Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut

Delacorte Press, 1985, 295 pages

ISBN: 0-385-29416-6

Read: October 2025, age 47 

 

I'm not really sure exactly what *that* was, but it was well written, interesting, and not even a little bit like I was expecting, which is par for the course with Vonnegut, I suppose.

 

Rating: 4 

Canticle - R. A. Salvatore

TSR, 1991, 313 pages

ISBN: 1-56076-119-9

Read: October 2025, age 47

 

The Cleric Quintet, book 1 

 

Well, this was better than the other Salvatore books I've read lately.  Still not fantastic, but readable.  Cadderly is a fun character.

 

Rating: 3 

Raven's Shadow - Patricia Briggs

2004, Ace, 334 pages

ISBN: 978-0-41-01187-2

Read:  October 2025,  age 47

 

Raven Duology, book 1

 

Decent fantasy, kind of fluffy.  Nice to see a non-whiny teenage adventurer for a change.  It didn't really make me want to read more non-Mercy stuff, though.

 

Rating: 3 

Barryar - Lois McMaster Bujold (Audiobook)

Blackstone Audio, 2009, 11.7 hours

Original copyright 1991 

Read by Grover Gardner

Listened to: September 2025, age 47

 

Vorkosigan Saga, book 3 

 

I didn't realize that it had won a Hugo.  It was a good book, but I didn't think that it was that good.  

 

Rating: 4- 

The Hot Kid - Elmore Leonard

Harper Collins, 2005, 312 pages

ISBN: 0-06-072422-6

Read: September 2025, age 47 

 

A period piece - set in South in the 30's - it was an okay story about a US Marshal tracking down a bad guy.  The prose was very nice, and the plotting a bit meandering and slow, and there was really no character growth.  It was good, felt very cinematic.

 

Rating: 3+ 

Virtual Light - William Gibson

Seal, 1993, 350 pages

ISBN: 0-7704-2614-X 

Read September 2025, age 47

  

Bridge Trilogy, book 1

 

First of a trilogy, but no need to read the second.  The world was interesting, and the characters were fun, but the title tech was just a MacGuffin that could have been a piece of paper.  Fun, but nothing spectacular.  The feel was very much Snow Crash, but without all the infodumps, and just surface level.

 

Rating: 3 

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

Anchor, 1998, 311 pages 

Original Copyright 1985

ISBN: 9780385490818

Read: September 2025, age 47

 

Beautiful, haunting, terrifying, and boring as all get-out.  It was a good book to have read, but doesn't make me want to go find more like it.

 

Rating: 4