50 books?

[occultatio]

Seeing lowellboyslash's post about book-reading volume reminds me that, given the amount I read while commuting to/from work these days, I think I've got a genuinely good shot at reading 50 books this year. Given that I also want to be posting more often, I figured I should formalize this endeavour, and try and comment on what I read.

I'm not going to do individual reviews for everything I've already done, but I do want to record them all now, so I can keep count. Future updates should have real reviews/criticisms attached. Aren't you excited? I'm excited.


1. The Heir Apparent, by Joel Rosenberg <-- crappy little junk-fantasy novel that I borrowed off my dad's shelf while at home.
2. The Gunslinger, by Stephen King
3. The Drawing of the Three, by Stephen King
4. The Waste Lands, by Stephen King
5. Wizard and Glass, by Stephen King
6. Wolves of the Calla, by Stephen King
7. Song of Susannah, by Stephen King
8. The Dark Tower, by Stephen King
9. The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester
10. The Game of Kings, by Dorothy Dunnett
11. Queen's Play, by Dorothy Dunnett
12. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, by Don Rosa <-- highly recommended!

Hmm. It seems that if I finish The Disorderly Knights by the end of March, then I'll definitely be on track to hit 50. That's kind of cool.

Definitely open to recommendations for the next couple dozen, though. The Books of Ash are on my list, if I can track down copies, but after that I have no particular idea about where to go. I'm really enjoying this string I'm on of only reading really good, high-quality books!

Comments

[limnrix.livejournal.com]

Not only do I have a two hour commute every day but I work at a bookstore. I'm pretty sure I've read 20 books this year already. Is there, like, a cash prize for this 50 book challenge?
And did you like the Bester?

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

I thought the Bester was good. It did not "wow" me, but I did not really expect it to: it simultaneously reminded me why I don't really like Classic Sci-Fi and impressed me with how much better it aged than everything else I've read from around that period. And he did succeed at getting some of his ideas into my head, which I gather was a big part of the point of sci-fi as it was understood in the 50s (and before).

[limnrix.livejournal.com]

I recommend Theodore Sturgeon for that well-aged - surprisingly prescient, actually, he was like proto-Dick - idea SF sensation.

[joelrosenberg.livejournal.com]

Sorry you didn't like it.

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

Actually, I *enjoyed* it a fair bit -- I picked it up after reading the first three in the series, after all. And I do apologize for the phrasing. I don't know if it makes you feel any better for me to say so, but I wouldn't have used quite those words if the thought had ever crossed my mind that you would read this post (seriously, how did you find this?).

All that said, I can't really apologize for the core sentiment. I read and enjoy a fair amount of what I think of as "junk-fantasy" -- I grew up on Robert Aspirin's Myth Adventures -- but I'm enough of a pretentious asshole that I separate it in my head from fantasy that, if not aspiring to be Literature, at least has a deeper point to make.

I actually really liked Hour of the Octopus, and I have D'Shai and Paladins both sitting on my bookshelf, to be picked up sooner or later. I really didn't mean to insult your work!

[joelrosenberg.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's okay; paying customers are, I've said for many years, not only entitled to have their opinions, but to express them.

As to how I found this . . . well, you have heard that if you speak the devil's name, he tends to appear . . . ?

Let me know what you think of D'Shai and Paladins, when you get a round tuit. And, hey, if you don't like them and say so, honest, that'll have to be fine with me.

[silkspinner.livejournal.com]

This is a neat idea. Do you mind if other people copy it?

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

Of course not! It's not even slightly my own idea -- I remember a few people talking about the "50 Book Challenge" a year or so ago, but I don't even remember who specifically, and I certainly have no idea where it originated. It's a well-chosen number, though, since 50 books in a year is doable, but much farther outside normal than most people expect.