This is my reading report card for 2017. Last year I surprised myself with reading 30 books and I thought I could better that number, but I think I was too distracted by Pokemon Go 😊. I didn’t get a chance to write a review for each one, but I did write for the ones that mattered.
Best Book
The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei. In terms of prose it doesn’t stand a chance against veterans like Atwood and Chabon. In terms of themes and purpose it can’t pip Palacio or Keyes. But I adore its elegant structure and evocative sense place and time. I could literally see Hong Kong through the years in this marvellous crime story that spans decades.
Best Graphic Novel
Sleepwalk and Other Stories by Adrian Tomine. He has a wonderful eye for the everyday and the vicissitudes of life. Despair, desperation and loneliness hand drawn to silent lucidity.
Novels
01 The Cuckoo’s Calling – Robert Galbraith
02 Sansho the Steward – Ogai Mori
03 The Kingdom – Fuminori Nakamura
04 The Return of the Young Prince – A.G. Roemmers
05 I Am Pilgrim – Terry Hayes
06 Moonglow – Michael Chabon
07 Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
08 Orphan X – Gregg Hurwitz
09 The Embassy of Cambodia – Zadie Smith
10 And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
11 The Nowhere Man – Gregg Hurwitz
12 The Wrong Side of Goodbye – Michael Connelly
13 The Nakano Thrift Shop – Hiromi Kawakami
14 The Borrowed – Chan Ho-Kei
15 The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto – Mitch Albom
16 The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories – Marina Keegan
17 The Snowman – Jo Nesbo
18 The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping – Keigo Higashino
19 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
20 The Dry – Jane Harper
21 Wonder – R.J. Palacio
22 Into the Water – Paula Hawkins
23 The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye – David Lagercrantz (*)
24 The Boy on the Bridge – M.R. Carey (*)
25 Metamorphosis- Franz Kafka (*)
(*) means I am still in the midst of reading. Hope to finish them before 2017 draws to a close.
Graphic Novels
01 Superman Earth One (1) – J. Michael Straczynski
02 Superman Earth One (2) – J. Michael Straczynski
03 New Lone Wolf & Cub – Kazuo Koike
04 Wolverine: Back in Japan – Jason Aaron
05 Death of Wolverine – Charles Soule
06 American Vampire (8) – Scott Snyder
07 Superman Earth One (3) – J. Michael Straczynski
08 Batman (1) – Ed Brubaker
09 Wolverine: Origin II – Kieron Gillen
10 Hellboy in Mexico – Mike Mignola
11 The Walking Dead (27) – Robert Kirkman
12 Astro City (13) – Kurt Busiek
13 30th Anniversary Aliens – Mark Verheiden
14 The Batman & Judge Dredd Collection – Alan Grant & John Wagner
15 BPRD: Hell on Earth (8) – Mike Mignola
16 BPRD: Hell on Earth (9) – Mike Mignola
17 BPRD: Hell on Earth (10) – Mike Mignola
18 BPRD: Hell on Earth (11) – Mike Mignola
19 BPRD: Hell on Earth (12) – Mike Mignola
20 BPRD: Hell on Earth (14) – Mike Mignola
21 Hellboy and the BPRD: 1952 – Mike Mignola
22 Batman and Son – Grant Morrison
23 Brightest Day (1) – Geoff Johns
24 Hellboy & BPRD: 1952 – Mike Mignola
25 BPRD: Hell on Earth (3) – Mike Mignola
26 BPRD: Hell on Earth (13) – Mike Mignola
27 Hellboy in Hell – Mike Mignola
28 BPRD: Hell on Earth (15) – Mike Mignola
29 Ghost World – Daniel Clowes
30 Sleepwalk and Other Stories – Adrian Tomine
31 Scenes From an Impending Marriage – Adrian Tomine
32 Revival (8) – Tim Seeley
33 Lazarus (5) – Greg Rucka
34 Nailbiter (6) – Joshua Williamson
35 Deadly Class (4) – Rick Remender
36 Invincible (23) – Robert Kirkman
37 Saga (7) – Brian Vaughan
38 Batman – Brian Azzarello
39 Batman: Ego – Darwyn Cooke
40 Batman: The Black Mirror – Scott Snyder