Books read in 2011: No. 57, Books read in 2012: No. 1 - The Crippled God

by Steven Erikson

Started: December 9, 2011
Finished: January 3, 2012

Notes: Enough is enough. I've been putting off this massive novel for its sheer size and because it is the last in a series, and I'm not ready for the series to end. But it's time.

Mini review: I hate to see this series end, as long as it was, more than three million words total. I will miss many of the characters as if they were friends. I will be looking forward to future works from this author. Without a doubt, this is the best modern fantasy literature I have read in the last decade.

Books read in 2011: No 56 - Old Man's War

by John Scalzi

Started: December 6
Finished: December 9

Notes: For some time I've been meaning to read this military sci-fi novel. I've read other works by Scalzi and enjoyed them, but somehow had missed this novel, his best-known work.

Mini review: A damn fine book. Scalzi at his finest. Any military sci-fi fans should read this, and even those who aren't big into the genre should love this novel. It's well written without being difficult to read, emotional with plenty of action to keep the interest high. The ending I found a little bittersweet, but then I've read novels later in the series, so I know how some things turn out later down the road.

Books read in 2011: No. 55 - The Price of Numbers

by Thomas K. Carpenter

Started: December 6
Finished: December 6

Notes: Why did I pick up this freebie e-book? Honestly, I don't remember. But it's a story pertaining to the author's Heron of Alexandria series, and that was possibly enough to draw my interest. I love finding new authors, so here goes.

Mini review: This was a delightful historical mystery tale, the Greek Heron here being portrayed as a sort of ancient Sherlock Holmes. For some reason this story seemed familiar to me, but I do not recall having read it before.

Books read in 2011: No. 54 - A Space Between (A Tale of the Endlands)

by Scott Fitzgerald Gray

Started: December 5
Finished: December 5

Notes: This little e-book is a freebie preview of a larger collection from Scott Fitzgerald Gray, a fellow member of the Monumental Works Group. I couldn't turn down an opportunity to read another member's work.

Mini review: This was simply awesome. This is the best work I've yet experienced from an independent fantasy author. There's tons of intrigue, enough action to keep my interest, magic that overlays but doesn't overtake the story, a darkness I found chilling and more. Simply well written. My only slight complaint would be that I did not care much for the characters, but then, I don't think these were characters we are meant to like.

Books read in 2011: No. 53 - White Wolf

by David Gemmell

Started: November 24
Finished: December 5

Notes: I'm not the biggest Gemmell fan, but I do enjoy reading him. It's been about a year or so since I've read anything by this late author, so I thought it was time I turned to him again. This is a tale of Druss the Legend, probably the author's best known character.

Mini review: I enjoyed the first half of this novel quite a bit, but felt the second half slowed down more than I liked. The end surprised me, however, in that it wasn't one of those let's-wrap-everything-up-in-the-last-chapter endings I've noticed in every other Gemmell novel I've read so far. The characters here are quite strong and memorable. I'll be glad to read more Gemmell in the future.

Books read in 2011: No. 52 - The First Dragoneer

by M.R. Mathias

Started: November 23
Finished: November 24

Notes: This indie fantasy author has proven somewhat popular, so I though it high time I got around to reading some of his fiction, though I have read some of his non-fiction. My understanding is this novella is the first part of a longer work. Here goes.

Mini review: The story I thought a little slow in the telling, but when things happen, they happen fast. The writing is clear and easy to read. The characters are very likable. I could definitely recommend this writer to others.

Books read in 2011: No. 51 - The Con Man

by Ed McBain

Started: November 11
Finished: November 18

Notes: My reading has been a little heavy of late, so I thought it was time to break it up with something fun, short and light. McBain usually serves the trick, especially with his older 87th Precinct tales, like this one originally published in 1957.

Mini review: As expected, another easy, fun read. However, the title is a little misleading. As often happens in McBain's 87th Precinct novels, there are several plot lines, usually with one being the major plot. Here there are a couple of plots involving con artists, but one of those artists is also a murderer, and it seemed to me the murders overshadowed the con artist portions of the plot. Not meant to be a complaint, just that I noticed this element.

Books read in 2011: No. 50 - The Confessions of Saint Augustine

by St. Augustine
translated by Edward Bouverie Pusey

Started: October 27
Finished: November 23

Notes: This is another digital freebie I picked up somewhere online a while back. My recent readings have gotten me in a somewhat speculative mood concerning philosophy and religion, so I now turn to St. Augustine for reading material.

Mini review: Not the most exciting reading, but interesting from a philosophical and historical viewpoint. The first half of this little book is exactly as the title describes, Augustine's confessions to various sins committed during the first 40 or so years of his life; I found this part sometimes whimsical. The next fourth of this book is mostly Augustine talking about the death of his mother; this, to me, was the most boring part of the book because the man kept going on and on, though I can understand how the death of a parent can be traumatizing. The final fourth of this book is a mixture of philosophy and religion, with a touch of what today we would call science; this section I found the most interesting, and it gave me a few new ways to look upon the notion of God.

Books read in 2011: No. 49 - Stranger in a Strange Land

by Robert A. Heinlein

Started: October 18
Finished: October 27

Notes: I read this science fiction classic twice in my life, the first time in my early teens and then again in my middle teens. I remember enjoying it, but also thinking that it was over my head at the time. Well, I ran across a copy in a used book store recently, and it only costs 10 cents. I couldn't pass that up! Plus, I've been meaning to give this one another try, now more than 25 years later, thinking maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to understand it better. Plus I like Heinlein as an author.

Mini review: I was surprised by this book. I had forgotten so much of it. What surprised me was the obvious influence it must have had upon me as a young teen, and even later in life. No, I'm not into all the hippy stuff nor the "Thou art God" stuff, but the cynicism and empathy portrayed by the Jubal character could have come from my own lips. I wouldn't necessarily call this a great novel, but it is a good one. I'm glad I looked back upon it. I grok.

Books read in 2011: No. 48 - The Resurrection

by H.A. Parker

Started: October 11
Finished: October 17

Notes: A biomedical technician finds a way to raise six New Testament figures. That's the basics of the plot of this novel, and it's enough to draw my interest.

Mini review: This novel raises lots of interesting questions, and can give you much to think about, but I did not care for the execution. Ah, well.

Books read in 2011: No. 47 - Woodworking Tools 1600 - 1900

by Peter C. Welsh

Started: October 7
Finished: October 9

Notes: This was another freebie I picked up from Amazon, and I have some historical interest in the subject matter. As with many e-books, this one is hurt by the lack of the many illustrations that went along with the original print version, but I know what many of the tools look like and the rest I can look up online.

Mini review: Some minor interesting knowledge here, but mostly it was too basic and quite inadequate. I would have liked a lot more indepth and specific information about the history of the tools mentioned, instead of the glossing over given here.

Books read in 2011: No. 46 - Stonehenge Today and Yesterday

by Frank Stevens

Started: September 28
Finished: October 6

Notes: This is another freebie for the Kindle. This edition is, I believe from 1916, so obviously it is out of date. But I'm really more interested in the thoughts of that time about Stonehenge than I am about Stonehenge itself, at least for this reading. I have seen other versions of this e-book online which include various drawings and chart, but they are not to be found here in my Kindle version. The lack of images is fine with me as I've seen all of them before numerous times and I'm fairly well aware of what Stonehenge looks like and the names and general conditions of the stones to be found there.

Mini review: A quick, easy read, and it covered a lot of ground in a fairly short amount of space. It surprises me how much they knew about Stonehenge even a hundred years ago, though some of the information likely wasn't as precise as it is today. Still, today and then, much about Stonehenge remains a mystery.

Books read in 2011: No. 45 - Format Your Ebook for Kindle in One Hour

by Derek J. Canyon

Started: September 26
Finished: September 26

Notes: I don't do much beyond basic formatting for my e-books, but I'm always interested in picking up anything new. So that's why I decided to read this one.

Mini review: I basically learned something I already knew, that I don't want to get into HTML for formatting my e-books. I know basic HTML, but I find it more cumbersome than necessary for e-books, at for what I do. Still, this e-book did show me a few things in case I should ever want to do them. Worth reading for the basics.

Books read in 2011: No. 44 - The First Ten Steps

by M.R. Mathias

Started: September 23
Finished: September 23

Notes: This is another e-book about indie author promotions, and since Mr. Mathias is fairly well known and seems to be doing pretty good as an indie author, I thought I'd check it out.

Mini review: I have to say, though this is a very short e-book, there were some excellent ideas here. There wasn't anything that totally blew me away, but there were several things explained to me which I didn't know before, and there were other things, reminders. Will it help me as an author? Only time will tell, but I'm glad I read this one.

Books read in 2011: No 43 - Dust of Dreams

by Steven Erikson

Started: September 8
Finished: October 10

Notes: I really was not wanting to read something this long, more than a thousand pages, at this point, but there are only two novels left in this series and I'm really looking forward to the end. Plus, of late I've been studying Steven Erikson's writings and I'm just starting to get a feel for how he works his plots and characters; thus, another reason to read on. Need another? The books in this series are big motivations for my own writing.

Mini review: Damn you, Steven Erikson, you actually made me cry during a battle scene. And that's never happened before! It wasn't a sadness that brought tears to my eyes, but pride. Hail the marines, indeed, sir. You keep writing and I'll keep reading.

Books read in 2011: No. 42 - The Early History of the Airplane

by Orville and Wilbur Wright

Started: September 7
Finished: September 8

Notes: For historical interests, I decided to get this freebie for my Kindle. I'm only a few pages in, but so far it's an easy read and an interesting look at early aviation.

Mini review: I was pleasantly surprised how easy a read this one. There's not a ton of flight engineering data, which made it a nice read for a layman such as myself. This little e-book is broken up until several sections, and I felt the ones written by Orville Wright were the better reads, though Wilbur was not an awful writer, just a little more dry and mechanical oriented.

Books read in 2011: No. 41 - Lost Treasures of American History

by W. C. Jameson

Started: September 4
Finished: September 8

Notes: This one caught my eye in a bookstore a few years ago, and I thought I'd give it a try. The title is quite literal, with the focus of the book being upon lost treasures mainly dealing with the U.S. (though sometimes related to other parts of the Americas) from about the periods of 1650 to 1900. The author is also a noted musician, historian and treasure hunter. This is one of those non-fiction books I suspect will be full of potential story ideas.

Mini review: It was a fun, interesting read. Not an overly technical book, but there's just enough information to keep your interest as the stories roll out. Collected here are a couple of dozen or so tales about lost treasures throughout American history, and its intriguing to think of all that gold and silver still out there waiting to be found, some of it seemingly within easy reach if the right spot is located. Tons of great story ideas came from this book, and I'll have to implement some of them at some point.

Books read in 2011: No. 40 - Bauchelain and Korbal Broach

by Steven Erikson

Started: August 29
Finished: September 4

Notes: As this a shorter book from perhaps my favorite modern epic fantasy writer, I knew I had to read it. This is a collection of three short novels, all of which happen in the same world as the author's Malazan Books of the Fallen but is not technically part of the series.

Mini review: Quite the funny stories here. The author often has humor in his works, but this is the only one of which I'm aware where the entire tales are layered with humor. In many ways, I felt the writing here was stronger than the author's longer works, mainly because he didn't go on for long paragraphs and pages and pages about characters' personal philosophies and the like. Here it was mainly story and dialogue. Though I guess it helped I was already familiar with the main characters.

Books read in 2011: No. 39 - How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months

by John Locke

Started: August 28
Finished: August 31

Notes: Call me a sucker, but I thought I'd check out this popular indie author's e-book. To be honest, I don't expect to learn much new, but one never knows. I might pick up a few marketing ideas or somesuch.

Mini review: Life changing? No. But I do believe there are some solid ideas here from practical measures one could take to improve sales to more general notions on how to approach one's writing career. Most importantly, this helped to give me a few new ideas of my own, so I'll have to see how they work for me.

Books read in 2011: No. 38 - While the Morning Stars Sing

edited by Lyndon Perry

Started: August 10
Finished: August 28

Notes: Sometimes when I'm in the middle of reading a very long novel, I also like to read a collection of short stories so as to break things up a little. To that end, I'm glad this anthology was brought to my attention. Not only does it contain stories from a few familiar names, including some friends, but it's also a collection of "Spiritually infused speculative fiction," as the subtitle says, and I find that interesting. So this anthology was brought to my attention at just the right time. Also, isn't that a nice cover? It's titled "Transcendence," and the artist is Lance Red.

Mini review: One of the things I truly love about this anthology was the diversity. All of the speculative genres are covered here, from fantasy to science fiction and horror, as well as several sub-genres of fantasy including magical realism. Too, though most of the materials here are short stories, not all are; there are a handful of poems, a short play, as well as some other works a little more difficult to explain. In a collection such as this, there are often at least a few stinkers, but I can honestly say I enjoyed everything I read here, with a handful of favorites. The first story that really popped out at me was "Fragments" by Aaron Polson, a tale of a mother who sacrifices everything for her children. Steve Goble's "The Blood of Thousands" I had read before, but it remained just as strong on second reading and is truly one of the most different vampires tales I've read. The one-act play, "God's Work," by J.J. Steinfeld stands out not only because it is a play, thus a different reading format, but for its way with words and an ending that is surprising though not necessarily a twist ending. "Hit the Button" by S. J. Higbee is one of the most charming tales of the lot, though it deals with a theme that touches us all, how we cope with loss. All of the stories touch upon spiritual aspects, some with broad stripes while others a more narrow focus, but none are too over-the-top or preachy by any means.