Books Read in 2018

It's been a crappy year for both writing and blogging, but holy hell did I do a lot of reading.

I'm going to mix things up this year and give you the month-by-month breakdown.

January: 17

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

Rose Point by M.C.A. Hogarth

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Meet Cute by various authors

The Butterfly Project by Emma Scott

Three Sides of a Heart edited by Natalie C. Parker

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

Avatar The Last Airbender: The Search by Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Gene Luen Yang

The Creature in the Case by Garth Nix

Camp Half-Blood Confidential by Rick Riordan

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

The Eternal Rose by Gail Dayton

Saga Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Provenence by Ann Leckie

Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Locke & Key: Heaven and Earth by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Windwitch by Susan Dennard

February: 16

Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Men, Ships, and the Sea by Captain Alan Villiers

My Brother’s Husband Vol. 1 by Gengorah Tagame

The Swan Riders by Erin Bow

My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris

Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

General Winston’s Daughter by Sharon Shinn

Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor

“The Lady Astronaut of Mars” by Mary Robinette Kowal

Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Gravity of Us by Brittainy C. Cherry

Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov

The King of Attolia by Megan Whelan Turner

March: 16

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Black Holes and Baby Universes by Stephen Hawking

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

The Beginning Place by Ursula K. LeGuin

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins

Paper Girls Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

Paper Girls Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

“Opal” by Maggie Stiefvater

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland

14 by Peter Clines

The Positive Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

April: 15

Giant Days Vol. 7 by John Allison and Max Sarin

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

The Negative Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Possession by A.S. Byatt

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

Royce Rolls by Margaret Stohl

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Bombshell by Rowan Maness

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff

Survival by Julie E. Czerneda

May: 9

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Roomies by Christina Lauren

All Clear by Connie Willis

The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Lumberjanes Vol. 7: A Bird’s Eye View by Shannon Watters and Kat Leyh

Paper Girls Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

“Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo” by Rick Riordan

June: 14

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel

Runaways Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

An Unsuitable Job For a Woman by P.D. James

The Dire King by William Ritter

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Runaways Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Various Artists

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley

The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro

Ms. Marvel Vol. 7: Damage Per Second by G. Willow Wilson and Takeshi Miyazawa

The Witch Boy by Mallory Knox Ostertag

Runaways: Find Your Way Home by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka

Lumberjanes Vol. 8: Stone Cold by Shannon Watters and Kat Leyh

July: 22

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vo. 6: by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne 

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

Ms. Marvel Vol. 8: Mecca by G. Willow Wilson and Takeshi Miyazawa

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St.-Onge, and Joy San

The Rat Catchers’ Olympics by Colin Cotterill

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

The Reason for Dragons by Chris Northrup and Jeff Stokely

The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan

Giant Days: Extra Credit by John Allison and Various Artists

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Runaways: Parental Guidance by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona

Runaways: Live Fast by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona

Runaways: Dead End Kids by Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan

Runaways: Dead Wrong by Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos

Runaways: Rock Zombies by Terry Moore and Takeshi Miyazawa

Runaways: Homeschooling by Kathryn Immonen and Sara Pichelli

Act Like It by Lucy Parker

The Backstagers: Rebels Without Applause by James Tynion IV and Rian Sygh

Pretty Face by Lucy Parker

The Backstagers: The Show Must Go On by James Tynion IV and Rian Sygh

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

August: 18

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

Jedi Academy: The Principal Strikes Back by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey

Goldie Vance Vol. 1 by and Hope Larson and Brittney Williams

Goldie Vance Vol. 2 by and Hope Larson and Brittney Williams

Goldie Vance Vol. 3 by and Hope Larson and Jackie Ball

Goldie Vance Vol. 4 by and Hope Larson and Jackie Ball

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Making Up by Lucy Parker

Positively Izzy by Terri Libenson

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

“In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns” by Elizabeth Bear

The Flowers of Vashnoi by Lois McMaster Bujold

Giant Days Vol. 8 by John Allison and Max Sarin

Lucy and Andy Neanderthal: Bad to the Bones by Jeffrey Brown

September: 10

Invisible Emmie by Terri Libenson

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

Slam! Vol. 1 by Pamela Ribon and Veronica Fish

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino

Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

The Long-Lost Home by Maryrose Wood

“Evidence of the Affair” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

October: 11

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Young Queens by Kendare Blake

Amulet 8: Supernova by Kazu Kibuishi

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Writing Through the Tween Years by Bruce Morgan

Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood

There’s An Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George

Saga Vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

The Hidden Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag

November: 10

Snow White, Blood Red edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Ex Games by Stella Rhys

Remedial Rocket Science by Susannah Nix

I and Love and You by Susannah Nix

Lumberjanes Vol. 9: On a Roll by Shannon Watters and Kat Leyh

Intermediate Thermodynamics by Susannah Nix

Hey Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Advanced Physical Chemistry by Susannah Nix

The Oracle Queen by Kendare Blake

“I Met a Traveler in an Antique Land” by Connie Willis

December: 10

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren

The Van Gogh Café by Cynthia Rylant

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

Maus by Art Spiegelman

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson

Maus II by Art Spiegelman

9 From the Nine Worlds by Rick Riordan

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

Yearlong (Web Comics): 5

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu

Stand Still. Stay Silent. by Minna Sundberg

Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell

Vattu by Evan Dahm

Dicebox by Jenn Manley Lee

Total: 173 things. 

(I know I say this every year, but I will never, ever read this much again. No, really. I started working full-time in October, and you can see the numbers dip.)

Category breakdown:
53% Adult
36% Young Adult
11% Middle Grade

Format breakdown:
54% Novels and Short Story Collections
28% Graphic Novels
6% Novellas
5% Nonfiction
3% Short Stories
3% Other

Genre Breakdown:
38% Fantasy
18% Science Fiction
18% Romance/Women's Fiction
14% Contemporary/Literary
5% Mystery/Thriller
5% Historical

I'm dividing my best-of into two lists, the first of which is a top 10 of series I was already reading prior 2018. These are the books that really blew my socks off this year and made me twitchily eager to continue with their respective series (or to look back at the series with satisfaction, if I finished it):

1) Wayfayers series: A Closed and Common Orbit and Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

2) Saga: Vol. 8-9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

3) The Queen's Thief series: The King of Attolia by Megan Whelan Turner

4) Paper Girls: Vol. 2-4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

5) Giant Days: Vol. 7-9, plus 2 supplemental volumes by John Allison and Max Sarin

6) The Vorkosigan Saga series: Diplomatic Immunity, The Flowers of Vashnoi, and Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

7) Murderbot Diaries series: Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

8) Flavia de Luce series: The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley

9) Charlotte Holmes series: The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro

10) Maddaddam series: Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood

These are all amazing series that you should totally be reading if you aren't already.

The second list is a top 15 of new-to-me books that I feel most deserve a word of recommendation:

1) Provenence by Ann Leckie for continuing to develop the universe of Leckie's Imperial Radch novels, a place that seems at once thoroughly alien and completely human.

2) Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid for breaking the most essential rule of the Romance novel-- there is only one REAL true love-- to make something that feels no less romantic for being honest.

3) Night Film by Marisha Pessl for gripping me like no other book in 2018.

4) Roomies and Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren for being the perfect rom-coms when the perfect rom-com was exactly what I needed.

5) Runaways by various authors and artists for exploring the moral complexity of adolescence against the backdrop of supervillain parents and superhero enemies.

6) The Witch Boy and The Hidden Witch by Mallory Knox Ostertag for deftly and compassionately using different kinds of magic as a way to talk to kids about gender identity and trauma.

7) The Hating Game by Sally Thorne for being the greatest hate-to-love office Romance ever.

8) Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor for sweeping me up into a lovely, lyrical Fantasy about lost cities, orphaned godlings, and heroic librarians.

9) The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang for turning tropes inside out to craft one of the most original Romances I've ever read.

10) Positively Izzy by Terri Libenson for a simple Middle Grade story cleverly told.

11) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid for reminding me that the private truth behind a public life can be quite different from the story I'm being sold.

12) Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke for putting the most grimly sarcastic character since Daria Morgendorffer into both a Fundamentalist family AND a D-level Real World-style reality show.

13) La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman for continuing to develop the world of the His Dark Materials book, but through the lens of a very different character.

14) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas for living up to the hype.

15) Hey Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka for being the most simple, touching, and honest-feeling memoir I've read in a long time.

Just for balance here's a top 5 of books that disappointed me for various reasons (listed from least to most serious disappointment):

1) The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson. Let me start by saying this is a gorgeously written book, and I'm glad I read it. However, I loved the first book so much that perhaps it was inevitable I'd feel let down by this  sequel. The first book startled me with its tale of a young slave being raised by scholars as a experiment, and followed Octavian through his childhood and education. The second book is nearly twice as long and takes place over much less time, and is about Octavian fighting on the Royalist side of the Revolutionary War. And 500+ pages of marching and battles was a lot of War for me.

2) Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey. Again, not a bad book, and I intend to continue with the series. But again, I loved book 2 so much and was so excited to read this one, only to spend a big portion of the middle of it feeling pretty meh about it. I think part of the problem was the lack of Avasarala, who is hands-down the best character in the series yet isn't even on-page in this book. I just felt disconnected from the POV characters and annoyed by the plot, which despite a lot of explosions and whatnot felt glacially slow. The first half was fine, and it all came together and picked up in the last 40 pages or so, but I am still bummed out that I skimmed about 100 pages of the late-middle.

3) Ex Games by Stella Rhys. This wasn't great, but it was certainly no worse than your average fake-relationship-for-revenge Romance novel. However, I'd heard glowing reviews from more than source who likes other Romance books I've liked, so I went into this expecting something a cut above. The writing wasn't horrible, but I couldn't get over the immaturity of all the characters. The set up is that our heroine has been dumped by her longtime bf, and like a month later the bf is suddenly marrying his brother's recent ex, a bitchy (natch) model. The heroine and the brother decide to attend the wedding together as a faux-couple, and you can fill in the rest, expect maybe how really awful their behavior is throughout the wedding weekend. I think it's meant to be justified on the grounds that the wedding couple are obviously trash for marrying each other this quickly after their respective breakups, but still. Two trashies don't make a classy, y'know?

4) The Changeling by Victor LaValle. I read this for book club, and I'm still not sure what the hell it was supposed to be, since the genre kept changing. For the first 1/4 of the book, it's a wordy LitFic following the unremarkable life story of the MC up until he becomes a father. Then it darkens into atmospheric horror, the kind where you're not sure whether something supernatural is really going on or if the characters are just under a lot of psychological stress due to new parenthood and sleep deprivation. Then it takes a hard left at the midpoint, and becomes a Fantasy with magical islands and trolls and stuff, but all the while seems to be implying that all this is somehow a metaphor for parenting in the digital age. I think it was supposed to be a daring subversion of genre or something, but to me it just seemed like muddled mish-mash with no clear narrative message.

5) Three Sides of a Heart edited by Natalie C. Parker. This is a YA short story collection in which all the stories feature some version of a love triangle. Since love triangles seem to be an almost universally despised YA plot device, I was really intrigued to see how the authors would interpret, and hopefully subvert, this trope. But it all went horribly wrong, because with one notable exception ("A Hundred Thousand Threads" by Alaya Dawn Johnson, a fascinating tale of deception and passion in futuristic revolutionary Mexico), the stories are terrible. There are some big-name YA authors in this thing, which just made me even more shocked to see how BAD the stories are. Clunky, cringe-y, unrealistic, and boring. Sometimes all in one story. Ironically, this collection, which was probably intended to demonstrate how awesome a love triangle can be if handled well, feels like the final nail in the coffin of this trope.

Series Thoughts, 2018: Series I Plan to Finish

This post will be about the series I have in progress that I am invested in and committed to finishing. New series to this list will again be in blue. I  will only write descriptions for the series I began since last July;  if you want to read more about the series I had in progress before last July, check out last year's post here.

Series I Plan to Finish:

Middle Grade:

1) Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan. I've read 3 books and now a book of short stories is due out the.

2) Trials of Apollo series by Rick Riordan. I've read 3 books; looks like it'll be a 5-book series.

3) The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood. I've read 5 books so far, and one more is forthcoming.


Young Adult:

4) Octavian Nothing duology by M.T. Anderson. I've read book 1 and intend to read book 2.

5) Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I've read 4 books and a novella; there's a new novel waiting for me.

6) The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. I've read 3 books, and there are 2 more so far.

7) The Witchlands series by Susan Dennard. I've read 2 books so far; there's a novella out plus a new novel coming out at the end of the year.

8) Trouble series by Stephanie Tromly. I've read 2 books and am looking forward to the third.

9) Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake. I've read 2 novels; there's a 3rd novel and a 2 novellas still to read.

10) Charlotte Holmes series by Brittany Cavallaro. That rarest of birds: a YA Investigative. The teenage descendants of Watson and Holmes meet at a boarding school in Connecticut, develop a somewhat twisted friendship, and pick up where their ancestors left off. I've read 3 books so far; I hear there's one more coming out next year.

11) Guide duology by Mackenzi Lee. Tongue-in-Cheek Historical about 18th century siblings on a Grand Tour. I've read the first book, and the second is coming out in October.

12) Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire. Fantasy novellas about a boarding school for children who have returned to our world from portal fantasies and are having trouble with the transition. I've read 3 novellas; next one is due out in January.


Adult:

13) Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley. I've read 9 books and a short story so far. Book 10 is out in early 2019.

14) Siri Paiboun Investigations by Colin Cotterill. I've read 12 books and am waiting for book 13 next month.

15) Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. There are 21 books in this series so far; I have read 16.

16) World of the Five Gods series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I've read 3 books and 5 novellas and am waiting to see if there will be more.

17) Elemental Blessings series by Sharon Shinn. I've read 4 books so far and am waiting for the 5th and (I presume) final book.

18) MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood. I've read 2 book and have 1 to go.

19) The Rook Files by Daniel O'Malley. I've read 2 books and am waiting to see if there will be more.

20) The Expanse series by James A.A. Corey. I'm reading book 3 right now; there are 7 books out so far.

21) Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy by Patrick Rothfuss. I've read book 1 and have book 2 on my series challenge list. There's a novella, too.

22) Wayfayers series by Becky Chambers. I've read 2 books; book 3 came out this past month.

23) Her Instruments series M.C.A. Hogarth. I've read 2 books; there's one more book and I think a novella.

24) Shades of Magic trilogy by V.E. Schwab. I've read 2 books and have 1 more to go.

25) The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. Sci-Fi novellas about a cyborg security unit on a quest for redemption and self-determination. I've read 2 novellas and there's a third coming out this month.

26) The Interdependency series by John Scalzi. Sci-Fi epic about an interstellar society in jeopardy because the natural phenomenon that allows for space travel is changing. I've read the one book that's out.

27) Earthsea Cycle series by Ursula K. LeGuin. Classic second-world Fantasy series set in a world that is mostly ocean with some scattered islands. I reread book 1 this year, and I've also read a book of short stories set in this world. I believe there are 4 more books to the series.

28) Species Imperative trilogy by Julie E. Czerneda. Sci-Fi about a female biologist who gets swept up in an interstellar search to stop a life-annihilating plague. I've read 1 book so far.

29) London Celebrities series by Lucy Parker. Contemporary Romances set in the London theater scene. I've read 2 books and there's 1 more out.


Comics:

30) Saga. I've read the first 7 volumes and am waiting for the 8th to be released.

31) Ms. Marvel. I've read 6 volumes and am waiting for the 7th to be released

32) Giant Days. I've read 5 volumes and am waiting for the 6th to be released.

33) Jedi Academy. I've read 6 books. I'm not sure it's continuing, but I kind of assume it'll go 9 books like the movies.

34) Amulet. I've read 7 volumes and am waiting for the final volume to be released.

35) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. I've read 8 volumes so far.

36) Lumberjanes. Also read 8 volumes so far.

37) Monstress. I've read 2 volumes, and a third is coming out this month.

38) Paper Girls. I've read 4 volumes so far.

39) Lucy and Andy Neanderthal. I've read 2 books and the third is coming out this month.

40) Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Son and I watched the series last year, and now I want to read the comics, which follow the characters on adventures beyond the timeline of the show. The volumes are huge and beautiful and expensive, so I'll probably go through them at a rate of one Christmas present for The Son per year. I've read one so far.

41) Runaways. I somehow missed this comic series before this year, which is weird because it was created by Brian K. Vaughan, author of Saga and Paper Girls. The first I heard of it was when the latest volume, written by Rainbow Rowell, hit the shelves. I wanted to read it because duh, Rainbow Rowell, and wound up reading all the back issues to catch up. It's about a group of teens (plus one pre-teen) living in the MCU who discover their parents are super-villains. I've read 2 big omnibus bind-ups and 7 comics volumes so far. The next volume comes out in Oct.

42) The Backstagers. Cute comic about 5 boys in stage crew at their all-boy high school and their adventures uncovering the secrets of the alternate dimension back stage. Queer-positive and a little manic. Basically, it's a male version of Lumberjanes. I've read 2 volumes and am waiting for the 3rd to be released next spring.

Web Comics:

43) Check, Please! 

44) Gunnerkrigg Court. 

45) Stand Still, Stay Silent.

46) Dicebox.

47) Vattu.

Hey, I cut down by 2 since last year's list!

Series Thoughts, 2018: Series I've Finished

I promise I'll give a writing/publishing update soon, but first it's time for my annual series round-up posts.

As with previous years, this is just a list of series with no descriptions. Occasionally I am guessing that a series is finished; if more books turn up later, I'll transfer the series to the "Series In Progress list.

New completed series are in blue.

Series I've Finished:

Middle Grade:

Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Percy Jackson and the New Olympians series by Rick Riordan
Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan
Kane Chronicles trilogy by Rick Riordan
Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger
Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary
Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary
Smek duology by Adam Rex
Spiderwick Chronicles series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
WondLa trilogy by Tony DiTerlizzi
Nate Foster duology by Tim Federle
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Family Fletcher duology by Dana Alison Levy

Young Adult:

Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Matched trilogy by Ally Condie
Ruby Red trilogy by Kerstin Gier
Safe-Keepers trilogy by Sharon Shinn
Anna and the French Kiss companion trilogy by Stephanie Perkins
Annals of the Western Shore trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin
Frontier Magic trilogy by Patricia Wrede
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
Monsters of Verity duology by Victoria Schwab
Dash & Lily duology by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Prisoner of Peace duology by Erin Bow
Jackaby series by William Ritter
Illuminae series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff


Adult:

Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
Chronicles of Chaos trilogy by John C. Wright
Golden Age trilogy by John C. Wright
Confluence trilogy by Paul J. McAuley
Samaria series by Sharon Shinn
Twelve Houses series by Sharon Shinn
Sharing Knife quartet by Lois McMaster Bujold
Paradox trilogy by Rachel Bach
My Family and Other Animals trilogy by Gerald Durrell
Hyperion quartet by Dan Simmons
Kushiel Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey (nine books, y'all!)
The Hainish Cycle series by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Secret Texts trilogy by Holly Lisle
Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie
The Connaghers series by Joely Sue Burkhart
Billionaires in Bondage trilogy by Joely Sue Burkhart
The Inheritance trilogy by N.K. Jemison
Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
The Shifting Circle series by Sharon Shinn
Ilium duology by Dan Simmons
Old Man's War series by John Scalzi
Wild Seasons series by Christina Lauren
Golden City series by J. Kathleen Cheney
One Rose trilogy by Gail Dayton
Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis
The Themis Files trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel


Comics:

Sandman
Castle Waiting
Locke & Key
Zita the Spacegirl
Three Thieves
Mighty Jack

Short-Term Goals

For a while there I was writing BIOH at NaNo pace, but the next two weeks are going to be crazy and there's no way I can do that much. So I am setting my absolute rock-bottom goal of 250 words a day. It's not much, but it's doable, and enough to keep the story from going cold, and will net me ~2,000 words of gain in the end. All-around win.

Yeah, So It's Been Awhile...

Jeez, I'm not even sure this counts as a blog any more.

Okay, this comeback post is a three-parter: Where the Hell I've Been, What the Hell I'm Doing Now, and Why the Hell I'm Back Here.


1) Where the Hell I've Been

Last I was posting consistently, I'd finished Mender and sent it out to agents, then immediately wrote 55,000 words on a contemporary romance novel. Then I burned out and took the summer off, fully intending to get back to work in the fall-- either back to the romance or doing a collab with Sharon (who I subsequently totally flaked out on). But then in September, The Husband's health started to slide downhill.

First he had a series of worrisome test results culminating in a liver biopsy. Then he had skin cancer, and since the surgery was on his head, they couldn't stitch it, so I was treating and dressing an open wound twice a day for six weeks. Then in early December, he landed in the hospital with a partial bowel obstruction.

Very long story short, he was out of work for the next six months. They tried to treat him medically with steroids, then had to wean him off the steroids for surgery. He had a PICC line all that time and was being fed intravenously at home by my. Had a bowel resection (his 5th, ugh) at the end of March and was in the hospital for three weeks afterward. He just started back to work full-time two weeks ago.

In the middle of all this, my father died, which was sad and complicated and shitty.


2) What the Hell I'm Doing Now

In the last year, I've made several attempts (most documented here) to get back to writing the romance, but I could never stick with it for more than a few days. I knew the sequence of events wasn't working, and I wasn't sure how much time and energy I wanted to devote to figuring it out, since it's a project I was pretty much just working on for shits and giggles.

While The Husband was in the hospital I decided to bag the romance and start something new-- something LitSpec, more serious and meaty. I bought a few writing e-books and started planning a new novel.

And then, because I am a perverse little chicken, I started seeing how the exercises I was doing for the new novel would help me untangle the problems in the romance. In early May, I gave myself a few weeks to do just that, figuring it would help me choose which project to focus on for now. May 17, I started the romance novel over again from the beginning. I've been able to use a lot of the 55,000 words I wrote in 2017, but I've made a lot of changes, including the POV, tense, conflict, and title (it's now called Bring It On Home).

As of today, I'm at 45,000 words (out of a projected 80,000). My medium-term goal is to have the book ready to submit to Pitch Wars at the end of August.


3) Why the Hell I'm Back Here

I don't know if I'll have any readers, but this blog as worked for me in the past as an aid to setting and keeping goals. I'll think about what kind of posting schedule is going to work for me.

Also, I miss having a place to ramble about books.

Series Challenge: 2017 Wrap-Up and 2018 Plans

I did pretty well with my 2017 Series Reading Challenge. Here are the books I set out to read back on Jan. 1 2017 (books I read; books I didn't get to; series I decided to give up on after all)

1) League of Dragons by Naomi Novik, 9th and last book of the Temeraire series.

2) Blackout by Connie Willis, 3rd book of 4.5 in the Oxford Time Travel series.

3) Olympos by Dan Simmons, 2nd and last book of the Ilium duology.

4) The Turning Season by Sharon Shinn, 3rd and last book of the Shifting Circle trilogy.

5) The Spirit War by Rachel Aaron, 2nd book of 5 in the Eli Monpress series.

6) Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold, 11th (? hard to say) book of 21 in the Vorkosigan Saga series.

7) The Barbed Rose by Gail Dayton, 2nd book of 3 in the One Rose trilogy.

8) Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi, 4th book of 6 in the Old Man's War series.

9) The Shores of Spain by J. Kathleen Cheney, 3rd book of 4+ in the Golden City series.

10) Jeweled Fire by Sharon Shinn, 3rd book of 4+ in the Elemental Blessings series.

11) I Shot the Buddha by Colin Cotterill, 11th book of 11 in the Dr. Siri Investigations series.

12) The Amok Runners by Colin Cotterill, 4th book of 4+? in the Jimm Juree Mysteries series.

13) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, 1st book (technically) in the MaddAddam series (I read book 2 first).

14) Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey, 2nd book of 6+ in The Expanse series.

15) Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley, 2nd book of 2+? in the Rook Files series.

16) Octavian Nothing: Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson, 2nd and last book in the Octavian Nothing duology

17) As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley, 7th of 8+? in the Flavia de Luce series

18) The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, 2nd book of 3 in the Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy.

19) The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, 2nd book of 5+ in the Queen's Thief series.

20) Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer, 5th book of 7 in the Artemis Fowl series.

21) Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter, 3rd book of 3+ in the Jackaby series.

22) Fire by Kristin Cashore, 2nd book of 3 in the Graceling Realm trilogy.

23) Ms. Marvel: Super Famous by G. Willow Wilson, 5th book of 5+ in the Ms. Marvel series.

24) The Iron Hand by Scott Chantler, 7th and last book in the Three Thieves series.

Not too shabby! I also read a bunch more "next books" in various series, but as they weren't released by Jan. 1 2017, I didn't include them on this list.

I'm going to carry the three I didn't get to over onto the 2018 list. Again, these are series I'm currently reading, in which the next book in the series is out and available as of today, Jan. 1, 2018:

1) Octavian Nothing: Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson, 2nd and last book in the Octavian Nothing duology.

2) The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, 2nd book of 3 in the Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy.

3) Fire by Kristin Cashore, 2nd book of 3 in the Graceling Realm trilogy.

4) All Clear by Connie Willis, 4th book of the Oxford Time Travel series.

5) Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. I'm not sure what book # to call it, since it's more of a companion novel, but I own it and haven't read it yet, so it's next for me.

6) The Eternal Rose by Gail Dayton, book 3 of the One Rose trilogy.

7) The Rat-Catcher's Olympics by Colin Cotterill, book 12 in the Siri Paiboun Investigations series.

8) Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood, book 3 in the Maddaddam trilogy.

9) Abaddon's Gate by James S.A, Corey, book 3 of 6 in the Expanse series.

10) The Dire King by William Ritter, book 4 of 4 in the Jackaby series.

11) Ms. Marvel: Damage Per Second by G. Willow Wilson, Vol. 7 of the Ms. Marvel series.

12) A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab, book 2 of the Shades of Magic trilogy.

13) The Creature in the Case by Garth Nix, book 4? 5? of the Old Kingdom series.

14) A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers, book 2 of the Wayfarers series.

15) Rose Point by M.C.A. Hogarth, book 2 of 4 in the Her Instruments series.

16) Windwitch by Susan Dennard, book 2 in the Witchlands trilogy.

17) The Swan Riders by Erin Bow, book 2 in the Prisoners of Peace series.

18) One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake, book 2 in the Three Dark Crowns trilogy.

19) The King of Attolia by Megan Whelan Turner, book 3 of 5+ in the Queen's Thief series.

20) Paper Girls Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

21) Lumberjanes: A Bird's-Eye View by Shannon Watters, Vol. 7 of the Lumberjanes series

22) Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan, book 3 in the Magnus Chase trilogy

23) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 6: Who Run the World? Squirrels by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

Whew! In addition to all that, there are some "next books" being released this year that I'll probably end up reading as well, including:

Saga Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley, book 9 in the Flavia de Luce series.
Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor, book 3 in the Binti series
Giant Days Vol. 7 by John Allison and various artists
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, book 3 in the Illuminae Files trilogy
Trouble Never Sleeps by Stephanie Tromly, book 3 in the Trouble series
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells, book 2 in the Murderbot Diaries series
The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro, book 3 in the Charlotte Holmes trilogy
Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, bok 3 in the Themis Files trilogy
The Long-Lost Home by Maryrose Wood, 6th and final book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers, book 3 in the Wayfayers series
The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan

Finally, I've imposed a physical book buying ban until I get my shelf-sitters to 20 or less. Not counting the books I have in progress right now, there are 31 shelf-sitters. I can still take books out of the library, buy books for the kindle, and even buy physical copies of book club books if there's no other way to get them. But I can't buy the next Giant Days or go to the huge used book sale in April unless I've read 11 books from my shelf first.