Although comics get more props than they used to, but not as much as they deserve, I’m mentioning comics that I loved this year, even though most of them are a little older.

Princeless: Vol. 1: Save Yourself (2012) Jeremy Whitley and Mia Goodwin (10/10)

Princeless, Vol 2: Get Over Yourself (2014) Jeremy Whitley and Emily Martin (8/10)

Princeless Vol 3: The Pirate Princess  (2014) Jeremy Whitley, Rosy Higgins, Ted Brandt (8/10)

These are utterly delightful. The oldest group of small people in my life are just reaching the sweet spot for these comics (9-11), so I’m looking forward to this coming year’s birthday gifts.

Princess Adrienne Ashe is a tomboy and a twin and does NOT want to be locked in a tower to await rescue by a prince. So she decides the best thing to do is rescue herself and her sisters.

Princess Ugg Vol. 1 (2014) Ted Naifeh and Warren Wucinich (8/10)

Princess Ugg Volume 2 (2015) Ted Naifeh, Warren Wucinich (8/10)

This is a similar theme to Princeless, except for it’s for teens and older (there is partial nudity, but it’s not sexy–it’s just a body; and there is acknowledgement of boinking).

Ulga wants to save her people, and believes that the only way to do so is to learn how to deal with the “civilized” world, so she goes down to into the low lands to the Princess Academy, which does NOT teach what she was hoping or expecting to learn.

It’s pretty marvelous.

Mockingbird Vol. 1: I Can Explain (2016) Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Ibrahim Moustafa, Joelle Jones (9/10)

Mockingbird Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda (2017) Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Sean Parsons, Rachelle Rosenberg (8/10)

This is confusing as all get out, and takes a couple of reads, but is still fabulous.

Bobbi Morse has changed from secret agent to superhero after being given experimental drugs to save her life. Vol 1 is how she deals with the changes. Vol 2 is how she deals with her ex-husband being accused of murder.

It’s extremely confusing, yet extremely wonderful.

Rivers of London Volume 3: Black Mould (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan

Rivers of London: Vol. 4 Detective Stories (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Luis Guerrero, Lee Sullivan (8/10)

The best thing about the Rivers of London comics is they let you see more about secondary characters. Body Work showed us how Peter came to start working with Guleed, and Black Mould has them working together more and lets us spend more time with her.

Detective Stories not only lets us see Peter taking his detective tests, but we get see more of Leslie May’s past and the differences between Leslie and Peter. (I keep hoping all this means Leslie is working undercover.)

Plus, I just found them fun stories.

Rat Queens Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery (2013) Kurtis Wiebe and Roc Upchurch (9/10)

THIS IS NOT FOR KIDS.

This has sex and drugs and drinking and fighting and is utterly delightful.

Vol 3 went completely off the rails, but I have hopes that the recent reboot will make it better,so we’ll have to wait and see.

But this first volume? Completely irreverent and utterly delightful.

The Books of 2017

My favorite genre after fantasy is mystery. Nothing like a good murder to make me feel better about my life. I have several mystery authors that I pre-order because even if those mysteries aren’t excellent, they are still thoroughly enjoyable.

Police

Strange Shores (2010/2012) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Victoria Cribb (9/10) – Inspector Erlendur book 9

This is not a super-recent book, but it’s a series I loved and that I don’t think got enough attention.

The Inspector Erlendur series set in Iceland; the main character is depressive and brooding, but very good at his job, which makes up for his moodiness. Erlendur suffered a terrible trauma in his childhood and that single event is a theme running through the entire series–and also why he is so tenacious on the job.

If you are looking for a good mystery series I highly recommend checking Erlendur out. Stranger Shores is the final book in this series, so do NOT start here. Go get Jar City and work your way forward.

Earthly Remains  (2017) Donna Leon (8/10) – Brunetti book 26

I love this series.

This is not a book for those unfamiliar with Brunetti, but if you’ve even read a couple of stories you should love it. The corruption in Venice and Italy are a theme of these books as much as the food and mysteries. For the most part, Brunetti accepts this corruption as the way things are done, but in this book it finally gets to him and makes him wonder why he bothers.

It’s an excellent addition to the series, but like the Erlendur series, I recommend starting at Death at La Fenice, the first book in the series.

Historical

Where the Dead Lie (2017) C.S. Harris (8/10) – Sebastian St Cyr book 12

This book is a bit darker than the previous books in this series. Sebastian and his wife, Hero, discover more about the abuse of children in London in the early 1800s than anyone would ever want to know.

This remains an excellent series and I recommend reading the whole thing, starting at What Angels Fear and going forward.

A Curious Beginning (2015) Deanna Raybourn (8/10) – Veronica Speedwell

I’ve read other Deanna Raybourn mysteries and found them ok, but I got bored and stop reading at some point, so I waited for the first book in this series to go on sale before I bought it.

I very much liked the first book–the adventures of a young woman alone in the world, embarking on adventures that may well have to do with her mysterious past.

I didn’t like the second book quite as well, but it was good.

The Books of 2017

Historical

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent  (2013) Marie Brennan (8/10)

If I’d read this book when it came out, it’d certainly have made one of the best covers of the year. As it happens, I’m late to the game, but I do get to tell you how much I enjoyed the book now I finally read it. It’s more straight up fantasy than historical, except that it has a very strong feel of an historical, with dress and mores and discovery.

This is the first book in this series.

YA

Ghost Girl in the Corner (2016) Daniel José Older (8.5/10) – Shadowshaper Cypher novella

Shadowhouse Fall  (2017) Daniel José Older (8/10) – Shadowshaper Cypher book 2

One of the things Daniel José Older does extremely well is write female characters–especially teenagers. It’s obvious that not only does he have teenage girls somewhere in his life, but that he LISTENS to them. Not just their chatter, but what is important and the hassles they deal with every day.

The other reason I really like this series is that as a white woman from a rural area, I have no knowledge of what it’s like to be an person of color living in a big city–it’s just as foreign to me as being a Hobbit traveling through Mordor. But unlike Hobbits, teenagers of color exist. Hopefully this gives me a bit of understanding of something I can’t experience.

And the fantasy elements are MARVELOUS.

The first book in this series is Shadowshaper

Firebug (2014) Lish McBride (8/10)

This book is outside my normal window for the best books of the year, but I love Lish McBride’s writing and I only put off reading it because her books never go on sale, so I had to wait until someone bought it for me as a gift.

She writes stories where the fantastic is in our world, but most of us can’t see it, so these teenagers have to navigate both being teenagers and members of a world most people don’t know about–in this case the main character is a fire-starter and an orphan who has been raised by the past several years by a family friend, and is trying her hardest to remain outside of the supernatural cabal she had to choice but to join.

The Books of 2017

As usual, I read a lot of urban and supernatural fantasy, and most of the series I read as new releases fell into that category, so this is going to be the biggest post (as usual). There are a couple older books here that I didn’t know about or didn’t read when they first came out, but most of these books are from authors I pre-order when I see they have a book coming out.

The Rook (2012) Daniel O’Malley (9/10)

Stiletto (2016) Daniel O’Malley (9.5/10)

I had Rook on my wish-list forever, picked it up on sale, then it sat on my TBR pile forever. Once I started it, however, I wanted more and immediately read Stiletto.

This is an urban-fantasy-secret-agent thriller with amnesia and the British government and foreign spies.

You should really check it out.

The Ghoul Vendetta (2017) Lisa Shearin (9/10) – SPI Files book 4

Lisa Shearin’s SPI Files are an auto-buy for me. It’s secret agents and urban fantasy, which are my catnip, but it also has an intelligent and sensible main character who is NOT having a relationship with her handsome partner.

This series starts with The Grendel Affair.

Battle Hill Bolero (2017) Daniel José Older (8.5/10) – Bone Street Rumba book 3

Daniel José Older is fast-becoming one of my favorite authors. He writes of people and places I have no knowledge of, and creates amazing female characters (second only to Charles de Lint in my opinion).

This is the third book of the Bone Street Rumba, and the closing of that specific story arc.

This series starts with Half-Resurrection Blues but you could also begin with Salsa Nocturna.

Cold Reign (2017) Faith Hunter (8.5/10) – Jane Yellowrock book 11

Flame in the Dark (2017) Faith Hunter (8.5/10) – Soulwood book 3

Faith Hunter has been an auto-buy for me for quite awhile now. She has two series set in the same world: Jane Yellowrock (the Cherokee vampire hunter) and Soulwood (Nell, who left the religious sect/cult where she was raised).

Jane’s series has boinking, Nell’s series does not.

In both series the women are strong but also do not fit into society at all: Jane because she was found as an older child with no memory of her past; Nell because she was raised in an extremely strict and paranoid religious sect. Nell’s main story arc ended with this book. Jane’s is still going strong.

Additionally, if you like audio books I very much enjoy Kristine Hvam’s narration. I’ve been slowly listening to Jane’s series and am just about caught up. I also discovered that this has allowed me to retain the story elements without having to re-read the series to each new publication. (Not that I mind doing so–it’s just that we’re on book 11 now.)

The Jane Yellowrock series begins with Skinwalker. Nell’s series begins with Blood of the Earth.

New Watch (2012/2013) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield (8/10) – Night Watch book 5

I still haven’t read the sixth and final book of the Night Watch series, but did finally get around to reading the fifth.

That’s the problem I have with series I adore–I don’t want them to end, so if I know a book is the final book I’ll keep putting off reading it. Luckily, that’s easy enough to do with the Night Watch series because each book has three intertwining but self-contained stories.

If you’ve missed my previous million recommendations, it’s a Russian urban fantasy series, and I utterly love it. Go get Night Watch and read forward from there.

Who Killed Sherlock Holmes (2016) Paul Cornell (8/10) – Shadow Police book 3

Paul Cornell is quickly becoming an auto-buy. It took me forever to read the first Shadow Police book, but once I got into it, I loved it. But for some reason I put off reading the second book, which was also excellent, and after finishing it, I immediately started the third book. Although this series is clearly not over, a couple of important arcs were tied up in this book (as much as new arcs began).

A word of warning: this series is very dark, and a lot of bad things happen to the characters. But it isn’t gratuitous horribleness–in this book most of what happens to Quill is a direct result of his NOT dealing with the events in the previous book. And that, of course, is what makes me like the series so much.

You definitely want to start with the first book, London Falling, and read forward from there. Each book has a self-contained story arc, but a LOT happens in each book that has tremendous bearing on the following books.

The Furthest Station (2017) Ben Aaronovitch (8/10) – Rivers of London book 6

The Hanging Tree (2017) Ben Aaronovitch (8.5/10) – Rivers of London novella

I love the Rivers of London series: I enjoy the comics, I love Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s narration, and I adore all the story lines.

My theory is that Ben Aaronovitch keeps writing side-stories that he can’t put into the novels, so those have become the comics, a novella, and a single stand-alone audio short story.

It means there is a lot to keep up on, but is also means that there is generally something coming out to further the story along. Even more importantly, it also means we get to learn more about secondary characters, such as Guleed, who is utterly marvelous.

This series begins with Midnight Riot.

White Hot (2017) Ilona Andrews (8/10) – Hidden Legacy book 2

This is the middle book of Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. One reason I don’t adore this series is that there is a lot of boinging and complicated romantic entanglements. I’d have prefered more about the secondary characters and way less boinking. But it’s still a good series.

The Books of 2017

I have a list of mystery authors I tend to auto-buy, however, only two of those authors made this list. The others were books I found on sale or had on my wish-list and received as gifts.

Publisher Tally
Berkley: 3/4

A Study In Scarlet Women (2016) Sherry Thomas (Berkley)

This is a gorgeous cover, letting you know that this is an historical mystery and the main character is a woman who goes out and does things. I think the light streaming from the opening door is a particularly nice touch.

This is the first book in this series.

Where the Dead Lie (2017) C.S. Harris (Berkley)

I’ll be honest, I don’t much like this model as Sebastian. However, they did a fantastic job despite the model not matching the description of Sebastian, so although this isn’t my favorite of her covers, it’s still beautiful.

This series begins with What Angels Fear

Earthly Remains (2017) Donna Leon (Atlantic Monthly Press)

All of her covers are scenes from Venice, and even if they don’t necessarily grab your attention the way other covers do, they are pretty, and they let you know that you are getting a Brunetti mystery.

It may be at this point I just have a Pavlovian response to this covers, knowing that within is not just a mystery, but the atmosphere and food of Venice.

This series begins with Death at La Fenice

A Perilous Undertaking (2017) Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)

This is a gorgeous cover. It’s really a piece of art.

It makes me wish I loved the story as much as the cover.

This is the second book in the series, which starts with A Curious Beginning

The Books of 2017

If you can’t figure out why I like these covers, then there is no hope for you.

Mockingbird Vol. 1: I Can Explain (2016) Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Ibrahim Moustafa, Joelle Jones (Marvel)

Mockingbird Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda (2017) Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Sean Parsons, Rachelle Rosenberg (Marvel)

Rivers of London Volume 3: Black Mould (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan (Titan)

Rat Queens Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery  (2013) Kurtis Wiebe and Roc Upchurch (Image)

Princeless: Vol. One: Save Yourself (2012) Jeremy Whitley and Mia Goodwin (Action Lab Entertainment)

The Books of 2017

There are a lot of reasons for me to like a book cover. I (despite what always being told) have always judged books by their covers when searching for new authors, mostly because I’d usually only have a limited time in the book store whomever I was with got bored, so I tended to gravitate towards covers I liked, and covers similar to books I already liked.

And now, with so many eBooks coming at me from sale emails and book blogs, I still simply bypass a cover that is unappealing, unless that book was specifically recommended.

Publisher Tally
Ace: 4/12
DAW: 2/12

Street Magicks (2016) edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books)

I like a lot of things about this cover, from the woman in an active pose (she is obviously doing something) to the colors and swirls making things look mysterious.

Stiletto (2016) Daniel O’Malley (Little, Brown and Company)

This book is similar to the previous book, letting you know the two are tied. But the simplicity is what I particularly like. It’s not busy and although it tells you very little about the book, it definitely made me take a second glance, as it stands out.

Who Killed Sherlock Holmes (2016) Paul Cornell (Pan)

All three covers in this series so far have foggy and mono-chromatic views of the London skyline, but there is much more that is hidden than shown, which is perfect for the stories.

A Long Day in Lychford (2017) Paul Cornell (Tor.com)

Like his Shadow Police series, these covers are also foggy and mono-chromatic, yet they have a different feel, because the backdrop is a forest road rather than a city skyline. And like the previous books in this series (note: these are novellas) the covers all have a similar look, with a single color pallet for each book. And like the other series, the colors and fog give you a sense of mysteriousness, but in this series feeling less threatening.

One negative: that is not a modern-looking woman which gives the book a slightly historical feel, which it does not have. But it’s still a beautiful cover.

Shadowhouse Fall (2017) Daniel José Older (Arthur A. Levine Books)

This cover is so beautiful.

The model is obviously a teen, obviously a minority, and gorgeous but NOT sexualized. She’s not in an active position, and looks like she thinks someone might be following her, yet she doesn’t appear week. She might perhaps be scared, but she is not going to just let things happen to her.

Battle Hill Bolero (2017) Daniel José Older (Ace)

Sasha is clearly going to kick someone’s ass, and she’s going to kick ass while wearing reasonable clothing–she can totally run in those clothes (as well as kick and slash and stab).

I adore all the covers in this series, although I admit that the Kia cover is my favorite.

The Furthest Station (2017) Ben Aaronovitch

The Hanging Tree (2017) Ben Aaronovitch (DAW)

These continue the pattern of the previous books in the series (if you ignore the first American cover) showing a hand drawn map of the various areas in which the stories take place, with line drawings of various items related to the story. I really like how the drawings are both super simple and extremely complex. I try not to get high res images of the covers, lest I fall down the hole of looking at all the details of all the maps.

You know immediately that this is a new Rivers of London book.

The Ghoul Vendetta (2017) Lisa Shearin (Ace)

This is a series that I started because of its cover–Mac is in an active pose and on an equal footing with her (male) partner. She is not simpering or subservient or clinging. She is going to take care of herself, and she and her partner will take care of each other.

Firebug (2014) Lish McBride (Henry Holt and Co)

This cover immediately drew my attention, because those are the hands of a girl who works with her hands.

And sets things on fire.

Cold Reign (2017) Faith Hunter (Ace)

I adore this series, and the covers for this series. Even when they were not able to get a Native American model, they did their best to play up the way the model looked like Jane–and when they did get a model, the covers became even better.

Additional, from the get-go, Jane is on control and acting. This cover is a perfect example: she’s dressed in her fighting leathers, she’s got her gorget on, and she is definitely going to stab someone.

Even when the outfits were obviously low budget, they did the best they could with what they had, making Jane look as dangerous as they could with what they had. Even in the earlier covers where they have Jane in a sleeveless leather outfit, they make a point of showing how strong her arms are. Which is something you don’t usually see on female covers.

But I have to admit I especially love this one because she is in full fighting leathers here, no skin to be easily broken by fangs and claws

Flame in the Dark (2017) Faith Hunter (Ace)

Same author, but a very different cover here. While Jane is a brawler, Nell is an ex-church woman who has joined PsyLED and generally follows the rules. The swirling around her does a lovely job of portraying all the chaos and change in her life, and even hits at some of the events in this book (while not depicting anything specific).

The one negative is that Nell doesn’t wear sleeveless dresses. But given the rest of the cover, I’ll give that a pass.

The Books of 2017

Let me remind you again that I know that authors have little-to-no say in their book covers. I don’t blame the authors in the slightest for these covers. But I do blame the publishers, and so will point out covers that are so terrible that I would have refused to buy the book if it wasn’t already an author I love.

Tally
Avon: 3/3

White Hot (2017) Ilona Andrews – Hidden Legacy book 3 (Avon)

I hate all the covers in this series. HATE them. They just look cheap and tawdry and just awful. Which is unfortunate, because this books are SO MUCH MORE than boinking.

This specific book has a passage that I utterly adore them for putting in, not just because of what it says, but because it makes sense.

The man bent his head slightly toward me. His voice was deep and quiet. “Do you need help?”

I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Do you need help?” he repeated quietly. “One word, and I’ll take you out of here and none of them can stop me. I’ll make sure you have access to a doctor, a safe place to stay, and a therapist to talk to. Someone who understands what it’s like and will help. ”

The pieces clicked in my head. The bruise. Of course. “Thank you, but I’m okay.”

“You don’t know me. It’s difficult to trust me because I’m a man and a stranger. The woman speaking with Augustine is my aunt. The woman across the floor in the white-and-purple gown is my sister. Either of them will vouch for me. Let me help you.”

“Thank you,” I told him. “On behalf of every woman here. But I’m a private investigator. I’m not a victim of domestic abuse. This is a work-related injury and the man who put his hands on me is dead.”

The man studied me for a long moment and slid a card into my hand. “If you decide that the injury isn’t work related, call me.”

That passages tells so WAY more about the book than the cover does.

Wildfire (2017) Ilona Andrews – Hidden Legacy book 3 (Avon)

I do appreciate that he is wearing a shirt in this cover, but I don’t feel a white undershirt really qualifies as being dressed. So still: ICK.

And once again, there is so much more to this story that the cover would suggest.

“I told you twenty-six years ago that if you married him, you would pay the price. I told you to let him go. You didn’t listen. You raised them to fight. They’re not going to cut and run now.”

“They will do what I say,” Mom ground out. “I’m their mother.”

Grandma Frida squinted at her. “Aha. And how did that work out for me?” Mom opened her mouth and clicked it shut.

You’d never guess the book had awesome passages like that if all you knew was the cover.

Into the Fire (2017) Jeaniene Frost – Night Prince book 4 (Avon)

This is not an overtly horrific book cover, except that the main character is repeatedly described as always being impeccably dressed.

(A)s usual, only his face, neck, and hands were bare. The rest of him was covered, the elegant cut of his clothes simultaneously flaunting and concealing that lean, muscled body.

–Once Burned (2012)

As usual, only his hands and face were bare. The rest of him was covered by boots, black pants, and a smoky gray shirt buttoned up to the neck. Unlike most well-built men, Vlad didn’t flash a lot of skin, but those custom-tailored clothes flaunted his taut body as effectively as running shorts and a sleeveless muscle shirt.

–Twice Tempted (2013)

He wore sand-colored pants and a white silk shirt, an open button at the neck showing only the cleft at the base of his throat. The rest of his body was concealed by the rich material, which stretched to highlight his muscles as he moved with his usual stalking grace. The effect was sexier than all the bare-chested men I’d glimpsed around the pool earlier. Vlad didn’t show off his seething masculinity by wearing fewer clothes. Instead, he wore more to taunt people with what he didn’t allow them to feast their eyes on.

–Bound by Flames (2015)

That is why I hate all the covers in this series so very much.

So those are the worst three covers this year. They weren’t bad books, they just had terrible covers that would have–back when I read paper books–walk past without a second glance.

The Books of 2017

I love statistics and manipulating and Excel more than is normal, so when I have a data set, I love looking to dig into it for meaning.

Because: geek.

I read a LOT of books this year. More than any other year since 2003 when I started keeping track.

2016 – 189
2013 – 174
2014 – 167
2006 – 164
2012 – 160

That turns out to be an average of 15.8 books a month.
with a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 23 in a single month. Interestingly, nine has been the minimum number of books read in a single month for four of the past eight years.

Here is something that shouldn’t come as a surprise, and yet it does. I read zero mass-market paperbacks this year. Zero mass-market paperbacks.

Paperback : 0
Trade Paperback : 5
eBook : 173
Hardback : 2
Audio : 9

We got our first ereaders in December of 2010. It was a nook and I wasn’t especially impressed with it.

That changed once I got my first Kindle.

(The numbers are off by one because I finished the chart a couple days ago)

But even I’m surprised that I didn’t read any mass-market paperbacks this year.

But that’s reflected in the fact there were 50 books that I have in multiple formats. Nine of those were audio books, which means the rest were books I had in paper and got again as ebooks, so I could read them a second time.

Multiple Formats : 49
Re-read : 68

There are actually a LOT of books I’d like to re-read, but when I have the paper book, I’m not willing to pay $8-12 for a second copy.

Which means I don’t re-read those books.

I’ll note right here that the Shelfie app has allowed me to got reduced price ebooks when I own a paper copy of the book. So kudos to them–and I wish more books were available.

Genre-wise, mysteries came out on top this year, but not by a lot, though this is the second year in a row I’ve read more mysteries than fantasy.

Mystery : 87
Fantasy : 79
Romance : 33
YA : 7
Anthology : 6
Comic : 4
Cookbook : 3

If you’re curious as to that drop in the number of mysteries, Grandmom died in 2011, and she loved mysteries, so I didn’t feel like reading mysteries for awhile after that.

Now comes the bit I find super interesting: author gender.

Female : 120
Male : 40
Male Pseudonym : 18
Initials : 8
Joint + Anthology : 3

120 is a pretty big number, however, the actual number of books written by women is 146, once you add in women writing under male pseudonyms or their initials.

This is, I admit, a confusing graph, but it’s also the clearest way I found to look at both author gender and book genre at the same time.

And that should be the final geek out of 2016.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

The Books of 2016: Stats!

The Books of 2016: Great Covers (Historical Settings)

Christmas Cookies 2016: Not Cookies

The Books of 2016: Great Covers (Modern Setting)

The Books of 2016: Graphic Novels

The Books of 2016: Graphic Novels

Since the majority of the historical fiction I read was old, there weren’t many books that qualified for inclusion. But there were some.

To be clear, I don’t know much about historical costuming, and I know less about the accuracy of such, so it’s quite possible that the clothing is completely ridiculous for the time period, but I’m okay with that.

This is an obviously photoshopped cover, but despite that, I like it. It evokes the tone of the book, and the main character is neither passive nor submissive, while still looking reasonably like a creature of her time.

Could it be improved? Yes. But for what it is, I think it’s pretty good.

Published by Miz Kit Productions

Magic and Manners (2016) C.E. Murphy (9/10)

This cover is quite simple, but I think it does an excellent job evoking the feeling of the time and place of the book.

I love the silhouette of Riverside, and even more I love the sword hair sticks.

Published by Serial Box

Tremontaine: Season One Volume One (2016) by Patty Bryant, Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Paul Witcover (7.5/10)

All of these covers are good, but I particularly liked this one.

On most of the covers, the main character is facing away from the viewer, and generally looking like she is moving away from you, with some building or structure in the far background.

What I liked about this cover is the use of color–her purple dress against greens and greys of the background.

As I said, all these covers are good, but I especially like this one.

Published by Berkley
As Death Draws Near (2016) Anna Lee Huber  (8/10)

I have no idea of the historic accuracy of her clothing, but as I said, I’m not particularly worried about that part of the cover (I’ll leave that criticism to fashion historians). I just know that I like pretty much everything about this cover.

This is a boinking romance, yet she is fully clothed, and there is no guy looming over her.

I love how she is looking back over her shoulder and the look on her face–and the fact that although she’s not being particularly active, she’s definitely not passive or submissive.

And I find the color scheme especially appealing.

Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca
A Talent for Trickery (2015) Alissa Johnson (7/10)

—

Four books here, and four different publishers, although one of the publishers is Berkeley, of which Ace and ROC are imprints.

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

I complain a lot about terrible book covers, so I figured that I should make a point of noting good covers, and why I like them.

Sadly, that doesn’t seem to stop the terrible covers, but I keep hoping.

To make this post, the books had to have been published in 2015 or 2016. I decided to break these posts into two parts–modern covers and historical setting covers.

First up, the covers of books with a modern-day setting.

The Witches of Lychford

Paul Cornell gets some very good covers. I also love the covers for his Shadow Police series, but The Severed Streets was published in 2014 and so missed my cut off.

These covers are deceptively simple, but you can tell they are in the same series, and the fog evokes the mystery of the books themselves.

Published by Tor
Witches of Lychford (2015) Paul Cornell (10/10)
The Lost Child of Lychford (2016) Paul Cornell (9/10)

Jane Yellowrock

The Jane Yellowrock series is a good example of what I think are good covers. They had difficulty getting a good model (you can see that one model looks Native American while the other, not so much) but they’ve done their best to make the model on the cover look like Jane.

Although I think that Jane shows a little too much skin, and her hair is never down when she fights, but it’s not a horrible issue. At least they put her in her neck guard.

But most importantly, Jane is active and in control on these covers. She looks like a woman who is in the midst of kicking someone’s ass, which is, well, that’s Jane.

Published by ROC
Shadow Rites (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)
Blood in Her Veins (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)

Soulwood

The covers of Faith Hunter’s are quite different from the Jane books, but they are still evocative, and are a good representative of Nell.

I particularly like two things: first, the use of color, which seems to represent Nell’s magic use, but most importantly, even though Nell is a magic user who does not typically fight, she is still in an active pose. I actually think that’s a good way to depict Nell’s magic use, as described in the book, so extra bonus points for that. The only marks off are for (like the Jane covers) too much skin. But all else considered, these are really great covers.

Published by ROC
Blood of the Earth (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)
Curse on the Land (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)

Bone Street Rumba

This is, hands down, one of my favorite covers.

There are three main characters in this story: Carlos, Reza, and Kia. Not only did they make Kia, the teenage girl, the cover character, she looks like a teenager girl and is not sexualized.

I look at that and immediately know it’s Kia.

But even better, she’s 1) in an active pose 2) wearing a leather jacket and showing minimal skin and 3) has wild, natural hair.

Even though Kia is just standing there looking like a tough and surly teenager, it’s still obvious there is action in this book from everything happening behind her.

Kudos to ROC for putting out such amazing and marvelous covers.

Midnight Taxi Tango (2016) Daniel José Older (9/10)
Published by ROC

Mercy Thompson

Although I could quibble with some elements of this cover (why do they always have Mercy exposing her stomach and showing boobs? She’s a mechanic, she’s not going to dress like that. And she’s too skinny.) I generally let them slide because 1) Mercy looks like a capable human being 2) she is never in a passive or submissive pose.

Published by Ace
Fire Touched (2016) Patricia Briggs (8/10)

The SPI Files

Despite the cartoonish look of these covers, I do like them.

Mak is in the forefront with the male character behind her, she is in an active pose, and the figure looks like the character–small and unassuming.

Published by Ace
The Brimstone Deception (2016) Lisa Shearin (9/10)

I love Charles de Lint’s writing, and I love the covers to his older books. He’s been reissuing his older books himself, and although I realize that the art of the original covers belongs to either the publisher or the artist, I miss those covers.

But this cover actually does a very good job of evoking the Crow Girls.

Published by Triskell Press (the author)
Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015) Charles de Lint (9/10)

What is interesting about this cover is that–like the descriptions in the book–you really have no idea what the main character looks like.

My reflection met my gaze with a cold, mistrustful stare. A very familiar face because it hadn’t changed in so very long. Not the one I would have chosen; but good enough. I was tall, slim, dark-haired and handsome enough if you weren’t too choosy. A long rangy figure who appeared to be in his mid twenties. Dressed well, but anonymously. The kind of stuff you can buy anywhere, so you can fit in anywhere. An easy smile, a casual look, and dark eyes that gave away absolutely nothing.

I also like the feel that something untoward is possibly going to happen. Plus, of course, snow, which I love.

Published by Severn House Digital
The Dark Side of The Road (2015) Simon R. Green (8/10)

YA

I have so much love for this cover and almost can’t stand it.

The model is Sierra Santiago. No really, here’s a quote from the book.

(T)he words crept in, made a home in Sierra’s mind no matter how much she fought them off. Her wild, nappy hair. She ran her hands through her fro. She loved it the way it was, free and undaunted. She imagined it as a force field, deflecting all Rosa’s stupid comments.

And although she is just standing, she is not an a submissive position–she looks strong and capable. And the colors (along with the brick behind her) evoke the painting Sierra does.

This is a marvelous cover, and I am so very happy that Daniel Jose Older gets such great covers.

Published by Arthur A. Levine Books
Shadowshaper (2015) Daniel José Older (9.5/10)

—

Here’s an interesting thing. There are 12 covers here, all fantasy in some way.

Tor has 2 covers
ROC has 5 covers
Ace has 2 covers

But ROC and Ace are both imprints of Berkely (which is now part of Penguin I believe). That means that just over half of the great covers I loved this year come from a single publishing house.

I didn’t have any covers I utterly despised this year, but Avon has released the cover for Ilona Andrews upcoming book and it is just as horrific as the cover for first book in that series. (1)

I don’t know what is wrong with Avon that they keep putting out such abysmally bad covers, but I wish they’d take a good look at what ROC and Ace are doing.

(1) Ilona Andrews has no say in their book covers. That horrificness is ALL on the Avon.

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

I didn’t read very many comics this year–no particular reason, just the way things worked this year.

Graphic Novel

Rivers of London: Night Witch (2016) by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero : 9/10

The second Rivers of London comic served to give me something to tied me over while waiting for the next book (that keeps getting delayed).

What I particularly like about these comics is that we get stories that most likely wouldn’t fit into the books, in this case, with the Night Witch Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina.

Thor Vol 1: Goddess of Thunder (2015) Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman : 8/10

I’ve not read many of the mainstream Marvel comics, but a female Thor? I’m interested.

I actually have the next volume, but haven’t gotten around to reading it.

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

I finally got around to reviewing some of the cookbooks I’ve been reading and enjoying.

I’ve always loved baking, and I like cooking, but all my recipes were for families, so we’d eat the same thing for a week to eat all the leftovers, and, well, meh.

I started to enjoy cooking when I started using a recipe app that had a “scale” option, so could automatically recalculate the servings from four or six to two.

Baking, however, is a little different, since leavening doesn’t scale linerally, so the discovery of books with tested recipes for baked goods? Fabulous.

Non-Fiction

Dessert For Two: Small Batch Cookies, Brownies, Pies, and Cakes (2015) Christina Lane : 9/10

This is the first cookbook for two that I found, and it’s marvelous. If I want to tweak the recipes, I have the base from which to do it. But many of the recipes are marvelous as is (although they really are more than two servings).

Comfort and Joy: Cooking for Two (2015) Christina Lane : 8/10

I got this because I liked the dessert book so well, and was pleasantly surprised to find dinner recipes I liked just as well.

The Complete Cooking For Two Cookbook (2014) America’s Test Kitchen : 8/10

This has more recipes, and like all of the America’s Test Kitchen recipes, you get the reasons why things work. But mostly I just like having recipes that are quick and I know will work.

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

I read a fair amount of historical romance this year, and a great deal of it was dreck. (Mostly my fault, since I tend to buy historical romance almost solely when it’s cheap.) But there were some good books.

Historical Romance

The Thief-Takers
Set in London in 1872

I picked up the first book because: Thief-Takers. That makes it a mystery of sorts, right? Well, not so much a mystery, and there is boinking, but it was interesting enough that I got the second book.

I quite like the second sister. Esther, like her older sister Charlotte, is damaged. Their father raised them to be good thieves and con artists, and it’s been difficult for Esther to move past that.

No one person’s good opinion should mean so much that another person should feel compelled to change who they are to obtain it.”

But she slowly does, and she and her sister come to terms with their past and how it shaped them.
A Gift for Guile (2016) Alissa Johnson : 8/10

Courtney Milan : The Worth Saga
Set in London in 1866

Courtney Milan writes a lot of damaged characters, but she does it very well, and the damage is often something that would less damaging in the modern world than it was at the time. In this story, both the hero and the heroine’s younger sister have what would today be classified as mental illnesses. It’s enlightening and distressing to see how such characteristics that are today mostly accepted were hidden and treated.

Demolition, then division: He’d separated the bits first by size, and when that seemed unsatisfying on some gut level, by deviation from roundness.

Then, he’d very carefully started eating— from the most irregularly shaped crumb toward the most symmetrical.

He was almost finished with the infuriatingly oblong bits when Judith came in.

Once Upon a Marquess (2015) Courtney Milan : 8/10

The Brothers Sinister
A Kiss for Midwinter is set in England in 1863.

Miss Lydia Charingford has been ruined. But thanks to her best friend Minnie, no one knows about her ruin except Minnie, her family, and the doctors who saw her.

Jonas Grantham is a doctor–it has been his dream. And once he became a doctor, he vowed never to allow anyone to act against his principles as he did when a doctor he was following all but attempted to murder the pregnant young girl he was seeing.

The Suffragette Scandal is set in England in 1877

This is set more than a decade after the other books in the series, which allows it to be set during the first calls for universal suffrage.

I like both characters in this story, but what I especially like about her writing is her dialog and humor.

“Are you really left-handed?” Mr. Marshall asked.

“No. I’ve just been pretending to use my left hand my entire life because I enjoy never being able to work scissors properly.”

Lots of boinking in all her books.
A Kiss for Midwinter (2012) Courtney Milan : 8.5/10
The Suffragette Scandal (2014) Courtney Milan : 9/10

The Turner Series
Unclaimed  is set in England in 1841.

Why do I like this story?

“But, Sir Mark! She’s wearing scarlet. She made you give up your coat. You can’t really believe she’s an innocent. She…she could be a fallen woman!”

“There is no such thing as a fallen woman—you just need to look for the man who pushed her.”
…
“When someone falls,” Mark said, “you don’t throw her back down in the dirt. You offer her a hand up. It’s the Christian thing to do.”

That’s why.

Unraveled  is set in England in 1843.

You have to feel sorry for a man whose mother named him Smite. He is badly damaged by his past, but what I particularly liked is that although he found someone to love him, he is not miraculously healed by that love. He is still a prickly difficult person–no magic adoration can change that.
Unclaimed (2011) Courtney Milan  : 8/10
Unraveled (2011) Courtney Milan : 8.5/10

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.