12 Books in 12 Months Challenge, Better late than never edition

I saw this challenge over at Mark Lindner's place, and I figured why not give it a try. However, I did miss the initial deadline of September 1st to post the list, thus the title of this post. Part of the reason for missing it was that I have a big TBR pile, so picking out just 12 was a bit hard. Two, August and September are a busy time at my library, so I did not have much time to ponder this. So, finally, as I am relaxing on a Sunday, I decided to look over my shelves and decide on my choices. I tried to go for some things I have been wanting to read, but for one reason or another have been left to sit on the shelf. I tend to read a lot by serendipity, which is part of why I usually have three to five books going at any given time. So, here we go.

First, the rules as posted at Habitually Probing Generalist:

• Pick 12 titles from your To Read Pile.  These should be titles you currently own in whatever format you prefer.
• Acquisition of other formats or translations is permitted.  So, if you have a paperback but want to read on your Kindle, you can get a Kindle copy.  If you have a library copy but want to buy your own, that’s kosher.  Heck, if you own a copy and want to check another out from the library, I’m not gonna stop you.
• Post your list in your public space of choice by September 1, 2010.  If you prefer not to post, you can just leave a comment with your list.
• Read all 12 titles between now and September 5, 2011.  Might as well tack on an extra long weekend at the end for cramming.
• When you finish a title on your list, post about it in your public space of choice.  If you prefer not to post, you can just leave a comment with your review.
• Once a month, I’ll post a round-up of the reviews posted from that month so that we all know what everyone else has read.

OK, so as I mentioned, I broke the first rule, but I hope to catch up.  Here then is my list of books for this challenge. The list is in no particular order:

• Armando Choy, Gustavo Chui, and Moisés Sío Wong, Nuestra historia aún se está escribiendo : la historia de tres generales cubano-chinos en la revolución cubana. A history of three Cuban-Chinese generals in the Cuban Armed Forces. I got this at a TLA conference a few years back as it sounded very interesting. I always find these small pieces of Latin American history fascinating. Only reason I have put it off is that serendipity I mentioned. I keep picking up books I borrow from the library, and those take priority over what I own. Anyhow, I just finished another book on Cuba recently, so this seems a good time to finally read this history. 
• José Saramago, Ensayo sobre la ceguera. The story by the Nobel Prize in Literature winner about an epidemic of blindness. I have been wanting to read Saramago for the longest time, and I think this will finally be the year. I am hoping the experience will be a very good one. Much as when I read Coehlo, I prefer to read translations from Portuguese in Spanish. 
• Mario Vargas Llosa, Los cuadernos de Don Rigoberto. Sure, Worlcat uses the simplistic description from an American newspaper that calls this novel "a love triangle between a man, his second wife, and his young son, Alfonso." Sure, that may be the case, but this is Vargas Llosa, so we know the story goes a lot deeper than a mere love triangle as we learn about the notebooks where Don Rigoberto is creating his treatise on love and sensuality. Vargas Llosa is one of my favorite Latin American writers, so I am looking forward to finally reading this one. 
• Kurt Busiek, et.al., Conan, Volume 4: The Hall of the Dead and Other Stories. I read a lot of graphic novels and manga, so I have to have at least one book in this category.Dark Horse has done very good work with this revival series of the original works that also adds new stories to the Conan tales.
• Joe Haldeman, The Forever War. I read this, but I feel it is time to reread it, so I hope to do it within the next 12 months.
• Frank Herbert, Dune. This is another that I just have an urge to reread. I have not bothered with the sequels he wrote, and I have less interest in the sequels others have written after Frank Herbert's work. But this is a classic, so it deserves to be revisited. 
• Anthony Boucher, The Compleat Boucher: the Complete Short Science Fiction and Fantasy of Anthony Boucher. NESFA Press put out some excellent works. I enjoyed their collection of C.M. Kornbluth's works, His Share of Glory.  Kornbluth is also coauthor with Frederik Pohl of another favorite of mine, The Space Merchants. I figure I cannot go wrong with the Boucher collection.
• Graham McNeill, The Ultramarines Omnibus. This is part of the Warhammer 40,000 series. Adding it as a bit of escapism and fluff. WH40K has become one of my favorite pleasures. 
• Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, The Surrogates. This is the basis of the recent film. I noticed the WorldCat record has the wrong cover in it. Someone needs to do better cataloging there.
• Dava Sobel, The Planets.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World and Other Stories.
• Maureen Stanton, Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: Seeking History and Hidden Gems in Flea-market America.

I could have made this list heavier on science fiction, but I tried to add other things I have been meaning to read but keep putting off until later. Not sure I may get to any of them this month, but I should be able to pick one up next month for sure.


Update note (7/15/11): I switched out the Ung book for the Stanton book in the original list.  I explained a bit of why in my blog post for Book 7. I am keeping the text I originally wrote for the Ung book, which I still do intend to read at some point in the future:

• Loung Ung, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. I actually heard this author speak at a conference. It was about the time I was reading Shake Hands with the Devil, so I was not in the mood to read about another genocide. However, it is time I get to this book.