75 Books...More or Less! discussion

So I'm going to read 75 books this year.

January:

1. Cormac McCarthy - The Road

Very good, Anna. Welcome! (I love your ticker.)

2. Maja Lidia Kossakowska - Ruda sfora

3. Scott Lynch - Lies of Locke Lamora. It took me some time to read it, but it was preety interesting.

4. Ludy Starożytnej Syberii - It's a book about Yakuts and other ethnic groups living in Siberia. I haven't found a cover there, but there is a simple explenation - it was published only in Poland;-)

5. The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft - Good edition of the book - there is a short Lovecraft's biography, comments of many other authors like Aldiss, Gene Wolf and so on. But I did not like Lovecraft's stories - maybe because I don't enjoy horrors.

6. Mitologie świata: Eskimosi. It's a book about Eskimos - their religions, tradition and so on.

7. Hard to be a God by Strugatsky brothers. Second on my fvourite Stugatsky's list, right behind "Roadside Picnic". It should be longer thought - only 200 pages, and there were so many interesting topics and characters which should be better described.

8. Lolita written by Nabokov. I wanted to read something from classic so I thought that "Lolita" might be interesting. But there is something really annoying about this book - of course main character is a really bad person who cannot be likeable. But what I want to say is that Nabokov has good writing style but sometimes - ther are to many desciption, pointless situations - sometimes action is going forward to slow and that's the biggest weakness of "Lolita". I would rate it 3/5

9. Nadirs - Herta Muller. Authobiographical stories about living in the small village in Romania.

10. The Reef - Nora Roberts. I like her books because they are great to read them when I'm on vacations or don't want to read something challenging.

11. Żmija - Andrzej Sapkowski. Although Sapkowski is one of my favourite authors I must admit that this book is quite dissapointing in many ways. Firstly, there isn't much of fantasy in the book, in addition author uses too many russian words which I can't understand... Also I'm not as good in military topics so it was a little bit annoying for me to read all this time about transporters, tank and plains which I don't know how they look like. It would be nice if editors put pictures or drawning of some of the weapons and vehicles.
If you want to read Sapkowski's book - I highly recommend books about Witcher Geralt.

12. Za garść czerwońców by Robert Foryś. These are three novels about polish detective/investigator from polish nobility times;) It's quite similiar to Piekara's books.

13. Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch.
This book is so much better than the first one - I like the new intrigue, also new background characters are more interesting. Can't wait to read third book in polish;)

14. Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas. This is a book about secret Mossad mission to hunt and eliminate main terrorist in Europe. It sure worth to read, especially if you are interested in Israel history and politic.

Anna wrote: "10. The Reef - Nora Roberts. I like her books because they are great to read them when I'm on vacations or don't want to read something challenging."

I read this one a few years ago...and you are right! Nora Roberts is an easy reader...fun!

15. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
Although it took me some time to read, I highly recommend it to everyone;) It's interesting, language there is simple and you can find there many interesting facts;)

16. Starship: Mutiny by Mike Resnick. It has been ages since I've read a science fiction book. Rasnick's book is entertaining , written in simple language and plot is interesting but not complicated. Great book to read when your are in the train or have not too much time.

17. Starship: Pirate - Mike Resnick. Second book in the series and also entertaining, light book. Finished it today in the train;)

18. Starship: Mercenary by Mike Resnick. Third book of the series about Cole's adventure. Better than the second one but still sometimes it's too infantile and straightforward.

19. Rosemary's baby written by Ira Levin. I've never watched a film made by Polanski or read about book's endindg. It was an easy and enjoyable book, second part was more entertaining. I've waited so long to see how Rosemary will react when she will find out the truth. Well, maybe I've watched to many tv series and read too many books cause I would definitely not telle everything to Guy and go to complately different doctor. Still, it's a classic and everyone should read it.

20. Paradyzja - Janusz A. Zajdel. One of the best polish S. F writers (there is even a fantasy avard using his name). I really enjoyed the book - it's well written and although it has been finihed in 1982 nowadays it's still interesting and not old. I like book like Orwell's "year 1984" and this book is about the same thing - society where everyone is observed, there is a propaganda and noone can express their true opinion.

21. Blondynka śpiewa w Ukajali by Beata Pawlikowska. Beata Pawlikowska it one of the most known polish travelers. This time she goes to Peru. She begins her journey in Lima and goes deep in the jungle, where you can go only by boat or by specially prepared car. Worth reading, also, you can find there some history about colonizers, natural rubber and many other interesting things;)

Anna wrote: "21. Blondynka śpiewa w Ukajali by Beata Pawlikowska. Beata Pawlikowska it one of the most known polish travelers...."

Hmmm - this one sounds really fascinating!

22. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind - it's the first book from the series. It may not be especially original but it's entertaining and second part of the book is so much better than the beggining:D

23. The House That Hugh Laurie Built is a book containing biographies of all main actors, also there are descriptions and trivias about all episodes from seasons one to three. It's worth reading when you are a House fan, but it's not as interesting and well-made as it could be.

Anna, I've read books like this before and they are always dull. Half way through I usually think that was a waste of time reading and money spent. I'm a fan of House, but I will be skipping this one!

Anna wrote: "22. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind - it's the first book from the series. It may not be especially original but it's entertaining and second part of the..."

I just read this last month...I liked it! my husband has been trying to get me to read this series for awhile, and now I finally have started it. I will probably start the second one here soon!

24. Stone of Tears (Sword of the Truth #2)
That's definitely better than the first one. It's long and has many different threads. The most interesting are threads about Richard and Kahlana I'm a little bit disappointed about Zeed character - he almost never appears in the book, but maybe in a third book he will be in action more often;)

25. it's a book about Tolkiens' life as well as about his books. It could have been written so much better. THere are to few Tolkien quotes, facts about his life, also I would rather read some interesting trivias about Lord of the Rings - not the description of the plot.

26. The Sea by John Banville.

Anna, what did you think of The Sea? I read it last year and I liked it.

Andrea wrote: "Anna, what did you think of The Sea? I read it last year and I liked it."

It wasn't bad, but I've expected something better. Still some moments were so interesting and well written - like the scene where they walk into the water (you know what I mean:). Or almost in the end when I finally realized who is Vavasour. And what do you think about it?

27. Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony. It's an autobiography of a co-founder of Sony corporation. Very interesting book - you can find there many marketing and economy connected advice, some trivias about Japan industry and lifestyle and much more. Everyone should read it! :D

I read it two years ago and I didn't write a review but I liked the writing style and the story line. I do recall some places were a little slow and ho-hum though. I would read more by him though if something crossed my path.

28. Blondynka Tao - rajd samochodem przez dżunglę w Malezji.

29. Hajer jedzie do Dalajlamy. It's a book about a miner who survived a serious accident in a Wujek Coal Mine and he lost sight in one eye and is deaf in one ear. He feel depressed cause mine had always been his life. He decides to go to India. He does not know English, knows nothing about travelling. But after this crazy trip to India he decides to learn english and travel again to Asia.

30. It's a book about a blind cat. Every cat-lover will love it but it's also worth reading to everyone else;)

31. Życie codzienne w Johannesburgu. It's a book about living in Johannesburg (in RPA). There are some facts about city's amdinistration, law, some trivias about hisotry and nice pictures.
32. A book about optimism;)

33. I've read several Kava's books, but I must say that one is a little disappointing. There are all most important characters from the series, interesting ideas who are they going to search but... When the intrigue is built, it finishes to soon. It should have more pages, more descriptions of main characters relations like Maggie - Nick, Maggie and her brother and so on. But if you have some free time and you're looking for a light book to read from time to time - it's worth reading;)

34. It's a book about Zimbabwe written by Peter Godwin. He describes how a country which was going to be modern, fall down. After getting freedom in 1980 Zimbabwe had the most educated middle-class in Africa. Also it's economy has been even better than RPA's. But Mugabe changed the country - white men and black middle-class had to run away because of terror. It's a very sad book but so true. I've never felt so happy that I live in Poland. But looking at the history of Zimbabwe it's shocking how fast a country looking at the bright future can be desolated and destroyed because of one person. Absolutely must=read book.

Anna- this book looks very interesting! I love memoirs so I think it would make the book even better for me.

35. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.The novel is centered around fifteen year old Kambili, and her family; her brother Jaja, her mother, Beatrice, and her father, Eugene. Eugene is cinsidered as a very important person in Nigerian society - he has many manufactures and is rich. But he is also a tyran to his family and religious fanatic.
36. Forbes: Greatest Business Stories of All Time.

37. Beach music by Pat Conroy. A little bit disappointing - Prince of Tides is so much better!

38. Book based on game Planescape: Torment. Game is definitely better with more interesting dialogues and better - created characters.

Anna, I loved Beach Music! I have not read Prince of Tides yet, but I do have it and hope to get to it this winter.

Andrea wrote: "Anna, I loved Beach Music! I have not read Prince of Tides yet, but I do have it and hope to get to it this winter."

Prince of Tides is better:D You should definitely read it. There is also a film based on that book - nice and I liked it, even though I don't like Barbra Streisand.

Anna wrote: "24. Stone of Tears (Sword of the Truth #2)
That's definitely better than the first one. It's long and has many different threads. The most interesting are threads ..."

I'm in the middle of this one now, Awww, I like Zedd too! he's one of my favorite characters!

39. - Początek nieszczęść królestwa by Robert foryś. The book is about a special king's investigator Joachim Hirsz. Setting is very interesting middle-aged Poland (Warsaw) -year 1649. There is also a little bit magic (but really few). Worth reading, I hope that the next Foryś's book will be even better:)

Purple Hibiscus looks interesting. I added that to my to-read list.

Anna, I have a copy of Price of Tides. I will get to it asap, it's just hard I need more reading time and less work and study time!