What I read during 2005
Jan. 1st, 2006 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johanFrom ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
darnia:
January
Fritiof Nilsson Piraten: Bombi Bitt och jag - A classic that still holds up, happy to have read it.
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - A fantasy novel like no others, very good.
Jonas Hassen Khemiri: Ett öga rött - OK book, but not as good as I had been led to believe.
February
Jasper Fforde: The Well of Lost Plots - Still a bit fun, but not as good as the previous ones.
Edith Unnerstad: Kastrullresan - Nostalgia. Still OK, I guess.
Iain Banks: Raw Spirit - A disappointment. Would have worked for a fanzine, but unfocused.
March
Guy Gavriel Kay: The Last Light of the Sun - Kay is as good as usual. Moving and well written.
Italo Calvino: The Nonexistent Knight - Superb.
Eric Lundqvist: Ingen tobak inget halleluja - Better than I remembered it. Great book.
John Crowley: The Translator - Good, satisfying book. Lacked something, but I don't know what.
April
Italo Calvino: The Cloven Viscount - Exquisite.
Ken MacLeod: Newton’s Wake - Well written and intelligent.
Charles Stross: Singularity Sky - Intriguing, but a little unpolished.
Jean Ray: Malpertuis - Unusual baroque novel.
May
Georg & Lena Gedin: Lena och Georg - en brevväxling om kärlek - Of varying quality, but interesting insights in the minds of the correspondents.
Trezza Azzopardi: Remember Me - Quite good.
Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows - Adorable classic, a lot of fun.
Charles Stross: Iron Sunrise - Good intelligent entertainment, but I had expected a little bit more.
June
Charles Stross: The Family Trade - Good fun, but I had hoped for more.
Iain Banks: The Algebraist - Picked up after half the book, but too thick and a disappointment.
July
Cordwainer Smith: Norstrilia - Classic stories that still hold up. Must have been a sensation when they first were published.
Ian McDonald: The River of Gods - Really, really good. I must start readingianmcdonald again.
Maeve Gilmore: A World Away - Excellent Peake bio.
August
Fletcher Pratt: The Well of the Unicorn - Light-weight but lovely late-pulp-era romp.
Colm Tóibín: The Master - Really good biographical fiction.
September
Tim Powers: Strange Itineraries - Excellent collection.
José Saramago: The History of the Siege of Lisbon - Adorable, witty, engaging, imaginative, down-to-earth book.
Charles Stross: The Hidden Family - Good fun, but I had hoped for more.
October
Erik Granström: Svavelvinter - Good, but would have needed a stern editor to reduce the number of subplots.
Michael Ende: Momo, a.k.a. The Grey Gentlemen - Too moralistic, but it caught my interest nevertheless.
Paul Auster: The New York Trilogy - The first part is excellent, the latter two very good as well.
November
Cory Doctorow: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - Good fun, but won't stand the test of time.
William J. Maryson: Unmagician - For being a stereotypical y.a. fantasy it's quite good, but no more than that.
Walter Moers: Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures - Wonderful, excellent book in a brilliant translation.
December
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War - This classic still holds up, even though it's a bit dated.
Håkan Nesser: och Piccadilly Circus ligger inte i Kumla - OK read, nothing spectacular.
Graham Joyce: The Tooth Fairy - Very challenging, good book. I'm still not sure of what happened in it.
Terry Pratchett: The Truth - Pratchett is consistently good these days, but a bit predictable.
Joe Haldeman: Mindbridge - Good, short novel. Nothing spectacular.
(Yes, I saw the light and put it behind a cut.)
darnia:
January
Fritiof Nilsson Piraten: Bombi Bitt och jag - A classic that still holds up, happy to have read it.
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - A fantasy novel like no others, very good.
Jonas Hassen Khemiri: Ett öga rött - OK book, but not as good as I had been led to believe.
February
Jasper Fforde: The Well of Lost Plots - Still a bit fun, but not as good as the previous ones.
Edith Unnerstad: Kastrullresan - Nostalgia. Still OK, I guess.
Iain Banks: Raw Spirit - A disappointment. Would have worked for a fanzine, but unfocused.
March
Guy Gavriel Kay: The Last Light of the Sun - Kay is as good as usual. Moving and well written.
Italo Calvino: The Nonexistent Knight - Superb.
Eric Lundqvist: Ingen tobak inget halleluja - Better than I remembered it. Great book.
John Crowley: The Translator - Good, satisfying book. Lacked something, but I don't know what.
April
Italo Calvino: The Cloven Viscount - Exquisite.
Ken MacLeod: Newton’s Wake - Well written and intelligent.
Charles Stross: Singularity Sky - Intriguing, but a little unpolished.
Jean Ray: Malpertuis - Unusual baroque novel.
May
Georg & Lena Gedin: Lena och Georg - en brevväxling om kärlek - Of varying quality, but interesting insights in the minds of the correspondents.
Trezza Azzopardi: Remember Me - Quite good.
Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows - Adorable classic, a lot of fun.
Charles Stross: Iron Sunrise - Good intelligent entertainment, but I had expected a little bit more.
June
Charles Stross: The Family Trade - Good fun, but I had hoped for more.
Iain Banks: The Algebraist - Picked up after half the book, but too thick and a disappointment.
July
Cordwainer Smith: Norstrilia - Classic stories that still hold up. Must have been a sensation when they first were published.
Ian McDonald: The River of Gods - Really, really good. I must start reading
ianmcdonald again.Maeve Gilmore: A World Away - Excellent Peake bio.
August
Fletcher Pratt: The Well of the Unicorn - Light-weight but lovely late-pulp-era romp.
Colm Tóibín: The Master - Really good biographical fiction.
September
Tim Powers: Strange Itineraries - Excellent collection.
José Saramago: The History of the Siege of Lisbon - Adorable, witty, engaging, imaginative, down-to-earth book.
Charles Stross: The Hidden Family - Good fun, but I had hoped for more.
October
Erik Granström: Svavelvinter - Good, but would have needed a stern editor to reduce the number of subplots.
Michael Ende: Momo, a.k.a. The Grey Gentlemen - Too moralistic, but it caught my interest nevertheless.
Paul Auster: The New York Trilogy - The first part is excellent, the latter two very good as well.
November
Cory Doctorow: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - Good fun, but won't stand the test of time.
William J. Maryson: Unmagician - For being a stereotypical y.a. fantasy it's quite good, but no more than that.
Walter Moers: Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures - Wonderful, excellent book in a brilliant translation.
December
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War - This classic still holds up, even though it's a bit dated.
Håkan Nesser: och Piccadilly Circus ligger inte i Kumla - OK read, nothing spectacular.
Graham Joyce: The Tooth Fairy - Very challenging, good book. I'm still not sure of what happened in it.
Terry Pratchett: The Truth - Pratchett is consistently good these days, but a bit predictable.
Joe Haldeman: Mindbridge - Good, short novel. Nothing spectacular.
(Yes, I saw the light and put it behind a cut.)
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-01 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-01 10:08 pm (UTC)I'm glad you think I'm a fast reader, because it jars with my self-image. I have so many people around me who seem to read a hundred book a year, easily, so I see myself as a rather slow reader. But it's all relative.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-01 10:17 pm (UTC)I suspect you, like me read most of your stuff in English...and yeah, I would call that pretty fast. On the other hand, I only have time to do recreational reading 1/2 hour to 1 hour each evening before bedtime nowadays...
no subject
Date: 2006-01-01 11:27 pm (UTC)