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March '12 Book List
Apr. 30th, 2012 09:47 pmSince there are only a couple hours left for April, I should probably get around to doing my March book list.
Starting with Ian Fleming's Live & Let Die. Which was really surprisingly racist. I mean enough that I had to give up on it about a quarter way in. I guess I'll never know if the scene where James Bond runs across the backs of a pond full of alligators was just added for the movie...
Read the latest Grantville Gazette, the 40th and still edited by Paula Goodlet. Also picked up the eArc for the next "Ring of Fire" book, 1636: Kremlin Games by Eric Flint, Goodlet and Gorg Huff. Its set in Russia over several years and is an expansion from one of my favorite sets of stories from the Gazettes...
Borrowed a new urban fantasy from the roommate. Well magical milspec maybe. Myke Cole's Shadow Ops: Control Point is a decent first book, with basically a super-hero forced enlistment thing going on, except with magic instead of other types of super-power origins...
Then more of Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's "Liaden" space opera series. Plan B and I Dare follow various members of the series protagonist noble family as they basically go to war against the shadow espionage organization at the heart of their own government. Still lots of psychics and space stuff and swashbucklery. And Lee & Miller's Turtle aliens quickly made their way onto the top of my favorite alien races list...
Also got some new David Weber books, the newest "Honor Harrington" book Rising Thunder and the prequel young adult A Beautiful Friendship for the same setting. RT does have a lot less in the ship battles and more in the political maneuvering and group meetings. The other follows the teen-age Stephanie Harrington, one of the first humans to bond with one of the settings psychic Sphinxian Tree-cats...
After that was three eBooks I'd had on pre-order for a while. Starting with Seanan McGuire's series starter Discount Armageddon. A fun book where the lead attempts to balance her desire to be a pro-ballroom dancer with her family tradition as cryptozoologists. Then the latest from Patricia Brigg's "Alpha/Omega" werewolf series, Fair Game. With the fallout from the end of a hunt for a serial killer that preys on supernatural people looking to have a huge impact on both of Briggs' series in that universe. And lastly a new "Temeraire" series. Crucible of Gold has Temeraire and Cpt. Laurence called back into service and ending up enmeshed with the powerful Incan Empire...
A few books then from the Kindle cheap deals section. Karen McInerney's Dead & Berried was a pretty good murder mystery, part of her "Gray Whale Inn Mysteries" series. Though the tiny bit of supernatural element added into the very end felt tacked on and out of place. Kate DiCamillo's the Magician's Elephant was a truly delightful and enchanting children's book. Wonderfully evocative and charming. Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles was an ok if predictable bit of teen melodrama with a disappointing ending. And finally Jim Lynch's the Highest Tide was a nice enough coming-of-age story, mostly noteworthy for some interesting ocean biology stuff...
Also decided to check out a pair of choose-your-own-adventure series that have been partially converted over to the Kindle. Amazon has the first two of Joe Dover's "Lone Wolf" books and the first four of the "Fighting Fantasy" series. Flight From the Dark, the first "Lone Wolf" book worked very well and even had a lot of expanded content added. Deathtrap Dungeon had a much more frustrating save point system. Which given how easy it was to die in it caused me to give up after a half-dozen attempts...
Started on a new scifi series from the roommate's collection with Tobias Buckell's Crystal Rain. Enjoyable, once I got used to nearly everyone speaking all Jamaican style...
A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith was a fun little young adult piece. With princes in disguise, kidnappings and noble balls and games and such...
The relatively short Clementine by Cherie Priest is a fun sidestory in her "Clockwork Century" series. Less of the zombies and more of the air pirates and spy-adventureress joint action...
I picked up Brian Clevenger's Nuklear Age on the cheap because I love both his webcomics and Atomic Robo. And that was in spite of Clevenger's own warnings that his rookie work was terrible. And man was he not kidding. The thing is just DIRE. Hilariously so at times. Still not amusing enough that I didn't tap out barely a quarter way in...
After that I needed a palate cleanser, so I went with a reread of Harry Turtledove's Guns of the South. Where time traveling South African white supremacists arm the Confederacy was AK-47s so that they'll win the Civil War. Good stuff...
Then another piece of alt history. Or at least alternate universe history with Matt Ruff's the Mirage. The big concept here is that the role of the Middle East and the United States are reversed at 9/11. With Christian fundamentalist terrorists based out of the U.S. hijacking several airliners and crashing them into skyscrapers in Baghdad in the United Arab States. Good story, creative twists and interesting lead characters. Though I'm still a bit unsure on how I feel about the ending...
And finishing out the month with a pair of Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" books, the Mugger and the Con Artist. Prose in these was a bit overdone at times, but I still might pick up some more of the series to give it more of a taste...
Total books: 25
Starting with Ian Fleming's Live & Let Die. Which was really surprisingly racist. I mean enough that I had to give up on it about a quarter way in. I guess I'll never know if the scene where James Bond runs across the backs of a pond full of alligators was just added for the movie...
Read the latest Grantville Gazette, the 40th and still edited by Paula Goodlet. Also picked up the eArc for the next "Ring of Fire" book, 1636: Kremlin Games by Eric Flint, Goodlet and Gorg Huff. Its set in Russia over several years and is an expansion from one of my favorite sets of stories from the Gazettes...
Borrowed a new urban fantasy from the roommate. Well magical milspec maybe. Myke Cole's Shadow Ops: Control Point is a decent first book, with basically a super-hero forced enlistment thing going on, except with magic instead of other types of super-power origins...
Then more of Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's "Liaden" space opera series. Plan B and I Dare follow various members of the series protagonist noble family as they basically go to war against the shadow espionage organization at the heart of their own government. Still lots of psychics and space stuff and swashbucklery. And Lee & Miller's Turtle aliens quickly made their way onto the top of my favorite alien races list...
Also got some new David Weber books, the newest "Honor Harrington" book Rising Thunder and the prequel young adult A Beautiful Friendship for the same setting. RT does have a lot less in the ship battles and more in the political maneuvering and group meetings. The other follows the teen-age Stephanie Harrington, one of the first humans to bond with one of the settings psychic Sphinxian Tree-cats...
After that was three eBooks I'd had on pre-order for a while. Starting with Seanan McGuire's series starter Discount Armageddon. A fun book where the lead attempts to balance her desire to be a pro-ballroom dancer with her family tradition as cryptozoologists. Then the latest from Patricia Brigg's "Alpha/Omega" werewolf series, Fair Game. With the fallout from the end of a hunt for a serial killer that preys on supernatural people looking to have a huge impact on both of Briggs' series in that universe. And lastly a new "Temeraire" series. Crucible of Gold has Temeraire and Cpt. Laurence called back into service and ending up enmeshed with the powerful Incan Empire...
A few books then from the Kindle cheap deals section. Karen McInerney's Dead & Berried was a pretty good murder mystery, part of her "Gray Whale Inn Mysteries" series. Though the tiny bit of supernatural element added into the very end felt tacked on and out of place. Kate DiCamillo's the Magician's Elephant was a truly delightful and enchanting children's book. Wonderfully evocative and charming. Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles was an ok if predictable bit of teen melodrama with a disappointing ending. And finally Jim Lynch's the Highest Tide was a nice enough coming-of-age story, mostly noteworthy for some interesting ocean biology stuff...
Also decided to check out a pair of choose-your-own-adventure series that have been partially converted over to the Kindle. Amazon has the first two of Joe Dover's "Lone Wolf" books and the first four of the "Fighting Fantasy" series. Flight From the Dark, the first "Lone Wolf" book worked very well and even had a lot of expanded content added. Deathtrap Dungeon had a much more frustrating save point system. Which given how easy it was to die in it caused me to give up after a half-dozen attempts...
Started on a new scifi series from the roommate's collection with Tobias Buckell's Crystal Rain. Enjoyable, once I got used to nearly everyone speaking all Jamaican style...
A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith was a fun little young adult piece. With princes in disguise, kidnappings and noble balls and games and such...
The relatively short Clementine by Cherie Priest is a fun sidestory in her "Clockwork Century" series. Less of the zombies and more of the air pirates and spy-adventureress joint action...
I picked up Brian Clevenger's Nuklear Age on the cheap because I love both his webcomics and Atomic Robo. And that was in spite of Clevenger's own warnings that his rookie work was terrible. And man was he not kidding. The thing is just DIRE. Hilariously so at times. Still not amusing enough that I didn't tap out barely a quarter way in...
After that I needed a palate cleanser, so I went with a reread of Harry Turtledove's Guns of the South. Where time traveling South African white supremacists arm the Confederacy was AK-47s so that they'll win the Civil War. Good stuff...
Then another piece of alt history. Or at least alternate universe history with Matt Ruff's the Mirage. The big concept here is that the role of the Middle East and the United States are reversed at 9/11. With Christian fundamentalist terrorists based out of the U.S. hijacking several airliners and crashing them into skyscrapers in Baghdad in the United Arab States. Good story, creative twists and interesting lead characters. Though I'm still a bit unsure on how I feel about the ending...
And finishing out the month with a pair of Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" books, the Mugger and the Con Artist. Prose in these was a bit overdone at times, but I still might pick up some more of the series to give it more of a taste...
Total books: 25
