Saturday, August 28, 2010

Books I've read this year.

In the order in which I've read them:

HUNTER'S MOON, Randy W. White.

ROUGH COUNTRY, John Sandford.

CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL, Glen David Gold.

TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN, James Lee Burke.

3 DAYS TO NEVER, Tim Powers.

RAIN GODS, James Lee Burke.

INVERSIONS, Iain Banks.

ENGINE CITY, Ken McLeod.

WINTER STUDY, Nevada Barr.

FLASHBACK, Nevada Barr.

HIDDEN EMPIRE, Kevin Anderson.

LITTLE, TINY TEETH, Aaron Elkins.

THE DEVIL'S EYE, Jack McDevitt.

EIFELHEIM, Micheal Flynn.

NIGHT OF THUNDER, Stephen Hunter.

FOREST OF STARS, Kevin Anderson.

THE DEFECTOR, Danial Silva.

LOST CITY OF Z, David Grann.

47th SAMURAI, Stephen Hunter.

TUXEDO PARK, Jennet Conant.

THE NIGHT GARDENER, George Pellicanos.

BLIND FAITH, Walter Mosely.

KILN PEOPLE, David Brin.

MOONFALL, Jack McDevitt.

ANCIENT SHORES, Jack McDevitt.

RED LIGHTNING, John Varley.

HARD AS NAILS, Dan Simmons.

PIRATE FREEDOM, Gene Wolfe.

BORDERLINE, Nevada Barr.

UNDER THE DOME, Stephen King.

CAESAR, Adrian Goldsworthy.

COLD DISH, Craig Johnson.

CITY OF THIEVES, David Benioff.


By my count.

15 mystery/thrillers.

12 S.F./Fantasy

1 horror.

3 non-fiction.

2 literary - ish.

I do like my Genre. I try to read a non-fiction about every ten books or so, and I try to read a mainstream ficiton/literary-ish every ten books or so. As far as I'm concerned though, authors like George Pellecanos, James Lee Burke, Ian Banks, and Gene Wolfe are as good or better than most 'mainstreams' I try.

6 comments:

H. Bruce Miller said...

That's a long list of books. Were any of them memorable? Any that you'd consider worth reading again?

Duncan McGeary said...

Most of these authors have been vetted, though a few were new tries.

I thought Carter Beats the Devil was probably the best of the books -- and, despite what I said, I count it as one of the "literary-ish" books.

I jump on every new Stephen Hunter book.

I thought Moonfall was pretty good; mainstream S.F. disaster flick book, very page-turning.

You've made me realize I haven't had a super book in a while. I went back farther, and the best one I can remember in the last few years was, Terror, Dan Simmons, which combined arctic exploration/survival tale with a tinge of horror.

And, I hate to say it, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was pretty different.

Hunger Games, a young adult novel was pretty addicting.

Duncan McGeary said...

Some of my favorite authors just haven't written anything lately, or are only available in hardcover.

James Ellroy, for instance. Thomas Perry. Maybe my two favorite authors.

I have a whole list of authors who's work I admire, and a list of authors who I know aren't quite as good but which I read first for fun.

George Pellecanos, Alan Furst, China Mieville, Elmore Leonard, John LeCarre, Neal Stephenson, these guys all are truly excellent writers, but I have to be in the mood to be slightly challenged to read them. (In the case of LeCarre, in the mood to be depressed....)

James Lee Burke and Micheal Connolly and Nevada Barr are pretty good, but have become predictable.

Lee Child, Dan Silva, Stephen Hunter, Robert Crais, Jack McDevitt, John Sandford -- these guys aren't as deep, nor do they try to be. But they are like eating candy.

S.F. wise, I've been saving up Lois McMasters Bujold's new series, and of course, waiting for the new George Martin.

Anonymous said...

pretty cool stuff here thank you!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

"pretty cool stuff here thank you"

Don't say that -- it only encourages him! : )

Duncan McGeary said...

Not that I need any encouragement....