C4RO 2011

Having managed the first time to set up a 2001, here is the real running order for books in 2011. Just off to Austria to the inlaws for a week so hopefully manage at least one or two with childminders on tap...

Last years thread is here .

Good to have you back. I didn't even notice to 2001 until you said something. :)

1. Jim Butcher First Lord's Fury

Book Six of the Codex Alera. The final stand against the Vord. Contains massed armies of Canim, free men, icemen and Marat. Still a fair chunk of political machinations although it really does mostly focus on the big battles and getting Tavi there to fight the queen. It felt like a good ending to the series- although the Vord still control all of Canea so I suppose there is the potential for a new set of books if he ever wants to go back to them.

I like Jim Butchers work a lot, I think I prefer the Codex Alera to the Dresden set although it is hard to pinpoint why. It could be as simple that I prefer high fantasy over urban fantasy?

2. Simon R Green Ghost of a Chance

Gut reaction- urgh!- but I did manage to get through the book so it doesn't go to minus stars. I haven't read his Deathstalker novels so can't comment there but I LOVE his Hawke and Fisher series and STRONGLY LIKE the nightside set and LIKE WELL ENOUGH the Drood/ fantasy spy set to follow that series too all the way. This book is poo though compared to all those.

It is a blended mix of all three of those series; urban fantasy set in London (as per Nightside), ghost hunters collective of three people with talents (slight overtones of Hawke and Fisher, stronger overtones of Droods world) who work to exorcise ghosts. Some of the handling of the ghosts is quite novel but the whole thing has a feel of being dashed off carelessly. Several nightside motes are stolen wholesale, which probably helps towards the feel that this is clippings that were not good enough to go in the other books/ series. I think I'll avoid the next one of these until someone else with more stamina convinces me they have managed to get better. Final comment from me is that there is a bit of "Mary Sue" about the bloke lead JC Chance. He is Dresden x2 on the "lucky escape from certain death" front and about half as likeable with it.

4 - That's unfortunate. I've read a couple of his short stories set in the Nightside universe which were entertaining enough, though I don't tend to go for urban fantasy.

3. Machine of Death Ryan North

Found here on LT from review by Octane, this is a lovely set of short stories that really drew me in while I was reading it. Loads of internet geek slebs are involved too. The simple premise is that there exists a "machine of death" that from a blood test will inform you of your mode of death. Most of the modes are given very ambiguously. Overall, I would say most of the stories try for a clever twist (aside- isn't that normally the case with short stories in any case?) but some of the stories I rated highest were more simple in structure and didn't aim for a sharp switch in the final paragraph. Overall a very high standard though and lovely black and white illustrations throughout. Well worth trying.

This is an e-book on free download and the short story form is very easy to dip into on a laptop/ PC.

4. R A Salvatore Homeland

I've never knowingly read a forgotten realms book which is weird- I've played a bit of D+D and played reams of RPG, MMORPG on the pc too. I'd heard a bit about Drizzt being a good set so thought I'd take a quick trip and catch up on his stories. They are currently releasing them all in boxed sets which makes it way easier to work out which order to read them in and so I got the first box and started in on Homeland.

It's fun, quite simple but not boring with it. I have ordered the whole lot now.

5. R A Salvatore Exile

Book 2 rapidly assimilated. These are good fun. I always liked mind flayers and even played one for a while. It was not a lucky character though and got unfortunately eaten by a jelly one game. These are enjoyable- I hope amazon manages to get me my order before I run out of books... (not likely, I've got 2 shelves of books I haven't read yet).

I used to play a lot of AD+D and after reading your thoughts on the Drizzt series I am wondering if I would enjoy the books.

Hi Baswood - not sure how hard I would recommend them. They are not high class literature for sure but I also didn't feel at any point like these books were only aimed at 14 year old boys if you understand what I mean. If you can get hold of the first one easily to try it you might find it a fun piece of light reading in amongst the rest. Oh and hello from a fellow Derbyshire-born! what a lovely bit of the world and as Pride and Prejudice has it- the best of counties.

6. R A Salvatore Sojourn

Well, that's the last book of the first Drizzt trilogy polished off. I enjoyed them as a very fun light read. It has really made me want to dig out Pools of Radiance or Temple of Elemental evil again but I can probably manage to wait until 11/11 for Elder Scrolls 5 though... Regarding Drizzt, I have ordered the rest on amazon now too, but I'm probably moving off fantasy now for the next few books. My DH has a new job in Vienna starting May 1st so we're moving house. Quite daunting as we've got the 6 month old daughter to move this time as well.

7. John(s) Lloyd and Mortimer QI: The Second Book of General Ignorance

I'm finding I can get on well with bitty books at the moment that can be dipped into fast. If you've seen the UK TV series, this book is in similar format and poses a question that you are supposed to have an instant answer to but it will be wrong; there then follows the real explanation for a couple of pages. There are lots of small quotes from the series dotted around the book too.

8. Richard Fortey Dry Store Room No. 1

Underway...

Well, not much reading going on here with a paltry 7.5 books over two months! Not helping at the moment is the fact we are moving countries round Europe; in a couple of months we will be in Vienna. At the moment I am trying to measure and box up my books. This will help clear some space, mean there is less to pack later and hopefully mean I will be able to rework my shelves layout when we're finally settled- I have a nifty spreadsheet from an LTer and am getting it filled in now. I've only done a quarter of it though (4xx books) and although I was pleased to find 7 books that weren't in my LT catalogue, it's slow. I'm going to run out of boxes soon as well so this weekend will mean a trip to Ikea.

9. R A Salvatore The Crystal Shard

Fun D+D romp book. The drow ranger and friends take on a mad wizard and demon led army. These are very easy books (not meant as a slight) and also hard to put down as they keep the action coming.

10. R A Salvatore Streams of Silver

Finding the lost dwarven city, fighting dragons and their armies, Regis the halfling draws dangerous interest. Another non-stop ride. Really glad I got all these drizzt books.

10. R A Salvatore The Halfling's Gem

I am still working through these Drizzt books. Not the strongest so far but this continues the tale well enough.

12/13/14 The Legacy Starless Night Siege of Darkness

The next 3 Drizzt's have been checked off. I am also still reading my book 8- It is excellent but I don't want to read it distractedly; at the moment, life is too busy to allow anything but a bare few minutes at a time for reading. My daughter is just going through a clingy patch, we're trying to arrange to move the family to Vienna and my boss at work is out for the next month and I'm next most senior. We have a temporary cover project manager in for that but he doesn't know his way around the company yet so... there is loads to do. To say nothing of the fact two of our brothers are getting married 3 weeks apart, all over Europe, and all to do in the next 2 months. I will need a month holiday to recover once all this is done.

15 Passage to Dawn

That is the third box of Drizzts done now. They are about the right level for me at the moment with all the distractions going on. Most of my books now are packed away for the move (73% of them- I'm measuring them all as I box them up so I know exactly how far through my library I am). Work also getting busy at the moment- my boss is off for a few weeks and so I'm doing cover for that plus trying to help the 2 new staff we have settle in. It's busy beyond belief.

Good luck on your move, it must be coming up next week? I'm so interested in all the countries you're covering, where will the weddings be?

My husband already went to Vienna last Thursday as he starts the new job there on Monday. We have rented a flat there unfurnished already so he will be on a lilo in a sleeping bag and he has a long list of things to get from IKEA/ Moebilix in the next 3 weekends! We don't have to leave here until the end of May so this is transition month coming up.

Last weekend we were near Rennes over in Brittany, France which is an 8 hour drive from here for wedding number 1. It was superbly hot weather and lovely to see all the family. That was for my brother. My BILs wedding is in 2 weeks time in Steyr, Austria. That is only a couple of hours drive west of Vienna but I'll still be based here in Amsterdam, with my daughter and have to get the pair of us down there somehow. I got married in the same city back in 2008 so it will be lovely to go back (the 90+ year old great-grandparents still live there and it's the easiest way to make sure they can come, hence why his brother picked the same city). We have the removal van sorted to arrive here 17th May so we'll have a few days camping-style here and then go down that weekend. Probably another long drive as we've got to get the car down somehow. That won't be all the travel for May either- my best friend is over to the UK from Chicago with her 2 year old and since we'll not likely be able to get over to the US for several years, I want to go to the UK for the last weekend of May to see them all. I'm not sure yet if I'm being utterly unrealistic or not!

16/17/18 Silent Blade, The Spine of the World, Sea of Swords

Well, these next three Drizzts are not continueing as well as the previous ones. These concentrate more on Wulfgar and are nowhere near as good. I am not sure what I will read next now.

>21 C4RO: I loved reading about your travels and hope you got everywhere you wanted to go (and managed to enjoy it too). Good luck getting settled in Vienna!

I picked up two books from my parents and thought I'd better get them out of the way so I can take them back in two weeks time when we've got to go back for a wedding party for my brother.

19 61 Hours Lee Child

An interesting Jack Reacher thriller. I'm certain I read this out of order but it didn't matter!

20 Blood-Red Rivers Jean-Christophe Grange
Another quick thriller. Apparently translated from French too. There are quite some interesting parts to this but it does have one of the more corny explanations for the how of the murders are committed. Lovely backdrop for it though- mountainous parts of France.

Bit of a mixed bag now;

21 Odd and the Frost Giants Neil Gaiman

Well, Odd and the frost-giant (singular) really... Nice but basic story.

22 Kate and the Beanstalk

My DD is called Kate and I'm hoping to steer her away from lightweight simpering pwincess fare and onto heroines that are a bit more useful to the world (famous last words, she will no doubt end up a pink-and-sequins girl to spite me!) This is a lovely book though, nice pics and flowing story.

23 Love at first sight Sandra Lee

I've not read any straight down the line romances for ages but was really in the mood for this. Fun and lighthearted. Amusing in parts. Ideal for my mood. Quite fancy a Heyer now but forgot to put any in the last amazon order- my DH got a 150 Euro amazon voucher as his leaving present from his colleagues in Holland. He has wasted a fair bit of it on a couple of books about planes/ engines but there was some left over for me to bag a couple (or so) books too.

24 Bonk Mary Roach

I have most of her books on the shelves- everything apart from the Packing for Mars one that I've got no interest in reading. I read and loved Stiff ages ago and remembered feeling it was a mine of a-ha moments and lovely little snippets of knowledge but I found this one really weak in comparison. I got the impression that the author was trying a bit too hard for the knowing sniggers. It felt very lightly researched too and overall it just didn't hit the right note for me.

25 Hearts Victorious Marian Edwards

Another romance. I can read these in a night and they can be relaxing and great to keep my mind quiet- I'm still new to a new country here and trying to get settled into a routine with everything up in the air. My work is utter stress at the moment too- deadlines and uncertainties all over the place which doesn't help. I wish I'd stolen a few of my mums Heyers when I was over in the UK last weekend- some of the best escapism!

26 A darkness forged in fire Chris Evans

I was feeling very ambivalent about this book and decided to go read some of the other reviews on LT to see if that helped crystalise what I thinking about it; in some respects it is very positive and yet there was somehow the feeling of empty calories about it too. The reviews indeed back that up with it split between 1 and 5 star reviews! What it would score from you, dear reader, will depend on what types of fantasy subset you particularly like. It is a campaign style fantasy book and as another reviewer noted, if you like Robert Jordan/ Terry Goodkind, you may well find a lot to like. You will be required to suspend your disbelief several times or be annoyed at several jarring points in this book that don't ring true. The fact that any of the characters are elves at all is pretty irrelevant/ unnoticeable in the way they behave. It is also obvious from fairly early on that the iron elves are a classic grey D+D class where they are on team bad, but seem a bit unaware of it and somehow also their powers may be bent to doing good works. For all that snarking though, this worked OK for me, there are some nice well rounded characters, several interesting uses of fantasy tropes and also it flows well. Not recommended for everyone though.

27 Goblin Moon Teresa Edgerton

Wonderful! I enjoyed this book so much. There are flavours of Georgette Heyer with some trolls and goblins also running around. I have no idea where on LT I picked up the tip to try this book but it was well worth it- an amazon marketplace find for postage only.

I've got another week of travelling for work coming up so airports/ planes and hotel stops are often a good time to sink a book or two. Istanbul this time.

28 Steven Brust The book of Jhereg

I loved the idea of the jhereg (small dragon one, not the caste). He was a wise crack little familiar all the way through. These are the first 3 Vlad Taltos books and they were a fun read although I was slightly confused on all the different castes at one point, I think I have them straight now... Maybe! I'm not keen on this oversize floppy book sizing though, they are not easy to read in bed at all.

8 The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum Richard Fortey

I've finished this book finally! I should point out straight away that the length of time to finish this is no negative reflection on the book and it isn't a slow/ hard read either, I've just been dipping in and out and very distracted.

It's a very entertaining read that is partly light biography but mostly a series of tales of the people, places and taxonomic science that goes on at the Natural History Museum. If you don't know it, it's a beautiful building in South Kensington, London. I had to look up what type it is (German Romanesque) but it's lovely to look at- blue grey and cream bricks. It is in a great area where you can also see the V+A museum, the Science Museum, Hyde Park, The Albert Hall and also my old Uni, Imperial College. Put it high on your list if you are making a tourist visit to London and haven't been before.

I was not fully aware of the history of the place- links to the British Museum and several "greats" of early Science like Sir Hans Sloane and Joseph Banks (Cook/ Endeavour botanist). It was an interestingly described, mostly factual but occasionally straying onto opinion. The character portraits of various of the curators are also interesting, of course they are all the wild eccentrics. The only slightly sad part is the end description of the modern management of the place- chasing small pots of research funding and run now by administrators rather than curator/ librarians.

>8 C4RO:

Definitely a book I would be interested in. Indeed, Joseph Banks was an interesting figure. Another book on my wish list is a biography about him, Joseph Banks. A Life by Patrick O'Brian or the Endeavour Journals.

I only read a very short, entertaining volume, viz. Sex, botany & empire : the story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks by Patricia Fara, which describes some of Banks' eccentricities.

>31 edwinbcn: Many thanks for the recommendations. I have wishlisted them!

29. Something Missing Matthew Dicks

The story of an OCD petty burglar, a string of co-incidences and a pretty girl. It is quite a lovely idea for those of a militant green political persuasion- burglar spends the time to understand people's lives so well that he can take things that will not be missed by them... so half a box of washing powder here, a bottle of salad dressing there that would only be thrown away, just the waste possessions from people that don't need to pay attention to the lowest details... he has lots of quirks and plans all these trips to the very smallest details. He begins to feel very close to these clients due to his detailed involvements in their lives, a few derailing incidents later and he is slowly converting to a rather pleasant sort of guardian angel. It's a feelgood book and probably thanks to my long diet of fantasy, I had no problem at all with the grey morals in this book. My husband is a bit more black and white so said it took him a while to get happy with a good-criminal but I think I was rooting for him from practically the beginning!

30. Medieval Roads Brian Paul Hindle

63 delightful pages on Medieval roads around the UK. As inferred from the itineraries of Kings John, Ed I and Ed II. Economic boom = more produce to move = transport infrastructure required which means roads. Mostly the 1300/1400 but some references to earlier- apparently there is another book specific on Roman roads. Lots of maps and plates. Very interesting.

31. The Gnome's Engine Teresa Edgerton

Sequel to Goblin Moon. Running away from the Duchess of Zar-Wildungen and her scheming provides more adventures, romance and general fun.

32. A Kingdom of Dreams Judith McNaught

Historical romance, perfectly fun but not really high on my list. There were a couple of very jarring actions though that both the hero and heroine seemed able to shrug off a bit fast regarding a horse and a brother. Those felt completely false but the rest was OK.

33. Heart's Blood Judith Marillier

Romance, re-write of Beauty and the Beast. Slightly supernatural, really liked how the curse was dealt with, wonderful characters and I was pleased that they didn't "fix" the hero at the end. Once I clear some of my backlog, I will look out some more from this writer.

>33 C4RO: I first heard of Matthew Dicks through last year's Unexpectedly, Milo but ended up passing on it. I stayed interested in him though, and thanks to your review I now have Something Missing in hand!

>37 detailmuse:. I missed that he a previous book out. Looks like they both have a small theme of OCD! I will look it out too.

Reread 3 Amanda Quick romances but won't count them as just a skim. I now have to make a small selection of books for a beach holiday of just over a week. I'm also thinking of getting a kindle for my birthday but the problem is I have no restraint now and will place amazon orders for 10 books when I still have a pile of TBR, if it is just a quick click on a "download now" I'll fill the hard drive in a week and still not have anything I want to read next. We will see.

Back from holidays and 5 books to add.

34. Storm Glass Maria Snyder
35. Sea Glass Maria Snyder
36. Spy Glass Maria Snyder

These books are not just from the land/ area of the previous trilogy (the Poison/ Magic/ Fire Study set) but are very closely linked with a very overlapping cast of characters. It has been a long time since I read the others so I didn't have a good grasp on some of the generalities. I don't think this greatly mattered as these aren't deep books requiring full depth understanding of all the politics of the world. Lightweight enjoyable fantasy. Shame there was nothing remotely thrilling about the love triangle- you could tell exactly when the heroine was about to get together with each of them from the semaphored list of reasons why the other guy wasn't right for her at that point and some laughable twisting to even sometimes make it that they knew and were OK with it. It's a good job I don't take my "how romance works" lessons from fantasy books, there is only rarely anything that feels realistic.

37. It happened to me Martyn Ford

Mostly great short stories from all sorts of action stories. Near drownings, avalanches through to losing weight.

38. Changes Jim Butcher

Ah finally! Strongest of the strong ultra-lucky wizard has to take a devils bargain to handle a large enemy. There are a few dark patches in this book for sure. Looking forwards to catching up on the next Dresden.

39. The Fuller Memorandum Charles Stross
Book 3 of the Laundry. Sort of James Bond spliced to Cthulu mythos enemies. Very good.

40. Mouseguard Winter 1152 David Petersen
41. Mouseguard Legends of the Guard David Petersen
I love these books, they are utterly beautiful. Legends was particularly well put together as it's all guest artists and short tales.

42. DIY dentistry Andy Riley
Caught my eye as my father-in-law recently missed a family holiday as he didn't sort his teeth in time and a root filling went bad. I knew his roasted and bunny suicides series but it hadn't dawned on me how much great British telly he has had scriptwriting work on; Black books, hyperdrive, smack the pony, big train, armstrong and miller, 99p challenge... That's quite a resume!

43. How to be a woman Caitlin Moran
Good but somewhat disappointing- I may have been expecting too much as this book has been hyped to death in the UK. It's a funny book about feminism certainly and there are hide-your-snorting-laughter-on-public-transport moments. I should have liked more autobiography in there but it is so nice to see a non-hysterical and non-serious look at some quite serious points of being a woman. The bits that do resonate are very strong.

44. Larissa Ione Eternal Rider
Erring a little too close to soft porn in my opinion rather than the fantasy romance I was expecting. A shame as outside the thrusting moist bits this was interesting- bringing in the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse and under the situation when the first seal has broken. All the fantasy story moving parts were great.

45. Devon Monk Dead Iron
My last amazon order had a heap of authors that are new to me. This is one of them and pretty good. Nice blend of magic, steampunk and werewolves. There are two nice female characters and the evil baddies are great. I'm certain this is a series start as there were several character groups that needed fleshing out, the bad guy is prevented from returning to... whereever it is he came from- as that part is not made explicit at any point. Whilst i enjoyed it, it hasn't rushed to the top of the list of books I'm waiting impatiently to come out.

I'm waiting for my copy of How to be a Woman, which I am greatly anticipating, but I've taken your review into account and no longer expect it to be the Best Book Ever.

46. Lisa Shearin Con & Conjure
Book 5 of the Raine Benares. Finally some movement on the saghred stone but a cliffhanger that means it will feel like a long wait until the next one.

->43 RidgewayGirl:, I was sorry that I didn't like this book more but I'm quite sure the hype was contributing to what annoyed me. Nothing kills a book faster than really high expectations!

47. David Chandler Den of Thieves

Excellent fun. Shares a lot with Scott Lynch Lies of Locke Lamora but isn't a complete read-alike. Malden the thief is a very likeable character. He does bump into the "appropriate sidekick for the next challenge!" quite astonishingly often but I find that a general failing of rompy fantasy like this anyway. Ghosts, sorcery, tricks and evasions... it's a good read. The blurb recommendation of Dave Duncan is highly appropriate- this book has overnotes of his style as well. The next two books of this set are coming from amazon at some point but are not here yet- I'll have to read something else in the meantime.

48. Yahtzee Croshaw Mogworld

This book had moments that were very good but it lost it's way a few times. The most badly handled bit was quite important- how and where the sentient in-game NPCs interact with the game designers and how the "syndrome affected" (gamer controlled) adventurers are directed by the players. Jim is a recently ressurrected combat mage minion living and working inside some sort of MMORPG. His boss, a more intelligent than usual evil overlord, has a quest that seems to be working out too hard for the adventurers to beat and so it gets deleted. A few of the now sentient minions escape deletion and then cause some problems around the rest of the world. There is also an incompetent games designer causing mayhem with his ultra-buffed NPC in the world. Jim is quite keen to have a final death as even though he endlessly ressurrects back into his own body, it's starting to fall apart a bit. Probably recommended only to RPG and MMORPG players who will get the jokes. Not having realised before that YC also has a blog or two, I've looked those up and they are funnier than this book. Prince of Persia, emo warrior and some poems that could only come from the most tortured goth teenager were hilarious.

My husband is trying to read the Caitlin Moran book at the moment and is finding it completely baffling. It seems to be partly the Britishisms and partly the alien topics of first encounters with boobs/ periods from an owners point of view. I hadn't noted it to be a women-only book but it seems the humour doesn't easily transfer to men.

Well neither Barnes and Noble nor The Book Depository has How to Be a Woman, yet I don't believe it is imaginary -- what would that do for feminism?

The Book Depository is supposed to e-mail me if it becomes available.

Robert

>47 Mr.Durick:. I think you're in the US? I'm normally on the other end of that book-not-available-yet problem as most things come out to the US first, then Europe! {dreams of a DRM free electronic future where there are no borders}.
It is a shame that her newspaper columns are stuck behind Ruperts Times firewall. She does have a great turn of phrase and doesn't take life so seriously; all of which comes over in the book and is a good advert for feminism in my view.

49. Moira Moore Heroes Return

Book 5. Not great at all. Shame as these were a terrific series... and I've already got book 6! Both the hero and heroine are losing their character definition quite badly which was what offends me the most. The heroine Lee, is a shield, they are sensible stolid types and yet she is suddenly the biggest airhead and will decide, on a whim, to dye her hair or start spell casting in the open when the Emperors guards are actively hunting spellcasters/ spellbooks. It really did jar. Also there were some utterly pointless bits- a shield and source from head office turn up and after apparently a day of really tough questions just disappear off again sending only a dull letter of "carry on then, we didn't find anything to worry about!". Several people die- some just villagers but a couple of quite important ones and it's just not mentioned again after the event. No impact. As Lee and Taro as still stuck in his old manor, the next book has some serious work to do to get out of this.

50. Julie Garwood Honors Splendour

Historical Romance set in England 1099. A period I usually find interesting but this book wasn't good. Despite some events that should have resulted in an excellent strong-minded intelligent heroine, this one feels like a complete wet blanket. She just didn't gain my interest. Hero also quite uninteresting. This was a very straight forward romance and the usual plotline of mistaken intents are practically completely missing. Skimmed the last third of the book just to get it out of the way.

51. Moira Moore Heroes at Odds

Book 6. Slightly better than the last book but still not back to the level of the first couple of books of the series. This reads very much as a second half to book 5. Far too many things are just being signed away to "devious Emperor" and it doesn't feel like a credible or interesting threat. It was interesting to read on her website that she got hit by the Ace cull and there will be no book 7 for this series on that route- although she's committing to put it on the internet and there are already two or three short story add-ons that follow after this book. If you want them you can find them at http://moiraj.livejournal.com/ . DO NOT READ BEFORE FINISHING BOOK 6- major spoilers.

52. Judith Lennox The Glittering Strand

Historical Romance set in 1500 around the Mediterranean- France/ Italy/ Morocco mostly. First 3/4 of book excellent and captivating, last 1/4 utter rubbish. Outline is that a young girl whose father is a silk merchant is captured by pirates on the way to her betrothal and sold into slavery in North Africa. It becomes clear that this was arranged deliberately to take control of the merchants business. The rest of the novel is her finding her way to take revenge. There are some separate strands of the story including her real love interest building a boat and the Levant/ East Indies shipping companies. Bearing in mind the impossiblity of being a business woman in that time period it's quite a challenge. It's the way the revenge is handled at the end and how the hero/ heroine get together finally that makes it so weak.

53. Margaret Mallory Knight of Desire

Historical romance, 1400, England border with Wales. Just didn't work for me and felt really pedestrian- or I was just not in the right mood for escapist fluff.

54. David Chandler A thief in the night

Book 2. Quite good fun these. Lots of action and fast pace.

55. David Chandler Honour Among Thieves

Book 3. Really good fun but a strange sort of incomplete ending for most of the characters. Strange that the title is anglicised "honour" but all through the book it's "honor". Nice series.

56. Tim Powers On Stranger Tides

Billed as "the book that inspired Pirates of the Carribean On Stranger Tides", the one PoC film I haven't got around to seeing yet (as all reviews of say it's pretty tired and not a great addition). A good book, lots of voodoo, Blackbeard, dead sailors and general questing.

57. Daniel Hood Fanuilh

Very interesting but short book. A magician is killed and his familiar, a little dragon co-opts Liam to solve this mystery. The "magician/ dragon" angles hint this will be fantasy but it much more of a crime solving book focussing on the characters, motivations of the main 4 or 5 suspects.

58. Simon R Green The Good, The Bad, and the uncanny

Nightside number 10 now. If you didn't already know of this set of books and you liked Neil Gaimans Neverwhere, this series mines the same vein of noir-that-doesn't-take-itself-too-seriously. John Taylor PI works a short job for an elf for the first half of the book and then a strange second half with Walker, head agent (in the manner of the matrix) offers him his job.

59. Cherie Priest Hellbent

Oops. Another mistake in correct series order. I will read Bloodshot soon and hope that I haven't completely ruined the plot by knowing the end result lifestyle arrangements! A good read though.

60. Cherie Priest Bloodshot

Book 1. Very good, lots of interesting sides to it. Not sure I would get the next in series ahead of others but it was good fun.

61. L E Modesitt Jr Imager

Interesting idea for a magic system- adepts are able to "image" or make from scratch items. Rhennthyl is an apprentice painter when he discovers he has the skill to do this. Then he joins the college of magic and gets involved in politics and intrigue. It's really a good read that keeps you interested on each step.

62. L E Modesitt Jr Imager's Challenge

Book 2/3. Still interesting. Very much concerned on a character level, his family interactions and relations. Rhenn is accelerating up the grades of Imaging magic and for this book he is a liaison to the local police force.

63. L E Modesitt Jr Imager's Intrigue

Book 3/3. Nicely finished off set. These really focus on the interactions of the characters, some interesting magic underpinings. Very much like these.

64. Ernest Cline Ready Player One
Wow. Wow. Wow. Oh this was a fun read and is probably a top-three for the year. This was one of my santathings and was an excellent pick. Like a treasure hunt, a billionaires fortune is hidden in a MMORPG. Many of the old game references made me grin and being around for the 80's also helps!

65 Cameron Dokey The World Above
Another santathing pick for me. Re-write of Jack and the beanstalk with some Robin Hood thrown in. Young adult so quite short but actually very complete for it and it didn't feel like you got less characterisation or plot development to fit in 175 pages.

66. Juliet McKenna Dangerous Waters
Oh drat, this is an unfinished trilogy. There is a book 2 due out Feb/ Mar 2012 but it will require rereading as there are quite a cast of characters here to track. Piracy and magic. Thankfully not a massive cliffhanger to wait for the next book...

Christmas did mean another large haul of books and a kindle too. Now I can finally get around to reading that MG book that has been guiltily looking at me from the desktop. I really don't get on with reading on the PC. Hope you all had a happy christmas and best wishes for 2012.