Friday, January 8, 2016

MY 2015 IN BOOKS!

2015 was another good year in books, where I read just under 100 books of varying length and genre! Here are the ones I wanted to highlight:

FAVORITE NOVELS I READ IN 2015:

*The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich
The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout
American Tabloid by James Ellroy
The Whites by Richard Price


   
WORST NOVEL I READ IN 2015:

Skinner by David Bernstein


FAVORITE NOVELS PUBLISHED IN 2015:

*Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich

The Whites by Richard Price




MOST ENTERTAINING NOVELS:

*Savage Season or Bad Chili by Joe R. Lansdale

The Wheelman by Duane Swierczynski
Butch Fatale, Dyke Dick: Double D Double Cross by Christa Faust
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline




FAVORITE STORY COLLECTIONS:

*Love and Other Wounds by Jordan Harper

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet by Richard Matheson
In the Season of Blood and Gold by Taylor Brown



FAVORITE SHORT STORIES:

*"Dress of White Silk" by Richard Matheson

"Whorehouse Piano" by Taylor Brown
"The Confidential Informant" by George Pelecanos
"Lucy In The Pit" by Jordan Harper 
"Playing Dead" by Jordan Harper 

FAVORITE NOVELLAS:

*Every Shallow Cut by Tom Piccirilli

The Rain Dancers by Greg F. Gifune
With Fury In Hand by Lee Thompson
Saint Homicide by Jake Hinkson



FAVORITE CRIME NOIR:

*Every Shallow Cut by Tom Piccirilli

The Posthumous Man by Jake Hinkson
Hell Hath No Fury (aka The Hot Spot) by Charles Williams
Hell on Church Street by Jake Hinkson
The Cold Kiss by John Rector



FAVORITE HORROR:

*Suffer The Children by Craig DiLouie

Crawl by Edward Lorn
Come Closer by Sara Gran
The Underdwelling by Tim Curran



FAVORITE BOOK SERIES:

The Hap and Leonard Series  by Joe R. Lansdale


MOST IMPRESSIVE PROSE/WRITING:

*Benjamin Whitmer in Pike

Glendon Swarthout in The Shootist
Marlon James in The Book of Night Women and John Crow's Devil


FAVORITE AUTHORS I DISCOVERED THIS YEAR: 

*Jake Hinkson

Tom Piccirilli
Benjamin Whitmer
Christa Faust

FAVORITE BOOK HEROES:

*Lilith from The Book of Night Women
 
Hap Collins and Leonard Pine from Savage Season and The Two-Bear Mambo
John Booth from The Shootist
Hugh Glass from The Revenant

FAVORITE BOOK VILLAINS:

*Simon Holly from Bull Mountain
 
Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard from Mixed Blood

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this, Richard! Can't wait to try the books on this list.

    And a note on James Ellroy:

    White Jazz and American Tabloid are two of the best novels I've read. However, if you're yet to try The Cold 6K, I'll warn you, you "may" find that it's a slog – a "genius slog" but still a slog. Ellroy has said himself that he wrote it while suffering a personal breakdown, and he considers the novel flawed (see for example: http://www.westword.com/arts/james-ellroy-the-master-of-mayhem-moves-in-on-the-mile-high-city-7329385).

    Fortunately, Blood's A Rover is a real return to form. Amazing read. And much better than Perfidia in my estimation.

    Thanks again!!!

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