2011 in summary

[asimplechord]

BOOKS:
1. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien [I would be very curious to know how much of this is fiction and how much is just barely veiled non-fiction. The eponymous short story has some of the most gorgeous phrasing I've ever seen.]

2. Mercy Kill, Lori Armstrong [Interesting, in that the main character is very flawed, and aware of her flaws, in addition to having lived a non-traditional role for most of her life as a military sniper. There are some really gray areas, morally, that Mercy occupies, and more than once I wondered how she didn't choke on her own hypocrisy. But entertaining. I'm already looking forward to the next installment.]

3. Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World, Nir Rosen [Pages of notes taken. This book gives the reader the Afghan and Iraqi view of the occupations, rather than one approved, or at least significantly influenced by, embedding with American soldiers or NGO officials. I had one good laugh as I was reading the last few chapters: Rosen mentions a "bag of nitrogen" that could be used as fertilizer or explosives. Um. A bag of nitrogen? Nitrogen, as such, is a gas. Nitrates, ammonium compounds, other nitrogen-containing compounds, yes, come in bags. The chapter on the Iraqification of Lebanon was interesting, b/c most of the books I've read abt Lebanon were written through ~2006, and I didn't realize that the sectarian split had become so pronounced; timely, given Hizballah's withdrawal from the parliament earlier this week. Note: is Moqtada al-Sadr going to become Iraq's Nasrallah, running a state within a state? Rosen's comment about Petraeus being the one general who would be respected if he declared Afghanistan a lost cause: a slick move on Obama's part, and one I hadn't really considered. On the subject of failure, there's a single exchange on p509, where a soldier yells at a woman whose prayers he's interrupting to "Shut the fuck up, we're doing you a favor" that pretty much sums up to me that it *is* a lost cause. You can't win hearts and minds with that sort of attitude, especially if the favor you're doing is destroying a compound or humiliating a head of household.]

4. Our Kind Of Traitor, John le Carre [Espionage thriller. Eh. Do any of his novels end happily?]

5. The Good Soldiers, David Finkel [I am at a loss to describe my reaction to this book. Was unexpectedly grieved and angry, considering all the other books I've read about the "surge". Also, interesting to read description in this book (published 2009) about the incident that got WikiLeaks first big attention in 2010, the video of killing of the Reuters reporter and photographer. Separate item of note: am so fucking annoyed by Graham's question of Petraeus on p.146, Is it worth it to us?. WHO DECIDES WORTH? The general? NO. He executes according to policy decided by politicians. >:/]

6. Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam, John Nagl [You know, I had a thought about the American psyche and identity, and how it's pretty bold, believing that just hammering harder at something will always work in the end, compared to the subtlety and patience that many (older) cultures have, but that's just one layer of the differences between the two armies examined here. Again, pages of notes. But I am unqualified and don't have a coherent thesis to write a proper analysis or review of this book.]

7. Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins [I am not generally a fan of 1st-person narration but it works here. Having gotten through the first book, I think I see where the trilogy is heading, and I'm not sure how this can end well for any of the main characters.]

8. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

9. Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins [OK, by the end of the book I was just angry about the whole "rocks fall, people die in a war" attitude. I mean, FINN? Also, I thought the final death was a cheap way to close the arc. Dear Author: your unsubtle message is received. No one wins when we descend into savagery.]

10. Rose Daughter, Robin McKinley

11. Dead or Alive, Tom Clancy & Grant Blackwood [I don't know why I still read his books. a) I hate his personal politics. b) He has some issues with time passing that get handwaved off. c) The Emir = Osama bin Laden in all ways but his name, which irks me. Call him by his name if you're going to base the rest of the events on reality, like 9/11 and the Afghanistan invasion. d) Torture justified. Um, NO. Even if you think it's justified, I don't see how you can get around the idea that if you think it's okay for the US to do it, what will stop other countries from doing it to Americans?]

12. Treachery In Death, JD Robb [I enjoyed this installment MUCH more than the last In Death, which seemed disjointed at the beginning and sort of a re-tread. The procedural aspect was the focus but the interpersonal relationships at work and elsewhere backed it up. There were minor editorial glitches, and I still don't like how in some scenes the POV switches between Eve and Roarke, but that's just me. Apparently millions of readers of Robb/Roberts' novels don't see that as a problem.]

13. The Sheen on the Silk, Anne Perry [Enjoyed the setting, the machinations of the characters, the historical period (Constantinople, 1265-1280). Would read more set in this world, and I suppose it could happen, given the way Perry tied up the mystery without giving the reader too much about how the main characters will fare in the future.]

14. Mistress of the Art of Death, Ariana Franklin [interesting premise, would be curious to know if Salerno really did allow women to train to be physicians in the time of Henry Plantagenet; sets up a series with the main character, but I know the author died with the series unfinished, so I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next mystery]

15. Chalice, Robin McKinley [enjoyed more than Rose Daughter; on par with Spindle's End]

16. The Night Season, Chelsea Cain [4th in the series with Archie Sheridan as the protagonist. I love this series. Archie is fucked up, he knows he's fucked up, and unlike most mystery/suspense series, there's no white-washed happy-home-to-retire-to ending once they've solved the crime. This installment was less gory than the last, since Gretchen Lowell remains in prison, a spectre over the rest of his life. I appreciated that even as I missed her as the antagonist - she's not insane in the sense that she didn't know what she was doing, but she really IS bat-shit crazy, but she owns her criminality and I enjoyed how twisted she was. Is it wrong that I want her to escape from prison again?]

17. A Sudden, Fearful Death, Anne Perry [One of the early William Monk mysteries. I read this series out of order, and it's sort of weird to see William and Hester interacting early in their relationship when I know how it develops.]

18. Into The Storm, Suzanne Brockmann [Eh. Her characters seem pretty unrealistic to me in the wild mood swings. And she uses "prolly" in convo, which I have never actually heard anyone say - usually it's "prob'ly". Mostly I just want to read Jules getting his HEA, and I'm irked that I don't know which book that is in this stupid series, or if it ever happens. But I got this for $2, so I can't be *that* angry.]

19. All Night Long, Jayne Ann Krentz [Meh. Obviously narrowed to few people, suspense-wise, early on.]

20. The Language of Bees, Laurie R. King [I am extremely annoyed that the end of the book was not the end of this adventure. Unusual, for this series.]

21. The God of the Hive, Laurie R. King [The rest of the mystery. Good, in that the web of intrigue is revealed. I don't favor the shift in narration (most of the previous books are narrated by Russell exclusively) but it was necessary to tell the story. IDK, I sort of... don't care for some of the liberties taken with the character of Mycroft Holmes, really. But suspense-wise it works.]

22. Winter's Child, Margaret Maron

23. Senator's Son, Luke Larson [Author is clearly a COIN convert. Plot okay, I guess, but this book needs a fuckton of editing and reformatting. I paid $1 for it, and that's pretty much all I'd be willing to fork out. Seriousy, DIRECT ADDRESS COMMAS ARE AWESOME. So is consistent use of commas. Some really really awkward phrasing. The title is a red-herring for the reader. All in all? Not impressed.]

24. The Prince of the Marshes and Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq, Rory Stewart [LOL, name-dropping Nate Fick on p308. Otherwise, this is the most demoralizing account of how much money and effort went into fighting the CPA's backwardsness in Amara, and it was all for naught.]

25. Satire and Dissent: Interventions in Contemporary Political Debate, Amber Day

26. Magic Slays, Ilona Andrews

27. Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews (re-read)
28. Magic Bleeds, Ilona Andrews (re-read)

29. 33 Revolutions Per Minute, Dorian Lynskey

30. Chasing Fire, Nora Roberts

31. Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence, Christian Parenti [I'm not sure I buy his argument about counterinsurgency - he says it's bad but correlation isn't causation - but the rest of the "catastrophic convergence" theory seems sound.]

32. Treason at Lisson Grove, Anne Perry

33. No Souvenirs, K.A. Mitchell [m/m romance; lots of sex, some obvious lack of communication, but works out in the end, as per Romancelandia rules]

34. Blood Money, David Ignatius [I had thoughts on this. If my computer gets fixed any time soon, I might post about them.]

35. Acceptable Loss, Anne Perry [Next in the Monk series; builds on the last in terms of the case(s) they are investigating.]

36. Vlad: The Last Confession, C. C. Humphreys [A fictional history of Vlad the Impaler; pivotal point in history, geographically and politically speaking, for the Roman vs. Orthodox Church, crusades, and Byzantium. I'd be interested in reading more, both fiction and non- about this era.]

37. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards [a bookclub read; never would've read on my own; not the type of book I care for; felt zero sympathy for the two main narrators from the start]

38. New York To Dallas, JD Robb [Entertaining read, but seriously: one coincidence too many. And obvious, to boot.]

39. Pirate King, Laurie King [I think I need to step away from this series, because I was just not invested in these characters at all for this go-round.]

40. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, Jeffrey Toobin [Almost didn't pick it up b/c the subtitle makes it seem like it's trying to be sensational. Chronicles the Rehnquist Court and its transition into the Roberts court. SO ANGRY when I read about Bush v. Gore, Kennedy's asinine bullshittery on Gonzalez v Carhart, & the bio-sketch of Thomas & his career in the judiciary & politics. (Judicial activists are NOT solely the liberal ones, &$*#$^%&*#$&$&$&.) For all that she was a swing vote, I'm even more ambivalent about O'Connor now, having read this. But I really REALLY want to read Stevens' dissent on Bush v. Gore now, and Breyer's Active Justice.]

41. On the edge, Ilona Andrews [Urban fantasy? First in the Edge series. I'm intrigued, and interested in seeing how things work out for Rose & her brothers.]

42. Rafa, Rafael Nadal and John Carlin [The most interesting part of this, I think, are the little things he says about Novak Djokovic. I'd be curious to know when he did the interviews/writing for this (it was published in late August of 2011) in relation to the year he's had at Nole's hands. Also? He's still the biggest Federer fanboy EVER.]

43. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood [Um, the science here really puts the fiction in science fiction. Post-apocalyptic future dystopia.]

44. Strokes of Genius, Jon Wertheim [Chronicle of the W09, wherein Nadal beat Federer in a five-set match since decreed possibly the greatest of all time; wow, Wertheim is a big Federer fanboy.]

45. Storm Front, Jim Butcher [first in the Harry Dresden books]

46. Fool Moon, Jim Butcher [I am already tired of Harry's protecting-the-little-woman bullshit, and do not like Murphy's arrest-first-ask-questions-later attitude. I'm told that at least one of these gets better, so I will persevere.]

47. Grave Peril, Jim Butcher

48. Room, Emma Donoghue [Ugh. Another bookclub book that makes me D:. DNW first person POV. DNW a 5-year-old boy narrator. Ugh ugh ugh.]

49. The Gun, C.J. Chivers [A history of automatic weaponry with emphasis on the Kalashnikov line; pretty fascinating comparison of post-WWII Soviet vs. US arms policy; super-tragic outlining of how Soviet foreign policy and national security objectives led to a huge surplus of weapons that leaked into conflicts all over the world. Chivers does a great job weaving history & fact with story-telling.]

50. A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness [Essentially a better-written version of Twilight, for grown-ups. Excellent use of history & science/alchemy, but the stubborn protagonist with her vampire BF who chooses abstinence (bundling, ffs) over sex b/c OMG they might maybe a witch/vampire hybrid baby... yeah. Also, the protagonist being the magicest, specialest witch without ever learning to use magic and her BF being the fabulously wealthy and most powerful vampire? WHERE HAVE I HEARD ANY OF THAT BEFORE? But I enjoyed the academic/historical parts the author - a professor of history - used in writing her Mary Sue, author self-insertion fantasy.]

51. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Helen Simonson [I wanted to like this book a lot, b/c the couple in question are well past middle age, and it's unusual to find a romance for that age demographic. Also, one of the major topics (from the back-blurb, anyway) is about the prejudice involved in a mixed-race relationship. But Major Pettigrew is a conservative snob, and I found it very hard to be at all sympathetic.]

52. The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff [Now I need to read the next book in the trilogy. And I want all the Marcus/Esca or Marcus/Esca/Cottia fic in the world. Whichever.]

53. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot [I have thoughts about this book, from the way science is dumbed down - I know, necessary for public consumption in a nation that... is remarkably ignorant about how science works - to the changes that have occurred in both ethics and lab practicalities since H. Lacks' cervical cancer cells make tissue culture possible. Maybe once I get some of my other to-be-done things accomplished I'll post more about it.]

54. Hot Pursuit, Suzanne Brockmann [I'd be okay with a shift to suspense for this author, particularly if there was more Jules/Robin.]

55. Breaking the Rules, Suzanne Brockmann [So done with her.]

56. Summer Knight, Jim Butcher

57. Death Masks, Jim Butcher

58. Dead Beat, Jim Butcher

DNF: Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan -- and the Path to Victory, Anthony Shaffer [The blacked-out bits were annoying, but the author's ego and attitude were what made me put this down.]

DNF: The Assassins' Gate, George Packer [I couldn't keep reading yet another book that catalogued the stupidity and lack of planning and personal enmities that made the Iraq invasion & occupation such a clusterfuck.]

MOVIES:
1. Die, Mommie, Die
2. Kill Your Darlings
3. Clash of the Titans
4. Manic
5. HOWL
6. Wild Hogs (ugh; Aaron's choice in the Netflix queue)
7. Armored
8. Invictus (hi, Matt Damon, hi)
9. The Road
10. Surrogates
11. Extract
12. Alien v. Ninja (I totally blame Netflix instant queue for this)
13. Scream 4
14. Leaves of Grass
15. Priest (Paul Bettany/Maggie Q is my new OTP.)
16. Brotherhood of the Wolf
17. How To Train Your Dragon
18. Vampires Suck
19. Predators
20. Devil
21. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
22. Zodiac
23. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2
24. The Blind Side
25. Robin Hood
26. War
27. Suspect Zero
28. Repo Men (couldn't finish, the very subject made me angry. even though it was a fictional futuristic movie)
29. Warrior
30. The Battle for Marjah (documentary; D: D: D:)
31. Contagion (decent science, for once; almost too many threads, even for a Soderbergh movie, though)
32. Killer Elite
33. 50/50
34. Anonymous (OMG, Rhys Ifans. ♥__♥)

TV:
1. The West Wing (S2)
2. The West Wing (S3)
3. The West Wing (S4)
4. The Wire (S4)

ongoing: SPN, White Collar, Castle, House MD, Criminal Minds, The Big C

THEATRE:
1. God of Carnage (Alley Theatre/Seattle Rep. Company)
2. American Idiot (Hi, Billie Joe Armstrong, HI!)
3. Time Stands Still (Laura Linney. And Eric Bogosian. That is all.)
4. Driving Miss Daisy (James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave have awesome comedic timing, which I was not expecting)
5. American Idiot (goodbye, Theo Stockman)
6. A Weekend With Pablo Picasso
7. August: Osage County (OMG, LONG; very Faulknerian)
8. John Oliver @ HOB
9. Amadeus (the Houston Opera is performing The Marriage of Figaro at the same time; I feel like I should go see it again for completeness)
10. The Book of Mormon
11. Avenue Q
12. The Importance of Being Earnest
13. American Idiot (last show)
14. The Monster at the Door (Rajiv Joseph world premiere at the Alley)
14. Pygmalion (I forgot how much I hate the last third of this play. It's not even that the original ending isn't the same as My Fair Lady, it's that Eliza got what she asked for, and then cries about it because, OH, she wants something different now.)
15. And Then There Were None
16. Ether Dome
17. Dividing The Estate

MUSIC:
1. (21Jan2011) River City Extension, Steel Train, The Get Up Kids @ Warehouse Live Studio
2. (25Jan2011) American Heist, Fences, Cheap Girls, Against Me! @ Warehouse Live Studio
3. (14Feb2011) Miggs, Parachute, Plain White Ts @ HOB-Houston
4. (3Mar2011) Paper Tongues, Linkin Park @ Toyota Center
5. (16-19Mar2011) SXSW (Gold Motel, Stamps, Empires, Tommy & the High Pilots, Ha Ha Tonka, The Sounds, Electric Touch, Tony Lucca, Panic! At The Disco and others)
6. (2Apr2011) The Big Dance free show: Vallejo, Robert Randolph Band, Panic! At The Disco
7. (2Apr2011) Something Eliot Whit-something or other, Chris Cornell @ HOB
8. (19Apr2011) Four Year Strong, Bad Religion, Rise Against @ Stubb's
9. (30Apr2011) Other Lives & The Decemberists @ Stubb's
10. (6May2011) Without A Face & other singer-songwriters @ Dean's
11. (20May2011) The Architects, Circa Survive, MCR @ HOB
12. (9-12June2011) Bonnaroo :D :D :D [My Morning Jacket, Eminem, Black Keys, the Smith Westerns, etc.]
13. (14June2011) Funeral Party, fun., Panic! At The Disco @ Palladium Ballroom - Dallas
14. (15June2011) Funeral Party, fun., Panic! At The Disco @ HOB - Houston
15. (25June2011) Oax, Other Lives, The Rosebuds @ Fitzgerald's
16. (18July2011) Empires @ Stubb's - Austin
17. (25July2011) Without A Face, Stamps, Tommy & The High Pilots, Sparks the Rescue, Ludo @ Bronze Peacock/HOB - Houston
18. (5-7Aug2011) Lollapalooza (Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Friendly Fires, My Morning Jacket, Foo Fighters, Cage the Elephant, Little Hurricane, Black Cards, PStump, Crystal Castles, Cults, The Kills, Smith Westerns, etc.)
19. (26Aug2011) Rockie Fresh, John West, Wynter Gordon, Patrick Stump @ Houston HOB
20. (27Aug2011) Rockie Fresh, John West, Wynter Gordon, Patrick Stump @ Dallas HOB
21. (28Aug2011) Rockie Fresh, John West, Wynter Gordon, Patrick Stump @ Stubb's Indoors
22. (5Sept2011) Uproar Festival @ CWMP (Sevendust, Escape The Fate, Bullet For My Valentine, Seether, Three Days Grace, Avenged Sevenfold)
23. (10Sept2011) Without A Face, Waldo & the Naturals @ Dean's
24. (13Sept2011) Placid Blue & Tony Lucca @ Fitzgerald's
25. (24Sept2011) Chamillionaire, Against Me!, Slim Thug @ BestFest
26. (25Sept2011) Hayes Carll, Cake @ BestFest
27. (11Oct2011) Allison Park & the Holding, The Summer Set, Plain White T's @ Houston HOB
28. (18Oct2011) Patrick Stump, Foxy Shazam, Panic at the Disco @ San Antonio
29. (19Oct2011) Patrick Stump, Foxy Shazam, Panic at the Disco @ La Zona Rosa, Austin
30. (20Oct2011) Patrick Stump, Foxy Shazam, Panic at the Disco @ Tipitina's, NoLa
31. (21Oct2011) Jack's Mannequin @ Houston HOB (tour crud; so sick, couldn't deal with another GA show)
32. (22Oct2011) BuzzFest @ CWMP [Filter, Everlast, Evans Blue, Chevelle, Staind, Bush]
33. (28-30Oct2011) Voodoo Experience Festival @ NoLa (MCR, Soundgarden, Social Distortion, The Raconteurs, One AM Radio, The Static Jacks, The Wombats, The Limousines, etc.)
34. (31Oct2011) Patrick Stump, Foxy Shazam, Panic at the Disco @ 9:30 Club, DC
35. (3Nov2011) Patrick Stump, Foxy Shazam, Panic at the Disco @ Trocadero, Philadlephia
36. (4Nov2011) Patrick Stump, Foxy Shazam, Panic at the Disco @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
37. (9Nov2011) Mayday Parade, We Are The In Crowd, You Me At Six, some other bands @ Houston HOB
38. (19Nov2011) Jayhawks @ Houston HOB
39. (3Dec2011) Riverboat Gamblers, Flobots, Rise Against @ Verizon, Houston
40. (8Dec2011) Panic! At The Disco (acoustic UltimateEars/Logictech secret show) @ Momo's, Austin
41. (10Dec2011) Electric Touch, Bang Bangz, Girl In A Coma @ Warehouse Live Studio, Houston