Regarding your second point, this, so much this. I set a reading goal of forty books on my Goodreads account January this year, and I'm only at 22 so far...
What have you read this year? Same question goes for Dala.
Good point. Some of the things I read this year were longer or more technical than my typical sci-fi reads. Knitting is pretty cool but I think I still much prefer crochet. Anyway, not a full list, but here are some of the books that stood out that I read this year: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach Some of the Best from Tor.com 2014 Children of God by Mary Doris Russell I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum Currently I am reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Seen the movie, had a copy of the book on my shelf for awhile, finally decided to actually read it. Debating with myself on a goal number for next year. Probably going to make it 20, I read that many in 2015 but devoted a lot more time to crafting this year.
Hmm, let's see. This year I have read, among other things: The Outsider by Albert Camus. I greatly enjoyed this one, will probably pick a copy in the original French (even though my French is abysmal). Have a copy of The Plague sitting on my bookshelf which I will probably get to reading early next year. The Vegetarian by Han Kang. This one was... a little weird. It was a good kind of weird, but I don't think I will be in a mood to re-read it any time soon. How to Travel with a Salmon by Umberto Eco. This one is a small collection of his essays, read most of it while travelling to Britain this summer. A lot of hilarious bits. The Sellout by Paul Beatty. “It’s illegal to yell ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater, right?” “It is.” “Well, I’ve whispered ‘Racism’ in a post-racial world.” And right now, I am listening to an audiobook version of You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney, which seems alright so far. What about you?
I really enjoyed The Outsider, The Plague is also sitting on my bookshelf. I've also read The Myth of Sisyphus which is not a work of fiction, but a philosophical essay where he describes Absurdism. The ideas underlie the rest of his writing and as a work of philosophy it is very readable. I recommend it.
I'm finishing it out of spite at this point. It has become quite shit. Greg Bear's Moving Mars, which came out nine months before, and which won the Nebula the year Red Mars didn't, kicks the ever-loving shit out of it. However, Greg Bear made his point and moved on to other things while Kim Stanley Robinson beat a dead horse for another three books.