I broke the 75-book barrier this past weekend, but as usual, I didn’t get to all of my TBR pile. I did, however, enjoy a lot of what I read. Without further ado, here are my notable book picks for the year:

Fantasy with the best brooding anti-hero and smart, introverted heroine

The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg

Best epic fantasy

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Best indie published book(s)

The Emperor’s Edge (and sequels) by Lindsay Buroker

Science fiction series I’ve been meaning to read for years and wonder why I waited so long

The Miles Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best YA steampunk/alternate history

The Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

Best YA/MG historical (this Vikings-time book reminded me of Rosemary Sutcliff’s fabulous historical fiction)

Icefall by Matthew Kirby

Best adult alternate history/fantasy

Cold Magic (and sequel Cold Fire) by Kate Elliot

Book I didn’t think I’d enjoy (got this from the library, decided I didn’t want to read it, then snagged it on the Kindle for free and read it yesterday during a 12-hr drive–I loved it!)

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

I read a lot of good books this year, but I can’t showcase them all, alas. What about you? What were your notable reads of the year?

Amazing writer and beta-reader extraordinaire, Jo Anderton, is celebrating the release of her FIRST book, Debris. I got my grubby hands on it yesterday and it is a pretty pretty book. What a cool cover!

Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

In a far future where technology is all but indistinguishable from magic, Tanyana is one of the elite.

She can control pions, the building blocks of matter, shaping them into new forms using ritual gestures and techniques. The rewards are great, and she is one of most highly regarded people in the city. But that was before the “accident”.

Stripped of her powers, bound inside a bizarre powersuit, she finds herself cast down to the very lowest level of society. Powerless, penniless and scarred, Tanyana must adjust to a new life collecting “debris”, the stuff left behind by pions. But as she tries to find who has done all of this to her, she also starts to realize that debris is more important than anyone could guess.

Debris is a stunning new piece of Science Fantasy, which draws in themes from Japanese manga, and classic Western SF and Fantasy to create this unique, engrossing debut from the very exciting young author Jo Anderton.

Congratulations, Jo! It is GREAT to finally see this in print.

Eek!

The next book in Megan Whalen’s Turner’s Thief series is scheduled to come out next year. It has a name and cover art and backcover blurb, which you can find here. Scroll down to page 9 in the catalogue.

*squee squee SQUEE*

No, it’s not like I’ve been waiting anxiously for the next book the moment I finished book 3. Of course not! No, not at all. Really.

*SQUEAK*