36) Soulless by Gail Carriger. I absolutely adored this book. Fun, snarky work, in a great historical urban fantasy setting. Can't wait to read more by her! Keeper, for sure.
37) Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. This graphic novel is fabulous brooding noir. Thank you, what-if boy, for immediately seeing how much I would love it, and for getting me a copy! I recommend this one to everybody who likes noir and/or graphic novels. Keeper.
38) Linger by Maggie Stiefvater. Oh, what do I even say about the sequel to Shiver? I love them equally. They are both amazing. Linger blew me away. I wept over this book in the Dallas airport as I finished it with Snow Patrol in my ears. SO GOOD. I can't believe that I have to wait for the third book in the trilogy. Maggie, you're killing me with these beautiful, aching books!
39) Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Another amazing book. This is the first in a new trilogy, set a couple hundred years before the events of the Mortal Instruments books. And holy cow it was good! I'm just bummed I have to wait another year before the next one. If you dig urban fantasy stuff and aren't familiar with Cassie's work, please check her out. Her books are great!
40) The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron. This was fun. I got a galley at BEA; the guy who gave it to me told me that it has a Princess Bride vibe to it. I Was skeptical. But he was right. It's in the sense of humor, and the classic (but not cliche) characters. The thief, the sorceress, the swordsman, the king, the evil brother. I fully enjoyed this and would recommend it to people who prefer their fantasy to be a little less urban and a little more . . . not epic, but more clearly fantasy.
41) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I thought that Suzanne would have a hard time living up to the expectations set by The Hunger Games, the first book in the trilogy, but this book was very well done. It's definitely a middle book, dealing with the aftermath of the first book while setting up the events of the third. But it absolutely holds up as a stellar piece of writing. I am glad, since it ends on a cliffhanger, that I waited to read it until just before the final book in the trilogy came out.
42) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The conclusion of the Hunger Games trilogy. This book just blew me away from the get-go. It was hard to watch Katniss figure everything out and try to deal with it. That poor, poor girl. Every time I thought I had things figured out, Suzanne would hit me with another twist. This whole trilogy is so well executed it makes me jealous! And the whole ending . . . I finished this book in the Denver Airport a few days ago, and got a lot of funny looks from people as I wept my way through the end. I'm not going to lie: this is a hard book to read. There is a lot of tragedy and death and terror. But it's a damn satisfying ending, when you get there.
43) A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz. This history of pre-Pilgrim America was a lot of fun. Did you know that the Vikings, the Spanish, and the French all discovered North America before the English got here? Yeah. Tony Horwitz went on a bunch of crazy road trips, following the routes of the intrepid explorers of America. He spent time with historical reenactment actors. He did a lot fo research in old, musty libraries. And I really dig his conclusion, that the mythology of how our country was founded is more important to the character and history of America than the truth is. Truth is facts, but mythology is belief, and that's a hard thing to sway. So, this was fun, but not a keeper, since I doubt I'll reread it.
44) Wolves & Honey by Susan Brind Morrow. I love Susan Brind Morrow's writing. This is the second book I've read by her, and in it she meanders through the natural history of upstate New York, weaving in stories of a couple men who were very important to her as she grew up in upstate, as well as some linguistic and etymological background. She deals specifically, no surprise here, with wolves and honeybees in upstate New York. Morrow's work will always be on my shelves for the spell she weaves with her words. It's like a painting; I can almost step into it, almost hear the owls and coyotes, almost smell the blossoms of the apple trees.
And that's that for now. Lots of freelancing to do this weekend, but never fear, I'll squeeze in a little time for some writing, and tomorrow I think we're going to Governor's Island for a while, which will be fun. Happy weekend, everyone!
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