110:3 Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry

Yet another zombie novel, better than many others I'll grant.  It starts with the outbreak rather than survivors trying to deal with the aftermath.  We follow 2 cops who were first-responders on a call that turns out to be the site of infection so we go through them trying to figure out what is going on.  Another interesting touch is that the people who have been infected still feel and think but have zero control over there body and we occasionally get to hear the thoughts of the first person bitten, his helplessness as he is trapped in a body that doesn't obey his commands and hurts those he knows and his despair as he keeps narrowly missing being killed.  Not an aspect I've seen before as usually it's mindless zombies or occasionally they can think but they also have control over their body.  Otherwise, a pretty typical zombie story.  Enough excitement, plot, and character development to actually keep me interested.  Not enough to make me care if there is a sequel although it has been set-up for one.

Page count: 356p/1,089p ytd

110:2 Elfquest: The Discovery by Wendy & Richard Pini

It's amazing how this comic series never fails to grab hold of me and drag me into it and I lose all track of there being some other world until the story is told and I can come up for air.  This was no different.  Gods, the artwork is phenomenal as always and the story tight.  It seems I've missed some stuff between the last stuff I read and this so I need to go hunt it down because Suntop and Ember are now all grown and there are new cubs and OMG, Strongbow speaks!  When the heck did that happen?!

In all, a lovely installment to this most incredible of all comics.  Now to go see about tracking down some back stuff...

Page count: 128p/733p ytd

110:1 Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey

The last of the Naamah's trilogy.  Moirin and Bao have returned to Terre d'Ange as her destiny has led her but both know they have more oceans to cross before they are done.  While there, they have political intrigue to deal with and public perception to get on their side before Moirin can finally set-off to correct the wrong she was part of when she first came to Terre d'Ange as a naive young girl looking for her father.  New worlds await them across the sea but whether they can survive them is another matter.

Well, starting off the new year's reading with this one was definitely a good choice.  It ends the current trilogy and wraps up things with Moirin and Bao.  There could be more stories to tell there if she chooses but if she doesn't, that's okay too.  It's got a satisfying conclusion for that pair and told in Ms. Carey's beautiful style.

Page count: 605p/605p ytd

2011 Recap and 2012 Goals

When the year started, I was coming off a high of reading 120 books in 2010 but looking forward to a year of remodeling and possibly moving and realized that there was no way that goal was achievable in the midst of all that so I scaled it back a bit and I'm happy that I was able to not only meet but surpass my original goal.  Admittedly there were some shorter novellas in there which I think had a lot to do with it but there were longer books as well so I think it all balances out.

I think my biggest achievement is that I read 40 new authors this year.  Had to race a bit at the end to get that in but I did and I'm happy I did it.  Some of them I loved (Ilona Andrews, Neil Gaiman, and Karen Marie Morning) and some I simply enjoyed for what they had to offer (Simon Green).  Some I learned a lot from (all the authors of the middle school history series and the autism books).  I can't look back at this year and find one book that I simply didn't enjoy on some level.  Not all were favorites by any means but all had something that could be enjoyed.  I think my least favorite was a toss-up between 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Watership Down.  Neither of them gripped me as much as I wanted them to and seemed to plod quite a bit.  I'd have a hard time picking a favorite tho as there were so many good ones to choose from, so I'm not going to.  

The only bummer is that I wasn't able to complete the page count I had set-up for myself but it was fairly high and my average page count for books was down from the previous year.  This next year will see the end of our remodel and should finally include the move.  It should also include a 5+ day cruise during which I want to see just how many books I can burn through.  LOL

So my goals for 2012 are 110 books, 40 new authors, and 35,000 pages.  My other goal is to see if I can read more books than I end up adding to my to-read list.  Not sure that is actually possible as I get them for gifts, pick up new ones at used book sales and stores, grab what looks interesting from the Kindle freebies, read the ones my kids get that they love and want to share with me, plus get new ones in all my favorite series and by my favorite authors.  Right now according to Goodreads, I have 1,171 books on my to-read shelf.  Shelfari has it 1,164.  Not sure where the discrepancies  are and I'm too lazy to go try and figure it out.  It will be interesting to see where those numbers are in a year.

104:109 The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor by Kirkman & Bonansinga

Based on the comic and television show, this is the backstory of Philip Blake, the Governor of Woodsbury.  Having run into him in what I've read of the comics, I have to say I wasn't expecting the ending this took but it was a compelling read that drags you in and keeps you reading until the end.  A must read for fans of the comics.  If you are just a fan of the tv show, you might want to wait until he's actually introduced as a character there first.

Page count: 308p/32,165p ytd

And with that, I hit my goal of 40 new authors for the year.  No way am I getting in another almost 3,000 pages read in the next day so that goal isn't going to get met but still, lots of reading has been done and most of it was good.  Time to start thinking about what my reading challenges will be for next year.

104:108 The Analects by Confusious

I have mixed feelings about this one and I think a lot had to do with the translation I was reading.  There were some absolutely brilliant pieces of wisdom in this that I wholeheartedly agree with but for the most part, I found it jumpy with a lot of inconsequential pieces in there (the part about how to draw a bow for example).  I also found it highly repetitive and not just the parts where every sentence would be repeated which made it very confusing.   I've got a different translation which I've heard is better so I'm going to give it another go.  There is so much sense in many of his views on government that it's well worth the read...if you have a good translation. Maybe we could make it required reading for our own governing bodies.

Page count: 160p/31,857p ytd

104:107 Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey

The second book in the Naamah trilogy.  It's been about 2yrs since I read the first one so I admit to not remember many of the finer details but there was enough flashback stuff to remind me of the important bits but not be tedious about the reminders.  Moirin has decided to chase after Bao and the missing part of her diadh-anam that he carries within him.  They are joined and she will not feel complete until they are together again and can figure out how to live with what has been done to bring him back to life.  In her quest to find him, she finds so much more than she bargained for and must face dangers beyond any she had ever dreamed of.  Will she renounce her gods and their destiny for her and how will it affect Bao if her diadh-anam is exstingueshed through that renouncement?  Or will she find the strength to carry-on even if it means death?

A compelling read.  Unlike in the Kushiel series, there is a tenderness and sweetness to Moirin that Kushiel didn't have in the same way.  She's not well-educated and so much is based on her intuition and relationship with nature.  She's rash and impulsiveness but in that way that has you nodding your head and saying "yep, I can see exactly why she did that and I can see myself doing the same thing".  I thoroughly enjoyed this one and will be starting the last book in the trilogy as soon as I get home.

Page Count: 567p/31,697p ytd