She talks to wolves...

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.

The Wheel turns, and I am once again left with two dates upon which I begin a New Year. There's Halloween, the night when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest, and swiftly on its heels follows Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. I observe this New Year both due to spiritual reasons and personal milestone reasons. And then there's January 1st, New Year's Day, with the new year birthed for many in the cold and the dark. I also celebrate this day for traditional reasons and personal milestone reasons.

Both mean that I come to livejournal to read back over my past year's accomplishments, to reflect, and ultimately to write a retrospective on what has come before. I said that last year evoked the Descent of Inanna. This year, so far, seems part the allegory of Pandora's Box and part... I know not what yet. Probably the year of letting go, considering how I have had to let go of places, of people, of expectations. Considering how I have had to struggle to let go of previous concepts of relationships, let go of people who don't want to be held, let go of the familiar. This is an important lesson that many of us could benefit from.

I burned myself out in the East, growing and changing and coming close to hitting bottom and learning so many things about myself. I turned to ashes and those ashes drifted West and South once more, to leave me here upon my homeland's shore. I don't really feel like I'm burning now. Smoldering, perhaps. Rebuilding myself from the ashes, certainly. Preparing to rise again for grad. school.

Without further ado, and in no real order, here are things I did and learned this year:

1. I became the Voice Coordinator for my NOVA branch, and I excelled in the position. I built up the High Level Voice program, teaching many 1.5 hour discussion lessons on a variety of topics.

2. I struggled with the death of hope. I struggled with hitting bottom. I struggled with tearing apart my sheltered view on life. I struggled with figuring out how I want to live this life. These struggles are far from over, but I believe I learned something valuable in my efforts and brought myself small victories.

3. I said a physical goodbye to many dear friends: Becky (justfran), Sarah, Damien, Kimber, Frankie and Saika, Matt, Irish Neil, Fran, Ben, Stan, Junichi, Mayumi, Iwao, Kazue, Yuko, Keiko, Kazumi, Minako, etc. I hope to see them again one day.

4. I went to many cool and interesting places: the New York Bar (featured in Lost in Translation), the Japanese Imperial Palace (in Tokyo), Kyoto (and too many places therein to list), Nara, Osaka, Singapore, Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, Tsukiji Fish Market, Ghibli Museum, danced at the Longest Bar, watched the Edward Scissorhands musical, etc.

5. I had David (void_dragon) come and visit me in Japan, sharing an important place in the development of me with one of my greatest friends.

6. My friends and students threw a dinner party for me the night that I left for Kyoto, at which I felt loved and celebrated in a very wonderful way.

7. I discovered the fact that I actually enjoyed soccer and that the key to my enjoyment likely had to do with being able to watch said sporting events in a group of enthusiastic and friendly people. Well, that and I just seem to love a game where the basic rules are relatively simple and so many sweaty guys run around in blood-pumpingly exciting athletic displays. Given this fact, I may be more amenable to learning to like other sports in the future.

8. I got to enjoy a second hanami season in Japan and with some great friends. I sat under a breathtaking cloud of white, drinking chu-hi and loving life. Hanami is a part of Japan that will always, always lift my heart.

9. I underwent the harrowing experience of visiting Japanese doctors, sometimes with mixed results. However, I see this as an empowering rite of passage. Although incredibly sick, I managed to take care of myself and operate as required in the situation. That gives me an incredible sense of self-sufficiency. (Although I did wish for someone to help take care of me at the time, I don't consider that a weakness. ;))

10. I launched [website now defunct], which I desperately need to maintain. It's good to have a web presence, especially something serious that I can point potential future professors to. However, I need to get in touch with Damien who's been maintaining it for me and get him to up my disk space.

11. My grandparents' health took a disturbing turn for the worse, which is a trend that has continued with my return home. My grandmother is doing very, very poorly. Part of the reason I gave for returning home was that I was coming back to said goodbye.

12. Within three weeks of returning to Montgomery, my great aunt died suddenly. This is the first death I've experienced in my immediate family and had an instantly negative impact on my grandmother's health.

13. I returned to Montgomery, Alabama, leaving Tokyo behind me. It was a hard decision in some ways and a welcome one in others. I did feel that it was time to move on with my life, but I miss the freedom I had in Tokyo. (That and Tokyo is generally more exciting than Montgomery.) I know that Montgomery is but my pit stop on the way to grad. school but being back here scares me in ways I've detailed elsewhere in my personal journal. I'm keeping it real though, keeping the faith, and slowly organizing my plans to stay on the path.

14. Before I returned to Montgomery, I managed to secure a job with a small private school as the English teacher. This job has been exciting, harrowing, fulfilling, and frustrating all at once. I love what I'm doing, but I'll talk about this more in a reflective post on how the first grading period went.

15. I got my second tattoo and from a Japanese tattoo artist: the design is of two cherry blossoms blown by wind. Two years of fleeting beauty in Japan. It was a powerful experience and I appreciate that my body bears an intentional and artistic reminder of my years there.

16. I started playing World of Warcraft, which changes my life to the extent that now my brothers and I have an assured thing in common and I understand the community more. I can't see myself ever playing as much as my brothers do, but I definitely enjoy having various characters to play around with and interacting with my friends in a virtual world.

17. After ten years of friendship, I redefined my relationship with Andy (sirandrew) and it has been exceedingly good in ways that I wasn't prepared for.

That's all I've got so far, but that's quite a lot jammed into one year. I pray that the year to come is as empowering, revelatory, and self-evolving as this one has been. I don't ever want to stop being true to myself or following my path through the Wood. And with the friends and loves that I have surrounded myself with, I think I will be well-supported in this endeavor. I will continue to be strong and independent, just as I will seek to be compassionate and understanding.