Comic books. That’s what I read the most this year. I read a lot of comic books, graphic novels, and the like. Of course, I read plenty of action, some non-fiction, some big books, short books, and books about movies. I thought I’d read more fantasy and sci-fi, but didn’t. Maybe next year. I found myself attracted to books that I could get lost in, as this year was not great for me. My mom had cancer, and then died in July, and that cast a pall over the year. So I really wanted books that weren’t too sad that could take my mind off of that. That has usually meant a lot of comic books, but also other things.
The Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson
I have long counted Neal Stephenson as one of my favorite authors. I’ve re-read Cryptonomicon several times, I loved Snowcrash and the System of the World Books, as well as the Diamond Age. I bounced off Anathem at first brush, but liked it when returned to it. Reamde was a bit different, more actiony than I was expecting, but not bad necessarily, but Seveneves was really weird. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. has some vintage Stephenson weirdness, but this is the one that really left me cold. Stephenson has always been interested in people who disrupt systems, and the implications of that. That’s ranged from speculative to historical, but around Reamde, it began to concern Billionaires and the super-rich as the protagonists, because that is who has the power to affect huge systemic change, rather than the weirdo hacker types that used to populate his novels. This has the effect of distancing my sympathies from his characters, and also makes them less funny. His earlier books used to have me giggling with his dry wit, but they’re so humorless these days, it’s especially noticeable from Anathem onward. I’m less interested than ever in grabbing the latest Stephenson novel, instead keen to explore other authors.
Kissa by Kissa, by Craig Mod
A small print book by a nice writer based in Japan who goes on long walks (long, long walks) and writes about them. A smaller version of this book appeared as an article in several places exploring specific Japanese cafe cultures, and their history serving pizza toast. I was really taken with the article, and grabbed the book, which is slim and filled with photographs by the author. It’s given me a greater appreciation for Japan, which is a country and landscape that’s grown on me quite a bit since visiting in 2019 for our honeymoon.
I used to think of international travel as “GO SEE ALL THE WORLD” and like many folks, had a wishlist of places to visit. I never imagined myself return to some of these places. Yet, as I read more meditative works and see more photos of Japan, I feel called to return.
Nightbitch, by Rachel Yoder
A funny, wild book about motherhood, the monstrous feminine, how women put up with so much bullshit about their life, and being a messy person. I’m very much looking forward to the film adaptation.
Madhouse at the End of the World, by Julian Sancton
My favorite non-fiction book of the year that I read. The Belgica was a Belgian Scientific Expedition to the Antarctic in 1897. Humanity knew next to nothing about Antarctica, and the crew was deeply unprepared. Yet, a young Roald Amundsen and older Dr. Frederick Cook helped save the crew as they became the first folks to survive a winter on the Antarctic ice. There’s a tremendous amount of willpower, science, and humanity on display, with a wonderful portrait of the crew thanks to amazing research by Sancton. If you like adventures and science, I highly encourage a read. It’s amazing the things they pioneered, how techniques they used are still used, and how some things they experienced are still yet-to-be-explained phenomena (your body does NOT want you be in the Antarctic).
The Seaplane on Final Approach, by Rebecca Rukeyser
A fascinating novel where our main character is actually relatively passive, willingly so. But at the same time, things do happen in this novel that portrays a summer at an Alaskan island resort. But Rukeyser manages to portray the real-life circumstances where things happen to you that you may have had a hand in, but you didn’t necessarily cause, so you have to learn to roll with the punches. A fascinating study in alternative plotting techniques, with a nice wry narrator.
A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine
One of my favorite books that I read this year. Arkady Martine’s space opera diptych is so well sketched out, so focused on interpersonal and large scale politics, communication, and the implications of communication. It’s full of big characters that I loved.
The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson
A series of vignettes for adults written by the creator of the Moomins. Read in the early summer if you can. Reminded me of My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell, in a good way.
Feet of Clay, by Terry Pratchett
Much has been written about how Pratchett manages to weave incredibly silly jokes with prescient social commentary. They are not wrong, and I really enjoy his books for whisking me away to Discworld.
Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
A good follow up to the smash hits of Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth. I understand why this became a full novel. It really hits home the stakes of the bigger battles, and gives us an intimate portrait of what living under a necromancer god-king would be like, day-to-day. Also, has some good jokes and an absolutely lovely narrator.
When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East, by Quan Berry
It took me so long to read this book, which seemed intentional. Each chapter is just two-three pages, and they’re written like zen koans. This is appropriate, given that the book is about Mongolian Buddhist monks searching for a reincarnation of one of their elders. The writing mixes plot with elemental considerations of the self, and I kept reaching a few chapters on the bus, and staring out the window in thought, based on roads the book had lead me down. Extremely different from her other book, We Ride Upon Sticks, but still very good.
Ducks, by Kate Beaton
Kate Beaton is well known for her immaculate line drawing comics of history and Victorian literature in funny circumstances, and also Fat Pony. She took several years to write an amazing portrait of her life working in the Alberta Tar Sands that doesn’t sugar coat anything about working there, but instead humanizes the people who work there, the circumstances they toil under, what that does to the human psyche, and how resource extraction has a long, long history of also harvesting the poor and working class of Canada. I cannot recommend reading it enough.
X-Men Graphic Novels:
House of X/Power of X
Dawn of X
X of Swords
Reign of X
A few years ago, Marvel let Jonathan Hickman and some other writers really move the X-Men books forward. For a long time, mutants have been struggling with humanity, and that has involved time travel, alternate dimensions, giant de-powering events, additional mutations, and internecine conflict. At the same time though, the plot beats began to become a bit stale: mutants in hiding, mutants struggling to be accepted, mutants constantly on the back foot. Hickman posits something else entirely, which is what if the mutants could flourish? What if Magneto’s dreams could be realized and mutants could be safe? What would their stories look like then? How could writers tell different stories with the huge cast of mutants?
Some really interesting stuff has occurred, though I realized by reading so many of these that I miss some of the solo titles. I also read a mid-2010’s run on Daredevil where he’s more of a swashbuckler and loved those. When reading seven different X-books (X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, The Marauders, Excalibur, The New Mutants, Hellions, Wolverine, Cable, S.W.O.R.D., Children of the Atom) I found myself missing more specific focus on characters. But at the same time, it’s a nice little soap opera with pretty art that made me like comic books again.
Everything Else I read:
My Heart is a Chainsaw, by Stephen Graham Jones
Baggywrinkles, by Lucy Bellwood
Mythos, by Stephen Fry
How to Do Nothing, by Jenny Odell (re-read)
Riders, by Jilly Cooper
The Bone Orchard, by Sara Mueller
The Age of Cage, by Keith Phipps
Blood, Sweat, and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, by Kyle Buchanan
The Lady from the Black Lagoon, by Mallory O’Meara
God Save the Girls, by Kelsey McKinney
One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson
The Decagon House Murders, by Yukito Ayatsuji
The Golden Thread, by Kassia St. Clair
The Crossroads at Midnight, by Abby Howard
The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
Xenozoic, by Mark Schultz
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin
That’s it! Now I’m going to eat some fruit cake or something.
Word Choice 