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If you follow Five Books at a Time you may have noticed that I have finished vastly fewer books this year than usual. And perhaps you wonder why that is. Why did Theric read so much less than usual in 2010, you may be thinking.
In short, I don't think I did. Five Books at a Time has never been a terribly thorough listing of what I read. It's only book and they only get posted when I finish them. This year I began the Rejected Books series in which I list books I have made a conscious decision not to finish. So that helps will the void. But I also have read more magazines than usual (I've fallen for The New Yorker; read from a number of anthologies in preparation for Mormons & Monsters like Chabon's/McSweeney's and this one from the early '80s --- both of which are very good and neither of which have I finished; plus all the reading I did for Monsters & Mormons itself. I have read a LOT this year, just not as manifested by books finished.
So perhaps it is appropriate that the last book I finished this year was Hint Fiction. (Well, really my last book was something else, but it sucked. So let's call the year over with Hint Fiction.)
Now I'm all curious to see what my reading habits look like at the end of next year.
Read on!
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062) Grendel: War Child by Matt Wagner, finished December 31
This sucked. If you want to know more....
just under a week
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061) Hint Fiction: An anthology of stories in 25 words or fewer edited by Robert Swartwood, finished December 27
As you will imagine, some of these stories are helpless gimmicks. I am delighted to tell you though that very few are mere gimmicks and nearly all are good and a surprisingly high number are minimiracles of fiction. A great book and I loved it.
But let's start with my primary complaint:
The author bios which seem to follow the same word-count limit as the stories are not directly connected to the stories. After reading the stories, I read the bios, but when I wanted to reread the story connected to the bio (surprisingly often), I had to scan through the table of contents trying to find the proper name (the stories are not alphabetized; the bios are). Had the bios included, say, a page number, I may have reread practically the whole book.
(When my worst complaint is that the book made rereading the book less convenient than possible, you know it's a good book.)
It's split into three sections (life,death; love,hate; this,that) and all are delightful. (The New Yorker's review covers this better than I will.)
Lots of famous names, famousish names, newbies --- one high school senior.
I rarely reread. I see this being reread though. I would like to get copies for my classes as well.
Note: I received this book free from the publisher.
one day unless you include the day a couple weeks ago I read half the introduction which I suppose you should
Previously in 2010 . . . . :
• First Five • Second Five • Third Five • Fourth Five •
• Fifth Five • Sixth Five • Seventh Five •Eighth Five • Ninth Five •
• Tenth Five • Eleventh Five •Twelfth Five •
• Fifth Five • Sixth Five • Seventh Five •Eighth Five • Ninth Five •
• Tenth Five • Eleventh Five •Twelfth Five •
060) X'ed Out by Charles Burns, finished December 27
059) Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures by Kerry Callen, finished December 26
058) I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan, finished December 17
057) All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John, finished December 17
056) Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection edited by Matt Dembecki, finished December 5
055) Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, finished December 2 and 3
054) The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry, finished November 27
053) Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis, finished November 25
052) Fish Stick Knife Gun by Jamar Nicholas from Geoffrey Canada's memoir, finished November 18
051) Hamlet by William Shakespeare, finished November 17
050) Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, finished November 4
049) Legal Action Comics Volume 1 edited by "Dirty" Danny Hellman, October 29
048) The Atomics: Spaced Out & Grounded in Snap City! by people who are mostly not Mike Allred, finished October 28
047) The Trial by Frank Kafka, Chantal Montellier, David Sane Mairowitz; finished October 21
046) NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, finished October 6
045) Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, finished October 4
044) Song/Cycles by Mormon Artists Group, finished Sept. 15
043) The Complete Peanuts 1973-1974 by Charles M. Schulz, finished September 6
042) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, finished September 5
041) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, finished September 2
040) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, finished September 1
039) Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There by Mark Di Vincenzo, finished August 28
038) Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, finished August 25
037) In the Void by Michael R. Collings, finished August 21
036) Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome, finished August 18
035) Utah: Sex and Travel Guide
by Calvin Grondahl, finished August 10034) E Pluribus Unicorn by Theodore Sturgeon, finished August 9
033) The Complete Peanuts, 1971 to 1972 by Charles M. Schulz, finished August 6
032) I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells, finished August 6
031) Rogue Clone by Steven L. Kent, finished July 26
030) Servant of a Dark God by John Brown, finished July 21
029) Drink Me, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blog by James Goldberg, finished June 9
028) Out of the Mount (tentative title) edited by Davey Morrison, finished June 8
027) Madman Boogaloo! by Mike Allred, Mike Baron, Bernie Mireault, Steve Rude; finished June 2
026) The Education of Robert Nifkin by Daniel Pinkwater, finished May 22
025) True Grit by Charles Portis, finished May 21
024) Old Man's War by John Scalzi, finished May 15
023) Pandora's Nightmare: Horror Unleashed, finished May 13
022) Anthem by Ayn Rand, finished May 11
021) Look! It's Jesus!: Amazing Holy Visions in Everyday Life by Harry Choron and Sandra Choron, finished May 9
020) Travels in the Scriptorium: A Novel by Paul Auster, finished May 5
019) Suburban Folklore by Steven Walters, finished May 4
018) The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall, finished April 30
017) Gracie: A Love Story by George Burns by George Burns, finished April 20
016) The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley, finished April 15
015) Dispensation: Latter-Day Fiction
edited by Angela Hallstrom, finished March 24014) The Best American Comics 2009
edited by Charles Burns, finished March 22013) Icon: A Hero's Welcome by Dwayne McDuffie and MD Bright, finished March 17
012) There's Treasure Everywhere by Bill Watterson, finished March 15
011) Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool. Finished right at midnight between March 13 and 14
010) Teen Titans: Year One by Amy Wolfram et al, finished March 7
009) The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, Book One by Bill Watterson, finished March 6
008) Apparition & Late Fictions: A Novella and Stories by Thomas Lynch, finished March 5
007) Stone Rabbit #1: BC Mambo by Erik Craddock, finished March 2
006) The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen, finished February 23
005) Missile Mouse 2 by Jake Parker (MS POLICY), finished February 5
004) Heroes of the Fallen by David J. West, finished February 4
003) Still Life in Milford by Thomas Lynch, finished January 19
002) Rapunzel's Revenge by Hales Shannon Dean and Nathan, finished January 16
001) Mormoniana by Mormon Artists Group, finished January 13
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and leave you with enough to think about if that's what you desire --- if not, just enjoy the adventure.