Bill Willingham

Dec 31 2010

My Favorite Reads of 2010

I mentioned on Twitter last night that it looks like I will close out 2010 having read about 60 or so books. A few people asked about my favorites so I figured it would be worth it to wrap up 2010 with a post.

After looking at the list I decided to do so by breaking it out a bit. The list breaks down into three categories which divide my reading into roughly thirds: Young Adult Fiction, Fiction, and Non-Fiction.  So below are my favorite reads in each of those categories.

Young Adult Fiction

Cover of "Leepike Ridge"

Cover of Leepike Ridge

Yes, I’m a grown man and I read young adult fiction. As I have explained a few times, I do this because I find the YA fantasy fiction genre creative and entertaining. Some of them are just fun relaxing reads (admittedly quick and easy as well) but some of them are complex and imaginative in ways that make the label superfluous. They are just great books.

The List (in no particular order):

  1. Factotum (The Foundling’s Tale, Part Three) by D. M. Cornish (If you love epic fantasy that is a mix of Tolkien and Dickens you will enjoy this series.)
  2. Boom! by Mark Haddon (A great little story – action, adventure, intrigue and humor all in less than 200 pages.)
  3. The Necromancer by Michael Scott (An enjoyable fantasy thriller where you race to read the book only to be forced to wait for the next release to dive back in again.)
  4. Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson (“An original mix of Robinson Crusoe, King Solomon’s Mines, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Odyssey”)
  5. Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill (A creative and intelligent mix of myth, mystery and coming of age stories.)

“Adult” Fiction and Non-Fiction below.

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Feb 5 2010

Peter & Max by Bill Willingham

I seem to be back on a fables, myths and legends type kick again (not that I ever got off it). And certainly Bill Willingham‘s Peter & Max fits right in to that theme.

As the subtitle notes (a Fables novel) this book is an outgrowth of Willingham’s popular Fables series of comics:

Fables is a unique series imagining that all of your favorite nursery rhyme, storybook, and fable characters are real and living in New York City.

The characters have all escaped from their own homelands and gathered in a small area of New York. Of course, this is only the human looking characters. All of the animals, Puss in Boots, the Three Little Pigs, Mother Goose, and more, live in an area of upstate New York Known as The Farm.

I have not read any of these comics but the hook was intriguing.  I immediately thought of the Sister’s Grimm series but with an adult perspective rather than YA. Since I love SG I wanted to check out this similar sounding take on fairy tales. The fact that it came with illustrations only added to my interest.

And those expectations were largely met. Peter & Max is a creative and interesting reworking of the Pied Piper story. It left me wondering if this is a one off building on the comics or whether we can expect more novel exploration of Fabletown.

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