In 2016, I posted a list of the books I read. Now that the year is over, I was a little unsure of what to do with that list. It felt good to delete the list, but at the same time it felt like I was erasing part of my history.
What I decided was to reflect on my reading a bit and put the list here. Rather than boasting, I just want to be able to look back on it again some day. I want some record of it.
My favourite books from this list are School of Velocity, The Good Life, The Peripheral, Dirty Love, The Cosmopolitans, Everyone Behaves Badly, and the Sweetest One. There was some challenging literature here, but not postmodern challenging.
I did most of my reading on the commute and very little of it at home. While this isn’t that surprising, how very little I read at home is. I hope the new year isn’t as bad. I could blame television, but mostly I want to blame my work shift.
Rereading The Sun Also Rises was nice. Of course I did that so I was prepared for Everyone Behave Badly. Rereading On the Road wasn’t as fulfilling. That is one of those books that flips back and forth for me. Probably the next time I read it, I will love it once again. (The 36 Views of Mt. Fuji is like that also).
I read very little SF this year. That will probably change now that I am working with a guy who reviews SF novels every week. Check them out at .http://www.librobros.com/
December was a horrible month for reading. Again, I changed my work shift, wasn’t commuting as often and sometimes found my self just listening to music rather than read. I probably could have red a few more books. In fact, I started one that I have to get read this week because it is due back at the library.
I did take a few more chances with new releases this year despite reading several continuing book series. I certainly hope this trend will continue.
Except for the previously mentioned Everyone Behaves Badly, very little of the non fiction I read wowed me at all. The Whipping Boy was a good story (and had a really interesting premise) and the emotional aspect of it was well written. It’s resolution lacked the Hollywood ending we were all hoping for, though.
I read 12 books written by female authors. This is nothing to boast about but since I tend to read so few female authors, this was probably a good thing. That it was an unconscious choice is what makes it much better.
Here is the list for posterity. I don’t know whether I will read more or less in 2017, but I will read something.
- Void Moon by Michael Connelly
- Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett
- Content Rules by Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman
- City of Bones by Michael Connelly
- The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen
- Lost Light by Michael Connelly
- The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett
- Risk Savvy by Gerd Gigerenzer
- Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis
- Vulture Peak by John Burdett
- Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight by Peter Walsh
- Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa
- The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver
- The Bat by Jo Nesbo
- The Narrows by Michael Connelly
- The Closers by Michael Connelly
- The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deaver
- Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin
- Get Smart! by Brian Tracy
- Paper Towns by John Green
- Dark Territory by Fred Kaplan
- The Good Life by Jay McInerney
- Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
- Mission Song by John Le Carre
- The Invitation Only Zone by Robert S. Boynton
- The Peripheral by William Gibson
- Illegal Alien by Robert J. Sawyer
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
- One True Thing by Anna Quindlen
- The God’s Eye View by Barry Eisler
- A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemmingway
- The Bangkok Asset by John Burdett
- Bending Adversity by David Pilling
- Fireflies by Ben Byrne
- Dirty Love by Andre Dubus III
- Drawing Dead by Andrew Vachss
- The Cosmopolitans by Sarah Schulman
- The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
- Echo Park by Michael Connelly
- The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway
- I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern
- Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
- Whipping Boy by Allen Kurzweil
- Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
- It’s Hard Not To Hate You by Valerie Frankel
- One Kick by Chelsea Cain
- Everybody Behaves Badly by Lesley M. M. Blume
- The Hanging Club by Tony Parsons
- The Secret of Spandau by Peter Lovesey
- School of Velocity by Eric Beck Rubin
- The Risen by Ron Rash
- The Unseen World by Liz Moore
- The Sweetest One by Melanie Mah
- Carousel Court by Joe McGinniss Jr.
- Slow Burn by Ace Atkins (channeling Robert B. Parker)
- The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
- I Am No One by Patrick Flanery
- The Power to Get Things Done by Steve Levinson Cooper and Chris Cooper
- Debt to Pay by Reed Farrel Coleman (channeling Robert B. Parker)
- Rowdy by Ariel Teal Tombs and Colt Baird Tombs (and ghost writer Craig Pyette)
- A Dangerous Age by Kelly Killoren Bensimon
- The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis
- Ghost Sniper by Scott McEwen
- Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Wow! You read a lot!
I have a rather long commute.
Holy moly, Anthony! You are my bookwormish idol. Hats off to you for making such great use of your commuting time. And happy new year to you, too.