A fitting end to a trilogy I just adore. These books make me purr like Sieh.

The Mistborn Trilogy, by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages)

The more I read by Brandon Sanderson, the more impressed I get. This was a highly entertaining series—I read it over the holidays during a period where I needed to keep myself awake until 1:30 AM every night, and didn’t nod off once. These will go on my “study” list as a writer, especially for their effective use of foreshadowing across multiple novels.

In all I read 40 books this year, not counting the Hugo nominees for shorter works.

If I had to pick a year’s best, it would be a virtual tie between N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and Mira Grant’s Feed. Overall it was a very good year for the reading log.

It’s an odd feeling to read a memoir by an old high school friend. JJ’s book was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award, and rightly so. Funny, poignant, and well-researched, the book left me with a new perspective on lapels (one which, frankly, I kind of wish I didn’t now have ;-). It also made me realize that as a teen, I was so self-absorbed in my own angst, I had no idea what anyone else was really going through.

Nice work, JJ.

The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch

I kvetched on Twitter about the first female character in this book not appearing until page 92 or thereabouts, and then other female characters only showing up every 80-100 pages or so. But that’s a bit two-faced considering that I didn’t kvetch the same way about the book above it in this month’s list, which contains even fewer (human) female characters, one of whom only appears in letters. Oh, well.

After thinking about it, the difference for me between the two books is that in Novik’s, the characters are in the military of their time, which had very few roles for women, so lack of women in the story feels less jarring for the world building. Whereas in this book, it made the world feel half-populated for me, for a significant portion of the book. The lack of women felt more glaring because the world building DOES seem to allow women to hold power and doesn’t treat them as inferiors. They are simply absent for a long time, even though the ones that do appear play fairly significant parts.

Aside from that, this is an epic with an intriguing feel.

Sandman Slim, by Richard Kadrey

Perdido Street Station, by China Miéville

Weird, shocking, horrific, vivid and wondrous. Fucked up and fabulous.

Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Slowly and gracefully works its way towards a highly satisfying Jane Austen-like ending.

Fuzzy Nation, by John Scalzi

I blitzed through this one in a day. Fun & funny, entertaining summer read with a moral bite.

Up Against It, by M.J. Locke

Well-plotted hard science political space thriller, set in the asteroid belt.

7th Sigma, by Steven Gould

Looking for a good book for boys (not that girls won’t like this too)? You might want to try this one if the sparkly vampire scene has got your reluctant reader a little down. Martial arts, the New Old West, and strange bug-like machines.

The Song and The Sorceress, by Kim Vandervort

First in a series, with not-your-average fantasy heroine princess. Went in directions I wasn’t expecting, which is always good.

The Broken Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin

I LOVED the first book in this series (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms) and after reading this second installment, am eagerly looking forward to the third (The Kingdom of Gods). These books are re-instilling that sense of wonder I’ve been missing in various reads.

I Am Not A Serial Killer, by Dan Wells

While I admire the author’s amazing ability to characterize a very different type of main character, this book disturbed me in ways that make me unsure if I’ll read the rest of the series. I’m pretty sure the author MEANT these books to be disturbing, so well done on that front. :-)

The second in Sawyer’s WWW series. The ethical dilemmas surrounding the awakening of a conscious Internet entity begin to come to the fore. Believable teen main character. A touch heavy on the RIM product placement.

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

Teen werewolf romance, with a new take on werewolves.

July was all about the Hugos, with the lion’s share of the works read coming from the Hugo voter packet. I snuck in an older classic as well. While none of my top vote getters actually won a Hugo, I can’t say I’m disappointed with the winners, as most of them wound up being my second choice picks. I felt the Best Novel category had some particularly strong contenders this year, several of which I could not put down, and in all cases I had to think hard about my voting choices.

Many, many thanks to the people who put together the Hugo voting packet, especially for including all the ePubs, which let me read the works as painlessly as possible on my mobile device. I believe Kate Kligman is the person I should be thanking directly.

All Clear, by Connie Willis

The Hugo nominated novellas

The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window, by Rachel Swirsky

The Lifecycle of Software Objects, by Ted Chiang

The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon, by Elizabeth Hand

The Sultan of the Clouds, by Geoffrey A. Landis

Troika, by Alastair Reynolds

The Hugo nominated novellettes

Eight Miles, by Sean McMullen

Plus or Minus, by James Patrick Kelly

That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made, by Eric James Stone

The Emperor of Mars, by Allen M. Steele

The Jaguar House, In Shadow, by Aliette de Bodard

The Hugo nominated short stories

Amaryllis, by Carrie Vaughn

For Want of a Nail, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Ponies, by Kij Johnson

The Things, by Peter Watts

A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

The Dervish House, by Ian McDonald

A dense read that gets you up close and personal with future Turkey. Nanotechnology, a high-finance oil scam, the search for a mythical relic and a young boy trying to avert a terrorist attack. Though plots take their time to combine and play out, this ultimately had a satisfying ending.

Feed, by Mira Grant

What is it with zombie books? I HATE zombie movies, yet the two zombie books I’ve bothered to pick up have been fantastic. Political thriller/commentary masquerading as zombie fiction. Good read, and moved me to tears near the end. Without adding spoilers, I’ll also say, Wow, did the author really just DO that? Damn.

Steampunk-like far future world in a hollow-sphere setting (AKA Ringworld on steroids). Local politics intersect with an attempted takeover by the rest of the galaxy. I’m still trying to figure out how the natural resource economy works, especially for things like minerals.

Pirate Sun, by Karl Schroeder

Third in the above series.

Super Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngart

Cryoburn, by Lois McMaster Bujold

Hugo nominee, via the Renovation Hugo nominees reading packet. This is my first encounter with Vorkosigan. I enjoyed it.

2010 Nebula Awards Showcase, edited by Bill Fawcett

Fellow Viable Paradise alumnus F.J. Bergmann gets a Rhysling in this one. W00t and congrats!

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis

One of those books where I figure out a few things early (which makes me feel smart) but don’t completely figure out the whole  thing by the end (which keeps the author looking smart). Although (spoiler alert!) the cat has a more prominent role than the titular dog.

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

I occasionally try to “better” myself by reading a literary classic that I think I should read because it’s a classic, and then wind up bored out of my gourd. It came to me recently that I’m reading the wrong kind of classic, and would have a better time by focusing on SFF classics instead. Et voilà! No longer bored! Why it took me four decades to figure this out is beyond me. I enjoyed this read although the premise makes me deeply uncomfortable, which I guess is the idea.

Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge

Beware Rabbits bearing virtual gifts. Interesting combination of cyberpunk meets bioterrorism thriller meets Elder YA.

Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

Cats! Libraries! What’s not to love?