new year's post & recap

first of all, happy new year! thanks for sticking around with me this year :)
anyway, since i do actually read, i wanted to make something of a book summary post, which is really difficult because i have pretty horrible memory most days. having said that, i've read a bunch of really great books this year! i think my favorite one is pale fire, which i actually just finished yesterday; might have a dedicated post to it some time soon? i think that i just really, really like more meta works like this, things that interact with and poke fun at its readers. i thought it excellently written and really, really funny, and i think it's among my top books maybe ever. i also am really enjoying the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy; i've finished the first book and am trying to make my way through the second. i think the comedy is really well done, and i've always been a fan of science fiction, so it's nice to see a comedic twist on that. i don't tend to reread books, so i don't think any of the books i've read so far have been rereads. with regards to books i liked but found to be not necessarily at favorite level, i think that a gesture life ranks somewhere around there. it was fresh and really, really engaging, and i loved the layers of complexity to the characters within the book. i'm also a fan of those sorts of bitter open endings where you know to expect something rather horrible. i've played a few games this year as well, more notably the hundred line, which i'm really fond of. i think that it's able to provoke a lot of character discussion, and i've found myself quite enamored by multiple characters, which is a real rarity for me. also, something i adored was the house of mirth. again, not sure if it's a favorite, but this was a really recent read and something i really adored; the writing was gorgeous and i was so very fond of lily. i'm sure there are more books i've read this year, and i haven't even counted books that i've started (like house of leaves and more recently the brothers karamazov), but this is a shorter recap post at its core, so it's no big deal.