Month 14: Why must we wait?

Month 14 of 260 (5.38 percent)

Size of list: 82,256 pages (5.8 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 7,819 (9.51 percent)

H-list: 2,096/22,674 (9.24 percent)

N-list: 2,670/35,009 (7.39 percent)

O-list: 3,053/23,466 (13.01 percent)

Reading: Fool's Errand, The Big Time

This has been a terrible month for reading. I could list off reasons: a wave of sickness, having relatives visit for two of the last four weeks, continued work on the new house. Really, though, the reason is that I got a new console and have been playing an MMO. Video games are the enemy of reading.

My intention is to start each year (and each midyear) with a Wheel of Time volume until it's done. In this case, because I'm still plugging away at Fool's Errand, I restarted The Big Time on my phone, because it's short and it's a Hugo winner. I'm a little more than halfway through, and I kind of hate it, but I did just read a chapter that made for interesting concepts, but why did we have to wait until halfway through? Fool's Errand, too, introduced a twist two-thirds of the way through that introduces interesting concepts (or, actually, fleshes out a concept developed in an earlier book) that makes me wish it had come up earlier, to be explored more. (It's the first in a trilogy, so maybe it is being saved.)

Onward! To finish books!

Month 13 / Year 1

Month 13 of 260 (5 percent)

Size of list: 82,256 pages (5.8 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 7,556 (9.19 percent)

H-list: 2,027/22,674 (8.94 percent)

N-list: 2,670/35,009 (7.39 percent)

O-list: 2,859/23,466 (12.18 percent)

Finished: The Name of the Wind

Reading: Fool's Errand

Added: A Wise Man's Fear

One year down! I had hoped to be 10 percent into the plan by the end of the year, but I did not quite make it. Stuff happened this year, and this month we bought a house and moved, so that took up a lot of time. I didn't even finish my pre-made list for the year; I'm still only half-done with Fool's Errand. But I bought a house and moved, and we hope that will never happen again, so I have 19 years to make up for it.

The Name of the Wind was a fantastic, enjoyable, but meaningless, book. I added the sequel, A Wise Man's Fear, and I'm sure I'll add the third book (when it comes out). The magic system is interesting in that it has the trappings of something internally consistent, and that would act like magic would, sort of. And the relationships with friends and rivals and contacts is interesting. It's not revolutionary, it's not profound, it's just a joy to read.

I haven't touched The Big Time in months, so I decided to take the pages so far away and restart it. It's short, it deserves a blitz. I'll read it on my phone while finishing Fool's Errand in print, before starting the next Wheel of Time on my phone. 

Month 12: Interesting vs. well-written

Month 12 of 260 (4.62 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 7,025 (8.66 percent)

H-list: 2,040/22,674 (9.00 percent)

N-list: 2,506/35,009 (7.16 percent)

O-list: 2,492/23,466 (10.62 percent)

Finished: Dragon War

Reading: The Name of the Wind

The only book I finished this month is Dragon War, the third volume of a trilogy set in the D&D world of Eberron. I didn't enjoy the story all that much; what I liked was a few of the characters, particularly the changeling and the warforged, who were different enough from humans that it was interesting to read about them. There was one sentence near the end about one character's magical weapon that made me want to read more about that sword. The other characters, the humans and elves, were less interesting, which is a shame because that includes the two main characters. I kind of want to go read other Eberron books, and it makes me more interested in D&D books that focus on the less-common races. I'm already planning on reading Erin Evans' book about tieflings, so maybe I'll just go there.

I'm mostly through The Name of the Wind, which is marvelous but also standard. It reminds me of Robin Hobb's Assassin series, in that it's a first-person account of a young boy who grows to be a legend, but I enjoy it a lot more. I don't think it's because of the character; it has something to do with the setting, for sure; but it's mainly that the writing is just so smooth. It's not a grind to read, as Hobb can sometimes be (especially on the long road trip of Assassin's Quest); there's always something happening even while the long-term story is still developing. But, like I say, it's standard; so far it's typical western fantasy, with no big thought-provoking questions. So far. 

Month 11

Month 11 of 260 (4.23 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 6,297 (7.76 percent)

H-list: 2,040/22,674 (9.00 percent)

N-list: 2,048/35,009 (5.85 percent)

O-list: 2,209/23,466 (9.41 percent)

Finished: Speaker for the Dead, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft

Reading: Dragon War, The Big Time

This was another month in which my personal life interfered with my reading time. In this case, my family both hired a lawyer and I acted like a lawyer to push for getting my nephew, who is back in foster care, out of stranger care (although they were really great foster parents!) and back with us. That took too much headspace.

Speaker for the Dead, the 1987 Hugo winner, is both a fantastic example of the form and of a great story. It started with a chapter that was almost a side story, about the effects of traveling at relativistic speeds while society goes on, and what that can do to a family when one travels and the other stays behind. Then there was the main story, about contact with aliens and the relationship between colonies and empires and the personal relationships of a family learning its secrets. 

The Lovecraft collection, of which I read the final third this month, was dominated by The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, one of the most important Lovecraft novels, and Through the Gates of the Silver Key. I liked that the latter continued Dreamlands/Randolph Carter threads, and Ward had some interesting concepts but I found it difficult to follow the story in the climactic section (possibly in part because of the aforementioned preoccupation with real-life issues). 

I've picked up The Big Time, which isn't on my list for this year, but I had it on my phone; I've read one chapter and kind of bounced hard off it because of the casual treatment of rape and domestic abuse. I'm hoping it'll get better as I go. 

I'd like to get to 10 percent done by the end of the year, and I don't think that's going to happen, but I'll continue to push.

Month 10

Month 10 of 260 (3.85 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 5,832 (7.19 percent)

H-list: 1,828/22,674 (8.06 percent)

N-list: 1,864/35,009 (5.32 percent)

O-list: 2,140/23,466 (9.12 percent)

Finished: The Great Hunt, A Trip to the Stars

Reading: Speaker for the Dead, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft

I had read The Great Hunt, the second volume of The Wheel of Time, before. I found this time that I remembered almost none of what I had read the first time; I remembered the invasion of the Seanchan and the damane, and that was it. In the end, it felt like that was the only part that moved the story forward, but now I'm looking forward to seeing if something happens with Selene in the later books.

A Trip to the Stars is one of my wife's favorite books, and I liked it quite a lot. It's firmly in the camp of magical realism, narrated alternately by two characters who are separated early in the book but whose contacts overlap as the author draws out their webs. Mala spends some time on Perdido Street, so I'm going to put Perdido Street Station on my list for next year.

I also made progress in Lovecraft, reading one long story, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. It was about 50 percent longer than it needed to be; the ending was interesting, but had nothing to do with the middle. But, it's the early stuff, and he gets better. It is fun to read the stories about the things in the Mythos card game, which I played a decade ago.

Month 9: Sociopolitics

Month 9 of 260 (3.46 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 5,152 (6.35 percent)

H-list: 1,645/22,674 (7.26 percent)

N-list: 1,592/35,009 (4.55 percent)

O-list: 1,915/23,466 (8.16 percent)

Finished: The Dispossessed, Double Star

Reading: The Great Hunt, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft, A Trip to the Stars

This was a pretty great month for my reading. I got in more than 1,000 pages this month, a rate that (if I could keep it up, which I can't) would pretty much knock all these off in 10 years, instead of 20. 

I divided the Hugo winners into three eras, and am going through the eras mostly chronologically. The big exception to that is The Dispossessed, which my spreadsheet tells me I would get to around 2032, but I read it now because my friend Katie recommended it.

I suspect my reaction to The Dispossessed would be different if I read it 20-to-25 years ago, when I was younger and hadn't recently taught political science and hadn't read Capital in the 21st Century. It brought me no insights into the value of capitalism or anarchism or materialism or asceticism. The story is about a man who grew up on a moon, in an anarchistic society founded by exiles from the planet, going to visit the planet. It was an interesting book about someone trying to do work, to increase knowledge, for the sake of it, and how systems reward people who focus on the system. The structure, alternating between the time before he left and the time after, was interesting. It was good but not mind-blowing, but I suspect the mood and tone will stick in my head for a long time.

Double Star was an interesting book. An actor is pressed into doubling for a politician, sort of like the movie Dave or any number of other stories, only the politician is prominent but not the actual leader, and there are Martians. The science fiction parts, about a multiplanetary empire and meeting with Martians, weren't all that interesting. The later parts, though, were about carrying out the act of being a politician, and I found that engaging. And it's Heinlein, and Heinlein can write a story.

I read a bunch of short stories, mostly very short, from the Lovecraft collection. They were okay, interesting but not great. It was all pretty early in his career, though, and his work is supposed to get better as it goes.

Month 8: Reconsideration

Month 8 of 260 (3.08 percent)

Size of list: 80,694 pages (3.7 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 4,192 (5.19 percent)

H-list: 1,285/22,219 (5.78 percent)

N-list: 1,266/35,009 (3.25 percent)

O-list: 1,641/23,466 (6.99 percent)

Finished: none

Reading: The Dispossessed, The Great Hunt, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft (no progress this month)

Added: Labyrinth of Evil
Removed: The Courtship of Princess Leia

On the one hand, this is about books, not my life. On the other hand, it's a 20-year record. So I'll note a couple things for perspective: just before this month began, my dad died; just as this month ends, our foster baby went back to his birth mother. This month's anemic reading performance was influenced by two other major factors: I spent a lot of time reading the Hugo nominees for best novella (which was an amazing experience), and (and I wonder how this will look in 19 years) this is the month Pokemon Go came out.

So, not making any progress, the real significance is that last month I added a book, and this month I removed it. I decided that The Courtship of Princess Leia, a Star Wars book that directly follows the Wraith Squadron arc of the X-Wing series, isn't worth it. It's reportedly not good. In exchange, I added a Star Wars book that is reportedly good. This seems like a minor change, but it's king of a big deal for me to allow myself to take back adding a book. I wonder if, in the future, I'll dump a book that started out on the plan. An O-List book would be less a big deal than an N-List book; an H-List book is unthinkable to me now.