Over the past year I've kept track of all the novels, books, and short fiction I've read. I wanted to see what, if any, patterns emerged and also because I've never kept track of that before. It turns out I read a lot. At least compared to what I've read in the past. I found a couple authors I'd never read before that I really enjoy. If you are a fan of sci-fi and thrillers, I highly recommend trying out John Scalzi and Luke Smitherd.
I learned of Scalzi from listening the "Writing Excuses" podcast. I started with his first book and after devouring it over a week-end, I knew I had another author to follow. I came across Luke Smitherd through Twitter and the blurb about his book "The Stone Man" sounded intriguing enough. After reading it, I can't even begin to tell you how much I love his work. As you'll see from the list below, I read several of his books. He's an independent author but don't let that stop you. Give him a try.
That's another trend I found out about myself this past year. I started trying out many different independent authors (or self-published if you prefer that term) Most of it was good, entertaining, writing while some weren't that great. But to be completely honest, that's no different than traditionally published authors. If you are looking for something new and off the radar of the general reading public, I encourage you to try independent authors. There are a lot of talented writers just waiting to hear from you.
The last trend I found out about myself was my growing interest in flash fiction. I started following two different flash fiction sources sometime in late winter and I've been fairly impressed with the work. I started receiving daily emails with flash fiction stories from Daily Science Fiction and Every Day Fiction. Between the two of them, I estimate I've read between 400 and 500 stories. Add the few I've read from the site 365 Tomorrows and the total grows closer to the 500 mark. If you've not tried flash fiction, I strongly urge you give it a shot. It's a growing source of entertainment because they are easily digestible stories that come in around the 1,000 word mark and take a few minutes to read. Most every genre has a source for these so if your thing is horror or romance, do a quick search and find what appeals most to you.
What follows below is my 2014 reading list in the order I read them. Almost all are novels, though there are a couple works that are non-fiction and there is one magazine issue listed (I had to include it. If you picked one of those up, you'd know why!) Check it out and let me know what you found most interesting and what suggestions you might have for 2015.
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George R.R. Martin: Game of Thrones (Book 1)
Stephen King: On Writing
Daniel Arenson: Blood of Requiem
Troy Blackford: Flotsam
Teresa Lo: Hell's Game
Charmain Mitchell: The Lust for Blood
Luke Smitherd: The Stone Man
Bernard Cornwell: The Winter King
Luke Smitherd: The Man On Table Ten
Andy Duncan & Ellen Klages: Wakulla Springs
Dan Brown: Inferno
H.G. Wells: The War of the Worlds
L.M. David: The Promise of Tomorrow (Unpublished Manuscript)
Brandon Sanderson: Mistborn-The Final Empire
Various: Fantasy and Science Fiction July/August 2014
Bernard Cornwell: The Pagan Lord
John Scalzi: Old Man's War
Robert Lewis: Raising a Modern Day Night
John Scalzi: The Ghost Brigades
Scott Ian: I'm the Man
Luke Smitherd: A Head Full of Knives
L.T. Ryan: Affliction Z: Patient Zero
Jeff Seymour: What Lies In Darkness, A Horror Novelette
I enjoyed the Wakulla Springs book. The history of the old Tarzan movies and the Creature from the Black Lagoon was interesting. I would have liked the story line to go further with each character in each timeline, and it got confusing when the timeline shifted, but it still was an enjoyable read. Another good read is the Life after War series by Angela White. There are 6 books in the series, so far. I think 4 are free on Nook and I paid $1.99 for one and $4.99 for the last one. Some of the books on your list sound interesting. Are any of them Nook books?
ReplyDeleteAll of the Bernard Cornwell books are on the Nook, as well as Dan Brown, George R.R. Martin, and I think John Scalzi. Most of the others were independent authors found on Amazon. You can download the free Kindle app on your tablet to access those.
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