2010: The year in books

[starlady]

I read exactly 101 books this year. I think that's going to be my goal for next year; I'm only off last year by 38, which frankly surprises me; I thought grad school would have more of a negative impact on my reading. Regardless, I don't want to go below 50 non-grad school books read in 2011.

101 books, 5 rereads, meaning that I should be picking 8-9 books for the year's best at a slightly less than 10% selection rate. So:

Eight excellent books
1. Kraken by China Miéville
2. When Fox Is a Thousand by Larissa Lai
3. Scott Pilgrim (6 vols.) by Bryan Lee O'Malley
4. Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
5. Fullmetal Alchemist (27 vols.) by Arakawa Hiromu
6. Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild
7. Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard
8. Kamikaze Girls by Takemoto Novala (trans. Akemi Wegmiller)

Given that I read 1/3 of these within the last two months, I think there's definitely a degree of chronological bias here, but whatever; all of these books are great, and some of them, particularly Nothing to Envy and Bury the Chains, are vital.

I've done better than last year with reading books by chromatic and female authors, and that's a trend I want to continue next year; I also want to actually read some of the Japanese novels I have lying around, as well as more manga (I'm always resolving to read more manga). Half my resolutions relate to reading anyway, so, without further ado:

New Year's Resolutions
1. Get new glasses and new contact lenses (I already have the prescription);
2. Read manhwa! I'd love recs for English-language available series!
3. Watch Kdramas and Cdramas. Recs much appreciated!
4. Read more manga, novels in Japanese, and books in translation;
5. Get Netflix (again);
6. Go to the dentist, now that I have dental again after three years;
7. Keep writing, running, and biking


A very Happy (Gregorian) New Year to my dear acquaintance, each and every one of you. ♥
May 2011 be a very good, and better, year for all of us. 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'd recommend http://www.dramabeans.com/ if you're looking for kdrama recs.

Dramafever http://www.dramafever.com/ and Hulu have several kdramas available for (legit) streaming. I've been watching Tamra Island, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, and just finished My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.

Tamra tickled me because of the interaction of England, Holland, Japan, and Korea that makes the story possible, as well as the diver matriarchy that runs the fishing industry of Tamra. Its set in the Joseon era, but doesn't work real hard at historical accuracy (or British accents).

Sungkyunkwan is about a girl who passes the civil service exam and enters the university disguised as a man, though the punishment for getting caught is decapitation. Also set in Joseon, also takes a few liberties, especially toward the end.

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho is the latest drama by the Hong Sisters, and is a revamping of the korean fox myth. I starts a little slow, from selfish manchild's POV, so I don't think I would have made it without dramabean's rec to keep with it. Ends up a nice dissection of these myths and what they say about the role of women, sexuality, and the Other as well as how an actual successful relationship deviates from them.

[starlady]

Awesome, thank you!

Also:

[(Anonymous)]

Sungkyunkwan is adapted from a novel called The Days of Sungkyunkwan Confucian Scholars. http://yogurutu.blogspot.com/ has been doing a translation of the original book into English.

Tamra is an adaptation of a manwha I've yet to find in the wild.