Showing posts with label 2010 Favorite Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010 Favorite Books. Show all posts

Thursday, December 30, 2010

2010: Favorite Books & Authors (Part II)

The end of the year is here already! It's time to post that pesky list of favorite books and authors.

As you may have noticed, I split my posts and posted my favorite LGBT list separately. This list was originally one, but LGBT took a life of its own, as I had so many favorites in that area. After a while it became obvious that those books should have their own post and I think it worked out better this way.

This year, I'm taking my favorites from 2010 releases only, making my task an easier one. Every year I read both new releases and back list books by new-to-me authors and/or books that have been accumulated in my "TBR" pile. This year was no different, as a matter of fact most of my reading came from my TBR -- I really cleaned up quite a bit! I'll list my favorites in that category (which abound) at the bottom of this post.

Here are my top 5 books and authors for the year:

1. Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, Book 4) by Ilona Andrews - Urban Fantasy (2010 Ace)

I chose Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews as my top new release of the year back in June, and by end-of-year, that still holds! There was nothing about this book that disappointed me. I loved everything about this story! Kate, Curran, secondary characters, plot and even the romance. This is an urban fantasy series that just gets better as it goes along. I impatiently anticipate the books and know the next one will be just as good or better than the last. The next installment, Magic Slays, releases on May 31, 2011 and I can.not.wait. to read it!

The Ilona Andrews writing team also wrote another book that I thoroughly enjoyed in 2010. Bayou Moon (2010 Ace) was the second book in their Edge fantasy romance series. Their next installment in this series has become another highly anticipated book for me in 2011, taking this prolific writing team to the top of my list for 2010. 
Other Urban Fantasy Favorite read in 2010:
Roadkill (Cal Leandros, Book 5) by Rob Thurman- (2010 Roc)

2. The Iron Duke (Iron Seas, Book 1) by Meljean Brook - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Romance Steam Punk (2010 Berkley Trade)

Last year I fell in love with Meljean Brook's writing, but then I didn't expect that I would be choosing one of her books as my top read in sci-fi/fantasy romance steam punk in 2010. The Iron Duke undoubtedly fits all those categories. This book has the excellent world building, sci-fi and steam punk details, romance and adventure that I love in this type of book, and there's no question that it's at the top of my list.

And I can't mention The Iron Duke without mentioning Here There Be Monsters, the novella included in the Burning Up Anthology (2010 Berkley) that served as an introduction to The Iron Seas series. Talk about wetting the appetite! My only regret is that now I have to wait almost a year for the next book in this series, making the next installment one of my most anticipated books of 2011!

However, that's not all when it comes to this author. She also writes one of my two top favorite paranormal romance series, The Guardian Series. I loved catching up to the last book and everyone knows I couldn't stop recommending it. Demon Forged, Book 5 (2009 Berkley) and her latest release, Demon Blood, Book 6 (2010 Berkley) were favorites, making Meljean Brook a "must read" author for me.

3. Play of Passion (Psy/Changeling, Book 9) by Nalini Singh  - Fantasy Romance/Paranormal (2010 Berkley)

Nalini Singh has been a favorite writer in this category for a long, long time. This is one of my long-time favorite paranormal romance series, and I'm happy to say that it still holds. This year, Ms. Singh released two books. I really enjoyed the first book, Bonds of Justice, Book 8. But then, I read Play of Passion, Book 9 and had no other choice but to give it a top spot on my list! I haven't written a review for this book yet, but I can tell you that I loved, loved the romance, both Indigo and Drew were excellent, strong characters and the book as a whole was tough to put down.  I can't wait for Hawke and Sienna's book, Kiss of Snow which releases in June 2011!

4. Wicked Intentions (Maiden Lanes, Book 1) by Elizabeth Hoyt - Historical Romance (2010 Grand Central Publishing)

Wicked Intentions (Maiden Lanes, Book 1) by Elizabeth Hoyt was a passionate and dark piece that reminded me why it is that I love Ms. Hoyt's writing. I loved the setting and atmosphere, the assorted and intriguing secondary characters, the passionate romance and the plot from beginning to end. I can't wait to read Notorious Pleasures, the second installment in the Maiden Lane series, which releases in February 2011, and am hoping for more of that same slightly Gothic(ky) feel.

5. Love in the Afternoon (The Hathaways, Book 5) by Lisa Kleypas - Historical Romance (2010 St. Martin's Press)

If Wicked Intentions is the beginning of a series, Love in the Afternoon is an ending. If Wicked Intentions is stark and dark, then Love in the Afternoon is romantic and sweet. These two books are quite different, yet they both reached me in the historical romance category.

Lisa Kleypas released two historical romance books this year, and they were both related to the Hathaway series. The first, Married by Morning (The Hathaways, Book 4), was Leo and Catherine Marks' story and boy did I enjoy that book. I loved Leo! But then the following month, came Love in the Afternoon, (The Hathaways Book 5). Beatrix was the one character that had intrigued me from the get go and as it turned out, her story was worth the wait for me. I loved the sweet romance (the letters), the characters and the way Kleypas ended this series.
Interesting, right? So many different categories read, yet the books on my top five this year are limited to four categories. I was not only surprised by this turn of events, but also by the fact that my top read from the new releases was urban fantasy and not romance. Plus, I don't have any contemporaries up there, and believe me, I read plenty of them this year! What happened? Most of my favorite romances came from back list reading and were released in previous years. See my list below:
  1. Courting Miss Hattie by Pamela Morsi - 1991 Historical Romance/Americana
  2. The Endearment by Lavyrle Spencer - 1982 Historical Romance/Americana
  3. Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair - 2007 Sci-Fi Romance
  4. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie - 2000 Contemporary Romance
  5. Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger - 2007 Young Adult Historical Fiction
  6. Years by Lavyrle Spencer - 1986 Historical Romance/Americana
  7. Morning Glory by Lavyrle Spencer - 1989 Historical Romance/Americana
  8. Moonstruck by Susan Grant - 2008 Sci-Fi Romance
  9. See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson - 2003 Contemporary Romance
  10. Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb - 1997 Sci-Fi Romance/Police Procedural 
That does it for me. 2010 brought some excellent surprises and a few disappointments, but best of all there were good, solid books and time for reading and enjoying them. I hope yours was just as good as mine. Now, I'm looking forward to those 2011 reads!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

2010 LGBT: Favorite Books & Authors

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We are having a snow storm/blizzard today, so we missed having a "white Christmas" by one day! I've been reading and enjoying my days off... relaxing mainly. I hope you are all doing the same after the holidays. Since there is less than a week left to the year, I decided to go ahead and begin recapping 2010 and am beginning with a sub-genre that I love.

2010 was an interesting year for me when it comes to LGBT. I didn't read as many M/M Romance books as I did last year even though I have books galore in my TBR pile! However, that's not to say I didn't read LGBT, I did! Plenty. But, I seemed to have veered in a different direction and read more speculative fiction -- fantasy, horror -- mysteries and anthologies/collections. Of course I also read romance and erotica, how could I not, and those categories are also represented here. I love the fact that LGBT has it all! So, it shouldn't be a surprise that I've included all those categories on my list of favorite authors and works this year.

Sandra McDonald - LGBT Speculative Fiction

Sandra McDonald wrote one of my favorite speculative fiction books of 2010. Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories was a new 2010 release by Lethe Press Books. This is a book that stayed with me after I turned that last page. As a matter of fact I truly couldn't put it away and re-read it almost immediately. I loved the fantasy world, the unique characters, plus the circumstances that McDonald created for this collection of stories. 

As an interesting aside, and unrelated to LGBT, this year I also enjoyed the first book in McDonald's Sci-Fi/Fantasy series, The Outback Stars (another genre I love!), so you know this is an author that I will definitely look for in the future.

Other Favorites:
Timothy Lambert and R.D. Cochrane - LGBT Romance

In the LGBT romance category there's no question that I have one favorite this year, and that's an anthology. If you visit my blog regularly, you might have noticed the February LOVE blitz that occurred around here for Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction edited by Timothy Lambert and R.D. CochraneThis book was a 2009 release by Cleis Press that I read in 2010. There are short stories by different authors with different styles of writing, but I can tell you this much, I loved it so much that I read it and re-read it for three full months, from January through March. And, I still go back to the book and read certain stories every so often.

So it's tough to choose one author as a favorite here. I loved them ALL. Instead in this category, I'm choosing the editors for putting together an amazing group of writers and stories: Timothy J. Lambert and R.D. Cochrane.

Other favorites:
Josh Lanyon - M/M Romance Mysteries

And who else would I mention in this category, but the Andrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon? Talk about addiction! I became so addicted to this series that I read and re-read these books over and over again during what I termed my Adrien English Obsessive Cycle. After that, well... I've tried to read as many of Mr. Lanyon's books as possible, both TBR reads and new releases. And still, I can't say that I've been disappointed.

My other absolute favorite book in this category is also by Mr. Lanyon: Somebody Killed His Editor: Holmes and Moriarity, Book 1. There are still more than a few books in that TBR, but you know that I'll get to them in 2011.

Adrien English Mysteries - 2007/2009 Loose ID LLC
Somebody Killed His Editor: Holmes and Moriarity - 2009 Samhain Publishing, Ltd

Gavin Atlas - LGBT Erotica

In this category my top read this year was another 2010 new release by Lethe Press BooksThe Boy Can't Help It: Sensual Stories of Young Bottoms by Gavin Atlas. This was an excellent collection of Mr. Atlas' works, featuring erotic fantasies and highlighting his writing style. And, although I read a few other anthologies, and single books in this category that were good or excellent, this is the book that stayed with me throughout the year. There are still single stories in this book that I revisit from time to time. ;P

Other Favorites:
Who were your favorite LGBT authors of 2010? How about your favorite books?