I started Wise Man's Fear, but it is one of those books that makes me anxious and wound-up, which was not what I needed yesterday. I needed entertainment of a little less stressful variety. So I started and finished Magic Burns instead. It was just what I needed - light, action-packed, and full of people who have more than one angle of perspective. I like Kate, though her swaps of vulnerability and superbadassness annoy me a little bit. I definitely like Curran - he has reasons for being all of the moody beast that he is. And Rafael, who I already met in the short stories, finally showed up in this book.

Also, about Running with the Pack: If you are looking for happy endings, avoid this book. It is far more gritty and real than I was expecting. There is a lot of good insight into the darker shadows of humanity from many different perspectives, and in another mood I'm sure this book would have gotten a higher rating. Unfortunately, I was looking for entertainment of a lighter sort. The last story ends on a *very* sour note for me, turned my stomach, and ended up haunting me even during other conversations. Pouring Wise Man's Fear right on top of that bile was a Bad Idea (tm) and caused all kinds of physical feedback problems yesterday. I was physically jittery, anxious, and jumpy. I smoothed Magic Burns on top of it all to calm me down and re-entertain my brain in a way that would make sleep possible.


-- New-to-me books read in 2011 (as opposed to re-reads) --

January
Little Dee vol 2
Little Dee vol 3
Unusual Suspects
Harvest Moon
The Black Stallion (yes, I know, I should have read it with Black Beauty)
Ravens in the Library: Magic in the Bard's Name, with a pre-finished commentary here
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Fang Bangers: An Erotic Anthology of Fangs, Claws, Sex and Love
Must Love Hellhounds
Truthseeker

February
Dark and Stormy Knights
Tortall and Other Lands
River Marked (2/28 - it arrived a day early)

March
Questionable Content, vol 1
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf
Lifeblood
Magic Bites
Skinwalker, A Jane Yellowrock Novel
Running with the Pack
Magic Burns
Blood Cross
... Battlestations
... Wise Man's Fear




-- Books abandoned rather than completed in 2011 --

February
Sing the Four Quarters, by Tanya Huff



-- Books Still in Progress --
These are books that I haven't totally given up on, I've just... put them aside... for now. And gee, look at how many of them are non-fiction!
The Brand Within
Gamestorming
If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails
Swords and Dark Magic
Battlestations
Wise Man's Fear