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Books roundup, 2012 edition
And the end of the year has arrived. The tally
Books Read 2012
JAN
1. The Fifth Witness, Michael Connelly, Crime
2. Deception, Jonathan Kellerman (library kindle), Crime
3. Eleven, Patricia Reilly Giff (library kindle), YA
4. The Silent Girl, Tess Gerritsen (audio), Crime
5. Dead Sleep, Greg Iles (audio), Crime
FEB
6. Alone, Lisa Gardner (audio), Crime
7. Gideon's Sword, Preston & Child, Thriller
8. The Zero Game, Brad Meltzer, Thriller
9. Taken, Robert Crais, Crime
10. Dead Wood, Danin Amore, Crime
11. L.A. Outlaws, T. Jefferson Parker, Crime
MAR
12. Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, Jennette Fulda, Memoir
13. Pronto, Elmore Leonard, Crime
14. Paranoia, Joseph Finder, Thriller
15. Riding the Rap, Elmore Leonard, Crime
16. Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes, Non-Fic
APR
17. The Stainless Steel Rat, Harry Harrison (audio), SF
18. Aphrodite, Russell Andrews (audio), Thriller
19. Fire in the Hole, Elmore Leonard, Crime
20. First Flight, Mary Robinette Kowal, SF
MAY
21. Raylan, Elmore Leonard, Crime
22. The Lock Artist, Steve Hamilton (audio), Crime
23. The Jaguar, T. Jefferson Parker, Crime
24. Daemon, Daniel Suarez (audio), SF/Thriller
JUNE
26. Freedom™, Daniel Suarez (audio), SF/Thriller
27. The Book of Man, Barry Graham, LitFic
28. The Tin Roof Blowdown, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
29. Crusader's Cross, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
JULY
30. Pegasus Descending, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
31. Swan Peak, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
32. Hide, Lisa Gardner (audio), Crime
33. The Skinny Rules, Bob Harper, Non-Fic
AUGUST
34. The Preacher, Camilla Lackberg, Crime
35. Sweetheart, Chelsea Cain (audio), Crime
37. The Glass Rainbow, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
SEPTEMBER
38. Dark Tangos, Lewis Shiner. Fiction
39. The End of Overeating, David A. Kessler, MD, Non-Fic
40. Creole Belle, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
41. Jump Cut, Lise McClendon, Crime
OCTOBER
42. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (audio), Crime
43. Phantom, Jo Nesbo, Crime
44. Tomatoland, Barry Estabrook, Non-Fic
NOVEMBER
45. One Good Turn, Kate Atkinson (audio), Crime.
46. Big City, Bad Blood, Sean Chervover (audio), Crime
47. Mission Flats, William Landay, Crime
48. Victims, Jonathan Kellerman, Crime
DECEMBER
49. Broken Harbor, Tana French, Crime. French is a master. If you admire crime fiction with a dark tinge at all, every word she writes is worth your time. Seriously. Just go buy her entire body of work right now. I won't get these in audio form because I so enjoy the act of reading her. What the hell is it about Irish writers? They're all so good.
50. Cold Days, Jim Butcher, SF. The most recent in the Harry Dresden series. Harry's back from the dead and has to save all of Chicago from a giant explosion and some other bad stuff. He's got some of his usual pals, and he has some new friends and new obligations both to help and hinder him.
He's also got a bunch more skills and powers available to him. The series is now veering dangerously close to Laurell K. Hamiltonesque "solve problems by giving main character a new power" territory, but Butcher is a much better writer than Hamilton, and is pulling it off so far. But beware, Jim! Don't rely on that crutch. Also? Too many faeries. But ok, it's urban fantasy. I guess that comes with the territory. At least they all don't have to sleep with Dresden to get out of a scene.
51. The Black Box, Michael Connelly, Crime. The latest Harry Bosch. Harry has been working cold cases in Open Unsolved, and he revisits one from his own past, from the LA riots in the early 90s. He's in trouble with his new boss for a really dumb reason, and he's got to survive an internal affairs investigation in addition to working on the case. Good as always. My only complaint is that all the Bosch stories feel short, lately. Maybe Connelly needs to put Bosch to bed.
52. The Hot Rock, Donald E. Westlake. Comedy, Crime. Written in 1970, this is the first appearance of Dortmunder and is pretty fun. Dortmunder is a thief, and is the planner for heists. He runs with a regular cast of miscreants, all who have specific jobs. Some are lock guys, some do the driving, etc. In this case, Dortmunder is hired to steal an emerald for a small African country, which is where the emerald comes from. They end up having to steal it several times before it takes, and so begins Dortmunder's reputation as being cursed.
Apparently the movie casts Robert Redford in the Dortmunder role, and since I happened to look that up when I started reading the book, I had it in my head the whole time. To me, Dortmunder will forever be Robert Redford. Apparently he was also portrayed by George C. Scott and Paul LeMat and Christopher Lambert and Herbert Knaup and Martin Lawrence, so I guess I should probably get Redford out of my head. Cute trivia I found at Wikipedia: The IAV Dortmunder is shown to be the name of an Alliance Capital Cruiser on the television show Firefly.
_____________________
Hit my 52. I am in the middle of two audio books, but didn't quite finish. Goal for new year: read more.
Crime: 33
SF: 5
Non-Fic: 4
Other: 10 (thriller, memoir, litfic, ya)
Audio: 19/52 (pretty big percentage!)
Best books I read this year: Broken Harbor, Tana French; Dark Tangos, Lewis Shiner; Tomatoland, Barry Estabrook; Tin Roof Blowdown, James Lee Burke; The Lock Artist, Steve Hamilton.
I also enjoyed all of the Elmore Leonard books and, oddly, the two Daniel Suarez, but maybe only in audio for those. I get flashes of those two more than anything else. Maybe because the world was pretty vivid and the audio books were pretty long. I spent a lot of hours in that world!
Books Read 2012
JAN
1. The Fifth Witness, Michael Connelly, Crime
2. Deception, Jonathan Kellerman (library kindle), Crime
3. Eleven, Patricia Reilly Giff (library kindle), YA
4. The Silent Girl, Tess Gerritsen (audio), Crime
5. Dead Sleep, Greg Iles (audio), Crime
FEB
6. Alone, Lisa Gardner (audio), Crime
7. Gideon's Sword, Preston & Child, Thriller
8. The Zero Game, Brad Meltzer, Thriller
9. Taken, Robert Crais, Crime
10. Dead Wood, Danin Amore, Crime
11. L.A. Outlaws, T. Jefferson Parker, Crime
MAR
12. Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, Jennette Fulda, Memoir
13. Pronto, Elmore Leonard, Crime
14. Paranoia, Joseph Finder, Thriller
15. Riding the Rap, Elmore Leonard, Crime
16. Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes, Non-Fic
APR
17. The Stainless Steel Rat, Harry Harrison (audio), SF
18. Aphrodite, Russell Andrews (audio), Thriller
19. Fire in the Hole, Elmore Leonard, Crime
20. First Flight, Mary Robinette Kowal, SF
MAY
21. Raylan, Elmore Leonard, Crime
22. The Lock Artist, Steve Hamilton (audio), Crime
23. The Jaguar, T. Jefferson Parker, Crime
24. Daemon, Daniel Suarez (audio), SF/Thriller
JUNE
26. Freedom™, Daniel Suarez (audio), SF/Thriller
27. The Book of Man, Barry Graham, LitFic
28. The Tin Roof Blowdown, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
29. Crusader's Cross, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
JULY
30. Pegasus Descending, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
31. Swan Peak, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
32. Hide, Lisa Gardner (audio), Crime
33. The Skinny Rules, Bob Harper, Non-Fic
AUGUST
34. The Preacher, Camilla Lackberg, Crime
35. Sweetheart, Chelsea Cain (audio), Crime
37. The Glass Rainbow, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
SEPTEMBER
38. Dark Tangos, Lewis Shiner. Fiction
39. The End of Overeating, David A. Kessler, MD, Non-Fic
40. Creole Belle, James Lee Burke (audio), Crime
41. Jump Cut, Lise McClendon, Crime
OCTOBER
42. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (audio), Crime
43. Phantom, Jo Nesbo, Crime
44. Tomatoland, Barry Estabrook, Non-Fic
NOVEMBER
45. One Good Turn, Kate Atkinson (audio), Crime.
46. Big City, Bad Blood, Sean Chervover (audio), Crime
47. Mission Flats, William Landay, Crime
48. Victims, Jonathan Kellerman, Crime
DECEMBER
49. Broken Harbor, Tana French, Crime. French is a master. If you admire crime fiction with a dark tinge at all, every word she writes is worth your time. Seriously. Just go buy her entire body of work right now. I won't get these in audio form because I so enjoy the act of reading her. What the hell is it about Irish writers? They're all so good.
50. Cold Days, Jim Butcher, SF. The most recent in the Harry Dresden series. Harry's back from the dead and has to save all of Chicago from a giant explosion and some other bad stuff. He's got some of his usual pals, and he has some new friends and new obligations both to help and hinder him.
He's also got a bunch more skills and powers available to him. The series is now veering dangerously close to Laurell K. Hamiltonesque "solve problems by giving main character a new power" territory, but Butcher is a much better writer than Hamilton, and is pulling it off so far. But beware, Jim! Don't rely on that crutch. Also? Too many faeries. But ok, it's urban fantasy. I guess that comes with the territory. At least they all don't have to sleep with Dresden to get out of a scene.
51. The Black Box, Michael Connelly, Crime. The latest Harry Bosch. Harry has been working cold cases in Open Unsolved, and he revisits one from his own past, from the LA riots in the early 90s. He's in trouble with his new boss for a really dumb reason, and he's got to survive an internal affairs investigation in addition to working on the case. Good as always. My only complaint is that all the Bosch stories feel short, lately. Maybe Connelly needs to put Bosch to bed.
52. The Hot Rock, Donald E. Westlake. Comedy, Crime. Written in 1970, this is the first appearance of Dortmunder and is pretty fun. Dortmunder is a thief, and is the planner for heists. He runs with a regular cast of miscreants, all who have specific jobs. Some are lock guys, some do the driving, etc. In this case, Dortmunder is hired to steal an emerald for a small African country, which is where the emerald comes from. They end up having to steal it several times before it takes, and so begins Dortmunder's reputation as being cursed.
Apparently the movie casts Robert Redford in the Dortmunder role, and since I happened to look that up when I started reading the book, I had it in my head the whole time. To me, Dortmunder will forever be Robert Redford. Apparently he was also portrayed by George C. Scott and Paul LeMat and Christopher Lambert and Herbert Knaup and Martin Lawrence, so I guess I should probably get Redford out of my head. Cute trivia I found at Wikipedia: The IAV Dortmunder is shown to be the name of an Alliance Capital Cruiser on the television show Firefly.
_____________________
Hit my 52. I am in the middle of two audio books, but didn't quite finish. Goal for new year: read more.
Crime: 33
SF: 5
Non-Fic: 4
Other: 10 (thriller, memoir, litfic, ya)
Audio: 19/52 (pretty big percentage!)
Best books I read this year: Broken Harbor, Tana French; Dark Tangos, Lewis Shiner; Tomatoland, Barry Estabrook; Tin Roof Blowdown, James Lee Burke; The Lock Artist, Steve Hamilton.
I also enjoyed all of the Elmore Leonard books and, oddly, the two Daniel Suarez, but maybe only in audio for those. I get flashes of those two more than anything else. Maybe because the world was pretty vivid and the audio books were pretty long. I spent a lot of hours in that world!