2012 books
Jun. 3rd, 2012 01:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llcoolvadA new month means a new updated books list!
Books Read 2012
JAN
1. The Fifth Witness, Michael Connelly
2. Deception, Jonathan Kellerman (library kindle)
3. Eleven, Patricia Reilly Giff (library kindle)
4. The Silent Girl, Tess Gerritsen (audio)
5. Dead Sleep, Greg Iles (audio)
FEB
6. Alone, Lisa Gardner (audio)
7. Gideon's Sword, Preston, Child
8. The Zero Game, Brad Meltzer
9. Taken, Robert Crais
10 Dead Wood, Danin Amore
11. L.A. Outlaws, T. Jefferson Parker
MAR
12. Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, Jennette Fulda
13. Pronto, Elmore Leonard (first Raylan Givens)
14. Paranoia, Joseph Finder
15. Riding the Rap, Elmore Leonard (second Raylan Givens)
16. Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes
APR
17. The Stainless Steel Rat, Harry Harrison (audio)
18. Aphrodite, Russell Andrews (audio)
19. Fire in the Hole, Elmore Leonard (short collection)
20. First Flight, Mary Robinette Kowal (short)
MAY
21. Raylan, Elmore Leonard (most recent Raylan Givens): Fun. Pretty much mirrors the tv series, although some of the players are different. Scary chicks, wry Raylan, good times. Hard to go wrong with Elmore Leonard, really.
22. The Lock Artist, Steve Hamilton (audio): Excellent. The main character is a young man who doesn't speak. Had a (really awful) trauma as a kid, stopped speaking, and eventually ends up a genius safecracker. Then a bunch of stuff happens, as stuff does, and he has to deal. Very interesting perspective, the narrator who doesn't speak. Not gimmicky, though. Just good.
23. The Jaguar, T. Jefferson Parker: The son of the character from L.A. Outlaws gets his own title. Late one night his home is invaded and his pregnant girlfriend is taken hostage by South American drug lords (you know, the usual). They're looking mostly for respect and some money, and since the girlfriend is a semi-famous musician, they're also looking for a song. Anyway, it's much better than it sounds. Recommended!
24. Daemon, Daniel Suarez (audio): Paranoid techno-thriller with cyber hijinks and sorta heavy-handed musings on The Directions That Society Will Follow. There are VERY LONG PASSAGES (in audio, they are very long. When reading, one can skip ahead) describing video game play and game design and more game play and hacking a router and other things that just sorta get LONG. Basic plot is crazy Steve Jobsian character dies, but instead of just becoming Jesus to followers instead becomes Zombie Jesus and creates an entire new world out of computer viruses and disenfranchised youth and convicted felons. What is his motivation? We really only find out in the last few minutes of volume one. I picked up volume two, because jeez, what comes next? I hope it's not quite so much game playing! Got me through a bunch of miles, though, so it's all good.
25. Cold Shot to the Heart, Wallace Stroby: I am apparently into robber girlz, lately, as that was the main reason I chose to read this one. Very good, very noir. I am ignoring the unsatisfactory cat outcome at the end (I had hopes for a happy ending there). If this becomes a series I'll definitely read the next one.
Overall I'd say this was a quality month. Daemon dragged a bit, but perhaps I would have loved it if I were reading it instead of listening to it. There really are a lot of passages where video game playing is described. Trust me, it's even less fun to read about someone playing a game than you'd think! But I do love me an epic techno-thriller, so I'm all in.
Have a couple things already started for this month. TV is over for a while, so I should get a bunch more reading done, I'd think. I need to find some more scandinavian murder mysteries, also. Nothing says summer reading like dreary cold landscapes with brutal killers and alcoholic policemen. YAY!
Books Read 2012
JAN
1. The Fifth Witness, Michael Connelly
2. Deception, Jonathan Kellerman (library kindle)
3. Eleven, Patricia Reilly Giff (library kindle)
4. The Silent Girl, Tess Gerritsen (audio)
5. Dead Sleep, Greg Iles (audio)
FEB
6. Alone, Lisa Gardner (audio)
7. Gideon's Sword, Preston, Child
8. The Zero Game, Brad Meltzer
9. Taken, Robert Crais
10 Dead Wood, Danin Amore
11. L.A. Outlaws, T. Jefferson Parker
MAR
12. Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, Jennette Fulda
13. Pronto, Elmore Leonard (first Raylan Givens)
14. Paranoia, Joseph Finder
15. Riding the Rap, Elmore Leonard (second Raylan Givens)
16. Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes
APR
17. The Stainless Steel Rat, Harry Harrison (audio)
18. Aphrodite, Russell Andrews (audio)
19. Fire in the Hole, Elmore Leonard (short collection)
20. First Flight, Mary Robinette Kowal (short)
MAY
21. Raylan, Elmore Leonard (most recent Raylan Givens): Fun. Pretty much mirrors the tv series, although some of the players are different. Scary chicks, wry Raylan, good times. Hard to go wrong with Elmore Leonard, really.
22. The Lock Artist, Steve Hamilton (audio): Excellent. The main character is a young man who doesn't speak. Had a (really awful) trauma as a kid, stopped speaking, and eventually ends up a genius safecracker. Then a bunch of stuff happens, as stuff does, and he has to deal. Very interesting perspective, the narrator who doesn't speak. Not gimmicky, though. Just good.
23. The Jaguar, T. Jefferson Parker: The son of the character from L.A. Outlaws gets his own title. Late one night his home is invaded and his pregnant girlfriend is taken hostage by South American drug lords (you know, the usual). They're looking mostly for respect and some money, and since the girlfriend is a semi-famous musician, they're also looking for a song. Anyway, it's much better than it sounds. Recommended!
24. Daemon, Daniel Suarez (audio): Paranoid techno-thriller with cyber hijinks and sorta heavy-handed musings on The Directions That Society Will Follow. There are VERY LONG PASSAGES (in audio, they are very long. When reading, one can skip ahead) describing video game play and game design and more game play and hacking a router and other things that just sorta get LONG. Basic plot is crazy Steve Jobsian character dies, but instead of just becoming Jesus to followers instead becomes Zombie Jesus and creates an entire new world out of computer viruses and disenfranchised youth and convicted felons. What is his motivation? We really only find out in the last few minutes of volume one. I picked up volume two, because jeez, what comes next? I hope it's not quite so much game playing! Got me through a bunch of miles, though, so it's all good.
25. Cold Shot to the Heart, Wallace Stroby: I am apparently into robber girlz, lately, as that was the main reason I chose to read this one. Very good, very noir. I am ignoring the unsatisfactory cat outcome at the end (I had hopes for a happy ending there). If this becomes a series I'll definitely read the next one.
Overall I'd say this was a quality month. Daemon dragged a bit, but perhaps I would have loved it if I were reading it instead of listening to it. There really are a lot of passages where video game playing is described. Trust me, it's even less fun to read about someone playing a game than you'd think! But I do love me an epic techno-thriller, so I'm all in.
Have a couple things already started for this month. TV is over for a while, so I should get a bunch more reading done, I'd think. I need to find some more scandinavian murder mysteries, also. Nothing says summer reading like dreary cold landscapes with brutal killers and alcoholic policemen. YAY!
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no subject
Date: 2012-06-03 03:18 pm (UTC)I used to groove on Daniel Keys Moran, who had a similar style. I found a lot of the smart-ass appeal that I appreciated as a teenager was gone when I re-read them in my twenties. I've avoided re-reading the Stainless Steel Rat for fear the same would be true. I really liked them, and want to continue to remember them fondly. What do you think?
no subject
Date: 2012-06-05 05:10 am (UTC)The reader was good, I listened while I was walking and found myself giggling quite often. I think it did hold up, although maybe it was less clever than I had remembered it. Still, it was fun to go back to that universe. James Bolivar DiGriz was quite the right bastard, really, and the reader is properly pompous. I'm not sure if I had a good experience because I was listening to a skilled reader, or if it was indeed the books that kept me entertained.
I never read Daniel Keys Moran. It really is the worst when you revisit old loves and they aren't at all what you remember, though. Like going back to a childhood home and finding everything is much smaller than you remembered.
Audible has previews of all their books on their site, if that helps.
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_3?asin=B0041M5MRE&qid=1338872928&sr=1-3 (sample under the image)