Vodkafan's 2012 Reading List and Genre Challenge

[Brian.]

Sounds like you are approaching it like a military mission

[poppyshake]

Read 40 pages of the Mitford sisters today. Unity has died and also their brother Tom, the only son.

Poor misguided Unity .. that was a bit of a shocker wasn't it? I never thought it would be possible to do what she did and live (though there are lots of conspiracy theories about it) and in the end it was a blessing when she eventually went. There's a programme starting on Monday about the charisma of Hitler (apparently he had plenty .. I suppose that's obvious .. but to me he looked and sounded appalling) .. I wonder if Unity & Diana will get a mention?

Do you have a favourite Mitford sister? .. they're not easy to like are they?

[vodkafan]

Do you have a favourite Mitford sister? .. they're not easy to like are they?</span>

I guess I like Deborah the best as she seemed the most unaffected by politics and the least nutty.

[vodkafan]

This Is Me Jack Vance!

 

Sorry to say, but I am so glad that I bought this as a kindle book for £2.99 (albeit devoid of any photographs) rather than lashing out pounds on getting the book itself from America.

Jack Vance had a very interesting life without too much unhappiness, it seems like he had a good happy marriage and was close to his son and his mum. He also travelled widely and lived in a lot of different places. But he skims through the most important events which left me a bit frustrated. For instance, about meeting his wife Norma he deals with that in one sentence, something like " I liked her and she liked me so we got married" (I am paraphrasing from memory).

About his marvelous books he says almost nothing at all. I had been prewarned about that by other reviews but I was still surprised by the paucity of information offered.

It is also a very short book. My all time favourite author, but not the best autobiography I have ever read.

[vodkafan]

Bashed on with the Mitford book . On the last 1/5th of the book now.

[vodkafan]

Had a bit of a Mitford Marathon last night after the kids went to sleep so that is done and dusted, hurrah! Going to review it now in my Genre Challenge section.

[vodkafan]

Laptop has been broken so have got quite a lot of reading done...devoured and enjoyed Packing For Mars by Mary Roach, now reading Sightlines which was a kindle book of the day a couple of weeks ago, also reading Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai at the same time.

[julie]

_{Hi James}

_{Sounds as if you are getting some major reading done lately . I see you are one of those fortunate people who can juggle more than one book at a time . I've never been able to do that. I think mainly because I have a one-track mind and I can only concentrate on one book until it is finished .}

_{Isn't Mary Roach the one who wrote STIFF , or is that someone else ? Been meaning to get hold of it since I hear so many good reviews on it .}

[vodkafan]

Hi Julie yes the same author. She has a very irreverent style. STIFF was ok but Packing For Mars was much better. Lots of fun and trivial information.

OK I have finished both Fasting , Feasting and Sightlines​. I could not help myself, I started reading one from next years TBR pile, Anna Dressed In Blood.

I have a few left from my "old" TBR pile but none of them jumped out at me. If I don't get them finished this year I will just carry them over.

[vodkafan]

Packing For Mars

Mary Roach

 

This author is easy to read and very entertaining. I was a bit disappointed with STIFF, as it seemed to wander off topic a bit, no such worries here. This is no facts and figures type science book, it is instead about space exploration from the human point of view: what's the food like? What's it smell like to wear a space suit with a nappy for 2 weeks and nowhere to wash? what are the problems with a zero gravity toilet? Is it possible to have sex when floating? Will astronauts murder each other on long space journeys cooped up together? These and other burning questions are dealt with in Mary's usual fearless fashion .She asks all the experts she can find until she gets some answers.

She doesn't stop at asking awkward questions either, she likes to have a go at everything, including a centrifuge, and experiencing weightlessness in an aircraft . Her husband drew the line at her keeping her recycled urine in the fridge to drink though.

A great book, very different in style to Bryson but just as funny.

Edited November 24, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

Sightlines

Kathleen Jamie

 

It was a complete fluke that I bought this book for my kindle at all, I was reading my kindle in the pub and it was the kindle book offer of the day, with only an hour to go, and the blurb mentioned Norway so I downloaded it there and then.

It is rather a strange and unique book, ( I should have mentioned straight away it is non-fiction) . It is a hard job to summarise what it is about. Basically her travels , things she sees in nature and how she sees connections in them. There. That made it sound completely boring, which it is not. The author has not lost her childlike sense of wonder at things , and she communicates this very well indeed. So much so that it makes the reader want to go see these places, which have both human and animal history entwined in them . There is one place I must now go to in Norway for sure. There are some recurring themes in it, for instance whales.

Anyway, I recommend this book as a guaranteed change from whatever you are reading now!

[vodkafan]

I am reading two books at the moment, Android Karenina and Berlin The Downfall 1945. Both pretty huge tomes. Will try to catch up on reviews tonight.

Edited December 1, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

Anna Dressed In Blood

Kendare Blake

 

Supernatural Romance YA book. Not vegetarian vampires or zombies or werewolves. So I figured worth a look.

Cassius is an unusual teenager. His mother is a witch and his father was a Ghosthunter who hunted out and laid to rest troubled and vengeful ghosts. Until one night he didn't come back from a job.

So Cass took his place. Moving from town to town , no friends. Deliberately not getting to know anyone and doing just fine, thanks.

.Then one job changes everything in Cass's life. Because he has to go up against a killer ghost so powerful that he doesn't know if he can win.

The terrifying apparition of a murdered and cursed young girl called Anna, whose dress drips blood, and who has so far killed everyone who has entered her house..

Well so much for my blurb. I enjoyed this book OK. The author managed to blend an interesting story with the usual teenage concerns. Most YA books at some level are about relationships. This one is no different. But the descriptions of the ghosts are quite exciting and I think youngsters will enjoy them. There is a bit of gore and horror, and also some swearing, (which I think was unnecessary) which makes the book not for younger readers , and the book had a warning on it to this effect. But 15 and up, fine.

[vodkafan]

Fasting, Feasting

Anita Desai.

 

I enjoy books about India and had not read one for a while. It's a story about families . Poor Uma has not had much of a life. Although her parents are fairly well off with servants, she is forced to stay at home out of tradition and duty. However she observes the world around her and notes that her prettier younger sister and cousin are also not happy in their marriages and are more or less prisoners in their own way too. The "fasting" here seems to mean a lack of spiritual sustenance rather than food.

 

When we take leave of Uma she is just about try to seize a last chance to do something with her life

 

Then the story jumps across the world to America through the eyes of Uma's brother Arun. where the contrast in cultures is overwhelming. Arun is staying with an American family. Here they have everything in abundance (including a surplus of food) and yet Arun sees that they are still not happy, this family is as disfunctional as his own.

This was a slim book and an easy read, I could have finished it in a few hours but found it was better to spread it out and read a chapter then think about it for a bit to get the full meaning. I would read another by this author.

[vodkafan]

Just finished the December reading circle book, The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen, will review it on the reading circle thread.

[julie]

James

Good job at staying on task and getting several books added here at year's end . I've gotta do the same myself .I'm reading one now,but need to concentrate more on it to get it completed. I need to read a few more to finish out 2012 .

The Mars one sounds interesting . I'm not much into space travel,etc,but I always enjoy a funny author ,so it might be up my alley .

So what number of books are you up to so far for the year ?

[vodkafan]

79 completed. 2 more that I MUST read for the Genre Challenge, then 2 more that I have already started so will probably finish. One of those I will likely finish tonight.

[vodkafan]

The Summer Tree (Fionovar Book 1)

Guy Gavril Kay

 

I would call this book High Fantasy as it has Dwarves, and races that approximate almost exactly Orcs and Elves, although they are not called that, and an Ancient Evil that has been imprisoned for a thousand years but then gets released and needs everybody to band together to defeat it and a lot of Magic and strange Words Of Power , magic dagger etc. etc ...not normally my thing at all. But what is a bit different is that the five main characters are actually transported from our own time on Earth at the the beginning of the book to this parallel fantasy world, so it's a bit like The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe meets Lord Of The Rings .

Some of the happenings did come over as very cheesy and a bit tired and over used.

So why did I keep reading? Well, one thing GGK is good at is creating quite interesting characters with believable motivations; you can't help wanting to know how things are going to turn out for them. Each of the five has a different path to follow and reason for being there, and at the beginning there are interesting tensions within the group. There are also characters added to the story once in Fionovar itself so now at the end of the first book there are about 15 principal characters to follow. I quite like Jaelle the High Priestess.

Quite brutal stuff happens to the five, which is also refreshing, and I have to say it is not looking good for Jennifer right now.

Edited December 6, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

Bashing on with Android Karenina. It is very funny, better than P & P with Zombies. A thick book though not easy to hide at work!

[julie]

79 completed. 2 more that I MUST read for the Genre Challenge, then 2 more that I have already started so will probably finish. One of those I will likely finish tonight.

 

Wow, that's a great total to be proud of for the year ! I'm hoping to crank out my last few to reach 50 ,but I dont work well under a deadline ,so the more I think about it,the less I read . I need to remind myself that this is for FUN ,not for a grade at school .

[vodkafan]

Yes, the first year on here I did 51. I was aiming for one a week. But I just naturally got quicker since, or found more time to read, or something. But I never push it, if I don't feel like reading then I just don't.

[Kidsmum]

Wow, that's a great total to be proud of for the year ! I'm hoping to crank out my last few to reach 50 ,but I dont work well under a deadline ,so the more I think about it,the less I read . I need to remind myself that this is for FUN ,not for a grade at school .

 

Lol Julie that's how i feel about writing book reviews it seems too much like homework but i enjoy reading other peoples reviews

 

Yes, the first year on here I did 51. I was aiming for one a week. But I just naturally got quicker since, or found more time to read, or something. But I never push it, if I don't feel like reading then I just don't.

 

Before i joined the forum i never would have read anywhere near that many books it's amazing how hanging out with other book lovers affects your reading habits isn't it

[Brian.]

Lol Julie that's how i feel about writing book reviews it seems too much like homework but i enjoy reading other peoples reviews

 

That's a interesting thought. Before I came to this site I never thought that I would enjoy writing my reviews (if you could call them that) but I do. It's great to look back at books I read and read the thoughts I had on them at the time. I've found that my opinion of certain books have changed over time, something that I don't think I would have been aware of if I hadn't written down my thoughts.

[vodkafan]

That's true Brian. I have looked at some of my old reviews and sometimes thought, "did I really think that?" and my opinion has softened. But many I have remembered in a rush what I disliked or liked about them and still feel the same.

[Kidsmum]

That's a interesting thought. Before I came to this site I never thought that I would enjoy writing my reviews (if you could call them that) but I do. It's great to look back at books I read and read the thoughts I had on them at the time. I've found that my opinion of certain books have changed over time, something that I don't think I would have been aware of if I hadn't written down my thoughts.

 

It's the typing it out that i hate Brian i'm quite happy to chat about books with people but having to write down my likes & dislikes just feels a bit too much like having to do a book report.