Books 2014
♥♥♥ --> Books I loved and/or recommend. (Sometimes, I will give a book a very high rating, but the fact that I can recognize the book is good doesn't mean I loved it/would recommend it.) As well, if it has the first book of the series, the whole series is technically implied, but sometimes sequels suck, so judge by the rating.
--> A break from the body of the list means it is a series.
(-/10) --> My rating.
--> I re-read some stuff on a semi-regular basis, so there will be repeats once in a while from year to year and, interestingly but obviously, my opinion of those books may change from read to read.
--> Links go to Amazon.com (unless, as is the case with most short stories, they go directly to the story.) Links for Russian books go to the Russian equivalent of Amazon, Ozon.
--> When I read things in Russian, I provide a link to the Russian and the English translation versions. However, I never read Russian translations, so while I try to link to what is considered the most definitive translation, I cannot myself comment on its quality or accuracy in comparison to the Russian text.
Fiction:
~~~Novels:
♥♥♥ The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. (8.5/10)
♥ If God Were Alive Today by Kurt Vonnegut. (7/10)
♥ Candide or, Optimism by Voltaire (translated by Peter Constantine). (6/10)
♥♥♥ Basic Training by Kurt Vonnegut. (7.5/10)
♥ Crazy by William Peter Blatty. (6/10)
♥♥♥ Why We Have Day and Night by Peter F. Neumeyer and Edward Gorey. (8/10)
♥ I Will Always Love You by Cecily von Ziegesar. (6/10)
♥ Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Field Notes by Don Roff and Chris Lane. (7/10)
♥♥♥ Cabal by Clive Barker. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Logan's Run by William F Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. (9/10)
♥♥♥ Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. (8.5/10)
♥ Charlotte: The Last Journey of Jane Eyre by D.M. Thomas. (5.5/10)
♥ Life of Pi by Yann Martel. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit by Sylvia Plath. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Matilda by Roald Dahl. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life by Maurice Sendak. (8/10)
♥ Elsio Trot by Roald Dahl. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Persuasion by Jane Austen. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (9/10)
♥ The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ Sherlock Holmes: His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (9/10)
♥ The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Inferno by August Strindberg. (8.5/10)*
♥ Legends by August Strindberg. (6.5/10)
♥ Wrestling Jacob: A Fragment by August Strindberg. (5.5/10)
♥♥♥ True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole by Sue Townsend. (7/10)
♥ Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians by Sue Townsend. (8/10)
♥ Adrian Mole, The Wilderness Years by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥ Mole Cooks His Goose by Sue Townsend. (6.5/10)
♥ Adrian Mole, The Cappuccino Years by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥ The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999-2001 by Sue Townsend. (7.5/10)
♥ Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥ Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (9/10)*
♥ Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (8/10)
♥ Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)
♥ On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)
♥ By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (8.5/10)
♥ The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (9/10)
♥ Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)
♥ These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (8.5/10)
♥ The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7/10)
♥ On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)**
♥♥♥ Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane by P.L. Travers. (8.5/10)
♥ Mary Poppins and the House Next Door by P.L. Travers. (7/10)
♥ Lucky by Charlaine Harris. (7/10)
♥♥♥ Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. (8/10)
♥ Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews. (8/10)
♥ If There Be Thorns by V.C. Andrews. (7.5/10)
* - These books are not actually fiction - they're true accounts of the authors' lives. However, they've been officially classified as 'Historical Fiction' for LIW, and 'Autobiographical Fiction' for Strindberg. I'm not going to lie, it kind of bothers me.
** - This volume is an actual diary, not classified or written as any kind of fiction, included here only for the sake of keeping the continuity of the story.
~~~Short Stories/Novellas:
♥♥♥ Jerusalem's Lot by Stephen King. (7.5/10)
♥ Lost Hearts by M.R. James. (7/10)
♥♥♥ Extricating Young Gussie by P.G. Woodehouse. (7.5/10)
♥ Blockade Billy by Stephen King. (6.5/10)**
♥ Ms. Found in a Bottle by Edgar Allan Poe. (6/10)
♥♥♥ Morality by Stephen King. (8/10)**
♥♥♥ Button, Button by Richard Matheson. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Beneficence by Vladimir Nabokov. (9/10)**
♥♥♥ Где Любовь, Там и Бог, Л. Н. Толстой. (7/10)
♥ Три Старца, Л. Н. Толстой. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ Чем Люди Живы, Л. Н. Толстой. (8.5/10)
~~~Plays:
♥♥♥ A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. (8/10)
♥♥♥ A Dream Play by August Strindberg. (8.5/10)
~~~Poetry:
♥♥♥ The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire. (10/10)
Graphic Novels:
♥ Pigeons From Hell by Joe R. Lansdale, Nathan Fox, and Dave Stewart (based on story by Robert E. Howard). (6.5/10)
♥ Arkham Asylum: Madness by Sam Kieth, Michelle Madsen, and Dave Stewart. (7/10)
♥ Colder bymPaul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra. (7.5/10)
♥ CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations by Alex Garner, Jeff Mariotte, Gabriel Hernandez, and Mindy Lee. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Tale of the Batman: Tim Sale by Various and Tim Sale. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Celeste by I.N.J. Culbard. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Pandemonium by Christophe Bec and Stefano Raffaele. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff. (7.5/10)
♥ Refresh, Refresh by Danica Novgorodoff, James Ponsoldt, and Benjamin Percy. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Crow by J. O'Barr. (9/10)
♥ Loverboys by Gilbert Hernandez. (6/10)
♥ Three by Kieron Gillen, Ryan Kelly and Jordie Bellaire. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Ricky Rouse Has a Gun by Jörg Tittel and John Aggs. (7.5/10)
♥ Trail of Steel 1441 A.D. by Marcos Mateu-Mestre. (6.5/10)
♥ Clown Fatale by Victor Gischler and Maurizio Rosenzweig. (7/10)
♥ Gate-Way: The New World by Joe Halpin Sr., Joe Halpin Jr., and Juanfrancisco Moyano. (7.5/10)
♥ 365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice by J.P. Kalonji and Various. (7/10)
♥♥♥ The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple. (8.5/10)
♥ The Field by Simon Roy and Ed Brisson. (7/10)
♥♥♥ The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire. (7.5/10)
♥ Tropic of the Sea by Satoshi Kon. (7/10)
Non-Fiction:
♥♥♥ Books v. Cigarettes by George Orwell. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters by Peter Langman, PhD. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Crime and Custom in Savage Society by Bronislaw Malinowski. (8/10)
♥ Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores by Jen Campbell. (7/10)
♥♥♥ The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard. (8/10)
♥ From an Occult Diary: Marriage with Harriet Bosse by August Strindberg. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Mark Twain in Hawaii - Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands: Hawaii in the 1860's by Mark Twain. (7/10)
♥♥♥ A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. (8/10)
♥♥♥ The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba (translated by John Stevens). (9/10)
♥♥♥ Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus (translated and interpreted by Sharon Lebell). (8/10)**
♥♥♥ His Finest Hours: Great War Speeches of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill (compiled by Graham Stewart). (10/10)
♥♥♥ History of Shit by Dominique Laporte. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Love Letters of Great Men, edited by Ursula Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ Love Letters of Great Women, edited by Ursula Doyle. (8/10)
♥ How to Live with a Neurotic Dog by Stephen Baker (illus by Fred Hillard). (6.5/10)
♥ How to Live with a Neurotic Cat by Stephen Baker (illustrated by Fred Hillard). (7/10)
**Epictetus is an incredible philosopher, and no matter how he's transcribed, I admire him greatly and agree with most of his principles. However, while I "recommend" the book for the fact that it's him, may it be noted that the translation is atrocious - unnecessarily modernized and ludicrously in-eloquent. I would recommend the philosopher, but not the edition.
PREVIOUS YEARS:
2009-2010/ 2010/ 2011/ 2012/ 2013
--> A break from the body of the list means it is a series.
(-/10) --> My rating.
--> I re-read some stuff on a semi-regular basis, so there will be repeats once in a while from year to year and, interestingly but obviously, my opinion of those books may change from read to read.
--> Links go to Amazon.com (unless, as is the case with most short stories, they go directly to the story.) Links for Russian books go to the Russian equivalent of Amazon, Ozon.
--> When I read things in Russian, I provide a link to the Russian and the English translation versions. However, I never read Russian translations, so while I try to link to what is considered the most definitive translation, I cannot myself comment on its quality or accuracy in comparison to the Russian text.
Fiction:
~~~Novels:
♥♥♥ The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. (8.5/10)
♥ If God Were Alive Today by Kurt Vonnegut. (7/10)
♥ Candide or, Optimism by Voltaire (translated by Peter Constantine). (6/10)
♥♥♥ Basic Training by Kurt Vonnegut. (7.5/10)
♥ Crazy by William Peter Blatty. (6/10)
♥♥♥ Why We Have Day and Night by Peter F. Neumeyer and Edward Gorey. (8/10)
♥ I Will Always Love You by Cecily von Ziegesar. (6/10)
♥ Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Field Notes by Don Roff and Chris Lane. (7/10)
♥♥♥ Cabal by Clive Barker. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Logan's Run by William F Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. (9/10)
♥♥♥ Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. (8.5/10)
♥ Charlotte: The Last Journey of Jane Eyre by D.M. Thomas. (5.5/10)
♥ Life of Pi by Yann Martel. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit by Sylvia Plath. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Matilda by Roald Dahl. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life by Maurice Sendak. (8/10)
♥ Elsio Trot by Roald Dahl. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Persuasion by Jane Austen. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (9/10)
♥ The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ Sherlock Holmes: His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (9/10)
♥ The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Inferno by August Strindberg. (8.5/10)*
♥ Legends by August Strindberg. (6.5/10)
♥ Wrestling Jacob: A Fragment by August Strindberg. (5.5/10)
♥♥♥ True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole by Sue Townsend. (7/10)
♥ Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians by Sue Townsend. (8/10)
♥ Adrian Mole, The Wilderness Years by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥ Mole Cooks His Goose by Sue Townsend. (6.5/10)
♥ Adrian Mole, The Cappuccino Years by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥ The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999-2001 by Sue Townsend. (7.5/10)
♥ Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥ Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue Townsend. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (9/10)*
♥ Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (8/10)
♥ Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)
♥ On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)
♥ By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (8.5/10)
♥ The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (9/10)
♥ Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)
♥ These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (8.5/10)
♥ The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7/10)
♥ On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (7.5/10)**
♥♥♥ Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane by P.L. Travers. (8.5/10)
♥ Mary Poppins and the House Next Door by P.L. Travers. (7/10)
♥ Lucky by Charlaine Harris. (7/10)
♥♥♥ Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. (8/10)
♥ Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews. (8/10)
♥ If There Be Thorns by V.C. Andrews. (7.5/10)
* - These books are not actually fiction - they're true accounts of the authors' lives. However, they've been officially classified as 'Historical Fiction' for LIW, and 'Autobiographical Fiction' for Strindberg. I'm not going to lie, it kind of bothers me.
** - This volume is an actual diary, not classified or written as any kind of fiction, included here only for the sake of keeping the continuity of the story.
~~~Short Stories/Novellas:
♥♥♥ Jerusalem's Lot by Stephen King. (7.5/10)
♥ Lost Hearts by M.R. James. (7/10)
♥♥♥ Extricating Young Gussie by P.G. Woodehouse. (7.5/10)
♥ Blockade Billy by Stephen King. (6.5/10)**
♥ Ms. Found in a Bottle by Edgar Allan Poe. (6/10)
♥♥♥ Morality by Stephen King. (8/10)**
♥♥♥ Button, Button by Richard Matheson. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Beneficence by Vladimir Nabokov. (9/10)**
♥♥♥ Где Любовь, Там и Бог, Л. Н. Толстой. (7/10)
♥ Три Старца, Л. Н. Толстой. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ Чем Люди Живы, Л. Н. Толстой. (8.5/10)
~~~Plays:
♥♥♥ A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. (8/10)
♥♥♥ A Dream Play by August Strindberg. (8.5/10)
~~~Poetry:
♥♥♥ The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire. (10/10)
Graphic Novels:
♥ Pigeons From Hell by Joe R. Lansdale, Nathan Fox, and Dave Stewart (based on story by Robert E. Howard). (6.5/10)
♥ Arkham Asylum: Madness by Sam Kieth, Michelle Madsen, and Dave Stewart. (7/10)
♥ Colder bymPaul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra. (7.5/10)
♥ CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations by Alex Garner, Jeff Mariotte, Gabriel Hernandez, and Mindy Lee. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Tale of the Batman: Tim Sale by Various and Tim Sale. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Celeste by I.N.J. Culbard. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Pandemonium by Christophe Bec and Stefano Raffaele. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff. (7.5/10)
♥ Refresh, Refresh by Danica Novgorodoff, James Ponsoldt, and Benjamin Percy. (6.5/10)
♥♥♥ The Crow by J. O'Barr. (9/10)
♥ Loverboys by Gilbert Hernandez. (6/10)
♥ Three by Kieron Gillen, Ryan Kelly and Jordie Bellaire. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Ricky Rouse Has a Gun by Jörg Tittel and John Aggs. (7.5/10)
♥ Trail of Steel 1441 A.D. by Marcos Mateu-Mestre. (6.5/10)
♥ Clown Fatale by Victor Gischler and Maurizio Rosenzweig. (7/10)
♥ Gate-Way: The New World by Joe Halpin Sr., Joe Halpin Jr., and Juanfrancisco Moyano. (7.5/10)
♥ 365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice by J.P. Kalonji and Various. (7/10)
♥♥♥ The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple. (8.5/10)
♥ The Field by Simon Roy and Ed Brisson. (7/10)
♥♥♥ The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire. (7.5/10)
♥ Tropic of the Sea by Satoshi Kon. (7/10)
Non-Fiction:
♥♥♥ Books v. Cigarettes by George Orwell. (8.5/10)
♥♥♥ Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters by Peter Langman, PhD. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Crime and Custom in Savage Society by Bronislaw Malinowski. (8/10)
♥ Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores by Jen Campbell. (7/10)
♥♥♥ The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard. (8/10)
♥ From an Occult Diary: Marriage with Harriet Bosse by August Strindberg. (7.5/10)
♥♥♥ Mark Twain in Hawaii - Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands: Hawaii in the 1860's by Mark Twain. (7/10)
♥♥♥ A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. (8/10)
♥♥♥ The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba (translated by John Stevens). (9/10)
♥♥♥ Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus (translated and interpreted by Sharon Lebell). (8/10)**
♥♥♥ His Finest Hours: Great War Speeches of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill (compiled by Graham Stewart). (10/10)
♥♥♥ History of Shit by Dominique Laporte. (8/10)
♥♥♥ Love Letters of Great Men, edited by Ursula Doyle. (8.5/10)
♥ Love Letters of Great Women, edited by Ursula Doyle. (8/10)
♥ How to Live with a Neurotic Dog by Stephen Baker (illus by Fred Hillard). (6.5/10)
♥ How to Live with a Neurotic Cat by Stephen Baker (illustrated by Fred Hillard). (7/10)
**Epictetus is an incredible philosopher, and no matter how he's transcribed, I admire him greatly and agree with most of his principles. However, while I "recommend" the book for the fact that it's him, may it be noted that the translation is atrocious - unnecessarily modernized and ludicrously in-eloquent. I would recommend the philosopher, but not the edition.
PREVIOUS YEARS:
2009-2010/ 2010/ 2011/ 2012/ 2013