Reading List 2009

Categories:

Books, Personal

Tags:

2009, books, comic, fiction, readernaut, reading

Published:

7:26pm on Saturday 30th January, 2010

Just as I have done for the last two years, I’ve been carefully recording my reading material. 2009’s repository was Nathan Borror’s excellent new web app, Readernaut - and the final total is a not completely unimpressive thirty.

Fiction

Still trying to improve my consumption of “classic” literature, I slogged through Midnight’s Children last year, which was not an easy read but ultimately rewarding. The only other book that really made an impression was the excellent high-concept novel, The Time Traveller’s Wife.

• My Favourite Wife (Tony Parsons)
• The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
• Good Omens (Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman)
• Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates)
• By Design (Richard E Grant)
• A Matter For Men (David Gerrold)
• Farnham’s Freehold (Robert A Heinlein)
• Time For The Stars (Robert A Heinlein)
• Ysabel (Guy Gavriel Kay)
• Midnight’s Children (Salman Rushdie)
• The Magicians (Lev Grossman)
• Requiem for a Dream (Hubert Selby Jr)
• Nation (Terry Pratchett)

eBooks

As I’ve been travelling a lot this year, I occasionally found that I didn’t have the bag space to fit a book into my overnight bag. Thus, eBooks on iPhone have made their first appearance on my reading list.

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (F Scott Fitzgerald)
• A Princess of Mars (Edgar Rice Burroughs)

Non-fiction

• The Audacity of Hope (Barack Obama)
• Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)
• Droidmaker (Michael Rubin)

Droidmaker, the story behind the birth of movie special effects and George Lucas’ role in that art’s genesis, was actually a free PDF recommended by Michael Heilemann of Binary Bonsai, but I’d certainly pick it up for a coffee table book if I saw it in the shops. It was an excellent geek read.

Fantasy

Yet more fantasy to pad out my reading list. This year I discovered Robin Hobb, and I’m slowly slogging through her various trilogies. Looking forward to Joe Abercrombie‘s new book, due out sometime in 2010.

• Best Served Cold (Joe Abercrombie)
• Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)
• Assassin’s Apprentice (Robin Hobb)
• Royal Assassin (Robin Hobb)
• Assassin’s Quest (Robin Hobb)
• Ship of Magic (Robin Hobb)
• The Mad Ship (Robin Hobb)

Graphic Novels

I re-read Watchmen before going to see the (excellent, faithfully adapted) film in March.

• Watchmen (Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons)
• World War Hulk (Greg Pak)
• Batman: The Killing Joke (Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, John Higgins)
• Batman: Arkham Asylum (Grant Morrison)

Highlights of 2009

Despite reading more than in 2008, it’s difficult to pick out any real standout books from the preceding lists. The Time Traveller’s Wife was clever but ultimately forgettable; Midnight’s Children was impressive but hard work. So no real recommendations from me, just a reaffirming of my intentions to actually read some more “proper” literature in the coming twelvemonth.