Book Lists 2020 Book • Page 5

Am I allowed to include my dirty little secret embarrassing books in my list?

 

i included the bromance book club so include whatever you want

 

Please do

 

Updated with June:

1. Ryan T. Higgins - Mother Bruce
2. Michelle Alexander - The New Jim Crow
3. Austin Channing Brown - I'm still Here: Black Dignity In A World Made For Whiteness
4. Ta-Nehisi Coates - Between The World and Me
5. Michael Matthews - Bigger, Leaner, Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body
6. He Reads Truth - Romans
7. Robert Jordan - The Fires of Heaven
8. Robin DiAngelo - White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
9. Reni Eddo-Lodge - Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
10. Max Brooks - Devolution
11. Robert Jordan - Lord of Chaos (finished July 1st)

 

HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR, BABYYYYYYYYY

All of the books I read on race were FANTASTIC, all for different reasons. I think Ijeoma Oluo's "So You Want to Talk About Race" is a great starting point for learning about what it means to be actively anti-racist. She did a magnificent job putting things into words that I'd been trying to figure out how to say.

As for novels, "The Remaking" is currently my least favorite book of the year. It's a cool idea (the story of a haunting takes on new life through the years), but it didn't click with me for whatever reason. On the flip side, "Bird Box" was great and has redeemed Josh Malerman in my eyes.

 

Have you read Unbury Carol? It's my favorite from Malerman.

 

I did! I read it last year and really liked it. Definitely my second favorite of his (behind Bird Box).

 

June update. Quarantine reading has been good to me.

Novels: I've continued branching out thanks to digital library loans. It was great to finally read some Epictetus; I've admired his philosophy for years but this is the first time I've read it directly. The next Sullivan book was better than the first and sold me on reading the rest of his work; I'm really excited to see where the story arc concludes in the final volume. Good clean fun adventures there. I very much loved The Road and didn't find it nearly as bleak as expected—or rather it was very bleak but also very hopeful. World War Z was phenomenal, I listened to the enhanced audiobook and the performances were magnificent. I don't get the hate about the movie, to be honest. Granted, I saw it first and only now read the book, and I think I like the book better, but a) the movie was a perfectly good zombie movie and b) I'm not sure if trying to 'accurately' tell the novel as a film would really work. But yeah the novel was great. Charles Portis was an unparalleled treasure and one of the finest American writers and I reread Masters of Atlantis for my birthday so it was pretty great. Finally, I loved 'Salem's Lot and will definitely be reading it again.

Other: Detective Comics was good, Jim Gordon as Batman has had some fun moments and some weird ones but overall I liked it. Amazing Spider-Man and Captain Marvel were both great, they're some of my favorite running series. Rose and Grimm Fairy Tales were both okay, neither are outstanding but I like them enough to continue. And Monstress and Gideon Falls were both absolutely brilliant and highly recommended. I'll probably need to reread both sometime because those plots are convoluted.

Overall a great month of reading and I'm well ahead of being on track for my yearly goal.

For July I'm finishing up a couple of pending comic series (Batman, Shutter, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man) and a few library books (Neverending Story, Collapsing Empire, Shrinking Man, Curse of Chalion) and then working through some of the books on my shelves I've been meaning to get to, gonna try to knock off a few in July and then get back to Shannara and Stormlight in August and probably another horror.

 

July: 10

1. Jonathan M. Metzl - Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland
2. Nathan W. Pyle - Stranger Planet
3. Rudy Francisco - Helium
4. Robert Jordan - A Crown of Swords
5. Drew Dyck - Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible & Brain Science
6. Hank Green - A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
7. Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD - Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?
8. Mary Robinette Kowal - The Relentless Moon
9. Robert Jordan - The Path of Daggers
10. Robert Jordan - Winter's Heart

 

Ok so huge update since I didn't get around to it for last month and maybe the one before. The Baru Cormorant series is fantastic, super hard fantasy, the main character is an accountant and that's where a lot of the action comes from, it also has super fucked up shit like the Empire uses phrases such as "social hygiene" which just typing gives me shivers. Very pumped for the preorder I have of the next book which comes out this week. Smoke and Stone wasn't very good, I liked Fletcher's other world much more. Probably won't continue. Savaging the Dark was fucked up. A teacher falls in love with her 10 year old student, very graphic. Tough read. The Ceremonies was a pretty damn good horror epic that somehow flew under my radar until now. I've read the same plot so many times over the years, but the characters and attention to detail was astounding. Tremblay's new book Survivor Song was wonderful. Such a consistently great author. The Only Good Indian also fantastic, it did one thing in particular with the POV that I hadn't seen before and found deeply unsettling, in the best way. Malorie was great! A quality sequel to Bird Box, didn't love the ending though. I didn't actually know anything about The Living Dead...It just happened to pop up on amazon that a new book was released by George Romero of all people. It was an excellent take on a modern zombie invasion, more like World War Z than I was expecting, though still deeply character driven. The first Act which is basically just vignettes that you have no idea if they're going to collide or not was easily the best part. Guessing that was mostly what Mr Romero had finished before he died.

Finished The Dread Empire and thankfully I very much enjoyed the last three books compared to the rest of the series. Finally starting to get it, and just in time. After that I've started a bunch of series hoping to find one that would hook me. A Land Fit For Heroes was a bit dull, might go back. Heroes Die was excellent but a tad more sci fi so I'm putting that on the back burner since I'm in a full on fantasy mood. Coldfire was okay, might return, don't know. Landed on The Wars of Light and Shadow. Guess I had to crawl out of the muck of grim/dark to find something to latch onto. Crazy dense, reminds me A LOT of The Wheel of Time. I think I'm in for the long haul.

And here are my big recommendations for horror fans. Don't know why I slept on the new John Ajvide Lindqvist book, I Am Behind You. Besides having the best name ever, it's fucking amazing. It's like a horror Lost, but good. Every book from Lindgvist has just been better and better, not sure if I'd put it above the masterpiece that was Little Star, but certainly close. The other is Between Two Fires. This book fucking rules. I think fantasy fans would like it too. It's a pretty damn epic medieval horror/fantasy that threads in a lot of christian mythology, with angels and demons galore. It's painfully dark yet deeply compassionate (I refer to it as the Malazan Effect).

OK so here's probably the hottest take that I have. Ready? Cause I don't have a lot of hot takes, especially negative ones. Anyway. I don't like The Sandman. Like at all. It's as dreadfully boring as all of Gaiman's work that I've tried to read. I don't know what it is about him, but I find everything he does mindboggling tedious. Oh god, The Kindling Ones, that final arc that would never end... I'm not going to harp on it since I know I'm wrong. That said, most of the art was incredible, and I loved the very first issue.

 

Few things to pick up on so i'll quote them separately. I haven't really heard of the others but have heard that Heroes Die is a great book but I'm not sure if I'm into sci-fi fantasy right now. Might put it on my TBR and sift through those all shortly. The Wars of Light and Shadow sounds up my alley though with the Wheel of Time vibes but I should probably finish WoT first!

I Am Behind You is quite intriguing and who doesn't love a description like horror Lost?? I'll have a look at this one further. Between Two Fires has been talked about quite a lot so might look into it, really into some medieval fantasy recently.

Thanks for the recs! My money won't thank you but I will!

EDIT: Is Between Two Fires the one from Mark Noce ones? I've seen a few crop up.

 

Heroes Die is like 85% fantasy, like they build a full fantasy world, just some of it also takes place on Earth, it's an interesting mixture. And no, the Between Two Fires I speak of is by Christopher Buehlman and has this wonderful cover

 

Updated for July and the start of August. The City We Became was a cool read; excited to see what Jemisin does with that universe! The Green Mile was great and also extremely heartbreaking. The Only Good Indians shook me to my core. It was more literary than I was expecting, but very good. The Dead Lands was a fun read - nothing more, nothing less.

Already two books into August (and they were both great reads). Any recs are welcome, especially horror by women and/or BIPOC!

 

So this year I'm trying to read things that I actually feel like reading instead of things that I feel obligated to read if that makes sense.

January:

1) Clue: Candlestick*
2) In An Absent Dream(Wayward Children #4) by Seanan McGuire
3) Locke & Key Vol 1: Welcome To Lovecraft*
4) Locke & Key Vol 2: Head Games*

February:

5) Locke & Key Vol 3: Crown of Shadows*
6) Locke & Key Vol 4: Keys To The Kingdom*
7) Locke & Key Vol 5: Clockworks*
8) Locke & Key Vol 6: Alpha & Omega*
9) One Of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus
10) Merry Christmas, Steve by Ruth Ware(short story)
11) Come Tumbling Down(Wayward Children #5) by Seanan McGuire

March:
12) Locke & Key: Small World*
13) Hook, Line, & Sinker by Harlan Thrombey(short story)
14) Locke & Key: Heaven and Earth*
15) Nailbiter Vol 6: The Bloody Truth*
16) The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
17) Are You Sleeping?/Truth Be Told by Kathleen Barber
18) Batman Vol 1: The Court of Owls*
19) Batman Vol 2: The City of Owls*
20) Locke & Key: Dog Days*
21) Batman: The Night of The Owls*
22) Farmhand Vol 1: Reap What Was Down*
23) Farmhand Vol 2: Thorne In The Flesh*
24) Batman Vol 3: Death of The Family*
25) The Joker: Death of The Family*

April:
26) The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye*
27) The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us*
28) The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars*
29) The Walking Dead Volume 4: The Heart's Desire*
30) The Walking Dead Volume 5: The Best Defense*
31) The Walking Dead Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life*
32) The Walking Dead Volume 7: The Calm Before*
33) The Walking Dead Volume 8: Made To Suffer*
34) Outer Darkness Volume 1: Each Other's Throats*
35) Outer Darkness Volume 2: Castrophany of Hate*
36) Batman: Universe*
37) The Walking Dead Volume 9: Here We Remain*
38) The Walking Dead Volume 10: What We Become*
39) The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters*
40) The Walking Dead Volume 12: Life Among Them*
41) The Walking Dead Volume 13: Too Far Gone*
42) The Walking Dead Volume 14: No Way Out*
43) The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
44) The Walking Dead Volume 15: We Find Ourselves*
45) The Walking Dead Volume 16: A Larger World*
46) Batman Volume 4: Zero Year: Secret City*
47) No Rest For The Dead by David Baldacci, Andrew Gulli, etc.
48) DC Comics: Zero Year*
49) Harley Quinn: A Rogue's Gallery*
50) Batman Volume 5: Zero Year: Dark City*

May:
51) Harleen by Stjepan Sejic*
52) The Walking Dead Volume 17: Something To Fear*
53) The Walking Dead Volume 18: What Comes After*
54) The Walking Dead Volume 19: March To War*
55) The Walking Dead Volume 20: All Out War, Part 1*
56) The Walking Dead Volume 21: All Out War, Part 2*
57) The Walking Dead Volume 22: A New Beginning*
58) The Walking Dead Volume 23: Whispers Into Screams*
59) The Walking Dead Volume 24: Life And Death*
60) The Walking Dead Volume 25: No Turning Back*
61) Batman Incorporated: The Deluxe Edition*
62) Batman Incorporated, Volume 1: Demon Star*
63) Zatanna & The House Of Secrets*
64) Batman Incorporated, Volume 2: Gotham's Most Wanted*
65) Bizarro by Heath Corson*
66) Black Hammer Volume 1*
67) The Walking Dead Volume 26: Call To Arms*
68) The Walking Dead Volume 27: The Whisperer War*
69) Batman Volume 6: Graveyard Shift*
70) Batman Tales: Once Upon A Crime*
71) The Lost Carnival: A Dick Grayson Novel*

June:
72) One Of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus+
73) Love Does by Bob Goff+
74) Everybody Always by Bob Goff+
75) Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

July:
76) Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

August:
77) Batman: Sins of the Father*
78) 2nd Chance by James Patterson+
79) Batman Volume 7: Endgame*
80) The Joker: Endgame*
81) Dark Days: The Road to Metal*
82) Dark Nights: Metal*

* denotes graphic novel/comics
+ denotes Audiobook

Updated through this morning!
​

 

Updated with August:

1. Sally Rooney - Conversations with Friends
2. Ibram X. Kendi - How To Be An Antiracist
3. Ibram X. Kendi - Stamped from the Beginning
4. Cait Flanders - The Year Of Less
5. David Gran - The Lost City of Z
6. Douglas Preston - The Lost City of the Monkey God
7. Paul David Tripp - Sex In A Broken World
8. Tom Foreman - My Year of Running Dangerously
9. Robert Jordan - Crossroads of Twilight
10. Robert Jordan - Knife of Dreams
11. Robert Jordan - The Gathering Storm
12. Robert Jordan - Towers of Midnight
13. Melissa Erin Jackson - Pawsitively Suspicious
14. Robert Jordan - A Memory of Light

One of these is now complete! Buying another 60 or so audiobooks made the other a smidge more ridiculous.

 

How was WOT on the reread?

 

Everything I wanted it to be and more. Best decision I've made this year.

 

That's awesome. I still haven't finished it (I read Crossroads of Twilight immediately after it released, but that's the latest book I've read), but I've been meaning to dedicate time to a full readthrough and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the reread so much. I've no doubt the series will be one I read through multiple times.

 

Late update for August. Highlights from the month are Nothing to See Here (very fun and heartwarming) and The Bright Lands (what would happen if Stephen King wrote Friday Night Lights and had more LGBTQ+ representation).

This month is also significant because we had my first real stinker of the year. I wanted to like Rachel Harrison's The Return, but I did not. Any genuine creepy moments were undercut by characters that I didn't care about and a forced supernatural twist. The best part of this book is that I got it from the library and didn't buy it.

September is off to a GREAT start (Mexican Gothic rocks, would highly recommend. As always, recommendations are welcome!

 

1. Recursion- Blake Crouch
2. Ghosts of the Tsunami - Richard Lloyd Parry
3. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett *Started in 2019*
4. Cibola Burn - James S.A. Corey
5. Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA - Amaryllis Fox
6. House of Chains (Malazan #4) - Steven Erikson
7. There There - Tommy Orange
8. Elevation - Stephen King
9. Exhalation - Ted Chiang
10. Watership Down - Richard Adams
11. Imaginary Friend - Stephen Chbosky
12. The Rage of Dragons - Evan Winter
13. The Glass Hotel - Emily St. John Mandel
14. Midnight Tides (Malazan #5) - Steven Erikson
15. The Sellout - Paul Beatty
16. Broken - Don Winslow
17. Boy's Life - Robert McCammon
18. Ask a Footballer - James Milner
19. Nemesis Games - James S.A Corey
20. Pet Semetary - Stephen King
21. Wanderers - Chuck Wendig
22. Into The Wild - Jon Krakauer
23. 1984 - George Orwell *re-read
24. The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire - William Dalyrmple
25. The Quiet American - Graham Greene
26. Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance
27. Fallen Land - Taylor Brown
28. TransAtlantic - Colum McCann
29. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
UPDATED
30. The Bonehunters (Malazan #6) - Steven Erikson
31. The Feather Thief - Kirk Wallace Johnson
32. The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon
33. White Rose Black Forest - Eoin Dempsey

 

Haven’t made an update post since like March. Some highlights:

Death’s End was wild. I’m excited for the TV show but I’m definitely in the camp that these are unfilmable.

Interpreter of Maladies is the best thing I’ve read all year. Deserving of all the accolades it gets.

I never studied the Greek epics (or any mythology at all) in school, and I’ve been wanting to read those for a while. I was surprised at how readable they are (I have the ***les translation of both), and how easy it is to find echoes of the themes and structures everywhere.

I loved a lot of The Goldfinch but by the end it felt too long, and at the same time I wished it would have explored some of its themes in a deeper way. It was fun to go back and read about the controversy around it winning the Pulitzer though.

I kind of wish Cujo was just a novella that took place entirely inside the car with the mom and kid. Everything else felt like cushion to get it to novel-length.

Wasn’t a big fan of the Divergent series, but I think it does improve as it goes along. I mostly read these to see how Chicago was used as a setting, and I found that really lacking. There’s so much cool city history that could be incorporated into a book like this, but it mostly takes place around the tourist spots.

 

Folks, it's another good month. Not a single dud in this most recent batch.

"Mexican Gothic" ROCKED. Definitely one of the most fun books I've read this year. "Punching the Air" is a stunning YA novel told through poetry that wrecked me in every way. "Survivor Song" was a good Tremblay novel and definitely the most hopeful one he's written.

As for non-fiction, a professor at my alma mater wrote a great book on how maybe evangelicals throwing their support behind Trump shouldn't be a surprise, given their history. An eye-opening history book.

The plan for October was to only read horror novels, but my hold of Yaa Gyasi's "Transcendent Kingdom" arrived at the library and derailed that plan. On a personal note, I left B&N at the end of September for a social work job, so I need to be pickier about books now that I don't have that 40% off discount. Any and all suggestions are especially welcome!

 

congrats on the new job!