Blog Ing

In 2009 I set the goal of reading 50 books throughout the year.  They’re listed here in reverse order, from my final book down to the first. I’ve written a brief synopsis or review of nearly all of them, and for a few, I’ve provided links to author sites or places where you can buy them.

What counts as a book for the challenge?

Novels, of course, and novellas. An epic poem could qualify, but not a shorter poem. A collection of short stories or poetry would count; book-length nonfiction of any sort is fair game, too. And they don’t have to be new material. Rereading is definitely allowed; making return visits to old favorites is one of the great pleasures of reading.

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57. These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer

Split between Georgian England and pre-revolutionary France, the plot of Heyer’s These Old Shades follows His Grace the Duke of Avon — known as Satanas for his cold ruthlessness and disconcerting omniscience — as he finds the perfect tool with which to exact his long-awaited, cold revenge on the Comte de Saint-Vire. In the noisome back alleys of Paris, the Duke encounters a young boy with a striking resemblance to the comte, and no idea of who Saint-Vire is. Avon buys the boy Leon for his page and flaunts him in noble society — advancing his pawn to begin the endgame. But it quickly becomes apparent to Avon that this boy is more than he appears. Leon is, in fact, Leonie…and it is no mere coincidence that she has the flaming red hair and fiery temperament of her noble progenitors, while Saint-Vire’s son and heir has neither. So Satanas has the means to utterly destroy his enemy — but what will happen when young Leonie’s innocence crosses his long obsession with personal revenge?

Grade: A+
One of the best of the best. In this early Heyer novel (copyrighted 1929) her genius shines.

This Georgette Heyer novel is a bit of a misfit in some ways, not fitting neatly into either the mystery or the romance sections of her vast catalog — though romance is by far the strongest element. If you’ve never read a Georgette Heyer novel before, keep in mind that given the times she lived and wrote in, and the times she usually wrote of, decorum reigns supreme. No steamy sex here; the culminating moment of physical passion is an embrace and a single kiss…on the last page. Myself, I have no problem with that. In fact, I prefer it; I find that there’s usually an inverse relationship between the quality of the story and the amount of space and detail allotted to sex. I’m no prude, but I don’t read novels for the sex scenes (I can find those things elsewhere when I want them).

What I do read for are great stories and interesting characters, and Heyer has those in spades. She’s a master of dialog, and there’s no one better when it comes to evoking the complete character of a bygone era, from the way people thought down to the tiniest details of what they wore. Her characters seem able to jump, fully fleshed, from the pages.

56. The Quiet Gentleman, Georgette Heyer

Grade: A-
Not quite as much humor and romance as most of Heyer’s Regency novels, and a little more mystery; the combination works well, but doesn’t have quite the snap of some of her other novels. If you’re familiar with the literary figures of the British Romantic period, though (if Coleridge, pantisocracy, Southey, Wollstonecraft, et al.  ring any bells), you’ll get a kick out of Drusilla Morville’s reflections on her bookish parents’ odd cronies.

55. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer

A second trip through the Twilight saga. My two main impressions from the first reading still stand after the second, 10 months later. First, I enjoyed this novel immensely; the story is simply entrancing. Second, though the reincarnation of Jane Austen she’s not, and though (thank God) she’s no Anne Rice, Stephenie Meyer’s writing is at least strong enough to carry the story without getting in the way (most of the time). It’s more than I can say for a lot of authors who are often praised for their ostensible skill.

Grade (for the series): A
Trust me, the ability to come up with a great story and put it into prose that can make  it live in readers’ minds is not common. There aren’t a whole lot of series I’d read more than once — and I’m not a fan of the whole vampire-story thing in the first place — but this one merits a second visit. For that, and for its unusual take on the vampire story motifs, this story deserves high praise.

54. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer

53. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer

52. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

51. The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer

GOAL REACHED

I wasn’t keeping very accurate track of the date, but I believe I hit the 50-book mark sometime in late October or early November.

50. Venetia, Georgette Heyer

It’s appropriate, I suppose, that I started the 50-book reading challenge with Georgette Heyer and hit the 50-book mark with another Heyer novel. Venetia is one of my very favorites. Though any list of my favorite Georgettes will inevitably swell to include at least half of the 30+ romances she wrote (I love them all), this one makes the top 5 every time.

49. The Convenient Marriage, Georgette Heyer

A+
Possibly the most fun I’ve ever had reading a book. The interplay between the Earl of Rule and young Horatia Winwood, his innocent bride of convenience, is very well done; the enmity between Rule and his longtime rival, Lord Lethbridge, lights a slow-burning fire beneath the plot; and the climactic duel between them is one of Heyer’s finest action scenes. But it is Horatia’s scapegrace brother, the Viscount Pelham Winwood, and his cronies, who steal the show. Their exploits in Horatia’s wake are comedic gold — and priceless also, considering that some of my earliest family memories feature my parents laughing themselves helpless while reading this book, and that my children have now seen me doing the same (they think I’m crazy, just like I thought my parents were, but one day they’ll find a copy of this book, and they too will be helpless in its grip).

48. Arabella, Georgette Heyer

Grade: A
Perhaps the greatest pleasure of Heyer’s many novels is the dialog, and this one is no exception. Lord Alverstoke, the hero, is one of the best drawn characters in Heyer’s brilliantly peopled universe of Regency romance novels.

47. Sprig Muslin, Georgette Heyer

Grade: B+
A fine, fun read, but not quite up to the standard of Heyer’s best.

46. 10 lb. Penalty, Dick Francis

Young Ben Juliard wants nothing more than to be a professional jockey. His father believes Ben has no future on the racecourse. Ben’s father always gets what he wants. But when he accompanies his father on a campaign for Parliament, Ben discovers that the hectic dangers of steeplechase racing are nothing compared to the vicious rivalry of politics — and when a shadowy enemy threatens not only his father’s political ambitions, but both of their lives, Ben might hold the key to survival.

Grade: A
The master serves up another blue-ribbon winner of a novel. After suffering through the lifeless paint-by-numbers prose of Francome and McGregor, this is like…eh…well, I’m failing to come up with a suitably witty simile, so I’ll just say it’s a slice of reading heaven. Sinewy, understated, and powerful, this is vintage Francis.

45. Riding High, John Francome and James McGregor

The cover blurbs say things like “a fast-paced, thrilling read” and “Dick Francis, you have competition!” Meanwhile, the novel itself says “snore…”. The plot is fine, but the writing is bland, toneless, devoid of detail, completely lacking in characterization, and in summary, just deadly dull. I couldn’t make myself read the whole thing. After chapter one, when boredom set in, I skimmed the rest of the book, and sure enough: all the things that were already boring and off-putting midway through the first chapter were still there on every subsequent page, draining the life from this poor story till the bitter end. The plot, on its own merits, is a fine enough thing for a mystery/suspense novel; a better author (say, that Dick Francis fellow) could have knocked your readerly socks off with it. But not all authors can live up to their plots.

Grade: FAIL
This is a novel written by two people who apparently have no idea how to write one. I almost said “two people who have zero writing ability,” but then I reflected that this (from what I can tell) is the first of several written by Francome and/or McGregor, and it’s possible that they have ability, but just didn’t know how to use it at the time. I doubt it, though. In my experience, authors who are rewarded for writing crap merely keep writing more crap.

44. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

43. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

42. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling

41. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling

40. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

39. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling

38. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

Now this is satire. Palahniuk could take lessons from the old-timer here. John Yossarian, captain and lead bombardier of a World War II bomber squadron on the fictional Italian island of Pianosa, has a problem. Everyone he knows thinks he’s crazy. And everyone, even people he doesn’t know, wants to kill him. The Germans certainly do; they try to shoot him out of the air every time he flies a bombing run. His commanding officers, too; why else would they keep sending him out over hostile territory to get shot at? Even the pilot of his own plane wants to kill him; why else would the guy be crazy enough to fly right over the target instead of taking evasive action? Yossarian is crazy, all right, but that’s just the beginning. He can’t go home because of Catch-22, an obscure rule that says that if he’s sane enough to know he wants out, he’s not crazy enough to leave. And what’s more, Yossarian is surrounded by people even crazier than he is: they’re so deranged they don’t even know they should want out.

Grade: A+
If there was a letter more awesome and full of primal firstness than A, I’d use it instead. If you ask me (and reading this is as good as asking), this is one of the best books ever written. Certainly one of the best books of its time. Everybody should read it. A rambling, absurd, side-splittingly funny, and sometimes sobering book about the insanity of war, Catch-22 cuts the old shibboleths of patriotism, commerce, bureaucracy, and authority into bloody tatters. And did I mention it’s funny?

37. Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, J.K. Rowling

I’m not going to spend a lot of time summarizing this one; if you haven’t heard at least a little about it, you’ve been living under a rock somewhere. Suffice it to say that there’s a good reason the Harry Potter books are so popular. You probably also know that the Harry Potter series, this book in particular, was marketed as young adult/children’s fantasy — in which case, you also would probably know that although the book is very young-reader friendly, adults everywhere love it, too.

Grade: A
Rowling’s storytelling is solid, the plot is superbly paced, and the characters are vividly drawn. If you haven’t yet given this book a chance, DO IT. NOW! Shove aside all the hype and any preconceived notions, and just give the story a fair shake. Odds are you’ll be rewarded with one of the best reading experiences you’ve had in a while.

36. Choke, Chuck Palahniuk

If you’ve ever read a Palahniuk novel, you probably already know what you’re in for. I hadn’t read any, though having seen Fight Club as a movie, I knew at least that this was likely to be a dark, cutting, satirical bit of writing. And I’d heard about Palahniuk’s nihilistic genius through various channels, so I figured I’d give it a try.

Choke concerns Victor Mancini, an unbalanced, completely unprincipled guy who makes his living by conning people into thinking they’ve saved him from choking — oh, and also by working as a re-enactor in the historically authentic village of Colonial Williamsburg. There’s plenty of satire here. Academically, symbolically, it’s very deep, detailed, and (I suppose) significant. Palahniuk does a good job of rendering the deceptive and disgusting sludge beneath the American illusion — a little bit too good. About a quarter of the way into the novel, I realized that I didn’t care for Victor Mancini, or any of his friends or enemies, for that matter. It wasn’t that I hated the characters; hating certain characters is an enjoyable part of reading novels. But what makes it enjoyable is the balancing factor of also liking other characters. Love or hate them, you end up caring what happens to the characters in a good novel. This one? I just didn’t care. The characters and situations in Choke quickly became, for me, monochromatically revolting. The slow plot and uniformly repellent characters were burdensome, and the satire quickly went stale; too much of the same dismal theme. There are a couple of nifty twists where the protagonist turns out to have severely misinterpreted things (and thanks to the close first-person narrative, the reader shares the same misapprehension), but they can’t rise above the novel’s relentless hammering on its chosen themes. Feel free to stop. Any time. I get it, already.

Grade: D-
Palahniuk is an immensely talented writer, but as far as I’m concerned, Choke is a waste. Unless a protracted wallow in the sewers of life interests you for its own sake, I recommend you don’t bother with this one.

35. Sharpe’s Devil, Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe’s peaceful retirement in France is interrupted by a woman he once loved. Now a countess, the Dona Louisa wants him to search for her husband — a Spanish army officer who once fought alongside Sharpe. Searching for one man in the vast wilds of Chile’s far south is a daunting task that becomes even harder when Sharpe and his constant companion Patrick Harper become unwitting pawns in a plot that could engulf not only the corrupt Spanish colonial regime, but the entire western hemisphere in a war that would make Napoleon’s now-defeated efforts in Europe look small by comparison. The “Devil” in the title is an actual historical personage: Lord Thomas Cochrane, a British sea captain ostracized by his country and subsequently made admiral of the Chilean rebels’ navy. To the Spanish, whom he tormented with piracy, he was a devil; the sort of fiery and colorful character whose exploits, if they had been fictional, would have been too dramatic to be believed.

Grade: A-
For anyone else, this book would represent a triumph. For Cornwell, compared to the rest of his superlatively stellar Richard Sharpe series, this late addition to the canon (though very good indeed on its own merits) somehow lacks a little punch; it is a bit slower-paced and doesn’t feature the same sort of high-stakes buildup to the big, climactic battle that always caps off the other books. However, on its own merits, a very fun and rewarding read.

34. Waterloo, Bernard Cornwell

Napoleon is back. And if the French are marching to war, so is Richard Sharpe. After years of peace in which Sharpe has settled in Normandy with his French wife, war calls again, and Sharpe rejoins the fight against Napoleon. This time the French aren’t just the enemy, they’re his adopted countrymen. Most of the British army’s Peninsular veterans have been dispersed to other wars, so the British and their Dutch and Prussian allies are fighting a more experienced enemy — an enemy, moreover, led by the very man whose military genius spread French domination across all central Europe. But the British are still led by the Duke of Wellington, who has never lost a battle — and Wellington has Sharpe on his side.

Grade: A
Everyone knows who won the battle of Waterloo, but Bernard Cornwell is skillful enough to make you believe the outcome is still in doubt. And if you’ve arrived here after reading the previous books in the series, you’ll likely find that your emotional investment in the characters — in addition to Sharpe and Harper, certain recurring members of the supporting cast (particularly captains Peter d’Alembord and Harry Price) have memorable parts to play — will pull you breathlessly from page to page, aside from the superbly realized battle scenes.

33. Sharpe’s Revenge, Bernard Cornwell

Back to the Sharpe series after a break for Harry Potter. Sharpe must survive the bloody battle of Toulouse — and the new dangers of peace. After Napoleon’s surrender, an old enemy reaches across the chaos of defeated France to ensnare Sharpe and his closest friends in a deadly deception. To escape execution, Sharpe, the faithful Sergeant Harper, and Captain Frederickson must desert their own army and locate the only man in all of France who can prove their innocence. Their enemy is a step ahead, but even in exile, the former emperor Napoleon can make a difference, and he provides the fugitive British riflemen with the help of an unexpected ally.

Grade: A
Bernard Cornwell delivers the goods yet again; not only has the Richard Sharpe series kept up its momentum after 16-plus installments, it actually gets better with every book.

32. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

Because the movie is coming up, and because I’ve forgotten most of what happened in this book (who is that Half-Blood Prince guy, anyway?) I figured it was time to interrupt the Richard Sharpe series marathon.

It’s Harry’s 6th year at Hogwarts, and the stakes in the struggle against the resurgent Lord Voldemort are getting higher. Voldemort’s Death Eaters are recruiting students and doing their best to break through the school’s protective wards. Harry finds a book that once belonged to a mysterious person calling himself the half-blood prince, and the prince’s notes catapult Harry to the top of his potions class and expose him to some dark new spells. Dumbledore takes Harry under his wing, giving him the benefit of his memories and teaching him secrets that might finally spell the end of Voldemort’s immortality…if they don’t kill Harry first. And on top of all that, love and dating are making matters even more complicated for Harry and his friends.

Grade: A+
This is possibly the best book of the entire series…and that’s saying something. Harry Potter rules.

31. Sharpe’s Siege, Bernard Cornwell

The British army has finally gained a foothold in France, and Sharpe is sent with a company of Riflemen on a daring mission to help the Royal Navy gauge the likelihood that Bordeaux will rebel. But an ambitious British naval officer has his own dreams of glory that don’t include Sharpe. Stranded deep in enemy territory and with a dwindling supply of ammunition, Sharpe and his small force of Riflemen must fight off a French brigade led by the fearsome General Calvet.

Grade: A+
As I’ve said before, books like this are the reason I read historical fiction.

30. Sharpe’s Regiment, Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe returns to England to discover why the South Essex’s reinforcements haven’t arrived yet, and stumbles onto a criminal operation that sells recruits to the highest bidder and that reaches deep into the British bureaucracy — and these criminals will do anything to prevent exposure and protect their massive profits. Marked for death, Sharpe hides by becoming an ordinary enlisted man again, risking his life and his career to save his regiment from the tides of war and the avarice of corrupt politicians.

Grade: A
Another fine offering in the Richard Sharpe series.

29. Sharpe’s Honor, Bernard Cornwell

Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, stripped of rank, expelled from the army, and condemned to die, Sharpe is caught in a web of political intrigue for which his military experience may have left him fatally unprepared. He becomes a fugitive, hunted by English, French, and Spanish alike, and his only hope may be to put his trust in the beautiful prostitute and treacherous spy, Helene Leroux, sister of the Colonel Leroux who was Sharpe’s foe at Salamanca (see Sharpe’s Sword, entry #27 in this list).

Grade: A
Again, Cornwell uncorks the potent blend of peril, heroism, and gritty reality that makes the Sharpe series stand above the crowd.

28. Sharpe’s Enemy, Bernard Cornwell

The despicable Sergeant Hakeswill returns, and Richard Sharpe and his riflemen are caught between a vicious private army of deserters and the French. To top it off, Sharpe is also stuck with a troop of the newfangled and totally ineffective rocket artillery. When the French launch a surprise offensive, Sharpe will have to find a way to make the rockets work if his small force of skirmishers is to survive the night…but victory will come at a terrible price. This book introduces two brilliantly drawn minor characters: Captain William Frederickson (aka Sweet William), of the 6oth Rifles, and a new enemy (French spymaster Pierre Ducos) who will both become fixtures in the rest of the series.

Grade: A+
This book stands out even among a host of consistently excellent Sharpe novels.

27. Sharpe’s Sword, Bernard Cornwell

A new enemy for Sharpe: Colonel Leroux, who wields a sword of marvelous workmanship, the kind of weapon that legends are written about. Sharpe must not only outfight but outwit the treacherous, deadly colonel or the British summer campaign will be lost before it even gets started. The stakes are both personal and professional for both adversaries, and the winner gets to keep the Kligenthal blade. But at what cost?

Grade: A+
Getting tired of seeing so many A/A+ grades? Get used to it. The Sharpe Series is just that good, and there are several books still to come.

26. Sharpe’s Company, Bernard Cornwell

If you’ve followed the series as long as I have, this book would mark your first introduction to Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, Richard Sharpe’s most hated enemy. If you start from the beginning of the Sharpe chronology, as I have on this read-through of the series, this book marks Hakeswill’s return. But regardless of how you’re introduced, this guy is one of the nastiest, most hateable, and yet fully fleshed fictional villains I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

In this installment of the series, the regiment takes key casualties in the assault on the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo and their old loyalties, efficiencies, and comradeship are disrupted by new leadership and a draft of reinforcements from England — among them Hakeswill, whose malevolent presence threatens to shred Sharpe’s company from within. And on the horizon looms the fortress city of Badajoz, which has defeated the British army twice before and must now be taken at all costs.

This book also marks a high point in the series — I may rant and rave about each book like it’s the best ever, and at some point in each one I always think I’ve found a new favorite, but if reading the Richard Sharpe series is like being dealt a series of winning hands, this book is like a royal flush. The stakes for Sharpe and nearly every character in the series have never been higher, and Cornwell’s writing is at its crisp, evocative best.

A+
If there was a higher grade available, I’d give it. This is Cornwell at his best.

25. Sharpe’s Fury, Bernard Cornwell

One of the two most recent additions to the canon, this book takes Sharpe and his core group of elite riflemen to the battle of Barrosa. This battle was one of the most astonishing British victories in the peninsular campaign, and Cornwell brings it completely to life. There are parts of this book that brought me to the edge of tears because what the characters were doing was so heroic and sad – and many of those heroic moments actually happened in 1811, to real people. I’m not sure which is more amazing, Cornwell’s ability to give even the most minor of secondary characters flesh and life, or his ability to so perfectly balance the glory, horror, beauty, and sadness of war.

Grade: A
Books like this are the reason I read historical fiction.

24. Sharpe’s Battle, Bernard Cornwell

Dedicated to the inimitable Sean Bean, who plays Sharpe in the BBC-produced movies based on the books (and basically is Sharpe), this is another late addition to the series. Sharpe’s Battle fills in a gap in the chronology of the earlier-written books, telling the story of Sharpe and the vicious battle of Fuentes de Onoro. This is vintage Sharpe.

The Spanish send Wellington a regiment that is ill-trained, full of Irish expatriates who hate the English, and harboring a spy whose plots could destroy the whole army from within. Sharpe is given the regiment and told to help it destroy itself before it does the work of the French for them. Only there’s one catch: Sharpe ends up liking the Spanish/Irish soldiers. Then when the ill-prepared regiment is mauled in a surprise attack by one of France’s most feared soldiers, Spanish politicians place the blame on Sharpe. Fuentes de Onoro becomes a personal battle for Richard Sharpe, with his reputation, his career, his life, and the very survival of the British army at stake.

Grade: A

23. We The Enemy, Ray Rhamey

When Ray asked me if I wanted to read this, I jumped at the chance. (Even though it interfered with my Richard Sharpe reading.) :) I had done the copy editing for his previous version of the novel — this being a full rewrite — and I was excited to be one of the first handful of people to see the story in its new shape. In addition, he gave me the green light to mark the manuscript as much as I wanted, so as strange as it may seem to some people, I looked at it as a perhaps once-in-a-lifetime two-fer: not only to read a damn fine novel, but to let my detail obsession run free with every tiny typo and inconsistency I could see. I do that with all the novels I read anyway, but of course there’s never anything I can DO about it. To Ray’s credit, this manuscript was cleaner than many a novel I’ve pulled from a bookstore’s shelves. (I had to put the Twilight novels down more than once just to calm myself down; seeing all those homonym errors, typos, and spelling problems in a Big Publishing novel that I paid for was more than I could take.)

And even more to Ray’s credit, the story was good before, but now it really crackles. When he makes this book available to the public, I’ll be sure to spread the news far and wide. But for now, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Heh.

Grade: B+
A fine novel…in many respects deserving of a higher grade, but I’m also comparing it to its present company, which means “A” is simply not available at this point.

22. Sharpe’s Escape, Bernard Cornwell

This is one of the late additions to the Sharpe Canon. One of my favorite things about this novel is the return of Vicente — though still his same idealistic and incongruously lawyerly self, he is now an experienced soldier, the captain of a Portuguese atirador company, elite skirmishers akin to the British army’s rifle corps. In this novel, Sharpe and the loyal Sergeant Harper again get trapped behind enemy lines with Vicente (who has married the English girl from Sharpe’s Havoc) and another pretty English girl, and Vicente’s knowledge of the Portuguese countryside helps them escape the implacable crime lord, Ferragus, and his brother, a treacherous spy. Another rippingly fine entry in the series.

Grade: A

21. Sharpe’s Gold, Bernard Cornwell

Lord Wellington has told Sharpe that a hoard of Spanish gold is the only thing that can save the British army from complete defeat — and Sharpe will do whatever it takes to bring it to his general. Even if it means fighting against his own side. I’m probably starting to sound like a broken record by now…but this book rules.

Grade: A

20. Sharpe’s Havoc, Bernard Cornwell

The French invade the Portuguese city of Oporto, and Sharpe and his company are stranded behind enemy lines with a handful of Portuguese soldiers led by the inexperienced misfit Lieutenant Vicente, a lawyer turned officer. The situation is complicated by the presence of a very pretty English girl and a devious British diplomat…whose possibly traitorous schemes may be the only thing keeping the French army from turning and snapping them all up. Like all the Sharpe novels before it, this one absolutely rocks.

Grade: A

19. Sharpe’s Rifles, Bernard Cornwell

For me, this is the one that started it all. Several years ago I randomly came across the British TV miniseries on PBS Masterpiece Theater, and was instantly intrigued. Being a TV series, it didn’t have huge production values (rather light on extras and special effects), but it was very well done, from the script to the period setting to the actors (Sean Bean and Pete Postelthwaite being two I can remember off the top of my head). So as soon as I had seen all the episodes, I tracked down the books. At the time this was the first installment in the series; it was a prequel, having been added in part to provide material for the TV series, as at least 3 or 4 other books in the series have been over time. What with all the prequels that have been added, this book now begins the middle section of the Sharpe canon.

Lieutenant Sharpe’s early success has stalled out, the army’s bureaucracy has stuck him in a non-combat position with no hope of promotion, the British forces in Portugal are desperately retreating to escape a much larger French force, and then disaster strikes: the rearguard is ambushed by French cavalry, and Sharpe is the lone surviving officer among a group of British riflemen. Stranded behind enemy lines in the dead of winter with men who would rather murder him than take orders, he must find a way not only to bring them together and get them out alive, but resurrect his own confidence.

Grade: A+
They’re all good, but this story is still one of my favorites in the Sharpe series; this has to be at least the sixth time I’ve read this one.

18. Sharpe’s Trafalgar, Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe has to get back to England from his deployment in India somehow, and historical adventure novels being what they are, of course the ship carrying Sharpe home is bound to get mixed up in one of the most famous naval battles of all time. I enjoyed this book more the second time around than the first, partly because I didn’t have any preconceived notions about what ought or ought not to happen to Sharpe. This novel is one of the few where continuity issues rear up, as Sharpe has an affair with the wife of an aristocrat on board the warship during the months-long voyage to England; not a problem in itself, as it’s very well written, but in the chronologically later novels we’re told explicitly that Sharpe is uncomfortable with one or two specific female characters who are refined and educated, having never come across such women in his career as a London cutthroat, a common soldier, and an anomalously lowborn officer shunned by the aristocrats. However, that is really a small concern, and unless you’ve hopscotched through the series like I have, you surely won’t notice it in this book (may not even notice it later, for all I know).

Grade: A-
Cornwell’s knack for characterization, historical reconstruction, and superb action all carry through in this novel.

17. Sharpe’s Fortress, Bernard Cornwell

Personal revenge and professional pride drive Sharpe to take part in the bloody assault on the massive mountain fortress of Gawilghur in the final installment of the trilogy of prequels chronicling Sharpe’s early experience with the British army in India. I haven’t said much about this one, but that’s only because I’m short on time and energy. This is a superb novel — which is only to say that it is worthy company for the rest of the books in the Richard Sharpe series.

Grade: A

16. Sharpe’s Triumph, Bernard Cornwell

This novel, another belated prequel, is the second chronological step in Richard Sharpe’s long story. It tells how Sharpe makes the impossible leap from the ranks to become an officer in an army that believes only aristocrats are deserving of rank. This is the catalyst that drives nearly everything else, as it sets Sharpe firmly on the path he’ll tread for the rest of the series, proving again and again that he can take the next step in an officer’s career despite the disadvantages of lowly birth, poverty, and a system that is stacked against him from the outset. And oh yeah — as with all the books in the series, it’s equally superb in its pristine historical elements and in its roaring action-adventure plot. This is a fun, satisfying story by a writer who really knows his stuff.

Grade: A

15. Sharpe’s Tiger, Bernard Cornwell

This is the first book of Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe series, which takes Sharpe all the way from India to Waterloo (and beyond). It’s actually one of the later entries in the series, as far as publishing goes; Cornwell started the whole Sharpe franchise with Sharpe’s Eagle, which has Sharpe fighting in the battle of Talavera against Napoleon’s forces in Spain, and then worked forward and back in time, expanding the series with prequels and sequels as ideas and opportunities arose.

In genre, the Sharpe series is (of course) historical fiction — among the best ever written, if you ask me. The historical reconstruction is virtually perfect down to the tiniest details, and completely immerses the reader in the period without ever becoming pedantic. In form, the series is a picaresque – a number of smaller, self-contained stories that together add up to one long, sustained story about the same central character(s). It’s the best example of the form I can think of; each book is a legitimate, self-contained novel with a complete plot arc that doesn’t depend on earlier episodes to make sense, while the series as a whole rewards the reader with a larger character arc of Sharpe’s growth over a period of years.

So…the bottom line?

Whether you’re a historical fiction fan or not, this book is worth a look. It reads like a really kick-ass action movie: interesting characters, nonstop action, peril around every corner, villains that are fun to hate, a hero who is tough enough to take on anything but vulnerable enough to still be human…you can almost see every scene as it happens. But enough raving. I’m planning to read the whole series straight through, so I’ll have enough chances to give you an earful.

Grade: A

14. Timaeus and Critias, Plato

Remedying an indefensible gap in my education. I’ve known about what’s in these for a long time, but hadn’t ever read what’s actually in them word for word. These two Socratic dialogues, which form two parts of the same conversation, have probably had a greater effect on Western religion and philosophy than anything this side of the Bible itself. Timaeus is a masterpiece of reasoning about the physical and spiritual world, in which Plato sets out his own explanation of how the universe is constructed and how humanity was created. Critias is the origin of the Atlantis myth.

Bottom line, this is something everyone should read. Timaeus and Critias isn’t long, and won’t take forever to read (but isn’t not precisely easy, either; this isn’t the kind of stuff you can just skate through). And if getting firsthand knowledge of your own cultural foundation or simply looking into the mind of one of history’s most brilliant thinkers through words that have endured for 2400 years isn’t motivation enough, there’s a fascinating array of ideas you could mine for your own writing. This book sat on my shelf unread for a good five years, and I can’t believe I settled for secondhand knowledge for so long.

Grade: A
Essential reading for everyone.

13. Dead Cert, Dick Francis

Ah, vintage Francis. One of his earlier efforts, this one was published in 1962 but reads like it could have happened last year. Again, the characters (as one review says) “are alive with human virtues and failings,” the pace is crisp, the prose sinewy and economical, and the plot simple and tightly woven. To paraphrase the back cover blurb (”blurb” has to be the most ridiculous word ever), the story begins when jockey Alan York, about to finish second yet again to champion steeplechaser Bill Davidson, sees Davidson take a mysterious fall. Alan wins the race, but his fellow rider and friend is dead — and the fall that killed him had been no accident.

As another review says, “Francis’s secret weapons are his protagonists. They are the kind of people you want for friends.” Alan York, as he risks death to unravel the criminal web of a mysterious man who now wants him dead, is no exception.

Grade: A
This book is an absolute gem.

12. Twice Shy, Dick Francis

Published in 1982, this story is highly dated, yet still a fun read. The plot centers on a computerized betting system that physics teacher Jonathan Derry’s best friend has hidden on three music cassettes. Yep. Cassettes. Coincidentally, my first experience with computers was…well…in about 1982. While my 11-year-old literary tastes didn’t run to Dick Francis novels, I did actually use cassettes to load programs into a state-of-the-art Commodore VIC-20 (which dates me as surely as the plot dates this novel). Kind of funny to think what a big difference a few years makes.

One interesting feature is its two-part structure, splitting the plot and the novel evenly between two protagonists 15 years apart. Interesting, but also a bit of a problem. I kept wondering if the second half of the novel was supposed to be happening in 1997 (a very inaccurately guessed 1997, if it assumes computers still ran on cassette tapes) or if it was the other way around, with the first half happening in 1967 (weren’t computers still using punchcards then?) and the second half moving into the 1982 present.

Grade: B
The sheer obsolescence of the technology is distracting, but the characters are engaging and the story so tightly plotted and crisply written (as Francis novels always are) that it would have been hard not to enjoy the book.

11. Come To Grief, Dick Francis

I’m not normally a reader of mysteries or thriller-type novels, but I flat-out love the way Dick Francis writes. While the previous entry in the 50 for 09 list is one of his early novels, this is one of his later books. I’ve read nearly all of his 36-plus novels, and every one of them are excellent, but this might be one of the very best. Come To Grief is the third appearance of Sid Halley, an ex-jockey turned private investigator, who in this tale becomes convinced that his close friend, former jockey and now popular TV personality Ellis Quint, is behind a series of horse maimings. No one wants to believe the charismatic Quint could be guilty, so the press and the public turn against Halley, and meanwhile, powerful enemies behind the scenes are doing their best to make sure the case — and Sid Halley — won’t make it to court.

Grade: A
Francis manages to make his heroes seem like real people, not any different than most of us, even when they’re doing fairly extraordinary things. Part of that is his first-person narrative technique, part of it is his unusual gift for storytelling, and part of it is his lean, understated writing style; not a word is wasted, and everything in the novel has a place and a purpose. The guy is a master.

10. Knockdown, Dick Francis

One of the early entries in his prolific career, this thriller/mystery novel, like just about everything Francis has written, involves the world of horse racing. His career as a steeplechase jockey over, Jonah Dereham has set up as a bloodstock agent (in British racing parlance, an expert who buys horses for others on commission) and is gaining a reputation as a very good, honest one. Only problem is, honesty isn’t exactly the norm in his new business, and a shadowy coalition of rivals is bent on converting Jonah or knocking him down to size. This is prototypical Francis fare: the hero is a low-key, likeable everyman (a “Timex” type who takes a licking and keeps on ticking), and the story is a lot like the hero: low-key, sinewy, and highly efficient.

Grade: A
I highly recommend giving Dick Francis a try — if not this novel, then one of his 36 or so others.

9. Kept, Zoe Winters

A paranormal romance novella — only the second paranormal romance I’ve ever read (well, if you count the Twilight series as one book, and if you count them as romance and not just YA fantasy). The similarities to Twilight pretty much end there, however.

This one has a prominent erotic component that’s its best strength. (Damn! I mean…damn! Wiping sweat from brow…) Actually, another strength is Winters’ twist on some of the standard elements of paranormal romance/action books: werefolk, vampires, and magic users coexist with (mostly unwitting) humans in a town that’s a sort of supernatural enclave. The werefolk, called Therians, consist of wolf and cat shapeshifters; the magic users are gifted humans who perform powerful rites catalyzed by Therian blood; and the vampires hover dangerously around the edges drinking the blood of werefolk, magic-users, and ordinary humans alike. If there’s a weakness, it’s that the story feels rushed in spots, like some opportunities for characterization and detail were skipped over in favor of brevity. The plot and setting and characters have enough substance to make a reasonably lean, highly compelling read at twice the length, I think.

Grade: B
All in all, a fast-paced, enjoyable read.

8. Farmer Giles of Ham, J.R.R. Tolkien

Farmer Giles (whose full name is Aegidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola de Hammo) drives away a marauding giant mostly by accident, then finds that his enjoyable status as the hero of the countryside has some alarming consequences – when Chrysophylax Dives, the richest, noblest, hottest, and hungriest (though not perhaps the bravest) of all dragons invades the countryside, it suddenly becomes Farmer Giles’ job to slay the dangerous beast.

Grade: A
Tolkien’s underappreciated sense of the ridiculous shines through in this fun (and very funny) short novel.

7. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, Samuel Johnson

“The world is not yet exhausted; let me see something tomorrow which I never saw before.”
Princess Nekayah (Rasselas, page 151)

I love that quote. I might even use it as my blog tagline. It speaks to the whole point of reading in the first place: not just entertainment (though that’s usually why I read), but seeing something new. Something that surprises you, that delivers new information, that makes new connections between things you already know, that changes the way you thought about something, or that simply fires the imagination. This book is fairly short; my edition weighs in at only 158 pages (203 if you count all the scholarly commentary, most of which I didn’t bother with). It’s sort of a quote machine — profound utterances practically litter the pages. Don’t pick it up if you’re looking primarily for entertainment, though; the pacing is sedate and the phrasing a bit archaic (to be expected, considering it was written in 1759). It may not be an exciting thrill ride, but I found it interesting nonetheless. If you’re in the mood for some classic literature, Rasselas puts a fair amount of intellectual punch into a relatively small package.

Grade: B-
Intellectually stimulating, but not exactly riveting, plot-wise.

6. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling

A pleasant little book — only 111 pages, which I read completely while eating dinner (kind of a lingering dinner). It’s not exactly a continuation of the Harry Potter series; more of an ancillary. These are the full versions of the wizarding fables that guide Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you’re interested in the Harry Potterverse already and want to get another little peek into it, this could be worthwhile; if you’re not a Potter fan or haven’t read the entire series yet, you likely won’t find much to interest you. I liked it quite a bit, myself; I’m writing a Potter-inspired guide to wandlore and wandmaking for my young-uns, and there’s some good material to mine in Dumbledore’s commentaries on the fables.

Grade: B-
In comparison to the Harry Potter series proper, this book suffers; however, though not endowed with a riveting plot or an engaging protagonist (being a collection of background tales and lore) it is definitely worth reading as a look at the detailed fabric of the world of Rowling’s novels.

5. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer

“The good end happily, and the bad, unhappily. That is what fiction means.” (Name the origin of that quote, and I’ll give you a prize; probably worthless, but still a prize.) Oh, come on — like you didn’t know things were going to end up all right in the end anyway! Well, okay… Maybe they don’t all end up happily or unhappily as they deserve.

About a third of the way into this one, I couldn’t stand it anymore — I had to skip ahead and check on the ending. Which actually means the story really had me going. I’ll only skip ahead in a book for two reasons: one, to see whether the author can pull out something good enough to make the book worth one more minute of my life; two, because I just can’t take any more suspense and have to know a little bit about what’s going to happen before I read through to the finish. This was reason two — I had so much invested in certain characters that I just couldn’t stand not knowing at least a little about where they were headed in the story. My only disappointment was that the grand finale seemed a bit anticlimactic. It was an okay way to end, but I thought the buildup was a lot more intense than the resolution.

Grade: A-
A few nagging flaws, but overall an intensely interesting, riveting story.

4. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer

Foregone conclusion, I guess, having enjoyed the first two books of the series so much, but I loved this one too. I ripped through it in two days. I loved the climax, which is more action-packed than the previous two. Nothing better than a good fictional fight, I say. I know some people pick on Meyer’s writing, and it’s not like she’s the second coming of Jane Austen, but she has come up with a gripping story full of characters that have some depth and that people can relate to, and the writing doesn’t get in the way — which, as far as I’m concerned, makes her a pretty damn good novelist. It’s harder to write a good novel than some people think.

Grade: A

3. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer

Okay, count me as a fan. No second-book slump here. The story moves forward and gets even more intense. Plus there’s the transformation of a couple of minor characters into full-fledged protagonists and antagonists. The romance and action elements of the plot become more tightly interwoven and intense.

Grade: A

2. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

Argh! The vampires have sucked me in! Not that that’s a bad thing. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to. A lot. In fact, it was pretty awesome. I read this one in three sittings (well, not exactly sittings; I also carried it around the house reading while cooking and cleaning, and walked to and from work while reading).

Grade: A

1. The Corinthian, Georgette Heyer

Sir Richard Wyndham sits atop the social pinnacle of Regency England. A noted Corinthian, he has mastered every gentlemanly pursuit: fencing, boxing, horsemanship, high fashion, and all the social graces. And he’s impossibly rich. But marrying without love is one social obligation he can’t fulfill. And just when he has made that decision, young Penelope Creed, who has dressed as a boy and run away to escape relatives who have designs on her fortune, falls out of a window and into the Corinthian’s path. He agrees to go along with her masquerade, and the two of them set off on an improbable adventure that brings them love they didn’t expect to find.

Only Georgette Heyer, the creator of the entire genre of regency romance, could pull off a story like this so well. Don’t expect erotic fireworks (Georgette doesn’t swing that way), but do expect a love story that immerses you in 19th century England like nothing else can — and does it with more wit and grace than anything this side of Jane Austen. (This, by the way, is the first Georgette Heyer novel I ever read; and this is at least my third time through it.)

Grade: A