Musings from Brian J. Noggle: Year's Reading In Review

Year's Reading In Review

With the last post, I'm calling an end to this year's enumeration of reading. 2006ish stands at 89 books, which is probably far less than I bought at book fairs.

These books include:

The Empty Trap by John D. MacDonald
The Executioners by John D. MacDonald
Mine the Harvest by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Johnny Mnemonic by Terry Bisson
The Museum of Hoaxes by Alex Boese
Suspects by William J. Cannitz
Wild Pitch by Mike Lupica
The Olympics' Most Wanted by Floyd Conner
Peking Duck by Roger L. Simon
100 People Who Are Screwing Up America by Bernard Goldberg
The American Private Eye: The Image in Fiction by David Geherin
Sea Change by Robert B. Parker
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Collected Stories by Franz Kafka
Under the Grammar Hammer by Douglas Cazort
The Wealthy Writer by Michael Meanwell
Planning and Remodeling Family Rooms, Dens & Studios by Sunset Books
The Brass Cupcake by John D. MacDonald
The Substance of Style by Virginia Postrel
Blood Relatives by Ed McBain
The Hanged Man's Song by John Sandford
Servant of the Shard by R.A. Salvatore
Gerald's Game by Stephen King
How to Break Software by James A. Whittaker
Slightly Chipped by Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone
Warmly Inscribed by Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone
The Case Against Hillary Clinton by Peggy Noonan
The Stainless Steel Rat for President by Harry Harrison
Bosstrology by Adele Lang and Andrew Masterson
Bump & Run by Mike Lupica
Blowback by Bill Pronzini
Everybody's Guide to Book Collecting by Charlie Lovett
His Affair by Jo Fleming
Sharky's Machine by William Diehl
The Baby in the Icebox by James M. Cain
Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction by Tom Raabe
Aftermath by LeVar Burton
Expecting by Gordon Churchwell
Poison by Ed McBain
The Life of Charlemagne by Einhard
Escape from Reason by Francis A Schaeffer
California Roll by Roger L. Simon
Ice by Ed McBain
You Might Be A Redneck If by Jeff Foxworthy
Existentialism and Human Emotions by Jean-Paul Sartre
Vespers by Ed McBain
Blue Screen by Robert B. Parker
Lloyd What Happened by Stanley Bing
Sinbad's Guide To Life (Because I Know Everything) by Sinbad with David Ritz
Big Trouble by Dave Barry
In Someone's Shadow by Rod McKuen
Stars and Stripes Triumphant by Harry Harrison
And Then She Was Gone by Susan McBride
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes
I Ought To Be In Pictures by Neil Simon
The World's Most Infamous Crimes and Criminals
RPG World Wolume One by Ian Jones-Quartey
How to Break Software Security by James A. Whittaker and Herbert H. Thompson
Barrier Island by John D. MacDonald
The Golden Gate by Alistair MacLean
Shopgirl by Steve Martin
Executive Blues: Down and Out in Corporate America by G.P. Meyer
Small Felonies by Bill Pronzini
TV Now: Stars and Shows by Dorothy Scheuer
The Priest-Kings of Gor by John Norman
The Nomads of Gor by John Norman
An Alien Heat by Michael Moorcock
Unsolved Mysteries of the Past Reader's Digest
Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain by Eric R. Delderfield
The Way to Dusty Death by Alistair MacLean
The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais
The Night Crew by John Sandford
Hundred Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker
Whodunits
Assassin of Gor by John Norman
The Spy Who Never Was & Other True Spy Stories by David C. Knight
The Mystery Reader's Quiz Book by Aneta Corsaut, Muff Singer, Robert Wagner
Nice Girls Do And Now You Can, Too by Dr. Irene Kassorla
Emma by Jane Austen
Sons of Sam Spade by David Geherin
Ballroom of the Skies by John D. MacDonald
Thunderball by Ian Fleming
As Long As You Both Shall Live by Ed McBain
Twice in Time by Manly Wade Wellman
Word for Word by Andrew A. Rooney
Selections from Stars! by Daphne Davis
Ancient, My Enemy by Gordon R. Dickson
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction Fourteenth Series by Avram Davidson (ed)
Nature Noir by Jordan Fisher Smith

I'll not trouble you with hyperlinks, gentle reader, but if you want any of the reviews, you can do a Google search using site:stlbrianj.blogspot.com and get what you want.

In review, this year's total includes:

5 John D. MacDonald books
5 Ed McBain books
3 Robert B. Parker (the new ones this year)
3 John Norman Gor books
2 Roger L. Simon Moses Wine novels
2 Alistair MacLean novels from the 1970s
2 Bill Pronzini novels featuring the Nameless Detective
2 David Geherin nonfiction books about crime fiction
2 Harry Harrison novels of science fiction
2 James Whitaker books about software testing
2 John Sandford novels, neither of which featured Lucas Davenport
2 Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone books about book collecting
2 Mike Lupica books
2 Stephen King books

So I guess I trend toward crime fiction, or at least I hover around crime fiction books I like. I read two bits of classical fiction (Emma and the works of Kafka) and some smart nonfiction (Existentialism and Human Emotions and The Life of Charlemagne).

This year, I can break my books down in my memory into several comfortable reading locatons:

In my blue recliner in the old Casinoport house, with a cat on my lap and a gas fire roaring.
In that blue recliner in the lower level of the new Old Trees home, listening to jazz with a cat on my lap.
On the sofa on the main level of the Old Trees home, in the early months of Ferris Drooler's life amid his frequent feedings.
In the living room of the upper level of the Old Trees home, after Dr. Fussamongstus has gone to bed for the evening.

Many of these books prompts a distinct memory that books in 2005 and 2007 will not.

Still, my collection of unread books is large and varied. I don't know what to tell you about 2007, D, but I'll probably read a bunch of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport novels and some Søren Kierkegaard.

As for my other 2006 goals, suffice to say I didn't do as well as I did on reading. But there's always tomorrow.

- posted by Brian J. @ 12:07 AM