![Avatar of [E] Slay Belle](http://persephonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/avatars/23/c0077df539d46f14993c53d9ef3a8936-bpthumb.jpg?d4fd08 "[E] Slay Belle")
The Books I Read Last Year: The Good, The Bad, and The Meh (Part 3)
January 13, 2012 in Books
I had other plans for my Friday post, but when OneBearPig pointed out that “Meh” was my 99th post, I thought maybe I should talk about my “Good” books for my 100th. Plus, I’m about to mention both unicorns, the official site mascot, and zombies, which everyone knows are my thing, so it all comes to together in a big ball of awesomeness. Or something. Definitely something.
Part 1, The Bad, and Part 2, The Meh, can be found at these handy links.
Part 3 – The Good: (Put These on Your To-Read)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Books 1 and 2 of the Inheritance Trilogy, these two titles were among the novels I was most excited about last year. I heard about them from two glowing reviews on IO9 and picked up Hundred Thousand when I happened across it at my library.
This is exactly what happened: I came home from the library at 9 in the morning. I then read the entire first book in a breathtaking couple of hours, immediately left my house, drove back to the library and checked out the second one. I literally could not wait another day to read the next part of the story.
For the fantasy readers among us, please note this: it is a fantasy world with a POC lead, a non-Greek based mythology, with strong and vibrant female characters. Frankly, this should be enough of a selling point, but the books are fantastic in their own right.
The third book, The Kingdom of Gods, has been released but I was not finished reading it as of this writing.
Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, and Aloha from Hellby Richard Kadrey
Urban noir mage novels are a dime a dozen these days. Some of them, like the The Dresden Files, are quite good, while many of them are horrible, horrible novels that are excuses for uninventive soft core porn. I am certainly looking in your direction, Anita Blake.
Sandman Slim falls into the former category, which you might have guessed from me including all three novels published on the good list. Kadrey understands that noir is more than fog-clouded streets, treats his femme fatales as more fatales than kittens, and has an inventive look at the concepts of Heaven, Hell, Lucifer, magic, and everything that falls in between. I think Kill the Dead is my favorite of the bunch, but your time isn’t going to be wasted no matter which one (or all of them) you pick up.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Oh, what a book this is. It’s a love letter to nerd culture by a bona fide nerd — you know how some authors try to short hand when a character is a “loser” by saying he plays D&D and reads Tolkien? You’re not going to find that here. Oscar is a nerd, and maybe even a kind of loser, but so is the author, and the book is filled with a lot of love and empathy towards its main character.
You will not go wrong reading this. The book is brilliant. It won the Pulitzer! It might be my favorite thing I read last year. Hell, it’s my favorite thing I’ve read in the last two years.
Zombies vs Unicorns edited by Holly Black
Ok, I swear this isn’t a joke. Maybe the concept of the book was a joke, but the quality level is shockingly high. The book is a collection of short stories written by authors who are either Team Unicorn or Team Zombie. And honestly, I wasn’t aware that it was possible to write such interesting stories about unicorns.
Holly Black is one of my favorite urban fantasy writers to have hit the scene in the past few years and she’s proving herself to be a great editor as well. Meg Cabot, Garth Nix, Libba Bray, and Carrie Ryan? Yes, please.
Ignore your distaste for anything so achingly hipster-ish and get the book. I promise you that it is relevant to your interests.
Want more reading recommendations? Try Selena’s 5 Books interviews or the great articles on the Book Review tag page.
- Motivated
- Smarter
- Tickled
- Hungry
- Sad
- Angry
![Profile picture of [E] Michelle Miller](http://persephonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/avatars/1482/6979a4f9835b3e1e24696473fa1ae4f4-bpthumb.jpg?d4fd08 "[E] Michelle Miller")
Kathy said on January 14, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Have you ever tried Cherie Priest? Strong female characters, steampunk, absolutely fantastic stories and rich worlds. Every time she brings out a book, I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Start with Boneshaker.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 14, 2012 at 10:27 pm
I tried Boneshaker this year and I just couldn’t get into it. I really wanted to like it, it seemed like I should have liked it, but …nada. I gave up on it. But everyone likes her so much!
Urgh!
I’ll just need to give her another shot.
freckle said on January 14, 2012 at 12:44 pm
Opening my library website right now to get as good as all of these. Fantasy. Fantasy noir!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 14, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Awesome! I hope you like them.
And thank you for patronizing your local library.
Mini said on January 13, 2012 at 6:34 pm
I feel a bit like a traitor, but I think I might have to side with zombies. Especially if they’re the fast zombies from 28 days later. Or if they can zombify the unicorns
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Unicorns can gore you and they’re probably really fast. I mean, I’m Team Zombie, but it would be a good fight.
Mini said on January 13, 2012 at 11:08 pm
But would unicorns have the level of comprehension necessary to understand the need to aim at their heads? Cause a zombie could just reach back and bite one’s neck from where it was impaled on its horn.
bricorama said on January 13, 2012 at 5:09 pm
I LOVE OSCAR WAO. That book is responsible for completely changing my notion of what a novel (especially one aimed at/about young adults) can be.
And I work at a library and shelve books…Zombies Vs Unicorns is always one I’ve been curious about.
bricorama said on January 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm
OO I also love Meg Cabot (read most of her books when I was in HS) and I’m excited she has a newish book out. And its about the myth of Persephone no less!
[E]Meghan Young Krogh said on January 13, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Woooooooo Persephone!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 5:26 pm
You should definitely check out ZvU, because even if you don’t like it, at least you didn’t pay for it.
I never read any of Meg Cabot’s novels, but I often run across her in short story form, and I really like those. I might actually read a whole book one day.
bricorama said on January 15, 2012 at 1:18 am
Don’t expect too much. It’s mostly chick lit, but the tolerable kind (and I hate people like Nora Roberts, Janet Evanovich etc). She and Caroline B. Cooney are two of my favorite YA writers though.
Bangs with Glasses said on January 13, 2012 at 3:50 pm
I got Zombies vs. Unicorns from my mom as a birthday gift last year, because she loves me and knows me so well… and maybe because I specifically asked for it, but that was besides the point. I was definitely pleasantly surprised by the quality of the stories, and it’s a good book for when I want to just zone out for a bit and get lost in fantasy.
The rest of these books, though, are going on my to-read list!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 4:02 pm
If you like short story collections, I’ve been making my way through Teeth, which is a vampire collection. I sort of thought it would be stupid, like ZvU, but the quality of the stories is really high. I like it quite a bit.
Bangs with Glasses said on January 13, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Oh sweet, thanks for the recommendation! I’ll definitely have to check it out – I’m definitely a fan of short story collections! (:
ETA: just looked the title up on Amazon and there seems to be a few titles by that name. I’m guessing it’s the one by Ellen Datlow and other authors, yes?
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Yep! Datlow is a solid bet, so that’s why I picked up the book. That and it was 80% off when Borders went out of business.
http://www.amazon.com/Teeth-Vampire-Tales-Ellen-Datlow/dp/006193514X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326489448&sr=1-3
Bangs with Glasses said on January 13, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Sweet! Any recommendations for which book you recommended to start with first? I have no idea what I’m in the mood for after I finish up with The Gift of Fear, and all of these look really interesting.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 4:58 pm
I really liked GoF too.
If you want a tonal break from Gift of Fear, I would go with Thousand Kingdoms.
If you want the best book, its probably Oscar, but it does get dark in a lot of places.
OneBigPear said on January 13, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Oink!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Grr! You’re the best.
OneBigPear said on January 13, 2012 at 5:12 pm
No. YOU’RE the best.
On topic of the article, I am adding the Inheritance Trilogy to my reading list!
QoB said on January 13, 2012 at 3:11 pm
I now have acute book-shame and have added this to my wish list (I may even purchase some…). Thank you for these!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 3:30 pm
You are welcome! I hope to hear what other people think of them some time in the future.
Hillary said on January 13, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Thanks! Adding a lot of these to my never-ending to-read shelf on GoodReads. The first two look especially awesome.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:24 pm
I suspect the Kingdoms trilogy will be a huge hit with the P-Mag crowd.
[E]Meghan Young Krogh said on January 13, 2012 at 4:31 pm
I am adding those to my list as well. :)
milly parkhurst said on January 13, 2012 at 3:52 pm
…..what is GoodReads?
(i know, i could just google it, but i’d rather find out what it is from someone who uses it …if that makes sense lol)
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Just scroll down! I asked the same question – and then subsequently signed up :)
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Its like LibraryThing, sort of — its a site for readers and authors.
http://www.goodreads.com
This is my profile: Slay Belle
And this is the reading challenge: Challenge
I love it. Plus there’s contests for free books. I’ve won 5! I haven’t read a single one!
(This is what I wrote downthread, re-pasted for ease of reference.)
Lauren sMash said on January 13, 2012 at 1:49 pm
I’m adding all of these to my list! I’ve heard wonderful things about Oscar Wao for AGES now, so I think it’s about time I picked it up. I’m really excited to read the short story collection, as well. Team Unicorn, obviously.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:06 pm
The short story collection is really good! Plus, you can dip in and out as you have time to read.
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Oh and Congrats on your 100th post! Exciting!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Thank you!
Cynthia said on January 13, 2012 at 1:33 pm
If you haven’t read Oscar Wao yet, do it now. I’d also recommend the audiobook, as the performances of the narrators are very good. I’m not well trained in the ways of literature, so excuse me for my plebian terminology, but this book has a very distinctive atmosphere that draws you in almost immediately. You just get the world it exists in super quickly, thanks to the writing.
cowboykiller said on January 13, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Hell yes Latino authors. Hell. Yes. Also also his book of short stories – Drown – is beautiful and heartbreaking.
Cynthia said on January 13, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Ooh, I’ll look that one up!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:09 pm
I believe Drown and Oscar share some of the same characters — I know he said he wrote more about the sister and I think that’s where the story is.
milly parkhurst said on January 13, 2012 at 3:49 pm
oooo thanks for suggesting that! i’ve been dying to read other material he’s written.
[E]Meghan Young Krogh said on January 13, 2012 at 4:07 pm
I don’t find your terminology plebian at all.
Esprit-follet said on January 13, 2012 at 1:30 pm
SO much love for NK Jemisin.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Everything I’ve heard about her new series sounds really awesome as well.
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 1:30 pm
EVERYONE MUST READ OSCAR WAO!
Aside from being so full of well respected nerdiness – it also contains a history lesson of the Dominican Republic that I could not get enough of. LOVED IT.
The dreaded part? I loved it so much I lent it to my boyfriend a month before he broke up with me. NEVER GOT IT BACK. May his soul rot.
And I think your review of Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is probably the best review I have ever read. THAT’S how you know a book is good. And I’ll be picking it up next week for sure. :) I am now very excited.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:12 pm
I was appalled to realize how little I knew about the Dominican Republic while pouring through the novel. And the history lessons are so organic and integral to the plot it doesn’t feel like you’re being hit over the head.
milly parkhurst said on January 13, 2012 at 3:48 pm
thiiiiiiiis. it really made me want to read more on the dominican republic’s history
[E]Meghan Young Krogh said on January 13, 2012 at 4:08 pm
That’s the problem with breakups versus divorces. In a divorce you could sue to get the book back.
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 4:39 pm
I know. :( He has my Grizzly Bears CD too.
But then, I kept his favorite college tee shirt, a wool sweater and most the friends. :) Turns out, I was the favorite one of the couple. He got weird and reclusive. I started baking-as-stress-relief. Cookies always win. :)
Caitlinface said on January 13, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Oh my God, zombies vs. unicorns. A book of short stories is already a Thing I Love, as the Internet has killed my attention span, and one involving unicorns in the slightest is a priority read.
I used to own a book full of short stories about unicorns and I remember falling in love with it, lending it to a friend, and never seeing it again. I wish I could remember the title.
EDIT: “A Glory Of Unicorns.” That was it. Anyone else ever read this book?
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:14 pm
I never read that, but my mom got me this book after I saw the author on Donahue. I still have it.
bibliotecha said on January 13, 2012 at 1:16 pm
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms sounds really good! Adding it to my list of books to read. One day I’ll read them all. :)
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:15 pm
No lie, my to-read list is over 1500 titles long. Goodreads and my library account keeps track for me. I don’t know how I’ll ever whittle it down.
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 2:39 pm
What is this Goodreads thing?
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Its like LibraryThing, sort of — its a site for readers and authors.
http://www.goodreads.com
This is my profile: Slay Belle
And this is the reading challenge: Challenge
I love it. Plus there’s contests for free books. I’ve won 5! I haven’t read a single one!
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Oh good god, it’s like netflix with all their recommendations! Brilliant!
Oh, but this is sad. On the start-up, where you rate what you’ve read already, I’ve only read one of the books. And it was only 3-star worthy.
Clearly I need this site. Thank you!
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Oh, wait, nevermind, that was just the Art section. Okay. I’ll figure this out soon enough…
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 3:03 pm
When you add a friend, it gives you an option to compare books you might have in common, so you can add more to your read list. And then as you add books, it gives you recommendations. Its awesome. And it doesn’t cap you at how many books you can list (which is why I don’t use LibraryThing).
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 3:53 pm
That and LibraryThing sounds like the worst name ever. No effort in naming it?
My recommendations are a mess and I need to figure out how it all works but I’ll get there. After my first pass through the genres, I had rated 104 books that I’ve previously read. That seems like SO MANY and I haven’t even gotten all of them down. I’ll need to go more indepth as I develop my list.
Also! While I was getting all my Tana French loaded, I found her NEXT book! It doesn’t even have a cover posted yet but there it was! I promptly added it to the To Read list. OMG. I haven’t even finished Faithful Place yet. SO GOOD.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 4:06 pm
She wrote Into the Woods, right? I have that on my to-read pile and I’ve noticed a lot of people praising her writing.
That’s one of the reasons I love GR. A lot of authors and publisher’s participate on the site, they let you know when books are coming out, and there’s always giveaways of advance reader copies to get people’s feedback. Its a little addicting.
I keep a group there for the community book group I lead, where I can schedule what books we’re reading per month, but people can also add titles they’re interested in for the future. I find it so useful.
jen* said on January 13, 2012 at 10:48 pm
(pardon the butt-in but) wait – there’s a new Tana French already?
I finished Faithful Place last fall. I don’t know why I’m into her the way I am…but…I like her.
veruna said on January 13, 2012 at 1:14 pm
The Hundred Kingdoms looks really good. I’m adding it to my list.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:16 pm
Its really good. There’s some first time novelist issues with it (some continuity errors, some problems with action/reaction), but the good far outweighs the (minor) bad.
veruna said on January 13, 2012 at 3:47 pm
That’s good to know. I like first time authors, but they do come with their own set of issues. I’ve been looking for a new fantasy author, so the timing is perfect. I only have some non-fiction free books left to read (I’m also a GoodReads winner). And I like to interspace my non-fiction with fantasy.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 4:10 pm
I thought about mentioning some of the 1st time author stuff in the review, but I decided that — especially given how hard it is to find ANY fantasy with non-white leading casts — they were really minor quibbles. And the author has been steadily improving — I think she’s going to be a big fantasy name in a couple of years.
veruna said on January 13, 2012 at 4:21 pm
That’s awesome. I don’t think there’s anything I love more than watching an author steadily improve and come into her own, especially female fantasy writers that aren’t pushed off to the side.
Side note: I added you as a friend on goodreads. I hope that’s okay. If not, I won’t be offended.
deuteragonist said on January 13, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Adding all of these to the TBR list right. now.
2012 might be the year where I do nothing but read. I’m totally ok with this.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:23 pm
If you’re going to do that, you should join the Goodreads challenge. You set how many books you want to read in the year, and then the goal mocks you when you spend too much time watching tv. Its very motivating.
deuteragonist said on January 13, 2012 at 3:45 pm
I’ve thought about doing that, but I don’t really have a set number. I just want to read all the books I want to read. I tend not to have trouble motivating myself to read–just finding time to read as much as I want.
[E]SaraB said on January 13, 2012 at 1:09 pm
This is a very exciting list. I will try them all.
And I totally agree with you about Anita Blake.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:17 pm
I feel personally betrayed by the evolution of Anita Blake. The first 5 books are really good. Hell, its an enjoyable series up to Blue Moon. And then it just dives off the cliff. I wish she would stop writing.
Juniper said on January 13, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Yes! Yes! Yes to Zombies vs Unicorns ! Especially … an ACTUAL debate (UK version and US version). With singing and ahhh, love it.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Ooh, do you know what the differences are? Such a good collection. I really didn’t expect anything from it and was very surprised at the quality of the writing.
Juniper said on January 13, 2012 at 2:49 pm
Unlike the beautifully edited book … the debate is the authors actually debating (two minutes each and so on) and is just hysterically funny; it’s then followed by them discussing their contibutions to the book and their own separate work. Definitely worth checking out their individual novels.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 3:31 pm
On my list. Thank you for the rec!
Juniper said on January 13, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Tis a pleasure!
[E]Meghan Young Krogh said on January 13, 2012 at 1:04 pm
I’ve been meaning to read Oscar Wao for a while now. Time to add it firmly to the list!
[E] pileofmonkeys said on January 13, 2012 at 1:29 pm
It just went on my Goodreads “to-read” list, which is getting frighteningly long.
cowboykiller said on January 13, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Do it. It’s incredible, and a surprisingly fast read considering it’s heft and all the footnotes.
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 1:42 pm
His footnotes are glorious. :)
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:19 pm
I read Infinite Jest a few months before Oscar Wao and was surprised at how copious footnotes could be used in such different ways. I personally liked the use of them in Wao better.
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 2:40 pm
If it wasn’t for Wao (I’ve never read Infinite Jest), I would not have survived the footnotes in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
But I liked how each author used them, in their own ways.
[E]Meghan Young Krogh said on January 13, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Oh I loved strange and norrell.
mxandb said on January 13, 2012 at 3:55 pm
It was a long read but SO WORTH IT. I found myself caring very deeply about all the secondary characters and in the end, they really became primary so I found myself going much faster through the book. A great way to move the reader through the story!
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:22 pm
Mine to-read is completely out of control. I keep thinking I’ll do a year and just read titles off of it, but I’d never get through it. There’s almost 1500 books on it. It just sits there, mocking me.
[E] Slay Belle said on January 13, 2012 at 2:21 pm
You really should read it. I put it off for a while despite all the great things I heard about it. Its a sizable, not always pleasant read, but its incredibly engrossing. Its one of the few books my entire book group loved.
[E]Meghan Young Krogh said on January 13, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Well, I DID just get a new kindle fire. Heft, ha!
milly parkhurst said on January 13, 2012 at 3:44 pm
it’s a freaking awesome book. def read it.