Reader Picks: Your favorite posts of 2016

As the year winds down, I always like to take a look back on the books that I read, and also the posts that my readers most enjoyed.

This year brought a serious uptick in views for this blog, particularly in the latter half, and for that, I thank everyone who is reading this right now. It also brought a very interesting list of reader picks.

This year's most viewed posts were not necessarily the big-name authors, though a few made it in. I reviewed a lot more self-published works, and many of those got quite a bit of traffic. There are a few authors who made the list twice, and the top pick is the most viewed post on this site since I switched over to the blogger format around 2007.

So, without further ado, here are the reviews that you had the most interest in for 2016:

10. "The Daylight War," by Peter V. Brett. Published June 10. So, finally, I'm caught up with Brett's series having read this one and "The Skull Throne" this year. I'm waiting on the next volume just like everyone else.

9. "Alice Cooper Vol. 1: Welcome to My Nightmare." Published March 22. This might be the surprise hit of the year for me. The book was given to me as a gift, and I didn't expect much traffic on the review, a rare crossover with my music blog. But apparently some folks out there still dig Alice.

8. "The Thief Who Spat in Luck's Good Eye," by Michael McClung. Published April 14. McClung is the first of two authors to have multiple entries on the list this year. The second volume in his Amra Thetys series checks in at No. 8.

7. "Bloodrush," by Ben Galley. Published March 16. My reviews of Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off books this year drew a lot of eyes. I really dig American West-themed fantasy, and apparently so do you guys.

6. "The Ballad of Black Tom," by Victor LaValle. Published August 3. This reinvention of H.P. Lovecraft from a different perspective was one of the more interesting and debatable pieces that I read this year.

5. "Road Brothers," by Mark Lawrence. Published April 4. This collection of short stories set in Lawrence's Broken Empire world is also the first of two works by him to be featured on this list.

4. "The Path of Flames," by Phil Tucker. Published September 19. My first review of a book by one of the finalists in the second SPFBO cracks the top 5 of the list, but Tucker's outstanding epic fantasy isn't the highest self-pubbed book here.

3. "Morning Star," by Pierce Brown. Published February 22. "Morning Star" was one of the most anticipated books for me in a long time, and it lived up to what I hoped. It appears I wasn't the only one interested.

2. "The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids," by Michael McClung. Published February 29. My first review of an SPFBO book was also one of my happiest discoveries of 2016. It is also, I believe, the most-viewed review of a self-published book from this blog.

1. "The Wheel of Osheim," by Mark Lawrence. Published July 28. And, finally, we're left with the reigning king of my site, at least this version of it. "The Wheel of Osheim" received almost twice as many views as the No. 2 book on this list, and eclipsed "Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life," the long-time reigning view leader on this blog, to become the top-viewed post ever.

So, there you have it, your favorite posts of the past year. Up next, I'll talk about my favorite reads of the past year.