Half-Yearly Audit

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

OK, I thought it might be nice to note down all the books we've read so far, this year, with maybe a small indication of how good they were. If you've been around for a while, you can refer to the old 'What are you reading' and 'Juno's Bibliophiles' threads. If you're newer, just remember as many as you can and jump in, don't be shy!!!

Here are my SF reads this year(including re-reads) . Fantasy, non-fic and others will follow shortly.

1. John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids 4/5
2. Ian R MacLeod: The Light Ages 5/5
3. AE van Vogt: The Pawns of Null-A 3/5
4. AE van Vogt: The Voyage of the Space Beagle 5/5
5. Harry Harrison: Captive Universe 3/5
6. Venus Plus X : Theodore Sturgeon 5/5
7. Overlay: Barry N Malzberg 4/5
8. Frank Herbert: Dune 5/5
9. The Languages of Pao: Jack Vance 3/5
10. The Einstein Intersection: Samuel R Delany 2/5
11. Frederik Pohl: Man Plus 3/5
12. The Book of Fred Saberhagen (short stories) : 3/5
13. Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination: 5/5
14. John Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar: 3/5
15. Philip K Dick: The Man In The High Castle 5/5
16. Michael Moorcock: The Rituals of Infinity 3/5
17. John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos 5/5
18. Cordwainer Smith: Norstrilia 5/5
19. Larry Niven: Ringworld: 4/5
20. Larry Niven: Ringworld Engineers 2/5
21. Jack Vance: Wyst - Alastor 1716 4/5
22. Jack Vance : Star King 4/5
23. Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game 5/5
24. Gregory Benford: Against Infinity 3/5

 

[dwndrgn]

Cool idea. I don't have time now but will add later.

 

[The Master™]

Aren't marks out of five a little small??? What about out of 10???

 

[littlemissattitude]

I'll have to give this one some thought and research. It will probably be an incomplete list, since I usually don't manage to report every book I'm reading, and I don't always end up finishing the ones I've listed as in process of reading. I guess I'm going to have to start keeping a list again; I used to keep a list every year of everything I read - gave it up when it started feeling too much like an exercise in obsessive-compulsive behavior. Not that keeping such a list is a bad thing; it just was a bad thing for me at that time, which was several years ago.

 

[dwndrgn]

Here's a partial list - those that I remember and recorded in the 'What are you reading?' thread minus those that are mysteries or historicals or others that wouldn't be of interest on this board.

The Path of Fate, Diana Pharoah Francis 4/5
Lord Foul's Bane, Stephen R. Donaldson 3/5
Dune, Frank Herbert 4/5
The Dragon's Doom, Ed Greenwood 3/5
Transformation, Carol Berg 4/5
Son of Avonar, Carol Berg 4/5
The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchett 3/5
The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett 3/5
Ill Wind, Rachel Caine 3/5
First Truth, Dawn Cook 3/5
Alta, Mercedes Lackey 3/5
The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick 2/5
Come Twilight, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro 4/5
Out of the House of Light, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro 4/5
Alphabet of Thorn, Patricia McKillip 4/5
American Gods, Neil Gaimon 3/5
Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson 4/5
Confusion, Neal Stephenson 4/5
Eragon, Christopher Paolini 3/5
Elric of Melnibone, Michael Moorcock 3/5
The Callahan Touch, Spider Robinson 5/5
Callahan's Key, Spider Robinson 5/5
Perdido Street Station, China Mieville 4/5
Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett 3/5
Storm Front, Jim Butcher 4/5

And that's all I can recall. Like LittleMiss, I used to keep a running list - mostly to keep myself from accidentally getting a book I've already read but also just to keep track for fun. Then I realized that the danger of getting a book I've just read is rather slim - mostly that would be from a long time before. However, doing this post has made me think that I might want to do so again - if nothing else I can keep track of those I liked and those I didn't.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Aren't marks out of five a little small??? What about out of 10???

You can rate them any way you prefer - I should have made that clearer.

Yes, it can be a tad obsessive to keep lists of everything you read, but it's also kinda fun in a way. And I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person reading so very many books!

 

[littlemissattitude]

Okay, here it is. I'll list fiction first, all kinds, with genre indicated in each case, roughly in chronological order:

Orson Scott Card - First Meetings (SF; short stories) 3/5
Jonathan Kellerman - A Cold Heart (Mystery) 3/5
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Come Twilight (Fantasy/Horror) 4/5
Carol Berg - Transformation (Fantasy) 5/5
Kyle Mills - Storming Heaven (Mystery) 3/5
Micheal Crichton - The Andromeda Strain (SF) 4/5
Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle (SF) 4/5
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Midnight Harvest (Fantasy/Horror) 5/5
Richard Matheson - I Am Legend (SF) 3/5
Jane Jensen - Dante's Equation (SF) 5/5

Now, non-fiction:

William O'Neill - Coming Apart (History) 4/5
Vincent Bugliosi - Helter Skelter (True Crime) 5/5
Jon Krakauer - Under the Banner of Heaven (Religion/True Crime) 5/5
Diane Ravitch - The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn (Education) 4/5
Steve Hodel - Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Story (True Crime) 3/5
A. B. McKillop - The Spinster and the Prophet (History/Literature) 4/5

Anyway, that's what I reported in the "What are you reading" and "Juno's Bibliophiles" threads. Only sixteen; but they were mostly pretty darn good.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

My fantasy list:

1. Benjamin Rosenbaum: Other Cities 5/5
2. Michael Moorcock : Elric 4/5
3. China Mieville: Perdido Street Station 4/5
4. Steven Erikson: Memories of Ice 4/5
5. Kelly Link: Stranger Things Happen 5/5
6. Jeffrey Ford: The Memoranda 5/5
7. Carol Berg: Transforation 3/5
8. AA Attanasio: The Dragon and the Unicorn 3/5
9. Steven Erikson: Deadhouse Gates 5/5
10. Steven Erikson: House of Chains 4/5
11. Richard Matheson: I Am Legend 4/5
12. Tim Powers: The Drawing of the Dark 3/5
13. Jack Vance: The Dying Earth 3/5
14. China Mieville: The Scar 4/5

Hmmm...a lot less fantasy than sf, but not a clunker in the lot.

 

[polymorphikos]

AS a matter of principle, these are only the ones I actually finished, which rules out a hefty portion of what I read due to my being very lax. I seem to remember having read more, but I'm not sure what, so this is the list. (BTW Knivesout, you read a lot. Do you have a tonne of free time or are you just quick?)

Llana of Gathol, E R Burroughs, ***

A Princess of Mars, E R Burroughs, ****

The Lord of the Flies, William Golding, *****

Travels With My Aunt. Graham Greene, *****

American Gods, Neil Gaiman, ****

The Truth, Terry Pratchet, ****

The Thief of Time, Terry Pratchet, ***

Nylon Angel, Marianne de Pierres, ***1/2

A Case of Conscience, James Blish, *****

The Memory of Earth, Orson Scott Card, ****

A Series of Unfortunate Events 1: The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket, ***

The Bourne Identity, Robert Ludlum, ****

Treasure Island, R L Stevenson, *****

Malignos, Raymond Chalder, ***

Gulliver of Mars, Edwin A Arnold, *****

I Am Legend, Richard Matheson, ****

The Skylark of Space, E E “Doc” Smith, ***1/2

Staying On, Paul Scott, *****

Broken Angel, Richard Morgan, *****

Hothouse, Brian Aldiss, *****

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, *****

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

A neat list, and I'm thrilled to see you rate A Case of Conscience so highly! To answer your question, I do not have excessive free time, but I am a rather rapid reader and I only do the social scene on friday and saturday evenings, so that leaves me with at least 4-5 hours a day for reading, writing and so forth.

 

[Sirathiel]

Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams *****
Stone of Farewell, Tad Williams *****
To Greenangel Tower I, Tad Williams *****
City of the Sorcerers, Mary Herbert ****
Winged Magic, Mary Herbert ****
Guardians of the West, David Eddings ***
Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey *****
Dragonquest, Anne McCaffrey *****
Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey ****
Dragonsinger, Anne McCaffrey ****
Dragondrums, Anne McCaffrey ***
The White Dragon, Anne McCaffrey ****
Moreta, Anne McCaffrey ***
Nerilka's Story, Anne McCaffrey ***
Dragonsdawn, Anne McCaffrey *****
Chronicles of Pern, Anne McCaffrey ****
Dragonseye, Anne McCaffrey ****

That's all I can think of right now...

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

So I'm guessing Anne McCaffrey is something of a favourite?

 

[ravenus]

Frank Herbert: Dune 5/5

Dune had some great concepts - the spice and it's effect on the ecology and politics - but I also thought that Herbert wasn't a very skilled writer. Most of his characters are very cliched, important plot aspects like the role of Count Fenring plopped in at the last moment, and I thought the Bene Gesserit thingy was a tad overused, like Force in the new Star Wars movies and a 4-letter word starting with 'F' in Goodfellas.

 

[Sirathiel]

So I'm guessing Anne McCaffrey is something of a favourite?

Well, I kept stumbling over her books in stores, but I never wanted to afford to BUY all of them. And when I found out that the local library here in Blois had most of it, I didn't hesitate and started borrowing. Right now I'm close to the point where it's getting a bit much, but... I doubt a chance like that comes again.

Besides that, I LOVE dragons.

 

[ezellohar]

Well, here are the ones I can remember. Some might have been at the end of last year, not one hundred percent sure.

Everything You Know is Wrong edited by Russ Kick 8/10
Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Coontz 5/10
Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon 7/10
Prophecy by Elizabeth Haydon 6/10
Destiny by Elizabeth Haydon 6/10
The King's Name by Jo Walton 8/10
The King's Peace by Jo Walton 8/10
The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe 10/10
The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe 10/10
Don't Know Much About History? by Kenneth Davis 7/10
Caribbean by James Michener 4/10
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan 6/10

Well, that's all I can remember right now. I also read several issues of Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, which is quite good. I really shouldn't count Caribbean, as I havn't yet finished it. I will , but I needed a break as the writing is quite poor.