I’ve read 73 books so far this year, and I’m hoping to squeeze in a couple more to hit 75 which would make this year my most productive reading year since I’ve been keeping track.
How exciting for me!
But I know what you’re thinking: what’s in this for me? I’m glad I had you ask that, rhetorical reader. I’d like to share with you some of my favorite reads of 2016.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik is a fairy tale of sorts with a wizard unwittingly getting wrapped up with a girl who is more than she seems. Based on that sentence alone you probably aren’t running off to buy this book but let me know you this: it is great. Very well written with an interesting world and characters that feel real this book is a must read.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is a scifi novel in which not too much happens, but it is a fun ride. Space ships, lots of aliens, peril, and AIs are sprinkled throughout. I’m reading the sequel now and it is just as much fun.
Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen is just the book for you if you ever thought to yourself “I wonder what would happen if animals evolved into spacefaring races, populated the galaxy, and discriminated against Fants (elephants that is) because they don’t have fur. The answer is a compelling story with a dash of spiritualism.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles details what happens when your country changes around you and you become a drift in a history you helped to create but can’t understand. The entire story happens over the course of decades in a hotel in Moscow. Sounds thrilling, right? But it is very compelling. In fact, I devoured this entire book in 2 sittings.
Zero K by Don DeLillo doesn’t really have a story. The characters aren’t fully realized, but the relationship between the two main characters is like a character itself. And DeLillo is just a damned fine writer. Perhaps the greatest living American writer, and this novel is beautiful.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley feature a mechanical octopus. Need I say anything more? It also plays with the narrative, which I enjoy, and is well written.
Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad by Alex Grecian is one of those series that just sucked me in. I read all 5 books in a row over the course of a month. Now, I do think that the cover style for the last two novels is unfortunate, but don’t judge these books by their covers!
This year has sucked, but it hasn’t been all bad.
I’m writing a post per day for the rest of 2016 talking about some of my favorite things this year. Find the rest of the posts in this series here.