I read less books this year than I normally do, but I’m going to attribute that to having read longer and harder books. (Maybe I’m just making excuses though. Apparently I played a lot of board games???) BEWARE! Very minor spoilers ahead. (Nothing you won’t get from looking at the back of the book though.) In an effort not to give too much away I’ve opted to keep my thoughts pretty short on this list.

1. The Broken Earth Trilogy
by N.K. Jemisin

The Broken Earth Trilogy is about an alternate(???) earth in which there are geomancers (think Earth-benders) and is an allegory for slavery. Jemisin won three consecutive Hugo Awards for these books. How Long ‘Til Black Future Month, her book of short stories is on my list of books to read next year.

The Fifth Season: Every Season Must Come to an End

It’s no wonder that the Broken Earth Trilogy won the Hugo three years in a row. All three of these books were fantastic. Uncomfortable, yet engaging, Jemisin pulls you in to a literally broken world. My only complaint is that the parallels are a little too obvious for me, but I suppose when you’re writing a slavery allegory, sometimes you have to do that.

The Obelisk Gate

The second book also won a Hugo, and though the second book is very clearly the weakest in the trilogy, it’s still good. Nassun is not my favorite character. I dunno if it’s because she’s a child, or because my view is tempered by Essun. Here’s a question though. Why isn’t this all one book?

The Stone Sky

SURPRISE! It’s good! There’s some really cool world building that happens in the third book. I’m still kinda meh on Nassun, but Hoa’s chapters are really fun. I liked how it ended with “I want to make the world a better place.” It’s a lesson I think we all could learn from hardship.

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey

I read three of The Expanse books this year. All of which coincide with seasons 3 and 4 of the TV series.

Abadon’s Gate

Season 3 was, I think, the weakest of the show, but the book was better. That being said, book 3 took a shift in style towards Game of Thrones that I didn’t much care for. Also, fuck Melba.

Cibola Burn

I liked this, and I thought Season 4 of the show was really good too, but I’m a little tired of the “over-eager military bad guy” trope.

Nemesis Games

While I’m not done with this one, I think it might be the best in the series so far.

An Unkindness of Ghosts
by Rivers Solomon

This book was also fantastic. I thought the ending was unsatisfying, but I think there might be meaning in that in and of itself.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert

This book is wicked depressing. I found it hard to read. I could only handle it in small doses. I struggle staying engaged in non-dinosaur non-fiction anyway, but this was a rough read. Nonetheless, I find books like this important. If you are unfamiliar with the anthropocene or the current extinction crisis, I urge you to check this out.

The Three Body Problem
by Cixin Liu

Yo. This book? It’s weird as fuck man. The book starts with the Chinese Communist Revolution, moves through a nearly incomprehensible description of an alien civilization that is destroyed at random intervals due to their proximity to three stars, and ending with imminent alien invasion (because fuck people?!), this book will have you wondering just what the hell is going on the entire time. For my part, I did mostly like the book, but damn if it didn’t make me feel stupid.

IT by Stephen King

This book has been on my list for a long time, and with the new movie having come out I had an excuse to finally pick it up. I gotta tell you that after reading the book I found the first of the new movie installments to be… disappointing. Like, why is this even popular? Why is it a meme? Why are kids fucking obsessed with Pennywise?! The only explanation I can make is that kids like shitty things. (I mean, come on! They like Chef Boyardee.) I will admit that I haven’t mustered up the self loathing to watch part two, so maybe that’s better???
The book I found to be be creepy. So, good job there, Stephen King! IT does a good job of letting unease slowly creep up on you, and this part of King’s writing I found masterful. But there were other parts that I found wholly unnecessary (and I’m not just talking about the kid sex, although that’s bad too). Also, what’s up with the end? A giant space spider? That’s IT?! Like, this giant build up, a nameless horror that manifests itself into your worst and most private fears, and the ultimate terror… is a giant spider from SPACE?! Ugh.