2021 Book Consumption

[rhysiana]

I used to keep track of my books very methodically, but I've fallen out of the habit in recent years. This year I started again, though I did have a few months where I had to go back and try to reconstruct, so I'm not actually sure this is entirely comprehensive. Typing it out for posterity anyway!

All Systems Red - Martha Wells
Artificial Condition - Martha Wells
Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells
Exit Strategy - Martha Wells
Network Effect - Martha Wells
The AI Who Loved Me - Alyssa Cole
A Dangerous Collaboration - Deanna Raybourn

Winter's Orbit - Everina Maxwell
Snake Agent - Liz Williams
Fireheart Tiger - Aliette de Bodard
The Wicked + the Divine: The Faust Act
How to Catch a Queen - Alyssa Cole
Wonderstruck - Allie Therin
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting - KJ Charles
The Demon & the City - Liz Williams

Calculated Risks - Seanan McGuire
A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine (reread)
A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine
The Craft of Love - EE Ottoman
Love & Other Inconveniences - Catherine Cloud
Adrian Bradley's Best Mistake - Catherine Cloud
Blue Line - Ariel Bishop

Blind Tiger - Jordan L. Hawk
Witches of Lychford - Paul Cornell
The Mask of Mirrors - MA Carrick
The Lost Child of Lychford - Paul Cornell
A Long Day in Lychford - Paul Cornell
The Lights Go Out in Lychford - Paul Cornell

Last Stand in Lychford - Paul Cornell
A Murderous Relation - Deanna Raybourn
Black Water Sister - Zen Cho

Precious Dragon - Liz Williams
Tommy Cabot Was Here - Cat Sebastian
How to Find a Princess - Alyssa Cole
Subtle Blood - KJ Charles

Dead Spots - Melissa Olson
Spoiler Alert - Olivia Dade
Her Big City Neighbor - Jackie Lau
The Ultimate Pi Day Party - Jackie Lau

The Hellion's Waltz - Olivia Waite
Gunpowder Alchemy - Jeannie Lin
Pregnant by the Playboy - Jackie Lau
Bidding for the Bachelor - Jackie Lau

Blood Shot - Tanya Huff
Sword Dance - AJ Demas
Saffron Alley - AJ Demas
One Night in Boukos - AJ Demas

Hench - Natalie Zina Walschots
The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune
His Secret Illuminations - Scarlett Gale
His Sacred Incantations - Scarlett Gale

The Duke Heist - Erica Ridley
The Perks of Loving a Wallflower - Erica Ridley
The Governess Gambit - Erica Ridley
The Rake Mistake - Erica Ridley
Strong Wine - AJ Demas
The Iron Khan - Liz Williams

The Green Man's Heir - Juliet E. McKenna
The Empress of Salt & Fortune - Nghi Vo
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain - Nghi Vo
A Killing Frost - Seanan McGuire
The Hanging Tree - Ben Aaronovitch
Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch
The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch
What Abigail Did That Summer - Ben Aaronovitch
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night - Katherine Fabian & Iona Datt Sharma
Unhallowed - Jordan L. Hawk
Unseen - Jordan L. Hawk
Proper Scoundrels - Allie Therin

Final total: 69* (Maybe 70? I can't remember if I finished priest's Mo Du/Silent Reading this year or last. Apparently I didn't write it down and time has no meaning anymore.) Anyway, that's not bad for a year in which I was still reading lots of fic! I pre-fic times, I would easily break 100 books in a year, but that's fine.

I definitely didn't read as much short fiction as I had been for the last 9 years this year, because I quit working (volunteering) for Lightspeed back in February, which means April was the last issue copy edited by me.

Highlights of the year, looking back at this list:
-Finally reading all the Murderbot books! (save the most recent) They were as good as everyone said.
-Winter's Orbit
-A Desolation Called Peace (and I was glad to have reread Memory just before to refresh my memory as well)
-Black Water Sister
-The Lychford books, for proving that procedurals without police (or men, really) are a thing
-AJ Demas's Sword Dance series, for middle-aged, previously broken people falling in love (and solving crime)
-Liz Williams's Detective Inspector Chen books, for being such a weird meld of SFF genres with a Chinese mythology base
-Nghi Vo's Singing Hills novellas, I want more!
-Finally catching up on the Rivers of London books, which I'd apparently stalled on after that out-of-London lull of a book, but I'm pleased to report they picked back up again

Of course, there's nothing on this list that I didn't actually like, because I've been dropping books that don't hold my attention with great abandon, so if I finished it, I enjoyed it!

*Came back to add in two audiobooks that had gotten lost in the months where I was reconstructing the list by looking through my ereader/physical books.

Comments

[rembrandtswife]

The Lychford books--you mean the ones by Paul Cornell about the village that's a nexus of everything, and there are three female protags? Because if so I stumbled across those this year and LOVED them.

[rhysiana]

I do indeed! I had apparently been buying them for cheap when the ebooks were on sale and then forgetting I had them, so when the last one came out, I remembered to go read them all, and they were great.

[rembrandtswife]

I also finally got around to reading Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric and the Demon series and loved them. I haven't yet read the two most recent works, though.

[rembrandtswife]

I'm just realizing that I missed your complete list and read only your highlights! Ariel Bishop is a friend of mine (she's on Tumblr so you might also know her), and I read the first three Green Man novels this year. Obviously I need to make my own annual reading post.

[rhysiana]

Oh yes, dizzy-redhead and I have actually co-written fic in fandom life! I love her Ariel Bishop books.

I've definitely been enjoying the Green Man books! I saw there's a new one out that I haven't gotten yet.

The Allie Therin Magic in Manhattan books were also really good, even though I didn't mention them in the highlights. I keep thinking of things I should have put in that section, but that would defeat the purpose of trying to make choices...