Yes!

#100: "Stonehenge", by Bernard Cornwell

And with that, I'm swearing off doing anything so absurd ever again.

Ninety-nine

I feel I shall have to find a Flake now. Yum, yum.

#97: "Eberron: City of Stormreach", by Keith Baker, Nicolas Logue, James "Grim" Desborough, and C.A. Suleiman
#98: "Pathfinder Companion: Adventurer's Armory", by Jonathan Keith, Jeff Quick, Christopher Self, J.D. Wiker and Keri Wiker
#99: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass", by Lewis Carroll (book twenty from The List)

Just one more to go...

Mamma Mia!

Some months back, I was forced to watch "Mamma Mia". The things we do for love...

Anyway, I didn't hate it. In fact, there was quite a lot to like about it. The music was of course what one would expect, and most of the cast were fine.

With one key exception. Simply put: Pierce Brosnan can't sing. At all.

Now, even this might be fine. Give him a small part, with just a handful of lines, and you're fine. But no. Instead, he's given the most significant of the three male roles, such that he has to carry several songs. And he just can't.

Basically, that one bad decision ruins the entire film.

(And it's not like you can really get away with bad music. In theory, some musicals could manage that, and be carried by the plot, the characters, or a general sense of well-being. But the entire selling point of "Mamma Mia" is the music. That has to be right, and it just isn't.)

So, I won't be watching "Mamma Mia" on DVD again. I might be persuaded to see it on the stage, if I really must, but not on DVD.

#94: "Dragons of Eberron", by Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Nicolas Logue and Amber Scott
#95: "Wrath of a Mad God", by Raymond E. Feist
#96: "Rides a Dread Legion", by Raymond E. Feist

Ooh, tense!

Yesterday morning I finished the very funny "Catch-22", taking my running total for the year to 93 books. This is a mighty total by any measure, but it does leave me some seven books short of the century, with a mere 19 days remaining this year. Worse, I now need to average more than two books a week to reach the goal.

(In fact, I need to average around 125 pages per day to complete the goal. But that's oversimplifying somewhat: not all pages are created equal.)

On the plus side, I now have only one more week of work this year, and there's only two more band practices before that takes a break also. So, I should be getting some additional time to read the remaining books.

So, it's all a bit tense. I'll update as I go...

#92: "Eberron: Forge of War", by James Wyatt, Wolfgang Baur and Ari Marmell
#93: "Catch-22", by Joseph Heller (book nineteen from The List)

Snow Day 3?

Dammit, I really want to get to work! I'm going crazy here.

I'm going to try to get the car out again in half an hour or so, but if I can't then I guess I'm stuck here.

The Michael Bay of the Writing World

I was asked to say something about why I didn't like "The Da Vinci Code". Given that I also didn't like "Angels & Demons", I think I'll cover that as well.

The thing is, it's not that these books are badly written. You can see the list of books I've read in the last two years, and there's no denying that there's a load of dross on there. And Dan Brown's works aren't significantly worse than some of the others.

Besides, I do think that the comparison is apt: as with a Michael Bay film, a Dan Brown novel doesn't need to be well-written, provided he keeps the pace up, and fills it with enough exciting events to distract you from the vapid nonsense involved. And so everything happens at a hundred miles an hour (even the endless chapters talking about art or science). There are people running here and there, revelations on every page, secrets and lies, things being hinted at and not revealed until later...

It's exciting.

The problem is, I do have a brain, and it doesn't just switch off. And in both "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons", the idiocy reached a level that I couldn't just ignore.

As I've mentioned before, I don't like it when people in the church start talking about science. As a rule, they don't have the grounding to know what they're talking about, or if they do then they over-simplify things for their audience to a point where it stops being anything like real science.

I also don't like it when scientists start talking religion (e.g. Dawkins). Again, they too often don't really understand their topic, or perhaps deliberately get things wrong for effect (more on this later). Basically, if you're going to talk about both, you really need to understand a fair amount about both, and very few people do.

Dan Brown's works are filled with endless expositions on art, science, religion and history. But it's bad art, bad science, bad religion and bad history.

The scene that first brought this to the fore was in "Da Vinci...", where Langdon has gone to see his colleague Leigh Teabing to discuss the Holy Grail. Whereupon about three quarters of the plot of the book is laid out in a huge chunk of exposition. (Actually, about 100 pages of exposition - I'm amazed he got away with it.)

Anyway, we proceed to have these two supposed high-end academics laying out the secret history of Jesus' wife and children, the vilification of Mary Magdalene, her line marrying into the French royal line, and then becoming extinct, and the Holy Grail being a vagina, and...

And as we go, we repeatedly have these experts saying, "Of course, X and Y and Z..."

But the thing is, X is just wrong, Y is a lie, and Z is maybe true if you really stretch the known facts.

But because these are 'experts' (even if they're fictional characters, and even if at least one of them is an expert in an entirely fictional field), people who don't know better will simply believe them. After all, if an expert says it, it must be true, right? And he couldn't put it in his novel if it wasn't true, could he?

Or, better still, how about the scene in "Angels..." in which Langdon is told about an experiment that 'proves' Genesis could be possible. (Of course, that itself is a nonsense - if you assume an all-powerful creator God, then of course it is possible; if there is no such creator God then Genesis is irrelevant anyway.)

Anyway, to prove Genesis is possible, our scientist has created "something out of nothing". Fair enough.

So, he took a particle stream (um, isn't that 'matter'), and fired it along a particle accelerator at speed (um, isn't that 'energy'), and then fired another particle stream along the accelerator in the other direction (more 'matter' and 'energy'), and proceeded to collide them (more 'energy'). And the result was... matter was created.

Something out of nothing? Um, no. That would be "something out of something else". Which is well-understood scientific principle: E = mc^2, and all that. ("Angels & Demons" even gets the science wrong in the 'fact' section preceding the novel itself. At least "The Da Vinci Code" didn't manage to annoy me until the first word of the novel proper.)

Then there's the logic failure: a key part of the plot of "Da Vinci..." revolves aroung the search for the "sacred feminine", the female counterpart to God. Fair enough. It also posits that Jesus was just a man (albeit a prophet), who had children by Mary Magdalene. Also fair enough.

But then, when Langdon finds the bones of Mary Magdelene at the end of the book, he feels compelled to kneel and pray at the feet of the goddess.

Um, what?

Surely, if Jesus was just a man, then Mary was just a woman, and their children would be... well, children. And wondrous as all that is, where exactly is this supposed goddess?

Bit of a failure on the 'logic' front, there, I think.

And so it goes. On the surface, these books are a quick read, they're exciting, and they have a bit of 'smarts' to them. It's just that as soon as you scratch the surface that you find that, well, it's all surface.

At least "Revenge of the Fallen" only takes two and a half hours to get through.

700th post

I just noticed that the previous post was #699. Which makes this the 700th post to this blog.

Of course, one number is basically the same as any other, so it's a largely meaningless milestone, but still...

Much-belated edit: Again, no it isn't - this is post 699!

House Gets Nasty

I should warn you in advance - this post contains spoilers for the most recent episode of "House" (or, at least, the one most recently broadcast on Sky).

I watch "House" every week, but I'm not really a huge fan. As far as I can tell, it's largely a mystery show that the audience simply has no basis on which to participate - if the medicine is accurate (which I very much doubt), then you can only guess what's going on if you yourself are an expert in obscure medical conditions; if the medicine is not accurate, then nobody can take part. Of course, there's the 'fun' of watching House bully and insult his staff, and the interactions between the characters, and... you know, I just don't get it - those things really aren't as compelling as I'm told.

Still, it's entertaining enough, I guess.

However, like many other shows, "House" has a number of recurring themes - Foreman is arrogant about something until House slaps him down (although... isn't Foreman supposed to be the boss these days?), Chase has loads of women after him, Taob is cheating on his wife or she's cheating on him or not...

And this week, we had a recurrence of my least favourite, the one I call "poke the fundies" - a religious patient comes in, House proceeds to belittle and mock his faith, and forces him to reject some part of his beliefs, and then the disease is cured.

Now, here's the thing: I have absolutely no problem with challenges to my beliefs. My reasoning is that if my beliefs are sound, then they will survive whatever challenges are put to them; if they are not sound, then I'm better off without them.

But there's a big difference between 'challenge' and 'mockery'. If you simple ridicule and mock, there is no discourse there, and there's no meaningful response possible. Take something out of context, point and laugh hard enough, and you can make anything look ridiculous, whether it is or not.

This week, "House" crossed the line. Our patient is first shown at the start of the show being crucified. He starts vomiting blood, and you hear someone say, "Get him down from there."

It transpires that the character's daughter had cancer, and he made a deal with God - every year she lives, he will nail himself to a cross. (I'll not start on that particular bit of madness.)

They then short-circuit the usual diagnostic process, and quickly determine that there is one treatment, which of course involves the use of embrionic stem cells. So, naturally, the patient refuses - his beliefs don't allow him to use such a treatment, due to the connection with abortion.

So House tries to mock the patient into giving up his beliefs, then he tries to use his bully pulpit to get the patient to take the treatment anyway, and then finally he lies to the patient, telling him his daughter isn't cured, that God lied, and that therefore the character should take the treatment.

So he does.

Yay, House!

But here's my problem: there's nothing there. It's just assumed that House is right. There's no discussion whatsoever of the ethics of the treatment, which are very definitely not clear-cut*. There's absolutely no character growth. The patient doesn't decide whether his life is more important than his faith - he's lied to and tricked into making a choice he probably wouldn't otherwise have made. House learned nothing, the other characters learned nothing, and we learn nothing.

Except perhaps that this is a show I don't care to watch any more.

* Incidentally, I say that despite believing that we should proceed with the development of such treatments. But it's a very complex issue, and simply dismissing any concerns as being irrelevant is unacceptably dismissive, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Snow Day 2

Yesterday was an awesome day. After my initial guilt at not getting to work, I spent the day painting, reading, cleaning, and generally getting caught up on things. I also took a wander up to the doctor's to put in a repeat prescription (nothing serious - mostly just stocking up just in case). En route, I helped a couple of people get their cars out.

All in all, I was really happy with my day, went to bed nice and early, ready to get back to work today.

Six inches of snow fell overnight, and I had exactly two chances of getting my car out: fat chance and nae chance. It's especially annoying, since the next street over was cleared for the buses, and my car is about fifteen feet from it, but is completely stuck.

And lots more snow is falling. I don't know when I'll be able to get back, and until then the work just keeps piling up.

Today is not going to be such a good day, I fear.

#91: "Smoke and Mirrors", by Neil Gaiman

Snow Day!

The view outside my window right now is absolutely amazing. Falkirk is a veritable winter wonderland.

On the other hand, I missed half a day of work yesterday, didn't make it in at all today, and am looking doubtful for tomorrow. Far from the overtime I had expected to clock up, it looks like this week I'm barely going to do half my normal hours. Fortunately, the company are reasonable about such things - they understand that if I could be there, I would. Unfortunately, the work doesn't get itself done, but rather just stacks up waiting for when I get back.

#87: "Eberron: Dragonmarked", by Keith Baker, Michelle Lyons, and C.A. Suleiman
#88: "Pathfinder: City of Seven Spears", by James Jacobs, Kevin Kulp, and Rob McCreary
#89: "Into a Dark Realm", by Raymond E. Feist
#90: "Eberron: Secrets of Sarlona", by Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Glenn McDonald, and Chris Sims

We Have a New Winner!

#84: "The Handmaid's Tale", by Margaret Atwood. (Book seventeen from The List. Very good book, and really quite disturbing.)
#85: "Flight of the Nighthawks", by Raymond E. Feist
#86: "Angels and Demons", by Dan Brown (Book eighteen from The List, and the new worst book of the year so far. On the plus side, since he wrote this one before "The Da Vinci Code", he's actually getting better.)

Lack of Updates

I really need to blog more. The monthly updates to the list of books are getting ridiculous, not least since it gets increasingly difficult to remember the order in which the books should be listed.

However, the problem is one of time. Because I'm attempting to get to 100 books, almost all my time is taken up with other things, which doesn't leave me time for blogging.

Of course, I've resolved to blog more several times this year already!

Argh! Hurty Brain!

I'm now halfway through my third Spanish course. It's really hard going - the level is just much higher, I've managed to forget a depressing amount, and there seem to be some gaps in what we should have covered last time.

And now, while listening to the accompanying podcast for last week, I find myself distinctly remembering a segment of the podcast. Only I'm absolutely certain I haven't already listened to it. Which leads me to doubt myself - did I forget that I listened to it, or am I imagining that I've heard this before?

Good thing I'm mad already, or else this could really break my head!

(I think this is going to be my last Spanish course. Truth be told, I'm not enjoying this one as much as the previous two, and I have less time now to dedicate to it than I did then, so I'm getting less from it. Also, I really need to spend some time speaking the language in a real-world scenario to fix it in my mind, and I'm not going to get that in a classroom environment.)

#77: "Faiths of Eberron", by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Ari Marmell and C.A. Suleiman
#78: "Birdsong", by Sebastian Faulks (book fifteen from The List)
#79: "Pathfinder: Racing to Ruin", by Tim Hitchcock
#80: "Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition", from Pinnacle Entertainment Group
#81: "King of Foxes", by Raymond E. Feist
#82: "The Da Vinci Code", by Dan Brown (book sixteen from The List, and also the worst book of the year so far. Oh, the posts I could write about its awfulness!)
#83: "Exile's Return", by Raymond E. Feist

Calling It

A couple of months back, after the Liechtenstein match, I had intended to post an update here stating that I now felt there was no chance of Scotland qualifying for the Euros in 2012. After a poor 0-0 draw against Lithuania (a match we needed to win), and then an extremely narrow victory (in the 97th minute!) against Liechtenstein, it really seemed there was no chance.

Still, a win was a win, it was pointed out to me. So, perhaps a little hope could be maintained? And then, all week the radio pundits had been saying that the Czech Republic weren't the force they had been, so maybe...?

Then came the news that our manager had decided to drop our in-form striker and instead go with a relative unknown, in an ultra-defensive 4-2-2-2 formation.

"What is he thinking?" I immediately asked. And then, "well, he's the manager. He must know what he's doing."

Yeah, I was right the first time. One heroic 1-0 defeat later, and we now get the excitement of facing Spain next.

So, yeah, I'm returning to my original prediction: Scotland won't qualify for the Euros in 2012. In fact, we won't qualify for the next World Cup, or the Euros in 2016 either.

So, the question is this: where do we go from here. Unfortunately, the answer is 'nowhere'.

See, it's not the players. This is the best squad of players we've had in more than a decade, and the best squad we're likely to have for more than a decade. As far as the manager is concerned, well, on paper, the four best candidates for the job are Walter Smith, Alex McLeish, George Burley and Craig Levein. Unless we can somehow persuade Sir Alex Ferguson or Martin O'Neill to take the job, we're not going to get anyone better.

So, if we can't improve the players, and we can't improve the manager, what can we do?

My radical solution is this: We should start lobbying for the dissolution of the Scottish national side and the Scottish Leagues, and press for an amalgamation with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Let's have a Team GB, and go from there. It's pretty much the only way we're going to see the finals of any major tournament any time soon.

(Of course, this week one of the English news outlets decided to poison that idea for me, by assembling 'their' Team GB. Naturally, they insisted on starting with the English team, and smugly asking "well, who can then break in from the other nations?" They also proved sublimely blinkered - as we all know, England have massive weaknesses in goal. The one area where Scotland is very gifted is in goalkeepers, where we have at least two world-class keepers. So, of their four choices for keeper, how many were English? Three. And where did the Scottish pick come in their order of preference? Fourth.)

(Still, despite that sort of idiocy, I think it's a good idea, for us at least, and I think it's probably time. Otherwise, we're not going anywhere.)

#76: "Eberron: Secrets of Xen'drik", by Keith Baker, Jason Bulmahn and Amber Scott

Just catching up on the books...

I finished book 75 on the 30th of September, just before midnight.

This means that in the first quarter of the year I managed to get through 25 books, in the second I read 19, and in the third I read 31. The race is now on to read through 25 by the end of the year, and thus reach the threshold of 100.

Frankly, it's doubtful. What is certain, however, is that I am never doing this again.

#66: "Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley (book twelve from The List)
#67: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", by C.S. Lewis (book thirteen from The List)
#68: "Eberron: Five Nations", by Bill Slavicsek, David Noonan and Christopher Perkins
#69: "Confessions of a Shopaholic", by Sophie Kinsela (book fourteen from The List)
#70: "Eberron: Explorer's Handbook", by David Noonan, Frank Brunner and Rich Burlew
#71: "Jimmy the Hand", by Raymond E. Feist and Steve Stirling
#72: "The Colour of Magic", by Terry Pratchett
#73: "Magic of Eberron", by Bruce R. Cordell, Stephen Schubert and Chris Thomasson
#74: "Player's Guide to Eberron", by James Wyatt, Keith Baker, Luke Johnson and STAN!
#75: "Talon of the Silver Hawk", by Raymond E. Feist

The Cowal Highland Gathering

(I have deliberately skipped my account of the World Pipe Band Championships, so I can finish my recounting of the band's season on an appropriately high note.)

I hate Cowal.

I've been five times now, and never once had a good time. The day is far too long (left home at 6, got back at 11), it's invariably cold, windy and rainy, and there's almost nothing to do. But it's the pinnacle of the piping season, so of course, we have to go. Plus, there was a real sense we might actually win, and that would make it all worthwhile - wouldn't it?

And besides, as an added bonus, the Chieftain this year was Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor. That's got to be good value, no?

So, we went. The journey there was long and annoying, but not too terrible I suppose. The major amusement was when the guy at the dock wouldn't let our bus on the ferry because it didn't have enough clearance... only to discover that the bus was sitting in a hollow, so his measurement was wrong.

Just as we left the bus to go tune up, the rain started. Fortunately, it stopped a bit before we had to play, but it was still pretty miserable. And, as we marched over to the arena, my drones chose that particular point to decide to act up (having been fine to that point). That left me terrified that they'd be a problem on the field.

But they weren't. Fortunately, everything went okay, and we made it through qualification. But only just - this was not the polished performance of earlier in the season.

Anyway, it was 10:30 (ish), we have qualified, and we weren't playing again until 5.

Cue much tedious waiting.

Later, we gathered for the final. At this point, it was hot and sunny, such that when we left the bus, I actually debated whether I should bother taking my cape. I chose to do so.

This proved a good decision soon thereafter, as it started bucketing it down while we waited to go on. But the rain went off, we tuned up, and everything seemed fine.

But it wasn't fine. Once again, when marching to the arena, my drones decided to act up, having seemed fine right up until that point. Only this time, there was no escape on the park. Try as I might, I could not get them to sound correctly.

So much for that.

When we came off, it started raining again. Of course, we'd had to remove our capes to compete, and the person who was carrying them wasn't immediately available, and so we got soaked. (Couldn't even hide under an umbrella - it was that swirly rain that comes from all directions.)

One saving grace of the final being so late was that the march-past came immediately thereafter. So, on we went (now wearing capes), and shivered on the field.

Now, at all these events, the bands play the salute to the chieftain, which is usually "Highland Laddie". However, at Cowal, it's always "Glendaruel Highlanders" (I don't know why). Sadly, the guy who was ordering this mumbled at the key point, and then the drum major was calling the bands to order. The result was a predictable, and sad, shambles. Awful, awful.

(It wasn't even just that half the massed bands were playing one tune and half another; there were also at least three different speeds being played.)

And next would come the inspiring words of the chieftain. At least that should be entertaining - for the first time ever, there was a chieftain who I actually would like to hear from. Well, it wasn't a long speech. Indeed, it can't even be accurately described as "a few words". The chieftain said... nothing.

In the end, the band came tenth. We were seventh and tenth for piping, seventh for drumming and eighth for the ensemble. A poor result all around.

The weather being awful, we then retreated to the bus to head home, where we faced the same complaints as last year for not doing the parade (probably should have made the effort, although I don't think I could have faced it yesterday). Still, nothing close to the same fallout as last year, so that was am improvement at least.

And then home, and to bed. Thank goodness.

Before the day, I had been joking about the possibility of a Dalek invasion. It is a sad indictment of the day that that might actually have improved it.

#62: "Tomb of Horrors", by Ari Marmell and Scott Fitzgerald Gray
#63: "Pathfinder: Sound of a Thousand Screams", by Richard Pett
#64: "Souls for Smuggler's Shiv", by James Jacobs
#65: "Murder in LaMut", by Raymond E. Feist and Joel Rosenberg

Bridge of Allan Highland Games

Another glorious day for a competition, and with this one being on a Sunday, Lady Chocolat was able to join our venture.

It was a good day. Due to the reduced number of bands present, some of the competitions were amalgamated, and due to the nature of the Championship rules, the Grade 4B competition was mixed with the Novice grade. (It's also worth noting that, this being the weekend before the World Championships, there was an unusual number of very good bands present, many over from the USA and Canada for the month.)

We came third. Perhaps also relevant, the two bands that were first and second were from the Novice grade, making us the best Grade 4B band present.

And so our tally for the year reached seven prizes, including three at Championship events.

#57: "Oliver Twist", by Charles Dickens (book eleven from The List)
#58: "Star Wars: Jedi Academy Training Manual", by Rodney Thompson, Eric Cagle, Patrick Stutzman and Robert Wieland
#59: "Unseen Academicals", by Terry Pratchett
#60: "Star Wars: Galaxy at War", by Rodney Thompson, Gary Astleford, Eric Cagle and Daniel Wallace (And so, my reading goal is complete!)
#61: "The White Rose", by Glen Cook (from the "Chronicles of the Black Company" anthology - I had already read the first two books of the trilogy)

The European Championships

We came sixth in our grade, with the pipers narrowly beating the drummers for the first time this season. Given that the competition was in Ireland, against all the Irish bands (many of whom are very good, but don't compete enough to ever be moved out of our grade), and with Irish judges, this was a marvellous result.

Huzzah!

So, it was a good competition and a really good result. Sadly, it was not a very good weekend, but I have decided to repress most of my memories of it, and so have nothing more to say here!

#55: "Honoured Enemy", by Raymond E. Feist and William Forstchen
#56: "Star Wars: Legacy Era Campaign Guide", by Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey and Gary Astleford

The Riding of the Marches (Annan Highland Games)

The week after our truimph at the British Championships, the band returned to Annan for "The Riding of the Marches", which was part gala day, part Highland Games, and part something else entirely. Whatever it was supposed to be, it was a competition at which we had high hopes of doing well.

Once again, it was a bright and sunny day. We had seven pipers this time; those who had been dropped the previous week had been offered the chance to compete but had each had something else on, while two of those from the previous week were also busy. The drum corps was in full attendance once again. There were a total of seven bands in our grade.

We played well, I thought, although I did also think it seemed a bit 'thinner' than the week before. Still, I had no great complaints about the performance.

There then followed an afternoon of waiting, which featured watching Germany thrash Argentina at football - I wouldn't have expected such a one-sided game.

There was then a lot more waiting as the massed bands assembled to go play, with the added fun of horses being thrown into the mix (it being "The Riding of the Marches", after all). Unfortunately, horses do not like the bagpipes, by and large, which made things occasionally interesting.

Eventually, we did our parade, and got to the prize giving. Events there were controversial, to say the least. At length, we came fourth in our grade, and won the drumming prize (and also the "Best Bass Section" prize, which seems unique to this competition).

However, initially, we didn't win the best drum corps. The prize was awarded to some other band. It wasn't until our Pipe Major collected our prize that he realised the other had been given to the wrong band. There then proceeded to be a stewards' enquiry, culminating in the other band being forced to hand back the prize, which was then turned over to us.

And there was more fun to go. As we drifted back to the bus, I decided to dash to the toilet, rather than use the rather poor facilities on the bus. So, I duly told someone where I was going, and asked them not to leave without me. As I emerged from the toilets, I was then treated to the sight of the bus gradually receding into the distance!

Luckily, I was able to dash across the car park fast enough to catch them, bang on the side of the bus, and so attract attention. Still, could have been awkward, not least since my mobile phone was also on the bus, so I couldn't call them to let them know they're mistake. (I did at least have my wallet on me, so it wouldn't have been a total disaster.)

So, anyway, that was that. At this point, we've actually won more prizes than we did in the whole of last season, and with half of the season still to go. The band has not competed for some three weeks now, and at the moment the bulk of the band is actually in Spain at the moment (where I've heard things aren't going terribly well). Our next competition is in Ireland this weekend, for the European Championships. I just hope we do rather better than last year...

#52: "The Ghost King", by R. A. Salvatore
#53: "Star Wars: Rebellion Era Campaign Guide", by Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, Owen K.C. Stephens and J.D. Wiker
#54: "Pathfinder: War of the River Kings", by Jason Nelson

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

Look at all these shiny books!

#45: "Races of Eberron", by Jesse Decker, Matthew Sernett, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, and Keith Baker
#46: "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide", by Sterling Hershey, Peter Schweighofer, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Rodney Thompson
#47: "Forest Mage", by Robin Hobb
#48: "Pathfinder: Blood for Blood", by Neil Spicer
#49: "Dragons of the Hourglass Mage", by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
#50: "Sharpe's Waterloo", by Bernard Cornwell
#51: "To Kill a Mockingbird", by Harper Lee (book ten from The List, and the new Book of the Year So Far!)