Books In Review -- 2010

[bluegargantua]

Hey

Holy cripes I read a lot of stuff this year...

1. Dark Star by Alan Furst
   
2. Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World by Colin Wells
   
3. Copper by Kazu Kibuihi
   
4. Donald Featherstone's Solo Wargaming and Donald Featherstone's Wargaming Campaigns by Donald Featherstone.
   
5. Paddy Griffith's Sprawling Wargames by Paddy Griffith
   
6. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou
   
7. Dune by Frank Herbert
   
8. The Sprit Lens by Carol Berg
   
9. Oishinbo: Japanese Cuisine and Oishinbo: Sake by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
   
10. Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey
    
11. Tom Swift Jr. and His Jetmarine by Victor Appleton II
    
12. Tom Swift Jr. and His Giant Robot by Victor Appleton II
    
13. The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry
    
14. Tom Swift Jr. and His Outpost in Space by Victor Appleton II
    
15. Irons in the Fire by Juliet E. McKenna
    
16. Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite and Tom Swift and his Deep-Sea Hyrdodome by Victor Appleton II
    
17. World Made By Hand by James Kunstler
    
18. The Windup Girl by Paolo Baciglupi
    
19. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
    
20. Oishinbo: Ramen and Gyoza and Oishinbo: Fish and Sashimi by Tetsu Kariy and Akira Hanasaki
    
21. Venusia by Mark von Schlegell
    
22. The Folding Knife by K J Parker
    
23. The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith by...uh, Clark Ashton Smith
    
24. Mercury Station by Mark von Schlegell
    
25. The Timeservers by Russell M. Griffin
    
26. Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea
    
27. The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS by Elizabeth Pisani
    
28. Desert Road to Turkestan by Owen Lattimore
    
29. Mysterius the Unfathomable written by Jeff Parker and illustrated by Tom Fowler
    
30. The Secrets of the Sands by Leona Wisoker
    
31. A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
    
32. The Wreck of the River of Stars by Michael Flynn (didn't finish)
    
33. Up Jim River by Michael Flynn
    
34. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
    
35. Saint-Simon and the Court of Louis XIV by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie and Jean-Francois Fitou
    
36. Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
    
37. Red Atom by Paul Josephson
    
38. Uncle by J.P. Martin
    
39. The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist
    
40. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
    
41. The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker
    
42. Uncle Cleans Up by J.P. Martin
    
43. Dark Voyage by Alan Furst
    
44. Ares Express by Ian McDonald
    
45. Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
    
46. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
    
47. The Noise Within by Ian Whates
    
48. Retief at Large by Keith Laumer
    
49. Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth by James M. Tabor
    
50. The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman
    
51. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
    
52. Pandora Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton
    
53. Strange Relations by Philip Jose Farmer (didn't finish)
    
54. The School for Scandal and Other Plays by Ricahrd Brinsley Sheridan
    
55. Time Flies and Other Short Plays by David Ives
    
56. Lapham Quarterly -- Summer 2010 -- Sports and Games
    
57. Johannes Cabal, The Detective by Jonathan L. Howard
    
58. Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling by Beth Raymer
    
59. Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem Between the Wars by Shane White, Stephen Garston, Stephen Robertson, and Graham White
    
60. King Aroo Vol. 1 by Jack Kent
    
61. Act of Will by A. J. Hartley
    
62. Aurorarama by Jean-Christophe Valat
    
63. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
    
64. The Black Lung Captain: A Tale of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding
    
65. The Notebook by Agosta Kristof
    
66. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
    
67. Bold as Love by Gwyneth Jones
    
68. Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
    
69. Surface Detail by Iain Banks
    
70. The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich
    
71. Version 43 by Philip Palmer
    
72. Flats and Quake by Rudolph Wurlitzer
    
73. Lovers & Beloveds: An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom by Meilin Miranda
    
74. Lapham's Quarterly -- Fall 2010 -- The City
    
75. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 1 by...well, Mark Twain
    
76. The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
    
77. The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
    
78. Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard
    

Some of that is YA and some of it is graphic novels, but yeah, that's a whole lot of reading right there.

So let's get to the awards:

Best Sci-Fi in 2010
1. Surface Detail by Iain Banks
2. Pandora Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton
3. Ares Express by Ian McDonald

Best Fantasy in 2010
1. Aurorarama by Jean-Christophe Valat
2. Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea
3. The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker

Best Hard-to-Categorize in 2010
1. Flats and Quake by Rudolph Wurlitzer
2. Venusia by Mark von Schlegell

Best Non-Fiction in 2010
1. The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman
2. Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth by James M. Tabor
3. The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS by Elizabeth Pisani
4. Desert Road to Turkestan by Owen Lattimore

Best Autobiography of Mark Twain in 2010
1. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 1 by Mark Twain

Honorable Mentions (all categories):
* Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey
* Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard
* The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
* Johannes Cabal, The Detective by Jonathan L. Howard
* Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou
* Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

It was kind of a mixed bag this year. But there was certainly a fair amount of variety and if you're looking for something new, the favorites above should give you plenty of choice.

later
Tom