6. Night Train to Rigel By Timothy Zahn
7. Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

March now, time for the February count.

3. Night of Knives, Ian Esslemont
4. Magic Steps, Tamora Pierce
5. Street Magic, Tamora Pierce
6. Cold Fire, Tamora Pierce
7. Shatterglass, Tamora Pierce

It has been a long time since I've read this many books in a month. I blame it on the shortness of Pierce's Circle Opens Quartet. I had picked it up loosely years ago, but got side tracked by some other series. So, when I saw the continuation of this series, The Will of the Empress, I couldn't resist starting this again. It was so worth it.

As for Night of Knives, it was good. It had the same feeling of the other Malazen books, if maybe a little quicker and more focused. I liked it, but it pales to some other Malazen books. It is only the beginning of this side story, so I suppose can't expect too much from the new players...yet.

Now I’m working on the Will of the Empress, by Tamora Pierce.

February count:
3) Farewell Summer, Ray Bradbury
4) Brave Story, Miyuki Miyabe

...I really need to get on the ball here. Two a month is not gonna cut it!

February:
5) Shadowstorm, Paul S Kemp
6) IT, Stephen King.

Don't worry Rick, you aren't the only one who only did two books this month.

5) Selected Writings of Karl Marx
6) The Duty to obey the Law, By William Edmundson

Yeah, another 'only two books this month' guy. I've been busy.

Hey, at least you guys remember to update (unlike me).:o I'll put my February count up when I get home.

UPDATE:
6. Soul Music ~ Terry Pratchett
7. The Pull of the Moon ~ Elizabeth Berg
8. Pride and Prejudice ~ Jane Austen
9. Serpent ~ Clive Cussler
10. March ~ Geraldine Brooks
11. Emma ~ Jane Austen

To be fair, two of these were really short. I couldn't follow some of the stuff that was going on in Soul Music, so I didn't enjoy it quite as much I as normally enjoy Pratchett's stuff. The Pull of the Moon was about a menopausal joyride (for real); I'm never reading anything by her again. The book was my mom's though, so at least I didn't buy it. P&P and Emma were the last two for my Jane Austen project (self-inflicted). It turns out I didn't need to finish Emma though, as it's going to be on this weekend (stupid public television fundraiser). My dad has a ton of Clive Cussler books, so I finally read one; it was alright. I might read more, but only because they are free. March won the Pulitizer, and it was pretty awesome. It's about Mr. March, the absent father in Little Women. I hadn't read any Civil War stuff for a while, so I am good for a bit now.

A question: Do short stories count for the challenge? I mean just a single short story...I figure they don't but I might as well ask

Well, this isn't a police state; it's really up to you. I almost never read short stories and personally I wouldn't count them unless I had just read an entire book of them (and that doesn't happen too often), but that's just me.

I have a book that was originally published as three separate novels, and I am counting them separately, though.

God, Seems I'll get into the challange.

I'm in the army.. and the way this is heading I'll easily finish the challenge.

I've read 5 and started the 6ith book during the last weekend.. cause I was guard duty ALOT.

The books: "1984" by George Orwell
"Black box" by Amos Oz
"The helper" by Bernard Malmud
"Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo
"Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Huh.

Edit.. make that 6: Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Wow, look at this, I am actually posting on the first day of the month without prompting.

Last month was pretty pitiful reading-wise. (I blame Easter.) I am still trying to figure out if I read another book and just forgot to record it, but if I did it must have sucked because I can't remember. Anyhow...

March count:

12. Funeral Music ~ Morag Joss
13. Brideshead Revisited ~ Evelyn Waugh
14. The Alchemist ~ Paulo Coelho

Funeral Music was an alright mystery. I borrowed it from my cubemate and I will probably read the second one in the series but I don't think I would buy them. Brideshead Revisited I bought during a field trip to Harvard a few years back and I only just got around to reading it now. It's a classic; read it if you ever get the chance. I probably would be going on and on about Brideshead except that I finished the month with The Alchemist. Seriously, go read this book. It's short and sweet and to the point. It's about fulfilling your life's dream. I definitely want to read more of Paulo Coelho's stuff now.

Crap. March count:

5) The First Law Book 1 - The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie

And I read most of that one in February. Nearly finished another book for this month, had about a hundred pages to go... Looks like I'm gonna fail the challenge this year, unless something miraculous happens. Man, what happened to the good ol' days when I could get through a book a week?

March count:

1.Simon Spurrier - Lord of the Night
2.Trudi Canavan - The Magician's Guild
3,4,5.Raymond E. Feist - Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon
6.Raymond E. Feist & William Fortschen - Honoured Enemy
7.Richard A. Knaak - The Kingdom of Shadow
8.Anthony Reynolds - Dark Apostle

Currenly reading Trudi Canavan book 2 - The Novice. Looking forward though to soe new Warhammer literature.

8. The Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
9. Stardust By Neil Gaiman
10. Mystic Arcana by Marvel Comics...various authors.

March Count! (And only a week late)

8. Will of the Empress, by Tamora Pierce
9. Sandry's Book, by Tamora Pierce
10. Tris's Book, by Tamora Pierce
11. Daja's Book, by Tamora Pierce
12. Brair's Book, by Tamora Pierce

I think there's a pattern here.
>.>
<.<
It was all good, nothing amazing, but it still was worth reading.

11. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones
12. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
13. Lai Wan: Tales of the Dreamwalker by C.J. Henderson and others

9. The Novice - Trudi Canavan
10. The Enemy Within - Richard Lee Byers


Currently going through The High Lord - Trudi Canavan. I'm absolutely in love with this trilogy.

Hmm, I read The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan, but I wasn't horribly impressed with it. Pretty sure I sold the book already, too. Are the latter books better? I think I may have just not liked her writing style.

Behind on posting as usual but this time I've actually read a few books. Here's the list:

Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore - finally finished this; it was a decent read but not as good as other Moore books I've read.

Wellspring of Chaos by L.E. Modesitt Jr. - I haven't read any of this series in awhile but this is my favorite one yet and has me wanting to re-read them all before reading the current one.

Star War: A New Hope by George Lucas - Okay read but man does that guy suck as a writer.

Empire Strikes back by Donald F. Glut - Not bad but a little exuberant for my taste.

Return of the Jedi by James Kahn - Pretty much the same but way to overblown on the descriptions. At one point he actually uses the phrase "slowly slows"...

April Count:

15. The Kite Runner ~ Khaled Hosseini Awesome book, read it if you ever get the chance.

16. The Screwtape Letters ~ C. S. Lewis Dude didn't just write Narnia.

17. One Shot ~ Lee Child

I'm on a spiritual reading kick right now (see #16) and I realize that those kinds of books probably don't interest many people here. Since we don't talk about religion here, if you're interested in talking about spiritual reading, please im/pm me and I can hook you up with some good stuff. :-)

6. Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
7. Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury

April has returned me to my usual one or two books a month style.

13. The Highwayman, by R.A. Salvatore.
14. The Demon Awakens, by R.A. Salvatore.

So a friend of mine told me to try Salvatore's stuff a while back, and I've been putting it off forever. I'm still very hesitant to try his Dark Elf series, which is silly long.

Anyway, those two are part of the Saga of Corona/Demon War Saga and its fairly good. If a little overly described at times.

14. Good Omens By Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
15. The Waste Lands Dark Tower Book III By Stephen King

Do it, do it, do it! I read Salvatore a few years back. I actually started out with the Cleric Quintet and then moved on to the Drizzt novels. I don't think I read all of them, but as you can tell from this thread, I read a million different things.

Also, DBS, what did you think of Good Omens? It's like two of the greatest forces of the universe combined to make a masterpiece with extra awesome sauce. I loved Crowley terrorizing his plants. Don't know why that's what I really remembered from that book, but it stuck with me.

Not a fan of him...he killed Chewbacca...so yeah I don't like him

Oh I loved it...I would read it outside when the weather was good and people would give me strange looks as if they wanted to ask me if a book would actually be that funny...I think it's a shame people don't read as much anymore...but anyways big time fun to read! Everyone should

oh and...

16. Wolverine: Enemy of the State By Mark Miller Illustrated by John Romita Jr.

So way-late March and late April counts:

7) Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
8) Justice as Fairness by John Rawls
9) Fury by Aaron Allston
10) Revelation by Karen Travis
11) The Power of Persuasion by Kirsten Kozolanka
12) Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

I justify the last one by pointing out there's 10 years worth of strips over 1500 pages.

11. Trudi Canavan - The High Lord
12. C.L. Werner - Palace of the Plague Lord

Next target: Graham McNeill - Ultramarines omnibus

May count:

18. My Life With the Saints ~ James Martin
19. The Two Towers ~ J. R. R. Tolkien

I don't know what it is about Tolkien, but it always takes me forever to finish one of his books. Also, I haven't read any Pratchett since like, February. I must rectify this.

20. The Last Mythal Book I: Forsaken House ~ Richard Baker

Yeah, this is the only book from the last two weeks...it's been a lot of fanfiction. I'm a sucker for Forgotten Realms novels, though, and I needed something for the plane ride. It was quite good.

May count.

15. Ascendance, by R.A. Salvatore.
16. Homeland, by R.A. Salvatore.
17. Exile, by R.A. Salvatore

Since I have suddenly found the Corona series annoyingly hard to find, I had to give up on it for a little while. Whereas, the Dark Elf Triology was...so easy to find it was a little sickening.

Ascendance was nice, took a while to get into, but nice. Although, now that I'm actually reading Drizzt/Dark Elf books, I finally see where Salvatore's thing for Rangers comes from. The Dark Elf books are just really, really, really, really good.

I forgot my April count!

6) Tales Before Tolkien - The Roots of Modern Fantasy, ed Douglas A. Anderson

...No May book! :gonk: I fail.

Seriously, forget "50 book challenge". At this rate I'll be lucky to hit 15 by the end of the year!

June count:

20. Terrier ~ Tamora Pierce

Pretty good, unfortunately the next one in the series doesn't come out until next year sometime.

21. A Thread of Grace ~ Mary Doria Russell

This was really good as well, although since it deals with Jews during WWII, it's really sad.

22. The Malice of Unnatural Death ~ Michael Jecks

My cubemate and I are both huge British mystery fans, and this was the second Jecks book for both of us. Neither one of us liked it. A lot of pages, a lot of running around, not a lot happening.

23. The Pilgrimage ~ Paulo Coelho

I love Paulo Coelho; that is all.

June count!

7) Tales Before Narnia - The Roots of Modern Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed Douglas A. Anderson

8) Titus Groan, Mervyn Peake

Finally getting around to books I bought last year. :stressed:

If it makes you feel any better, Rick, I know I bought the book I'm currently reading a year ago. Sometimes books sit on my shelf for years before I can get around to them. Damn you, college!

Anyhow, how was that Titus Groan thing? I think I stumbled upon a miniseries based on it on PBS once and it was just super weird. Is the book worth reading?

Narg, how'd I miss this?! I should really check my profile thing more often...

I'm diggin' the books, the only problem is that they're not very conductive to sporadic reading. Really I only get to read on my 15 min breaks at work, and maybe an hour or so before I fall asleep. For an author who can take a whole chapter describing a sunrise, it can be kinda hard to pick up and leave off... If you have the time to invest in it, though, it's totally worth it. The man is a artist with the English language. Things like, "[A sunbeam] plucked a note of crimson from her dress." It's delicious.

I'd be interested in seeing the miniseries, though from what I was able to dig up it seems that it has very mixed reviews. The main complaint that I've read is that it seems to be lacking the atmosphere of the books. But the books are almost entirely about the atmosphere... O.o

July Count:

24. The King's Secret Matter ~ Jean Plaidy

25. Victory of Eagles ~ Naomi Novik

26. Acacia: The War With the Mein ~ David Anthony Durham

27. Hot Six ~ Janet Evanovich

17. Maid Marian by Elsa Watson
18. Degrees of Fear by C.J. Henderson
19. Judas Goat by Robert B. Parker
20. Dark Tower Book 4: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
21. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
22. Rouge Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole
23. Wedge's Gamble by same
24. Krytos Trap by same
25. Bacta War by same
26. Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston
27. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
28. Atomic Robo and the fighting scientists of Tesladyne by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegner
29. Wolverine: Born in Blood by Daniel Way and I forget the artist

And that was my summer...though there might have been more...I can't remember right now...oh well this is enough for now

And thus DBS becomes the one to finally break the Jen/Rick/Jen/Rick/etc posting loop!

...

August count!

9) Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

10) Titus Alone, Mervyn Peake

I actually read most of Gormenghast in July, but didn't finish it in time for the July count. Next month, more modern stuff! Still working hard on my personal "15 Book Challenge". Man, where did the days go where I could read whole books in a single day? I want those back.

I hear ya, Rick. I can still make it to 50 this year, but it's going to be a struggle. I don't know what happened! I must be reading less at home or something. *stares at book sitting on computer desk* Cant imagine where all the time went....

Anyhow, August count:

28. Life of Pi ~ Yann Martel

Awesome, awesome book, and evidently Neil Gaiman met up with the author at some point and he is really cool as well. That's more than enough for me.

29. Twilight ~ Stephenie Meyer

I read this mostly on my flights to and from visiting Fencer. Nothing like teen vampire romance for summer reading. My boss currently has it, since she (like me) heard about it everywhere.

30. Maskerade ~ Terry Pratchett

Pratchett - always awesome, always. This was a book with the witches, though, so not for Fifth. :-p

31. Lady's Maid ~ Margaret Forster

This was a work of fiction about Elizabeth Barrett Browning's maid. Evidently it was based off the real person, although I didn't read that until after I had finished the book. It started out well, but after a certain point I was kinda just looking forward to finishing it. This one's on my sell pile right now, as I can't imagine reading it again.

32. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept ~ Paulo Coelho

As I have mentioned before, I <3 Paulo Coelho. This book had a nice little twist at the end, so it was good. Some of the theology in it was a little shaky, but meh, I can handle that.

I am currently reading Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen. I'm four chapters in and so far it's pretty good. I haven't read any mysteries in a while, and this is something I can lend to the cubemate when I'm done with it.

Ooh Life of Pi...I gave that to a math teacher I liked and learned a lot from once...and I found out today that the local book store no longer sells Terry Pratchet...yeah...I know...I'm pretty pissed

DBS

A bookstore that doesn't sell Pratchett? That's mildly heretical, I'd say.

I mean, what the hell do they sell, then?

How was that? the only book by him I read was The Alchemist, and it changed my life

Well they sell a lot of those Vampire Romance novels that are so popular now...or at least I hear people talking about them more these days...they used to have a whole level of a bookshelf filled with Pratchet but I went down there today (and bought some comic books with gift cards yay birthday! Boo for real books not being as interesting anymore and Boo for Neil Gaiman's new book not coming out for another monthish)

I have no idea what happened but I was going to buy a Pratchet book and when I looked at the SiFi/fantasy section not one of his books was there...and it wasn't like there was a gap...it was packed....maybe kids in college don't read books written by him

I also started out with The Alchemist, then my dad read it, ran out and bought a bunch of his books. So now I have read The Pilgrimage and By the River Piedra... as well. They've all been different but amazing in their own way. I could definitely see myself reading them again at some point and maybe taking some notes. I don't know how one man can be so wise.

College kids better be reading Pratchett! I stayed up 'til 2 in the morning reading Discworld plenty of times in college. (Of course, sometimes I was up doing work until that hour as well. Boo.)

I don't know how many college kids like to read in general these days.

September count!

11) Once Upon a Time in the North, Phillip Pullman

12) Love in the Time of Fridges, Tim Scott

13) Devil May Care, Sebastian Faulks

14) The Princess Bride, William Goldman

That's the most reading I've done all year! ...Hooray!

*Is still doing this, just didn't keep track of June-September very well* :shifty: :sweatdrop

I finished a bunch of the Corona books, Demon Spirit, Demon Apostle and Transcendence. Kinda got bored of it, the series isn't that great. Will probably finish it still, but only because I want to know how it ends. Puts me at 20 books, all by Salvatore.

21. Sojourn, R.A. Salvatore. Much better then Corona, I'll probably read more Dark Elf stuff when I have time.

22. Toll the Hounds, Steven Erikson. I've waited almost a year for this, so totally worth the wait. Really good, but in a completely different style of writing then the Dark Elf ones, so comparing would be unfair. Although, I definitely prefer Erikson's stuff, it's so much more epic. =D

And that's it for now, reading some British Guy’s mystery novel right now. A Question of Blood, by Ian Rankin

Since I just realized I never officially did this, consider this my drop-out post. Too much work/school impeded my time, and I'm not organized enough to go back and find everything.

I'll try this again next year, when I've graduated and no longer have to do school/work simultaneously.

finally some one else posted...I have a pretty big update...not as big as my last one...but still...quite a few comics this time.

30. Dark Tower book 5 Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
31. Y: The Last Man Book 1 Unmanned By Brian K. Vaughn Illustrated by Pia Guerra
32. Death: The High Cost of Living By Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham
33. Watchman By Alan Moore Illustrated by Dave Gibbons
34. Y: The Last Man book 2 Cycles By Brian K. Vaughn Illustrated by Pia Guerra
35. Runaways: Dead End Kids by Joss Whedon Illustrated by Michael Ryan

Hey guys, sorry I'm late, but I was busy on October 1st hearing Neil Gaiman read a chapter from The Graveyard Book. Be jealous, be very jealous. And yesterday I was just lazy.

Anyhow, September count:
33. Double Whammy ~ Carl Hiaasen redneck mystery, very funny, I wound up enjoying it a lot more than I thought

34. New Moon ~ Stephenie Meyer Yes, I am reading the Twilight series, and I like it, regardless of what other people might say.

35. Fearful Symmetry ~ Morag Joss British mystery, but I couldn't get into it. Second book by this woman, but I won't be reading any more of them.

36. Looking for Rachel Wallace by Robert B. Parker
37. Y: The Last man: One Small Step Written by Brian K. Vaughn and illustrated by Pia Guerra

I started a bunch of books but didn't really have a lot of time this month to read any books other than these two all the way though...I hope I make the 50 book mark October was kind of a dead month and November isn't looking too good either

And I am very jealous! Was it magical? Did you get to meet Neil Gaiman himself!??! What does his voice sound like?!
Jen is lucky

October!

23. Question of Blood, Ian Rankin. It was alright, very dialogue heavy though. Bit slow.

24. Farrier's Lane, Anne Perry. Slow at first, but turned out to be very good.

Reading another Anne Perry on a friend's recommendation. Breach of a Promise.

October count!

15) The First Law Book 2 - Before They Are Hanged, Joe Abercrombie

I also re-read Book 1, but I didn't think it should count as I already listed it earlier this year. I skimmed a bit, too.

Yes, meeting Neil Gaiman was awesome, even if the book was pre-signed because he broke his finger in China.

Anyhow, October count:

36. The Valkyries ~ Paulo Coelho Still awesome

37. Tunnels ~ Roderick Gordon This is another book I borrowed from my boss. It's for young people and it's going to be a movie. The next book in the series is coming out in...April, I think. So far, it's been pretty good.

38. Eclipse ~ Stephenie Meyer I am now 3/4 through the Twilight saga and it's still great. I can't wait to read Breaking Dawn.

I am currently working on rereading The Winds of the Forelands, a series of 5 books by David B. Coe, in the hopes of getting them to Fencer sometime this century. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who reads epic fantasy. It moves very fast and has great characters.

I don't think I'll make it to 50 books this year, which makes me sad, but oh well.

In no specific order, like hell am I trying to remember this junk. Gonna just go down my shelves.

1. The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
2. Bluebeard - Kurt Vonnegut
3. Redwall - Brian Jacques
4. Deadeye Dick - Kurt Vonnegut
5. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs
6. Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnegut
7. Making Friends with Black People - Nick Adams
8. Marriage of Heaven and Hell - William Blake
9. Songs of Innocence - William Blake
10. Songs of Experience - William Blake
11. Lies - Al Franken
12. The Truth - Al Franken
13. Oh, the Things I Know! - Al Franken
14. Why Not Me? - Al Franken
15. The Case of the Missing Books - Ian Sansom
16. Closing Time - Joseph Heller
17. The Assault on Reason - Al Gore
18. Armageddon in Retrospect - Kurt Vonnegut
19. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut
20. Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man - Joseph Heller
21. 100 Selected Poems - E.E. Cummings
22. The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
23. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
24. The Beggar's Opera - John Gay
25. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
26. Kabul Beauty School - Deborah Rodriguez
27. Homeland - R.A. Salvatore
28. Exile - R.A. Salvatore
29. Sojourn - R.A. Salvatore
30. Crystal Shard - R.A. Salvatore
31. Streams of Silver - R.A. Salvatore
32. Halfling's Gem - R.A. Salvatore
33. The Legacy - R.A. Salvatore
34. Starless Night - R.A. Salvatore
35. Siege of Darkness - R.A. Salvatore
36. Passage to Dawn - R.A. Salvatore
37. The Silent Blade - R.A. Salvatore
38. The Spine of the World - R.A. Salvatore
39. Servant of the Shard - R.A. Salvatore
40. Sea of Swords - R.A. Salvatore
41. Catch-22 - R.A. Salvatore (Just kidding, Joseph Heller)
42. A Wolf at the Table - Augusten Burroughs
43. Amerika - Franz Kafka
44. Bagombo Snuff Box - Kurt Vonnegut
45. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
46. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
47. A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works - Johnathon Swift
48. The Waste Land and other Poems - T.S. Eliot
49. Catch as Catch Can - Joseph Heller
50. The Epic of Gilgamesh
51...(and counting, I could keep going, but no sense waving it, and it's a 50 book challenge)

Okay, so that's like since this summer. I'm the nerdiest, most literature-hardy IT major you don't know?

I'd give a month-by-month if my memory didn't suck, so just roughly from July on.

At least I got extra nerd cred with the Salvatore. >.>

If by "extra" you mean sooooooooo very much of it taken away.

Jesus, why not just read vampire romance novels?

Because I'm not a teenage goth queen.

...

Okay, so maybe those pictures were fake, what of it?

I'm just saying, show me one significant difference between Twilight vampires and fucking dark elves.

Oh, so that explains why I like them both.

Granted, I haven't read any Salvatore in a few years.

Keep forgetting to do this... November count!

16) The First Law Book 3 - Last Argument of Kings, Joe Abercrombie

17) Watership Down, Richard Adams

For November...

25. Breach of a Promise, Anne Perry.

A good book, but it only counts for one.

And I was off to such a good start this year too. -.-

Oh well, what can you do.

November count:

39. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan ~ Lisa See

40. Rules of Ascension ~ David B. Coe

41. The Graveyard Book ~ Neil Gaiman

42. Second Glance ~ Jodi Picoult

That's a month of good reading right there. Rules of Ascension was a reread from a year or so ago, just as good the second time around. Neil Gaiman is always amazing; I can't believe it took me so long to get to it! Second Glance was my first Jodi Picoult - a little chicy at times, but not nauseatingly so.

Looks like I might not make it to fifty, either! Who would have thunk it!

December count and, uh, year-end-total...

18) Iron Dawn, Matthew Woodring Stover

So, I made it past my personal goal of 15, which is good, I guess. Gonna go for 20 this year.

I'm going to do this for 2009, I think.

Do nonfiction books count as well as fictional novels?

Yep. Non-fiction is accepted.

I'll try this. Uh... the book I'm reading now is two books, previously printed separately, in one. I'm counting them separately.

1. Shadow of the Torturer, Gene Wolfe - A fantasy future-history novel written from the perspective of an exiled torturer's apprentice. Unlike most fantasy books, it doesn't make up words, but replaces that convention with obscure and equally incomprehensible actual words.

I ought to do this as well. Somewhere along the line my brain decided fanfiction was a good alternative to books (oh noes!), and although there are a lot of great fanfics out there, there's still enough to make me think that it's lowering my IQ, haha. So my list for this year so far:

1. Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon. I started it during 2008, yes, but I'm counting it anyway since I still haven't quite finished it, even though I'm almost there. Trying to explain the plot of this freaking thousand page book is impossible (I don't think one actually exists), but it takes place between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the end of World War I. Setting? Just about every continent. Characters? Way too many. There's apparently a bunch of historical in-jokes, but I'm too much of an idiot to get them. To be honest, I'm finishing this book out of pure stubbornness, not because I enjoy it. Pynchon is a very good writer, that is obvious, but... this book is too complicated. By the time you think you know what's going on, it switches to a different character, and by the time it goes back to the original character, you can't remember who they were. VERY frustrating.

2. Chat, Nan McCarthy
3. Connect, Nan McCarthy
4. Crash, Nan McCarthy

All part of the author's "Cyberseries." Really not something I would normally read, but I borrowed them from a friend, and the books were short. Managed to read all three in one day. It's about an internet romance, told through email and chat logs. It was... interesting, but it's not really something I'd read again, especially because romance? Totally NOT the sort of thing I like to read. But it was all right. Cruel ending. XD

5. Exegesis, Astro Teller. Also borrowed from my friend, and I liked this one much better. It's also told in emails, but it's about the development of an AI -- emails are between the AI and its creator; things get out of control for the both of them. Much more along the lines of my interests, although the main character annoyed me a bit. Also a quick read (especially because of the email set-up), but it had more substance to it than the Cyberseries. No romance. Thank God.

January 4th, five (well, technically four and 3/4) down. Yay.

Well, I ended up with 26 books this year.

26. Mage Guard of Hamor, L.E Modesitt. Jr

Which was surprisingly time consuming for one of his books, and not that interesting. Really, I would have enjoyed reading another Anne Perry more. I probably will.

Regardless, I've totally lost ground, last year I had 27 books. ^^;

I think I'll keep trying the challenge, even though there's no way I'll manage the 50.

In Which I *Finally* Remember to Post
 

Sorry, guys. I would always remember that I hadn't posted when I was at work and didn't have my list. Anyhow, I only read 45 books last year, which might also be why I didn't want to post. :(

December:

43. Portuguese Irregular Verbs ~ Alexander McCall Smith

Hilarious if you are into academic humor, but it's probably not everyone's cup of tea. This is the same guy who writes the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. He has another series as well, but I can't remember the name off the top of my head.

44. The Joy Luck Club ~ Amy Tan

Somehow I reached the tender age of 25 without reading any Amy Tan books. I thought this one was pretty good, although I had to keep checking the front to see who was who. Each chapter was its own story, although some were connected to other chapters. I will probably read any other books by her that we have floating around the house.

45. Veronika Decides To Die ~ Paulo Coelho

This one was a bit weird, and I kinda figured out what was going on. Still good, though.

Already finished two this year, and am now working on Oliver Twist. Eventually I might post my whole 2008 list on my lj. Just don't hold your breath on that.

This is still from last year...I have to catch up with my count...

38. Y: the last man: safe word Brian K. Vaughn Ill. Pia Guerra
39. Y: The last man: Ring of Truth same folks as 38
40. Wanted By Mark Millar illus J.G. Jones
41. A History of Violence I can't remember right now who it is by

Well shit looks like I didn't make it...fortunatly I have a ton of half finished ones so hey I might just happen this year!

DBS

Alright, it's March, so I guess I better post. This year has been pretty dismal for me in terms of book reading, but only because I seem to be getting more of a life, so I'm not terribly sad. Also, I've been reading Dickens.

January count:

1. God's Joyful Surprise ~ Sue Monk Kidd

I was actually reading this for half of last year, but did not finish it until the beginning of January. It's great if you're looking for spiritual reading, and I hope I get the chance to read it again sometime.

2. Geisha, A Life ~ Mineko Iwasaki

I'm not sure if this came out after Memoirs of a Geisha became popular, but this is an autobiography of an actual geisha. It was really very interesting. I'll get to Memoirs one of these days.

3. Oliver Twist ~ Charles Dickens

Great book, but unfortunately, I was finishing it in time to watch it on Masterpiece, but the Masterpiece sucked so I gave up on it. They better not mess up Little Dorrit, but it's from the same guy that did Bleak House, which is what got me hooked on Dickens in the first place, so it should be awesome.

4. Wish You Were Here ~ Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

This is one of those cute little cat-lover mysteries, set in a small town. I read it in two days when I had a stomach virus and couldn't really do anything else. It was a nice little escape and I will probably buy at least one more in the series.

I did not read an entire book in the month of February! I cannot even remember the last time that happened. When I was in college I had to read a novel a week sometimes! Do not despair, however, for I am almost done Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist.

1. Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker
2. Star Wars: Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn

I've had a pretty weak showing thus far in 2009...I've had to do a lot of article reading for school so that's cut in a little...I'll have another book or two soon though...maybe by the end of the week.

DBS

EDIT:
I don't want to double post so...

3. The Dark Tower by Stephen King
4. Are you there Vodka? It's me Chelsea. by Chelsea Handler (hilarious book)
5. The Stench of Fresh Air by C.J. Henderson

More to come in May I hope

DBS