read 50 books in 2008

A sweet book in which events are recounted through letters. 3 1/2 stars

The mystery was rather light and had a hurried finish but it’s always a pleasure to revisit the characters. While not as good as others in the series, that P.D. James wrote this in her late 80s is amazing.

The first of the Peculiar Crimes Unit mysteries, set in modern times with flashbacks to the London blitz. Great characters and scene setting, and the mystery was definitely on the peculiar side. Will look for others in the series.

Markus Zusak’s tale of a girl growing up in Nazi Germany and the everyday events (not enough food, typical squabbling among neighborhood kids) and not so everyday challenges she faces. The narration by Death really makes the book – the many stories about Germans who weren’t Nazi sympathizers become tired and somewhat unbelievable against the fact of millions of lives lost or damaged. This story is worth reading.

38 Neuromancer by William Gibson
I wonder if this is considered such a classic because it’s pretty good for SF rather than being pretty good in general. Not as dated as I expected.

39 The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
Coming of age tale of a boy in WWII England who finds a land where fairy tales are true – and very dark. I really like retellings of this sort and this was very well done.

35 The Grand Tour, sequel to Sorcery and Cecilia. Good though not quite as good as the first.

36 A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz. Incredible writing. Story of a strange father and son – descriptions just sound flat, this was a great read.

37 Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce. Strong story set in the Tortall world.

33 An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear. Another good story in the Maisie Dobbs series.

34 The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain. I wouldn’t want to eat everything he has but I’d love to travel to and eat at almost all of the places he’s visited. Some essays are more successful than others but all in all a pretty good read.

A good read, made me want to re-read Weetzie Bat.

Fun story of two cousins living an alternate Regency England where magic exists. One is in London making her debut, the other still at their country home, and the story is told entirely through their letters to each other.

27 High Wizardry by Diane Duane. Rather disappointing after the first two in the series. Not enough of the parts that I found interesting (interstellar travel, wizard interactions with other beings) and far too much of the amazing incredible fabulous younger sister. Yawn.

28 Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. This series on the other hand keeps getting stronger.

29 Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie. She’s having a similar problem to Elizabeth George’s, where so many characters have been introduced that to include them all in the current story is to have many short fragmented stories and a lack of cohesion among the whole. Not a bad book but not one of her best.

30 Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. What if the moon were knocked into a closer orbit of the earth? Miranda and her mom and brothers endure hunger and weather changes but nothing overly scary. The ending in particular was disappointing, an unexplained copout.