My 2022 and 2021 Booklist

Art from The Lone Drow by Todd Lockwood

My reading habits over the last few years have been on life support. 14-15 years ago, I was reading around 50 books a year. Of course, back then I hadn't started playing video games regularly again, or running marathons, or gardening, or getting distracted by a cell phone. I've always picked up hobbies like gum on a parking attendant's shoe (said from experience), and that gum rarely scrapes away...I just accumulate more gum and get less time for my other hobbies. Still, I have resolved to read at least a little more in 2023. With that said, here are the small handful of books I read in 2021-2022, chronologically, with comments for a few.

2021
One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America -- Kevin M. Kruse (Kruse makes some connections to the Evangelical Church of the 20th Century and the government that are troubling, but he never really makes much more cogent of a statement than "some politicians use religion to their advantage." Of course they do. As a lifelong practicing Christian who is quite skeptical of any politician's intentions, I should have been squarely in this book's focus group demographic, but I kept waiting for Kruse to come to some sort of a point, and he never really makes one. If anything, Kruse inadvertently makes the argument that the United States was formed out of and will always be tied to Christian ideals, which sort of defeats the point I think he was attempting to make)
The 13th Warrior -- Michael Crichton
Misery -- Stephen King 

2022
All-Star Superman, Vol. 1 -- Grant Morrion, Frank Quitely (I love Superman, and I know this is a heralded volume, but it just doesn't capture Superman the way that I understand him. The tone is also erratic. Not terrible, but still quite disappointing for an Eisner winner)
Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls -- Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
The Bear and the Dragon -- Tom Clancy (This is the last Jack Ryan book that I think Clancy (R.I.P.) may have written on his own, and sadly, the one where he finally loses the long and rambling plot. It's missing a lot of the fun of his earlier books, and replaces it with the misplaced machismo of an aging man, who seems to be overcompensating. But why, Tom? You had nothing to prove here! You created several legendary characters who have stood the test of time. You didn't have to overcompensate. You could have rode off into a gentle sunset. Still, the book is almost saved by a gonzo final act.)
The Lone Drow -- R.A. Salvatore
The Dead Zone -- Stephen King (I know people love this one, but it didn't do it for me. Enjoyed Misery a lot more.)
The Dawning -- Ezekiel Kincaid (A horror novel by someone who clearly knows and understands evil, Kincaid is "the pastor of horror" and also a Baton Rouge resident I'm happy to call a friend)
Johnny Walker Ranger: Demon Slayer -- Ezekiel Kincaid
Isom -- Eric July, Cliff Richards, and Gabe Eltaeb (Has me excited about comics again for the first time in a VERY long time. Reminds me of the old CrossGen days.)
The Hot Zone -- Richard Preston (One of the most terrifying non-fiction books ever written. Way scarier "Zone" than the Dead one.)