*** Alastair Reynolds – Revelation Space. Interesting and carefully thought-out universe. Some great and compelling characters, though several of the elements driving the story never really convinced me. I’d like to read more of his writing.
** Tim Powers – The Anubis Gates. Utter cheese, but entertaining. I doubt I’ll read more of his books unless I’m desperate though.

*** Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games
** Suzanne Collins – Catching Fire
** Suzanne Collins – Mockingjay
** George MacDonald Fraser – McAuslan. Entertaining for a while but not particularly gripping. A bunch of amusing anecdotes about being in the army shortly after the end of WWII.
*** John Scalzi – Old Man’s War. Great. An interesting reversal of the typical “raw recruits sent out into the great big universe” type of story, with the recruits bing able to benefit from age and wisdom. Also, kind of a nice wish fulfillment for anyone who’s getting older and feeling it.
*** John Scalzi – Ghost Brigades. Pretty good. Sequel to Old Man’s War, but not as novel. More interesting exploration of the same universe.

The first book of the Hunger Games trilogy was great, immediately engrossing, good characters, interesting and strong female lead. The other two were letdowns (though I have to admit I blazed through all of them). The plot becomes tangled and repetitive, the ending is unsatisfying and uncreative, and most importantly Katniss’s failure to ever really become her own person and be a leader is an abject failure of the series.

*** P.G. Wodehouse – The Works of P.G. Wodehouse

Seriously, all I did from late April until early June, books-wise, was plow through this gigantic Wodehouse tome (thank god I didn’t have to carry it around on actual paper). I spent a solid 5-6 weeks on it and am still only 30% finished, and I read fairly quickly. I gave it up not because I didn’t like it but because dear lord that’s a lot of Wodehouse. So, recommended. Now, everyone knows that the jewel in Wodehouse’s crown is Jeeves and Wooster, and this is mostly stuff that isn’t quite that good. On the other hand there are some real gems hidden in this collection. For all their good qualities, the Jeeves books are fundamentally static comedies. Like a sitcom, whatever situation is set up at the beginning in order for hilarity to ensue must be resolved by the end with everything basically back to how it was when it all started. In other words, neither Jeeves nor Bertie ever grows or changes as a character. There is essentially no character development, no growth or change; and so there’s a limit to how compelling these people can be in the long run. Now, I think every piece of Wodehouse I’ve ever read has been of the light comedy type, but there were several in here that involved actual character complexity and development that I really enjoyed. I’ll be returning to this later.

*** Arturo Perez-Reverte – The Flanders Panel
** Arturo Perez-Reverte – The Sun over Breda
*** Philip K. Dick – 11 Science Fiction Stories by Philip K. Dick
*** David Foster Wallace – Oblivion

I actually saw the horrible movie version of The Flanders Panel. It was horrible, though you do get to see Kate Beckinsale’s boobs. The book was significantly better, in that it was entertaining though immediately forgettable. Breda is another of Perez-Reverte’s “Captain Alatriste” books. I liked the first one a lot; this one less so. There’s a lot of “war is miserable” stuff in it, which I usually don’t particularly mind, but this book just didn’t connect for me. I’ll probably keep reading Perez-Reverte and Alatriste if I’m in the mood for entertaining adventure books; he’s generally pretty good.

Hey, old short stories by Philip K. Dick. They were entertaining at the time, though mostly not particularly memorable. I often find “golden age” science fiction a little strange to read because it’s so distinctly of its time in some ways; for example, no one writes about Martians or Moon men any more.

Oblivion alternated between fantastically annoying and thought-provoking. This was my second read; the first time I found it fantastically annoying, evidence I thought that DFW was out of ideas and had crawled up his own meta asshole. I started a review that I never finished. Same thing this time, except a couple of the later stories were good enough to deflate my need to rant about how annoying it was, and I didn’t finish the review. Some day, I will manage to properly review this book. Oh DFW, you wily bastard.

*** Herman Melville – Bartleby the Scrivener, a Story of Wall-Street
** David Sedaris – When You are Engulfed in Flames

Bartleby was my first Melville; I somehow managed to get through high school without reading Moby Dick. It was pretty good; I’m planning on reading more Melville.

I used to think David Sedaris was hilarious and occasionally moving, and I didn’t get a whole lot of either from this book. I don’t know if he’s changed or I have, though I did think he came across more like an entitled schmuck whining about first-world problems than I ever did before. Maybe it’s that now instead of just being a regular entitled American schmuck like the rest of us, he’s now a famous and wealthy schmuck living what sounds like a marvellous life.

*** Patrick O’Brian – The Yellow Admiral
**** Patrick O’Brian – The Hundred Days
**** Patrick O’Brian – Blue at the Mizzen
** Patrick O’Brian – 21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey

I finally made a push to finish the last three books of the Aubrey/Maturin series (21 doesn’t really count, being an unfinished fragment). A number of reviewers have described O’Brian as one of the finest writers in English (up there with Jane Austen), and this series as one of the best and longest-running novels ever written. With that in mind, I was a little worried about having the story feel unfinished, since I knew that O’Brian had died before completing 21 (and, for all I know, had contemplated writing many more). However, whether deliberately or not, Blue at the Mizzen, the last complete book, makes an almost perfect ending to the whole series. The last three books are excellent, and they form a story arc that wraps up in Blue, and that nicely caps the whole series. The overall driver to the story has always been the war with Napoleon; in these books he is exiled to Elba, escapes, and then is finally defeated at Waterloo. Jack’s part of the story has largely centered around his first passion: the British navy and his advancement through the ranks toward admiral, along with his many victories and setbacks. In these books, he first fears that he will be “yellowed” (passed over for promotion) and then, finally, achieves his dream, becoming an admiral and flying his blue pennant from the mizzen. Blue ends with him on his way to lead a squadron as admiral. A central thread in Stephen’s story was always his relationship with Diana. In these books, she dies, he almost loses the will to live from grief, and then he ends up courting Christine Wood. Christine is beautiful and intelligent, and unlike Diana a compassionate and considerate person. A marriage to her would be opposite the tempestuous one he shared with Diana. Blue ends with Stephen still unsure of her answer, but gaining confidence that she will accept as he goes to meet her. I already started rereading the series last year, and imagine I will read these books many times more. O’Brian really is an amazing writer, he’s created a wonderful set of characters, and the series is one of the best and most engrossing I’ve ever read.

*** Leonard Bernstein – The Joy of Music
*** Robert E. Howard – Bran Mak Morn

The Bernstein was very interesting and enjoyable, but I think I benefit more from Bernstein when I can hear him working through the music he’s talking about, as in his lectures on video.

Bran Mak Morn was very good, being full of Picts and Celts and Vikings all battling their way through the British isles. The basic grounding is historical, but from that basis, Howard goes in all kinds of fantastic directions. The storytelling and writing are definitely more grounded and less purple than his Conan books, and I enjoyed most of the stories.

*** Drew Magary – Men with Balls
** Michael Tunison – The Football Fan’s Manifesto

I started reading the football blog Kissing Suzy Kolber a few years ago. It’s really more of a humor blog that takes football as its material than an actual football blog, though you might occasionally learn something about football by accident. Anyway, it’s pretty funny and a couple of the founders have written books, both of which I read this month. Magary’s book is a guidebook for the professional athlete, full of advice about how to manage your fame and fortune. It’s pretty funny, an entertaining way to pass some time, though not really as funny as his best stuff on KSK and Deadspin. Tunison’s book is a guide to being a fan, also funny but with, I think, a serious core — I’m pretty sure he believes in some of his rules and disdains those who don’t. Anyway, I didn’t find his book nearly as funny (again, not as good as his work on the blog) — somewhat predictable humor and some setups with disappointing punchlines.