Now that we're well into the season of end-of-year lists, I thought I'd revisit my First Half 2016 Reading List and add the books I've read since that post. The full list is also available on WetzNet, which will occasionally have reviews and deeper dives into other works by the same authors (if there's anything you'd like to see more of there, let me know).

As the year progressed I kept finding myself reading more scifi, trying in vain to find something else… and then reading more scifi. It happens. Sometimes you just need to embrace the borg. Or something.

Overall I was a bit better this year with utilizing my local library. There are times I simply forget about it, but this year I took out physical books (including one that required transit from another one in the county) as well as ebooks (more on that below). So, without further ado (and skipping the first eight books I discussed in the other post):

9. Arthur C. Clarke – Rendezvous with Rama (1972)

An interesting bit of scifi; didn't feel dated, which is somewhat impressive since it's older than I am and that's a lot of new science in between. I'm undecided if I want to continue on with the series or not.

10. Alastair Reynolds – Pushing Ice (2006)

More scifi! In many ways, this one almost feels like the combination of “Rendezvous with Rama” and “Seveneves” from the first half list. Interesting twists and turns, politics, and human behavior. And, of course, relativity and its relation with what-does-it-all-mean-anyway.

11. Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter – The Long Earth (2012)

Scifi? No way! Another one with an interesting concept and the start of a series, but unsure if I'll go beyond this one.

12. Robert Jordan – The Eye of the World (1993)

Fantasy re-read. It's been probably 15 years since I read this book, so I thought it would be nice to do a fast read (regardless of length) and see if I still like it. I do. Although some of the characters that always annoyed me, still do; so there's that. And as someone with long hair, I'm not sure I get the whole pulling-on-braids things when a person is mad (that is, they pull their own braids. Doesn't that hurt?)

13. Terry Pratchett – The Color of Magic (1983)

Fantasy classic that I somehow didn't read until now. I know he's been recommended to me before (I want to say in college by a housemate), so of course a bit annoyed with myself for taking so long to start. Unlike the other series above, I plan to read more of the ones related to this “universe”. Short and fast reads, so nice filler between other more “serious” books.

14. Justina Robson – Natural History (2004)

To end the year, how about more scifi? It makes some assumptions on the multiverse, but interesting take on it. First book of hers I've read, and wasn't disappointed so I'll be on the look out for her other works.

Started, but Unfinished

This year I found out my library is part of a network that lets you easily check out ebooks, although the selection is limited (both in terms of overall selection, and the classic library issue of other people having checked out the book you want to read). While you can renew, for a couple books I started and let the two week loan expire. The first was “Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life” by Tom Robbins, an autobiography that I'll most likely finish up. I do enjoy his reading and liked the first hundred or so pages, but I just didn't have enough time to finish it (and two more weeks wasn't going to do it with my workload at the time). On the other side, I also started “Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights” by Salman Rushdie but wasn't in the mood for its mysticism.

The other book that's ever a work in progress is “The Portable Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” by Edward Gibbon. The irony for that one is I was using it as filler between other books, and then the election happened and it seemed a bit more appropriate.

Next Up

I actually have a list of non-scifi books (most from my sister in law Mona), but I'm largely waiting for them to become available at my local library. So, as before, if you have any suggestions feel free to pass them along. History, historical fiction, classics, and modern fiction are all in my wheelhouse. I love fantasy and scifi, but don't really need more suggestions of those just yet!