Boneshaker
It’s got everything you’d ever want – a steampunk setting in Seattle, with zombies and airship pirates, oh and a kickass female protagonist who’s handy with a shotgun…
Category: Books
purple?
July, July
Apparently this is novel is made up of linked short stories covering a class a reunion.
I borrowed this book from the library and I remember NOTHING about it.
(updated January 2012)
gospodin?
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
When I first read this, Heinlein’s last truly great book, I was blown away. Of course I was a pre-pubescent teenager at the time. While this remains a vastly entertaining romp, sadly it’s dated badly by some bizarre sexual politics and heavy handed political theorizing.
egg?
The Magician’s Assistant
One of the quirks of Fife libraries is that books are often assigned to genres they plain don’t belong to. I’m guessing it’s because the people involved have to make snap decisions based on the title, cover and blurb.
This book was sporting a fantasy sticker when I borrowed it and the blurb on the back was vague enough to suggest that it could well have been a subtle fantasy novel.
In fact this a very good mainstream fiction novel about a stage magician’s assistant.
She was his wife and inherits his fortune when he dies. While they were very close, the marriage was one of convenience because he was gay.
In the course of going through his estate she discovers that, after all these years of thinking he was an orphan, he has family back home in the midwest.
I really enjoyed this book and plan to read more by this author.
bruno?
The History Of Love
Leo Gursky is a Polish Jew who arrived in America after surviving the horrors of World War 2. A writer by nature he wrote a book about the only girl he ever loved – the girl who left for the USA before German onslaught could begin.
Alma Singer is nearly fifteen, a Jewish girl growing up in New York, her family traumatised by the loss of her father. She is named after every girl in a book called A History Of Love.
After Alma’s mother is asked to translate A History Of Love from the Spanish into English events begin intertwine and histories unravel as Krauss spins the story’s threads.
This a lovely, surprisingly moving, little book about the nature of love, human connection and the power of lies and self-deception to alter lives.
I’d definitely recommend it as a read if you’re not in a particularly cynical frame of mind.
58?
Books Read In 2009
1. Marrow Robert Reed A-
2. The Family Trade* Charles Stross B+
3. The Hidden Family* Charles Stross B
4. The Clan Corporate Charles Stross B
5. The Merchant’s War Charles Stross B
6. You’re Not Fooling Anyone… John Scalzi C
7. Replay Ken Grimwood A+
8. Flash Forward Robert Sawyer A-
9. American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story* Cynthia True B
10. The Android’s Dream* John Scalzi A-
11. Making Money* Terry Pratchett A-
12. Zoe’s Tale John Scalzi A
13. Old Man’s War* John Scalzi A-
14. All Fun and Games…* Christopher Brookmyre A-
15. The Last Colony* John Scalzi A
16. Nation Terry Pratchett A-
17. Witch Week* Diana Wynne Jones A+
18. Foundation* Isaac Asimov B-
19. Truckers * Terry Pratchett A-
20. Diggers* Terry Pratchett A-
21. Wings* Terry Pratchett A-
22. Hexwood Diana Wynne Jones A-
23. Foundation & Empire Isaac Asimov B+
24. Jpod* Douglas Coupland B
25. Second Foundation Isaac Asimov B
26. Choke* Chuck Pahalniuk B+
27. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist Rachel Cohn and David Levithan B
28. Fargo Rock City* Chuck Klosterman C+
29. Night Watch* Terry Pratchett A+
30. The Summer Tree* Guy Gavriel Kay A
31. The Wandering Fire* Guy Gavriel Kay A
32. The Darkest Road* Guy Gavriel Kay A
33. Cider With Roadies Stuart Maconie B+
34. An Abundance Of Katherines John Green B+
35. Pandaemonium Christopher Brookmyre B+
36. The City and The City China Miéville A+
37. Slaughterhouse 5 Kurt Vonnegut A
38. Things The Grandchildren Should Know Mark Oliver Everett B+
39. The Status Civilization Robert Sheckley B-
40. All Families Are Psychotic Douglas Coupland B+
41. The Ninth Circle Alex Bell B+
42. The Drowned World J.G. Ballard A+
43. The Eye Of The Heron Ursula K. LeGuin A
44. Way To Go Alan Spence A
45. Gentlemen of the Road Michael Chabon B
46. Eleven David Llewellyn C
47. Unseen Academicals Terry Pratchett A-
48. The Outsider Albert Camus A-
49. Quite Ugly One Morning Christopher Brookmyre B+
50. Makers Cory Doctorow A-
51. For The Love Of The Game Michael Shaara A-
52. The Night Sessions Ken MacLeod A-
53. Country Of The Blind Christopher Brookmyre A
54. Grave Peril Jim Butcher B+
55. Soul Music* Terry Pratchett B
56. Beggars In Spain* Nancy Kress A-
57. The Thief Of Time* Terry Pratchett B+
58. The Truth* – Terry Pratchett A-
*re-read
lead?
The Truth
The printing press hits Ankh-Morpork…
tick?
Thief Of Time
My favourite of the Susan Sto Helit books
Has the advantage of featuring Lu Tze and the Monks of History
Has the advantage of featuring Lu Tze and the Monks of History
Has the advantage of featuring Lu Tze and the Monks of History
Has the advantage of featuring Lu Tze and the Monks of History
Has the advantage of featuring Lu Tze and the Monks of History
Has the advantage of featuring Lu Tze and the Monks of History
Has the advantage of featuring Lu Tze and the Monks of History
unfin?
Three Books
There have been three books this year that I just could not bring myself to finish, even though I read more than half of each of those books.
God Emperor of Dune
I read this rather bizarre book for the first time about a year after I had first read the original Dune. I didn’t even know there had been sequels to Dune at this point as my local library was my only source of books and they had never appeared on those shelves. I remember quite enjoying the book then, though puzzled as to why Duncan Idaho had seemingly become so important.
This time the book was unbearable. The pompous archives of Leto’s memoirs, the paper flat secondary characters, ah the whole thing just became too painful to continue
The Well Of Stars
The sequel to the strange, yet magnificent, Marrow got abandoned once I realized that the book was never going to advance the plot of the original and that I was meant to care about this new risk to the great ship. I didn’t care – resolve the original story!
Beggars and Choosers
I finally picked out this to read from my shelves years after I bought it to finally see where Kress took the story after the end of Beggars In Spain. It was going OK, even though I had next to no time for the new characters until the author killed a character off in a way that the author had not earned. It annoyed me enough that I had to put it down.
yagai?
Beggars In Spain
A near masterpiece work of science fiction.