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fljustice's reading log

Keep track of what you read in 2012. One thread per member, please.
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fljustice
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fljustice's reading log

Post by fljustice » Wed January 18th, 2012, 5:19 pm

Another year, another list! Last year I set myself the challenge to read 52 books (basically 1 a week) because, I was reading only 40-44 in the years before. That worked well and I'll try again for 52. Off to a good start:

January:

1. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera (lyrical prose, gripping story)
2. Stilcho: The Vandal Who Saved Rome by Ian Hughes (pedantic, but well researched.)
3. Conqueror: a Novel of Kublai Khan by Conn Iggulden (blood, battles and hardly any women at all)
Last edited by fljustice on Mon April 23rd, 2012, 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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fljustice
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February

Post by fljustice » Mon February 13th, 2012, 11:24 pm

4. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach (funny and informative)
5. Ahab's Wife by Jenna Jeter Naslund (literary novel, some beautiful language, quite a slog)
6. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (YA, made me cry) - ebook
7. Her Deadly Mischief: A Tito Amato Mystery by Beverle Graves Myers (light read, somewhat predictable)
8. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley (nostalgic read)
Last edited by fljustice on Fri September 28th, 2012, 3:07 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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March

Post by fljustice » Mon March 5th, 2012, 4:28 pm

9. How to Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend by Linda Addison (Bram Stoker nominee for 2012; creepy, funny and imaginative) - ebook
10. -30- by Keith R. A. DeCandido (thriller set in contemporary NYC) - ebook
11. Children of Tantalus: Niobe and Pelops by Victoria Grossack and Alice Underwood (good read, first in a trilogy of Bronze Age Greece) - ebook
12. God, No! by Penn Jilette (disappointing)
13. The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy (absorbing literary short story collection)
14. Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice (beautifully written, highly erotic, but plodding plot)
15. Jocasta: Mother-Wife to Oedipus by Victoria Grossack and Alice Underwood (started slow, but delivered at the end) - ebook
Last edited by fljustice on Fri September 28th, 2012, 3:07 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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April

Post by fljustice » Thu April 12th, 2012, 3:44 pm

16. Hillary's Choice by Gail Sheehy (interesting, we elected the wrong Clinton)
17. Last and First Contacts (Imagine #2) by Stephen Baxter (SF short story collection...enjoyed) - ebook
18. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (enjoyed the insight into the "Lost Generation")
19. Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer (Brilliant!) - ebook
20. The Sekhmet Bed by Lavender Ironside (interesting prelude to Hatshepsut's reign) - ebook
21. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (got hooked!) - ebook
22. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (more of the same) - ebook
23. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (appropriate ending) - ebook
Last edited by fljustice on Fri September 28th, 2012, 3:08 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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May

Post by fljustice » Fri May 25th, 2012, 4:14 pm

24. The Kings' Mistresses: The Liberated Lives of Marie Mancini, Princess Colonna, and Her Sister Hortense, Duchess Mazarin by Elizabeth C. Goldsmith (enjoyable biography)
25. The Young Lion by Laura Gill (Bronze Age Greece and young Orestes) - ebook
26. Hollywood Buzz by Margit Liesch (good research, but not my cup of tea)
27. Gift by Andrea J. Buchanan (YA supernatural) - ebook
Last edited by fljustice on Fri September 28th, 2012, 3:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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June

Post by fljustice » Mon June 18th, 2012, 6:32 pm

28. Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick (good read about a remarkable lady) - ebook
29. The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow (eye-opening and fascinating)
30. Liberty: A Novel of Lake Wobegon by Garrison Keillor (got better after a slow beginning)
31. A Galaxy of Immortal Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization by Brian Griffith (interesting, but academic)
32. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min (fascinating, but not compelling)
Last edited by fljustice on Fri September 28th, 2012, 3:09 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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July

Post by fljustice » Wed July 4th, 2012, 5:51 pm

33. The Seven Wonders by Steven Saylor (Gordianus the Finder #0)
34. Lincoln by Gore Vidal (brilliant!)
35. The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone (graphic non-fiction "on the media")
36. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (near future, post apocalypse)




DNF: The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser (well researched and written, but I'm bored to death with the Tudors)
Last edited by fljustice on Sun August 5th, 2012, 4:40 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: can't count
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August

Post by fljustice » Sun August 5th, 2012, 4:40 pm

37. Timeline by Michael Crichton (fun read, predictable ending)
38. The Historian's Craft by Marc Bloch ("What Use is History?")
39. Love by Toni Morrison (brilliant!)
40. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (nostalgic western)
41. Motivate to Create: A Guide for Writers by Nate Hendley (brief overview good for beginners) - ebook
42. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (liked the movie better)
43. The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham (good read once I sorted out all the Henrys, Elizabeths, Edwards and Margarets) - ebook
Last edited by fljustice on Fri September 28th, 2012, 3:09 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Post by fljustice » Fri September 28th, 2012, 3:05 pm

44. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (enthralling) - ebook
45. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins (nostalgic journey through my life)
46. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (not as good as the movie) - ebook
47. An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel (good literary read)
48. Aetius: Attila's Nemesis by Ian Hughes (competent biography)
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October

Post by fljustice » Thu November 1st, 2012, 4:07 pm

49. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris (humorous fables)
50. The Twelve Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer (literary HF)
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