Reading List - 2013
Jan. 1st, 2013 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
askygoneonfireLast year I just about wheezed to 29. I don't expect to get anywhere near that this year - I no longer have lunch breaks in which to read and I can no longer read without guilt at not doing something else. Nonetheless, my 'too read' shelf is groaning under the weight of books as much as it ever is so I'd like to record my endeavours this year.
January-March
1. All Points North - Simon Armitage I'd rejected this previously because of the Amazon reviews, then I read and loved Gig and decided to give it a chance. It's not as well written, or coherent as Gig and towards the end I began skim reading. It's not bad, it's just not good.
2. Stardust - Neil Gaimon One of the few cases where the film is better than the book - much more narrative tension, action, and motivation. Everything just sort of...happens in the book. Although the non-fairytale ending, and the less Stockholmy-syndrome relationship of the Star and Tristan is appreciated. Not a Gaiman convert I'm afraid.
3. Y: The Last Man: Vol 4. Safeword - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. More of the same. I just know I'm going to be disappointed with the conclusion of this series but I can't not carry on. Happily, my local library stocks them so at least I'm not paying to be disappointed.
April
4. Y: The Last Man: Vol 5. Ring of Truth - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr.
5. Y: The Last Man: Vol 6. Girl on Girl - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. I read these two back to back as I got excited when both were in at the library and took them all out at once. They improve considerably on the books before and move the story on. I even gasped a couple of times. It's still not a great series, but it isn't bad.
6. Y: The Last Man: Vol 7. Paper Dolls - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr Had a couple of proper gasps at this volume, getting good.
7. Small Island - Andrea Levy This is not the sort of thing I would normally read but a friend gave me the book. It's an easy read, and occasionally compelling, but historical fiction never really does it for me and this was no different.
May
8. Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett. I've wanted to read this one for years as Death has always been a favourite character of mine. I felt it dragged a bit in the middle but, as ever, a hugely enjoyable - and funny - read.
June
9. Heroes - Robert Cormier I read this whilst invigilating a GCSE English Language exam; it's the course set text. It's terrible. Badly plotted, glaring grammatical errors, poorly written in every conceivable way. I'm appalled that kids are studying this - what an excellent way to put young people off ever picking up another book after they leave school.
10. Y: The Last Man: Vol 8. Kimono Dragons - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr Seriously content light but clearly important to read as part of the series.
11. Y: The Last Man: Vol 9. Motherland - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr Starting to feel nostalgic about finishing this series. Had dreams about people trying to kill me - practically a recommendation that.
12. Y: The Last Man: Vol 10. Whys and Wherefores - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. So disappointing, hated what they did to Yorick. Hated lack of resolution. So much squandered. Bah.
July
13. Petite Mort - Beatrice Hitchman. Fine...was a 99p ebook from Amazon which was main reason I bought it, no sex until half way through which given the title? Boo. It's a first novel and it shows.
14. The Crooked Man, The Greek Interpreter, The Resident Patient, The Naval Treaty, The Final Problem from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes in The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle. Met Mylock and Moriarty in these stories! Couple of good ones but still looking forward to getting on to the longer stories again.
15. Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone - JK Rowling Summer re-read init, new tradition
16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling
17. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
18. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling Forgot about Dobby dying, cue much sobbing. Was, at least, braced for Fred, Tonks and Lupin. Ugh. Emotional rollercoaster. Finishing these made me return to Pottermore.
August
20. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte I can't remember how many times I've read this now but it feels fresh and different each time. Cracking stuff.
21. Saga Volume 1. - Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples Great. Beautiful. Engaging. Trying to pace myself through it as only one more volume available at the moment and ohmygod I can't stand cliffhangers.
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald Another classic I had somehow managed to avoid reading. It took me a while to get into - the style of prose was initially jarring - but I finished reading in a fevered gasp. Wonderful book, really wonderful
September
23. Mr Norris Changes Trains - Christopher Isherwood Really charming book, great characterisation, very readable. Particularly enjoyable for its Berlin setting after my visit there earlier this year
24. Goodbye to Berlin - Christopher Isherwood This wasn't as polished as Mr Norris Changes Trains, which obviously borrows heavily from the autobiographical experiences chronicled here. The ending in particular, as Berlin is lost to the War, is particularly affecting.
October
25. Saga Volume 2. - Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples Better and better, can't wait for next volume to come out, they can't draw this series fast enough for me.
November
26. Walking Home - Simon Armitage Was quite slow going. But then beautiful, and thought provoking. Mostly only appealing if you enjoy the Romantic poets, and perhaps The Prelude.
27. Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett Fine fine. Funny and that. From the period I skipped to start reading books as they came out rather than chronologically for many reasons...I want more Watch stories, this is the trouble.
December
28. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K Dick I think this is only my second ever Dick (the first being Do Androids Dream, repeatedly) and I found it to be fairly misogynist - something I have seen Do Androids Dream criticised for but had always felt the things that could be read as misogynist could also be read as a wry critique of a future dystopia. A Scanner Darkly had some things I was uncomfortable with. Putting that to one side, the narrative is beautifully woven and, in its way quite moving. I found the postscript quite interesting but felt Dick's decision to include himself in a list of friends who died or suffered permanent psychosis on account of his pancreatic damage was both ill-conceived and egotistic.
29. The Trial - Franz Kafka This is such an uneven book, perhaps it was one of the least finished of all his unfinished work? I'm glad I read it but at times it took such a lot of effort to keep on reading, it gets terribly turgid in places. A Hunger Artist remains my favourite of his.
30. N or M? - Agatha Christie Another Tommy and Tuppence story, much more developed and satisfying than the previous one. I really, really love these characters.
January-March
1. All Points North - Simon Armitage I'd rejected this previously because of the Amazon reviews, then I read and loved Gig and decided to give it a chance. It's not as well written, or coherent as Gig and towards the end I began skim reading. It's not bad, it's just not good.
2. Stardust - Neil Gaimon One of the few cases where the film is better than the book - much more narrative tension, action, and motivation. Everything just sort of...happens in the book. Although the non-fairytale ending, and the less Stockholmy-syndrome relationship of the Star and Tristan is appreciated. Not a Gaiman convert I'm afraid.
3. Y: The Last Man: Vol 4. Safeword - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. More of the same. I just know I'm going to be disappointed with the conclusion of this series but I can't not carry on. Happily, my local library stocks them so at least I'm not paying to be disappointed.
April
4. Y: The Last Man: Vol 5. Ring of Truth - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr.
5. Y: The Last Man: Vol 6. Girl on Girl - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. I read these two back to back as I got excited when both were in at the library and took them all out at once. They improve considerably on the books before and move the story on. I even gasped a couple of times. It's still not a great series, but it isn't bad.
6. Y: The Last Man: Vol 7. Paper Dolls - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr Had a couple of proper gasps at this volume, getting good.
7. Small Island - Andrea Levy This is not the sort of thing I would normally read but a friend gave me the book. It's an easy read, and occasionally compelling, but historical fiction never really does it for me and this was no different.
May
8. Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett. I've wanted to read this one for years as Death has always been a favourite character of mine. I felt it dragged a bit in the middle but, as ever, a hugely enjoyable - and funny - read.
June
9. Heroes - Robert Cormier I read this whilst invigilating a GCSE English Language exam; it's the course set text. It's terrible. Badly plotted, glaring grammatical errors, poorly written in every conceivable way. I'm appalled that kids are studying this - what an excellent way to put young people off ever picking up another book after they leave school.
10. Y: The Last Man: Vol 8. Kimono Dragons - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr Seriously content light but clearly important to read as part of the series.
11. Y: The Last Man: Vol 9. Motherland - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr Starting to feel nostalgic about finishing this series. Had dreams about people trying to kill me - practically a recommendation that.
12. Y: The Last Man: Vol 10. Whys and Wherefores - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. So disappointing, hated what they did to Yorick. Hated lack of resolution. So much squandered. Bah.
July
13. Petite Mort - Beatrice Hitchman. Fine...was a 99p ebook from Amazon which was main reason I bought it, no sex until half way through which given the title? Boo. It's a first novel and it shows.
14. The Crooked Man, The Greek Interpreter, The Resident Patient, The Naval Treaty, The Final Problem from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes in The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle. Met Mylock and Moriarty in these stories! Couple of good ones but still looking forward to getting on to the longer stories again.
15. Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone - JK Rowling Summer re-read init, new tradition
16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling
17. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
18. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling Forgot about Dobby dying, cue much sobbing. Was, at least, braced for Fred, Tonks and Lupin. Ugh. Emotional rollercoaster. Finishing these made me return to Pottermore.
August
20. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte I can't remember how many times I've read this now but it feels fresh and different each time. Cracking stuff.
21. Saga Volume 1. - Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples Great. Beautiful. Engaging. Trying to pace myself through it as only one more volume available at the moment and ohmygod I can't stand cliffhangers.
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald Another classic I had somehow managed to avoid reading. It took me a while to get into - the style of prose was initially jarring - but I finished reading in a fevered gasp. Wonderful book, really wonderful
September
23. Mr Norris Changes Trains - Christopher Isherwood Really charming book, great characterisation, very readable. Particularly enjoyable for its Berlin setting after my visit there earlier this year
24. Goodbye to Berlin - Christopher Isherwood This wasn't as polished as Mr Norris Changes Trains, which obviously borrows heavily from the autobiographical experiences chronicled here. The ending in particular, as Berlin is lost to the War, is particularly affecting.
October
25. Saga Volume 2. - Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples Better and better, can't wait for next volume to come out, they can't draw this series fast enough for me.
November
26. Walking Home - Simon Armitage Was quite slow going. But then beautiful, and thought provoking. Mostly only appealing if you enjoy the Romantic poets, and perhaps The Prelude.
27. Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett Fine fine. Funny and that. From the period I skipped to start reading books as they came out rather than chronologically for many reasons...I want more Watch stories, this is the trouble.
December
28. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K Dick I think this is only my second ever Dick (the first being Do Androids Dream, repeatedly) and I found it to be fairly misogynist - something I have seen Do Androids Dream criticised for but had always felt the things that could be read as misogynist could also be read as a wry critique of a future dystopia. A Scanner Darkly had some things I was uncomfortable with. Putting that to one side, the narrative is beautifully woven and, in its way quite moving. I found the postscript quite interesting but felt Dick's decision to include himself in a list of friends who died or suffered permanent psychosis on account of his pancreatic damage was both ill-conceived and egotistic.
29. The Trial - Franz Kafka This is such an uneven book, perhaps it was one of the least finished of all his unfinished work? I'm glad I read it but at times it took such a lot of effort to keep on reading, it gets terribly turgid in places. A Hunger Artist remains my favourite of his.
30. N or M? - Agatha Christie Another Tommy and Tuppence story, much more developed and satisfying than the previous one. I really, really love these characters.
