2009 Book Summary
Books read in 2009 - 116.
Number of those that were graphic novels - 29 (marked by * in the master list that follows).
I did not count 're-reads'.
Now, if you compare the raw numbers to 2008 or 2007, it would appear that I'm slipping. After all, 116 is a lot less than 159 or 135. But a closer breakdown shows that if you exclude graphic novels, my 2009 total of 87 was on par with the last two years. So why'd I read so many fewer graphic novels? This had a lot to do with last year's list, where I realized that I was reading a lot of comic crap just because the library had it. So I stopped doing that, or at least I did it a lot less.
So if I read fewer graphic novels, how come my total count didn't go up? This was in part because of my 2009 book resolution:
-------------------------------
[1] I will read one at least one 'classic' book per month, classic being defined as "most everybody has heard of it, and few have read it." January will be Jane Eyre. All Quiet on the Western Front will be February. I'll happily take suggestions for the remaining months.
Completed. I've marked the ones that are I feel are generally considered great with italics.
[2] I will read/re-read one play by Shakespeare each month.
I read 7 plays, which is one every other month. Acceptable success. Also italicized.
[3] I will read more poetry, possibly out loud.
Nope. In fact, when I hit Shakespeare's poetry in the collected works the whole thing ground to a stop. Oh well.
-------------------------------
On balance, I kept this resolution very well. And as it turns out, when you read books that aren't in your usual reading habits, it takes longer to read them; hence my shorter apparently shorter list.
Charlaine Harris - From Dead to Worse - S 1/03
William Shakespeare - The Two Gentleman of Verona - W 1/07
Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre - W 1/14
Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist - W 1/14
Paulo Coelho - Veronika Decides to Die - R 1/15
*Jim Pascoe & Rick Lacy - Hellboy Animated: The Black Wedding - S 1/17
Mike Mignola and others - The Hellboy Companion - Su 1/18
Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin - W 1/21
Walter Mosley - The Right Mistake - M 1/26
Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture - R 1/29
David Weber - Off Armageddon Reef - S 1/31
Jeff Carlson - Plague War - M 2/02
*Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez - Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft - T 2/03
Andrew Holtz - The Medical Science of House, M.D. - W 2/04
*Various - Myspace Dark Horse Presents v.1 - W 2/04
*Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson - Fury: Peacemaker - S 2/06
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five - S 2/07
*Robin Furth, Peter David, Jae Lee, Richard Isanove - The Dark Tower: The Long Walk Home - Su 2/08
Paul Austin - Something For the Pain - M 2/09
Laurell K. Hamilton - The Laughing Corpse - T 2/10
Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front - W 2/11
*Brett Booth, Stacie M. Ritchie, Jess Ruffner-Booth - Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures - S 2/14
William Shakespeare - The Taming of the Shrew - Su 2/15
Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward - All the President's Men - F 2/20
*Will Pfeifer, David Lopez, Alvaro Lopez - Catwoman: Crime Pays - S 2/21
Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl - T 3/03
Ernest Hemingway - A Farewell to Arms - M 3/09
*Will Eisner - The Spirit: Femmes Fatales - S 3/14
*Edited by Kazu Kibuishi - Flight, v.4 - W 3/25
Catherynne M. Valente - Palimpsest - W 3/25
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Sharing Knife: Horizon - T 3/31
Kurt Vonnegut - Player Piano - W 4/01
John Grisham - Bleachers - S 4/04
*Various - Batman: Joker's Asylum - S 4/04
*Jamie Delano - Hellblazer: The Fear Machine - S 4/04
Simon R. Green - Just Another Judgement Day - M 4/06
David Weber - By Schism Rent Asunder - M 4/06
Laurel K. Hamilton - Strange Candy - Su 4/12
Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea - Su 4/19
Terry Brooks - The Gypsy Morph - Su 4/26
John Hersey - Hiroshima - M 4/27
William Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 2 - T 4/28
William Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 3 [Richard, Duke of York] - Su 5/03
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.1 - W 5/06
Stephen King - Just After Sunset - F 5/08
David Drake - Balefires - M 5/11
Joe Haldeman - Forever Peace - Su 5/17
Alan Weisman - The World Without Us - M 5/18
Various - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey - T 5/19
Travis Heermann - Heart of the Ronin - S 5/23
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.2 - T 5/26
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.3 - W 5/27
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.4 - W 5/27
William Shakespeare - Titus Andronicus - R 5/28
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men - F 5/29
David Shirley - The History of Rock and Roll - M 6/01
James Patterson & Leopoldo Gout - Daniel X: Alien Hunter - S 6/06
Jerry Stahl - Pain Killers - Su 6/07
Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris - Ex Machina, v.1: The First 100 Days - M 6/08
Max Brooks - The Zombie Survival Guide - T 6/16
Edward Kritzler - Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean - Su 6/21
Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods - R 6/25
Kevin and Jackie Freiberg - Boom! 7 Choices For Blowing the Doors Off Business-As-Usual - Su 6/28
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.5 - S 7/04
Robert Galen - Scrum Product Ownership - F 7/10
Rick Smolan & David Elliot Cohen - Dogs 24/7 - Su 7/12
Stuart Wood - Orchid Beach - M 7/13
John P. Kotter - Leading Change - F 7/17
Tom Robbins - Jitterbug Perfume - T 7/21
James Alan Gardner - Expendable - S 7/25
*Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson - The Boys: The Name of the Game - F 7/31
*Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson - The Boys: Get Some - F 7/31
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief - Su 8/09
Margaret Atwood - Wilderness Tips - S 8/22
Jon Savage - England's Dreaming, Revised Edition: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond - T 8/25
Arthur Goldwag - Cults, Conspiracies & Secret Societies - S 8/29
Clive Cussler & Dirk Cussler - Arctic Drift - M 8/31
Peter David - Fall of Knight - F 9/04
L.E. Modesti, Jr - The Towers of the Sunset - Su 9/06
Margaret Atwood - The Penelopiad - M 9/07
Charlaine Harris - Dead and Gone - S 9/12
Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith - Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - T 9/15
Jared Diamond - Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality - F 9/18
Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffanys - Su 9/20
William Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 1 - Su 9/27
Bill Bryson - Shakespeare: The World as Stage - R 9/24
Johanna Rothman & Esther Derby - Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management - Su 9/27
Brian Priestley - Chasin' the Bird: The Life & Legacy of Charlie Parker - Su 10/04
Wendy Shalit - A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue - S 10/10
William Shakespeare - Richard III - M 10/12
Paulo Coehlo - The Witch of Portobello - Su 10/18
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything - T 10/20
Harry Turtledove - Ruled Britannia - F 10/23
Haruki Murakami - South of the Border, West of the Sun - T 10/27
*Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka - DareDevil: Cruel & Unusual - W 10/28
*Matt Fraction & Salvador Larooca - Iron Man: The Five Nightmares - R 10/29
*Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker - Iron Fist: The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven - F 10/30
*Andy Diggle, Leonardo Manco, Daniel Zezelj - Hellblazer: The Laughing Magician - S 10/31
Kyle Cassidy - Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes - S 11/07
Glenn Kay - Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide - Su 11/08
Eoin Colfer - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 6: And Another Thing... - T 11/10
*Various - Indiana Jones Omnibus, v.1 - R 11/12
Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights - F 11/20
John Joseph Adams (Editor) - The Living Dead - Su 11/22
William Golding - Lord of the Flies - W 11/25
John Steinbeck - Travels with Charley - Su 11/29
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals - M 11/30
John Joseph Adams (Editor) - By Blood We Live - W 12/02
Thornton Wilder - The Bridge of San Luis Rey - F 12/04
Jack London - The Best Short Stories of Jack London - M 12/07
Catherynne M. Valente - Under in the Mere - R 12/10
*Garth Ennis & Doug Braithwaite - The Punisher Max V.3: Mother Russia - T 12/15
Marcia Muller - Somewhere in the City - W 12/16
Toni Morrison (Editor) - Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power: Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the Construction of Social Reality - R 12/17
Timothy Egan - The Worst Hard Trime - M 12/21
*Edited by Kazu Kibuishi - Flight, v.5 - T 12/22
*Edited by Kazu Kibuishi - Flight, v.6 - W 12/23
*Various - Zomnibus, v.1 - Su 12/27
Susanna Kaysen - Girl, Interrupted - M 12/28
I'm pleased to say that when I scanned through this there was only two that I flat out didn't recognize. Let's hear it for memory. You can see select summaries through December 2 here. Here are some highlights since then.
I feel that I should point out Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which is absolutely brilliant and is definitely on the short list of the best books that I read this year. It's the rare Pulitzer Prize winner where I say, "well of course it won, how could it not?"
I also finished off the oddest wedding favor I've ever received, "Under in the Mere" by Catherynne M. Valente (aka, yuki_onna), which I guess I'd describe as a very odd Arthurian retelling, minus (for the most part) Arthur, Merlin or Guinevere. I liked this much more those of her other books that I've read.
I was not previously familiar with Marcia Muller, but her short story collection "Somewhere in the City" was very enjoyable; it evokes San Francisco and northern California while giving us interesting characters in non-stereotypical detective fiction.
Timothy Egan wrote The Worst Hard Time, which is the definitive history of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Due in part to stupid decisions by farmers and a complete misunderstanding of ecology, not to mention the government policies that made those decisions largely inevitable, enormous dirt blizzards covered huge parts of the country, all the way out to the east coast and beyond. Humans died because they inhaled so much dirt that there wasn't enough room for air in their lungs. Cattle died because their was dirt on all their forage and it would ultimately block their digestive system; dead cattle were found with 20 pounds of dirt blocking their stomach. This is a very interesting read.
All in all, this was a good year for reading. The resolution worked; now I just have to keep doing it; after all, there's a lot of Shakespeare left.
Number of those that were graphic novels - 29 (marked by * in the master list that follows).
I did not count 're-reads'.
Now, if you compare the raw numbers to 2008 or 2007, it would appear that I'm slipping. After all, 116 is a lot less than 159 or 135. But a closer breakdown shows that if you exclude graphic novels, my 2009 total of 87 was on par with the last two years. So why'd I read so many fewer graphic novels? This had a lot to do with last year's list, where I realized that I was reading a lot of comic crap just because the library had it. So I stopped doing that, or at least I did it a lot less.
So if I read fewer graphic novels, how come my total count didn't go up? This was in part because of my 2009 book resolution:
-------------------------------
[1] I will read one at least one 'classic' book per month, classic being defined as "most everybody has heard of it, and few have read it." January will be Jane Eyre. All Quiet on the Western Front will be February. I'll happily take suggestions for the remaining months.
Completed. I've marked the ones that are I feel are generally considered great with italics.
[2] I will read/re-read one play by Shakespeare each month.
I read 7 plays, which is one every other month. Acceptable success. Also italicized.
[3] I will read more poetry, possibly out loud.
Nope. In fact, when I hit Shakespeare's poetry in the collected works the whole thing ground to a stop. Oh well.
-------------------------------
On balance, I kept this resolution very well. And as it turns out, when you read books that aren't in your usual reading habits, it takes longer to read them; hence my shorter apparently shorter list.
Charlaine Harris - From Dead to Worse - S 1/03
William Shakespeare - The Two Gentleman of Verona - W 1/07
Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre - W 1/14
Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist - W 1/14
Paulo Coelho - Veronika Decides to Die - R 1/15
*Jim Pascoe & Rick Lacy - Hellboy Animated: The Black Wedding - S 1/17
Mike Mignola and others - The Hellboy Companion - Su 1/18
Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin - W 1/21
Walter Mosley - The Right Mistake - M 1/26
Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture - R 1/29
David Weber - Off Armageddon Reef - S 1/31
Jeff Carlson - Plague War - M 2/02
*Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez - Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft - T 2/03
Andrew Holtz - The Medical Science of House, M.D. - W 2/04
*Various - Myspace Dark Horse Presents v.1 - W 2/04
*Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson - Fury: Peacemaker - S 2/06
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five - S 2/07
*Robin Furth, Peter David, Jae Lee, Richard Isanove - The Dark Tower: The Long Walk Home - Su 2/08
Paul Austin - Something For the Pain - M 2/09
Laurell K. Hamilton - The Laughing Corpse - T 2/10
Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front - W 2/11
*Brett Booth, Stacie M. Ritchie, Jess Ruffner-Booth - Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures - S 2/14
William Shakespeare - The Taming of the Shrew - Su 2/15
Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward - All the President's Men - F 2/20
*Will Pfeifer, David Lopez, Alvaro Lopez - Catwoman: Crime Pays - S 2/21
Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl - T 3/03
Ernest Hemingway - A Farewell to Arms - M 3/09
*Will Eisner - The Spirit: Femmes Fatales - S 3/14
*Edited by Kazu Kibuishi - Flight, v.4 - W 3/25
Catherynne M. Valente - Palimpsest - W 3/25
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Sharing Knife: Horizon - T 3/31
Kurt Vonnegut - Player Piano - W 4/01
John Grisham - Bleachers - S 4/04
*Various - Batman: Joker's Asylum - S 4/04
*Jamie Delano - Hellblazer: The Fear Machine - S 4/04
Simon R. Green - Just Another Judgement Day - M 4/06
David Weber - By Schism Rent Asunder - M 4/06
Laurel K. Hamilton - Strange Candy - Su 4/12
Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea - Su 4/19
Terry Brooks - The Gypsy Morph - Su 4/26
John Hersey - Hiroshima - M 4/27
William Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 2 - T 4/28
William Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 3 [Richard, Duke of York] - Su 5/03
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.1 - W 5/06
Stephen King - Just After Sunset - F 5/08
David Drake - Balefires - M 5/11
Joe Haldeman - Forever Peace - Su 5/17
Alan Weisman - The World Without Us - M 5/18
Various - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey - T 5/19
Travis Heermann - Heart of the Ronin - S 5/23
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.2 - T 5/26
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.3 - W 5/27
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.4 - W 5/27
William Shakespeare - Titus Andronicus - R 5/28
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men - F 5/29
David Shirley - The History of Rock and Roll - M 6/01
James Patterson & Leopoldo Gout - Daniel X: Alien Hunter - S 6/06
Jerry Stahl - Pain Killers - Su 6/07
Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris - Ex Machina, v.1: The First 100 Days - M 6/08
Max Brooks - The Zombie Survival Guide - T 6/16
Edward Kritzler - Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean - Su 6/21
Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods - R 6/25
Kevin and Jackie Freiberg - Boom! 7 Choices For Blowing the Doors Off Business-As-Usual - Su 6/28
*Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi - Battle Royale Ultimate Edition v.5 - S 7/04
Robert Galen - Scrum Product Ownership - F 7/10
Rick Smolan & David Elliot Cohen - Dogs 24/7 - Su 7/12
Stuart Wood - Orchid Beach - M 7/13
John P. Kotter - Leading Change - F 7/17
Tom Robbins - Jitterbug Perfume - T 7/21
James Alan Gardner - Expendable - S 7/25
*Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson - The Boys: The Name of the Game - F 7/31
*Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson - The Boys: Get Some - F 7/31
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief - Su 8/09
Margaret Atwood - Wilderness Tips - S 8/22
Jon Savage - England's Dreaming, Revised Edition: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond - T 8/25
Arthur Goldwag - Cults, Conspiracies & Secret Societies - S 8/29
Clive Cussler & Dirk Cussler - Arctic Drift - M 8/31
Peter David - Fall of Knight - F 9/04
L.E. Modesti, Jr - The Towers of the Sunset - Su 9/06
Margaret Atwood - The Penelopiad - M 9/07
Charlaine Harris - Dead and Gone - S 9/12
Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith - Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - T 9/15
Jared Diamond - Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality - F 9/18
Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffanys - Su 9/20
William Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 1 - Su 9/27
Bill Bryson - Shakespeare: The World as Stage - R 9/24
Johanna Rothman & Esther Derby - Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management - Su 9/27
Brian Priestley - Chasin' the Bird: The Life & Legacy of Charlie Parker - Su 10/04
Wendy Shalit - A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue - S 10/10
William Shakespeare - Richard III - M 10/12
Paulo Coehlo - The Witch of Portobello - Su 10/18
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything - T 10/20
Harry Turtledove - Ruled Britannia - F 10/23
Haruki Murakami - South of the Border, West of the Sun - T 10/27
*Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka - DareDevil: Cruel & Unusual - W 10/28
*Matt Fraction & Salvador Larooca - Iron Man: The Five Nightmares - R 10/29
*Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker - Iron Fist: The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven - F 10/30
*Andy Diggle, Leonardo Manco, Daniel Zezelj - Hellblazer: The Laughing Magician - S 10/31
Kyle Cassidy - Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes - S 11/07
Glenn Kay - Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide - Su 11/08
Eoin Colfer - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 6: And Another Thing... - T 11/10
*Various - Indiana Jones Omnibus, v.1 - R 11/12
Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights - F 11/20
John Joseph Adams (Editor) - The Living Dead - Su 11/22
William Golding - Lord of the Flies - W 11/25
John Steinbeck - Travels with Charley - Su 11/29
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals - M 11/30
John Joseph Adams (Editor) - By Blood We Live - W 12/02
Thornton Wilder - The Bridge of San Luis Rey - F 12/04
Jack London - The Best Short Stories of Jack London - M 12/07
Catherynne M. Valente - Under in the Mere - R 12/10
*Garth Ennis & Doug Braithwaite - The Punisher Max V.3: Mother Russia - T 12/15
Marcia Muller - Somewhere in the City - W 12/16
Toni Morrison (Editor) - Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power: Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the Construction of Social Reality - R 12/17
Timothy Egan - The Worst Hard Trime - M 12/21
*Edited by Kazu Kibuishi - Flight, v.5 - T 12/22
*Edited by Kazu Kibuishi - Flight, v.6 - W 12/23
*Various - Zomnibus, v.1 - Su 12/27
Susanna Kaysen - Girl, Interrupted - M 12/28
I'm pleased to say that when I scanned through this there was only two that I flat out didn't recognize. Let's hear it for memory. You can see select summaries through December 2 here. Here are some highlights since then.
I feel that I should point out Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which is absolutely brilliant and is definitely on the short list of the best books that I read this year. It's the rare Pulitzer Prize winner where I say, "well of course it won, how could it not?"
I also finished off the oddest wedding favor I've ever received, "Under in the Mere" by Catherynne M. Valente (aka, yuki_onna), which I guess I'd describe as a very odd Arthurian retelling, minus (for the most part) Arthur, Merlin or Guinevere. I liked this much more those of her other books that I've read.
I was not previously familiar with Marcia Muller, but her short story collection "Somewhere in the City" was very enjoyable; it evokes San Francisco and northern California while giving us interesting characters in non-stereotypical detective fiction.
Timothy Egan wrote The Worst Hard Time, which is the definitive history of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Due in part to stupid decisions by farmers and a complete misunderstanding of ecology, not to mention the government policies that made those decisions largely inevitable, enormous dirt blizzards covered huge parts of the country, all the way out to the east coast and beyond. Humans died because they inhaled so much dirt that there wasn't enough room for air in their lungs. Cattle died because their was dirt on all their forage and it would ultimately block their digestive system; dead cattle were found with 20 pounds of dirt blocking their stomach. This is a very interesting read.
All in all, this was a good year for reading. The resolution worked; now I just have to keep doing it; after all, there's a lot of Shakespeare left.