2011 In Review

It's been quite a year for reading.  For the first time I managed to keep pretty good track of all the books I read.  Here are the numbers (and remember, this doesn't include books I read 100+ pages of and then stopped, it's only books I finished).

Novels: 60
Graphic novels: 8
Manga: around 23 (I didn't count some as they're such quick reads)
Other (non-fiction, novellas, etc.): 9

Of those 60 novels, 15 were debuts for 2011 (there were other debut novels out in previous years, but I don't think that counts)

I mentioned a list of great books I read in 2011 on an SF Signal Mind Meld, here are the titles again, with a few additions and more descriptions.  They're listed in the order I read them.

• The Fallen Blade – Jon Courtenay Grimwood (renaissance Venice with all its intrigues and a hint of the paranormal)
• The World More Full of Weeping - Robert Wiersema (a novella that will touch your soul)
• Eutopia - David Nickle (showing the horrors humans inflict on each other)
• The Dragon’s Path – Daniel Abraham (epic fantasy at its best)
• O.4/Human.4 – Mike Lancaster (a great SF primer for kids, or a quick rollicking read for adults)
• Trouble and Her Friends – Melissa Scott (10 years old yet surprisingly prophetic with regards to government control of the internet)
• Element Zero – James Knapp (a fantastic conclusion to a well written near future SF thriller)
• Mad Skills - Walter Greatshell (an interesting premise that got creepier the more you understodd what was going on)
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs (a coming of age story with a unique cast)
• X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills - Chris Claremont (directly deals with both racism and fundamentalist religious beliefs in one graphic novel)
• The Tomb - F. Paul Wilson (Repairman Jack.  'Nuff said.)
• Ella Enchanted - Gail Carlson Levine (hilarious retelling of Cinderella, if you haven't read it, you should)
• The Declaration – Gemma Mallory (dystopian YA where harsh population controls make up for curing death)
• This Perfect Day – Ira Levin (an idyllic utopia, except from the protagonist's POV)
• City of Dreams & Nightmare – Ian Whates (an interesting world with some creepy goings on)
• River Kings’ Road – Liane Merciel (well written traditional fantasy)
• Tankborn - Karen Sandler (diverse SF with a touch of romance and class issues)
• Germline - T. C. McCarthy (life on the front line of a future war)
• After the Golden Age – Carrie Vaughan (what it's like as the powerless daughter of superheroes)
• Debris - Jo Anderton (great character driven story about not giving up)
• Postmortal - Drew Magary (how life slowly deteriorates in a post-aging cure world)
• Legend - Marie Lu (two youths learn that life isn't what they've been taught)
• The Emperor’s Knife – Mazarkis Williams (Persian inspired epic fantasy)
• All Men of Genius – Lev A. C. Rosen (light-hearted steampunk)
• Touch of Power – Maria Snyder (a healer must decide if a lord's life is worth her own)
• A Darkness Forged in Fire - Chris Evans (just as good the second time around, this book combines elves with guns and wicked dry humour)
• When She Woke – Hilary Jordan (thought provoking dystopian fiction, not for the faint of heart)
• Shatter Me – Tahereh Mafi (quick YA dystopian fiction with a unique writing style)

So, what did you read in 2011 that left an impression?