For the third year in a row, I logged every novel, short story collection, poetry compilation, graphic novel, and collected edition of monthly comics I read, excluding individual monthly comics (on which I continued to fall catastrophically behind) and anything I read (and reread, and reread again) for my day job. My only big change? A lot of these books were read on my iPad Mini. And a good number were for my gay book club (you can guess which ones).
If you don’t yet keep track of your reading, you should start in 2017. It’s your best bet for hitting a reading goal, and for folks like me who read a ton, it’s a nice way to recall books that otherwise departed your memory.
For the tl;dr crowd, here are my Top 13 for the year, in the order in which I read them:
On Writing, Stephen King
Binti, Nnedi Okorafor
The Girls, Emma Cline
I Am a Hero Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, Kengo Hanazawa
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz
The Hero: Book Two, David Rubín
Night Sky With Exit Wounds, Ocean Vuong
Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders (I read an ARC)
A Choir of Ill Children, Tom Piccirilli
Habitat, Simon Roy
Prez Vol. 1, Mark Russell, Ben Caldwell, Domo Stanton
Bones of the Coast, edited by Shannon Campbell, Jeff Ellis, Kathleen Jacques
(New X-Men Omnibus was a re-read, or it would be up here.)
The rest is below the jump!
I don’t really feel like dumping on anything this year. I definitely got burnt out on comic anthologies, and I hated A Little Life, but the good outweighs the bad. Below is the full list, divided by month, followed by a few statistics and an evaluation of my 2016 reading goals as established last January.
[A note on comics: I feel guilty that I’ve left off colorists and inkers, as they contribute so much to a book, but I defaulted to cover credits while logging my reading and don’t have most of these books on-hand to fix it now.]
January
The Amazing World of Gumball: Fairy Tale Trouble, Megan Brennan, Katy Farina, Jeremy Lawson
Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland, Kim Newman, Maura McHugh, Tyler Crook
On Writing, Stephen King
Binti, Nnedi Okorafor
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, edited by John Joseph Adams & Joe Hill
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson
February
Planet Hulk, Sam Humphries & Marc Laming
Future Imperfect, Peter David & Greg Land
Hail Hydra, Rick Remender & Roland Boschi
House of M, Dennis Hopeless & Marco Failla
Marvel Zombies, Si Spurrier & Kev Walker
Old Man Logan, Brian Michael Bendis & Andrea Sorrentino
The Girls, Emma Cline
The Gilded Razor, Sam Lansky
March
Civil War, Charles Soule & Leinil Francis Yu
New X-Men Omnibus, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Phil Jimenez, Ethan Van Sciver, Igor Kordey, Marc Silvestri, Keron Grant, Chris Bachalo, John Paul Leon, Bill Sienkiewicz, Leinil Francis Yu
The Eye of the Cat, Elejandro Jodorowsky & Moebius
All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders
Beyond Anthology, edited by Sfé Monster & Taneka Scott
A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara
Balloon Pop Outlaw Black, Patricia Lockwood
April
I Am a Hero Vol. 1, Kengo Hanazawa
The Nameless City Vol. 1, Faith Erin Hicks
Ody-C Vol. 1, Matt Fraction & Christian Ward
Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff
Husk, Rachel Autumn Deering
New World: An Anthology of Sci-Fi & Fantasy, edited by C. Spike Trotman
Chainmail Bikini: An Anthology of Women Gamers, edited by Hazel Newlevant
Broken Frontier, edited by Frederik Hautain & Tyler Chin-Tanner
Love in All Forms: The Big Book of Growing Up Queer, edited by Serafina Dwyer
Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 1, Grant Morrison & Yanick Paquette
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz
The Hero: Book Two, David Rubín
The Girl With All the Gifts, M. R. Carey
Regular Show: Noir Means Noir, Buddy, Rachel Connor, Robert Luckett, Wook Jin Clark
Night Air, Ben Sears
Revenger: Children of the Damned, Charles Forsman
Magic for Beginners, Kelly Link
May
Dark Engine Vol. 1, Ryan Burton & John Bivens
Disney Kingdoms: Seekers of the Weird, Brandon Seifert, Karl Moline, Filipe Andrade
The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, Aimee Bender
Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire
Mr. Splitfoot, Samantha Hunt
Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Charles M. Blow
Revival Vol. 1, Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
The Fireman, Joe Hill
Colder: Toss the Bones, Paul Tobin & Juan Ferreyra
The Fly: Outbreak, Brandon Seifert & Menton3
Faker, Mike Carey & Jock
What If? Infinity, Joshua Williamson, Mike Henderson, Riley Rossmo, Mike Norton, Jason Copeland, Goran Sudžuka
June
Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli, Jacopo Camagni
Outcast Vol. 3, Robert Kirkman & Paul Azaceta
Lady Killer Vol. 1, Joelle Jones & Jamie S. Rich
The Fiction, Curt Pires & David Rubín
The Amazing World of Gumball Vol. 2, Frank Gibson, Tyson Hesse, Paulina Ganucheau
Arcadia, Alex Paknadel & Eric Scott Pfeiffer
Black Market, Frank J. Barbiere & Victor Santos
Dream Thief Vol. 2, Jai Nitz, Greg Smallwood, Todd Galusha
Contest of Champions Vol.1, Al Ewing & Paco Medina
The Infinity Gauntlet, Dustin Weaver & Gerry Duggan
The Amulet, Michael McDowell
The Dark Half, Stephen King
The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Steve Moncuse & Art Adams
Steven Universe: Too Cool for School, Ian Jones-Quartey, Jeremy Sorese, Asia Kendrick-Horton, Rachel Dukes, Josceline Fenton
Bob’s Burgers: Medium Rare, overseen by Loren Bouchard
Bob’s Burgers: Well Done, overseen by Loren Bouchard
Zombie, Joyce Carol Oates
Kare-Kare Komiks, Andrew Drilon
Night Sky With Exit Wounds, Ocean Vuong
The Witcher: House of Glass, Paul Tobin & Joe Querio
X-Men: No More Humans, Mike Carey & Salvador Larroca
Cold Moon Over Babylon, Michael McDowell
July
Black Hand Comics, Wes Craig
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, Paul Tremblay
B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: The Devil’s Wings, John Arcudi, Mike Mignola, Lawrence Campbell, Joe Querio, Tyler Crook
B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: Flesh & Stone, John Arcudi, Mike Mignola, James Harren
Abe Sapien: Sacred Places, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Sebastian Fiumara, Max Fiumara
Abe Sapien: A Darkness So Great, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Sebastian Fuimara, Max Fiumara
Hellboy & the B.P.R.D. 1952, Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Alex Maleev
Lobster Johnson: Get the Lobster!, Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Tonči Zonjić
Green River Killer: A True Detective Story, Jeff Jensen & Jonathan Case
The Witcher: Fox Children, Paul Tobin & Joe Querio
Children of the Night, John Blackburn
Frankenstein Underground, Mike Mignola & Ben Stenbeck
My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Grady Hendrix
August
The Well, Jack Cady
Angel Catbird Vol. 1, Margaret Atwood & Johnnie Christmas
Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders
September
Fellside, M. R. Carey
The Twilight Children, Gilbert Hernandez & Darwyn Cooke
Veil, Greg Rucka & Toni Fejzula
Negative Space, Ryan K. Lindsey & Owen Geini
Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 1, Alex De Campi, Chris Peterson, Simon Fraser
Bitch Planet Vol. 1, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Robert Wilson IV
Ody-C Vol. 2, Matt Fraction & Christian Ward
Tampa, Alissa Nutting
Clive Barker’s A-Z of Horror, compiled by Stephen Jones
The Missing, Sarah Langan
Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 2, Alex De Campi, Federica Manfredi, Gary Erskine
Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 3, Alex De Campi, R.M. Guera, Chris Peterson
Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 4, Alex De Campi, Mulele Jarvis, John Lucas
Audition, Ryu Murakami
Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show, Suehiro Maruo
In the Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami
October
Ghosts, Raina Telgemeier
Anya’s Ghost, Vera Brosgol
One Week in the Library, W. Maxwell Prince & John Amor
A Choir of Ill Children, Tom Piccirilli
The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter
I Am a Hero Vol. 2, Kengo Hanazawa
The Beauty Vol. 1, Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley
The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo Vol. 1, Drew Weing
November
Gerald’s Game, Stephen King
Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman
Invisible Republic Vol. 1, Gabriel Hardman & Corinne Bechko
Roche Limit Vol. 1, Michael Moreci & Vic Malhorta
What Belongs to You, Garth Greenwell
Roche Limit Vol. 2, Michael Moreci & Kyle Charles
Roche Limit Vol. 3, Michael Moreci & Kyle Charles
One-Punch Man Vol. 9, ONE & Yusuke Murata
One-Punch Man Vol. 10, ONE & Yusuke Murata
Habitat, Simon Roy
December
Beowulf, Santiago García & David Rubín
The Oath, edited by Audrey Redpath
Star Wars: Tales From the Far, Far Away, Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel, Ryan Cady, Phillip Sevy, etc.
Prelude to Bruise, Saeed Jones
Grief is the Thing With Feathers, Max Porter
Tomie Deluxe Edition, Junji Ito
Krampus!, Brian Jones & Dean Kotz
Fantasy Sports Vol. 2, Sam Bosma
The Beauty Vol. 2, Jeremy Haun, Jason A. Hurley, Mike Huddleston, Brett Weldele, Stephen Green
Prez Vol. 1, Mark Russell, Ben Caldwell, Domo Stanton
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe, Ryan Q. North & Erica Henderson
Love is Love, edited by Marc Andreyko
Joe Golem Vol. 1, Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Patric Reynolds
Baltimore: Cult of the Red King, Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Peter Bergting
Abe Sapien: The Burning Fire, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Max Fiumara, Sebastian Fiumara, Tyler Crook
Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire, Neil Gaiman & Shane Oakley
Bones of the Coast, edited by Shannon Campbell, Jeff Ellis, Kathleen Jacques
Total:
140 Books (up from 128 in 2015 and 87 in 2014)
Breakdown:
39 Novels or short story collections (down from 43 in 2015 and 44 in 2014)
98 Graphic novels/collected editions of comics (up from 84 in 2015 and a measly 42 in 2014)
3 Books of poetry (triple the 2015 and 2014 counts!)
About 35 Books written or edited by female authors (up from 20 in 2015 and 16 in 2014; note that I’m only counting writers and editors, not artists, and I’m counting books, not unique authors)
Roughly 19 books by (known-to-be) non-white authors (down from 30 last year but up from 9 in 2014...but both this year and last were inflated by multiple entries from manga creators)
...and at least 16 books written or edited by queer and trans authors.
Oops, been bad about updating. Made a list of the 13 scary movies I wanna watch this October; made the list itself as scary as possible. [Warning: Scary list]
DC’s rebirthed Suicide Squad from writer Rob Williams and tag-team artists Philip Tan and Jim Lee is expertly crafted to appeal to fans of the critically maligned but commercially successful film—the team line-ups are nearly identical, comic characters have been redesigned to better match their film counterparts and at least one popular trailer sequence appears “verbatim” in the first issue—which makes this latest volume, however well executed, utterly antithetical to the Suicide Squad concept, and perhaps the least “Suicide Squad-y” Suicide Squad of the last fifteen years.
Oh look, I used Suicide Squad as an excuse to write about one of my favorite comics of all time.
After the Orlando shooting, Steve Foxe, a gay NYC resident, wrote the above Facebook post. While not massively viral, the post attracted some attention online, included a homophobic, victim-blaming private message from a stranger that only proved Foxe’s point.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of my first post for Paste. Over the last 365 days, I’ve interviewed some of the best the industry has to offer under the strong editorial guidance of Sean Edgar and outgoing assistant editor Tyler Kane. Why is he outgoing? Because I’m incoming, baby. Starting February 1st, Tyler will focus on books (without pictures) while I step into the role of assistant editor for Paste’s Comic section.
Before I look boldly forward into an uncertain 2016 full of promise and potential, I wanted to recap the insane range of talent I had the privilege of covering in 2015:
Mariko & Jillian Tamaki
Shannon Watters
Kieron Gillen
Jason Latour
Shaun Simon
John Allison
Matt Pizzolo, Steve Niles, and Brett Gurewitz of Black Mask Studios
Matthew Rosenberg
Scott Kolins
Geof Darrow
Kurtis J. Wiebe
Brian Buccelatto
Steve Orlando
Annie Wu
Dave Roman & John Green
Marian Churchland (with unexpected appearance by Brandon Graham)
Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden
Adam Smith & Matt Fox
Ales Kot
Kate Leth & Matt Cummings
Chris Sheridan
Marguerite Bennett
Mark Waid
Mairghread Scott & the Matthews Sisters
Steve Orlando (again) & JD Faith
Donny Cates & Eliot Rahal
Jon Goldwater of Archie Comics
Joe Hill
Lauren Beukes and Dale Halvorsen
Chip Zdarsky
Valentine De Landro and Kelly Sue DeConnick
Kelly Sue DeConnick (again)
Holly Black & Lee Garbett
Kate Leth (again)
Simon Spurrier
...and that’s on top of all sorts of listicles and think-pieces and weekly recommendations. It’s been a killer year and 2016 looks even better.
