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Year End Book Report: My Favorite Books/Comics I Read in 2022

Posted in Blog Series, Book Report, books, comic books with tags Book Report, books, comic books, DC Comics, Magic Johnson, Marvel Comics, NBA, reviews, time travel, Year End Books on January 17, 2023 by Paxton

2022 was, for some weird reason, a very productive reading year for me. I reached the highest amount of books/comics read, EVER. So let’s dig into that.

You can find my reading log on Goodreads. I log everything I read there. My reading goal for 2022 was 150. And according to Goodreads, I finished out the year with 241 books. I smashed all my previous reading totals. I was even in a position in December where I was within readch of 250, but work was really busy at that time and I didn’t really try to read a few quick things to up the number. Gotta leave some goals for next year, right?

Let’s take a look at some of the GoodReads stats for 2022.

Year in Books 1

It’s not all novels, obviously, I read a lot of comics as well. And depending on how GoodReads has you log them, it can inflate your totals. But I’m pretty happy with how much I got read this past year.

Let’s look at the numbers of some of the things I read.

Year in Books 2

Here’s my shortest and longest book I read. Shortest is an issue of a comic. Not surprising. I started that Tom Taylor Nightwing series last year and I’m loving it. It’s so good. The longest is, surprisingly, another comic. I reread the X-men: Inferno story arc. I hadn’t read that since it came out in 1989. And I only read the collection of the main mutant titles; X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants, and X-Terminators. Even just that was a lot, but there’s a whole separate collection of all the tie-in books. At least 20 more issues of tangentially related books. I had to draw the line there. Inferno is great, but…no.

Year in Books 3

Here are my “most popular” and “least popular” shelved books. Most popular was Jurassic Park. I re-read that last year for the first time since the summer the movie came out. It’s still a pretty great book. I’m hoping to re-read the sequel, The Lost World, this year. Look at that, over a million other people shelved Jurassic Park last year. That’s crazy. Wow.

And the least popular book I shelved was The Story of Breakin’. Which is supposed to be an oral history of the making of the movie. Don’t get me started on that. It’s enthusiastic, but it’s not great.

Let’s move on with my recap of my favorite books I read this year.

Rules are the same as every year. Only books/comics I read for the first time in 2022 are eligible for this list. No re-reads, of which I typically had a few. I don’t usually read brand new stuff the year it comes out, but it happens. This year I read 5 novels that were released in 2022. One of those 5 was a “did not finish”. Let’s see if any of them made the list.

Here are the top 5 books I read last year in no particular order.

Images and links are from GoodReads pages.

Books

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo – The currently final book in the Shadow and Bone series. All of this series has made it onto my year end lists in some form or another. The final two books are a duology focusing on Nicolai, who is my favorite character. The book before this, King of Scars, was a very slow starter, so I was concerned going into this. However, this book was a fantastic ending (?) to the saga. The story was good, characters arcs wrapped up nicely, it was so much fun. This whole series is good, but my favorites are the middle two books, Six of Crows, and Crooked Kingdom. Leigh Bardugo is currently one of my favorite writers. All of her books are really fun and have really good dialogue and characters.

Showtime!: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s by Jeff Pearlman – I’m a huge fan of pre-2000s NBA documentaries and biographies. I’ve read a couple huge oral histories of the NBA and the ABA, and tons of books about players and teams including Larry Bird, Pete Maravich, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Celtics. This was one I never read. It’s what the HBO series Winning Time! is loosely based on. So after really enjoying season 1 of Winning Time! I decided to give this a shot. And it’s everything I wanted it to be. Pretty much an oral history of the Los Angeles Lakers starting around the year before Magic was drafted in 1979 and ends right around his (first) retirement in 1991. It’s a lot of information but it’s a lot of fun to see all the locker room shenanigans the team got into. And not just the players, Jerry Buss was kind of a wild man as well. This was a really fun read.

Just One Damned Thing After Another (Chronicles of St Marys Book 1) by Jodi Taylor – Being a huge devotee of time travel books, I’ve been lurking on these St Mary’s books for a while. Currently I’ve read a short prequel to the series, this first book, and the second book. I think there are currently 14 books in the series. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to finish the full series, but the first two books are really really good. There’s a St Mary’s Institute for Historical Research at the University of Thirsk in London. It studies historical events in “contemporary time”. Which is a fancy way of saying, they travel back in time and study historical events. In this book time travel exists and this research institute uses it to bolster the human record of the past. However, the quirky staff at the Institute are disaster magnets and anything that can go wrong will. It’s the characters that are the highlight here but there is some good time jumping action.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi – I’ve always wanted to read John Scalzi but I never pulled the trigger. I read a sample of his book Redshirts, but never actually finished it. However this came out in February 2022, and my library had a copy online, so I quickly checked it out. And this is a lot of fun. At first glance you think, “It’s essentially Jurassic Park”. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I read another book in that pastiche that I liked a few years ago called The Great Zoo of China. They can be a lot of fun. This story obviously isn’t Earthbound. The goverment discovers a portal to another dimension and a land filled with kaiju. They set up a research station in that dimension to learn more about the creatures. It doesn’t really go the way you expect, ie the kaiju run rampant killing people. It’s actually more of a people villain that causes a bunch of havok, but it’s certainly a lot of fun. And the way the research station works and the variety of kaiju are definitely interesting.

Jack West Jr #7
One Impossible Labyrinth (Jack West Jr Book 7) by Matthew Reilly – I started this series way back in 2010. It’s showed up on my year end list several times, as has the author, Matthew Reilly. This is the final book in Reilly’s Jack West Jr series which is a big, epic, adventure series akin to Indiana Jones, but even bigger. There’s a lot to digest here, it’s not just a one off book, you’re gonna need to read the series from the beginning or you’re gonna be lost. And as a finale, this book nailed it. I love this series, but the last three or four books have just been exquisite. Reilly really knows how to write action and keep the plot moving. So fun.

As usual, I also read a bunch of movie novelizations this year for I Read Movies. However, I don’t include those in this list. I do a separate write up for I Read Movies year end. Check it out here.

Let’s switch over to comics! Here are the top 5 comics I read last year in no particular order.

Comics

All-New Wolverine by Tom Taylor and David Lopez – I love Laura Kinney (X-23), so I was very curious about this title where she takes over the mantle of the dead (at the time) Wolverine. I think this was also the title that introduced me to writer Tom Taylor. This is such a great series. I read the first three volumes in the title and I love every minute of it. Laura gets a quirky group of characters around her and they have these awesome adventures. I really enjoyed it.

Nightwing by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, and Neil Edwards – So I loved Tom Taylor from All-New Wolverine, and I kind of do like Nightwing. Actually, it wasn’t really Nightwing that drew me to this, it was Taylor and all the buzz he was getting about how good this title is. So I gave it a shot. Taylor takes over in issue #78 and I’ve read through about issue #94. The title is GREAT. I love Dick as Nightwing in this. I love Barbara Gordon. I love that the Titans show up every once in a while. Blockbuster is the main villain, but he’s more a terrifying mob boss than he is the smash first monster that I’m used to. This is a really good title that I’m continuing to read because I enjoy all the characters.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson – I’ll admit, the buzz for this one actually kept me away. The art is weird, I didn’t get the character, and it just seemed like this whole Squirrel Girl “thing” was just not for me. But I kept hearing from people it’s really good, so towards the end of last year, I decided to just give it a shot. And you know what? I really liked it. Ryan’s humor is a lot of fun. He writes extra comments in the margins of the comic that are pretty weird and funny. The first page of each comic is a Twitter-like conversation between Squirrel Girl and other heroes which is hilarious. I just really enjoyed Squirrel Girl’s positivity and outlook. I’ll be honest, Erica Henderson’s art takes some getting used to. Everyone looks weird. But over time it just works. You get used to it. North’s Squirrel Girl adventures remind me a lot of Christopher Hastings Gwenpool series from a few years ago. Very much enjoyed this.

Batman 3 Jokers
Batman: Three Jokers by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok – I was reluctant to get into this one because I don’t really want an investigation into the nature of The Joker. The Joker, to me, is a force of nature, an agent of chaos. I don’t need him defined. This does that, to a point, but it’s a really good look at how the Joker has affected the lives of Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon, and to an extent, Batman. In the book we learn there are three Jokers; The Clown, The Criminal, and The Comedian. And we learn how each one works. It’s really well done and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Jason Fabok’s art is fantatic as well.

Maniac of NY 2
Maniac of NY vol 2 – The Bronx is Burning by Elliot Kalan and Andrea Mutti – The followup to the original Maniac of NY. I really like this book. This continues the story of how New York City would deal with having a mysterious, unkillable movie slasher that can disappear and reappear at will. You have the burned out detective on the slasher swat squad, you have the disaffected mayor, you have the cynical police force. It’s really good. However, there are some frustrations, but I think the comic knows they are frustrations. The book lays out a few “hints” to the back story and nature of the killer, Harry. Total plot threads like certain spots of the city that he seems to avoid. And a few other things that point to a possible weakness. However, nothing is ever picked up on. They are completely left dangling. It’s possible these threads will be picked up again for the possible upcoming part 3, but as a reader, that’s fascinating and frustrating in equal measures because I really enjoy this book.

And those were my favorite books and comics I read in 2022. I’ll maybe have a followup article to this talking about some Honorable Mentions. You know, things that maybe I liked that almost made the list, but also things I didn’t like and really want to talk about.

Hope you enjoyed this article and found something new that you may eventually love. Let me know if you do!

Okay, that covers EVERYTHING I’ve read. Next up…MOVIES! Stay tuned.

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Review of Dream Team by Jack McCallum (2012)

Posted in basketball, books, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, NBA, pop culture, reviews, sports with tags Book Report, books, Dream Team, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, NBA, pop culture, review, sports on July 20, 2012 by Paxton

So this week I’ve been looking at the 1992 Dream Team as this year is their 20th anniversary. On Monday I talked about their first appearance in the Tournament of Americas. On Thursday I looked at how that team had been merchandised and marketed to the world. Today, I’m going to review a brand new book about the Dream Team that came out a week ago. It’s a behind the scenes book written by Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum. The book is titled simply, Dream Team.

On the surface, this book is similar to another book that was released in 1993 called The Golden Boys by Cameron Stauth.

Like Stauth, McCallum was a reporter that hung around the Dream Team at the time of the 1992 Olympics. McCallum gathered his notes and interviews with an eye towards releasing his book, like Stauth, right after the team won gold. Unlike Stauth, McCallum’s book deal fell through. McCallum kept those notes, however, and used them to write this new book. And he supplemented it with new interviews.

Unlike Stauth, however, since this new book is being released 20 years later, he can get some perspective on the 12 man circus that was known as the original Dream Team. None of these guys are still active in the NBA. Twenty years makes people a lot more comfortable about revealing what really went on. In Stauth’s book, you weren’t going to get the honest truth so close to the situation (except from, maybe, Charles Barkley). With McCallum, new interviews with the members of the team and the officials/executives that made the team happen are much more candid. People now are much more willing to talk about the behind the scenes machinations that made this team. And this is why McCallum’s book is endorsed by the NBA and Team USA and Stauth’s book was not.

Case in point, the controversy surrounding the exclusion of Detroit Pistons point guard, Isiah Thomas. McCallum covers this topic at length. It’s very interesting what everyone has to say about this. Essentially, it comes down to Thomas really keeping himself off the team, but, there were definitely people that didn’t want him there. Players and executives.

I didn’t make the team?!

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A look at merchandising for the 1992 Dream Team

Posted in basketball, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, NBA, nostalgia, pop culture, sports with tags Dream Team, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, NBA, pop culture on July 19, 2012 by Paxton

Just like anything else during the 80s-90s heyday of the NBA, the 1992 Olympic Men’s Basketball Team (The Dream Team) was marketed in every way imaginable. Lets take a look at some of that awesome product. I’ll start with some of the product from around the time the team played, ie 1991-1992. Then I’ll move forward to present day as there are several things going on now for the 20th anniversary of the team.

One of the first merchandising items I remember were the posters. These came out in late 1991/early 1992 before a game had ever been played. The posters were mocked up images of players with Team USA logos photoshopped over their normal uniform. Here’s the poster I had of Larry Bird. It hung in my dorm room my entire first year of college. You can tell it’s a mock up because Bird is wearing his traditional black Converse that he wears with the Celtics.

Speaking of Bird’s shoes, next I remember the special edition sneakers. Many of the players released their own Olympic sneaker. My favorite, of course, was Converse’s Larry Bird Olympic shoe. I owned two pairs of these. I bought one pair, wore them out, then just as they were being discontinued, I bought a pair on clearance. Then wore those out. I wish I had kept at least one pair.

(Via solecollector.com and Air Randy)

The next big merchandising item I remember are all of the NBA Hoops Dream Team card sets. There were several. There was a set for the Tournament of Americas which featured many game photos as well as publicity shots.

There was also a regular Dream Team set featuring all the players in mostly publicity photos.

Skybox had a nice set of Dream Team cards as well.

In 1992 there was a video released by the NBA featuring a “documentary” of game clips for the first 10 of the NBA players on the Dream Team. The video was released before the final two spots were filled by Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner. The documentary included only existing game footage as well as a voice over touting the strengths of each player. I still have this video.

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The 1992 Olympic Dream Team debuted just over 20 years ago

Posted in nostalgia, pop culture with tags basketball, Dream Team, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, NBA, nostalgia, pop culture on July 16, 2012 by Paxton

On June 27 the 1992 Basketball Tournament of the Americas was held in Portland, Oregon. Just over 20 years ago. This would be the qualifying tournament for the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona, Spain.

This particular tournament is important because it was the international debut of the 1992 Men’s Olympic Basketball Team, the original Dream Team.

Selected the Summer before in 1991, the team consisted of co-captains Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan as well as Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner. This would be the first time that FIBA would allow the use of NBA players on a country’s Olympic team.

Though the tournament started on June 27th, the Dream Team didn’t debut until the second day, June 28, where they played Cuba.

Here are the team intros and some highlights of that debut game.

The game was televised. I was actually working that summer as a lifeguard. I, unfortunately, had to work that day, but during my lunch break I ran home and watched a little over an hour of the game before having to go back. I, of course, video taped the game so I could watch it in its entirety later that evening. Earlier that summer, I had purchased a replica of Larry Bird’s Olympic jersey and when I ran back to work that afternoon, I wore it the rest of the day. I still have the VHS of that game as well as Bird’s Olympic jersey. I also would later purchase a replica Bird Celtics jersey and a replica John Stockton Jazz jersey. They are my two favorite NBA players.

Larry Bird replica jersey Jazz jersey

The Dream Team would go on to sweep that tournament and win their birth in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. After their spectacular debut in the tournament, the country caught Dream Team fever and, as expected from a David Stern NBA venture, the team was marketed to the general public with jerseys, videos, collector cups and more.

I’ll take a look at some of that merchandising this week in my week long look at the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. This week will culminate in my review of the new book by Jack McCallum, The Dream Team, which is a look back at the formation of the team as well as “behind the scenes” of being on the team.

1992 USA Olympic Dream Team 20th Anniversary collector cans from 7-Up

Posted in basketball, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, NBA, pop culture, soda, sports with tags anniversary, basketball, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, NBA, pop culture, soda, sodapalooza on June 26, 2012 by Paxton

This summer is the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Olympic Men’s basketball team. The original NBA “Dream Team”. To commemorate this anniversary, 7-up products have a set of 7 collector cans featuring 5 of the legendary team’s members.

Here is the lineup of cans available.

The five players chosen to represent the “Dream Team” for this set are Magic Johnson (Sunkist), Larry Bird (7-Up), Patrick Ewing (A&W), Scottie Pippen (Sun Drop) and David Robinson (Canada Dry Ginger Ale). As I said, there are only 5 of the 12 players represented, but there are 7 different cans. Consequently, Magic Johnson is also on Diet Sunkist and David Robinson is also on Welch’s Grape. I’m surprised they didn’t go for the full player roster and have 12 collectible player cans. When I found out about this I was actually concerned that I would have to hunt down 12 more collector cans so soon after my last hunt for cans (see Avengers cans) just ended. I need not worry now. I’d like to get all of these cans but I think I’m only getting the Bird and Magic cans. And I’ll probably get only the Diet Sunkist Magic can.

Honestly, I’m not surprised about Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley being absent from this set. They have separate likeness deals that have always made including them in NBA deals dicey. Jordan rarely showed up as a playable character in NBA Live games in the 90s. However, why not include cans of Stockton and Malone, Chris Mullin, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler or Christian Laettner (not really missed, btw)? I’m very saddened by the absence of Stockton and Malone especially. I was a big fan of the Jazz in the late 80s – early 90s. I’ve even seen them play at The Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Next to Larry Bird, John Stockton is my favorite NBA player of all time. I had planned on just getting the Stockton, Bird and Magic cans, but now, like I said, I’ll have to settle for only the Bird and Magic cans. Which is fine by me, but I would have really liked to have a Stockton can.

So, the actual anniversary of the selection of the initial 10 Dream Team players is September 21. I’ll be back then with a small retrospective on the team. I had planned on doing this retrospective anyway, but it’s nice to see 7-Up, ESPN and the NBA have also remembered the anniversary of this most historic basketball team.

Oh, and NBATV has also been running an hour and a half documentary called The Dream Team. It covers the selection, practices and tournament play of the team with footage and interviews. It’s been running several times a day every few days. Check it out if you get the chance. Here’s the trailer.