So it is new year!
Jan. 3rd, 2011 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anonymousblueberryWoohoo! I had a nice new year drinking sily cocktails and playing Warhammer Quest with my boyfriend and two of his housemates, following an amazing gigglefit that made me mostly want to sleep. I made it to midnight, didn't send too many annoying texts, and on New Years Day, me and Dave just made it to Wetherspoons in time for uber breakfast of humungouness. There was a lot of food. But we were hungry.
In 2010, I did a lot of stuff.
I had a job when I started the year, and I had a job when I finished the year. They might be different jobs, but I only spent 2 months unemployed, and I am significantly happier at my current place of work than I was at Geismar.
I had a boyfriend! I still have a boyfriend!
I haven't burned my house down! I still manage to live on my own without destroying things! I have had people over for dinner! I even remember to pay bills mostly on time.
I LARPed! I always LARP, but I bought more kit, and I ran a lot of events, and I played at the other system I go to.
I started running a tabletop campaign! I have always said I would never do this. I'm not a massive fan of tabletop gaming, but I found a system that I liked, and Dave made puppy eyes at me, so we have commenced on the most slap dash Unknown Armies game ever, and I continue to not have a clue what I'm doing.
I read quite a bit... but I'll get to that in a minute.
I sort of moved from LJ to DW, but only sort of, cos I still cross post.
I started baking. And suceeded at baking.
I watched a lot of films. I can't remember which ones though, because I forget to write them down. I know I saw Iron Man 2, and Inception (which I went to see on my own because no one else wanted to see it) and Legion (which I saw with Royce because Dave pulled a funny face when I suggested it), The A-Team, and The Losers, and a bunch of other stuff through my LoveFilm subscription, but my memory really does suck at times.
I watched a lot of crap TV. And good TV.
I continued to get on with Kay, and my step siblings (although in their case it's mostly down to never seeing them).
And I think that's about it.
1. A Storm of Swords - GRR Martin. I think I finished this over New Year, but it's counted on my 2010 shelf. I sort of hate these books. Nothing good ever happens, but at the same time, they are like some kind of crack and I want to keep knowing what's going on. Thankfully, I don't have to buy them, as one of Dave's housemates is quite happy to share the misery with others. I can't actually remember much of what happened in this one; the events from all the books seem to blur into one.
2. Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner. I have a bunch of books in PDF, acquired from somewhere or other, and this is one of them. Everyone raves about it. I was sort of left feeling a bit meh. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the greatest thing ever.
3. Feast of Souls - Celia Friedman. This was a christmas present, from someone who has a great love for strong female characters. In the pardiable sense. I like female characters who also happen to be strong. It's a good book; the politics are fascinating, and the magic is interesting. However, I feel the need to beat the main character upside the head. A lot. I've only just got round to picking up the second book (mostly because I've only just found it in non-stupid size paperback).
4. Graceling - Kristin Cashore. I picked this up because it looked vaguely interesting, and I had space on my 3 for 2 when I was buying presents or something. Again with the strong female character. The history for the world hints at being interesting, some of the characters are quite interesting, but I still felt the need for head beatings. And the writing does leave something to be desired at times.
5. Fire - Kristin Cashore. I thought this was a sequel. It's not, it's a prequel, set in a completely different place. Again, it's interesting, and has some curious possibilities, but I still wanted to slap people about a lot for stupidity. I've read worse, and I'll probably buy the next one. Despite the mocking I will recieve from people.
6. Destroyer of Worlds - Mark Chadbourn. This is the last book in a truly epic trilogy (and that trilogy is the last in a set of three trilogies) and it took me an age to get hold of it from the library. Chadbourn is a good writer, his characters are human enough to not be ridiculous, but not so much that they're boring, and his world building is gorgeous. At some point I will get hold of the other six books (the trilogies do stand up, from what I can see, to being read out of sequence). I was genuinely heartbroken when I'd finished this book, both for the characters, and because it was over.
7. A Feast for Crows - GRR Martin. I think I spent a lot of this book shouting at Jon to stop being stupid, and hating Sansa for putting up with her circumstances. I'm not sure.
8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson. I really enjoyed this. A couple of bits unnerved me or squicked me a bit, but it was a good book.
9. The Vinter's Luck - Elizabeth Knox. This is another one of those books that I've seen raved about, and I found it for a quid in a charity shop and grabbed it. I'm really glad I did. It was a really good book. Possibly because I was reading in very short snatches on breaks, but it felt a little disjointed, but I did enjoy it.
10. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Another one of those books that I reread every now and again, and in this case, I was sort of reading to look a bit poncy. I have the original text and the english text, and I can just about read and understand the original. My co-workers were suitably unimpressed.
11. A Madness of Angels - Kate Griffin. I love Urban Fantasy, and I will honestly confess that I picked this and the next book in the series up because I liked the covers. I was however, pleasantly suprised at how much I enjoyed this one. The writing was good, the characters were fascinating, and the magic system was funky (although, looking at it now, rather heavily influenced by Unknown Armies, not that I think the author is aware of such a thing).
12. Changes - Jim Butcher. Gabriel had just died in Supernatural and then Dave made me read this so he could have someone to talk to about it and I bawled my eyes out. Ahem. Not sure if this was a climb on the ladder of form or a bit of a slip. Some bits were a bit hinky, other bits were good, if not better than previous. I love Molly, and Sanya. Harry is a prat. We're still talking about this book eight months down the line, and eagerly anticipating the next (it doesn't help that the short story book isn't out over here until after the next novel).
13. Gender Trouble - Judit Butler. I'm trying to read all the books I bought for university, and never got round to finishing. I ordered this one for one of my final year essays, it turned up too late to be used, and has sat, mostly untouched, since then. I did take a lot from it, although I will confess to not being feminisms greatest fan.
14. The Midnight Mayor - Kate Griffin. Follows on from A Madness of Angels, and while it has the death of a character that I am rather fond of early on, and it is perhaps a little obvious in its plot, it was still a good solid book.
15. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson. Again, I did enjoy this.
16. Life and Soul of the Party - Mike Gayle. Fine, not classy literature or anything, but I've been a fan of Mike Gayle for years. He's a bloke who writes something fairly close to chick-lit, with actually well rounded male and female characters. This one was quite sad, but still a reasonable read.
17. Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O'Toole and Reed - Robert Sellers. Non-fiction. An enjoyable wander through the lives of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed; four men who have, in various ways, had a huge impact on my life. I normally have real issues reading about alcoholism and drug abuse, but this wasn't glamourised or glorified, it just was.
18. Notwithstanding - Louis de Bernieres. I really like Louis de Bernieres' writing, and this was another excellent book that made up for the dreariness that was The Partisan's Daughter. Snippets of life from a crazy English village, not so surreal to be unbelievable, but just crazy enough.
19. The Invisible Ring - Ann Bishop. I don't know ok. It's another of those wacky PDFs that I have, and it's terrible. It really really was. But also like a trainwreck. This also marks the point where I was unemployed, as I had the time to sit and read stuff on the computer.
20-23. Alias, Volume 1-4. I'm going to say right now that I normally stay well away from Marvel, but I had this recommended to me, and the person who suggested it was right. I really enjoyed this.
24-26. The Pulse, Volumes 1-3. Follow on to Alias. Again, I really enjoyed it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I actually knew who a lot of the characters were, but still, it was good.
27. The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century - Ian Mortimer. Non-fiction. I was reading this when I finished at Geismar, but it took me another month or so to finish it. An enjoyable look at Medieval life, with a focus on the oft ignored things, and a lot of focus on the poorer classes. Factual, but not so dense with numbers or quotes that it was unreadable.
28. Absolute DC: The New Frontier - Darwyn Cooke. This was a christmas present from Dave, and it was awesome. That is all I have to say.
29. Burton and Swinburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack - Mark Hodder. Dave made me read this, I was distinctly underwhelmed. Mostly because I don't really like Steampunk, while he really does. It was a vaguely enjoyable book, but for the most part not really my cup of tea.
30. Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E Volume 1: This Is What They Want - Warren Ellis. Fine, I am slipping down the slippery slope to Marvel. This is pure genius crack.
31. Peter and Max: A Fables Novel - Bill Willingham. Another book that left me perhaps a little underwhelmed, but which I did enjoy. Slow and achey, but still hopeful in the end.
32. Poison Elves Ventures: Hyena - Drew Hayes. I've been reading Poison Elves for years, and for all the overly busty women and occasional rank misogyny, I still enjoy them. This perhaps wasn't quite up to spec, but still an enjoyable romp.
33. Poison Elves Ventures: Amrahlynn - Drew Hayes. As before, not quite as good as the main stuff, but still enjoyable.
34. Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E. Volume 2 - I Kick Your Face - Warren Ellis. I should have known better than to read this on the bus. The little old ladies thought I was having some kind of fit. It was, however, hilarious.
35. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks. It's, not a bad book. It's not even a bad series. They're just flawed. And I don't really care about the main character half the time. And he was really stupid the entire way through.
36. Shadow's Edge - Brent Weeks. Again with the stupid. The secondary characters get even more awesome.
37. Beyond the Shadows - Brent Weeks. The main character doesn't deserve the friends he has. His not!girlfriend becomes more awesome, while his actual girlfriend tries, and gets fridged for stepping out of her blonde haired baby-making place. He remains stupid, people come back from the dead, secondary characters get even more awesome, then bad shit happens to some of them.
38. Hodd - Adam Thorpe. I liked the premise of this. Sadly, the execution sucked. This should have been right up my street - Robin Hood myth, blah blah. Sadly, the author tried to make it a 'real' medieval text that had been translated (complete with footnotes) but half of it was still written in faux Medieval English, and it dragged. Oh god did it drag. Which sucks, because it could have been so good. Robin Hood as an utterly unsympathetic lunatic? Yes please.
39. The Alchemyst - Michael Scott. An enjoyable young adult book, mashing together more ancient pantheons than you can shake a big stick at, and proving that crows are evil. Or something.
40. The Wind Singer - William Nicholson. Not bad, not great. Fairly average young adult fantasy with plucky teens, evil adult societal rules and some adventure.
41. The Pain Merchants - Janice Hardy. This might be a young adult series, but the premise is excellent, and I am impressed with the writing. I'm waiting for the next one to show up at the library.
42. Garden of the Moon - Steven Erikson. And back to adult fantasy. Dave has been whining at me to read these for ages, and I've finally caved. So far, I am very much enjoying them. This book hints at a massive, sprawling cast of characters and a well thought out series.
43. The Magician - Michael Scott. Sequel to The Alchemyst. The characters continue their struggles, sibling rivaly shows up, there are some awesome swords, and a poncy French rockstar. Enjoyable chewing gum.
44. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris. I fell in love with True Blood this year, and felt I ought to at least try the books. I wish I hadn't. This was some of the worst trash I have ever read. Thankfully, it was a quick read, so I didn't lose too much of my life.
45. Ash - Melinda Lo. Left me wanting more. I had so many questions at the end of this young adult retelling of Cinderella. Well thought out, and woefully short on the back story, which is a shame.
46-49. The Immortals Quartet - Tamora Pierce. Reread. I do enjoy Pierce's work, and while they are for teens, they do hold up to being read by adults; there are enough bits and pieces that they stand up in fact to repeated rereading.
50. Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson. Technically I finished this on January 1st 2011, but I'd read the majority of it in 2010, so it'll count for that. This broke my heart with a character introduced in this book, and I was crying by the end of it. GRR Martin may kill of any and all characters, but Erikson makes you care before he kills them.
I only read 50 books this year, which is a lot less than previous years, but I've read more novels and non-fiction, and a lot less comics, mostly because I don't have the time to sit in front of the computer and read the .cbr collections, which is what I've tended to do in years past.
My to read list for 2011 is ridiculous, and likely to only get worse. My bookshelves are overflowing, and the library is suddenly an attractive prospect again. My Amazon wishlist is huge, mostly with Young Adult fiction, and my reading time is sadly reduced due to work.
And this is a huge long post, which I didn't intend it to be. Oops.
In 2010, I did a lot of stuff.
I had a job when I started the year, and I had a job when I finished the year. They might be different jobs, but I only spent 2 months unemployed, and I am significantly happier at my current place of work than I was at Geismar.
I had a boyfriend! I still have a boyfriend!
I haven't burned my house down! I still manage to live on my own without destroying things! I have had people over for dinner! I even remember to pay bills mostly on time.
I LARPed! I always LARP, but I bought more kit, and I ran a lot of events, and I played at the other system I go to.
I started running a tabletop campaign! I have always said I would never do this. I'm not a massive fan of tabletop gaming, but I found a system that I liked, and Dave made puppy eyes at me, so we have commenced on the most slap dash Unknown Armies game ever, and I continue to not have a clue what I'm doing.
I read quite a bit... but I'll get to that in a minute.
I sort of moved from LJ to DW, but only sort of, cos I still cross post.
I started baking. And suceeded at baking.
I watched a lot of films. I can't remember which ones though, because I forget to write them down. I know I saw Iron Man 2, and Inception (which I went to see on my own because no one else wanted to see it) and Legion (which I saw with Royce because Dave pulled a funny face when I suggested it), The A-Team, and The Losers, and a bunch of other stuff through my LoveFilm subscription, but my memory really does suck at times.
I watched a lot of crap TV. And good TV.
I continued to get on with Kay, and my step siblings (although in their case it's mostly down to never seeing them).
And I think that's about it.
1. A Storm of Swords - GRR Martin. I think I finished this over New Year, but it's counted on my 2010 shelf. I sort of hate these books. Nothing good ever happens, but at the same time, they are like some kind of crack and I want to keep knowing what's going on. Thankfully, I don't have to buy them, as one of Dave's housemates is quite happy to share the misery with others. I can't actually remember much of what happened in this one; the events from all the books seem to blur into one.
2. Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner. I have a bunch of books in PDF, acquired from somewhere or other, and this is one of them. Everyone raves about it. I was sort of left feeling a bit meh. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the greatest thing ever.
3. Feast of Souls - Celia Friedman. This was a christmas present, from someone who has a great love for strong female characters. In the pardiable sense. I like female characters who also happen to be strong. It's a good book; the politics are fascinating, and the magic is interesting. However, I feel the need to beat the main character upside the head. A lot. I've only just got round to picking up the second book (mostly because I've only just found it in non-stupid size paperback).
4. Graceling - Kristin Cashore. I picked this up because it looked vaguely interesting, and I had space on my 3 for 2 when I was buying presents or something. Again with the strong female character. The history for the world hints at being interesting, some of the characters are quite interesting, but I still felt the need for head beatings. And the writing does leave something to be desired at times.
5. Fire - Kristin Cashore. I thought this was a sequel. It's not, it's a prequel, set in a completely different place. Again, it's interesting, and has some curious possibilities, but I still wanted to slap people about a lot for stupidity. I've read worse, and I'll probably buy the next one. Despite the mocking I will recieve from people.
6. Destroyer of Worlds - Mark Chadbourn. This is the last book in a truly epic trilogy (and that trilogy is the last in a set of three trilogies) and it took me an age to get hold of it from the library. Chadbourn is a good writer, his characters are human enough to not be ridiculous, but not so much that they're boring, and his world building is gorgeous. At some point I will get hold of the other six books (the trilogies do stand up, from what I can see, to being read out of sequence). I was genuinely heartbroken when I'd finished this book, both for the characters, and because it was over.
7. A Feast for Crows - GRR Martin. I think I spent a lot of this book shouting at Jon to stop being stupid, and hating Sansa for putting up with her circumstances. I'm not sure.
8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson. I really enjoyed this. A couple of bits unnerved me or squicked me a bit, but it was a good book.
9. The Vinter's Luck - Elizabeth Knox. This is another one of those books that I've seen raved about, and I found it for a quid in a charity shop and grabbed it. I'm really glad I did. It was a really good book. Possibly because I was reading in very short snatches on breaks, but it felt a little disjointed, but I did enjoy it.
10. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Another one of those books that I reread every now and again, and in this case, I was sort of reading to look a bit poncy. I have the original text and the english text, and I can just about read and understand the original. My co-workers were suitably unimpressed.
11. A Madness of Angels - Kate Griffin. I love Urban Fantasy, and I will honestly confess that I picked this and the next book in the series up because I liked the covers. I was however, pleasantly suprised at how much I enjoyed this one. The writing was good, the characters were fascinating, and the magic system was funky (although, looking at it now, rather heavily influenced by Unknown Armies, not that I think the author is aware of such a thing).
12. Changes - Jim Butcher. Gabriel had just died in Supernatural and then Dave made me read this so he could have someone to talk to about it and I bawled my eyes out. Ahem. Not sure if this was a climb on the ladder of form or a bit of a slip. Some bits were a bit hinky, other bits were good, if not better than previous. I love Molly, and Sanya. Harry is a prat. We're still talking about this book eight months down the line, and eagerly anticipating the next (it doesn't help that the short story book isn't out over here until after the next novel).
13. Gender Trouble - Judit Butler. I'm trying to read all the books I bought for university, and never got round to finishing. I ordered this one for one of my final year essays, it turned up too late to be used, and has sat, mostly untouched, since then. I did take a lot from it, although I will confess to not being feminisms greatest fan.
14. The Midnight Mayor - Kate Griffin. Follows on from A Madness of Angels, and while it has the death of a character that I am rather fond of early on, and it is perhaps a little obvious in its plot, it was still a good solid book.
15. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson. Again, I did enjoy this.
16. Life and Soul of the Party - Mike Gayle. Fine, not classy literature or anything, but I've been a fan of Mike Gayle for years. He's a bloke who writes something fairly close to chick-lit, with actually well rounded male and female characters. This one was quite sad, but still a reasonable read.
17. Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O'Toole and Reed - Robert Sellers. Non-fiction. An enjoyable wander through the lives of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed; four men who have, in various ways, had a huge impact on my life. I normally have real issues reading about alcoholism and drug abuse, but this wasn't glamourised or glorified, it just was.
18. Notwithstanding - Louis de Bernieres. I really like Louis de Bernieres' writing, and this was another excellent book that made up for the dreariness that was The Partisan's Daughter. Snippets of life from a crazy English village, not so surreal to be unbelievable, but just crazy enough.
19. The Invisible Ring - Ann Bishop. I don't know ok. It's another of those wacky PDFs that I have, and it's terrible. It really really was. But also like a trainwreck. This also marks the point where I was unemployed, as I had the time to sit and read stuff on the computer.
20-23. Alias, Volume 1-4. I'm going to say right now that I normally stay well away from Marvel, but I had this recommended to me, and the person who suggested it was right. I really enjoyed this.
24-26. The Pulse, Volumes 1-3. Follow on to Alias. Again, I really enjoyed it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I actually knew who a lot of the characters were, but still, it was good.
27. The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century - Ian Mortimer. Non-fiction. I was reading this when I finished at Geismar, but it took me another month or so to finish it. An enjoyable look at Medieval life, with a focus on the oft ignored things, and a lot of focus on the poorer classes. Factual, but not so dense with numbers or quotes that it was unreadable.
28. Absolute DC: The New Frontier - Darwyn Cooke. This was a christmas present from Dave, and it was awesome. That is all I have to say.
29. Burton and Swinburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack - Mark Hodder. Dave made me read this, I was distinctly underwhelmed. Mostly because I don't really like Steampunk, while he really does. It was a vaguely enjoyable book, but for the most part not really my cup of tea.
30. Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E Volume 1: This Is What They Want - Warren Ellis. Fine, I am slipping down the slippery slope to Marvel. This is pure genius crack.
31. Peter and Max: A Fables Novel - Bill Willingham. Another book that left me perhaps a little underwhelmed, but which I did enjoy. Slow and achey, but still hopeful in the end.
32. Poison Elves Ventures: Hyena - Drew Hayes. I've been reading Poison Elves for years, and for all the overly busty women and occasional rank misogyny, I still enjoy them. This perhaps wasn't quite up to spec, but still an enjoyable romp.
33. Poison Elves Ventures: Amrahlynn - Drew Hayes. As before, not quite as good as the main stuff, but still enjoyable.
34. Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E. Volume 2 - I Kick Your Face - Warren Ellis. I should have known better than to read this on the bus. The little old ladies thought I was having some kind of fit. It was, however, hilarious.
35. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks. It's, not a bad book. It's not even a bad series. They're just flawed. And I don't really care about the main character half the time. And he was really stupid the entire way through.
36. Shadow's Edge - Brent Weeks. Again with the stupid. The secondary characters get even more awesome.
37. Beyond the Shadows - Brent Weeks. The main character doesn't deserve the friends he has. His not!girlfriend becomes more awesome, while his actual girlfriend tries, and gets fridged for stepping out of her blonde haired baby-making place. He remains stupid, people come back from the dead, secondary characters get even more awesome, then bad shit happens to some of them.
38. Hodd - Adam Thorpe. I liked the premise of this. Sadly, the execution sucked. This should have been right up my street - Robin Hood myth, blah blah. Sadly, the author tried to make it a 'real' medieval text that had been translated (complete with footnotes) but half of it was still written in faux Medieval English, and it dragged. Oh god did it drag. Which sucks, because it could have been so good. Robin Hood as an utterly unsympathetic lunatic? Yes please.
39. The Alchemyst - Michael Scott. An enjoyable young adult book, mashing together more ancient pantheons than you can shake a big stick at, and proving that crows are evil. Or something.
40. The Wind Singer - William Nicholson. Not bad, not great. Fairly average young adult fantasy with plucky teens, evil adult societal rules and some adventure.
41. The Pain Merchants - Janice Hardy. This might be a young adult series, but the premise is excellent, and I am impressed with the writing. I'm waiting for the next one to show up at the library.
42. Garden of the Moon - Steven Erikson. And back to adult fantasy. Dave has been whining at me to read these for ages, and I've finally caved. So far, I am very much enjoying them. This book hints at a massive, sprawling cast of characters and a well thought out series.
43. The Magician - Michael Scott. Sequel to The Alchemyst. The characters continue their struggles, sibling rivaly shows up, there are some awesome swords, and a poncy French rockstar. Enjoyable chewing gum.
44. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris. I fell in love with True Blood this year, and felt I ought to at least try the books. I wish I hadn't. This was some of the worst trash I have ever read. Thankfully, it was a quick read, so I didn't lose too much of my life.
45. Ash - Melinda Lo. Left me wanting more. I had so many questions at the end of this young adult retelling of Cinderella. Well thought out, and woefully short on the back story, which is a shame.
46-49. The Immortals Quartet - Tamora Pierce. Reread. I do enjoy Pierce's work, and while they are for teens, they do hold up to being read by adults; there are enough bits and pieces that they stand up in fact to repeated rereading.
50. Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson. Technically I finished this on January 1st 2011, but I'd read the majority of it in 2010, so it'll count for that. This broke my heart with a character introduced in this book, and I was crying by the end of it. GRR Martin may kill of any and all characters, but Erikson makes you care before he kills them.
I only read 50 books this year, which is a lot less than previous years, but I've read more novels and non-fiction, and a lot less comics, mostly because I don't have the time to sit in front of the computer and read the .cbr collections, which is what I've tended to do in years past.
My to read list for 2011 is ridiculous, and likely to only get worse. My bookshelves are overflowing, and the library is suddenly an attractive prospect again. My Amazon wishlist is huge, mostly with Young Adult fiction, and my reading time is sadly reduced due to work.
And this is a huge long post, which I didn't intend it to be. Oops.
