The Road by Cormac McCarthy

My reaction was similar to James Kochalka’s.

Harry Potter 7 by J.K. Rowling

Always a fan of the movies, this year I let go of my HP snobbery, looked past the clunky prose, and let myself fall into the dream..

The Early Comic Strip by David Kunzle

A long-out-of print collection of ancient precursors to the comic strip that I got my hands on through interlibrary loan.

Posts about the book:

• KUNZLE’S HISTORY OF THE COMIC STRIP, VOLS. 1 & 2
• R. CRUMB ON COLLECTING AND DAVID KUNZLE’S THE EARLY COMIC STRIP
• EXAMPLES FROM KUNZLE’S “THE EARLY COMIC STRIP”

Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, by Anders Nilsen

Maybe my favorite book last year by my favorite contemporary cartoonist. My “review.”

The Political Brain by Drew Westen

A book that got me interested in politics again. My mindmap of the book.

Secret Knowledge by David Hockney

A book about the use of optics in painting from the 1400s on, which changed a lot of my ideas about perspective, realism, comics, and collage.

Related Posts:

• DAVID HOCKNEY’S SECRET KNOWLEDGE: COLLAGE AND THE RETURN TO AWKWARDNESS
• WHAT VANISHING POINT? SOME REALLY BRIEF THOUGHTS ON COMICS AND PERSPECTIVE

King-Cat Classix by John Porcellino

A retrospective collection of Porcellino’s King-Cat mini-comics. I also read his Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man and Perfect Example. Those clean, Zen lines!

The Gospel According to Jesus by Stephen Mitchell

Reminded me how much I love the teachings of Jesus and how much I hate contemporary Christianity. A lovely book.

Related posts:

• CUTTING AND PASTING THE GOSPELS
• ON THE CHRISTMAS LEGEND

Saul Steinberg: Illuminations by Joel Smith

This was the catalog of a gallery show we saw while we were on our honeymoon, and it kick-started the Year of Steinberg, in which I became obsessed with his work.

Posts about Steinberg from this year:

• NOTES ON SAUL STEINBERG
• SAUL STEINBERG’S REFLECTIONS AND SHADOWS
• AN ARTIST NOT-IN-RESIDENCE
• A WRITER WHO DRAWS

The Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders

A collection of essays from my favorite living fiction writer. We got to meet Mr. Saunders twice this year: once at Oberlin College and once at the Texas Book Festival.