Read in 2018

So, I did hit my goal of reading at least 1,000 pages a month, bit by chewy bit.

Reading books for the 2018 Whitney Awards helped a bit, though I wish I’d had more time for that.
Best book of the year? Going to go with an old favorite, “My Life and Hard Times," by James Thurber. I see a lot of myself in the characters Thurber writes about, and I love that he tells these tales from true life with, I hope, only slight embellishment, because I like to think his life is as interesting has he portrays.

The most trying book? Lots could go on that list, but I think it’s going to fall to “Nomad,” by Matthew Mather. It’s Apocalypse-by-Numbers, right down to the petty personal feud that’s got to come to some kind of conclusion even as the ENTIRE FREAKING EARTH is blowing up and crumbling to dust. I don’t know. I think if the Earth were literally falling apart underneath my feet, I might forget about that personal vendetta. Ironically, that the vendetta had to go on to the end required a suspension of disbelief I could not give the book, though I did let it go when it came to the trope of asteroid coming to destroy the Earth.

Most educational? “Education of A Wandering Man,” by Louis L'Amour. While I find L’Amour’s cliffhanger endings with each chapter to be a bit annoying, reading about his life and the foundation on which he built his writing career was enjoyable. Gives me hope that as I add to my own bits of cranial flotsam, some of it will eventually come out in book form.

Yes, there’s lots of comfort food on this list. But there were also some books that challenged me. Particularly “Monkey: A Journey to the West.” It’s easy for a Westerner to get lost in all the symbolism of jade and gold and whatnot. I kinda needed an interpreter alongside me as I read this one. That monkey transcends it all is, of course, symbolic of the kind of journey that we’re supposed to make in life, but I still get the feeling there’s a lot in the symbolism and metaphor that just shit right over my pointy little head.

So here’s the tally:

Amazing World of Gumball: Vol. 1, by Tyson Hesse and Frank Gibson. 118 pages.
Anzio, by Lloyd Clark. 392 pages.
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are, by Frans de Waal. 352 pages.
Book of Mormon, The; translated by Joseph Smith Jun., 779 pages.
Brother Cadfael's Penance, by Ellis Peters. 196 pages.
Case of the Condemned Cat, The; by E. W. Hildick. 137 pages.
Case of the Felon's Fiddle, The; by E.W. Hildick. 138 pages.
Case of the Invisible Dog, The; by E.W. Hildiick. 119 pages.
Case of the Nervous Newsboy, The; by E.W. Hildick. 108 pages.
Case of the Phantom Frog, The; by E. W. Hildick. 132 pages.
Case of the Snowbound Spy, The; by E. W. Hildick. 132 pages.
Count of Monte Cristo, The; by Alexandre Dumas. 480 pages
Cruel Shoes, by Steve Martin. 128 pages.
Cubicles to Envy the Dead, by Scott Adams. 148 pages.
Deadline for McGurk, by E.W. Hildick. 120 pages.
Design of Everyday Things, The; by Donald Norman. 257 pages.
Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Meltdown, by  Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.
Diary of A Wimpy Kid: The Getaway, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.
Diary of A Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw; by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.
Diary of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.
Dilbert Principle, The; by Scott Adams. 336 pages.
Dragon Orb, The; by Mike Shelton. 326 pages.
Dragons at Crumbling Castle, by Terry Pratchett. 337 pages.
Education of A Wandering Man, by Louis L'Amour. 260 pages.
Fire Queen, The; by Emily R. King 286 pages.
Grasshopper Trap, The; by Patrick F. McManus, 213 pages.
Great Government Goofs, by Leland H. Gregory III. 264 pages.
Great Rabbit Rip-Off, The; by E. W. Hildick. 130 pages.
Green Hills of Earth, The; by Robert A. Heinlein. 176 pages.
Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett. 402 pages.
Last Continent, The; by Terry Pratchett. 390 pages.
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett. 314 pages.
Matthew Looney and the Space Pirates, by Jerome Beatty Jr. 159 pages.
Monkey: A Journey to the West, retold by David Kheridan. 211 pages.
Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, The, by Richard Peck. 227 pages.
My Life and Hard Times, by James Thurber. 115 pages.
Nixon Defense, The; by John Dean. 746 pages.
Nomad, by Matthew Mather. 334 pages.
Overlord, by Max Hastings. 368 pages.
Peter Principle, The; by Laurence J. Peter. 180 pages.
Poison's Kiss, by Breeana Sheilds, 295 pages.
Shepherd's Crown, The; by Terry Pratchett. 278 pages.
Snuff, by Terry Pratchett. 398 pages.
Up Front, by Bill Mauldin. 218 pages.
Waking Beauty, by Brittlyn Gallacher Doyle. 224 pages.
Page Total: 12,571.