Around this time last year I set a goal for myself to try and read two books per month to pace myself for a 24 book year. I kept a record, here’s how I did:

January
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Every year my mother gifts me a book for Christmas, this is always the first book I read in January. An incredibly smooth piece of non-fiction that inspired Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton. Chernow’s biography is one of the most accessible pieces of nonfiction I have ever read.

February
The Regulators by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)

March (I’m wildly off pace so far.)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon
Found at one of my favorite bookstores in Chicago’s Printer’s Row : Sandmeyer’s Bookstore, this was one of my favorite books of the year. A beautiful, colorful, and sometimes tragic portrait of America between the 30’s and 50’s through the eyes of two comic book creators.
American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
I found the content in this one very interesting. But I found the writing lacking. A lot of people loved this book, I did not. It may have been my least favorite of the year. Coincidentally this is also the book I gifted my mom last Christmas. Sorry Mom.

April
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Phew. Those dialects were hard to follow. Had to read a lot of it out loud. I’m sure my neighbors thought I was looney.
Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr.
I was writing a play that involved heroin…hence my subject matter so far this month.
Three Uses of the Knife by David Mamet
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

May
Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell
On Writing by Stephen King
Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell
These were all re-reads. Cornwell’s King Arthur trilogy is one of my favorites. I try to read Stephen Kings instruction book on how to be a better writer every year.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Discovered in a little library down the street. Take a Book. Leave a Book. I don’t remember what I left.
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Audiobook.

June
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

17 down at the halfway mark.

July
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

August
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Another one of my favorites on the year. Irving is incredible at taking simple stories and making them seem wondrous.
Everything I never Told You by Celeste Ng

September
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
My – “Judged This Book by It’s Cover” Award – Picked this up because of interesting artwork. Ended up having a lot of fun reading this and its sequel.

October
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
My October horror pick from the son of the Master of Horror himself. Does not disappoint.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
2016 Pulitzer Winner for Fiction.

Already made my goal! The last two months are overtime.

November
Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
One of my best friends for years has been recommending the Wheel of Time series to me…there are 13 books. So in a decade or so I’ll let him know what I think.

December
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Audition by Michael Shurtleff
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
It by Stephen King
Audiobook

32!
I’d like to take this moment to thank all of Chicago’s used bookstores, Barnes and Noble, the cat for keeping me warm while reading, all the people that left me alone while I put headphones on and pretended to listen to music. This year I am going for 40. Starting the year with All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren. (Thanks Mom)
Happy Reading in 2017 everyone!