Fifi's Fantastic Fiction & Other Assorted Books 2010

[Fi.]

Right, my reading took a nosedive at the end of last year for various reasons so I'm going to use this to give me the proverbial kick

 

These are some of the books I have lined up for January - have read 4 already which I'll stick in a separate post. Bear in mind my reading is so eccentric in taste it might make your head spin, I make no excuses for the alarming discovery that half my reading seems to be of the "trashy" genre recently

To Read In January

 

Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin (re-read)

Immortal - P C Cast

The Swan Maiden - Jules Watson

Salamander - Thomas Wharton

Bitten - Kelley Armstrong (re-read)

Camelot's Sword - Sarah Zettel

A Pound Of Paper - John Baxter

Wideacre - Philippa Gregory (re-read)

The Favoured Child - Philippa Gregory

Dead Reign - T A Pratt

Spell Games - T A Pratt

The Boar Stone - Jules Watson

The House On The Strand - Daphne du Maurier

Dark Lady's Chosen - Gail Z Martin

The Master And Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel

Edited March 11, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

Read In 2010

 

1. The Confessions Of Max Tivoli - Andrew Sean Greer 4/5

2. Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders - Gyles Brandreth 4/5

3. Light Of The Moon - Luanne Rice 2/5

4. Blood Engines - T A Pratt 4/5

5. Poison Sleep - T A Pratt 3/5

6. Unshapely Things - Mark del Franco 3/5

7. Nightlife - Rob Thurman

8. The Magicians - Lev Grossman 4/5

9. Kindred In Death - J D Robb

10. The Lost - J D Robb

11. Comfort Food - Kate Jacobs

12. Sea Glass - Midori Snyder

13. Fantasy In Death - J D Robb

14. Rose Daughter - Robin McKinley

15. Fallen - Lauren Kate

16. Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris

17. Eyes Like Stars - Lisa Mantchev

18. The Rose Labyrinth - Titania Hardie

19. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

20. Scarlet - Alexandra Ripley

21. Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris

22. All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris

23. Knit Two - Kate Jacobs

24. House Of Leaves - Mark Z Danielewski

25. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong

26. Ladies Of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke

27. Meridian - Amber Kizer

28. Ruined - Paula Morris

29. Nightfall - Stephen Leather

30. The Owl Killers - Karen Maitland

31. The Ghost's Child - Sonya Hartnett

32. The Other Hand - Chris Cleave

33. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

34. Angel's Blood - Nalini Singh

35. Archangel's Kiss - Nalini Singh

36. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl

37. I, Lucifer - Glen Duncan

38. Ash - Malinda Lo

39. Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn

40. His Other Lover - Lucy Dawson

41. Untamed - Helen Kirkman

42. Blue Moon - Lori Handeland

43. Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury

44. Chocky - John Wyndham

45. Eve Green - Susan Fletcher

46. From Dead To Worse - Charlaine Harris

47. Dark Life - Kat Falls

48. Dead And Gone - Charlaine Harris

49. The Dead House - Anne Cassidy

50. Witchfinder - William Hussey

51. Vlad - C C Humphrey

52. The Demon's Librarian - Lilith Saintcrow

53. Fall On Your Knees - AnnMarie MacDonald

54. Unclean Spirits - M L N Hanover

55. Trouble With Lichen - John Wyndham

56. Strange Angels - Lili St Crow

57. Darker Angels - M L N Hanover

58. Betrayals - Lili St Crow

59. The Mesmerist - Barbara Ewing

60. The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham

61. The Chrysalids - John Wyndham

62. The Kraken Wakes - John Wyndham

63. The Day Of The Triffids - John Wyndham

64. The Cipher - Diana Pharoah Francis

65. Spiral Hunt - Margaret Ronald

66. Path Of Fate - Diana Pharoah Francis

67. Wild Hunt - Margaret Ronald

68. Empire In Black & Gold - Adrian Tchaikovsky

69. Dragonfly Falling - Adrian Tchaikovsky

70. Slave To Sensation - Nalini Singh

71. Visions Of Heat - Nalini Singh

72. The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break - Steven Sherrill

73. The Behaviour Of Moths - Poppy Adams

74. Lover Avenged - J R Ward

75. Lover Mine - J R Ward

76. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K Dick

77. Monsters Of Templeton - Lauren Groff

78. Every Day Is Mothers Day - Hilary Mantel

79. Vacant Possession - Hilary Mantel

80. Possession - A S Byatt

81. The Eye Of The World - Robert Jordan

82. The Traitor Game - B R Collins

83. Flowers For Algernon - Daniel Keyes

84. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

85. The Reformed Vampire Support Group - Catherine Jinks

86. Death And The Penguin - Andrey Kurkov

87. The Glass Demon - Helen Grant

88. The Hollow - Jessica Verday

89. Wintercraft - Jenna Burtenshaw

90. Tainted - Julie Kenner

91. Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

92. Wicked Enchantment - Anya Bast

93. Caressed By Ice - Nalini Singh

94. Shadowfae - Erica Hayes

95. Wake - Lisa McMann

96. Winter Kiss - Deborah Cooke

97. The Crimson Petal And The White - Michael Faber

98. The Apple - Michael Faber

99. My Love Lies Bleeding - Alyxandra Harvey

100. Key To Conflict - Talia Gryphon

101. Fade - Lisa McMann

102. The Pale Blue Eye - Louis Bayard

103. The Bride's Farewell - Meg Rosoff

104. Perchance To Dream - Lisa Mantchev

105. Spirit Bound - Richelle Mead

Edited July 7, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

Read In January

 

The Confessions Of Max Tivoli - Andrew Sean Greer 4/5

Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders - Gyles Brandreth 4/5

Light Of The Moon - Luanne Rice 2/5

Blood Engines - T A Pratt 4/5

Poison Sleep - T A Pratt 3/5

Unshapely Things - Mark del Franco 3/5

Nightlife - Rob Thurman

The Magicians - Lev Grossman

Kindred In Death - J D Robb

The Lost - J D Robb

Comfort Food - Kate Jacobs

[Fi.]

Wishlist/Recommendations

 

Envy - Anna Godbersen

Splendor - Anna Godbersen

Broken - Karin Slaughter

Long Time Coming - Robert Goddard

Retromancer - Robert Rankin

U Is For Undertow - Sue Grafton

Burned - P C Cast

I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett

Towers Of Midnight - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoning - Kelley Armstrong

Tales Of The Otherworld - Kelley Armstrong

Waking The Witch - Kelley Armstrong

Shades Of Grey - Jasper Fforde

Roadkill - Rob Thurman

The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova

Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick

The Prince Of Mist - Carlos Ruis Zafon

Enchanted Glass - Diana Wynne Jones

Edited January 20, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

Library Reservations

 

Death of an Ordinary Man - Glen Duncan

The Truth About Melody Browne - Lisa Jewell

Queen Of The Western Isle - Rosalind Miles

The Maiden Of White Hands - Rosalind Miles

The Lady Of The Sea - Rosalind Miles

Edited January 20, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

Bold = Read

Pink = Read but will read again

Blue = On Mount TBR

Anything else = Not read

 

1984 by George Orwell

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Anna Karenina - Tolstoy

Anne Frank's Diary - Anne Frank

Archidamian War by Donald Kagan

The Art of Fiction by Henry James

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Babe by Dick King-Smith

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney

The Bhagava Gita

The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy

Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel

A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner

Candide by Voltaire

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

Carrie - Stephen King

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

The Catcher In The Rye - J D Salinger

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman

Christine - Stephen King

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

The Collected Short Stories by Eudora Welty

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty

A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

Complete Novels by Dawn Powell

The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton

Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker

A Confederacy Of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Cousin Bette by Honor'e de Balzac

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Cujo - Stephen King

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time - Mark Haddon

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Deenie by Judy Blume

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx

The Divine Comedy by Dante

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

Don Quijote by Cervantes

Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv

Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

Eloise by Kay Thompson

Emily the Strange by Roger Reger

Emma - Jane Austen

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Ethics by Spinoza

Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Extravagance by Gary Krist

Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore

The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan

Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein

Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce

Fletch by Gregory McDonald

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg

Gidget by Fredrick Kohner

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford

The Gospel According to Judy Bloom

The Graduate by Charles Webb

The Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck

The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Group by Mary McCarthy

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire - J K Rowling

Harry Potter & The philosopher's Stone - J K Rowling

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare

Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare

Henry V by William Shakespeare

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris

The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland

Howl by Allen Gingsburg

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

The Iliad by Homer

I'm with the Band by Pamela des Barres

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Inferno by Dante

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy

It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito

The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Lady Chatterley's Lover - D H Lawrence

The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Lord Of The Flies - William Golding

The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Love Story by Erich Segal

Edited January 14, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The Manticore by Robertson Davies

Marathon Man by William Goldman

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir

Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer

Mencken's Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken

The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare

Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin

Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor

A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman

Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret

A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It's Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh

My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken

My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest

Myra Waldo's Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin

Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen

New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Night by Elie Wiesel

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan

Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell

Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski

Of Mice & Men - John Steinbeck

Old School by Tobias Wolff

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan

Oracle Night by Paul Auster

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Othello by Shakespeare

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan

Out of Africa by Isac Dineson

The Outsiders - S E Hinton

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker

The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill by Ron Suskind

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

Property by Valerie Martin

Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Quattrocento by James Mckean

A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall

Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman

The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien

R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton

Rita Hayworth - Stephen King

Robert's Rules of Order by Henry Robert

Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

A Room With A view - E M Forster

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition

Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi

Sanctuary by William Faulkner

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James

The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman

Selected Hotels of Europe

Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell

Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Several Biographies of Winston Churchill

Sexus by Henry Miller

The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruis Zafon

Shane by Jack Shaefer

The Shining - Stephen King

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

Small Island by Andrea Levy

Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway

Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers

Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore

The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht

Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos

The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker

Songbook by Nick Hornby

The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sophie's Choice by William Styron

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

The Story Of My Life - Helen Keller

A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams

Stuart Little by E. B. White

Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett

Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber

A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry

Time and Again by Jack Finney

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Trial - Franz Kafka

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom

Ulysses by James Joyce

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Unless - Carol Shields

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Walt Disney's Bambi by Felix Salten

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker

What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles

What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

The Wizard Of Oz - L Frank Baum

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront

Edited January 14, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

This may or may not be a short list this year as I'm meant to be saving my pennies - we'll see what it's like at the end of the year

 

The Castle Omnibus - Steph Swainston

Moonshine - Rob Thurman

Madhouse - Rob Thurman

Deathwish - Rob Thurman

Trick Of The Light - Rob Thurman

Edited January 16, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

In other words, books from friends, family or places like BookMooch

 

Scarlett: GwtW Sequel - Alexandra Ripley

Drowning Girl - Margaret Leroy

Edited January 18, 2010 by Fi

[Jessi]

I look forward to hearing what you think of the Luxe, Fi! Are you enjoying it?

[Fi.]

I am now, thanks When I first picked it up i couldn't get into it at all but after putting it aside for a few weeks I'm now loving it and looking forward to reading the others.

[Mac]

Library Reservations

 

I, Lucifer - Glen Duncan

 

This book is brilliant. Glen Duncan is an incredible author. Check out what I think about him on McRecommends (page one).

 

Good lists, Fi!

[Fi.]

Thanks Mac, and I will definitely check out what you think! Just need to persuade my resident house elf to go to the library to pick my reserved copy up now

[Fi.]

Nightlife - Rob Thurman 4/5

 

Blurb from Fantastic Fiction

In New York, there's a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Of course, most humans are oblivious to this, but Cal Leandros is only half-human. His father's dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares - and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal.

 

He and his half-brother Niko have managed to stay a step ahead for three years, but now Cal's dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they've always wanted him...

 

This has been on my wishlist for a while so I'm glad that it didn't turn out to be a disappointment. Mention boggles, trolls & vampires all in one book and I'm usually sold so this book was a bit of a hidden gem. It started off a bit slow and I almost put it down for something else however I didn't, which turned out to be a good decision. Lots of fairly original ideas which can be hard to achieve these days and one of the starring characters is Robin Goodfellow. What's not to like about this book? Actually all the characters were likeable in good & bad ways and I enjoyed how they developed over the course of the book. Can't really say much more without giving major spoilers as to what Cal's big secret is!

 

Despite being on a book diet I've bought books 2, 3 & 4 and pre-ordered no. 5 - oops I've also ordered his standalone (so far) novel, Trick Of The Light

[Fi.]

Well, I finished up Missing In Death by J D Robb - one of my "guilty pleasure" reads, I really must wean myself off the Dallas books

 

Blurb -

 

"J. D. Robb's Missing in Death investigates a female tourist's disappearance during a ferry ride. Detective Eve Dallas wonders - if she didn't jump, and she's not on board, then where in the world is she?"

 

I gave it 2/5 because it really is nowhere near the standard that earlier Dallas books were and to be honest, I'm still puzzling over where the actual story was. It seemed to be over before it had a chance to get going which makes the whole idea of the short story seem pointless

 

 

Resident house slave went to the library and picked up some books for me

 

I, Lucifer - Glen Duncan

Magicians - Lev Grossman

Comfort Food - Kate Jacobs

Lavinia - Ursula le Guin

The Hollow - Jessica Verday

 

I also received Drowning Girl by Margaret Leroy from a book buddy so plenty to keep me going for a few days! Off to make a start on I, Lucifer

[Fi.]

It's a sickness I tell you! I am definitely addicted to books and I'm rapidly running out of room for any more

 

I got a nice big box this morning containing -

 

The Castle Omnibus by Steph Swainston

Powers by Ursula le Guin

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Ruined by Paula Morris

Fantasy In Death by J D Robb

Shades Of Grey by Jasper Fforde

 

Happy, happy happy!!! And very grateful for Christmas gift certificates

[Fi.]

The Magicians - Lev Grossman 4/5

 

Blurb from Fantastic Fiction -

 

Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton he finds his interviewer dead - but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a very different path to any he'd ever imagined. The envelope, and the mysterious manuscript it contains, leads to a secret world of obsession and privilege, a world of freedom and power and, for a while, it's a world that seems to answer all Quentin's desires. But the idyll cannot last - and when it's finally shattered, Quentin is drawn into something darker and far more dangerous than anything he could ever have expected...

 

I quite enjoyed this one, not the best written book in the world but it was a little bit different to all the other adult Potter-esque books available out there!

 

One minute Quentin - depressed, obsessed with his best friends girlfriend and the Fillory books by Christopher Plover - is on his way to an interview for Princeton and the next he's at Brakebills College of Magical Pedagogy wonderinh what on earth he's going to do in the real world after graduation. The first 2 parts of the book are fantastic, following his progress through college and the trials they all go through. I loved the special fourth year project where they all had to fly to Antarctica and the surly professor waiting for them at the other end (and yes, you find out why he's like that) It's once Quentin and his friends Eliot, Alice Janet, Josh and Penny are in the real world that things seem to start going spectacularly wrong and also where the book goes off the rails a bit. The group end up in Fillory on a quest but this section seemed rushed and there was sometimes too much detail crammed into certain sections. The ending was quite obvious really but still left things complete.

 

Thumbs up for The Magicians, as long as you're not expecting anything highbrow and a big improvement on his last book

Edited January 24, 2010 by Fi

[Fi.]

Comfort Food - Kate Jacobs 2/5

 

Blurb from Fantastic Fiction

 

"Shortly before turning the big 5-0, boisterous party planner and Cooking with Gusto! personality Augusta 'Gus' Simpson finds herself planning a birthday party she'd rather not - her own. She's getting tired of being the hostess, the mother hen, the woman who has to plan her own birthday party. What she needs is time on her own with enough distance to give her loved ones the ingredients to put together successful lives without her.

 

Assisted by a handsome up-and-coming chef, Oliver, Gus invites a select group to take an on-air cooking class. But instead of just preaching to the foodie masses, she will teach regular people how to make rich, sensuous meals - real people making real food. Gus decides to bring a vibrant cast of friends and family on the program: Sabrina, her fickle daughter; Troy, Sabrina's ex-boyfriend; Hannah, Gus's timid neighbor; and Carmen, Gus's pompous and beautiful competitor at the Cooking Channel. And when she begins to have more than collegial feelings for her sous-chef, Gus realizes that she might be able to rejuvenate not just her professional life, but her personal life as well. . . ."

 

This was a birthday present from someone who really should know what sort of books I like to read by now but as I didn't want to seem ungrateful I started (and finished) this today.

 

I've previously read The Friday Night Knitting Club by Jacobs which I thought was okay but I'm thinking I won't be rushing out to get any of her other books. I really struggled to enjoy this book, I didn't really "get" any of the characters and it all just seemed a bit too convenient - especially the ending where everything got tied up with a neat, pretty bow. It's a nice, light read but not my cup of tea and all too predictable in parts.

[Nollaig]

The Magicians - Lev Grossman 4/5

 

 

I had no idea you had/were reading this! I'm quite oblivious. I don't know any of his other work but came across this on Amazon one time before it was actually published and have been waiting to get it because it sounded really interesting!

[Fi.]

It was on my wishlist since before it was published as well - worth the wait as I enjoyed it I was a bit dubious as his previous book Codex, although it involved books & manuscripts, was a bit Da Vinci Code clone-like but Magicians was nothing like it. You should go ahead and get it!

[Nollaig]

Brilliant! I'm really glad to heard a positive review of it. I'm going to Waterstones tomorrow, I might see if they have it. Thanks!

[Fi.]

Oooh, the pressure Hope you like it!

[bethany725]

You must have a ton of time to read! Nice lists you have, and nice progress, Fi!!

[Fi.]

Thanks Beth And yes, lots of time to read - I'm stuck at home after major surgery so nothing else to do!

[Fi.]

Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris 4/5

 

Blurb from FF

 

"When Sookie's brother Jason's eyes start to change, she knows he's about to turn into a were-panther for the first time. But her concern becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population-and Jason's new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter. Now, Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who's behind the attacks, unless the killer decides to find her first."

 

Book 5 in the Sookie Stackhouse series and I love, love, love them all so far! Not sure whether I'm a Bill fan or an Eric fan though but that's probably the influence of the tv show Not a fan of Alcide, Calvin seems okay (so far), liked the appearance of Quinn and I'm still really hoping that she doesn't ever end up with Sam Looking forward to book no. 6!