Monday, June 19, 2017

Books Read: May 2017

1. The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, by Margaret Killjoy
2. Version Control, by Dexter Palmer
3. Ill Will, by Dan Chaon
4. Penric and the Shaman, by Lois McMaster Bujold
5. A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers
6. The Princess Diarist, by Carrie Fisher
7. Two Serpents Rise, by Max Gladstone
8. Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer
9. City of Miracles, by Robert Jackson Bennett
10. Starfire: A Red Peace, by Spencer Ellsworth
11. Death's End, by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu)
12. Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid
13. The Geek Feminist Revolution, by Kameron Hurley
14. Brothers in Arms, by Lois McMaster Bujold
15. Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Books Read: April 2017

Much delayed and without the normal commentary. Here's April.

1. Behind Her Eyes, by Sarah Pinborough
2. The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi
3. Chalk, by Paul Cornell
4. The Ghost Line, by Andrew Neil Gray and J.S. Herbison
5. Certain Dark Things, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
6. Mapping the Interior, by Stephen Graham Jones
7. Final Girls, by Mira Grant
8. Blood of Tyrants, by Naomi Novik
9. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, by Tamora Pierce
10. All That Outer Space Allows, by Ian Sales
11. The Harrowing of Gwynedd, by Katherine Kurtz
12. Madness in Solidar, by LE. Modesitt, Jr
13. Bridging Infinity, by Jonathan Strahan (editor)
14. The Photo Ark, by Joel Sartore
15. The Nix, by Nathan Hill
16. The Stranger in the Woods, by Michael Finkel
17. This Census-Taker, by China Mieville

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Books Read: March 2017

Now that another month has come and gone, let's take a look at the books I read last month.

1. Empire Games, by Charles Stross
2. Greedy Pigs, by Matt Wallace
3. The Sport of Kings, by C.E. Morgan
4. Killing Gravity, by Corey J. White
5. All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
6. Grantville Gazette: Volume II, by Eric Flint (editor)
7. Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire
8. Feedback, by Mira Grant
9. Earth and Space: Photographs from the Archives of NASA
10. Much Loved, by Mark Nixon
11. Impersonations, by Walter Jon Williams
12. Otherworlds: Visions of Our Solar System
13. Proof of Concept, by Gwyneth Jones
14. Amberlough, by Lara Elena Donnelly


Best Book of the Month: Amberlough.

Disappointment of the Month: Proof of Concept.

Discovery of the Month: Still Amberlough. Holy crap it's good.

Worth Noting: If you're a fan of astronomy, I'd recommend checking of the Otherworlds photography book.

Gender Breakdown: 6 of the 14 books I read in March were written by women. This brings my total for the year to 23 of 44, or 52.27%.


Previous Reads:
January 
February

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Books Read: February 2017

Now that another month has come and gone, let's take a look at the books I read last month.

1. My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout
2. Lightning in the Blood, by Marie Brennan
3. Sweet Lamb of Heaven, by Lydia Millet
4. The Stars Are Legion, by Kameron Hurley
5. We Love You, Charlie Freeman, by Kaitlyn Greenidge
6. River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey
7. LaRose, by Louise Erdrich
8. Sudden Death, by Alvaro Enrique
9. Buffalo Soldier, by Maurice Broaddus
10. Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
11. The Complete Peanuts: Vol 26, by Charles M. Schulz
12. Mister Monkey, by Francine Prose
13. The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill
14. The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson


Best Book of the Month: The Stars Are Legion is fucking amazing.

Disappointment of the Month: I would say that My Name is Lucy Barton was a disappointment (because it was), but I also didn't have any sort of positive expectations for a novel from Elizabeth Strout. I'd previously read her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, now this one is in the Tournament of Books. It's a miss for me.

Discovery of the Month: Damn close for me in the running of best book is Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing.

Worth Noting: For years I've referenced a book that I read as one of the crazier titles / concepts for a novel, which would be George Bush, Dark Prince of Love (written about the first President Bush, this is a real book). Well, Lydia Millet wrote it and now I've read a second one of her books

Gender Breakdown: 11 of the 14 books I read in February were written by women. This brings my total for the year to 17/30, or 56.66%.


Previous Reads:
January

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Books Read: January 2017

Now that another month has come and gone (and then yet another has come and gone because I'm so late in getting this up) let's take a look at the books I read in January

1. Standard Hollywood Depravity, by Adam Christopher
2. Order to Kill, by Kyle Mills
3. The Sun is Also a Star, by Nicola Yoon
4. Agents of Dreamland, by Caitlin R. Kiernan
5. The Last Days of New Paris, by China Mieville
6. Scrappy Little Nobody, by Anna Kendrick
7. Grief is the Thing With Feathers, by Max Porter
8. The Warren, by Brian Evenson
9. Arcanum Unbounded, by Brandon Sanderson
10. Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher
11. Black Wave, by Michelle Tea
12. The Magicians, by Lev Grossman
13. Miniatures, by John Scalzi
14. A Time of Omens, by Katharine Kerr
15. Brother's Ruin, by Emma Newman
16. The Autumn Republic, by Brian McClellan

Best Book of the Month: It's always a delight to read more Deverry.

Disappointment of the Month: I'm reading through the short list of the Tournament of Books and Grief is the Thing With Feathers did not hit with me. It's a weird combination of prose and poetry and it's not for me.

Discovery of the Month: There's a part of me that thinks I could potentially be friends with Anna Kendrick. Independent of that, I really enjoyed her memoir.

Worth Noting: My wife has told me that I need to read The Magicians for several years now and I finally broke down and read the book. It's not that I don't trust her, it's more that I keep having other things out from the library to read or review,

Gender Breakdown: 6 out of the 16 books I read in January were written by women, which is a huge step back from the last two years of finishing over 50%, but it is only one month and the first of the year and since I'm posting this so late, I can tell you that February was much stronger and flipped almost entirely the other way.

Monday, February 20, 2017

2016 Nebula Award Finalists

From the press release:

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is pleased to announce the nominees for the 51st Annual Nebula Awards, the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book.
 
Novel
  • All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)
  • Borderline, Mishell Baker (Saga)
  • The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
  • Ninefox Gambit,Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
  • Everfair, Nisi Shawl (Tor)
Novella
  • Runtime, S.B. Divya (Tor.com Publishing)
  • The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, Kij Johnson (Tor.com Publishing)
  • The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle (Tor.com Publishing)
  • Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
  • “The Liar”, John P. Murphy (F&SF)
  • A Taste of Honey, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com Publishing)
Novelette      
Short Story
Bradbury
  • Arrival, Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Screenplay by Eric Heisserer, 21 Laps Entertainment/FilmNation Entertainment/Lava Bear Films/Xenolinguistics
  • Doctor Strange, Directed by Scott Derrickson, Screenplay by Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill, Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures
  • Kubo and the Two Strings, Directed by Travis Knight, Screenplay by Mark Haimes & Chris Butler; Laika Entertainment
  • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Directed by Gareth Edwards, Written by Chris Weitz & Tony Gilroy; Lucusfilm/ Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures
  • Westworld: ‘‘The Bicameral Mind’’, Directed by Jonathan Nolan, Written by Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan; HBO
  • Zootopia, Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, & Jared Bush, Screenplay by Jared Bush & Phil Johnston; Walt Disney Pictures/Walt Disney Animation Studios 
Norton
  • The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin Young Readers)
  • The Star-Touched Queen, Roshani Chokshi (St. Martin’s)
  • The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK; Abrams)
  • Arabella of Mars, David D. Levine (Tor)
  • Railhead, Philip Reeve (Oxford University Press; Switch) 
  • Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies, Lindsay Ribar (Kathy Dawson Books)
  • The Evil Wizard Smallbone, Delia Sherman (Candlewick)

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

Books Read: December 2016

Now that another month has come and gone, let's take a look at the books I read last month.

1. The Rise of Io, by Wesley Chu
2. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
3. Everything Belongs to the Future, by Laurie Penny
4.The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred, by Greg Egan
5. News of the World, by Paulette Jiles
6. You'll Grow Out of It, by Jessie Klein
7. Barkskins, by Annie Proulx
8. Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone
9. Cold-Forged Flame, by Maria Brennan
10. Talking As Fast as I Can, by Lauren Graham
11. Today Will Be Different, by Maria Semple
12. After the Crown, by K.B. Wagers
13. Swing Time, by Zadie Smith
14. The Mothers, by Brit Bennett


Best Book of the Month: The Mothers is excellent. You probably come here for genre recommendations, but go read The Mothers. So good.

Disappointment of the Month: None, really.

Discovery of the Month: Whhhhhyyyyy have I never read Max Gladstone before. Three Parts Dead is his debut novel and it's fantastic. I love the setting, I love the characaters, I love how smart it is, and I can't wait to see how he grows as a writer.

Worth Noting: If you were concerned about how Wesley Chu would pull off a Tao-verse novel without actually featuring Tao and a Tan, rest assured that The Rise of Io is excellent.

Gender Breakdown: 10 out of the 14 books I read in December were written by women. This brings my final total for 2016 to 95 out of 169, or 56.21%. This is the second consecutive (and possibly second ever) year with at least half of the books I've read written by women.



Previous Reads
January
February 
March
April  
May 
June 
July
August
September 
October  
November