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.
My eleventy-first book's a spot of manga, but on the journey there we do some popular litcrit, some drama, some Dave Barry, some Austen sequelry, and lots more comics, only from the English-speaking word.
The good news is, it's not too late to ask for one of these for Christmas.
.
102) How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, finished November 18
It's hard to tell from the review, but I was pretty ecstatic when I read Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor a decade and a half ago. And I've been repeating that ecstatic review (and perhaps getting more ecstatic?) ever since, to get high school kids to read it. And now I've finally read another in what is now a decent-sized series.
This one feels much more high-brow to me. I can't imagine making an entire class of students read it. Individuals? Sure. Some would take to it. But not everyone.
I enjoyed listening to Foster talk about books he likes, but I don't think I liked it nearly as much.
But I say all this having underlined almost the entirety of chapter 12 and thrusting notes into the margins about what to make students do with his rant on sentences.
And if you move through my copy you'll find lots more marks than just that.
And then there's all the snippets I added to Wikiquote including three on this page.
So now that I think about it, I guess I liked it quite a bit!
about fifteen months
103) Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw, finished November 30
I haven't read Shaw since college, circa 1998, Pygmalion. I believe I liked it.
I had two copies of Major Barbara at school so when Lady Steed's book group chose it I brought them home. She read the play proper and I read Shaw's screen adaptation. (They were not the same book!)
I really loved it. I really don't know how to feel about it though.
For one thing, I'm not sure how serious Shaw is about the winning philosophy. I suspect he basically believes it, but his mouthpiece—a purveyor of human death and misery—is a curious person to preach the gospel of ending death and slavery. And Shaw's simultaneous tearing down of both religious and secular pieties and granfalloons while doing so through England's most brutally successful capitalist caused me all sorts of conflict. I don't know, in the end, where the play stands.
Me, I disagree with it far more than I agree with it, but Shaw is much too good a writer to allow anyone to leave with a clear sense of what is the most right and what is the most wrong. In a way, it's a tragedy of moral collapse. But the characters don't see it that way at all. Have they maintained some sort of morality? Will they be able to change the world (whatever they imagine they mean by that) with the resources of capitalism? Or is the elephant charging along as they whistle some moralish excuses?
Sad I'm not in the book group. I look forward to experiencing the conversation secondhand.
OH I FORGOT: One thing I meant to talk about (until the themes pushed everything out of my head) is how funny it was. honestly, it's much like Oscar Wilde albeit the jokes are more frosting here than cake. Regardless, it was funny in both dialogue and character.
about a week
104) Sweet Tooth Compendium by Jeff Lemire, finished November 24
915 pages!) which means we follow Gus from childhood to old age without needing to switch books.
I'm a big Lemire fan but I've read Sweet Tooth more than his other books (at least twicish before); I reread it this time because I learned there's a new addendum that came out and I wanted the old fresh before I attacked the new. It'll show up here soon.
Anyway, he's a terrific writer and his art is so evocative even when it's tamed down as it is (mostly) here to be DC-friendly. Re-recommended without reservation.
105) Space Bear by Ethan Young, finished November 25
106) Are Comic Books Real? by Alex Nall, finished on November 26
107) Sweet Tooth: The Return by Jeff Lemire, finished November 26
This is only a fraction the length of the original Sweet Tooth (see above) and, without neglecting good character development etc, leans much more heavily into the mythopoeic elements of the story. This is about all time being one great round and all stories being one story, etc. It takes place 300 years after the events of the original story and has, indeed, many echos. But it is not the same—even though the point is that yes, actually, it is the same story.
two or three days
108) Giant Days: Volume One by John Allison with Lissa Treiman and Max Sarin, finished December 3
Fire across the hall from my classroom the day before the strike so I'm in the library. And, in the library, I decided to take seriously the big display advertising the Giant Days series of comics. And it is excellent.
Lissa's art has a rougher and looser line than Max's but once accustomed to Matt's cleaner, tighter lines, I got to like it about as much.
It's the story of three freshmen girls at an English university in the 2010s and their various adventures. It's overthetop and comedic while grounded and true to life. I honestly loved it. I'll have to check out volume two over the strike.
This collection includes two stories writer and drawn by John Allison as appendices and they were right to put them in the back. He's competent, sure, but the style is still uncertain and the writing is less grounded. He worked out the kinks in story, character, and setting, then dumped the fun info into a subonepage flashback. Artistically, that was the right choice. And we get to enjoy his fun original version afterwards.
Anyway. Terrific.
109) The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet by Katherine Cowley, finished December 13
Let me start by saying I'm excited to read volume two of this series. The way it ended was satisfying plotwise, sure, but it was particularly satisfying in a way I did not expect. (Look at this page's source code [eg ctrl+u] for spoilers as to why.)
Writing a sequel to a beloved classic is fraught territory, however. For instance, perhaps I loved bits about the Bennets while other things perhaps did not match my reading of the characters or the world or whatever. Some changes I don't mind (eg, setting aside Austen's apparent disinterest in global events), some changes I understand (eg, taking pleasure in exploring details of the Regency era that would not have been worth stating aloud in a novel written contemporaneously), some I disagree with (eg, modern editing's requirements for regular dialogue tags).
But should a modern sequel to a beloved classic be beholden to it's themes and style? The the former I say barely. To the latter, I suppose not, but when it's a book I know as well as Pride and Prejudice (I may well have taught it to over a thousand students by now) there's no getting over my persnickitiness. This is the danger, of course, in writing sequels to beloved classics and there's no way around it. In my mind, getting me to love the ending regardless is the real win here. But that's spoiler territory and there's an extra step to see all that.
two or three week
110) Class Clown by Dave Barry, finished December 13
Dave Barry is one of the great American humorists and this valedictory lap / writerly memoir is as fine an introduction to the man and his work as it is a final chapter (Allegedly). A lot of stuff here I remember (perhaps from a different angle) and many things that feel new (even if they are not), but regardless—for a lot of people of my generation, if we ever write anything funny, we cannot escape his influence.
(Incidentally, it was nice to hear him cite his own influences—and for one of them to be halfread on my nightstand!)
If you like him or humor or memoirs or just need a nice time, this is an easy book to recommend. Even though it is valedictory, I think this is my recommendation for anyone reading him for the first time.
(Well, anyone who's an adult and reading him for the first time.)
It was great to hang out and listen to our jokedad reminisce about times we'll never see again.
a couple weeks
111) One-Punch Man 01 by One and Yusuke Murata, finished December 18
It's astonishing that a jokey webcomic leaning into how dumb overpowered superheros are has become an enormously popular franchise in its own right. Seeing the first volume lying out at the school library made me want to try it on and it is, indeed, pretty delightful. I do wonder if it's still silly come volume, say, 32, but here in volume 1 it's all about knocking out monsters with one punch, sexy mosquito ladies, and being more upset about forgetting take the trash can down to the street than seeing a mountain-large snowman out for blood.
I mean. What's not to like?
before and after school
(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
Drunk crows, dystopian Jews,
elderly werewolves, and brooding kaiju
089) The Art of Tony Millionaire by Tony Millionaire, finished October 4
090) Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different by Chuck Palahniuk, finished October 16
091) Superman: The Harvests of Youth by Sina Grace, finished October 18
092) The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, finished October 22
093) The Third Temple by Yishai Sarid, translated by Yardenne Greenspan, finished October 23
094) Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks, finished October 25
095) The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories by David Small, finished November 3
096) Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, finished November 6
Hundreds: Weetzie Bat finishes the first and the Desert Prophet begins the second
097) Math for English Majors: A Human Take on the Universal Language by Ben Orlin, finished November 13
098) This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, finished November 14
099) The Things You Have to Do Before I Buy You a Phone by Adam Ferguson, finished November 14
100) Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block, finished November 17
101) The Desert Prophet by Camilla Stark, finished November 18
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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