2009 booklist
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Quite possibly the best novel he has ever written, I loved it!
Runaways: Dead End Kids by Joss Whedon & Michael Ryan (issues 25-30). One of my favourite comic series of all time returns written by Joss Whedon. The kids hope to hide in New York for some respite but instead find themselves transported back to 1907 and trapped between warring factions of 'wonders'.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home (season 8, vol 1) by Joss Whedon & Georges Jeanty (RE-READ). The series continues in comic form. There are hundreds of slayers, many operating as squads controlled from Buffy's new base in the highlands of Scotland, and they have come to the attention of the US military and the mysterious followers of 'Twilight'. Old enemies return and new ones begin to emerge.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: No Future for You (season 8, vol 2) by Brian Vaughan, Georges Jeanty & Joss Whedon (RE-READ). Faith returns and as usual, finds herself employed to do the dirty work, in this case, to take out a rogue slayer with ideas according to her station.
The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger by Stephen King. Post-apocalypse western story in feel, but with added gooby weirdness. Reminds me of Deadlands the roleplaying game and David Gemmell's John Shannow books. Very atmospheric and intriguing but read kind of like a very extended prologue and the characters haven't really grabbed me yet.
The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. I started reading this and thought 'oh dear, I'm not sure I'm going to like this' when it was ickily horrific at the start, but then the new characters started appearing and I got hooked. Like some of Gaiman's stuff, this walks a fine line between horror and fantasy quite a bit, but I'm going to stick with the series.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Magical realism family saga set in South America. Follows 3 generations of women from the turn of the 20th Century to the 1960s (ish), through love, loss, hatred, wealth and privalege, and the things that privalege doesn't always protect you from. In parts beautifully whimsical, in others, brutally horrific. Definately a masterpiece that I'd recommend.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate (season 8, volume 3) by Drew Goddard, Joss Whedon & Georges Jeanty. The slayers come up against a gang of Japanese goth vampires who have gained Dracular-like powers of transformation, and the usual combination of comedy, style and tragedy ensues.
The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore and Ian Gibson. (RE-READ) Fed up with a deadend life in the Hoop in the 50th Century, and driven on by tragedy, Halo Jones signs on as a hostess on an space liner and sets out from Earth on a journey that will take her far from her humble beginnings. This is my favourite of Alan Moore's graphic novels (that i have read thus far) because i love it with no buts.
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt. Follow-up to The Court of the Air, about the adventurer and archaeologist Amelia Harsh. Hopefully, now he has had 3 books published, this will suffer less from the 'must fit every idea i've ever had into one book' syndrome that his first book was rather guilty of. ETA: yes, better characterisation and less manic plot - definitely an entertaining read if you're a fan of steam punk adventure style fantasy novels, I shall be buying the 3rd one when it comes out in paperback.
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. (RE-READ) After reading A Wild and Wicked Youth in this month's Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine, I had a yearning to reread the further adventures of Richard St. Vier, swordsmaster and lover. Still fantastic, highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of intrigue and politicking with a side helping of romance, beautifully written with unforgettable characters.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Both darker and yet also funnier than I was expecting. Not a feminist book by a very long way though - the female characters get a very raw deal indeed.
The Dark Tower 3: The Waste Lands by Stephen King. He keeps insisting on reminding me that he is a horror writer but still, great stuff.
The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. Probably my favourite of the series so far - mostly telling the back story of how Roland first got involved in the quest for the Tower and how he lost his first love.
The Dark Tower 5: The Wolves of Calla by Stephen King. Another great episode, this time focusing on the social role of the gunslingers back before the world moved on. Probably a joint favourite.
The Dark Tower 6: Song of Susannah by Stephen King. Hmmm, this installment was even more strange. I'm not quite sure how I feel about an author putting himself in his book, as himself... Keen to find out how it all ends though!
Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs. Book 8 of the Temperance Brennan novels that Bones the TV show is based on. Very readable indeed; this one has added interest for me because the mystery is connected to Israel, which is somewhere I've visited and find endless intriguing.
The Dark Tower by Stephen King. The epic climax to the series. I balled my eyes out towards the end and while I'm not entirely sure what I make of the final ending, I agree with his comments in the afterword about it being the only ending it could be. All in all, a fantastic series that I would highly recommend.
Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs. Book 9 of the Temperance Brennan novels. Another highly readable book, I was amused by the Burke and Hare reference.
The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory. The story of Katherine of Aragon, who was originally married to Henry VIII older brother Arthur before she became his first Queen.
Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs. Book 10 of the Temperance Brennan novels. A somewhat convoluted tale of missing girls and highly dodgy goings-on but still thoroughly enjoyable.
Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs. Book 6 of the Temperance Brennan novels. Yes, okay these have become my current comfort read - enjoyable tat that even I can devour in 2 days.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I've been meaning to read this ever since June bought me a lovely hardback edition some years ago and have finally got around to it now. A tad heavy going especially because she has a slight tendency to have paragraph long sentences but enjoyable nonetheless. I'm not a big Rochester fan because he's very manipulative but I love Jane, she's such an engaging character and so brave, and i found the supernatural bits interesting too. Glad I finally got around to reading this.
Guards, guards by Terry Pratchett. RE-READ. It's been years since i read any Pratchett, I'd forgotten how enjoyable they are.
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett. Haven't read this one before, I'm years behind on the Discworld series! Thoroughly enjoyable, I do like the characters in the Guards books.
Strangers in Paradise: Omibus Volume 1 by Terry Moore. The 'I Dream of You' issues are still my favourite. Love, love, love this series!
Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. The story of the battle of Thermopylae as narrated by the squire of a Spartan warrior. This is really quite brutal and horrific in places, but realistically so, and the characters are very engaging indeed. I found it really quite moving towards the end, definitely recommended if you are a fan of historical novels, it's much more of a character piece than a military history.
Strangers in Paradise: Omibus Volume 2 by Terry Moore. The second half of this series gets a bit far-fetched even for SIP in places, but it also becomes a story that is more about Francine's journey and that is so beautifully observed and poignant that I'll forgive him the nonsense about Casey and the origin of David's name, just for the line she comes out with when she meets Clay the college student.
Stolen by Kelley Armstrong. Her second werewolf novel - trashy urban fantasy but with a kick-ass heroine. Thoroughly enjoyable, although witches being a race and progressing by levels and having spell levels made me cringe somewhat!
Broken by Kelley Armstrong. Another werewolf book about Elena, I seem to be in the mood for them at the moment! Took a bit longer to get into this one and there were lots of new characters who have obviously been introduced in her other books which don't focus on the werewolves, but I did still enjoy it; the feminist angle makes these a cut above their run of the mill competitors.
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs. The first Temperance Brennan novel. A bit grim for bedtime reading for me, I think I may have been put off the series if I'd actually read this first. It's definitely a page turner but it gave me nightmares!
The Rise of the Iron Moon by Stephen Hunt. His third madcap steampunk extravaganza. The Kingdom of Jackals is underthreat again and our old friends Molly, Oliver, Coppertracks and Commodore Black are joined by an escapee from the Royal Breeding house and a mysterious 'foreigner' in the fight to save all they hold dear. Great stuff, wins points for female characters in leadership roles on top of being thoroughly entertaining. Definitely recommended if steampunk adventure stories are your thing!
Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong. More werewolf fun and games, this time with added snow.
Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs. Temperance Brennan novels, book 2 - enjoyed this rather more than the last one I read, the crazy cultists plot was sufficiently odd ball for the grimness to not seem too real.
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. A moving Coming of Age story about courage, artfully interwoven with a story about the power of stories. It took me a little while to get into this but when I did, I really enjoyed it.
Beauvallet by Georgette Heyer. Elizabethan swashbuckling and romance, just the thing for a snowy Christmas Eve afternoon!
Currently reading:
The Equivoque Principle by Darren Craske. Random find in the Borders closing down sale, a Victorian murder mystery featuring a band of travelling circus performers.