New Book: Let the Great World Spin

Okay, I finished Little Brother a while back, but just got around to figuring this out (what with spending most of my waking hours trying to figure out how to get Sam to sleep...) I'm not sure if I am supposed to write my thoughts about the book here in this post or what. Eventually we'll get it figured out, right? I thought it was a fascinating book--the ideas and tech stuff was amazing--but I found the writing to be hackneyed at times. Overall, though, I enjoyed it.

If I remember correctly, we are no longer sending the book, but just relaying the choice--am I right? So my choice is Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. My sister-in-law sent it to me and I really enjoyed it. I'll be interested to see what you both think, especially about a few sections of it. I don't want to post any spoilers, so I'll wait to write more.

Miss you both, hope all is well!
xox
Sharon

The Final Tally

Not too bad for a year with a trans-Atlantic move.

55. Wicked - Gregory Macguire
54. Widdershins - Charles de Lint
53. Daemon - Daniel Suarez
52. Library of Shadows - Mikkel Birkegaard
51. Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong
December
49. The petty details of so-and-so's life - Camilla Gibb
48. The Wild Hunt - Elizabeth Chadwick
47. Steel Remains - Richard K. Morgan
46. The Warrior's Princess - Barbara Erskine
45. Hawkspar - Holly Lisle
44. Talyn - Holly Lisle
43. Fallen - Tim Lebbon
42. Iron Kissed - Patricia Briggs
October/November
41. The Conjurer's Bird - Martin Davies
40. The Edge of the World - Kevin J. Anderson
39. Revenant - Tristan Hughes
38. The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie
37. Pegesus Descending - James Lee Burke
September
36. Oxygen - Carla Cassella*
35. March Violets/The Pale Criminal - Phillip Kerr
34. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - Dorothy Sayers
33. Sons of Heaven - Kage Baker
32. Still Alice - Lisa Genova*
31. Man with the Golden Torc - Simon Green
August
30. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
29. Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde
28. Zodiac - Neal Stephenson
27. Pariah - Dave Zeltserman
26. A Secret Alchemy - Emma Darwin
July
25. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey - Candice Millard
24. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
23. Just One Bite - Kimberly Raye
22. Iron Council - China Mieville
June
21. Spook Country - William Gibson
20. Are Men Necessary? - Maureen Dowd
19. Nowhere to Go - Lee Childs
May
18. Pigs in Heaven - Barbara Kingsolver
17. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis (a perennial favorite)
16. Whiskey and Water - Elizabeth Bear
15. The Alton Gift - Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross
14. Dragon Singer - Anne McCaffrey
13. The Bull from the Sea - Mary Renault March
March
12. Careless in Red - Elizabeth George
11. New Amsterdam - Elizabeth Bear
10. In the Moon of Red Ponies - James Lee Burke
9. A Different Light - Elizabeth Lynn
8. Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
7. Darwinia - Robert Charles Wilson
February
6. Undertow - Elizabeth Bear
5. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer (phew!)
3. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
2. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson, translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland.

My resolution for 2010 - more non-fiction! Including, but not limited to The Golden Bough and something about native Irish religious traditions. Native as in original/Celtic/indigenous spiritual traditions. I have some research to be doing...

Here's wishing you all a happy, healthy and book-filled New Year!

My heroines do their own fighting...

I must add my response to Porpoise's very funny lolcats post concerning the whole Twilight phenomenon. I, too, was sucked up into the Twilight books (and spread it around a bit), but never quite got over the feeling that I was doing something quite unhealthy and would need to purge/purify myself after all was said and done.

Luckily, some wonderful folks on the net put together a suitable cleansing response from a thirty-something to all these Twihards:

"I'm the Slayer. S-L-A-Y-E-R. Look it up."

While you're all "OMG, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?," I remain (forever and always) Team Buffy. In Whedon vs. Meyer, isn't it a little like slaughtering kittens - mopey, sad-eyed, slightly annoying Mormon kittens?

Now go read The Hunger Games, for heaven's sake. Or start your kids on The Paper Bag Princess. We are the Book Mavens, aren't we? READ.

OMG. I think I just broke a rib laughing

Now I enjoy some good escapist fiction as much as (or more so) then the next person, and I will admit to having read the entire Twilight Saga (it's aquaphilic's fault, she gave me the first one waaaaay back when). While I enjoyed it, I certainly would never argue that it's particularly good Literature. And I haven't seen either of the movies. That being said...

This is the funniest lolcats I've ever seen.

Mope.

October/November so far

I forgot to post the book list update last month, and this month is somewhat swamped by Nanowrimo (I am waaaay far behind), so this may be it for November. We'll see...

47. Steel Remains - Richard K. Morgan...Ooooooo, Takeshi Kovacs as a queer highborn soldier who saved the world from a conquering race in a world where queers are outlawed. Good stuff. Aquaphilic, you should definitely check this one out.
46. The Warrior's Princess - Barbara Erskine
45. Hawkspar - Holly Lisle
44. Talyn - Holly Lisle
43. Fallen - Tim Lebbon. This was an interesting fantasy story, that had great pacing and suspense and everything and Then.Just.Ended. Very unsatisfactorily I might add. I was getting worried because I was getting towards the end and I couldn't figure out how there was enough space to resolve everything. Now I know. It just didn't get resolved. Bah!
42. Iron Kissed - Patricia Briggs
October/November

I haven't forgotten my promise to write more about Still Alice and Oxygen, as alluded to in my last post. But the truth is, it's now been two months since I read them, and I think I should just content myself with stating this: these two books gave me faith that there is hope for scientists as fiction writers, particular important since the first example of the breed that I'd read was indescribably bad. And I've read some bad stuff in my time. So...if you're ever in doubt whether those of us who spend the majority of our time writing scientific papers can actually string together any readable fiction, rest assured that we can. Well, some of us can - I make no promises about my own ventures into fiction!

Vacations are good for reading

A two week stretch with grandparents made for some very good reading time. And the reintroduction of a commute means more consistent reading time now that we're back from the States. I'm up to #41, and need to head back to the library...

* These books will be addressed further in a separate post, as these ladies have renewed my faith in scientists' ability to write.

41. The Conjurer's Bird - Martin Davies

40. The Edge of the World - Kevin J. Anderson

39. Revenant - Tristan Hughes
38. The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie
37. Pegesus Descending - James Lee Burke
September

36. Oxygen - Carla Cassella*
35. March Violets/The Pale Criminal - Phillip Kerr
34. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - Dorothy Sayers
33. Sons of Heaven - Kage Baker
32. Still Alice - Lisa Genova*
31. Man with the Golden Torc - Simon Green
August
30. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
29. Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde
28. Zodiac - Neal Stephenson
27. Pariah - Dave Zeltserman
26. A Secret Alchemy - Emma Darwin
25. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey - Candice Millard (my non-fiction loving, science fiction dissing other half recommended this one. It was awesome)
24. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
23. Just One Bite - Kimberly Raye (oh my God the drivel. This book made me stupider)

22. Iron Council - China Mieville (the fact that I now live in the same town as this man makes me weak in the knees)
21. Spook Country - William Gibson
20. Are Men Necessary? - Maureen Dowd (Christmas present) (Look Ma! Non-fiction!)
19. Nowhere to Go - Lee Childs
18. Pigs in Heaven - Barbara Kingsolver
17. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis (a perennial favorite)
16. Whiskey and Water - Elizabeth Bear
15. The Alton Gift - Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross
14. Dragon Singer - Anne McCaffrey
13. The Bull from the Sea - Mary Renault March
12. Careless in Red - Elizabeth George
11. New Amsterdam - Elizabeth Bear
10. In the Moon of Red Ponies - James Lee Burke
9. A Different Light - Elizabeth Lynn
8. Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
7. Darwinia - Robert Charles Wilson
6. Undertow - Elizabeth Bear (I needed some aliens to recover from the overload of teenage vampire hormonal angst and wizard vs. werewolf shenanigans)
5. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer (phew!)
3. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
2. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson, translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland.

A 52 book project update

July was a good month.

30. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

29. Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde

28. Zodiac - Neal Stephenson

27. Pariah - Dave Zeltserman

26. A Secret Alchemy - Emma Darwin

July

25. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey - Candice Millard (my non-fiction loving, science fiction dissing other half recommended this one. It was awesome)

24. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
23. Just One Bite - Kimberly Raye (oh my God the drivel. This book made me stupider)
22. Iron Council - China Mieville (the fact that I now live in the same town as this man makes me weak in the knees)
June
21. Spook Country - William Gibson
20. Are Men Necessary? - Maureen Dowd (Christmas present) (Look Ma! Non-fiction!)
19. Nowhere to Go - Lee Childs
May
18. Pigs in Heaven - Barbara Kingsolver
17. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis (a perennial favorite)
April
16. Whiskey and Water - Elizabeth Bear
15. The Alton Gift - Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross
14. Dragon Singer - Anne McCaffrey
13. The Bull from the Sea - Mary Renault
March
12. Careless in Red - Elizabeth George
11. New Amsterdam - Elizabeth Bear
10. In the Moon of Red Ponies - James Lee Burke
9. A Different Light - Elizabeth Lynn
8. Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
7. Darwinia - Robert Charles Wilson
February
6. Undertow - Elizabeth Bear (I needed some aliens to recover from the overload of teenage vampire hormonal angst and wizard vs. werewolf shenanigans)
5. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer (phew!)
3. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
2. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson, translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland.
January

So at the beginning of August, I'm up to 30 books with 21 weeks left in the year, with at least two books that will be finished in the next few days. I'm feeling pretty good about the 52 book goal. Particularly since we're heading to Grandparent Nirvana next week for 16 days, and I plan to spend as much time as possible not looking after my children.

Now I know that Zellous is occupied with her brand new bundle of joy, so maybe we can solicit some recommendations from anyone reading for the next book club book? We won't tax her Brand New Mommy brain by making her choose something...(JK Zellous. Your brain is plenty powerful enough to kick the arse of those pesky hormones! And Congratulations!)