Andrew's 100 Books in 2015 - Sci Fi, Comics, and Miscellaneous

[Andrew]

Here are my goals for 2015:

1. Read 90 books for the first time. (They don't have to be published in 2015.) COMPLETED IN NOVEMBER.

2. Re-read 10 books. They can be any books that I have read in previous years. COMPLETED IN AUGUST.

3. Write reviews for 45 books. COMPLETED IN AUGUST.

4. Read 3 biographies or autobiographies. COMPLETED IN NOVEMBER.

5. Read 3 mystery novels (which I rarely read). COMPLETED IN JUNE.

6. Read 30,000 pages (which is totally subjective but hey, it's a big number). COMPLETED IN DECEMBER.

I made these goals in April, so that might be cheating, but oh well.

[Andrew]

January

Star Trek Seekers #1 Second Nature (reviewed #1) and #2 Point of Divergence. This is a fun new series that is set after the mayhem of the Vanguard series. They aren't as great as Vanguard but I still enjoyed them.

Superman, Vol. 4: Psi War (reviewed #2). Boring!

Timeless (Parasol Protectorate #5). This is the conclusion to the amazing Parasol Protectorate. I'm not a huge paranormal fan, but I really liked this series. Keep reading for my take on Carriger's latest book, the first of the Custard Protectorate.

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead. This is the other paranormal series that I am reading. I love snarky main characters!

FBP: Federal Bureau Of Physics Vol. 2: Wish You Were Here (reviewed #3). I'm a geek at heart, so it's impossible to not love the Federal Bureau of Physics.

Totals: 6 new books, 3 reviews

[Andrew]

February

Red Rising (reviewed #4) - This had YA themes, and I'm not a fan of YA, but I enjoyed it anyway. I've heard that my review is funny.

Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes #2) (mystery #1, reviewed #5) - Anthony Horowitz's Sherlock Holmes series is simply fantastic. I highly recommend this!

Batman: The Black Mirror (reviewed #6) - This is now one of my favorite Batman comics. It seems like Scott Snyder doesn't know how to make a bad Batman story.

Star Trek Revelation and Dust (The Fall #1) (reviewed #7) - Something huge happens at DS9 to kick off this series.

Star Trek The Crimson Shadow (The Fall #2) (reviewed #8) - this is about as close as you can get to a perfect Star Trek story. It features Elim Garak, the mystery man who made the DS9 TV show so much fun.

Star Trek A Ceremony of Losses (The Fall #3) (reviewed #9) - This is a fast-paced story where Bashir does what is right regardless of the consequences. He is the bright moral compass in an otherwise dark quadrant.

Star Trek The Poisoned Chalice (The Fall #4) (reviewed #10) - I haven't really enjoyed the Titan series up until now, but this might make me change my mind. Of course, there's always the chance that the big change in this book will be undone and ruin my fun...

Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon (reviewed #11) - all the hype about this book is true! Hawkeye was super boring in the first Avengers movie, but he's fantastic in this series.

Black Widow, Vol. 1: The Finely Woven Thread (re-read #1) - I bought this series because of Scarlett Johansson. This series is as awesome as she is her character is.

Black Widow, Vol. 2: The Tightly Tangled Web (reviewed #12) - This wasn't as great as volume 1, but I'm going to keep reading the series.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth (reviewed #13) - This is my new definition of terrible - blurry art, choppy story, etc.

YTD totals: 16 new books, 1 re-read, 1 mystery novel, 13 reviews

[Tiffany, Administrator]

Andrew wrote: "Here are my goals for 2015:

1. Read 90 books for the first time. (They don't have to be published in 2015.)

2. Re-read 10 books. They can be any books that I have read in previous years.

3. Writ..."

Wow, those are some great goals! Good luck!

[Andrew]

March

SF - Star Trek Peaceable Kingdoms (The Fall #5) - this was a good wrap-up for the series. I forgot to write a review, and now it's been too long for me to remember all the details...

Comic - Batman and Son - Damian is a jerk.

Comic - Batman: The Black Glove - way too scattered for my tastes.

Comic/SF - Star Trek Spock Reflections (reviewed #14) - let's be honest: most people don't expect Star Trek comics to be great. But this one really was.

Science - How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming (reviewed #15) - anyone who is interested in astronomy, space, science, or being alive should read this.

Comic/SF - Star Trek Assignment: Earth - meh. Perhaps I would have liked it more if I was a huge fan of The Original Series.

Comic/SF - Star Trek Star Trek: Mission's End (reviewed #16) - decent but not superb.

SF - The Martian (reviewed #17) - I spend way too much time thinking about space exploration, so this was amazing. Highly recommended.

Comic/SF - Star Trek Archives: Best of the Borg - (reviewed #18) - another mediocre comic. Can you tell that I got a lot of them at a low price?

YA - Bones & All (reviewed #19) - this is a strange tale of cannibalism.

SF - Dark Space (reviewed #20) - did not finish. It is rather unoriginal.

Comic - Hawkeye, Vol. 2: Little Hits (reviewed #21) - this is a great series.

Comic/SF - Star Wars By the Emperor's Hand (reviewed #22) - how does Mara deal with the Emperor's death? Not very well. This is a good story.

Productivity - The 9 Secrets to Time Mastery (reviewed #23) - I couldn't find 9 secrets in this short book on productivity.

YTD totals: 30 new books, 1 re-read, 1 mystery novel, 23 reviews

[Andrew]

Tiffany wrote: ...Wow, those are some great goals! Good luck!

Thanks! Let me know if you have any suggestions for formatting these lists. I read about a dozen different people's lists before deciding to join this group, but I'm still undecided on how to make my list entertaining and helpful to others.

[Tiffany, Administrator]

Andrew wrote: "Tiffany wrote: ...Wow, those are some great goals! Good luck!

Thanks! Let me know if you have any suggestions for formatting these lists. I read about a dozen different people's lists before deci..."

I think you're doing a great job so far!

[Andrew]

April

Comic - Black Widow: Kiss or Kill (reviewed) - not my favorite Black Widow comic. The Marvel NOW reboot is better (which starts with Black Widow, Vol. 1: The Finely Woven Thread).

Comic - X-23: Innocence Lost (reviewed, re-read) - she's a totally derivative character, but X-23 is fun. This book and the next one are from the "old" canon, pre-Marvel NOW.

Comic - X-23: Target X (re-read) - it's hard to comment on this without spoiling the previous book, but it's fun.

Comic history - The Secret History of Wonder Woman (reviewed) - amazingly intriguing! Wonder Woman's creator was not the kind of guy that most of us would be impressed with. He basically got lucky with Wonder Woman.

Paranormal - Prudence (reviewed) - I really wanted to like this book since I loved Carriger's Parasol Protectorate, but this is written for twelve year olds. I couldn't finish it.

Psychology - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (reviewed) - an interesting look at how people make split second decisions. It also discusses hidden prejudices.

SF - City of Ruins by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Diving Universe #2) (reviewed) - Rusch's Diving universe is really fun and easy to get into. I recommend checking out the first book, Diving into the Wreck.

SF - Star Wars Specter of the Past (Hand of Thrawn #1) - Timothy Zahn is a great author. He creates complex, engaging stories.

YTD totals: 36 new books, 3 re-reads, 1 mystery novel, 29 reviews. Still haven't read any biographies...

[Andrew]

I'm new to this group, so most of you probably don't know what kinds of shenanigans to expect from me. With that in mind, here are some books and series that I am planning to read:

Comics - Wonder Woman New 52, Volumes 1 through 6 (entire run) - I finished volume 2 today. My opinion of the series has gone up and down, so I'm excited to read all of Azzarello and Chiang's run at the same time to see the full scope.

Comics - Star Wars Legends, Volumes 1 through 11 (entire run) - hopefully this won't burn me out for Episode VII. (Yes, part of me still hopes that Thrawn will be in Episode VII, even though I know it's not going to happen.)

Mystery - not sure what I am going to read.

SF - Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch #2) - the previous book, Ancillary Justice, was absolutely fantastic.

SF - Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series - I have forgotten how they start so it's time to read book 1 again.

There will be plenty of detours and additional books thrown in for good fun and variety. Who knows? In three months I might be done, or I might have good reasons for reading 15 other books...

[Donna]

Mystery - not sure what I am going to read.

Because you have too many to chose from, or because you need some suggestions?

[Andrew]

Donna - recommendations are welcome! I have no clue what mystery novels are good.

[Donna]

Then, if I may be so bold. My current favorite is Harry Dolan starting with Bad Things Happen.

[Andrew]

Thanks! My library has a copy of it.

[Donna]

Now starts the anxious nail biting waiting for you to decide if I made a good suggestion. YIKES!

[Andrew]

Don't worry. I appreciate the suggestion.

[Andrew]

Donna - you made a good recommendation! I finished the book this afternoon. Review to follow.

[Donna]

Whew!!

[Andrew]

Wonder Woman New 52, Volumes 1 through 6

I won volume six in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway! In order to fully enjoy it, I decided to re-read the first five volumes and write a little something here. I also wrote reviews for volumes 5 and 6 (see below).

This is a new direction for Wonder Woman. Instead of one-off enemies the conflicts are directly with the Gods themselves. Insanity ensues when Zeus gets a woman from Virginia pregnant and disappears without a trace.

Diana's character is awesome. She is what I'd expect from a female superhero, which is nothing like what William Moulton Marston had in mind. (See my review of The Secret History of Wonder Woman.)

I recommend this arc to anyone interested in Wonder Woman or heroes with a pure, clean conscience.

Quick summaries of each book are below. Fair warning - minor spoilers may follow.

Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Blood - a great starting point. I have wondered why Wonder Woman lives in London instead of America...

Wonder Woman, Vol. 2: Guts - Wonder Woman goes to Hell to save Zola and her baby.


Wonder Woman, Vol. 3: Iron - this is the low point in my opinion. Wonder Woman gains some allies, but Orion is just lame.

Wonder Woman, Vol. 4: War - the fight with the First Born leads to something major! (view spoiler)[Diana kills Ares and becomes the God of War. (hide spoiler)]

Wonder Woman Vol. 5: Flesh - the First Born almost conquers Olympus. Review here.

Wonder Woman Vol. 6: Bones - the epic conclusion. Review here.

YTD totals: 37 new books, 8 re-reads, 1 mystery novel, 31 reviews.

[Andrew]

Comic/SF - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Fool's Gold - it's just like half of a DS9 episode.

Mystery - Bad Things Happen - thanks to Donna for recommending this. It's like an onion when it comes to layers upon layers of mysteries that are unraveled.

SF - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I waited entirely too long to read this!

SF - Timothy Zahn's Vision of the Future (Hand of Thrawn #2) (reviewed) - this is an essential Star Wars read.

YTD totals: 41 of 90 new books, 8 of 10 re-reads, 2 of 3 mystery novels, 32 of 45 reviews. I think it's time to consider increasing my goals!

[Andrew]

SF - Boneyards by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Diving Universe #3) (reviewed) - not all that great. The first two books were good but this one didn't impress me.

YTD totals: 42 of 90 new books, 8 of 10 re-reads, 2 of 3 mystery novels, 33 of 45 reviews.

[Andrew]

Comics - Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus (reviewed) - boring 1980's comic. Skip it!

Comics - X-23, Vol. 1: The Killing Dream (reviewed) - X-23 is a female clone of Wolverine. I had high hopes for this based on Chris Kyle's X-23 volumes. Unfortunately this volume isn't all that great...

Economics - Think Like a Freak (reviewed) - fun but not Earth-shattering.

History - Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (reviewed) - a fantastic telling of the Lusitania disaster.

YTD totals: 46 of 90 new books, 8 of 10 re-reads, 2 of 3 mystery novels, 37 of 45 reviews. 12,243 out of 30,000 pages of new-to-me books read.

[Andrew]

It's time to fill in the first half of June!

Autism - The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum (reviewed) - a good library book on recent scientific insights on autism.

Christianity (in a weird way) - Starlight and Time: Solving the Puzzle of Distant Starlight in a Young Universe (reviewed) - terrible.

Comics - Black Science, Vol.1: How to Fall Forever (reviewed) - outstanding science fiction! This is a great start, though skim-reading the reviews for volume 2 has me concerned.

Mystery - Very Bad Men - the mix of first and third person bugged me a little but this was still pretty fun.

YTD totals: 50 of 90 new books, 8 of 10 re-reads, 3 of 3 mystery novels, 41 of 45 reviews. 13,188 out of 30,000 pages of new-to-me books read. The page count looks like it will be the tall pole.

[Andrew]

Comics - Indestructible Hulk, Vol. 1: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. - my first Hulk book, read because it was on sale. I'm on the fence about whether or not I like the Hulk.

Comics - Nowhere Men, Vol. 1: Fates Worse Than Death (reviewed) - absolutely horrible. It might make sense if you are on illegal drugs (not that I advocate that, but it makes no sense to a normal person like me).

Comics - Ultimate Comics Ultimates by Sam Humphries, Volume 1 (reviewed) - lots of action but terrible branding. This is NOT an easy starting point, nor is it truly the beginning of a new run. Can Marvel come up with a title that is more confusing?

Comics / SF - Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge - ok but not fantastic.

Comics / SF - Aflame - pretty childish. Skip it.

Mystery - Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson - lots of fun.

Science / Randomness - What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions - some questions made me wonder about the state of humanity - are we just bound to be dumb? But overall Munroe approaches absurd questions in a logical way to the extreme, which is often entertaining.

Thriller - Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) - pretty fun. I'm reading #2 now.

YTD totals: 58 of 90 new books; 8 of 10 re-reads; 0 of 3 biographies or autobiographies; 4 of 3 mystery novels; 43 of 45 reviews; 15,032 out of 30,000 pages of new-to-me books read. Halfway through the year and more than halfway to my goals.

[Andrew]

Comics - Superman, Vol. 5: Under Fire - finally a decent entry in this series! It leads up to...

Comics - Superman: Doomed (reviewed) - fantastic. This is a long, drawn out battle for Superman's life.

SF - I, Robot - a great classic.

Thriller - Die Trying (Jack Reacher #2) - even better than the first one.

YTD totals: 62 of 90 new books; 8 of 10 re-reads; 0 of 3 biographies or autobiographies; 4 of 3 mystery novels; 44 of 45 reviews.

[Andrew]

Biography - I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography - entertaining but nearly impossible to write a review of.

Comics - All Star Western, Vol. 4: Gold Standard (reviewed), Vol. 5: Man out of Time, and Vol. 6: End of the Trail - a good, fun way to end the series. The end was somewhat like Philip K Dick's The Skull.

Comics - The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act (reviewed) - a great start to the series...then I tried volume 2 and just couldn't get into it. That seems to be happening more and more.

Comics - Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Who is Wonder Woman? - on the surface this sounds lame - Diana gives up the WW title, someone replaces her, and she ends up coming back. But it was fun anyway.

Comics - Superman/Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Power Couple - if you can get with the premise then this is fun. Those who think that Clark and Diana shouldn't get together should just stay away.

YTD totals: 69 of 90 new books; 17,975 of 30,000 pages of new books; 8 of 10 re-reads; 1 of 3 biographies or autobiographies; 4 of 3 mystery novels, 46 of 45 reviews.

[Andrew]

Update on re-reads...

Comics - Batman: Year One - a classic.

Comics - Catwoman, Vol. 1: The Game - a good start to the series. I am way behind on following the series though...

YTD totals: 69 of 90 new books; 17,975 of 30,000 pages of new books; 10 of 10 re-reads; 1 of 3 biographies or autobiographies; 4 of 3 mystery novels, 46 of 45 reviews.

[Andrew]

Comics - Catwoman, Vol. 2: Dollhouse (re-read) - Catwoman is exposed as being more than just a thief. She may even have a heart...

Comics - Loki: Agent of Asgard, Vol. 1: Trust Me - Loki is a deviant bastard, which makes this fun.

Comics - Harley Quinn, Vol. 1: Hot in the City (reviewed) - fun but what's with the ridiculous sidekick?

Psychology/life in general - David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (reviewed) - an interesting examination on overcoming and persevering. I can't say that I agree with everything that Gladwell writes, but he makes me think some more on the topics, which is worthwhile.

SF - Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories (reviewed) - not your ordinary Star Wars book.

YTD totals: 73 of 90 new books; 11 of 10 re-reads; 1 of 3 biographies or autobiographies; 4 of 3 mystery novels, 49 of 45 reviews.

[Andrew]

Autobiography/Baseball - Starting and Closing - I have always liked the Braves so I enjoyed this.

Comics - Catwoman, Vol. 3: Death of the Family (re-read) - this is a mix of a few different stories as opposed to one longer arc in each of the previous volumes. One of them was silly (view spoiler)[(the black diamond and all the random bad things in the A.R.G.U.S. basement) (hide spoiler)] but overall it was fun.

Comics/SF - Star Trek: Mirror Images (reviewed) - I don't pay much attention to the Mirror Universe but this was ok.

Comics/SF - Low, Vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope (reviewed) - what a great premise absolutely ruined. Ugh. It was bad.

YTD totals: 76 of 90 new books; 19,295 of 30,000 pages of new books; 12 of 10 re-reads; 2 of 3 biographies or autobiographies; 4 of 3 mystery novels, 51 of 45 reviews.

[Andrew]

Math - The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't - anyone who deals with numbers (that is, those who are literate) should read this book. Some of the details require a basic understanding of statistics but I don't think it requires college-level math. It does require deep thought and the ability to admit that you don't know everything...

[Andrew]

Let's talk about Captain America!

Brubaker's run of Captain America is fantastic. It includes the revelation of the Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers' death, and Bucky's rehabilitation. In some ways this arc is more about Bucky redeeming himself than it is about Rogers. It is 42 issues of awesomeness. None of these are good stand-alone stories though.

I used to be a bit jaded about Steve Rogers' death - after all, if I know he's going to die, why read the book? But Bucky is the real star here, and I enjoyed reading the entire series.

Captain America: Winter Soldier, Vol. 1 and Captain America: Winter Soldier, Vol. 2 (two re-reads) - the Winter Soldier arc, which is different than the movies.


Captain America: Red Menace - Crossbones and Sin cause all sorts of problems.

Captain America: The Death of Captain America - a reviewer on amazon.com let me know that this edition combines three volumes (Captain America Civil War, The Death of Captain America Vol. 1: The Burden of Dreams, and The Death of Captain America Vol. 2: The Man Who Bought America). It's a huge book (for a comic) and is mostly filled with the aftermath of Rogers' death.

The verdict? If you like Captain America (or Bucky) then these are worth reading. There is plenty of action. At least one of the minor "good" characters goes through something awful, which makes me hope that it doesn't happen to her in the movies. Bucky redeems himself from his past life as the Winter Soldier, though things aren't easy.

YTD totals: 79 of 90 new books; 20,631 of 30,000 pages of new books; 14 of 10 re-reads; 2 of 3 biographies or autobiographies; 4 of 3 mystery novels, 51 of 45 reviews.

[Andrew]

Comics - Daredevil, Volume 1 - fun! I'd like to continue the series.

Comics - Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Born to Kill - this does a great job of cranking up the tension between Bruce Wayne and his son Damian.

[Andrew]

Comics - The Flash, Vol. 1: Move Forward (reviewed) - ok but the backstory needed more flushing out for a newbie like me.

Comics - Grayson, Vol. 1: Agents of Spyral - too short! Not much happens.

Comics - Indestructible Hulk, Vol. 2: Gods and Monster - more Hulk Smash. "Let's do something stupid so we'll have reason for Hulk to smash!" It's fun if you want to see smashing.

SF - Fluency (reviewed, DNF) - awful, predictable, and clearly in need of an editor. It could have been so much better...

SF - Dust - the end of the Silo trilogy. I probably would have liked it more if I had read the books consecutively.

YTD 14 re-reads, 53 reviews.

[Andrew]

Comics - Thor, Vol. 1: Goddess of Thunder - Pretty good! Better than I expected.

Comics - The Manhattan Projects, Vol. 1: Science, Bad - very strange. I'm afraid it has messed up what knowledge I had about the real folks behind the Manhattan Project. (view spoiler)[Oppenheimer and his brother are just nuts. (hide spoiler)] Not my kind of wackiness.

[Andrew]

Comics - Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Batgirl of Burnside (reviewed) - not nearly as exciting as Gail Simone's previous run. Batgirl was rebooted for 12 year olds.

Fantasy - The Golem and the Jinni - sometimes a book just leaves you speechless. I'm not into supernatural beings (I had to look up "golem" and "jinni"), but wow, this was awesome. It is a story about what it means to be alive.

Misc - The Top 10 Distinctions Between Winners and Whiners (reviewed) - not all that helpful, but maybe that is because my problems aren't easily solved by a simple turn of phrase.

YTD 14 re-reads, 55 reviews.

[Andrew]

Have I mentioned that the Hawkeye comics are awesome?

Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon (re-read)

Hawkeye, Vol. 2: Little Hits (re-read)

Hawkeye, Vol. 3: L.A. Woman - Kate in LA


Hawkeye, Vol. 4: Rio Bravo - Clint in NY

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool

Hawkeye, Vol. 5: All-New Hawkeye (reviewed) - Lemire takes over and does a good job. It's just too short...

YTD: 16 re-reads, 56 reviews.

[Andrew]

I am more than 20 books behind on maintaining this list. Suffice it to say that I've met every goal except the 30,000 pages of new books read. Check out my shelves for more details.

[Andrew]

The year is over...I reached all of my goals and then some. One hundred thirty-six new-to-me books, 30,680 pages read.

[Tiffany, Administrator]

Andrew wrote: "The year is over...I reached all of my goals and then some. One hundred thirty-six new-to-me books, 30,680 pages read."

Yay! Congratulations!