Cover to Cover Challenge discussion
Stacie's 144 in 2010
I am thinking the same way as you. I was thinking 100 books was my goal but did not find a group so then I found this one and said why not? If anything it will motivate me!
1. Wi'tch Storm- James Clemens (The magic system in Clemens' Wi'tch books is interesting and pretty disturbing ;) The story itself is entertaining if predictable. There were some quirks in the writing style that I found distracting: the author's use of random apostrophes made me roll my eyes fairly often, and his attempt at creating a 'dialect' by replacing the word 'is' with the word 'be' was just sad, but I enjoyed the story and expect that I'll pick up the next in the series.)
2. Magyk- Angie Sage (Well, there's no way this is going to make it on to my 'favorites' shelf. Or even my 'recommend it to others' shelf. The 'humor' is forced, the pacing is rushed, the characters are two dimensional- and worse than that, they're boring. Granted, I read this while sick and feverish so others might have a different opinion but I just can't see myself recommending this one to anyone of any age. It seems awfully early in the year to be hit with disappointing books)
3. The Warded Man- Peter V. Brett (I enjoyed this one. It's almost entirely set up for future books- world building and character development with limited plot- but it works because the characters and places are believable and complex without becoming unnecessarily convoluted and tedious.)
4. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins (Wow... just wow!. I've been hearing fantastic things about this book but figured it couldn't live up to the hype. Fortunately for me, it does. I really, really want to jump into the second one but I've been warned by a reliable source that if I get to the end of the second book without the third being immediately available I'll scream.)
5. On Writing- Stephen King (Read for the January book of one of my book clubs. I love this book... part memoir, part technical advice and all fascinating. I've always enjoyed reading King's Author's Notes in his novels so this was a treat for me... a novel length Author's Note.)
6. The Lair of the White Worm- Bram Stoker (Two stars... and I'm being generous. This was a disjointed, clumsy lump of a story with a poorly realized premise, poorly fleshed out characters and painfully bad dialogue- even taking into consideration that it's Victorian melodrama... that's bad!)
7. Heat Stroke- Rachel Caine (I guess this falls under the heading of Paranormal Romance. Definite brain candy... and addicting! When I got to the end of the book I had to flip the last page a couple of times to make sure it was the last one. Then I gasped indignantly because that was just a mean place to stop and make someone wait for the next installment :D I'm so glad I've got the third one in my grubby- metaphorically speaking- little hands already!)
8. Chill Factor- Rachel Caine (These are so addicting- they are fast paced and entertaining and the main character is sarcastic, smart enough to see trouble coming and stubborn enough to wade right into the middle of it anyway.)
9. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen (I thought I'd give Austen another chance... see if I might have developed an ability to appreciate her works the way I did for Charles Dickens. That would be a 'no'. I think Mark Twain said it best: "Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the head with her own shin-bone.")10. Northanger Abbey- Jane Austen (As part of my decision to give Austen another attempt I even picked up one of her books that was new to me. I think I've given it an honest and open-minded chance and can only come to the conclusion that I really don't care for her books. It's not that they aren't well written- I can see that they are- but I just can't stand any of the characters. Reading this book was like being stuck in breakroom with the annoying guy or girl who feels the need to tell you about the game show/reality show/pseudo-sport he or she watched last night in excruciatingly boring detail. I. Dont. Care!)
Ok, flailing rant over ;p
I really like the way you express yourself in your reviews!Wish i had the ability
11. The Adventure of English: the Biography of a Language- Melvyn Bragg (I'm such a nerd, LOL. This was fantastic. I listened to the audio version- I imagine trying to read it without a very strong foundation in phonetic notation would have been an exercise in frustration- and it was really well done. The writing was clear and dynamic, not dryly academic, and the Robert Powell's narration was well done.)
12. The Living Dead- John Joseph Adams, ed. (I wasn't really impressed with this collection. There were a few stories that I really enjoyed- the Stephen King piece springs to mind- but for the most part these stories aren't heart-pounding, blood curdling monster stories... they're small studies on the 'human condition', which is not what I wanted when I picked this up.)
13. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien (This is a re-read, to the umpteenth degree :) The slowest installment in the series, IMHO, as there's just so much landscape but still a great story and without this one the other two are robbed of their emotional impact. Normally when re-reading this story I pull down my Lord of the Rings 50th Anniversary Edition brick- I mean book- and read it as a single story... however, as I'm aiming for 144 books this year I'm going to break them up and count them as 3. It's how they were originally published so it's not really cheating, LOL!)
14. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society- Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (I was curious to see what all the hubbub was about so I downloaded the sample yesterday. As soon as I reached the end of the sample I had to buy the book. It's not at all the kind of thing I read- it's epistolary, it's historical fiction, it's a light romance and very much influenced by Jane Austen- but I could not put it down. I finished it in a single sitting because I simply couldn't stop reading... as soon as I'd just about convinced myself to put my Nook down and get to sleep something would make me start laughing so hard I'd almost choke... immediately followed by something that would tug at my heart, and then make me smile wistfully. I kept telling myself 'Ok, just one more letter' and then 'just one more'. I finally gave up deluding myself around four in the morning and just accepted that I wasn't going to bed tonight. Er, last night. Whatever...)
15. The True History of Tea- Victor H. Mair & Erling Hoh (Interesting, well researched and easy to read... even though it took me a long time to finish ;p )
January's Summary
15 books total
1 audiobook, 12hr. 12 min.
14 books, 5,434pp
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- J.K. Rowling (I should be packing, cleaning or being otherwise productive... so of course I sit down with a comfort read ;p Hey, I needed fortifying!)
17. Bard of the Middle Ages- Michael Drout (This is one of the Modern Scholars audio titles- which are technically lectures but which I'm counting as audiobooks because of their length- usually around 14 hrs- the fact that I'm addicted to them, and because... well... i can! ;p This one is the best explanation of Chaucer I've encountered, covering a wide variety of his work not just the Canterbury Tales. I'd recommend it to anyone who's ever tried to pick up Chaucer (or anyone who might have to) and been stricken with 'WTH?!' syndrome.)Wow... moving is horrible for getting books read :( Two so far for the month of Feb. Blech.
18. Color: A Natural History of the Palette- Victoria Finlay (Not recommending this one. Some of it was interesting, but Finlay's writing was so disorganized that reading it was frustrating. Very, very frustrating. The author did a spectacularly bad job of concluding ideas/themes so you never knew quite when she was moving on to a new subject or whether she was going to circle back to an earlier topic. The subject matter was interesting, at times even fascinating, but the writing was not well done. As a whole, the book was not effective at communicating its information.)
19. The Anglo-Saxon World- Michael Drout (This is another of the Modern Scholar audio series... and if you have an inner nerd, this will make it happy :) One of the biggest problems I've had in the past with trying to read about this time period is that I have no idea how to pronounce half of what I read and it's very distracting and frustrating... well, that and the fact that very many of the people being discussed have the same names- also very frustrating and confusing! Prof. Drout is very good at clearing up that confusion and since this is an audio and he can actually speak Anglo-Saxon you can hear what things should sound like. For some reason that makes it loads easier for me to follow along.)February's Summary
4 books total
2 audiobook, 15 hr. 59 min.
2 books, 768pp
20. Beowulf- Chauncy Brewster Tinker, trans. (This is a prose translation, so it was quite a bit easier to follow than some of the poetic translations I've picked up but it also lacked the... grace, for lack of a better word, of some of the poetry translations. You get the story, but not the power.)
21. Out of the Silent Planet- C.S. Lewis (The only things I'd read by Lewis were his Chronicles of Narnia so I thought I'd branch out. I'd give this one 3 stars, which is a bit disappointing to me- I really love the Narnia books and was hoping for something on that level. The writing in this book is different, older... and Lewis spends a lot of time trying to explain the fantastic and unrealistic elements instead of just letting the reader experience them. I thought the 'twist' had interesting implications but over all, I was a bit underwhelmed by the story. Oh, and I thought that the main character was a bit of a ninny so that may have coloured my impressions a bit, lol.)
22. Peter Pan- J.M. Barrie (It had been many years since I'd read this, and an audio version narrated by Jim Dale seemed like a perfect reason to revisit it. A great story and an equally great narrator :) Definitely recommend this version.)
23. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll (This has been on my TBR pile for quite a while- I'd read graphic novel treatments and abridgements but never the original work. Now that I have, I've got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it is written well- the characters are each unique and distinct and Alice could easily be every little girl I've ever known. The dreamlike 'logic' stays consistent throughout and it's whimsical. On the other hand, there is absolutely no point. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it when I was much younger, or if it had been very late at night- or I'd had some form of chemical assistance ;p I'm still trying to decide if I want to tackle 'Through the Looking Glass' or not...)
24. Stoneheart- Charlie Fletcher (Jim Dale does a terrific job narrating, as usual, and the story is really good. This story grabbed hold of my imagination and just wouldn't let go.)25. Ironhand- Charlie Fletcher (I was surprised at how much I loved the story. I found myself wanting to go to London just to see the world it's set in.)
March's Summary
6 books total
4 audiobooks, 29 hr. 45 min.
2 books, 270pp
I am officially only one month's reading behind, LOL! I'm finally starting to get my reading 'stride' going again after the mess that was the entire month of February, though, and feeling good.
26. Firestarter- Stephen King (This was a re-read for one of my book clubs. It held up just as well this time as it did the first. I love it when books do that!)
27. The Dead Zone- Stephen King (King's writing, as usual IMO, is good. You get inside and really identify with the main characters- they are believable and you come to care about them. However, the plotting is not as tightly put together as some of his other works and I thought the ending was weak. I still enjoyed it, and I'll probably read it again at some point, but it's not going to get moved to my 'favorites' shelf.)
28. Silvertongue- Charlie Fletcher (Not quite as good as the first two in the series but still really good. I can't quite figure out what the author was thinking when he picked the title though ;) The first two titles in the series made sense- they referred to a central idea or event. The third title... not so much! I really loved the series, though, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy/adventure fiction. I'll definitely be listening to these again!)
29. Wi'tch War- James Clemmens (This is the third book in a multi book series. The first two were entertaining and at least fairly solidly written. This one... well, this one is written so badly that I'm not even sure that it was actually written by Clemmens. If it was, he should fall on his knees and beg forgiveness. I can not think of a single positive thing to say about this book. The dialogue is *shudder* idiotic, the 'plot' is ridiculously contrived and melodramatic, and the characterizations are so flat they aren't even two dimensional. The would building and magic system- which had seemed so promising at first- suffers from a fatal lack of imagination in this one. I very much regret that actually I paid money for it, and that I purchased the next in the series (which I have no desire to read now) at the same time. Blech.)
30. Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt- Barbara Mertz (I really enjoyed this audiobook; the combination of the writing and the narrator had me laughing aloud several times. That led to some interesting looks during my commute!)
31. The Forrest of Hands and Teeth- Carrie Ryan (I'd heard mixed reviews about this one but, really... how can you resist something with such a great title? ;) Despite the fact that the external pressure on the main character was supplied by zombies, and I'm utterly terrified by zombies, I couldn't put the book down. Every time I tried I found my brain buzzing with the real conflict in the story- that between the duty to the community and duty to the self, and how messy and confusing and impossible that decision is... and of the unfair sacrifices either choice demands.)
32. Drowned Wednesday- Garth Nix(The third entry in the seven book 'Keys to the Kingdom' series- this one had pirates :) I love pirates :D )
April's Summary
7 books total
3 Audiobooks, 31 hrs 22 min
4 books, 1,728pp
33. Sir Thursday- Garth Nix (This one doesn't focus as much on the 'villain' of the title as the first two did... in fact there's a lot of conflict with Superior Saturday- which should be two books down the line. The result is that there's a feeling that Nix is more interested in that future story than the one he's telling now and it does distract a little as it pulls the reader's attention away from present events in the story. There were hints of a 'bigger bad' in each of the first two but they were much more subtle and so didn't distract as much. Still, this was very fun and as always I loved the descriptions of the various parts of the House and it's Denizens.)
34. The Crocodile on the Sandbank- Elizabeth Peters (I was surprised to find out that Barbara Mertz, the author of an Egyptian history book that I read and loved, also wrote under the pen name of Elizabeth Peters- and Barbara Michaels... the woman is very prolific! Now, period romantic mysteries aren't my usual genre but I'd enjoyed the writing style in her non-fiction so much I thought I'd use an Audible credit and give her a try. I'm so glad I did! I can't remember the last time I finished an audiobook in a single day, at least not in a day I wasn't stuck driving cross-country. It isn't a very strong mystery, more of a light romantic comedy... nothing very mysterious happens until about the last third of the novel and you know who, what and why right away, but it is funny. I love Amelia! There are 19 books in this series and she's written 70 books, total, under her various noms de plume. I hope the rest continue to be as entertaining. I love finding an author I like and finding out they've practically written an entire section of the library :D)
Stacie,Elizabeth Peters is great. You read the first in the series, lucky you. The next is Curse of the Pharoahs and then Mummy. She wrote these when she wrote the rest under that name. However, this series is much better than the others although I enjoyed them all.
Under Barbara Michaels, she wrote romantic gothics -- quite different from the Peters books. They were popular in the 80s but some of them seem a bit corny by today's standards. She's written only 3 of those in the 2000s and none are top notch.
But the Peters books are awesome, especially the Amelia Peabody series. Another of those just came out this year and I'm looking forward to readiing it.
Happy reading.
35. The Curse of the Pharaohs- Elizabeth Peters (A better mystery than the first and still laugh-out-loud funny. Yay! I think I'll keep an eye out for more of these.)
Vicky, thanks for the information and insight on the various Peters/Michaels books. Have you by any chance read any of the Peters books in the Kirby or Bliss series? I was wondering if they had the same kind of wry- and at times almost slapstick- humor as the Peabody novels...
I've read them all. Yes, they all have that humor. I don't remember the Kirby books but I remember the Bliss series. I think you'll enjoy them all, but maybe not the Michaels books if you don't care for gothic romance. But try one and see.
36. The Mummy Case- Elizabeth Peters (I'm loving these. Just the thought of mosquito netting sends me into giggles ;) The time spent on Ramses was great- he's the perfect son for Amelia! I've picked up the next book in the series and intend to dive into that one soon... I've got three others going right now and I should finish at least one of them first.)
37. The Red Pyramid- Rick Riordan (I wasn't really impressed with this one. It wasn't bad but it seemed forced. The gimmick of breaking into the narrative to remind the reader that the story was a transcript of some audio tapes was clumsy and distracting. Also, switching the points of view on alternating chapters would have worked better if the two main characters had had distinct voices. They didn't, despite the author's attempt to throw in 'Brit speak' here and there. And the two main characters didn't think, speak or act believably for their supposed ages. I did see glimmers here and there of the imagination that made the Percy Jackson books so fun but they weren't enough to carry the entire story... and at 528 pages there were far too few of them. This wasn't an 'avoid-like-the-plague' book but it's also not a 'pay-full-price-for-the-hardback' book either.)
38. Lady Friday- Garth Nixand
39. Superior Sunday- Garth Nix
(I am enjoying this series but I do feel that the later books- Thursday and later- don't work as well on their own as the first three. They make sense so you don't really have to read them in order but it works better to have the full set and just read them like one really long book. At least, that's how it seems so far.)
40. The Sand Dragon- Michael F. Stewart (This was a reader copy given in exchange for a review and it was a quick easy read- not the best thing I've ever read, but I had fun with it. It's the literary equivalent of a B grade horror movie- it would be right at home on the 'Sy Fy' channel, for those of you in the States ;) The monster is interesting and creepy- I particularly like the way the author chose to use something other than the standard Western European Dragon type- the bad guys are evil and there's lots of action. There's also an attempt at social commentary, environmentalism and romance... and about five different storylines crammed into 256 pages. In fact, the biggest problem with the story is that there is too much going on to satisfactorily develop and tie together all the strands. The core of the story however- a good old fashioned monster tale- was fun enough that I wouldn't mind reading more from the author.)
41. Lord Sunday- Garth Nix (A satisfying end to the Keys to the Kingdom series. This one doesn't stand well on it's own- and the series does need to be read in order- but it was a good ending to the story arc. Not a surprising end, but a good one ;) )
42. The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett (A re-read of an old favorite. I hadn't intended to read this one today but I picked it up and read the first page... and then before I knew it, I'd finished it again :) This is one of the books I like to sink into when I want something nice and comforting.)
43. The Modern Scholar: The Literature of C.S. Lewis- Timothy Shutt (This falls into a bit of a grey area: the Modern Scholar series are actually lectures that have been re-recorded as audiobooks. I count them as 'books read' because they are considered audiobooks and the fact that I'm addicted to them :D This one wasn't as good as his one on epic literature but it was ok and it did inspire me to re-read the books covered in this lecture.)44. The Magician's Nephew- C.S. Lewis (The point has been made that while this was not the first book published in the series it should be read first because it starts at the beginning of the Narnia Chronology and that Lewis himself suggested rearranging the order for future publications. With all due respect to Mr. Lewis, the many Lewis Scholars and the publishing house, I'm going to disagree. Emphatically. The writing style changes throughout the series, which is jarring if read out of the original publishing order ("Lion..." reads for a slightly younger audience than the others), and there are plot points and connections that lose their impact if read in the 'new' order. I could go on and on, but I'm not going to ;p)
45. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- C.S. Lewis (This is my favorite in the series, and one I have read many, many times!)
46. Prince Caspian- C.S. Lewis
May was a good month: 14 read! Ok, so there were several rereads but they were soooo worth rereading ;)May's Summary
14 books total
8 audiobooks, 69 hrs 40 min
6 books, 1,720pp
(Hey! I'm only 14 books behind, LOL!)
Cover to Cover Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Boneshaker (other topics)The Alien Life of Wayne Barlowe (other topics)
The Postman (other topics)
Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy & the Birth of Democracy (other topics)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (other topics)
More...
So, here I am. I have some (extensive) doubts on wether or not I'll hit the total but there's something exciting about trying :)
I might be crazy.