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Tracking this seems more difficult than doing it. I'll try though, just for fun. And to make me write the reviews.

So far, the tracker says I'm behind, not cool. I'll add the list in this thread. Also, indeed I'll get to reviewing what I read so far or what I am reading/re-reading from now on.

List of books read in 2012 (or re-read)

Robert J Sawyer - Flashforward
Rating: 4/5
Calculating God
Rating: 4/5
Hominids
Rating: 5/5
Humans
Rating: 5/5
Hybrids
Rating: 5/5

Agatha Christie - The Moving Finger
Rating: 5/5
Five Little Pigs
Rating: 5/5

Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code
Rating: 5/5
Angels and Demons
Rating: 5/5
The Lost Symbol
Rating: 5/5

Stephenie Meyer - The Host
Rating: 5/5

Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous With Rama
Rating: 5/5
The City and the Stars
Rating: 5/5

Roger Zelazny - Lord of Light
Rating: 5/5

Isaac Asimov - The Last Question
Rating: 5/5

Georges Simenon- Maigret Et la Jeune Morte Book (Maigret and the Young Girl, English versions available).
Rating: 2/5

Frank Herbert - The Jesus Incident
Rating: 3/5

Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost
Rating: 5/5

Nalini Singh - Psi-changeling series
Slave to Sensation
The Cannibal Princess
Visions of Heat
Caressed By Ice
Beat of Temptation (An Enchanted Season)

Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora
Rating: 5/5 (I wish I had more stars to give :) ).

Poul Anderson - Brain Wave
Rating: 5/5

Robert Sheckley - The Status Civilization
Rating: 4/5

John Brunner - The Webs of Everywhere
Rating: 5/5 (off the scale)

Nalini Singh
Mine to Possess

Good Luck Norv! (:

Since you are joining us a little late if you'd like to just make a list of what you've read so far with the rating you gave beside it and then only review the ones you really feel need it you can do that too. Some people don't review at all, just put the rating and maybe a comment, which is also okay. If we want to know more we tend to ask lol! And best of luck to you on your challenge, that's quite the task :)

Welcome Norv! Good luck on your challenge! :)

Norv, welcome to the book challenge group. Good luck to you on your 2012 challenge. We're all waiting to see what you're reading.

Thank you! :)

Well, I would try to write reviews though... at least for new or impressive books (or simple and quick to leave a note on), from now on, I guess that would be a good compromise with my lazyness, I mean, lack of time.

On Maigret Et la Jeune Morte Book (English versions are available).
This was very disappointing, rather.
This clearly isn't one of the best Simenon books. The story unfolds without really catching interest, or it didn't manage at all to make me care for what happens. A murder happens, then things add up to it, and it takes a lot of time until you get your explanations. Still, it's a book good to have, when you have read everything else and are stuck in a train.

Frank Herbert - The Jesus Incident
Rating 3/5

Frank Herbert's style is very particular, in this book. You identify with it or you don't. The world he creates brings many questions concerning humanity and divinity, questions left in the reader's mind after you finish it. I'm not convinced by the writing, unfortunately, which doesn't seem to me up to par with the intentions of the book. It's like a very ambitious project written too much in a hurry...
Yet, as far as rating goes, it's... more like 3.5 I think.
I can see myself coming back on it after a while. I don't think I will continue with the rest of the series at this time, though. I'll take some time to think it over.


Another book I'm reading, and I don't seem to finish, is End of An Era. I must have read at least five books while *still* reading this one. It's a book by Robert J. Sawyer, a science-fiction author I have recently discovered, and I have read already 11 of his books. I love those! Robert J. Sawyer has an approach based on the current scientific theories. These theories and the philosophical side of each of them are heavily present, his characters try to work out the questions of modern physics, philosophy, biology, with delicious conversations between them or insights in their mind. This makes them a very interesting read for me.
Unfortunately, this last book, End of an Era, doesn't seem to capture my interest enough. It is insisting so much on endless irrelevant details... The setting, two men returning in time, to the era of dinosaurs, should be provoking, and yet... I guess I just don't like the book.
Instead of returning to it yet, my next book will (finally) be a fantasy book I think. I can't wait to delve into it, I long for a good fantasy book for a while! :)

Whoa. The Jesus Incident sounds pretty good now looking at the summary. But you didn't like it that much? Is it in your face?

Adriana, it's definitely not in your face. I'd say it was not an easy read, the story has threads a bit difficult to follow at times, and the intended meaning of a few choices of the author is still unclear to me. :)

I would recommend it for reading. It won't appeal to everyone (and I may be biased in my reserve), but it is definitely worth a try.

Thanks! I'll probably try it. (:

Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost
Rating: 5/5

An American politician and his family buy an English manor, and its... ghost, of course. The century-old family ghost is part of the deal, as the lord selling the house would not keep its existence from the buyer.
A very entertaining short story.

The story is public domain, and can be found directly on goodreads, among other sources.

I must have read it years ago, though that doesn't change it's a good read.

Sounds good. I love ghost stories and I should read Oscar Wilde one of these days (:

Latest updates:
Nalini Singh - Psi-changeling series
Adult romance, fantasy.
22. Slave to Sensation
Rating: 3/5
23. The Cannibal Princess
Rating: 5/5
24. Visions of Heat
Rating: 4/5
25. Caressed By Ice
Rating: 3/5
26. Beat of Temptation (An Enchanted Season)
Rating: 3/5

27. Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora
Rating: 5/5 (I wish I had more stars to give!). This is off the scale anyway.
This is a fantasy book, epic fantasy, which has been a real pleasure to read. I would like to write some more on it, and I think I will, as soon as I can take some more time.

Poul Anderson - Brain Wave

Rating: 5/5

"What if?"
What if the current limits of the human brain, as shaped up by its evolution, were kept under an inhibitor field? What if this field would be lifted, and the neural connections would speed up at rates unknown to mankind yet, leading to an IQ greatly exceeding what we consider today a genius? For everyone, for the entire human race.

Poul Anderson's answer is this novel, nicely written, which focuses on psychological and sociological aspects, characters trying and succeeding or failing to cope with the situation, all in a setting based on plausible scientific hints.

Robert Sheckley - The Status Civilization
Rating: 4/5

I have clearly read this book before, I wonder how many years ago since I didn't remember almost anything of the twists and discoveries the author has reserved for the reader.
It's a light and short reading (around 100 pages), available at project Gutenberg, proof read by volunteers around the world.

Well worth reading if you're a fan of science-fiction, even though the themes have been done and overdone since then: Sheckley has been, to my knowledge, a source of inspiration by its exploration of such themes: life in a penal colony, utopia turned into a dystopia, brainwashing, robotic civilization.

John Brunner - The Webs of Everywhere

*takes a deep breath before getting on the soapbox...* :)

Okay, this has been a surprise. Only coincidence has made me pick up this book so soon after reading Brain Wave. They're both "what if"s, stories that deal with the moment when and/or soon after something, something we currently cannot do, happens. Such is Poul Anderson's "what if mankind was much smarter overnight" (aren't we all complaining about human stupidity sometimes? lol), or John Brunner's "what if we do invent instant travel after all?".

They both explore the psychological and sociological effects first and foremost, and they do it by their character development, a sort of coming-of-age in its own way, at both individual and humanity scale.

They do it however very differently, for the first it's a process they go through, and move on step by step from the moment the event starts happening, until humanity finds its way. For the second, the reader gets directly in a wounded world, a world living with the changes and yet still profoundly affected by them, a world which has not found its way yet. We even get to find out just how profoundly affected, by the successive revelation of the way the mind of the main character works. This is a brilliant way of doing it; (view spoiler)[you can get angry at it (who likes a non-likeable main character?) but you can't ignore it.

I'm afraid the last phrase may serve as a spoiler though, I'll try to hide it... (hide spoiler)]

I've also posted a quick review on the book page itself:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Rating: 5/5