Books, Resolutions, and the New Year

I am terrible at New Year’s resolutions. I can’t remember what my resolution was for 2011, or even if I had one. Typically my New Year’s Eve’s tend to involve something like half a bottle of Chilean wine and some horribly depressing movie (No Country for Old Men or The Company of Men were two memorable ones.)

However, in the past few weeks as I’ve been working on wearing out my library card, I hit upon a resolution that feels like a good fit. As I’ve been crossing books off of my reading list, I realized that I couldn’t remember all the books I’ve read in the past year. Tragic, I know. After digging through Amazon receipts, library records, and facebook photos (I knew that taking pictures of the books I’m reading would pay off sometime!) I managed to construct a pretty complete list of books I read in 2010. It hit me that it’s about time I started actually keeping track of what I read and what I thought of it, something I’m also hoping will keep me writing on a more consistent basis. I write so much for work that by the time I get home I’m unexcited about writing. Hopefully reading will inspire some writing.

That said, I think I might as well make some reading resolutions. Apparently in the past year I managed about 35 books, not counting rereading (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, The Great Gatsby were all reread in 2011) or school reading. I think 35-ish is all right for having been in graduate school for four of the past twelve months, finding a new job, and relocating. Next year I intend to go for 47 (an extra book a month) and hereby resolve to try to read more nonfiction. It’s not a guarantee, but I managed to find a few bits of nonfiction that really appealed to me in the past year (David Grann’s writing in particular.) I’m also going to attempt to read some huge books in the next year, including Life and Fate and some Chekov. I’ve also decided (God help me) to tackle Moby Dick if I get a Kindle for Christmas.

All of that said, I should probably say a bit of something about what I read.

Sandman was my absolute favorite. I fell in love with Neil Gaiman after the first 25 pages of American Gods (which was also wonderful), but Sandman hit me so hard and so fast that before I knew it, I was reading The Wake and crying my eyes out. It was unexpected, amazingly written, and breathtakingly illustrated. It is, hands down, the one comic book I would give to anyone who disses comics as low-brow (or who loves comics and hasn’t read it.) It is, quite simply, one of the most imaginative, provocative, and moving stories I've ever read in my life. 

As an aspiring young adult fantasy author, The Hunger Games trilogy was amazing. Hell, as a reader in general, The Hunger Games trilogy was amazing. When it comes YA fantasy fiction, girls get the shaft. There are way, way fewer smart, resourceful, kick-ass heroines than there are heroes. Katinss Everdeen is the kind of girl I’ve wanted to be for my entire life. Eventually I'm planning an extended entry on Sandman and why it's so wonderful, but I need some more time to think on it before I sit down to that piece. 

On the non-fiction front, Tina Fey made me laugh so hard I nearly peed my pants. David Grann’s writing is full of twists and incredible investigative reporting. Capote scared the crap out of me with In Cold Blood.

Now, without further ado, the somewhat-complete-list of reading I did in 2011.

American Gods (Gaiman)

In Cold Blood (Capote)

Anansi Boys (Gaiman)

Dune (Herbert)

2010 Nebula Awards Showcase

Dune Messiah (Herbert)

The Wandering Fire (Gavriel Kay

The Summer Tree (Gavriel Kay)

Bossypants (Fey)

The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Diaz)

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk (Sedaris)

Kill Shakespeare (McCreery, Del Col)

Hunter’s Run (Martin)

Sandman (Gaiman)

The Archer’s Tale (Cornwell)

Angelology (Trussoni)

The Sparrow (Russell)

If You Have to Cry, Go Outside (Cutrone)

Woman in the Dark (Hammett)

Generation Kill (Wright)

Coraline (Gaiman)

The Hunger Games (Collins)

Catching Fire (Collins)

The Mockingjay (Collins)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Larsson)

The Girl Who Played with Fire (Larsson)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Larsson)

A Visit From the Goon Squad (Egan)

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes (Grann)

The Lost City of Z (Grann)

The Commitment (Savage)

Stardust (Gaiman)

How to Live Safely in a Science-Fictional Universe (Yu)

The Pirate King (King)

Fables (Willingham)

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