158. Life in a Day by Doris Grumbach
159. Orson Welles: Volume 2-Hello Americans by Simon Callow
160. Sanctuaries of the Woods by Hilde Hoefnagels
161. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
162. A World of Light by May Sarton
163. Divine Invasions: A Biography of Philip K. Dick by Lawrence Sutin
Friday, April 6, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
The End of March
146. Facing the Music by Larry Brown
147. The Magnificent Ambersons by V. J. Perkins
A look at the Orson Welles film
148. Kink by Kathe Koje
I meant to read her way back when. Disappointing.
149. Aliens 4 by Theodore Sturgeon
150. The Beyonders by Manly Wade Wellman
Very enjoyable, if minor, alien invasion novel. Kind of like a Larry McMurtry scifi book.
151. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
OK but a letdown after decades of hype.
152. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Ditto.
153. Shadows of Fear edited by David G. Hartwell
154. Killing Time by Donald Westlake
155. The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald
156. A Billion Days of Earth by Doris Piserchia
157. The Year's Best Horror Stories edited by Karl Edward Wagner
I should be on #250 by now if I'm going to get to 1000 this year. At this rate, will be lucky to get to 750.
147. The Magnificent Ambersons by V. J. Perkins
A look at the Orson Welles film
148. Kink by Kathe Koje
I meant to read her way back when. Disappointing.
149. Aliens 4 by Theodore Sturgeon
150. The Beyonders by Manly Wade Wellman
Very enjoyable, if minor, alien invasion novel. Kind of like a Larry McMurtry scifi book.
151. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
OK but a letdown after decades of hype.
152. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Ditto.
153. Shadows of Fear edited by David G. Hartwell
154. Killing Time by Donald Westlake
155. The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald
156. A Billion Days of Earth by Doris Piserchia
157. The Year's Best Horror Stories edited by Karl Edward Wagner
I should be on #250 by now if I'm going to get to 1000 this year. At this rate, will be lucky to get to 750.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
March Continues With the Going On-ness
More writing this week, tens of thousands of words pouring out, and good ones, too. Very happy with my writing for once. I don't want to slack off on the reading, though, so I am finding the balance. I don't know if I'll get to 1000 books this year, but I think I've been over that, and will just keep at it as long as it takes.
135. MY READING LIFE by Pat Conroy
I could have done with the long cry over what the evil North did to the saintly South--I think he gave that little matter of slavery half a sentence, and nothing at all for the valiant South's desire to have slavery in the new territories, but Southerners always seem to forget that part--and Conroy sure does complain about his father a lot. But he expresses his love for books well, and I wish I could have gone to a few of those book parties.
136. THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION #20 - edited by Gardner Dozois
I'm starting to think I don't really like science fiction.
137. CALL IT EXPERIENCE by Erskine Caldwell
A writer's memoir that spends a little too much time detailing his moves around the country, and not enough on what he did there. The first mention of a close relationship with a woman comes many pages in, and he's already got kids with her!
138. PLANT DREAMING DEEP by May Sarton
Terrific memoir of a solitary life. Would have driven me up a wall not long ago, but can't get enough of her thoughts on living alone--see below.
139. GREAT WORLD CIRCUS by William Kotzwinkle
Magical, somewhat inscrutable fantasy.
140. AN ARMFUL OPF WARM GIRL by W.M. Spackman
141. EMPEROR OF THE AIR by Ethan Canin
Reread some of these, read others for the first time. Still my favorite of his work.
142. JOURNAL OF A SOLITUDE by May Sarton
143. SONS OF DARKNESS - edited by Michael Rowe
144. DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS - edited by Pat Keesey
145. DARK ANGELS - edited by Pat Keesey
Gay and lesbian vampires. I don't know what I was thinking, either, but I blew through these, to coin a phrase, rapidly, and didn't get a rise out of any of 'em. So I guess I'm not into gay vampires, or, shockingly, lesbian ones.
135. MY READING LIFE by Pat Conroy
I could have done with the long cry over what the evil North did to the saintly South--I think he gave that little matter of slavery half a sentence, and nothing at all for the valiant South's desire to have slavery in the new territories, but Southerners always seem to forget that part--and Conroy sure does complain about his father a lot. But he expresses his love for books well, and I wish I could have gone to a few of those book parties.
136. THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION #20 - edited by Gardner Dozois
I'm starting to think I don't really like science fiction.
137. CALL IT EXPERIENCE by Erskine Caldwell
A writer's memoir that spends a little too much time detailing his moves around the country, and not enough on what he did there. The first mention of a close relationship with a woman comes many pages in, and he's already got kids with her!
138. PLANT DREAMING DEEP by May Sarton
Terrific memoir of a solitary life. Would have driven me up a wall not long ago, but can't get enough of her thoughts on living alone--see below.
139. GREAT WORLD CIRCUS by William Kotzwinkle
Magical, somewhat inscrutable fantasy.
140. AN ARMFUL OPF WARM GIRL by W.M. Spackman
141. EMPEROR OF THE AIR by Ethan Canin
Reread some of these, read others for the first time. Still my favorite of his work.
142. JOURNAL OF A SOLITUDE by May Sarton
143. SONS OF DARKNESS - edited by Michael Rowe
144. DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS - edited by Pat Keesey
145. DARK ANGELS - edited by Pat Keesey
Gay and lesbian vampires. I don't know what I was thinking, either, but I blew through these, to coin a phrase, rapidly, and didn't get a rise out of any of 'em. So I guess I'm not into gay vampires, or, shockingly, lesbian ones.
Friday, March 16, 2012
March Goes On
I went into this because I wanted to invigorate my writing, and so it shouldn't surprise me that I've been reading less and writing more. That isn't going to divert me from my goal, but it is one of the things that makes it harder to reach 1000 by 2013. I guess my goal should really be just to burrow my way through 1000 book as rapidly as I can, so I can get all the junky books and unread good stuff out of the way.
(This is the true purpose of all this--I have too many unread books.)
So I am up to clsoe to 65k in my new book, and am not reading as much, but it is a good exchange.
130. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg
Good collection of stories about one of my favorite SF subject (and a lot of people's least-favorite, I was surprised to learn). The standout is by Edmund Hamilton called "In the World's Dusk," which is close to being a Clark Ashton Smith fantasy. Also includes "The Underdweller," my favorite William F. Nolan. This is going for big bucks on Amazon.
131. STORIES OF YOUR LIFE by Ted Chiang
This guy is phenomenal. Each story is good, but "Tower of Babylon" (which I'd read before) is one of the great stories of the past couple of decades. The title story is innovative and sad, about a woman whose mind is altered as she tries to learn an alien language, so she can see into the future...I'll leave it at that. Just read this one.
132. THE MEDIUM IS THE MASSAGE (sic) by Marshall McLuhan
133. THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION #19 edited by Gardner Dozois
134. THE APOCALYPSE NOW BOOK by Peter Cowie
(This is the true purpose of all this--I have too many unread books.)
So I am up to clsoe to 65k in my new book, and am not reading as much, but it is a good exchange.
130. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg
Good collection of stories about one of my favorite SF subject (and a lot of people's least-favorite, I was surprised to learn). The standout is by Edmund Hamilton called "In the World's Dusk," which is close to being a Clark Ashton Smith fantasy. Also includes "The Underdweller," my favorite William F. Nolan. This is going for big bucks on Amazon.
131. STORIES OF YOUR LIFE by Ted Chiang
This guy is phenomenal. Each story is good, but "Tower of Babylon" (which I'd read before) is one of the great stories of the past couple of decades. The title story is innovative and sad, about a woman whose mind is altered as she tries to learn an alien language, so she can see into the future...I'll leave it at that. Just read this one.
132. THE MEDIUM IS THE MASSAGE (sic) by Marshall McLuhan
133. THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION #19 edited by Gardner Dozois
134. THE APOCALYPSE NOW BOOK by Peter Cowie
Saturday, March 10, 2012
March
123. SLAN by A.E. Van Vogt (classic pulp SF, starts off well, droops in final stretch)
124. MEET ME AT INFINITY by James Tiptree, Jr. (I can't stand these parenthetical blurbs)
This is a collection of short stories and nonfiction by Alice Sheldon, who wrote as Tiptree during the feminist 60s on. Not the best of her stuff, but I find her fascinating.
125. THE DARK COUNTRY by Dennis Etchison
Sharp, dark horror stories, horror-noirish in that he doesn't spend a lot of time on character but on the dark and horrible things happening to these people. Zombies working at the corner store and a horrible opening sentence involving an eye.
126. THE FAITH OF A WRITER by Joyce Carol Oates
Fine observations about the obsessions of writers.
127. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH by Walter Tevis
One of the best books of the marathon so far. Much better than the overpraised movie, and the character is much easier to grasp. In the end he doesn't seem jaded, as in the movie, but lost.
128. IN THE STACKS edited by Michael Cart
Good idea--stories about libraries--gone horribly wrong.
129. DISTANT STARS by Samuel R. Delany
Short stories, including a cool little fantasy, that, as good as they are, are in second-place to SRD's introduction about writing. Great Michael Whelan cover, too. Good short SF.
124. MEET ME AT INFINITY by James Tiptree, Jr. (I can't stand these parenthetical blurbs)
This is a collection of short stories and nonfiction by Alice Sheldon, who wrote as Tiptree during the feminist 60s on. Not the best of her stuff, but I find her fascinating.
125. THE DARK COUNTRY by Dennis Etchison
Sharp, dark horror stories, horror-noirish in that he doesn't spend a lot of time on character but on the dark and horrible things happening to these people. Zombies working at the corner store and a horrible opening sentence involving an eye.
126. THE FAITH OF A WRITER by Joyce Carol Oates
Fine observations about the obsessions of writers.
127. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH by Walter Tevis
One of the best books of the marathon so far. Much better than the overpraised movie, and the character is much easier to grasp. In the end he doesn't seem jaded, as in the movie, but lost.
128. IN THE STACKS edited by Michael Cart
Good idea--stories about libraries--gone horribly wrong.
129. DISTANT STARS by Samuel R. Delany
Short stories, including a cool little fantasy, that, as good as they are, are in second-place to SRD's introduction about writing. Great Michael Whelan cover, too. Good short SF.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
The List: Books Read from February 1-29, 2012
86. Wondrous Beginnings ed. M.H. Greenberg (fantasy writers have the worst first stories)
87. Nancy Drew and the Flying Saucer Mystery by Caroline Keene (girls like this stuff?)
88. Entertainment by Algis Budrys
89. The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick (big letdown, but he's still awesome)
90. Rod Serling's Other Worlds (includes The Underdweller, my favorite William F. Nolan story)
91. Hallowed Be The Extreme by John Cunnings (beward of books with 'extreme' in the title)
92. The Cranes That Built The Cranes by Jeremy Dyson
93. Live Girls by Beth Nugent (a lot of 'edgy' fiction just dribbles away in the end)
94. The Golden Ass by Apuleius
95. Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West
96. City of Glass by Paul Auster (liked it, usually kind of thing I hate i.e. something by Paul Auster)
97. Boomerang by Barry Hannah (outstanding memoir-as-fiction or something)
98. Tours of the Black Clock by Steve Erickson (the best half-book writer around)
99. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller (thought this was 100...ah shit...)
100. Wasp by Eric Frank Russell (cool scifi about a terrorist)
101. Phase IV by Barry N. Malzberg (makes more sense than the movie)
102. Year's Best Horror X by Karl Edward Wagner
103. Year's Best Horror XI
104. XII
105. IX
106. VI
107. VII
108. All-Night Visitors by Clarence Major (angry black stuff...kept saying "Don't hit me!" as I read)
109. Darkside ed. by J. Pelan (some truly disgusting stuff, not really horror...yuckaroony...)
110. Great Tales of Suspense (Waterhill Classics)
111. IN DREAMS BEGIN RESPONSIBILITIES BY DELMORE SCHWARTZ (find of the marathon!)
112. Spaceman Blues by B.F. Slattery
113. The Other World by John Wynne (dark packaging generally disappoints)
114. My Name is Legion by Roger Zelazny (ok RZ, not his best...will get to that)
115. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (just cuz you're dying doesn't make you a good writer)
116. Our Children's Children by Clifford D. Simak (neither does being dead)
117. Thunder on the LEft by Christopher Morley (GREAT writing, need to read again)
118. Stop-Time by Frank Conroy (outstanding memoir)
119. Horrible Beginnings by Martin H. Greenberg (best of the "beginnings" series)
120. Et Tu, Babe by Mark Leyner (smart, fast, gets tediously smart, fast)
121. Dusk by James Salter
122. Slan by A.E. Van Vogt
Somewhere I lost three books...but that brings us up to date. Us?
87. Nancy Drew and the Flying Saucer Mystery by Caroline Keene (girls like this stuff?)
88. Entertainment by Algis Budrys
89. The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick (big letdown, but he's still awesome)
90. Rod Serling's Other Worlds (includes The Underdweller, my favorite William F. Nolan story)
91. Hallowed Be The Extreme by John Cunnings (beward of books with 'extreme' in the title)
92. The Cranes That Built The Cranes by Jeremy Dyson
93. Live Girls by Beth Nugent (a lot of 'edgy' fiction just dribbles away in the end)
94. The Golden Ass by Apuleius
95. Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West
96. City of Glass by Paul Auster (liked it, usually kind of thing I hate i.e. something by Paul Auster)
97. Boomerang by Barry Hannah (outstanding memoir-as-fiction or something)
98. Tours of the Black Clock by Steve Erickson (the best half-book writer around)
99. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller (thought this was 100...ah shit...)
100. Wasp by Eric Frank Russell (cool scifi about a terrorist)
101. Phase IV by Barry N. Malzberg (makes more sense than the movie)
102. Year's Best Horror X by Karl Edward Wagner
103. Year's Best Horror XI
104. XII
105. IX
106. VI
107. VII
108. All-Night Visitors by Clarence Major (angry black stuff...kept saying "Don't hit me!" as I read)
109. Darkside ed. by J. Pelan (some truly disgusting stuff, not really horror...yuckaroony...)
110. Great Tales of Suspense (Waterhill Classics)
111. IN DREAMS BEGIN RESPONSIBILITIES BY DELMORE SCHWARTZ (find of the marathon!)
112. Spaceman Blues by B.F. Slattery
113. The Other World by John Wynne (dark packaging generally disappoints)
114. My Name is Legion by Roger Zelazny (ok RZ, not his best...will get to that)
115. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (just cuz you're dying doesn't make you a good writer)
116. Our Children's Children by Clifford D. Simak (neither does being dead)
117. Thunder on the LEft by Christopher Morley (GREAT writing, need to read again)
118. Stop-Time by Frank Conroy (outstanding memoir)
119. Horrible Beginnings by Martin H. Greenberg (best of the "beginnings" series)
120. Et Tu, Babe by Mark Leyner (smart, fast, gets tediously smart, fast)
121. Dusk by James Salter
122. Slan by A.E. Van Vogt
Somewhere I lost three books...but that brings us up to date. Us?
Friday, March 2, 2012
The List: Books Read from January 1-31, 2012
1. The Stochastic Man by Robert Silverberg
2. The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem
3. The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
4. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
6. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
7. The Big Kerplop! by Bertrand Brindley
8. The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard
9. The Golden Gizmo by Jim Thompson
10. The Digger's Game by George V. Higgins
11. Woodcuts of Women by Dagoberto Gilb
12. Playboy of the Western World and Riders to the Sea by J.M. Synge
13. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
14. Srendi Vashtar and Other Stories by Saki
15. Ray by Barry Hannah
16. The Moonlit Road and Other Stories by Ambrose Bierce
17. Monarch Notes: David Copperfield (It is so a book, shut up!)
18. The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
19. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
20. The Overcoat and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol
21. Selections from the Journals by Henry David Thoreau
22. Empathy by Sarah Schulman
23. The Open Door by Floyd Skloot (It's his name. Good book, too.)
24. Early Poems by Ezra Pound
25. Poems and Songs by Robert Burns
26. Selections from Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
27. An Empty Room by Talitha Stevenson (bad Brit pretentious crap about screwing--boo!)
28. The Elephant's Child and Others by Rudyard Kipling
29. How the Leopard Got Its Spots and Others by Rudyard Kipling (needed these after #27)
30. Contemporary Short Stories edited by Somebody MacDougal
31. Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
32. You Know Me, Al by Ring Lardner
33. Classic Mystery Stoeis edited by Somebody Green (this must've been my Dover sweep)
34. Recognition of Salantala by Kalidasa (oh yeah, I wouldn't have paid more'n a buck for that--Dover)
35. Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus (A lotta talking about how hard it is to be chained to a rock)
36. Lysistrata by Aristophenes
37. Beowulf--can't believe no one's taken credit for this, this was pretty good!
38. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
39. 1985 World's Best SF edited by Donald Wolheim
40. Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas DeQuincy (sure gets the gabbiness right)
41. Crampton by Thomas Ligotti (first time Ligotti's let me down, bad X-Files-ish nothing)
42. All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman (bummer ending! Very 70's SF)
43. At Home in Milford by Jan Karon (just don't ask, okay?)
44. 8 Plus 1 by Robert Cormier
45. Overexposed by David Thomson
46. Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston (Lifetime movies about cowboys are your weakness)
47. The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks (heard how weird this was for years, but kind of a letdown)
48. Impossible Things by Connie Willis (have been a fan of her stories for years, novels not so much)
49. Another Marvelous Thing by Lorrie Colwin
50. Vanity of Duluoz by Jack Kerouac (not a big finish for Jack's career, but not bad)
51. Adrift in a Vanishing City by Vincent Czyz (Czyz...Czyz...Czyz...Not as much fun as Anthony Weiner)
52. Sturgeon is Alive and Well by Theodore Sturgeon ("Crate" is one of the best short stories ever)
53. Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury (beginning a held-over series of Bradbury)
54. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (fucked up in a good way--and I think I even understood it)
55. The Hot Rock by Donald Westlake (one of the few writers who never disappoints)
56. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (awful sitcom-level humor)
57. Dancing After Hours by Andre Dubus (Dubus short stories never disappoint, either)
58. Ghosts by John Banville
59. Asa, As I Knew Him by Sussanna Kaysen (would have been OK if it didn't get artsy retarded)
60. The Night (Alone) by Richard Meltzer (absolutely friggin awful)
61. I Knew A Phoenix by May Sarton (not as much fun as when she's older and a shut-in)
62. The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth by Roger Zelazny (always good in short story form)
63. Holy Christ only on 63?
63. The Muller-Fokker Effect by John Sladek (post/sub-Vonnegut/Dick weirdness, clever but no fun)
64. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (you can feel the dirt in those Brit restaurants)
65. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
66. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
67. R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury (I meant the dining areas, not just the kitchens...ah forget it)
68. On an Odd Note by Gerald Kersh (odd stories)
69. The Stars in Shroud by Gregory Benford (aliens use weapon that makes humans into pack rats)
70.Wooden Star by William Tenn (my arms are killing me, I gotta break at 75)
71. The Wonderful World of Robert Sheckley (course everyone breaks at 75, why not be original?)
72. All the Traps of Earth by Clifford D. Simak
73. The Best of Clifford D. Simak
74. The Green Hills of Earth by Robert Heinlein (haven't read much of his but will read more this year)
75. The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe (not a typo)
76. Earth is Room Enough by Isaac Asimov (one of the first books I ever owned, given to me by my father)
77. If the River Was Whiskey by T. C. Boyle (I might as well do all of January at least)
78. House of Heroes by Mary LaChapelle
79. Airships by Barry Hannah
80. Don't Look Now by Daphne DuMaurier
81. The Coast of Chicage by Stuart Dybeck (recommended by a woman who didn't give me a second date)
82. Scholars and Soldiers by Mary Gentle (blech! What garbage, can't anyone write a good fantasy story?)
83. Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers (awesome title story, but others are good, too)
84. Budrys Inferno by Algis Budrys (not so good shorts by a master)
85. The Year's Best Fantasy #3 edited by David Hartwell (must've been a lame year)
86. Magical Beginnings edited by Martin H. Greenberg (I ran into her again a month or so later, was weird)
2. The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem
3. The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
4. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
6. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
7. The Big Kerplop! by Bertrand Brindley
8. The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard
9. The Golden Gizmo by Jim Thompson
10. The Digger's Game by George V. Higgins
11. Woodcuts of Women by Dagoberto Gilb
12. Playboy of the Western World and Riders to the Sea by J.M. Synge
13. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
14. Srendi Vashtar and Other Stories by Saki
15. Ray by Barry Hannah
16. The Moonlit Road and Other Stories by Ambrose Bierce
17. Monarch Notes: David Copperfield (It is so a book, shut up!)
18. The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
19. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
20. The Overcoat and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol
21. Selections from the Journals by Henry David Thoreau
22. Empathy by Sarah Schulman
23. The Open Door by Floyd Skloot (It's his name. Good book, too.)
24. Early Poems by Ezra Pound
25. Poems and Songs by Robert Burns
26. Selections from Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
27. An Empty Room by Talitha Stevenson (bad Brit pretentious crap about screwing--boo!)
28. The Elephant's Child and Others by Rudyard Kipling
29. How the Leopard Got Its Spots and Others by Rudyard Kipling (needed these after #27)
30. Contemporary Short Stories edited by Somebody MacDougal
31. Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
32. You Know Me, Al by Ring Lardner
33. Classic Mystery Stoeis edited by Somebody Green (this must've been my Dover sweep)
34. Recognition of Salantala by Kalidasa (oh yeah, I wouldn't have paid more'n a buck for that--Dover)
35. Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus (A lotta talking about how hard it is to be chained to a rock)
36. Lysistrata by Aristophenes
37. Beowulf--can't believe no one's taken credit for this, this was pretty good!
38. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
39. 1985 World's Best SF edited by Donald Wolheim
40. Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas DeQuincy (sure gets the gabbiness right)
41. Crampton by Thomas Ligotti (first time Ligotti's let me down, bad X-Files-ish nothing)
42. All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman (bummer ending! Very 70's SF)
43. At Home in Milford by Jan Karon (just don't ask, okay?)
44. 8 Plus 1 by Robert Cormier
45. Overexposed by David Thomson
46. Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston (Lifetime movies about cowboys are your weakness)
47. The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks (heard how weird this was for years, but kind of a letdown)
48. Impossible Things by Connie Willis (have been a fan of her stories for years, novels not so much)
49. Another Marvelous Thing by Lorrie Colwin
50. Vanity of Duluoz by Jack Kerouac (not a big finish for Jack's career, but not bad)
51. Adrift in a Vanishing City by Vincent Czyz (Czyz...Czyz...Czyz...Not as much fun as Anthony Weiner)
52. Sturgeon is Alive and Well by Theodore Sturgeon ("Crate" is one of the best short stories ever)
53. Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury (beginning a held-over series of Bradbury)
54. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (fucked up in a good way--and I think I even understood it)
55. The Hot Rock by Donald Westlake (one of the few writers who never disappoints)
56. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (awful sitcom-level humor)
57. Dancing After Hours by Andre Dubus (Dubus short stories never disappoint, either)
58. Ghosts by John Banville
59. Asa, As I Knew Him by Sussanna Kaysen (would have been OK if it didn't get artsy retarded)
60. The Night (Alone) by Richard Meltzer (absolutely friggin awful)
61. I Knew A Phoenix by May Sarton (not as much fun as when she's older and a shut-in)
62. The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth by Roger Zelazny (always good in short story form)
63. Holy Christ only on 63?
63. The Muller-Fokker Effect by John Sladek (post/sub-Vonnegut/Dick weirdness, clever but no fun)
64. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (you can feel the dirt in those Brit restaurants)
65. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
66. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
67. R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury (I meant the dining areas, not just the kitchens...ah forget it)
68. On an Odd Note by Gerald Kersh (odd stories)
69. The Stars in Shroud by Gregory Benford (aliens use weapon that makes humans into pack rats)
70.Wooden Star by William Tenn (my arms are killing me, I gotta break at 75)
71. The Wonderful World of Robert Sheckley (course everyone breaks at 75, why not be original?)
72. All the Traps of Earth by Clifford D. Simak
73. The Best of Clifford D. Simak
74. The Green Hills of Earth by Robert Heinlein (haven't read much of his but will read more this year)
75. The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe (not a typo)
76. Earth is Room Enough by Isaac Asimov (one of the first books I ever owned, given to me by my father)
77. If the River Was Whiskey by T. C. Boyle (I might as well do all of January at least)
78. House of Heroes by Mary LaChapelle
79. Airships by Barry Hannah
80. Don't Look Now by Daphne DuMaurier
81. The Coast of Chicage by Stuart Dybeck (recommended by a woman who didn't give me a second date)
82. Scholars and Soldiers by Mary Gentle (blech! What garbage, can't anyone write a good fantasy story?)
83. Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers (awesome title story, but others are good, too)
84. Budrys Inferno by Algis Budrys (not so good shorts by a master)
85. The Year's Best Fantasy #3 edited by David Hartwell (must've been a lame year)
86. Magical Beginnings edited by Martin H. Greenberg (I ran into her again a month or so later, was weird)
I'm never gonna catch up
The point of this friggin thing was to keep me honest and keep track of the books I'm reading. I'm getting way behind, so here's what I'm gonna do: absolutely nothing.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
January Books Two:The Other Side
You thought I was gonna make an "Electric Boogaloo" lame-o joke. Yeah.
I don't like reading outside. At all. I walk around outside, get bored, then go inside and read. If I read outside, what am I gonna do inside, walk around? Okay, back to business.
4. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov
The first play of the marathon. A lot of fretting about and indecision, and ultimately you get to know these people and realize they act like people, not characters. I didn't think I could criticize Chekov, and I can't, but I admit I don't understand what all the fuss is about--all that means is I don't understand. I will someday, I hope, but for now this was an enjoyable comedy of manners I blew through rapidly. I'm reading a book of his stories, and they are as good as advertised. Don't really get them either.
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I hope to read more Dickens, but since I'm trying to blast through as many slim books early on in the year to get some numbers on the board, this one got gobbled up. A century of movie and TV versions that all seem perfectly accurate made this one a bit of a drag, but it has that mix of darkness and hope against all rationality characteristic of the fat novels. Needed a sex scene.
6. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
Some very funny imagery, and my favorite story is about the family that waits for the moon to drift by so this one slow brother can climb up and walk around. A weird little love story, that one. By the midway point I got the joke and it was slower going, but this one left me with plenty of imagery to carry away.
I haven't worked out the spacing on this yet, so it may get dicey. Just so you know the page isn't being stretched by a nearby wormhole.
7. The Big Kerplop! by Bertrand Brindley
The original Mad Scientist's Club adventure. The first book was one I really enjoyed as a kid. This one was aimed at an older audience, and is a YA novel, not a collection of adventures. Good deliniation of a small town, and characters who aren't nerds yet appreciate brains and intellience. The two earlier collections are superior.
8. The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard by who the hell do you think?
Now we're picking up speed. I've read Ballard novels and short stories over the years but these are the very best. Ballard's stories about giant cities (the citizens are never outside, just moving around using intra-building transportation), deserted NASA sites and the running down of things are original, bleak and thought-provoking. I suppose anything from a blob of chewed gum to an inappropriate fart is thought-provoking, but these left me with a sense of the end of life being something always there within life, and you can't mope about it, so just get on with sweeping the sand out of the hotel room.
It has to be said that when people like Ballard came along, Asimov and the like began their decline, their scifi tuff looking pretty thin and without connection to the reader's actual emotions and thoughts about life. A neat laser pistol won't help you deal with a crappy job and a bump on your crotch.
I'm never gonna finish this. I'll be typing these notes up a year after I read book #970 (my estimate of how far I'll get with this--as of today. Watch this space!).
9. The Golden Gizmo by Jim Thompson
Supposedly one of Thompson's many poor novels, written during one of those vacations from neighborliness that grew like mushrooms throughout his life. A salesman in L.A., a woman controlled by an ex-Nazi, betrayal from the one you least expect--moved at a rapid clip and ended with a bang. I liked it! Wheee! That probably made the ghost of Thompson sad, when I typed 'Wheee!" in a comment on his work.
10. The Digger's Game by George V. Higgins
More Eddie Coyle-ish fun from Mr. Boston Happiness. Wheee!
I don't like reading outside. At all. I walk around outside, get bored, then go inside and read. If I read outside, what am I gonna do inside, walk around? Okay, back to business.
4. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov
The first play of the marathon. A lot of fretting about and indecision, and ultimately you get to know these people and realize they act like people, not characters. I didn't think I could criticize Chekov, and I can't, but I admit I don't understand what all the fuss is about--all that means is I don't understand. I will someday, I hope, but for now this was an enjoyable comedy of manners I blew through rapidly. I'm reading a book of his stories, and they are as good as advertised. Don't really get them either.
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I hope to read more Dickens, but since I'm trying to blast through as many slim books early on in the year to get some numbers on the board, this one got gobbled up. A century of movie and TV versions that all seem perfectly accurate made this one a bit of a drag, but it has that mix of darkness and hope against all rationality characteristic of the fat novels. Needed a sex scene.
6. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
Some very funny imagery, and my favorite story is about the family that waits for the moon to drift by so this one slow brother can climb up and walk around. A weird little love story, that one. By the midway point I got the joke and it was slower going, but this one left me with plenty of imagery to carry away.
I haven't worked out the spacing on this yet, so it may get dicey. Just so you know the page isn't being stretched by a nearby wormhole.
7. The Big Kerplop! by Bertrand Brindley
The original Mad Scientist's Club adventure. The first book was one I really enjoyed as a kid. This one was aimed at an older audience, and is a YA novel, not a collection of adventures. Good deliniation of a small town, and characters who aren't nerds yet appreciate brains and intellience. The two earlier collections are superior.
8. The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard by who the hell do you think?
Now we're picking up speed. I've read Ballard novels and short stories over the years but these are the very best. Ballard's stories about giant cities (the citizens are never outside, just moving around using intra-building transportation), deserted NASA sites and the running down of things are original, bleak and thought-provoking. I suppose anything from a blob of chewed gum to an inappropriate fart is thought-provoking, but these left me with a sense of the end of life being something always there within life, and you can't mope about it, so just get on with sweeping the sand out of the hotel room.
It has to be said that when people like Ballard came along, Asimov and the like began their decline, their scifi tuff looking pretty thin and without connection to the reader's actual emotions and thoughts about life. A neat laser pistol won't help you deal with a crappy job and a bump on your crotch.
I'm never gonna finish this. I'll be typing these notes up a year after I read book #970 (my estimate of how far I'll get with this--as of today. Watch this space!).
9. The Golden Gizmo by Jim Thompson
Supposedly one of Thompson's many poor novels, written during one of those vacations from neighborliness that grew like mushrooms throughout his life. A salesman in L.A., a woman controlled by an ex-Nazi, betrayal from the one you least expect--moved at a rapid clip and ended with a bang. I liked it! Wheee! That probably made the ghost of Thompson sad, when I typed 'Wheee!" in a comment on his work.
10. The Digger's Game by George V. Higgins
More Eddie Coyle-ish fun from Mr. Boston Happiness. Wheee!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
January Books Part One
1. The Stochastic Man by Robert Silverberg
A political prognosticator of the future preparing to launch a new candidate meets someone who really can see the future. Has one of those diffuse endings that makes you, well, makes ME wonder if I missed something, which usually means I did. From Silverberg's most interesting period, late 60's to mid 70's. Not as good as THE BOOK OF SKULLS but kept me interested.
I guess this isn't going to be just a list of the books I've read after all. Joy!
2. The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem
What can you expect from a cranky Pole who hates America, hates science fiction, and REALLY hates American science fiction? Right, a science fiction novel that critcizes America. A convention of pretentious people flips out in a Costa Rican hotel when it's gassed by a terrorist attack. Some people go into the sewers, where there are talking rats. Not nearly as much fun as it sounds, not nearly as good as his not-that-good Solaris.
This is gonna take forever. I should have titled this The Grouchy Bastard Bitches About Shit. But I didn't.
*3. Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
Terrific swashbuckling science fiction in the Edgar Rice Burroughs "Mars" tradition. I think Brackett does it as good and sometimes better, and her writing is more lively. She wrote movies for Howard Hawks and John Wayne, and the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back.
Three books in and I've already found a real winner. I need a way to mark these ones as special--a * before the number? How dull, but whaddaya want, this isn't Whateverbook.
A political prognosticator of the future preparing to launch a new candidate meets someone who really can see the future. Has one of those diffuse endings that makes you, well, makes ME wonder if I missed something, which usually means I did. From Silverberg's most interesting period, late 60's to mid 70's. Not as good as THE BOOK OF SKULLS but kept me interested.
I guess this isn't going to be just a list of the books I've read after all. Joy!
2. The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem
What can you expect from a cranky Pole who hates America, hates science fiction, and REALLY hates American science fiction? Right, a science fiction novel that critcizes America. A convention of pretentious people flips out in a Costa Rican hotel when it's gassed by a terrorist attack. Some people go into the sewers, where there are talking rats. Not nearly as much fun as it sounds, not nearly as good as his not-that-good Solaris.
This is gonna take forever. I should have titled this The Grouchy Bastard Bitches About Shit. But I didn't.
*3. Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
Terrific swashbuckling science fiction in the Edgar Rice Burroughs "Mars" tradition. I think Brackett does it as good and sometimes better, and her writing is more lively. She wrote movies for Howard Hawks and John Wayne, and the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back.
Three books in and I've already found a real winner. I need a way to mark these ones as special--a * before the number? How dull, but whaddaya want, this isn't Whateverbook.
Friday, February 24, 2012
1000 Books By New Year's Day 2013
The immodest goal of this blog is to record the reading I'm doing in an effort to read through all the unread books I own.
I started on January 1. As of today, February 24, I have 115 books read, which means I have catching up to do.
I'm not worried. If I miss the mark, at least I'll have pushed myself to read hundreds of books.
Why am I doing this? I like to make reading challenges for myself, and this is an ambitious one.
Many of the books I'll read will be bad books, books I bought because I was in a mood, because they were there, because I liked the cover. You can judge me, I don't mind. Maybe I am trying to clear all this junk out of my unread archives because I don't want it messing with the good books I've read and carried with me over the decades.
It's just going to be me reading and noting the completion of a book. I may just list things, but I might be compelled to comment.
At some point I will list the books I've read up until now. Or not.
Here we go.
I started on January 1. As of today, February 24, I have 115 books read, which means I have catching up to do.
I'm not worried. If I miss the mark, at least I'll have pushed myself to read hundreds of books.
Why am I doing this? I like to make reading challenges for myself, and this is an ambitious one.
Many of the books I'll read will be bad books, books I bought because I was in a mood, because they were there, because I liked the cover. You can judge me, I don't mind. Maybe I am trying to clear all this junk out of my unread archives because I don't want it messing with the good books I've read and carried with me over the decades.
It's just going to be me reading and noting the completion of a book. I may just list things, but I might be compelled to comment.
At some point I will list the books I've read up until now. Or not.
Here we go.
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