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Fifty for 2009; Or: What are you reading?
Topic Started: 9 Mar 2009, 08:41 PM (1,218 Views)
Xisor
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Corporal
Hello one and all. I'm new to these parts, but it's a common theme for most forums and I see this is distinctly lacking (save for the engrossing, if poorly normalised, 'Read a good book lately?' thread below).

Now, the trick is: Fifty books in 2009. They can be textbooks, they can be novellas, they can be novels, they can be cookbooks. Whatever. My personal policy is only to list books I've seriously digested the bulk of (so reading a chapter from a textbook won't cut it for my list), and I cound short story anthologies as one. Omnibuses (like, say, Eisenhorn), however, I'd count as three books.

Now, here's my list so far, with brief updates!

A quick note on scale: I try not to be too generous (so if there's a 10/10 here, sell you're house and buy them all), but if a book is 'good' and generally without complaint (containing a few good/interesting ideas) then it'll likely get a 6/10. A 5/10 is a very 'meh' book, not bad but not great. 7/10 is one I'd class as 'good'. 8 would be something really remarkable, with a 9/10 being probably my favourite book, ever. (I realise my 9's are likely to be highly biased towards my preferences, hence Farrer's Legacy probably gets a 9/10)


01. Betrayal by Aaron Allston 6/10
02. Wine of Dreams by Brian Craig 7/10
03. I am Legend by Richard Matheson 7/10
04. Nagash the Sorceror by Mike Lee 6//10
05. Malekith by Gav Thorpe 7/10
06. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (READING)
07. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (READING)
08. Bloodlines by Kathy Traviss 3/10
09. Cat Amongst the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (READING)
10. Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn 6/10
11. Dark Apostle by Anthony Reynolds (READING)
12. Tales of Heresy edited by Kyme & Lindsey 7/10
13. Honourkeeper by Nick Kyme (READING)



9/1/9: Finished Wine and started Legend
27/1/9: Finished Legend and Nagash, midway through Maleky & Pride whilst started Cities and Bloodlines.
12/2/9: Finished Malekith, started reading Cat Amongst the Pigeons and working through the rest.
4/3/9: Finished Bloodlines and started two more!
9/3/9: Finished Outbound Flight and Tales of Heresy. The former was highly enjoyable. The latter was terrific. It includes the short story The Last Church which tremendous. :) Started Honourkeeper, I do enjoy Kyme as an author, hopefully this should be some more good fantasy from the man.

Anyhow, I'd be damn keen to hear/read/see what everyone else has been up to this year! I managed a solid 41 for 2008, ffity ought not be a major issue!
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Brambleten
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good call. i only posted the other thread as i had nothing better to do :P
i'll just go back as far as i can remember, as i cant remember most of this year so far
1.Battlestar Galactica: Unity by Steven Harper 6/10
2. The Golem's Eye (Bartimaeus) by Jonathan Stroud 8/10
3. Double Eagle by Dan Abbnett 10/10
4,5,6. Eisenhorn Omnibus by Dan Abnett 10/10
7. Traitor General by Dan Abnett 9/10
8. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell 8/10
9. Enemy of the Gods by Bernard Cornwell 8/10
10. Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell 8/10
11. Rebel by Bernard Cornwell 9/10
12. Copperhead by Bernard Cornwell 9/10
13 The Bloody Ground (think thats it anyway) by Bernard Cornwell 9/10
14. Battle Flag by Bernard Cornwell 9/10
15. Innocent Mage by Karren Miller 7/10
16. Awakened Mage by Karren Miller 7/10
17.The One Kingdom by Sean Davis 6/10
18. The Isle of Battle by Sean Davis 7/10
19. The Shadow Road by Sean Davis 6/10
20. Sisterhood of the Blue Storm (Book 4 of the Orokon) by Tom Arden 4/10
21. Empress of the Endless Dream (Book 5 of the Orokon) by Tom Arden 6/10
22. Guardians of the Forest by Graham McNeill (again) 8/10
23. Immediate Action by Andy Mcnabb (again) 9/10
24. Blackout by Chris Ryan 8/10
25. Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell 8/10
26. Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell 9/10
27. Heretic by Bernard Cornwell 9/10
28. Ark Angel (Alex Rider) by Anthony Horowitz 7/10
29. Scorpia (Alex Rider) by Anthony Horowitz 8/10
30. Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz 7/10
31. Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz 7/10
32, 33, 34. Hawk & Fisher 2: Fear and Loathing in Haven by Simon R. Green 8/10
35. Hellforged by Ben Counter 6.5/10
36. Beyond the Blue Moon by Simon R. Green 9/10
37. The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings 10/10
38, 39, 40. Gotrek & Felix: The first omnibus by William King (re-read) 8.5/10
41. Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell 10/10
42. Corsair: The Adventures of Hector Lynch by Tim Severin 8/10
43. BattleAxe by Sara Douglass 9/10
44. Gardens of the moon by Steve Erikson 10/10
45. Enchanter by Sara Douglass 9/10
46. The Magician's Apprentice by Trudi Canavan 7/10
47. Deadhouse Gates by Steve Erikson 9/10
48. Rides a dread Legion by Raymond E. Feist 8.5/10
49, 50, 51. Gotrek & Felix: The Second omnibus by William King (re-read) 8/10
52, 53, 54, 55. Star Trek: Rihannsu - the bloodwing voyages by Diane Duane 8/10
56. Star Trek: Rihannsu - the empty chair by Diane Duane 8/10
57. Star Wars: Order 66 by Karen Traviss 9/10
58-63. Ciaphas Cain - Hero of the imperium by Sandy Mitchell 10/10
64-66. The Grey Knights Omnibus by Ben Counter 8/10
67-70. The Saint (Gaunt's Ghosts) by Dan Abnett 10/10
71-73. The Vampire Wars Trilogy by Steven Savile 9/10
74-78. The Inquisition war omnibus by Ian Watson 7/10
79. Star Wars: Death Star - Michael Reaves and Steve Perry 9/10
80. My England Years by Sir Bobby Charlton 7/10
81. His Last command - Dan Abnett (re-read) 9/10
82. Defenders of Ulthuan - Graham McNeill (re-read) 6/10
83. Star Wars: Millennium Falcon - James Luceno 8/10
84. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast - Aaron Allston 6/10
85. Heldenhammer - Graham McNeill 9/10
86. Memories of Ice by Steve Erikson 9/10
87. The Children of Hurin - J.R.R. Tolkien 8/10
89. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (re-read) 9/10
90-94. Blackhearts - The Omnibus by Nathan Long 10/10
95. Malekith by Gav Thorpe 9/10
96. Temeraire by Naomi Novik 10/10
97. Reiksguard by Richard Williams 8/10
98. Nagash the Sorcerer by Mike Lee 6/10
99. Buccaneer - A Hector Lynch Novel by Tim Severin 7/10
100. Jarka Ruus by Terry Brooks 8/10
101. The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks 7/10
102. Eldest by Christopher Paolini (re-read) 8/10
103. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (re-read) 7/10
104-106. The Space Wolf Omnibus by William King 10/10
107. Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell 8/10
108. Cain's last stand by Sandy Mitchell 7/10 good but pathetic ending really
109. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks 10/10

currently reading and read within the past week:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (re-read)
The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell
Cain's last stand by Sandy Mitchell
The Space Wolf Omnibus by William King
Brothers of the Snake by Dan Abnett
Mechanicum by Graham McNeill
Fallen Angels by Mike Lee
The Highway Code by B.Oring
Edited by Brambleten, 18 Aug 2009, 04:43 PM.
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WiganUltra
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Decent idea.

Surprised that you're reading several books at once. Especially novels. I would only ever read one at a time.

My reading so far this year. Erm,

1) The World According To Clarkson III - Jeremy Clarkson


Lol :) Been a fair while since I've read a good story.
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Vergo
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Hmmm, well, i only know what ive read since the start of this year due to needing a new bookcase, so i have a nice stack of read/to read books

Lets see.

Sharpe's Eagle, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe's Gold, Bernard Cornwell
The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell (I guess i got hooked on him due to Sharpe...)
The Triumph of Ceasar, Steven Saylor
Catalina's Riddle, Steven Saylor (cant go wrong with Detectives in ancient Rome)
Rubicon, again from Steven Saylor

Armoured Crusader, The Biography of Major-General Sir Percy 'Hobo' Hobart, by Kenneth Macksey (awesome read, if i can recommend one book, this one would be it... I think)
So Few Got Through, Lieut.-Col Martin Lindsay (Gordon Highlanders) (book published in 1946, t is way cool)
Soldier of Orange, Erik Hazelhoff Roelofzema (dutch resistance fighter) (also, one of the few books in dutch in this list)

Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R.Tolkien

And currently im working on:

Neurenberg conversations, Leon Goldsohn
Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

(sorry if i seem to be bragging)
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Brambleten
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just finished book number 20, so im 2/5s the way through my 50 for the year :)
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Burnie
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Well...

1. Only in death, Dan Abnett
2. Mechanicum, Graham McNeill
3. In Good Company, Gary McKay
4. Day VFR syllabus for flying school (Well it was a book and I read it all!)
5. Chicken soup for the soul
6. Titanicus, Dan Abnett
7. Imperial infantryman's uplifting primer.

Think that's about all for this year, not as good an account as it could've been
Edited by Burnie, 5 Apr 2009, 09:30 PM.
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☺Vee
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Hmm... 50 would be great, but I seriously wonder if I could make a decent run at it, considering I've lost 3 months of the year so far. :) It's worth a shot, though.

Guide:

Strikethough = Finished, Bold = Reading, Italics = Queued.

1. Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley
2. The Rise & Fall of The Great Empires by Andrew Taylor
3. Watchmen by Alan Moore
4. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
5. Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
6. Bloodheir by Brian Ruckley
7. Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson
8. House of Chains by Steven Erikson
9. Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
10. The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson
11. Night of Knives by Ian C. Esselmont
12. Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson
13. Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esselmont
14. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
15. Toll of the Hounds by Steven Erikson
16. Games of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
17. 1632 by Eric Flint
18. 1633 by Eric Flint

Finished: 12 Reading: 2 Queued: 4

I don't know if you'd count The Watchmen graphic novel, but I do remember reading it this year. ;) I guess I should set my ideal goal at 30 and anything beyond that is a bonus. School is really getting in the way.
Edited by Vee, 12 Sep 2009, 04:12 PM.
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Brambleten
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if textbooks count, i'd say that Watchmen counts
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chromedog
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I've only read Mechanicum (The only HH novel I've bothered to finish, and one of 6 BL novels that I'll keep) and I'm reading 'Black Man' (13 for the yanks) by Richard Morgan so far.

That said, i read I am legend back in the 80s at school. I was forced to read Jane Austen, Dickens and shakespeare at school, and loathe them all equally - Having read most of their works, and still remembering most of them, I have no real nead nor desire to re-read them.

I'm lucky if I can find 6 books per year that will hold my interest. I can't stomach most fantasy - and most SF is of a similar pedigree. I have read most of the classics, and there are the odd non-fiction works I will read, but I'm very picky.
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Mortare
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Cain's Last Stand
Mechanicum
Joint Force Harrier
Untold books on the rules of engagement under the law of armed conflict

Unfortunately the last one takes up most of my reading time. Got through 15 of my own personal reading in the last 10 months of last year though
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ice
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good to see everyone reading some books! as for me I've read a few so far this year, mad possible by the many trips to calgary i've made this year (8 hour drive there)
Done:
Mechanicum
Battle for the abyss
Lord of the rings- all three
Brothers of the snake
watchmen
Space Wolf
Diamond dogs, turquoise days (awesome read)
The volunteer
World war z

To Read:
Ragnars claw (half done)
Grey hunter
All the Gaunts ghosts books (i think there's 9?)
Silmarillion
titanicus


Those are what I've read and have to read so far this year! I hope to add to the pile of "to read" soon(getting tired of BL, only just a little:) )
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alextheartist
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So far this year i have read:

(in no particular order)

Alistair Maclean:
The dark crusader
The golden rendezvous
The satan bug
Horus Rising
False Gods
Theresa Breslin: The Medici Seal
Eva Ibbotisan: The Star of Kazan
Banksy: Wall and peice (ok so not that many words :P)
John Grisham: The rainmaker
The entire 1st year of Ultimate Xmen (i have it in graphic novel form)

In the process of reading The pelican breif by John Grisham
Prehaps forgotten a few, but that is the majority :P

Alex
Edited by alextheartist, 26 Mar 2009, 04:31 PM.
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Brambleten
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The Red Hood
well, thats me half way to 50 :D
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☺The Antipope
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chromedog
22 Mar 2009, 09:14 AM
That said, i read I am legend back in the 80s at school. I was forced to read Jane Austen, Dickens and shakespeare at school, and loathe them all equally - Having read most of their works, and still remembering most of them, I have no real nead nor desire to re-read them.
The trouble with reading Shakespeare in school is you get dead-head kids who aren't intersted stumbling over language that isn't adequately explained to them. Also he didn't prose, he wrote scripts, the only way to see Shakespeare and be interested fully IMO is to see it performed.

I'm going through the Ian Fleming 'James Bond' novels for the first time at the minute. Just put down 'Dr No', now reading 'Moonraker'. I'm surprised by how excellent his style is, but then I Bond love in almost any form. Except 'Octopussy', bad, bad film.

I also had a weird Black Library spurt and read all the Gaunt books in maybe two weeks, then all Eisenhorn and Ravenor in the following two. So fairer to say, a Dan Abnett spurt. I'll easy make 50 for the year, I must have read 30 books this year already.
Edited by The Antipope, 6 Apr 2009, 12:53 AM.
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Art Is Resistance
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My List (So Far) of what I want to read / have on the shelf waiting to be read:

15 Hours - 40k
Heldenhammer - WFB
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrel - Susannah Clarke
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
The Dawkins Delusion - various
My Boring [arse] Life - Kevin Smith
Contract - Simon Spurrier
The Terror - Dan Simmons
The Separation - Christopher Priest
The Prestige - Christoper Priest
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
1914-18 The History Of The First World War - David Stevenson
The Sound of No Hands Clapping - Toby Young
The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak
Pies & Prejudice - Stuart Maconie
Where Did It All Go Right? Ian Lee
Set the Wiffle Lever to Full! Bob Fischer
The Complete BONE - Jeff Smith
Black Butterfly - Mark Gatiss

So that's the first 20 books....!
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Xisor
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Corporal
What am I reading?


01. Betrayal by Aaron Allston 6/10
02. Wine of Dreams by Brian Craig 7/10
03. I am Legend by Richard Matheson 7/10
04. Nagash the Sorceror by Mike Lee 6//10
05. Malekith by Gav Thorpe 7/10
06. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (READING)
07. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (READING)
08. Bloodlines by Kathy Traviss 3/10
09. Cat Amongst the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (READING)
10. Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn 6/10
11. Dark Apostle by Anthony Reynolds (READING)
12. Tales of Heresy edited by Kyme & Lindsey 7/10
13. Honourkeeper by Nick Kyme 6/10
14. Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock 8/10
15. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells 8/10
16. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding (READING)
17. Tempest by Troy Denning (READING)
18. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (READING)
19. Extraordinary Engines edited by Nick Gever (READING)
20. Survivor's Quest by Timothy Zahn (READING)


9/1/9: Finished Wine and started Legend
27/1/9: Finished Legend and Nagash, midway through Maleky & Pride whilst started Cities and Bloodlines.
12/2/9: Finished Malekith, started reading Cat Amongst the Pigeons and working through the rest.
4/3/9: Finished Bloodlines and started two more!
9/3/9: Finished Outbound Flight and Tales of Heresy. The former was highly enjoyable. The latter was terrific. It includes the short story The Last Church which tremendous. :) Started Honourkeeper, I do enjoy Kyme as an author, hopefully this should be some more good fantasy from the man.
13/4/9: Finished Honourkeeper, War of the Worlds and Behold the Man. Started reading a fair few books too. Hopefully get on with Tempest and The Time Machine quickly enough. Lots of work to be done so likely lots to read too. WotW and BtM were obviously terrific books, thoroughly enjoyable. Honourkeeper was a fine book. Not awesome or tremendous or anything too brilliant, but it was a decent, solid book with many interesting and fun points.
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Brambleten
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The Red Hood
ive just realized that by reading these books over the Easter weekend, i've managed to read roughly 2500 pages. not bad for 4 days reading alongside other things
the books:
Hawk & Fisher 2: Fear and Loathing in Haven by Simon R. Green (around 650)
Hellforged by Ben Counter (roughly 400)
Beyond the Blue Moon by Simon R. Green (about 550)
The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings (just over 900)
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ice
Warrant Officer Second Class
wow guys! tons of reading going on! brambleten that is impressive! as for me I've finished the space wolf omnibus, the first ghosts book, and the next book in the space wolf series. Also currently reading Tales of Heresy. And picked up a new book this week: Necronomicon: The collected works of H.P. Lovecraft. it looks promising! anyone have any insight to reading his work?
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VK Fail
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So far this year:

The Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison
The Man In The High Castle- Philip K Dick
Breakfast of Champions- Kurt Vonnegut (This was a re-read, you can't read this book enough)
Omnibus Vol.3- HP Lovecraft
Down Under- Bill Bryson
Slash- erm...Slash (For some reason my Mum thought I'd want it for Xmas, surprisingly well written)
Labyrinths- Jorge Luis Borges
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead- Crystal Zevon (Biography of Warren Zevon)
The Autobiography of Special Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)
Our Lady of The Flowers- Jean Genet
Dharma Bums- Jack Kerouad (another re-read)

Currently reading:
The Wretched of The Earth- Frantz Fanon (An Algerian writing on violent revolution at the time of Algeria's fight for independence)
Van Diemen's Land- James Boyce (A history of Tasmania)

Hmmm, I didn't think I'd read much this year so i'm quite surprised :D
Edited by VK Fail, 15 Apr 2009, 09:46 AM.
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Baru
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My list for 2009 (will probably become more during the year):

1. Gunheads by Steve Parker (READING)
2. Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics by R.C. Hibbeler (READING/LEARNING)
3. Malekith by Gav Thorpe
4. Vampire Wars by Steven Savile (READING)
5. The Hannibal Lector series by Thomas Harris
6.Only in Death by Dan Abnett
7. Lord of Ruin by Mike Lee & Dan Abnett
8. Cain's Last Stand by Sandy Mitchell
9. Brothers of the Snake by Dan Abnett
10. Storm of Iron by Graham McNiell


Finished reading this year:
1. Tales of Heresy edited by Nick Kyme
2. Nagash by Mike Lee
3. Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell
Edited by Baru, 16 Apr 2009, 08:46 AM.
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