The Sunday Salon – Favourites of the Year So Far

Hello Sunday Saloners. Please insert the usual I-can’t-believe-half-the-year-is-gone-already ramble here. You already know it, so I’ll spare you, but seriously, the older I get, the quicker time seems to pass, and the less time I have for anything. It’s not fair! Anyway, I thought it'd be fun to list my top ten reads of the year so far, and then compare it with my final list in December. Some I'm sure will make the final list, but who knows what discoveries the second half of the year will bring? So, in no particular order except for number one, here they are:

• Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan - I’ll be very surprised if this doesn’t end up being my favourite read of the year. But you’ve heard me go on and on about it before, so go read Eva's or Renay's or Lu’s thoughts instead.
  
  
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters – You know how sometimes you discover an author, and immediately you feel like they have always been a part of your life? Or like there was a gap in your reading, a gap whose existence you didn’t even realize, but that they fill like no one else possibly could? That’s Sarah Waters for me.
  
  
• Paper Towns by John Green – You’ve heard a lot about this one too, I'm sure. But yes, it really is that good.
  
  
• The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak – A beautiful novel-in -stories, set in Japan and full of magic, loneliness and hope. Meghan loved it too.
  
  
• The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson – or Fudoki. Another author I can’t believe I haven’t been reading all along.

• The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness – what an excellent series this is. I’ll be posting my thoughts on the second book next week, but until then, they can be summed up in one word: wow.
  
  
• What I Was by Meg Rosoff – A quiet story about friendship, love, identity, memory and misunderstandings. I’m not even sure why it touched me so much, but touch me it did. For another opinion, check out Paperback Reader's or Melanie's.
  
  
• Bad Science by Ben Goldacre – everyone should read this book! It’s informative, important, and fun.
  
  
• Bone by Jeff Smith – A epic that is as personal as it is grandiose, set in a detailed world and full of memorable characters. (On a side note, the other day I went to a friend’s house for dinner and she served a quiche. I had to explain why I kept giggling, but I think that even after I did she remained convinced that I wasn't all there. Which is probably what you're thinking right now if you haven’t read Bone. This will make sense if you do, though. I promise.)
  
  
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi – I think everyone who's convinced they dislike all science fiction should pick up this book. If this doesn’t change your mind, I don’t know what will.

What about you? What are your favourite reads of the year so far? (She asks, knowing very well that this will inevitably result in more books being added to her wishlist. I’m hopeless.)

Also, I was looking at my Read in 2009 list and I thought I’d do a bunch of nerdy stats – because is there a better way to spend the time when you should, in fact, be working on a final essay? Anyway, I thought I was making an effort to read diversely this year, but the stats revealed that only 33% of the books I’ve read so far were by women, among other distressing facts. So I’m thinking of reading only female authors in July to help balance things. Does anyone want to join me?

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I almost forgot! The winner of my YA Carnival giveaway is: Marineko! I actually had a bit of an eek moment when I realized she’d won: I worried you’d all think I’d rigged it because she picked the one book I keep telling the whole world to read, Tender Morsels. I absolutely swear I didn’t, though! I’d have taken a screenshot of random.org, but I closed the tab before I realized that number 42 (ha, 42!) was her. I know I’m being paranoid, though, and that you won’t actually suspect me. Congratulations, Marineko! I’ll be sending the book your away very soon.

And speaking of loving a book so much you want the whole world to read it, have you checked out Amy's Book Drive yet? She and Lenore are trying to get two hundred copies of Nothing But Ghosts sold before next Friday. Before I read The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee I had no idea how important initial sales were for a book's ultimate fate, but they are very important indeed. So if the book sounds like one you'd enjoy, considering helping. There are prizes involved too!