vodkafan Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Welcome to my 2015 reading blog, which you may notice is very much the same as last year. Like last year, no reading challenges just a mass of books on my TBR to get through. Reviews are found buried in the folowing pages: sorry if that is confusing to anybody, I haven't mastered the link thingy yet. (k) denotes kindle ebook ® denotes book read primarily for research purposes keeping the same simple rating system this year: 1/5: I didn't like it2/5: It was okay3/5: I liked it4/5: I really liked it5/5: It was amazing BOOKS READ IN 2015 January She looks just like you Amie Klempnauer (re-read 3/5) The Mangle Street Murders M.R.C. Kasasian 5/5 The Victorian Governess Kathryn Hughes 3/5 Whoops! Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay John Lanchester 3/5 (k) February The Crimson Petal and The White Michel Faber 5/5 New Grub Street George Gissing 4/5 (k) The Town Traveller George Gissing 4/5 (k) Game Of Thrones George RR Martin 2/5 Will Warburton George Gissing 3/5(k) March The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher or The Murder At Road Hill House Kate Summerscale 4/5 Mrs P's Journey Sarah Hartley 4/5 The Whirlpool George Gissing 3/5(k) Murder On The Verandah Love and Betrayal In British Malaya Eric Lawlor 3/5 The Emancipated George Gissing 2/5(k) April Thyrza George Gissing 3/5(k) North And South Elizabeth Gaskill 2/5(k) Ubik Philip K Dick 4/5 The Apple: Crimson Petal Stories Michel Faber 3/5 A Special Relationship Douglas Kennedy 3/5 May The Women Who Lived For Danger Marcus Binney 3/5 The Paying Guest George Gissing 5/5(k) The Victorian House Explained Trevor Yorke 5/5 ® There But For The Ali Smith 1/5 Our Friend The Charlatan George Gissing 5/5 (k) June Victorian London 1840-1870 Liza Picard 5/5 ® July Thieve's Kitchen The Regency Underworld Donald A.Low 4/5 ® A Life's Morning George Gissing 2/5 (k) Eve's Ransom George Gissing 5/5 (k) Hide In Time Anna Faversham 3/5 (k) August The House Of Cobwebs and other stories George Gissing 5/5 (k) Denzil Quarrier George Gissing 3/5 (k) Demos George Gissing 3/5(k) September Daily Life In Victorian England Sally Mitchell 5/5 A Brief History Of Time Stephen Hawking 4/5 A London Family 1870-1900 Molly Hughes 5/5 Mutants Armand Marie Leroi 3/5 October Workers In The Dawn George Gissing 4/5 (k) Born In Exile George Gissing 4/5 (k) The Anome Jack Vance (k) (Re-read) November The Brave Free Men Jack Vance (k) (re-read) The Asutra Jack Vance (k) (re-read) The Lost City Of The Incas Hiram Bingham 3/5 Spunk Fakers, Slap Bangs and Tipping The Velvet Patrick Chapman 5/5 (k) Life as A Victorian Lady Pamela Horn 4/5 (k) December Edited November 19, 2015 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) My TBR pile London The Biography Peter Ackroyd £2.81 incl. postage Amazon Air Geoff Ryman 30p Choke Chuck Palahniuk 30p There But For The Ali Smith 30p Nice To See It To See It Nice Brian Viner 30p A Life's Morning The Crown Of Life Eve's Ransom Our Friend The Charlaton Will Warburton The Private Papers Of Henry Ryecroft The Emancipated The Whirlpool The Paying Guest Denzil Quarrier The Town Traveller Born In Exile Demos all above by The House Of Cobwebs and other stories George Gissing free for kindle The Poor Gentleman Hendrick Conscience free for kindle Two On A Tower The Return Of The Native A Laodician A Pair Of Blue Eyes Jude The Obscure The Woodlanders Far From The Madding Crowd all above by The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy free for kindle Post Haste RM Ballantyne free for kindle Autobiography Of Anthony Trollope Lady Anna Miss Mackenzie 4 above by The Way We Live Now Anthony Trollope free for kindle Twelve Years A Slave Solomon Northup 49p kindle Letters Of Two Brides Balzac free for kindle Birds Of Prey Charlotte's Inheritance Run To Earth A Novel The Doctor's Wife Lady Audley's Secret Mary Elizabeth Braddon free for kindle It's A Small Medium And Outsize World John Taylor Cut Like Wound Anita Nair (signed copy, paperback printed in India!) Little Dorrit Charles Dickens The Mill On The Floss Madame Bovary Connections Rules For Virgins Tess of The d'urbervilles Lady Susan Out Of Time-Five tales of Time Travel The Life And Loves Of A She Devil The Passion Of New Eve The Haunted Hotel Ten Interesting Things About Human Behaviour The Diary Of A Nobody Strange Loops Equality Looking Backward 2000-1887 The Time Travel Megapack Thoughts On The Education Of Daughters The Last Man Maria, Or The Wrongs Of Woman North And South Elizabeth Gaskill Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman The Perpetual Curate The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Slave Girl Sarah Forsyth (autobiography) The Man Who Loved Only Numbers Paul Hoffman (biography of Paul Erdos) The White Mists Of Power Kristine Kathryn Rusch Blitz The Civilian War 1940-45 Jane Waller Michael Vaughn-Rees (war memoir) The Martian Way Isaac Asimov The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year Sue Townsend Freedom (The Rake And The Recluse Part One) I Think I'm OK Undercover: The True Story Of Britain's Secret Police Victorian Slang: Spunk Fakers, Slap Bangs and Tipping The Velvet Under A Cloud-Soft Sky The Singing Winds Shelter From The Storm Snow Angels New Grub Street King Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine A Far Cry From Kensington Muriel Spark Capital John Lanchester Sweet Thames Matthew Kneale Good Behaviour Molly KeaneThe Green Brain Frank HerbertThe Steampunk megapack (26 stories)ViridisLady Of Devices A Steampunk AdventureSteampunk EroticaThe Siege Of Krishnapur J.G. FarrellMiss Peregrine's Home For Unusual Children - Ransom RiggsOryx and Crake - Margaret AtwoodSense and Sensibility - Jane AustenBalti Britain - Ziauddin SardarStephanie Plum series 9-20 - Janet EvanovitchForgotten Voices of the Blitz Joshua LevineOne Day David NicholsThe Victorians AN WilsonVictorian London Liza PicardGeisha Liza DalbyIn The Heart Of The Sea Nathanial PhilbrickSpycatcher Peter WrightBest New SF 25The Midnight Palace Carlos Ruiz ZafonWays Of Seeing John BergerGunners On Tour Maurice CourtMother Tongue Bill BrysonThe Almost Moon Alice SeboldRivers Of London Ben AaronovitchThe Horse Whisperer Nicholas EvansThe Women Who Lived For Danger Marcus BinneyThe Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer Michelle HodkinThe German Invasion Of Norway Geirr H HaarrRaj Lawrence JamesAccidents In The Home Tessa HadleyDevoted Ladies Molly KeaneA Fine Balance Rohinton MistryOf Mice and Men John SteinbeckThe Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan DoyleLord Of The Flies William GoldingRebecca Daphne Du MaurierUntying The Knot Linda GillardThe Picture Of Dorian Grey Oscar WildeNicholas Nickleby Charles DickensThe Legend Of Sleepy Hollow Washington IrvineMeeting At Infinity John BrunnerLittle Women Louisa May AlcottOne of Our Thursdays Is Missing,Thursday Next First Among Sequels,Something Rotten,The Well Of Lost Plots,Lost In A Good Book,The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde Life Of Pi - Yann MartelThe Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared - Jonas JonassonPure - Andrew MillerWho Dares Wins The Age of Revolution 1789-1848 The Age Of Capital 1848-1875 The Age Of Empire 1875-1914 Shirley Alone In Berlin PerfumeThe Terror Bleak House The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde The Moonstone The Woman In White RuthThe Importance Of Being Earnest BasilLes Miserables Wuthering Heights Mrs OliphantShout At The Devil Thieves' KitchenThe Crowded StreetRound the BendA Special RelationshipHayfever (Parragon health guide)The Selfish Gene Richard DawkinsTwo Eggs On My Plate Oluf Reed OlsenSlavery A New Global History Jeremy BlackThe Warrior Queens Antonia FraserInfidel Ayaan Hirsi Ali Nerd Do Well Simon PeggMrs P's JourneyForensic Clues To Murder Brian Marriner Confessions Of An English Opium Eater Thomas De Quincey Bad Blood Lorna Sage I Know My Own Heart Anne Lister The Voyage Out Virginia Woolf D-Day Stepehen Ambrose The Book Of The DeadOf All Possible Worlds William Tenn The Makeshift Rocket Poul Anderson Life The Universe and EverythingMore Than Super-Human AE VAN Vogt Testament Of Youth Vera Brittain Journey Through A Small Planet Emanuel Litvenoff The Other Side Of The Dale Gervaise Phinn Foundation Isaac Asimov The Naked Sun Isaac Asimov The Road To Samarcand Patrick O'Brian Edited November 19, 2015 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Ah here is a bit of a new thing (stolen from Willoyd) It's an (edited) list of my top-rated books from the last two years. Only two years because I didn't start rating books until 2013. I may cheat later on and weigh up my reads from previous years and grant them a rating in hindsight. I felt I had to edit the list because looking back I could not understand why I rated one or two of them so highly; (the Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry springs to mind) and also I felt I can't be objective about Jack Vance ( as I am such a fanboy) so I took out all his. It pains me that some great books I rated just below top marks and so I couldn't include them when I feel now should have. So, in the end I don't really know what point I am trying to make with this list ; but, you may hopefully agree with some of my choices as good reads . Running With Scissors Augusten Burroughs (autobiography) The Odd Women George Gissing The Unclassed George Gissing In The Year Of Jubilee George Gissing How To Be A Victorian Ruth Goodman 1888- London Murders In The Year Of The Ripper Peter Stubley The Book Thief Girl Meets Boy Ali Smith Girl, Interrupted Suzanna Kayson Small Island Andrea Levy Flowers For Algernon Nineteen Seventy-Nine Rhona Cameron (autobiography) London In The Nineteenth Century Jerry White Jonathon Strange And Mr Norrell Edited March 27, 2015 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Ok I guess I am open for business Edited January 2, 2015 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Good luck on your reading this year!! Some interesting reads on your TBR, especially Rebecca, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Of Mice and Men. I read Rebecca and really enjoyed it, the other two are on my TBR and I'm really looking forward to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I hope you have a great reading year in 2015, VF! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Some interesting reads on your TBR, especially Rebecca, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Of Mice and Men. I read Rebecca and really enjoyed it, the other two are on my TBR and I'm really looking forward to them These are all great. I hope you have a great reading year, VF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Always great to see Ali Smith on someone else's TBR list! It's just reminded me you PM'd me a while back, and I read it on my phone and meant to reply to and then completely forgot Sorry about that, I'll get to that soon Hope you enjoy your reading this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Sounds as if you have a nice list to choose from James. Enjoy ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 The Horse Whisperer, Perfume, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Dorian Gray and Wuthering Heights are all great reads. I'm gonna particularly plug Perfume, because the writing is stunning and the book is weirdly wonderful, and also Earnest, because that often gets overlooked in favour of Dorian, though Earnest is actually my favourite Wilde story/play - it's HILARIOUS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I hope you have a good reading year, VF. Some standouts from your list are: Capital - John Lanchester One Day - David Nichols The Horse Whisperer - Nicholas Evans Lord Of The Flies - William Golding Life Of Pi - Yann Martel Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I hope you have a good reading year, VF ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Wow, James, I didn't know your TBR pile had gotten so big! Are these mostly Kindle books? Some of my favourites are: The Diary of a Nobody Of Mice and Men Rivers of London Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Wuthering Heights Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children I look forward to reading your thoughts on your various steampunk books. I love steampunk but haven't really done much reading in the genre yet. I bought Lady Audley's Secret and New Grub Street last year, and I'm intrigued by them both. Madame Bovary is also pretty good, and don't let Poppyshake and Frankie tell you otherwise! I will admit that the protagonist is very unlikeable though. Happy reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Thanks everyone! I didn't realise people had been posting. It's really interesting to see that lots of the classics are very much liked by many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Wow, James, I didn't know your TBR pile had gotten so big! Are these mostly Kindle books? Some of my favourites are: The Diary of a Nobody Of Mice and Men Rivers of London Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Wuthering Heights Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children I look forward to reading your thoughts on your various steampunk books. I love steampunk but haven't really done much reading in the genre yet. I bought Lady Audley's Secret and New Grub Street last year, and I'm intrigued by them both. Madame Bovary is also pretty good, and don't let Poppyshake and Frankie tell you otherwise! I will admit that the protagonist is very unlikeable though. Happy reading! Hi Kylie, yes about 60% kindle books. I am actually half way through New Grub Street. At the moment the plot is still developing, but The Odd Women and The Unclassed by the same author will be hard to beat, they were so good. I haven't got to any of the steampunk books yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 The Horse Whisperer, Perfume, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Dorian Gray and Wuthering Heights are all great reads. I'm gonna particularly plug Perfume, because the writing is stunning and the book is weirdly wonderful, and also Earnest, because that often gets overlooked in favour of Dorian, though Earnest is actually my favourite Wilde story/play - it's HILARIOUS. Thanks Noll I have actually read Perfume already years back but I bought another copy to read it again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Always great to see Ali Smith on someone else's TBR list! It's just reminded me you PM'd me a while back, and I read it on my phone and meant to reply to and then completely forgot Sorry about that, I'll get to that soon Hope you enjoy your reading this year Thanks Claire! That Ali Smith book is another I am half way through..it's in my locker at work.. be interested to hear your thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Good luck on your reading this year!! Some interesting reads on your TBR, especially Rebecca, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Of Mice and Men. I read Rebecca and really enjoyed it, the other two are on my TBR and I'm really looking forward to them Thanks BSchultz...I am a bit nervous of Rebecca.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Hi Kylie, yes about 60% kindle books. I am actually half way through New Grub Street. At the moment the plot is still developing, but The Odd Women and The Unclassed by the same author will be hard to beat, they were so good. I haven't got to any of the steampunk books yet. I haven't heard of the other two books. If I like New Grub Street, then I guess I'll be adding the other two to my wishlist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) Thanks everyone! I didn't realise people had been posting. It's really interesting to see that lots of the classics are very much liked by many. You've got some great books on that list. Just have to add to the lists! These are my favourites (5 or 6 stars): Fiction Far From The Madding Crowd Madame Bovary North and South King Solomon's Carpet Sense and Sensibility Nicholas Nickleby Of Mice and Men Pure Bleak House The Woman in White Wuthering Heights The Voyage Out and more.....! Non-fiction London, The Biography The Victorians The Selfish Gene Have to say, though, I intensely disliked Stephen Ambrose's D-Day: nobody except Americans seems to exist in his histories. Max Hastings, Antony Beevor, John Keegan (Six Armies in Normandy) are IMO infinitely better. Good luck with you reading this year, especially making inroads into that mega-list. Edited January 6, 2015 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 I haven't heard of the other two books. If I like New Grub Street, then I guess I'll be adding the other two to my wishlist! Ooh I wouldn't have started with New Grub Street..the poverty is a bit unrelenting at the moment..he does like to put his characters through the mill and no-one is safe..which I do like because of the four Gissings I have read I could not predict how they would end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) Thanks Willoyd! I defineitely want this year to nail those classics you have mentioned...very soon I will have to read Elizabeth Gaskill's North And South. I enjoyed the TV four part dramatization very much because it tackles so many political issues and also sympathetically shows both sides. It seems incredible that at the time Charles Dickens (her editor) hardly considered it worthy of publication at all! Edited January 6, 2015 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Hey James. I thought I'd done so, but, belatedly, I hope your new reading year is terrific! Your lists indicate that it will be so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Ooh I wouldn't have started with New Grub Street..the poverty is a bit unrelenting at the moment..he does like to put his characters through the mill and no-one is safe..which I do like because of the four Gissings I have read I could not predict how they would end. Oh dear! Well, when I get around to reading it, I'll make sure I keep in mind that not all of his books are the same (if I'm not enjoying it, that is). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Where am I at the moment.....I am half way through at least five books....I stopped reading Game Of Thrones because my friend hasn't been reading Lyonesse, which was his end of the bargain. He told me yesterday he was going to start reading it again so I may finish GOT soon..still reading New Grub Street and a couple of others too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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