Big Book List 2013
As ever I've listed the books I've read this year in an order of how much I enjoyed them rather than just dumping them on you. I've split graphic novels and comics into their own seperate list this year though on account of how this is the year I got my comics geek on *grins* so I read almost as many of those as I did books.
Fantastic = the best of the best. The ones that I felt the urge to tell everyone about, multiple times, including strangers on the bus. The ones that I bought other people because I had to share. The ones that I really, really enjoyed.
Great = the best of the rest. Books that I would reread, or lodged themselves in my head so thoroughly that rereading might be redundant.
Good = books that I enjoyed, but since book-lovers can't afford everything these ones you could save your money on and find them in the library.
Okay = books are books and therefore wonderful, but I can't help feeling that these ones could have been better.
The Bottom of the Pile = well if you have nothing else to read
Fantastic
A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Omens by Kelley Armstrong (1st in series)
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (1st in series)
Among Others by Jo Walton
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Angelfall by Susan Ee (1st in series)
World After by Susan Ee (2nd in series)
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
Wool by Hugh Howey (1st in trilogy)
Shift by Hugh Howey (2nd in trilogy)
Dust by Hugh Howey (3rd in trilogy)
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Fortunately The Milk by Neil Gaiman
Great
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (1st in trilogy)
Allegiant by Veronica Roth (3rd in trilogy)
Cross and Burn by Val McDermid (8th in series)
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (1st in trilogy)
Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan (2nd in trilogy)
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (non-fiction)
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (4th in series)
Earth Girl by Janet Edwards (1st in series)
A Different Life by Lois Keith
Amityville Horrible by Kelley Armstrong (Otherworld series short story)
Intrusion by Ken McLeod
Helga’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Account of Life in a Concentration Camp by Helga Weiss (non-fiction)
Shards and Ashes (collection of dystopian short stories)
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (2nd in series)
Specials by Scott Westerfeld (3rd in series)
Extras by Scott Westerfeld (4th in series)
A Storm Of Swords: Blood and Gold by George RR Martin (3rd in series, part two)
A Feast For Crows by George RR Martin (4th in series)
Good
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff
Josser: The Secret Life Of A Circus Girl by Nell Stroud (non-fiction)
Ragnarok by A S Byatt
Earth Star by Janet Edwards (2nd in series)
As Far as I Know by Roger McGough (poetry)
The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy (poetry)
Blood Red Road by Moira Young (1st in series)
Partials by Dan Wells (1st in series)
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (1st in series)
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Retribution by Val McDermid (7th in series)
Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon’s Firefly (non-fiction)
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Wonder by R J Palacio
Circus Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Breathe by Sarah Crossan (1st in series)
Okay
Fated by Benedict Jacka
The Farm by Emily McKay
Looking for Alaska by John Green
In My Home There Is No More Sorrow: Ten Days in Rwanda by Rick Bass (non-fiction)
The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield (1st in trilogy)
Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfield (2nd in trilogy)
Blue Noon by Scott Westerfield (3rd in trilogy)
After The Fear by Rosanne Rivers
The Bottom
Ten Billion by Stephen Emmott (non-ficton)
Graphic Novels And Comics
Fantastic
Saga volume 1 and continuing with comics: is there anyone not reading this wonderful? GO READ IT.
The Walking Dead volumes 1-4: I got hooked on the TV show and the graphic novels are like an AU, or vice-versa. So very hooked.
Carbon Grey Volumes 1 & 2 & Origins: The story is a touch confusing at times, but it's set in a alternate history type future timeline, is steampunky, comes with gorgeous artwork, is about a bunch of sisters, and I'm eargerly awaiting the final volume.
Morning Glories volumes 1-4 and continued with the comics: twisty and mind-bendingly good.
Porcelain: a stand-alone gothic fairytale. I need to read more by this lot, especially their upcoming Briar Rose because the preview for that is brilliant.
Great
The Invincible Iron Man volumes 1-11: a run by Matt Fraction. 1-3 are my favourites as Tony crumbles and there's a team up of Maria, Natasha, and Pepper, but the whole lot is solid.
FreakAngels volumes 1-6: a dystopian future in which the UK is flooded, due to some mysterious event connected to our main characters, who're a bunch of... well, you can actually read this series for free online starting here. Bye!
Secret Avengers: run the mission, don’t get seen, save the world: a collection of one-off stories. I read for the Black Widow one; I very much like the Black Widow one.
Wolverine and the X Men volumes 1 & 2: these are crack, I kid you not. X kids at school madness. Guaranteed to make me smile. I'm going to skip the the A vs X volumes, but keep up with these.
Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero: not fantastic, but a nice accompaniment to the film and some aspects of it I really love.
Harlequin Valentine: a Neil Gaiman early-ish graphic novel, bit of a twist at the end and nice art.
Runaways volumes 1-4: always fancied these and I did indeed enjoy them. Might read more, but I finished at a stopping point. Love that there's lots of ladies and they're all thier individual selves.
Good
The Things They Say About Her (Black Widow): I was kind of disappointed with this, but I guess nothing else is going to live up to The Name Of The Rose.
Journey Into Mystery: Asgard isn't my thing really, but my friend who's a Loki fan lent all of these (I think?) to me and I have a better understanding of Loki and Thor now. The series is fun and quirky.
Artifacts Origins: First Born: the artwork is great, but I'm not a fan. Alas, because a few of our geek group really love the Artifacts, Witchblade, and Darkness stuff.
X-23 Volume 1: same author as The Name Of The Rose, I just don't really know much about X-23 and her backstory seems a bit...OTT for me, maybe.
Hawkeye & Mockingbird/Black Widow: Widowmaker: okay, but a bit too ridiculous and unlike Wolverine and the X Men seems to take it's ridiculosity seriously.
Okay
Cages by Dave McKean: maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't find this that good.
Wolverine and Jubilee: Curse of the Mutants: with two of my favourite characters this should have been a recipe for fantastic. Actually it's just odd, because vampires and alternate dimension stuff.
And of the things I have just read in comics form...
Ones that I have really enjoyed and am going to keep up with are:
Hawkeye, Young Avengers, Secret Avengers, X Men, All New X Men, Captain Marvel, Fearless Defenders, East of West, Pretty Deadly, Aphrodite XI, Ten Grand, Lazarus, and Sandman (I can't believe we get more Sandman!).
The Battle of the Atom X Men crossover event, which is easy to follow, I highly recommend. The Age of Ultron was okay - highlights are the Natasha Avengers Assemble standalone issue and Wolverine's sass.
The Infinity event I got behind and confused with. I should catch up with that.
Ones I'm behind with or just dipping into, but they seem interesting are:
Amazing X Men, Alex + Ada, Jupiter's Legacy, Great Pacific, Mind The Gap, Sidekick, Ghost, Sex Criminals
Ones I'm behind with, mostly due to get buffudled and bored with the Infinity stuff, so I'm not reading any more until I'm caught up and I know if they're worth keeping up with:
Avengers Assemble (the best have been by Kelley Sue), Avengers, New Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, and Uncanny X Men.
Fantastic = the best of the best. The ones that I felt the urge to tell everyone about, multiple times, including strangers on the bus. The ones that I bought other people because I had to share. The ones that I really, really enjoyed.
Great = the best of the rest. Books that I would reread, or lodged themselves in my head so thoroughly that rereading might be redundant.
Good = books that I enjoyed, but since book-lovers can't afford everything these ones you could save your money on and find them in the library.
Okay = books are books and therefore wonderful, but I can't help feeling that these ones could have been better.
The Bottom of the Pile = well if you have nothing else to read
Fantastic
A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Omens by Kelley Armstrong (1st in series)
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (1st in series)
Among Others by Jo Walton
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Angelfall by Susan Ee (1st in series)
World After by Susan Ee (2nd in series)
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
Wool by Hugh Howey (1st in trilogy)
Shift by Hugh Howey (2nd in trilogy)
Dust by Hugh Howey (3rd in trilogy)
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Fortunately The Milk by Neil Gaiman
Great
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (1st in trilogy)
Allegiant by Veronica Roth (3rd in trilogy)
Cross and Burn by Val McDermid (8th in series)
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (1st in trilogy)
Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan (2nd in trilogy)
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (non-fiction)
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (4th in series)
Earth Girl by Janet Edwards (1st in series)
A Different Life by Lois Keith
Amityville Horrible by Kelley Armstrong (Otherworld series short story)
Intrusion by Ken McLeod
Helga’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Account of Life in a Concentration Camp by Helga Weiss (non-fiction)
Shards and Ashes (collection of dystopian short stories)
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (2nd in series)
Specials by Scott Westerfeld (3rd in series)
Extras by Scott Westerfeld (4th in series)
A Storm Of Swords: Blood and Gold by George RR Martin (3rd in series, part two)
A Feast For Crows by George RR Martin (4th in series)
Good
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff
Josser: The Secret Life Of A Circus Girl by Nell Stroud (non-fiction)
Ragnarok by A S Byatt
Earth Star by Janet Edwards (2nd in series)
As Far as I Know by Roger McGough (poetry)
The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy (poetry)
Blood Red Road by Moira Young (1st in series)
Partials by Dan Wells (1st in series)
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (1st in series)
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Retribution by Val McDermid (7th in series)
Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon’s Firefly (non-fiction)
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Wonder by R J Palacio
Circus Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Breathe by Sarah Crossan (1st in series)
Okay
Fated by Benedict Jacka
The Farm by Emily McKay
Looking for Alaska by John Green
In My Home There Is No More Sorrow: Ten Days in Rwanda by Rick Bass (non-fiction)
The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield (1st in trilogy)
Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfield (2nd in trilogy)
Blue Noon by Scott Westerfield (3rd in trilogy)
After The Fear by Rosanne Rivers
The Bottom
Ten Billion by Stephen Emmott (non-ficton)
Graphic Novels And Comics
Fantastic
Saga volume 1 and continuing with comics: is there anyone not reading this wonderful? GO READ IT.
The Walking Dead volumes 1-4: I got hooked on the TV show and the graphic novels are like an AU, or vice-versa. So very hooked.
Carbon Grey Volumes 1 & 2 & Origins: The story is a touch confusing at times, but it's set in a alternate history type future timeline, is steampunky, comes with gorgeous artwork, is about a bunch of sisters, and I'm eargerly awaiting the final volume.
Morning Glories volumes 1-4 and continued with the comics: twisty and mind-bendingly good.
Porcelain: a stand-alone gothic fairytale. I need to read more by this lot, especially their upcoming Briar Rose because the preview for that is brilliant.
Great
The Invincible Iron Man volumes 1-11: a run by Matt Fraction. 1-3 are my favourites as Tony crumbles and there's a team up of Maria, Natasha, and Pepper, but the whole lot is solid.
FreakAngels volumes 1-6: a dystopian future in which the UK is flooded, due to some mysterious event connected to our main characters, who're a bunch of... well, you can actually read this series for free online starting here. Bye!
Secret Avengers: run the mission, don’t get seen, save the world: a collection of one-off stories. I read for the Black Widow one; I very much like the Black Widow one.
Wolverine and the X Men volumes 1 & 2: these are crack, I kid you not. X kids at school madness. Guaranteed to make me smile. I'm going to skip the the A vs X volumes, but keep up with these.
Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero: not fantastic, but a nice accompaniment to the film and some aspects of it I really love.
Harlequin Valentine: a Neil Gaiman early-ish graphic novel, bit of a twist at the end and nice art.
Runaways volumes 1-4: always fancied these and I did indeed enjoy them. Might read more, but I finished at a stopping point. Love that there's lots of ladies and they're all thier individual selves.
Good
The Things They Say About Her (Black Widow): I was kind of disappointed with this, but I guess nothing else is going to live up to The Name Of The Rose.
Journey Into Mystery: Asgard isn't my thing really, but my friend who's a Loki fan lent all of these (I think?) to me and I have a better understanding of Loki and Thor now. The series is fun and quirky.
Artifacts Origins: First Born: the artwork is great, but I'm not a fan. Alas, because a few of our geek group really love the Artifacts, Witchblade, and Darkness stuff.
X-23 Volume 1: same author as The Name Of The Rose, I just don't really know much about X-23 and her backstory seems a bit...OTT for me, maybe.
Hawkeye & Mockingbird/Black Widow: Widowmaker: okay, but a bit too ridiculous and unlike Wolverine and the X Men seems to take it's ridiculosity seriously.
Okay
Cages by Dave McKean: maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't find this that good.
Wolverine and Jubilee: Curse of the Mutants: with two of my favourite characters this should have been a recipe for fantastic. Actually it's just odd, because vampires and alternate dimension stuff.
And of the things I have just read in comics form...
Ones that I have really enjoyed and am going to keep up with are:
Hawkeye, Young Avengers, Secret Avengers, X Men, All New X Men, Captain Marvel, Fearless Defenders, East of West, Pretty Deadly, Aphrodite XI, Ten Grand, Lazarus, and Sandman (I can't believe we get more Sandman!).
The Battle of the Atom X Men crossover event, which is easy to follow, I highly recommend. The Age of Ultron was okay - highlights are the Natasha Avengers Assemble standalone issue and Wolverine's sass.
The Infinity event I got behind and confused with. I should catch up with that.
Ones I'm behind with or just dipping into, but they seem interesting are:
Amazing X Men, Alex + Ada, Jupiter's Legacy, Great Pacific, Mind The Gap, Sidekick, Ghost, Sex Criminals
Ones I'm behind with, mostly due to get buffudled and bored with the Infinity stuff, so I'm not reading any more until I'm caught up and I know if they're worth keeping up with:
Avengers Assemble (the best have been by Kelley Sue), Avengers, New Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, and Uncanny X Men.