Revisiting My 2015 Reading List

[osprey_archer]

When I was first compiling my reading lists, I kept thinking, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to read more by that author! And that one! And that one!” At last it occurred to me that it might be useful to compile a list of those authors from each year and then, you know, actually revisit that author’s work.

When I compiled the first list for 2012 (the first year I have complete enough records to make it worthwhile), it ended up including three Rosemary Sutcliff entries, and I realized that if I didn’t take evasive measures I would probably end up with twenty Rosemary Sutcliff books in a row in the 2013 list. So I refined the parameters: each author gets only one listing per year.

I’ve already read my way through 2012 and 2013 and most of 2014 (still waiting for Elizabeth and Her German Garden! Come on, library!), but it occurred to me that it might be fun forthwith to share my lists as I work on them, and also a good chance to get input if I’m still deciding which book to read for an author. So! Here is the 2015 list. The crossed-out entries are the books I’ve already read for this list.

Jacqueline Woodson – Peace, Locomotion

Rosemary Sutcliff – Little Hound Found

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – In the First Circle or Cancer Ward. I have both on hold, so we’ll see which gets in first

Zilpha Keatley Snyder – Today Is Saturday (a book of poems. Possibly Snyder’s only book of poems?)

Ruth Goodman – How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England

Ngaio Marsh – A Wreath for Rivera

Sarah Rees Brennan – Long Live Evil

Dick Francis – Whip Hand

Margaret Oliphant – probably Kirsteen, although the library has a number of others, including Phoebe Junior and Salem Chapel. Also a bunch of biographies? I hadn’t realized Margaret Oliphant wrote biographies.

Elizabeth Gaskell – Gothic Tales

Andy Weir – Hail Mary

Comments

[littlerhymes]

Ohh yes Kirsteen!

[osprey_archer]

The whole world is singing the praises of Kirsteen.

[regshoe]

Margaret Oliphant wrote a lot, though I don't think I knew it included biographies either! Anyway, Kirsteen is really good. :D

[osprey_archer]

Yes, I knew she'd written tons of novels, but the biographies were a surprise. I might give one a try someday... but after I read Kirsteen, obviously.

[luzula]

Yes, do read Kirsteen!

[osprey_archer]

Everyone is rooting for Kirsteen!

[landofnowhere]

Also on team Kirsteen!

[osprey_archer]

Everyone is on team Kirsteen! I'll have to push it up the list.

[magid]

::takes notes::

[osprey_archer]

Apparently Kirsteen is VERY popular and beloved.

[magid]

I see that!

(And I’d never heard of it before, so yay, more books to read!)

Except boo, because not only does my library system not have it, the only copy in any library in my state is in a college at the other end of the state, and it’s no requestable (I assume they don’t circulate that). Hrm.

[osprey_archer]

Could you request it through interlibrary loan? I've gotten a lot of books from out of state that way.

[magid]

I just submitted the request; hopefully that will work :-)

[landofnowhere]

There's also an e-book on Project Gutenberg, if you read books in digital format.

[magid]

Alas, I much prefer physical books, especially since the bulk of my reading is on Shabbat, when I don’t use electronics. (Also, for long-format things like books, I prefer to read lying in bed, in positions that the screens I have don’t work well with.)

[landofnowhere]

Makes sense -- hope you can find a hard copy!

[mific]

I very much liked the Andy Weir!

ETA: I recalled I'd done a couple of Andy Weir reviews back in 2021:

Andy Weir's latest novels:
Artemis was entertaining (audiobook) and he took some risks in having a Saudi-heritage female protagonist, which is also maybe why it's not been as well received as The Martian. She has his protagonists' trademark technical ingenuity but is more of a bad girl antihero. I liked it, others haven't so much. She seems set on a criminally stupid plan initially, but hang in there, as it gets both more complex and more satisfying quite quickly.
Project Hail Mary (audiobook) was excellent, easily as good as The Martian but more complex and with greater human depth and scope. The fate of at least two worlds depends on the usual ingenious protagonist, rather than just his own life, and there's an interweaving of present and past stories, with the full details of the past only revealed at the end. It's powerful and moving, and I highly recommend it.

[osprey_archer]

I haven't heard very much about Artemis, so thank you for sharing your thoughts!