As the last hour of the year counts down everyone is off doing their own thing for a little bit more. Shortly we’ll all gather to watch the ball apple whatever they are using drop. And it seemed a good time to do a little writing.
As blogging goes, it’s been a slow year. I don’t think I’ve posted more than about 60 posts and while that’s about one a week, it is really much more uneven than that.
OTH, I have stayed on top of the project I started two years ago of listing the books I read and having the list online has been handy when I’ve been out and can’t remember whether I’ve read something or not. (Girl will tell you that my memory is going, but having access to the list is so handy.) It’s also been a great way to be able to refind the name of new authors that I’ve liked.
This year’s book list ran 74 books. I think I was ontrack to top the 2009 list until December when I ended up reading a few HUGE books.
Looking over the list, here’s a few observations:
- I’ve now read all of Jack McDevitt’s scifi books. And I stand by my assessment that he is probably one of the best scifi authors out there that is currently publishing new stuff. He better not pass away any time soon because I want MORE. (He’s in his mid 70s.)
- Connie Willis still has it. She also writes scifi, though often with a fantasy-type twist and she turns out books very slowly as she does indepth research to support whatever she is writing about. Her newest (two!) books deal with WW2 and are fantastic! The war is the background for a time-travel nail-biter and book one leaves you hanging…waiting for book 2 to come out was hard.
- I’m still reading Lackey, Kenner, and Harris as brain-candy. They are fun books but I am no longer willing to put money in either of their pockets.
- I enjoyed Butcher when I found him in 2009, but his newest stuff is…kind of losing direction. I think he needs a new series, but I will keep reading.
- I’m hooked on Baldacci’s mysteries.
So, from the list do I have some recommendations? oh yes.
- Read Jack McDevitt for hard Science Fiction
- If you haven’t read any Connie Willis, go pick up “To Say Nothing of the Dog” and then read her two new novels…oh and you might want to read the one about the Black Plague before the new ones.
- If you like mysteries, try some Baldacci.
- For historical fiction try Barbara Hambly’s Patriot Hearts – it’s a view of the families of the founding fathers.
- Or if you like something more exotic, try some of Michelle Moran’s writing. I highly recommend Cleopatra’s Daughter.
- For scary you can’t miss with The Passage. Just be prepared to devote some time.
- And I can’t forget about Steig Larrson (Our Danish exchange student turned Girl and I onto him). Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is great.
And now to prepare a place for the books I read in 2011.
Have a great New Year!
DH almost never has time to read for fun but we found the subtitled Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Netflix and it was so riveting that he’s gone straight through the first two books, then sent me out the day after Christmas because he had to keep going, to fetch the third in hardback!
Much as I dislike doing it, I started doing audio books this year. I find that I just can’t seem to make the time to read more. I admire that you have read so many books this past year! I keep my “list”, short as it is, on GoodReads.
Have you read Margaret Atwood’s two most recent books? You might like them. Oryx & Crake and The Year of the Flood. Excellent distopian fiction. Disturbingly plausible.
I recently discovered Connie Willis. I read Blackout, which I thought was terrific, and I have All Clear on my shelf. I want to read To Say Nothing of the Dog and The Doomsday Book soon. Happy New Year, Meg!