2024 in Review: Books
Alright alright, here’s the last of the 2024 articles (for now), I’m still considering doing one more for the stuff I’ve missed on the previous three, but we’ll see how I feel later.
For reference, here’s the last three I wrote:
And now here are my favorite books I read in 2024.
(I don’t know if the 2024 playlist is coming, I’m having a hard time getting motivated lol)
Books
(adjusts glasses)
Faces of Malice by G.N. Jones - In 2023, I found myself in a bit of a rut when it came to reading. I started reading plenty of books but couldn’t bring myself to finish them. I found myself yearning for that youthful joy of carrying a book around and reading at any given moment. When Hecatomb of the Vampire released, that happiness was realized and what felt foreign felt natural again. I found myself yapping about the book and was compelled to interview the author, a good friend of mine. Imagine my fortune when a sequel was released the very next year at a time where life felt like it was tanking for me. Faces of Malice picks up where the previous novel left off, while also building the suspense of the true purpose of the secret organization our hero Jahari is a member of. If you’ve never read a horror book, or haven’t since the Goosebumps days of our adolescence, I cannot recommend this series more. As a faithful fan of the multi pov third person book that joins together at the end to form a coherent narrative, these books are a beacon for me. G.N., as mentioned before, is my boy Wavy, a consistent boon and motivating factor for my own writing. We challenge each other and bounce ideas in our spare time. Much of what he has to say is reflected in my writing as I suspect a small portion of my yapping is reflected in his. It’s a blessing to have such talented friends.
Trouble Is What I Do by Walter Mosley - Get familiar with the name Walter Mosley, you’re going to see him on this site pretty often from now on. He’s an acclaimed author of multiple series of mystery novels, which so happens to be my favorite genre of book. You probably know him as the principal writer of Snowfall. No matter how you felt about that show’s ending, you’ve gotta admit it was at least compelling. Trouble is What I Do follows an older private eye by the name of Leonid McGill, given a task by a fellow old man to deliver a letter to his estranged granddaughter. A seemingly simple task complicated by the fact that her wealthy biracial father is a pundit for racist media and will do anything to hide his black roots. The story takes many deadly turns from here, involving an organized crime family, suave hitmen, and Leonid’s own hotheaded son looking to prove himself. There’s even something at the end that ‘s left up to your interpretation. If you end up reading this, I’d be interested in your thoughts.
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena - To be honest, I went on quite the bender with Shari’s books last summer/fall. I started with Everyone Here is Lying, then to The Couple Next Door, I proceeded to An Uninvited Guest, and finished with The End of Her. Out of all of these, AUG was by far my favorite. Yet another mystery thriller, but in this case 6 strangers get snowed in at a cabin/hotel for a weekend when suddenly someone begins to murder the rest of the guests. This book does a great job of building suspense between kills and misdirecting you to who you think the culprit truly is. Shari Lapena is gifted at writing these multi POV detective stories because at any given point, she may be writing as the killer and you might not sniff it out until the end of the book. There’s always that last POV she drops in that completes the puzzle, and sometimes makes you look like a fool. If you’re looking for a series of unconnected thrillers to read, I can’t suggest Shari more.
Chronicles of the Juice Man: A Memoir by Juicy J - It’s a blessing to see our legends getting older and still be able to write memoirs about their lives. Uncle Juice wrote a riveting story about his early life, the origins of his love for music, and the genesis of his desire to own his own music. I think the most surprising reveal for me is that he and Project Pat are brothers. Like blood brothers. They grew up in the same house. He talks about the origins of Three Six Mafia, when they were still Triple Six Mafia. The origin of the name is kinda funny, and reading about their meteoric rise to success, fueled by some of the group’s impeccable work ethic is inspiring. On the other hand, the story behind why so many of the group ended up leaving and the tarnishing of their relationship with Juicy J is tragic. To reiterate, I’m glad he survived it all to tell us the story.
The Evidence of Things Not Seen by James Baldwin - A few years ago, I watched both seasons of Mindhunter, and the stories of those kidnapped and murdered black children in Atlanta horrified me. Even worse, the apathetic treatment of the affected families by local law enforcement made me sick. I told my friends that Mindhunter is an amazing show and I hope it gets another season, but I don’t want to watch season 2 again. Here I am, years later, having a conversation with a few coworkers and one of them referenced this book. As a Baldwin enjoyer, I had to check it out for myself, and lo and behold, it’s Baldwin’s essay and thoughts on those abused children in Atlanta. In it, he muses that he has a responsibility to talk about it years later, because he can’t allow us to forget it. The introduction of the book being a testament to the fickleness of memory has stuck with me.
“My memory stammers, but my soul is a witness.”
Comics
C’mon, you knew this was comin.
Ultimate Spider-Man - Spider-Man has been in a bad way for almost a decade due to Marvel editorial just not knowing what to do with him. For those that don’t know, the current Earth 616 Peter is broke (again), single (again) but this time he’s much worse off; Mary Jane is dating some loser named Paul and they’ve got two kids. Spidey fans all loathe this current Zeb Wells run, and have waited with much gnashing of teeth for it to end. In the midst of this turmoil, it was announced that Jonathan Hickman is writing Spider-Man. For those who don’t know, Hickman is considered a herald of comics and has written many acclaimed runs in the last two decades. Most recently he wrote House of X/Powers of X, the Avengers run that had the Infinity event that introduced Thanos’ kids (yes the ones from Infinity War), and the Future Foundation run of Fantastic Four. Everywhere Hickman goes, comics change. In 2023, we got an announcement that he’d be writing a comic event giving himself a whole new universe to play with and fans were elated. The set up, Ultimate Invasion, opened with The Maker (evil Reed Richards) fleeing Earth 616 and infiltrating another universe. In this one, The Maker was able to stop all heroes from ever existing and split ownership of the world to various criminal cartels in an illuminati-esque conspiracy. He left Cap in the ice. He trapped Reed Richards. In this universe, Peter never became Spider-Man, married MJ, and had two kids. Now he’s 45 and happy with his life, but has always felt that something was missing. The book is fantastic. The tweaks that Hickman made to Peter’s corner of the world pay off from issue to issue. More importantly, we finally get to see Peter and MJ happily married again for the first time in 16 years. We’re privileged to see an older Peter tackle being a husband and father to two mischievous kids. I’d recommend this run to any disillusioned Spider-Man enjoyer, or someone just looking to jump in on Spidey comics in general.
Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale - I’ve been reading Batman comics since I was kid. The first was probably Knightfall, the story of Bane breaking Batman’s back. For years I’d heard I needed to read The Long Halloween, the originally-noncanonical-origin of Two Face that was so revered, it was retroactively accepted as his official backstory. Well that backstory has a part two and it’s excellent. Loeb and Sale reunite to spin a tale of a second serial killer, The Hangman, that’s specifically targeting Gotham’s cops. It’s yet another mystery for The World’s Greatest Detective. I’ve spent years trying to finally pick a favorite Batman villain and Dark Victory is what solidified it to be Two Face. If you don’t feel like reading The Long Halloween, there’s a two part movie on Max.
Captain America by Ed Brubaker - If you read my Captain America article a couple months ago, you’d know that I grew up reading this run on Cap. Ed’s Cap run starts right before the formation of the New Avengers, with the Winter Soldier saga. Apparently, Ed pitched this idea to Marvel as a longtime fan of the original Lee and Kirby comic. Similar to me, he used to go to the library with his dad to read Cap comics and dreamed of writing them someday. This much is very apparent in his run by his idea of reviving Bucky and bringing back some of Cap’s long lost enemies (like the Sleeper). This run proceeds on to Civil War, to the Death of Captain America, and beyond to Bucky’s eventual tenure as Cap. As a teen, I stopped reading this run after Cap died but last year I decided to read in its entirety. Seems that I stopped before the run got even better. Ed spends a lot of time posthumously fleshing out Bucky and Cap’s relationship while simultaneously telling us their war stories from WWII. While Bucky flashes back, the run continues through Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, and finally to the Siege of Asgard. If you’re interested in reading what was my golden age of comics, this is a great place to start.
Berserk by Kentaro Miura - If you’re familiar with any version of dark fantasy post 2007, you’re most likely familiar with Berserk in some sort of fashion (yes this includes the Soulsborne games). This book has a very contentious fan base, as many have sided with the main villain (I don’t know how), while others are more stuck pondering the morality of the main character; Guts. Personally, I started reading Berserk when I was in college, due to a couple of recommendation articles I read and the random generous reference. The show tells Guts’ life story, a man with a troubled (to say the least) upbringing in a kill or be killed world riddled with demons, sorcerers, and witches intent on wreaking havoc with no end in sight. The beginning is especially hard to get through when subjected to repeated sexual assault of characters and the viscera of no holds barred warfare. So why recommend it? I stopped reading Berserk back in college once I caught up because Miura’s health took a bad turn and he was publishing on a pretty inconsistent basis. I figured that when he got better, I’d pick it back up and catch up again. He never did. He passed away a few years ago, and I felt that I missed my chance to give him his flowers while he could still smell them. I still procrastinated for a couple of years until Wavy and AG urged me enough to finally cave and reread and continue until I’d caught up. If I’d just pushed through and been more patient, I would’ve been along for the ride for quite a beautiful tale. Yes the world is dark and grim, but Berserk shows the beauty in the infinite possibilities of magic. The cast has matured and all grown in various ways, endearing them to me in their own individual rights. Guts’ own growth has been stunning to see. Watching him begin as the loner that loathed people trying to keep him company to relying on the people around him and being more accepting of new experiences has truly moved me.
Left to Right: Catman, Bane, Scandal Savage, Jeanette, Ragdoll, & Deadshot.
Secret Six by Gail Simone - Gail Simone, I owe you an apology, I was not familiar with your game. There’s a reason they’ve given the keys over to Gail on the DC side of comics, and I’m sure a large part of it is because of this series. The Secret Six are basically the other Suicide Squad except this one isn’t run by the government. The team consists of Deadshot, Bane, Scandal Savage (Daughter of Vandal Savage), Ragdoll, Catman (yeah, I know), and Jeanette (a Banshee). Dale Eaglesham’s incredible art style is put to good use telling a story of a bunch of down and out villains having to work together for their own reasons. The first mission involves safeguarding someone carrying something any villain would want; a get out of hell free card. Thanks for the rec, Ken.
Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and Frank Martin - While Marvel is creating an Ultimate Universe, DC is establishing its own elseworld, the Absolute universe. As far as I can tell, the point of this universe is to be a bit more grounded and gritty. Bruce is not a millionaire, he’s a schoolteacher like his father Thomas was. Since he’s not rich, his Batman activities have to be a bit more creative. The different take on Batman and his relationship with his rogues is refreshing, even if not exactly revolutionary. Dragotta and Martin are quite a duo, complimenting each other’s art and accentuating the details of the other’s work. If you’re into cool Batman shit, this is for you.
Absolute Superman by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval, and Ulises Arreola - Superman is one of my favorite heroes because he’s just a good guy. Injustice will pay for starting the trend of evil Supermen we’ve seen for the last decade or so. Absolute Superman doesn’t subscribe to that balderdash. Kal is still a boy scout but instead of being a baby when Krypton died, he’s a teenager. The story does an excellent job of showing the complex politics of a dying planet that excels in science but relies on AI and denies any work done by hand. Simultaneously, it shows Kal on Earth (he’s not Clark yet) being a hunted samaritan just trying to help people all over the world. In the latest issue I read, I was grateful that a basis was established to show Kal’s love for writing (which he’ll probably turn into a journalism job or something I dunnnooo).