Saturday, January 9, 2016

Great books I read in 2015

Please note: the order is thematic rather than ranked. Several of these are rereads, and many of them were published prior to 2015.

Horror
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Feed by Mira Grant
The Technician by Neal Asher

F/SF (note that all of the above could also plausibly go into this category)
Armada by Ernest Cline
The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett
The Bees by Laline Paull
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie
Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Romance
The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen
The Chocolate Temptation by Laura Florand
Two of a Kind by Susan Mallery

Mystery
The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth
Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

My summary statistics for the year: 147 books read: 116 new and 31 rereads. 41 new authors tried: from above, that includes Neville, Mallery, Florand, Bowen, Cline, Hawkins, Paull, Addison, and Lockhart.

I'm putting together on a separate post on how my Hugo-nomination list is shaping up.


Thursday, January 7, 2016

Two great poems

Sadly, I have read very little poetry in the years since I left college.

However, I recently read a wonderful poem, which references another wonderful poem... so I'm saving them here for later.

First poem: Sirens by Sarah Howe (link fixed now)
References another poem: Elegy for Jane by Theodore Roethke

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Favorite movies of 2015

I watched 35 movies in 2015. Not all of them came out during 2015, of course (Cinderella, Expendables, Big Hero 6, etc.) and I also watched Mad Max: Fury Road twice. Here are my favorite movies from the past year:

1) Mad Max: Fury Road
2) Inside Out
3) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
4) Spotlight
5) The Martian
6) Crimson Peak
7) Mr. Holmes
8) The Woman in Gold
9) The Wind Rises
10) Big Hero 6