Reading the new Richard Price novel, Lush Life.  It's not a whodunit, or even a whydunit -- there's a murder, and you know pretty quickly who did it, and then watch it ripple through a NYC neighborhood.  I like it -- his best since Clockers, I think, maybe better than that. 


            "What am I supposed to tell myself," Billy hissed in his ear, "it was his time? He was summoned? It was for 
            his own good? He's better off now? He's romping in some, some cloud meadow? He was sacrificed to prevent 
            some great evil from happening?

            "OK, look -- " Matty began.

            "And my son isn't watching over me. He doesn't live on in my heart. He doesn't talk to me. I talk to me and 
             what I say to myself -- "

            "OK, hang on, stop."

            "Cherish your memories . . . My memories feel like knives and I would gladly burn them out of -- "

            "Just stop." 


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And another list.  Again, in no particular order, my ten favorite graphic novels that I read in 2007:


* The Nightly News
* Powers:  Cosmic
* Laika
* The Hood:  Blood From a Stone
* Elk's Run
* The American Way
* Rock Bottom
* Ex Machina:  Smoke Smoke  /  Ex Machina:  Power Down
* Meltdown
* Gotham Central:  Quick and the Dead  /  Gotham Central:  Dead Robin

And special mention for Ed Brubaker's books, the only ones I still pick up monthly:  Daredevil, Captain America, and Criminal. 


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Everybody else is doing "best of" lists, so here's mine: 
In no particular order, my five favorite novels (not necessarily the best, but my favorite) that I read in 2007:

The Road, Cormac McCarthy -- bleak, apocalyptic, masterful.  I still can't quite believe it was an Oprah book, but whatever.  A very visceral read for a father to be with a son on the way (as I was when I read it).  Heartbreaking. 

Fortunate Son, Walter Mosley -- a modern parable that reads very much like a fairy tale (in a weird way).  I dare you to read it and not examine your own views on race in today's America.  Powerful stuff. 

Star Wars: Allegiance, Timothy Zahn -- the master of the Star Wars novel returns with another good one, set this time between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, detailing a platoon of stormtroopers from the fearsome 501st. 

Bust, Ken Bruen & Jason Starr -- the best of the excellent Hard Case Crime series that I read this year.  Hilarious, violent, thrilling -- it's like a postmodern Elmore Leonard.

Patriot Acts, Greg Rucka -- the latest Atticus Kodiak novel (after a long break), this was one of my most anticipated books in '07 and it did not disappoint.  It is criminal that Rucka doesn't have permanent residency on the best-seller list. 


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Happy New Year!

Final tally for my 2007 reading:  35 books, 103 graphic novels.  A bit short on my book goal, a bit over on the GN goal, so we'll call it a wash and a successful reading year.  (2006 saw 43 books and 108 GNs, but we had a kid in October of this year, so what do you want?)   

Observations:

* Of my 35 books, 9 of them were Star Wars titles (and 8 comics, as well).  The Legacy of the Force series made up most of those (7), a series that started out at as interesting, almost sympathetic look at the evolution of a Sith Lord, but later became your stock evil villain, a disappointing turn. 

* I was really pleased to see that 15 of the books and 14 of the GNs came courtesy of the Howard County Public Library System, which was a big improvement in our banking account. 

* 8 of the books were non-fiction, easily the highest number that I've read since I started keeping track a few years ago. 

* I also finally read Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, just in time to find out that the first movie gutted everything that made the books interesting.  A pity, really.  My wife's mostly mad that it took me so long to read them that she can't remember  the specific details necessary to really, really discuss it.  She read them 6-7 years ago, and has been after me to read them ever since.  My fault -- really good stuff, after all. 

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So:  As mentioned before in my TV posting below, most of my free time lately has belonged to Spooks and Battlestar Galactica.  So much so that I only managed to finish two books.  But I did read 21(!!) graphic novels, including the entire run of Devil's Due new GI Joe series(s).   On with the list:

A pretty productive December left me at 43 books read for 2006 (a bit short of the goal of 50), but 108 graphic novels (above my goal of 100). Pretty good results, I think. I think I'll set the same goal for myself in '07: 50 books, 100 graphic novels.  Anyway, the December log:


NOVELS:

Cathedral, Raymond Carver
DCU:  Helltown, Denny O'Neill
Superman on the Couch, Danny Fingeroth
Now Playing at a Theater Near You, Kenneth Turan

A real mixed bag.  Helltown was the only novel of the bunch.  I really enjoyed Theater Near You, a collection of movie reviews celebrating the rare big budget Hollywood flicks that turn out to be pretty good.

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

Wolverine:  Origin
Ms. Marvel:  Best of the Best
Jonah Hex:  Face Full of Violence
GI Joe:  A Real American Hero, v1
GI Joe:  A Real American Hero, v2
GI Joe:  A Real American Hero, v3
GI Joe:  A Real American Hero, v4
GI Joe:  A Real American Hero, v5
Captain America:  Red Menace v2
Ex Machina:  March to War
Human Target
Fables:  Wolves
Noble Causes:  Hidden Agendas

Another mixed bag:  a few books read sitting in Borders, a few from Sequential Swap, and a few on a CD.  Fables and Ex Machina continue to shine, but my favorite for the month was the Noble Causes volume, which get better and better each time out. 


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UPDATE!!  I now stand at 39 books, and 95 graphic novels for the year.  100 GNs looks to be within easy reach for the year, but 50 novels is going to take some work.  Would children's picture books count?  Anyway, your monthly update to my nerdly quest: 


NOVELS

Spider Man:  The Darkest Hour, Jim Butcher
No Country For Old Men, Cormac McCarthy
To the Power of Three, Laura Lippman
Short Cuts, Raymond Carver
Coronado, Dennis Lehane

A pretty good superhero novel (near and dear to my heart, of course).  A modern western I quoted from last week.  A very interesting crime novel that gave me some insight into the mysterious minds of teenage girls (Who knew??).  And two collections of short stories, another subject near and dear to me.  I'd have to say the McCarthy book was my favorite, followed surprisingly by To the Power of Three. 


GRAPHIC NOVELS

Batman:  City of Crime
Young Avengers:  Family Matters
The Pulse:  Fear
Runaways:  Parental Guidance
Ultimate Extinction
Squadron Supreme:  The Pre-War Years
Death, Jr.
Y the Last Man:  Kimono Dragons
Invincible:  Three's Company

Several books courtesy of my Sequential Swap account, of course, with a large stack sitting on the floor beside the desk waiting to be read.  Y and Runaways were the typical BKV goodness.  I found City of Crime to be an odd, odd Batman book, and moderately disappointing.  But my favorite for the month was definitely the conclusion to Heinberg and Cheung's excellent Young Avengers series.  Highest recommendation for the whole series (in a nifty premiere hardcover format, to boot).  




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Haven't done one of these in a bit.  To bring everyone up to speed, I now stand at 34 books and 86 graphic novels read for the year.  I will need to read quite a few more to hit my New Year's Resolution of 50 books and 100 GNs this year (after 40 and 92 read last year).  It'll be an exciting, down to the wire photo finish, at any rate.  (How nerdy is that?  How nerdy is this whole resolution?  How nerdy am I?)  Anyway, here's what I read:

NOVELS

A Dangerous Man, Charlie Houston
Infernal, F Paul Wilson
The Book of Fate, Brad Meltzer

Of the three, I would most recommend A Dangerous Man, if only because it adroitly mixes hitmen, gambling, Russian mobsters, and minor league baseball, topics all near and dear to my heart.  I picked it up not realizing that it was the final volume in a trilogy; part of me wants to go back now and read the first two, but a bigger part of me says what's the point?  I already know how it ends....


GRAPHIC NOVELS

Spider Man:  Kraven's Last Hunt
Wolverine:  Return of the Native
District X:  The Underground
Mutopia X
Supreme Power:  Nighthawk
Supreme Power:  Hyperion
Avengers Disassembled
Pride of Baghdad
Fables:  1001 Nights of Snowfall
Ultimate Secret

I reopened my Sequential Swap account this month, and traded old graphic novels that I had already read for 7 of the books on this list.  It's a great site, and I heartily recommend it for any number of reasons, not the list of which is making your wife happy by getting old, unwanted books out of the house.  As for a recommendation, while Pride of Baghdad lived up to the advance acclaim, I cannot recommend Fables highly enough.  The series continues to amaze, and we finally learn what happened to the Dwarves all those years ago (It ain't pretty).  Kraven's Last Hunt was also an excellent re-read of a book ahead of it's time; hopefully, Marvel will continue to reprint lost classics in their attractive new Premier Edition Hardcovers. 

Happy Halloween.


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