false 1744085 male The United Kingdom 11/2008 12/2009 5600 Patrick O'Brian 27973 G.K. Chesterton 1377 Raymond Chandler 30748 Margery Allingham 165898 Michael Scott Rohan 1 236 219 true 5768303 read 1 true 3815972 currently-reading 16 true 3815971 to-read 150 false 4336857 fiction 66 false 4336858 nonfiction 41 false 4336549 fantasy 31 false 4337172 graphic-novels 31 false 4336546 scifi 30 false 4336693 mystery 16 false 4336575 programming 14 false 4336763 favorites The Beckoning Lady (Paperback) by Margery Allingham]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81474576 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174341611s/383199.jpg 1744085 Stuart http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1744085-stuart Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:31:33 -0800 The Earthsea Trilogy (Paperback) by Ursula K. Le Guin]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45158963 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11RlEUWZnpL.jpg 1744085 Stuart http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1744085-stuart Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:22:39 -0800 Head First Rails: A learner's companion to Ruby on Rails (Paperback) by David Griffiths]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/55463935 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515jTO3cXXL._SL75_.jpg 1744085 Stuart http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1744085-stuart Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:21:41 -0800 http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/249810-i-loved-it http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1259713177p2/1865.jpg 1744085 Stuart http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1744085-stuart Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:27:54 -0800
I ended up borrowing whichever books were available and read both series mixed together over several months, in the wrong order, with books missing, and tried to figure out what was going on, because it seemed like the coolest story ever.

It was only many years later that the Fantasy Masterworks editions came out and I actually read the whole story in order, and the older me still thought the first series was probably one of the coolest stories ever.]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/250003-what-else-are-you-reading-in-december-2009 http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1259713177p2/1865.jpg 1744085 Stuart http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1744085-stuart Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:43:22 -0800 Jon wrote: "@Stuart: And I feel bad now for abandoning Blindsight with all the press that Watts is getting this week. Perhaps it was the creepiness that was creeping me out. I gave up reading horror back wh..."

Fair enough - it is more horrifying than most things labeled horror, I think. The only other thing that I've read that was near as bleak was written by a guy with clinical depression (Thomas Ligotti).
]]> Blindsight (Hardcover) by Peter Watts]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80841803 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170355970s/48484.jpg 1744085 Stuart http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1744085-stuart Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:26:28 -0800 http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/243877-good-and-evil-spoilers http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1259713177p2/1865.jpg 1744085 Stuart http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1744085-stuart Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:29:24 -0800
My impression is also that Arha is good, but as I think about it I'm less certain. She's the viewpoint character, and there's lots of reason to feel sympathy for her, but on the other hand she actually betrays each of the other characters at least once, and most of her actions can be read as self-interested. Back on the first hand, she does feel guilty at the end, and to me her final choice suggested the old idea of the sinful woman retiring to the nunnery.]]>