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I discovered a few new series and authors this year, read some brilliant books - some of which I think will be looked back on well, and some books that are looked back on well but I thought were pretty miserable.
Fiction
Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson *
The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks *
Coalescent: Homo Superior by Stephen Baxter
Traces by Stephen Baxter
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier *
Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
Chart Throb by Ben Elton
Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian William *
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon *
George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking *
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
The Death of Dalziel by Reginald Hill *
The Girls by Lori Lansens
The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch *
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
The Aldabreshin Compass 4: Eastern Tide by Juliet E. McKenna
The Diviners by Rick Moody *
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Temeraire 2: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Temeraire 3: Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
Temeraire 4: Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik *
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl *
Discworld 30 - Making Money by Terry Pratchett *
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Harry Potter 5: The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter 6: The Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter 7: The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling *
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Book of Dave by Will Self
Orbitsville by Bob Shaw
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
A Series of Unfortunate Events 1: A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events 2: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Atrocity Archive by Charles Stross
Glasshouse by Charles Stross
Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal
Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary by Martha Wells
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Non-Fiction
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson (2007-06-12)
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (2007-02-14)
The Big Red Fez by Seth Godin (2007-02-22)
On the Edge by Richard Hammond (2007-12-28) *
Anyone Can Do It by Sahar and Bobby Hashemi (2007-01-11)
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (2007-07-20)
Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug (2007-11-19)
Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor And Charley Boorman (2007-12-13)
The Planets by Dava Sobel (2007-01-28)
Penguins Stopped Play by Harry Thompson (2007-12-05) By the Numbers:
59 books in total
56 books that were new to me, I re-read a couple of Potters and I accidentally re-read Babel-17 as I'd forgotten I'd read it
53 different authors (including 4 books by 2 authors)
49 fiction
41ish books I consider Good
38 male authors
31 new authors
26.5 UK authors (Malcolm Gladwell was born in the UK but raised in Canada)
20 American authors
19 books that were part of a series
19 Fantasy books
15 female authors (I feel a bit bad about that)
14 SF books
13 2007 books (according to a quick check on amazon)
10 non-fiction
9 books that are kinda written for children
7 books I consider Bad
5 Masterworks (one fantasy, four sf)
3 Hugo Award Winners (lord of light, dispossessed, starship troopers)
2.5 Canadians authors
1 each of Irish, Italian and Indian authors Best 2007 book
I think this goes to One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson, which I actually finished at about 12.30am on January 1st 2008, but felt should be included in the 2007 list. It's a great mystery novel that effortlessly intertwines plots and characters and is perfectly paced throughout.
Honourable Mention - A Spot of Bother was a lovely read for a summer afternoon, wonderfully real characters and very entertaining.
Worst book of 2007 and possibly of all history - The Diviners by Rick Moody, I stuck with it through over 500 pages, just 'cos I assumed it was going to go somewhere or do something. I was wrong.
Dishonorable mention - Foucault's Pendulum, if you like 500 pages of exposition about the vagueries of the Templars it might be ok. I do not.
Best non-fiction - of the somewhat pathetic 10 non-fiction books I'd recommend 5 of them. Long Tail, Tipping Point and Don't Make Me Think are all interesting and well written. Penguins Stopped Play is hilarious wether you know anything about cricket or not. I felt cheesy buying Richard Hammond's biography, but then stayed up until 4am to finish it and found it to be a remarkable insight into dealing with brain injuries. Best read of the year
Walking away with most of the other good awards will be Scott Lynch for his brilliant Gentleman Bastard series. Lies of Locke Lamora takes the best book of the year award and Red Seas Under Red Skies was only deprived the 2007 award because I expected slightly better from the plot. He would also take awards for best characters, best universe, "I can't believe he did that!" and "Most eagerly awaited sequel". I can't recommend these books highly enough, they're extremely well written and hugely entertaining to read.
Miscellaneous Awards
Best title - Special Topics in Calamity Physics, how brilliant is that?! Not a bad book either actually.
Best concept poorly told - toss up between The Brief History of the Dead and The Book of Dave
Best concept well told - an alternate history with dragons during the Napoleonic Wars. Genius.
What the blithering heck is going on? - Lord of Light
Best Book I Should Have Read Ages Ago - Starship Troopers, absolutely brilliant. |