75 Books...More or Less! discussion
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Stacie's 2022 Challenge
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Stacie
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Dec 30, 2021 06:47PM
I'm aiming for 75 again. I might raise it a bit, depending on how the year goes, but after 2020 and 2021 I'm just not feeling inclined to lay any unnecessary stress on myself. This year is going to be about enjoying the company of people who enjoy reading and books as much as I do, and enjoying my reading time. (this laid-back attitude is brought to you by sleep deprivation and cookies... we'll see how long it lasts, lol)
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1.
Migraine; Inside a World of Invisible Pain Interesting, more because it brought up that there is more research on the subject than there was the last time I looked into it. Waaaay back when I was diagnosed with migraines either there weren't many headache specialists around or the GP we went to thought it was a sketchy branch and never mentioned them. 1hr 58 mins. ***
2.
Stacey's Extraordinary Words Super cute and I loved the art. I saw it on the Barnes and Noble FB page and immediately had to get it to share with my great-niece; we both loved it!32 pages *****
3.
Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 I read this last year and I thought it was on the good side of ok. Upon revisiting it my opinion has improved. Don't know if that's because I'm in a better headspace (or because I hadn't just binged a bunch of the MCU movies and was ready to enjoy it on it's own terms), but I enjoyed it a lot more this time around (enough that a quick glance at the artwork turned into a single-sitting reread).358 pages. ****
4.
Eternals by Gaiman & Romita Jr.. I wanted to like this a lot more than I did because it's Gaiman. However, it was merely serviceable. Nothing really worked well, from the plot, to the motivations, to the characterizations, to the art (even by superhero comic book metrics). 223 pages ***
5.
These Alien Skies I loved it. It's part of the Black Stars series, which is a series of individually published Black Authored short stories, and I am definitely going to be reading all of them. And definitely going to be looking for more by C.T. Rwizi. because I loved the feel of the universe he created.25 pages. ****
6.
The VisitI usually like this author, but this fell flat for me and felt unfinished. Modern Realism along the lines of Ibsen, which I do not enjoy. At least it was short!
20 pages **
7.
The Black Pages I sincerely hope this is just a sample of a full-length story that Okorafor will get around to writing one day, because otherwise, WTH you can't stop there!31 pages ****
8.
2043...A Merman I Should Turn to Be Nisi Shawl is one of those writers that I can't decide if I like or not, and I get the feeling when reading their stories that my 'liking' or 'not liking' is beside the point because of the amount of mental real estate the stories occupy once I've read them.31 pages. ***
9.
We Travel the Spaceways Vivid, well written... but it just didn't stick to me.40 pages **
10.
Clap Back Oh, I enjoyed this one. It was just enough "what the heck...?" that you never get too sure of what you're reading, but not enough that the thread of the story loses you, and despite not being ultra detailed at the ending it feels complete and it leaves you... thinking. 21 pages. ****
11.
Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction This was entertaining, though far lighter on the 'history' part than I hoped. The humorous synopses of absolutely ridiculous plot lines had me barking laughter. The narrator does a pretty good job, minus some weird pronunciations that I found distracting.5 hrs 39 mins. ***
12.
I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks A quick, cute read that has been sitting in my TBR pile for a while. Kind of like reading a Buzzfeed list without all the loading screen issues, lol.161 pages ***
13.
The Complete Gail Simone Red Sonja Omnibus Red Sonja has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Does this, objectively, deserve 5 stars? Probably not. Am I going to give it 5 stars anyway? I sure am. I enjoyed every story and very nearly all the art, was late for work because I lost track of time while reading, and read the whole thing with a toothy grin on my face.504 pages *****
14.
Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction This is a good survey of the subject. Well written and covers a lot of territory without being overwhelming or, worse, boring. The narration is pleasant, once you realize that there are some visual formatting choices in the print that don't translate smoothly to an audio format (it took me a bit to catch on to that). This would have been a four star book if it hadn't added so many new things to my TBR. So. Many. Things. 7 hrs 30 mins *****
15.
In Calabria I tend to be lukewarm about magical realism, but this was a charming story. It's the kind of tale that if it were made in to a movie it would debut on the Hallmark channel- maybe not brain candy, but definitely a fuzzy robe and slippers read.3 hrs 24 mins ***
Mod
Welcome back. Have a happy reading year!
Juli wrote: "15 books already! Wow!"Well, January is usually a comparatively slow period at work so I've got more time and energy to hit the books, so to speak. Plus, a lot of these were really short... but there were only two that I didn't really care for so I'm happy with the streak.
Mod
Well, January is usually a comparatively slow period at work so I've got more time and energy to hit the books, so to speak. Plus, a lot of these were really s..."
Nice!!!!
16.
All Systems Red This has been on my radar for years but I just got around to picking it up. How much did I like it? I read it for free... and when I finished it, I immediately paid for my own copy and bought the second in the series :) (I identify with Murderbot on so many levels, lol)156 pages *****
17.
Artificial Condition You remember when you were a kid, and all the best shows were about a lone hero (or small group) who was always on the move, hiding from an authority that was corrupt and a society that grossly misunderstood the hero, helping the 'little guy' along the way in their quest for freedom/redemption? Yeah... this hits all those marks for me. 149 pages ****
Mod
All Systems Red This has been on my radar for years but I just got around to picking it up. How much did I like it? I read it for free... and..."Yessssss MB is the best!!
18.
Rogue Protocol I am thoroughly enjoying these! They are fun and lighthearted in a way that when MB stumbles across something that is real and resonant you are just as surprised by it as MB is.150 pages *****
19.
Exit Strategy 163 pages *****
20.
Network Effect I love these books, but I'm not convinced that this worked better as a full length novel than it would have as a novella. And while it was published before Fugitive Telemetry, it actually takes place afterwards which was initially a little confusing to me. I still slammed on the buy button, though, and have no regrets.348 pages ****
21.
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory I enjoyed the experience of a peek into Mensah's head, but I wouldn't recommend this to non-diehard Murderbot fans... unless you wanted to shoot a little money Martha Wells' way so that she can keep writing these books. On second thought, buy this. Buy all of them, because I've binged the entire series and am sad now that there are no more in the series for me to read :D19 pages ****
22.
Fugitive Telemetry Not quite as good overall as some of the other entries, but there were more laugh out loud moments (for me) at MB's observations. 172 pages ****
23.
The Tommyknockers I've read the book before but this is the first time I listened to it. Edward Herrmann does such a good job with the narration that I didn't want to stop listening, even though this isn't one of my favorite Kings (there's something about his sci-fi that just doesn't connect as well with me as his more classic horror).27 hrs 43 mins ****
24.
Devil House I love this author (and musician) and was really excited for this book to come out... but I don't think that this was the right time for me to read (well, listen to) it. It's very well written and it straddles the line between mundane and surreal the same way most of his music does... but it goes places that I'm not in the appropriate headspace for. I'm glad I've got it in my collection and I have no doubt that I'll revisit it. Someday.11 hrs 17 min ***
Stacie wrote: "12. I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks A quick, ..."I put this one my TBR list - sounds like fun and I love a good library story!
25.
Akata Witch I usually enjoy Okorafor's writing, but this one just didn't connect with me, which was disappointing since I'd been wanting to read this for a while. The setting and magic system were interesting, but none of the people felt real to me and I was never invested in any of them. 368 pages **
26.
A New History of Life I found out too late that this was an audio only version of something that was originally a dvd. There were so many references to visuals that were not supplied (it came with a completely unhelpful PDF that I can't see the purpose of) that it was distracting and actively irritating. There were also some weird skips and repeats in the audio. I'm pretty sure that the video would have been a good treatment of the topic, but as only audio it is very lacking. I was glad that I could return it and get my credit back.17 hrs 46 mins *
27.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune This is one of those things where I loved the way the story was told more than the actual story... like when you say that you'd listen to a good voice read a phone book and actually mean it. The story didn't really hold me, but the way it was told did. The actual plot was all right, but the way that you sink into the story and it unfolds around you, and the touches of fantasy that are as matter-of-fact as dirt is to the people in this world... those were really well done. 124 pages ***
28.
Understanding Human Emotions Not as engaging as I'd hoped, but interesting enough when when I focused.5 hrs 16 mins ***
29.
A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them. Interesting, well told and the science was easy to follow for a layman. I found myself being irritated at interruptions and taking the long way around so that I'd have more time to listen.7 hrs 15 mins ****
30.
The Queue This book has excellent reviews and came highly recommended by someone who likes many of the same things as I do... and it was a total swing and a miss :( The comparisons to Orwell and Kafka are not uncalled for, and the descriptions "surreal", "dreamlike" and "unsettling" do apply, but not in a good way. I got to the end was like, "Ok, so I spent x amount of hours for that? Why?" 224 pages **
31.
The Gambler Grimoire Pretty mediocre. It came across as drab and listless, with weird pacing and a huge dollop of Mary Sue. I don't believe I will be continuing with this author.214 pages **
32.
The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World I loved this! There was so much that I didn't know about something that I thought of as 'basic', and it was deeply and widely researched, and clearly presented. I will admit to being very lost during the section on textiles and economics, but that's more me being bad at math as opposed to any fault of the author. I enjoyed the narrator's voice and delivery, though there were a couple of mispronunciations that bothered me and I couldn't listen when I was tired because her voice would lull me to sleep.9 hrs 42 mins *****
33.
I enjoyed his other books a lot more than this one. This just felt kind of shallow, like it touched shed on a lot of topics but didn't delve deeply into any of them. Even though I found some interesting parts, I wouldn't recommend anyone go out of their way to read it.6 hrs 28 mins ***
34.
The World of Biblical Israel This was an interesting delve into the historical aspects of the Bible, and what can be inferred about the lives of the people of the time period(s). I appreciated the way it steered away from both of the common extremes of "this is the literal, infallible, unquestionable Word of the ineffable God" and "It's all fairytales with no real historical value" and still managed to be interesting and accessible.12 hrs 19 mins ****
35.
The Forgotten Ones A quick story that kept me so engaged that I almost missed multiple bus stops while reading. I do love dystopias- and read a lot of them- so while you can trace influences, this is definitely its own story. I'm probably biased, since I know the author and could hear her voice throughout the whole thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and several of the scenes left vivid impressions with me.202 pages ****
Mod
The Forgotten Ones A quick story that kept me so engaged that I almost missed multiple bus stops while reading. I do love dystopias- and r..."Oh that sounds so intriguing!
Mod
The Forgotten Ones A quick story that kept me so engaged that I almost missed multiple bus stops while reading. I do love dystopias- and r..."Added to my TBR!
36.
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. This was very interesting, especially I knew only the basics of the subject. It's easy to tell that Sheldrake is in love with his subject (he waxes poetic... a lot). I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by the author and he does a good job and is pleasant to listen to... but his voice has this quiet lilt to it that put me to sleep if I was the remotest bit tired, so I had to keep starting parts over, lol!9 hrs 32 mins ****
37.
Vaster than Empires and More Slow: A Story49 pages ***
38.
American Religious History. This was interesting and well presented. I've enjoyed everything I've come across by this professor, but man... the closer to 'current' he got, the more stressed out I became and it actually took me a lot longer to finish than the quality of the material should warrant.12 hrs 14 mins ****
39.
The Tiger Came to the Mountains This was well written, and I can definitely see why the author has garnered a following... even if this story didn't really hook me. I'm still interested in trying some of her longer works.28 pages ***
40.
Bloody Summer I tend to enjoy the academic/documentary narrative style (when done well- as this was) so this little story was right up my alley. 28 pages ****
41.
WildlifeI always want to like Jeff VanderMeer. He writes the types of stories that should be right up my alley... but the way he writes them just doesn't work for me. Disappointing.57 pages **
Mod
WildlifeI always want to like Jeff VanderMeer. He writes the types of stories that should be right up my alley... but the way he writes them just do..."Agreeeeeeed. I wanted to like the Southern Reach trilogy so badly!! But I didn't.
Oh, for the love of little green apples! I haven't updated since APRIL!Welllllll... at least I've been reading...?
Book dump commences in 3... 2... 1...
42.
Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization43.
Archaeology: An Introduction to the World's Greatest Sites Really good. The information was fascinating (to me, anyway) and the organization and presentation was clear and easy to follow. There is a little bit of backtracking along the timeline, but it's not hard to follow when it happens.44.
The Big Mysteries of Human Evolution45.
The Rise of Humans: Great Scientific Debates46.
Countdown I love Mira Grant, and this didn't disappoint. It's a prequel to her Feed series so it's got a different tone, but it works well in showing how 'this' world could become 'that' world a generation down the line. 47.
Everglades I didn't really care for this one. Not that it was badly written, but it just didn't connect with me.48.
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats I loved this one :). It's a classic 'trying to survive during a zombie outbreak' story, but having been to Cons the setting just added some delicious flavor for me. 49.
How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea50.
Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Collection of Musings. LOVED this! Loved it so much that I had to take the time out of a massive book dump to say how much I loved it. Much love! Very Enjoy!51.
The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History52.
The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell53.
Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus This story on it's own is ok. It kind feels like a character sketch done to get a feel for characters that Grant was going to use elsewhere, rather than a story that needed to be told for it's own merits... but I really wish she would follow up with something that focuses on these characters, because I love the Doc and her Mad Scientist Lab (tm).54.
All the Pretty Little Horses55.
Coming to You Live56.
Feed I enjoyed it, but she's written MUCH better things. The dialog in this one made the characters seem more like teenagers than adults, almost as though she'd intended the story to be YA but then kinda changed her mind, but I liked exploring the ramifications of the world they were living in. I do think I would have enjoyed it more in print because once they switched narrators I almost couldn't finish! The girl wasn't great, but the guy... **shudder**57.
Deadline58.
Blackout59.
History of Brooklyn The information was interesting, but the lecturer is awful to listen to. I searched so hard trying to find a print version of this to read (unsuccessfully).60.
Kingdom of Needle and Bone61.
Parasite62.
Symbiont63.
Chimera64.
The Game of Sunken Places65.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone66.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban67.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets68.
Fairy Tale A love letter to stories in general, and an engrossing (and at times gross) tale that I didn't want to put down. The narrator does a very good job with all the voices and accents. If you have read King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft you will recognize a lot of the stories that moulded King's early love of reading but if you haven't, you won't even see where it's self-referential (there is one particular reference that everyone will get, but I think that it's used to ground Fairy Tale into "our" world, and not the world of the linked "Derry is nexus of Evil" stories).24 hrs 6 mins ****
69.
LaterThis is a classic horror/haunting story and it's fun. No new ground turned here, but the tale is solid and engaging. There isn't the slow build-up and 'getting to know you' period that most King novels have, so it felt to me more like a novella in the plotting. The narrator actually made me more invested in the characters than the flat text did and I would have given the this good old fashioned spooky story 4 stars except (view spoiler)6hrs 32 mins ***
70.
'Salem's Lot A perfect story for Spooktober. It's dated, yes, but it holds up well, and I still break out in a chill sweat during the grave digging scene. I must say, though, that now I want this to be made into a Netflix of Amazon series: Season one, the story proper; Season Two, Hubie Marsten; Season three, Momson; Season four, the hunt for (view spoiler)17 hrs 36 mins ****
71.
The Silmarillion I was inspired to reread this after binging Rings of Power (which I found greatly entertaining, regardless of what the so-salled fanboys would have you believe). I prefer the text to the audio (I've got both) because despite Martin Shaw having a really nice voice his mispronunciations drive me absolutely batty, and you can tell when his brain switches off and he's just reading the words in front of him and not attaching any meaning.365 pages *****
Mod
Elyse wrote: "Well glad to see you're doing well and got a lot of reading done since April! 😉" And with the exception about that History of Brooklyn (which had a terrible narrator/lecturer and would probably have been much better in print) they were all good, some very good. I just fell off the tracking wagon I guess. Someday I'm going to keep up with my logging and commenting... not this year, obviously, but someday, hahaha!
Mod
I hear that!
72.
Before 1776: Life in the American Colonies. It is both amazing and disconcerting to find that the knowledge I have about the place that I have lived for the vast majority of my life and have actively studied in school is so... incomplete.18 hrs 33 min ****
73.
The History of the Superhero Light and quick, with very little that hasn't been covered in other things. It wasn't a bad intro to the subject but Lan Dong's pronounced accent made the narration tricky. She makes sure to speak slowly with precise cadences so that the listener can easily understand what she's saying... but that meant that I couldn't speed up the audio and I'm not used to things taking that long, lol!3 hrs 58 mins ***
74.
How Horror Works in Books and FilmThis was a quick look at the different types of horror and how they can overlap and what (generally) makes them effective. Nothing too deep, but it was well presented and the Professor is a good speaker so I never wanted to turn it off when my breaks were over.3 hrs 40 mins ****
75.
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times This was not exactly a memoir... it was more like advice from a big sister: kind of "What you feel and experience is valid. I've been through things like that, too, and this is what I found to get me through it and what I learned from it. Maybe it will help you." It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it felt like a written hug, and I enjoyed listening to her narrate it. A satisfying book to complete my GR challenge with.9 hrs 59 mins ****
76.
Paper: Paging Through History An interesting look at something that is so basic that we all take it for granted (which is kind of Kurlansky's hallmark and why I enjoy his books). There were some segments that I felt were more tangential than I cared about, but when he looped back to the core subject I could see why he'd spent time on them.13 hrs 42 mins ****
Mod
77.
A Christmas Carol Patrick Stewart is amazing but the abridgement is pretty aweful. I really really want him to do an unabridged version.1 hr 47 mins ***
78.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!64 pages *****
79.
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World I don't remember why I picked this up but I'm glad I did; it was great.8 hrs 35 mins ****
80.
The World of J.R.R. Tolkien Dimitra Fimi is the only person I've ever heard read Elvish in a way that actually sounded like a fluent language.4 hrs 42 mins *****
81.
The Suburb Beyond the Stars This is part of one of my friends favorite series- it basically turned her into a reader as a kid- and while it's not something I'd probably pursue on my own (it's well written, but the main characters don't really grab me), I'm pleased as punch that she wants to share it with me and is excited to loan me her personal books.223 pages ***
Mod
The Suburb Beyond the Stars This is part of one of my friends favorite series- it basically turned her into a reader as a kid- and ..."Oh he wrote
and I hated the format of that book! lol. It did not transfer well to audio.
75 Books...More or Less!
Books mentioned in this topic
Feed (other topics)The Suburb Beyond the Stars (other topics)
The Suburb Beyond the Stars (other topics)
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World (other topics)
A Christmas Carol (other topics)
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