Well, it’s been a while, but let’s not bother with excuses. Let’s just take a look at what I’ve managed to read in 2016, shall we?
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- Chapelwood by Cherie Priest
(Buy).
- Lizzie Borden novel. The last? Very good horror, and I don’t even like much horror.
- Lyon’s Pride by Anne McCaffrey (re-read)
- This read-thru I was bothered a lot more by the “a woman is more valuable as brood mare” themes in this series. Blech.
- Wake of Vultures by Lila Bown
(Buy)
- Genderfluid(?)/Trans cowboy with magic in the Old West. (The character doesn’t know the modern words & doesn’t label themself so it’s hard to know what word to use.) I read this one and Laura Anne Gilman’s Silver on the Road close to each other, so they’re kind of twisted together in my head even though they’re Totally Different other than being Old West themed.
- Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Buy)
- Would have probably been better in print given the formatting, but was a surprise win for me. This convinced me to read A Lot More Science Fiction this year.
- The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
(Buy)- It’s Jim Butcher, of course it’s great. Looking forward to more world-building.
- Back Lash by Devon Monk (Buy)
- If you love Shame & Terric, you’ll love this. If you haven’t met Shame & Terric yet, go read the Allie Beckstrom series.
- A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark by Harry Connolly
(Buy)
- Elderly protagonist FTW!
- The Circle Opens: Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce
- Realized I’d never read any Pierce beyond Alanna, so I’m rectifying that.
- The Circle Opens: Street Magic by Tamora Pierce
- The Circle Opens: Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce
- The Circle Opens: Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce
- Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire
(Buy)- Seanan is as solidly wonderful as Jim Butcher always is, in different ways.
- Snake in the Glass by Seanan McGuire (FREE short story)
- Did I mention these are FREE??
- Swamp Bromeliad by Seanan McGuire (FREE short story)
- The Way Home by Seanan McGuire (FREE short story)
- The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe (re-read) (Buy)
- I needed to read Daughter of the Blood because of having an ARC but had no idea where the story had ended.
- The Gathering of the Lost by Helen Lowe (re-read)
- Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson (nonfiction) (Buy)
- Completely worth being the only nonfiction I’ve read this year. Also, hilarious.
- Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly
- Middle aged female narrator!
- Daughter of the Blood by Helen Lowe
- The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (review copy)
(Buy)- This book was… not that great, in my opinion. I hate when folks try to do “it has magic but it’s still LITRACHURE”. But I’m also very Anti-Apocalypse stories. I find them bleak. YMMV.
- Kin by Lilith Saintcrow (Buy)
- It’s a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Go back & read the whole trilogy; there’s one for Snow White, Cinderella, and Red. About the various ways abuse marks us forever, and the ways we rise through the muck.
- Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop (Buy)
- TW: Self Harm. Still a little weirded out by this whole cutting business, honestly, but it’s a GOOD story. Bishop has a history of being gratuitous anyway, in my opinion. YMMV.
- Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
- I was amazed by how many old-school Sci-Fi I’ve missed. Bujold’s science fiction is as solid as her fantasy. Some of this book is now in Trope Territory, but can I really hold that against it when it’s taken me this long? SOMETHING set the trope, after all.
- Chasing Magic by Stacia Kane
(Buy)- Content warning here for drug use. Readers who haven’t been That Low may not get Chess. (I didn’t at first but it was because I didn’t want to.)
- Burned by Benedict Jacka (Buy)
- Is it insulting to call this ‘discount Harry Dresden’? It’s not meant as an insult, believe me. I really like this series.
- Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older (Buy)
- I loved this but also it broke me a little. As I have very little sense of my own ancestors or what the hell my inherited culture should even be, I put this down feeling sad. IMO, this is the #1 reason you should Read This.
- The Root by Na’Amen Gobert Tilahun (Buy)
- This was a highly, highly interesting premise with a sort of not stellar execution. I’d still be willing to read sequels, though.
- Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear (Buy)
- Women with agency in the Old West! Prostitutes even! Who knew? (Also a black US marshall, ok, read this.)
- Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan (Buy)
- Basic love-triangle YA fantasy with the added bonus of showing us all what living under a murderous dictator is going to look like. Ho ho ho!
- San Diego 2014: Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant (novella) (Buy)
- I’m not even a Browncoat but this story got me right in the feels.
- Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter (Buy)
- The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler (Buy)
- I think sequels to this would be rated higher, the first one was a lot of Protagonist Being Clueless.
- Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger (novella) (Buy)
- It’s a sexy story, okay? A girl’s got needs.
- Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal (Buy)
- Just. Frickin’. Read. It.
- The Tower & the Hive by Anne McCaffrey (re-read)
- Citadel of the Sky by Chrysoula Tzavelas (Buy)
- I can’t really explain it, okay? But it’s a good read if you like fantasy that’s not of the warrior/elf/bard/dwarf type.
- Acorna: The Unicorn Girl by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball
- Okay so this is a Wee Bit patronizing, but I like Acorna so I’ll eventually be finishing the series.
- Imprudence by Gail Carriger (Buy)
- I love Prudence almost as much as I love Sophronia, okay? READ.
- Wicked as They Come by Delilah Dawson (Buy)
- Worth it for the bludbunnies.
- The Ghost Rebellion by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris (Buy)
- ZOMG
- The Circle Reforged: The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce
- The Circle Reforged: Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce
- Petaybee: Powers that Be by Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
- I’m still not sure how I feel about this.
- Six Gun Snow White by Cat Valente (DNF)
(Buy)- I wanted to like this so much I kept reading to the point where I kind of hate it now. But it’s lyrical and beautiful and I’m pretty sure recommended by Neil Gaiman so you should at least TRY to like it.
- Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone (Buy)
- WHAT is this world?! I like it! More, please.
- Ghostbusters (2016) novelization by Nancy Holder (Buy)
- Ladybusters are MY Ghostbusters and haters & trolls can fuck right off. Kthxbye.
- Staked by Kevin Hearne (Buy)
- OBERON!
- Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire (Buy)
- The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
- Rincewind honestly isn’t my favorite wizard. But Equal Rites made everything better.
- Acorna’s Quest by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball
- The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes (Buy)
- A really good twist on the “troupe” fantasy à la Final Fantasy or Dragonlance. But also I pretty much disliked every single one of the narrators on a personal level, too, so there’s that.
- Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Buy)
- This won awards for a damn reason.
- Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
- Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
- Tainted Blood by ML Brennan (Buy)
- I don’t know why I like this so much because it’s basically weird-creature-of-the-week urban fantasy and that’s been done before but dammit if I don’t really like this anyway.
- Star Wars: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig (Buy)
- GAY STAR WARS! STAR WARS IS GAY NOW! Get over it.
- Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin (current reading) (Buy)
- I’m still reading this so I’m not gonna rate it yet but daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.
