As this year draws to a close and I finish reading my 75th book and somethingdy somethingth short story, it seems like an appropriate time to drop a whole pile of reading recommendations. In this post I’ll cover books. Short stories will come soon. #SFWApro
If you’re interested in seeing what I’ve been up to this year, check out the 2018 Publishing Year in Review.
I can honestly say that my to-be-read pile increased faster than my already-read pile this year.
As this stray 2017 gets flushed away by vodka tonics and nachos, I find myself reflecting back upon the year and all its greatness. Sure, it wasn’t always wonderful, but there were some aspects of this year that I was pretty damn happy about. I mean, I read a lot of books. A LOT. In … Read more
John Scalzi’s Don’t Live for Your Obituary is a collection of essays–blog entries really–formed into the loose structure of a book. If you’re familiar with his Whatever blog, you’ll probably recognize a lot of material. I’m not going to go into a lot of details on individual pieces. Scalzi is a great writer, and he, um, … Read more
The Trials of Solomon Parker by Eric Scott Fischl is a “What would happen if you could go back and fix your mistakes?” book which succeeds when it breaks away from the expected pattern for such a book. Which it does. A lot. It succeeds a lot. Maybe it’s just me, but the book’s title … Read more
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett comes out May 2nd, and if you’re not reading it by May 3rd I’m going to scowl at you SO HARD. This book is a kind of James Bond fantasy but with emotionally impactful action and a whole lot of depth. Nothing wrong with pure escapism, of course, but this … Read more
Dr. Potter’s Medicine Show by Eric Scott Fischl is the kind of story you should read while chugging cheap whiskey straight from the bottle and cussing up a storm. It’s an intense ride full of alchemy, death, and violence.
Sometimes it’s nice to read a book with villains who are easy to hate. This book fills the need and then some. With truly evil-but-in-interesting-ways antagonists and deeply flawed protagonists, it tends to get a touch dark, but don’t worry! Just when you think it’s dark, it’ll
There should be more books like The Bear and the Nightingale. Lots of them. It is beautiful, and a joy to read.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for fantasies packed full of myths and legends. Maybe the Russian origins of this folklore charmed me.
