the deep moans round with many voices

I made three resolutions this year. First, get a job. (Done!) Second, exercise more regularly and lose weight. (Done!) Third, keep a list of the books I read.

These are the books I read in November, 2006:

New: 6
---The Fall of the Kings, Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman (fantasy: sequel to Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword. A bit loose in places, and I spent the second half of the book teetering on the point of such strong sympathetic embarrassment that I nearly couldn't finish reading it. I like the academics, though.)
---Thomas the Rhymer, Ellen Kushner (fantasy: lush but slight)
---Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist vol. 15, Kazuki Takahashi (manga: card games and more card games, and a metaphoric hymn to friendship. Oh, Kaiba, you idiot. Oh, Yugi, you wonderful bitty fierce creature, you! Fight, Jounouchi -- you can break free!)
---Dzur, Steven Brust (fantasy: a Vlad Taltos book, direct sequel to Issola. Fun, but it feels more like necessary filler and set-up than a complete book in and of itself.)
---Chobits vol. 1, CLAMP (manga: very cute, very silly. All about humanoid robots, except nobody calls them that.)
---Clover vol. 3, CLAMP (manga: I love the minimalism and the way you have to read the story out of what isn't said as much as what is. And I really, truly wish my library had the full series.)


Old: 13
---The Final Encyclopedia, Gordon R. Dickson (science fiction: there's something about the sweep of Dickson's Childe Cycle that catches my imagination, even if I find a number of the details incredibly wrong-headed, incomplete, or unconvincing.)
---The Rowan, Anne McCaffrey (sci-fi/romance: psychics in SPACE! *has quiet giggle fit*)
---Damia, Anne McCaffrey (sci-fi/romance: sequel to The Rowan. Afra totally deserved better than being turned into a skeevy old man.)
---The Ship Who Sang, Anne McCaffrey (sci-fi: pieced together from short stories. Her writing's younger and less fluid, but I think this is actually a decent book, if one glosses over the inadvertent sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, and whatnot.)
---The Ship Who Searched, Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey (sci-fi: in which we proceed to invent silly alien archaeology and attempt to be serious about interstellar plagues. Still, I like Tia and Alex, damnit.)
---Deerskin, Robin McKinley (fantasy: a fairy-tale retelling, dark and haunting. Also, dogs.)
---Clover vol. 1, CLAMP (manga: minimalist and gorgeous)
---Angel Sanctuary vols. 1-3, 8, 15-16, (manga: fucked up, brilliant, and very, very pretty. And now you know which volumes I own as of the beginning of December.)


November Total = 19 books (plus a few magazines and some fanfiction)

Year to Date = 342 books (237 new, 105 old)

I made three resolutions this year. First, get a job. (Done!) Second, exercise more regularly and lose weight. (Done!) Third, keep a list of the books I read.

These are the books I read in October, 2006:

New: 20
---First Meetings, Orson Scott Card (science fiction: short story collection, part of the Enderverse)
---The Shape-Changer's Wife, Sharon Shinn (fantasy: well-written, with a nice down-to-earth tone, but it's slight and ultimately forgettable)
---One Good Knight, Mercedes Lackey (fantasy: light, easy, and fun; the first chapter needs a lot of edits, which is unfortunate since the rest of the book had to work twice as hard to overcome the bad first impression)
---Grave Sight, Charlaine Harris (fantasy/modern: a woman who can experience dead people's final moments, and find their bodies, gets involved in a tangled series of murders in a small American town; start of a series)
---The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner (fantasy: sequel to Swordspoint; a girl is thrown into complicated family plots and learns to use a sword; in an interesting change of pace, she doesn't want to act like a boy)
---Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett (fantasy: the latest Discworld book, in the Tiffany Aching sequence; has one interesting structural experiment, but is otherwise straightforward narrative. This is Pterry's 'stealth literature' in classic mode.)
---Storm Front, Jim Butcher (fantasy: first in the Dresden Files, in which Harry Dresden, wizard, has to solve a grisly magical murder before both the good guys and the bad guys kill him next)
---Fool Moon, Jim Butcher (fantasy: Dresden Files, book 2, in which Harry learns more about werewolves than he ever wanted to know, up close and personal)
---Grave Peril, Jim Butcher (fantasy: Dresden Files, book 3, in which there are vampires and ghosts and various other Things That Go Bump In The Night, and several pieces of Harry's past come back to bite him. BIG goof on the name of Bianca's dead secretary -- in Storm Front she's Paula, but here she's called Rachel half the time, which is damned confusing and the editor should have caught that!)
---1602, Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, et al (comics: what if the heroes of the Marvel universe appeared in the late 1500s instead of the mid-20th century? You have no idea how badly I want to write fanfic for this.)
---Gundam Wing: Episode Zero, Katsuyuki Sumisawa and Akira Kanbe (manga: I'd read Duo's backstory online, but it's nice to know what the other pilots and Relena were up to. Heero sure gets around, doesn't he? We will not, however, speak of the silliness and logistical improbability that is "Preventer Five.")
---Gundam Wing: Ground Zero, Reku Fuyunagi (manga: potential bridge between the series and Endless Waltz. It reads like horribly OOC bad romance fanfic, and any plot that depends on Duo lying is in trouble from the premise onward. Also, Relena is a high government official; she has a large staff, who can handle things like making corrected copies of a document, and who would be around to notice if she fell off a balcony, for heaven's sake. *headdesk*)
---Gundam Wing: Battlefield of Pacifists, Katsuhiko Chiba and Koichi Tokita (manga: 'official' bridge between the series and Endless Waltz. This one's plausible, aside from the bit where Quatre gets brainwashed so easily; suffers from awkward translation in a few places.)
---Gundam Wing: Blind Target, Akemi Omode and Sakura Asagi (manga: potential bridge between the series and Endless Waltz. I like this one best. Everyone is shown to good effect, everyone is IC, the villains aren't as exaggerated as the ones in Battlefield of Pacifists, and I think Wufei's character arc works better than the one in Battlefield of Pacifists.)
---Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, vols. 10-11, CLAMP (manga: quests across worlds, doomed love, amnesia, self-sacrifice, duplicates in different timelines, inscrutable evil plots, dark pasts, earthshaking secrets... I LIKE this. The race gimmick in this arc is pretty silly, though.)
---Samurai Deeper Kyo, vols. 15-18, Akimine Kamijyo (manga: mangled Japanese history, blatant fanservice, 'two personalities in one body,' and lots and lots of sword fights. Fun! And somebody needs to write twisted Shinrei/Saisei, Saisei/Saishi triangle fic with lemons.)


Old: 15
---Taltos, Steven Brust (fantasy: how Vlad met Morolan, Sethra Lavode, and Aliera, and what happened in the Paths of the Dead)
---Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, Ursula Le Guin (novel: one of my favorite books; I reread this at least once a year; see amazon.com for reviews that sort of explain the story)
---Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card (science fiction: book 2 in the Enderverse, and my personal favorite; in which contact between alien species is treated thoughtfully and respectfully, and in which the characters are allowed to have families, professions, religious beliefs, and various other trappings of real life that don't often make it into 'adventure' stories.)
---Death Note, vols. 1-6, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (manga: fantasy of the 'insert one impossible element and watch its effects on the world' type; mindgames, moral issues, a very cerebral chase story, and quite a lot of tension. What would you do if you found a notebook that let you kill anybody just by picturing their face and writing their name?)
---Samurai Deeper Kyo, vols. 9-14, Akimine Kamijyo (manga: swordfights! Fun stuff)


October Total = 35 books (plus several magazines, a few newspaper articles, and a whole lot of fanfiction)

Year to Date = 323 books (231 new, 92 old)

I made three resolutions this year. First, get a job. (Done!) Second, exercise more regularly and lose weight. (Done!) Third, keep a list of the books I read.

These are the books I read in September, 2006:

New: 32
---Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding & Correcting Common Dog Problems, Cesar Millan and Melissa Jo Peltier (nonfiction: exactly what the title says)
---Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend, Bart D. Ehrman (nonfiction: he should've switched 'history' and 'legend,' since he spends a lot more time on legends and various Gnostic gospel portrayals than actual history... but since there IS very little solid historical evidence relating to those three, that isn't surprising.)
----A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization, Jonathan Kirsch (nonfiction: see my brief comments here)
---Reinventing Paul, John G. Gager (nonfiction: 'reinterpreting' Paul would be more accurate. See various amazon.com reviews for more details)
---Inherit the Wind, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (playscript: heavily based on the Scopes trial of evolution vs. creationism; sadly still relevant today; powerful despite occasional hokiness)
---Definitely Dead, Charlaine Harris (fiction: I am watching this series very closely, since it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Anita Blake books before they degenerated into porn and lost their appeal as stories. So far, this series is doing better. Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress in Lousisiana, deals with the intrusion of the supernatural into her life, with modest flair. Fun and fast.)
---Lucifer, vols. 9 & 10 [Crux and Morningstar], Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, et al (comics: so Carey does have a conclusion in mind. I wondered at points, but yes, he really is pulling all the threads back together. Wheels within wheels within wheels, and they're all crashing together at the apocalypse. I love this series.)
---Samurai Deeper Kyo, vols. 2 & 3, Akimine Kamijyo (manga: I wince at the mangled Japanese history, I laugh at the blatant fanservice, I am a total sucker for 'two personalities in one body' things, and I like swordsmen. I think, in the end, I read this because it's fun.)
---D.N.Angel, vols. 6-8, Yukiru Sugisaki (manga: very shojo, very cute, a bit incoherent)
---Bleach, vols. 26 & 27, Tite Kubo (manga: very shonen, very fun. I caught up to the most current scanlations, and kind of wish I hadn't, because now I have to wait for the rest to be finished before I can read it!)
---One Piece, vols. 1-3, Eiichiro Oda (manga: very shonen, very sweet, lovely fun. I haven't read enough to really get sucked in, but I have a feeling it could very easily do so after another volume or two.)
---Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, vols. 1-9, CLAMP (manga: oh god, it's eating my brain. Quests across worlds, doomed love, amnesia, self-sacrifice, duplicates in different timelines, inscrutable evil plots, dark pasts, earthshaking secrets... yeah. I LIKE this.)
---Chobits, vols. 5-8, CLAMP (manga: I think this would make more sense if I'd read the first half of the series as well, but I could pick up the basics from this. Nothing earthshaking, but it's awfully cute.)
---Clover, vol. 1, CLAMP (manga: minimalist, uses a heavy in medias res approach, vaguely steampunk aesthetic, leaves you to figure it out on your own. Like songfic, in a way. I want to read more and figure out what's going on!)


Old: 6
---The Key of the Keplian, Andre Norton and Lyn McConchie (fantasy: classic Witch World novel)
---The Order War, L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (fantasy: another Recluse novel, with attendant strengths and weaknesses. Justin's less in the dark than a lot of Modesitt's heroes, though, which is nice.)
---Issola, Steven Brust (fanstasy: a Vlad Taltos novel, in which Vlad unwillingly gets involved in Grand Events)
---Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus, Donald Harman Akenson (nonfiction: this one is more than it claims to be, and well worth reading)
---Samurai Deeper Kyo, vol. 1, Akimine Kamijyo (manga: fun)
---Naruto, vol. 1, Masashi Kishimoto (manga: look, I write fanfiction for this series; you already know I like it!)


September Total = 38 books (plus a lot of fanfiction, a few newspapers, and several magazines)

Year to Date = 288 books (211 new, 77 old)

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I have a nasty cold at the moment, and am heading home to get some much-needed sleep.

I made three resolutions this year. First, get a job. (Done!) Second, exercise more regularly and lose weight. (Done!) Third, keep a list of the books I read.

These are the books I read in August, 2006 (also known as THE MONTH MANGA ATE MY SOUL, OMG):

New: 47
---Unexpected Magic, Diana Wynne Jones (short story collection & a short YA novel: several stories were kind of 'eh, whatever,' but some were lovely. The novel, Everard's Ride, was fun, though a bit abrupt in places.)
---War and Peace and War: The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations, Peter Turchin (nonfiction: fascinating theory about patterns in human history, marred by minor, persistent grammar oddities: awkward prepositions, the insertion of 'the' where it's not needed, and the lack of 'the' where it IS needed. I suspect Turchin may not be a native English speaker, but his copy editor should still have caught those!)
---The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (autobiography: in the vein of Angela's Ashes. What's heartbreaking is the way that, despite being totally unsuitable parents, her father and mother got some of the most important and intangible things right anyway; the love was palpable, despite the confusion, bitterness, and pain/anger. Beautifully clean narrative style.)
---A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. (science fiction: a classic apocalyptic post-nuclear-war novel, which deals with humanity's inability to learn from our past mistakes, and our faith that things can change. Very much of a time and place -- the American southwest, around 1960, pre-Vatican II -- with the attendant strengths and failings. Wonderful story, really makes you think.)
---Swordspoint, Ellen Kushner (fantasy: well, I call it fantasy, but 'historical fiction in an imaginary world' is more accurate. In a country something like an oligarchic 16th century Britain, hired swordsmen and scheming nobles clash and swirl. Also, there's a romance -- which happens to be between two men -- but that's really not the point. I liked this a lot.)
---Trigun Maximum, vol. 8, Yasuhiro Nightow (manga: cracked-out sci-fi, gunfights, and more angst than you can shake a stick at. Knives continues his plan to eliminate humanity, Wolfwood's past is revealed, and Meryl and Millie reappear. Still needs to be read at least twice to make sense.)
---Samurai Deeper Kyo, vols. 1, 5-14, Akimine Kamijyo (manga: um... this is... weird. I wince at the mangled Japanese history, I laugh at the blatant fanservice, and I have no idea what I think of the story overall, though I'm a sucker for 'two personalities in one body' things, and I like swordsmen. I reserve judgment until I read more. And yes, I do want to read more; take that as you will.)
---D.N.Angel, vols. 1-5, Yukiru Sugisaki (manga: very shojo, very cute, a bit incoherent. Also, for a story focused on heterosexual love -- Daisuke's transformations into Dark are supposedly controlled by his love for Harada Risa, and then for Harada Riku -- a suspicious amount of time is devoted to Daisuke's relationship with Hiwatari Satoshi. *grin*)
---Bleach, vols. 1-25, Tite Kubo (manga: great stuff! I hear this gets compared to Naruto, often unfavorably to one series or the other. I don't get that. Yes, they're both variations on standard shonen fight series, but Bleach is a more unitary story and less of an exercise in world-building. It extends back in time from the main story, but it gives me a feeling that all the history is aimed toward this one small slice of narrative time. Naruto sprawls more, and feels more like any given five or ten years of its history could have made a good story. Anyway, I like Bleach. I like the themes, and I like the characters. But I don't itch to write fic for it.)


Old: 23
---Angel Sanctuary, vols. 1-20, Kaori Yuki (manga: this series ate my brain. It is fucked-up and brilliant. See this post for more details, if you don't mind spoilers.)
---Trigun Maximum, vol. 7, Yasuhiro Nightow (manga: cracked-out sci-fi, gunfights, and more angst than you can shake a stick at.)
---Fruits Basket, vol. 10, Natsuki Takaya (manga: very shojo. Somehow manages to include slapstick humor, crack fantasy, high school travails, martial arts fighting, and pull-your-heartstrings drama/romance/tragedy, without seeming to have multiple personality disorder.)
---Too Many Magicians, Randall Garrett (fantasy/mystery: in an alternate world where the Plantagenet family rules western Europe and the Americas, and magic takes the place of science, a locked-room murder gets entangled with political espionage. Great fun, though the exposition can get clunky.)


August Total = 70 books (plus a lot of fanfiction, a few newspapers, and several magazines)

Year to Date = 250 books (179 new, 71 old)

I made three resolutions this year. First, get a job. (Done!) Second, exercise more regularly and lose weight. (Done!) Third, keep a list of the books I read.

These are the books I read in July, 2006:

New: 33
---A Tolkien Miscellany, J. R. R. Tolkien (mostly fantasy, a bit of literary theory: I'd read a couple of the individual pieces before -- Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wooton Major -- but Tree and Leaf, Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the various Middle Earth poems were new to me, so I'm calling this a new book.)
---Southern Fire, Juliet E. McKenna (fantasy: a magical invasion of a decentralized archipelago whose people abhor magic as evil. There are a number of interesting concepts in the way McKenna sets up her society, but she finks out and uses boring elemental-style magic, and I found myself wishing that she had left the 'evil barbarian' magical invaders out altogether and just told a story about inter-island politics instead, because those and the fortune-telling systems were the parts that really interested me. Also, her names don't have a consistent ethno-linguistic 'sound,' and her spelling system is a mess. But I will be reading the sequel, when it comes out, because I like Kheda and I want to know what happens to him next.)
---The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch (fantasy: this has been described as Ocean's Eleven in a fantastical version of medieval Venice, and, barring the Victorian London influences, that's about spot on. Marvelously engaging; go read it now!)
---The Mirror Prince, Violette Malan (fantasy: yet another 'let's do a new spin on elves and fairyland!' attempt that isn't actually new or particularly interesting at all. A waste of perfectly good time and money. The technical quality of the writing is good, though, even if the subject matter is pointless.)
---Time Was, Nora Roberts (romance: unexceptionable for the genre, though the standard sci-fi 'future' and the time-travel schtick would've been irritating if I'd actually cared enough to take it seriously.)
---Times Change, Nora Roberts (romance: sequel to Time Was, in which the previous lead characters' sister and brother get together. Hey, this is how I kill time while I'm closing the store some nights.)
---Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours, Jim Butcher (comics-based novel: pretty standard for a Spidey story, though Jim Butcher writes it quite well. I may have to look into his original work.)
---Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer (fantasy: definitely for kids, no particular depth, and quite fun, though it doesn't pay more than the barest lip service to realism and the fairy society would never in a million years actually work.)
---Fruits Basket, vols. 7-10, 13, Natsuki Takaya (manga: somehow manages to include slapstick humor, crack fantasy, high school travails, martial arts fighting, and pull-your-heartstrings drama/romance/tragedy... without seeming to have multiple personality disorder. Actually reduced me to sniffles a couple times, which is not easy to do!)
---Angel Sanctuary, vols. 1-20, Kaori Yuki (manga: this series ate my brain. It is fucked-up and brilliant, and I will review it in more detail later.)



Old: 6
---The Death of Chaos, L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (fantasy: I have ISSUES with Modesitt -- the sound effects alone could keep me going for twenty minutes -- but I keep rereading some of his books anyway, so clearly there's something there that resonates. I think, in this particular case, it's the wood-crafting scenes.)
---Fruits Basket, vols. 4-6, 11-12, Natsuki Takaya (manga: heartwarming)



July Total = 39 books (plus a lot of fanfiction, a couple newspapers, and several magazines)

Year to Date = 180 books (132 new, 48 old)