clong's 50 book challenge for 2021

1. Cetaganda by LMB - continuing to reread early Vorkosigan books in anticipation of reading some new-to-me books that I recently picked up at the used book store. This one felt like the weakest book in the series, second time around.

2. Exhalation by Ted Chiang - A distinctive and important voice, but I didn't love this as much as his first collection.

3. Memory by LMB - this was the first book of the series for me, many years ago. I enjoyed it more this time around, with context. Good book.

4. The Day of Creation by J.G. Ballard - this one hearkened back to Ballard's early novels like The Drowned World and The Crystal World.

5. Komarr by LMB - fantastic.

6. Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute - I am participating in a Leadership Coaching Certificate program through UofR's Warner School of Education so I'll be reading a fair amount of management and leadership books for the next few months. This was the first and, while I can see a grain of truth in the basic premise of the book, the delivery was almost comically bad.

7. The Way of Kings by Brian Sanderson - reread this massive tome in preparation for book 4. Slow to develop but very satisfying once it all comes together.

8. A Civil Campaign by LMB - the funniest of the Vorkosigan novels.

9. Deep Change by Robert E Quinn - another leadership book... I didn't hate this one, although it felt neither universal nor particularly relevant to me and my organization.

10. Diplomatic Immunity by LMB - entertaining but not up there with her best.

11. Leadership Agility by Joiner and JOsephs - a useful model to frame thinking about leadership styles, but I disagreed with a couple of the authors' key underlying assumptions.

12. Making a World of Difference: Personal Leadership by Schaetti, Ramsey, and Watanabe - not my cup of tea.

13. Oathbringer by Brian Sanderson - second time around I still think this is less compelling that the first two books of the series.

14. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by LMB - Reasonably entertaining in a cozy sort of way... but not as funny or exciting or satisfying as the earlier books in the series.

15. Rhythm of War by Brian Sanderson - a long slog but worth the effort. More nuanced and ultimately more satisfying than book 3.

16. Shadowline by Glen Cook - I have liked just about everything I've read from this author, but this one left me cold. A potentially interesting universe and a potentially interesting storyline, but I found nothing to like about any of the characters. I already bought books 2 & 3 of the series, so I'll get to them at some point and hope for better things.

17. Star's End and 18. Starfishers by Glen Cook - better than a very disappointing first book to this trilogy, but that's not saying much.

19. Leviathan Wakes, 20. Caliban's War, 21. Abaddon's Gate, 22. Cibola Burn and 23. Nemesis Games by James Corey - after watching and enjoying the Amazon Prime series I decided to read the books. Which are really quite good. The amazon series makes some changes, but overall remains quite faithful to the books.

24. The Coming of the Terrans by Leigh Brackett - I loved the first story in this collection (think Edgar Rice Burroughs meets HP Lovecraft), and the other four were reasonably entertaining as well.

25. Collision Course by Barrington Bayley - interesting ideas, but not a great story.

26. The Star Virus by Barrington Bayley - I seem to have liked this more than most...almost a Delaneyesque vibe.

27. Masks of Chaos by John Jakes - An somewhat promising premise that quickly descends into drivel.

28. Someplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint - I didn't enjoy this asuch as I had expected to.

29. The Three Electroknights by Stanislaw Lem - four quick tales along the lines of The Cyberiad.

30. Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon - Not like any other book I've ever read. Stunning.

31. Beetle in the Anthill by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky - recently found this rare novel at a used book store in Maine. I love the Strugatsky brothers, but this one isn't amongst their best.

32. Annihilation Factor by Barrington Bayley - a reasonably entertaining and representative Bayley short novel.

33. Highwood by Neal Barrett Jr - a reasonably promising start but a truly awful ending.

34. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu - a distinctive voice that combines interesting history and culture with a compelling storyline.

35. The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson -. Quite good. But different from the Netflix series.

>22 clong: Interesting. I am a big fan of the TV series. How are the books different?

23. The books are told in first person from Walt's POV so we hear an inner dialogue that wasn't there on tv. His Vietnam experience is front and center and Martha's place in his mental and emotional state is less prominent and quite different. Vic and Branch's characters also quite different (from this first book, anyway). I liked the tv series quite a bit, and I liked this book quite bit as well even though it is different.

>24 clong: Nice. Got it. Sometimes different can be fine if both versions are good and internally consistent.

36. Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham - This aspired to enlightenment, but didn't get there. My least favorite Wyndham novel to date

37. Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link - this may well be the greatest short story collection I have ever read. This first five stories are great, and the rest are even better.

38. Bedrooms Have Windows by A.A. Fair - fast paced and fun.

39. This Census-Taker by China Mieville - I admire the audacity of an author who never plays it safe, but this one didn't do much for me.

40. Gather, Darkness by Fritz Leiber - The first half was promising but the second half failed to live up to the promise. I might have appreciated it more if I had previously read the Heinlein novel it (I gather) satirizes.

41. Death without Company by Craig Johnson - I thought this was a fairly big let-down after a very good first book of the series.

42. Dreaming in Smoke by Tricia Sullivan - I seem to have liked this more than many, although the ending felt a bit too easy.

43...

43. Carve the Sky by Alexander Jablokov - a bit of a mixed bag

44. Ringworld by Larry Niven - revisiting this after many years... If you look at this as a book about Louis Wu's adventures I can see many things to quibble about, but if you look at it as an exploration of hubris it's pretty damn good.

45. The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven - interesting engineering concepts but more or less pointless.