Dylan Thomas, detectives, and a depressing dentist: my 2018 reading list

One of my favorite posts from last year (and let's face it, I probably read this blog as much as anyone else, just shuffling back through to keep track of what I wrote about X months ago) was my year-end racap of what I read in 2017. I was actually surprised when I wrote that up how few books I'd made it through. This year's list will nearly double it, though we did have a few shorties in 2018, so apples/oranges, etc.

This list is in roughly chronological order of when I read each book, but neither you nor I know how precise that is. I can remember the last one I read and the one before that, and maybe the one before that, and then things go fuzzy.

A Man with One of Those Faces, by Caimh McDonnell. This is an Irish detective/adventure/humor that I stumbled across last year and added to my Christmas list. Got it and read it soon after the holidays. Loved it. Then found Caimh McDonnell had several other books, which will appear later in this list, all featuring the same characters. 

Adventures in the Skin Trade; Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog; Under Milk Wood, by Dylan Thomas. Three short books, all received for Christmas in 2017. Along with the Welsh music and football, came an interest in the culture generally, and Dylan Thomas has to be a jumping off point for that. The first two books were mostly short stories, some of which were humorous, some quite religious, others just generally freaky, bordering on some kind of mythological horror (or horrifying mythology). I can't say I loved them all. I did enjoy Under Milk Wood, though I had the sense I only ever picked up on about 35-40 percent of the actual meaning of things. It's one I'll have to revisit sometime, though the proper way to absorb it would be to hear the original radio play.

YA fans, meet Jason Van Otterloo

Do you like reading YA? Do you enjoy humor? Are you on a budget? Man, have I got a deal for you.

I'm taking my first step into the YA segment with The First World Problems of Jason Van Otterloo. It's like starting over as far as marketing is concerned. So I'm trying something new this time around. I'm giving away copies. FREE! All I ask in return is a little help spreading the word. If you enjoy the book, tell a friend. Post a review. Share a link on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social media you use. And if you happen to be in a book club that reads YA, I'll spot you a copy for everyone in the group. (All you have to do is talk them into picking it, which judging by some of the book clubs I've encountered must mean you have a lot of political sway.)

I can see you there thinking, what is this book even about. Well, here's the official "blurb":

Jason Van Otterloo has been waiting for his parents to grow up for nearly 16 years. It doesn’t seem likely to happen any time soon. While his dad loses his paycheck to the neighborhood poker sharks and his mom cruises the happy hour scene, Jason haunts Seattle's coffee joints and indie cinemas with his best friend and fellow intellectual Drew. The tragicomic accounts of his ill-matched odd jobs, summer fling, and the mysterious and exotic new neighbor lady are detailed in emails to Drew and others. This will be one summer Jason will never forget—try as he might. (Ages 14 and up.)

Imagine a cross between Nick Hornby's Slam and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (please tell me I'm not the only one who has read and loved both of those) and you'll be on the right track. If that sounds like something you'd be up for, drop me a line, either by email (jamesbailey@rochester.rr.com) or on Twitter, and I'll shoot you a link that will let you download the entire book in your preferred ereader format from Book Funnel (no membership required, though you may need to install their app).

Simple, right? Well, what are you waiting for? Let's do this.

A little bit of everything on my 2017 reading list

For a few years, earlier this decade, I read baseball books almost exclusively. I reviewed them both for my own blog and for Baseball America. I cranked through baseball biographies, season recaps, offbeat observations, novels, and minor-league-chasing-the-dream tales. Some of them were quite good; most, in the grand scheme of things, were somewhat forgettable. Inevitably, I got burned out on baseball books. In looking back on my reading list for 2017, there's not a single one in the bunch.

There's not really much of a theme to this year's list at all. I had a few re-reads, especially early, a couple of which were prompted by the political dystopia we were plunged into after the catastrophic 2016 election. Others I plucked off the shelf on a whim, some of which had been sitting for years, never read, waiting for the moment I would finally get to them. Here they are, roughly in chronological reading order.