December 2020 Reading Thread

[The Scribbling Man]

DNF's are rare for me. I don't really feel like I can judge a book properly until I've finished it, so unless something is really, really bad, I will press on. This can make for some frustrating reads, but equally, I've been surprised by some that would otherwise have received a low rating for me. One example is Christopher Priest's The Prestige, of which I couldn't see resolving in any way that was satisfactory. I was tempted to ditch it partway through, but I enjoyed the final act so much and was surprised enough by how things were wrapped up that I ended up giving it a 4.5.

 

[Bick]

Thing is this wasn't even a published recommendation, in the blurb or some such, but just a short review he put up on GoodReads. However the book was very derivative of Asher as well as both Banks and Hamilton. If I'm being cynical then I'd suggest they are mates! After all I love Banks work but have never been very impressed with his mate Ken Macleod's work even though Banks has on occasion recommended them.

Yes, lots of authors are mates, or on friendly terms at least, with many other authors. Once a personal connection is made in any way, it’s hard to give a bad review. So, I don’t trust author recs much either. This is perhaps especially the case with self-pub books.

I tried a Ken McLeod book once and it was a very rare DNF. Banks was so much better and recommended his mate’s books all the time.

 

[AE35Unit]

Yes, lots of authors are mates, or on friendly terms at least, with many other authors. Once a personal connection is made in any way, it’s hard to give a bad review. So, I don’t trust author recs much either. This is perhaps especially the case with self-pub books.

I tried a Ken McLeod book once and it was a very rare DNF. Banks was so much better and recommended his mate’s books all the time.

I tried a McLeod book years ago. Star Faction. Didn't make it past the first chapter for some reason. I just remember the words "wanna taaab?"

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

With 2020 winding down, I'll make my last update on my quest to set a new reading record. The final total of titles started and finished this year is, 529. While it's been fun, and I'm sure I'll mount a siege on the new record some day, it won't be 2021. Despite managing some television and movie viewing and some gaming, I've also given up a lot of that in favor of reading. Not a bad thing, but now I have a backlog of things I want to watch and games I want to conquer.

Notable reads since I last posted:
“Back of Beyond” by C. J. Box and “Frostblood” by Elly Blake. Both notable for being underwhelming starts to their respective series. "Back of Beyond" hooked me just well enough to give C. J. Box another go, but "Frostblood" was just blah, with a bad romantic story line kind of wedged in.

“Lucky Man” and “No Time Like the Future” by Michael J. Fox. A couple autobiographical memoirs, primarily about his struggles with Parkinson's Disease and other health issues, but touching on nearly every aspect of his life. Must reads for his fans and, I'd think, informative and entertaining for all.

The complete final list is attached for anyone interested.

I did leave two men on base, so to speak. "Arch Enemies," book 2 of the Renegades series by Marissa Meyer and "With Blood Upon the Sand," book 2 of The Song of the Shattered Sands by Bradley P. Beaulieu. The Renegades series has been decent, but the influence from Marvel's "X-Men" is more than obvious. "The Song of Shattered Sands is a very good (at least, so far) fantasy series with a strong mid-eastern "flavor."