favorite 21 books or series of 2014
Jan. 1st, 2015 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maribouAt least, they are my favorites today! As I do every year, I'm just reposting the original review that I posted when I read the book in the first place, so I apologize for my outsized enthusiasm for certain words (such as 'love' and 'splendid'). I did a lot of "cluster reviews", so I haven't bothered trying to pick out which of a series was my favorite if I reviewed them all together. Also (as usual) I tried not to include rereads (excepting The Giver) and I tried to limit myself to one entry per author (otherwise there'd be a lot more Diane Duane on there!).
In reverse chronological order:
The Art of Dora Carrington, by Jane Hill
I've wanted to read this book ever since I first saw the movie Carrington, almost twenty years ago. The focus is as much on the narrative, about Carrington's life and choices and loves and how they affected her art, as it is on the artworks themselves, which are mostly black and white (with several color sections) but very clearly reproduced. A fascinating, lively balance of words and pictures.
Earth Girl, Earth Star, and Earth Flight by Janet Edwards
Sometimes I talk about "my platonic xylophone solo" and "my platonic epic fantasy trilogy" and etc. Turns out that this is my platonic juvenile SF story - the one I was looking for when I read all those other ones. Since I'm a grown-up now, and I've read ever so many science fiction stories, they didn't have quite the impact on me they would have had at thirteen... but I ate them up just as greedily.
The Oversight, by Charlie Fletcher
This historical fantasy was rich and vivid and strange and I'm so glad there will be more of them. The characters and the worldbuilding and the magical structure and the plot were all wonderful.
The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal, vol. 1: Poor Boys and Pilgrims, vol. 2: Wanderlust Kings, and vol. 3: Ten Days of Perfect Tunes, by E. K. Weaver
Oh man. I started reading this as a webcomic (which you can still do for free) and then I just knew about 3 chapters in that I MUST read it in print. And I was right, and it was absolutely ... it's so good I don't know how to talk about it. And then I mailed all three comics to my friend and he was as excited as I was. :)
The Book of Night with Moon, by Diane Duane
Cat wizards in New York City. Took some time to get used to how she sees cats, but it was consistent enough that my disbelief was eventually suspended. And then it was MARVELOUS. Exciting, thoughtful, and it really did make me laugh and make me cry. I've been waiting for AGES for the next one to come in from the library, and I may just give in and buy it instead.
The Magician's Land, by Lev Grossman
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo soo soo soo good. I loved this book unreservedly. I *almost* started rereading the trilogy over from scratch as soon as I finished this one, but I held off. It's probably going to happen over winter break though. [Ed. note: it didn't. Maybe this summer...] Many pieces from the previous novels came together and the annoying leftovers were resolved meaningfully and the scary parts were scary and the delightful parts were delightful and and and. YAY BOOK.
The Story of Owen, Dragon Slayer of Trondheim, by E. K. Johnston
I loved this book so so much! And 16-year-old me's head would have EXPLODED at how much she loved it. Everything about it was exactly as it should be, plus it made me homesick for Canada in subtle and unexpected ways. There's not a lot of explicit emotional content, either - the telling is more focused on the plot and the setting and thinking thinky thoughts - which is kind of a refreshing change: I knew plenty of teenage girls who didn't have loud emotions growing up, and there are not so very many narrating novels...
The Golden Vine, by Jai Sen et al
This book was SPLENDID. Absolutely stunning full-color manga-style art - a gold wash used sparingly really adds to that - and a really interesting story. Basically it's an occult alternate history of Alexander the Great. Loved it. Wish it was in print, I would buy copies for me and some other people. (Didn't love it 100-ish bucks per book, but 20-ish, I would've sprung for repeatedly ...)
The Incrementalists, by Steven Brust and Skyler White
The male protagonist of this novel makes it splendidly obvious that Steven Brust lived in Las Vegas for a good long time; it's fair to say that this is the book I was hoping Last Call would be. And the story as a whole was wonderful - exactly enough of most of the things that make for a book I will love. I particularly liked the way Ren thinks (which I assume is White's work, though I could be mistaken - truly coauthored books always have me trying to puzzle out who contributed what). The whole reminded me faintly of John Crowley's Love & Sleep, although neither of the story's voices sound like him and the two books don't really have much else in common. Somewhere along the way, Brust has become one of my authors to hoard against need, rather than to consume, but the temptation of just falling into his entire corpus is ever-growing.
The Year of Reading Dangerously, by Andy Miller
One of the most readable books about books I've ever read (and I've read many). Sometimes thigh-slappingly funny, sometimes awkward and gangly, most often feeling like you're having a beer with the guy while he tells you about his reading life and you laugh and ask questions and make suggestions and tell stories of your own. I liked this even more than I liked Nick Hornby's collections of book reviews (which was a lot).
Delight, by J. B. Priestley
A marvelous little book. The binding was marvelous, the paper was marvelous, the printing was marvelous, the little ornaments separating the sections were marvelous, and many of the small sections describing various delights the author had experienced were marvelous. In the very literal sense that I often interrupted my reading to marvel at all of those things. The slight majority of the sections were merely funny, or charming, or sly, but I didn't mind. Needed some breathing room among the marvels.
The Secret History of Las Vegas, by Chris Abani
This book was SO good - one of my favorites of the year so far. Just enough science, just enough mystery, just enough thriller, just enough unsettling, just enough deeply weird. And luminously written.
Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything, by Maira Kalman
Now, this one was GENIUS. So good I immediately bought a copy to give to some kids I know. It's rare to find a treatment of Jefferson for kids that actually talks about him in flawed human terms. Plus the art was amazing.
Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell
I started out a little wary of this one - it's hard to read books of people you already know(ish) and think highly of - but I LOVED IT. The set-up was maybe a bit slow, but not in a bad way, just in a not-quite-revealing-how-incredibly-in-love-with-the-book I would soon become. And as for the meat of the book, well! I loved the characters. I liked their flaws. I *really* appreciated that the heroine has a bum leg, given my own sometimes-bum-leg - it was amazing to read a tween adventure story that articulated that so well. It articulated A LOT of stuff really well. So well that I am singularly NOT articulate, trying to describe it. Reduced to arm-flapping-so-fun-best-middle-grade-novel-I've-read-in-ages expostulations, I am! Also I am bolstered.
The Giver (reread), Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son, by Lois Lowry
I remembered how much I loved The Giver as a young teenager (I think I read it three times?) but not really anything about it. And I'd never read the sequels. And I was super-excited that I will be listening to Lowry speak soon. So I decided to reread the book and then read all the sequels. I expected to enjoy them; I did not quite expect them to be so unputdownable that I tore through all four of them in two days. I was a little crotchety about the ending of Messenger, but given what Lowry was going through herself at the time, I can see why she ended the book the way she did. Taken as one work, these four books are astoundingly good.
100 Crushes, by Elisha Lim
Splendid splendid splendid comic / set of illustrated musings and interviews. So captivating!
My Real Children, by Jo Walton
It seems possible that a day will come when a new novel by Jo Walton (papersky) arrives in the mail, and I neither open it that night nor finish it before bedtime. And then I don't skip it ahead of all the other books in my reviewing queue either. But yesterday was not that day. And my current reviewing queue is not that reviewing queue.
The book was, obvs., splendid. Absorbing and thoughtful. Very roomy for a short novel, and, oddly enough for an experimental-ish novel, somehow both solid and comforting (even though it sometimes made me cry). There are a lot of books out there which don't have any people like me in them, and don't tell stories that connect to my experience of life; this is the opposite of those.
New Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko
Man, I freaking love this series. And I especially love how the world-building gets richer and deeper as it develops, without losing the intimacy of the first books.
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery, by Kurtis J. Wiebe
OMG fun!!!!!!!! This is a comic set in a D&D-made-real type of fantasy universe, and all the main characters are female. Also, funny. So many people are waiting to borrow it from me that I made a joke about putting a router slip on the thing.
My Education, by Susan Choi
This was overwhelming and strained and often very very good. Some sentences so apt I had to reread three or four times before I could let them go. Often very funny, often perfectly observed. I enjoyed this infinitely more than "graduate student sleeps with a bunch of people older than she is in varyingly weird power relationships" might suggest.
A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki
If this is a year where every month I read a book that is as shimmering and earthy and heartfelt and carefully structured and real and surreal as this one, it will be a very good year indeed.
PS I continue to be head-over-heels for the comics series Unwritten, Fables, Fairest, and Astro City, all of which had some excellent volumes come out this year.
In reverse chronological order:
The Art of Dora Carrington, by Jane Hill
I've wanted to read this book ever since I first saw the movie Carrington, almost twenty years ago. The focus is as much on the narrative, about Carrington's life and choices and loves and how they affected her art, as it is on the artworks themselves, which are mostly black and white (with several color sections) but very clearly reproduced. A fascinating, lively balance of words and pictures.
Earth Girl, Earth Star, and Earth Flight by Janet Edwards
Sometimes I talk about "my platonic xylophone solo" and "my platonic epic fantasy trilogy" and etc. Turns out that this is my platonic juvenile SF story - the one I was looking for when I read all those other ones. Since I'm a grown-up now, and I've read ever so many science fiction stories, they didn't have quite the impact on me they would have had at thirteen... but I ate them up just as greedily.
The Oversight, by Charlie Fletcher
This historical fantasy was rich and vivid and strange and I'm so glad there will be more of them. The characters and the worldbuilding and the magical structure and the plot were all wonderful.
The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal, vol. 1: Poor Boys and Pilgrims, vol. 2: Wanderlust Kings, and vol. 3: Ten Days of Perfect Tunes, by E. K. Weaver
Oh man. I started reading this as a webcomic (which you can still do for free) and then I just knew about 3 chapters in that I MUST read it in print. And I was right, and it was absolutely ... it's so good I don't know how to talk about it. And then I mailed all three comics to my friend and he was as excited as I was. :)
The Book of Night with Moon, by Diane Duane
Cat wizards in New York City. Took some time to get used to how she sees cats, but it was consistent enough that my disbelief was eventually suspended. And then it was MARVELOUS. Exciting, thoughtful, and it really did make me laugh and make me cry. I've been waiting for AGES for the next one to come in from the library, and I may just give in and buy it instead.
The Magician's Land, by Lev Grossman
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo soo soo soo good. I loved this book unreservedly. I *almost* started rereading the trilogy over from scratch as soon as I finished this one, but I held off. It's probably going to happen over winter break though. [Ed. note: it didn't. Maybe this summer...] Many pieces from the previous novels came together and the annoying leftovers were resolved meaningfully and the scary parts were scary and the delightful parts were delightful and and and. YAY BOOK.
The Story of Owen, Dragon Slayer of Trondheim, by E. K. Johnston
I loved this book so so much! And 16-year-old me's head would have EXPLODED at how much she loved it. Everything about it was exactly as it should be, plus it made me homesick for Canada in subtle and unexpected ways. There's not a lot of explicit emotional content, either - the telling is more focused on the plot and the setting and thinking thinky thoughts - which is kind of a refreshing change: I knew plenty of teenage girls who didn't have loud emotions growing up, and there are not so very many narrating novels...
The Golden Vine, by Jai Sen et al
This book was SPLENDID. Absolutely stunning full-color manga-style art - a gold wash used sparingly really adds to that - and a really interesting story. Basically it's an occult alternate history of Alexander the Great. Loved it. Wish it was in print, I would buy copies for me and some other people. (Didn't love it 100-ish bucks per book, but 20-ish, I would've sprung for repeatedly ...)
The Incrementalists, by Steven Brust and Skyler White
The male protagonist of this novel makes it splendidly obvious that Steven Brust lived in Las Vegas for a good long time; it's fair to say that this is the book I was hoping Last Call would be. And the story as a whole was wonderful - exactly enough of most of the things that make for a book I will love. I particularly liked the way Ren thinks (which I assume is White's work, though I could be mistaken - truly coauthored books always have me trying to puzzle out who contributed what). The whole reminded me faintly of John Crowley's Love & Sleep, although neither of the story's voices sound like him and the two books don't really have much else in common. Somewhere along the way, Brust has become one of my authors to hoard against need, rather than to consume, but the temptation of just falling into his entire corpus is ever-growing.
The Year of Reading Dangerously, by Andy Miller
One of the most readable books about books I've ever read (and I've read many). Sometimes thigh-slappingly funny, sometimes awkward and gangly, most often feeling like you're having a beer with the guy while he tells you about his reading life and you laugh and ask questions and make suggestions and tell stories of your own. I liked this even more than I liked Nick Hornby's collections of book reviews (which was a lot).
Delight, by J. B. Priestley
A marvelous little book. The binding was marvelous, the paper was marvelous, the printing was marvelous, the little ornaments separating the sections were marvelous, and many of the small sections describing various delights the author had experienced were marvelous. In the very literal sense that I often interrupted my reading to marvel at all of those things. The slight majority of the sections were merely funny, or charming, or sly, but I didn't mind. Needed some breathing room among the marvels.
The Secret History of Las Vegas, by Chris Abani
This book was SO good - one of my favorites of the year so far. Just enough science, just enough mystery, just enough thriller, just enough unsettling, just enough deeply weird. And luminously written.
Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything, by Maira Kalman
Now, this one was GENIUS. So good I immediately bought a copy to give to some kids I know. It's rare to find a treatment of Jefferson for kids that actually talks about him in flawed human terms. Plus the art was amazing.
Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell
I started out a little wary of this one - it's hard to read books of people you already know(ish) and think highly of - but I LOVED IT. The set-up was maybe a bit slow, but not in a bad way, just in a not-quite-revealing-how-incredibly-in-love-with-the-book I would soon become. And as for the meat of the book, well! I loved the characters. I liked their flaws. I *really* appreciated that the heroine has a bum leg, given my own sometimes-bum-leg - it was amazing to read a tween adventure story that articulated that so well. It articulated A LOT of stuff really well. So well that I am singularly NOT articulate, trying to describe it. Reduced to arm-flapping-so-fun-best-middle-grade-novel-I've-read-in-ages expostulations, I am! Also I am bolstered.
The Giver (reread), Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son, by Lois Lowry
I remembered how much I loved The Giver as a young teenager (I think I read it three times?) but not really anything about it. And I'd never read the sequels. And I was super-excited that I will be listening to Lowry speak soon. So I decided to reread the book and then read all the sequels. I expected to enjoy them; I did not quite expect them to be so unputdownable that I tore through all four of them in two days. I was a little crotchety about the ending of Messenger, but given what Lowry was going through herself at the time, I can see why she ended the book the way she did. Taken as one work, these four books are astoundingly good.
100 Crushes, by Elisha Lim
Splendid splendid splendid comic / set of illustrated musings and interviews. So captivating!
My Real Children, by Jo Walton
It seems possible that a day will come when a new novel by Jo Walton (papersky) arrives in the mail, and I neither open it that night nor finish it before bedtime. And then I don't skip it ahead of all the other books in my reviewing queue either. But yesterday was not that day. And my current reviewing queue is not that reviewing queue.
The book was, obvs., splendid. Absorbing and thoughtful. Very roomy for a short novel, and, oddly enough for an experimental-ish novel, somehow both solid and comforting (even though it sometimes made me cry). There are a lot of books out there which don't have any people like me in them, and don't tell stories that connect to my experience of life; this is the opposite of those.
New Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko
Man, I freaking love this series. And I especially love how the world-building gets richer and deeper as it develops, without losing the intimacy of the first books.
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery, by Kurtis J. Wiebe
OMG fun!!!!!!!! This is a comic set in a D&D-made-real type of fantasy universe, and all the main characters are female. Also, funny. So many people are waiting to borrow it from me that I made a joke about putting a router slip on the thing.
My Education, by Susan Choi
This was overwhelming and strained and often very very good. Some sentences so apt I had to reread three or four times before I could let them go. Often very funny, often perfectly observed. I enjoyed this infinitely more than "graduate student sleeps with a bunch of people older than she is in varyingly weird power relationships" might suggest.
A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki
If this is a year where every month I read a book that is as shimmering and earthy and heartfelt and carefully structured and real and surreal as this one, it will be a very good year indeed.
PS I continue to be head-over-heels for the comics series Unwritten, Fables, Fairest, and Astro City, all of which had some excellent volumes come out this year.
