Litterary Progress: First quarter, 2009.
It’s that time again - and I can hardly believe a quarter of the year has flown by. It seems like yesterday I sat down at this very text editor to write about my reading from the end of last year, and here I am, doing the very same thing for the first quarter of a whole new earthly revolution of the sun.
Diving straight into the statistics, then, I can immediately see that I’ve read 29 books over the last 3 months. Despite me reading nothing of literary merit between February 12th and march 4th, this averages out at roughly 1 third of a book a day (or 89 pages). Overall I read 8,083 pages, which puts the average book at about 278 pages.
In actual fact, 8 of the 29 books had less than 278 pages - but several titles didn’t include page counts and so are knocking the statistics off a little. 4 of the books were over 400 pages long, 3 novels and a short story collection.
Something I didn’t look at last time but which is utterly fascinating is the disparity between what I thought of a book and what others said about it. Of course it’s impossible to analyse my reviews against other peoples, but the five-star rating system Goodreads employs is useful as a general balance. Of course we must remember that my rating influences the average and the number of ratings that make up the average for any given title is a widely unpredictable factor, but even with all this taken into consideration the results are interesting.
If you’d asked me to give a general opinion on my recent reading, I’d have said that I’d come across a few brilliant titles, some enjoyably memorable ones and a few which I rated “good” or “average”. On Goodreads, the ratings go:
1. didn’t like it.
2. it was ok.
3. liked it.
4. really liked it.
5. it was amazing.
I keep ratings 4 and 5 for the above-average and superb titles respectively. I give a 3 for a book I liked, even if I didn’t enjoy it as much as I might have, and anything less than a 3 does not bode well for my future consumption of the author, series, etc.
Yet it’s surprising how selective our memories can be. Over the last 3 months I’ve dished out no less than 7 2’s, 11 3’s, 9 4’s, and 2 5’s. Funny, isn’t it? If you’d asked me my favourite books of the quarter I’d have been able to tell you what the 5 star titles were at once, and probably thrown in a few of the 4’s for afters. If a conversation had followed, some of my 3 star pickings might’ve been offered up as OK reads, but looking back at my 2’s, only seeing their titles lets me reconstruct some of the plot - and even then, not for all of them.
Given all these figures, we can see that my average rating is 3.2. The community average for the titles I rated is 3.6, which means that on the whole, the community enjoyed them more than I did. This is a generalisation, of course - that’s how an average works. Survivors, one of my 5-star titles, had an average rating of 3.25. Coming of Wisdom, my other, was viewed slightly better at 4.11 - even so, there’s quite a difference. Other disparaged titles included Resurrection, Inc (which I gave 4 stars but which averaged 2.75), and Starship troopers (which I gave 2 and averaged 3.90).
As you can see, my views differ from the average perhaps more than is typical - but then what’s an average without outsiders? I was impressed by some titles more than the community, in contrast, they liked others that I didn’t. it’s good to see what others thought of the books I’ve been reading, makes recommendations for new titles and finding of friends with similar tastes an enjoyable experience.
Let us take the titles in my order of rating, then - we’ll talk about a few of the highlights.
I read survivors by Jean Lorrah about a week into march and couldn’t put it down. The depth of character portrayed, the breathtaking way in which emotions swirled their way through the text and the sensations of love, betrayal, loss, redemption and death that haunted the pages made it a commendable story. Of course it’s also a Star Trek title, so the science fiction aspect made the setting familiar to me - but it wasn’t just a space story; it wasn’t even a space story. The plot was there simply to illustrate the character’s lives - I’m sure the story could’ve been told at sea, in a medieval setting or in a desert with equal vigour , if an author worked at it. The plot was not thin, so much as opaque - it served only to link the reader to the people in the text and from then on, they told their stories by their actions and feelings. The storyline itself was gripping, but for me, utterly dwarfed by the characters themselves. For them, the plot was a job, a life, a world - and there can be no denying that had I not known how the story had to end I’d have shed a tear or two.
My next 5 star was the Coming of Wisdom, by Dave Duncan. I’d finished the Seventh Sword trilogy by January 18th (of which this was the second book) and found them joyfully exuberant. The other titles in the series got 4 star ratings, only because they sandwiched the second instalment so well. Light fantasy, humorous in places, written with pace and aplomb and certainly worth your time if you’re into swordplay and magic.
Kevin J. Anderson’s Resurrection, Inc was another one that I read cover to cover. At 320 pages it’s short enough to do in a single sitting and I found the entire concept of the book to exert such a hold that I simply had to finish it. Character is built up for reasons of plot more than anything else, and some of Anderson’s imagery will doubtless become repetitive if any other of his “in the future” stories go a similar route. Still, although it didn’t make me cry or laugh out loud, a solid 4 star read and a worthy addition to anyone’s sci-fi bookshelf - especially those who like a touch of horror.
Other 4 star titles included Sleeper Agenda by Thomas E. Sniegoski (although without the first in the series it’s not worth much of a read), Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn, The Turing Option by Harry Harrison, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré, and The Veteran (a short story collection) by Frederick Forsyth.
Also of note is the fact that I read a non-fiction title - Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon by Melissa Anelli. It was quite a weighty read, clocking in at over 350 pages, and I gave it 3 out of 5 because although interesting, it was more comprehensive of some things than others. It has over 4 stars by community consent, and the author is a Goodreads member. It tells her story as much as Harry Potter’s, and that at least was something I found quite enjoyable about the book.
That’s about it for this quarter. The time has flown by, and there’ve been books both brilliant and banal. I hope that, if you’re interested, you’ll check out my Goodreads profile, or at least the recent reading page of this site to see what I’m chomping my way through as we move from April through to the end of June. The summer months are often alluring - sunshine, lighter nights and later mornings, perhaps. Whether this means more time lounging in the garden with a good book and a beverage remains to be seen. Check back in early July for my next literary progression, and until then, happy reading to you all.