{"id":11024,"date":"2017-01-01T10:30:16","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T17:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=11024"},"modified":"2017-01-01T18:15:30","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T01:15:30","slug":"book-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=11024","title":{"rendered":"Book 2016&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Happy 2017! This is my fifth year of recording (and counting) my <em>books read.&nbsp;<\/em>Previous lists (and associated totals) can be found here: <a href=\"http:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=2941\">2012<\/a>&nbsp;(85), <a href=\"http:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=5733\">2013<\/a>&nbsp;(95), <a href=\"http:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=7902\">2014<\/a>&nbsp;(106), <a href=\"http:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=10026\">2015<\/a>&nbsp;(92). In 2016,&nbsp;I also tracked them by month although occasionally books would bleed from one month to another. The results were distinctly lopsided. So how many did I manage to read this year? Let&#8217;s find out&#8230;<\/p>\n<h4>January<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>The Happy Return<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1937)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 5 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A Ship of the Line<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1938)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 6 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Hornblower&#8217;s Charitable Offering<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1941)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 6.5 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Flying Colours<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1938)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 7 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Commodore<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1938)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 8 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Today I Will Fly<\/em><\/strong> Mo Willems (2007)<br \/>\n<strong>An Elephant &amp; Piggie Book<\/strong> &#8211; HC;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Lord Hornblower<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1946)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 9 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Bears Don&#8217;t Read<\/em><\/strong> Emma Chichester Clark (2014)<br \/>\n&#8211; HC;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Hornblower in the West Indies<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1958)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 9 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Last Encounter<\/em><\/strong> C.S. Forester (1967)<br \/>\n<strong>Horatio Hornblower<\/strong> Book 10 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Virtues of War<\/em><\/strong> Bennett R. Coles (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>Astral Force<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<h4>February<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Captain Vorpatril&#8217;s Alliance<\/em><\/strong> Lois McMaster Bujold (2012)<br \/>\n<strong>Vokosigan Saga<\/strong> Book 13 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A Book Editor&#8217;s Primer (What a Book Editor Does)<\/em><\/strong> Dr. Leslie Vermeer (2016)<br \/>\n-manuscript<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Oath of Swords<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (1995)<br \/>\n<strong>War God<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The War God&#8217;s Own<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (1998)<br \/>\n<strong>War God<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Wind Rider&#8217;s Oath<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (2004)<br \/>\n<strong>War God<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>March<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>War Maid&#8217;s Choice<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (2012)<br \/>\n<strong>War God<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Sword of the South<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Nofressa<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>War Maid&#8217;s Choice<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (2012)<br \/>\n<strong>War God<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Balance Point<\/em><\/strong> Robert Buettner (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>Janzen Parker<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Fool&#8217;s Assassin<\/em><\/strong> Robin Hobb (2014)<br \/>\n<strong>Fitz and the Fool Trilogy<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>April<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Fool&#8217;s Quest<\/em><\/strong> Robin Hobb (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>Fitz and the Fool Trilogy<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Hell&#8217;s Foundations Quiver<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Safehold<\/strong> Book 8 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<h4>May<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Unbreakable<\/em><\/strong> W.C. Bauer (2014)<br \/>\n<strong>Chronicles of Promise Paen<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet<\/em><\/strong> Becky Chambers (2014)<br \/>\n<strong>Wayfarers<\/strong> Book 1&nbsp;&#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A Talent for War<\/em><\/strong> Jack McDevitt (1989)<br \/>\n<strong>Alex Benedict<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Polaris<\/em><\/strong> Jack McDevitt (2004)<br \/>\n<strong>Alex Benedict<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Seeker<\/em><\/strong> Jack McDevitt (2005)<br \/>\n<strong>Alex Benedict<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dauntless<\/em><\/strong> Jack Campbell (2006)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lost Fleet<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Fearless<\/em><\/strong> Jack Campbell (2007)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lost Fleet<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Courageous<\/em><\/strong> Jack Campbell (2007)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lost Fleet<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Valiant<\/em><\/strong> Jack Campbell (2008)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lost Fleet<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Relentless<\/em><\/strong> Jack Campbell (2009)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lost Fleet<\/strong> Book 5 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Victorious<\/em><\/strong> Jack Campbell (2010)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lost Fleet<\/strong> Book 6 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Lion of Farside<\/em><\/strong> John Dalmas (1995)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lion of Farside<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>June<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>The Bavarian Gate<\/em><\/strong> John Dalmas (1997)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lion of Farside<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Lion Returns<\/em><\/strong> John Dalmas (1999)<br \/>\n<strong>The Lion of Farside<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Madness in Solidar<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>Imager&#8217;s Portfolio<\/strong> Book 9 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Alliance of Equals<\/em><\/strong> Sharon Lee &amp; Steve Miller (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Liaden Universe<\/strong> Book 19 &#8211; ebook; eARC<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Cauldron of Ghosts<\/em><\/strong> David Weber and Eric Flint (2014)<br \/>\n<strong>Crown of Slaves<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A Princess of Mars<\/em><\/strong> Edgar Rice Burroughs (1917)<br \/>\n<strong>John Carter of Mars<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Gods of Mars<\/em><\/strong> Edgar Rice Burroughs (1918)<br \/>\n<strong>John Carter of Mars<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Warlord of Mars<\/em><\/strong> Edgar Rice Burroughs (1919)<br \/>\n<strong>John Carter of Mars<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dragon and Thief<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2003)<br \/>\n<strong>Dragonback<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dragon and Soldier<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2004)<br \/>\n<strong>Dragonback<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dragon and Slave<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2005)<br \/>\n<strong>Dragonback<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dragon and Herdsman<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2006)<br \/>\n<strong>Dragonback<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dragon and Judge<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2007)<br \/>\n<strong>Dragonback<\/strong> Book 5 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dragon and Liberator<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2008)<br \/>\n<strong>Dragonback<\/strong> Book 6 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Terms of Enlistment<\/em><\/strong> Marko Kloos (2013)<br \/>\n<strong>Frontline<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Lines of Departure<\/em><\/strong> Marko Kloos (2014)<br \/>\n<strong>Frontline<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Angles of Attack<\/em><\/strong> Marko Kloos (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>Frontline<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Chains of Command<\/em><\/strong> Marko Kloos (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Frontline<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<h4>July<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Ring of Fire<\/em><\/strong> Eric Flint ed. (2004)<br \/>\n<strong>Ring of Fire<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>1633<\/em><\/strong> Eric Flint (2002)<br \/>\n<strong>Ring of Fire<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>1634: The Baltic War<\/em><\/strong> David Weber (2007)<br \/>\n<strong>Ring of Fire<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Cobra Slave<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2013)<br \/>\n<strong>Cobra Rebellion<\/strong> Book 1 \u2013 ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Cobra Outlaw<\/em><\/strong> Timothy Zahn (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>Cobra Rebellion<\/strong> Book 2 \u2013 ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Lies of Locke Lamorra<\/em><\/strong> Scott Lynch (2006)<br \/>\n<strong>The Gentleman Bastard<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>August<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/em><\/strong> Scott Lynch (2007)<br \/>\n<strong>The Gentleman Bastard<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Republic of Thieves<\/em><\/strong> Scott Lynch (2013)<br \/>\n<strong>The Gentleman Bastard<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Drifter<\/em><\/strong> William C. Deitz (1991)<br \/>\n<strong>Pik Lando<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Drifter&#8217;s Run<\/em><\/strong> William C. Deitz (1992)<br \/>\n<strong>Pik Lando<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Drifter&#8217;s War<\/em><\/strong> William C. Deitz (1992)<br \/>\n<strong>Pik Lando<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Scholar<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2011)<br \/>\n<strong>The Imager Portfolio<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>On the Trail of Space Pilots<\/em><\/strong> Carey Rockwell (1953)<br \/>\n<strong>Tom Corbett Space Cadet<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Princeps<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2012)<br \/>\n<strong>The Imager Portfolio<\/strong> Book 5 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>September<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Imager&#8217;s Battalion<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2013)<br \/>\n<strong>The Imager Portfolio<\/strong> Book 6 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Antiagon Fire<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2013)<br \/>\n<strong>The Imager Portfolio<\/strong> Book 7 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Rex Regis<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2014)<br \/>\n<strong>The Imager Portfolio<\/strong> Book 8 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Revisionary<\/em><\/strong> Jim C. Hines (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Ex Libris<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Foreigner<\/em><\/strong> CJ Cherryh (1994)<br \/>\n<strong>Foreigner 1<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Invader<\/em><\/strong> CJ Cherryh (1995)<br \/>\n<strong>Foreigner 1<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<h4>October<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Inheritor<\/em><\/strong> CJ Cherryh (1996)<br \/>\n<strong>Foreigner 1<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>League of Dragons<\/em><\/strong> Naomi Novik (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Temeraire<\/strong> Book 9 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>All my Sins Remembered<\/em><\/strong> Joe Haldeman (1977)<br \/>\n&#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Old Man&#8217;s War<\/em><\/strong> John Scalzi (2005)<br \/>\n<strong>Old Man&#8217;s War<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Ghost Brigades<\/em><\/strong> John Scalzi (2006)<br \/>\n<strong>Old Man&#8217;s War<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>An Exchange of Hostage<\/em><\/strong> Susan R. Matthews (1997)<br \/>\n<strong>Jurisdiction<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Prisoner of Conscience<\/em><\/strong> Susan R. Matthews (1998)<br \/>\n<strong>Jurisdiction<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Angel of Destruction<\/em><\/strong> Susan R. Matthews (2001)<br \/>\n<strong>Jurisdiction<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Sheepfarmer\u2019s Daughter<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (1988)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Divided Allegiance<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (1988)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Oath of Gold<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (1989)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Citizen of the Galaxy<\/em><\/strong> Robert Heinlein (1957)<br \/>\n&#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>November<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Oath of Fealty<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (2010)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 4 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Kings of the North<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (2011)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 5 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Echoes of Betrayal<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (2012)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 6 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Limits of Power<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (2013)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 7 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Crown of Renewal<\/em><\/strong> Elizabeth Moon (2014)<br \/>\n<strong>The Deed of Paksenarrion<\/strong> Book 8 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Madness in Solidar<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>Imager&#8217;s Portfolio<\/strong> Book 9 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>December<\/h4>\n<p><strong><em>Treachery&#8217;s Tools<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Imager&#8217;s Portfolio<\/strong> Book 10 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Far-Seer<\/em><\/strong> Robert J. Sawyer (1992)<br \/>\n<strong>The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Fossil Hunter<\/em><\/strong> Robert J. Sawyer (1993)<br \/>\n<strong>The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Foreigner<\/em><\/strong> Robert J. Sawyer (1994)<br \/>\n<strong>The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Magic of Recluce<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (1991)<br \/>\n<strong>The Saga of Recluce<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Towers of Sunset<\/em><\/strong> L.E. Modesitt Jr (1992)<br \/>\n<strong>The Saga of Recluce<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Spellwright<\/em><\/strong> Blake Charlton (2010)<br \/>\n<strong>Spellwright<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Spellbound<\/em><\/strong> Blake Charlton (2011)<br \/>\n<strong>Spellwright<\/strong> Book 2 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Spellbreaker<\/em><\/strong> Blake Charlton (2016)<br \/>\n<strong>Spellwright<\/strong> Book 3 &#8211; ebook;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Legion of the Damned<\/em><\/strong> William C. Dietz (1993)<br \/>\n<strong>Legion of the Damned<\/strong> Book 1 &#8211; ebook; reread<\/p>\n<h4>The Totals<\/h4>\n<p><strong>101 books read<\/strong> \u20148.4 books a month,&nbsp;1.94 books a week, .28 books a day<br \/>\n46 new<br \/>\n55 rereads<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">January \u2014 11<br \/>\nFebruary \u2014 5<br \/>\nMarch \u2014 5<br \/>\nApril \u2014 2<br \/>\nMay \u2014 12<br \/>\nJune \u2014 18<br \/>\nJuly \u2014 6<br \/>\nAugust \u2014 8<br \/>\nSeptember \u2014 6<br \/>\nOctober \u2014 12<br \/>\nNovember \u2014 6<br \/>\nDecember \u2014 10<\/p>\n<h4>Some Conclusions<\/h4>\n<p>Surprisingly my new books\/reread ratio favours rereads for the first time \u2014not the first time ever, but the first time since 2013 (2013 62\/33, 2014 67\/39, 2015 58\/34). I attribute that partially to being on the boat half a year and also to the release of a lot of books at the end of a series\u2014I often go back and reread the entire series if it&#8217;s been a while in order to get the full effect. Nonetheless it seems I did put off reading new titles since I have at least five or six in my library that have been there most of the year. I wonder what that means?<\/p>\n<p>As you can see I have stuck mostly to fantasy and SF as usual. I did finish off the <em>Hornblower<\/em> books (very enjoyable) and read L&#8217;s manuscript for the <a href=\"https:\/\/readingwithapencil.com\/about-the-book\/\"><em>Complete Canadian Book Editor<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;(Woo-hoo! There is an author in the family!). Despite my reluctance to read any new fantasy (I am not a fan of the mega-series&nbsp;which seems to dominate the marketplace these days) I seem to be reading a lot more than I would have suspected. But new books are almost always from authors I already respect or as a result of recommendations by those selfsame authors. So I guess they have been more prolific than usual.<\/p>\n<p>April&nbsp;was brutal. The month itself was fine but I chose to read two 1000 page+ books and&nbsp;<strong><em>Fool&#8217;s Assassin<\/em><\/strong> (another monster title) bled from March into April by a lot. As a result I technically only read 2 books. We did spend that month prepping the boat for departure from Victoria so that accounts for some of it, but I admit to a bit of shame when I look at the sparsity of titles. Ah well, c&#8217;est la vie&#8230; Other months made up for it though. We were in full cruising mode in June and the count soared, although I will admit that the <em>Dragonback<\/em> series is Juvenile SF and thus a bit shorter and of course Burroughs&#8217; <em>John Carter<\/em> books are&nbsp;smaller than a modern book.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of Burroughs, I was astonished at how much my perspective has changed since Grade 8 when I first discovered and consumed these classics. It is so obvious to me now that they are such a product of their period, but none of that registered on me then. Like many others, Heinlein and Burroughs were my entry into the SF\/Fantasy world and it&#8217;s a bit weird reading them now and reacting in such a luke-warm manner.<\/p>\n<p>I had sampled a bunch of&nbsp;William C. Deitz a few years ago and am now making my way through a bunch more of his canon. Nothing spectacular but good solid stuff. And I&#8217;ve always liked&nbsp;L.E. Modesitt Jr, but for some reason had avoided the <em>Recluse<\/em> series (although I suspect I may have read the first book when it came out but it just didn&#8217;t ring any bells). So I made some headway there and will continue to work my way through the 19 titles that make up the (thankfully) non- linear series. It&#8217;s funny that he doesn&#8217;t really register as one of my &#8220;favourite&#8221; authors yet I consistently enjoy anything he&#8217;s written.<\/p>\n<p>I also picked up a bunch of Robert J. Sawyer titles for free using my Kobo points, so I started my Sawyer introduction with this Canadian SF author&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>Quintaglio Ascension<\/em> trilogy. These were some of his first major works and the while enjoyable, the inexperience shows. I&#8217;m a bit ashamed that I have never before read any Sawyer, he being Canadian, a multi-award winning author and in fact the only SF author I have ever met in person. Funny story, I actually said something like &#8220;Wow, I am so excited to meet you\u2014I&#8217;ve never read one of your books \u2014 but I am so excited to meet you!&#8221; Ask my brother, I have always suffered a bit from foot-in-mouth disease. I blame my not reading his stuff on his seeming focus on hard SF (not my favourite), a series of spectacularly bad (in my opinion) covers and that uniquely&nbsp;Canadian prejudice\/insecurity that &#8220;Canadian&#8221;=<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Beachcombers\" target=\"_blank\">The Beachcombers<\/a>.<\/em>&nbsp;Sad, I know. I will move on to some more of his recent stuff in 2017. I promise.<\/p>\n<h4>The Library<\/h4>\n<p>As for the state of the library, I am now up to 464 ebooks. Acquisitions have been slow but again, I have been sailing and not working, so expenses were definitely a consideration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I did give <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shelfie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Shelfie<\/a> a try. This is an app that allows you to scan your paper books and potentially download electronic or audio version for a much reduced price (or even, so they&nbsp;say, but I have not encountered, free). The software is pretty cool. You snap a picture of the spines of your books and it processes them \u2014 almost always accurately deriving the title and author \u2014 and then adds them to you library. You can also just go ahead and scan the individual barcodes, but that&#8217;s not as cool. Then it goes through the lists of publishers\/titles it has deals with and tells you which books you can gain access to digital versions of. In order to use it you have to sign up for Goodreads (which was annoying since I&nbsp;was [sort of] already using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.librarything.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Librarything<\/a>&nbsp;as L is&nbsp;a big fan).<\/p>\n<p>I have entered 70 books so far and it has let me know that 22 are available as ebooks and one as an audio book. The ebooks are almost all $1.99&nbsp;(USD) and the audiobook is $8.99 (regularly $24.95). There are some old titles&nbsp;(the <em>Rissa and Tregare<\/em> books by F.M. Busby written in the late 70s) and some new ones (David Weber&#8217;s <em>Safehold<\/em> series) but it seems to be rather random. As an experiment I picked up Scalzi&#8217;s <em>Old Man&#8217;s War <\/em>and<em> The Ghost Brigades<\/em> since I had some later books in that series as&nbsp;ebooks already. You have to sign the copyright page and submit a picture of it and a picture of the cover, then it charges your Apple account and sends you a link. The interface is a bit clunky and it can be hard to find the available purchases but all-in-all it works pretty smooth. I will start unpacking some books and seeing what&#8217;s available in the new year.<\/p>\n<p>So there you have it. 2016. I guess it&#8217;s time to start reading&#8230;.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Earl ( the cause of all this statistical nonsense) has his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.earljwoods.com\/2016\/12\/books-i-read-in-2016.html\" target=\"_blank\">list up already here<\/a>. Leslie&#8217;s can be <a href=\"http:\/\/moreblaze.blogspot.ca\/2017\/01\/2016-textual-roundup.html\">found here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy 2017! This is my fifth year of recording (and counting) my books read.&nbsp;Previous lists (and associated totals) can be found here: 2012&nbsp;(85), 2013&nbsp;(95), 2014&nbsp;(106), 2015&nbsp;(92). In 2016,&nbsp;I also tracked them by month although occasionally books would bleed from one month to another. The results were distinctly lopsided. So how many did I manage to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}