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Ludmilla's 2008 Reads

What have you read in 2008? Post your list here and update it as you go along! (One thread per member, please.)
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Ludmilla
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Ludmilla's 2008 Reads

Post by Ludmilla » Mon November 10th, 2008, 8:55 pm

Oh, what the heck... I'm procrastinating.

My Ratings are on a scale of 1-10. I'll put in placeholders for November and December in separate posts.

January
1. Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley (Fiction, Epic Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
2. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl By Timonty Egan (NF, History; Rating, 9.5)
3. Tracks by Louie Erdrich (Fiction; Rating 7.0)
4. Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland (NF, History; Rating, 8.0)
5. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis (NF, History; Rating 9.0)
6. Eagle in the Snow: A Novel of General Maximus and Rome's Last Stand by Wallace Breem (Fiction, Historical; Rating, 9.0)
7. Measuring America: How the United States Was Shaped by the Greatest Land Sale in History by Andro Linklater (NF, History; Rating, 8.5)
8. The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto (NF, History; Rating, 8.5)

February
9. Nathaniel's Nutmeg, or, The true and incredible adventures of the spice trader who changed the course of history by Giles Milton (NF, History; Rating, 7.0)
10. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick (NF, History; Rating, 9.0)
11. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann (NF, History; Rating, 9.0)
12. The Terror by Dan Simmons (Fiction, Historical Fantasy/Horror; Rating, 8.0)

March
13. Annals of the Former World by John McPhee (NF, Natural History; Rating, 8.0)
14. My Own Kind of Freedom by Steven Brust (Fan Fiction, SF/F; Rating, 7.0)
15. Asylum by Patrick McGrath (Fiction, Psychological Thriller; Rating, 8.0)
16. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell (NF, Psychology; Rating, 8.0)
17. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (Fiction; Rating, 7.0)
18. The Five Sisters by Marget Mahy (Fiction, Children’s; Rating, 8.0)
19. Imperium by Robert Harris (Fiction, Historical, Roman Republic; Rating, 7.0)
20. The Haunting by Margaret Mahy (Fiction, Juvenile; Rating, 8.0)

April
21. The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia (Fiction, Urban Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
22. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007, Richard Preston-Editor (NF, Science & Nature Anthology; Rating, 7.0)
23. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath (NF, Professional Development; Rating 7.0)
24. Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance (Fiction, Fantasy; Rating, 6.5)
25. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Fiction; Rating 7.5)
26. Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of our Ancestors by Nicholas Wade (NF, Science, Prehistoric Peoples; Rating, 8.5)
27. Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky (Fiction, WWII; Rating, 9.0)
28. Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall (Fiction, Feminist Dystopia; Rating, 6.0)

May
29. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford (NF, Biography; Rating, 8.5)
30. Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham, et al (NF, Professional Development; Rating, 6.0)
31. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (NF, Biography; Rating, 7.0)
32. The Curse of the Raven Mocker by Marly Youmans (Fiction, YA Fantasy; Rating, 7.5)
33. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (Fiction, Alternate History; Rating, 5.0)
34. The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart (Fiction, Romantic Suspense; Rating 8.0)
35. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (Fiction, Historical Mystery; Rating, 8.0)
36. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (Fiction; Rating, 7.0)
37. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Fiction, Urban Fantasy; Rating 8.0)

June
38. The Shape-Changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn (Fiction, Romantic/Fairy Tale-esque Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
39. The Underground City by H.L. (Doc) Humes (Fiction, WII; Rating, 8.0)
40. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard (NF, History/Travel & Exploration; Rating, 8.0)
41. Stasiland by Anna Funder (NF, History-Communist East Germany; Rating, 8.0)
42. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman (NF, History-WWI; Rating, 8.5)
43. Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski (NF, History/Travelogue; Rating, 8.0)
44. The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski (NF, History/Travelogue, Post-Colonial Africa; Rating 7.5)

July
45. Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey (Fiction, Fantasy; Rating, 6.0)
46. Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey (Fiction, Fantasy; Rating, 5.0)
47. Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky (Fiction; Rating, 8.0)
48. The Giver by Lois Lowry (Fiction, YA/Dystopia; Rating, 8.0)
49. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Fiction, Juvenile, Historical; Rating, 7.0)
50. I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier (Fiction, YA, Psychological Thriller; Rating, 8.5)
51. Roman Wall by Bryher (Fiction, Historical; Rating, 6.5)
52. Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock (Fiction, Mythic Fantasy; Rating 9.0)
53. Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant (Fiction, YA Epic Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
54. The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark (Fiction, Historical; Rating, 5.0)

August
55. Black Ships by Jo Graham (Fiction, Historical Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
56. Shadow the Silk Road by Colin Thubron (NF, Travelogue; Rating, 8.0)
57. Melusine by Sarah Monette (Fiction, Fantasy; Rating, 9.0)
58. The Virtu by Sarah Monette (Fiction, Fantasy; Rating, 8.0)
59. The Mirador by Sarah Monette (Fiction, Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
60. A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear (Fiction, Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
61. Landsman by Peter Charles Melman (Fiction, Historical-American Civil War; Rating, 5.0)
62. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (Fiction, Historical; Rating, 9.5)

September
63. The March by EL Doctorow (Fiction, Historical; Rating, 7.0)
64. Simon the Coldheart: A Tale of Chivalry and Adventure by Georgette Heyer (Fiction, Historical Romance; Rating, 6.0)
65. A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay (Fiction, Historical Fantasy; Rating, 7.5)
66. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque (Fiction, WWI; Rating, 9.0)
67. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West (Fiction, WWI-England; Rating, 8.0)
68. A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage (NF, Cultural/Beverage History; Rating, 7.0)
69. Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan (NF, Biography; Rating, 8.0)
70. Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara (Fiction, Historical-American Civil War; Rating, 8.0)

October
71. The Last Full Measure by Jeff Shaara (Fiction, Historical-American Civil War; Rating, 8.0)
72. 1812: The War That Forged a Nation by Walter Borneman (NF, US History; Rating, 6.5)
73. 1776 by David McCullough (NF, US History; Rating, 8.0)
74. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (Fiction; Rating, 9.0)
75. Orlando by Virginia Woolf (Fiction; Rating, 8.0)
76. The Bone Key by Sarah Monette (Fiction, Short Story Collection/Horror; Rating, 8.0)
Last edited by Ludmilla on Mon December 1st, 2008, 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Ludmilla
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November Reads

Post by Ludmilla » Mon November 10th, 2008, 8:56 pm

November
77. The Hollowing by Robert Holdstock (Fiction, Mythic Fantasy; Rating, 7.0)
78. Hercules, My Shipmate by Robert Graves (Fiction, Historical Fantasy-Ancient Greece; Rating, 9.0)
79. I, Claudius by Robert Graves (Fiction, Historical-Roman Empire; Rating, 8.5)
80. Claudius the God by Robert Graves (Fiction, Historical-Roman Empire; Rating, 8.5)
81. The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier (Fiction, YA, Psychological Thriller; Rating, 7.0)
Last edited by Ludmilla on Mon December 1st, 2008, 2:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Ludmilla
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December Reads

Post by Ludmilla » Mon November 10th, 2008, 8:57 pm

December
82. Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar (Fiction, Historical-Roman Empire; Rating, 8.5)
83. Flora's Dare by Ysabeau Wilce (Flora Segunda series, #2) (Fiction, YA Fantasy; Rating, 9.0)
84. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Fiction, Children's, Victorian England; Rating, 7.0)
85. The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Fiction, Romance, 1920s Ontario, Canada; Rating,9.0)
86. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (Fiction, Historical, GLBT, 1880s-1890s England; Rating, 7.5)
87. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (Fiction, 1920s Italian Holiday; Rating, 7.5)
88. The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlof (Fiction, Children's Fantasy, Sweden; Rating 8.0)
89. The Borrowers by Mary Norton (Fiction, Children's Fantasy, late 19th/early 20th century England; Rating 9.0)
90. The Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton (Fiction, Children's Fantasy, late 19th/early 20th century England; Rating 9.0)
91. The Borrowers Afloat by Mary Norton (Fiction, Children's Fantasy, late 19th/early 20th century England; Rating 9.0)
92. The Borrowers Aloft by Mary Norton (Fiction, Children's Fantasy, late 19th/early 20th century England; Rating 9.0)
93. Bedknob and Broomstick by Mary Norton (Fiction, Children's Fantasy; Rating 9.0)
94. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope (Fiction, YA Historical Fantasy, American Revolution; Rating, 7.0)
95. The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (Fiction, YA Historical Fantasy, Tudor England, Tam Lin retelling; Rating, 7.5)
96. Spindle's End by Robin McKinley (Fiction, Fantasy, Retold Fairy Tale-Sleeping Beauty; Rating, 8.0)
97. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (Fiction, Children's/YA; Rating, 8.0)

Mainly some re-reads, some comfort reading, and some children's literature to soothe my holiday brain!
Last edited by Ludmilla on Thu January 1st, 2009, 4:36 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: Final Update

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Post by annis » Mon November 10th, 2008, 9:12 pm

What an interesting and eclectic collection, Ludmilla :)

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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Mon November 10th, 2008, 11:11 pm

That one on Nathaniel's Nutmeg sounds interesting, and I've had several of the ones written by David McCullough languishing on my bookshelves -- alas, I am not nearly as strong on American history as I would like to be.

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Post by Misfit » Tue November 11th, 2008, 1:05 am

I read the Shaara trilogy on the Civil War last year. They are quite enlightening, but not books I'm likely to read again. I had no idea how horrific that war was, nor the conditions of the soldiers, or the incompetency of some of the generals.

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Ludmilla
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Post by Ludmilla » Mon December 1st, 2008, 2:15 pm

I realized after I posted that I left one book out of June, so I've updated the original as well as November/December posts. I don't get a lot of reading done in Nov/Dec due to the holidays and a lot of family and work demands. We'll see how this month goes. Might have to look for something light and escapist after I finish my current book. Perhaps some of my Children's and YA books in the TBR. I never know where my moods will take me. :eek:

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