Top 10 Reads of 2013

2013 has been a fantastic year for our reading lists (or a horrible one, if you consider how much larger our to-read piles have grown). We've read a lot of brilliant books, but we've managed to narrow our list of favorites down to the top ten books that truly resonated with us this year.

Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh

MOGSY SAYS: I read more than 200 novels this year. 200. Asking me to pick just a handful of my favorites is a nigh impossible task, because I read so many amazing books in 2013. I could easily fill this list myself with 10, 25, or even 50 of my greatest reads this year, but alas I cannot, or my co-bloggers will surely beat me into coma with their heaviest of epic fantasy tomes (they already let me choose four instead of their three).

But Wendy has helped me narrow things down, with the description she wrote for the post above. The keyword is "resonate". And I suppose few other books have resonated with me this year as strongly as Will McIntosh's Love Minus Eighty. In a future full of advanced technology, people still strive for that timeless, formless, unshakeable connection to another soul known as love. It is what makes us human.

Provocative. Thoughtful. Beautiful. Passionate. This book is all that and more, and definitely deserves more attention. Way more. (Read more in my review)

The Boys by Garth Ennis

TIARA SAYS: This year has been all about the comics/manga for me, so while I've read some really great novels, I wanted to do something a little different and highlight some of the great comics I've read this year starting with The Boys. Now, I haven't actually put up a review of this series yet, but I've been working on one that may find its way to my personal blog because it's a long, introspective thing that keeps growing. The Boys is bloody disgusting. Within these pages, you will find an overabundance of disgusting human behavior. There is an excess of gross conduct and no one is truly beyond it.  It's offensive, hard to swallow, and out of control. It is also BRILLIANT.

Depending on your view of things, you may either feel that Ennis pointed out some very disturbing trends in comics, especially as they start to explore darker concepts with the audience shift, or you may feel that he missed the mark on some issues which has started some interesting debates. Personal interpretation is everything with this series. I've seen interpretations of the same events in to the book differ wildly, but prove to be valid ways of looking at things. Either way, this series is one of those stories that's hard to shelve. You want to look away, but it's such a veritable, horrific mess that you just can't stop reading it.

The Cloud Roads  by Martha Wells

WENDY SAYS: A sure sign that a book has really impressed me is when (A) I "just one more chapter" it to completion and (B) buy all of the author's other books the moment I'm done.

Wells really impressed me with her world building, especially when it comes to the various people of her world. Too often genre fiction authors create "alien" species, only to have them simply be humans with make up. Wells' creatures are each unique in form and culture and she takes a studious amount of time to bring that all to life. I have the utmost praise for the way she makes her main characters move, never forgetting that they are, most often, winged creatures, which means they will function in very different ways from us. I loved the way her characters moved and responded to each other. Every aspect of their world is so very different from ours, but so very endearing.  (Read more in my review)

The Thousand Names by Django Wexler

MOGSY SAYS: Like Wendy, one way to know that a book has impressed me is when I go on the hunt to track down all of the author's other works as soon as I'm finished reading. This is exactly what happened when I finished The Thousand Names.

This book was so difficult to put down; I devoured all 500+ pages in days. I couldn't even make myself slow down to savor it because it was just that absorbing. I've always had a soft spot for flintlock fantasy, Wexler gave me everything I wanted with his epic fantasy featuring magic, revolution, blood and gunpowder.

Military fantasy fans as well as wargamers rejoice, this book will put you right where the action is, with rich world-building as well as memorable and fully-realized characters to boot. (Read more in my review)

Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama

TIARA SAYS:  Before I started reading this (and watching the anime), if someone had asked me what my favorite manga of all time was, I would've said, "Simple. Tite Kubo's Bleach." If you were to ask me now, I'd probably do some fidgeting and get annoyed because I think this series has claimed the number one spot in my heart, and I feel like I'm cheating on my first love (Bleach) that I've been with for years. I still love you, Bleach. Don't leave!

I've gotten into quite a few new mangas this year, but none have fascinated me quite like this one. What I love about this series and what always stays on my mind is how human these characters are, how vulnerable they are both physically and metaphysically, and how these characters, the situation they're in, captures so much of the human need to fight and survive--even when it looks hopeless. It's a story about the courage in the face of fear. It presses upon the reader that, in order to survive, humans have to depend on each other and bring their individual strengths to the table to win this fight. It captures the indomitable spirit of humans without compromising other emotions such as fear, trust, and uncertainty. The fact that all this captured with few words and visuals. Amazing! (Read more in my reviews)

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

WENDY SAYS: This is a sneaky little book. It's actually a romance that cleverly disguises itself as science fiction. While you're blissfully enjoying the displaced Sadiri people's hunt for suitable mates to help replenish their society after the heinous destruction of their planet, you slowly come to realize that you've fallen in love with Delarua and Dllenahkh, who slowly come to realize that they've fallen in love with each other.

Part way through this book, Tiara asked how I was enjoying it and I gave her a gushing response about how it felt like sitting comfortably on a couch, hanging out with good friends - who happen to like science fiction.

This book was so subtle and unassuming, which made it easily able to get right under my skin. (Read more in my review)

Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock

MOGSY SAYS: This was a book I read in early spring, so sadly I was unable to feature it in my "Best of Summer" list. That's why I'm so glad to have the opportunity to talk about it now in our year end Top Reads post. 

Simply put, this book is gorgeous. The writing, the depth of the characters and the strength of their emotions made me want to hurl myself to my knees and thank the book gods that we have writers like Teresa Frohock and novels like Miserere. It is an intensely alluring book, taking its time to reveal its true nature, doling out details about its world in a trickle as you read. Needless to say, patience will be rewarded -- in spades. The author's talent is on full display, giving us the most brutal and disconcerting elements of horror, but as well showing how the most powerful of loves can endure and offer redemption. And Teresa Frohock does it all oh so beautifully. (Read more in my review)

Batgirl by Gail Simone

TIARA SAYS: I've read many amazing comics this year, and I could gush on and on about books like Saga, East of West, and Locke and Key just to name a few. However, I wanted to highlight Gail Simone's Batgirl for a few reasons. One being that it's been a long time since I really appreciated the story in mainstream comic. This book joins books such as Kingdom Come and Old Man Logan as a book that rises above the usual wash, rinse, repeat in mainstream comics, and it's not even an AU (alternate universe) like those two--unless you just don't acknowledge the DCnU, which is totally legit in my opinion. 

Now, admittedly, I think Gail's writing can be a little corny (and I still think Barbara is more formidable as Oracle), but I have been enjoying Batgirl. First, I think Gail has done a wonderful job of showing Barbara as a survivor, a survivor who both rejoices in and questions her miracle, a survivor who has triggers that she's still trying to overcome, a survivor who questions the validity and intent of Gotham heroes, even herself. Of the books I've read, Barbara's stories have highlighted many of these issues, showing the upside and the downside. I think Gail does a wonderful job tackling some harder issues. Barbara's return has been plagued with issues and doubts she's dealing with, and I appreciate Gail doing that rather than trying to make Barbara's return to the mantle all rainbows and good times. (Read more of my reviews)

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

WENDY SAYS: All of my subsequent YA reads have to stand up to this book in terms of characterization. I love the way Stiefvater writes young adults. They are not the obnoxious, completely self-absorbed creatures that I don't enjoy reading. That is, sure they are a bit self-absorbed, but they aren't written in such a way that their teenage flaws become grating. Yet they aren't written as adults in teen bodies. Stiefvater handles them respectfully in a way that both teens and adults can appreciate.

The other thing that I adore about Stiefvater's writing is the way she foregoes allusions when painting her world. Instead, she uses actions and absence to describe a scene, and most importantly, to make her characters very, very real. Her descriptions are absolutely delicious.  (Read more in my review)

Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan

MOGSY SAYS: It's a great time to be a speculative fiction reader right now, with so many great and original ideas having found their way to being published in recent years. Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter have their place too, because if it weren't for them I wouldn't have had the pleasure of reading this incredible book in 2013.

What struck me about Hollow World isn't so much the story, but the main character's personal journey -- the things he learns about himself and the questions he asks about life and love. I didn't expect such heavy subject matters when I first picked this one up, but it was a welcome surprise. The book took my emotions on a roller coaster ride -- I felt ecstatic, shocked, angry, sad, annoyed, disturbed, deeply touched, so moved that I was almost in tears...all that and more just from reading the story, and any book that can give me the kind of feels that Hollow World did certainly qualifies as having resonated with me. (Review coming in Spring 2014 closer to release)

Manga Review: Attack on Titan, Volume 2 by Hajime Isayama

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin), Volume 2 by Hajime Isayama

Genre: Dystopia, Horror

Publisher: Kodansha

Date of Publication: September 11, 2012

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Tiara's Rating: 4 of 5 stars - "Eren may be at the center of it all, but a win won't be possible without the people rallying around him and the strength and trust they're placing in him [...] To quote Aristotle: 'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.' They group is beginning to understand this to be a fundamental truth for them as they begin to rely on one another and work together in Trost."

In the previous volume, the walls that separated humanity from the titan were breached by a colossal titan standing more than 50 meters in height. Five years after that breach, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin have just graduated training to become full-fledged soldiers. During that time, Eren is even more resolved to join the scouting team, especially after the huge loss he suffered with the attack. Humans now live within two of the three walls after abandoning Wall Maria (Wall Rose and Wall Sina are the two remaining walls standing) to the titans. Humans lost 20% of their population and a massive amount of land in that attack, but they are still packed together behind the smaller walls.

Not even a full day past their graduation, Wall Rose is breached by the colossal titan. When faced with this threat again, Eren responds in kind, trying to stay true to his vow to kill all the titans. While his companions are taken aback by the reappearance of the colossal titan, Eren takes the helm and attacks, hoping to end the aberrant once and for all. However, things can't go that easily, and just as Eren is about to make his fatal strike, the titan vanishes--just as it did five years earlier.

The fight isn't over, though, as titans once again begin to terrorize the people within the walls. Here we witness an astounding transformation in Eren as the energy he's fueled with all his anger and desperation come back to aid him and his comrades in an astonishing way. Even though these books and the anime pretty much mirror one another (with the anime adding just a bit more padding, naturally), I was just as caught up in the story and the plight of Eren and his comrades, even though I already knew the outcome of this particular battle.

Mikasa Ackerman, Queen of Everything

Eren may be at the center of it all, but a win won't be possible without the people rallying around him and the strength and trust they're placing in him. Part of me believes, and I could be wrong since this is on-going, that even once this is all said and done another character will probably have a bigger impact on the outcome. Even though this is largely Eren's story, there seems to be another important story playing along beneath it in more subtle ways. More characters are coming into play who display characteristics that will be necessary for humans to win this fight.

Isayama seems to be setting up the story in a way that Eren will need the support of these characters to be successful.They're not given these talents just for show. Their talents round them out for sure, but they also play an integral part in the story, as well. Eren will need Mikasa's strength and faith in him. He'll need Armin's strategic intelligence. He'll need Jean's ability to command, even if Jean still isn't sure of himself. This has already been proven. I know all these characters will not make it out of this alive, but they will still contribute in their own way.

Many of these characters are coming into their strengths during this battle. They're learning things about themselves in the urgency of the moment that they might not have been aware of before the latest attack. Many of them joined the military to live a comfortable life, especially those who were refugees. They were tired of doing without and being treated like second class citizens because their arrival behind Wall Rose made things more difficult for everyone due to things like food shortages. However, they're more capable and resourceful than they could've ever imagined despite their youth and inexperience.

They understand that they're going to have to rely on unconventional methods to get through that hell. To quote Aristotle: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." They group is beginning to understand this to be a fundamental truth for them as they begin to rely on one another and work together in Trost. I really like that brute strength and Eren screaming he'll kill all the titans will not be the only thing to win this war. This volume stirred up all the proud feelings that I remember having the first time I watched the anime as these characters start to evolve.

4 of 5 stars

Manga Review: Attack on Titan, Volume 1 by Hajime Isayama

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin), Volume 1 by Hajime Isayama

Genre: Dystopia, Horror

Publisher: Kodansha

Date of Publication: June 19, 2012

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Tiara's Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars - "It feels hopeless, and the powerlessness of the characters in that situation is very tangible to the readers. However, as human nature goes, you want them to fight and win."

Nearly a century before the start of this story, humanity is attacked by a group of humanoid beings dubbed "titans" who push them almost to the brink of extinction. Titans are much larger than their human counterparts (with most standing between 3 to 15 meters) and immensely strong. They seem to possess no intellect as they can't communicate and show no signs of understanding. Even though they look characteristically male or female, they lack reproductive organs, making many question their origins.

They mindlessly graze on human beings, ignoring all other forms of life in favor of only devouring people. Titans have lived 100 years without feeding on people which seems to indicate that they don't feed on humans to satisfy hunger. Many believe their goal is to exterminate humankind, but the reasoning for that is a mystery. In response to the threat, three 50 meter walls were built, which effectively keep the titans out while keeping the people inside. Talk of the outside world is considered taboo and information about the outside world has been outlawed and destroyed.

Our story begins with Eren Jäeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert. Eren dreams of joining the scouting team and seeing the outside world. The scouting team's primary goal is to find whatever information they can about the titans with the hope of learning their origins and how they can be eradicated for good. Eren hopes to contribute to that effort. He equates the people within the wall to "cattle" waiting for the slaughter and becomes increasingly disillusioned with the complacency of everyone inside the wall--especially after Armin shows him a book that talks about the outside world and all the beauty humans have had to relinquish.

Mikasa, Eren's adopted sister and one of the most awesome people in the manga and anime, feels she owes Eren a great deal, and she's resolved to be by his side to protect him even if it costs her own life in the process. Even though she doesn't agree with Eren's decision to join the scouting team, she's willing to travel that road with him when that time comes.

After 100 years of relative safety, the walls are breached by an aberrant titan--aberrant because it exhibits behavior unusual for a titan and because it's huge--standing more than 50 meters in height. In the beginning, before the breach, the world that these people live in isn't exactly bleak inside the walls. They seem to live relatively normal lives, but they're happily corralled and confident as long as their walls are up. They know the titans are out there and there's fear of them in the back of their minds, but it doesn't seem to truly touch the illusion of safety they have behind the wall. The only time the mood shifts is when the scouting team, who always suffers losses when scouting, returns to remind them just how dangerous things are beyond their walls.

Read from right to left.

With the breach of the wall comes the all too shocking realization of how fragile their safety is in this new world they live in (a world they have largely ignored for the past century), how much arrogance has been placed on those walls to keep the titans out. The situation becomes dire quickly since they have nothing that is truly effective against the titans. After a hundred years, they still know very little about them. The titans, and how nigh unstoppable they are, quickly add apprehension to the story, making readers wonder how the people in this book will ever hope to survive. Making the titans themselves more human-like in appearance rather than some fantastic monsters makes the story even more unsettling and grim. It feels hopeless, and the powerlessness of the characters in that situation is very tangible to the readers. However, as human nature goes, you want them to fight and win.

I'm not sure if this was Isayama's intent, but this manga (and its anime) seem to be an extreme reflection on life now and how those who live in relative comfort sometimes choose to ignore the monsters outside that threaten their comfort until that comfort is actually attacked.

Now, I do like the manga, but I am partial to the anime a bit more because it adds a bit more detail to some of the scenes. Some of the art is sort of awkward in places and distracted me from the story a little bit. Eren is obviously the most important of the three main characters we've encountered, but he can grate on your nerves, especially with how hotheaded he can be. I try to chalk this up to him initially having a very black and white view of life. Things are either good or they're either evil to him. Evil things must be eliminated no matter the cost in his eyes, and he's very passionate about that. He's now having to adjust to gray areas in his life, and it's leaving him a bit off balance right now.

If you're not a fan of violence, you probably don't want to read this. If bleak situations where sudden, violent death is the norm rather than the exception, you probably don't want to read this. The situation is depressing, but you have to hope that, despite whatever frailties and foibles humans possess, their indomitable will to survive will prevail.

3.5 of 5 stars