2006 book review
So these were my book resolutions for 2006:
1. Classics should outnumber the bubblegum books.
Check. There was an 73% decrease in my bubblegum books (3 vs. 11) while classics stayed about the same (6 vs. 7)
2. Read more non-fiction and poetry.
Mixed bag. I read less non-fiction (6 vs. 11) but I read a compilation of T.S. Eliot’s poems (and a half-finished anthology of Gregory Corso poems). I didn't read any poetry in 2005.
3. Have a wider selection of authors.
Check. I read fewer books this year but the new to old author ratio was higher (2:3 instead of 1:2). Also, I only had two books that were repeats (The Dark Knight Returns and Mort) as compared to 14 repeats in 2005.
4. To make life easier, book classification should just be (a) Instant Classic; (b) Worth a Second Reading; (c) Never Again; (d) Trash It.
Instant Classics:
Fiction
Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon
Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
The Truth - Terry Pratchett
Non-Fiction
Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell
The Grouchy Grammarian: A How-Not-To Guide to the 47 Most Common Mistakes in English Made by Journalists, Broadcasters, and Others Who Should Know Better - Thomas Parrish
Miss Manners Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior - Judith Martin
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach
Comics
Fray - Joss Whedon
The Killing Joke - Alan Moore
Wolverine: Origin - Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and Paul Jenkins
Y The Last Man series - Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra
Worth a Second Reading
Fiction
Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451
The Illustrated Man
Naomi Novik
His Majesty’s Dragon
Throne of Jade
Black Powder War
Terry Pratchett
A Hatful of Sky
Going Postal
Moving Pictures
Interesting Times
Maskerade
Thud!
Connie Willis
Bellwether
Doomsday Book
Impossible Things
After the Quake - Haruki Murakami
The Complete Stories - Dorothy Sayers
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon
Duplicate Keys - Jane Smiley
Five Children and It - E. Nesbitt
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Legends II: Shadows, Gods and Demons - Robert Silverberg (ed.)
Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Robots and Empire - Isaac Asimov
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Watership Down - Richard Adams
Non-Fiction
Sarah Vowell
Partly Cloudy Patriot
Take the Cannoli
Spook - Mary Roach
True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa - Michael Finkel
Poetry: The Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems - T.S. Eliot
Comics
Alan Moore
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
Watchmen
Grant Morrison
Arkham Asylum
JLA: Rock of Ages
Astonishing X-men series - Joss Whedon
Ex Machina series - Brian K. Vaughan
Fables Vol. 1: Legends in exile - Bill Willingham
Superman for All Seasons - Jeph Loeb
Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 1 - Bill Jemas and Brian Bendis
Once and Once Only
Fiction
P.G. Wodehouse
Jeeves and the Tie That Binds
Very Good, Jeeves
Because of Winn Dixie - Kate DiCamillo
Chess Story - Stefan Zweig
Dr. Futurity - Philip K. Dick
Eric - Terry Pratchett
Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Invisible Monsters - Chuck Palahniuk
Journey to an 800 Number - E.L. Konisgburg
The Lady in the Lake - Raymond Chandler
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Quicker Than the Eye - Ray Bradbury
The Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams
The Sea - John Banville
Shadow in the North - Philip Pullman
Timbuktu - Paul Auster
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
Non-Fiction: How To Read and Why - Harold Bloom
Comics
Batman: A Death in the Family - Jim Starlin, et al.
Cancer Made Me A Shallower Person - Miriam Engelberg
Death: The Time of Your Life - Neil Gaiman
The Dark Knight Strikes Again - Frank Miller
Ghosts of Albion: Astray - Amber Benson and Christopher Golden
Global Frequency - Warren Ellis
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vols. 1 & 2 - Alan Moore
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - Marjane Satrapi
Tales of the Vampire - Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, et al.
Villains United - Gail Simone
Trash It
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
In Praise of the Stepmother - Mario Vargas Llosa
The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
Storm Front - Jim Butcher
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals - George Perez
1. Classics should outnumber the bubblegum books.
Check. There was an 73% decrease in my bubblegum books (3 vs. 11) while classics stayed about the same (6 vs. 7)
2. Read more non-fiction and poetry.
Mixed bag. I read less non-fiction (6 vs. 11) but I read a compilation of T.S. Eliot’s poems (and a half-finished anthology of Gregory Corso poems). I didn't read any poetry in 2005.
3. Have a wider selection of authors.
Check. I read fewer books this year but the new to old author ratio was higher (2:3 instead of 1:2). Also, I only had two books that were repeats (The Dark Knight Returns and Mort) as compared to 14 repeats in 2005.
4. To make life easier, book classification should just be (a) Instant Classic; (b) Worth a Second Reading; (c) Never Again; (d) Trash It.
Instant Classics:
Fiction
Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon
Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
The Truth - Terry Pratchett
Non-Fiction
Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell
The Grouchy Grammarian: A How-Not-To Guide to the 47 Most Common Mistakes in English Made by Journalists, Broadcasters, and Others Who Should Know Better - Thomas Parrish
Miss Manners Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior - Judith Martin
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach
Comics
Fray - Joss Whedon
The Killing Joke - Alan Moore
Wolverine: Origin - Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and Paul Jenkins
Y The Last Man series - Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra
Worth a Second Reading
Fiction
Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451
The Illustrated Man
Naomi Novik
His Majesty’s Dragon
Throne of Jade
Black Powder War
Terry Pratchett
A Hatful of Sky
Going Postal
Moving Pictures
Interesting Times
Maskerade
Thud!
Connie Willis
Bellwether
Doomsday Book
Impossible Things
After the Quake - Haruki Murakami
The Complete Stories - Dorothy Sayers
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon
Duplicate Keys - Jane Smiley
Five Children and It - E. Nesbitt
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Legends II: Shadows, Gods and Demons - Robert Silverberg (ed.)
Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Robots and Empire - Isaac Asimov
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Watership Down - Richard Adams
Non-Fiction
Sarah Vowell
Partly Cloudy Patriot
Take the Cannoli
Spook - Mary Roach
True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa - Michael Finkel
Poetry: The Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems - T.S. Eliot
Comics
Alan Moore
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
Watchmen
Grant Morrison
Arkham Asylum
JLA: Rock of Ages
Astonishing X-men series - Joss Whedon
Ex Machina series - Brian K. Vaughan
Fables Vol. 1: Legends in exile - Bill Willingham
Superman for All Seasons - Jeph Loeb
Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 1 - Bill Jemas and Brian Bendis
Once and Once Only
Fiction
P.G. Wodehouse
Jeeves and the Tie That Binds
Very Good, Jeeves
Because of Winn Dixie - Kate DiCamillo
Chess Story - Stefan Zweig
Dr. Futurity - Philip K. Dick
Eric - Terry Pratchett
Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Invisible Monsters - Chuck Palahniuk
Journey to an 800 Number - E.L. Konisgburg
The Lady in the Lake - Raymond Chandler
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Quicker Than the Eye - Ray Bradbury
The Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams
The Sea - John Banville
Shadow in the North - Philip Pullman
Timbuktu - Paul Auster
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
Non-Fiction: How To Read and Why - Harold Bloom
Comics
Batman: A Death in the Family - Jim Starlin, et al.
Cancer Made Me A Shallower Person - Miriam Engelberg
Death: The Time of Your Life - Neil Gaiman
The Dark Knight Strikes Again - Frank Miller
Ghosts of Albion: Astray - Amber Benson and Christopher Golden
Global Frequency - Warren Ellis
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vols. 1 & 2 - Alan Moore
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - Marjane Satrapi
Tales of the Vampire - Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, et al.
Villains United - Gail Simone
Trash It
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
In Praise of the Stepmother - Mario Vargas Llosa
The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
Storm Front - Jim Butcher
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals - George Perez