That's right, 84 books. Advantage to not having full-time work for a lot of 2012, huh?
I've been in Purge Mode, so a lot of these books I won't be reading again, but instead selling or donating. Many I already have. But quite a few of these were rediscoveries: I re-read them after years or decades and thought These are nice, I'm going to keep them. I've mixed up light reading and heavier reading: I'm now into the 550-page The Peloponnesian War, a fifth-century B.C. work by Thucydides; that's going to take a while (I'll whittle my way through it). And the library will keep me well-supplied with what I don't want (or have the space) to buy, though there's still plenty of purchase-worthy books coming up: greygirlbeast's Blood Oranges and
kradical's Leverage: The Zoo Job come right to mind. I have Powell's gift money and I'm not afraid to use it!
Anyway, as I've done since 2004, I've kept track of the books I've read. Read on if you'd like:
January
The Ghost Brigades -- John Scalzi, 2006
Under the Dome -- Stephen King, 2009
Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 6 -- Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, collects issues 60-71 (originally published 2004 and 2005)
"L" is for Lawless -- Sue Grafton, 1995 -- Maybe my favorite of Kinsey Millhone books so far; and I appreciate that I like it more post-"K" is for Killer, which I hadn't liked that much.
February
The Hugo Winners - Vols. 1 and 2 -- edited by Isaac Asimov. Hugo-winning short stories and short novels from 1955 to 1970.
The Last Colony -- John Scalzi, 2007
Deep Focus - A Novel Approach to Cinema: They Live -- Jonathan Lethem, 2010. A smart-assed treat, talking about a smart-assed film.
Ultimate Spider-Man issues 72-85 -- Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley
I Shall Wear Midnight -- Terry Pratchett, 2010 (a Discworld/Tiffany Aching/Nac Mac Feegle novel)
March
Zoe's Tale -- John Scalzi, 2008
D*U*C*K -- Poppy Z. Brite (docbrite), 2006
Selected Poetry and Prose of John Dryden -- Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Earl Miner (UCLA) -- originally compiled 1969. Purchased for UO English course when I was in college. Read over the course of several months (I remember taking it with me to the Geek Olympathon in June 2011).
The Night Circus -- Erin Morgenstern, 2011. Lovely, vivid and strong. I hope she keeps up the interesting work. (Trivia: I won this book by writing this.)
April
Pulp Fiction: A Quentin Tarantino screenplay -- Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, 1994
Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth -- written by Malachai Nicolle (then age 6), drawn by Ethan Nicolle (now age 30), 2011
Moby-Dick -- Herman Melville, 1851. A mind-altering book, but one that rewards slowly working through it.
Hard Magic: Paranormal Scene Investigations Book One -- Laura Anne Gilman (suricattus), 2010
Thinner -- Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman, 1984
About A Boy -- Nick Hornby, 1998
Pack of Lies: Paranormal Scene Investigations Book Two -- Laura Anne Gilman (suricattus), 2011
The Drowning Girl: A Memoir -- Caitlin R. Kiernan (greygirlbeast), 2012. I need to re-read this. Kiernan's work is very much worth revisiting.
May
The Hunger Games -- Suzanne Collins, 2008
"M" is for Malice -- Sue Grafton, 1996
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister -- Gregory Maguire, 1999
Axe Cop Volume 3 -- Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle, 2012
Tricks of the Trade: Paranormal Scene Investigations Book Three -- Laura Anne Gilman (suricattus), 2011
Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale -- story by Joss Whedon and Zack Whedon, art by Chris Samnee, 2010
The Dark Half -- Stephen King, 1989
"N" is for Noose -- Sue Grafton, 1998
Justice For Some -- Kate Wilhelm, 1993
The Shawshank Redemption: The Shooting Script -- screenplay and notes by Frank Darabont, 1996
The World's Most Sensual Films -- Jim Herni, 1965. Very lightweight, and badly-written, presentation of sex in Japanese films post-WWII. Embarrassing and dumb (though some of the photography is satisfying). Sex deserves better.
June
20 Under 30: Best Stories By America's New Young Writers -- edited by Debra Sparks, 1986. Bought used for a college lit class in the first half of the Nineties. Finally I read the whole thing.
From a Buick 8 -- Stephen King, 2002
Catching Fire -- Suzanne Collins, 2009. A book that made me say "Oh, my God" many times.
William Goldman: Four Screenplays -- screenplays (plus essays) for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Marathon Man, The Princess Bride, and Misery, published 1995
July
William Goldman: Five Sceenplays -- screenplays (plus essays) for Harper, The Great Waldo Pepper, All the President's Men, Magic, and Maverick, published 1997
Mockingjay -- Suzanne Collins, 2010
The Count of Monte Cristo -- Alexandre Dumas, 1844. Abridged (511 pages). Nicely ridiculous, and that's a compliment. A page-turner of another time.
Adventures in the Screen Trade -- William Goldman, 1983
Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade -- William Goldman, 2000
A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey -- Kevin Murphy (alum of Mystery Science Theater 3000), 2002
August
The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective -- Carl Sagan, produced by Jerome Agel, 1973
Pet Sematary -- Stephen King, 1983
The Late Shift: Letterman, Leno, & the Network Battle for the Night -- Bill Carter, 1994
The Thurber Album: a collection of pieces about people -- James Thurber, 1952 (essays written for the New Yorker starting in 1942)
Coraline -- Neil Gaiman (illustrations by Dave McKean), 2002
The Time Machine: an Invention -- H.G. Wells, 1895
The Dune Storybook -- Joan D. Vinge, adapted from a screenplay by David Lynch, based on the novel by Frank Herbert, 1984. Kid's tie-in to Lynch's film adaptation. Yes, that it exists surprised me, too.
The Making of Terminator 2: Judgment Day -- Don Shay and Jody Duncan, 1991
Life of Python -- George Perry, 1983. A history of Monty Python written right after they'd made what turned out to be their last film, six years before Graham Chapman died.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day: The Book of the Film: An Illustrated Screenplay -- James Cameron and William Wisher, 1991. Introduction by James Cameron, production notes by Van Ling.
Myth-Taken Identity -- Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye, 2005
September
Myth-Fortunes -- Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye, 2008
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures -- Brian Selznick, 2007. Neat book, one Alicia let me borrow because she's very keen on it. I've heard good things about Scorcese's film version of it.
Out of Oz -- Gregory Maguire, 2011
Dragon Justice: Paranormal Scene Investigations Book Four -- Laura Anne Gilman (suricattus), 2012
What Is Life? with "Mind and Matter" and "Autobiographical Sketches" -- Erwin Schrödinger. "What is Life?" first published 1946 (essay was one of the spurs towards the 1952 discovery of DNA); "Mind and Matter" first created 1956. Combined 1967 reprint. One of my college books.
Vision of the Future: The Art of Robert McCall -- Ben Bova, 1982
October
Nightmare of Ecstasy: the Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. -- Rudolph Grey, 1992. Part of the basis for the film Ed Wood (writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karasewski, directed by Tim Burton).
Clementine -- Cherie Priest (cmpriest), 2010
Staying Dead: A Retrievers Novel -- Laura Anne Gilman (suricattus), 2004
Stories by Katherine Mansfield -- collection published 1956, collects stories written from 1910 to 1924
The Art of Living Single -- Michael Broder, Ph.D., 1988. Given to me in the 1990s by T.J. as a gift; still has a Nineties-vintage Borders Books and Music bookmark
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There -- Catherynne M. Valente (catvalente), 2012
11/22/63 -- Stephen King, 2011. I really think this is one of the best books King's done in years; I also significantly preferred this to his other recent work Under the Dome, which I finished in January.
November
Broadcast News: the screenplay of the widely acclaimed film -- James L. Brooks, 1988
"O" is for Outlaw -- Sue Grafton, 1999
The Trouble With Tribbles -- David Gerrold, 1973. Gerrold's write-up of how he sold and wrote his first script for Star Trek, and started his writing career.
Dubliners -- James Joyce, 1914
A Fish Called Wanda: The Screenplay -- John Cleese, 1988
The Truman Show: The Shooting Script -- Screenplay and notes by Andrew Niccol; forward (with "A Short History of The Truman Show") by director Peter Weir, 1998
Beowulf: The Script Book With insights from the authors, their early concept art, and the first and last drafts of the script for the film -- Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, 2007
Roman Fever and other stories -- Edith Wharton, short stories written between 1899 and 1936; collection published 1964
The Sound and the Fury -- William Faulkner, 1929
Return of the Jedi: The Storybook Based on the Movie -- Joan D. Vinge, adapting the story by George Lucas and the screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas, 1983
December
All the Myriad Ways -- Larry Niven, 1971
The Sandman: King of Dreams -- Alisa Kwitney, 2003
Collared: a Gin & Tonic Mystery -- Laura Anne Gilman (suricattus) writing as L.A. Kornetsky, 2012
Star Trek: Corps of Engineers: What's Past -- published 2010, collecting six novellas originally published 2006:
Progress -- Terri Osborne (The Key to Rebecca -- Ken Follett, 1980. War thriller. I enjoyed it, but I didn't completely "buy" the story. But hey, wars should be won or lost through sex! (But it can be sex that sounds like the characters having sex are actually enjoying it?)terri_osborne)
The Future Begins -- Steve Mollmann and Michael Schuster
Echoes of Coventry -- Richard C. White
Distant Early Warning -- Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
10 Is Better Than 01 -- Heather Jarman
Many Splendors -- Keith R.A. DeCandido (kradical)
The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood -- Nicholas Meyer, 2009
Redshirts -- John Scalzi, 2012
The Fisher King: the Book of the Film -- with the screenplay written by Richard LaGravenese, introduction by Terry Gilliam, 1991