alaina cyr

• Books I read in 2018
• Books I eead in 2017
• Books I read in 2016

As I’ve done in for the last 4 years, here’s a recap of books I read this year, ranked.

This year I kept up my quest to read fewer books by white cis hetero people. I cant see myself moving away from this anytime soon. Contemporary stories written by cis white dudes pale in comparison to stories written by Black, Indigenous, queer writers. Give me more trans writers! More Black writers! More Indigenous writers! More queer writers! Fewer mediocre white cis writers!

Number of books read:

Number of pages read:

A few discoveries about my tastes:

1. This year was my first introduction to John Wyndham and I’m sad I didn’t discover his novels sooner. Not just because they are great, but also because they’ve clearly influenced a lot of other media I enjoy (see, for example, Seanan McGuire’s MIDDLEGAME, which is on my list below). THE CHRYSALIDS was certainly a great introduction to his work, and I am now working through his other works.
2. The top 3 books of this year share (at least) a common theme that certainly reflects my emotional and psychological state this year: the main characters all have to hide what’s special about them out of fear of persecution if others found out. They struggle to hide their true selves for their own safety. I’ll just leave it at that.
3. I like stories (books, film, tv) that are social allegories. Which is probably why I like science fiction and horror genres the most.

Life changing:

1. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
2. The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3) by NK Jemisin
3. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
4. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Olou (non-fiction)
5. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel A van der Kolk (non-fiction)

Adored:

6. In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4) by Seanan McGuire
7. The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth, #2) by NK Jemisin
8. The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai
9. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
10. Edge by Kōji Suzuki
11. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
12. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
13. Legendary Children by Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez (non-fiction)
14. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
15. A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott (non-fiction)
16. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
17. Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep, #1) by Mira Grant

Enjoyed:

18. Vengeful (Villains, #2) by V.E. Schwab – maybe would have been better if I had read #1 first?
19. Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
20. The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1) by Cixin Liu
21. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick – have you ever wept over a spider? I can now say I have
22. Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels (graphic novel)
23. Parasite (Parasitology, #1) by Mira Grant
24. The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson – overall I enjoyed the story, but I kept thinking about how much better it could have been without the subtle racism and misogyny
25. Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1) by Tomi Adeyemi
26. Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor
27. Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore
28. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
29. Jazz by Toni Morrison
30. D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths by Ingri d’Aulaire
31. Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time edited by Hope Nicholson
32. Moose Meat & Wild Rice by Basil Johnston
33. Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth
34. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
35. Martha Quest by Doris Lessing
36. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter – unfinished; I liked what I read, but the writing style was difficult to get into for me. I will pick this one up again when I’m better able to focus

Meh:

37. A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
38. There Has to Be a Knife by Adnan Khan
39. Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaludd
40. Release by Patrick Ness
41. Symbiont (Parasitology, #2) by Mira Grant
42. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde – great story, but really difficult to read because of the writing style
43. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

Would not read again:

44. Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy (graphic novel)
45. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown (Ghost Roads, #2) by Seanan McGuire
46. The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
47. Supper Club by Lara Williams – despite what the blurb would have you believe, this is not a progressive story in the least. More akin to GIRL ON THE TRAIN than anything feminist
48. Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters–And How to Get It by Laurie Mintz (non-fiction)
49. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman – read D’Aulaires’ instead, the stories are the same but it has cute illustrations
50. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie

Could not finish:

51. Less by Andrew Sean Greer – dull
52. A Conspiracy of Stars (Faloiv, #1) by Olivia A Cole – just plain awful