Wookiebender's 100 books for 2020
Charlas100 Books in 2020 Challenge!
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1wookiebender
At least, I *hope* to read 100 books. We shall see how I go. :)
Welcome back to everyone else, I'm looking forward to your reading too, and maybe taking a book bullet (or several).
Welcome back to everyone else, I'm looking forward to your reading too, and maybe taking a book bullet (or several).
2wookiebender
Placeholder for lists and stats.
1. Dust, Hugh Howey, ***1/2
2. The Princess and the Fangirl, Ashley Poston, ***1/2
3. Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik, ****
4. Salvation Lost, Peter F. Hamilton, ***
5. Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir, ****
6. There Was Still Love, Favel Parrett, ****
7. Daddy Long-Legs, Jean Webster, ****
8. Measuring the World, Daniel Kehlmann, ****
9. Interference: A Novel, Sue Burke, ***1/2
10. Every Word, Ellie Marney, ***1/2
11. Heartstopper Volume 3, Alice Oseman, ****
12. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen, ****1/2
13. Ashes of Honor,Seanan McGuire, ****
14. False Value, Ben Aaronovitch, ****
15. False Colours, Georgette Heyer, ****
16. Cookie Cutter Superhero, Kid Dark vs the Machine, & Pratchett’s Women: The Boobs, the Bad & the Broomsticks, Tansy Rayner Roberts (via the Sheep Might Fly podcast), ****
17. The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie (via the Phoebe Reads a Mystery podcast), ****
18. The Tiger and the Wolf, Adrian Tchaikovsky, ****
19. Ghost Species, James Bradley, ****
20. Middlegame, Seanan McGuire, ****1/2
21. Loki: Where Mischief Lies, Mackenzi Lee, ***1/2
22. This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, ****1/2
23. The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams, ****
24. Chimes at Midnight, Seanan McGuire, ****
25. Longbourn, Jo Baker, ****1/2
26. The Towers of Trebizond, Rose Macaulay, ***
27. Piranesi, Susanna Clarke, ****
1. Dust, Hugh Howey, ***1/2
2. The Princess and the Fangirl, Ashley Poston, ***1/2
3. Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik, ****
4. Salvation Lost, Peter F. Hamilton, ***
5. Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir, ****
6. There Was Still Love, Favel Parrett, ****
7. Daddy Long-Legs, Jean Webster, ****
8. Measuring the World, Daniel Kehlmann, ****
9. Interference: A Novel, Sue Burke, ***1/2
10. Every Word, Ellie Marney, ***1/2
11. Heartstopper Volume 3, Alice Oseman, ****
12. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen, ****1/2
13. Ashes of Honor,Seanan McGuire, ****
14. False Value, Ben Aaronovitch, ****
15. False Colours, Georgette Heyer, ****
16. Cookie Cutter Superhero, Kid Dark vs the Machine, & Pratchett’s Women: The Boobs, the Bad & the Broomsticks, Tansy Rayner Roberts (via the Sheep Might Fly podcast), ****
17. The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie (via the Phoebe Reads a Mystery podcast), ****
18. The Tiger and the Wolf, Adrian Tchaikovsky, ****
19. Ghost Species, James Bradley, ****
20. Middlegame, Seanan McGuire, ****1/2
21. Loki: Where Mischief Lies, Mackenzi Lee, ***1/2
22. This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, ****1/2
23. The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams, ****
24. Chimes at Midnight, Seanan McGuire, ****
25. Longbourn, Jo Baker, ****1/2
26. The Towers of Trebizond, Rose Macaulay, ***
27. Piranesi, Susanna Clarke, ****
3jfetting
Welcome back and good luck reading 100 books! Looking forward to following your thread again this year.
5wookiebender
Well, looks like this year isn't going to be any quieter than previous years. My role at work was made redundant mid last year (along with a lot of workmates that I'd been with for years), but with a 3 month notice period (then extended to 6 months). And at the last moment, when I'd gotten used to the idea of unemployment (it was a nice package, so I was planning a trip to Japan with the family, plus a number of months doing sweet FA), they offered me another role.
And apparently, I'd rather be in a stressful job than no job. :P
But it's a role where I can make a difference (as opposed to the last six months of wrapping stuff up), and the new team is lovely. Pluses and minuses, but to sum up: I've been exceedingly busy and while I've been reading (hello commute), I haven't had time to write reviews. I've made some time tonight, so here goes...
(Oh, and I'm in Sydney, so lots of smoke and then lots of rain, but I haven't been directly affected - unpleasant to live through and heartbreaking to see other people getting the brunt of it all; but my family, close friends, and I are all fine, although a few did get evacuated during the worst of the fires.)
And apparently, I'd rather be in a stressful job than no job. :P
But it's a role where I can make a difference (as opposed to the last six months of wrapping stuff up), and the new team is lovely. Pluses and minuses, but to sum up: I've been exceedingly busy and while I've been reading (hello commute), I haven't had time to write reviews. I've made some time tonight, so here goes...
(Oh, and I'm in Sydney, so lots of smoke and then lots of rain, but I haven't been directly affected - unpleasant to live through and heartbreaking to see other people getting the brunt of it all; but my family, close friends, and I are all fine, although a few did get evacuated during the worst of the fires.)
6wookiebender
1. Dust, Hugh Howey
I did spend a bit too long between reading the books in this series, so I had forgotten too much between the second book and this one. But it did wrap things up well and I'd recommend this trilogy overall.
***1/2
BOOK ACQUIRED: July 2017
I did spend a bit too long between reading the books in this series, so I had forgotten too much between the second book and this one. But it did wrap things up well and I'd recommend this trilogy overall.
***1/2
BOOK ACQUIRED: July 2017
7wookiebender
2. The Princess and the Fangirl, Ashley Poston
Charming, but didn't have the freshness of the first in this series (the delightful Geekerella). Or maybe mistaken identity is just too much of a stretch to keep a full length novel going.
Anyhow, this is a nice retelling of The Prince and the Pauper, set in the same geeky world as Geekerella, with our previous protagonists as charming minor characters, and minor characters taking centre stage.
Definitely fun, and I'm hoping there will be a third (and more!) in this series. (Oh yay! I just checked and Bookish and the Beast will be out later this year. :)
***1/2
BOOK ACQUIRED: December 2019
Charming, but didn't have the freshness of the first in this series (the delightful Geekerella). Or maybe mistaken identity is just too much of a stretch to keep a full length novel going.
Anyhow, this is a nice retelling of The Prince and the Pauper, set in the same geeky world as Geekerella, with our previous protagonists as charming minor characters, and minor characters taking centre stage.
Definitely fun, and I'm hoping there will be a third (and more!) in this series. (Oh yay! I just checked and Bookish and the Beast will be out later this year. :)
***1/2
BOOK ACQUIRED: December 2019
8wookiebender
3. Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
Another great fairy-tale-esque story from Naomi Novik, with creepy fairies and fire demons and Slavic royalty.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: November2019
Another great fairy-tale-esque story from Naomi Novik, with creepy fairies and fire demons and Slavic royalty.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: November2019
9wookiebender
4. Salvation Lost, Peter F Hamilton
People in my sci-fi & fantasy bookclub love this series, but I'm more lukewarm about it. The first book I only warmed to at the end, and this (the second) was a bit of a struggle. I just think there are better sci-fi writers out there.
***
BOOK ACQUIRED: November 2019
People in my sci-fi & fantasy bookclub love this series, but I'm more lukewarm about it. The first book I only warmed to at the end, and this (the second) was a bit of a struggle. I just think there are better sci-fi writers out there.
***
BOOK ACQUIRED: November 2019
10wookiebender
5. Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
A friend of mine currently living in the States returns to Sydney for Xmas most years, and usually turns up with a stack of books to hand around. Since most of them are sci-fi, I'm usually the lucky lone recipient with this group of friends. :)
This one was described as "lesbian necromancers in space" and I instantly knew I was going to love it.
Gideon the Ninth is our snarky First Cavalier to her necromancer, Harrowhark Nonagesimus of the Ninth House, a bunch of death cultists. They, and their matching first cavalier / necromancer pairs from the other houses, are summoned to the First House to try out for the position of Lyctor to The Emperor Undying.
It's a wonderfully creepy atmosphere and a very high body count. Recommended, and I'm looking forward to the others in the series.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: December 2019
A friend of mine currently living in the States returns to Sydney for Xmas most years, and usually turns up with a stack of books to hand around. Since most of them are sci-fi, I'm usually the lucky lone recipient with this group of friends. :)
This one was described as "lesbian necromancers in space" and I instantly knew I was going to love it.
Gideon the Ninth is our snarky First Cavalier to her necromancer, Harrowhark Nonagesimus of the Ninth House, a bunch of death cultists. They, and their matching first cavalier / necromancer pairs from the other houses, are summoned to the First House to try out for the position of Lyctor to The Emperor Undying.
It's a wonderfully creepy atmosphere and a very high body count. Recommended, and I'm looking forward to the others in the series.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: December 2019
11wookiebender
6. There Was Still Love, Favel Parrett
Another lovely book from Favel Parrett, this one seems to be closely based on her family. It takes place in both Melbourne and Prague in 1986, with different members of the same extended family.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: February 2020
Another lovely book from Favel Parrett, this one seems to be closely based on her family. It takes place in both Melbourne and Prague in 1986, with different members of the same extended family.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: February 2020
12wookiebender
7. Daddy-Long-Legs, Jean Webster
I picked this up at a bookcrossing meetup a couple of years ago, and then it got tangled up with some kids books and I only just rediscovered it while sorting out books for charity.
I'm glad I've read it now, it was a charming epistolary novel, with a delightful narrator in Judy Abbott.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: December 2016
I picked this up at a bookcrossing meetup a couple of years ago, and then it got tangled up with some kids books and I only just rediscovered it while sorting out books for charity.
I'm glad I've read it now, it was a charming epistolary novel, with a delightful narrator in Judy Abbott.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: December 2016
13mabith
Jean Webster's writing can be so much fun. I am extremely devoted to her earlier Just Patty and much earlier When Patty Went to College, in part because they actually remind me of boarding school and partly because they're so funny. I've read both out loud to my parents on car trips and they also found them extremely humorous.
14wookiebender
8. Measuring the World, Daniel Kehlmann
I'm not sure who recommended this to me many years ago, but I'm glad they did.
A historical tale about two famous Germans: the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss and the explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Both seemed impossible to live with, but fascinating to read about.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: January 2014
I'm not sure who recommended this to me many years ago, but I'm glad they did.
A historical tale about two famous Germans: the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss and the explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Both seemed impossible to live with, but fascinating to read about.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: January 2014
15wookiebender
9. Interference: A Novel, Sue Burke
My sci-fi & fantasy bookgroup read the first in this duology, Semiosis, when it first came out and were impressed with the story and the writing. It is a tale of humans colonising the planet Pax. Each chapter is told by a different generation, and we see the humans slowly learn to fit into their new environment.
So when the second book came out, we jumped to return to Pax. This time, things have gone badly on Earth, with vast numbers of people wiped out and a draconian misogynistic society as a result. A scientific expedition is sent to Pax with a variety of people on board: some are political appointees, sent to get them the hell away from Earth, others are seeking to escape Earth, and some are actually just there for science.
They threaten to upset the delicate balance that is Pax.
Unfortunately, this was a fairly disjointed read, and I'm not sure there was much more to say about Pax. There were a lot of good ideas thrown up and then just forgotten about. AndStevland is just so over-powered and a Bamboo Sue, that the long chapter from his point of view was a bit of a trudge .
I'd still recommend Semiosis, but maybe think twice before reading this one.
***
BOOK ACQUIRED: February 2020
My sci-fi & fantasy bookgroup read the first in this duology, Semiosis, when it first came out and were impressed with the story and the writing. It is a tale of humans colonising the planet Pax. Each chapter is told by a different generation, and we see the humans slowly learn to fit into their new environment.
So when the second book came out, we jumped to return to Pax. This time, things have gone badly on Earth, with vast numbers of people wiped out and a draconian misogynistic society as a result. A scientific expedition is sent to Pax with a variety of people on board: some are political appointees, sent to get them the hell away from Earth, others are seeking to escape Earth, and some are actually just there for science.
They threaten to upset the delicate balance that is Pax.
Unfortunately, this was a fairly disjointed read, and I'm not sure there was much more to say about Pax. There were a lot of good ideas thrown up and then just forgotten about. And
I'd still recommend Semiosis, but maybe think twice before reading this one.
***
BOOK ACQUIRED: February 2020
16wookiebender
10. Every Word, Ellie Marney
This, the second book in the Australian YA series "Every", takes up soon after the first, Every Breath, with (James) Mycroft and Rachel Watts still recovering from the dramatic events at the end of book one. But suddenly Mycroft drops everything to go to London to help with the forensic investigation of an Australian conservator, linked to the theft of a First Folio from the Bodleian. The death of the man is too similar to the death of his parents for him to ignore. And where Mycroft goes, Rachel is not far behind.
Another good page turner, with lots of sexy snogging (they're teens, so it never goes beyond that), but I did get some plot points before Mycroft and Watts, and Mycroft's angst was laid on a bit thick this time, I felt. Still, I'm looking forward to book 3.
***1/2
BOOK ACQUIRED: November 2015
This, the second book in the Australian YA series "Every", takes up soon after the first, Every Breath, with (James) Mycroft and Rachel Watts still recovering from the dramatic events at the end of book one. But suddenly Mycroft drops everything to go to London to help with the forensic investigation of an Australian conservator, linked to the theft of a First Folio from the Bodleian. The death of the man is too similar to the death of his parents for him to ignore. And where Mycroft goes, Rachel is not far behind.
Another good page turner, with lots of sexy snogging (they're teens, so it never goes beyond that), but I did get some plot points before Mycroft and Watts, and Mycroft's angst was laid on a bit thick this time, I felt. Still, I'm looking forward to book 3.
***1/2
BOOK ACQUIRED: November 2015
17wookiebender
11. Heartstopper Volume 3, Alice Oseman
The third volume in Charlie & Nick's story. This time, Nick is having to deal with coming out to his friends and wider family; some of the damage done to Charlie by bullying in previous years is surfaced; and Charlie and Nick and a variety of friends are on a school trip to Paris.
Charlie & Nick have a lovely bunch of friends with them, I do like the extended characters. There's also a short comic at the end for Ella and Tao which is sweet.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: February 2020
The third volume in Charlie & Nick's story. This time, Nick is having to deal with coming out to his friends and wider family; some of the damage done to Charlie by bullying in previous years is surfaced; and Charlie and Nick and a variety of friends are on a school trip to Paris.
Charlie & Nick have a lovely bunch of friends with them, I do like the extended characters. There's also a short comic at the end for Ella and Tao which is sweet.
****
BOOK ACQUIRED: February 2020
18wookiebender
Well. This year has been a right roller coaster, hasn't it? I've been reading, albeit slowly since I'm not doing the daily commute and sitting on the train was my main reading time, but working-from-home doesn't seem to have given me that much extra time, somehow. Looks like I'll be on track to read 50 books this year, far short of 100.
But I'm very grateful that in this pandemic, I can work from home; Australia seems to be spared the worst of the virus (being an island at the bottom of the world really helps); and I'm hoping that everyone gets through this too.
Also grateful that work have given us a "community day" tomorrow, to reflect on all the recent racism issues. (I'm going to be making a cake and having my parents over for afternoon tea; and working on the blanket I'm crocheting for charity. That first one is because it's been hard to see them lately with all the chaos and social distancing; the second is mindfulness. And charity. And I'm drowning in granny squares, have to start sewing them into a blanket...)
Would be nice if I could get some reading done as well. :)
But I'm very grateful that in this pandemic, I can work from home; Australia seems to be spared the worst of the virus (being an island at the bottom of the world really helps); and I'm hoping that everyone gets through this too.
Also grateful that work have given us a "community day" tomorrow, to reflect on all the recent racism issues. (I'm going to be making a cake and having my parents over for afternoon tea; and working on the blanket I'm crocheting for charity. That first one is because it's been hard to see them lately with all the chaos and social distancing; the second is mindfulness. And charity. And I'm drowning in granny squares, have to start sewing them into a blanket...)
Would be nice if I could get some reading done as well. :)
