75 Books...More or Less! discussion
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Stacie's 2020 Reading Challenge
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Stacie
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Dec 21, 2019 06:35AM
I'm going to try to hit 100 again this year. The twist is that more than half of them (61) are from my RYS challenge.
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Andrea wrote: "That is a great goal Stacie!" You know that feeling right after you hit send on an email agreeing to do something, where you want to reach out and take it back because it might be a terrible mistake? That's kind of how I'm feeling now, lol! I guess that means it's an actual challenge ;)
Mod
1.
The American Civil War Comprehensive and easy to follow, though I did have to speed it up to keep from being annoyed by the pace of the narration. 4 stars
24 hrs 37 mins
2.
Darkfall I remembered reading and liking this when I was much younger so I picked this up for the nostalgia... and then forgot about it for several years, lol. All I can say is: Oh dear... This really didn't age well. At its best it was silly, at its worst it was cringeworthy. Well, at least it fits into all of my challenges!2 stars
10 hrs 4 mins
3.
A History of Greece, Volume 2 This definitely reflects the time it was written in, very much showcasing early 20th century British biases, and that was a bit difficult to get used to. The narrator has a nice tone of voice but he just sounded pompous until I sped him up to 1.5x (that forced me to concentrate on the content and not be distracted by delivery). That said, it was good but still not something I'd recommend to someone with only a passing interest in the subject.3 Stars
9 hrs 9 mins
4.
Urchin of the Riding Stars. Cute, but not going to surpass Watership Down in my affections! There were some places where scene changes were so abrupt that I had to check if I'd accidentally skipped forward, and while most of the narration was good I hated two of the main characters' voices. I'd recommend this in print before audio.3 Stars
6 hrs 42 mins
5.
Monday Starts on Saturday This was read to fulfill a prompt for the Wizarding World Tour challenge (read a book by a Russian author). All I can say about this is that I have none of the necessary background cultural knowledge to understand this. I could pick out where most of the folktale elements came from (I think) and I could tell that there was a great deal that I wasn't getting (omg, so much that I wasn't getting). I got to the end with such a "WTF did I just read" feeling that I almost have a headache. I can't even suggest a star rating...?? Stars
304 pages
8.
Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver This kept my attention throughout, and sometimes "kept my attention" meant "on the edge of my seat, forgetting to breathe." It's narrated by the author, and she does a good job.4 Stars
10 hrs 16 mins
Mod
Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver This kept my attention throughout, and sometimes "kept my attention" meant "..."Oooh this sounds really good!
9.
The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works It was good and I learned a lot, even if it wasn't always easy- this required a lot of concentration (Junior High music theory was a long time ago!) I will say that there was one moment where I did exclaim "Goddammit, Greenberg!"... out loud. In public. But in my defense, he threw in some opera, which I hate and wasn't expecting because it wasn't supposed to be here! lol4 stars
24 hrs 53 mins
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The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works It was good and I learned a lot, even if it wasn't always easy- this required a lot of conce..."haha. Wow that is a long one!
Elyse wrote: "Wow that is a long one! ..."Especially since I couldn't speed it up any! It took a while ;)
10.
Game of Stars The second in the series. These are just cute. Light-hearted and whimsical and yet still able to kick me in the gut ((view spoiler))... I did not expect to enjoy them quite as much as I do. 4 Stars
384 pages
11.
In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire This was fantastic. I read a lot of Roman history (I mean, a lot) so it was a surprise and a joy when I learned something entirely new and substantial... in the Introduction. The Introduction, guys! The rest of the book lived up to that start, too. So many details filling in gaps in what I already knew... I feel like a kid in a candy store who finds out that the clerk threw some extra goodies into the bag :)5 Stars
415 pages
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In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire This was fantastic. I read a lot of Roman history (..."What a score for you!! That's awesome!
12.
The Secret Commonwealth This was disappointing. I love the HDM set and really enjoyed Belle Sauvage but this one was... boring. It's off to a geologically slow start, despite beginning with a murder, and even when things start happening you don't care about the characters- or at least I didn't. There were little eddies of interesting but the kept falling apart.3 Stars (well, more like 2.5)
19 hrs 44 mins
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The Secret Commonwealth This was disappointing. I love the HDM set and really enjoyed Belle Sauvage but this one was... boring. It's ..."Oh boooo. I have heard some things about this one. At this point, I'm just going to wait till around 6 months before the final book comes out to read these two.
January's recap:17 titles
2,458 pages
105 hrs 25 mins
Year to date:
17 titles
2,458 pages
105 hrs 25 mins
Mod
17 titles
2,458 pages
105 hrs 25 mins
Year to date:
17 titles
2,458 pages
105 hrs 25 mins"
Daaaaaang 105 hours of audio!
Elyse wrote: "Daaaaaang 105 hours of audio!"Well, a couple of the audiobooks were carryovers from last year (I log things in whatever month/year I finish them in; it all comes out in the wash), and I was home sick for an entire week this month. Got a lot of reading/listening done then because I was too miserable to do anything else!
18.
The Last Conversation This is part of the Forward collection, six individually published sci-fi short stories available on Amazon (and free to read or listen to if you have KindleUnlimited). I think this is my favorite one of the six (followed by Summer Frost), but they are all worth reading.5 Stars
56 pages
19.
Fugitive PigmentsThis was one of those serendipitous things where a chain of idle clicking brought me to something great. I love it when that happens; it's like the Universe saying "You gotta try this!"4 Stars
74 pages
20.
Nutrition Made Clear I picked this up because I needed a 'self help' book for another challenge and wound up really liking it. It would have been a five star if the the production had been better (it skips in several places). I liked the way she broke down the science in to manageable bits for the layman and acknowledged that our understanding of the science is constantly growing (and therefor may need to be revised periodically), as well as stressing that each person is an individual so that not everything works the exact same way for each person (i.e. "here is a big box of tools and this is the range of their uses; pick the tools that best assist the job you want done. And maybe don't have cousin Larry renovate the bathroom just because he says that he knows how to do it.") There wasn't a huge amount of information that was brand new to me, but it did a good job of taking the unconnected bits of knowledge and making them fit together into a more coherent whole.4 Stars
18 hrs 39 mins
21.
Marengo: The Myth of Napoleon's Horse. I picked this up because I needed to read a book involving horses for the Wizarding World Tour challenge. Meh, it's more about Napoleon and his military career than the horses, and that's a historical period I'm just not (currently) interested in. It wasn't written badly, and the research seems to be solid, but it just wasn't for me. I'm glad it was borrowed and not something I spent money on.2 Stars
256 pages
22.
Stolen A quick little story, with tight writing. A little bit dark, a little bit twisty with a mostly satisfying ending ((view spoiler)).4 Stars
158 pages
24.
The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West I had high hopes for this one but it didn't quite live up to them. It's not bad, but the presentation so unfocused that it was hard to follow. It's a shame. Parts of it were really good, but an awful lot of it was just ok. If you do want to try it, I recommend the print version over the audio. The narrator has a nice voice but he reads in phrases instead of in sentences, so it was very difficult to tell where one idea was ending and another one was beginning.3 stars
10 hrs 23 mins
25.
The Modern Scholar Astronomy II: Stars Galaxies and the Universe2 stars
7 hrs 48 mins
26.
The Modern Scholar: Heavens Above: Stars, Constellations, and the Sky I just don't like the Professor's delivery. But at least that's the last of his books I've got to get through. (He's got a lot of good reviews, though, so YMMV)2 stars
7 hrs 6 mins
27.
The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches5 hrs 4 min
28.
The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches II4 hrs 54 mins
Holy sweet mother of God...! This is the worst thing I've ever read... and I read fan fiction... and self-published stories... and vanity press issues... I even helped edit my High School's Literary Magazine... and this is worse than all of those. I need to readjust my criteria for rating, this thing was so bad. This makes everything I have ever read seem better in comparison. I read a review (after the fact, dammit!) that describes it perfectly: "This is spectacularly bad, spiritually bad, grammatically, morally, ecumenically bad. This is the kind of badness that Ed Wood can only dream of, brought on by the potent combination of a gigantic ego and a truly stunning lack of talent."
I'm giving these two books one review because they were originally one single book that was split (badly) into two, re-titled and given new chapter names, and then re-released (and apparently marketed as children's books- which they are absolutely not). I skipped and skimmed but I am counting them as done because I am never, ever, ever going back to them. Not only will I never touch anything else put out by this author or this narrator, I will never touch anything else from this publisher!
1 star
29.
Safe Passage. Let's just say that this benefitted by being read right after the Kingdom Of the Elves and the Reaches books! Not really recommended, but I don't think that anyone needs to be warned away either... and I might actually, at some point, read the next in the series (or something else by the author) to see how the author improves in her craft.3 Stars
362 pages
Mod
The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches5 hrs 4 min..."
OMG the reviews are hilarious!!
Elyse wrote: "OMG the reviews are hilarious!!"Well, at least some good has come from the experience, then.
Mod
Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver This kept my attention throughout, and sometimes "kept my attention" meant "..."Just the title is making my heart race .... from fear!
February's recap:12 titles
1,209 pages
46 hrs 14 mins
Year to date:
29 titles
3,667 pages
151 hrs 39 mins
Man, my reading ground to a screeching halt! Maybe the Stay-at-Home-A-Thon will help me get back into my groove.
Mod
12 titles
1,209 pages
46 hrs 14 mins
Year to date:
29 titles
3,667 pages
151 hrs 39 mins
Man, my reading ground to a screeching halt! Maybe the Stay-at-Home-A-Thon will h..."
Mine has also slowed down a lot. I did so well in January!! lol
30.
The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel This was interesting and easy to follow. I wish it had been longer and covered more. Hopefully she'll get to do a longer version at some point.4 Stars
3 hrs 59 mins
31.
Artemis Nothing spectacular, but not terrible either. I enjoyed the descriptions of life on the moon but didn't connect with anything else. Also, Rosario Dawson would have done a better job with the narration if she wouldn't have tried to do accents. 3 Stars
8 hr 57 mins
Mod
Artemis Nothing spectacular, but not terrible either. I enjoyed the descriptions of life on the moon but didn't connect with anything else. Also, Ros..."She's going to be Ahsoka!!
Elyse wrote: "She's going to be Ahsoka!! ..." I saw that, and I like her as an actress... but hopefully she won't try to do a Kenyan, Norwegian, Chinese, Spanish, Russian or German accent!
Mod
I saw that, and I like her as an actress... but hopefully she won't try to do a Kenyan, Norwegian, Chinese, Spanish, Russian or German accent!"
hahaha!
32.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneFirst time listening to the Stephen Fry narration and, while I prefer the Jim Dale version (to me he has more of a sense of wonder and whimsy, plus I really did not like the falsetto Fry used for Harry), the wonderful Mr. Fry is great (as always). 4 Stars
9 hrs 33 mins
33.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard I enjoyed this one, though Noma Dumezweni's narration was not my favorite.4 Stars
1 hr 35 mins
34.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets5 Stars
9 hrs 3 mins
35.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban5 Stars
11 hrs 49 mins
Mod
Elyse wrote: "How many times have you read/listened to the series?". Honestly, I couldn't even begin to count! Plus, I haven't listened to them all the same number of times. I've listened to the first one more than any of the others, and Half-Blood Prince the least (it's not that I don't like that one, but Umbrage is just so horrible that I get more distressed over that book than any of the others). I've read or listened to at least one of the series (at least once) every year since the third one came out in the States. So... many times >_>
75 Books...More or Less!
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