{"id":1279,"date":"2011-01-03T17:06:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-03T17:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/?p=1279"},"modified":"2025-04-24T17:40:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T17:40:38","slug":"book-log-review-for-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/?p=1279","title":{"rendered":"Book Log Review for 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Books read in 2004: 21<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2005: 28<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2006: 40<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2007: 30<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2008: 41<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2009: 22<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2010: 44<\/p>\n

So we have a new record here. One might wonder what the secret of my 2010 success is, but there’s no one secret, but several:<\/p>\n

1. Pretend a collection of graphic novels = one book.
\n2. Read a bunch of Young Adult fiction.
\n3. Read very short books.
\n4. Convert putting-kids-to-bed time into read-a-book time.<\/p>\n

Aside from The Ancestor’s Tale<\/i>, there are no Big Honkin’ Books here. To own the truth, Ancestor’s<\/i> rightly belongs in 2008 & 2009 as well, as I did a lot of the reading during those years.<\/p>\n

1. Wishful Drinking<\/i> by Carrie Fisher
\nXmas present; An okay adaptation of Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show.<\/p>\n

2. How To Survive A Robot Uprising: Tips On Defending Yourself Against The Coming Rebellion<\/i> by Daniel H. Wilson
\nEh. The title is more entertaining that the actual book.<\/p>\n

3. The Return of Sherlock Holmes<\/i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
\n4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes<\/i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
\n5. A Study in Scarlet<\/i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
\n6. The Hound of the Baskervilles<\/i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
\nSherlock Holmes! He’s a good character.<\/p>\n

7. Peter and Max: A Fables Novel<\/i> by Bill Willingham
\nOkay. A pretty good story, told passably well.<\/p>\n

8. Various Sherlock Holmes stories, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
\n9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes<\/i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
\nYay! More Sherlock Holmes!<\/p>\n

10. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<\/i> by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
\nShockingly, I never read it. Worth the wait.<\/p>\n

11. The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution<\/i> by Richard Dawkins
\nFascinating, took me a long time to get through it due to Information Density therein, as opposed to being a bad book.<\/p>\n

12. El Bulbo Clasemedia<\/i> por Sebastian Carrillo “Bachan”
\nThe first spanish “book” I’ve read cover to cover and understood. Actually, a graphic novel.<\/p>\n

13. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery<\/i> by Alan Bradley
\nOkay. Probably won’t pick up the rest of the series.<\/p>\n

14. Artemis Fowl<\/i> by Eoin Colfer
\nOkay. A somewhat interesting anti-hero. The author has my eternal disregard because of item #19 below.<\/p>\n

The Bartimaeus Trilogy<\/i> by Jonathon Stroud
\n15. Book 1 : The Amulet of Samarkand<\/i>
\n16. Book 2 : The Golem’s Eye<\/i>
\n17. Book 3 : Ptolemy’s Gate<\/i>
\nAwesome. Great young adult fantasy novels. <\/p>\n

18. One Bloody Thing After Another<\/i> by Joey Comeau
\nOkay. Very short, by the writer for a softer world<\/i> webcomic.<\/p>\n

19. And Another Thing…<\/i> by Eoin Colfer
\nHorrible. Pathetically bad. An offense to Hitchiker’s Guide readers everywhere.<\/p>\n

20. The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel<\/i> by Brady Udall
\nExcellent: thoughtful, witty, well-written novel about a modern polygamist.<\/p>\n

21. A Fictional History of the United States (with Huge Chunks Missing)<\/i> by T Cooper and Adam Mansbach
\nShort story collection, some good, some meh.<\/p>\n

22. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels<\/i> by Scott McCloud
\nA very fine piece on comics making.<\/p>\n

23. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident<\/i> by Eoin Colfer
\n24. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code<\/i> by Eoin Colfer
\nReluctantly read because of #19. Okay. Not great.<\/p>\n

25. 29: A Novel<\/i> by Adena Halpern
\nThis book is why I hate small airport bookstores and bestseller lists. I’m embarrassed this is on my list.<\/p>\n

26. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 1)<\/i> by Rick Riordan
\nFun young adult. Derivative of Harry Potter, but whatchagonnado?<\/p>\n

27. You Suck: A Love Story<\/i> by Christopher Moore
\nTypical fun Christopher Moore, second vampire novel.<\/p>\n

28. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: A Novel<\/i> by Michael Chabon
\nExtremely rich storytelling, funny, interesting. Made me pick up another by this author.<\/p>\n

29. Super Sad True Love Story<\/i> by Gary Shteyngart
\nA modern Brave New World<\/i>; fine summer read.<\/p>\n

30. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/i> by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
\nEvery once in a while, the bestseller lists get it right. It’s a shame the author passed away, I would have read all 10 books he was planning.<\/p>\n

31. Legitimacy<\/i> by M. H. Van Keuren
\nI’ve read this, and you haven’t. Nyah nyah. That’s what comes from having friends who are authors.<\/p>\n

32. The Girl Who Played with Fire<\/i> by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
\nDitto #30.<\/p>\n

33. The Sea of Monsters: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 2<\/i> by Rick Riordan
\nDitto #26.<\/p>\n

34. Slam<\/i> by Nick Hornby
\nLove this Young Adult novel by Nick Hornby. Every teenager should read it, as it’s a vivid tale of teen pregnancy from the guy’s point of view.<\/p>\n

35. The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)<\/i> By Rick Riordan
\n36. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)<\/i> by Rick Riordan
\n37. The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5)<\/i> by Rick Riordan
\nDitto #26.<\/p>\n

38. The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure<\/i> by Jack Pendarvis
\nOkay humurous collection of short stories. Not quite David Sedaris, but amusing.<\/p>\n

39. The Stonekeeper (Amulet series book 1), The Stonekeeper’s Curse (Amulet series book 2), The Cloud Searchers (Amulet series book 3)<\/i> by Kazu Kibuishi
\nGraphic novel for the younger crowd. I like the art and the story.<\/p>\n

40. Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon<\/i> by Jonathan Stroud
\nBest of the Bartimaeus books. Strong female main character.<\/p>\n

41. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union<\/i> by Michael Chabon
\nFascinating alternate history of an Israel in Alaska.<\/p>\n

42. 200 More Neo-Futurist Plays: From Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes)<\/i> by the Neo-Futurists
\nSaw the Neo-Futurists in Chicago, bought the book. They’re funny.<\/p>\n

43. Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World’s Greatest Scientist<\/i> by Thomas Levenson
\nEnjoyable telling of Newton’s time as master of the mint.<\/p>\n

44. Scott Pilgrim: Books 1-6<\/i> by Bryan Lee O’Malley
\nI didn’t write a book log on these, but I loved them. Different enough from the movie to be worth reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Books read in 2004: 21 Books read in 2005: 28 Books read in 2006: 40 Books read in 2007: 30 Books read in 2008: 41 Books read in 2009: 22 Books read in 2010: 44 So we have a new … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[481,513],"tags":[457,81],"class_list":["post-1279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-log","category-books","tag-book-log-2010","tag-book-log-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3325,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions\/3325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}