There Will Be Time (to Read): Books I Read in 2024

Two years running! 

For the second year in a row, I've read 100 books in 12 months. That number used to be what I considered a minimum annual number for me, but as chronicled here at The Earliad, my speed and focus have diminished somewhat with the growing responsibilities and waning capabilities of middle age. Maybe I'm rebuilding to what used to be my old normal? 

OVERVIEW

In 2024, I read

• 83 works of fiction and 17 works of non-fiction
• 52 science fiction novels, 15 Star Trek media tie-ins, 11 mainstream, three horror, and two fantasy
• 33 books by women and 67 books by men
• 28 books from the 2020s, 18 from the 2010s, 18 from the 2000s, 13 from the 1990s, six from the 1980s, eight from the 1970s, 4 from the 1960s, 3 from the 1950s, and one each from the 1940s and 1890s. 
• Eight books by Hugh Howey, six by Catherine Asaro, four by Stephen Baxter, and three each from Robert Silverberg, Jo Walton, and Connie Willis

   COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Of the books I read this year, 30 were re-reads from authors including Jo Walton, Connie Willis, Stephen King, Robert Heinlein, Patricia Highsmith, Stephen Baxter, Les Daniels, Isaac Asimov, and others. 

I also revisited several works by Catherine Asaro while at the same time reading her newest novels for the first time. Prior to this year I hadn't read her first novel, Primary Inversion, since it was released as a mass market paperback in 1995. I was still in my 20s! The horror. I found myself surprised by how much plot is crammed into Primary Inversion; I could have sworn at least a couple of its major events occurred in later books of the Skolian Empire series. 

Speaking of the 1990s, I picked up B.F. Skinner's Walden Two at the Wee Book Inn sometime during that decade. It sat on a shelf until Skinner's name came up in the infamous orientation film featured in the season two premiere of Lost. Having read only the back cover to that point, I figured I'd read the book to see if there were any clues to what might be going on in the world of the show. Unfortunately, Skinner's prose is incredibly dry, so I put the book aside until, well, this year. Walden Two is really more manifesto than novel, and reads like a professor's self-assured polemic against the status quo as it was back in the 1940s. His solution, which in hindsight absolutely informed the Dharma Initiative backstory for Lost, was utopian social engineering, a method for creating self-sufficient communes free of want and violence. 

Walden Two was something of a curiosity for me this year, so I'll turn to the books that really impressed me (for good or ill) in 2024: 

• The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson, 2020. This near-future SF novel begins with a catastrophic heat wave in India that kills millions and triggers, at last, serious global action on climate change. It's a harrowing read, because Robinson describes an all-too-plausible future of diminishing resources and increasing violence. The titular Ministry is tasked with overseeing a kind of holding action against the collapse of civilization, and he goes into some fascinating detail about the societal changes required to achieve a best-case scenario that, from our perspective today, remains terrifying to contemplate. 
• System Collapse, Martha Wells, 2023. Another Murderbot tale, yay! 
  
• Demon Daughter and Penric and the Bandit, Lois McMaster Bujold, 2023 and 2024. More Penric and Desdemona adventures, yay! 
• The Road to Roswell, Connie Willis, 2023. A lovely comedic tale of love, aliens, and UFO enthusiasts pratfalling around the deserts of the US southwest. Seems timely in the wake of all the UAP buzz in the news this year. 
  
• Shift and Dust by Hugh Howley, 2013. I read Wool, the first of Howley's Silo books, way back in the teens, but only finished the series this year. I really enjoyed Shift, which explains the origins of the mysterious silos, and Dust was a satisfying conclusion, though the series epilogue in the Silo collection left something of a bittersweet taste in my mouth. 
• Shadrach in the Furnace, Robert Silverberg, 1976. I've been working my way through the Hugo and Nebula nominations for years now, and Robert Silverberg has his share of those nominations, of which I read three in 2024. Shadrach in the Furnace was my favourite, a psychedelic fever dream of body horror, totalitarian dystopia, and state surveillance. 
  
• Never Let Me Go, Kzuo Ishiguro, 2005. In science fiction there are several examples of a peculiar trope involving societies that grow clones strictly to harvest their organs to extend the lives of the rich and powerful. Ishiguro weaves a dreadful poignancy into the trope, gently bringing us into the world of several such clones who are conditioned from birth to accept and embrace their fate. It's heartbreaking, as any such inhuman system should be. Inhuman? No. All too depressingly human, and something that could plausibly happen someday...if it hasn't already in some dark corner of the world. 
• Planet X, Michael Jan Friedman, 1998). Not all media tie-in novels are bad. Planet X is bad. Very bad. Imagine a world in which Marvel's X-Men meet up with Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise to investigate the sudden appearance of new mutants springing up on a non-aligned world in the Star Trek universe. The original X-Men comics have been rightly identified as a solid vehicle for telling stories about prejudice and othering, and that's the theme Planet X tries to take. It's not an awful idea on its face, but the novel reads like a kid playing with random action figures, mashing them together with sound and fury. 

MONTH-BY-MONTH

January

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (John Godey, 1973) 

Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide (Pablo Hidalgo and Emily Shkoukani, 2023)

The Ministry for the Future (Kim Stanley Robinson, 2020)  

The Jigsaw Assassin (Catherine Asaro, 2022) 

Double or Nothing (Kim Sherwood, 2023) 

The Lost Worlds of 2001 (Arthur C. Clarke, 1972)

The Turning of the Screw (Henry James, 1898) 

Voyage (Stephen Baxter, 1996) 

System Collapse (Martha Wells, 2023) 

The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks, 2003) 

February
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Max Brooks, 2006)  

Demon Daughter (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2023)

There Will Be Time (Poul Anderson, 1972) 

Moonseed (Stephen Baxter, 1998) 

The Star Fox (Poul Anderson, 1965) 

The Spacetime Pool (Catherine Asaro, 2008) 

Life After God (Douglas Coupland, 1994) 

The Road to Roswell (Connie Willis, 2023) 

Superman: The Complete History (Les Daniels, 1998) 

Primary Inversion (Catherine Asaro, 1995) 

March

Turtles All the Way Down (John Green, 2017) 

The Last Hawk (Catherine Asaro, 1997) 

More Than the Sum of His Parts: Collected Stories (Joe Haldeman, 2020) 

Wool (Hugh Howley, 2012) 

Shift (Hugh Howley, 2013)

Dust (Hugh Howley, 2013) 

Silo (Hugh Howley, 2020) 

Girls, Interrupted: How Pop Culture Is Failing Women (Lisa Whittington-Hill, 2024) 

Space (James Michener, 1982) 

Just the Nicest Couple (Mary Kubica, 2023) 

April

Firestarter (Stephen King, 1980)

Walden Two (B.F. Skinner, 1948)

Homecoming (Christie Golden, 2003) 

The Giver (Lois Lowry, 1993)  

Batman: The Complete History (Les Daniels, 1999) 

Flood (Stephen Baxter, 2008) 

The End of the World Is Just the Beginning (Peter Zeihan, 2022) 

The Farther Shore (Christie Golden, 2003) 

The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories (Isaac Asimov, 1976)

Burn (Bill Ransom, 1995) 

May

A Choice of Catastrophes (Michael Schuster and Steve Mollmann, 2011) 

Crisis of Consciousness (Dave Galanter, 2015) 

Savage Trade (Tony Daniel, 2015)

Beacon 23 (Hugh Howley, 2015) 

With a Mind to Kill (Anthony Horowitz, 2022)  

Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005) 

The Downloaded (Robert J. Sawyer, 2024) 

When the Sparrow Falls (Neil Sharpson, 2021) 

Shadrach in the Furnace (Robert Silverberg, 1976) 

The Stochastic Man (Robert Silverberg, 1975) 

June

Thorns (Robert Silverberg, 1967) 

You Like It Darker (Stephen King, 2024) 

Half Way Home (Hugh Howey, 2010) 

Wonder Woman: The Complete History (Les Daniels, 2000) 

Sand (Hugh Howey, 2014)

The Speed of Dark (Elizabeth Moon, 2002) 

Black Fire (Sonni Cooper, 1983) 

Finding Serenity (Jane Espenson, 2004) 

July

Across the Sand (Hugh Howey, 2022)

Foundation’s Triumph (David Brin, 1999) 

Ark (Stephen Baxter, 2009)

Planet X (Michael Jan Friedman, 1998)

Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Enterprise (Shane Johnson, 1987) 

The Three-Minute Universe (Barbara Paul, 1988) 

No Time Like the Past (Greg Cox, 2014) 

August

Penric and the Bandit (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2024) 

The Incident Report (Martha Baillie, 2009) 

Nuclear War: A Scenario (Annie Jacobson, 2024) 

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again (Shiguru Kayama, 1955) 

The Man Who Saw Seconds (Alexander Boldizar, 2024)

Serpents in the Garden (Jeff Mariotte, 2014)

The Ministry of Time (Kaliane Bradley, 2024) 

The Rings of Time (Greg Cox, 2012) 

The Last Day (Andrew Hunter Murray, 2020)  

S.H.A.D.O. Technical Operations Manual (Chris Thompson and Andrew Clements, 2022)

September

The Twin Paradox (Charles Wachter, 2020) 

The Down Deep (Catherine Asaro, 2024) 

Report from Planet Midnight (Nalo Hopkinson, 2012) 

The Talented Mr. Ripley (Patricia Highsmith, 1955) 

October

Humans: An A to Z (Matt Haig, 2014) 

Pawns and Symbols (Majliss Larson, 1985)

What Entropy Means to Me (George Alec Effinger, 1972) 

Cast No Shadow (James Swallow, 2011) 

Half Past Human (TJ Bass, 1971) 

Here (Richard McGuire, 2014) 

November

Tunnel in the Sky (Robert Heinlein, 1955) 

The Hollow Man (Dan Simmons, 1992) 

Farthing (Jo Walton, 2006) 

Ha’penny (Jo Walton, 2007) 

Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan (Robin Maxwell, 2012) 

The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger, 2003) 

Half a Crown (Jo Walton, 2008) 

December

Miracle and Other Christmas Stories (Connie Willis, 1999)

The Art of the Amazing Spider-Man (John Romita and Stan Lee, 2024) 

Fantastic Four: Full Circle Expanded Edition (Alex Ross, 2024) 

Time Tunnel (Murray Leinster, 1964) 

DC Comics Style Guide (Paul Levitz, 2024) 

The Wailing Asteroid (Murray Leinster, 1960) 

The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy (David E. Hoffman, 2009) 

The Life Impossible (Matt Haig, 2024) 

And finally, here are Bruce and Leslie's stats for 2024! 

That's it for 2024. Happy New Year, all. Keep fighting the good fight. 

Books I Read in 2020

In 2020 I learned the word "doomscrolling," the perfect term to describe the way I obsessively followed online news feeds during this strange and stressful year. Reading so much about politics, the environment, social injustice, and general disaster online continues to have an impact on my reading, though I did somehow manage to eke out a couple books more this year than I did last. I read 107 books in 2020, compared to 103 last year--an improvement, but still short of my long-standing target of 136. 

This was another escapist year in reading for me. I took comfort in nostalgia to an even greater degree than usual, re-reading material from Alan Dean Foster, John Steinbeck, Henry James, and William Golding; revisiting old roleplaying rulebooks to fire my imagination for games I hope to play after COVID; exploring the history of film, art, and video gaming; and starting, finishing, or continuing fantasy and science fiction series that began long ago. I also managed to squeeze in a little bit of mainstream reading of the sort I really should have gotten to decades ago.

I don't claim that the list below reflects where my psyche was at this year, but I guess I chose these titles, which must say something...right? 

Here's the list: 

January: 10
The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story (Stephen R. Donaldson, 1991)
The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge (Stephen R. Donaldson, 1991)
The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises (Stephen R. Donaldson, 1992)
Star Trek Log Five (Alan Dean Foster, 1975)
The Egg (Andy Weir, 2019)
Star Trek Log Six (Alan Dean Foster, 1976)
Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, 1987)
Villains & Vigilantes: Superhero Role Play (Jeff Dee, 1982)
Car Wars: Deluxe Edition (Steve Jackson, 1996)
The Turn of the Screw (Henry James, 1898)

February: 10
The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order (Stephen R. Donaldson, 1994)
The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die (Stephen R. Donaldson, 1996)
Star Trek Log Seven (Alan Dean Foster, 1976)
Combat Shield and Mini Adventure (David Zeb Cook, 1984)
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck, 1937)
The Shady Dragon Inn (Carl Smith, 1984)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck, 1939)
Lord of the Flies (William Golding, 1954)
Black Beauty (Anna Sewell, 1877)
Top Secret/S.I. (Douglas Niles, 1987)

March: 11
Star Trek Log Eight (Alan Dean Foster, 1976)
Lord Foul’s Bane (Stephen R. Donaldson, 1977)
Star Trek Log Nine (Alan Dean Foster 1977)
Augie and the Green Knight (Zach Weinersmith, 2014)
The Holy Bible: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness (Zach Weinersmith, 2015)
Science: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness (Zach Weinersmith, 2017)
Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness (Zach Weinersmith, 2018)
27 Nerd Disses: A Significant Quantity of Disrespect (Phil Plait and Zach Weinersmith, 2013)
Religion: Ruining Everything Since 4004 BC (Zach Weinersmith, 2015)
Science: Ruining everything Since 1543 (Zach Weinersmith, 2013)
Trial of the Clone: An Interactive Adventure (Zach Weinersmith, 2012)

April: 13
The Higher Frontier (Christopher L. Bennett, 2020)
Summer Frost (Blake Crouch, 2019)
Emergency Skin (N. K. Jemisin, 2019)
Ark (Veronica Roth, 2019)
You Have Arrived at Your Destination (Amor Towles, 2019)
The Last Conversation (Paul Tremblay, 2019)
Randomize (Andy Weir, 2019)
The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind (Jackson Ford, 2019)
If It Bleeds (Stephen King, 2020)
Gwendy’s Magic Feather (Richard Chizmar, 2020)
A Very Scalzi Christmas (John Scalzi, 2019)
The Collectors (Philip Pullman, 2014)
The Test (Sylvain Neuvel, 2019)

May: 7
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare Roleplaying Game (Various, 2019)
John Carter of Mars: Adventures on the Dying World of Barsoom (Various, 2019)
GURPS (Steve Jackson, 1989)
GURPS Wild Cards (Steve Jackson, 1990)
GURPS Wild Cards Aces Abroad (Kevin Andrew Murphy, 1991)
The Last Emperox (John Scalzi, 2020)
The Most Dangerous Game (Richard Connell, 1924)

June: 7
Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978 (Keith Dallas and John Wells, 2018)
Star Trek Log 10 (Alan Dean Foster, 1978)
Comics Ad Men (Steven Brower, 2019)
The Great Canadian Comic Books (Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert, 1971)
The Art of The Empire Strikes Back (Deborah Call, 1980)
Network Effect (Martha Wells, 2020)
GURPS Atomic Horror (Paul Elliot and Chris W. McCubbin, 1993)

July: 5
The Oppenheimer Alternative (Robert J. Sawyer, 2020)
James Bond: My Long and Eventful Search for His Father (Len Deighton, 2012)
Pulling a Train (Harlan Ellison, 2012)
Getting in the Wind (Harlan Ellison, 2012)
La Belle Sauvage (Philip Pullman, 2017)

August: 5
The Secret Commonwealth (Philip Pullman, 2019)
Frankissstein: A Love Story (Jeanette Winterson, 2019)
Tooth and Claw (Jo Walton, 2003)
Sleeper (Jo Walton, 2014)
The City and the Stars (Arthur C. Clarke, 1956)

September: 3
The Yellow Wallpaper (Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Inside the Art and Visual Effects (Jeff Bond, 2020)
Lifelode (Jo Walton, 2009)

October: 15
Sid Meier’s Memoir! A Life in Computer Games (Sid Meier, 2020)
The Dynamite Art of Lucio Parrillo (Lucio Parrillo, 2020)
The Marvel Art of Savage Sword of Conan (John Rhett Thomas, 2020)
Star Wars: The Lightsaber Prop Guide Book (Seth Sherwood, 2018)
Creating the Worlds of Star Wars: 365 Days (John Knoll, 2005)
Star Wars Art: Visions (J.W. Rinzler, 2010)
The Illustrated Star Wars Universe (Kevin J. Anderson, 1995)
Star Wars Portfolio (Ralph McQuarrie, 1977)
The Art of the Matrix (Spencer Lamm, ed., 2000)
The Art of Fallout 4 (Aaron Walker, 2015)
The Art of Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace (Jonathan Bresman, 1999)
The Art of Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones (Mark Cotta Vaz, 2002)
The Empire Strikes Back Portfolio (Ralph McQuarrie, 1980)
Return of the Jedi Portfolio (Ralph McQuarrie, 1983)
The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story (Phil Szostak, 2018)

November: 11
The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Phil Szostak, 2015)
The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Phil Szostak, 2017)
The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Phil Szostak, 2019)
The Art of Painted Comics (Christopher Lawrence, 2016)
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Warped: An Engaging Guide to the Never-Aired 8th Season (Mike McMahan, 2015)
Mrs. Claus: My Life as the Wife of the Big Cheese (Julia Reinfort-Claus, 2013)
Taken by the Muse (Anne Wheeler, 2020)
Common Sense (Thomas Paine, 1776)
Player’s Handbook: Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition (James Wyatt, 2014)
Monster Manual: Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition (Mike Mearls, 2014)
Dungeon Master’s Guide: Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition (Mike Mearls, 2014)

December: 10
Cajun Night Before Christmas (Trosclair, 1992)
Once Upon Atari (Howard Scott Warshaw, 2020)
The Souls of Black Folk (W.E.B. Du Bois, 1903)
Passing (Nella Larsen, 1929)
Candide (Voltaire, 1759)
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass, 1845)
The Aliens Are Coming! (Dayton Ward, 2002)
The Day Remo Died (Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, 1982)
Savage Song (Warren Murphy, 2014)
Number Two (Warren Murphy and Donna Courtois, 2012)

Nonfiction: 47
Fiction: 60

Genre
Adventure: 3
Fantasy: 10
Horror: 2
Mainstream: 17
Science Fiction: 23
Star Trek: 9

Top Authors
Zach Weinersmith: 8

Stephen R. Donaldson: 6
Alan Dean Foster: 6

Phil Szostak: 4

Steve Jackson: 3
Ralph McQuarrie: 3
Warren Murphy: 3
Philip Pullman: 3
Jo Walton: 3

Harlan Ellison: 2
Mike Mearls: 2
John Scalzi: 2
John Steinbeck: 2
Andy Weir: 2

Books by Women: 18
Books by Men: 88

Books by Decade
1750s: 1
1770s: 1
1840s: 1
1870s: 1
1890s: 2
1900s: 1
1920s: 2
1930s: 2
1950s: 2
1970s: 9
1980s: 10
1990s: 12
2000s: 6
2010s: 45
2020s: 12

Books I Read in 2017

This year represents a step back for me on several fronts. I read less this year than last, my fare was less diverse, my reading more concentrated on the present decade than ever before, and I still can't seem to reach gender parity. All in all, I read 123 books this year, down from 135 last year. 150 remains an elusive dream.

You'll also note that several of the books I read this year were novella or even novelette length. I included them on the list, after some debate, rationalizing that some of the larger books I read this year could count as three or four regular-length novels, so hopefully it all evens out.

I started a new job this year, and I'm talking half-hour lunches instead of the one hour I indulged at ATCO. That's cut back on my reading time quite a bit, as did our road trip in August and some stress issues I don't want to write about here. Excuses, excuses, yes.

On to the books themselves. There's a lot of Fred Saberhagen on this list, as I had intended to read all of the Berserker books this year; I didn't make it.

There's also a bunch of Lois McMaster Bujold, because I think her stuff is great. I must say, though, that the Penric and Desdemona series isn't quite grabbing me; I don't feel like there's much jeopardy to be had. I realize that things tend to turn out fine in the end in most of her work, but even so, the stakes seem pretty low here.

I read and enjoyed two books by people I know this year: Kevin Taft's latest political book, Oil's Deep State, and my colleague Nerys Parry's novel Man & other Natural Disasters. Kevin's book is thoroughly researched, well-argued, and important reading for anyone who cares about the corruptive influence on natural resource economies on democracy; Nerys' novel is haunting, evocative, bizarre (in a good way), and has a climax I really did not see coming.

I started reading Dashiell Hammett this year, and while I enjoyed Red Harvest and The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon really blew me away, and not just because of nostalgia for the film(s). Sam Spade is a once-in-a-century character, and he's embroiled in one of the truly great detective stories in this one. A real treat.

Jo Walton's trilogy of novels about Greek gods who decide to try and create Plato's ideal community is ambitious, tragic and funny, but didn't move me as much as her earlier, standalone works.

Film and television tie-in novels often aren't worth commentary, but I thoroughly appreciated Mark Frost's two Twin Peaks novels this year, particularly the latter, which provides frustrated viewers of season three with, if not closure, at least some interesting material to chew on. Most of the Star Trek tie-ins I read this year were, as usual, mundane, but David Mack's Section 31: Control, a Julian Bashir story that ties up a long-running subplot from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, was suspenseful and satisfying. And the comedic DS9 novellas from Paula Block and Terry Erdmann are good-natured and fun.

Connie Willis is always amazing, and I loved her latest, Crosstalk, a novel of romantic telepathy and overbearing relatives.

Here's each month's tally of books I read in 2017, followed by a genre, gender, and decade breakdown:

January: 9
Hag-Seed (Margaret Atwood, 2016)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Sacraments of Fire (David R. George III, 2015)
A Man Lies Dreaming (Lavie Tidhar, 2014)
Under the Moons of Mars (John Joseph Adams, 2012)
The Long Tomorrow (Leigh Brackett, 1955)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Ascendance (David R. George III, 2016)
The Evolution of the Iron Giant (Unknown, 2016)
Last Year (Robert Charles Wilson, 2016)
Red Harvest (Dashiell Hammett, 1929)

February: 10
The Feast of St. Dionysus (Robert Silverberg, 1975)
The Dain Curse (Dashiell Hammett, 1929)
The Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett, 1930)
The Twilight Zone Companion, Second Edition (Marc Scott Zicree, 1989)
My Brother’s Keeper (Charles Sheffield, 1982)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Force and Motion (Jeffrey Lang, 2016)
Art of Atari (Tim Lapetino, 2016)
Star Trek Titan: Sight Unseen (James Swallow, 2015)
No Truce with Kings (Poul Anderson, 1963)
Ship of Shadows (Fritz Leiber, 1969)

March: 13
There Will be Time (Poul Anderson, 1972)
Anywhere but Here (Jerry Oltion, 2005)
Ideas of the Year: A Celebration (Unknown, 2016)
The Embarrassments of Science Fiction (Thomas M. Disch, 1975)
Big Ideas and Dead-End Thrills: The Further Embarrassments of Science Fiction (Thomas M. Disch, 1992)
The Art of Bombshells (Marguerite Bennett, 2016)
Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (Laurie Lamson, editor, 2014)
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire (Karen Elizabeth Gordon, 1993)
The New Well-Tempered Sentence (Karen Elizabeth Gordon, 1993)
International Financial Reporting Standards (Unknown, 2011)
MD&A: Guidance on Preparation (Unknown, 2009)
Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Prose (Constance Hale, 2013)
The Secret History of Twin Peaks (Mark Frost, 2016)

April: 18
Crosstalk (Connie Willis, 2017)
Out of the Loud Hound of Darkness (Karen Elizabeth Gordon, 1998)
Torn Wings and Faux Pas (Karen Elizabeth Gordon, 1997)
Star Trek Prey Book 1: Hell’s Heart (John Jackson Miller, 2016)
The Lady Astronaut of Mars (Mary Robinette Kowal, 2013)
Nine Lives (Ursula K. LeGuin, 1969)
The New Atlantis (Ursula K. LeGuin, 1975)
Bloodchild (Octavia E. Butler, 1985)
The Faery Handbag (Kelly Link, 2005)
Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea (Sarah Pinkser, 2016)
The Orangery (Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, 2016)
You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay (Alyssa Wong, 2016)
The Art of Space Travel (Nina Allan, 2016)
Touring with the Alien (Carolyn Ives Gilman, 2016)
Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars (Unknown, 1979)
The Disheveled Dictionary (Karen Elizabeth Gordon, 1997)
The Collapsing Empire (John Scalzi, 2017)
Star Trek Prey Book 2: The Jackal’s Trick (John Jackson Miller, 2016)

May: 11
Blood Grains Speak Through Memories (Jason Sanford, 2016)
Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation (Jamie Lendino, 2017)
Gwendy’s Button Box (Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, 2017)
Old Mars (George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, 2013)
The Last Man (Mary Shelley, 1826)
Crooked (Austin Grossman, 2015)
The Tomato Thief (Ursula Vernon, 2016)
In Sea-Salt Tears (Seanan McGuire, 2013)
It Takes Two (Nicola Griffith, 2009)
Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast (Eugie Foster, 2009)
Eros, Philia, Agape (Rachel Swirsky, 2009)

June: 10
The Monster (Stephen Crane, 1898)
The Skylark of Space (E.E. “Doc” Smith, 1928)
Skylark Three (E.E. “Doc” Smith, 1930)
Subspace Explorers (E.E. “Doc” Smith, 1965)
Berserker (Fred Saberhagen, 1967)
Brother Assassin (Fred Saberhagen, 1969)
Berserker’s Planet (Fred Saberhagen, 1975)
Flower Fables (Louisa May Alcott, 1855)
Hospital Sketches (Louisa May Alcott, 1863)
Berserker Man (Fred Saberhagen, 1979)

July: 10
Star Trek Prey Book 3: Hall of Heroes (John Jackson Miller, 2016)
The Ultimate Enemy (Fred Saberhagen, 1979)
The Berserker Wars (Fred Saberhagen, 1981)
The Sagan Diaries (John Scalzi, 2006)
Judge Sn Goes Golfing (John Scalzi, 2009)
How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story (John Scalzi, 2007)
Star Trek Section 31: Control (David Mack, 2017)
Star Trek The Next Generation: Headlong Flight (Dayton Ward, 2017)
Man & other Natural Disasters (Nerys Parry, 2011)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Long Mirage (David R. George III, 2017)

August: 8
The Berserker Throne (Fred Saberhagen, 1985)
Berserker: Blue Death (Fred Saberhagen, 1985)
Mash Up (Gardner Dozois, editor, 2016)
Star Trek: The Face of the Unknown (Christopher L. Bennett, 2017)
We Who Are About To… (Joanna Russ, 1976)
The Berserker Attack (Fred Saberhagen, 1987)
Berserker Lies (Fred Saberhagen, 1990)
Hidden Universe Travel Guide: Klingon (Dayton Ward, 2017)

September: 10
This Shared Dream (Kathleen Ann Goonan, 2011)
Metropolis (Thea von Harbou, 1925)
Clash of the Geeks (John Scalzi, editor, 2010)
Berserkers: The Beginning (Fred Saberhagen, 1998)
Hearts in Suspension (Stephen King, 2016)
Mighty Protectors (Jeff Dee, 2017)
The Female Man (Joanna Russ, 1975)
The Just City (Jo Walton 2014)
The Falling Woman (Pat Murphy, 1986)
Children of the Dust (Catherine Asaro, 2017)

October: 6
The Philosopher Kings (Jo Walton, 2015)
Oil’s Deep State (Kevin Taft, 2017)
Necessity (Jo Walton, 2016)
Star Trek The Next Generation: Hearts and Minds (Dayton Ward, 2017)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Enigma Tales (Una McCormack, 2017)
Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier (Mark Frost, 2017)

November: 3
The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Matheson, 1996)
Career of Evil (J.K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith, 2015)
Shield of the Gods (Christopher L. Bennett, 2017)

December: 15
The Diviners (Margaret Laurence, 1974)
Sleeping Beauties (Stephen King and Owen King, 2017)
Proto Zoa (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2011)
Penric’s Demon (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2015)
Penric and the Shaman (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2016)
Penric’s Fox (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2017)
Penric’s Mission (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2017)
Mira’s Last Dance (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2017)
The Prisoner of Limnos (Lois McMater Bujold, 2017)
Rules of Accusation (Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann, 2016)
Lust’s Latinum Lost (and Found) (Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann, 2014)
I, the Constable (Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann, 2017)
Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (J.K. Rowling, 2016)
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies (J.K. Rowling, 2016)
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics, and Pesky Poltergeists (J.K. Rowling, 2016)

Nonfiction: 20
Fiction: 103

Genre
Fantasy: 23
Mainstream: 14
Science Fiction: 48
Star Trek: 18

Top Authors
Fred Saberhagen: 11

Lois McMaster Bujold: 7

Karen Elizabeth Gordon: 5
John Scalzi: 5
Unknown: 5

J.K. Rowling: 4

Paula M. Block: 3
Terry J. Erdmann: 3
David R. George III: 3
Dashiell Hammett: 3
Stephen King: 3
John Jackson Miller: 3
E.E. “Doc” Smith: 3
Dayton Ward: 3
Jo Walton: 3

Louisa May Alcott: 2
Poul Anderson: 2
Christopher L. Bennett: 2
Thomas M. Disch: 2
Gardner Dozois: 2
Mark Frost: 2
Ursula K. LeGuin: 2
Joanna Russ: 2

Books by Women: 59
Books by Men: 64

Books by Decade
1820s: 1
1850s: 1
1860s: 1
1890s: 1
1920s: 4
1930s: 2
1950s: 1
1960s: 6
1970s: 11
1980s: 8
1990s: 9
2000s: 9
2010s: 69

June 2015 Review Roundup

I screened a mere five movies in June: two low-budget time travel movies, two long-standing recommendations from Allan Sampson, and a well-regarded thriller of recent vintage.

My friend Allan recommended horror classic The Wicker Man (1973) many years ago, but only last month did I finally sit down to watch it. It was worth the wait. Though nothing supernatural happens in the film, its performances and premise make for a truly chilling experience. My favourite scene is one of the musical numbers, in which the hapless protagonist, an uptight, religious and virgin police sergeant, fights off the seduction of Willow, who sings and dances in the nude, beckoning like a succubus. He very nearly succumbs to temptation - and ironically, his faith and resolve ultimately doom him. Sometimes it's better to give in to the vampires...

Some years later Allan sang the praises of Three Kings (1999), a movie set in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. The movie still works as a war dramedy, but loses some of its lustre in the face of the unfortunate xenophobia and economic devastation wrought by the never-ending, so-called "War on Terror."

Nightcrawler (2014), is a showcase for Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays a petty criminal drifter who builds a new career for himself in the cutthroat world of electronic news gathering. While the news business has been an easy target for criticism going back all the way to Network (1976), Nightcrawler approaches the subject in a new and interesting way, from street level, as it were. It's well worth your time.

Project Almanac (2015) is a mostly forgettable by-the-numbers time travel film, but it's a decent way to spend a couple of hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Time Lapse (2014) tackles the same subject in a more interesting way; three roommates discover a camera that takes pictures from a day or so in the future, which leads to interesting questions about free will and predestination.

I read a few more books in June than disastrous May, though still not enough to meet my target. Three Mira Grant biomedical thrillers (Deadline, Blackout, and Parasite) provided reasonable thrills and interesting twists on old horror tropes, but nothing more than that. Stephen King's Finders Keepers is the second mainstream novel in a row for one of the world's most famous genre authors; it's refreshing to see King pursue more grounded work. Canadian SF great Robert Charles Wilson has a new book out this year, The Affinities, which takes the phenomenon of social media and spins it into a thought-provoking socioeconomic thriller.

Jo Walton has been around a while, but she's a relatively new favourite for me; I quite enjoyed Among Others earlier this year, and followed it up last month with the sad and delightful My Real Children and a collection of essays, What Makes This Book So Great. I've picked up a few books from Walton's back catalogue, and I'm looking forward to exploring more of her many worlds.

A couple of middling Star Trek tie-ins rounded out June's reading.