The Sword and Laser discussion

Normally someone starts one of these threads in early December. I've been somewhat distracted lately and am about 3 months behind on my book reviews so I was only thinking about it this morning. I do plan to write-up a "Review" for 2019 on Goodreads at some point and run my stats for the year.

If/when I do I'll probably share that here again in case anyone besides me is actually intested. lol.

In the meantime I was thinking about my top reads for last year. If I exlude re-reads, my favorite reads last year were:


1) Tiamat's Wrath
2) Underlord
3) The Burning White
4) The WoW Diary: A Journal of Computer Game Development

Those were my 5 star reads. There are probably some others in the 4.5 bucket, but I probably won't find those until I dig closer into my end of year stats/review.

How about you guys? What were your favorite reads last year?

I encountered a lot of terrific books last year, much to my surprise.

For instance, I’ve always kind of admired Ursula Le Guin more than I’ve enjoyed her work, but I loved The Tombs of Atuan. 5 stars, easily.

Because my eyesight got progressively worse from January to May when I had cataract surgery, I leaned heavily into audiobooks for the first time. My previous experience with them wasn’t great, but 2019 turned that around. I listened to the entirety of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga and enjoyed all of them. Many were 5-star stories for me.

The least surprising 5-star read was Ted Chiang’s new story collection, Exhalation: Stories. Once again he crushes it.

However, the most surprising 5-star book for me was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming. I don’t know why I picked it up, but it was a delight, and I liked it way better than the movie. Also on audiobook, and the narrator was awesome.

Same for Neil Gaiman’s Odd and the Frost Giants. Just a lovely little book with excellent narration by the author.

Speaking of Fleming, my favorite graphic novel series was Velvet by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. The elevator pitch for these is “What if Miss Moneypenny were an even better spy than James Bond?” It’s so good.

Another stellar comic was the adaptation of David Brin’s short story “Thor Meets Captain America” with The Life Eaters. It’s terrific. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Best photo book: Wild Elephants: Conservation in the Age of Extinction.

So many great art books, but I’m picking Joe Jusko's Marvel Masterpieces. It’s not just great art but also a perfectly laid out book. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I had no idea Ian Flemming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Or that there was a book the movie was based on for that matter.

I think the movie is on Disney+ and I was thinking of rewatching it, but I'm so behind on stuff who knows if I'll actually do that.

Rob wrote: "I had no idea Ian Flemming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Or that there was a book the movie was based on for that matter.

I think the movie is on Disney+ and I was thinking of rewatching it, but ..."

It’s one of those I always meant to read but never got around to it until last year. Only took me 44 years, so you still have time. 😂

Trike wrote: "I encountered a lot of terrific books last year, much to my surprise.

For instance, I’ve always kind of admired Ursula Le Guin more than I’ve enjoyed her work, but I loved..."

I finished the back half of the Vorkosigan books (Mirror Dance through Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, I read in internal chronological rather than publication order) last year after binging the first half in summer 2018 and then losing steam, and I really enjoyed the later Miles books! Memory in particular.

I also enjoyed Trail of Lightning, The Calculating Stars, and Spinning Silver, and finished an ARC of the new Murderbot novel, Network Effect; I'm sorry everyone else has to wait until May for that one.

As for graphic novels, if you're not reading Monstress Book One, you should be.

Trike wrote: "...the most surprising 5-star book for me was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming. I don’t know why I picked it up, but it was a delight, and I liked it way better than the movie. Also on audiobook, and the narrator was awesome...."

Was the awesome narrator David Tennant? (There's also a BBC full cast dramatization.)

I read the book before I saw the movie; had a different feel, if I recall.

Brooke wrote: "and finished an ARC of the new Murderbot novel, Network Effect; "

so jealous!

Rob wrote: "Brooke wrote: "and finished an ARC of the new Murderbot novel, Network Effect; "

so jealous!"

Same. Grr grr.

Serendi wrote: "Trike wrote: "...the most surprising 5-star book for me was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming. I don’t know why I picked it up, but it was a delight, and I liked it way better than the movie.

Was the awesome narrator David Tennant? (There's also a BBC full cast dramatization.)..."

It was the late, great Andrew Sachs, who is probably most famous as Manuel in Fawlty Towers.

In 2019, I read 335 comic books (in trade or collected editions). The breakdown goes-

151 from Marvel
72 from Image (2 from Top Cow)
39 from DC/Vertigo/Young Animal/Jinxworld
32 manga (Viz Media, Yen Press, Dark Horse Manga, etc.)
13 from Valiant
9 from BOOM! Studios
4 from Archie Comics
4 from Dark Horse
3 from IDW
2 from Titan
1 from Dynamite
and 5 from other

For a third year in a row, I only read one non-comic book book for the whole year. Although, it was a 1000+ page collection of 4 novels in one, Mary Poppins 80th Anniversary Collection.

My Year in Books can be seen here

And if you want to see a fully visual representation of it, click here.
(No embedded image, because it is huge)

Louie wrote: "In 2019, I read 335 comic books (in trade or collected editions). The breakdown goes-

151 from Marvel
72 from Image (2 from Top Cow)
39 from DC/Vertigo/Young Animal/Jinxworld
32 manga (Viz Media,..."

Sweet mother Mary, that’s a barnload.

So basically you read one a day with Sundays off?

Trike wrote: "So basically you read one a day with Sundays off?"

That would have been 313. 😏
And, I actually read a bit more in 2018, so I've been slacking.

Louie wrote: "Trike wrote: "So basically you read one a day with Sundays off?"

That would have been 313. 😏
And, I actually read a lot more in 2018."

Hey, this is GoodREADS not GoodMATHS. :p

My 5 star reads were:
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
The Crow Road by Iain Banks
The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters
Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

My favourites last year:

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
and it's sequel The Fated Sky

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
and it's 2 sequels Grey Sister and Holy Sister and Novella Bound

The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
It's sequel The Survival of Molly Southbourne

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

I tried to continue to expand the diversity of the authors I read.

Books I really enjoyed this year were:

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal and it's sequel The Fated Sky and the various Lady Astronaut short stories.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf was the most astonishingly vibrant read of the year.

I read a couple of really terrific non-fiction: Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey Michael Collins autobiography and the frankly shocking Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men which was necessary reading for any scientist (frankly everyone should read it).

I have listened to a lot of audiobooks this year, a lot of mystery books.

Most of my 5 star reads of 2019 were the latest book in the many urban fantasy series that I read.

Some other interesting books I enjoyed are:
5 stars They Called Us Enemy,
Strange Planet,
Recursion,
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language,
Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World,
The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver, The Library,
Priceless.
Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing,
Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon,
The Crayon Man: the True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons,
The Princess Who Saved Herself

I may add some 4 stars later.

Rob wrote: "I had no idea Ian Flemming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Or that there was a book the movie was based on for that matter.

I think the movie is on Disney+ and I was thinking of rewatching it, but ..."

It's one of my favorite deeply disturbing children's movies.

And it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize the female lead is not, in fact, Julie Andrews.

Top 10 New-to-Me Books of the Year (in no order)

The Way Some People Die (1951): Ross Macdonald always brings the private detective goods for me.

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir (2019): Ruth Reichl's memoirs are always the best!

Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art (2018): I think the title says it all.

Thick: And Other Essays (2019): Black feminist cultural analysis by Tressie McMillan Cottom

The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth (2019): Josh Levin analyzes the life of the woman held up as the original "welfare queen."

Rules for Visiting(2019): Probably my favorite novel of the year. This delightful story about friendship is written by Jessica Francis Kane.

Ninth House (2019): Leigh Bardugo's excellent fantasy novel about magical secret societies at Yale.

Downward to the Earth (1969): I did not know what to make of Robert Silverberg's sci-fi novel at first, but it has stuck with me.

Hag-Seed(2016): Margaret Atwood's riff on The Tempest surprised me with how fun it was.

Face It(2019): Debbie Harry rules my world.

Adelaide wrote: "Ninth House (2019): Leigh Bardugo's excellent fantasy novel about magical secret societies at Yale."

That one is on my radar for this year. I have another of her older books that I already own though so not sure if I'll do that book/series first since it's complete and I own the first book or Ninth House.

Deborah wrote: "Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code"

I was all excited until I found that's a children's picture book. I should see if someone has a full biography on Grace Hopper.

There is Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age, but that's not just about her/a full biography. Maybe: Grace Hopper: Admiral of the Cyber Sea

I just finished The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies and really enjoyed it. I'm always on the lookout for nonfiction books about computers, video games and security.

Interestingly (to me) Elizebeth Smith-Friedman thought computers were terrible. Very different from Turing.

Adelaide wrote: "Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir 2019): Ruth Reichl's memoirs are always the best!.."

They really are, and I don’t even care much about food. I’ve long thought that Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise would be a terrific movie. Almost any actress would love to do a role where she has to don numerous disguises, and I think Juliana Margulies (The Good Wife) would be perfect for it.

I think my favorite read of 2019 was Orphan Black: The Next Chapter by Malka Ann Older and others. I listened to the audio version, ten chapters released weekly and it hit all the right notes.

I read several really good novellas late in the year, Made Things, Sisters of the Vast Black, and Auberon (an Expanse story).

Among the comics I read, the best were Bloom County: Brand Spanking New Day, Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope, and Bloom County: Best Read on the Throne.

A non-fiction book I read was very educational, Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ.

Other books I enjoyed were Jade War, Grey Sister, Holy Sister, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, and of course, The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky, and the short fiction in the Lady Astronaut universe.

A good year.

Mark wrote: "I think my favorite read of 2019 was Orphan Black: The Next Chapter by Malka Ann Older and others. I listened to the audio version, ten chapters released weekly an..."

I totally bought that and haven't listened to it yet. I should have done that today (or at least done some of the chapters) while waiting for my new book to come out.

Tatiana Maslany is amazing. Each of the Clone Club members is recognizable in the audio book. These books also have a prose version, but audio is the only way to go here.

Looking back on 2019, I probably most enjoyed continuing the Rivers of London series - reading several of the novels, novellas and comics. They're just great. It seems likely that I'll pretty soon catch up with everything that's been published so far, unfortunately!

Also loved the Murderbot novellas, so looking forward to the forthcoming novel this year.

Mark wrote: "Tatiana Maslany is amazing. Each of the Clone Club members is recognizable in the audio book. These books also have a prose version, but audio is the only way to go here."

yeah, I was only somewhat interested until I saw she was narrating then I pretty much bought it immediately.

Last year was a pretty good year for me in that I rated 9 books with 5 stars. (In 2018 it was only 2).
In no particular order those were:
Lord of Chaos, Towers of Midnight, A Memory of Light by Robert Jorda/Brandon Sanderson.
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch
Chasm City by Alistair Reynolds
Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
Jim Bowen: Right Place, Right Time by Jim Bowen

I rated 2 books with 1 star.
My overall average rating for the year was 3.46 stars, about where I would expect it to be given I read a wide variety of books and rate them on the 1-5 scale. (Last year my average was 3.01, smack in the middle.)

Trike wrote: " I’ve long thought that Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise would be a terrific movie. Almost any actress would love to do a role where she has to don numerous disguises, and I think Juliana Margulies (The Good Wife) would be perfect for it."

She would be great!

Rob wrote: "I had no idea Ian Flemming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Or that there was a book the movie was based on for that matter.

I think the movie is on Disney+ and I was thinking of rewatching it, but ..."

My Mom always said she named me Ian because of 3 famous people: Ian Gillian from Deep Purple, Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull & Ian Fleming, author of James Bond & Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I've read many James Bond novels, but I haven't read or seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Maybe it's time I checked it out.

I loved CCBB as a kid. I doubt it would have the same appeal to me nearly 5 decades later.

Only in the 60s could you get away with calling a female character 'Truly Scrumptious' ;-)

A little over a year ago I started rewatching the old Bond movies from “Dr. No” Dr. No forward. I had remembered them being sexist, but had forgotten just how much sexual assault was in them. I still enjoyed the other parts enough, but man I got queasy thinking how “normal” it was treated. And it wasn’t just the oldest movies, it carried on well into the Moore era.

We can't blame Fleming for the 'Truly Scrumptious' name. She has a different name in the book. Roald Dahl came up with that clanger when he wrote the screenplay.

Tassie Dave wrote: "We can't blame Fleming for the 'Truly Scrumptious' name. She has a different name in the book. Roald Dahl came up with that clanger when he wrote the screenplay."

Although the owner of the candy factory is Lord Skrumshus, so it wasn’t much of a stretch.

I read 305 books that I spoke of publicly in 2019 (I am on an ALA booklist committee where I read/screen even more!) - I blogged about my five star (and notable four star books) of the year before I narrowed it down to a top tenish for my best of 2019 podcast episode.

Lest you think i'm just trying to drive traffic elsewhere, my top Swordish and Laserish reads were

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson (January 2019)*
The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, S.L. Huang, Rivers Solomon (March 2019)
If, Then by Kate Hope Day (July 2019)
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (August 2019)*
The Deep by Rivers Solomon et al (October 2019)
Mockingbird by Walter Tevis (November 2019)

And for the first time I used an external spreadsheet to track my reading in addition to Goodreads, which came with built in charts and graphs. I discuss it a little and look at my data breakdown here.

My reading for 2019 was quite divided. The first half of the year was business as usual: diverse reading with some scifi, some non-fiction, some asian lit. Then as autumn came, I gave in and ordered the rest of the Lost Fleet -series books that I was still missing and happily binged the last months with them and nothing else.

Some of my favorite picks of 2019:
The Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin. Collection of Chinese scifi short stories, many mindblowing in their scope or new fresh ideas.

Embassytown by China Miéville. Scifi story about really alien aliens and their relationship with humans, and about so much more.

The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien. Man, it's been a while since I've read something by Tolkien. But I was feeling nostalgic and ordered this beautiful book illustrated by Alan Lee, and did not regret it.

Leviathan by Jack Campbell. 5th book of Beyond the Frontier -spinoff series, and so far the last one of the series. As I said, I've been binging this series, and with books like them there's a risk it's getting repetitive... but this last book really ended it on a high note, good job.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I read 305 books that I spoke of publicly in 2019 ..."

(bows in Jenny's direction...)

I thought I was good reading from 50-80 books a year.

2019 in SCIENCE-FICTION

My 2019 Science Fiction Book of the Year:


A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Rating: 4 stars

Other Science Fiction reads:

Crux by Ramez Naam
Rating: 4 stars


Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Rating: 4 stars


We Can Build You by Philip K. Dick
Rating: 3 stars


The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe by D.G. Compton
Rating: 3 stars


The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Rating: 3 stars


Authority by Jeff VanderMeer
Rating: 3 stars


A Quest for Simbilis by Michael Shea
Rating: 3 stars


For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor
Rating: 2 stars


Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Rating: 2 stars


Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Rating: 1 star

2019 in FANTASY

My 2019 Fantasy Book of the Year:


Stardust: Being a Romance within the Realms of Faerie by Neil Gaiman with illustrations by Charles Vess
Rating: 5 stars

Other Fantasy reads:

The Bloody Crown of Conan by Robert E. Howard (which contains the entire text of The Hour of the Dragon also published as Conan the Conqueror, the only Conan novel written by the original series author)
Rating: 4 stars


Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 4 stars


The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Rating: 3 stars

Rick wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I read 305 books that I spoke of publicly in 2019 ..."

(bows in Jenny's direction...)

I thought I was good reading from 50-80 books a year."

If you're happy about it, I'm happy about it. :)

My 2019 5 star books in no order

Ilium by Dan Simmons
Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons
Sword and Citadel by Gene Wolfe
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Horns by Joe Hill
Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

So I finally got around to running my books through my GoodReads Parser Application and here's the quick summary:

Total Books: 75
Total Backlog Books: 32 (42.67%)
Rereads: 4 (5.33%)

********************
* Format Breakdown *
********************
Total AUDIO_BOOK Count: 46 (61.33%)
Total BOOK Count: 4 (5.33%)
Total EBOOK Count: 9 (12.00%)
Total GRAPHIC_NOVEL Count: 16 (21.33%)

*******************
* Genre Breakdown *
*******************
Total FANTASY Count: 51 (68.00%)
Total MYSTERY Count: 4 (5.33%)
Total NONFICTION Count: 4 (5.33%)
Total SCIFI Count: 16 (21.33%)

***********
* Ratings *
***********
Average Rating: 3.8
Total 2 Count: 3 (4.00%)
Total 3 Count: 14 (18.67%)
Total 4 Count: 53 (70.67%)
Total 5 Count: 5 (6.67%)


If anyone is interested in more of my stats and a thoughts on my reading from 2019, I finished my 2019 on Goodreads Review

Are “backlog” books from your TBR?

They are books I've owned for more than a few weeks and haven't read.

Despite my good progress last year I have over 165 books on my "owned and unread" shelf. And I'm pretty sure that there are a bunch I haven't shelved as such too.

I try not to add too many new books to it each year, but I'm not sure that's been working out too well. I have a book buying problem..

Rob wrote: "I try not to add too many new books to it each year, but I'm not sure that's been working out too well. I have a book buying problem..."

I saw a meme last year that said, “Buying books and reading books are unrelated activities.” I’ve never felt more validated in my life.

Rob wrote: "They are books I've owned for more than a few weeks and haven't read.

Despite my good progress last year I have over 165 books on my "owned and unread" shelf. And I'm pretty sure that there are a..."

If it makes you feel better, over the course of my 5 years as a collection development librarian I've received 2000+ ARCs and probably only read ~200 of them. The stats on actually finishing them pre-pub are even worse.

I read 30 books in 2019. four were published in 2019
1. The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
2. Blood of Cayn by Jason McDonald
3. One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence
4. Self-Publishing Boot Camp Guide for Authors 1st Edition by Carla King
I read the most books from 2017 at 8 books and 2018 at 7 books.
My top five favorites were
Redshirts by John Scalzi
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey

Rob wrote: "They are books I've owned for more than a few weeks and haven't read."

Don't feel bad, I have unread books I've had for decades:)

AndrewP wrote: "Rob wrote: "They are books I've owned for more than a few weeks and haven't read."

Don't feel bad, I have unread books I've have had for decades:)"

I have several books 40+ years old that are unread and unlikely to be read now. I don't feel bad, It's not me, It's them ;-)

Tassie Dave wrote: "I have several books 40+ years old that are unread and unlikely to be read now. I don't feel bad, It's not me, It's them ;-) ..."

I'm not sure if I have anything quite that old & unread on my shelves, but it's awfully close in some cases.

And there have been situations where I, e.g., read The Last Unicorn after having it on my shelf for 20+ years, so there's always at least a little hope ...

I wish I had a good way to use my goodreads data to determine how long it's been on my owned an unread shelf.

The best I could do is compare the read date to the shelf date, but a lot of these books get shelved before I buy them. Also a bunch of my books I owned before joining goodreads in 2012 so that would also throw off the calculations.

It'd be interesting to see which of the books from my backlog I read each year had been sitting on that shelf the longest.

Goodreads should totally hire me part time to add a bunch of features like this to the site.