Sharp Words

The Number of the Beast, Red Planet, Time Enough for Love, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and Space Family Stone, Robert Heinlein. Own copies.
I’ve been feeling the need for some time to re-evaluate my opinions of Heinlein; hence the massive re-read of my collection of his novels. A blog post is fermenting and will soon be brewed enough to serve up.

The Gold Falcon and The Spirit Stone (own copies); The Shadow Isle (own copy, a re-read for 2009); and The Silver Mage (library book, first read + re-read) – Katharine Kerr.
Finally, the Deverry cycle has come to an end – and fairly serendipitously for me, since I finally bought the penultimate 2 books in the cycle to re-read, and then managed to get the very last book from the library. Kerr’s Deverry novels are surely one of the best fantasy series written, although the story drifted off a bit in the last couple. I found the story’s ‘conclusion’ a satisfactory one though, and I know I’ll re-read these books again, and again, and again.

Coraline, Neil Gaiman. Own copy, first read.
About time I got this really, and I decided to pick up the original version rather than the movie tie-in. A most excellent tale, and I need to see the film too.

The Whispering Mountain, Joan Aiken. Own copy.
This was a favourite of mine as a child (well, around the age of 11 or so), and my paperback fell apart many years ago. So when I spotted it on the library’s sale table, I pounced. (Weirdly, the librarian wanted to charge it as non-fiction until I explained it’s a children’s story…)  Joan Aiken was a fabulous writer of children’s fantasy with a humorous streak (best known for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase) , and since this one is set in Wales, I loved it even more.

The Truth, Terry Pratchett. Own copy.
I think I’m going to give up bothering to explain which I read the Discworld novels.   This one details how the printing press, and by extension, the newspaper, come to Ankh-Morpork – and hilarity ensues, of course.

Going Under, Justina Robson. Library book, first read.
An OK sci-fantasy. It’s a couple of books into a series, so it was hard for me to get into it. Intriguing enough, but I don’t know if I’d bother with the others.

Notes on a Scandal, Zoë Heller. Library book, first read.
I haven’t seen the film, but Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett still played the characters in my head as I read it (and were perfect, too). I was fascinated by this novel and by the complex central character of Barbara – whose reasons for doing things are not necessarily those she narrates. (Plus it was another tick on my list of Booker/Orange winners/nominees.)

The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson. Own copy, first read.
I had an hour to kill at the airport, waiting to collect visitors… and thankfully, out of the tiny selection of books in the newsagent, this was actually one I wanted to read. I don’t know if I’d consider it to be as good as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but it’s not far off. And it kept me reading till 3am.

Intervention and Jack the Bodiless, Julian May. Own copies.
I decided to start re-reading this series over Christmas because a) they’re damn fine SF novels, and b) a lot of the pivotal events take place in winter, with a backdrop of snow much like the one I could see out of my own window.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Own copy, first read.
This was a Christmas present from someone who knows my reading tastes very well, and I was extremely delighted to get it. I enjoyed it, too – and will be posting a review sometime in January, once I re-read it.

Traitors’ Gate, Kate Elliott. Library book, first read.
Another final-book-in-a-series that I managed to pick up in the library. (And like The Silver Mage, one person had read it before me – I wonder if it’s the same person, and who they are?) This trilogy is a lot more accessible than Elliott’s previous 7-book series, The Crown of Stars, but no less epic in its world-building and range of characters. Parts of it felt a bit rushed though, with events being skimmed over as if the writer was in a hurry to get to the end – although the end itself was very satisfying.

Total for December 2009: 18 + 2 re-reads

Ongoing total for 2009: 188 + 12  re-reads