10. Tales from Indian Country The Apple

By Andrew Genaille (85 pp. ebook)

I was chasing down a URL for an anthology that I have a story in, also called Tales from Indian Country and this title popped up. I'm always thrilled to see Indian writers (Genaille is First Nations, I don't see his affiliation in his bio) getting their stories out there. I liked this book a lot, great settings and characters, however I felt at times that the stories were weighed down by issues.

9. Ancillary Justice

By Ann Leckie (384 pp)

I keep starting more books and then setting them aside to start more books. I intend to finish them all but my reading-in-progress pile is out of control. I (half-heartedly) swear that I won't start any new books until I finish some books I've already started. But this book is really good.

It's sci-fi which I realize is a hard sell for a lot of people - but's also a thriller, only in space. I will admit I had a little bit of a tough time at first because the world building is so rich and you get dropped in there and a bunch of stuff is introduced. I'm not generally a patient reader and I had to go back and re-read parts but totally worth it. It's one of those, the more I got into it, the more I got into it books. I would recommend even to people who think they don't like science fiction if you like stories with political conflict and interesting culture and customs.

I don't know how to sum up in a sentence. It's about a soldier who is on a mission and nothing is quite what it seems. Recommend.

8. The Round House

By Louise Erdrich (321 pp)

I used to read everything Erdrich wrote and then I didn't like a couple of books in a row and gave up. This is the first of hers I've read in a long time and it is terrific. It is terrific in the way that a book that is tough and sad but also has funny moments can be. Erdrich manages to squeeze in a lot of information about the unique legal issues involved for crimes in Indian Country. The story is about a 13 year old Indian boy whose mother is assaulted and how their family deals with the crime. Lots of details about life in Indian Country. Recommend.

7. Graceling

By Kristin Cashore (320 pp ebook)

This book has been on my list forever and I LOVED it. It's a fantasy set in a kingdom where some people are born with graces - special abilities. The hero has the ability to be an amazing fighter and the King uses her to bully people into doing what he wants. A grandfather is kidnapped, his graced grandson appears and all kinds of adventures happen. Very entertaining and fun book.

6. The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope

by Rhonda Riley (326 pp ebook)

I wanted to like this book but it's tough to recommend. The story begins at the end of WWII and this young woman finds "someone" in mud on her farm. It's never explained but I think we're to conclude it's an alien. Initially the story is pretty interesting and seems on the verge of exploring some interesting issues. But it just turns into an events-in-a-woman's-life (who shacked up with an alien) on the farm. I never really bought the problems as being major problems. The character development is superficial and the primary characters have few flaws. The story doesn't offer any satisfying resolution.

5. I Am The Secret Footballer

By Anonymous (221 pp)

This is supposedly a peek inside professional football (soccer) from a player who has played at high level clubs in England. Since he's anonymous, we're getting the secret insider view. There are a few interesting bits but by the middle of the book my main takeaway was that the Secret Footballer is a giant weenie and this book is his opportunity to tell everyone how great he is and smarter than everyone (fans, managers, other players, everyone). It was a slog to finish. Do not recommend.

4. The Fifth Wave

By Rick Yancey (434 pp. ebook) My sister-in-law recommended this book and it wasn't what I expected but it was fun to read. It's a post-alien invasion YA story with some romance and lots of action and violence. Of course it's the first in a series and of course it's being made into a movie. I don't think I'll knock myself out continuing with the series but this was good.

3. The Twelve

By Justin Cronin (588 pp)

This is second in a series that started with The Passage which I liked a great deal. I was doing okay with this book until about page 300 where I became annoyed. It's a post-apocalyptic scary vampires caused by virus abused by military story and lots of things were happening to lots of people but I had no idea what was going on. As soon as I finished I searched for a wiki to fill in the gaps and the most informative item I found was this which is a lengthy review by a person who hated the book. This person articulates a lot of what didn't work for me: the bad guys are uniformly cartoonishly bad, the good guys ever so good; amazing coincidences; magical parental bonds - everyone who has lost a parent/child is miraculously reunited; even the eye-rolling bit where one character has a mystical relationship with a horse. Nothing original here. Lazy "feels like a first draft written at top speed" writing. Disappointing.

2. About Writing

By Samuel R. Delany (419 pp)

This is kind-of a cheat because I just skimmed the interviews. Delany is a sci-fi writer and has taught at Clarion West (among other places.) As others have said, this is a dense book. Lots of information to think about. But very interesting for a writer.

I Ditched Book #2

Normally I don't mention books I give up on and I'm not going to say the title of this one. The only reason I am bringing it up is because I was really excited about this book. And I had a little trouble finding it and wasn't sure I wanted to buy it in hardcover. So I asked the library about requesting materials and filled out a form. And they bought it. And I thought I was so clever getting this book into the library. Then I borrowed it.

Oh my. I don't even know where to start. The narrative style is a bit different but I got over that. Have you ever had a friend tell you about an event you missed and it's like, "Roger was there and his roommate Vernon. Vernon brought his girlfriend Peggy and her friend Sandy. My old roommate Winnie was there with her brother Fritz and his friend Craig and Craig's girlfriend Daisy" and after awhile your eyes glaze over because you can't keep them all straight and you don't have enough information about the people to even care? I was determined to slog through but just for kicks I checked the book reviews at major online book retailer. There were a few generic 5 star reviews and about a dozen 1 star reviews that said they kept hoping something would happen or the book would get better and it never did. It's on its way back to the library. Sorry taxpayers for getting the library to buy a crappy book.

1. The Goldfinch

By Donna Tartt (5 million pp.)

You can't imagine how much it pains me to not be in love with this book. It's terrific writing and a great story but it is just way too long. Every bit drags on. Every time the scene changed, I would get swept up in the story again only to find myself wondering why we weren't getting anywhere. By the end I was so resentful of the slow pace, I didn't care what happened. I think there's an amazing 500 page in there. It's about a boy who the victim of a terrible event and comes into possession of a famous painting.

The 2014 Book List Starts Here

I don't even know why I do this. I told myself I wasn't going to do reading goals this year. But now that I'm sitting, here, I can't help it.

I read 37 books in 2013. I wish it was more but given all the other stuff I do and stuff I read that doesn't get counted, I guess it's not that bad. I also kept track of pages read with the idea of reaching at least 15K and I made it to 13K. Again, not counting the other stuff. I gave up on several books and I have a bunch of half-read things sitting in my room. I intended to finish them up by the ended of the year but became side tracked by Book #1 for 2014 which monopolized all of my reading time.

I gave up several magazines but in exchange we just subscribed to the New Yorker so I imagine my book total will look pretty similar at the end of this year.