Books I'm excited to read this year

The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan. I have to know how the series starts, there were so many mentions of things that happened in Amsterdam that it's driving me nuts.

Tap & Gown: An Ivy League Novel by Diana Peterfreund. Last summer, when I moved to Brooklyn I read Rites of Spring(Break) on the plane. Hopefully, if I get my act together, I'll have a chance to pick up Tap & Gown for my flight back. (Woo hoo, vacation!)

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews. It's the first book in her new series and I'm very excited. I still desperately want the new Kate book, but I am looking forward to meeting Rose.

(ETA: READ)

The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession by Susan Orlean. I saw a review of this on Goodreads and thought it sounded great.

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs. Can't wait to see how Anna's settling in with her new pack.

(ETA: READ)

Cast in Silence by Michelle Sagara. Wait, when did this get released? How did I miss that? Self, remember to stop by B&N tomorrow. I love this series; Kaylin is a fantastic character.

(ETA: READ)

Libyrinth by Pearl North. This sounds fascinating, featuring a libyrian who can hear books. Also:

The libyrarians are protecting Earth’s knowledge and culture; they fear the Eradicants, who are bent on destroying the books because they feel that words held captive in books die. But it’s not all black-and-white. The Eradicants call themselves Singers, and their culture is one which loves words…but they don’t read then; they sing them, like bards in many Earth cultures.

How awesome does that sound?

Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith. One of my favorite authors and one of my favorite series. Can't wait to find out how Inda's saga will end.

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear. OK, I know I wasn't completely thrilled with her last book, but I still love this series. Also, I've been waiting for Maisie and the Inspector to just get together already, so here's to keeping my fingers crossed that it happens.

OK, I'm sure I'm missing something great; anyone want to help me out?

PS: I've been watching PBS's Masterpiece Mystery series for years. My favorite series? The Agatha Christie ones. I enjoy the movies so much that I've decided it's time I read the books.

Summer Reading

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson was a nice summer reread. I think I was fifteen when I first read this; it was something my younger brother left lying on the floor and I picked it up, bored. I wish I could say I've read something else by this author, but although I keep meaning too, I've yet to pick up any other book by him.

Ahead of Time: My Early Years as a Foreign Correspondent by Ruth Gruber was a recommendation from my roommate. She was reading it for her book club and thought I might like it. Sadly, I was a bit disappointed with it; although I found her story interesting, it wasn't exactly the book I thought I was going to be reading. Instead of focusing on her entire career, it seemed to center on the first third. I guess I just wanted to read more.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows was sent to me by Random House. That said, I thought it was a great story; I love books written in letter format. The story was very detailed and rich, made moreso because the authors could get away with over-describing things; it's allowed in letters.

Club Dead and Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris were much better than the first book. I'm glad I decided to give this series another chance, although it's becoming slightly Anita Blakeish to me, what with vampires AND weres AND shifters AND faries... what's next? Leprechauns? Unicorns?

Cavern of Socrates by Dennis L. McKiernan was another reread and another book I was first introduced to by my younger brother. (He was into science fiction before me, to my everlasting chagrin.) I'm told by fans of McKiernan that this is one of his "worst" books, but again, I haven't managed to read anything else by him. (I really like this book too, FYI.)

Skin Trade by Laurel Hamilton. Finally, Edward is back. I love Edward. And that's all I'm going to say. (Yay, Edward!)

The Good Thief's Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan was great. I've been eyeing it at Barnes & Noble for a couple of weeks now and it was as much fun as I thought it would be from the flap copy. The author of the guide is a thief who moonlights as a writer of dime store novels; he decides to write a novel about a thief, using his own adventures for the plot. I didn't know that this novel was actually a sequel though, so now I need to track down Ewan's first book, The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was yet another reread. I picked it up to reread it before I go and see the movie; it was just as good as I remember it being, if not that much better because this time, I was able to see things I'd missed before. I love rereading books with plots like that, ones that subtly slip in details.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry was a book I picked up by chance at the library. I wanted a mystery, as it's been a while since I've read a good one. The plot was great; I loved the characters and the setting (Salem, MA), and the teaser chapters for the Lace Reader's Guide. I thought I had the mystery figured out, but was so, so wrong. I'm not disappointed though; the author's twist was much better than what I'd come up with.

Wow, I think that's it for me, as far as catching up goes. I've got several other books going right now, including Mere Christianity (still!), ExecTV, Harry: A History, and The Rose of Sebastopol.

Taking stock

So, now that June is officially over and I've survived the first half of 2009, I thought I'd take stock of how I'm doing, reading wise. Sadly, it's not so good. I've only read thirty-three books this year, which is 1/5 of how many books I read in all of 2008.

Granted, I've been busier this year, but still. Thirty-three books?

I have to go now; I have some major catching up to do if I'm going to make my goal of reading 178 books this year.