Challenge: 50 Books discussion
2010
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astrangerhere (2010) - 101 and still counting
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astrangerhere
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Aug 12, 2010 06:34PM
59. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag - It was with great delight that I returned to the world of Flavia DeLuce and banished any fears I might have had of a sophomore slump from Bradley. This book was more tightly plotted and focused and again left me eager for Flavia's next adventure.
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60. Sketches by Boz - I found myself much less engaged by the sketches as I do a normal Dicken's plot. The lack of a named character to really grasp hold of and follow through a narrative was lacking for me.
61. Peril at End House - a quick afternoon read while I was getting my car serviced. Continuation of the crashing through Christie!
62. Something Wicked This Way Comes - I'm not sure what I expected out of this book. But I will say it started off well, but then petered out pretty quickly. When the story was about the two boys and the life of summer, I found the writing eloquent and often painfully beautiful. But when it descended into the macabre carnival, the language and they story became convuluted and incoherent. While I enjoyed parts, I can't say I really appreciated the story as a whole.
63. The Little Sister - A bit more tawdry than Chandler's prior novels, but still a helluva noir ride. I have enjoyed this noir self-challenge immensely this year.
64. The Fall of Reach - Shockingly good sci-fi based on a game. My wife is a nut for the game, and I promised I'd read it for her since she liked it so much.
65. A Gun for Sale: An Entertainment - I've just recently gotten a complete set of Graham Greene's novels, and this is the first one i plowed into. It was a pleasing read, and I plan to read more.
I had the exact same reaction to Something Wicked this Way Comes. I am pretty sure it is the sequel to Dandelion Wine which I read when I was in high school and thought was incredible as a teenager... but this just didn't live up.I would recommend Boy's Life by Robert McCammon.
66. The House of Mirth - Working my way through Wharton and this was up next. Having now finally gotten all the way through the book, i must see Gillian Anderson's portrayal of Lily Bart in the Masterpiece Theater version.
67. The First Thinking Machine Omnibus: The Problem of Cell 13 & The Thinking Machine on the Case - I was terribly amused by "the American Sherlock Holmes" and am sad to know that there is only one other omnibus of the largely forgotten Futrelle. Its entirely possible that had he not died on the Titanic, there would have been more stories and more fame to this writer and his delightfully quirky characters.
69. Stardust - I don't really like that much Gaiman fiction. I love his comic books. But this book turned out to be an absolutely delightful surprise for me. It was nothing like any of his other works, and I found this particular fairy tale enchanting.
70. Revelation - Maybe I shouldn't have read this right on the heels of the Halo novel, or maybe I shouldn't have read it at all because it is not based on actual characters from the game. But the story was thin and the romance subplot was as subtle as a sledgehammer. While I expect that level of subtlety from the actual Bioware games, it was very distasteful in a book.
71. Summer of the Big Bachi - Not bad for Hirahara-san's first attempt. I suspect this book was as much her exercising a Nisei past as much as it was for her characters. I'll be picking up the next book to see how it all shakes out. And to meet the mysterious Mari.
72. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Some of these stories were truly fantastic. I am a huge fan of most things Sherlockiana, and this was a real treat for me.
73. A Man Lay Dead - I have started Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn mysteries on a suggestion from a fellow Agatha Christie fan. I found it quite enjoyable. Alleyn is quite the character, and I look forward to seeing where his story goes.
74. The Haunted Hotel - Meh. I am underwhelmed by Mr. Collins when he is not collaborating with Mr. Dickens or some of their other literary circle.
75. Shakespeare: The World As Stage - A little bit drier work than I am used to from Bryson, this was an interesting, albeit in his words "slim," biography of Shakespeare. Though in fairness, the book was more about what we don't know about Shakespeare, rather than what we do know. All in all an interesting read, though i desperately missed Brysons trademark humor.
76. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America - I've read alot of Bryson. But now I'm not sure how apt I am to read more. He spent the entire book emphasizing and building up stereotypes. He was as brutal to my home state as he was to New England, but it bothered me immensely to hear him refer to entire swaths of the country as one collective (and beneath him) unit. Of course there is the normal racist, stupid, poor, just as soon kill you as look at you South and the ultra violent, sheister northerners. People of any religion do not escape his agnostic ire either. This is discomfitting to me to suddenly find myself so disgusted with an author I had previously liked.
77. Biomega, Volume 1 - I debated on whether or not to add this, but I opted to. I'm just counting the whole series (5 to date) as one book rather than counting individual volumes that can take less than an hour to read. As for the book itself...Fantastic vision of a new kind of apocalypse. Not for the kiddies, but a great visual read.
78. The Invention of Everything Else - I am sure I didnt like this book as much as I was supposed to. It just did not move me like all the reviewers I saw before me. Perhaps it was because I never found Nicola Tesla or his chambermaid to be particularly sympathetic characters. The story was well-written, and I can't complain about the tightness of the plot, but I just didn't care for the story.
79. The Private Patient - I will always have a soft spot for PD James' Dalgleish, and this has not changed with this book. I felt a greater sense of closure with this novel than many of the others. I suspect the aging James is leaving herself plenty of room to not write another Dalgleish novel.
80. Let the Great World Spin - Fantastic. Sometimes a book has such depth and emotion that it can be hard to read. This was one of those books. I am a better person for having read it.
81. Enter A Murderer - Read over the course of a Sunday afternoon/evening. I find myself enjoying Marsh's Alleyn more and more. He has the wit of Poirot without the oddities. Nice way to spend a fall afternoon.
82. Forever - While I had expected this book to be a little _more_ about New York, I still enjoyed the narrative thoroughly. It felt rather like a Winter's Tale on a much smaller scale. Actually, as I type, it occurs to me just how much like a Winters Tale it was... point to ponder.
83. Casino Royale - "There's a Good Book about goodness and how to be good and so forth, but there's no Evil Book about evil and how to be bad. The Devil has no prophets to write his Ten Commandments and no team of authors to write his biography."
84. The Crime at Black Dudley - meh. It was a freebie, but did not at all peak my interest. melodrama more than mystery, it rang more of the penny dreadful than of a detective story.
85. All My Sons - While Miller grew very political in his later days, this play was political without trying. It was a scathing criticism on war and the men who profit from it. But in spite of it, it was still a wonderful play.
86. The Nursing Home Murder - Entertaining, and a good portrait of how sometimes detectives still luck into a solution.
87. The Last Templar - I thought I'd give this series a shot because of the novel-ness of the idea. But I found it fell flat on me. Admittedly, I did not enjoy this near so much as I might have due to the fact that there were NO female characters. I understand that was the way of the world during the templar age, but I had alot harder time engaging and being interested in the small villiage men of the book. Probably will not continue the series.
88. In the Shadow of Gotham - A fine first effort from fellow attorney Stefanie Pintoff. I do hope that the lovely Isabella will make a return in the next novel along with Simon Zeile.
89. The Haunting of Charles Dickens - I rather enjoyed this little story and the villain cameo at the end. Read it on a total whim, though I seemed to have read a lot of fictionalized Dickens stories this year.
90. Real World - Dark, haunting and beautifully written. I am curious as to how well this would be understood by persons who are unfamiliar with Japanese culture, especially high school education and the pressures placed on teenagers in school.
91. The Outfit - I read this novel after reading the graphic novel adaptation. Unsurprisingly, I was much more pleased with the novel.
92. A Curtain Falls - A very strong sophomore effort from madame barrister. Good to see some of the same characters again, though I do miss some kind of strong physical description of them that carries through the novels.
93. Batwoman: Elegy - This is the compilation of the best comic series I read all year. Perhaps one of the best mainstream books I've ever read. This was the birth of a Bat for a new generation. A woman who can take care of herself and anyone who gets in her way. But a woman who is still a little girl trying to outlive the ghost of being in the room when her family was killed. The art of JH Williams III and the beautiful plotting of Greg Rucka make this book a MUST read for any fan of comics, tangential or devoted.
94. Hide and Seek - Not as good as the first Rebus, but the character is strong enough that it won't deter me from continuing in the series.
95. Tooth and Nail - Perhaps its reading them back to back to back, but Rankin's formulaic storytelling is starting to show itself a little. Different woman, reminders of a dark past, and having the case all wrong up until an epiphany solves all. I like the atmosphere, and I enjoy the complexity of Rebus as a character, though the plotting is growing a little thin on me.
96. Holmes for the Holidays - A delightful bit of Christmas reading! As is usually the case, the story featuring a cameo by the stunning Irene Adler was my favorite of the lot. Can't wait to start the next volume of the anthology.
More Holmes for the Holidays - Quite as good as the first collection, and entertaining as always. Its been a number of years since this has been done, I'd like to see another collection of Sherlockania soon.
98. Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas - This was a freebie for my Nook and I skimmed most of the info with particular interest to the story of Judy Garland altering the text of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to brighten it up for soldiers coming home from the war. Nothing impressive, and a little schmaltzy, but hey, it was free and a nice little Christmas read.
99. The Black Book - Rankin broke out of his formula nicely and I am thoroughly enjoying Mr. Rebus now.
100. The Woman in White - I can tell that Collins got paid by the word, and I can also tell which chapters were more heavily influenced by his own drug use. But I did enjoy the story on the whole. I still think that both Collins and Dickens were better when they wrote together, but I am glad to have read this.
101. Death in Ecstasy - Religious cults, heroin and even a few homosexuals thrown in for good measure in a book originally published in 1936. And yet, none of it felt dated or campy, save for a few turns of phrases here or there.
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Death in Ecstasy (other topics)The Woman in White (other topics)
The Black Book (other topics)
Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (other topics)
More Holmes for the Holidays (other topics)
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