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2011 Reading Update #2

Monday, March 7th, 2011 Will No comments

I Am Number Four, Pittacus Lore. I read this because the previews for the movie interested me. I fall for hype easily. I enjoyed the book. It’s about 1 of 9 of young aliens living on Earth. They are hiding from a race that killed everyone on their home planet. Because of a charm, the kids can only be killed in the order that they are numbered. The story centers on Number Four, since his turn has come. The book moved very quickly. There’s a lot of teen romance stuff in there, but that isn’t so bad. It’s the first in a series. Even though I enjoyed this book, I’m not sure if I’ll read the next one.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller. This was very good. Even better than Batman: Year One. It tells the story of a future Batman that had faked his death and retired 10 years earlier. One of Batman’s old enemies goes back into crime and that makes Batman come out of retirement. It’s cool to see fifty-something Batman fight crime even though he’s not as strong or fast as he used to be. He even takes on a new Robin as his sidekick, but this time Robin is a girl. Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are two great Batman stories that show the opposite ends of Batman’s crime fighting career. Check them both out.

Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson. I’m so glad I finally finished this book after stopping and starting for the past few months. It started out slow, but it got really good after about 500 pages. Some things happened that have we’ve been waiting to see happen for a long time. I was happy. Things were set up nicely for the 14th and final book, which should be out in about a year.

Last Argument of Kings, Joe Abercrombie
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
Go, Mutants: A Novel, Larry Doyle
Serenity Found, Jane Espenson
Incarceron, Catherine Fisher
Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Mick Foley
The Associate, John Grisham
The Fourth Hand, John Irving
The Walking Dead, Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 4: The Heart’s Desire, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 5: The Best Defense, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 7: The Calm Before, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 8: Made to Suffer, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 9: Here We Remain, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 10: What We Become, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 11: Fear the Hunters, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 12: Life Among Them, Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Volume 13: Too Far Gone, Robert Kirkman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larson
The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larson
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, Stieg Larson
The Stormcaller, Tom Lloyd
I Am Number Four, Pittacus Lore
The Giver, Lois Lowry
The Day Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
The Twilight Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
The Final Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
Busted Flush, George R.R. Martin
Suicide Kings, George R.R. Martin
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
Batman: Year One, Frank Miller
Either You’re in or You’re in the Way, Logan and Noah Miller
The Final Crusade, Chaite Naasiri
The Darker Mask, George Phillips
The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson
Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson
A Memory of Light, Brandon Sanderson
Titus Andronicus, William Shakespeare
Private Parts, Howard Stern
The Way of Shadows, Brent Weeks
Shadow’s Edge, Brent Weeks
Beyond the Shadows, Brent Weeks
The Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams
Stone of Farewell, Tad Williams
To Green Angel Tower, Tad Williams
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1 – Unmanned, Brian K. Vaughan

Tags: batman: the dark night returns, brandon sanderson, frank miller, i am number four, pittacus lore, towers of midnight

2011 Reading Update #1

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 Will No comments

I’m taking a different approach to talking about what I’m reading. This is mostly because I start of lot of books, but don’t finish them until much later. For the past couple of months, I’ve been spending more time than normal reading. I’m a little proud of myself.Some of these haven’t been touched in 2011, but I plan on getting back to them this year.

Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson. I’ve made it about halfway through the latest Wheel of Time book. I’ll finish it eventually. It’s going pretty slowly. I have the same issues with it that I had with the last one. There’s stuff happening, but there are long stretches of nothing happening. I do think the stuff happening in this book is more interesting than the stuff that happened in the last book. Rand wants to do what!?!?

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. This is the latest Sword and Laser pick. I’m almost finished with and I really like it. It’s about the end of the world. The forces of Heaven and Hell are getting their forces ready for the upcoming battle. It’s a pretty funny book, though some of the jokes don’t work. Maybe it’s a British humor (I almost spelled it humour) thing, since both of the authors are British.

Batman: Year One, Frank Miller. I really like this one too. It’s a retelling of the origins of Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Catwoman. I liked the Commissioner Gordon storyline more than the rest, but it was cool to see Batman learning to become Batman, making mistakes, etc. Not surprisingly, the storylines of all three characters intersect in the end. This makes me want to read more Batman stories, especially ones written by Frank Miller.

The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman. I started reading The Walking Dead last year in preparation for the TV show. I read the first 2 trade paperbacks, which is comprised of the first 12 issues of the comic book series. It’s so good! It’s about the aftermath of a zombie outbreak. Like everyone says, it’s less about zombies and scares than it is about how people interact with each other. Read the books and then watch the TV show.

The First Law Trilogy, Joe Abercrombie. I think I started reading The First Law Trilogy in 2009. It’s been about a year since I started on the final book, Last Argument of Kings. This is a great series for those who like fantasy series that are more adult than The Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time. If I were a recommendation engine, I would say something like “If you like George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, then you might like this series”. It’s a great read. I’ve heard that the last book isn’t as good as the first two. That might be the reason I’m not in a hurry to go back to it.