Book List 2007, with Commentary
I read 135 books in 2007. 55 were graphic novels, leaving 80 'real' books.
Here's the full list. * Indicates a graphic novel.
Simon Green - Hawk & Fisher: Guard Against Dishonor - 1/01
Max Brooks - World War Z - 1/03
Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre - Freedom at Midnight - 1/05
*Jeff Smith - Bone, V.4: The Dragonslayer - 1/07
Jaspar Fforde - The Fourth Bear - 1/10
*Jeff Smith - Bone, V.5: Rock Jaw, Master of the Eastern Border - 1/14
Jaspar Fforde - Something Rotten - 1/19
Bill Simmons - Now I Can Die in Peace - 1/20
The Doors - The Doors - 1/28
Neil Gaiman - Fragile Things - 2/01
Bapsi Sidhwa - Cracking India - 2/03
Greg Keyes - The Blood Knight - 2/04
Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper - Building Harlequin's Moon - 2/06
*Stan Lee - Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating the DC Universe v.3 - 2/12
David Kamp & Lawrence Levy - The Film Snob*s Dictionary - 2/13
David Kamp & Steven Daly - The Rock Snob*s Dictionary - 2/14
Noel Botham - The Book of Useless Information - 2/14
Terry Pratchett - Monstrous Regiment - 2/16
Barack Obama - Dream From My Father - 2/18
*Marvel - What If? Mirror Mirror - 2/25
Orson Scott Card - Magic Street - 2/28
Kenneth C. David - Don't Know Much About the Bible - 3/08
Joe Haldeman - Old Twentieth - 3/09
David Gemmell - The Swords of Night and Day - 3/31
Phillip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle - 4/05
Jerry Pournelle - The Mercenary - 4/07
Eliot Ness w/Oscar Fraley - The Untouchables - 4/08
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War - 4/08
Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev - *DareDevil: The Murdock Papers - 4/14
Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark - *DareDevil: The Devil, Inside and Out v.1 - 4/14
David Lapham - *DareDevil vs Punisher: Means And Ends - 4/14
Charles Mercer - Legion of Strangers - R 4/19
Vicki Leigh - Uppity Women of Medieval Times - T 5/01
Simon Green - Hawk & Fisher: Wolf in the Fold - F 5/04
Simon Green - Hawk & Fisher: The Bones of Haven - S 5/05
Simon Green - Something from the Nightside - S 5/05
Cornelius Ryan - The Last Battle - M 5/07
Malcolm Gladwell - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - R 5/10
S.E. Hinton - Some of Tim's Stories - Su 5/13
Gentry Lee - Tranquility Wars - M 5/14
*Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo - Lex Luthor: Man of Steel - S 5/19
David Weber - Bolo! - S 5/19
Robert Lacey - Great Tales From English History v.2 - T 5/22
Robert Lacey - Great Tales From English History v.3 - R 5/24
Bill Maher - When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden - M 5/28
Ian Toll - Six Frigates - M 5/28
Neil Gaiman - Smoke & Mirrors - S 6/02
Bary Rubin & Judith Colp Rubin - Hating America - M 6/04
R.A. Salvatore - Road of the Patriarch - Su 6/09
Poul Anderson - Orion Shall Rise - F 6/15
Martin Greenberg & Ed Gorman (editors) - The Best of the American West - W 6/20
*Frank Miller & Lynn Varley - 300 - R 6/28
*Brian Vaughan, Pia Guerra & Jose Marzan Jr - Y The Last Man: Unmanned - Su 7/01
*Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon & Scott A. Keating - Elk's Run - M 7/02
Robet Kagan - Dangerous Nation - R 7/12
*Richard K. Morgan, Bill Sienkiewicz & Sean Phillips - Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her...
*Gayle Simone - Birds of Prey: The Battle Within
*Gayle Simone - Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student
*Paul Pope & Joe Villarrubia - Batman: Year 100
*Roy Thomas & John Buscema - Conan v.8: Brothers of the Blade & Other Stories
*Orson Scott Card & Andy Kubert - Ultimate Iron Man
*Grayson, Gulacy, Palmiotti, Kronenberg - Year One: Batman / Ra's Al Ghul
*Geoff Johns - Hawkman: Wing of Fury
Orson Scott Card - Shadow of the Giant - Su 7/29
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - M 7/30
Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore - F 8/03
Phillip Pullman - The Golden Compass - R 8/16
Phillip Pullman - The Subtle Knife - S 8/18
Phillip Pullman - The Amber Spyglass - W 8/29
Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre - O Jerusalem! - R 8/23
Charles Whiting - The Hunt for Martin Bormann - S 8/25
Helen Epstein - Children of the Holocaust - Su 8/26
Rick Yancey - The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp - M 8/27
Robert Kirkman - The Walking Dead, v.2 (HC) - T 8/28
Richard Matheson - Duel: Terror Stories By Richard Matheson - S 9/01
Stacy Schiff - A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France & the Birth of America - Su 9/02
Stoney Compton - Russian Amerika - T 9/04
H.P. Lovecraft - The Dream Cycle of HP Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror & Death - W 9/05
*Brian Michael Bendis - Ultimate Spiderman v.1 - S 9/08
*Joe Casey & Chris Weston - Fantastic Four: First Family - S 9/08
*Mike Mignola - Hellboy: Strange Places - S 9/08
Joel Rosenberg - Paladins - T 9/11
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Sharing Knife: Legacy - R 9/13
Alan Campbell - Scar Night - F 9/14
*Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark - DareDevil: The Devil, Inside and Out v.2 - S 9/22
*Bilson, Demeo & Lashley - The Flash: Lightning in a Bottle - Su 9/23
*Brian Michael Bendis and Gabrielle Dell'otto - Secret War - M 9/24
Jared Diamond - Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - T 9/25
John Ringo - Kildar - R 9/27
Craig Clevenger - Dermaphoria - F 9/28
Mark Bowden - Guests of the Ayatollah - S 10/06
Tobias Buckell - Ragamuffin - S 10/06
Orson Scott Card - Empire - R 10/11
Joe R. Lansdale - Flaming London - F 10/12
*Brian Michael Bendis - Ultimate Spiderman v.12 - S 10/13
*Ed Brubaker & Mike Perkins - Captain America: Red Menace - M 10/14
R.A Salvatore - The Thousand Orcs - T 10/15
R.A Salvatore - The Lone Drow - W 10/16
Stephen King - The Colorado Kid - R 10/18
R.A Salvatore - The Two Swords - Su 10/21
Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation - W 10/24
*J. Michael Straczynski & Tommy Lee Edwards - Bullet Points - S 10/27
*Steve Niles & Scott Hampton - Batman: Gotham County Line - Su 10/28
*Joss Whedon & John Cassady - Astonishing X-Men - M 10/29
*(assorted) - The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told v.2 - T 10/30
Giles Carwyn & Todd Fahnestock - Heir of Autumn - S 11/03
*Paul Dini - Batman Detective - Su 11/04
*Gray, Palmiotti & Evans - Daughters of the Dragon - Su 11/04
*Sam Keith - Batman Secrets - M 11/05
Ali Ansari - Confronting Iran - W 11/07
*Harvey Pekar & Dean Haspiel - Quitter - S 11/10
Jasper Fforde - First Among Sequels - F 11/16
Stephen King - Lisey's Story - Su 11/18
Warren Ellis - Crooked Little Vein - T 11/21
*Mike Carey & Peter Gross - Lucifer: Crux - Su 11/25
*Mike Carey & Peter Gross - Lucifer: Morningstar - Su 11/25
*Mike Carey & Peter Gross - Lucifer: Evensong - Su 11/25
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Unmanned - S 12/1
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Cycles - S 12/1
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: One Small Step - S 12/1
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Safeword - S 12/1
Nancy Price - Sleeping With the Enemy - W 12/5
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Ring of Truth - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Girl on Girl - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Paper Dolls - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Kimono Dragons - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Motherland - Su 12/9
Terry Brooks - The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch - Su 12/16
Terry Brooks - The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Antrax - M 12/17
*Mark Verheiden & Mark Nelson - Aliens: Outbreak - M 12/17
*Mark Verheiden & Den Beauvis - Aliens: Nightmare Asylum - T 12/18
*Mark Verheiden & Sam Kieth - Aliens: Female War - T 12/18
Terry Brooks - The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Morgawr - R 12/19
Michael Baden - Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner - Su 12/23
Giles Carwyn & Todd Fahnestock - Mistress of Winter - S 12/29
Some highlights and lowlights, in no particular order:
I read Heir of Autumn and Mistress of Winter by Carwyn & Fahnestock. These are the first two books in one of the more imaginative fantasy series I've read lately. It's not world class, but there's enough there to keep me coming back. On the other side of the fantasy coin, the R.A. Salvatore books showed that Drizzt Do'Urden has jumped the shark and now has gone from spawning cliches to being a cliche. Similarly, I went back to Terry Brooks after a long time away, only to find that three books of "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara", while worth reading, were not anywhere near his prior levels of skill. And the three books of Pullman's "His Dark Materials" were not all that hot at all; I don't much see the fuss. Fortunately, that Harry Potter thing panned out; that one might have a future :-)
On the scifi front, I finally read both Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" and Phillip Dick's "Man in the High Castle". I enjoyed the former much more than the latter, but both were good. "World War Z", as I've written previously, is an awesome, awesome zombie book. I'm curious to see if Max Brooks can write something that isn't zombie related.
The nine volumes of "Y: The Last Man" that I read are, as I have written, one of the more brilliant comics I've read lately. The last 3 volumes of "Lucifer" sputtered to a pedestrian ending. Jeff Smith's "Bone" is a lot of fun. I need to read the rest of them, which probably means a trip to the store. The first novel by long time comic writer Warren Ellis was more of the same brand of insanity that made "Transmetropolitan" so much fun. Unfortunately, "Crooked Little Vein" was so much more of the same that it felt largely unoriginal, and I can only recommend it to Ellis diehards.
Ali Ansari's "Confronting Iran" and Mark Bowden's "Guest of the Ayatollah" were more than enough to depress me with regards to America's relationship with Iran. Continuing with non-fiction, Ian Toll's "Six Frigates" was an enjoyable history of the beginning of the American navy, but Stacy Schiff's write up of Ben Franklin "A Great Improvisation" really dragged after a strong start. Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" was fascinating.
Stephen King got noirish for "The Colorado Kid", which presented a lovely little mystery with very little in the way of resolution. I liked it. Craig Clevenger's second novel, "Dermaphobia" is much better than his first one - and I liked "The Contortionists Handbook" plenty. Sort of like the movie Memento, with way better drugs. And finally, "Kafka on the Shore" proved that I need to read more Murakami. Like I didn't know that already.
Here's the full list. * Indicates a graphic novel.
Simon Green - Hawk & Fisher: Guard Against Dishonor - 1/01
Max Brooks - World War Z - 1/03
Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre - Freedom at Midnight - 1/05
*Jeff Smith - Bone, V.4: The Dragonslayer - 1/07
Jaspar Fforde - The Fourth Bear - 1/10
*Jeff Smith - Bone, V.5: Rock Jaw, Master of the Eastern Border - 1/14
Jaspar Fforde - Something Rotten - 1/19
Bill Simmons - Now I Can Die in Peace - 1/20
The Doors - The Doors - 1/28
Neil Gaiman - Fragile Things - 2/01
Bapsi Sidhwa - Cracking India - 2/03
Greg Keyes - The Blood Knight - 2/04
Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper - Building Harlequin's Moon - 2/06
*Stan Lee - Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating the DC Universe v.3 - 2/12
David Kamp & Lawrence Levy - The Film Snob*s Dictionary - 2/13
David Kamp & Steven Daly - The Rock Snob*s Dictionary - 2/14
Noel Botham - The Book of Useless Information - 2/14
Terry Pratchett - Monstrous Regiment - 2/16
Barack Obama - Dream From My Father - 2/18
*Marvel - What If? Mirror Mirror - 2/25
Orson Scott Card - Magic Street - 2/28
Kenneth C. David - Don't Know Much About the Bible - 3/08
Joe Haldeman - Old Twentieth - 3/09
David Gemmell - The Swords of Night and Day - 3/31
Phillip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle - 4/05
Jerry Pournelle - The Mercenary - 4/07
Eliot Ness w/Oscar Fraley - The Untouchables - 4/08
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War - 4/08
Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev - *DareDevil: The Murdock Papers - 4/14
Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark - *DareDevil: The Devil, Inside and Out v.1 - 4/14
David Lapham - *DareDevil vs Punisher: Means And Ends - 4/14
Charles Mercer - Legion of Strangers - R 4/19
Vicki Leigh - Uppity Women of Medieval Times - T 5/01
Simon Green - Hawk & Fisher: Wolf in the Fold - F 5/04
Simon Green - Hawk & Fisher: The Bones of Haven - S 5/05
Simon Green - Something from the Nightside - S 5/05
Cornelius Ryan - The Last Battle - M 5/07
Malcolm Gladwell - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - R 5/10
S.E. Hinton - Some of Tim's Stories - Su 5/13
Gentry Lee - Tranquility Wars - M 5/14
*Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo - Lex Luthor: Man of Steel - S 5/19
David Weber - Bolo! - S 5/19
Robert Lacey - Great Tales From English History v.2 - T 5/22
Robert Lacey - Great Tales From English History v.3 - R 5/24
Bill Maher - When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden - M 5/28
Ian Toll - Six Frigates - M 5/28
Neil Gaiman - Smoke & Mirrors - S 6/02
Bary Rubin & Judith Colp Rubin - Hating America - M 6/04
R.A. Salvatore - Road of the Patriarch - Su 6/09
Poul Anderson - Orion Shall Rise - F 6/15
Martin Greenberg & Ed Gorman (editors) - The Best of the American West - W 6/20
*Frank Miller & Lynn Varley - 300 - R 6/28
*Brian Vaughan, Pia Guerra & Jose Marzan Jr - Y The Last Man: Unmanned - Su 7/01
*Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon & Scott A. Keating - Elk's Run - M 7/02
Robet Kagan - Dangerous Nation - R 7/12
*Richard K. Morgan, Bill Sienkiewicz & Sean Phillips - Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her...
*Gayle Simone - Birds of Prey: The Battle Within
*Gayle Simone - Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student
*Paul Pope & Joe Villarrubia - Batman: Year 100
*Roy Thomas & John Buscema - Conan v.8: Brothers of the Blade & Other Stories
*Orson Scott Card & Andy Kubert - Ultimate Iron Man
*Grayson, Gulacy, Palmiotti, Kronenberg - Year One: Batman / Ra's Al Ghul
*Geoff Johns - Hawkman: Wing of Fury
Orson Scott Card - Shadow of the Giant - Su 7/29
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - M 7/30
Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore - F 8/03
Phillip Pullman - The Golden Compass - R 8/16
Phillip Pullman - The Subtle Knife - S 8/18
Phillip Pullman - The Amber Spyglass - W 8/29
Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre - O Jerusalem! - R 8/23
Charles Whiting - The Hunt for Martin Bormann - S 8/25
Helen Epstein - Children of the Holocaust - Su 8/26
Rick Yancey - The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp - M 8/27
Robert Kirkman - The Walking Dead, v.2 (HC) - T 8/28
Richard Matheson - Duel: Terror Stories By Richard Matheson - S 9/01
Stacy Schiff - A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France & the Birth of America - Su 9/02
Stoney Compton - Russian Amerika - T 9/04
H.P. Lovecraft - The Dream Cycle of HP Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror & Death - W 9/05
*Brian Michael Bendis - Ultimate Spiderman v.1 - S 9/08
*Joe Casey & Chris Weston - Fantastic Four: First Family - S 9/08
*Mike Mignola - Hellboy: Strange Places - S 9/08
Joel Rosenberg - Paladins - T 9/11
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Sharing Knife: Legacy - R 9/13
Alan Campbell - Scar Night - F 9/14
*Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark - DareDevil: The Devil, Inside and Out v.2 - S 9/22
*Bilson, Demeo & Lashley - The Flash: Lightning in a Bottle - Su 9/23
*Brian Michael Bendis and Gabrielle Dell'otto - Secret War - M 9/24
Jared Diamond - Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - T 9/25
John Ringo - Kildar - R 9/27
Craig Clevenger - Dermaphoria - F 9/28
Mark Bowden - Guests of the Ayatollah - S 10/06
Tobias Buckell - Ragamuffin - S 10/06
Orson Scott Card - Empire - R 10/11
Joe R. Lansdale - Flaming London - F 10/12
*Brian Michael Bendis - Ultimate Spiderman v.12 - S 10/13
*Ed Brubaker & Mike Perkins - Captain America: Red Menace - M 10/14
R.A Salvatore - The Thousand Orcs - T 10/15
R.A Salvatore - The Lone Drow - W 10/16
Stephen King - The Colorado Kid - R 10/18
R.A Salvatore - The Two Swords - Su 10/21
Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation - W 10/24
*J. Michael Straczynski & Tommy Lee Edwards - Bullet Points - S 10/27
*Steve Niles & Scott Hampton - Batman: Gotham County Line - Su 10/28
*Joss Whedon & John Cassady - Astonishing X-Men - M 10/29
*(assorted) - The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told v.2 - T 10/30
Giles Carwyn & Todd Fahnestock - Heir of Autumn - S 11/03
*Paul Dini - Batman Detective - Su 11/04
*Gray, Palmiotti & Evans - Daughters of the Dragon - Su 11/04
*Sam Keith - Batman Secrets - M 11/05
Ali Ansari - Confronting Iran - W 11/07
*Harvey Pekar & Dean Haspiel - Quitter - S 11/10
Jasper Fforde - First Among Sequels - F 11/16
Stephen King - Lisey's Story - Su 11/18
Warren Ellis - Crooked Little Vein - T 11/21
*Mike Carey & Peter Gross - Lucifer: Crux - Su 11/25
*Mike Carey & Peter Gross - Lucifer: Morningstar - Su 11/25
*Mike Carey & Peter Gross - Lucifer: Evensong - Su 11/25
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Unmanned - S 12/1
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Cycles - S 12/1
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: One Small Step - S 12/1
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Safeword - S 12/1
Nancy Price - Sleeping With the Enemy - W 12/5
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Ring of Truth - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Girl on Girl - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Paper Dolls - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Kimono Dragons - Su 12/9
*Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y The Last Man: Motherland - Su 12/9
Terry Brooks - The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch - Su 12/16
Terry Brooks - The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Antrax - M 12/17
*Mark Verheiden & Mark Nelson - Aliens: Outbreak - M 12/17
*Mark Verheiden & Den Beauvis - Aliens: Nightmare Asylum - T 12/18
*Mark Verheiden & Sam Kieth - Aliens: Female War - T 12/18
Terry Brooks - The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Morgawr - R 12/19
Michael Baden - Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner - Su 12/23
Giles Carwyn & Todd Fahnestock - Mistress of Winter - S 12/29
Some highlights and lowlights, in no particular order:
I read Heir of Autumn and Mistress of Winter by Carwyn & Fahnestock. These are the first two books in one of the more imaginative fantasy series I've read lately. It's not world class, but there's enough there to keep me coming back. On the other side of the fantasy coin, the R.A. Salvatore books showed that Drizzt Do'Urden has jumped the shark and now has gone from spawning cliches to being a cliche. Similarly, I went back to Terry Brooks after a long time away, only to find that three books of "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara", while worth reading, were not anywhere near his prior levels of skill. And the three books of Pullman's "His Dark Materials" were not all that hot at all; I don't much see the fuss. Fortunately, that Harry Potter thing panned out; that one might have a future :-)
On the scifi front, I finally read both Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" and Phillip Dick's "Man in the High Castle". I enjoyed the former much more than the latter, but both were good. "World War Z", as I've written previously, is an awesome, awesome zombie book. I'm curious to see if Max Brooks can write something that isn't zombie related.
The nine volumes of "Y: The Last Man" that I read are, as I have written, one of the more brilliant comics I've read lately. The last 3 volumes of "Lucifer" sputtered to a pedestrian ending. Jeff Smith's "Bone" is a lot of fun. I need to read the rest of them, which probably means a trip to the store. The first novel by long time comic writer Warren Ellis was more of the same brand of insanity that made "Transmetropolitan" so much fun. Unfortunately, "Crooked Little Vein" was so much more of the same that it felt largely unoriginal, and I can only recommend it to Ellis diehards.
Ali Ansari's "Confronting Iran" and Mark Bowden's "Guest of the Ayatollah" were more than enough to depress me with regards to America's relationship with Iran. Continuing with non-fiction, Ian Toll's "Six Frigates" was an enjoyable history of the beginning of the American navy, but Stacy Schiff's write up of Ben Franklin "A Great Improvisation" really dragged after a strong start. Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" was fascinating.
Stephen King got noirish for "The Colorado Kid", which presented a lovely little mystery with very little in the way of resolution. I liked it. Craig Clevenger's second novel, "Dermaphobia" is much better than his first one - and I liked "The Contortionists Handbook" plenty. Sort of like the movie Memento, with way better drugs. And finally, "Kafka on the Shore" proved that I need to read more Murakami. Like I didn't know that already.