I’m not much for fantasy—as one friend said when I mentioned this: you mean trolls and shit? That’s basically my take on the genre—but this was riveting. The fantasy quotient here was low (but will rise later); the political intrigue and complex characters were too good to stay away from.
Book: 50/52
Buy A Game of Thrones [...]

A modern fairy tale by the author of Persepolis that inverts a number of genre tropes. From rewarding the knowledge-seeking woman to giving her agency to save the prince rather than vice versa, this is a pleasantly updated, charming story. It’s worth noting that this is an illustrated storybook, not a comic.
Book: 49/52
Buy The Sigh [...]

A gripping biography of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King. The book examines the weeks leading up to and following King’s assassination in minute and colorful detail, painting Ray as a cunning, mentally ill, bizarre man. I’d never encountered so much detail on Ray before, making this compelling reading.

Book: 48/52

Buy Hellhound on [...]

Another of Jackson’s excellent, subdued supernatural New England novels (following The Haunting of Hill House). This one focuses on two (or is it one?) odd sisters who are old money outcasts in their village and the mystical and social barriers they erect to maintain their position and privacy. Well worth a read.
Book: 47/52
Buy We Have [...]

These are the first books—Tales from the Farm and Ghost Stories—from the Essex County trilogy of stories about Canada. I wanted to love them, but found them hard to connect with. Lemire’s art is appealing craggy, but his stories so dry, so cavernous that it’s hard to engage with them.

Books: 45-6/52Buy The Complete Essex County [...]

Another hallucinatory SF story by Dick. In this one, the heads of two companies compete to dominate the illegal drug trade on Earth and its colonies. The competition results in reality becoming unstable, an alien (or maybe God) infiltrating and threatening humanity, and Mars colonists sinking into despair. Needless to say: awesome.

Books: 44/52

Buy The Three [...]

I wouldn’t normally pair books, but I read these on consecutive days and was struck by their similarities (not just “Mr.” in the titles). Both are surprisingly sweet stories about unhappy, struggling protagonists who find unexpected love. Both stories seem like they may end up depressing but redeem our faith with happiness.
Books: 42-3/52

Buy Life With [...]

The first installment of a lifelong project from one of the leading horror comics creators working today. Simmons creates 1 page per month; it’ll take 40 years to complete. It’s a bit harrowing, with the sweet, surreal moments apparently a fantasy life conjured as a means of survival by the abused Jessica.
Book: 41/52
Buy Jessica Farm [...]

Another in the generally excellent 33 1/3 series of books on classic records. Poet/American mythos scholar Tony Tost surveys the deep resonances and spiritual/political/moral dimensions of Cash’s comeback quest through America, American Recordings. As with the best works of criticism, Tost’s insights elevate the album to heights it might not achieve alone.
Book: 40/52
Buy American Recordings [...]

Disclosure: the author has been my friend since college, a decade-plus ago. Still: this is a terrific book. I’m not really interested in skateboarding, but I found this compelling and couldn’t wait to get back to it every night. It’s an engaging combination of history, biography, cultural analysis and PR-lady-labia. Read it.
Book: 39/52
Buy The Impossible [...]