Lead the plot into some wild team-ups.

4.

Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology by Richard Reynolds - This one kept popping up in the bibliographies of Comic and Super-hero studies. A short book which is probably the guy's thesis, and is a little dated from its 1992 origins, but still quite insightful. I just wish there was better examples than The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen.

You have been disappointed in love but a better woman will replace her.

5.

Desperadoes by Ron Hansen - A western that I have meant to read for years. My Dad gave me my first Ron Hansen book and I thank him for it everytime I think of him. Hansen's first novel, it is the fictionalized first person account of the famed Dalton gang and their daring train and bank robberies.

Because the character and comic book offered a grand and triumphant vision of Afrofuturist blackness...

6.

Super Black by Adilifu Nama - I stumbled upon this book while browsing Facebook one day, saw one of my favourite comic characters and knew I had to read it. Nama, a professor of Africa American Studies, does a pretty good job of analysing all the major black superheroes in comics, TV and film. Some pretty good insights and criticism.

All the emotion I thought was dead rushing at me.

7.

Start Shooting by Charlie Newton - Picked up and advanced copy of this Chicago noir. Had high hopes of a good pot-boiler, but although this started out with promise of guns, gangs, drugs and corruption it soon turned silly with Japanese bio-weapons and a Viet Nam revenge saga. Blergh. I think I want my money back.

When you die, you feel as though there were some subtle change...

8.

Sum by Dave Eagleman - Book Club Pick! Forty-some odd visions of the afterlife. Some worked, but a lot didn't. It is the kind of book that makes you go Hmmm, but doesn't really stick with you.

No mention of his suspicion that this had something to do with things he could no longer ignore...

9.

The Coast Road by John Brady - I fell in love with the Matt Minogue mysteries a long time ago and probably still read them out of habit more than anything, but they always seem to hit the right notes and make me miss my visit to Ireland.

I don't know, the guy was beige wallpaper

10.

Agent X by Noah Boyd - Needing a bit of an escape and not being ready for another Lee Child I went back to Noah Boyd and his ready-for-screen thrillers starring Steve Vail, former FBI super hero & current bricklayer. This one did not disappoint. Fun puzzles, lots of action, hints of cold-war spying and eye rolling romance. Quick and fun little read.

Without bicycles, my life would have taken a completely different path.

11.

On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life edited by Amy Walker - I put in the subtitle, because I need you to know that this book is not 50 ways the new bike culture can change your life. It is 50 articles on bikes, bike culture and bike activism. The problem is that some are good and some are bad. Sure, to be expected, but the range of topics is too diverse and the editing is weak. Also, I don't need to read 35 people's different way to phrase 'bikes reduce green house emissions'.

Cause that night, swinging by candlelight in that cramped room, everything warring in me settled down.

12.

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan - The everything nominated Canadian novel tells the tragic story of jazz band in Hitler's Berlin and occupied Paris. Well written, but not showy, it really paints an exquisite picture of time and place. And the dialogue shared by the men is like the music they created. Just a very good read.

So we sat in the starry darkness with each other and the whiskey.

13.

Blue-Eyed Devil by Robert B. Parker - I am going to miss Robert Parker. I never thought I would have written those words, but there is something so entertaining about about his sparse prose and tight plotting. Blue-Eyed Devil is his last western starring Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch and it was as good as the first. Adios Mr. Parker.

The most ingenious library scientist of modern times...

14.

The Icelander by Dustin Long - Bookclub Book! And boy was it too cute by half. A twee literary pastiche of a whodunit, it just doesn't really work. Some funny and/or good ideas, but nothing taken far enough to be good.

Ther are working up the steep slope of Cathedral Street...

15.

Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa - A first novel about the Portugese immigrant experience in Canada, it has sat on my shelf for quite some time. A lot of references to Newfoundland which I didn't know about. Heartbreaking, but well written.

Are you just being recalcitrant?

16.

Split Image by Robert B. Parker - I came to Robert Parker very late in his career. The man had written over 60 books upon his death and was known as one of the kings of American crime fiction. This is one of the Jesse Stone novels. I got into Jesse Stone simply because of the Tom Selleck TV movies filmed in Halifax. Yup, Tom Selleck. Anyway, all the books are a little formulaic and more dialogue than anything, but they are fun.

Don't leave off the mayonnaise as it's a favorite topping in Maine for good reason.

17.

The Great American Hot Dog Book by Becky Mercuri - Boy oh boy, do I love a good hot dog. Saw this book and had to buy it 'cause it was cheap. 150 pages of history, recipes and notes on various hot dog stands all over the US. All I want is a chili dog now that I think about it.

It was a voice that could never quite disentangle itself from the text or remain truly omniscient in spite of the mocking detachment.

18.

Supergods by Grant Morrison - I used to love Grant Morrison's comics and then I didn't and then I did again. This is part memoir, part history, and part treatise. He has some weird ideas and a bit of an ego. I am not sure it really works, but there are some crunchy bits. They are just harder to find than they should be.

I reread it several times, but had no immediate revelations as to its meaning...

19.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Vacation Book! If you grew up playing video games in the 80s this the book for you. If you know what a TRS-80, an Atari 800, or Zork is then this is the book for you. If you are a geek or a nerd then this is the book for you. This is a fun fast nerdy speculative hero tale that has a little bit of something for everyone, but the cultural touchpoints may be too much for some.

There would have been no compatibility issues either.

20.

The Enemy by Lee Child - Vacation Book! And No. 8 in the Jack Reacher series. Something light for the trip. It is a flashback book, showing us an episode in Reacher's past. Pretty good thriller although a little predictable. Series is still quite fun.

The book fell open to the page she knew it would: the crease in the spine was permanent.

21.

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont - I love pulp. This is probably one of the truest things said about me. I have owned this book for years and finally got around to reading it. Basically, it is the story of three famous pulp writers and their pulp adventure. It is pastiche, without a doubt, but the fact that the author took the time to write each character's adventure like that author would write was endearing. Lots of cameos too.

All of that - the measurements of alcohol in the brain, the injuries, the behavior, the full context of those deaths...

22.

The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum - Bookclub book! Well researched and well written short history of the birth of New York City's Medical Examiner's Office in the 20s and 30s. Blum paints a vivid picture of the two men that shaped the science that has almost become common place today and documents some of the more intriguing cases of poisoning they investigated.

Now that it was over, it made him feel bad.

23.

Who Dares Wins by Chris Ryan - How do you describe a thriller that isn't thrilling? Plotting that harkens back to the worst of 80s straight to video actioners. Or as Luke would say, "What the hell!?! He boinked a reporter and blew up some missles." When I told someone at work I was reading a Chris Ryan book he said, "My Dad read one. He thought it was rubbish."

Uncle Thoby decided he wanted to make his own prosthetic arm.

24.

Come Thou, Tortoise by Jessica Grant - This is one of those books that has been floating around me for a couple of years. A staff member recommended it to me. And then my Dad recommended it to me. And then I recommended it to people without reading it. Then a member of my bookclub recommended it to me. Well, I finally got around to reading it. It is good book. Good story, quirky yet poignant characters, and a heart-tightening finale. Highly recommend.

As loud as their sound might be, their image will always be louder.

25.

Why AC/DC Matters by Anthony Bozza - A short book, almost an article, by Rock journalist Bozza on the significance of AC/DC. It is fun and a pretty good argument as to why they are the best rock band in the 20th century. With quotes from Slash, Tommy Lee and a number of music professors he goes pretty far in proving his point.

Late on a rainy night in 1947...

26.

Death of a Lesser Man by Thomas Rendell Curran - The third in the Eric Stride mysteries by Newfoundland author Curran. I read the other two, thought the first was pretty good. The second was kinda boring. Well this one is back to the pretty good. Well researched take on WWI vets and their lives after the Great War. Wonderfully painted characters except, unfortunately, for the protagonist. He is two dimensional. Also, my father appears in this book. He is not two dimensional.

Although nicknamed 'Old Reliable' in his prime...

27.

Beyond the Shadow of the Senators by Brad Snyder - A history of Negro League baseball in Washington, DC. It reads more like a biography of player Buck Leonard and journalist Sam Lacy. Nice to read about all the work done in the press to integrate baseball long before the 1947 occurence, but the book comes up a little short, almost like doctoral thesis.

He had one of the quickest bats I've ever seen , and was a dead-pull hitter who feasted on fastballs.

28.

Heroes of the Negro Leagues by Mark Chiarello & Jack Morelli - I wanted to read this book after a friend grabbed the last one on a recent visit to a used book store. So I had to order one new. It is a repackaging of a collection of watercolour trading cards with beautiful art and short bios of 60 Negro League players, like Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Page and Josh Gibson. Fun read.

When I die they'll bury the blues with me. But the blues will never die.

It took me almost a year, but I finally finished Boogie Man: The Adventures of John Lee Hooker in the American Twentieth Century, a very dense biography of my favourite bluesman.

I wish I had taken the opportunity to see him when I was in Montreal in the 2000, but I couldn't afford the price of admission. And on this the tenth anniversary of his death, that regret is more so.

It is a very good book, painting a complex picture of a remarkable musician and stellar man. Charting his entire career from the 40's through the dark times in the 70's and 80's to his rediscovery in the 90's, it was a remarkable story.

Boom, Boom, Boom, indeed.

The following spring, on the day of its unveiling in Boston Common, when it was discovered that someone had scrawled obscene words on the statue...

29.

Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny – After catching an old episode of Prisoner’s of Gravity, I was intrigued on reading Zelazny’s post-apocalyptic tale of the last Hell’s Angel’s suicide mission of crossing Damnation Alley from LA to Boston with a cargo of needed medicine. It isn’t hard to tell it was one of the quickest written novels in Zelazny’s career, but it is fun.

It began as just another evening of fantasy gaming.

Years ago, in 1983 or 84, I was a bookish round boy who lived too much of his life in games, TV and imagination. One day, on a family trip to Bowring's department store I caught sight of a fantasy novel by Joel Rosenberg. Entitled The Sleeping Dragon, the cover intrigued me and the blurb on the back spoke to me like no other work of 'adult fiction' had to date. I asked my mother or father, not sure which, if I could get it. They said no as it was too close to my birthday.

Come Christmas morning, opening my presents in my stocking, I found the paperback I coveted so much in the bookstore.

I devoured that book. Probably being too young, some of the violence and themes disturbed me, kept me awake. But I loved it. I wanted to be these characters, to live this adventure.

As the years went by, the author wrote more adventures in the series and I read most of them, probably ending in the 90's when his direction differed from mine. But I always kept them in mind, rereading The Sleeping Dragon on more than one occasion and searching out all of them to give my nephew as present.

This week, this book came to me again. I wasn't sure why, but I felt the need to reread it, now being in my late thirties. Had it changed? I know I had.

It held up, being simpler, shorter and more hokey than I remember, but I still enjoyed it.

It made me reminisce. Nostalgia being a powerful force, I looked up the author on the web and read some sad news. He had passed away suddenly, only days within me having the whim to pick up the novel and read it again.

So, Joel, Mr. Rosenberg, where ever you are I want to say thanks. Thanks for teaching the value of humanity to a 10 yr old me.

Hiding, concealment, lying: that was not his temperament.

30.

King of the World by David Remnick – More Ali. Remnick’s biography of Ali, Patterson and Liston during the early professional days of Ali’s career is exceptional. Critical and well researched, it truly paints a picture of Ali as the boy and the man.

It dropped on the floor and sounded exactly like a pound of steel hitting a plywood board covered with linoleum.

31.

Persuader by Lee Child – Vacation book! And No. 7 in the Jack Reacher series. And I thought the last one was good. Persuader grabs you from the get go when Reacher mistakenly kills a cop during a kidnap attempt and the adrenaline just doesn’t let up.

From then on his music developed an increasingly urban rhythmic thrust, while his singing and harmonica playing remained both distinctive and downhome

32.

Deep Blues by Robert Palmer – Vacation book! As I was preparing to go, I really wanted to read a history of Chicago blues. I looked far and wide at used bookstores for a good example. Deep Blues is more of history of the Blues done by biographing some of its most notable names, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson, and Son House. It was good, but their wasn’t as much about Chicago as I would have liked.

He might inspire awe at his open desire to demolish an opponent, his sullen reluctance to cease beating on a man once the fight was stopped...

33.

The Fight by Norman Mailer – Vacation book! Continuing with my Ali kick, I finally got around to reading this book that Stephen P. recommended to me so many years ago. Mailer’s descriptions are electric, but the book is often weighed down by his arrogance

One might think that with its wealth of treasures, the Metropolitan would be a prime target for New York's superpowerful crooks.

34.

The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City by Peter Sanderson- I bought this a while back as a possible gift for a friend that loves comics as much as he loves New York, but never got around to giving it to him. For some reason, I thought it would be a good book to read before a trip to Chicago. A strange travel book, it doesn’t really work, but is mildly entertaining.

But when you stand up there, all cheekiness, it doesn't give us much encouragement, you know.

35.

Cocksure by Mordecai Richler - Bookclub Pick! I just don't think I get satire from other times. I found this book boring and mildly offensive. Its only redeeming quality was it was short.

He avoided looking at the sheeted figure lying on the bed.

36.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - I saw this discounted in a bookstore and realized I didn't have any money. A week later I went back and got it. I had never read Agatha Christie and boy was that a mistake. Its a little dated but that lady was twisted.

Returning to the slaughterhouse with a cast on his left hand...

37.

Facing Ali by Stephen Brunt - I have been on a real Muhammad Ali kick lately. I heard quite a bit about this one years ago and thought it might be very interesting. A whole bunch of Ali's opponents were interviewed about their thoughts of the Greatest Of All Time.

I'll hope that's not a metaphor.

38.

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd - Read this one because of work. Pretty good action-adventure thriller starring ex-FBI agent, now bricklayer, Steve Vail and his dealings with the nefarious Rubaco Pentad. Pretty disposable, but not a complete waste.

One of the drinks on the tray will be a Pink Lady.

39.

The Natural by Bernard Malamud - Baseball!! Yup, baseball season has started, so I read a classic of baseball fiction. I remember seeing the film on a ferry as a kid, but I think I saw it more than once. The film has a heck of a lot more magic/mythic qualities. In the book, Roy Hobbs is a whole lot more of a douche. Still, who doesn't want a bat named Wonderboy that was carved out of a tree cleeved by lightning?

An accident? Perhaps.

40.

City Life by Witold Rybczynski - Book club pick! Supposedly a sweeping cultural history of cities in North America. Has some interesting bits, mostly about Chicago, malls, and de Tocqueville, but overall a little bit of a let down. Makes me wonder what his new city book is about.

He was a tall man, wide across the shoulders, slightly stooped, greying at the temples.

41.

Without Fail by Lee Child - No. 6 in the Jack Reacher series. This one got me from the get go. Reacher is hired by the Secret Service to try and kill the Vice President. It all goes down hill from there. Couldn't stop reading it and blew through the last 120 pages in one night. Obviously his editor gave him a stern taking to aftr the last one.

This is a strange city, administratively dependent on Ostia, but in many ways far more important.

42.

The Roman Empire by Dr. Ray Laurence - A volume in the cute Traveller's Guide To the Ancient World series. It is a guide to the Roman Empire circa 300 AD written like it is contemporary travel guide a la Fodor's or Lonely Planet. Fun, reminds me of early university and gaming.

The only thing that sister had was faith. And between you and me, gentlemen, her faith were not worth stealing.

43.

The Big Gold Dream by Chester Himes - I have been wanting to read Himes for quite some time. Published in 1960, this was one of his Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones noirs. I imagine that Harlem in the 50s and 60s was pretty grim, but I really hope not as bad as he describes; so many people out to steal poor woman's lottery winnings.

She left the check face down halfway between the two drinks, and walked away without saying anything at all.

44.

Echo Burning by Lee Child - No. 5 in the Jack Reacher thrillers. First hundred pages were kinda slow, but it picked up at the end. A little too much white-dudes-doing-horrible-things-to-people-from-Mexico, but ok. So far my least favourite in the series.

Unless she crossed legit, or she's been here the whole time.

45.

The City & The City by China Mieville - Book club pick! Interesting premise about two cities that evolved overlapping and how the two populations unsee each other. Couple this with a middling murder mystery and you have a mildly entertaining read. Not quite sci fi and not really a mystery. Quite arresting in places, but the first 80 or so pages are a slog.

Like many of the comics in this book, I am lying.

46.

Comic Art Propaganda: A Graphic History by Fredrik Stromberg - An overview of comic art as it was used as propaganda throughout hundred or so years. Not overly informative, more of a list of 'see how this was used here' references. I would have prefered more history and impact, but it was ok. At least it reminded me of Reagan's Raiders which I had forgotten about. And the image of the Golden Age Dare Devil whacking a giant Hitler in the face with a boomerang still sits with me.

Holding chopsticks all alone - the snow keeps falling

47.

Love Haiku: Japanese Poems of Yearning, Passion, and Rememberance by Patricia Donegan - Valentine's Book! I love haiku. But more so modern haiku that breaks away from the connection to nature. This is a slim book collecting a bunch of Japanese haiku relating to love. They are translated into english, but the author doesn't bother to convert them into English haiku, which was kinda disappointing. Just goes to show: Never send a buddhist to do a poet's job.

Demography may be involved.

48.

Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction by John Sutherland - One of the many titles in Oxford's A Very Short Introduction series. I was intrigued by the contents because of work, but I think I needed something a little more robust. There are some interesting tidbits, but overall not much more than a book of lists.

I'm afraid that you're a little - ah - unfamiliar with the upbringing of children.

49.

Gladiator by Philip Wylie - This one has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time. I have lent it out a bunch, but only just got around to reading it. Thought to be the inspiration for Superman. It is about Hugo Danner, super strong, bulletproof and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It is also a tragedy about a man trying to find his place when he is so clearly different from everyone around him. Beginning and endings are both a little rough, but the middle has some really great stuff.

They barely glanced at the moccasin prints, faint in the dustfilm, upon the baked ground.

50.

The Searchers by Alan LeMay - I think the movie is one of the best westerns ever made and part of me hopes someone will remake it as the book has a lot more to it. Part of me also dreads that possibility. Very odd ending in the book, which I think reads very differently now then when written, but who knows.

It inspires a heretofore undiscovered taste for bad poetry, and, say, sappy songs.

51.

Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens - Book club pick! A light Sci Fi satire about Han Solo protecting a village from maruading bandits who want their crops. A little too many 'homages' and not enough creativity. Felt, in places like it was written by editors. Not un-fun, but very light.

Fortune Liquors was already cordoned off by yellow crime scene tape.

52.

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly - Found a pristine hard copy in a bar. Used to read Connelly, so I thought I would do that and return the copy for others to enjoy. That was over a year ago. Oops. First half is overally procedural (by design?) the second is middling thrilling. Ok, but the Harry Bosch character has become a bit of a bore.

Swim until you can't see land...

Here is the list I thought I wouldn't do this year.

My Top 10 Albums of 2010 (alphabetically):

The Black Keys - Brothers
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
Caribou - Swim
Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
Land of Talk - Cloak and Cipher
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
The National - High Violet
PS I Love You - Meet Me At The Muster Station
Shout Out Louds - Work

Honourables:
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Beach House - Teen Dream
Daft Punk - Tron Legacy
The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
The Roots - How I Got Over

52 Book Challenge...

So, as I am an idiot and a very slow reader I have decided to try to read one book per week this year.

This is going to be a record with short reviews. Counting down...