The 100 Books I Read This Year

Goodreads has a Challenge where you can set reading goals each year.  Last year I discovered it half way through so I only set a goal of 40 books, which I more than reached. This year, I decided to set a goal of 100. I finished today, with my first Honorverse and David Weber book, a real page turner. I read these for various reasons: 52 for chat guest interviews, some for other interviews, some for market research, a few for writing craft, a few for fun and pure interest. In any case, I did some great and varied reading this year. Here are the covers for all the books I read in Goodreads’ Reading Challenge for 2012:

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington, #1)CitizensLance of Earth and Sky (The Chaos Knight, #2)Blowback (Retrieval Artist, #9)Seven Wonders
God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha, #1)The Creative Fire (Ruby's Song #1)The Halls Of Stormweather (Forgotten Realms: Sembia, #1)Flying in the Heart of the Lafayette EscadrilleIndustry Talk
Flash PointBeggars in SpainBroken Blade (Fallen Blade, #1)Starbridge (Starbridge, Book 1)The Tears of the Singers (Star Trek, #19)
InkThe Monster HuntersTheft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations, #1-2)Han Solo at Star's End: From the Adventures of Luke SkywalkerExploits: The Chronicles of Lucifer Jones Volume II
The Hutt Gambit (Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy, #2)The Paradise Snare (Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy, #1)The Whitefire Crossing (Shattered Sigil, #1)Crosscurrent (Star Wars)Little Giant--Big Trouble (Dragon Slayers' Academy, #19)
March Of The Ankylosaurus (Dinosaur Cove)The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Forest FireCharge Of The Triceratops (Dinosaur Cove)Frog and Toad Are Friends (Frog and Toad, #1)Attack Of The Tyrannosaurus (Dinosaur Cove)
Ecko RisingImmortal Hope (The Curse of the Templars, #1)Adventures (The Chronicles of Lucifer Jones, #1)Dragon Slayers' Academy the New Kid at School/Revenge of the Dragon Lady: 1 & 2 (Dragon Slayers' Academy 1 and 2)Hail! Hail! Camp Dragononka (Dragon Slayers' Academy, #17)
Kitty Steals the Show (Kitty Norville, #10)Lightbringer (Lightbringer, #1)Starters (Starters and Enders, #1)The Cat (Sons of Destiny, #5)How to Write Magical Words: A Writer's Companion
Born of BloodDarwen Arkwright and the Peregrine PactThe Mask of AtreusA Soldier's Duty (Theirs Not to Reason Why, #1)The Winds of Khalakovo (Lays of Anuskaya, #1)
Blood on the MinkThe Hammer and the BladeLibriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)Thieftaker (Thieftaker Chronicles, #1)Darth Vader and Son
The Sword-Edged Blonde (Eddie LaCrosse, #1)Reaper (Lightbringer, #2)Sword of Fire and Sea (The Chaos Knight, #1)Fighting GravityOrion and King Arthur (Orion, #6)
Wide OpenLeviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1)The Warded Man (Demon Cycle, #1)Judgment at Proteus (Quadrail, #5)The Skybound Sea (Aeons' Gate, #3)
Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, #1)The Caves of SteelTriggersShadow's Son (Shadow Saga, #1)Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse, #2)
The Science of Science Fiction WritingA Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)WWW: Wake (WWW, #1)Master of Devils (Pathfinder Tales)Prince of Wolves
The Domino Pattern (Quadrail, #4)Sins of the Son (Grigori Legacy, #2)Glamour in Glass (Glamourist Histories #2)Sins of the Angels (Grigori Legacy, #1)Carpathia
Old Tin SorrowsSeven PrincesDead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #1)Wars: The Battle of Phobos (Vol.1) - Preludes
The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction: 6 Steps to Writing and Publishing Your Bestseller!Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook (Pathfinder RPG)Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide: A 4th Edition D&D SupplementPathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting (Pathfinder Chronicles)Machine
Subversion: Science Fiction & Fantasy Tales of Challenging the NormEmpire StateThe January Dancer (The January Dancer, #1)The Truce at Bakura (Star Wars)Making Waves
Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1)Count to a TrillionThrone of the Crescent Moon (The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, #1)CassafireFirst Meetings in Ender's Universe (Ender's Saga, #0.5)
A War of Gifts (Ender's Saga, #5)EarthboundShadows in Flight (Shadow, #5)Arctic RisingAnniversary Day (A Retrieval Artist Novel, #8)

Worker Prince frontBryan Thomas Schmidt is the editor of Blue Shift Magazine and an author and editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction. His debut novel, The Worker Prince (2011) received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases for 2011. A sequel The Returning followed in 2012 and The Exoduswill appear in 2013, completing the space opera Saga Of Davi Rhii. His first children’s books, 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Jokes For Kids (ebook only) and Abraham Lincoln: Dinosaur Hunter- Land Of Legends from Delabarre Publishing.  His short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and online. He edited the anthology Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 (2012) and is working on Beyond The Sun for Fairwood Press (July 2013), headlined by Robert Silverberg, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick and Nancy Kress, and Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age for Every Day Publishing (November 2013). He hosts #sffwrtcht (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer’s Chat) Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on Twitter and is an affiliate member of the SFWA.

Books Read This Year…so far

Rage Of The Behemoth, Ed. Jason M. Waltz, Rogue Blades Ent.
The Black God’s War: A Novella, Moses Siregar, III, self
Predators I Have Known, Alan Dean Foster, Open Road
A Hymn Before Battle, John Ringo, Baen
Shades Of Milk & Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal, TOR
Sales & Sorcery: Tales Of Nautical Fantasy, Ed. W.H. Horner, Fantasist Ent.
Space Grunts, Ed. Dayton Ward, Flying Pen Press
Hellhole, Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert, TOR
Jedi Search, Kevin J. Anderson, Del Rey
Diving Into The Wreck, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, PYR
The Disappeared, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, ROC
Extremes, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, ROC
Consequences, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, ROC
Deceived (Star Wars Old Republic), Paul S. Kemp, Del Rey
Blood of Ambrose, James Enge, PYR
Black Halo, Sam Sykes, PYR
Mayan December, Brenda Cooper, Prime
Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor, DAW
The Falling Machine, Andrew Mayer, PYR
Deathless, Cathrynne M. Valente, TOR
Beast Within 2: Predator & Prey, Ed. Jennifer Brozek, Graveside Tales
The Unremembered, Peter Orullion, TOR
The King Maker, Maurice Broaddus, Angry Robot
Black Blade Blues, John A. Pitts, TOR

Currently reading:

The Desert Of Souls, Howard Andrew Jones, Thomas Dunne
The Tears Of The Sun, S.M. Stirling, ROC
Camera Obscura, Lavie Tidhar, Angry Robot

Interesting reading year. Most of this list was associated with either #sffwrtcht or reviews for Tangent (through March). A few things got squeezed in for me. I am reading two current books to review for Grasping For The Wind and SFSignal (way behind) but hope to finish both soon.

I’ve really enjoyed the diversity of my reading and have gotten into some publishers I was not familiar with before: Angry Robot, ROC, Graveside Tales, Flying Pen Press, Prime, Baen, Open Road, DAW. These are the first books I’ve read from them.  It’s obvious I read a lot of TOR and PYR sends me more ARCS than anyone. I’d like to expand my horizons a bit in the rest of the year and get some variety of editing tastes and styles but it all depends whom I book on #sffwrtcht, I suppose. I’ll have Splashdown, Pocket, Doubleday and Bloombury coming up so far. This includes my first YA book in years for Greg van Eekhout. I also read my first urban fantasy books and will have at least one more coming up soon.

Authors whose novels I’d not read before are: John Ringo, John Pitts, Nnedi Okorafor, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Maurice Broaddues, S.M. Stirling, Lavie Tidhar, Brenda Cooper, Howard Andrew Jones, Paul S. Kemp, Moses Siregar, Andrew Mayer, James Enge, Peter Orullion, and Mary Robinette Kowal.

I am glad I get the opportunity to read such diversity. I have enjoyed all these books in various ways and recommend them to you, although I’d be happy to make specific recommendations for anyone who contacts me.