So, I'm starting 2011 off the way I ended 2010. . . behind on my schedule. Sigh.
But at least the holidays, even if they slowed my life to a trickle, allowed me to read a bunch of books.

December Books read:
Amazon Ink - Lori Devoti
Dogs & Goddesses - Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, Lani Diane Rich
Legacies - Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill
The Demon & the City - Liz Williams
Exit Strategy - Kelley Armstrong
Warrior - Zoe Archer
Bayou Moon - Ilona Andrews
Scoundrel - Zoe Archer
Spellbent - Lucy Snyder
Shotgun Sorcererss - Lucy Snyder
Waking Evil - Kylie Brant
Rebel - Zoe Archer

Out of that lot, my clear favorite was Spellbent.

For the year?

My Faves read in 2010

Mike Carey: THICKER THAN WATER. Fourth book in the Fix Castor, exorcist, series and a game changer. Great read. I am very very sad he seems to have come to the end of the Felix Castor books. In this case, five is not enough.

KJ Parker's PURPLE AND BLACK. Novella with a punch told in correspondence between a general and his emperor. Beautiful writing. Wry and tragic at the same time.

Gemma Files' A BOOK OF TONGUES. Amazing writing. Amazing imagery. Amazing characters.

Cody McFadyen's FACE OF DEATH. A super-intense serial killer novel about an FBI unit. It's first person, present tense, usually things I can't stand, but man, it works here. Book 2 in the series, but I didn't read book 1 and had no trouble keeping up.

John Connolly's THE UNQUIET. A book in the Charlie Parker series that blurs the line between Noir and Horror. I loved it.

Ilona Andrews' ON THE EDGE. Started off a little rocky for me; I was expecting more mystery, less romance, but once I settled into it, a great read. It's almost a Cinderella story. And I loved the hero for being a white knight.

Val McDermid's A DISTANT ECHO. Even when the mystery unravels--easy to figure out--the writing never falters. The characterization and the aftermath of a murder carries the book on.

Mark Hodder's BURTON AND SWINBOURNE IN THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF SPRING HEELED JACK. My guiltiest pleasure. I loved this book. It's a mishmash of EVERYTHING. Time-travel, steampunk, mad science, murder mystery. It's a love it or hate it book.

Lucy Snyder's SPELLBENT. Awesome start to a series. It's crazy fast-paced and inventive and has a great lead character.

And a sort of runner up. Mark Charan Newton's NIGHTS OF VILLJAMUR. I read it, I enjoyed parts of it immensely. I foamed with rage at the inexplicable incompetence & idiocy of the heroines. Ultimately though, I can't stop thinking about what happens next, so I guess that makes it included in the books of the year.