Books Read In 2015

[hatgirl]

Every year I keep track of how many new books I finished. In 2011 I read 63 books, in 2012 I read 58, in 2013 I read 56, in 2014 I read 39, and in 2015 I read... 47!

And the last one on the list is the one of which I'm most proud, as I managed to read an entire book in Irish. Cue the Rocky music! I have been telling myself for years that if there was just an Irish-English dictionary for ereaders, that then I might actually break through the "what on Earth is that word, eh, maybe I'll go eat cake instead" barrier. And unlike many other soothing excuses I tell myself, this one turned out to be true! It took me 3 weeks to read 3 chapters, then I managed a chapter in one evening, and then I whipped through the rest of it in 2 days. I am now merely very, very, bad at reading in Irish! Woohoo! As for the book itself, it is a mildly humorous story of a lost vampire who wants a nap but can't find a coffin. Two thumbs up, will purchase the sequel.

1. Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) by Steven Erikson (paper book)
2. The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (ebook)
3. The Last Man by Mary Shelley (ebook)
4. The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events #5) by Lemony Snicket (paper book)
5. The Year's Best S.F. 1972 ed. Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss (paper book)
6. Best Science Fiction of the Year 1 ed. Terry Carr (paper book)
7. Transtories ed. Colin Harvey (paper book)
8. Dark Warning by Marie Louise Fitzpatrick (paper book)
9. Angel Kiss (Jacki King #1) by Laura Jane Cassidy (paper book)
10. Eighteen Kisses (Jacki King #2) by Laura Jane Cassidy (paper book)
11. Women Destroy Science Fiction! ed. Christie Yant (ebook)
12. Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion ed. Roz Clarke & Joanne Hall (ebook)
13. The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1) by Michael Scott (paper book)
14. Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne (paper book)
15. Dreams Of Shadow And Smoke ed. Jim Rockhill & Brian J. Showers (paper book)
16. Be My Enemy (Everness #2) by Ian McDonald (paper book)
17. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (ebook)
18. Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson (paper book)
19. The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne (paper book)
20. The Bishop of Hell and Other Stories by Marjorie Bowen (paper book)
21. A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin (paper book)
22. The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea #2) by Ursula K. Le Guin (paper book)
23. The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard (paper book)
24. Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed (ebook)
25. Spectrum IV ed. Kingsley Amis & Robert Conquest (paper book)
26. The Farthest Shore (Earthsea #3) by Ursula K. Le Guin (paper book)
27. Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch, #2) by Ann Leckie (paper book)
28. Sky Coyote (The Company #2) by Kage Baker (ebook)
29. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (paper book)
30. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, trans. Ken Liu (ebook)
31. Judgment Night: A Selection of Science Fiction by C.L. Moore (paper book)
32. Northwest of Earth by C.L. Moore (paper book)
33. Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore (paper book)
34. Solaris by Stanisław Lem (trans. Kilmartin–Cox) (paper book)
35. Resonance by Celine Kiernan (paper book)
36. The Ginger Star (The Book of Skaith #1) by Leigh Brackett (paper book)
37. The Perfect Planet by Evelyn E. Smith (paper book)
38. Mandrake by Susan Cooper (paper book)
39. The Door In the Lake by Nancy Butts (paper book)
40. The Kingdom and the Cave by Joan Aiken (paper book)
41. The Galactic Whirlpool (Star Trek: TOS) by David Gerrold (paper book)
42. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (paper book)
43. Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch, #3) by Ann Leckie (paper book)
44. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) by N. K. Jemisin (ebook)
45. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot (ebook)
46. The Unfortunate Fursey (Fursey #1) by Mervyn Wall (paper book)
47. Ailfí agus an Vaimpír (Ailfí agus an Vaimpír #1) by Orna Ní Choileáin (ebook)

Comments

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

I can give you one of the sequels to that vampire book you're so proud of...

[hatgirl.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yay! Thanks :-)

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

If you think of it, remind me the next time there's a... a thing of some sort on. An Octocon or similar. I'll bring it along.

[hatgirl.livejournal.com]

The next time we manage to lure you into the den of iniquity that is Dublin City Centre, I will remind you :-D

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

The Irish vampire book sounds like fun. I should maybe try it.

[hatgirl.livejournal.com]

It is fun! Next up is "Ó Lúibíní Lú!" which my sister has described as "very odd, but good". High praise indeed from her!

[scorbet.livejournal.com]

*reads kindle sample of Ó Lúibíní Lú!*

That looks like fun, unlike most of the rest of the Irish kindle titles which seem to be a mixture of a) Misery Books b) "trendy" teenagers and their problems and c) random translations of self-published titles.

Does your sister have any more recommendations?

(You've also reminded me that I should probably reread Ancillary Mercy as I'm not sure how much I took in the first time considering I was sicker than I thought at the time.)

[hatgirl.livejournal.com]

Heh, you have just reminded me of our Junior Cert novel "Imithe" by Ruaidhrí Ó Báille. It is both Misery and Trendy Teens, as it is about a father going to collect his son's body after he OD'd in France. So awful...

Nope, L doesn't have any positive recommendations other that "Ó Lúibíní Lú!". The recent translation of Dracula is fun to read out in a mix of an Irish and Transylvanian accent, though :-D

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Dare I ask you to remind me it exists, in a month or so?

[hatgirl.livejournal.com]

Will do :-)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Ta muchly. :)

[aditu_az]

Oooooooh so many books!!

I stalked you here from Facebook, because I get really excited when I find out people still occasionally use Livejournal. I friended you, I hope you don't mind!

Oh, it's Cat from TitanCon/Pod and the Milters BTW :)

[hatgirl.livejournal.com]

Yay, Cat!
I am convinced LJ is going to make a comeback, like platform shoes and bell-bottom trousers. It's going to happen, it is!

[aditu_az]

It really should! It has been sidelined, but never replaced. There remains an LJ-shaped space in my life. One day! One day we will rise up and claim what is ours!

Or something?