2019

The promised big life changes have come to pass: I am now married, published, and possess a PhD. Still found time for reading of course, I finished WoT in about 9 months total.

Here's the best I can figure of what I've read this year:

The Shadow Rising, Robert Jordan 
Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan 
A Crown of Swords, Robert Jordan
The Shadows Rising, Robert Jordan 
The Jewish Way in Love and Marriage, Maurice Lamm
Made in Heaven, Aryeh Kaplan
The Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan
Winter's Heart, Robert Jordan
Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan
Knife of Dreams, Robert Jordan
The Gathering Storm, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Towers of Midnight, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
A Memory of Light, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Leviathan Wakes, James S.A. Corey
Into the Black: Odyssey One, Evan Curie
Graceling, Kristen Cashore
The Assassin's Apprentace, Robin Hobb
Carrion Comfort, Dan Simmons
Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
Roots, Alex Haley
The Heart Goes Last, Margret Atwood
The Invisible Bridge, Julie Orringer
New Spring, Robert Jordan  

There were definitely more in there, but I'm not so good at keeping track anymore...

Other than WoT which I don't feel the need to comment on, The Invisible Bridge was surprisingly good (although depressing) and I also particularly enjoyed Carrion Comfort.

With about a month left to the year, I'm at 23 books. Well below my usual. I'm going to chalk this up primarily to the length of the WoT books - I was going through those at 1 book every 3-4 weeks. And, to a lesser extent to this year's business. 

Looking forward to next year's books!

All of 2018...

Yup, dropping the ball on the blog is a definite thing now.  Similar to last year, I've read some non-library books, as well as some e-books, which I can't seem to figure out how to find in my reading history from the library.  So here's what I could put together:

Dragonfly in Amber, Diana Gabaldon 
Provenance, Ann Leckie
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemison
Voyager, Diana Gabaldon
Drums of Autumn, Diana Gabaldon
The Android's Dream, John Scalzi
The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemison
Artemis, Andy Weir
The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemison
Red Rising, Pierce Brown
We are Legion (We are Bob), Dennis Taylor
The remains of the day, Kazuo Ishiguro
The three-body problem, Cixin Liu 
The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
The Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss 
Golden Son, Pierce Brown 
Morning Star, Pierce Brown
Ball Lightning, Cixin Liu
Head On, John Scalzi
The dark forest, Cixin Liu 
For We are Many, Dennis Taylor
Death's End, Cixin Liu
The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan
The Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan
The Shadow Rising, Robert Jordan
The Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan 

Including the three from early 2018 in the previous post, that puts me at 29 for the year, which is actually surprisingly low. I've got a lot of big life changes coming up in 2019, so probably I'll read a bunch. (But being smack in the middle of Wheel of Time may make the total number of books lower, we'll see)

Stone Sky and Three Body Problem were probably the best books of the year. I'm enjoying WoT as well.

All of 2017...

Ok I guess dropping the ball on the blog is a thing now.  I've definitely read some non-library books this year, so this isn't quite a complete list.  Here we go:

The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson
Redshirts, John Scalzi
Hidden Empire, Kevin J. Anderson
The Children of Men, P.D. James
Red Rising, Pierce Brown
Mistwood, Leah Cypess
Arcanum Unbounded, Brandon Sanderson
Pathfinder, Orson Scott Card
The Black Prism, Brent Weeks
Ruins, Orson Scott Card
Visitors, Orson Scott Card
The Blood Mirror, Brent Weeks
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest, Stieg Larsson
The Girl who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
The Broken Eye, Brent Weeks
The Blood Mirror, Brent Weeks
Horizon Storms, Kevin J. Anderson
A Forest of Stars, Kevin J. Anderson
Of Fire and Night, Kevin J. Anderson
Scattered Suns, Kevin J. Anderson
The Blinding Knife, Brent Weeks
The Handmaid's Tale, Margret Atwood
The Ashes of Worlds, Kevin J. Anderson
Metal Swarm, Kevin J. Anderson
The Dark between the Stars, Kevin J. Anderson
Blood of the Cosmos, Kevin J. Anderson
Eternity's Mind, Kevin J. Anderson
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson
Oathbringer, Brandon Sanderson

Now onto the start of 2018:
Fifty Shades Darker, E.L. James
The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi
Children of the Fleet, Orson Scott Card

Alright, so thats more than 33 books in 2017

Best book of the year was probably Oathbringer, although to be honest nothing particularly stands out.

For those keeping track:
2011: 44
2012: 32
2013: 34
2014: 27
2015: 33
2016: >31
2017: >33

This follows the trend of me reading more when I'm stressed out - 2017 was not an easy year for me.  Hopefully 2018 is better, and I also get to do tons of reading :) 

All of 2016...

For the first time in five years I have dropped the ball on this blog.  In 2016, a significant number of the books I read are from my personal collection, rather than from the library.  The library tracks which books I borrow, but my bookshelf doesn't.  So there is a significant margin of error with this year's data.  

That being said, here is my best guess at what I read in 2016:
The Tower Lord, Anthony Ryan
The Lies of Locke Lamorra, Scott Lynch
The Last Colony, John Scalzi
Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch
Queen of Fire, Anthony Ryan
The Republic of Thieves, Scott Lynch
Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi
The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson
The Alloy of Law, Brandon Sanderson
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson
Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson
Gatefather, Orson Scott Card
Shadows of Self, Brandon Sanderson
The Bands of Mourning, Brandon Sanderson
The Swarm, Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston
Hyperion, Dan Simmons
Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
The Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons
Firefight, Brandon Sanderson
Me Before You, Jojo Moyes
Fifty Shades of Grey, E.L. James
Golden Fleece, Robert Sawyer
Lock In, John Scalzi
Grey, E.L. James
After You, Jojo Moyes
Calamity, Brandon Sanderson
Fuzzy Nation, John Scalzi
The Human Division, John Scalzi

 So, ~31 books for 2016, which is pretty close to my average.  Was a very Scalzi and Sanderson heavy year!  The book that most stands out from the year is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  Its a scifi/cyberpunk thriller which really captivated me.  Highly recommended! 

2017 so far (definitely missing a few here too):
The End of All Things, John Scalzi
Children of Men, P.D. James
 

October, November, December

Closing out 2015 here:

Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny
Guns of Avalon, Roger Zelazny
Shadows of Self, Brandon Sanderson
All the Light we Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Blood Song, Anthony Ryan
Into Thin Air, John Krakauer
The Ghost Brigades, John Scalzi

I didn't particularly enjoy the Amber books, but I know a lot of people do enjoy them. They are more classical/high fantasy type.

Shadows of Self is the most recent Mistborn book.  It was alright but didn't live up to Sanderson's other stuff for me.

All the Light we Cannot see is NOT scifi or fantasy! And it was fantastic, highly recommended. 

Blood Song is the start of the most recent series I'm into.  Its pretty good, but not great.

Into Thin Air was interesting, but not great.  Kept my attention but I'll never read it again.

The Ghost Brigades was enjoyable.  Kept my attention, I'll probably read more from the series.

This finishes 2015 and I count 33 books this year.  

For those keeping track:
2011: 44
2012: 32
2013: 34
2014: 27
2015: 33

So I average 34 books a year or about half a book a week.

May, June, July, August, September

I've had some stressful stuff going on lately (grad school prelim, moving, etc).  I think I read more when I'm stressed.  Here's what I've been reading:

Mountain of Black Glass, Tad Williams
Sea of Silver Light, Tad Williams
The Rithmatist, Brandon Sanderson
The Martian, Andy Weir
A Fall of Moondust, Arthur C. Clarke
Inda, Sherwood Smith
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
Mars, Ben Bova
Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
Daemon, Daniel Suarez
The Emperor's Soul, Brandon Sanderson
Influx, Daniel Suarez
The Fox, Sherwood Smith
Freedom, Daniel Suarez

I enjoyed Tad William's Otherland series, but it sometimes felt drawn out, as if the author was delaying the action just to explore the cool world he'd created.

The Martian was fantastic and everyone should try it out.  This book is so good that the author was able to get a book deal after having self-published it.

Inda and the sequel The Fox were nice high fantasy.  I enjoyed the characters in these books

January, February, March, April (2015!)

The second half of the previous post:

The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
Otherland V1, City of Golden Shadow, Tad WilliamsThe Last Unicorn, Peter Beagle
The Warded Man, Peter Brett
Flash Forward, Robert Sawyer
Triggers, Robert Sawyer
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan
The Terminal Experiment, Robert Sawyer
The Skull Throne, Peter Brett
The Desert Spear, Peter Brett
River of Blue Fire, Tad Williams
The Daylight War, Peter Brett

I was anticipating The Westing Game, however I found it to be far less exciting than I'd hoped.   

I enjoyed City of Golden Shadow and am looking forward to the rest of the series.  Hardcore Scifi though.

Peter Brett's Demon Cycle is fantastic.  I'm working my way through the 3rd book right now and have the 4th at the library.  Highly recommended for fantasy folks.  

All of Robert Sawyers books are OK.  Just OK.  They're beach reads for scifi people.

And, lastly, yes, I've started The Wheel of Time.  Start the clock for how many years it takes me to finish.