Books - 2007

[riontel]

Favourites:

Stephenson's "Snow Crash": If you liked "Лабиринт Отражений" - this is a much better original. Smarter, better thought out, and, taking into the account when it was written, groundbreaking and visionary. The rest of Stephenson's stuff was also excellent.
"Vorkosigan Saga" by Bujold: Sci-Fi, smart and funny. Don't know how I managed to miss it before.
"Книга Натаниэля" - огромное спасибо vgramagin за доставку
Ben Elton's "The First Casualty": This is not Elton's funniest or most biting satire. I am not sure it's really a satire at all. A murder mystery set during "The Great War". An officer, who happens to be a famous poet (and who uncannily resembles Wilfred Owen), is shot while at the front and a former Scotland Yard inspector, reviled and imprisoned for being a conscientious objector, is sent to the lines to investigate. Enjoyed it a lot even though I am normally quite indifferent towards the genre.
Jo Walton's "Farthing": Alternative history coupled with a murder mystery. What would the England of 1949 look like if after the battle of Dunkirk instead of fighting on Brits negotiated for peace and were left alone while the war continued across the Channel. Did I just mention I didn't care much for murder mysteries? Fancy putting another one on the favourites list. However, this again was not your usual run of the mill whodunit. Finding out who did the deed was quite secondary, all the little details, the setting and the background was what made the book for me. Not terribly deep but still makes one think, what if, and shudder.
Lovers of fantasy might want to check our Carol Berg's and Sarah Monette's respective series.

Disappointments: Лукьяненко, Акунин и последний Harry Potter.

Just because I didn't mention something explicitly didn't mean I did not enjoy it, btw. Most of the books in the list were well worth the read.

I omitted all the Cisco Certification related books, but if you are into that sort of thing, it's an enchanting reading.

Jan
Last Chance to See, Douglas Adams
Фэнтези 2007, Сборник
The Black Jewels Trilogy (Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness), Anne Bishop
Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson
Artemis Fowl (The Opal Deception, The Lost Colony), Eoin Colfer

Feb
Ender's Shadow, Orson Scott Card
This Other Eden, Ben Elton
Ransom, Lee Rowan
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

March
A Room with a View, E.M. Forster
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden

April
Vorkosigan Saga (The Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game, Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, Borders of Infinity), Lois McMaster Bujold
Путь, выбирающий нас, Оксана Панкеева

May
Vorkosigan Saga (Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance, Memory, Komarr, A Civil Campaign, Diplomatic Immunity), Lois McMaster Bujold
Zodiac, Neal Stephenson

June
Falling Free, Lois McMaster Bujold
Книга Натаниэля, polumrak

July
Последний Дозор, Сергей Лукьяненко
Там, где лес не растет, Мария Семенова
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Плюс на минус, Ольга Громыко, Андрей Уланов
The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

Aug
The Confusion, Neal Stephenson

Sep
As Meat Loves Salt, Maria McCann
System of the World, Neal Stephenson
Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
Transformation, Carol Berg
Revelation, Carol Berg

Oct
Restoration, Carol Berg
Cordelia's Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold
An Agreement Among Gentlemen, Chris Owen
Чистовик, Сергей Лукьяненко
Melusine, Sarah Monette
The Virtu, Sarah Monette

Nov
Мифы мегаполиса, новая история из мира Дозоров от Сергея Лукьяненко
The First Casualty, Ben Elton
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke

Dec
Chart Throb, Ben Elton
The Persian Boy, Mary Renault
The Tombs of Atuan, Ursula K. Le Guin
The Farthest Shore, Ursula K. Le Guin
Tehanu, Ursula K. Le Guin
Мой друг бессмертный, Анна Гурова
Farthing, Jo Walton
Смерть на брудершафт, Борис Акунин
Wicked Gentlemen, Ginn Hale
Антология сатиры и юмора России XX века, Евгений Шварц
Carnival, Elizabeth Bear
Stardust, Neil Gaiman

Comments

[a-lazy-legend.livejournal.com]

Please tell me you didn't do that from memory.
Confusion took the whole month, but Sytem of the World didn't? I guess you got into it.

[riontel.livejournal.com]

I am actual anal enough to keep up the list throughout the year :)

Confusion took the whole month because I was studying for CCNA. You can mentally add three textbooks to August.

[a-lazy-legend.livejournal.com]

Wait, a whole year without a Prachett book? That's impossible!

[riontel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a completely wasted year. I would have gotten one in if "Monstrous Regiment" was a bit more interesting. As it is, I am starting this year right :)