Half of '25 in the Bag

What I read in the first 6 months...

I might knock something out tomorrow at work (June 30) but for now here’s the count.

I’ve read 48 books in 2025.

14 have been in print, most of those have been comics or graphic novels. I don’t really have time to sit down and read so much in print right now, and that’s been the case due to work for a few years. Wish it weren’t so, but alas.

On the plus side, it’s also because I spend more time writing. This is how I ended up selling more manuscripts over the last year. Nothing to be upset about there.

For detailed reviews, always follow along on YouTube.

JANUARY: 9 total, all audio

1) Deus V Machina—Cullen (Indie sci-fi)

2) Storied Indie Automakers—Hyde (nonfiction history)

3) Goliath—Westerfeld (Steampunk alt-hist, YA, a re-read)

4) The Dinosaur Hunter—Hickam (modern western mystery)

5) On Settler Colonialism—Kirsch (nonfic, very good)

6) The Hard Way—Child (Jack Reacher)

7) Blood is the Life—Carrico (Jewish vampire origin story)

8) [Redacted] Manuscript for a friend, listened with Speechify

9) Hereticus—Abnett (40k Eisenhorn novel)

FEBRUARY: 4 total, 3 audio, 1 comic

10) Levon’s Trade—Dixon (Basis for the “Working Man” movie with Statham)

11) Blade Runner—Dick (Hadn’t read it before)

12) It Wasn’t About Slavery—Mitcham (Civil War nonfic/editorial)

13) Absolute Batman vol 1—Snyder et al (Very good comic)

MARCH: 10 total, 6 audio, 3 comic, 1 print

14) Catching Fire—Collins (YA dystopian, re-read)

15) Mech Bunny—Anjewierden (Indie sci-fi)

16) Mockingjay—Collins (YA dystopian, re-read)

17) Roadside Picnic—Strugastkys (Soviet post-alien novel, weird)

18) Witchy Eye—Butler (Finished a deep analysis for this one here)

19) Absolute Superman vol 1—Aaron et al (My favorite Absolute book)

20) Absolute Wonder Woman volume 1—Thompson et al (Better than I expected)

21) Geiger Vol 2.—Johns et al (Love this series)

22) Lost Treasures vol. 2—L’Amour (Started in print, finished 25% in audio)

23) Sunrise on the Reaping—Collins (YA Dystopian, best of year book)

APRIL: 5, all audio

24) Terminal Man—Crichton (Sci fi)

25) Starship Troopers—Heinlein (Sci-fi, re-read)

26) After Moses—Kane (Sci-fi western)

27) Fire and Brimstone—Punke (nonfic history)

28) The Magos—Abnett (40k, Eisenhorn)

MAY: 10 total, 7 audio, 2 comics, 1 print

29) Inheritance Games—Barnes (YA contemporary)

30) Just Stab Me Now—Bearup (Contemporary romance + medieval romance)

31) Superman Red Son—Millar et al (Excellent Superman alternate history, best of year)

32) By The Great Horn Spoon—Fleischmann (YA historical, excellent, best of year)

33) Last Stand—Punke (nonfic history)

34) Astrobots—Furman/Trunnec (Very good robot comic)

35) Law of the Desert—L’Amour (western anthology)

36) Return to Sender—Johnson (Longmire, western mystery)

37) Lost Tales vol.1—Tolkien (Endurance test for Tolkien fans, I failed, lol)

38) New Trail of Tears—Riley (nonfic about Indian reservations, best of year)

JUNE: 10 total, 5 audio, 5 comics

39) Hunter Ninja Bear—Dixon et al (Awesome, best of year book)

40) John Wesley Hardin Autobio—JWH (Post-civil war history)

41) Rogue Savage Land—Seeley (Good art, story was fine)

42) Thieftaker—Jackson (Boston 1765 historical fantasy)

43) Transformers vol3—DWJ (Good comic)

44) Void Rivals vol3—Kirkman (Okay comic)

45) FF Rise of a Nation—Venditti (Weak comic)

46) A Land so Strange—Resendez (Journal of a Spanish explorer, 1530s, very good)

47) Big Sheep—Kroese (Cyberpunk mystery, very good)

48) Tenure 2—Pardoe/Baron (“Punisher fights the Woke,” not as good as book 1).

In Summary

So far that gives me 5 best-of-year books and 5 re-reads. Note on comics: when I count them here, it’s not individual issues (which are 20-30 pages), but entire volumes, which comprise 5-6 issues. For most of these I don’t count them until I hit issue six or so, which is when you’d get to a paperback length anyway.

Long-Term Reads?

Like I did for THE SILMARILLION and WITCHY EYE, I have other series and books that I’m reading slowly, the current one being LIFE OF WASHINGTON by Washington Irving. I haven’t been diligent about it and I’ll buckle down on that so I can get it done by the end of July.

Next month I’ll probably tackle a really long book about the Civil War by Shelby Foote, but don’t hold me to that. I don’t know how likely it is that I’ll be in the mood for 20+ hours of deep study while I’m working.

Thanks for following. If you want to read more of my work, my novels are on Amazon, and I recommend HOWLING WILDERNESS.