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What I Read in 2012

Books

1) Folktales in Fragile Dialects by Catherynne M. Valente

2) In the Cut by Susanna Moore

3) Vox by Nicholson Baker

4) Crash by J.G. Ballard

5) Telepaths Don't Need Safewords by Cecilia Tan

6) Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons

7) Vermillion Sands by J.G. Ballard

8) Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard

9) Doctor Who: Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner

10) Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon

11) Doctor Who: Only Human by Gareth Roberts

12) Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards

13) Women on the Edge of Space edited by Danielle Bodnar and Cecilia Tan

14) Story of O by Pauline Reage

15) Return to the Chateau (Story of O II) by Pauline Reage

16) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

17) The Female Man by Joanna Russ

18) The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin

19) We Who Are About To… by Joanna Russ

20) The Two of Them by Joanna Russ

21) How to Suppress Women's Writing by Joanna Russ

22) The Adventures of Alyx by Joanna Russ

23) To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction by Joanna Russ

24) Orlando by Virginia Woolf

25) And Chaos Died by Joanna Russ

26) On Strike Against God by Joanna Russ

27) Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans and Perverts by Joanna Russ

28) Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, translated and annotated by Ursula K. Le Guin

29) Robotica by Kal Cobalt

30) The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

31) Manners from Heaven by Quentin Crisp

32) The New Topping Book by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy

33) The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice

34) Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin

35) Juliette by Marquis de Sade

36) Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir

37) The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature by C.S. Lewis

38) The House of Sable Locks by Elizabeth Schechter

39) Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

40) A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris

41) Three Bedrooms, One Corpse by Charlaine Harris

42) The Julius House by Charlaine Harris

43) Dead Over Heels by Charlaine Harris

44) Clues to Christie: The Definitive Guide to Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Tommy & Tuppence and All of Agatha Christie's Mysteries

45) The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

46) Nemesis by Agatha Christie

47) Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

48) A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine

49) The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus (A New Interpretation by Sharon Lebell

50) Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke by Justin Richards

51) Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss—A Melody Malone Mystery by Justin Richards

52) On the Shortness of Life, and Other Essays by Seneca

Short Stories

1) "Fantomina: or, Love in a Maze" by Eliza Fowler Haywood

2) "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman

3) "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ

4) "Poor Man, Beggar Man" by Joanna Russ

5) "The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde

6) "The Case of the Perfect Maid" by Agatha Christie

7) "Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov

8) "Secretario" by Catherynne M. Valente

Graphic Novels

1) Mass Effect: Invasion by Mac Walters, John Jackson Miller, and Omar Francia

What I Read Last Year

I fell short of my yearly goal of fifty books, but I got a lot more writing done than I usually do. Partial win?

Books

1) A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
2) The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
3) The Big Book of Sex Toys by Tristan Taormino
4) Sex for One: The Joy of Selfloving by Betty Dodson
5) Radical Ecstasy by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy
6) Underneath It All: A Girl's Guide to Buying, Wearing and Loving Lingerie by Jennifer Manuel Carroll and Kathy Schultz
7) The Innocent's Progress by Peter Tupper
9) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
10) Over 100 S&M Sex Tips by Lisa Sussman*
11) Dare... to Have Anal Sex by Coralie Thinh Thi*
12) The Illusionist by Francoise Mallet-Joris
13) Cheri and The Last of Cheri by Colette
14) Like the Knave of Hearts edited by J. Blackmore
15) 1901: A Steam Odyssey by Lionel Bramble
16) Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor
17) Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs by Joan Sinclair
18) Gerald's Game by Stephen King
19) Open Your Eyes by Paul Jessup
20) Like a Vorpal Blade edited by J. Blackmore
21) The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography by Angela Carter
22) Love and Friendship and Other Stories (Juvenilia) by Jane Austen
23) I Know My Own Heart: The Diaries of Anne Lister, 1791-1840 edited by Helena Whitbread
24) Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders by Josephine Ross and Henrietta Webb
25) Elementary Erotica edited by J. Blackmore
26) New Blood by Gail Dayton
27) Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach
28) Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction by Susan Blackmore
29) Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor
30) The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
31) No Priest But Love: The Journals of Anne Lister from 1824-1826 edited by Helena Whitbread
32) The Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey
33) The Labyrinth of the Dead by Sara M. Harvey
34) The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
35) HebrewPunk by Lavie Tidhar
36) An Occupation of Angels by Lavie Tidhar
37) The Frugalista Files by Natalie McNeal
38) Jane Austen: A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef
39) Ariel by Sylvia Plath
40) Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente
41) The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
42) The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister edited by Helena Whitbread

Short Stories

"The Call of Cthulu" by H.P. Lovecraft
"The Haunter of the Dark" by H.P. Lovecraft
"The Burial of the Rats" by Bram Stoker
"The Cold Embrace" by Mary Elizabth Braddon
"The Colour Out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft
"Derelict" by Albert Berg
"The Diary of Philip Westerly" by Paul Compton
"The Doom of the House of Duryea" by Earl Peirce Jr.
"The Doors of Death" by Arthur B. Waltermire
"The Dreams in the Witch House" by H.P. Lovecraft

Graphic Novels

Shekhar Kapur's Snake Woman 1: A Snake in the Grass by Zeb Wells and Michael Gaydos
Snake Woman 2 by Zeb Wells, Dean Hyrapiet, Vivek Shinde, and Michael Gaydos
Snake Woman 3: Tale of the Snake Charmer by Zeb Wells and Vivek Shinde
Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli

*Reviewed for my now-defunct adult store gig.

NaNoWriMo Fail

So, I meant to do NaNoWriMo this year. I got off to a really strong start, but it went no further. This is mostly because I've been focusing on this blog. Reviewing books means a lot more to me than writing fiction, and I enjoy it more as well.

So, a compromise. Let's see if, by combining every review I've written this month, I can make up my NaNoWriMo quota. Should be a fun challenge. If you want to keep an eye on my progress, I'm registered on the NaNoWriMo official site, under the name Aetherist. I'll post my total word count here at the end of the month.

Spontaneously Arising Theme

Starting on Monday, the 15th, I'll be posting a week of entries about The Apex Book Company.

This wasn't a planned project. It just happened that I have read three Apex books recently, and am about to read a fourth. Hopefully I can read a fifth in time for Friday.

Plus, I don't mind spending the time writing about them if it means people will go check them out. They publish fiction that is so refreshingly different, and buying books from them always feels personal. You know, like they care. I like that.

So, meet me back here on Monday if you're curious.

The Roads Diverge

Wow, it's been a while since I posted here. This is chiefly because I've been focusing on my other blog, Sex in Sepia.

However, I haven't really given up on this blog. This will always be the home for my book reviews, and now that I'm doing them again there will be more content here.

Please visit sexinsepia.blogspot.com if you're interested in erotica, steampunk, or Circlet Press. Otherwise, I'll see you here.

Obligatory Intro

I wanted a home for my reviews and book musings, so here it is. I have a rather embarrassing amount of advance reading/review copies of books from several years as a bookseller; it's probably about time I read them and wrote some reviews. I make no apologies for how eclectic this collection is. You can blame the people who gave these books to me.