it’s the yearly books post 📚 i read 52 this year (so nice and even!) which is a 6% increase from last year’s 49. although it doesn’t really show on this list, the overarching theme turned out to be a bunch of shorter stuff (graphic novels and novellas). here’s what we’ve got:

best fiction: winner is still a stranger in olondria by sofia samatar. 3 runners up = the spear cuts through water by simon jimenez, the actual star by monica byrne, and the name of the rose by umberto eco

best series: also extremely obviously, foreigner by c. j. cherryh, despite the fact that i’m less than halfway through. made me realize the true meaning of the word “blorbo.” the three-body problem series by cixin liu gets an honorable mention just because it ate my brain for a while.

best nonfiction: the wounded storyteller by arthur w. frank, with the faraway nearby by rebecca solnit as the runner-up. i read a lot of bad and mediocre nonfiction for professional development reasons and am excited to not do that next year!

worst book: i also read lessons in chemistry by bonnie garmus for work purposes. the reason for this verdict can be encapsulated in the fact that the protag’s hair is described as being the color of “burnt buttered toast.” what does it mean

books read aloud with friends: (new category bc i realized it would be fun to capture these, and many are rereads so i don’t include them in my total count.) part of the dispossessed by ursula k. le guin, a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith, tarashana by rachel neumeier, and the unknown shore by patrick o’brian + all of tuck everlasting by natalie babbitt and the age of innocence by edith wharton + also a christmas carol by charles dickens, but that’s a Yearly Event so i won’t note it down again.