05 of 2012: The City of Ember

Title: The City of Ember
Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Dates Read: Mid January
Date Published: August, 2008
Pages: 2008
Synopsis: Lina and Doon are teenagers on the cusp of adulthood. They are also part of a grand, and ultimately failing experiment to save the human race: the underground city of Ember. Now the city is dying, and no one seems to want to admit it.

Review: I think I would have adored this book if I'd read it as a kid, because I enjoyed it as an adult. Lina is an especially wonderful character, a strong female lead who doesn't need Doon to save her, but does a good bit of the saving herself! I saw the movie for this first, and it was strange to see how much simpler leaving Ember was in the book. That simplicity probably wouldn't have translated so well to the big screen, though!

Stars: ****/5
Keywords: Books: SF, Books: YA

02 of 2012: "For Want of a Nail"

Title: "For Want of a Nail"
Author:
Dates Read: 1/4/2012
Date Published: Mary Robinette Kowal
Pages: Not many! - a short story
Synopsis: A Hugo-nominated short story about life aboard a generation ship when one family's historic computer shows signs of damage.

Review: This was quite a good short story, well executed. It does have the sort of "unfinished" sense of many short stories, but it's well worth the read!

Stars: ***/5
Keywords: Science Fiction, Short Story

Books, 2011

I tried to keep a book journal this year, to list all the books I've read. I didn't list the books I read for grad school, but only the ones I read because I wanted to. My journal contains reviews (I believe my review for The Hunger Games was "WTH is the big deal here?!"), but this is just a list. I'm a person who doesn't finish books I don't care for, so I didn't include the handful of unfinished books, either. I didn't keep up properly with the book and had to play catch up, but I think it's all here!



F = Fantasy
YA = Young Adult
M = Mystery
SF = Science Fiction
B = Biography
GN = Graphic Novel
H = Horror
D = Drama, Historical

1. The Alchemist - Paulo Cochlo (F)
2. Adam - Ted Dekker (M)
3. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding - Agatha Christie (M)
4. The Bad Seed William March (H)
5. Before I Go to Sleep - S.J. Watson (H, M)
6. Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love - Chis Robersont and Shawn McManus (F, GN)
7. The Circular Staircase - Mary Roberts Rinehart (M)
8. Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare (F, YA)
9. Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare (F, YA)
10. The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry (M)
11. The Calling - Inger Ash Wolfe (H)
12. Callender Square - Anne Perry (M)
13. The Case is Closed - Patricia Wentworth (M)
14. Deadly Sanctuary - Sylvia Nobel (M)
15. The Death of Riley - Rhys Bowen M)
16. Outlander: The Exile - Diana Gabaldon and Hoang Nyuyen (F, GN)
17. Empress of Rome - Kate Quinn (D)
18. Endless Night - Agatha Christie (D, H)
19. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher (F, H, M)
20. Fable: Witches - Bill Willingham, et al (F, GN)
21. Fables: Rose Red - Bill Willingham, et al (F, GN)
22. Fables: Wolves - Bill Willingham, et al (F, GN)
23. Ghostbusters: The Other Side - Keith Champagne and Ton Nguyen (SF, GN)
24. Grey Mask - Patricia Wentworth (M)
25. The Help - Katherine Stockett (D)
26. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (SF, YA)
27. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson (H, M)
28. Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls (B)
29. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke (F, YA)
30. Ice Blue - Emma Jameson (M)
31. I Am Half Sick of Shadows Alan Bradley (M)
32. The Janus Gate Trilogy: Present Tense, Future Imperfect, Past Prologue - L.A. Graf (SF)
33. The Last Unicorn Graphic Novel - Peter Beagle and ?? (F, GN)
34. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County - Tiffany Baker (D)
35. Leviathan Scott Westerfield - (F, YA)
36. Behemoth Scott Westerfield - (F, YA)
37. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs (F, YA)
38. Mr. Popper's Penguins - Richard and Florence Atwater (YA)
39. Maus Art Speigalman - (B, GN)
40. Murder is Easy (Easy to Kill) - Agatha Christie (M)
41. Naughty in Nice - Rhys Bowen (M)
42. Nefertiti - Michelle Moran (D)
43. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (SF, D)
44. Ooku Vol 1 - Fumi Yoshinaga (GN)
45. Ordeal By Innocence - Agatha Christie (M)
46. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving (D)
47. A Red Herring Without Mustard - Alan Bradley (M)
48. The Red House Mystery - A.A. Milne (M)
49. Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin (H)
50. Resuscitation - D.M. Annechino (H, M)
51. Storm Front - Jim Butcher (F, H, M)
52. Superman: The Last Stand of New Krypton (1 and 2) - Several! (SF, GN)
53. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley (M)
54. Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovitch (M)
55. They Came to Baghdad - Agatha Christie (M)
56. The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo and Timothy Ering (F, YA)
57. Terra Incognita - Ruth Downie (M)
58. Persona non Grata - Ruth Downie (M)
59. The Weed that Strangles the Hangman's Bag Alan Bradley (H)
60. 4:50 from Paddington - Agatha Christie (M)
61. Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Agatha Christie (M)
62. The Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie (M)
63. Crooked House - Agatha Christie (M)
64. Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century - Various (SF, GN, YA)
65. Women Heroes of World War II - Kathryn Atwood (B)


Most Read Author: Agatha Christie (last year she tied with my beloved P.G. Wodehouse, but I'm running out of his books to read!)

Best of the Year: I adored the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley, beginning with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Other faves were The Alchemist, The Calling, The Tale of Despereaux, Leviathan, The Help, and Crooked House.

Worst of the Year: I absolutely did not care for The Hunger Games, though I read the entire first book. Smokin' Seventeen was unreadably bad, and the main character was made into a complete slut in this novel. The worst Christie novel I've ever read is Endless Night. Some books I didn't finish so they didn't make the list include The Sherlockian by Graham Moore, Whose Body (Lord Peter Wimsey) by Dorothy Sayers, Metagame by Sam Landstrom, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, among others.

Bonus!: For the first time in years, I have comic book subscriptions. I've been reading the new unbooted Legion of Super-heroes, Legion Lost (though it's not very good), Ghostbusters, and Star Trek and the Legion of Super-Heroes (squee!).