Books I Read in 2021

In 2021 I read 58 books, a personal all-time low. As you'll see from the list below, I didn't attempt to tackle anything particularly challenging. The stress of 21st-century existence leaves me with diminished capacity; escaping into film taxes me far less than slipping into a book these days, a truth that profoundly saddens me, but one I can no longer deny. Silver lining: for the first time, I read as many books by women as by men. 

In 2021 I sought out escapist fare, often re-reading old favourites that took me back to comfortable alternate realities and in some sense to a more vital past self. Somewhere between a quarter and a third of the books I read are non-fiction, mainly covering topics in popular culture. 

A couple of novels stand out. Severance, by Ling Ma, uncannily anticipates the COVID-19 catastrophe and, like the real disaster, reveals the silliness and futility of the ways we live and work in the modern world, how the systems we've built serve only a select few. Come Closer, by Sara Gran, is one of the scariest novels I've ever read, and one of the most heartbreaking. It's the internal monologue of a woman who is either going insane or is genuinely being slowly and methodically possessed by a demon, and Gran's touch is so deft and sure that the moments of terror come out of nowhere, seeming to slip between the sentences so that by the time you realize what's happening to you and the protagonist, it's too late to brace yourself for the abyss. 

Martha Wells continues to impress with her Murderbot diaries, and I'm still enjoying my journeys through the works of Jo Walton. I indulged in a couple of near-legendary works of dreadful fan fiction: Jim Theis' The Eye of Argon and Tara Gilesbie's My Immortal. Anyone who enjoys art gone wrong will love these. 

Thanks to Leslie, I learned that I'd fallen behind on Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric series. Catching up was like going on a short trip with an old friend, carefree and pleasant. Bujold remains a favourite, and I hope she keeps writing for a long time. 

Finally, I was delighted to discover that Ulrich Haarburste released his cycle of Roy Orbison in clingfilm stories, expanded to novel length. If you don't feel like buying the book, sample some of the stories. 

Here's the list of what I read this year: 

January: 10
Or What You Will (Jo Walton, 2020) 
Star Trek Adventures Quickstart Guide (Modiphius, 2017) 
Axiom’s End (Lindsay Ellis, 2020) 
The Vanished Seas (Catherine Asaro, 2020)
Lightning Strike, Book One (Catherine Asaro, 2014) 
Lightning Strike, Book Two (Catherine Asaro, 2020) 
Carrie (Stephen King, 1974) 
Way Station (Clifford D. Simak, 1963) 
The Wounded Sky (Diane Duane, 1983) 
My Enemy, My Ally (Diane Duane, 1984) 

February: 7
The Lightest Object in the Universe (Kimi Eisele, 2019) 
DC Comics Covers (Nick Jones, 2020) 
DC Comics Supervillains: The Complete Visual History (Daniel Wallace, 2014) 
Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Phil Szostak, 2020) 
The Big Lie (Julie Mayhew, 2015) 
Passage (Connie Willis, 2001) 
The Romulan Way (Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, 1987) 

March: 6
The Eye of Argon (Jim Theis, 1970) 
My Immortal (Tara Gilesbie, 2006) 
Later (Stephen King, 2021) 
Star Wars Complete Vehicles New Edition (Kerrie Dougherty, 2020) 
To Lose the Earth (Kristen Beyer, 2020) 
Severance (Ling Ma, 2018) 

April: 3
The World of Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Batylda, 2020) 
Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations (William B. Jones Jr., 2001) 
Seduction of the Innocent: The Influence of Comic Books on Today’s Youth (Fredric Wertham, 1954)
 
May: 3
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Alix E. Harrow, 2019)
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory (Martha Wells, 2020) 
Fugitive Telemetry (Martha Wells, 2021) 

June: 2
Ulrich Haarburste’s Novel of Roy Orbison in Clingfilm: Plus additional stories (Ulrich Haarburste, 2019) 
Forbidden Knowledge: 101 Things No One Should Know How to Do (Owen Brooks, 2019) 

July: 3
Critical Failures (Robert Bevan, 2012) 
Living Memory (Christopher L. Bennett, 2021) 
Come Closer (Sara Gran, 2003) 

August: 5
The Physicians of Vilnoc (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2020) 
Masquerade in Lodi (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2020)
The Assassins of Thasalon (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2021)
Billy Summers (Stephen King, 2021) 
The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Amanda Lovelace, 2016)

September: 2
Then Everything Changed (Jeff Greenfield, 2011) 
The Stand (Stephen King, 1980) 

October: 2
Available Light (Dayton Ward, 2019) 
Knot of Shadows (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2021) 

November: 7
The Apollo Murders (Chris Hadfield, 2021)
Visiting Friends: Or, What I Did on My Summer Vacation (Jo Walton, 2021) 
Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir, 2021)
2034 (Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis, 2021) 
Untold Horror (Dave Alexander, 2021) 
The History of Science Fiction: A Graphic Novel Adventure (Xavier Dollo, 2021) 
Forever and a Day (Anthony Horowitz, 2018) 

December: 7
The Steranko History of Comics, Volume One (Jim Steranko, 1970) 
The Steranko History of Comics, Volume Two (Jim Steranko, 1972)
All in Color for a Dime (Richard A. Lupoff and Don Thompson, 1970) 
Comix: A History of Comic Books in America ( Les Daniels, 1971) 
The Psychology of Time Travel (Kate Mascarenhas, 2018) 
The Grownup (Gillian Flynn, 2014) 
Hench (Natalie Zina Walschots, 2020) 

Fiction: 42
Nonfiction: 15
Poetry: 1

Genre
Fantasy: 8
Horror: 3
Mainstream: 11
Science Fiction: 14
Star Trek: 6

Top Authors
Lois McMaster Bujold: 4
Stephen King: 4
Catherine Asaro: 3
Diane Duane: 3
Jim Steranko: 2
Jo Walton: 2
Martha Wells: 2

Books by Women: 29
Books by Men: 29

Books by Decade
1950s: 1
1960s: 1
1970s: 6
1980s: 4
2000s: 4
2010s: 16
2020s: 25 

Kyle's

I bought this 3D-printed post-apocalyptic food shack from a store on Etsy and painted it in Vault-Tec blue and yellow, along with several metallics. I dubbed the place "Kyle's" with a weathering pencil and glued a Nuka-Cola pin and a cartoon ghoul head from a Fallout-themed paper clip to the sign. So the place serves ice-cold Nuka-Cola and it's run by Kyle, a non-feral ghoul. That's him on the sign! 

Pretty happy with this new building for Fallout: Wasteland Warfare. It'll be a good place for encounters and loot exchange. After all, I'm sure Kyle serves more than just Nuka-Cola...
 

Doomsday Garage with Garage

My original shipment of this terrain set was missing the carport (right). I've now painted said carport and added it to the Doomsday Garage. 

I quite like the badly-scrawled "CLOSED" graffiti. 

I'm also glad I took the time to come up with a consistent colour scheme/branding for the sacks. What do they contain? Grains? Zorball? Road salt? 

Wonder Woman vs the Sea Monsters

I didn't intend for the human miniature to look like a casually-garbed version of Wonder Woman, but, well, I painted the jeans blue, randomly chose red for the top, and thought yellow would look good for the belt and . . . there you are. She's actually supposed to be a character from Fallout 4, and she'll still serve as such. Incidentally, she also represents one of my better paint jobs of a human figure. 
 

Fog Crawler

A few weeks ago, I painted this fog crawler for Fallout: Wasteland Warfare. It bugs me that I'm consistently better at painting creatures than people. 

Here's a shot of the base. I tried to make it look like a sandbar with water on each side. 

Here's a shot of the fog crawler's backside, showing off its colourful tail. 

Another forward angle just to show off the texture. As with the mirelurks, I painted this model while it was still in pieces to avoid getting the wrong paint on the wrong parts. 

Mirelurks

I'm quite happy with this pair of mirelurks. This time I painted the shell, body, legs, and bases separately, which helps me a lot with my "painting outside the lines" problems. Moreover, I feel like the shading and textures give the models a touch of realism. 

Here they are from the back. 

 

Xmas Hosts 2021

 

Sean cooked a delicious Christmas meal for Mom, Sylvia, and me, but in so doing he also badly injured his thumb while slicing potatoes on his mandolin. Thankfully he has a beautiful and loyal cat to console him while he heals, which will, I hope, be soon. The scalloped potatoes that caused the injury were utterly delicious, but I'd gladly forsake them if I could go back in time and prevent the accident. 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 24

Santa and Mando
Snatch Infinity Gauntlet
And top to save day:

Christmas stars align
The Mandalorian finds
His Baby Yoda

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 23

Small trees for big gifts
But a mother's heart breaks for
Silent, empty pram
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 22

Poor Baby Yoda
Alone at the train station
Saved by Thor? Malfoy? 
 

Lego Advent Calendar 2021 Day 21

Weapons festival
A new Christmas tradition
Now with pumpkin spice

 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 20

The music throbs but
Robots lack the courage to
Ask the girls to dance
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 19

Who shrunk Avengers?
Pym particles or Potter?
Magic or science? 

 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 18

A twin whips a duck
Fury ignores torture droid
A dark Christmas
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 17

Christmas carolling 
Was never so dangerous
As at Christmastime
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 16

Groaning with effort
Holiday train hauls the gifts
Past snowmen and owls
 

Lego Advent Calendar 2021 Day 15

 

Captain Marvel soars
Through the holiday darkness
Gifts left in her wake

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 14

Goldbricking robot
Hangs stocking on weapons rack
Fireman is ready
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 13

A Scout Trooper!
Avengers' Christmas peril
Foiled by raised bridge

 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 12

The arcane parade
Trundles down fifth avenue
Menacingly 

 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 11

Holiday showdown!
Thanos fist versus elf key
Interceptors go! 
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 10

Snowmelt trickles down
Revealing strange contraptions
From Christmases past
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 9

Arc reactors hum
A secret door cracks open 
Gaffi stick Christmas

 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 8

Tusken Raider thinks
"Sand planet to snow planet"
Cocoa tastes the same
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 7

Catch the jewel thief!
Spidey's hands full of cocoa 
Landspeeder escape
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 6

Gasp of disbelief
Burger for breakfast? But still--
Christmas treats abound

 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 5

Old Harry Potter
A solitary birthday 
Lunch and cake for one
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 4

Turret on target
Litter strewn about the floor
The Black Widow strikes! 
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 3

The guard post is still
Stormtrooper dreams: Black Christmas
Leaves Vader cookies

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 2

Harry Potter flees
From starfighter blasting ice
Robot brushes hair 
 

Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2021 Day 1

Silent as a scream
Disaster on Privet Drive
Where is Iron Man? 
 

Rainbow Synth

Protectron

Here's a barely-functional, rusted-out Protectron. I fear I've added too much rust again, at least on the head. 
 

Improved Soda Machine

I think the new "window" helps. What say you? 
 

Soda Machine

I painted a soda machine in such a way as to make it look ancient and abandoned--or at least that was my goal. I think the weathering is fine, but I'll probably do the "window" over, painting it black with some silver streaks to indicate a very dirty window with some reflections glinting off it. 
 

Rusty Raider

This gal from Fallout's Raider faction has acquired a set of well-worn, rusted-out power armor, sans helmet. In retrospect, I think I laid the rust on too thick; hardly any of the suit's original iron/gold sheen remains. Next time I'll know better. 
 

Iron Man Scanned

It's Tony Stark
Playboy unmasked
With avenging he's been tasked
But yonder villain lurks below
Targeting his steel-clad foe
A trigger finger now unclasped
Can Tony Stark avoid this fate
And keep his debutante date? 
Trust in Tony's brain and sinew
But you must still wait for next month's issue

 

A White Suit, a Red Fez, and a Gun

This might be one of my better faces; there's some shading, and his expression is discernible. 
 

The Blonde Goatee

I call this guy "The Blonde Goatee" only because this is my best result yet at painting facial hair. 
 

Man of Brass

Doc Ravage, Man of Brass! See him flex his mighty thews! Look how well that belt buckle turned out! Check out those well-defined abs! Behold the colour coordination of his costume! 
 

Rope Brute

He's not perfectly painted, but I do like how the rope turned out.