Books of the Year 2010

Once again it is time to put forth the list of all the books I read in the last year. If I don't write them down, I forget and then I wonder what I did all year. So, here it is. Title, author and date I finished it. Also there is a 'k' next to ones that I read on my kindle.

1. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny 1/2
2. Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny 1/4
3. Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny 1/9
4. The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny 1/11
5. Wicked: Memorias de una bruja mala by Gregory Maguire 1/15
6. The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny 1/15
7. Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny 1/22
8. The Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research by S.A. Nigosian 1/30
9. Blood of Amber by Roger Zelazny 2/6
10. Sign of Chaos by Roger Zelazny 2/14
11. Infoquake by David Louis Edleman 2/22 k
    
12. Knight of Shadows by Roger Zelazny 3/1
13. Prince of Chaos by Roger Zelazny 3/8
14. Multireal by David Louis Edleman 3/19 k
    
15. Geosynchron by David Louis Edleman 4/16 k
    
16. Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb 4/21 k
    
17. Fool by Christopher Moore 4/28 k
    
18. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde 5/3 k
    
19. Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb 5/25 k
    
20. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore 6/15 k
    
21. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum 6/15 k
    
22. Hijo de bruja by Gregory Maguire 6/19
23. The Sparrow: a Novelby Maria Russell 7/15 k
    
24. Palace Walk by Negeib Mahfouz 7/19
    
25. Breve historia de la literature espanola 7/27
26. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday 7/29 k
    
27. Introduccion a la linguistica hispanica 8/11
28. Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan 8/21 k
    
29. The History of Latin America: Collision of Cultures by Marshall C. Eakin 8/25
    
30. Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb 8/25 k
    
31. Forest Mage by Robin Hobb 9/1 k
    
32. Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb 9/16 k
    
33. Classroom Management for Middle and High School Teachers by Emmer 9/17
34. Classroom Instruction that Works by Marzano 9/19
35. Modern Arabic Literature by Paul Starkey 9/25
36. How Languages are Learned by Lightbrown and Spada 10/2
37. Supporting the Literacy Development of English Learners by Young and Hadaway 10/14
38. Introduccion a la literatura latinoamericana 10/18
39. The Venture of Islam Volume 1: The Classical Age of Islam by Hodgson 10/24
40. El Espejo Enterrado by Carlos Fuentes 11/2
41. Machine of Death by North, et al. 11/3
42. Shadowmarch by Tad Williams 11/11
43. Shawodplay by Tad Williams 11/19
44. Shadowrise by Tad Williams 11/28
45. La breve y maravillosa vida de Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz 12/4
46. Shadowheart by Tad Williams 12/10
47. Perdido Street Station by China Melville 12/15 k
    
48. Girl Power: the 90s Revolution in Music by Marisa Meltzer 12/16 k
    
49. Bite Me: A Love Story by Christopher Moore 12/21 k
    
50. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick 12/25
51. What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire 12/26 k
    

Summaries:

• 7 books in Spanish
• 14 non-fiction
• a fuckton of sci-fi and fantasy
• 19 books read via kindle
  

Goals for 2011:
I'd like to keep up with reading books in Spanish. I think 9 is a good goal (this year's goal was 6, so goal surpassed). Also, especially with my Arabic CSET coming up, I'd like to read at least a couple books in Arabic. Inspired by io9's Blogging the Hugos series, I want to start reading through novels that have won the Hugo Award because I think that will be an interesting exercise in being well-read in sci-fi.

State of the Madness, Books of the Year

I haven't consulted a doctor or anything, but I may be dying from boredom. The last two months have reminded me why I don't like being in Redlands. There isn't really anything to do, not really any people in the 20-30 set (for the most part) and I pretty much have no friends. There hasn't been any circus practice to entertain me for the last couple weeks and I am snapping from the boredom and restlessnes.

Otherwise, I have applied to be a language analyst at the NSA, and I hope they get back to me soon. This would involve moving to Maryland, which I am, at this point, pretty okay with. To this end, i've been brushing up on Persian; I claimed to know it (they have a scale for self-reporting, but I still said I know some), so I don't want to make a total fool of myself. And I've made a head start on learning some more media arabic vocab.

I really wish I had some New Year's plans, but I don't. I know I want to drink myself into oblivion, to symbolicly obliterate the shithole that this past year has been. My current conundrum: wine or vodka? I'll have to decide soon, in any case.

And the moment you have all been waiting for, the list of Books I Read in 2009. I'm assuming I won't read anymore between now and the New Year. (listed is the title, author and date that I finished it)

1. Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde
2. The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde 1/11
3. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman 1/18
4. Islamic Historiagraphy - Chase Robinson 1/18
5. Something Rotten - Jasper Fforde 1/30
6. First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde 2/9
7. Coraline - Neil Gaiman 2/11
8. New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish 2/26
9. The Princess Bride - WIlliam Goldman 2/27
10. The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin3/9
11. A Room with a View - E.M. Forster 3/14
12. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest -Ken Kesey 3/22
13. The Golden Trade of the Moors - E.W. Bovil 4/5
14. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood 4/7
15. The Scandals of Translation: Towards and Ethics of Difference - Lawrence Venuti 4/19
16. Malinche (Spanish edition) -Laura Esquivel 5/11
17. Stardust (Spanish edition) -Neil Gaiman 5/27
18. Empires of the World: a Language History of the World -Nicholas Ostler 5/28
19. This Side of Paradise -F. Scott Fitzgerald 5/31
20. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women -Jessica Valenti 6/1
21. The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood 6/7
22. Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement -Kathyrn Joyce 6/22
23. Anansi Boys: A novel -Neil Gaimna 6/25
24. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Ston (Arabic edition) 6/25
25. American Gods -Neil Gaiman 7/11
26. Female Chauvinist Pigs -Ariel Levy 7/15
27. Assassin's Apprentice -Robin Hobb 7/22
28. Royal Assassin -Robin Hobb 7/30
29. Assassin's Quest -Robin Hob 8/9
30. The Mystery of Edwin Drood -Charles Dickens 8/13
31. Ship of Magic -Robin Hobb 8/31
32. Mad Ship -Robin Hobb 9/16
33. El Laberinto de la Soledad y Otras Obras -Octavio Paz 9/22
34. Ship of Destiny -Robin Hobb 9/27
35. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power -Jeff Sharlet 10/3
36. Fool's Errand -Robin Hobb 10/17
37. Golden Fool -Robin Hobb 10/24
38. Fool's Fate -Robin Hobb 10/27
39. The Magicians -Lev Grossman 11/16
40. From Eve to Dawn, a History of Women in the World Volume I: Origins: from Prehistory to the First Millennium -Marilyn French 11/7
41. Lost Boy -Brent Jeffs 11/8
42. Favorite Wife -Susan Ray Schmidt 11/14
43. Interworld -Neil Gaiman 11/16
44. Year of the Flood: A Novel -Margaret Atwood 11/21
45. Shattered Dreams -Irene Spencer 11/24
46. A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind -Michael Axworthy 12/7
47. The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future -Vali Nasr 12/12
48. Harry Potter and the chamber of Secrets (Arabic Editionh) 12/14
49. Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic -Ray Takeyh 12/21
50. The Blind Assassin: A Novel -Margaret Atwood 12/28
    

So these were the goals I set at the beginning of the year:
* 5 books in Spanish
* 4 banned books
* 4 books in Arabic
* 3 linguistics books
* 3 history books
* Read fiction from 3 authors that I haven't read before

In the end, I read 3 books in Spanish (and I'm halfway through Wicked: Memorias de una Bruja Mala), 2 in Arabic, I think one or two banned books, 2--arguably 3--linguistics books and 3 (4 depending on how you count) history books. That is better than I thought I did compared to my goals, so yay.

Trends: There was a lot of fantasy, largely in thanks to the Realm of the Elderlings series (all that Robin hobb). That is a testament to great marketing. I downloaded the first book for my Kindle because it was free, and then I bought EIGHT MORE books. So, good job, publishing house. I also took a pretty big interest in feminism, which is pretty new. A lot of books about fringe religious shit, both from a journalistic/research standpoint and in memoirs (FLDS memoirs, got kind of on a streak there).