Because the first of these became a bear to scroll through, after a while – it did cover a decade, after all – I’ve shifted to five-year listings. At an average of 40-odd books per year, even with two columns, it might still be a bit of a bear to scroll through. That being said…
The one constant for a writer, besides actually, you know, writing stuff, is reading stuff. This is the running list of books that have been run through during the year, as well as years past.
How it works: The books are listed under the year completed, by when they were completed (older at the bottom). If it’s a book I have read before, it will be marked as “reread” (R). This also assumes I’m reading a “dead-tree edition” unless there is an “(E)” next to it, for an ebook edition, or an “(A)” to indicate an Audiobook. “GN” indicates Graphic Novels or comic omnibus editions.
“O#” will be used to reference an Omnibus edition of books and how many books were collected, only if I read through the entire volume consecutively, with a footnote for the year it was read indicating the titles collected.
Due to the nature of my habits and my “To Be Read” stack, I am no longer listing the ones in progress, only the books that have been completed.
2021: 60 (27 Audiobook)
| Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (A) | P.D. James: Talking About Detective Fiction (A) |
| J.S. Dewes: The Last Watch | Michael Caine: Blowing the Bloody Doors Off (A) |
| Billie Joe Armstrong: Welcome to My Panic (A+) | Sting: Upon Reflection (A+) |
| Arvind Ethan David: The Neil Gaiman at the End of the Universe (A) | Dave Grohl: The Storyteller (A) |
| Brandon Sanderson & Mary Robinette Kowal: The Original (A) | A. Trevor Thrall: The 12 Week Year for Writers* |
| R.A. Salvatore: One-Eyed Jax (A) | Monica Leonelle: The 8-Minute Writing Habit (A) |
| Diana Gabaldon: Voyager (A) | Brian P Moran & Michael Lennington: The 12 Week Year |
| Kevin Hearne: Paper & Blood | Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla (A) |
| Marie Benedict: Agent 355 (A) | Michael McIntyre: Life and Laughing (A) |
| Victoria Thompson: Murder on Mulberry Bend | Kevin J Anderson: Slushpile Memories (E) |
| Star Wars Omnibus: Clone Wars, vol 1: The Republic Goes to War (GN) | Star Wars: Vader Down (GN) |
| IDW: Classic GI Joe, vol 2 (GN) | Victoria Thompson: Murder on Washington Square |
| Star Wars: Darth Vader, vol 1 (GN) | Batgirl: Joker War (GN) |
| IDW: GI Joe Classics, vol 1 (GN) | Eternals (GN) |
| IDW: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol.1: Shell Unleashed (GN) | Captain America: All Die Young (GN) |
| Star Wars: Darth Maul (GN) | X-Men: Mutant Massacre (GN) |
| Captain America: Captain of Nothing (GN) | Kameron Hurley: Meet me in the Future |
| Batman Arkham: Black Mask (GN) | Captain America: Winter in America (GN) |
| Brandon Sanderson: The Dark Talent (Alkatraz #5) (A) | Moon Knight: Midnight Sun (GN) |
| Mel Robbins: Kick-Ass with Mel Robbins (A) | Batman: Vol.2 The Joker War (GN) |
| Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish: Clanlands (A) | Captain America: Hail Hydra (GN) |
| Essa Hansen: Nophek Gloss | J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan (A*) |
| Michael Gervais & Pet Carroll: Finding Your Best (A+) | Catherine Hapka: Clue by Clue: Carmen Sandiego (A) |
| Dan Wells: Stargazer (A) | Victoria Thompson: City of Schemes |
| Neil Patrick Harris: The Magic Misfits: The Second Story (A) | John Dixon: The Point |
| VM Burns: A Tourist’s Guide to Murder | Jessica Brody: Save the CAT! Writes a Novel (A) |
| Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair | Ryder Carrol: The Bullet Journal Method (A) |
| Jim Butcher: Changes (A) | Kevin Hearne: Ink & Sigil |
| John Scalzi: Murder by Other Means (A) | Brandon Sanderson: Firefight (A) |
| Ann Leckie: Ancillary Sword | John Dixon: Phoenix Island |
A+: An Audible Original conversation
A*: A Cast recording/dramatization
* Technically A. Trevor Thrall with Brian Moran and Michael Lennington. I am choosing to give Thrall primary credit as author as I am interpreting the “with” designation as Moran and Lennington are the authors of the original “12 Week Year” that is the basis, where Thrall’s focus is adapting and expanding the concepts of the original as a creative – specifically for writing.
2020: 53 (20 Audiobook); 52 + 1 Reread
| XXXXXXXXXXXX | Dan Brown: Inferno |
| Jim Butcher: Turn Coat (A) | Robert Heinlein: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (A) |
| Victoria Thompson: Murder at Gramercy Park | The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion (GN) |
| Dan Wells: Nothing Left to Lose | John Cleese: Creativity (R) |
| Michael Jecks: Rebellion’s Message | The Umbrella Academy: Dallas (GN) |
| Deadpool: Secret Invasion (GN) | The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite (GN) |
| John Cleese: Creativity | Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice |
| Wolverine: Origins – Deadpool (GN) | Marie Kondo: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up |
| Myke Cole: Sixteenth Watch | Becky Clark: 8 Weeks to a Complete Novel (E) |
| William Hallberg: The Rub of the Green | Kobe Bryant & Wesley King+: The Wizenard Series: Season One |
| Nancy Kress: Sea Change | Mary Robinette Kowal: The Fated Sky (A) |
| Dan Wells: Dragon Planet (A) | Jim Butcher: Small Favor (A) |
| Ken Follett: Eye of the Needle (A) | John Scalz: The Collapsing Empire (A) |
| Victoria Thompson: City of Scoundrels | Myke Cole: Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier |
| Lewis Jorstad: The Ten Day Outline (E) | Kobe Bryant & Ivy Claire***: Epoca: The Tree of Ecrof |
| Brandon Sanderson: Elantris (10th Anniv Edition) (A) | Myke Cole: The Queen of Crows |
| Lois McMaster Bujold: Shards of Honor (E) | Dan Wells: Over Your Dead Body |
| Kevin Hearne: The Purloined Poodle (E) | John Bellairs: The House with a Clock in its Walls (A) |
| Jaye Wells: Volatile Bonds (E) | Gary K. Wolfe: How Great Science Fiction Works (A)** |
| Victoria Thompson: City of Secrets | V.M. Burns: Bookmarked for Murder |
| Simon R. Green: Agents of Light and Darkness (A) | Jim Butcher: White Night (A) |
| Mary Robinette Kowal: The Calculating Stars (A) | Stephen King: The Drawing of the Three (A) |
| Kobe Bryant: The Mamba Mentality | Rowling, Tiffany & Thorne: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* |
| Victoria Thompson: Murder on St. Mark’s Place | Joe Hill: Horns (A) |
| Rebecca Tinker: Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (A) | Dan Wells: The Devil’s Only Friend |
| Neil Patrick Harris: The Magic Misfits (A) | Joe Harris, Chris Carter & Dirk Maggs: X-Files: Cold Cases (A) |
| Isak Dineson: Out of Africa (A) | Carrie Vaughn: Kitty Goes to Washington (A) |
*Stage Script: Play written by Jack Thorne, from a story by JK Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne.
** Technically a “Great Course” Lecture series, the structure of the audio presentation has an academic text vibe which, for my habits, I’m still counting as a “book.”
*** Created by Kobe Bryant, manuscript written by Ivy Claire
+ Created by Kobe Bryant, manuscript written by Wesley King
2019: 51 (22 Audiobook)
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | George R. R. Martin (ed.): Knaves Over Queens (A Wild Card Novel) |
| Victoria Thompson: City of Lies | Jennifer Alison: Self-Discipline (A) |
| Kevin Hearne: First Dangle & Other Stories (A) | Diana Gabaldon: Dragonfly in Amber (A) |
| Victoria Thompson: Murder on Astor Place | Steven Brust: The Book of Jhereg (O:3)** |
| Joanna Penn: Productivity for Authors (E) | John Scalzi: Head On (A) |
| Jim Butcher: Proven Guilty (A) | Adam Savage: Every Tools’ A Hammer (A) |
| Dan Wells: I Don’t Want to Kill You | Jack Campbell: The Lost Fleet: Dauntless (A) |
| John Scalzi: Zoe’s Tale | Myke Cole: Shadow Ops: Control Point |
| V. M. Burns: Wed, Read & Dead | Iain M. Banks: The State of the Art |
| Kevin J. Anderson & Martin L. Shoemaker: On Being a Dictator (E) | Dan Wells: Mr. Monster |
| Roger Fisher & William Ury: Getting to Yes | Myke Cole: The Armored Saint |
| Elizabeth Bear: Karen Memory | Megan Barnhard: Recipe for Outlining (E) |
| Virginia Hanlon Grohl: From Cradle to Stage | Mick Wall: Foo Fighters: Learning to Fly |
| Jim Butcher: Dead Beat (A) | V. M. Burns: The Novel Art of Murder |
| Paula McLain: A Mind of Her Own (A) | Dan Wells: Zero G (A) |
| Leslie Odom, Jr.: Failing Up (A) | Charlaine Harris: Dead in Dallas (A) |
| Tom Hanks: Uncommon Type (A) | Dana K. White: Decluttering at the Speed of Life (A) |
| Brandon Sanderson: Alcatraz vs The Shattered Lens (A) | Charles Olivier: Christmas Eve 1914 (A) |
| Marie Brennan: A Natural History of Dragons (A) | Jon Acuff: Finish (A) |
| Jonathan Maberry: Lullaby (A) | Jim Butcher: Blood Rites (A) |
| Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez: Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha & Omega (GN) | Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez: Locke & Key, Vol. 5: Clockworks (GN) |
| Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez: Locke & Key, Vol. 4: Keys to the Kingdom (GN) | Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez: Locke & Key, Vol. 3: Crown of Shadows (GN) |
| Theresa Brown, RN: The Shift (A) | Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez: Locke & Key, Vol. 2: Head Games (GN) |
| Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez: Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft (GN) | Joshua Becker: The More of Less (A) |
| Jim Butcher: Side Jobs | Mean Streets (Novella Anthology)* |
** Book of Jhereg: Books 1-3 of Vlad Taltos series: Jhereg, Yendi & Teckla
*Authors: Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, Thomas E. Sniegoski – No singular Editor credit on the book, only the individual authors listed. Seemed a bit silly to try cramming all of them into one column for the list. Predominantly read during December 2018, but not actually finished until late in the day on 1 January 2019, so it starts the new year’s list of finished titles.
2018: 63 (33 Audiobook)
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXX | Jim Butcher: Brief Cases |
| Steven Pressfield: The War of Art (A) | Col. Chris Hadfield: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth (A) |
| Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner (Ed.): Wolfsbane and Mistletoe | Jim Butcher & Kerrie L. Hughes (Ed.): Shadowed Souls |
| Jim Butcher: Working for Bigfoot | Mickey Rapkin: Pitch Perfect |
| Brandon Sanderson: Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds | Brandon Sanderson: Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystalia (A) |
| Ursula K. Le Guin: Steering the Craft | Martha Wells: Exit Strategy |
| Jim Butcher: Death Masks (A) | Kevin Hearne: Scourged (A) |
| Charlaine Harris: Dead Until Dark (A) | Carrie Vaughn: Kitty’s Greatest Hits |
| Kevin Hearne: Beseiged | V. M. Burns: Read Herring Hunt |
| Anna Kendrick: Scrappy Little Nobody (A) | Nicholas Sansbury Smith: Hell Divers (A) |
| Laurie Lamson (Ed.): Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror | V. M. Burns: The Plot is Murder |
| Martha Wells: Rogue Protocol | Kevin Hearne: Staked (A) |
| Tim Gunn: The Natty Professor (A) | Catherynne M. Valente: Six-Gun Snow White |
| Mel Robbins: The 5 Second Rule (A) | Kevin Hearne: Shattered (A) |
| Chris Fox: Plot Gardening (E) | Martha Wells: Artificial Condition |
| John Scalzi: Fuzzy Nation (A) | Greg Renoff: Van Halen Rising (A) |
| Martha Wells: All Systems Red | Amy Poehler: Yes Please (A) |
| Jaye Wells: Deadly Spells | Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe (Ed.): Robots vs Fairies |
| Kevin Hearne: Hunted (A) | Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles (A) |
| Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (A) | Jim Butcher: Summer Knight (A) |
| Simon Winchester: The Professor and the Madman (A) | Lee Child: No Middle Name |
| Kevin Hearne: Trapped (A) | Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves: Emotional Intelligence 2.0 |
| Susan Hill: The Woman in Black (A) | Tony Vanderwarker: Writing With The Master |
| H.G. Wells: The Island of Dr. Moreau (A) | Michael Crichton: The Great Train Robbery (A) |
| Ursula K Le Guin with David Naimon: Conversations on Writing | Kevin Hearne: Tricked (A) |
| Cherie Priest: Clementine | Trevor Noah: Born a Crime (A) |
| Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita (trans.): Goodbye, Things (A) | John Scalzi: The Last Colony |
| Brandon Sanderson: Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones (A) | Danielle Krysa: Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk (A) |
| Kevin Hearne: Hammered (A) | Jaye Wells: Cursed Moon |
| Cary Elwes: As You Wish… (A) | Ron Lieber: The Opposite of Spoiled (A) |
| Shawn Achor: The Happiness Advantage | John Scalzi: Don’t Live for Your Obituary |
| Charles Stross: Dark State | Alan Cumming: You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams (A) |
2017: 55 (43 Audiobook)
| Dan Wells: I Am Not a Serial Killer (E) | |
| Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle (E) | Carrie Fisher: The Princess Diarist (A) |
| William McRaven, Adm. USN (Ret): Make Your Bed (A) | Neil Gaiman: Coraline (A) |
| Marshall Goldsmith: Triggers (A) | Brian McClellan: In the Field Marshal’s Shadow (A) |
| Haemin Sunim: The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down (A) | Kevin J. Anderson: The Dragon Business (A) |
| Cory Doctorow: Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free (A) | Simon R. Green: Something From the Nightside (A) |
| Neil deGrasse Tyson: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (A) | Scott Westerfeld: Leviathan (A) |
| Chuck Wendig: Damn Fine Story | Chris Bailey: The Productivity Project (A) |
| Neil Gaiman: Norse Mythology (A) | Brandon Sanderson: Steelheart (A) |
| Joe Haldeman: The Forever War | Jennifer Worth: Shadows of the Workhouse (A) |
| Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit | Anne McCaffrey: Dragonflight (A) |
| Jay Kristoff: Nevernight | Tim Powers: On Stranger Tides (A) |
| Tom Standage: A History of the World in Six Glasses (A) | Lisa TerKeurst: Unglued (A) |
| Charles Stross: The Fuller Memorandum | Richard Kadrey: Sandman Slim (A) |
| Mary Robinette Kowal: Ghost Talkers (A) | Mary Roach: Packing for Mars (A) |
| Matt Bird: The Secrets of Story (A) | Charles Stross: Empire Games |
| Brandon Sanderson: Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians (A) | Felicia Day: You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) (A) |
| Stephen King: The Gunslinger (A) | Sean Stephenson: Get Off Your ‘But’ (A) |
| Karen S. Wiesner: Writing the Fiction Series | Lin-Manuel Miranda & Jeremy McCarter: Hamilton: The Revolution (A)* |
| Bob Proctor & Sandra Gallagher: The Art of Living (A) | Neil Fiore: The Now Habit (A) |
| Margot Leitman: Long Story Short (A) | Brian Kilmeade & Don Yeager: George Washington’s Secret Six (A) |
| Jaye Wells: Dirty Magic (E) | Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five (A) |
| Mary Roach: Grunt (A) | Tim O’Brien: The Things They Carried (A) |
| Alan Cumming: Not My Father’s Son (A) | Grady Hendrix: Horrorstör (A) |
| Neil Gaiman: The View from the Cheap Seats | Jim Butcher: The Aeronaut’s Windlass |
| Richard Matheson: I Am Legend (A) | A Monster Calls: Patrick Ness (A) |
| John F. Kennedy: Profiles in Courage (A) | James A Owen: Drawing Out the Dragons (A) |
| Mary Robinette Kowal: Forest of Memory (A) | Hans Christian Anderson: The Snow Queen (A) |
* Technically, I stopped listening during the “Annotations” part of the audiobook. It’s not that the material was bad, but it takes the notes out of context, and is better served by following with a copy of the text to understand what is being referenced.
Echoes Americana 