I had a month where I did not read books. How did that happen? I have no idea. I will add that I read various articles and other miscellaneous. Actually, I am surprised I managed to read a lot in the summer since I was doing Immersion. Oddly, I did not read anything in Spanish this year. I only recall starting Isabel Allende's YA trilogy set in the Amazon, but I dropped it after the first volume. Not her best work; I found it disappointing, especially since I have always enjoyed the rest of her work. I do see Allende will be speaking at TLA this year, and that the conference is reading Portrait in Sepia for the One Book initiative. I may just pick up Allende again. As my mother used to say, even great writers have their stumbles. She said it after reading Garcia Marquez's The General in his Labyrinth. I had to agree with her, that was not as good as his other stuff. I hope I can get some reading in Spanish in 2007. In addition to Allende's Portrait in Sepia, I am hoping to read Zorro as well. And there are a few other authors in Spanish I hope to pick up. Maybe I will try to make that a resolution this year, add Spanish reading back. It is something I missed in 2006.
Except where noted, the books have reviews in the blogs. For graphic novels, I started putting short notes in larger posts. In other words, I would read three or four, make notes, then publish a post about a few of them at a time. Some books, such as politics, I put over at The Itinerant Librarian. One could make an observation based on what I posted about here (my professional blog) and what I put over there (the unruly cousin, my personal blog), but I shall spare readers who can probably guess the method to the madness anyhow.
So, the books I read in 2006:
By the numbers:
Number of books read in 2006: 106
New books in 2006: All (I did not reread anything this year)
Number of books read in 2005: 73
Number read in worst month: 0 (September)
Number read in best month: 16 (August)
Fiction: 70
I read a lot of graphic novels, most of which would fall under SF/F genre. However, a few of the graphic novels fall under nonfiction since they cover things like memoirs or current events. It goes to show the diversity of genres and stories one can find in graphic novels. I can say I will definitely continue reading in this area. I also read some manga last year, and that will likely continue this year. The other fiction I read was science fiction.
Nonfiction:36
This includes books on library science and librarianship, humor and comedy, politics and current events, education, meditation and spirituality, and history. The librarianship and library science stuff I mostly read to keep up. The other items are more pleasure reading.
Favorites:
Frank Miller's graphic novels
Jeph Loeb's and Tim Sale's graphic novels
Mark Millar's run on Ultimate X-Men
Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men
Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements
John Scalzi's Old Man's War
Tom Standage's A History of the World in Six Glasses
The list:
January:
- Scott McCullar, Dewey Decimal Defeats Truman
- Robert Burgin, ed., Nonfiction Readers' Advisory
- Kim "Howard" Johnson and John Cleese, Superman: True Brit
- Alan Grant, JLA: Riddle of the Beast
- James Luceno, Star Wars: Dark Lord--The Rise of Darth Vader (novel)
- Brian Michael Bendis, Ultimate Spiderman, vol. 4: Legacy
- Scott Adams, Dilbert:Thriving on Vague Objectives
February:
- Francisca Goldsmith, Graphic Novels Now
- Max Allan Collins, Road to Perdition
- Joe Kubert, Yossel April 19, 1943: A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto
- Frank Miller, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
- Jim Henson, It's Not Easy Being Green
- Mark Millar, et.al., Ultimate X-Men, vol. 5: Ultimate War
- Robert Spencer, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)
- Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, What Does Al-Qaeda Want? Unedited Communiques
- Larry the Cable Guy, Git-R-Done
March:
- Michael Gorman, Our Singular Strengths:Meditations for Librarians
- Michael Gorman, Our Own Selves: More Meditations for Librarians
- Gerry Conway, Essential Punisher, vol. 1
- Rebekah Nathan, My Freshman Year
- George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
- Stephen Petrucha, et.al. The X-Files, vol. 1
- Jack G. Montgomery and Eleanor I. Cook, Conflict Management for Libraries
- Tom Veitch, Star Wars: Dark Empire I
- Laurel A. Clyde, Weblogs and Libraries
- Mark Waid, JLA: Divided We Fall
- Mark Waid, JLA: Terra Incognita
- Mark Millar, Ultimate X-Men, vol. 1: The Tomorrow People
- Mia Bloom, Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense
- Al Franken, The Truth (With Jokes)
May:
- Norman Horrocks, ed., Perspectives, Insights & Priorities: 17 Leaders Speak Freely of Librarianship
- Tom Standage, A History of the World in 6 Glasses
- Mark Millar and Chuck Austen, Ultimate X-Men, vol. 3: World Tour
- Mark Millar, Ultimate X-Men, vol. 4: Hellfire and Brimstone
- Mark Millar,et.al., Ultimate X-Men, vol. 6: Return of the King
- Mark Millar, Ultimate X-Men, vol. 2: Return to Weapon X
- Brian Michael Bendis, Ultimate X-Men, vol. 8: New Mutants
- Geoff Johns, Teen Titans: A Kid's Game
- Christopher Moeller, JLA: A League of One
- Frank Miller, Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
- John Wagner, Boba Fett: Death, Lies and Treachery
- Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West, Revolting Librarians Redux
- James Carville and Paul Begala, Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step
June:
- Gwen Meyer Gregory, ed., The Successful Academic Librarian
- Jim Shooter, Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars
- Art Spiegelman, Maus, Part I
- Art Spiegelman, Maus, Part II
- Joe Kelly, JLA: The Obsidian Age
- Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Essential Fantastic Four, vol. 1
- Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again
- Kelley Puckett and Chris Dixon, Batgirl: Fists of Fury
- Kelley Puckett and Chris Dixon, Batgirl: Death Wish
- William Blum, Rogue State
July:
- Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
- Various authors, Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Perez, vol. 1
- Jim Burke, I Hear America Reading
- Kinky Friedman, Cowboy Logic
- Scott Beatty, et.al., Batman Begins: The Movie and Other Tales of the Dark Knight
- Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men, vol. 1: Gifted
- Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men, vol. 2: Dangerous
- Dave Wilkins, et.al., El Zombo Fantasma
- Mark Waid and Barry Kitson, Legion of Superheroes: Teenage Revolution
- John Byrne, Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, vol. 2
- Frank Miller, Batman: Year One
- Chuck Austen, Superman: The Wrath of Gog
August:
- John Byrne, Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, vol. 3
- Brian Michael Bendis, et.al., Ultimate Fantastic Four, vol. 1: The Fantastic
- Jeph Loeb, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
- Warren Ellis, Ultimate Fantastic Four, vol. 2: Doom
- Warren Ellis, Ultimate Fantastic Four, vol. 3: N-Zone
- John Byrne, Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, vol. 4
- Mike Carey and Mark Millar, Ultimate Fantastic Four, vol. 4: Inhuman
- Mark Millar and Greg Land, Ultimate Fantastic Four, vol. 5: Crossover
- Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, Daredevil: Born Again
- Kevin J. Anderson, The X-Files, vol. 2
- Brian Michael Bendis, Ultimate X-Men, vol. 7: Blockbuster
- Brian K. Vaughan, Ultimate X-Men, vol. 9: The Tempest
- Doug Moench, Batman: Hong Kong
- Jeph Loeb, Batman: Hush, vol. 1
- Willie Nelson, The Tao of Willie
- Kia Asamiya, translated by Max Allan Collins, Batman: Child of Dreams (not noted on blog)
- Dennis O'Neill, Batman: Knightfall (novel. Not noted in blogs)
November:
- John Scalzi, Old Man's War
- Ilene F. Rockman and Associates, Integrating Information Literacy into the Higher Education Curriculum
- Jeanette Woodward, Creating the Customer-Driven Library
- Jim Burnett, Hey Ranger!
- Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, Batman: Hush, vol. 2
- Grant Morrison, Arkham Asylum
- John Byrne, Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, vol. 5
- Mike Kennedy, Superman: Infinite City
- Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Batman: The Long Halloween
- Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon, The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
December:
- Michael Eric Dyson, Come Hell or High Water
- George Carlin, Napalm and Silly Putty (not noted in blogs)
- Brian Fies, Mom's Cancer
- G.B. Trudeau, The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time (Doonesbury)
- Hirano Kohta, Hellsing, vol. 1
- Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Superman For All Seasons
- Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Batman: Dark Victory
- Mark Waid, et.al., JLA: Tower of Babel
- Steve Englehart, Batman: Dark Detective
- Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Batman: Haunted Knight
- Geoff Johns, Teen Titans: Family Lost
- Mills Lane, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (graphic novel adaptation)
5 comments:
So the bookless month was September? How could that be for a librarian who teaches lots and lots of sessions? Let me count the ways...
My total for last Sept. wasn't zero, but it was close. Probably for the same reason.
Thanks for your list - it's neat to see what other people read.
Hello Barbara, thanks for stopping by. I think another reason could be that I don't always make the note right after I finish reading a book. It may take me a day or two before posting, or more if in the heat of teaching. Yes, September would be the busy season here, just like we are entering the busy season now for Spring. Best, and keep on blogging.
I only recall starting Isabel Allende's YA trilogy set in the Amazon, but I dropped it after the first volume. Not her best work; I found it disappointing,
Funny. I *just* checked this out this afternoon (as recorded book). I've never read any of her stuff. I take it I shouldn't start reading her with this one, eh?
Well Bentley, give it a try and let us know how it goes. When I checked them out, I did not recall the books having good reviews, but since it was Isabel Allende, I went by reputation and the fact I like most her other works. Goes to show one should be a little more selective. Best, and keep on blogging.
I chose it because it was on the shelf. I checked, and it also happens to be the only book of hers that we have as a Spanish-language recorded book.
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