Category: Lists

Jan 02 2015

Taking Stock of 2014

Three themes emerged in my reading this year, without great conscious intent on my part; well, four if I count getting back to a more typical number of books read. The year did not feature any births, international relocations, invasions by neighboring countries, or major changes in employment. All of that helped in finding more …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/02/taking-stock-of-2014/

Jan 03 2014

Taking Stock of 2013

Retconning, so as to have a copy of these online as well. This was a year of living hand-to-mouth after the move to Berlin. Forty-eight in total; one in German; three in electronic form, fewer now that I was no longer commuting on the Moscow subway. The year I read almost everything that John M. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/01/03/taking-stock-of-2013/

Jan 05 2013

Taking Stock of 2012

Retconning, so as to have a copy of these online as well. This was the year of moving to Moscow and out of Moscow. Most of my books were in storage the full year. Thirty-nine in total; none in German; ten in electronic form after receiving a Kindle for Christmas in 2011. The Hundred Thousand …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/01/05/taking-stock-of-2012/

Jan 04 2012

Taking Stock of 2011

Retconning, so as to have a copy of these online as well. This was the year of moving away from Tbilisi. 2666 and Hadji Murad are the books that remain most in memory from the year’s reading. Thirty-four in total; one in German; none in electronic form, as I did not yet have an e-book …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/01/04/taking-stock-of-2011/

Jan 11 2011

Taking Stock of 2010: Books

Undemanding reading, with one or two exceptions, appears as the hallmark of 2010. Belated reaction to the economic crisis? Lack of initiative after spending several months with Count Tolstoy in 2009? Hard to say. The exceptions: Armenian Golgotha by Grigoris Balakian, a survivor’s testimony from the time of his arrest in 1915 in Istanbul to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2011/01/11/taking-stock-of-2010-books/

Jan 24 2010

Taking Stock of 2009: Books

Instead of a straight-up best-of list, a slightly more eclectic look back at what I read in 2009. Best large Russian book, Tolstoy’s big one; best small Russian book (and most scurrilous of any nationality) Moscow to the End of the Line by Venedikt Erofeev. Best fantasy, parts two through four of the Princess of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/01/24/taking-stock-of-2009-books/

Jan 22 2008

Taking Stock of 2007: Books

I read about as much in 2007 as I did in 2006, but I wrote far fewer reviews. One of the perils of full-time employment. It also looks like a year of consolidation, rather than a year of discovery. Having polished off the lucky thirteenth in Lemony Snicket’s set in December 2006, I reached the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/01/22/taking-stock-of-2007-books/

Feb 06 2007

Taking Stock of 2006: Books

Best books I read in 2006? In fiction, it would have to be most of the second half of the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. I read six in 2006 and the last two in early January 2007, and it’s a terrific body of work. Its acclaim and success need little boost from this blog, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2007/02/06/taking-stock-of-2006-books/

Oct 13 2006

A Pocketful of Pamuk

The definitive(ish) review I’ve been meaning to write for months will obviously have to wait now that Orhan Pamuk has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Here are the AFOE talking points on Pamuk: Snow is the one book to read if you only have time to read one. Ka, the protagonist, is a Turkish …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2006/10/13/a-pocketful-of-pamuk/

Mar 31 2006

Greatness, Andante

Two years ago, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung began publishing a series of 50 great novels from the 20th century. It’s a good list, and I’ve been slowly reading my way through it. Emphasis on slowly. The newspaper never planned on keeping the editions in print indefinitely, and indeed, the smartly designed and inexpensive (EUR 4.90!) hardbacks …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2006/03/31/greatness-andante/