Reading is one of my primary hobbies. I read for fun, before bed, and primarily science fiction and fantasy. I read 41 books this year, up from 33 books last year.
I use an app called The Storygraph to track my books. I really like this breakdown of “moods,” which has been insightful to track from year to year. This year my top genres were science fiction, followed by fantasy and then LBTQIA+. Last year fantasy was at the top. I also split my reading roughly half and half in between print and digital this year, whereas my other years were primarily digital.
I am part of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy “book club” on Facebook – “book club” in quotes because it’s just a group of book lovers who post randomly. There’s no synchronized reading every month. But I get really great recommendations and a lot of joy from that group. Many, many of the books on this list came from there.
Here’s a quick snippet for each:
Station Eleven – So good. So sparse, which typically frustrates me, but was perfectly mysterious for this story.
Empire of the Vampire – Bloooooooody, ridiculous, and I couldn’t put it down.
A Psalm For The Wild-Built – I’ve called this “a hug in book form.” I take my time making my tea a bit more now.
Legends & Lattes – Had been recommended by my sci-fi/fantasy book club over and over… and I resisted. The cover was silly, the title was silly, the premise was silly (an orc retires from mercenary life to open a coffee shop?). But I adored it, just as everyone said I would.
All The Light We Cannot See – Had been on my list for forever, and with a free day to myself in Paris, I decided to crack it open (part of the book is set in Paris). Almost finished it that day. Beautiful.
Handprints on Hubble – Kris donates to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, and sometimes they send us books. I was cleaning up the bookshelf and was going to donate this one, and flipped it open to read a few sentences first. Then couldn’t put it down! Dr. Sullivan is an engaging author, and the core premise of her book – about designing space systems to be serviceable and maintainable – really spoke to me given my job with Gateway. There were moments in the book, talking about the size and shape of bolts, for example, that we are living right now. This was fantastic and highly recommended for any space nerds.
Kaiju Preservation Society – simply fun. This book is getting a bad rap for being totally predictable, and it is, but the acknowledgements (I always read the acknowledgements!) sets the context of the author needing to write something simple and fun as the pandemic weighed on all of us. So know what you’re getting going in – simple monster fun.
Flowers for Algernon – I’m slowly making my way through genre classics I missed. This one will stick with me for a long, long time.
Iron Widow – I’m categorizing this one as “Book I read this year that I’d most want to see adapted to a live action movie or TV show (that hasn’t already been).” A sci-fi retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, with alien creatures and mechas. And a great twist! I started this one in the middle of the night in a cold, empty Emergency Room and didn’t expect anything to be able to keep me awake or distract me, but this certainly did.
Rendezvous with Rama – Part of my “classics” quest, but mostly because after Dune this will be Denis Villeneuve’s next project. So curious to see what he does with it. The source material will require updating, particularly the treatment of female characters. For example: “Some women, Commander Norton had decided long ago, should not be allowed aboard ship; weightlessness did things to their breasts that were too damn distracting.” FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
A bunch of the Vorkosigan Saga – I’m considering these part of those “classics” I missed. Looking back on it, my Mom had recommended so many female masters of sci-fi to me growing up – Anne McCaffery, Ursula K. LeGuin, etc – but never Lois McMaster Bujold and I don’t know why. Cordelia is an amazingly modern feminist hero, and you can’t but help but root for Miles. As my mom would have said, “Smartest guy in the room.”
The Scholomance – Recommended by my friend Erica. Brilliant, and the series gets better with each book until your mind is totally blown. This is not a Harry Potter re-tread.
The first two books in The Divide Series – filling the Battlestar Galactica-shaped hole in my heart. Eagerly looking forward to the next one, whenever it comes out.
The Atlas Six and Paradox – Sexy, tense, magic. But not really up to the hype in my opinion.
Scythe – Oooof. Supposedly young adult but pretty darn dark, a la Hunger Games with AI and fake-utopia themes. Not sure I’ll continue the trilogy, but probably will.
Dark Matter – I enjoyed another Blake Crouch last year (Recursion), but hadn’t had this one on my list – I guess I was confusing it with the SyFy TV show? (I watched part of that show, but other offerings that came out the same time – like Killjoys – were vastly superior in my mind). In any case, this is completely different than the show of the same name. Dove in after seeing it recommended on the Facebook group over and over again, and glad I did!
Spinning Silver – I did not expect a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin to be so great. Two thumbs up.
Lincoln in the Bardo – I have had this on my “To Be Read” list for a very long time, and then we stayed at a resort in Mexico called Bardo so I started and finished it while there. Not really a beach read, but totally absorbing once I figured out the structure. (The “bardo” is an “intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth.”)
We are Legion – The Bobiverse has been recommended in the Facebook group over and over, and also by a few friends, so I finally jumped in. Will continue the series in 2023!
A Master of Djinn – Very entertaining while reading, but ultimately predictable. Looking back on it now, kind of meh.
The Library at Mount Char – If you’re looking for your next creepy read and have already read Winterset Hollow, here you go.
Bloody Rose – I love Nicholas Eames, and this was delightful, but not as great as Kings of the Wyld.
The Midnight Library – Lovely, touching, beautifully written. I have many more books from this author on my To Be Read list.
Dogs of War – I put off reading this one for a long time because I thought it would destroy me. Cybernetic AI dogs and other animals of privatized warfare. First line: “My name is Rex. I am a Good Dog.” That almost got me crying! But the rest of the book didn’t. It was interesting and thought-provoking, and I’m still thinking about the ending, but not a 5 star from me.
Embargo on Hope – The first time I can add “book written by an employee” to my list! Justin is amazing, and this world and characters are very fun.
The Starless Sea – a nice read, but I preferred The Night Circus from this author.
This is How You Lose the Time War – going to characterize this as my most challenging read of the year. I expected to enjoy it more than I did.
Sea of Tranquility – I was so excited for this book. The author of Station Eleven, with moon colonies?!? I wanted to love it, but still preferred Station Eleven. Perhaps I just wasn’t ready for another pandemic-themed book.
The Many-Colored Land – I had read other Julian May books a long time ago, and had been intrigued by this series… but probably will stop here. Jack the Bodiless was vastly superior.
Green Rider – This series is often recommended in the Facebook group but it didn’t grab me enough, even with a really well done depiction of horses and horseback riding (so often done poorly!).
Semiosis – Recommended to me by my Aunt Kathie. Veeeeery interesting and I enjoyed reading, but I’m putting in this grouping of “series I won’t continue with” – I thought this first book came to a satisfying conclusion without continuing.
The Ministry for the Future – recommended by Bill Gates as one of his favorite books, and my least favorite read of the year. What a slog, with some interesting concepts to fight climate change, but a lot of frustrations at meandering stories and characters I didn’t care about. I have never been a fan of Kim Stanley Robinson though.
Looking forward to what is in store for 2023!