2020 Bookish Year in Review

[tabacoychanel]

This was meant to be a combined bookish + fannish year in review but this book meme I stole from hamsterwoman andbearshorty sure got long! I will publish a separate fannish year in review post with bonus Yuletide recs, how’s that.

2020 Books Read

January

1. R. F. Kuang, The Poppy War (2018)


2. Colson Whitehead, Zone One (2011)


3. Robert Jackson Bennet, Foundryside (2018)


4. Rosemary Sutcliffe, The Eagle of the Ninth (1954)


5. Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House (2019)


6. T. Kingfisher, The Twisted Ones (2019)


7. Sarah Waters, Fingersmith (2002)


8. Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002)


9. Nina Allan, The Dollmaker (2019)


10. James S.A. Corey, Cibola Burn (2014)

February

1. Penelope Farmer, Charlotte Sometimes (1969)


2. Steven Brust, Yendi (1984)


3. Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (1944)


4. Seanan McGuire, The Unkindest Tide (2019)


5. Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings (2015)


6. Steven Brust, Teckla (1987)


7. Annalee Newitz, The Future of Another Timeline (2019)


8. Daphne Du Maurier, Frenchman’s Creek (1941)


9. Steven Brust, Taltos (1988)


10. Blake Crouch, Dark Matter (2016)


11. Steven Brust, Phoenix (1990)


12. Mary Stewart, Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)

March

1. Astra Taylor, Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone (2018)


2. Emily Guendelsberger, On the Clock: What low-wage work did to me and how it drives America insane (2019)


3. Dexter Palmer, Version Control (2016)


4. Charles Stross, Empire Games (2017)


5. Charles Stross, Dark State (2018)

April

1. Tim Powers, Medusa’s Web (2017)


2. C.J. Hauser, Family of Origin (2019)


3. Robert Charles Wilson, Last Year (2016)


4. Theodora Goss, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (2017)

May

1. Alan Smale, Clash of Eagles (2015)


2. Steven Brust, Athyra (1993)


3. M.J. McGrath, White Heat (2012)


4. Jo Spurrier, Winter Be My Shield (2012)


5. William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (1602)


6. Emma Bull, War For the Oaks (1987)


7. Steven Brust, Orca (1996)


8. Ada Palmer, Too Like the Lightning (2016)


9. D.B. Jackson, Thieftaker (2012)

June

1. Erin Claiborne, A Hero at the End of the World (2014)


2. Ada Palmer, Seven Surrenders (2017)


3. Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres (1991)


4. Sarah Pinsker, A Song for a New Day (2019)


5. Sandra Newman, The Heavens (2019)

July

1. Georgette Heyer, The Talisman Ring (1936)


2. Joan Wolf, His Lordship’s Desire (1996)


3. Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac (1897)


4. Diana Wynne Jones, Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998)


5. Claudia Gray, Lost Stars (2015)


6. Jean Plaidy, Madonna of the Seven Hills (1958)


7. Ada Palmer The Will to Battle (2017)

August

1. Maggie Stiefvater, Call Down the Hawk (2019)


2. Naomi Novik, A Deadly Education (2020)


3. Tamsyn Muir, Harrow the Ninth (2020)

September

1. Emily Tesh, Silver in the Wood (2019)


2. Cat Sebastian, Two Rogues Make a Right (2020)


3. David Dayen, Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power (2020)

October

1. Frances Hardinge, Deeplight (2020)


2. John M. Ford, The Dragon Waiting (1983)

November

1. Brandon Sanderson, Dawnshard (2020)


2. Neal Shusterman, Scythe (2016)


3. Garth Nix, Newt’s Emerald (2015)


4. Silvia Moreno-García, Mexican Gothic (2020)

December

1. Holly Black, Red Glove (2011)


2. Jane Barry, A Time in the Sun (1962)


3. Leigh Phillips and Michale Rozworski, The People’s Republic of Walmart: How the World’s Biggest Corporations are laying the foundation for socialism (2019)


4. Holly Black, Black Heart (2012)

REREAD

1. Carolyn Slaughter, Relations (1976)


2. Tim Powers, Declare (2000)


3. Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights (1847)


4. George R.R. Martin, A Clash or Kings (2000)


5. William Shakespeare, King Lear (1603)


6. Joan Wolf, The Arrangement (1997)


7. Georgette Heyer, Cotillion (1953)


8. Tamsyn Muir, Gideon the Ninth (2019)

The first book you read in 2020:

R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War, which I liked but not enough to continue with the trilogy.

The last book you finished in 2020:

Holly Black’s Black Heart, which ties up the ongoing family circus/con that is the Curse Workers trilogy.

The first book you will finish (or did finish!) in 2021:

K.J. Parker’s Devices and Desires, the first in her fantasy-historical Engineer Trilogy, which is—well there’s definitely a learning curve when tackling her writing. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it—I do not think her books are meant to be enjoyed—but I am devouring the next book, Evil for Evil. I was warned that everyone in a KJ Parker book is a terrible person and it didn’t faze me for the first 500 pages but by p600 I was starting to get tired lol. Also finished Americanah by Chimamnda Ngozi Adichie, which I’d been dipping in and out for 8 months; and Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman, which is book 2 in his Arc of a Scythe series and which I gobbled up in two gulps/sittings.

How many books read in 2020

68 new (I don’t usually count rereads) which is on the low side for me.

Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio?

5 out of 68 were nonfiction, which is again on the low side for me—I usually end up with about 1/3 nonfiction by the end of the year.

Male/Female authors?

Too lazy to plug all these titles into my spreadsheet (the last few years I have been keeping a spreadsheet) so idk yet

Most books read by one author this year?

Ada Palmer and Steven Brust tied with 3!!! Anna your power lol

Favorite books read?

Jesus Christ this is a tough question. Either 2020 was a good reading year, or I’ve just got better at picking books I am likely to enjoy. I would have to say Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota series has certainly had the biggest impact on me, but idk if I can rightly call them my favorite, if you know what I mean? I will go with a tie between Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks and Tamsyn Muir’s Harrow the NInth, which I loved for very different reasons but they were both books that I 1) could not put down in the moment and also 2) stayed with me long after i had finished them.

Best books you read in 2020?

Tie between Sarah Waters, Fingersmith and Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres—neither of which are speculative fiction, huh; I do consider myself mostly as inhabiting the speculative fiction space. I’m going with “best” in the sense of “accomplished what it set out to do,” because if I was going with “best” in the sense of “ambitious” I’d have to go with either Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota or John M Ford’s The Dragon Waiting.

Least favorite?

Newt’s Emerald, not because it wasn’t a fun, light Regency romp but because I expected better of Garth Nix, author of one of my all-time favorite canons (Abhorsen). Then I read the acknowledgements and realized this was a manuscript he’d written in the early 90’s, before Sabriel, then dusted it off and polished it and published it in the early 2010’s, and it started to make a lot more sense.

Best series you discovered in 2020?

TERRA IGNOTA!!!! that was easy

Favorite new author you discovered this year?

Why don’t I just save myself some work and answer every one of these with Ada Palmer Ada Palmer please go and read Ada Palmer immediately. I was really impressed by Sandra Newman’s The Heavens and have accordingly added The Country of the Ice-Cream Star to my TBR (I thought for some reason she was a really fusty inaccessible writer but she’s not at all). Other authors who can write the socks off everyone ever: Jane Smiley, Sarah Waters, Dexter Palmer.

Oldest book read?

I reread King Lear (1603) this year, and I read for the first time Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1897).

Newest?

Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson which came out in November 2020.

Longest book title?

Leigh Phillips and Michale Rozworski, The People’s Republic of Walmart: How the World’s Biggest Corporations are laying the foundation for socialism —which is a book with a fabulous and thought-provoking thesis, it should just have been like, a 20 page paper instead of a book.

Shortest title?

Steven Brust, Orca.

How many re-reads?

Eight! And very satisfying rereads they were too, all books that have had a lasting impact on me and I was thrilled to dig back into.

Any in translation?

Yes, Cyrano de Bergerac.

How many of this year's books were from the library?

Gosh, most of them tbh.meretricula lent me Rosemary Sutcliffe’s The Eagle of the Ninth before we all went into lockdown so I have yet to return it to her. I bought A Time in the Sun at a used bookstore and picked up Newt’s Emerald at the dollar store, but otherwise it looks like all of these came from the library in either hard copy or ebook form (the nonfiction books are much easier to obtain in hard copy, I’ve found).

Book that most changed my perspective:

Is it cheating to answer every question with Terra Ignota? It really did change my perspective though. In my writeup I literally said “Feels like someone removed my head from my shoulders, stuffed it with 2000 years of European intellectual history, and screwed it back on. It’s still recognizably my head, I’m just not the same person I was when I started this book.”

Favorite character:

Gideon Nav! I know this is kind of cheating because I read Harrow the Ninth this year and she’s hardly in it but I did also reread Gideon the Ninth and the combination of her snark and her obliviousness and her fundamental decency, I love this girl sfm.

Most memorable character:

Mycroft Canner from Terra Ignota! Unbeatable.

Favorite scene:

Harrow soup?? That was really good.

Favorite quote:

“Magic is a building of many small efforts toward a final, greater end. Magic is slow.” —The Dragon Waiting

Most inspirational in terms of own writing?

John M. Ford’s The Dragon Waiting, not because I could ever approach Ford’s level of galaxy-brain-ness, but because he showed how much is possible, the things that you can do with genre and voice and all these other tools in the writer’s toolkit. CJ Hauser’s Family of Origin made me wish so hard she wrote fanfic instead of like, pretentious literary fiction lmao.

How many you'd actually read again?

A lot! Already itching to reread A Deadly Education and Call Down the Hawk

A book that you never want to read again:

Silvia Moreno-García’s Mexican Gothic , which I could not put down while I was in the midst of it but in retrospect she’s really good at building up tension and er, no bueno at resolving it satisfactorily. It was maybe too horror-heavy for me?

Book you recommended most to others in 2020?

Muir’s The Locked Tomb and Palmer’s Terra Ignota, both of which i successfully pressed upon bothmysticalmuddle andazdaema 

The book series you read the most volumes of in 2020:

tie between Terra Ignota & Vlad Taltos

The genre you read the most in 2020:

entirely too lazy to figure this out

Your favorite "classic" you read in 2020:

Woefully neglected this front! Guess it’s King Lear by default even though I didn’t really enjoy it, I was just trying to lay the groundwork for A Thousand Acres, which I did get a lot out of. Oh wait--I reread Wuthering Heights and I had a ball of a time.

Most surprising (in a good way) book of the year?

Neal Shusterman’s Scythe which I expected to be dumb but it was instead merely simple—as in, the antonym of “complex”—but gripping and sincere nonetheless.

The hardest book you read in 2020 (topic or writing style):

If we’re counting ones I didn’t finish then Cyteen (two chapters left to go!) which I am so glad I did as part of a sync-read, I might have given up before it grabbed me, otherwise. Nina Allan’s The Dollmaker which was doing a bunch of things formally that made it hard to follow (I persevered because her prose is wrought like jewels and she always takes me to interesting places).

The funniest book you read in 2020:

Naomi Novik, A Deadly Education

The saddest book you read in 2020:

A tie between Jane Barry, A Time in the Sun and Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres, both mid-twentieth century books about the American midwest. Very different but they sure did hurt, both of them.

The shortest book you read in 2020:

i honestly don’t know? probably Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer which was a kids’ book.

The longest book that you read in 2020:

i think this has got to be one of ada palmer’s, but i’m actually unsure as i don’t have page counts.

Best book that was outside your comfort zone/a new genre for you?

The Dragon Waiting was so good!! It was fantasy/historical so i dunno if it’s accurate to say it’s out of my comfort zone, but i think, if i’d just read the blurb it wouldn’t have piqued my interest the way it did (which was because JO WALTON and about a hundred other SF/F luminaries heaped it with a continuous stream of praise). I don’t think you could rightly nail Ford down to one genre, in fact. I guess I’m putting it here because it isn’t a book I woulda read if multiple people whose taste I trust hadn’t told me I would like it. (By “told me” I mean recommended it highly lol I am not in personal contact with all these authors.)

Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2020?

Naomi Novik, A Deadly Education to absolutely nobody’s surprise

Most beautifully written book in 2020?

There’s a lot of good prose stylists here but I’m going to go with Dexter Palmer’s Version Control because the structure of it was just so beautiful my jaw was agape for the final stretch. Like physics—which is fitting, because so much of the book is about physics and physicists and making a career of doing physics (these three are not at all the same thing). When you figure out where he’s going it’s like you’ve discovered a new theorem.

Book you most anticipated in 2020?

Harrow the Ninth and good god it did NOT disappoint

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2020?

I read so few paper books that I am going to cheat and post the very nice cover of a book I finished in 2021:

 

Book that had the greatest impact on you this year?

Terra Ignota and The Dragon Waiting. Just, in awe of what these authors have accomplished.

Book you can't believe you waited till 2020 to finally read?

I dunno, Middlesex? That was a pretty heavy hitter back in the mid 2000s iirc. I bounced off it at the time but had better luck this time.

Book that had a scene that left you reeling and dying to talk to someone about it?

HARROW THE NINTH

One book you didn't read this year that will be your #1 priority in 2021?

Cyteen!!!! also i’m reading the second Lymond book, Queen’s Play, and would like to finish it before i forget who all the characters are.

New book you are most anticipating for 2021?

i’m not usually an “avidly anticipates new releases” kind of person but the final Terra Ignota book is coming out, rejoice! Unfortunately Alecto the Ninth got pushed back to 2022

 

Comments

[likeadeuce]

Ohhh this is a good questionnaire. . .i didn't have all of these questions when i did my yearly roundup, I may have to revisit.

Version Control I read a few years ago but it's one of the books that I've recced the most since then because it slots well into a lot of different areas of interest (the time travel elements, the media + tech satire, genre fiction by writers of color) but also just because it was such an interesting reading experience.

I read Too Like the Lightning a few years ago then decided I should wait until the whole series was done so i could get a better grasp on the whole story though I am anticipating what that experience will do to my brain.
I fully understand what you mean about that.

Call Down the Hawk took a while to start clicking for me but when I got in sync with it I was pretty satisfied. I am tempted to reread before the next book comes out but I think I need to reread The Dream Thieves first. (And it will all be fuel for the kind of nasty Declan Lynch fic that's kicking around in my head.)

Also Harrow! Soup! Good God!

[tabacoychanel]

are you serious Declan is my favorite! And yeah Dream Thieves was the book that worked for me the best out of the og Raven Cycle books. Can't believe you have a Declan fic knocking around in your head!!! Whatever I can do to help this story into existence do not hesitate to hit me up

did not know Dexter Palmer was a POC! ITA agree that book is very rich and well written. When and if you continue with Ada Palmer's books you are in for a real treat.

Also Harrow! Soup! Good God!
hmmmm i see what you did there ;-)

[likeadeuce]

Declan Lynch is funny because I feel like everybody who would want to read about him likes him more than I do (i mean I liiiike putting him in stories I just want to go on forever about what a mess he is and how maladaptive his coping mechanisms are, let shitheads be shitheads etc; don't let Ronan be the only shithead Lynch) but I definitely have an idea kicking around. (I also have a friend working on a Lynch brothers/Locked Tomb fusion that I am continuing to enable.

And I did *not* 'Good God' on purpose but I will definitely let it stand :D

[hamsterwoman]

Ada Palmer and Steven Brust tied with 3!!! Anna your power lol

MWAHAHA :DDD (although I think Brust is actually 6? They're definitely individual books, like the Vorkosigans, despite the handy omnibusing)

I'm so pleased to see War for the Oaks and Ada Palmer on your favorites/most impactful list (I do know what you mean with Palmer -- her books are not my favorite in the way other books are my favorite, but they are so crunchy! and she is so smart!)

because if I was going with “best” in the sense of “ambitious” I’d have to go with either Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota or John M Ford’s The Dragon Waiting.

Nod. (Well, I'm going to wait until Perhaps the Stars to judge how well TI has accomplished its ambitions. But there are definitely things in the first book, e.g., that don't work for me as I think they're intended.)

Why don’t I just save myself some work and answer every one of these with Ada Palmer Ada Palmer please go and read Ada Palmer immediately.

This brings me so much joy, because this was me in 2018, grabbing people by the lapels and accosting them with Ada Palmer feels XD (I mean, I still do this, probably, but I've run through all the readily available victims at this point :P)

Most memorable character:
Mycroft Canner

Hard to argue with XD

“Magic is a building of many small efforts toward a final, greater end. Magic is slow.” —The Dragon Waiting

I also loved this quote! (And wish the book had given us more magic... and maybe from a younger Hywel's POV)

Neal Shusterman’s Scythe which I expected to be dumb but it was instead merely simple—as in, the antonym of “complex”—but gripping and sincere nonetheless.

that's a neat distinction to draw!

I guess I’m putting it here because it isn’t a book I woulda read if multiple people whose taste I trust hadn’t told me I would like it.

Same! (And I don't tend to read much historical fantasy in general, excepting Guy Gavriel Kay when he's good.)

also i’m reading the second Lymond book, Queen’s Play, and would like to finish it before i forget who all the characters are.

Does it continue the feeling from the first one of being power-washed by a firehose of Lymond's/the author's erudition? Asking for a friend.

I need to read Call Down the Hawk one of these days (we have the hardcover! have I done anything about it? nope) and continue my inching way through Gideon to, presumably, get to all this mindblowing Harrow stuff...

and yay for more posts from you! Looking forward to the fannish year in review one :D

[tabacoychanel]

Does it continue the feeling from the first one of being power-washed by a firehose of Lymond's/the author's erudition? Asking for a friend.
lol the answer is emphatically yes. in fact it gets worse. we're in the French court so there's a whole slew of new characters. I'm 50% in now and so ok Lymond shows up with the Irish delegation and I've still no idea what the point of the Irish subplot is. I guess my only choice is to trust Dunnett knows what she's doing.

I need to read Call Down the Hawk one of these days (we have the hardcover! have I done anything about it? nope) and continue my inching way through Gideon to, presumably, get to all this mindblowing Harrow stuff...
I'm standing over here waving my pompoms at the finish line! How's that for encouragement. You need to finish these so we can discussssss

Also, saw your latest "nature+critters as antidote to our country being a literal trashfire" post and I heartily approve.

[hamsterwoman]

in fact it gets worse.

oh dear XD

How's that for encouragement. You need to finish these so we can discussssss

Yess, being able to discuss with you and K is the primary reason I want to read them!

"nature+critters as antidote to our country being a literal trashfire" post and I heartily approve.

♥