LATE DECEMBER
Boone's Lick, by Larry McMurtry (2000)
Shay Cecil recounts the time his mother hauled the family from Boone's Lick, Missouri, clear up to Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming, in order to break up with her cheating ne'er-do-well husband.
Total read so far: 1.
JANUARY
Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo (2000)
This MG novel is fine, though unspectacular. A ten-year-old preacher's daughter makes friends with a couple of elderly ladies in a small Florida town with the help of her dog.
To Fetch a Thief, by Spencer Quinn (2010)
The third Chet and Bernie mystery, this one involves a kidnapped elephant.
The Dog Who Knew Too Much, by Spencer Quinn (2011)
The fourth Chet and Bernie mystery, involving a missing boy and a murder in the Colorado mountains.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood (2009)
In which a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females embarks on a journey of being a governess to three children raised by wolves.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Bool 2: The Hidden Gallery, by Maryrose Wood (2011)
In which Lady Constance decides to go to London, where more questions are raised about the Incorrigibles and Penelope meets a nice young man.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 3: The Unseen Guest, by Maryrose Wood (2012)
In which the Incorrigibles befriend a lost ostrich and discover they are not the only howlers at Ashton Place.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 4: The Interrupted Tale, by Maryrose Wood (2013)
In which Penelope has a speaking engagement at a reunion for graduates of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 5: The Unmapped Sea, bu Maryrose Wood (2015)
In which answers begin to be revealed on vacation in the resort city of Brighton.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (1951)
There are a handful of good paragraphs, but, in Crick's words, "It's a stupid book. The kid does nothing but complain the whole time."
Total read this month: 9, bringing total fiction thus far to 10.
FEBRUARY
Auggie and Me: Three Wonder Stories, by R.J. Palacio (2015)
A continuation of Wonder, telling the events from the perspectives of Julian, Christopher in Connectict, and Summer's friend Charlotte.
Dragon Teeth, by Michael Crichton (written around 1974, published in 2017)
This earlyish Crichton novel is about paleontology in the Old West - more specifically, 1876 Wyoming - and is written in the style of a creative nonfiction essay, which doesn't quite work in historical fiction. Still, it was interesting.
Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote (1958)
This felt like Gatsby.
Other Voices, Other Rooms, by Truman Capote (1948)
This is definitely Southern Gothic.
Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare (1598)
This is my favorite of all his plays.
Timeline, by Michael Crichton (1999)
Historians are teleported into medieval France. It's one of Crichton's better works.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
In 1991-92 western Pennsylvania, a meek freshman named Charlie becomes friends with a group of senior stoners.
Next, by Michael Crichton (2006)
This one deals with transgenic animals; not one of his best, but still solid.
The Grave's a Fine and Private Place, by Alan Bradley (2018)
The newest Flavia de Luce mystery; she solves a case while on vacation.
Total read this month: 9, bringing total to 19.
MARCH
Pirate Latitudes, by Michael Crichton (written 1970s, published 2009)
An adventure set in 1665 Jamaica.
Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks (2010)
A young woman finds love in a coastal North Carolina town after escaping from her abusive husband.
Emily of New Moon, by L.M. Montgomery (1923)
An orphan girl is sent to live with her aunts.
Total read this month: 3, bringing total to 22.
APRIL
Emily Climbs, by L.M. Montgomery (1925)
Emily attends Shrewsbury High School and develops her writing skills.
Emily's Quest, by L.M. Montgomery (1927)
Young adulthood can be miserable.
A is for Alibi, by Sue Grafton (1982)
The first of the Kinsey Millhone mysteries. She could be the daughter of Phillip Marlowe and the cousin of Jim Rockford.
Bleachers, by John Grisham (2003)
Former high school football players reunite at the funeral of their tyrannical coach.
Nothing but the Truth, by Avi (1991)
A dispute between a high school freshman and his teacher spirals into a national scandal after the local reporter hears about it.
Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins (2003)
Alice in Wonderland meets Lord of the Rings in this MG novel. It was done well.
The Fantasticks, by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (1960)
A musical that is ridiculous on purpose, simultaneously glorifying and satirizing the cliches of young love.
Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, by Michael Stackpole (1996)
The first of a series of Star Wars Expanded Universe novels about the X-Wing fighter group Rogue Squadron. Entertaining in a meaningless kind of way.
The Starlite Drive-In, by Marjorie Reynolds (1999)
If you threw To Kill a Mockingbird, Shane and Peace Like a River into one book, with maybe a little of Where the Heart Is, this would likely be the result, recalling Callie Anne Benton's twelve-year-old experiences in 1956, when a drifter comes to work for her father at the drive-in.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks (2006)
Zombies nearly annihilate the human race in a global calamity. This is one of the better novels on the undead.
Total read this month: 10, bringing total to 32.
MAY
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick (1968)
The sci-fi classic Blade Runner was based on.
Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis (1920)
An idealistic city girl is slowly worn down by the conservative small-town existence she finds herself in after marrying a doctor. Rather depressing, though the ending makes it worthwhile, even if it wasn't a classic of the "Small Town America" subgenre.
Total read this month: 2, bringing total to 34.
JUNE
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, by Roger Lancellyn Green (1958)
Retellings of many of the classic Old English mythology. There's something strangely compelling about them.
Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (2017)
Retellings of many classic Norse myths.
The Lost Lady, by Willa Cather (1920)
A character study, which influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald when creating Daisy Buchanan for The Great Gatsby several years later.
Total read this month: 3, bringing total to 37.
JULY
Disclosure, by Michael Crichton (1993)
Sexual assault is a strange topic for Crichton to tackle.
The Lost World, by Arthur Conan Doyle (1912)
An early sci-fi story following several London scientists and a journalist on their expedition deep into the heart of South America, where they encounter dinosaurs.
Rising Sun, by Michael Crichton (1992)
This murder mystery eventually spills over into a somewhat racist lesson on how international finance works. Not one of my favorites of his, though it does earn points for trying something different.
Great Fairy Tales of Ireland, collected and retold by Mary McGarry (1977)
Irish fairy tales are violent, mystical, random and oddly satisfying.
Eight Cousins, by Louisa May Alcott (1875)
In one of the author's worse efforts, a consumptive girl is restored to health by her doctor uncle and her seven boy cousins, all roughly her same age.
Total read this month: 5, bringing total to 42.
AUGUST
Seven Keys to Baldpate, by Earl Derr Biggers (1911)
A novelist, a lovelorn haberdasher, an actress, a professional hermit, two politicians, a professor and several other people meet by accident in a closed-for-the-season mountain hotel. Mayhem ensues.
Congo, by Michael Crichton (1980)
Late 1970s technowar, gorillas and African politics are the themes of this one.
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (1913)
This was an amazing, poignant tale of life in western Nebraska in the 1880s.
Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1991)
In rural West Virginia, a boy named Marty rescues the beagle a cruel neighbor is mistreating.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (2008)
In 1946 postwar England, a London author finds her new book - and friendship - after receiving a letter from a stranger, who hints at a tale of reading-powered resiliency during the war.
Total read this month: 5, bringing total to 47.
SEPTEMBER
The Great Train Robbery, by Michael Crichton (1975)
A historical novel about the Great Train Robbery; very interesting to learn about how Victorian England viewed crime.
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, by Ron Koertge (2003)
14-year-old Kevin is sidelined from baseball season due to a case of mono, so he turns to writing poetry to help him cope with the loss of his mom and figure out life in general. Odd but satisfying.
Star Wars: MedStar I: Battle Surgeons, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry (2004)
This is one of those Star Wars novels that's worth rereading, because of how human and ground-level the characters are - it mostly follows a group of surgeons in a battle zone, and their efforts to stay sane. ER: Star Wars Edition.
Total read this month: 3, bringing total to 50.
OCTOBER
Mrs. de Winter, by Susan Hill (1993)
An unnecessary sequel to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, but Hill did a good job with this at matching the tone and style.
Upchuck and the Rotten Willy, by Bill Wallace (1998)
It's hard being a cat. Especially when you best friend gets run over, your other best friend moves away, and then your human leaves for college. This book will never get old.
1602, written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Andy Kubert (2006)
What would happen if the Marvel heroes and villains appeared almost 400 years too early, in Elizabethan England?
Foundation, by Isaac Asimov (1951)
There were elements from this that George Lucas swiped into Star Wars, and others that Joss Whedon worked into Firefly, but other than that, this was fairly dull.
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein (2008)
Narration by a dog? Check. Racing? Check. Big dramatic themes? Check. Saccharine ending? Uh...check? This wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as people say it is, either.
The Backward Bird Dog, by Bill Wallace (1997)
Loosely based on their experience with one of their dogs, JC figures out how to be a great pointer in his own way - with his tail.
Total read this month: 6, bringing total to 56.
NOVEMBER
The Other Typist, by Suzanne Rindell (2013)
This is essentially a gender-flipped version of The Great Gatsby, narrated by a 21st-century woman who finds herself trapped in the 1920s.
Rose in Bloom, by Louisa May Alcott (1876)
This is extremely Alcotty - pleasant on first reading, but on rereading, you think, "This is....REALLY PREACHY AND DULL."
No Dogs Allowed!, by Bill Wallace (2004)
11-year-old Kristine Rankin is determined never to love the new puppy her grandpa got hurt after her favorite horse dies.
The Best of Me, by Nicholas Sparks (2012)
A high school couple reunites after twenty years due to a dear friend's funeral, and must decide where to go next. This is an extremely Sparksy book in every way, both good and bad, but it ends with a gigantic emotional punch that leaves you staring into space for a while.
Quarterback Walk-On, by Thomas J. Dygard (1982)
A practice-squad quarterback finds himself the starter for a key late-season contest due to suspensions and injuries. Even for young adult sports books, this was pretty terrible.
Cujo, by Stephen King (1982)
A rabid St Bernard terrorizes Castle Rock, Maine, the summer of 1980. But it wasn't his fault, he was just sick.
The Lost for Words Bookshop, by Stephanie Butland (2017)
A very introverted, scarred twentysomething woman slowly tries to come out of her shell and the bookstore she works in. Life - and memories - have a way of crashing in.
Total read this month: 7, bringing total to 63.
DECEMBER
Magpie Murders, by Alan Horowitz (2016)
Everything about this mystery was slightly wrong-shaped.
Mitch and Amy, by Beverly Cleary (1967)
Twins Mitch and Amy struggle with dyslexia and math, respectively, and with a bully in the grade above them.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, by Terry Brooks (1999)
The novelization of the first film in the prequel trilogy.
The Complete Peanuts: Volume One, 1950-1952, by Charles M. Schulz (2004)
The first of a series that reproduces every single one of the 18,170 Peanuts strips.
Weirdos From Another Planet!, by Bill Watterson (1990)
A Calvin and Hobbes collection from 1988-89.
Attack f the Giant Killer Monster Snow Goons, by Bill Watterson (1992)
A Calvin and Hobbes collection of mostly winter-themed strips.
Ion, by Euridipes (late 400s BC)
A curious mixture of tragicomedy for Greek drama, this was very interesting.
The Dark Knight Returns, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Klaus Janson (1986)
This was a very bleak graphic novel of a Batman coming out of retirement to brutally thwart criminals. He fights Superman and kills the Joker.
El Deafo, written and illustrated by Cece Bell (2014)
This graphic novel is partially based on the author's experiences growing up deaf in 1980's Virginia. It was highly recommended by several classmates in Dr. Dial-Driver's Children's Lit, and I can see why.
Secret Wars, written by Jim Shooter, illustrated by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton (1984)
Marvel heroes and villains are transported into a gladiatorial battleground by orders from Mattel to promote a new toy line. It was thoroughly ridiculous, but responsible for giving Spider-Man his symbiote suit.
X-Men: Days of Future Past, written and illustrated by Chris Claremont and John Byrne (1981)
In late 1980, the X-Men travel back from the dystopian future of 2013 to prevent nuclear annihilation at the hands of the Sentinels.
Total read this month: 11, bringing total for the year to 74.
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