Book List 2012
Here's my book list for 2012. Luckily, there weren't too many fails here. Books that failed are in bold and I'll give a basic summary of why:
January
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Vol.23 ed. L. Ron Hubbard-This wasn't a terrible book, but there were only one or two stories that were actually good in their own right and I was glad to finish the book and give it away by the time I was done
Ash by Malinda Lo
The Condition of Muzak by Michael Moorcock
Shine by Lauren Myracle
February
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delaney
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Harvest Moon - Mercedes Lackey, Michelle Sagara and Cameron Haley
The Orange Trees of Baghdad: In Search of My Lost Family by Leilah Nadir
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Lace and Blade ed. Deborah J. Ross
The Underground City by Jules Verne
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
March
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg
She Is the Darkness by Glen Cook
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
It Happens Every Day by Robin Sax
The Summer Queen by Joan D. Vinge
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
April
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson
Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James
City of Night by Michelle West
May
The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg
The Daemon Prism by Carol Berg
Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey
Silence by Michelle Sagara
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
June
Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill
Slow River by Nicola Griffith
God's War by Kameron Hurley
China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Into the Dark Lands by Michelle Sagara-West
Roving Mars by Steve Squyres
July
The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum
Cause of Death: Forensic Files of a Medical Examiner by Stephen D. Cohle and Tobin T. Buhk
Deadline by Mira Grant
When We Were Executioners by J.M. McDermott
This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers
The Undead by Dick Teresi
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente
Among Others by Jo Walton
House Name by Michelle West
August
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
Fire by Kristin Cashore
The Living by Annie Dillard - The one book I finished this year and hated. I only finished it for my Mount TBR challenge. This book had turgid prose, boring characters, no plot (not a problem on its own for this type of literary historical fiction, but combined with everything else...), and no sense of life or verve to it all. How do you expect me to care about your character's tragic lives when the book is already dead on arrival? If you're interested in fiction about the settlement of the west coast of North America, I'd recommend books actually written in this time period. They're less turgid and they have strong sense of both life and death, something The Living lacked.
Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica
The Anatomy of Criticism by Northrop Frye
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
September
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What If Earth Had Two Moons? by Neil F. Comins
What If the Moon Didn't Exist? by Neil F. Comins
Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh
The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Tangled Up In Blue by Joan D. Vinge
Skirmish by Michelle West
October
Eon by Alison Goodman
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
November
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Water Sleeps by Glen Cook
Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts
Cast in Peril by Michelle Sagara
A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski
Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
December
Soldiers Live by Glen Cook
Surviving Cold Weather by Greg Davenport
Keep the Change by Steve Dublanica
The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
Library Books Read: 36
Total Number of New Books Read: 82
Re-reads
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whelan Turner
How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
Squire by Tamora Pierce
Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce
Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
Did Not Finish
Dark Space by Marianne de Pierres - this book was too awful to finish. Imagine the worst of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover on steroids mixed with lots of random Italian thrown in in place of actual worldbuilding and you'll have a pretty good idea of why I gave up on this book.
In Great Waters by Kit Whitfield
Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin - Tyrion wangsts, the author treats the reader like they're an idiot, Dany got replaced by a pod person who whines about clothes, yet more pointless viewpoint characters are tacked on, the plot moves less than an inch forward, and the sexual violence crossed the line for me in this book. I may pick up the next one if the plot actually moves forward, but otherwise I'm done with this series
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Embassytown by China Mieville
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
Total # of Books Read: 88
January
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Vol.23 ed. L. Ron Hubbard-This wasn't a terrible book, but there were only one or two stories that were actually good in their own right and I was glad to finish the book and give it away by the time I was done
Ash by Malinda Lo
The Condition of Muzak by Michael Moorcock
Shine by Lauren Myracle
February
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delaney
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Harvest Moon - Mercedes Lackey, Michelle Sagara and Cameron Haley
The Orange Trees of Baghdad: In Search of My Lost Family by Leilah Nadir
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Lace and Blade ed. Deborah J. Ross
The Underground City by Jules Verne
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
March
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg
She Is the Darkness by Glen Cook
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
It Happens Every Day by Robin Sax
The Summer Queen by Joan D. Vinge
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
April
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson
Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James
City of Night by Michelle West
May
The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg
The Daemon Prism by Carol Berg
Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey
Silence by Michelle Sagara
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
June
Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill
Slow River by Nicola Griffith
God's War by Kameron Hurley
China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Into the Dark Lands by Michelle Sagara-West
Roving Mars by Steve Squyres
July
The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum
Cause of Death: Forensic Files of a Medical Examiner by Stephen D. Cohle and Tobin T. Buhk
Deadline by Mira Grant
When We Were Executioners by J.M. McDermott
This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers
The Undead by Dick Teresi
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente
Among Others by Jo Walton
House Name by Michelle West
August
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
Fire by Kristin Cashore
The Living by Annie Dillard - The one book I finished this year and hated. I only finished it for my Mount TBR challenge. This book had turgid prose, boring characters, no plot (not a problem on its own for this type of literary historical fiction, but combined with everything else...), and no sense of life or verve to it all. How do you expect me to care about your character's tragic lives when the book is already dead on arrival? If you're interested in fiction about the settlement of the west coast of North America, I'd recommend books actually written in this time period. They're less turgid and they have strong sense of both life and death, something The Living lacked.
Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica
The Anatomy of Criticism by Northrop Frye
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
September
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What If Earth Had Two Moons? by Neil F. Comins
What If the Moon Didn't Exist? by Neil F. Comins
Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh
The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Tangled Up In Blue by Joan D. Vinge
Skirmish by Michelle West
October
Eon by Alison Goodman
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
November
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Water Sleeps by Glen Cook
Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts
Cast in Peril by Michelle Sagara
A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski
Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
December
Soldiers Live by Glen Cook
Surviving Cold Weather by Greg Davenport
Keep the Change by Steve Dublanica
The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
Library Books Read: 36
Total Number of New Books Read: 82
Re-reads
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whelan Turner
How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
Squire by Tamora Pierce
Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce
Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
Did Not Finish
Dark Space by Marianne de Pierres - this book was too awful to finish. Imagine the worst of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover on steroids mixed with lots of random Italian thrown in in place of actual worldbuilding and you'll have a pretty good idea of why I gave up on this book.
In Great Waters by Kit Whitfield
Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin - Tyrion wangsts, the author treats the reader like they're an idiot, Dany got replaced by a pod person who whines about clothes, yet more pointless viewpoint characters are tacked on, the plot moves less than an inch forward, and the sexual violence crossed the line for me in this book. I may pick up the next one if the plot actually moves forward, but otherwise I'm done with this series
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Embassytown by China Mieville
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
Total # of Books Read: 88