strange and random happenstance

Every year I feel like I say, well that year really sucked, here's hoping next year will be better, and then it isn't. But there is seriously no way that 2020 could be worse than 2019. I'm not joking. Only two months in I had had two colds AND two outpatient procedures at the hospital, and that was the high points... it's been downhill from there. I was occasionally so sick I couldn't read!?! I mean, is there any worse kind of sick? Reading is the ONLY benefit to being sick. Curling up with a blanket and a hot beverage and just losing yourself elsewhere because the here and now suck. Plus side, I did lose myself a lot to the here and now with reading the most ever books I've EVER read! Suck it to those who say the average person reads six book a year, I read two hundred! Not my most pages total, but most books, heck year! So here's to leaving 2019 and all the sucky years of the past decade behind and a clean slate, a new start for 2020. Now let's see what I remember about the TWO HUNDRED books I read this year!  

 1) Newbury and Hobbes: The Undying, #1 by George Mann: As I've said before, I read A LOT of comics in a year. Not as much as some, but still a significant amount. So remembering what happened in specific issues is hard, but I'll try my best to give at least my overall opinion. So George as taken his beloved Newbury and Hobbes series to the pages of comics and while I like the visuals, the little prose piece at the end of each issues proves to me I will always love his prose more.

2) Newbury and Hobbes: The Undying, #2 by George Mann: Sewers, evil things lurking, you know, what happened during Victorian times.

3) Newbury and Hobbes: The Undying, #3 by George Mann: Could old foes I kind of don't remember from the book be responsible? In other news, re-read the books.

4) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Under the Spell by S.M. Vidaurri: No memory, just meh...

5) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #6 by Simon Spurrier: Something happened, it was cool and very new but still in tune with the Labyrinth brand.

6) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #7 by Simon Spurrier: Something to do with the soldier friend?

7) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #8 by Simon Spurrier: More things happening in the Labyrinth.

8) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #9 by Simon Spurrier: A ball throwback? Damn I love the ball scene in the movie... 

9) The Steel Prince #1 by V.E. Schwab: Solid start to the prequel to V.E. Schwab's Regency Magic series. Like seeing the parents origin stories.

10) The Steel Prince #2 by V.E. Schwab: Continued solid, is this where the pirates showed up?

11) The Steel Prince #3 by V.E. Schwab: If the pirates weren't there in the previous issue they have to be by now... though maybe they were even in the first issue...

12) Snotgirl #12 by Bryan Lee O'Malley: Seriously, I should just logically cancel this from my pull list because nothing ever happens and at this point I really don't anything ever will.

13) Giant Days #4 by John Allison: I wish I could say this series went out on a high... it was middling to mediocre though... 

14) Dr. Horrible: Best Friends Forever by Joss Whedon: This was unnecessary and truly showcased the worst of what Joss Whedon is capable of.  

15) Firefly #1 by Greg Pak: Oh yeah! These take place before Joss killed Wash for NO REASON in the movie. NO REASON!

16) Firefly #2 by Greg Pak: Damn I wish this were an episode of the show. For the first time these comics actually feel part of the show's universe and not some fever dream by other authors...

17) The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang: An adorable book about acceptance that I read for book club which ended way too abruptly and I felt slightly restrained.

18) The True Death of Billy the Kid by Rick Geary: Oddly the only book by Rick Geary I openly disliked. It just didn't have the same allure as all his other true crime comics which I've devoured.

19) Miss Mink: Life Lessons for a Cat Countess by Janet Hill: I was a little worried about this book. Janet Hill is an amazing artist but her similar book about dogs left me flat and I'm a cat person so the stakes here are higher. I wasn't disappointed in the least, I adored this book. ADORED IT!

20) The Summer Country by Lauren Willig: There is NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, this book just shows that Lauren can write epic sagas with the best of the historical author pantheon. Though I did miss seeing her humor shine through. But I figured, not to whinge because this was here big, serious, years in the making epic, and epics sometimes don't have much of the funnies. Especially during outbreaks of diseases...

21) NOS4A2 By Joe Hill: Started this for a holiday read but it's kind of more a summer read and it was just too long, too depressing, and not scary enough for me.

22) Locke and Key Slipcase Set by Joe Hill: I re-read because this series was on my best reads last year and it so holds up. Just an amazing series that has so many levels and so much more to see and absorb with each reading.

23) Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) by Robin LaFevers: A re-read of a favorite LaFevers book in anticipation of her new connected duology. I still can't believe how much I love this book. Assassin nuns! 

24) Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, #2) by Robin LaFevers: I didn't really like this book the first time I read it, and was surprised by how much I loved it on this re-read. It just clicked this time around, even if Sybella isn't my favorite character.

25) Robin by Dave Itzkoff: A bio on Robin Williams that was read for book club which had a really strong start, great insight into Robin's early career, but then kind of was just listing his later work without any depth. Also has a weird coda that kind of turned me against the whole book. But it did make me appreciate how much Robin Williams was in my life growing up and I even re-watched some movies. 

26) Giant Days #47 by John Allison: Don't remember.

27) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 by Jordie Bellaire: I had SO many reservations about this and they are all gone. LOVE THIS MODERN REBOOT!

28) Firefly #3 Greg Pak: If this were an episode of the show it would have been better edited for time. Don't drag your storyline over too many issues people! 

29) Newbury and Hobbes: The Undying, #4 by George Mann: Still solid, still loving the prose story at the back the most.

30) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #10 by Simon Spurrier: Is this where the worm with a rapier tries to overthrow the patriarchy? Because an anarchy driven female worm is an AWESOME character addition to this series.

31) The Steel Prince #4 by V.E. Schwab: Is this where the whole fight club entered in? Why always fight club?

32) Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin, #3) Robin LaFevers: I have MAJOR issues with this third volume. For years I didn't read it because I loved the series so much I didn't want it to end, but with a new book I thought, hey, now it doesn't end. Shouldn't have read it. For a series so invested in consent to strip it away from any character just to save a country is wrong.

33) Courting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology, #1) by Robin LaFevers: Um, so yeah, this was not that good. The problem was spending too much to repeating information from the previous trilogy and focusing on Sybella when it should have focused on the new characters, whom I actually liked.

34) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2 by Jordie Bellaire: This series is AWESOME! I HAVE to focus on this fact in going over my reading for the year knowing how the series is now kind of tanking...

35) Firefly #4 by Greg Pak: Too. Drawn. Out.

36) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #11 by Simon Spurrier: This would have made a very solid 8 issue run, because it feels like that's when it ran out of ideas...

37) Lethal White (Cormoran Strike, #4) by Robert Galbraith: Damn. How does J.K. do it? You think it's one kind of mystery and it turns into another, with all this twists and turns and why can't I get a new Cormoran Strike book every year?

38) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #3 by Jordie Bellaire: Not as strong, but still hanging in there... currently.

39) Giant Days #48 by John  Allison: Nope, no idea...

40) The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe: This was just weird. Three loosely connected stories where the middle one was just awful, and the other two only middling. Sometimes early science fiction has me scratching my head because someone somewhere thought this was a classic.

41) Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal, #1) by Zen Cho: Prunella is the bomb! I also love how it takes my favorite subject, Regency Magic, and turns it on it's head.

42) Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules (Delilah Dirk, #3) by Tony Cliff: I should learn that if I didn't like the first two volumes in a series I should NOT pick up the third out of some weird desire to complete everything.

43) Famous Players by Rick Geary: Not my favorite, but I did really like seeing this glimpse into old Hollywood that I knew nothing about.

44) Madison Square Tragedy: The Murder of Stanford White by Rick Geary: Again, not my favorite, but if you're thinking, hey, I want to know what happened in the book Ragtime but don't want to read it all, here's the comic for you!

45) The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans by Rick Geary: I knew a little about this from American Horror Story, but I don't think that show captured the sheer panic the city was in with these random attacks.

46) The True Queen (Sorcerer Royal, #2) by Zen Cho: Not so much a followup as a companion piece to Sorcerer to the Crown. I loved the setting but I felt that it fell a little short just because the twist was a little predictable.

47) The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen, #1) by Alison Goodman: Oh my, where has THIS Regency Magic series been all my life!?! It's Regency Buffy and I am in love! 

48) Lusus Naturae: A Lord Carlston Story (Lady Helen, #1.5) by Alison Goodman: Cute little POV change for Lord Carlston and Lady Helen's meet cute.

49) The Dark Days Pack (Lady Helen, #2) by Alison Goodman: Normally I'm not one for the whole dressing a girl in breeches and having her fight undercover trope, but Alison proves that sometimes it can't just be effective, but awesome.

50) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4 by Jordie Bellaire: Oh, are they going to make Xander a vampire? I totally think that would switch things up well!

51) Angel #0 by Bryan Hill: Not sure if this reboot is going to work. HAS to be separate from Buffy. HAS TO.  

52) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #12 by Simon Spurrier: And it's over... quite a few issues later than it should have been.

53) Giant Days #49 by John Allison: I've got nothing.

54) Snotgirl #13 by Bryan Lee O'Malley: For all the times I occasionally like this series I think perhaps someone should stage an intervention and tell me I no longer need this series in my life... 

55) The Dark Days Deceit (Lady Helen, #3) by Alison Goodman: And boom! That's how you end a series. With weddings and fights and Bath! I kind of want more but at the same time it ended so well... in other words, RE-READ!

56) Through the Woods by Emily Carroll: Some of the art is amazing. Some of it really really isn't. There is no middle ground and therefore it falls flat.

57) Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Jason Rekulak: This was like a Golden Books baby Buffy and it failed SO HARD! I mean, the message that monsters are OK? That is not at all true to the show! So so so many issues...

58) Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: I'm a huge fan of Terry and Neil separately and years ago when I first read Good Omens in anticipation of the Discworld convention I was going to I was a little let down. Knowing what it was this time around I enjoyed it far more. Though I will say the TV series, aside from Frances McDormand,fixed all issues I had. 

59) The High Street by Alice Melvin: An adorable and very British book on the types of shops the exist on a high street. I hope with the rise of all the big box stores and malls that we will still be able to preserve small little downtown areas that cater to our needs. They're part of our history!

60) David Bowie by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara: I HATED this picture book on David Bowie. I get that these are to give kids a glimpse into great people, but at least get your facts right! Like eyes and hair! Gaw, this is STILL pissing me off!

61) Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson, #11) by Patricia Briggs: Another solid entry in the Mercy Thompson series that has quite a gut punch of an ending, but I forgive the emotional roller-coaster the Patricia Briggs took me on because of the miniature zombie goats.

62) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: You know when you have a favorite book where you're almost afraid to re-read it because you don't think it could possibly live up to what you remember. Third time reading it and The Night Circus is still magical and a favorite. 

63) Giant Days #50 by John Allison: No idea.

64) Firefly #5 Greg Pak: No idea either.

65) Firefly: Bad Company by Greg Pak: Let's have the women join forces and kick ass. Only make it not as good as it should be... Also why would anyone trust Yo-Saff-Bridge at this point? Even if they're planning on double crossing her.

66) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: I kind of get the love for this book, I mean, it's well written and all, but it's not for me. I really didn't like it. I just felt that instead of creating a fictional comic writing duo Chabon picked the corpses of the best writers and artists of the time and made his own, therefore taking away the credit that they had long tried to cling to and fight for. Not cool.

67) The Black Dahlia: The Crime Graphic Novel by Matz: I detested the comic. It had almost nothing to do with the crime, so there was that, but the drawing style didn't work. ALL the men looked the same so you had no idea what was happening. Also, seeing as this had been made into a film prior to a comic, doing it as a comic seemed redundant because it's already in ta visual medium now...

68) Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron (Shades of Grey, #1) by Jasper Fforde: Much like The Night Circus this is a favorite book to re-read with unneeded apprehension. I just love all the new levels I find in the dystopian color drama and LONG for a sequel. Also, I think Jack Whitehall should star if they ever adapt it for television. It would have to be TV to do it justice.

69) Kiss Number 8 by Colleen A.F. Venable: What's weird is while I gave this book three stars now all I'm remembering is the bad stuff, like how her friends all turned against her when she was discovering she was bisexual leaning towards lesbian. Proves that sometimes a book read at the time can later leave a sour taste in the mouth. Likewise sometimes thinking on a book improves it. 

70) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4) by Agatha Christie: I don't know what gave me such a fever to read what is dubbed "the greatest locked room mystery ever" but I picked it up and as is usually the case with Christie thoroughly enjoyed it. I would say I have read better locked room mysteries (The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne) and I did see the twist coming. But it was still fun.  

71) The Glass Ocean by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig: I didn't really like the three W's first collaboration and thus waited awhile to pick up their newest volume. I think their first book, The Forgotten Room, worked out their kinks, and they wrote more evenly so it was harder to discern who was who. Yes, I knew the ending from a long way off, but it was still very enjoyable.  

72) The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware: From the description I was expecting more Du Maurier's Rebecca, instead I got... well, too much griftering with a laughably obvious conclusion.

73) The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce, #10) by Alan Bradley: This supposedly final adventure of Flavia de Luce just didn't do it for me. There was no closure and as for the book's mystery about a finger in a wedding cake, I felt like there were too many threads left dangling. In fact I'm still not sure who the killer was or if there was one!

74) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5 by Jordie Bellaire: Why can't they make Xander a straight up vampire instead of muddying the mythology?

75 Angel #1 by Bryan Hill: Meh.

76) Firefly #6 by Greg Pak: Why is it with comics in the Whedonverse it's either awesome or meh? Thankfully only occasionally truly awful.

77) Night of Knives #1 (Shades of Magic Graphic Novels #5) by V.E. Schwab: Slow setup to new arc, which means I really think I haven't read any additional issues and am WAY behind...

78) Giant Days #51 by John Allison: Let's rip out McGraw's heart by killing his dad and instead of dealing with it thoughtfully and compassionately, just hurry through it in the rush to the end of this series so that we can have hit the "dead parent" milestone that is needed in all coming of age tales.

79) Born to Be Posthumous by Mark Dery: I love Edward Gorey, I DO NOT love this biography. Everything seems so second hand with the author trying to push his gay agenda (the agenda being that Gorey was gay yet this was never confirmed nor denied by Gorey.) I wanted insight, instead I got meh.

80) Amphigorey (Amphigorey, #1) by Edward Gorey: My dissatisfaction with the biography on Edward Gorey DID lead to me getting all his books from the library and just living in his dark, bleak world, and boy did it make me happy.

81) Amphigorey Too (Amphigorey, #2) by Edward Gorey: If you were wondering, the Amphigoreys are compilations of ALL Gorey's work in four volumes. Because so many of the little books are out of print this brings them all together. Of course, they work better as little books you can hold in your hand, but at least having so form of his books is better than none.

82) The Iron Tonic: Or, A Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley by Edward Gorey: As mentioned above, while the Amphigoreys are nice, the reproduction quality and the intimacy and Gorey's exquisite line-work show to far greater advantage if you can get the original or reproduced books.

83) Amphigorey Also (Amphigorey, #3) by Edward Gorey: Another divine Amphigorey.  

84) The Haunted Tea-Cosy by Edward Gorey: A funny and skewed retelling of A Christmas Carol.

85) The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation on the False Millennium by Edward Gorey: The characters from The Haunted Tea-Cosy return in a very pointless story...

86) J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography by Rick Geary: Damn, Hoover was such a screw politician and such a horrible human being. I hated this book, not because of the job Geary did on it, but because of it's subject matter. Though in the final season of The Man in the High Castle, John Smith shooting Hoover brought an extra level of joy.

87) The Artist Who Loved Cats: The Inspiring Tale of Theophile Alexandre Steinlen by Susan Schaerfer Bernardo: Eh. Love the artist but was uninspired by this supposedly inspiring tale.

88) The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars, #1) by Rob Thomas: Read in preparation for the new series and I was surprised and how much I liked this prose form of Veronica Mars and was wondering why there were only two books...

89) Mr. Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars, #2) by Rob Thomas: And then I read the second book which was just dark and bleak and full of nope. I'm sorry but just because Veronica is a survivor of a sexual assault doesn't mean that every story about her has to deal with it. These are other cases!

90) The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist: Volume 1 by Michael Chabon: So, yes, I'm weird, even if I don't like a book I double down on it and end up reading ancillary books, such as these comics, that just make me hate the original book all the more because I could be reading something I actually liked!

91) Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts (Harry Potter: A Journey Through, #1) by Pottermore: This was... dull doesn't even cover it. The driest textbook in the world? I can see why Harry and Ron never read their books if they were actually like this! 

92) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #6 by Jordie Bellaire: HATED THIS ISSUE! And didn't I just say they are rarely so bad as to hate... but every once in awhile, like that stupid episode in season five of Angel where Spike and Angel go to Italy, every once in awhile there's something so awful you want to pretend it never happened.

93) Angel #2 by Bryan Hill: I've noticed whenever Buffy is bad Angel is good... so decent issue here...

94) The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1) by Daniel O'Malley: It's like a British version of The Initiative from Buffy if it was snarkier!

95) The Magicians: Alice's Story by Lilah Sturges: WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS BOOK!?! No really, I want to know. I was thinking it would be about Alice's time as a Niffin, but no. It's just the whole first book seen through her eyes. We know this story! We know everything! There is nothing new here and it's just a slog to read!

96) Circe by Madeline Miller: OK, I KNOW this book isn't about Odysseus, but for a feminist retelling of a character from his tale there's just WAY too much of him. And that ending? Defining her life by a man? AGAIN!?! Yeah, didn't like that either.

97) The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist: Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan: Written by Brian K. Vaughn so not as bad...

98) The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist: Volume 3 by Michael Chabon: But then Chadon comes back and it's shit.

99) Elephant House; or, the Home of Edward Gorey by Kevin McDermott: I LOVED this glimpse into Gorey's home. Seeing the four walls that surrounded him made him more real. Also I loved how he decorated his windowsills, something I'm totally going to copy. Still have to get myself a copy of this book as I borrowed it from the library.

100) The Escapists by Brian K. Vaughan: Brian K. Vaughn is back and therefore it's good again! Also, I liked that this was a modern tale about new creators who were fans of the original series. Meta and oddly the best of all the comics AND the original book.

101) The New Deadwardians by Dan Abnett: I have this to say to Dan Abnett: WRITE MORE BOOKS IN THE SERIES! It's a stand alone zombie story and the art and the worldbuilding are so fabulous I wanted to live in it. Though not as a zombie. I really don't want to ever become a zombie.

102) Southern Bastards, Vol. 4: Gut Check by Jason Aaron: Is this the end of this series? I can find no more info and this really just ended an nothing... a series going for a slow death perhaps?

103) Firefly #7 by Greg Pak: Yeah, no idea...

104) Firefly #8 by Greg Pak: They're reunited in Serenity Valley, this won't end well...

105) Giant Days #52 by John Allison: Better than I thought it would be considering I disliked the holiday special that initiated this arc.

106) Amphigorey Again (Amphigorey, #4) By Edward Gorey: And I FINALLY got to read the final Amphigorey, damn library system and there only being two volumes! Again, solid, but seeing how his work got sloppier as he aged was more than a little sad.

107) Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 1: Aphra by Kieron Gillen: WHERE AS DOCTOR APHRA BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?! She's what I hoped the new Star Wars films would be. She's a female Han Solo, or as my friend said, who Han Solo wishes he was. I ADORE HER! New favorite Star Wars character!

108) Stiletto (The Checquy Files, #2) by Daniel O'Malley: What's weird about this second Checquay book is that it's so amazingly tonally different than the first but works in a different way following two new female leads. Makes me even more excited for the third volume because who knows what it will be like?

109) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1) by  J.K. Rowling: Last year I re-read all of Harry Potter for my birthday. I decided to do the same this year, only instead of starting on my birthday I started on Harry's, AKA two weeks before mine.

110) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by  J.K. Rowling: It's weird that every time I re-read these books I find something new...

111) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by  J.K. Rowling: Now that I've cast Aidan Turner as Sirius in my head I'm having far less problems with him.

112) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) by  J.K. Rowling: Because of how I timed things I ended up reading my favorite Harry Potter book on my birthday!

113) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by  J.K. Rowling: I felt extremely affected by the ministry scenes this time around.  

114) The Woods, Vol. 4: Movie Night by James Tynion IV: I love this new society the school kids have built wherein they are trying to bring a little taste of home with movies.

115) The Woods, Vol. 5: The Horde by James Tynion IV: But then it went to hell and I didn't think I could make it to the end but I had all the books from the library so it was time to suck it up!

116) The Woods, Vol. 6: The Lost by James Tynion IV: No idea what happened here.

117) Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel by Kieron Gillen: And now, thanks to my library, my Doctor Aphra worship begins in earnest. I liked her messing up Luke, but I don't think the payoff was worth it.

118) Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 2: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit by Kieron Gillen: Always looking for an angle on the monies.

119) Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 3: Remastered by Kieron Gillen: I love the murderbots. I shouldn't. They're evil. But I SO do.

120) Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 4: The Catastrophe Con by Simon Spurrier: Haunted prison ship? HELLS YA!

121) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6) by J.K. Rowling: I think the more I re-read this series the more in love I become with this sixth volume.

122) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #7 by Jordie Bellaire: Let's do evil Willow, but evil Willow light... no thanks.

123) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chosen Ones #1 by Mairghread Scott: Basically Tales of the Slayer, new tales.

124) Angel #3 by Bryan Hill: And Angel gets awesome while Buffy gets worse. Especially the art on Buffy, it's horrid.

125) Angel #4 by Bryan Hill: More awesome Angel!

126) Giant Days #53 by John Allison: No idea.

127) Snotgirl #14 by Bryan Lee O'Malley: Seriously, is NO ONE going to stage an intervention to stop me reading these!?!

128) The Woods, Vol. 7: The Black City by James Tynion IV: Creepy deserted city, now this I like.

129) The Woods, Vol. 8: The Final War by James Tynion IV: This I don't like. 

130) The Woods, Vol. 9: The Way Home by James Tynion IV: And then it ended with a whimper. I wanted to see them trying to reintegrate back into society, but the second they arrive home the comic ends. I feel cheated!!! 

131) Sleepless, Vol. 1 by Sarah Vaughn: A gorgeous and original Fairy Tale that felt fresh and timeless all at once about a princess and her knight.

132) Sleepless, Vol. 2 by Sarah Vaughn: And it's not that I didn't like the ending, it's that I felt that two volumes wasn't enough, I wanted more. But better a small near perfect run that what happened with the roller-coaster ride of quality that was The Woods!

133) Underland by Robert Macfarlane: This nonfiction book about the world beneath our feet was interesting in that it's a book you can talk to others about and you learn all these interesting facts without fully loving it. My issues were that it triggered my claustrophobia, some sections just didn't work, and I really wanted Macfarlane to tackle in some way the literary and Fairy Tale importance of the underland... which he didn't which is odd because he is a very literate man.

134) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) by J.K. Rowling: And I almost went back to the beginning and started over...

135) Giant Days #54 by John Allison: And the graduate with a whimper. Though I liked the spinster part...  

136) Cheshire Crossing by Andy Weir: A mashup of famous precious girls from literature, Alice, Dorothy, and Wendy, and it just doesn't work. There are too many errors and inconsistencies that made me feel that Weir just thought it was a good idea without delving too deeply into the source material.

137) Hilda and the Stone Forest by Luke Pearson: The cliffhanger I've been waiting a year to see resolved!

138) Hilda and the Mountain King by Luke Pearson: And it's resolved! And it's wonderful, and there are trolls, and fun madcap adventures, and damn I love these books. MORE!

139) H. P. Lovecraft: He Who Wrote in the Darkness: A Graphic Novel by Alex Nikolavitch: This was shit. That is all. Oh wait, Benioff and Weiss are going to adapt it. I couldn't think of a better project for those who totally ruined Game of Thrones.

140) Uzumaki by Junji Ito: Oh, pitch perfect Japanese horror manga. READ IT! Because I don't want to spoil your enjoyment in any way.

141) Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Harley Merlin #1) by Bella Forrest: This book is nothing by trashy fun. It uses every trope from every fantasy series and does it gleefully with a hint of snark. Just what I needed at the time I picked it up.

142) The Book of Dust (The Book of Dust, #1) by Philip Pullman: While I was worried it wouldn't live up to my first total adoration of it, there's something about the leads and their tenacity that makes you love them even when the narrative starts to flounder near the end. 

143) The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) by Philip Pullman: So I devoured The Book of Dust so fast in anticipation of it's sequel that I thought, maybe I'll re-read all of His Dark Materials too...

144) The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2) by Philip Pullman: The last time I re-read this book I felt it was a little weak in the series, aside from a certain death scene, but this time I loved every second of it!

145) The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) by Philip Pullman: Still the weakest in the series at least it wraps everything up nicely.

146) Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman: I am SO glad I re-read this short novella before the new book. Seriously, you NEED to read this before The Secret Commonwealth. 

147) Gideon Falls, Vol. 1: The Black Barn by Jeff Lemire: If you want to read a boring comic that is just ripping off Haven, here you go.

148) The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust, #2) by Philip Pullman: So many conflicted feelings. Damn, Pan is my favorite character! Lyra, get a freakin' backbone, it's what made you you! A CLIFFHANGER!?! I need the final book now! Not two years or more from now!

149) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #8 by Jordie Bellaire: Ugh, please just keep Buffy and Angel apart. PLEASE!

150) Angel #5 by Bryan Hill: And Angel did something...

151) Welcome Back to the Hellmouth (Hellmouth #1) by Jordie Bellaire: And I guess Angel and Buffy won't be apart what with this crossover event. Sigh.

152) Firefly #9 Greg Pak: The gang is reunited.  

153) Firefly #10 Greg Pak: And yes, there might be war.  

154) Moth and Whisper Vol. 1 by Ted Anderson: Sometimes a story that wants to be inclusive fails. Miserably.

155) Stumptown, Vol. 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took her Shampoo (But Left her Mini) by Greg Rucka: I know it's wrong that my favorite part was the end with a poster for all the other detective agencies from all my other favorite shows, movies, and books. But it was so awesome!

156) Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 1: Vader by Kieron Gillen: Yes, I need more Doctor Aphra so badly that I'm reading all the Vader and Star Wars books she's in now too.

157) Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 2: Shadows and Secrets by Kieron Gillen: I really didn't think I'd like reading about Vader so much... I like being pleasantly surprised.

158) Star Wars: Vader Down by Jason Aaron: Fabulous. Just fabulous.

159) Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War by Kieron Gillen: A slight stumble.

160) Star Wars, Vol. 3: Rebel Jail by Jason Aaron: The Star Wars main line has such better artists...

161) Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 4: End of Games by Kieron Gillen: And I know how Doctor Aphra faked her death now!!!

162) Blacksad (Blacksad, #1-3) by Juan Díaz Canales: I think the new Cats movie and this book would get one well. Creepy looking, overly sexual cats, in a story that doesn't work in the least.

163) Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Harley Merlin #2) by Bella Forrest: Seeing as Bella Forrest by her output HAS to be more than one person this book didn't have the same snark as the first one and was therefore not as much fun. Though I will be continuing the series to see if yet another writer in the machine gets the snark back!

164) Bury the Lede by Gaby Dunn: A rather boring and at times randomly overly sexual story about newspapers, criminals, and conspiracies, that never quite clicks. 

165) Giant Days: As Time Goes By #1 by John Allison: Why couldn't John Allison have left well enough alone? I mean, this just sucked. Also this is a man who one time emailed me on Goodreads to complain that I was picking on the new illustrator. Guess what, she got better, you got worse!

166) Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) by Leigh Bardugo: Ugh, I SO wanted to like this book about secret societies at Yale, but instead I really hated it because this is more about glibly handling hot button topics that plague campuses in a perfuctory manner. Alex's roommate is sexually assaulted but is perfectly fine once the frat boy who did it to her is humiliated? Yeah, that doesn't sit right with me and I hope it doesn't with you either. 

167) Upon the Midnight Clear: A Lady Emily Christmas Story (Lady Emily #13.5) by Tasha Alexander: A wonderfully, perfectly, joyous holiday tale about love and forgiveness and the power of a little mystery in your life during the holiday season.

168) The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: Erin Morgenstern's second book is a wonderful complicated puzzle of a book that speaks to the book nerds in us all. Very reminiscent of 1980 epics written for kids which really just traumatized us, The Starless Sea is a book that when you get to the end you'll want to start it all over again.

169) Mary Shelley by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara: Not as full of errors as the David Bowie book I still think these need to be better researched. Too many errors for my taste!

170) Greta and the Giants by Zoë Tucker: A wonderful picture book on Greta Thunberg. If we could only aspire to be as amazing as she is this would be a better world. 

171) Dewdrop by Katie O'Neill: Adorably cute story from the creator of The Tea Dragon Society.

172) Locke and Key: Dog Days by Joe Hill: An adorable story about man's best friend but more importantly, so THAT'S how they got their house back!

173) Basketful of Heads #1 by Joe Hill: Wonderfully dark with fabulous references to Jaws.

174) Angel #6 by Bryan Hill: Angel is good so will Buffy be bad?  

175) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #9 by Jordie Bellaire: No... Buffy is OK.

176) Welcome Back to the Hellmouth Part 2 (Hellmouth #2) by Jordie Bellaire: It's Welcome Back to the Hellmouth that's boring wandering through caves...

177) The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson: Weird early speculative science fiction that has moments, when pigs are attacking the house, that are wonderful and terrifying, but others that are, time standing still, time speeding up, galaxies ending, yadda yadda... also trigger warning for animal deaths.

178) The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mart Robinette Kowal: I HATED this piece. Mainly because of my situation. I thought it was going to be fun times on Mars, instead it's partner dying on Mars because of disease... too close to my reality. I get that great science fiction should contain human truths, but sometimes all I want is my science fiction to take me away.

179) Gideon Falls, Vol. 2: Original Sins by Jeff Lemire: Oh hey, everything I guessed was right and it's still ripping off Haven.

180) Fresh Romance, Vol. 1 by Sarah Kuhn: Picked this up for Sarah Vaughn's Regency story which is sweet but TOO SHORT and incomplete, but also enjoyed the very nighties witchy stories.

181) Blacksad: A Silent Hell (Blacksad, #4) by Juan Díaz Canales: The completest in me must complete...

182) Blacksad: Amarillo (Blacksad, #5) by Juan Díaz Canales: But damn, these last two volumes, especially the last volume, are kind of shit. Replace "kind of" with "are." 

183) Wimbledon Green by Seth: Eh. I just don't really think Seth is for me. I've tried, but I felt this story's lack of any conclusion as to the fate of the comic collector Wimbledon Green was a cop out. 

184) Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon and Mu by Junji Ito: The story is boring, and how he draws his wife is creepy. Plus the afterword about one of the cats dying was too depressing.

185) Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics by Brian Azzarello: Ugh, rape and torture porn. No. Thank. You.

186) Gyo by Junji Ito: It's Godzilla with fart jokes. Otherwise a book written for my brother when he was nine.

187) Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1: The Last Iron Fist Story by Ed Brubaker: I never thought I'd read something by Brubaker and be like, yeah, that's boring. There's a first time for everything!

188) Angel #7 by Bryan Hill: Fred gets captured? WTF why?

189) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #10 by Jordie Bellaire: All the men are angry and it's annoying. I know it's going to be "something mystical" but I DO NOT like seeing Giles being an ass!

190) Firefly #11 by Greg Pak: No idea... Mal's mom, maybe?

191) The Dollhouse Family #1 by Mike Carey: A dollhouse where the dolls talk to you and want you to come live with them? YAS!

192) Basketful of Heads #2 by Joe Hill: Still very Jaws, but now Jaws with Norse Mythology mixing in.

193) The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton: Ugh. So Kate Morton's book have been successively getting better, and this felt like five steps back. Almost like a truck book that she just pulled out. Nothing feels resolved and the narrator, a ghost, you don't even care about how she became a ghost. Not her best. Not by a long shot. Feel bad for making my book club read it...

194) Stumptown, Vol. 2: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case by Greg Rucka: I SO don't care about music crimes.

195) Stumptown Vol. 3: The Case of the King of Clubs by Greg Rucka: And I REALLY don't care about soccer crimes even more. Or repeatedly being told the lack of laws in Oregon relating to scalping tickets. Also the new artist isn't very good... that is NOT what breasts look like.  

196) Stumptown Vol. 4: The Case of a Cup of Joe by Greg Rucka: Better art, snarkier story, THIS is what Stumptown is about, people willing to kill for coffee beans that are actually cat scat!

197) Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas by Lillian and Russell Hoban: After re-watching the TV special for the millionth time, I thought I should re-read the book. It doesn't disappoint after all these years. Both are classics. BOTH!

198) Tomie by Junji Ito: If you want to read hundreds and hundreds of pages of rape, murder, and torture porn without any depth to the narrative, then I have the book for you! Please don't let this be the book for you.

199) Tales from Harrow County: Death's Choir #1 by Cullen Bunn: They brought back Harrow County!?! OMG! My year is finally made!!!

200) Addams' Apple: The New York Cartoons of Charles Addams by Charles Addams: A wonderful new Charles Addams book that's coming out in the new year. Seriously, if you're a fan of his, get this. His books rarely remain in print and every library needs at least one Charles Addams book. Also this volume has several comics I'd never seen before, and I own ALL of his books, so that's saying something!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM