luneray: January 2011

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Books 2011

titles in bold reflect those I'd especially recommend.

100. A History of the Swedish People, volume 2 by Vilhelm Moberg, finished 04 December 2011

99. The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman, finished 01 December 2011

98. A History of the Swedish People, volume 1 by Vilhelm Moberg, finished 27 November 2011

97. The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner, finished 25 November 2011

96. Swordspoint: a melodrama of manners by Ellen Kushner, finished 24 November 2011

95. The Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of all the Great Books You'll Never Read by Stuart Kelly, finished 17 November 2011

94. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, finished 9 November 2011

93. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, finished 9 November 2011

92. A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage, finished 29 October 2011

91. In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hearn, finished 25 October 2011

90. Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend, finished 23 October 2011

89. Ghost Stories of Washington by Barbara Smith, finished 22 October 2011

88. All Wound Up: the Yarn Harlot writes for a spin by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, finished 13 October 2011

87. Dear Fatty by Dawn French, finished 12 October 2011.

86. The Breaking by Dusk Peterson, finished 04 October 2011

85. The Wish List by Eoin Colfer, finished 03 October 2011

84. Memoirs of an Icelandic Bookworm by Jona E. Hammer, finished 01 October 2011.

83. Righting the Mother Tongue: from Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling, finished 21 September 2011.

82. Summer's Crossing by Julia Kagawa, finished 17 September 2011

81. The Smoke Dragon by Shane Jiraiya Cummings, finished 16 September 2011

80. Shuteye for the Timebroker: stories by Paul Di Filippo, finished 31 August 2011

79. Smut, vol.1 by the editors of Nerve.com, finished 28 August 2011

78. Soon I Will Be Invincible by August Grossman, finished 27 August 2011

77. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, finished 21 August 2011

76. A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart, finished 16 August 2011

75. Andean Express by Juan de Recacoechea, finished 15 August 2011

74. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, finished 12 August 2011

73. Harp, Pipe, and Symphony by Paul Di Filippo, finished 04 August 2011

72. Counterpoint by Rachel Haimowitz, finished 03 August 2011.

71. Glimpses by Lynn Flewelling, finished 28 July 2011

70. Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling, finished 26 July 2011

69. Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling, finished 17 July 2011

68. Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick, finished 09 July 2011

67. The Alchemist's Code by Dave Duncan, finished 03 July 2011

66. Myths and Mysteries of Washington by L.E. Bragg, finished 03 July 2011

65. Ill Met in the Arena by Dave Duncan, finished 30 June 2011

64. The Word Snoop by Ursula Dubosarsky, finished 27 June 2011

63. Speak to the Devil by Dave Duncan, finished 26 June 2011

62. The God Engines by John Scalzi,finished 24 June 2011.

61. hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, finished 24 June 2011

60. Djinn in the Nightengale's Eye by A.S. Byatt, finished 23 June 2011

59. The Scar-Crow Men by Mark Chadbourn, finished 20 June 2011

58. Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and other Journeys to the Edge of Science by Richard Preston, finished 20 June 2011.

57. The Celts: A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe, finished 19 June 2011.

56. You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity by Robert Lane Greene, finished 06/06/11

55. The Silver Skull: Swords of Albion by Mark Chadbourn, finished 05/31/11

54. Just Kids by Patti Smith, finished 05/26/11

53. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, finished 03/19/11

52. The Anglo-Saxon Age: A very short introduction by John Blair, finished 03/07/11

51. The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens, finished 03/06/11

50. The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg, finished 03/05/11

49. Linguistics: A very short introduction by P. H. Matthews, finished 03/04/11

48. The Vikings: A very short introduction by Julian D. Richards, finished 03/04/11

47. The Oracle's Queen by Lynn Flewelling, finished 02/28/11

46. Mortal Syntax by June Casavantes, finished 02/26/11

45. Hidden Warrior by Lynn Flewelling, finished 02/26/11

44. Harshini by Jennifer Fallon, finished 02/23/01

43. Treason Keep by Jennifer Fallon, finished 02/21/11

42. Medalon by Jennifer Fallon, finished 02/20/11

41. The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling, finished 02/17/11

40. Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends by David Wilton, finished 02/12/11

39. The World's Best Fairy Tales, vol. 1, edited by Belle Becker Sideman, finished 02/11/11

38. The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and their tale of rescue and redemption by Jim Gorant, finished 02/07/11

37. Warlord by Jennifer Fallon, finished 02/07/11

36. Warrior by Jennifer Fallon, finished 02/05/11

35. The Golden Horn by Judith Tarr, finished 02/02/11

34. Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed, finished 02/01/11

33. The Isle of Glass by Judith Tarr, finished 01/30/11

32. The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien, finished 01/30/11

31. A Treasury of the World's Greatest Fairy Tales by Helen Hyman, finished 01/29/11

30. A Second Treasury of the World's Greatest Fairy Tales by Helen Hyman, finished 01/29/11

29. Wolfblade by Jennifer Fallon, finished 01/29/11

28. Emerald Magic, edited by Andrew M. Greeley, finished 01/26/11

27.The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Suzanna Clarke, finished 01/24/11

26. Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart, finished 01/21/11

25. Language Myths, edited by Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill, finished 01/20/11

24. The English Language: a guided tour of the language by David Crystal, finished 01/19/11

23. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, finished 01/17/11

22. The World's Best Fairy Tales, vol. 2, edited by Belle Becker Sideman, finished 01/16/11

21. The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart, finished 01/16/11

20. The Chaos Crystal by Jennifer Fallon, finished 01/14/11

19. Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China that Never Was by Barry Hughart, finished 01/12/11

18. Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop, finished 01/08/11.

17. A Young Man without Magic by Lawrence Watt-Evans, finished 01/05/11

16. Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson, finished 01/02/11

15. Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer, finished 01/01/11

14. The Witch of Cologne by Tobsha Learner, finished 01/01/11

13. The Assassin's Edge by Juliet E. McKenna, finished 12/29/10

12. Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner, finished 12/26/10

11. Midsummer Night by Freda Warrington, finished 12/24/10

10. Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst, finished 12/20/10

9. The Greener Shore by Morgan Llewellyn, finished 12/17/10

8. Elfland by Freda Warrington, finished 12/16/10

7. Why Greenland is an island, Australia is not, and Japan is up for grabs by Joyce Davis, finished 12/15/10

6. Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip, finished 12/13/10

5. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz, finished 12/10/10

4. Ice Land by Betsy Tobin, finished 12/10/10

3. The Stray Sod Country by Patrick McCabe, finished Dec. 9, 2010

2. When the King Comes Home by Caroline Stevermere, finished Dec. 9, 2010

1. Dawnthief: a chronicle of the Raven by James Barclay finished on Dec. 7 2010

(blows dust off blog...)

Hello? Hello? Anyone still there? (listens to echo...)

In an effort to pull myself out of my funk, I gave myself a goal that would require real effort yet one I thought I could actually achieve. At the beginning of December, I made a goal to read 100 books between December 2010 and the end of 2011.

True to form, I may have underestimated myself. (I always thought I was simply a modest person but I can still hear the snarl in my elementary school teachers' perfect penmanship on my report cards: "She is very intelligent but does not work to her full potential.)

It's only the middle of January, yet so far I've read 21 books. IN all honesty, I have to say that I've broken my long-standing taboo about reading at work when it's slow. I'll freely admit that I'm lazy and a slacker but for some reason, I just couldn't cross the line of reading at my desk. Instead, I'd entertain myself some other way...internet, writing a letter, something. I guess the idea is that I at least look busy if I'm on the computer but if I'm reading a novel...well, to me that's a signal that my supervisor will have to cook up something unpleasant for me to do "to keep me busy".

My rules are quite simple. The books must be individually published, be at least 100 pages, can be fiction or non, but must be mostly narrative. For example, a knitting book will count if it's mostly instruction/technique but not if it's a pattern book (although I have to admit that including books such as Tea Cozies 1 & 2 and Egg Cozies would certainly increase the list quite quickly). Books that fail the 100 page rule will be noted as 100a, 100b, etc.

I was inspired to do this by two things: my friend Margarita, who is the most voracious reader I've ever met. AND she reads literary fiction in Spanish, French, and English. I have a house full of books plus about 500 books on "read later" list at the Seattle Library, so I thought it would be a great time to decrease the "read later" list and increase the "completed" list. Also, over the past several months, I've been buying LOTS of books from Powells, and they've arrived faster than I have been able to read them.

Without further excuses, here is the list so far: