Octopus Overlords

by **Jeff V** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:55 am

CSL doesn't visit much anymore, so I'm taking his annual job away from him and opening this thread.

Finished
The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell :binky:

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodnow :binky:

Wake Up Dead by Roger Smith :binky:

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins :binky:

The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett :binky:

Drake's Bay by T.A.Roberts :binky:

Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell :binky:

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King :binky:

Heretic by Bernard Cornwell :binky:

Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson :binky:

Cro-Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans by Brian Fagan :binky:

Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card :binky:

The Dogs of Rome by Conor Fitzgerald :binky:

The Evolution of God by Robert Wright :binky:

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson :binky:

Tales of the Seven Seas - The Escapades of Captain Dynamite Johnny O'Brien by Dennis Powers :binky:

A Forest of Stars by Kevin J. Anderson :binky:

In the Dark by Brian Freeman :binky:

The Chopin Manuscript by 15 different authors :binky:

The Modern Scholar: Way with Words: Writing Rhetoric and the Art of Persuasion by Michael D.C. Drout :binky:

Horizon Storms by Kevin J. Anderson :binky:

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell :binky:

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan :binky:

At First Sight by Stephen J. Cannell :binky:

Scattered Suns by Kevin J. Anderson :binky:

You're Broke Because You Wabt To Be by Larry Winget :binky:

Next by Michael Crichton :binky:

Of Fire and Night by Kevin J. Anderson :binky:

Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari :binky:

How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever by Jack Horner :binky:

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain :binky:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card :binky:

Spealer for the Dead by Orson Scott Card :binky:

Attila by William Napier :binky:

Xenocide by Orson Scott Card :binky:

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr :binky:

Understanding the Fundamentals of Classical Music by Richard Freedman :binky:

Heaven or Heresy a History of the Inquisition by Thomas Madden :binky:

Star Beast by Robert Heinlein :binky:

Hitch 22 - A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens :binky:

Reading
Metal Swarm by Kevin J. Anderson
The Passage by Justin Cronin
PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy

by **JonathanStrange** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:01 pm

JANUARY
Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins Carl Zimmer
Don't Know Much about Literature: What You Need to Know but Never Learned Kenneth Davis
Welcome To Obamaland: I Have Seen Your Future And It Doesn't Work James Delingpole
Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count Richard E. Nisbett
Road Dogs* Elmore Leonard

Infidels: A History of the Conflict Between Christendom and Islam Andrew Wheatcroft
Fun Home A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel
The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel* Salman Rushdie
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much Allison Hoover Bartlett
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance Levitt & Dubner

FEBRUARY
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius Graham Farmelo
The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next Lee Smolin
The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb R. Crumb
Centennial* James Michener
The Canterbury Tales A Retelling By Peter Ackroyd Geoffrey Chaucer

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization Lars Brownworth
Half Broke Horse A True Life Novel Jeannette Walls
The Innocent Mage Bk.1 Kingmaker Series Karen Miller
Breathless A Novel Dean Koontz

MARCH
On The Origins of Species By Means of Natural Selection* Charles Darwin
The End of Empire: Attila the Hun and the Fall of Rome Christopher Kelly
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science Richard Holmes
Churchill* Paul Johnson
The Predictioneer's Game: Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Future Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

Why Are Jews Liberals? Norman Podhoretz
The War After Armageddon A Novel Ralph Peters
The Caryatids A Science Fiction Novel Bruce Sterling
By Blood We Live Vampire Stories John J Adams (ed.)
Boneshaker A Novel Cherie Priest

APRIL
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth Apostolos Doxiadis
Basic Economics 3rd Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy*Thomas Sowell
This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly Carmen Reinhart
The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the Whimsical, Thoughtful, and Sometimes Lonely Man Who Created "Alice in Wonderland" Jenny Woolf
The Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies* Michelle Malkin

Twentieth Century Ghosts* Joe Hill

MAY
The Lost Books of the Odyssey: A Novel Zachary Mason
Dune* Frank Herbert
The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution* Richard Dawkins
The Windup Girl A Science Fiction Novel Paolo Bacigalupi
They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq Kelly Kennedy

Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan, 1942-1945 Barrett Tillman
The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans G. J. Sawyer

JUNE
Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1500 Years Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery
Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It) William Poundstone
The Eerie Silence Renewing Our Search For Alien Intelligence Paul Davies
The Annotated U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence Jack Rakove
The Dreaming Void*(The Void Trilogy, Bk. One) Peter F. Hamilton

Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't John Lott
The Warded Man A Novel Peter Brett
The Desert Spear A Novel Peter Brett
The Pacific Hugh Ambrose
The Lovely Bones* Alice Sebold

The Dying Earth Tales of the Dying Earth* Jack Vance
A Gate At The Stairs* Lorrie Moore
The Forbidden Apple: A Century of Sex & Sin in New York City Kat Long
Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains Jan MacKell
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee

JULY
I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay John Lanchester
Insectopedia Hugh Raffles
Anthill A Novel E. O. Wilson
The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution Ian Tattersall
Horns A Novel* Joe Hill

The Library : An Illustrated History Stuart A.P. Murray
A Dark Matter A Novel* Peter Straub
The Infinities A Novel* John Banville

AUGUST
My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs, and Stand-Up Russell Brand
Hitch-22 A Memoir Christopher Hitchens
The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America Andrew McCarthy
Songs of the Dying Earth Stories in Honor of Jack Vance* GRRM (editor)
The Hunger Games* Suzanne Collins

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession David Grann
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer* Jonathan L. Howard
The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us Christoper Chabris
Portrait of the Addict as a Young Man Bill Clegg
Catching Fire* Suzanne Collins

SEPTEMBER
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education Diane Ravitch

by **Bad Demographic** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:05 pm

Reading:

Read:
Sewer, Gas & Electric by Matt Ruff
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
Shades of Grey: the Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
Gone Tomorrow bu Lee Child
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin
Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian
Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker
Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian
Desolation Island by Patrick O'Brian
The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian
Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler
The Last Colony by JohnScalzi
Android's Dream by John Scalzi
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
Judge Sn Goes Golfing by John Scalzi
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Books read in 2005: 47
Books read in 2006: 30
Books read in 2007: 57
Books read in 2008: 43
Books read in 2009: 38

by **tgb** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:07 pm

Currently reading The Dead That Walk.

On deck is The Nine:Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.

by **Sudy Nym** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:09 pm

Hmm. Maybe I'll try finishing more than three books this year. I get distracted easily.

Now reading:

- Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
Begin: 12/25/09? End:

by **naednek** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 1:13 pm

Books read in 2009.

Considering I only read while on the throne, pretty good. It also means, I spend too much time on the pot...

Books Read in 2010
Saving Faith -David Baldacci
Dead Watch -John Stanford
The Baby Owner's Manual - Operationg Instructions, Trouble-Shooting Tips, and Advice on First-Year Maintenance - Louis Borgenicht, M.D.., and Joe Borgenicht, D.A.D.

Currently Reading
The Bourne Betrayal - Eric Van Lustbader

by **lildrgn** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 2:34 pm

I'll play. No more URLS for the titles. Too cumbersome.

Finished Reading
1. Under The Dome by Stephen King (Kindle)
2. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larssen (Kindle via library)
3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Steig Larssen :ninja:

(Kindle)
4. A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane (library)
5. Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane (Kindle)
6. Sacred by Dennis Lehane (Kindle)
7. Ariel by Steven R. Boyett (library)
8. Elegy Beach by Steven R. Boyett (library)
9. Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane (library)
10. The Pawn by Steven James (Kindle)
11. The 25th Hour by David Benioff (library)
12. Frankenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz (Kindle)
13. The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross (Kindle)
14. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (Kindle)
15. Boy's Life by Robert McCammon (Kindle)
16. The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep And Never Had To by DC Pierson (library)
17. The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson (Kindle)
18. Fever Dream by Preston/Child (Kindle)
19. Legacies by F. Paul Wilson (Kindle)
20. Conspiracies by F. Paul Wilson (Kindle)
21. Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry (Kindle)
22. The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry (Kindle)
23. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown (Kindle)

Currently Reading
As The World Dies: The First Days by Rhiannon Frater (Kindle)
The Art of Making Money by Jason Kersten (Kindle)

In Queue
World Without End by Ken Follett

DNF
The Enemy by Lee Child

by **WPD** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 2:38 pm

Reading
The Riddle of the Compass by Amir Aczel

Read
Old Man's War by John Scalzi :binky:

I, Claudius by Robert Graves :binky:

Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman :binky:

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson :binky:

The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge :binky:

Abandoned
At-Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien

by **Lassr** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:06 pm

Only 13 books read last year. Started fast but ended slow.

Read: 1-10* ratings.
Mission Earth Vol 2: Black Genesis -L. Ron Hubbard 8*
Under the Dome -Stephen King 7*
Star Wars: The Rise of Darth Vader -James Luceno 7*
The Cobra Event -Richard Preston 8*
The Lifeless - Lorne Dixon 6*
Impact -Douglas Preston 7*
Domain of the Dead -Iain McKinnon 8*

Reading:
The God Delusion -Richard Dawkins

by **Wargus** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:19 pm

Read
Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch
Evil for Evil - K.J. Parker
Deadhouse Gate - Steven Erikson
Memories of Ice - Steven Erikson
House of Chains - Steven Erikson
Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson
The Bonehunters - Steven Erikson
Reaper's Gale - Steven Erikson
Toll the Hounds - Steven Erikson

Reading
Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson

Queued Up
Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie
The Escapement - K.J. Parker

The Erikson series is fantastic. It took a bit to really get into & understand, but now I love how everything is interwoven. Rarely do I sit down & power through a series without a break for other books.

by **silverjon** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:57 pm

I already finished Low Moon by Jason and Joker by Brian Azzarello. I think I got through the Constantine book before midnight....

by **YellowKing** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:16 pm

Books Read:

The Last Oracle - James Rollins - :binky:

Typical James Rollins; turn your brain off and roll with it and you'll have a good time.
The Keeper - Sarah Langan - :binky:

Overwhelming meh. One of those authors that thinks she's much more clever than she actually is.
The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson - :binky:

- Fantastic; best Wheel of Time book since Book 3 or 4. I wish Sanderson had written the series originally, as he actually understands pacing. And only two braid tugs in 750 pages!
Arguing With Idiots - Glenn Beck - :binky:

- I've never paid much attention to Glenn Beck, but this was an entertaining read. Didn't agree with everything he had to say, but he makes some valid arguments.
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown - I've always thought Dan Brown was a hack, and thought The Da Vinci Code was some of the worst writing I'd read in years. So I was surprised when I didn't outright hate The Lost Symbol. It's written slightly better than Da Vinci Code (but not by much), and had a plot that I didn't find particularly interesting (I liked it better when it was called National Treasure 2), but at least I didn't feel pissed off after I read it. That's about the best compliment I can pay. :binky:

Ghoul - Michael Slade - One of the old books in my backlog. Pretty decent horror novel with plenty of gore. :binky:

New York - Edward Rutherfurd - I really wanted to love this book, but 400 years of history was just too ambitious. What's left is pretty much a cursory overview of various families experiencing significant events in New York's history. Unfortunately, by the time you grow attached to one set of characters, you're whisked away into another era and essentially have to start all over. I still enjoyed it as a historic overview, but as a novel it was just too broad for me to recommend wholeheartedly. :binky:

The Doomsday Key - James Rollins - Typical James Rollins, which means a light, fun action romp. I thought this one was a little lighter than most, but it had some good action sequences. :binky:

Altar of Eden - James Rollins - :binky:

The Innocent Man - John Grisham - :binky:

- Chilling non-fiction example of how our justice system can get things wrong. Interesting read.
Booth's Sister - Jane Singer - :binky:

- Flowery prose was a bit too indulgent for my taste.
The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner - T. F. Banks - :binky:

- Fairly entertaining Victorian romp. A little too pat and mundane, however, to get me interested in the series.
First Born - Richard Sears - :binky:

- Dull, meandering novel with no real payoff. I kept waiting for something big to happen and it never did. Felt like I was watching a bad SciFi channel movie.
The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks - :binky:

I really enjoyed this fantasy series and highly recommend it.
The Equivoque Principle - Darren Craske - :binky:

- Fun Victorian mystery.
Fires of Eden - Dan Simmons - :binky:

- I love Dan Simmons but this book was a bit too far-fetched for me.

Currently Reading:

The Passage - Justin Cronin

by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 8:08 pm

The Well of Ascension (Book 2 of the Mistborn series) by Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages (Book 3 of the Mistborn series) by Brandon Sanderson
The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives
They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies behind the Lines in Nazi Germany
Aircraft Down!: Evading Capture in WWII Europe
Coraline
Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams
Shanks for Nothing by Rick Reilly
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Missing Links
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.
Another Fine Myth
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection

Novels

A Study In Scarlet
The Sign of the Four
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear

Short Story Collections

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
His Last Bow
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

by **silverjon** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 9:26 pm

Banksy's book about street art was excellent.

by **hitbyambulance** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:13 am

currently:

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

seemed appropriate while back in Minnesota?

by **Jaymann** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 3:12 pm

Dragon Age put a dent in my 2009 reading, now looking for more material.

Latest compilation of The Black Company.

Escape from Hell by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. I enjoyed Inferno from 1976. This sequel is lightweight but readable (I checked it out of the library).

Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts

Made a separate post to praise this book.

by **dbt1949** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 3:26 pm

War & Peace...by some Russian guy I think.

by **Pyperkub** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:18 am

Books Read in 2010:

U is for Undertow - Sue Grafton (meh - she's writing out the string I think)
The Black Company - Glen Cook
Shadows Linger - Glen Cook
The White Rose - Glen Cook
Shadow Games - Glen Cook
Dreams of Steel - Glen Cook
The Silver Spike - Glen Cook
Nine Dragons - Michael Connelly
Up in the Air - Walter Kirn (very different from the movie)
Bleak Seasons - Glenn Cook
She is the Darkness - Glenn Cook
Water Sleeps - Glenn Cook
Soldiers Live - Glenn Cook

For the black company books, I was kept interested throughout, but I felt after the first 3 books, it fell off. I'm not sure if that's because Croaker/the Narrators became too involved in strategizing or what. Maybe I just liked the idea of them fighting for the wrong side and then making it right, with vast things unknown and only hinted at. I also think the whole Deceivers/Khadi plot took too long to resolve, maybe the latter books needed to be more concise.

The Burning City - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

I remember some of the great books by Niven & Pournelle. This isn't one of them. They've dropped off since they had to write the sequel to A Mote in God's eye. Of course, I'm subjecting myself to the sequel since I got them both from the library. This one's set in the "The Magic Goes Away" universe, but didn't have much of the creativity of that book.

Burning Tower - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

Better than the Burning City, with a decent story involving the Aztec gods in the Southwest. Ultimately, these two novels are more like a travelogue of Niven & Pournelle in the Magic Goes Away universe. Fun, but not really memorable. They did leave room for a third.

Songs for a Teenage Nomad - Kim Culbertson

A friend of mine's first published book. An interesting tale of a teen girl who's been moved from town to town and stepfather to stepfather who lands in a town in CA and finds out why. A 'young adult book' with many echoes of Catcher in the Rye, and it's won some Young Adult fiction awards.

Baseball's Great Experiment (Jackie Robinson and his legacy) - Jules Tygiel

A look at segregation and integration in baseball. How baseball first ended up segregated, how Branch Rickey saw the future and orchestrated the beginnings of integration, how and why Jackie Robinson was chosen and what his experiences were like, and the story of those who followed Jackie. A very interesting look at baseball and america in the post war, jim crow era, and the struggle to integrate. I was surprised at the specifics of the experience under Jim Crow in different locales, as well as the exacerbating effect Brown v. Board of Education had.

Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman

I enjoyed this much more than American Gods. I think it's the Kipling-esque 'Just-so-Stories' feel to this tale, rather than the oppressive feel of 'gods'

by **ChaoZ** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:06 pm

Reserving a spot (I'm a very off-and-on reader though):

Reading:
The War of the Flowers - Tad Williams

Finished:

by **Brian** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:08 pm

Books Read in 2010
Tales From a Tin Can: The USS Dale From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay - Michael Keith Olson
Under the Dome - Stephen King
Debt of Honor - Tom Clancy
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy
Stalkers And Shooters: A History Of Snipers - Kevin Dockery
Patriot Games - Tom Clancy
Clear & Present Danger - Tom Clancy
Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Fall Of Gilead - Marvel Comics
Red Rabbit - Tom Clancy
The Dragon & The George - Gordon R. Dickson
June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day - Gerald Astor
Horns - Joe Hill
Helmet For My Pillow - Robert Leckie
The Lost Fleet: Victorious - Jack Campbell
Kris Longknife: Intrepid - Mike Shepherd
Kris Longknife: Undaunted - Mike Shepherd
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex - Mary Roach
Aliens Omnibus Vol. 4 - Darkhorse Comics
Destroyermen: Into The Storm - Taylor Anderson
Destroyermen: Crusade - Taylor Anderson
Destroyermen: Maelstrom - Taylor Anderson
Destroyermen: Distant Thunders - Taylor Anderson
My War Gone By, I Miss It So - Anthony Loyd
Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business & Bad Medicine - Donald Barlett & James Steele
Heat Wave - Richard Castle (Ghost Written)
Just After Sunset - Stephen King

Currently Reading
Aliens: Tribes - Steve Bissette (Dark Horse Comics)

On Deck
Nothing at the moment.

by **Gryndyl** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:15 pm

(Ratings on the 1-8 Binky scale)

January

The Lost Symbol-Dan Brown :binky:

Deja Dead-Kathy Reichs :binky:

Just After Sunset-Stephen King :binky:

Nothing to Lose-Lee Child :binky:

Shadow of Power-Steve Martini :binky:

February

Death du Jour-Kathy Reichs :binky:

Best Served Cold-Joe Abercrombie :binky:

March

Evil for Evil-K.J. Parker :binky:

The Escapement-K.J. Parker :binky:

Nightmares and Dreamscapes-Stephen King :binky:

April

Terminal Freeze-Lincoln Child :binky:

Tripwire-Lee Child :binky:

Cemetery Dance-Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child :binky:

Deadly Decisions-Kathy Reichs :binky:

May

Drood-Dan Simmons :binky:

Die Trying-Lee Child :binky:

Echo Burning-Lee Child :binky:

The Moonstone- Wilkie Collins :binky:

June

The Enemy- Lee Child :binky:

The Hard Way- Lee Child :binky:

July

Gone Tomorrow- Lee Child :binky:

The Ancestor's Tale- Richard Dawkins :binky:

One Shot- Lee Child :binky:

August

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian- Robert E. Howard :binky:

Life on the Mississippi- Mark Twain :binky:

by **Jolor** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:22 pm

Ranking / Read
(3) Three Bags Full, A Sheep Detective Story - Swann
(1) Shadow of the Wind - Zafon
(7) The Last Centurion - Ringo
(8) Crimson Fire - Taylor
(5) The Devil's Punchbowl - Iles
(4) Corsair - Severin
(6) The Lost Fleet: Dauntless - Campbell
(2) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Larssen

Reading
God's Crucible

Queued

by **NinaPerdida** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 2:16 pm

Books Read in 2010:
The Lost Symbol- Dan Brown
9 Dragons- Michael Connelly
The Wordy Shipmates- Sarah Vowell
Tipping Point- Malcom Gladwell
Outlander (re-read)-Diana Gabaldon
Dragonfly in Amber (re-read)-Diana Gabaldon
Voyager (re-read)-Diana Gabaldon
Drums of Autumn (re-read)-Diana Gabaldon
The Fiery Cross (re-read)-Diana Gabaldon
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (re-read)-Diana Gabaldon
An Echo in the Bone (re-read)-Diana Gabaldon
Soul Identity- Dennis Batchelder
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Scarecrow- Michael Connelly
Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time
The Happiness Project- Gretchen Rubin
A Reliable Wife- Robert Goolrick
The Scarpetta Factor- Patricia Cornwell
Pirate Latitudes- Michael Crichton
Start Over, Finish Rich- David Bach
Storm Front- Jim Butcher
Deeper than the Dead-Tami Hoag
The Road- Cormac McCarthy
No Country for Old Men- Cormac McCarthy

Currently Reading
Little Women- Louisa May Alcott (re-read)
Her Fearful Symmetry- Audrey Niffenegger

I can tell I'll be reading more because of my nook, although I must say I'm displeased with the whole lounging in a bubble bath reading experience with it...I keep worrying I'll drop it into the water. I guess I'll save that for actual books instead of the e-reader.

by **Scuzz** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 2:52 pm

Currently reading......

The Black Company
Ragtime

(Normally I only read one at a time but the Black Company book is to big for the gym)

I just received Nixonland and 1920:The Year of Six Presidents via UPS this morning. Bought with X-Mas gift card from Barnes & Noble.

by **Archinerd** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 2:55 pm

I'm going to continue a sporadic tradition of mine, which is to post once in this thread at the beginning of the year, then never come back despite reading a whole mess of books.

Currently reading:
Paradise Lost - John Milton.
At the rate I'm reading it, it will likely take me all year anyway. I'll let you know next year if I finished.

Please make any follow up comments in the Books Read 2011 thread, as I will not see them here.

by **Steron** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:39 am

As always, my goal is 12 books this year.

READING
What Baptists Believe by Herschel H. Hobbs
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

READ
This Family of Mine: What It Was Like Growing Up Gotti by Victoria Gotti
Warpaths: The Illustrated History of the Kansas City Chiefs by Alan Hoskins
The Camel Club by David Baldacci
The Collectors by David Baldacci
Stone Cold by David Baldacci
Divine Justice by David Baldacci
Breaking the Rock: The Great Escape from Alcatraz by Jolene Babyak
First Family by David Baldacci
The Walking Dead Book 1 by Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead Book 2 by Robert Kirkman
I am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne

IN QUEUE

Website · by **tjg_marantz** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:14 am

Read: The Sigma Protocol by Robert Ludlum

Starting: Endwar

On tap: Ghost Recon, and a metric ton of Ludlum and Clancy universe books.

by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:16 am

Books read in 2010:

Animal Behavior - John Alcock

Currently reading:

Evolutionary Ecology - Charles Fox

by **tru1cy** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:26 am

Currently Reading:

Every Last Drop: A Novel - Charlie Huston

On the wait list:

Black Sea Affair - Don Brown
Treason - Don Brown
Hostage - Dob Brown
Monday Night Jihad - Jason Elam and Steve Youngblood

by **hentzau** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:48 am

Currently Reading:

A Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin (big book...this will take a while to get through.)
The Black Swan - Rafael Sabatini

Finished Reading:

Stardust - Neil Gaimin
Divine Misdemeanors - Laurell Hamilton
Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton (Really fun read. Highly recommended.)
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters Volume 2 - Gordon Dahlquist (Very mixed feelings with this one. I feel that there is a really good story in there, but could have used a couple of re-writes. Way too many characters, I kept losing track of who was who. But I liked the books and main characters enough that I will probably seek out the sequel.)
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffery (a nice visit with some old friends)
Skybreaker - Kenneth Oppel (Fun young adult fiction, sequel to Airborne)
Time Enough For Love - Robert Heinlein (I've been re-reading this book every spring since college. I'm on my third copy of it.

)
The Elfish Gene - Mark Barrowcliffe
Legacy of the Drow - R.A. Salvatore (Innocent enough high fantasy stuff. Was my "sit in the car and bring into the restaurant with me when I eat lunch out alone" book.)
American Gods - Neil Gaimin (one of my all time favorites. Second time reading it, pulled it off my shelf on a whim and didn't put it down until I had finished it. If you haven't read this book, you owe it to yourself get to your library now and read it
Dzur - Steven Brust (I absolutely love the Drageria novels by Brust, but I stopped reading them a couple of years back. I had the opportunity to get caught up with Vlad this weekend while I was sick. Missed you, buddy.)

by **Moggy123** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 1:22 pm

These threads are a great source to find new reading material, so I'll contribute this year. Unless stated, all books are read on my 1st gen Kindle.

Read:

The Dreaming Void by Peter F Hamilton
The Temporal Void by Peter F Hamilton
Under the Dome by Stephen King
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

Currently reading:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

by **Bakhtosh** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 1:44 pm

Finished:
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Terry Brooks
The Black Unicorn - Terry Brooks
Wizard At Large - Terry Brooks
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer 1/18
New Moon - 1/21
Eclipse - 1/25
Breaking Dawn - 1/30

Currently Reading:
How To Survive The End Of The World As We Know It - James Wesley Rawles

Upcoming:
The other Landover books

by **Zork** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:30 pm

I've really become addicted to Audible, so most of these are the unabridged audio version when available. Normal book reading is denoted by an asterisk (*).

READ
The Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey
*Financial Peace Revisited - Dave Ramsey

READING
NurtureShock - Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman
*Season of Life - Jeffrey Marx

QUEUE
Screamfree Parenting - Hal Edward Runkle (read in Nov 2009, need to re-read a few chapters)
Born to Run - Christopher McDougall
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

FAILED
Dragons of the Dwarven Depths - Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman - The voice used for Tasslehoff Burrfoot was so bad that I had to stop. It's like a mix between Yoda and Grover from Sesame Street, which is *not* how I imagined it. I might try reading it the old-fashioned way.

-Zork

by **noxiousdog** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:10 pm

Currently Reading - Don't know yet.

Finished -

Brent Weeks

The Night Angel Trilogy 5+/5
Dave Duncan

Malcolm Gladwell

Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking 4/5
Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 3/5
Eric Nylund

Halo: First Strike 4/5
William C. Dietz

Halo: The Flood 2/5
Karen Hancock

Light of Eidon 4/5
Michael Lewis

The Blind Side

Alice Shroeder

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora

Terry Pratchett

Pyramids - 4/5
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Superfreakonomics - Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance - 4/5
Kelly Wright

Still

3/5

James Rollins

Amazonia 3/5[/list]

by **WYBaugh** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:00 pm

Currently listening - Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Currently reading - The Islands of the Blessed by Nancy Farmer
Finished - Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
Finished - Maelstrom: Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson

by **Kasey Chang** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:25 pm

Read H.A.W.X. the novel tie-in, not that good. Also read the same guy's Splinter Cell tie-in... And it's actually kinda funny... as he wrote the same novel twice, albeit from two separate viewpoints! (Splinter Cell: Endgame, and Splinter Cell: Conviction)

by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:04 pm

Finished:
Well of Ascension (Book 2 of the Mistborn series) by Brandon Sanderson

It's a pretty good ride. Sanderson doesn't hold much to be holy in these first two books. People die and (so far) stay dead. The characters are human and flawed. They have issues with relationships as well as the greater Big Bad issues, make decisions that don't turn out well, yet keep on plugging along. He makes some choices that I've never seen done before, including having a major character break down with battle fatigue.

No braid-tugging or skirt-smoothing here. Based on what I've seen here, I have high hopes for when I get to his Wheel of Time stuff ... in about 18 months or so.

:binky:

by **JoeMoustache** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:30 pm

Finished Reading
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch (Kindle Edition)
Once Bitten - Kalayna Price (Kindle Edition - Freebie)
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson (Kindle Edition)
Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (Kindle Edition) Now the waiting begins.
Queen of the Orcs: King's Property - Morgan Howell (Kindle Edition - Freebie)
Queen of the Orcs: Clan Daughter - Morgan Howell (Kindle Edition)
Fablehaven - Brandon Mull (Kindle Edition)
Cast in Shadow - Michelle Sagara (Kindle Edition)
Eisenhorn - Dan Abnett
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere: A Novel - Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
Inferno - Niven and Pournelle (Kindle Edition)
Blood Engines - T.A. Pratt (Kindle Edition - Freebie)
War of the Flowers - Tad Williams
Dissolution -War of the Spider Queen, Book 1 - Richard Lee Byers
Insurrection -War of the Spider Queen, Book 2 -Thomas M. Reid
Condemnation -War of the Spider Queen, Book 3 - Richard Baker

Currently Reading
The Greatest Show on Earth - Richard Dawkins (Kindle Edition)
Evolution: The First Four Billion Years - Edited by Michael Ruse, Joseph Travis - Forward by Edward O. Wilson (Hardcover) Will take time to get through this one.

Will try to finish up Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt novels (the first one's free on Kindle) and Jim Butcher's The Dresden FiIes.

Also, I usually download and try to read the free Kindle editions that Amazon hands out every so often. Can't always get through them, but, hey it's free.

by **silverjon** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:30 pm

I just finished Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk. An unidentified man arrives at a mental institution in Spain. He is charismatic and lucid, other than his insistence that he is Christopher Columbus, and that something terrible is going to happen at the end of the story that captures the imagination of his nurse. A poetic celebration of the wonders of wine, women, and chess, and the importance of exploring the unknown, even though we may fear what's on the other side.

This is Tom's third novel (he's a friend). He did an amazing job of weaving the historical facts into a modern story of traumatic dissociation. I halfway believed the man was Columbus, displaced somehow in time. This one will be with me for a while.

by **Jeff V** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:25 pm

The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell :binky:

Book 1 in the Grail Quest series. Set in the Hundred Years War, The Archer's Tale follows the exploits of Thomas, the son of a priest who witnessed the destruction of his village and killing of his parents by French raiders. Bent on vengeance and a desire to uncover secrets about his family that his father took to the grave, Thomas joins the English military and sets on a course that ends with the epic Battle of Crécy in 1346.

In typical Cornwell style, The Archer's Tale includes a healthy dose of authentic history tweaked for story-telling purposes as need (and explained in the author's note at the end). The only thing that really seemed implausible was arranging for all of the protagonists to converge at the same spot and time on the battlefield. Still, it was a well-paced story and a great read for anyone interested in medieval life and warfare.

Octopus Overlords

Who is online