50 Book Challenge Update
Jun. 24th, 2007 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexmegami16. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
I'll admit, I don't typically like straight fiction. But when Mom couldn't fit this into her bookshelf, I told her I'd take it and read it, and I'm glad I did.
17. Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
You know, as much as this may be the comic that changed comics forever, and (duly noted) almost certainly a HUGE influence on Heroes... I dunno. I just couldn't get into it. I just couldn't get into the mentality of the era, I think... It's often been heralded to me as the first comic to make its "heroes" real people. They didn't feel real to me.
So, there. I've read it.
18. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (screenplay), G. Chapman et al
If that was the actual first draft, wow.
Somehow I suspect not.
The last draft was fairly close to the final product, though a couple of scenes had major revisions. Most interesting to me was the cost. Done in the mid-70s, it cost about 250,000 pounds... something like, what, $550,000 Canadian? And that was then. And look at the production values. (Each principal actor was paid about $6500 for their work.) Yeah, that tally at the end? Definitely a bit of a shocker.
19. Fool Moon, Jim Butcher
I started this AGES ago... and only finished it in mid-June. Slightly more enjoyable than the last, I thought, and definitely liked the fact that ALL werewolf types were viable. Amused by slight twist at the end. Probably the best part was Dresden with the belt - very visceral, I thought.
20. Brown Girl in the Ring, Nalo Hopkinson
This one - if you haven't read it, DO. I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Dystopian future in Toronto, the city's been walled off because of all the crime to keep the suburbs safe. Almost nothing gets in or out, and people are forced to survive on their own. The story is centered around the third woman in a Carribean family line who can speak to the loa, Ti-Jeanne, her grandmother, the local gang lord, Rudy, and her boyfriend and baby-daddy, Tony (who is a member of Rudy's gang). Things, of course, do not go well.
I need to find more of her work, and you need to read this book.
21. A Storm of Swords, George R. R. Martin
22. A Feast for Crows, George R. R. Martin
I have only five things to say:
a) I love Arya a little less with each book;
b) I love Jaime a little more after A Feast for Crows;
c) Tyrion still rocks my socks, though damn it, Shae!;
d) GRRM BETTER not have killed my favorite character off, or there will be divine retribution (read: fist-shakings!);
e) Damnit, why isn't the next one out yet?
23. The Prestige, Christopher Priest
Technically I'm not quite done, but it's a matter of pages, so I'll count it. I'm finding it quite enjoyable, even though I tend to find diary-style books difficult to read. Interesting and fun. Also recommended.
This count means I'm currently 2-5 books behind, and need to start reading faster, goddamnit. Currently on the table: Sailing to Sarantium, Roma Eterna, Book 3 of The Dresden Files, Whore's Carnival, and In The Night Garden. What to pick, what to pick?
I'll admit, I don't typically like straight fiction. But when Mom couldn't fit this into her bookshelf, I told her I'd take it and read it, and I'm glad I did.
17. Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
You know, as much as this may be the comic that changed comics forever, and (duly noted) almost certainly a HUGE influence on Heroes... I dunno. I just couldn't get into it. I just couldn't get into the mentality of the era, I think... It's often been heralded to me as the first comic to make its "heroes" real people. They didn't feel real to me.
So, there. I've read it.
18. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (screenplay), G. Chapman et al
If that was the actual first draft, wow.
Somehow I suspect not.
The last draft was fairly close to the final product, though a couple of scenes had major revisions. Most interesting to me was the cost. Done in the mid-70s, it cost about 250,000 pounds... something like, what, $550,000 Canadian? And that was then. And look at the production values. (Each principal actor was paid about $6500 for their work.) Yeah, that tally at the end? Definitely a bit of a shocker.
19. Fool Moon, Jim Butcher
I started this AGES ago... and only finished it in mid-June. Slightly more enjoyable than the last, I thought, and definitely liked the fact that ALL werewolf types were viable. Amused by slight twist at the end. Probably the best part was Dresden with the belt - very visceral, I thought.
20. Brown Girl in the Ring, Nalo Hopkinson
This one - if you haven't read it, DO. I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Dystopian future in Toronto, the city's been walled off because of all the crime to keep the suburbs safe. Almost nothing gets in or out, and people are forced to survive on their own. The story is centered around the third woman in a Carribean family line who can speak to the loa, Ti-Jeanne, her grandmother, the local gang lord, Rudy, and her boyfriend and baby-daddy, Tony (who is a member of Rudy's gang). Things, of course, do not go well.
I need to find more of her work, and you need to read this book.
21. A Storm of Swords, George R. R. Martin
22. A Feast for Crows, George R. R. Martin
I have only five things to say:
a) I love Arya a little less with each book;
b) I love Jaime a little more after A Feast for Crows;
c) Tyrion still rocks my socks, though damn it, Shae!;
d) GRRM BETTER not have killed my favorite character off, or there will be divine retribution (read: fist-shakings!);
e) Damnit, why isn't the next one out yet?
23. The Prestige, Christopher Priest
Technically I'm not quite done, but it's a matter of pages, so I'll count it. I'm finding it quite enjoyable, even though I tend to find diary-style books difficult to read. Interesting and fun. Also recommended.
This count means I'm currently 2-5 books behind, and need to start reading faster, goddamnit. Currently on the table: Sailing to Sarantium, Roma Eterna, Book 3 of The Dresden Files, Whore's Carnival, and In The Night Garden. What to pick, what to pick?
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Date: 2007-06-24 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-06-25 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 04:23 am (UTC)I'm terrible. I entertain Loras/Margaery, on the stipulation that Loras is a hot bi-boy.
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Date: 2007-06-25 01:49 am (UTC)I could be wrong, though. X3 I have been wrong many a time before.
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Date: 2007-06-25 05:33 am (UTC)The eternal question. :(
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Date: 2007-06-26 04:24 am (UTC)Suggestions for books
Date: 2007-06-27 12:06 pm (UTC)Series: The Wheel of Time
Author: Robert Jordan
Book Count: 11 + Prequel (book 12 coming soon!)
http://www.tor.com/jordan/
Series: The Malazan Book of the Fallen
Author: Steven Erikson
Book Count: 5 (book 6 out in November/December, full publication listing available on Chapters.ca)
http://www.malazanworld.com/site/index.shtml
Series: The Sword/Heritage/Jerle/Druid Shannara
Author: Terry Brooks
Book Count: ~16 with a prequel in there somewhere
http://www.terrybrooks.net/novels/index.html
(he also did a funny series called the magic kingdom of landover which went about 5 books)
Series: The Sword of Truth
Author: Terry Goodkind
Book Count: 12
http://www.terrygoodkind.com/
Re: Suggestions for books
Date: 2007-06-27 02:21 pm (UTC)