I went through the list of books I’ve read (listened to) in the last couple of years, and there were some really great ones. My lists are not really ordered in any way other than I grouped books by the same author together.
I think my favorite book for 2018 is The Righmatist by Brandon Sanderson. I loved every bit of it. My favorite series was definitely the Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch. That was also a huge chunk of my year’s reading even though it was only 3 books. I also really liked Glasshouse by Charles Stross and An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I had never read a Chuck Wendig book until he got fired by Disney/Marvel, and now I’ve read two and have a 3rd ready to go. Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart was the only novel I read that wasn’t Sci-fi. I liked it too. I will definitely read more of the Shieldrunner Series by R. E. Sterns and more of the Mortal Engines series too. I’ll also read any new Dennis E. Taylor, Scalzi, or Scott Meyer book as they come out.
If I look back at 2017, my two favorite books were All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders and The Nix by Nathan Hill. The Nix wasn’t even Sci-fi. I did sample two of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, but I haven’t gotten back to more. I did like them, and it was a good genre change. I like all of Peter Cline’s books (I haven’t read the ex-Heroes, but everything else). Paradox Bound was probably his best so far. I also really like Scott Meyer’s Run Program, and I will always read the next Magic 2.0 series book. I started Becky Chamber’s Wayfarers series, but I have yet to read the 2nd (I do have it ready to go).
I didn’t put any books on my list here except the ones I really liked. I probably had five that I quit (and shall remain nameless). One of them was from one of my favorite authors too.
I also reread several books (listen to on car trips) and didn’t put those on the list, but they were the first two of Scalzi’s Old Man’s War books and the Dennis E. Taylor’s first two Bobiverse books. Both held up well for a second read (listen).
2018
- The Rithmatist – Brandon Sanderson
- An Absolutely Remarkable Thing – Hank Green
- Glasshouse – Charles Stross
- The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
- Red Seas Under Red Skies – Scott Lynch
- The Republic of Thieves – Scott Lynch
- Lake Success – Gary Shteyngart
- Barbary Station – R. E. Stearns
- Out of Spite, Out of Mind – Scott Meyer
- The Authorities – Scott Meyer
- Blackbirds – Chuck Wendig
- Damn Fine Story – Chuck Wendig
- Mortal Engines – Phillip Reeve
- The Singularity Trap – Dennis E. Taylor
- Infinite – Jeremy Robinson
- Head On – John Scalzi
- The Consuming Fire – John Scalzi
- Johnny – D. J. Molles
2017
- The Nix – Nathan Hill
- All the Birds in the Sky – Charlie Jane Anders
- Six Months, Three Days – Charlie Jane Anders
- Will Save the Galaxy for Food – Yahtzee Croshaw
- Paradox Bound – Peter Clines
- Dead Men Can’t Complain and Other Stories – Peter Clines
- Sleep Like a Baby – Charlaine Harris
- Run Program – Scott Meyer
- Fight and Flight – Scott Meyer
- All These Worlds – Dennis E. Taylor
- Artemis – Andy Weir
- After On: A Novel of Silicon Valley – Rob Reid
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Becky Chambers
- Miniatures – John Scalzi
- The God Engines – John Scalzi
- The Collapsing Empire – John Scalzi
- Change Agent – Daniel Suarez
- Two for the Dough – Janet Evanovich
- One for the Money – Janet Evanovich
- The Inevitable – Kevin Kelley
