Without too much comment, this is what I read last year. Mostly sci-fi/fantasy. I tend to read for amusement when I go to sleep and sometimes on the train in the mornings on the way to work. And in the middle of the night. My preference for midnight reading is for very light as I'm prone to nightmares. Hence there's not much that's too heavy…
Books 2017
1. The Locksley Exploit by Philip Purser-Hallard
The second book in the Devices Trilogy, a modern setting of the Arthurian conflicts with a heavy helping of Robin Hood. Quite good stuff.
2. Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel
Humourous mystery with interesting notes of vinyl addiction for those who collect records. Apparently it's the first in a series, but I didn't feel the need to buy the next ones.
3. The Red Thumb Mark (A Dr Thorndyke Mystery) by R. Austin Freeman
Thorndyke was an early Sherlock Holmes knockoff narrated by a Dr. Watson knockoff. The collected works might have set me back 99p.
4. Katherine by Anya Seton
One of my sister's and #1 niece's favourites. Well-researched historical romance about the mistress of John of Gaunt who was the ancestress of several centuries of English monarchs.
5. Year Zero by Rob Reid
Another cheap sci-fiesque read that might have been a Humble Bundle purchase. Amusing tale of Intergalactic music copyright infringement.
6. False Covenant by Ari Marmell
The second Widdershins novel – good, but I was bummed that he killed off a character I really liked. So bummed, that I decided not to move on to the next.
7. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
8. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Really good speculative fiction about the origins of space travel with a good dollop of dystopianism that looks like the early Trump years. Scary as heck.
9. Aftermath – Life Debt by Chuck Wendig
The second of his novels that bridge episodes six and seven of the Star Wars saga. Good stuff.
10. Moonglow by Michael Chabon
Latest offering from the author of Kavalier and Clay. Narrator tells of his grandfather's adventures in WW2 and the early atomic/space age. Four stars.

11. Hound of the Baskervilles by A.C. Doyle.
I read this for a junior high English class and it turned me off to Doyle for about 25 years. This is primarily because the I either ignored the context I needed to get into the book or Mrs. Hood expected more brain cell use than I gave to reading it. Quite enjoyable, but much stranger than a bunch of the other Holmes/Watson stuff I've read recently. I decided to read it for the background to Chris Dolley's Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall.
12-15. What Ho, Automaton; Reggiecide, The Aunt Paradox, and the aforementioned Unpleasantness by Chris Dolley. Humorous steampunk mysteries in which the main characters are a robot butler named Reeves and Reggie Wooster who fancies himself a detective. Yeah, a cross between Wodehouse and Doyle. Amusing diversions. The Aunt Paradox played off of Wells' Time Machine. Fun, but not high literature.
16. The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the the Band who Burned a Million Pounds by John Higgs.
Does what it says on the tin, really. Higgs delves into the history of the KLF and why (if it can be explained) they did what they did. Well written, but pretty much just for fans of the band.
17. Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov
A bunch of classic age stories, some of which are out of the I, Robot universe, but not all.
18. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
I think I saw something on the internet about there being some more interesting stuff in the books than made it into the movies, but I don't have the patience to read/sit through either any more. That's not fair, but I wasn't compelled to reread further.
19. Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait by K.A. Bedford
Interesting concept – time machine repairman roped into the war at the end of time which also features several versions of himself and his boss.
20. Trio for Blunt Instruments – Rex Stout
Three short Nero Wolfe mysteries – also good fun. Planning on reading more Stout as I hadn't before, though I have a feeling it'll feel rather formulaic after a while.
21. The King In Yellow and other stories of the Carcossa Mythos by Ambrose Bierce et al.
Interesting collection of stories that all make direct or oblique reference to a shadowy world of cosmic horror. While one of the stories is by Lovecraft, most predate HP's work. Recommended.
22. The Garden on Sunset by Martin Turnbull
Another first novel in a long series. This one introduces several characters who meet in the 20s at a residence hotel at (you guessed) the end of Sunset Blvd. Nice use of non-stereotypical characters. Very nice that one is gay and that his love or something like it is actually requited. I'm sure the later ones are probably worth digging into, but there are a lot of books to read and very little time.
23. Moonraker by Ian Fleming
Bears no resemblance to the movie, but this is true of most of the titles Fleming himself wrote. Enjoyable though. Good card game cheat. (We watched A View to a Kill a few day ago, and I have to say that Fleming's Bond is a lot more interesting than Roger Moore's. To me.
24. The Practice Effect by David Brin
I read this one back in college and recall being amused by it at the time. It's an 80s era fantasy with an implausible set up and Mary Sue characters, but an amusing beachside diversion.
25. Zen In The Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
Memoir cum writing manual. Nice to read in RB's own words how he came up with and executed The Martian Chronicles and Dandelion Wine (two of my favourite books).
26. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.
Better than the movie (which is very good, but very much of its time), very sweet, and a bit of a tear jerker.
27. Winds of Gath by E.C. Tubb
I think I grabbed this one because of a blog entry or some such – I'd never heard of the author before. Easy bit of 60s era sci fi pulp. There are literally dozens of books in the Gath saga, but the writing wasn't so good that I'm dying to follow it through.
28. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Finally opened this after a long weekend in Stockholm. It's been long enough since I've seen the David Fincher movie that I could enjoy it for its atmosphere and the actual story, though I wasn't far into it when I remembered who the actual done-it was. Still enjoyable. I've got all three in the original Millennium trilogy on the kindle. Will pick up the next sometime soon.
29. The Carpet Weaver of Isfahan by Shmuel Peretz
Interesting novel of a young Israeli soldier with PTSD who goes on a quest to find the creator of a small carpet his father inherited. While the story was interesting, the writing could have been much tighter and there were places where the author shied away from taking risks with his characters that would have made them richer.
30. Robot Megapack – various
Like all of the pulp Megapacks, there's good stuff and mediocre, but on the whole, it made for good midnight reading.
31. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
This has been on my reread list for ages. I must have been about 13 when I first read and read it again about 20 years ago – It holds up.
32. Lest Darkness Fall and related stories by L. Sprague de Camp
The main story about an American engineer who finds himself thrown back in time to the late Roman Empire is interesting and amusing in a Connecticut Yankee way. My favourite of the stories, however was the last, concerning a woman from the height of the empire who finds herself enmeshed with Romulus and Remus.
33. Darkest Hour by RM Churcher
This is the very good NaNoWriMo creation of a friend of mine. Stomps on my NaNo efforts – cogent and interesting dystopian YA goodness. Yeah, it's a first draft, but I'm quite excited to see where it goes.
34. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Sad and amusing anecdotes from Fisher's very interesting life. Definitely want to read more of her stuff. RIP Leia.
35. Murder On The Einstein Express and Other Stories by H. Slijak
I delved in and out of this one over the course of the year and I'm not sure whether I actually liked any of it. Purchased as part of a Humble Bundle hard science fiction offering a while back, I find that I didn't really like any of the stuff I read from that lot.
36. We are legion (We are Bob) by Dennis Taylor
This one was really good. AI created from 21st century brain kept in cryogenic suspension duplicates itself to find new planets for what's left of humanity after last war. Two thumbs up. Haven't moved on in the series. This one is subtitled Bobiverse Book 1.