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HomeInMyShoes’ 2012 Reading Challenge - The Lazy Dog
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HomeInMyShoes
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Sep 16, 2012 06:06AM
Book number 57. Kurt Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus. I wouldn't start here if you've never read Vonnegut. Definitely not one of my favourites. Had some moments, but overall just a 2* for me. 2.2382.
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Book number 58. Robert Lynn Asprin's Sweet Myth-Tery of Life.Enjoyable. I'm surprised I never finished the original Myth series back way back when I started reading it. Only two more books left in that series now.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Book number 58. Robert Lynn Asprin's Sweet Myth-Tery of Life.Enjoyable. I'm surprised I never finished the original Myth series back way back when I started reading it. Only two more books left i..."
I did enjoy that series...
I will say they are terrible for the ending, but something left hanging standard. Now Gleep's been shot by an arrow. I'll just have to read the next one, but not before I finish up at least one other book. At least I know, according to FictFact that I've only got two left.
Book number 59. Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx. A bit long at times, but a good read. A book for my Polish heritage.
Book number 60. Robert Lynn Asprin's Myth-ion Improbable. Only one more Myth book to finish up the original series. I might give Phule's a try, but I found some other things that might be interesting.Looking for more light reading, has anyone read Dianne Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle and its sequels or Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff? Of course there is always Sir Pratchett to fill the time until next year's required reading list.
Yep. That should actually be Diana not Dianne. I've read nothing by her and she's written more than fifty books. I was thinking about Tough Guide as well.
I plan to grab a copy of Tough Guide. I have the some other book by her that's either in the series or is related in some way.
Book number 61. Something M.Y.T.H. Inc. by Robert Lynn Asprin. I've finished the original Myth series now, but there's always Myth Adventures. Anyone read that set?
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Book number 61. Something M.Y.T.H. Inc. by Robert Lynn Asprin. I've finished the original Myth series now, but there's always Myth Adventures. Anyone read that set?"No, I've never finished the first series.
Even at short books, another 8 is a month of reading. I'll probably go for something else. Time to pad my most-read author stats page or something new. Proulx? Stross? Hmmm...maybe Stross.
Oh oh, I just saw The Madness of Hallen by Russell Meek for $3.99 on Amazon. But it's the first book of the series and none of the others are out yet. If that wasn't enough it's doorstop fantasy at 740 pages...don't do it...don't do it...Crap. I did it.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Oh oh, I just saw The Madness of Hallen by Russell Meek for $3.99 on Amazon. But it's the first book of the series and none of the others are out yet. If that wasn't enough it's doorstop fantasy at..."ACK! I hate you!!! I've been trying to get my hands on that book for over a year now!
Hey, don't hate me, you pushed the book on me. :)Where is my Kindle anyway. I haven't read anything on it since, consults spreadsheet...July?!?
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Hey, don't hate me, you pushed the book on me. :)Where is my Kindle anyway. I haven't read anything on it since, consults spreadsheet...July?!?"
July?? O_o
How did that happen?
Re: Russel Meek :-P
I contacted him: He's going to send me a book AND he told me he's finishing up book 2.
Re: July: July 19th to be exact. Agency pricing. 90% of my wish list is priced at $14US or more. The rest are around $10US. Right now I'm probably reading my entire required list for next year (44 books) from the library in paper format. You might not have a Kindle, but Kindle isn't supported as a library device in Canada. Pick your evil.Re: the book: Groovy. Although authors will always say they are finishing up the next book. :)
I went to the library at lunch with a friend and they asked if my son was reading what I was picking up because it looked a little advanced (Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane) and I said no it's for me, he's reading Vonnegut.Book number 63. Dave Bidini's Home and Away about the Homeless World Cup. Great read.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "I went to the library at lunch with a friend and they asked if my son was reading what I was picking up because it looked a little advanced (Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane) and I said no it's for me,..."ROTFLMAO!
Book number 64. Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane. Not five stars, but very good. Better than book one in the series and a wonderful story. Highly recommended.
Book number 65. Halting State by Charles Stross. Good grief that was fun. The book club missed out not voting that selection in last year. People need to get over the second person thing, it makes complete sense to me to deliver the story.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Book number 64. Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane. Not five stars, but very good. Better than book one in the series and a wonderful story. Highly recommended."I really loved that series. You're making me nostalgic.
I haven't started Deep Wizardry yet. I'm seriously debating taking a giant axe to my list for next year to slot in the rest of the series. I'll have to take a look and see if that makes sense. There's some wantedtoreadforalongtime selections I don't want to lose just for a series.
I dont' know where to post this, but if people haven't seen this, there is a Humble Bundle offer out now with:Cory Doctorow - "Pirate Cinema"
Paolo Bacigalupi - "Pump Six" (short story collection)
Lauren Beukes - "Zoo City"
Mercedes Lackey - "Invasion" (book one of ''The Secret World Chronicle'')
Kelly Link - "Stranger Things Happen" (short story collection)
Kelly Link - "Magic for Beginners" (short story collection)
If you donate more than the average, you'll also get Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean's "Signal to Noise" graphic novel and John Scalzi's "Old Man’s War". DRM free. Lots of reading options. It looks like you can even send it through Amazon to your Kindle.
Seemed like a great selection with a couple of high on my list authors (Gaiman for a bonus and Bacigalupi).
I really should...that Mercedes Lackey book looks like me. But I've so many books to be read.Oooooo! I got my copy of The Madness of Hallen!
^Is it e or p? I'm curious how long it is because it seems way longer than the 443 pages listed on GoodReads.
That's what I thought. Amazon says 740 pages. I'd be reading, reading, reading and I'd do a calculation saying that I was about 20 pages in. Definitely a 700 page book. I'm on page 142 of 740 or 85 of 443. :)
lol!!Yeah, if it was standard type then I think I should be closer to 700+. This thing is a doorstopper. No joke.
How is it so far? Is it worth shuffling around the TBR?
I'm reading Janny WUrt's To Ride Hell's Chasm right now and its a door-stopper, too.
I think it might be turning the corner of becoming interesting. It's not that it's been bad, but I haven't read any doorstopper fantasy in a year and a half now. I might just be out of practice.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "I think it might be turning the corner of becoming interesting. It's not that it's been bad, but I haven't read any doorstopper fantasy in a year and a half now. I might just be out of practice."lol!
Finished book number 66. Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun. A nice read. it gets four stars, really about 3.8ish, but it gets bumped up for simplicity.
Finished book number 67. Jim Butcher's Storm Front. Will I read another. Maybe. The action was good in the end, but the first 140 pages and last bit were excruciating in the lame joke category. Lots of potential. I should like the stuff it hits much more. Maybe I need to read it in a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 frame. Frustrating. 2.8 stars.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Finished book number 67. Jim Butcher's Storm Front. Will I read another. Maybe. The action was good in the end, but the first 140 pages and last bit were excruciating in the lame joke category. Lot..."Storm front is the hardest one to read.
So you're saying I should try book 2?On another note anyone know if as a Canadian (registered in Canada) I can purchase a book from amazon.co.uk? I see a book for 0.20GBP (about 0.33 Canadian) that is about $9US from amazon.com. I also see quite a few other good deals. 4.99GBP instead of 19US for another title. I'm tempted to push the buy now with 1-click and see what happens because I can't find any useful information on this.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "So you're saying I should try book 2?On another note anyone know if as a Canadian (registered in Canada) I can purchase a book from amazon.co.uk? I see a book for 0.20GBP (about 0.33 Canadian) th..."
Yeah. I liked book 2 a lot more than book 1. I didn't finish the series but I enjoyed what I read.
If I finish The Madness of Hallen I'm swearing off doorstop fantasy. It's not that it's bad. It's just long and long and long. I feel like I've been reading forever and I'm at 60%. The Kindle is saying 8167 of 13566. I'm a five year old saying "are we there yet?" again and again and again.In other news Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi is very interesting.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "If I finish The Madness of Hallen I'm swearing off doorstop fantasy. It's not that it's bad. It's just long and long and long. I feel like I've been reading forever and I'm at 60%. The Kindle is sa..."Uh oh!
I'm reading an ARC right now...then I need to finish a BotM (Janny Wurts)and I have an Author Q&A Philippa Ballantine coming up soon.
ANd now you're telling me that Hallen is long, dry and boring... OH God. I have a free copy of that. *cries*
It's long. There's lots of interesting stuff, but it is long. I had also sworn off of doorstop books for the most part so my mental state was probably not correct for attempting it.I finished book 68. Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. Disturbing and visceral in places, but oh so good. His dystopian view just pulls at all the right bits of contemporary morality for me. 4+ stars. Maybe 5 if I think about it enough.
Thanks for that HIMS. I have a few Bacigalupi books including this one. Haven't read any of them yet. But it's nice to know that at least one of them is good. :)
Caleb wrote: "Thanks for that HIMS. I have a few Bacigalupi books including this one. Haven't read any of them yet. But it's nice to know that at least one of them is good. :)"You are putting an awful lot of faith in my opinion. While I like to think I'm relatively well-read and books that I think are worthwhile and important should be read and enjoyed by others there's really only two categories in which to evaluate art...
...would you put it on your wall...or not...
I'm done. Book number 69 The Madness of Hallen. Good, but a little too long. In places a little draggy. It wasn't draggy world building, but draggy character development. All in all reasonable, but like I mentioned earlier, I might be done with doorstop fantasy and may be the wrong person to review the book.Now it's time to bury myself in some more Pratchett.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "I'm done. Book number 69 The Madness of Hallen. Good, but a little too long. In places a little draggy. It wasn't draggy world building, but draggy character development. All in all reasonable, but..."Oooh, I would love to read your review! I have to read this Janny Wurts book first...but then I should get to this one...
Books mentioned in this topic
Miss Wyoming (other topics)We (other topics)
Stolen (other topics)
Brilliance of the Moon (other topics)
High Wizardry (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Janny Wurts (other topics)Philippa Ballantine (other topics)
Steven Galloway (other topics)
Jennifer Crusie (other topics)



