Thursday, July 1, 2010

Mid-Year Recap

Happy Canada Day everyone! And so without much ado we are half a year into 2010 and I barely noticed how the time went by.

Time to reflect on half a year worth of reading and point out my favorites so far.
First place goes to *drumroll*

1. The Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson
I've read (and watched in the case of the first book) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and enjoyed the books immensely.
See reviews here: book1, book2, book3. Definitely recommending these books to everyone.

2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
A book that has been spoken of a lot and that I have held out reading for so long finally had the chance to sweep me off my feet in this atmospheric, Gothic tale of two magicians.
Full review here.

3. Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
Carey is a long-time favourite author whose books I just generally enjoy. (Speaking of which, Naamah's Curse is sitting on my table waiting for me to read it as I type). Santa Olivia, though not part of D'Angeline world was a touching story in a modern setting. Both fantasy and post-apocalypse fans will enjoy this one.
Full review here.

4. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
An outstanding fantasy debut that has been topping all the favorites lists in the past year. I loved the magic school idea taken on with a much more adult approach to story telling and characterization.
Full review here.

In total, I read 23 books this year which puts me on track for my 45 books goal. I also did pretty well on my other goals (I already read and reviewed 2 non-fiction books and several science fiction novels). And the having fun goal has been the easiest so far.

2 comments:

  1. I can't believe I missed your review of Jonathan Strange. I went ahead and left a comment on it over there.

    I've read a lot of good things about The Magicians. I bought a copy of it recently for a friend for his birthday because he is a big GRRM fan and Martin has a quote about it on the back.

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  2. I just realized Jonathan Strange was actually something I read last year, but it was pretty late in December that it felt like this year's reading. It's a great book regardless and deserves to be up there.

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