The Best Books (read by me) of 2018
A friend on Facebook posted a request for top books of this passing year, so I made this little list. I gave each of the books below 5 stars in my entirely subjective ranking. There are 29 books in total, twenty-six of which are fiction of one stripe or another. (I’m including the comic book as ‘not-quite-fiction’ for this cataloguing purpose.)
If you only read two from this list, may I recommend the Jane Austen or Michael Crichton? If you wish to read three or more I find my head swimming and become unable to choose between what I think are really some great choices. Happy hunting!
Classic Fiction
| Jane Austen | Persuasion |
| Ernest Hemingway | A Farewell to Arms |
| H.G. Wells | The Island of Dr. Moreau |
| Jack London | Call of the Wild |
| Ray Bradbury | The Illustrated Man |
A Whole Mess of Mysteries
| Tony Hillerman | The Fly On The Wall | Semi-auto-bio-non-navajo paean to old-school journalism |
| Ross MacDonald | The Name Is Archer | California, après noir |
| John P. Marquand | Thank You Mr. Moto | The author was an actual writer, you know |
| Peter Lovesey | The Reaper | Woah. I was not expecting that. |
| Steven Saylor | Catilina’s Riddle | One of the best historical mystery writers, bar none |
| Georges Simenon | Maigret and the Wine Merchant | Pensive, as usual |
| Dorothy Simpson | The Night She Died | Terrific |
| Josephine Tey | To Love and Be Wise | I almost guessed it, I guess |
Thrilling Action
| Gavin Black | You Want To Die, Johnny? | New perspective on the sound of dominoes |
| Michael Crichton | The 13th Warrior (Eaters of the Dead) | Surprisingly literate and literary |
| Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard | A hero for all ages. Would that we could see his like again! |
| Ian Fleming | Casino Royale | Fleming’s dark fantasy now seems quaint |
| Jack Higgins | The Eagle Has Landed | One of the two greatest WWII thrillers |
| Jim Thompson | The Nothing Man | Not sure about that ending |
A Soupçon of Science Fiction
| Isaac Asimov | Foundation and Empire | The Mule wrecks all plans … or does he? |
| Arthur C. Clarke | Tales From The “White Hart” | Shaggy dogs of plausibility |
| Gordon R. Dickson | Dorsai! | Fast-paced, almost breathless, action over theory make this a better Ender’s Game |
| Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth | Gladiator-at-Law | Those who like PKD may enjoy this duo |
Dray Prescot [!!]
He is the true successor to John Carter, and Alan Burt Akers is one of the most inventive wordsmiths who ever wrote in English. His adventures make all other claimants mere pretenders, though he scorns the many titles he earns — save perhaps that of Zorcander … or Krozair of Zy … or …. Well, just read the books, already.
| Alan Burt Akers | Transit to Scorpio (Dray Prescot #1) |
| Alan Burt Akers | Warrior of Scorpio (Dray Prescot #3) |
| Alan Burt Akers | Swordships of Scorpio (Dray Prescot #4) |
| Alan Burt Akers | Prince of Scorpio (Dray Prescot #5) |
Non-Fiction Paucity
| Sergio Aragonés | Sergio Aragonés Groo the Wanderer vol. 2 #73 (Marvel) | Groo is great! |
| William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White | The Elements Of Style (Second Edition) | Pithy |
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