Top Five Books/Reads Of 2013

...every year that I have authored a blog of any kind, I have always done my year-in-review style posts. It began as just music and then morphed into movies and more. Truthfully, I have no clue if anybody is even the slightest bit interested in what I liked each year. Given many persons derision towards critics, I'm guessing the answer is no. Regardless, I enjoy writing them as a means to make sense of how something might have made an impact on my year. 

Rather than go ahead and do one massive post, I have decided to break it up into separate entries this year. In most cases, there is only a top 5 to share. In the long run, it is easier to get into the guts of a few things than to expound on a list that seems unnecessary beyond 5 items. In addition, there will always be 1-2 alternate picks of things that didn't make the entire grade, but I want to plug anyhow.

This particular list are my most enjoyable reads of the non-graphic variety in 2013. You will notice that this list is not entirely comprised of books written for release in 2013. When it comes to fiction, I fully admit to being behind the curve. I am playing catch-up as we speak. I have every intent on reading Crime & Punishment and Breakfast Of Champions. I just don't know when it will happen. 

My hope is that for anyone who reads these lists will sample these works. Or compile a list of your favorite things from the past year and share it online. Perhaps I will see it and get some ideas for myself in 2014. 

Top 5 Books/Reads of 2013

* After The Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

Apparently, Miss Vaughn is better known for a female protagonist-driven mystery series whose name escapes me. Somewhere in between her main writing duties, she found time to construct this quirky family drama that is, in essence, a love letter to the superhero genre. Her female lead is the powerless biological daughter of two of the Earth's mightiest superheroes. As a result, she is often the target of various nefarious supervillain kidnapping plots to which she expresses how bored she is of the entire process. What concerns her much deeper is how her lack of ability has created a rift between her super-parents and herself while how having parents with superpowers has affected her ability to have a normal life. Having spent a lot of time reading superhero tales featuring characters known the world over, After The Golden Age offers a new spin on the genre that was both fun and engaging.

5. Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman is not a funny man. His character Ron Swanson on Parks & Recreation would very much beg to differ, but Nick Offerman tries to convince that despite being a clown of sorts, he is no comedian. Unfortunately for his assessment, his stories of growing up in Minooka, IL and his journey to stardom will cause much laughter. Through chapter after chapter, Nick Offerman uses his own personal tales of growing up, becoming an actor, his love of woodworking and more to impart life lessons to the reader. Life lessons he aims to give to a world he feels has become too reliant on technology and ignorant to getting one's hands dirty. Aside from the great storytelling and linguistic mastery found throughout, I am still enthralled that one of my favorite comic actors was a mere 30 minutes from my teenage home.
 

4. Puttering About In A Small Land by Philip K. Dick

Real fans of Philip K. Dick know him for his celebrated science fiction classics. When I purchased this particular title to get myself acquainted, I had no idea what I was in for. Puttering About In A Small Land is no science fiction tale of any kind. There are similar themes of isolation found here, but that is where the similarities depart. Set in California after World War II, this is a story about the seedy underbelly of suburban living. The exterior of the move west during that period is romanticized most often, but not here. Following two couples living in a suburban neighborhood, this story follows the dynamics of the four individuals, how they deal with their lives and how they all end up lying to themselves and one another in the end. If I had asked, someone would have pointed me towards Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep or The Man In The High Castle. Instead, this seemingly little known novel turned out to be a spectacular introduction into a legendary writer.

3. Attempting Normal by Marc Maron

Marc Maron is my spirit guide. I have said as much several times in recent years. When a normal person receives a compliment or is greeted with a hello, they respond in kind. For a person such as myself, I respond appropriately while in my head asking "What does this person want?" or "Where is this going?". Marc Maron reveals himself to be of similar ilk and more in Attempting Normal. Having read other comedian's books, they usually consist of various bits in print with about 25% fresh material. Marc Maron goes the route of brutal honesty, baring his soul about his trudge through the comedy landscape and a life that never seemed to go as he had hoped. These are the sorts of accounts that many people can relate to, especially in this era of imbalance. If you are a fan of his WTF podcast (the best on the web), you already have a feel of the conversational style Maron employs. This book is the equivalent of that friend that shares more than you would have ever asked but somehow, it makes opening up easier.

2. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson passed away over the summer and I apparently had no idea until this past weekend. Prior to reading this, I had seen The Omega Man with Charlton Heston multiple times (to varying levels of satisfaction) and the Will Smith film. My initial interest was when George A. Romero revealed that I Am Legend was his sole inspiration for Night Of The Living Dead. These past several years have gone to great lengths to de-fang the mystique of the vampire. Shows like True Blood and the Twilight series have made vampires alluring, sexy and ripe for satire. Recently, with series' such as Scott Snyder's American Vampire, there has been a small but growing attempt to return the element of horror to the wampyr. As the vampire is concerned in this novel, they are essentially window dressing around the perimeter. The core of I Am Legend is a survivalist tale of Robert Neville, the last man on Earth, as he descends inward into madness. Unlike The Omega Man where he lives in a swank penthouse apartment or the Will Smith film where he has full military training and his trusty shepherd as a sidekick, Robert Neville goes months without any contact with any living creature. In 160 tightly wound pages, you become the sole witness to one man struggling with his own mortality and the essence of fighting to preserve it.

1. Supergods by Grant Morrison

To now, I have read multiple versions of the history of the comic book medium from a few different authors. The majority of them are interesting enough, but essentially dry accounts of events along a static timeline. While you do get the chronological here as well, Grant Morrison brings an undeniable enthusiasm and wacky point of view to the mix. Rather than simply tell you when Superman was born or how Timely Comics transformed into the global empire that is Marvel today, he weaves in his own personal accounts of how these books, writers, artists and eras had a profound effect on his own life and work. He also attempts to offer a new viewpoint on some of the stranger occurrences in comic book history. His chapter on the birth of the Comic Book code and the subtle underpinnings of transgenderism and psychedelics in otherwise silly children's superhero tales will give the reader a completely different perspective on the era. Throughout the book, he interweaves the historical data with his own feelings on how he was inspired and it reads as if told by someone who bears the same level of enthusiasm for comic books as he did as a grade school lad. For me, the tone was infectious throughout and would birth intrigue in books that I might have otherwise ignored. Supergods is a 400+ page story of the comics medium that can turn the nayest of sayers into believers.