Decade in Notable Books - 2010-2019
Jan. 1st, 2020 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatOn the entertainment front?
I don't remember that many of the books I read. Let's see...
1. Notable and or Memorable Books that I read in 2010-2019
Note not best, just memorable. Went to check Good Reads, but apparently I didn't start shelving books on that site until 2012.
* Magic aka Kate Daniels series by Illona Andrews - which pretty much ruined me for all urban fantasy series. The heroine was kick-ass and had a biting wit, there was no annoying love triangle, the romantic love interest was set up early on with little to no teasing, and the banter was hilarious throughout. Also this writer did something in regards to vampires that no one else has done. Also played around with shifters in a new one. Plus -- used Russian, Middle Eastern, and Asian folklore, with an unusual twist on Judaic-Christian mythos that blew my mind.
* Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - this prose poem of a book with it's melding of Welsh and British folklore and mythos, is also a lovely take on coming of age. It's written like a dream...part nightmare, and haunts long after it has been told. One of the most beautifully written books.
* The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I know everyone loves the Handmaid's Tale (which I couldn't get through - television series or book, too frigging preachy), but I much preferred this novel which took me a couple of years to read. I'd read a chapter at night before bed. Sometimes on the train. The prose was exquisite, pure poetry, and a lovely take on aging, in places. Say what you will about Atwood, she is a wordsmith in her prime. Also the narrative structure of a novel within a novel, both commenting on the other was rather brilliant. The story? It's about two sister's. One of which kills herself in the beginning, while the other ponders her role in her sister's tragic death. Was she responsible? Did her sister commit suicide or was she killed? The answer lies in her sister's manuscript -- a science fiction spy novel about two lovers who clandestinely meet in rendezvous, while one tells the other science fiction stories in bed. So we have the main story, the manuscript, and the stories told within it. Intertwined is the story of the sisters told in flashback through the not quite reliable memories of the eldest sister -- the one left behind, along with both sisters failed love affairs, and one's failed marriage. The book is part prose poem, part meta-narrative on pulp sci-fi, part feminist fable, and part puzzle box.
*Fifty Shades of Grey -- not a great book. It actually reads like 98% of the porny fanfic that I've read with great pleasure over the years. What was interesting about it wasn't the plot or the sex for that matter -- both were rather...well, done better elsewhere. No what was interesting was the comical British text messages interspersed throughout, not to mention the sexual contract reproduced on the page, complete with strike throughs -- which felt like a satirical take on a writer's contract, except for sex. It was perhaps the most unintentionally funny novel I've ever read -- or intentionally funny one. Hard to say. It felt like a satire of a contemporary romance novel, with BDSM sex scenes thrown in -- except in the words of one's prudish oh-so-British maiden aunt. It's also notable for making fanfic mainstream and being the first to make it legitimate to publish a fanfic that irons off the serial numbers. And it paved the way for the self-publishing or indie publishing best-sellers to the considerable chagrin of traditionally published authors.
* House of X/Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman and company -- where Marvel manages to successfully reboot the entire X-men franchise, and just about every character in it. And even provides little known or used characters with a new lease on life and putting them front and center. No longer is it just the Scott/Jean/Emma/Wolverine show -- now we have people like Kwannon, Moira McTaggart, Xavier, Sage, Forge, and others entering the mix. In addition -- the franchise shifts into speculative science fiction, with lots of world-building, and experimentation with narrative structure.
* CS Pascat's Captive Prince series -- a sexually explicit romance between two men in Ancient Greece and Mespotami, both Princes. Notable for going from an original piece of fiction produced in her livejournal to being published and sold. There was a time they wouldn't do that.
* The People of Forever are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu - this is an anti-war novel by an Israeli female writer who served in the Israeli Army. She watches refugees throw themselves at a wire. It delves into what constant War and friction does to people.
* The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which I apparently read at the end of 2010. I remember the books, just didn't remember when I read them. Possibly the best of the teen dystopian trend and certainly the ones that started it. What Collins excels at that few have managed to republicate is the combined themes of how violence traumatizes the innocent and forever changes them, and perhaps more importantly her incisive critique of our social media/reality show obsessed culture -- the narcissism of the culture that gets off on watching people kill and destroy each other. Considering that by mid-decade an authoritarian reality show star and marketing whiz became President of the US -- The Hunger Games served to be prescient as well.
* Storm of Swords, Feast of Crows, and Dance of Dragons by George RR Martin -- the last three books in the Game of Thrones series, and in some respects the best. Storm certainly was -- where it takes a villian and turns him into a tragic and misunderstood classical hero, while by the same token taken some alleged heroes and showing their tragic downfalls, one of which becomes a force of revenge. By the end of Dance, it was no longer clear who was good and who was bad -- and revenge seemed pointless and a horrible waste.
* The Fault in Our Stars by John Gault - a book about two kids dying from cancer who bond over a shared love of a book that just ends -- and go off on an odyssey to find the author who wrote in the hopes of obtaining a happy ending. It's more of a commentary on fandom and the need for happy endings, then cancer or kids -- although none of that got translated to the film.
* The Most Dangerous Book : The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses by Kevin Birmingham (which I read in 2015). This is a book about censorship, the struggle to get published, to create, and well the process of writing. One of the most fascinating and well-researched books that I've read on all of the above. A must for fans of Joyce, and for anyone remotely interested in the British and American censorship laws of the early part of the 20th Century.
* The Gobline Emperor by Katherine Addison -a beautifully written tale of political maneuverings. The hero is an outsider, who inherits the throne almost by default. Yet struggles to maintain it with kindness and compassion, even though he is surrounded by those who wish him ill. It may well be the most detailed fantasy novel that I've read since Tolkien, yet the author, unlike various fantasy novelists, doesn't skimp on characterization. Each character is well-drawn and complex. And the plot does not meander. If anything, I wanted more upon its conclusion, but it is just as well that is not to be.
*The Martian by Andy Weir - a self-published novel, that is character-centric with a hard sci-fi plot. Most of the science in the novel is factual and has been confirmed by actual astronauts. Due to an accident, Mark Watney finds himself stranded on Mars. This is the story of how he manages to survive. This is amongst the funniest novels that I've read, yet also the most moving. At one point Watney entertains himself with his crew's 70's collections, disco and vintage television reruns, which they'd left behind in their race to evacuate.
*Among Others by Jo Walton - told in an interesting and rather ambitious style - the diary of a half-mad adolescent girl, struggling to come to terms with her unique brand of magic, and her twin's death. She's fled from her half-mad mother, to stay in a boarding school funded by her eccentric father. The diary focuses on the books she reads - which are science fiction and fantasy novels, and the time period is the 1960s and 70s. It reminds me a little of Ocean at the End of Lane...in both it's stark beauty and dark undertones.
* The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown - a emotionally stirring recounting of the quest of nine working class Americans in the 1930s to be oarsmen at the 1936 Olympics. The author focuses the bulk of the story on Joe, who outlived most of the characters, so was able to give the author full access, and juxtaposes Joe's story with Leni Renistefl's quest to film the Olympics. Joe is a poor working class boy, isolated and distrustful of others, who becomes part of a team of oarsmen, and trusts his fellow oarsmen with his life. While Leni is all about Leni. The author does a good job of depicting the time period and the obstacles the characters had to surmount. Amongst the better works focusing on the WWII time period that I've read.
* Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - what Mitchell accomplishes regarding narrative structure rivals James Joyce. He creates what amounts to an anthology of interconnecting stories nested inside each other. The beginning stories echo the stories at the end, in a sort of mirror narrative effect. So the end is the beginning. All of which serve the theme, that our stories build upon each other, and we are all characters inside each others stories. And each story is indelible to its time period and specific genre. One hints at Melville and takes place in the 1800s, another hints at a 70's pulp thriller and takes place in the 70s. When I initially reviewed this novel I stated that Mitchell skimped a bit on character, but I don't believe that is necessarily true now. Since I can still see, smell, and taste each one clearly in my head. It's not an easy book to read, but those are often the best. The book you read through in a day...is probably the weakest book you'll read. Since it did not require time to fully digest.
* The Uncanny X-men: Revolution by Brian Bendis and Chris Bacchalau - this is the comic series (it's about 36 issues and 300 pages) that caused me to become obsessed with Scott Summers/Cyclops for about three months. Bendis sets up a team of anti-heroes, yet by the end of the series, it's no longer clear who the heroes actually are. Former boy scout, quintessential field team leader, and boss of the X-men, Scott Summers aka Cyclops, accidentally killed his father figure and long-time mentor Charles Xavier. Xavier frenemy, and Cyclops former nemesis, Magneto, breaks him out of prison, with the help of the half-mad Magick, who channels the mystical energies of hell. Joined by Emma Frost, Cyclops ex-girlfriend, they set up headquarters in an old military torture facility, then got about saving mutants and people, while alternately threatening to start a Revolution. Although their revolution ultimately has more in common with Xavier (Martin Luther King) than Magneto(Malcolm X). With at times biting wit, the writers shine a light on superhero comics, and what exactly is a hero, and the moral ethics involved in saving one's people. Yet, while raising these questions, they never answer them -- allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions. More character-centric than plot-centric - we are given in-depth look at almost all the characters, while, at the same time, various themes are examined. This is not your father's comic book.
* Children of Blood and Bone by by Tomi Adeyemi. A YA dystopian novel - the first in a series, that melds African folklore and myths with modern dystopian themes, and features an all POC cast. It also...well, that would be telling, let's just say the romance doesn't end as you might think.
* Ms Marvel -- a comic featuring a Pakistani-Muslim teen female superhero, and her family and friends. The art is amazing, and the writing innovative.
* Saga - Brian K. Vaughn's sci-fi fantasy comic series that is about star-crossed lovers from two fighting planets who fall in love, have a kid, and manage to escape.
But it's no Romeo and Juliet. The female lead protagonist is a warrior, while the male is a man who hates violence of all stripes and colors. And they have a kid, and the story is told through her eyes.
2. Other notable items in books during this decade.
* Published my novel "Doing Time on Planet Earth" - hint it's not the astrology book or about prisons, which have the same title. Nor is it the one that became a movie.
This was my resolution at the end of 2014 -- and I accomplished it in 2015! It wasn't cheap. We'll see if it happens again. But on a plus note? I got two book clubs to read it, and over 1000 people purchased it (not for very much money and a lot of them did it during free give-aways, but still). Also I received good reviews from people whose opinions to me, at least, mattered.
* I co-produced, acted in, and helped organize a production of a live reading of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues. You have to read them, not act them.
* I co-wrote a play, that was read aloud by various actors at my church.
* Joined and left a book club, coming to the realization that I didn't really want to be a member of one. (I've reached the point in which I don't want people choosing what I read for pleasure.)
Other lists will be posted later tomorrow or later in the week.
Happy 2020 Everyone!
I don't remember that many of the books I read. Let's see...
1. Notable and or Memorable Books that I read in 2010-2019
Note not best, just memorable. Went to check Good Reads, but apparently I didn't start shelving books on that site until 2012.
* Magic aka Kate Daniels series by Illona Andrews - which pretty much ruined me for all urban fantasy series. The heroine was kick-ass and had a biting wit, there was no annoying love triangle, the romantic love interest was set up early on with little to no teasing, and the banter was hilarious throughout. Also this writer did something in regards to vampires that no one else has done. Also played around with shifters in a new one. Plus -- used Russian, Middle Eastern, and Asian folklore, with an unusual twist on Judaic-Christian mythos that blew my mind.
* Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - this prose poem of a book with it's melding of Welsh and British folklore and mythos, is also a lovely take on coming of age. It's written like a dream...part nightmare, and haunts long after it has been told. One of the most beautifully written books.
* The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I know everyone loves the Handmaid's Tale (which I couldn't get through - television series or book, too frigging preachy), but I much preferred this novel which took me a couple of years to read. I'd read a chapter at night before bed. Sometimes on the train. The prose was exquisite, pure poetry, and a lovely take on aging, in places. Say what you will about Atwood, she is a wordsmith in her prime. Also the narrative structure of a novel within a novel, both commenting on the other was rather brilliant. The story? It's about two sister's. One of which kills herself in the beginning, while the other ponders her role in her sister's tragic death. Was she responsible? Did her sister commit suicide or was she killed? The answer lies in her sister's manuscript -- a science fiction spy novel about two lovers who clandestinely meet in rendezvous, while one tells the other science fiction stories in bed. So we have the main story, the manuscript, and the stories told within it. Intertwined is the story of the sisters told in flashback through the not quite reliable memories of the eldest sister -- the one left behind, along with both sisters failed love affairs, and one's failed marriage. The book is part prose poem, part meta-narrative on pulp sci-fi, part feminist fable, and part puzzle box.
*Fifty Shades of Grey -- not a great book. It actually reads like 98% of the porny fanfic that I've read with great pleasure over the years. What was interesting about it wasn't the plot or the sex for that matter -- both were rather...well, done better elsewhere. No what was interesting was the comical British text messages interspersed throughout, not to mention the sexual contract reproduced on the page, complete with strike throughs -- which felt like a satirical take on a writer's contract, except for sex. It was perhaps the most unintentionally funny novel I've ever read -- or intentionally funny one. Hard to say. It felt like a satire of a contemporary romance novel, with BDSM sex scenes thrown in -- except in the words of one's prudish oh-so-British maiden aunt. It's also notable for making fanfic mainstream and being the first to make it legitimate to publish a fanfic that irons off the serial numbers. And it paved the way for the self-publishing or indie publishing best-sellers to the considerable chagrin of traditionally published authors.
* House of X/Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman and company -- where Marvel manages to successfully reboot the entire X-men franchise, and just about every character in it. And even provides little known or used characters with a new lease on life and putting them front and center. No longer is it just the Scott/Jean/Emma/Wolverine show -- now we have people like Kwannon, Moira McTaggart, Xavier, Sage, Forge, and others entering the mix. In addition -- the franchise shifts into speculative science fiction, with lots of world-building, and experimentation with narrative structure.
* CS Pascat's Captive Prince series -- a sexually explicit romance between two men in Ancient Greece and Mespotami, both Princes. Notable for going from an original piece of fiction produced in her livejournal to being published and sold. There was a time they wouldn't do that.
* The People of Forever are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu - this is an anti-war novel by an Israeli female writer who served in the Israeli Army. She watches refugees throw themselves at a wire. It delves into what constant War and friction does to people.
* The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which I apparently read at the end of 2010. I remember the books, just didn't remember when I read them. Possibly the best of the teen dystopian trend and certainly the ones that started it. What Collins excels at that few have managed to republicate is the combined themes of how violence traumatizes the innocent and forever changes them, and perhaps more importantly her incisive critique of our social media/reality show obsessed culture -- the narcissism of the culture that gets off on watching people kill and destroy each other. Considering that by mid-decade an authoritarian reality show star and marketing whiz became President of the US -- The Hunger Games served to be prescient as well.
* Storm of Swords, Feast of Crows, and Dance of Dragons by George RR Martin -- the last three books in the Game of Thrones series, and in some respects the best. Storm certainly was -- where it takes a villian and turns him into a tragic and misunderstood classical hero, while by the same token taken some alleged heroes and showing their tragic downfalls, one of which becomes a force of revenge. By the end of Dance, it was no longer clear who was good and who was bad -- and revenge seemed pointless and a horrible waste.
* The Fault in Our Stars by John Gault - a book about two kids dying from cancer who bond over a shared love of a book that just ends -- and go off on an odyssey to find the author who wrote in the hopes of obtaining a happy ending. It's more of a commentary on fandom and the need for happy endings, then cancer or kids -- although none of that got translated to the film.
* The Most Dangerous Book : The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses by Kevin Birmingham (which I read in 2015). This is a book about censorship, the struggle to get published, to create, and well the process of writing. One of the most fascinating and well-researched books that I've read on all of the above. A must for fans of Joyce, and for anyone remotely interested in the British and American censorship laws of the early part of the 20th Century.
* The Gobline Emperor by Katherine Addison -a beautifully written tale of political maneuverings. The hero is an outsider, who inherits the throne almost by default. Yet struggles to maintain it with kindness and compassion, even though he is surrounded by those who wish him ill. It may well be the most detailed fantasy novel that I've read since Tolkien, yet the author, unlike various fantasy novelists, doesn't skimp on characterization. Each character is well-drawn and complex. And the plot does not meander. If anything, I wanted more upon its conclusion, but it is just as well that is not to be.
*The Martian by Andy Weir - a self-published novel, that is character-centric with a hard sci-fi plot. Most of the science in the novel is factual and has been confirmed by actual astronauts. Due to an accident, Mark Watney finds himself stranded on Mars. This is the story of how he manages to survive. This is amongst the funniest novels that I've read, yet also the most moving. At one point Watney entertains himself with his crew's 70's collections, disco and vintage television reruns, which they'd left behind in their race to evacuate.
*Among Others by Jo Walton - told in an interesting and rather ambitious style - the diary of a half-mad adolescent girl, struggling to come to terms with her unique brand of magic, and her twin's death. She's fled from her half-mad mother, to stay in a boarding school funded by her eccentric father. The diary focuses on the books she reads - which are science fiction and fantasy novels, and the time period is the 1960s and 70s. It reminds me a little of Ocean at the End of Lane...in both it's stark beauty and dark undertones.
* The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown - a emotionally stirring recounting of the quest of nine working class Americans in the 1930s to be oarsmen at the 1936 Olympics. The author focuses the bulk of the story on Joe, who outlived most of the characters, so was able to give the author full access, and juxtaposes Joe's story with Leni Renistefl's quest to film the Olympics. Joe is a poor working class boy, isolated and distrustful of others, who becomes part of a team of oarsmen, and trusts his fellow oarsmen with his life. While Leni is all about Leni. The author does a good job of depicting the time period and the obstacles the characters had to surmount. Amongst the better works focusing on the WWII time period that I've read.
* Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - what Mitchell accomplishes regarding narrative structure rivals James Joyce. He creates what amounts to an anthology of interconnecting stories nested inside each other. The beginning stories echo the stories at the end, in a sort of mirror narrative effect. So the end is the beginning. All of which serve the theme, that our stories build upon each other, and we are all characters inside each others stories. And each story is indelible to its time period and specific genre. One hints at Melville and takes place in the 1800s, another hints at a 70's pulp thriller and takes place in the 70s. When I initially reviewed this novel I stated that Mitchell skimped a bit on character, but I don't believe that is necessarily true now. Since I can still see, smell, and taste each one clearly in my head. It's not an easy book to read, but those are often the best. The book you read through in a day...is probably the weakest book you'll read. Since it did not require time to fully digest.
* The Uncanny X-men: Revolution by Brian Bendis and Chris Bacchalau - this is the comic series (it's about 36 issues and 300 pages) that caused me to become obsessed with Scott Summers/Cyclops for about three months. Bendis sets up a team of anti-heroes, yet by the end of the series, it's no longer clear who the heroes actually are. Former boy scout, quintessential field team leader, and boss of the X-men, Scott Summers aka Cyclops, accidentally killed his father figure and long-time mentor Charles Xavier. Xavier frenemy, and Cyclops former nemesis, Magneto, breaks him out of prison, with the help of the half-mad Magick, who channels the mystical energies of hell. Joined by Emma Frost, Cyclops ex-girlfriend, they set up headquarters in an old military torture facility, then got about saving mutants and people, while alternately threatening to start a Revolution. Although their revolution ultimately has more in common with Xavier (Martin Luther King) than Magneto(Malcolm X). With at times biting wit, the writers shine a light on superhero comics, and what exactly is a hero, and the moral ethics involved in saving one's people. Yet, while raising these questions, they never answer them -- allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions. More character-centric than plot-centric - we are given in-depth look at almost all the characters, while, at the same time, various themes are examined. This is not your father's comic book.
* Children of Blood and Bone by by Tomi Adeyemi. A YA dystopian novel - the first in a series, that melds African folklore and myths with modern dystopian themes, and features an all POC cast. It also...well, that would be telling, let's just say the romance doesn't end as you might think.
* Ms Marvel -- a comic featuring a Pakistani-Muslim teen female superhero, and her family and friends. The art is amazing, and the writing innovative.
* Saga - Brian K. Vaughn's sci-fi fantasy comic series that is about star-crossed lovers from two fighting planets who fall in love, have a kid, and manage to escape.
But it's no Romeo and Juliet. The female lead protagonist is a warrior, while the male is a man who hates violence of all stripes and colors. And they have a kid, and the story is told through her eyes.
2. Other notable items in books during this decade.
* Published my novel "Doing Time on Planet Earth" - hint it's not the astrology book or about prisons, which have the same title. Nor is it the one that became a movie.
This was my resolution at the end of 2014 -- and I accomplished it in 2015! It wasn't cheap. We'll see if it happens again. But on a plus note? I got two book clubs to read it, and over 1000 people purchased it (not for very much money and a lot of them did it during free give-aways, but still). Also I received good reviews from people whose opinions to me, at least, mattered.
* I co-produced, acted in, and helped organize a production of a live reading of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues. You have to read them, not act them.
* I co-wrote a play, that was read aloud by various actors at my church.
* Joined and left a book club, coming to the realization that I didn't really want to be a member of one. (I've reached the point in which I don't want people choosing what I read for pleasure.)
Other lists will be posted later tomorrow or later in the week.
Happy 2020 Everyone!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-04 10:47 am (UTC)