Series (from Booking Through Thursday)
1. Do you read books that are part of a series?
2. Do you collect all the books in the series before starting?
3. What if the series is brand new, and the only book that's been published so far is Book 1?
4. As subsequent books in the series are published, do you go back and re-read the preceding books?
The answer to the first question is a definitive 'yes'. I particularly love reading series because you get a more in-depth view of the characters and their world. I have repeatedly mentioned my love and adoration for Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman series. I am waiting with bated breath for the latest one to be announced; her website says it should be published this coming October. I am also eagerly awaiting the third in Deborah Harkness' All Souls Trilogy. I just read the last book in Nicole Peeler's Jane True series. I have read all three series by Robert J. Sawyer (Quintaglio Ascension; Neanderthal Parallax; and WWW). I loved J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series.
I am generally a picky reader so I will get only one or two books in the series to read before I judge whether I like it or not. I've read five of the nineteen books in Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series. They are cozy reads and I intend to read the rest eventually but I find the series formulaic and not nearly as good as her Corinna Chapman series. I liked the first in the Rogue Angel series by Alex Archer [pseudonym] and intend to read more.
I have no qualms about reading a brand new series, even if only the first book has been published. That's how I fell in love with Deborah Harkness' All Souls Trilogy. The waiting/anticipation for the next books is good because it amps up your excitement but this can also have the disadvantage of amping it so high that the book doesn't meet your expectations.
I generally do not reread the preceding books in a series unless it has been so long that I vaguely remember what happened in the last one. I reread Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman series at least once a year, if not more. I might reread "Cooking The Books" before the next one comes out.
The fourth in Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series, "Inferno" just came out in May. I haven't read it yet but it's on my TBR. Although the Robert Langdon books are a series, I have found that they are also standalones; you can read them out of order.
I've also read books in series by:
*Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
*V.C. Andrews (Landry, Casteel and Cutler series)
*Nick Bantock (Griffin & Sabine)
*Jack Canfield (Chicken soup for the soul)
*Laura Childs (Scrapbooking mysteries)
*John Dunning (Cliff Janeway)
*Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones...and I just discovered #3 comes out in October!!!)
*Molly Harper (Jane Jameson)
*Lucy and Stephen Hawking (George)
*Sable Hunter (Hell Yeah!)
*E.L. James (Fifty Shades)
*Susan Kaye (Frederick Wentworth, Captain)
*Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic)
*Lissa Matthews (Simple Need)
*James McGee (Matthew Hawkwood)
*Stephenie Meyer (Twilight)
*Beth Pattillo (Jane Austen)
*Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate)
*Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
*Nora Roberts (Key Trilogy)
*Alexander McCall Smith (44 Scotland Street)
*Jeff Smith (Bone graphic novels)
*Kevin Sylvester (Neil Flambé)
*J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings)
*Angela Verdenius (Big Girls Lovin' Trilogy and its spin-offs)
*Mélanie Watt (Scaredy Squirrel...and I just discovered the next one comes out in August!!!)
*Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Cemetery of Forgotten Books)
*Sevens series by seven different authors
Read on,
Paula
Showing posts with label Robert J. Sawyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert J. Sawyer. Show all posts
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Year-end book review 2012
1. Best book(s) I read in 2012: "Cooking the Books" by Kerry Greenwood
2. Most disappointing book of 2012: "The Bookshop" by Penelope Fitzgerald
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012: "The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery. I didn't expect it to be as fantastic as it was. I was unexpectedly surprised by how much I loved it.
4. Books I recommended most to people in 2012: Big Girls Lovin' trilogy by Angela Verdenius
5. Best series I discovered in 2012: Big Girls Lovin' trilogy by Angela Verdenius
6. Favourite new author(s) of 2012: Angela Verdenius
7. Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2012: "Friday Society" by Adrienne Kress. It may be a young adult novel but it was great. A steampunk novel with three strong female lead characters...love it.
8. Book I most anticipated in 2012: "Triggers" by Robert J. Sawyer
9. Favourite cover of a book I read in 2012: "Year Zero" by Rob Reid...I love the alien version of the Napster logo.
11. Most beautifully written book of 2012: "The Dark Wife" by Sarah Diemer
12. Best book that was out of my comfort zone or was a new genre for me in 2012: "Luscious Love by Zach Sweets...m/m erotic romance. I also read more erotica this year too.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on me in 2012: "Big Big Love: A Sourcebook on Sex for People of Size and Those Who Love Them" by Hanne Blank
14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2012 to FINALLY read: I probably would have enjoyed "Mary Poppins" by P.L. Travers and "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery much more had I read them when I was younger.
15. Book I read in 2012 that would most likely be reread in 2013: The Corinna Chapman series
16. Book that had a scene in it that had me reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. No spoilers!): "Tempest's Fury" by Nicole Peeler. The cliffhanger ending had me crying my eyes out...can't wait for the final book in the series next year.
Some fun stats:
Books completed: 227
Pages read: 40,937
Books by male authors: 37
Books by female authors: 190
Fiction: 210
Non-fiction: 17
Children's books: 3
YA books: 11
Big fat books (more than 500 pages): 4
Read on,
Paula
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Reading goal for 2013
Considering how many books I own (239) and how many of them I have yet to read (102), I've decided to read my own books in 2013. My original goal was to read only books I own in 2013. But then I actually counted how many I had and realized that it's not enough to sustain a full year's worth of reading. As of the beginning of December of this year, I've read 203 books and the year isn't over yet. So I will dedicate as much of 2013 as it takes to read all of the unread books I own and then I will continue on with books from my to-read list. Looking through my bookshelves, I've already identified a few I want to read first...I just have to figure out the actual order by January 1, 2013. In case you are interested to know, the titles I'm most eager to read are:
*People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
*Iterations - Robert J. Sawyer
*100 Cupboards - N.D. Wilson
*Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks
*Inseparable - Emma Donoghue
*Ruined By Reading - Lynne Sharon Schwartz
I've also decided that I will also read any unread ebooks that I've already downloaded. Any ebooks I download in 2013 will be filed away into a 2013 file until I've finished reading what I already own. Some of the ebook titles I'm eager to read are:
*Rebellion (Matthew Hawkwood #4) - James McGee
*Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebeccca Skloot
*Bachelor Girl - Betsy Israel
*most of the Rogue Angel series - Alex Archer
*Nature Principle - Richard Louv
I don't usually set myself any reading challenges but I got this idea from an episode of The Readers podcast. I'll let you know how it works out.
Read on,
Paula
Saturday, January 28, 2012
End-of-year book survey
I saw this survey on Books and Chocolate and immediately wanted to do one myself. I'm a little late-ish but I don't care. So here goes:
1. Best book(s) I read in 2011: "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn and "Earthly Delights" by Kerry Greenwood
2. Most disappointing book of 2011: It's a tie between "The Map of Time" by Felix J. Palma and "This Dark Endeavour" by Kenneth Oppel
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011: I figured I would read the first page of "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness, not like it, and return it to the library. I finished the book in two days...got totally sucked in!
4. Books I recommended most to people in 2011: "Before I Go To Sleep" by S.J. Watson
5. Best series I discovered in 2011: The Corinna Chapman series by Kerry Greenwood
6. Favourite new authors of 2011: Kerry Greenwood, Ivan Coyote, and Gail Carriger
7. Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2011: I go to bed at the same time every night, so when a book is so good that I stay up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it, that's a sure sign the book is good. I did that for both "Forbidden Fruit" by Kerry Greenwood (read in 1 day) and "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness" (read in 2 days)
8. Book I most anticipated in 2011: "Wonder" by Robert J. Sawyer, the third and final book in his WWW trilogy
9. Favourite cover of a book I read in 2011: "Stars" by Mary Lyn Ray
10. Most memorable character in 2011: Corinna Chapman!
11. Most beautifully written book of 2011: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Anne Barrows. I would also vote it for the book with the longest title.
12. Best book that was out of my comfort zone or was a new genre for me in 2011: I don't like heavy metal music and I'm not much for reading biographies. But I enjoyed reading "Mustaine" by Dave Mustaine.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on me in 2011: "The Reading Promise" by Alice Ozma. I promise to read and I promise to read to my brand new niece.
14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2011 to FINALLY read: "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. I was impressed to find that there is more plot to the actual story than the film versions I've seen. I still love "Mickey's Christmas Carol" for the visual but I actually like the book a lot.
15. Book I read in 2011 that would most likely be reread in 2012: I have far too many books on my to-read list to do any rereading but if I miraculously ran out of things to read, I would choose any book by Ivan Coyote.
16. Book that had a scene in it that had me reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. No spoilers!): The revelation about Audrey's father and uncle at the end of "Come, Thou Tortoise" by Jessica Grant.
Some fun stats:
Books completed: 122
Pages read: 27,367
Books by male authors: 63
Books by female authors: 59
Fiction: 75
Non-fiction: 47
Children's books: 34
YA books: 4
Big fat books (more than 500 pages): 3
I might do this again next year. I already have one of the answers.
Read on,
Paula
1. Best book(s) I read in 2011: "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn and "Earthly Delights" by Kerry Greenwood
2. Most disappointing book of 2011: It's a tie between "The Map of Time" by Felix J. Palma and "This Dark Endeavour" by Kenneth Oppel
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011: I figured I would read the first page of "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness, not like it, and return it to the library. I finished the book in two days...got totally sucked in!
4. Books I recommended most to people in 2011: "Before I Go To Sleep" by S.J. Watson
5. Best series I discovered in 2011: The Corinna Chapman series by Kerry Greenwood
6. Favourite new authors of 2011: Kerry Greenwood, Ivan Coyote, and Gail Carriger
7. Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2011: I go to bed at the same time every night, so when a book is so good that I stay up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it, that's a sure sign the book is good. I did that for both "Forbidden Fruit" by Kerry Greenwood (read in 1 day) and "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness" (read in 2 days)
8. Book I most anticipated in 2011: "Wonder" by Robert J. Sawyer, the third and final book in his WWW trilogy
9. Favourite cover of a book I read in 2011: "Stars" by Mary Lyn Ray
11. Most beautifully written book of 2011: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Anne Barrows. I would also vote it for the book with the longest title.
12. Best book that was out of my comfort zone or was a new genre for me in 2011: I don't like heavy metal music and I'm not much for reading biographies. But I enjoyed reading "Mustaine" by Dave Mustaine.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on me in 2011: "The Reading Promise" by Alice Ozma. I promise to read and I promise to read to my brand new niece.
14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2011 to FINALLY read: "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. I was impressed to find that there is more plot to the actual story than the film versions I've seen. I still love "Mickey's Christmas Carol" for the visual but I actually like the book a lot.
15. Book I read in 2011 that would most likely be reread in 2012: I have far too many books on my to-read list to do any rereading but if I miraculously ran out of things to read, I would choose any book by Ivan Coyote.
16. Book that had a scene in it that had me reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. No spoilers!): The revelation about Audrey's father and uncle at the end of "Come, Thou Tortoise" by Jessica Grant.
Some fun stats:
Books completed: 122
Pages read: 27,367
Books by male authors: 63
Books by female authors: 59
Fiction: 75
Non-fiction: 47
Children's books: 34
YA books: 4
Big fat books (more than 500 pages): 3
I might do this again next year. I already have one of the answers.
Read on,
Paula
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
I promise ...
...to do (that is, finish) my Learning 2.0 homework tomorrow. For now I have other things to talk about.
...to read. I promise to read on my own, in print or on a screen, wherever books appear. That's right, I've just consumed the book "The Reading Promise" by Alice Ozma in one day. Technically, less than one day. Actually closer to seven hours. All 279 pages of it. In this book, a father reads to his daughter for a 3218-day streak. That's 8.8 years. If I had kept track, I could probably beat it. If I had thought to keep track of it, I would have, but I haven't and now I'm kicking myself. Reading is so much a part of my life that I can't even contemplate a day without it. I read during my breaks at work, I read at home after work, I read on my days off. I'm always reading. I always have a book with me, which is easier now that I have an e-reader on my BlackBerry.
My brother and his wife are expecting their first child in December, the first grandchild for our family. Reading "The Reading Promise" only fueled my enthusiasm for being the "book aunt". We don't know if it is a boy or girl and won't know until s/he is born. But I dream of reading to her/him. Because we live on opposite sides of the country, I have a plan for accomplishing this. I'm actually excited about it. In fact, I think I'm a little too eager. I want to read books that s/he isn't ready for. Is it okay to read just anything to a newborn? Can I read it Malcolm Gladwell and Robert J. Sawyer? Is there a "Reading to Babies for Dummies"? No matter what, I promise that my niece/nephew will have access to any books s/he wants.
Read on,
Paula
...to read. I promise to read on my own, in print or on a screen, wherever books appear. That's right, I've just consumed the book "The Reading Promise" by Alice Ozma in one day. Technically, less than one day. Actually closer to seven hours. All 279 pages of it. In this book, a father reads to his daughter for a 3218-day streak. That's 8.8 years. If I had kept track, I could probably beat it. If I had thought to keep track of it, I would have, but I haven't and now I'm kicking myself. Reading is so much a part of my life that I can't even contemplate a day without it. I read during my breaks at work, I read at home after work, I read on my days off. I'm always reading. I always have a book with me, which is easier now that I have an e-reader on my BlackBerry.
My brother and his wife are expecting their first child in December, the first grandchild for our family. Reading "The Reading Promise" only fueled my enthusiasm for being the "book aunt". We don't know if it is a boy or girl and won't know until s/he is born. But I dream of reading to her/him. Because we live on opposite sides of the country, I have a plan for accomplishing this. I'm actually excited about it. In fact, I think I'm a little too eager. I want to read books that s/he isn't ready for. Is it okay to read just anything to a newborn? Can I read it Malcolm Gladwell and Robert J. Sawyer? Is there a "Reading to Babies for Dummies"? No matter what, I promise that my niece/nephew will have access to any books s/he wants.
Read on,
Paula
Sunday, October 2, 2011
WOTS
I attended this year's The Word On The Street festival in Toronto with four book-loving friends. And we go for the whole day. This is my second year in a row and I hope to go every year. I am a big Robert J. Sawyer fan and he has been at the festival both times I've gone. I hope he continues to attend as well. I love hearing him read from his own books because of the way he reads it, giving the story more emotion and pizzazz than when I read it to myself. When I told one of my friends that I had bought only 10 books this year, she thought that was a lot whereas I was thinking it wasn't much at all. If I'd had more money, there were at least four or five more that I wanted and I'm sure I could have found even more.
Read on,
Paula
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Google+ vs. Facebook
I created a Google+ account today as part of my Learning 2.0 course. I live in a small town and don't know many people in my profession (aside from my coworkers) so using LinkedIn never appealed to me. I used to use Facebook for a few years but all my friends wanted me to join their games. I found it too distracting and ended up just wasting time on Facebook instead of "having a life". And the whole privacy issue with Facebook is a big deal breaker for me. I had seen the little +1 icon before but just wasn't curious enough to find out on my own. I used Blogger when I had a blog and I'm using it again for this blog. I am a big user of Google Reader. I have a Google email account. I just can't use Google Chrome until I get a new hard drive; the one I currently have is approximately 10 years old. But otherwise, I'm a big fan of Google.
So I added some people to my Google+ account. Since it's still pretty new, I'm hoping more of my friends and coworkers will join. And for those that are interested, it does have games like Facebook. I'm not sure what I think of it yet but I like the look of it. And my two favourite authors (Robert J. Sawyer and Douglas Coupland) are already using it. I wouldn't mind finding old college classmates that I've lost touch with though.
Read on,
Paula
So I added some people to my Google+ account. Since it's still pretty new, I'm hoping more of my friends and coworkers will join. And for those that are interested, it does have games like Facebook. I'm not sure what I think of it yet but I like the look of it. And my two favourite authors (Robert J. Sawyer and Douglas Coupland) are already using it. I wouldn't mind finding old college classmates that I've lost touch with though.
Read on,
Paula
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