Rejoicing with the Truth

I'm definitely behind on the 250 book goal. I definitely got a strong start for the year, coming off Christmas vacation and not having to go back to school.  I knew it would slow down with Costume College sewing, so that's not a surprise.  It might not pick up, though, if I do manage to buy this house I'm trying to buy.

But jenthompson, tell Mike that nearly every non-Project-Gutenberg book in this list is a big book. One in particular is an omnibus of FOUR books in one volume, but I'm counting it as one. So there. :p

As usual, bolds are new reads. I've certainly read more new than re-reads this year.

99. The Messenger, by Elizabeth Robins (via Project Gutenberg)
100. The Ms. In a Red Box, by John Arthur Hamilton (That's Ms. = Manuscript, by the way, not Miz.) (via Project Gutenberg)
101. Grand Central Arena, by Ryk Spoor. (Finally bought my own copy!)
102. Doors of the Night, by Frank L. Packard (via Project Gutenberg)
103. Echoes in Time (Time Traders #4? #5), by Andre Norton and Sherwood Smith
104. Last Train Out, by E. Phillips Oppenheim (via Project Gutenberg)
105. The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall #1), by Walter Jon Williams
106. Lonesome Town, by Ethel Dorrance (via Project Gutenberg)
107. Majipoor Chronicles (Majipoor #2), by Robert Silverberg
108. The Secret of the Reef, by Harold Bindloss (via Project Gutenberg)
109. Hard Magic (Grimnoir Chronicles #1), by Larry Correia
110. The Black Star, by Johnston McCulley (via Project Gutenberg)
111. I Conquered, by Harold Titus (via Project Gutenberg)
112. Magic Casement (A Man of His Word #1), by Dave Duncan
113. Maurice Tiernay: The Soldier of Fortune, by Charles James Lever (via Project Gutenberg)
114. Mirror of Destiny, by Andre Norton
115. The Five Arrows, by Allan Chase (via Project Gutenberg)
116. Future Indefinite (Great Game #3), by Dave Duncan
117. History of the Runestaff, by Michael Moorcock (four books in one, right here)
118. The Labyrinth of Dreams (G.O.D. Inc. #1), by Jack L. Chalker
119. Strings, by Dave Duncan


My favorite this month... not sure. I did end up liking Future Indefinite, conclusion of the Great Game trilogy. As a whole the series isn't a huge favorite; but I liked it. Hard Magic was pretty awesome, as I knew it would be, but it wasn't quite the five-stars-all-the-way that Monster Hunter International was. I think that's a personal preference. The big surprise liking was Strings, actually.  I'd read part on Baen's site, which is why I picked it up at the used bookstore; but it wasn't enough to know if I'd like the direction it ended up going. It definitely did, I must say, with a couple of good twists.


June
Books: 21
Books/day: 0.70

Much better than May's numbers! It still was not enough to catch up for the year, though. And in July I've continued to fall further behind, between more time spent sewing and more big books.


Year to Date

Books: 119
Books/day: 0.657

Books ahead or behind: (6)

Bold are new reads; all others are re-reads.

90.  Seer's Blood, by Doranna Durgin
91.  Exiles of the Stars, by Andre Norton
92.  Overthrowing Heaven (Jon & Lobo #3), by Mark L. Van Name
93.  Lord Valentine's Castle (Majipoor #1), by Robert Silverberg
94.  Flight on Yiktor, by Andre Norton
95.  Dare to Go A-Hunting, by Andre Norton
96.  Back to the Time Trap, by Keith Laumer
97.  A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift #1), by Kate Griffin
98.  The Treasure of the Tigris, by A. F. Mockler-Ferryman (via Project Gutenberg)
 
May
Books: 9
Books/day: 0.29

That's pretty pathetic! But part of it is because I got unusually busy in May, adding commitments and starting the house hunt.

In a very good way, though, I discovered some excellent books. Seer's Blood piqued my interest when I read the chapters available on Baen's website, and I thoroughly enjoyed it when I found a copy at Half Price Books.  Overthrowing Heaven was good, although it's clearly not the finale to the series as I had assumed.  One more to look for.  Lord Valentine's Castle was amazing. I really, really liked that one.

The one that's stuck with me the longest is A Madness of Angels.  I found this one after an entry on Larry Correia's Monster Hunter Nation mentioned Elitist Book Reviews.  Trolling the archives of that site turned up some possibilities for my list. A Madness of Angels was the first of Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift series, so when I ran through my list at a Half Price Books and it was there, I snagged it.  And I really think I loved it.  I'm not entirely sure why.  I can break out some reasons (first person, fascinating theory of magic, riveting storyline, lavish use of specific descriptive detail)... but ultimately, it was incredibly compelling to me. It took me a while to read because it's quite long, nearly 500 pages. But the pacing is good, it totally kept my at-times-impatient attention, and I was thinking about it for a long while since.  The next two in the series are out, and the word is they're also very good. Here's hoping they show up soon at a used book store!


Year to Date

Books: 98
Books/day: 0.649

Books ahead or behind:  (6)

I need to amp it up if I'm going to make my goal.  June is already looking better, though.

Forcing myself to write about the MacLean books has been good for me. (Don't get me wrong; I love to write about MacLean. It's just work, like anything besides reading is, for me, Work.)  In some ways PaperBackSwap has been a greater temptation than a blessing.  The sheer volume of my reading this year is staggering.  I couldn't keep up with a monthly record, since I couldn't hope to remember everything I'd read in a month.  I'm certain I'm well over 100 for the year, and possibly more like 150.  Plus there's all the science fiction books, novellas, and stories that I've skimmed with varying degrees of attention.  (For stuff that I don't choose, like in sale boxes or in random compilations, I don't make myself read closely at first. That way it's easier to jump ship when Something Objectionable crops up.)

That last brings me to the books I'm going to review.  I feel like I'm making a confession, of all things!  I've made no secret of the fact that I love fiction, and of fiction I love mysteries, and action/adventure, and space opera stories the most.  Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but it's true that the critics (and the general sheep public) look down upon these genres.  I'm not ashamed of loving that stuff - I'm not - but the general disdain makes me feel defensive from time to time.