This year, I read 104 books, and I’m proud to say they weren’t all genre fiction. As a matter of fact, I’m quite proud of some of the smarter titles I’ve polished off this year, including Existentialism and Thomism; The Gallic and Civil Wars; Discourses, the collection of Aesop, The Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Anderson that I read to my children over the course of years; The Screwtape Letters; The Death of Ivan Ilyich; Travels with Charley; and Ivanhoe.
Looking over the annual list, I’m struck again (as I am annually) with that it means in the passage of the year. I can remember where I read many of the books, whether on a trip or sitting on a bench during the Sunday School hour at church. I’m also surprised sometimes that my reading of a book was just this year. On the other hand, when I look back at book reports from years passed, I think, “Wow, has it been eight years since I read….?”
At any rate, here’s the list:
- Up in the Air Walter Kirn
- Monday’s Mob Don Pendleton
- Terrible Tuesday Don Pendleton
- Wednesday’s Wrath Don Pendleton
- Flowers of Evil Charles Baudelaire
- Thermal Thursday Don Pendleton
- Existentialism and Thomism Joseph C. Michalich
- The New War “Don Pendleton”
- The Violent Streets “Don Pendleton”
- The Bible
- Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
- The Iranian Hit “Don Pendleton”
- Asimov’s Guide to the Bible Isaac Asimov
- The Pocket Book of Old Masters edited by Herman J. Wechsler
- Return to Vietnam “Don Pendleton”
- The Civil War as They Knew It edited by Pierce Fredericks
- Folk Lore and Fable: Aesop, Grimm, Andersen Harvard Classics
- Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon Howard Lee
- The Gallic and Civil Wars Julius Caesar
- Red Water “Tabor Evans”
- Silent Night Robert B. Parker with Helen Brann
- Terrorist Summit “Don Pendleton”
- Paramilitary Plot “Don Pendleton”
- The Curse of the Gypsy Woman Lin G. Hill
- Downton Abbey Rules for Household Staff
- The Town Council Meeting J.R. Roberts
- Calvin and Hobbes: The Sunday Pages 1985-1995 Bill Watterson
- Romance Ed McBain
- Holiday Memory Dylan Thomas
- Kung Fu: Chains Howard Lee
- F-15E Strike Eagle Hans Halberstadt
- The Currents of Space Isaac Asimov
- 25 Books That Changed America Robert B. Downs
- The Oedipus Cycle Sophocles
- Bloodsport “Don Pendleton”
- A City in the North Marta Randall
- Under the Dome Stephen King
- This Was Cicero H.J. Haskell
- Avengers #2: The Laugh Was On Lazarus John Garforth
- Renegade Agent “Don Pendleton”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack: Benjamin Franklin’s Best Sayings Edited by Dean Walley
- End of the Tiger John D. MacDonald
- The House on the Rock
- Old Trails and Duck Tails
- Mad About Town
- Wilderness Trek Zane Grey
- The Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis
- A Tan and Sandy Silence and Two Other Great Mysteries John D. MacDonald
- Kickback Ace Atkins
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Tolstoy
- Shaman King #17 Hiroyuki Takei
- Awesome Projects from Unexpected Places Edited by Noah Weinstein
- Dragonslayer Waylend Drew
- Oleanna David Mamet
- The Nitpicker’s Guide to Classic Trekkers Phil Farrand
- Warriors: The Rise of Scourge
- Sunset Woodworking Projects
- Easy to Make Tables and Chairs
- Travels with Charlie John Steinbeck
- The Undiscovered Self C.G. Jung
- Frankenstein Mary Shelley
- The Book of Useless Information Noel Botham & The Useless Information Society
- Discourses Epictetus
- At the Hemingways Marcelline Hemingway Sanford
- The Plague Albert Camus
- The Go-Getter Peter B. Kyne
- Rogue Warrior: Option Delta Richard Marcinko and John Weisman
- Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign George N. Barnard
- The Saltville Massacre Thomas D. Mays
- The Spirit of America Calvin Miller
- Christina’s World Betsy James Wyeth
- Instant Replay Jerry Kramer with Dick Schapp
- Magnificent Hearst Castle
- Schticks and Stones edited by Miriam Levenson
- Farewell to Football Jerry Kramer with Dick Schapp
- Don’t You Dare Throw It Out! Jerry Baker
- The Shakers L. Edward Purcell
- Stormbreaker: The Graphic Novel Anthony Horowitz
- Distant Replay Jerry Kramer with Dick Schapp
- Whispers of Love edited by Deborah Gaylord
- The Toilet Zone Dan Reynolds
- Peacemaking: On Dusting the Wind David P. Young
- Ivanhoe Sir Walter Scott
- The Art of the Impressionists Janice Anderson
- Wisdom in Rhyme Nora O. Scott
- George Washington Carver Sam Wellman
- How to Speak Southern Steve Mitchell
- The Medium is the Massage Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore
- The Story of Silent Night Paul Gallico
- Ernest Hemingway: A Critical Essay Nathan A. Scott, Jr.
- The Libyan Connection “Don Pendleton”
- Worlds’ Finest: Hunt and Be Hunted
- How To Talk Pure Ozark Dale Freeman
- Boogar Hollow’s Scraps of Wisdom Nick n Willan Powers
- The Art of Manet Nathaniel Harris
- Southern Words and Sayings Fabia Rue Smith and Charles Rayford Smith
- The Complete Jack Kirby: June-August 1947 Greg Theakston
- Melk Abbey
- Quarterback Power Tim Polzer
- Missouri: Faces and Places Wes Lyle and John Hall
- The Great Wall: China Against The World Julia Lovell
- Sunny Thoughts
- All Is Bright Katherine Spencer
- Blog Hugh Hewitt
- The Circuit-Riding Combat Chaplain Frank Griepp
- White Night Jim Butcher
A motley collection of pulp fiction, literary masterpieces, history, biography, philosophy, humor, poetry, drama, art, and sports books.
As I mentioned, or meant to mention, I can remember what most of the books were about, but the most interchangeable and forgetable are the pulp fiction I have so much of. Perhaps I should let this inform my reading for 2016. Or not.
What did you think of Asimov’s guide to the Bible?
I read 108 books, of which 85 were comic books.
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to read 12 books that would support my career. 3 were notable:
Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective by Dale H. Schunk. This educational psychology textbook was very long and tedious, but nonetheless helpful by giving me a foundation in educational philosophy.
A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne. This was a controversial book by a controversial author that helped me understand many of the students that I work with.
The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture Is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused about Intimacy by Donna Freitas. This was a terrifying look into the world of hookup culture–one that I thankfully avoided in my own youth.
In comics, I completed collecting and reading the entirety of Ninja High School, my favorite comic book and a core element of my individual literary canon.
After encountering so many mentions in the blogs that I read, I read The Camp of the Saints by Jean Raspail. It’s very perceptive and relevant for today. Raspail’s depiction of leftist nihilism remains spot-on accurate.
I read some comic books, too. Are you referring to individual issues or graphic novel/compilations? I only counted one collection as a book and didn’t count the rest, although I am finally working on getting recent acquisitions read and shuffled into the collection.
I read it in tandem with the Bible, so it was very handy to have some historical and critical exegesis along side the text. It would have been a little dryer and hanging out in space without it. The book focuses on historical information about the period in which the various books of the Bible take place as well as when they were written and some why they might have been written as they did. There’s no textual analysis, though.
Most of the comics were individual issues, although there were some exceptions. I read some manga, which generally come in volumes of 50-150 pages.