I broke the 75-book barrier this past weekend, but as usual, I didn’t get to all of my TBR pile. I did, however, enjoy a lot of what I read. Without further ado, here are my notable book picks for the year:
Fantasy with the best brooding anti-hero and smart, introverted heroine
The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg
Best epic fantasy
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Best indie published book(s)
The Emperor’s Edge (and sequels) by Lindsay Buroker
Science fiction series I’ve been meaning to read for years and wonder why I waited so long
The Miles Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
Best YA steampunk/alternate history
The Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
Best YA/MG historical (this Vikings-time book reminded me of Rosemary Sutcliff’s fabulous historical fiction)
Icefall by Matthew Kirby
Best adult alternate history/fantasy
Cold Magic (and sequel Cold Fire) by Kate Elliot
Book I didn’t think I’d enjoy (got this from the library, decided I didn’t want to read it, then snagged it on the Kindle for free and read it yesterday during a 12-hr drive–I loved it!)
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
I read a lot of good books this year, but I can’t showcase them all, alas. What about you? What were your notable reads of the year?
Trying Emporer’s Edge (free!) on your rec. I think my favs of the year were Divergent, Starwalker (the first book), and as yet unpublished story by my beta. I can hardly wait to read the next draft of that.
I read DIVERGENT. I enjoyed it, but not enough to make my top list. I’m a little burned out on YA dystopian fiction. Only two YAs made my lost of favs this time around.
LIST, not lost. 😛 😀
I must see if I can get some of these books on Smashwords or somewhere else where it’s easy to buy them when you’re not based in the US. I don’t have a Kindle but I do have a new Sony e-reader and I’m looking forward to reading more ebooks this year. 🙂
I love my Kindle. It’s sooo convenient to be able to carry around so many books in such a small space, especially when I’m traveling.
Yes, I’m beginning to think a Kindle, or similar, would be an advantage – not least because we really do not have room for any more bookshelves!
This year I spent an inordinate amout of time writing a short story and immersing myself in that world; writing a little poetry and generally reading text books rather than novels.
I feel I should read a greater proportion of modern books, especially in SF and F. Instead, I discovered ‘Greybeard’ by Brian Aldiss on my bookshelves, unread. It was published in 1964 and is a disturbing read but very well written and I cannot imagine how it will end.
The New Year is a good time to start a reading challenge. I’m sure we can help you come up with a list of SF&F books. 😀
I’m in the same boat. I would love to read more, much more.
One book that stood out for me that I read last year was ‘The Tomorrow File’ by Lawrence Sanders. I really didn’t like the protagonist at the beginning, but the world had gone to a bad place and I was fascinated by that. The world building was creepy, and all too realistic. But what I especially liked was how, as the story progressed I gradually became more and more sympathetic to the protag, until by the end I was hoping…well I won’t spoil it. 🙂
75 books in one year! That’s quite a lot of reading. I love your recommendations, and will give them a try!
I’ll check THE TOMORROW FILE out. Let me know if you enjoy any of the recs, if you do try them out.
I’d actually managed 81 books by the end of the year (I wrote this post early in Dec. but posted it late). That’s the most I’ve done in a many many years, and the Kindle’s def. helped with that.