SFFCat - Recommendations from the Year of Reading

Now that we are approaching year's end, I hope everyone who participated in this CAT will list their favorite reads from the year and include the category you read it for. I'll get things started.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (apocalypse/dystopia) -- probably one of my top reads of the year
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber (apocalypse/dystopia)
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin (mighty myths)
Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer (non-humans)
The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (supernatural/gothic) -- rereads and perennial faves
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (supernatural/gothic) -- another reread

I really enjoyed this CAT and I hope we can do it again sometime!

I've quite enjoyed my dipping into various SFFF types of books this year. I did miss one month - I had a really bad reading month in Oct, but managed to find things for all the other months. My favorites from this year were:

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (apocalypse/dystopia)
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (Girl Power)
The Children of God by Mary Doria Russell (Other Worlds) - sequel to The Sparrow
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (Time Travel)

I also took a few book bullets along the way and look forward to including them in my future reading.

I read several books by Connie Willis this year, and hope to read more.

>2 dudes22: I have read and loved all of those!

>3 MarthaJeanne: I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've read by Willis, although I did not read any of her books this year.

I loved participating in this CAT. I don't know why I haven't before.

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke - the classics

These books weren't read for the challenge but were fantastic:

The Martian by Andy Weir
The Siege Winter by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

This CAT was a struggle for me; science fiction is just not my genre. I'm so glad I found four books to enjoy that helped to keep me plugging along through this CAT.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis - The Classics
The City & the City, China Mieville - Apocalyptic, Dystopic
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis - Woman
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell - Other Worlds

These were my favourite SFF books of the year:

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Peripheral by William Gibson
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold

I read The Martian last year and I think that's why I joined the SFF CAT. I've read a few Harry Harrison books from my TBR, which have not all aged well. Redshirts was most fun, and I enjoyed Les lames du cardinal enough to go on with the series some time.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (May "Girl power") is among my top 5 books of the year. Others that stand out for the year are:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (January - "Other pasts")
The City & the City by China Mieville (March - "It's the end of the world as we know it")
Kindred by Octavia Butler (June - "Does anybody know what time it is?")
Ursula K. LeGuin's Catwings series (July - "Critters and creatures")
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (September - "Slightly out of whack")
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (October - "What was that?")

SFF is not my genre, and I'm pleased to have discovered so many enjoyable books and authors this year.

I loved this Cat and I also hope we do it again. Some of my top reads of the year will come from my SFFFCat reading:

Snow Child by Eowyn Ivery - "Slightly Out of Wack"
The Terrorists of Irustan by Louise Marley - "Girl Power"
The Lies of Locke LaMora by Scott Lyncy - "Off on a Quest"

I am very happy to see Station Eleven and The Martian mentioned a few times above as they are both in my next years' reading line-up!

I discovered this group mid-year, in time to reread a couple of my favorite "girl power" books:

The Pride of Chanur and Chanur's Venture by CJ Cherryh

This also was the year I finally tackled and enjoyed:

Cyteen by CJ Cherryh

And to complete the year, I tried a new-to-me author, Lois McMaster Bujold, and liked:

Falling Free
Shards of Honor

Now, two questions:

1. Is it SFFCAT or SFFFCAT? (I see both versions)

2. When is the 2016 thread going to be posted?

Hi Fuzzi, I am not sure of the proper name for this Cat - Science Fiction, Fantasy Cat (SFFCAT) or Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction Cat (SFFFCat). Both work. I usually go with the extra F cause I can't get my finger to stop pushing the F button. ;)

If you are looking for a 2016 SFFFCat - it didn't get voted in for next year but, (fingers crossed) it may make another appearance in 2017. Next years Cat Challenges will be the RandomCat, DeweyCat (Non-Fiction) and GeoCat (Global Reading). All threads for these topics are open now in the 2016 Category Challenge.

ETA: Corrected typing error and, year error! Thanks MarthaJeanne.

>12 DeltaQueen50: I'm going to have enough problems adjusting to 2016. Let's do that before starting 2017.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/2016categorychalleng

>11 fuzzi: >12 DeltaQueen50: The Dewey challenge is allowing fiction that fits the subjects covered in that month's Dewey range. It would be possible to read SFF for the Dewey challenge, assuming you can find a book with a theme that fits each month's Dewey range. For example, January's Dewey range is 000-099, computer science, information (including libraries) & general works, so books like A Discovery of Witches or The Strange Library would fit.

>11 fuzzi: >12 DeltaQueen50: On further thought, I believe the GeoCAT could also be used for SFF reading. For example, January's region is South America. SFF readers could choose books like One Hundred Years of Solitude or Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.

>12 DeltaQueen50: "If you are looking for a 2016 SFFFCat - it didn't get voted in for next year..."

WAAAAAH!!!!!!