The Reading Year in Review
I think I found this on someone's LJ at the end of 2020, but I don't recall where. But I saved it so I could do it *this* year. My personal rule was that I could only use one book per category, although I did break that rule once.
The Reading Year in Review
BEST ADULT FICTION
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay. Though the backdrop is a Rage-like zombie-ish virus that turns people violent, the focus is 100% on the two strong female leads as they rush to find safety and the two teenage boys who end up assisting them. I devoured (heh) this in one evening because I couldn't put it down.
BEST YA FICTION
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. It's The Breakfast Club, if Brian was a little shit and if one of them ended the day in a body bag. Loved the characterizations and the swiftly moving plot, which kept me guessing.
BEST NONFICTION
Shang-a-Lang: My Life with the Bay City Rollers by Leslie McKeown. Leslie doesn't hold back many punches in this story of his life, starting with his childhood but focusing mostly on the Bay City Roller years. He's witty and sarcastic, and I found his digs at Eric Faulkner pretty amusing.
BEST ON AUDIO
Happily Ever Esther by Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter, and Caprice Crane. This is the second book about Esther, following Esther the Wonder Pig, which details Steve and Derek's move to a farm where they started what would become Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary. Steve is honest as can be about the positives and pitfalls of caring for a 650+ lb pig while starting a sanctuary with virtually zero knowledge of how that's done. Kudos even more to them now for making HEEFS one of the best-run sanctuaries in Canada.
BEST SERIES
The Demon Cycle series by Peter V. Brett. I am still midway through the series, but I love it. The books are extremely dense (at least to me) because of the world-building and the large cast of characters, so they do take me a while to read. It's a world that has become divided because each night, "demons" rise from the bowels of the earth to attack the living. Therefore, once the sun sets people hide behind warded (magic) symbols. Two men find ways to fight back against the demons, and rally the people to stand their ground and take the fight to the demons. I'm about to start book four (as soon as it hits midnight, lol) and can't wait.
BREAKOUT READ
Book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix. I'm not sure what I did expected, but it wasn't this full-on rush of a book. Kris is a strong, smart but flawed lead character, and the individual evils that are addressed in humanity are far scarier than anything supernatural in this book.
MOST RECOMMENDED
The book I would most recommend to someone
Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill. One wouldn't think that a book about an anthropomorphic tiger named Pounce who acts as a caregiver to an 8-year-old boy named Ezra on the eve of the robopocalypse would be the type of novel that would please everyone, but I think you would be wrong. The setting might be unusual for some, but this is ultimately a book about the power of love and about free will. You will soon forget what Pounce is supposed to look like and focus only on who he IS. What an amazing book.
BIGGEST PUSH
Book that got me most out of my comfort zone
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. While I certainly had some knowledge of the brutalities and abuses at reform schools, I think it was more the after-effects of the abuse that compel me to name this one as 'most out of my comfort zone'. It's a truly heartbreaking cycle.
BEST LGBTQIA+
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. It's the fake boyfriend trope, except it real and realistic and authentic and heartfelt and banter-filled and loving and honest. I could go on and on. This book made me smile, laugh, cringe and everything in between. And even better, there's going to be a sequel. *squeeee*
MOST TIMELY
Book that spoke to our current culture
Fever by Deon Meyer. Written in 2016, this is about a bat infecting a human with a coronavirus that then wipes out 95% of the world's population. Set against that backdrop, it's also a coming of age story. The ending disappoints and there are dangling plot threads, but overall a good read.
BEST TIME MACHINE
Historical fiction book that set the scene
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez. Set in the mid-1930s with a real-life school explosion as the backdrop, this is a story of racism and classism in East Texas. At times it's joyous and hopeful. At other times it's brutal and hard to read. But it's always real, and the fictional events could happen just as easily as the non-fictional ones.
BEST CHARACTERS
Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill. The protagonists are Pounce, an anthropomorphic robot tiger who is programmed to be a nanny/caregiver, and 8-year-old Ezra, his charge. Together they learn about love during the early days of a robot-driven apocalypse. They will warm your heart and wrench it out all at once. Mind-blowingly good.
BEST PLACE
Book that was set in an interesting environment
The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett. I chose this book of the three Demon Cycle books I've read because it deals with three different areas: the Krasia of 30 years prior; current Everam's Bounty; and the current Hollow. Brett gets to showcase his brilliant world-building in three different areas, and they all shine.
MOST THOUGHT-PROVOKING
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. This was a tough book to get through. The main characters are universally horrible people. The subject matter is difficult: it's about a child who murders 9 people in a school shooting, and the mother who relates her story in marrying, becoming pregnant and raising him in order to try to make sense of what happened. But ultimately the nature vs. nurture debate it provokes is hard to stop thinking about.
BEST SHOCK
Book that made my jaw drop in surprise
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. A US Marshal investigates a missing psychiatric patient on a remote island, where another patient has a link to his past. A fascinating mystery that kept me guessing, with a shocker of an ending that I did not see coming.
MOST HUMOROUS
Soldier of Fortune by Kathleen McClure. This is an action-filled ride filled with witty banter that also manages to be slyly amusing as well. I didn't expect to love it, which is sometimes the best kind of book!
BEST FLUFF
A Scone to Die For by H.Y. Hanna. A cozy mystery is something I've never read before, but I picked this one up to fill a prompt and found it quite amusing. It was a light, fun read with an interesting cast of characters, and a cat. Sign me up!
.
The Reading Year in Review
BEST ADULT FICTION
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay. Though the backdrop is a Rage-like zombie-ish virus that turns people violent, the focus is 100% on the two strong female leads as they rush to find safety and the two teenage boys who end up assisting them. I devoured (heh) this in one evening because I couldn't put it down.
BEST YA FICTION
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. It's The Breakfast Club, if Brian was a little shit and if one of them ended the day in a body bag. Loved the characterizations and the swiftly moving plot, which kept me guessing.
BEST NONFICTION
Shang-a-Lang: My Life with the Bay City Rollers by Leslie McKeown. Leslie doesn't hold back many punches in this story of his life, starting with his childhood but focusing mostly on the Bay City Roller years. He's witty and sarcastic, and I found his digs at Eric Faulkner pretty amusing.
BEST ON AUDIO
Happily Ever Esther by Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter, and Caprice Crane. This is the second book about Esther, following Esther the Wonder Pig, which details Steve and Derek's move to a farm where they started what would become Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary. Steve is honest as can be about the positives and pitfalls of caring for a 650+ lb pig while starting a sanctuary with virtually zero knowledge of how that's done. Kudos even more to them now for making HEEFS one of the best-run sanctuaries in Canada.
BEST SERIES
The Demon Cycle series by Peter V. Brett. I am still midway through the series, but I love it. The books are extremely dense (at least to me) because of the world-building and the large cast of characters, so they do take me a while to read. It's a world that has become divided because each night, "demons" rise from the bowels of the earth to attack the living. Therefore, once the sun sets people hide behind warded (magic) symbols. Two men find ways to fight back against the demons, and rally the people to stand their ground and take the fight to the demons. I'm about to start book four (as soon as it hits midnight, lol) and can't wait.
BREAKOUT READ
Book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix. I'm not sure what I did expected, but it wasn't this full-on rush of a book. Kris is a strong, smart but flawed lead character, and the individual evils that are addressed in humanity are far scarier than anything supernatural in this book.
MOST RECOMMENDED
The book I would most recommend to someone
Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill. One wouldn't think that a book about an anthropomorphic tiger named Pounce who acts as a caregiver to an 8-year-old boy named Ezra on the eve of the robopocalypse would be the type of novel that would please everyone, but I think you would be wrong. The setting might be unusual for some, but this is ultimately a book about the power of love and about free will. You will soon forget what Pounce is supposed to look like and focus only on who he IS. What an amazing book.
BIGGEST PUSH
Book that got me most out of my comfort zone
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. While I certainly had some knowledge of the brutalities and abuses at reform schools, I think it was more the after-effects of the abuse that compel me to name this one as 'most out of my comfort zone'. It's a truly heartbreaking cycle.
BEST LGBTQIA+
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. It's the fake boyfriend trope, except it real and realistic and authentic and heartfelt and banter-filled and loving and honest. I could go on and on. This book made me smile, laugh, cringe and everything in between. And even better, there's going to be a sequel. *squeeee*
MOST TIMELY
Book that spoke to our current culture
Fever by Deon Meyer. Written in 2016, this is about a bat infecting a human with a coronavirus that then wipes out 95% of the world's population. Set against that backdrop, it's also a coming of age story. The ending disappoints and there are dangling plot threads, but overall a good read.
BEST TIME MACHINE
Historical fiction book that set the scene
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez. Set in the mid-1930s with a real-life school explosion as the backdrop, this is a story of racism and classism in East Texas. At times it's joyous and hopeful. At other times it's brutal and hard to read. But it's always real, and the fictional events could happen just as easily as the non-fictional ones.
BEST CHARACTERS
Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill. The protagonists are Pounce, an anthropomorphic robot tiger who is programmed to be a nanny/caregiver, and 8-year-old Ezra, his charge. Together they learn about love during the early days of a robot-driven apocalypse. They will warm your heart and wrench it out all at once. Mind-blowingly good.
BEST PLACE
Book that was set in an interesting environment
The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett. I chose this book of the three Demon Cycle books I've read because it deals with three different areas: the Krasia of 30 years prior; current Everam's Bounty; and the current Hollow. Brett gets to showcase his brilliant world-building in three different areas, and they all shine.
MOST THOUGHT-PROVOKING
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. This was a tough book to get through. The main characters are universally horrible people. The subject matter is difficult: it's about a child who murders 9 people in a school shooting, and the mother who relates her story in marrying, becoming pregnant and raising him in order to try to make sense of what happened. But ultimately the nature vs. nurture debate it provokes is hard to stop thinking about.
BEST SHOCK
Book that made my jaw drop in surprise
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. A US Marshal investigates a missing psychiatric patient on a remote island, where another patient has a link to his past. A fascinating mystery that kept me guessing, with a shocker of an ending that I did not see coming.
MOST HUMOROUS
Soldier of Fortune by Kathleen McClure. This is an action-filled ride filled with witty banter that also manages to be slyly amusing as well. I didn't expect to love it, which is sometimes the best kind of book!
BEST FLUFF
A Scone to Die For by H.Y. Hanna. A cozy mystery is something I've never read before, but I picked this one up to fill a prompt and found it quite amusing. It was a light, fun read with an interesting cast of characters, and a cat. Sign me up!
.