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.
Unquestionably my favorite book of this set was Chuck Palahniuk's memoir. Not something I would have guessed. Not because it was entertaining but because it is hands down one of the most useful books about writing I've ever read. It's a veritably bible of good ideas. Not kidding.
.
089) The Art of Tony Millionaire by Tony Millionaire, finished October 4
This is a pretty packed collection from way back in 2009. And it captures well the dichomatic nature of his work. It's cute and lovely and delightful. It is awful and demented and repulsive.
It's quite the split.
But you always believe he is being honest. And I think that's why I like it even when I don't.
a bit over twenty days
090) Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different by Chuck Palahniuk, finished October 16
I loved this book. This is a classic of the writing advice/memoir of which Steven King's On Writing is perhaps the most lauded entry. Palahniuk packs us full with genuinely useful things to consider alongside wild stories that end up mattering to the writing in unexpected ways. It's also a love letter to writers and editors and publicists and friends and family he has known and loved.
Frankly, this is excellent. I intend to return this library copy and buy my own copy. Little notes I wrote to myself thanks to Consider This have already appeared in my current WIP. I need one for my classroom if nothing else.
Highly recommended.
two or three weeks
091) Superman: The Harvests of Youth by Sina Grace, finished October 18
This is fine. It's a message novel using Smallville as setting. Bits of it work well and other bits are pure afternoon-movie. The audience is definitely people who want to understand those sucked into online hate and not at all those who are. It lacks the interiority of a good novel while largely keeping away from the visual dazzle or action of a good superhero comic. Bit of an identity crisis, this book. But, you know, fine.
two or three days over two or three weeks
092) The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, finished October 22
Shakespeare's always fun to read with a class. Never underestimate your students. And something dumb but so filled with provocative stuff to talk about like Merchant? Goldmine.
a couple weeks
093) The Third Temple by Yishai Sarid, translated by Yardenne Greenspan, finished October 23
The publisher's giddy promotional text includes this:
I am wary of hyperbolic language, so allow me to be as concrete as possible: as a reader, I see The Third Temple fitting squarely into the dystopian tradition of George Orwell's critique of fascism in Animal Farm; Ray Bradbury's fight against censorship in Fahrenheit 451; and Margaret Atwood's courageous denunciation of patriarchy in The Handmaid's Tale.
These lofty comparisons are a big part of why I wanted to read the book. And I feel bad saying it, but my experience makes that litany of excellence about the right description. Which is to say I don't see much original here. Placing the action in a near-future Jewish fascist-religious dictatorship is a new setting, to be sure. But it's mostly like Animal Farm in that lots of animals die gruesome death. It's take on censorship is much less Fahrenheit 451 than Nineteen Eighty-four but I suppose you can't mention Orwell twice. The Handmaid's Tale makes the most sense as this is a dystopia run by fundamentalists.
The one truly original addition to the genre The Third Temple gives us is the introduction of supernatural elements. God is in this book. Angels. Wisdom. I wonder if in the original Hebrew the language allows us to wonder if this is all in the head of our solo point-of-view character, but in this translation, that's rarely an option. God is in this novel. So are angels. And Wisdom. Their introduction excites me but I'm not quite certain what I'm supposed to make of it. At times, it feels like it might be a satire of fundamentalists Jews in modern Israel, but at other times it feels quite sincere. Given Sarid's reputation in his home nation, again, I suspect there may be more happening between the Hebrew lines than survives the translation into English.
The ending scene appears modeled after either Tale of Two Cities or Nineteen Eight-four but thematically it falls short of either.
In the end I'm left mildly confused and distinctly unsatisfied, and uncertain whether that's because this is so culturally specific that I'm being left out or if, maybe, it isn't actually as good as Animal Farm or Fahrenheit or Handmaid. I dunno. What do you think?
about a month
094) Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks, finished October 25
Honestly, this might be the best thing I've read by either Rowell or Hicks. It's simple and straightforward and charming and in a genre of which I am famously pro (best friends who discover they are in love with each other). Plus: it's seasonal.
My only complaint is the character all look about ten years older than they're supposed to be, but according to the bonus materials that was intentional. Okay.
one day
095) The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories by David Small, finished November 3
Small was once best known as one of the great contemporary illustrators, but nowadays he's best known as the author of Stitches. This is a collection of three stories—one original and two adaptations. The most immediately accessible is the first, the title story, an adaptation of a story by Lincoln Michel about an elderly werewolf. But all the stories are, in some way, about aging, about being old. The second story is his original, a surrealist piece in which a man's survival depends on whether or not the dream he is in is his own. The third is a story by Jean Ferry, a fable for our times. The story takes place in the days before Hitler's rise to power, when most well-thinking individuals knew better than to consider that little man, that clown, a threat to the political order. The story's protagonist can sense there is more danger than the others recognize, but he's not sure what that danger is and he's not willing to stick his neck out to do anything about it.
Together, the stories don't suggest anything happy.
two noncontiguous days
096) Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, finished November 6
I didn't intend to read this book. Although my previous experiences with Scalzi have been enjoyable, he's not, like, all that interesting. He's potato chips.
But I found myself locked out of the house with a copy of this book so I started it. And. Well. You can't eat just one chapter.
This is the most airy of the Scalzi books I've read, but he knows that too. In the postscript he talks about writing it in two months and compares it to a three-minute pop song. And that's a good metaphor. It's good dumb fun.
But the craft does still get on my nerves. One complaint I've felt before but is so egregious here is that all his characters sound the same. They all have the same wit, telling the same jokes and making the same asides. Even the bad guy, though he's supposed to be less than? Scalzi can't help himself. The same cleverness at the same level sneaks through. And one of the results is, a little past halfway when we are reminded that this novel has Real Stakes when several characters are killed, it doesn't matter. Because who cares? They were interchangeable with every other character.
THAT SAID.
I'm reminded of Alfred Hitchcock saying there was no reason to adapt The Brothers Karamazov to film because it was already perfect as a novel. The novels to adapt are the bad novels that have potential. Kaiji Preservation Society is a such a novel. Even without rewritten dialogue, good actors can bring the characters to life. The final action sequence would absolutely kill. And the subtle politics of the novel are what we need right now. This is the kaiju movie I want. It's the kaiju movie we need. I sure hope someone makes it. (And not a ten-episode series on Peacock.)
three weeks
(and years more distant)
Bro! Tell me we still know how to speak of kings!
001) Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley, finished January 1
002) Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell: Volume Three, finished January 1
003) Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (translated by Megan McDowell), finished January 8
004) My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris, finished January 11
005) You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, finished January 12
005) Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard—and Still Is by Terryl Givens and Nathaniel Givens, finished January 24
006) My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: Book Two by Emil Ferris, finished January 25
Maybe we should just pretend this set begins and ends with Wednesday Addams
007) Chas. Addams Half-Baked Cookbook, finished January 29
008) Monica by Daniel Clowes, finished February 3
009) The Unexpurgated French Edition of Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland, finished February 19
010) Peach and the Isle of Monsters by Franco Aureliani and Agnes Garbowska, finished February 20
011) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, finished February 28
012) Comic Poems edited by Peter Washington, finished March 7
Love, Beauty, and a complete lack of sasquatch
013) Love that Dog by Sharon Creech, finished March 11
014) Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper, finished March 21
015) Antelope Spring by John Bennion, finished March 24
016) Shelley Frankenstein by Colleen Madden, finished March 28
017) Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #21: Double Take, finished April 5
018) The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clark, finshed April 8
019) Rave by Jessica Campbell, finished April 13
020) The Creeps: A Deep Dark Fears Collection by Fran Krause, finished April 14
Do not ask what she does with the babies.
027) Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito, finished April 21
028) Somna: A Bedtime Story by Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay, finished April 23
029) Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto and Ann Xu, finished April 24
030&031) The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, finished April 25
032) Raised by Ghosts by Briana Loewinsohn, finished April 26
033) Ephemera by Briana Loewinsohn, finished April 26
Brighter and brighter until we all get our heads lopped off
034) Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day by Sharlee Mullins Glenn, finished April 27
035) Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, finished May 3
036) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, finished May 5
037) Equus by Peter Shaffer
038) Travesties by Tom Stoppard, finished May 8
039) The Art of Intimacy: The Space Between by Stacey D'Erasmo, finished May 10
040) A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, finished May 16
Criticism & Comics
041) Arts and Inspiration: Mormon Perspectives, edited by Steven P. Sondrup, finished May 18
042) The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, finished May 19
043) Odessa by Jonathan Hill, finished May 22
044) Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love and Murder by Tula Lotay and Scott Snyder, finished May 22
045) Bingo Baby, finished May 26
Books on the Fourth of July
046) Final Cut by Charles Burns, finished May 28
047) Fever Beach by Carol Hiassen, finished June 12
048) How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico, finished June 17
049) Poetry Comics from the Book of Hours by Bianca Stone, June 24
050) Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel, finished June 25
051) The Serial Killer's Son Takes a Wife by Michael Libling, finished July 3
An old friend makes some introductions (and more)
052) The 5th Generation by Dale Jay Dennis, finished July 7
053) To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, finished July 10
054) Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout, finished July 25
055) Meet Monster: The First Big Monster Book by Ellen Blanca and Ann Cook, illustrated by Quentin Blake, finished July 26
056) Last Pick by Jason Walz, finished July 29
057) Death Comes to Eastrepps by Francis Beeding, finished August 2
A lot of comics and then not Twain
058) Gilt Frame by Matt Kindt and Margie Kraft Kindt, finished August 2
059) Monkey Meat: The First Batch by Juni Ba, finished August 3
060) Abbott by Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivelä and Jason Wordie, finished August 4
061) Mendel the Mess-Up by Terry LaBan, finished August 9
062) Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath, finished August 9
063) James by Percival Everett, finished August 13
The last books read before school starts
064) Stranger Planet by Nathan W Pyle, finished August 13
065) Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley, finished August 13
066) Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, finished August 18
Two dozen is a reasonable number of eggs, too many donuts
067) Monte Cristo by Jordan Mechner and Mario Alberti, finished August 20
068) What We Don't Talk About by Charlot Kristensen, finished August 21
069) The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Lynn Solotaroff), finished August 23
070) The Village Beyond the Mist by Sachiko Kashiwaba (translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa), finished August 23
071) Meritocracy Mingled with Scripture by Justin Pack, finished August 24
072) God's Man: A Novel in Woodcuts by Lynd Ward, finished August 27
073) He Done Her Wrong: The Great American Novel and Not a Word in It—No Music, Too by Milt Gross, finished August 27
074) The City: A Vision in Woodcuts by Frans Masereel, finished August 27
075) The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk, finished August 28
076) Destiny: A Novel in Pictures by Otto Nückel, finished August 28
077) The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, finished August 29
078) Passionate Journey: A Vision in Woodcuts by Frans Masereel, finished August 30
079) Madman's Drum by Lynd Ward, finished August 30
080) Murder Mystery Mystery Murder by Ben Abbott, finished September 3
When you bookend with original grace and socialist revolution, things are going okay.
081) Original Grace by Adam Miller, finished September 7
082) The Skull Beneath the Skin by P.D. James, finished September 9
083) Sock Monkey Treasury by Tony Millionaire, finished September 11
084) The Sleepover by Michael Regina, finished September 16
085–087) The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare, finished September 29
088) The Iron Heel by Jack London, finished October 1
PREVIOUS OTHER YEARS IN BOOKS
2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011 = 2012 = 2013 = 2014 = 2015
2016 = 2017 = 2018 = 2019 = 2020 = 2021 = 2022 = 2023 = 2024
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