Book Challenge 2011 Masterlist

[mothwing]

I have to try keeping closer tabs on my list. Most of the books I read during the first half of the year are on my Oyo - which died in November, which makes it harder to piece together what I've been reading. Though since the books I read and forget probably shouldn't count, anyway, this list works just as well. The bold titles are my top seven of this year's books. 

1. The Better Part of Valor, by Tanya Huff.
2. The Heart of Valor, by Tanya Huff. 
3. Valor's Trial, by Tanya Huff. 
4. An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, by John O'Farrel
5. How to be a Pirate, by Cressida Cowell. 
6. How to Speak Dragonese, by Cressida Cowell. 
7. Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett. 
8. The Name of the Wind, by Patrock Rothfuss. 
9. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle. 
10. America - The Book, by Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin and David Javerbaum. 
11. The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul, by Douglas Adams. 
12. Another Fine Myth, by Robert Asprin. 
13. Myth-conceptions, by Robert Asprin. 
14. Myth Directions, by Robert Asprin.
15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney.
16. Das Milgram-Experiment, by Stanley Milgram.
17. The Lucifer Effect - How Good People Turn Evil, by Philip Zimbardo.
18. The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss.
19. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
20. My Gender Workbook, by Kate Bornstein.
21. Die Lebensfahrt auf dem Meer der Welt - der Topos, by Christoph Hönig.
22. Unter Verdacht, by Joyce Carol Oates (Big Mouth and Ugly Girl).
23. Nichts: Was im Leben wichtig ist, by Janne Teller. (Nothing).
24. Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchett. 
25. Surpassing the Love of Men, by Lillian Faderman.
26. Reality is Broken, by Jane McGonigal.
27. All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Mensen and Joey John.
28. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson.
29. Unicorn Vengeance by Claire Delacroix.
30. How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!!!, by Neil Zawacki and James Dignan.
31. How to Train Your Dragon Book 7: How to Ride a Dragon's Storm, by Cressida Cowell. 
32. Spirit Fox by Mickey Zucker Reichert and Jennifer Wingert. 
33. Christmas Belles by Susan Carroll.
34. The Guild by Felicia Day.
35. Gallows Curse by Karen Maitland.
36. Heteronormativität und Homosexualitäten by Rainer Bartel.
37. Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser.
38. The Wave by Morton Rhue. 
39. Einsame Freundinnen? by Kirsten Ploetz.
40. An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain by John O'Farrell.
41. Snuff by Terry Pratchett.
42. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett.
43. Making Money, by Terry Pratchett.
44. Achtung Baby, by Michael Mittermeier.
45. Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater.
46. Sabriel, by Garth Nix.
47. Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende. 
48. North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell. 
49. Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett.
50. The Echo by Minette Walters. 

Half-assed statistics: 

	'09	'10	'11
Female authors	14	30	21
Male authors	36	36	29
Re-read books	18	09	11
New books	32	54	39

Comments

[krakelwok.livejournal.com]

Is Snuff any good? Inappropriate as that may sound, I'd like another few good books out of Pratchett's brain before it quits on his writing abilities. I really thought Going Postal was him in his Discworld-writing prime but the last quarter was noticeably lame. Then again, final climaxes have never been his forté as far as I'm concerned. Making Money, sadly, seemed like an imitation of Going Postal's good aspects.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I didn't like it much. The central issue (slavery) is handled heavy-handedly and is also rather foreseeable, which makes the crime plot tedious. Also, Terry Pratchett still cannot write small children, so while the domestic episodes between Sam and Sam are cute, they're also not very convincing. Lady Sybil is awesome, though.

Making Money and Going Postal are pretty much the same book, aren't they? They're great for train rides because it's never sad if you have to stop reading. I still like his nineties books best, right up to Carpe Jugulum, when things started to go downhill (with the very notable exception of the books for children he's written after '98) for my taste. Not for the climatic endings, though I liked his way of tying up the endings of his main plots along with a framing metanarrative in the end in his nineties' books. I wish he hadn't abandoned those.

[ysilme]

What does the boldening of the titles mean?

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

They're my personal top 7 of the year - it was a mediocre year all around.