I feel as though I hit the ground running in January when it came to reading. I never felt as though I was reading all that much, but the final numbers are respectable. In January I read 11 novels and 18 short stories. Some of that "novel" number is a bit bumped up because I don't track novellas separately, and there were two in the pile.
It was a real mixed bag for me in terms of satisfaction. I had a couple of stories that I really liked, quite a few that were good, and a few that were kind of stinkers.
Anyway, below are my notable reads of January. This isn't a best-of list, but rather, a list of what I found most interesting as a reader and a writer.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
I was gifted this book by a friend, and it immediately became one of my favorite books. The character of the count is a fascinating one, and the violence of the era in Russian history is written with such a gentle touch I couldn't help but be moved. It's different than most of what I tend to read. Quiet instead of loud, its conflicts small instead of world-ending. For all that, I fell in love and can't wait to return to its pages.
Eversion by Alastair Reynolds.
I've read Revelation Space, and remember it as one of the most imaginative sci-fi books I've come across in some time, so I was excited to get my hands on Eversion. The premise of this book is pure fun, and even though the time-travel aspects result (necessarily) in what amounts to repeated scenes, the problem is handled with incredible skill, and I was never bored. Cool ideas and great execution.
Orders of Magnitude by Yuval Kordov
This book served as my baptism into the genre of incensepunk, which is a genre dedicated to exploring the role of faith in future societies. (That's a really basic summary that misses a lot, but I'd recommend you go check them out). This sci-fi/horror novella follows a military unit of the church as they explore a moon colony, and I found it absolutely fascinating. The horror aspects are handled well here, and often, what doesn't happen is almost as terrifying as what does.
This Day by Wendell Berry
In my efforts to improve my writing, I've been reading poetry more widely the past couple of years. It's been a wide-ranging journey, but this enormous collection from Wendell Berry was a treat. I tend not to read much modern free verse, as I'm much more interested in traditional styles, but this was fantastic. A collection of Sabbath poems, Berry explores familiar themes such as his relationship to a changing land and world, but also explores the theme of rest. There's a lot of sorrow and anger in some of these poems, and it was those that circled around the subject of loss and grief that affected me most.
Kaiju Agonistes by Scott Lynch
I'll confess I haven't been impressed by most of the short stories I've read so far this year, but this, this is the exception. A Kaiju appears in the Pacific during World War 2, launching us into an alternate history. It first appears to be a neat little Godzilla knock-off, but it quickly becomes so much more. This story had me laughing out loud at parts, and I never had the slightest clue what twist the next page was going to hold. Without doubt my favorite short story of the year so far, and it isn't even close.
And that's it for January. I'm very excited to see what February holds in store!