Blogocentric Formulations

2017 Reading List

It's the end of 2017, which means it's time to review all the reading and listening I've done over the past calendar year. Last year, I set high-water marks in all categories (books, podcasts, comics, and scripts), while this year I fell short of my high scores in scripts and comics, but easily bested my top marks in books and podcasts... by a fairly considerable margin. Here's how 2016 breaks down:


= favorite
= also highly recommended


Books (click to expand full list) ▼

FICTION
         1000 Yards by Mark Dawson
         Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
         Alien: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon
         Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
         American Demon Hunters by J. Thorn
         American Demon Hunters: Sacrifice by J. Thorn, et al
         Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
         Anonymous Source, The by A.C. Fuller
         Art Forger, The by B.A. Shapiro
          Artemis by Andy Weir
         Bancroft Strategy, The by Robert Ludlum
          Brilliance by Marcus Sakey
         Bullet Rain by Robert Smallwood
         Buy A Bullett by Gregg Hurwitz
         Bypass Gemini by Joseph Lallo
         Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
         Camel Club, The by David Baldacci
         Cleaner, The by Mark Dawson
         Constitution by Nick Webb
         Darkness More Than Night, A by Michael Connelly
         Dead Key, The by D.M. Pulley
         Death Becomes Her by Michael Anderle
         Destiny Lost by M.D. Cooper
          Destroyer by Chris Fox
         Destroyer by Anna Carven
         Ember War, The by Richard Fox
         Emerald Storm (Rise of Empire, Book 2) by Michael J. Sullivan
          Eradication by Chris Fox
         Exiled by Chris Fox
         Fallback by David Archer
         First Ark, The by Chris Fox
         First Counsel, The by Brad Meltzer
         First Strike by Jack Paterson
         Fixer, The by T.E. Woods
          Force, The by Don Winslow
         Forever War, The by Joe Halderman
         Forgotten Room, The by Lincoln Child
         Geneva Decision, The by Seeley James
         Gone Bad by J.B. Turner
          Good Behavior by Blake Crouch
         Good Girl, The by Mary Kubica
          Gray Man, The by Mark Greaney
         Helix (Episode 1) by Nathan Farrugia
          Hellhole by Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert
         Hero Born by Chris Fox
         Honky Tonk Kat by Karen Kijewski
          Honor's Flight by Lindsay Buroker
         Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The by N.K. Jemisin
         Innocent, The by David Baldacci
         Invasion by Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant
         L.A. Outlaws by Jefferson T. Parker
         Land: The Founding, The by Aleron Kong
          Legionnaire by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
         Lies of Spies by Tim Tigner
         Life of Pi by Yann Martel
         Lines of the Devil by Zach Bohannon
         Lockdown by Sean Black
         Millionaires, The by Brad Meltzer
         Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
         Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
         No Mere Zombie by Chris Fox
         No Such Thing As Werewolves by Chris Fox
          Nowhere Man, The by Gregg Hurwitz
         NPCs by Drew Hayes
         Nyphron Rising (Rise of Empire, Book 2) by Michael J. Sullivan
         On Basilisk Station by David Weber
          On Target by Mark Greaney
          Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
         Paper Money by Ken Follett
         Patriot's Betrayal, A by Andrew Clawson
         Phoenix Apostles, The by Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore
         Planetstrider by Chris Fox
         Provoked by Izzy Shows
         Pushing Brilliance by Tim Tigner
         Ransom River by Meg Gardner
         Raylan by Elmore Leonard
         Rewinder by Brett Battles
          Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
         Survivor, The by Gregg Hurwitz
         Tales From the Void by Chris Fox, et al.
          Tech Mage by Chris Fox
         Terran Gambit, The by Nick Webb
         Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
         Timebound by Rysa Walker
         Torrent by Lindsay Buroker
         Vampires Don't Sparkle by Chris Fox
         Viridian Gate Online: Cataclysm by James Hunter
          Void Wraith by Chris Fox
          Void Wyrm by Chris fox
         Way of the Wolf, The by David Archer
         Winterbay Abbey by John Sladek & Davonna Juroi


NONFICTION
         4-Hour Work Week, The by Tim Ferriss
          5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter by Chris Fox
         Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories by Frank Rose
         Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama
         Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Dennis O'Neill & Travis Langley
          Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
         Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur by Joanna Penn
         Co-Writing a Book by J. Thorn & Joanna Penn
          Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made, The by Greg Sestero
         Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life by Craig Groeschel
         Gather 'Round the Sound by Paulo Coelho
         God Has a Name by John Mark Comar
          How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering LIfe by Lilly Singh
         How to Make a Living with Your Writing by Joanna Penn
         Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want by Maria Goff
         Nothing to Prove: Why We Can Stop Trying So Hard by Jennie Allen
          Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life by Jen Hatmaker
         Play With Fire: Discovering Fierce Faith, Unquenchable Passion, and a Life-Giving God by Biana Juarez Olthoff
         Reader Magnets: Build Your Author Platform and Sell More Books on Kindle by Nick Stephenson
          Six Figure Author: Using Data to Sell Books by Chris Fox
         Successful Author Mindset, The by Joanna Penn
         Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C.S. Lewis
         Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham
          Thanks, Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years by David Litt
         Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines and Habits of Billionaires, Icons and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss
         What is the Bible? How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters and Stories Can Transform the Way You Think by Rob Bell
         Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal by Eugene Soltes
          Write to Market: Deliver a Book That Sells by Chris Fox

For fiction, I highly recommend Gregg Hurwitz for thriller fans out there. His Orphan X book series is only two volumes at this point but already one of the best thrillers I've read in years. Blake Crouch's Letty Dobesh stories were also excellent. I've been on far more of a science fiction kick this year, though, and I read a lot of great stuff. Marcus Sakey's Brilliance was, well, pretty brilliant, and Andy Weir had a worthy follow-up to The Martian with his new book Artemis.. The Legionnaire series of books by Anspach & Cole is fantastic and something I'm really looking forward to continuing next year... and Chris Fox's many books, particularly his Tech Mage and Void Wraith series were worth reading for the way they blend genres.

For nonfiction, and speaking of Chris Fox, his write to market series of books are a fascinating look at how data and research can play into a writer's business plan. Lilly Singh and Jen Hatmaker had great books if you need to be uplifted and want a good laugh, but Elizabeth Gilbert's book on living a creative life was probably the best book I read all years... if not several years. For anyone who wants to be a writer, she gives great advice as someone who's had both incredible success and heartbreaking disappointment.

Podcasts (click to expand full list) ▼

         99% Invisible - 26 episodes
         Amazon Secrets - 2 episodes
         Bad Christian Podcast - 2 episodes
         Black List Table Reads - 6 episodes
         Business of Film - 6 episodes
         Cinema Squad Podcast - 40 episodes
         Creative Penn, The - 54 episodes
         Daily Hope with Rick Warren - 2 episodes
         Dave Bullis Podcast, The - 2 episodes
         Dead Pilots Society - 16 episodes
          Ezra Klein Show, The - 22 episodes
         Fifth Estate, The - 1 episode
         Freakonomics - 44 episodes
         How Story Works - 32 episodes
         How Stuff Works - 10 episodes
         Imaginary Worlds - 23 episodes
          Impact, The - 8 episodes
         It's Been a Minute - 14 episodes
         Kiss Me Quick - 12 episodes
          Lovett or Leave It - 44 episodes
         Majority 54 - 7 episodes
         Moment w/ Brian Koppelman - 3 episodes
         My Dad Wrote A Porno - 3 episodes
         Nerdist Podcast - 5 episodes
         Nerdist Writer's Panel - 37 episodes
         NPR Politics Podcast - 122 episodes
         Planet Money - 61 episodes
          Pod Save America - 115 episodes
         Pod Save the People - 11 episodes
          Pod Save the World - 49 episodes
         Q&A, The - 6 episodes
         Residual Income Podcast - 2 episodes
         ROCKHARBOR Podcast - 4 episodes
         Rocking Self Publishing Podcast - 11 episodes
          Sci-Fi & Fantasy Marketing Podcast - 50 episodes
         Scriptnotes - 57 episodes
         Sell More Books Show, The - 47 episodes
          Self-Publishing Formula - 74
         Self-Publishing Podcast - 54 episodes
         Slate Political Gabfest - 57 episodes
         Story Grid - 8 episodes
         Story Works Roundtable - 35 episodes
         Stuff You Missed in History Class - 7 episodes
         TED Radio Hour - 9 episodes
         This Week In Marvel - 2 episodes
         VOX Podcast - 57 episodes
          Weeds, The - 49 episodes
          With Friends Like These - 11 episodes
         Women of Marvel - 1 episode
         Writing Excuses - 53 episodes

With such a turbulent year in politics and world news, I listened to a lot of current events podcasts. The Crooked Media podcasts were all great for different reasons. The guys on Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It were great about distilling down the issues and expressing the same concerns and frustrations I had; Pod Save the World was great about giving me a new perspective on world affairs; the other podcasts (Majority 54, Pod Save the People, With Friends Like These) were excellent about providing different perspectives on a variety of issues.

I also found quite a few new self-publishing podcasts that I really enjoyed. I'm still fascinated by the process of self-publishing but some of the longtime favorites of mine are starting to feel a little stale and out-of-touch with entry-level writers, so it was refreshing to find some new voices in the field.

Comics (click to expand full list) ▼

         Batman (2011) #1-7, 13-17
         Civil War: Front Line #1-3
          The Red Ten #9-10

Not a lot of comic reading from me this year, but they did finally publish the final two issues of The Red Ten so I was finally able to finish the series after almost three years of waiting for them to slowly trickle the issues out.

Scripts (click to expand full list) ▼

PRODUCED
         Black Panther
         Thor: Ragnarok (1st Draft)
         Thor: Ragnarok (2nd Draft)


UNPRODUCED
         Allah in the Family
         Angry Angel (Pilot)
         Bachelor Party (Pilot)
         Big (Pilot)
         C-Company (Pilot)
         Caution to the Wind
         Dogwood
         Fat Girl Gets Revenge
         Food Fight
         Galaxy Fighter
         Gauntlet of Phillip Montega, The
         Hounds of House Reardon, The
         Housewives, The (Pilot)
         Jetpackula (Pilot)
         Light Loafers
         Lower End, The (Pilot)
         Maggie's Dawn
         Miss Christmas Pageant
         My Cousin Thor (Pilot)
         Promise, The
         Rachel Back Gate
         Robot Daughter (Pilot)
         Rollerworld (Pilot)
         Selznick's Folly
         Starlight
         Third and Last Meeting of the South Tampa Coral Reef Painting Committee
         Time Upon a Once
         Tuned (Pilot)
         When in Rome
         Women & Girls (Pilot)

         

I'm not putting any favorites or highly recommended on the script section of my reading list because a lot of the writers on this list are my friends and/or colleagues and I don't want to play favorites with my friends and business associates.

TOTALS: 119 books, 1,368 podcasts, 17 comics, 33 scripts


According to Goodreads, my book reading resulted in the following stats:

         Total Pages Read: 35,704
         Average Pages Per Book: 300
         Shortest Book: 48 pages
         Longest Book: 707 pages


That's it for my 2017 reading... time to see what 2018 has in store!