12-31-2018, 06:45 PM | #31 |
cacoethes scribendi
Posts: 5,809
Karma: 137770742
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650
|
Kobo shows two editions, the original and a new "simplified" version. I'm trying to work out what a Xanth book must look like when simplified. (Although, to be fair, it's been so long since I read that first one that I can't remember whether it was more serious than what came later.)
|
12-31-2018, 07:25 PM | #32 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 7,032
Karma: 39379388
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: near Philadelphia USA
Device: Kindle Kids Edition, Fire HD 10 (11th generation)
|
There are some quite impressive lists here.
My 2018 list may not look as good because of so many being influenced by what I'm reading in the news and thus having a political slant. Plus, one of our children took on Israeli citizenship this year, leading to additonal titles that maybe some would have mixed feelings about. With excuses made, here are 15 making the cut from the 75 I read: America: James Forman Jr., Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America C. J. Chivers, The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq Israel: Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography Matti Friedman, Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten War Yossi Klein Halevi, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor David Landau, Arik: The Life of Ariel Sharon Sarah Tuttle-Singer, Jerusalem, Drawn and Quartered: One Woman’s Year in the Heart of the Christian, Muslim, Armenian, and Jewish Quarters of Old Jerusalem Perhaps the topic at hand, or perhaps a sign of my paranoia: Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die Oliver Hilmes, Berlin 1936: Sixteen Days in August The best of the non, or less, political: Susan Orlean, The Library Book Stephen Westaby, Open Heart: A Cardiac Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table Jennifer Latson, The Boy Who Loved Too Much: A True Story of Pathological Friendliness Sujatha Gidla, Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India One outstanding novel: Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer And for a metaphorical summing up: George Bibel, Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters |
Advert | |
|
01-01-2019, 08:21 AM | #33 | |
Wizard
Posts: 2,027
Karma: 15107670
Join Date: May 2017
Device: Sage, Scribe, Boox Note 2 Plus, iPad Pros and Samsungs S6,S7,S8
|
Quote:
|
|
01-04-2019, 02:44 AM | #34 | |
Addict
Posts: 385
Karma: 3553492
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Perth Western Australia
Device: kindle oasis
|
Quote:
The Eden series is one of my all-time favourite sci-fi series. I remember 4 of us: all passing the books around between each other. So thanks for the good memory |
|
01-04-2019, 09:39 AM | #35 |
Wizard
Posts: 3,821
Karma: 19162882
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Te Riu-a-Māui
Device: Kobo Glo
|
I read the first book West of Eden about 25 years ago, don't know why I waited until 2018.to read the next two. The storytelling is so good I bet I will still enjoy them in another 25 years though.
|
Advert | |
|
02-04-2019, 01:44 AM | #36 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,631
Karma: 73864785
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: PDXish
Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices
|
I realized I never came back and posted my favorite fiction that I read in 2018 (but wasn't published in 2018, I did get those.)
I started off the year with some old favorites and a classic science fiction tale that I hadn't tried before: Nightfall by Isaac Asimov. I read the short story version (and don't really want to taint it with the fleshed out version.) I really loved this story. The unknown really gets to us. Later in the summer I finally got around to readins some Elizabeth Moon, starting with the Vatta's War series which was excellent but eclipsed by the Deed of Paksenarrion. Wow! I read all 1,500+ pages in less than 6 days. Excellent story. After that I really enjoyed listening to the full cast / made for podcast Wolverine story written by Benjamin Percy. Wolverine: The Long Night. I don't read a lot of audio books unless I am travelling but this one was excellent. Beyond this, the books I highlighted that were published in 2018 - Murderbot and The Lady Astronaut - were as good or better than these but I already mentioned them. |
02-04-2019, 02:21 AM | #37 | |
Nameless Being
|
Quote:
Thanks for this. I'm planning to read both, starting with the shorter original. Asimov's short stories were his real strength, imo. |
|
02-04-2019, 02:36 AM | #38 |
cacoethes scribendi
Posts: 5,809
Karma: 137770742
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650
|
While I don't completely agree about Asimov and short stories (I think some of his novels are excellent), in this particular case I agree. The novel (cowritten with Robert Silverberg) was very good for the first two thirds (the part that expanded on the short story) but the final third I found disappointing.
|
02-04-2019, 05:40 AM | #39 |
Nameless Being
|
As do I - I read the original Foundation series three times, and the Elijsh Baley series twice. Daneel Olivaw remains one of my favourite characters of fiction, and much of what Asimov wrote about the Settler worlds seems prescient of current trends toward eschewing human interaction over virtual. So it's not that I dislike his novels, I just feel his short stories are even better, as rule.
|
02-04-2019, 10:08 PM | #40 |
Addict
Posts: 281
Karma: 5262189
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Katy, TX
Device: Samsung Tab S5E 12" Tablet
|
I'm sure you meant R. Daneel Olivaw --
|
02-04-2019, 10:58 PM | #41 |
Nameless Being
|
|
02-05-2019, 09:39 AM | #42 | |
Professor of Law
Posts: 3,638
Karma: 65526796
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kobo Libra H20, Kobo Aura One, KoboMini
|
Quote:
|
|
Tags |
2018, best of, favorite books |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Tor Book Club 2018 Edition | ottdmk | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 1 | 05-15-2018 09:30 AM |
Spiritual Various: King James Bible - Pure Cambridge Edition. v1. 20 Feb 2018 | JimmyR | Kindle Books | 0 | 02-20-2018 02:49 PM |
What were your favorite books of 2014? | Dazrin | Reading Recommendations | 48 | 01-09-2015 12:57 PM |
What are your favorite CC-licensed Books? | gluejar | General Discussions | 10 | 12-25-2013 08:14 PM |
My 6,128 Favorite Books | Sydney's Mom | News | 15 | 10-24-2012 01:32 AM |