#history nerd on helluva crew?

[peachy-keen-glam-queen]

2017 Reading Roundup

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer

Dawn by Octavia Butler

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket

Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler

The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee

The Sex Myth by Rachel Hills

The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

The Witches by Roald Dahl

The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket

The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket

Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Dark Half by Stephen King

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture by Glen Weldon

The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket

The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket

The End by Lemony Snicket

Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

Holes by Louis Sachar

The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? by various, edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hadju

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Waste Lands by Stephen King

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Matilda by Roald Dahl

“Who Could That Be at This Hour?” by Lemony Snicket

“When Did You See Her Last?” by Lemony Snicket

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Four Past Midnight by Stephen King

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

The Collected Short Stories of H.G. Wells by H.G. Wells

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Believing is Seeing by Diana Wynne Jones

The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The Seeing Stone by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Lucinda's Secret by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The Ironwood Tree by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The Wrath of Mulgarath  by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian by Kurt Vonnegut

Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (Thanks for the recommendation, @batmanisagatewaydrug​!)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison

Time of the Twins by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

I didn’t quite make it to my goal of one hundred books, but that just gives me something to strive for this year. Now, the top five books I read this year, in no particular order (not counting books that I’ve read before): 

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Hands down one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. In addition to being a roller-coaster of emotion that will leave your heart in pieces and then gently glue them back together, this book also managed to hit the majority of my interests in one go. Gay shit? Check. Victorian-era theatre? Check. Socialist revolution? Check. This book truly has it all.

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Speaking of books that will break your heart, here’s a doozy. If you’ve read any of Roxane Gay’s work before, then you know that she writes with a raw passion that makes you feel alongside her. One of the most honest books I’ve ever read, Gay captures a broad range of emotion with grace, humor, and humanity. 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

What do you get when you combine stage magic, comic books, Yiddish folklore, and a helluva lot of heart? You get this fucking book. Though it veers dangerously close to tragedy porn at points, Chabon keeps things grounded enough that it never feels like drama is being drummed up for drama’s sake. A beautiful tale of love, loss, and friendship set against a vibrant historical backdrop. Along with Tipping the Velvet, this managed to not only become one of my favorite books of this year, but of all time. 

The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer is, to say the least, a polarizing figure. People either love her or can’t stand her, and she knows it. Like Hunger, this is a book written from a profoundly humanist perspective. Here we’re privy to the insecure cracks in a woman who has built a career out of being bold, brash, and boisterous. Not only does she hold a mirror up to herself, but also to the reader. This book forced me to confront hard truths about myself, and I know that when I need a kick in the ass of inspiration, I’ll be returning to it again and again. 

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture by Glen Weldon 

There’s not much to say about this one other than this: if you care at all about Batman, you need to read this book. Weldon does a phenomenal job not only of telling the history of the Dark Knight, but contextualizing each phase of his existence, revealing what the many versions of Batman over the years say about the prevailing culture of the time. 

Well, that’s it for this year’s reading roundup, folks. Here’s to a New Year full of good stories and good nights spent curled up with a good book!