Books read in 2020: No. 35 -- The Code of Honor

by John Lyde Wilson

Started: Dec. 29

Finished: Dec. 31

Notes: I always find it interesting to read books on dueling, yet it's been a while since I've perused such, so here goes. This one comes from 1838 and was written by a governor of South Carolina.

Mini review: In many ways, this is a book about avoiding a duel, of how quarreling gentlemen can come to an agreement. Oh, there are sections here about how to perform a proper duel, too. Most of this is about pistol dueling, the author preferring flintlocks over percussion pistols, but there is some mention of swords.

Books read in 2020: No. 34 -- Tombstone's Most Haunted

by Joshua Hawley

Started: Dec. 28
Finished: Dec. 29

Notes: A couple of years back I took a car trip across the U.S. and on the way purchased a bunch of books. I've read some of those books but still have several left. This is one of those, and of course I picked it up in Tombstone, Arizona.

Mini review: This brief read was fun, not only bringing back to me fond memories of Tombstone but also expanding a little upon some of the tales of haunting I'd heard about the area. I wouldn't say this is an exhaustive book, for surely more could be said on the subject in such a famous locale as Tombstone, but it was a nice place to start.

Books read in 2020: No. 33 -- The Red Badge of Courage

by Stephen Crane

Started: Dec. 22
Finished: Dec. 28

Notes: Yet another classic of literature I've yet to read, not even back in school, so now I thought I'd get to it.

Mini review: The author was born a handful of years after the U.S. Civil War in which this story takes place, but he did an excellent job of portraying the chaos of war. The story is from one Union soldiers' point of view and covers a few days, moving the main character through a few skirmishes and at least one battle (though it's a bit difficult to tell how big the fights really were as the protagonist's literal viewpoint is limited). The main character goes through much mental and emotional change in this tale, and that is part of the point. I can't call this novel a favorite, but it wasn't written badly and was an interesting read.

Books read in 2020: No. 32 -- The Book of Ruth, KJV

published by Zondervan

Started: Dec. 21
Finished: Dec. 22

Notes: I began the year reading the Bible, so figured I'd end the year in the same vein.

Mini review: This short book is interesting in that it shows an early inclusivity among Israelites, or at least that God was willing to accept those who were worshipful of him and faithful to him even if they themselves were not Israelites. To be brief, a Moabite woman's husband dies and she goes home with her mother in law only to find favor with a wealthy Israelite man.

Books read in 2020: No. 31 -- The Book of Judges, KJV

published by Zondervan

Started: Dec. 18
Finished: Dec. 21

Notes: I began the year reading the Bible without getting very far, so figured I'd continue here.

Mini review: This is a collection of stories related to "judges," figures who helped to guide or rule over the early Israelites before a monarchy had been formed. For instance, the story of Samson can be found here, but there is quite a bit more, mainly concerning figures that aren't likely to be recognizable to the casual reader of the Bible. From a historical or mythological point of view, these tales are interesting in that they show how early Israelites dealt with those of other nations and races around them. Most of the tales here follow a similar vein, the Israelites falling away from God, then God punishes them by allowing outsiders to rule over the Israelites for a while, then a hero ("judge") steps forward to either guide the Israelites to freedom of sorts or to outright fight for that freedom. Many a fan of Sword & Sorcery fiction might find some interesting literature here worth reading.

Books read in 2020: No. 30 -- Conan of Aquilonia

by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter

Started: Dec. 6

Finished: Dec. 17

Notes: Though this looks like a novel, it's actually a collection of four short stories that have been worked together to form sort of a longer story. Not Howard's Conan, but this is definitely old school, so it should be fun.

Mini review: Here comes four tales that tell of the final battles between King Conan and his old enemy Thoth-Amon. This is not Howard, and it shows. The writing is fair, the plot okay, but too often Conan takes a back seat and even has to be saved by others on too many occasions. I didn't hate it, but I sure didn't love it.

Books read in 2020: No. 29 -- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

by Wizards of the Coast

Started: Nov. 29

Finished: Dec. 2

Notes: It's another rules book for Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons. This one is supposed to focus more on character options.

Mini review: A lot of interesting new options for D&D characters. Most of them really aren't my thing, being a bit too esoteric for my taste, but I could see how others would find them interesting. Still, any Dungeon Master could also make use of this information.

Books read in 2020: No. 28 -- The Lady of the Snowmist

by Andrew Offutt

Started: Nov. 28

Finished: Dec. 5

Notes: I just finished the second book in this trilogy, so I thought I'd go ahead and read the third.

Mini review: While this was a decent fantasy read, I had some issues with it. For one thing, it was too repetitive, going back time and time again to past events concerning the main character. Being the third book in a series, I realize the author wanted to include a little background material for those who might not have read the first two books, but here there was too much, in my opinion. Also, disappointingly, this book ends really where everything should be beginning. A war has begun, but all we get to see is the first battle, which is really little more than a skirmish. And no, there aren't any other books in this series. So, the prose here was decent, though I have to say the second book in this trilogy was the best of all three books. The plot here jumped around a bit, but towards the end, things came together. But then they ended just as everything was heated up. Argh!

Books read in 2020: No. 27 -- Shadows Out of Hell

by Andrew Offutt

Started: Nov. 22

Finished: Nov. 28

Notes: I read the first book in this trilogy more than a dozen years ago, and while I wasn't all that thrilled with it, I have been something of an Offutt fan. So, when I ran across the other two books in the series in a used book store, I went ahead and snagged them up. Offutt's writing is hit and miss, but even at his worst he has a certain goofy prose I find fun.

Mini review: I've read a fair amount of Offutt and I have to say I believe this is some of the best prose he had written. The plot is fair, a warrior is sent by a goddess to an island to retrieve an item and there he discovers a temple and a race of warrior women, but it is the writing itself that truly shines here. I'm looking forward to the last novel in this series, which I'm reading next.

Books read in 2020: No. 26 -- The Sword and the Sorcerer

by Norman Winski

Started: Nov. 15

Finished: Nov. 22

Notes: For those who don't know, this is a novelization for a Sword & Sorcery movie from the early '80s. It's not a great movie, but it is fun to watch. To be honest, I'm not expecting much from this book as the author is practically unknown, me being unable to find out hardly anything about him which leads me to think he probably doesn't exist but was a house name used several writers. Or maybe not. Either way, I'm willing to give this one a try.

Mini review: This one turned out to be written better than I expected, but I had super low expectations. The writing here wasn't great, but at least the author showed some familiarity with Sword & Sorcery, that and I could understand what was going on well enough. The plot was goofy, but that's not this author's problem as the story came from a screenplay. Still, this fun, reminiscing about bad S&S movies from the '80s while adventuring with the Talon character and his companions as they seek to thwart the evil King Cromwell.

Books read in 2020: No. 25 -- Beyond the Black River

by Robert E. Howard

Started: Oct. 20

Finished: Nov. 15

Notes: While still the Halloween season, I'm delving into a collection of Howard tales because a couple of them are horror and the rest Conan stories. I've read all these, but it's always a good time to read Howard.

Mini review: It was fun to reacquaint myself with these stories. All were good in their own way, but two tied for my favorites here, "Beyond the Black River" and "Shadows in Zamboula," both Conan stories.

Books read in 2020: No. 24 -- The Outsider

by Stephen King

Started: Oct. 9

Finished: Oct. 20

Notes: The Halloween season is upon us, so why not turn to the King of horror?

Mini review: A small town Little League coach is arrested for the brutal murder and rape of the child, but he has a strong alibi including witnesses and himself appearing on video. So how can a man be two places at once? And if he wasn't the killer, then who was? I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this book, but I felt it bogged down for much of the second half, though the ending was pretty good. Also, I found the main protagonist to be too "Stephen King," if that makes sense. In other words, King fans will enjoy this one, but there's nothing new here. Not a bad read at all, but again, nothing unexpected.

Books read in 2020: No. 23 -- The Book of Joshua, KJV

published by Zondervan

Started: Sept. 29
Finished: Oct. 9

Notes: I took a break, but now it's time to get back to my Biblical reading.

Mini review: This book covers much of the life of Joshua, the leader of the Israelites after Moses. Here one will find the early conquests of the Israelites, a lengthy listing of various conquered lands and how they were given out by lots to the Israelite tribes, and the final days of Joshua leading up to his death. While Jews and many Christians consider this history, known history and archeology do not back this up, but historians and archeologists learn more all the time. Some of the harshest history (or mythology, depending upon one's views) are covered in this book, specifically the genocides the Israelites attempt and sometimes succeed against their early enemies, peoples whose lands they sought for themselves as promised by God. Perhaps God had his reasons, or perhaps the early Israelites simply used God as an excuse, or maybe even none of this is true but it's only mythology.

Books read in 2020: No. 22 -- Widows

by Ed McBain

Started: Sept. 19

Finished: Sept. 28

Notes: There are three authors I try to read at least once each year: Robert E. Howard, Stephen King, and Ed McBain. So here's my McBain read for this year. It helps I'm a big fan, especially of his 87th Precinct novels, of which this is one.

Mini review: It's always a pleasure to visit with the gang of the 87th again. This one becomes personal as a major character loses a loved one to murder, plus there's another plot line in which someone is murdering a rich fellow and all the women in his life. As always, worth reading.

Books read in 2020: No. 21 -- Stop Doing That Sh*t

by Gary John Bishop

Started: August 30
Finished: Sept. 18

Notes: Been in a bit of a mental rut of late, and after running across this book, I thought it might help give me the kick in the head that I need. We'll see.

Mini review: A bit of tough love here along with some inner reflection. I can't say this book suddenly got my life in order, but that's up to me, and this one at least offered a path for growth. On the down side, this felt like one extended blog post, that the gist of it all could have been written out in a thousand words or so, that a lot stretching and repeating was done here (though in all fairness, that repetition might be important to help drive certain points into people's heads).

Books read in 2020: No. 20 -- Flowers in the Attic

by V.C. Andrews

Started: August 8

Finished: August 30

Notes: As I've just finished reading Wuthering Heights, I'm in the mood for something dark, something gothic. Spying this novel waiting to be read on my shelves, and I have been meaning to try this late author for some time, I can speculate it might be just what I'm looking for.

Mini review: Children locked in an attic for years, murderous family members, incest ... there's little chance this book would be published today, at least not by a mainstream publisher. Anyway, not a bad book. Not great, but not bad. Fans of the gothic might find this one interesting. And it's the first of a series, so there's plenty more where this came from if it's your type of thing.

Books read in 2020: No. 19 -- Wuthering Heights

by Emily Bronte

Started: July 22
Finished: August 8

Notes: This is another classic of literature I've been meaning to get to my whole life, but for one reason or another, it's never happened until now. Way, way back in high school, I had a class in which we watched a movie of this novel, but that was so long ago I remember next to none of it. A lot of people are bored by reading the classics, but I usually enjoy them, though not always. From what little I know of this one, I'm expecting to enjoy it.

Mini review: Imagine an Alexandre Dumas villain dropped into a Jane Austen novel to spread his evil over a few decades and you'll have something of an idea of this novel. Dark, almost gothic, but not strictly horror, the real threat here being the all-too-real villain of Heathcliff, himself sometimes mistreated at an early age. Eventually Heathcliff earns his ultimate reward, in a manner of speaking, but whether that is good or bad is somewhat up to the reader to decide. A few of the characters here talk a little about ghosts, but the story itself does not provide any supernatural elements, though this has the feel of a gothic tale about it. Worth reading.

Books read in 2020: No. 18 -- The Book of Deuteronomy, KJV

published by Zondervan

Started: July 13
Finished: July 22

Notes: Now I return to my Biblical readings, here with the last of the Pentateuch, the five books supposedly written by Moses and that make up the Jewish Torah.

Mini review: Much of this was a retelling of events and words from Numbers and Leviticus, but the last quarter of this text covered the last days of the life of Moses and the earliest days of Joshua. Again, not the most entertaining of reading, but that's not what it's here for.

Books read in 2020: No. 17 -- Preparation for the Next Life

by Atticus Lish

Started: June 16
Finished: July 13

Notes: I've had this book a few years now. I don't remember why I bought it. Something must have stirred my interest. Guess now I'll find out.

Mini review: Damn. This novel is a tour de force. It doesn't start that way. In fact, it's somewhat slow until the last quarter, but then it packs a punch in the end. An illegal immigrant to the U.S. from China meets and ends up in a relationship with an American soldier just returned from Iraq. The writing is told almost in a documentary style with very little direct feeling or thought from the characters, almost like a screenplay with mostly action and dialogue, but it works here. And the backdrop, the world these characters find themselves in, it is a constant barrage of the seedier elements of the American life, not obviously judgmental, but simply hitting the reader again and again with basic examples of what we Americans find around ourselves and take for granted day after day ... and most of it doesn't necessarily say good things about us or our nation. Not the greatest writing I've come across, not even this year, but still a damn good novel and worth reading.

Books read in 2020: No. 16 -- As You Wish!

edited by Jason M Waltz and Ty Johnston

Started: May 10
Finished: July 9

Notes: Yes, I helped edit this one a while back. There's some comedic fantasy reading here, if that's your type of thing. More than once did I find myself chuckling at these tales while reading them.

Mini review: I have some favorites here, but as an editor on the project, I don't think it would be fair to the writers to point out which stories I liked best. That being said, Princess Bride fans especially should find something here for them.