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I have been on vacation, so I haven't posted my books recently and I've had a lot of time to read. So here we go:
32. Roger Zelazny "The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny Volume Three"
This volume covers the period when Zelazny first became a full time through the early Amber books. This is the period in which his themes mostly turned away from the mythological and become more consumable by ordinary people. The stories have a lot of variety with some being fun (My Lady of the Diodes, Here There Be Dragons), others dark (The Hounds of Sorrow), and others dark fun (A Hand Across the Galaxy). The short "Window Washer" read and felt like a Bradbury story. The Stowaway has a similar feel in a very short form. There is so much in each one of these volumes, I can't do them justice in a short review.
33. Trevor Noah "Born A Crime"
Trevor Noah's book "Born A Crime" was a fun quick read. He manages to stuff humor into some serious, serious shit. The layout is simple with many short chapters and straightforward structure. I think this would be a good book for teens and pre-teens to fill in some history and broaden perspectives.
34. Various Authors "A Future History of the United States"
This collection of near future science fictions stories is intended to highlight the experience minority groups of all types. There were some really good stories in the collection, but it was uneven. A fair number of the stories didn't jell for me. Some felt like they tried too hard, others felt they should have spent a little more time in the oven (or at the editors). I'm sad I can't really recommend the collection because I wanted to be able to cheer for it. Great idea, if you can pick it up cheap you might want to give it a go.
35. Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol"
I re-read "A Christmas Carol" while travelling. The word choices and the rhythm of the sentences is so very delightful, most notably in the first part. Yes, I know the story by heart and even know many of the lines by heart. It doesn't matter, it is still a fun read.
36. Jasper Fforde "The Last Dragonslayer"
I am re-reading Jasper Fforde's Dragonslayer series in preparation for the first read on the latest and last book in the series: The Great Troll War. It had been quite a while since I read "The Last Dragonslayer" so many of the details were new to me again. And Fforde makes a complicated world which I can never quite catch of the pieces of because I read the book too quickly once I get started.
37. Agatha Christie "The Murder at the Vicarage"
Agatha Christie's "The Murder at the Vicarage" is a classic setting (a small English village) with body and a varied selection of suspects. There is plenty of herring, all of it red. There is misdirection. This is the first novel in which Miss Marple appears and although she solves the mystery, she is not the main character. I think Christie found Miss Marple was a much better character to work with than the one which plays the lead in this book.
38. Ben Aaronovitch "Midnight Riot"
Ben Aaronovitch's "Midnight Riot" feels like a wind up. Despite the fact that it barrels along at quite a pace, it feels like it is just starting to get going at the end. Like the beginning of a series, which it is. The world and the characters are interesting. For Londonphiles it is an all you can eat curry buffet. I thought he tried to get too far in this book, having to cover too much ground to get to the end point. There seemed to be a lot of exposition (Captain's log star date...) and though some of it is probably necessary to fill in the history on which the plot depends, at times it felt burdensome. That said, I still really liked the world and characters and can't wait to read more. I'm hoping book two smooths out a bit and tackles a bite of the story arc which it can chew.
39. Terry Pratchett "The Wee Free Men"
I whipped right through the re-read of "The Wee Free Men". I think the Tiffany Aching books are my favorite sub-series within the Discworld series. When I first read the books, I did it out of order, starting with Wintersmith then coming back to The Wee Free Men. On that read, Wee Free Men didn't sit as well, the trait of Pratchett books ending, then ending, and ending, and then finally ending seemed really heavy handed. But this time I was able to sit back a little more and see it as a meaningful part of the plot, like matryoshka, dreams nested within dreams, worlds nested within worlds.
It is obvious at this point that I won't get to the book a week mark this year, but I have read a fair number.
32. Roger Zelazny "The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny Volume Three"
This volume covers the period when Zelazny first became a full time through the early Amber books. This is the period in which his themes mostly turned away from the mythological and become more consumable by ordinary people. The stories have a lot of variety with some being fun (My Lady of the Diodes, Here There Be Dragons), others dark (The Hounds of Sorrow), and others dark fun (A Hand Across the Galaxy). The short "Window Washer" read and felt like a Bradbury story. The Stowaway has a similar feel in a very short form. There is so much in each one of these volumes, I can't do them justice in a short review.
33. Trevor Noah "Born A Crime"
Trevor Noah's book "Born A Crime" was a fun quick read. He manages to stuff humor into some serious, serious shit. The layout is simple with many short chapters and straightforward structure. I think this would be a good book for teens and pre-teens to fill in some history and broaden perspectives.
34. Various Authors "A Future History of the United States"
This collection of near future science fictions stories is intended to highlight the experience minority groups of all types. There were some really good stories in the collection, but it was uneven. A fair number of the stories didn't jell for me. Some felt like they tried too hard, others felt they should have spent a little more time in the oven (or at the editors). I'm sad I can't really recommend the collection because I wanted to be able to cheer for it. Great idea, if you can pick it up cheap you might want to give it a go.
35. Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol"
I re-read "A Christmas Carol" while travelling. The word choices and the rhythm of the sentences is so very delightful, most notably in the first part. Yes, I know the story by heart and even know many of the lines by heart. It doesn't matter, it is still a fun read.
36. Jasper Fforde "The Last Dragonslayer"
I am re-reading Jasper Fforde's Dragonslayer series in preparation for the first read on the latest and last book in the series: The Great Troll War. It had been quite a while since I read "The Last Dragonslayer" so many of the details were new to me again. And Fforde makes a complicated world which I can never quite catch of the pieces of because I read the book too quickly once I get started.
37. Agatha Christie "The Murder at the Vicarage"
Agatha Christie's "The Murder at the Vicarage" is a classic setting (a small English village) with body and a varied selection of suspects. There is plenty of herring, all of it red. There is misdirection. This is the first novel in which Miss Marple appears and although she solves the mystery, she is not the main character. I think Christie found Miss Marple was a much better character to work with than the one which plays the lead in this book.
38. Ben Aaronovitch "Midnight Riot"
Ben Aaronovitch's "Midnight Riot" feels like a wind up. Despite the fact that it barrels along at quite a pace, it feels like it is just starting to get going at the end. Like the beginning of a series, which it is. The world and the characters are interesting. For Londonphiles it is an all you can eat curry buffet. I thought he tried to get too far in this book, having to cover too much ground to get to the end point. There seemed to be a lot of exposition (Captain's log star date...) and though some of it is probably necessary to fill in the history on which the plot depends, at times it felt burdensome. That said, I still really liked the world and characters and can't wait to read more. I'm hoping book two smooths out a bit and tackles a bite of the story arc which it can chew.
39. Terry Pratchett "The Wee Free Men"
I whipped right through the re-read of "The Wee Free Men". I think the Tiffany Aching books are my favorite sub-series within the Discworld series. When I first read the books, I did it out of order, starting with Wintersmith then coming back to The Wee Free Men. On that read, Wee Free Men didn't sit as well, the trait of Pratchett books ending, then ending, and ending, and then finally ending seemed really heavy handed. But this time I was able to sit back a little more and see it as a meaningful part of the plot, like matryoshka, dreams nested within dreams, worlds nested within worlds.
It is obvious at this point that I won't get to the book a week mark this year, but I have read a fair number.
