2019 Reading List

[triadruid]

Legend: bold means I've read it already, Italics means I'm working on it, and normal text means it's a potential. * means I've read it before. Previously read books/reviews are in the 'read lists' tag.

1. Brian K. Vaughn, Saga (Volume 9) (9, what more can I say? if you're not reading this, you should be!)
2. Philip K. Dick, The Hanging Stranger (8, great short story that would have made an excellent Twilight Zone episode)
3. Image Comics, Battlestar Galactica: The Cylon War (8, just when I think tie-ins all have to suck, this one does a great job of fanfic'ig the original war and its origins)
4. Image Comics, Battlestar Galactica: Six (6, a look inside the skull(s) of the Woman in the Red Dress; not bad but not great)
5. Alexander Irvine, A Scattering of Jades (7, Meso-American fantasy/horror is rare enough that I'll forgive this some serious didactic dryness, but I wish it had rolled things up a bit better in the climax; I ended up more interested in the side characters than the plot)
6.  Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country (8, really well-researched period pastiche of Lovecraftian horror and the Jim Crow/sundown-town era in America; despite all odds it works, even with a white writer at the helm)
7. Philip K. Dick, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (7, exquisitely weird Dickian take on a familiar theme of lost identity, with a particularly Dickian ending that makes slightly more sense than usual)
8. Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions (3, I just couldn't take the pace of predictability of this John Carter knockoff, gave up less than halfway through)
9. Philip K. Dick, Lies, Inc (6, the science and motivation on this one just doesn't hang together and it seems more of a remix of Dickian themes than anything really new or groundbreaking)
10. Mirka Andolfo, Unnatural Vol. 2 (7, once again we get some deep examination of prejudice and hate through a furry lens)
11. Brian Azzarello, Faithless #1-4 (4-7, the fuck did I just read? literally)
12. Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (7, rambly but well-thought-out, if that makes sense; time travel stories are always going to be mind-benders, but this one veers mostly over into lit-rah-chur at the end)
13. Paul Krueger, Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge (4, interesting idea with flat characters, a basic plot, and no research to speak of; +1 for egregious magical misuse of a dumpster however!)
14. Clifford Simak, Way Station (6, okay sci-fi that sort of meandered around in search of a reason to exist until almost the end)
15. Dan Jurgens, The Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen/The Return of Superman (5, meh)
16. Sean Murphy, Batman: White Knight (9, seriously wacko examination of Batman, Joker, Gotham, and why everyone does what they do in that crazy city - somehow it all works)
17. Trevor Noah, Born a Crime (9, great voice, and storytelling for a lot of hard experiences)
18.  

1. Brett Harned, Project Management for Humans
2. Peter Gran, Rise of the Rich (I might come back to this, but it's hard to read non-fiction on my phone in choppy bursts)
3. Jennifer Bresnick, The Last Death of Tev Chrisini 

SINGLE/STAND-ALONE
Clive Barker, Coldheart Canyon
Clive Barker, The Scarlet Gospels
Emma Bull, The War For The Oaks
Cory Doctorow, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (and the short story Truncat which follows it)
Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
Jeffrey Gantz (trans), Early Irish Myths and Sagas (we own it)
William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
Muriel Gray, The Trickster
M. John Harrison, Viriconium (we own it)
Joe Hill, Horns
Homer, The Odyssey*
Douglas Kennedy, The Big Picture
Tyler Knox, Kockroach
Mark Martin (ed), I'm With the Bears
A. Lee Martinez, Divine Misfortune or Gil's All Fright Diner
Paul J. McAuley, Cowboy Angels
Terry Pratchett, The Bromeliad (we own it)
Phillip Roth, The Plot Against America (we own it, somewhere)
Matt Ruff, Sewer, Gas, and Electric
Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom
Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis (we own it)
Ekaterina Sedia, The Alchemy Of Stone
Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
Charles Stross, Accelerando
Charles Stross, Glasshouse
Harry Turtledove, Joe Steele
Various, Worlds That Weren't
Jack Williamson, Terraforming Earth
Connie Willis, To Say Nothing of the Dog
Catherynne M. Valente, Radiance

SERIES, STARTED
Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series (next is Bearing an Hourglass - we own it)
Kage Baker, The Company novels (next is In the Garden of Iden)
Elizabeth Bear, Seven for a Secret (we own it)
Brian Michael Bendis et al, Powers: Roleplay or Powers: Little Deaths (next)
Boom Comics, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep: Dust to Dust (Vol. 2-6)
Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire and Mockingjay
Paul Cornell, The Severed Streets (so far)
Stephen King et al, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger: The Man in Black (we own it)
Dean Koontz, Seize the Night* and Fear Nothing* (so far; we own them)
Image Comics, The Walking Dead: Vol. 29
James Knapp, Element Zero
Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls and The Hallowed Hunt (we own them)
Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric's Demon et al
Marvel Comics, Star Wars: Darth Vader: The Shu-Toran War and Star Wars: Darth Vader: End of Games
Naomi Novik, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory, Victory of Eagles, Tongues of Serpents, Crucible of Gold, Blood of Tyrants, and League of Dragons
Terry Pratchett, Snuff, Raising Steam, The Shepherd's Crown
Melinda Snodgrass, The Edge of Ruin and The Edge of Dawn
Charlie Stross, The Delirium Brief
Martha Wells, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy

Jim Butcher, Peace Talks (2018?)
John Ringo's On Hero's Trail (not written yet/ever)

SERIES, COMPLETE
Steven Baxter, Voyage, Titan, and Moonseed
Malorie Blackman, Noughts & Crosses, An Eye For an Eye, Knife Edge, Checkmate, Double Cross, and the short story Callum
Peter V. Brett, The Warded Man, The Desert Spear, The Daylight War, The Skull Throne, and The Core
Pierce Brown, Red Rising, Golden Son, Morning Star
Storm Constantine, Stalking Tender Prey, Scenting Hallowed Blood, Stealing Sacred Fire
Alison Croggon, The Naming, The Gift, The Crow, and The Singing
Chris Evans, A Darkness Forged in Fire, The Light of Burning Shadows, and Ashes of a Black Frost
Ursula K. LeGuin, Gifts, Voices, Powers
Sophie Littlefield, Aftertime, Survivors, Rebirth, and Horizon
Simon Morden, Equations of Life, Degrees of Freedom, and Theories of Flight
Lyda Morehouse, Archangel Protocol, Fallen Host, Messiah Node, and Apocalypse Array
Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon, Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World (we own them)
Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky
Jack Womack's Dryco series: Random Acts of Senseless Violence, Heathen, Ambient, Terraplane, Elvissey, and Going, Going, Gone

SERIES, ONGOING OR PARTIAL
Various Authors, What Might Have Been (short stories, series of books)
Catherine Asaro's The Lost Continent (or Aronsdale) series
Clive Barker, Imajica and The Reconciliation
Jordanna Max Brodsky, The Immortals
Tony Daniel, Metaplanetary and Superluminal (so far)
Kathleen Duey, Skin Hunger and Sacred Scars (so far)
Steven Erikson, Malazan Book of the Fallen series (first is Gardens of the Moon)
Walter Greatshell, Xombies series
Stephen Hunter, Point of Impact (and possibly the rest of the trilogy, if it's any good)
Stina Leicht, Of Blood and Honey and And Blue Skies from Pain (so far)
Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies, The Republic of Thieves (so far, 4 more to go)
George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons (so far; we own them)
Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies
Richard K. Morgan, The Steel Remains, The Cold Commands, and The Dark Defiles
Irene Radford's Merlin's Descendants series
Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear (so far; we own them)
John Scalzi, Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, The Sagan Diary, The Last Colony, Zoe's Tale, and The End of All Things (so far)
Charles Stross Halting State, 419, and Rule 34
Megan Whalen Turner, The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings (so far)
David Weber, Oath of Swords (we own it), The War God's Own, Wind Rider's Oath, Sword Brother, War Maid's Choice

NON-FICTION
Guare and Dawson, Smart But Scattered Teens
Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational
Dina Bachelor, Break Up or Break Through
Ken Blanchard, The One Minute Manager
Jennet Conant, The Irregulars
Randy Conner, Blossom of Bone
Jared Diamond, Collapse
Tess Dawson, Whispers of Stone
Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed
Robert S. Fogarty, Desire & Duty at Oneida: Tirzah Miller's Intimate Memoir
Doris Kearnes Goodwin, The Bully Pulpit
Douglas Hofstadter, Metamagical Themas (we own it) and Gödel, Escher, Bach
David McNally, Monsters of the Market
Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma
Eric H. Nicoll, A Pictish Panorama: The Story of the Picts
Friedrich Nietzsche, Basic Writings of Nietzsche
Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things and Emotional Design
Charles Pellegrino, Last Train from Hiroshima (we own it)
Edith Skinner, Speak With Distinction
Alan Small, The Picts: A New Look at Old Problems
Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God
Norman Spinrad, Science Fiction in the Real World (ILL?)
Geoff Tily, Keynes Betrayed
Stephen Tobolowsky, The Dangerous Animals' Club
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror
JD Vance, Hillbilly Elegy
David Wann, Biologic

And in the "Just buy it already!" department:
Asimov's Pebble in the Sky*).

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Snow Crash is better than Anathem, and also a lighter read. D said of Anathem that he had a roleplaying universe he wanted to roll around in for a while. :D

I adored To Say Nothing of the Dog; it is finely-crafted absurdity of manners and timetravel.

I found Paladin of Souls better than The Hallowed Hunt.

[triadruid]

I had a hard time getting into Paladin of Souls; I'm not sure why, since featherynscale loved it and we usually run/love the same fantasy worlds. It just felt like it never went anywhere... I've been putting off the 'sequels' (I know they're not direct sequels like your usual trilogy) ever since.

Only Stephenson I've actually read yet was Diamond Age, which was underwhelming. Again, I felt like it had so much more it could have done... but most of the rest of his catalog is on my list, just... not yet. Too. Big.

Thanks for the input!

[azurelunatic]

Paladin of Souls was very much a book for women, which is sort of hilarious for me to say in the context of that entry I just made about the gender binary, but it's not a book about a Big World-Saving Plot, it's definitely the book of her inner journey, her coming to own herself, and the Bastard.

You might actually enjoy The Hallowed Hunt a lot more than I did, come to think of it.


I had a similar experience with The Diamond Age. It's a lovely RPG setting, and he outlines the whole of it very well, but the parts of it feel very disconnected. (Or perhaps that was because I mostly read it while half out of my mind on sleep dep and caffeine in college.)

[triadruid]

Hell, I wrote that badly above. I've only read the first one, Curse of Chalion. I liked pieces of it (and the world, overall, though I wanted more), but relatively little happened. I'm more of High Fantasy/New Weird fan, than a Harry Potter/Superheroes-doing-Superhero-things, usually (exceptions abound).