Meatloaf sandwich, fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Mmmmm. Comfort food. As I look back at 2014, I realize that I indulge in comfort books. So many books I want to read but dang it, Perry Mason is so entertaining. And comforting.
And so I overindulge in Mr. Mason.
I decided to do something at the end of this year that I’ve not done before, to list every book that I read over the past 12 months and to analyze my reading trends for the year. So prepare for the post that was one year in the making: Year-End Roundup 2014!
Mysteries, mysteries, mysteries I read many mysteries. Surprisingly many. Almost exclusively.
Serious Series Most books I read were part of larger series.
Ring in the old Typically I try to read recently-written stuff, but this year found many pre-1960 books on my virtual nightstand.
May I have pulp with that? I’ve long enjoyed pulp fiction, but this year I discovered heroes of old that I’d not heard of before.
Here are some of the titles I enjoyed.
Perry, Perry, Perry The Case of the …
Velvet Claws (1933) (#1), Sulky Girl (1933) (#2), Curious Bride (1935) (#5), Caretakers Cat (1935) (#7), Half-Wakened Wife (1945) (#27), Vagabond Virgin (1948) (#32), Cautious Coquette (1949) (#34), Fiery Fingers (1951) (#37), Moth-Eaten Mink (1952) (#39), Fugitive Nurse (1954) (#43), Long-Legged Models (1958) (#56) all by Erle Stanley Gardner
As an interesting side note, I’ve enjoyed all the Mason books tremendously except for The Case of the Fugitive Nurse. It is very poorly written, not at all the quality of the others. This leads me to wonder if Gardner farmed it out to a hack writer.
I’d like some pulp with that These titles were previously obscure but are now being reissued as ebooks, mostly not available at the EPL yet, but we can hope…
Fast One (1933) by Paul Cain Junkie (1952) by Jonathan Craig
Super-Detective Jim Anthony: Dealer in Death (1941) by Victor Rousseau
The Quick Red Fox (1964), and The Scarlet Ruse (1973) by John D. MacDonald The Uncomplaining Corpses (1940) by Brett Halliday The Dream Girl (The Hilarious Adventures of Toffee #1) (late 1940s) by Charles F. Myers
The Best of Spicy Mystery Vol. 1 (1930s) edited by Alfred Jan
Satan’s Daughter (1936) by E. Hoffman Price
Various mysteries Love them mysteries. All of the titles listed are part of a series. My great author discovery of the year was Alex Grecian. Check out his books about the birth of Scotland Yard.
The Secret Adversary (1922) by Agatha Christie Antiques Roadkill (2007), Antiques Slay Ride (2013) and Antiques Con (2014) by Barbara Allan The Yard (2012) and The Black Country (2013) by Alex Grecian Murder with Peacocks (1999) by Donna Andrews The Spellman Files (2007) by Lisa Lutz The White Magic Five and Dime (2014) by Steve Hockensmith The Invisible Code (2013) by Christopher Fowler
Non-fiction I’m never a big non-fiction reader, but this year was exceedingly sparse. However, One Summer was one of the best books I read this year, focusing on a few months in 1927, the important events that occurred during those months, and showing how seemingly unrelated happenings influenced each other.
American Pickers Guide to Picking (2011) by Libby Callaway
One Summer: America 1927 (2013) by Bill Bryson
YA It was a slow year for me in the YA category as well, but I predict a comeback in 2015. And Rogue was a highly satisfying conclusion to Damico’s trilogy on grim reapers.
Rogue (2013) by Gina Damico Waistcoats and Weaponry (2014) by Gail Carriger
Other Stuff Not too much read outside of the mystery/pulp genre this year, but The Garden on Sunset, a presumably self-published ebook, was one of my favorites. While the writing is not absolutely top-notch, the subject matter of regular folk living in early Hollywood and rubbing noses with stars of the golden age is intriguing.
Shada: The Lost Adventures of Douglas Adams (2012) by Gareth Roberts Bombshell (2012) by Max Alan Collins The Garden on Sunset (Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels Book 1) (2014) by Martin Turnbull
And there you have it, my reading year in a nutshell. Help! I’m in a nutshell! How did I get into this nutshell? Look at the size of this bloody great big nutshell! What sort of shell has a nut like this? This is crazy!
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