Bibliophilia
Of the making of books there is no end.
Overmuch study maketh men mad.
If you're curious about my approach to "reviews," you might want to read this. If you're curious about me, I have a Website, and a blog about things Medieval and Celtic. I read a lot. I suppose you could say I am a professional reader; I have a Ph.D. in English from UCLA, with an emphasis on things Celtic, and literature before 1832. I serve as Webmaster and Managing Editor for The Green Man Review and volunteer as an Admin for Absolute Write.
My most recent books are about doing stuff with the iPad. Most of the books I review here are books I purchased, a family member purchased, or that I borrowed from a library. When a publisher or author provides a book or an e-arc or an ARC, I will state that in the review. I am not paid to review the books on this site. (I do occasionally serve as an outside reviewer for scholarly books being considered for publication by academic or scholarly presses).
I like ebooks. I like making ebooks. I like reading ebooks. I object, violently, to text dumps and poorly made ebooks, and will so note in reviews of books that have been badly produced by a publisher who thinks exporting a file from InDesign is all it takes. In general, I am not soliciting books for review. Please do not send me review books as attachments without conferring with me first, since your attachment will be automatically deleted by my server. I am no longer willing to review self-published books, unless you're an author I've previously reviewed, or you are publishing a backlist of previously commercially published books. You can contact me here.
If you purchase something after following an affiliate link on this site, I will receive a percentage of the price. This is my FTC disclosure, in case you wondered. In other words, I'm a mercenary hack.
2016 Hugo Eligible Books
This is a running list; I'll be adding to it as I go.
The point of this is not only to keep track so I can vote, but to let others know what I'm considering so they can read them too.
Bear, Elizabeth. Karen Memory. Tor. February, 2015.
Bear is a super writer and an incredible story teller. I've been waiting for this book for a while.
Caine, Rachel. Ink and Bone: The Great Library. NAL, July 2015.
Cherryh, C. J. Tracker: A Foreigner Novel. DAW. April, 2015.
Volume 16? I think? I love this series. In my head, it's one huge novel, but this book is eligible for 2016's Hugos.
Elliot, Kate. Court of Fives. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, August 2015. (YA fantasy).
Hawkins, Scott. The Library at Mount Char. Crown. June, 2015.
Really really loved this; it's a complicated well-written book and it managed to surprise me. So far this is my front-runner for Best Novel.
Jemisin, N. K. The Fifth Season (Vol. 1 of The Broken Earth). Orbit. August, 2015.
Novik, Naomi. Uprooted. Del Rey. May, 2015.
van Eekhout. Pacific Fire. Tor. January, 2015. Sequel to California Bones,which I really enjoyed.
van Eekhout. Dragon Coast. Tor. September, 2015. Sequel to California Bones and Pacific Fire.
Walton, Jo. The Philosopher Kings. Tor. June 2015.
This is the sequel to the brilliant, absorbing and clever The Just City. Haven't read it yet, but it's on My List.
Wilde, Fran. Updraft. Tor. September 2015. This is a first novel, and everyone I've talked to who has read it is wildly enthusiastic.
