Favorite Books Read in 2024 (Any Genre)

 Comic-specific 2024 recaps coming soon. Here are my top 5 books (prose, comics, anything) read in 2024:

5. Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy by Lidiya Foxglove
4. Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
3. The Treasure of the Black Swan by Paco Roca
2. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
1. Luchadora by Alvaro Saar Rios

2022/2023 Comic Review Recap

As mentioned in the previous post, 2022 (especially) and 2023 were pretty unproductive for this blog. I'm back settled in the US and have just reorganized the Random Stack of Unread Comics, and I've also got lots of graphic novels and manga on the to-read shelf, so expect more in 2024. My most recent review was actually for a comic I read in 2023, so 2024 reviews will start soon.

My total number of comics read in 2022 was a miserable 3. I did a bit better in 2023, but only a bit, with a total of 18.

Highest-rated comics in 2022/2023:

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt (8.5)
Keep the Home Fries Burning: A For Better or For Worse Collection (8.5)
The Sands of Time: Accidental Time Machine (8.5)
White Bird (9)

Lowest-rated comics in 2022/2023:

Dork Diaries: Tales From A Not-So-Happily Ever After (5)
Snow Drop Volume 2 (5)
Star Wars: Allegiance (4)

2022/2023 Recap: My Top 5 Books (Prose or Comics) Read

Due to internet connectivity issues in China, lockdowns, and being generally busy with plans to move home, I only added a couple of entries to this blog in 2022. There were a few more in 2023, but I never did recaps for 2022, so I am combining them here, starting with my overall top books from each year. No comics or graphic novels made the list in 2022 or 2023, mostly because I was concentrating on reading prose.

My top 5 books read in 2022:

5. The Chicken Sisters by K.J. Dell'Antonia

4. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

3. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

2. Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

My Top 5 Books Read In 2023:

5. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

4. A Game of Fox and Squirrels by Jenn Reese

3. Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

2. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

1. Beloved by Toni Morrison

2021 Comic Review Recap

With Covid continuing to be an issue, and with travel restrictions in place, 2021 was a lot like 2020 in terms of lack of travel. We did manage a trip to Chengdu and Leshan around Christmas, but otherwise we spent our time in Shanghai. I wanted to try to read 100 books in 2021, which I managed to do (actually read 101), but since I don't count individual issue comics toward book-reading, the Random Stack of Unread Comics was pushed aside once again. This was not that big a deal, since with no traveling there was no chance to replenish it. I had a decent number of graphic novels among the 101 books, and those made up the majority of my contributions to this blog in 2021.

My total number of reviews in 2021 was 27, down 3 from last year.

Highest Rated Comics in 2021

Feast of Fields (8.5)
Roller Girl (8.5)
A Wish Fulfilled: Accidental Time Machine (8.5)

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (9)
Saga Compendium 1 (9)
Small Town Type #1 (9)

A Monster Calls (9.5)

Lowest Rated Comics in 2021

Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey (5)
Jedi Academy: The Force Oversleeps (5)

Avengers Endgame Prelude (4)

I'm looking forward to some more graphic novels (I have several on my to-be-read shelf, plus delving back into the remaining Random Stack of Unread Comics in 2022!

Updated All-Time Top Rated Comics

Here is my updated list of all of the comics I've rated a 9 or above. Four new books (all rated 9) were added to this list in 2020.


9/10

All In The Family Part Two: Angel
Amulet Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse
Amulet Book Seven: Firelight
Boxers
Dog Man And Cat Kid
Dog Man: Grime and Punishment
The Flutter Collection
Ghosts
Guts
Life With Archie #16
Lumberjanes Volume 3: A Terrible Plan
Lumberjanes Volume 4: Out of Time
Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together
Machiavelli
Rival Angels Season 3 Volume 2
Understanding Comics
Warriors: Graystripe's Adventure
We Won't Be Erased
With the Light Volume 2

9.5/10

Amelia Rules: When the Past is a Present
The Arrival
Castle Waiting Volume 1
I Kill Giants
The Prince and the Dressmaker
Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

10/10

Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic In One Volume

Looking forward to reading more great books in 2021!

2020 Comic Review Recap

We never left Shanghai in 2020, aside from a brief trip to Nanjing right as the lockdowns were starting. As with lots of folks, adapting to things like distance-teaching and the general stress of living in a pandemic, even in a place that has not been badly hit, resulted in a lack of creative focus. In terms of reading, a lot of my focus shifted to prose reading, as well as some graphic novels. So in spite of all the home time, I didn't make much progress on the traditional comics in the Random Stack of Unread Comics in 2020. The bright side of that is that in spite of not having the chance to visit the US to restock, I still have a decent-sized stack left to read in 2021, as well as still having access to some graphic novels in bookstores here.

I did pretty well on prose writing, and you can check out a list of my 5 favorite prose books read in 2020 here.

I read and reviewed a total of 32 comics in 2020, which is way down from previous years. Hoping to do better in 2021.

Highest Rated Comics Read In 2020

Amulet Book Eight: Supernova (8.5)
Chainbreaker #1 (8.5)
Saints (8.5)
Sandman Special #1: Orpheus (8.5)
Spill Zone Book 1 (8.5)
Star Wars: Han Solo (8.5)

Boxers (9)
Dog Man: Grime and Punishment (9)
Guts (9)
Rival Angels Season 3 Volume 2 (9)

Lowest Rated Comics Read In 2020

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid (2)

Updated All-Time Top Rated Comics

Here is my updated list of all of the comics I've rated a 9 or above. I'm happy to report that five comics were added to this since the last time I updated it!

9/10

All In The Family Part Two: Angel
Amulet Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse
Amulet Book Seven: Firelight
Dog Man And Cat Kid
The Flutter Collection
Ghosts
Life With Archie #16
Lumberjanes Volume 3: A Terrible Plan
Lumberjanes Volume 4: Out of Time
Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together
Machiavelli
Understanding Comics
Warriors: Graystripe's Adventure
We Won't Be Erased
With the Light Volume 2

9.5/10

Amelia Rules: When the Past is a Present
The Arrival
Castle Waiting Volume 1
I Kill Giants
The Prince and the Dressmaker
Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

10/10

Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic In One Volume

Looking forward to reading more great books in 2020!

2019 Comic Review Recap

I spent 2019 living and working in Shanghai, China. For non-comics reading, I spent 2019 reading only books written by women (my top five books of the year are listed here). I didn't extend this to my comics reading because I was relying on the Random Stack of Unread Comics, which I had brought to China from storage in the USA in 2018. I only went to one geeky convention in 2019, a local anime/cosplay event at the Hub Mall near Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai. I did also get to see mall exhibits on Marvel Studios and Ultraman, and attended a WWE live show in Shanghai. Travel destinations in 2019 included Taiwan, Palau, the Philippines, as well as Wuxi, Hong Kong, Xi'An, and Hangzhou within China. I went to Hong Kong Disneyland, which brings my total number of Disney parks to three.

I also read and reviewed 96 comics. which is 11 less than 2018. Here are the highs and lows:

Highest Rated Comics Read In 2019

Alethia Chapter 1 (8.5)
Awakening Comics #1 (8.5)
Awkward (8.5)
Bored Angel (8.5)
Circadia #1 (8.5)
Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls (8.5)
Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal (8.5)
The Realm #2 (8.5)
Shade: The Changing Man #44 (8.5)
Smile (8.5)
Tragedy at Farstation Prota (8.5)
The Vengeful Half (8.5)
The Walking Dead #175 (8.5)

The Flutter Collection (9)
Ghosts (9)
Lumberjanes Volume 4: Out of Time (9)
Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together (9)
We Won't Be Erased (9)

The Prince and the Dressmaker (9.5)

Lowest Rated Comics Read In 2019

Hermann Shepherd in "Gitmo Goofs" (2.5)

2016 Recap

I read and reviewed 103 comics in 2016!

Top-Rated Comics I Read in 2016 (all tied with an 8.5)

All Star Superman #1: Free Comic Book Day 2008 Edition
Red Sonja Volume 2 #2: Larry's Comics Variant Cover
Thieves & Kings #42
Grendel: Devil's Legacy #1


Lowest-Rated Comic I Read in 2016 (3.5)

Superman #100

I have a big stack of unread comics to take me into 2017, and I'm going to set a goal of 150 reviews for this year. Looking forward to reading lots more comics in the coming months!

2011 Recap

I decided to take a week's vacation from reviewing after the end of the year. Before I get rolling again with the reviews, it's time to look back.

First areminder of my goals and how I did on them:

1) Write a review every day.

Not quite. Still, given everything else I'm involved in, I did pretty well. I had 321 entries in 2011, but 45 were not reviews (30 were part of the 30-Day Comic Challenge meme, and the remaining 15 were recap/stats posts, convention announcements, etc. So that makes 276 reviews, which is 89 short of a comic a day, and that give me something to shoot for in 2012 (and I missed yesterday, so I'm already behind!).

2) Reduce my pile of unread comics.

I did, indeed, accomplish this, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I can mostly blame DC Comics for that. I've had a lot of fun jumping on board the New 52, and I feel it adds to the relevance of this blog. I go through phases as far as reading current mainstream comics goes, so I'm not sure how many of these titles I'll be sticking with for the long term, but for the moment I'm definitely going to be continuing to follow at least some of the new DC comics. I'll be trying harder to balance that with reading from my backstock as I move into 2012.

Statistics Time! Let's start with the best and worst from each month of 2012!

January

Best: Amelia Rules: When the Past is a Present (9.5) (!)

Worst: The Avengers #1 (4)

February

Best: American Born Chinese (8.5)

Worst: Captain Universe/X-23 #1 (3)

March

Best: A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed (8.5)

Worst: 2099 Limited (4)

April

Best (Tie): Bisclavret (8.5), XKCD Volume 0 (8.5)

Worst (Tie): Detective Comics Annual #11 (5.5), Mercy Sparx: Under New Management #1 Free Comic Book Day Edition (5.5)

May

Best: With the Light Volume 2 (9)

Worst: War of the Supermen #0 (4.5)

June

Best (Tie): MAMP Vol. 2 #6 (8), MAMP Vol. 6 #5 (8), Locke & Key: Free Comic Book Day Edition (8)

Worst: Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1 (3)

July

Best: Transfusion (8)

Worst: Fear Itself Sketchbook (4)

August

Best: Whiteout: Free Comic Book Day Edition (8.5)

Worst: Wildstorm: Free Convention Exclusive 2009 (3)

September

Best (Tie): Healed #3 (8.5), Girl Genius Volume 2: Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City (8.5)

Worst: Green Arrow Industries #1 (2.5)

October

Best (Tie): Batwoman #1 (8), Salt Water Taffy 1: The Legend of Old Salty (8), Aquaman #1 (8), Hot Tea Cold Water #3 (8)

Worst (Tie): Suicide Squad #1 (3), All Star Western #1 (3)

November

Best: Healed #1 (7.5)

Worst: Justice League Dark #2 (4)

December

Best: Meridian City Preview Edition (8.5)

Worst: Catwoman #2 (2.5)

Best of the Year: Amelia Rules: When the Past is a Present (9.5)

Worst of the Year (Tie): Catwoman #2 (2.5), Green Arrow Industries #1 (2.5)

Most Reviewed Company: DC Comics (73)

Most Reviewed Title: Plastic Farm (19)

Highest Average Title With At Least 3 Reviews: Sky Pirates of Valendor (7.50)

Lowest Average Title With At Least 3 Reviews: Detective Comics (6.33)

Most Fun I Had Reviewing Comics This Year: Reviewing a smurf comic in smurf dialect, and my rhyming review of the first issue of Demon Knights!

Biggest Disappointments of the Year: After strong debuts, the second issues of Justice League: Dark and Catwoman were just horrible.

Favorite Discoveries: Some awesome comics that I probably would not have read if not for this column! Go read these!

The Way It Crumbles
Lai Wan
Kitty Hawk: The Sting of Defeat
Moses And Bean
Plastic Farm
Bisclavret
Locke & Key
MAMP
Whiteout
Satisfactory Comics
Static Shock
Salt Water Taffy
Batwoman
Healed
Meridian City

I hope you have all had a great 2011, and that you will make a resolution in the new year to read and support comics!