There Will Be Books
This year, by god, I will read me some books! Though the first few are pamphlet-y humor things.
1-4) Xenophobe’s Guide to the… [Austrians/Germans/Welsh/Japanese]
5) *The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
6) *The Dream Thieves - Maggie Stiefvater
7) The Countess Conspiracy - Courtney Milan
8) Your Wicked Heart - Meredith Duran
9) The Spymaster’s Lady - Joanna Bourne
10) *Seraphina - Rachel Hartman
11) The Good Neighbors: Kith - Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
12) The Good Neighbors: Kind - Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
13) Game - Barry Lyga - stop it with the cliffhangers already!
14-15) Captive Prince Vol 1-2 - C. S. Pacat
16) Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson
17) When we Wake - Karen Healey
18) Princeps' Fury - Jim Butcher
19) First Lord's Fury - Jim Butcher - the second half of this book was one big long fight scene
20) Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
21) Hourglass - Myra McEntyre
22) The Fox Inheritance - Mary Pearson
23) The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson
24) The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson
25) A Lady's Lesson in Scandal - Meredith Duran
26) The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey
27) Wicked Becomes You - Meredith Duran
28) The Evolution of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
29) The Magician's Land - Lev Grossman
30) *Blue Lily, Lily Blue - Maggie Stiefvater
31) The Iron Trial - Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
32) *The Perilous Sea - Sherry Thomas
Unfinished:
Shadows - Robin McKinley
Vessel - Sarah Beth Durst
Skylark - Meagan Spooner
Reread:
Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta
The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Demon's Covenant - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Demon's Surrender - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Good Neighbors: Kin - Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson
Academ's Fury - Jim Butcher
Cursor's Fury - Jim Butcher
Captain's Fury - Jim Butcher
Devilish - Maureen Johnson
The Bermudez Triangle - Maureen Johnson
Wild Magic - Tamora Pierce
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
The President's Daughter - Ellen Emerson White
The Burning Sky - Sherry Thomas
Last year was pretty dismal - I read only 15ish books from Jan-Oct, half of which were the Wheel of Time. That’s little enough fiction that I was practically missing a chunk of my soul by the time I hit my vacation blocks in November. Then, over interview season, I joined Scribd and Oyster, the book subscription services that let you read as much as you can manage for about $8-9/month and work for iPad. It was the text version of the all-you-can-eat buffet; I ended up reading bits and pieces of *gasp* popular/bestsellers (what?!), a slew of light, fun romance novels, and, for real, the most recent 10 or so Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels, which I’d abandoned years ago when the series discarded plot in favor of a sexual montage of progressively larger were-penises. It was AMAZING.
For the record, neither Oyster nor Scribd has much SF/F, though the “documents” area of Scribd helps offset the problem. I recommend the services only if you read a wide range of genres at a rate greater than 2 books/month, and don't mind PDFs of questionable provenance.
I didn’t end up reading as much YA as in a normal year, and the books I did read were mostly sequels or trilogy closers, which I never seem to enjoy as much as the first book. Two novels I did enjoy were:
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Holly Black
The Burning Sky - Sherry Thomas
For my reference, lists from 2007 (59), 2008 (67), 2009 (67), 2010 (40), 2011 (34), and 2012 (48) and 2013 (43).
1-4) Xenophobe’s Guide to the… [Austrians/Germans/Welsh/Japanese]
5) *The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
6) *The Dream Thieves - Maggie Stiefvater
7) The Countess Conspiracy - Courtney Milan
8) Your Wicked Heart - Meredith Duran
9) The Spymaster’s Lady - Joanna Bourne
10) *Seraphina - Rachel Hartman
11) The Good Neighbors: Kith - Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
12) The Good Neighbors: Kind - Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
13) Game - Barry Lyga - stop it with the cliffhangers already!
14-15) Captive Prince Vol 1-2 - C. S. Pacat
16) Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson
17) When we Wake - Karen Healey
18) Princeps' Fury - Jim Butcher
19) First Lord's Fury - Jim Butcher - the second half of this book was one big long fight scene
20) Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
21) Hourglass - Myra McEntyre
22) The Fox Inheritance - Mary Pearson
23) The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson
24) The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson
25) A Lady's Lesson in Scandal - Meredith Duran
26) The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey
27) Wicked Becomes You - Meredith Duran
28) The Evolution of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
29) The Magician's Land - Lev Grossman
30) *Blue Lily, Lily Blue - Maggie Stiefvater
31) The Iron Trial - Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
32) *The Perilous Sea - Sherry Thomas
Unfinished:
Shadows - Robin McKinley
Vessel - Sarah Beth Durst
Skylark - Meagan Spooner
Reread:
Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta
The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Demon's Covenant - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Demon's Surrender - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Good Neighbors: Kin - Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson
Academ's Fury - Jim Butcher
Cursor's Fury - Jim Butcher
Captain's Fury - Jim Butcher
Devilish - Maureen Johnson
The Bermudez Triangle - Maureen Johnson
Wild Magic - Tamora Pierce
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
The President's Daughter - Ellen Emerson White
The Burning Sky - Sherry Thomas
Last year was pretty dismal - I read only 15ish books from Jan-Oct, half of which were the Wheel of Time. That’s little enough fiction that I was practically missing a chunk of my soul by the time I hit my vacation blocks in November. Then, over interview season, I joined Scribd and Oyster, the book subscription services that let you read as much as you can manage for about $8-9/month and work for iPad. It was the text version of the all-you-can-eat buffet; I ended up reading bits and pieces of *gasp* popular/bestsellers (what?!), a slew of light, fun romance novels, and, for real, the most recent 10 or so Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels, which I’d abandoned years ago when the series discarded plot in favor of a sexual montage of progressively larger were-penises. It was AMAZING.
For the record, neither Oyster nor Scribd has much SF/F, though the “documents” area of Scribd helps offset the problem. I recommend the services only if you read a wide range of genres at a rate greater than 2 books/month, and don't mind PDFs of questionable provenance.
I didn’t end up reading as much YA as in a normal year, and the books I did read were mostly sequels or trilogy closers, which I never seem to enjoy as much as the first book. Two novels I did enjoy were:
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Holly Black
The Burning Sky - Sherry Thomas
For my reference, lists from 2007 (59), 2008 (67), 2009 (67), 2010 (40), 2011 (34), and 2012 (48) and 2013 (43).