Zefariath's 100 new books ? in 2013 + 365 books of any kind for year.

So, having hit 110 books in 2012, I have a harder challenge for me in 2013.

100 new books (with the same conditions as last year) ; a few limitations on myself, to make it a bit harder:
manga / comic strip collections don't count;
reread old books (or books I had started before and didn't finish) don't count;
picture / photography / illustration books don't count.

AND 365 books of any kind for the entire year. (This means i have to keep 2 different running counts.)

So far I am at 0 for the first part (since I didn't originally plan on doing this) and 8 for part 2; books to list later when have more time.

Sounds like a Challenge!!

Look forward to following your thread.

Definitely a challenging challenge! Best of luck, looking forward to your reading.

Wow good luck!

A couple of last notes, before i start the list. The only things that don't count for the 365 list are a) magazines and b) books I've already started and pick up again (unless I start rereading from very start.)
Also, one of my goals (don't know how far I shall get, is to reduce the huge backlog of books I have to be read, not just buy new books and read them !

And now The List:
1) counts toward the 100
1 counts toward 365
* doesn't count toward anything.

From The Legend of Drizzt Boxed Set, Books I-III (Set 1, Bks. 1-3) Savatore's second series, chronologically stands the test of time well in my view.

1 Homeland
2 Exile
3 Sojourn

From The Legend of Drizzt Boxed Set, Books IV-VI (Set 2, Bks. 4-6) This first series, while still a very good read, shows his newness as an author and of the Forgotten Reams world as a whole (in my view)

4 The Crystal Shard
5 Streams of Silver
6 The Halfling's Gem

7 The Legacy
8 Starless Night

9 1) The Blood Gospel: The Order of the Sanguines Series I was somewhat excited by a new James Rollins novel, even though it was a collaboration with another author. This was good, but I woudn't say as good as some of his books, It seems a bit much in some ways.

10 Siege of Darkness
11 2) Passage to Dawn I have no copy of this in my collection before buying the set below, though I have the 3 before it in hardcover, and I couldn't recall reading it, so i am counting it as new. I' sure i would have bought it if I had known it came out, but I might have been distracted at the time it came out. A good if a bit open ended ending to the series.

7,8, and 10,11 from The Legend of Drizzt, Books 7-10: The Legacy / Starless Night / Siege of Darkness / Passage to Dawn

12 Omamori Himari, Vol. 9 One of those guilty pleasure manga's for me. But fun none the less, too bad each volume is so thin.
13 Rin-ne, Vol. 10 A fun Takahashi series, the only slow part is waiting for each collection to come out. Much more light hearted than her previous one, Inu Yasha.

And that's it for now.... need to read 6 more new novels by end of month, and 12 other books (Manga most likely) to keep on track. Yikes!

And a quick update Mon. Jan 21st:

14 Omamori Himari, Vol. 0 more manga, background info and stories to the series.
15 Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 10 another ..cliffhanger ending for this series, so long between books it takes a while for me to remember where things were. But that is the problem with most manga volumes.
16 3) The Silent Blade Start of the next series, the Paths of Darkness series. It was a good novel, although being part of a series, you know the over arching story isn't finished. I am going to read the series as the 4 books it was originally published as; though according to Wikipedia it has been moved to the Sellswords Trilogy now.

Still Behind, I'm going to have to try to read a manga book a night or so to clear of the backlog piles, and also help with count.

Another quick update:

17 4) The Spine of the World This one was disappointing... spent far too much time on minor characters i cared not about.
18 5) Servant of the Shard This one, though not staring any of the main characters of previous books, was a much more enjoyable read.

Now on to Sea of Swords

19 6) Sea of Swords a much more enjoyable book than the previous.
20 7) The Thousand Orcs a good start to a new series but I wouldn't have wanted to wait for next book, this was a good start to a new trilogy, but .... it doesn't stand super strong on it's own. However, if your a fan of Drizzt you will probably enjoy it.
21 8) Just finished now, The Lone Drow a good read, suspenseful but a bridging book in series; another middle book of a trilogy, good and enjoyable, but I would hate to have to wait for the last book.

Yikes, on track for new books but somehow need to read 10 manga or other books by the end of tomorrow to stay on track, hmm and no vacation days.

edit fixed counting these below and added my notes to 20 and 21 from post 11.

10 manga or other books by the end of tomorrow

Did you get there?

No... and tired tonight, but I should be able to catch up over the weekend i hope or the coming week at least.

Edit: removed the 2 books I accidently double counted, and fixed the counts, now was 11 behind.

Ok, so its going to take a while to catch up for part 2 of my quest, but maybe I can if i really try. It's Feb 6 so my total ought to be 37... 9 short of that at the moment, but i should be able to catch up... especially if that Blizzard hits here in the Northeast this coming Friday/Saturday.

22 9) The Two Swords the final book of the trilogy, a good wrapping up of the story for now.

23 10) The Orc King And I blast right into the most recent Trilogy (as far as I know). The start of this book really aggravated me! Personally I think the prelude ruins the book (it takes place 100 years or so in the future from the rest of the book and the storyline the novels have been following for many books now) and I consider it full of spoilers. Other than that, it was a good story, but that prelude left a bad feeling about the book.

24 Fairy Tail 23 A fun manga series I am quite enjoying, just the wait between each compilation book is taxing. I love sitting down with a pile of books in a series and just reading and reading .. a very long series, eventually (fiction or graphic novel, manga or comic book) you end up hitting the end of the series, either for now, or the real end.

25 11) The Pirate King Things are definitely getting darker in the Forgotten Realms, no pun intended (if you've read the novel). And knowing what i know from the Elminster series I read last year they are going to get worse before things get better it seems.... don't want to get into details that might ruin the book.

26 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 2 A nice read (I've seen all the anime so far produced, so I have an idea of the stories to expect but it was enjoyable enough i wanted to experience it in it's original format, and a nice change in mood from the previous book above.

I hope that blizzard is just bad enough to keep you inside with your books, but not bad enough to cause any damage!

I hate waiting for the the next in a series, I usually try and wait for it to complete but that's not always possible!

Time for an update: Still a bit behind but president's day weekend, and no blizzard to worry about, although it is snowing our right now not supposed to amount to much.

27 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 3 continuing this very good series.
28 12) The Ghost King This book had an unexpected ending, So unexpected i didn't really look forward to reading more books in the series (not sure if there is right now)

29 13) Promise of the Witch King after a little break I went back it time (storyline wise) to finish up the other series I had started, in this world. I found this book quite entertaining and the next as well, despite the fact it focuses on minor characters to the main series
30 14) Road of the Patriarch ... Reading this filled in some gaps (when i got to the very end) for when we meet Jarlaxle again in the main series (in the Ghost King i believe)

31 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 4
32 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 5
33 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 6
34 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 7

So far most of these have been stories I recall from the anime, I'm not sure how far I'll have to go in the series (there are 14 books released in Japan, 13 volumes translated so far in the U.S. for sale) before I come to stories that are new. They did a season of the anime and I guess it was so popular they did a second, then third. (And just looking on wikipedia, A fourth season has started this January, but I haven't seen any of it, I guess it wasn't simulcast anywhere) Each was 13 episodes. It is very enjoyable reading these, seeing the stories (and some other side stories not animated, and reading the author's notes and columns about her experiences in the book).

From Wikipedia (which does a better summing up of the series than i was writing:
"For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has had the ability to see spirits, a power inherited from his grandmother Reiko. Upon her death, Reiko bequeaths to her grandson her Book of Friends, a book containing the names of spirits Reiko had bullied into servitude. The Book of Friends is a highly prized item in the spirit world, and spirits haunt Takashi constantly. Whereas Reiko formed the contracts, however, Takashi spends his time dissolving the contracts and releasing the various spirits that come to him for help. But that doesn't mean there aren't malicious spirits trying to kill him. Which is where Madara (called Nyanko-sensei by Natsume) comes in; Madara serves as Natsume's bodyguard and spiritual advisor of sorts, even though he is motivated by his own desire to possess the Book of Friends. He later on begins to become more attached to Takashi."

One thing that is nice with this series, is seeing the main character, and others as well, slowly evolving over time. The stories themselves are also very interesting, one gets an insight into Japanese folklore and myth, with its various Yokai (spirit creatures). It's Far different from the faeries, elves, brownies, pixies, goblins, and all sorts of other creatures of Western mythology, in the same way that reading the Arabian nights, or other stories of Arabian folktales, would give you insight into the world of the Jinn, and dervishes and others. The stories themselves go from heartwarming, to suspenseful to heart-wrenching, and even ones that end happily can sometimes bring a tear to the eye. I do look forward to finishing off the other 6 I have on my shelf now, but then, I will have a long wait between volumes.

So 34 books of any type read on Feb 16th. (putting me 13 behind for now for 365) and 14 new novels (or non-fiction books) .. which is about on track to hit 100 by the end of the year.

A short update:

35 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 8
36 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 9
37 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 10
38 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 11

Continuing on the series above, only 2 more volumes left to go ... (all very enjoyable) which I'll probably read tonight and then I have to wait months till 14. Instead of running out and getting more Salvatore books, I need too look around for what else I have unread to read....
as of now Feb 18th I am only 11 books behind ... hopefully will catch up by end of month. So many different distractions and things to do besides reading.

More books:
39 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol 12 next to last one out ...
40 15) Nightglass This book was a bit too dark especially the first half, I didn't realize how nasty some of the lands in the Pathfinder world were, I was glad to finish it, probably one of the darkest Pathfinder books I've read, in my opinion.
41 16) Ghosts of Ascalon This book was more enjoyable than expected, I've been playing Guild Wars 2 since it came out, though less recently since the new year, and this book had both an interesting story good characters and also provided some nice background for the game. Pretty much the same can be said for the next book also, it fills in a lot of the storyline only alluded to in the game as you play.
42 17) Edge of Destiny while this book actually preceeds the previous time wise it was published second, and not knowing any better, i read it second, I think I probably enjoyed it more by reading it in that order though.

current counts:
42/365 (behind by 12 now, got to catch up a little this weekend)
17/100 (on schedule)

Tiny update:
43 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol 13 No more Natsume for now till June.
44 Is this a zombie?, Vol. 3 (While enjoyable, this book seems like it's trying to cram too many ideas in one book... I don't know how it is relative to the light novels. Not a manga for everyone, just a guilty pleasure i guess.)

March 9th, and falling further behind in my grand goal, sigh.

45 18) The Aylesford Skull (Tale of Langdon St. Ives) Very enjoyable, if a bit macabre, started the paperback and switched to finishing the kindle book on my new nexus 7
46 19) The Walking Drum This was a recommendation from a friend, (who had been recommending it for a long time) A very enjoyable historical fiction, set in the 12th century. Not your standard Louis L'Amour western. Very good storytelling, for the most part. It was planned to be part of a series, but he never wrote the next book.
47 20) Gauntlgrym: Neverwinter Saga, Book I Since the 4th book came out this week, earlier in the week, I figured it was a good time to pick up this series ... I had had enough of a break from the Drizzt books, to not be fatigued from reading them. It was a good story, though it will be interesting to see how the author continues it, I know some of the world events he is forced to put in by the changes in the game system. It's also a bit different from most of his earlier books, with some big (decades plus) jumps between chapters.

Which puts me, today at
47 / 68 ( 21 books behind ! yikes)
20 / 100 (on target, 6 more books for march - I target 8 a month, and will fill in the 4 extra as the year goes by)

A weekly roundup of books:

48 21) Neverwinter: The Neverwinter Saga, Book II Continuation of the new series, good but some of the characters are not as insipiring as older ones. Pretty straigthforward time wise, not a lot of gaps like the previous book.
49 22) Charon's Claw: Neverwinter Saga, Book III While wrapping up one main thread of the story, you can tell the series is not done, hoping the 4th book I'm reading now ties things up. Glad I waited to read all of them till it came out.

50 Rin-ne, Vol. 11 It's a nice change to read this mostly light hearted series by Takahashi. Even though it deals with ghosts and things, it's much more comic than the Natsume's Book of days series, but right in line with her other work like Ranma 1/2.
51 One Piece, Vol. 66 The current story (island ?) arc finally comes to a conclusion, and the straw hat pirates head off at the end of the book into their next adventure. One Piece 69 just came out in japan this month, so only 3 books behind for the translated series, which isn't bad.
52 Rosario Vampire: Season II, Vol. 11 This story slowly continues... well slow as I wait each few months for the next installment, and most often ending in a cliffhanger. I do want to know how the current dramatic story ends...

52/ 75 ( 23 books behind.... maybe i can do some catchup this weekend)
22 / 100 doing ok, should definately hit 24+ for march

Quick mid week update:

53 23) The Last Threshold: Neverwinter Saga, Book IV a somewhat unsatisfying ending to the series, a bit vague in some aspects... I see that another book in a new series is coming out this year that appears by name, to be a continuation of the story.

54 The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan, Vol. 2
55 The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan, Vol. 3
Both enjoyable, although a bit hard to follow sometimes as the art for the characters seems to differ a lot at points from the main story. It is a spin off, I know.

56 24) Doughnut Looking for something to read, I found this, and remembering that I enjoyed Expecting Someone Taller and Who's Afraid of Beowulf? I thought I would give it a spin. It did sound intriguing. And it turned out to be quite a good, if sometimes confusing story.

57 25) Brilliant Devices Just finished it this afternoon, a fun continuation of a nice Steampunk series. Look forward to more, though the author said in the afterward she is probably going to write the next book, with a jump ahead in years, (annoying, as the first 4 were continuous.)

Just started on train home The Prague Cemetery; for some random reason, got a urge to read a new book by him, last one i read was Baudolino which I remember as being good, not much else, though.

57/ 80 ( 23 books behind still, well haven't fallen further behind.)
25 / 100 1/4 way there ! yay.

Weekend update (before I forget)

58 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 13 (Manga)
59 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 14 (Manga) Fun series, now behind the english version of light novels again, so reading stories and enjoying how they are treated in a different medium

60 A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 4
61 A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 5
62 A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 6 Evidently the Railgun Manga series (which is a side story to A Certain Magical Index light novel series) was the original Manga series, not sure if still ongoing, or how many voulumes in Japanese have been published. Anyway, enjoying the original Manga novels which differ a little (as always) from the Anime series.

62/ 83 (21 books behind still, catching up a little hopefully more today.)
25 / 100 (still)

April 1st update !

63 Bamboo Blade, Vol. 12
64 Bamboo Blade, Vol. 13
65 The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-Chan, Vol. 6 A humorous spin-off enjoyable as usual.
66 Bamboo Blade, Vol. 14 ... While a good story. The ending left a little to be desired, I had hope for a more finished ? one, one that left less loose ends, it did end with a question hanging... and I assume that is the way the author wanted it, not wanting to answer the final outcome, (so we have to guess ?) Still an enjoyable series, sad to see it over.

67 Fairy Tail, Volume 24 Start of a new story arc... looks like it will be more fun, just an enjoyable read in general.
68 26 Book Girl and the Undine Who Bore a Moonflower While this isn't the greatest series in the world, it's characters are still interesting enough for me to continue to buy the next book when it comes out.

68/91 (back to 23 books behind)
26/100 (on target)

End of April, update time:

69 A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 7
70 27) The Prague Cemetery I found this a disappointing, there were no real characters one cared about, (even if the afterward gives a second view of the story in some ways). I read the book, but felt no attachment or concern, or even great interest in the characters.
71 28) Nexus This in comparison was very enthralling and kept my interest throughout the book, to me it seems as if there is enough there for more stories, about what happens after.
72 29) Flying Dutch I was looking for something to read, a bit light, and remembered that in Doughnut there were a huge list of Tom Holt's books, of which i had only read 2 others. So I decided to give another a try, since i did enjoy that book, and the others i had read. I decided to tackle them chronologically, my preferred way to read an author's works. This book was a lot of fun, not very serious, but still kept me interested the whole way through.
73 30) Ye Gods next in the series of books by Mr. Holt, this one was also a very enjoyable read.
74 31) Overtime Unlike the previous two books, I didn't have any knowledge of the historical version of the main character, and only passing knowledge of the middle ages, but this still was a fun read.
75 32) Here Comes The Sun This one, had a bit of trouble at points keeping my interest, there may have been things that an English audience would catch that I didn't, a decent read, but others have been better so far.
76 33) Grailblazers Much more interesting, if no less outrageous than the previous book, it certainly pokes fun at Arthurian legend.
77 34) Faust Among Equals While I have never read any of the original stories this is based on, I suppose I ought to at some point, this was still enjoyable, though there were a few things that were mysterious, (but which didn't ruin my enjoyment) but again may be due to my not knowing the source material.
78 35) Odds and Gods This was a fun mix of all sorts of mythology and religion, and adventure, quite outrageous at times, but very enjoyable.
79 Fairy Tail, Vol. 25 The only part that makes these frustrating is having to wait months before the next collection comes out, a fun enjoyable series.
80 36) Djinn Rummy This while good, seems to me, to have some rough spots .. or at least slow spots, A play of course on the theme of Aladdin.
81 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 15 (stupid touchstone messed up). A fun series, at this point still going through the storyline I read earlier in the light novel The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya
82 Is this a Zombie?, Vol. 4 A silly manga series, and following it's own story tangential to the one from the original anime series, but still fun enough to keep collecting.

And that Wraps it up for April i think. I may finish off a book or 2 more, in the next few days.

82 / 118 - 36 behind, not a good month, fell even further behind.
36 / 100 - at 1/3 of they year over (just about) ... wow how time flies; I'm on target or a little ahead for the second half of my goal.

Well here I am again, near the end of the month, not a very sucessful month, reading wise (though I almost totally done cataloging (at least at first pass- some stuff has missing data) all my books. Continued to read a lot of Tom Holt books this month, some better than others. The order on some of these may be off .. since i wasn't keeping exact track.

83 37) My Hero This was a good and interesting story, playing with the idea of authors and the characters they create.
84 38) Paint Your Dragon A play with the story of St George and the Dragon, it was fun, and enjoyable.
85 39) Open Sesame This story was ok, but wasn't one of the better of his works.
86 40) CyberStorm After reading a bunch of Tom Holt's books, I needed a break so picked this up, a very good, in some ways scary science fiction thriller
87 41) Inferno This was one of his better books, I enjoyed it more than i remember enjoying his last book, the Lost Symbol which seemed to be a bit lacking at the ending.
88 42) The Knowledge Web While i had high hopes for this book, having just watched Connections and Connections 2 TV series, this book jumped around alot, ... not spending enough time in spots on subjects and while ok wasn't nearly as great as the first series.
89 Oh My Goddess, Volume 42 These are much more fun to read one after another, the current
90 Oh My Goddess, Volume 43 arc is coming to a conclusion, with great drama and
91 Oh My Goddess, Volume 44 excitement.

92 43) Wish You Were Here This was definitely one of the slower, and less enthralling of Tom Holt's novels, it just didn't seem to have characters that I cared about, and the whole premise seemed a bit confused. Not a book I would recommend.

Will Bullas has been a favorite artist of mine, since the first time I encountered his work, on postcards in a shop now forgotten, decades ago. These next 4 are small books of some of his works from over the years, each based on a theme, and sure to give one many smiles.

93 The Sporting Life
94 Quacky Careers
95 PS. I love You
96 Have a Cool Yule

97 44) Complete Atopia Chronicles This novel (well collection of stories) while taking place in the future of CyberStorm, was OK, but I think with the author jumping around so many characters points of view, I had trouble really caring for any, (some of that due to the characters themselves). The story was interesting, but at points hard to follow, when it became a bit technical yet vague.

98 Make Good Art The content (text of this book.. Neil Gaiman's speech) is great, very inspiring. The medium, I think tried to be too "fancy", or "cool graphic design" to the point that it got in the way of the message. It was very hard to read on the kindle app, and i ended up finishing reading the small hardcover (course I really should get reading glasses)

99 Spice and Wolf Manga, Vol. 6 Catching up but still far behind the novels, this manga adaptation is an enjoyable retelling of the story.

So with May nearly over,
99 / 146 - 47 behind, further behind, and not sure if I shall catch up but focus has been on cataloging.
44 / 100 - 5 * 8 would be 40, so just a little ahead for reading 100 novels / non fiction books, in general.

Quick wrap up to end of May (perhaps a bit out of order)

100 Spice and Wolf Manga, Vol. 7 another good volume
101 45) Spice and Wolf, Vol. 7: Side Colors I had put this off for a while, since i was enjoying the main story and when I got the book didn't feel like reading side stories; however they turned out to be quite enjoyable in their own way.
102 46) Spice and Wolf, Vol. 8: Town of Strife I This was good, except that now I have to wait for the next volume, the novel ended in the middle of the story.
103 47) Zero Hour This was a fun read, which I read over the course of the day it came out !
104 Interworld I was starting The Silver Dream when I realized I barely remembered the events from Interworld, so ordered a kindle version to reread first. It was good as I remembered.
105 48) The Silver Dream This was quite good, especially reading right after Interworld, but it ended in the middle, now I have to wait for the next book.
106 Fairy Tail, Vol. 26 continuing a good series, in the middle of a new arc, with all sorts of twists and revelations. (edit, its vol 26, not 25)

so for Jan - May:
106 books in 151 days which leaves me behind by 45, and of those
48 count towards my 100 for the year :) which is ahead of schedule.

Middle of June, and time for an update:

107 49) Only Human - Another Tom Holt book, this one was pretty enjoyable, not the best of his work, but not the worst, somewhere in the middle.
108 Omamori Himari, Vol. 10 while this manga stays interesting, its definitely not top tier.. more of a niche thing.
109 The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, Vol. 4 This spin off series continues to stay very interesting.
110 The Sacred Blacksmith, Vol 1 I saw the anime last year, and enjoyed it, so I am curious to see how the manga adaptation goes. So far, it's ok, but hard to base things off just one volume.
111 50) The First Commandment ... needing a break from Mr. Holt and looking for something engaging, and not finding anything new, decided to start up with the next Scot Harvarth novel. A decent thriller, enjoyable, but not as exciting i would say as Dan Brown or Clive Cussler.
112 A Kingdom Besieged: Book One of the Chaoswar Saga I read this when it originally came out, but had just found out that the last 2 books in the trilogy were out, so had to go back and reread it, as I really needed a refresher.
113 51) A Crown Imperiled: Book Two of the Chaoswar Saga A good book, and a series that I have enjoyed over many years, from the time I first got Magician from the Science Fiction Book Club back when i was in my early teens. You can see things seem to be coming to a finale of sorts.
114 52) Magician's End: Book Three of the Chaoswar Saga And a grand finale to this trilogy, full of twists, (but with a few spots that are a bit vague.. or where I might have wanted to have known more) ... not sure what his plans are next.
115 One Piece, Vol. 67 A nice change of tone from the deep serious world shaking series before it, (and the terrorist filled thrillers after)
116 53) The Last Patriot: A Thriller and so desperate to find something to read another Brad Thor book... entertaining, about on par with his other novels to date.
117 54) The Apostle: A Thriller ditto.

So, on day 166 of the year, 117 books read. (49 behind dropped back a little)
Of those 54, count as new novels / books for the year, so definitively over the halfway point for hitting 100, with half the month left. Not sure if i will manage to catch up though on that goal of 365 though.

July 1st, halfway through the year: (day 182 of the year)

118 55) Foreign Influence: A Thriller a decent book in this series.
119 56) Off to Be the Wizard A surprisingly good fantasy ? / science fiction story, although there are deeper questions that could have been explored, with the whole setup.
120 57) The Long War Sequel to The Long Earth , while good, it lacked the newness of the original book, and seemed to be not sure where it wanted to go.
121 58) The Disassociation of Haruhi Suzumiya While a good book, it had a very strange ending, well a pair of endings, and alpha an beta version.... which left me a bit confused. I wonder if the next book will clear that up.
122 59) The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel This was a short but good story, not what I expected but still very enjoyable.
123 60) Snow White and the Seven Samurai This was a good Tom Holt book, not one of the best but enjoyable, if a bit confusing at times.
124 61) The Eye of God: A Sigma Force Novel This was a fun thriller, like almost all his works. Some of the physics might be just guessing, but otherwise, it was a very entertaining story.
125 Fairy Tail 27 Continuing the current battle story arc, the only thing I don't like is the wait for each issue.

So for the year 61 / 100 for brand new books( novels / non- fiction) ... plenty ahead of schedule, but only 125 / 181 ... fallen way behind ( 56 books ) luckily i have some time off to catch up, perhaps.

July 23, been a while. (day 204 of the year)

126 62) Foreign Influence: A Thriller Back to Brad Thor for a bit...
127 63) Off to Be the Wizard This was much better than expected, and alot of fun, although there were alot of unexplored ideas in the premise.
128 64) The Long War I don't know if there are going to be more books in this series, but it seemed to me a book that didn't know where it wanted to go. The story to me was a bit weak, and because it was a sequel it didn't have the newness of idea of the first one. A decent read, but not nearly as good as the first book.

129 65) The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya This book besides being a good book in the series, had a bit of a confusing ending, because it acutally has 2 different endings, an A ending and a B ending, with nothing to distinguish which (if one is) the "true" ending, although in a book series involving time travel, and alternate timelines that is a sometimes confusing concept. I am curious how the author continues the story in the next book though, will he continue with 2 alternating story lines for the whole book ?

130 66) The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel While not the kind of book i was expecting, this was still a very enthralling story by Mr. Gaiman.
131) 67) Snow White and the Seven Samurai More Tom Holt craziness, this time with fairy tales. Enjoyable, with a bit of a twist to the ending.
132 68) The Eye of God: A Sigma Force Novel Another enjoyable Sigma Force Novel, not sure how valid some of the science is, but it was a fun story to read, although i wasn't happy at some of the events.

133 Fairy Tail 27 I really enjoy this series, I would say of the manga series I am reading (and collecting books) at the moment, this is one of the 3 I enjoy the most, the other 2 being One Piece, and The World God Only Knows.

134 69) The Athena Project: A Thriller Looking for a book to read at night went with another Brad Thor thriller.
135 Rin-ne 12 This series is fun as well, the only regret, as with all my manga series i read, is the slow pace that they come out.
136 GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class, Vol. 5 An artsy manga, in theme and occasionally in style, enjoyable, though I do like the Sunshine Sketch series better (find those characters more appealing, though perhaps through more familiarity via the Anime series based off it)

137 Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 14 another good series, always enjoyable.
138 70) Black List And back to Brad Thor, this one ended on a cliffhanger, so i had to go and start the next immediately, well the next morning. Some scary premises in the novel.
* Free Fall: A Prelude to Hidden Order Since this is only a short story, I am not giving it a number... was a freebie for my kindle.
139 71) Hidden Order His most recent book, now I am caught up, and have to wait a while, it was interesting how he wrapped a bunch of historical information into this book, a bit different from most of his other works, in that way.
140 72) The Geneva Trap The newest book by Stella Rimington in her Liz Carlyle series, this was quite enjoyable, an espionage / thriller, but from a different angle than all the Brad Thor books I've read lately (and a bit more believable).

141 73) The Lives of Tao This book, i picked up read the first chapter, and it just didn't grab me, put it down for a while and then came back and continued, as i was desperate for reading material. From Chapter 2 on it started to really pick up and become a good story, though I might have had things happen differently, I guess that when i get involved in characters in a book sometimes i get upset at the way they get treated by their author. Personally I think the book would have been better if it started at chapter 2, but obviously the editor and writer disagreed. A sequel is coming out at the end of October, and I do look forward to reading the continuing story.

That's it for now:
141 / 204 (puts me 63 behind, I've been distracted by other things) for any book, and 73 /100 for brand new books (novels, etc.) puts me way ahead of schedule there, might be 3/4 of the way to that goal by the end of this month.

I might think I would be doing more reading at the moment, (on a temporary leave from work) but I'm not doing the commuting i used to be doing, so no train reading every morning and evening.

Past Time for an update !

142 74) World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War This was ok, but not great, didn't like the style, of a bunch of short interview like stories, rather than a regular novel, read it originally before wanting to see movie, afterwards had no desire to see the movie.

143 Is This a Zombie, Vol. 5 Ok, the Manga is ok, although it seems to be heading off in its own direction.

144 75) Book Girl and the Scribe Who Faced God, Part 1 I Really didn't like this book, I am not happy in the direction the author is going, and in actuality I cannot recommend the series at all, stay away and find a better book to read. I will probably read the last one, though its like watching a slow motion train wreck, just to finish the series.

145 K-ON! College The antics of the light music group continues, and continues to amuse.
146 Fairy Tail 28 Enjoyable as always.
147 76) Guild Wars: Sea of Sorrows This actually turned out to be a very enjoyable book, I wasn't sure at the start if i would like it. Of course the fact that I knew some of the lore from playing Guild Wars 2 helped.

148 Gate 7, Volume 4 This seems like it's going to be a good series, but so far not enough has happened to decide.
149 77)Wicked Bronze Ambition A new Garret, PI book, good but a bit more grim than many of his books.

150 78) Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School) A new novel in the Parasol Protectorate world, quite enjoyable despite being marketed as a YA book. I look forward to the next one in the series.

151 79) The Man with the Golden Torc (Secret Histories, Book 1) Looking for something new to read, I decided to give this series a spin. The first book was pretty good, though I have to say that for some of the books, the back cover summary can be misleading, it tries to portray the book as more of an espionage / thriller where instead I found it to be more of a big SF/Fantasy opera type series (of all sorts of things going on behind what "normal" folks think is going on)

152 80) Daemons are Forever (Secret Histories, Book 2)
153 81) The Spy Who Haunted Me (Secret Histories, Book 3)
154 82) From Hell With Love (Secret Histories, Book 4) This book and the next, ended on a cliffhanger, which would have been Extremely Annoying, if i wasn't able to just buy and start reading the next book right away. I don't like being left in suspense (for a year or more while the author writes the next novel)

155 83) Blood of Tyrants The Temeraire series has just been great, from the beginning, the only drawback is waiting as the author writes the next book. Right now no end in sight, there is so much to finish in the stories yet.

156 84) For Heaven's Eyes Only (Secret Histories, Book 5) This was the other book, that left me hanging, at the end of the story, and he didn't have to, he could have used that last few pages, where he introduced the new problem, as the start of the next novel.

157 85) Live and Let Drood (Secret Histories, Book 6) While there are some loose ends left at the end of this book, nothing like the previous two in the series. The books seem to be getting more violent and destructive in ways, as time goes on. I don't know if it's a matter of having to top the last book.

158 86) Casino Infernale (Secret Histories, Book 7) Another good book in the series, with a clear ending (thank goodness) It is interesting to see how he has interwoven his Nightside series with this one. All in all a decent series, but not a great one, like say Temeraire, where you are just waiting for the next book, and need to have it asap.

159 87) The Companions: The Sundering, Book I This I thought was going to be a new series by R.A. Salvatore, but it apparently is going to be done by different authors for each book (not sure how happy i am with that, especially if Drizzt and the others are the main characters throughout the series, would be wierd having other authors write their stories after 20+ books by R.A. Salvatore. A very good book, although it's another one of those series where they are trying to work in the changes to the D&D system as they change the rules again, like a whole bunch of series, starting way back with the Avatars one. I really did like the original Forgotten Realms, before all the world shattering events This will be the 4th time:
First Edition -> Second Edition
Second Edition -> Third Edition
Third Edition - Fourth Edition
and now Fourth Edition -> Fifth Edition
Each one has been more dramatic in scope it seems. Kinda worried what will be left of the world after this one.

And that's It for now.

87 / 100 books read (doing great there)
159 / 365 (not so great, since its day 235, putting me 76 books behind !)

Right now, slowly trying to work my way through all the group posts, started yesterday, but this may take a little bit to catch up !

I see that I last visited you in February. I think you were pretty much only reading manga then, so I didn't star you at the time. I've caught up now, and added Off to Be the Wizard and The Man With the Golden Torc to my wish list from your reading.

A week or so, and a lot of books to add.

(Edit, I forgot one at the top and now need to renumber)

160 88) The Atlantis Gene I was a bit hesitant about getting this book, not sure how good a story it would turn out to be. It turned out to be ok, not great, not horrible. Good enough that I will probably read a sequel, but not so great that it is very memorable, like the series below. It may be because it is science fiction, and I expect better from that, when I read a fantasy, I automatically throw my suspension of disbelief switch on, but with science fiction, you expect the author to at least make an effort to stay within the bounds of certain rules, or if making an outrageous claim or assumption, to have enough of a framework to support that at least story wise. Too much Deus Ex Machina, or Aliens Ex Machina etc., I find a bit tiring.

161 89) Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat

I am not a person really into cooking, but I do enjoy history, and the name and premise of this book seemed interesting. I ended up reading over a longer period, taking breaks to read some fiction in between, but I did find it a very interesting book.

It explore the history of cooking, through the tools used to cook, and to consume food. So many different chapters were interesting, and taught me things I never knew. For instance the chapter Titled "Measure" went into the details of how the US ended up with the system it has now, that no one else uses, I was surprised to find that most everywhere else uses weight to measure out things ... (at least dry measure) (a pound of flour, instead of cups). I'm sure someone who is a chef, or just cooks complex meals more would be much more familiar with some of the tools (and perhaps stories related to them) but I think that there is enough detailed info that could intrigue people.

162 90) Midnight Riot originally published in England as Rivers of London
163 91) Moon over Soho
164 92) Whispers Under Ground

The above 3 are the first in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. The 4th is currently only published in England, not sure if I'll order it in physical form yet from Amazon.uk or wait till i can pick up a kindle version next year.

This is a very good series, I guess you would call it a police procedural mystery series with the addition of urban fantasy, Harry Dresden in London, if he was a detective instead.
The series was very enjoyable, so far, all good books, though occasionally gruesome, not all the deaths are neat and tidy. The world he has created is very interesting though, as are the characters that populate it, and I look forward to reading many more novels hopefully.

165 93) Fated
166 94) Cursed
167 95) Taken
168 96) Chosen (Alex Verus)

Finishing the previous series for now I was searching for something else to read, and came across this series "Alex Verus" by Benedict Jacka. This was also a very good series; again magic in the modern day world, but a totally different kind of story. Darker perhaps, though it does have lighter moments. Especially as the series progresses and you see the changes in the main character and other characters.

It's another series where you see the magical world existing side by side with the real world, just hidden from the awareness of the average person. Though without a Ministry of Magic to keep things under wraps, it appears that many things just get left unexplained to non magical folks. It was enjoyable to see a different sort of magician as the main character, Alex Verus is a diviner who can see potential futures... but has no big explosive type spells, no throwing lightning / fire around or other most other flashy things. Yet he uses the skills and items he has to his utmost.

Definitely a lot of gray in the books when it comes to characters, this isn't a book of pure white good vs darkest evil, characters and situations are complex, like real life. A very enjoyable series, and I also look forward to more of these as well.

169 97) Celebromancy Desperate to read something else, I happened upon this book. I recalled reading Geekomancy last year, and that it was OK, if not great, so i decided to give this a shot. And the same could be said of the sequel, although I think i found the first one a bit better, possibly because the characters this time around just didn't hold my interest as well, and I've never been a bit follower of movie celebrities in general. A quasi-forgettable read, I would definitely recommend the previous two series first, and the Secret Histories series, and the Magic ex Libris books, and in fact pretty much any of the books I've read in this particular niche of fantasy, before this one. It's not terrible per se, but so many others are so much better in my opinion.

170 One Piece, Vol. 68 A quick afternoon manga read, following the continued adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates. It's amazing when I realize the author has been writing this series for 16 years, starting it back in 1997!

And that is it for now. Went through a bit of a dry patch near the end of the past week, finished Celebromancy, and despite searching on Amazon a few times, couldn't really find anything to grab my interest, and wasn't enthused by any of the books i had unread around the apartment. Finally picked up a Tom Holt book for now, but need to stop by a bookstore and browse the shelves for inspiration soon.

97 / 100 new books read: Going to hit my 100 really early this time around.
170 / 365: (and day 252 .. 83 books behind, it looks like this goal was a bit much)

A few more I missed, that belonged in the previous post. Out of order numerically.

171 A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 7
172 A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 8
A continued enjoyable story, it's been a while since I saw the first anime series, so I'm not sure if it has gotten past that yet. Unfortunately I'm in suspense for a while at the end of book 8, as the next isn't out till April next year.

173 Fairy Tail, Vol. 29 This series continues to entertain. I don't read it or expect deep philosophical meaning from it, its more of just a fun enjoyable read, where I am content to see what journey the author is going to bring us on next. There is a story, and characters one grows to care about, but it's not Shakespeare!

A couple more this week

174 98) Valhalla by Tom Holt.

This was enjoyable for the most part, a play on both the afterlife and the Norse concept of Valhalla. However, I found the ending to be a bit disappointing, and perhaps a bit abrupt as well, almost felt as if I missed a chapter. Not the worst of the books of his I've read, but not the best.

175 99) Call for the Dead

Wandering around the bookstore yesterday, i saw the new penguin paperback reprints of le Carré's works, and I thought that might be fun to try them, so I ordered his first 3 books on kindle when i got home (I did buy another book in store, that I shall get to at some point What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures. I didn't know what order to get the George Smiley books in so I waited till i could look them up.

I read Call for the Dead last night, and really enjoyed it, I am sure there are alot of reviews already, so I shall just add a few thoughts. I found the writing well done, so nice to read good clear writing, though there were a few English phrases that threw me, and a few abbreviations i should look up. I think this will be true of his older novels, but I had to put my mind into the time of the story, I've been reading so much stuff based in modern day (or alternate worlds) that I had to put my historian hat on and think of things as they would have been when the events of the story take place. I don't read much historical fiction, so don't often consider this. The pacing, story and characters were all interesting, I can't wait to read more books, I am sure as this was only his first book, they shall improve over time. It definitely had an old school spy novel feel, whatever that is, compared to something more modern like Stella Rimington's works. I do recommend it highly, and have my next few books mapped out for me!

Your reading is going so well. Lots of interesting stuff on your thread in genres I don't read much. But I wih I could find the time to read more of!

Past Time for an update. Reading has slowed down a bit lately.

176 100) A Murder of Quality

One thing I have to say, is that the novels of John le Carré definitely vary in appeal, at least these early ones. This second novel, is very unlike the first, set mainly at a fictional boys school in England, it has intrigue, but the characters were tough to ever really get a feel for. I am sure that the book might be more enjoyable to someone who actually experienced that sort of education, but it is very removed from my life, and so I found it harded to get enthralled. Also the language can sometimes be a barrier in his books, as I am frequently looking up English phrases.

177 101) The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Excellent story, I can see why it won the awards it did. Although the way it ends, I doubt I would re-read it. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it definitely is worth the read, Best book of his I've read so far (albeit I've only read 4 1/2 at this point). The story takes place during post WW2 Germany, a classic spy novel.

178 102) What the Dog Saw I picked this up as I mentioned above, on a trip to the bookstore, and have been reading the essays within it interspersed with other books. All of the essays were quite interesting, though some really stood out, like the title one which is about Cesar Millan "the Dog Whisperer". It's amazing how he can make stories about stuff I doubt I would ever read about otherwise, quite interesting, like the essay on Hair Dye. I think that because the essays were originally published in The New Yorker, the are very bite-sized, just the size to be reading in 10-15 minutes or so, it makes for easy picking up and putting down of the book.

About the only minor complaint, is that some of the essays feel a bit dated, because modern events have moved one since the essay in question was written.

Something to flip through, and see if the titles catch your fancy, and if so, a good read !

179 103) The Looking Glass War

John le Carré in his introduction explains what he was trying to accomplish with this novel; after his breakout bestseller, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold I guess people wanted more of the same. He wanted to write another kind of book, showing the spy industry at it's most inept, as I understood it. And this book really is like watching a slow moving disaster, you are wanting to shake some sense into the characters. It's hard to recommend this book, when I believe there are much better ones of his (to come, I am reading his opus in publication order, cause I'm stubborn). It wasn't terrible, but I have the feeling that there are much better books of his, and often it seemed just a book to get through.

That's it for now.

Hit 100 Books. Yay. Never really was a doubt about that.
179 / 365 (don't know how far I'll get on this goal, day 263 right now so down 84 books at the moment)

I have to say, that reading le Carré is a lot slower than than many of my fantasy novels, just don't have that pull, that drive to read the story that a good story can give you, the kind that keeps you up way to late at night (till 3-4 am) finishing a book cause you just can't rest till you know the end. I may have to give him a break after this current book and find someone new to read for a bit. It is hard finding good new stuff, there is a more chaff out there than wheat.

My reading has been slowing down quite a bit. The le Carré books are not as quick reads as i thought, and I've had trouble recently finding other books i felt like reading.

Small update

180 104) A Small Town in Germany This was a decent novel, more interesting than The Looking Glass War but not as good as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold or his first book, in my opinion. You follow the exploits of a diplomat ? spy ? (it's not clear exactly what the main character official position is) in his efforts to to find what happened to a missing worker at the diplomatic embassy, and some missing files, some highly sensitive, in Bonn, Germany. This is some time about 20 years post WWII, from what I can tell from the story, I don't remember the exact date, if it even mentioned it.

While the story is O.K. I didn't find it gripping, that kind of book you had to keep reading and didn't want to put down. I guess it was middle of the road, as I didn't have to sit and force myself to read it, and did finish it, unlike some books, I haven't been able to finish.

His endings so far have seemed very abrupt, or more cut short, I've gotten to the end with a few of his books, and felt like there were a few pages missing at least at the end. This was that way, the exact events of the ending are not clear at all, I don't know if he meant them to be vague, or it was just a problem of my understanding it.

181 Fairy Tail, Volume 30 From mystery to manga ... This book finishes one grand battle arc, with an interesting twist, about 20 of the main characters vanish from the book ... Seven years time passes... you know though, that there is no way they can be gone for good, as the first 29 volumes have focused on many of these characters, I kept reading wondering how the author would resolve things. He did, in a pleasing way, but there is much more to tell, and a whole new storyline has opened up, after all you have all these characters who have basically played Rip van Winkle ... there will be many adjustments to make, and the world has changed, apparently mostly not for the better. I look forward to the next volume !

182 105) The Guiding Nose of Ulfänt Banderōz I had put this aside and kept putting off reading it, at first I think because I wanted to refresh my mermory of the Dying Earth saga by Jack Vance, (in which this novella is placed) and later for reasons of which I'm not sure. In desparation for something to read a few days ago while I was waiting at the doctors, I started this. It turned out to be a wonderful story, which so evoked the tone of the Jack Vance tales, or what I remember of them, I must go back and read the books soon. Of course the book has on the cover the wonderful artwork of Tom Kidd, which attracted me to it in the first place. The story is very well contained however, and while greater enjoyment is had if you are familiar with the world it stands alone very well. A definite suggested read, though short, for anyone who enjoys fantasy.

Congratulations on passing the 100 book mark!

Yes, well done!

Thanks, hopefully soon I will find a new author to start reading, and the pace will pick up a bit.

183 106) The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy

I actually finished this before A Small Town in Germany but I forgot about it somehow, not that it wasn't a good book. Definately a bit of an odd book, like all of Lem's books, it has humor, and this one quite a bit of dark humor. It's an interesting story and premise, brings to thought questions like how do we trust our senses and other thoughts. Also quite the commentary on the future, and overpopulation in general.

184) The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, Volume 7
This continues to be a fun spin-off series, very light hearted and amusing, not that the original series was very serious to begin with.

Belated congratulations on reading 100 (and more!) books already!

Thanks, and past time for an update! Hopefully I can remember everything I read this past month.
I was a bit slow reading lately, and then had a sudden surge recently.

184 107) Republic of Thieves

The newest book in The Gentleman Bastard Sequence, this book was massive, like the other 2. While it was enjoyable, it took me a bit to remember the events of the previous two books, and put things into context. I'm not sure I like where the story is going, and while I will read the next book, felt in a way the story had been stretched or expanded, you find out a about a bunch of things which are all left at loose ends, in the course of the book. Some might say that the author is just slowly unfolding more of the story, but I'm not so sure I like the way it was done. Enjoyable though, with those caveats.

185 Nine Princes In Amber (Audio CDs)
186 The Guns of Avalon (Audio CDs)
187 Sign of the Unicorn (Audio CDs)
188 The Hand of Oberon (Audio CDs)
189 The Courts of Chaos (Audio CDs)

Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber has been one of my favorite series, one that I have read over and over again, ever since I first read them ages ago when i was in my early teens. They are one of the only sets of books I have on audio (originally an abridged version on cassette, and in the process of cataloging those, I was prompted to update to a cd version which I could rip and have available to me digitally. Luckily the original books read by Zelazny himself, are now available on Audio CD unabridged published by Speaking Volumes. The books were as enjoyable as ever, although I wondered a little about there restoration of the master tapes, occasionally he sounded like the tape was running a bit slow, but for the most part they have been fine.

Another recent addition, was a whole series of the pathfinder tales books. I hadn't kept up with them and a bunch had come out since I read that last batch. They varied in quality however.
190 108) Pathfinder Tales: Blood of the City

This book was good, although it had a few surprises in store for the reader. Not the worse of the books I've read in this series, but not the best. One thing that this series keeps hammering home, is how dark... a world they are set in is. It seems a world full of black and grays, with very little good standing out.

191 109) Pathfinder Tales: Queen of Thorns

This book, continues the story of Count Varian Jeggare and bodyguard Radovan. They had been featured in two earlier books, Prince of Wolves and Master of Devils. These characters, while not perfect, are a couple whose tales have been one of the more enjoyable books in the series. This one had them wandering through the Elvish country of Kyonin, and with many twists and turns in the story, was a quite enjoyable tale

192 110) Pathfinder Tales: Called to Darkness

Surprisingly this seemingly simple tale of revenge, turned out to be one of the better stories in this series that I read recently. Following the character on there journey and watching her transformation, was very enjoyable. While some of the themes dealt with in the book are by no means new (a hidden land of prehistoric dinosaurs, etc.) it was still quite entertaining to see how the author wove this into the world of Pathfinder.

193 111) Pathfinder Tales: Liar's Blade

This was one of the most enjoyable novels in the batch. I think it was that the characters were very interesting, and one kept on reading to find out what would happen next.

194 112) Pathfinder Tales: Pirate's Honor

This novel, was decent, but not as great as I had hoped. I'm not sure if it had to do with the characters, one of which is very non human, or the story itself.

195 113) Pathfinder Tales: The Wizard's Mask

This next book, which I had high hopes for, being by Ed Greenwood, whose works in general I have enjoyed, was quite disappointing. While not horrible, I just expected so much more from the author.

196 114) Pathfinder Tales: King of Chaos

Following after Pathfinder Tales: Queen of Thorns this book continues their adventures. While I don't think the story was as strong as some of the previous ones following these characters, it was still enjoyable, and I do hope for more novels about them.

197 Trumps of Doom (Audio CDs)

While some people feel that Zelazny's first 5 books are the best or truest Amber series, I have always enjoyed the second series almost as much. I am familiar with the older series more just because I had more time to read and reread and daydream about Corwin and Amber, far longer than I did about the second series. The cast does begin to expand quite a bit with this series as well. A find rendition, again read by Roger Zelazny.

198 Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 12

The story continues, still in a massive battle whose results will be far-reaching, I am curious how all things will end up afterwards, and where the story will go from then on.

199 115) The Incrementalists

This book, while not the story that I expected it to be, was still decent. It's hard to say great... I expected more from it, maybe I expected a different kind of story. I think I was looking for a more outward looking story, with action, and this was a more inward focused story, mainly revolving around the events of a few special people the so called Incrementalists, and events concerning the joining of a new member. While good, I am hesitant to recommend it, though I would probably read a sequel (though hoping it would be more like the book I originally expected this to be.) Lots of drama, in fact the whole book is just drama.

That's it for now...

I've been eyeing off Republic of Thieves in the bookshops, I really enjoyed the first two. And hurrah for Amber! Such a fun series.