27. Dust (342 pp.) by Elizabeth Bear (Aug 22). I loved this book and it's the type of book that's hard to summarize in a sentence or two. It's got a generation ship that's been stalled for 500 years and a Amber-like warring family and Neil Gaiman-esque angels all held together with fancy nanotech. If I have one complaint, it's that there was a lot of information. I read about 50 pages and then went back and re-read and took notes to help me keep it all straight. Recommended and I'm definitely going to track down more of Bear's books.

26. Breaking Dawn (754 pp.) by Stephenie Meyer. (Aug 10). Finally, I finished a book and a mostly dreadful one at that. There will be spoilers in this review but nothing you wouldn't guess if you aren't following the series.

First of all, there's barely a 350pp book in this monster. There are long, long sections, including the first 400 pages that are just typing. People talk and talk and nothing productive or interesting happens. Second of all, she [the writer] jettisons everything that made Bella an interesting character. For the first half of the book she's like a child. Even her husband treats her like a child. In the second half she becomes a vampire and of course she's the most amazing vampire ever with fabulous powers. And she gets a Ferrarri and a closet bigger than a house. Then there's a long-winded super-talky showdown with the bad vampires.

Not recommended. I would not read another book in this series.