Best of 2007

Okay, yeah... this post is running late, but it's finished now:

These are what I consider to be the best of my 2007 Book List. I have attempted to exclude things I was rereading (but may have failed wherever I failed to note such in my origianl entry). Entries are in the order read and not rated within the list or seperated by genre, reality, or style.

Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip

The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block

Getting Wet: Adventure in the Japanese Bath by Eric Talmadge

The Elephants of Posnan by Orson Scott Card

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

Widdershins by Charles De Lint

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

The Privilage of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (and the following volumes)

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham, etc.

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (and the following volumes)

Libaries: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles

Orphans of Chaos; Fugitives of Chaos; Titans of Chaos by John C. Wright

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

Goodbye, 2008.

214. Heroes, Vol. 1. (great fun, even if you watch the show, and even if you don't.)

199. Blood Alone 4

200.Pattern Recognition by William Gibson (Some of the best science fiction I've read in years.)

201. (?)

202. The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic by Darby Penny & Peter Stastney. Photos by Lisa Rinzler. (Very interesting, and depressing.)

203. Quakeland by Francesca Lia Block (Not Block's very best, but still wonderful in it's own way.)

204. Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (re)

205. Searching For Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (re)

206. Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (re)

207. 500 Pendants & Lockets: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Adornments, edited by Marthe Le Van, etc. (Wicked lovely)

208. Midsummer Snowballs by Andy Goldsworthy

209. The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley (re) (absolutely a classic.)

210. 360 Paris by Nick Wood

211. At Home With Books: How Booklovers Live With and Care for Their Libraries by Estelle Ellis (library-dreams)

212. Under Antarctic Ice: the Photographs of Norbert Wu (Gorgeous)

213. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (Fantastic!)

Who loves Edward Gorey?

187. Inked: 42 people, 42 stories. By Carey Hart

188. The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey

189. Donald & the ... by Peter F. Neumeyer & Edward Gorey

190. The Iron Tonic: Or a Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley by Edward Gorey

191. The Object-Lesson by Edward Gorey

192. Donald has a Difficulty by Peter F. Neumeyer & Edward Gorey

193. While You Are Sleeping by Alexis Deacon

194. Bats in the Library, written & illustrated by Brian Lis

195. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (re)

196. Different Dances by Shel Silverstein (re)

197. The Glass of Time by Micheal Cox (sequel to The Meaning of Night)

198. The Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris (sequel to Chocolat)

whoo-ho! Look! Two posts in a month!

178. Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey (re)

179. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (re)

180. The Dying Animal by Philip Roth (I read this after watching Elegy which is a movie based on the novel. The narration of the moview was exceedingly well written and I was delighted to find that most of my favorite lines were direct quotes. I may need to read more Philip Roth.)

181. A Soul in a Bottle by Tim Powers

182. Boris & Bella by Carolyn Crimi & Gris Grimly (Picture book about getting along with people with different cleanliness values. Illustrations reminecent of the world of Tim Burton.

183. Stellaluna by Jenell Cannon (Picture book about a bat learning how she is differnt from birds. Delightful illustrations could easily stand alone.)

184. Once Upon a Tine in the North by Philip Pullman (Takes place in Lyra's world (see Golden Compass) but not in Oxford instead this is a story of the cowboy aeronaut and how he came to befriend the polar bear prince.)

185. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey (re)

186. Paris: City of Light by Xavier Richer, Jean-Marie Boelle & Ian Trickett

154. Quiet Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas

155. Frank Miller's Sin City: Vol. 1- The Hard Goodbye

156. Frank Miller's Sin City: Vol. 2- A Dame to Kill For

157. Learning to Love You More by Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July

158. Reading Women by Stefan Bollmann

159. White Oleander by Janet Fitch

160. Frank Miller's Sin City: Vol. 3-The Big Fat Kill

161. One Hundred Flowers by Georgia O'Keefe

162. The Most Beautiful Libraries in The World, photos by Guillaume De Laubier, text by Jacques Bosser, foreword by James H. Billington

163. Lady in the Water: a bedtime story by M. Night Shyamalan

164. Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Novels

165. Warriors of Art: A Guide to Contemporary Japanese Artists by Yumi Yamaguchi

166. 1000 Artist Trading Cards: Innovative and Inspiring Mixed Media ATCs by Patricia Bolton

167. 100 Butterflies and Moths by Jeffery C. Miller, Daniel H. Janzen, adn Winifred Hall

168. The Book of Air and Shadows by Micheal Gruber

169. Road Trip! Zits Sketchbook #7

170. Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet (Unexpectedly wonderous.)

171. The Tale of Genji: art by Yoshitak Amano

172. The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (Delicious.)

173. Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey

174. After School Nightmare Vol. 8 by Setona Mizushiro

175. Apartment Therapy presents Real Homes, Real People, hundreds of Design Solutions by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan with Jill Slater and Janel Laban

176. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (re)

177. God-Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo (re)

art, comics, chaos

145. Comic book Tattoo: Narrative At Inspired by the Lyrics & Music of Tori Amos (Utterly Gorgeous, need not be a Tori fan to appriciate.)

146. Orlando Bloom has Ruined Everything: A Foxtrot Collection by Bill Amend

147. The Quotable Book Lover edited by Ben Jacobs and Helena Hialmarsson

148. In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine

149. The 1000 Journals Project by Someguy

150. Zits Unzipped Sketchbook 5

151. This Is Who I Am: Our Beauty in All Shapes and Sizes by Rosanne Olsen

152. Are We An "Us"? Zits Sketchbook 4

153. Titians of Chaos by John C. Wright (re) (Have I said enough nice things about this trilogy yet?)

140. The Masterharper of Pern by Anne McCaffery (re0

141. Don't Roll Your Eyes at me: Zits Sketchbook 3

142. For Love of Old: Living With Chipped, Frayed, Tarnished, Faded, Worn, and Weathered Things...

143. Fugitives of Chaos by John C. Wright (re) (book two of The Chaos Chronicles. See thoughts on the trilogy in prvious entry.)

144. Bookworm by Rosamond Purcell

Sorry for the serious backlog...

118. Fortune's Fool by Mercedes Lackey


119.Marie Antionette: A Journey by Antonia Fraser (very academic, nothing like the movie theoretically based on it)


120. The Meaning of Night by Micheal Fraser (this is one of those books that I can't believe I'd never heard of. amazing. high temptation to send to everyone I know who can appriciate the darker side of Victoriana.


121. The Sharper Your Knife the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn (all the life lessons you'd never expect from learning to cook at the Cordon Bleu, interesting cooking stories too. I can't cook and barely care to and it was still lovely.)


122. Autobiography of a Wardrobe by Elizabeth Kendall


123. The Others: A Science Fiction Novel by Margaret Wander Bonanno


124.Uglies by Scott Westerfeld


125. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (As with "So Yesterday" these could have been better written,but the plot is intriguing enough to wade on while you're waiting for the hold you really really want to come in. [In the case of So Yeasterday (2005) it was done much better by Alex Shakar in The Savage Girl (2001), but I digress, and am abusing the parenteses & brackets.])


126. The Host by Stephenie Meyer (strange & intoxicating)


127. Beach Stones by Josie Iselin & Margaret Carruthers (gorgeous)


128. Japanese School Girl Inferno by Patrick Macias & Izumi Evers (run away.)


129. Banksy:Wall & Piece (more fun than is strickly on the up & up. Go look at his site if you can't get to his walls, or book.)



130. Seashells by Josie Iselin & Sandy Carlson (nice, not as awesome as beach stones)



131. Even Cowgirls Get The Blues by Tom Robbins (re. to believe in a wonderful, random world, for all the cowgirls and other girls)



132. Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge (gift from S.T. thankyouthankyouthankyou. a wild adventure in a world that might have been ours. One of the most imprssive new books in Juv. Lit.)



133. The Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card (a little too political for my taste)



134. Necklace of Kisses by Francesca Lia Block (re)



135. The Privilage of the Sword by Ellen Kushner (re. Sword fighting for girls, see also The Hero & The Crown.)



136. The Goddess Guide by Gisele Scanlon (I'd been hoping this was going to be a bit more practical that it was. 3/4th was how to spend your money if you have too much.



137. Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright (re. I'm sort of amazed that this was a fantasy trilogy that never really gained the popularity I'd have wished for it. I'm extremely impressed with how well thought out the power workings of this fantsy/sci-fi were. I don't know anyone else who has even seem to have heard of it let alone read it. I do suppose that one of this trilogy's downfalls is that the singular novels are unsatisfying to read if you can't start right in on the next one. If I'd been reading them as they came out I might well have forgotten why I cared by the time the second one came out. Have no fear, all three are out now, and there is no hold list.)



138. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer ( 4th in the Twilight Saga. If you can get through the first half, the second will be everything you were hoping for.)



139. The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman (A sweetly wandering visual journal)

104. Fresh Fruits, foreword & photos by Shoichi Aoki
105. Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess by Lea Jacobson
106. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
107. Elipse By Stephenie Meyer
108. Geisha: A photographic history, 1872-1912 by Stanley B. Burns and Elizabeth A. Burns
109. The Courage Consort by Michel Faber
110. Perfume by Patrick Suskind
111. Tea With the Black Dragon by R.A. McAvoy
112. After School Nightmare Vol. 6
113. After School NIghtmare Vol. 7
114. Scouts in Bondage, and other violations of Literary Propriety, edited by Micheal Bell
115. Only as Good as Your Word: Writing Lessons from My Favorite Literary Gurus, by Susan Shapiro (Thanks again to the friend who recommended this book to me.)
116. No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
117. The Door: Poems by Margaret Atwood (I particualrly like "Dutiful," "One Day You Will Reach," and "You Heard the Man You Love."

[The last two links are from Google book. I'm not sure that I approve of it, but it exists so there it is.]

96. And Eternity: Book Seven of the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony
97. Blood Alone by Masayuki Takano Vol. 1
98. Blood Alone Vol. 2
99. Blood Alone Vol. 3
100. The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman
101. The Journal of Dora Damage by Belinda Starling (Read This.)
102. Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
103. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

85. Twilight (re)(where am I on the hold list for the sequal?...)
86. With a Tangled Skein: Book Three of the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony (re)
87. Kat & Mouse Vol. 1
88. Kat & Mouse Vol. 2
89. Kat & Mouse Vol. 3
90. Death by Field Trip: Foxtrot Collection
91. Being A Green Mother: Book Five of the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony (re)
92. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (excellent)
93. For Love of Evil: Book Six of the Incarnations Immortality by Piers Anthony (re)
94. Filibuster to Delay a Kiss & other poems by Courtney Queeney (yummy like early Erica Jong poems)
95. Disorder in the Court: Great Fractured Moments in Courtroom History by Charles Sevilla (could have been half as long and remained as funny, but amusing nonetheless)

80. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray (sequel)
81. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
82. Vogue Living:Houses, Gardens, People
83. Two-Hearted Oak: The Photography of Roman Loranc
84. Julie Speed: Paintings, Constructions, Works on Paper

76. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
77. Bodies of Subversion
78. Origins: The Art of John Jude Palencar
79. Brian Froud's World of Faerie

63. Enchanted by Nancy Madore
64. Spectrum 2
65. Martha Quest by Doris Lessing
66. On a Pale Horse: Book One of the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony (re)
67. 360 New York by Nick Wood (fantastic)
68. Bearing An Hourglass:Book Two of the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony (re)
69. The House In Paris by Elizabeth Bowen (one can always trust a book recommended by A.S. Byatt to be well-crafted)
70. Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes by Shoba Narayan (food lit: Like Water for Chocolate, Reckless Appetites, Chocolate, or Crescent)
71. Legends of the Chelsea Hotel by Ed Hamilton www.hotelchelseablog.com
72. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
73. Derelict Fashion Disorder
74. Wielding a Red Sword: Book Four of the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony (re)
75. A Complelete Guide to Furoshiki, text by Etsuko Yamada, photos by Kanji Okamoto

43. Lost Girl by N. Kanan
44. A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman (best of Non-Fiction)
45. Orchidelirium by Harold Feinstein
46. Other People's Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to Read by Bill Shapiro (because PostSecret doesn't come out often enough)
47. Suddenly Silver: Celebrating 25 Years of "For Better, For Worse" by Lynn Johnston
48. Men, Women & Dogs by James Thurber
49. The Cuddle Sutra
50. Mortal Love: a Novel by Elizabeth Hand (wonderful)
51.Different Dances: An Adult Collection of Social Satire & Sexual Politics by Shel Silverstein (quite)
52. The Alchemist's Daughter
53. Guarding the Moon: A Mother's First Year by Francesca Lia Block
54. What on Earth Have I Done? Stories, Observations, and Affirmations by Robert Fulghum (intriguing as usual, Mr. Fulghum)
55. The Reader by Bernard Schlink
56. Amano: The Complete Prints of Yoshitaka Amano
57. The Delinquent Virgin by Laura Kalpakian (well done)
58. Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi (re)
59. Spectrum 12
60. Spectrum 14
61. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (wonderful)
62. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (wonderful)

book list 2008 lives on

25. Sex with the Queen: 900 years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics by Eleanor Herman (sequal to Sex with Kings)
26. The Thing About Life Is One Day You'll Be Dead by David Shields (needed sources and or footnotes in a big bad way)
27. Women in The Material World by Faith D'Alusio & Peter Menzel
28. The Adventures of Lyssa & the Pirates by Charles Wise (hilarious)
29. Aya by Marguerite Abouet & Clement Oubrierie
30. Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan
31. Scrapbook by Adrian Tomine
32. jar of Fools by Jason Lutz
33. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
34. Dogs & Water by Anders Nielsen (stunning)
35. Museum: Behind the Scenes and the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Danny Danzinger
36. Drawn & Quarterly #4
37. Curses by Kevin Huizenga
38. In & Oz by Steve Tomasula (re)
39. Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
40.Saffron & Brimstone by Elizabeth Hand (amazing)
41. A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren (possibly the best collection so far)
42. Woman in the Mirror by Richard Avedon (photography, may previously unrealeased photos)

almost done, but I forgot one

So I thought I had finished the 2.0 games but it turns out I forgot a module: Sites for Students.
So I've made a stikkit account, it sounded the most like a website I would have used in college if I'd had constant internet access. It basically works like sticky note, but one line, at least thats the theory. In real life my planner is usually somwhat wedge-shaped due to sticky notes so this made sense. This sounded easier and no sticky notes falling out of place or covering up important information written in the planner itself.
The down side is this. Making a Stickkit is easy, moving it to your calender or to-do list is not. This is to say I haven't figured out how to do it yet and usually putting with a website like this negates any need to take the tour or guide. I'm goign to assume that this lack of intuitive user friendliness is why I've never heard of this site before. Bah.

So I was going to do the last 2.0 assignment but it looks like I have to be at work to do it, but Book List 2008 is already very behind so I guess I'll update that.

12. A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlene de Blasi
13. Odd Corners: The Slipstream World of William Hjortsberg by William Hjortsberg
14. Area Code 212 by Tana Janowitz
15. Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block (re)
16. So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
17. Savage Girl by Alex Shakar (re)
18. Journeys & Journals: Five Centuries of Travel Writing
19. Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert
20. My One Night Stand with Cancer by Tania Katan
21. Temptress: from the Original Bad Girls to Women on Top by Jane Billinghurst
22. Bitch 38: Lost & Found
23. La Cucina by Lily Prior
24. The Man in The High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Twitter

So I am Twittering. As far as I can tell Twitter is just the next reincarnation of the away messages we used to leave on our PCs before going to class.
I really can't imagine the use of this to the library. Maybe to let patrons know of weather closures, or some other non-preplanned event. I really don't think our patrons need to know what we're all up to all the time. I suppose we could use it around the libraries to let each other know where we are instead of the constant email stream, but its not that different, a second page to log into. I'd probably be more likely to use this if I was still away at school, and I can definately see how it would make friends living far apart feel more connected. I guess personally I only need to be so connected, IM or Facebook, or Twitter, or text messages.

facebook

I'm really not sure how I really feel about library's using facebook. The best arguement I've heard for it was in the discussion on the KRL Facebook page. On the other hand I was pretty skeptical of Facebook in the first place. The web is open to everyone. I appriciated how greatly Meredith Farka discussed this point in her articule. I got onto Facebook when I was a school. I didn't even hear about it online at first; I heard about it first from co-workers using it as a party connection. I ended up eventully getting an account to keep track of people I'd met an college. What scares me about it is how easily people forget that anyone can see facebook...
Although I use it I guess I just think it's a little silly, or that people often use it so much they forget it doesn't exist it solely to amuse or if it does that anyone can use it however they want.

5. Translations from the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. M.D. Herter Norton
6. Confidential Confessions 4
7. Confidential Confessions 5
8. New York Look Book: A Gallery of Street Fashion by Amy LaRocca & Jake Chessum
9. City of Light, City of Dark by Avi
10. Electric Girl
11. The Blood Countess by Andrei Codrescu

wiki2

I'm working on setting up a recommended reading page that would be formated in a way that would be similar to leaving a comment, fast, easy, not a hassel or major time commitment. No answers yet, just big dreams.

c'est la vie.

Book List 2008

1. Od Magic by Patricia McKillip (re)
2. Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris
3. Yotsuba&! vol. 5
4. Atonement by Ian McEwan