10 years of blogging about the books I most enjoyed in my year. That hardly seems possible. But decade or not, this has been a good reading year. I think I’ve read around 150 books this year and listened to a few more. More crime than usual, I think but that’s because I found a few new writers with backlists. Otherwise a fair smattering of genres. There’s been lots of good ones in all of those and here’s a selection of my faves.

A Court of Thorn and Roses – Sarah J Maas – Lovely fantasy. I would like the next one to be out already. Feyre is a great heroine.

Every Move – Ellie Marney – Great aussie YA with a take on Holmes/Watson that sucked me right in.

In The Woods – Tana French – A crime glom. These books are very intriguing and beautifully written, each one from a different protagonist’s POV, which is unusual for a crime series.

Career of Evil – Robert Galbraith – I resisted these books for some time but after hearing several people rave at once about J.K.’s alter ego, I decided to give them a go. Then glommed all three in about five days. Cormoran Strike is a fab character.

The Martian – Andy Weir – A ripping yarn. Have read, listed to the audiobook several times (in fact I started with the audiobook and had to swap to the book as I was too impatient to know what happened) and seen the movie. My fave SF this year.

Carry On – Rainbow Rowell – A book of the fictional characters created by a fan fic writer in another book. Very meta. But lots of fun.

The Legend of Lyon Redmond – Julie Anne Long – This book had a LOT of weight on it, given the build up of this particular romance over the entire series. But it all paid off. Happy sigh.

The Shepherd’s Crown – Terry Pratchett – Many tears. I want to read again but not sure I can yet. I hate that there will be no more new Pratchetts next year. Vale, Sir Pterry, vale.

Uprooted – Naomi Novik – When I first read the blurb for this, I wasn’t sure as it sounded so completely different to the Temeraire books but I was hooked after about two pages. This might be my fave book of the year. If you love female type fantasy in the Robin Mckinley school of fantasy, run and read this.

Deep – Kylie Scott – A great end to the Stage Dive series. Looking forward to the new series a LOT.

The Spy Who Tamed Me – Kelly Hunter – I would read many more books about these two characters (hint hint, Ms. Hunter)

Anticipation – Sarah Mayberry – Hot. Tattoos. Mayberry. Say no more.

Non-stop Till Tokyo – K.J. Charles – Yakuza, Sumo wrestlers, intrigue and romance. What’s not to like?

A Room Full of Bones – Elly Griffiths – Crime. Third person present which is unusual but I really enjoyed the main character, Ruth. This series was my first big crime glom this year.

Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert – Great non fiction for creative types.

Magic Shifts – Ilona Andrews – The Kate Daniels series remains my fave urban fantasy series.

Photo by Abhi Sharma. Licensed under a Creative Commons 2.0 License.