What the heck did you read in 2010?

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by clanelliott

Last year it was mostly Navigation skills, compass work, outdoor first aid, hill walking, map reading etc. Hell, looking at the types of books I appear to be a nut job. But to balance that i do spend a lot of time driving and have started listening to audio books in a big way. This year i have got a ebook so now i am a nerdy nut job.

Better hope big brother doesn't catch wind of that series of reading material

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

41 Magician: Master (Riftwar Saga, Book 2)
42 Magician: Apprentice (Riftwar Saga)

Did you read these in paper, or have they finally got around to issuing these as ebooks?

(Or shouldn't I have asked? )

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Did you read these in paper, or have they finally got around to issuing these as ebooks?

(Or shouldn't I have asked? )

I've been caught.....

Seriously, they were in paper, though I *was* tempted to find the darknet copies after I purchased them.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Moby Dick? There's a year's worth of reading right there!

It certainly put a dent in my reading space for the year. I am pleased that I can now say I've read it ... but not sure if I am pleased enough to warrant the time and effort that it took.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Did you read these in paper, or have they finally got around to issuing these as ebooks?

(Or shouldn't I have asked? )

I know this is the "mobileread" read forum, but I hope this thread was not supposed to be specifically ebooks ... I'd have to cut the majority of my list.

Something like Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia is unlikely to appear as an ebook anytime soon, it's a picture book (accompanied by some very interesting writing/tales) whose format would not lend itself to an ebook - even assuming you had a colour reader. For example "Distant Rains" is a short story told through words scattered through images across the page, it is wonderfully done. He is a remarkable artist, anyone curious should visit his website.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by gmw

... I know this is the "mobileread" read forum, but I hope this thread was not supposed to be specifically ebooks ... I'd have to cut the majority of my list. ...

All book count. Audiobooks, too!

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

All book count. Audiobooks, too!

Unfortunately, sometimes there's no choice.

I've started reading The Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams starting with The Breaking of Northwall only to discover that only book 1, book 2 and book 4(???) are available as Kindle ebooks. And they're not even available from the darknet. If I'm going to continue with the series, it's going be in paper.

[ATDrake]

Here's my list for 2010; I've had my Kindle for less than a year and didn't have a dedicated e-reading device prior to that.

This contains e-books of novella-length or longer which I started and finished in their entirety only; does not count stuff I abandoned reading, stuff I used for reference or skimmed for the pictures (library had a surprising number of these), collections of which I've only read a couple of the stories, or online serial reads. I think I also read around 2-4 times the amount of paper books as well.

Arranged by genre/source with relative quality scoring: * indicates a book I found enjoyable enough to recommend (more **, higher recommend; I don't conflate "I liked it!" with "This is good!", by the way, so there are some trashy mind candy recommends in the lot), R indicates a previously read book that I re-read in e-format, H indicates I read for the first time as part of the Hugo Voter's Packet that came "free" with paid membership, ? indicates a category I'd never really tried much of until I got the Kindle, $ indicates something I paid actual money for, all else were promo freebies or from the library.

?Christian Fiction
A Gift of Grace, Amish family drama with recipes 6/10*
A Passion Most Pure, historical WWI-era romance 3/10
Sushi for One, interracial chick-lit romance 6/10*

Classics
Journey to the Center of the Earth, B&N Classics annotated edition 7/10**

General/Contemporary
According to Jane, Jane Austen inspired self-discovery 6/10
Once Around the Track, race car driving competition, 7/10**
St. Dale, NASCAR/Canterbury Tales mash-up, 8/10***

Fantasy
Blood of a Dragon, an Ethshar coming-of-age 6/10* $
The Chrome Borne omnibus (Born to Run; Chrome Circle), SERRAted Edge urban fantasy series 6/10 R
Damiano, AU medieval Italian Renaissance historical witches-and-angels coming-of-age 8/10*** $
Damiano's Lute, ditto but with Road Trip of Self-Discovery 8/10*** $
Dragon Companion, librarian kidnapped to magic world light adventure 6/10* $
Fire in the Mist, magical peasant saves the world 7/10** R
Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Bardic Voices series magical serial killer mystery 6/10 R
The Lark and the Wren, Bardic Voices series musical coming-of-age 7/10** R
The Misenchanted Sword, an Ethshar comedy-of-errors fantasy 7/10*
The Otherworld omnibus (Wheels of Fire; When the Bough Breaks), SERRAted Edge urban fantasy series 6/10 R
The Outstretched Shadow, coming-of-age epic battle between good-and-evil 6/10
Raphael, 3rd in Damiano Trilogy 7/10** $
Shadow, elf/human city light adventure thief mystery 6/10* $R
Sheepfarmer's Daughter, coming-of-age mercenary training 7/10
Sympathy for the Devil, demons take over urban city centre comedy 6/10 R
Taking Flight, an Ethshar coming-of-age 7/10 $
Tea with the Black Dragon, low-key magical realism mystery 8/10*** $R
This Sceptre'd Isle, historical elves meddle in Tudor England 6/10 R
Twisting the Rope, low-key magical realism mystery sequel to Tea above 7/10** $
The Unwilling Warlord, an Ethshar kidnapped-to-another-kingdom-to-save-the-locals 8/10* $
The Warslayer, kidnapped-to-alternate-world-to-save-the-locals comedy 7/10***
With a Single Spell, an Ethshar comedy-of-errors fantasy 7/10** $
Wizard's Bane, Wiz Biz computer programmer kidnapped-to-alternate-world-to-save-the-locals comedy 7/10** R
The Wizardry Compiled, Wiz Biz ditto with extra programmers 7/10*** R

Historical
Secrets of the Tudor Court, I think they got their version of "history" from the TV show 6/10

?Romance/Erotica
The Accidental Demonslayer, comedic paranormal 6/10*
Collision Course, m/m social worker/paramedic 6/10
Colters' Wife, f/m/m/m familial ménage 5/10
Eternal Pleasure, otherkin paranormal w/dinosaur souls 4/10
The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo, and the Poltergeist Accountant, comedic paranormal erotica novella 5/10
The Immortals: The Crossing, pseudo-celtic paranormal 5/10
The Irish Devil, historical frontier gold-rush 5/10
The Irish Warrior, historical medieval 6/10*
It's In His Kiss: The Epilogue II, historical Regency sequel novella, 7/10
Love of Sports: High Line, m/m sporting celebrity 6/10
Overheated, Harlequin NASCAR May/December couple 6/10
Speed Dating, Harlequin NASCAR celebrity dating 7/10*
Total Control, Harlequin NASCAR bad-boy celebrity reformation 5/10
Trouble in Mudbug, comedic mystery/thriller 6/10**
Turn Two, Harlequin NASCAR divorced couple thrown back together 4/10
Weddings Can Be Murder, comedic mystery/thriller 7/10**
The Wicked House of Rohan, historical Renaissance erotic novella, 5/10

Mystery/?Thriller/Suspense
Billy Boyle, WWII action-adventure w/murder 7/10*
The Body in the Library, a Marple 6/10
Days of the Dead, a Benjamin January set in Mexico 9/10*** $R
Dead Water, a Benjamin January (antebellum New Orleans) on steamboat 8/10*** $R
Death in the Clouds, a Poirot 7/10
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, serial killer police procedural 8/10**
Dexter By Design, serial killer police procedural 6/10
Dexter in the Dark, total and utter rubbish 3/10
Dexter is Delicious, serial killer police procedural 7/10*
Elephants Can Remember, a Poirot 5/10
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a Poirot 6/10
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, amateur sleuthing in Botswana, I think it was 8/10*
The Secret Adversary, Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence 6/10

Non-Fiction
Frommer's Norway, travel guide 6/10
Frommer's Savanah, travel guide 7/10
George Orwell 50 Essays, MR edition 8/10**

Paranormal & ?Horror
The Atrocity Archives, Laundry series Lovecraftian government agency spy thriller 9/10*** $
Blood Games, vampire Saint-Germain series, historical Imperial Rome political maneuvering 7/10 $
Full Moonster, Bureau 13 series rpg tie-in action adventure 6/10 $
Doomsday Night, Bureau 13 action adventure 6/10* $
The Jennifer Morgue, Laundry Bond spoof spy thriller 8/10*** $
Judgment Day, Bureau 13 action adventure 7/10** $
A Mortal Glamour, historical medieval convent-set psychological horror 8/10* $
Overtime, Laundry Very Special Xmas Episode novelette 9/10***

Science Fiction
Act One, consequences of genetic engineering and celebrity novella 9/10*** H
Barrayar (in Cordelia's Honor omnibus), Vorkosigan series planetary romance 9/10*** R $-subsidized by Cryoburn CD
Boneshaker, post-apocalyptic zombie invasion steampunk search for missing child 8/10*** H
A Civil Campaign (in Miles in Love omnibus), Vorkosigan comedy-of-errors 9/10*** R $-subsidized by Cryoburn CD
The Empty Chair, Star Trek novel 6/10 $
Eros, Philia, Agape, relationship problems with artificially created being novella 7/10*
The God Engines, novella with novel means of star travel 6/10 H
The Island, interstellar bypass generation ship space construction novelette 9/10*** H
It Takes Two, f/f affair apparently induced by designer pheromones novelette 7/10 H
Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages omnibus (My Enemy, My Ally; The Romulan Way; Sword Hunt/Honor Blade), Star Trek novels 8/10*** $R
One of Our Bastards is Missing, AU British royal bodyguard spy thriller 8/10 H
Palimpsest, time-travel historical gathering of one man's life novella 7/10 H
Shambling Towards Hiroshima, AU movie monster influence on WWII 8/10*** H
Vishnu at the Cat Circus, future history culture of genetically engineered Indians novella 8/10 H
The Women of Nell Gwynne's, historical AU novella 8/10*** H

[maianhvk]

hmm. I didn't have any device to read ebook (except my old PC) so I read all the book last year paperback. Don't remember very well, but let's give it a try:

- the whole Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer (hey, I must admit that it is well written!)
- the whole Percy Jackson & the Olympians saga by Rick Riordan (I really enjoyed the books, but not the movie)
- The Giver by Lois Lowry (read it several times in Vietnamese -- but I'll google for an English pdf -- that's a good book too)
- The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (in Vietnamese too) (hm, I had thought that I would enjoy the work, but I didn't. Maybe I'll try the original English version later to see if it helps)
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- 20,000 leagues under the sea by Jules Verne (English version)
- One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey
- Alice in wonderland by Lewis Carroll (and maybe you guys will object, I have to say that I don't like this book at all)
- If tomorrow comes by Sydney Sheldon (love it)
- Une famille aux petits oignons by Jean-Philippe Arrou-Vignod (my dad bought me the 2nd book in the series)
- The head of the Italian (La Testa degli italiani) by Beppe Severgnini
- Minority report by Philip K. Dick
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas
- The Alchemist, Magician & Sorceress from The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott...
and 20+ books by Vietnamese authors (and around 10 textbooks for freshman, some dictionaries and English grammar books...) I always enjoy reading

[Redcard]

Did you read Twilight in Vietnamese, maianhvk? I'm not wanting to start a war here, but I didn't really find it that well written in English, and was wondering if the writing was better in a different language?

(I've heard that Steig Larrson's stuff is supposedly better in English than the original Sweedish, but none of my Sweedish friends have read him and so could not tell me.)

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

The head of the Italian (La Testa degli italiani) by Beppe Severgnini

I think he's terrific, and would like to learn Italian well enough to read (or at least get the gist of) all of his untranslated writing.

[FlorenceArt]

I don't remember all I read in 2010, and I'm not very good at keeping my Lybrarything data updated, but here is a selection from it (only the books I consider really good):

The best books I read last year:

The Road by Cormack McCarthy
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Other good books I read:
Stone's Fall by Iain Pears
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The City and the City by China Miéville
Un cirque passe by Patrick Modiano (don't know if it was translated, LT won't give me an English title)
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
... plus a re-read of all of Jane Austen's major novels, I think. Or was that in 2009? Or both? Maybe both...

[edbro]

I read many but, by far, the best two were Gone with the Wind and A Confederacy of Dunces.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by edbro

I read many but, by far, the best two were Gone with the Wind and A Confederacy of Dunces.

A Confederacy of Dunces was one of the funniest books ever!

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I don't remember all I read in 2010, and I'm not very good at keeping my Lybrarything data updated, but here is a selection from it (only the books I consider really good):

The best books I read last year:

The Road by Cormack McCarthy
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Other good books I read:
Stone's Fall by Iain Pears
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The City and the City by China Miéville
Un cirque passe by Patrick Modiano (don't know if it was translated, LT won't give me an English title)
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
... plus a re-read of all of Jane Austen's major novels, I think. Or was that in 2009? Or both? Maybe both...

Stone's Fall was one of the best fiction books that I read in 2010. I also enjoyed the Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.

[SeaBookGuy]

I listened to "Sweetness" on audio - Flavia was a hoot, so I'm glad my library has the audio sequel as well!