This year was very year-like.

[oddmonster]

I'm pretty over 2013 as a year, y'all. As the very wise evilsupplyco said, "If 2013 was an enemy, realize it is almost dead and you are yet alive. Show the corpse to 2014 as a warning."

/me shakes 2013 menacingly

/gives it a kick for good measure

Comments

[little_tristan]

You know how I can't resist your memes. Especially with such a great crop of books on my list this year. Although there were SO many rereads, I was guaranteed a good time.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up Mo Hayder on Amazon. You have my sincerest sympathies. She sounds like exactly the thing for you, and yet... It must be unbearable. *hugs*

[oddmonster]

Excellent! And you know, your remark about rereads hits the nail on the head: I picked so many books I knew were good to re-read because I needed really good books. It's nice to have a shelf full of sure things.

I read Hayder's Ritual and it was really good -- deeply weird and grim and scuba diving. Then I went on to Birdman which, okay, way grimmer and animal harm to birds, but okay, a very solid crime book with a lot of well-deserved critical acclaim. But the sequel, The Treatment I could see her setting up to take out a big, soft old dog and HELL NO. HELL NO. Pop ahead to Poppet because mental institution and she just flat out whops a dog in chapter 2. GRAH. Put the Subaru in drive, then reverse. Drive, then reverse.

I suspect it might be because I would otherwise love her books for their evil grittyness that I'm so annoyed at the gratuitous dog-whopping that she keeps winding up under the left front wheel.

[little_tristan]

Exactly. As I read plots and reviews for her books all I could think was they sounded perfect for you. But if she can't leave the dogs alone, what are you gonna do? Other than specify a Mo Hayder wheel, of course.

I'm grinding through a bizarrely unflattering history of London from the library and looking forward to officially opening the 2014 reading season with the Liquor series. Because nothing starts a year off right like good reading.

[oddmonster]

Oh no! I saw you were reading that and I hoped it was going to be good. But yeah. THE BOARD IS READY. Let's begin 2014 as we mean to continue it. With hot young boys in love algebra otter-based cross-stitch.

Wait, I think I lost the thread somewhere...

[chrryblssmninja]

World War Z is one of my favorite books! I even lent my copy out to an appreciative coworker this year.

I don't know if I can really answer much of this meme, because I'm not in a book club and I tend to stop reading books I can't get into (but I withhold judgment on dissing the book to others because I haven't read the whole thing). These are the books I did read, though.

[oddmonster]

Excellent! Off to look at your books!

Oh I'm terrible about starting and stopping books. I go through so many Currently Reading statuses, because I get so jazzed about a book's description and dive in, and then have zero tolerance for animal harm or just bad writing. Life is too short to finish those books. Way too short.

Happy New Year!

[oddmonster]

WAIT HOW DID YOU MAKE THE BEAUTIFUL LAYOUT?

That's a gorgeous list of boooks, yess. Also you read hella things on my reading list! How did you like Manhunter: Origins and Alif The Unseen? And You. And John Dies at the End? (Which was a book I tried but couldn't ultimately get that far into. It just seemed like it couldn't get a grip on what the in-game rules of its universe were. Did that change? Did you think that?)

ALSO DOROTHY B. HUGHES YESSSSS.

Sorry, that is a lovely list of books you have over there. :)

[chrryblssmninja]

I picked up the layout from a layout page, but the person has closed that page since. If you like, I can find a way to copy-past the code for you.

Manhunter: Origins was alright. The plot's more-or-less okay but I like the main character. Alif the Unseen I read through really fast. It has its flaws (the convert character seems like a self-insert for the author, for example) but I was definitely swept up into the proceedings.

I more-or-less appreciated reading John Dies in the End, but then again my humor sometimes leans frat boy and I wanted to see a totally different take on cosmic horror. I enjoyed the first half more than the second, though, and sometimes it tried to hard to drop a meaningful statement about the universe. I did get the feeling that it might have used the "rules are constantly changing, bro!" device to cover up weaknesses, but then again the author just intended to post chapter by chapter and didn't intend for an actual novel until at least halfway through posting the story

[birdgirl_1107]

Hurray for end-of-year book memes! Your year-in-review is always so entertaining - whether I've read the books or not. The only title here that I've also read is World War Z - obviously - and I must say the undead appear to be growing on me as well. Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues could be in the line-up for 2014. :)

[oddmonster]

Exactly! Hurrah! And thank you! :)

I was so so so anti-undead, for what I thought were valid reasons, and I think my reasons remained intact through reading World War Z, but it worked so well because it focused so much on the survivors, and the zombies got just as short a shrift as vampires or werewolves would've in the equivalent situation. But then White Trash Zombie blew everything out of the water. I'd love to see it get read at OLC, even as an inbetweener.

[birdgirl_1107]

Oooh, yes, an inbetweener, I like that idea. :)

I am afraid I am going to drive you and LT mad over the next little while proselytizing for Eleanor & Park. It was my last book of 2013 and did it ever end my reading year with a bang of punk rock misfit teenage bittersweet.

[storyfan]

Good idea keeping tracks of the books you've read. I'm going to do that for this year, and maybe even write a few words about each one. I'll use some of your recs, too.

I'm so over 2013. It can go screw itself.

Linda Fairstein. Years ago, I was very interested in her as an author after I read a New York Times piece (with pics taken in a town near me) about her work prosecuting sex crimes. I read her first two books, and by the end of the second one I was completely turned off by her protagonist, who I found to be way too full of herself. Plus, all that yacking she did about her clothes bored me. Meh.

[oddmonster]

Plus, all that yacking she did about her clothes

THIS. I hadn't realized it until you mentioned it but holy smokes, this. Between the clothes and her romantic hand-staple-forehead entanglements, I was so annoyed. But dagblammit, Deadhouse really did have lovely NYC history-porn, for those of us who roll that way. I am still conflicted.

I hope you had a very nice Christmas and that the coming year brings you nothing but the best. And book reviews :D