I don’t do end-of-year posts about my writing career or life stuff, but each year I do one about all the books I’ve read between January 1 and December 31. I don’t know why. It’s just something I do. And now you all have to suffer through it.
As always, my list does not include magazines, short stories, or individual comics issues, only books and graphic novels/trade comics collections. So, without further ado, here is the list of books I read in 2013, presented in the order in which I read them:
Roots of the Swamp Thing by Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson
Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore
The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola
The Devil In Silver by Victor LaValle
Lucretia and the Kroons by Victor LaValle
Engines of Desire by Livia Llewellyn
Little Book of Vintage Horror by Tim Pilcher
The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine by Peter Straub
Let’s Play White by Chesya Burke
In the Mean Time by Paul Tremblay
Mountain Home by Bracken MacLeod
Life Itself: A Memoir by Roger Ebert
The Year of the Storm by John Mantooth
Hair Side, Flesh Side by Helen Marshall
The Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror by Roger Langridge
The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom by Mark Waid
The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub
Black House by Stephen King & Peter Straub
The Damned Highway: Fear and Loathing in Arkham by Brian Keene & Nick Mamatas
SuperNOIRtural Tales by Ian Rogers
Noirotica: An Anthology of Erotic Crime Stories edited by Thomas S. Roche
Every House Is Haunted by Ian Rogers
Essential Tomb of Dracula, Vol. 1 by Marv Wolfman, et al.
1969: Califormication by Robert N. Lee
1968: Finest Kind by Robert N. Lee
1967: The Live Lady of Down Town by Robert N. Lee
The Look of Horror: Scary Moments from Scary Movies by Jonathan Sternfield
Remember Why You Fear Me by Robert Shearman
Dark Fusions: Where Monsters Lurk! edited by Lois H. Gresh
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? by Neil Gaiman
That’s 31 books this year, just over my annual target of 30. If I had to sum up my 2013 reading list, I’d say it was a year of very strong fiction collections: Llewellyn, Burke, Tremblay, Marshall, Shearman, and not one but two by Rogers. It was also the year I discovered two very accomplished debut novels, Mantooth’s The Year of the Storm and MacLeod’s Mountain Home. I expect to see great things from both authors in the future. Additionally, 2013 was the year I finally completed the Straubathon, which I started in….I want to say 2005? The entire experience was very gratifying and certainly cemented Peter Straub’s place at number one on my list of favorite authors.
That’s it for 2013, folks. Here’s wishing you a 2014 filled with happiness, health, prosperity, and lots of great books to read!
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