The New Year Cometh

Another year is on the wane, and like so many, I find it a good time to look back and look forward.

This year I read more books than I blogged about. Most of the ones I skipped writing a full review of were fun but not exceptionally strong or weak reads, unexceptional sequels to books I did review, books outside of my normal genres, or re-reads.

I also quit reading a decent handful of books this year, which is unusual for me. I have become more protective of my time, and I am less willing to waste it on books that don’t grab my attention.

This was a really strong year for comics and graphic novels. Half of the books I rated 5 stars this year were graphic novels; three of those are the first in a new series and one is a prequel:

• Lumberjanes
• Jem and the Holograms
• Bitch Planet
• Sandman Overture

As far as comic books that I’m collecting in issues, everyone should be reading The Wicked and The Divine and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Also if you like dark fantasy, check out Monstress. Loki: Agent of Asgard wrapped up this summer, and it was very good as well.

I rated four novels 5 stars this year: two in the same series, one classic Hugo winner, and one new release:

• Ancillary Justice
• Ancillary Sword
• The Snow Queen
• Uprooted

In 2016 I plan to continue my read of the Hugo Winners (I only got through three this year), and I’m starting into a section of the list where I’ve read many of the winners before.

I’d also like to be a bit more conscious and methodical in expanding into new authors and genres. I already regularly sprinkle mystery, memoir and some nonfiction into the mix, but I do it haphazardly, when a cheap book catches my eye or I hear about something on a website or a podcast.

I had been thinking about this when I stumbled across the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. A lot of sites post year-long challenges in December, but this is the first one that’s really appealed to me. I like the mix of categories, and that for me the range of genres seems neither too hard or too easy. Also I have a huge pile of Kindle and paper books that I purchased over the last few years but have not read. I’m going to fill as many of the Read Harder slots as I can with books I already have, and slow down the accumulation of new stuff until I make some inroads on the existing piles.

This year also saw the release of two books I worked on: A Count of Five and A Tide of Ice. I am really enjoying editing this series: the characters are great and the scale of the world is amazing. Expect book three next fall.

Happy new year, everyone. May your to-read piles be full of unexpected gems.