As 2017 comes to a close, I've been getting a lot of reading inspiration from "best of" book lists. My favorites this year feature some action-packed debuts, new volumes from favorite series, and a couple of thought-provoking non-fiction reads:
10. Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf. In this modern thriller, a deaf woman (with the help of her adorable hearing dog, Stitch) tries to solve the murder of her best friend, all while trying to dodge a killer she can't hear coming.
9. It Devours! By Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. If otherworldly, creepy, and hilarious is your thing, then check out the Welcome to Night Vale podcast online, then check out this book.
8. A Stitch of Time by Lauren Marks. In this nonfiction book, a young woman suffers a stroke that leaves her without the ability to speak, read, or write – or in other words, aphasia. In this fascinating memoir she chronicles her journey to regain language.
7. Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. In this brilliant follow-up to 2016's Every Heart a Doorway, twin girls discover a secret door to a fantasy world – one filled with vampires, mad scientists, and a heartless, windswept moor.
6. Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus. In this steampunk novella, former espionage agent Desmond Coke is on the run with a young boy with special powers, searching for a place to raise the boy as his own in an alternate history America. Come for the steampunk, stay for the excellent swordplay.
5. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. The Vasilisa folktale has long been one of my favorite stories, and Arden's version of the dark fairy tale does not disappoint. She effortlessly blends Russian folklore with modern-day fantasy.
4. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee. In this historical novel, a grand tour abruptly goes off the rails, and an upper-class young man, his sister, and his best friend must learn to fend for themselves. They quickly stumble upon an international plot and must work to solve the mystery and save their lives.
3. Hunger: a Memoir of my Body by Roxane Gay. This book is an unflinching look at body politics and how we treat others. Gay's memoir, told in short chapters, tells the story of her violation by a group of boys at a young age, and the effect on her body ever since. Brutally hard to read, but a book that I'm glad I read.
2. The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. In this novella, LaValle crafts a brilliant retelling of H.P. Lovecraft's most racist story, The Horror at Red Hook. LaValle reframes the story through the eyes of Charles Thomas Tester, a young black man, trying to survive at the intersection between cosmic indifference and racist brutality.
1. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin. Jemisin has now taken home two Hugo Awards for Best Novel for the first two books in this series (The Fifth Season, and The Obelisk Gate respectively), and I'll be surprised if she doesn't take home a third Hugo award for this novel. Jemisin deftly weaves together issues of climate change, injustice, and what defines a family, all within the genre of epic fantasy.
