Beyond Reality discussion

Granted there are still a few days left, and I'll edit if I end up reading something truly amazing by the actual end of the year, but here are my favorite reads of 2023! In no particular order:

SF/F:
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Imperial Radch trilogy (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, and Ancillary Mercy) by Ann Leckie
Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
Murderbot books 3-6: Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect, and Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (the first two books were on my 2022 list and I haven't gotten my hands on the latest yet!)

Other fiction:
Moloka'i and Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Nonfiction:
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by K.C. Davis
Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer

How about you? :)

Shel wrote: "Granted there are still a few days left, and I'll edit if I end up reading something truly amazing by the actual end of the year, but here are my favorite reads of 2023! In no particular order."

Thanks for stealing my QotW idea for 12/31! LOL

I had lots and lots of distractions this year, but amazingly did manage to run across a couple 5 star reads.

Children of Memory
I really enjoyed this book. There were just so many ideas and concepts to think about.

I also spent some time reading short stories, mostly in the horror genre, but Amazon's Into Shadow anthology sits on the line between Fantasy and Horror.

The Six Deaths of the Saint
Such an impact in only 30 pages.

A couple honorable mentions

Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse - This turned out to be a very enjoyable series. Serious, some humor, characters I could care for, be sympathetic towards, and cheer on. Laughter and tears.

Meddling Kids - I swear there were scenes that played out like a Scooby Doo cartoon. Not Scooby, of course, but a lot of fun similarities and differences. And it was a good story in its own right. I really need to try more from this author.

I also highly suspect the only reason System Collapse isn't on this list is because I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Tress of the Emerald Sea - truly lovely story
Starter Villain - can't wait until our discussion starts!
The Mountain in the Sea
The King of Elfland's Daughter
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
and I've gotten hooked on the Honor Harrington books by David Weber

Chris wrote: "and I've gotten hooked on the Honor Harrington books by David Weber."

Those books were one of the first series our group read, back in 2011-2013. Feel free to check out any of those discussions in our series discussion folder.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

I read 80 books in 2023. (I don’t think I’ll finish my current book before the end of the year.)
I rate my books on a 10 point scale, and the following were all 10.0:
The Arctic: Reflecting the Landscape, Wildlife, and People of the Far North by Sven-Olof Lindblad & Elizabeth Warner
The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

And these books were so close (9.5):
The Serpent's Tooth by Diana L. Paxson
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

I have eight favourites for the year. All 5 star reads.


SF/F:
Golden State by Ben H. Winters. I like the author from his end of the world police series, but this one is more speculative, an interesting take on dystopia, with some actual hope.

Jade City by Fonda Lee. A fantasy series with a triad based world fueled by jade magic. Great world building and a bit of a shocking ending. Still haven't quite gotten to the rest of the trilogy.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. I loved the unpredictability of this story.

Non-Fiction:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I loved the indigenous take on living with the natural world, making it a give and take, instead of this constant take without thought to the consequences.

Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food by Chris van Tulleken. There is so much information in this book that I've read it through a few times. I like that it looks at the types of food, vs. just what world cuisine is better. Essentially, anything where you are eating less factory made food like substances is better. Also, the author is not providing any suggestions, he just wants to give you information to make your own decisions from.

Other Fiction:
When We Lost Our Heads & The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill. I really like this author, she writes quirky, interesting, and sometimes bizarre stories that just appeal to me.

The Red Chesterfield by Wayne Arthurson. I've become quite partial to stories told in small events, they connect but there is space in between. This one is really short but extremely well written.

Add one more to my list: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, which I got in with just under 2 hours left in the year (my kids are insisting on staying up until midnight so I figured I'd read to help myself stay awake with them, it's already past my bedtime). It's a GORGEOUS book.

Happy new year, all!!

Dawn wrote: "Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I loved the indigenous take on living with the natural world, making it a give and take, instead of this constant take without thought to the consequences."

This one is on my list! I don't know if you ever listen to podcasts, but Kimmerer was interviewed (a few years ago, but I just listened to it relatively recently) by one of my favorite podcasters and it's a fantastic episode: https://www.alieward.com/ologies/bryo...

I don't know if I want to go through the trouble of looking over my list, but last night I did read, and love, The Adventures of Superhero Girl... and I do recommend it. (It's short, and even if you aren't sure you'll like it, see if your library has it.)

I do listen to podcasts, I have tracked down the episode on Audible and I'll listen to it. Thanks!