Reading & TBR – January through April

It’s been a while since I did one of these. Many reasons for this, traveling and working on books being big ones. But I have some lovely reads to share, and a moment to do so. Onwards!

Novels and Anthologies (selected):

• What Makes This Book So Great – A selection of Jo Walton’s re-readings from across the science fiction and fantasy bookshelf. Does exactly what it says on the tin. (Tor, 2014)
• The Waking Engine – David Edison’s debut novel. Check out his Sandwich Manifesto in Cooking the Books. (Tor, 2014)
• Hild – Niccola Griffith’s beautiful Middle Age epic. (FS&G 2013) – finally finished it. Worth it.
• Ghost Train to New Orleans (Orbit, 2014) & The Shambling Guide to New York City (Orbit 2013) – Mur Lafferty twines humor and a deep understanding of the souls behind cities in this pair. Stay tuned for her Cooking the Books interview, coming soon.
• Currently reading/enjoying/devouring: The Time Traveler’s Almanac (VanderMeer – Tor, 2014), The Goblin Emperor (Katherine Addison – Tor 2014), Steles of the Sky (Elizabeth Bear – Tor 2014), The Green Glass Sea (Ellen Klages, Viking Juvenile, 2006)
• TBR includes: Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone (Tor 2014), A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar (Small Beer Press, 2013), 21st Century Science Fiction, David M. Hartwell & Patrick Nielsen Hayden, eds (Tor, 2014)

*Several of these books were received from the publisher.

Magazines: Asimov’s, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Unlikely Story & more.

Short stories (selected):

• Back in January, I mentioned Siobhan Carroll’s The Year of Silent Birds from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and I’m going to mention it again because I love it so.
• The Tallest Doll in New York City, by Maria Davana Headley. A Valentine from Tor.com.
• Codename Delphi, Linda Nagata (Lightspeed)
• 21 Steps to Enlightenment (Minus One), LaShawn Wanak (Strange Horizons).
• Snakebit, Amanda Downum (Strange Horizons)
• How to Get Back to the Forest, Sofia Samatar (Lightspeed)
• Shatterdown, Suzanne Palmer (Asimov’s)
• Of Finest Scarlet Was Her Gown, Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s) [print/ebook]
• Rules of Engagement, Matthew Johnson (Asimov’s) [print/ebook]

Nonfiction: Stories About Stories, Brian Attebery (Oxford University Press, 2014)

There’s lots more reading to do (evidence: photo below), and there’s a lot of writing to do too.

What are your favorite reads so far this year?

Books pictured include: 21st Century Science Fiction, The Goblin Emperor, Dangerous Women, The Eternal Sky series, A Darkling Sea, The Time Traveler’s Almanac, and The Accidental Highwayman (Arc)