Books

Since 1980, I have kept a list of every book I've read. Here it is for recent years. 

2024

1. Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers. 
2. Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King (January 4).
3. Martin, George R. R. Nightflyers and Other Stories. Science fiction from his early period. Favorite: A Song for Lya, in which two psychics are hired to investigate an alien race's bizarre religion. One of them is seduced by it. I read this and the next two books while coping with flu on a Caribbean cruise. (January 19-27)
4. Pease, Amy. Northwoods. Policeman and military veteran Eli investigates a kidnapping and suspicious activity at a drug rehabilitation clinic while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. (January 19-27)
5. Griffin, Martin. The Second Stranger.  Criminal stalks their colleague's sister during a snowstorm in an isolated hotel in Scotland (January 30).
6. Grant, Kimi Cunningham. These Silent Woods. Retired Army veteran hides in the deep woods with his eight-year-old daughter. Not really a thriller or a suspense story, but nicely written with believable characters. (March 5)
7. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (College Edition). I've finally finished it. I've read every single word in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. For my needs this "ecumenical study bible" was quite helpful, mostly because of the supplementary material: explanation and interpretation by scholars, cultural contexts, timelines, maps, a highly detailed index (here called a "concordance") and more. (May 13)
8. Barrett, Colin. Wild Houses. Set in Ireland in the present day. The New York Times Book Review called this a "fine novel." I agree. (May 19)
9. Sanger, Riley. Lock Every Door. Routine thriller. (audiobook)
10. McFadden, Freida. Do Not Disturb. Routine thriller. (audiobook)
11. McFadden, Freida. The Teacher. Better-than-average thriller. (audiobook)
12. Donlea, Charlie. The Suicide House. Better-than-average thriller (audiobook). Teenagers in a boarding school who want to join a secret society have to enter an abandoned house and play a game called The Man in the Mirror.  These audiobooks are expanding my reading capacity. But it's not reading. Instead, I listen while I drive. 

2023

1. Shorto, Russell. Smalltime. Non-fiction account of his family's involvement in organized crime in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. (January 6)
2. Myrer, Anton. Once an Eagle. One of the best World War II novels I've read. I'll read more of Myrer's work. (Feb. 5)
3. King, Stephen. Fairy Tale. (Feb. 24)
4. Patchett, Ann. The Dutch House (March 8). A wonderful novel about ordinary people.  2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist.
5. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. The Acts of the Apostles (April 10).
6. Godfrey, Rebecca. Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk  (April 15). I seldom read true crime books, but this one's outstanding.
7. Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Valley of Fear. (April 25)
8. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. The Letter of Paul to the Romans. (~May 15)
9. Lavalle, Victor. The Changeling. (May 24)
10. Barry, Jessica. Don't Turn Around. (May 27) When a Texas politician's wife wants to get an abortion, it causes problems for her husband's campaign to win a US Senate election.
11. Cronin, Justin. The Ferryman. (July 9) See my post.
12. Compton, Johnny. The Spite House. (July 22)
13. King, Stephen. If It Bleeds. (August 8)
14. Bouman, Tom. Fateful Mornings. (August 14)
15. Tarkington, Booth. Seventeen. ( (September 17)
16. Sylva, Tasha. The Guest Room. (October 10)
17. Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring (December 31). I've lost track of how many times I've read this book. This time around, I intended only to revisit the encounter with Galadriel. But I ended up reading the entire book, and then the rest of the trilogy. Freed from curiosity about the story line, it gave me a new appreciation for Tolkein's prose style.

2022

1. Allingham, Margery. Sweet Danger. A very English 1933 crime novel,  this reminded me of P.G. Wodehouse. (March 19)
2. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Matthew. Mark. I read Matthew some months ago, but apparently neglected to add it to this list. (March 26)
3. MacInnes, Helen. Message from Malaga. Espionage in Spain, 1971-style. I'll read more of her books. See my post. (April 19)
4. Gregory, Daryl. Revelator. See my post. (May 13)
5. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Luke. 
6. Teixidor, Javier. The Pagan God: Popular Religion in the Greco-Roman Near East. See my post. (May 29)
7. Block, Lawrence. Borderline. See my post. (June 3)
8. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. John. See my post. (June 22)
9. Trussoni, Danielle. The Ancestor. (July 1)
10. Coe, Jonathan. The Closed Circle. Sequel to The Rotters' Club. Looking forward to reading the third in this series. (July 16)
11. Coe, Jonathan. Middle England.  Last of the trilogy. Loved it. Very clever satire of English politics. Stronger than The Closed Circle. (July 27)
12. King, Stephen. Billy Summers. One of his best in years. A straightforward crime novel, although it does contain references to The Shining.  (July 20)
13. Cranor, Eli. Don't Know Tough. Arkansas noir. (August 4)
14. Towles, Amor. The Lincoln Highway. (August 28)
15. Egan, Jennifer. Manhattan Beach. Superb. I must read more Egan. (November 29)
16. Hamilton, Edith. The Greek Way. Norton Library edition. Erudite discussion of ancient Greece: religion, values, warfare (especially Athens vs. Sparta), drama, poetry. (December 23)

2021 

1. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Daniel. Hosea. Joel. Amos.  (January 26) When I reached Daniel, I discovered that I had read it years ago. As I recall, I did that after reading Danielle Trussoni's Angelology, which references the gnostic Book of Enoch and Daniel, which contain references to "the watchers" coming to earth, as well as certain bizarre images which have been interpreted in all sorts of ways. The other three are relatively short books, so I was able to get through them quickly. 
2. Irving, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany. (February 23) Deserves a post of its own. 
3. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Obadiah. Jonah. Micah. Nahum. (February 23)
4. Trussoni, Danielle. Angelopolis. (April 12)
5. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Habbakuk. Zephaniah. (April 12)
6. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Zechariah. Malachi. This concludes my reading of the Old Testament. (April 27)
7. Stuart, Douglas. Shuggie Bain. (May 19)
8. French, Tana. The Searcher. (May 27)
9. Shaw, Irwin. The Troubled Air.  See my post. (June 10)
10. Owens, Delia. Where the Crawdads Sing. 
11. King, Stephen. Duma Key. See my post. (June 21)
12. Simpson, Rose. Muse, Odalisque, Handmaiden: A Girl's Life in The Incredible String Band. (July 9)
13. Dreiser, Theodore. An American Tragedy. (September 5)
14. Kean, Leslie. UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record. Three Rivers Press, New York. 2010. ISBN 978-0-307-71708-5. (October 20) 
15. Ishiguro, Kazuo. Klara and the Sun. Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 2021. ISBN 978-0-593-31818-8. (November 8)
16. Connelly, Michael. Fair Warning. See my post. Grand Central Publishing. New York. 2020. ISBN 978-1-5387-3633-3. (November 18)

2020

1. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Proverbs. (January 1). My motives for all this Bible reading are not what they may appear to be (as if anyone cares, or even notices). See my post.
2. Atwood, Rachel. Walk the Wild With Me. (February 1). See my post.
3. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Ecclesiastes. (February 3)
4. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. The Song of Solomon. (February 4)
5. Mina, Denise. Conviction. (February 11) See my post.
6. King, Stephen. The Institute. (February 22)
7. Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (February 29)
8. Bouman, Tom. The Bramble and the Rose. (March 21) See my post.
9. Bouman, Tom.  Dry Bones in the Valley. (April 5) See my post.
10. De Lint, Charles. Yarrow. (April 29) See my post.
11. King, Stephen. The Outsider. (June 18) See my post.
12. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Isaiah. (June 30)
13. Messud, Claire. The Burning Girl. (July 3). See my post.
14. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Jeremiah. (August 3). Continuing my self-administered adult education course. Jeremiah is bitter stuff. "...for the Lord is a God of recompense, he will repay in full." Brutal, even by Old Testament standards.
15. Sayers, Dorothy L. Whose Body? (August 6) See my post. 
16. Cosby, S. A. Blacktop Wasteland. (August 26)
17.  The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Lamentations. (August 31)
18. Atkinson, Rick. The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 (August 31). First in a planned trilogy.
19. Schmidt, Michael S. Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President. (November 16)
20. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Ezekiel. (December 21)
21. Russ, Martin. Line of Departure: Tarawa. (December 24)
22. Wagner, Laura. Hollywood's Hard-Luck Ladies: 23 Actresses Who Suffered Early Deaths, Accidents, Mishaps, Illnesses and Tragedies. (December 26)

2019

1. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Ezra. Nehemiah. Esther (January 2). This concludes my reading of the Historical Books.  See my post.
2. Clapper, James. Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence (January 30). Memoir by the former U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
3. Marshall, Michael. The Straw Men (February 1). One of the bewildering array of pseudonyms of Michael Paul Marshall Smith, author of The Anomaly.
4. Vader, John. New Guinea: The Tide is Stemmed (February 3). Written from the Australian point of view, this account of the New Guinea campaign of World War II is unsparing in its judgment of U.S. troops' performance. 
5.  The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Job (February 14).
6. Simmons, Dan. The Terror (April 4). Don't call it horror. A historical novel with a supernatural/spiritual element, it's about the 1845 Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage, and the sailors who spent years stranded on ships frozen into the ice. Outstanding.
7. McMahon, John. The Good Detective (April). I have to stop reading books like this. 
8. Maguire, Gregory. Wicked: Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (May 22).  This was a surprise. I listened to an audiobook version years ago, but it must have been abridged. The original book is deeper and more complex than I expected.
9. Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great (June 1). Biography.
10. Bock, Charles. Beautiful Children (June 8). A novel set in Las Vegas.
11. Offutt, Chris. Country Dark (June 25). An excellent thriller in which a US Army veteran returns home to the Kentucky hill country and struggles with poverty, family problems, local criminals and motorcycle gang members. Bleak and touching.
12. Mosley, Walter. The Long Fall (July 12). The first in the Leonid McGill series. 
13. Vance, J.D. Hillbilly Elegy (July 28). Memoir of life in Appalachia. Non-fiction.
14. Caputo, Philip: Hunter's Moon (August 15). Not exactly a novel, this is a well-crafted set of interrelated stories by the author of A Rumor of War, Horn of Africa, Indian Country and Crossers.
15. Russo, Richard. Chances Are... (August 27).  Outstanding work by one of my favorite novelists. See my post.  
16. The New Oxford Annotated Bible.  Psalms (October 15). I have now read 40% of the Bible.
17. Coe, Jonathan. The Rotters' Club. Takes place in Birmingham, England during the mid-1970s. This is described somewhere as a "comic novel", but there are hidden depths here. I'm looking forward to the sequel, The Closed Circle, and the sequel to the sequel, Middle England. But first, I plan to create a reference tool detailing the relationships between the characters. There are a lot of them.  (October 31)
18. Leonard, Elmore. Last Stand at Saber River  I don't usually read Westerns, but this one is outstanding.  (November 11)
19. Leonard, Elmore. The Law at Randado.  Another great Western from Leonard. (November 14)
20. Leonard, Elmore. Valdez is Coming. Yet more Leonard. I've had enough for a while. (November 17)
21. Heinemann, Larry. Paco's Story. Vietnam veteran copes with coming home. 1987 National Book Award for Fiction. (December 29)
22. Buford, Bill. Among the Thugs. An examination of football hooliganism in England. Non-fiction. (December 30)  

2018

1. Hamilton, Patrick. The Siege of Pleasure. Part 2 of Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky.
2. Hamilton, Patrick. The Plains of Cement. Final book in the Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky trilogy. (Feb. 2)
3. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Judges and Ruth. (Feb. 21)
4. King, Stephen. The Dead Zone. (March 15) Second reading, because Greg Stillson reminds me of Donald Trump.
5. Abbott, Megan. The Fever. (March 22) Gripping.
6. Albert, Melissa. The Hazel Wood. (April 22) Highly imaginative young adult fiction; fully grown adults will enjoy it too.
7. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 1 Samuel. (April 23)
8. Steiner, Rudolph. The Secret Stream: Christian Rosenkreutz and Rosicrucianism. Contains many puzzling statements, including this one: "...the beginning of a new means of procreation exists in the human larynx."
9. Winspear, Jacqueline. Maisie Dobbs. (May 25)
10. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 2 Samuel. (June 7)
11. Waugh, Evelyn. A Handful of Dust. (June 15) See my post.
12. Dolnick, Ben. The Ghost Notebooks. (June 25) See my post.
13. Cornwell, Bernard. Sharpe's Rifles. (July 11)  Deep Creek vacation reading.
14. Finn, A. J. The Woman In The Window. (July 13)
15. Jackson, Lisa and Bush, Nancy. Something Wicked. (July 19) Audio book.
16. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 1 Kings. (July 23)
17. Hamilton, Patrick. Hangover Square. (August 1)
18. McLaughlin, James A. Bearskin. (August 3) Ex-convict becomes caretaker of a wealthy family's nature preserve and tangles with vicious locals. The best thriller I've read in quite a while.
19. King, Stephen. The Outsider. (August 12)
20. VanderMeer, Jeff. Annihilation. (August 18) Strange, beautifully written science fiction. Book 1 of the Southern Reach trilogy, described in this New Yorker article. Winner of the 2014 Nebula Award for Best Novel.
21. VanderMeer, Jeff. Authority. (August 26. ) Book 2 of the Southern Reach trilogy.
22. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 2 Kings. (August 31) A long succession of kings "who did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.")
23.  The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 1 Chronicles. (September 3) Hard to read.  Consists primarily of extensive genealogical lists.
24. Messud, Claire. The Burning Girl. (September 6)
25. Rutger, Michael. The Anomaly. (September 10) See my post.
26. Anderson, James. Lullaby Road. (September 16)
27.  The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 2 Chronicles. (September 27)
28. Barnes, Julian. The Only Story. (October)
29. Ide, Joe. IQ. (November 1)
30. VanderMeer, Jeff. Acceptance. (November 4). Final book in the Southern Reach trilogy.
31. Sams, Ferrol. Run With The Horsemen. (December 25) 

2017

1. MacIntyre, Ben - Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS (audio)
2. Mosley, Walter - Charcoal Joe
3. Mosley, Walter - Bad Boy Brawley Brown
4. Ende, Michael - The Neverending Story (audio)
5. McInerney, Lisa - The Glorious Heresies
6. Neville, Stuart - So Say The Fallen (set in Belfast, as are his others listed below)
7. Neville, Stuart - Stolen Souls
8. Neville, Stuart - Those We Left Behind
9. Neville, Stuart - Collusion
10. Price, Richard - The Whites
11. Clifford, Stephanie - Everybody Rise (so good!)
12. Levy, Deborah - Hot Milk
13. Harrison, Jim - The Big Seven
14. O'Donnell, Lisa - Closed Doors
15. Robinson, Marilynne - Gilead (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2005)
16. Shaw, Irwin - Lucy Crown
17. Strieber, Whitley - Communion (bizarre, but I had to read it)
18. Tartt, Donna  - The Goldfinch (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2014)
19. Hamilton, Patrick - The Slaves of Solitude (excellent)
20. Bryson, Bill - The Road to Little Dribbling (audio)
21. Mina, Denise - The Red Road 
22. Grann, David - The Lost City of Z
23. Banks, Russell - The Reserve
24. MacDonald, Ross - The Archer Files
25. Spencer, Scott - Men in Black
26. Mitchell, David - The Bone Clocks
27. Dee, Jonathan - The Locals
28. Harrison, Jim - The River Swimmer
29. The New Oxford Annotated Bible - The Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua
30. Denfeld, Rene - The Child Finder
31. Osborne, Lawrence - Beautiful Animals
32. LeGuin, Ursula K. - The Lathe of Heaven (extraordinary)
33. Hamilton, Patrick - The Midnight Bell -  Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky,  Part 1 (the best of the trilogy, but all three books are superb and should be required reading for Anglophiles).

2016

1. Snyder, Timothy -- Bloodlands
2. Barker, Clive - The Scarlet Gospels
3. Lovesey, Peter - The Summons
4. King, Stephen -- Mr. Mercedes (see my post)
5. Abbott, Megan - Dare Me (outstanding read!)
6. Cain, Chelsea - One Kick
7. Roth, Philip - American Pastoral (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1998)
8. King, Stephen - Finders Keepers  (see my post)
9. King, Stephen - End of Watch (see my post)
10. Pagels, Elaine - The Gnostic Gospels
11. Gregory, Phillipa - The Taming of the Queen
12. Hawkins, Paula - The Girl on the Train
13. Hurley, Andrew Michael - The Loney
14. Cronin, Justin - The City of Mirrors
15. Hamilton, Steve - The Second Life of Nick Mason
16. Faulks, Sebastian - Where My Heart Used to Beat
17. Davis, Kathryn - Duplex: A Novel
18. Ware, Ruth - In a Dark, Dark Wood
19. King, Stephen - Joyland (see my post)
20. Johnson, Malcolm - Crypts of London
21. Stone, Nick - The Verdict
22. Atkins, Ace - The Forsaken
23. Atkins, Ace - The Ranger
24. Atkins, Ace - The Lost Ones
25. Atkinson, Rick - An Army at Dawn
26. French, Tana - The Trespasser
27. French, Tana - Broken Harbor
28. Lovesy, Peter - Down Among the Dead Men
29. Langan, John - The Fisherman (one of my favorites of the year)
30. LaValle, Victor - The Ballad of Black Tom (has a Lovecraftian theme)

2015

1. Sherman, William Tecumseh - Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman
2. French, Tana - The Likeness
3. Morino, Richard - Mysteries and Legends: Nevada
4. Follett, Ken - Fall of Giants
5. Shaw, William - She's Leaving Home
6. Wilson, Jacqueline - Jacky Daydream
7. Shaw, William - The Kings of London
8. Turner, John G. - Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet
9. Bennett, Robert Jackson - City of Stairs
10. Neville, Stuart - The Final Silence
11. Turow, Scott - Burden of Proof
12. Kent, David J. - Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity
13. Kanon, Joseph - Leaving Berlin
14. Fitzgerald, Penelope - Offshore
15. Shakespeare, William - The Comedy of Errors
16. St. John Mandel, Emily - Station Eleven
17. Galbraith, Robert - The Silkworm
18. Rendell, Ruth - A Sight for Sore Eyes
19. French, Tana - Faithful Place
20. King, Stephen - Revival (see my post)
21. Conner, J.G. - London's Disused Underground Stations
22. Grisham, John - Gray Mountain (see my post)
23. Galbraith, Robert - Career of Evil

2014
See my post

2013
See my post