Finished in January:
* Her Majesty's Wizard, Christopher Stasheff. The book didn't do much for me.
...in February:
* Daughter of Hounds, the latest novel by Caitlin R. Kiernan (
greygirlbeast)* M.Y.T.H., Inc. Link, Robert Asprin
...in March:
* Rocket Boys, Homer H. Hickam, Jr., about Hickam and his high school buddies becoming genuine rocket scientists in post-Sputnik West Virginia
* Wicked, Gregory Maguire
...in April:
* Fragile Things, short story collection by Neil Gaiman
* Eldest, Christopher Paolini
...in May:
* Myth-Nomers and Im-Perv-ections, Robert Asprin
* Lord of Samarcand and other Adventures of the Old Orient, Robert E. Howard...finally. I worked on this collection off-and-on for about a year, renewing and renewing. Brutal stuff, more than I felt I could read all at one go, kind of like Harlan Ellison's Deathbird Stories.
* Myth Inc. In Action, Robert Asprin...so at least I have lighter books, as well...
* Sachs and Violins, Peter David (writer) and George Perez (art)
* Sweet Myth-tery of Life, Robert Asprin
...in June:
* Adverbs, Daniel Handler
* The Wolverine Saga, a four-comic summation of the backstory (known up to about 1989, at least) of the X-Men character Wolverine. As my friend Alicia say, "comic books are soap operas with better graphics." Being both a soap opera appreciater and a comics appreciater, I agree.
* Spider-Man: The Other: Evolve or Die, J. Michael Straczynski, Peter David and Reginald Hudlin. Spider-Man believes he's dying. The truth is...far more complicated.
* That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis -- odd book. Merlin and aliens in post-World War II British academia (written while the war was still happening, so that was a good dose of optimism on Lewis's part).
* Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America, Dan Savage
* Serenity, novelization by Keith R.A. DeCandido (
kradical) of Joss Whedon's film...in July:
* Movies in Fifteen Minutes by Cleolinda Jones (
cleolinda). YES. Good stuff, worth ordering from Britain (via Powell's) to get.* The Thief Lord, Cornelia Funke. Runaway kids in Venice run into magic forces...and adults who, sadly, don't act adult.
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling. Yes, I was happily part of Potterdammerung. The same weekend I also watched the worthy film version of The Order of the Phoenix.
* Star Trek: The Tears of the Singers, Melinda Snodgrass. I like Snodgrass (she worked later on both the Star Trek: TNG TV series and Profiler), though I was a little unconvinced by her Klingons.
...in August:
* Going Nucular: Language, Politics and Culture in Confrontational Times, essays by Geoffrey Nunberg.
* Myth-Told Tales, Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye. Short stories in the Myth Inc. world.
* Myth-Ion Improbable, Robert Asprin
* Blaze, Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman
...in September:
* Something M.Y.T.H. Inc., Robert Asprin
* In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, Nathaniel Philbrock. A good recommendation by radio's Rick Emerson; the story of the whaling ship rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in the early 19th century. Herman Melville may have met one of the few survivors of that wreck; the story was definitely an inspiration for Moby-Dick.
* Star Trek: The Final Reflection, John M. Ford
* Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination, Neal Gabler
...in October:
* Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury
* Holes, Louis Sachar
...in November:
* The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert E. Heinlein
* Spider-Man 2, novelization by Peter David
* Spider-Man 3, novelization also by Peter David. I liked how PAD dealt with some of the huge coincidences in the script, especially the one in the church.
* No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days, Chris Baty
...in December:
* Beowulf, novelization by Caitlin R. Kiernan (
greygirlbeast) of Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary's screenplay* The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 1: Winter 1931-November 1934
* Star Trek: The Next Generation: Before Dishonor, Peter David
In progress now: Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman's scriptbook for Beowulf, and Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon, who went on to create HBO's The Corner. (This book was also the basis for the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street.)
