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Happy new year! Ring in 2014 with a listing of what I read in 2013. Part of me would like to have a similar list for other types of media, namely films (including shorts), television, and even music. I have some ancient drafts of animé I’ve viewed, which since they are presently unpublished demonstrates how far behind and erratic I’ve become with those media, alas! But perhaps one of these years, as I often say. 😉

I found and rediscovered some publishers who sell ebooks without DRM, including Smashwords, Book View Café, Circlet Press, and even the ALA Store.

For easier list jumping:

• Comics and Art Monographs. I decided to combine art monographs with comics into a single category since I’ve so few in former, and also because they both contain visual content. Note: For some of the comics I started in the past, I have gone back and adjusted recommendations in the older posts; i.e., a couple manga and ongoing series have concluded over the past year which I ended up rather disappointed with and no longer recommend.
• Longer fiction. Wow, I read only a baker’s dozen of novels last year.
• Shorter fiction. Warning, it’s a very long list!
• Non-fiction. I’ve (re?)started a habit of describing books here which are helpful references that I did not finish but would recommend for future or ongoing reading (again denoted with 💡 ).
• Unfinished books and comics

Comics & Art Monographs

These days I read near 60 webcomics, although many update infrequently or on hiatus (a few have completed, yay to my sense of literary closure!). I’ve found Comic Rocket quite helpful for keeping track of unfinished (for me) or ongoing webcomics—I can even setup RSS feeds through the service to read a preset number of pages on scheduled days. I hope Comic Rocket comes out with a good mobile app for iOS, as the web pages are a bit slow on mobile devices. Nevertheless, a very helpful reading tool.

I have not listed below the comics series that I started to read before 2013. The Related posts section at the bottom of this page has links to some of the previous years’ reading lists.

Abouet, Marguerite. Aya.

💡 Ashwin, Kate. Widdershins (ongoing).

Barnes, Bill and Ambaum, Gene. Unshelved (ongoing).

Boon, Mario. Fiona Poppy (on hiatus).

Brooker, Will, Zaidan, Sarah, and Shore, Susan. My So-Called Secret Identity (ongoing).

Brosh, Allie. Hyperbole and a Half (ongoing?).

💡 Brown, Nimue and Tom. Hopeless, Maine. The first two books are available as a webcomic. Not sure of publication source of future books, as of this writing.

Carré, Lilli. The Lagoon.

💡 Carriger, Gail and REM. Soulless, the manga, volumes 1 and 2.

Cliff, Tony. Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant (completed).

Cohen, Michael and Sherman, Mark. Strange Attractors, a wonderful series from the 1990s is now online, but seems to be on hiatus.

Dahm, Evan. Rice Boy; occasionally NSFW (completed).

💡 Davodeau, Etienne. The Initiates: A Comic Artist and a Wine Artisan Exchange Jobs.

💡 Delliquanti, Blue. O Human Star (ongoing).

Doran, Colleen. A Distant Soil has returned both in print and as a webcomic! It has been ongoing for decades, and Doran is writing up the final arc.

Ellerton, Sarah. The Phoenix Requiem (ongoing?).

Ellis, Warren, and Duffield, Paul. FreakAngels (completed).

💡 Fenton, Josceline. Hemlock (ongoing).

💡 Fleming, Ann Marie. The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam. The biographical graphic novel based on the documentary film.

Garrity, Shaenon K. and Wells, Jeffrey C. Skin Horse; occasionally NSFW (ongoing).

💡 Gauld, Tom. You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack.

💡 Gregory, Jenni. DreamWalker #0.

Gyllblad, Jennie, Brotherson, Corey, and Ayeni, Yoni. Clockwork Watch: The Arrival.

💡 Hicks, Faith Erin. The Adventures of Superhero Girl (on hiatus), Friends With Boys, Hunger Games fan webcomic, and Wolverine Goes Grocery Shopping (latter two are completed shorts).

Hicks, Faith Erin. Demonology 101 (completed).

Hogan, Peter and Parkhouse, Steve. Resident Alien: Volume 1, Welcome to Earth!

Ibardolaza, Honoel A. By Moon Alone (on hiatus).

Jolley, Dan, Kirk, Leonard, and Riggs, Robin. Bloodhound: Volume 1, Brass Knuckle Psychology.

💡 Jones, Dani. My Sister, the Freak (completed).

Kelso, Megan. Artichoke Tales, Queen of the Black Black, and The Squirrel Mother.

💡 Kern, Maya. Redden (completed) and Monster Pop! (ongoing).

Kerschl, Karl. The Abominable Charles Christopher (ongoing).

💡 Kesinger, Brian and Daniels, Eric. Walking Your Octopus; this is both a book and an iOS app.

💡 Martin, Andy. Handymartian’s Illustrated Aliens (soon to complete).

McDonald, Kel. As We Were and Strange Someone (both completed).

💡 McWilliams, Barry. Wrylon Robotical Illustrated Catalog of Botanical Delivery Robots.

💡 Mosco, Rosemary. Bird and Moon.

Mulligan, Brennan Lee and Osertag, Molly. Strong Female Protagonist (ongoing).

O’Connell, David. Tozo: Empire of the Spider (on hiatus).

💡 O’Neill, Katie. Princess Princess (completed). Additionally, you can purchase an downloadable version containing extras and a very cute epilogue. O’Neill also has a good, but incomplete series called The Girl from Hell City.

Piskor, Ed and Boyle, Caitlin Rose. Syntax Era (on hiatus).

Powree and Knörzer, Oliver. Gaia (ongoing).

Rucka, Greg and Burchett, Rick. Lady Sabre and the Ineffable Aether (ongoing).

💡 Ruscha, Ed. They Called Her Styrene.

Smith, K. Lynn. Plume (ongoing).

💡 Stevenson, Noelle. Nimona (ongoing).

Strain, Christina. The Fox Sister (ongoing).

Tobin, Paul and Coover, Colleen. Gingerbread Girl.

💡 Troutman, John S. Mary Elizabeth’s Sock (ongoing).

Unita, Yumi. Bunny Drop, volumes 8 and 9 (completed). The conclusion of this series made my skin crawl by following some of the more disappointing shoujo romance tropes.

💡 Vaughan, Brian and Staples, Fiona. Saga, volume 1 (ongoing).

Witt, Jordan. Organization of Ghost Hunters (on hiatus?).

Yang, Gene Yuen, Gurihiru, and Heisler, Michael. Avatar the Last Airbender: The Promise and Avatar the Last Airbender: The Search.

Yumi, Kiiro. Library Wars: Love and War, volume 8. As with Bunny Drop, I no longer recommend this series at this point, since it appears to falling in step with the irritatingly conventional shoujo romance tropes, rather than being more innovative. But the series will conclude soon, so the story might improve.

Long Fiction

Ashby, Madeline. vN.

💡 Baker, Kage. In the Garden of Iden.

💡 Buckell, Tobias. The Apocalypse Ocean.

💡 Crispin, A.C. Starbridge.

Crispin, A.C. and O’Malley, Kathleen. Starbridge 2: Silent Dances.

💡 DiTerlizzi, Tony. A Hero for WondLa, book 2 of the WondLa trilogy.

Dolley, Chris. Resonance.

💡 Hartman, Rachel. Seraphina.

Howey, Hugh. Wool.

💡 Morgenstern, Erin. The Night Circus.

Nagata, Linda. Skye Object 3270a.

Ore, Rebecca. Becoming Alien.

Pon, Cindy. Silver Phoenix.

Shorter Fiction

As mentioned in previous reading list posts, the bulk of short fiction I read, er, listen to comes from podcasts. I have listened to hundreds, and what I list here are my favorites—less than half of the total short stories I’ve read (or listened to) last year. A few come from online publications such as Tor.com and anthologies, but primarily podcasts. These are what I had listened to in 2013; I especially recommend those with 💡 — check them all out, though, and if you like them, subscribed and support them!

• Apex Magazine
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Clarkesworld Magazine
• 💡 Escape Pod
• 💡 Lightspeed Magazine
• 💡 PodCastle
• Strange Horizons
• 💡 Welcome to Night Vale

Ahmed, Saladin. “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela” and “Iron-Eyes and the Watered Down World.”

Allen, Bryn. “Make Work.”

Amal El-Mohtar, “To Follow the Waves.”

Anders, Charlie Jane. “Love Might Be Too Strong a Word.”

Arkenberg, Megan. “The Suicide’s Guide to the Absinthe of Perdition.”

Ashby, Madeline. “Fitting a New Suit.”

Baker, Mishell. “Throwing Stones.”

Beagle, Peter S. “The Best Worst Monster,” “El Regalo,” and “We Never Talk About My Brother.”

Bell, Helena. “Robot.”

Bernobich, Beth. “A Feast of Cousins.”

Black, Holly. “Paper Cuts Scissors.”

Black, Lynch. “The Gantlet.”

Bobet, Leah. “The Parable of the Shower.”

Brennan, Marie. “Driftwood.”

Brewer, Philip. “Like a Hawk in its Gyre.”

Buckell, Tobias S. “A Game of Rats and Dragon.”

Burgis, Ben. “Contains Multitudes.”

Butler, Octavia. “Bloodchild.”

Butler, P.M. “Squonk and the Lake Monster” and “Squonk and the Horde of Apprentices.”

Carroll, Elizabeth. “The Duke of Vertumn’s Fingerling.”

Cashier, Erin. “Eighth Eye.”

Castro, Adam-Troy. “My Wife Hates Time Travel.”

Charles, Renée M. “Opening of the Veins.”

Chatham, Ann. “A Marble for the Drowning River.”

Chiang, Ted. “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling.”

Clare, Gwendolyn. “Driving X.”

Connolly, Tina. “One Ear Back.”

Corwin, Aaron. “Brimstone and Marmalade.”

Danvers, Dennis. “All the Snake Handlers I Know Are Dead.”

de Bodard, Aliette. “Memories in Bronze, Feathers, and Blood.”

DeRego, Jeffrey R. “Union Dues – Sidekicks in Stockholm.”

Doctorow, Cory. “Clockwork Fagin.”

Dyer, Thoraiya. “The Wisdom of Ants.”

Edge, T.D. “System, Magic, Spirit.”

Edwards, Sarah L. “As the Prairie Grasses Sing” and “The Last Devil.”

Finder, Nina Kiriki Hoffman. “Monster,, Shifter.”

Flinthart, Dirk. “The Red Priest’s Vigil.”

Foster, Eugie. “Trixie and the Pandas of Dread.”

Fowler, Karen Joy. “Lily Red.”

Galuschak, George R. ” Counting Cracks” and “Middle Aged Weirdo in a Cadillac.”

Gardner, C. A. “Fine Flying Things.”

Goonan, Kathleen Ann. “A Love Supreme.”

Goss, Theodora. “England under the White Witch.”

Gray, Caspian. “Insect Joy.”

Grintalis, Damien Walters. “Dysphonia in D Minor.”

Grist, Michael John. “The Tonsor’s Son.”

Hannett, Lisa L. “Sweet Subtleties.”

Harvey, Sara M. “Six Seeds.”

Haskell, Merrie. “Sun’s East, Moon’s West.”

Hobson, M.K. “The Warlock and the Man of the Word.”

Hopkinson, Nalo. “Ours Is the Prettiest.”

Howard, Kat. “Breaking the Frame.”

Jemisin, N.K. “The Dancer’s War” and “The Trojan Girl.”

Jo, Stufflebeam, Bonnie. “The Siren.”

Kaftan, Vylar. “Disarm,” “Seeking Captain Random” and “Something Wicked This Way Plumbs.”

Kehrli, Keffy R.M. ” Five Bullets on the Banks of the Sadji.”

Keith, D.L. “Passion Play.”

Kelly, James Patrick. “Bad Dogs Escape.”

Kerr, Jake. “Perspective.”

Khanna, Rajan. “Doors,” “Flowing Shapes” and “The Last Gorgon.”

Klecha, David and Buckell, Tobias S. “The Found Girl.”

Kloos, Marko. “Ink and Blood.”

Kloster, Gary. “And the Blood of Dead Gods Shall Mark the Score.”

Kowal, Mary Robinette. “The Lady Astronaut of Mars.”

Kress, Nancy. “Art of War.”

Kressel, Matthew. “The Sounds of Old Earth.”

Kushner, Ellen. “Honored Guest.”

Latta, DK. “Marking Time on the Far Side of Forever.”

Lay, Anaea. “Hiding on the Red Sands of Mars.”

Lee, Yoon Ha. “Architectural Constants” and “The Pirate Captain’s Daughter.”

Levin, Anya. “Music from My Bones.”

Lingen, Marissa. “The Ministry of Changes” and “The Witch’s Second.”

Liu, Ken. “The Caretaker,” “The Paper Menagerie,” “The Perfect Match,” and “Real Artists.”

Lonsdale, Allison. “Vaster Than Empires.”

Lundoff, Catherine. “Twilight.”

Lynch, Scott. “In The Stacks.”

Machado, Carmen Maria. “Inventory.”

Madden, Helen E.H. “Alienated.”

Maloney, Geoffrey. “Mr Morrow Becomes Acquainted with the Delicate Art of Squid Keeping.”

Marissa Lingen, “Väinämöinen and the Singing Fish.”

McHugh, Ian. “Songdogs.”

McIntosh, Will. “Midnight Blue.”

Minton, D. Thomas. “Dreams in Dust.”

Mojzes, Bernie. “Ink.”

Moran, John. “Next Time, Scales.”

Nix, Garth. “Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar Pirates of Sarskoe,” “Fire Above, Fire Below,” and “Hope Chest.”

Ogawa, Yukimi. “Town’s End.”

Olson, Amanda M. “Virtue’s Ghosts.”

Pagliassotti, Dru. “The Manufactory.”

Palwick, Susan. “Homecoming.”

Pflug-Back, Kelly Rose. “The Clover Still Grows Wild in Wawanosh.”

Pflug, Ursula. “The Water Man.”

Pratt, Tim. “Little Better Than a Beast,” “Terrible Ones,” and “We Go Back.”

Rambo, Cat and Burgis, Ben. “Logic and Magic in the Time of the Boat Lift.”

Reed, Robert. “Finished” and “Guest of Honor.”

Reeve, Elizabeth. “A Woman of Uncommon Accomplishment.”

Resnick, Mike and Robyn, Lezli. “Soulmates.”

Rios, Julia. “Oracle Gretel.”

Roberta, Jean. “Smoke” and “Taste.”

Robins, Lane. “Road Test.”

Ronald, Margaret. “Dragon’s Eyes.”

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. “Purity Test.”

Russo, Patricia. “Sittin’ Round the Stewpot.”

Sawyer, J. Daniel. “Chicken Noodle Gravity.”

Schreiber, Sam. “Corinthians.”

Schwartz, David. “The Somnambulist.”

Seybold, Grace. “A Place to Stand.”

Shaw, Heather and Pratt, Tim. “Catching the Spirit,” “The Christmas Mummy,” and “The Ghost of Christmas Possible.”

Shaw, K.C. “Sand-Skin Man.”

Shehadeh, Ramsey. “Creature.”

Skaftun, Emily C. “Melt With You.”

Smale, Alan. “Kristin with Caprice.”

Sparrow, Katherine. “Chemical Magic.”

Sriduangkaew, Benjanun. “Annex.”

Steffen, David. “Marley and Cratchit.”

Steinmetz, Ferrett. “Devour.”

Stone, Eric James. “Accounting for Dragons.”

Stufflebeam, Bonnie Jo. “The Wanderers.”

Sursi, Peter. “The Seven Samovars.”

Swirsky, Rachel. “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love.”

Tabler, Ray. “Honor Killing.”

Tarr, Judith. “Revenants.”

Telsa, Vinnie. “Ota Discovers Fire.”

Thakrar, Shveta. “Lavanya and Deepika.”

Tidbeck, Karin. “I Have Placed My Sickness Upon You.”

Tidhar, Lavie. “The Long Road to the Deep North” and “The Night Train.”

Tobler, E. Catherine. “The Lady of the Lake.”

Upshaw, Garth. “Breathing Sunshine.”

Valente, Catherynne M. “Golubash (Wine-Blood-War-Story)” and “Urchins, While Swimming.”

Vaughn, Carrie. “Harry and Marlowe Escape the Mechanical Siege of Paris.”

Wagner, Wendy N. “Cold Iron and Green Vines.”

Wallace, Kali. “No Portraits on the Sky.”

Williams, Donna Glee. “Limits.”

Williams, Liz. “The Banquet of the Lords of Night.”

Willrich, Chris. “The Mote-Dancer and the Firelife.”

Wood, Jonathan. “Preservation.”

Yáñez, Alberto. “Recognizing Gabe: Un Cuento de Hadas.”

Yu, E. Lily. “Tiger in the BSE.”

Non-fiction

Some of these, such as the books on food, I have primarily skimmed. But I listed them as “read” because I feel that my skimming was more thorough than checking out a few pages, i.e., while I did not read every sentence (but did read many chapters), I more or less paged through the entire work. I’ve learned that skimming could be an effective way to acquire information—not the best in most cases, of course, but worth its use as a literacy skill! (And not always as easy as one would suppose.)

💡 America’s Test Kitchen (editors). The Science of Good Cooking: Master 50 Simple Concepts to Enjoy a Lifetime of Success in the Kitchen.

Berley, Peter and Clark, Melissa. The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen.

💡 Cohen, Amanda. Dirt Candy, A Cookbook: Flavor-Forward Food from the Upstart New York City Vegetarian Restaurant. This could also go under comics, as it’s cookbook (and restaurant history) done in sequential art.

Creswell, John W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th edition, 2013).

Durand, Faith. Not Your Mother’s Casseroles.

💡 Fox, Margaret S. and Bear, John B. Morning Food: Breakfasts, Brunches and More for Savoring the Best Part of the Day.

Gordon, Valerie. Sweet.

Hair, Jaden. Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight’s Dinner.

Hamel, Gary. What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation.

Hamilton, Melissa and Hirsheimer, Christopher. Canal House Cooks Every Day.

Jackson, Linda K. Meringue.

Jensen, Darren, and Roy, Molly (editors). Food: An Atlas.

Office of Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. Intellectual Freedom Manual (8th edition, 2010).

Perelman, Deb. The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

💡 Pink, Daniel. Drive: The Surprising Truth Behind What Motivates Us and A Whole New Mind: Why the Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.

💡 Rubin, Richard. Foundations of Library and Information Science (3rd edition).

💡 Scalzi, John. The Human Division.

Scalzi, John. Redshirts.

Shafia, Louisa. The New Persian Kitchen.

Solomon, Charmaine. The Complete Asian Cookbook.

Terry, Bryant. The Inspired Vegan and Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine.

💡 Thompson, Jason. Playing with Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining Books.

💡 Wagner, Rodd and Harter, James K. 12: The Elements of Great Managing.

💡 Weiner, Robert G. (editor). Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives: Essays on Readers, Research, History and Cataloging.

Unfinished

I started and decided to not continue, or stop reading some ongoing comics, and a lot of cookbooks!

Armand, Ryan. Minus and Modern Fried Snake.

💡 Beaty, Bart and Weiner, Stephen (editors). Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Independents and Underground Classics, a three-volume set. I didn’t read the entire set of books, but they are very good reference for both academic, librarian, and general readers interested in comics in graphic novel (i.e., webcomics excluded) format.

Bolman, Lee G. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership (4th edition, 2008).

💡 Booth, Char. Reflective Teaching, Effective Learning: Instructional Literacy for Library Educators. Education is not my field, but I am interested in theory and advocacy in information literacy.

💡 Booth, Wayne, Colomb, Gregory G., and Williams, Jeffrey M. The Craft of Research, 3rd edition (2008). Not limited to academic research, this book is helpful all sorts of research, including advice on writing research content. This plus Zinsser’s book below and Strunk and White’s Elements of Style comprise primers for anyone who needs or wants to write well, from bloggers, journalists, students, researchers, and casual and formal writers of all genres.

Brand, Stewart. How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built.

Colossal, Eric. Rutabaga.

Cox, Christopher N. and Lindsay, Elizabeth Blakesley (editors). Information Literacy Instruction Handbook.

Czajkowski, Michelle. Ava’s Demon.

Emrain (E and CC). Teahouse.

💡 Evans, G. Edward and Ward, Patricia L. Management Basics for Information Professionals (2nd edition).

Fleuter, Ben. Derelict.

Fortin, François and D’Amico, Serge. The Visual Food Encyclopedia: The Definitive Practical Guide to Food and Cooking.

Giraud, Jean (Moebius) and Jodoworsky, Alejandro. The Incal.

Grassian, Esther S. and Kaplowitz, Joan R. Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice (2nd edition).

💡 Greenblatt, Ellen (editor). Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users: Essays on Outreach, Service, Collections and Access.

Harkness, Deborah. A Discovery of Witches.

Haycock, Ken (editor). The Portable MLIS: Insights from the Experts.

Holmberg, Martha. Modern Sauces: More than 150 Recipes for Every Cook, Every Day.

Kim, Derek Kirk, and McClaine, Les. TUNE.

Kroese, Elsa and English, Charlotte. Spindrift.

Krug, Steve. Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-it-yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems.

Lankes, R. David. The Atlas of New Librarianship.

Lavey-Heaton, Megan and Melaçon, Isabelle. Namesake.

Lieske, Daniel. The Wormworld Saga.

💡 Mates, Barbara T. Assistive Technologies in the Library.

McClachlan, Brian. The Princess Planet.

McClaren, Meredith. Hinges.

McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels.

McCloud, Scott. Reinventing Comics.

McDonald, Kel. Sorcery 101.

McKissick, Katie. Beatrice the Biologist.

Moen, Erika. Oh Joy Sex Toy. (NSFW)

Nagata, Linda. The Dread Hammer.

Ore, Rebecca. Outlaw School.

💡 Rogers, Yvonne, Sharp, Helen, and Preece, Jennifer. Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (3rd edition, 2011).

Richmond, Jake. Modest Medusa.

Saunders, Rachel. The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook.

Shen, Prudence and Hicks, Faith Erin. Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong.

Stewart, Amy. The Drunken Botanist.

Straub, Kris. Broodhollow.

Towle, Ben. Oyster War.

Troutman, John S. The Gospel of Carol.

Urnash, Egypt. Decrypting Rita.

Valente, Catherynne M. The Orphan’s Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice, volume 2.

Vincent, Jane. Implementing Cost-Effective Assistive Computer Technology.

Will, Elaine M. Look Straight Ahead.

Xu, Ru. Saint For Rent.

Zack, Devora. Managing for People Who Hate Managing: Be a Success By Being Yourself.

💡 Zinsser, William. On Writing Well, 30th anniversary edition. Not finished, but recommended as I’m slowly making my way through it!