Tsana's January Status

Compared with 2015, the start of 2016 has been much more gentle. This time last year I was madly reading Aurealis books, whereas this year I am sedately reading whatever I want, more or less. I've said many times that 2015 was an odd year, but let's use graphs to see just how odd. Because pie charts!

First let's have a look at the books read per month.

The peak in January is from when I was doing Aurealis reading and the peak in May is from when I had a month-long Marvel Unlimited subscription. I think the dip in August is from being a bit more sick than usual, but I don't really remember.

Comics saved me a lot this year when I was feeling too stressed to read a prose book. They are obviously quicker to read but I tried to make up for that by counting a couple of trades at once from the same series if I read them in a row. That more applies to the long Marvel Unlimited runs rather than the random comics that I read as they came out. In any case, the number of comics I read was definitely significant in my 2015 reading. As you can see in my "forms" pie chart:

The anthology/collection wedge is probably bigger than it would have been without the Aurealis reading (since that was my category). However, overloading on short story books at the start of the year kind of put me off them for the rest of the year. I think I only read two others (if you don't count Defying Doomsday slush). I am hoping to get through more short stories this year.

So that's it. 131 books in 2015 with a satisfactory spread between science fiction and fantasy (more horror would have been good). A more even spread in gender too, due largely to the comics, since the majority of the novels I read are by female authors.

What Have I Read (in the past month)? 

• Manners and Mutiny by Gail Carriger — a hilarious conclusion to the series
• Spider-Gwen Vol 0: Most Wanted? by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez — fun comic
• Silk Vol 0: The Life and Times of Cindy Moon by Robbie Thompson and Stacey Lee — a super awesome comic that everyone who even likes comics a little bit should read
• Fall by Sean Williams — the conclusion to his YA SF trilogy
• Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold — basically a rom com set in the Vorkosigan universe
• Lumberjanes Vol 2: Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis — a fun and entertaining comic
• This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp — contemporary YA about a US high school shooting
• Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins — the sequel to Rebel Belle, YA
• Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming by Christie Golden — the direct sequel to the TV show
• Night Terrace Season Two — not so much a book, but an awesome SF comedy radio play (without the radio)
• Star Trek Voyager: The Farther Shore by Christie Golden — the disappointing sequel to the book two up

Currently Reading 

I just finished Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb. Stay tuned for the review in a few days. I about about to start On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis, a YA apocalyptic novel, set in the same world as one of the stories in Defying Doomsday. Looking forward to it! Probably some comics in the near future too, because life is getting a bit stressful again.

New Booksies

Not a huge number, yay.

• Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold — for review from Edelweiss and already read.
• Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming by Christie Golden — purchased after binging on the TV series and already read.
• Star Trek Voyager: The Farther Shore by Christie Golden — the disappointing sequel to the above, already read. 
• Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar — for review from Edelweiss, looking forward to it.
• Monstrous Little Voices: New Tales From Shakespeare's Fantasy World — an anthology that seems to be well-described by the subtitle. For review from NetGalley.
• Central Station by Lavie Tidhar — this science fiction book looked really interesting and will be my first Tidhar, also for review from NetGalley.
• Kaptara by Chip Zdarsky — an SF funny comic, apparently. Also for review from NetGalley.
• Runaways: Battleworld by Noelle Stevenson — a purchased trade of the Secret Wars Runaways run.