[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

worry, on 30 November 2021 - 08:57 AM, said:

I just bought her Small Angry Planet on ebook cuz it was on sale, so that's good to hear.

Hope you enjoy it

[Maark Abbott]

Most enjoyed: Licanius 1 - it was nice to see that straightforward popcorn fantasy can be done so enjoyably.

Most disappointed: TGINW - Would have made for a higher end ICE book but didn't do it for me as a SE book at all. Roll on Khark 3 I guess.

[QuickTidal]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 30 November 2021 - 08:53 AM, said:

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, the final Wayfarers book, is hands down my book of the year.

worry, on 30 November 2021 - 08:57 AM, said:

I just bought her Small Angry Planet on ebook cuz it was on sale, so that's good to hear.

I've been toying with getting one of these books, so it's good to hear that people enjoy it. She sounds like she's a fun author to read for sure!

--------

Honestly, this year so far the standout is Will Wight. I've read two of his Elder Empire books so far (both enjoyable), and I read books 1 (UNSOULED), 2 (SOULSMITH), and 3 (BLACKFLAME) of The Cradle series and it's shaping up to be one of the better book series I've ever read. So if I was pressed I'd say that Wight is the author I've spent the most time with this year due to the quality of his work.

Patrick O'Brian is the other author I've spent the most time with as I'm 4 books deep into his Aubrey & Maturin series and I ADORE it. So far HMS SURPRISE is my fave volume.

JADE CITY and JADE WAR by Fonda Lee scratched an itch I didn't know I had, Fantasy Asian 1970's Godfather epic. SO well written, and SO enjoyable. JADE LEGACY came out today too!

Made my way deeper into Michelle West's immersive and wonderfully written Essalieyan series, HOUSE WAR, THE BROKEN CROWN, and THE UNCROWNED KING and I'm super happy to have so many volumes still ahead of me.

[Salt-Man Z]

Yikes, I only ready 6 actual (not comic) books this year.

My favorite book that I finished in 2021 (I read about half/half in Dec/Jan) was Claire North's THE GAMESHOUSE, a fantastic trilogy of related novellas.

My favorite book that I read entirely in 2021 was easily Silvia Moreno-Garcia's UNTAMED SHORE.

[Tiste Simeon]

Other books I loved this year are TGINW by Erikson, William Abbey by Claire North, The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by VE Schwab...

On earbook, despite many excellent novels, absolutely nothing has come close to Sandman.

[Macros]

Fall of Babel takes it for me

[worry]

I don't think I'll finish my current book before 2022, so I guess I'm done for the year. I finished 24.

I'll limit favorites to 5, though I ready plenty that was pretty good and had only a couple duds this year:
The God is Not Willing (loved it, #1 by a hefty margin).
Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud (I reaaaally liked North American Lake Monsters back in the day, and loved this one at least a much -- this guy's style really appeals to me -- basically weird fic + horror in equal measure).
The Cormorant by Stephen Gregory (this one was a real creeper and sticks with me).
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (more confusing than the first, but ultimately I liked it better -- I just like Harrow more than Gideon, I suppose).
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi (mostly excellent near future thriller that hit too close to home -- warning: includes a pretty not good sex scene, but whaddaya gonna do)

This post has been edited by worry: 16 December 2021 - 03:22 AM

[Chance]

Waited with this until I knew there was a decent chance of finishing a few more books, probably another will be finished before new year so 73, not good but beating the goal of not being a new worst, which it looked like for a while. Learning new jobs simply is a lot of work, if you want to get good at it.

The very good books are: Blood Heir, King Bullet, The Last Graduate, Risen.

Best among them hard to say they are all four kind of light weights more entertainment than substance but very good entertainment.

The good books are Two Serpents Rise, The Dragon Never Sleeps, Qualea Drop, The Rage of Dragons, The Fires of Vengeance, The Violent Century, Pariah, The Pillgramage of Swords, Hungry Ghosts, Burning Season, Ten Arrows of Iron, Ghost Money, Bottle Demon.

Blackmoore's Eric Carter series stand out ofr being very solid urban fantasy with a fresh twist.

The Violent Century for being one very excellent super hero novel.

The Rage of Dragons/Fires of Vengeance is one excellent series which also make me kinda of angry while reading tough going but worth it.

And yeah that's a 40k novel in there Abnett's Pariah, the stuff he is writing is damned good most of the time.

I should have The God is not Willing in this list, started it a few times but not had the focus to read it and its a decently sized paper tome can't listen to it.

This post has been edited by Chance: 26 December 2021 - 04:45 PM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

QuickTidal, on 30 November 2021 - 01:31 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 30 November 2021 - 08:53 AM, said:

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, the final Wayfarers book, is hands down my book of the year.

worry, on 30 November 2021 - 08:57 AM, said:

I just bought her Small Angry Planet on ebook cuz it was on sale, so that's good to hear.

I've been toying with getting one of these books, so it's good to hear that people enjoy it. She sounds like she's a fun author to read for sure!

--------

Honestly, this year so far the standout is Will Wight. I've read two of his Elder Empire books so far (both enjoyable), and I read books 1 (UNSOULED), 2 (SOULSMITH), and 3 (BLACKFLAME) of The Cradle series and it's shaping up to be one of the better book series I've ever read. So if I was pressed I'd say that Wight is the author I've spent the most time with this year due to the quality of his work.

Patrick O'Brian is the other author I've spent the most time with as I'm 4 books deep into his Aubrey & Maturin series and I ADORE it. So far HMS SURPRISE is my fave volume.

JADE CITY and JADE WAR by Fonda Lee scratched an itch I didn't know I had, Fantasy Asian 1970's Godfather epic. SO well written, and SO enjoyable. JADE LEGACY came out today too!

Made my way deeper into Michelle West's immersive and wonderfully written Essalieyan series, HOUSE WAR, THE BROKEN CROWN, and THE UNCROWNED KING and I'm super happy to have so many volumes still ahead of me.

Wait, you haven't finished the Essalayian books yet? How dare you! Now that means I've read 15+ books for nothing!

Just kidding — I'm loving the series. I'm up to Oracle. I can feel the climax nearing. These books are severely underappreciated!

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 27 December 2021 - 12:18 AM

[Abyss]

I've been remiss in this thread for a few years now and because i actually enjoy the look back, i'm going to keep this short but actually post something...
READING COUNT for the year was 36 books, all earbooks, varying sizes, more series than not. Also, more comics than usual. I'll get to those if/when i have a chance.

BEST READ OF THE YEAR as expected was NK Jemisin's THE WORLD WE MADE. It's just a brilliant book that builds on the first book in every way, respects the readers, manages to surprise me and amaze me when it didn't surprise. Totally enjoyed the read.

RUNNER UP has to be Gaiman's THE SANDMAN BOOK 3... yes, it's technically an audiodrama, not a book, but it's an adapatation of a comic and yknow what fuck the justification i say it counts and it was GLORIOUS.

BEST SERIES of the year goes to Jenn Lyon's CHORUS OF DRAGONS. Five big books, never dragged.


BEST NEW AUTHOR I WILL NOW EAT FOLLOW: Christopher Beuhlman for THE BLACKTONGUE THIEF


FLASHBACK/CATCH-UP

BEST OF 2021: Was a tough match between Seanan McGuire's MIDDLEGAME and Peter Clines' TERMINUS. McGuire took it for sheer originality and engaging characters, tho Clines' apocalyptic alter reality time travel in the 14verse was very very close.

BEST OF 2020: was a complete and total out of nowhere underdog... or rather, undercat.... FOR HE CAN CREEP by Siobhan Carroll, was a freebie on the Tor site... it's still there: https://www.tor.com/...comment-page-1/ ...if you care to read it. And you should because it's brilliant and gripping and hysterical and ffs it's just sitting there free. I've also interacted w the author on twitter and she's a genuinely nice person who is annoying me by not writing more faster.



LOOKING FWD TO IN 2023

Anything Malazan. ANYthing. Seriously one of them needs to publish something i need a fix.
Shannen Chakarabortay's pirate queen book THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI.
Adrian Tchaikovsky's backlist.
Probably Clare North's too.
Michelle West's series(es) sitting in my eTRP.
Pierce Brown's LIGHTBRINGER (allegedly).

[Tiste Simeon]

That pirate queen book sounds good!

For me one of my best rewards was Shogun, when we all read it together! That was excellent, and for some reason I was expecting a boring slog when it was anything but.

Biggest "why didn't I take this series up years ago" is my current audiobook listen, the Peter Grant series as read by Kobna Holbrook Smith. He really brings those books to life and grips me in a way reading the first couple didn't do years ago, for some reason.

Best nostalgia trip was the LOTR trilogy narrated by Andy Serkis. Just divine.

Best series I read I think has to be RQW by Mark Lawrence, I seriously enjoyed that one.

Biggest let down for me was the Crimson Empire series which I dnf.

[JPK]

Tiste Simeon, on 21 December 2022 - 08:03 PM, said:

Biggest "why didn't I take this series up years ago" is my current audiobook listen, the Peter Grant series as read by Kobna Holbrook Smith. He really brings those books to life and grips me in a way reading the first couple didn't do years ago, for some reason.

I might have to try this. I wasn't enamored with the first book when I read it a couple years back either.

[Tiste Simeon]

JPK, on 21 December 2022 - 10:00 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 21 December 2022 - 08:03 PM, said:

Biggest "why didn't I take this series up years ago" is my current audiobook listen, the Peter Grant series as read by Kobna Holbrook Smith. He really brings those books to life and grips me in a way reading the first couple didn't do years ago, for some reason.

I might have to try this. I wasn't enamored with the first book when I read it a couple years back either.

Thing is, I did enjoy it! I just never really bothered carrying on. The audiobook is another level though IMO.

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

Books read count was 40+/- a few, not sure exactly. Tailed off towards the end of the year.

Best read of 2022 was Middle Game by Seanan McGuire.

Honourable mentions are Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead and Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, but this wasn't really close.

Best series was probably Miles Cameron's Masters and Mages. Honourable mentions the Rivers of London and Max Gladstone's Craft Cycle (not including the Lot Lands trilogy in this as I am only halfway through).

Best new author was Christopher Beuhlman with The Blacktongue Thief.

Looking forward to in 2023:
Furious Heaven. The sequel to Kate Elliot's Unconquerable Sun.
Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin and Children of Memory.
Seanan McGuire's follow up to Middle Game, Seasonal Fears.

[JPK]

I'm currently sitting at 102 for the year and I'm looking good to finish the year out with my goal of 104.

I'm going to give honorable mentions up front to both Shogun and The Blacktongue Thief. Shogun is one of the best books I've ever read but I'm not adding it to my top list here this year since it's already been mentioned by others.

My top read of 2022 is a tie between In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. I'll acknowledge that ti's technically cheating, but they're in vastly different genres so I'm gonna do it anyways. These were both books that have been on my radar for ages but that I'd held off reading for years. I'd wanted to wait until the legal trouble plaguing Peter S Beagle had cleared up before I purchased and read a copy, and I'd just had a hard time believing that In Cold Blood could live up to it's lofty reputation. I'm glad I was wrong on that.

My favorite book to read out loud to my 6yo this year was Bunnicula. This book is still tons of fun.

Best reread goes to Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series hits emotional points for me that so many others just fail to hit.

My biggest flop of 2022 was The Darkness That Comes Before. I didn't like this book at all and I found very little to compel me to read further in.

[Tiste Simeon]

JPK, on 24 December 2022 - 06:14 PM, said:

I'm currently sitting at 102 for the year and I'm looking good to finish the year out with my goal of 104.

I'm going to give honorable mentions up front to both Shogun and The Blacktongue Thief. Shogun is one of the best books I've ever read but I'm not adding it to my top list here this year since it's already been mentioned by others.

My top read of 2022 is a tie between In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. I'll acknowledge that ti's technically cheating, but they're in vastly different genres so I'm gonna do it anyways. These were both books that have been on my radar for ages but that I'd held off reading for years. I'd wanted to wait until the legal trouble plaguing Peter S Beagle had cleared up before I purchased and read a copy, and I'd just had a hard time believing that In Cold Blood could live up to it's lofty reputation. I'm glad I was wrong on that.

My favorite book to read out loud to my 6yo this year was Bunnicula. This book is still tons of fun.

Best reread goes to Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series hits emotional points for me that so many others just fail to hit.

My biggest flop of 2022 was The Darkness That Comes Before. I didn't like this book at all and I found very little to compel me to read further in.

I think you and I seem to share many tastes, including how rubbish The Darkness that Comes Before is!

[Aptorian]

I've probably had the shittiest year for reading in a decade. I've been so busy, stressed and tired that I've barely read ten books this year I think. And a lot of it wasn't even that good.

I have taken up reading on my tri-weekly commute to work and that's helped a bit.

Looking at my Kindle reading list of what I do remember enjoying was:

Robert Hayes "Never Die". Great legendary Chinese fantasy with classic heroes and villains and awesome action.

Amongst our weapons by Ben Aaronovitch was a fun low stakes addition to the Rivers of London series. It was a straight forward cop story with some much needed advances to the setting that sets up the potential for an endless amount of more books.

And Jason Pargin's "If this book exists you're in the wrong universe", which was a also a great addition to the John Dies series, which furthers the potential of the books and got really weird and creative.

[Slow Ben]

Tiste Simeon, on 24 December 2022 - 07:41 PM, said:

JPK, on 24 December 2022 - 06:14 PM, said:

I'm currently sitting at 102 for the year and I'm looking good to finish the year out with my goal of 104.

I'm going to give honorable mentions up front to both Shogun and The Blacktongue Thief. Shogun is one of the best books I've ever read but I'm not adding it to my top list here this year since it's already been mentioned by others.

My top read of 2022 is a tie between In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. I'll acknowledge that ti's technically cheating, but they're in vastly different genres so I'm gonna do it anyways. These were both books that have been on my radar for ages but that I'd held off reading for years. I'd wanted to wait until the legal trouble plaguing Peter S Beagle had cleared up before I purchased and read a copy, and I'd just had a hard time believing that In Cold Blood could live up to it's lofty reputation. I'm glad I was wrong on that.

My favorite book to read out loud to my 6yo this year was Bunnicula. This book is still tons of fun.

Best reread goes to Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series hits emotional points for me that so many others just fail to hit.

My biggest flop of 2022 was The Darkness That Comes Before. I didn't like this book at all and I found very little to compel me to read further in.

I think you and I seem to share many tastes, including how rubbish The Darkness that Comes Before is!

I’ve said it before on this board many a many a time. I tried reading the Prince trilogy a handful of years ago. Thought Darkness was terribly boring. But hey, people love it right? So I plowed onto number 2, stopped about two chapters before the end and have absolutely 0 interest in returning. I don’t get the love.



This was the year of the reread for me. Between family and running a business I didn’t have put a lot of effort into finding a new series and got on a RE read run. It was “comfort food” book year.

Started with LOTR. It’s like a warm blanket every time I come back.

Wrapped up my 5th (I think) Malazan reread. Reapers Gale was Mt favorite this time around, same as the first time through. Other rereads it’s been House of Chains, Toll the Hounds, and Bonehunters.

Dresden te-read. Still the best f’ing thing out there after Malazan.

Did get Library at Mt. Char in over vacation. Really good book.

[champ]

Slow Ben, on 24 December 2022 - 09:46 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 24 December 2022 - 07:41 PM, said:

JPK, on 24 December 2022 - 06:14 PM, said:

I'm currently sitting at 102 for the year and I'm looking good to finish the year out with my goal of 104.

I'm going to give honorable mentions up front to both Shogun and The Blacktongue Thief. Shogun is one of the best books I've ever read but I'm not adding it to my top list here this year since it's already been mentioned by others.

My top read of 2022 is a tie between In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. I'll acknowledge that ti's technically cheating, but they're in vastly different genres so I'm gonna do it anyways. These were both books that have been on my radar for ages but that I'd held off reading for years. I'd wanted to wait until the legal trouble plaguing Peter S Beagle had cleared up before I purchased and read a copy, and I'd just had a hard time believing that In Cold Blood could live up to it's lofty reputation. I'm glad I was wrong on that.

My favorite book to read out loud to my 6yo this year was Bunnicula. This book is still tons of fun.

Best reread goes to Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series hits emotional points for me that so many others just fail to hit.

My biggest flop of 2022 was The Darkness That Comes Before. I didn't like this book at all and I found very little to compel me to read further in.

I think you and I seem to share many tastes, including how rubbish The Darkness that Comes Before is!

I’ve said it before on this board many a many a time. I tried reading the Prince trilogy a handful of years ago. Thought Darkness was terribly boring. But hey, people love it right? So I plowed onto number 2, stopped about two chapters before the end and have absolutely 0 interest in returning. I don’t get the love.

I made it to the third book and dropped it, had to battle to get that far. Just wasn't for me.

Whatever happened to Bakker, not heard him mentioned in years?!

I've read 30-40 books this year including finishing off Malazan reread and also a full Dresden reread too. Finally read every Gemmell book now and made inroads into Pratchett. Sandman audio book was cool and the final book in the trilogy of Yaz Mark Lawrence books. Read some more Bernard Cornwell, Martha Wells. Project Hail Mary was a top book too. Finished the Half a King series of Abercrombie, decent, not amazing. Need to start his latest completed trilogy actually. That's probably next for me.

[JPK]

champ, on 24 December 2022 - 11:07 PM, said:

Slow Ben, on 24 December 2022 - 09:46 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 24 December 2022 - 07:41 PM, said:

JPK, on 24 December 2022 - 06:14 PM, said:

I'm currently sitting at 102 for the year and I'm looking good to finish the year out with my goal of 104.

I'm going to give honorable mentions up front to both Shogun and The Blacktongue Thief. Shogun is one of the best books I've ever read but I'm not adding it to my top list here this year since it's already been mentioned by others.

My top read of 2022 is a tie between In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. I'll acknowledge that ti's technically cheating, but they're in vastly different genres so I'm gonna do it anyways. These were both books that have been on my radar for ages but that I'd held off reading for years. I'd wanted to wait until the legal trouble plaguing Peter S Beagle had cleared up before I purchased and read a copy, and I'd just had a hard time believing that In Cold Blood could live up to it's lofty reputation. I'm glad I was wrong on that.

My favorite book to read out loud to my 6yo this year was Bunnicula. This book is still tons of fun.

Best reread goes to Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series hits emotional points for me that so many others just fail to hit.

My biggest flop of 2022 was The Darkness That Comes Before. I didn't like this book at all and I found very little to compel me to read further in.

I think you and I seem to share many tastes, including how rubbish The Darkness that Comes Before is!

I've said it before on this board many a many a time. I tried reading the Prince trilogy a handful of years ago. Thought Darkness was terribly boring. But hey, people love it right? So I plowed onto number 2, stopped about two chapters before the end and have absolutely 0 interest in returning. I don't get the love.

I made it to the third book and dropped it, had to battle to get that far. Just wasn't for me.

Whatever happened to Bakker, not heard him mentioned in years?!

I've read 30-40 books this year including finishing off Malazan reread and also a full Dresden reread too. Finally read every Gemmell book now and made inroads into Pratchett. Sandman audio book was cool and the final book in the trilogy of Yaz Mark Lawrence books. Read some more Bernard Cornwell, Martha Wells. Project Hail Mary was a top book too. Finished the Half a King series of Abercrombie, decent, not amazing. Need to start his latest completed trilogy actually. That's probably next for me.

This just further cements my decision not to go further within the series. I think it was just too much for my tastes and I can usually find something to appreciate even in books that I don't like. I even enjoyed KJ Parker's Engineer Trilogy more than this and while I think those books are well written and tell a compelling story, I usually wouldn't say I enjoyed them.

I do agree that we tend to align pretty often on books though Tiste. It's why I'm giving Aaronvich another shot. I've learned over the years of lurking to trust in your tastes.