Piyush's Logbook - 2015

January reads:-

1. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
3/5

2. Alterworld by D. Rus
3/5

3. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
3/5

4. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
3/5

5. Blott on the Landscape byTom Sharpe
3/5

6. When Eight Bells Toll by Alistair MacLean
4/5

7. Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises by Timothy F. Geithner
4/5

Hey! Welcome back!

Piyush! So good to see you here!

Its good to see you back!

Nice to see you return!

Thanks all! My activity level on the group would probably be quite low in near future, but I will login whenever I can.

February reads:-

8. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher

3.5/5

9. Running Blind by Lee Child

3/5

10. Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

4/5

11. Matter by Iain M. Banks

4/5

12. The Clan by D. Rus

3/5

13. Daddy-Long-Legs by jean Webster

3/5

Looks like a good list!

Thanks doc!

14. Malice by Keigo Higashino

3/5

Hi Piyush! Welcome back!

>11 kgodey: Thanks Kruti :)

15. Ayesha: The Return of She by H. Rider Haggard

2/5

16. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler

3/5

17. Capital in the Twenty First Century by Thomas Piketty

3/5

18. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

3/5

Other March reads:-

19. Hannibal by Thomas Harris

3/5

20. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

3.5/5

21. The Last Juror by John Grisham

3/5

22. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

4/5

Howdy Piyush!

I loved Coraline when I read a couple of years ago. It was my first Neil Gaiman. I also enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time. I read it last year.

I just finished Dead Beat today by Jim Butcher and I have to say that when I first started the series I though Harry was very whiny and tried to do everything by himself. Now that he has friends I like him a lot more. I am worried about his choices but now that he has friends he is much more likeable to me and so the series is more enjoyable.

I start Komarr tomorrow on my drive to work.

I hope all is well with you. I don't have a thread on 75 this year but I am hosting a year long Navajo Mystery/Longmire read on 75 and I have a thread in the 2015 Category Challenge Group.

Take care!

Roberta

Oh, Coraline! Love that one.

>19 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta! Thanks for visiting. Even though I did create a thread here, I have not been active on the 75ers this year; I drop in now and again to dump the books I read this year.

Have you tried the other books in the A Wrinkle in Time series? I have been wondering whether to read them this year.

My thoughts exactly on Harry! He has grown surprisingly less whiny with time, hasn't he? And I personally like the dark side to him, now that he is on this path, I don't see him backtracking; and we still don't know the full story about his parents, there seem to be some nice skeletons in the closet there too!

I am all caught up with the Vorkosigan Saga; now waiting for the next installment!

Wow, we have been reading quite the same books lately, haven't we?

>19 luvamystery65: & >20 scaifea: Funny story with Coraline. While I am a recent convert to the Gaiman fan club (read Stardust and The Graveyard Book last year), one of my colleagues raved about the movie version of Coraline she watched with her niece. The name sounded familiar and we IMDBed it, to find it an adaptation of the Gaiman book. I immediately ordered a copy, read it, and lent it to her, while I plan to now watch the movie version this week.

Well, April. So...

23. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Book 2 of the MadAddam Trilogy

4/5

>21 PiyushC: And I personally like the dark side to him, now that he is on this path I agree. Will add that he has always had a dark side but now that he has acknowledged it he is making some very interesting choices.

I haven't watched Coraline the movie. I'd like to know your opinion.

I have not read any of the other books in the Wrinkle in Time series.

>23 luvamystery65: No Wrinkle in Time, Roberta?! Oh, you'd better hop on that, toot sweet!

Hi, Piyush!

>24 scaifea: I am reading Asimov right now Amber. I can only do one old school SF at a time.

>25 luvamystery65: Roberta: Oh, I wouldn't label the Wrinkle in Time books old school at all. Or really SF, either (although they are a little). They feel more like fantasy to me.

Sorry for taking over your thread, Piyush!

Hi Piyush! Definitely read A Wrinkle in Time. I WOULD call them a bit old-school, though, despite arguments to the contrary. They're a quick read, and they're classic.

>23 luvamystery65: Yes, indeed! Would you like to do a mini-read-together on a couple of Dresden files in the next few months? Let me know if the idea appeals to you.

I am yet to watch it, will share my thoughts after...

>24 scaifea: &>26 scaifea: Hi Amber! Feel free to take over, you are doing a better job with my thread than I am :)

>27 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! I agree with A Wrinkle in Time being old school; but not entirely SF, I kind of agree with Amber there on them having the feel of more Fantasy than SF.

24. Play to Live: The Duty by D. Rus

3/5

25. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

1/5

>28 PiyushC: I would love to do a mini-read-together with you on Dresden Piyush. I have Proven Guilty. I really wanted to see what Harry would be doing in his new role. I am about three quarters through it. Interesting turn of events including Harry's reaction to them.

Let me know when you get started on Proven Guilty so I can have time to line up the audios for White Night and Small Favor. I prefer them on audio so it takes a little longer to get through them. No hurry, whenever you are ready. I look forward to your thoughts on Proven Guilty.

>30 luvamystery65: Great! I will get Proven Guilty lined up for May then! Would love to see how Harry behaves in his new role, with his new Boss :)

On a separate note, our Book Club has To Kill a Mockingbird, as we anticipate the sequel, and The Book Thief for the next meet. I am yet to read The Book Thief, so that is another book for sure on my May TBR.

Belated catch up... A wrinkle in time - love, though not sure I'd read more... Dresden - it gets SO much better as it goes along even though I've been hooked from book one, Coraline - brilliant! Though it freaked me out so so much - and yet my kids (4+7) watched the film and loved it (I was freaked out).

Ooof. Think I'm up to date and so sorry for missing you till now :)

26. The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks

With this, I finish the Culture Series I started last year. One hell of a Sci-Fi series!

4/5

>33 BekkaJo: I am not sure about the sequels to A Wrinkle in Time either...Dresden does keep getting better, I guess you have already caught up with the series?...Coraline was indeed brilliant! And spooky!

Good to hear that Dresden keeps getting better because I really liked the first two in the series.

Happy weekend Piyush!

It surely does Rachel. Hope you had a good weekend too :)

Hey, Piyush, good to see you surface for a moment. You've gotten ahead of me on the Dresden books now.

Piyush thanks for stopping by my thread whilst I was off trying to stay afloat.

Interesting to see that you thought The Maltese Falcon was a duffer.

>38 ronincats: Hi Roni, nice to see you drop by :) In the meantime, I finished another Dresden.

>39 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. Yeah, I quite hated The Maltese Falcon; if the blatant extreme -isms (sexism, racism, anti-gayism, you name it, this book has got it!) wouldn't have been enough to put me off; a dud of a storyline and poor execution did the job. The book probably wouldn't have been as bad as a play, maybe...but the way things stand, was extremely disappointed with my read.

>40 PiyushC: How did you like Proven Guilty?

When do you think you will start White Night? I need to request from Overdrive and I do the audio format so it takes a bit longer to get through it.

27. Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

3.5/5

28. Losing my Virginity by Richard Branson

3/5

29. The Sea Wolf by Jack London

3.5/5

30. Mightier than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer

3/5

31. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough

4/5

32. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

4/5

33. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

3/5

>41 luvamystery65: One of the better Dresdens, he keeps flirting with darkness; the scenes with Molly were a tad disturbing, but well handled in the end. White Night for this month, how does that sound? Unless you have already knocked it off, I know I am replying quite late. Can you also post me your thread next time you visit, I again tried searching for it today and failed miserably :)

>43 PiyushC: I can do White Night for June. I agree about the tad disturbing but in the end it was handled well by Harry.

I do not have a personal thread on the 75 Group this year. I do have a personal thread in the Category Challenge Group. You are welcome to come visit and post there. I would love it if you dropped by. :-)

https://www.librarything.com/topic/190412

PM also if you would like.

>44 luvamystery65: Starred! And found another thing we have in common :)

I've downloaded the audio for White Night from Overdrive.

June reads:-

34. White Night by Jim Butcher

4/5

35. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

3/5

36. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

3/5

37. Hot Water by P. G. Wodehouse

3.5/5

38. Echo Burning by Lee Child

3/5

39. Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson

4/5

July reads:-

40. Small Favor by Jim Butcher

4/5

Tentative TBR for the month includes:-

The Martian by Andy Weir

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

You've been doing some good reading!
I've got the Weir and the Egan on my lists, too. I'm hoping to get to The Martian this summer.

Hi Amber, the Weir was quite good, the Egan was a good effort gone wrong.

I'm still waiting for Small Favor from the library. :(

>51 luvamystery65: That sucks! I finished the next instalment, Turn Coat as well, might take a month or two off from Dresden now, you can catch up in the meantime :)

Other July Reads:-

41. The Martian by Andy Weir
4/5

42. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
5/5

43. The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
3.5/5

44. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
3/5

45. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
3/5

46. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
3/5

47. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Reread

August Reads so far:-

48. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
4/5

49. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
3/5

Some of the other reads planned for August:-

1. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
3. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

I am current with the Dresden Files now Piyush. I finished Skin Game this month and I was very lucky to go to a book signing of Jim Butcher's. Now, I will read the Dresden short stories and wait for book #16 to come out.

>55 luvamystery65: Wow, you sure did go on a Dresden spree! I haven't read anything since Turn Coat, will hopefully resume the series in the new year.

Remaining August reads (continuing from >53 PiyushC:):-

50. Ready Player One by Earnest Cline
3.5/5

51. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
3/5

52. Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
4/5

53. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
4/5

September Reads:-

54. The Adventures of Pinnochio by Carlo Collodi
3/5

55. Neuromancer by William Gibson
4/5

56. The Black Shrike by Alistair MacLean
3.5/5

57. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
2.5/5

58. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
3.5/5

Good to see you posting, Piyush!

Thanks Amber :)

Halloween Reading:-

October:-
59. Cujo by Stephen King
3/5

60. The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
4/5

61. Third Voice by Cilla & Rolf Börjlind
3/5

62. Three Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens
3/5

63. Insomnia by Stephen King
3/5

November:-
64. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
3.5/5

Other November reads:-
65. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
3.5/5

66. Blandings Castle by P. G. Wodehouse
3/5

67. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
3.5/5

68. The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
4/5

69. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
4/5

I need to get round to All the Light We Cannot See at some point...

>62 scaifea: You definitely should!

For my Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Holiday image this year (we are so diverse!), I've chosen this photograph by local photographer Mark Lenoce of the pier at Pacific Beach to express my holiday wishes to you: Peace on Earth and Good Will toward All!

Merry Christmas Piyush!

>64 ronincats: and >65 The_Hibernator: Thanks Roni and Rachel, I heartily reciprocate your wishes; hope you enjoyed your holidays :)

December reads:-

70. The Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey Archer

3/5

71. Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of Home by Bayard Taylor

3.5/5

72. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

3.5/5

73. Bossypants by Tina Fey

3.5/5

74. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

4/5

75. The Risk Controllers: Central Counterparty Clearing in Globalised Financial Markets by Peter Norman

5/5

76. L. A. Confidential by James Ellroy

4/5

I read 76 books this year, 75 first-timers, and 1 re-read.

Congratulations, Piyush, on reaching 75. I've not reached that goal yet.

>68 catarina1: Thanks Catarina. I have missed my yearly goals a few times too, hopefully 2016 will be good for the both of us :)

Congrats!

congratulations on making it to the 75 book mark for 2015!

congrats on your 76! Hope you have a great week ahead!