It’s this time of year again where we all eat way too much food and, for avid readers, share our favorite reads of the year.
As of today, I have read 72 books, including novels, novellas, short stories, and DNFs. Talking about DNFing books, I used to always push through a book, refusing to DNF. This year, I decided to give myself some grace and allowed myself to DNF books, though this is still uncommon for me to do so.
Here’s the breakdown of my year in reading:
- 50 novels
- 10 novellas
- 5 short stories
- 1 non-fiction
- 6 DNFs (all novels)
Of all these stories, 6 were in French, a higher number than 2022, and a number I hope to equal or increase in 2024.
Now that I have shared these numbers, let me share with your my 8 favorite reads of the year.
L’Ombre dans la Pluie by Rozenn Illiano, 2022 (Urban Fantasy)
Unsurprisingly, one of Rozenn Illiano’s books makes it to the list, and this time it is L’Ombre dans la Pluie, which could be translated as The Shadow in the Rain. Yes, this is in French, and yes, I believe Rozenn’s books deserve to be translated in every language under the sun. Or you could just learn French, easy peasy, right?
L’Ombre de la Pluie is a urban fantasy with wizards, exorcists, ghosts, and Catholic priests and nuns who deal with the supernatural. It follows Oxyde, one of the most compelling characters Rozenn ever created and who briefly appears in Le Phare au Corbeau, which was one for my favorite reads of 2022.
Though I had some comment about the pace of that other book, I have none for L’Ombre dans la Pluie. I rarely say that, but this book is perfect (or nearly). The character arcs, the pace, the worldbuilding, the story and its conclusion… I have nothing bad to say about this book. I would give it 6 stars out of 5 if I could.
External Forces by Shannon Fay, 2022 (Historical Fantasy)
Fellow authors, let me share a little secret: if your book is above 400 pages, it’s unlikely that I will buy it. I don’t have time for your great tome, sorry. Joke aside, the true reason is that oftentimes, long books are… too long. The pace often suffers from the length of the book and it’s rare for me to say, after reading a 500+ page books, “Nothing was superfluous and I never got bored!”
Well, External Forces is 507 pages long, and nothing was superfluous and I never got bored. I actually wanted more of it!
This is the second installment in the Marrowbone Spells series, and I enjoyed it way more than the first book, Innate Magic, which was good but suffered from some pacing/structure issues. I’m glad I didn’t let that stop me from reading the sequel, because Shannon Fay did a terrific job. I won’t say too much about the story not to spoil readers who may not have read the first book, but it was a pleasure to delve back into this alternative United Kingdom with cloth mages, political intrigues, and self-discovery. I can’t wait for the third book.
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, 2017 (Science-Fiction)
Talking about book length, do you know what I love about John Scalzi? Not only his books are great, but they are all about 300 pages, with very few exceptions. And I have all the time in the world for John’s books since discovering his writing with The Collapsing Empire, the first installment of the Interdependency trilogy.
I loved this book (and the trilogy) so much that it is hard to know where to start my praise. John created a space opera that feels familiar yet unique. I loved the worldbuilding of this far-future humanity that has colonized various galaxies and created economical, political, and religious structures closely intertwined with each other.
I think the biggest strength of the book is its characters. Though I didn’t like every single one of them, I loved Cardenia and Marce. (And I still can’t recover from the ending of book 3. JOHN YOU BROKE MY HEART IN A THOUSAND OF PIECES.) If you love space opera, political intrigue, compelling characters, and thousand-year-old conspiracies, please read The Collapsing Empire and its sequels.
Rich Blood by Robert Bailey, 2022 (Legal Thriller)
Most books I got via Amazon’s First Reads program have at best left me unmoved, at worst disappointed me. Rich Blood is one of the rare exceptions, and I consider it as the book that made me realize I need to have more legal thrillers in my life. After all, I love thrillers, and I’m a law nerd (is that a thing?). I have a degree in (French) Law, and I’m the type of person who dreams about being called for jury duty and being selected for a big case. Did I tell you I got into my day job field because of my love for labor law?
Anyway, Rich Blood is the first installment in a new series by Robert Bailey that follows Jason Rich, an ambulance chaser who just went through a divorce and a stint in rehab and who goes on defending his awful, estranged sister who is accused of murdering her husband. It was my first book by this author. I read another of his series since then, and I think I’m slowly but surely becoming a fan. Both the scenes in and outside of the courtroom are captivating, the pace is good from the beginning to the end, and the plot twist at the end will haunt you for days after finishing the book. I have already bought the sequel, Rich Waters, and can’t wait to read it.
The Hanging City by Charlie N. Holmberg, 2023 (Romantasy)
When I scroll through Goodreads giveaways, there are two types of Fantasy books I almost always ignore: the one that are also labeled as Young Adult or Romance. And to say the least, these two categories (YA Fantasy and Romantasy) make a HUGE part of the Fantasy market (to my upmost regret). I want adult, non-romantic Fantasy! I’m not against romance, but I don’t want it to be the center of the story.
Except when it comes to Charlie N. Holmberg’s books. She can write all the Romantasy books in the world and I will read them. That said, I wasn’t really sure about The Hanging City after reading the blurb. A romance between a human and a troll. Like… really? But I trusted Charlie and read it, and I have no regret. Her worldbuilding is, as always, phenomenal, and I loved her FMC and the strange power that she holds. As for the romance, believe it or not but it works and it is believable. The pace was just right (no insta-love, no never-ending slowburn) and my only wish is for Charlie to write a sequel.
A Fire Born of Exile by Aliette de Bodard, 2023 (Science-Fiction)
I have read a lot of books by Aliette de Bodard. 13, to be exact. Of all these books, I have enjoyed only 5 of them. You may wonder: Millie, why do you keep buying and reading her books if you enjoy only so few of them? Well, because when I enjoy one of Aliette’s books, I ENJOY it. I LOVE it. A Fire Born of Exile has become one of my favorite books. Imagine if I had stopped reading her books after being disappointed by the previous book in the Xuya romances, The Red Scholar’s Wake. I would have missed a great novel.
A Fire Born of Exile is a sci-fi retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, but make it sapphic and in the Xuya universe. You don’t need to have read Alexandre Dumas’s masterpiece (I haven’t, and though I know this is a great book and I should read it, it’s also 1200+ pages and man, who has time for that?) or even to be an expert in Aliette’s extended Xuya universe (though I would still recommend reading one or two novellas to familiarize yourself with it before reading this novel).
I wrote a longer review here if you’re interested in learning more about what I liked about the book, but to make it short: a great sci-fi book!
The Rain Artist by Claire Rudy Foster, 2024 (Sci-Fi Horror/Dystopia)
I couldn’t miss the opportunity to read The Rain Artist, the first novel by author and editor Claire Rudy Foster to be published by Moonstruck Books (that will publish my novel La Couleur du Temps).
The book has been compared to many classic sci-fi authors, and I agree. I have read several books by Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin these past years, and I could feel that same vibe and style in Foster’s prose and style, but with that hint of contemporary commentary that makes this books both timeless and relevant to today’s society.
We are here in a horrific, dystopian sci-fi novel where capitalism and inequality are so extreme and the environment so destroyed that rain has become a luxury only the uber rich can enjoy during “rain parties.” The protagonist, Celine, is the last umbrella maker in the world, and after she gets framed for a murder at one of these parties, her fate collides with that of two other characters who are as interesting as Celine.
I strongly believe this book deserve to become a classic, and that it will. You can preorder it here (and you should).
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, 2022 (Solarpunk)
A good friend of mine offered me a $50 gift card for our local bookstore. I went there looking for novellas (I rarely buy hard copies for longer books and prefer e-books) and instead of buying just two of them with the gift card (hard copies are so freaking expensive), I bought FIVE, including the two novellas in the Moon and Robot series. My credit card didn’t like that very much, but my reading appetites certainly did.
Of course, you need to read the first book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, before reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, as this is a direct sequel. Both books are short reads that will make you feel warm and cozy, if a book can make you feel that way. The second book felt richer than the first in terms of worldbuilding and backstory, which is why I liked it better than the first book (which still got 5 stars from me). I don’t know if Becky Chambers is working on a third book, but I hope she does.
I hope you enjoyed learning about these books and added some of them on your wishlist if you haven’t read them already. I know there are so many books to read and so little time, which is why I always love book recommendations as it helps me choose what to read next (not that I need to add more books to the huge TBR pile I already have 🙈), so I hope this post was helpful, too!
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