Here we are at the fifth and (probably) final Ranked Reading List of 2016! Have you enjoyed having the books ranked like this? Would you like to see them like this next year, or more like I've done it in years past--Monthly lists, Seasonal lists... How frequently would you like to see the lists? Let me know in the comments! Meanwhile... On with the show!
#10. Ancillary Justice
Ann Leckie
I had been looking to pick up this book since a friend
recommended it to me on Goodreads. I had also seen it in the runnings for a
Summer Indie Book Award competition a few months earlier, so I figured I would
give it a go and see how it would fare. The blurb looked fascinating, so I
started reading. Bottom line: I was confused by the time I started the second
chapter. It starts out innocently enough: the narrator, a girl, finds a body
frozen in the snow on a wintery planet. From there it goes to a flashback where
I slowly began to realize that the “girl” was actually multiple people—multiple
consciousnesses, each doing “her” own thing at any given moment. Additionally,
the body—to which “she” had referred in feminine pronouns, was identified by
another character as actually a “he”—but the more I read, the more this
multi-personified narrator constantly used feminine pronouns for everyone, which made it hard for me to keep track of who
precisely was speaking, as they didn’t really have a “voice” when I couldn’t
figure out the difference of gender! I would have to say that this was the most
distracting thing about the book, and it really kept me from enjoying an
otherwise rich, deep, and intriguingly twisted plot. Not that I have anything
against an author choosing to remove genders as a factor—but, as with Scott
Westerfield’s Leviathan, the fact
that the author chose to make such a big deal out of it, and constantly
reiterate it over and over again, kind of made it hard to immerse myself in the
story.
#9. The Maze Runner
James Dashner
This was one of several books on this list that I chose to
read because of the movie—but in this particular case, I actually saw the movie
first (the other two are recently-released movies, so of course I haven’t seen
them yet.) I rather liked it, actually. I will say that the casting was very
well done—I could easily imagine each actor
in the roles from the book. It’s amazing how, actually, races are never really
described in the book (since the narrator, Thomas, has little to no memory, and
thus no basis to identify other nationalities), but it was the particular way
each character spoke that makes
the reader go “Ah, this is the
country of origin for the character.” This information, then, must have played
a part in the casting choices, which is why they fit so well with the accents
they chose. (Of all the non-American actors, only one—the obviously-British
character in the book—got to use his natural accent) As for the story, however…
Meh. It was okay, it just kind of ruins the suspense, I guess, seeing the movie
first, because I already know how it all turns out—and while normally, spoilers
don’t bother me, I really can’t seem to shake the disappointment over the
outcome of the series. Hence, it really lessened the propensity for
sympathizing with the characters the book really wants the reader to sympathize with. Bummer.
#8. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs
For as much as I’m looking forward to the film, it’s really
a surprise how low on the list this one ended up. It has all the hallmarks of a
great adventure: the fact that Riggs took actual photos and crafted such a
fantastic story around them kind of reminds me of my own endeavors in doing the
exact same thing—but at the same time, it was also kind of a little bit less
impactful than the others. No less enjoyable, and I’ll probably (most likely)
end up reading more of the series—but it’s Number 8 so that’s a thing. I love
the creativity, there were some very endearing character moments, and good
development.
#7. Dream A Little Dream (Silver Trilogy #1)
Kerstin Gier
I admit I was very surprised
to find this one! I had no idea that she had other books besides the Ruby Red
Trilogy (which I loved so much I bought the boxed set!) but there it was! And,
despite being seventh on the list—don’t get me wrong, I really loved it! The characters were wonderful and flawed
without making a too-huge deal about their flaws. The theme of “dreams” echoed
throughout the entire narrative. Oh, and she also has a dog that was originally
named Dr. Watson (good choice!) until they found out it was a girl, and so they
changed the name to Princess Buttercup. (another excellent choice!) Now that I think about it, this story
is kind of like an easy-read version of Raven Boys: not so dark, steeped in
heady lore, and running with adult themes, but still: young girl has a
remarkable ability she’s not sure of, but this ability unwittingly throws her
in with the most popular and notorious boys in the school—and at once, the
whole group is plunged into peril that none of them see coming. Well-played,
intriguing, and funny by turns, this was a wonderful find, and I can’t wait to
read the next one! (Apparently it still has to be translated, I think; at any
rate, I could only find the original German version on Goodreads… so you can
BET I went and entered the whole thing on Google Translate to find out what
it’s going to be about!)
#6. The Girl on The Train
Paula Hawkins
Yet another book I picked up because I saw the trailer for
the film adaptation and was very intrigued by the premise. My feelings now that
I’ve read it? Holy buckets, I don’t know whether I should be excited to see
Emily Blunt do an amazing job at portraying the lead character… or terrified to
actually see such a chilling book brought to vivid life. I think it might have
been worse to see the film without having read the book… maybe I can actually
enjoy the film now that I know the outcome… but, considering that the central
characters are all very messed-up
individuals, like the manipulative pathological liar, the alcohol addict, the
floozy, the abusive husband… should I
enjoy a film like that? Who knows? But the book was absolutely great and all
the twists just kept coming at me with no warning. Definitely a mind-trip!
#5. The Whole Truth (A. Shaw #1)
David Baldacci
On the one hand, I enjoy that Baldacci is so prolific,
because I really enjoy his style and I
love discovering his new characters. On the other hand—a prolific author means
that the library closest to my house doesn’t always reliably have the first book in a series, and those
who know me know that I always like
to start a series on Book 1! But finally, I found at least one “series starter”
that I hadn’t read yet—and man! It was a doozy! And, considering the State of
the Union right now, very timely. The main protagonist is a contract hitman who
is trying to grow a conscience and actually managed to find someone who makes
surviving his suicide missions worthwhile—but his boss won’t let him quit. For
the “antagonist” side of this story, Baldacci chose to delve into the concept
of “perception management”—the “spin doctors” hired by politicians and
government agencies to blow events out of proportion and control media
attention, putting visuals and “virals” into place, to make the general public
believe and “see” a certain way—when in fact the truth is that the whole thing
is a sham, a hollow display of smoke and mirrors, a “public outcry” with no
substance, a “protest” of a “tragedy” that never actually happened, though there are people in place who will swear up
and down that it did—and most people would rather follow a new hashtagging
trend or a blog post with a sensational headline than actually bother fact-checking
just what the hashtag or blog is really
saying. Sound familiar? Yeah, anyway,
that’s all I will say on that. The book was really good and I really liked Shaw as a character, and YAY, I have a new
Baldacci series to follow!
#4. Sabriel (Abhorsen Trilogy #1)
Garth Nix
Another recommendation from a friend—and this one was quite
the winner! Garth Nix is kind of like a combination of Gaiman (like Stardust, there is a magic realm, and a not-so-magic realm,
separated by a capital-W Wall) and Sanderson (like Mistborn, a young girl inherits a terrible duty from her
father, and she must see it through, even if it kills her). Since I really
liked both of those concepts from those stories, I was already most of the way
to liking this book as soon as I started—and Nix delivered a sound and
wonderful story on every level. The “Charter” magic is more of the traditional
sense, where the users are tracing symbols in the air and speaking words of
power (kind of like the variety Doctor Strange uses) and it’s Sabriel’s job, as
“the Abhorsen”, to not only find her father who has been wrongfully drawn into
Death, but also find out who has been breaking the Charters and allowing the
Dead to pass into Life. An intriguing mission that rings consistent throughout,
and very much interesting all the way to a spectacular end. Definitely going to
read the rest of this series!
#3. The Raven King (The Raven Boys Cycle #4)
Maggie
Stiefvater
For all the series I am starting in this batch, I also
happen to be finishing one as well. And what a finish! Holy mackerel. From the very beginning, the narration (by
Blue) has reminded us time and again about how kissing would result in death,
so she’s always been afraid of falling in love (because falling in love means
kissing, duh)…. But then she meets the Raven Boys and sparks fly so neatly, and
then there’s also the Hunt for Glendower that kind of comes along and overtakes
the whole objective of the story—and through it all, the reader becomes so
closely acquainted with each and every one of these characters that we are invested
in their lives… even though there hasn’t
been much in the way of actual backstory until this, the final book. All I can say is: if this was a typical YA
series, you would expect everything to begin and end with (of course) Blue and
(of course) Gansey/Adam… BUT it’s
Ronan. From beginning to end, it’s Ronan. And kisses are definitely things to treasure, and not to trifle with. And this
series wrecked my feels again.
#2. The Last Dragonslayer (Chronicles of Kazam #1)
Jasper Fforde
Okay, so this one wasn’t exactly recommended, but I have a
few friends whom I saw reading Fforde’s books on Goodreads, and besides—there
were dragons, and if I’m not gonna get anymore Mediochre Q. Seth (BOOHOO!!) by
golly, I need to get my dragon-fix somewhere! So, the Chronicles of Kazam, it is! Jennifer Strange (HA!) is a
foundling who runs an employment agency for magicians, but in a world where
magic is rather a mundane thing, like a handyman skill more than a “mystical
and awful art.” Plus, the agency is not doing so well currently because magic
is actually fading away—and what
is a magician without magic? The famed Last Dragon is the only beacon of hope
for magic-users of the world—but at the same time, the Last Dragon is predicted
to die at the hands of a Dragonslayer, and rumors are flying about some kind of
Big Magic coming, but what it is and what it does is still unclear. All
Jennifer cares about is keeping her job and keeping the magicians gainfully
employed… Whose idea was it to add “Become a Dragonslayer and Slay The Dragon
To Fulfill The Prophecy” on top of all that? It’s fun, it’s hilarious, it’s
British, there’s dragons… I loved it!
#1. The Last Mile (Amos Decker #2)
David Baldacci
For how many books he already has out, I’m surprised (and
pleased) Baldacci is still churning new ones out at this rate! It seems less
than a year ago I saw Memory Man (the first Amos Decker book) hit the shelves
at the local Barnes and Noble… and now here’s the second book already at my
library! (For as long as I sometimes have to wait for a Mark Lawrence book… Oh
well, I guess the library staff has different priorities! At least I haven’t
missed a book!) And of course, for as many Baldacci books as I have read… one
of them was bound to nab the Number 1 spot on a Ranked Reading List at some
point, and this one definitely takes the cake! I really love Amos Decker as a
character—he’s “cursed” with hyperthymesia, which means he can’t forget, and
also synesthesia, which means sensory cues are associated with other senses,
like emotions having a certain colored aura, or certain sounds or smells being
associated with numbers. The “Last Mile” refers to an inmate on death row
taking the last walk to the lethal injection—and in this case, Amos happens to
believe that the inmate is innocent, because the “confession” is remarkably
similar to the canned confession of the initial suspect in the murder of his
family in the first book. But some very powerful people desperately want this
conviction to go through—so Amos and his friends in the FBI need to work
together to make sure that the right perpetrator receives the punishment. It
was a very deep and moving narrative, with glimpses into Amos’ back-story with
glimpses into his relationship with his own family. Like him, the convict is a
football player—but the loving family this young man always thought he had may
not have been as caring and honest as they appeared. I really loved it, and
definitely this was my favorite out of these ten I read!
On to the next stack of books!
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