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Apparently Goodreads thinks I read 84 books last year, while LJ only thinks 83. I'm not really motivated enough to find the discrepancy, though. If you want the full list, you can find it on Goodreads.
With some perspective, though, here are my top 10 and bottom 5.
The best, in alphabetical order:
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. Brilliant conclusion to thought-provoking trilogy.
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Hilarious and thrilling genre bender.
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. While the rest of the trilogy is a bit of a letdown, this is one of the most terrifying and intelligent horror books I've read (and stands just fine on its own).
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Perhaps a bit of an acquired taste, but a nice balance of genre thriller and literary.
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Short but tight, a gem of a fantasy story.
The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. Far more lyrical and character driven than a zombie novel has any right to be.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Tense psychological thriller.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. While flawed, they are the authentic flaws of a traumatized narrator. Gripping and heartbreaking.
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman's short fiction rarely disappoints.
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe. What it says on the tin. Hysterical, but still thought-provoking.
And the worst:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Pseudomystical, dangerously feel-good claptrap. Also, sexist.
Darkover Landfall by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Plotless, pointless, fling-at-the wall misogyny.
Not quite as bad but still pretty bad:
Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James. Disappointingly terrible Austen fanfiction by excellent character-driven mystery writer: betrays both mystery and characters.
Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney. Attempt to profit off of Downton Abbey leads to cut-and-paste of more interesting sources.
The Magus by John Fowles. Attempts at psychological thriller allegedly reprimand protagonist for being self-absorbed and misogynistic; actually kind of shows that author wishes he were special enough for someone to reprimand him for being self-absorbed and misogynistic.
With some perspective, though, here are my top 10 and bottom 5.
The best, in alphabetical order:
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. Brilliant conclusion to thought-provoking trilogy.
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Hilarious and thrilling genre bender.
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. While the rest of the trilogy is a bit of a letdown, this is one of the most terrifying and intelligent horror books I've read (and stands just fine on its own).
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Perhaps a bit of an acquired taste, but a nice balance of genre thriller and literary.
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Short but tight, a gem of a fantasy story.
The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. Far more lyrical and character driven than a zombie novel has any right to be.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Tense psychological thriller.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. While flawed, they are the authentic flaws of a traumatized narrator. Gripping and heartbreaking.
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman's short fiction rarely disappoints.
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe. What it says on the tin. Hysterical, but still thought-provoking.
And the worst:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Pseudomystical, dangerously feel-good claptrap. Also, sexist.
Darkover Landfall by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Plotless, pointless, fling-at-the wall misogyny.
Not quite as bad but still pretty bad:
Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James. Disappointingly terrible Austen fanfiction by excellent character-driven mystery writer: betrays both mystery and characters.
Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney. Attempt to profit off of Downton Abbey leads to cut-and-paste of more interesting sources.
The Magus by John Fowles. Attempts at psychological thriller allegedly reprimand protagonist for being self-absorbed and misogynistic; actually kind of shows that author wishes he were special enough for someone to reprimand him for being self-absorbed and misogynistic.
