Not done talking about books :)
So I know I haven't been around lately, and I posted my book poll yesterday, but since I haven't done many reviews, I thought I'd do highlights of some stuff I read this year. :)
Best Book of the Year: Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Having read Mrs. Dalloway I had fears that this book would be difficult and would make me feel like an idiot, but it was actually very readable and enjoyable romp through both gender and the history of England, yet still just as complex. I read this book because I liked Orlando in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but as I got to know Woolf's complex character I came to the conclusion that Moore had nowhere done him/her justice.
Runner Up, Nonfiction Edition: Tie between Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French and Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert
The first is a readable journalistic account of the renovation of Lowry Park Zoo in Florida that has much to teach about animal conservation and the politics of zoos while being sympathetic to all sides. The second is a great cross-section of Ebert's essays and interviews.
Runner Up, Gothic Edition: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
It's rare that I can figure out the ending somewhere in chapter three (of a ten chapter book) and still be blown away. I love the world. I love the sympathetic-unsympathetic heroine. It's creepy as hell. READ IT.
Runner Up, Racial Politics Edition: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
This is a book that defies easy explanation or categorization. If I tried to tell you the plot I think my eyes would pop out of my head and I'd go "Uhhh ..." I am little. This book is great, and I can only gaze in awe, blinded by the many lights in the narrator's basement apartment. I'll just say I was borrowing it from my brother and couldn't finish it before he needed it again and had to buy a copy myself.
Runner Runner Up, Racial Politics Edition: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
This is one of those books that everyone seemed to read in high school but me. I loved it. It's like a Rashomon-esque story of the destruction of one girl's psyche and a great tragedy. Boo to Morrison's haters.
Runner Up, Religious Fiction Edition: The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
I went into this book with pretty much no idea of what to expect and found a great, slim adventure with some interesting ideas and images that will stick with me forever, especially in the last scene. My only regret is that I didn't read The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan first, because it feels like Thursday took that plot and did something amazing with it, and reading it in reverse I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Runner Runner Up, Religious Fiction Edition: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
I don't know if this book is for everyone. I certainly have a lot of ~feelings~ about what I think the book has to say about religion and homosexuality, but they're a little long for this setting. The point is I do think this is one of those "Must Read" books, and would also be one of the prettiest books of the year in terms of prose, but that category ultimately went to another book ....
Prettiest Prose: The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsanay
I read this book to discover one of the roots of H.P. Lovecraft's work and came away rediscovering my love of fairytales. The writing is pretty and the world is one that you want to stay in. I actually think this is a fantasy that sticks with me far more than J.R.R. Tolkien's work, and it's much shorter, too.
Best Comic Books: Ex Machina Deluxe Editions 1 & 2 by Brian K. Vaughn, Tony Harris and others
It was money alone that kept me from buying the whole series, because I love this. I may be biased because I'm from New York and work as a journalist and am fully entrenched in this world that Vaughn & Harris fictionalize but OH GOD I LOVE THIS.
Best Men-Hitting-Things-With-Swords and Women-Are-Captured-But-Still-Badass Book: The Gods of Mars and The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I have many ~feelings~ about the racial politics of these books. I can't figure out if they're just racist or if they're actually more progressive because all the races get together and learn to respect each other or if that's just an accident but NEARLY NAKED MAN HITS THINGS WITH SWORDS and THE WOMEN WHO LOVE HIM ARE CAPTURED BUT WILL NOT SUBMIT TO THEIR ATTACKERS AND ACTUALLY DO THINGS and OMG ADVENTURE WHEEEE.
The "Oh God I'm Old" Award: The re-issued Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol. 1 by Naoko Takeuchi
Do you guys remember when arcades used to be a thing? Do you realize they're not around anymore? Do you realize that you were once 14 years old and now you're 27 and the world the fiction you read then reflected no longer exists? I do. I do. [sob] Great manga, though.
Best Fanfiction: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Sort of obvious, really. But, yes, like everyone else in the world I greatly enjoyed this book, which was fun and often sad. Although I have to admit I was surprised when I occasionally found Stoppard's wordplay harder to follow than Shakespeare's original text.
Best RPF: Regeneration by Pat Barker
Usually I feel nothing for war stories, but this story of WWI soldiers in a British Army Hospital is one of the most compelling I ever read. It's human without being sentimental, and, again, if it weren't for money and owning over 100 other books I'd be buying the sequels now.
The I-Knew-What-To-Expect-And-Still-Loved-It Award: The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
It wasn't as good as Assassination Vacation, and I sort of wish there were more field trips, but this is probably the most interesting book about the Puritans out there. I love her blend of history and humor, I really do.
The Oh-God-I-Thought-I'd-Never-Be-Done Award: The Complete Poems of John Keats
I had this book since I was 16 you guys. SIXTEEN. And now I've finally, FINALLY read every page. Was it worth the wait? Well, it's hard because I prefer the shorter works to the larger works, and the larger works took up much more time. There was much I loved, much I struggled through, and now I'm just kind of glad I'm done. Hooray for the Romantics, I suppose.
The Pretty-Good-Follow-Up-To-an-Infurating-Book Award: Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett
I didn't much care for Lucy Grealy's An Autobiography of a Face, the story of how she had to have a large section of her jaw removed after she had cancer, mostly because I thought Grealy was a complete asshole (and so was her family). Patchett's book about her friendship with her didn't change my opinion of her, although it did make me find Patchett's affection for her touching (if occasionally goofy and eye-rolling and occasionally "Oh Christ do you realize how much you two sound like lesbians?" but still touching, I swear). The book was also very readable and in general a nice way to close out a year of book-reading.
And now for the other side ...
Worst Book of the Year: Steampunk ed. by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer
A book that rocketed between dull and being backwards in this grunty, meathead, "Oh my God I'm so edgy" type of way. The stories for the most part were not fun. There were few engaging characters. And the story where H.G. Wells' Time Traveler becomes an evil rapist ranks as one of the worst pieces of published fanfiction I've ever read. I HATED IT.
Worst Ending, Fiction Edition: A Long, Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott
I can't expect everyone to agree with me on this, but I hated how this book started out as a suspenseful dark gothic romance with a evil husband that I could actually see the main character falling in love with, but then descended into the hyper-Christian morality Alcott is known for in Little Women. The ending is frustrating and confused and ugggh. I did like most of the book but No, please.
Worst Ending, Nonfiction Edition: Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer
I was all set to give this to some creationist friends and then Shermer had to start in with that evolutionary psychology "Men are naturally cheaters and women are naturally prudes who only care about BABIES" bullshit. Penises ruin everything.
Biggest Disappointment: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
I can already feel sandoz_iscariot's burning disappointment, so I'll be quick. I like Noir. I really liked Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, which I read this year. But I found Philip Marlowe to be a leg fetish creep and the work to be sexist and homophobic. Also, Chandler spends a lot of time describing the furniture before anything actually happens. So, I didn't like it. And now I'll run away forever.
The Worst Sex Award: Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
I don't want to beat up on this book too much. I think it had some good writing and some really compelling conversations and ideas. I liked a lot of the ending. I do think it's worth the time to read. On the other hand, the sex is ridiculously goofy, the characters are racist and ablist, and some of Lawrence's ideas on sex are just ugh. Read, but be warned, I guess.
The Well-I-Didn't-Enjoy-It-But-At-Least-I-Learned-Something Award: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
I gave this book a smiley face because it's well written and I learned a lot about a region and period of India that I knew nothing about. Part of the action also takes place near where I live, which is cool. But it's also one of those books where the characters start off in a bad situation and end up worse and THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE IT BETTER. So yeah. :-/
The Not-Worth-The-Wait Edition: The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups by Ron Rosenbaum
On the one hand, I'm grateful that this book gave me a primer to some of those academics angevin2 talks about. On the other hand, Rosenbaum wears his favorites on his sleeve, and in his mind people are either a complete genius or overrated, laughable crap. It taught me a bit, but I'd been interested in this book for years and now I'm convinced I wasted my time.
The It-Sucks-But-At-Least-I-Have-New-Movies-To-Watch Edition: Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes: A Guided Tour Through a Decade of American Independent Cinema by John Pierson
Producer Pierson tells about being around at an exciting time in movies in the most endless, boring way possible, and occasionally calls upon Kevin Smith to give his opinion on different aspects of independent film only to be told that Smith was watching Batman at the time. On the other hand, I ended up putting all the films Pierson worked on on my Netflix queue ...
Worst Comic Book: White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion by Tamora Pierce, Timothy Liebe, Phil Briones and others
It's boring. I didn't feel I got to know the heroine. The jokes and constant guest appearances are horrible. Why does Marvel take popular novelists and commission them to do things like this?
Stupidest Plot Twist: Criminal Macabre: A Cal MacDonald Mystery by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith
This is a complete spoiler, but I don't care anymore. It is established that monsters exist, but guns can kill them. The twist is that there are new super monsters, but these can only be killed by the traditional methods. Those silver bullets you didn't need to kill werewolves. Now you need them. [sigh] At least the art was nice.
And-Then-There-Was-The-Time-A-Superheroine-Fell-In-Love-With-Her-Rapist Award Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Challenge of the Gods by George Perez, Len Wein and others
Hippolyta WTF?
The I-Thought-I-Knew-What-To-Expect-And-OMG-WHAT? Award: The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton
MORE SPOILERS. Even putting aside that when Anita and Jean Claude finally do it it's in dirty, disgusting tub water in a bathroom with a carpeted floor, this is the book where Anita has to fight off a wereleopard who is trying to rape her on the set of a snuff film. If I didn't own the next two books and was told that Obsidian Butterfly was where to stop, I probably would have quit now. Oh, and don't try to tell me the villainess is in control of her sexuality. She sucks too.
Long-and-Bad-but-What-Do-You-Expect? Award: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
At this point I think we're all sick of talking about this. But I liked that meathead vampire who is strong and gets together with the vampire with electric skin. I hope Chris Hemsworth plays him in the last movie.
Best Book of the Year: Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Having read Mrs. Dalloway I had fears that this book would be difficult and would make me feel like an idiot, but it was actually very readable and enjoyable romp through both gender and the history of England, yet still just as complex. I read this book because I liked Orlando in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but as I got to know Woolf's complex character I came to the conclusion that Moore had nowhere done him/her justice.
Runner Up, Nonfiction Edition: Tie between Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French and Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert
The first is a readable journalistic account of the renovation of Lowry Park Zoo in Florida that has much to teach about animal conservation and the politics of zoos while being sympathetic to all sides. The second is a great cross-section of Ebert's essays and interviews.
Runner Up, Gothic Edition: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
It's rare that I can figure out the ending somewhere in chapter three (of a ten chapter book) and still be blown away. I love the world. I love the sympathetic-unsympathetic heroine. It's creepy as hell. READ IT.
Runner Up, Racial Politics Edition: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
This is a book that defies easy explanation or categorization. If I tried to tell you the plot I think my eyes would pop out of my head and I'd go "Uhhh ..." I am little. This book is great, and I can only gaze in awe, blinded by the many lights in the narrator's basement apartment. I'll just say I was borrowing it from my brother and couldn't finish it before he needed it again and had to buy a copy myself.
Runner Runner Up, Racial Politics Edition: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
This is one of those books that everyone seemed to read in high school but me. I loved it. It's like a Rashomon-esque story of the destruction of one girl's psyche and a great tragedy. Boo to Morrison's haters.
Runner Up, Religious Fiction Edition: The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
I went into this book with pretty much no idea of what to expect and found a great, slim adventure with some interesting ideas and images that will stick with me forever, especially in the last scene. My only regret is that I didn't read The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan first, because it feels like Thursday took that plot and did something amazing with it, and reading it in reverse I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Runner Runner Up, Religious Fiction Edition: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
I don't know if this book is for everyone. I certainly have a lot of ~feelings~ about what I think the book has to say about religion and homosexuality, but they're a little long for this setting. The point is I do think this is one of those "Must Read" books, and would also be one of the prettiest books of the year in terms of prose, but that category ultimately went to another book ....
Prettiest Prose: The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsanay
I read this book to discover one of the roots of H.P. Lovecraft's work and came away rediscovering my love of fairytales. The writing is pretty and the world is one that you want to stay in. I actually think this is a fantasy that sticks with me far more than J.R.R. Tolkien's work, and it's much shorter, too.
Best Comic Books: Ex Machina Deluxe Editions 1 & 2 by Brian K. Vaughn, Tony Harris and others
It was money alone that kept me from buying the whole series, because I love this. I may be biased because I'm from New York and work as a journalist and am fully entrenched in this world that Vaughn & Harris fictionalize but OH GOD I LOVE THIS.
Best Men-Hitting-Things-With-Swords and Women-Are-Captured-But-Still-Badass Book: The Gods of Mars and The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I have many ~feelings~ about the racial politics of these books. I can't figure out if they're just racist or if they're actually more progressive because all the races get together and learn to respect each other or if that's just an accident but NEARLY NAKED MAN HITS THINGS WITH SWORDS and THE WOMEN WHO LOVE HIM ARE CAPTURED BUT WILL NOT SUBMIT TO THEIR ATTACKERS AND ACTUALLY DO THINGS and OMG ADVENTURE WHEEEE.
The "Oh God I'm Old" Award: The re-issued Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol. 1 by Naoko Takeuchi
Do you guys remember when arcades used to be a thing? Do you realize they're not around anymore? Do you realize that you were once 14 years old and now you're 27 and the world the fiction you read then reflected no longer exists? I do. I do. [sob] Great manga, though.
Best Fanfiction: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Sort of obvious, really. But, yes, like everyone else in the world I greatly enjoyed this book, which was fun and often sad. Although I have to admit I was surprised when I occasionally found Stoppard's wordplay harder to follow than Shakespeare's original text.
Best RPF: Regeneration by Pat Barker
Usually I feel nothing for war stories, but this story of WWI soldiers in a British Army Hospital is one of the most compelling I ever read. It's human without being sentimental, and, again, if it weren't for money and owning over 100 other books I'd be buying the sequels now.
The I-Knew-What-To-Expect-And-Still-Loved-It Award: The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
It wasn't as good as Assassination Vacation, and I sort of wish there were more field trips, but this is probably the most interesting book about the Puritans out there. I love her blend of history and humor, I really do.
The Oh-God-I-Thought-I'd-Never-Be-Done Award: The Complete Poems of John Keats
I had this book since I was 16 you guys. SIXTEEN. And now I've finally, FINALLY read every page. Was it worth the wait? Well, it's hard because I prefer the shorter works to the larger works, and the larger works took up much more time. There was much I loved, much I struggled through, and now I'm just kind of glad I'm done. Hooray for the Romantics, I suppose.
The Pretty-Good-Follow-Up-To-an-Infurating-Book Award: Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett
I didn't much care for Lucy Grealy's An Autobiography of a Face, the story of how she had to have a large section of her jaw removed after she had cancer, mostly because I thought Grealy was a complete asshole (and so was her family). Patchett's book about her friendship with her didn't change my opinion of her, although it did make me find Patchett's affection for her touching (if occasionally goofy and eye-rolling and occasionally "Oh Christ do you realize how much you two sound like lesbians?" but still touching, I swear). The book was also very readable and in general a nice way to close out a year of book-reading.
And now for the other side ...
Worst Book of the Year: Steampunk ed. by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer
A book that rocketed between dull and being backwards in this grunty, meathead, "Oh my God I'm so edgy" type of way. The stories for the most part were not fun. There were few engaging characters. And the story where H.G. Wells' Time Traveler becomes an evil rapist ranks as one of the worst pieces of published fanfiction I've ever read. I HATED IT.
Worst Ending, Fiction Edition: A Long, Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott
I can't expect everyone to agree with me on this, but I hated how this book started out as a suspenseful dark gothic romance with a evil husband that I could actually see the main character falling in love with, but then descended into the hyper-Christian morality Alcott is known for in Little Women. The ending is frustrating and confused and ugggh. I did like most of the book but No, please.
Worst Ending, Nonfiction Edition: Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer
I was all set to give this to some creationist friends and then Shermer had to start in with that evolutionary psychology "Men are naturally cheaters and women are naturally prudes who only care about BABIES" bullshit. Penises ruin everything.
Biggest Disappointment: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
I can already feel sandoz_iscariot's burning disappointment, so I'll be quick. I like Noir. I really liked Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, which I read this year. But I found Philip Marlowe to be a leg fetish creep and the work to be sexist and homophobic. Also, Chandler spends a lot of time describing the furniture before anything actually happens. So, I didn't like it. And now I'll run away forever.
The Worst Sex Award: Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
I don't want to beat up on this book too much. I think it had some good writing and some really compelling conversations and ideas. I liked a lot of the ending. I do think it's worth the time to read. On the other hand, the sex is ridiculously goofy, the characters are racist and ablist, and some of Lawrence's ideas on sex are just ugh. Read, but be warned, I guess.
The Well-I-Didn't-Enjoy-It-But-At-Least-I-Learned-Something Award: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
I gave this book a smiley face because it's well written and I learned a lot about a region and period of India that I knew nothing about. Part of the action also takes place near where I live, which is cool. But it's also one of those books where the characters start off in a bad situation and end up worse and THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE IT BETTER. So yeah. :-/
The Not-Worth-The-Wait Edition: The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups by Ron Rosenbaum
On the one hand, I'm grateful that this book gave me a primer to some of those academics angevin2 talks about. On the other hand, Rosenbaum wears his favorites on his sleeve, and in his mind people are either a complete genius or overrated, laughable crap. It taught me a bit, but I'd been interested in this book for years and now I'm convinced I wasted my time.
The It-Sucks-But-At-Least-I-Have-New-Movies-To-Watch Edition: Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes: A Guided Tour Through a Decade of American Independent Cinema by John Pierson
Producer Pierson tells about being around at an exciting time in movies in the most endless, boring way possible, and occasionally calls upon Kevin Smith to give his opinion on different aspects of independent film only to be told that Smith was watching Batman at the time. On the other hand, I ended up putting all the films Pierson worked on on my Netflix queue ...
Worst Comic Book: White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion by Tamora Pierce, Timothy Liebe, Phil Briones and others
It's boring. I didn't feel I got to know the heroine. The jokes and constant guest appearances are horrible. Why does Marvel take popular novelists and commission them to do things like this?
Stupidest Plot Twist: Criminal Macabre: A Cal MacDonald Mystery by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith
This is a complete spoiler, but I don't care anymore. It is established that monsters exist, but guns can kill them. The twist is that there are new super monsters, but these can only be killed by the traditional methods. Those silver bullets you didn't need to kill werewolves. Now you need them. [sigh] At least the art was nice.
And-Then-There-Was-The-Time-A-Superheroine-Fell-In-Love-With-Her-Rapist Award Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Challenge of the Gods by George Perez, Len Wein and others
Hippolyta WTF?
The I-Thought-I-Knew-What-To-Expect-And-OMG-WHAT? Award: The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton
MORE SPOILERS. Even putting aside that when Anita and Jean Claude finally do it it's in dirty, disgusting tub water in a bathroom with a carpeted floor, this is the book where Anita has to fight off a wereleopard who is trying to rape her on the set of a snuff film. If I didn't own the next two books and was told that Obsidian Butterfly was where to stop, I probably would have quit now. Oh, and don't try to tell me the villainess is in control of her sexuality. She sucks too.
Long-and-Bad-but-What-Do-You-Expect? Award: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
At this point I think we're all sick of talking about this. But I liked that meathead vampire who is strong and gets together with the vampire with electric skin. I hope Chris Hemsworth plays him in the last movie.