December 2014 / year-end book report.
11 books in December
2836 pages
A month in which I cracked into some books I'd been looking forward to for a while -- Lin Carter's Year's Best Fantasy Stories series from the '70s -- and found them the book equivalent of schlocky B-movies (or Z-movies), so bad I've gotten hooked on writing hate-reviews. There were some other books too, but right now YBFS is what I most associate with this month.
1. City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin.
2. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories, edited by Lin Carter.
3. Eye in the Sky by Philip K. Dick.
4. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2, edited by Lin Carter.
5. The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin.
6. Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams.
7. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3, edited by Lin Carter.
8. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4, edited by Lin Carter.
9. Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick.
10. The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick.
11. Creating Black Americans by Nell Irvin Painter.
Favorites:
Creating Black Americans
The Iron Dragon's Daughter
Least favorites:
Basically all of the Year's Best Fantasy Stories books, plus Tailchaser's Song, plus City of Illusions. Lots of crap this month.
2014 in review
124 books in 2014
38,374 pages
Most read authors:
Octavia E. Butler - 8
Peter Ackroyd - 6
Julian May - 5
Manly Wade Wellman - 5
Olaf Stapledon - 4
Philip K. Dick - 3
Nalo Hopkinson - 3
Kazuo Ishiguro - 3
Ursula K. Le Guin - 3
Ellen Meloy - 3
Helen Oyeyemi - 3
Jo Walton - 3
Connie Willis - 3
Susan Wise Bauer - 2
Marie Brennan - 2
Emma Bull - 2
Malinda Lo - 2
Nell Irvin Painter - 2
Terry Pratchett - 2
Cindy Ross - 2
Salman Rushdie - 2
Michael Swanwick - 2
Sheri S. Tepper - 2
Catherynne M. Valente - 2
Which brings my all-time most read authors list to:
Stephen King - 14
Ursula K. Le Guin - 14
Arthur Conan Doyle - 13
Peter Ackroyd - 10
Roger Zelazny - 10
Mark Twain - 9
Tad Williams - 9
Octavia E. Butler - 8
Michael Crichton - 8
Robert Silverberg - 8
Greg Bear - 7
Philip K. Dick - 7
Neil Gaiman - 7
J. K. Rowling - 7
Dan Simmons - 7
Catherynne M. Valente - 7
Kurt Vonnegut - 7
Robert A. Heinlein - 6
Jules Verne - 6
H. G. Wells - 6
Bill Bryson - 5
Frank Herbert - 5
Robert Jordan - 5
George R. R. Martin - 5
Julian May - 5
Sheri S. Tepper - 5
Manly Wade Wellman - 5
Tim Flannery - 4
Anne McCaffrey - 4
Ellen Meloy - 4
Scott O'Dell - 4
Olaf Stapledon - 4
Michael Swanwick - 4
Connie Willis - 4
(I cut it off at 4 in order to include Ellen Meloy, and to exclude Whitley Strieber.)
2836 pages
A month in which I cracked into some books I'd been looking forward to for a while -- Lin Carter's Year's Best Fantasy Stories series from the '70s -- and found them the book equivalent of schlocky B-movies (or Z-movies), so bad I've gotten hooked on writing hate-reviews. There were some other books too, but right now YBFS is what I most associate with this month.
1. City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin.
2. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories, edited by Lin Carter.
3. Eye in the Sky by Philip K. Dick.
4. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2, edited by Lin Carter.
5. The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin.
6. Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams.
7. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3, edited by Lin Carter.
8. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4, edited by Lin Carter.
9. Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick.
10. The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick.
11. Creating Black Americans by Nell Irvin Painter.
Favorites:
Creating Black Americans
The Iron Dragon's Daughter
Least favorites:
Basically all of the Year's Best Fantasy Stories books, plus Tailchaser's Song, plus City of Illusions. Lots of crap this month.
2014 in review
124 books in 2014
38,374 pages
Most read authors:
Octavia E. Butler - 8
Peter Ackroyd - 6
Julian May - 5
Manly Wade Wellman - 5
Olaf Stapledon - 4
Philip K. Dick - 3
Nalo Hopkinson - 3
Kazuo Ishiguro - 3
Ursula K. Le Guin - 3
Ellen Meloy - 3
Helen Oyeyemi - 3
Jo Walton - 3
Connie Willis - 3
Susan Wise Bauer - 2
Marie Brennan - 2
Emma Bull - 2
Malinda Lo - 2
Nell Irvin Painter - 2
Terry Pratchett - 2
Cindy Ross - 2
Salman Rushdie - 2
Michael Swanwick - 2
Sheri S. Tepper - 2
Catherynne M. Valente - 2
Which brings my all-time most read authors list to:
Stephen King - 14
Ursula K. Le Guin - 14
Arthur Conan Doyle - 13
Peter Ackroyd - 10
Roger Zelazny - 10
Mark Twain - 9
Tad Williams - 9
Octavia E. Butler - 8
Michael Crichton - 8
Robert Silverberg - 8
Greg Bear - 7
Philip K. Dick - 7
Neil Gaiman - 7
J. K. Rowling - 7
Dan Simmons - 7
Catherynne M. Valente - 7
Kurt Vonnegut - 7
Robert A. Heinlein - 6
Jules Verne - 6
H. G. Wells - 6
Bill Bryson - 5
Frank Herbert - 5
Robert Jordan - 5
George R. R. Martin - 5
Julian May - 5
Sheri S. Tepper - 5
Manly Wade Wellman - 5
Tim Flannery - 4
Anne McCaffrey - 4
Ellen Meloy - 4
Scott O'Dell - 4
Olaf Stapledon - 4
Michael Swanwick - 4
Connie Willis - 4
(I cut it off at 4 in order to include Ellen Meloy, and to exclude Whitley Strieber.)