Who doesn’t love a good end-of-the-year list? I actually don’t particularly care for them, but here’s mine anyway! I don’t think I’ll finish my two current reads in the two days remaining, so here’s every book I finished in 2023.
- Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin. Trans dystopia. Loved it. Perfect if you’re an angry queer like me.
- Neoreaction a Basilisk: Essays on and Around the Alt-Right by Elizabeth Sandifer. It’s worth brushing up on your scholarly jargon to dive into these essays – the book’s a couple years old now, but some of the figures examined are (sadly) relevant at the moment.
- The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. So gay. So historical. I fell in love.
- The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky by Mackenzi Lee. A follow-up novella. Still so gay.
- Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer. A book on creativity and world-building. Beautiful.
- The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee. Not quite as gay but still pretty queer.
- The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee. The least queer of the series, but I forgive it. Did I mention I fell in love?
- Answers in the Form of Questions by Claire McNear. A history of Jeopardy!. Fascinating if you’re a fan.
- Pilgrim in the Palace of Words by Glenn Dixon. A study of the evolution of languages in the form of a travelogue. Took me a bit to get into it, but I enjoyed it by the end.
- Bad Therapy by Matthew Jones. One of the later books in the Doctor Who New Adventures series from the 90s. Working my way through (slowly).
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. A reread to refresh my memory before reading the new one.
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. Okay, I loved it.
- Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach. I love Mary Roach. Essays on science and culture that are both silly and serious.
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I had ready and loved Seveneves so I thought I should try his classic. I thought it was decent, but I found it a bit of a slog to get through, if I’m being honest.
- Mageling by J.L. Mullins. I was looking for something in the genre of progressive fantasy, which is what I’m currently writing, and tried this. As you’ll see from the next couple of entries, I quite liked it.
- Mage by J.L. Mullins.
- Binding by J.L. Mullins.
- Bound by J.L. Mullins.
- Fusing by J.L. Mullins. And then I was all caught up.
- Hi Honey, I’m Homo! by Matt Beaume. A history of queerness on television told through essays focusing on individual sit-coms. I tore through this.
- Alan Lennox and the Temp Job of Doom by Brian Olsen. Okay, look. I’ve never reread any of my books, and after an extended writing break I’m gearing up for the release of a new one. I thought I should take another look at my first two series and see if they held up before I started the marketing machine again. And you know what? They do! And they take just as long to read as books I didn’t write, so I’m including them in this list. So there.
- Caitlin Ross and the Commute from Hell by Brian Olsen.
- Mark Park and the Flume of Destiny by Brian Olsen.
- Dakota Bell and the Wastes of Time by Brian Olsen.
- The Dystopia Spell by Brian Olsen.
- Night of the Living Date by Brian Olsen.
- The Case of the Empty Throne by Brian Olsen.
- How to Kill a Vampire in Outer Space by Brian Olsen.
- Karma & the Seven Cups by Timothy James Ryan. Middle-grade fiction by my college roommate. It’s fantastic!
- Fused by J.L. Mullins. Next book when?
- The Reality Frame by Brian Clegg. Building a universe from scratch as a thought experiment. Fun, amateur-friendly science.
- The Guncle by Steven Rowley. Recommended by my niece and nephew. I am nowhere near as fun a guncle as the title character but my jealousy didn’t ruin my enjoyment.
- Bringing the Empire Home: Race, Class, and Gender in Britain and Colonial South Africa by Zine Magubane. I read a speech she gave to my high school in the alumni newsletter and was interested enough to pick up her book. Quite scholarly, but if that’s your thing it’s a really fascinating look at… well, at exactly what the subtitle says.
- Edge of the Woods by Andrew Rowe. More progression fantasy from one of my favorite progression fantasy authors. I do sometimes wish he’d finish one series before starting another, though…
- The Heisenberg Corollary by C. H. Duryea. Fun hard science/fantasy mash-up from another old friend of mine!
- The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. End of the world and coming of age, can’t beat that combo!
