year in books
Welcome to the somethingth edition of “A Year In Books” here at CdPdN. It’s where I chronicle and count up the books I’ve read in a given year. Mostly, it helps me remember what I’ve read if I forget, and it occasionally helps me recommend books to others.
Also, in October of 2020, I noticed there was a whole bunch of garbage code here after tracking numbered lists for over a decade, so I started cleaning it up. I expect it’ll be a work in progress, but ideally, I’ll eventually clean up all the extraneous html/php elements.
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2024:
- The Split – Ellis Wiener and Steve Radlauer
- Lincoln’s Dreams – Connie Willis
- Enough – Cassidy Hutchinson
- System Collapse – Martha Wells
- Legends and Lattes – Travis Baldree
- Counting the Cost – Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard
- By The Blood of Heroes – Joseph Nassise
- Defiant – Brandon Sanderson
- Witches Incorporated – K.E. Mills
- Silent Blade – Ilona Andrews
- The Glass-Sided Ant’s Nes – Peter Dickinson
- Bookshops and Bonedust – Travis Baldree
- The Space Between Worlds – Michiah Johnson
- Democracy Awakening – Heather Cox Richardson
- The Blighted Stars – Megan E. O’Keefe
- Assistant to the Villain – Hannah Nicole Maehrer
- An Absolutely Remarkable Thing – Hank Green
- The Chowderhead Crusades – J.J. Walsh
- Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros
- A Hard Day’s Knight – John G. Hartness
- Testimony – Jon Ward
- Hell on $5 A Day – Greg Bulmash
- House of Vampires: Part One – Samantha Snow
- Heir to the Jedi – Kevin Hearne
- The Sword of Summer – Rick Riordan
- Goblins and Greatcoats – Travis Baldree
- Back in Black – John G. Hartness
- Knight Moves – John G. Hartness
- Shadows of the Night – Darin Kennedy
- You Better Run Darin Kennedy
- Tell Me An Ending – Jo Harkin
- Homeworld Lost – JN Chaney, Scott Moon
- Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk – Kathleen Hanna
- Stone Cold Witch – Patrick Dugan
- The Six – Mark Alpert
- Postmortal – Drew Magary
- The Siege – Mark Alpert
- The Silence – Mark Alpert
- You Better Run – Darin Kennedy
- Red Rabbit – Tom Clancy
- The Blood Trials – N. E. Davenport
- Atomic Habits – James Clear
- Misled – Sylvia Day
- The Doomsday Vault – Steven Harper
2023:
- Hench – Natalie Zina Walschots
- Never Deal With A Dragon – Robert N. Charette
- The Case of the Bizarre Bouquet – Nancy Springer
- The Ink Black Heart – Robert Galbraith
- The Accidental Summoner – R.E. Carr
- Choose Your Enemies Carefully – Robert N. Charette
- Find Your Own Truth – Robert N. Charette
- Watching the Bodies – Graham Smith
- Upgrade – Blake Crouch
- Certain Dark Things – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections – Eva Jurczyk
- Shadow of the Gods – John Gwynne
- The Obelisk Gate – N.K. Jemisin
- Pelosi – Molly Ball
- Go Mutants! – Larry Doyle
- Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard – Tom Felton
- A Borrowed Man – Gene Wolfe
- Interlibrary Loan – Gene Wolfe
- How To Sell A Haunted House – Grady Hendrix
- A Letter to Three Witches – Elizabeth Bass
- Profiles In Ignorance – How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber – Andy Borowitz
- Burning Shakespeare – AJ Hartley
- 18 and Life on Skid Row – Sebastian Bach
- Empowered: Volume 1 – Adam Warren
- Paddle Your Own Canoe – Nick Offerman
- Empowered: Volume 2 – Adam Warren
- The Malaise Falchion – Paul Barrett
- Gone To The Wolves – John Ray
- This Bird Has Flown – Suzanna Hoffs
- Horrostor – Grady Hendrix
- If, Then – Kate Hope Day
- Hogfather – Terry Pratchett
- 13 Bullets – David Wellington
- Equal Rites – Terry Pratchett
- 99 Coffins – David Wellington
- Going Postal – Terry Pratchett
- On Earth As It Is on Television – Emily Jane
- End Times – Peter Turchin
- Starter Villain – John Scalzi
- Titanium Noir – Nick Harkaway
- Confessions of a Geek Bard – Mikey Mason
- No Plan B – Lee Child
- The Accidental Sorcerer – K.E. Mills
- The Running Grave – Robert Galbraith
- The Chosen One’s Assistant – Kimber Grey
- Run, Rose, Run – James Patterson/Dolly Parton
- Look Out For The Little Guy – Scott Lang (Rob Kutner)
- The House On Dead Man’s Curve – Jason Roach
- MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios – Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, Gavin Edwards
2022:
- The History of What Comes Next – Sylvain Neuvel
- Sunreach – Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson
- Step By Step Mixing: How to Create Great Mixes Using Only Five Plugins: Bjorgvin Benediktsson
- Chaos Rising – Timothy Zahn
- Cytonic – Brandon Sanderson
- Dune Messiah – Frank Herbert
- Agnes at the End of the World – Kelly McWilliams
- Iron Widow – Xiran Jay Zhao
- Broken Horses – Brandi Carlile
- Greater Good – Timothy Zahn
- Evershore – Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson
- Hammers on Bone – Cassandra Khaw
- The One – John Marrs
- Ink & Sigil – Kevin Hearne
- Leviathan Falls – James S.A Corey
- ReDawn – Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson
- Black Leopard Red Wolf – Marlon James
- NPCs – Drew Hayes
- Paper & Blood – Kevin Hearne
- Split the Party – Drew Hayes
- The Kaiju Preservation Society – John Scalzi
- The Beast in Aisle 34 – Darrin Doyle
- 2034: A Novel of the Next World War – Elliot Ackerman & Admiral James Stavridis
- My Dungeon Master Is A T-Rex Rules Lawyer But Fortunately I Rolled A Crit On The Pound My Butt Check – Chuck Tingle
- Going Rogue – Drew Hayes
- Children of Dune – Frank Herbert
- Siege Tactics – Drew Hayes
- Goliath – Tochi Onyebuchi
- The Devil’s Been Busy: Monster Hunder Mom Season One – JD Blackrose
- A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020) – David Sedaris
- Blood, Sweat and Tears (Bubba The Monster Hunter, Season 5) – John G. Hartness
- Noble Roots – Drew Hayes
- Whatever for Hire: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) – RJ Blain
- Cultish: The Language of Fantaticism – Amanda Montell
- Hello, Molly! A Memoir – Molly Shannon
- Day Zero – C. Robert Cargill
- Battling the Big Lie – Dan Pfeiffer
- A Prayer for the Crown-Shy: A Monk and Robot Book – Becky Chambers
- KEVIN (Or The Latter Days of Romulus Augustulus, Last Emperor of Western Rome) – Dan Nokes
- Music is History – Questlove
- Meddling Kids – Edgar Cantero
- Lies Across America – James W. Loewen
- Death By Dumpling – Vivien Chien
- Dawnshard – Brandon Sanderson
- Heroic Hearts – Jim Butcher & Kerrie Hughes (ed)
- Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League Et Al – The Reno Kid with Earl Mac Rauch (Act 1)
- Differently Morphous – Yahtzee Croshaw
- Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League Et Al – The Reno Kid with Earl Mac Rauch (Act 2)
- Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road To Hell: Tim Miller
- More Than One Way To Breathe – Abigail Wild
- Darwin’s Radio – Greg Bear
- Darling Girl – Liz Michalski
- The Constant Rabbit – Jasper Fforde
- Randoms – David Liss
- The Fifth Season – NK Jesimin
- Nona The Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
- Confidence Man – Maggie Haberman
- The Hydrogen Sonata – Iain m. Banks
- Hidden Empire – Kevin J Anderson
- Remarkably Bright Creatures – Natalie Zina Walschot
- Version Zero – David Yoon
2021:
- Qualityland – Mark Uwe-King
- The Passengers – John Marrs
- Rhythm of War – Brandon Sanderson
- All Systems Red – Martha Wells
- Ready Player Two – Ernest Cline
- The Art of Drowning – Abigail Wild
- One of Us Is Lying – Karen M. McManus
- Blood of Elves – Andrzej Sapkowsk
- How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater – Marc Acito
- Monster – A. Lee Martinez
- A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World – Rachel Cantor
- F**k Anxiety – Robert Duff
- Face the Music – Paul Stanley
- The Beautiful Ones – Prince
- Universal Language – Robert T. Jeschonek
- Gameboard of the Gods – Richelle Mead
- The Warded Man – Peter V. Brett
- The Girl With All The Gifts – M.R. Carey
- The Desert Spear – Peter V. Brett
- The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
- Artificial Condition – Martha Wells
- Rogue Protocol – Martha Wells
- She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs – Sarah Smarsh
- You’re Doing Great! – Tom Papa
- Axiom’s End – Lindsay Ellis
- The Daylight War – Peter V. Brett
- Red Seas Under Red Skies – Scott Lynch
- Wanderers – Chuck Wendig
- The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet – Becky Chambers
- A Desolation Called Peace – Arkady Martine
- Lord Foul’s Bane – Stephen Donaldson
- Some Girls Bite – Chloe Neill
- Proxy – Mindy Arnett
- Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir
- Avalon – Mindy Arnett
- A Closed and Common Orbit – Becky Chambers
- Record of a Spaceborn Few – Becky Chambers
- Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal – Ian Christie
- Manna: Two Views of Humanity’s Future – Marshall Brain
- Spellhacker – MK England
- Persist – Elizabeth Warren
- Exit Strategy – Martha Wells
- Naked Came The Stranger – Penelope Ashe
- The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – Grady Hendrix
- The Calculating Stars – Mary Robinette Kowal
- Grim – MK Eidem
- Network Effect – Martha Wells
- The Final Girl Support Group – Grady Hendrix
- Dog Dish of Doom – EJ Copperman
- Fugitive Telemetry – Martha Wells
- The Nymphos of Rocky Flats – Mario Acevedo
- X-Rated Bloodsuckers – Mario Acevedo
- Persephone Station – Stina Leicht
- Final Girl Support Group – Grady Hendrix (again – audio)
- The Hierarchies – Ros Anderson
- The Galaxy, and the Ground Within – Becky Chambers
- Thrawn – Timothy Zahn
- Thrawn: Alliances – Timothy Zahn
- Robert E. Lee and Me – A Southerner’s Reckoning With The Myth of the Lost Cause – Ty Seiduel
- Valor’s Choice – Tanya Huff
- The Skull Throne – Peter V. Brett
- LIFEL1K3 – Jay Kristoff
- A Psalm for the Well-Built – Becky Chambers
- Small Gods – Terry Pratchett
- Skyward – Brandon Sanderson
- Broken (In The Best Possible Way) – Jenny Lawson
- Thrawn: Treason – Timothy Zahn
- The Fated Sky – Mary Robinette Kowal
- DEV1AT3 – Jay Kristoff
- How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe – Charles Yu
- The Relentless Moon – Mary Robinette Kowal
- Attack Surface – Cory Doctorow
- Starsight – Brandon Sanderson
- The Lady Astronaut of Mars – Mary Robinette Kowal
- Machine Man – Max Barry
2020:
- >
- Whispers Underground – Ben Aaronovich
- Terminal Alliance – Jim C. Hines
- The Last Wish – Andrzej Sapkowski
- The Princess Beard – Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne
- Broken Homes – Ben Aaronovich
- See Jane Win -Caitlin Moscatello
- Foxglove Summer – Ben Aaronovich
- Terminal Uprising – Jim C. Hines
- The Hanging Tree – Ben Aaronovich
- The Two Income Trap – Amelia Warren Tyagi and Elizabeth Warren
- Lies Sleeping – Ben Aaronovich
- Magic for Liars – Sarah Galley
- Moon Called – Patricia Briggs
- Age of Heroes – C.C. Ekeke
- Itty Bitty Writing Space – Brick & Caile (ed)
- Skinwalker – Faith Hunter
- Trail of Lightning – Rebecca Roanhorse
- The Stars Now Unclaimed – Drew Williams
- Deadtown – Nancy Holzner
- Hellforged – Nancy Holzner
- Storm of Locusts – Rebecca Roanhorse
- Blood Bound – Patricia Briggs
- The Devil Inside – Jenna Black
- Thief’s Covenant – Ari Marmell
- Dragon Bones – Patricia Briggs
- Red Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson
- Dragon Blood – Patricia Briggs
- The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
- Iron Kissed – Patricia Briggs
- Whatever For Hire – RJ Blain
- Green Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson
- The Wise Man’s Fear – Patrick Rothfuss
- Juan of the Dead – Jacalyn Boggs (she’s a friend of mine, buy the book!)
- Bone Crossed – Patricia Briggs
- The Last Emperox – John Scalzi
- Blue Mars – Kim Stanley Robinon
- In the Ocean of Night – Gregory Benford
- False Value – Ben Aaronovich
- Dragongate: Devils – James Maxey
- The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir – John Bolton
- A Woman Can Never Be Too Curious – Mary Wine
- Magic Bites – Ilona Andrews
- Peace Talks – Jim Butcher
- Magic Burns – Ilona Andrews
- River Marked – Patricia Briggs
- Frost Burned – Patricia Briggs
- Rosemary and Rue – Seanan McGuire
- A Memory Called Empire – Arkady Martine
- Night Broken – Patricia Briggs
- Armor – John Steakley
- Chicken: USDA Rejected: Dan Nokes
- Across That Bridge: John Lewis
- The Mediterranean Caper – Clive Cussler
- Fire Touched – Patricia Briggs
- Silence Fallen – Patricia Briggs
- The Case of the Missing Maquess – Nancy Springer
- Interference – Brad Parks
- Storm Cursed – Patricia Briggs
- Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Shadow Kin – MJ Scott
- Blood Kin – MJ Scott
- The Case of the Left-Handed Lady – Nancy Springer
- Iron Kin – MJ Scott
- Devolution – Max Brooks
- Fire Kin – MJ Scott
- Smoke Bitten: Patricia Briggs
- The Sheriff of Yrnameer – Michael Reubens
- Battle Ground – Jim Butcher
- Calamity – Brandon Sanderson
- Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
- Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde
- Too Much and Never Enough – Mary Trump
- Lost In A Good Book” – Jasper Fforde
- Harrow The Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
- A Chain Across The Dawn – Drew Williams
- The Witches of Echo Park – Amber Benson
- The Last American Vampire – Seth Graham Smith
- The Sword of Destiny – Andrzej Sapkowski
- Troubled Blood – Robert Galbraith
- The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones
- The President’s Vampire – Christopher Farnsworth
- The Slow Regard or Silent Things – Patrick Rothfuss
- A Local Habitation – Seanan McGuire
- The Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett
- A Hat Full of Sky – Terry Pratchett
- The 2084 Report – James Lawrence Powell
- Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds – Gwenda Bond
- Wintersmith – Terry Pratchett
- Titanshade – Dan Stout
- Provenance – Ann Leckie
- (most of)The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon
- I Shall Wear Midnight – Terry Pratchett
- The Companions – Katie M. Flynn
2019:
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- Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen
- You Are Here – Jenny Lawson
- Alice Isn’t Dead – Joseph Fink
- Make Me – Lee Child
- Storm Front – Richard Castle
- Strange Practice – Vivian Shaw
- Gideon’s Sword – Preston & Child
- The Rifle Chronicles – Jason Gilbert
- High Heat – Richard Castle
- DisneyWar – James B. Stewart
- Night School – Lee Child
- Heat Storm – Richard Castle
- Red Moon – Michael Chussett
- Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Neil Gaiman
- Nine Princes in Amber – Roger Zelazny
- The Guns of Avalon – Roger Zelazny
- Sign of the Unicorn – Roger Zelazny
- The Hand of Oberon – Roger Zelazny
- The Courts of Chaos – Roger Zelazny
- The Trumps of Doom – Roger Zelazny
- Blood of Amber – Roger Zelazny
- Signs of Chaos – Roger Zelazny
- Knight of Shadows – Roger Zelazny
- Prince of Chaos – Roger Zelazny
- Monster City: Music, Murder and Mayhem in Nashville’s Dark Age – Michael Arntfield
- Metal Shark Bro – Bob Franz
- Midnight Line – Lee Child
- Valley of the Raven – Ken Ramirez
- The Truths We Hold – Kamala Harris
- All Our Wrong Todays – Elan Mastai
- Vox – Christina Dalcher
- Eater – Gregory Benford
- Lethal White – Robert Galbriath
- Alien Morning – Rick Wilbur
- How To Build A Girl – Caitlin Moran
- Medusa Uploaded – Emily Devenport
- The October Man – Ben Aaronovich
- Going Through The Change – Samantha Bryant
- Deep Secets – Diana Wynn Jones
- Your Best Game Ever – Monte Cook
- Midnight Riot – Ben Aaronovich
- The Poppy War – RF Kuang
- Hell’s Gate – Bull Schutt & JR Finch
- Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challege and A Model For America’s Future – Pete Buttigeig
- Soul Music – Terry Pratchett
- The Second Amendment: A Biography – Michael Waldman
- Darkness on the Edge of Town – Andrew Christopher
- Mort – Terry Pratchett
- Your Dad Stole My Rake – Tom Papa
- Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl – Carrie Brownstein
- Witches Abroad – Terry Pratchett
- Tiamat’s Wrath – James S.A. Corey
- Fluke – Christopher Moore
- Death By Black Hole – Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- Red, White, and Blood – Christopher Farnsworth
- Blood Oath – Christopher Farnsworth
- One Summer – Bill Bryson
- A Warning – Anonymous
- Werewolf Cop – Andrew Klaven
- Tomorrow’s Kin – Nancy Kress
- No Country for Old Gnomes – Delila Dawson and Kevin Hearne
- Moon Over Soho – Ben Aaronovich
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2018:
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- Chasing the Phoenix – Michael Swanwick
- I Suck at Girls – Justin Halpern
- The Fold – Peter Clines
- Heir to the Jedi – Kevin Hearne
- Small Favor – Jim Butcher
- The Risen Empire – Scott Westerfeld
- Hounded – Kevin Hearne
- Killing Floor – Lee Child
- Servants of the Sands – Leona Wisoker
- Astrophysics for Busy People – Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- Die Trying – Lee Child
- Hail to the Chin – Bruce Campbell
- Specters Anonymous – Phil Budhan
- Persepolis Rising – James S.A. Corey
- The Intern’s Handbook – Shane Kuhn
- Strange Weather – Joe Hill
- Artemis – Andy Weir
- Heroine Complex – Sarah Kuhn
- Hostile Takeover – Shane Kuhn
- Election Night – D.J. McGuire
- Black Star Renegades – Michael Moreci
- Oathbringer – Brandon Sanderson
- Dracula the Un-Dead – Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt
- Stories – Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (eds)
- Nothin to Lose – Ken Sharp w Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley
- Scourged – Kevin Hearne
- A World Without “Whom”: TheEssential Guide to Language in the Buzzfeed Age – Emmy J. Favilla
- Drafter – Kim Harrison
- Beatles vs. Stones – John McMillan
- Heat Wave – Richard Castle
- Dark State – Charles Stross
- Naked Heat – Richard Castle
- Dreaming Spies – Laurie R. King
- Head On – John Scalzi
- Space Opera – Catheryne Valente
- Falling Dusk – Jennifer R. Povey
- Trifle and Folly – Gail Z Martin
- Fire and Fury – Michael Wolff
- Journal of a UFO Investigator – Daniel J Halperin
- Time and Time Again – Ben Elton
- Hot Lead, Cold Iron – Ari Marmell
- Heat Rises – Richard Castle
- The Martian Race – Greg Benford
- Daemon – Daniel Suarez
- Hallow Point – Ari Marmell
- Frozen Heat – Richard Castle
- The Crown Tower – Michael J. Sullivan
- Influx – Daniel Suarez
- Uncharted – Kevin J. Anderson and Sarah A. Hoyt
- Brief Cases – Jim Butcher
- Trifles and Folly 2 – Gail Z. Martin
- Kill The Farm Boy – Delila S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne
- Rock Revival – Natania Barron
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
- Pandemic – A.J. Riddle
- Year One: A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Collection – John G. Hartness
- The Princess Diarist – Carrie Fisher
- Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
- Max Rage: Intergalactic Badass – Jake Bible
- Monsters, Magic, and Mayhem – John G. Hartness
- The Wild Dead – Carrie Vaughn
- Fear: Trump in the White House – Bob Woodward
- Nights in Sandbridge – Elizabeth L. Brooks & Lynn Townsend
- Genome – A.J. Riddle
- Act of Will – A.J. Hartley
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck – Mark Manson
- Robots of Gotham – Todd McAulty
- Cryptid Zoo – Gerry Griffiths
- A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America – Bruce Canon Gibney
- Superheroes Anonymous – Lexie Dunne
- We Sold Our Souls – Grady Hendrix
- Shoot the Messenger – Pippa DaCosta
- Supervillains Anonymous – Lexie Dunne
- Raging Heat – Richard Castle
- Personal – Lee Child
- Impossible Tales of the Last Pit Stop – Dan Nokes
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2017:
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- Dragonsong – Anne McCaffrey
- A Multitude of Monsters – Craig Shaw Gardener
- Dragonsinger – Anne McCaffrey
- Beasts of Imagination – E.A Bowen
- Dragondrums – Anne McCaffrey
- Saturn’s Children – Charles Stross
- Martians Abroad – Carrie Vaughn
- Monster Hunter International – Larry Correia
- March: Vol 1 – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
- March: Vol 2 – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
- March: Vol 3 – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
- Symbiont – Mira Grant
- Moranifesto – Caitlin Moran
- Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
- Hidden Figures – Margo Lee Shetterly
- Chimera – Mira Grant
- The Young World – Chris Weitz
- Essential Defenders Vol 5 – DeMatteis, Milgron, et. al
- The New Order – Chris Weitz
- The Fireman – Joe Hill
- Essential Defenders Vol 6 -DeMatteis, et al
- The Complacent Class – Tyler Cowan
- Essential Defenders Vol 7 – DeMatteis, et al
- The Collapsing Empire – John Scalzi
- Religious Literacy – Stephen Prothero
- Arcanum Unbounded – Brandon Sanderson
- A Perfectly Good Guitar – Chuck Holley
- Retreat of Dragons – Carrie Vaughn
- Shadowplay – Nigel Finley
- The Wolf’s Hour – Robert McKinnon
- Scattered, Smothered, and Chunked: Bubba the Monster Hunter, season 1 – John G. Hartness
- Grits, Guns, and Glory: Bubba the Monster Hunter, season 2 – John G. Hartness
- Wine, Women, and Song: Bubba the Monster Hunter, season 3 – John G. Hartness
- Walkaway – Cory Doctorow
- Skin Game – Jim Butcher
- The Wind in the Night – Barb and JC Hendee
- Homeland – Cory Doctorow
- The First and Last Sorcerer – Barb and JC Hendee
- Timecaster – Joe Kimball
- Bannerless – Carrie Vaughn
- Besieged – Kevin Hearne
- Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
- Walking on the Sea of Clouds – Gray Rinehart
- Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries: The Purloined Poodle – Kevin Hearne
- A Plunder of Souls – DB Jackson
- Caliban’s War – James S.A. Corey
- Abbadon’s Gate – James S.A. Corey
- Date Night on Union Station – E.M. Foner
- Doctor Strange and the Secret Defenders – Mars, Thomas, Coates, Grinberg
- The Chapel Perilous – Kevin Hearne
- Two Tales of the Iron Druid – Kevin Hearne
- We Are Legion (We Are Bob) – Dennis E. Taylor
- Cibola Burn – James S.A. Corey
- The Cassandra Project – Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick
- Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin – James Sullivan
- Aftermath: Empire’s End – Chuck Wendig
- Phasma – Delilah S. Dawson
- A Plague of Giants – Kevin Hearne
- Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness – Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Rimrunners – CJ Cherryh
- Jack White: How He Built an Empire from the Blues – Nick Hasted
- Nemesis Games – James S.A. Corey
- Revisionary – Jim C. Hines
- What Does This Button Do? – An Autobiography – Bruce Dickinson
- The Clockwork Dynasty – Daniel H. WIlson
- Babylon’s Ashes – James S.A. Corey
- Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
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2016:
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- Lost Stars: Claudia Gray
- Carter and Lovecraft – Jonathan L. Howard
- Down These Strange Streets – George R.R. Martin and Gardener Dozios (ed)
- Uprooted – Naomi Novik
- The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick
- Ancillary Mercy – Ann Leckie
- Soren: The Idaho Jane Doe Murders – Danny Birt
- Classic – Lynn Townsend
- Go Set A Watchman – Harper Lee
- Splinter of the Mind’s Eye – Alan Dean Foster
- Sandman Slim – Richard Kadrey
- How to Fake A Moon Landing – Darryl Cunningham
- The Bands of Mourning – Brandon Sanderson
- Anonymous Rex – Eric Garcia
- Worldwar: In the Balance – Harry Turtledove
- Mothership – Isla Neal and Martin Leicht
- The Magician King – Lev Grossman
- The Magician’s Land – Lev Grossman
- Kitty Saves the World – Carrie Vaughn
- Plays with Cars – Doug DeMuro
- The Stainless Steel Rat – Harry Harrison
- The Man in the White Suit – Ben Collins
- Elfquest: Journey to Sorrow’s End – Wendy and Richard Pini
- The Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge – Harry Harrison
- The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World – Harry Harrison
- Decision at Doona – Anne McCaffrey
- 30 Pieces of Silver – Carolyn McCray
- Deadly Curiosities – Gail Z. Martin
- The Reaper Virus – Nathan Barnes
- Jalopnik’s Book of Car Facts and History Even Gearheads Don’t Know – Jalopnik Writers
- Gauntlet of Time – Trip Ellington
- Purgatory Pub (book 2) – Gabriel Dunston
- Captain America and The Nationalist Superhero – Jason Dittmer
- Bumper-to-Bumper – Doug Demuro
- What Remains – Nathan Barnes
- Doctor Strange : Way of the Weird – Jason Aaron, Chris Balacho
- Staked – Kevin Hearne
- Dirty Magic – Jaye Wells
- Living Like A Runaway: A Memoir – Lita Ford
- Cursed Moon – Jaye Wells
- Compendium of North American Cryptids and Magical Creatures – Maury Brown, Ben Morrow, Mike Young, Ffion Evans
- Captain America: The Tomorrow Soldier – Remender/Pacheco
- Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison
- Harry Potter and The Cursed Child – J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
- Fantastic Four: First Family – Casey & Weston
- Deadly Spells – Jaye Wells
- The Sleeping Dragon – Joel Rosenberg
- The Sword and the Chain – Joel Rosenberg
- The Silver Crown – Joel Rosenberg
- Vostok – Steve Alten
- Avengers: Time Runs Out, vol. 1 – Hickman & Chueng
- How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise – Chris Taylor
- Jessica Jones: The Pulse, complete collection – Bendis, Bagley, Gaydos, et al.
- The Last American Vampire – Seth Grahame-Smith
- Defenders: Volume 1 – Fraction and Dodson
- All That Jazz – Lynn Townsend (*beta read – pre-publication)
- Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements – Bob Mehr
- Oh Florida: How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country – Craig Pittman
- All New, All Different Avengers, Volume 1: The Magificent Seven – Waid/Kubert
- The Long Earth – Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
- Let’s Pretend this Never Happened – Jenny Lawson
- The One Eyed Man – L. E. Modesitt Jr
- The Long War – Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
- The Secret Service – Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons, Matthew Vaughn
- League of Dragons – Naomi Novik
- Summer Knight – Jim Butcher
- American Gods – Neil Gaiman
- The End of Time: A Fabulous Narrative – T.S. Creager
- Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher
- Hawkeye Vol 1: My Life as a Weapon – Fraction/Aja
- Furiously Happy – Jenny Lawson
- Lafayette in these Somewhat United States – Sarah Vowell
- The Long Mars – Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
- Jimmy Olsen Adventures by Jack Kirby, vol 1 – Jack Kirby
- “We Side with the Free” – Gray Rinehart
- The Long Utopia – Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
- Parasite – Mira Grant
- The Iron Assassin – Ed Greenwood
- Aftermath: Life Debt – Chuck Wendig
- All The Birds in the Sky – Charlie Jane Anders
- Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible – Stan Lee w/ Peter David
- 1602 – Neil Gaiman/Andy Kubert
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2015:
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- Running With Scissors – Augusten Burroughs
- Altered Carbon – Richard K Morgan
- Firefight – Brandon Sanderson
- Trading in Danger – Elizabeth Moon
- The Wedding of Deadpool – Posein/Duggan
- Alias v4: The Secret Origin of Jessica Jones – Bendis/Gaydos/Bagley
- Ancillary Justice – Anne Leckie
- Welcome Back Frank – Garth Ennis
- The Alien Factor – Stan Lee w Stan Timmons
- Falling Sky – Rajan Khanna
- The Quantum Thief – Hannu Rajaniemi
- Redshirts – John Scalzi
- Low Midnight – Carrie Vaughn
- A Marked Man – Lynn Townsend
- Paranormal Bromance – Carrie Vaughn
- The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson
- Doctor Atlantis – vol 1 – Ian Ally-Seals, Carl Mefferd
- Words of Radiance – Brandon Sanderson
- Earth Awakens – Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
- To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
- Doctor Atlantis – vol 2 – Ian Ally-Seals, Carl Mefferd
- A Fighting Chance – Elizabeth Warren
- The Magicians – Lev Grossman
- Dead Witch Walking – Kim Harrison
- Mistborn – Brandon Sanderson
- Unlocked – John Scalzi
- Bloodring – Faith Hunter
- The Good, The Bad, and the Undead – Kim Harrison
- Fade To Black – Tim McBain and L.T. Vargus
- Doctor Atlantis – vol 3 – Ian Ally-Seals, Carl Mefferd
- Bled White – Tim McBain an L.T. Vargus
- Red on the Inside – Tim McBain and L.T. Vargus
- Seraphs – Faith Hunter
- Agent to the Stars – John Scalzi
- Hosts – Faith Hunter
- Deadpool: Soul Hunter – Duggan & Posehn
- The Secret History of Wonder Woman – Jill Lapore
- Time Salvager – Wesley Chu
- Ancillary Sword – Anne Leckie
- Trigger Warning – Neil Gaiman
- Girl in A Band: A Memoir – Kim Gordon
- Every Which Way But Dead – Kim Harrison
- Armada – Ernest Cline
- The End of All Things – John Scalzi
- The Martian – Any Weir
- The Three Body Problem – Cixin Liu
- City of Stairs – Robert Jackson Bennet
- A Fistful of Charms – Kim Harrison
- Hounded – Kevin Hearne
- Blood Rites – Jim Butcher
- Dhampir – Barb and JC Hendee
- Dead Beat – Jim Butcher
- Hexed- Kevin Hearne
- Unbound – Jim C. Hines
- Hammered – Kevin Hearne
- Tricked – Kevin Hearne
- Trapped – Kevin Hearne
- Ship Breaker – Paulo Bacigalupi
- The Serpent of Venice – Christopher Moore
- The Silkworm – Robert Galbraith
- The Aeronaut’s Windlass – Jim Butcher
- Shadows of Self – Brandon Sanderson
- Hunted – Kevin Hearne
- …And on That Bombshell: Inside the Madness and Genius of ‘Top Gear’ – Richard Porter
- Where the Hell is Tesla? A Novel – Rob Dircks
- Shattered – Kevin Hearne
- Star Wars: Aftermath – Chuck Wendig
- The Dinosaur Lords – Victor Milan
- The Monster Show – A Cultural History of Horror – David J Skall
- Ant-Man: Scott Lang – David Michelene et. al.
- Career of Evil – Robert Galbraith
- Understanding Comics – Scott McCloud
- Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil – Lee, Wood, etc
- Dinosaur Summer – Greg Bear
- Silver Screen Fiend – Patton Oswalt
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2014:
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- Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom – Triumph and Torment – Roger Stern, Mike Mignola
- Between Their Worlds – Barb and JC Hendee
- Batman: The Killing Joke – Alan Moore, Brian Bolland
- Spider Island – Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, et al.
- Clementine – Cherie Priest
- The Mote in God’s Eye – Niven & Pournelle
- Sandman Vol 10 : The Wake – Neil Gaiman & Michael Zulli
- Fiddlehead – Cherie Priest
- Code Monkey Save World – Pak, Coulton, Miyazawa
- Dreams of the Golden Age – Carrie Vaughn
- Shadowkeep – Alan Dean Foster
- The Real Frank Zappa Book – Frank Zappa w. Peter Occhiogrosso
- Angel Trumpet – Ann McMillan
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man – Vol. 4 – Bendis et. al.
- Marvel’s Finest- Avengers: The Kree-Skrull War – Adams, Thomas, Buscema
- Nothing O’Clock – Neil Gaiman
- The Dog in the Dark – Barb and JC Hendee
- Fabula Zero Exposition – Nick Davis
- She Hulk – The Complete Collection v. 1 – Dan Slott, et. al.
- The Martian – Andy Weir
- Time Travelers Never Die – Jack McDevitt
- Ghost Train to New Orleans – Mur Lafferty
- Steelheart – Brandon Sanderson
- Idiot America – Charles Pierce
- Fires of the Desert – Leona Wisoker
- The Strain – Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
- The Final Solution – Michael Chabon
- Roll – Lynn Townsend
- The Alloy of Law – Brandon Sanderson
- Survival – Julie Czerneda
- Dawn’s Early Light – Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
- Unseaming – Mike Allen
- The Summoner – Gail Z Martin
- Prison Nation – Jenni Merritt
- Bone Dance – Emma Bull
- Skin Game – Jim Butcher
- Blood King – Gail Z Martin
- Blood Sight – Lynn Townsend
- She-Hulk by Dan Slott – The Complete Collection, Volume 2
- Dark Haven – Gail Z Martin
- Fifty Shades of Grey – EL James
- The Necessary Beggar – Susan Palwick
- Serenity – The Shepherd’s Tale – Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, Chris Samnee
- Pride of Baghdad – Brian K Vaughn, Niko Henrichon
- Incredible Hulk – Visionaries – John Byrne et. al
- Wolves on the Border – Robert N Charrette
- The Rithmatist – Brandon Sanderson
- Dodger – Terry Pratchett
- Bad Wizard – James Maxey
- Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
- No Man’s Land – Greg Rucka
- Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 1 – Millar/Bendis/Kubert
- Civil Blood – Ann McMillan
- Ultimate Fantastic Four vol 3 – Ellis/Immonen/Kubuert
- Designers and Dragons – the 70s – Shannon Appelcline
- Chickahominy Fever – Ann McMillan
- Designers and Dragons – the 80s – Shannon Appelcline
- Books of Magic – Neil Gaiman
- The Gutbucket Quest – Piers Anthony and Ron Lemming
- Charisma +1 – Jessica Brawner
- Designers & Dragons – the 90s – Shannon Applecline
- Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man – Dan Slott, Christos Gage, et al
- Avengers Arena vol 1 – Kill or Die – Dennis Hopeless et al.
- Ant Man: Season One – Tom Defalco, Horatio Dominguez
- Designers & Dragons – the 00s – Shannon Applecline
- Thank You For Smoking – Christopher Buckley
- Critter vol. 1: Kitty in the City – Tom Hutchinson et al
- The Monster in the Closet – Chris Otto
- Critter vol. 2: Purrfection – Tom Hutchinson et al
- River Monsters – Jeremy Wade
- The Jungle – David Drake
- Critter vol. 3: Truth or Consequences – Tom Hutchinson et al
- Lock In – John Scalzi
- Thieftaker – DB Jackson
- The Silkworm – Robert Galbraith
- Fray – Joss Whedon
- The Replacements: all over but the shouting (an oral history) – Jim Walsh
- Blues – Lynn Townsend
- Transmetropolitan volume 2 – lust for life – Ellis/Robertson
- A New Dawn – John Jackson Miller
- Spider-Men – Bendis/Pichelli
- Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus – Waid/Immonen/et al
- Avengers vs. X-Men: Avengers Academy – Gage/Remender/Grummet
- Avengers vs. X-Men: Consequences – Gillen/et al
- Fantastic Four: Season One – Aguirre-Sacasa/Marquez
- Fantasy and Science Fiction – July/August 2014
- 1632 – Eric Flint
- Song of Spider-Man: The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History – Glen Berger
- Hawkeye vol 3 : LA Woman – Fraction/Wu/Pulido
- Tithe – Holly Black
- An Astronaut’s Guide to Life On Earth – Chris Hadfield
- Fluke – Christopher Moore
- Legion of Superheroes vol. 1: Teenage Revolution – Waid/Kitson
- Unfamiliar Fishes – Sarah Vowell
- Thief’s Quarry – DB Jackson
- Choose Your Own Autobiography – Neil Patrick Harris
- Critter vol 4: High Tide – Tom Hutchinson
- Capes N Babes vol 1: You Can’t Print Flick – Chris Flick
- Capes N Babes vol 2: You Still Can’t Print Flick – Chris Flick
- Capes N Babes vol 3: That’s Why You Can’t Print Flick – Chris Flick
- Purgatory Pub (book one) – Gabriel Dunston
- Capes N Babes vol 4: This Fur Don’t Burn – Chris Flick
- Jurassic Park – Michael Chrichton
- Uglies – Scott Westerfeld
- Neptune’s Brood – Charles Stross
- You – Austin Grossman
- Goliath – Scott Westerfeld
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2013:
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- Analog – December 2012
- The Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England – Brock Clark
- Asimov’s– January 2013
- The Black Cauldron – Lloyd Alexander
- Entoverse – James P Hogan
- Dragonheart – Todd McCaffrey
- The Man Called Cash – The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend – Steve Turner
- Moranthology – Caitlin Moran
- The President of Vice: The “Autobiography” of Joe Biden – The Onion
- The Eye of the World – Robert Jordan
- Carte Blanche – Jeffery Deaver
- JLA/Superman: The Never-Ending Battle – Roger Stern
- Gullible’s Travels: The Adventures of a Bad Taste Tourist – Cash Peters
- Spook Country – William Gibson
- The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan
- Changes – Jim Butcher
- Changelings – Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
- Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 – John Ferling
- The Dolphins of Pern – Anne McCaffrey
- Lamb – Christopher Moore
- Look to Windward – Iain M. Banks
- The Ladies of Grace Adieu – Susanna Clark
- Heart Shaped Box – Joe Hill
- Ghost Story – Jim Butcher
- The Language of Bees – Laurie R. King
- Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
- I Wish I Knew That: US Presidents – Editors of Readers’ Digest
- Gamers – Thomas K. Carpenter
- Bells of the Kingdom – Leona Wisoker
- The Sacred Book of the Werewolf – Victor Pelevin
- Kitty Rocks The House – Carrie Vaughn
- Small Favor – Jim Butcher
- Throne of the Crescent Moon – Saladin Ahmed
- Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo – Greg Leitich Smith
- The Daughter of Frost – Nick Davis
- His Majesty’s Dragon – Naomi Novik
- God of the Hive – Laurie R. King
- Turn Coat – Jim Butcher
- Burma Chronicles – Guy Delisle
- The Wheel of Darkness – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
- N0S4A2 – Joe Hill
- Good Omens – Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
- Isaac The Pirate – 2. The Capital – Christophe Blaine
- Sandman – vol 2 – A Doll’s House – Neil Gaiman, various artists
- Sandman – vol 3 – Dream Country – Neil Gaiman, various artists
- Rocket Raccoon and Groot – the complete collection – Bill Mantlo, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Jack Kirby, various artists
- 20th Century Ghosts – Joe Hill
- The Shadow of the Sun – Barbara Friend Ish
- Batman: The Compete Knightfall Saga – Dixon, Moench, etc
- Fool – Christopher Moore
- The Human Division – John Scalzi
- Throne of Jade – Naomi Novik
- The Golden Age of Death – Amber Benson
- The Shambling Guide to New York City – Mur Lafferty
- Showcase Presents – Legion of Super Heroes Vol. 2
- Clockwork Phoenix 4 – Mike Allen (ed)
- Boots on the Ground By Dusk – Mary Tillman
- Into the Wild – John Krakauer
- Leviathan Wakes – James S.A. Corey
- Just A Geek – Wil Wheaton
- Shenzhen – Guy Delise
- My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon – PN Elrod (ed)
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
- The Meowmorphosis – Franz Kafka and Coleridge Cook
- Hawkeye: My Life as A Weapon – Matt Fraction et. al.
- Saving Mars – Cidney Swanson
- The Dragon’s Path – Daniel Abraham
- Layer Cake – JJ Connolly
- Soon I Will Be Invincible – Austin Grossman
- A Princess of Landover – Terry Brooks
- WE3 – Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
- Chicken with Plums – Marjane Satrapi
- The Dragon Reborn – Robert Jordan
- Pirate King – Laurie R. King
- Hawkeye: Little Hits – Matt Fraction et al
- Matter – Iain M. Banks
- Laika – Nick Abadzis
- Kitty in the Underworld – Carrie Vaughn
- Warm Bodies – Isaac Marion
- The Night Gwen Stacy Died – Sarah Bruni
- Candle – John Barnes
- Crooked Little Vein – Warren Ellis
- Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman
- Startide Rising – David Brin
- Storm Front – Jim Butcher
- Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists – Neil Gaiman, various Artists
- Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You – Neil Gaiman, various Artists
- Sandman Vol 6: Fables & Reflection – Neil Gaiman, various Artists
- Cuckoo’s Calling – Robert Galbraith
- Kaleidiscope Century – John Barnes
- Sandman Vol 7: Brief Lives – Neil Gaiman, various Artists
- Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
- Garment of Shadows – Laurie R. King
- Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
- The Sky So Big and Black – John Barnes
- X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga – Claremont & Byrne
- Argo – Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio
- Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher
- Prophetic Sisterhood: Liberal Women Ministers of the Frontier, 1880-1930 – Cynthia Grant Tucker
- Sandman Vol 8 – World’s End – Neil Gaiman, various artists
- The Infinity Gauntlet – Jim Starlin, George Perez
- Memoria – Alex Bobl
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (vol 1) – Bendis et al
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (vol 2) – Bendis et. al
- Suicide Kings – George R.R. Martin (ed)
- Sandman Vol 9 – The Kindly Ones – Neil Gaiman, various Artiss
- Rule 34 – Charles Stross
- Libriomancer – Jim C Hines
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (vol 3) – Bendis et. al
- The Mallet of Loving Correction – John Scalzi
- Codex Born – Jim C Hines
- Crucible of Gold – Naomi Novik
- Blood of Tyrants – Naomi Novik
- Kobolds Ate My Baby! In Colour!!! – Chris O’Neill & Dan Landis, illust. by John Kovalic
- The Reckoning – Howard Owen
- Dead March – Ann McMillan
- Kraken – China Mieville
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2012:
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- A Game of Thrones – George R.R. “Not Your Bitch” Martin
- Bedlam Boyz – Ellen Guon
- Nightshade – Laurell K. Hamilton
- Star Guard – Andre Norton
- Straying from the Path – Carrie Vaughn
- On Basilisk Station – David Weber
- Knight of the Black Rose – James Lowder
- Journey to Elsewhere – Murray Leinster
- Kittys’ Greatest Hits – Carrie Vaughn
- BtVS: Tales of the Slayer, Vol 1
- The Duplicators – Murray Leinster
- Giant’s Star – James P. Hogan
- The Honor of the Queen – David Weber
- Bewitched and Betrayed – Lisa Shearin
- Paradise Towers – Stephen Wyatt
- Broken Blade – Kelly McCullough
- The Gods of Mars – Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking – Susan Cain
- Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob – Rob Balder & Jamie Noguchi
- A Clash of Kings – George R.R. Martin
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling
- The Dark Design – Philip Jose Farmer
- The Guardians of the Desert – Leona Wisoker
- The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi
- Con and Conjure – Lisa Shearin
- Drift – Rachel Maddow
- Between a Roc and a Hard Place – Danny Birt
- Phoenix Rising – Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
- Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America- Barbara Ehrenreich
- Spectre Nightmares and Visitations – Pamela K Kinney
- Strike Zone – Peter David
- Redshirts – A Novel with Three Codas – John Scalzi
- All Spell Breaks Loose – Lisa Shearin
- Fuzzy Nation – John Scalzi
- Awol on the Appalacian Trail – David Miller
- A Storm of Swords – George R.R. Martin
- Adam and Eve: Bizarre Love Triangle in the Zombie Apocalypse, Vol 2. – Dan Nokes
- A Dog’s Life: No Shenanigans!!! – Chris Otto
- The Janus Affair – Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
- Analog – September 2011
- Analog – October 2011
- Analog – November 2011
- A Feast for Crows – George R.R. Martin
- Kitty Steals the Show – Carrie Vaughn
- Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Superheroes – Timothy Callahan (ed.)
- How to be A Woman – Caitlin Moran
- A Dance With Dragons – George R.R. Martin
- Pirates of Mars – Chris Gerrib
- Let The Right One In – John Ajvide Lindqvist
- Nobody Gets The Girl: A Superhero Novel – James Maxey
- DC Comics Showcase: The Legion of Superheroes vol. 1
- The Warlock In Spite of Himself – Christopher Stasheff
- Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
- Star Trek:TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation² (vol 1) – Tipton, Tiption & Woodward
- The Casual Vacancy – JK Rowling
- A Teddy Bear Tale II – Nick Davis
- Geek Love – Katherine Dunn
- Escape Velocity – Christopher Stasheff
- Marvel Comics: the untold story – Sean Howe
- Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall – Thomas Hopp
- Sub-Human – David Simpson
- John Gone – Michael Kayatta
- How To Be Death – Amber Benson
- Burn Baby Burn: A Supervillain Novel – James Maxey
- Post-Human – David Simpson
- Further: Beyond the Threshold – Chris Roberson
- A Dog’s Life: Bark to the Future – Chris Otto & Ben Taylor
- Analog – Jan/Feb 2012
- Galactic Creatures – Elektra Hammond (ed)
- Cold Days – Jim Butcher
- Trans-Human – David Simpson
- Paranoia! – The Computer is Your Friend – Ultraviolet Books
- Analog – March 2012
- Predation – SJ Parkinson
- Spider-Man: Skin Deep – JMS & Mike Deodato
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime – Mark Haddon
- Blood Stripes: The Grunt’s View of the War in Iraq – David J. Danelo
- Horns – Joe Hill
- Asimov’s – October/November 2012
- The Ten-¢ent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America – David Hadju
- Isaac the Pirate (vol 1) – Christophe Blain
- Asimov’s – December 2012
- Analog – November 2012
- Jerusalem – Guy Delisle
- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama – Tetsu Sawai
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2011:
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-
-
- Deception Point – Dan Brown
- Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
- Through Stone and Sea – Barb & JC Hendee
- The Switch – Elmore Leonard
- The Abstinence Teacher – Tom Perrotta
- The Day After and Other Stories – Wil Wheaton
- Dreadnought – Cherie Priest
- A Hymn Before Battle – John Ringo
- Analog: March 2011
- Sweet Myth-tery of Life – Robert Asprin
- The Ranger’s Apprentice: The Icebound Land – John Flanagan
- Blasphemy – Douglas Preston
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go – Philip Jose Farmer
- Hunter – Wil Wheaton
- Analog: April 2011
- Bonk – Mary Roach
- Furies of Calderon – Jim Butcher
- The Fabulous Riverboat – Philip Jose Farmer
- Dark River – John Twelve Hawks
- Behemoth – Scott Westerfeld
- Analog: May 2011
- The Wizardry Compiled – Rick Cook
- A Chosen Faith – Buehrens & Church
- The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown
- Serpent’s Storm – Amber Benson
- With A Little Help – Cory Doctorow
- Haunted Richmond – Pamela K. Kinney
- The Dresden Files RPG: Your Story – Butcher, Hicks, etc
- Steel – Carrie Vaughn
- Tongues of Serpents – Naomi Novik
- Analog: June 2011
- After the Golden Age – Carrie Vaughn
- Secret of the Sands – Leona Wisoker
- You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop Into a Coffee Shop: Scalzi on Writing – John Scalzi
- Analog: July/August 2011
- Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk – David Sedaris
- I’m Dreaming of a Black Christmas – Lewis Black
- Emma and the Vampires – Jane Austen and Wayne Josephson
- Kitty’s Big Trouble – Carrie Vaughn
- Ghost Story – Jim Butcher
- LA Noire: The Collected Stories – Rockstar Games
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith
- Bossypants – Tina Fey
- Nerd Do Well – Simon Pegg
- Ghost Troopers – Joe Schreiber
- Zombie Spaceship Wasteland – Patton Oswalt
- The Snow Queen’s Shadow – Jim C Hines
- The Bedwetter – Sarah Silverman
- Stories I Only Tell My Friends – Rob Lowe
- The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band – Mötley Crüe w/ Neil Strauss
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier – Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill
- The Authoritarians – Bob Altemeyer
- Timecaster – Joe Kimball
- Of Truth and Beasts – Barb & JC Hendee
- Elegy Beach – Steven Boyett
- Abigail Adams – Woody Holton
- Adam and Eve – Bizarre Love Triangle in the Zombie Apocalypse – Dan Nokes
- It’s Not News, It’s Fark – how the mass media tries to pass off crap as news – Drew Curtis
- Club Dead – Charlaine Harris
- Haunted Virginia – Pamela K. Kinney
- The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities – Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (ed.)
- Gust Front – John Ringo
- The Gentle Giants of Ganymede – James P. Hogan
- The Warrior’s Apprentice – Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes – Neil Gaiman
- Vampire Science – Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman
- Unconditional – A Teddy Bear Tale – Nick Davis & Dan Nokes
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2010:
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-
-
- Humans – Robert J. Sawyer
- In Shade and Shadow – Barb & J.C. Hendee
- Kitty’s House of Horrors – Carrie Vaughn
- Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever – John Scalzi
- Crazy for God – Frank Schaeffer
- Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher
- Ill Wind – Rachel Caine
- White Night – Jim Butcher
- Human Nature – Paul Cornell
- The Breach – Patrick Lee
- The Time Traders – Andre Norton
- Galactic Derelict – Andre Norton
- Digital Knight – Ryk E. Spoor
- Analog – April 2010
- Fallen Angels – Niven, Pournelle, & Flynn
- Game Change – John Heilemann & Mark Halperin
- The Two Faces of Tomorrow – James P. Hogan
- Cat’s Claw – Amber Benson
- Analog: May 2010
- The God Engines – John Scalzi
- Heat Stroke – Rachel Caine
- Voices of Dragons – Carrie Vaughn
- Small Favor – Jim Butcher
- Primary Inversion – Catherine Asaro
- Last Call – Tim Powers
- Analog – June 2010
- Little Fuzzy – H. Beam Piper
- The Things That Are Not There – CJ Henderson
- Boneshaker – Cherie Priest
- Free Range Kids – Lenore Skenazy
- Essential Doctor Strange (vol 4) – Stern, Claremont, Etc.
- My Own Kind of Freedom – Steven Brust
- The Stench of Fresh Air – CJ Henderson
- Makers – Cory Doctorow
- Get Opinionated – Amanda Marcotte
- The Mountains of Mourning – Lois McMaster Bujold
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls – Steve Hockensmith
- For The Win – Cory Doctorow
- Omnilingual – H. Beam Piper
- Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters – Malcolm Hulke
- Prince of Stories: the many worlds of Neil Gaiman – Wagner, Golden & Bissette
- Exile’s Burn – Elaine Corvidae
- Essential Moon Knight Vol 2 – Moench & Sienkiewicz
- Turn Coat – Jim Butcher
- The Sleep that Rescues – CJ Henderson
- Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E: ultimate edition: Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen
- Geek Dad – Ken Denmead
- Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) – Gever Tulley w/ Julie Spiegler
- Analog: September 2010
- Anathem – Neal Stephenson
- Sunrise Alley – Catherine Asaro
- Spellcrash – Kelly McCullough
- The Clockwise Man – Justin Richards
- Kitty Goes To War – Carrie Vaughn
- The Eight Doctors – Terrance Dicks
- Analog: July-August 2010
- New Moon – Stephenie Meyer
- Discord’s Apple – Carrie Vaughn
- Goth Opera – Paul Cornell
- Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Analog: October 2010
- The Monsters Inside – Stephen Cole
- Red Hood’s Revenge – Jim C. Hines
- Wizard’s Bane – Rick Cook
- Alternate Generals – Harry Turtledove (editor)
- Med Ship – Murray Leinster
- Essential Defenders vol 4 – David Kraft et al.
- Analog: November 2010
- Lai Wan: Tales of the Dreamwalker – CJ Henderson
- The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
- Life As We Knew It – Susan Beth Pfeffer
- Changes – Jim Butcher
- The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
- Clash of the Geeks – Wheaton, Scalzi, etc
- Unnatural History – Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman
- Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life – Bryan Lee O’Malley
- I Am America (and so can you!) – Stephen Colbert
- Scott Pilgrim vs The World – Bryan Lee O’Malley
- Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness – Bryan Lee O’Malley
- Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together – Bryan Lee O’Malley
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe – Bryan Lee O’Malley
- Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour – Bryan Lee O’Malley
- Analog: December 2010
- An Unearthly Child – Terrance Dicks
- The Taint – Michael Collier
- The Line – Teri Hall
- Assassination Vacation – Sarah Vowell
- Hybrids – Robert J. Sawyer
- Lucifer’s Hammer – Niven & Pournelle
- When You Are Engulfed In Flames – David Sedaris
- xkcd: volume 0 – Randall Munroe
- The Lace Reader – Brunonia Barry
- Dirty Sexy Politics – Meghan McCain
- The Guinea Pig Diaries: my life as an experiment – A.J. Jacobs
- Holidays on Ice – David Sedaris
- The Wordy Shipmates – Sarah Vowell
- Dress Your Family in Courdoroy and Denim – David Sedaris
- Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld
- Born Standing Up – Steve Martin
- The Party Cloudy Patriot – Sarah Vowell
- The Great Derangement – Matt Taibbi
- Fast Food Nation – Eric Schlosser
- Essential Marvel Two-in-One, vol 3 – Gruenwald et. al.
- Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood
- Analog: January/February 2011
- Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
- Side Jobs – Jim Butcher
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2009
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-
-
- World War Z – Max Brooks
- Child of a Dead God – Barb and JC Hendee
- Fool Moon – Jim Butcher
- The Year of Living Biblically – A.J. Jacobs
- Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
- The Stepsister Scheme – Jim C. Hines
- Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand – Carrie Vaughn
- The Wrecking Crew – Thomas Frank
- Analog – April 2009
- Sunken Treasure – Wil Wheaton
- 1984 – George Orwell
- The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
- Kitty Raises Hell – Carrie Vaughn
- Essential Doctor Strange: v. 3 – Engelhart, Brunner, Colan, et al
- The Hacker Crackdown – Bruce Sterling
- Analog – May 2009
- Death’s Daughter – Amber Benson
- Analog – June 2009
- Grave Peril – Jim Butcher
- Singularlity Sky – Charles Stross
- Zappa – Barry Miles
- Zoe’s Tale – John Scalzi
- Hero of Ages – Brandon Sanderson
- Summer Knight – Jim Butcher
- Analog – July/August 2009
- Victory of Eagles – Naomi Novik
- Analog – September 2009
- MythOS – Kelly McCullough
- Death Masks – Jim Butcher
- Wolfkin – Elaine Corvidae
- The Trouble With Demons – Lisa Shearin
- The Yiddish Policeman’s Union – Michael Chabon
- In The Shadows – Joseph Lidster
- Analog – October 2009
- Blood Rites: Jim Butcher
- Your Inner Fish – Neil Shubin
- Saturn’s Children – Charles Stross
- The Motherhood Manifesto – Joan Blades, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
- Analog – November 2009
- Warbreaker – Brandon Sanderson
- Dinosaur Planet – Anne McCafferey
- Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town – Cory Docotorow
- Dragons of the Cuyahoga – S. Andrew Swann
- The Apocalypse Troll: David Weber
- Goblin Quest – Jim C. Hines
- The Buried Pyramid – Jane Lindskold
- Dwarves of Whisky Island – S. Andrew Swann
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith
- Rats, Bats & Vats – Dave Freer & Eric Flint
- Inherit the Stars – James P. Hogan
- The Rats, The Bats, and the Ugly” – Eric Flint & Dave Freer
- Goblin Hero – Jim C. Hines
- Analog December 2009
- Sense And Sensibility and Sea Monsters – Jane Austen & Ben H. Winters
- Sheepfarmer’s Daughter – Elizabeth Moon
- Memories of the Future: Volume One – Wil Wheaton
- A Wizard of Earthsea – Ursula K. Le Guin
- Goblin War – Jim C. Hines
- Ariel – Steven R. Boyett
- …And Another Thing – Eoin Colfer
- Analog – Jan-Feb 2010
- Dead Beat – Jim Butcher
- The Multiplex Man – James P. Hogan
- Waiting for Athena – John Scalzi
- Shatnerquake – Jeff Burk
- More Information Than You Require – John Hodgman
- The Mermaid’s Madness – Jim C. Hines
- Surface Action – David Drake
- Analog: March 2010
- Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress – Shelly Mazzanoble
- Imago – Octavia Butler
- Hominids – Robert J. Sawyer
- Analog: May 1984
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2008:
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- The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama
- The Cradle of Saturn – James P. Hogan
- The Price of Paradise – Colin Brake
- The Genesis Machine – James P. Hogan
- Rebel Fay – Barb and JC Hendee
- Robots and Empire – Isaac Asimov
- Edenborn – Nick Sagan
- Lamb – Christopher Moore
- Mistborn – Brandon Sanderson
- Red Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson
- Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
- Kitty and the Midnight Hour – Carrie Vaughn
- The Android’s Dream – Scalzi
- Spin – Robert Charles Wilson
- Rockets, Redheads, and Revolution – James P. Hogan
- Agent to the Stars – John Scalzi
- The Outstretched Shadow – Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
- The Moor – Laurie R. King
- Farthing – Jo Walton
- Kitty Goes To Washington – Carrie Vaughn
- A Secret Atlas – Michael A. Stackpole
- Crystal Rain – Tobias Buckell
- Lord of the Isles – David Drake
- Iron Man – Peter David
- The Ghost Brigades – John Scalzi
- Kitty Takes A Holiday – Carrie Vaughn
- The Beatles – Bob Spitz
- Through Wolf’s Eyes – Jane Lindskold
- The Disunited States of America – Harry Turtledove
- Reiffen’s Choice – SC Butler
- Jerusalem – Laurie R. King
- Sun of Suns – Karl Schroeder
- Kitty and the Silver Bullet – Carrie Vaughn
- Four and Twenty Blackbirds – Cherie Priest
- Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
- Essential Avengers, Volume 2 – Stan Lee, Don Heck, Roy Thomas, John Buscema
- Starfish – Peter Watts
- Magic Lost, Trouble Found – Lisa Shearin
- The Incredible Hulk – Peter David
- Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom – Cory Doctorow
- Armed and Magical – Lisa Shearin
- Touch of Evil – CT Adams and Cathy Clamp
- Lyra’s Oxford – Philip Pullman
- Boomsday – Christopher Buckley
- I Love You Beth Cooper – Larry Doyle
- Codespell – Kelly McCullough
- 2033: The Future of Misbehavior – Nerve.com editors
- Black & White – Lewis Shiner
- In the Garden of Iden – Kage Baker
- Jennifer Government – Max Barry
- Hal Spacejock – Simon Haynes
- Me of Little Faith – Lewis Black
- Orphans of Chaos – John C. Wright
- In The Midnight Hour – Patti O’Shea
- Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson
- Flash – LE Modessit
- Darkness of the Light – Peter David
- InterWorld – Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
- Elantris – Brandon Sanderson
- Soul – Tobsha Learner
- Justice Hall – Laurie R. King
- Eastern Standard Tribe – Cory Doctorow
- The Captain’s Honor – Daniel and David Dvorkin
- The Last Colony – John Scalzi
- Playing For Keeps – Mur Lafferty
- The Good Fairies of New York – Martin Millar
- The Game – Laurie R. King
- Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
- Locked Rooms – Laurie R. King
- Watchmen – Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
- The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
- M is for Magic – Neil Gaiman
- Dawn – Octavia Butler
- Outrageous Fortune – Tim Scott
- Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
- Fragile Things – Neil Gaiman
- Dreams from my Father – Barack Obama
- Living Dead in Dallas – Charlaine Harris
- Adulthood Rites – Octavia Butler
- War for the Oaks – Emma Bull
- The Road – Cormac McCarthy
- Jumper – Steven Gould
- Storm Front – Jim Butcher
- Dinosaur Planet Survivors – Anne McCaffrey
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“Mistborn” – Brandon Sanderson
I got this one in my email this week for signing up for the new Tor Books newsletter. They’re apparently launching a newly designed site, and are giving away free e-books (well, PDF files) to drum up page counts.
Yay, free books.
This’ll keep me going at lunchtime for a few weeks, I imagine.
-chuck
February 15th, 2008 at 11:45 AMJennifer – you’ll like the “Kitty” series from Carrie Vaughn. I can tell you this now, even though I haven’t finished the first one yet.
A hip, snarky, single girl werewolf who has a late-night call-in radio show about supernatural problems; it also looks like the author’s trying to set her up with either one of the local vampires, or perhaps the werewolf/vampire hunter guy…not sure yet.
It’s fun, kinda like the early anita blake books, perhaps a little more econonomical and clever on the prose. You should read it.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:23 PMcouple more comments.
I’m starting to really like Scalzi, not just because he once taped a piece of bacon to a cat, then took a picture of it and posted it on the internet.
“Old Man’s War” was really clever; who can resist a novel whose first line is:
“I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife’s grave. Then I joined the Army”
It’s basically the typical “boys go off to war” novel, except the boys are all older than John McCain. Then the get new super-bodies (and deal with all the ramifications of such) and go out and fight aliens.
“Android’s Dream” is also shaping up to be fun read – I’m really starting to get a sort of “American Adams” vibe from this guy – lots of fun, kind of absurd situations and ideas (a future religious sect involving ritual bowhunting known as the Nugentians? classic!). All wrapped around a great little “race to find the thing” story.
Lots of nods to other classic sci-fi authors; both of these stories owe a lot, either in structure or simple little references, to Heinlein. Still, any of these stories could be easily enjoyed by someone who’s really not into scifi at all.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:29 AMR/R/R – Hogan: just started it the other night; collection of essays and short stories. Not bad. Once I finish it, I ought to be through the box of Doug’s books for the year.
Agent to the Stars – yeah, another Scalzi book – what can I say, I like this guy. I figure I’ll burn through his whole catalog this year easily. This one’s actually his “practice” novel that he wrote just to prove he could; never sold it to a publisher, and has since put it online for all to see. The latest in my “lunchtime reading” series….
March 5th, 2008 at 9:19 AMa few I wasn’t necessarily fond of:
A Secret Atlas – picked this one up because I liked the cover, mostly. It wasn’t a “bad” book per se, but took its sweet time getting around to things happening, and then, once things got rolling at all, it became really episodic; “this happened to this guy, this happened to that guy, prince goes “muah, ha ha”, rinse, repeat…” Colleen liked it more than I; perhaps I missed the throughline, as I was sick through most of the reading. I may try it again sometime. Thinking about it, though, I never quite got into the world the author was trying to build; I’ve no doubt he has all sorts of ideas about how it fits together, but he didn’t communicate it so well, at least to me.
“Lord of the Isles” – another one of those free books from Tor; not awful, but definitely the least of the offerings so far. I think there were just too many pieces on the board overall to keep me into it; the world was better realized, though still kind of a mish-mash of stock fantasy tropes, and the secondary characters are infinitely more interesting than the “Chosen One” boy hero, which is never a good sign.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:58 PMcrossing over the 50 books line…
highlights since last time:
Little Brother – Cory Doctorow All sorts of people are raving about this one, and rightfully so. The book’s nominally a YA title, but that’s not a knock against it at all – a great meditation on privacy and civil rights issues, especially in terms of electronic surveillance. Read it; you’ll learn something!
I Love You Beth Cooper – Larry Doyle The night after graduation, through the eyes of the nerdy class valedictorian who used his speech to proclaim his love for the school’s head cheerleader. The perfect novelization of the movies John Hughes should still be making.
Codspell – Kelly McCullough – third in a great series; the adventures of a minor power in the Greek Pantheon; in a world where the gods fused magic with modern information technology and computing (code, after all, is much more efficient than blood rituals!).
June 25th, 2008 at 12:59 PMOrphans of Chaos – a lot of interesting ideas; in fact, enough ideas for a couple of entirely different books. Any of the following ideas would make the great hook for a novel:
When ALL these ideas are wedged into one 300 page book, though, it gets kind of muddled.
July 1st, 2008 at 7:08 AMIn The Midnight Hour – Another free book; Oh, Tor, why must you trick me into reading smutty romance novels laced with vague sci-fi supernatural elements? Free books, I know. There might actually have been a decent story with romantic elements here, but instead, the whole “plot” business was pushed into the deep background to make room for the graphic “undulating passion”.
And it’s a shame, because the story, fleshed out a little bit, would probably have been really good…if they’d spent as many pages on the big plot developments and confrontations with the threatening (but barely present, sadly) adversary as they did on the smutty, smutty smut.
The plot points in this book were treated with about as much gravity as the stereotypical “Hey lady, plumber here – need your pipes cleaned?” setup in a bad porn movie.
Why can’t we have BOTH the interesting plot and the graphic sexuality?
After wading into a couple of these romance novels (paranormal or no), no one can ever tell me that “proper” women don’t use pornography – they just take it in a slightly different format.
Wanna know what else is weird? I can’t for the life of me figure out what the title of this book had to do with the story…
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 AMMe of Little Faith: Lewis Black discusses religion. Equally sarcastic, cynical, and, oddly, reverent. Not quite as good as Nothing Sacred, but still worth a look.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:49 PMWell of Ascension – I’m really enjoying Sanderson’s work, even if I didn’t expect to – Mistborn was one of the first of the Tor free books, and one of the pleasant surprises in that particular promotion. The characters are basically archetypes, but you still find yourself involved in them, and their well-established, but still mysterious world (which I’m sure will be expounded upon in coming volumes).
That, and the guy writes action scenes well; all frentic motion and opposing forces, but in a way the reader can coherently follow.
This second book in a series falls into the not-done-nearly-enough category of “well, the good guys won – now what?”; and makes it work, and opens up a few doors to further adventures.
I’m currently working through his first novel, Elantris; it’s not at all related to the mistborn books, but has the same flavor, with all sorts of political intrigue and cleverly implemented magickal systems.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:56 PMThe Captain’s Honor – cleaning out the crawlspaces, found this OLD Star Trek TNG tie-in novel….oh, was it bad.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:46 PMFahrenheit 451 – 34 years old, and I’ve never read this one before; who’d have thought? Interesting read, and filled a gaping hole in my experience.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:36 AMWatchmen – reading it yet again (mostly in anticipation of the upcoming film version that will almost certainly disappoint); every time, I find something new and interesting. If you haven’t read this GN yet, do yourself a favor, track it down now.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:37 AMMy favorite author is Nickolas Sparks. Try a few of his books if you didn’t already read them.
October 25th, 2008 at 11:14 PMJoy
Dreams from My Father: Yeah, I started this one right after the election, but it’s been moldering in my stack for a while now. Having read both President-Elect Obama’s(I still love the sound of that) books, I can say I like this one a lot better than Audacity of Hope, which kicked off this year’s reading list.
AoH was clearly a “hey, I’m running for president!” book; an excellent example of one (I’ve read a bunch of these, and most are pretty awful), but still very guarded and not particularly personal; more an outlay of vague policy, than the “get to know the candidate” book that these are usually billed as.
DfmF, on the other hand, is something else entirely; a personal story told well, and, unlike most books by politicians, unguarded. You really get a feel for who the author is, and how he thinks.
I guess that’s because it wasn’t written by a politician, it was written by a law student who hadn’t yet seriously considered entering politics. I won’t say there’s anything particularly shameful admitted to in the book, but there are a few things that might (and some would argue, did) come back and bite him on the ass later. Kudos for Obama for not burying this little book he wrote years ago, and letting new readers discover it.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:16 PMDinosaur Planet Survivors: I’ve had this paperback lying around for probably fifteen years; I picked it up at a thrift shop or something. I waited so long because I was probably a bit McCaffrey’d out when I got it, and I always half-intended to pick up “Dinosaur Planet” and read it first. Never happened.
The book was just okay.
I’m leading off the new year with WWZ, which is way better so far.
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:53 PMChild of A Dead God – Another January, another Hendee “Noble Dead” book; I’ve been keeping up with this series for at least four years now. They’re all pretty much “extruded fantasy product”, but it’s good EFP; and it has vampires and a telepathic wolf – did LotR have vampires and telepathic wolves? I don’t think so.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:21 PMtwilight – so yes, I managed to scrape up a copy to see what the fuss was about; I won’t say it’s the worst book I ever read (I’d probably say that was The Legend of Rah and the Muggles); at least all the subjects and verbs agreed. I also can’t say that it’s the transcendent experience (as millions of pre-teen girls will tell you), or that it’s even particularly good.
There was a plot buried in there somewhere, one that a skilled writer might have been able to do something with. But not this one.
The main characters are entirely unsympathetic; edward may be a sparking (!) god physically, but is also a stalker with bi-polar issues, serious problems maturity and stilted, awkward speech patterns. Bela is, by all rights, a hot nerd chick who is vastly intelligent and has six decent guys fawning all over her between every class, but considers herself boring and ordinary and claims nobody likes her; it’s hard to get invested in, especially when these characters get together, and the book portrays the relationship as healthy.
Buffy did this better in season two, and correctly played the “naive young girl and older bad boy” relationship as a bad idea.
The only character I kind of liked was Alice, but since her big “vision of the future” was revealed in the final pages, I guess she’s not long for the world.
The book wasn’t super painful, but it’ll probably be a while before I dive into any of the others – where if I understand correctly, all the authors weird sexual hang-ups and “proper” gender roles really boil up.
Might be an interesting trainwreck, but I’m not ready for it yet.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:34 PMEssential Doctor Strange: volume 3: Collecting 30-odd issues of “Doctor Strange” (plus a couple from “Tomb of Dracula” that tied in) from roughly 1975-1977.
Exquisite weirdness – The Master of the Mystic Arts battles deranged Ex-bishops, Lords of the Undead, Satan himself, planets made of worms, and just for the hell of it, a space dragon he just happened to run into while going somewhere else, for no plot related reasons other than the fact that Doctor Strange spending two pages fighting a space dragon is the coolest thing ever.
Oh, and Doc Strange gets cockblocked by Benjamin Franklin during a bicentennial-inspired time travel adventure. I wish comics were still this cool.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:52 AMcatching up on the last couple of months:
Death’s Daughter: bought this book primarily because I’ve had a long-time TV crush on the author (she played Tara Maclay on Buffy), but was pleasantly surprised by reasonably solid urban fantasy, even if it veered a little in to SatC territory occasionally – do we really need to talk that much about shoes and designer bags, Amber?
Zappa: Always enjoyed Zappa’s music, loved his testimony to congress in the PMRC business way back. Interesting book, even if it turns out that the great artist was also kind of an asshole.
Zoe’s Tale: Another one of this Year’s Hugo nominees I’ve actually read. Retells “The Last Colony” story from the perspective of Zoe, teenage daughter of the protagonists. Good stuff. Write faster, Scalzi!
Wolfkin: bought this from the author (signed) at RavenCon this year. It’s more romance-flavored Extruded Fantasy Product, but competent EFP, with all the courtly intrigue, buckling of swashes, and dark mysterious heroes you could ever want.
July 21st, 2009 at 8:44 AMYour Inner Fish: worth a whole post on it’s own.
August 18th, 2009 at 8:49 AMSaturn’s Children: taking me to 4 for 5 in reading this year’s Hugo nominees (just Anathem left), is this fun solar system spanning mystery taking place a couple of centuries after humanity died out, leaving it’s android servants to carry on civilization. It offers plenty to think about regarding freedom, prejudice, and personhood, as well as plenty of neat hard sci-fi stuff about space travel and AI.
Also, lots of robot sex.
My favorite bit, however, is the minor aside where Stross turns the evolution/creationism debate on it’s head: the androids have mostly ironclad proof that they were “intelligently designed” by a Creator race, yet a “Church of Evolution” (complete with Prophets Darwin, Gould and Dawkins) arises to deny this proof, believing that something to efficiently designed as themselves had to evolve from ‘lesser’ forms.
August 26th, 2009 at 11:54 AMDinosaur Planet – amongst all the RavenCon 09 swag, we picked this one up from a used bookseller. Lots of stuff in Survivors makes sense now. One niggling problem: if you’re going to make the big reveal “These are EARTH DINOSAURS on this ALIEN PLANET!”, don’t call your book Dinosaur Planet!
Goblin Quest – snagged this whole series at C&C books from the going-out-of-business sale. The story of a lowly goblin who rises above his standard station as low-level RPG encounter fodder. Silly, light, and fun.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Take most of Jane Austen’s original text, add the undead, some ninjas, and a handful of anachronistic double-entendres, publish. It works surprisingly well, retains Austen’s wit amidst the mayhem, and actually fills in a couple of Austen’s plot inconsistencies. I enjoyed it tremendously.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:43 PMbeen a while…rolling into 2010:
looks like the beginning of the year; new entries from Vaughn and the Hendees, like always. Good stuff all around there.
Crazy for God: memoir from one of the guys who got the whole evangelical anti-abortion movement going, paving the way for Falwell, Roberston, etc; then turned away from it, because it left a bad taste in his mouth. interesting reading, offering insight into that particular subculture.
Ill Wind: first of a series by Rachel Caine; kinda lukewarm toward it (veers a little close to “paranormal romance” rather than “urban fantasy” for me), but figured I’d read it, since the author’s the GoH at RavenCon this year.
Human Nature the novel upon which the excellent two parter from Doctor Who: Series 3 (relaunch) was based, only this novel featured the 7th Doctor rather than the 10th, (though it did feature one of the shape shifting aliens pretending to be the 10th Doctor…weird).
Time Traders/Galactic Derelict: Couple of time travel adventures written in the late 50s by a woman who chose a male sounding pen name to get published. Interesting stuff from a cultural artifact perspective, and in the way time travel is taken as a complete given by everyone, but the rest of the tech (like spaceships and beam weapons) is taken as completely incomprehensible by the characters.
February 11th, 2010 at 8:36 AMDigital Knight: neat little first novel with vampires and werewolves and psychics and databases. Enjoyable diversion, but what’s really cool is that the author himself dropped a comment on this very blog thanking me for reading.
February 13th, 2010 at 4:59 PMGame Change: the book with all the dirt on the 2008 election. Didn’t learn much I hadn’t already heard at the time (well, except for the Edwards sex tape stuff – ew); but then, this is a “book of the blog” project, and I tend to run in the same internet circles as the authors. Good read, though, as it has all the goodies in one place.
The God Engines: Scalzi tries his hand at fantasy in a small-press novella. Very interesting ideas. Still a space opera, but that’s not a bad thing. What surprised me is how terribly bleak it all was, but then, that’s not a problem either (given my HP Lovecraft kick these last couple of weeks).
March 10th, 2010 at 10:09 AMwell, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? – a few highlights I haven’t made mention of in the blog proper:
Voices of Dragons: Carrie Vaughn’s first published young adult novel; worth the read.
Boneshaker: steampunk, airship pirates, and zombies…what’s not to like? Great story.
Makers: very Doctorow story about all kinds of ideas, though at it’s heart, it’s about the pleasure of improvising with the materials at hand and turning someone else’s trash into something useful, affecting, and important.
Dawn of the Dreadfuls: the prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Without the direct connection to Austen’s prose, this story actually works a bit better than the original mash-up (which was still quite enjoyable, really). Even though it’s still got the Bennetts as characters, it feels less a stunt and more an attempt to write a legitimate Regency novel with horror elements. Zombie stories are almost always an attempt to comment on some element of society using the metaphor of monsters – which is probably why Austen’s social commentary meshed so well with mobs of undead craving brains to begin with. So, worth the read, even if the whole literary-monster mash-up genre is probably close to played out.
Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters: an old novelization from almost 40 years ago of a 3rd Doctor serial featuring the first appearance of the Silurians, who recently cropped up again in the current Matt Smith series.
May 26th, 2010 at 10:01 AMAlternate Generals: An anthology of alternate military history that totally defeated me. I’ve owned this volume for probably a decade, and never finished it, until now, but only by technicality (I pretty much skimmed the last half). Turtledove edited – and while I generally love his stuff, I found myself bored to distraction with this one – it’s less historical exploration and more fetishizing militarism and the loneliness of command…and mostly terribly dull.
Also, the cover promised Roman Centurions driving panzer tanks…the book delivered no such thing!
August 26th, 2010 at 7:38 AMDeception Point: starting off 2011 with a complete piece of disposable cheese from the “Hey! Free Books!” box in the Richmond office break room. Not as completely terrible as the other three Dan Brown books I’ve read, though still pretty crap. Still, sometimes you just gotta eat that cardboard fast food cheeseburger, right? If only to remind you how good other things are.
January 4th, 2011 at 7:36 PMHunter: Really a short story, but I’m counting it anyway, because Wil’s a stand-up guy (at least he was in the limited email interaction I had with him a few years ago) and I enjoy his work. This is one of his first forays into fiction, a nice little sci-fi yarn that sets up a world I’m interested to hear more of. He’s released it as a pay-what-you-want story, which is a neat model – pay what you think it’s worth. In any case, I enjoyed it.
February 18th, 2011 at 5:13 PM