What I’m Reading: 2010 Edition

Like I did last year, I’m going to keep a running tally of my reading list this year. This includes both prose books, graphic novels, short stories (if I read them independently of an entire book, that is), and audiobooks that I listen to. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, I’ll place a link to this post on the righthand “Blakestuff” column, and periodically update this page with new material. Also, if I happen to review the book either here, for the Amazon Vine program, at Comixtreme.com, or otherwise, I’ll make the title a link. Because I know you would want it that way.

1. Desperate Times by Chris Eliopoulos (2009), B-*
2. Under the Dome by Stephen King (2009), A-
3. Little Adventures in Oz Vol. 1 by Eric Shanower (2010), A-*
4. Replay by Ken Grimwood (1987), B+
5. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954), A+
6. The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures by Dave Stevens (2009), A*
7. 7th Son: Descent by J.C. Hutchins (2009), A- @
8. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King (1987), A
9. Star Comics All-Star Collection Vol. 1 (2009), B-*
10. “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft (1928), B
11. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (2002), A-
12. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (2009), B+
13. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008), B+
14. The Magic Book of Oz by Scott Dickerson (2009), B+
15. More Blood, More Sweat, and Another Cup of Tea by Tom Reynolds (2009), A-
16. PVP Vol. 6: Silent But Deadly by Scott Kurtz (2009), B-*
17. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865), A-
18. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1951), A
19. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900), A
20. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (2001), B
21. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (2003), B
22. “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving (1824), A
23. Showgirls, Teen Wolves, and Astro Zombies by Michael Adams (2010), A
24. Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis (2008), A
25. Doom Patrol: Crawling From the Wreckage by Grant Morrison (1990), B*
26. Doom Patrol: The Painting that Ate Paris by Grant Morrison (1990), B+*
27. The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason (2008), A-
28. “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1836), B+
29. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin (1894), B-
30. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley (2004), B-*
31. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce (1890), A
32. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1595-ish), B
33. “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain (1865), A
34. Lost Ate My Life by Jon Lachonis & Amy J. Johnston (2008), B-
35. All the Great Books (Abridged) by Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor (2005-Stage Play), A-
36. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max (2006), B
37. Reduced Shakespeare by Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor (2006), B+
38. The Zombie Wilson Diaries by Timothy W. Long (2009), B
39. Lurline and the White Ravens of Oz by Marcus Mebes (2008), B-
40. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper (2004), B
41. “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1922), B
42. Blockade Billy by Stephen King (2010), B+
43. Honor Brigade by Tom Stillwell & Bradley Bowers (2009), A-
44. Age of Bronze: A Thousand Ships by Eric Shanower (2001), A*
45. Marvel Zombies 4 by Fred Van Lente (2010), B*
46. The Toxic Avenger and Other Tromatic Tales edited by Tim Seeley (2007), B-*
47. Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark Reality edited by Mark D. White (2010), B
48. Sheldon: Living Dangerously With Saturated Fats by Dave Kellett (2009), A-
49. “The Far and the Near” by Thomas Wolfe (1935), B-
50. “In Another Country” by Ernest Hemingway (1927), B-
51. “The Corn Planting” by Sherwood Anderson (1921), B
52. “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner (1930), A
53. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895-Stage Play), B
54. Heaven Book V: War by Mur Lafferty (2008), B@
55. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Flannery O’Conner (1955), B+
56. Kissyman and the Gentleman by Scott Sigler (2010), B-@
57. Carrie by Stephen King (1974), B
58. Unbeatable: Hotter Than Hell (2010) by Matthias Wolf, A-
59. DC’s Greatest Imaginary Stories Vol. 2: Batman and Robin (2010), edited by Bob Joy, B-*
60. I’ll Mature When I’m Dead (2010) by Dave Barry, B
61. Wertham Was Right (2003) by Mark Evanier, A-
62. Little Adventures in Oz Vol. 2 (2010) by Eric Shanower, B+*
63. Age of Bronze Vol. 2: Sacrifice (2004) by Eric Shanower, B*
64. Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne (2004) by John Byrne, A*
65. The Crypt Book One: The Crew (2010) by Scott Sigler & Various, B+@
66. Vampire Brat (2001) by Batton Lash, B+*
67. Haunt Vol. 1 (2010) by Robert Kirkman & Todd McFarlane, B+*
68. Ancestor (2010) by Scott Sigler, A
69. The Customer is Not Always Right (2009) by A.J. Adams, B
70. Atomic Robo Vol. 1: Atomic Robo and the Fightin’ Scientists of Tesladyne (2007) by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener, A*
71. Starman Omnibus Vol. 4 (2010), by James Robinson, A*
72. Hater (2006) by David Moody, B+
73. “Everything and Nothing” (2010) by David Moody, B
74. Penny Arcade Vol. 6 (2010) by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik, B+
75. And Another Thing… (2009) by Eoin Colfer, B-
76. Dog Blood (2010) by David Moody, B
77. The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) by L. Frank Baum , B+*
78. Sheldon: Still Got It (2009) by Dave Kellett, A*
79. Literature: Unsuccessfully Competing Against Television Since 1953 (2010) by Dave Kellett, A*
80. Drive: A Hero Rises (2010) by Dave Kellett, B*
81. Beneath (2010) by Jeremy Robinson, B-
82. Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories (2010) by Zack Whedon, A*
83. Night of the Living Trekkies (2010) by Kevin David Anderson & Sam Stall B+
84. The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus (2010) by Fred Hembeck, B+*
85. “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe, A
86. Curse of the Were-Woman (2009) by Jason M. Burns, B*
87. A Teacher’s Night Before Halloween (2008) by Steven Layne, B
88. Ghostopolis (2010) by Doug TenNapel, A*
89. Superman: Earth One (2010) by J. Michael Straczynski, A*
90. Sum: Forty Tales From the Afterlives (2009) by David Eagleman, A
91. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010 Graphic Novel), B*
92. The Lost Hero (2010) by Rick Riordan, B
93. Stupid Christmas (2010) by Leland Gregory, B-
94. Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (2001) by Ace Collins, B+
95. Full Dark, No Stars (2010) by Stephen King, A-
96. The Case For Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger (1998) by Lee Strobel, B
97. Amelia Rules: A Very Ninja Christmas (2009) by Jimmy Gownley, A*
98. The Curious World of Christmas (2007) by Niall Edworthy, C+
99. The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories (2010), edited by Craig Yoe, B*
100. Top Cow Holiday Special 2010 by Phil Smith & Paul Dini, B*
101. Graphic Classics Vol. 19: Christmas Classics (2010), B+*
102. The Truth About Santa (2009) by Gregory Mone, B
103. The Starter by Scott Sigler (2010), B+

*-Denotes Graphic Novel or Comic Strip collection
@-Denotes audiobook
“”-Denotes Short Story

Last Updated on January 1, 2010

What I’m About to Read: Little Brother, Lost and Philosophy, Paradox in Oz

One of my favorite features here at Evertime Realms is my “What I’m Reading” segment — a fancy name for a book review. At the moment, though, the book I’m reading isn’t one I’m quite at liberty to review. Y’see, I’m part of the Amazon.com “Vine” program, in which the company sends frequent reviewers (like myself) free copies of yet-to-be-released books to review on their site. I’m only on my second book, The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem, but I’m enjoying being part of the system. My first review, of the upcoming teen horror/fantasy novel The Last Apprentice: Wrath of the Bloodeye by Joseph Delaney, went online not long ago. I’ll try to remember to alert you guys whenever I do a new Vine review.

But I’m almost done with this book, which means it’s time to move on to another. Now I’ve got to be honest with you, I’ve fallen behind a bit on my reading. Between the two plays I’m working on, school, my reviews and columns, working on Summer Love, and a couple of podcasts of which you may be aware, it’s taking me longer than it used to to get through a book. But I’m still getting books at the same rate as ever! So as a result I’ve got piles of unread books lying around, waiting to fulfill their destiny (i.e., be read). Today, I thought I’d take a different approach to the “What I’m Reading” category. Here are a few books that I have not read, but that I’m planning to get to relatively soon.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Doctorow has become pretty popular among a certain segment of the reading public, and although I haven’t yet read anything by him, a while back he released the first chapter of this book as an audio file, which was then included to the feed of a podcast I listen to. (I actually don’t even remember which podcast it was, but that’s beside the point.) I really loved the first chapter of this story, so I decided to give the book a try. Now obviously, I haven’t read it yet (else it wouldn’t be on this list) but the idea intrigues me — a 17-year-old computer whiz winds up turning himself and his friends into unwitting suspects in a terrorist attack on San Francisco. When released from prison, he finds his city has become a police state, and he takes it upon himself to save them. The title of the book is an obvious reference to George Orwell’s 1984, and while I don’t really like when my fiction gets overtly political, from what I’ve read of this book it sounds like it doesn’t go down the sort of paths that make me roll my eyes. I’m looking forward to finally cracking the cover of this one.

Lost and Philosophy. People who have been with this website since the June relaunch will recall one of my earliest “What I’m Reading” reviews was of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series edition of The Office and Philosophy. Those of you who haven’t been here that long, here it is in a nutshell: this series of books collects essays by modern philosophers which examine a piece of pop culture — a TV show, a movie, even a rock band — and dissect it from a philosophical standpoint. Other books in this series have featured shows as diverse as The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and South Park and films such as Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. If ever there was a show open to an in-depth philosophical dissection, it’s Lost. The show is an incredible science fiction parable about power, the nature of good and evil, and the struggle between science and faith. It’s one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen, and one of the few shows that I absolutely, hands-down have to watch each and every week. If the writers who contributed to this book can help shed a little light on the many mysteries of The Island, I shall be forever in their debt.

Paradox in Oz. I’m a huge fan of the Oz series of books. I’ve read all 14 original books by L. Frank Baum. I’ve read dozens of comic book series that have tried to tap into the Oz magic. I’ve seen more Oz-related motion pictures than most people reading this probably even know exist. (Incidentally, the 1939 movie with Judy Garland? Excellent as a classic Hollywood musical. As an adaptation of Baum’s book, though, it’s terrible.)

What has proven to be a problem for me, though, is finding other early Oz books. After Baum’s death, the series was taken over by his illustrator, Ruth Plumbly Thompson, then later by Jack R. Neill, then dozens of other writers over the years. Once the earlier Oz books went into the public domain, there were even more, and not all of them were actually that good. Others, while good, didn’t really fit into the world that Baum created. (Gregory Maguire’s Wicked comes to mind — an excellent novel, but there’s simply no way to reconcile it with the true Oz mythos.) Unlike the Baum books, however, there doesn’t appear to be much interest in keeping the earlier books by other authors in print. Thank goodness for the good folks at Hungry Tiger Press, who not only have reprinted some of the earlier books, as well as many non-Oz books by Baum, but they also produce new books that feel like they belong in Baum’s world. I’ve read one of their original books before, The Living House of Oz, and I loved it. My sister game me Paradox in Oz, by the same writer-artist team of Edward Einhorn and Eric Shanower, for Christmas last year. It’s finally made its way to the top of the read-pile.

So anyway, these are the next few books in my reading queue, as it were. This isn’t necessarily a promise that I’ll get to ‘em — after all, that queue seems to get rearranged more often than my NetFlix queue. At the moment, though, this is what I’m looking at reading next. I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of them all.