In addition to new cookie varieties, this year I decided to try to make eggnog. I did a bit of research, and combined several recipes (one recipe called for three dozen eggs–and served eighty). Here is the end result–pretty good!

4 pasteurized eggs (nothing is cooked, so this is important to avoid food poisoning)
1/2 cup sugar
2 – 4 tsp vanilla extract
2 oz brandy
2 oz bourbon
1-3 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
4 cups milk (I used 2%)
1/2 pint heavy cream, whipped (if you’re using whole milk, you can probably skip this)

Separate the eggs. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks until lighter yellow. Add the sugar, and beat until the sugar is dissolved.

Add in the vanilla, brandy, bourbon, and nutmeg, then add the milk.

Unless you have multiple mixing bowls, put the egg nog into a cold container and put in the fridge for now.

Whisk the egg whites until they are firm. (I totally forgot how long this takes, as I’ve only been whisking whipped cream recently. This takes a long time. Be patient.)

Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the egg whites. Put the egg nog back into the cold container, and put back in the fridge for now.

Whip the cream with a dash of sugar.

Once the cream is whipped, slowly add in the egg and milk mixture.

Put the completed mixture back unto the container (I’m using a glass milk jug, which is perfect) and refrigerate until chilled.

When you’re ready to serve, whisk or shake the mixture, pour into glasses, and if you’re feeling fancy, grate fresh nutmeg over each serving.

Very yummy!

My ankle has been bothering me for the past couple months, probably because of the amount of rain we’ve had.

So I did the obvious thing: bought myself two new pairs of boots!

Here’s the first–the second pair won’t arrive until next week.

This holiday also had a trip to VA, where my all of my cousins were in for Christmas. At the instigation of Ben, we made the Lithuanian cookie Krusties (pronounced, at least by my family, christies)

The recipe is fairly simple:

Krusties
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 whole eggs
6 egg yolks
2 sticks butter
6 cups flour
1 shot whiskey/rum
pinch cardamom

1 large can crisco, for frying

Mix together all the ingredients in a mixer. Wrap in waxed paper or place in a plastic bag, and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to make, heat solid fat (Crisco or lard) in large frying pan. You’ll need an inch or two of hot oil.

You’ll also want to line most of your work areas with newspaper, or used wrapping paper, or anything else that absorbs oil and sugar, and makes clean up easier.

Find aprons for everyone–this can get messy! We rolled out our batches of dough on floured waxed paper.

(more…)

I had a nice Christmas, especially since I was unexpectedly able to spend part of it with Jules.

(more…)

Adeste, fideles, laeti triumphantes:
Venite, venite in Bethlehem:
Natum videte Regem angelorum.
(more…)

(more…)

Michelle: What’s a ton?
Michael: I think it’s seven.
Michelle: Really? That doesn’t seem right.
Michael: I just checked. It’s seven.
Michelle: Are you sure? That seems light.
Michael: Light?
Michelle: For a ton.
Michael: I thought you were asking what TIME it was.
Michelle: No, I want to know how many pounds are in a ton.
Michael: I think it’s fifty four.
Michelle: WHAT? NO! I do not weigh more than two tons! Fuck you!
Michael: I don’t know how much a ton weighs, other than it weighs less than my wife.

Oddly, I read no “plain” fantasy published in 2011. I read several books that came out in paperback in 2011, but had initially been published in hardback in 2010. (I find hardback books uncomfortable to read, so with the Kindle will probably buy few–if any–hardback books again.)

Fantasy, however, is the category that has the “re-reads”, my comfort books.

RE-READS:

Ellen Kushner

Swordspoint (1987) Review

The falling snow made it hard for him to see. The fight hadn’t winded him, but he was hot and sweaty, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He ignored it, making for Riverside, where no one was likely to follow him.

He could have stayed, if he’d wanted to. The swordfight had been very impressive, and the party guests and its outcome would be talked about for weeks. But if he stayed, the swordsman knew that he would be offered wine, and rich pastry, and asked boring questions about his technique, and difficult questions about who had arranged the fight. He ran on.

Under his cloak, his shirt was spattered with blood, and the Watch would want to know what he was doing up on the Hill at this hour. It was their right to know; but his profession forbade him to answer, so he dodged around corners and caught his breath in doorways until he’d left the splendors of the Hill behind, working his way down through the city.

Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agness Nutter, Witch (1990) Review

(24) So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life…
25 And the Lord spake unto the Angel that guarded the eastern gate, saying Where is the flaming sword which was given unto thee?
26 And the Angel said, I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down some where, forget my own head next.
27 And the Lord did not ask him again.

Terry Pratchett

Men at Arms (1993) (Discworld) Review

…(W)hen you hit your thumb with an eight-pound hammer it’s nice to be able to blaspheme. It takes a very special and strong-minded kind of atheist to jump up and down with their hand clasped under their other armpit and shout, ‘Oh, random-fluccuations-in-the-space-time-continuum!’ or ‘Aaargh, primitive-and-outmoded-concept on a crutch!’

Sergei Lukyanenko, translated by Andrew Bromfield

Night Watch (2006) Review; Day Watch (2006) Review; Twilight Watch (2007) Review; Last Watch (2009) Review

Anton Gorodetsky is an low-level Other: a human with the ability to slip into different levels of reality and perform feats of magic. Anton is also a member of the Night Watch: a group of Light Magicians who keep an eye on the Dark others, to make sure they follow the Treaty and do not take advantage. Before he became an other he was a computer programmer, so as an other, he has done similar work, only now Gesar (his boss) has decided Anton needs to do field work, and so has sent him out to keep an eye on the Dark Others.

Each book contains three self-contained stories, all building upon what has happened previously, but complete in and of themselves.

New Reads

Charles de Lint

Muse and Reverie (2009) Review

Charles de Lint is an author I can rely on to write books that I love from page one, and his short story collections set in Newford are always my favorite reads. Although urban fantasy, his works rely upon the creatures of folklore–Coyote, Crow Girls, the narrow places that allow you to move between the worlds. He writes elegant stories of redemption and love that remind me that the fantastic may be possible and that the world of dreams is sometimes real.

Liz Williams

The Iron Khan 2010 (Detective Inspector Chen) Review

Detective Inspector Chen is a Snake Agent. A policeman in Singapore who deals with supernatural crimes. Zhu Irzh is a demon from Hell who is sent to Singapore Three to work with Chen. These book often focus on Heaven and Hell and the relationship between the two, but this is not a Western afterlife but a thoroughly Chinese one, with bureaucracy and even communication with the dead.

Once a week he took the tram out to Bharulay to see his elderly father , and they went for long, silent walks along the canal. His mother, the shrill quarrelsome Mrs Roche, had long since passed into one of the more pleasant neighborhoods of Hell, if that wasn’t a contradiction in terms. She sometimes telephoned, a tinny distant voice in her son’s ear, demanding to know why he was still unwed.

Alternate History:

Guy Gavriel Kay

Under Heaven 2010 Review

Guy Gavriel Kay spends years researching the past to help him create the worlds in which he sets his books, and is able to create marvelous and magical cities and people that never existed, yet are amazingly alive and real. I have yet to read a Guy Gavriel Kay book I didn’t love, yet Under Heaven may somehow have managed to become my favorite.

Barry Hughart

Bridge of Birds 1984 Review; The Story of the Stone 1988 Review ; Eight Skilled Gentlemen 1991 Review

(Master Li and Number Ten Ox)

Old P’i-pao-ku, “Leatherbag Bone,” was Mrs. Wu’s grandmother, and she was waiting at the confectioner’s to get hard sugar decorations of the five poisonous insects (centipede, scorpion, lizard, toad, snake) to spread over top of her wu tu po po cake, which she would purposely make as inedible as possible without being actually deadly. Every family member eats a slice on the fifth day of the fifth moon, and sickness demons stare at people capable of eating stuff like that and go elsewhere.

Elizabeth Bear

The White City 2010 (Abby Irene) Review

Vampires. North America still colonized by Britain and France and Spain in 1899. Middle aged female magicians who are also Detective Crown Inspectors. It’s steampunk and alternate history and magic all piled into a single book.

Anthologies:

Masked 2010 edited by Lou Anders Review

Superhero stories with the focus less on the daring do and more on the lives in between the heroics–or even long after the heroics have ended.

The Secret History of Fantasy 2010 edited by Peter S. Beagle Review

Maureen F. McHugh. Gregory Maguire. Patricia A. McKillip. T.C. Boyle. Steve Millhauser. Steven King. Francesca Lia Block. Jeffery Ford. Susanna Clarke. Robert Holdstock. Kij Johnson. Every story in here is good, even the ones that I didn’t like.

Young Adult:

I noticed in recent years that some of the best fantasy out there is sitting in the young adult section of the book store.

Suzanne Collins

Hunger Games 2008 (Hunger Games) Review

I’ll be surprised if anyone the slightest bit conversant with fantasy books has not already heard of and/or read this. I actually have not read the following two, simply because they are very dark and I can only take darkness (no matter the quality) in small doses.

Patricia Wrede

A Matter of Magic (2010) Review

Patricia C. Wrede is another young adult author who should really be read by anyone who loves a good fantasy story. Although A Matter of Magic starts with the trope of a young girl passing as a boy, it soon discards that to move onto the real story–instead of being the focus of the tale, it is simply an explanation of how a girl could survive on the streets as a thief and not be forced into a house of ill repute.

Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief 1996; The Queen of Attolia 2000; The King of Attolia 2006 (The Queen’s Thief) Review

Instead of Three Wishes (2006) Review

This year I discovered that Megan Whalen Turner–hiding in that young adult section–is writing some of the best fantasy around, regardless of the age for which it was written. And unlike much of the current fantasy, her books stand alone on their own merit. No cliffhangers. No plot points dragging on unresolved for years. Just good solid writing the kind of which you wish there was more of.

The Year in Reading: Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Supernatural Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Comics, Mystery, and History
The Year in Reading: Books Published in 2011

I have several authors of comics, supernatural fantasy, and mystery on pre-order, but since supernatural fantasy tends to come out first in mass market paperback rather than hardback, those are the books I read immediately upon publication. Several of these were mentioned in my discussion of my favorite books published in 2011, so I’ll only list those books here.

Blackout (Cal Leandros) Rob Thurman

One Salt Sea, Late Eclipses (October Daye) Seanan McGuire

Eye of the Tempest, Tempest’s Legacy (Jane True) Nicole Peeler

Mercy Blade (Jane Yellowrock) Faith Hunter

Magic Slays (Kate Daniels), Fate’s Edge (The Edge) Ilona Andrews

Now onto the books that were not first published in 2011.

Richard Kadrey

Kill the Dead (2010) (Sandman Slim) Review

Stark got sent to Hell by some friends, but he escaped and needs revenge. That’s the synopsis of the first book. In the second book, Stark is at loose ends, and ends up having to deal with zombies. Lots of zombies.

I hate zombies. Yet I liked the book.

If you didn’t read Sandman Slim, Stark is an American cross between Simon R. Green’s John Taylor and Mike Carey’s Felix Castor. All three are powerful magicians and right bastards, but the usually end up doing the right thing, bitching about it the whole damned way.

Lish McBride

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (2010) Review ; Necromancer: A Novella (2011)

Sam is at loose ends. College didn’t work for him, so he’s doing the menial food service thing for awhile till he figures out what he wants to do with himself. Unfortunately, events lead to Sam discover that he is a necromancer–and a very powerful one at that, and that the current Power That Be do not want a loose necromancer in town.

Sam is very likable, his reactions to events are realistic, and his friends are awesome. The novella “Necromancer” is set in the same world, only Ash (the avatar of death) is the secondary character, and her friend Matt is the primary character, so you can read either with no knowledge of the other.

This is a young adult book, and although there is some boinking, it’s off screen.

Patricia Briggs

Silver Bourne (2010) (Mercy Thompson) Review

I love Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. Mercy is a lone shape-shifter in a world where werewolves and vampires exist, and are all contemplating coming out of the closet. Because her mother didn’t know what to do with her, she was raised by the Marroc, the head of the American werewolf clans, so she learned to hunt and and become a predator, however, unlike the werewolves, she must rely upon cunning rather than brute strength and magical healing. Her advantage is that the process of changing is natural for her, albeit one that she cannot share with others.

Mercy is also an auto mechanic and fully capable of rescuing herself if the need arises. As the series has progressed she has gained a love interest, but the romance has not taken over the series.

Jeaniene Frost

First Drop of Crimson (2010) (Night Huntress World) Review

This book exists in the same world as the Night Huntress, and Cat and Bones make an appearance, but the main characters are Cat’s friend Denise, and Bones mate Spade.

First things first, all these books are FULL of boinking. Lots and lots of boinking. And yet, I really like this series, this world, and these characters. The female characters are strong and capable and not idiots. The world is fascinating, and I really like the way she deals with vampire abilities.

I also like how the characters deal with the romances like grown-ups. For the most part anyway. Things happen, and the deal with them and go on.

Full Moon City edited by Darrell Schweitzer & Martin H Greenberg (2010) Review

I love short stories, so of course I love anthologies. This is a collection of supernatural stories, primarily were-creatures. This collection has some stories by some of my favorite authors: Peter S. Beagle. Carrie Vaughan. Holly Black. Mike Resnick. Gregory Frost. Pretty much a full complement of great authors, and even the stories I didn’t like were good (just not to my taste). But if you’re unsure, Peter S. Beagle’s story, La Lune T’Attend is worth the price of the entire book.

Vampires: The Recent Undead edited by Paula Guran (2001) Review

• Another anthology with another complement of great authors: Holly Black. Charles de Lint. Kelly Armstrong. Tannith Lee. Emma Bull. Carrie Vaughan.

This collection is (obviously) about vampires. But each author’s take is slightly different from what the others have written or common folklore. And it is those differences can be fascinating. There are several excellent stories in this collection, and although a couple of the stories (Carrie Vaughan and Charles de Lint’s for two) are found in other collections, it’s still a very good collection.

The Year in Reading: Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Supernatural Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Comics, Mystery, and History
The Year in Reading: Books Published in 2011

I was going to make a single post about some of my favorite books I read this year, but realized I read so much I’d be better served breaking this up into multiple posts. I’m going to have one post for supernatural fantasy, one post for general fantasy, and this post is for everything else. These books are ones I rated an 8 or higher when I read/reviewed them.

Comics

Several of these I mentioned in my post on books from 2011, so I’ll just list them here.

Edie Ernst – USO Singer: Allied Spy (9 Chickweed Lane) Brooke McElowney

Fables Vol 15: Rose Red (Fables) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Inaki Miranda, Andrew Pepoy, Dan Green

Girl Genius Vol 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse(Girl Genius) Phil & Kaja Foglio

Madame Xanadu Vol 4: Extra-Sensory(Madame Xanadu) Matt Wagner, Marley Zarcone, Laurenn McCubbin, Chrissie Zullo, Celia Calle, Marian Churchland

The Rabbi’s Cat (2005) by Joann Sfar Review

When a Rabbi’s cat eat his parrot, the cat gains the power of speech, and then goes on to question everything and everyone. This is a philosophical work, but it’s also hilarious. Take the following exchange between the cat and the Rabbi:

And then he tells me that the Greeks believed the dog to be the epitome of the philosophical animal. The dog, not the cat.

I reply that the Greeks destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem and if a rabbi ends up calling on them for help, it means he’s run out of arguments.

If you find that passage at all amusing, I recommend you check out The Rabbi’s Cat. It is an absolutely wonderful book.

Collections

Folk Tales from the Russian (1903) collected by Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal
Review

I love folktales, but didn’t have particularly high expectations for this freebie collection for the Kindle. I was very pleasantly surprised.

In addition to the stories, there are notes on the terms, that (since this is an ebook) are accessible with a click. So I quite enjoyed learning about ‘boyars’ and ‘moujiks’.

Is this for everyone? Probably not, but if you love folktales the way I do, it’s hard to turn down a good collection that is also FREE!

Under Her Skin (2009) Ilona Andrews, Jeaniene Frost, Meljean Brook
Review

This is an anthology of three paranormal romance short stories about shapeshifters. Neither Ilona Andrews nor Jeaniene Frost’s stories are set in their existing world with existing characters. As I expect with the authors, the stories feature strong female characters who work to save themselves. It was only $3 for the collection; a buck a story doesn’t seem too much to support some favorite authors.

History

David McCullough

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge (1972) Review

I tend to read non-fiction before bed, because I can’t go to sleep without reading, but fiction tends to draw me into the story too deeply. I find history work well, not because it’s boring (it isn’t) but because I generally know what’s going to happen, so it doesn’t keep me awake.

This was an absolutely fascinating book. Bridges are interesting, but I had never previously considered the engineering required to make one–especially when one is overcoming unique difficulties. But this book also talks of the social and political intrigues of the time in addition to the engineering feats, as all these things were integral to the construction of the bridge.

Plus, I learned the “the bends” was first called “Cassion disease” and discovered during bridge building. I love learning tidbits like that.

Romance

I’m relatively new to reading romance, as I’ve never been fond of kissing books. But I discovered that there are some fabulous stories out there that happen to have HEAs as part of the tale. As long as I know going in I’m going to be reading a kissing book, I discovered I’m OK with it.

Lucia St. Clair Robson

The Tokaido Road (1991) Review

I came across this book on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and loved the cover so much I decided to see if the book was something I’d like reading.

OMG yes.

Kat’s father was forced to kill himself as a result of political intrigue, so to support her mother, and to give herself time to plan her vengeance against Kira, the man who caused her father’s downfall, Kat goes to work in a pleasure house.

First and foremost, although this is a romance, Kat continually rescues herself. Secondly, the research and historical facts are amazing. I loved reading all the little details about what life was like, and the little quirks that you might not think of from a modern vantage (no shocks in palanquins).

This is a fabulous story that I highly recommend.

Sharon Shinn

Quatrain (2009) Review

Quatrain is four separate romance novellas set in four of Sharon Shinn’s fantasy worlds. If you have not read anything by Sharon Shinn before, this book would be a good introduction to her writing, and the variety of worlds and characters she creates.

Although these are romances, for me, the romance takes a back seat to the incredible world building, story telling, and characters.

Mystery

Robert Crais

The First Rule (2010) (Elvis Cole) Review

I started reading Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole mysteries last summer when I broke my ankle, and quickly read through the series. The First Rule came out this year in paperback, so I snatched it up once it was available.

Although Elvis makes an appearance, this is a Joe Pike story, which means the feel of the story is very different, since Pike is such a dark and conflicted character. Interestingly, although we learn more about Joe’s past in this story, he remains an enigma, and although he tries to do good, one never gets the feeling his a good guy.

Ian Rankin

Let it Bleed (1996) Review
Black and Blue (1997) Review
The Hanging Garden (1998) Review
The Falls (2000) Review
Resurrection Men (2002) Review
The Naming of the Dead (2006) Review

I read a lot of Ian Rankin this year.

John Rebus is a Detective Inspector in the Edinburgh police force, and although he is a very good cop, he is not necessarily a very good person. And he is really bad about getting along with his superiors and doing what is political instead of doing what is right. Also, you’d totally never want him to date one of your friends. Rebus smokes. He’s an alcoholic. He’s a lousy father. He walks a very fine line sometimes when it comes to what is legal. But he always does what he believes is right.

I have one Inspector Rebus mystery left to read, and I keep putting it off, because once I read it, the series is over. Done. No more Rebus. And I don’t WANT that. So the book sits on my shelf, waiting.

The Year in Reading: Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Supernatural Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Comics, Mystery, and History
The Year in Reading: Books Published in 2011

You may or may not be aware that I have a book blog. It’s not hidden or secret (See! Links! Over there in the sidebar!) it’s just separate from here for organization purposes. It exists primarily to help me keep track of what I’ve read and the publication order of stories.

I don’t want to recreate the material from my reading blog, but I would like do an overview of what I read, and give you a quick idea of what I think about that book or series.

This first post is a look at books published in 2011. You’ll notice that the overwhelming majority of these books are a part of a series. Luckily, almost all can be read as stand alone books and there are no cliffhangers involved.

Urban/Supernatural Fantasy Series

Rob Thurman

Blackout

(Cal Leandros) (Review: 10)

Cal is half-monster, but thanks to his brother Niko, he remains human. Although this is a supernatural fantasy series, with lots of monsters and ass-kicking, at its core it is the story of the love Cal and Niko have for each other, and the lengths to which they will go to protect one another. Only, you know, not mushy with terms like love but instead with manly ass-kickings and rude remarks and big guns.

If you have not read previous books in the series, you can readily start here, though if you do, you don’t want to miss out on the awesomeness that is the past books.

Carrie Vaughn

Kitty’s Greatest Hits (Review: 9)

Kitty’s Big Trouble (Review: 7)

Kitty is a public radio DJ and also a werewolf who was–against her will–outed to the public mid series, and following that outing, the world has been scrambling to come to terms with the existence of were-wolves and wondering what other creatures they thought were imaginary are really out there.

Kitty’s Greatest Hits collects the various Kitty short stories that were published in various anthologies. If you’d like an introduction to Kitty, I’d read the first couple stories in the series, but then go back and start at book one. Although you can read the stories independently of the series, you’ll learn of some important things without the background of how those things happened. As I love short stories, it was good to get this collection, for the stories that I missed in their original anthologies.

Kitty’s Big Trouble takes Kitty out to discover whether certain historical figures were actually werewolves (or even undead).

Seanan McGuire

One Salt Sea (Review: 9)

Late Eclipses (Review: 8)

October Daye is a changeling knight for the Faerie court who worked for years as a private investigator, however, an attack removes her from the world for thirteen years, and when she returns, her mortal life is lost to her.

Although each story are is complete within each book, each successive story builds upon the history of the previous books, so you’d probably want to start at the beginning and read forward.

Lish McBride

Necromancer: A Novella (Review: 8.5)

This has been available as a free eNovella, and I highly recommend it. It’s a story that’s tied into the book Hold Me Closer Necromancer, which was published last year, and which I really like.

Check out the novella (it’s a free Kindle book after all) and that’ll give you an idea of whether you want to read the full length book. What I particularly liked was that the novella did not require any knowledge of the other book, and in fact the main character in the novella doesn’t appear in the book.

Nicole Peeler

Eye of the Tempest (Review: 8.5)

Tempest’s Legacy (Review: 8.5)

The Jane True series is a lot of fun. It also contains a lot of boinking and talking and thinking about boiking, but I love how the main character has a sense of humor about everything and she usually feels real. Take the following passage.

…I wiped my nose on his shirt. I was snotty from crying and he was already filthy. It wasn’t ideal but he was holding me so tight I couldn’t move my arms.

“Did you just wipe your nose on me?” he asked, finally. His voice was tight with various emotions, but “oh no you didn’t” had clawed it’s way to the top of the list.

“Maybe,” I mumbled, peering up at him.

That just made me fall in love with the heroine.

This is another series where–although each book is a self-contained story arc–there is so much story and character development over the course of the series, you’ll want to start at the beginning and move your way forward.

Ilona Andrews

Fate’s Edge (The Edge) (Review: 8.5)

Magic Slays (Kate Daniels) (Review: 8)

Although both of these books are written by Ilona Andrews, they are set in two very different worlds.

The Kate Daniels story takes place in our future, where magic comes and goes in waves, and has destroyed much of the technology upon which the modern world was based. It also allowed monsters like vampires and weres to become visible and take positions of power (of some sort) in the world. These story has been running longer (five books) and is an adventure with some elements of romance.

The books in the Edge series are first and foremost romances, but the world building has not been neglected. Here, magic realms exist simultaneously with the modern world, but for the most part magical realms are unreachable to ordinary people, and those with strong magic cannot reach the ordinary realms. Those who can go back and forth tend to live on the Edge–lands between the two worlds.

The Kate Daniels books should probably be read in order, although (as is my preference) each book contains a complete story arc. But Kate’s growth through the series, and the changes in her world make starting from the beginning a good idea.

The Edge series are also self contained, and each book focuses on a different set of characters. Although characters appear in each others books, knowing the past of one character isn’t required to read another character’s story.

Faith Hunter

Mercy Blade (Jane Yellowrock) (Review: 8)

This is another post apocalyptic series, where mages and werewolves and vampires are now public figures. Jane Yellowrock hunts and destroys rogue vampires. She also has an extremely secret past that will probably get her killed if anyone finds out about it. I particularly like the physics and biology of shape shifting. Although each book is a self-contained story, this is another series where you should start at the beginning and work your way forward.

Mark del Franco

Uncertain Allies (Connor Grey) (Review: 7)

This is the fifth book in Mark del Franco’s Connor Grey series. Faerie has invaded the modern world, and druids and other fae creatures and monsters have to learn to get along with the humans who had all forgotten their existence. Connor was a powerful druid until an attack leaves him unable to use most of his powers. This series looks at how he deals with those losses, the friends he’s made in the interim, and how the world deal with the return of faerie.

Don’t start here–way to much has gone on in previous books to sum up neatly this far into the series.

Jeaniene Frost

This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress) (Review: 7)

I actually have the next book in this series sitting on a shelf waiting to be read. These books are definitely boiking books, but they’re also about a lasting love and commitment between the two characters, despite everything that befalls them. As the series progresses and the characters become an item, they actually deal with the the issues any couple in a long term relationship would have. Except, of course, usually people are trying to kill them.

Cat was born a half-vampire, and wants nothing more than to destroy the very creatures who made her what she is. Bones is a century old vampire whose job it is to remove rogue vampires who are acting in a way that may expose the existence of ghouls and vampires to the world.

As with almost all the series I read, each book is self contained, but this is another where you’ll probably want to start at the beginning and move your way forward.

Kiss Me, Kill Me: A Paranormal Anthology (Review: 6)

A $0.99 eBook. Not bad for the price, but there were some particularly bad stories in with the good.

Simon R. Green

Ghost of a Smile (Ghost Finders) (Review: 5)

I love Simon R. Green’s Nightside series, but I cannot for the life of me get into his other series (serieses?) My recommendation is to skip this series entirely, and read Nightside instead.

Steampunk

Cindy Spencer Pape

Steam & Sorcery (Review: 7)

This was a steampunk romance that wasn’t bad, but I can’t say it was one of my favorite books of the year.

Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

Phoenix Rising (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences) (Review: 6)

Another Steampunk romance, this one is apparently the start of a series that I won’t be continuing.

Comics

Fables

Rose Red Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Inaki Miranda, Andrew Pepoy, Dan Green (Review: 8)

I have friends who don’t like or get Fables, but 15 volumes in I’m still loving the story.

If you’re not familiar with the series, I do not recommend starting here, but instead picking up 1001 Night of Snowfall, which is a stand alone book in the series.

Another option would be to pick up Peter & Max which is actually a Fables novel. Either of those should give you a good idea as to whether Fables is for you or not.

9 Chickweed Lane

Edie Ernst – USO Singer: Allied Spy Brooke McElowney (Review: 9.5)

If you read 9 Chickweed Lane, this collects the story arc in which Juliette and Edda discover that Gram (Juliette’s mother) was a USO spy during WWII. It’s also the story of how Edna met and fell in love with Juliette’s father.

You can read the story online if you want, but I highly recommend splurging for the book.

Madame Xanadu

Broken House of Cards Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder, Richard Friend, Joelle Jones (Review: 9)
Extra-Sensory Matt Wagner, Marley Zarcone, Laurenn McCubbin, Chrissie Zullo, Celia Calle, Marian Churchland (Review: 8)

I know little to nothing of the character of Madame Xanadu aside from what is contained in the volumes of her new series, but I have still very much enjoyed this series.

The first volume is pretty much a requirement, since it tells you Nimune’s past, but after that it shouldn’t matter as much if you read in order or not.

Girl Genius

Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse (Review: 8)
Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil and Kaja Foglio (Review: 7)

Phil and Kaja Foglio have spent years writing their on-line steampunk comic Girl Genius and then publishing volumes once they get enough material.

Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse is the latest volume in the graphic novel, while Agatha H and the Airship City is the first three volumes of the series as a novel.

I think I prefer the graphic novel, mostly because I am so fond of the Jagermonsters.

House of Mystery

Under New Management Matthew Sturges, Luca Rossi, Jose Marzan Jr (Review: 7)
Safe as Houses Matthew Sturges, Luca Rossi, Werther Dell Edera, Jose Marzain Jr (Review: 7)

I cannot decide how I feel about this series. I’ll most likely read the next volume, but will decide after that if I want to keep reading.

Mysteries

C.S. Harris

Where Shadows Dance (Sebastian St. Cyr) (Review: 7)

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a somewhat dissolute young noble who returned from the Napoleonic wars far more bitter than when he left. A prickly relationship with his father and a willingness to fight duels have not helped his reputation, but he doesn’t much seem to care.

“Those rumors I mentioned?” Christopher said in an undertone as he and Sebastian moved forward. “They say the last time Talbot fought a duel, he chose twenty-five paces, then turned and fired after twelve. Killed the man. Of course, Talbot and his second swore the distance had been settled at twelve paces all along.”

“And his rival’s second?”

“Shut up about it when Talbot threatened to call him out–for naming Talbot a liar.”

Sebastian gave his friend a slow smile. “Then if Talbot should have occasion to call you out for a similar reason, I suggest you choose swords.”

Do not try to start here. Entirely too much has happened in this series. And although this book was good, it was by far the weakest entry in the series so far, whereas every previous volume has been fabulous.

The Year in Reading: Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Supernatural Fantasy
The Year in Reading: Comics, Mystery, and History
The Year in Reading: Books Published in 2011

Today’s word is: philanderer