tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651nollynollynolly2011-12-22T17:42:56Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:243125nolly @ 2011-12-22T09:41:002011-12-22T17:42:56Z2011-12-22T17:42:56Zpublic090) Julian Comstock, Robert Charles Wilson<br /><br />Near-future (late 22nd century), but reads to me like alternate history. Society as we know it has collapsed -- the oil ran out, there was disease, etc. In the aftermath, the US apparently took over Canada, and conservative religion pretty much took over the government. The Presidency is semi-hereditary, term limits are a thing of the past, and technology is mostly gone. This is the story of a young man from the current ruling family, told by his commoner friend, as he tries to survive and subvert his uncle's reign. It's long, and I ended up taking a break from it a couple of times to read other works, but it's well-told. It was up for the Hugo in 2010.<br /><br />91) Mansfield Park, Jane Austen, via LibriVox<br /><br />It's Jane Austen. There's family drama, class contrasts, and romance. Since I hadn't read it before, I will refrain from spoilery summaries in case you haven't either. As I was approaching the end, I wondered how all those loose ends were going to get wrapped up; they did.<br /><br />92) Blue Christmas, Mary Kay Andrews<br /><br />Technically a novella, according to the afterword, but I'm counting it anyway. It's over 200 pages and has chapters. It's a Christmas tale following Savannah Blues and Savannah Breeze, but no one dies in this one. There's a bit of a mystery, but mostly it's just another chapter in the lives of the characters from the two novels. If you like light Southern mysteries, you';; probably like the novels; if you like them, you'll probably enjoy this, too.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=243125" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:242913nolly @ 2011-12-15T14:39:002011-12-15T23:19:57Z2011-12-16T00:47:54Zpublic0I'm so behind on book logging...<br /><br />?.60) Esther<br />?.61) Ezra (for real)<br />?.62) Nehemiah<br />?.63) Malachi<br /><br />All I have left are the ends of Job, Revelation, and Psalms.<br /><br />I realized I mostly haven't noted the audiobooks I listened to at home while cleaning, etc.; these will be in the order I come to them scrolling down my LibraryThing list, not the order read. It's possible one or two were actually from late last year, but mostly this year; it's also possible I skipped over some I think were last year which were actually this year, so it should balance out. <br /><br />76) City of Bones, Michael Connelly<br /><br />It's a police procedural. Entertaining enough, not a series I'm going to go devour.<br /><br />77) Lost Light, Michael Connelly<br /><br />Same series as the previous, but not the main character is retired, so he's playing by slightly different rules.<br /><br />78) Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis<br /><br />What Christianity means to Lewis. Mostly, I agree with his view, though there are places I'd quibble, and places where his cultural context shows.<br /><br />79) Possible Side Effects, Augusten Burroughs<br /><br />If you like David Sedaris, you'll probably like this.<br /><br />80) The March, E.L. Doctorow<br /><br />Civil War, particularly Sherman's March returning north. Maybe the first novel I've read from the Yankee POV -- not that I've read a lot of Civil War novels.<br /><br />81) Act of Treason, Vince Flynn<br /><br />Spy / suspense novel.<br /><br />82) The Summons, John Grisham<br /><br />Tried to read Grisham years ago, and bounced off. This wasn't bad. Southern family / legal drama.<br /><br />83) Salem's Lot, Stephen King<br /><br />Vampires. No sparkling.<br /><br />84) The God of Animals, Aryn Kyle <br /><br />Family drama<br /><br />85) Light in Shadow, Jayne Ann Krentz<br /><br />A psychometric interior designer, a couple of murders to solve, and a romance plot.<br /><br />86) Ten Big Ones, Janet Evanovich<br /><br />A Stephanie Plum novel. They are what they are, I guess; this was my first one.<br /><br />87) Lisey's Story, Stephen King<br /><br />Interesting parallel-reality novel of a widow being stalked by a crazed fan or her late husband.<br /><br />88) The Colorado Kid, Stephen King<br /><br />More a novella-length work, I think. Two old newspapermen filling the young intern in on the real local mystery.<br /><br />89) The Ghost, Robert Harris<br /><br />Political suspense / crime<br /><br />I think that's all...<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=242913" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:242499nolly @ 2011-12-01T14:33:002011-12-02T20:11:30Z2011-12-15T23:20:36Zpublic0?.56) 1 John<br />?.57) 2 John<br />?.58) Zechariah<br />?.59) 3 John<br /><br />4 more OT books, plus the remainders of Ezra and Psalms; the only NT book left is the Revelation.<br /><br />75) The Kingdom of the Gods, by N.K. Jemisin<br /><br />The conclusion to the trilogy that begins with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. As with book two, this was not the book I expected -- she has a way of surprising me! The character I expected it to be about is in the book, though; that story does get told. Because it's the end of a trilogy, I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers. It ties the story up nicely; there's potentially room for a follow-on, but it's not necessary, and I'm not even sure whether or not it would be a good idea.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=242499" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:242221nolly @ 2011-11-21T09:33:002011-11-23T23:38:07Z2011-12-15T23:21:08Zpublic0?.53) Daniel<br />?.54) John<br />?.55) Haggai<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=242221" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:241962nolly @ 2011-11-18T09:34:002011-11-18T18:12:40Z2011-11-18T18:12:40Zpublic074) A Dance with Dragons, via Audible<br /><br />Martin does what he does. While this is the same reader as three of the previous four books, he bugged me a lot more in this one than I recall he doing in the past. Little to no verbal distinction betweens what a character though and what a character said, some characters voices were horrid, he pronunciation of "Unsullied" sounds like "Unsolid", "loyal" turned into "leel", and I need to flip through a printed copy to figure out what he was actually saying in a couple of places -- I'm fairly sure he didn't call "Abel the bard" a panda....<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=241962" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:241794nolly @ 2011-11-15T17:59:002011-11-16T01:59:41Z2011-12-15T23:21:30Zpublic0?.52) Ezekiel<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=241794" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:241416nolly @ 2011-10-25T14:09:002011-10-25T21:12:23Z2011-10-25T21:12:23Zpublic073) Aphrodite's Kiss, by Julie Kenner<br /><br />Light paranormal romance. If that's not your usual cup of tea, there are others with more crossover appeal; I picked up this series because I have enjoyed her other works, like the Demon Hunting Soccer Mom books. I didn't dislike this at all -- it was a delightful break from some heavier reading -- but it didn't really stand out, either.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=241416" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:241160nolly @ 2011-10-21T12:51:002011-10-21T19:52:00Z2011-12-15T23:21:57Zpublic0?.50) Jeremiah<br />?.51) 2 Peter<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=241160" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:240951nolly @ 2011-10-18T13:22:002011-10-18T20:23:08Z2011-12-15T23:22:58Zpublic0?.48) Obadiah<br />?.49) 1 Peter<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=240951" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:240657nolly @ 2011-10-14T12:58:002011-10-17T20:42:33Z2011-12-15T23:23:39Zpublic0?.45) 2 Kings<br />?.46) 2 Chronicles<br />?.47) Lamentations<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=240657" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:240473nolly @ 2011-10-12T12:56:002011-10-12T19:57:40Z2011-12-15T23:24:19Zpublic0Neglected to update a few:<br /><br />?.42) Zephaniah<br />?.43) 2 Corinthians<br />?.44) James<br /><br />Fiction-wise, I'm in the midst of a few longer books, thus no updates.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=240473" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:240336nolly @ 2011-10-03T09:50:002011-10-03T16:54:02Z2011-10-03T16:54:02Zpublic072) Startide Rising, by David Brin, via Audible<br /><br />Part of my ongoing "read the Hugo winners" project. It was OK, but I didn't love it. Might've worked a little better in print; I think some of the names that were a little too similar in audio may have been spelled differently enough to be less confusing.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=240336" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:239957nolly @ 2011-09-27T15:19:002011-09-27T22:25:48Z2011-12-16T00:42:44Zpublic0?.41) Habakkuk<br /><br />And one I accidentally left off the previous post:<br /><br />71) Beguilement (The Sharing Knife, v1), by Lois McMaster Bujold (ebook)<br /><br />I enjoyed it. It held my attention. And yet, thinking back, not much actually _happened_. There was one big fight and one major life event, but clearly this is the beginning of the larger tale; it doesn't have an overall plot and resolution of it's own. The age difference between the male and female leads would squick me in real life, but I accept more in fiction, so it didn't bother me so much. I'll most likely keep going with the series, but I haven't picked up the next one yet. Unlike print books, I don't worry much about ebooks going out of print or becoming impossible to lay hands on, so I'm in less of a hurry, and I have a bit of a backlog I want to read from. (not too much, as I was not a big early adopter, but past Hugo packets and such.)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=239957" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:239705nolly @ 2011-09-26T15:33:002011-09-26T22:45:42Z2011-12-16T00:43:08Zpublic070) [reread] A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeline L'Engle, on CD, read by the author<br /><br />Found it on the used table at Readers, Inc. a while back, and I like to listen to audiobooks on CD while I do housework. It had been decades since I last read this; it was nice to revisit.<br /><br />?.40) Nahum<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=239705" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:239579nolly @ 2011-09-22T19:02:002011-09-23T02:03:06Z2011-12-16T00:43:38Zpublic0?.39) Isaiah<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=239579" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:239288nolly @ 2011-09-21T13:50:002011-09-21T21:04:40Z2011-12-15T23:19:06Zpublic0?.38) 1 Corinthians<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=239288" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:238892nolly @ 2011-09-20T17:09:002011-09-21T00:15:44Z2011-09-21T00:15:44Zpublic069) One Salt Sea, by <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='17' height='17'/></a><a href='http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/'><b>seanan_mcguire</b></a></span> <br /><br />Yay for Toby books! 5th in the series; if you haven't read them, start with Rosemary and Rue; I'll try not to be spoilery here. <br /><br />I don't like plot-summary reviews, because they're always a little spoilery, so I'll just say that <b>that</b> was NOT how I expected the particular interpersonal situation to resolve. Gracious. Seanan, is your middle name Joss? :P<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=238892" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:238638nolly @ 2011-09-14T11:22:002011-09-14T18:23:48Z2011-09-14T18:23:48Zpublic068) Spellwright, by Blake Charlton<br /><br />Didn't like this one as much as I'd expected; I just couldn't really get into it for some reason. Too much angst, maybe? I probably won't pick up the sequel.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=238638" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:238513nolly @ 2011-09-06T17:37:002011-09-07T00:41:22Z2011-09-07T00:41:22Zpublic067) Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, via Audible<br /><br />Every time I take the coastal route north, I feel like I should read some Steinbeck. I meant to listen to this on the way to and / or from Westercon, but forgot to load it on my ipod. It wasn't bad, but I prefer books with plot.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=238513" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:238321nolly @ 2011-08-31T14:56:002011-08-31T21:59:03Z2011-12-16T00:44:01Zpublic0?.37) Matthew<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=238321" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:237975nolly @ 2011-08-25T09:09:002011-08-25T16:19:05Z2011-08-25T23:49:52Zpublic066) Feynman, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick<br /><br />I'm a bit overdue in posting this; Worldcon ate my brain and my time. This is a new graphic-biography of Richard Feynman, written by the always-great Jim Ottaviani, and drawn by Leland Myrick. Because I've read Feynman and Feynman bios in the past, the broad strokes were familiar to me, but I learned new info, too. It's a mostly-chronological (but sometimes thematic) overview of his life and achievements from childhood on, including highlights from several of his lectures. I understand Feynman diagrams much better now than I did before!<br /><br />I was lucky enough to read an early copy; it releases Aug. 30th. Check your local independent comic shop or bookstore, or order online!<br /><br />Update: tor.com is posting excerpts here: <a href="http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/the-five-faces-of-feynman">http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/the-five-faces-of-feynman</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=237975" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:237598nolly @ 2011-08-15T12:32:002011-08-15T19:56:17Z2011-08-15T19:56:17Zpublic065) The Broken Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin<br /><br />It took me a little longer to get really in to this one than it did the first one, I think because I don't really like knowing big things that the POV character doesn't, because it's harder for me to identify with that character then. (I'm not sure "identify with" is quite the right phrase, but especially in first-person narratives, I need to put on the character a bit like putting on a role in a play, or something. It's hard to explain, but I can't do it when I know the Big Important Secret and the character is mystified by it.) Once she learned that thing, or enough that she could possibly have figured it out, it was easier for me; I stopped feeling like I was reading in the wrong order. <br /><br />This happens 10 years after the previous book, and deals with the consequences of the ending of that book. The most-purely-evil people are also deluded madmen who believe they are serving their god. I don't want to get too specific, for fear of spoilers.<br /><br />As a side note, N.K. Jemisin is also the author of my second-favorite favorite short story so far this year: <a href="http://podcastle.org/2011/04/26/podcastle-154-sinners-saints-dragons-and-haints-in-the-city-under-the-still-waters/">Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Under the Still Waters</a>. Recommended listening. (My favorite so far is <a href="http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/mama-we-are-zhenya-your-son/">Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son</a> which does amazing things with quantum existence. Read it.)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=237598" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:237541nolly @ 2011-08-11T17:42:002011-08-12T00:44:33Z2011-08-12T00:44:33Zpublic0There's a potential anti-viral in tests, which targets RNA. There's a potential treatment for at least one kind of cancer in tests, which is based in part on HIV. Am I the only one who read _Feed_ and is now very afraid? :)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=237541" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:237251nolly @ 2011-08-10T16:13:002011-08-10T23:14:53Z2011-12-16T00:44:41Zpublic0?.35) Micah<br />?.36) Hosea<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=237251" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:150651:237006nolly @ 2011-08-08T16:25:002011-08-08T23:29:39Z2011-08-08T23:29:39Zpublic064) The Magicians, by Lev Grossman<br /><br />Darker and grittier than Harry Potter, by quite a lot. Not comfortable in places, but I know people who went through similar burn-out after school; just didn't know how to deal with the outside world. I think I need to see where the story goes before I can decide whether I like it or not; I'll be reading the sequel after I finish The Broken Kingdoms, I think.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=nolly&ditemid=237006" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments