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ANATHEM, Neal Stephenson -- this is a really long book and at first it's very slow, dense, full of made-up lingo and alien concepts, and then it becomes a rollicking adventure story and tackles all these fascinating ideas in such a way that they seem new. It's about a lot of stuff I'd been reading about in non-fiction over the last 4-5 years, but he presents it from an alien perspective, with different names for things, and somehow that makes all our real-world science and philosophy easier to understand.
MAGIC FOR BEGINNERS, Kelly Link -- it took me way too long to actually read anything by her, but oh my GOD, the story itself, "Magic For Beginners", is like the best, seriously the best short story in the history of the universe. I don't think I even read the entire collection, but when I got to the end of that story (it's like 60 pages long) I went back to the beginning and read it again. Seriously, you owe it to yourself to track down the book and read that story. It's everything good and right, magic and teenagers and love and rooftops and libraries and being obsessed with a TV show and stuff, all told in a brilliant way that I could never begin to explain. It's the best.
LIGHT, M John Harrison -- this on first read was like my favourite book EVER, but I need to read it again to doublecheck. It's one of those really mind-bendy far-flung-future books, crossed with a current-day (actually 1999/2000) story about a physicist/serial-killer, but not as stupid as I just made it sound. Really mind-expanding, heart-rending, etc. Deeply human.
DOOMSDAY BOOK, Connie Willis -- my dad gave it to me. Science fiction about a college student traveling back in time (for school!) to the middle ages and accidentally winding up in the middle of the Bubonic Plague. A bit rocky at first and then it becomes gripping and somewhat moving.
DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, Erik Larson -- Hope told me to read this, it was great. The story of the Chicago World's Fair in the late 1800s, interwoven with the story of a really fascinating serial killer. Non-fiction. Erik Larson is not related to Hope Larson or Erik Larsen, btw.
SPIN, Robert Charles Wilson -- I bought this for my dad and then I had to read it to make sure he'd like it. I think he'll like it! It's friggin' awesome! These kids are out in the backyard one night and the STARS DISAPPEAR! then over the next 30-odd years they grow up in this strange new cosmic world order. If you like speculative fictiony stuff or the big sprawling Stephen King-type sagas, this is a great book. I believe he already wrote a followup to this book (it came out around 2005 and won the Hugo) but forget that shit, this one book is good. I hate how all the sci-fi/fantasy books are all "FIRST BOOK IN THE ____ TRILOGY" or "SEQUEL TO THE AWARD-WINNING ______". I just want to pick up a book entirely based on its cover art and enjoy it or not, I don't want to become a member of your secret club.
WHEN YOU REACH ME, Rebecca Stead -- Hope got this for me for christmas. It's a YA book set in New York in the late 70s and it's about time travel and it's really quite nice. Like a classy Donnie Darko-type story for a slightly younger set. It gets into the philosophy and science stuff in a nice way, not dumbing things down. It's strongly reminiscent of the kinds of books I was always getting from the library as a child (maybe partly because it's set in the 70s). I can't talk about it too much because Hope hasn't read it yet.
I didn't read a lot of comics, feels like. I haven't even cracked open a volume of PLUTO (I was reading scanlations a few years ago, so, I mean, I've read a bunch of it, just not in these editions). So I won't do a list of comics. (i really liked DETROIT METAL CITY though)
I am considering a list of some of the (extremely sad & dorky) music i've been listening to this year. If anyone knows how to imbed a little mp3 player in a livejournal post, please pass that information on in my comments.
