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)

Book Review: Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh

Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Stand-alone

Publisher: Orbit

Date of Publication: June 11, 2013

Author Information: Website
 

I have a confession to make: I'm a sucker for love stories. But not just any kind of love story would do, oh no, because I like my romance the same way I like my Fantasy -- gritty, transcendent, in-your-face, plus it helps if it's just a bit bizarre! Love Minus Eighty is definitely all this and more, as if you couldn't already tell from its exquisite tagline, "A novel of love and death in no particular order".

Decades from now, dwindling resources have caused cities like New York City to practically fold in and build upon itself, creating a social stratification system that's even more segregated than what we know today. No doubt, the book paints a pretty bleak view of the future, but it's especially bad if you're one of the hundreds of dead women cryogenically frozen in dating farms, awaiting your lucky day when some rich man will like you enough to pay millions for your revivification before whisking you home to be his wife.

And seriously, to think some of my friends complain about internet dating! Online dating sites have got nothing on the nightmare that are these dating farms, which charge male suitors thousands of dollars by the minute to "date" the dead women, whose consciousnesses are "awakened" for the session before the plug is pulled again and they go back to their state of non-existing. Will McIntosh expanded upon this idea from his award-winning short story "Bridesicle" (because that's what society in this world called the frozen women. Horrible, right?) for this novel, which follows a group of characters whose lives are all interconnected because of these dating farms.

What a disturbing and yet fascinating basis for a story, and it's all set before a futuristic backdrop which seems so outlandish but feels familiar enough to make you feel uncomfortable at the same time. It's a world of digital information and social media on steroids, where attention seekers can be trailed by thousands of literal "followers", their floating user screens going wherever that individual goes. People wear systems on their bodies to connect them to the network, allowing them to call up and communicate with multiple contacts at the same time. The setting was so vividly described that at times I felt like I was watching a movie (oh why oh why can't this be a movie?!)

But in spite of all the new technology, some things always stay the same. For one thing, people will still look for love, that timeless, formless, unshakeable deep connection to another soul. This makes Love Minus Eighty a sci-fi novel that's definitely more about the human story and less about the science and technology. Questions like how the dead can be brought back to life, or how these dating farms even manage to revive dead women for short periods of time aren't the point. Instead, what's important is the emotional impact of the story, and subsequently, the ethical implications of keeping women on ice and in limbo, basically according human beings who have the potential to live again less rights than what you'd give a dog in an animal shelter.

I also have to say the focus on love and dating was a nice touch, not only as it's something practically everyone can relate to, but also because it makes the characters and their motivations feel that much more poignant. It's hard to really say whose perspective was my favorite -- Rob, Veronika, Mira, and even a couple of the supporting characters -- because they each had their own experiences which I found acutely heartbreaking and intense.

Of course, this book wasn't perfect by any means, and I for one had issues with some of the dialogue as well as the pacing, especially with the way it led up to the ending. However, the mere fact that I'm usually so persnickety about these things but was still able to overlook them meant that ultimately for me, Love Minus Eighty was all about the story and its provocative ideas. Above all, I enjoy books that make me feel (and here's where that whole "I'm a sucker for love stories" comes in), and this one was at once a very thoughtful commentary on the ways of the heart and just twisted enough for me to eat it up.

 5 of 5 stars