In 2023, I made a sporadic attempt to maintain a reading habit. It petered out towards the end, and sadly I only finished 23 titles (some of which were short). Some of them were reads I had started in '22 but had dragged my feet finishing.
It's not an impressive number, but I'd still like to jot down my thoughts and impressions on the reads I managed to get under my belt. There were some profound insights I've had on the craft of writing thanks to these reads. I've had big and small milestones this year, and they all have some insight worth uncovering.
Fiction
Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer. I was not a fan of this, but I also jumped into this without realizing it's a sequel, and having never read the first book of course I'm totally lost. This book dives headlong into a bizarre world with little explanation and a lot of head-scratching creative decisions. I can appreciate some of the artistic flexes the book demonstrates, but it ultimately lost me in translation. Can't say I followed Annihilation that well either though, and honestly, no matter the story I find Vandermeer's style a little unpalatable for me personally. Smarter readers might glean more from this than me, but it'd be best to read Borne first.
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. Heard of this over the past several years, and I even found out that there's a video game based on this. The high premise and disturbing implications catch my interest. The story itself is surprisingly not as engaging as I hoped it'd be. On top of that though, there is also a misogynist streak to this story that's rather unbecoming. There are other stories grouped with this one as a collection--I made it through a few before losing interest. I might pick the anthology up again to finish it off, but what I've experienced so far has fallen rather flat.
The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk. This was a weird one and I'm not sure I liked it as much as I wanted to. Granted, I should have expected something edgy and weird out of this author, the story itself struck me as oddly-constructed and I'm not sure I jived with the outcome and final product of it all. Few bursts of interesting style and characterization, but it ain't no Fight Club.
IT by Stephen King, via audiobook. Yes, the audiobook might not capture the nuances of seeing the book's formatting as text (and plenty of listeners complain about how chapters cut off because King purposefully ends some dialogue and picks it back up in the next chapter--an effect best seen rather than heard). But I understood what I was hearing, and despite being familiar with the film adaptations, I was floored by the sheer effort King put into this beast of a book. Beyond the juggling of all these characters across two different timelines, I was impressed by how well he layered the story with multiple mediums of text, with multiple layers of narratives, with multiple arcs that seemed to touch many controversial issues. There are creative decisions that have always drawn criticism--I find that the text makes the intentions clear, but they are still hard to swallow. I am largely blown away and enamored by how ambitious the book is and how well it expresses the human conditions in King's unique approach, with one eye focused on fear and another on nostalgia. There are a lot of ingenious qualities to this book and it has opened my eyes to how the craft of writing can be further flexed to tell a bigger story with countless small details. Of all the books I experienced this year, this is easily the biggest one with the most substance, and I will likely look up to this as a grand influence.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, via audiobook. This is my second time experiencing this book (therefore a "re-read" despite this being audio). I gotta say, some stories don't interest me that much, but there are some real whoppers in this chronicle. "Ylla" always captured my imagination with the way it brings life to literal space aliens and their culture. "The Earth Men" is a fantastic story with a gut-wrenching twist that is nothing short of ingenious. The events of the Fourth Expedition always struck me as a sobering view of humanity's disrespect to their surroundings. "The Off Season" was always a bizarre standout to me, and I love "There Will Come Soft Rains." Other stories are a hit-and-a-miss. I had forgotten about the bigotry addressed in "Way in the Middle of the Air," which came off as rather unbecoming. Still though, the entirety of the book is a fascinating collection of imaginative stories that's absolutely worth reading for sci-fi fans.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, via audiobook. This is the first book I've experienced from this writer (but of course I've seen the movie). It is a neat mystery story, but I am rather surprised by how much this book hinges on pure dialogue. Very little really happens in the story, but Poirot is a standout character and it's easy to see how this book lays out all the puzzle pieces for him (and the reader) to try and solve. Wouldn't call it the best writing, but I see why it works.
Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks. There is a chance this might have been ghost-written, but it's also easy to see some of the famous actor's charm behind the prose and characters. These short stories show personality in bursts and it's a harmless batch of stories in the end. Personally, I found them to be a little mundane. The prose is well-done, but the stories themselves often failed to captivate me and I got rather bored with them halfway through. I felt they could have used a little more oomph in some way--edge, conflict, voice...something!
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. Obviously, I had to read this due to my love of John Carpenter's film adaptation. Was intrigued to find that the film was close to the spirit and concept of the original story. That being said, the novella is surprisingly procedural, as it spends several chapters explaining the Thing and its implications to mankind. It's a lot of exposition scattered between major action scenes, with very little characterization. The prose didn't really thrill me or convey the feelings the film version stirs in me. It's ultimately old-fashioned writing that exhibits a neat, freaky idea, but it's a rather stiff read.
Non-Fiction
Masters of Doom by David Kushner. Was interested in reading this based on one Youtuber's commentary for certain video games, and I was interested in the success story behind id software's low-key origins. I might have also been intrigued by the bad-boy personalities behind John Romero and John Carmack. There are bursts of fascinating anecdotes throughout the densely-printed book. There are some dry spots throughout the book, but I did maintain an interest until the end, and it is fair insight on how these radical game developers got started and achieved wild success.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. A literal Roman emperor wrote this book, so of course it's worth reading. Aurelius in particular jotted down a treasure trove of insightful wisdom and thoughts pertaining to Stoicism. Can't say I'll ever embrace the philosophy as deeply as the discipline demands, but I am increasingly seeing the value in the Stoic perspective. This book has introduced plenty of ideas that will help me navigate my day-to-day struggles with greater nuance and strength, and it has the potential to benefit anybody. Of all the books I read this year, this is easily the most valuable--a book that can teach you how to live well.
Graphic Novels
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. Had heard that this was one of the best Batman graphic novels for years. Now that I've finally read it, I thought it was...okay. The story's intent seems poignant on the surface, especially with the shocking events that happen, and I was pleased by the art style and how the frames frequently mirrored each other scene-to-scene. However, something about the story didn't leave as big of an impact as I expected. I think a big part of it is simply in how neatly-wrapped this is by the ending. The Joker's point (that we are all just one bad day away from turning to evil) is not really validated, so the story feels rather irrelevant.
Cowboys and Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. Of course I've seen the film adaptation many years ago. The original graphic novel isn't much more than cowboys shooting up aliens, with a threadbare story. I appreciate the pulpy nature of the comic and the art style. It is a quick and breezy read. There just isn't any real substance to it whatsoever. Less than the movie, even. Forgettable at best, bland and soulless at its worst.
Creepshow by Stephen King. Yep, it's a comic that correlates to the 1982 film. As such, it is nothing more than the stories from the film translated into a comic book format. Given the movie's comic-inspired format and style, the comic reads perfectly fine this way, showcasing the same scenes from the movie with just a few small tweaks. I can't really fault this for much, other than it doesn't bring anything new to the table other than rock-solid artwork by Bernie and Michele Wrightson. A fun read for fans all the same.
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