67. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twelfth Edition, Edited by Gardner Dozois

Always a great collection, this one was particularly good. There was one story I didn’t quite get, but many I really loved.

68. Eden Close by Anita Shreve

Short, a bit predictable, but gripping. I mean, I guessed what really happened the fateful night when the titular character was blinded in a tragic scene, but not every detail. I had trouble putting this one down.

69. The Terrorists of Irustan by Louise Marley

I really enjoyed this, in an appalled sort of way. The book was frightening in it’s parallels to our world, and in seeing a genuinely good person driven to commit terrible crimes because she really had no other way to affect the course of her own life or the lives of those she loves. I liked the way the end was both tragic and hopeful, although it was probably more hopeful than such a situation would be in real life, sadly. I thought the whole situation was handled very well, with things not being as black and white as they could be. This was definitely a book about male oppression of females, but the men weren’t all bad, either. Some were good, some did terrible things without really thinking it through, but were capable of learning. Highly recommended.

70. The Marlow Chronicles by Lawrence Sanders

This was an interesting little book about a dying man and the effect of his death on his friends and family. I was expecting something different from this one, because Sanders generally writes about big conspiracy type things, like corporations or governments, but this was an intimate group. It was a fascinating look at how people get along with each other, how someone knows who he is, really, and what people who are close to each other really mean to each other. I really enjoyed this.

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Let’s see, between now and the end of the year, I am having a housewarming party, hosting Thanksgiving dinner, getting ready for Christmas with the kids at my house for the end of the year vacation this year, plus all the normal work, cooking, seeing friends, house-cleaning (and must finish unpacking!). I think that I am not going to read as many books as last year (93) or the year before (83). Still, I think I am doing quite well for someone who bought a house in the year! I will at least get to 73, within shouting distance of 2006, I believe. Sounds good to me.

Two posts in one day! I have another one brewing in my head, too. And no, Hilary, my house isn’t really settling down yet, I am just bursting with the need for some normalcy. I have missed blogging. I posted on my affluenza blog earlier this month, and I am going to get back to my food blog soon, too.

59. The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon

I am so distracted by the house. I want all those boxes to be gone, dammit! So, it took me a bit to get into this. But, once I did, I loved it. I loved the alternate reality, and how well-thought out and believable it is. I loved the noir homage. I loved the gritty realism, and the scary worldview that doesn’t seem quite so alternate after all. I loved the writing. And, most importantly, I loved the end of the book. Very impressive.

I could say a lot more about this one, but so many people already have, that I am afraid I would be boring. Suffice to say, this is one of those books that everyone reads because it is that good, versus books that are popular for some reason that I can’t fathom (like The Da Vinci Code).

60. The Phoenix Code by Catherine Asaro

Re-read.

I came across this while unpacking a box of books that has been sitting in my front closet waiting for new shelves for years now. I got new shelves several times, but never enough to get out the boxes from storage! Now, I got a LOT of new shelves, and I seem to be set for a while. Must do more cataloguing, though. Anyway, I really liked this book. It had a bit more romance than I generally like in my SF, but it had some fascinating stuff about the nature of humanity, sentience and artificial intelligence.

61. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

I was intrigued by this book, but kind of surprised at how good it was. In some ways it seemed like not a lot happened, but of course, a lot did. The main character, based on Laura Bush, is so calm and even-tempered that there was never really anything that created a huge spike in her life, good or bad, even though there were many big good and bad things. Well, that’s not true, the part at the beginning where she is at fault in a fatal car accident, killing one of her classmates, was a pretty big spike. But many times I was afraid that some big fraught scene was coming that never materialized. So I was impressed at the level of tension that was maintained despite the very calm tone of the book. There was also a lot about the main character’s internal thoughts, which I sometimes find a bit boring, but was fascinated by in this book. Highly recommended.

62. Darwin Awards 4: Intelligent Design by Wendy Northcutt

These are always a lot of fun, and this was no exception. This was a nice, light read, and very amusing.

63. More Sex is Safer Sex by Steven E. Landsburg

Economics book. This was interesting, but a bit superficial, in a way that made it difficult to follow his arguments. I often found myself a bit lost because he seemed to be jumping around a bit, and demonstrating the opposite of what he said he was demonstrating. That said, Landsburg is clearly very smart and a rigorous economist, and some concentrated thought on the topics he raises would be rewarding I think, and clear up some things. I just wish he had been a bit more down in the details, and a bit less high-level.

64. Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin

Interesting little book about changing planes (of existence) while waiting to change airplanes in noisy, boring difficult airports (I know, that was redundant). This was basically a bunch of short descriptions of alternate human societies, both warlike and peaceful, and was very good. Le Guin is good at world-building, so this was a treat.

65. Glasshouse by Charles Stross

Lately I haven’t read lot of recent sf that I am really enjoying. I read a lot of older stuff that I missed, but when I head the bookstore and look at the current stuff, I have a hard time finding something new I want to read. This was an exception: I REALLY enjoyed this book. I liked the way he explored gender politics from the standpoint of a future where gender doesn’t matter in society, but people still tend to self-identify as one sex primarily. And then, he put these people against their will into the opposite sex, and in a historical simulation where they are in a present-day society, albeit an exagerrated one, where people are controlled by societal norms including sexism. It was fascinating. And, on top of that, the science of the future society is intriguing, and he explains just enough to get the idea across, and mostly through the actual story, rather than exposition. I found it slightly disorienting, in a pleasant way, the way I found my assumptions being challenged by this book. Definitely recommended.

66. The Bride of Pendorric by Victoria Holt

I do love me some Victoria Holt books. They are all gothic and creepy, but with sensical protagonists. I can’t get too creeped out, because I know they always end well, but I do like reading the twists and turns of the plots. This is what I call comfort reading. The books are old fashioned, yes, but the heroines are never the type that passively accept their fate, and they are always engaged and striving for happiness and fulfillment.

Here it is—the reason I have been away so long. It’s lovely, but a lot of work. One month in, and I am still drowning in boxes. But the mountain IS shrinking, slowly but surely.

Here is what I have been reading (since before the move, when I was already behind here, but hey! I was packing! And purging!) (with current comments):

41. Spin Control by Chris Moriarty

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t expecting it to have so much spy thriller in it, but I love spy thrillers, so it was good. I like that Moriarty’s books make me think about many things, genetics, politics, sociology, interpersonal relationships and more. Highly recommended.

42. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

This was a re-read, and I remembered who did it, but it was still a fun read.

43. Lost and Found by Carolyn Pankhurst

This book was very different than what I was expecting, and it was very good. Reality shows provide the potential for real drama, but you don’t always get it, since people are always aware of the cameras. I liked the way this story tried to get into the brains of the contestants in a reality show, and show the real drama (although fictional, of course) that could be there. The characters are very believable, and three dimensional, except for the ones that were believably less developed because they were still immature people. I really enjoyed this one.

44. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

I really enjoyed this, although I think I did like the blog better. This was more about the project itself, and less about the food. Which is fine, I guess, but different. I like Julie a lot, she reminds me of myself. I like that she is a bit rough, and that she found something to do rather than wallow in unhappiness when she didn’t like the way her life was going. And I am impressed with the sheer size of the project. This was a fast, fun read.

(When copying these from my LibraryThing thread on what I am reading this year, this is where I found the note that I was starting to look for a house—June 25th. The whole house hunting thing was something of a surprise. I was seriously looking last year, and I decided to give up and keep renting. I wasn’t finding anything I liked that I could afford, and a three bedroom apartment opened up in my building, so I decided to wait. Then, I saw a great condo near my apartment that had enough space for us that was actually in my price range! Of course, someone beat me to it, but by then I had talked myself into the whole house buying thing again, so I kept looking.)

45. Thud! by Terry Pratchett

Very good, as usual for Pratchett. I am so sad that he has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. I think that must be particularly hard for someone who works with words.

46. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

When I picked this up at the beginning of the year and just couldn’t get inot it, it was definitely because I was feeling slumpish, I know now. This was so suspenseful, I had to force myself to slow down and read it all toward the end, and this depsite having seen the movie. Very fun!

47. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

Still fun, very interesting. If they make more movies, I have no idea how they are going to be able to avoid pissing off the Catholic Church or any Christian Church, but I am sure they will figure out a way. That girl who played Lyra in the movie really was perfect for the part. She really captured the character.

48. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

I have to say that The Golden Compass remains my favorite of this series, but I liked reading through until the end. I liked the ending, although it seemed a bit anti-climactic in some ways. And, the writing was not as tight, and it was much more sentimental. But it was a good read.

(I am including this editorial comment from the original post: Still packing and submitting paperwork and getting ready for the move. But once I move, I will have to stay at home and read all the time. Unfortunately, it turns out that I am staying at home and unpacking all the time….)

A slight diversion, with an attempted read: I started The End of Mr. Y, but I couldn’t take it. I am sorry, but the narrator describes herself as a binge reader who used to spend entire days at the library as a kid, reading as much as she could cram in her brain. Then she finds a book that she has been searching for, and really looking forward to reading. She stays up late that night, gets up early the next morning, and reads all day until 4:00, stopping only to make a simple lunch, and then she gets to…page 133? That’s when I completely lost all respect for the book. Especially since they had excerpts from the book, and it was not a difficult read. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I need to mail it off soon (because someone sent it to me from Book Crossing, which was wonderful of her), once I get it entered on Book Crossing and get the next address.

49. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Wonderful book. What a great writer Murakami is. At first this book was a little confusing, but it quickly became more clear. I thought the concepts were fascinating.

50. Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark

Fast read, suspenseful. Not great literature, but a nice escape read.

51. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Very interesting. Savannah has some pretty quirky residents, and Berendt is a very good writer. The mystery was interesting, and the character sketches were fascinating.

(This was posted Aug. 4th—I am leaving in a lot of these moving things because it helps explain how very far behind I am on my goal…) I spent much of the weekend either taking stuff to Good Will, throwing stuff away, packing, or helping a friend move (I want help with my move, too!). I will be so glad when this move is over, but I have to say, it feels good to get rid of a bunch of stuff. We still have too much stuff, but we have quite a bit less that we used to have. I figure we will get rid of even more as we unpack, but I am running out of time to be sorting through stuff–I need it all in boxes, ready to go.

52. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Very good book. I am reading a lot of books with my daughter and it’s funny reading these books as an adult. Partly from growing up, and partly from having a lot more experience reading books, it is interesting to see what the authors are doing in these books, and how differently I view the characters than I did when I was a kid.

53. Mona Lisa Ov
erdrive by William Gibson

Now I need to re-read Neuromancer and Count Zero. Still, even though I think this would have been a bit more clear if I had recently read those books, it was good. I really like Gibson’s ability to take seemingly disparate stories and weave them together without seeming totally disjointed. Just disjointed enough to keep you off-balance .

54. The $64 Tomato by William Alexander

Fun book about the trials of having a large kitchen garden and orchard. Since I am buying my own house, I can do a little bit of gardening, although I don’t think I will ever be the kind of person who devotes all of my free time to the garden, no matter how good the food tastes. Still, some fresh herbs and tomatoes would be nice. And maybe a blackberry or raspberry bush…

(Hey, there is already a raspberry bush at the house! Yippee! And tomatoes! And lots and lots of basil!)

55. The Bancroft Strategy by Robert Ludlum

I love Ludlum books. This one was very suspenseful, even though I figured a lot of it out early. I figured it out, but then I started to doubt myself, so it was interesting reading through to see if I was right. It was also very thought-provoking, especially the moral quandary of where to draw the line with the ends justifying the means. I loved the ambiguous end.

(September 5th, although the wallowing in boxes thing is still pretty much true, despite MANY actual unpacked boxes) I am still wallowing in boxes, which is no fun. I love the house, though! Still haven’t touched the yardwork, either. I am almost done with another book, though, thanks to the longer commute.It seems pretty much a foregone conclusion I am NOT going to make 100 books this year. That’s fine, though, I wasn’t planning on buying a house when I set the goal. Maybe next year. In the meantime, I will see how far I do get.

56. The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

Once again, I love Lionel Shriver! What a fantastic book, and so very thought-provoking. Irina’s relationship hits a crisis point, where she is tempted to kiss another man. The book proceeds in alternating chapters where she did kiss him, and where she didn’t. The chapters are very similar, with the same words and scenarios repeated in drastically different ways. When Irina writes a children’s book with a moral that directly comments on her life, I thought it was a bit obvious, until I read about the book she writes in the parallel world, with a different moral that also applies directly. Alone, the morals seem like spoon-feeding the reader; in counterpoint, they add to the complexity of the comparison.

I love how the situation is not as straight forward as it seems at first, and how neither situation is obviously much better than the other one. Life is complicated, with some good and some bad in every situation and relationship, and you have to determine your priorities as you go. Also, the idea of comparing the consequences to two sides of a choice is fascinating. In real life, obviously, you have no way of knowing what would have happened if you made the opposite choice, but people always wonder. Overall, highly recommended.

57. Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf and others who I can’t remember off the top of my head

This was a re-read. I came across this while unpacking, and felt the need for a refresh. I always struggle with the line between having enough and having too much. Do I really need all this stuff, or will it make me happy? After moving WAY TOO MUCH STUFF, this is on my mind even more than usual.

58. You’re Wearing That? by Deborah Tannen

Interesting book about communication between mothers and adult daughters, where it goes wrong, and why it is so confusing for all parties. Being an adult daughter of a mother, I found it interesting, although I think I had figured out a lot of the issues I have with my mother. Of course, it is easy to forget cool reason in the heat of a difficult conversation, so it helps to be reminded. I am also hoping it will help me to have a good relationship with my daughter as she gets older; something to look forward to as we approach the rocky teen years!

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So, yeah, not going to make 100 books this year. Maybe next year.

My secondary goal for the end of this year (because I am not holding a lot of hope for the read more than I buy goal that was my originally secondary goal) (oh, and I’m not making my primary goal either, so maybe this should be the primary goal) (whatever!): post here more often. No more insanely long posts!

I know, I am SO behind. The end of the school year is busy and hectic, and on top of that, I got a PMP certification in mid-May, which took a lot of my time. I did get a fair amount of reading done, but I didn’t have any time to post. I had a lot of book-related thoughts, too, so I need to find some time and energy to get here more often…

29. Three in Death by J.D. Robb

I could have done without the ghostly aspects of the last story, but I am glad that I am not totally up to date in this series.

30. Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula K. Le Guin

This was three short novels together in one book. Since there were only 370 total pages, I am counting this as one book.

These stories are loosely connected by one world that figures in all three novels, with long periods of time in between the stories, on the order of hundreds of years. These books were not as complex as her later books, but they were definitely very good. I particularly liked the third book; the characters were very well-developed, and I liked the way that the people evolved their control of their mind power. I found this book because of the series feature here at LT, because I didn’t know about it before I went to see what I had in this series, and I am glad that I did find it.

31. A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski

This is an author I found here on LT, and I am so glad I did! This was a fascinating investigation of what a fully female world would look like, and how they would interact with another world. Slonczewski was very effective at making her main villian less than totally villianous. I totally believed that the character of Berenice could fall in love with him, even though he was so condescending and sexist. And, you could see him clearly struggling to do what was right, even as he made the wrong decisions. I also like this kind of feminist book where there are men who are not sexist, and women who are not wonderful–I can’t stand the kind of book that paints all men as evil, which is clearly not true.

Shora, the watery world where the women of the book live, is a wonderfully realized world, with an incredibly detailed ecology. It’s amazing that Slonczewski could express so much about the world without breaking the pace of the story–I never felt lectured to by the book.

32. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Eh. I persisted in reading this book because some people I like on LT (although no specific names spring to mind) said it was good, and I was mildly interested in where the bishop’s bird stump would turn up, but it was a bit of a struggle. The storyline was needlessly convoluted–all the sections where the hero sits down and attempts to puzzle out how all the time contimuum stuff would try to correct itself, I just skimmed. Who cares? Also, could these people have been any denser? The whole book drove me crazy while they tried to figure out who Tossie should marry, since it was blindingly obvious from practically the first scene with her in it. All the craziness they perpetrated while trying to figure out the identity of her future spouse? Made me want to just smack them.

So, when they get to the end and Ned figures it all out (or mostly–and I hate that kind of ending, where they throw in a maybe-there-is-one-more-element-we’ll-never-be-able-to-know wrench in the works), I find it hard to believe. I find it hard to believe that Ned can find the door to his room when he wakes up in the morning! Too complicated, too irritating, too glib. Oh, and when they figure out what happened–the thing that caused everything to go wrong–they decide it’s great that they can do it again and again. Hello? Haven’t they noticed 400 pages of craziness, with people trapped in the past and Europe being potentially lost to Hitler to tell them this was a bad idea?

And the foreshadowing was pretty intense. If I hadn’t been skimming whole sections and just trying to get through the book quickly, I would have figured out the entire plot well before the end (rather than the 75% of it I figured out without trying).

There were some redeeming qualities to the book, though. Willis is a good writer, and things moved along quickly. I liked Verity (although she was pretty stupid, too). The stuff about butlers was very amusing. Some of the characters were caricatures, but some of them were very well realized and interesting. I found myself liking the characters, even as I wanted to inflict bodily harm on them. The scenes with the animals were well-done. There is enough writing skill that I might be willing to try another Willis book in the future, but I can’t recommend this one.

33. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

Fantastic. Deeply disorienting, as it deals with homeless people and mental illness. I wasn’t particularly surprised by the “twist” at the end, but it was still just a fascinating book. It is hard to say much about this without giving away the twist, and I don’t want to ruin this for someone else if they want to read it and be surprised, but this was really, really good. Bohjalian has some weird quirks, like referring to his main character as “the social worker” a lot, but that may have been a bit of a plot point, come to think of it. Also, there were a lot of references to eyeglass frames, and whether they fit the age of the person who was wearing them. Weird. But overall, it was beautifully written, and I had trouble putting the book down.

34. Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks

Deeply disturbing. I feel that I understand Islam fundamentalism a bit more, and also how women can possibly be fundamentalists, even though I still think it is a terrible idea. Of the many things I am grateful for in this life, high on the list is the fact that I was not born as a woman into a fundamentalist Muslim family and society. Although, come to think of it, I am glad I am not a man in such a society, either. Scary, scary stuff.

35. Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson

I love Kate Atkinson. You can’t expect her books to be firmly grounded in reality, although some of her more straightforward mysteries are more realistic. This was a bit of a combination–there was a fairly straightforward mystery in one sense, but it was a bit separated from reality, too. I love the way Atkinson tells the reader things that the characters do not know, and how she experiments with reality. Also, how things that are not real give us information that is really true. It is fascinating figuring out the interaction between the real world inside her story and the imaginary–because there are connections, the imaginary is a commentary on the real. I am very interested in the nature of reality, personally, so I love to read Atkinson’s investigations of the subject.

36. Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan

I somehow had the idea that this was about Indian immigrants, but it is actually about Sri Lanka. I learned a lot, but in a very interesting, incidental to the story sort of way. The structure was a bit odd, with no quotation marks to indicate for sure when peo
ple are talking, for instance, but it flowed very well.

That said, the end of this book was disappointing. The story just kind of ended, with no real conclusion to justify the tension that was built up as I read. Because there was a build up of tension, very subtle, that had me racing to an ending that was distinctly underwhelming.

Ganeshananthan is definitely an author to watch out for. I am sure that she will mature as a writer, and her future books will be even better than this one, which did have a lot to recommend it. The characters are very realistic, and their relationships were fascinating. As a Westerner, I don’t have much experience with arranged marriages, and the various gradations between a completely arranged marriage and a love marriage chosen only by the couple involved. The information on the Tamil-Sinhalese conflict in Sri Lanka was illustrated through the impacts to the various characters in a way that imparted a lot of information without making the reader feel like the book is a textbook or a newspaper. Overall, I do recommend this book, but don’t expect a fantastic ending.

37. Careless in Red by Elizabeth George

This was certainly better than What Came Before He Shot Her, but it is far from a return to George’s earlier brilliance. I figured out the end to the mystery on page 384 of a 603 page book, without really trying. The characterization was a bit unrealistic to me. Lynley finds a body while he is wandering off mourning his wife and child, and the detective in charge of the murder investigation puts him in charge of key parts of the investigation? At least Havers points out how irregular this is, but still, it’s not believable.

That said, I did read it compulsively to the end, and there were mysteries about the characters that I did not completely figure out until they were explained (although that may have been partly a matter of will on my part). I hate to be critical of an author that has written many excellent books I have really enjoyed; I know this is a very difficult thing to do well, but I have to admit I am a bit disappointed. I really hope that she continues to get better as she puts the self-indulgent mess that was What Came Before He Shot Her further and further behind her.

38. Don’t Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff

Funny, interesting, a quick read.

39. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Although it has been over 20 years since I read this book, I remembered who did it right away. It was still an excellent book.

40. Shadow’s End by Sheri S. Tepper

I could have sworn I already had this book, but I picked up a used hardcover anyway, since I figure hardcovers are always better than paperbacks. But when I started to read it, it was completely unfamiliar. Not like I didn’t remember how it ended, but like all new information. And I couldn’t find the paperback on my shelves, so maybe I never did read it. Or maybe it’s in a box somewhere.

Anyway, I liked this book. It is very similar to a lot of Tepper’s other books, and relatively low on the preachiness scale. Tepper is a bit more into religion and gods than a lot of science fiction writers, which can be a bit jarring to someone who isn’t expecting it, but she is really good at world-building and creating real characters. I really cared about these people.

26. Wit’s End by Karen Joy Fowler

I have already talked about this in the posts below, about the reading I went to, but I will say again: very good.

27. Spin State by Chris Moriarty

Great book. I love this kind of hard science book that also looks at relationships and the human implications of our increasingly advanced technology. By that I mean that this book explores artificial intelligence and genetic manipulation, what makes a sentient being human, fear of the unknown, and how people set up artificial lines between us and them. Fascinating stuff.

28. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Okay, this was only 55 pages long, but it was in its own book, and I am way behind pace here! Great story, although very sad of course. I never saw the movie, and I don’t think I will. I am sure it is good, too, but so depressing.