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Faith's 2014 reads

What did you read in 2014? Post your list here and update it as you go along! (One thread per member, please.)
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fljustice
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Faith's 2014 reads

Post by fljustice » Mon January 20th, 2014, 4:06 pm

I exceeded my goal of 52 books last year by 4 books--fewer than the year before but more than the year before that. A book a week seems to be good goal for me, so will continue that pattern. I thought I'd keep track of ARC's and Early Reader books this year to see how many of those take up my time.
Last edited by fljustice on Mon January 20th, 2014, 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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fljustice
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January

Post by fljustice » Mon January 20th, 2014, 4:13 pm

1. The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak (ebook, more about the fictional character than Catherine, but enjoyed the story)
2. Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray (ebook, page-turning historical fantasy)
3. Catch Me if You Can: The Story of a Real Fake by Frank Abagnale (TBR shelf, BookCrossing trade paper, a fun trashy read. Also recommend the movie.)
4. Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir (ARC, tedious list of expenses and courtiers, useful for researchers)
Last edited by fljustice on Sat March 1st, 2014, 8:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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fljustice
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February

Post by fljustice » Sat March 1st, 2014, 8:54 pm

5. Spook by Mary Roach (science lite; TBR shelf)
6. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (ebook, will probably continue the series)
7. Nantucket Woman by Diana Gaines (cleaning off my TBR shelf, OK read)
8. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (ebook, smart and funny)
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (ebook, fun and touching)
10. A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert (ebook, interesting but flawed)

February was a short month, but I managed six books--that two hour commute for PT is paying off!
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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Posts: 3566
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Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Sun March 2nd, 2014, 4:04 am

I'm reading A Wilder Rose, too. It doesn't grab me much. I finally Googled Rose Wilder Lane and read a couple different versions of her life.

I can't seem to care about Rose as she is written. Which is odd, because I already had built-in sympathy for the woman from her book The Way Home and her novel Free Land. Albert made her flat and rather irritating.

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Post by annis » Mon March 3rd, 2014, 6:50 am

I thought The Rosie Project was fabulous and everyone I've recommended it to has loved it as well. In fact one friend I'd recommended it to then suggested it as a read for her bookclub and it was a hit with the whole group!

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fljustice
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Post by fljustice » Mon March 3rd, 2014, 3:04 pm

MLE--I agree, I found Albert's writing and her structure of the book annoying. At one point she has Rose commenting on her mother's inclusion of anecdotes and detail that stop the story. I wanted to scream, "Follow your own advice!" She had access to Rose's journals and letters and I think she tried to shoe horn every little detail into her fiction--much of it quite repetitive.

annis--The Rosie Project is one of the best books I've read in a long while. A fun story told with a master's touch. Don is a hero in every way!
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fljustice
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March

Post by fljustice » Wed April 2nd, 2014, 7:24 pm

11. A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger (ARC, nicely done, once you get into it)
12. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie (TBR, mass-market paperback, a fat fantasy--nice break from HF)
13. The Silver Pigs by Linsey Davis (TBR, mass-market paperback, a good start to the series)
14. Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle (ARC, didn't grab me)
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fljustice
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April

Post by fljustice » Mon May 26th, 2014, 3:29 pm

15. Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland by Malachy McCourt (hardback, history through the stories of 50 people--better in the more recent times.
16. People of the River by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear (mass paperback, great cultural detail, but too much fantasy for me)
17. A Triple Knot by Emma Campion (ARC, solid HF with a horrible cover--both front and back)
18. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (ebook, reread, funny, literate, one of my all time favorites)
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fljustice
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May

Post by fljustice » Mon May 26th, 2014, 3:37 pm

19. Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow (hardback, interesting and disturbing science)
20. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup (ebook, harrowing memoir)
21. War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches edited by Keven J. Anderson (hardback, interesting exercise in SF theme anthology)
22. Hand of Fire by Judith Starkston (ARC, ebook, solid Trojan story)
23. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side Of Everything by Steven D. Levitt (ebook, NF--now I know what all the fuss was about)
24. Nero: The End of a Dynasty by Miriam T. Griffin (ebook, NF, solid research book)
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June

Post by fljustice » Wed July 2nd, 2014, 2:49 pm

25. The Normans: From Raiders to Kings by Lars Brownworth (ARC, ebook, NF-interesting primer)
26. The Golden Dice by Elisabeth Storrs (ebook, solid tale of the Etruscans)
27. In Love and Trouble by Alice Walker (ebook, early collection of her short stories)
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