2023 Reading List Monthly Update: December (Finale)

Books read in November of 2023:

"Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It" (Janina Ramirez) 12-2-23

"The Gate of Ivory" (Bernard Lazare) 12-12-23

"Medieval Music" (Richard H. Hoppin) 12-23-23

"Spookley and the Christmas Kittens" (Joe Troiano) 12-24-23

"Lady Gaga: A Little Golden Book Biography" (Michael Joosten/Illustrated by Laura Catrinela) 12-29-23

"Thousand Cranes" (Yasunari Kawabata) 12-30-23

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2023 Reading List Total:

-

1. "The Medieval Underworld" (Andrew McCall) 1-11-23

2. "Impure Thoughts" (Golnoosh Nour) 1-12-23

3. "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire" (Judith Herrin) 1-15-23

4. "The Baron's Coffin and Other Disquieting Tales" (Ada Buisson) 1-17-23

5. "Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black" (Naomi Parry + Various) 1-21-23

6. "Convenience Store Woman" (Sayaka Murata) 1-25-23

7. "Do You Like Big Girls? Vol. 1" (Goro Aizome) 1-27-23

8. "Strange Weather in Tokyo" (Hiromi Kawakami) 1-31-23

9. "The Shards" (Bret Easton Ellis) 2-4-23

10. "Lie With Me" (Philippe Besson) 2-7-23

11. "The Lover" (Marguerite Duras) 2-9-23

12. "Tokyo Ueno Station" (Yu Miri) 2-12-23

13. "Boycrush" (James Nulick) 2-16-23

14. "This Side of Paradise" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 2-17-23

15. "The Adventure Zone Vol. 5: The Eleventh Hour" (The McElroys/Carey Pietsch) 2-19-23

16. "Octopus Pie: The Other Side" (Meredith Gran) 2-22-23

17. "Octopus Pie Eternal" (Meredith Gran) 2-23-22

18. "The Book of Imaginary Beings" (Jorge Luis Borges) 2-25-23 

19. "Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art" (Susan L. Aberth) 3-4-23

20. "Pictures of Apocalypse" (Thomas Ligotti) 3-11-23

21. "Vermilion Sands" (J.G. Ballard) 3-17-23

22. "Berserk Deluxe Edition 13" (Kentaro Miura) 3-23-23

23. "Tombs" (Junji Ito) 3-30-23

24. "The Flowers of Buffoonery" (Osamu Dazai) 4-4-23

25. "A History of the Middle Ages" (Joseph Dahmus) 4-5-23

26. "Winter in Sokcho" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 4-7-23

27. "The Guest Cat" (Takashi Hiraide) 4-13-23

28. "The Great Empires of the Ancient World" (Various/Edited by Thomas Harrison) 4-16-23

29. "The Turkish Lady and Other Writings" (Jean Lorrain) 4-17-23

30. "Raun" (Ruggero Vasari) 4-20-23

31. "I Will Not Come" (Arnaud Rykner) 4-22-23

32. "The Secrets of Cabalism" (Ana Jane Vardill) 4-26-23

33. "Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages" (Richard Barber & Juliet Barker) 4-29-23

34. "Neo-Decadence Evangelion" (Various/Edited by Justin Isis) 5-6-23

35. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain" (Charles Phillips) 5-18-23

36. "The Black Death" (Philip Ziegler) 5-18-23

37. "Cats in Spring Rain: A Celebration of Feline Charm in Japanese Art and Haiku" (Various) 5-19-23

38. "Are You All Crazy?" (René Crevel) 5-26-23

39. "The Others Lived As Me" (Ange Dargent) 5-28-23

40. "Lord of the World" (Robert Hugh Benson) 5-30-23

41. "Your Dreams" (Thomas Moore) 5-30-23

42. "Antichrist in the Middle Ages: A Study of Medieval Apocalypticism, Art, and Literature" (Richard Kenneth Emmerson) 6-7-23

43. "Sabbat" (Hélène Picard) 6-17-23

44. "Fish Turn Colors Then Break in my Hands" (Colby Smith + Josh Bayer) 6-21-23

45. "The Best of Trim" (Aaron Lange) 6-21-23

46. "The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind" (Justin Pollard & Howard Reid) 6-21-23

47. "Spells" (Brendan Connell) 6-25-23

48. "The Blood of the Gods" (Jean Lorrain) 6-28-23

49. "Venomous Feathers Split #1: Dive Careful Down/Stupendemys" (Fergus Nm + Churchdoor Lounger) 6-30-23

50. "Paradise Lost" (John Milton/Illustrated by William Blake) 7-3-23

51. "The Pachinko Parlor" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 7-11-23

52. "De Profundis" (Oscar Wilde) 7-15-23

53. "Soichi" (Junji Ito) 7-19-23

54. "Hit Parade of Tears" (Izumi Suzuki) 7-22-23

55. "The Higher Genius: Magical Tales of New York City" (Kyler James) 7-23-23

56. "Beautiful Star" (Yukio Mishima) 8-3-23
57. "Doom Guy: Life in First Person" (John Romero) 8-13-23

58. "Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages" (Jack Hartnell) 8-23-23

59. "The World of the Crusades: An Illustrated History" (Christopher Tyerman) 8-24-23

60. "The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas- Original Edition" (Dylan Thomas) 8-29-23

61. "Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps" (Chet Van Duzer) 8-30-23

62. "Wuthering Heights" (Emily Brontë) 9-17-23

63. "Zothique: The Final Cycle" (Clark Ashton Smith)  9-19-23

64. "A Shameful Life" (Osamu Dazai) 9-25-23 +

65. "Parade" (Hiromi Kawakami) 9-25-23

66. "Goth: A History" (Lol Tolhurst) 10-7-23

67. "Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination" (Edogawa Rampo) 10-9-23

68. "The Dark Secret of Weatherend" (John Bellairs) 10-12-23 *

69. "Concrete Siberia: Soviet Landscapes of the Far North" (Zupagrafika) 10-13-23

70. "Monica" (Daniel Clowes) 10-15-23

71. "Stone Age: Ancient Castles of Europe" (Frédéric Chaubin) 10-19-23

72. "The Mysteries" (Bill Watterson & John Kascht) 10-22-23

73. "Mimi's Tales of Terror" (Junji Ito) 10-24-23

74. "The Grand Medieval Bestiary: Animals in Illuminated Manuscripts" (Christian Heck & Rémy Cordonnier) 10-28-23

75. "Ain't It Fun: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk in the Secret City" (Aaron Lange) 11-6-23

76. "The Reflection of Stars" (Tom Champagne) 11-10-23

77. "The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science" (Seb Falk) 11-11-23 

78. "Weird Medieval Guys" (Olivia M. Swarthout) 11-15-23

79. "Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World" (Danièle Cybulskie) 11-18-23

80. "Berserk Deluxe 14" (Kentaro Miura) 11-30-23

81. "Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It" (Janina Ramirez) 12-2-23

82. "The Gate of Ivory" (Bernard Lazare) 12-12-23

83. "Medieval Music" (Richard H. Hoppin) 12-23-23

84. "Spookley and the Christmas Kittens" (Joe Troiano) 12-24-23

85. "Lady Gaga: A Little Golden Book Biography" (Michael Joosten/Illustrated by Laura Catrinela) 12-29-23

86. "Thousand Cranes" (Yasunari Kawabata) 12-30-23

*= book I have read at least once in the past
+= book I have read before, but not this reprint/edition/translation

Currently Reading: 

Amber: Death Anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of my beloved and much-missed cat Amber. I don’t plan on talking about this at great length every year, but as this is the first year anniversary, I feel like I should at least say a few things that have been on my mind for awhile now and would like to get off my chest, and I’ll try not to rehash too many details I covered last year. 

I suppose it’s human nature to second guess one’s choices, when looking back at things in retrospect. In hindsight, I will say now that I wish I hadn’t gone to work that day, that I had spent more of the last day by Amber’s side (of course, at the time, I had no way of knowing it would be the last day). It’s something that I know is silly to feel guilty about, as when she was alive no one spent more time with her than I did, but sometimes guilt transcends logic. And it wasn’t even as if I was gone all that long: I left at 4 PM, got to work around 5, got the call to come back home sometime after 6:30, made it back home by 7:10, was with her the last ten minutes before she died (really, it almost seemed as if she were holding off her own death while waiting for me to arrive). In the days afterwards, I would sometimes get panic attacks thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong that night... what if I had been stopped by a cop, or I had hit traffic, or my car had broken down? I know it’s silly to freak out about bad things that DIDN’T happen, but no one said the human mind is always rational. 

One thing about that night that I remember is that when I got home my mom asked me if I wanted to have Amber put in my lap (at the time, she was in my mom’s lap). I said no, partly because she looked so fragile that I was afraid to move her, and also because I wasn’t sure if I were comfortable with the idea of her dying in my own lap. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice, and I’ve gone back and forth over this quite a bit. Amber spent so much of her life in my lap, that perhaps it would have been fitting for her to die on it. But after awhile I came to look at it from a different angle. It was my mother who made the choice to adopt Amber all those years ago. She was ultimately the person who brought Amber into our lives. So was it not proper symmetry that Amber died on her lap, at the end? What matters to me at least was that I WAS there for it, and though in all honesty Amber may have been too out of it to even be aware of that fact, perhaps on some level my very presence there and the sound of my voice registered with her and gave her some solace: or that after her death, when perhaps her soul exited her body, she saw me there, and knew that I hadn’t abandoned her in her last moments.

But maybe it’s pointless to self-torture the mind with questions that can’t be answered (in the mortal realm, that is). As I wrote last year, “So at least I got to say I was by her side when she died, that I got to see her breathe her last breath, that I was the first to notice she had died, and that she died at home, surrounded by her loved ones, in a warm place. So yes, my prayers were answered: it was indeed a good death, or as good as such a sad thing can possibly be.” And I still feel that way.

I won’t lie: she could often be ill-tempered, quick to anger, needy, a witch, a diva, and at times totally lived up to one of her nicknames (that I forgot to mention in my list of nicknames last year): Crabapple. She was also a beautiful cat with a complicated personality and a lot of attitude and I loved her with all my heart... and as demanding she could be at times, whenever she would curl up onto my lap and gaze up at me with a look of adoration and contentment in her face, all her foibles were forgotten. Even though she remains a part of me, and even though every now and then I’ll see her fleetingly in my dreams, I still miss her terribly. When she died, a little piece of me died as well.

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”

—Queen Elizabeth II

Requiescat in pace Mark Samuels

Very saddened to hear that a fellow writer friend of mine, the British horror writer Mark Samuels (known to some of his friends as "Markitty") passed away peacefully in his sleep a few days ago at the age of 56, apparently from a heart attack. I first met him at the Thomas Ligotti Online forums back in 2014 (a few months after I read his THE MAN WHO COLLECTED MACHEN collection, which was also the first book of his I ever read), and we had some very interesting and thought-provoking conversations on there over the years, not just about horror literature (like me, he was a big fan of writers like Lovecraft, Machen, and Ligotti, along with French Decadent types like Huysmans) but also politics and theological matters; he was a devout Catholic and I'm a lapsed Catholic so obviously on some level we recognized kindred spirits in each other... that and the fact that neither of us was above stirring up shit.

In an era where the horror genre is flooded with utter mediocrities and unctuous careerist networkers, he stood out, both in his personality and his work, and I would certainly put him on the same level as a Ligotti or (to cite some of his fellow British horror writers) Ramsey Campbell and Reggie Oliver. What always impressed me about his stories was how he often did a lot with an economy of words: so many horror writers can get lost building up atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere, but his best work had an almost Borges-like succinctness to them and they didn't wear out their welcome, and I never could figure out how he made it look so easy. But as good as his horror novels and short story collections are (and I recommend them highly), I'd also like to mention here his non-horror religious novel A PILGRIM STRANGER, which I feel is sadly overlooked: the ending to it moved me like few other books have ever done.

I'm aware that he was something of a controversial figure on the horror scene, whether because of his sometimes cantankerous personality, his political views (which at times veered into the right-wing/reactionary territory), his tendency to hold a grudge, and his almost Bloy-like tendency to sometimes turn on the people who helped or supported him. Oddly enough, in all the years I knew him, the two of us never had a falling out or even an argument. I myself burned a lot of bridges on the scene defending him back in 2017 (when it was especially fashionable for people to attack him online), but I didn't care because ultimately I felt that, for all his flaws, deep down he had a kind of Old World integrity whereas many of his critics (in my opinion at least) had none.

I know these last few years had been pretty rough for him: he was homeless for a brief spell around 2017 (which partly explained my vehemence for his critics at that time: I don't like to see a man who is down on his luck getting kicked around and spat on, even if the people who were doing it were total nothingburgers), and had numerous health issues (including a bout with ulcers that saw him hospitalized). But despite these setbacks he still kept working at his craft and posting material regularly to his followers on Patreon (to say nothing of getting books published, through presses such as Zagava or the now sadly defunct Chomu Press). I tried to help him out as much as I could, either through subscribing to his aforementioned Patreon account, buying/reading/reviewing his books, and I also contributed a story to the MARKED TO DIE anthology edited by Justin Isis and published by Snuggly Books a few years ago. I think Mark appreciated all this, as he tried to help me out in small ways also: he was kind enough to post a review of one of my novels on Goodreads (one of my only friends to do so, actually), and I was one of the 7 people he signaled out for thanks at the start of his PROPHECIES AND DOOMS essay collection, which made me very happy. He also invited me to contribute a story to an anthology he was editing that was dedicated to Leonid Andreyev: though he liked my story and accepted it, sadly the project as a whole never gained traction and was abandoned... but I'm thankful that at the very least, he got me into Andreyev.

Sadly over the last few years I haven't been in touch with him as often as I should have been... I'm great at returning messages on social media but lousy reaching out to people via e-mail. The last time we interacted was back in June of this year, after I posted a review of Robert Hugh Benson's novel LORD OF THE WORLD on Goodreads: he commented that he had never read the book before (despite wanting to for awhile) and that my review had finally given him the motivation to check it out himself. Recently I was planning on e-mailing him to wish him a Merry Christmas, catch up on old times, and ask him if he ever got around to reading that Benson novel... but now that can't happen, sadly. Requiescat in pace Markitty, you will be missed, but your work will live on...

“The more we are afflicted in this world, the greater is our assurance in the next; the more sorrow in the present, the greater will be our joy in the future.” – St. Isidore of Seville

2023 Reading List Monthly Update: November

  Books read in November of 2023:

"Ain't It Fun: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk in the Secret City" (Aaron Lange) 11-6-23

"The Reflection of Stars" (Tom Champagne) 11-10-23

"The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science" (Seb Falk) 11-11-23 

"Weird Medieval Guys" (Olivia M. Swarthout) 11-15-23

"Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World" (Danièle Cybulskie) 11-18-23

"Berserk Deluxe 14" (Kentaro Miura) 11-30-23

-

2023 Reading List Total:

-

1. "The Medieval Underworld" (Andrew McCall) 1-11-23

2. "Impure Thoughts" (Golnoosh Nour) 1-12-23

3. "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire" (Judith Herrin) 1-15-23

4. "The Baron's Coffin and Other Disquieting Tales" (Ada Buisson) 1-17-23

5. "Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black" (Naomi Parry + Various) 1-21-23

6. "Convenience Store Woman" (Sayaka Murata) 1-25-23

7. "Do You Like Big Girls? Vol. 1" (Goro Aizome) 1-27-23

8. "Strange Weather in Tokyo" (Hiromi Kawakami) 1-31-23

9. "The Shards" (Bret Easton Ellis) 2-4-23

10. "Lie With Me" (Philippe Besson) 2-7-23

11. "The Lover" (Marguerite Duras) 2-9-23

12. "Tokyo Ueno Station" (Yu Miri) 2-12-23

13. "Boycrush" (James Nulick) 2-16-23

14. "This Side of Paradise" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 2-17-23

15. "The Adventure Zone Vol. 5: The Eleventh Hour" (The McElroys/Carey Pietsch) 2-19-23

16. "Octopus Pie: The Other Side" (Meredith Gran) 2-22-23

17. "Octopus Pie Eternal" (Meredith Gran) 2-23-22

18. "The Book of Imaginary Beings" (Jorge Luis Borges) 2-25-23 

19. "Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art" (Susan L. Aberth) 3-4-23

20. "Pictures of Apocalypse" (Thomas Ligotti) 3-11-23

21. "Vermilion Sands" (J.G. Ballard) 3-17-23

22. "Berserk Deluxe Edition 13" (Kentaro Miura) 3-23-23

23. "Tombs" (Junji Ito) 3-30-23

24. "The Flowers of Buffoonery" (Osamu Dazai) 4-4-23

25. "A History of the Middle Ages" (Joseph Dahmus) 4-5-23

26. "Winter in Sokcho" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 4-7-23

27. "The Guest Cat" (Takashi Hiraide) 4-13-23

28. "The Great Empires of the Ancient World" (Various/Edited by Thomas Harrison) 4-16-23

29. "The Turkish Lady and Other Writings" (Jean Lorrain) 4-17-23

30. "Raun" (Ruggero Vasari) 4-20-23

31. "I Will Not Come" (Arnaud Rykner) 4-22-23

32. "The Secrets of Cabalism" (Ana Jane Vardill) 4-26-23

33. "Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages" (Richard Barber & Juliet Barker) 4-29-23

34. "Neo-Decadence Evangelion" (Various/Edited by Justin Isis) 5-6-23

35. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain" (Charles Phillips) 5-18-23

36. "The Black Death" (Philip Ziegler) 5-18-23

37. "Cats in Spring Rain: A Celebration of Feline Charm in Japanese Art and Haiku" (Various) 5-19-23

38. "Are You All Crazy?" (René Crevel) 5-26-23

39. "The Others Lived As Me" (Ange Dargent) 5-28-23

40. "Lord of the World" (Robert Hugh Benson) 5-30-23

41. "Your Dreams" (Thomas Moore) 5-30-23

42. "Antichrist in the Middle Ages: A Study of Medieval Apocalypticism, Art, and Literature" (Richard Kenneth Emmerson) 6-7-23

43. "Sabbat" (Hélène Picard) 6-17-23

44. "Fish Turn Colors Then Break in my Hands" (Colby Smith + Josh Bayer) 6-21-23

45. "The Best of Trim" (Aaron Lange) 6-21-23

46. "The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind" (Justin Pollard & Howard Reid) 6-21-23

47. "Spells" (Brendan Connell) 6-25-23

48. "The Blood of the Gods" (Jean Lorrain) 6-28-23

49. "Venomous Feathers Split #1: Dive Careful Down/Stupendemys" (Fergus Nm + Churchdoor Lounger) 6-30-23

50. "Paradise Lost" (John Milton/Illustrated by William Blake) 7-3-23

51. "The Pachinko Parlor" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 7-11-23

52. "De Profundis" (Oscar Wilde) 7-15-23

53. "Soichi" (Junji Ito) 7-19-23

54. "Hit Parade of Tears" (Izumi Suzuki) 7-22-23

55. "The Higher Genius: Magical Tales of New York City" (Kyler James) 7-23-23

56. "Beautiful Star" (Yukio Mishima) 8-3-23
57. "Doom Guy: Life in First Person" (John Romero) 8-13-23

58. "Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages" (Jack Hartnell) 8-23-23

59. "The World of the Crusades: An Illustrated History" (Christopher Tyerman) 8-24-23

60. "The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas- Original Edition" (Dylan Thomas) 8-29-23

61. "Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps" (Chet Van Duzer) 8-30-23

62. "Wuthering Heights" (Emily Brontë) 9-17-23

63. "Zothique: The Final Cycle" (Clark Ashton Smith)  9-19-23

64. "A Shameful Life" (Osamu Dazai) 9-25-23 +

65. "Parade" (Hiromi Kawakami) 9-25-23

66. "Goth: A History" (Lol Tolhurst) 10-7-23

67. "Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination" (Edogawa Rampo) 10-9-23

68. "The Dark Secret of Weatherend" (John Bellairs) 10-12-23 *

69. "Concrete Siberia: Soviet Landscapes of the Far North" (Zupagrafika) 10-13-23

70. "Monica" (Daniel Clowes) 10-15-23

71. "Stone Age: Ancient Castles of Europe" (Frédéric Chaubin) 10-19-23

72. "The Mysteries" (Bill Watterson & John Kascht) 10-22-23

73. "Mimi's Tales of Terror" (Junji Ito) 10-24-23

74. "The Grand Medieval Bestiary: Animals in Illuminated Manuscripts" (Christian Heck & Rémy Cordonnier) 10-28-23

75. "Ain't It Fun: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk in the Secret City" (Aaron Lange) 11-6-23

76. "The Reflection of Stars" (Tom Champagne) 11-10-23

77. "The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science" (Seb Falk) 11-11-23 

78. "Weird Medieval Guys" (Olivia M. Swarthout) 11-15-23

79. "Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World" (Danièle Cybulskie) 11-18-23

80. "Berserk Deluxe 14" (Kentaro Miura) 11-30-23

*= book I have read at least once in the past
+= book I have read before, but not this reprint/edition/translation

Currently Reading: 

"Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It" (Janina Ramirez) 

Some Books I Read Pre-2008

Most of my friends are aware that in the year 2008 (my 28th year) I began keeping lists of all the books I read each year, a tradition I've kept going for around 16 years now. Recently, I thought it might be interesting to make a list of the books I had read pre-2008. For most such books I still remember the year (or approximate year) that I first read them, and going through some of my old receipts recently jogged my memory in some places. Still, this list is hardly complete, and the order of the books for each year isn’t entirely chronological in places, but gives one a good idea of what books I was reading for the years in question. For the most part, I chose to mainly list adult books only (had I listed the children's books I read, it would have been much longer), though a few children's books are listed in any case, mainly ones that had a big impact on me and my life. 

? indicates a book where I’m not sure if the year is quite exact. % means it was a book read as a school assignment.

 

Pre-High School

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll) 1986

James and the Giant Peach (Roald Dahl) 1988? 1989?

Great Illustrated Classics: Tales of Mystery & Terror (Edgar Allan Poe/Adapted by Marjorie P. Katz) 1988? 1989?

The War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells) 1988? 1989?

Many John Bellairs books (starting with The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull) late 80s/early 90s

Ghostbusters 2: Movie Novelization (Ed Naha) 1989

Dick Tracy: Movie Novelization (Max Allan Collins) 1990

Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Movie Novelization (David Bischoff) 1990

Misery (Stephen King) 1991

The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis) 1991

The Rocketeer: Movie Novelization (Peter David) 1991

Hook: Movie Novelization (Terry Brooks) 1991

Carrie (Stephen King) ? early 90s

Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton) 1992

Sphere (Michael Crichton) 1992?

Eaters of the Dead (Michael Crichton) ?

Batman Returns: Movie Novelization (Craig Shaw Gardner) 1992

Aliens: Earth Hive (Steve Perry) 1993?

Aliens: Nightmare Asylum (Steve Perry) 1993?

The Guns of Navarone (Alistair MacLean) 1993?

Goodbye California (Alistair MacLean) 1993? 1994?

The Sword in the Stone (T.H. White) 

Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

Animal Farm (George Orwell)

The Pearl (John Steinbeck) 1993? %

The Mad Hatter Mystery (John Dickson Carr) 1993?

Batman: The Animated Series: Shadows of the Past (Gary Gravel) 1993

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Geary Gravel) 1993

Batman: The Animated Series: Dual to the Death (Geary Gravel) 1994

Batman: The Animated Series: The Dragon and the Bat (Geary Gravel) 1994

SeaQuest DSV: Fire Below (Matthew J. Costello) 1994

 

High School Freshman Year (Fall 1994-Spring 1995) (Age 14)

The Prydain Chronicles Books 1-5 (Lloyd Alexander) 1994?

Calling on Dragons (Patricia C. Wrede) 1994

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire: Book 1 of the Thrawn Trilogy (Timothy Zhan) 1995

Star Wars: Dark Force Rising: Book 2 of the Thrawn Trilogy (Timothy Zhan) 1995

Star Wars: The Last Command: Book 3 of the Thrawn Trilogy (Timothy Zhan) 1995

Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia (Dave Wolverton) 1995

Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura (Kathy Tyers) 1995

Star Wars: The Crystal Star (Vonda N. McIntyre) 1995

Batman: Knightfall (Dennis O’Neill) 1995

 

Summer 1995 (Age 15)

The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen (Lloyd Alexander)

High School Sophomore Year (Fall 1995-Spring 1996) (Age 15)

Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) autumn 1995 %

Romeo & Juliet (William Shakespeare) autumn 1995 %

The Taming of the Shrew (William Shakespeare) autumn 1995 %

Star Wars: Jedi Search: Book 1 of the Jedi Academy Trilogy (Kevin J. Anderson) 1995

Star Wars: Dark Apprentice: Book 2 of the Jedi Academy Trilogy (Kevin J. Anderson) 1995

Star Wars: Champions of the Force: Book 3 of the Jedi Academy Trilogy (Kevin J. Anderson) 1995

The White Plague (Frank Herbert) 1995? 1996?

Goldeneye (John Gardner) late 1995?

Star Wars: Darksaber (Kevin J. Anderson) December 1995

Patriot Games (Tom Clancy) January 1996

The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway) 1996 %

A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) 1996 %

Without Remorse (Tom Clancy) 1996

Debt of Honor (Tom Clancy) 1996

 

Summer 1996 (Age 16)

Executive Orders (Tom Clancy) July 1996

 

High School Junior Year (Fall 1996-Spring 1997) (Age 16)

Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton) %

Macbeth (William Shakespeare) %

Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare) %

The Crucible (Arthur Miller) %

Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller) %

The Apocalypse Watch (Robert Ludlum)

The Scorpio Illusion (Robert Ludlum)

The Road to Gandalfo (Robert Ludlum)

The Cry of the Halidon (Robert Ludlum)

Airframe (Michael Crichton) December 1996

The Runaway Jury (John Grisham) 1997

The Dilbert Principle (Scott Adams) May 1997 (bought with first ever paycheck)

 

Summer 1997 (Age 17)

The Partner (John Grisham) June

The Pelican Brief (John Grisham) June

The Rainmaker (John Grisham) June

Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice) June

Pulp Fiction: Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino) June

Lord Foul’s Bane (Stephen R. Donaldson) July

The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) August %

Servant of the Bones (Anne Rice) Summer?

 

High School Senior Year (Fall 1997-Spring 1998) (Age 17)

Hamlet (William Shakespeare) 1997? %

Othello (William Shakespeare) 1997? %

The Lord of the Flies (William Golding) 1997? %

The Chamber (John Grisham) Fall 1997

Violin (Anne Rice) October 1997

Out of Sight (Elmore Leonard) 1997

Jackie Brown/Rum Punch (Elmore Leonard) December 1997

The Street Lawyer (John Grisham) January 1998

All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque) January 1998 %

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Tennessee Williams) February 1998? %

The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams) March 1998 %

Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) %

The Witching Hour (Anne Rice) ?

Riding the Rap (Elmore Leonard) Spring 1998

Maximum Bob (Elmore Leonard) Spring 1998

Get Shorty (Elmore Leonard) June 1998

 

Summer 1998 (Age 18)

The SCUM Manifesto (Valerie Solanas)

 

Fall 1998 (Age 18)

The Glass Key (Dashiell Hammett)

Red Harvest (Dashiell Hammett)

Oedipus the King (Sophocles) September %

Candide (Voltaire) October %

Les Fleurs du mal (Charles Baudelaire) November %

 

1999 (Age 19)

A Simple Plan (Scott Smith) January

The Testament (John Grisham) February

A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess) February

Feel This Book (Ben Stiller/Janeane Garofalo) February

Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs) May

Jack & Jill (James Patterson) borrowed from my brother Tom

Red Dragon (Thomas Harris)

The Silence of the Lambs (Thomas Harris)

Hannibal (Thomas Harris) June/July

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit (John Douglas) September

Lost Souls (Poppy Z. Brite) October

(Various stories by H.P. Lovecraft) Autumn

 

2000 (Age 20)

The Sandman: Volumes 1-10 (Neil Gaiman) January-June

Drawing Blood (Poppy Z. Brite) May

Exquisite Corpse (Poppy Z. Brite) Fall

Are You Loathsome Tonight? (Poppy Z. Brite) November

Plastic Jesus (Poppy Z. Brite)

Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk)

 

2001 (Age 21)

Survivor (Chuck Palahniuk) July

The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story (Stephen R. Donaldson) autumn/winter

The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge (Stephen R. Donaldson) autumn/winter

The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises (Stephen R. Donaldson) autumn/winter

The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order (Stephen R. Donaldson) autumn/winter

The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die (Stephen R. Donaldson) autumn/winter

 

2002 (Age 22)

Neuromancer (William Gibson) early winter

Interzone (William S. Burroughs) March

Psychic Self-Defense (Dion Fortune) March

Liber Null & Psychonaut (Peter J. Carroll) March

The Soft Machine (William S. Burroughs) April

The Ticket That Exploded (William S. Burroughs) April

Nova Express (William S. Burroughs) April

Liber Kaos (Peter J. Carroll) June

The Invisibles: Volumes 1-3 (Grant Morrison)

Cities of the Red Night (William S. Burroughs) June/July

The Place of Dead Roads (William S. Burroughs) June/July

Count Zero (William Gibson) June

Mona Lisa Overdrive (William Gibson) summer

Valis (Philip K. Dick) summer

The Divine Invasion (Philip K. Dick) summer

Good Omens (Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett)

Moonchild (Aleister Crowley)

The Illuminatus! Trilogy (Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson)

The I-Ching

The Lazy Crossdresser (Charles Anders) July

Closer (Dennis Cooper) ?

 

2003 (Age 23)

The Filth (Grant Morrison)

Index (Peter Sotos) May

Lazy (Peter Sotos) May

Tick (Peter Sotos) May

The Value of X (Poppy Z. Brite) 

The Devil You Know (Poppy Z. Brite) July

Watchmen (Alan Moore) July

V for Vendetta (Alan Moore) July

Cosmic Trigger (Robert Anton Wilson) August

Lullaby (Chuck Palahniuk) September

Diary (Chuck Palahniuk) October

The Sandman: Endless Nights (Neil Gaiman) October

Schrodinger’s Cats (Robert Anton Wilson) October

The Lucifer Principle (Howard Bloom) November

Doom Patrol (Grant Morrison) November

Animal Man (Grant Morrison) December

Transmetropolitan (Warren Ellis)

Tim & Peter (James Robert Baker) ?

Anarchy (James Robert Baker) ?

 

2004 (Age 24)

Quantum Psychology (Robert Anton Wilson)

The Sluts (Dennis Cooper)

Nightside of Eden (Kenneth Grant) February/March

American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis) April

Hecate’s Fountain (Kenneth Grant) May

Liquor (Poppy Z. Brite)

Maldoror (Lautreamont) August

Pere Ubu (Alfred Jarry) August

Cults of the Shadow (Kenneth Grant)

 

2005 (Age 25)

The Fall (Albert Camus) January

Ultra-Gash Inferno (Suehiro Maruo) February?

Prime (Poppy Z. Brite) March

Proxy (Peter Sotos) May

God Jr. (Dennis Cooper) July

Glamorama (Bret Easton Ellis) early summer?

Less Than Zero (Bret Easton Ellis) July

The Rules of Attraction (Bret Easton Ellis) July

The Informers (Bret Easton Ellis) July/August?

Lunar Park (Bret Easton Ellis) August

Outside the Circles of Time (Kenneth Grant) summer

The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and its Analysis (Ian Brady) August

The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco) September

All Else is Bondage (Wei Wu Wei)

Proxy (Peter Sotos)

 

2006 (Age 26)

Outer Gateways (Kenneth Grant)

At the Feet of the Guru (Kenneth Grant)

Try (Dennis Cooper) 

Guide (Dennis Cooper)

Period (Dennis Cooper)

Battle Royale (Kōshun Takami) September

Hannibal Rising (Thomas Harris) December

Towards the End (Joseph Mills) December  

2007 (Age 27)

Catching the Big Fish (David Lynch) January

From Hell (Alan Moore) February

The Man Who Killed His Brother (Stephen R. Donaldson)

The Man Who Risked His Partner (Stephen R. Donaldson)

The Man Who Tried to Get Away (Stephen R. Donaldson)

The Man Who Fought Alone (Stephen R. Donaldson)

Psychopathia Sexualis (Miguel Angel Martin)

Digging the Vein (Tony O’Neill) May?

The Big U (Neal Stephenson)

The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) August/September

 

????

Ladies Night (Jack Ketchum) early 2000s

1984 (George Orwell) possibly read in either 2002 or 2003

Frisk (Dennis Cooper) read pre-2005

Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God (Kenneth Grant) possibly 2005

The Magical Revival (Kenneth Grant) 2004?

2023 Reading List Monthly Update: October

 Books read in October of 2023:

"Goth: A History" (Lol Tolhurst) 10-7-23

"Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination" (Edogawa Rampo) 10-9-23

"The Dark Secret of Weatherend" (John Bellairs) 10-12-23 *

"Concrete Siberia: Soviet Landscapes of the Far North" (Zupagrafika) 10-13-23

"Monica" (Daniel Clowes) 10-15-23

"Stone Age: Ancient Castles of Europe" (Frédéric Chaubin) 10-19-23

"The Mysteries" (Bill Watterson & John Kascht) 10-22-23

"Mimi's Tales of Terror" (Junji Ito) 10-24-23

"The Grand Medieval Bestiary: Animals in Illuminated Manuscripts" (Christian Heck & Rémy Cordonnier) 10-28-23

-

2023 Reading List Total:

-

1. "The Medieval Underworld" (Andrew McCall) 1-11-23

2. "Impure Thoughts" (Golnoosh Nour) 1-12-23

3. "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire" (Judith Herrin) 1-15-23

4. "The Baron's Coffin and Other Disquieting Tales" (Ada Buisson) 1-17-23

5. "Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black" (Naomi Parry + Various) 1-21-23

6. "Convenience Store Woman" (Sayaka Murata) 1-25-23

7. "Do You Like Big Girls? Vol. 1" (Goro Aizome) 1-27-23

8. "Strange Weather in Tokyo" (Hiromi Kawakami) 1-31-23

9. "The Shards" (Bret Easton Ellis) 2-4-23

10. "Lie With Me" (Philippe Besson) 2-7-23

11. "The Lover" (Marguerite Duras) 2-9-23

12. "Tokyo Ueno Station" (Yu Miri) 2-12-23

13. "Boycrush" (James Nulick) 2-16-23

14. "This Side of Paradise" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 2-17-23

15. "The Adventure Zone Vol. 5: The Eleventh Hour" (The McElroys/Carey Pietsch) 2-19-23

16. "Octopus Pie: The Other Side" (Meredith Gran) 2-22-23

17. "Octopus Pie Eternal" (Meredith Gran) 2-23-22

18. "The Book of Imaginary Beings" (Jorge Luis Borges) 2-25-23 

19. "Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art" (Susan L. Aberth) 3-4-23

20. "Pictures of Apocalypse" (Thomas Ligotti) 3-11-23

21. "Vermilion Sands" (J.G. Ballard) 3-17-23

22. "Berserk Deluxe Edition 13" (Kentaro Miura) 3-23-23

23. "Tombs" (Junji Ito) 3-30-23

24. "The Flowers of Buffoonery" (Osamu Dazai) 4-4-23

25. "A History of the Middle Ages" (Joseph Dahmus) 4-5-23

26. "Winter in Sokcho" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 4-7-23

27. "The Guest Cat" (Takashi Hiraide) 4-13-23

28. "The Great Empires of the Ancient World" (Various/Edited by Thomas Harrison) 4-16-23

29. "The Turkish Lady and Other Writings" (Jean Lorrain) 4-17-23

30. "Raun" (Ruggero Vasari) 4-20-23

31. "I Will Not Come" (Arnaud Rykner) 4-22-23

32. "The Secrets of Cabalism" (Ana Jane Vardill) 4-26-23

33. "Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages" (Richard Barber & Juliet Barker) 4-29-23

34. "Neo-Decadence Evangelion" (Various/Edited by Justin Isis) 5-6-23

35. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain" (Charles Phillips) 5-18-23

36. "The Black Death" (Philip Ziegler) 5-18-23

37. "Cats in Spring Rain: A Celebration of Feline Charm in Japanese Art and Haiku" (Various) 5-19-23

38. "Are You All Crazy?" (René Crevel) 5-26-23

39. "The Others Lived As Me" (Ange Dargent) 5-28-23

40. "Lord of the World" (Robert Hugh Benson) 5-30-23

41. "Your Dreams" (Thomas Moore) 5-30-23

42. "Antichrist in the Middle Ages: A Study of Medieval Apocalypticism, Art, and Literature" (Richard Kenneth Emmerson) 6-7-23

43. "Sabbat" (Hélène Picard) 6-17-23

44. "Fish Turn Colors Then Break in my Hands" (Colby Smith + Josh Bayer) 6-21-23

45. "The Best of Trim" (Aaron Lange) 6-21-23

46. "The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind" (Justin Pollard & Howard Reid) 6-21-23

47. "Spells" (Brendan Connell) 6-25-23

48. "The Blood of the Gods" (Jean Lorrain) 6-28-23

49. "Venomous Feathers Split #1: Dive Careful Down/Stupendemys" (Fergus Nm + Churchdoor Lounger) 6-30-23

50. "Paradise Lost" (John Milton/Illustrated by William Blake) 7-3-23

51. "The Pachinko Parlor" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 7-11-23

52. "De Profundis" (Oscar Wilde) 7-15-23

53. "Soichi" (Junji Ito) 7-19-23

54. "Hit Parade of Tears" (Izumi Suzuki) 7-22-23

55. "The Higher Genius: Magical Tales of New York City" (Kyler James) 7-23-23

56. "Beautiful Star" (Yukio Mishima) 8-3-23
57. "Doom Guy: Life in First Person" (John Romero) 8-13-23

58. "Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages" (Jack Hartnell) 8-23-23

59. "The World of the Crusades: An Illustrated History" (Christopher Tyerman) 8-24-23

60. "The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas- Original Edition" (Dylan Thomas) 8-29-23

61. "Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps" (Chet Van Duzer) 8-30-23

62. "Wuthering Heights" (Emily Brontë) 9-17-23

63. "Zothique: The Final Cycle" (Clark Ashton Smith)  9-19-23

64. "A Shameful Life" (Osamu Dazai) 9-25-23 +

65. "Parade" (Hiromi Kawakami) 9-25-23

66. "Goth: A History" (Lol Tolhurst) 10-7-23

67. "Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination" (Edogawa Rampo) 10-9-23

68. "The Dark Secret of Weatherend" (John Bellairs) 10-12-23 *

69. "Concrete Siberia: Soviet Landscapes of the Far North" (Zupagrafika) 10-13-23

70. "Monica" (Daniel Clowes) 10-15-23

71. "Stone Age: Ancient Castles of Europe" (Frédéric Chaubin) 10-19-23

72. "The Mysteries" (Bill Watterson & John Kascht) 10-22-23

73. "Mimi's Tales of Terror" (Junji Ito) 10-24-23

74. "The Grand Medieval Bestiary: Animals in Illuminated Manuscripts" (Christian Heck & Rémy Cordonnier) 10-28-23

*= book I have read at least once in the past
+= book I have read before, but not this reprint/edition/translation

Currently Reading: 

"Ain't It Fun: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk in the Secret City" (Aaron Lange) 

"The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science" (Seb Falk)