She talks to wolves...

Last year, I set out to read more online fiction. I also wished to read more magazines, given I have several issues of Weird Tales and Realms of Fantasy lying around that I still haven't cracked. I may have failed with the magazines, but I did read nearly the entire back catalogues of Goblin Fruit and Scheherezade's Bequest in 2010, along with pieces of The Edge of Propinquity, Ideomancer, Clarkesworld, and a large chunk of the Locus Recommended Reading List.

Although I did better, I still feel like I need to increase my exploration of online venues. I didn't really get to Apex Magazine at all, or Ideomancer, or Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I want to see if the quality of Lightspeed Magazine has improved any since the first few short stories were published. I want to catch up with Stone Telling and read more at Strange Horizons. There are so many brilliant sites publishing excellent fiction these days, and I want to read more widely.

My final reading tallies for the year are as follows:
Books: 77
Magazines: 12
Individual short stories: 38

While trying to whittle my list of books down to a "Top 10 I Read in 2010," I had to give up and settle for a Top 20. I'm okay with that; I read some excellent books this year. (To be honest, though, I cheated a little: a couple of them are properly series, but I couldn't stand to put just one part of the series in question on the list.)

Keep in mind that not all of these books were published in 2010: I just read them in 2010. Also, I'm not putting these books into any particular order. (Also, to be fair, I left off the books that I read in draft because they haven't been published yet.)

Top 20 Books I Read in 2010:

1. Demon Lovers and Other Difficulties by Nicole Kornher-Stace with C.S.E. Cooney
2. The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Version by Lewis Carroll and Martin Gardner
3. A Local Habitation & An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire
4. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
5. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
6. Chicks Dig Time Lords, ed. by Lynne Thomas and Tara O'Shea.
7. Freakangels: Volume 4, by Warren Ellis
8. Feed by Mira Grant
9. The Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O'Malley
10. The Demon's Lexicon & The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
11. Flora Segunda, Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog by Ysabeau S. Wilce
12. Clementine by Cherie M. Priest
13. The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente
14. Folktales of England, ed. by Katherine M. Briggs and Ruth L. Tongue
15. Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
16. The Boys, Volume 1: The Name of the Game by Garth Ennis
17. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
18. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
19. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
20. The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins

( And here's a bit of an expanded list, for those who like reasons with their Top Lists. )


If you'd like to see the complete list of books, magazines, and short stories I read in 2010, please visit this entry.

I'm currently on my fifth book of 2011, Charlotte Mew and Her Friends by Penelope Fitzgerald. You can keep up with my 2011 list here.

Originally posted on January 14th, 2011 at Livejournal.

Originally, I was going to try and come up with a "Top 10 Books of 2009" list, but then I realized I've only read some twenty-odd books published in that twelvemonth. So, instead, I've taken a page from jennifer_brozek and broken my reading list down into genres. You'll find those genres below, with the best book I read in each listed alongside. These books were absolutely not all published in 2009, only read by me during 2009. In some cases, there's a tie.

Also, you'll notice that the genres aren't always... typical.

You'll find the chronological list of books read at the bottom of the post. All of my reviews published this year are linked to their titles in that list. So, without further ado!

Gothic Literature: The Sprite of the Nunnery: A Tale, from the Spanish by Rev. Joseph Trapp
It was by no means the best written Gothic novel that I read this year, but it was surely the most insane, subversive, trope-laden rollercoaster of them all. As I wrote in the description on GoodReads: "The Sprite of the Nunnery by Rev. Joseph Trapp is an incredibly complex Gothic adventure featuring multiple counts of female cross-dressing, duels and bravos, intrigue within intrigue, frustrated love, and questionable parentage."

Victorian Literature: Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
These are actually the only two counts of Victorian literature I read this year, not counting poetry. You can read my thoughts on Oscar Wilde's fairy tales by following the link above to my review published in Cabinet de Fées. And, of course, Jane Eyre was just... fantastic.

Picture Books: The Arrival by Shaun Tan
As graphic novels are categorized separately here, this is the only picture book I've read this year. I list it because it is beautiful and there is no way I could neglect to do so. Many thanks to westlinwind, once more, who gifted this to me.

Graphic Novel: Fables, Vol. 12: The Dark Ages
Warren Eliss' Freakangels is incredibly absorbing, Jack of Fables was outrageous, but Bill Willingham really impressed me with The Dark Ages. He took the aftermath of a rather strong opening story arc and managed to perpetuate the tension, up the ante, and tug at our hearts. Bravo!

Discworld: A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
I only read Discworld novels starring either Tiffany Aching or the City Watch this past year; although I love the Watch, Tiffany Aching is very close to my heart. Many of her lessons seem like they should be mine as well. I'm still feeling for my hat, though.

Urban Fantasy: Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire and Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
I've already discussed elsewhere why I found each of these books to be excellent; you can read my thoughts by checking out the reviews linked above.

Paranormal Romance: From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
Last February, I disliked Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris so much that I only made it to page 20 before I exchanged it at the bookstore for jimhines' The Stepsister Scheme. Then I got hooked on HBO's True Blood and became invested in the characters; withdrawal from the show saw me gorging on all eight Southern Vampire Mystery installments currently in paperback. They're not well-written, but they're fun; I felt From Dead to Worse (#8) was the best because it demonstrated a real shift in tone and development of Sookie's character.

Science Fiction: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
While this book has some severe problems, it is a classic and quite intriguing for both its writing and its ideas. Besides, the only other sci-fi novel I read this year was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and I hated it.

Poetry: Modern Love by George Meredith and She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo
The imagery and rhythm of George Meredith's epic collection of sonnets concerning the dissolution of his marriage was captivating and occasionally visceral. Joy Harjo's poetry, while a re-read, was as incredible and affecting as ever.

Fantasy: The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
I read some good fantasy novels in 2009, but none of them really stood head and shoulders above the rest. I eventually decided on Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter: besides being lovely and evocative, it is one of the formative bits of fantastic fiction. Click the link above to read my review at Cabinet de Fées.

Young Adult: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
This crowdfunded novel, available for free online and also forthcoming as a print publication, was simply a gorgeous adventure in Fairyland lushly told. If you've any interest at all in fantasy fiction, you should go read it.

Nonfiction/Academic: The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde by Jarlath Killeen
A very clearly written exploration of the sociopolitical issues informing Oscar Wilde's fairy tales. I desperately want to own a copy of this book for my private collection, but it's nearly $100.

Anthologies: Ravens in the Library ed. by SatyrPhil Brucato & Sandra Buskirk
While hastily assembled (and for a good cause - proceeds benefited musician S.J. Tucker in the face of near-insurmountable medical bills), this anthology printed some absolutely excellent short fiction, such as "Lost" by seananmcguire, "The Substance of Things Hoped For" by copperwise, and "Of Mouse, and Music" by Kris Millering; not to mention the fantastic art by coppervale, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Julia Jeffrey, and others. You can read all about it in my massive review.

Steampunk: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest and Soulless by Gail Carriger
Bonus! Both of these novels were actually published in 2009: Boneshaker was an incredibly atmospheric and compelling romp through a steampunk zombie-infested Seattle (and, I'm thinking, should win BEST COVER ART 2009). Soulless was a clever, sexy, and ultimately candy-floss ride through a steampunk London. With werewolves, vampires, and parasols.

Plays: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
So much brilliance, so much to discuss, so much to probe.

( And now, the complete list of 83 titles I read in 2009... )

I'm currently reading Here There Be Dragons by James A. Owen. You can keep up with my other 2010 reads at this post.

Originally posted at Livejournal. You can comment here or there.

Happy new year, everyone! Welcome to the Year of the Ox (well, almost, as the Chinese New Year isn't until January 26th this year). Or, if you're a Discworld fan, welcome to the Year of the Pensive Hare.

I'm sure I'll make a post later this weekend breaking down my professional and, to a lesser extent, personal year. As well as a set of goals for the new year and an update on the state of the Tales from the Wishing Well project.

For now, though, let's cover my consumption of media for 2008.

This year, I read 94 books! I know that's nothing impressive for many of you, but I haven't been able to read that many books in a year in years. My decrease in reading has been due to a combination of factors: less time to read and a slower reading pace. And being able to read that many books this year had a lot to do with only having one job in the first several months of the new year and then having no job over the summer.

Now that I'm in graduate school and finding a part-time job ASAP, I don't expect I'll be able to repeat this in 2009.

All that said, on to the books:

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower I by Stephen King
Unfortunate English: The Gloomy Truth Behind the Words You Use by Bill Brohaugh
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, ed. by Ekaterina Sedia
Tithe by Holly Black
Dust by Elizabeth Bear
Banewreaker by Jacqueline Carey
Godslayer by Jacqueline Carey
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Red As Blood (or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer) by Tanith Lee
Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
The Sandman, Volume I: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman, Volume II: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman, Volume III: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman, Volume IV: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman, Volume V: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Sandman, Volume VI: Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Sandman, Volume VII: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman, Volume VIII: World's End by Neil Gaiman
Valiant by Holly Black
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The Aphorisms of Kherishdar by MCA Hogarth
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Duke in His Castle by Vera Nazarian
Creatures of the Night by Neil Gaiman
The Hedge Knight by George R. R. Martin (GN, adapted by Ben Avery)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon (read in individual issues)
Fairy Tale Review: the Violet Issue, ed. by Kate Bernheimer
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman as adapted by Mike Carey (graphic novel, read in individual issues)
A Guide to Folktales in Fragile Dialects by Catherynne M. Valente
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Fables, Volume 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
Fables, Volume 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
Fables, Volume 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
Fables, Volume 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham
Fables, Volume 5: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham
Fables, Volume 6: Homelands by Bill Willingham
The Robber Bridegroom by Eudora Welty
( Read the rest of this list behind the cut... )

The links in the text denote where I've had reviews published on Green Man Review. A review on Clockwork Phoenix edited by Mike Allen is forthcoming.

Additionally, I began taking in Realms of Fantasy, Weird Tales, and Locus. On the academic side, I also subscribed to Mythlore and Marvels & Tales. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to actually read them. I hope to remedy that soon.

This year, I also kept a careful list of all the films and television series I saw for the first time (or for the first time in a very, very long time). Sadly, this list exceeded the number of books I read-- but only by a few. That's nothing to sneeze at, I think.

The list of films:

Bladerunner (only seen once before and not the Final Cut)
Barry Lyndon (Saw about 1/3 of it in 2007)
Balls of Fury
The Messengers
Slither
No Country for Old Men
Swordfish
Autofocus
Music & Lyrics
3:10 To Yuma (2007)
Resident Evil: Extinction
Cloverfield
Man on Fire
The Godfather
Cruel Intentions
Training Day
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Darjeeling Limited
Brazil
Enchanted
( Read the rest of the list, including television series behind the cut... )