Lorena's2006BookRoll

From wsuwiki

Lorena's 2006 Book Roll: A Reading Log with Random Annotations

This is an incomplete list of most of the books I've been reading in 2006 (you can see my incomplete list from 2005 here). A discussion page is available here.

Constancy and Change in the Worklife of Research University Librarians / Rebecca Watson-Boone. Nonfiction; WSU Libraries Z675 U5 W38 1998.

Episode of the Wandering Knife / Mary Roberts Rinehart. Fiction, mystery; Neill Public Library.

Happiness Sold Separately / Lolly Winston. Fiction; Neill Public Library.

Cast in Shadow / Michelle Sagara (aka Michelle West). Fiction, fastasy. Personal copy.

Variable Star / Spider Robinson & Robert A. Heinlein. Fiction, science fiction; Neill Public Library.

Beka Cooper / Tamora Pierce. Fiction, fantasy; Neill Public Library.

Solstice Wood / Patricia McKillip. Fiction, fantasy; Neill Public Library.

Lord of the Libraries / Mel Odom. Fiction.
I'm kinda cheating to include this one. Mark bought it for me because of the title (I would not have been able to resist it either!) but it was just unreadable! Dull prose, a dull plot. I made it though about a third and then just had to cast it aside (actually, I'm going to take it to the free book exchange I started in the Holland and Terrell Libraries quiet study lounge).

Conquistador / S.M. Stirling. Fiction, fantasy, alternative dimensions. Personal copy.

To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing our Inner Housewife / Caitlin Flanagan. Nonfiction; WSU Libraries HQ 759.F585 2006.

Dark Moon Defender / Sharon Shinn. Fiction, fantasy; Neill Public Library
Third in a series that starts with Mystic and Rider and is continued by The Thirteenth House.

The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation/fillinlater. Graphic adaption; Neill Public Library.

Bed Rest / Sarah Bilstan. Fiction, contemporary; Neill Public Library.

The King's Own / Lorna Freeman. Fiction, fantasy; personal copy.
Second in her "Borderlands" series (the first was Covenants).

Covenants/ Lorna Freeman. Fiction, fantasy. Personal copy.

A Princess of Roumania / Paul Park. Fiction, fantasy; personal copy.
Alternate dimensions...

The Sharing Knife / Lois McMaster Bujold. Fiction, fantasy; personal copy.

Bella at Midnight / Diane Stanley. Fiction, YA; Neill Public Library.

The Magician's Assistant / Ann Patchett. Fiction, contemporary; Neill Public Library

Year of the Griffin / Diana Wynne Jones. Fiction, fantasy; Neill Public Library.

The Keep / Jennifer Egan. Fiction, contemporary; Neill Public Library.

The Privilege of the Sword / Ellen Kushner. Fiction, fantasy; loan from Erica Carlson Nicoll.
Continuation of a loose group of novels including Swordspoint (the start) and The Fall of the Kings. This is the middle book, although the most recently written. This is a fun story of a young woman who goes to stay with her uncle thinking she will join society, only to find that he wants her to be his swordsman and duel for his pique and his honor.

Ash: A Secret History / Mary Gentle. Fiction, historical fantasy; loan from Erica Carlson Nicoll.

Second Honeymoon / Johanna Trollope. Fiction, contemporary; Neill Public Library.
I really like Trollope's writing (btw, she is a descendent of eminent Victorian author Anthony Trollope). This is the story of a British couple whose youngest child finally leaves the nest. Just when they think its safe to go on with their lives as individuals and not as parents, the kids start moving back...

The Debutante Divorce / Plum Sykes. Fiction, chick-lit ; Neill Public Library.
Last year I panned Sykes first novel, Bergdorf Blondes, pretty thoroughly. This one is better, but still panders to the worst conceits of chick-lit: the ulta-rich, designer everything, etc.

Christmas Dogs: A Literary Cmpanion. Anthology ; Neill Public Library.
Highlights of this collection of (mostly) short stories about dogs and Christmans include "The Christmans Trip," by George Berger (family goes to the Bahamas for Christmas, but can't forget their pooch, left in a kennel); "Whiskers on Wheels," a non-fiction account of how a wealthy community's animal shelter helped out a poorer community's shelter over Christmas; and of course the "Christmas Eve" chapter from the immortal 101 Dalmatians.

About a Boy / Nick Hornby. Fiction, contemporary ; Neill Public Library.

Flights of Fantasy / ed. Mercedes Lackey. Fantasy, themed anthology ; Neill Public Library.
Fantasy stories about "flying creatures."

Coincidence of User Vocabulary and Library of Congress Subject Headings / Marilyn Lester. Nonfiction, Library Science ; Inter-Library Loan.
A fascinating dissertation published in 1989 - at the same time it is somewhat out of date and frighteningly relevant to modern-day search.

Politics in the Trenches: Citizens, Politicians, and the Fate of Democracy / Thomas J. Volgy. Nonfiction, political; WSU Libraries JK1726 .V65 2001.
Tom Volgy is both a professor of political science (at the University of Arizona) and former city councilman and two-term mayor. This book is a fascinating look at our political system from the point of view of a big city mayor. The chapter that goes through a typical week is very thought-provoking, as is the rest of the book. Volgy brings his theoretical sense (although he is not an American Politics specialist) to his practice and gives a wry and realistic take to a system that is not precisely broken, but is very close.

The Scarlet Pimpernell / Baroness Orczy. Fiction, romance; WSU Libraries PR6029.R25 S3 1964.

The Change Function: Why Some Technologies Take Off and Others Crash and Burn / Pip Coburn. Nonfiction , technology ; Inter-Library Loan.
Although this book is written occasionally in a style that is a little too peppy and precious for me, it's a very valuable book. The Change Function is this: f(user crisis versus total percieved pain of adoption). Basically, in order for something to succeed, the user's (individual or collective) crisis over not having that technology has to be more than the TPPA. Pretty simple, but often ignored. I liked this book because it was user centered, it made good use of case studies, and it made a lot of sense to me. There is a lot in it that is good for people in libraries and higher education to pay attention to...

The King of Attolia / Megan Whalen Turner. Fiction, fantasy; Neill Public Library.
Third in a series, following The Thief and The Queen of Attolia. Set in a fantasy world that bears some resemblance to ancient Greece, this continues the story of Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis who has now become the King of Attolia. Told mostly from the POV of a royal guard, the story has intrigue, romance, character development and more. This book - and the series - is superb.

Instead of Three Wishes / Megan Whalen Turner. Fiction, fantasy; Summit request.
A short story collection - very enjoyable.

The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and transformed Our Culture / John Batelle. Non-fiction; Holland HD 9696.8 U64 G663 2005.

Princess at Sea / Dawn Cook. Fiction, fantasy; Personal Collection
Sequel to The Decoy Princess.

The Complete Ivory / Doris Egan. Fiction, fantasy; personal collection.

Dressed in Fiction / Clair Hughes. Nonfiction; WSU Libraries PR 830.C59 H84 2006.
An interesting scholarly study about clothes in fiction, from Daniel Defoe's Roxana to Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac. I love fashion (although you'd never guess it from the way I dress!) and I enjoyed the author's analysis of the way writers used clothes (and the description of clothes) as anchors in their stories. I emerged from the book thinking that I was finally ready to read Thackery's Vanity Fair - I had started it years ago, but had not been able to get very far becase I found Becky Sharp to be so unsympathetic. Now I think I will feel more sympathy for her, and I also am more used to antiheros, etc.

The Spellcoats / Diana Wynne Jones. Fiction, fantasy; personal collection

Moon Called / Patricia Briggs. Fiction, supernatural fantasy; personal collection.
Mark likes the new breed of supernatural fantasy, so I saw this in the bookstore and thought he might like it. It turns out it takes place in the Tri-Cities! So of course I had to read it as well, and found it to be exceedingly enjoyable -- it wasn't overwrought or luxury-brand-name-dropping like so many other books of this genre. I'll look for more by the author. Coyote "walker" becomes involved in the plots of werewolves.

The First Truth / Fiction, fantasy; personal collection.

The Wizard of Karras / Mercedes Lackey, ???, and ???. Ficiton, space opera; personal collection.

Crown of Stars/Kate Elliott. Fiction, fantasy; personal collection.

Guardian's Key / Anne Logston. Fiction, fantasy; personal collection.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation / Lauren Willig. Fiction, chick lit/historical romance; personal collection.
Set in a world where the Scarlet Pimpernell really existed, this is both a contemporary chick lit story (grad student goes to London, does chick-lit stuff, and tries to track down more information about a historical contemporary of the Scarlet Pimpernell, the Pink Carnation) and a historical romance (Terror-era France). I preferred the check lit part to the historical, although I *loved* reading the Scarlet Pimpernell - I think its because Willig's historical story is so anachronistic.

Conrad's Fate / Diana Wynne Jones. Fiction, fantasy; advance proof.
A continuation of her "Chrestomanci" series - very enjoyable. Boy lives with a dismal fate hanging over him - but finds out that he does indeed possess the ability to create his own destiny. Told with Wynne Jones usual breezy dexterity.

The Warrior Hero/ Cinda Williams Chima. Fiction, fantasy; advance proof I read visiting Jen Stevens.
A totally enthralling read about a boy who begins to realize that his life is not all the way it looks, and neither are the people around him. He is expected to take on a "warrior" role but must reconcile this with his own beliefs. Set in a world that seems totally like ours, but with a few core differences...

The Kents / D.C. Comics. Fiction, comic/graphic novel; personal collection.

Selina's Big Score / Darwyn Cook. Fiction, comic/graphic novel; personal collection.

Crown of Stars / Kate Elliot. Fiction, fantasy; personal collection.

Making It Up / Penelope Lively. Fiction, alternative worldish; Neill Public Library

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen / Julie Powell. Nonfiction, memoir; Neill Public Library.

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century / Thomas Friedman. Nonfiction, pol/soc/econ/cult; personal collection.

Persuasion / Jane Austen. Fiction, romance; spiffy Oxford edition, personal collection.
I read recently that a UK publisher is going to be bringing Austen's works out in "Chick Lit" editions - check it out at [1]

Shelf Life: Romance, Mystery, Drama, and Other Page-Turning Adventures from a Year in a Bookstore/ Suzanne Strempek Shea. Nonfiction, menoir; Borrowed through Summit.
The author is a novelist who found herself working at her local independent bookstore. Its a fascinating account of how bookstores work -- at least, independent bookstores (I wonder if things are more regimented at the big box/chains?).

Daughter of Exile/ Elizabeth Glass. Fiction, fantasy; Personal collection

The Decoy Princess/ Dawn Cook. Fiction, fantasy; Personal Collection

The Reluctant Miss Van Helsing/ Author Should be Ashamed to have Written this. Fiction, Regency romance; not staying in personal collection
Have you ever read something that was so bad you want your money and time back? That you finished through sheer, sick fascination? This is an example. I like Regencies (I'm a "fluffy" (my 14-year old self's term for these) reader from way back ), and I kinda like the "Buffy" thang. But this was just a waste of paper, money, and lots of people's time. After I finished it I cleansed my palette with Georgette Heyer's The Talisman Ring[ - an old favorite.