Monday, February 08, 2010

50 books. Where do I stand?

At the last check in for my 50 Books in 2010 goal, I was at 3. That was on January 16. Today, on February 8, I'm at 7. Not bad, I'm slightly ahead of the minimum average I want to keep (1 book each week) to meet the goal by the end of the year. This is good, as I know that my reading will drop once the baby arrives in June.

Since my last update, I've read the following: The Pine Barrens by John McPhee, a history and memoir of the New Jersey Pine Barrens; The 13 Clocks by James Thurber, a childrens book that is part fairy tale and part complex poetry for adults; The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs, an author I read another book by recently (The Face in the Frost) but didn't realize he was the same person who wrote one of my favorite books from when I was a kid; and Dark Entries by Ian Rankin, a John Constantine (Hellblazer)graphic novel set in a haunted house that was somewhat curiously published in the Vertigo Crime series for no reason I can figure other than the author is primarily a mystery writer.

Next up: a new take on vampires in The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (thanks to Tim for the recommendation!)

listening: nothing at the moment

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I hope you like The Strain. I've been on a graphic novel kick lately, reading Fables vol 1, Superman: Red Son, Tom Strong Terrific Tales vol 1, the latest Buffy Season 8, and Kevin Smith's Daredevil story. None of these knocked my socks off (Daredevil came close), but they were all fun reads.

I'm eagerly hoping to get back to prose. With all the snow we've been blasted with, I *should* have time.

Unknown said...

Keep reading Fables. The first volume or two set things up, but once the story gets going, it's FANTASTIC! I'll come up with a list of a few graphic novels that you should read.

I've thought that a great rpg could be run using the Fables world under the RISUS rules, since the characters are the cliches and archetypes that the game uses!

Roberius Rex said...

Sounds like a great read - I'll add it to my list. I was already planning to read Cavalier & Clay, so this will be a good companion.

Let us know what you think of The Strain - this is the first I've heard of it. Guillermo has never let me down in the past, so now I'm looking forward to it.

Fables is excellent, btw. Risus Fables...I'm in! Run it!

Unknown said...

I'm about 2/3 through The Strain, and really enjoying it. It's definitely not a typical vampire novel. It's part medical thriller, part vampire, part zombie. The vampires are in some ways traditional, and in other ways completely re-imagined. That makes for an unsettling read, as things that you expect from vampire horror are there, but just different enough so you don't know what to expect.

Unknown said...

I totally forgot to mention that I read one novel on the flight home from Korea: "Grass for His Pillow", the second book of the Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn. Great pseudo-historical samurai/ninja fantasy! I can't wait to read the next one.

I'll continue to give Fables a go. I think I would have liked the first volume better if I didn't catch myself groaning at the dialog in places. But I agree that it has great gaming potential.

Laura said...

Tim,

I loved Lian's Hern Otori books! I read almost all of them when they came out, and I thought she did a fabulous job of creating complex characters and a hugely fascinating pseudo-Japan. One word of warning though... while books 1-3 are all good, book 4, IMO, was so bad I almost couldn't finish it. Honestly. But then I read book 5 (the prequel that tells Shigeru's story) - which I thought was back to her original high standards, maybe even one of the best.

Or, maybe you won't agree...I'd love to hear your opinion if/when you keep reading. :)

Unknown said...

Hey Laura, I'm definitely going to continue on to the next Otori book. I'll let you know what I think!