Hello everybody! Tomorrow is JULY, which means it is that time of year again: time for us to look back at our reviews and list our fave books of 2016…at least, so far.
We Book Smugglers are proud to present you with: our Best Books Read, Reviewed and Published in 2016 (so far); our Best Books Read & Reviewed in 2016 (regardless of publication year); and, as always, our Honorable Mentions of 2016.
Ana’s Best of 2016
I counted. I recounted. I counted again but this seems legit: I read/reviewed only – weeps – 29 books so far this year. This year has been HARD with not only a lot of personal shit going on but also ailing members of family, so it’s not a huge surprise this all-time low. I wasn’t expecting it to be that low though. ALAS, I vow to try and catch up and read at least 60 books in the second half. That’s… 10 books a month. That’s doable right?
On the bright side, the average rate so far is 7.4 which is pretty great – and I already have a few books that will sure make it to my top 10 of the year.
Best Books Read, Reviewed and Published in 2016
1. Midnight Taxi Tango by Daniel José Older, 8 (Urban Fantasy)
2. All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, 8 (Fantasy)
3. The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar, 8 (Fantasy)
4. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab, 8 (Fantasy) (Note: I did not review this book but I have read it and fully agree with Thea’s review)
5. On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis, 9 (Science Fiction)
Best Books Read & Reviewed in 2016 (regardless of publication year)
1. In The Garden of Iden by Kage Baker, 7 (Science Fiction)
2. Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones, 8 (Fantasy, Children)
3. The Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron Saves the World Again by A C Wise, 8 (Fantasy)
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling, 9 (Fantasy, Children)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling, 9 (Fantasy, Children)
Honorable Mentions of 2016
1. Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal, 8 (Fantasy)
2. Borderline by Mishell Baker, 8 (Urban Fantasy)
3. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, 8 (Fantasy, YA)
4. Shadow Magic by Joshuan Khan, 7 (Fantasy, Children)
5. The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North, 8 (Fantasy)
6. Roses and Rot by Kat Howard, 8 (Fantasy)
7. Jolly Foul Play by Robin Stevens, 8 (Mystery, Children )
8. Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand, 8 (Children)
Thea’s Best of 2016
It has been a hard year, people. Hard, in terms of workload–what with Book Smugglers Publishing, and the Day Job, and other responsibilities, it has been hard to find time to read and review. This year so far, I’ve read and reviewed 32 books–the lowest number it has been since… well, since I can remember. I have a TON of ground to catch up, but in the meantime, here is my list of the Best of 2016 (SO FAR).
Best Books Read, Reviewed and Published in 2016
1. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, 10 (Science Fiction)
2. The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier, 8 (Fantasy, YA)
3. Bloodline by Claudia Gray, 8 (Science Fiction)
4. THe Wild Robot by Peter Brown, 8 (Middle Grade, SFF)
5. Morning Star by Pierce Brown, 7 (Science Fiction)
Best Books Read & Reviewed in 2016 (regardless of publication year)
1. Maresi by Maria Turtschanioff, 8 (YA, SFF)
2. Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse, 8 (YA, Science Fiction)
3. Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty (MG, Horror)
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling, 9 (Fantasy, Children)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling, 9 (Fantasy, Children)
Honorable Mentions of 2016
1. Wayward Vol. 1 by Jim Zub & Steve Cummings, 8 (Comics, SFF)
2. Paper Girls Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, 8 (Comics, SFF)
3. The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman, 8 (Historical, YA, SFF)
4. The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan, 8 (Contemporary Fantasy, YA)
5. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab, 8 (Fantasy)
There it is – our lists and favorites of 2016 so far! Now we turn it over to you – what books have YOU read and loved this year? We’ve got 6 months to catch up on any titles that we’ve missed out on so far!
6 Comments
Mary
June 30, 2016 at 11:11 pmI was tremendously impressed by Katherine Catmull’s “Radiant Road”. (YA Fantasy). We have rather different tastes in speculative fiction, but Catmull’s writing is beautiful and her books just aren’t like anything else out there. I did like “Tell the Wind and Fire”, too, though not as much as the actual Dickens book it’s based on, and also “The Raven King”. But Catmull’s books are amazing.
Ana
July 1, 2016 at 5:38 amMary, you are not the first one to recommend Radiant Road, actually! I’ve heard so many people talk about it. I will definitely check it out.
Mary
July 1, 2016 at 11:54 amOh, good! I hope you enjoy it. Three others I read this year and forgot to mention (two are small press and/or self pubbed. They are excellent anyway):
“LIfeform Three” by Roz Morris. Paftoo, a robot, is born to serve. But, when he is struck by lightning, he begins to remember a past life– a life in which he had a strong connection to a lifeform three, that is, a horse. Paftoo tries to find out what once happened to him, and who he really is.
“White Sky”, by Lara Campbell McGehee, follows young Jemren, 15 when we first meet him. As a child of the conquering Sanndai, he is hated and feared in his isolated Torvik village. Sullen and resentful, he ends up working as a servant for the very men who drove the Sanndai out–and finds his life in danger. But there’s no safe place for him to go– This is a grand, old-fashioned story in the vein of Ursula LeGuin. “White Sky”is the first volume of “In the Shadow of the She-Wolf”.
Then I reread C.S. Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces” Orual is, always and forever, one of the most deeply imagined women a man ever wrote. And, of course, I read “Earth Flight” (loved it much more than you, but I completely understand your problems. Annoying because it would have been SO EASY to fix!) and “Uprooted”, which I loved.
Mary
July 1, 2016 at 12:02 pmOh – sorry ; just one more, if you can stand it. Another reread was “Ranvan: Magic Nation” by Diana Wieler. You can find my review on amazon. I’ll stop spamming the thread now!
Justine S.
July 2, 2016 at 8:10 pmMy favourites read this year so far (regardless of date published):
Morning Star
All the Birds in the Sky
The Scorpio Races
Bone Gap
Borderline
The Lie Tree
Barsk: The Elephants Graveyard
Railhead
Seraphina
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