BOOKS 2006

This is the first time I have not read more books than the previous year since I started keeping track of my reading back in 2001. My goal for the year was 40; I managed 38, the same number I read last year (Crossover by Joel Shepherd was the most recent book. It's not a bad thing and while it wouldn't have been a big deal if I hadn't gotten an equal number, I still would have been disappointed. What wasn't diasppointing were the books I read, from science fiction and fantasy to thrillers and literary fiction with a couple forays into non-fiction as well. Obviously, I don't just read books that came out this year and the list can reflect that; however, 24 of the 38 were published in the U.S. for the first time in 2006 - a very high percentage for me. Here's the 10 I liked the most...

1. The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford
2. Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
3. River of Gods by Ian McDonald
4. Map of Dreams by M. Rickert
5. Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff Vandermeer
6. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
7. The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
8. The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
9. The World to Come by Dara Horn
10. Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle

Publisher of the Year: Pyr (River of Gods; Paragea; Infoquake; Crossover)
Publisher of the Year, runner-up: Golden Gryphon (The Empire of Ice Cream; Map of Dreams)