CHALLENGE 15 YEAR-END LISTS
My Best Of 2009
may be spoilerish if you're not up-to-date with Chuck, Greek, Lost and How I Met Your Mother.

1. Sweetheart - Chelsea Cain
2. Evil At Heart - Chelsea Cain
3. Give Up the Ghost - Megan Crewe
4. Mordred's Curse - Ian McDowell
5. Born Yesterday - Garson Kanin
6. Princess of the Midnight Ball - Jessica Day George
7. Scarlet Moon - Debbie Viguie
8. Heartsick - Chelsea Cain
9. Just a Geek - Wil Wheaton
10. David Inside Out - Lee Bantle
11. Merlin: The Magic Begins - Jacqueline Rayner
12. Whatever Happened To the Caped Crusader? - Neil Gaiman
13. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

CHALLENGE #15: YEAR END LIST
TV in 2009
(I tried to keep the spoilers low, but I guess there are some, if you're strict.)




Please find it here @ lizard_lair.

Finally: The Top 10!



>All I want for New Year...

I'm sorry about the latest pic-spam. Tinypic was being a bitch, and for some reason removed all the pictures. I fixed it though, so you can check it out now, and leave me your feedback :)

The fake-cuts lead to the reviews and details :)

Keeper of the Bride by Tess Gerritsen
The House of God by Samuel Shem
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men against the Sea by Sebastian Junger
Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest by Judy and Tashi Tenzing
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Love Overboard by Janet Evanovich
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown


Cross-posted like crazy, i.e. to [Bad username: 50bookchallenge> & <lj user=].

CHALLENGE 14 END OF THE DECADE
Britney Spears "The Singles Collection" (2000-2009)


Britney Spears : The Girl of the Decade

The Last Unicorn (1968)
Written by: Peter S. Beagle
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 288 (Hardcover)

The premise: ganked from Barnes & Noble: THE LAST UNICORN is a tearful tale of the last existing unicorn's journey out of her familiar forest to save the species. On the way she encounters evil magic, dark castles, cursed towns, and a particularly interesting sea shore. The character's in this magical story invite you to learn with them, while Peter S. Beagle poetic prose are something to remember as he tells a story of bravery and courage. Do love, freedom, and happiness prevail? Or will we forever live in fear in a world without unicorns?

My Rating

Must Have: The Last Unicorn is a beautiful story, and considering the fact the book was written back in 1968, I'd say Beagle's style olds up well. I'm glad I finally got this fantasy classic under my belt, and even better was finally being able to read the sequel, "Two Hearts," right after the book itself. I'd already read the story when it came out in the Oct/Nov 2005 issue of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, but there were a lot of little things I missed that time because I hadn't read The Last Unicorn, so to read them back-to-back? Priceless. Beagle knows how to weave the emotional heart into a story, and I love him for that. Anyone who dares call him or herself a fantasy fan cannot continue to do so without reading The Last Unicorn and it's sequel. I personally can't wait to read more from this author, as his style has definitely evolved between these two pieces, and it's gotten better when it was already good to begin with.

In terms of "Two Hearts," my edition of The Last Unicorn has it in it (as well as a very interesting interview with the author: did you know he HATED this book for a very long time?), and if you're interested in tracking this hardcover edition down, the ISBN is 9780760783740. I don't know if later editions also have the novella and interview, but if you can get your hands on them, they're worth reading. But you can also find "Two Hearts" in Beagle's The Line Between, which is a collection of his short stories, so don't worry if you can't find an edition of The Last Unicorn that has the short in it. But do yourself a favor and read the two back-to-back. Trust me, it's a lovely experience.

Review style: definite spoilers. I mean, this is such a classic anyway that it's hard to even CALL details of this book spoilers, because you know the story or you don't. If you don't, and you really want to go into this story without knowing what happens, then there's no need to click the cut below, which takes you to the discussion in my LJ. If you've read it though, hop on over! As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Peter S. Beagle's THE LAST UNICORN

Happy Reading!

Book club selections @ calico_reaction. Hop on over! We'd love to have you!

January: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
February: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

CHALLENGE 15 YEAR-END LISTS
best of 2009 tv shows



HERE @ longmorrow

DID EVERYONE WATCH DOC ROE IN DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS? YES? AHAHAHA.

More Yuletide recs, wahey!
( A Knight's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Faking It, Glee, Hamlet, Hot Fuzz, The IT Crowd, Mirrormask, The Odyssey, The Royal Tenenbaums, State of Play, Sufjan Stevens, Temeraire, Twelfth Night, Wild Child )

CHALLENGE 14 END OF THE DECADE
ten years of fantastic films.
spoilers, i guess, for a variety of films.

( a decade's worth of fantasy. )

[12] Zachary Levi icons
[8] The Big Bang Theory icons
[1] James Kyson Lee icon
[1] Sendhil Ramamurthy icon
[5] Masi Oka icons
[10] Ali Larter icons
[15] Milo Ventimiglia icons

Preview:


MORE @ atomicbeauty_nb

 

72 & 73. 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels & 100 Must-Read Crime Novels - Nick Rennison et al. 320 pages and 320 pages (4/5 stars)

I’ve read a lot of science fiction, so imagine my surprise when this list had many books I’ve never even heard of, much less read! Many of the premises seemed excellent, so I’ll slowly but surely make my way through this list (and the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list, and the BBC’s 100 best books, and the Guardian’s list of 1000 books…I think I have an addiction to book lists). It’s amazing to see how imaginative people have been through the years, and science fiction provides such a good medium to explore potential futures. I’ve read perhaps 20% of this list.

I’ve not read a lot of crime novels, so I thought this would be a good place to start. I’ve read some Raymond Chandler and a couple of the other big names, but I enjoy the clever plots and hidden clues embedded in mysteries, so I will begin to read more of them. What struck me as I read this collection was how versatile the genre of crime novels are. There are medieval mysteries, ones set in countries all over the world or based on well-known cities. There are detectives that are black, white, female, straight, gay (although, like the genre of SF, it’s still more whitewashed than it should be). I must say, though, that I’m pleased to see that none of the detectives on this list are quite like the one in my slowly emerging novel.

I really like the layout of these books. Each entry says when the book was written and what nationality the author one. They generally open with a brief summary of the plot, and then analyze what works in the novel, what makes it unique, and how it contributed to the genre.

These books (there’s also another one that focuses on classics that I’ve already read and reviewed here), are a great starting point if you want to be like me and read every good book ever written.

(P.S. Hi there, I like new friends)

Hi All,

The editors of the New York Times Book Review recently released their annual list of the best books of 2009. You can view it here, along with brief descriptions of each book: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-3859-Hartford-Books-Examiner~y2009m12d31-NY-Times.

How does their list compare to yours?

John