Media Diet 2018: Books and Comics

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This post will track every book and comic I read in 2018 and which of them I thought were particularly noteworthy. They won’t have real reviews, but it will at least allow me to look back over my thoughts about books and comics and, maybe, help you discover some great new works. I’ll be doing the same thing in another post about movies.

I’ll update this list periodically.

Media Diet 2018: Books and Comics

  1. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
  2. Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado—Wow, is this collection of weird, feminist short fiction terrific. Don’t miss this one.
  3. Happiness, vol. 1, by Shuzo Oshimi (comic)—Well, that was generic.
  4. Attack on Titan, vol. 1, by Hajime Isayama (comic)
  5. The Divine Madness of Philip K. Dick, by Kyle Arnold—An interesting psychological biography of the SF writer.
  6. Attack on Titan, vol. 2, by Hajime Isayama (comic)
  7. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, by John Le Carre
  8. Another Way to Fall, by Brian Evenson and Paul Tremblay
  9. The Blair Witch Project, by Russ Gomm
  10. Sleater Kinney’s Dig Me Out, by Johanna Babovic
  11. All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire, by Jonathan Abrams
  12. Kill Creek, by Scott Thomas
  13. Leaving Lucy Pear, by Anna Solomon
  14. What a Wonderful World! by Inio Asano (comic)
  15. Killing and Dying, by Adrian Tomine (comic)—Between reading his stuff, I forget how good Tomine is, how well he’s mastered the literary fiction form in comics. As a fellow writer of short comics, I should examine his work more closely.
  16. Flayed Corpse and Other Stories, by Josh Simmons (comic)—An essential work from one of the two or three best horror-comics makers around today.
  17. My Pretty Vampire, by Katie Skelly (comic)
  18. Soundtrack from Twin Peaks, by Claire Nina Norelli
  19. In on the Kill Taker, by Joe Gross—A terrific look at Fugazi, their history, and their creative process. Reinvigorated my love for the band and their albums are getting a lot of play in my house again.
  20. The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor La Valle
  21. Attack on Titan, vol. 3, by Hajime Isayama (comic)
  22. Kid Eternity, by Grant Morrison and Duncan Fegredo (comic)
  23. The Dark Dark, by Samantha Hunt
  24. A City So Grand, by Stephen Puleo—I’m not one for regional pride normally, since where you’re born is totally out of your control, but after reading this history of Boston from 1850-1900, I’m pretty damn proud of the city where I’m from. I’ll stack up Boston’s contributions to literature, science, industry, moral and ethical leadership, governance, city design, and more against any other city in the country and I’ll feel good about Boston’s chances for coming out on top.
  25. The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
  26. The Quiet American, by Graham Greene—Wow. The movie version of this is good, but the source novel is truly fantastic.
  27. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
  28. The Soul of Basketball, by Ian Thomsen
  29. Shiver, by Junji Ito (comic)—Ito is always amazing.
  30. The Winner, by Karl Stevens (comic)—Stevens’ art is peerless in its realism, naturalism, and warmth.
  31. The Unsound, by Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole (comic)
  32. Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene
  33. Broadcast Hysteria, by A. Brad Schwartz
  34. Hangsaman, by Shirley Jackson—What a weird, wonderful novel.
  35. Ghost Box
  36. Ghost Box II
  37. Come Again, by Nate Powell (comic)—Powell never hits anything other than a home run. This is a deep, compelling work.
  38. Frankenstein, by Junji Ito (comic)
  39. John, Dear, by Laura Llanes
  40. The Folio Book of Horror Stories, ed. Ramsey Campbell
  41. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 1, by Mike Mignola and John Byrne—Late breaking news: Hellboy is amazing. Why did I wait so long?
  42. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 2, by Mike Mignola, Gary Gianni, Richard Corben, and Dave Stewart
  43. Master Race and Other Stories, by Bernard Krigstein
  44. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 3, by Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo, and Dave Stewart
  45. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 4, by Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart—What an ending. Epic, silent, sad. Great series.
  46. Ecstatic Cahoots, by Stuart Dybek
  47. The Melody, by Jim Crace

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