Tag / Richard Castle

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2017: The Year In Books

With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 28 books I read over the past year, 3 less than last year.  Of those 28, 7 were non-fiction and, of the 21 novels, only 4 were TV show tie-ins.  For the first time, none of the books came out of my “to-read” drawer, and a record 16 were e-books.  I read over 80,000 pages, my lowest total since at least 2013.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 15 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Amy Schumer
Jessie Humphries
Gene Kim
Tod Goldberg
Matt Zoller Seitz
Philip K. Dick
Harland Sanders
Paul Levine
William J. Mann
Matthew V. Clemmons
Chris Smith
Riley Sager
Whitney Cummings
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tom Perrotta

There were 4 authors I read multiple titles from during 2016, the ghost writer for Richard Castle, Jeffery Deaver, David Mack, and Erle Stanley Gardner.

7 of the books I read were released this year, while 3 of them were released last century.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacation in December certainly helped pad its totals a tad bit.

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Prolific Authors 2017

Way back in December of 2011 (and again in the Decembers of 2013 and 2015), we took a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 47 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span. Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 54 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

Author Name Current Total 2015 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 15 13 2

A new leader in the clubhouse, as Nancy Holder adds 2 new additions over the past 2 years to put her out front.

Richard Castle 14 9 5

The second largest increase (or largest for someone I had read before) goes to the writer (or writers) using the nom de plume of the main character from the television show Castle.  I’m guessing this total will stay pretty static, with the show off the air for over a year now.

Greg Rucka 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0
Stephen King 12 12 0

These three round out the top 5 with absolutely no movement over the past 2 years.

Brad Meltzer 11 9 2
Jeffery Deaver 8 5 3

Slight increases for both of these authors, with more to come.  Meltzer’s next book is already pre-ordered, while there are a few unread Deaver works on my Kindle. Continue reading →

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Book 15 (of 52) – Heat Storm

Heat Storm – Richard Castle

Heat Storm, the latest from Richard Castle, offers the first full-fledged team up between his two breakout characters, Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm.  When the case of Heat’s supposedly dead mother converges with Storm’s case of Chinese counterfeiters, the two join forces to find out why Heat’s mother faked her death and how it all ties in with the upcoming presidential election.

With Castle off the air for over a year now, it seems likely that this will be the last offering from Richard Castle.  The final chapter even wrapped everything up in a bow, insinuating that this was the end.  If so, it’s been a hell of a run.

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Book 1 (of 52) – A Bloody Storm

A Bloody Storm – Richard Castle

The third, and final, installment of the trilogy returning Derrick Storm from the dead finds Richard Castle’s hero leading a team of fellow ghosted CIA operatives to rescue FBI agent April Showers and find the gold stolen from the Communist party and hidden by the KGB.  By the end of the mission, Storm learns who betrayed him in Tangiers and that the gold is still out there, waiting to be found.

This novella wraps up the story started in A Brewing Storm.  While I get the impetus to split the story into thirds and release them individually, it would have worked better as one whole tale, with the necessary repetition removed and replaced with more action.  At the time, though, there was no way of knowing how much of an audience there was for a Richard Castle novel that was not a more-direct tie-in to Castle.  Enough of one for a full length novel, Storm Front, to be released the following year.

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52 Books in 52 Weeks – 2017 Edition

bookshelfA new year is once again upon us, and it is time to start year eight of the goal to read a book a week for the entire year, totaling 52 books in 52 weeks.  In year one, I only made it to 8 books.  Year two doubled that total.  Year three used graphic novels to improve once again, finishing with 24.  Year four was the first where I dropped from the year before, only finishing 18 books, which was well short of the ultimate goal.  Three years ago, I bounced back to finish with 23 books.  Two years ago, I had my best year since starting this challenge, not to mention my best reading year ever, finishing with 31 books.  Last year, I matched that high point in total books, though far surpassing it in total pages read thanks to reading the entire Harry Potter series.

I’m going to give it another go this year.  I’ve got a few new books loaded in the Kindle app on my iPad, plus a few new purchases from Amazon, not to mention birthday and Christmas presents, so I’ve got a good pile to start with.  As a reminder, the rules I am using are:

  • You can count a book as read as long as you have completed the book in 2017 and at least 50% of that reading takes place in 2017
  • Any book counts as long as you’re not embarrassed to count it.
  • Poetry collections do indeed count.
  • Re-reading a book is okay as long as it isn’t done this year. (Reading Twilight twice in 2010 only counts as 1 read)
  • Audiobooks also count.

My first book of the year looks like it will be A Bloody Storm, the third part of Richard Castle’s Derrick Storm novellas.  All told, 2017 should be another good year.

by jim

2016: The Year In Books

With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 31 books I read over the past year, even with last year and tied for my highest total ever, surpassing the 27 books I read back in 1992.  Of those 31, 9 were non-fiction and, of the 22 novels, only 5 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 4 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 8 were e-books.  I read over 11,000 pages, the most in 1 year since 1992 and my second straight year reaching the 9000 mark.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 12 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Doug Wilson
Jennie Garth
Emily Heckman
J.K. Rowling
Jen Kirkman
Jack Ketchum
John Dean
Judy Greer
Jenny Lawson
Gary Dell’Abate
Anna Kendrick
Emily V. Gordon

There were 3 authors I read multiple titles from during 2016, the ghost writer for Richard Castle, Jeffery Deaver, and J.K. Rowling.

Only 2 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacations in March, November, and December certainly helped pad their totals a tad bit.

Continue reading →

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Book 31 (of 52) – A Raging Storm

A Raging Storm – Richard Castle

A Raging Storm, part 2 of Richard Castle’s 3-part novella detailing the return of his original hero Derrick Storm, picks up where the last one left off, with a dead US senator and Storm and FBI agent April Showers on the case.  The leads take them to London, where an exiled Russian oligarch has taken residence after speaking out against the President of Russia, his former friend.  A few twists and turns later, and we end with Showers shot and Storm having crashed into a country wall.

This eBook works much less effectively as a standalone story.  While Castle tries to bring readers up to speed with what happened previously, I can’t imagine going in to this blind and following the story.  The ending also seemed more like a chapter break than the end of a self-contained story.  But, I guess if you’ve made it this far, they assume you will be sticking around for the final chapter.

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Book 29 (of 52) – A Brewing Storm

A Brewing Storm – Richard Castle

Before Nikki Heat, there was Derrick Storm, Richard Castle’s suave spy who starred in a series of novels but was killed off prior to the first season of Castle.  In this novella, part 1 of a 3 part story, Storm is brought back to the CIA, having faked his own death 4 years prior.  The step-son of a powerful senator has been kidnapped, and the CIA needs someone they can trust to bring him back alive.

This eBook, clocking in at 83 pages, tells the first part of what looks to be an intriguing longer story.  There have been subsequent full length Derrick Storm novels released, and he looks to be tying in to the Nikki Heat series based on the ending to High Heat, so this isn’t my first exposure to the character.  But it is nice to see how the ghost writer posing as Richard Castle decided to bring back the long-dead star.  I had originally purchased just this first entry so I could see if it was worth it.  After finishing it today, I bought the final two installments.

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Book 25 (of 52) – High Heat

high-heat

High Heat – Richard Castle

While Castle may have come to an end this spring, the novels supposedly written by Nathan Fillion’s character continue on.  In High Heat, the latest effort from Richard Castle, the murder of a journalist as part of a supposed jihad sets Nikki Heat and her detective squad on a case that puts Jameson Rook’s life at risk.

While the plot of the novel was fine, there were 2 things that bothered me.  First, the ending incorporated one of the things that everyone hated about the last season of Castle, a forced breakup of the main characters for contrived reasons.  Second, while the series of Nikki Heat novels has always included a few nudges and winks towards the show, this book leaves the winks behind and instead pulls out a sledgehammer to make sure you notice those in-jokes.  Beyond those two complaints, the book was enjoyable and the cliffhanger ending would lead one to believe there will be another installment.

by jim

Post Mortem – Castle

castleAfter 8 seasons, ABC decided to put Castle out to pasture.  Given the expected change in direction for the potential 9th season, with Stana Katic and Tamala Jones written off the show, it is perhaps for the best.  I assume this will also be the end of the road for the Richard Castle novels, which had been a mainstay of my bookshelf over the past few years.

I assume Nathan Fillion and Katic will show up on my screen, either big or small, sooner rather than later.