The Year in Books.
My year end review of what I've read! I knocked out one hundred & five (105) books this year, which is a little bit lower than the number I usually finish, but this year had markedly less comics in it, so it probably balances out in the wash. I might knock out another one or two before the year is up, but I'm anxious to do my "Best of..." post, so fingers crossed that I don't read anything mindblowing. I started out this year with my New Year, New Sun project, trying to get people to read & discuss Gene Wolfe's magnum opus, which was conditionally successful. That is, I think a bunch of people read it, but only a few engaged in conversations with me about it. Still, I found re-reading it to be profitable. Of course, I also did NaNoWriMo this year, & wrote my novel The Wasteland, which ain't half bad if I do say so myself. So, before we get into the blood, the mud & the beer, let me give a few shout-outs. I don't want to include my friends on the list, since that seems a little unethical, but I really enjoyed kingtycoon's Solemnwell & also inktea's Army of Nursery Rhymes, & Marie's Celestial Globe. That being said: here they are:
The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Art of the Animated Series) by Bryan Konietzko & Michael Dante DiMartino.
Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages by Guy Deutscher.
The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse.
Hawkmoon: The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock.
Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed by Harold Koda.
Human Anatomy: From the Renaissance to the Digital Age by Rifkin, Ackerman & Folkenberg.
Blindsight by Peter Watts.
Home Fires by Gene Wolfe.
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner.
One last note! In 2008 & just made a Best of 2008 list, but last year I made a Best of 2009 with an "Honorable Mentions" section. I really think I profited from that, since looking back, many of the books in the Honorable Mentions have stuck with me, & in retrospect I think they deserve to be in the Best Of section, while others should be bumped down a notch. A curious phenomenon, & something to keep in mind. Without any further ado:
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard: Volume One by David Petersen, et al.
Problem Sleuth, Book One: Compensation, Adequate by Andrew Hussie.
The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Excession by Iain M. Banks.
The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi.
Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation by Kristin Knox.
World of Darkness: Mirrors by White Wolf.
Clementine by Cherie Priest.
Behemoth by Scott Westerfield.
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke.