My 2011 Reading List

It has become a long-standing tradition (read: I’ve done it the last two years) here at Blank Stares and Blank Pages that I share my yearly reading list with My Faithful Readers and set reading goals for the new year.

Last year, I raised the bar and vowed to read a whopping 20 books; a feat I accomplished this year with flying colors.

At year’s end I’d read a total of 24 books and three graphic novels.

Not. Too. Shabby.

Most of the damage was done early in the year when I plowed through Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series and slowed down something fierce throughout the summer and fall when I was playing a lot of softball and basically not being a homebody.

The aforementioned, Mr. King should be pretty stoked because, in addition to plowing through the “Dark Tower,” I read a big ole bunch of his stuff this year, thus further cementing his status as my favorite author.

I’ll be expecting a letter of gratitude from him within the week.

I’d like to give a more rounded rundown of what I read this year, but a cursory glance at the list below should probably give you a good idea of where my reading interests were this past year.

Heck, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that nearly every book I read could be categorized one of just four ways: Stephen King books, zombie books, wrestling books and baseball books.

Without any further ado, here is my 2011 Reading List:

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Walking Dead Vol. 13: Too Far Gone by Robert Kirkman
1984 by George Orwell
Zomblog by T.W. Brown
In the Shadow of the Rockies: An Outsider’s Look Inside a New Major League Baseball Team by Alan Gottlieb
Zomblog II by T.W. Brown
Dead: the Ugly Beginning by T.W. Brown
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend by James Hirsch
A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex by Chris Jericho
The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands by Stephen King
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First by Jonah Keri
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Suannah by Stephen King
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King
The Walk by Lee Goldberg
A False Spring by Pat Jordan
Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps by Chris Jericho
Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? by Max Brallier
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King
The Death of WCW by R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez
Swan Song by Robert McCammon
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
The Stand vol. 4: Hardcases by Stephen King, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Mike Perkins
The Stand vol. 5: No Man’s Land by Stephen King, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Mike Perkins

…and there you have it folks, my 2011 Reading List.

I’ve already jumped right into the fray for 2012 and have one book read on the year as I start the slow march toward my new lofty goal of 25 books.

If you’d like to follow along throughout the year—and who wouldn’t, right?!—you can add me as a friend or contact or buddy or amigo or whatever they call it on Goodreads.

I joined up with Goodreads earlier this year and think it’s a pretty nifty way to track what you’ve read, what you want to read, and to get reviews and suggestions from other peeps about what you should read.

If any of My Faithful Readers have read or are interested in reading anything on my list, lemme know what you thought or if you’ve got any questions. I’d love to hear what y’all have to say.