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alchemical fantasy

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2012: a year of reading

2012: a year of reading

2012 was an odd reading year for me. I went through a dry spell in the middle, and thought that I wouldn’t even hit my annual goal of 75 books (I made it to 77).

Without further ado, here are my notable reading experiences of 2012.

Blog-to-Books

Freelancer's Survival Guide

I never thought I’d read a single blog-to-book, but this year I read four, including The Best of Catherine, Caffeinated by Catherine Ryan Howard and The Freelancer’s Survival Guide byKristine Kathryn Rusch. Which just goes to show: never say never.

Short Fiction

Black Juice

I read several anthologies, both single author and not. My comfort reads this spring (right after our move) were six volumes of L. M. Montgomery’s short stories. I finally tried out Margo Lanagan’s work by reading her collection, Black Juice,ย and yes,”Singing My Sister Down” is one of the most powerful and heartbreaking stories I’ve ever read.

Best YA Fantasy

Seraphina

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

One of the most well-done treatments of human-dragon relationships I’ve ever read.

Best Book I Didn’t Expect to Like

Girl in the Arena

Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

This book is more about family dynamics and social commentary than action-adventure. A surprisingly moving read.

Best Worldbuilding-YA

Dark Life

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Two words: Undersea. Colonies.

Best Worldbuilding-Adult

The Serpent Sea

The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells

This, and the third book of the Raksura trilogy, The Siren Depths, are just awesome. I love the depth of Wells’ world, with its mysterious flying islands, several sentient races, giant trees, and–especially–the Raksura themselves who are both so alien and so sympathetic.

Best Book That I Did Not Finish

The Brides of Rollrock Island

The Brides of Rollrock Islandย  by Margo Lanagan

Beautifully written, but so emotionally wrenching that I had to put it down.

Book That Filled the Georgette Heyer Void in My Life

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

This book is a romp, featuring a marriage of convenience, eccentric family members, a search for treasure and a cute romance. Different from the books starring Miles Vorkosigan, but in the best way possible.

What were your favorite reads of 2012?

Related Post: 7 Favorite Books of 2012 (as of 9/24/12)

Filed Under: reading, reviews

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Linda Adams - Soldier, Storyteller says

    December 31, 2012 at 5:09 pm

    Ooh, I’ll have to check two of these out (one after the price comes down. I’m not paying $10 for an ebook). Freelancers Survival Guide is a good book.

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      December 31, 2012 at 7:56 pm

      The only e-book I’ve paid over $10 for is ICEFALL by Matthew Kirby. It was one of those books I just HAD to have after I read the sample.

      Otherwise, I just get it from the library. One of the biggest perks of living in No. Virginia is the AWESOME library system. ๐Ÿ˜€

      Reply
  2. Lisa Ahn says

    December 31, 2012 at 6:47 pm

    I just added Dark Life to my Goodreads list. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      December 31, 2012 at 7:56 pm

      Woohoo! I hope you enjoy it.

      Reply
  3. Ellen Gregory says

    December 31, 2012 at 8:18 pm

    ‘The Georgette Heyer’ void?!?! Might have to check that one out. I should probably check out the Martha Wells series too. I haven’t heard of it, but I love great fantasy worldbuilding epics. Ye Gods – so much to read!

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      December 31, 2012 at 8:43 pm

      Hard to believe that a SF book would do that, but it’s so much more Heyer-esque than the other Regencys I’ve tried to solace myself with.

      Reply
      • Prue says

        January 1, 2013 at 7:20 pm

        I’ll definitely have to try that if it’s Heyer-esque!

        Reply
        • Rabia says

          January 5, 2013 at 4:40 pm

          It’s definitely a romp. ๐Ÿ™‚

          Reply
  4. Prue says

    January 1, 2013 at 7:18 pm

    That’s a whole lot of books – more than one a week! I’m well impressed ๐Ÿ™‚

    Didn’t do much reading this year but I’ve started again – with old favourites like Agatha Christie, Anne McCaffrey and Alexander McCall Smith (No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books). There’s a pile of ‘serious’ books from Christmas the first of which is a biography about Patrick Leigh Fermor who walked from London to Constantinople in 1934 when he was 18 or 19.

    Happy New Year to you and yours. Hope 2013 is a good year for you all x

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      January 5, 2013 at 4:42 pm

      Thank you, Prue! We had some issues that kept me away during the last (and first) days of the year, so I’m late responding! Happy New Year to you and I hope that 2013 is a time of healing and peace.

      Reply
  5. Kirsten says

    January 1, 2013 at 8:05 pm

    I finally read my first Lois McMaster Bujold book (Shards of Honor) and loved it! Will be reading more of those. ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m going to add Seraphina to my list for 2013–I have a thing for human-dragon relationships!
    Thanks for all the recommendations, and Happy New Year!!

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      January 5, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      You’re welcome, Kirsten! I’d love to know what you think of Seraphina. Happy New Year!

      Reply
  6. Alina Sayre says

    January 7, 2013 at 12:17 pm

    I like the idea of reviewing your year according to the books you’ve read. Maybe I need to keep better track of my reading habits!

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      January 7, 2013 at 4:36 pm

      Every New Year, I create a word doc. called booklist_[Year]. I put in the names of books as I read them. I’m used to keeping booklists for homeschool, so this works pretty well for me. I just got on Goodreads, so maybe I’ll let GR be my backup. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply

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