This is an updated list of the books and graphic novels I’ve been reading this year. I’ll be continually adding new books and occasionally creating a new post to bump to the front page when it’s had a few updates. I think it’ll be interesting to look back at the end of the year and examine my reading habits.

October 2007

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

This has been on my to-read pile for years now, but a couple of my friends read it a while ago, and I was urged to finally pick it up. It’s an amazing book, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. The characters are unique and have depth, the plot is layered and enthralling, and the words are beautifully written. His dialogue feels alive, and his plot twists actually take you by surprise. I really loved everything about this book.

September 2007

Man and Camel: Poems by Mark Strand

I listened to an interview of Mark Strand on a CBC podcast the last time I drove to Kamloops. He seemed like a fascinating man, and the poems they read of his were terrific. They were surreal and hilarious. I ordered this book as soon as I got home, and I’m fairly happy with it. It was way too expensive for its size, and I found many of the poems to be forgettable, but there are a few gems hidden in there.

Fell Volume 1: Feral City by Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis’ graphic novel about a detective in a new town working on, you guessed it, gruesome and disturbing cases. Having just read Crooked Little Vein, I was a little wary about Ellis trying to gross out his readers without plot to back the story, but I actually enjoyed it. It occasionally falls into the Crooked Little Vein realm, but there are still some genuinely interesting stories here.

Geek Mafia by Rick Dakan

I really enjoyed this book. I can get behind any story with a comic book nerd as the hero. The characters are great, and the story grabs hold of you from the very beginning. I love con operations, and I love geeks, so this book really worked for me. According to the author’s website, the sequel to this, Geek Mafia: Mile Zero, can now be ordered directly from the publisher.

Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis

I think Warren Ellis is great, and I’ve really enjoyed the graphic novels of his I’ve read, but this book was a disappointment. I got the feeling reading it that he wrote a shopping list of gruesome things he’d like to mentioned in the book before he started and just ran down the list. The plot was thin and the characters forgettable. I don’t really get disturbed that easily by actions alone. If disturbing things are happening to a character that I’m invested in, then I can find it gripping, but otherwise it’s just a bore.

August 2007

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

I finally bit the bullet and read a Harry Potter book, and it was fairly enjoyable. I still think the series is enormously overhyped, but I’ll eventually read through the rest of the books.

James Bond And Philosophy edited by James B. South and Jacob M. Held

My friend Mike recommended the Popular Culture and Philosophy series to me, and I’m glad he did. It’s a great idea to open philosophical discussions, and explain the concepts, using examples from popular culture. This book contains fifteen essays on the philosophical issues surrounding 007, from what it means to have a license to kill to the objectification of women. It uses a lot of examples from the books, but everything will still make sense if you’ve seen the movies. It did prompt me to buy the first book, though, which I’ll be reading soon.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

A whimsical fairly tale for adults. Gaiman let his imagination go wild on this one, and it created a wonderful, winding story. Much better than the movie, in my opinion.

July 2007

Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist

I thought the first half, Magician: Apprentice, was better. I felt like the story spanned over too much time, and the characters changed and became masters so quickly that they almost felt like new characters. I love reading along with characters as they find and develop their new skills, but he basically skimmed over that part. I still really enjoyed it, but I felt like he tried to cover too much in one book.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

This was a great book, told from the perspective of an autistic teenager. The narrator takes a lot of interesting tangents while telling the story, and it was just a refreshing read.

June 2007

Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist

When I first started reading this, I couldn’t get over how bizarrely similar it is to Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. This book was written before Hobb’s, so maybe he inspired her. The beginning setting, the characters and their relationships with each other, the mysterious enemies - so many elements in the stories are mirrored. I almost expected the main characters to run into each other during the first 100 pages. Magician: Apprentice turned out to be a great. I plan to continue on with the series once I get a few books off my to-read list.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is quickly becoming my personal hero. I just love the way he tells a story. That said, I think this is one of his weaker pieces. I did enjoy it overall, but I felt it got lost a little in the middle. It has it’s moments, but the plot as a whole is forgettable.

Neverwhere has actually been made into a graphic novel, so I will eventually check that out. I think with some editing and cutting down, just what they’d need to do to turn it into a graphic novel, it could be a great little tale.

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. Volume 1 by Warren Ellis

A hilarious and bizarre take on superheroes by the Internet Jesus himself, Warren Ellis. Silly and violent with just a dash of disturbing thrown in.

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman

Gaman’s view of what the world would have been like if our beloved Marvel characters were born four hundred years in the past. Wicked graphic novel by a wicked author.

Travels by Michael Crichton

Fantastic book on travel and spirituality. Read the full review.

The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore

A great graphic novel for zombie lovers. Instead of trying to focus on the gore factor that most zombie stories fall into, they’re focusing more of the human reaction of seeing such a disaster. I’ll eventually be picking up the rest of the volumes in the series.