Books read in 2016
Another year of not reading as much as I'd like, for which I blame the lack of significant daily commute and the acquisition of a decent smartphone with the Pocket app and too many Significant Political Events requiring the reading of way too many current affairs articles by way of processing my feelings and thoughts on the subject, i.e. IT'S ALL THE FAULT OF BREXIT AND TRUMP.
Fiction - Crime
1. Christopher Fowler, Full dark house (Bryant & May ; 1) - I've read two of these now and while on paper I should love them, in fact I've found them a chore.
2. Sara Paretsky, Critical mass (V. I. Warshawski ; 16) - especially compared to V.I.!
3. Andrew Taylor, The ashes of London - very topical on the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London
4. S.J. Parris, Heresy (Giordano Bruno ; 1) - fairly enjoyable, I'll certainly pick up more if the charity shops provide them
5. Andrew Taylor, An air that kills (Lydmouth series ; 1) - my Christmas present last year, read this month now that I have the entire series, set in a fictional town on the Welsh-English border in a rather claustrophobic 1950s.
6. Andrew Taylor, The mortal sickness (Lydmouth series ; 2)
7. Ariana Franklin, Mistress of the art of death - oh dear oh dear, in which a 12th century Mary Sue encounters one of Georgette Heyer's heroes
Fiction - Fantasy
1. Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - a reread, which if anything I enjoyed more than first time round, presumably because I spent nearly seven years wallowing in the period at the Soane
2. Genevieve Cogman, The invisible library (The Library ; 1) - really enjoying this series, very clever
3. Genevieve Cogman, The masked city (The Library ; 2)
4. Ben Aaronovitch, The hanging tree (Peter Grant ; 6)
5. Genevieve Cogman, The burning page (The Library ; 3)
Fiction - SF
1. C.J. Cherryh, Visitor (Foreigner ; 17)
2. Charles Stross, The nightmare stacks (The Laundry files ; 7)
3. Becky Chambers, The long way to a small angry planet - this reminded me a lot of Rebecca Ore's Becoming Human trilogy, in a good way, and also of a Farscape fanfic with a few Firefly characters thrown in for good measure, or possibly the other way around
Fiction - Fanfic
1-11. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 4, October-August - basically, I read nothing else between September 2015 and April 2016...
12-23. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 5, September-August
24-35. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 6, September-August
36-48. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 7, September-August and codas
Fiction - General
1. Susanna Tamaro, Và dove ti porta il cuore
2. Miranda France, The day before the fire - was given this by one of the freelance book conservators at work who was consulted by the author
3. Leonardo Sciascia, Il giorno della civetta
4. Kate Mosse, The taxidermist's daughter - not terribly impressed by this
5. Eleanor Catton, The luminaries
6. Belinda Starling, The journal of Dora Damage - picked this up for the bookbinding content and passed it on the book conservators at work who gave me item 2 in this section
7. Anthony Trollope, The warden (Chronicles of Barsetshire ; 1)
8. Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers (Chronicles of Barsetshire ; 2)
9. V.C. Letemendia, The best of men - not quite the worst of books, but I am not a great fan of writers who appear to be in love with their heroes
10. Laila Lalami, The moor's account - this was very good
11. Richard Adams, Watership Down - a memorial rereading
Fiction - Graphic
1. Hugo Pratt, Una ballata del mare salato (Corto Maltese ; 1) - I had never read any Corto Maltese but was given this by an old friend from the library of her late father to try, and with luck I will get the rest of them the next time we see each other
2. Hugo Pratt, Favola di Venezia (Corto Maltese ; 2)
3. Phil & Kaja Foglio, Agatha Heterodyne and the voice of the castle (Girl Genius ; 7)
Fiction - YA/Children
1. Lauren Wolk, Wolf Hollow - picked up on account of the title, sadly no wolves but a good novel in the vein of To kill a mockingbird
2. Dr Seuss, The cat in the hat - why yes, I spent some time with my 7-year-old nephew, what gave me away?
3. Mo Willems, Alice and her alligator
4. Jan Brett, Gingerbread baby
5. H.A. Rey, Curious George
6. Peter Bunzl, Cogheart - enjoyable but I guessed every plot point long enough in advance to get a bit bored
7. Cicely Mary Barker, A flower fairies treasury - pure nostalgia
Non-fiction
1. Matthew Johnstone, I had a black dog - was lent this illustrated book about depression by a counsellor I was seeing for anxiety, who appeared to be encouraging me to write an equivalent about anxiety; unfortunately she left before this idea could go any further, but I would still be up for it and already have an Idea
2. Matthew and Ainsley Johnstone, Living with a black dog: how to take care of someone with depression while looking after yourself
3. John Hooper, The Italians
4. Ta-Nehisi Coates, The beautiful struggle: a memoir
5. Leila Ahmed, A border passage: from Cairo to America, a woman's journey - this is one of the most interesting books I read this year, I think
6. Cheri Huber, There is nothing wrong with you
7. Karen Armstrong, Twelve steps to a compassionate life
Fiction - Crime
1. Christopher Fowler, Full dark house (Bryant & May ; 1) - I've read two of these now and while on paper I should love them, in fact I've found them a chore.
2. Sara Paretsky, Critical mass (V. I. Warshawski ; 16) - especially compared to V.I.!
3. Andrew Taylor, The ashes of London - very topical on the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London
4. S.J. Parris, Heresy (Giordano Bruno ; 1) - fairly enjoyable, I'll certainly pick up more if the charity shops provide them
5. Andrew Taylor, An air that kills (Lydmouth series ; 1) - my Christmas present last year, read this month now that I have the entire series, set in a fictional town on the Welsh-English border in a rather claustrophobic 1950s.
6. Andrew Taylor, The mortal sickness (Lydmouth series ; 2)
7. Ariana Franklin, Mistress of the art of death - oh dear oh dear, in which a 12th century Mary Sue encounters one of Georgette Heyer's heroes
Fiction - Fantasy
1. Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - a reread, which if anything I enjoyed more than first time round, presumably because I spent nearly seven years wallowing in the period at the Soane
2. Genevieve Cogman, The invisible library (The Library ; 1) - really enjoying this series, very clever
3. Genevieve Cogman, The masked city (The Library ; 2)
4. Ben Aaronovitch, The hanging tree (Peter Grant ; 6)
5. Genevieve Cogman, The burning page (The Library ; 3)
Fiction - SF
1. C.J. Cherryh, Visitor (Foreigner ; 17)
2. Charles Stross, The nightmare stacks (The Laundry files ; 7)
3. Becky Chambers, The long way to a small angry planet - this reminded me a lot of Rebecca Ore's Becoming Human trilogy, in a good way, and also of a Farscape fanfic with a few Firefly characters thrown in for good measure, or possibly the other way around
Fiction - Fanfic
1-11. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 4, October-August - basically, I read nothing else between September 2015 and April 2016...
12-23. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 5, September-August
24-35. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 6, September-August
36-48. Various authors, Alternity: a Harry Potter alternate universe. Year 7, September-August and codas
Fiction - General
1. Susanna Tamaro, Và dove ti porta il cuore
2. Miranda France, The day before the fire - was given this by one of the freelance book conservators at work who was consulted by the author
3. Leonardo Sciascia, Il giorno della civetta
4. Kate Mosse, The taxidermist's daughter - not terribly impressed by this
5. Eleanor Catton, The luminaries
6. Belinda Starling, The journal of Dora Damage - picked this up for the bookbinding content and passed it on the book conservators at work who gave me item 2 in this section
7. Anthony Trollope, The warden (Chronicles of Barsetshire ; 1)
8. Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers (Chronicles of Barsetshire ; 2)
9. V.C. Letemendia, The best of men - not quite the worst of books, but I am not a great fan of writers who appear to be in love with their heroes
10. Laila Lalami, The moor's account - this was very good
11. Richard Adams, Watership Down - a memorial rereading
Fiction - Graphic
1. Hugo Pratt, Una ballata del mare salato (Corto Maltese ; 1) - I had never read any Corto Maltese but was given this by an old friend from the library of her late father to try, and with luck I will get the rest of them the next time we see each other
2. Hugo Pratt, Favola di Venezia (Corto Maltese ; 2)
3. Phil & Kaja Foglio, Agatha Heterodyne and the voice of the castle (Girl Genius ; 7)
Fiction - YA/Children
1. Lauren Wolk, Wolf Hollow - picked up on account of the title, sadly no wolves but a good novel in the vein of To kill a mockingbird
2. Dr Seuss, The cat in the hat - why yes, I spent some time with my 7-year-old nephew, what gave me away?
3. Mo Willems, Alice and her alligator
4. Jan Brett, Gingerbread baby
5. H.A. Rey, Curious George
6. Peter Bunzl, Cogheart - enjoyable but I guessed every plot point long enough in advance to get a bit bored
7. Cicely Mary Barker, A flower fairies treasury - pure nostalgia
Non-fiction
1. Matthew Johnstone, I had a black dog - was lent this illustrated book about depression by a counsellor I was seeing for anxiety, who appeared to be encouraging me to write an equivalent about anxiety; unfortunately she left before this idea could go any further, but I would still be up for it and already have an Idea
2. Matthew and Ainsley Johnstone, Living with a black dog: how to take care of someone with depression while looking after yourself
3. John Hooper, The Italians
4. Ta-Nehisi Coates, The beautiful struggle: a memoir
5. Leila Ahmed, A border passage: from Cairo to America, a woman's journey - this is one of the most interesting books I read this year, I think
6. Cheri Huber, There is nothing wrong with you
7. Karen Armstrong, Twelve steps to a compassionate life