Reading project - 2021 report
Jan. 1st, 2022 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dagibbsSince 2016 I've been tracking my reading with two goals: to average a book a week (52 in the year), and to broaden the diversity of the authors I read from the cis-het-white-men who have tended to dominate the shelves in SF&F.
The pandemic, for some reason, hit my reading really hard -- I just didn't have the focus to read. I only read 35 books in 2020, and this year was looking to be even worse -- by the end of October, I'd only finished 18 books. But, I found my reading groove again in November, and read 23 books in two months, to bring my year's total up to 41. On the diversity benchmark, it looks like 5 were by CHWM.
Books/series of note: (full list below the cut):
The Afterward - E. K. Johnston - what happens after the heroes save the world.
Sovereign - April Daniels - Trans superhero.
Terra Ignota series - Ada Palmer - Utopia?
Steerswoman Series - Rosemary Kirstein
A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine
Beneath the Sugar Sky - Seanan McGuire. Wayward children #3. Good enough to keep reading the series, I liked it a bit better than #2.
In an Absent Dream - Seanan McGuire. Wayward children #4. Good enough to keep reading.
Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells. Murderbot #3. Enjoyable space adventure.
Exit Strategy - Martha Wells. Murderbot #4. Enjoyable space adventure. Murderbot struggles with humanity.
9 out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes - Dave MacLeod. Insightful, if I want to focus on getting better, this seems to have some good ideas on how to start.
Come Tumbling Down - Seanan McGuire. Wayward children #5. Also enjoyable.
Spells Gone Bad - Annie Reed. A collection of urban-fantasy short stories and one longer work. Enjoyable but essentially light weight.
THe Blade Itself - THe First Law Trilogy, Book 1 - Joe Abercrombie. Standard-ish Euro-fantasy.
Before They Are Hanged - #2 of 3 - Joe Abercrombie. It continues.
The Last Argument of Kings - #3 of 3 - Joe Abercombie. It finishes. Ok, not quite standard -- nobody is a good guy.
10
The Firebird - Nerine Dorman. Chapbook, so short. Good, but a bit too much inner dialog and angst for me.
The Afterward - E. K. Johnston. Good. YA. Gay. What happens after the quest is successful and the world is saved.
Kingdom of Souls - Rena Barron. Good, YA.
Rebel Seoul - Axie Oh. Ok.
Red Dust and Dancing Horses and Other Stories - Beth Cato. Short-story collection, some quite strong.
Seven Surrenders - Ada Palmer. Continues to be very good. What cost Utopia? Also, plots within plots and betrayals after betrayals.
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns - Julie C. Dao. Readable but not really my thing. Not worth getting more in series.
Redwood and Wildfire - Andrea Hairston. Good, but not an easy read. Worth it.
Sovereign - April Daniels. (Nemesis - Book 2, sequel to Dreadnought.) Superheros, trans. Really enjoyed it, even through tough bits.
The Will to Battle - Ada Palmer. Book 3. Still very good. Not light, though, not light. I am, perhaps, reminded of Umberto Eco by the depth of language and allusion.
20
The Iron Will of Genie Lo - F.C. Yee. Still good, but not quite as delightful as the first.
Harrow the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir. Work rather than pleasure (Gideon was much more fun). And, still, I want to read the 3rd.
The Descent of Monsters - Neon Yang. Tensorate, book 3. Short, interesting. I think earlier in series were better.
The Ascent to Godhood - Neon Yang. Tensorage, book 4. Short, almost more history lesson than story. Ok.
Perhaps the Stars - Ada Palmer. Book 4, very long, but conclusive. All in all an interesting and impressive series.
Forests of the Night - Tanith Lee. Collection of short works. Mostly not my thing.
The Outskirter'S Secret - Rosemary Kirstein. Steerswoman book 2. Really enjoyable.
The Lost Steersman - Rosemary Kirstein. Book 3. Continues enjoyable.
The Language of Power - Rosemwary Kirstein. Book 4. Continues very enjoyable. Finish at 5am enjoyable.
A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine. Very good.
30
Cross Fire - Fonda Lee. Sequel to Exo. Good enough, but not the Jade series.
A Peace Divided - Tany Huff. Enjoyable milsf.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson. Good. Perhaps not as good as I'd expected from others' praise, but maybe even very good. Another book full of not-nice people.
Finders - Melissa Scott. Enjoyable space adventure. Nice that the protagonists are in a stable, happy, triad.
Witchmark - C. L. Polk. Good fantasy. Buy rest of series.
The Privilege of Peace - Tany Huff. (Peacekeeper #3) Enjoyable MilSF.
Hivemind2: Defender - Janet Edwards. Continues to be fun sf-adventure.
Zeroboxer - Fonda Lee. Very readable, but not as good as others of hers.
Curse the Dark - Laura Anne Gilman. Enjoyable urban/modern fantasy.
Bring It On - Laura Anne Gilman. Another enjoyable urban/modern fantasy.
40
Hivemind3: Hurricane - Janet Edwards. Not quite as good, but still a fun YAish page-turner.
The pandemic, for some reason, hit my reading really hard -- I just didn't have the focus to read. I only read 35 books in 2020, and this year was looking to be even worse -- by the end of October, I'd only finished 18 books. But, I found my reading groove again in November, and read 23 books in two months, to bring my year's total up to 41. On the diversity benchmark, it looks like 5 were by CHWM.
Books/series of note: (full list below the cut):
The Afterward - E. K. Johnston - what happens after the heroes save the world.
Sovereign - April Daniels - Trans superhero.
Terra Ignota series - Ada Palmer - Utopia?
Steerswoman Series - Rosemary Kirstein
A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine
Beneath the Sugar Sky - Seanan McGuire. Wayward children #3. Good enough to keep reading the series, I liked it a bit better than #2.
In an Absent Dream - Seanan McGuire. Wayward children #4. Good enough to keep reading.
Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells. Murderbot #3. Enjoyable space adventure.
Exit Strategy - Martha Wells. Murderbot #4. Enjoyable space adventure. Murderbot struggles with humanity.
9 out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes - Dave MacLeod. Insightful, if I want to focus on getting better, this seems to have some good ideas on how to start.
Come Tumbling Down - Seanan McGuire. Wayward children #5. Also enjoyable.
Spells Gone Bad - Annie Reed. A collection of urban-fantasy short stories and one longer work. Enjoyable but essentially light weight.
THe Blade Itself - THe First Law Trilogy, Book 1 - Joe Abercrombie. Standard-ish Euro-fantasy.
Before They Are Hanged - #2 of 3 - Joe Abercrombie. It continues.
The Last Argument of Kings - #3 of 3 - Joe Abercombie. It finishes. Ok, not quite standard -- nobody is a good guy.
10
The Firebird - Nerine Dorman. Chapbook, so short. Good, but a bit too much inner dialog and angst for me.
The Afterward - E. K. Johnston. Good. YA. Gay. What happens after the quest is successful and the world is saved.
Kingdom of Souls - Rena Barron. Good, YA.
Rebel Seoul - Axie Oh. Ok.
Red Dust and Dancing Horses and Other Stories - Beth Cato. Short-story collection, some quite strong.
Seven Surrenders - Ada Palmer. Continues to be very good. What cost Utopia? Also, plots within plots and betrayals after betrayals.
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns - Julie C. Dao. Readable but not really my thing. Not worth getting more in series.
Redwood and Wildfire - Andrea Hairston. Good, but not an easy read. Worth it.
Sovereign - April Daniels. (Nemesis - Book 2, sequel to Dreadnought.) Superheros, trans. Really enjoyed it, even through tough bits.
The Will to Battle - Ada Palmer. Book 3. Still very good. Not light, though, not light. I am, perhaps, reminded of Umberto Eco by the depth of language and allusion.
20
The Iron Will of Genie Lo - F.C. Yee. Still good, but not quite as delightful as the first.
Harrow the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir. Work rather than pleasure (Gideon was much more fun). And, still, I want to read the 3rd.
The Descent of Monsters - Neon Yang. Tensorate, book 3. Short, interesting. I think earlier in series were better.
The Ascent to Godhood - Neon Yang. Tensorage, book 4. Short, almost more history lesson than story. Ok.
Perhaps the Stars - Ada Palmer. Book 4, very long, but conclusive. All in all an interesting and impressive series.
Forests of the Night - Tanith Lee. Collection of short works. Mostly not my thing.
The Outskirter'S Secret - Rosemary Kirstein. Steerswoman book 2. Really enjoyable.
The Lost Steersman - Rosemary Kirstein. Book 3. Continues enjoyable.
The Language of Power - Rosemwary Kirstein. Book 4. Continues very enjoyable. Finish at 5am enjoyable.
A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine. Very good.
30
Cross Fire - Fonda Lee. Sequel to Exo. Good enough, but not the Jade series.
A Peace Divided - Tany Huff. Enjoyable milsf.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson. Good. Perhaps not as good as I'd expected from others' praise, but maybe even very good. Another book full of not-nice people.
Finders - Melissa Scott. Enjoyable space adventure. Nice that the protagonists are in a stable, happy, triad.
Witchmark - C. L. Polk. Good fantasy. Buy rest of series.
The Privilege of Peace - Tany Huff. (Peacekeeper #3) Enjoyable MilSF.
Hivemind2: Defender - Janet Edwards. Continues to be fun sf-adventure.
Zeroboxer - Fonda Lee. Very readable, but not as good as others of hers.
Curse the Dark - Laura Anne Gilman. Enjoyable urban/modern fantasy.
Bring It On - Laura Anne Gilman. Another enjoyable urban/modern fantasy.
40
Hivemind3: Hurricane - Janet Edwards. Not quite as good, but still a fun YAish page-turner.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 08:11 pm (UTC)If you had to recommend just one to me, which would it be?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 08:28 pm (UTC)Still, I am happy to recommend it to you.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-04 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-04 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 03:18 am (UTC)I need to catch up on the Terra Incognita series. I really loved the first two, and she's doing something substantially interesting.
I didn't bond to Murderbot, which I largely chalk up to being cis and well, not neurotypical but not neurodivergent in the way that is relevant here. I thought they were very good, but they didn't do it for me.
Wayward Children are hit and miss. I either really bond to them or I enjoy them but glance off as soon as I'm done. Across the Green Grass Fields was the one that really hit me where I live.
Dreadnought/Sovereign, I absolutely loved. Unqualified love. Difficult reading but love.
Gideon/Harrow: I appreciate that they exist but I think they need a heavier editorial hand, because they are Very Much My Thing but where they fail is in ways that are completely unnecessary but ruin it for me.
A Desolation Called Peace: I have been contemplating reading it. The problem is that I read Memory and thought it was fine, and then people tried to convince me that it was Great and Awesome and it actually made me not like it very much at all. I have heard Desolation addresses some of the problems I had with it, but whether that's worth slogging through it, I don't know.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 05:20 am (UTC)I had some of that "people raved about this... " colouring my enjoyment of Murderbot, Wayward Children, and Gideon/Harrow. They are fine, but they are not what they were raved to be.
My mini-review of Memory was, "Enjoyable political space opera, Aztec-inspired for a change of pace. Complete, though room for sequels. Would buy more." So, I didn't come down on the "Great and Awesome" side, either. I had one major put-down-the-book suspension-of-disbelief-failure point with Desolation, but otherwise I liked it better than Memory. On the flip side, there's lots and lots of other really good stuff to read.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 01:10 pm (UTC)I would like them to be as rigorously edited as not-queer sf/f books. It's a repeated problem I've noticed with Tor in particular.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-04 07:40 pm (UTC)One of the things I've heard mutterings about in the last decade, or so, is that the publishing houses are doing less editing than they used to -- off-loading that cost to the authors, or it just not getting done. And if queer authors are more marginalized/have less resources to get that done pre-submission, it may contribute to this, too.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-04 07:48 pm (UTC)