the year in books
Jan. 3rd, 2007 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyIn 2006, I read 160 books. Yup. That's how many. If you put them all on top of each other, I think it would make a pile bigger than me.
Here are the titles and authors of all the five-star books I read, with short descriptions. Now, I read a lot more good books this year, books that I would gladly read over and over. To get five stars, a book has to be great. I have to feel that it changed my life, or the genre, or it could change the world in some way.
Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear. Two things that are amazing about this book - first, it's an original urban fantasy with elves. I didn't know that was even possible these days. Second, if that weren't enough - the author writes hard sci fi the rest of the time. Wow.
The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman. I didn't initially give this book five stars, because many things about it are frustrating. However, it has actually changed my life, so it gets five stars. You just have to get past the... Christian-ness.
The Glass Books of the Dream-Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist. One of the strangest things I've read in years. Utterly engrossing. You will love the characters - the jilted plantation heiress, the jaded assassin,
and the physician who is also a spy.
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. This book has an engaging reading style, draws from an enormous array of sources to support its conclusions, and will utterly change the way you think about your own mind. Don't miss it.
Fly by Night by Francis Hardinge. A runaway girl and her attack goose get involved in a complex political plot. I really don't think I need to say anything else.
A Red Heart of Memories by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. This short but surprisingly intense book is about a lot of different things, including trauma, ghosts, and friendship. I recommend it strongly.
Knitting Heaven and Earth by Susan Gordon Lyons. The sequel to The Knitting Sutra, this book is about spirituality, knitting, and cancer. If you're a knitter, you should read it.
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni. The book that Reading Lolita in Tehran wanted to be, but wasn't. If you want to know more about what it's like to live in Iran as an American woman, this is the book for you.
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. A truly original book featuring dragons as the aerial corps during the Napoleonic wars. The beautiful bastard child of Anne McCaffrey and David Weber.
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. One woman, with almost no cooking experience and a tiny Manhatten kitchen, decides to cook all the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. Her journey is hysterically funny, and sometimes just hysterical.
Miss Melville Regrets by Evelyn Smith. A retired art teacher, reduced in circumstances, turns to a life of crime by becoming an invisible assassin. Really funny without being trite or cloying.
This year really yielded an amazing haul. I hope you enjoyed it too! If you have found my reviews interesting or helpful, won't you share the love? Leave a comment and let me know, or better yet, buy something at a locally owned bookstore.
ETA: Click here for the best books of 2005.
Here are the titles and authors of all the five-star books I read, with short descriptions. Now, I read a lot more good books this year, books that I would gladly read over and over. To get five stars, a book has to be great. I have to feel that it changed my life, or the genre, or it could change the world in some way.
Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear. Two things that are amazing about this book - first, it's an original urban fantasy with elves. I didn't know that was even possible these days. Second, if that weren't enough - the author writes hard sci fi the rest of the time. Wow.
The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman. I didn't initially give this book five stars, because many things about it are frustrating. However, it has actually changed my life, so it gets five stars. You just have to get past the... Christian-ness.
The Glass Books of the Dream-Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist. One of the strangest things I've read in years. Utterly engrossing. You will love the characters - the jilted plantation heiress, the jaded assassin,
and the physician who is also a spy.
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. This book has an engaging reading style, draws from an enormous array of sources to support its conclusions, and will utterly change the way you think about your own mind. Don't miss it.
Fly by Night by Francis Hardinge. A runaway girl and her attack goose get involved in a complex political plot. I really don't think I need to say anything else.
A Red Heart of Memories by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. This short but surprisingly intense book is about a lot of different things, including trauma, ghosts, and friendship. I recommend it strongly.
Knitting Heaven and Earth by Susan Gordon Lyons. The sequel to The Knitting Sutra, this book is about spirituality, knitting, and cancer. If you're a knitter, you should read it.
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni. The book that Reading Lolita in Tehran wanted to be, but wasn't. If you want to know more about what it's like to live in Iran as an American woman, this is the book for you.
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. A truly original book featuring dragons as the aerial corps during the Napoleonic wars. The beautiful bastard child of Anne McCaffrey and David Weber.
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. One woman, with almost no cooking experience and a tiny Manhatten kitchen, decides to cook all the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. Her journey is hysterically funny, and sometimes just hysterical.
Miss Melville Regrets by Evelyn Smith. A retired art teacher, reduced in circumstances, turns to a life of crime by becoming an invisible assassin. Really funny without being trite or cloying.
This year really yielded an amazing haul. I hope you enjoyed it too! If you have found my reviews interesting or helpful, won't you share the love? Leave a comment and let me know, or better yet, buy something at a locally owned bookstore.
ETA: Click here for the best books of 2005.
