I'm so behind on books

Here's a huge booklist post. I'm at risk of missing some simply because I'm sooo behind.

Book #8 - Animal Farm by George Orwell - Quite creepy the control the pigs took and how easily they duped the other animals into going along with it. The power of "protest chants" in propaganda. Eerie.

Book #9 - Absolute Sandman Vol II by Neil Gaiman - Love Gaiman! "Seasons of Mist" was quite cool for all of the varied powers gathered for the key to hell. "A Game of You" was also quite good, though I disliked her imaginary world coming to an end.

Book #10 - Bad Girls and Wicked Women: The Most Powerful, Shocking, Amazing, Thrilling, and Dangerous Women of All Time by Jan Stradling - This was a lot of fun and really interesting. I had never heard of Ching Shih, the Chinese pirate queen. Elizabeth of Bathory was mentioned in Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, and so it was neat to see her story here, crazy as she was. Some of these women were just portrayed as bad by history, by men who resented women with power. Others (like Elizabeth) were quite quite evil.

Book #11 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - I've posted on this here before. Wow. And I keep going back to elements of the story. Quite the book.

Book #12 - House of Mystery - Love Stories for Dead People by Matt Sturges and Luca Rossi - Those stuck in the house explore the basement in an attempt to leave. Good stuff.

Book #13 - In the Beginning:Creation Myths from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton- a compilation of origin myths from cultures all over the globe. What's fascinating are the common threads that wend their way through so many.

Book #14 - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - I didn't expect to enjoy this, but really did. I was especially endeared to the older version of Jacob,the narrator in the nursing home. He made me think of my grandfather.

Book #15 - House of Mystery 3 - The Space Between by Matthew Sturges, Bill Willingham, Chris Roberson - This is an awesome graphic novel, continuing the struggle of the small band trapped in the House to escape.

Book #16 - Ghost Story by Peter Straub - Neil Gaiman and others had mentioned this as one of the scariest books they had ever read. And it got quite creepy. It's the type of thing where you start to wonder if reading about it will get you, yourself, in some kind of trouble. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing...

Book #17 - The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander - I loved the dual perspective of psychotherapist wife and conductor husband. The stories on how to integrate creative thinking into all aspects of life were great - I particularly liked the illustration of "being the board" and the risks of "downward spiral" talk. I know many who could benefit from this perspective.

Book #18 - Fables 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham - OMG this is good, too! The dynamics of the Fables characters in Manhattan and the lives they have crafted for themselves after quite some time in this world are quite good. I liked the backstory on the Big Bad Wolf and how he was recruited to sheriff, also.

Book #19 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - As everyone I know who has read this agrees, it starts SLOW. But eventually he gets through detailing everything to high heaven, or mostly through, and you get to the mystery and the kickbutt and it sweeps you along. A classic "just one more chapter" book.

Book #20 - Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks - Oh, man. Love. This is the first in the trilogy to tie the Shannara tales to the Knight of the Word - a way post-apocalyptic future populated by trolls, dwarves, and elves to the present day fight against the Void. In this, the end is already near. War, terrorism, biological weapons, plague, draught, and oh, yeah, demons, have ravaged our society. It pulls you in enough that you start to marvel at the conveniences of our lives and how they could become awful inconvenient if power was lost...

Book #21 - The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson - Another really slow start. But good once, as Mom put it, the "OMG moment" happens.

Book #22 - The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson - This one starts in the middle of something! So there isn't a lull, really. Maybe a bit in the middle, but it's got a great overall pace. You'll get a bit ill at bureaucracy in bits.

I won't hit 50, yet again, but better than last year! Probably not even 30. I have 3 or 4 that I'll get finished probably before the end of the year. It's because I hit a spot in my rotation that slows everything down. Henry James, you messed up my count!
More soon.