2021 Book Roundup

I had a pretty great reading year even if the year itself was not quite so spectacular off the page. (You can probably relate.) I continued to read a lot of comics in 2021 as well as a lot of nonfiction intermixed with some literary fiction sprinkled here and there. But rather than just talk about what I read, let's get to the list! (And maybe I'll post more regularly this year starting with my 2021 DNF post. *fingers crossed*)

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
2. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
3. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
4. Fox Tossing: And Other Forgotten and Dangerous Sports, Pastimes, and Games by Edward Brooke-Hitching
5. Single. On Purpose: Redefine Everything. Find Yourself First. by John Kim
6. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
7. Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson
8. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith
9. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
10. Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure by Ryan North 
11. Bury my Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's by Tiffany Midge
12. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
13. Crooked House by Agatha Christie
14. Spring by Ali Smith
15. A Tiger Like Me by Laura Watkinson, Joelle Tourlonias, & Michael Engler
16. The Vision Vol 1: Little Worse Than a Man by Tom King, et. al.
17. The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
18. House of M by Brian Michael Bendis
19. Avengers: Vision and the Scarlet Witch: A Year in the Life by Richard Howell et. al.
20. The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy by Anna Clark
21. Star Trek: The Stardate Collection Vol 1 by Scott Tipton et. al. 
22. Star Trek: The Stardate Collection Vol 2 by Scott Tipton et. al. 
23. Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold
24. Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire 
25. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunately Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
26. The Vision Vol 2: Little Better Than a Beast by Tom King et. al.
27. Talking to Strangers: What we Should Know About the People we Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell
28. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
29. Happy Singlehood: The Rising Acceptance and Celebration of Solo Living by Elyakim Kislev
30. Ancestor Approved by Cynthia Leitich Smith
31. Star Trek: A Cultural History by M. Keith Booker
32. Summer by Ali Smith
33. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
34. The Lost Village by Camilla Sten
35. A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Southon
36. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
37. Slow Horses by Mick Herron
38. Birding is my Favorite Video Game by Rosemary Mosco
39. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
40. Into the Raging Sea by Rachel Slade
41. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates
42. Scarlet Witch Vol 1: Witches' Road by Vanesa Del Rey
43. Dead Lions by Mick Herron
44. Beauty Sick by Teri Schnaubelt
45. In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire 
46. Back to the Future: Tales from the Time Train by Bob Gale et. al.
47. Back to the Future: Biff to the Future by Bob Gale et. al.
48. The List by Mick Herron
49. Real Tigers by Mick Herron
50. My Twentieth Century Evening and Other Small Breakthroughs: The Nobel Lecture by Kazuo Ishiguro 
51. The Trouble With Women by Jacky Fleming
52. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
53. When Pigs Fly by Stephan Pastis
54. Spook Street by Mick Herron
55. Alena by Kim W. Andersson 
56. The Guncle by Steven Rowley 
57. Little Soldiers by Lenora Chu
58. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her own Making by Catherynne Valente
59. The Demon Under the Microscope by Thomas Hager
60. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
61. The Nature of Life and Death by Patricia Wiltshire
62. The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness by Ella Berthoud
63. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
64. Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal
65. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
66. Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman
67. The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World by Amanda Little
68. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
69. Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
70. Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett
71. This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan
72. Star Trek Voyager: Seven's Reckoning by Dave Baker et. al.
73. Star Trek: Gold Key Archives Vol 1 by George Kashden et. al.
74. Star Trek Voyager: Encounters with the Unknown by Nathan Archer
75. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long a Sacrifice by Scott Tipton et. al.
76. Star Trek: Voyager: Mirrors and Smoke by J.K. Woodward et. al.
77. Who Killed Captain Kirk? by Tom Sutton et. al.
78. Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor by John Byrne
79. Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Gorn Crisis by Kevin J. Anderson et. al.
80. Star Trek Classics Vol 2: Enemy Unseen by Tom Sniegoski et. al.
81. Star Trek: Hell's Mirror by J.M. DeMatteis et. al.
82. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Through the Mirror by Scott Tipton et. al.
83. Star Trek Classics Vol 4: Beginnings by Mike Carlin et. al.
84. Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge by Federica Manfredi et. al.
85. Star Trek: The Next Generation - Intelligence Gathering by David Messina et. al.
86. Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War by Angel Hernandez et. al.
87. Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton
88. Death of a Cad by M.C. Beaton
89. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach
90. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
91. Star Trek: Alien Spotlight - Romulans by John Byrne
92. Star Trek: The Q Conflict by David Messina et. al.
93. Star Trek Archives Vol 1: Best of Peter David by Bill Mumy et. al.
94. Star Trek: Romulans - The Hollow Crown #2 by John Byrne
95. Star Trek: Romulans - The Hollow Crown #1 by John Byrne
96. Star Trek: The Classic Episodes by James Blish
97. The Autobiography of Mr. Spock by David A. Goodman
98. AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee & Chen Quifan
99. How Y'all Doing? by Leslie Jordan
100. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carre
101. Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events by Brent Spiner
102. A Will to Kill by R.V. Raman
103. The Boys by Ron & Clint Howard
104. Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History by Richard Thompson Ford
105. Back to the Future: Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines by John Barber et. al.
106. Back to the Future: Hard Time by John Barber et. al.
107. Back to the Future: Citizen Brown by Bob Gale et. al.
108. Back to the Future: Who is Marty McFly? by John Barber et. al.
109. DeadEndia: The Watcher's Test by Hamish Steele
110. Back to the Future: Time Served by John Barber et. al.
111. Back to the Future: Continuum Conundrum by John Barber et. al.

And the reread books:

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams 
3. Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
4. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
5. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
6. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
7. The Adventures and the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

That brings our total count to: 118 books including rereads. 

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Intriguing concept with excellent follow-through

AI 2041: Ten Visions for our Future by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Quifan is a unique undertaking. AI 2041 seeks to explore the way that AI (Artificial Intelligence) will advance and change over the next twenty years. Both authors have experience in the tech fields (Kai-Fu in particular as he owns and operates a venture capital that focuses on technology). However, after leaving their respective jobs at Google they took very different career routes. Chen has pivoted to become a successful sci-fi writer using his knowledge and experience to create realistic stories with a science fiction slant. This book is a combination of their two vocations.

There are 10 short sci-fi pieces written by Chen that delve into different existing (and evolving) technologies powered by AI through a realistic lens. At the end of each story, Kai-Fu discusses in detail why he believes these advances in AI will have sufficiently progressed by the year 2041 to make these stories seem less like science fiction and more like science fact. Some of the topics discussed like deep learning (we're seeing the beginnings of it now with Google Maps following where we've been and making suggestions) and the mechanization of the workforce (this has been happening for years but in twenty years time we could see major industries like medicine, education, and construction almost entirely taken over by AI) have been developing for decades. 

Each of the stories was so well-written and the analyses were so fascinating that at times I forgot my absolutely debilitating fear of Artificial Intelligence (until I read the section on autonomous vehicles). This is a great read for fans of sci-fi, technology, or futurology. And it's one of the few short story collections I've read in recent memory where each of the offerings could stand on its own. (And I actually recall more than half of them after finishing it roughly 3 days ago.) 10/10

                                                                            

What I'm currently reading: Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir Inspired by True Events by Brent Spiner

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

I love Star Trek comics

Those of you who've been reading this blog for a while will know that there are some subjects near and dear to my heart. One of those is Star Trek. I. LOVE. STAR. TREK. Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious I turn to those space travelers to take me boldly where no one has ever gone before. So of course now that school has started back in NYC and my workload has exponentially increased at the library (we're back to in-person programming) I've felt too scatterbrained to focus on anything except for Trek related entertainment. Hence my reading (like Gollum down in the caves) of several Trek comics all in a row. Here's a quick rundown:

1. Star Trek: Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor
2. Star Trek Classics Vol 1: The Gorn Crisis
3. Star Trek Classics Vol 2: Enemy Unseen
4. Star Trek Classics Vol 3: Encounters with the Unknown
5. Star Trek Classics Vol 4: Beginnings
6. Star Trek Classics Vol 5: Who Killed Captain Kirk?
7. Star Trek/The Green Lantern: The Spectrum War
8. Star Trek: The Next Generation - Intelligence Gathering
9. Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge
10. Star Trek: Voyager - Mirrors and Smoke
11. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long a Sacrifice
12. Star Trek: Voyager - Seven's Reckoning

Some of these felt like I was totally immersed in new episodes of the TV series while others fell a bit short of the mark in terms of character believability. (Some of that I think is due to when they were written because I don't think the personality traits were fully fleshed out yet. I'm looking at you Data with feelings!) Some of my favorites (this will not come as a surprise) feature the original cast of the Enterprise on various missions (I really loved the McCoy series). Those had vintage artwork and were really peak 1960/1970s humor, fashion, and sensibilities. I think for anyone who's a fan of the TV series, films, or the universe of Trek in general it's a great way to spend a few hours (or in my case weeks) reading your way through the various adventures of these intrepid space travelers. Go boldly!

From ST Classics: Who Killed Captain Kirk? (Source: Star Trek Comics)

If you'd like me to do super long-winded Trek posts in the future please drop a comment because I would most definitely be down for that. I have thoughts. lol

What I'm currently reading: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Through the Mirror

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

A cure for a reading slump

I read The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman as a buddy read with one of my coworkers (something that wonderfully started happening around the start of the pandemic and has continued). Neither of us knew that 1. we would end up falling so in love with these characters or 2. that this was the start of a series (huzzah!). [A/N: I looked at the author's name and thought I knew it from somewhere even though this is his debut novel and then I saw his author photo. He's an English comedian!]

Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about this book. The story bounces between perspectives but what anchors it are the diary entries of one of our main characters, Joyce, who has recently been invited to join the exclusive Thursday Murder Club at Coopers Chase senior living facility. This group of unlikely compatriots is comprised of Elizabeth (unrivaled head and sassy queen), Ibrahim (retired psychologist and super detail-oriented), Ron (affable rabble-rouser), and newest member Joyce (retired nurse and lover of a good police procedural). I really love books that take place at retirement homes especially if they're elaborate retirement villages like this one where the inhabitants aren't portrayed as dreary depressives. (In fact, these retirees are more likely to day drink and break the law.) What starts the story off is a cold case that they're investigating together but that quickly evolves into a murder played out in real-time much closer to home. They insinuate themselves into infiltrate the local police department (hilariously and with much subterfuge) as the case moves forward gaining momentum (and bodies). If you like fast-paced mysteries with a hilarious cast of characters then you are truly in luck because this one absolutely fits the bill. 10/10

P.S. My coworker listened to the audiobook and she highly recommends it.

Source: StoryGraph

What I'm currently reading: The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World by Amanda Little

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Take a trip with a great book

First things first, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce was a delightful surprise.

This is one of those instances where the cover perfectly captures the essence of the story. (Trust me when I say that I appreciate this cover design for its brilliance even more now that I've read the book.) The reader follows Harold Fry, recently retired from the local brewery, who receives news that a friend from his past (as in distant past) is dying from cancer. So naturally he decides to mail her a letter but then he passes by the mailbox...and the next one...and the next one...until suddenly he's on a journey across the length of England firm in his belief that she will stay alive until he gets there. On his journey (or pilgrimage as it comes to be known) he examines moments from his past that he had repressed (his tumultuous home life, distant relationship with his son, and his strained marriage to name a few) while also discovering his inner strength and fortitude. It's a beautiful (and at times tragic) story about love, loss, and faith. If you enjoy reflective tales with lots of descriptive prose then this book is a great way to spend a lazy afternoon or maybe take on a trip. ;-) 9/10

Source: Goodreads

What I'm currently reading: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Caftans should be more of a thing

I have been singing the praises of The Guncle by Steven Rowley to almost every single person that I've spoken to recently. YA'LL. When it was sold to me as a book that embodied the hilarious campiness of Leslie Jordan you know I was sold immediately. And it did not disappoint. This book follows Patrick who has recently found himself in the unenviable position of being the caregiver for his niece and nephew as they navigate the grief of losing their mother. (I don't want to give more details because I want your reading experience to be as pristine and surprising as mine was.) There are so many fantastic elements to this book that I hardly know where to begin. Patrick is a fantastic character in his own right with an acerbic wit, Guncle Rules for living your best life, and a healthy dash of flash and flair. Ugh I desperately want to be Patrick's BFF. And then there's Maisie and Grant who have been believably written as YouTube obsessed kids who are handling this monumental life change with varying degrees of success. (I am so sick of authors writing kids who are either saccharine sweet or heinous monsters when in reality most kids are a delightful mixture of the two.) Between the three of them, they are doing their utmost to get over the first hurdles of being without this pivotal person in their lives (for Patrick it's his sister-in-law and best friend rolled into one) while also getting to properly know each other. It is EXCELLENT. Please listen to me and give this book a try because I truly think you won't regret it. 10/10

PS Bonus points for the neighbors who live next door to Patrick who I also want to befriend.

Source: Goodreads

What I'm currently reading: The Novel Cure from Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Ten years 😳

Incredibly I've been posting reviews here somewhat consistently for 10 years as of today. 

Source: Meme