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2005 Review - Books
Jan. 2nd, 2006 02:02 pmI aimed to do a bit more reading this year and managed to make it to 50 books, this probably doesn't seem much to some people, but I read quite slowly and only tend to read during my work lunch break. Of those 50 though all of them are new not re-reads. Reviews can be found here
Very few of the books on the list are 'new' for 2005 (5 in fact) although there's a couple more that were new in paperback.
( Full book list )
Best Book I read this year - Without hesitation this one is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel, it's an amazing character focussed work that was simultaneously horribly painful to read and completely compelling.
Honorable Mentions - Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game, Banks: The Wasp Factory, Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Clifford D Simak: City
Most enjoyable books of the year - Jack McDevitt: Chindi, Niven and Pournell: The Mote in God's Eye, Joanne Harris: Chocolate, Dan Simmons: Olympos, Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog
Disappointment of the year - Harry Potter 6 was an enjoyable read but the lack of plot and abundance of cliche was a disappointment, the lack of a new Dalziel and Pascoe was annoying.
Can someone explain the fuss about - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - it was ok but I just felt it was an interesting concept not really done justice by mediocre story telling
Struggle to finish - Strange and Norrell: a great book but boy was it slow going, not to mention it's size didn't really make it handbag friendly.
Worst book - Mobius Dick by Andrew Crumey - pretensious and irritating
Best non-fiction - I've read 7 non-fiction books this year and most of them have been pretty poor. The standout was Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder which probably only really 1/2 counts as non-fiction. It's a beautifully structured book that introduces the history of philsophy through examples both obvious and hidden. It's hard going at times, but definately worth reading.
Worst non-fiction - A toss up between Simon Winchester's Map that Changed the World (cheesy and hackish) and Francis Spufford's The Child that Books Built (clumsy autobiography littered with pop-psychology and waffle)
2006 - I've got a shelf of books still waiting to be read first up are probably Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Clarke and Baxter's Time's Oddysey Book 2. There's quite a few things I keep spying on tables in Waterstones and I'd like to read a bit more non-fiction to prevent brain rot. I'd also like to read some more of the classics that I've never got round to... particularly the nice short ones ;0)
Very few of the books on the list are 'new' for 2005 (5 in fact) although there's a couple more that were new in paperback.
( Full book list )
Best Book I read this year - Without hesitation this one is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel, it's an amazing character focussed work that was simultaneously horribly painful to read and completely compelling.
Honorable Mentions - Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game, Banks: The Wasp Factory, Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Clifford D Simak: City
Most enjoyable books of the year - Jack McDevitt: Chindi, Niven and Pournell: The Mote in God's Eye, Joanne Harris: Chocolate, Dan Simmons: Olympos, Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog
Disappointment of the year - Harry Potter 6 was an enjoyable read but the lack of plot and abundance of cliche was a disappointment, the lack of a new Dalziel and Pascoe was annoying.
Can someone explain the fuss about - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - it was ok but I just felt it was an interesting concept not really done justice by mediocre story telling
Struggle to finish - Strange and Norrell: a great book but boy was it slow going, not to mention it's size didn't really make it handbag friendly.
Worst book - Mobius Dick by Andrew Crumey - pretensious and irritating
Best non-fiction - I've read 7 non-fiction books this year and most of them have been pretty poor. The standout was Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder which probably only really 1/2 counts as non-fiction. It's a beautifully structured book that introduces the history of philsophy through examples both obvious and hidden. It's hard going at times, but definately worth reading.
Worst non-fiction - A toss up between Simon Winchester's Map that Changed the World (cheesy and hackish) and Francis Spufford's The Child that Books Built (clumsy autobiography littered with pop-psychology and waffle)
2006 - I've got a shelf of books still waiting to be read first up are probably Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Clarke and Baxter's Time's Oddysey Book 2. There's quite a few things I keep spying on tables in Waterstones and I'd like to read a bit more non-fiction to prevent brain rot. I'd also like to read some more of the classics that I've never got round to... particularly the nice short ones ;0)
