2014 – My Year In Books, Courtesy of Goodreads
2014 – My Year In Books, courtesy of Goodreads.com
How many books do you read in a year? For 2014 I kept track using Goodreads.com.
Like previous years, I’ve set myself a target number of books to read over a twelve month period, and recorded the progress on Goodreads.com. This is my year in books.
2014 Goodreads Books
I wrote about last year’s target here. This year I wanted to read at least fifteen books.
In comparison to a lot of people I probably don’t read that much, but my reading time has been curtailed somewhat by having a toddler in the house. I only just about managed to reach the target.
Setting a goal and recording the titles in Goodreads is an interesting exercise as it gives you a chance to look back over what you’ve read in the previous twelve months.
Of the fifteen, ten were fiction books, and five were non-fiction. In total it was six e-books and nine physical books which is the same breakdown of electronic and physical books as last year. Here’s a list of the books and what I thought of them;
Mockingbird – Chuck Wendig
This is the second in the series of Wendig’s novels about a woman who can foresee the deaths of those she has physical contact with. Like his other novels, this is sweary and violent and fast-paced in a way you’d want your Wendig novels to be. I did notice a few glaring typographical and formatting errors, but according to the author these are known issues, set to be addressed in later editions. Does that make my copy a collector’s edition?
Between Here And The Yellow Sea – Nic Pizzolatto
A collection of short stories from the author of Galveston and the writer of acclaimed TV series True Detective. I loved True Detective, so I bought the Kindle version of Galveston, which I also loved, so I bought Between Here And The Yellow Sea in an attempt to hoover up all of Pizzolatto’s work. The book has a variety of settings and characters, and some of them are more engaging than others, but generally it makes great reading. I kind of got the impression this was released or re-released in haste in order to fill out Pizzolatto’s back-catalogue, but it was still worth reading.
Freakonomics & SuperFreakonomics – Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner
Did you know kangaroo farts don’t contain methane?
This is just one of the many facts I learned from reading these two books about micro-economics. The Freakonomics books, and the excellent podcasts, are full of strange social quirks put under the microscope of economic scrutiny. While some of the assumptions and facts have been debunked since publication, these books, and the third in the series, Think Like A Freak, are still fascinating reads. Economics as a subject is a dark art, full of conjecture and complexity, but these books are written with that in mind – take something everyday and relate-able and apply economic models to it. The results are often pretty amazing.
George Pelecanos – x3 Books (Shoe Dog, A Firing Offence, Down By The River Where The Dead Men Go)
Looking back, I went on a bit of a George Pelecanos reading-spree this year. I bought Shoe Dog, A Firing Offence, and Down By The River Where The Dead Men Go – all of which I enjoyed. The problem with reading several books by the same writer in a short period of time is that you run the risk of them becoming a bit samey, and whilst the themes, settings, and characters were very similar, I still enjoyed them. I’ve often thought reading Pelecanos’ novels are like reading a script from an episode of The Wire. Not surprising since he wrote numerous episodes. Love him as I do, I think I’ll take a break from the grimy Baltimore backstreets for a bit.
Nothing To Lose – Lee Child
Jack Reacher is hitchhiking somewhere, he happens to cross paths with someone who needs his help, he does a bunch of ass-kicking, and then carries on hitchhiking.
That is basically the start, middle, and end of every Lee Child novel. I’ve read three or four of his books so far and I’ve yet to see one that has a drastically different premise. Child’s writing is tight and economical, but I can’t help but think his books are written with the aid of a Word template document.
A Clash of Kings – George R R Martin
The second book in the Game of Thrones series – except it’s not the Game of Thrones series at all, it’s the Song of Fire and Ice series, but that’s a rant for another day. I love the TV show, so naturally I’m reading through the books for the extra depth you can’t get from television. I’m enjoying the stories, but you have to learn a special skill to read Martin’s books in order to skim through a lot of the added weight he insists on throwing in. Once you’ve developed this, these bricks of books are enjoyable reads.
30 Second Economics – Donald Marron
A non-fiction book about economic principles, but a very different beast to the Freakonomics books. This is a bit like a cheat-guide for economics students – it basically summarises the main economic theories of the last three hundred years, with neat little graphics and quotes. I can see myself referring back to this book to get a better grasp on some of the economic terms we’re likely to hear on the news.
Blood Fugue – Joseph D’Lacey
This horror novel was written by an old writing tutor of mine. I bought it on Kindle and chipped away at it in small chunks over a period of a month or so. I don’t read much horror, but I’d say this is a mix of vampire and apocalypse fiction, with a fair amount of sex and gore thrown about. Not too dissimilar to his writing classes, actually.
This Book Will Teach You How To Write Better – Neville Medhora
Whether or not this book did teach me to become a better writer is up for debate, but this book is primarily geared towards copywriting for commercial purposes. It’s short, snappy, and to the point, which I suppose is the main aim of business writing aimed at selling products and services. Medhora has a great blog which I only discovered after reading the book, but the two things are very similar – punchy and aimed at getting you started on projects to make money.
Galveston – Nic Pizzolatto
I loved this book, it has to be my favourite read of the year. Part-way through watching True Detective I just had to root out his literary work, so bought Galveston on Kindle for the bargain price of £1.99 or something. I nailed through it in a week or so – impressive given my relatively slow reading pace. Like True Detective, it’s set in the murky backwaters of Galveston and surrounding Texas, following broken down anti-heroes with tight, punchy prose. To say this kind of Cormac McCathy-esque writing is up my street is an understatement.
The Crimson Petal and the White – Michael Faber
I bought this on Kindle after watching the BBC dramatisation. A Victorian prostitute climbs the social ladder when she becomes the nanny for the child of a wealthy customer. The prose is just as grimy as some of the settings, and at times it reads like Faber couldn’t bring himself to edit out some of the details he uncovered whilst doing the research, as the book is a mighty tome. It’s well written, but at times it wallows in the minutiae of Victorian life in London a bit too much.
The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars – Patrick Hennessey
This is the memoirs of an officer in the British army during his time in Iraq and Afghanistan. These books are ten a penny nowadays, and I’ve read several now. Some are better than others, and I think it all depends on the individual recounting their experiences, and who their ghostwriter/publisher is. This is one of the better titles, although I am finding the writer’s long, run-on sentences a bit distracting. This is probably deliberate, to give the book a distinctive voice, but it’s something the reader has to deal with when reading it. It certainly covers some of the more frantic, violent episodes of Britain’s military role in Afghanistan, and is recommended for this aspect alone.
These fifteen books make a minor dent in my to-read pile, but it’s good to see them laid out on Goodreads.
How many books do people read in a year? I’ve got a feeling my total is pretty low. So many books, so little time…
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