My December reading

December was a very low key reading month for me, with some rereads and several DNFs.

1. Devil's Bride - Stephanie Laurens
   Historical Romance; 1st in the Cynster series; reread; 7/10
   This was a reread for while Marcus was in the bath as I was also reading hardcovers at the time and didn't want them getting wet. (He gets some play time in the bath before washing and I usually read a chaper or two.) I wasn't as bowled over at the first time, but I did still enjoy it.
   
2. Endless Blue - Wen Spencer
   SF; 9/10
   For all most of it isn't set in space, this is very much a space-opera-y kind of book from a favourite author. As usual, Spencer drops you straight into the action and leaves you wondering what the heck the world is like and what is going on. As these things began to straighten themselves out I found myself really enjoying the story. By the time I got to the end, my reaction was to yell, "So, what happens next?" While the story is finished, I want to know how it will impact on the future. Not as detailed as some of her other books, but still a thoroughly enjoyable read.
   
3. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
   Fiction; 1st Thursday Next book; audiobook; reread; 8/10
   I read these a number of years ago and decided to start listening to the audibook. I thoroughly enjoyed it all over again. These books are totally uncategorisable, set in an alternate 1985 where literature holds the same place as popular tv/media cultrue in ours, dods and neanderthals have been brought back from extinction and, if you really know what your doing, you can jump right into books. They are full of literary illusions, but as someone who know more about a number of classic books than has actually read them, I still easily followed the main plot and don't think I missed too many of the slyer illusions. All the same, having read Jane Eyre is a plus. I had so much fun listening to this I went straight on to book 2.
   
4. Fool's Puzzle - Earlene Fowler
   Cozy mystery; 1st Benni Harper book; DNF
   I just couldn't really get into this and when my choices where this or rereading an Asaro book, there wasn't much competition.
   
5. Untouched - Anna Campbell
   Historical Romance; DNF
   I don't know if this was a case of when I was reading it or what, but after finding the start okay, I found I just didn't care about reading on further. It's not a bad book - and a good number of people seem to think it a good one - but it didn't work for me.
   
6. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
   Fantasy; 1st book in the Kingkiller Chronicle; DNF
   Now, what I read of this, I really did like. It's had a lot of buzz around blogs and I wanted to read it. I still do. But it's a big fat hardcover I had out from the library, Christmas was coming and I was reading it (and anything else I read) very slowly. I was feeling stressed instead of settling back to enjoy, so I decided to stop reading and relax. I've ordered the paperback and I'll be reading that with my book group come April. Hopefully that will be the answer.
   
7. Ascendant Sun - Catherine Asaro
   SF; 4th Skolia book; reread; 10/10
   This was another thoroughly enjoyable reread in preparation for the new book in the series which is currently on its way to me from Amazon. I loved it all over again and loved reading more about Kelric. Soz remains my favourite character in the series, but Kelric is right up there. I can't wait to read the new one.
   
8. Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde
   Fiction; 2nd Thursday Next book; audiobook; reread; 9/10
   Most brilliant craziness ensues as Thursday learns more about book jumping, gets blackmailed by the Goliath Corporation; has her husband erradicated from time, solves the mystery of a lost Shakespeare play and gets apprenticed to Miss Havisham from Great Expectations (who drives like a maniac and is a dab hand with a pistol). I loved listening to this one even more than The Eyre Affair and I've moved right on to The Well of Lost Plots, which I haven't read before.
   
9. Emerald Eyes - Daniel Keys Moran
   SF; 1st book in Continuing Time series; reread; 8/10
   A friend loaned me this many, many years ago and I've had a hankering to reread it (and the following volumes) but it and the others are out of print and very hard to find. I recently discovered that Moran has made a number of his books, including this one, available as editions on his blog. I downloaded them immediately and enjoyed my reread of what is actually quite a bleak book about the genetic engineering of a line of telepaths and what happens to them.

December Reading:
Books read this month: 6
DNFs this month: 3
10/10 reads this month: 1
New reads this month: 1
Rereads this month: 5

Cumulative (and final) totals for 2007:
Books read in 2007 = 127
DNFs 2007 = 16
10/10 reads in 2007 = 17
New reads in 2007 = 107
Rereads in 2007 = 20