2015-01-01


I finally managed to do a Book-A-Day that exactly matched a given year, after two more idiosyncratic prior runs here. (2006-2007 was 200 days, roughly September-February. 2010-2011 was exactly a year, but began in early February.)

The first time out, I had a Post-Mortem, to corral everything into categories. I think I was too exhausted in February 2011 to do that the second time, but this Book-A-Day ends in the middle of an epic end-of-year vacation, when I have nothing but time and nervous energy.

So here's how those books break down, for anyone as fascinated with tidy little categories as I am. Note that some of these are arguable cases, but this is how I score 'em. This post may also be most useful for people who only want to read in a particular category at the moment, and so happy hunting to them.

Fiction: Fantasy & SF (16, 4.4%)

London Falling by Paul Cornell

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White

Something More Than Night by Ian Tregillis

The Madonna and the Starship by James Morrow

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross

The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde

The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde

Hawk by Steven Brust

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones

The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

There was a time when I "read" -- sometimes just the first fifty pages, the last fifty pages, and a skim of the bits in between -- two to four books in this category every single week. I vaguely miss that: at least, I miss the books I made time to read all of, not the shelf-fillers that I skimmed so I could sell them myself.

Fiction: Mystery & Thriller (2, 0.5%)

The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons by Lawrence Block

The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black

I haven't read giant piles of books in this category for a long, long time, but two is awfully low for a whole year.

Fiction: Mainstream (10, 2.7%)

The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman

Galahad at Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker

Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker

Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney

Dancing in the Dark by Janet Hobhouse

The Bushwhacked Piano by Thomas McGuaine

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks

Cathedral by Raymond Carver

Not bad, considering I'm only getting through about one "real" prose book a week on average. This should rise in the coming year, since the Vintage Contemporaries project is ongoing; I'm reading at least one book a month in this vague category.

Non-Fiction: Narrative (22, 6.0%)

Uncle Boris in the Yukon by Daniel Pinkwater

One Summer by Bill Bryson

How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff

Levels of Life by Julian Barnes

The Revised Vault of Walt by Jim Korkis

Ten Years in the Tub by Nick Hornby

How About Never -- Is Never Good For You?: My Life In Cartoons by Bob Mankoff

Reflections: On the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne Jones

Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn

The Folklore of Discworld by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson

The Baby Boom by P.J. O'Rourke

Dance of the Reptiles by Carl Hiaasen

The Imperial Way by Paul Theroux with photos by Steve McCurry

You Can Date Boys When You're Forty by Dave Barry

My American Revolution by Robert Sullivan

Is That a Fact? by Dr. Joe Schwarcz

Flash Boys by Michael Lewis

Coyote V. Acme by Ian Frazier

What Were They Thinking? by Bruce Felton

A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett

The Getaway Car by Donald E. Westlake

Underfoot in Show Business by Helene Hanff

This is a fairly vague category: everything basically true that's meant to be read through as a book. And it's very varied, with a lot of collections of miscellaneous stuff. My reading could clearly be substantially more serious than it is -- but it probably won't move too far in that direction.

Non-Fiction: Lists & Frivolities (10, 2.7%)

An Uncommon Scold edited by Abby Adams

The Literary Companion edited by Emma Jones

The Economist Book of Business Quotations edited by Bill Ridgers

Good Advice from Bad People by Zac Bissonnette

The Bathroom LOL Book compiled by Jack Kreismer

Wretched Writing by Ross and Kathryn Petras

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2015 by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa

Frommer's EasyGuide to Walt Disney World and Orlando 2014

The Compleat Ankh-Morpork City Guide by Terry Pratchett and the Discworld Emporium

Overheard in New York by S. Morgan Friedman and Michael Malice

These are mostly books for a particular purpose, and that purpose in most cases is wasting time in the smallest room in the house. I used to read poetry books there; maybe I'll go back to that at some point.

Comics: Strip & Panel Collections (38, 10.4%)

American Elf by James Kochalka

You're All Just Jealous of My Jet Pack by Tom Gauld

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Menage a 3, Vol. 1 by Gisele Lagace and David Lumsdon

The Amazing Cynicalman, Vol. 2 by Matt Feazell

Heck by Zander Cannon

Menage a 3, Vol. 2 by Gisele Lagace and David Lumsdon

Menage a 3, Vol. 3 by Gisele Lagace and David Lumsdon

The Complete Peanuts, 1987 to 1988 by Charles M. Schulz

The World of Charles Addams

Young Lovecraft, Vol. 1 by Jose Oliver and Bartolo Torres

The Bojeffries Saga by Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse

Pearls Falls Fast by Stephan Pastis

I Love Led Zeppelin by Ellen Forney

Bad Machinery, Vol. 1: The Case of the Team Spirit by John Allison

Crater XV by Kevin Cannon

Hand-Drying in America and Other Stories by Ben Katchor

Feiffer: The Collected Works, Vol. 1: Clifford by Jules Feiffer

Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin

Booth Again! by George Booth

Ray and Joe: The Story of a Man and His Dead Friend by Charles Rodrigues

Penny Arcade, Vol. 3: The WarSun Prophecies by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulic

..I'm Pretty Sure I've Got My Death-Ray in Here Somewhere! by Sam Hurt

Young Lovecraft, Vol. 2 by Jose Oliver and Bartolo Torres

Betsy and Me by Jack Cole

Attitude Featuring Andy Singer "No Exit"

What Fools These Mortals Be: The Story of Puck by Michael Alexander Kahn and Richard Samuel West

Amphigorey Too by Edward Gorey

Bad Machinery, Vol. 2: The Case of the Good Boy by John Allison

Alone Forever by Liz Prince

The Potpourrific Great Big Grab Bag of Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley

Bad Machinery, Vol. 3: The Case of the Simple Soul by John Allison

Omnibooth by George Booth

Diesel Sweeties: There Is a Cat on the Internet! by R Stevens

Soppy by Philippa Rice

Strong Female Protagonist, Book One by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag

Strip Joint by Carol Lay

The World of George Price

The first of several comics categories; this one corrals books that collect work that originally appeared elsewhere and is mostly in individual strip (or panel) form. "Elsewhere" is vague enough to cover both print and digital; I don't make a strong distinction between distribution media, since I mostly like to read traditional strips that translate well to book publication. (And not Scott McCloud-esque infinite canvases.)

Comics: Floppy Collections (71, 19.5%)

Watchmen by Moore and Gibbons and Before Watchmen by various (5 volumes)

Johnny Hiro: The Skills to Pay the Bills by Fred Chao

Bandette, Vol. 1: Presto! by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover

Gumby's Spring Specials by Bob Burden, Steve Purcell, and Arthur Adams

Cursed Pirate Girl (Vol. 1) by Jeremy A. Bastian

The Ghastly Ones and Other Fiendish Frolics by Richard Sala

DC Comics: The Sequential Art of Amanda Conner

The Complete Peanuts, 1989 to 1990 by Charles M. Schulz

Sex Criminals, Vol. 1 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky

Girl Crazy by Gilbert Hernandez

Drawn Together by Aline and R. Crumb

Hellboy in Hell: The Descent by Mike Mignola

Queen of the Black Black by Megan Kelso

Art d'Ecco by Andrew and Roger Langridge

The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius by Judd Winick

Black Cat Crossing by Richard Sala

The Fish Police, Vol. 1 by Steve Moncuse

Zoot Suite by Andrew and Roger Langridge

Welcome to the Dahl House by Ken Dahl

The Irredeemable Ant-Man by Robert Kirkman, Phil Hester, and Andre Parks

Skin Deep by Charles Burns

iZombie, Vol. 1 by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred

The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy by Stan Sakai

Fatima: The Blood Spinners by Gilbert Hernandez

The Little Man by Chester Brown

The Shadow: Blood and Judgment by Howard Chaykin

Milk and Cheese: Dairy Products Gone Bad! by Evan Dorkin

Tales of the Fear Agent by various

Dead Boy Detectives, Vol. 1: Schoolboy Terrors by Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham

Black Science, Vol. 1: How to Fall Forever by Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, and Dean White

Miracleman, Vol. 1: A Dream of Flying by Alan Moore, Garry Leach, and Alan Davis

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Love's Not a Three Dollar Fare by Terry LaBan

Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice by John Layman and Rob Guillory

Rocket Girl, Vol. 1: Times Squared by Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder

The Auteur, Book One: President's Day by Rick Spears and James Callahan

Rocky & Bullwinkle, Vol. 1 by Mark Evanier and Roger Langridge

I Kill Giants by Joe and JM Kim Niimura

Hellboy, Vol. 12: The Storm & The Fury by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo

Itty Bitty Hellboy by Art Baltazar and Franco

B.P.R.D.: 1948 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Max Fiumara

Lobster Johnson, Vol. 2: The Burning Hand by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Tonci Zonjic

Abe Sapien, Vol. 2: The Devil Does Not Jest by Mike Mignola, et. al.

Minimum Wage, Book Two by Bob Fingerman

Special Forces by Kyle Baker

Apocalypse Nerd by Peter Bagge

Welcome to Tranquility by Gail Simone and Neil Googe

The Best of Milligan and McCarthy by Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy

RASL by Jeff Smith

The Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler and Mike Mayhew

Mind MGMT, Vol. 1 by Matt Kindt

The Shadow Master Series, Vol. 1 by Andrew Helfer and Bill Sienkiewicz

Let Us Be/Perfectly Clear by Paul Hornschemeier

Thirteen "Going On Eighteen" by John Stanley with Tony Tallarico

Fables, Vol. 15 & 16 by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, et. al.

Chew, Vol. 2 by John Layman and Rob Guillory

Saga, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Trillium by Jeff Lemire

B.P.R.D.: Hell On Earth, Vols. 1-3 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis, and Tyler Crook

Jack of Fables: Vols. 8 & 9 by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, Tony Akins, and Andrew Pepoy

Minimum Wage, Vol. 1: Focus on the Strange by Bob Fingerman

Finder: Talisman by Carla Speed McNeil

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever by Chris Roberson and Shawn McManus

Concrete Park, Vol. 1: You Send Me by Tony Puryear and Erika Alexander

B.P.R.D.: Being Human by Mike Mignola, et.al.

The Squidder by Ben Templesmith

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Undertow, Vol. 1: Boatman's Call by Steve Orlando and Artyom Trakhanov

The Complete Multiple Warheads, Vol. 1 by Brandon Graham

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

Satellite Sam, Vol. 1: The Lonesome Death of Satellite Sam by Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin

And these are comics reprinted from individual issues, more or less -- I may have forgotten nitpicking details of publication of some of these several dozen books, so my categories are not to be taken as gospel. This tends to be the more traditional comic-shop end of the comics industry, though, which is something worth marking off as its own thing.

Comics: Originals in Book Form (106, 29.0%)

The Hive by Charles Burns

Marble Season by Gilbert Hernandez

Crogan's Loyalty by Chris Schweizer

The Elwell Enigma by Rick Geary

Make Me a Woman by Vanessa Davis

How to Fake a Moon Landing by Darryl Cunningham

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

Aesthetics: A Memoir by Ivan Brunetti

Bad Houses by Sara Ryan and Carla Speed McNeil

Genius by Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen

Boxers and Saints (2 volumes) by Gene Luen Yang

The Advance Team by Will Pfeiffer and Germain Torres

Giants Beware! by Jorge Rosado and Rafael Aguirre

Americus by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill

We Can Fix It! by Jess Fink

Madison Square Tragedy by Rick Geary

Taxes, the Tea Party, and Those Revolting Rebels by Stan Mack

Upside Down by Jesse Smart Smiley

Battling Boy by Paul Pope

Everything Is Going to Be Okay by Bruce Eric Kaplan

A Game for Swallows by Zeina Abirached

Daisy Kutter: The Last Train by Kazu Kibuishi

The Rime of the Modern Mariner by Nick Hayes

Recess Pieces by Bob Fingerman

NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette by Nathan W. Pyle

Explorer: The Lost Islands edited by Kazu Kibuishi

The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg

Three Fingers by Rich Koslowski

Aphrodite: Goddess of Love by George O'Connor

The Pro by Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner, and Jimmy Palmiotti

Mush! Sled Dogs With Issues by Glenn Eichler and Joe Infurnari

The Complete Don Quixote by Cervantes; adapted by Woodrow Davis

Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen

Happy! by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson

Woman Rebel by Peter Bagge

This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki

Zita the Spacegirl (3 volumes) by Ben Hatke

Liar's Kiss by Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano

The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, and Nate Powell

Richard Stark's Parker: Slayground by Darwyn Cooke

Creature Tech by Doug Ten Napel

Dogs and Water by Anders Nilsen

Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

Chester 5000 XYV by Jess Fink

Andre the Giant by Box Brown

Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo

New School by Dash Shaw

The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Hamlet by Ian Lender and Zach Giallongo

All Star by Jesse Lonergan

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft; adapted by I.N.J. Culbard

Picture This by Lynda Barry

The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

The Property by Rutu Modan

Batman: Hong Kong by Doug Moench and Tony Wong

Ringworld: The Graphic Novel, Part One by Robert Mandell and Sean Lam

Spiral-Bound by Aaron Renier

The Voyeurs by Gabrielle Bell

Blue by Pat Grant

Celluloid by Dave McKean

The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff

The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple

Nobrow 9: It's Oh So Quiet edited by Sam Arthur, Alex Spiro, and Ben Newman

An Age of License by Lucy Knisley

The Rise of Aurora West by Paul Pope, JT Petty, and David Rubin

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Amulet, Vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

The People Inside by Ray Fawkes

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, and Becky Cloonan

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Archer Coe: "The Thousand Natural Shocks" by Jamie S. Rich and Dan Christensen

Fran by Jim Woodring

August Moon by Diana Thung

I Was the Cat by Paul Tobin and Benjamin Dewey

Lost Dogs by Jeff Lemire

Bumperhead by Gilbert Hernandez

Tomboy by Liz Prince

Pistolwhip by Matt Kindt and Jason Hall

The Best American Comics 2014 edited by Scott McCloud

Howl: A Graphic Novel by Allen Ginsberg and Eric Drooker

Grandville Noel by Bryan Talbot

Henni by Miss Lasko-Gross

Kinski by Gabriel Hardman

Escape from "Special" by Miss Lasko-Gross

Cypher by Brad Teare

The Truth Is a Cave In the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman and Eddie Campbell

The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley

Shackelton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

The Wolf Gift: The Graphic Novel by Anne Rice and Ashley Marie Witter

Jane, The Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault

The Graveyard Book, Vols. 1 and 2 by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and various artists

Hearts of Gold by Milt Gross

A Most Imperfect Union by Ilan Stavans and Lalo Alcaraz

The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks and Caanan White

Loverboys by Gilbert Hernandez

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins

Sugar Skull by Charles Burns

Bumf, Vol. 1 by Joe Sacco

The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis

Ricky Rouse Has a Gun by Jorg Tittel and John Aggs

Here by Richard McGuire

The very largest category, unsurprisingly: I like comics, and I like reading things in book form, and I like my stories to be shaped to a particular purpose rather than grown like Topsy or just allowed to wander from one fight-scene to another. There is a lot of good stuff here: 2014 was a strong year for book-shaped comics.

Comics: Translated From Japanese (and other Asian languages) (47, 12.9%)

Pink by Kiyoko Okazaki

Tropic of the Sea by Satoshi Kon

Helter Skelter by Kiyoko Okazaki

Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, Vol. 3 by Satoko Kiyuduki

Blood Cross, Vol. 1 by Shiwo Komeyama

Sickness Unto Death, Vol. 1 by Hikaru Asada and Takahiro Seguchi

From the New World, Vol. 2 by Yusuke Kishi and Toru Oikawa

Wolfsmund, Vol. 3 by Mitsuhita Kuji

Sakuran by Moyoco Anno

No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular, Vols. 1 and 2 by Nico Tanigawa

Stargazing Dog by Takashi Murakami

Inu X Boku, Vols. 1 and 2 by Cocoa Fujiwara

Insufficient Direction by Moyocco Anno

Sunny, Vol. 1 by Taiyo Matsumoto

No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 3 by Nico Tanigawa

Inu X Boku SS, Vol. 3 by Cocoa Fujiwara

Bloody Cross, Vol. 2 by Shiwo Komeyama

Triage X, Vols. 1-5 by Shouji Sato

Sunny, Vol. 2 by Taiyo Matsumoto

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga

No Longer Human (3 volumes) by Usamaru Furuya

La Quinta Camera by Natsume Ono

Wolf Children Ame and Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda and Yu

Bloody Cross, Vol. 3 by Shiwo Komeyama

Triage X, Vol. 6 by Shouji Sato

Princess Knight (2 volumes) by Osamu Tezuka

Cardfight!! Vanguard, Vol. 1 by Akira Itou

Cromartie High School, Vol. 2 by Eiji Honaka

High School DxD, Vol. 1 by Hiroji Mishima

Is This a Zombie?, Vols. 1-7 by Sacchi

In Clothes Called Fat by Moyoco Anno

Fallen Words by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Is This a Zombie?, Vol. 8 by Sacchi

Triage X, Vol. 7 by Shouji Sato

No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys's Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 4 by Nico Tanigawa

Korea As Viewed by 12 Creators

Sorako by Takayuki Fujimura

Barakamon, Vol. 1 by Satsuki Yoshino

No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 5 by Nico Tanigawa

Ubel Blatt, Vol. 0 by Etorouji Shiono

Alive by Hajime Taguchi

Void's Enigmatic Mansion, Vol. 1 by JiEun Ha and HeeEun Kim

Good-bye Geist by Ryo Hanada

VS Aliens by Yu Suzuki

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki

Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga, Vol. 1

Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano

This year I ended up mostly reading manga rather than manhwa or manhua, probably because that's where the big conveyor belt is aimed for the North American market. It's a mixed bag of crowd-pleasers and more artsy stuff; my personal taste tends to aim to the artsy, but the others can be fun as well. (Blatant fanservice, in particular, can be very amusing.)

Comics: Translated From French (and other European languages) (28, 7.7%)

Lost Cat by Jason

Sandcastle by Frederik Peeters and Pierre Oscar Levy

The Initiates by Etienne Davodeau

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet

A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting by Guy Delisle

Goddam This War! by Tardi

Last Days of an Immortal by Gwen de Bonneval and Fabien Vehlmann

Isle of 100,000 Graves by Vehlmann and Jason

Bubbles and Gondola by Renaud Dillies

Monster Christmas by Lewis Trondheim

Blue Is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh

Ralph Azham, Vol. 1 by Lewis Trondheim

The Sky Over the Louvre by Bernar Yslaire and Jean-Claude Carriere

Hey, Wait... by Jason

Sshhhhh! by Jason

The Iron Wagon by Jason

Harum Scarum by Lewis Trondheim

The Hoodoodad by Lewis Trondheim

The Adventures of Herge by Jose-Louis Bocquet, Jean-Luc Fromental, and Stanislas Bartelemy; translated by Helge Dasher

How the World Was by Emmanuel Guibert

The Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Vol. 1 by Jacques Tardi

Paul Joins the Scouts by Michel Rabagliati

Athos in America by Jason

Isaac The Pirate, Vol. 1 by Christophe Blain

Bigfoot by Pascal Girard

Blacksad: Amarillo by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido

Beauty by Kerascoet and Hubert

Weapons of Mass Diplomacy by Abel Lanzac and Christophe Blain

This is almost all what I called "artsy stuff" above, and mostly from continental Europe. (There are a few books from Francophone Canada, but my sense is that community looks to France and Belgium for a model much more than they look domestically or to the USA, so it feels reasonable to lump them in here.) That said, some artsiness works better than others, and several of these books -- Blacksad, Isaac the Pirate, Adele Blanc-Sec, etc. -- are explicitly in adventure-story modes.

Art Books (8, 2.2%)

Blown Covers by Francoise Mouly

We Are Indie Toys! by Louis Bou

How Are You Feeling? by David Shrigley

I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have To Be Destroyed By Me by Trevor Paglen

One Eye by Charles Burns

The Great War: July 1, 1916: The First Day of the Battle of the Somme by Joe Sacco

Everybody Dies by Ken Tanaka and David Ury

Co-Mix by Art Spiegelman

A vague category, yes, but it's basically things that exist to be art themselves or to showcase previous art. Some of them are physically too small to really be "coffee-table books," but that's another decent way of corralling them.

Books for Children of Various Ages (6, 1.6%)

Odd Duck by Cecil Castellucci and Sara Varon

Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown

Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Eric Kaplan

Star Wars: Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan by Jeffrey Brown

Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti

29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy by Lemony Snicket and Lisa Brown

Not including novels for pre-adults, which I treated as plain novels in the above categories. (That line is so fuzzy that I don't believe it makes sense to patrol it in one's own reading. For bookstore categories and suggested-reading lists, definitely: age bands can be very useful in helping people find books they will appreciate and enjoy.) Another very mixed bag of stuff.

Playscripts (1, 0.3%)

The Underpants by Carl Sternheim and Steve Martin

No poetry this year, so this is as odd as I got.

It came out to a total of 392 books reviewed, in 365 daily posts. I hope, if

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