My books, read, 2020
Sixty-nine total books and book-length works. That's how many I read in 2020. Of those, 32 were novels. Non-fiction, comics, scripts and more comprise the rest.
My pace varied wildly throughout the year: February I was slow partly due to work, which was busy (until it was not busy, as you know). Other times I had trouble motivating myself to read. But other times I couldn't put stuff down.
Plenty of these books were affecting, in an...affected year.
January
The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern, 2019
Firefly: the Sting - written by Delilah S. Dawson; illustrated (in five parts) by Pius Bak, Serg Acuña, Richard Ortiz, Hyeonjin Kim, and Rodrigo Lorenzo. Graphic novel, 2019.
Darkness Falls - novelization by Keith R.A. DeCandido of the 2003 film written by Joe Harris, John Fasano and James Vanderbilt
Dimitri Tiomkin: a portrait - Christopher Palmer, 1984
February
Ancillary Sword - Ann Leckie, 2014
Cannery Row - John Steinbeck, 1945
March
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin, 1974
Jean and Johnny - Beverly Cleary, 1959
From a Certain Point of View: 40 stories celebrating 40 years of Star Wars - 2017
April
Valour and Vanity - Mary Robinette Kowal, 2014
Jim Henson: the biography - Brian Jay Jones, 2013
Minecraft: the End - Catherynne M. Valente, 2019
Becoming Superman: my journey from poverty to Hollywood - J. Michael Straczynski, 2019
May
The Last Dream Keeper (Echo Park Coven Book 2) - Amber Benson, 2016
Stumptown, Vol. 1: the case of the girl who took her shampoo (but left her Mini) - Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth. Issues originally published 2010.
Reflections on Blaxploitation: Actors and directors speak - David Walker, Andrew J. Rausch, and Chris Watson, 2009
LaGuardia: a very modern story of immigration - writer Nnedi Okorafor, artist Tana Ford, colorist James Devlin, and others. Originally published as four issues, 2018-19.
Grendel - John Gardner, 1971
Stardust - Neil Gaiman, 1999
June
Naomi (Season 1) - written by Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker, penciled and inked by Jamal Campbell. Issues 1-6 published 2019.
Brimstone - Cherie Priest, 2017
Misery - Stephen King, 1987. Re-read.
Harlan Ellison's Watching. Published 1989, collecting film criticism columns from Sixties to 1989.
Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente, 2018. Re-read.
Star Wars: Vader Down - written by Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen, art by Mike Deodato and Salvador Larroca. Collected 2016.
Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen, 1986
Jem and the Holograms 5: Truly Outrageous - written by Kelly Thompson, art by Gisele LaGace, colors by M. Victoria Robado. Collects issues 24-26 and 2017 annual "An Exquisite Corpse."
The Art of Three - Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese, 2017
July
Deadpool Classic Vol. 9 - written by Gail Simone, art by artists from Udon Studios. Simone's first run on Deadpool, plus Agent X; series originally published 2002-03.
Don't Panic: the Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion - Neil Gaiman, 1988
Feed - Seanan McGuire writing as Mira Grant, 2010
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1: Squirrel Power - writer Ryan North, artist Erica Henderson. Includes Issues 1-4 of their run, plus Squirrel Girl's first appearance in 1991 (written and drawn by Will Murray and Steve Ditko).
Star Wars Episode IX - Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow. Purported "Duel of the Fates" draft, written before Carrie Fisher's death and before Trevorrow was fired as the film's director. Dated 16 December 2016.
Dune - Frank Herbert, 1965
August
How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime - Roger Corman with Jim Jerome, 1990
In the Unlikely Event - Judy Blume, 2015
Sea Swept - Nora Roberts, 1998. Followed by "Rising Tides."
The Sandman: Overture - Neil Gaiman, illustrated by J.K. Williams III and Dave Stewart. Originally published 2013-2015.
The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcolm Jones III. Issues 1-8, originally published 1988-1989.
The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House - Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III and others. Issues 9-16, originally published 1989-1990.
The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country - Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Malcolm Jones III, and others. Issues 17-20, originally published 1990.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire - Delilah S. Dawson, 2019
September
The Sandman, Vol. 4: Season of Mists - Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, and P. Craig Russell. Issues 21-28, originally published 1990-91.
The Sandman, Vol. 5: A Game of You - Neil Gaiman, Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano. Issues 32-37, originally published 1991-92.
A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away: My fifty years editing Hollywood films - Star Wars, Carrie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Mission: Impossible, and more - Paul Hirsch, 2020
The Sandman, Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections - Neil Gaiman, Bryan Talbot, Stan Woch, P. Craig Russell, Shawn McManus, John Watkiss, Jill Thompson, Duncan Eagleson, Kent Williams, Mark Buckingham, Vince Locke, Dick Giordano, Todd Klein, Daniel Vozzo. Originally published between 1991 and 1993 as issues 29-31, 38-40, 50, "Sandman Special 1" and "Vertigo Preview."
The Sandman, Vol. 7: Brief Lives - Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson, Vince Locke and others. Issues 41-49, originally published 1992-93.
The Dreaming Place - Charles de Lint, 1990
The Sandman, Vol. 8: World's End - Neil Gaiman and various artists. Issues 51-56, published 1993.
The Sandman, Vol. 9: the Kindly Ones - Neil Gaiman and various artists. Issues 57-69 and Vertigo Jam 1, published between 1993 and 1995.
The Sandman, Vol. 10: the Wake - Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, Jon J. Muth, Charles Vess and others. Issues 70-75, published 1995-96.
Magic - William Goldman, 1976
Rising Tides - Nora Roberts, 1998
Pictures at a Revolution: five movies and the birth of the new Hollywood - Mark Harris, 2008
V is for Vengeance - Sue Grafton, 2011
October
Stumptown Vol. 2: the case of the baby in the velvet case - Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth and Rico Renzi. Issues originally published 2012.
Discount Armageddon - Seanan McGuire, 2012
A Liar's Autobiography Vol. VI - Graham Chapman, 1980. Additional material by David Sherlock, Alex Martin, David Yallop, and Douglas Adams. 1991 Afterword by Eric Idle.
Fletch - Gregory McDonald, 1974
The End of All Things - John Scalzi, 2015. Final (for now) book in the "Old Man's War" series.
King of Comedy: the life and art of Jerry Lewis - Shawn Levy, 1996
November
Inner Harbor - Nora Roberts, 1999
Last Plane to Heaven: the final collection - Jay Lake, 2014
Deadpool Classic Vol. 10 - includes Agent X and features Gail Simone's return to writing Deadpool. Issues originally published 2003. Also features issues written by Evan Dorkin, Buddy Scalera, and Daniel Way.
White Butterfly - Walter Mosley, 1992. Easy Rawlins Book 3.
Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the making of an American imagination - Brian Jay Jones, 2019
December
No Country for Old Gnomes - Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne, 2019
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert, 1969
Daughter of Hounds - Caitlín R. Kiernan, 2007 (re-read)
My pace varied wildly throughout the year: February I was slow partly due to work, which was busy (until it was not busy, as you know). Other times I had trouble motivating myself to read. But other times I couldn't put stuff down.
Plenty of these books were affecting, in an...affected year.
January
The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern, 2019
Firefly: the Sting - written by Delilah S. Dawson; illustrated (in five parts) by Pius Bak, Serg Acuña, Richard Ortiz, Hyeonjin Kim, and Rodrigo Lorenzo. Graphic novel, 2019.
Darkness Falls - novelization by Keith R.A. DeCandido of the 2003 film written by Joe Harris, John Fasano and James Vanderbilt
Dimitri Tiomkin: a portrait - Christopher Palmer, 1984
February
Ancillary Sword - Ann Leckie, 2014
Cannery Row - John Steinbeck, 1945
March
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin, 1974
Jean and Johnny - Beverly Cleary, 1959
From a Certain Point of View: 40 stories celebrating 40 years of Star Wars - 2017
April
Valour and Vanity - Mary Robinette Kowal, 2014
Jim Henson: the biography - Brian Jay Jones, 2013
Minecraft: the End - Catherynne M. Valente, 2019
Becoming Superman: my journey from poverty to Hollywood - J. Michael Straczynski, 2019
May
The Last Dream Keeper (Echo Park Coven Book 2) - Amber Benson, 2016
Stumptown, Vol. 1: the case of the girl who took her shampoo (but left her Mini) - Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth. Issues originally published 2010.
Reflections on Blaxploitation: Actors and directors speak - David Walker, Andrew J. Rausch, and Chris Watson, 2009
LaGuardia: a very modern story of immigration - writer Nnedi Okorafor, artist Tana Ford, colorist James Devlin, and others. Originally published as four issues, 2018-19.
Grendel - John Gardner, 1971
Stardust - Neil Gaiman, 1999
June
Naomi (Season 1) - written by Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker, penciled and inked by Jamal Campbell. Issues 1-6 published 2019.
Brimstone - Cherie Priest, 2017
Misery - Stephen King, 1987. Re-read.
Harlan Ellison's Watching. Published 1989, collecting film criticism columns from Sixties to 1989.
Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente, 2018. Re-read.
Star Wars: Vader Down - written by Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen, art by Mike Deodato and Salvador Larroca. Collected 2016.
Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen, 1986
Jem and the Holograms 5: Truly Outrageous - written by Kelly Thompson, art by Gisele LaGace, colors by M. Victoria Robado. Collects issues 24-26 and 2017 annual "An Exquisite Corpse."
The Art of Three - Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese, 2017
July
Deadpool Classic Vol. 9 - written by Gail Simone, art by artists from Udon Studios. Simone's first run on Deadpool, plus Agent X; series originally published 2002-03.
Don't Panic: the Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion - Neil Gaiman, 1988
Feed - Seanan McGuire writing as Mira Grant, 2010
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1: Squirrel Power - writer Ryan North, artist Erica Henderson. Includes Issues 1-4 of their run, plus Squirrel Girl's first appearance in 1991 (written and drawn by Will Murray and Steve Ditko).
Star Wars Episode IX - Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow. Purported "Duel of the Fates" draft, written before Carrie Fisher's death and before Trevorrow was fired as the film's director. Dated 16 December 2016.
Dune - Frank Herbert, 1965
August
How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime - Roger Corman with Jim Jerome, 1990
In the Unlikely Event - Judy Blume, 2015
Sea Swept - Nora Roberts, 1998. Followed by "Rising Tides."
The Sandman: Overture - Neil Gaiman, illustrated by J.K. Williams III and Dave Stewart. Originally published 2013-2015.
The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcolm Jones III. Issues 1-8, originally published 1988-1989.
The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House - Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III and others. Issues 9-16, originally published 1989-1990.
The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country - Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Malcolm Jones III, and others. Issues 17-20, originally published 1990.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire - Delilah S. Dawson, 2019
September
The Sandman, Vol. 4: Season of Mists - Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, and P. Craig Russell. Issues 21-28, originally published 1990-91.
The Sandman, Vol. 5: A Game of You - Neil Gaiman, Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano. Issues 32-37, originally published 1991-92.
A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away: My fifty years editing Hollywood films - Star Wars, Carrie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Mission: Impossible, and more - Paul Hirsch, 2020
The Sandman, Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections - Neil Gaiman, Bryan Talbot, Stan Woch, P. Craig Russell, Shawn McManus, John Watkiss, Jill Thompson, Duncan Eagleson, Kent Williams, Mark Buckingham, Vince Locke, Dick Giordano, Todd Klein, Daniel Vozzo. Originally published between 1991 and 1993 as issues 29-31, 38-40, 50, "Sandman Special 1" and "Vertigo Preview."
The Sandman, Vol. 7: Brief Lives - Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson, Vince Locke and others. Issues 41-49, originally published 1992-93.
The Dreaming Place - Charles de Lint, 1990
The Sandman, Vol. 8: World's End - Neil Gaiman and various artists. Issues 51-56, published 1993.
The Sandman, Vol. 9: the Kindly Ones - Neil Gaiman and various artists. Issues 57-69 and Vertigo Jam 1, published between 1993 and 1995.
The Sandman, Vol. 10: the Wake - Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, Jon J. Muth, Charles Vess and others. Issues 70-75, published 1995-96.
Magic - William Goldman, 1976
Rising Tides - Nora Roberts, 1998
Pictures at a Revolution: five movies and the birth of the new Hollywood - Mark Harris, 2008
V is for Vengeance - Sue Grafton, 2011
October
Stumptown Vol. 2: the case of the baby in the velvet case - Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth and Rico Renzi. Issues originally published 2012.
Discount Armageddon - Seanan McGuire, 2012
A Liar's Autobiography Vol. VI - Graham Chapman, 1980. Additional material by David Sherlock, Alex Martin, David Yallop, and Douglas Adams. 1991 Afterword by Eric Idle.
Fletch - Gregory McDonald, 1974
The End of All Things - John Scalzi, 2015. Final (for now) book in the "Old Man's War" series.
King of Comedy: the life and art of Jerry Lewis - Shawn Levy, 1996
November
Inner Harbor - Nora Roberts, 1999
Last Plane to Heaven: the final collection - Jay Lake, 2014
Deadpool Classic Vol. 10 - includes Agent X and features Gail Simone's return to writing Deadpool. Issues originally published 2003. Also features issues written by Evan Dorkin, Buddy Scalera, and Daniel Way.
White Butterfly - Walter Mosley, 1992. Easy Rawlins Book 3.
Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the making of an American imagination - Brian Jay Jones, 2019
December
No Country for Old Gnomes - Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne, 2019
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert, 1969
Daughter of Hounds - Caitlín R. Kiernan, 2007 (re-read)