2012 Reading List and year end review--of sorts: Are You Too Cool for School??

While 2012 was another year of little reading (disappointed sigh)--I plan to try to push myself to read 50 books for 2013--I have nothing but good things to say about all of my reading for 2012.  Looking back, it seems I have been a little heavy on the Dean Koontz in 2012, but there was a new Odd Thomas book as well as one that I read for a small reading group.  I usually try to be a little more diverse and spread my limited reading time across more genres.

Every year I put up some type of post about my reading for the year on "Writing is Tricky" as a means of reflection (and action for the next year) as well as hopefully to bring something useful to all of you.

So this year I decided to make my reading list a bit more interactive. Rather than summarize what I read or give details on what I was doing and where I was when I read each story, I thought I’d set up a little quiz about the books that I read to test your writing prowess (and coolness).

(Note: Designing this quiz was WAY more challenging than anticipated.  Do not expect an end of year quiz for 2013!)

Pre-quiz instructions PLUS a TOTALLY AWESOME 80s flashback!!

Picture Pages! Picture Pages! Time to get your Picture Pages.  Time to get your crayons and your pencils.  Picture Pages! Picture Pages! Open up your Picture Pages. Time to watch Bill Cosby do a Picture with you!

Matching will be the format that we use for the quiz, 30 questions, totaling a possible 300 cool points should you answer everything correctly.

 


You’re on the honor system (answers are below).

Note: This is an “open-internet” quiz--feel free to websearch, and no you don’t need Mortimer Ichabod Marker* to take this test

Matching Part I Match the book to the author

1. Hellbender                                    A. Matt & Natalie Duvall (editors)

2. The Blood Poetry                           B. Gary A Braunbeck

3. Days of Reckoning                          C. Troy Aaron Ratliff

4. Cloud Atlas                                    D. Gail Z. Martin

5. A Game of Thrones                         E. Stephen King

6. Odd Apocalypse                              F. Dean Koontz (Used 3 times)

7. The Last Werewolf                          G. Leland Pitts Gonzalez

8. 30 Days to Social Media Success        H. Jason Jack Miller

9. To Each Their Darkness                    I. Ansel Dibell

10. 77 Shadow Street                          J. David Mitchell

11. The Wind Through the Keyhole         K. George R. R. Martin

12. What the Night Knows                     L. Glen Duncan

13. Little Bernie’s Map                          M. Chris Stout

14. Hazard Yet Forward

15. Plot

Matching Part II Match the summary/description/theme/quote/observation/etc… on the left to the story/book to the right

1. First installment of A Song of Fire and Ice               A. Hellbender

2. Make social media marketing work for you              B. The Blood Poetry

3. Features a young fry cook who sees the dead          C. Days of Reckoning

4. Literary vampire novel yet without one poem           D. Cloud Atlas

5. Anthology, which my story “The Turnpike”             E. A Game of Thrones

6. Creepy old hotel, inhabited by “The One”               F. Odd Apocalypse

7. Roland Deschain & the Man in Black in DT4.5       G. The Last Werewolf

8. Femme fatale aid in crooked cop’s gory demise      H. 30 Days to Social Media  

                                                                                      Success

9. Family stalked by a poltergeist seeking revenge       I. To Each Their Darkness

10. Reviews essential story structure in all fiction        J. 77 Shadow Street

11. Harness your own horror when you write      K. The Wind Through the Keyhole

12. Struggling family’s drive becomes a nightmare    L. What the Night Knows

13. Appalachian gothic/literary novel set in WV         M. Little Bernie’s Map

14. Story structure resembling matryoshka dolls        N. Hazard Yet Forward

15. “Humboldt's Gift on the highbrow shelves,          O. Plot

      Shogun on the low"--best quote from this novel              

ANSWERS

Part I                     Part II

     1.     H                       1. E

     2.     G                       2. H

     3.     L                        3. F

     4.     J                        4. B

     5.     K                        5. N

     6.     F                        6. J

     7.     L                        7. K

     8.     D                       8. C

     9.     B                       9. L

     10. F                       10. O

     11. E                       11. I

     12. F                       12. M

     13. C                       13. A

     14. A                       14. D

     15. I                        15. G

 

Scoring (Each question is worth 10 cool points):

< 200 -- We probably have very different reading tastes and differing views of “cool”

210-250 -- I’d probably buy you a drink in a bar just so we can keep talking books

260-280 -- I like you.  Can I buy you a shot?

290 -- You’re one twisted SOB…I mean honestly...Can we be friends?

300 -- You must know me, ARE me, or are the principal reason I don’t publish my address

*If you are anything like me and devastated never to have had a Mortimer Ichabod Marker, then click here because Tricky found out how to get one of your very own.

2010 Book List

One of my goals for the last year had been to increase the time I spent reading.  This year I clocked 22 books in all--19 fiction and 3 nonfiction.

I tried to hit a variety of both literary and popular fiction, trying to figure out what made each novel fall into that particular column.  As I analyzed them, a quote from Stephen King--perhaps it's because I returned to several of his works this year, after years away from them (my older brother's ratty copy of Cujo was one of the first novels I read as a teen)--kept coming to mind.

King says, "...there are two types of novelists...those who are bound for the more literary or 'serious' side of the job examine every possible subject in light of this question: What would writing this sort of story mean to me?  Those whose...writing of popular novels are apt to ask a very different one: What would writing this sort of story mean to others?  The 'serious' novelist is looking for answers and keys to the self; the 'popular' novelist is looking for an audience."

With this lens, each novel seemed to fit into its "appropriate" category.  And for me the  books that stuck with after reading and still creep into my head out of the blue, seemed to answer, or at least address, both questions.  Bag of Bones, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and The Road were a few who successfully pulled this off.

One of the other treats for me this year was seeing how some writers are novelists and some are storytellers.  It's one of those distinctions that makes all the difference to the feel of the story.  With an industry where word counts matter, it was nice to see both types on the shelves.

Lastly, every year I try to take a look at fantasy fiction's past to better appreciate where it is today.  I do this partly because my first manuscript is considered fantasy and partly because I'm amazed with how well fantasy (and science fiction) can be at social commentary.  It's like a snapshot of people's beliefs (or ignorance) is at particular point in time.

Since modern fantasy started in children's literature, this year I chose George Macdonald's The Princess and the Goblin.  According to scholar Michael D. C. Drout, Princess is one of the earliest examples where the protagonists in a children's book face the very real threat of death.  As you read, this becomes obvious.  It definitely is a child's fairy-tale, but unlike Snow White or The Wizard of OZ (which I read last year), where it is pretty clear the characters will be in a better place at the end of their adventure, we don't know if the happy ending is coming in Princess.  In fact as you read, it seems very likely that the the bad-ass with the midnight cloak and bone-colored scythe will be the only one smilingly at the end.

I won't spoil the end, and children's literature is not for everyone, but for a kid's book, I dug it.

So without further adieu, here it is: the 2010 Book list list.  I did rate them 1-5 stars when I read them, but I omitted the ranking from this entry.  If people are interested, I could add them back.

January

• The Star Rover--Jack London
• Your Heart Belongs to Me--Dean Koontz
• Fahrenheit 451--Ray Bradbury
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime--Mark Haddon

February

• Neverwhere--Neil Gaiman

March

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius--Dave Eggers
• The Art of Happiness--Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler

April

• Last Things--David Searcy
• Heartsick--Chelsea Cain
• Princess and the Goblin-George Macdonald

May

• None--apparently it was a slow reading month

June

• Cemetery Dance--Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• The Road--Cormac McCarthy

July

• Manhood for Amateurs--Michael Chabon

August

• InsideOut--Maria Snyder
• WWZ--Max Brooks
• The Bone Garden--Tess Gerritsen
• The ABC Murders--Agatha Christie

September

• Was a slow reader and didn't finish anything this month

October

• Bag of Bones--Stephen King
• Seize the Night--Dean Koontz

November

• American Gods--Neil Gaiman

December

• The Gunslinger (Dark Tower Book One)--Stephen King
• The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower Book Two)--Stephen King