Book Lists 2020 Book • Page 6

1. Emily Henry - Beach Read
2. Frank Herbert - Dune
3. Mike Wu - Henri's hats
4. Mark Lawrence - Prince of Fools
5. Mark Lawrence - The Liar's Key
6. Faith G. Harper - This Is Your Brain on Depression
7. Faith G. Harper - Unf#ck Your Brain
8. Garrett M. Graff - The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11
9. Jason Schreier - Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: the Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made
10. Gretchen Rubin - The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Mrning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
11. Kevin D. Mitnick - The World's Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data
12. Rich Roll - Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself
13. Kevin Mitnick - Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker
14. Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal - The Original
15. Jen Hatmaker - Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You
16. Brandon Sanderson - Warbreaker


I've begun prepping for Rhythm of War.

"The Only Plane in the Sky" should be required reading. Haunting and excellent journalistic work. I clearly went on a nonfiction spree after finishing Wheel of Time.

October Goals:

Finish re-reading The Stormlight Archive and finish the third Mark Lawrence book I'm halfway through.

 

I've had a few moments where I've thought about giving up The Wars of Light and Shadow. I don't love every minute of it, and the best way I can think to describe the pace after the first book is the most hated books of the Wheel of Time series (which I still liked, so there's that.) After the longest easily most miserable book, the next one ended up being pretty good though, so I'm hoping I'll have some fun going into the endgame. For better or worse I will finish it. The Tyrant Baru Cormorant on the other hand was fucking excellent. Absolutely perfect fantasy, I loved the first two book but this one blows it out of the water. Sad to hear, that writing it is so damaging for the author, though perfectly understandable, there is some truly horrendous stuff in there, and it's realer than any fantasy I've read. The "Magic" presented in this book is absolutely the most vial for of "magic" I've seen presented in fantasy.

I enjoyed Communion, don't really care if the author may be lying or delusional or whatever...Like the Mothman Prophecies it makes for an entertaining read, that's all I'm there for. The Hollow Ones was pretty good. Definitely feels like Del Toro wants to open up an entire universe. Did not like Brightlands, more mystery than horror, which I don't have time for. Last Days was great, super fucked up. Read more from Evenson but that one is still my favorite. Mr Shivers was alright, very Robert Mccammon-y.

Getting back into Jenn Lyons Chorus of Dragons and I absolutely adore that as well. Another pitch-perfect fantasy that is getting better as it goes along. Can't wait for the next book. John Langan writes the best short (horror) stories. I didn't really like The Wasp Factory. The second book of the Acts of Caine series kept up the first book's greatness, but was a little bit too long, which is a criticism I rarely make. Saw that the final two books were shorter and figured he learned his lesson. I don't know what went wrong there. I was bored and confused with the third book and the final book was a one trick pony that was way too happy with itself. The author had the confidence that showed up in someone like Steven Erickson's final Malazan books, but unlike Erickson he didn't have much to say.

The Trouble with Peace brought me back to great fantasy. Love me some Abercrombie. Sort of wish that this trilogy was one book though. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was also fantastic. A Memory Called Empire was alright, well written, but again it was more of a mystery which I care less about. Empire of Silence was a snoozefest, can't imagine I'll be continuing that series. Looks like I'll be searching for a new sci fi series again.

My rec for horror fans this time comes from a book that I found by googling "most underrated horror books". Camp Ghoul Mountain VI: The Official Novelization. Obviously a novelization of a book that doesn't exist, it's super meta, half the story is said novelization, while the other half is increasingly disturbing footnotes that create a whole other meta history around the movie, including cults, conspiracy theories, and all sorts of horror love. Maybe not as great as it could have been, don't want to over sell it, but it's really good and definitely something different.

As for comics...Yeah, I'm still mainly just reading my new weekly comic pull list.

 

Update:

October

1. Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings
2. Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance
3. Brandon Sanderson - Edgedancer
4. Mark Lawrence - The Wheel of Osheim
5. Brandon Sanderson - Oathbringer

November

1. Lyssa Kay Adams - Crazy Stupid Bromance
2. Helena Hunting - Meet Cute
3. Brandon Sanderson - Dawnshard
4. RF Kuang - The Poppy War
5. RF Kuang - The Dragon Republic
6. Jenna Evans Welch - Love and Olives

With Rhythm of War and The Burning God (Poppy War #3) out tomorrow and Ready Player Two out next week, that's my next three sorted.

 

Also, just 100% leaning into the new side-brand of reading a couple romance novels every now and then as a palette cleanser.

 

Should hit my 40-book goal this year. Think next year I’m not gonna do a Goodreads challenge — I’ve found that counting the # of books has discouraged me from diving into more of the long-ass books that I want to tackle.

Currently reading:
Every Man a Menace by Patrick Hoffman
When the Nines Roll Over: Stories by David Benioff
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower

Read in 2020:
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze
Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
There There by Tommy Orange
The Fighter by Michael Farris Smith
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf
52 Pickup by Elmore Leonard
Letters from a Young Writer by Colum McCann
The Sun & The Moon & The Rolling Stones by Rich Cohen
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry
Meander, Spiral, Explode: Deisgn and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Among the Thugs by Bill Buford
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own by Jonathan Rendall
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
Airships by Barry Hannah
Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders
Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different by Chuck Palahniuk
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Lost City of Z by David Grann


Hit me up if you want recs or have questions about any of these! Really loved a lot of what I read this year.

 

Since it's the last week of the year, I'll call it now. Overall, a really good year and a good way to end this year in books (no matter what y'all believe, I would highly recommend Henri Nouwen).

My favorites from the middle of the year (Southern Book Club and So You Want to Talk about Race) are still high on the list. I also loved Mexican Gothic, Punching the Air, and Jesus & John Wayne. Those are my top five from the year, in no apparent order.

Next year, I've decided not to set a Goodreads goal. Between having a couple of bigger series that I want to read (The Lord of the Rings and The Dark Tower) and feeling like I had to power through some duds (The Return) for the sake of reaching my goal, I think I'd rather make sure I knock out the big ones on the list and then fill in the gaps with stuff that sounds fun and give myself the freedom to not finish a book.

 

I'll post this here as well as the book thread coz why not.

My 2020:

1. Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Friere
2. How Children Fail - John Holt
3. The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs - Steve Brusatte
4. Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur
5. While Mortals Sleep - Kurt Vonnegut
6. The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle The Masters House - Audre Lorde
7. Into the Wild - John Krakauer
8. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
9. Lavinia - Ursula Le Guin
10. Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction - Cynthia Freeland
11. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
12. No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference - Greta Thunberg
13. Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
14. How To Be An Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi
15. On Being Literate - Margaret Meek
16. The Body Artist - Don DeLillo
17. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction - Jonathan D. Culler
18. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
19. Three Japanese Short Stories - Assorted
20. Notes on Nationalism - George Orwell
21. Deschooling Society - Ivan Illich
22. Fates Worse Than Death - Kurt Vonnegut
23. Autumn - Ali Smith
24. The Body - Bill Bryson
25. The Man Who Made Things Out Of Trees - Robert Penn
26. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
27. God Bless You Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut

 

My 2020 was a bit Murakami heavy, but when I find a new author I enjoy I tend to inhale their entire bibliography, and the heart wants what it wants. Almost 50 books read and only outright hated one of them, so that was very fortunate.

1. Gates of Eden - Ethan Coen (4/5)
2. A Simple Plan - Scott B. Smith (3/5)
3. The Devil All The Time - Donald Ray Pollack (4/5)
4. Pop. 1280 - Jim Thompson (4/5)
5. Kafka On The Shore - Haruki Murakami (5/5)
6. After Dark - Haruki Murakami (5/5)
7. Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami (4/5)
8. Hard-Boiled Wonderland & The End of the World - Haruki Murakami (3/5)
9. A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami (3/5)
10. Dance Dance Dance - Haruki Murakami (5/5)
11. South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami (4/5)
12. Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami (3/5)
13. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami (2/5)
14. 1Q84 - Haruki Murakami (5/5)
15. The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami (3/5)
16. The Vegetarian - Han Kang (5/5)
17. Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West - Cormac McCarthy (2/5)
18. Dune - Frank Herbert (3/5)
19. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami (5/5)
20. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (4/5)
21. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami (3/5)
22. The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka (4/5)
23. The Stranger - Albert Camus (3/5)
24. The Trial - Franz Kafka (4/5)
25. The Shimmer - Carsten Stroud (1/5)
26. Killing Commedatore - Haruki Murakami (4/5)
27. Koko - Peter Straub (3/5)
28. Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger (3/5)
29. A Time To Kill - John Grisham (3/5)
30. After The Quake - Haruki Murakami (4/5)
31. The White Book - Han Kang (5/5)
32. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (4/5)
33. Hurricane Season - Fernanda Melchor (3/5)
34. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (5/5)
35. Human Acts - Han Kang (5/5)
36. Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (3/5)
37. Memories of my Melancholy Whores - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (4/5)
38. Please Look After Mom - Shin Kyoung-Sook (4/5)
39. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (4/5)
40. Lolita - Vladimir Nobokov (3/5)
41. Death In Her Hands - Ottessa Moshfegh (3/5)
42. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (4/5)
43. Of Love and Other Demons - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2/5)
44. Swann's Way - Marcel Proust (5/5)

 

Final update of the year. Highlights from the last few months:

Solutions and Other Problems was both a delight and at times emotionally tough. I loved Hyperbole and a Half and I’m really glad Allie is still writing.

I read Alex Trebek’s book the week before he died, and the timing just made it hit even harder.

Where the Crawdads Sing was for a book club I joined, and I thought it was fine but unremarkable.

Foundation was neat, although I didn’t know going in that it was a collection of loosely connected short stories. I was a little more interested in the idea of the Foundation itself than the political intrigue of some of the later stories, and I’m really curious where the TV series will focus.

The Underground Railroad and Night back to back made for a pretty depressing week, but I’d call both essential reading.

I picked up A Time To Kill on my parents’ recommendation. My first time reading Grisham, and despite a pretty great premise, I wasn’t super impressed with the plot or character development. I know it was his first book, so I guess I can’t be too harsh, and I would still like to read The Firm at some point.

Interior Chinatown snuck in at the end as my favorite of the year. I loved basically everything about it and will probably re-read before too long.

And I’m finishing out the year with Obama’s new book.

 

just barely hit my goal! read a lot of great stuff this year. had fun keeping track alongside you all, see you in the next thread!

 

Final update of the year! This doesn't count any digital comics that I read because I'm terrible at keeping track of those in Goodreads.

 

Made the new thread for this year: Book Lists 2021 • forum.chorus.fm

 

Novels
1.) Down and Dirty (Wild Cards: The Puppetman Quartet #5) - George R R Martin...
2.) The Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Luo Guanzhong (translated by Martin Palmer)
3.) Ace in the Hole (Wild Cards: The Puppetman Quartet #6) - George R R Martin...
4.) Husk - Rachel Autumn Deering
5.) Big Bad - Christian Galacar
6.) Dead Man’s Hand (Wild Cards: The Puppetman Quartet #7) - George R R Martin & John Jos. Miller
7.) The Witchwood Crown (The Last King of Osten Ard #1) - Tad Williams
8.) One-Eyed Jacks (Wild Cards: The Rox Triad #8) - George R R Martin...
9.) Empire of Grass (The Last King of Osten Ard #2) - Tad Williams
10.) Jokertown Shuffle (Wild Cards: The Rox Triad #9) - George R R Martin...
11.) The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) - Evan Winters
12.) The Pagan Night (The Hallowed War #1) - Tim Akers
13.) Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix
14.) The Chain - Adrian McKinty
15.) The Iron Hound (The Hallowed War #2) - Tim Akers
16.) The Grip of It - Jac Jemc
17.) Blood Games - Richard Laymon
18.) The Winter Vow (The Hallowed War #3) - Tim Akers
19.) We Sold Our Souls - Grady Hendrix
20.) Kill Creek - Scott Thomas
21.) Dune - Frank Herbert
22.) Malice (The Faithful and the Fallen #1) - John Gwynne
23.) The Fire in His Hands (Dread Empire: A Fortress In Shadow #4) - Glen Cook
24.) Mean Business on North Ganson Street - S. Craig Zahler
25.) With Mercy Toward None (Dread Empire: A Fortress In Shadow #5) -Glen Cook
26.) The Woods Are Dark - Richard Laymon
27.) Valor (The Faithful and the Fallen #2) - John Gwynne
28.) The Chill - Scott Carson
29.) Ruin (The Faithful and the Fallen #3) - John Gwynne
30.) The Deep - Alma Katsu
31.) True Crime - Samantha Kolesnik
32.) Wrath (The Faithful and the Fallen #4) - John Gwynne
33.) The Armageddon Rag - George R R Martin
34.) The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
35.) The Vorrh (#1) - B. Catling
36.) Dreamsongs (vol 1) - George R R Martin
37.) The Erstwhile (The Vorrh #2) - B. Catling
38.) The Tunnel - William H. Gass
39.) Hellraiser: The Toll - Clive Barker & Mark Alan Miller
40.) Camp Slasher - Dan Padavona
41.) The Cloven (The Vorrh #3) - B. Catling
42.) Renegades - Shaun Hutson
43.) Black Mountain (Isaiah Coledrige #2) - Laird Barron
44.) The Worst Is Yet to Come - S.P. Miskowksi
45.) If It Bleeds - Stephen King
46.) Beyond Redemption (Manifest Delusions #1) - Michael R. Fletcher
47.) Authority (Southern Reach #2) - Jeff VanderMeer
48.) The Mirror's Truth (Manifest Delusions #2) - Michael R. Fletcher
49.) Hardcase (Joe Kurtz #1) - Dan Simmons
50.) Swarm and Steel (Manifest Delusions #3) - Michael R. Fletcher
51.) The Crook Factory - Dan Simmons
52.) The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon
53.) Black Hills - Dan Simmons
54.) Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1) - Mark Lawrence
55.) Dead South (#1) - Zach Bohannon
56.) The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust #1) - Anna Smith Spark
57.) Hard Freeze (Joe Kurtz #2) - Dan Simmons
58.) The Tower of Living and Dying (Empires of Dust #2) - Anna Smith Spark
59.) Hard as Nails (Joe Kurtz #3) - Dan Simmons
60.) The House of Sacrifice (Empires of Dust #3) - Anna Smith Spark
61.) Flashback - Dan Simmons
62.) The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #1) - Seth Dickinson
63.) Savaging the Dark - Christopher Conlon
64.) The Monster Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #2) - Seth Dickinson
65.) Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre - Max Brooks
66.) Smoke and Stone (City of Sacrifice #1) - Michael R. Fletcher
67.) The Ceremonies - T. E. D. Klein
68.) An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat: A Chronicle of the Dread Empire - Glen Cook
69.) I Am Behind You - John Ajvide Lindqvist
70.) Reap the East Wind (Dread Empire: Wrath of Kings #6) - Glen Cook
71.) Touch the Night - Max Booth III
72.) Angel of Death (A Glimpse of Hell #2) - Wade H. Garrett
73.) Parasite Eve - Hideaki Sena
74.) An Ill Fate Marshalling (Dread Empire: Wrath of Kings #7) - Glen Cook
75.) A Path To Coldness of Heart (Dread Empire: Wrath of Kings #8) - Glen Cook
76.) Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay
77.) Steel Remains (A Land Fit For Heroes #1) - Richard K. Morgan
78.) The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones
79.) Heroes Die (Acts of Caine #1) - Matthew Woodring Stover
80.) Between Two Fires - Christopher Buehlman
81.) Black Sun Rising (The Coldfire Trilogy #1) - C.S. Friedman
82.) Malorie (Bird Box #2) - Josh Malerman
83.) The Curse of the Mistwraith (The Wars of Light and Shadow #1) - Janny Wurts
84.) Those Across the River - Christopher Beuhlman
85.) Ships of Merior (The Wars of Light and Shadow #2) - Janny Wurts
86.) Wonderland -Zoje Stage
87.) The Living Dead - George A. Romero & Daniel Kraus
88.) Warhost of Vastmark (The Wars of Light and Shadow #3) - Janny Wurts
89.) The Hollow Ones (The Blackwood Tapes #1) - Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
90.) The Tyrant Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #3) - Seth Dickinson
91.) Communion - Whitley Striber
92.) The Bright Lands - John Fram
93.) Fugitive Prince (The Wars of Light and Shadow: The Alliance of Light #4) - Janny Wurts
94.) Last Days - Brian Evenson
95.) Mr. Shivers - Robert Jackson Bennet
96.) The Name of All Things (A Chorus of Dragons #2) - Jenn Lyons
97.) Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies - John Langan
98.) Grand Conspiracy (The Wars of Light and Shadow: The Alliance of Light #5) - Janny Wurts
99.) The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
100.) Blade of Tyshalle (Acts of Caine #2) - Matthew Woodring Stover
101.) The Open Curtain - Brian Evenson
102.) The Memory of Souls (A Chorus of Dragons #3) - Jenn Lyons
103.) Darkness, Tell Us - Richard Laymon
104.) Camp Ghoul Mountain VI: The Official Novelization - Jonathan Raab
105.) The Trouble With Peace (The First Law: Age of Madness #2) - Joe Abercrombie
106.) To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini
107.) The Summer I Died (The Roger Huntington Saga #1) - Ryan C. Thomas
108.) Prince of Thieves - Chuck Hogan
109.) Peril's Gate (The Wars of Light and Shadow: The Alliance of Light #6) - Janny Wurts
110.) Caine Black Knife (Acts of Caine #3) - Matthew Woodring Stover
111.) Born To Bleed (The Roger Huntington Saga #2) - Ryan C. Thomas
112.) A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) - Arkady Martine
113.) Traitor's Knot (The Wars of Light and Shadow: The Alliance of Light #7) - Janny Wurts
114.) Caine's Law (Acts of Caine #4) - Matthew Woodring Stover
115.) All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By - John Farris
116.) Empire of Silence (Sun Eater #1) - Christopher Ruocchio
117.) The Well - Jack Cady
118.) Stormed Fortress (The Wars of Light and Shadow: The Alliance of Light #8) - Janny Wurts
119.) Intercepts - T. J. Payne
120.) The Turn of the Screw - Henry James
121.) The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1) - John Scalzi
122.) Initiate's Trial (The Wars of Light and Shadow: Sword of the Canon #9) - Janny Wurts
123.) The Long Last Call - John Skipp
124.) Conscience - John Skipp
125.) Destiny's Trial - (The Wars of Light and Shadow: Sword of the Canon #10) - Janny Wurts
126.) Clown in a Cornfield - Adam Cesare
127.) Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
128.) The Flood (Blackwater #1) - Michael McDowell
129.) The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
130.) The Levee (Blackwater #2) - Michael McDowell
131.) The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lords of the Rings #1) - J. R. R. Tolkien
132.) Wyrd and Other Derelictions - Adam L. G. Nevill
133.) The House (Blackwater #3) - Michael McDowell
134.) Seveneves - Neal Stephenson
135.) The Silmarillion - J. R. R. Tolkien
136.) Dawnshard (Stormlight Archive) - Brandon Sanderson
137.) The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings #2) - J. R. R. Tolkien
138.) The War (Blackwater #4) - Michael McDowell
139.) Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson
140.) Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
141.) Spiral (Ring #2) - Kōji Suzuki, translated by Glynne Walley
142.) The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings #3) - J. R. R. Tolkien
143.) The Fortune (Blackwater #5) - Michael McDowell
144.) Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline
145.) The Rain (Blackwater #6) - Michael McDowell
146.) The Fires of Vengeance (The Burning #2) - Evan Winter
147.) American Elsewhere - Robert Jackson Bennett
148.) A Time of Dread (Of Blood and Bone #1) - John Gwynne
149.) Ring Shout - P. Djèlí Clark
150.) A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) - John Gwynne
151.) Audition - Ryū Murakami
152.) Ghostland (#1) - Duncan Ralston
153.) Bloodline - Jess Lourey
154.) A Time of Courage (Of Blood and Bone #3) - John Gwynne


Comics
1.) Fatale: West of Hell (#3) - Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
2.) Fables (complete series) - Bill Willingham & Mark Buckingham
3.) Justice League 3000 - Keith Giffen, J M DeMatteis, & Howard Porter
4.) The October Faction (complete series) - Steve Niles & Damien Worm
5.) IXth Generation - Matt Hawkins & Stjepan Šejić
6.) From Hell - Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
7.) Coffin Hill - Caitlin Kittredge & Inaki Miranda
8.) Silent Hill: Past Life - Tom Waltz & Menton J. Matthews III
9.) Batman: City of Light - Arnold Pander, Jacob Pander & Mark Pannicia
10.) Batman: Detective #27 - Michael Usland & Peter Snejbjerg
11.) Batman: Joker's Apprentice - C.J. Henderson, Trevor von Eeden & Joe Rubinstein
12.) Batman: Europa - Matteo Casali, Brian Azzarello, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jim Lee, Diego Latorre & Gerald Parel
13.) Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again - Frank Miller & Lynn Varley
14.) Desolation Jones: Made in England - Warren Ellis & J. H. Williams III
15.) Leaving Megalopolis (#1) - Gail Simone & Jim Calafiore
16.) Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade - Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, John Romita Jr. & Peter Steigerwald
17.) The Manhattan Projects (complete series) - Jonathan Hickman, Nick Pitarra & Jordie Bellaire
18.) Sentient - Jeff Lemire & Gabriel Walta
19.) Eve of Extinction - Sal Simeone, Steve Simeone, Nik Virella & Ruth Redmond
20.) All Star Batman & Robin: The Boy Wonder - Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Scott Williams & Alex Sinclair
21.) Saga of the Swamp Thing: Love and Death (#2) - Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette & John Totleben
22.) Batman: The Dark Knight: Master Race - Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, Andy Kubert & Klaus Johnson
23.) Incorruptible (complete series) - Mark Waid, Horacio Domingues, Marcio Takara & Damian Couceiro
24.) Doom Patrol (Book 1) - Grant Morrison, Dough Braithwaite, Richard Case, Scott Hanna, John Nyberg & Carlos Garzon
25.) Irredeemable (complete series) - Mark Waid, Peter Krause & Diego Barreto
26.) Batman: Elseworlds (#1) - Doug Moench, Byron Preiss, P. Craig Russell, Norm Breyfogle, Alan Brennert...
26.) Doom Patrol (Book 2) - Grant Morrison, Kelley Jones, Richard Case, Mike Dringenberg, Mark Mckenna & Steve Yeowell
27.) The Sandman (complete series) - Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg...
28.) The Joker: 80th Anniversary Special - Scott Snyder, Tom Taylor, Jock, James Tynion IV...
29.) Birds of Prey (black label) - Brian Azzarello, Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy, Trish Mulvihill & John Kalisz
30.) Doom Patrol (Book 3) - Grant Morrison, Sean Phillips, Richard Case, Stan Woch, Ken Steacy & Philip Bond
31.) Fire Power: Prelude (#1) - Robert Kirkman, Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson & Rus Wooton
32.) Streets of Glory - Garth Ennis & Mike Wolfer
33.) Superman: Up, Up, and Away! - Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, Pete Woods & Renato Geudes
34.) American Vampire: Ghost War (#3) - Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque & Sean Murphy
35.) Frostbite - Joshua Williamson, Jason Shawn Alexander & Luis Nct
36.) Superman: Brainiac - Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Jon Sibal & Brad Anderson
37.) Superman: New Krypton - Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Greg Rucka...
38.) Batman: Gotham After Midnight - Steve Niles & Kelley Jones
39.) Powers: The Best Ever - Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming

Few thoughts on the final books I read this year. Had a good time finishing The Wars of Light and Shadow, looking forward to that final book. Clown in a Cornfield was crazy fun, pure slasher splatterfest. Each of the Blackwater books are a little over 100 pages, and I bought them as one collection. I figured it would be nice to have 6 quick reads that I could do in one sitting between bigger novels. It definitely payed off. A truly epic gothic horror tale that takes place over nearly a century, so you see generations of characters you learn to love get born, grow, and die. It was a very powerful story. I recommend. Finally read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, all of which I found outstanding, wrote a little more about it and my journey through middle earth in the fantasy thread. Rythym of War fucking ruled, the Cosmere is getting so big. Spiral was better than the first book Ring book, mainly since it didn't have the same disgusting protagonists. Ready Player Two was a hell of a lot of fun. Ring Shout is killer. Ghostland has a super fun premise.

The best book I read was Robert Jackson Bennett's American Elsewhere. Hard rec for all the horror fans, maybe even if you're just a sci fi fan. Vibes of IT and Imaginary Friend.

As Far as comics I loved Geoff Johns' Superman run. Powers also came to a pretty wonderful conclusion. That was a great series.

 

Thanks for all the great recs. Gonna see if I can get Clown In A Cornfield from one of my libraries.

Along those same lines, have you read There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins? I think you'll enjoy it based on reading the description of Clown In A Cornfield. I thought it was pretty enjoyable.

 

I haven't read it, but I need a horror cleanser between fantasy books right now and I don't have anything on the backburner so I might start it now.

 

You'll blow through it. Let me know what you think.

 

I think I recall coming across it at one point or another but then moving on when the first review described it as a "Steamy romance," ha. I don't love that aspect of it, but everything else is cool so far!

 

Haha yeah she's apparently mostly a romance writer. It's been several years since I've read it but don't remember it being any worse than like The CW type stuff but I'm way into that

 

And we're done. 141. Not bad.

 

What did you think?

 

Pretty good. I was hoping for a final big twist or something since I wasn't really satisfied with the killer reveal. Still a fun read, thanks for reccing it.

 

For sure! I remember being pretty meh towards the ending as well.

 

Anyone made a 2021 thread yet?

 

Book Lists 2021 • forum.chorus.fm