When I think back over what I read this year, these are the stories and collections that most come to mind. They’re by no means all of the best, but they’re a good cross-section.
I’ve skimped on reviews – but Nicole Feld and A.C. Wise haven’t. Go check out their reading lists too. (PS. I totally stole Nicole’s idea for a bookshelf image, though hers is better.)
Novels
- Seraphina - Rachel Hartman (YA, Fantasy)
- Bigger than a Breadbox - Laurel Snyder (MG)
- Splendors and Glooms - Laura Amy Schlitz (MG)
- Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein (Nominally YA)
- The Pottawomie Giant and Other Stories - Andy Duncan
- The Night Circus - Erin Mortgenstern
- The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There - Catherynne M. Valente
- Throne of the Crescent Moon - Saladin Ahmed
- Range of Ghosts - Elizabeth Bear
- Shiver - Maggie Stiefaver
- Seeker - Jack McDevit
Short Stories
- Immersion & Scattered Along the River of Heaven - Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld)
- Boojum - Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette (Lightspeed) [Reprint]
- Love Might Be Too Strong a Word – Charlie Jane Anders (Lightspeed)
- Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream - Maria Dahvana Headley (Lightspeed)
- New World Blues – L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor)
- How to Make a Triffid – Kelly Lagor (Tor)
- Katabasis – Robert Reed (F&SF)
- Scrap Dragon – Naomi Kritzer (F&SF)
- Close Encounters – Andy Duncan (F&SF)
- Nahiku West – Linda Nagata (Analog)
- The Mongolian Book of the Dead – Alan Smale (Asimov’s)
- A Marble for the Drowning River – Ann Chatham (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
- Sinking Among Lillies – Corry Skerry (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
- After Compline, Silence Falls – M. Bennardo (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
- The Grinnell Method – Molly Gloss (Strange Horizons)
- UPDATE – an egregious omission, because I missed the October issue – A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones – Genevieve Valentine (Clarkesworld)
Anthologies
- Digital Rapture – James Patrick Kelley and John Kessel, eds.
- Edge of Infinity – Jonathan Strahan, ed.
- Bewere the Night – Ekaterina Sedia, ed.
There are a lot more, of course. I’m sure I’ll be smacking my head and wanting to add several in about five minutes.
What were your favorite reads this year?
thank you. i love knowing what’s been on your night table. i’ve printed it out (so archaic, i know) and put it on my night table. sorry if that seems stalky and weird but i can never find the notes i make of the books you tell me to read. except the night circus. i remembered that one and loved it. and we saw the cirque du soleil movie the other day which TOTALLY reminded me of the night circus until the the fucking beatles music routines started and everyone was so excited and i was ready to leave. noa’s been listening to srgt pepper ever since. kill. me. now.
xoxo
Here I was, reading along, sipping my coffee… now I’m wiping coffee off the monitor. So glad you loved The Night Circus! I will remember to leave the Beatles playlist off the iThing for our next outing.
Loved The Night Circus as well. Also Gillespie and I by Jane Harris, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, and the The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. My favorite classic of the year was McTeague by Frank Norris–it’s Zola, but in San Francisco and in English!
Oh there are a number on your list I want to read, Sylvie!
See, your post wins because it has pretty pictures. Now my post just looks lazy! Thank you for sharing this; it’s reminded me of all the things I have to add to my to-read list!
As yours did for me!
So smart of you to include short fiction as well! I slacked off on keeping track of the short stories I enjoyed.