Decemeber Reading Thread: How Are You Finishing Off The Year

[Howdyphillip]

I just picked up American Gods by Neil Gaimen. I am about a quarter of the way through it, and some of it is delightful, and some of it seems like the story trudges along.

[Eponine]

Finished Le Guin's The Real and the Unreal, both volumes. Some stories I'd already read and some I hadn't. I thought the SFF ones were overall much stronger than the others, but that's probably my bias, as they tended to have more action or movement.

Am in the middle of Catherynne Valente's Deathless, and not sure what I think so far. Sometimes the writing style is beautiful and sometimes it really frustrates me for reasons I'm having a hard time putting into words. Maybe this sounds crazy, but there's almost a maternal tone to the narration that grates on me. For one thing, unless the narrator is part of the story, explicitly or implicitly, I dislike always being reminded of the narrator's presence. By maternal, I mean that I can imagine the narrator occasionally inserting in - "my dear child" - or the like. Part of this may be due to the fairytale nature of the story, but I find it distracting.

ETA: Because of the fairytale nature, or because of some personal confusion, I continued to think of the protagonist as being around 9-11 years old for way longer than I should have, making some of the things dealing with sex/sexuality feel weird and off to me, and even now I have to keep reminding myself that she's not a child.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Wolf Hall-Hilary Mantell. 2/3 of the way through it . Very stylishly written so even though it's rather dense it's not at all stodgy. After that it may well be Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell. Chompin' at the bit to start that one!

[Isis]

I finished Ash. Finally. Just dragging myself over the 40 count of books for the year. Yay.

This book could've been about 200 pages or so shorter, making it a tighter and more focused story, where I cared more about the characters. I had to speedread a little over the last 200-300 pages because it just felt as if I was never going to reach the end. In hindsight I think it's pretty odd to read a book that long and not really care all that much about the protagonist by the end of it. It was an interesting concept and I'm glad I read it but I certainly disagree with the review on the back cover that states it'll be the best scifi novel I'll have read this year - and I've not even read anything all that amazing in 2012. Really didn't care for all the modern Americanisms either, whether they are intentional or not. No more Mary Gentle for me. I've done my pennance. :)

Now to polish off the ast 30 pages of If On a Winter's Night A Traveller and then get back to reading about beer in Pete Brown's Three Sheets To The Wind.

[1234567]

Master and Margarita by Mikhal Bulgakov

And Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharpe

[Little Valkyrie]

I am on a big Theodor Fontane kick right now. Really wonderful stuff, but it does help to know about the milieus of his settings (mainly northern what-was-then-Germany), and it's incredibly subtle. I'd recommend Effi Briest as the starting point, in part because you can get the Penguin Classics new translation easily, and translation quality matters a lot here. (I'm being lazy and reading first in English and then in German.)

[Antonius Pius]

Recently finished Wolfbreed by S.A. Swann, a werewolf novel set in 13th century Poland/Prussia, where the Teutonic Order finds more than just trees and pagans... I tore through this book (just under 400 pages) in a week. Liked it more than I thought I would.

Still wrapping up The Tank Lords by David Drake. Entertaining stuff, but perhaps the sci-fi is a bit dated.

Also reread parts of The Hobbit and the appendix of Lord of the Rings in the wake of seeing the movie

[Procrastimancer]

I was reading something, but can't remember what...

But whatever it was, I have apparently abandoned it and started reading All You Need is Kill. I have also nearly finished the book. I also discovered this, which makes me frown.

[RedEyedGhost]

Recently finished Wolfbreed by S.A. Swann, a werewolf novel set in 13th century Poland/Prussia, where the Teutonic Order finds more than just trees and pagans... I tore through this book (just under 400 pages) in a week. Liked it more than I thought I would.

I really enjoyed that book too. The second one has a bit more of a romance tinge to it, but I liked it just as much a the first one. I hope he writes more in that world.

But whatever it was, I have apparently abandoned it and started reading All You Need is Kill. I have also nearly finished the book. I also discovered this, which makes me frown.

I knew what that link was before I even clicked on it :(

Great book though - exceedingly fun.

[Myshkin]

Finished Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil, a beautifully written novel about junkies and Bombay.

Now reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

[SkynJay]

'Dance of Cloaks' was pretty bad. I don't think I mentioned that yet, so there it is.

On the other hand 'Thraxas' by Martin Scott (pen name of Martin Millar) was really good, though it may have been the shortest read of the year for me. One day reads for the win!

Reading a YA book called Falling Kingdoms or something generic like that because I won it from Goodreads to finish off the year. Hoping to start the year with 'Cold Magic' by Kate Elliott. Barnes and Noble gift card is going to treat me well for a while.

[Peadar]

Looks like Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is my last book of the year. Fun so far.

[Alytha]

Finished The Snow Queen by Joan D Vinge, which was a good read but somewhat incongruous in its moral values. There will be a longer review on my goodreads soon.

Now reading Karavans by Jennifer Roberson, which I picked up from that wonderful free books corner at Worldcon. So far, it's surprisingly good. It has a whole people of Jason Momoas ;)

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Gonzo: A Graphic Biography Of Hunter S Thompson-Will Bingley and Anthony Hope-Smith.

Loved the art and it was at times quite quite poignant but really far to sketchy to do justice to HSTs extraordinary life.Not detailed enough.

39th and last book of the year finished.

[Alytha]

According to Goodreads, I have read 73 books this year :)

That does include some that I shelved unfinished though.

[Derfel Cadarn]

I finished up A Memory of Light by Jordan and Sanderson last week.

Bastard bastard bastard bastard!!! :P

I read Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, just started his 2nd Ketty Jay book, Black Lung Captain. Good series so far.

[beniowa]

My final read of the year was Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson. Great book. It's a bit of a cross-genre book blending hacking and urban fantasy, and also seems to have been inspired by the Arab Spring. There's a slight YA tone, which brings to mind Little Brother, but unlike that book, Alif doesn't have Doctorow's arrogance or self-righteousness while also having some interesting debates on religion and politics. It's also better written even though it's essentially a debut novel. One minor flaw is that some of the advanced computer science in the book important to the plot, is hand-waved away, but it's not a big issue. Strongly recommended.

Now reading John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk.

[Swift]

Finishing off the year with Mass Effect: Revelation. I'm ashamed of myself... kind of.

[Reposado]

pretty slow reading month. i intended to reread best served cold, but never got around to it.

read red country in the last week, which obviously has its own thread on the front page.

for the last, um, day of the year, i'll be starting the second omnibus of glen cook's garret pi novels. that's books 4-6 which will be mostly read in january.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I polished off Michelle Moran's Madame Tussaud. I had no idea that she was in the thick of the French Revolution and was considered good friends to both Robespierre and with the French Royal family. Good stuff.

Up next is The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold.