This was a mediocre reading year. I read a few standouts but overall I’m struggling to drum up enthusiasm over this list. That’s what happens when I don’t read anything truly horrendous or absolutely breathtaking.
It was the year of translations; I read books originally published in Polish, Russian, French, Dutch, and Japanese.
Here are the stats:
Total: 34
Audiobooks: 4
Manga: 14
E-books/ARCs: 4
Obviously these are not the best/worst books released this year. They’re just picks from the books I read this year.
The Best
Fullmetal Alchemist series by Hiromu Arakawa
I know; I’m surprised manga made this list too. It was a new and exciting experience and regardless of what you think about manga, I’d encourage you to try this one.
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
I had a turbulent journey with the Witcher series. It started out good. But after a couple of high moments it hit the pavement. Hard. I wanted it to be so much more than what I got.
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
I don’t love this book. The writing style isn’t very accessible (hooray for audiobooks) and it lounges in its literariness a bit too much. But it refuses to be forgotten and that is a notable thing. And now I love Cromwell.
Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk
This wouldn’t be such an easy pick in past years, but I can say that this is the BEST BOOK I READ THIS YEAR. So much so, that it made my best books of the decade list too.
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
(The second City Watch book, Men at Arms, would be on this list too but I haven’t posted the review yet. I like them equally.) This is definitely the funniest and funnest book I read this year. And it’s just a good book. What can I say? Vimes is a favorite character to read about.
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
Peter Wimsey is the unsung detective. I adore watching him solve mysteries and be himself and get assistance from Bunter. More people should read these books.
Shoutout to:
The Doctor Blake Mysteries
Avengers: Endgame
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
…for being some of the best visual treats of the year.
The Worst
The Plague by Albert Camus
The title’s a dead (ha) giveaway for why I didn’t love this classic. On top of the cheery subject, everyone’s depressed. Why would this not make my worst list?
The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen
If this was marketed accurately it wouldn’t be on this list because I wouldn’t have read it. That’s not the case, so here it is.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Someone described it as a Russian murder mystery. What book did they read?
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Any book that makes you never want to read anything by that author again is doing something real bad. This one is just more apocalyptic than other such books.
The Time of Contempt and Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
Truly this is a multi-talented series for managing to be the best and the worst. I really wanted these books to be good. I’m still upset at how much of a failure it became. My dislike boils down to not enough Geralt (and Dandelion), the plot taking forever to move, Ciri, and the bombardment of side characters and history muddling everything. And no map.
The Guernsey Literary blah blah the title’s too long by two authors
The premise sounded good. The reality isn’t.
Shoutout to:
Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau
I didn’t finish it; that’s how bad it is.
And that’s most of my reading year in review. I can’t wait to see what this year brings.
Hozzászólások