Last year I read 63 books. Here are the 25 I read for “leisure” (as opposed to “somebody paid me to edit, copy edit, or proofread”), in order of when I finished them:
Brenchley, Chaz: Bitter Waters
Tarr, Judith: Devil’s Bargain
Sedia, Ekaterina: The House of Discarded Dreams*
O’Malley, Daniel: The Rook
Barnhardt, Wilton: Gospel
Connolly, Tina: Copperhead
Priest, Cherie: Maplecroft
Powers, Tim: Hide Me Among the Graves
Stephenson, Neal et al: The Mongoliad Book One
Leckie, Ann: Ancillary Sword
Martin, George R. R.: A Feast for Crows
Smale, Alan: Clash of Eagles
Stephenson, Neal: Seveneves
Liu, Cixin (Ken Liu tr.): The Three-Body Problem
VanderMeer, Jeff: Acceptance
Bennett, Robert Jackson: City of Stairs
Cherryh, C. J.: Fortress in the Eye of Time
St. John Mandel, Emily: Station Eleven
Cherryh, C. J.: Fortress of Eagles
Bear, Elizabeth: Karen Memory
Cherryh, C. J.: Fortress of Owls
Cherryh, C. J.: Fortress of Dragons
Bellet, Annie: Justice Calling
Leckie, Ann: Ancillary Mercy
Wecker, Helene: The Golem and the Jinni
*Note: did not finish this one.
My leisure-reading goes down every year, as my work-reading goes up. I have a hard time feeling unhappy about that, because reading is basically my favorite thing to do, AND NOW I GET PAID TO DO IT. I wish I could tell you about so many of the books I read for work last year; but the copy editor’s place is behind the scenes, quiet and invisible. Sometimes books are not yet announced. (Though if you ask me privately, I may be able to point you in directions to look…there’s some amazing stuff coming out this year!)
As for the books above: Eight of them were for my book group; the rest I chose myself.
Particular favorites were: the Cherryh books; Seveneves; City of Stairs; and The Golem and the Jinni. Though even naming a few favorites makes me want to reassure the rest of them: I loved you too! 🙂
I almost never fail to finish a book, but I confess, the Sedia thwarted me. I had really loved a previous book of hers, but could not engage this one.
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Looking at this list and thinking about reading…my life looks so different now than it used to, even just five or six years ago. I used to experience this thing called “weekends;” I can actually remember spending entire Sundays on the couch, reading. Now, I work at reading and writing all day, and hold the household together as best I can. Leisure reading is saved for bedtime, when–shockingly!–I’m often sleepy, and don’t get more than a few pages read.
My to-be-read pile is now an entire bookcase, plus a long shelf along a tabletop. And that bookcase is also piled high with books on top, outside the shelves. Our book group is reading Seveneves this month, which I’m so excited to discuss; I was hoping to reread it before the meeting, but hahaha, no. I’ll be lucky to get a chance to glance through it for a few minutes…
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And one more thought. I have at least met twelve of the authors listed above; I count several of them friends, even dear ones (including my Best Person at my wedding!). I’m Facebook friends with several more of them. I remember a time when even catching a glimpse of a published author was an astonishing, unreal thing…
Yes, my life is different now. I like it.