… In with the new

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This is what 2009 looks like so far:

… which is to say, these are the 2009 books I’m hoping to get stuck into over the next few months. (Feel free to tell me what I’ve missed.) There are a few books in there that are cheats: Graceling, The Hunger Games and Tender Morsels are 2009 books in the UK, but were first published in the US last year. I think Vandana Singh’s collection The Woman Who Thought She Was A Planet is also technically a 2008 book, but I didn’t see a copy until January. Of the rest, I’m planning to review Marcher, Steal Across the Sky, Twisted Metal and Best Served Cold for Strange Horizons, in that order (perk of being a reviews editor: you get first pick). I’m perhaps most looking forward to Singh’s collection, and to In Great Waters, since I liked Whitfield’s first book and Nic tells me this new one is excellent. And the first one I’ll be reading, which you can expect a post about here (after Lavinia), is that spiral-bound book, which is a proof of Toby Litt’s Journey Into Space; I’m extra-intrigued now, because Ursula Le Guin didn’t like it, but Martin and Paul did.

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8 thoughts on “… In with the new”

  2. Pingback: NextRead » Links and Comments: Sunday 1st March 2009 Edition

  3. You haven’t read Tender Morsels yet? What have you been doing, man! (well, except for the part where I don’t think it’s all that good.)

  6. I’ve been dipping in and out of Singh’s book for the last couple of weeks and I’m really enjoying it. Very excited about The City and The City, though I won’t be getting my copy till May.

  7. There are 3 books there on the list that elicit my envy, most of all Nights of Villamjur, though I hope to get a pdf arc soon.

    I should get an arc of City and the City too once my reviewing partner finishes it but after the dismal Iron Council I learned to temper my expectations of Mieville, and for Abercrombie, I will most likely buy it from Book Depository whenever, but for some reason it excites me less that his First Law trilogy; no Glotka and Logan

    Ballantyne is a maybe, still have not read books 2 and 3 of his first series though I have owned them since publication – interesting concepts, but so flat in style…

    Same with Beckett, never tried him yet so a maybe whenever, while for Green I loved the ss on which it is based, but so far Mr. Lake has been very disappointing at novel length for me despite some great shorts, so I will try it, but no hustling for an arc

    I loved Spirit – just resonated with me and it was my second best sf of 08, though I will happily re list it in my eoy for 09 if I see people doing that

    I liked Steal Across the Sky, a return to big-idea sf of the Beggars kind for Ms. Kress, but somewhat less balanced than that one

    Mind over Ship was much better after the very disappointing Counting Heads; if you liked that, you will love this since it has plot and characters for once, rather than world building only

    Lamentation did not work for me – I am a minority among sff blog reviewers since most loved it; the ending was god enough to try the next one whenever

    I have an arc of Palimpsest and I liked the story from it in the Clockwork Phoenix anthology so it’s a read/review sooner rather than later

    For Graceling the only thing I could say is that I am very far away from its target audience, though I gave it a look after some glowing reviews; Prince or something Po is enough to prove the first assertion; same with any book endorsed by S. Meyer though I would not even waste my time opening it, just not the intended audience – no disrespect or criticism implied

    Never liked Margo Lanagan

    Litt is a maybe depending on price/excerpt, same with Great Waters, though none excite me that much

  8. POE is a wonderful anthology — my review of it should be up on SF Signal soon, if all goes well. Some terrific stories, most notably by Laird Barron, Lucius Shepard and John Langan, though I found few clunkers in the entire bunch.

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