I grew up in a small town in northern Illinois. Heck, my high school graduating class had 45 or so kids in it. In 5th or 6th grade we all (I think it was all) went through a speed reading course. I was already a voracious reader by that point but it was like adding fuel to the fire. You mean I can read a great book even faster and still retain the characters and plot points? Sign me up!! Color me surprised when years later I found out that not all schools received that training. It makes me wonder what made our school so special. It’s a gift that I’m very grateful for!
It’s nearing the end of the year and, like many people, I’m looking back at what I’ve accomplished this year. Since I’m an avid reader it was a challenge to figure out what all I’ve read this year. So here is my 2022 book list. At the end I note some of my favorites or things that stood out.
Books Completed
Bone of Silence, Alistair Reynolds
The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik
Velocity Weapon, Megan E O’Keefe
Get Bent!, Rick Gualtieri
Bent Outta Shape, Rick Gualtieri
Bend on Destruction, Rick Gualtieri
* The Library of the Dead, TL Huchu
* The Buried Giant, Kazoo Ishiguro
* Jade City, Fonda Lee
The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi
Light from Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki
Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel
First Light, Linda Nagata
The Trials, Linda Nagata
Going Hard, Linda Nagata
* The City We Became, N K Jemisin
The End of All Things, John Scalzi
Cry Pilot, Joel Dane
Burn Cycle, Joel Dane
Kill Orbit, Joel Dane
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
Far From the Light of Heaven, Tade Thompson
Implied Spaced, Walter Jon Williams
* The Once and Future Witches, Alix E Harrow
Eversion, Alastair Raynolds
Dogs of War, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Bear Head, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Fairy Tale, Stephen King
The Praxis, Walter Jon Williams
The Sundering, Walter Jon Williams
Conventions of War, Walter Jon Williams
The Accidental War, Walter Jon Williams
Fleet Elements, Walter Jon Williams
Imperium Restored, Walter Jon Williams
* The Peripheral, William Gibson
Books Started that I didn’t Finish
Spine of the Dragon, Kevin J Anderson
* The Last Watch by J S Deer
Life is too short to read bad or boring books. Some day I might pick them up again but I doubt it. Of this list I was very disappointed in Spine of the Dragon. I have read a bunch of Kevin J Anderon’s work and it just didn’t engage me.
* Book selection via the Kansas City SF&F Literati group. Meetings (via Zoom currently) are every month (except December) on the 4th Monday at 7 PM Central Time. If you are on FaceBook look up the group and attend (our January book is The Peripheral by William Gibson in large part because it’s an HBO series). As a group we vote on books and as we say, “You live and die by the book blurb.” It’s been a good way to pick up some books and authors that I normally wouldn’t pick up.
Books/Series that stood out:
The Hybrid of High Moon series by Rick Gualtieri. Rick wrote the Bill the Vampire series and in this series we follow a teenage girl who is, like Bill, a complete smart ass but who is really a powerful cross between a magician and a werewolf. Irreverent and funny. Not for everyone and definitely NSW.
The Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Don’t laugh at the premise: A famous violinist made a deal with a demon for fame and fortune and to get out of it she sells the souls of her students to the demon. Her new student is a trans runaway and is a really good violinist. The teacher falls in love with the owner of the local doughnut shop - who happens to be an alien escaping war. Like I said, don’t laugh. But I found this story to be very endearing and a great read - I finished it in a single day.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow. I read this through our KC SF and Fantasy Literari Group for October. It’s not a book I would have picked up on my own but I found it to be very engaging. It’s the story of three sisters that reconnect in New Salem (the original Salem burned to the ground because of, you know, witches!) after running away from their abusive father. They are witches and work to bring back magic into the world. Strong female characters with deep flaws and deep hurt from their father and each feeling like they were abandoned by the other sisters.
Eversion by Alastair Reynolds. Listened to this on a road trip. It’s like 4 mini stories with the same characters but set in different ages: sailing ship, steam ship, dirigible ship, pulp fiction space ship, and they all tie together at the end. Keeps you guessing for a while on how they connect.
The Dogs of War series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Humans create ‘bio form’ weapons such as dogs and bears with the intelligence of humans. This series explores what makes us human and discusses free will.
The Empires Fall Series by Walter Jon Williams is a class military space opera. Officers way down the command chain because of lack of status help save the empire. The physics of space warfare aren’t too awful and I found it to be a fun ride.
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