This post is for comments / questions / discussions about books people have read in the Random Summer Reading Program 2013

Want to talk more about a specific book? This is the place to do it.

You love to read, right? Did you ever do a summer reading program when you were a kid? Did you know you can do one as an adult?!

Here are two summer programs for you to try!

Todd Wheeler’s 7th Annual Virtual Summer Reading Program: June 17 – September 1, 2013 to benefit the The Prison Book Program, up to $100.

Third Annual Hot Chicks and Smart Men Dig Reading Summer Reading Program in Honor of Debby Faught: June 21th – September 3th to benefit the Douglas County Library Foundation, up to $250.00

Should I have a virtual summer reading program? I probably should, but it’s kinda late to start. Hmmm…

OK. I did it.

(kazoos!)

Introducing the Random Summer Reading Program!

I will make a $1 donation for every book read, up to $100. I haven’t decided for certain where I’ll donate at the end of the program, but I’m currently considering The Shack.

No, it’s not a library, but it does promote education and learning, and it’s local. And people I know say many good things about it.

I’ll also have a random prize for the randomly determined winner at the end of the program. Could be anything, really: metal chicken, Amazon gift card, kazoo–the possibilities are endless.

And yes, that site is pretty rough right now, but this was a last minute decision, and really, I’ve got all summer to play around with it.

So, get on out there and read!

What I read in April:

Fantasy

The Death of the Necromancer (1998) Martha Wells

YA: Fantasy

Grave Mercy (2012) Robin LaFevers

Shadowfalls
Whispers at Moonrise (2012) C. C. Hunter
Saved at Sunrise (2013) C. C. Hunter
Chosen at Nightfall (2013) C.C. Hunter

YA: Fiction

Send (2012) Patty Blount – This is phenomenal, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Comic / Graphic Novel

Erstwhile: Untold Tales from the Brothers Grimm (2012) Gina Biggs, Louisa Roy, Elle Skinner

Romance

These Old Shades (1926) Georgette Heyer

Non-Fiction

A History of the World in 6 Glasses (2005) Tom Standage

As you may have noticed, I read a LOT. And I’m too lazy to go to the library, which means I buy the books I read.

It used to be that my favorite format to read was mass market paperback, but over the past two years that has changed to eBook format. My kindle is lighter than even a mass market paperback. And since I don’t like to break the spines of my books, holding my kindle is easier than holding a paperback book open.

But beyond ergonomics, I like having a whole bunch of books with me, so I can read a bit of one book, decide that’s not what I’m in the mood for, and then switch to something else.

I’ve always been mildly irked that many eBooks list for the same price as the mass market paperback. They don’t have to print and ship, so it seems to me eBooks should be cheaper than paper books.

Various authors have argued otherwise–that the price of the book includes the work the published does, including editing, covers etc.

Well, considering some covers, it seems hard to believe publishers are putting THAT much money towards covers.

OK. That was snarky. But on a more serious note, if I read a book with an atrocious cover as an eBook, I don’t have to get a book cover so I don’t have to feel like people are judging me on what I’m reading.

But a recent court ruling has crystallized another issue I have with the price of eBooks.

As I said, I read a LOT. And I like to try new authors. HOWEVER, with a paper book, if I hate the book–or even just find it worth only a single read, I can then sell that book to a used book store, or even give it to a friend.

I can’t do that with an eBook. It’s mine, and even if I pay full hardback price for it, I can’t get anything back for it–I’ve essentially thrown my money away.

And then there’s the issue of loaning books. Michael and I have our kindles on the same account, so it’s not an issue for us to share books back and forth, but I love loaning books I love to friends to get them to love the book as well.

But it’s not so easy with an eBook. Some books can be loaned, but the last several conversations I’ve had with friends, I’ve checked only to find that I can’t loan them my copy of a book I love.

If I’ve paid for a book, then why am I not allowed to loan it to a friend?

Which is why I almost never buy an ebook unless the price is significantly below the price of the paper version of the book. If I can’t sell the book if I dislike it, if I can’t loan the book to my friends because I want to share how much I liked it, why should I pay the same price for a book that has major restrictions?

So I don’t.

Instead, I put books on my Wish List, and regularly check for price drops.

Sorry authors, but that’s just how it is. I don’t think fair to charge me the same price for an ebook that I can’t sell or share that I pay for a paper copy of the book, that I CAN share and sell.

Being sick for a week boosted this month’s reading rather dramatically. I read a variety of genres, though I went back to Agatha Christies when I was feeling worst, because, well, she’s awesome and comforting.

Fantasy

Slashback (2013) Rob Thurman (9/10)
Frost Burned (2013) Patricia Briggs (8/10)
Graveminder (2011) Melissa Marr (7/10)
Whispers Under Ground (2012) Ben Aaronovitch (8/10)
Seven Kinds of Hell (2013) Dana Cameron (5.5/10)

Paranormal Romance

Twice Tempted: A Night Prince Novel (2013) Jeaniene Frost (8/10)

Steampunk Romance

Kiss of Steel (2012) Bec McMasters (6/10)
Cards & Caravans (2013) Cindy Spencer Pape (7/10)
Hunter’s Prey (2012) Moira Rogers (8/10)
Archer’s Lady (2012) Moira Rogers (7/10)

Mystery

What Darkness Brings (2013) C.S. Harris (9/10)
Thieftaker (2012) D.B. Jackson (7/10)
They Do It With Mirrors (1952) Agatha Christie (7/10)
A Pocket Full of Rye (1953) Agatha Christie (7/10)
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962) Agatha Christie (7/10)
A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie (8.5/10)

Romance

The Rake to Ruin Her (2013) Julia Justiss (5/10)

Anthology

The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius (2013) John Joseph Adams (8/10)
The Way of the Wizard (2010) John Joseph Adams (7/10)
Death’s Excellent Vacation (2010) Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner (7/10)

Young Adult

The Westing Game (1978) Ellen Raskin (7/10)

Random Reading Statistics
Total books read in March: 21
Paperback: 1
eBook: 18
Hardback: 2

Re-read: 4

Genres
Anthology: 3
Fantasy: 14
Mystery: 8
Romance: 7
YA: 1

Books read so far in 2013: 60

Today, The Best Fantasy Novels You (Probably) Haven’t Read appeared in my RSS feed, so of course I had to click through, and after clicking through and reading, I had to comment.

Mordant’s Need: The Mirror of Her Dreams & A Man Rides Through by Stephen R. Donaldson

This was the only Stephen R. Donaldson I could stomach (I found his other series, Thomas Covenant, vile and horrible), but I quite liked Mordant’s need and I believe the books are still floating around here somewhere.

The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan

I’ve bought some of his SF for Michael, but not read any of his fantasy. I think Shawn is reading some Richard Morgan SF right now.

The Bas-Lag series by China Miéville

Yeah, sorry fans, but I can’t stand China Miéville. I get why he’s good, but I want no part his books. I suffered through Perdido Street Station and would probably have been happier if I hadn’t finished it. I find him horrible and depressing and I think I’d rather read nothing than have to read another of his books again.

And I read cereal boxes.

The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin

Really? They think people haven’t read this? I thought they were in constant publication?

I can’t say they’re some of my favorite fantasy out there, but they’re good, and I liked ’em.

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

With the cover they have pictured, it’s no wonder I never picked this up. Thank goodness for eBooks. Well, and for publishers getting *slightly* better in their covers.

Though I’m not sure anything that makes me think of A Canticle for Lebovitz is something I’m likely to put up. (Have I mentioned how much I do not enjoy dystopias? I do not enjoy dystopias at all.)

The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

Oddly, I have this queued up to read. I’ll let you know what I think when I’m done.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Michael has some Brandon Sanderson. I think he became popular about the time I stopped reading epic fantasy. No offense to him, but I got deathly tired of huge doorstops of books that went on and on and on with no end in sight. There’s a reason I’m so fond of mysteries: you can pick up any book and be satisfied. If you want to gorge yourself on ’em, you can. But you don’t have to know what happened in the first book that was published twenty years ago to enjoy the book that just came out.

The Empire Trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

I believe I sold off all the rest of my Raymond Feist books, but kept these, because I really enjoyed them. Partially it was the oriental feel of the stories, partially it was the female main character. But I really enjoyed them (and have resisted re-reading, for fear I won’t like them as well as I remember).

Andre Norton, generally

I’ve read some of her stuff, but nothing caught my fancy. I believe I’d read some of her fantasy stories in various anthologies, but that was long before I started by book blog, so it’s hard to remember.

The Secret History of Fantasy, ed. Peter S. Beagle

This I read relatively recently. The collection as a whole, I believe, made my slightly uneasy, but it was still very good. I was particularly fond of the Stephen King story.

Yes, it’s the 10th of March, but I just today decided to start doing this: a monthly digest of what I’ve been reading.

Fantasy

Midnight Riot (2011) Ben Aaronovitch (Rating: 8/10)
Moon Over Soho (2011) Ben Aaronovitch (Rating: 8/10)
Thomas the Rhymer (1990) Ellen Kushner (Rating: 9/10)
Swordspoint (1987/2003) Ellen Kushner (Rating: 10/10)
Fair Game (2012) Patricia Briggs (Rating: 8.5/10)

Young Adult

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne (2011) Kady Cross (Rating: 7/10)
The Girl in the Steel Corset (2012) Kady Cross (Rating: 5/10)
Heaven’s Net is Wide (2007) Lian Hearn (Rating: 10/10)
Across the Nightingale Floor (2002) Lian Hearn (Rating: 9/10)

Mystery

The Sleeping Partner (2012) Madeleine E. Robins (Rating: 8/10)
The Dance of the Seagull (2013) Andrea Camilleri (Rating: 8.5/10)

Comic / Graphic Novel

Madame Mirage (2008) Paul Dini and Kenneth Rocafort (Rating: 9/10)

Anthology / Short Story

Teeth: Vampire Tales (2011) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Rating: 8/10)
Companions to the Moon (2007) Charles de Lint (Rating: 9/10)
In Sea-Salt Tears (2012) Seanan McGuire (Rating: 8/10)
The Kidnapping () Charles Todd

Links are to my review for that book. Within the review, the title link will take you to Amazon, and the author link will take you to my compilation of all the books I’ve reviewed by that author (listed in series order, if applicable.)

Random Reading Statistics
Anthology: 1
Comic: 1
Fantasy: 12
Mystery: 6
Romance: 3
YA: 4

Paperback: 1
Trade Paperback: 4
eBook: 11
Hardback: 0
Re-read: 3

As I’ve mentioned previously, I have a book blog, Random Reading. The sidebar here displays the last five books I read and reviewed because–why not?

But in addition to that book blog, I actually have a fairly extensive book site, and I spent much of January cleaning up that site, fixing images, and making sure the books I own/have read are in the site as well as my database.

The most work involved anthologies, which I love. It’s not completed, but a good portion of the work is done. So now, if you go to the anthologies page, and click on an author, say, Ellen Datlow, you see books she’s written as well as anthologies she’s edited. And those anthologies should contain a list of the stories in that volume as well as who wrote that story. And if I have a page for the author of that story, you can click on the authors name to see other things they’ve written.

The top of any author page should have a list of books that author has written, in the order of publication. Many of the book titles are linked to Amazon where you can buy that book if you so desire, and get me a few pennies if you buy after following my link.

The rest of the page contains any reviews I have of that author’s works, including excerpts from anthologies.

As I read more than 100 books a year, and have been keeping a book blog since 2004, there are not an insignificant number of book reviews here.

When applicable, the author’s name at the top of the page should link to that author’s website. I removed a LOT of dead and outdated links on these pages.

The comics pages are slightly different, as they’re grouped by series, since one series may have multiple authors. Keep in mind that I have pretty specific tastes regarding comics, and frequently will recognize that a comic is good, even if I have no desire to every read any more of it.

Because I read a lot, the site is a work in progress. The database isn’t even close to fully linked to the book site for two reasons: I have books I have not read, and I have books I read a long time ago, before I started writing a book blog. But between the two, I’m hoping you can find a fair amount about authors and books you like, even if it’s just the publication order for Discworld. ;)

Oh, most of the site (excluding the Random Reading site, which is backed by Word Press) is hand coded and maintained. Because, when I initially started writing book reviews, that’s how I did it, and because I couldn’t find blogging software to organize things precisely how I wanted them.

And also, because I am a masochist.

So, let me know what you think, and like I said, if you click through to Amazon and then buy a book, I get a couple pennies from that purchase. To feed my book addiction. :)

The problem with reusing images for book covers, is that if an image is particularly striking, it’s obvious the image has been reused.

For weeks I was staring at the guy on the cover of Lilith Saintcrow’s The Damnation Affair, KNOWING I’d seen that guy on the cover of another book.

How did I know that? Because the guy creeps me out.

He looks like a redneck stalker.

Not hot. Not sexy.

Creepy.

I finally ran back into the image as I was cleaning up my book blog and book site.

The cover for Moira Rogers’ book Wilder’s Mate: Bloodhounds.

Mind you, I find the guy disturbing in both settings, but I find the first image MORE disturbing, because he and the girl are not in the same setting AT ALL. At least in the second image, the guy is being made to look threatening and dangerous–though Im’ never a fan of Photoshopped red eyes.

But in the top image, he looks not like he’s going to save the girl, but that he is threatening her.

Additionally, the female model looks about twelve, which makes it all the more squicky, because it reinforces the stalker/pedophile vibe.

So now we both know.

Aside from what I may read today, my total books read for 2012 is 160. That’s the second greatest number read after 2006, when I read 164.

November (22) and February (19) were the months I read the most–wonder if that relates to how dreary those months can be, since I also read less than average in March (7) and April (10). (July we were on vacation, so that doesn’t count.)

The total for genre comes out to be more than 160, because many of the books I read fell into multiple categories.

As always, I read primarily fantasies (104) but those were predominantly supernatural fantasy rather than epic or sword & sorcery. That’s because I’m still not in the mood to commit to authors like Robert Jordan or George RR Martin who write huge books in series that never seem to end.

I still want primarily single book story arcs, and it’s hard to find good S&S that does that.

The number of romances (33) I read (this is almost always a secondary category) went up, but the number of YA books (35) I read doubled. There are a LOT of good YA books out there, and an eReader means I don’t have to lurk the YA section of the book store to find them. (I know there’s nothing wrong with it, but hanging out there made me feel weird.)

I also read several blogs that review a lot of YA, so I’ve discovered plenty more to read–as if my TBR pile wasn’t already huge.

As far as the types of books I’ve read, eBooks has blown away every other category, almost doubling since last year.

The slight increase in hardback books is due almost entirely to the number of cookbooks I read (6). But mostly you can see that eBooks (97) have mostly replaced mass market paperback books (22). I don’t think the number trade paperback books (30) will change, because that category contains comics and graphic novels (15) and I won’t read those in any other format.

And in case you missed them, here are my favorites from 2012.

My Favorite Books of 2012:
YA and Fantasy
Romance and Mystery
Non-Fiction and Comics

Good Covers of 2012:
YA, Romance, and Mystery
Fantasy

And my book blog still lives at Random Reading, and updates to that appear in the sidebar to the right.

So, with all that, any recommendations for me for 2013?

I have always read a lot of fantasy, but in recent years, I’ve discovered some of the best fantasy is in the YA section. Luckily for me, the internet makes perusing the YA section less uncomfortable. I’m still not reading much epic / sword & sorcery fantasy and a lot of urban fantasy / paranormal fantasy, but that’s okay, because I like what I like, and there’s nothing wring with that.

The YA I read is almost all fantasy, but I’ve been following a lot of book blogs that recommend YA, so I’ve picked up a few non-fantasy YA books to read. We’ll see if that trend continues next year.

Unless otherwise stated, these were published in 2012.
(Click on a book title to read my full review, click on the author’s name to see more books by that author.)

Fantasy

Death’s Rival, Raven Cursed, and Have Stakes Will Travel (Jane Yellowrock) Faith Hunter

I really like Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series. Jane is a licensed vampire hunter who has managed to get hired by the vampire master of New Orleans. Jane is also a skin walker, which is something she works to keep secret from everyone, because to the best of her knowledge, there are no other skin walkers anymore.

Although Jane has some powers from being a shifter, she primarily succeeds through her wits and intimidation. She also suffers the consequences of her actions–and since she has a violent occupations, there are almost always consequences.

Have Stakes Will Travel is a collection of Jane short stories, covering her entire career. The other two are the latest Jane Yellowrock books.
 
 
Permeable Borders by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

I love Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s writing–I’ll pick up pretty much any fantasy book she’s written.

Although many of her books have romantic elements, she writes fantasy along the lines of Charles de Lint, rather than paranormal fantasies, even though her stories contain magic.

Several of these stories appeared in anthologies, and many of those I’ve read, but others–those written upon a them mostly–I had not seen before. Of course, even the stories I’d read before, I still enjoyed.
 
 
Gunmetal Magic (The World of Kate Daniels) Ilona Andrews

Although Kate and Curran make appearances here, this book is about Andrea, Kate’s partner. I’ve read several short stories featuring Andrea, so was looking forward to an entire novel about her, and I was not disappointed.

Andrea has always been a very strong female character in Kate’s world, so she was easily able to inhabit a book on her own.
 
 
Ashes of Honor (October Daye) Seanan McGuire

There are more Toby Daye books to come (I checked) but this book ends in such a good place I’d be okay if the series ended here. Not that I don’t want to read more about Toby, it’s just that many of her problems have finally been resolved and she can actually get in on with her life now.
 
 
Garrett Investigates (Abby Irene) Elizabeth Bear

This is a collection of Abby Irene short stories/novellas.

These stories have elements of fantasy and steampunk, but I think first and foremost I’d label them as alternate history, with those other elements coming secondary, because the world in which Abby Irene lives is as important to the stories as the fantasy and steampunk elements.
 
 
The Very Best of Charles de Lint (2010) Charles de Lint

I absolutely adore Charles de Lint’s stories, so despite having many of these stories already, I couldn’t resist this collection for the stories I didn’t have.

It’s a strange thing–many of his stories deal with dark and depressing elements–sexual abuse, child abuse, loss–yet his stories leave me with a sense of hope.
 
 
Hex Appeal edited by P.N. Elrod

This is an anthology of stories about magic and boinking.

Okay, not all the stories have boinking, but most of them do. Despite that, there is some wonderful world-building and there are many fantastic stories here, which gave this anthology a very good rating despite having stories I didn’t finish.
 
 
Down These Strange Streets (2011) edited by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin

This was a fabulous collection–I don’t think there was a single story here I hated, and most of the stories I loved. It also introduced me to several authors I had not read or heard of, but went on to search out because I so enjoyed their tales here.

YA

The Far West (Frontier Magic) Patricia C. Wrede

This is the concluding story to her Frontier Magic series, and is marvelous. This is an alternate history where magic has shaped the founding of the US, and although there are many parallels between this world and our own history, there are also many significant differences.

Although the main character is a girl (a young woman by the time of this book) I believe that boys might enjoy it as well–especially the first book in the series.

To be honest, I enjoyed this world so much I am sad to see this series end.
 
 
Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride

This is a fun series. Sam has discovered he is a powerful necromancer, so has to learn quickly how to deal with his powers.

There is an acknowledgement of teen’s sexuality in this book, though nothing descriptive.
 
 
Dark Frost (Mythos Academy) Jennifer Estep

This is another interesting series, though a little heavier on the romance than I might prefer. Gwen goes to a school for magical heroes of a sort, but her powers aren’t the sort that are good for bashing monsters, and she wasn’t told of the existence of others until she was in high school.

This is a modern setting, and there’s acknowledgement of boinking, but no details.

I’ve been enjoying this series, though I’m not quite sure I like where it’s heading.
 
 
A Conspiracy of Kings (2010) (Thief of Eddis) Megan Whalen Turner

Yeah, this is one of the books that made me bend the rules for books published in the past several years instead of just 2012. This series is so wonderful, I want to make sure everyone knows about it.
 
 
Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron edited by Jonathan Strahan

This is a very good anthology–a great combination of authors I’m already reading, and authors that are new to me. I wish I knew more people who loved anthologies as much as I do.

My favorite comics and non-fiction books and my favorite mysteries and romance of the past year.

My favorite Fantasy and YA covers of 2012.

I’ve always loved mysteries, from Nancy Drew to Trixie Beldon to Sherlock Holmes as a kid, to Spenser, Sonchai Jitplecheep, and Inspector John Rebus as a grownup. Grandmom shared this love of mysteries, so after her death, I sort of drew back from reading as many mysteries, because it often made me sad when I’d think, “Grandmom would LOVE this!”

But, I’ve started back into reading mysteries again, and there were always a few series that I was keeping up with, regardless.

Romance is a new field for me, one I was drawn into through the amount of paranormal fantasy I was reading. I eventually decided that as long as I knew before hand I was reading a romance, it wasn’t that bad. However, most of the romances I’ve been reading are either part of a fantasy series I was already into, or much older books I’m just now discovering.

Unless otherwise stated, all books were published in 2012.

Romance

Steel’s Edge (The Edge) Ilona Andrews

This is the final book in The Edge series, so there was quite a bit to wrap up, but I think they did it admirably. Ilona Andrews has said they may write more about these characters in the future, but not as part of this series. So if you’re a completist, all four books are available now!

These books have boinking, but not a huge amount of boinking. Just so you know.
 
 
Scarlet A. C. Gaughen

This is a take on Robin Hood that I initially had a hard time getting into, but once I got to about two chapters in, I couldn’t put it down. Will Scarlet is actually a girl hiding from her past, and only three people know Scarlet is actually a girl, and none of those know her true identity.

I really enjoyed this, and was surprised not to see a sequel, because there easily could be one. Not much boinking here, though there is an open acknowledgement of sex.

My review of Scarlet.
 
 
Kilts & Kraken (Gaslight Chronicles) Cindy Spencer Pape

This series is more a bunch of serial novellas, so be aware the stories are relatively short.

There is also a LOT of boinking.

But the world building and the characters are so wonderful, I keep getting the books in this series because I enjoy them so much in spite of all the graphic sex.

There were actually two stories in this series published this year, but I didn’t find the second quite as good as this one (or the previous stories).

My review of Kilts & Kraken.

Mystery

The Custom of the Army (2012) Diana Gabaldon

I read my first Lord John story in the anthology Down these Strange Streets, and I almost immediately went looking for more stories about Lord John. The first book I found was good, but the next two I read, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade and Lord John and the Hand of Devils were excellent, and I was immediately pulled in.

The Custom of the Army is a novella featuring Lord John, a major in the British Army during the Seven Years War. The fact Lord John happens to be gay, at a time when that could lead to his hanging, makes his life even more dangerous.

The history in these stories is my second favorite thing after Lord John. She is meticulous in her research to make sure the details are historically correct. And some of those details are pretty amazing to modern eyes.

These aren’t your typical mysteries, but neither are the romances either, so I’ve mentally classified them as historical mysteries and moved on.

My review of The Custom of the Army.
 
 
Vulture Peak (Sonchai Jitpleecheep) John Burdett

I don’t remember anymore why I initially picked up Bangkok 8, but once I did, I was drawn into the story and the characters and the city and have eagerly awaited each additional book in this series.

This is NOT a series I recommended to Grandmom. Bangkok is not a place for the faint of heart or squeamish, and these books reflect that. That said, these books are also amazing, and it never fails to astound me the things that are ethical and immoral in Sonchai’s world.

My review of Vulture Peak.
 
 
Beastly Things (Commissario Guido Brunetti) Donna Leon

This is a series that Grandmom really enjoyed. Brunetti is an inspector in the Venice police, and Venice is as much a character in this series as Bangkok is in the Sonchai Jitplecheep series.

As are the meals Brunetti and his family eat. I have two Italian mystery series I am keeping up with, and in both the food is as much a part of the book as the place and the (inevitable) murder.

Although some books are better than others, all are good, and all are worth reading.

My review of Beastly Things.

My favorite romance and mystery covers of 2012.

Two different articles today on women writing as men: the WSJ article, Why Women Writers Still Take Men’s Names which looks at fiction in general, and the iO9 piece that focuses specifically on SFF.

I’ve long had a preference for female main characters in my SFF, but haven’t been very particular about mysteries, so I decided to see how my reading preferences have panned out for the past several years.

I didn’t categorize by genre–hey, I’m doing this all by hand as it is!–but did have five gender categories: male authors, female authors, women writing under initials or male pseudonyms, men writing under initials, and male-female partnerships.

The last category is pretty much Ilona Andrews and Phil & Kaja Foglio, and was not folded into any other category.

So what did I discover?

Over the period of 2009 to 2012, I read 556 books. When I divide those books by the (known) gender of the author, I get:

Male authors: 44.4%
Female authors: 53.1%

That’s actually a pretty even split, considering. From correlations, it’s also dependent upon what genre I’m reading: in 2010 I read a lot of mysteries, so I ended up reading more books by male authors (53.4%) than female authors (45.3%). This year I read primarily fantasy, so the authors I read were predominantly female (69%).

What is interesting is how things look when I break down those categories further.

Male: 43.9%
Female: 46.4%
Male Initials: 0.5%
Female Initials/Pseudonyms: 6.7%
Team: 2.5%

(That 0.5% for male initials was exclusively T.A. Pratt‘s Marla Mason series.)

The percentages are much closer when we compare male names to female names.

And if I add female initials to the males instead of the females (which is what both articles are suggesting happens when female writers use their initials), I get a higher percentage of authors with male names:

Male Names: 50.54%
Female Names: 46.40%

(I’m leaving T.A. Pratt and the team writers out of this calculation.)

Now, I admit that (with the exception of Girl Genius) I classified comics and anthologies under the name of the writer or editor. So an anthology could have primarily female authors but been compiled by a male editor. And the issue of comics is even more of a gray area, but as this was done out of curiosity, not something I’ve compiled for publication that needs to pass scientific rigor, I don’t care if you don’t like my classification system. :P

So, even though I have a stated preference for books with female characters, which tend to be written by female authors, male names or pseudonyms still seem to come up on top.

It’s interesting, but also sad that women still have to pretend to be men to sell books.

Compiled from my book blog: Random Reading

That was initially going to be a list at some of my favorites books that were published in 2012, but I decided that wasn’t quite fair, since there are some series that I’ve just become aware of, so instead I’ve limited the list to books that were published in 2010, 2011, or 2012. Additionally, I almost never buy hardback books, so I want to include books that just came out in paperback 2012.

And also, if I hadn’t, my non-fiction selection would have been one book.

First up: Non-fiction and comics.

I don’t get through a lot of non-fiction during the year, mostly because it tends to be my bedtime reading, so I usually get about a chapter a night read before I fall asleep.

As far as comics, I don’t follow a lot of comics, and the ones I do follow I generally really really like, so you’re seeing most of what I read this year. The other series that I’d been following are either completed or have stopped publishing (boo!). The exception to this is Hellboy, which I read erratically, because there are generally two different plots: the ongoing story, and short stories from the past. As I prefer the short stories, I tend to fall behind on the Hellboy series.

Hopefully I can find some new series to keep up with in the coming year.

Non-Fiction

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) (2012) Jenny Lawson

If you follow The Bloggess, then you know she put out a memoir this year.

And if you follow The Bloggess, you also know she is completely irreverent, frequently blasphemous, and possibly the funniest blogger around. She also suffers from medical issues, including depression and anxiety disorder, which makes her writing often even more poignant.

If you do not regularly read The Bloggess, I highly recommend her writing, assuming you are not offended by foul language, and irreverent (and perhaps blasphemous) writing.

Or taxidermy.

My review of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir).
 
 
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 (2011) edited by Mary Roach and Tim Folger

I like science. I like how Mary Roach writes. So when I saw she was editing an anthology of science writing, I said, “why not?”

Most of the writing is not as irreverent as what Mary Roach writes, but it is still very good, and well worth checking out if you like science writing.

My review of The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011
 
 
Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the Difference (2010) Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu

For someone who is mostly agnostic (or perhaps just a monotheist) I read a lot of religious writing. Partially because I’m looking for answers I know I won’t find, but also because religion is so very important to so many people in my life, I want to learn as much as I can, so at least I can grasp it intellectually, even if I feel nothing emotionally or spiritually.

Desmond Tutu is friends with the Dalai Lama, whose writing is always setting by the bed to read, (I’m currently reading The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom) so after hearing an interview with him, I got this book.

It is thought-provoking, because this is a man who has seen and lived through horrors, yet he is still able to see love in good and his fellow men and women–something I find astounding.

If you’d like to have some of your faith in humanity restored, this is a good book for it.

My review of Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the Difference.

Comics

Fairest Vol 1: Wide Awake (2012) Bill Willingham, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, Matthew Sturges, Shawn McManus

Fairest is a new Fables spin off. This issue was centered on Sleeping Beauty and the White Witch, although in this column, Ali Baba shared the spotlight. As much as I love Fables, I haven’t much liked any of the spin-offs, so there wasn’t a guarantee I’d like this one. I have so far.

My review of Fairest: Wide Awake
 
 
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland (2012) Bill Willingham, Craig Hamilton, Jim Fern, Ray Snyder, Mark Farmer

Like 1001 Nights of Snowfall, this is a stand-alone story. Although there are plenty of references to events from the main story line, this might be a decent introduction if you are interested in checking out Fables.

My review of Werewolves of the Heartland.
 
 
Fables 17: Inherit the Wind (2012) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Shawn McManus

This is the latest installment in he Fables series. After the death of Bigby’s father, it appears that one of his and Snow’s children will have to take over as the North Wind.

I do so love this series.

My review of Fables Vol 17: Inherit the Wind .