I've Read - quite a bit in a year, apparently.

Haven't done one of these "I've read" posts, according to the blog, in almost a year.  Which makes sense.  Wife's visit to Japan, students' graduation, prepping to move after 5 years in Japan back to the US, getting everything ready with DOS to move to Liberia... moving to Liberia.  Still, mostly excuses.  The truth of the matter is that when I've finished a book my first inclination is to pick up the next instead of "reviewing" it.  I was using an app w/Facebook that tracked the books I read too, but it became a functional nightmare, so I disconnected that and that helped quenched my enthusiasm for such things as well.  Plus, given the fact I don't read one book at a time - I'm in the middle of 3 diff ones right now - there's never a clean break to jot down notes.  So here's, I guess, a shotgun one or two line review of all the books I've read this past year [that I remembered to write down here.]

The Immortal Iron Fist Omnibus is the best kung fu movie you've ever seen.  Except it happens to be a comic book.  Its follow up Immortal Iron Fist: The Mortal Iron Fist is an entertaining sequel, if not quite as good as the previous.

Matt Taibbi's The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion is a really funny, well written look at American politics over the last few years.

The Last Gospel is a passable thriller in the Dan Brown vein.  Picked up for free at a book swap.  I enjoy almost any kind of alternative religious/mystery kind of thing.  Forgettable but an okay plane/beach read.  Apparently the American title is The Lost Tomb.

McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld is a great book about exactly what it says.  Well worth a read to help you figure out how the world really works.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks [Mel Brook's son] is probably the most entertaining, politically aware, just all around good-read zombie book I've ever read.  Done pseudo documentary style in the aftermath of, what else, the great zombie war.  Lotsa fun, witty, smart.  Highest recommendation.

After that, I had to pick up both The Zombie Survival Guide and The Zombie Survival Guide: Reported Attacks, both also by Brooks and they were both a fun read as well.

Off the Deep End is a non-fiction look at a writer's attempt to reclaim the glory of his swimming youth.  Well written and I dug watching his mid-life crisis unfold.  Probably because I'm rapidly creeping up on one myself.

An Insider's Guide to Robert Anton Wilson is only for die-hard fans of the man and his work.  I could nitpick and there are some areas that could've used some improvement [and some definite editing] but a good book if you're a fan.

Re-read Crooked Little Vein by renowned comic book writer Warren Ellis, originally reviewed here.  A dark, hilarious, cross country hardboiled detective caper - a search for the 2nd, hidden Constitution of America.  One of my favorite books of the last couple years.  Certainly the only one that includes Godzilla bukkake.

Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss is an entertainingly written first-person look at how to survive the upcoming apocalypse.  Whatever form it might take.  Enjoyed this quite a bit.

Sunken Treasure: Wil Wheaton's Hot Cocoa Box Sampler is a really fun, touching read.  Wil Wheaton, yes, he of Stand by Me & Star Trek: The Next Generation fame really has turned into a hell of writer.

A Killing in Comics by Max Allan Collins is a neat murder mystery set in a pastiche of the 1940s comic book industry.  Lotta fun, but probably if you're only familiar with some of the figures of the era.  Thanks to the Mrs for an expected treat.

Enemies and Allies is a great Superman/Batman novel.  If it were a comic, it'd be an Elseworlds set during the Cold War.  Fun, fun read.

The 4-Hour Work Week is a tough book to review.  I've read Ferriss' blog off and on as well, and he is quite often a fount of good information. Ferriss is #1 on my 'separate the message from the messenger' list. 4HWW has some good info, Pareto Principle/Parkinson's Law style, but he's just... kind of slimy. He reeks of marketing and used-car salesman and is comfortable playing fast and loose with the truth. What most of us call, you know, lying.  When first coming out w/4HWW, his bio repeatedly stated "Cage fighter in Japan, vanquisher of four world champions (MMA)."  Being a fan of MMA and having lived in Japan for a while [7 out of the last 11 years] and never having heard of him, my bullshit alarm went off. Whereas his bio implies professional fighter who won championships, the truth of the matter that he eventually copped to was that he's trained a bunch of places in martial arts & MMA

The Millenium Trilogy - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire & The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - that everybody's been reading the last couple years is as addictive and entertaining as everybody seems to think.  I ripped through all 3 in about a week and a half.  Great fun, well written, provocative.  Any book where the good guy is written as an "...information junkie with a delinquent child's take on morals and ethics" is a book I can get behind.  Couple quotes from the book I really dug:

"There are no innocents. There are, however, different degrees of responsibility."

And:

"You have to distinguish between two things - the... economy and the... stock market. The... economy is the sum of all the goods and services produced in this country every day... and it's just as strong or weak today as it was a week ago.  The Stock Exchange is something very different. There is no economy and no production of goods and services. There are only fantasies in which people from one hour to the next decide that this or that company is worth so many billions, more or less. It doesn't have a thing to do with reality or with the... economy."

Are You Experienced by William Sutcliffe.  Really did not enjoy this book.  Thoroughly unlikeable characters and little plot.  Not my cuppa tea.  In the book though, an excellent pull quote that stuck with me enough to write down -

"...because if the physical stuff had vanished, the whole friendship would have collapsed almost immediately. We couldn't have gone back to not touching without feeling like complete fakes."

That, I could relate to from a couple pseudo relationships from back in the day.

Werewolf by Night: In the Blood is easily the most entertaining horror comic I've read this year.  Wolverine [the classic story by Claremont & Miller that's going to serve as the basis for the next flick] I had never actually read until just this month.  A little dated, but I see why it's so well regarded.  And The Big Book of Barry Ween, Boy Genius is easily my favorite work of Judd Winick.  Truly hilarious, profane & touching.  Thanks to my sis-in-law for the b-day presents.

The latest Dresden Files book - Changes - is a worthy addition to the 'Buffy meets Philip Marlowe' series.  Really entertaining and can't wait to read the next one.  Pull quotes - "

Everything's never in the open.  There's things we keep hidden from one another.  Things we hide from ourselves.  Things that are kept hidden from us.  And things no one knows.  You always learn the damnedest things at the worst possible times.  Or that's been my experience...

We do what we think we must, to protect who we can."

The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood is probably the most accessible of the books I've read on Liberia and its history over the last 30-40 years.  Whereas a young lady's coming-of-age isn't all that fascinating to me, seeing how that plays out in the political and international turmoil of Liberia over the past decades makes for a good read.  Plus there are some ties to North Carolina, which was an interesting surprise.

On the other hand Masks of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War was probably the wrong book to read as my first book in country in Liberia.  A brutally frank and honest look at the war, the atrocities, and the roots and causes of the civil wars here - mostly focusing on the first civil war and the religious under and overtones.  A worthwhile read, but definitely looks at the darker side of human nature and the conflict here.  And added to my ongoing thesis that religion=crazyevil.  People can do anything when they have their gods to excuse and justify their behavior.

Justice League International was magical time in the late 1980s when the Justice League titles were infused with humor, character, action and good storytelling.  Emphasis, just a bit, on the humor with scripting by Dematteis and Giffen.  Breakout artwork by Kevin Maguire didn't hurt either.  They've released most all of these in trade now - Volumes 1, 2, 3, & 4 and thanks to my own obsessive compulsiveness and the help of friends [thanks Spence!] I've gotten all the ones released till now.  Great reads, lotsa fun.  The follow ups of a few years ago - I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League and Formerly Known as the Justice League are great fun too.  And the currently running Justice League: Generation Lost is shaping up to be outstanding.  In the same vein, the same creative team did some Marvel work on Defenders: Indefensible and it's just as enjoyable.  Kevin Maguire's artwork is also featured in Batman: Cat and the Bat, which is also an old-school rip roaring comic book tale.  Maguire's work is some of my favorite.

The Godfather of Kathmandu is John Burdett's latest in the series starring Thai detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep.  Great series, great book, fascinating cultural observations.

Underground - great story and art by Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber.  Tagline 'Die Hard in a Cave.' 

Rex Mundi: Gate of God is the final book in the Rex Mundi series.  Entertaining alt history/religion graphic novel series.  

Shivering Sands is a collection of columns by Warren Ellis that appeared online.  If you're a fan, it's recommended & worth reading.  

The Excellent 11: Qualities Teachers and Parents Use to Motivate, Inspire and Educate Children by Ron Clark is a book I read towards the end of my time teaching on the JET Programme, but wish I had read when I first got to Japan.  If you're involved in education, you owe it to yourself & your students to read this.

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability is easily one of the best books on diet and agriculture I've ever read.  Much better, lengthier reviews can be found here, here, here or here.  Highly recommended.  

American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story - Bill Hicks was a brilliant comic, a sharp thinker, a troubled soul and an occasional asshole.  Decent book, though I thought Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution was better, overall.

Are You There, Vodka?  It's Me, Chelsea I picked up on a whim, really.  I haven't caught her standup, and here cable show doesn't really do anything for me, but she writes pretty funny stuff.  Think Dave Barry, but with poor life choices, alcohol and profanity.  Enjoyable read.

The Losers [Book One] & Book Two are the comics that inspired the movie earlier this summer.  Still haven't watched the movie yet, but the comic is awesome.  Every cool ex-CIA-military-action-hero-vengeance-movie you've ever seen, but in a comic.  Kicks ass.

El Diablo isn't one of Azzarello's best works, but it's a serviceable horror western tale.

I Am Legend - the graphic novel version of Matheson's book that inspired the Will Smith flick.  Wildly different than the film most are familiar with, and imho, vastly superior.  Great adaptation by Steve Niles.  Thanks to Kev for the gift.

The Dilbert Omnibus includes The Dilbert Principle, The Dilbert Future and The Joy of Work.  Great fun to read, lots of insight & humor, some great observations, and guaranteed I'll probably never be suited to work in corporate America.  Lucky I married well.

The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery is a fascinating [non-fiction] tale of experiences of a Dutchman inside a zen monastery in the 1960s.  Enjoyed this, and there are a couple follow up books I have, but haven't gotten around to reading yet.

Inside Out was a well crafted, entertaining thriller.  [Though I still prefer the author's John Rain books.  You can't beat a half Japanese assassin with a heart of gold, I tell you.  With bonus points for the author's time living in Japan and also working for the CIA's Directorate of Operations.] 

47th Samurai is a cool and tight thriller mixing Japanese & Marine Corps history, Yakuza and ass-kickery.  A good read.

Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse is MMA & UFC fighter Forrest Griffin's answer to what to do when the apocalypse is upon you.  If you've ever heard Forrest give an interview, you have an idea of what the book is like.  270 pages of self effacing comedic genius-ery.  Awesomely fun book.

The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century is the complete collection of all of Frank Miller's and Dave Gibbons' dystopian scifi military satire political adventure epic.  Hard to categorize and not as well known as some of their other works [The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, 300, Sin City] it's one of my favorites.  'Give Me Liberty,' indeed.

Sara and the Foreverness of Friends of a Feather is Positive Thinking 101.  I need more of this.

Physical training books - G.U.T.S - good bodyweight training protocol, Unleashing the Wild Physique - Vince Gironda's opus on 1970s era bodybuilding and How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy - a great all around health and fitness book by Paul Chek.

Re-read all the Queen & Country books and graphic novels in anticipation of Greg Rucka's latest Q&C - The Last Run - which was a great read.  All of them - every single one - is highly enjoyable.  If you dig on espionage and/or strong female protagonists, you should check them out - The Definitive Edition Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3, Vol 4, A Gentleman's Game and Private Wars.  Then the latest one.

Finally, I read the next 23 novels in Robert Parker's Spenser series.  With his death earlier this year, there's only more due, next year, which strikes me as far more sad than it probably should.  Since I started reading the series last year, it's probably become my favorite series of novels.  Some are better than others, but none is disappointing.  The plotting is good, but it's the characters that I've really grown attached to.  There is something eminently... admirable about Spenser.  I do believe I'd like to be him when I grow up.  Of course, I'd probably rather be Hawk in a dark alley.

For the record, the books are Pastime, Double Deuce, Paper Doll, Walking Shadow, Thin Air, Chance, Small Vices, Sudden Mischief, Hush Money, Hugger Mugger, Potshot, Widow's Walk, Back Story, Bad Business, Cold Service, School Days, Hundred-Dollar Baby, Now and Then, Rough Weather, Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel, The Professional, and Painted Ladies.