My Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2019!

So this year I read 26,832 pages across 96 books. Many were classic and 60's Science Fiction but for this list I choose from the 40 new releases I read this year. So this doesn't really include any of the reading I did for the Dickheads Podcast, or the HUGO series we are working on. Just the new releases. Lots of cool books I think you should check out. Please check out these books and consider my latest science fiction novel Goddamn Killing Machines from Clash Books.

Number Ten:

Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates

This book is very much a reaction to modern political issues and the Trump era it is not as direct as some might suspect. If forced to make comparisons I would say it is part Handmaid's Tale and part Philip K Dick's Time out of Joint. It is easy at times reading this book to miss the sheer levels of genius at work, and this lends itself to thinking about it long after you close it for the last time. This is the first top ten read of the year contender and certainly a book I highly recommend it for my readers.

Number Nine:

Snow Over Utopia by Rudolfo A. Serna

a cool story that is the essence of why we need the small press. This is a novel that the major publishers would never touch, from the short length to the blacker than black tone it needed a smaller press. Without the co-sign of a gatekeeper like Apex publishing, I might not have bothered to check it out. Yeah, it sounded super cool but if it was self-published without the flag of Apex flying over it I might not have ever checked it out. I am super glad I did because holy hell this is a badass book. I not only suggest you buy/read it but I think you should make a play list of stoner and doom metal and putting it on shuffle while you read will greatly improve your experience.

NumberEight:

Pax Americana by Kurt Baumeister

Baumeister is clearly influenced by another Kurt. The guy who wrote equally placed his tongue in cheek for speculative satire like Cat's Cradle. I know that is a very highly intense comparison but it is not made lightly. Fans of Vonnegut's humorous sci-fi, he may not have wanted to be called Sci-fi but let us not get snobby now. This will be a Dick Like Suggestion on Dickheads. PKD was underrated for his humor, and one of the things that makes this book fun is the moments that make you chuckle. This is not a book filled with jokes just plenty of weird offbeat things that will give you laughs. I mean the program in the book called Symmetra is not that far removed from the infamous pink laser beam. But the most PKD thing about this book is the America in this book is one that is just slightly different.

Number Seven:

A Dog Between Us By Duncan Barlow

A Dog Between Us is a novel soaking with emotional richness driven by raw and heartfelt prose. This is the type of novel that leaves you wondering how much of this is autobiographical? There are moments of gut-wrenching grief that is so powerful it is like an emotional knife's edge. The story jumps back in forth between touching and heartfelt love, clumsy disregard of youth and adult reflection. On the surface, this doesn't sound like my type of book. An experimental character-driven story with no genre elements but grief and a feeling of dread through-out.

Number Six:

Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson

Evenson has quickly become one of my favorite working authors, and his work is a must-read, I mean all of it. I read a few of these before they were collected. There is something about reading Evenson stories collected. I hang on every word, each story is strong. If you are not reading Evenson you are missing one of the best weird fiction voices.

Number Five:

Unraveling by Karen lord

This is a fun read with magical portals, city-sized psychic labyrinths, Angels, shape-shifting immortal beings, killers and a murder mystery at the heart of journey through a universe with a Physics-based on memory opposed to what we think of as natural science. The weird landscape makes for a really inventive environment that plays with what is real in our memory and the flexible nature of time. In some ways, I thought of this book as a cross between Leguin Lathe of Heaven and the David Fincher movie Seven.

Number Four:

The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin: Edited by Lisa Yaszek

The concept is simple starting with Claire Winger Harris and a story called 'The Miracle of the Lilly' and ending with A Ursala K Leguin Story Called 'Nine Lives'. That takes the reader through the evolution of the pulp era from 1928 to 1969. Anyone interested in the classic pulp era and the history of women in it should read this book. The way it follows the progressive of the genre gives it an interesting edge. This book is more than just another anthology, it is an important historical document that happens to have more than 20 stand-out works of bold science fiction. It should be taught in MFA programs but sadly I think it will be overlooked just like the contribution of the many women in the genre. Check out my Dickheads podcast interview with Lisa about this amazing book.

Number Three:

The Song my Enemies Sing by James Reich

Many of this novel's most captivating moments are set on Mars, not the one in our solar system but the preserved in the amber of the imagination of the past. It might not be for everyone but if you love the genre I think there is a good chance you will dig this one too. During the war in Vietnam, a general was famously quoted as saying they had to burn down a village to save it. Did Reich destroy Science Fiction or honor it? I think he honored it. This book challenges modern science fiction embracing the traditions of the past. Many modern novels get compared to Ballard, Brunner, Leguin or Dick, but few embody those traditions like the Songs My Enemies Sing. It is a masterpiece. I don't say that lightly.

Number two:

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This is How You Lose The Time War is a novel about two post-human women who are agents on the competing sides of a war being fought across space and time. Twists and turns remain but this book is equally romantic and beautiful as it is thought-provoking and jaw-dropping. The prose is lyrical and it often feels like you are getting to read love letters. While never losing the concept these beautiful letters are peppered with high concept and world-building nuggets. They are pretty but they drive the narrative every time. Give them all the awards. Except the PKD award that should go to my personal favorite of 2019...

Number One:

Unamerica by Cody Goodfellow

This novel explores religion, drugs, capitalism, social Darwinism, and probably more I didn't catch. It is a lot to take in but it is OK because Goodfellow fills the 436 pages with texture and swag.Goodfellow is one of the smartest writers of my generation and it is impossible for me to read his work without marveling at his skill, intelligence, and ability on page after page. Unamerica is the best thing I have read this year and I have read a few masterpieces already. This is a must-read for fans of weird fiction that lives on the border of science fiction and Horror. Goodfellow's most assured work is a dystopia not to miss. I hope the people behind the Philip K Dick award pay attention as it is worthy.