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Goats, gripes, and grasping for greatness
Books read in 2015 
1st-Jan-2015 11:49 am
Today to Read
Feeeeeed the braaaaaaain!


2014 roundup post ... 2013 roundup post ... 2012 roundup post ... 2011 roundup post ... 2010 link soup
Every book I've blogged about from 2005-2010, with references, alpha by author

2015 New Books:
* marks things that were published this year and are therefore award-eligible.

January
* 1/7 - "No Sooner Met," by Seanan McGuire. Urban fantasy. Short story in the October Daye universe, published online here
1/7 - The Silvered, by Tanya Huff. Fantasy. Hardback, 454 pages. Standalone. Keeping it.
1/11 - Night Shift, edited by anonymous. Anthology of erotic stories from Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Lisa Shearin, and Milla Vane. Urban Fantasy and Fantasy. Paperback, 378 pages. May be keeping it because of the Jim/Dali short story.
1/20 - Dead of Night: Dancers in the Dark, by Charlaine Harris. Urban fantasy. Epub, novella.
*1/21 - "Velveteen vs. Balance," by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Epub, short story in the Velveteen universe. Published on LiveJournal here.
*1/23 - The Silver Ships, by Scott Jucha. Science Fiction. Epub, e-ARC with expected publication in mid-Febuary. First in the series, and a good first start.

February
2/17 - Hounded, by Kevin Hearne. Urban Fantasy, paperback, 304 pages. Book 1 in the Iron Druid series. Keeping it.
* 2/23 - "Broken Paper Hearts," by Seanan McGuire. Urban fantasy. Short story in the InCryptid universe, published online here

March
* 3/4 - Pocket Apocalypse, by Seanan McGuire. Urban fantasy. Paperback, 352 pages. Book four in the InCryptid universe. Keeping it.
* 3/5 - Vision in Silver, by Anne Bishop. Urban fantasy. Hardback, 400 pages. Book three in The Others series. Keeping it.
* 3/5 - Dead Heat, by Patricia Briggs. Urban fantasy. Hardback, 324 pages. Book four in the Alpha and Omega series. Keeping it.
3/14 - Your New Job Title is "Accomplice," by Scott Adams. Book 40 of the Dilbert cartoons.
3/15 - I Sense a Coldness to Your Mentoring, by Scott Adams. Book 41 of the Dilbert cartoons.
*3/23 - "Velveteen vs. Spring Cleaning," by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Epub, short story in the Velveteen universe. Published on LiveJournal here.
* 3/31 - Operation Arcana, edited by John Joseph Adams. Urban fantasy*. Paperback, 306 pages. Anthology. Good, but not re-readable, so headed for the giveawaybox

April
4/3 - Those Who Fight Monsters, edited by Justin Gustainis. Urban Fantasy. E-book edition. Anthology.
*4/6 - Prologue and Chapter 1 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
4/16 - Death's Excellent Vacation, edited by Toni L. P. Kelner and Charlaine Harris. Urban fantasy. Epub. Anthology.
4/20 - "Unappreciated Gifts," by Patricia Briggs. Short story in A Fantastic Holiday Season. Epub.
*4/21 - Reads Well with Others, by Bill Barns and Gene Ambaum. Comic book. Book 11 of Unshelved. Keeping it.
4/27 - Chapter 2 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe

May
*5/3 - Chapter 3 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
*5/11 - Chapter 4 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
* 5/15 - "Chimera," by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Short story set in the Liaden Universe. Published online on Baen Books
5/17 - xkcd volume 0, by Randall Munroe. Comic collection of xkcd. Paperback, 120 pages. Keeping it.
*5/18 - Chapter 5 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
*5/25 - Chapter 6 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
5/26 - Hyperbole and a Half: unfortunate situations, flawed coping mechanisms, mayhem, and other things that happened, by Allie Brosh. Autobiography. Paperback, 369 pages. Keeping it for now.

June
*6/5 - "The Star of New Mexico," by Seanan McGuire. Urban fantasy. Short story in the InCryptid universe, published online here
*6/8 - Chapter 7 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
*6/15 - Chapter 8 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
6/18 - "Naughty & Nice," by Kevin Anderson. Short story in A Fantastic Holiday Season. Epub.
6/18 - "Close Knit," by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Short story in A Fantastic Holiday Season. Epub.
6/18 - "Clan Rathskeller," by Kevin Hearne. Short story in the back of Hounded
6/18 - "Kaibab Unbound," by Kevin Hearne. Short story in the back of Hounded
*6/22 - Chapter 9 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
*6/25 - Libre, by Scott Jucha. Science Fiction. Epub, e-ARC with expected publication in August. Second in the series. Ended four pages too late.
*6/29 - Chapter 10 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe

July
*7/5 - Chapter 11 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
Books read from 7/6 to 7/13
From a High Tower, by Mercedes Lackey. Fantasy, e-pub. Book 10 (11) in the Elemental Masters series.
You Should Have Been Here Yesterday..., by John Troy. Comics about fishing. Paperback, 139 pages.
*7/12 - Chapter 12 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
*7/20 - Chapter 13 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
*7/21 - "Velveteen vs. the Melancholy of Autumn," by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Epub, short story in the Velveteen universe. Published on LiveJournal here.
7/23 - Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel. Graphic novel autobiography. Paperback, 232 pages. Interesting, but not a re-read, so giveawaybox.
*7/27 - Chapter 14 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
*7/31 - Madness in Solidar, by L.E. Modesitt Jr. Fantasy. Hardback, 464 pages. Book nine in the Imager Portfolio.

August
*8/3 - Chapter 15 from the unpublished 1989 novel Shan and Priscilla Ride Again by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, posted on their tidbit website Splinter Universe
* 8/4 - Magic Shifts, by Ilona Andrews. Fantasy. Hardback, 342 pages. Book 8 in the Kate Daniels series (9 if you count Gunmetal Magic). Keeping it.
8/17 - What If?, by Randall Munroe. Non-fiction. Hardback, 303 pages. Keeping it.
*8/18 - Castle Hangnail, by Urusla Vernon. Children's fantasy. Hardback, 372 pages. Keeping it to loan to friends.
8/30 - Working for Bigfoot, by Jim Butcher. Urban Fantasy anthology. Hardback, 129 pages. Short stories in the Dresden Files universe. Borrowed.

September
9/3 - Celtic Moon, by Jan DeLima. Urban Fantasy (very close to Paranormal Romance, but I'll give it a pass). Paperback, 281 pages. First in the Celtic Wolves series. Surprisingly good, but giveawaybox.
* 9/4 - Red Rose Chain, by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Paperback, ?? pages. Book 9 in the October Daye series. Keeping it.
* 9/27 - "Velveteen vs. A Disturbing Number of Crows," by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Epub, short story in the Velveteen universe. Published on LiveJournal here.

October
*10/14 - "The Way Home," by Seanan McGuire. Urban fantasy. Short story in the InCryptid universe, published online here
10/26 - Wickedly Wonderful, by Deborah Blake. Urban fantasy. Paperback, 342 pages. Book two in the Baba Yaga series. giveawaybox
*10/27 - "Velveteen vs. Trick or Treat," by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Epub, short story in the Velveteen universe. Published on LiveJournal here
10/27 - "Wickedly Magical," by Deborah Blake. Urban fantasy, e-pub, short story prequel to the first book in the Baba Yaga series (Wickedly Dangerous).
*10/28 - "Penric's Demon," by Lois McMaster Bujold. Fantasy. e-pub. Novella in the Chalion universe. keeping it, of course.

November
11/3 - "Wool," by Hugh Howey. Science Fiction (Post apocalyptic). e-pub, listed as 58 pages. Well-written and disturbingly layered.
*11/15 - Jeweled Fire, by Sharon Shinn. Fantasy. Hardback, 403 pages. Book three in the Elemental Blessings series. Keeping it.

December
*12/1 - Bryony and Roses, by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon). Fantasy. E-pub, kindle-estimated-216 pages. Keeping it.
12/17 - Venison Cookbook, by A.D.Livingston. Non-fiction. Paperback, 164 pages. Borrowed.
* 12/21 - "Magic Stars" by Ilona Andrews. Urban Fantasy. E-pub, listed as 64 pages. Short story in the Kate Daniels universe. keeping it.
* 12/22 - "Telling the Bees" by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon). Fantasy. Very short story. e-pub available here
12/26 - Holes, by Louis Sachar. Children's Fiction. Paperback, 233 pages. Borrowed.
* 12/28 - "Velveteen Presents: Action Dude vs. Doing the Right Thing. by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Epub, short story in the Velveteen universe. Published on LiveJournal here.
* 12/30 - "Snake in the Glass," by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. Short story in the InCryptid universe, published online here


Re-Reads
1/3 - Sunshine
1/4 - Murder of Crows
1/6 - The Goblin Emperor (e-pub because BlushingGrace still has my hardcopy)
1/10 - "The Prince of Ebon Rih" from Dreams Made Flesh
1/13 - Imager
1/20 - Imager's Challenge
1/25 - The "Christmas garlands and a rock?" section of Silver Borne
2/5 - I Would Lick It for Hours (Two Lumps #1)
2/8 - Imager's Intrigue
2/10 - Silence
2/12-2/17 - skimmed Earth's Children books 2-4. Baby remains one of my favorite characters.
2/26 - Troubled Waters
2/27 - Royal Airs
3/10 - We Must Be Gods (Two Lumps #2)
3/20 - Shadows
3/28 - Enchanted, Inc.
3/30 - about half of The Martian
4/2 - the opening scenes of Spirits White as Lightening
4/5 - The Goblin Emperor (again) because I found out it was a Hugo nominee
4/7 - Lines of Departure
4/7 - the bar fight scene in Valor's Choice
4/8 - "Cast in Moonlight" novella in Harvest Moon
4/10 - "Winterfair Gifts"
4/12 - "Gray" and "Seeing Eye" from Shifting Shadows
4/16 - "No Sooner Met"
4/17 - the end of Discount Armageddon
4/17 - "Black as Blood"
4/19 - Vision in Silver
4/20 - "Misfits" (otherwise known as The Weatherman)
4/22 - Today I Hunt Humankind (Two Lumps #3)
4/26 - "White as a Raven's Wing"
4/28 - The scenes with Asil in the middle of Frost Burned
4/28 - They Still Suspect Nothing (Two Lumps #4)
4/30 - Kitty and the Midnight Hour
5/1 - Vengeance Tastes Tingly (Two Lumps #5)
5/4 - Kitty Goes to Washington
5/8 - The second half of Bone Crossed
5/10 - River Marked
5/11 - second half of Sharing Knife: Beguilement
5/13 - the end of Magic Breaks
5/14 - the second half of Gunmetal Magic
5/14 - "Magic Gifts"
5/15 - the beginning, end, and cut scene from Magic Rises
5/18 - Do Not Sniff the Bees (Two Lumps #6)
5/25 - Chapters 34-35 of Dragon in Exile
5/26 - "Eleutherios"
5/26 - "The Night Don't Seem So Lonely"
5/29 - Double Share, as a podcast while driving
5/31 - Captain's Share, as a podcast while driving
5/31 - the second half of The Goblin Emporor while being driven
5/31 - I Think the Fish Is Broken (Two Lumps #7)
6/1 - Shut Up I Am Delicious (Two Lumps #8)
6/4 - Hooray I'm Evil! (Two Lumps #9)
6/10 - Fair Game
6/10 - the second half of Dead Heat
6/10 - Do You Bite Your Foot at Me, Sir? (Two Lumps #10)
6/12 - "Redemption" from Shifting Shadows
6/16 - Blood Bound
6/19 - Full Share
6/23 - Teamwork Means You Don't Get to Pick the Side That's Right (Dilbert #26)
6/27 - The Serpent's Shadow
6/30 - Cast in Flame
7/1 - When Body Language Goes Bad (Dilbert #21)
7/3 - When Did Ignorance Become a Point of View? (Dilbert #18)
7/5 - Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless (Dilbert #32)
7/5 - Exile's Honor
From 7/6 to 7/13
Magic's Pawn
Magic's Promise
Born to Run
The end of Magic Breaks
"We Both Go Down Together"
"Snakes and Ladders"
"No Sooner Met"
"Loch and Key"
"No Place Like Home"
The Goblin Emperor
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Beauty (McKinley)
"Redemption" out of Shifting Shadows
7/14 - Paladin of Souls
7/15 - Words You Don't Want to Hear During Your Annual Performance Review (Dilbert #22)
7/16 - Magic's Price
7/17 - This is the Part Where You Pretend to Add Value (Dilbert #31)
7/21 - "Velveteen Presents Polychrome vs. The Court of Public Opinion and Not Punching Anyone" (I think this is a re-read. I could be wrong, but it's so familiar!)
7/22 - I Sense a Coldness to Your Mentoring (Dilbert #41)
7/24 - "Out of True"
7/24 - "Landed Alien"
7/24 - "Intelligent Design"
7/24 - "Hollow"
7/24 - Wish story (prologue and last 1/3) of Fair Game
7/25 - When Demons Walk
7/26 - Don't Stand Where the Comet is Assumed to Strike Oil (Dilbert #23)
7/26 - The middle section of Dead Heat (all of the interviews)
7/29 - "Two Blondes" from Death's Excellent Vacation
8/1 - Little Dee vol 1
8/3 - "Fairy Gifts" from Shifting Shadows
8/6 - the first half of The Silver Ships
8/7 - Captain's Share (stopped before the bitter ending)
8/10 - Scholar
8/14 - Princeps
8/22 - "The Night Don't Seem So Lonely"
8/22 - Starbridge
8/23 - Magic Mourns (novella from Must Love Hellhounds)
8/24 - "Death Warmed Over" from Strange Brew
8/28 - Hex Appeal
9/2 - the second half of Ashes of Honor
9/6 - the second half of Magic Shifts
9/6 - Smoke and Mirrors
9/9 - The White Order
9/9 - Goblin Quest
9/13 - Colors of Chaos
9/14 - Castle Hangnail
9/20 - Quarter Share
9/22 - Half Share
9/23 - Goblin Tales
9/30 - Silence
10/3 - Bardic Voices: the Lark and the Wren
10/5 - The Kitemaster and Other Stories
10/5 - How Beauty Met the Beast
10/9 - pieces and parts of The Martian
10/12 - Shards of Honor
10/14 - Barrayar
10/19 - second half of Half Share
10/22 - second half of Full Share
10/26 - The Warlock in Spite of Himself
10/28 - The Curse of Chalion
10/31 - "Redemption" from Shifting Shadows
11/1 - the first half of Troubled Waters
11/3 - the first quarter of Paladin of Souls
11/5 - "Grey" from Shifting Shadows
11/6 - the ending of Cast in Flame
11/6 - the ending of Paladin of Souls
11/13 - From the Highlands from Changer of Worlds
11/14 - second half of Dead Heat
11/16 - FoxTrot (Foxtrot book #1)
11/19 - Emperor Mage
11/22 - Royal Airs
11/29 - Lady Knight
11/30 - Street Magic
12/9 - The Silver Ships
12/19 - pieces and parts of Deryni Checkmate
12/19 - pieces and parts of High Deryni
12/23 - "A Dragon's Tale"
12/26 - The Goblin Emperor
12/27 - Grave Sight
12/27 - "Student of Ostriches"
12/27 - "Winterfair Gifts"
Comments 
23rd-Jul-2015 12:57 pm (UTC)
Your read list was impressive enough. But re-reads? I'm confused. You re-read a book almost everyday, sometimes more? Seriously?

"I'm giving you a long look,
Everyday,
Everyday,
Everyday I read a book."
Sort-of Elvis Costello
23rd-Jul-2015 01:45 pm (UTC)
It's a fair question, and it did make me take another look at my habits and hobbies. The answer is basically "yeah, I do" but there are some caveats.

To start with the "yeah" part - Most of the time, I read over breakfast, which is a good half an hour. Sometimes, I also read over dinner, which is another half an hour to an hour. I read while I knit. I read over lunch at work when I don't have anything else to do. I read in the evenings while we have the TV on. I read while I'm walking on the treadmill (rather than watch TV). Also, according to those with whom I am compared, I read rather quickly. And most of the books that I read are not exactly intellectually challenging. Those two facts in combination mean that a 300-page fantasy novel lasts about two hours.

To move to the caveats: with re-reads, I don't read every word. For example, I might dwell on the two-page scene where the heroine has an emergency and then skim-n-skip the five pages describing driving through Montana. So, while a book may be 400 pages, during a re-read I'll likely only actually read-and-absorb 150-200 of those pages.

With this year's re-read book list, you can see in the notes around some of the listings that I'm trying to be more honest about how much of a particular book I actually really consumed when I noted it as a re-read. I'm not doing a great job, but some particularly good examples are: "The scenes with Asil in the middle of Frost Burned" and "the beginning, end, and cut scene from Magic Rises." Each of those readings was likely 20-60 pages rather than 300.

If you are strongly curious or bored, you might also want to look at the trends. I'll burst with book-reading, then attack comics or short stories. There are something like 15 comic books and 20 short stories in the re-read list. They get the same type space in the list, but they certainly didn't take nearly the time to read.

When you overlap my new and re-read lists, you'll also see a reasonable match between a full-book re-read and a short-story new-read or vice-versa. I don't usually have more than one BIG NEW BOOK going at the same time. I find it distracting and difficult to switch tracks back and forth. But I might want a brain break from the new-book-emotions before I try to sleep, so I will go to a re-read of a comic book or short story for a quick comfort read before bed.

Edited at 2015-07-23 01:50 pm (UTC)
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