In Theory, there is no Practice.

Listening:
David Drake’s RCN Series 3.0-3.5 of 5 stars for each book. Overall series is probably 3.5. Enjoyable once through, but I will definitely get the next one.
Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera Series 4.0 of for stars for each book as a stand alone, but overall series is 4.5. Anxiously awaiting First Lord’s Fury in Nov/Dec.
Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW:Wake 3.5 of 5 stars. I liked it, but I doubt I would listen to it again. I will get the next in the trilogy.
Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy 3.5 of 5 stars.  I liked it a lot, but I am a little biased because I got some spoilers from the next two books, and I find it hard to remain enthusiastic given the direction of the series. At the same time, apparently there will be 6 books for Rose, and perhaps there will be time for redemption. I’ll at least check to see what happens in book 4 before bailing on the series.

In Progress: Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander. I read this book once a few years ago, but I am hoping the audio version helps me get into the details more.

Reading:
Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy. 4.0 of 5 for books 1 and 2, going to start book 3 today. I think the series is probably a 4.0 at this point, but the conclusion could raise it up. I do like the pacing and the characters.

Some Tech Books
- Clean Code (Kindle) 4.5 of 5.0. Several of the essays really made me think, but a few were just ‘Meh’, but that is more because of what I am interested in / working on than a real criticism of the quality. It may be unfair to downgrade it, but for me when 20% of the book just doesn’t matter, it is hard to give it a 5.
- Test Driven Development No real opinion yet.
- Refactoring (rereading parts) 5.0 of 5.0.  I love this book. Each time I read through it (ore even just chapters), I pick up some interesting ideas.

This is just off the top of my head.

Just finished listening to Kim Harrison’s White Witch, Black Curse. I really liked it, say 4.5 of 5 stars. I am not sure why, but I really get into her books. I care about Rachel and the people around (Jenks, Ivy, Edden, Marshal, Kisten, etc). Among the first person stories, I think only Patricia Briggs does that for me, and even then not quite as well (but I really do like the Mercy Thompson books, so this is not a dis). Other authors, who use god P.O.V. or mixed (switching P.O.V. among characters) do engender that kind of involvement, especially Lois Bujold and Anne Bishop.

Also, her books jsut have really well done action and pacing. Just want to find out what happens next. Now I have to wait to find out about the chrsyalis, Pierce, the Pandora’s Charm, the shunning, and Ivy’s soul. And that’s just off the top of my head.

Finished a bunch of books, but haven’t written about them.

Listened: Heart of Stone, House of Cards, Hands of Flames all by C. E. Murphy. I really like all of them. 4 of 5 stars for each one. I really liked the characters, including the minor one. I hope the trilogy is not the end of the stories with this group of characters / this world.

Read: Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs, which is a novella in the On the Prowl Anthology. Alpha and Omega is the novella intro to Cry Wolf, which I liked. I reread Cry Wolf afterwards; I really like it more because it made so much more sense.

Haven’t finished any new Kindle books.

Finished listening to Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Audio). 4.5 of 5 stars. It took me two tries to get going. The first time, say a year ago, I stopped after ~2hr. This time I pushed through some of the (for me) uncomfortable parts. I am glad I did, this was a wonderful book. I have come to realize that Lois McMaster Bujold is one of my favorite authors. Every book I have heard (and all of the books I have ‘read’ have been audio) are at least very good, and one of them, Sharing Knife: Beguilement, is a top 10. But I loved all three Chalion books, all three Sharing Knife books, and both Miles Vorkosigan books (this one, and Brothers in Arms).

What I have noticed is that for Bujold’s books, I never have a complaint about the supporting characters, or having trouble connecting / caring about the main characters. In fact, I probably get too involved, which is why I had to stop this the first time. I am not going to psychoanalyze myself, but Marc made some cringe worthy mistakes, and cringing make me want to avoid the situations. But Bujold pulled it off, and I came to learn a lot about a lot of people that makes me want to learn more about many of them. That, for me, is high praise.

(Compare this to my comments about Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series or Richelle Mead’s Storm Born).

At this point, I am tempted to start going through more of her books, but I have a back log of books sitting on my desk and in my audio library so I must wait.

Finished reading myfirst Kindle book a few days ago:
Storm Born by Richelle Mead. I give it 4 of 5 stars. The main character was pretty interesting. The secondary characters were ‘Ehh’. The story provides some growth, but it seems a pale derivative of Laurell k. Hamilton’s Meredith Gentry series. If Richelle can improve the characters, then I think she can have a successful series, but unless they get more interesting the series won’t interest me.

New Moon, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) Really like it. 4.5 of 5 stars. I was surprised how good this second book was. Normally there is a drop off, but this was an exception. Jacob was a great character, and Isabella did many interesting things. The last third didn’t seem as integrated as the first 2/3. That first part was great, and really tugged at a lot of emotions for me. I was worried at the beginning that Bella would get to whiny / dependent, but the story got off to a bang from her birthday on, and really never slowed down. Not so much in action, but I really wanted to see what happened next.

A damn fine book.