mikekn

2010 was not a great year for reading, but it wasn't my worst.

19 books finished
24 audio books (no matter how busy I get, I still have my commute)
758 books left to read (up 6 from last year...)

( The list )

43. Vacuum Flowers - Michael Swanwick

Cyberpunk novel from a few decades back. Explores a few different ideas regarding personality and the manipulation of the same.

Finished this a few days back, and wanted to make sure I got it logged in the correct year :)

Have a happy new year folks!
 

42. METAtropolis - John Scalzi (editor) *

Picked up this audio book anthology about cities of the future from Audible. The stories were good, but nothing too mind blowing - some cool ideas though.

40. The Decameron - Giovanni Boccaccio (trans by J. M. Rigg) *

Written during the 1350s and set in Florence during the time of the bubonic plague, this is a collection of 100 tales told by seven young women and three men over a period of ten days. The ten youth leave the city to avoid the effects of the plague and travel to a few villas outside of the city. There each day they each tell a story, usually based on a topic chosen for the day. Lots of bawdy tales, most all of which have even earlier sources (and many appear in later works as well). Who knew the naughty nun was such an old trope? Anyway - a classic for a good reason with some fun stories.

Useful side note: The audio version that I listened to was produced by Librivox - a volunteer group which creates free audio books from works with are in the public domain. Very cool. The recordings aren't as clean as professional audio books, but they are still very good. I expect I'll become a regular visitor to their catalog. :) You can find it at: http://librivox.org/

41. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon

An alternate history mystery. Set in Sitka, Alaska where a temporary homeland has been created for the Jews after World War II and the fall of the state of Israel. Our hero is a down on his luck police detective trying to solve a murder in the hotel where he lives. Some pretty dark story lines but mixed with a good amount of humor. Recommended.

 

39. Cryoburn - Lois McMaster Bujold

The return of Miles Vorkosigan! It has been a long while since I last read a Miles book, so it took a little bit to recall some of the minor characters. Still not a bad story just not the best of them.
 

38. I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett

The latest (young adult) Discworld novel. Very enjoyable - not his greatest, but not bad by any means.
 

37. Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files - Jim Butcher *

Here we have a collection of short stories set in the Dresden universe published mostly in various anthologies. The take place before, between and after the current novels (so, yes one story, "Aftermath", takes place after the events in the last book). A few have some of the supporting characters taking center stage, which is pretty cool. The quality ranges quite a bit - but no surprise really since they were written over pretty long period of time. Still good fun and helps pass the time until the next novel :)
 

35. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire *

I'm a fan of Maguire's "Wicked" but I found this a more satisfying story. The style of it is more straight forward then the 19th century bio style used in Wicked. He does a good job of telling the Cinderella story within the context of historic novel set in in 17th-century Holland.

36. Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo / The Star Pit - John Varley / Samuel Delany

Tor Double - two short SF novels. Not bad, but not on my "must read" list for either author.

 

33. Changes - Jim Butcher *

Wow. Excellent book. Felt very much like a season finale. I enjoyed the fact that in spite of the dark story line, I was still smiling and chuckling at the writing and the characters. So how soon will there be an audio book of the next volume?

34. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman

A classic SF war story.

 

32. Turn Coat - Jim Butcher *

Cruising along through another Dresden book. We get to see a lot more of the White Council in this volume, which is pretty interesting. This one also brings more of the long term plots to the forefront, with finally tracking down the traitor in the Council as a major part of the story. Harry's support team takes quite a beating.
 

31. Small Favor - Jim Butcher *

Queen Mab calls in a favor and makes Dresden her agent in a kidnapping case. The stakes keep getting higher and the background stories keep moving forward. The first of what I expect will be several big changes start in this book. And yes, I've already started the next book in the series :)
 

29. White Night - Jim Butcher *

More fun from Chicago's only professional wizard. The characters continue to grow and the plots get tricky. There are some long running story lines which have continued from book to book - not taking center stage, but effecting the main story just the same. I enjoy how Butcher is able to "level up" Harry with out making him overpowered.

30. Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

"Steampunk" novel set around 1880 in an alternate Seattle where an underground drilling machine has caused a gas leak which has poisoned the city. The bulk of the city is walled off to contain the poison with most folks living outside, and only a few living in safe spaces inside. A bit of an action thriller - pretty good overall.