Reading List - 2011
Jan. 1st, 2011 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
askygoneonfireI only made it to 19 last year, I hope to exceed that this year.
Books I've read this year (2011)
January
1. Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea. - Barbara Demick Fascinating and moving - turns out I knew less than I thought about North Korea. Literally the only criticism I have is that the epilogue hadn't been proofread properly, that's it!
2.Y: The Last Man Vol. 2 Cycles - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. More of the same from Vol 1. There remains a bit too much feminist fail for my liking but I do still want to read to the end of the series to see where they are taking it.
February
3. The Sign of Four: The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
March
4. Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett Missing, in my opinion, the usual effortless expression of Pratchett and a hundred or so pages too long I was vaguely disappointed with this offering, although I still enjoyed it very much.
5. Stitches - David Small Incredible graphic novel of an astonishing life story. It took me an hour and a half to read but it somehow felt like I was in a different week by the end of the book. Really moving and beautifully, stunningly drawn.
6. Blankets - Craig Thompson One of the most beautiful books I have ever read, found myself caressing the pages as I read. Felt like I'd fallen in love for the first time as Craig does the same. Feel hopeless, and hopeful and lonely and scared in exact parallel with those emotions being experienced in the book. And now - half an hour after finishing - I feel kind of empty. And that means it is truly great.
7. A Selection of Sherlock Holmes stories from The Complete Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-Headed League, A Case of Identity, The Boscombe Valley Mystery - Arthur Conan Doyle.
April
8. The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable - Terry Pratchett and Paul Kidby Beautifully illustrated and funny in the specific way older Discworld stories are. I've had this book for years and for some reason it's taken me until now to read, but I'm glad I held on to it.
9. Suburban Glamour - Jamie McKelvie This, whilst appealing and diverting enough, wasn't really my thing - I think I would have appreciated it when I was 17/18 (the age of the protagonist Astrid) but it didn't really speak to me. I bought it because I like Jamie McKelvie's collaboration with Kieron Gillen on the two Phonogram books but evidently it is Gillen's story telling not McKelvie's drawings which appeal most.
10. Berlin: City of Stones - Jason Lutes Quite hard to follow as character drawings seemed to vary wildly from one page to the next but I got there in the end and found I was quite overcome by the hopelessness of the characters' fates. Thought provoking stuff.
May
11. Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 - Joe Sacco I read this because of my impending trip to Bosnia and surrounding area and beyond hazy childhood memories of the war, I knew little about it. This is a compelling, beautiful, moving and above all honest account of the war, as seen by a handful of people in a small enclave. There was no romanticisation of the people and no narrative judgement on the politics. It was an illuminating read and wonderfully suited to the graphic form.
12.The October Country - Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 is one of my all-time favourite books so I wanted to read more by Bradbury; I'd heard about 'The Skeleton' so tracked down a collection it was included in. This book is 90% pure pulp fiction and 10% exciting writing. Not a life changer but the stories are short enough to read one per half-hour-lunch-break and diverting enough.
June
13. Nailed to History: The Story of Manic Street Preachers - Martin Power Absolutely brilliant. Made me laugh and cry and write an extensive review on Amazon - I have nothing but praise for this book. A must read for all Manics fans.
14. The Fall - Albert Camus My second ever Camus book and all I can think, as I greedily read each successive sentence, is 'where have you been all my life?!'; a delight from start to finish. Also, the perfect follow on from my Manics book as I think the protagonist and Richey Edwards share a world view.
15. 1984 - George Orwell Second (or third?) time I've read this and the first re-read I've done since 2009. I would say this is a doubleplusgood book....Seriously though, it's fabulous. Never fails to penetrate my subconscious and seep out in dreams for months afterwards. It reads in a deceptively short space of time despite how dense the content is. Also, my copy is beginning to look pleasingly dog-eared.
16. The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh: to His Brother and Others; 1872-1890 - Vincent Van Gogh I wrote in more detail about my feelings about this book here but, in summary, it is beautiful, sad, universal, and all too human.
July
17. A Romance with Cocaine - M. Ageyev Read this purely because it's mentioned in Nailed to History (see number 13 above) as being the last book Richey read before he disappeared. Like other examples of Russian Literature I've read it suffered from a cracking beginning which got mind-crushingly-in-depth before running out of steam. Don't get me wrong - it's a good book, and an intriguing story with a likeably-dislikeable protagonist - but you need to keep up the pace if you read it, which in the end I didn't, and it's not really one to read anywhere other than in a silent room.
18. Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - J. K. Rowling - News seems to be saturated with Potter at the moment with HP7b being released (and storming the box office) prompted me to start what I've been threatening to do since HP7 came out back in 2007: reread the whole series.
19. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
August
21. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling - I actually forgot who dies in this book and as (*spoiler!!*) Sirious is amongst my favourite characters it came as something of a body blow. It is one hell of a book. Possible the best in the series.
22. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling - plot, plot, plot, plot. Until the last couple of hundred pages when, once again, I was glued to the page.
23. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling - I got home from a car showroom and sat from 4pm until 1am reading the whole book - in floods of tears for the last 300 pages or so - something that didn't happen last time I think because I read it in hostels and on buses as I travelled around South America. The deaths of Lupin, Tonks, Fred and Dobby hit me particularly hard as I just had no recollection of them. Still crying half an hour after finishing reading - for those losses, and for coming to the end of the series again.
September
24. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick - Another reread. I remember adoring this book, then I started reading and it seemed a bit flat...then it got gooood. And I remember why I adore it. Bleak and beautiful.
25. Several Sherlock Holmes short stories from The Complete Sherlock Holmes; The Five Orange Pips, The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Engineers Thumb, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor - Arthur Conan Doyle
October
26. Habibi - Craig Thompson - Rich and sumptuous in mythology and illustration this gave me many of the things I adored about Blankets (6.) but with an indefinable 'something' missing. It was immersive but also violent - at least 3 rape scenes. The exploration of story telling in religion was a wonderful way to structure the narrative but the degree to which the story jumped around verged on distracting. On the other hand, I was horribly depressed whilst reading this so I think that may have negatively impacted on my experience of this graphic. Nonetheless, I'd recommend it to a friend and Craig Thompson remains a favourite.
27. The Fixer; A Story from Sarajevo - Joe Sacco - Occasionally clumpy in narrative style, nevertheless another great graphic - telling an uncomfortable story about some aspects of the Bosnian forces during the Balkans war in the 1990s. I recognised some streets and scenes from my July trip and had the stories, as they were told to me then, to compare Sacco's collected accounts to which made it all the more interesting.
November
umm.....
December
28. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - I got a Kindle for Christmas (although I didn't know I wanted one..) and resolved I would not pay for any eBooks for it, so went in search of titles I knew on free-to-download/out-of-copyright sites. I read this years ago and couldn't remember why I enjoyed it so much so revisited it. As wonderful and immersive and pointless as ever; I remember and do not remember why I enjoyed it all at once.
29. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum - I was sure I had read this before but it was all new (as much as it can be when one has watched The Wizard of Oz so many times) to me and merged into a pleasing puddle of fantasy and whimsy in my imagination with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Books I've read this year (2011)
January
1. Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea. - Barbara Demick Fascinating and moving - turns out I knew less than I thought about North Korea. Literally the only criticism I have is that the epilogue hadn't been proofread properly, that's it!
2.Y: The Last Man Vol. 2 Cycles - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, Jr. More of the same from Vol 1. There remains a bit too much feminist fail for my liking but I do still want to read to the end of the series to see where they are taking it.
February
3. The Sign of Four: The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
March
4. Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett Missing, in my opinion, the usual effortless expression of Pratchett and a hundred or so pages too long I was vaguely disappointed with this offering, although I still enjoyed it very much.
5. Stitches - David Small Incredible graphic novel of an astonishing life story. It took me an hour and a half to read but it somehow felt like I was in a different week by the end of the book. Really moving and beautifully, stunningly drawn.
6. Blankets - Craig Thompson One of the most beautiful books I have ever read, found myself caressing the pages as I read. Felt like I'd fallen in love for the first time as Craig does the same. Feel hopeless, and hopeful and lonely and scared in exact parallel with those emotions being experienced in the book. And now - half an hour after finishing - I feel kind of empty. And that means it is truly great.
7. A Selection of Sherlock Holmes stories from The Complete Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-Headed League, A Case of Identity, The Boscombe Valley Mystery - Arthur Conan Doyle.
April
8. The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable - Terry Pratchett and Paul Kidby Beautifully illustrated and funny in the specific way older Discworld stories are. I've had this book for years and for some reason it's taken me until now to read, but I'm glad I held on to it.
9. Suburban Glamour - Jamie McKelvie This, whilst appealing and diverting enough, wasn't really my thing - I think I would have appreciated it when I was 17/18 (the age of the protagonist Astrid) but it didn't really speak to me. I bought it because I like Jamie McKelvie's collaboration with Kieron Gillen on the two Phonogram books but evidently it is Gillen's story telling not McKelvie's drawings which appeal most.
10. Berlin: City of Stones - Jason Lutes Quite hard to follow as character drawings seemed to vary wildly from one page to the next but I got there in the end and found I was quite overcome by the hopelessness of the characters' fates. Thought provoking stuff.
May
11. Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 - Joe Sacco I read this because of my impending trip to Bosnia and surrounding area and beyond hazy childhood memories of the war, I knew little about it. This is a compelling, beautiful, moving and above all honest account of the war, as seen by a handful of people in a small enclave. There was no romanticisation of the people and no narrative judgement on the politics. It was an illuminating read and wonderfully suited to the graphic form.
12.The October Country - Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 is one of my all-time favourite books so I wanted to read more by Bradbury; I'd heard about 'The Skeleton' so tracked down a collection it was included in. This book is 90% pure pulp fiction and 10% exciting writing. Not a life changer but the stories are short enough to read one per half-hour-lunch-break and diverting enough.
June
13. Nailed to History: The Story of Manic Street Preachers - Martin Power Absolutely brilliant. Made me laugh and cry and write an extensive review on Amazon - I have nothing but praise for this book. A must read for all Manics fans.
14. The Fall - Albert Camus My second ever Camus book and all I can think, as I greedily read each successive sentence, is 'where have you been all my life?!'; a delight from start to finish. Also, the perfect follow on from my Manics book as I think the protagonist and Richey Edwards share a world view.
15. 1984 - George Orwell Second (or third?) time I've read this and the first re-read I've done since 2009. I would say this is a doubleplusgood book....Seriously though, it's fabulous. Never fails to penetrate my subconscious and seep out in dreams for months afterwards. It reads in a deceptively short space of time despite how dense the content is. Also, my copy is beginning to look pleasingly dog-eared.
16. The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh: to His Brother and Others; 1872-1890 - Vincent Van Gogh I wrote in more detail about my feelings about this book here but, in summary, it is beautiful, sad, universal, and all too human.
July
17. A Romance with Cocaine - M. Ageyev Read this purely because it's mentioned in Nailed to History (see number 13 above) as being the last book Richey read before he disappeared. Like other examples of Russian Literature I've read it suffered from a cracking beginning which got mind-crushingly-in-depth before running out of steam. Don't get me wrong - it's a good book, and an intriguing story with a likeably-dislikeable protagonist - but you need to keep up the pace if you read it, which in the end I didn't, and it's not really one to read anywhere other than in a silent room.
18. Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - J. K. Rowling - News seems to be saturated with Potter at the moment with HP7b being released (and storming the box office) prompted me to start what I've been threatening to do since HP7 came out back in 2007: reread the whole series.
19. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
August
21. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling - I actually forgot who dies in this book and as (*spoiler!!*) Sirious is amongst my favourite characters it came as something of a body blow. It is one hell of a book. Possible the best in the series.
22. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling - plot, plot, plot, plot. Until the last couple of hundred pages when, once again, I was glued to the page.
23. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling - I got home from a car showroom and sat from 4pm until 1am reading the whole book - in floods of tears for the last 300 pages or so - something that didn't happen last time I think because I read it in hostels and on buses as I travelled around South America. The deaths of Lupin, Tonks, Fred and Dobby hit me particularly hard as I just had no recollection of them. Still crying half an hour after finishing reading - for those losses, and for coming to the end of the series again.
September
24. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick - Another reread. I remember adoring this book, then I started reading and it seemed a bit flat...then it got gooood. And I remember why I adore it. Bleak and beautiful.
25. Several Sherlock Holmes short stories from The Complete Sherlock Holmes; The Five Orange Pips, The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Engineers Thumb, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor - Arthur Conan Doyle
October
26. Habibi - Craig Thompson - Rich and sumptuous in mythology and illustration this gave me many of the things I adored about Blankets (6.) but with an indefinable 'something' missing. It was immersive but also violent - at least 3 rape scenes. The exploration of story telling in religion was a wonderful way to structure the narrative but the degree to which the story jumped around verged on distracting. On the other hand, I was horribly depressed whilst reading this so I think that may have negatively impacted on my experience of this graphic. Nonetheless, I'd recommend it to a friend and Craig Thompson remains a favourite.
27. The Fixer; A Story from Sarajevo - Joe Sacco - Occasionally clumpy in narrative style, nevertheless another great graphic - telling an uncomfortable story about some aspects of the Bosnian forces during the Balkans war in the 1990s. I recognised some streets and scenes from my July trip and had the stories, as they were told to me then, to compare Sacco's collected accounts to which made it all the more interesting.
November
umm.....
December
28. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - I got a Kindle for Christmas (although I didn't know I wanted one..) and resolved I would not pay for any eBooks for it, so went in search of titles I knew on free-to-download/out-of-copyright sites. I read this years ago and couldn't remember why I enjoyed it so much so revisited it. As wonderful and immersive and pointless as ever; I remember and do not remember why I enjoyed it all at once.
29. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum - I was sure I had read this before but it was all new (as much as it can be when one has watched The Wizard of Oz so many times) to me and merged into a pleasing puddle of fantasy and whimsy in my imagination with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.