Looks like organised chaos! The full story can be found here.
Tag Archive: books
This clever information desk is in the Architectural Library at the Delft University of Technology. I like the way the books are arranged into colour layers.
Here is the short list for the Diagram Prize for the oddest book title of the year:
Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter – David Crompton
Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich – James A Yannes
Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes – Daina Taimina
Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots – Ronald C Arkin
What Kind of Bean is This Chihuahua? – Tara Jansen-Meyer
The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Ellen Scherl and Maria Dubinsky
The winner will be announced on 26th March, and you can vote for your favourite title here.
I know, it’s a bit late for a Best Of 2009 list! I had to think about the December books for a while and get some perspective on them, and I had to figure out how I defined “Best Of”.
When I find an author I enjoy, I will track down and read as many books by them as I can, so I’ve broken my “Best Of” into two sections:
- Awesome authors I discovered in 2009
- Amazing Books I read in 2009
But first, lets look at my reading statistics – I am a scientist after all. 🙂
In total, I read 194 books in 2009 (including audio books). I read the most in December (22) and the least in April (11).
Looking at genre, in 2009 I read:
107 fantasy books (55%)
13 science fiction books (7%)
31 romance books (16%)
16 graphic novels (8%)
21 fiction books of other genres (mystery/thriller/chick lit/whatever) (11%)
and 6 non-fiction books (3%)
In conclusion, I really like fantasy! (Please note that some of the romance and most of the graphic novels could be also be defined as fantasy.)
Awesome Authors I Discovered In 2009
Can there be anything more fun than reading an amazing book that blows you away and then finding out the author has a backlist of books for you to glom? I don’t think so!
- Ann Aguirre
- Kristin Cashore
- Colin Cotterill
- Jeaniene Frost
- Linnea Sinclair
- Nalini Singh
Amazing Books I Read In 2009
These books all have something extra that makes them stand out in my memory. (To get on this list I had to have read these books for the first time in 2009.)
- Cordelia’s Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
- Thief With No Shadow by Emily Gee
- Fire by Kristin Cashore
- Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
- The Eight by Katherine Neville
- A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
- Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair
- Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman
- Fables: The Dark Ages by Bill Willingham
Wow – these authors and books are pretty wonderful! I only hope that I can find some equally amazing new authors and equally special books in 2010.
A fascinating short documentary showing the printing and binding process of The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Minus the security guards at the end, this is how most hardcover books are produced.
Items of Interest 