This week’s theme is Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I read in 2016. I’m having trouble coming up with anything off the top of my head, but let’s see if Goodreads can help.

1. Seanan McGuire. Technically not new to me, as I’ve read one of her books written as Mira Grant. But it’s rather different stuff, so nuh. It counts.
2. Mitch Benn. I don’t know why I never tried Terra when it was first out; I don’t think I even knew much about it, but it was so much fun; I’m glad I finally did pick it up!
3. Ted Chiang. It took me ages, but I finally got round to reading Story of Your Life & Others, and I loved it.
4. Hope Mirrlees. So late to the party, I know, but I looooved Lud-in-the-Mist.
5. Pat Murphy. Again, late to the party, but The Falling Woman was really, really good.
6. Marie Rutkoski. I did not expect to love The Winner’s Kiss, but it worked well for me.
7. Gwenda Bond. I’d had some of Bond’s books on my list for ages, but it was Lois Lane: Fallout which I finally read, and definitely enjoyed.
8. Robert Jackson Bennett. City of Stairs knocked my socks off, and now I’m impatiently waiting for City of Miracles. Soon, please? Please?!
9. Sylvia Izzo Hunter. I enjoyed The Midnight Queen a lot; I must get round to reading the sequels.
10. Elizabeth Hand. Wylding Hall was a super well-crafted novel; I should check out other books by Hand.

Most of these, I’ve only read one book, so there’s plenty to discover ahead of me!

This week’s theme is a Holiday Gift Guide freebie, and honestly, I’m a little tired of wracking my brains to think of gifts. So instead, have my top ten places to read.

1. On a train. You wouldn’t think it’d be comfortable, but something about just being stuck on a train for ages means I can settle into the reading mood and carry on interrupted. Especially in the quiet coach, with my phone off, or on the Eurostar.
2. In bed. Of course. This is mostly with my ereader, because I can never quite get comfortable with a paper book in bed. Toasty warm toes!
3. With my back against the radiator. I don’t know why, but I really like having a heat source at my back while I read. If the whole room is too warm, I get sleepy. If the room is cooler but I have a radiator or a hot water bottle? Perfect.
4. With the rain lashing down outside. Doesn’t everybody love this one?
5. Draped over my chair in my wife’s flat. With a bit of wriggling, you can get into the perfect comfy position with a leg up. Or even with my feet practically in my wife’s lap. She’s resigned to it.
6. While petting a rabbit. I get a lot of quality time in with our bunny when I’m reading. She’ll come up to my knee and get her ears rubbed.
7. In a blanket fort. At my parents’ house, I have a bunk bed. So I can hang a sheet down from the side of my bed and underneath there’s a sofa. Very cosy.
8. While crocheting. Only for audiobooks, obviously!
9. In the car. Again, only for audiobooks, but a nice long drive can eat up a big chunk of story. Or a big chunk of story can eat up the journey…
10. With chocolate. The perfect companion.

Anyone else feel rebellious this week? Or have you stuck to the theme?

With Thanksgiving coming up, it’s probably not a surprise that this week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is about bookish things you’re thankful for. I’m not American, but it’s always good to reflect on things you’re thankful for.

1. My mother’s recommendations. Everything I read now, I can pretty much trace back to her recommendations when I was around nine years old. She seeded the ground for my love of science fiction and fantasy, and somewhat later, detective fiction as well.
2. School. Because it was boring enough to push me to read under the table during class, thus nourishing both my love of reading and my ability to multitask.
3. My wife. Because who else could I squee at so often, push books at so often, and feel a warm fuzzy glow at getting recommendations right for so often?
4. My sister. Well, she’d be the other one, other than my wife and to a lesser degree, Mum.
5. Dad. Because he has built me nearly endless amounts of bookshelves over the years.
6. My bookshelves. Because let’s face it, they put up with a lot.
7. My friends. Including people I know via blogging! A great source of recommendations and, I’ll admit it, gifts in the shape of books.
8. Bookmarks. Well, really, what would we do without this humble class of object?
9. Book clubs. I wouldn’t have discovered Jo Walton, for example, without book clubs…
10. Libraries. Of course.

How about you?

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is books recently added to the TBR. Which is easy enough to do, since I love my lists and keep very careful track…

1. Dark Sky, by Mike Brooks. Read the first book, picked this one up as soon as I could. Just the right level of light fun for me.
2. How to Clone a Mammoth, by Beth Shapiro. Picked up somewhat on impulse, this looks at the science of de-extinction. Points for a sci-fi mention on the first page, even if it was Piers Anthony.
3. The City of Dreaming Books, by Walter Moers. Technically, this isn’t new to my TBR, but it is new to my actual shelves. Even just the title does it for me…
4. Behind the Throne, by K.B. Wagers. My sister loved it and devoured it in under a day, so there’s a good chance I’ll find it enjoyable.
5. The Death of Caesar, by Barry Strauss. It’s been a while since I read anything by Strauss, but I remember enjoying his other books; I think I’ve read two or three now. This is on my Christmas list. Here’s hoping!
6. I Contain Multitudes, by Ed Yong. Another non-fiction book, fairly predictably fascinating to me given the topic of microbes and the human body!
7. The Wolf Road, by Beth Lewis. I don’t even remember what this one is about, but someone reviewed it and it sounded fascinating. So, onto the Christmas list it went.
8. A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers. I haven’t read the first book yet, but I hear such good things about it, I’m sure I’ll want to pick this one up. …When I’m in the UK, as Fnac do not stock it.
9. Proust and the Squid, by Maryanne Wolf. I think the title makes it sound more generally exciting than it might otherwise be — it’s actually a book about the science of reading. I enjoyed Reading in the Brain, so I’m very hopeful about this one.
10. The Book of Kells, by R.A. MacAvoy. Technically, this is not new to my list, but it’s another one which is relatively new to my shelves. It was a suggested read for a time travel theme at one of my bookclubs, I think!

So yeah, that’s a sampling of things that might (or might not, knowing me) be coming up to review sometime soon!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is about recommendations — to be more precise, books you’ve read because of recommendations. Here goes!

1. The Summer Tree, by Guy Gavriel Kay. I am no longer in touch with the person who sent me this, which is saddening because I love this series and everything I’ve read by Kay, and the same person also fostered my love of Ursula Le Guin and introduced me to the tv series Firefly. Friendship aside, it’s a loss in terms of not getting awesome book recommendations alone.
2. Rosemary and Rue, by Seanan McGuire. This has been recommended to me by a lot of people, but I think my friend Tria was the first. I know she definitely loves McGuire’s work and has read some of the books several times!
3. Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers. My mother gave me this one, and I think I’ve posted on numerous occasions about its importance to me.
4. The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. I think the first time I saw this recommended was by my friend Rachel; it is now one of my favourite books in the world, in case you hadn’t figured that out yet.
5. Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey. I actually don’t know who bought this for me; they never admitted to it. But it arrived in the post one day and I proceeded to devour everything by Carey. Feel free to reveal yourself, anonymous benefactor.
6. Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch. First recommended by a friend I met while I was at university, Marc. I’m rereading the series now and it’s better than I remembered — and I’m about to get to the one that really pulls the heartstrings.
7. The Vintner’s Luck, by Elizabeth Knox. Recommended by my second-year flatmate, this is just a gorgeous book.
8. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. A long-time favourite, this was recommended by my friend Sev. And I need to reread it soon. And oh look, my wife has a copy right there.
9. The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. I feel like this counts because I read it via a book club. I almost don’t dare revisit it, because it tore my heart into bits.
10. Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner. Way back when I was on Livejournal I was recommended this one. I still reread it occasionally, and I really should get round to reading Tremontaine…

And, you know, I’m always looking for more recommendations…

This week’s theme is villains! Instead of picking out favourite specific villains, I’m going for lists of things that make good villains (you know what I mean)! Or, if not good villains, then villains that I find interesting.

1. They don’t just hate everyone. There are people and causes they care about; there are reasons for why they do what they do. Especially good is if they have people that care about them, who might not deserve the pain of losing them. Tasty conflict for all!
2. They’re not just mentally ill. Half of the time it’s just a lazy way out anyway, and it’s also an excuse to stereotype mental illness, etc.
3. They have a sense of humour. I’m sorry, I’m a sucker for a snarky bad guy.
4. They have a cause, and it may even be a good one. Bring on the moral complexity! Someone going about something that’s worth doing, but doing it in the wrong way? Yeaaah, works for me.
5. You can understand them. If they have a stupid grudge from a minor accident they had as a child, you can’t sympathise with that. The most powerful villains — to my mind, anyway — are the ones you can understand.
6. You can’t understand them at all. On the flipside, a completely enigmatic villain can be amazing too. Especially in something with horror elements. It makes things more unpredictable.
7. They have a sense of honour. They won’t strike a man while he’s down, etc. This goes hand in hand with a lot of the other stuff; they’re on the wrong side of the conflict, but you can’t help but wish they weren’t.
8. They are redeemable. If they’re not, then you don’t have to worry if they’ll do the awful thing — you know they can and will. But if there’s hope of redemption, you can hope they won’t do the awful thing.
9. They don’t reveal their own plans. I mean, really. If it needs saying…
10. They do not have an evil laugh. That’d be a dead giveaway, right?

Okay, so tongue in cheek for some of those. I’m looking forward to seeing if anyone’s reccing some good villains!