Books read December

And so I’ve come to an end of another year of reading books, a year in which I attempted to pay more attention to female writers since it turned out how skewed my ratio of male to female writers read was. I managed to finish the reading list of twelve science fiction/fantasy books written by women I had set up at the end of 2010, though I do still have to review the last novel on that list, which I’ll do this week. It was interesting to have such a self imposed reading project and I’m thinking to put together a similar list for this year, focusing on Charles Dickens, both because Sandra always pushed his writing on me and because it’s the 200th anniversary of his birth this year.

Statistics: I’ve read 101 books this year, same as last year and like then, the bulk of my reading was again done in the last half of the year. Still nowhere near my peak, in 2008 (152) and 2009 (122) though. Most of my reading in fiction was science fiction (39), followed by fantasy (14), detectives (10) and a couple of thrillers (4) for a total of 67. Non-fiction was utterly dominated by history (25 out of 34 books) with 5 military history books, 2 on politics and one each of economics and travel.

Genderwise women dominated the fiction categories, but I also read a lot of non-fiction by women, mainly history. In total it was 43 female versus 57 male, with the Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo due counting for the females.

December was despite all the distractions quite a good month reading wise: fourteen books in total:

Hellenistic and Roman Sparta — A history of the Sparta that few people know, long after its glory days had ended. Dry, academic but interesting.

Dragonflight — Anne McCaffrey
I reread this because Anne McCaffrey died recently and was glad I did. I’d forgotten how good this was and how influential.

Toast: And Other Rusted Futures — Charlie Stross
An early collection of Charlie Stross short stories, available for free as an e-book. Some of his better stories (“A Colder War” frex) are included, but there are also a lot of not so good early attempts. More for the diehard fans than a casual reader.

Dragonquest — Anne McCaffrey
The second book in the Dragons of Pern series, already getting more sfnal than fantasy.

Procession of the Dead — D. B. Shan
An urban fantasy by an unknown to me writer; alright, but not anything special.

The Crusades 1071 – 1291 — Jean Richard
A good introduction to a complex subject, as Richard attempts to both narrate the history of the crusades themselves as of the crusader states that were the result of them.

Ivan’s War — Catherine Merridale
A look at the experiences of the ordinary Russian soldier in World War II, with a prominent place for the voices of the veterans themselves. Recommended.

The King’s Peace — Jo Walton
A reworking of Arthurian legend in a fantasy Britain loosely based on what happened in Britain when the Romans left. Excellent.

The British Soldier of the First World War — Peter Doyle
Another Shire book on the experiences of British soldiers in WWI. Due to its length, less than 100 pages this is of course just a sketch, but a good introduction.

A Christmas Carol — Charles Dickens
I read this on the way to my parents to celebrate Christmas there and what better time to do so?

Medieval Warfare — Helen Nicholson
A short overview of the theory and practise of medieval warfare, from 300 to 1500 CE.

Singled Out — Virginia Nicholson
With the First World War killing off the flower of English manhood on the fields of Flanders, it left behind some two million women who would never get the chance to marry and fulfill their traditional duties of wive and mother. Virginian Nicholson shows what they did instead and how important this turned out to be for the further emancipation of British women.

Planet of the Damned — Harry Harrison
An early Harrison novel, read on the Kindle. Fun, but nothing special and some unconscious sexism.

Air Power and Maneuver Warfare — Martin van Creveld & others
The last book of 2011 was a strategic overview of how airpower fits in with maneuver warfare, as illustrated with German, Soviet and Israeli examples, in the context of a post-Cold War US army looking for new strategic choices.