These great hollow globes of artificial super-metals, and artificial transparent adamant, ranged in size from the earliest and smallest structures, which were no bigger than a very small asteroid, to spheres considerably larger than the Earth. (Olaf Stapledon, STAR MAKER)
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Citizen Science
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows "yellow balls" in W33 in the direction of the galactic core. What are these formations? The answer is found in today's APOD and we can thank citizen scientists for asking the question to begin with!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Night Flight to Polar Waves
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a time-lapse image of sounding rockets being launched to explore the Aurora Borealis. Star trails, exhaust trails, lasers and auroral curtains.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Vermin of the Skies
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Asteroid 2004 BL86 as it passed through the Seven Sisters (Messier 44) the other night.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Lovejoy in the Attic
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) under spectacular winter skies (much better than any of us have seen with the naked eye!). A long-exposure teases out the details of the Milky Way's "attic" (looking out towards the edge, rather than in towards the center, which we would see if we were looking at Sagittarius): Barnard's Loop, Messier 42, the Rosette Nebula and more. "Mouseover" the picture to get a guide to the stars, clusters and nebula in the area.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Lines of Force
There have been a lot of images of lines of force this week: wind patterns from the winter storm I'm sitting under, cloud patterns on Jupiter from the New Horizons flyby. In today's Astronomy Picture of the Day we have lines of magnetic force as detected by the Planck probe.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Seven
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day show the Seven Strong Men standing under a Milky Way-strewn sky.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Eruption
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows twisty solar prominences courtesy of the hard-working SOHO vehicle (discoverer of many, many comets).
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Swan's Way
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a combination of x-ray, visible and radio frequencies stacked to give a fuller view of Cygnus A.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Multitasker
After being stopped by security for wearing a multi-tool, Leatherman company president has engineers design a multi-tool that is hidden within a bracelet.
On the Bridge
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the "bridge" of a spaceship, the Cupola (off of the Tranquility Module) on the International Space Station, here fitted out for work with Canadarm2 and the recent docking of the latest SpaceX Dragon supply capsule. What a view!
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Two Trails
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us the streak of flame culminating in an Atlas V vehicle carrying a U.S. Navy satellite while above Comet Lovejoy sails past Taurus and the Pleiades.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Steven Hart
I am sitting here in shock, having just learned that college friend, writer, curmudgeon, appreciator of beer, bookstore entrepreneur, truth teller, father, husband, friend Steven Hart has passed away.
This will take some getting used to, it is not right that we lose him and are left with the idiotic bastards that he so eloquently railed against.
Steve (along with Ron Fischer, Joe Zitt and a few others) introduced me to much of the music I still love today: The Talking Heads, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and more. We had similar tastes in genre fiction and introduced each other to many books (less so to genre movies and television, that was too small a market not to have seen it all, but he introduced me to many non-genre works such as Kurosawa), both genre and non-genre.
He got me started in music in another way: He had an all-in-one phonograph/radio (speakers were separate where the phonograph had broken. He sold it to me for the cost of a six pack of beer and a pair of meatball subs from the "gut truck" that parked near the dorms at Livingston College. Ron Fischer was able to fix the phonograph with a bit of grease and it worked fine for years afterwards. We both got the best end of that bargain!
We were both on the college radio station and the college newspaper (but he stuck with the newspaper until graduation while I dropped both when I started working full time as well as going to school full time).
When he opened Nighthawk Books in Highland Park (it should have been an ideal place, but the town government seems to have this distorted view about how to grow the business tax base), I unloaded a hunk of my collection there to help him grow.
It was a real joy to see him start in his own books and as his own publisher!
Rest in peace, Steve.
This will take some getting used to, it is not right that we lose him and are left with the idiotic bastards that he so eloquently railed against.
Steve (along with Ron Fischer, Joe Zitt and a few others) introduced me to much of the music I still love today: The Talking Heads, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and more. We had similar tastes in genre fiction and introduced each other to many books (less so to genre movies and television, that was too small a market not to have seen it all, but he introduced me to many non-genre works such as Kurosawa), both genre and non-genre.
He got me started in music in another way: He had an all-in-one phonograph/radio (speakers were separate where the phonograph had broken. He sold it to me for the cost of a six pack of beer and a pair of meatball subs from the "gut truck" that parked near the dorms at Livingston College. Ron Fischer was able to fix the phonograph with a bit of grease and it worked fine for years afterwards. We both got the best end of that bargain!
We were both on the college radio station and the college newspaper (but he stuck with the newspaper until graduation while I dropped both when I started working full time as well as going to school full time).
When he opened Nighthawk Books in Highland Park (it should have been an ideal place, but the town government seems to have this distorted view about how to grow the business tax base), I unloaded a hunk of my collection there to help him grow.
It was a real joy to see him start in his own books and as his own publisher!
Rest in peace, Steve.
More Detail
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day follows up on earlier ones. The amount of detail being shown in these Comet Lovejoy photographs is amazing!
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Into Focus
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a view from the Dawn asteroid explorer, now on approach to minor...sorry....dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt. Dawn on approach to Ceres, New Horizons on approach to Pluto and Charon, good times for planetary exploration!
Monday, January 19, 2015
Unfamiliar Messier
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day takes one of my favorite observing subjects, Messier 42, The Great Nebula of Orion, and casts it into a different light: a view from the infrared frequencies courtesy of the WISE orbiting observatory.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
At the Core
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day gives us a view towards the galactic core in infrared wavelengths. Hey, is that Louis Wu?
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Tailing Off
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the wonderful structural detail "amateur" astronomers are teasing out of Comet Lovejoy.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Bubbles
A clueless commentator (is there any other kind) was on CNBC yesterday wondering why mall retail sales haven't improved since gas prices have dropped and "that's just like getting a tax refund!"
Really? Let's break it down and think about it all.
First, just because pump prices have dropped, it doesn't suddenly mean you have an extra $500.00 to put into the mall. Sure, gas prices have been trending down for several weeks, but they are only down a bit each week. And you buy gas each week. So while you might have an extra $500.00 in your pocket if you only buy gas once a month and you bought $1,000.00 last month and you only spend $500.00 this month...on a week-by-week basis you're only ending up (each week) with enough for a extra cup of coffee or two and put it towards that, or upgrading some of your food purchases, or maybe splurging on a meal out rather than $500.00 worth of stuff from the mall.
Second, I could point towards the proximity of the biggest annual spending spree of the year, Christmas. It's only January. Everybody spent to buy gifts. Maybe they don't need anything, Mr. Commentator?
Third, I would point towards the permanent sale mentality that chains such as WalMart or Target have instilled in the consumer. Unless those retail mall stores advertise big (and let's not forget about all those Christmas sales where people bought a lot of stuff, see previous point), people are not going to go to the malls to spend that extra $500.00 they probably don't have (see other previous points).
Fourth, let's think about costs and wages. Despite claims that the cost of living has been rising "slowly or has been "stable" if you look closely you'll see that the government likes to jigger such things by looking at prices ex ____ where ____ = things that have gone up in price (like food). Also, there's a ton of data that shows that wages have mostly been stagnant (frozen) for several years...if you're lucky. More than likely, your wages have fallen because you were laid off, cut back, etc. Toss in that CPI that really has gone up because we hide things, well then, I think that extra $500.00 you have might go towards upgrading food or getting an extra meal out rather than going to the mall (because, see previous points).
Fifth, the internet. Seriously. When was the last time you went to the mall for shopping? Notice how out of touch they're becoming (especially the "anchor stores")? I haven't shopped in a mall (other than a big box bookstore) in at least ten years. My wife has been more recently, but more often she'll go to a standalone store or a big box. And then there's the internet. Other than one suit, all my clothing for the past ten years has been purchased online. There's just so much less stress. (I don't like shopping!)
Finally, stuff. Maybe we just have too much stuff? How many big screen T.V.'s do you need to buy every year? How many pairs of shoes? Maybe people are taking that $500.00 and putting it towards..savings?
Conclusion: Clueless Commentator on CNBC has to get off of Wall Street and into the Real World and take a look around. Not everybody lives the way you do!
Really? Let's break it down and think about it all.
First, just because pump prices have dropped, it doesn't suddenly mean you have an extra $500.00 to put into the mall. Sure, gas prices have been trending down for several weeks, but they are only down a bit each week. And you buy gas each week. So while you might have an extra $500.00 in your pocket if you only buy gas once a month and you bought $1,000.00 last month and you only spend $500.00 this month...on a week-by-week basis you're only ending up (each week) with enough for a extra cup of coffee or two and put it towards that, or upgrading some of your food purchases, or maybe splurging on a meal out rather than $500.00 worth of stuff from the mall.
Second, I could point towards the proximity of the biggest annual spending spree of the year, Christmas. It's only January. Everybody spent to buy gifts. Maybe they don't need anything, Mr. Commentator?
Third, I would point towards the permanent sale mentality that chains such as WalMart or Target have instilled in the consumer. Unless those retail mall stores advertise big (and let's not forget about all those Christmas sales where people bought a lot of stuff, see previous point), people are not going to go to the malls to spend that extra $500.00 they probably don't have (see other previous points).
Fourth, let's think about costs and wages. Despite claims that the cost of living has been rising "slowly or has been "stable" if you look closely you'll see that the government likes to jigger such things by looking at prices ex ____ where ____ = things that have gone up in price (like food). Also, there's a ton of data that shows that wages have mostly been stagnant (frozen) for several years...if you're lucky. More than likely, your wages have fallen because you were laid off, cut back, etc. Toss in that CPI that really has gone up because we hide things, well then, I think that extra $500.00 you have might go towards upgrading food or getting an extra meal out rather than going to the mall (because, see previous points).
Fifth, the internet. Seriously. When was the last time you went to the mall for shopping? Notice how out of touch they're becoming (especially the "anchor stores")? I haven't shopped in a mall (other than a big box bookstore) in at least ten years. My wife has been more recently, but more often she'll go to a standalone store or a big box. And then there's the internet. Other than one suit, all my clothing for the past ten years has been purchased online. There's just so much less stress. (I don't like shopping!)
Finally, stuff. Maybe we just have too much stuff? How many big screen T.V.'s do you need to buy every year? How many pairs of shoes? Maybe people are taking that $500.00 and putting it towards..savings?
Conclusion: Clueless Commentator on CNBC has to get off of Wall Street and into the Real World and take a look around. Not everybody lives the way you do!
Workspace
A few days ago, this memo about the new offices for Wired circulated, causing much hilarity on the intertubes (lots of people posting pictures of their desks). Of course, some people posted pictures that showed they probably either cleaned up before taking the picture...or they actually don't do any work in that space.
It looks like these spaces are spreading through tech and media, but do they actually "work"? People spread out, people personalize. If people need to clean up and avoid putting coffee stains on the walls, people may no longer be creative. Shouldn't a media or tech company be creative rather than coffee free?
It looks like these spaces are spreading through tech and media, but do they actually "work"? People spread out, people personalize. If people need to clean up and avoid putting coffee stains on the walls, people may no longer be creative. Shouldn't a media or tech company be creative rather than coffee free?
Descent
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows four images made ten years ago as the Huygens lander (carried by the Cassini orbiter) made a successful descent and "splatdown" on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest and (possibly) most complex moon.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Framing
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us the conjunction of Venus and Mercury in the evening sky. I spotted them both Tuesday night (naked eye)!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Rich Field and Comet
The winter skies aren't as "fun" as the skies of our other seasons, but the region around Orion, "the attic of the Milky Way" are a treat to explore. Especially, as with today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, there happens to be a comet in the region as well!
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
John Hill
John Hill, designer of many games that occupied many hours of my time such as Squad Leader (and Advanced Squad Leader), Johnny Reb and much more has passed away. I was privileged to have participated in a couple of Johnny Reb games that Hill ran at various HMGS conventions such as Cold Wars and Historicon. He was a very nice gentleman, patient, willing to talk and answer questions. He will be missed by the gaming community.
Addendum: An appreciation by Mister Nizz.
Addendum: An appreciation by Mister Nizz.
Fragile (Yes)
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows The Soap Bubble Nebula, found in the area of NGC 6888, The Crescent Nebula, in Cygnus. This object was first identified by an amateur astronomer in 2008 (and independently found several days later by other amateur astronomers). Amateurs can contribute to the field!
Monday, January 12, 2015
Fast Times in the Republic
Mel and Patricia Ziegler; Wild Company—The Untold Story of Banana Republic (Simon & Schuster; 2012; IBSN 1451683480).
Wild Company is the tale of how two people left their unsatisfying jobs, created something they really weren't willing or able to nourish, and ultimately lost control of their creation. Their creation lives on, subsumed in a corporation that neither cares about or wants to remember what made the creation great, just one bland face of three.
The Ziegler's both worked in journalism but were unsatisfied with their jobs. They stumbled into running a clothing chain due to a combination of luck, skill (art and writing, as well as an excellent eye for design) and serendipity. The book tells of many highs (finding bargains, excellent sales, extreme customer loyalty) and lows (they seemed to blindingly trust people and hire on a whim at times, which lead—in one case—to the loss of an very productive day's receipts due to a dishonest employee, and—in another case—to tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise being lost to another dishonest employee).
I was actually surprised how early on in the chain's story they were acquired by The Gap. That acquisition gave them the capital to expand, add more things to the store and even (eventually) design their own clothing rather than sell (mostly) military surplus. But it also eventually doomed Banana Republic as it was. The earliest sign of this was the clash between the lawyer the Ziegler's had for the deal and The Gap's corporate counsel. Then came three family member's from The Gap's founder to work in Banana Republic. Two of the three seemed to fit in, but the third was an ongoing exhaustion to Patricia Ziegler with weekly and daily clashes over materials, clothing lines, new product launches, the way stores looked, etc.
Eventually the Ziegler's left Banana Republic in what amounts to a coup by people within The Gap. The Ziegler's spent some time resting, launched a few efforts (some, like The Republic of Tea—subject of another co-written book—succeeded, whiles others did not) and watched while Banana Republic became what it is today: no different from The Gap or Old Navy, just a variant upon the same bland theme.
Who is blame? The Ziegler's? The Gap? Mel and Patricia had (still have, I'm sure) plenty of talent when it came to writing, design and the like. Not so much when it came to managing the business. Maybe things would have been better if they had found a good partner early on who could manage things while they concentrated on their talents? The Gap initially acquired Banana Republic both for the growth and the culture. Maybe if they had allowed more of that culture to flow up into the larger entity rather than fight the smaller entity they would be more than a bland mall store today?
It's really a shame, I think. Banana Republic succeeded because it was quirky. They had excellent merchandise (I believe I still have several of their shirts in my closet) and led the way in bringing us several design trends that we still see (the para-military or adventurer look is still with us) today. The catalogs and stores had a unique identity that set them apart from other Main Street or faceless mall storefronts. All gone, alas.
Is it possible to have quality, growth, quirkiness all in one? Is it possible keep what made a company great over the life of a company? I don't know, but I eagerly await the next Banana Republic. I need some new shirts.
Wild Company is the tale of how two people left their unsatisfying jobs, created something they really weren't willing or able to nourish, and ultimately lost control of their creation. Their creation lives on, subsumed in a corporation that neither cares about or wants to remember what made the creation great, just one bland face of three.
The Ziegler's both worked in journalism but were unsatisfied with their jobs. They stumbled into running a clothing chain due to a combination of luck, skill (art and writing, as well as an excellent eye for design) and serendipity. The book tells of many highs (finding bargains, excellent sales, extreme customer loyalty) and lows (they seemed to blindingly trust people and hire on a whim at times, which lead—in one case—to the loss of an very productive day's receipts due to a dishonest employee, and—in another case—to tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise being lost to another dishonest employee).
I was actually surprised how early on in the chain's story they were acquired by The Gap. That acquisition gave them the capital to expand, add more things to the store and even (eventually) design their own clothing rather than sell (mostly) military surplus. But it also eventually doomed Banana Republic as it was. The earliest sign of this was the clash between the lawyer the Ziegler's had for the deal and The Gap's corporate counsel. Then came three family member's from The Gap's founder to work in Banana Republic. Two of the three seemed to fit in, but the third was an ongoing exhaustion to Patricia Ziegler with weekly and daily clashes over materials, clothing lines, new product launches, the way stores looked, etc.
Eventually the Ziegler's left Banana Republic in what amounts to a coup by people within The Gap. The Ziegler's spent some time resting, launched a few efforts (some, like The Republic of Tea—subject of another co-written book—succeeded, whiles others did not) and watched while Banana Republic became what it is today: no different from The Gap or Old Navy, just a variant upon the same bland theme.
Who is blame? The Ziegler's? The Gap? Mel and Patricia had (still have, I'm sure) plenty of talent when it came to writing, design and the like. Not so much when it came to managing the business. Maybe things would have been better if they had found a good partner early on who could manage things while they concentrated on their talents? The Gap initially acquired Banana Republic both for the growth and the culture. Maybe if they had allowed more of that culture to flow up into the larger entity rather than fight the smaller entity they would be more than a bland mall store today?
It's really a shame, I think. Banana Republic succeeded because it was quirky. They had excellent merchandise (I believe I still have several of their shirts in my closet) and led the way in bringing us several design trends that we still see (the para-military or adventurer look is still with us) today. The catalogs and stores had a unique identity that set them apart from other Main Street or faceless mall storefronts. All gone, alas.
Is it possible to have quality, growth, quirkiness all in one? Is it possible keep what made a company great over the life of a company? I don't know, but I eagerly await the next Banana Republic. I need some new shirts.
Billiards
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is actually a game that shows you how lucky we are to live in a period where our home system is relatively stable. Can you create a stable planetary system? Or will you end up with a game of cosmic billiards?
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Melting Pot
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an artist conception of a planet circling a binary star that undergoes frequent cataclysmic eruptions. Beautiful view, but not a good place of real estate.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Friday, January 9, 2015
Back to the Future
A look at an eReader that never was: a portable reading device that employed microfiche. This reminds me of the backs of Analog SF/SF in the 1980's where they offered a special deal of a microfilm reader (massive) and the entire back catalog of the magazine to that date.
Spiral Arms and Subtle Jets
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of a nice spiral galaxy, NGC 1097, in the constellation of Fornax. The eye is drawn to the beautiful arms of the galaxy, but do you also notice the "fossil jets" emanating from the top and bottom of this structure?
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Anti or Alternate
While this article (celebrating Michael Moorcock's seventy-fifth birthday) seems to imply a negative relationship between Moorcock and Tolkien, it seems to me that he has less been anti-Tolkien than alternative-Tolkien.
In fact...the article almost smacks of poor research or of fitting in an agenda where one does not exist.
(Never read the comments.)
In fact...the article almost smacks of poor research or of fitting in an agenda where one does not exist.
(Never read the comments.)
The Stars, Like Dust
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day takes us to the southern skies I'd love to see: Corona Australis, the Southern Crown and a complex of emission and reflection nebula.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
+25
I'm guessing it might be Hubble Space Telescope week at the Astronomy Picture of the Day. Today we revisit one of Hubble's most famous targets, the so-called "Pillars of Creation" (part of Messier 16, The Eagle Nebula, in the constellation of Serpens. It's amazing to see the difference in image quality since the original image twenty-five years ago.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Reminds Me of Paul McAuley
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is composed of thousands of observations, hundreds of images and contains 100 million stars. This is the largest image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Pretty good for an instrument once ready to be abandoned and junked!
Monday, January 5, 2015
Highways and Byways
Paul Theroux: The Tao of Travel—Enlightenment from Lives on the Road (Mariner Books; 2012; ISBN 978-0547737379)
I've been a big fan of non-fiction but have not really read as much as I feel I should be over the past few years. This year I made a commitment to read more non-fiction and am proud to say that the first book of the year was in that category!
In non-fiction, I tend to concentrate on history, especially military history and what I call "micro-history". I would call a micro-history a book that concentrates deeply on one subject: salt, coffee, a historical figure, a region, a profession, etc. The name of Paul Theroux came up while I was looking for non-fiction last year; much (all?) of his non-fiction is "travel writing" but seemed to be the sort of offbeat stuff that I would like (a diary of somebody who spends a year on an airplane, shuttling from point a to point b would not interest me) with the benefit that they seemed to fit nicely into the micro-history category as well.
Of course, the first title I pick up by him does not fall exactly into the category! The Tao of Travel is more an anthology or journal, quoting both Theroux's own works but also the works of other people who wrote about travel (mostly real travel, but also imagined travel). It's a short work, I breezed through it in a couple of days, but it's a dangerous work: as a result I now have about three dozen more books to check into. Will Mount Toberead ever decrease in size?
I've been a big fan of non-fiction but have not really read as much as I feel I should be over the past few years. This year I made a commitment to read more non-fiction and am proud to say that the first book of the year was in that category!
In non-fiction, I tend to concentrate on history, especially military history and what I call "micro-history". I would call a micro-history a book that concentrates deeply on one subject: salt, coffee, a historical figure, a region, a profession, etc. The name of Paul Theroux came up while I was looking for non-fiction last year; much (all?) of his non-fiction is "travel writing" but seemed to be the sort of offbeat stuff that I would like (a diary of somebody who spends a year on an airplane, shuttling from point a to point b would not interest me) with the benefit that they seemed to fit nicely into the micro-history category as well.
Of course, the first title I pick up by him does not fall exactly into the category! The Tao of Travel is more an anthology or journal, quoting both Theroux's own works but also the works of other people who wrote about travel (mostly real travel, but also imagined travel). It's a short work, I breezed through it in a couple of days, but it's a dangerous work: as a result I now have about three dozen more books to check into. Will Mount Toberead ever decrease in size?
NGC 2264
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day focuses on NGC 2264 in the constellation of Monoceros. Can you spot the things mentioned in the text?
Sunday, January 4, 2015
All the Tools Fit to Print
Another step towards long-term capability in space was undertaken recently when a tool was e-mailed to the International Space Station.
Long-Term Thinking
Ballistic capture is an interesting way of getting cargo or other uncrewed vehicles to other planets "cheaply" (crewed vehicles would need greater life support supplies, possibly overcoming any cost-savings). See also: "Buzz" Aldrin's cyclers and the interplanetary superhighway. Any of these methods will work best when we think for and commit to the long-term exploration and colonization of outer space.
Continually Crewed
A look at life on the International Space Station, crewed continuously for more than 5,200 days.
Full Bonestell
When I grew up the standard measure of how good astronomical art was a comparison to the works of Chesley Bonestell. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is reality, courtesy of the Cassini orbiter. Reality rivals and exceeds art.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Taurus-Littrow Anaglyph
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a anaglyph of the Taurs-Littrow landing site for Apollo 17, the last (to date) human expedition to the Moon.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Journey to the Heart Stars
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us to the heart of the Orion Nebula, Messier 42. This is always the first place I visit on winter nights. As a visual observer, I'll never get the kind of detail captured here, but repeated observations enables you to start "teasing" out detail that might surprise you.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
2015: The Angle of Attack
It is said that no plan survives initial contact with reality (or many variants thereof), but I have...once again...come up with a vague plan for what I'll be reading this year. How will it look by the end of the year? We shall see!
First, I plan on reading those anthologies and collections I started last year and have yet to finish.
Second, I plan on finishing my read/re-read of the Honor Harrington series (David Weber & Company) and the Leary-Mundy series (David Drake) that I started in 2014.
Third, I'll be doing reading associated with preparation for episodes of The Three Hoarsemen.
Fourth, hopefully I'll get a little bit better on reading all the periodicals that I subscribe to!
And, fifth, more non-fiction! I've been neglecting the reading of non-fiction, but (of course) not the buying of non-fiction. Have to tackle that Mount Toberead. Yes, I'll be reading fiction (in fact, I've already started) but I do want to clear out some of the non-fiction backlog.
First, I plan on reading those anthologies and collections I started last year and have yet to finish.
Second, I plan on finishing my read/re-read of the Honor Harrington series (David Weber & Company) and the Leary-Mundy series (David Drake) that I started in 2014.
Third, I'll be doing reading associated with preparation for episodes of The Three Hoarsemen.
Fourth, hopefully I'll get a little bit better on reading all the periodicals that I subscribe to!
And, fifth, more non-fiction! I've been neglecting the reading of non-fiction, but (of course) not the buying of non-fiction. Have to tackle that Mount Toberead. Yes, I'll be reading fiction (in fact, I've already started) but I do want to clear out some of the non-fiction backlog.
2015: The Year in Shorts
Many years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, John DeNardo of SF Signal started tracking his short stories read as a way of trying to make a goal of reading one short work for each day of the year. I've managed, more often than not, to match that goal myself. While the tradition has faded at SF Signal, it continues here. Time for a new batch of stories!
Number of stories read: 800 (out of 365) as of December 14, 2015.
Stories/Collections:
Robert W. Chambers: The Yellow Sign and Other Stories—The Complete Weird Tales of Robert W. Chambers [made up of: Introduction (2014 reads) (S.T. Joshi); The King in Yellow—The Repairer of Reputations; The Mask; In the Court of the Dragon; The Yellow Sign; (2015 reads) The Demoiselle D'Ys; The Prophet's Paradise; The Maker of Moons—The Maker of Moons; A Pleasant Evening; The Mystery of Choice—The Purple Emperor; Pompe Funebre; The Messenger; The White Shadow; Passeur; The Key to Grief; In Search of the Unknown—The Harbor-Master; The Spirit of the North; The Ux-Skin; The Sphyx; The Thermosaurus; The Pythagoreans; The Tracer of Lost Persons—Excerpts, Chapter 17; Chapter 18; Chapter 19; Chapter 20; The Tree of Heaven—The Carpet of Belshazzar; The Sign of Venus; The Case of Mr. Helmer; The Bridal Pair; Out of the Depths; Police!—Preface; The Third Eye; The Immortal; The Ladies of the Lake; One Over; Un Peu D'Amour; The Eggs of the Silver Moon.] (05 stories read in 2014, continuing to read).
G.K. Chesterton: The Complete Father Brown Mysteries: (2014 reads) The Innocence of Father Brown: The Blue Cross; The Secret Garden; The Queer Feet; (2015 reads) The Flying Stars; The Invisible Man; The Honour of Israel Gow; The Wrong Shape; The Sins of Prince Saradine; The Hammer of God; The Eye of Apollo; The Sign of the Broken Sword; The Three Tools of Death. The Wisdom of Father Brown: The Absence of Mr. Glass; The Paradise of Thieves; The Duel of Dr. Hirsch; The Man in the Passage; The Mistake of the Machine; The Head of Caesar; The Purple Wig; The Perishing of the Pendragons; The God of the Gongs; The Salad of Colonel Cray; The Strange Crime of John Boulnois; The Fairy Tale of Father Brown. The Donnington Affair. The Incredulity of Father Brown: The Resurrection of Father Brown; The Arrow of Heaven; The Oracle of the Dog; The Miracle of Moon Crescent; The Curse of the Golden Cross; The Dagger with Wings; The Doom of the Darnaways; The Ghost of Gideon Wise. The Secret of Father Brown: The Secret of Father Brown; The Mirror of the Magistrate; The Man with Two Beards; The Song of the Flying Fish; The Vanishing of Vaudrey; The Worst Crime in the World; The Red Moon of Meru; The Chief Mourner of Marne. The Scandal of Father Brown: The Scandal of Father Brown; The Quick One; The Blast of the Book; The Green Man; The Pursuit of Mr. Blue; The Crime of the Communist; The Point of a Pin; The Insoluble Problem; The Vampire of the Village. The Mask of Midas (3 stories read in 2014, continuing to read).
Samuel R. Delany: On Writing An Introduction—Emblems of Talent; Part I—Seven Essays (Teaching Writing; Thickening the Plot; Characters; On Pure Storytelling; Of Doubts and Dreams; After Almost No Time at All the String on Which He Had Been Pulling Came Apart into Two Separate Pieces So Quickly He Hardly Realized It Had Snapped, or: Reflections on "The Beach Fire"; Some Notes for the Intermediate and Advanced Creative Writing Student); Part II—Four Letters (December 10, 2001; October 28, 1997; March 1996; July 26, 1996); Part III—Five Interviews (A Para-doxa Interview—Experimental Writing/Texts & Questions; An American Literary History Interview—The Situation of American Writing Today; A Poetry Newsletter Interview—A Silent Interview; A Black Clock Interview; A Para-doxa Interview—Inside and Outside the Canon; ; Appendix—Nits, Nips, Tucks, and Tips (1 essay read in 2014, 2 essays read in 2015, continuing to read).
Oliver Dickinson: The Complete Griselda [made up of: Oliver and Me (Greg Stafford); Introduction; Points of View; Lucky Eddi; Griselda Gets Her Men; Shamus Gets a Case; A Tasty Morsel; All in the Family; The Great Chart Caper; Hanufa's Little Sister; Down Among the Dead Men; Good Advice; Wolfhead's Story; Carving Up Carver; Devil's Play; Bad Example; Holding the Baby; This Love Business; Serious Money; Worlds Apart; Red Hot; Happy Anniversary; First Class Protection; The Hero Bit; The Matchmaker; Griselda the Hero??; The Trouble with Nephews; Interfering Uncles Have Their Uses (Michael O'Brien); Different Shades of Red; Respect; The Cradlesnatchers] (31 stories, collection completed).
Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Short Stories, Volume 01: (2014 reads) Introduction; A Study in Scarlet; The Sign of Four; A Scandal in Bohemia; The Red-Headed League; A Case of Identity; The Boscombe Valley Mystery; The Five Orange Pips; The Man with the Twisted Lip; The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle; The Adventure of the Speckled Band; The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb; The Adventure of the Nobel Bachelor; The Adventure of the Copper Beeches; Silver Blaze; The Yellow Face; The Stock-Broker's Clerk; The "Gloria Scott"; The Musgrave Ritual; The Reigate Puzzle; The Crooked Man; The Resident Patient; The Greek Interpreter; The Naval Treaty; The Final Problem; The Adventure of the Empty House; The Adventure of the Norwood Builder; The Adventure of the Dancing Men; The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist; The Adventure of the Priory School; The Adventure of Black Peter; The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton; The Adventure of the Six Napoleons; (2015 reads) The Adventure of the Three Students; The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez; The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter; The Adventure of the Second Stain; The Hound of the Baskervilles (novel); The Valley of Fear (novel); Preface to His Last Bow; The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge; The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles; The Tiger of San Pedro; The Adventure of the Cardboard Box; The Adventure of the Red Circle; The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans; The Adventure of the Dying Detective; The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax; The Adventure of the Devil's Foot; His Last Bow; Preface to The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes; The Adventure of the Illustrious Client; The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier; The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone; The Adventure of the Three Gables; The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire; The Adventure of the Three Garridebs; The Problem of Thor Bridge; The Adventure of the Creeping Man; The Adventure of the Lion's Mane; The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger; The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place; The Adventure of the Retired Colourman (33 stories read in 2014, 30 stories in 2015, collection completed) (omnibus review here).
Gardner Dozois (editor): The Year's Best Science Fiction (Thirty-Second Collection) [Made up of: Summation: 2015 (Gardner Dozois); The Fifth Dragon (Ian McDonald); The Rider (Jerome Cigut); The Days of the War, As Red as Blood, As Dark as Bile (Aliette Bodard); The Burial of Sir John Mawe at Cassini (Chaz Brenchley); The Regular (Ken Liu); The Woman from the Ocean (Karl Bunker); Shooting the Apocalypse (Paolo Bacigalupi); Weather (Susan Palwick); The Hand is Quicker (Elizabeth Bear); The Man Who Sold the Moon (Cory Doctorow); Vladimir Chong Chooses to Die (Lavie Tidhar); Beside the Damned River (D.J. Cockburn); The Colonel (Peter Watts); Entanglement (Vandana Singh); White Curtain (Pavel Amnuel, translated by Anatoly Belilovsky); Slipping (Lauren Beukes); Passage of Earth (Michael Swanwick); Amicae Aeternum (Ellen Klages); In Babelsberg (Alastair Reynolds); Sadness (Timons Esaias); West to East (Jay Lake); Grand Jete (The Great Leap) (Rachel Swirsky); Covenant (Elizabeth Bear); Jubilee (Karl Schroeder); The Pirates of Del Mar de Plastico (Pirates of the Plastic Ocean) (Paul Graham Raven); Red Lights, and Rain (Gareth L. Powell); Coma Kings (Jessica Barber); The Prodigal Son (Allen M. Steele); God Decay (Rich Larson); Blood Wedding (Robert Reed); The Long Haul, From the "Annals of Transportation, The Pacific Monthly", May 2009 (Ken Liu); Shadow Flock (Greg Egan); Thing and Sick (Adam Roberts); Communion (Mary Anne Mohanraj); Someday (James Patrick Kelly); Yesterday's Kin (Nancy Kress); Honorable Mentions: 2014 (Gardner Dozois) (38 stories, collection completed)].
Umberto Eco: How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays. Made up of: Preface; How to Travel with a Salmon; How to Replace a Driver's License; How to Eat in Flight; How to Go Through Customs; How to Travel on American Trains; How to Take Intelligent Vacations; How to Use the Taxi Driver; How Not to Talk About Soccer; How to Use the Coffeepot from Hell; How to React to Familiar Faces; How to Be a TV Host; How Not to Know the Time; Stars and Stripes; Conversation in Babylon; On the Impossibility of Drawing a Map of the Empire to Scale of 1 to 1; How to Eat Ice Cream; How It Begins, and How it Ends; How to Justify a Private Library; How to Compile an Inventory; How to Spend Time; How to Buy Gadgets; How to Follow Instructions; How to Become a Knight of Malta; How to Deal with Telegrams; How Not to Use the Fax Machine; How Not to Use the Cellular Phone; Three Owls on a Chest of Drawers; Editorial Revision; Sequels; How to Use Suspension Points; How to Write an Introduction; How to Write an Introduction to an Art Catalogue; How to Set the Record Straight; How to Watch Out for Widows; How to Organize a Public Library; How to Speak of Animals; How to Play Indians; How to Recognize a Porn Movie; How to Avoid Contagious Diseases; How to Choose a Remunerative Profession; The Miracle of San Baudolino (41 stories, collection completed).
Warren Ellis: Cunning Plans—Talks by Warren Ellis. Made up of: Introduction; How to See the Future; A Cunning Plan; Mogo; The Near Future of Pop; Yaa; The Language of Magic; Some Bleak Circus; Addendum—Sometimes the Future is Bullshit (9 stories, completed).
Ruthanna Emrys: The Litany of Earth (1 story, completed).
Homer: Circe and the Cyclops (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Simon Ings and Sumit Paul-Choudhury (editors): Arc: Volume 01 [Made up of: (2014 reads) Introduction (Simon Ings and Sumit Paul-Choudhury); The Object of Posterity's Scorn (Bruce Sterling); A Journey to Amasia (Stephen Baxter); Alien Evasion (China Mieville); Bearlift from Maddaddam, A Novel in Progress (Margaret Atwood); Breaking the Fall (Paul Graham Raven); In Autotelia (M. John Harrison); Sir John Schorne's Devil (Simon Ings); Whta Hpapnes fi it Atclluy Wroks? (Sumit Paul-Choudhury); Topsight (Hannu Rajaniemi); Making the Future (Justin Mullins); We Want Your Futures (Justin Mullins); Three Surprising Theories About Science Fiction (Adam Roberts); Three Ways to Play the Future (Leigh Alexander); Three Sorties on Dreamland (Simon Pummell); The Water Thief (Alastair Reynolds) (1 entry completed in 2014; continuing to read.)
Usman T. Malik: The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family (1 story, completed).
Henry Mayhew: Of Street Piemen (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Larry Niven (editor): Man-Kzin Wars: Man-Kzin Wars 25th Anniversary Edition (Made up of Introduction (Larry Niven); Introduction (Stephen Hickman); The Warriors (Larry Niven); Iron (Poul Anderson); Cathouse (Dean Ing) (3 stories in 2014, continuing to read).
Larry Niven (editor): The Best of All Possible Wars (Made up of Introduction (Larry Niven); The Warriors (Larry Niven) (re-read for the previous collection); Madness Has Its Place (Larry Niven); The Man Who Would Be Kzin (Greg Bear & S.M. Stirling); In the Hall of the Mountain King (Jerry Pournelle & S.M. Stirling) (3 stories in 2014, continuing to read).
Wilfred Owen: Anthem for Doomed Youth (1 story, completed).
Samuel Pepys: The Great Fire of London (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
John Scalzi: After the Coup (1 story, completed).
Clifford D. Simak: Over the River and Through the Woods (Made up of: Introduction (Poul Anderson); A Death in the House; The Big Front Yard; Good Night, Mr. James; Dusty Zebra; Neighbor; Over the River and Through the Woods; Construction Shack; The Grotto of the Dancing Deer (1 story, continuing to read).
Clifford D. Simak: Skirmish—The Great Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak (Made up of: Foreword; Huddling Place; Desertion; Skirmish; Good Night, Mr. James; The Sitters; The Big Front Yard; All the Traps of Earth; The Thing in the Stone; The Autumn Land; The Ghost of a Model T (2 stories, continuing to read).
Patrick A. Smith (editor): Conversations with William Gibson [made up of: (2014 reads) Introduction by P.A. Smith; Chronology; Eye to Eye: An Interview with William Gibson, conducted by Takayuki Tatsumi; (2015 reads) An Interview with William Gibson/1986, conducted by Larry McCaffery/1986; Conversation with William Gibson, conducted by Timothy Leary/1989; Queen Victoria's Personal Spook, Psychic Legbreakers, Snakes, and Catfood: An Interview with William Gibson and Tom Maddox, conducted by Darren Wershler-Henry/1989; "The Charisma Leak": A Conversation with William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, conducted by Daniel Fischlin, Veronica Hollinger and Andrew Taylor/1991; An Interview with William Gibson: Virtual Light Tour, conducted by Andy Diggle and Iain Ball/1993; William Gibson Interview, conducted by Giuseppe Salza/1994; The Man Who Named Cyberspace: An Interview with William Gibson, conducted by Scott Rosenberg/1994; William Gibson, Webmaster, conducted by Scott Rosenberg/1996; William Gibson Interview, conducted by Andy Diggle/1997; William Gibson Interview, conducted by Edo van Belkom/1997; An Interview with William Gibson, conducted by Jon Courtenay Grimwood/1998; William Gibson: Waiting for the Man, conducted by Antony Johnston/1999; William Gibson Interview Transcript, conducted by Cory Doctorow/1999; Redefining William Gibson, conducted by Donna McMahon/2003; William Gibson: The Father of Cyberpunk, conducted by Alex Dueben/2007; Futuristic Fantasy Lives Now for Author William Gibson, conducted by Mary Ann Gwinn/2007; Space to Think, conducted by Tim Adams/2007; Interview: William Gibson, conducted by Noel Murray/2007; William Gibson Talks to io9 About Canada, Draft Dodging, and Godzilla, conducted by Annalee Newitz/2008; William Gibson: The Art of Fiction No. 211, conducted by David Wallace-Wells/2011; Why William Gibson Distrusts Aging Futurists' Nostalgia, conducted by John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley/2012; William Gibson: The Complete io9 Interview, conducted by Charlie Jane Anders/2012; Key Resources] (21 entries completed in 2015; 3 entries completed in 2014, collection completed).
John Scazli: After the Coup (1 story, completed).
Sophocles: Antigone (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Jonathan Strahan (editor): The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year 008 [made up of: (2014 reads) Introduction (Jonathan Strahan); Some Desperado (Joe Abercrombie); (2015 reads) Zero for Conduct (Greg Egan); Effigy Nights (Yoon Ha Lee); Rosary and Goldenstar (Geoff Ryman); The Sleeper and the Spindle (Neil Gaiman); Cave and Julia (M. John Harrison); The Herons of Mer de l'Ouest (M. Bennardo); Water (Ramez Naam); The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling (Ted Chiang); The Ink Readers of Doi Saket (Thomas Olde Heuvelt); Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls (Richard Parks); Rag and Bone (Priya Sharma); The Book Seller (Lavie Tidhar); The Sun and I (K.J. Parker); The Promise of Space (James Patrick Kelly); The Master Conjurer (Charlie Jane Anders); The Pilgrim and the Angel (E. Lily Yu); Entangled (Ian R. Macleod); Fade to Gold (Benjanun Sriduangkaew); Selkie Stories are for Losers (Sofia Samatar); In Metal, In Bone (An Owomoyela); Kormack the Lucky (Eleanor Arnason); Sing (Karin Tidbeck); Social Services (Madeline Ashby); The Road of Needles (Caitlin R. Kiernan); Mystic Falls (Robert Reed); The Queen of Night's Aria (Ian McDonald); The Irish Astronaut (Val Nolan)] (2 stories, continuing to read).
Unknown (A. K. Ramanujan, Translator): Speaking of Siva (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Jack Vance: The Eyes of the Overworld (made up of: The Overworld, Cil, The Mountains of Magnatz; The Sorcerer Pharesm; The Pilgrims; The Cave in the Forest; The Manse of Iucounu). [Cugel's Saga (novel).]
Jack Vance: Rhilalto the Marvelous (made up of: Foreword; The Murthe; Fader's Waft; Morreion).
Jack Williamson: With Folded Hands.
Graphic Novels (Installments):
Jason Aaron & John Cassaday: Star Wars (2015) 001-008 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman: Thor (2014) 001-008; Thor (2014 Annual 001 (9 stories, continuing to read).
Jason Aaron & Chris Sprouse: Thors 001–003 (3 stories, continuing to read).
Dan Abnett & Company: Annihilation Omnibus 001; Omnibus 002; Omnibus 003 (24 stories, completed).
John Allison & Lissa Treiman: Giant Days 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Amy Lily Amirpour and Michael DeWeese: A Girl Who Walks Home Alone at Night Issue 001—002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
Corinna Sara Bechko, Gabrield Hardman, Jordan Boyd: Invisible Republic 001-002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
Brian Michael Bendis & Company: All-New X-Men 001-041; X-Men: Gold; All-New X-Men Annual 1; All-New X-Men Special 1 (44 stories continuing to read). Guardians of the Galaxy (2013+) 001-003, 0.1, Tomorrow's Avengers 001, 004-010, 011.Now, 012-027, Annual 001, Most Wanted 001 (40 stories, continuing to read). Guardians of the Galaxy Team-Up 001-008 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Brian Michael Bendis & Nick Bradshaw: FCBD—Guardians of the Galaxy (1 story, completed).
Marguerite Bennett, Kieron Gillen & Co.; Angela 1602 001–004 (4 stories, completed). Angela: Asgard's Assassin 001–006 (6 stories, completed).
Marguerite Bennett, G. Willow Wilson & Co.; A-Force 001-005 (5 stories, completed).
Ed Brisson & Damian Couceiro: Cluster 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Joe Caramagna & Adam Archer: FCBD—Rocket Raccoon (1 story, completed).
Joe Caramagna & Company: Avengers VS 001-004 (4 stories, continuing to read).
John Carpenter, Eric Powell & Brian Churilla: Big Trouble in Little China 001-014 (14 stories, continuing to read).
Paul Cornell & Ryan Kelly; Saucer Country 001-002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
Kelly Sue DeConnick & David Lopez: Captain Marvel 001-014 (14 stories, continuing to read). Captain Marvel the Carol Corps 001-004 (4 stories, continuing to read).
Divers Hands (Many Hands!): The Dreaming 001–012 (12 stories, continuing to read).
Gerry Duggan & Baldeon: Nova 028 (1 story, completed).
Gerry Duggan & Matteo Lolli: Deadpool vs. Hawkeye 000-004 (5 stories, completed).
Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto: Black Widow Issues 001-020 (20 stories, continuing to read).
Nathan Edmondson & Mike Perkins: Deathlok 001–006 (6 stories, continuing to read).
Chris Eliopoulos & Ig Guara: Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers 001-004 (4 stories, completed).
Al Elwig & Allen Davis: Uncanny Avengers–Ultron Forever 01 (1 story, completed).
Warren Ellis and Jason Howard: Trees 001-012 (12 stories, continuing to read).
Warren Ellis & Company: Injection 001–004 (4 stories, continuing to read). Transmetropolitan 001-018; I Hate It Here (19 stories, continuing to read).
Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski: Copperhead 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Matt Fraction, David Aja, Matt Hollingsworth and Others: Hawkeye 001-022; Hawkeye Annual 001; Hawkeye Bundle Exclusive (24 stories, series completed) (and then again, the whole thing through, because it is that good).
Neil Gaiman & J.H. Williams III: The Sandman—Overture 001-003 (3 stories, continuing to read).
Kieron Gillen & Salvador Larroca: Darth Vader 001-008 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Jonathan Hickman & Company: Avengers (2012-2015) 001-020 (20 stories, continuing to read).
Sam Humphries & Ed McGuinness: Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha 001 ("cross title" story) (2 times, 1 story, completed). Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega 001 ("cross title" story) (1 story, completed).
Sam Humphries and Alti Firmansyah: Star Lord and Kitty Pryde 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Sam Humphries & Divers Hands: Legendary Star-Lord 001-011 (11 stories, continuing to read).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Zoran Janjetov: Before the Incal 001-006 (6 stories, completed).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Moebius: The Incal 001-006 (6 stories, completed).
Antony Johnston & Justin Greenwood: The Fuse 001-013 (13 stories, continuing to read).
Antony Johnston & Christopher Mitten: Wasteland 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Justin Jordan & Ariela Kristantina: Deep State 001-005 (5 stories, completed?)
John Kovalic & Company: Munchkin 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Jason Latour & Robbi Rodriquez: Spider Gwen 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: Avengers 001-012 (includes "1.5") (13 stories, continuing to read).
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: Fantastic Four 019-025 (7 stories, continuing to read).
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: Uncanny X-Men 031-037 (11 stories, including some re-reads, continuing to read).
Jeff Lemire & Ramon Perez: All-New Hawkeye 001–004 (4 stories, continuing to read).
Jeff Loveness & Brian Kesinger: Groot 001–005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
David Mandel & Michael Walsh: Hank Johnson—Agent of Hydra 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Erik Mona & Tom Garcia: Pathfinder Origins 001 (1 story, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
Erik Mona & Leandro Oliveira: Pathfinder Origins 006 (1 story, mini-series completed; multiple author and artist teams).
James Pearson and Roland Bird: Heart of War (1 story, completed until second half comes out).
Greg Rucka & Company: Cyclops 001-012 (12 stories, continuing to read).
Wesley Schneider & Tom Garcia: Pathfinder Origins 003, 005 (2 stories, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
Charles Soule & Alex Maleev: Lando 001–003 (3 stories, continuing to read).
Eric Stephenson and Simon Gane: They're Not Like Us 001-002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
James Sutter & Leandro Oliveira: Pathfinder Origins 004 (1 story, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
James Sutter & Kevin Stokes: Pathfinder Origins 001–002 (2 stories, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
Robbie Thompson & Stacey Lee: Silk 001-006 (6 stories, continuing to read).
Brian K. Vaughn & Co.: Paper Girls 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Mark Waid and Carlos Pacheco: S.H.I.E.L.D. Issues 001–011 (11 stories, continuing to read).
Mark Waid and Terry Dodson: Princess Leia 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Greg Weisman & Pepe Larraz: Kanan—The Last Padwan 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona: Ms. Marvel Issues 001-019 (19 stories, continuing to read).
Skottie Young, Jake Parker & Filpe Andrade: Rocket Racooon 004-011 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Chip Zdarsky & Joe Quinones: Howard the Duck 001–005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Jim Zub and Max Dunbar: Dungeons & Dragons: Legends of Baldur's Gate 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Jim Zub and Steven Cummings: Wayward 001-010 (10 stories, continuing to read).
Periodicals:
Locus: October 2015 (4 entries).
Number of stories read: 800 (out of 365) as of December 14, 2015.
Stories/Collections:
Robert W. Chambers: The Yellow Sign and Other Stories—The Complete Weird Tales of Robert W. Chambers [made up of: Introduction (2014 reads) (S.T. Joshi); The King in Yellow—The Repairer of Reputations; The Mask; In the Court of the Dragon; The Yellow Sign; (2015 reads) The Demoiselle D'Ys; The Prophet's Paradise; The Maker of Moons—The Maker of Moons; A Pleasant Evening; The Mystery of Choice—The Purple Emperor; Pompe Funebre; The Messenger; The White Shadow; Passeur; The Key to Grief; In Search of the Unknown—The Harbor-Master; The Spirit of the North; The Ux-Skin; The Sphyx; The Thermosaurus; The Pythagoreans; The Tracer of Lost Persons—Excerpts, Chapter 17; Chapter 18; Chapter 19; Chapter 20; The Tree of Heaven—The Carpet of Belshazzar; The Sign of Venus; The Case of Mr. Helmer; The Bridal Pair; Out of the Depths; Police!—Preface; The Third Eye; The Immortal; The Ladies of the Lake; One Over; Un Peu D'Amour; The Eggs of the Silver Moon.] (05 stories read in 2014, continuing to read).
G.K. Chesterton: The Complete Father Brown Mysteries: (2014 reads) The Innocence of Father Brown: The Blue Cross; The Secret Garden; The Queer Feet; (2015 reads) The Flying Stars; The Invisible Man; The Honour of Israel Gow; The Wrong Shape; The Sins of Prince Saradine; The Hammer of God; The Eye of Apollo; The Sign of the Broken Sword; The Three Tools of Death. The Wisdom of Father Brown: The Absence of Mr. Glass; The Paradise of Thieves; The Duel of Dr. Hirsch; The Man in the Passage; The Mistake of the Machine; The Head of Caesar; The Purple Wig; The Perishing of the Pendragons; The God of the Gongs; The Salad of Colonel Cray; The Strange Crime of John Boulnois; The Fairy Tale of Father Brown. The Donnington Affair. The Incredulity of Father Brown: The Resurrection of Father Brown; The Arrow of Heaven; The Oracle of the Dog; The Miracle of Moon Crescent; The Curse of the Golden Cross; The Dagger with Wings; The Doom of the Darnaways; The Ghost of Gideon Wise. The Secret of Father Brown: The Secret of Father Brown; The Mirror of the Magistrate; The Man with Two Beards; The Song of the Flying Fish; The Vanishing of Vaudrey; The Worst Crime in the World; The Red Moon of Meru; The Chief Mourner of Marne. The Scandal of Father Brown: The Scandal of Father Brown; The Quick One; The Blast of the Book; The Green Man; The Pursuit of Mr. Blue; The Crime of the Communist; The Point of a Pin; The Insoluble Problem; The Vampire of the Village. The Mask of Midas (3 stories read in 2014, continuing to read).
Samuel R. Delany: On Writing An Introduction—Emblems of Talent; Part I—Seven Essays (Teaching Writing; Thickening the Plot; Characters; On Pure Storytelling; Of Doubts and Dreams; After Almost No Time at All the String on Which He Had Been Pulling Came Apart into Two Separate Pieces So Quickly He Hardly Realized It Had Snapped, or: Reflections on "The Beach Fire"; Some Notes for the Intermediate and Advanced Creative Writing Student); Part II—Four Letters (December 10, 2001; October 28, 1997; March 1996; July 26, 1996); Part III—Five Interviews (A Para-doxa Interview—Experimental Writing/Texts & Questions; An American Literary History Interview—The Situation of American Writing Today; A Poetry Newsletter Interview—A Silent Interview; A Black Clock Interview; A Para-doxa Interview—Inside and Outside the Canon; ; Appendix—Nits, Nips, Tucks, and Tips (1 essay read in 2014, 2 essays read in 2015, continuing to read).
Oliver Dickinson: The Complete Griselda [made up of: Oliver and Me (Greg Stafford); Introduction; Points of View; Lucky Eddi; Griselda Gets Her Men; Shamus Gets a Case; A Tasty Morsel; All in the Family; The Great Chart Caper; Hanufa's Little Sister; Down Among the Dead Men; Good Advice; Wolfhead's Story; Carving Up Carver; Devil's Play; Bad Example; Holding the Baby; This Love Business; Serious Money; Worlds Apart; Red Hot; Happy Anniversary; First Class Protection; The Hero Bit; The Matchmaker; Griselda the Hero??; The Trouble with Nephews; Interfering Uncles Have Their Uses (Michael O'Brien); Different Shades of Red; Respect; The Cradlesnatchers] (31 stories, collection completed).
Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Short Stories, Volume 01: (2014 reads) Introduction; A Study in Scarlet; The Sign of Four; A Scandal in Bohemia; The Red-Headed League; A Case of Identity; The Boscombe Valley Mystery; The Five Orange Pips; The Man with the Twisted Lip; The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle; The Adventure of the Speckled Band; The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb; The Adventure of the Nobel Bachelor; The Adventure of the Copper Beeches; Silver Blaze; The Yellow Face; The Stock-Broker's Clerk; The "Gloria Scott"; The Musgrave Ritual; The Reigate Puzzle; The Crooked Man; The Resident Patient; The Greek Interpreter; The Naval Treaty; The Final Problem; The Adventure of the Empty House; The Adventure of the Norwood Builder; The Adventure of the Dancing Men; The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist; The Adventure of the Priory School; The Adventure of Black Peter; The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton; The Adventure of the Six Napoleons; (2015 reads) The Adventure of the Three Students; The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez; The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter; The Adventure of the Second Stain; The Hound of the Baskervilles (novel); The Valley of Fear (novel); Preface to His Last Bow; The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge; The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles; The Tiger of San Pedro; The Adventure of the Cardboard Box; The Adventure of the Red Circle; The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans; The Adventure of the Dying Detective; The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax; The Adventure of the Devil's Foot; His Last Bow; Preface to The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes; The Adventure of the Illustrious Client; The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier; The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone; The Adventure of the Three Gables; The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire; The Adventure of the Three Garridebs; The Problem of Thor Bridge; The Adventure of the Creeping Man; The Adventure of the Lion's Mane; The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger; The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place; The Adventure of the Retired Colourman (33 stories read in 2014, 30 stories in 2015, collection completed) (omnibus review here).
Gardner Dozois (editor): The Year's Best Science Fiction (Thirty-Second Collection) [Made up of: Summation: 2015 (Gardner Dozois); The Fifth Dragon (Ian McDonald); The Rider (Jerome Cigut); The Days of the War, As Red as Blood, As Dark as Bile (Aliette Bodard); The Burial of Sir John Mawe at Cassini (Chaz Brenchley); The Regular (Ken Liu); The Woman from the Ocean (Karl Bunker); Shooting the Apocalypse (Paolo Bacigalupi); Weather (Susan Palwick); The Hand is Quicker (Elizabeth Bear); The Man Who Sold the Moon (Cory Doctorow); Vladimir Chong Chooses to Die (Lavie Tidhar); Beside the Damned River (D.J. Cockburn); The Colonel (Peter Watts); Entanglement (Vandana Singh); White Curtain (Pavel Amnuel, translated by Anatoly Belilovsky); Slipping (Lauren Beukes); Passage of Earth (Michael Swanwick); Amicae Aeternum (Ellen Klages); In Babelsberg (Alastair Reynolds); Sadness (Timons Esaias); West to East (Jay Lake); Grand Jete (The Great Leap) (Rachel Swirsky); Covenant (Elizabeth Bear); Jubilee (Karl Schroeder); The Pirates of Del Mar de Plastico (Pirates of the Plastic Ocean) (Paul Graham Raven); Red Lights, and Rain (Gareth L. Powell); Coma Kings (Jessica Barber); The Prodigal Son (Allen M. Steele); God Decay (Rich Larson); Blood Wedding (Robert Reed); The Long Haul, From the "Annals of Transportation, The Pacific Monthly", May 2009 (Ken Liu); Shadow Flock (Greg Egan); Thing and Sick (Adam Roberts); Communion (Mary Anne Mohanraj); Someday (James Patrick Kelly); Yesterday's Kin (Nancy Kress); Honorable Mentions: 2014 (Gardner Dozois) (38 stories, collection completed)].
Umberto Eco: How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays. Made up of: Preface; How to Travel with a Salmon; How to Replace a Driver's License; How to Eat in Flight; How to Go Through Customs; How to Travel on American Trains; How to Take Intelligent Vacations; How to Use the Taxi Driver; How Not to Talk About Soccer; How to Use the Coffeepot from Hell; How to React to Familiar Faces; How to Be a TV Host; How Not to Know the Time; Stars and Stripes; Conversation in Babylon; On the Impossibility of Drawing a Map of the Empire to Scale of 1 to 1; How to Eat Ice Cream; How It Begins, and How it Ends; How to Justify a Private Library; How to Compile an Inventory; How to Spend Time; How to Buy Gadgets; How to Follow Instructions; How to Become a Knight of Malta; How to Deal with Telegrams; How Not to Use the Fax Machine; How Not to Use the Cellular Phone; Three Owls on a Chest of Drawers; Editorial Revision; Sequels; How to Use Suspension Points; How to Write an Introduction; How to Write an Introduction to an Art Catalogue; How to Set the Record Straight; How to Watch Out for Widows; How to Organize a Public Library; How to Speak of Animals; How to Play Indians; How to Recognize a Porn Movie; How to Avoid Contagious Diseases; How to Choose a Remunerative Profession; The Miracle of San Baudolino (41 stories, collection completed).
Warren Ellis: Cunning Plans—Talks by Warren Ellis. Made up of: Introduction; How to See the Future; A Cunning Plan; Mogo; The Near Future of Pop; Yaa; The Language of Magic; Some Bleak Circus; Addendum—Sometimes the Future is Bullshit (9 stories, completed).
Ruthanna Emrys: The Litany of Earth (1 story, completed).
Homer: Circe and the Cyclops (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Simon Ings and Sumit Paul-Choudhury (editors): Arc: Volume 01 [Made up of: (2014 reads) Introduction (Simon Ings and Sumit Paul-Choudhury); The Object of Posterity's Scorn (Bruce Sterling); A Journey to Amasia (Stephen Baxter); Alien Evasion (China Mieville); Bearlift from Maddaddam, A Novel in Progress (Margaret Atwood); Breaking the Fall (Paul Graham Raven); In Autotelia (M. John Harrison); Sir John Schorne's Devil (Simon Ings); Whta Hpapnes fi it Atclluy Wroks? (Sumit Paul-Choudhury); Topsight (Hannu Rajaniemi); Making the Future (Justin Mullins); We Want Your Futures (Justin Mullins); Three Surprising Theories About Science Fiction (Adam Roberts); Three Ways to Play the Future (Leigh Alexander); Three Sorties on Dreamland (Simon Pummell); The Water Thief (Alastair Reynolds) (1 entry completed in 2014; continuing to read.)
Usman T. Malik: The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family (1 story, completed).
Henry Mayhew: Of Street Piemen (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Larry Niven (editor): Man-Kzin Wars: Man-Kzin Wars 25th Anniversary Edition (Made up of Introduction (Larry Niven); Introduction (Stephen Hickman); The Warriors (Larry Niven); Iron (Poul Anderson); Cathouse (Dean Ing) (3 stories in 2014, continuing to read).
Larry Niven (editor): The Best of All Possible Wars (Made up of Introduction (Larry Niven); The Warriors (Larry Niven) (re-read for the previous collection); Madness Has Its Place (Larry Niven); The Man Who Would Be Kzin (Greg Bear & S.M. Stirling); In the Hall of the Mountain King (Jerry Pournelle & S.M. Stirling) (3 stories in 2014, continuing to read).
Wilfred Owen: Anthem for Doomed Youth (1 story, completed).
Samuel Pepys: The Great Fire of London (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
John Scalzi: After the Coup (1 story, completed).
Clifford D. Simak: Over the River and Through the Woods (Made up of: Introduction (Poul Anderson); A Death in the House; The Big Front Yard; Good Night, Mr. James; Dusty Zebra; Neighbor; Over the River and Through the Woods; Construction Shack; The Grotto of the Dancing Deer (1 story, continuing to read).
Clifford D. Simak: Skirmish—The Great Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak (Made up of: Foreword; Huddling Place; Desertion; Skirmish; Good Night, Mr. James; The Sitters; The Big Front Yard; All the Traps of Earth; The Thing in the Stone; The Autumn Land; The Ghost of a Model T (2 stories, continuing to read).
Patrick A. Smith (editor): Conversations with William Gibson [made up of: (2014 reads) Introduction by P.A. Smith; Chronology; Eye to Eye: An Interview with William Gibson, conducted by Takayuki Tatsumi; (2015 reads) An Interview with William Gibson/1986, conducted by Larry McCaffery/1986; Conversation with William Gibson, conducted by Timothy Leary/1989; Queen Victoria's Personal Spook, Psychic Legbreakers, Snakes, and Catfood: An Interview with William Gibson and Tom Maddox, conducted by Darren Wershler-Henry/1989; "The Charisma Leak": A Conversation with William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, conducted by Daniel Fischlin, Veronica Hollinger and Andrew Taylor/1991; An Interview with William Gibson: Virtual Light Tour, conducted by Andy Diggle and Iain Ball/1993; William Gibson Interview, conducted by Giuseppe Salza/1994; The Man Who Named Cyberspace: An Interview with William Gibson, conducted by Scott Rosenberg/1994; William Gibson, Webmaster, conducted by Scott Rosenberg/1996; William Gibson Interview, conducted by Andy Diggle/1997; William Gibson Interview, conducted by Edo van Belkom/1997; An Interview with William Gibson, conducted by Jon Courtenay Grimwood/1998; William Gibson: Waiting for the Man, conducted by Antony Johnston/1999; William Gibson Interview Transcript, conducted by Cory Doctorow/1999; Redefining William Gibson, conducted by Donna McMahon/2003; William Gibson: The Father of Cyberpunk, conducted by Alex Dueben/2007; Futuristic Fantasy Lives Now for Author William Gibson, conducted by Mary Ann Gwinn/2007; Space to Think, conducted by Tim Adams/2007; Interview: William Gibson, conducted by Noel Murray/2007; William Gibson Talks to io9 About Canada, Draft Dodging, and Godzilla, conducted by Annalee Newitz/2008; William Gibson: The Art of Fiction No. 211, conducted by David Wallace-Wells/2011; Why William Gibson Distrusts Aging Futurists' Nostalgia, conducted by John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley/2012; William Gibson: The Complete io9 Interview, conducted by Charlie Jane Anders/2012; Key Resources] (21 entries completed in 2015; 3 entries completed in 2014, collection completed).
John Scazli: After the Coup (1 story, completed).
Sophocles: Antigone (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Jonathan Strahan (editor): The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year 008 [made up of: (2014 reads) Introduction (Jonathan Strahan); Some Desperado (Joe Abercrombie); (2015 reads) Zero for Conduct (Greg Egan); Effigy Nights (Yoon Ha Lee); Rosary and Goldenstar (Geoff Ryman); The Sleeper and the Spindle (Neil Gaiman); Cave and Julia (M. John Harrison); The Herons of Mer de l'Ouest (M. Bennardo); Water (Ramez Naam); The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling (Ted Chiang); The Ink Readers of Doi Saket (Thomas Olde Heuvelt); Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls (Richard Parks); Rag and Bone (Priya Sharma); The Book Seller (Lavie Tidhar); The Sun and I (K.J. Parker); The Promise of Space (James Patrick Kelly); The Master Conjurer (Charlie Jane Anders); The Pilgrim and the Angel (E. Lily Yu); Entangled (Ian R. Macleod); Fade to Gold (Benjanun Sriduangkaew); Selkie Stories are for Losers (Sofia Samatar); In Metal, In Bone (An Owomoyela); Kormack the Lucky (Eleanor Arnason); Sing (Karin Tidbeck); Social Services (Madeline Ashby); The Road of Needles (Caitlin R. Kiernan); Mystic Falls (Robert Reed); The Queen of Night's Aria (Ian McDonald); The Irish Astronaut (Val Nolan)] (2 stories, continuing to read).
Unknown (A. K. Ramanujan, Translator): Speaking of Siva (Penguin Little Black Classics) (1 story, completed).
Jack Vance: The Eyes of the Overworld (made up of: The Overworld, Cil, The Mountains of Magnatz; The Sorcerer Pharesm; The Pilgrims; The Cave in the Forest; The Manse of Iucounu). [Cugel's Saga (novel).]
Jack Vance: Rhilalto the Marvelous (made up of: Foreword; The Murthe; Fader's Waft; Morreion).
Jack Williamson: With Folded Hands.
Graphic Novels (Installments):
Jason Aaron & John Cassaday: Star Wars (2015) 001-008 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman: Thor (2014) 001-008; Thor (2014 Annual 001 (9 stories, continuing to read).
Jason Aaron & Chris Sprouse: Thors 001–003 (3 stories, continuing to read).
Dan Abnett & Company: Annihilation Omnibus 001; Omnibus 002; Omnibus 003 (24 stories, completed).
John Allison & Lissa Treiman: Giant Days 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Amy Lily Amirpour and Michael DeWeese: A Girl Who Walks Home Alone at Night Issue 001—002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
Corinna Sara Bechko, Gabrield Hardman, Jordan Boyd: Invisible Republic 001-002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
Brian Michael Bendis & Company: All-New X-Men 001-041; X-Men: Gold; All-New X-Men Annual 1; All-New X-Men Special 1 (44 stories continuing to read). Guardians of the Galaxy (2013+) 001-003, 0.1, Tomorrow's Avengers 001, 004-010, 011.Now, 012-027, Annual 001, Most Wanted 001 (40 stories, continuing to read). Guardians of the Galaxy Team-Up 001-008 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Brian Michael Bendis & Nick Bradshaw: FCBD—Guardians of the Galaxy (1 story, completed).
Marguerite Bennett, Kieron Gillen & Co.; Angela 1602 001–004 (4 stories, completed). Angela: Asgard's Assassin 001–006 (6 stories, completed).
Marguerite Bennett, G. Willow Wilson & Co.; A-Force 001-005 (5 stories, completed).
Ed Brisson & Damian Couceiro: Cluster 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Joe Caramagna & Adam Archer: FCBD—Rocket Raccoon (1 story, completed).
Joe Caramagna & Company: Avengers VS 001-004 (4 stories, continuing to read).
John Carpenter, Eric Powell & Brian Churilla: Big Trouble in Little China 001-014 (14 stories, continuing to read).
Paul Cornell & Ryan Kelly; Saucer Country 001-002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
Kelly Sue DeConnick & David Lopez: Captain Marvel 001-014 (14 stories, continuing to read). Captain Marvel the Carol Corps 001-004 (4 stories, continuing to read).
Divers Hands (Many Hands!): The Dreaming 001–012 (12 stories, continuing to read).
Gerry Duggan & Baldeon: Nova 028 (1 story, completed).
Gerry Duggan & Matteo Lolli: Deadpool vs. Hawkeye 000-004 (5 stories, completed).
Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto: Black Widow Issues 001-020 (20 stories, continuing to read).
Nathan Edmondson & Mike Perkins: Deathlok 001–006 (6 stories, continuing to read).
Chris Eliopoulos & Ig Guara: Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers 001-004 (4 stories, completed).
Al Elwig & Allen Davis: Uncanny Avengers–Ultron Forever 01 (1 story, completed).
Warren Ellis and Jason Howard: Trees 001-012 (12 stories, continuing to read).
Warren Ellis & Company: Injection 001–004 (4 stories, continuing to read). Transmetropolitan 001-018; I Hate It Here (19 stories, continuing to read).
Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski: Copperhead 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Matt Fraction, David Aja, Matt Hollingsworth and Others: Hawkeye 001-022; Hawkeye Annual 001; Hawkeye Bundle Exclusive (24 stories, series completed) (and then again, the whole thing through, because it is that good).
Neil Gaiman & J.H. Williams III: The Sandman—Overture 001-003 (3 stories, continuing to read).
Kieron Gillen & Salvador Larroca: Darth Vader 001-008 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Jonathan Hickman & Company: Avengers (2012-2015) 001-020 (20 stories, continuing to read).
Sam Humphries & Ed McGuinness: Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha 001 ("cross title" story) (2 times, 1 story, completed). Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega 001 ("cross title" story) (1 story, completed).
Sam Humphries and Alti Firmansyah: Star Lord and Kitty Pryde 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Sam Humphries & Divers Hands: Legendary Star-Lord 001-011 (11 stories, continuing to read).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Zoran Janjetov: Before the Incal 001-006 (6 stories, completed).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Moebius: The Incal 001-006 (6 stories, completed).
Antony Johnston & Justin Greenwood: The Fuse 001-013 (13 stories, continuing to read).
Antony Johnston & Christopher Mitten: Wasteland 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Justin Jordan & Ariela Kristantina: Deep State 001-005 (5 stories, completed?)
John Kovalic & Company: Munchkin 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Jason Latour & Robbi Rodriquez: Spider Gwen 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: Avengers 001-012 (includes "1.5") (13 stories, continuing to read).
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: Fantastic Four 019-025 (7 stories, continuing to read).
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: Uncanny X-Men 031-037 (11 stories, including some re-reads, continuing to read).
Jeff Lemire & Ramon Perez: All-New Hawkeye 001–004 (4 stories, continuing to read).
Jeff Loveness & Brian Kesinger: Groot 001–005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
David Mandel & Michael Walsh: Hank Johnson—Agent of Hydra 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Erik Mona & Tom Garcia: Pathfinder Origins 001 (1 story, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
Erik Mona & Leandro Oliveira: Pathfinder Origins 006 (1 story, mini-series completed; multiple author and artist teams).
James Pearson and Roland Bird: Heart of War (1 story, completed until second half comes out).
Greg Rucka & Company: Cyclops 001-012 (12 stories, continuing to read).
Wesley Schneider & Tom Garcia: Pathfinder Origins 003, 005 (2 stories, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
Charles Soule & Alex Maleev: Lando 001–003 (3 stories, continuing to read).
Eric Stephenson and Simon Gane: They're Not Like Us 001-002 (2 stories, continuing to read).
James Sutter & Leandro Oliveira: Pathfinder Origins 004 (1 story, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
James Sutter & Kevin Stokes: Pathfinder Origins 001–002 (2 stories, continuing to read; multiple author and artist teams).
Robbie Thompson & Stacey Lee: Silk 001-006 (6 stories, continuing to read).
Brian K. Vaughn & Co.: Paper Girls 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Mark Waid and Terry Dodson: Princess Leia 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Greg Weisman & Pepe Larraz: Kanan—The Last Padwan 001-005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona: Ms. Marvel Issues 001-019 (19 stories, continuing to read).
Skottie Young, Jake Parker & Filpe Andrade: Rocket Racooon 004-011 (8 stories, continuing to read).
Chip Zdarsky & Joe Quinones: Howard the Duck 001–005 (5 stories, continuing to read).
Jim Zub and Max Dunbar: Dungeons & Dragons: Legends of Baldur's Gate 001 (1 story, continuing to read).
Jim Zub and Steven Cummings: Wayward 001-010 (10 stories, continuing to read).
Periodicals:
Locus: October 2015 (4 entries).
2015: The Year in Books
As with every year past for many years, here is a compiled list of books read for the year. I may not review everything I read, but I try to track it all and at least acknowledge it here.
Books read will come in many formats: serialized in magazines (less often than when I was young), eBooks, pBooks (paper) and aBooks (audio) (yes, format doesn't matter, it all counts).
Number of books read (as of December 28, 2015): 154.
Books read:
Peter Ackroyd: Venice—Pure City (aBook) (August).
Katherine Addison: The Goblin Emperor (aBook) (April).
Buzz Aldrin & Leonard David: Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration (aBook) July).
Poul Anderson: The Makeshift Rocket (eBook) (December).
Brian Michael Bendis & Divers Hands: Age of Ultron—The Complete Event (review here) (eBook) (February). All-New X-Men 01—Yesterday's X-Men (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 02—Here to Stay (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 03—Out of Their Depth (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 04—All-Different (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 05—One Down (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 06—The Ultimate Adventure (eBook) (April). Guardians of the Galaxy 01—Cosmic Avengers (eBook) (May). Guardians of the Galaxy 02—Angela (eBook) (May).
Ben Bova: Power Play (pBook) (ARC) (June).
Berkeley Breathed: Bloom County Digital Library 01 (eBook) (November)
Bill Bryson: A Walk in the Woods (combined review here) (eBook) (June).
Cullen Bunn & Divers Hands: Age of Ultron Companion (eBook) (April).
Jim Butcher: The Dresden Files 01—Storm Front (aBook) (January).
Allen B. Clark: Valor in Vietnam—Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice: 1963–1977 (eBook and aBook) (June).
Arthur C. Clarke: Islands in the Sky (eBook) (August). Dolphin Island (eBook) (August).
Glen Cook: The Chronicles of the Black Company 01—The Black Company (aBook) (July).
James S.A. Corey: Expanse 01—Leviathan Wakes (aBook) (April). Expanse 05—Nemesis Games (eBook) (April).
Oliver Dickinson: The Complete Dickinson (pBook) (September).
Thomas Disch: Camp Concentration (pBook) (February).
Cory Doctorow: Eastern Standard Tribe (aBook) (October).
Gardner Dozois (editor): The Year's Best Science Fiction (Thirty-Second Collection) (pBook) (July).
Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet (eBook) (October). The Sign of the Four (eBook) (October). The Hound of the Baskervilles (eBook) (October). The Valley of Fear (eBook) (November). Sherlock Holmes—The Complete Complete Novels and Short Stories (eBook) (November) (omnibus review here).
Gerry Duggan & Phil Noto: Infinite Horizon—Collected Edition (eBook) (March).
Umberto Eco: How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays (eBook) (July). Foucault's Pendulum (eBook) (July).
Warren Ellis: Cunning Plans (eBook) (June).
Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell: The Sandman—The Dream Hunters (eBook) (November).
Neil Gaiman & Divers Hands: Sandman 01—Preludes & Nocturnes (eBook) (December). Sandman 02—The Doll's House (eBook) (December). Sandman 03—Dream Country (eBook) (December). Sandman 04—Season of Mists (eBook) (December). Sandman 05—A Game of You (eBook) (December). Sandman 06—Fables and Reflections (eBook) (December). Sandman 07—Brief Lives (eBook) (December). Sandman 08—World's End (eBook) (December). Sandman 09—The Kindly Ones (eBook) (December). Sandman 10—The Wake (eBook) (December).
Charles E. Gannon: Caine Riordan 02—Fire with Fire (aBook) (May).
Jean Giraud (Moebius): Arzach (eBook) (March). Escale Sur Pharagonescia (eBook) (March). La Citadelle Aveugle (eBook) (March). The Long Tomorrow (eBook) (March). Les Vacances Du Major (eBook) (March). Le Dandard Fou (eBook) (March). L'Homme Du Ciguri (eBook) (March). La Garage Hermetique (eBook) (March).
Chris Hadfield: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything (aBook) (July).
Herodotus & Debra Hamel (editor and "personal assistant): The Twitter Herodotus (eBook) (January).
Graham Holliday: Eating Vietnam (pBook) (May).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Zoran Janjetov: Before the Incal (eBook) (August).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Moebius: The Incal (eBook) (August). The Eyes of a Cat (eBook) (November).
Stephen King: On Writing (aBook) (January).
Michael Lee Lanning: The Only War We Had—A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (aBook) (June). Vietnam: 1969–1970—A Company Commander's Journal (aBook) (June).
Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (aBook) (October).
Ann Leckie: Imperial Radach 02—Imperial Sword (aBook) (June).
Fritz Leiber: The Big Time (aBook) (August).
Cixin Liu: The Three-Body Problem (aBook and eBook) (February).
Don Lomax: Vietnam Journal Book 001—Indian Country (eBook) (February).
Jim McCann: Hawkeye & Mockingbird—Ghosts (eBook) (April).
Jack McDevitt: Alex Benedict 01—A Talent for War (aBook) (March). Alex Benedict 07—Coming Home (aBook) (June).
Mike Mignola & Company: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 01 (pBook) (April). B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 02 (pBook) (May). B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 03 (pBook) (May). B.P.R.D. 04—A Plague of Frogs 04 (pBook) (May). Hellboy 01—Seed of Destruction (eBook) (July). Hellboy 02—Wake the Devil (eBook) (July). Hellboy 03—The Chained Coffin and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 04—The Right Hand of Doom (eBook) (July). Hellboy 05—Conqueror Worm (eBook) (July). Hellboy 06—Strange Places (eBook) (July). Hellboy 07—The Troll Witch and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 08—Darkness Calls (eBook) (July). Hellboy 09—The Wild Hunt (eBook) (July). Hellboy 10—The Crooked Man and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 11—The Bride of Hell and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 12—The Storm and the Fury (eBook) (July). The Art of Hellboy (eBook) (July). Hellboy—The First 20 Years (eBook) (August). Hellboy—Weird Tales (eBook) (August). Hellboy—The Midnight Circus (eBook) (August). Hellboy—House of the Living Dead (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 01—The Drowning (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 02—The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 03—Dark and Terrible and The New Race of Man (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 04—The Shape of Things to Come (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 05—Sacred Places (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 06—A Darkness So Great (eBook) (August). Witchfinder 01—In the Service of Angels (eBook) (August). Witchfinder 02—Lost and Gone Forever (eBook) (August). Witchfinder 03—The Mysteries of Unland (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 01—New World (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 02—Gods and Monsters (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 03—Russia (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 04—The Devil's Engine and The Long Death (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 05—The Pickens County Horror & Others (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 06—The Return of the Master (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 07—A Cold Day in Hell (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 08—Lake of Fire (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 09—The Reign of the Black Flame (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 10—The Devil's Wings (eBook) (August).
David Miller: AWOL on the Appalachian Trail (combined review here) (eBook) (January).
Randall Munroe: XKCD—Volume 0 (pBook) (December).
Terry Pratchett: The Color of Magic (eBook) (July). The Light Fantastic (eBook) (July).
Alastair Reynolds: Poseidon's Children 01—Blue Remembered Earth (aBook) (July).
J.W. Rinzler & Company: The Star Wars (review here) (eBook) (March).
Greg Rucka: Cyclops 01—Starstruck (eBook) (May).
John Scalzi: The Human Division (aBook) (August).
E.E. "Doc" Smith: Triplanetary (pBook) (December). First Lensman (pBook) (December).
Patrick A. Smith (editor): Conversations with William Gibson (eBook and pBook) (February).
Howard Tayler: Schlock Mercenary 004—The Blackness Between (pBook) (January). Schlock Mercenary 005—The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 006—Resident Mad Scientist (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 007—Emperor Pius Dei (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 008—The Sharp End of the Stick (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 009—The Body Politic (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 010—The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse (pBook) (March).
Paul Theroux: The Tao of Travel (eBook) (January) (review here).
Jeff VanderMeer: Southern Reach 01—Annihilation (aBook) (May).
Greg van Eekhout: California Bones (eBook) (October). Pacific Fire (eBook) (October). Dragon Coast (eBook) (October).
A.E. van Vogt: The Weapon Shops of Isher (eBook) (April).
David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope: Manticore Ascendant 01—A Call to Duty (November) (aBook).
Chuck Wendig: Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey (eBook) (October). Revenge of the Penmonkey (eBook) (October). 500 Ways to Write Harder (eBook) (October). 500 Ways to Tell a Better Story (eBook) (October). 500 Ways to be a Better Writer (eBook) (October). 500 More Ways to be a Better Writer (eBook) (October). 250 Things You Should Know About Writing (eBook) (October). 30 Days in the Word Mines (eBook) (October). Zer0es (eBook) (October). Atlanta Burns (aBook) (November). Blackbirds (aBook) (November). Mockingbird (eBook) (November).
Jack Williamson: The Humanoids (eBook) (July).
Mel & Patricia Ziegler: Wild Company—The Untold Story of Banana Republic (eBook) (January) (review here).
Jim Zubkavich & Edwin Huang: Skullkickers—Treasure Trove Volume 01 (eBook) (July).
Jim Zubkavich & Company: Wayward Deluxe Book 01 (pBook) (November)
Books read (in chronological order): 001: The Tao of Travel (Theroux). 002: Wild Company—The Untold Story of Banana Republic (Ziegler). 003: Schlock Mercenary 004—The Blackness Between (Tayler). 004: The Twitter Herodotus (Herodotus and Hamel). 005: Storm Front (Butcher). 006: On Writing (King). 007: AWOL on the Appalachian Trail (David Miller). 008: Vietnam Journal 001—Indian Country (Lomax). 009: Schlock Mercenary 005—The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance (Tayler). 010: Schlock Mercenary 006—Resident Mad Scientist (Tayler). 011: Schlock Mercenary 007—Emperor Pius Dei (Tayler). 012: Schlock Mercenary 008—The Sharp End of the Stick (Tayler). 013: Camp Concentration (Disch). 014: Conversations with William Gibson (Smith). 015: Schlock Mercenary 009—The Body Politic (Tayler). 016: Age of Ultron—The Complete Event (Bendis). 017: The Three-Body Problem (Liu). 018: Alex Benedict 01—A Talent for War (McDevitt). 019: The Star Wars (Rinzler & Company). 020: Infinite Horizon—Collected Edition (Duggan & Noto). 021: Schlock Mercenary 010—The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse (Tayler). 022: Escale Sur Pharagonescia (Moebius). 023: La Citadelle Aveugle (Moebius). 024: The Long Tomorrow (Moebius). 025: Les Vacances Du Major 026: Le Dandard Fou (Moebius). 027: L'Homme Du Ciguri (Moebius). 028: La Garage Hermetique (Moebius). 029: The Weapon Shops of Isher (van Vogt). 030: Expanse 01—Leviathan Wakes (Corey). 031: Expanse 05—Nemesis Games (Corey). 032: The Goblin Emperor (Addison). 033: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 01 (Mignola). 034: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 02 (Mignola). 035: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 03 (Mignola). 036: B.P.R.D. 04—A Plague of Frogs 04 (Mignola). 037: Hawkeye & Mockingbird—Ghosts (McCann). 038: Age of Ultron Companion (Bunn). 039: All-New X-Men 01—Yesterday's X-Men (Bendis). 040: All-New X-Men 02—Here to Stay (Bendis). 041: All-New X-Men 03—Out of Their Depth (Bendis). 042: All-New X-Men 04—All-Different (Bendis). 043: All-New X-Men 05—One Down (Bendis). 044: All-New X-Men 06—The Ultimate Adventure (Bendis). 045: Cyclops 01—Starstruck (Rucka). 046: Eating Vietnam (Holliday). 047: Caine Riordan 02—Fire with Fire (Gannon). 048: Imperial Radach 02—Imperial Sword (Leckie). 049: Alex Benedict 07—Coming Home (McDevitt). 050: Southern Reach 01—Annihilation (VanderMeer). 051: Valor in Vietnam—Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice: 1963–1977 (Clark). 052: Power Play (Bova). 053: A Walk in the Woods (Bryson). 054: The Only War We Had—A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (Lanning). 055: Vietnam: 1969–1970—A Company Commander's Journal (Lanning). 056: Cunning Plans (Ellis) 057: The Color of Magic (Pratchett). 058: The Light Fantastic (Pratchett). 059: Schlock Mercenary 011—Massively Parallel (Tayler). 060: Schlock Mercenary 012—Force Multiplication (Tayler). 061: How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays (Eco). 062: The Year's Best Science Fiction (Thirty-Second Collection) (Dozois). 063: Poseidon's Children 01—Blue Remembered Earth (Reynolds). 064: Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration (Aldrin). 065: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything (Hadfield). 066: The Humanoids (Williamson). 067: Hellboy 01—Seed of Destruction (Mignola). 068: Hellboy 02—Wake the Devil (Mignola). 069: Hellboy 03—The Chained Coffin and Others (Mignola). 070: Hellboy 04—The Right Hand of Doom (Mignola). 071: Hellboy 05—Conqueror Worm (Mignola). 072: Foucault's Pendulum (Eco). 073: Hellboy 06—Strange Places (Mignola). 074: Hellboy 07—The Troll Witch and Others (Mignola). 075: Hellboy 08—Darkness Calls (Mignola). 076: Hellboy 09—The Wild Hunt (Mignola). 077: Hellboy 10—The Crooked Man and Others (Mignola). 078: Hellboy 11—The Bride of Hell and Others (Mignola). 079: Hellboy 12—The Storm and the Fury (Mignola). 080: Skullkickers—Treasure Trove Volume 01 (Zub & Huang). 081: The Chronicles of the Black Company 01—The Black Company (Cook). 082: The Art of Hellboy (Mignola). 083: Hellboy—The First 20 Years (Mignola). 084: Hellboy—Weird Tales (Mignola). 085: Hellboy—The Midnight Circus (Mignola). 086: Hellboy—House of the Living Dead (Mignola). 087: Abe Sapien 01—The Drowning (Mignola). 088: Abe Sapien 02—The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories (Mignola). 089: Abe Sapien 03—Dark and Terrible and The New Race of Man (Mignola). 090: Abe Sapien 04—The Shape of Things to Come (Mignola). 091: Abe Sapien 05—Sacred Places (Mignola). 092: Abe Sapien 06—A Darkness So Great (Mignola). 093: Witchfinder 01—In the Service of Angels (Mignola). 094: Witchfinder 02—Lost and Gone Forever (Mignola). 095: Witchfinder 03—The Mysteries of Unland (Mignola). 096: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 01—New World (Mignola). 097: The Human Division (Scalzi). 098: Before the Incal (Jodorowsky & Janjetov). 099: The Incal (Jodorowsky & Moebius). 100: Venice—Pure City (Ackroyd). 101: Islands in the Sky (Clarke). 102: Dolphin Island (Clarke). 103: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 02—Gods and Monsters (Mignola). 104: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 03—Russia (Mignola). 105: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 04—The Devil's Engine and The Long Death (Mignola). 106: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 05—The Pickens County Horror & Others (Mignola). 107: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 06—The Return of the Master (Mignola). 108: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 07—A Cold Day in Hell (Mignola). 109: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 08—Lake of Fire (Mignola). 110: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 09—The Reign of the Black Flame (Mignola). 111: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 10—The Devil's Wings (Mignola). 112: The Big Time (Leiber). 113: The Complete Dickinson (Dickinson). 114: California Bones (van Eekhout). 115: Pacific Fire (van Eekhout). 116: Dragon Coast (van Eekhout). 117: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Larsson). 118: Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey (Wendig). 119: Revenge of the Penmonkey. (Wendig). 120: 500 Ways to Write Harder. (Wendig). 121: 500 Ways to Tell a Better Story. (Wendig). 122: 500 Ways to be a Better Writer. (Wendig). 123: 500 More Ways to be a Better Writer. (Wendig). 124: 250 Things You Should Know About Writing. (Wendig). 125: 30 Days in the Word Mines (Wendig). 126: Eastern Standard Tribe (Doctorow). 127: Zer0es (Wendig). 128: A Study in Scarlet (Doyle). 129: The Sign of the Four (Doyle). 130: The Hound of the Baskervilles (Doyle). 131: The Valley of Fear (Doyle). 132: Atlanta Burns (Wendig). 133: Blackbirds (Wendig). 134: The Sandman—The Dream Hunters (Gaiman & Russell). 135: Mockingbird (Wendig). 136: Wayward Deluxe Book 01 (Zubkavich & Co.). 137: Bloom County Digital Library (Breathed). 138: The Eyes of a Cat (Jodorowsky & Moebius). 139: Manticore Ascendant 01—A Call to Duty (Weber, Zahn, Pope). 140: Sherlock Holmes—The Complete Novels and Short Stories (Doyle). 141: The Makeshift Rocket (Anderson). 142: XKCD—Volume 0 (Munroe). 143: Sandman 01—Preludes & Nocturnes (Gaiman). 144: Sandman 02—The Doll's House (Gaiman). 145: Sandman 03—Dream Country (Gaiman). 146: Sandman 04—Season of Mists (Gaiman). 147: Sandman 05—A Game of You (Gaiman). 148: Sandman 06—Fables and Reflections (Gaiman). 149 Sandman 07—Brief Lives (Gaiman). 150: Sandman 08—World's End (Gaiman). 151: Sandman 09—The Kindly Ones (Gaiman). 152: Sandman 10—The Wake (Gaiman). 153: Triplanetary (Smith). 154: First Lensman (Smith).
Paper Books: 019.
Electronic Books: 102.
Audio Books: 031.
Sometimes I have swapped between multiple versions of one title, but I'm listing is as electronic or paper or audio if that's the main way I listened to it (hence the number of books in various formats is greater than the number of titles read).
Books read will come in many formats: serialized in magazines (less often than when I was young), eBooks, pBooks (paper) and aBooks (audio) (yes, format doesn't matter, it all counts).
Number of books read (as of December 28, 2015): 154.
Books read:
Peter Ackroyd: Venice—Pure City (aBook) (August).
Katherine Addison: The Goblin Emperor (aBook) (April).
Buzz Aldrin & Leonard David: Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration (aBook) July).
Poul Anderson: The Makeshift Rocket (eBook) (December).
Brian Michael Bendis & Divers Hands: Age of Ultron—The Complete Event (review here) (eBook) (February). All-New X-Men 01—Yesterday's X-Men (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 02—Here to Stay (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 03—Out of Their Depth (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 04—All-Different (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 05—One Down (eBook) (April). All-New X-Men 06—The Ultimate Adventure (eBook) (April). Guardians of the Galaxy 01—Cosmic Avengers (eBook) (May). Guardians of the Galaxy 02—Angela (eBook) (May).
Ben Bova: Power Play (pBook) (ARC) (June).
Berkeley Breathed: Bloom County Digital Library 01 (eBook) (November)
Bill Bryson: A Walk in the Woods (combined review here) (eBook) (June).
Cullen Bunn & Divers Hands: Age of Ultron Companion (eBook) (April).
Jim Butcher: The Dresden Files 01—Storm Front (aBook) (January).
Allen B. Clark: Valor in Vietnam—Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice: 1963–1977 (eBook and aBook) (June).
Arthur C. Clarke: Islands in the Sky (eBook) (August). Dolphin Island (eBook) (August).
Glen Cook: The Chronicles of the Black Company 01—The Black Company (aBook) (July).
James S.A. Corey: Expanse 01—Leviathan Wakes (aBook) (April). Expanse 05—Nemesis Games (eBook) (April).
Oliver Dickinson: The Complete Dickinson (pBook) (September).
Thomas Disch: Camp Concentration (pBook) (February).
Cory Doctorow: Eastern Standard Tribe (aBook) (October).
Gardner Dozois (editor): The Year's Best Science Fiction (Thirty-Second Collection) (pBook) (July).
Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet (eBook) (October). The Sign of the Four (eBook) (October). The Hound of the Baskervilles (eBook) (October). The Valley of Fear (eBook) (November). Sherlock Holmes—The Complete Complete Novels and Short Stories (eBook) (November) (omnibus review here).
Gerry Duggan & Phil Noto: Infinite Horizon—Collected Edition (eBook) (March).
Umberto Eco: How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays (eBook) (July). Foucault's Pendulum (eBook) (July).
Warren Ellis: Cunning Plans (eBook) (June).
Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell: The Sandman—The Dream Hunters (eBook) (November).
Neil Gaiman & Divers Hands: Sandman 01—Preludes & Nocturnes (eBook) (December). Sandman 02—The Doll's House (eBook) (December). Sandman 03—Dream Country (eBook) (December). Sandman 04—Season of Mists (eBook) (December). Sandman 05—A Game of You (eBook) (December). Sandman 06—Fables and Reflections (eBook) (December). Sandman 07—Brief Lives (eBook) (December). Sandman 08—World's End (eBook) (December). Sandman 09—The Kindly Ones (eBook) (December). Sandman 10—The Wake (eBook) (December).
Charles E. Gannon: Caine Riordan 02—Fire with Fire (aBook) (May).
Jean Giraud (Moebius): Arzach (eBook) (March). Escale Sur Pharagonescia (eBook) (March). La Citadelle Aveugle (eBook) (March). The Long Tomorrow (eBook) (March). Les Vacances Du Major (eBook) (March). Le Dandard Fou (eBook) (March). L'Homme Du Ciguri (eBook) (March). La Garage Hermetique (eBook) (March).
Chris Hadfield: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything (aBook) (July).
Herodotus & Debra Hamel (editor and "personal assistant): The Twitter Herodotus (eBook) (January).
Graham Holliday: Eating Vietnam (pBook) (May).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Zoran Janjetov: Before the Incal (eBook) (August).
Alexandro Jodorowsky & Moebius: The Incal (eBook) (August). The Eyes of a Cat (eBook) (November).
Stephen King: On Writing (aBook) (January).
Michael Lee Lanning: The Only War We Had—A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (aBook) (June). Vietnam: 1969–1970—A Company Commander's Journal (aBook) (June).
Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (aBook) (October).
Ann Leckie: Imperial Radach 02—Imperial Sword (aBook) (June).
Fritz Leiber: The Big Time (aBook) (August).
Cixin Liu: The Three-Body Problem (aBook and eBook) (February).
Don Lomax: Vietnam Journal Book 001—Indian Country (eBook) (February).
Jim McCann: Hawkeye & Mockingbird—Ghosts (eBook) (April).
Jack McDevitt: Alex Benedict 01—A Talent for War (aBook) (March). Alex Benedict 07—Coming Home (aBook) (June).
Mike Mignola & Company: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 01 (pBook) (April). B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 02 (pBook) (May). B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 03 (pBook) (May). B.P.R.D. 04—A Plague of Frogs 04 (pBook) (May). Hellboy 01—Seed of Destruction (eBook) (July). Hellboy 02—Wake the Devil (eBook) (July). Hellboy 03—The Chained Coffin and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 04—The Right Hand of Doom (eBook) (July). Hellboy 05—Conqueror Worm (eBook) (July). Hellboy 06—Strange Places (eBook) (July). Hellboy 07—The Troll Witch and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 08—Darkness Calls (eBook) (July). Hellboy 09—The Wild Hunt (eBook) (July). Hellboy 10—The Crooked Man and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 11—The Bride of Hell and Others (eBook) (July). Hellboy 12—The Storm and the Fury (eBook) (July). The Art of Hellboy (eBook) (July). Hellboy—The First 20 Years (eBook) (August). Hellboy—Weird Tales (eBook) (August). Hellboy—The Midnight Circus (eBook) (August). Hellboy—House of the Living Dead (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 01—The Drowning (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 02—The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 03—Dark and Terrible and The New Race of Man (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 04—The Shape of Things to Come (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 05—Sacred Places (eBook) (August). Abe Sapien 06—A Darkness So Great (eBook) (August). Witchfinder 01—In the Service of Angels (eBook) (August). Witchfinder 02—Lost and Gone Forever (eBook) (August). Witchfinder 03—The Mysteries of Unland (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 01—New World (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 02—Gods and Monsters (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 03—Russia (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 04—The Devil's Engine and The Long Death (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 05—The Pickens County Horror & Others (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 06—The Return of the Master (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 07—A Cold Day in Hell (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 08—Lake of Fire (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 09—The Reign of the Black Flame (eBook) (August). B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 10—The Devil's Wings (eBook) (August).
David Miller: AWOL on the Appalachian Trail (combined review here) (eBook) (January).
Randall Munroe: XKCD—Volume 0 (pBook) (December).
Terry Pratchett: The Color of Magic (eBook) (July). The Light Fantastic (eBook) (July).
Alastair Reynolds: Poseidon's Children 01—Blue Remembered Earth (aBook) (July).
J.W. Rinzler & Company: The Star Wars (review here) (eBook) (March).
Greg Rucka: Cyclops 01—Starstruck (eBook) (May).
John Scalzi: The Human Division (aBook) (August).
E.E. "Doc" Smith: Triplanetary (pBook) (December). First Lensman (pBook) (December).
Patrick A. Smith (editor): Conversations with William Gibson (eBook and pBook) (February).
Howard Tayler: Schlock Mercenary 004—The Blackness Between (pBook) (January). Schlock Mercenary 005—The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 006—Resident Mad Scientist (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 007—Emperor Pius Dei (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 008—The Sharp End of the Stick (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 009—The Body Politic (pBook) (February). Schlock Mercenary 010—The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse (pBook) (March).
Paul Theroux: The Tao of Travel (eBook) (January) (review here).
Jeff VanderMeer: Southern Reach 01—Annihilation (aBook) (May).
Greg van Eekhout: California Bones (eBook) (October). Pacific Fire (eBook) (October). Dragon Coast (eBook) (October).
A.E. van Vogt: The Weapon Shops of Isher (eBook) (April).
David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope: Manticore Ascendant 01—A Call to Duty (November) (aBook).
Chuck Wendig: Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey (eBook) (October). Revenge of the Penmonkey (eBook) (October). 500 Ways to Write Harder (eBook) (October). 500 Ways to Tell a Better Story (eBook) (October). 500 Ways to be a Better Writer (eBook) (October). 500 More Ways to be a Better Writer (eBook) (October). 250 Things You Should Know About Writing (eBook) (October). 30 Days in the Word Mines (eBook) (October). Zer0es (eBook) (October). Atlanta Burns (aBook) (November). Blackbirds (aBook) (November). Mockingbird (eBook) (November).
Jack Williamson: The Humanoids (eBook) (July).
Mel & Patricia Ziegler: Wild Company—The Untold Story of Banana Republic (eBook) (January) (review here).
Jim Zubkavich & Edwin Huang: Skullkickers—Treasure Trove Volume 01 (eBook) (July).
Jim Zubkavich & Company: Wayward Deluxe Book 01 (pBook) (November)
Books read (in chronological order): 001: The Tao of Travel (Theroux). 002: Wild Company—The Untold Story of Banana Republic (Ziegler). 003: Schlock Mercenary 004—The Blackness Between (Tayler). 004: The Twitter Herodotus (Herodotus and Hamel). 005: Storm Front (Butcher). 006: On Writing (King). 007: AWOL on the Appalachian Trail (David Miller). 008: Vietnam Journal 001—Indian Country (Lomax). 009: Schlock Mercenary 005—The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance (Tayler). 010: Schlock Mercenary 006—Resident Mad Scientist (Tayler). 011: Schlock Mercenary 007—Emperor Pius Dei (Tayler). 012: Schlock Mercenary 008—The Sharp End of the Stick (Tayler). 013: Camp Concentration (Disch). 014: Conversations with William Gibson (Smith). 015: Schlock Mercenary 009—The Body Politic (Tayler). 016: Age of Ultron—The Complete Event (Bendis). 017: The Three-Body Problem (Liu). 018: Alex Benedict 01—A Talent for War (McDevitt). 019: The Star Wars (Rinzler & Company). 020: Infinite Horizon—Collected Edition (Duggan & Noto). 021: Schlock Mercenary 010—The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse (Tayler). 022: Escale Sur Pharagonescia (Moebius). 023: La Citadelle Aveugle (Moebius). 024: The Long Tomorrow (Moebius). 025: Les Vacances Du Major 026: Le Dandard Fou (Moebius). 027: L'Homme Du Ciguri (Moebius). 028: La Garage Hermetique (Moebius). 029: The Weapon Shops of Isher (van Vogt). 030: Expanse 01—Leviathan Wakes (Corey). 031: Expanse 05—Nemesis Games (Corey). 032: The Goblin Emperor (Addison). 033: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 01 (Mignola). 034: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 02 (Mignola). 035: B.P.R.D.—A Plague of Frogs 03 (Mignola). 036: B.P.R.D. 04—A Plague of Frogs 04 (Mignola). 037: Hawkeye & Mockingbird—Ghosts (McCann). 038: Age of Ultron Companion (Bunn). 039: All-New X-Men 01—Yesterday's X-Men (Bendis). 040: All-New X-Men 02—Here to Stay (Bendis). 041: All-New X-Men 03—Out of Their Depth (Bendis). 042: All-New X-Men 04—All-Different (Bendis). 043: All-New X-Men 05—One Down (Bendis). 044: All-New X-Men 06—The Ultimate Adventure (Bendis). 045: Cyclops 01—Starstruck (Rucka). 046: Eating Vietnam (Holliday). 047: Caine Riordan 02—Fire with Fire (Gannon). 048: Imperial Radach 02—Imperial Sword (Leckie). 049: Alex Benedict 07—Coming Home (McDevitt). 050: Southern Reach 01—Annihilation (VanderMeer). 051: Valor in Vietnam—Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice: 1963–1977 (Clark). 052: Power Play (Bova). 053: A Walk in the Woods (Bryson). 054: The Only War We Had—A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (Lanning). 055: Vietnam: 1969–1970—A Company Commander's Journal (Lanning). 056: Cunning Plans (Ellis) 057: The Color of Magic (Pratchett). 058: The Light Fantastic (Pratchett). 059: Schlock Mercenary 011—Massively Parallel (Tayler). 060: Schlock Mercenary 012—Force Multiplication (Tayler). 061: How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays (Eco). 062: The Year's Best Science Fiction (Thirty-Second Collection) (Dozois). 063: Poseidon's Children 01—Blue Remembered Earth (Reynolds). 064: Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration (Aldrin). 065: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything (Hadfield). 066: The Humanoids (Williamson). 067: Hellboy 01—Seed of Destruction (Mignola). 068: Hellboy 02—Wake the Devil (Mignola). 069: Hellboy 03—The Chained Coffin and Others (Mignola). 070: Hellboy 04—The Right Hand of Doom (Mignola). 071: Hellboy 05—Conqueror Worm (Mignola). 072: Foucault's Pendulum (Eco). 073: Hellboy 06—Strange Places (Mignola). 074: Hellboy 07—The Troll Witch and Others (Mignola). 075: Hellboy 08—Darkness Calls (Mignola). 076: Hellboy 09—The Wild Hunt (Mignola). 077: Hellboy 10—The Crooked Man and Others (Mignola). 078: Hellboy 11—The Bride of Hell and Others (Mignola). 079: Hellboy 12—The Storm and the Fury (Mignola). 080: Skullkickers—Treasure Trove Volume 01 (Zub & Huang). 081: The Chronicles of the Black Company 01—The Black Company (Cook). 082: The Art of Hellboy (Mignola). 083: Hellboy—The First 20 Years (Mignola). 084: Hellboy—Weird Tales (Mignola). 085: Hellboy—The Midnight Circus (Mignola). 086: Hellboy—House of the Living Dead (Mignola). 087: Abe Sapien 01—The Drowning (Mignola). 088: Abe Sapien 02—The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories (Mignola). 089: Abe Sapien 03—Dark and Terrible and The New Race of Man (Mignola). 090: Abe Sapien 04—The Shape of Things to Come (Mignola). 091: Abe Sapien 05—Sacred Places (Mignola). 092: Abe Sapien 06—A Darkness So Great (Mignola). 093: Witchfinder 01—In the Service of Angels (Mignola). 094: Witchfinder 02—Lost and Gone Forever (Mignola). 095: Witchfinder 03—The Mysteries of Unland (Mignola). 096: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 01—New World (Mignola). 097: The Human Division (Scalzi). 098: Before the Incal (Jodorowsky & Janjetov). 099: The Incal (Jodorowsky & Moebius). 100: Venice—Pure City (Ackroyd). 101: Islands in the Sky (Clarke). 102: Dolphin Island (Clarke). 103: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 02—Gods and Monsters (Mignola). 104: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 03—Russia (Mignola). 105: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 04—The Devil's Engine and The Long Death (Mignola). 106: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 05—The Pickens County Horror & Others (Mignola). 107: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 06—The Return of the Master (Mignola). 108: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 07—A Cold Day in Hell (Mignola). 109: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 08—Lake of Fire (Mignola). 110: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 09—The Reign of the Black Flame (Mignola). 111: B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth 10—The Devil's Wings (Mignola). 112: The Big Time (Leiber). 113: The Complete Dickinson (Dickinson). 114: California Bones (van Eekhout). 115: Pacific Fire (van Eekhout). 116: Dragon Coast (van Eekhout). 117: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Larsson). 118: Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey (Wendig). 119: Revenge of the Penmonkey. (Wendig). 120: 500 Ways to Write Harder. (Wendig). 121: 500 Ways to Tell a Better Story. (Wendig). 122: 500 Ways to be a Better Writer. (Wendig). 123: 500 More Ways to be a Better Writer. (Wendig). 124: 250 Things You Should Know About Writing. (Wendig). 125: 30 Days in the Word Mines (Wendig). 126: Eastern Standard Tribe (Doctorow). 127: Zer0es (Wendig). 128: A Study in Scarlet (Doyle). 129: The Sign of the Four (Doyle). 130: The Hound of the Baskervilles (Doyle). 131: The Valley of Fear (Doyle). 132: Atlanta Burns (Wendig). 133: Blackbirds (Wendig). 134: The Sandman—The Dream Hunters (Gaiman & Russell). 135: Mockingbird (Wendig). 136: Wayward Deluxe Book 01 (Zubkavich & Co.). 137: Bloom County Digital Library (Breathed). 138: The Eyes of a Cat (Jodorowsky & Moebius). 139: Manticore Ascendant 01—A Call to Duty (Weber, Zahn, Pope). 140: Sherlock Holmes—The Complete Novels and Short Stories (Doyle). 141: The Makeshift Rocket (Anderson). 142: XKCD—Volume 0 (Munroe). 143: Sandman 01—Preludes & Nocturnes (Gaiman). 144: Sandman 02—The Doll's House (Gaiman). 145: Sandman 03—Dream Country (Gaiman). 146: Sandman 04—Season of Mists (Gaiman). 147: Sandman 05—A Game of You (Gaiman). 148: Sandman 06—Fables and Reflections (Gaiman). 149 Sandman 07—Brief Lives (Gaiman). 150: Sandman 08—World's End (Gaiman). 151: Sandman 09—The Kindly Ones (Gaiman). 152: Sandman 10—The Wake (Gaiman). 153: Triplanetary (Smith). 154: First Lensman (Smith).
Paper Books: 019.
Electronic Books: 102.
Audio Books: 031.
Sometimes I have swapped between multiple versions of one title, but I'm listing is as electronic or paper or audio if that's the main way I listened to it (hence the number of books in various formats is greater than the number of titles read).
2014: Reading in Review
186 books. 1,014 shorts.
Not too shabby!
I'm pretty sure I won't match those numbers again this year for a couple of reasons. First, whenever I do a heavy reading year, I tend to follow it with a year where I (at least start) lag. The reading brain is saturated, and must rest. Second, as you'll see from the numbers, 47 of those books were audio. I could listen to that number of audiobooks as I was involved in a long-term project at work that used relatively little brain power, enabling me to listen to audiobooks. Given that the project is winding up and we're probably going to move (dumping me into an "open office" setup), I'm not sure if I'll be listening to as many audiobooks.
As long as I make my stated goal of 365 short works and 60 long works each year, I'm happy. And, for most years, I exceed that goal. No worries.
Best shorts? Given that number, I can't really pick out any outstanding titles, mostly due to the sheer volume. The best anthologies of the year were probably those themed anthologies edited by Jonathan Strahan. Good stuff all around. Hopefully this year I'll concentrate on the massive backlog of "annual best of" anthologies that are tottering on the electronic Mount Toberead. That's always a good way of finding more author's to read (do I need new books by people new to me?).
Best long works? I started the year with Gaiman and ended the year with Eco and went everywhere in between. Written works informed graphic works which informed audio works which informed written works (there was a clear link between, for example, Gaiman, Gibson, Borges and Eco this past year).
2014 was the year I started delving deeply into graphic novels, thanks to my work on The Three Hoarsemen Podcast, courtesy of the ongoing education by my co-hosts, Jeff Patterson and John Stevens. I may have read most from Warren Ellis (thanks to one episode of our podcast), but also enjoyed a lot of independent/non-superhero novels. I am reading superhero stuff, and in fact, made a conscious decision to concentrate on the Marvel "canon". However, I think I've gotten more bang for the buck out of that field.
Best non-graphic works included The Martian by Andrew Weir; A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo; Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes; The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (read five times!); two by Jorge Luis Borges. Best re-reads of the year came from Clifford D. Simak, Patrick O'Brian, Terry Pratchett. I failed in my attempt to read more out of my "null set", but at least I read. That puts me ahead of 99% of the people I work with!
Not too shabby!
I'm pretty sure I won't match those numbers again this year for a couple of reasons. First, whenever I do a heavy reading year, I tend to follow it with a year where I (at least start) lag. The reading brain is saturated, and must rest. Second, as you'll see from the numbers, 47 of those books were audio. I could listen to that number of audiobooks as I was involved in a long-term project at work that used relatively little brain power, enabling me to listen to audiobooks. Given that the project is winding up and we're probably going to move (dumping me into an "open office" setup), I'm not sure if I'll be listening to as many audiobooks.
As long as I make my stated goal of 365 short works and 60 long works each year, I'm happy. And, for most years, I exceed that goal. No worries.
Best shorts? Given that number, I can't really pick out any outstanding titles, mostly due to the sheer volume. The best anthologies of the year were probably those themed anthologies edited by Jonathan Strahan. Good stuff all around. Hopefully this year I'll concentrate on the massive backlog of "annual best of" anthologies that are tottering on the electronic Mount Toberead. That's always a good way of finding more author's to read (do I need new books by people new to me?).
Best long works? I started the year with Gaiman and ended the year with Eco and went everywhere in between. Written works informed graphic works which informed audio works which informed written works (there was a clear link between, for example, Gaiman, Gibson, Borges and Eco this past year).
2014 was the year I started delving deeply into graphic novels, thanks to my work on The Three Hoarsemen Podcast, courtesy of the ongoing education by my co-hosts, Jeff Patterson and John Stevens. I may have read most from Warren Ellis (thanks to one episode of our podcast), but also enjoyed a lot of independent/non-superhero novels. I am reading superhero stuff, and in fact, made a conscious decision to concentrate on the Marvel "canon". However, I think I've gotten more bang for the buck out of that field.
Best non-graphic works included The Martian by Andrew Weir; A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo; Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes; The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (read five times!); two by Jorge Luis Borges. Best re-reads of the year came from Clifford D. Simak, Patrick O'Brian, Terry Pratchett. I failed in my attempt to read more out of my "null set", but at least I read. That puts me ahead of 99% of the people I work with!
Subtle Filaments
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Vela Supernova Remnant. Pictures like these, when I first encountered them in the mid-1960's, were a big driver towards my life-long interest in astronomy. Look at those delicate filaments! (Then realize how big those "delicate" filaments are!)