Books Read: 2004
January 9th, 2005The year started out slow, with the move and job-seeking, but I think I compensated with my record-breaking December. And yes, I do keep track of re-reads, though they are not noted as such.
January
The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman
In the Garden of Iden, by Kage Baker
Flashing Swords #1 (collection), edited by Lin Carter
February
Time and Again, by Jack Finney
The Dragon Masters, by Jack Vance
March
Wizardry & Wild Romance (non-fiction), by Michael Moorcock
The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
Heaven’s War (graphic novel), by Micah Harris and Michael Gaydos
April
An Alien Heat, by Michael Moorcock
The Hollow Lands, by Michael Moorcock
The Alchemist’s Door, by Lisa Goldstein
My New York Diary (graphic novel), by Julie Doucet
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind v. 1 (graphic novel), by Hayao Miyazaki
May
Moneyball (non-fiction), by Michael Lewis
The Eyes of the Killer Robot, by John Bellairs
A Short History of Nearly Everything (non-fiction), by Bill Bryson
Fortress of Solitude, by Jonathan Lethem
The Great American Novel, by Philip Roth
Carter Beats the Devil, by Glen David Gold
June
Summerland, by Michael Chabon
The Celebrant, by Eric Rolfe Greenberg
Watchmen (graphic novel), by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasure of Thrilling Tales (collection), edited by Michael Chabon
July
The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erickson
The Coming of Conan of Cimmeria, by Robert E. Howard
Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem
Swords Against Death (collection), by Fritz Leiber
Emergence (non-fiction), by Stephen Johnson
The Scar, by China Mieville
Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, by Michael Moorcock
The Weird of the White Wolf, by Michael Moorcock
August
Iron Council, by China Mieville
Banvard’s Folly (non-fiction), by Paul Collins
Sixpence House (non-fiction), by Paul Collins
Wilco: Learning How to Die (non-fiction), by Greg Kot
Year’s Best Fantasy #4 (collection), edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
Lady Info Fox, by David Garnett
Tooth and Claw, by Jo Walton
The Land that Never Was (non-fiction), by David Sinclair
The Napoleon of Notting Hill, by G.K. Chesterton
The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks
September
Light, by M. John Harrison
The Garden of Forking Paths (collection), by J.L. Borges
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
The Light Ages, by Ian R. MacLeod
World’s End, by T.C. Boyle
Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell
Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami
The Elephant Vanishes (collection), by Haruki Murakami
October
Number9dream, by David Mitchell
As She Climbed Across the Table, by Jonathan Lethem
Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn
The Thrill of the Grass (collection), by W.P. Kinsella
The Ghost Writer, by Philip Roth
Kalpa Imperial, by Angelica Gorodischer
You Gotta Have Wa (non-fiction), by Robert Whiting
Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder (non-fiction), by Lawrence Weschler
Sometimes You See It Coming, by Kevin Baker
One King, One Soldier, by Alexander C. Irvine
The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth
The Meaning of Ichiro (non-fiction), by Robert Whiting
The Wanderer in the Perfect City (non-fiction), by Lawrence Weschler
November
Men and Cartoons (collection), by Jonathan Lethem
The Numbers Game (non-fiction), by Alan Schwarz
The Final Solution, by Michael Chabon
The Southpaw, by Mark Harris
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (collection), by George Saunders
Edwin Mullhouse, by Steven Millhauser
The Long Ball (non-fiction), by Tom Adelman
Werewolves in Their Youth (collection), by Michael Chabon
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup (poems), by Ron Koertge
The Great Comic Book Heroes (non-fiction), by Jules Feiffer
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
December
McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories (collection), ed. by Michael Chabon
Men of Tomorrow (non-fiction), by Gerard Jones
Little, Big, by John Crowley
Little Kingdoms (collection), by Steven Millhauser
The Golden Age of Marvel Comics (graphic novel)
The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink
The Third Cry to Legba and Other Invocations (collection), by Manly Wade Wellman
The Memoirs of Docteur Mystere v. 1 - The Mysteries of Milan (graphic novel), by Castelli and Filippucci
Don’t Point That Thing at Me, by Kyril Bonfiglioli
The Town That Didn’t Exist (graphic novel), by Bilal and Cristin
The Doll Who Ate His Mother, by Ramsey Campbell
The Phoenix and the Mirror, by Avram Davidson
Fer-de-Lance, by Rex Stout
Strange Tales (collection), ed. by Rosalie Parker
Ten Great Mysteries of Edgar Allan Poe
The Maltese Falcoln, by Dashiell Hammett
(Total: 95)
January 9th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Hey, you were right. Lots of books in common and we already know we actually read some of them at roughly the same time during the year. 95 books for the year - wow! Here’s the commonalities…
Fortress of Solitude; Carter Beats the Devil; Summerland; Watchmen; McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales; Motherless Brooklyn; The Scar; Wilco:Learning How to Die; The Eyre Affair; JS & MN; Cloud Atlas; The Curious Incident of Dog in the Night-time; World’s End; Ghostwritten; Norwegian Wood; One King, One Soldier; The Plot Against America; Men and Cartoons; The Final Solution; Werewolves in their Youth; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. 21!
Oh, and I think I may steal your idea just for fun…
January 9th, 2005 at 5:05 pm
Damnation, that’s a lot of books. I didn’t realize we’d read so many books in common either… though I knew about Iron Council, the Murakami, etc. Not as many as Justin, but still:
A Short History of Nearly Everything; The Years of Rice and Salt; Motherless Brooklyn; The Scar; Emergence; The Eyre Affair; Light; Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell; The Elephant Vanishes; As She Climbed Across the Table; Geek Love; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay; (1/2) Fortress of Solitude.
12.5 books!
(I may have also read Little, Big– sounds seriously familiar…)
January 9th, 2005 at 6:57 pm
It’s a lot of books, but the list is sorta misleading. Lady Into Fox is under 100 pages, and some of those graphic novels can be read in a few hours. Then again, there are some big books on that list, and it doesn’t even account for magazines and single-issue comics, so I won’t deny that I’m a loser. :)