one monkey typing

What I read in 2019, in roughly chronological order.
Some of these are quite short but some are long, In the end I had 112 books and 35922 pages, both an all-time high for me.
These are all on my goodreads "read" list in more detail with ratings and an occasional note.

• Lies Sleeping (Ben Aaronovich, Peter Grant, #7)
  
• How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems (Randall Monroe)
  
• The Book of the Year 2017 (QI elves)
  
• Randomize (Andy Weir)
  
• A Plague of Giants (Kevin Hearne Seven Kennings, #1)
  
• All Systems Red (Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
  
• Wyrd Sisters (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #6; Witches #2)
  
• Artificial Condition (Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
  
• Rogue Protocol (Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
  
• Guards! Guards! (Terry Pratchett)
  
• Early Riser (Jasper Fforde)
  
• Exit Strategy (Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries, #4)
  
• Valence (Jennifer Foehner Wells, Confluence, #4)
  
• Eric (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #9)
  
• Pyramids (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #7)
  
• Witches Abroad (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #12)
  
• Equal Rites (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #3)
  
• Reaper Man (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #11)
  
• Moving Pictures (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #10)
  
• Men at Arms (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #15; City Watch #2)
  
• Lords And Ladies (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #14)
  
• Small Gods (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #13)
  
• Soul Music (Terry Pratchett, Discworld #16)
  
• Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
  
• Feet of Clay (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #19)
  
• Interesting Times (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #17)
  
• Maskerade (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #18)
  
• Record of a Spaceborn Few (Becky Chambers, Wayfarers, #3)
  
• Hogfather (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #20)
  
• The Consuming Fire (John Scalzi, The Interdependency, #2)
  
• Jingo (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #21)
  
• The Labyrinth Index (Charles Stross, Laundry Files, #9)
  
• Carpe Jugulum (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #23)
  
• The Last Continent (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #22)
  
• Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds (Greg Milner)
  
• The Truth (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #25)
  
• The Fifth Elephant (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #24)
  
• The Last Hero (Terry Pratchett)
  
• Thief of Time (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #26)
  
• The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #28)
  
• Night Watch (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #29)
  
• The Wee Free Men (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #30)
  
• Monstrous Regiment (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #31)
  
• Home (Nnedi Okorafor, Binti, #2)
  
• The Night Masquerade (Nnedi Okorafor, Binti #3)
  
• Going Postal (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #33)
  
• A Hat Full of Sky (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #32)
  
• Thud! (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #34)
  
• Wintersmith (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #35)
  
• Making Money (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #36)
  
• Tiamat's Wrath (James Corey, The Expanse, #8)
  
• Ancestral Night (Elizabeth Bear, White Space, #1)
  
• Right Ho, Jeeves (PG Wodehouse, Jeeves, #6)
  
• Unseen Academicals (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #37)
  
• A Rare Book of Cunning Device (Ben Aaronovich, Peter Grant, #6.5)
  
• Terminal Uprising (Jim C. Hines, Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse #2)
  
• Vanguard (Jack Campbell, The Genesis Fleet, #1)
  
• I Shall Wear Midnight (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #38)
  
• The Last Dragonslayer (Jasper Fforde, The Last Dragonslayer, #1)
  
• Snuff (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #39)
  
• Backpacker The Complete Guide to Backpacking: Field-Tested Gear, Advice, and Know-How for the Trail
  
• Raising Steam (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #40)
  
• The Shepherd's Crown (Terry Pratchett, Discworld, #41; Tiffany Aching, #5)
  
• The Science of Discworld (Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld, #1)
  
• Darwin's Watch (Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld, #3)
  
• The Globe (Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld, #2)
  
• Ascendant (Jack Campbell, The Genesis Fleet, #2)
  
• Atmosphæra Incognita (Neal Stephenson)
  
• Triumphant (Jack Campbell, The Genesis Fleet, #3)
  
• Judgement Day (Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld, #4)
  
• Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It (Adam Savage)
  
• Where the Hell is Tesla? (Rob Dircks)
  
• Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery (Scott Kelly)
  
• The Calculating Stars (Mary Robinette Kowal, Lady Astronaut, #1)
  
• The Book of the Year 2018: Your Definitive Guide to the World’s Weirdest News (QI elves)
  
• The Fated Sky (Mary Robinette Kowal, Lady Astronaut, #2)
  
• Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik)
  
• The Management Style of the Supreme Beings (Tom Holt)
  
• Leave it to Jeeves (PG Wodehouse)
  
• Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology, #2)
  
• Trail of Lightning (Rebecca Roanhorse, The Sixth World, #1)
  
• Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest (PG Wodehouse)
  
• Just One Damned Thing After Another (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #1)
  
• A Symphony of Echoes (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #2)
  
• Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms (Hannah Fry)
  
• The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America (Bill Bryson)
  
• Aftershocks (Marko Kloos, The Palladium Wars, #1)
  
• A Second Chance (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #3)
  
• Notes from a Small Island (Bill Bryson)
  
• No Country for Old Gnomes (Delilah S Dawson, The Tales of Pell, #2)
  
• To Be Taught, If Fortunate (Becky Chambers)
  
• A Trail Through Time (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #4)
  
• No Time Like the Past (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #5)
  
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #6)
  
• Lies, Damned Lies, and History (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #7)
  
• And the Rest is History (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary’s, #8)
  
• Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (David W. Blight)
  
• Roman Holiday (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's #3.5)
  
• Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #6.5)
  
• The Very First Damned Thing (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #0.5)
  
• When a Child is Born (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's #2.5)
  
• My Name is Markham (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #7.6)
  
• Christmas Present (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's #4.5)
  
• The Great St Mary's Day Out (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #7.5)
  
• A Perfect Storm (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #8.5)
  
• Christmas Past (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #8.6)
  
• The Callahan Touch (Spider Robinson, Mary's Place #1, Callahan's #6)
  
• The Gateway Trip (Frederik Pohl, Heechee Saga, #5)
  
• An Argumentation of Historians (Jodi Taylor, The Chronicles of St Mary's, #9)
  
• Brief Cases (Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files, #15.1)

I lowered my goal to 30 books this year since I want to accomplish other things. As of September I'm past that goal, but I'm no longer reading to reach a goal, but rather for pleasure, which I think is the point anyway.

• 2018-07-09 • ★★★★★ The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson [2]
  
• 2018-07-15 • ★★★★☆ The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye by Stieg Larsson [2]
  
• 2018-07-20 • ★★★☆☆ Voyagers by Ben Bova [2]
  
• 2018-07-30 • ★★★☆☆ Voyagers II by Ben Bova [2]
  
• 2018-08-25 • ★★★☆☆ The Maze Runner by James Dashner [2]
  
• 2018-09-03 • ★★★☆☆ The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone [1]
  
• 2018-09-09 • ★★☆☆☆ The Scorch Trials by James Dashner [2]
  
• 2018-09-09 • ★★★★☆ Interworld by Neil Gaiman [2]
  
• 2018-09-16 • ★★★☆☆ The Silver Dream by Neil Gaiman [2]
  
• 2018-09-22 • ★★★★☆ Scourged by Kevin Hearne [1]
  
• 2018-09-23 • ★★★★☆ Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman [2]
  
• 2018-09-30 • ★★★★★ The Dispatcher by John Scalzi [2]
  
• 2018-10-10 • ★★★★☆ Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett [2]
  
• 2018-10-20 • ★★★☆☆ The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (re-read) [2]
  
• 2018-10-23 • ★★★★☆ The Druid Gene [aka Inheritance] by Jennifer Foehner Wells [2]
  
• 2018-11-04 • ★★★★☆ Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey [1]
  
• 2018-12-16 • ★★★★☆ Uncompromising Honor by David Weber [2]
  
• 2018-12-26 • ★★★★☆ Mort by Terry Pratchett [2]
  

2018-12-28 • ★★★★☆ Sourcery by Terry Pratchett [2]
Total to date Jul-Dec 2018
ebooks: 3
audiobooks: 16
total: 19

The Trade of Queens by Charles Stross

★★★★☆

I was pretty concerned after reading some of the "it doesn't end it just stops" reviews. I like the series and was hoping it wasn't like that.

IMO it wasn't. It's an entirely legitimate ending, I think well written, the characters remained true, and as we now know, the story continues in Empire Games.

I was wondering why Empire Games wasn't just book 7 (or 4, whatever) in Merchant Princes, but having read this and the synopsis of EG, I see why.

Anyway a good book in the series, a good ending to this arc.

( spoiler )

★★★☆☆

This one was A LOT better than the last book. Good stuff happening. The story is moving along well. On to the next book. ALMOST 4 stars, but let's leave room for the next one to get even better. I doubt this series will get to 5, though 4 is just fine.

Kudos for my library for having this entire series available in audiobook!

by Charles Stross

★★★★☆

Pretty interesting. Maybe 3.5 actually, but what the heck. The story continues, this is a significant step up from the first book IMO. Glad that the series got some legs, because the premise has a lot of promise but the beginning was a bit shaky, but that's often the case.

I started 2016 making a special push to get more books read that year, and especially to try to get into more genres and more non-fiction. I'm pretty pleased with the results. At the end of the year I had 69 books finished (27,500 pages), which is more than any year other than 2008. In 2008 I was happily consuming Discworld, Honor Harrington and The Serrano Legacy series on audiobook while bicycle commuting, so that alone is a huge volume.

Now that I'm doing the wrap-up, I see that the book count is somewhat inflated because Goodreads is counting the short stories as well. I didn't count them below. So perhaps 65 is a more accurate count, or perhaps 65.5.

Meanwhile, every time I finish a book and skip back to the main page on the Kindle to see what to read next, I'm faced with a hard choice. I already have a dozen books that I want to read next, and more that would be in the same boat but I haven't loaded them yet. I guess it's a good problem to have.

BTW I'd be happy to have more Goodreads friends. This is me on Goodreads

Jan-Jun detail
Jul-Dec detail

Total to date Jan-Jun 2016:
ebooks: 18
audio: 14
total: 32

Total to date Jul-Dec 2016:
ebooks: 15
audio: 18
total: 33

Overall 2016
ebooks: 33
Audio: 32
Total: 65

[1] eBook
[2] Audiobook

Cress by Marissa Meyer

★★★★☆

Excellent book in the saga. Very interesting story, good characters. Things don't always make total sense, but WTH it's fun.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

★★★☆☆

Interesting. Not IMO fantastic, but definitely a good start to a series. It turns into a page turner in the last few chapters. Before that, it seems a bit slow.

Vicious Circle by Mike Carey

★★★★☆

In very much the same noir/urban fantasy vein as the first book, I liked this even more. Both have kept me guessing for almost the entire book which I love.
It's worth mentioning, like the first book, this is not a book for kids in any way. There is some violent and somewhat disturbing stuff in here.

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

★★★★☆

Very interesting world. Funny, yet dark. Not for kids. Interested to read more.