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I barely got to 30 books in 2010, and haven't gotten off to a great start so far. Here's what I've read this year so far:

1. Jack Vance: 'Big Planet'
2. Kim Loughran: 'The Year in Sweden'
3. Sarah Waters: 'The Little Stranger'
4. J.R.R. Tolkien: 'The Fellowship of the Ring'




Only 46 to go! :-D

5. Charlaine Harris: Dead Until Dark ***

6. Carlos Ruiz Zafon: Gaudi in Manhattan *

Terribly weak really. Hard to believe this is from the same man who wrote 'Shadow of the Wind' and 'Angel's Game'!

7. JRR Tolkien: The Two Towers ****

8. TOLKIEN J. R. R.: The Return of the King ****

9. Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie ***

Starts off very interesting, but it has its tedious moments where the author feels it's necessary to explicitly explain parts of the plot that are already perfectly clear. All in all, it's not a bad mystery, but I think I'll give the sequel a miss for now.

10. Willem Elsschot: Tsjip ****1/2

Excellent short novel about a father who feels he hardly has a place in his family, until he lays eyes on his first grandchild. Beautiful!



And look at that, I'm finally in double digits!:-D

11. David Sedaris: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary ****

Maybe not all the stories are of the same level, but there are some truely hilarious and original ones in this collection.

12. Willem Elsschot: De Leeuwentemmer ****

13. Terry Pratchett: Eric (Discworld #9) ***

Not as good as other Discworld novels, this one felt a bit like an in-betweener. Still, Pratchett's humor is irressitible and the adventures of Rincewind and his magic trunk are always fun to read.

14. J.L. Langley: The Tin Star ***

A rather endearing M/M romance that might not side step all the clichés, but turned out to be a great read in the end anyway.

15. Charlaine Harris: Living Dead In Dallas: A True Blood Novel ****

The second True Blood novel is another tongue-in-cheeck, fast-paced read. I was surprised how different Living Dead in Dallas is from the second season of the tv show, but liked what both did with the material. In this one Sookie Stackhouse is called to Dallas to help vampires find back a lost brother, outwit a bunch of vampire haters, take on a maenad, and oh yeah, resist most of the men in her life and stay true to her love for vampire Bill. Entertaining from start to finish!

16. Jasper Fforde: Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next series #2) ****

The blurb on the back of this books describes it as one 'Douglas Adams would be proud' of, and that hits the mark pretty close. Lost in a Good Book features outlandish plot twists, absurd humor and characters that are more than a little daft, much like Adams' Hitchhiker's guide novels or Pratchett's Discworld series. And if you go along with the at times confusing plot, reading it is one hell of a fun experience. I did slightly prefer The Eyre Affair, as it takes about a 100 pages before it becomes clear where the story is going and the fact that nothing is wrapped up in the end and you are forced a little to pick up the sequel quickly if you want to remember all the story threads that are still left unresolved. I much prefer the Discworld approach to this where there are recurring characters as well, but each novel stands on its own. That was the case with The Eyre Affair as well, but not so in this one. Still, reading more by this highly original and hilarious author is not something I'm greatly opposed to. :-)

17. Frederik Pohl: Tomorrow Times Seven ***

Some good short stories, others are only so-so. As far as sci-fi goes it's pretty entertaining, though it's far from memorable.

18. Alex Beecroft: False Colors ****

So much more than a simple romance novel, this book is a well researched, historical adventure novel that happens to feature two male characters who fall in love with each other. Think of it as a nautical Brokeback Mountain. :-)

19. Colette: °ä³óé°ù¾± ****

'°ä³óé°ù¾±' is a sweet and poignant portrait of a love affair between an older woman and a young man that is not accepted by society. Both characters' fight to live by society's rules is written with so much passion it makes your heart ache and the ending is extremely moving.

20. Mohsin Hamid: The Reluctant Fundamentalist ***

Mohsin Hamid tells the story of a seemingly accidental meeting and ensuing conversation between an American and a local at a bar in Lahore, Pakistan. Interestingly written in a monologue from the view point of the local man, we get an insight in the perception of both men on each others nations. Unfortunately, the book ends up delivering little nuance in its story of two opposing societies and relies too hard on its gimmick of monologue.

21. Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln: Holy Blood, Holy Grail ***

I'd give it 2,5 stars if possible. While entertaining as far as speculation goes, it has too many gaps and forced connections as proof in arguments to be considered as serious historical writing. Still, it was interesting to see various subjects being brought together in one theory, while other parts (like the part about Jesus' actual marriage) were just plain funny.

22. Erastes: Standish **
23. Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day ***
24. Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited

25. Charlaine Harris: Club Dead ****

Best one on the series so far! Again, there are major differences between the book and the third season of the tv series, with maybe the series playing it more seriously than the novel, but both are first rate entertainment. Looking forward to book/season 4!

26. Mark Salmon: Denmark - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette ***

Good introduction to Denmark and the Danish customs and etiquette. Would have liked it to go into a little more detail though.

27. Ken Smith: Spunky Sailor **

Some chapters are pure porn, others are ones who tell about what life is like at sea for a gay sailor. The two don't really gell together so there's no real narrative flow. As a coherent gay romance novel this one falls flat on its face.

28. Debi Gliori: Pure Dead Magic ****

It might not be very original (being a mix between The Adams Family, Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl), but this book is just so highly entertaining that you easily forget all that two pages in. And while the plotting may be some what messy, again, the humor and funny story just keep you hooked.

29. Steve Berry: The Third Secret **

Steve Berry is often compared to Dan Brown, and seen the subject of this book it's easy to see why. I gave this one the same ranking as 'Da Vinci Code', but for very different reasons. Steve Berry is definitely the better writer of the pair (with better plotting, proper cliffhangers and no spoon feeding the reader), but the plot elements here is very little to build an entire book around, certainly compared to all the material Dan Brown used for 'Da Vinci Code'. In the end, I'd give another Steve Berry book a chance, as long as there's a more complex and interesting plot, while the chance I'll ever read another Dan Brown book is very slim.



And that's it for 2011! 21 books short, hm, not a very productive reading year. But I'll give it yet another try to master this challenge in 2012! Happy New Year everyone!