books 2005: Year in Review

[supercheesegirl]

Last January, I started keeping track of the books I was reading. Mostly I just wanted to see how many I would read; I think I was aiming for 50. As the year went on and I got a better sense of just how voracious a reader I am, the goal went up, and thanks to the wonders of Neil Gaiman, I read over 100 books in 2005. Here’s my summary of and thoughts on what I read. If you want to see the list, it's here (I'm not going to try to link to my posts about each individual book, so please see the list if you're interested in one in particular).

Topics of Interest
I read a wide variety of stuff. Here are some categories.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 46 (35 Fantasy, 11 Sci-Fi)
Vampire-Related Fiction: 11
General Interest Fiction: 23
Nonfiction: 12
Graphic Novels (ie, Sandman): 12

Because I want to do this semi-mathematically, you my dear readers are not allowed to question the book classification system. Another post will follow this one detailing what I put where and why, because I was just getting hung up on explaining it and not getting anywhere with all the rest of what I wanted to talk about.

All of the books were new this year except for 11 rereads. Of the rereads, seven of them were fantasy, one was vampire-related, and three were mainstream fiction. None of the books I read between January and June were rereads, which I think is a new record for me.

I read at least four trilogies and several books from series. These include: the Buffy Gatekeeper trilogy, the first three Ringworld books, the Alanna series, John Varley’s Titan series, the Lady in Gil trilogy, a Pern trilogy, the first three Undead books, some Jean Auel Earth’s Children, some Narnia, both of Wynne Jones’s Howl books, and of course all of Sandman. I think this shows how, when I start something, I need to know what happens next. Notable exceptions are the Ringworld books, because I'm past caring what happens next, and Ender's Game and George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, both of which were enough in their own right to make me want to take a break before reading the next one.

I also read multiple books by certain authors. Not counting the books in series, I read four books by Ursula K. LeGuin, two by Orson Scott Card, and four by Neil Gaiman. I think of multiple books by one author differently than a series by an author because with a series, you’re following the writer back to a world you've already visited and enjoyed, but when you read a book unrelated to any earlier books you’ve read, then you’re trusting that writer to take you somewhere different this time. LeGuin and Gaiman are authors I would trust to take me anywhere, honestly. Card, I'm not sure--Ender's Game really upset me in a lot of ways. I'm still planning to read more of his stuff, but I plan to be cautious.

So, now, here are my assessments of the best books I read last year.

Best Fantasy Books: Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle wins, I think. This book was just plain excellent. Second place goes to Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman, and third to Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. All three of these rated high on the "Rox can’t put it down and therefore can’t pee, eat, or sleep" scale.

Best Sci Fi Books: I'm surprised at my top choice for this one. It slid into the reading year right at the last minute: The Snow Queen, by Joan Vinge. This book was really great--my only complaint might be that everything worked out so perfectly in the end, but that’s a very small complaint. Next I'd put Ringworld tied with Ender's Game--Ringworld because it barely scratched the surface of interesting things going on on the Ringworld, and Ender's Game because it upset me very much, as only a really good book can do.

Best Vampire-Related Fiction: MaryJanice Davidson's Undead and Unwed, because I was so shocked at how much fun it was. What an excellent surprise.

Best Mainstream/General Interest Fiction: Those Who Save Us, by Jenna Blum. This book still haunts me. Amazing and excellent. Amy’s recommendation, Happy All The Time by Laurie Colwin, gets second place just for being such a pleasant, gentle story. Coffee & Kung Fu by Karen Brichoux gets an honorable mention for being such a damn likeable book.

Best Nonfiction: I loved So Many Books, So Little Time, by Sara Nelson. I also loved Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman, and Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth also should be mentioned here.

Best Graphic Novel: Sorry to disappoint, but I read nothing but Neil Gaiman, so I’m not going to choose a best for this category. Also I read them all so close together that they blur quite a bit for me.

Some other categories:

Best Reread: Persuasion by Jane Austen (of course), followed by The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel and Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

Best Young Adult Fiction: Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. Because it was excellent and I loved it, and also because I didn’t want to put Harry Potter #6 here. The Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo, should also get a mention here. What an excellent little book that was.

Best Series: John Varley's Titan series was a fun, twisted romp through the mind of a planet. Great stuff, completely worth tracking it down through amazon z-shops (because you can't borrow mine!). Rebecca Bradley's Lady in Gil series was also really good, good enough that I recommend buying all three books at once so you won’t have to suffer like I did while waiting for your amazon order to arrive.

Best Short Story Collection: Stranger Things Happen, by Kelly Link. I also really enjoyed both the LeGuin collections I read this year, but I can’t remember much that distinguished one from the other.

Best Surprise Find: In The Country Of The Young by Lisa Carey. So incredibly excellent, and it only cost me a dollar at Harvard Book Store. Also a shocker was Dorothy Gillman's The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. I'm now completely hooked on Mrs. Pollifax books.

Funniest Book of the Year: Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman.

Best Prostitute-Related Book: This category exists because Jorn thinks I’m always reading about a prostitute or a courtesan or something. However, I am looking at my list and only spotting two books that would fit this category, so haha, Jorn. I think the better one was The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber, but The Floating Brothel by Sian Rees was also incredibly interesting.

I'm not going to even try to pick an overall Best Book of the Year, because that would be way too difficult. I loved all the books I mentioned above, so they would all be contenders, and I couldn't possibly choose just one. I'm also not going to pick a Worst Book, because honestly, if I finished it, it was decent (with the exception of my boss's textbook that I proofread and therefore had to finish, but by all accounts it's an excellent textbook, just not something I would ever have chosen to read cover to cover). I didn't read any books that I all-out hated, and only a few books got a meh reaction, so it's not worth trying to pick a Worst. However, if you can think of other categories that the books I read might fall into, let me know and I will choose a "Best of" that category just for you.

Comments

The first of many comments like these...

[allthefishies.livejournal.com]

May I borrow Those Who Save Us? I think I might be ready to start reading long books again. I think I'll have to get a copy of The Beauty Myth for myself. :-)

Re: The first of many comments like these...

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, absolutely. That is, if I didn't give it back to my mom. :) It's some pretty serious WWII stuff, but an excellent read. (And I couldn't give you The Beauty Myth anyway because we gave it to Chelsea.) :)

Re: The first of many comments like these...

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

I checked this morning and I do not have it. I'm pretty sure I gave it back to my mom, although I might have sold it to Harvard Book Store. I read it in August, which was when I was prepping for the big move, so I was probably manically getting rid of things. I'm sorry...