Books of 2008, reading plan 2009

Last year I set myself a target of reading 60 books (novels or novellas, not counting graphic novels) and came pretty darn close to meeting that target with a total of 55, which wasn't too shabby.

I started the year with Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie and finished with The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. In between, I managed to explore a reasonably eclectic mix of territories: from epic fantasy to psychological horror, historical mystery to space opera, serial killer thriller to YA adventure, comic surrealism to fictional memoir.

I enjoyed far too many highlights to list them all, but I am extremely glad I read Guy Gavriel Kay's World Fantasy Award winning Ysabel, as well as Peter Crowther's mini-collection The Land at the End of the Working Day, from the now-defunct Humdrumming Press. Pete is selling copies of that one via the PS Publishing website and I urge you to grab one if you're any sort of fan of the strange, surreal, funny and moving bar tales of Spider Robinson's Callahan's series, in particular.

I also enjoyed reading (or re-reading) some favourite graphic novel series during the year. Mike Carey's eleven-volume Lucifer series was a real treat, and I also caught up with another swathe of Hellblazer back-reading. Plus, re-visits to Alan Moore's Tom Strong and Promethea and a re-read of Jeff Smith's nine-volume Bone adventures.

For 2009 I'm planning on revising my targets slightly. I'm still hoping to read about 60 books, but I'll be interspersing my regular fiction reads (many of which will be Orbit titles, naturally) with a number of marketing titles that I've got my eye on, hopefully to the tune of one a month. Meanwhile, my regular Xmas voucher haul will be helping to fill some gaps in my graphic novel collection, so I'm hoping to be able to re-read the first five volumes of Fables and bring myself up-to-date with the next six. I think I might take another look at The Books of Magic as well.

I'm also hoping to treat myself to a couple of re-reads of favourite novels, which is something I've hardly dared do for the past few years. But what the hell, eh? Sometimes it's important to get back in touch with much-loved books from years gone by, if only to remind yourself of the path you've taken to reach your current reading preferences. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

January 3, 2009 | Filed Under Books and Reading | 2 Comments

New Arrivals - mid Jan '07

A couple of items of particular interest turned up this week, which I reckon are well worth bringing to your attention:

Albion by Moore, Moore, Reppion, Oakley and Freeman

Ever wondered what happened to all those classic British comics characters when their publications went under, merged, or just gradually faded away? Well, this is your chance to find out. A real cornucopia for the Brit-comics fan-boy and fan-girl, and a good, old-fashioned jailbreak romp for anyone else.

And I do rather have to admit that I was stuck firmly in the second camp; my childhood comics reading was pretty much limited to The Beano, a dash of Whizzer and Chips and a smattering of The Dandy, with a foray into the re-launched version of Eagle in the '80s, then Battle / Action Force and finally 2000AD (I'm still a subscriber to the latter, as it happens). As a result, I can't count myself amongst the lucky few who will be able to pick up on the majority of the character references and cameo appearances in Albion. And I'm sure there must have been dozens here.

Still, it was an enjoyable read and one I'm glad I made time for. I just wish I'd spent more of my childhood leisure time with my nose stuck in a comic book...

Bone Song by John Meaney

Now this is an intriguing little number, and no mistake. Simon Spanton of UK publishing house Gollancz has sent me this 'ere proof in a quite deliberate, pre-meditated attempt to disrupt my 'to-be read' list... and I do believe he may have succeeded, too.

With Bone Song John Meaney takes a tangent away from his previous space-opera-esque outings to present a crime / horror cross-over... or a baroque future-fantasy... or maybe a space-grand-guignol (I'm not sure quite which it is yet, but I'm itching to find out...) set in Tristopolis, a city powered by its own dead, who lies neatly stacked in necroflux generators in vast catacombs below ground.

It seems to be a mystery tale, anyhow; possibly even a police procedural. Not too much given away in the blurb (which makes a change...) so I think the only way to discover more will be to give it a go. I'll report back when I know what's what...