The Good Women of China by Xinran - Xinran, a journalist/radio personality, writes about stories she learned about  (some reported on her radio show, some not) the lives of Chinese women during and after the Cultural Revolution. Sad to heartbreaking. (A to Z)

Legends by LIFE Magazine - photographs of legendary people and quotations about them by other famous people. Some nice pictures and quotes.  (888, BAM)

The Quotable Star Wars - quotations from the original trilogy. Cute. Has a few photographs. (A to Z, 888)

all books: 100 books

Weight Loss Surgery: Is It For You? by Goldberg, Marcus & Cowan - good, informative book. Nonjudgmental and thorough. (A to Z)

Weight Loss Surgery For Dummies by Kurian, Thompson & Davidson -  the usual "Dummies" stuff, fun yet informative.

Sex For One by Betty Dodson - very open, positive book about masturbation. Originally published in the late 70's/early 80's and has a definite "conciousness-raising" kind of vibe, but, then again, that's what it's trying to do. (A to Z, 888)

The Forbidden Body by Shelley Bovey - subtitle is "Why Being Fat Is Not a Sin". Bovey addresses lots of issues about why it does seem to be a sin, pointing out  many of the myths and assumptions about fat and the unrealistic body images that people have today.  Flawed, but passionate - informative and kind of depressing. (888)



The first two books and the last one seem very contradictory :)  Being a very overweight person, I'm contemplating having the lap-band surgery for health reasons, but I still think fat people are treated horrendously in our society and am always looking for information to use to counter all misconceptions.


All books: 100 books

The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict - I got this years ago, back when I was still writing fanfiction. Mine tended to be a bit naughty :)  Benedict isn't interested in porn here, but using sex scenes to further plot and/or characterization. She includes quotes from authors she interviewed, plus excerpts from books. Mostly read this to get it off my TBR pile, but it was okay. (888, BAM)

Frontier by Louis L'Amour - Read this for the Every Month a Holiday challenge(see links) - L'Amour was born in March.  This book is a series of essays on the frontier - but not just what is typically considered the frontier. L'Amour looks at all of the US as a frontier - as it was when people first started exploring. I love his writing - and his love for the wild parts of the country are obvious. The accompanying photographs by David Muench are gorgeous. (emah)

both: 100 books (halfway! 52 books)

Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell - Kind of hard to explain :) But I'll try. A nice mix of cultures transplanted to a new world, combined with the destruction of the technology that brought them there, results in a retreat to frontier times. But an enemy bent on subjugation and sacrifice mean forcing an amnesiac to retrieve his memories to regain needed technology. I did enjoy it after I got past the Caribbean patois, which threw me for a bit. (A to Z)

Ragamuffins by Tobias Buckell - sequel but much more typically SF. Spaceships and guns :)  The aliens who control most of the galaxy have decided that humans need to be eliminated. Humans, of course, fight back.  A young woman, Nashara, has been implanted with a virus that could help take down the computer networks of the aliens' minions - but her survival afterwards is uncertain. The two books connect when the wormholes between the worlds are reopened, allowing the planet on one end and the ships on the other to seek help from each other.  I'll be looking for more from Buckell definitely!

The Service of the Sword by David Weber et. al - a Worlds of Honor story collection. I love Honor Harrington and her universe. Several excellent military sf authors offer up stories. Good stuff.(888)

The Night Room by E.M. Goldman - A group of high school students are offered a chance to to participate in "Argus", a VR program that lets you see yourself 10 years in the future at their high school reunion. The only problem is that one of them isn't alive. So the group decide to try to stop one's future death, which may have been planned by a vengeful computer hacker. Characters start off fairly stereotypical, but develop real personalities as the story goes on. Entertaining, but not essential. (YAC)

all books: 100 books

A Homecoming For Murder by John Armistead - Sheriff Bramlett is looking forward to spending some quality time with his grandson, but work interferes. The body of a male school teacher is found murdered in a graveyard - and it turns out the deceased wasn't the nicest guy, which makes for lots of suspects. Bramlett is especially concerned as his grandson may have seen and been seen by the murderer leaving the scene. More of a procedural than a thriller, lots of homey small town touches, and several side plots make a nice solid read. (A to Z)

Mission Canyon by Meg Gardiner - I got this one and the first Evan Delany based on a rave review by Stephen King. Not sure I like them quite as much, but they are good. Evan's lover Jesse was paralysed below the waist in the same hit and run that killed his best friend several years ago. Now it looks like the driver, who fled the country, is back. But his return stirs up more than Jesse and Evan - a computer company, a Russian mobster, and the Feds are all putting pressure on Evan and Jesse to make them stop hunting the driver or else. (888)

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - School shooting aftermath. I liked it - and I didn't. Some of the characters were very well done - a good look into the effect bullying can have. Some of the characters were just caricatures (and were meant to be) and were irritating in a way that made it easy to put the book down. And it felt tedious. Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin was better.

all books: 100 books

James Herriot's Dog Stories by James Herriot - Read this for the Every Month a Holiday challenge - in honor of the Westminster Dog Show. Lovely stories about dogs - funny, tender, sad. (A to Z)

Red As Blood by Tanith Lee - twisted fairytales - some of the famous tales with wicked twists - such as a perfectly good stepmother, whose stepdaughter *reeks* of evil.

Chicks In Chainmail - warrior women, chicks with swords. Funny, fluffy. (A to Z)

all books: 100 books, 888

Louisa the Poisoner - kind of a twisted Victorian romance story. Liked it okay. (TBR challenge)

Gold Unicorn - sequel to Black Unicorn. Tanaquil is pressed into service under her half-sister, the Empress, and gives life to the gold unicorn, a war machine. Probably would have helped to re-read the other first. Lovely writing, but just didn't grab me. (888 challenge A to Z)

both: 100 books

Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell - A B-movie actor gets a shot at A-list fame. Bruce gets cast in a Mike Nichols film starring Richard Gere and Renee Zellwegger and goes all out to fit in. And then things start getting weird - B-movie weird.  Funny, but a bit much (which might be the point!). Enjoyed his autobiography If Chins Could Kill much more - the conversational style works much better there. (challenges: 100 books, A to Z, and 888)

The Fat Girl's Guide To Life by Wendy Shanker - Tired of the dieting mentality, Shanker decides to go after life at her current size and takes on society's prejudices, media, and medical 'experts' to show that you don't have to be thin to have a life. Lots of humor, lots of excellent points. There are better books on the subject, but Shanker kicks some butt here :)
(challenges: 100 books, A to Z)

Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde -  How will you be remembered after you're gone? Velde's novella shows different points of view in each chapter as Raquel's classmates deal with the news of her death. Also seen are glimpses of her family, the witnesses to the accident, and the driver of the car that hit her. Short, but powerful - another hit by Velde.
(challenges: 100 books, A to Z)

Diana Tregarde Investigates by Mercedes Lackey - SFBC omnibus - includes Children of the Night, Burning Water, and Jinx High - 788 pages!  Before Buffy or Anita Blake, Diana Tregarde was a Guardian, protecting good from evil, doing battle with the occult. Somewhat dated, but still kick-ass. Diana takes on psi-vamps, Aztec spirits possessing human bodies, and a sorceress targeting a friend's teenage son and in danger of waking a slumbering goddess. Burning Night really reminded me of LKH's Obsidian Butterfly - just without the gore.
(challenges: 100 books, A to Z, 888, Chunkster)

8 books in 8 categories in 2008:

Challenge Rules

All my books come from Mt. TBR which is in control of the coffee table in the main room of my house. Changes may, of course, be made if I find that I don't like a book - I don't usually have books that rate below a 2.5 on a 5 point scale, because if they're that bad, I just don't finish them. So, after that pompous announcement, here are my categories and books:


Some books fit multiple categories, but there are no multiple category books, so that's 64 books. I also do the Alphabet Challenge(with title and author lists completely seperate) and the 100 book challenge(which is usually over around May or June for me - I hit 200 last month). Not sure if I'll be doing more or not. I have read a few of these before - trying to decide if I want to keep the books or not. As per my new ruling this year, rereads do not count towards my yearly total. (end second pompous announcement)