My Favorite Reads of the Last Year

I started 2020 by finishing off Mallory O’Meara’s Lady from the Black Lagoon. I don’t often read non-fiction, but this one caught my attention. The book is part biography and part memoir. One shouldn’t expect a tell-all biography of Millicent Patrick. Part of this tale is the writer’s own journey. I have always held a particular fondness for the Creature. Perhaps, that is because they filmed part of the second film, Revenge of the Creature, in my hometown. A couple of my other favorite pieces of old Florida, Wakulla Springs, and Silver Springs were used as sets for the original. O’Meara tells the tale of one of Hollywood’s often over-looked legends, Milicent Patrick. She was the Creature’s actual designer, and like so many other stories from our lives, her work was claimed by a man as his own. This book sets the record straight and does Ms. Patrick some justice. It is an excellent read for anyone who loves classic horror films, Hollywood, and digging into the murky waters of someone’s past.

I finished off Don Winslow’s The Cartel Trilogy. I read The Power of the Dog (2005) the year before and thoroughly enjoyed it. While the follow-ups, The Cartel (2015) and The Border (2019), were written more than ten years later, they seamlessly fit together. The series has great characters, a lot of violence, and wonderful cinematic quality—fitting since the FX Network now has the trilogy in development. There is still time to read these before the series airs as there is no date for production. Fingers crossed on this one as Ridley Scott is also attached. I will certainly be reading more of Winslow’s work. I love short stories, so I think I’ll dig into Broken next. I wonder, though, if I should read Savages and The Kings of Cool first? Any recommendations?

Rounding out my favorite non-horror read of the year is Jonathan Maberry’s Rage. It is the first of the second Joe Ledger series, Rogue Team International, and what a thrill ride! This action/military thriller has it all—terror, terrorism, horror, guns, blood, science, tech, and so much more. And none of it feels forced. Maberry’s skillful storytelling makes it so you could jump in here without having read the first series. However, I’d still recommend starting at the beginning—way back at the first book, Patient Zero (2009) because I would not want to miss one minute of the adventures of anyone in Ledger’s breakneck life. I am still digging through the anthologies for the many short stories that Maberry has shared. If action/military thrillers aren’t your thing and horror is, I also FINALLY got around to reading Ghost Road Blues. This one was pure horror, with a nice dose of small-town quirkiness to give this the feeling of an old story told at a campfire’s edge in the middle of nowhere.

I read a lot of new-to-me writers this year. The Only Good Indians by Steven Graham Jones was probably my favorite read. That’s the book I would name if some vengeance-wracked elk-headed woman were after me. I read Mongrels first because it is all about werewolves, and I have this idea for a story. And I am currently reading Night of the Mannequins. What a twisted and very different story that one is. This guy is a prolific writer, like a few others I’m reading. I’m talking about you, Jonathan Maberry. It’s almost too much for a slow reader like me to digest.

The ‘Rona hit at the end of the first quarter. We started wearing masks and social distancing, so I thought it only fitting to do a little distancing myself with Toni Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone. It was a magical fantasy that transported me away for a little while. The audiobook was magic. 

I made a conscious effort to read horror, and other books, by women this year. I could and will do better in 2021. I read The View From Flyover Country. Sarah Kendzior gives us a look at how we ended up in 2020 from a political and social standpoint. We still have so much to do for equality in this country. I’m always up for something from Zora Neal Hurston. She was one of this country’s greatest treasures, so when a new or new to me book by her is published, I’m all in. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is a newly packaged telling of eight of her short stories. Wickedly funny and socially poignant. I got a little scifi fix from Charlie Jane Anders’s The City in the Middle of the Night—imaginative, inventive, and great characters. And I finally did make it back around to Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. I know. I know. What took me so long? I enjoyed it and was glad I finally got to it, but I hate to admit that it didn’t transport me to another world. The other slap to the wrist that I so rightfully deserve is for reading Octavia E Butler’s Kindred. That one did move me—right back to the days of slavery. It left me a bit hollow and wanting more. I will be picking up more of her work. 

So, where are the tales of terror? Well, I did get my hands on two of Paul Tremblay’s masterful books, Disappearance At Devil Rock and the short story compilation Growing Things and Other Stories. I wanted to read Survivor Song, but my TBR pile was so large this year. I will read it in 2021, as well as anything else the man chooses to write. I also managed to get in both of Josh Malerman’s Bird Box books. Malorie was a nice addition, although her kids… I’ll chalk that up to teenagers being teenagers. Another writer that I spent time with more than once this past year was Chuck Wendig. Wanderers might not have been the one to read during a pandemic, but I did and do not regret it. I also read his book on writing, Damn Fine Story. This one should be on every writer’s reading list. I did get one of Stephen King’s books in this year—Revival. It is a nice addition to his kingdom of horror, but like Wanderers, maybe a little too realistic in light of the times. I’ll be reading The Outsider this year. I’m looking forward to reading that one as well as watching the series simultaneously on HBO as I did with 11/22/63 and found it quite enjoyable. I had heard so much about Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. It was entertaining with well-crafted characters and setting but a bit of a letdown considering all the hype. I would have liked less set up and more gloomy horror. Laurel Hightower delivered the goods with Crossroads. It had the very creepy Pet Semetary vibe. How far would you go to bring back one of your children from the dead? 

I have been in the process of writing my own Southern gothic horror tale for far longer than I had hoped but am making good progress. I’m revising much of it with the help of a writing coach. That was why I jumped off the horror ride and dove into a few classics in the genre. I read Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Is it wrong of me to say that I wished that I lay dying myself on many occasions while reading this one? I liked his others much better. For a more sordid tale, I treated myself to Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God. I love this man’s style and way with words. Let’s just say that I was delighted to see Lester Ballard get what Lester Ballard got. It is said that a good Southern gothic has grotesques. This dark tale had that and more. Before I returned to horror land, I took a spin with S.A. Cosby. Blacktop Wasteland is one worthy addition to anyone’s shelf of crime novels. The characters were frustratingly good; the action was adrenaline-inducing.

I finished up the year with The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. I would have liked to give this one five stars and would have if it had been a story without ANY men. The women in this tale were marvelous. The horror was chilling. I will read Grady Hendryx again as I have Horrorstör sitting on my bedside table. I am still reading two books that I started in 2020. I already mentioned Night of the Mannequins. The other is The Hollow Ones by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I plan to kick off the year with The Hollow Places, adhering to the #LadiesFirst meme. Perhaps I am feeling a little hollowed out after the last four years.

I’ll follow this post up with some of the novels that I am most looking forward to reading in 2021.