It’s that time again – another calendar year is ending. 2019. 2020 on the way. It sounds futuristic, like a date from one of the sci-fi novels I loved in my youth, and still like to read, although I’ve been on quite the historical fiction kick lately. Here’s the list this year:
Worthy Brown’s Daughter by Phillip Margolin (early American west, fiction from true story. Loved it.)
To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey (early American west, fiction from true story. Loved it. The year started off right with these two.)
The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre (Canadian recent history, fiction, from true issues with Catholic Church. Fascinating, but depressing.)
Little Heaven by Nick Cutter (Horror. Horrible, unless you like that kind of thing. Not my thing, but one must read a variety – it helps me enjoy what I enjoy even more.)
The Searcher by Simon Toyne (modern, fantasy, but no fairies or dragons. Cool. Enjoyable.)
The White Road by Sarah Lotz. (modern, fantasy, not fairies, just cool stuff. I LOVE mountain stories.)
Ice Fall by John All with John Balzar. (true, death-defying mountain climbing, which I love. Preachy though, which I don’t, so I couldn’t finish it, although I tried to skip to the good parts.)
The Girl Who Takes an Eye for and Eye by David Lagercrantz. (Modern shit-kicking supergirl fun fiction. I needed that!)
Army of Worn Soles by Scott Bury. (true World War ll story from a Ukrainian stuck in the Russian army perspective. Interesting.)
Degrees of Guilt by Jim Bennett. (Canadian recent history, Newfoundland, soldier, PTSD, fiction, wonderful. I dare you to try to find it – I picked it up locally in St. John’s Newfoundland.)
Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill. (Canadian modern fiction, again I’d say somewhat fantastical, twilight-zonish. Different. Entertaining.)
The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond. (Science essays from a favourite writer I’ve been reading since the 1980s magazine articles. Didn’t read it all, but loved his anthropological perspectives on our modern living via the lens of less technological societies. Hey, we’re all just people.)
Death Flight by Melissa Yi. (Modern action fiction. Fun. Like reading an action movie. Not my thing, but entertaining once in awhile.)
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London. (Sci-fi, but written in the late 1800s by that famous ‘Call of the Wild’ author. Wow. Fascinating and thought-provoking apocalyptic story.)
At the Mountain’s Edge by Genevieve Graham. (Canadian gold rush era historical fiction. Great.)
Hope in Oakland by Rebekah Lee Jenkins. (Canadian prairie women, early 1900s historical fiction. This is an author to watch – she’s recently breaking out of her local circle and moving into bigger distribution with many books in this series to enjoy.)
The Blue Pendant by Susan Jennings. (British, Canadian early 1900s historical fiction. Another author with many more books in this series to enjoy. Loved reading it right after the previous, as the times and comparisons are fascinating.)
Jihadi Bride by Alastair Luft. (Canadian recent middle east turmoil, fiction. Not like anything else I’ve read or usually read, but wonderful. I can see this as a movie that I’d go to.)
A Girl in Time by John Birmingham. (Sci-fi, time-travel. Modern and fun. A nice break.)
The Golden Minute by John Birmingham. (Next in the series. Also fun, but I tired quickly of the shenanigans. I did finish it, but didn’t bother looking for the next in the series.)
Strange Weather by Joe Hill. (Long short stories. Okay for a break.)
Halcyon Days by Susan Taylor Meehan. (Canadian prairie, farm politics of the Depression of the 1930s, historical fiction. Fresh from the silliness of previous recent reading, this book was wonderful. If well-distributed, I can see it winning awards.)
Knights of the Black and White by Jack Whyte. (Crusader Templars historical fiction. This series has been on my ‘to read’ list since I retired. Enjoyed it and will read the next in the series.)
So that’s 2019. 23 books. Many Canadian writers, I notice now. Many magazines. My own writing. My Facebook reading. Blogs. I’m happy with it. On to the next decade! May they be roaring 😉
Stevie Szabad, Author 