Eco's Favorites

 

From Literary Hub, Umberto Eco's favorite books. "Deep Cut"? Seriously? Dumas? Joyce? Jesus wept. 

Green Visitor

 

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), now appearing in our skies. Between the blue tails and the green head, I'm reminded of someting...

It's Elementary, My Dear Watson

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the familiar periodic table of the elements, coded as to origin of said elements. We are, as the astronomer said, all star stuff. 

Cosmic Voyagers

 

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the International Space Station and the Tiangong Space Station "passing" in the night. The image was a time exposure, so the stations were visible simultaneously. I have been lucky enough to see the ISS flying "in tandem" with cargo vessels and even the Space Shuttle on multiple occasions (one time when a sunset comet was also visible in the sky). 

Lunar Cycles

 

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the full moons of 2022. Hopefully you get a chance to enjoy 2023's lunar bounty (I usually get socked in by clouds on that night). 

Sisters

 

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Messier 45, The Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, children of Atlas and Pleione. Those who are long-time readers of this blog will be familiar with a bit of doggerel associated with this grouping of stars. 

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro' the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.

The Menace of the Galaxies

 

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a galaxy being menaced by a cometary globule (CG4). A cometary globule has the same relationship to comets as a planetary nebula has to planets, and furthermore, is not really in a position to menace that much further galaxy, but it's a lovely shot.

 

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the asterism known as Kemble's Cascade. Twenty-odd stars, all (more or less) in a row, in the constellation of the giraffe (not the camel), Camelopardalis. 

March of the Planets

 

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the western sky after sunset. "Mouseover" the image in the link to flip the image from a labeled guide to the current planetary lineup and a unlabeled view. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus all in one view! (Caveat: Mercury is notoriously hard to spot.)

Blue and Green

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an image from Voyager 1. Nearly lost in the haze of Saturn's rings is our small rock of a world.

2023: The Year in Shorts

 As with the past several years, I'm going to attempt to read a number of shorter works (primarily fiction, if the past is a guide) equal to the number of days in the year (365). These will mostly be from anthologies (single author or multiple author), as the number of periodicals that I subscribe to shrinks.

Number of Stories Read: 485 (out of 365) as of December 31, 2023.

Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey (editors): Thieves' World 01—Thieves' World. Made up of: Editor's Note (Robert Asprin); Sentences of Death (John Brunner); The Face of Chaos (Lynn Abbey); The Gate of Flying Knives (Poul Anderson); Shadowspawn (Andrew J. Offutt); The Price of Doing Business (Robert Asprin); Blood Brothers (Joe Haldeman); Myrtis (Christine DeWees); The Secret of the Blue Star (Marion Zimmer Bradley); The Making of Thieves' World (Robert Asprin) (6 stories, continuing to read).

Iain M. Banks: The State of the Art. Made up of: Road of Skulls; A Gift from the Culture; Odd Attachment; Descendant; Cleaning Up; Piece; The State of the Art; Scratch; A Few Notes on the Culture (4 stories, continuing to read).

Jorge Luis Borges: On Argentina. Made up of: Man on Pink Corner; Buenos Aires; The Mythical Founding of Buenos Aires; Asbasbui; The Criollo Element in Ipuche; The Complaint of All Criollos; Eduardo Gonzalez Lanuza; General Quiroga Rides to His Death in a Carriage; Carriego and the Meaning of the Arrabal; The Full Extent of My Hope; The Pampa and the Surburbio Are Gods; The Purple Land; Leopoldo Lugones—Romancero; Truco; Truco (poem); Genealogy of the Tango; Situating Almafuerte; The Language of the Argentines; Buenos Aires—Palerno; A History of the Tango; Our Inabilities; I, a Jew; Borges's Prologue to the German Edition of Enrique Amorim's La carreta; Definition of a Germanophile; Our Poor Individualism; The Argentine Writer and Tradition; The South (27 essays; collection completed). 

Jorge Luis Borges: A Universal History of Iniquity. Made up of: Introduction (Andrew Hurley); Preface to the First Edition; Preface to the 1954 Edition; The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morrell; The Improbable Imposter Tom Castro; The Widow Ching—Pirate; Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities; The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan; The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kotsuke no Suke; Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv—For Angelica Ocampo; Man on Pink Corner—For Enrique Amorim; Et Cetera—For Nestor Ibarra; Index of Sources (13 stories, collection completed).

Jorge Luis Borges: On Writing. Made up of: Ultra Manifesto; On Expressionism; After Images; Joyce's Ulysses; The Ballad of Reading Gaol; Verbiage for Poems; An Investigation of the Word; The Art of Verbal Abuse; On Literary Description; On Metaphor; Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass; Two Ways to Translate; The Homeric Versions; A Profession of Literary Faith; Literary Pleasure; The Superstitious Ethics of the Reader; The Paradox of Apollinaire; Kafka and His Precursors; Flaubert and His Exemplary Destiny; Virginia Woolf; T.S. Eliot; Paul Valery; William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!; Herman Melville, Bartleby the Scrivener; Henry James, The Abasement of the Northmores; Marcel Schwob, Imaginary Lives; H.G. Wells, The Time Machine and The Invisible Man; Julio Cortazar, Stories; The Labyrinths of the Detective Story and Chesterton; Ellery Queen, Halfway House; Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel; Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone; The Detective Story; Stories from Turkestan; The Cinematograph, the Biograph; Narrative Art and Magic; Preface to the 1954 Edition of A Universal History of Infamy; When Fiction Lives in Fiction (38 essays; collection completed).

Bertrand R. Brinley: The Mad Scientists' Club 01—The Mad Scientists' Club. Made up of: Introduction (Sheridan Brinley); The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake; The Big Egg; The Secret of the Old Cannon; The Unidentified Flying Man of Mammoth Falls; The Great Gas Bag Race; The Voice in the Chimney; Night Rescue; Introduction to the 40th Anniversary Edition (Sheridan Brinley) (9 stories or essays; collection completed).

Bertrand R. Brinley: The Mad Scientists' Club 02—The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club. Made up of: Introduction (Sheridan Brinley); The Telltale Transmitter; The Cool Cavern; Big Chief Rainmaker; The Flying Sorcerer; The Great Confrontation (6 stories or essays; collection completed). 

Ted Chiang: Stories of Your Life and Others. Made up of: Tower of Babylon; Understand; Division by Zero; Story of Your Life; Seventy-Two Letters; The Evolution of Human Science; Hell is the Absence of God; Liking What You See; Story Notes (9 stories or essays; collection completed). 

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo 01—The Fightin' Scientists of Tesladyne. Made up of: The Will to Power; Pest Control; Pyramid Scheme; Atomic Robo of Mars; Unearthed (Part 01); Unearthed (Part 02) (6 stories; collection completed). 

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo 02—The Dogs of War. Made up of: Operation Husky; And Then There's the Robots; Going Off Track; Nemesis; It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow; An Appointment in Madrid; A Bad Case of Crabs; What Happens in Egypt Stays in Egypt; Caribbean Cartel Massacre; Robo and Goliath; Free Comic Book Day 2008 (11 stories; collection completed). 

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo 03—Atomic Robo and The Shadow from Beyond Time.. Made up of: Horror on Houston Street; The Doom That Came to Robo; At the Farm of Madness; The Crawling Chaos; From Beyond (5 stories; collection completed).

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo Vol 4—Other Strangeness. Made up of: Revenge of the Vampire Dimension; Atomic Robo Big In Japan; Why Atomic Robo Hates Dr. Dinosaur and Why Dr. Dinosaur Hates Atomic Robo; Incandescent Soul (4 stories, collection completed).

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo Vol 5—The Deadly Art of Science. Made up of: The Man With Two Skulls; The Robot Who Wouldn’t Go Away; Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; The Wizard of Menlo Park; The War of the Currents (5 stories, collection completed).

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo Vol 6—The Ghost of Station X. Made up of: Acceleration; Explosion; Propagation; Transformation; Two Faces of Tomorrow (5 stories, collection completed).

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo Vol 7—The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific. Made up of: Women in War; Pacific Rendezvous; Out of the Depths; Behind the Rising Sun; The Blazing Heavens (5 stories, collection completed).

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Made up of: Foreword: A Study in Scarlet (Stephen Fry); A Study in Scarlet; Foreword: The Sign of Four (Stephen Fry); The Sign of Four; Foreword: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Stephen Fry); The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia; The Adventure of 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 Noble Bachelor; The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet; The Adventure of the Copper Beeches; Foreword: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Stephen Fry); The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: Silver Blaze; The Adventure of the Cardboard Box; The Adventure of the Yellow Face; The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk; The Adventure of the Gloria Scott; The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual; The Adventure of the Reigate Squire; The Adventure of the Crooked Man; The Adventure of the Resident Patient; The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter; The Adventure of the Naval Treaty; The Final Problem; Foreword: The Hound of the Baskervilles; The Hound of the Baskervilles; Foreword: The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Stephen Fry); The Return of Sherlock Holmes: 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; The Adventure of the Three Students; The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez; The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter; The Adventure of the Abbey Grange; The Adventure of the Second Stain; Foreword: The Valley of Fear (Stephen Fry); The Valley of Fear; Foreword: His Last Bow (Stephen Fry); His Last Bow: Preface; The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge, The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles; The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge, The Tiger of San Pedro; 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 (51 stories, continuing to read).

Arthur Conan Doyle and William S. Baring-Gould (Editor and Annotator): The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume I. Made up of: "I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Since You Became His Chronicler" (Baring-Gould); "He Is Now Translating My Small Works Into French" (Baring-Gould); "I...Have Even Contributed to the Literature of the Subject" (Baring-Gould); "You Would Have Made an Actor, and a Rare One" (Baring-Gould); "Your Pictures Are Not Unlike You, Sir, If I May Say So?" (Baring-Gould); "A Singular Set of People, Watson..." (Baring-Gould); "Your Merits Should Be Publicly Recognized" (Baring-Gould); "The Best and the Wisest Man Whom I Have Ever Known" (Baring-Gould); "Good Old Watson!" (Baring-Gould); "He Is The Napoleon of Crime, Watson" (Baring-Gould); "I Have My Eye on a Suite in Baker Street" (Baring-Gould); What Is It That We Love in Sherlock Holmes? (Baring-Gould); The Gloria Scott; The Musgrave Ritual; A Study in Scarlet; "As to Your Dates, That is the Biggest Mystification of All" (Baring-Gould); The Adventure of the Speckled Band; "It Is...The Deadliest Snake in India" (Baring-Gould); The Resident Patient; The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor; The Adventure of the Second Stain; "Now, Watson, the Fair Sex Is Your Department" (Baring-Gould); The Reigate Squires; A Scandal in Bohemia; The Man with the Twisted Lip; The Five Orange Pips; A Case of Identity; The Red-Headed League; The Adventure of the Dying Detective; The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle; The Valley of Fear; The Yellow Face; The Greek Interpreter; "Your Hand Stole Towards Your Old Wound..." (Baring-Gould); The Sign of the Four (9 stories, continuing to read). 

David Drake: The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume 1. Made up of: Introduction (Gene Wolfe); Foreword: Becoming a Professional Writer by Way of Southeast Asia; Under the Hammer; Supertanks; The Butcher's Bill; The Church of the Lord's Universe; But Loyal to His Own; Powerguns; Caught in the Crossfire; Backdrop to Chaos; Cultural Conflict; The Bonding Authority; Hangman; Table of Organization and Equipment, Hammer's Regiment; Standing Down; Code-Name Feirefitz; The Interrogation Team; The Tank Lords; Liberty Port; Night March; The Immovable Object; The Irresistible Force; A Death in Peacetime; Afterword: Accidentally and by the Back Door (24 stories; collection completed).

David Drake: The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume 2. Made up of: In Defense of David Drakes's Hammer's Slammers Stories: An Introduction (David G. Hartwell); Foreword: We Happy Few; At Any Price; Counting the Cost; Rolling Hot; The Warrior; The Day of Glory; Afterword: What's for Sale (4 stories; collection completed; novels read separately). 

David Drake: The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume 3. Made up of: Inextricable Disengagement: The War Games of David Drake: An Introduction (Barry N. Malzberg); The Sharp End; Paying the Piper; Choosing Sides; The Political Process; Neck or Nothing; The Darkness; Jim (5 stories; collection completed; novels read separately). 

George Alec Effinger: Budayeen Nights. Made up of: (read in 2022) Foreword (Barbara Hambly); King of the Cyber Rifles; Marid and the Blood Trail; (read in 2023) Marid Changes His Mind; Marid Throws a Party; Schrodinger's Kitten; Slow, Slow Burn; The City on the Sand; The Plastic Pasha; The World as We Know It (3 stories read previously, continuing to read).

Robert E. Howard: Bran Mak Morn—The Last King. Made up of: Foreword (Gary Gianni); Introduction (Rusty Burke); Men of the Shadows; Kings of the Night; Song of the Race; Worms of the Earth; The Dark Man; The Lost Race; The Drums of Pictdom; Notes on Miscellanea (Rusty Burke); The Little People; The Little People—Typescript?; The Children of the Night; Bran Mak Morn; Bran Mak Morn—Manuscript?; Untitled Synopsis ("The story of a forgotten age...); Worms of the Earth—Draft?; Untitled Fragment ("A grey sky arched over..."); Untitled Poem ("There's a bell that hang's...") (variant of The Bell of Morni); The Wheel Turns; Robert E. Howard and the Picts: A Chronology (Uncredited); Robert E. Howard, Bran Mak Morn and the Picts (Rusty Burke and Patrice Louinet); Notes on the Original Howard Texts (Uncredited) (23 stories, collection completed).

M.R. James: The M.R. James BBC Radio Collection. Made up of: The Mezzotint; Casting the Runes; The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral; A Warning to the Curious; Rats; Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come To You, My Lad!; The Tractate Middoth; Lost Hearts; The Rose Garden; Number 13; Canon Alberic's Scrapbook; A School Story; The Haunted Doll's House; Martin's Close; Count Magnus; The Haunting of M.R. James (Neil Brand); Great Lives—M.R. James (Muriel Gray, Christopher Frayling and Humphrey Carpenter); The Ghosts of M.R. James (Michell Raper) (18 stories or essays; completed).

George R. R. Martin (editor): Wild Cards Volume 1. Made up of: Prologue (George R. R. Martin); Thirty Minutes Over Broadway! (Howard Waldrop); The Sleeper (Roger Zelazny); Witness (Walter Jon Williams); Degradation Rites (Melinda Snodgrass); Interlude One (George R. R. Martin); Captain Cathode and the Secret Ace (Michael Cassutt); Powers (David D. Levine); Shell Games (George R. R. Martin); Interlude Two (George R. R. Martin); The Long, Dark Night of Fortunato (Lewis Shiner); Transfigurations (Victor Milan); Interlude Three (George R. R. Martin); Down Deep (Edward Bryant and Leanne C. Harper); Interlude Four (George R. R. Martin); Strings (Stephen Leigh as S. L. Farrell); Interlude Five (George R. R. Martin); Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan (Carrie Vaughn); Comes a Hunter (John J. Miller); Epilogue—Third Generation (Lewis Shiner); Appendix—The Science of the Wild Card Virus (Lewis Shiner); Excerpts from the Minutes of the American Metabiological Society Conference on Metahuman Abilities (not listed) (22 stories; collection completed).

Michael Moorcock: Elric of Menibone. Made up of: One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock (Neil Gaiman); Elric of Mennibone; The Fortress of the Pearl; The Sailor on the Seas of Fate; The Weird of the White Wolf; The Elric Saga—A Reader's Guide (John Davey) (6 novels and stories, collection completed). 

Michael Moorcock: Stormbringer. Made up of: The Vanishing Tower; The Revenge of the Rose; The Bane of the Black Sword; Stormbringer (4 novels; collection completed).

Michael Moorcock: The White Wolf. Made up of: The Dreamthief's Daughter; The Skrayling Tree; The White Wolf's Song (3 stories; collection completed).

Michael Moorcock: Elric—The Stealer of Souls. Made up of: The Return on the Thin White Duke (Alan Moore); Introduction; Putting a Tag on It; The Dreaming City; While the Gods Laugh; The Stealer of Souls; Kings in Darkness (with James Cawthorn); The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams; Mission to Asno!; Stormbringer; Dead God's Homecoming; Black Sword's Brothers; Sad Giant's Shield; Doomed Lord's Passing; Elric; The Secret Life of Elric of Melniboné; Final Judgement (Alan Forrest); Review: Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock (Alan Forrest); The Zenith Letter (Anthony Skene); Acknowledgments (19 novels and stories; collection completed).

Frederik Pohl: The Gold at the Starbow's End (1 story, completed). 

Tim Powers: Nobody's Home. The Properties of Rooftop Air (2 stories, completed).

Tim Powers: Down and Out in Purgatory—The Stories of Tim Powers. Made up of: Dark Paths Through Dark Woods (David Drake); The Powers Effect (Tony Daniels); Savage and Demolition; The Bible Repairman; Appointment on Sunset; The Better Boy (with James Blaylock); Pat Moore; The Way Down the Hill; Itinerary; A Journey of Only Two Places; The Hour of Babel; Where They Are Hid; We Traverse Afar (with James Blaylock); Through and Through; Night Moves; A Soul in a Bottle; Parallel Lines; Fifty Cents (with James Blaylock); Nobody's Home; A Time to Cast Away Stones; Down and Out in Purgatory; Sufficient Unto the Day (22 stories or essays, collection completed). After Many a Summer (1 story, completed). 

Terry Pratchett: A Blink of the Screen—Collected Shorter Fiction. Made up of: Foreword (A. S. Byatt); The Hades Business; Solution; The Picture; The Prince and the Partridge; Rincemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor; Kindly Breathe in Short, Thick Pants; The Glastonbury Tales; There's No Fool Like an Old Fool Found in an English Queue; Coo, They've Given Me the Bird; And Mind the Monoliths; The High Meggas; Twenty Pence, with Envelope and Seasonal Greeting; Incubust; Final Reward; Turntables of the Night; #ifdefDEBUG + 'world/enough' + 'time'; Hollywood Chickens; The Secret Book of the Dead; Once and Future; FTB; Sir Joshua Easement—A Biographical Note; Troll Bridge; Theatre of Cruelty; The Sea and Little Fishes; The Ankh-Morpork National Anthem; Medical Notes; Thud—A Historical Perspective; A Few Words from Lord Havelock Vetinari; Death and What Comes Next; A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices; Minutes of the Meeting to Form the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts; The Ankh-Morpork Football Association Hall of Fame Playing Cards; Deleted Extract from "The Sea and Little Fishes"  (34 stories or essays; collection completed).

Alastair Reynolds: Troika (1 story, completed). Slow Bullets (1 story, completed). 

Kim Stanley Robinson: Escape from Kathmandu. Made up of: Escape from Kathmandu; Mother Goddess of the World; The True Nature of Shangri-La; The Kingdom Underground (4 stories, collection completed). 

Fred Saberhagen: Wings Out of Shadow (1 story, completed). 

Clark Ashton Smith: The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith 03—A Vintage from Atlantis. Made up of: Introduction (Michael Dirda); A Note on the Texts (Scott Connors and Ron Hilger); The Holiness of Azédarac; The Maker of Gargoyles; Beyond the Singing Flame; Seedling of Mars (with E.M. Johnston); The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis; The Eternal World; The Demon of the Flower; The Nameless Offspring; A Vintage from Atlantis; The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan; The Invisible City; The Immortals of Mercury; The Empire of the Necromancers; The Seed from the Sepulcher; The Second Interment; Ubbo-Sathla; The Double Shadow; The Plutonian Drug; The Supernumerary Corpse; The Colossus of Ylourgne; The God of the Asteroid (variant of Master of the Asteroid); Story Notes (Scott Connors and Ron Hilger); The Flower-Devil; Bibliography (Scott Connors and Ron Hilger) (25 stories read; collection completed).

Charles Stross: Laundry 01—The Atrocity Archives. Made up of: The Atrocity Archives; The Concrete Jungle (2 stories; collection completed). Laundry 02—The Jennifer Morgue. Made up of: The Jennifer Morgue; Pimpf (2 stories, completed). The Laundry Series. Uncollected short stories: Overtime; Down on the Farm; Equoid; Escape from Yokai Land  (4 stories; uncollected short stories completed). Accelerando. Made up of: Lobsters; Troubadour; Tourist; Halo; Router; Nightfall; Curator; Elector; Survivor (9 stories; completed). 

Jack Vance: The Dying Earth 01—The Dying Earth. Made up of: Mazirian the Magician; Turjan of Miir; T'sais; Liane the Wayfarer; Ulan Dohr Ends a Dream; Guyal of Sfere (6 stories; completed). 

Jack Vance: The Dying Earth 02—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 (7 stories; completed).

Jack Vance: The Dying Earth 03—Cugel's Saga. Made up of: Flutic; The Inn of Blue Lamps; Aboard the Galante; Lausicaa; The Ocean of Sighs; The Columns; Faucelme; On the Docks; The Caravan; The Seventeen Virgins; The Bagful of Dreams; The Four Wizards; Spatterlight (13 stories, collection completed). 

Jack Vance: The Dying Earth 04—Rhialto the Marvelous. Made up of: Foreword; The Murthe; Fader's Waft; Morreion (4 stories, collection completed). 

Jeff VanderMeer: Ambergris (Omnibus). Made up of: City of Saints and Madmen [Made up of: The Real VanderMeer (Michael Moorcock); Dradin, in Love; The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris by Duncan Shriek; The Transformation of Martin Lake; The Strange Case of X; A Letter from Dr. V to Dr. Simpkin; X's Notes; The Release of Belacqua; King Squid; The Hoegbotton Family History; The Cage; In the Hours After Death; A Note from Dr. V to Dr. Simpkin; The Man Who Had No Eyes; The Exchange; Learning to Leave the Flesh; The Ambergris Glossary.]; Shriek—An Afterword; Finch (3 stories, continuing to read). 

Martha Wells: Murderbot—Compulsory (1 story, completed). 

Roger Zelazny: Threshold—The Complete Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 1. Made up of: (read in 2022) Notes (Christopher S. Kovacs); A Word from the Editors (Ann Crimmins and David G. Grubbs and Christopher S. Kovacs); Out of Nowhere (Robert Silverberg); Before Amber (Carl B. Yoke); A Rose for Ecclesiastes; A Word from Zelazny: A Rose for Ecclesiastes (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Braxa; Ecclesiastes' Epilogue; Bok; A Word from Zelazny: Bok (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); And The Darkness Is Harsh; A Word from Zelazny: And The Darkness Is Harsh (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Mr. Fuller's Revolt; A Word from Zelazny: Mr. Fuller's Revolt (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Diet; A Word from Zelazny: Diet (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Youth Eternal; Slush, Slush, Slush; The Outward Sign; The Agnostic's Prayer; Passion Play; A Word from Zelazny: Passion Play (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); On May 13, 1937; Cactus King; The Graveyard Heart; A Word from Zelazny: The Graveyard Heart (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); (read in 2023) Flight; Future, Be Not Impatient; In the Dogged House; Our Wintered Way Through Evening, and Burning Bushes Along It; Horseman!; A Word from Zelazny: Horseman! (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); The Teachers Rode a Wheel of Fire; A Word from Zelazny: The Teachers Rode a Wheel of Fire (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Sense and Sensibility; Moonless in Byzantium; A Word from Zelazny: Moonless in Byzantium (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); On the Road to Splenoba; A Word from Zelazny: On the Road to Splenoba (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Final Dining; The Borgia Hand; Nine Starships Waiting; A Word from Zelazny: Nine Starships Waiting (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Circe Has Her Problems; A Word from Zelazny: Circe Has Her Problems (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); The Cat Licks Her Coat; A Word from Zelazny: The Cat Licks Her Coat (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); The Malatesta Collection; A Word from Zelazny: The Malatesta Collection (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); From a Seat in the Chill Park; Rodin's 'The Kiss'; To His Morbid Mistress; The Stainless Steel Leech; A Word from Zelazny: The Stainless Steel Leech (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Old Ohio Folkrag; The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth; A Word from Zelazny: The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); A Thing of Terrible Beauty; A Word from Zelazny: A Thing of Terrible Beauty (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); How A Poem Means; Monologue for Two; Concert; Iceage; Threshold of the Prophet; Hart Crane...; Southern Cross; A Word from Zelazny: Southern Cross (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); I Used to Think in Lines That Were Irregular to the Right; A Word from Zelazny: I Used to Think in Lines That Were Irregular to the Right (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); A Museum Piece; A Word from Zelazny: A Museum Piece (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Hybris, Or The Danger of Hilltops; Mine is the Kingdom; St. Secaire's; In Pheleney's Garage; King Solomon's Ring; The Black Boy's Reply to William Butler Yeats; The Misfit; Rite of Spring; The Great Slow Kings; A Word from Zelazny: The Great Slow Kings (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Collector's Fever; A Word from Zelazny: Collector's Fever (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); The Night Has 999 Eyes; A Word from Zelazny: The Night Has 999 Eyes: Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Decade Plus One of Roses; A Word from Zelazny: Decade Plus One of Roses (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); He Who Shapes; A Word from Zelazny: He Who Shapes (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); See You Later, Maybe; Sundry Notes on Dybology and Suchlike; A Word from Zelazny: Sundry Notes on Dybology and Suchlike (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); "... And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 1 (Christopher S. Kovacs); Conditional Benefit; A Word from Zelazny: Conditional Benefit (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); Hand of the Master; A Word from Zelazny: Hand of the Master (Christopher S. Kovacs and Roger Zelazny); The Great Selchie of San Francisco Bay; Studies in Saviory; Acknowledgments (Ann Crimmins and David G. Grubbs and Christopher S. Kovacs) (26 entries read in 2022, continuing to read).

Magazines and Other Periodicals:

Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev: Scarlet 001-005 (5 issues, completed). 

Neil Gaiman & Co.: The Dreaming, Issue 001. The Dreaming, Issue 002.

Thierry Labrosse: Ab Irato, Book 1. Ab Irato, Book 2 (2 issues, completed). 

Andrew MacLean: ApocalyptiGirl—An Aria for the End Times (1 issue, completed)

2023: The Year in Books

Here is a list of books (or other long-form works) that I have read for the year. They will come in many formats (paper or pBooks; electronic or eBooks; audio or aBooks). I may mix format (I tend to maximize reading by synchronizing audiobooks and electronic books), the format totals at the end of this entry tell you what format I read for the majority of a particular title.

Number of books read (as of December 31, 2023): 206.

Books read (alphabetical by author, then chronological within an author, editor or authors or editors). 

Poul Anderson: The Broken Sword (eBook) (December). 

William Ashbless with Tim Powers and James Blaylock: On Pirates (pBook) (February). 

Iain M. Banks: The Culture 01—Consider Phlebas (eBook) (July). The Culture 02—Player of Games (eBook) (July). The Culture 03—Use of Weapons (eBook) (July). The Culture 04—The State of the Art (pBook) (August). The Culture 08—Matter (pBook) (November). 

Alfred A. Bell, Jr.: The Notebooks of Pliny the Younger 04—Death in the Ashes (eBook) (April). The Notebooks of Pliny the Younger 05—The Eyes of Aurora (eBook) (April). The Notebooks of Pliny the Younger 06—Fortune's Fool (eBook) (December). 

Jorge Luis Borges: On Argentina (aBook) (July). On Writing (aBook) (July). The Sonnets (aBook) (October). A Universal History of Iniquity (aBook) (December). 

Ben Bova: Mars, Inc.—The Billionaire's Club (eBook) (May). 

Mark Bowden: Hue 1968—A Turning Point in the American War in Vietnam (aBook) (February). 

Leigh Brackett: Stark 01—Ginger Star (eBook) (June). 

David Brin: Uplift 01—Sundiver (eBook) (October).

Bertrand R. Brinley: The Mad Scientists' Club 01—The Mad Scientists' Club (eBook) (June). The Mad Scientists' Club 02—The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club (eBook) (June). The Mad Scientists' Club 03—The Big Kerplop! (eBook) (June)

Kenneth Brower: The Starship & the Canoe (eBook) (June). 

Gaius Julius Caesar: The Conquest of Gaul (eBook) (December). 

Ted Chiang: Stories of Your Life and Others (eBook) (June).

Arthur C. Clarke: Space Odyssey 02—2010: Odyssey Two (eBook) (October). 

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener: Atomic Robo 01—The Fightin' Scientists of Tesladyne (eBook) (December). Atomic Robo 02—The Dogs of War (eBook) (December). Atomic Robo 03—Atomic Robo and The Shadow From Beyond Time (eBook) (December). Atomic Robo 04—Atomic Robo and Other Strangeness (eBook) (December). Atomic Robo 05—Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science (eBook) (December). Atomic Robo 06—Atomic Robo and The Ghost of Station X (eBook) (December). Atomic Robo 05—Atomic Robo and The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific (eBook) (December). 

Samuel R. Delany: Nova (eBook) (June). 

Scott Dickerson: Tom Swift Lives! 01—Tom Swift Reimagined—Flying Lab (eBook) (April). 

Ruth Downie: Gaius Petreius Ruso 01—Medicus (eBook) (May). Gaius Petreius Ruso 02—Terra Incognita (eBook) (May). Gaius Petreius Ruso 03—Persona Non Grata (eBook) (May). Gaius Petreius Ruso 04—Caveat Emptor (eBook) (May). Gaius Petreius Ruso 05—Semper Fidelis (ebook) (May). Gaius Petreius Ruso 06—Tabula Rasa (eBook) (May). Gaius Petreius Ruso 07—Vita Brevis (eBook) (May). Gaius Petreius Ruso 08—Memento Mori (eBook) (December). Gaius Petreius Ruso 08.5—Prima Facie (eBook) (December). 

David Drake: At Any Price (eBook) (February). Rolling Hot (eBook) (February). Counting the Cost (eBook) (February). The Sharp End (eBook) (March). Paying the Piper (eBook) (March). The Complete Hammer's Slammers 1 (eBook) (April). The Complete Hammer's Slammers 2 (eBook) (May). The Complete Hammer's Slammers 3 (eBook) (May). 

George Dyson: Analogia—The Emergence of Technology Beyond Programmable Control (eBook) (September). 

Alex Finley: Victor Caro 01—Victor in the Rubble (eBook) (August). 

Kenneth F. Gantz: Not in Solitude (eBook) (June).

Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (aBook) (January). 

Max Hastings: Vietnam—An Epic Tragedy: 1945–1975 (eBook) (May).

Homer: The Iliad (Robert Fagles, Translator) (eBook) (November). 

Robert E. Howard: Bran Mak Morn—The Last King (eBook) (July). 

Barry Hughart: The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox (omnibus) 01—Bridge of Birds (eBook) (June). 02—The Story of the Stone (eBook). 03—Eight Skilled Gentlemen (eBook).

Jerome K. Jerome: Three Men (Omnibus) 01—Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (eBook) (August). 02—Three Men on the Bummel (eBook) (August). 

Raymond F. Jones: This Island Earth (eBook) (June).

Avigdor Kahalani: The Heights of Courage—A Tank Leader's War on the Golan (pBook) (October). 

Caitlin R. Kiernan: Tinfoil Dossier 01—Agents of Dreamland (eBook) (April) (December). Tinfoil Dossier 02—Black Helicopters (eBook) December). Tinfoil Dossier 03—The Tindalos Asset (eBook) (December). 

Michael Lewis: The Big Short—Inside the Doomsday Machine (eBook) (September). The Premonition—A Pandemic Story (eBook) (September). The Fifth Risk—Undoing Democracy (eBook) (September). Moneyball—The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (eBook) (September). 

R. A. MacAvoy: Black Dragon 01—Tea with the Black Dragon (aBook) (June). 

George R. R. Martin (editor): Wild Cards 01—Wild Cards (eBook) (December). 

Dave McKean: Dream States—The Collected Dreaming, Sandman Presents and Sandman Overture Covers 1997–2014. (pBook) (January). 

Nicholas Meyer: The West End Horror (pBook) (March). The Canary Trainer (pBook) (March).

Sergio Miller: In Good Faith—A History of the Vietnam War Volume 1—1945-64 (eBook) (July). 

Michael Moorcock: Elric 01 (Gallery/Saga Press Omnibus Collections 01)—Elric of Melnibone (omnibus edition; counted as four separate books) (eBook) (May).  Elric 02 (Gallery/Saga Press Omnibus Collections 02)—Stormbringer (omnibus edition; counted as four separate books) (eBook) (November). Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melnibone 01—Elric: The Stealer of Souls (omnibus editon; counted as two separate books) (eBook) (November). The Elric Saga 013—The Citadel of Forgotten Myths (eBook) (December). 

Annalee Newitz: The Terraformers (eBook) (March). 

Larry Niven: A Hole in Space (eBook) (December). 

Alice Mary Norton  (writing as Andre Norton or Andrew North or Allen Weston): Solar Queen 01—Sargasso of Space (eBook) (January). Warlock (Omnibus): Forerunner 01—Storm Over Warlock (eBook) (January); Forerunner 02—Ordeal in Otherwhere (eBook) (February); Forerunner 03—Forerunner Foray (eBook) (July). Pax/Astra 01—The Stars Are Ours! (pBook) (January). Pax/Astra 02—Star Born (pBook) (January). Solar Queen 02—Plague Ship (eBook) (June). Moonsinger (Omnibus): Moonsinger 01—Moon of Three Rings (eBook) (July); Moonsinger 02—Exiles of the Stars (eBook) (July). Search for the Star Stones 01—The Zero Stone (eBook) (December). Search for the Star Stones 02—Uncharted Stars (eBook) (December). 

Alan E. Nourse: Raiders from the Rings (eBook) (July). Scavengers in Space (eBook) (July). Rocket to Limbo (eBook) (July). 

Malka Older: Mossa and Pleiti 01—The Mimicking of Known Successes (eBook) (March). 

Jay Parini: Borges  and Me (eBook) (June). 

K.J. Parker: Siege 03—A Practical Guide to Conquering the World (eBook) (April). Corax 01—Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead (eBook) (December). 

Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody 07—The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog (eBook) (March). Amelia Peabody 08—The Hippopotamus Pool (eBook) (May). 

Tim Powers: Medusa's Web (pBook) (January). The Anubis Gates (pBook) (January). The Stress of Her Regard (pBook) (January). Hide Me Among the Graves (pBook) (January). On Stranger Tides (pBook) (January). Down and Out in Purgatory (pBook) (February). Declare (pBook) (February). Fault Lines 01—Last Call (pBook) (October). 

Terry Pratchett: Discworld 02—The Light Fantastic (eBook) (April). Discworld 03—Equal Rites (eBook) (April). Discworld 04—Mort (eBook) (April). Discworld 05—Sourcery (eBook) (April). Discworld 06—Wyrd Sisters (eBook) (April). Discworld 07—Pyramids (eBook) (April). Discworld 08—Guards! Guards! (eBook) (May). Discworld 09—Eric (eBook) (May). Discworld 10—Moving Pictures (eBook) (June). Discworld 11—Reaper Man (eBook) (June). Discworld 12—Witches Abroad (eBook) (June). Discworld 13—Small Gods (eBook) (June). Discworld 14—Lords and Ladies (eBook) (August). Discworld 15—Men at Arms (eBook) (August). Discworld 16—Soul Music (eBook) (August). Discworld 17—Interesting Times (eBook) (August). Discworld 18—Maskerade (eBook) (September). Discworld 19—Feet of Clay (eBook) (September). Discworld 20—Hogfather (eBook) (September). Discworld 21—Jingo (eBook) (October). Discworld 22—The Last Continent (eBook) (October). Discworld 23—Carpe Jugulum (eBook) (October). A Blink at the Screen—Collected Shorter Fiction (eBook) (November). Discworld 24—The Fifth Elephant (eBook) (November). Discworld 25—The Truth (eBook) (November). Discworld 29—Night Watch (eBook) (December). 

Richard Rhodes: The Making of the Atomic Bomb (eBook) (August). 

John Maddox Roberts: SPQR 01—The King's Gambit (eBook) (May). 

Kim Stanley Robinson: Escape from Kathmandu (eBook) (August). The Three Californias 01—The Wild Shore (eBook) (August). 

Steven Saylor: Roma Sub Rosa 01—Roman Blood (eBook) (May). 

P.W. Singer and August Cole: Ghost Fleet—A Novel of the Next World War (eBook) (August).

Clark Ashton Smith: The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith 04—The Maze of the Enchanter (eBook) (October).

E. E. "Doc" Smith: Lensman 01—Triplanetary (pBook) (March). Lensman 02—First Lensman (pBook) (May). Lensman 03—Galactic Patrol (pBook) (June). 

Olaf Stapledon: Last and First Men (eBook) (July). 

Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash (aBook) (June).

Charles Stross: The Laundry File 001—The Atrocity Archives (eBook) (January). The Laundry Files 002—The Jennifer Morgue (eBook) (January). The Laundry Files 003—The Fuller Memorandum (eBook) (January). The Laundry Files 004—The Apocalypse Codex (eBook) (January). The Laundry Files 005—The Rhesus Chart (eBook) (January). The Laundry Files 006—The Annihilation Score (eBook) (January). The Laundry Files 007—The Nightmare Stacks (eBook) (January). The Laundry Files 008—The Delirium Brief (eBook) (February). Accelerando (eBook) (February).  Halting State 01—Halting State (eBook) (June). Halting State 02—Rule 34 (eBook) (July). The Laundry Files 009—The Labyrinth Index (eBook) (July). The Laundry Files 010—Dead Lies Dreaming (eBook) (July). The Laundry Files 011—Quantum of Nightmares (eBook) (July). The Laundry Files 012—Season of Skulls (eBook) (July).

Sun Tzu: The Art of War (eBook) (December). 

E.C. Tubb: Dumarest 04—Kalin (eBook) (December). Dumarest 05—The Jester at Scar (eBook) (December). Dumarest 06—Lallia (eBook) (December). Dumarest 07—Technos (eBook) (December). Dumarest 07—Veruchia (eBook) (December).

Jack Vance: The Demon Princes 01—The Star King (aBook) (March). The Demon Princes 02—The Killing Machine (aBook) (March). The Dying Earth 01—The Dying Earth (aBook) (April). The Dying Earth 02—The Eyes of the Overworld (aBook) (April). Dying Earth 03—Cugel's Saga (aBook) (April). Dying Earth 04—Rhialto the Marvelous (aBook) (April). The Demon Princes 03—The Palace of Love (aBook) (December). The Demon Princes 04—The Face (aBook) (December). The Demon Princes 05—The Book of Dreams (aBook) (December)

John Varley: Eight Worlds 01—The Ophiuchi Hotline (eBook) (June). 

James Webb: Fields of Fire (eBook) (May). 

Martha Wells: The Murderbot Diaries 01—All Systems Red (eBook) (December). The Murderbot Diaries 02—Artificial Condition (eBook) (December). The Murderbot Diaries 03—Rogue Protocol (eBook) (December). The Murderbot Diaries 04—Exit Strategy (eBook) (December). The Murderbot Diaries 05—Fugitive Telemetry (eBook) (December). The Murderbot Diaries 06—Network Effect (eBook) (December). The Murderbot Diaries 07—System Collapse (eBook) (December).

Andrew Wiest: The Vietnam War—1956-1975 (eBook) (February). 

Kate Wilhelm: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (aBook) (June). 

Walter Jon Williams: Hardwired 01—Hardwired (eBook) (July). 

Jack Williamson: Eldren 01—Lifeburst (eBook) (June).

Connie Willis: Oxford Time Travel 02—To Say Nothing of the Dog (eBook) (August). 

David Wishart: Marcus Corvinus 01—Ovid (eBook) (June). 

Roger Zelazny: A Night in the Lonesome October (eBook) (October). Lord of Light (pBook) (October). Doorways in the Sand (pBook) (October). Roadmarks (pBook) (October).

Books read in chronological order (master list): 001: Dream States (McKean). 002: The Maltese Falcon (Hammett). 003: The Atrocity Archives (Stross). 004: The Jennifer Morgue (Stross). 005: The Fuller Memorandum (Stross). 006: The Apocalypse Codex (Stross). 007: The Rhesus Chart (Stross). 008: Sargasso of Space (Norton). 009: The Annihilation Score (Stross). 010: Medusa's Web (Powers). 011: The Anubis Gates (Powers). 012: Storm Over Warlock (Norton). 013: The Stress of Her Regard (Powers). 014: The Stars Are Ours! (Norton). 015: Star Born (Norton). 016: Hide Me Among the Graves (Powers). 017: On Stranger Tides (Powers). 018: The Nightmare Stacks (Stross). 019: The Delirium Brief (Stross). 020: Ordeal in Otherwhere (Norton). 021: On Pirates (Ashbless, Powers and Blaylock). 022: Accelerando (Stross). 023: Down and Out in Purgatory (Powers). 024: Hue 1968 (Bowden). 025: Declare (Powers). 026: At Any Price (Drake). 027: Rolling Hot (Drake). 028: Counting the Cost (Drake). 029: The Vietnam War—1956-1975 (Wiest). 030: Triplanetary (Smith). 031: The Terraformers (Newitz). 032: The Mimicking of Known Successes (Older). 033: The Star King (Vance). 034: The West End Horror (Meyer). 035: The Canary Trainer (Meyer). 036: The Killing Machine (Vance). 037: The Sharp End (Drake). 038: Paying the Piper (Drake). 039: The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog (Peters). 040: The Dying Earth (Vance). 041: The Eyes of the Overworld (Vance). 042: Cugel's Saga (Vance). 043: Rhialto the Marvelous (Vance). 044: Flying Lab (Dickerson). 045: The Light Fantastic (Pratchett). 046: Equal Rites (Pratchett). 047: Mort (Pratchett). 048: Sourcery (Pratchett). 049: Wyrd Sisters (Pratchett). 050: Death in the Ashes (Bell). 051: Pyramids (Pratchett). 052: The Eyes of Aurora (Bell). 053: A Practical Guide to Conquering the World (Parker). 054: Agents of Dreamland (Kiernan). 055: Hammer's Slammers 01 (Drake). 056: Vietnam—An Epic Tragedy: 1945–1975 (Hastings). 057: Hammer's Slammers 02 (Drake). 058: The Complete Hammer's Slammers 03 (Drake). 059: Medicus (Downie). 060: Terra Incognita (Downie). 061: Persona Non Grata (Downie). 062: Caveat Emptor (Downie). 063: Roman Blood (Saylor). 064: The King's Gambit (Roberts). 065: Semper Fidelis (Downie). 066: Tabula Rasa (Downie). 067: Vita Brevis (Downie). 068: Fields of Fire (Webb). 069: Mars, Inc. (Bova). 070: The Hippopotamus Pool (Peters). 071: Guards! Guards! (Pratchett). 072: First Lensman (Smith). 073: Eric (Pratchett). 074-077: Elric of Melnibone (omnibus) (Moorcock). 078: Snow Crash (Stephenson). 079: Moving Pictures (Pratchett). 080: Reaper Man (Pratchett). 081: Witches Abroad (Pratchett). 082: The Starship & the Canoe (Brower). 083: Borges  and Me (Parini). 084: Stories of Your Life and Others (Chiang). 085: Ovid (Wishart). 086: Ginger Star (Brackett). 087: Small Gods (Pratchett). 088: Nova (Delany). 089: Galactic Patrol (Smith). 090: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (Wilhelm). 091: Plague Ship (Norton). 092: Bridge of Birds (Hughart). 093: Not in Solitude (Gantz). 094: Lifeburst (Williamson). 095: The Ophiuchi Hotline (Varley). 096: The Mad Scientists' Club (Brinley). 097: The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club (Brinley). 098: Halting State (Stross). 099: The Big Kerplop! (Brinley). 100: Tea with the Black Dragon (MacAvoy). 101: This Island Earth (Jones). 102: Consider Phlebas (Banks). 103: Forerunner Foray (Norton). 104: Moon of Three Rings (Norton). 105: Exiles of the Stars (Norton). 106: Raiders from the Rings (Nourse). 107: Rule 34 (Stross). 108: Scavengers in Space (Nourse). 109: Hardwired (Williams). 110: The Labyrinth Index (Stross). 111: Dead Lies Dreaming (Stross). 112: Rocket to Limbo (Nourse). 113: Quantum of Nightmares (Stross). 114: Season of Skulls (Stross).115: Bran Mak Morn (Howard). 116: Player of Games (Banks). 117; On Argentina (Borges). 118: On Writing (Borges). 119: Use of Weapons (Banks). 120: Last and First Men (Stapledon). 121: In Good Faith (Miller). 122: The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Rhodes). 123: To Say Nothing of the Dog (Willis). 124: Ghost Fleet (Singer and Cole). 125: Lords and Ladies (Pratchett). 126: Men at Arms (Pratchett). 127: Soul Music (Pratchett). 128: Three Men in a Boat (Jerome). 129: Escape from Kathmandu (Robinson). 130: Interesting Times (Pratchett). 131 and 132: Three Men on a Boat/Three Men on the Bummel (Jerome). 133: The Wild Shore (Robinson). 134: Victor in the Rubble (Finley). 135: The State of the Art (Banks). 136: The Big Short (Lewis). 137: Analogia (Dyson). 138: The Premonition (Lewis). 139: The Fifth Risk (Lewis). 140: Moneyball (Lewis). 141: Maskerade (Pratchett). 142: Feet of Clay (Pratchett). 143: Hogfather (Pratchett). 144: Last Call (Powers). 145: The Heights of Courage (Kahalani). 146: A Night in the Lonesome October (Zelazny). 147: Lord of Light (Zelazny). 148: Doorways in the Sand (Zelazny). 149: The Sonnets (Borges). 150: 2010 (Clarke). 151: Roadmarks (Zelazny). 152: Jingo (Pratchett). 153: The Last Continent (Pratchett). 154: Carpe Jugulum (Pratchett). 155: The Maze of the Enchanter (Smith). 156: A Blink at the Screen—Collected Shorter Fiction (Pratchett). 157: Sundiver (Brin). 158: The Iliad (Homer). 159: Matter (Banks). 160: The Fifth Elephant (Pratchett). 161: The Truth (Pratchett). 162-165: Stormbringer (Moorcock). 166-167: The Stealer of Souls (Moorcock). 168: Agents of Dreamland (Kiernan). 169: Black Helicopters (Kiernan). 170: The Tindalos Asset (Kiernan). 171: All Systems Red (Wells). 172: The Conquest of Gaul (Caesar). 173: The Fightin' Scientists of Tesladyne (Clevinger and Wegener). 174: The Art of War (Tzu). 175: Memento Mori (Downie). 176: Prima Facie (Downie). 177: Artificial Condition (Wells). 178: Exit Strategy (Wells). 179: Rogue Protocol (Wells). 180: Fugitive Telemetry (Wells). 181: Wild Cards (Martin) 182: The Palace of Love (Vance). 183: Kalin (Tubb). 184: The Dogs of War (Clevinger and Wegener). 185: Night Watch (Pratchett). 186: Atomic Robo and The Shadow From Beyond Time (Clevinger and Wegener). 187: The Broken Sword (Anderson). 188: The Jester at Scar (Tubb). 189: Lallia (Tubb). 190: The Face (Vance). 191: Technos (Tubb). 192: Atomic Robo & Other Strangeness (Clevinger and Wegener). 193: The Zero Stone (Norton). 194: Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science (Clevinger and Wegener). 195: Atomic Robo and The Ghost of Station X (Clevinger and Wegener). 196: Fortune's Fool (Bell). 197: Atomic Robo and The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific (Clevinger and Wegener). 198: Uncharted Stars (Norton). 199: Network Effect (Wells). 200: System Collapse (Wells). 201: The Book of Dreams (Vance). 202: The Citadel of Forgotten Myths (Moorcock). 203: A Universal History of Iniquity (Borges). 204: Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead (Parker). 205: A Hole in Space (Niven). 206: Veruchia (Tubb). 

Paper Books: 022.

Electronic Books: 165.

Audiobooks: 019.

2022: The Year in Reading

 And thus ends the year in reading that was 2022. What was the rundown?

For books and longer works: 171 (up from 156 in 2021).

For short works of all types: 525 (up from 416 in 2021).

Once again, there was a net positive as I cut back on viewing time to one hour a night and continued to prune podcasts. I also did a lot more "synchronized reading" where I would listen to the audiobook while walking or driving and then switch over to the electronic book while at home. I can't listen to a book as fast as I can read pages (paper or on a screen), but by combining the two, I continue to increase my reading overall.

Best reads of the year? A mix of fiction and non-fiction. On the fiction side, the best reads included Gregory Benford's Galactic Center series (six books, a reread); Nicola Griffith's Spear (an expansion of the Arthurian Canon); Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (which might be better than everybody's favorite in his Amber Series); and the two Monk and Robot books by Becky Chambers. 

It would be hard to pick the best out of these: Benford soars when it comes to his descriptions of astronomical phenomena and being able to combine transhumanism with Mark Twain. Griffith brings us a fresh new take on Arthur, something I didn't think was possible anymore. Zelazny is the oldest of the three, but his gonzo take on Buddhist mythology, space opera, and religious war has not been matched.  I'm not sure if the Monk and Robot books are a new genre of "hopepunk" or just what you need after multiple years of crazed politics and pandemic in the form of comfort reads. 

Runner ups would include The Expanse (9 books and one anthology) by James S. A. Corey; The Amber Series by Roger Zelazny; the Murderbot Series by Martha Wells; the Revelation Space/Cojoiner Series by Alastair Reynolds and the first two books of The Red Trilogy by Linda Nagata. 

All of these were rereads, and might have been in the earlier category if they had been first reads. This run through was to take a look at each, plus who doesn't love a good Sec Unit (Murderbot). 

On the nonfiction side, the best reads were The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam (covering the Vietnam War); The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder (designing a new computer); Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James McPherson; Mars Rover Curiosity—An Inside Account From Curiosity's Chief Engineer by Rob Manning and William L. Simon; Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944–1945 by Ian Toll (the third in a trilogy on the Second World War in the Pacific Theater). 

It would be hard to pick out the best here, as each was read for a different reason. Kidder and Manning/Simon turned out to give me some thoughts about my job. McPherson was a fantastic read showing a lot about the American Civil War that is overlooked by many popular histories on the subject (politics and economics). Halberstam is part of an ongoing project to understand a major conflict that we should have studied more before getting involved in other conflicts. And the Toll was the third installment of a trilogy that continued to make me drop my jaw in terms of learning things about a conflict I thought I already knew a lot about. 

Runner ups would include The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman; Danse Macabre by Stephen King; Future Shock by Alvin Toffler; The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. 

As with the fiction runner ups, these were all rereads. Each has stood the test of time (no suck fairy here) and have been made relevant by other things since I first read them (while they illuminated those other books when I read those). 

There were disappointments this year: The Planeteers by John W. Campbell, Jr. (this space opera series did not age well); Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy (sometimes a trunk novel should stay in the trunk); Chieftains by Bob Forrest-Webb (congratulations, you made war boring); Switched-On Bach by Roshanak Khesti (if it had actually been about the album, and not the author's political theories, there might have actually been a mediocre book there); Martian Summer by Andrew Kessler (the author affected an air of ignorance and bad humor throughout the book that completely took away from the story he was claiming to want to document).

What will next year bring? Stand by!