My Weekly Book

This year the blogging experiment hasn’t gone so well. But that doesn’t mean the reading experiment has necessarily failed too. In fact, a total of 55 books (phew! Just over the total…) were read during the year; some of them comic-strip collections and graphic novels, some read out loud and others downloaded or published in instalments online. In the spirit of looking forwards not backwards, and in ensuring this blog is ready and raring to go for 2009’s weekly book challenge, here are six-word reviews of the entire lot:

Reading challenge 2008

January (7 books)

Pieces of Modesty – Peter O’Donnell (thriller)

Shorter format: our heroine adapts well

The Sandman: A Game of You – Neil Gaiman et al (graphic novel)

Startling classic of graphic novel genre

L is for Lawless – Sue Grafton (crime)

Kinsey is forced outside comfort zone

The Impossible Virgin – Peter O’Donnell (thriller)

Modesty and Willie’s ambitious African adventure

Emma – Jane Austen (classic)

Technical masterpiece is astonishingly contemporary read

Modesty Blaise: The Hell-Makers – Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway (graphic novel)

Social commentary from comic-strip master

Sanditon/The Watsons – Jane Austen (classic)

A poignant insight for completist fans

February (7 books)

Snow Blind – PJ Tracy (thriller)

This duo’s weakest read so far

The Silver Mistress – Peter O’Donnell (thriller)

Nice job of raising Modesty’s stakes

My Own Kind of Freedom – Stephen Brust (sci-fi/Firefly fanfic)

Readable outing changes series’ onscreen rules

Midwinter of the Spirit – Phil Rickman (horror)

Skilful story diminished by author’s moralising

Dragon’s Claw – Peter O’Donnell (thriller)

Entertaining, wildly improbable; saw twist coming

Killing Orders – Sara Paretsky (crime)

Masterful procedural tackles Warshawski’s troubled youth

Last Day in Limbo – Peter O’Donnell (thriller)

Is this Modesty’s toughest-ever challenge?

March (5 books)

Beggars’ Banquet – Ian Rankin (crime)

Patchy story collection not ideal introduction

The Xanadu Talisman – Peter O’Donnell (thriller)

Splendidly-plotted caper examines Modesty’s past

The Night of Morningstar (thriller)

Encroaching modernity does not suit series

Modesty Blaise: The Warlords of Phoenix – Peter O’Donnell, Jim Holdaway and Romero (graphic novel)

New artist propels characters into Orient

Modesty Blaise: Death of a Jester – Peter O’Donnell, Jim Holdaway and Romero (graphic novel)

Modesty gets mediaeval on villains’ asses

April (2 books)

Dead Man’s Handle – Peter O’Donnell (thriller)

Series’ extremest villain – that’s saying something

John Constantine: Hellblazer – Jamie Delano et al (graphic novel)

Must-read classic of underappreciated genre

May (4 books)

The Many-Coloured Land – Julian May (sci-fi)

Overlooked gem fuses sci-fi and fantasy

The Romance of the Forest – Ann Radcliffe (classic)

Quintessential Gothic novel retains immense charm

Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen (classic)

Happy return to favourite Austen novel

Modesty Blaise: The Puppet Master – Peter O’Donnell and Romero (graphic novel)

Meta-adventures: Modesty’s reputation precedes her

June (3 books)

The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton (classic)

Leaves reader ready to slit wrists

The X-Files: Goblins – Charles Grant (sci-fi)

TV tie-in somehow fails to satisfy

The Golden Torc – Julian May (sci-fi)

Seemingly prelapsarian paradise meets dreadful reckoning

July (4 books)

The Non-Born King – Julian May (sci-fi)

Imaginative telling of humanity’s Pliocene origin

How to be a gardener – Alan Titchmarsh (non-fiction)

Engagingly down-to-earth, practical read

Over Sea, Under Stone – Susan Cooper (fantasy)

Perennial children’s classic stands frequent re-reading

The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper (fantasy)

In the fantasy novel top flight

August (4 books)

Greenwitch – Susan Cooper (fantasy)

An interesting direction for this series

The Adversary – Julian May (sci-fi)

Four-volume saga builds to climax

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom – Cory Doctorow (sci-fi)

First novel: it’s dystopian and unsettling

Other People – DJ Taylor and Marcus Berkmann (contemporary fiction)

Authors alternately sketch ‘les types reconnaissables’

September (3 books)

Courduroy Mansions – Alexander McCall Smith (serial novel)

Acceptable anglicisation of Scotland Street novels

Intervention – Julian May (sci-fi)

Epic expands on Pliocene Saga’s themes

Lara’s Book: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider phenomenon – Douglas Coupland (graphic novel)

Fanboy’s tribute: when worlds collide (successfully)

October (5 books)

Going Postal – Terry Pratchett (fantasy)

Reasonable outing, new cast of characters

Thud! – Terry Pratchett (fantasy)

Splendidly on-form Discworld political saga

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents – Terry Pratchett (fantasy)

Impressive imagining of evolved rats’ society

The West Wing: Inside Bartlet’s White House – Keith Topping (non-fiction)

Exhaustive investigations of all individual episodes

Can you crack the Enigma Code? – Richard Belfield (non-fiction)

Fascinating survey of world’s unbroken codes

November (5 books)

Emotional Intelligence in a Week – Jill Dann (non-fiction)

Practical handbook imparting many useful skills

Blink – Malcolm Gladwell (non-fiction)

This psychological survey’s a stimulating read

Making Money – Terry Pratchett (fantasy)

Postal sequel keeps the pace up

Alias: the secret origins of Jessica Jones – Bendis, Gaydos et al (graphic novel)

Penetrating character study of alienated superhero

Rothko (Tate Modern exhibition catalogue) – Briony Fer, David Anfam et al (non-ficiton)

Official record of truly breathtaking show

December (6 books)

Edward de Bono’s Thinking Course – Edward de Bono (non-fiction)

Many useful exercises, overbearing authorial presence

The Oxford Guide to Word Games – Tony Augarde (non-fiction)

Minutely detailed survey, work of reference

Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman (non-fiction)

Groundbreaking study, has now entered mainstream

Working with emotional intelligence – Daniel Goleman (non-fiction)

Lengthy bid to extend Goleman’s franchise

Shakespeare’s Language – Frank Kermode (non-fiction)

Insightful study, provides food for thought

The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowiecki (non-fiction)

Attempt to analyse the crowdsourcing phenomenon

Breakdown by genre:

• Non-fiction: 12 titles
• Thrillers: 9 titles
• Graphic novels: 8 titles
• Sci-fi: 8 titles
• Classic: 5 titles
• Fantasy: 7 titles
• Crime: 3 titles
• Contemporary: 2 titles
• Horror: 1 title

Tags: 2008 reading challenge, genres, six-word reviews

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