Watcha Reading in January (2013!)

[Andrew, Wound Up]

Start out the new year with a reading goal (set it from the main page on Goodreads on the right side under "2013 Reading Challenge").

I needed a jumpstart after dragging my feet (eyes?) all December. I read a novel and novella from the Vorkosigan Series, my favorite space opera. A Civil Campaign was great, following Miles as he tries to woo a woman. Winterfair Gifts was a short follow up novella that (view spoiler)[ told the story of the wedding (hide spoiler)].

I never posted last year about my thoughts on The Devotion of Suspect X. I can't say I loved or hated this novel, and I would definitely recommend it to some friends. A math genius devotes himself to helping an acquaintance cover up a crime of passion. Possibly the most appropriately titled book I read this year. I did find the language a bit mundane, but that may be a translation problem. Comparisons to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are much overblown.

I'm still moving through Grossbart and loving it. I've paused as Michelle catches up so that she can help me with some discussion questions.

Finally, I started The Last Samurai (not in any way related to the Tom Cruise movie). This book has been on my "must read books that aren't available in digital format" for quite a while. I'm too early to say much other than the writing style is intriguing. The blurb from the New Yorker partially says "a genuinely new story, a genuinely new form". How many new stories are out there?

And finally, I've become reinvigled with reading aloud to Michelle. We are thick into The Great Hunt (book 2 of the massive Wheel of Time series). I don't add these to my "currently reading list"... but maybe I should. Loving the book all again on my second read, so much packed in that I can barely remember.

[Andrew, Wound Up]

The Last Samurai was phenomenal.

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

In January I was still working on The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart which started quickly for me, but then tapered off in speed of read.

Andrew has been reading The Wheel of Time series aloud to me. In January we finished The Great Hunt. These are a very character and plot-dense books. My husband is very patient with repeating segments of the story and fielding my incessant questions.