"Encrypted" by Lindsay Buroker - which I read (almost) in one go, interrupted only by work and very little sleep - is a delightful story that reminds me strongly of two very beloved books: Lois McMaster Bujold's "Shards of Honor" (the first issue of her famous Barrayar series) and the more recent steampunk magic novel "Havemercy" by Jones and Bennett. However, "Encrypted" manages to avoid the issues found in those books, making it a truly enjoyable read with complex plot, believable (and captivatingly flawed) characters, a truly unique setting and storytelling that matches the fast pace of the events to a proverbial T.

It is difficult to sum up its content without spoilers, so I decided just to give a list of tags I use to describe it: science fantasy, military scifi, romance, naval steampunk, cryptographics.
If you prefer more of a blurb, I suggest its page at Smashwords, which holds a summary and some rather detailed descriptions in the reviews.

"Encrypted" is one of the few novels that uses science not only in terms of useless gibberish or as backdrop for the hero(ine)s romantic interest, but as a truly thought-out plot device, despite all brilliance of the scientists involved and the science fictional/fantasy elements used in a believable fashion.

As of now, I mourn the death of one character, wish for more on the two main characters, and look forward to what happened to another character, who appears grown-up in the author's next novel "The Emperor's Edge".

My New Year's resolutions (starting from next payday) is to only buy one book per pay... and I discovered that there was a library right next to my supermarket, so on Saturdays I can get books to read without having to buy them all!!! Much yay.

So, as reading is important and I like to have books recommended to me in preference to discovering them myself, this will be an interesting experience, but I'll keep you all updated also, so that you can share the joy (this will be part of my resolution - to report on the books I read and the one that I bought each fortnight).  This means that I am accountable to someone, which is the way that I work best - don't do so well without deadlines and outwards accountability.


I am currently working my way through the YA section - because there is less trashy romance and hetero-sex in them, than there is in adult fiction, and also they are quick, easy and generally enjoyable to read, but once I am through all the YA, I'll move on to the Adult stuff.

I have only just started and was planning on going from A, but seem to have picked up stuff from all over:

 

Books read 2011 4 Books started but not completed for various reasons are not counted, naturally!

Jackdaw Summer: David Almond - would be good for intermediate or Y9/10 literature study
- covers issues related to war, violence, growing up, responsibility, running away, self harming.
Interesting, but not what I thought it was going to be about from the back.

Little (grrl) Lost: Charles De Lint - cute and enjoyable
Teenager meets a 'Little' (as in a little person) and has to deal with a whole range of issues - beliefs, self identity, change, risk taking, friendship.

Orcs - The Omnibus Edition: Stan Nicholls - this is great!
Fantasy from the perspective of a bunch of Orcs.  Seriously good ideas, interesting writing and generally enjoyable.  Makes humans look like complete bastards.  I like the differentness of it! 

ETA: have actually finished it now, and although I enjoyed the story and the idea, and am known for my ranting about how some authors (Colleen McCullough) have the most pitiful descriptions of battles ever ("There was a battle and afterwards..."), this one did get a teeny bit tedious with the detailed descriptions of battles (very, very frequently - although not as frequently as the sex scenes in Plains of Passage) from a single orc's perspective.  It was the only way that it could have worked from a narrative sense, any discussion of strategy etc was totally inappropriate - as there wasn't much because of the size of the group, but still, I did get a little sick of cutting, slashing, thrusting and ducking with most of the troupe members surviving with minor injuries...  

But overall, still a good book that I would recommend - maybe not highly, but some.

The Big Over Easy: Jasper Fforde - I had this author recommended to me as being a good read and really funny
I find the style a bit heavy handed with the humour - I like the concept, but prefer my humour to be a little more subtle - this is American Sitcom, rather than British Comedy.  But there are some cool ideas - I have 2 other books of his to read, and will see what I think of them.

Unfinished:

The Quotable Slayer: Micol Ostow & Steven Brezenoff - meh
I actually got bored of it, because the quotes were often out of context and it was annoying not having a storyline

Keys to the repository: Melissa De La Cruz - wasn't what I was expecting and I stopped reading pretty quickly
Is just random information about a vampire series (and although her take on vampires is interesting, I don't read popular vampire stuff - there is too much of it out there and it is generally pretty lame, because it is the latest craze - like Vatican/Templar stuff was a few years ago)... from the blurb, I thought it would be a story - no, I don't read parts of the book before I take it out of the library, I just read the blurb, so I find myself reading a wider range of books than I would otherwise possibly.

Other books I have read recently and highly recommend (these don't count towards my tally because of not being read this year:
The Book Thief: Markus Zusak -  Seriously awesome! 
WWII from the perspective of a German child.  Brilliantly written - 5 stars at least!

A Week in December: Sebastian Faulks - Interesting
Economics and Terrorism in London post 9/11 and before the recession.  Fascinating and mind opening read.  I need someone who knows stuff about economics to explain some bits though!

Newton's Sleep: Daniel O'Mahoney - interesting and weird, but enjoyable

George's Secret Key to the Universe: science and physics for kids. 
Enjoyable although a bit of a lame storyline, boys of about 10-12 would really enjoy it.


I am in the process of reading: the Unknown Soldier, In Search of London and Down the Rabbit Hole - reviews to come next week! :-)
I like holidays! I get to read!  I also play computer games... but they are currently just lame online things on Neopets

I promised you all a best-of post ages ago, didn't I? I failed miserably at compiling one of my own.

The year has... not been off to the best possible start. (It's not been off to the worst possible starts either, though.)

I've managed to read a decent amount of books in January, though not as many as I'd have liked. Books I remember reading are...

The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (where have her books been all my life?!)
Whispers of the Cotton Tree Root edited by Nalo Hopkinson
The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Flegling by Octavia Butler
Trickster edited by Matt Dembicki

I'm probably missing some, but I'm doing this from memory. I feel like I'm coming across as this whirlwind of activity, but I'm really not. Just disorganised and out of my element. (I'd like the universe to restore my laptop now, please.) I spent today curled up with Anna of the Five Towns. I'm so much further behind on my course reading than I'd wanted to be... (I've also been managing to stick to my TBR acquisition rules, though. Yay!)

Anyway! How's the new year been treating you reading-wise? Do you have any reading goals this year? Any challenges you've decided to participate in? Read any books that you can't get off your mind now that you've read them?