Oof, late, late! But before half this year rolls over, I’ve collated what I’ve read from 2015. As usual, 💡 (lightbulb icon) indicates a recommendation on my part, with the exception of the shorts section.
To jump to a section:
- Comics and Art Monographs. Again, for some of the comics I started in the past, I have gone back and adjusted recommendations in the older posts.
- Longer fiction
- Shorter fiction
- Non-fiction
- Unfinished books and comics
Film and television
Godzilla (2014) was so, so much better than Pacific Rim. True, both fail the Bechdel Test. But Godzilla was still a thrill to watch. Also quite excellent and passing BT was Advantageous. Then there was Une Nouvelle Amie (A New Girlfriend), which I watched on a plane to France — a lovely view on gender identity and sexuality, as well as grief.
My usual tv favorites include Orphan Black, Elementary, and Person of Interest. I’ve slogged through Agents of SHIELD in the past, but the second season perked up, IMO. The first season of Powers impressed me more than the original comics, but am not sure if I’ll continue with future seasons. Finally, with the absence of Warehouse 13 I’ve substituted The Librarians series, with warm amusement; I’m waiting for Arty to show up. 😉
Comics & Art Monographs
Ayo, Darryl. Beautiful Monster (completed).
💡 Asselin, Janelle (editor). Fresh Romance serial anthology.
Bagieu, Pénélope. Exquisite Corpse.
💡 Beaton, Kate. The Princess and the Pony.
💡 Biggs, Gina. Love Not Found (ongoing) and Demon Aid (completed).
Bontrager, Christy Morgan. The Forgotten Order (ongoing).
💡 Boulet. The Gaeneviad (completed).
💡 Calin, Cassandra. 9 Truths and Fära Titlu (ongoing).
Campbell, Sophie. Shadoweyes (ongoing).
💡 Carrier, Gail and Rem. Soulless: The Manga.
💡 Cliff, Terrana. Nwain (ongoing, animated webcomic).
Costa, Mari. Peritale (ongoing). Completed stories: The Well by the House on the Hill, and several 💡 excellent shorts.
Cotugno, Sabrina and Tiina Purin. The Glass Scientists (ongoing).
Dare, Francesca. Penny Blackfeather (ongoing).
💡 DeConnick, Kelly Sue and Valentine De Landro. Bitch Planet (volume 1).
DeConnick, Kelly Sue and Emma Rios. Pretty Deadly (volume 1).
Deena. Qahera.
Downing, Everett, et al. The Book of Mojo (ongoing?).
Devlin, Tom (editor). Drawn & Quarterly: Twenty-five Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels.
💡 Elliott, Victoria Grace. Balderdash! Or, a Tale of Two Witches (on hiatus).
💡 Ewert, Marcus. Mummy Cat.
Fies, Brian. The Last Mechanical Monster (completed).
💡 Fraction, Matt and Chip Zdarsky. Sex Criminals: Two Worlds, One Cop (volume 2).
💡 Gillen, McKelvie, Wilson, and Cowles. The Wicked and the Divine: The Faust Act (volume 1, ongoing).
Goldstein, Sophie (some are NSFW). Bear & Fox 💡 (completed); Betsy 💡 (completed); Edna II (completed); The Good Wife (completed); Grow (completed); Ice (completed); Idol (completed); Mother (completed); Mother Ship Blues (completed); Potato Baby (completed); Strands (completed).
Graley, Sarah. Pizza Witch (ongoing).
💡 Gregory, Allison. Far to the North and Tigress Queen (ongoing).
Haynes, Misha. The Substitutes (ongoing).
💡 Heberling, Alex. Garanos (completed) and The Hues (ongoing).
💡 Heckman, Madeline. LIKE LIKE! completed: part 1 and part 2.
Helia. Evil You Know (ongoing).
Hosler, Jay. Last of the Sandwalkers.
Hoyda, Lily. Bad Reputation (on hiatus).
💡 InCase. Alfie (ongoing; very much NSFW).
💡 Inonibird. Stick-Gods.
Jacques, Jeph. Alice Grove (ongoing).
💡 Kearney, Megan. Beauty and the Beast (ongoing).
Lavie, Boaz. The Divine.
Lemire, Jeff. Descender: Tin Stars (volume 1).
Lepas, Pascalle. Wilde Life (ongoing).
💡 Liu, Dennis and Jason Piperberg. Raising Dion (on hiatus?).
Louis, Mildred. Agents of the Realm (ongoing).
💡 Knisley, Lucy. Displacement: A Travelogue.
💡 Ma, Daishu. Leaf.
💡 Magruder, Nilah. .M.F.K. (ongoing).
Maria, Angelica. Solstoria (ongoing).
McCloud, Scott. The Sculptor.
Miyuli (Julia K.). Lost Nightmare (ongoing).
💡 Moen, Erika and Matthew Nolan. Oh Joy Sex Toy, volumes 1 and 2—picked up this series again! (NSFW, duh.)
Monster, Sfé R. and Kory Bing. Eth’s Skin (ongoing).
💡 Morris, Toby. On a Plate (completed).
Neun, Al. Transformed.
💡 Norlund, Petra. Prague Race (ongoing).
O’Neill, Katie. Mushrooms (completed).
Parberry, Liz and Jemma Salume. Thunderbird: A Western Fairy Tale (ongoing).
Ries, Ariel. Witchy (ongoing).
Riess, Natalie. Snarlbear (ongoing),
Robot Hugs (ongoing).
💡 Sam. Cornerwitch (completed).
💡 Sanders, Ella Frances. Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium on Untranslatable Words from Around the World.
Schreiber, Nathan, Amanda Simson, and Naomi Klinghoffer. Science Ninjas.
💡 S.W. Searle. First (completed).
Sejic, Linda Luksic. Blood Stain (ongoing).
Sejic, Stjepan. Sunstone (volume 1).
Skinner, Elle. Missing Monday (ongoing).
💡 Taylor C. Monsterkind (ongoing).
Valero-O’Connell, Rosemary. If Only Once, If Only for a Little While (completed).
💡 Vaughan, Brian K. and Fiona Staples. Saga, volumes 4 and 5 (ongoing, NSFW.)
💡 Wartman, Peter. Over the Wall (completed) and it sequel, Stonebreaker (ongoing).
Whitten, Samantha and Stacey Pefferkorn. Strays (ongoing).
💡 Wiebe, Kurtis J., Roc Upchurch, and Ed Brisson. Rat Queens: Sass & Sorcery, volume 1 (ongoing).
Womanthology: Heroic, an anthology by multiple creators.
💡 Yang, Jeff and Parry Shen (editors). Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology (volume 1) and Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology (volume 2).
Longer Fiction
💡 [re-read] Butler, Octavia. Lilith’s Brood.
💡 Goto, Hiromi. Half World.
💡 Hartman, Rachel. Shadow Scale.
💡 Kingfisher, T. (Ursula Vernon). Bryony and Roses.
Lundoff, Catherine. Silver Moon.
Murakami, Haruki. The Strange Library.
💡 Sriduangkaew, Benjanun. A series that makes a lovely novel: “The Crows Her Dragon’s Gate,” “Woman of the Sun, Woman of the Moon,” “Chang’e Dashes from the Moon,” and Scale-Bright.
Shorter Fiction
I recommend the following as excellent sources of short speculative fiction.
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies: Web and podcast content.
- Clarkesworld Magazine: Web and podcast content.
- Escape Pod: Web and podcast content.
- Lightspeed Magazine: Web and podcast content.
- PodCastle: Web and podcast content.
- Strange Horizons: Web and podcast content.
- Toasted Cake: Web and podcast content. There were so many short shorts I enjoyed that I did not list my favorites — do check them out, they’re easy to “consume.” 🙂 Note: Toasted Cake went on hiatus last year.
- Welcome to Night Vale: Podcast content.
- Tor.com: Web content.
- Uncanny Magazine: Podcasts.
Abraham, Daniel. “Balfour and Meriwether in the Incident of the Harrowmoor Dogs.”
Asher, Neal. “Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck.”
Ashton, Edward. “The Sky Is Blue, and Bright, and Filled with Stars.”
August, Julia. “Drowning in Sky.”
Ausema, Daniel. “Among the Sighs of the Violoncellos.”
Ball, Peter M. “Dying Young.”
Barnhill, Kelly. “Mrs. Sorenson and the Sasquatch.”
Beamer, Amanda. “Celia and the Conservation of Entropy.”
Bear, Elizabeth. “The Chance Planet.”
Bell, Helena. “Lovecraft.”
Berkow, Evan. “The Lone Star Sin Eaters.”
Blake, Polenth. “Never the Same.”
Boskovich, Desirina. “Thirteen Incantations.”
Bourne, Elizabeth. “The Algebra of Events.”
Brooke, Keith. “The Accord.”
Brooks, Sarah. “The Great Detective.”
Buckley, Mike. “All Original Brightness.”
Buckram, Oliver. “A Struggle Between Rivals Ends Surprisingly.”
Butler, Octavia. “The Evening, The Morning and the Night.”
Chronister, Kay. “Further North” and “The Warriors, the Mothers, the Drowned.”
Clare, Gwendolyn. “Butterfly House” and “Indelible.”
Claxton, Krystal. “Bitter Remedy.”
Connolly, Harry. “Help Summon the Most Holy Folded One!”
Connolly, Tina. “Super-Baby-Moms Group Saves the Day.”
Cooney, C.S.E. “Witch, Beast, Saint: An Erotic Fairy Tale,” “How the Milkmaid Struck a Bargain with the Crooked One,” “The Witch in the Almond Tree.”
Das, Indrapramit. “Weep for Day.”
Devenport, Emily. “Postcards From Monster Island” and “The Servant.”
Dyer, Thoraiya. “The Chimney-Borer and the Tanner.”
Donnelly, Lara Elena. “Homegrown Tomatoes.”
Due, Tananarive. “Like Daughter.”
El-Mohtar, Amal. “Pockets.”
Gallagher, Aaron. “Repo.”
M.E. Garber. “Amma’s Wishes.”
Griffith, Nicola. “It Takes Two.”
Headley, Maria Dahvana. “If You Were a Tiger, I’d Have to Wear White.”
Heisey, Holly. “An Understanding.”
Henderson, Samantha. “L’Etoile Flamboyante.”
Hickman, Peter. “The Streetking.”
Houser, Nick. “The Drawstring Detective.”
Howard, Kat. “The Saint of the Sidewalks” and “The Universe, Sung in Stars.”
Huggins, G. Scott. “Abandoned Responsibility.”
Hughes, Matthew. “A Face of Black Iron.”
Humphrey, Claire. “Haunts.”
M.K. Hutchins. “Poet-Scholars of the Necropolis.”
N.K. Jemisin. “Valedictorian.”
Jennings, Kelly. “Dream Cakes.”
Jia, Xia. “Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy” and “Tongtong’s Summer.”
Jingfang, Hao. “Summer at Grandma’s House.”
Johnson, Kij. “The Apartment Dweller’s Bestiary.”
Jones, Rachel K. “The Mercy of Theseus” and “Traveling Mercies.”
Kahn, Meda. “That’s Entertainment.”
Kanakia, Rahul. “Seeking boarder for rm w/ attached bathroom, must be willing to live with ghosts ($500 / Berkeley).”
Kelly, James Patrick. “The Rose Witch” and “Uncanny.”
Keyes, Daniel. “Flowers for Algernon,” read at Escape Pod.
Kim, Bo-young. “An Evolutionary Myth.”
Kontro, Inkeri. “The Dying Embers.”
Kressel, Matthew. “The Garden Beyond Her Infinite Skies.”
Kritzer, Naomi. “Cat Pictures Please.”
Kurashige, Megan. “The Quality of Descent.”
Lay, Anaea. “Shared Faces.”
Lee, Nathaniel. “Sticks and Stones,” “What We’re Having,” and “Why I Bought Satan Two Cokes on the Day I Graduated High School.”
Lingen, Marissa. “It Brought Us All Together.”
Liu, Ken. “The Litigatrix” and “The Long Haul From the ANNALS OF TRANSPORTATION, The Pacific Monthly, May 2009.”
MacNab, Brynn. “The Rubmaker’s Lovers.”
Marcade, Jei D. “Sounding the Fall.”
McCormack, Una. “Sea Change.”
McGuire, Seanan. “Midway Relics and Dying Breeds.”
Mikalatos, Matt. “Portal Worlds and Your Child (A Parent’s Guide).”
Miller, Sam J. “We Are the Cloud.”
Millering, Kris. “This Wanderer, in the Dark of the Year.”
Mitchell, Saundra. “Starfall.”
Mondal, Monidipa. “This Sullied Earth, Our Home.”
Morris, Heather. “Probably Definitely.”
Myers, Karen. “The Visitor.”
Newitz, Annalee. “Drones Don’t Kill People.”
Novik, Naomi. “Seven Years from Home.”
Odell, Sandra M. “Ink.”
Older, Daniel José. “Dust.”
Ortberg, Mallory. “The Beauty and the Beast,” from the series Children’s Stories Made Horrific on The Toast.
Owomoyela, An. “Undermarket Data.”
Pawley, Andrea M. “For the Love of Sylvia City.”
Penny, Laurie. “Fifty Shades of Socialist Feminism.”
Phillips, Andrea. “In Loco Parentis.”
Pi, Tony. “No Sweeter Art.”
Pinsker, Sarah. “No Lonely Seafarer” and “A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide.”
Pitkin, Joe. “The Fairy Ring.”
Pratt, Tim. “Behemoth Brewing” and “The Retgun.”
Qiufan, Chen. “Coming of the Light” and “The Smog Society.”
A Que. “Mrs. Griffin Prepares to Commit Suicide Tonight.”
Rambo, Cat. “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart.”
Ran, Zhang. “Ether.”
Reed, Robert. “The Empress in Her Glory.”
Reynolds, Alastair. “The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter.”
Ronald, Margaret. “Let’s Tell Stories of the Deaths of Children.”
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. “The Last Surviving Gondola Widow.”
Russo, Patricia. “The Old Woman With No Teeth.”
Sandoval, Kelly. “Everyone Will Want One.”
Sanford, Jason. “Paprika.”
Seiberg, Effie. “Dinkley’s Ice Cream.”
Sharma, Iona. “Nine Thousand Hours.”
Shoemaker, Martin L. “Today I Am Paul.”
Shu, Bao. “Preserve Her Memory.”
Simak, Clifford. “The Grotto of the Dancing Deer.”
Smith, Julian Mortimer. “The Washerwoman and the Troll.”
Steinbacher, Julie. “Chimeras.”
Stufflebean, Bonnie Jo. “Everything Beneath You.”
Takács, Bogi. “Forestspirit, Forestspirit” and “Spirit Forms of the Sea.”
Theodoridou, Natalia. “Android Whores Can’t Cry.”
D.K. Thompson. “The Island Wakes.”
Tidhar, Lavie. “The Book Seller.”
Tolbert, Jeremiah. “Men of Unborrowed Vision.”
Tom, Laurie. “Even the Mountains Are Not Forever.”
Uzume, Setsu. “Burying the Coin.”
Valente, Catherynne M. “The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild.”
van Eekhout, Greg. “The Osteomancer’s Son.”
Vaughn, Carrie. “Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza” and “Sun, Stone, Spear.”
Vibbert, Marie. “Trash.”
Willis, Connie. “In Coppelius’s Toyshop.”
Wong, Alyssa. “Santos de Sampaguitas.”
A.C. Wise. “And If the Body Were Not the Soul.”
Yap, Isabel. “A Cup of Salt Tears.”
Yoachim, Caroline M. “Temporary Friends.”
Yu, E. Lily. “The Pilgrim and the Angel.”
Non-fiction
This section includes textbooks and other materials I’ve used for graduate school — as well as food books. 😉
💡 Abbas, June. Structures for Organizing Knowledge: Exploring Taxonomies, Ontologies.
Beranbaum, Rose Levy. The Baking Bible.
Börner, Katy. Atlas of Knowledge and Atlas of Science.
💡 Chernila, Alana. The Homemade Kitchen.
💡 Eschliman, Dwight. Ingredients: A Visual Exploration of 75 Additives & 25 Food Products.
Greenspan, Dorie. Baking Chez Moi.
💡 Hemphill, Ian & Kate. The Spice & Herb Bible (3rd edition, 2014).
Herbst, Ron and Sharon Tyler Herbst. The Deluxe Food Lover’s Companion.
Holland, David and Mike Pedley. Châteaux of the Loire.
💡 Johnson, Alex. Improbable Libraries.
Lima, Manuel. Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information.
Lowry, Judith Larner. California Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Evergreen Huckleberries to Wild Ginger.
💡 McCandless, David. Knowledge Is Beautiful and The Visual Miscellaneum.
Meehan, Peter. Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes.
💡 Meirelles, Isabel. Design for Information.
Morris, Jon. The League of Regrettable Superheroes.
Nyerges, Christopher. Foraging California: Finding, Identifying, And Preparing Edible Wild Foods In California.
💡 Ottolenghi, Yotam and Ramael Scully. NOPI.
Webster, Katie. 100 Sweet and Savory Recipes Featuring Pure Maple Syrup.
Unfinished
Once again, some of this I abandoned out of disinterest (so many things to read, listen to, and watch, so little time!), but some I left incomplete because they are best digested in bits and pieces even though they were excellent resources. I have denoted the latter with the 💡 icon.
Abbadon. Kill 6 Billion Demons (ongoing).
Andersen, Sarah C. Sarah’s Scribbles (ongoing).
Andler, Mia and Kevin Feinstein. The Bay Area Forager: Your Guide to Edible Wild Plants in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Angel, Kelly. Anything About Nothing (ongoing).
Armitage, Constance. Slightly Eccentric (ongoing).
Baldwin, Christopher. One Way (ongoing).
Börner, Katy. Visual Insights: A Practical Guide to Making Sense of Data.
Chamberlain, Miranda. Riverside Extras (ongoing).
Chloé C. Headless Bliss (ongoing).
Clevinger, Brian and Scott Wegener. Atomic Robo (ongoing).
Danielewski, Mark Z. The Familiar: One Rainy Day in May (volume 1).
Doctorow, Cory. Information Doesn’t Want to be Free.
Doig, Michael and India Swift. Frostblight.
Fraction, Matt. Ody-C: Off to Far Ithaca (volume 1)
Furedi, Chelsea. Rock and Riot!
💡 Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy.
Gudsnuk, Kristen. Henchgirl (ongoing).
Haiko, Marius Pawlizta, and Annelie Wagner. A House Divided (ongoing).
Heckman, Madeline. Broken Bride.
Helmer, Der-shing. Mare Internum (ongoing). Also: Helmer’s The Meek is no longer on hiatus!
Holtz, Déborah. Tacopedia.
Jane, Ivy. Computer Love (ongoing).
Jeinu. Miamaska (ongoing).
Latham, Larry Edward. Lovecraft Is Missing; incomplete due to the death of the creator. 🙁
Major, Christina. Sombulus (ongoing).
Maynard, Scott et al. Happle Tea (ongoing).
Morishige, Takuma. My Neighbor Seki.
💡 Page, Karen. The Vegetarian Flavor Bible is pretty similar to her 2008 book, The Flavor Bible, but with a focus on non-meat, non-animal flavor profiles and combinations.
Pandya, Aatmaja. Travelogue (ongoing)
Piehl, Severin. Tove (ongoing).
Pierce, Meredith Ann. The Darkangel.
Riesbeck, Emily and David John Mitchell. Blue Valkyrie (ongoing).
💡 Schmidt, Aaron. Useful, Usable, Desirable: Applying User Experience Design to Your Library.
Shenanigansen. Owl Turd.
Squire, Kurt. Video Games and Learning.
Steinkuehler, Constance and Kurt Squire. Games, learning, and society.
Stupak, Alex. Tacos: Recipes and Provocations.
Svinicki, Marilla D. Learning and Motivation in the Postsecondary Classroom.
Swinehart, Nate. Level (ongoing).
Tan, Cecilia. Spellbinding: Tales from the Magic University.
Takahashi, Shin. The Manga Guide to Statistics.
💡 Thomas, Douglas. A New Culture of Learning.
Tran-Caffee, Dax. Failing Sky (ongoing, but currently does not quite work on mobile devices).
Ulrich, Josh. Newman (ongoing).
Weing, Drew. The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo (ongoing).
Woodruff, Cami. Doomsday, My Dear (ongoing).
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief.
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