
[*=2]Casket of Souls


Discworld's Night Watch series by Terry Pratchett (re-reads)


[*=2]Guards! Guards!
[*=2]Men at Arms
[*=2]Feet of Clay
[*=2]Jingo
[*=2]The Fifth Elephant
[*=2]Night Watch
[*=2]Snuff


Going Postal (Discworld's Industrial Revolution theme) by Terry Pratchett (re-reads)
The Truth (Discworld's Industrial Revolution theme) by Terry Pratchett (re-reads)

Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde


[*=2]Lost in a Good Book
[*=2]Something Rotten
[*=2]First Among Sequels


- Urban

Dresden series by Jim Butcher


[*=2]Ghost Story
[*=2]Changes
[*=2]Cold Days



The Bride Wore Black Leather (Nightside series) by Simon R. Green (Blech, don't read this book and the one before. Earlier books are ok.)



-Sci-Fi

Sector General series by James White (I HIGHLY recommend this series. It's a collection of short medical sci-fi stories that were printed in old magazines and later compiled into book form, which is why many parts seem repetitive and the style is a bit dated. But it's just so different from so many of the fantasies that are out there today!)


[*=2]Beginning Operations omnibus: Hospital Station, Star Surgeon, Major Operation
[*=2]Alien Emergencies omnibus: Ambulance Ship, Sector General, Star Healer
[*=2]General Practice omnibus: Code Blue - Emergency, The Genocidal Healer
[*=2]Tales of Sector General omnibus: The Galactic Gourmet, Final Diagnosis, Mind Changer
[*=2]Double Contact


Honour Guard by Dan Abnett (still haven't finished The Saint omnibus!)


General Fiction
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

Romances
- Older (all re-reads)

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer
Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer
Pistols for Two by Georgette Heyer
Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer


- Modern & Historical (re-reads)

Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn
Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Philips
After the Night by Linda Howard



- Supernatural/Paranormal/Etc

Goddess Summoning series by P.C. Cast (re-reads)


[*=2]Goddess of the Sea
[*=2]Goddess of Light (re-read)
[*=2]Goddess of Love (re-read)
[*=2]Goddess of Spring (re-read)
[*=2]Goddess of the Rose



The Dark Series by Christine Feehan


[*=2]Dark Magic
[*=2]Dark Predator
[*=2]Dark Prince



- Erotic

Masters of the Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair


[*=2]Club Shadowlands
[*=2]Dark Citadel
[*=2]Breaking Free
[*=2]Lean on me
[*=2]Make Me, Sir
[*=2]To Command and Collar



50 Shades of Grey series (Books 1 - 3) by E.L. James (Yes, I read it. I wanted to see the fuss about it.)



- Misc

About 30 or so thin Harlequin-like romance novels of varying themes. All of which are better than 50 Shades.


Young Adult/Kids
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (re-read)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (re-read)
The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell (re-read)


Non-English
Cik Bunga dan Encik Sombong (Miss Flower & Mr Arrogant) by Airisz

I'm leaving out manga series, as this would then become a three-page deal. Haha.

[Kastrel]

Dark Tower is on my to-read list, but not very high priority.


I came away from DT with a positive impression and good memories, but I think it takes a bit of suspension of disbelief to appreciate some of it. From the 3rd-7th book, Stephen King starts to play with the concept of myth cycles, storytelling and writing, and concepts like deus ex machina in both a parody, an homage, and a deconstruction of the concepts. Some of the plot devices and twists are deliberately cliche in this regard, and sometimes its far to easy to "see it coming". You can tell its intentional though, and the question is whether you can appreciate the point he is trying to make, or if it just strikes you as poor writing. That said, I think any post-apoc/fantasy/sci-fi fan can appreciate the first two and most of the third . . . its only by middle of the third book that stereotypical myth tropes and writing techniques begin to appear on such a level as to be blatantly obvious.

My point is, I think it was a great series, but I could totally understand how someone could read it and find the later books either too predictable or clumsily written. However, I think the first and the last were my favorites.

The Stand was a lot of fun, but it seemed too short. No, really. Having watched the mini-series dozens of times as a child (which was crazy long as it was), and the always present description of the Stand as "good but way too long", I sort of expected some sort of master epic . . . the other issue is that I have been reading a lot of full series lately, where the "whole" length numbers in the 3000-5000 pages (Game of Thrones, Dark Tower), so a 1200 page book isn't that hardcore. When it ended, I wasn't quite satisfied . . . I wanted more.

I felt much more complete with It, which is nearly as long as the Stand . . . it is definitely my favorite single SK book.

[Sarika]

From the 3rd-7th book, Stephen King starts to play with the concept of myth cycles, storytelling and writing, and concepts like deus ex machina in both a parody, an homage, and a deconstruction of the concepts. Some of the plot devices and twists are deliberately cliche in this regard, and sometimes its far to easy to "see it coming". You can tell its intentional though, and the question is whether you can appreciate the point he is trying to make, or if it just strikes you as poor writing.

I doubt I would notice all these things you're talking about. I'm not very good at deconstructing and critiquing stories. I just read them and go "I liked it! My favorite part is..." or "I was bored. Meh."

I wish I could deconstruct stories better. I think it would add a different dimension to my reading. Based on what you said of the stories, I'd probably enjoy Dark Tower. Heck, I enjoyed Dresden and like one of my friends pointed out and I have to agree, there's a number of inconsistencies and occasionally sloppy writing in the Dresden Files. But I still love reading Dresden Files! So it's all good.

[Kastrel]

I doubt I would notice all these things you're talking about. I'm not very good at deconstructing and critiquing stories. I just read them and go "I liked it! My favorite part is..." or "I was bored. Meh."

I wish I could deconstruct stories better. I think it would add a different dimension to my reading. Based on what you said of the stories, I'd probably enjoy Dark Tower. Heck, I enjoyed Dresden and like one of my friends pointed out and I have to agree, there's a number of inconsistencies and occasionally sloppy writing in the Dresden Files. But I still love reading Dresden Files! So it's all good.

Slight spoilers ahead . . .

Well, let me put it this way . . . at one point in the book, there is a note from Stephen King to the characters that specifically says "Here comes the deus ex machina!" If you don't know what that is, its when the story is screwed and the writer just makes something up to save the day . . . it comes from Greek plays where towards the end of the stories, one of the gods just showed up and resolves the problem which was unsolvable otherwise. He uses a common writing technique (and one which many consider a sign of poor talent, since only by "divine intervention" could the plot work) and literally spells it out, IN UNIVERSE, to one of the main characters. Even if you didn't know what it was, you'd pick up on it. My justification for it is that its so blatant its intended to be a parody (and it works in universe, actually) and not a sign of poor writing, because he doesn't use heavy-handed deus ex machina's in most of his work (though they show up in a lot of his "most popular" works, like The Stand [a literally one there], usually in the form of fate or destiny, or showing that there is an overarching order to the universe).

Basically, as I said . . . its there. There is no denying it. The question is, does its use indicate poor authorship because its the only way he could make it work, or skilled authorship, in that he used it knowingly and made it work skillfully rather than clumsily.

And I totally have favorite parts. :biggrin: I just didn't want to share many, since spoilers are an issue. Maybe the part where some people show up with weaponized flying balls of death called "Sneeches", with a box of them being labeled "Harry Potter brand". I was amused.

Actually, overall, my favorite was any time Roland was a badass. In other words, all the time.

[4a6c1]

Impossibru!

I'll try to do this; it really won't be complete or even precise because LinkedIn took down my amazon reading list (those bastards!). I got really angsty at fiction in 2012 for some reason and read almost no new fiction this year. I reread A Farewell to Arms for the second and third time(still currently working on third). Reread The Vampire Chronicles. Everything else is political or cultural crap which I devour. Read all of Michael Parentis books on American Exceptionalism. Read everything Henry Kissinger wrote ever. Reread the art of war. Read a half of a Thich nhat hanh book though I refuse to devulge which one and I should get credit for this because it's super tedious. Act of Valor. Read all the Osama Bin Laden raid books that came out, even that one that's full of shit and a few seal books from 2011 for context as well. Read some stuff on Pakistanian tank movements and Pakistani....rug merchanting. Read The Flag (the one they sell at Lincoln monument in DC). Read everything on Oskar Kokoschka I could find (delicious!). Arianna Huffingtons Third World America. Another book about poverty and the class system in America but I cant remember the name. Some book I picked up in Baltimore on Tecumseh. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin. This paragraph is horrible. I might go check out my ibooks/kindle/nook accounts and edit.

[4a6c1]

Anne Rice's Vampire Series
- Queen of the Damned
- Tale of the Body Thief


Yay! Did you read this for the same reason I did? I'm mad at new vampires and I think they suck but I'm happy we live in a society where there can be generational vampire-character bias elitism. WHAT SAY YOU.

[4a6c1]

War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy


Jhynnifer is officially a badass.

Be honest. Did you read it all the way through? I read it in 2003 after the Martin series and I was like "I've read The Wheel of Time books, I can do anything now" but I've been told by several intelligent bookish people they needed breaks from that book. It was fun drawing parallels to current events too. The best advice I can give is that you read The Tale of Two Cities before War and Peace gets too much out of your head. Alot of interesting parallel imagery relevant to current American culture and war mentality. I read them back to back and enjoyed the frame of reference the book gave me for events that were happening in our own culture at the time, ie. Shock and Awe Iraq...

[Kastrel]

Yay! Did you read this for the same reason I did? I'm mad at new vampires and I think they suck but I'm happy we live in a society where there can be generational vampire-character bias elitism. WHAT SAY YOU.

I wouldn't say I hate "new" vampires, but I don't care for Twilight vampires, thats easy enough to say.

As to WHY I read it . . . because I read Interview and Lestat a few years ago, and was distracted halfway through Queen of the Damned. I finally picked them back up and finished.

I was GOING to read Vampire Armand, and then I realized it was picking up directly after the events from Memnoch the Devil, and I haven't read that, so I can't progress. Instead, I'm reading a Lovecraft compilation. I don't know what I will read next . . . I'm nearly out of books, except Atlas Shrugged. I'm not ready.

[Delias]

I wouldn't say I hate "new" vampires, but I don't care for Twilight vampires, thats easy enough to say.

As to WHY I read it . . . because I read Interview and Lestat a few years ago, and was distracted halfway through Queen of the Damned. I finally picked them back up and finished.

I was GOING to read Vampire Armand, and then I realized it was picking up directly after the events from Memnoch the Devil, and I haven't read that, so I can't progress. Instead, I'm reading a Lovecraft compilation. I don't know what I will read next . . . I'm nearly out of books, except Atlas Shrugged. I'm not ready.

I feel your pain- all of my re-reading is due to a book shortage. I know this will sound basically retarded, but I hate borrowing books. I have finally broken down and purchased a kindle though, as I am anticipating a very long distance move in the summer and will be hard pressed to bring all of my existing books as is... can't load myself down with new ones at the moment. I go through my existing library probably every two years, re-reading books anyway. It's like visiting old friends, except I can do it naked and nobody complains.

[4a6c1]

Don't read Atlas Shrugged, it will just make you retarded and heartless for the full amount of time it takes you to find a normal, empathetic, human being who actually likes people to give you a hug and thus render Rands "I hate humanity" anti-social rant as the hogwash it is. If you really must: Cliff Notes.

@ Kastrel. I tried Vampire Armand but it just seemed silly. Her writing style changed and I guess she went super erotic with all the Italian vampires and I just lost interest after Memnoch. I like cerebral literature. If I want sex I'll have sex. I just don't understand sex fiction.

[Kastrel]

I feel your pain- all of my re-reading is due to a book shortage. I know this will sound basically retarded, but I hate borrowing books. .

No, no, I totally get it. I hate renting ANYTHING. No library, no Blockbuster, etc. People say I'm stupid for it, but I have a "thing".

Problem is, I don't like rereading most books. A few choice books stand out to me . . . the Riverworld series being a "reread" I just did (and it was worth it). I also reread World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide every once in a while, WWZ in particular being an amazing read every time.


Don't read Atlas Shrugged, it will just make you retarded and heartless for the full amount of time it takes you to find a normal, empathetic, human being who actually likes people to give you a hug and thus render Rands "I hate humanity" anti-social rant as the hogwash it is. If you really must: Cliff Notes.

@ Kastrel. I tried Vampire Armand but it just seemed silly. Her writing style changed and I guess she went super erotic with all the Italian vampires and I just lost interest after Memnoch. I like cerebral literature. If I want sex I'll have sex. I just don't understand sex fiction.

I haaaave to though. I love Bioshock so much that I cannot help but read the doorstopper- *cough* novel that inspired its theme. I also already own it. It probably won't make me hate humanity as much as I will probably go nuts from boredom, if it is as difficult a read as I have been informed.

As for Vampire Armand . . . well, again, I already own it (but stupidly don't own Memnoch). I have another "thing" about completion and learning every bit there is to know about a story or series, so I feel like I can't abandon it now. We will see, I guess.

What I really want to do is get in touch with more classic Sci-Fi, and by classic, I mean 30s-80s stuff. I don't really know where to start, and I am, truthfully, kind of picky. I guess my favorite way of summarizing one of the most consistant trends I really like reading is this trope:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality
I tend to like a lot of stuff with that theme.

I also like Sci-Fi "mystery" stuff, one of the best examples of which was Riverworld. Not a book, but Mass Effect has a lot of that.

[Sarika]

...I hate borrowing books.

Me too. I don't even like borrowing books from my friends. One of my friends kept saying we should all buy different books and swap books to save money, but...if it's a good book, I still prefer my own copy. I used to go to the annual "Big Bad Wolf Book Sale" where I get books for fairly cheap. But Malaysia's humid weather is not really conducive to keeping books for a long time, and my books keep getting moldy since I can't afford to renovate and make a decent book room.

E-books saved me! I have found that I really love e-books and I don't have the nostalgic feel that some of my friends have who miss being able to flip real pages of a book.

I'm using an iPad now which suits me just fine except that it's heavy. I can't read lying on my back in bed since I tend to get sleepy and the iPad falling on my face is not really a great way to wake up.


If I want sex I'll have sex. I just don't understand sex fiction.

:( I like sex fiction.

But I don't like it when they mix up my genres. If I'm reading fantasy, I don't want pages and pages describing some sex scenes.

I like my fiction clearly defined. Fantasy is fantasy. Erotica is erotica. Well, except for Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series. One of the few fantasy books where I could accept the lovey-doveyness because it actually had a reason for being there and it influenced the storyline.


No, no, I totally get it. I hate renting ANYTHING. No library, no Blockbuster, etc. People say I'm stupid for it, but I have a "thing".

Problem is, I don't like rereading most books.

I have the opposite problem. I re-read my books too much and don't open myself to new experiences.

[4a6c1]

As for Vampire Armand . . . well, again, I already own it (but stupidly don't own Memnoch). I have another "thing" about completion and learning every bit there is to know about a story or series, so I feel like I can't abandon it now. We will see, I guess.


I know what you mean by this. I had a few Louis L'Amour books in my things for a full 4 years before I got around to reading them and when I finally did whoooooa. Getting started with Louis L'Amour is saying goodbye to every other author for a least a few years. He's addicting and there is no one else like him. Much recommended. There have been books I've abandoned. Tom Clancy novels that sound cool until I'm reading them. Dan Brown novels from before he was famous (YEAH I SAID IT) Chelsey Handler sober.(heeeeehehehe)

Anyway, if you want to start with classic sci-fi I always recommend Michael Moorcock. He's sort of a robo misogynist though so you need to be able to cope with that.

[Delias]

In answer to the sex fiction, I feel it belongs in the same place as romance does in fiction- built into the characters lives as part of the overall story, and not the meat of the story itself. This isn't to say that it has to be swept under the rug or hiding under the sheets with a fuck-hole in middle. It can definitely be a huge part of the story and even the overall goal of the characters themselves... but making it all the story is pointless. That's not how people live. You don't get inside one characters head by getting inside a completely different characters genitals.

[GS4-Seomanthe]

Seomanthe's booklist
Did you like "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"? I read such mixed reviews about it that I decided to set it aside for the moment.


I thought it was a good story, a little bit predictable, but I enjoyed it. I bought it for my friend for Halloween (yep, I totally give people books on Halloween) and she loaned it back to me when she had finished it. If you've already set it aside, then I would say leave it there and read Among Others and The Time of the Ghost first; they're leaps and bounds better and are in the same genre of paranormal YA fiction.

[LimChori]

Okay, a year in review:

Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle (Always reread this at least once a year.)
Homicide- David Simon (This is what the HBO show "The Wire" was based on and it is pretty awesome)
Child 44 -Tom Rob Smith (Standard mystery novel)

The Hobbit - Tolkien (In preparation for the movie)
Hunger Games trilogy (Yep.. I read it )
50 Shades of Grey (Was wondering what the hell this was all about.)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy- Stieg Larsson (It's a fun book and I did a lot of flying last year)

[Ker_Thwap]

Only thing new I read was American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Re-read:
Malazan Book of the Fallen series, Erikson and Esselmont (2nd time)
Mistborn series, Sanderson (2nd time)
Dragaerian Cycle series, Brust (Maybe 4th or 5th time)
Harry Potter series, Rowling (3rd time)
Hobbit and LOTR trilogy (20th?)