What I'd read to pass the time in 2011

So another year is about to pass. I look at the number of books I've read for the year and there's a slight feel of self-disgust. Really? Finishing only 40 books in a year? That's terrible. And that includes a handful of books I started but I really couldn't finish for one reason or another. But more on that later.

In any case, here's the list of books I read in the past year:

1. Amanda Downum, The Drowning City, Orbit, January 12, 20011
2. Mira Grant, Feed, Orbit, January 24, 2011
3. Ari Marmell, Conqueror's Shadow, Spectra, January 24, 2011
4. Andy Remic, Hardcore, Solaris, February 13, 2011

5. Neal Asher, The Voyage of the Sable Keech, Pan Macmillan, February 23, 2011

6. Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (editors), Stories: All-New Tales, William Morrow, March 2, 2011
7. Ekaterina Sedia, The Secret History of Moscow, Prime Books, March 10, 2011

8. Chris Evans, A Darkness Forged in Fire, Pocket Books, March 23, 2011

9. Paul Kearney, Corvus, Solaris, April 1, 2011

10. Ian C, Esslemont, Return of the Crimson Guard, Tor, April 14

11. George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (editors), Warriors, Tor, April 16
12. Jonathan Barnes, The Somnambulist, Gollancz, April 17

13. Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders (editors), Swords and Dark Magic, Harper Voyager, April 18

14. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (editors), The Year's Best Fantasy First Annual Collection, St. Martin's Press, April 19

15. Gene Wolfe and Neil Gaiman, A Walking Tour of the Shambles, American Fantasy, April 21

16. Jeff and Ann Vandermeer (editors), The New Weird, Tachyon Publications, May 7

17. John Shirley, Bleak History, Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, May 8

18. Scott Lynch, Red Seas under Red Skies, Gollancz, May 15
19. David Wellington, 13 Bullets, Three Rivers Press, May 20

20. James Lovegrove, The Age of Odin, Solaris, May 24

21. China Mieville, Kraken, Macmillan, June 4

22. Holly Phillips, The Engine's Child, Del Rey, June 8

23. M.K. Hobson, Native Star, Del Rey, June 26

24. Jesse Bullington, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, Orbit, June 28
25. Jonathan Howard, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Anchor Books, July 2

26. Mira Grant, Deadline, Orbit, July 13

27. Emma Bull, Territory, Tor, July 15

28. George R.R. Martin, A Dance of Dragons, Tor, July 27

29. Mark Charan Newton, Nights at Villjamur, Orbit, July 30

30. Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Past the Size of Dreaming, Ace, August 21
31. George R.R. Martin (ed), Suicide Kings, Tor, August 30
32. Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven, Roc, September 19

33. Dean Francis Alfar, Salamanca, Ateneo Press, September 29

34. Karl de Mesa, News of the Shaman, Visprint, September 30

35. Jonathan Carroll, The Wooden Sea, Tor, October 28

36. Kage Baker, The Graveyard Game, Tor, November 4

37. Rachel Pollack, Temporary Agency, Tusk, November 4

38. Mike Resnick, The Return of Santiago, Tor, November 5

39. Barry Hughart, The Story of the Stone, Bantam Spectra, November 6

40. Randall Garrett, Lord Darcy, Baen, December 31

There are a handful of books I that I didn't get to categorically finish (i.e. the works I italicized). I don't know; maybe they just didn't hit all the right chords in me when I was reading them. I would start reading them, put them down, pick them up, put them down-- and still no love in my heart, even if I jumped all the way to the ending to see what happened. So alas, I put them away one last time and moved on to other books. At my age, life is too short to keep enduring this.

As you can see, there's not much diversity here; mostly fantasy, SF and horror. But then again, I read to escape in 2011, what with work and life. Maybe I'll get to improve this 2012.