(Photo Credit: Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash)
The last two years have found me reading far less than I have in any years since starting a blog in 2005…and far less posting on the blog as well.
Though the numbers are not impressive, I read some truly impressive books this year, stories that I thoroughly enjoyed and would heartily pass on to fellow book lovers.
Foregoing any other preamble, and in no particular order, here are my favorite reads of 2019.
(Click here for a larger version of the image. Image property of Carl V. Anderson)
Tonight after the sun is well and truly down here on a bitterly cold January day, the moment will come that will mark two years since the unexpected death of a long-time friend, Jerry Schattenburg. Two years ago tonight I answered an unfamiliar number to find a detective on the other end of the line, inquiring whether I was familiar with Jerry, if I had a way to connect the detective with next of kin, and then he proceeded to tell me that Jerry had suffered a heart attack, just outside his apartment door. Despite the heroic efforts of a neighbor that really didn’t even know Jerry, he was unable to be resuscitated. He was 63 years old.
The book pictured above is the anthology The World Turned Upside Down, edited by David Drake, Eric Flint, and Jim Baen. The choice of photographing the Table of Contents will be discussed near the end of this post and should make a lot more sense.
Based solely on the evidence here at Stainless Steel Droppings (5 posts in the entire year up to this point, not including this one), it is safe to surmise that 2017 has been an atypical year, at least in regards to reading. I have read far fewer books this year than in any year since I started keeping track, which was about two or three years before I started blogging. And out of those books that I did start reading this year, the majority remain unfinished.
I am not certain I can pinpoint any one reason. Certainly involvement in my community (church, work, family, friends) has been of much more importance to me than ever before and I have made more of a concerted effort to make memories based on interacting with others, which understandably cuts into reading time. But I have also spent more time gaming and watching various things on streaming services than I have in previous years, time that before would have been devoted to the printed word.
That being said, I have had some very nice reading experiences this year, as well as viewing and gaming experiences, and so I in no way consider this a down year…just a different one.
As before, my post is not so much a “best of” post as it is a review of what were my favorites for the year. Some of what I will share are certainly outstanding works in their own right. Others are things that made an impression on me and because of that and no other reason, they have lingered with me through the year.
(Big Ship, by Stephan Martiniere. Used with Permission)
The oldest picture book in our possession is the midnight sky.
— E. W. Maunder, Nineteenth Century, September 1900.
Precious few of the humans who have inhabited this planet have been able to not only see that midnight sky, but ride off into it as well. And precious few of us alive now ever will. Yet that does not stop so many of us from dreaming of the possibilities. Raised on Golden Age pulp stories, early low-budget televised adventures, or the more realistic special-effects-laden offerings of the last few decades, untold numbers of us believed in our childhood innocence that we would already be traipsing around the galaxy by now. Many of us who have given up on space travel being a reality in our lifetimes continue to travel the stars anyway, in our imaginations.
The skillful wordsmiths who craft science fiction tales, and the production crews who create beloved science fiction television shows and films, and the creative teams who make games that allow us to adventure in virtual space, help to ignite our imaginations, and in their works we boldly go.
For several years I have been celebrating the beginning of the new year by immersing myself in science fiction and encouraging others do so also. This two month Experience previously ran from January 1st through the end of February, but over the years I’ve discovered that as soon as it starts to get chilly here in Missouri, I ache to embrace science fiction stories. Thus, a few years ago, I changed the period of The Sci-Fi Experience to begin on December 1st and end on January 31st. This allows us to end the current year and begin the new one by looking to the stars.
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.
— Walt Whitman
Won’t you join us out there?
(Much thanks to Hugo Award winning artist Abigail Larson for the use of her art)
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked[ly fun] this way comes!
~Shakespeare, the play that shall not be named, slightly edited
To be up front, there will be no thumb-pricking here.
After all, one might get blood on one’s books!
Well, the year has gone and done it again. Winter gave way to Spring, Summer came blazing in, and here before we know it Autumn will officially take the reins. Every year when September arrives I feel a lightening in my spirit, knowing that the constricting heat and humidity of the Midwest summer will soon give way to my favorite season of the year.
Orange will become a predominant color, and pumpkin-flavoring will invade every drink and dessert that we love to imbibe.
Speaking of imbibing, eleven years ago I embarked on a quest to bring a community of readers together to enjoy the literature most associated with the darkening days and cooling temperatures of Autumn:
Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Gothic
Horror
Dark Fantasy
I wanted to be able to use the well-worn graveyard acronym, R.I.P., so I came up with the name “R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril’. And for over a decade that is what we have done, imbibed together.
For the 10th anniversary I took a break and the hosting duties were fulfilled (quite wonderfully) by the team over at The Estella Society. I am so grateful to them for so doing, I truly needed the rest.
But I am back for year eleven and it is time to embrace the delicious thrill of things that go bump in the night, to figure out if the butler actually did do it, to cover our eyes during the scary bits and to conquer our fears together.
Welcome to R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI.
