100 Books in 366 Days - January Recap

January has come and gone.  As I write this, I am in the late hours of the 31st waiting for the first.

As of the end of January, I have completed 16 books towards my goal of 100 books in 366 days (or, if you’re following my Goodreads.com count, 114 books in 366 days… it does not distinguish between books and graphic novels).

The big surprises of the month had to be One For The Money by Janet Evanovich and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I picked both up because of upcoming movie versions of both (and, for The Hunger Games, an excessive amount of praise from co-workers who read it).  Neither one is really the type of book that I would normally pick up for various reasons.  But I was very pleased with reading both, even to the point of spending a few late nights reading both.  The sequels of both are already on my Nook wish list.

Also surprising was Changes by Jim Butcher.  The issue with this book was not that it was bad or anything.  I had read all of Butcher’s Harry Dresden books (I still say the weakest is the first one, Storm Front).  The problem I had with this book was that I unfortunately read the back cover of his latest Dresden book, Ghost Story, which gives away the ending of this book.  If you are reading this series, DO NOT READ THE BACK COVER OF GHOST STORY!  In spite of this foreknowledge, I was completely drawn into this book.

The disappointment of the month would be The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt.  It isn’t that it is a bad book.  The problem is that it throws a lot of concepts at you all at once and forces you to wade through them to keep the story clear.  I found myself getting lost often trying to keep track of not only the main characters, but also who (and what) they encounter along the way.

Now that January is over, I’ll be pressing on with my task, rolling over the books I have yet to finish into this month.  Already started are Hunt Among the Killers of Men, the fifth book in the Gabriel Hunt pulp adventure series, along with a return to Piers Anthony’s world of Xanth with The Source of Magic, along with Steppe, another Anthony novel.

The January Recap

1. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison
2. Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter by Josh Gates
3. Geek Wisdom: The Sacred Teachings of Nerd Culture edited by Stephen H. Segal
4. It Was Over When…: Tales of Romantic Dead Ends by Robert Elder
5. The Monster Hunters’ Survival Guide by John Paul Russ
6. Doctor Who: Dead of Winter by James Goss
7. Doctor No by Ian Fleming
8. Click! Cat Training System by Karen Pryor
9. The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
10. The Stupidest Things Ever Said Book of Top Ten Lists by Kathryn Petras
11. One For the Money by Janet Evanovich
12. Armchair Reader Goes Hollywood
13. Google+ For Dummies by Jesse Stay
14. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
15. Changes by Jim Butcher
16. Don’t You Believe It! by Herb Reich

Related articles

• January 2012: Books (ravindrasinghal.wordpress.com)
• What to Read Next: Books Read the 2nd Half of 2011 (kimwoodbridge.com)
• 26/366, Books I have borrowed (graphicpips.wordpress.com)

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