2023 Books in Review
Depending on whether you count my updated baseball stats back in October, this is either my fifth or sixth 2023 year in review post. Either way, I saved the longest and most complicated list for last. It was so long and complicated that I started an entire new series about stuff I'm reading just to make sure that my 2024 iteration will be less long and complicated.
In 2003 I read 311 total books, which is by far the largest total I've had since I started tracking the books I've read back in 2007. Granted, 211 of them were books I read to my daughter, who just turned 3 in January, but even if you exclude those books, I still managed an even 100 'adult' books broken up between 4 books of poetry, 39 graphic novels and 57 works of prose. That's substantially more books than most of the year's I've tracked, and I didn't have at toddler back then. I'm calling this a major win.
It really helped that I final got my slush pile list moved over from M's ancient laptop to a permanent post in August. With that in place, I was consistently at the library every 7 to 10 days after a long pandemic/toddler induced hiatus. As a result, my second half total blew away my first half total. I'm happy to be back to my old reading ways.
The list would actually have been longer but as I was writing this I realized that even though I read Lords of the Realm in January, it was actually a re-read because I read it back in 2015. This nicely illustrates the limits of memory, the hazards of manual lists and probably some other moral lessons that I'm not noticing yet. Anyway, I don't count re-reads unless I'm reading it to my daughter for the first time, so off the list it goes.
Here's the full list, with the usual annotations.
* indicates a Graphic Novel - 39
^ indicates Poetry - 4
& indicates a children's book I read to my daughter for the first time - 211
All other books - 57
Italicized books were particular highlights.
Bold books are recommended to most anyone.
(DP) = from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
(PJL) = from the PJ Library.
&Jamie Kiffle-Alcheh & Marc Lumer - Can You Hear a Coo Coo? - Su 1/01
&Sandra Boynton - A to Z - Su 1/01
&Sandra Boynton - Opposites - Su 1/01
&James Dean - Pete the Cat: Time for Bed Pete the Kitty - T 1/03
Robert Caro - The Years of Lyndon Johnson, v.3: Master of the Senate - R 1/12
Rick Beyer - The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales From History to Astonish, Bewilder and Stupefy - T 1/17
Leo Durocher w/Ed Linn - Nice Guys Finish Last - Su 1/22
&James Dean - Pete the Cat's Train Trip - M 1/23
&Jane E. Gerver & Laura Ovresat - Bath Time - M 1/23
&Grace Maccarone & David A. Carter - Cars! Cars! Cars! - W 1/25
&Sue Fliess & Sarah Beise - Calling All Cars - W 1/25
&Richard Courtney - Thomas & Friends: All Around the Island - W 1/25
&Lauren Thompson & Derek Anderson - Little Quack - W 1/25
&Lois Ehlert - Planting a Rainbow - R 1/26
&Little People - Worlds of Adventure - R 1/26
&Denise Fleming - The Cow Who Clucked - R 1/26
&Jules Feiffer - Bark, George - R 1/26
&Wendy Cheyette Lewison & Hans Wilhelm - Buzz Said the Bee - F 1/27
&Golden Books - The Farm Book - S 1/28
&Tony Mitton & Guy Parker-Rees - Dinosaurumpus - F 2/03
&Margaret Wise Brown & Joan Paley - I Like Stars - F 2/03
&Melanie Ellsworth & Morena Forza - Hip, Hip…Beret! - S 2/04
&Kidsbooks - First Animal Facts: Ocean - M 2/06
&James Dean & Eric Litein - Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes - M 2/06!
Denise Kiernan - The Girls of Atomic City - W 2/08
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barragee - A Valentine for Uni the Unicorn - W 2/08
&Sue Downing - We Are Friends Under the Sea - R 2/09
&Patricia Hegarty & Bryony Clarkson - Owl Always Love You - R 2/09
&Erika White - Paw Patrol: The Pups and the Big Freeze - R 2/09
&Susan Ring & Bill Scolon - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Summer Vacation - F 2/10
Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down - T 2/14
&Tommy Stubbs - Thomas & Friends: Fast Train, Slow Train - F 2/24
&Hollis James & Fabrizio Petrossi - Paw Patrol: Jurassic Park - F 2/24
&Scott Albert & Fabrizzio Petrossi - Paw Patrol: Puppy Birthday to You - F 2/24
&Ursula Ziegler Sullivan & Fabrizzio Petrossi - Paw Patrol: Itty-Bitty Kitty Rescue - F 2/24
&Dolly Parton & Heather Sheffield - I Am a Rainbow - R 3/09 (DPIL)
&Jenna Waidman & Erica J. Chen - Purr-im Time - R 3/09 (PJL)
&Amber Lily - Five Swishy Fish - R 3/09
&Dav Pilkey - Big Dog and Little Dog - M 3/13
&Dav Pilkey - Big Dog and Little Dog Wearing Sweaters - M 3/13
&Victoria Kann - Pinkalicious and the Pinkadorable Pony - M 3/13
&Stephen Savage - Moonlight - M 3/13
&Britta Teckentrup - Ocean - T 3/14
&Nicky Benson & Jonny Lambert - I Love You More and More - T 3/14
&David Weinstone & Magali Le Huche - All My Friends Are Fast Asleep - T 3/14
&Toni Yuli - The Whole Wide World and Me - F 3/17
&Toni Yuli - Thank You Bees - F 3/17
&Bob Barner - Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! - F 3/17
&Katy Tanis - Love in the Wild - R 3/23
&Eric Puybaret - Over the Rainbow - S 3/25
&Jan Thomas - Is Everyone Ready for Fun? - M 3/27
&Alyssa Satin Capucilli & Pat Schories - Biscuit Feeds the Pets - M 3/27
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barrager - Uni the Unicorn: Uni and the Butterfly - M 3/27
&Toni Yuli - Early Bird - T 3/28
&Toni Yuli - Night Owl - T 3/28
^William Shakespeare - The Sonnets and “A Lover’s Complaint” - R 3/30
^William Shakespeare - Various Poems - R 3/30
&Britta Teckentrup - Get Out of My Bath! - Su 4/02
&Phyllis Rowand & Laura Dronzek - It is Night - T 4/04
&James Reid & Bettina Guthridge - Across the Sea - T 4/04
&Melanie Hamm & Sue King - Kyle in Trouble - T 4/04
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barrager - Uni the Unicorn - W 4/05
&Eric Carle - The Very Busy Spider - W 4/05
&Karen Yin & Nelleke Verhoeff - Whole Whale - W 4/05
*Berkely Breathed - Politically, Fashionably, and Aerodynamically Incorrect: The First Outland Collection - W 4/12
Celine Delvaux - The Museum of Illusions: Optical Tricks in Art - W 4/12
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Why We Can't Wait - Su 4/16
&Gail Tuchman - Busy Butterflies - T 4/18
&Eric Carle - The Very Quiet Cricket - T 4/18
&Shannon Zemlicka - From Egg to Butterfly - T 4/18
&Chloe Goodhart & Gareth Lucas - Birding for Babies: Backyard Birds - T 4/18
Robert Caro - The Years of Lyndon Johnson, v.4: The Passage of Power - R 4/20
&Jill McDonald - Solar System - M 4/24
&Christie Matheson - Touch The Brightest Star - M 4/24
&Sherri Duskey Rinker & Tony Fucile - It's So Quiet! - W 4/26
*Mike Mignola & Others - Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., 1952-1954 - W 4/26
&Eric Carle - You Are Ready! The World is Waiting - F 4/28
&Darren Farrell & Maya Tatsukawa - Dandelion Magic - F 4/28 (DPIL)
&Benjamin Proudfit - Ocean Animals: Seals - S 4/29
Stephen King - Billy Summers - M 5/01
Nina Freedlander Gibans - Creative Essence: Cleveland’s Sense of Place - F 5/05
Alexandra Horowitz - On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes - R 5/11
Robert Caro - Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing - Su 5/14
Matthew McGough - Bat Boy: My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees - M 5/15
&Shelly Becker & Dan Yaccarino - One, Two, Grandpa Loves You - M 5/15
&Irene Latham, Charles Waters & Nabila Adani - Be a Bridge - M 5/15
William Zinsser - Extraordinary Lives: The Art and Craft of American Biography - T 5/16
&Richard Jackson & Suzy Lee - This Beautiful Day - W 5/17
*Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck & Dave Stewart - Hellboy Universe Essentials: Witchfinder - T 5/16
&Willa Perlman & Carolyn Fisher - Good Night, World - R 5/18
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Teagan White - That's Me Loving You - R 5/18
&Leo Lionni - A Color of His Own - Su 5/21
&Diana Sudyka - Little Land - Su 5/21
&Joshua David Stein & Dominique Ramsey - Solitary Animals: Introverts of the Wild - M 5/22 (DPIL)
Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - This Is How You Lose the Time War - R 5/25
&Alison Murray - The Little Green Hen - F 5/26
&Toni Yuly - The Jelly Bean Tree - F 5/26
Henry Grabar - Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World - S 6/03
&Laurent Moreau - Play Outside! - T 6/06
&Jacqueline K. Rayner - Hats are Not For Cats! - W 6/07
&Laurel Snyder & Jui Ishida - Good Night, Laila Tov - W 6/07 (PJL)
Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children - R 6/08
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.1: Original Sins - S 6/10
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.2: The Devil You Know - M 6/12
&Toni Yuli - Cat Nap - T 6/13
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.3: The Fear Machine - T 6/13
Stephen E. Ambrose - Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest - W 6/14
&Betty Ann Schwartz & Alexander Wilensky - The Splendid Spotted Snake - R 6/15
&Greg Parocki - Trees - F 6/16
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.4: The Family Man - W 6/14
*Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis & others - Hellblazer v.5: Dangerous Habits - S 6/17
*Garth Ennis & others - Hellblazers v.6: Bloodlines - M 6/19
*Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon - Hellblazer, v.7: Tainted Love - R 6/22
*Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon & others - Hellblazer, v.8: Rake at the Gates of Hell - F 6/23
&Alice Schertle & John Joseph - Good Night, Little Blue Truck - F 6/23
David McCullough - The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 - M 6/26
&Kate & Jim McMullan - I'm Tough - T 6/27
*Paul Jenkins, Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer, v9: Critical Mass - T 6/27
*Paul Jenkins, Sean Phillips & Al Davison - Hellblazer, v10: In the Line of Fire - R 6/29
*Paul Jenkins, Sean Phillips & others - Hellblazer, v11: Last Man Standing - Su 7/02
Tony Horwitz - Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War - M 7/03
*Paul Jenkins & others - Hellblazer, v12: How to Play With Fire - M 7/03
*Howard Tayler & others - Schlock Mercenary, v. 17: A Little Immortality - R 7/07
*Warren Ellis & others - Hellblazer, v13: Haunted - M 7/10
&Sherri Duskey Rinker & Ag Ford - Construction Site Mission: Demolition! - W 7/12
&Jennifer Dewing & Mary GrandPre - Goodnight Little Vivian - W 7/12
&Heidi Woodward Sheffield - Ice Cream Face - W 7/12 (PJL)
&Kate & Jim McMullan - I Stink - W 7/12
&Laura Purdie Salas & Monique Felix - Puddle Song - R 7/13
&Alice Schertle & Jill McElmurry - Little Blue Truck Leads the Way - R 7/13
&Emma Dodd - I Love Bugs! - F 7/14
&Tim Hopgood - Woow! Said the Owl - F 7/14
&Stephen Savage - The Mixed-Up Truck - F 7/14
&Patricia Hegarty & Johnny Lambert - Now You See Me Now You Don't - F 7/14
*Brian Azzarello, Richard Corben & others - Hellblazer, v14: Good Intentions - F 7/14
*Brian Azzarello & others - Hellblazer, v15: Highwater - S 7/15
*Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.16: The Wild Card - M 7/17
*Zach Weinersmith & Boulet - Bea Wolf - R 7/20
&Daniel Kirk - The Big Slide - R 7/20 (DPIL)
*Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.17: Out of Season - S 7/22
*Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.18: The Gift - Su 7/23
*Denise Mina & others - Hellblazer, v.19: The Red Right Hand - W 7/26
*Andy Diggle, Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.20: Systems of Control - F 7/28
&Rookie Toddler - Do You See Shapes? - S 7/29
&Jessie Ford - Mrs. Peanuckle's Earth Alphabet - T 8/01
*Kate Beaton - Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands - W 8/02
*Andy Diggle, Jason Aaron & others - Hellblazer, v.21: The Laughing Magician - F 8/04
&Jessica Hickman & Elissambura - Happy 'Roo Year: It's Rosh Hashanah! - M 8/07 (PJL)
&Lucy Cousins - Little Fish's Ocean - M 8/07
*Peter Milligan, Simon Oliver & others - Hellblazer, v.22: Regeneration - M 8/07
&Micha Archer - Wonder Walkers - T 8/08
&Shannon Hale & LeUyen Pham - Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn - W 8/09
Lois McMaster Bujold - Masquerade in Lodi - R 8/10
&Jane Yolen & Mark Teague - How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? - R 8/10
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Orphans of Raspay - F 8/11
&Juana Medina - Elena Rides - F 8/11
&Jeffrey Burton & Alison Brown - The Wheels on the Dump Truck - F 8/11
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Physicians of Vilnoc - F 8/11
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Assassins of Thasalon - S 8/12
Lois McMaster Bujold - Knot of Shadows - S 8/12
&Michael Hall - Red: A Crayon's Story - M 8/14
&Bluey - Bluey: The Beach - T 8/15
&Karin Akesson - The Rainbow Snail - F 8/18
&Emma Perry & Claire Alexander - Let's Go Puddling - F 8/18
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Flowers of Vashnoi - F 8/18
&Charis St. Pierre & Rachel Wada - Welcome, Dark - S 8/19
&Gabriella DeGennaro - Good Night with The Very Hungry Caterpillar - S 8/19
&Liz Garton Scanlon & Diana Sudyka - Would You Come Too? - S 8/19
&Divya Srinivasan - Little Owl's Love - S 8/19
&Emma J. Virjan - A Pig in a Wig: What This Story Needs is a Vroom and a Zoom - Su 8/20
&Rina Horiuchi & Rsa Horiuchi - K is for Kindness - Su 8/20 (DPIL)
*Peter Milligan, Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.23: No Future - Su 8/20
Lois McMaster Bujold - Knife Children - M 8/21
&Emma J. Virjan - A Pig in a Wig: What This Story Needs is a Band and a Clang - M 8/21
&Michael Whaite - Diggersaurus - M 8/21
&Karen Kilpatrick & German Blanco - When Glitter Met Glue - M 8/21
&Victoria Kann - Pinkalicious and the Pinkamazing Little Library - R 8/24
*Peter Milligan, Si Spencer & others - Hellblazer v.24: Sectioned - R 8/24
*Peter Milligan & others - Hellblazer v.25: Another Season - T 8/29
Roger Angell - The Summer Game - T 8/29
&Charis St. Pierre & Rachel Wada - Welcome, Dark - W 8/30
&Sharon G. Flake & Anna Raff - You Are Not a Cat - W 8/30
&Sandra J. Howatt & Joyce Wan - Sleepyheads - W 8/30
&Denise Fleming - In the Small, Small Pond - W 8/30
William Shakespeare - All's Well That Ends Well - R 8/31
*Peter Milligan, Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.26: The Curse of the Constantines - R 8/31
&Bonnie Bader - Fly, Butterfly - T 9/05
Fred Lieb - Baseball as I Have Known It - W 9/06
Lois McMaster Bujold - Dreamweaver's Dilemma - F 9/08
&Emma Dodd - Home Is Where the Heart Is - M 9/18
&Alice Schertle & Jill McElmurry - Little Blue Truck's Halloween - M 9/18
&Lucy Cousins - Splish, Splash, Ducky! - M 9/18
&Valerie Bolling & Kaylani Juanita - Together We Swim - R 9/21
&Lucy Ruth Cummins - Our Pool - R 9/21
&Lucy Cousins - Hooray for Birds! - R 9/21
&Emma Perry & Claire Alexander - Let's Go Puddling - F 9/22
Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson - Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline - F 9/22
&Erin Guendelsberger & AndoTwin - Goodnight ABCs - S 9/23
&Denise Brennan-Nelson & Susan Kathleen Hartung - Tallulah, Mermaid of the Great Lakes - W 9/28
&Maudie Powell-Tuck & Gill Guile - Pumpkin Party! - W 9/28
Julia Quinn - The Duke & I - W 9/28
&Ann D. Kofsky - Kayla & Kugel's Silly Sukkot - Su 10/01 (PJL)
Bella Bathurst - The Lighthouse Stevensons - Su 10/01
&Joyce Wan - You Are My Pumpkin - M 10/02
*Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross - Marvels (25th Anniversary Edition) - W 10/04
&Michael Dahl & Oriol Vidal - Haircut for Lion - R 10/05
Paul Goldberger - Ballpark: Baseball in the American City - S 10/07
&Brendan Wenzel - Every Dreaming Creature - M 10/09
&Julie Flett - We All Play - M 10/09
*Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer - Murder Falcon - T 10/10
&Bluey - Bluey: Good Night, Fruitbat - W 10/11
&Rae Crawford - My Day With Dad - R 10/12
&Cynthia Rylant & Melissa Sweet - Moonlight the Halloween Cat - R 10/12
&Rebecca Colby & Penelope Dullaghan - Crocodiles Need Kisses Too - R 10/12
&Sheryl McFarlane & Christine Wei - Welcome, Rain! - F 10/13
&Lucy Cousins - A Good Place - F 10/13
&Kate Dopirak & Mary Peterson - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Car - F 10/13
&Chris Barash & Melissa Iwai - Fridays Are Special - F 10/13 (PJL)
&Guido van Genechten - Step by Step - F 10/13
&Yuval Zommer - The Lights That Dance in the Night - F 10/13
Jhumpa Lahiri - Whereabouts - F 10/13
&Carin Berger - In the Night Garden - S 10/14
Bella Bathurst - Sound: A Memoir of Hearing Lost and Found - S 10/14
&Caralyn Buehner & Mark Buehner - Snowmen at Halloween - Su 10/15
&Margarita Engle & Rafael Lopez - Drum Dream Girl - R 10/19
&Lily Karr & Doreen Mulryan Marts - My Pumpkin - S 10/21
&Andrea Zimmerman & Dan Yaccarino - Crane Jane! - S 10/21
Bill Bryson - The Body: A Guide for Occupants- S 10/21
&Reed Duncan & JT Morrow - Llama Llama Meets the Babysitter - Su 10/22
Bella Bathurst - The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks, from the 18th-Century to the Present Day - W 10/25
Dan Egan - The Death and Life of the Great Lakes - R 10/26
Mike Duncan - The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic - S 10/28
&Matt Spink - Some Birds - M 10/30
&Mark Sperring & Britta Teckentrup - Your Hand in My Hand - M 10/30
&Sally Lloyd-Jones & Jane Chapman - Time to Say Goodnight - M 10/30
&Cynthia Platt & Anne Passchier - The Pumpkin is Missing! - T 10/31
&Kevin Henkes & Laura Dronzek - In the Middle of Fall - T 10/31
&Audrey Wood & Bruce Wood - Ten Little Fish - T 10/31
&Bluey - Blueu: What Games Should We Play? - W 11/01
&Kevin Henkes & Laura Dronzek - Winter is Here - W 11/01
&Angie Rozellar - The Great Pumpkin Contest - W 11/01
Kelly & Zach Weinersmith - Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve And/Or Ruin Everything - R 11/02
&Ged Adamson - A Fox Found a Box - R 11/01
^Megan Fernandes - I Do Everything I'm Told - F 11/03
&Margaret Wise Brown & Garth Williams - Home For a Bunny - Su 11/05
&Margaret Wise Brown & Charlotte Cooke - Sunshine and Snowballs - Su 11/05
George Plimpton - Out of My League - Su 11/05
*Junot Diaz & Leo Espinosa - Islandborn - W 11/08
&Linda Glaser & Daniel Howarth - Hoppy Hanukkah! - R 11/09
Paul Greenberg - Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food - R 11/09
Julia Quinn & Shonda Rhimes - Queen Charlotte - F 11/10
&Linda Ashman & Chuck Groenink - William's Winter Nap - S 11/11
&Will Hillenbrand - A Bear and Mole Story: First Star - S 11/11
&Christie Matheson - Tap the Magic Tree - S 11/11
&Cynthia Rylant & Lisa Congdon - Rain - S 11/11
Kelly & Zach Weinersmith - A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, And Have We Really Thought This Through? - M 11/13
&Danica McKellar & Josee Masse - Double Puppy Trouble - F 11/17
*Simon Stalenhag - Tales From the Loop - S 11/18
Mark Kurlansky - Cod - M 11/20
&Jeff Mack - Who Wants a Hug? - T 11/21
Sinclair Lewis - It Can't Happen Here - R 11/23
&Adam Rubin & Daniel Salmieri - Dragons Love Tacos - S 11/25
&Jessica Lee & Lucia Wilkinson - Breathe Deep, Little Sheep - Su 11/26
&Mary Casanova & Nick Wroblewski - Hush Hush, Forest - Su 11/26
&Rich Lo - After the Snowfall - Su 11/26
&Lucy Cousins - Jazzy in the Jungle - Su 11/26
&Bob Barner - Stars! Stars! Stars! - Su 11/26
&Tim McCanna & Ricahrd Smythe - Watersong - Su 11/26
Stephen King - Later - M 11/27
&Tommy Stubbs - Good Night, Thomas - T 11/28
&Jonathan London & David Parkins - I'm a Truck Driver - T 11/28
*Simon Stalenhag - The Electric State - T 11/18
William Shakespeare - The Life of Timon of Athens - R 11/30
&Sam Boughton - Hello, Whale! - F 12/01
&Sabrina Moyle & Eunice Moyle - Good Night Baboon! - F 12/01
&Lucy Cousins - Maisy's Snow Day - S 12/02
&Ashley Wian & Joy Ang - Kobe Eats Pizza! - S 12/02
&Cathy Camper & Kenard Pak - Ten Ways to Hear Snow - S 12/02
&Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman - Bear Says Thanks - S 12/02
&Nina Crews - I'm Not Small - S 12/02
&Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman - Bear Wants More - Su 12/03
&Bianca Schulze & Samara Hardy - Don't Wake the Dragon - T 12/05
&Rich Lo - After the Moonrise - T 12/05
&Emily Hamilton - The Yawnicore - T 12/05
&Ellie Sandall - Everybunny Dream! - T 12/05
*Simon Stalenhag - Things From the Flood - T 12/05
&Peter Bently & Chris Chatterton - I Am Dog! - W 12/06
&Patricia Toht & Jarvis - Together With You - W 12/06
Mary Beard - SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome - W 12/13
^Roxane Beth Johnson - Black Crow Dress - R 12/14
&Emily Joof & Matilda Ruta - I Will Swim Next Time - M 12/18
&Gaia Cornwall - Jabari Jumps - M 12/18
&Lisa Wheeler & Barry Gott - Dino-Swimming - M 12/18
&Nick Rebman - Sports: Swimming - M 12/18
&Sana Rafi & Olivia Aserr - A Mermaid Girl - M 12/18
&Alexandra Cassel Schwartz - Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Daniel Learns to Swim - M 12/18
Jenny Brown - Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women's Work - T 12/19
Dara Horn - People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present - F 12/22
&World of Eric Carle - The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Breakfast - S 12/23 (DPIL)
&Nancy Shaw & Margot Apple - Sheep in a Jeep - Su 12/24
&Sara Miller & Jerrod Maruyama - Disney Baby: Good Night, Farm - Su 12/24
&Ann Whitford Paul & David Walker - If Animals Kissed Goodnight - Su 12/24
&Ingela P. Arrhenius - Where's the Narwhale? - M 12/25
&Ginger Smith & Katya Longhi - Little Yellow Bee - T 12/26
&Lara Ede - Five Little Pumpkins - T 12/26
&Ingela P. Arrhenius - Where's the Unicorn? - T 12/26
&Alyssa Satin Capucilli & Pat Schories - Good Night, Biscuit - T 12/26
*Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) - The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances - W 12/27
Jonathan Mahler - Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics and the Battle for the Soul of a City - R 12/28
Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck - Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream - Su 12/31
&Rod Campbell - Dear Zoo - Su 12/31
I was sorely tempted to pull all the kids books out into a separate, second list, but that seemed like too much work, and besides, I'm absolutely certain that I missed more than a few of them. Anyway, let's start with some comments on a few of the books I read to my daughter this year that I thought were particularly good. I should note that this does not mean that SHE thought they were good, because she liked all sorts of stuff I couldn't stand.
- We read a bunch of books by Toni Yuly, and generally liked them. The biggest highlight was Night Owl, which all three of us enjoyed as a bedtime book for several months and Birdie still quotes occasionally. We checked it out at least twice, and if I had to buy one kids book from this list, it would probably be this one. M and I also really enjoyed The Whole Wide World and Me and several other of her offerings.
- The only other kids book from this list I'd consider buying was Sleepyheads by Sandra J. Howatt and Joyce Wan. Like Night Owl, it was in the bedtime rotation for months and has been checked out multiple times, to say nothing of the renewals. Libraries are great.
- Another highlight author for 2023 was Lucy Cousins. We read a bunch of her books, including a bunch of her signature Maisy series, but I personally really enjoyed Splish Splash Ducky and Hooray for Birds, and Birdie's favorite was probably Jazzy in the Jungle, which features intricate foldout pages for a game of hide-and-seek.
As I noted in my inaugural Stuff I've Been Reading, late in the year I finally got a workable system in place to read more poetry.
- My test poet was Megan Fernandes after her poem Friends With No Benefits was the poem of the day on Poets.org for October 13. Three weeks later I had read I Do Everything I'm Told. On balance, there were a lot more poems in that collection that resonated with me than didn't, although I wasn't wild about the section where the first page had the poem and the second page whited out 80% of the words of the first poem to create a new poem. I'm not sure forms like that add a whole bunch, although there certainly seem clever on first glance.
- Next up was Black Crow Dress by Roxane Beth Johnson, which was inspired by her November 16 poem of the day Blues for Almost Forgotten Music over on Poetry Foundation. "Blues" was a great poem about memory and music, on par with Standing by a Shelf by Brandon D. Johnson. The poems in Black Crow Dress were totally different, as that book is a loosely oriented story made up of multiple poems written from the perspective of slaves in the antebellum south and their masters. It hits pretty painfully and horribly, and while it's certainly worth a read it's not something that lends itself to easy comparison with Fernandes book.
Speaking of poets, 2023 was also the first year since 2019 that I finished any of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. My long set goal is back on track, as I finished the two major poetry sections ("The Sonnets and Lover's Complaint" and "Various Poems") plus "All's Well That Ends Well" and "Timon of Athens". My goal going forward is to read one play per quarter until I finish the book. We'll see how well that holds up, but as of today my bookmark (which is a whole other story) is on page 2306 of 3420, which is basically 2/3 of the way through. It took fifteen years to get this far!
2023 was also the first year I read an entire comic series cover to cover in quite some time. It used to be a regular thing, but since after I read two in 2017 I hadn't done one since. I read all 300 issues of the original Vertigo run of Hellblazer. I'd read some of it pre-lists, but I went ahead and got every one of the deluxe trades from the library in order. John Constantine is a terrible person and I never want to meet him (as several of his authors claim to have), but over the course of 300 issues (not to mention all the one-offs collected in the deluxe trades) I'd estimate that really enjoyed more than 3/4 of them. I haven't marked any with italics above, but that's because I'm too lazy to look up which storyline was in each book. I admire how much Constantine's magic ISN'T a system, unless you count riding the synchronicity wave to turn up where he needs to be. There's no attempt to make it all make sense or to let the reader be able to predict which spells might save the day, because as Constantine notes it's usually less about the magic than the attitude. Heck, his biggest win in the entire series doesn't even have him casting spells when he cons three different demons into purchasing his soul at the same time and plays them against each other. I can see how some people might find that approach to magic frustrating, but it lets the atmosphere/attitude/bluff move to the front, and without those John Constantine would be nothing. I'm not going to claim I really liked the series ending all that much, but I'm not sure there was a winning ending to a comic that aged its character more or less in real time for 25 years while repeatedly killing off all his friends and allies besides Chas.
Beyond Hellblazer, other comics I read in 2023 included:
- Years ago my cousin Jeremy recommended Murder Falcon by Daniel Warren Johnson. It's a limited series where heavy metal powers kaiju who fight the forces of evil. And frankly, if you've read that sentence you probably know if you'll like it or not. I loved it!
- Simon Stalenhag is a Swedish author who crowdfunded a trio of books that mixed large scale images with prose text. Tales from the Loop and Things From the Flood tell a coming of age story of sorts in an alternate 1990s Sweden with all sorts futuristic technology, if that tech had been used for really prosaic things so that it still looked like the 1990s we lived through but with flying ships and robots and possibly aliens from another dimension. They were interesting, but the real highlight was The Electric State, where a woman goes on a road trip through the western United States that has been overcome by zombies who won't or can't disconnect from virtual reality. The Electric State is delightfully creepy and interesting and is well worth a read.
- The best memoir I read this year was Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, who got her start with the webcomic Hark! A Vagrant. Ducks tells how Beaton moved to Alberta to work in the oil patch in order to pay off her college student loans quickly. She observes the good and the bad of the oil patch with a kindness that it doesn't seem to deserve, given what she experiences out there. I suspect you could transpose Alberta for the oil patch in the western end of my home state of North Dakota with some accuracy.
- One of the best books I read, period, was an updated version of Beowulf where Grendel's terrible power is to turn kids into boring adults. This version is called Bea Wolf, and it somehow managed to keep the cadence and power of the original while making it an incredibly fun and entertaining read for kids of all ages. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is or ever was ten years old. Boulet drew this book and it was written by Zach Weinersmith of SMBC. His name will turn up again later on.
Moving on to prose, my slush pile has my author block featured prominently, and I read quite a books by some of them. Highlights:
- Bill Bryson announced his retirement. Regrettably, his last (apparently) book The Body: A Guide for Occupants was one of the weaker entries in his canon and I can't particularly recommend it.
- Lois McMaster Bujold - I read a giant pile of new (to me) Penric novellas (and one novel) as well as a few odds and ends that only recently came to the library. Penric is phenomeal. I read four novellas and the novel in a two day stretch and they were all great. I'm starting to wonder if Penric and Desdemona are better characters than Miles and company, and I never expected that. Speaking of Miles, I read The Flower of Vashnoi and enjoyed that too, as well as the "far far prequel" Dreamweaver's Dilemma.
- Junot Diaz still hasn't published anything else, but I did get his children's book Islandborn from the library. It was a little too old for Birdie, but I read it anyway and it wasn't bad at all.
- Stephen King has a big backlog of books I haven't read, so I suspect it may be soon for me to get them all from the library and read them in a big chunk, like I was some sort of King-eating python. I did read Billy Summers (hitman as writer!) as my "welcome back to the library" book as well as Later.
- Jhumpa Lahiri has started writing in Italian, but in 2021 an English translation of her novel Whereabouts came out. It's not as good as The Namesake and The Lowland, but that's a high bar to reach. Taken on its own, it's a pleasant little novel about a woman living along and her life, and if I'd read it knowing nothing about the author I would have sought out her other books based on this one. Regrettably, she doesn't have any other books that I haven't read, but I will be waiting.
- Tom Robbins - I was halfway through Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates on New Year's, so it'll be on next year's list.
- Jesmyn Ward - I had Let Us Descend on hold for four months and it didn't turn up until early January, so it will also be on next year's list. And then I have to wait until she publishes another book.
Of course, this means I didn't get to Margaret Atwood, Charles Dickens, James Ellroy, Ernest Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy, Haruki Murakami, JK Rowling, Lionel Shriver, John Steinbeck, Studs Terkel or Kurt Vonnegut. If I make it a few years in a row without them, maybe I'll cut some.
Moving onward to non-fiction of various types.
- I finished the third and fourth books of The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro. Then I read Caro's memoir (more or less) as well as a collection of speeches by him and other prominent biographers, to say nothing of the documentary about him I saw. And now, like so many others, I wait and hope that he finishes the fifth and final volume before he passes away.
Having said that, the LBJ books are very good. In particular, the first 100 pages of Master of the Senate encapsulate exactly why a Civil Rights movement was necessary in a phenomenally well written trot through American history by way of the history of the Senate. I learned more about American history in those 100 pages than I did in four years of high school. I re-read that section three times. You can read this without reading the first two volumes, and frankly, you should. There's a reason it won ALL the awards when it came out.
- My favorite new author of the year was Bella Bathurst, whose The Lighthouse Stevensons won all the awards when it came out in 1999. If you ever wanted to learn about the impacts of Scottish engineering on the British Isles or why Robert Louis Stevenson was the "failure" of his family, this is the book for you. Her book The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks, from the 18th-Century to the Present Day explored similar terrain.
However, it was Bathurst's Sound: A Story of Hearing Lost and Found that was the best of the three. Bathurst went deaf her early thirties for reasons that weren't easily diagnosable... and then after 12 years her hearing came back. With this as a frame, her memoir explores sound, disability and what it really means to hear things. It's a great book and I highly recommend it.
- I read two more books by Zach Weinersmith, written with his wife Dr. Kelly Weinersmith. Both of these were popular science books. The first was Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything which was a fun romp through the implications of some potentially upcoming technology. I personally preferred their newest book, A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?, which explains all the currently unsolved problems that stand between us and having colonies on the Moon, Mars or in orbit. As a space enthusiast from way back, I was familiar with at least the high level description of most of the technology problems, but the psychology, legal and moral problems were largely new to me. The whole thing is presented as a "man, this is going to be so cool... if we can solve these really hard problems." Anyway who loves the idea of space travel should check it out.
- I read the usual pile of baseball books. The only one that really stood out besides "Lords of the Realm" (see top if you've forgotten because this is 900 pages long now) was Baseball as I Have Known It, which is a bunch of stories told by long-time sportswriter Fred Lieb when he was 89. He saw it all from about 1900 to 1975, and he tells a bunch of great stories. The other baseball books I read this year didn't rise to that level, but Nice Guys Finish Last and The Summer Game both had their moments. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning tries to be about both baseball and NYC, but ends up being a decent book about NYC and bad one about baseball.
- One of my favorite books this year was Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World. If you ever wanted to learn more about how zoning and parking codes are screwing up the United States, and what you can do about it, this is the book to read. It presents some potentially tedious material in quite a compelling manner that explains why all suburbs look basically the same, why free street parking (particularly in downtown areas) is theft from taxpayers. I recommend this one to pretty much everyone.
- If you've ever worried about overpopulation, Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline explains why you probably shouldn't be. Don't worry though, as long as the U.S. has a sane and rational immigration policy we should be fine here. What's that? Oh... The only real drawback to this book is that it came out in 2019, so the pandemic's impact on global movement isn't accounted for.
- This year's primary water policy book was The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. If you want a good summary of all the ways we've screwed up the Great Lakes, this is the place to start. It goes from the abject failure of the St. Lawrence Seaway relative to its goals to pollution, invasive species and a whole host of other problems. It's more or less got a positive ending, in the sense that things are getting better now. This led me to read Four Fish, which is an excellent summation of the hazards of overfishing and the place for wild caught fish in our diets. That in turn led me to Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, which [a] apparently started the trend of one word title history books [b] isn't nearly as good as Four Fish.
If you've made it this far, don't give up. We're in the final stretch.
- More than 15 years ago I picked up a copy of Bat Boy: My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees at a library bag sale. I didn't throw it out because I've never seen another book written by a bat boy. I didn't read it because for every chapter of interesting stories about the life of a bat boy, there was a bunch of poorly written high school coming of age crap. I finally sat down and read through it this year. Too bad the bat boy stuff wasn't separated out!
- Bat Boy was the book that had been in my physical slush pile for the second longest amount of time. Third longest was Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down, which was pretty easily the weakest Hornby I've read. The longest, well, I'm not going to admit that but I'm probably never going to read it or get rid of it, because it's a personal thing.
- I read one book by someone I've met. This Is How You Lose the Time War was written by Amal El-Mohtar, who I met at a wedding long ago, and by Max Gladstone, who I haven't met. Two agents on opposite sides of a long running war through time and space start leaving letters for each other. Romance follows, as well as some (relatively predictable) plot twists. It was one of those books where I loved it dearly while I was reading it but once I had a chance to think about it I saw how the trick was done. That's not a knock, by the way. If I had figured it out WHILE I was reading it, that would have been a knock.
- If I had to choose just one book as the best one I read this year, I'd probably close my eyes and go with Dara Horn's People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present, which I reviewed at length here. I don't think that pick is recency bias (I finished it in December), but I can't rule it out.
- And lastly, I read not one but two Bridgerton novels. The Duke and I and Queen Charlotte were both fine so long as they had nice romantic tension between the female and male leads. And then as soon as they started having (poorly written boring) sex, the books became a lot less interesting. Oh well.
In 2003 I read 311 total books, which is by far the largest total I've had since I started tracking the books I've read back in 2007. Granted, 211 of them were books I read to my daughter, who just turned 3 in January, but even if you exclude those books, I still managed an even 100 'adult' books broken up between 4 books of poetry, 39 graphic novels and 57 works of prose. That's substantially more books than most of the year's I've tracked, and I didn't have at toddler back then. I'm calling this a major win.
It really helped that I final got my slush pile list moved over from M's ancient laptop to a permanent post in August. With that in place, I was consistently at the library every 7 to 10 days after a long pandemic/toddler induced hiatus. As a result, my second half total blew away my first half total. I'm happy to be back to my old reading ways.
The list would actually have been longer but as I was writing this I realized that even though I read Lords of the Realm in January, it was actually a re-read because I read it back in 2015. This nicely illustrates the limits of memory, the hazards of manual lists and probably some other moral lessons that I'm not noticing yet. Anyway, I don't count re-reads unless I'm reading it to my daughter for the first time, so off the list it goes.
Here's the full list, with the usual annotations.
* indicates a Graphic Novel - 39
^ indicates Poetry - 4
& indicates a children's book I read to my daughter for the first time - 211
All other books - 57
Italicized books were particular highlights.
Bold books are recommended to most anyone.
(DP) = from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
(PJL) = from the PJ Library.
&Jamie Kiffle-Alcheh & Marc Lumer - Can You Hear a Coo Coo? - Su 1/01
&Sandra Boynton - A to Z - Su 1/01
&Sandra Boynton - Opposites - Su 1/01
&James Dean - Pete the Cat: Time for Bed Pete the Kitty - T 1/03
Robert Caro - The Years of Lyndon Johnson, v.3: Master of the Senate - R 1/12
Rick Beyer - The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales From History to Astonish, Bewilder and Stupefy - T 1/17
Leo Durocher w/Ed Linn - Nice Guys Finish Last - Su 1/22
&James Dean - Pete the Cat's Train Trip - M 1/23
&Jane E. Gerver & Laura Ovresat - Bath Time - M 1/23
&Grace Maccarone & David A. Carter - Cars! Cars! Cars! - W 1/25
&Sue Fliess & Sarah Beise - Calling All Cars - W 1/25
&Richard Courtney - Thomas & Friends: All Around the Island - W 1/25
&Lauren Thompson & Derek Anderson - Little Quack - W 1/25
&Lois Ehlert - Planting a Rainbow - R 1/26
&Little People - Worlds of Adventure - R 1/26
&Denise Fleming - The Cow Who Clucked - R 1/26
&Jules Feiffer - Bark, George - R 1/26
&Wendy Cheyette Lewison & Hans Wilhelm - Buzz Said the Bee - F 1/27
&Golden Books - The Farm Book - S 1/28
&Tony Mitton & Guy Parker-Rees - Dinosaurumpus - F 2/03
&Margaret Wise Brown & Joan Paley - I Like Stars - F 2/03
&Melanie Ellsworth & Morena Forza - Hip, Hip…Beret! - S 2/04
&Kidsbooks - First Animal Facts: Ocean - M 2/06
&James Dean & Eric Litein - Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes - M 2/06!
Denise Kiernan - The Girls of Atomic City - W 2/08
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barragee - A Valentine for Uni the Unicorn - W 2/08
&Sue Downing - We Are Friends Under the Sea - R 2/09
&Patricia Hegarty & Bryony Clarkson - Owl Always Love You - R 2/09
&Erika White - Paw Patrol: The Pups and the Big Freeze - R 2/09
&Susan Ring & Bill Scolon - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Summer Vacation - F 2/10
Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down - T 2/14
&Tommy Stubbs - Thomas & Friends: Fast Train, Slow Train - F 2/24
&Hollis James & Fabrizio Petrossi - Paw Patrol: Jurassic Park - F 2/24
&Scott Albert & Fabrizzio Petrossi - Paw Patrol: Puppy Birthday to You - F 2/24
&Ursula Ziegler Sullivan & Fabrizzio Petrossi - Paw Patrol: Itty-Bitty Kitty Rescue - F 2/24
&Dolly Parton & Heather Sheffield - I Am a Rainbow - R 3/09 (DPIL)
&Jenna Waidman & Erica J. Chen - Purr-im Time - R 3/09 (PJL)
&Amber Lily - Five Swishy Fish - R 3/09
&Dav Pilkey - Big Dog and Little Dog - M 3/13
&Dav Pilkey - Big Dog and Little Dog Wearing Sweaters - M 3/13
&Victoria Kann - Pinkalicious and the Pinkadorable Pony - M 3/13
&Stephen Savage - Moonlight - M 3/13
&Britta Teckentrup - Ocean - T 3/14
&Nicky Benson & Jonny Lambert - I Love You More and More - T 3/14
&David Weinstone & Magali Le Huche - All My Friends Are Fast Asleep - T 3/14
&Toni Yuli - The Whole Wide World and Me - F 3/17
&Toni Yuli - Thank You Bees - F 3/17
&Bob Barner - Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! - F 3/17
&Katy Tanis - Love in the Wild - R 3/23
&Eric Puybaret - Over the Rainbow - S 3/25
&Jan Thomas - Is Everyone Ready for Fun? - M 3/27
&Alyssa Satin Capucilli & Pat Schories - Biscuit Feeds the Pets - M 3/27
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barrager - Uni the Unicorn: Uni and the Butterfly - M 3/27
&Toni Yuli - Early Bird - T 3/28
&Toni Yuli - Night Owl - T 3/28
^William Shakespeare - The Sonnets and “A Lover’s Complaint” - R 3/30
^William Shakespeare - Various Poems - R 3/30
&Britta Teckentrup - Get Out of My Bath! - Su 4/02
&Phyllis Rowand & Laura Dronzek - It is Night - T 4/04
&James Reid & Bettina Guthridge - Across the Sea - T 4/04
&Melanie Hamm & Sue King - Kyle in Trouble - T 4/04
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barrager - Uni the Unicorn - W 4/05
&Eric Carle - The Very Busy Spider - W 4/05
&Karen Yin & Nelleke Verhoeff - Whole Whale - W 4/05
*Berkely Breathed - Politically, Fashionably, and Aerodynamically Incorrect: The First Outland Collection - W 4/12
Celine Delvaux - The Museum of Illusions: Optical Tricks in Art - W 4/12
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Why We Can't Wait - Su 4/16
&Gail Tuchman - Busy Butterflies - T 4/18
&Eric Carle - The Very Quiet Cricket - T 4/18
&Shannon Zemlicka - From Egg to Butterfly - T 4/18
&Chloe Goodhart & Gareth Lucas - Birding for Babies: Backyard Birds - T 4/18
Robert Caro - The Years of Lyndon Johnson, v.4: The Passage of Power - R 4/20
&Jill McDonald - Solar System - M 4/24
&Christie Matheson - Touch The Brightest Star - M 4/24
&Sherri Duskey Rinker & Tony Fucile - It's So Quiet! - W 4/26
*Mike Mignola & Others - Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., 1952-1954 - W 4/26
&Eric Carle - You Are Ready! The World is Waiting - F 4/28
&Darren Farrell & Maya Tatsukawa - Dandelion Magic - F 4/28 (DPIL)
&Benjamin Proudfit - Ocean Animals: Seals - S 4/29
Stephen King - Billy Summers - M 5/01
Nina Freedlander Gibans - Creative Essence: Cleveland’s Sense of Place - F 5/05
Alexandra Horowitz - On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes - R 5/11
Robert Caro - Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing - Su 5/14
Matthew McGough - Bat Boy: My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees - M 5/15
&Shelly Becker & Dan Yaccarino - One, Two, Grandpa Loves You - M 5/15
&Irene Latham, Charles Waters & Nabila Adani - Be a Bridge - M 5/15
William Zinsser - Extraordinary Lives: The Art and Craft of American Biography - T 5/16
&Richard Jackson & Suzy Lee - This Beautiful Day - W 5/17
*Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck & Dave Stewart - Hellboy Universe Essentials: Witchfinder - T 5/16
&Willa Perlman & Carolyn Fisher - Good Night, World - R 5/18
&Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Teagan White - That's Me Loving You - R 5/18
&Leo Lionni - A Color of His Own - Su 5/21
&Diana Sudyka - Little Land - Su 5/21
&Joshua David Stein & Dominique Ramsey - Solitary Animals: Introverts of the Wild - M 5/22 (DPIL)
Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - This Is How You Lose the Time War - R 5/25
&Alison Murray - The Little Green Hen - F 5/26
&Toni Yuly - The Jelly Bean Tree - F 5/26
Henry Grabar - Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World - S 6/03
&Laurent Moreau - Play Outside! - T 6/06
&Jacqueline K. Rayner - Hats are Not For Cats! - W 6/07
&Laurel Snyder & Jui Ishida - Good Night, Laila Tov - W 6/07 (PJL)
Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children - R 6/08
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.1: Original Sins - S 6/10
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.2: The Devil You Know - M 6/12
&Toni Yuli - Cat Nap - T 6/13
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.3: The Fear Machine - T 6/13
Stephen E. Ambrose - Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest - W 6/14
&Betty Ann Schwartz & Alexander Wilensky - The Splendid Spotted Snake - R 6/15
&Greg Parocki - Trees - F 6/16
*Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.4: The Family Man - W 6/14
*Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis & others - Hellblazer v.5: Dangerous Habits - S 6/17
*Garth Ennis & others - Hellblazers v.6: Bloodlines - M 6/19
*Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon - Hellblazer, v.7: Tainted Love - R 6/22
*Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon & others - Hellblazer, v.8: Rake at the Gates of Hell - F 6/23
&Alice Schertle & John Joseph - Good Night, Little Blue Truck - F 6/23
David McCullough - The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 - M 6/26
&Kate & Jim McMullan - I'm Tough - T 6/27
*Paul Jenkins, Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer, v9: Critical Mass - T 6/27
*Paul Jenkins, Sean Phillips & Al Davison - Hellblazer, v10: In the Line of Fire - R 6/29
*Paul Jenkins, Sean Phillips & others - Hellblazer, v11: Last Man Standing - Su 7/02
Tony Horwitz - Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War - M 7/03
*Paul Jenkins & others - Hellblazer, v12: How to Play With Fire - M 7/03
*Howard Tayler & others - Schlock Mercenary, v. 17: A Little Immortality - R 7/07
*Warren Ellis & others - Hellblazer, v13: Haunted - M 7/10
&Sherri Duskey Rinker & Ag Ford - Construction Site Mission: Demolition! - W 7/12
&Jennifer Dewing & Mary GrandPre - Goodnight Little Vivian - W 7/12
&Heidi Woodward Sheffield - Ice Cream Face - W 7/12 (PJL)
&Kate & Jim McMullan - I Stink - W 7/12
&Laura Purdie Salas & Monique Felix - Puddle Song - R 7/13
&Alice Schertle & Jill McElmurry - Little Blue Truck Leads the Way - R 7/13
&Emma Dodd - I Love Bugs! - F 7/14
&Tim Hopgood - Woow! Said the Owl - F 7/14
&Stephen Savage - The Mixed-Up Truck - F 7/14
&Patricia Hegarty & Johnny Lambert - Now You See Me Now You Don't - F 7/14
*Brian Azzarello, Richard Corben & others - Hellblazer, v14: Good Intentions - F 7/14
*Brian Azzarello & others - Hellblazer, v15: Highwater - S 7/15
*Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.16: The Wild Card - M 7/17
*Zach Weinersmith & Boulet - Bea Wolf - R 7/20
&Daniel Kirk - The Big Slide - R 7/20 (DPIL)
*Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.17: Out of Season - S 7/22
*Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.18: The Gift - Su 7/23
*Denise Mina & others - Hellblazer, v.19: The Red Right Hand - W 7/26
*Andy Diggle, Mike Carey & others - Hellblazer, v.20: Systems of Control - F 7/28
&Rookie Toddler - Do You See Shapes? - S 7/29
&Jessie Ford - Mrs. Peanuckle's Earth Alphabet - T 8/01
*Kate Beaton - Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands - W 8/02
*Andy Diggle, Jason Aaron & others - Hellblazer, v.21: The Laughing Magician - F 8/04
&Jessica Hickman & Elissambura - Happy 'Roo Year: It's Rosh Hashanah! - M 8/07 (PJL)
&Lucy Cousins - Little Fish's Ocean - M 8/07
*Peter Milligan, Simon Oliver & others - Hellblazer, v.22: Regeneration - M 8/07
&Micha Archer - Wonder Walkers - T 8/08
&Shannon Hale & LeUyen Pham - Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn - W 8/09
Lois McMaster Bujold - Masquerade in Lodi - R 8/10
&Jane Yolen & Mark Teague - How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? - R 8/10
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Orphans of Raspay - F 8/11
&Juana Medina - Elena Rides - F 8/11
&Jeffrey Burton & Alison Brown - The Wheels on the Dump Truck - F 8/11
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Physicians of Vilnoc - F 8/11
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Assassins of Thasalon - S 8/12
Lois McMaster Bujold - Knot of Shadows - S 8/12
&Michael Hall - Red: A Crayon's Story - M 8/14
&Bluey - Bluey: The Beach - T 8/15
&Karin Akesson - The Rainbow Snail - F 8/18
&Emma Perry & Claire Alexander - Let's Go Puddling - F 8/18
Lois McMaster Bujold - The Flowers of Vashnoi - F 8/18
&Charis St. Pierre & Rachel Wada - Welcome, Dark - S 8/19
&Gabriella DeGennaro - Good Night with The Very Hungry Caterpillar - S 8/19
&Liz Garton Scanlon & Diana Sudyka - Would You Come Too? - S 8/19
&Divya Srinivasan - Little Owl's Love - S 8/19
&Emma J. Virjan - A Pig in a Wig: What This Story Needs is a Vroom and a Zoom - Su 8/20
&Rina Horiuchi & Rsa Horiuchi - K is for Kindness - Su 8/20 (DPIL)
*Peter Milligan, Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.23: No Future - Su 8/20
Lois McMaster Bujold - Knife Children - M 8/21
&Emma J. Virjan - A Pig in a Wig: What This Story Needs is a Band and a Clang - M 8/21
&Michael Whaite - Diggersaurus - M 8/21
&Karen Kilpatrick & German Blanco - When Glitter Met Glue - M 8/21
&Victoria Kann - Pinkalicious and the Pinkamazing Little Library - R 8/24
*Peter Milligan, Si Spencer & others - Hellblazer v.24: Sectioned - R 8/24
*Peter Milligan & others - Hellblazer v.25: Another Season - T 8/29
Roger Angell - The Summer Game - T 8/29
&Charis St. Pierre & Rachel Wada - Welcome, Dark - W 8/30
&Sharon G. Flake & Anna Raff - You Are Not a Cat - W 8/30
&Sandra J. Howatt & Joyce Wan - Sleepyheads - W 8/30
&Denise Fleming - In the Small, Small Pond - W 8/30
William Shakespeare - All's Well That Ends Well - R 8/31
*Peter Milligan, Jamie Delano & others - Hellblazer v.26: The Curse of the Constantines - R 8/31
&Bonnie Bader - Fly, Butterfly - T 9/05
Fred Lieb - Baseball as I Have Known It - W 9/06
Lois McMaster Bujold - Dreamweaver's Dilemma - F 9/08
&Emma Dodd - Home Is Where the Heart Is - M 9/18
&Alice Schertle & Jill McElmurry - Little Blue Truck's Halloween - M 9/18
&Lucy Cousins - Splish, Splash, Ducky! - M 9/18
&Valerie Bolling & Kaylani Juanita - Together We Swim - R 9/21
&Lucy Ruth Cummins - Our Pool - R 9/21
&Lucy Cousins - Hooray for Birds! - R 9/21
&Emma Perry & Claire Alexander - Let's Go Puddling - F 9/22
Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson - Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline - F 9/22
&Erin Guendelsberger & AndoTwin - Goodnight ABCs - S 9/23
&Denise Brennan-Nelson & Susan Kathleen Hartung - Tallulah, Mermaid of the Great Lakes - W 9/28
&Maudie Powell-Tuck & Gill Guile - Pumpkin Party! - W 9/28
Julia Quinn - The Duke & I - W 9/28
&Ann D. Kofsky - Kayla & Kugel's Silly Sukkot - Su 10/01 (PJL)
Bella Bathurst - The Lighthouse Stevensons - Su 10/01
&Joyce Wan - You Are My Pumpkin - M 10/02
*Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross - Marvels (25th Anniversary Edition) - W 10/04
&Michael Dahl & Oriol Vidal - Haircut for Lion - R 10/05
Paul Goldberger - Ballpark: Baseball in the American City - S 10/07
&Brendan Wenzel - Every Dreaming Creature - M 10/09
&Julie Flett - We All Play - M 10/09
*Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer - Murder Falcon - T 10/10
&Bluey - Bluey: Good Night, Fruitbat - W 10/11
&Rae Crawford - My Day With Dad - R 10/12
&Cynthia Rylant & Melissa Sweet - Moonlight the Halloween Cat - R 10/12
&Rebecca Colby & Penelope Dullaghan - Crocodiles Need Kisses Too - R 10/12
&Sheryl McFarlane & Christine Wei - Welcome, Rain! - F 10/13
&Lucy Cousins - A Good Place - F 10/13
&Kate Dopirak & Mary Peterson - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Car - F 10/13
&Chris Barash & Melissa Iwai - Fridays Are Special - F 10/13 (PJL)
&Guido van Genechten - Step by Step - F 10/13
&Yuval Zommer - The Lights That Dance in the Night - F 10/13
Jhumpa Lahiri - Whereabouts - F 10/13
&Carin Berger - In the Night Garden - S 10/14
Bella Bathurst - Sound: A Memoir of Hearing Lost and Found - S 10/14
&Caralyn Buehner & Mark Buehner - Snowmen at Halloween - Su 10/15
&Margarita Engle & Rafael Lopez - Drum Dream Girl - R 10/19
&Lily Karr & Doreen Mulryan Marts - My Pumpkin - S 10/21
&Andrea Zimmerman & Dan Yaccarino - Crane Jane! - S 10/21
Bill Bryson - The Body: A Guide for Occupants- S 10/21
&Reed Duncan & JT Morrow - Llama Llama Meets the Babysitter - Su 10/22
Bella Bathurst - The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks, from the 18th-Century to the Present Day - W 10/25
Dan Egan - The Death and Life of the Great Lakes - R 10/26
Mike Duncan - The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic - S 10/28
&Matt Spink - Some Birds - M 10/30
&Mark Sperring & Britta Teckentrup - Your Hand in My Hand - M 10/30
&Sally Lloyd-Jones & Jane Chapman - Time to Say Goodnight - M 10/30
&Cynthia Platt & Anne Passchier - The Pumpkin is Missing! - T 10/31
&Kevin Henkes & Laura Dronzek - In the Middle of Fall - T 10/31
&Audrey Wood & Bruce Wood - Ten Little Fish - T 10/31
&Bluey - Blueu: What Games Should We Play? - W 11/01
&Kevin Henkes & Laura Dronzek - Winter is Here - W 11/01
&Angie Rozellar - The Great Pumpkin Contest - W 11/01
Kelly & Zach Weinersmith - Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve And/Or Ruin Everything - R 11/02
&Ged Adamson - A Fox Found a Box - R 11/01
^Megan Fernandes - I Do Everything I'm Told - F 11/03
&Margaret Wise Brown & Garth Williams - Home For a Bunny - Su 11/05
&Margaret Wise Brown & Charlotte Cooke - Sunshine and Snowballs - Su 11/05
George Plimpton - Out of My League - Su 11/05
*Junot Diaz & Leo Espinosa - Islandborn - W 11/08
&Linda Glaser & Daniel Howarth - Hoppy Hanukkah! - R 11/09
Paul Greenberg - Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food - R 11/09
Julia Quinn & Shonda Rhimes - Queen Charlotte - F 11/10
&Linda Ashman & Chuck Groenink - William's Winter Nap - S 11/11
&Will Hillenbrand - A Bear and Mole Story: First Star - S 11/11
&Christie Matheson - Tap the Magic Tree - S 11/11
&Cynthia Rylant & Lisa Congdon - Rain - S 11/11
Kelly & Zach Weinersmith - A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, And Have We Really Thought This Through? - M 11/13
&Danica McKellar & Josee Masse - Double Puppy Trouble - F 11/17
*Simon Stalenhag - Tales From the Loop - S 11/18
Mark Kurlansky - Cod - M 11/20
&Jeff Mack - Who Wants a Hug? - T 11/21
Sinclair Lewis - It Can't Happen Here - R 11/23
&Adam Rubin & Daniel Salmieri - Dragons Love Tacos - S 11/25
&Jessica Lee & Lucia Wilkinson - Breathe Deep, Little Sheep - Su 11/26
&Mary Casanova & Nick Wroblewski - Hush Hush, Forest - Su 11/26
&Rich Lo - After the Snowfall - Su 11/26
&Lucy Cousins - Jazzy in the Jungle - Su 11/26
&Bob Barner - Stars! Stars! Stars! - Su 11/26
&Tim McCanna & Ricahrd Smythe - Watersong - Su 11/26
Stephen King - Later - M 11/27
&Tommy Stubbs - Good Night, Thomas - T 11/28
&Jonathan London & David Parkins - I'm a Truck Driver - T 11/28
*Simon Stalenhag - The Electric State - T 11/18
William Shakespeare - The Life of Timon of Athens - R 11/30
&Sam Boughton - Hello, Whale! - F 12/01
&Sabrina Moyle & Eunice Moyle - Good Night Baboon! - F 12/01
&Lucy Cousins - Maisy's Snow Day - S 12/02
&Ashley Wian & Joy Ang - Kobe Eats Pizza! - S 12/02
&Cathy Camper & Kenard Pak - Ten Ways to Hear Snow - S 12/02
&Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman - Bear Says Thanks - S 12/02
&Nina Crews - I'm Not Small - S 12/02
&Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman - Bear Wants More - Su 12/03
&Bianca Schulze & Samara Hardy - Don't Wake the Dragon - T 12/05
&Rich Lo - After the Moonrise - T 12/05
&Emily Hamilton - The Yawnicore - T 12/05
&Ellie Sandall - Everybunny Dream! - T 12/05
*Simon Stalenhag - Things From the Flood - T 12/05
&Peter Bently & Chris Chatterton - I Am Dog! - W 12/06
&Patricia Toht & Jarvis - Together With You - W 12/06
Mary Beard - SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome - W 12/13
^Roxane Beth Johnson - Black Crow Dress - R 12/14
&Emily Joof & Matilda Ruta - I Will Swim Next Time - M 12/18
&Gaia Cornwall - Jabari Jumps - M 12/18
&Lisa Wheeler & Barry Gott - Dino-Swimming - M 12/18
&Nick Rebman - Sports: Swimming - M 12/18
&Sana Rafi & Olivia Aserr - A Mermaid Girl - M 12/18
&Alexandra Cassel Schwartz - Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Daniel Learns to Swim - M 12/18
Jenny Brown - Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women's Work - T 12/19
Dara Horn - People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present - F 12/22
&World of Eric Carle - The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Breakfast - S 12/23 (DPIL)
&Nancy Shaw & Margot Apple - Sheep in a Jeep - Su 12/24
&Sara Miller & Jerrod Maruyama - Disney Baby: Good Night, Farm - Su 12/24
&Ann Whitford Paul & David Walker - If Animals Kissed Goodnight - Su 12/24
&Ingela P. Arrhenius - Where's the Narwhale? - M 12/25
&Ginger Smith & Katya Longhi - Little Yellow Bee - T 12/26
&Lara Ede - Five Little Pumpkins - T 12/26
&Ingela P. Arrhenius - Where's the Unicorn? - T 12/26
&Alyssa Satin Capucilli & Pat Schories - Good Night, Biscuit - T 12/26
*Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) - The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances - W 12/27
Jonathan Mahler - Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics and the Battle for the Soul of a City - R 12/28
Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck - Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream - Su 12/31
&Rod Campbell - Dear Zoo - Su 12/31
I was sorely tempted to pull all the kids books out into a separate, second list, but that seemed like too much work, and besides, I'm absolutely certain that I missed more than a few of them. Anyway, let's start with some comments on a few of the books I read to my daughter this year that I thought were particularly good. I should note that this does not mean that SHE thought they were good, because she liked all sorts of stuff I couldn't stand.
- We read a bunch of books by Toni Yuly, and generally liked them. The biggest highlight was Night Owl, which all three of us enjoyed as a bedtime book for several months and Birdie still quotes occasionally. We checked it out at least twice, and if I had to buy one kids book from this list, it would probably be this one. M and I also really enjoyed The Whole Wide World and Me and several other of her offerings.
- The only other kids book from this list I'd consider buying was Sleepyheads by Sandra J. Howatt and Joyce Wan. Like Night Owl, it was in the bedtime rotation for months and has been checked out multiple times, to say nothing of the renewals. Libraries are great.
- Another highlight author for 2023 was Lucy Cousins. We read a bunch of her books, including a bunch of her signature Maisy series, but I personally really enjoyed Splish Splash Ducky and Hooray for Birds, and Birdie's favorite was probably Jazzy in the Jungle, which features intricate foldout pages for a game of hide-and-seek.
As I noted in my inaugural Stuff I've Been Reading, late in the year I finally got a workable system in place to read more poetry.
- My test poet was Megan Fernandes after her poem Friends With No Benefits was the poem of the day on Poets.org for October 13. Three weeks later I had read I Do Everything I'm Told. On balance, there were a lot more poems in that collection that resonated with me than didn't, although I wasn't wild about the section where the first page had the poem and the second page whited out 80% of the words of the first poem to create a new poem. I'm not sure forms like that add a whole bunch, although there certainly seem clever on first glance.
- Next up was Black Crow Dress by Roxane Beth Johnson, which was inspired by her November 16 poem of the day Blues for Almost Forgotten Music over on Poetry Foundation. "Blues" was a great poem about memory and music, on par with Standing by a Shelf by Brandon D. Johnson. The poems in Black Crow Dress were totally different, as that book is a loosely oriented story made up of multiple poems written from the perspective of slaves in the antebellum south and their masters. It hits pretty painfully and horribly, and while it's certainly worth a read it's not something that lends itself to easy comparison with Fernandes book.
Speaking of poets, 2023 was also the first year since 2019 that I finished any of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. My long set goal is back on track, as I finished the two major poetry sections ("The Sonnets and Lover's Complaint" and "Various Poems") plus "All's Well That Ends Well" and "Timon of Athens". My goal going forward is to read one play per quarter until I finish the book. We'll see how well that holds up, but as of today my bookmark (which is a whole other story) is on page 2306 of 3420, which is basically 2/3 of the way through. It took fifteen years to get this far!
2023 was also the first year I read an entire comic series cover to cover in quite some time. It used to be a regular thing, but since after I read two in 2017 I hadn't done one since. I read all 300 issues of the original Vertigo run of Hellblazer. I'd read some of it pre-lists, but I went ahead and got every one of the deluxe trades from the library in order. John Constantine is a terrible person and I never want to meet him (as several of his authors claim to have), but over the course of 300 issues (not to mention all the one-offs collected in the deluxe trades) I'd estimate that really enjoyed more than 3/4 of them. I haven't marked any with italics above, but that's because I'm too lazy to look up which storyline was in each book. I admire how much Constantine's magic ISN'T a system, unless you count riding the synchronicity wave to turn up where he needs to be. There's no attempt to make it all make sense or to let the reader be able to predict which spells might save the day, because as Constantine notes it's usually less about the magic than the attitude. Heck, his biggest win in the entire series doesn't even have him casting spells when he cons three different demons into purchasing his soul at the same time and plays them against each other. I can see how some people might find that approach to magic frustrating, but it lets the atmosphere/attitude/bluff move to the front, and without those John Constantine would be nothing. I'm not going to claim I really liked the series ending all that much, but I'm not sure there was a winning ending to a comic that aged its character more or less in real time for 25 years while repeatedly killing off all his friends and allies besides Chas.
Beyond Hellblazer, other comics I read in 2023 included:
- Years ago my cousin Jeremy recommended Murder Falcon by Daniel Warren Johnson. It's a limited series where heavy metal powers kaiju who fight the forces of evil. And frankly, if you've read that sentence you probably know if you'll like it or not. I loved it!
- Simon Stalenhag is a Swedish author who crowdfunded a trio of books that mixed large scale images with prose text. Tales from the Loop and Things From the Flood tell a coming of age story of sorts in an alternate 1990s Sweden with all sorts futuristic technology, if that tech had been used for really prosaic things so that it still looked like the 1990s we lived through but with flying ships and robots and possibly aliens from another dimension. They were interesting, but the real highlight was The Electric State, where a woman goes on a road trip through the western United States that has been overcome by zombies who won't or can't disconnect from virtual reality. The Electric State is delightfully creepy and interesting and is well worth a read.
- The best memoir I read this year was Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, who got her start with the webcomic Hark! A Vagrant. Ducks tells how Beaton moved to Alberta to work in the oil patch in order to pay off her college student loans quickly. She observes the good and the bad of the oil patch with a kindness that it doesn't seem to deserve, given what she experiences out there. I suspect you could transpose Alberta for the oil patch in the western end of my home state of North Dakota with some accuracy.
- One of the best books I read, period, was an updated version of Beowulf where Grendel's terrible power is to turn kids into boring adults. This version is called Bea Wolf, and it somehow managed to keep the cadence and power of the original while making it an incredibly fun and entertaining read for kids of all ages. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is or ever was ten years old. Boulet drew this book and it was written by Zach Weinersmith of SMBC. His name will turn up again later on.
Moving on to prose, my slush pile has my author block featured prominently, and I read quite a books by some of them. Highlights:
- Bill Bryson announced his retirement. Regrettably, his last (apparently) book The Body: A Guide for Occupants was one of the weaker entries in his canon and I can't particularly recommend it.
- Lois McMaster Bujold - I read a giant pile of new (to me) Penric novellas (and one novel) as well as a few odds and ends that only recently came to the library. Penric is phenomeal. I read four novellas and the novel in a two day stretch and they were all great. I'm starting to wonder if Penric and Desdemona are better characters than Miles and company, and I never expected that. Speaking of Miles, I read The Flower of Vashnoi and enjoyed that too, as well as the "far far prequel" Dreamweaver's Dilemma.
- Junot Diaz still hasn't published anything else, but I did get his children's book Islandborn from the library. It was a little too old for Birdie, but I read it anyway and it wasn't bad at all.
- Stephen King has a big backlog of books I haven't read, so I suspect it may be soon for me to get them all from the library and read them in a big chunk, like I was some sort of King-eating python. I did read Billy Summers (hitman as writer!) as my "welcome back to the library" book as well as Later.
- Jhumpa Lahiri has started writing in Italian, but in 2021 an English translation of her novel Whereabouts came out. It's not as good as The Namesake and The Lowland, but that's a high bar to reach. Taken on its own, it's a pleasant little novel about a woman living along and her life, and if I'd read it knowing nothing about the author I would have sought out her other books based on this one. Regrettably, she doesn't have any other books that I haven't read, but I will be waiting.
- Tom Robbins - I was halfway through Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates on New Year's, so it'll be on next year's list.
- Jesmyn Ward - I had Let Us Descend on hold for four months and it didn't turn up until early January, so it will also be on next year's list. And then I have to wait until she publishes another book.
Of course, this means I didn't get to Margaret Atwood, Charles Dickens, James Ellroy, Ernest Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy, Haruki Murakami, JK Rowling, Lionel Shriver, John Steinbeck, Studs Terkel or Kurt Vonnegut. If I make it a few years in a row without them, maybe I'll cut some.
Moving onward to non-fiction of various types.
- I finished the third and fourth books of The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro. Then I read Caro's memoir (more or less) as well as a collection of speeches by him and other prominent biographers, to say nothing of the documentary about him I saw. And now, like so many others, I wait and hope that he finishes the fifth and final volume before he passes away.
Having said that, the LBJ books are very good. In particular, the first 100 pages of Master of the Senate encapsulate exactly why a Civil Rights movement was necessary in a phenomenally well written trot through American history by way of the history of the Senate. I learned more about American history in those 100 pages than I did in four years of high school. I re-read that section three times. You can read this without reading the first two volumes, and frankly, you should. There's a reason it won ALL the awards when it came out.
- My favorite new author of the year was Bella Bathurst, whose The Lighthouse Stevensons won all the awards when it came out in 1999. If you ever wanted to learn about the impacts of Scottish engineering on the British Isles or why Robert Louis Stevenson was the "failure" of his family, this is the book for you. Her book The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks, from the 18th-Century to the Present Day explored similar terrain.
However, it was Bathurst's Sound: A Story of Hearing Lost and Found that was the best of the three. Bathurst went deaf her early thirties for reasons that weren't easily diagnosable... and then after 12 years her hearing came back. With this as a frame, her memoir explores sound, disability and what it really means to hear things. It's a great book and I highly recommend it.
- I read two more books by Zach Weinersmith, written with his wife Dr. Kelly Weinersmith. Both of these were popular science books. The first was Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything which was a fun romp through the implications of some potentially upcoming technology. I personally preferred their newest book, A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?, which explains all the currently unsolved problems that stand between us and having colonies on the Moon, Mars or in orbit. As a space enthusiast from way back, I was familiar with at least the high level description of most of the technology problems, but the psychology, legal and moral problems were largely new to me. The whole thing is presented as a "man, this is going to be so cool... if we can solve these really hard problems." Anyway who loves the idea of space travel should check it out.
- I read the usual pile of baseball books. The only one that really stood out besides "Lords of the Realm" (see top if you've forgotten because this is 900 pages long now) was Baseball as I Have Known It, which is a bunch of stories told by long-time sportswriter Fred Lieb when he was 89. He saw it all from about 1900 to 1975, and he tells a bunch of great stories. The other baseball books I read this year didn't rise to that level, but Nice Guys Finish Last and The Summer Game both had their moments. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning tries to be about both baseball and NYC, but ends up being a decent book about NYC and bad one about baseball.
- One of my favorite books this year was Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World. If you ever wanted to learn more about how zoning and parking codes are screwing up the United States, and what you can do about it, this is the book to read. It presents some potentially tedious material in quite a compelling manner that explains why all suburbs look basically the same, why free street parking (particularly in downtown areas) is theft from taxpayers. I recommend this one to pretty much everyone.
- If you've ever worried about overpopulation, Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline explains why you probably shouldn't be. Don't worry though, as long as the U.S. has a sane and rational immigration policy we should be fine here. What's that? Oh... The only real drawback to this book is that it came out in 2019, so the pandemic's impact on global movement isn't accounted for.
- This year's primary water policy book was The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. If you want a good summary of all the ways we've screwed up the Great Lakes, this is the place to start. It goes from the abject failure of the St. Lawrence Seaway relative to its goals to pollution, invasive species and a whole host of other problems. It's more or less got a positive ending, in the sense that things are getting better now. This led me to read Four Fish, which is an excellent summation of the hazards of overfishing and the place for wild caught fish in our diets. That in turn led me to Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, which [a] apparently started the trend of one word title history books [b] isn't nearly as good as Four Fish.
If you've made it this far, don't give up. We're in the final stretch.
- More than 15 years ago I picked up a copy of Bat Boy: My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees at a library bag sale. I didn't throw it out because I've never seen another book written by a bat boy. I didn't read it because for every chapter of interesting stories about the life of a bat boy, there was a bunch of poorly written high school coming of age crap. I finally sat down and read through it this year. Too bad the bat boy stuff wasn't separated out!
- Bat Boy was the book that had been in my physical slush pile for the second longest amount of time. Third longest was Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down, which was pretty easily the weakest Hornby I've read. The longest, well, I'm not going to admit that but I'm probably never going to read it or get rid of it, because it's a personal thing.
- I read one book by someone I've met. This Is How You Lose the Time War was written by Amal El-Mohtar, who I met at a wedding long ago, and by Max Gladstone, who I haven't met. Two agents on opposite sides of a long running war through time and space start leaving letters for each other. Romance follows, as well as some (relatively predictable) plot twists. It was one of those books where I loved it dearly while I was reading it but once I had a chance to think about it I saw how the trick was done. That's not a knock, by the way. If I had figured it out WHILE I was reading it, that would have been a knock.
- If I had to choose just one book as the best one I read this year, I'd probably close my eyes and go with Dara Horn's People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present, which I reviewed at length here. I don't think that pick is recency bias (I finished it in December), but I can't rule it out.
- And lastly, I read not one but two Bridgerton novels. The Duke and I and Queen Charlotte were both fine so long as they had nice romantic tension between the female and male leads. And then as soon as they started having (poorly written boring) sex, the books became a lot less interesting. Oh well.