Book Lists 2021 Book • Page 2

Off to a good start this year! I finished a couple of books from last year and started with good progress on my big goal for the year. I'm thinking I'll read one book of each LOTR and TDT each month and fill in the time with other books I want to read.

The Children of Red Peak was a fun read. Very spooky and very good character work. I enjoyed both The Gunslinger and The Fellowship of the Ring. Both seem to be off to a slower start, but it's helpful for me to remember that these are both the first books in their series and are starting with a lot of world-building.

Where Goodness Still Grows was a helpful book to read. As someone who's a progressive-leaning Christian, it was good to read a book about how to live out virtue-filled faith when so many around you seem to have abandoned it/voted for Trump.

I've also included the books that I'm guessing I'll finish this month; I'll likely also read The Hate U Give since that's been on my list for a while and I picked up a used copy at the local book store. Recommendations always welcome!

 

I've seen Bob speak twice now; he's always engaging and has incredible stories. The second time, he told the crowd "Sweet Maria won't ride in a plane if I'm flying it for the same reason you wouldn't now that you know me" and I immediately understood.

 

The Hate U Give is phenomenal. Just read the prequel ("Concrete Rose") last week.

 

January update. This was a good batch of books.

A Promised Land was an especially interesting to read right at the end of the Trump era. For all the valid criticisms of Obama's presidency, he at least had a coherent vision of the country that wasn't solely centered on himself, and I thought he was surprisingly candid about some of the ways in which he and his administration fell short of that vision.

Leave the World Behind took some wild turns in the back half that I didn't expect. Ultimately it reminded me of a very literary version of 10 Cloverfield Lane.

This was my second or third time reading Hitchhiker's Guide, this time for a book club. As funny and weird as ever.

Tranny was really good. Liked reading about the history of Against Me! even if it seemed like hell to live through at times.

Portrait wasn't quite as challenging as I expected, and much more of a theological exploration than I thought it would be. I loved it.

 

Graphic Novels:

1) Batman Volume 3: I Am Bane by Tom King
2) Batman: Three Jokers by Geoff Johns
3) The Walking Dead Volume 30: New World Order
4) The Walking Dead Volume 31: The Rotten Core
5) The Walking Dead Volume 32: Rest In Peace

Audiobooks:
1) If It Bleeds by Stephen King


Big month of comics and catching up on Graphic Novels. Also read the entirety of Dark Nights: Death Metal including all tie-ins and that was wild too. Feel like this year is gonna be heavily graphic novels and comic books with Audiobooks/books scattered throughout.

 

Finished Words of Radiance earlier in January and then immediately started Oathbringer, but for whatever reason, it wasn't clicking with me right away...I think I tried to go too fast from one Stormlight Archive book to another and needed a couplee new books as a "palate cleanser" in between "bites" of Stormlight Archive. So, I've started Caliban's War and have got about a third of the way into Ron Chernow's Titan. Also, been listening to James Clear's Atomic Habits.

Finally, I finished Homeland Elegies...and absolutely loved it. Man that was a powerful read.

My personal goal for 2021 is to read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings again, as I haven't read them all the way through since I was like 13?...I'd also love to finally read The Wheel of Time series...may be some lofty fantasy goals for myself...but I think I can do it, as long as I have some "different genres" to break up the reads in between each long fantasy book.

 

January update. Pretty solid month for me, comics especially. A few thoughts here:

I keep surprising myself with how much I like Dolkart's Godserfs series. I picked up the first one because it sounded interesting and the writing style was very accessible—none of those long-winded elegies about the stark beauty of the windswept moors some people go on about :P—and I'll admit that initially I found the book...I don't know if simplistic is the right term, but something like that. I guess it's more that there seemed to be a lack of craft to the book. The narrative often felt like "So then Hunter decided he wanted to learn farming, so for the next three weeks he dedicated himself to it and worked through some personal problems. He wondered, How can I be a good person and protect my friends while avoiding killing anyone else? He didn't know the answer. But he learned how to farm. Three weeks later he decided to travel to the next city. Meanwhile, Phaedra was working on magic." I'm probably being a little unfair there, but honestly the impression I kept getting was the same one I get when I jot down some notes for my own writing—I'm not worried about writing well, I just want to get the details out so I remember them later, so there's no craft going on at all. Anyway, again, that's pretty unfair to Dolkart; but that's the sort of impression I had when I started the first book. And yet I read it through really quickly and found myself thinking about it a lot, and when I picked up the sequel earlier this year, I was immediately hooked back into it and I think it's a very interesting world with a lot to say about relationships and religious beliefs. I'm definitely going to finish the series and will likely read everything he publishes henceforth. I really, really enjoyed this book. It's just such a weird feeling to have about a book—it's not a guilty pleasure, and it's not like he's a bad writer, but it's just a different approach than I'm used to, I guess. But yeah, good book.

Why We Sleep has revolutionized my thoughts on sleeping. Lots to improve there. Very glad I read it. And then for I Want My Hat Back—I normally wouldn't track a children's book (I have a one-year-old, so I'm reading lots of picture books and board books these days), but this book is honestly just fantastic and a real lesson in storytelling and art. Highly recommended. (Apparently it's part of the Hat Trilogy? So that'll be fun.)

Comics-wise, I pretty much got what I expected out of all of these. Grimm was predictably fan-servicey but interesting; Batman was fun and dark, a little hit-or-miss for me with Bane but awesome with Jokes/Riddles; Magus is wonderful and a true delight; I read Fade Out in a single night because it was very compelling (and because sometimes I have a hard time following Brubaker if I space him out haha). I think I liked The Fade Out more than Fatale but less than Velvet...probably. Good stuff though.

February should be fun: Shannara, Cosmere, Endymion, and probably a Scandinavian or Japanese murder mystery from Christmas; and then a bunch of Marvel catchup comics as well.

 

I Want My Hat Back is my FAVORITE picture book. The rest of the trilogy doesn't top it for me, but they're all solid.

 

Hey I've got a random rec for you since you're reading Tom King, who is my personal favorite comic writer. Have you read his novel A Once Crowded Sky? It's absolutely phenomenal. Like The Watchmen in book form.

 

Good to know re: the others, though that's kind of what I expected since the first is just phenomenal. I mean, that book is a master class in writing for sure. I love it. The art is just perfect. No surprise it won the awards.

Just snagged the ebook. I've never heard of it, but it looks great. Only Tom King stuff I've read is the Batman stuff I'm reading now and Heroes in Crisis, which was also really really good. Excited for the novel—not sure when I'll get to it exactly, but I'll report back, haha. Thanks!

 

I'm thinking of reading it again which I rarely, if ever, do. Just thinking about it gives me feels.

Also that Batman run is my favorite comic run of all time.

 

January list -

1. A Darker Shade of Magic (V.E. Schwab) - Good fantasy and magic system. I enjoyed the characters. I appreciate Schwab's approachable writing and her world building. Looking forward to making my way through the trilogy.

2. All Systems Red (Martha Wells) - Really great novella. Murderbot had great personality for an android and I hope to read more about how they came to be. I also enjoyed the contained mission. Look forward to reading the whole Murderbot Diaries series.

3. Greenlights (Matthew McConaughey) - Did this one as an audiobook because McConaughey is a world class story teller. Highly recommend this one if you're a fan of his work to get an insight into how he became the man he is today. Some truly insane stories about his upbringing told with heart and excellent comedic timing.

4. Light of the Jedi (Charles Soule) - It is so refreshing to get a Star Wars story that isn't tied to the Skywalker saga. Charles Soule did a great job world building in a time that hasn't really been touched on yet. One issue was there were so many characters it was kind of hard to keep track, but I really enjoyed the villain and how unhinged he becomes as the book goes on. The enemy faction would definitely be cool to see in some form on the big screen or on a show. Gnarly, self-righteous space pirates.

 

January:

1. Dune (4/5)
I loved this book. I was bit intimidated because I typically have a hard time reading longer books with my 2021 attention span but I flew through it. I have heard mixed reviews about the sequels but I really want to dive into this world again.

2. A People’s History of the United States (5/5)
A lot to love here. I learned a lot about what actual resistance looks like, not just voting every few years. I hope this year I can figure out something I can do to get into organizing. I can’t just wait around for someone to save me, which Zinn argues.

 

This is next on my TBR and im ready to get back into a Star Wars story but also hesitant because it's relatively new.

 

It's a quick read. I did it in tandem with the audio book. I appreciate the Star Wars audiobooks because Marc Thompson is a great voice actor, and they go all out with sound effects and music. Helps pull you into the world.

FWIW I enjoyed it way more than the latest Thrawn novel.

 

What did you think of Limetown? I enjoyed the podcast but am interested in the book and show too just haven't gotten around to them

 

I loved the first season; the second is just alright. The show is a terrible adaptation, imo. They needlessly sexualized a bit of it and only the last episode "felt" like the podcast did. I didn't even know there was a book.

I highkey recommend White Vault, though, if you haven't checked out that podcast. I binged four seasons in a week.

 

Downloaded! I know this isn't the podcast thread but I would also recommend In Strange Woods. It's like a YA Musical in Podcast form

Edit: I need a podcast thread tbh

 

Just finished re-reading House of Leaves and spent too much time looking up theories online afterwards instead of sleeping. What a crazy, dense book.

Anyone else read any other Danielewski novels? I've tried reading The Fifty Year Sword before and could not get into it at all really.

 

I was all in on his proposed 27 novel Familiar series, but he quit after five of them so I wouldn’t recommend reading then now. It’s a great experience but I don’t think it’s worth the lack of any closure or answers.

 

Your comparison for Leave the World Behind sounds intriguing. Might be my next horror(ish) book

 

Is there a reason why he stopped five novels in? I know recently he was focussing on the proposed HoL teleplays, but that doesn't appear to be evolving into anything either.

 

I think they just weren't selling, which is a bummer. I was pretty excited about where it was going. It's tough to compete with House of Leaves (my all-time favorite book), but I also really love Only Revolutions.

 

That's a shame - Hopefully he'll return to it at some point. I'll try and track down a copy of Only Revolutions in the meantime!

 

Updated. Really stoked for the Netflix adaptation of the Shadow and Bone trilogy/Six of Crows duology that will lead into the King of Scars duology. The books are perfectly fine YA fantasy fare, but the show looks next level good.

N.K. Jemisin works on such a high concept level, and the book is truly unique, but I continue to have gripes with her work that are hard to express/name. But she's on top of the world in which I hope to write, and continues to keep me just enough on the hook, that I know I'll be showing up for the next book in this planned trilogy when it comes.

Nic Stone did an amazing job in a very succinct duology and they were very good. Deserves to be along side THUG on most classroom shelves.

Up next:

Currently working my way through Neal Stephenson's Reamde, which is one of the most dense "must pay attention" books I've read in a long time so I'm not able to listen to it at work during menial tasks like I typically do (insert: next sentence). Also working through Maberry's first Joe Ledger novel again since I'm picking up the rest of the series.

I've started a fantasy novel (Mark Lawrence's Red Sister) in paperback to try and get more in the habit of reading fiction with my eyes as opposed to my ears again, but it's very, very, very slow going. My body just shuts down when I physically read a book these days. Either my mind wanders or I pass out.

Also reading some fitness books as I work through an injury/diagnosing some problems.