Things I Read 'N' Things I Thought 2011: Part 2

Onward, friends and neighbors, to Part 2 of Things I Read 'N' Things I Thought 2011.  See 2009 here, 2010 Part 1 here,  Part 2 here, and 2011 Part 1 here.

Starting with #36...

36. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - Damn but that's one awesome dog.

37. The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird - Ugh, religious persecution is the pits.

38. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken - I didn't realize how much this book bothered me until I started writing this.  This what I get for reading random YA fiction. I shouldn't get so upset, but I can't help it!

• Grrr #1: You can't have a character say, "I'm not the man I was before" if your novel never actually has any character development.  
• Grrrr #2: Please, authors, PLEASE stop trying to cram so much "interesting" crap into your story that you can't do justice to ANY of it.  It's just annoying and a disservice to the few good ideas you might have that are overlooked and cowering in the shadows, terrified by the crowd.   
• (Grr #3): This book is called Brightly WOVEN.  The main girl is a WEAVER and a SEAMSTRESS.  The male lead does magic using multiple colored CLOAKS.  She has the ability to work with MAGIC in her weaving/sewing and she thinks, "What if I could make him a cloak with all the colors so he doesn't have to switch?" (I guess it's a revolutionary idea?).  The cloak design is described in detail.  She carries a fucking LOOM around for the entire book, working on the cloak.  She shows up at the castle, makes friends with the weavers, and uses their loom to finish the damned thing.  Then she ties it onto the magician and the cloak!.....looks...nice?  Very dashing?  WTF!?!?! NOTHING HAPPENS WITH THE CLOOOOOOOAK!!!!!!! NOTHING!

39. Bright's Passage by Josh Ritter - His words make my heart happy.  

40. Dealing with Dragons; Searching for Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Books 1-2) by Patrica C. Wrede - Eff, I love this woman.  So smart, so funny.  "None of this nonsense, please."

41. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King - Aliens, I guess.  I just like Jonesy, Henry, Pete and Beaver.

42. Graveminder by Melissa Marr - The Great Disappointment of 2011. 

43. Hunger Games; Catching Fire; Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Books 1-3) by Suzanne Collins -Daaaaaaaaamn.  Horrible circumstances that actually seem to scar the characters!  Prickly, complicated, ultimately sympathetic female lead!  Attractive teen love triangle that didn't make me want to vomit and tear out my hair!

44. Legacy; Beguiled (The Sharing Knife, Books 1-2) by Lois McMaster Bujold - Slow-paced but mildly pleasant general fantasy.  The sharing knife concept is interesting.  Somehow the male lead, Dag, was only ever Christopher Eccleston in my head.  Go fig.

45. Powers (Vols. 4-8) by Brian Michael Bendis -Still rad.

46. The Princess and the Hound; The Princess and the Bear (Princess, Books 1-2)by Mette Ivie Harrison - Princess and the Hound: meh.  Princess and the Bear: like a very long German fairy tale.  Good, solid, subtle romance between flawed but decent and willing-to-work characters.  None of this twirly-skirt-fake-"sassiness"-and-perfunctory-plot-that-still-ends-in-a-vomity-luuuuuuuuurve-fest bullshit.

47. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin - 1960's style house parties sound rad.  Also, it sucks when Satan impregnates you, but I guess it's hard not to love your kid even when they are literally the devil's spawn.

48. The Thirteenth Child; Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, Books 1-2) by Patricia C. Wrede - Little House on the Prairie with magical spells.  NOT a thrill-a-minute roller coaster ride. Best if you're interested in characters and the world-building skills of an author.

49. Why We Hate Us: American Disconnect in the New Millennium by Dick Meyer - Stop being an isolated, self-centered ass hole, it's not making you happy.

Reading Stats

I've had a definite fantasy/sci-fi/horror leaning, and this year it was also skewed toward YA level f/s/h.  I guess I needed a fun, easy year?

36% YA fantasy/sci-fi/horror

23% fantasy/sci-fi/horror

18% general fiction

11% general YA fiction

7% comic books

5% non-fiction

Plus side, DEFINITELY a good year for new vs. repeat readings - 89% new books! good for me! 


Note: PLEASE read something by Patricia C. Wrede if you haven't - Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Mairelon The Magician and The Magician's Ward; Snow White and Rose Red; the Frontier Magic books, anything!  Her stories and characters are just full of wit and intelligence and humor and sensibility and she writes about the use and working of magic in her worlds in such a wonderfully thought-out, practical and interesting way.

Minimalism Quotes

Well, shoot.

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/2011/04/01/minimalism-quotes/

Let the next holiday BEGIN!

Thanksgiving is over, so it's officially Christmas season!  (I fight valiantly against the terrors of Christmas Creep).  Time for Christmas music (I've updated my iPod!); egg nog (I really need to go to the grocery store); Christmas lights (they're up! my apartment looks festive and I'm no longer in danger of tripping on my stairs in the darkness and killing myself!); and, of course, a review of Christmas comics from my beloved Kate Beaton over at Hark! A Vagrant.  Enjoy.

"You guys gotta see this baby, it's crazy..."

The Good Lamp Post

"She was right about your father, though..."

Everything Makes Me Hungry Always

As you well know, I am basically a stomach shaped like a human being.  I. Love. Eating.  Everything makes me hungry.  If something random pops out of my mouth, chances are pretty good it was something like, "I really want a taco!" in the middle of a conversation having nothing to do with tacos.  I also love reading.  And I absolutely love it when authors describe the food and even preparation methods.  My sister and I agree that Farmer Boy is one of the best books in the Little House on the Prairie series and this is due largely in part to the massive quantities of food that are described in such a delicious fashion that you WANT IT ALL NOW when reading (mmmmm, flapjacks covered in butter and melting brown sugar; hand made ice cream; pies! pies! pies!).  Now I've discovered (thanks to the AMAZING www.io9.com) a website called Fictional Food, "a blog dedicated to both cooking fictional food and posting about fictional food around the internet."  It's currently mostly food from The Hunger Games and includes recipes for some of the items.  Most notably, the lamb stew with plums that made repeated appearances in the series as Katniss' favorite Capitol food.  I REALLY wanted to try it when reading about it, and here it is!  It's nice to know that other people get as hungry as I do when they're reading, and also that they've got WAY more initiative than me.

Get Your S*** Together

After being sick/busy for several weeks I have woken to an apartment off the rails of my earlier-this-year organization kick.  My room is freaking even me out, and that's saying a lot (just ask the mother who spent years trying to get me to do my chores).  Friday is Veteran's Day and my office is closed, so I'm going to use a chunk of that time to start gettin' my shit together. 

A little inspiration for the visually oriented: Things Organized Neatly

image from Things Organized Neatly