Tuesday, November 30, 2010

100 Books in 2010

At the start of the year I set myself the goal of reading 100 books in 2010.  At times it was tough going, but last Friday, with a WHOLE month to spare, I managed to complete my hundredth book.  What did it accomplish?  Not much aside from providing me with a warm fuzzy feeling of contentment.

So, without further ado - here's my list of titles completed in 2010.

Books read in 2010

  1. The Neutronium Alchemist (Night's Dawn, #2) -    Peter F. Hamilton
  2. The Naked God (Night's Dawn, #3) -   Peter F. Hamilton
  3. 4th of July (Women's Murder Club, #4) -   James Patterson
  4. The 6th Target (Women's Murder Club #6) -   James Patterson
  5. When the Wind Blows -   James Patterson
  6. Thief of Time (Discworld, #26) -   Terry Pratchett
  7. The Lake House -   James Patterson
  8. Pyramids (Discworld, #7) -   Terry Pratchett
  9. The Last Continent (Discworld, #22) -   Terry Pratchett
  10. A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone, #1)  -  Sue Grafton
  11. Act Of War (Jason Richter, #1)  -  Dale Brown
  12. The 5th Horseman (Women's Murder Club, #5)  -  James Patterson
  13. Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross, #4) -   James Patterson
  14. Night Watch (Discworld, #29)   - Terry Pratchett
  15. Pop Goes the Weasel (Alex Cross,#5)  -   James Patterson
  16. Roses Are Red (Alex Cross, #6)  -  James Patterson
  17. The Infinite Sea (The Chaos Chronicles, #3)  -  Jeffrey A. Carver
  18. 7th Heaven (Women's Murder Club, #7) -   James Patterson
  19. The 8th Confession (Women's Murder Club, #8) -   James Patterson
  20. Without Fail (Jack Reacher Series, #6) -   Lee Child
  21. Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher Series, #11) -   Lee Child
  22. Against a Dark Background -   Iain M. Banks
  23. Shadows  -  Shaun Hutson
  24. Step on a Crack (Michael Bennett, #1)  -  James Patterson
  25. Sail  -  James Patterson
  26. Persuader (Jack Reacher Series, #7) -   Lee Child
  27. The Enemy (Jack Reacher Series, #8) -   Lee Child
  28. Don't Kiss Them Good-bye  -  Allison DuBois
  29. The Blue Nowhere  -  Jeffery Deaver
  30. Chosen Prey (Lucas Davenport, #12) -   John Sandford
  31. Ghosts of Onyx (Halo) -   Eric S. Nylund
  32. Red Mars (Mars Trilogy, #1) -   Kim Stanley Robinson
  33. The Wasp Factory -   Iain M. Banks
  34. Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker's Guide, #5)  -  Douglas Adams
  35. Thirteen Steps Down  -  Ruth Rendell
  36. Dead Men  -  Stephen Leather
  37. Cry for Help  -  Steve Mosby
  38. The Cutting Crew -   Steve Mosby
  39. Circle of the Dead  -  Ingrid Black
  40. Echo Park (Harry Bosch, #12) -  Michael Connelly
  41. Compulsion (Alex Delaware Series, #22) -   Jonathan Kellerman
  42. The Red Dahlia (Anna Travis Mystery, #2)  -  Lynda La Plante
  43. The Woods -   Harlan Coben
  44. The Narrows (Harry Bosch, #10) -   Michael Connelly
  45. Dead Run -   P.J. Tracy
  46. The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1) -   Brent Weeks
  47. The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, #4) -   Michael Connelly
  48. Above Suspicion (Anna Travis Mystery, #1)  -  Lynda La Plante
  49. Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2) -   Brent Weeks
  50. Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel, #3) -   Brent Weeks
  51. London Bridges (Alex Cross, #10) -    James Patterson
  52. Live Fire (Dan Shepherd Mystery)  -  Stephen Leather
  53. Unseen Academicals  -  Terry Pratchett
  54. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)  -  Stieg Larsson
  55. The Girl Who Played with Fire -   Stieg Larsson
  56. Spider Light -   Sarah Rayne
  57. Along Came a Spider  -  James Patterson
  58. You've Been Warned  -  James Patterson
  59. Book of the Dead (Angel)  -  Ashley McConnell
  60. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void  -  Mary Roach
  61. The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)  -  Brent Weeks
  62. Flashforward  -  Robert J. Sawyer
  63. The Portable Door  -  Tom Holt
  64. The Algebraist -   Iain M. Banks
  65. Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow -   David Gemmell
  66. Haunted (Angel)  -  Jeff Mariotte
  67. Troy: Shield of Thunder (Troy, #2)  -  David Gemmell
  68. The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, #4) -   James Patterson
  69. Conspiracy in Death (In Death, #8)  -  J.D. Robb
  70. Zoo City -   Lauren Beukes
  71. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (Millennium, #3)  -  Stieg Larsson
  72. Retribution  -  Jilliane Hoffman
  73. Good Guy, The -  Dean Koontz
  74. Shadow Command  -  Dale Brown
  75. Flesh and Bone -   Jefferson Bass
  76. The Elves of Cintra (Genesis of Shannara, #2)   - Terry Brooks
  77. The Gypsy Morph (Genesis of Shannara, #3)  -  Terry Brooks
  78. Jack and Jill   - James Patterson
  79. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Five Star Paperback) -   Lionel Shriver
  80. 2061: Odyssey Three   -  Arthur C. Clarke
  81. Nemesis  -  Isaac Asimov
  82. Dark Matter  -  Greg Iles
  83. Encounters  -  Isaac Asimov
  84. Rollback -   Robert J. Sawyer
  85. Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1) -   Orson Scott Card
  86. 1984 -   George Orwell
  87. I, Robot  -  Isaac Asimov
  88. Extinction -   Ray Hammond
  89. The Cloud  -  Ray Hammond
  90. Frankenstein -   Mary Shelley
  91. The Mirrored Heavens -   David J. Williams
  92. Fahrenheit 451 -   Ray Bradbury
  93. Old Man's War -    John Scalzi
  94. Oryx and Crake  -  Margaret Atwood
  95. Perdido Street Station   -  China Mieville
  96. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  -   Douglas Adams
  97. Men at Arms   -      Terry Pratchett
  98. The Windup Girl   -     Paolo Bacigalupi
  99. Solitary Man    -     Jeff Mariotte
  100. The Time Machine  -  H.G. Wells

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Science Fiction Reading Challenge

It's been quite some time since my last post.  Some of you might have thought that I fell victim to an alien abduction or some other type of dastardly deed.  No need to worry.  I'm perfectly fine. The reason for my absence is due to my participation in the South African Book Lover's Science Fiction Reading challenge.

The aim of the challenge is to complete the following tasks within a year (starting from 1 November 2010):

1. Sci fi based on mythology
2. Biopunk
3. Read a book classified as Steampunk
4. Read a Sci-Fi Thriller
5. Read some Space Opera
6. Read something by Isaac Asimov
7. Read a book that has a Alien or Aliens
8. Cyberpunk
9. Short stories. SF is a big short story genre, with some of the most exciting, inventive tales out there, so read a collection of sf short stories.
10. Read a Sci-Fi dystopia
11. Read hard sci-fi: Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both
12. Read military sci-fi
13. Read a sci-fi that a prominent movie was based on
14. Read Romance and Sexuality in sci-fi
15. Read a sci-fi published between 2000-2010
16. Read a sci-fi that has Robots/Companion bots etc. in them
17. Read a Sci-fi that has a authoritarian state/government
18. Read a Sci-Fi set on both Earth and another planet
19. Read a YA Sci-Fi
20. Sci fi about an ecological disaster (on Earth or any other planet)
21. Read sci fi that's won either the Hugo or the Nebula award
22. Read a sci-fi book which involves or includes elements of nature (i.e. plants or animals)
23. Read a sci-fi book which involves or includes time travel
24. Read an alternate history novel
25. Read any Golden Age Sci-fi author (excluding Asimov)

Since I'm also attempting to finish reading 100 novels for the year I'm spending all my free time reading like crazy.  I've still got 11 novels to go to meet the 100 novel deadline and I'm trying to see how far I can get on the Sci-Fi challenge by the end of December.

That leaves very little time to actually sit down and compose blog entries.  Hopefully once everything settles down I'll be able to put up some reviews of books I've finished for the various challenges.  If not I'll have to resort to posting some brief ratings as a last resort.

Now I need to get back to some reading...