2015: The Year In Books

2015booksWith another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 31 books I read over the past year, an increase of 8 from last year and my highest total ever, surpassing the 27 books I read back in 1992.  Of those 31, 11 were non-fiction and, of the 20 novels, only 3 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 4 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 11 were e-books.  I read a nearly 9200 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 19 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Kurt Vonnegut
Jim Bouton
Melissa Joan Hart
Patton Oswalt
Erle Stanley Gardner
Doug Sohn
Kate DeVivo
Paula Hawkins
Jayson Stark
Scott Reifert
Oscar Wilde
Jeff Katz
Felicia Day
George Carlin
Max Allan Collins
Ann Brashares
David Lagercrantz
Graham Greene
Mary Kubica
Martin Short

The ghost writer for Richard Castle was the only author I read multiple titles from during 2015.

Ten books I read were released this year, while 3 of them were released prior to 1980, with one, The Picture of Dorian Gray, dating back to 1890.

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

Book 13 (of 52) – Paul Konerko: Farewell To A Friend

Paul Konerko: Farewell To A Friend - Scott Reifert

Paul Konerko: Farewell To A Friend – Scott Reifert

Following the retirement of Paul Konerko last fall, the White Sox put together a book, edited by Scott Reifert, to celebrate their longtime first baseman and raise money for Chicago White Sox Charities.  To be honest, there wasn’t much reading to be done with this book, as it was mostly pictures along with a few short articles.

Paul Konerko meant a lot to the White Sox and its fan base over the past 16 years, which I covered last fall as he retired.  This book sums up his last weekend, while also hitting on a few of the highpoints of his career, especially the run to the 2005 World Series championship.