Book Lists 2021 Book • Page 7

New thread for 2022: Book Lists 2022 • forum.chorus.fm

 

I was sick for like all of December so I never got around to writing any sort of wrap up so I figured I'd do that now.

*end of series

Novels

1.) You Are Invited - Sarah A. Denzil
2.) The Wishsong of Shannara (Shannara #3) - Terry Brooks
3.) There's Someone Inside Your House - Stephanie Perkins
4.) Indomitable (Shannara #3.5) - Terry Brooks
5.) The Poppy War (The Poppy War #1) - R. F. Kuang
6.) Gone To See the River Man - Kristopher Triana
7.) The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) - R. F. Kuang
8.) Wounds: Six Stories From the Border of Hell - Nathan Ballingrud
9.) Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
*10.) The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) - R. F. Kuang
11.) Dead Lies (Dead South #2) - Zach Bohannon
12.) Loop (Ring #3) - Kōji Suzuki, translated by Glynne Walley
13.) Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #1) - Stephen R. Donaldson
14.) The Real Story: The Gap Into Conflict (The Gap Cycle #1) - Stephen R. Donaldson
15.) Legend (Drenai Saga #1) - David Gemmell
16.) The Children of Red Peak - Craig DiLouie
17.) Forbidden Knowledge: The Gap Into Vision (The Gap Cycle #2) - Stephen R. Donaldson
18.) The King Beyond the Gate (Drenai Saga #2) - David Gemmell
19.) The Teratologist - Edward Lee & Wrath James White
20.) A Dark and Hungry God Arises: The Gap Into Power (The Gap Cycle #3) - Stephen R. Donaldson
21.) Waylander (Drenai Saga #3) - David Gemmell
22.) Leave the World Behind - Rumaan Alam
23.) Chaos and Order: The Gap Into Madness (The Gap Cycle #4) - Stephen R. Donaldson
24.) Knights of Dark Renown (Drenai Saga #0.1) - David Gemmell
25.) Gwendy's Magic Feather (The Button Box #2) - Richard Chizmar
26.) Quest for Lost Heroes (Drenai Saga #4) - David Gemmell
27.) Black Chalk - Christopher J. Yates
*28.) This Day All Gods Die: The Gap Into Ruin (The Gap Cycle #5) - Stephen R. Donaldson
29.) In the Realm of the Wolf (Drenai Saga #5) - David Gemmell
30.) The Least of My Scars - Stephen Graham Jones
31.) Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein
32.) The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend (Drenai Saga #6) - David Gemmell
33.) Later - Stephen King
34.) The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency #2) - John Scalzi
35.) The Legend of Deathwalker (Drenai Saga #7) - David Gemmell
36.) The Last Final Girl - Stephen Graham Jones
37.) Morningstar (Drenai Saga #0.2) - David Gemmell
38.) Anathem - Neal Stephenson
39.) The Fiends of Nightmaria (A Malazan Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach #6) - Steven Erikson
40.) Winter Warriors (Drenai Saga #8) - David Gemmell
41.) Night of the Mannequins - Stephen Graham Jones
42.) A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan #2) - Arkady Martine
43.) Three Miles Past - Stephen Graham Jones
44.) Hero in the Shadows (Drenai Saga #9) - David Gemmell
45.) The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
46.) White Wolf (Drenai Saga: The Damned #10) - David Gemmell
*47.) The Swords of Night and Day (Drenai Saga: The Damned #11) - David Gemmell
48.) The Rib From Which I Remake the World - Ed Kurtz
49.) The Heresy Within (First Earth Saga: The Ties that Bind #1) - Rob J. Hayes
50.) The Queen of Bedlam (Matthew Corbett #2) - Robert McCammon
51.) The Illearth War (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #2) - Stephen R. Donaldson
52.) Only the Devil is Here - Stephen Michell
53.) Dead Hope (Dead South #3) - Zach Bohannon
54.) You Love Me (You #3) - Caroline Kepnes
55.) The Power that Preserves (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #3) - Stephen R. Donaldson
56.) Circe - Madeline Miller
57.) Sword in the Storm (The Rigante #1) - David Gemmell
58.) The Werewolf Principle - Clifford D. Simak
59.) The Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
60.) Midnight Falcon (The Rigante #2) - David Gemmell
61.) The House that Fell from the Sky - Patrick Delaney
62.) Red Rising (Red Rising Saga #1) Pierce Brown
63.) Dark Moon - David Gemmell
64.) Graveyard - Ed Warren, Lorraine Warren, & Robert David Chase
65.) Echoes of the Great Song - David Gemmell
*66.) Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
67.) Vigilance - Robert Jackson Bennett
68.) Lion of Macedon (Greek #1) - David Gemmell
69.) Hellbent (Bad Games #3) - Jeff Menapace
70.) Ravenheart (The Rigante #3) - David Gemmell
71.) The House of Always (Chorus of Dragons #4) - Jenn Lyons
72.) Mystic River - Dennis Lehane
73.) Shōgun (Asian Saga #1) - James Clavell
74.) Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane
75.) The Wounded Land (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #4) - Stephen R Donaldson
76.) From the Corner of His Eye - Dean Koontz
*77.) Stormrider (The Rigante #4) - David Gemmell
78.) A Drink Before the War (Kenzie & Gennaro #1) - Dennis Lehane
79.) The One Tree (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #5) - Stephen R Donaldson
80.) The Descent (#1) - Jeff Long
81.) White Gold Wielder (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #6) - Stephen R Donaldson
82.) Phantom - Thomas Tessier
83.) Dark Prince (Greek #2) - David Gemmell
84.) Deeper (The Descent #2) - Jeff Long
85.) Ironhand's Daughter (The Hawk Queen #1) - David Gemmell
86.) We Need To Do Something - Max Booth III
87.) Gunsights - Elmore Leonard
88.) The Runes of the Earth (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #7) - Stephen R Donaldson
89.) Goblin - Josh Malerman
90.) Homeland (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt: Dark Elf #1) - R. A. Salvatore
91.) The Policy - Bentley Little
92.) Exile (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt: Dark Elf #2) - R. A. Salvatore
93.) One Last Gasp - Andrew C. Piazza
94.) Sojourn (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt: Dark Elf #3) - R. A. Salvatore
95.) Fatal Revenant (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #8) - Stephen R Donaldson
96.) Tai-Pan (Asian Saga #2) - James Clavell
97.) The Hawk Eternal (The Hawk Queen #2) - David Gemmell
98.) Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay
99.) Under Heaven (#1) - Guy Gavriel Kay
100.) Against All Things Ending (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #9) - Stephen R Donaldson
101.) Ghost King (Stones of Power #1) - David Gemmell
102.) Billy Summers - Stephen King
*103.) The Last Dark (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #10) - Stephen R Donaldson
104.) Last Sword of Power (Stones of Power #2) - David Gemmell
105.) The God is Not Willing (Malazan Tale of Witness #1) - Steven Erikson
106.) The Mirror of Her Dreams (Mordant's Need #1) - Stephen R Donaldson
107.) Rovers - Richard Lange
108.) We Are the Dead (The Last War #1) - Mike Shackle
109.) Children of Time (#1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
110.) Magician: Apprentice (Riftwar Cycle: The Riftwar Saga #1) - Raymond E Feist
111.) The Crystal Shard (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt: Icewind Dale #4) - R A Salvatore
112.) The Book of Accidents - Chuck Wendig
113.) Streams of Silver (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt: Icewind Dale #5) - R A Salvatore
114.) Hawkwood's Voyage (The Monarchies of God #1) - Paul Kearney
*115.) The Wisdom of Crowds (First Law: Age of Madness #10) - Joe Abercrombie
116.) Dead Love (Dead South #4) - Zach Bohannon
117.) The Dragon's Path (The Dagger and the Coin #1) - Daniel Abraham
118.) A Man Rides Through (Mordant's Need #2) - Stephen R Donaldson
119.) The Heretic Kings (The Monarchies of God #2) - Paul Kearney
120.) Cunning Folk - Adam Nevill
121.) The Iron Wars (The Monarchies of God #3) - Paul Kearney
122.) The Halfling's Gem (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt: Icewind Dale #6) - R A Salvatore
123.) The Second Empire (The Monarchies of God #4) - Paul Kearney
124.) Seventh Decimate (The Great God's War #1) - Stephen R Donaldson
*125.) Ships From the West (The Monarchies of God #5) - Paul Kearney
126.) The Slanted Gutter - S Craig Zahler
127.) Mister Slaughter (Matthew Corbett #3) - Robert McCammon
128.) The Folding Knife - K J Parker
129.) The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry #1) - Guy Gavriel Kay
130.) My Heart is a Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones
131.) Stormwarden (The Cycle of Fire #1) - Janny Wurts
132.) Wolf in Shadow (Stones of Power: Jon Shannow #3) - David Gemmell
133.) Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt #1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
134.) Mindhunter - John Douglas & Mark Olshaker
135.) Keeper of the Keys (The Cycle of Fire #2) - Janny Wurts
136.) Double Solitaire (Wild Cards #10) - Melinda M Snodgrass
*137.) Shadowfane (The Cycle of Fire #3) - Janny Wurts
138.) Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) - Fonda Lee
139.) Mongrels - Stephen Graham Jones
140.) Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt #2) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
141.) Walkers - Graham Masterson
142.) Jade War (The Green Bone Saga #2) - Fonda Lee
143.) The Doors of Eden - Adrian Tchiakovsky
144.) Blood of the Mantis (Shadows of the Apt #3) - Adrian Tchiakovsky
145.) Black Angel - Graham Masterson
146.) The Wandering Fire (The Fionavar Tapestry #2) - Guy Gavriel Kay
147.) Cytonic (Skyward #3) - Brandon Sanderson
148.) The Fifth Season (Broken Earth #1) - N K Jemisin
149.) This River Awakens - Steven Erickson
150.) The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1) - Samantha Shannon
151.) The Veiled Throne (The Dandelion Dynasty #3) - Ken Liu
152.) The Invention of Sound - Chuck Palahniuk
153.) Wit'ch Fire (The Banned and the Banished #1) - James Clemens
154.) Salute the Dark (Shadows of the Apt #4) - Adrian Tchiakovsky

Comics

1.) Death of the New Gods - Jim Starlin, Matt Banning & Art Thibert
2.) Last Shots (The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger #11) - Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David & Richard Isanove
3.) The Prisoner (The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three #12) - Stephen King, Robin Furth, Piotr Kowalski & Nick Filardi
4.) Countdown to Final Crisis - Paul Dini, Keith Giffen...
5.) Batman: Gotham Underground - Frank Tieri, Jim Calafiore & Jack Purcell
6.) Blackgas (#1) - Warren Ellis, Max Fiumara & Andrew Dalhouse
7.) The New Avengers: Breakout (#1) - Brian Michael Bendis & David Finch
8.) Avengers: Disassembled - Brian Michael Bendis & David Finch
9.) The New Avengers: The Sentry (#2) - Brian Michael Bendis & Steve McNiven
10.) The New Avengers: Secrets and Lies (#3) - Brian Michael Bendis, Frank Cho & David Finch
11.) House of Cards (The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three #13) - Stephen King, Robin Furth, Piotr Kowalski & Nick Filardi
12.) The New Avengers: The Collective (#4) - Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato & Steve McNiven
13.) The New Avengers: Civil War (#5) - Brian Michael Bendis, Howard Chaykin, Pasqual Ferry, Olivier Coipel, Leinil Francis Yu, & Jim Cheung
14.) The Lady of Shadows (The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three #14) - Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David, Jonathan Marks & Lee Loughridge
15.) Secret Invasion - Brian Michael Bendis & Leinil Francis Yu
16.) Bitter Medicine (The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three #15) - Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David, Jonathan Marks & Lee Loughridge
17.) The Quantum Age (The World of Black Hammer) - Jeff Lemire, Wilfredo Torres & Dave Stewart
18.) Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy (The World of Black Hammer) - Jeff Lemire & Tonci Zonjic
19.) Swamp Thing: The Curse (#3) - Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette & John Totleben
20.) Batman: Earth One (#3) - Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Jon Sibal & Brad Anderson
21.) Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood - Greck Rucka, Steve Leiber & Matthew Clark
22.) Sex Criminals (complete series) - Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky
23.) Dreaming Eagles - Garth Ennis, Simon Coleby, John Kalisz & Robert Steen
24.) Batman: Unseen - Doug Moench & Kelley Jones
25.) The Strange Talent of Luther Strode (#1) - Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore & Felipe Sobreiro
26.) The Legend of Luther Strode (#2) - Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore & Felipe Sobreiro
27.) The Legacy of Luther Strode (#3) - Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore & Felipe Sobreiro
28.) X-Men: Messiah Complex - Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Christopher Yost, Billy Tan, Chris Bachalo...
29.) Snow Angels (Season One) - Jeff Lemire & Jock
30.) Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows (#4) - Alan Moore, Stephen R Bissette, John Toleben...

Stephen R Donaldson and David Gemmell were the big winners of the year for me. The Gap Cycle and Thomas Covenant were astonishingly epic. Each series last book was just edge of your seat constantly reading. Goblin was a super cool release from Mallerman, 6ish novellas that all tie together and take place in a town called Goblin. Pure horror fun. My RA Salvatore excursion was also very fun. I'm not totally sure I'm going to go back to the series, if something isn't leading towards an epic conclusion I don't really feel the pull to continue. Might pick up another collection if the mood strikes. The Policy also a nice little horror gem I found at a used book sale, basically all the world's tragedy's were the work of a demonic insurance company. Fun horror satire.

Tigana was fucking great and I think it set my standards a little too high for Guy Gavirel Kay. Don't get me wrong, he's a tremendous writer, one of the most literary fantasy authors I've read, but his other books haven't been as compelling as Tigana. For a perfect, one book fantasy epic, definitely pick up Tigana.

Rovers was bloody fun. I'll keep an eye on the author. We are the Dead wasn't good. Children of Time was fantastic. I've had a lot of fun going through Adrian Tchiakovsky's bibliography. He's like a sci-fi Sanderson. Like if Sanderson was interested in evolution and gene splicing, in place of Sanderson's technical magic systems. His ten book series has been a lot of fun so far, nothing incredible though, besides really the world, which is downright fascinating. COT is probably the best I've read from him so far.

Dragon's Path didn't do much for me. I'm half and half on Daniel Abraham, I think The Long Price Quartet is a masterpiece but I do not like the Expanse. I am going to go back to this series eventually, just didn't grab me from the get go. I think I was reading a lot of fantasy about finances at the time and that was starting to weigh down on me. I just wanted a Dark Lord to spice some shit up.

Cunning Folk was another excellent addition to Adam Nevill's biblio. He always delivers and I feel confident in saying he always will. If you are a horror fan you need to read all of his books now.

Slanted Gutter was dope. Love me some Zahler. Folding Knife didn't grab me (this was another "high finance" fantasy book). My Heart is a Chainsaw fucking ruled. SGJ's best. Janny wurts trilogy was good. I rarely read non-fiction, especially true crime, but I loved the Mindhunter show so much I figured I'd give the book a try. I enjoyed it. The Green Bone Saga is dope, looking forward to reading the third book soon. Walkers was excellent, definitely going to be reading more by Masterson.

Fifth Season was a lot. I'll admit to being very confused until the book tied everything together at the end. Maybe I should have seen that coming? Realized the time discrepancies?? but alas. I'll continue the series later, hopefully with a better understanding.

This River Awakens was a book I've been meaning to read for awhile. It's Steven Erickson's first book, and it's a coming of age drama, no sci fi or fantasy. Not what I normally read but I really enjoyed it. Major Stand By Me (The Body) vibes. It was clear in his prose when he got philosophical that this man would eventually write Toll the Hounds. Also the drug related hallucinations gave me Malazan vibes.

Bone Season was good. Bought the whole series so I'll be continuing that soon. Veiled Throne had 600 flawless pages. The final 400 pages were a real drag, I can speak more on this if anyone else has read it yet, but I'm going to assume you'll know what I'm talking about. Either way, this and the final book were conceived as one story, so I'll hold off my judgement and I'm a little more lenient on the book not having a big climax (but I mean, come on, LOTR was suppose to be one book and there's a lot of climatic moments at the end of each book).

The Invention of Sound was fun. Palahniuk tends to deliver a good time. Wi'tch Fire was solid, got the second book ready to be go.

And although I finished it a couple days ago and it's on my new list, I'll just say I enjoyed Paradise Lost. Easier reading than Dante, mainly because it didn't rhyme, but admittedly I wasn't as drawn in. Poetry is not one of my strong suits, I have a very hard time reading it, but I'm glad I did.

And other books I've talked about in various threads. You can ask me about anything if I left it out.

Last year I basically cut out trade comic book reading. I still pick up new comics weekly.

 

How have you enjoyed Luther Strode?

 

It was great. I remember it being exactly what I needed, a good full series to binge.

 

Absolutely love Tradd. Haven't been big on Justin Jordan's stuff since then, but loved Luther Strode.

 

Realized I didn't update my list like at all last year so better late than never!

Books:
1) The Devil and The Dark Water by Stuart Turton
2) Clown In A Cornfield by Adam Cesare
3) Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
4) One By One by Ruth Ware
5) Amoralman: A True Story and Other Lies by Derek Delgaudio
6) The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
7) The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
8) The Coast-To-Coast Murders by James Patterson & J.D. Barker
9) The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner
10) Red Screen by Stephen King
11) Nancy Drew: The Curse by Micol Ostow
12) The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
13) The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict
14) High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Road Trip by Melissa De La Cruz

Audiobooks:
1) If It Bleeds by Stephen King
2) There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
3) Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

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
6-8) Batman Eternal Volume 1-3
9) Cosmic Ghost Rider: Baby Thanos Must Die by Donny Cates
10) Doctor Strange Volume 1: God of Magic by Donny Cates
11) Venom Volume 1: Rex by Donny Cates
12) Venom Volume 2: The Abyss by Donny Cates
13) Venom Volume 3: Absolute Carnage by Donny Cates
14) Venom: War of The Realms by Cullen Bunn
15) Venom Volume 4: Venom Island by Donny Cates
16) Batgirl: Stephanie Brown Volume 1 by Bryan Q. Miller
17) iZombie Volume 1: Dead To The World by Chris Roberson
18) Middlewest: Book One by Skottie Young
19) The Immortal Hulk Volume 1: Or Is He Both? by Al Ewing
20) Batman Volume 4: The War of Jokes and Riddles by Tom King
21) Batgirl: Stephanie Brown Volume 2 by Bryan Q. Miller
22) The Immortal Hulk Volume 2: The Green Door by Al Ewing
23) Farmhand Volume 1: Reap What Was Down by Rob Guillory
24) Farmhand Volume 2: Thorne In The Flesh by Rob Guillory
25) Farmhand Volume 3: Roots of All Evil by Rob Guillory
26) The Immortal Hulk Volume 3: Hulk In Hell by Al Ewing
27) The Immortal Hulk Volume 4: Abomination by Al Ewing
28) The Immortal Hulk Volume 5: Breaker of Worlds by Al Ewing


Looking back now I'm surprised I actually read that many physical books in a year basically consumed by Graphic Novels.