Books read in 2016 📚 log(book)

All Mercy Thompson books are the same.

Blood Bound

by Patricia Briggs · published 2007 · read 2016-12-16

All Mercy Thompson books are the same – you get what you want, and exactly only that.

Moon Called

by Patricia Briggs · published 2006 · read 2016-12-14

Do you know those days (or weeks) when you just want some hot chocolate and reassuring books and a safe cuddly sofa? I enjoy trashy fantasy on those days, and Mercy Thompson definitely qualifies. It doesn't get one star because I really like reading trashy urban fantasy once in a while, and it is still better than Twilight or Shades of Grey, so what the hell. Two stars it is, but don't expect quality.

The Man in the High Castle

by Philip K. Dick · published 1962 · read 2016-12-12

Ok, so Philip K Dick is just too esoteric for me. Every book I've read has about 40% that I really like, that are clever, well-thought, and interesting. While the other parts are weird, sometimes they feel kafkaesque, or trippy, and I don't get them (or at least, their relevance and what they do in the book). As always I liked the premise (also, I'm a sucker for Nazis-have-won books), but the more it progressed the more I felt like I should take some drugs to properly understand the book. Not to say that it's a bad book, but it's just not for me.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

by Philip K. Dick · published 1974 · read 2016-12-08

by Robin Hobb · published 1997 · read 2016-12-07

Well, well, well.

Assassin’s Quest

Concluding the first part of the trilogy trilogy, I still liked it. Yes, it's slowly paced high fantasy, yes, the protagonist is not a Mary Sue at all (whiny and annoying, more like), yes, the conclusion is a bit deus-ex-machina - I still liked it. It's nice fantasy. It takes you to Buckkeep and to the Mountain Kingdom and all the places Fitz and the wolf visit.

Royal Assassin

by Robin Hobb · published 1996 · read 2016-12-05

Second volume, and a lot happens (well, not that much per page, but fun nonetheless): Fitz gains confidence, but loses his girl, his King, his King-in-Waiting, his Queen-in-Waiting, and ultimately his life (-ish, no huge cliffhanger).

Anansi Boys

by Neil Gaiman · published 2005 · read 2016-11-28

Very much a Neil Gaiman book. I think both Spider and the green fedora are going to stay with me for a long time.

M Is for Magic

by Neil Gaiman · published 2007 · read 2016-11-24

Again - Neil Gaiman can write short stories like the best of them.

Fortunately, the Milk

by Neil Gaiman · published 2013 · read 2016-11-22

Fortunately, the Milk is an entirly charming children's book, and if my little siblings were still a bit smaller, I'd totally give it to them. I'd say it works for the ages three or four and upwards, pre-school ages mostly.

City of Glass

by Cassandra Clare · published 2009 · read 2016-11-22

★☆☆☆☆

Very generic, predictable YA. Yawn.

City of Ashes

by Cassandra Clare · published 2008 · read 2016-11-20

★☆☆☆☆

Works as a second volume. Clary is still an annoying teenager and gains powers. Nobody really dies, but that's ok. The evil father Valentine is very generic in his evilness.

City of Bones

by Cassandra Clare · published 2007 · read 2016-11-20

YA fantasy. Clary loses her mother, finds her father Valentine and meets her brother Jace. Vampires, werewolves, fay, the works. Short, and enjoyable just like fast food is occasionally enjoyable. Twilight level with less thought and more action.

Der Herr der Unruhe

by Ralf Isau · published 2004 · read 2016-11-13

Magical realism in Mussolini's Italy: Our protagonist can talk to machines. A bit cheap with the Romeo and Juliet arc, but the descriptions and research are, as always with Isau, top notch.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

by Philip K. Dick · published 1968 · read 2016-11-12

Sci-fi that I like. Real, easy to read. Also, sheep.

The Forever War

by Joe Haldeman · published 1974 · read 2016-11-09

Very Scalzi-ish (although, of course, the other way around). Took some getting used to the terse style, after that very well thought through and enjoyable. Especially all the implication of time dilation by long distance space jumps.

Full Dark, No Stars

by Stephen King · published 2010 · read 2016-10-26

So, thriller is most definitely not my genre, but I can't deny that Stephen King is a master - both in his genre and with words in general. He paints incredibly vivid people, murdering for reasons they think right, and dealing with the consequences.

Wizard’s First Rule

by Terry Goodkind · published 1994 · read 2016-10-24

This book could have been classic fantasy. It has all the right ingredients: Richard, the Woman, the Wizard, the Quest, the Traitor, the Evil Antagonist. Boring? Yes. Schematic? Couldn't be more so. But still, a lot of Fantasy works like this. It's not a crime, and in some regards, this book is just one of those very mediocre SFF books:

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

by Catherynne M. Valente · published 2011 · read 2016-10-20

This is a very nice little book, filled with Faerie and language that is exceedingly ornate but never quite pretentious. And it's a modern fairy tale at that - September, the protagonist, didn't grow too close to my heart, but the narrator did, and that is good enough.

The Lies of Locke Lamora

by Scott Lynch · published 2006 · read 2016-10-19

Gripping heist adventures in a unique and well-built world: Locke, Jean, Bug, the twins and Chains grew close to my heart really soon. There is a phase in the beginning where the book is going slowly and the characters don't mean anything to you, but it works well in hindsight, and it didn't feel like it was dragging on to me.

Assassin’s Apprentice

by Robin Hobb · published 1995 · read 2016-10-11

Now this was a fantasy novel I really enjoyed. I went in with no expectations at all, randomly chose it from my Kindle, and oh boy, was I in for a ride.

Divergent

by Veronica Roth · published 2011 · read 2016-10-11

★☆☆☆☆

Horrid generic post-Hunger-Games YA with no redeeming features.

The Nightmare Stacks

by Charles Stross · published 2016 · read 2016-10-02

This Laundry novel features Alex as the protagonist, going up against elvish aliens and his family's expectations... He's not the most lovable character we've seen so far, but he works out as a generic protagonist.

Missile Gap

by Charles Stross · published 2006 · read 2016-09-20

Locus award winning novella, where the Earth finds itself suddenly remapped onto a flat surface. An agent called Gregor Samsa plays a role.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

by John Tiffany · published 2016 · read 2016-08-08

I'm very much not impressed by this bood.

The Painted Man

by Peter V. Brett · published 2008 · read 2016-08-08

I truly loved this book. The characters work well and stayed with me, the world is consistent and required no effort or conscious suspension of disbelief on my part, and the pacing and storytelling in general was absolutely well-done and enjoyable. I'm really looking forward to the other parts of the series. Also, yay for books with several POV characters.

The Wise Man’s Fear

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2011 · read 2016-07-05

We see Kvothe travelling here: he meets the Maer and navigates his court, hunts bandits in the woods, gets tangled up with Felurian, and finally learns the arts (Ketan) of the Adem before returning to the University. Sadly, while a bunch of things happen, few seem to have any consequences.

The Last Dragonslayer

by Jasper Fforde · published 2010 · read 2016-06-11

This is very much a book by Jasper Fforde, and if you've read other books by him, you'll recognise his humour, his phrasing, and his worldbuilding. Which is why I liked the book well enough, but not more than that. Magic as a natural (and regulated) thing is hilarious.

Odd and the Frost Giants

by Neil Gaiman · published 2008 · read 2016-06-11

It's a Gaiman fairytale, about a wonderful boy among the vikings and their gods, and that's all you need to know.

Theatre of Cruelty

by Terry Pratchett · published 1993 · read 2016-06-08

This one is short and nice (well, no. Not nice, but if you know Punch and Judy shows, you'll enjoy it). Available online for free on lspace

Death and What Comes Next

by Terry Pratchett · published 2002 · read 2016-06-08

Really amusing. Hey, it's DEATH vs a philosopher, you know you'll like it. It's really short though, so be prepared for a sudden ending. It's also the last dedicated Death work, but since Death is always good as a recurring cast member in all other sub-series, we don't have to grieve too much.

The Name of the Wind

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2007 · read 2016-06-04

I really liked this book … at first - it hit all the sweet spots for me. Flowery language, not-too-overbearing fantasy setting, believable characters, good pacing and narration (and training in the $arts).

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders

by Neil Gaiman · published 2006 · read 2016-05-22

Short story collections are tricky things, and tricky to rate. You never love all of them, but when one or two of them truly grab you, you're good. And of course, nobody gets grabbed by the same stories. The three stars represent the amount of stories that didn't do a thing for me, even though I fell for a few of the others.

A Wizard of Mars

by Diane Duane · published 2010 · read 2016-05-17

I loved this one. Even if you're not a space nut, or not a real sci-fi fan, I suspect this book will really work for you. The combination of space, and magic, and physics, and human and alien conflict, sprinkled with a bit of time line technicalities? Yeah, more, please.

Wizards at War

by Diane Duane · published 2005 · read 2016-05-15

While there was a lot of action, the book still dragged on and on for me. I liked the recurring characters, and even the resolution, but I didn't care for the pacing, and while the dangers and risks sounded dire, they didn't feel like it. Nice parts, but a bit meh overall.

Fünf

by Ursula Poznanski · published 2012 · read 2016-05-14

Hm, it might just be that I'm not a fan of thrillers, but I don't particularly love this one. There is nothing wrong with it. The characters are very relatable, the story is sound, the details are well-researched, the language and pacing are very well done,... I don't dislike it, but I don't love it either.

Wizard’s Holiday

by Diane Duane · published 2003 · read 2016-05-13

This was a very generic book in the series. Didn't dislike it, but... yeah

A Wizard Alone

by Diane Duane · published 2002 · read 2016-05-12

This one was again much better, and illustrates a lot of the reasons I enjoy this series. I love how Duane deals with autism here, in many ways. I love how she takes care to take it seriously, and doesn't paint it as a defect. Kit has difficulty connecting with it because of his preconceived ideas about how autism works. I also like that we see how we see Nita's grieving in a really realistic way, without pity or anything.

A Wizard Abroad

by Diane Duane · published 1993 · read 2016-05-09

Nita goes to Ireland - it felt less important, somehow, and just like following a pattern. But since the pattern is good, I still enjoyed reading it.

The Wizard’s Dilemma

by Diane Duane · published 2001 · read 2016-05-09

Nita faces temptation … a lot. Felt like a Hiob story in many ways. She has to deal with her mother dying and learns how to change whole universes to try and deal with it. Reminded me a lot of Buffy in the same situation, only a lot younger (but including the outcome and the younger sister, btw).

High Wizardry

by Diane Duane · published 1990 · read 2016-05-08

★★★★★

Wow. Easily my favourite book of the series so far.

Deep Wizardry

by Diane Duane · published 1985 · read 2016-05-07

I liked the first book in the series a bit more, although Duane does a lot of nice world-building here, both regarding the deep ocean and the whales, and Nita's family (Dairine, mom, and dad).

So You Want to Be a Wizard

by Diane Duane · published 1983 · read 2016-05-05

I really loved this book - it reminded me of Harry Potter, naturally, but better written and better thought-out. Magic actually has a system, people have motivations and actions have actual consequences.

The Way of Shadows

by Brent Weeks · published 2008 · read 2016-03-01

I just really enjoyed this book. It is pure and classic fantasy. Not very sophisticated, but very very enjoyable, especially since I have a thing for training stories and an out-of-the-ashes arc.

Shadow’s Edge

by Brent Weeks · published 2008 · read 2016-03-01

Still a very cool generic fantasy book, although no good female characters came along.

Beyond the Shadows

by Brent Weeks · published 2008 · read 2016-03-01

A generic trilogy end to a generic fantasy trilogy, including the Big Reveal and the Sacrifice and the Hero all coming together. Still enjoyable to read.

The Clan Corporate

by Charles Stross · published 2006 · read 2016-02-07

Miriam has to fight against everything: the family pressured by the secret services, her grief over Roland, the looming marriage … and nothing happens. Miriam spends most of the book locked in the second world, unable to do anything, and events unfold painfully slow (save for the last pages). Didn't really know what to do with this book.

The Family Trade

by Charles Stross · published 2004 · read 2016-02-05

The Family Trade introduces the Merchant Princess worlds (all three of them) and takes us along with Miriam in discovering the mechanics (mostly economical mechanics) of those worlds. Solid world building, this is probably hard economic science fiction. Not my main area of interest but apart from some passages on trading that became too in-detail for me, I enjoyed the book.

The Hidden Family

by Charles Stross · published 2005 · read 2016-02-05

I'm just not sold on economical science fiction. And I think this might be why I didn't particularly like following this book's story line. We get a third world, we get a dramatic showdown with a character sacrifice thrown in in the end, and that's … it. Other than that it's slow, tiring movement of goods and ideas between three worlds. Didn't work for me, might work for an economy major.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

by Stieg Larsson · published 2005 · read 2016-02-01

Ohh, this book made me uncomfortable, and I finished it rather fast because it absolutely would not wait.

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan · published 2005 · read 2016-01-01