05 January 2020

Book list - 2019

Dreadful Company -- urban fantasy (Helsing #2), by Vivian Shaw
Neptune's Inferno: The US Navy at Guadalcanal -- WW II, by James D Hornfischer
Figure Away -- mystery (Mayo #10), by Phoebe Atwood Taylor *
The Mask of the Sun -- AH/time travel, by Fred Saberhagen *
Baphomet's Meteor -- SF, by Pierre Barbet *
Burning Water -- urban fantasy, by Mercedes Lackey *
Children of the Night -- urban fantasy, by Mercedes Lackey
Pelican at Blandings -- humour, by P G Wodehouse
Runestone -- historical fiction, by Don Coldsmith
Dead Man's Folly -- mystery, by Agatha Christie
Hell's Gate -- SF/fantasy (Hell's Gate #1), by David Weber and Linda Evans *
Hell Hath No Fury -- SF/fantasy (Hell's Gate #2), by David Weber and Linda Evans
The Road to Hell -- SF/fantasy (Hell's Gate #3), by David Weber and Joelle Presby
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions -- science, by Randall Munroe
Bombs Away -- AH (The Hot War #1), by Harry Turtledove
Fallout -- AH (The Hot War #2), by Harry Turtledove
Rome: A History in Seven Sackings -- history, by Matthew Kneale
Encounter with Tiber -- SF, by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes
"Down in the Bottomlands" -- AH, by Harry Turtledove
Armistice -- AH (The Hot War #3), by Harry Turtledove
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin -- German history, by Erik Larson
Hominids -- SF, by Robert J Sawyer
At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels through Paraguay -- travel and history, by John Gimlette
The Bad Popes -- history, by E R Chamberlin
Terns of Endearment -- mystery (Langslow #25), by Donna Andrews
Finity -- SF, by John Barnes
Satan's World -- SF, by Poul Anderson *
The People of the Wind -- SF, by Poul Anderson
The Man Who Counts -- SF, by Poul Anderson *
Paleofantasy -- evolution, by Marlene Zuk
Galactic Derelict -- SF, by Andre Norton *
Forerunner -- SF, by Andre Norton
Forerunner: The Second Venture -- SF, by Andre Norton
Owl Be Home for Christmas -- mystery (Langslow #26), by Donna Andrews
Brothers Down: Pearl Harbor and the Fate of the Many Brothers Aboard the USS Arizona -- WW II, by Walter R Borneman
If I Were You -- humour, by P G Wodehouse
"The Swoop!" and "The Military Invasion of America" -- humour, by P G Wodehouse
Daybreak Zero -- post-apocalyptic SF, by John Barnes
The Last President -- post-apocalyptic SF, by John Barnes
The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack and Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution -- palaeoanthropology, by Ian Tattersall
Hiding in Plain Sight: My Holocaust Story of Survival -- memoir, by Beatrice Sonders
Seven in a Jeep: A Memoir of the Vietnam War -- memoir, by Ed Gaydos
The Year of Fear: Machine Gun Kelly and the Manhunt That Changed the Nation -- US history, by Joe Urschel
The Emperor's Men: Arrival – timeslip, by Dirk van den Boom
A Stone in Heaven -- SF, by Poul Anderson
The Game of Empire -- SF, by Poul Anderson 
The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan -- WW II, by James Scott
Below -- fantasy, by Lee Gaiteri
Look Both Ways -- mystery, by Carol J Perry
Storm Front -- urban fantasy (Dresden #1), by Jim Butcher *
Fool Moon -- urban Fantasy (Dresden #2), by Jim Butcher *
Dead Beat -- urban Fantasy (Dresden #7), by Jim Butcher
A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America -- history, by Tony Horwitz


54 books this time round, 10 of them rereads (marked by asterisks) -- a vast improvement over the last few years.

Best books of the year: Hell's Gate, Hell Hath No Fury, and Encounter with Tiber. Arrival was a good story, and an interesting concept-- a German light cruiser shifted from 1914 to 378 -- but it was extremely poorly edited (serious problems with verb tenses, for instance, especially the past and present perfect).Reviews on Amazon say that the poor editing continues at least through the sixth book, so I won't be buying any more.

Could have sworn I'd read all of the Harry Dresden books, but I somehow missed Dead Beat.  And only the first chapter of Turn Coat seemed familiar, so it will be on my 2020 list of books.

Onward....