A few stats and figures through five months of 2010

I meant to do this at 100 books, so I'll do it here and then waiting until I read 300 reads for this year before I provide figures for the intervening 130 books.  Interesting distortions here caused by my massive re-reading projects.  Due to the disproportionate amount of males that wrote the epic fantasies and SF series that I'm reviewing, the number of female authors dropped from nearly 1/4 of my total to around 16% of the total reads.  Same happened for the foreign language reads, as after the first 60 books read, I had read about half of those in Spanish compared to the rest of the languages combined. 

But with these distortions in mind, some interesting figures about my first 170 reads of this year:

Female authors/editors - 27

Spanish-language books - 37

Latin-language books - 2

French-language books - 2

Italian-language books - 2

Serbian-language books - 1

Portuguese-language books - 2

Non-fiction - 2

Collections/Anthologies - 20

Graphic Novels - 5

2010 Releases - 21

Debuts (any year) - 10


Some of the books occupy more than one category.

Final 2009 Reading List: December 2-31

Planning on posting the first 2010 Reading List update either later today or Monday, but here's a list of the final 50+ books I read over the final 30 days of 2009.

507  Pat McGreal, David Rawson, Chaz Truog, Rafael Kayanan, Chiaroscuro:  The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci (graphic novel; decent-to-good)

508  Neil Gaiman, Odd and the Frost Giants (YA; merely OK)

509  Čarls M. Šhulc, Sreća je...toplo kučence (Serbian translation of one of my favorite children's books)

510  Neil Gaiman, The Books of Magic (graphic novel; not bad, but not all that great either)

511  Ken Grimwood, Replay (this is one of the better SF novels that I read in 2009)

512  Philip K. Dick, VALIS and Later Novels (Library of America omnibus; spotty)

513  Dan Simmons, Song of Kali (took awhile before I got into it; very good toward the end)

514  Milorad Pavić, The Tale That Killed Emily Knorr/Priča koja je ubila Emiliju Knor (very good story)

515  Javier Cercas, Soldados de Salamina (re-read from 2008; good)

516  Farah Mendlesohn and Edward James, A Short History of Fantasy (uneven, but interesting)

517  Gene Wolfe, Sword and Citadel (re-read; it's GENE WOLFE!)

518  George R.R. Martin, Fevre Dream (better than his ASOIAF novels)

519  Fernando Pessoa, Quadras (Portuguese; poetry; very good)

520  Andrzej Sapkowski, La dama del lago:  volumen 1 (Spanish; penultimate volume in the Saga de Geralt; good-to-very good)

521  Erich Maria Remarque, The Night in Lisbon (perhaps the best of his post-WWII novels)

522  Javier Cercas, La velocidad de la luz (re-read from 2008; good)

523  Paul McAuley, The Quiet War (decent premise, but some of the particulars irritated me, throwing me out of being engaged with the novel.  Decent at best.  Will read and perhaps review the sequel at length in the next month)

524  Hal Duncan, Escape from Hell! (re-read from 2008; not bad, but I didn't like it as much as his earlier novels)

525  Greer Gilman, Cloud & Ashes:  Three Winter's Tales (poetic, with evocative passages.  Recommended.)

526  Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis:  The Story of a Childhood (graphic novel; autobiography; engaging story)

527  James Blish, Cities in Flight (good)

528  Rudyard Kipling, The Mark of the Beast and Other Fantastical Tales (several excellent stories, along with several that were much weaker and perhaps could have been left out)

529  Daniel Wallace, Big Fish (moving tale that reminded me of my own complex relationship with my father)

530  J.G. Ballard, The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard (must-read omnibus of Ballard's short fiction)

531  Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Modern Arabic Fiction (too many short excerpts, but there were several great shorts to balance it out)

532  Apuleius, The Golden Ass (clever tale; very good)

533  Nnedi Okorafor, Long Juju Man (YA, engaging, among the best in YA that I read in 2009)

534  Stephen T. Asma, On Monsters:  An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears (already reviewed)

535  Milorad Pavić, Last Love in Constantinople (very good)

536  Erich Maria Remarque, Spark of Life (one of the earliest tales of concentration camp horrors; very good)

537  Robert E. Howard, The Conan Chronicles Volume 2:  The Hour of the Dragon (meh)

538  Leigh Brackett, Sea Kings of Mars and Otherworldly Stories(dated; meh)

539  Erich Maria Remarque, Arch of Triumph (OK, but far from his best work)

540  George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (eds.), Songs of the Dying Earth (several very good stories, with a sound editorial arrangement)

541  Washington Irving, Bracebridge Hall, Tales of a Traveller, The Alhambra (Library of America edition; good)

542  Gary Larson, Wiener Dog Art:  A Far Side Collection (re-read; classic)

543  A.S. Byatt, The Children's Book (already reviewed)

544  Gary Larson, The Far Side Gallery 5 (re-read; classic)

545  Gary Larson, The Chickens are Restless (re-read; classic)

546  Gary Larson, Cows of Our Planet (re-read; I think you can guess my thoughts by now)

547  Horacio Quiroga, Cuentos de amor de locura y de muerte (Spanish; re-read; excellent)

548  Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall (excellent)

549  Catherynne M. Valente, The Labyrinth (re-read; very good)

550  Jonathan Lethem, Chronic City (very good)

551  Gene Wolfe, The Best of Gene Wolfe (see above comment about Wolfe)

552  Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan (eds.), The New Space Opera 2 (not bad, but space operas rarely appeal to me and most of the stories here did not overcome my natural antipathy)

553  Ellen Datlow (ed.), Lovecraft Unbound (very fine original anthology)

554  Mike Allen (ed.), Clockwork Phoenix 2 (best original anthology I read in 2009)

555  Italo Calvino, Cosmicomics (excellent)

556  G. Willow WIlson and M.K. Perker, Air:  Letters from Lost Countries (graphic novel; excellent; want to write more about their series shortly)

557  Milorad Pavić, The Inner Side of the Wind or The Novel of Hero and Leander (creative way to tell a story of two kindred souls separated by time and space)

558  Lope de Vega, Obrad Completas:  Poesía I (challenging, but worth the read to see how his epic poems stacked up)

559  Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois (eds.), The Dragon Book (OK anthology, but few stories that grabbed my attention)

560  John Layman and Rob Guillory, Chew Volume One:  Taster's Choice (graphic novel; very odd crime/procedural story with some strange twists.  Oddly enjoyable)

561  Alice Munro, Too Much Happiness (story collection; would have made my year-end roundup of story collections if I had read it earlier; excellent)

562  Bradford Morrow (ed.), Conjunctions 47:  25th Anniversary Issue (another fine issue from one of the better lit journals I've read in some time)


Well, that concludes the 2009 reading list.  Almost 200 more than 2008.  Something like a quarter of the books were read in languages other than English and a little over one-sixth were novels, graphic novels, collections, or anthologies (co)written or (co)edited by women, a slight improvement over the previous few years.  Will be keeping more detailed notes of the backgrounds of the authors I read in 2010, just to see if there are changes due to an increased awareness on my part.

October 31-December 1 Reads

Almost 80 books over 32 days.  One of the things that happens when one is a bit ill at times and doesn't have much energy a few days to go out and about.  Hopefully, I can make it through this list without nodding off.  Not likely to be much, if any, comment for most of these books, due to the length here.

428 Wim Jansen, Beginner's Basque 

429  Jeff Lemire, Essex County (graphic novel - highly recommend)

430  Stephen King, The Dark Tower:  The Gunslinger Born (graphic novel - good)

431  Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye (classic)

432  William Wray, Sparrow:  Volume 9 (artbook)

433  Don DeLillo, Underworld (most excellent)

434  Lautréamont, Maldoror and Poems (short review already posted; very good)

435  Philip K. Dick, Five Novels of the 1960s & 1970s (well worth the money spent on the Library of America edition)

436  Lisa Goldstein, The Red Magician (pretty decent YA/semi-fantasy account involving the Holocaust)

437  Jonathan Rosenberg, Goats:  The Corndog Imperative (this collection of webcomics was often brilliant in theme and execution)

438  William Faulkner, Novels 1926-1929 (Library of America edition; collects his earliest novels.  Good stuff.)

439  Neil Gaiman, Death:  The High Cost of Living (good-to-very good graphic novel involving Dream's older sister)

440  Bradford Morrow (ed.), Conjunctions:  53:  Not Even Past:  Hybrid Histories (second best Conjunctions issue this year, but each is well worth the read for the wide range of stories of all modes and styles)

441  Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, 300 (SPARTA!!!---?  Nice graphic novel.  Still haven't bothered to watch the movie)

442  Neil Gaiman, Death:  The Time of Your Life (liked this one better than the first Death story mentioned above)

443  Kazu Kibuishi (ed.), Flight:  Volume 1 (very good graphic story anthology)

444  Shirley Jackson, The Witchcraft of Salem Village (non-fiction; good summarizing of what happened there)

445  George R.R. Martin, The Hedge Knight (graphic novel; good-to-very good)

446  Honore de Balzac, Stories from Balzac (short fiction published in the original French.  Love his style)

447  Michal Ajvaz, The Other City (one of the better translated fictions published in 2009)

448  Erich Maria Remarque, The Road Back (the direct sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front, this book is just as powerful in showing the aftermath of World War I in Germany)

449  Gabriel García Márquez, Olhos de Cão Azul (Portuguese translation of his earliest collection)

450  Dorva Rezende (ed.), Ficções:  Ficção Científica (Brazilian magazine journal that had a SF issue.  Enjoyed most of the stories there)

451  Glenn Barr, Sparrow:  Volume 8 (artbook)

452  Michael Moorcock, Elric:  In the Dream Realms (fifth volume in the Del Rey reissue series of Elric anthologies.  This one covers more recent Elric stories.  Most are good.)

453  Joe Kelly and J.M. Ken Nimura, I Kill Giants (one of the best graphic novels I've read in terms of story this year)

454  Alberto Fuguet, Por favor, rebobinar (Spanish; one of Fuguet's better novels.  Recommended.)

455  Darwin Cooke, Richard Stark's Parker:  The Hunter (excellent graphic novel adaptation of a noir classic)

456  Delia Sherman and Christopher Barzak (eds.), Interfictions 2 (original anthology of stories that don't quite fit in a particular genre.  Some good stories, several decent, and a couple that didn't interest me)

457  Shirley Jackson, Come Along With Me (unfinished novel and some shorts, including "The Lottery."  Recommended for the last in particular)

458  Naguib Mahfouz, Midaq Alley/The Thief and the Dogs/Miramar (omnibus; highly recommended)

459  Fábio Fernandes, A Revanche de Ampulheta (re-read; enjoyed Fábio's time-traveling-with-literary figures stories more the second time around.  Think it'd be nice if it were to be translated into English sometime to see what others would make of it, not that I'm putting pressure on him, ya know...)

460  Jim Mahfood, Sparrow:  Volume 10 (artbook)

461  Alberto Fuguet, Road Story (Spanish-language graphic novel that appropriates some of the best of road trip fiction.  Very good story)

462  Pierre Bordage, Les Guerriers du Silence (French; first in what appears to be a very cerebral SF trilogy.  What I understood entranced me.  Dude can write.)

463  José Saramago, Memorial do Convento (re-read; Portuguese; one of Saramago's earlier novels.  Very good.)

464  Jorge Volpi, La paz de los sepulcros (Spanish; reprint of one of his earlier fictions; interesting to see how his narrative skills have evolved since then)

465  Vladimir Nabokov, The Original of Laura (I had hoped to review it, but too many things came up.  Very interesting look into how Nabokov constructed his novels.  Sadly, this germ of a potentially great novel was never completed)

466  Mario Vargas llosa, La ciudad  y los perros (Spanish; classic)

467  Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (eds.), Last Drink Bird Head (original anthology of flash fiction revolving around the question contained in the title.  Enjoyed most of the entries.)


468  Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin (just won the 2009 National Book Award, this story that interweaves the 1974 tightrope walking across the unfinished World Trade Center towers with fictional lives is well-deserving of that august award.  Will comment more on it in the year-end wrapups)


469  José Eustasio Rivera, La vorágine (re-read; Spanish; one of my favorite pre-Boom novels from Latin America)


470  Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk (part one to his acclaimed Cairo Trilogy; excellent look into Egyptian life in the first half of the 20th century)


471  Paul Auster, Invisible (this recently-released novel is one of Auster's best.  Will say more at the end of the year)


472  Cicero, First and Second Speeches Against Cataline (Latin; great oratory, as might be expected)


473  Gareth Hinds, The Merchant of Venice (good graphic novel adaptation - with modernizations - of Shakespeare's classic play)


474  Guy de Maupassant, Arrepentimiento y otros relatos (Spanish translation of a few of Maupassant's short fictions)


475  Charles Baudelaire, Les fleurs du Mal (loved them in English, but even more so in French!)


476  Ashley Wood, Sparrow:  Volume 7 (artbook)


477 Albert Camus, L'étranger (even better in French!)

478  Mario Vargas Llosa, Los jefes/Los cachorros (Spanish; Varga Llosa's first stories; promising but not as good as his more mature works)


479 Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Diving into the Wreck (might review this one in more detail later; solid story with very good execution)


480  Rosario Ferré, Las puertas del placer (series of essays by this Puerto Rican author, most of them quite good)


481  Jean-Paul Sartre, Les main sales (French; play; good)


482  Rómulo Gallegos, Doña Bárbara (Spanish; classic; kicking myself for not reading it until now)


483  Michael Moorcock, Michael Moorcock's The Eternal Champion:  Volume I (stories involving other Eternal Champions than Elric; good)


484  Kate Chopin, Complete Novels and Stories (this Library of America edition is fabulous; her short stories of life in late 19th century Louisiana are underrated, if anything.  Highly recommended)


485  Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris (French; classic)


486  Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (read the English translation just to make sure I grasped the French; I did)


487  Catherynne M. Valente, The Orphan's Tale:  In the Night Garden (re-read; excellent)


488  Catherynne M. Valente, The Orphan's Tale:  Cities of Coin and Spice (re-read; excellent)


489  Erich Maria Remarque, Heaven Has No Favorites (this novel deserves a new generation of readers.  Reminded me favorably of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.)


490  Mary Doria Russell, A Thread of Grace (very good fictionalized account of Italians helping to protect Jews from the Germans during the last two years of World War II)


491  Emile Habiby, The Secret Life of Saeed (at times like Svejk's story, this is a darkly comic novel that I enjoyed)


492  Cherie Priest, Boneshaker (one of the better 2009 releases; more later, perhaps)


493  Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (eds.), The New Weird (re-read; excellent)


494  Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (eds.), New Weird (Romanian translation)


495  Zoran Živković, The Fourth Circle (re-read; excellent)


496  Zoran Živković, Ćetvrti Krug (Serbian original)


497  Catherynne M. Valente, Yume No Hon:  The Book of Dreams (re-read; very good)


498  Cat Rambo and Jeff VanderMeer, The Surgeon's Tale and Other Stories (re-read; very good)


499  Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes (re-read; excellent; will comment more later)


500  Robert Holdstock, Lavondyss (very good)


501  Lord Dunsany, Time and the Gods (omnibus collection; very good; more later)


502  Cathy and Arnie Fenner (eds.), Spectrum 16:  The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (very good year-in-review for 2008)


503  Umberto Eco, The Infinity of Lists (The Vertigo of Lists) (excellent!  Must read!)


504  Jack Williamson, Darker Than You Think (1940s shapeshifter novel that was much better than I expected)


505  Mario Vargas Llosa, El viaje a la ficción:  El mundo de Juan Carlos Onetti (Spanish; non-fiction critical study of Onetti's works.  Very good.)


506  John M. Ford, The Dragon Waiting (very good; more later)




And now for books in progress and future plans:

In Progress:

Pat McGreal, David Rawson, Chaz Truog, and Rafael Kayanan, Chiaroscuro:  The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci (graphic novel)

Javier Cercas, Soldados de Salamina (re-read)

Philip K. Dick, VALIS and Later Novels


Future Plans:

Neil Gaiman, The Books of Magic

Paul McAuley, The Quiet War 

Jasper Fforde, Shades of Grey

George R.R. Martin, Fevre Dream; The Armageddon Rag  
 

September 27-October 30 reads

Been over a month since I've updated my 2009 reading list, so here are the books I've read over the past five weeks or so, with tiny commentaries:

369  Jaime Martínez Tolentino, Cuentos Fantásticos (Spanish) (decent)

370  Hayo Miyazaki, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, vol. I (good)

371  Italo Calvino, The Path to the Spiders' Nest (very good)

372  Scott Mills, Big Clay Pot (good)

373  Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis (very good for much of the way, but too short)

374  Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are (re-read) (classic)

375  Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Poesías de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Spanish) (OK)

376  Zoran Živković, Impossible Stories II (very good collection)

377 Zoran Živković, Amarkord (Serbian) (very good)

378  Nick Tapalansky and Alex Eckman-Lawn, Awakening:  Volume I (good to very good)

379  Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop (excellent)

380  Pat Barker, The Man Who Wasn't There (very good)

381  Walter Moers, The City of Dreaming Books (outstanding)

382  J.M. Coetzee, Elizabeth Costello (decent)

383  Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (very good)

384  Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (very good)

385  Amanda Downum, The Drowning City (meh)

386  Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl (good to very good)

387  Peter Straub (ed.), American Fantastic Tales:  Terror and the Uncanny:  From Poe to the Pulps (excellent)

388   Peter Straub (ed.), American Fantastic Tales:  Terror and the Uncanny: From the 1940s to Now (outstanding)

389  Sergio Toppi, Sparrow:  Volume 12 (artbook) (very good)

390  John Watkiss, Sparrow:  Volume 11 (artbook) (very good)

391  Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus (re-read) (excellent)

392  Gail Carriger, Soulless (very good debut novel)

393  Ashley Wood, Sparrow:  Volume 0  (artbook) (very good)

394  Ashley Wood, Sparrow:  Volume 1 (artbook) (very good)

395  Phil Hale, Sparrow:  Volume 2 (artbook) (very good)

396  Kent Williams, Sparrow:  Volume 3 (artbook) (very good)

397  Shane Glines, Sparrow:  Volume 4 (artbook) (very good)

398  Phil Hale, Sparrow:  Volume 5 (artbook) (very good)

399  Vladimir Nabokov, Novels and Memoirs 1941-1951 (Library of America omnibus) (excellent to outstanding)

400  Kristin Cashore, Fire (excellent)

401  Vladimir Nabokov, Invitation to a Beheading (excellent to outstanding)

402  Eoin Colfer, And Another Thing... (already reviewed, but very good)

403  David Ratte, Toxic Planet (very good)

404  Camilla d'Errico, Sparrow:  Volume 13 (artbook) (very good)

405  Jeff VanderMeer, Shriek:  An Afterword (re-read) (excellent)

406  Vladimir Nabokov, Glory (excellent)

407  Dave Eggers, The Wild Things (excellent)

408  Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (very good)

409  William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch (good)

410  Clive Barker, The Books of Blood (very good)

411  Olga Dugina and Andrej Dugin, The Brave Little Tailor (very good to excellent)

412  Sergio Toppi, Sharaz-De:  Volume 1 (excellent to outstanding)

413  Sergio Toppi, Sharaz-De:  Volume 2 (excellent)

414  Jeff VanderMeer, Booklife (review forthcoming; very good to excellent; non-fiction)

415  Scott Mills, Trenches (good)

416  Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham (re-read) (classic)

417  Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams (good to very good)

418  Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, The Gathering Storm (already reviewed; very good)

419  H.P. Lovecraft, Tales (Library of America omnibus) (excellent)

420  Philip K. Dick, Four Novels of the 1960s (Library of America omnibus) (very good)

421  Gustavo Arellano, ¡Ask a Mexican! (very good; non-fiction)

422  Jonathan Strahan (ed.), Eclipse Three (very good)

423  Italo Calvino, The Castle of Crossed Destinies (excellent)

424  Jeff Lemire, The Nobody (excellent to outstanding)

425  Denis Diderot and D'Alembert, L'Encyclopédie:  Art de L'Escrime (French) (good; non-fiction)

426  J.M. Coetzee, Youth (good)

427  Rick Berry, Sparrow:  Volume 6 (artbook) (very good)


In Progress:

Jeff Lemire, Essex County (omnibus, with new material, outstanding so far, 2/3 in)

Ellen Datlow (ed.), Lovecraft Unbound

William Faulkner, Novels 1926-1929 (Library of America omnibus)

Philip K. Dick, Five Novels of the 1960s and 1970s (Library of America omnibus)

William Jansen, Beginner's Basque

Stephen King, The Dark Tower:  The Gunslinger Born (graphic novel adaptation)


Future Plans:

N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

Don DeLillo, Underworld 

Facts and figures about 2009's reads #301-400

Click here for links to the facts and figures for the first 300 reads of 2009.

•  Ever since I started to pay closer attention to what I read, the percentage of female authors read per 100 books has steadily increased, topping out this time at 24%, a threefold increase from the percentage for reads 1-100.

• 12% of the books read were written in Spanish.

• Another 2% of the reads were in Portuguese and Serbian.

• There was a threefold increase in the number of books read that were written by Popes, this time rising from 1% to 3%.

• 18% of the books were either graphic novels or art books

•  20% of the books were either collections or anthologies

• 5% of the books were debuts of some form or fashion for 2009

• Non-fiction and literary criticism books comprised 19% of the books

• Only 1% of the books read were poetry collections

• 12% of the books were re-reads

• 32% of the books are 2009 releases, with not all being US releases for this year

• Sadly, the number of squirrel-related reads dropped from 2% to 0% for reads #301-400, but there is still hope for the future, I suppose.

More details on the last 32 or so reads either later today, or later this weekend, time permitting.  Not fun having to learn special ed procedures on the fly while stressing about my job future.  But that comes with the territory, I suppose.  But since I have to be awake in about 6.5 hours, I guess I better just post this and log off for the night, no?

September 19-26 Reads

Although I didn't blog about it until now, I've been out sick for several days over the past week.  Some sort of stomach ailment, with abdominal pain, some nausea and vomiting, and a few other things.  Not the flu, but possibly a reoccurrence of a chronic gastrointestinal disorder.  Nothing too serious, I hope, but it is almost certainly stress-related and that unfortunately will probably last for a few weeks longer at least.  But enough about that.  The silver lining is that I had more time to read recently and I finished 18 books over the past 8 days.  Some of these I'll be reviewing, either separately or as part of a planned feature piece that I'll be writing in the next few days, others I might never review, even if I might have enjoyed the book.  Oh, and I passed 365 books read and if I were to continue at the current rate I've been reading for the past couple of months, I might have an outside shot at 500 for the year, by far the most I've read in any given year.   But this is long enough, so here are the books read, followed by a brief commentary:

351  Lavie Tidhar (ed.), The Apex Book of World SF - This 2009 anthology will be featured in a group review of several non-Anglo books that I've read recently.

352  Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House - If this doesn't win in the current poll, I certainly will have it reviewed before Halloween.  Excellent story.

353  Daniel Olson (ed.), Exotic Gothic 2:  New Tales of Taboo - Like the Tidhar anthology, this will be featured in an upcoming group review.

354  Monica Ali, In the Kitchen - Loved her characterization and her prose was fairly good.  There were a few lulls, however, but as a psychological character study of a man's sinking into a morass, this was well-done.

355  Fulton J. Sheen, Way to Inner Peace (re-read) - Inspirational book that did its job.

356  Otsuichi, ZOO - Translation of Japanese short stories that run the gamut of the speculative fiction narrative modes.  Quite a few good stories, would recommend this for those curious to see how Japanese SF is like.

357  Caitlín R. Kiernan, A is for Alien - Good as her recent novel, The Red Tree, was, I think I enjoyed this 2009 collection of her short fiction even more.  This book will be featured more in my year-end look at anthologies and collections.

358  James Thurber, Thurber:  Writings & Drawings - Library of America edition that collects most of his most famous stories and drawings.  Loved his work when I had to read him in high school, enjoyed it even more now.

359  David Toscana, El último lector - About to be released in English translation as The Last Reader, this metafiction was a bit too short (under 200 pages in Spanish) for my liking, as I would have loved to have read even more of this one "last reader"'s selection of works worth reading and why those were chosen.  Toscana is an author I'm going to have to read more, it seems.

360  Pope Benedict XVI, Saint Paul - Series of short homilies/sermons on the most influential person in Christianity outside of the Christ.  Nice mixture of the scholarly and the layman's approach toward examining this crucial historical/religious figure.

361  David Mazzucchelli, Asterios Polyp - Outstanding graphic novel.  Easily one of the best and most-moving things that I've read in 2009.  Go out and read the damn thing now, if at all possible.  How's that for high praise?

362  Yoshihiro Tatsumi, A Drifting Life - Memoir, fittingly told in the graphic novel/manga format, of one of the more influential manga artists in Japan during the 20th century.  Story was intriguing and despite it being nearly 850 pages, it felt a bit chopped off.  Perhaps a second volume will be released in English translation in the near future?

363  Rick Geary, Trotsky:  A Graphic Biography - Interesting general-interest biography of one of the leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution, but it is a bit too slanted in its coverage at times.  Despite it not passing muster for professional historians (and those trained to be such, like myself), I think as a general-interest biography, this format would work well.  Trotsky's life certainly lent itself to being told in a graphic novel format, to say the least.

364  Eduardo Galeano, Espejos - While it was an earlier book of his that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez pressed American President Barack Obama to read, this certainly would have made for an excellent, provocative read for most.  It's a mixture of well-known and obscure historical facts, told in an ironic, wry commentary that reflects, like a mirror, on our own problems.  Well worth the read, as it was published in English translation this year as Mirrors.


365  Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian - Review forthcoming.

366  Kazuo Ishiguro, Nocturnes - Might review this in the future.  Mostly well-done, with a few quibbles.  Interesting parallels between it and another story collection, Seven Touches of Music.

367  Betsy Tobin, Ice Land - Historical romance set in Iceland in the 11th century that has parallels between the Norse goddess Freya's story, the story of two youth on the island, and the then-inevitable rise of Christianity there.  Story was decent and it held my interest, although there was nothing "wow" about it either.

368  John Scalzi (ed.), Metatropolis - This anthology was originally released as an audiobook last year. Five stories from Jay Lake (who wrote the most interesting story here), Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder, and Scalzi.  Solid collection of interconnected stories set in a near-future, now fragmented United States.


In Progress:

J.G. Ballard, The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard

Jaime Martínez Tolentino, Cuentos Fantásticos


Future Plans:

Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Robert Holdstock, Lavondyss

Pat Barker, The Man Who Wasn't There

Italo Calvino, The Path to the Spiders' Nest

Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaä:  Of the Valley of the Wind

2009 Graphic Novels Read/Owned to Date

As I did with the earlier post on 2009 Anthologies/Short Story Collections, I'm going to list the graphic novels (spec fic, non-spec fic, non-fiction) that I've read to date, plus the ones I've owned. Since I'm hoping to have a more comprehensive look at some of the best 2009 releases in graphic novel form, feel free to suggest graphic novels that I ought to consider:

1. Shaun Tan, Tales from Outer Suburbia (illustrated stories)

2. Michael Crowley and Dan Golman, 08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail (non-fiction, political)

3. Antony Johnston and Wilson Tortosa, Wolverine: Prodigal Son (manga-style)

4. Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files: Storm Front: Vol. I: The Gathering Storm (graphic novel adaptation of a previously-published novel)

5. Tim Hamilton, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation (graphic novel adaptation of a previously-published novel)

6. Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, Babymouse: Dragonslayer (children's story told in graphic novel form)

7. Patricia Briggs, Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (prequel to a previously-published series, originally told in graphic novel format)

8. David Petersen, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 (collection of a previously-published comic)

9. Marvin Mann and A. David Lewis, Some New Kind of Slaughter (collection of a previously-published comic)


In Progress:

10. Yoshihiro Tatsumi, A Drifting Life (graphic novel memoir of one of Japan's most influential manga writers)

11. David Mazzucchelli, Asterios Polyp


Add in about two dozen other graphic novels published in other years that I've read (or re-read) this year and the number seems a bit better. But I'd like to discover about another 5-6 really good 2009 graphic novel releases, so if you were to know of any, please feel free to suggest as many as you'd like!

Edit: I finished the Mazzucchelli. Damn good, that story was. It'll be a while before I can even comprehend the thought of trying to find the words for describing how many heartstrings were plucked here. Go out and buy/read it ASAP. How's that for high praise?

2009 Anthologies and Story Collections Read/Owned to Date

Since in three months or so I'll be posting my Best of 2009 list, I thought I'd take stock of the short fiction published in some new form or fashion in 2009 that I've read. This is not in chronological order or in level of preference:

Short Story Collections:

1. Peter S. Beagle, We Never Talk About My Brother

2. Caitlín R. Kiernan, A is for Alien

3. Otsuichi, ZOO

4. Terrence Holt, In the Valley of the Kings

5. Tobias Buckell, Tides from the New World

6. Brian Evenson, Fugue State


Anthologies (single-author and multiple authors):

7. John Davey, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, The Best of Michael Moorcock

8. Nick Gevers and Jay Lake, Other Earths

9. Gianpaolo Celli, Steampunk: Histórias de um Passado Extraordinário

10. Dean Francis Alfar and Nikki Alfar, Philippine Speculative Fiction IV

11. Bradford Morrow, Conjunctions: 52: Betwixt the Between

12. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, Best American Fantasy 2

13. Lavie Tidhar, The Apex Book of World SF


In Progress:

14. George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, Songs of the Dying Earth

15. Vincent Michael Simbulan, A Time for Dragons: An Anthology of Philippine Draconic Fiction

16. John Scalzi, Metatropolis


On Order:

16. Jonathan Strahan, Eclipse 3

17. Peter Straub, American Fantastic Tales (two vols.)


Not too bad, I suppose, but I'm not satisfied with this. What anthologies/collections released in 2009 in the US (or first elsewhere in the world) am I missing that I ought to acquire so I can consider for inclusion in my wrapup on 2009 short fiction books?

September 3-18 Reads

Twenty-eight books for the past fifteen days (with a few more likely for this weekend). Eight of these are re-reads from previous years. Interesting mix of non-fiction and fiction, speculative fiction and mimetic fiction and fictions between the two. Some of these books will be reviewed at length shortly; others have already been reviewed. Here's the list, with very brief thoughts:

323 Marvin Mann and A. David Lewis, Some New Kind of Slaughter - already reviewed.

324 Dave Eggers, Zeitoun - already reviewed.

325 Tamar Yellin, The Genizah at the House of Shepher - This was a very good read. Might say more on this later. Really enjoyed the mixture of the personal and the ethnic/national elements.

326 Jorge Luis Borges, El libro de arena (re-read) - already reviewed.

327 Steve Erickson, Zeroville - I mostly enjoyed this book set in So-Cal in the late 1960s, but for some reason, it didn't click with me as well as his Arc d'X did.

328 Iain M. Banks, Use of Weapons - For some reason, the excellent elements within this novel did not gel together well, as my overall impression of the story was that it failed to live up to the promise of its beginning.

329 Sherri Tepper, Beauty - Very interesting take on updating the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale in order to have Beauty reflect changing attitudes toward women's roles in society. The story was written fairly well and while not outstanding in the prose department, it was strong enough to hold my interest throughout.

330 Kelley Eskridge, Solitaire - I enjoyed reading this novel. Nice mixture of good writing, good characterization, and a nice-moving plot.

331 Jorge Luis Borges, Biblioteca personal (re-read) - Collection of introductions that Borges had written to Spanish-language editions of several of his favorite authors from across the globe. Interesting insights to his views on literature and the writing process.

332 Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go - This story was captivating. The prose was the best part, but the characterizations were also top-notch.

333 Jorge Luis Borges, El informe de Brodie (re-read) - This 1970 collection is relatively obscure and certainly underrated compared to Borges' earlier and more famous collections.

334 Jorge Luis Borges, Historia de la eternidad (re-read) - Interesting collection of Borges' thoughts on how eternity was reflected in legend, myth, and in fiction.

335 Jorge Luis Borges, Discusión (re-read) - Collection of literary criticism pieces from Borges. Learned how to apply certain approaches to writing reviews/critiques from this.

336 Lewis Grizzard, It Wasn't Always Easy, but I Sure Had Fun - One of the best humor columns/books I've ever read. As I said in a post over a week ago, I still miss Grizzard's wit, 15 years after his 1994 death following his fourth heart surgery.

337 Thea von Harbou, Metropolis - Novelization of the classic 1927 silent film of the same name. Interesting revelations about things only hinted at in the movie. Writing is more passionate than polished, however.

338 Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth - Encyclical on social justice. If I have the time, might elaborate on the ideas expressed here, as several of them intrigue me quite a bit.

339 Teresa of Ávala, The Way of Perfection - 16th century work written by one of the foremost Spanish mystics for members of her convent. Gave me a lot of food for thought.

340 Caitlín R. Kiernan, The Red Tree - Already reviewed.

341 Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, Dos fantasías memorables/Un modelo para la muerte (re-read) - Collaborative writing of policiales (police/mystery stories). Good, but not as good as the authors' individual works.

342 Gianpaolo Celli (ed.), Steampunk: Histórias de um Passado Extraordinário - Anthology of original Steampunk fictions written by Brazilian authors, released just over a month ago. Fairly good collection of stories overall.

343 Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer - Good followup to The Knife of Never Letting Go. Might review this in the near future.

344 Paolo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl - review forthcoming.

345 Mark Bould and China Miéville (eds.), Red Planets: Marxism and Science Fiction - Review forthcoming.

346 Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J., Into the Abyss of Suffering: A Catholic View (re-read) - Sometimes, one just wants to read religious thoughts on a topic when one is worried and down about things. This was one of those times.

347 Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light - This heavily-edited collection of several of her letters were not as intriguing as I had hoped when I bought this. Guess this explains why it took two years for me to finish reading the book.

348 Margo Lanagan, Red Spikes (re-read) - I enjoyed this WFA-nominated collection when I first read it in 2007. My opinion of it only improved even more on a re-read.

349 David Anthony Durham, Acacia: The War with the Mein (re-read) - Good read; enjoyed it at least as much as when I read/reviewed it back in 2007.

350 David Anthony Durham, The Other Lands - Review forthcoming.


In Progress:

Lavie Tidhar (ed.), The Apex Book of World SF

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

Otsuichi, ZOO


Future Plans:

Caitlín R. Kiernan, A is for Alien

John Scalzi (ed.), Metatropolis

Housuke Nojiri, Usurper of the Sun

Monica Ali, In the Kitchen

Daniel Olson (ed.), Exotic Gothic 2: New Ideas of Taboo

August 2-September 2 reads

OK, I've slacked off on this, so just the list for now:

272 Brian Stableford, The Dedalus Book of Decadence: Moral Ruins (recommended)

273 Adolfo Bioy Casares, De las cosas maravillosas (recommended)

274 Angela Carter, Saints and Strangers (must-read)

275 Mario Benedetti, Inventario II (outstanding poetry collection in Spanish)

276 Michael Moorcock, The Eternal Champion (decent)

277 San Juan de la Cruz, Obra completa, I (only for the hardcore)

278 Milorad Pavić, Kutija za Pisanje (good, what I could understand of it)

279 Charles Finney, The Circus of Dr. Lao (classic)

280 Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (very good, if you're interested in Catholicism)

281 Luís de Camões, Selected Sonnets (re-read; highly recommended)

282 Adolfo Bioy Casares, Diario de la guerra del cerdo (highly recommended)

283 Sang Pak, Wait Until Twilight (debut; recommended)

284 Ursula Le Guin, Changing Planes (highly recommended)

285 Fernando Vallejo, El desbarrancadero (OK, but not all that great)

286 Tanith Lee, Night's Master (recommended)

287 Peter Beagle, Strange Roads (highly recommended)

288 Adolfo Bioy Casares, El sueño de los héroes

289 Jannic Durand, Byzantine Art (beautiful; re-read)

290 Laura Restrepo, La isla de la pasión (very good; one of her best books)

291 Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, Babymouse: Dragonslayer (cute)

292 Patricia McKillip, The Bell at Sealey Head

293 Remy de Gourmont, The Angels of Perversity (recommended)

294 Toni Morrison, Beloved (good, but it didn't have the impact I thought it might after the first few pages)

295 Lila Hammond, Serbian: An Essential Grammar (educational for me)

296 Liliana Bodoc, Los días del Venado (re-read; decent)

297 Liliana Bodoc, Los días de la sombra (re-read; good)

298 Liliana Bodoc, Los días del fuego (good)

299 Julio Cortázar, Papeles inesperados (highly recommended)

300 Fernando Vallejo, Mi hermano el alcalde (meh)

301 Patricia Briggs, Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (graphic novel; very good)

302 David Petersen, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 (graphic novel; outstanding)

303 Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice (already reviewed)

304 Jesse Bullington, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart (already reviewed)

305 Robert Holdstock, Mythago Wood (classic)

306 Cesar Silva and Marcello Simão Branco, Anuário Brasileiro de Literatura Fantástica 2008 (informative in places, but not worth the import costs)

307 Robert Holdstock, Avilion (worthy sequel)

308 Dean Francis Alfar and Nikki Alfar, Philippine Speculative Fiction IV (very strong anthology; will review in the near future)

309 Alison Croggon, The Naming (re-read; good YA novel)

310 Daniel Abraham, A Shadow in Summer (strong debut novel)

311 Daniel Abraham, A Betrayal in Winter (very good)

312 Daniel Abraham, An Autumn War (excellent)

313 Daniel Abraham, The Price of Spring (review forthcoming)

314 Issui Ogawa, The Lord of the Sands of Time (already reviewed)

315 Steven Erikson, Dust of Dreams (review forthcoming)

316 Hiroshi Sakurazaka, All You Need is Kill (decent-to-good)

317 Pope Benedict XVI, Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine (informative)

318 Alison Croggon, The Riddle (nice followup to her first novel)

319 Reverend Marcus Fitzgerald, O.F.M., Libro catolico de oraciones (Spanish-language prayer book)

320 Terrence Holt, In the Valley of the Kings (strong contender for my favorite 2009 collection)

321 Indro Montanelli and Roberto Gervaso, Historia de la Edad Medía (excellent narrative history)

322 Carlos Abraham, Borges y la ciencia ficción (review forthcoming)


In Progress:

Tamar Yellin, The Genizah at the House of Shepher

Dave Eggers, Zeitoun

Marvin Mann and A. David Lewis, Some New Kind of Slaughter: ~or~ Lost in the Flood (and How We Found Home Again) (graphic novel)

Facts and figures about 2009's reads #201-300

For those curious about #1-100 and #101-200, click on this link:

Took me slightly over two months to read 100 more books, so here are some interesting (and occasionally odd) facts and figures about the latest 100 reads:

• Since making a more concerted effort to raise the number of female authors read, I have gone up to a slightly more respectable 22% for these 100. However, I hope to improve this number even more in the near future, since I have quite a few works lined up by female authors whose works I've been meaning to read for some time now. Sometimes, greater self-awareness can lead to a broader reading scope, no?

• 26% of the books read were read in Spanish or Spanish translation (a couple were in Polish and Serbian, but not available in English, so I read them in my second language)

• 11% of the books read were read in Portuguese (3), Serbian (3), Italian, German, Latin, French, Hungarian (one each)

• The number of books written by Popes dropped from 2% for the #101-200 down to 1% this time

• 1% of the books read were Greek histories written by Spanish classics professors

• 1% of the books read were grammars for the Serbian language

• 13% of the books read were anthologies and/or short-story collections

• 4% of the books read were poetry collections

• 7% of the books read were of English translations of books published in various languages

• 3% of the books read were graphic novels or graphic novel adaptations of novels

• 2% of the books read were 2009 debut novels

• 14% of the books read were re-reads from previous years

• 13% of the books read were published in the US or elsewhere in 2009

And most importantly:

• 2% of the books read dealt with squirrels and their daily habits

So...any questions you might have about these books? I'll be posting more about #271-300 in a day or two, likely with a few more additions.

July 13-August 1 Reads

Been slacking a bit on updating the books read, so some of these may just be the book listed and very little on the content. Sorry.

245 Angela Carter, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Other Classic Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault - A translation of sorts from the French writer/story collector whose forms of 10 classic fairy tales will be familiar in some fashion to most Western audiences, but a translation that contains notes that twists certain elements of Perrault's morals into new forms. Enjoyable read.

246 Geoff Ryman, WAS - Already reviewed.

247 Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions - To be reviewed in the near future for the Fantasy Masterworks reading/commentary project.

248 José Saramago, Cadernos de Lanzarote - Diary (read in Portuguese) of one year of Saramago's life living in the Canary Islands. Good, reflective entries.

249 Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time - Hemingway's first book/short story collection, published in 1925. Good, solid stories that hint at the great tales that emerged later as Hemingway matured as a writer and stylist.

250 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince (re-read) - One of my all-time favorite stories, one that I re-read every 1-2 years in as many languages as I can acquire.

251 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Mali Princ (re-read) - Serbian translation.

252 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince (re-read) - French original.

253 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, El Principito (re-read) - Spanish translation.

254 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Il Piccolo Principe (re-read) - Italian translation.

255 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Regulus: Vel Pueri Soli Sapiunt (re-read) - Latin translation.

256 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, A Kis Herceg (re-read) - Hungarian translation.

257 Joanna Russ, The Female Man - I hope to have the time to write a review of this later this book. Interesting book, with a few ideas that felt "dated" to me, but many, many more that are still vitually urgent ones today.

258 Gene Wolfe, Shadow and Claw (re-read) - Already reviewed.

259 Grace Marmor Spruch, Squirrels at My Window: Life with a Remarkable Gang of Urban Squirrels - Considering how much I love/fear these rodents, this was a very moving, sometimes funny read. I'd recommend it to most who love animals, especially for those who love (fear?) squirrels.

260 Roger Luckhurst, Cultural History of Literature: Science Fiction - Nice exploration of the cultural history/values that lie behind the creation and development of SF as a perceived separate entity. Might comment more about this later.

261 Goran Petrović, Diferencias - Collection of five short stories/novellas whose themes reminded me strongly of Borges.

262 Goran Petrović, Atlas descrito por el cielo - His first book and one that I wish were available in English so I can recommend it more to others here. Might say more later, when I have had more time to digest it (and to re-read it).

263 Mark Teppo, Lightbreaker - Solid debut fantasy novel involving a man in search of the woman who may have stolen his soul. First of a trilogy, I believe.

264 José Saramago, El viaje del elefante - Saramago's latest novel (Dec. 2008), dealing with the historical account of the journey of an elephant from the court of Portugal's John III to that of the Austrian court. Told of course in Saramago's excellent inimitable style.

265 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Der Kleine Prinz (re-read) - German translation.

266 Svetislav Basara, Chinese Letter - Comic, sometimes manic short novel told from the point of view of "Fritz," whose name changes ever and anon. Good stuff.

267 Milorad Pavić, Drugo Telo - Finished this last night. Excellent, excellent story. Might review this later.

268 Milorad Pavić, Second Body - English translation.

269 Javier Negrete, La Gran Aventura de los Griegos - Well-written popular history of the Greeks from the Minoan years to the Roman conquest in 146 BCE.

270 Tim Hamilton, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation - Graphic novel adaptation of Bradbury's classic tale. Good artwork adds to the spookiness of the story.

271 Lev Grossman, The Magicians - Will be reviewing this either later today or tomorrow. Very well-done, moving in places.


In Progress:

Jesse Bullington, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart


Future Plans:

Gene Wolfe, Sword and Citadel (re-read)

Brooks Hansen, The Chess Garden

Clive Barker, The Books of Blood (vols. 1-3)

Brian Stableford (ed.), The Dedalus Book of Decadence: Moral Ruins

Remy de Gourmont, The Angels of Perversity

A reading backlog seems to be occurring now

Despite my ability to read and process information very rapidly, I seem to have accumulated a stack of 11 books that are in varying levels of completion. Here they are, with one (unpublished) book's title and author x'ed out in case of possible name change:

Mark Teppo, Lightbreaker (p. 40 of 323)

Sang Pak, Wait Until Twilight (just began this 229 page debut novel)

Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun: Shadow and Claw (beginning Chapter XV of The Shadow of the Torturer; re-read)

Goran Petrović, Diferencias (p. 35 of 172)

Petrović, Atlas descrito por el cielo (p. 22 of 223)

San Juan de la Cruz, Obra Completa 1 (p. 163 of 578)

Jesse Bullington, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart (p. 19 of 435)

Roger Luckhurst, Cultural History of Literature: Science Fiction (p. 79 of 305)

Tanith Lee, Night's Master (about to begin this 242 page novel)

José Saramago, El viaje del elefante (p. 12 of 271)

Author X, XXXXXX (about 40 pages into a novel that'll probably be somewhere in the 450-550 page range, but I can't guess well due to reading it as a file)

Out of these books, which would you think would be finished first, second, or third and why? Oh, and I guess I should add that I finished re-reading seven translations of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince (language drill that I love to do with one of my favorite fictions) and just now completed Joanna Russ's The Female Man (more on that later, if any are interested, that is).

P.S. Felix, I think it'll be a while before I read that Serviss story. I'm waiting for Hades to chill a bit more.

June 22-July 12 Reads

Been very lax on this, as I've been very busy (busier than I thought I'd be) at work. But this will be more of a list and less of a capsule review, since several of these will be getting individual short reviews shortly:

225 Edmundo Paz Soldán, Los vivos y los muertos - Already commented on this before, but this is one of my favorite 2009 releases.

226 Andrzej Sapkowski, Narrenturm - Spanish-language translation of the first volume of his Hussite Wars trilogy that mixes historical fiction with a bit of magic. Different in style from the Geralt novels, it took me a while to get used to it, but once I did, I found myself wanting to read the next volume, which sadly won't be available for at least another year.

227 Evangeline Walton, The Mabinogion - Already Reviewed.

228 Ildefonso Falcones, La mano de Fátima - Review already written, will link to it when it goes live.

229 Robert E. Howard, The Conan Chronicles Volume I: The People of the Black Circle - Already reviewed.

230 Andrés Neuman, El viajero del siglo - This 2009 Premio Alfaguara winner was a good read, although not as great as the cover blurb hinted that it could have been.

231 John Gardner, Grendel - Review forthcoming.

232 L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, The Compleat Enchanter - Review forthcoming.

233 Andrzej Sapkowski, Camino sin retorno - Collection of Sapkowski's short stories, most of them set outside the Geralt universe. Good stuff.

234 Sherri Tepper, Grass - Review forthcoming.

235 José Saramago, Las pequeñas memorias (re-read from 2008) - Nicely-told memoirs of Saramago's youth in Portugal.

236 David Lindsay, A Voyage to Arcturus - Review forthcoming.

237 Michael A. Steele and John L. Kaprowski, North American Tree Squirrels - Great introduction to my favorite/most feared rodents.

238 José Saramago, El año de la muerte de Ricardo Reis - This story mixes in the final days of Fernando Pessoa/Ricardo Reis with what was occurring in Europe and Portugal in the 1920s and 1930s. Ending was devastating.

239 José Saramago, O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo - First time reading Saramago's 1991 masterpiece in Portuguese. His Jesus is one of the more complex renderings imagined in the 20th century. Very controversial, of course, but considering the title, that was to be expected, no?

240 Michael Swanwick, The Iron Dragon's Daughter - Review forthcoming.

241 Mario Benedetti, El amor, las mujeres y la vida - Excellent collection of Spanish-language poems.

242 Patricia McKillip, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld - Review forthcoming.

243 Lord Dunsany, The King of Elfland's Daughter - Review forthcoming.

244 C.L. Moore, Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams - Review forthcoming.


In Progress:

Javier Negrete, La gran aventura de los griegos

Julio Cortázar, Papeles inesperados

Geoff Ryman, WAS

Future Plans:

Leigh Brackett, The Seagods of Mars and Other Stories

June 15-21 reads

Seven books this week, each of them first-time reads. Two standouts, one really good read, three that were decent reads, and one that was ultimately a bit too flawed for me to enjoy much.

218 D.H. Lawrence, The Plumed Serpent - I really enjoyed Lawrence's prose here. I had read three other novels of his (Sons and Lovers; The Rainbow; Lady Chatterly's Lover), but here his prose and dialogue were much better. I also liked the way the story unfolded. All in all, a novel that I would recommend to those genre-mostly readers who seem to think "mainstream," "literary" fiction doesn't have much to offer them. Sometimes, it does, with a dose of horror near the end for those who like that sort of thing.

219 Stuart Archer Cohen, The Army of the Republic - Normally, a story that deals with a resistence to a quasi-Bush regime that uses Homeland security to crack down upon anti-globalization activists would be just the sort of thing for me. But despite some well-written scenes, there were times that Cohen got even too strident for the left-leaning likes of me and the story dipped too much into paranoia for its own good. As a result, this is a book that will be a bit too polemical in nature for some, which is a shame, because he had some good points to make that were lost in the hyperbolic screeds.

220 Ursula Le Guin, Voices - Second volume in her Annuals of the Western Shore YA trilogy. Le Guin's writing here was stronger than in her first volume, but there were times that the story seemed to drag a bit. Overall, it was good and I would re-read it in the near future, but this trilogy took a long time before it started to appeal to me.

221 Fritz Leiber, The Second Book of Lankhmar - This volume released by Gollancz contains the last three Grey Mouser and Fafhred books. I found myself enjoying their adventures and the underlying thematic elements more and more here. Shame that there are no more of their adventures forthcoming due to Leiber's death almost 20 years ago. Some really good stuff here that most genre fans (and some that are not) ought to consider reading.

222 Michael Moorcock, Mother London - This novel of interwoven narratives of survivors of the V-1 and V-2 attacks on London is one of Moorcock's strongest novels. After reading it, I can understand why Moorcock has won the Guardian Prize and has been lauded as being one of Great Britain's 50 Best Writers Since World War II. Highly recommended.

223 Robert V.S. Redick, The Red Wolf Conspiracy - Generally, I really dislike stories set on ships/at sea. This book continues that, as I found myself becoming more and more disinterested with each passing chapter. While Redick isn't a bad writer, this story utterly failed to engage me...or rather that I couldn't bring myself to engage myself further with this book. Read into it what you may.

224 Ursula Le Guin, Powers - This concluding third volume to her Annuals of the Western Shore trilogy was much stronger than her first two volumes. Winner of the Nebula Award this year for 2008 (crazy, huh?), this volume reminded me more of her Earthsea series than the first two, as it contained more interesting characters, a more subtle weaving of plot and theme, with an ending that was very satisfying.


In Progress:

Ildefonso Falcones, La mano de Fátima

Chris Adrian, The Children's Hospital

Andrzej Sapkowski, Narrenturm

Katsushi Ota (ed.), Faust 2

Roberto Bolaño, 2666


Future Plans:

Andrzej Sapkowski, Camino sin retorno

Ysabel Wilce, Flora's Dare

June 8-14 Reads

Lots more books read this week, due in large part to my reading of several while riding the exercise bike (after a three week shutdown to recover from tendinitis in my left knee). Short, brief descriptions since I really need to sleep some before work in 6 hours:

203 Max Ernst, Une Semaine de Bonté: A Surrealistic Novel in Collage - Already blogged about. Enjoyed it quite a bit.

204 Vladimir Nabokov, Ada, or Ardor - Don't have the time now to elaborate on how much I loved this novel. Might be the best of the four Nabokov novels that I've read to date.

205 Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea - Shamefully underrated novel about a poor fisherman on the Channel Islands. Once the narrative began, it contained some scenes near the equal to his Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

206 Flannery O'Connor, Collected Works (Library of America edition) - I'm hoping to have the time to write a lengthy piece about her in the near future. One of my favorite writers. If you haven't sampled her work, do so ASAP.

207 Graham Greene, A Gun for Sale - OK, but nowhere near as good as his latter works (this book was originally published in 1936 and the narrative power is relatively weak compared to his more "mature" works).

208 Rafael Ábalos, Grimpow y la bruja de la estirpe - Second volume in the bestselling Spanish YA series that was just released over in Spain. Stronger than the first in the pacing and prose. Might write a piece closer to its North American release, presumably in the next year or so.

209 Fritz Leiber, The First Book of Lankhmar - Omnibus of the first four volumes of the adventures of Fafhred and the Mouser, this was glorious pulp fiction reading. Already have ordered the second half of the Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks edition of Leiber's stories.

210 Michael Moorcock, Corum: The Prince in the Scarlet Robe - This first omnibus volume of the Corum aspect of the Eternal Champion was not as good as the Elric stories, but I enjoyed them for the pulp stories that they were.

211 Michael Moorcock, The History of the Runestaff - This omnibus of the Dorian Hawkmoon stories is infamous for Moorcock's extremely rapid output (three days for a single novel, if I recall) and it really, really shows here. Yet despite that, the notion of the British Empire being evil and the Germans being the "good guys" made it entertaining enough, once I accepted that the prose was going to be mostly filler due to the conditions behind its writing.

212 Javier Negrete, Amada de los dioses - Erotic fiction crossed with Greek mythology. Negrete writes well, even if erotic fiction generally isn't my preferred reading, to say the least.

213 Ysabel Wilce, Flora Segunda - This first Flora novel has one of the best narrative first-person voices of any YA fiction that I've read recently. While the pacing and plotting were spotty in places, as befits a first novel, Flora's PoV was consistently engaging and I'll be reading more of her tales in the very near future.

214 Jonathan Rosenberg, Goats: Infinite Typewriters - Print version of one of the most well-known webcomics. The craziness and the adroit use of pop culture made this a real delight to read. Book comes out in stores on June 30, with two more volumes to follow in the next few months. I'm certainly going to be reading more of these, for the Chaos Pope, for Oliver, and all the other wild and zany characters!

215 Michael Moorcock, The Dancers at the End of Time - Homage of sorts to the dandies of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras of English literature. Interesting plotline, with the characters' ennui being portrayed almost perfectly.

216 Brian Evenson, Fugue State - Evenson's latest short fiction collection, just released in the past week. Excellent and certainly will make my year-end list of the best Short Fiction Collections.

217 Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 - Pynchon's earliest novel and in it, the seeds of what germinated with Gravity's Rainbow are sown. Not enough time or energy to elaborate on what I enjoyed about this short 152 page novel.


In Progress:

Ildefonso Falcones, La mano de Fátima

D.H. Lawrence, The Plumed Serpent

José Saramago, El año de la muerte de Ricardo Reis

Roberto Bolaño, 2666

Stuart Archer Cohen, The Army of the Republic


Future Plans:

Andrzej Sapkowski, Narrenturm

James Thurber, Writings and Drawings (Library of America edition)

A good 24 hours

Starting a little after midnight CDT Wednesday and ending a few minutes before midnight CDT, I have completed the following books:

Max Ernst, Une Semaine de Bonté: A Surrealistic Novel in Collage

Vladimir Nabokov, Ada, or Ardor

Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea

Flannery O'Connor, Collected Works (Library of America)

June 1-7 Reads

Nine books read this past week, all of them first-time reads. Two are 2009 releases, one from 2008, with the rest being older stories. Three are in Spanish, plus there are three more that are short fiction collections or anthologies. Most of these I'd recommend to others, depending of course on whether or not you are reading fluent in Spanish.

194 John Barth, Chimera - This comic retelling of several Greek myths was brilliant. Will need to re-read several times before I could elaborate further, as it's one of "those" novels, the ones that you know that you love them, but find it hard to articulate just why that is so.

195 Juan José Arreola, Confabulario definitivo - Interesting mix of short fiction here. Available also in English translation. Will re-read in a year or two to make sure I got all that Arreola was trying to convey here.

196 Boris Vian, Heartsnatcher - Fucking brilliant. Or fucking as "psychotherapy." Your choice. Just read it ASAP, if you haven't already.

197 Laura Restrepo, Demasiados héroes - This 2009 novel revolving around a mother and a son returning to Buenos Aires in 1997 after the mother's lover (and boy's father) disappeared during Argentina's 1970s "Dirty War" is excellent. Hopefully this will be translated into English in the next few years, as I could see this being another one of Restrepo's works that could reach a wider audience. Certain to be part of my year-end lists.

198 Michael Moorcock (ed.), New Worlds: An Anthology - If I still had my copy of the Ann and Jeff VanderMeer-edited The New Weird with me (it's on loan to a friend of mine), I'd love to re-read it to compare the stories there with the ones culled from that seminal 1960s mag. Some excellent stories here, with several outstanding entries from J.G. Ballard and M. John Harrison, among others.

199 Tomás Eloy Martínez, Purgatorio - Another story revolving around Argentina's "Dirty War," this time featuring the return of a presumed desaparecio into the life of a former lover. However, he hasn't aged and what follows is in turns poignant and heartbreaking. Very good 2008 novel.

200 China Miéville, The City & The City - I struggled to finish reading this novel, which was surprising since I don't mind crime/noir novels and that I had loved most of his earlier work. When I have more time, I'll try to write out a post exploring what went wrong for me.

201 Milan Kundera, Identity - This 1998 novel of his showcases some of his hallmarks, namely his penchant for using introspective comments by his characters to explore human human emotions. Very good, but not as good as his earlier, more well-known novels.

202 Clark Ashton Smith, The Emperor of Dreams - This SF Masterworks edition containing most of his prose fiction was entertaining and at times very well-written. Some of the stories, or rather their elements of characterization and setting, felt a bit dated, however. Zothique as a setting, though, was well done.


In Progress:

Roberto Bolaño, 2666

Flannery O'Connor, Collected Works (Library of America edition)

Vladimir Nabokov, Ada, or Ardor

Ysabel Wilce, Flora Segunda


Future Plans:

Alexandre Dumas, The Last Cavalier

D.H. Lawrence, The Plumed Serpent

Facts and figures about 2009's reads #101-200

Finished read #200 tonight. Here are a few things to compare with the first 100 reads:

• Although still very low for me compared to previous years, the number of female authors read in this 100 comprise 14% of the total
• 17% of the books read were in Spanish and an additional 4% were in Italian
• 31% were re-reads
• 8% were books read in English translation from the original German, Hebrew, Italian, and Portuguese
• 12% have a ©2009 notice
• 1% is poetry from the 20th century and is by a Catholic priest
• 2% of the books were written by the current Pope
• 9% were anthologies or short story collections
• 16% were graphic novels or illustrated stories
• 0% are by authors whose debut work was released in 2009
• The 200th book was China Miéville's The City & The City, which was a surprisingly disappointing read for me, since I've enjoyed his other fiction much more than I enjoyed reading this novel.

And those are the facts and figures for now. Might do the same whenever I reach 300 books read for this year.

May 18-31 Reads

Since I forgot about doing a reading list for last week, this one for the past two weeks will be shorter on content, as there are 23 books read over the past two weeks, with a few more close to being completed. Since a few are re-reads, those I will limit myself to a sentence or so.

170 Daniel Robb, Crossing the Water - Memoir of a teacher's 18 months working with troubled male teens on an island off Massachusetts. Connected well with this story, due to my own personal experiences that are close to Robb's.

171 Peter Straub (ed.), Conjunctions: 39: The New Wave Fabulists (re-read from 2004) - Liked, but wasn't thrilled about how the anthology was constructed. Some good stories here from MJH, China Miéville, Elizabeth Hand, Neil Gaiman, among others.

172 Marc Bojanowski, The Dog Fighter - Read this after having it recommended to me by M. John Harrison and I found it to be a brutal yet lyrical account of a young boy growing up in Mexico in the 1940s. Will need to think on this some more before I elaborate in detail.

173 Stewart O'Nan, Last Night at the Lobster - This short 160 page novel works on so many levels, many of them revolving around developing the characters and showing how the modern-day working class is makin' it (or not) in rougher times. This past sentence, however, does little justice to O'Nan's abilities to paint a story with just a few well-done brush strokes.

174 Andrzej Sapkowski, El último deseo - Spanish translation of Sapkowski's first Geralt book, which I reviewed back in 2007.

175 Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish (re-read from 2007, 2008) - said review.

176 Andrzej Sapkowski, La espada del destino (re-read from 2008) - second Geralt book, not available in English translation, that I reviewed in 2008.

177 Bradford Morrow (ed.), Conjunctions: 48: Faces of Desire - Lit journal from Fall 2007 issue that deals with various mimetic and spec fic ways of portraying the various facets of desire. Some good stories, many solid ones, very few poor ones.

178 Pope Benedict XVI, Credo for Today: What Christians Believe - Cogent analysis by the future Pope of how the Nicene Creed connects with ecumenical beliefs of all Christians. Nice, clear, easy to follow yet still substantive in what it wanted to cover.

179 Pope Benedict XVI, Saved in Hope: Spe Salvi - English translation of the Pope's second encyclical. Thoughtful, reflective, although not as moving as the first one on Love.

180 Andrzej Sapkowski, La sangre de los elfos (re-read from 2008) - Spanish translation of the book I reviewed in 2008.

181 Andrzej Sapkowski, Blood of Elves - said review.

182 Johann Wyss, The Swiss Family Robinson (1816 English edition) - While I had read this story several times since my 8th grade year (or 21 years ago), this is the first time that I had read it in the original English edition, which differs significantly from the more well-known latter editions in how the story concludes. Still had that sense of exploration about it that even the Disney movie couldn't spoil entirely.

183 Tamar Yellin, Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes - This 2008 collection combines Jewish legends with modern-day stories. Yellin's use of language is superb. Perhaps I'll say more later. If I had read this last year, it certainly would have been mentioned in the Short Story Collection list.

184 Thomas Ligotti, My Work Is Not Yet Done - April 2009 mass-release reissue of a short novel of Ligotti's. Enjoyed this one quite a bit, as his prose captured my attention quickly. Might write a formal review of this later.

185 Andrzej Sapkowski, Tiempo de odio (re-read from 2008) - fourth Geralt book, not yet available in English translation. Nice middle volume, full of the witty dialogue that marked the first three volumes. Will likely review in full when the English edition is available.

186 Juan Ramón Jiménez, Platero y yo - This edition was an illustrated version of this Nobel laureate's famous 1914 children's stories revolving around the first-person narrator and the burro Platero. Despite almost a century, a language, and a culture between myself and the author, this was a joy to read and the illustrations were great. Available in English translation.

187 Jeff VanderMeer, Finch (PDF ARC format) - Will be reviewing this formally in late October or early November (just before its release date), but I can say that this concluding "volume" to the Ambergris stories was captivating, surprising, with an ending that I'll need to re-read again so I can take it in more slowly, as this was a fast-paced noir adventure with certain extra touches that made for a fast, very good read.

188 Andrzej Sapkowski, Bautismo de fuego (re-read from 2008) - Fifth Geralt book. Introduces two new, important, and well-drawn characters. Even better on a re-read.

189 Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Zahrah the Windseeker - Okorafor's debut novel. Very well-done, and with it being set in an analogue for Nigeria, there are many elements here that are relatively unfamiliar for this American, but she executes the plot and integrates the setting very well. Looking forward to reading her upcoming adult novel (I've already read and enjoyed her second novel, The Shadow Speaker, back in January 2008).

190 Andrzej Sapkowski, La torre de la golondrina (re-read from 2008) - Sixth Geralt book (still waiting for the seventh and final volume to be released in Spanish). Interesting to see how the characters, especially Ciri, have changed. Sad that I have to wait months, if not a year or more, before La dama del lago is released.

191 Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files: Storm Front: Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm (graphic novel adaptation) - This graphic novel adaptation of the first half of the first volume of Butcher's more well-known urban fantasy/detective series is very well-drawn. As with his Welcome to the Jungle, the Dabel Brothers have done an excellent job in rendering the characters and scenes and the coloring is impressive. Due to be released in about 10 days, I believe. Can't wait for the second half (and strangely, I only want to read these in graphic novel format).

192 Nicola Griffith, Slow River - One of the books recommended to me after my Genderfail...me? post, this was a really good read of how a beaten, battered girl tries to cope with her loss of identity. Will read more of Griffith's works in the near future.

193 G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday (re-read from 2008) - Short novel (barely 110 pages in my edition) that is in part a detective novel and in part a very good character profile. Might review this later on, if I have the time.


In Progress:

China Miéville, The City & The City

Michael Moorcock (ed.), New Worlds

Clark Ashton Smith, The Emperor of Dreams


Future Plans:

Roberto Bolaño, 2666 (re-read)

Andrzej Sapkowski, Narrenturm

Andrzej Sapkowski, Camino sin retorno

Roberto Bolaño, La escritura como tauromaquia