2011 in review

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2011: The Year in Reading

This is the third year I’ve done this review. Basically, everything read the previous year. Although these posts receive little fanfare or repeat traffic, I enjoy doing them for myself. Those interested can also read 2010 and 2009.

This year, I started using the <notes> field in my database to record ‘first thoughts’ after every book. Or, almost every book…I cheated a little. These represent my initial thoughts almost immediately after the last page. Some of my opinions have changed, some haven’t. Take with a little salt. Everything goes better with salt. Except ice cream. Never salt your ice cream. Just sayin’.

2011 in reading

Martin A. Abbott and Michael T. Fisher. Scalability Rules.
Computers
A very good read on reducing bottlenecks and designing scalable systems. Depending on what you do, you may not be interested in all of the book. There is much specifically for network engineers and system admins, but programmers and webmonkeys will find a lot of useful information here.

Robert Adams. Cottonwoods: Photographs by Robert Adams.
(Smithsonian Photographers at Work)
Photography
I’m fascinated by Robert Adams, whose essays I respect, but photography sometimes leaves me cold. Known for highly realistic black-and-white landscape photography, his essays and interviews seem to capture more than he does behind the lens. This was both an interview and photo book, which made it all the sweeter. I look forward to reading more of his books.

Lloyd Alexander. The Illyrian Adventure.
Fiction
Good book, but a little predictable.

Anonymous. La Sardina: Seeing the World Through a Sardine Can.
Photography
Came with the Sardina Lomography camera. Predicatbly light, breezy, with little substance or actual photography information.

Roland Barthes. What is Sport?
Sports
Originally broadcast by the CBC as a documentary directed by Hubert Aquin.

David Bayles and Ted Orland. Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking.
Art
This is both a more and a less practical book on creativity than many of the pop psychology and new age titles on the subject. While it offers no recipes or how-to instructions, it does offer a reasonable, down-to-earth discussion on art, education, studios, and business. It’s a good read.

Peter Beagle. I See by My Outfit.
Biography
A wonderful little road trip book, written prior to The Last Unicorn. Beagle takes us from New York to California, with a lot of stories, encounters, and scenery along the way.

Andrea Bellini (editor). Collecting Contemporary Art.
Art
A series of interviews with art collectors. Interesting only if you are a die-hard collector who wants the opinions of others similarly obsessed.

Wendell Berry. The Way of Ignorance and Other Essays.
Essays
A powerful collection of essays on agriculture reform, the limits of science, and what it means to farm successfully.

Mahesh Bhatt. A Taste of Life: The Last Days of U. G. Krishnamurti.
Biography
A book I became obsessed with reading, and I still don’t know why. It’s about the death of a man I’ve never heard of. A compelling book, even if I’m still mystified as to why.

Earle Birney. What’s So Big About Green?
Poetry
A collection of concrete and experimental verse. Some interesting ideas, but I found only a few things I felt were successful.

Jorge Luis Borges. An Introduction to American Literature.
Literary Criticism
Brief, and has less of Borges’ personality than his other essay collections, but is still a good overview of American literature. Some of his judgements are a little suspect, and ethnic literature is not well-represented. A rare find that Borges fans will appreciate.

George Bowering. Horizontal Surfaces.
Essays
A little confusing in some places, but overall a good book.

Patricia Briggs. Silver Borne.
(Mercy Thompson)
Fantasy
Another good book in the series, but feels like a bridge book to another story arc. Not the best book to get on the bandwagon.

Robert Bringhurst. Everywhere Being is Dancing.
Essays
The companion to The Tree of Meaning, Everywhere Being is Dancing is Bringhurst at his best. Although I prefer the former book to this one, they should be read together as a whole, representing his interests and thought over the last 20-30 years. Bringhurst is a Canadian treasure. Highly recommended.

Stephen Eric Bronner. Critical Theory.
(A Very Short Introduction)
Philosophy
A very good intro to critical theory that surveys a great range of work. Highly recommended.

Jim Butcher. White Night.
(The Dresden Files)
Fantasy
A good entry in the series. I’m slowly catching up to the latest book, and this one didn’t disappoint. The extended cast Butcher’s built up over the series shines in this book, and it sounds like the turning point in the series. I enjoyed it a lot.

Lewis Buzbee. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop.
Book Arts
Beautiful memoir from a lifetime book retail veteran, on the pleasures of bookstores. Quiet, reverant, and full of charm. Highly recommended.

Robert Byrne (editor). The 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said.
Quotations
Not the 637 best things anybody ever said, but a very eclectic collection of mostly humorous quotations. There are some gems, and a lot of stinkers.

Jean-Claude Carrière, Umberto Eco, Jean-Phillipe de Tonnac (interviewer) and Polly McLean (translator). This is Not the End of the Book.
Interview
A beautiful conversation on books, collecting, the future of books, and many things in-between. Highly recommended. Both authors have collections ranging into the tens of thousands of books, and both speak passionatly about knowledge, reading and keeping books in their lives.

Dan Cederholm and Ethan Marcotte. Handcrafted CSS.
Computers
Another gem from Cederholm, advocating progressive design, flexible grids, and a reasonable sensibility towards architecture and design. Unfortunately, some of it seems dated just a year or so after it was published, but that’s because of the vast sea-change in technology happening now. It’s worth the read, nonetheless.

David Chilton. The Wealthy Barber Returns.
Business
Not that great a book, but at least the story format has been dropped. Chilton knows his material, and offers great advice, but this is more of a mixed bag, then a guided tour. Recommended, but you will need a book with more focused advice to supplement it.

Winston Churchill. We Will All Go Down Fighting to the End.
(Penguin Great Ideas)
Politics
There’s only one or two speeches in here that make sense to read. However, when compared against current post-911 politics, there are many interesting parallels.

Arthur C. Clarke. Tales from the “White Hart”.
Science Fiction
A great collection of shaggy dog stories in the pub tradition, similar to Spider Robinson’s Callahan tales. Great, light fun.

Arthur C. Clarke. The Wind from the Sun.
Science Fiction
A collection of near-future hard sci-fi stories. Many of it’s plausible, and it’s great reading.

Eldridge Cleaver and Lee Lockwood (interviewer). Conversation with Eldridge Cleaver: Algiers.
Interview
I think he was interviewed at a point when he was very confused politically. He makes the same points in the late 60′s that many made against Bush Jr. For historical interest only.

Brian Cronin. Was Superman a Spy?
Comics
A good book on the history of comics.

Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard and Henry L. Lennard. Public Life in Urban Places.
Architecture
Not a good read. Very conventional repsonses, and the authors had nothing new to contribute. Poorly written.

Brian Daley. Han Solo and the Lost Legacy.
(The Adventures of Han Solo)
Science Fiction
The trilogy was a quick read, had some good moments, and was average quality. Nothing to write home about, but good enough for a Sunday afternoon.

Brian Daley. Han Solo’s Revenge.
(The Adventures of Han Solo)
Science Fiction

Charles Dickens. Night Walks.
(Penguin Great Ideas)
Essays
A collection of non-fiction, centering on his walks around London. Astounding level of detail and local colour preserved through a lens of social justice.

Louis Dudek. Cross-Section: Poems 1940-1980.
Poetry
A collection of previously unpublished poetry. A few gems, a few stinkers…mostly respectable output. Probably not the best introduction to the man’s work.

David Eagleman. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlife.
Fiction
Kind of a cross between Borges and Calvino, but not as satisfying. A good book, nonetheless.

Terry Eagleton. On Evil.
Philosophy
Better than Holy Terror, but not quite as good as Reason, Faith and Revolution, his standout book over the last 5 years. A good argument, with many great quotes. It’s a good book.

Estelle Ellis, Caroline Seebohm and Christopher Simon Sykes. At Home with Books.
Book Arts
I wish they had focussed on a smaller set of libraries in more depth. Other than that minor quibble, this is a beutiful book on books. I loved it.

Harlan Ellison and Arnie Fenner (editor). Bugf#ck: The Useless Wit & Wisdom of Harlan Ellison.
Quotations
The typical Ellison: lots of bombast, self-promotion, and almost-nihilistic cynicism. Not the best Ellison book to start with, but for the devoted, a small treasure-chest of quips and stories. And yes, according to the editor, Ellison is the creator of the word that is this collection’s namesake.

Hal Foster. Design and Crime (And Other Diatribes).
Sociology
Very disappointing. What started out as a strong critique of art, art criticism, and the commercial concerns that intersect them, devolved into a meaningless morass of postmodern codewords and intellectual in-jokes. It came back at the end, but the bulk of the book is only intelligible if you’re up on all the latest pop-intellectual pseudo-gibberish. Not recommended.

J. K. Galbraith. Economics and the Art of Controversy.
Business
Way too long for what it was. A summation of the social liberal viewpoint, and how many of the arguments have been solved, much to the chagrin of conservatives. Maybe not as true now as it was 5 decades ago, but an interesting view of the arguments hotly debated today.

J. K. Galbraith. The Socially Concerned Today.
Politics
Brief, but direct statement concerning the liberal viewpoint. I don’t agree with everything he says concerning the poor, but he is on the right track. Probably the most succint case made for socialist principles in society. Can be read in a single train ride, and worth it.

J. K. Galbraith. The Underdeveloped Country.
(Massey Lectures)
Business
I didn’t like the emphasis on economic growth, but a lot of his analysis on developing nations is fairly accurate, and has echoes in Bob Geldolf’s analysis for Africa.

William Gibson. Zero History.
Fiction
Probably the last book with these character, as Gibson has notably worked through trilogies for most of his career. A good way to end. Strong book, with a lot of great characters.

Paul Goodman. The Moral Ambiguity of America.
(Massey Lectures)
Politics

Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. The Leather Nun and Other Incredibly Strange Comics.
Comics
Not as incredibly strange as the author may think. I’ve seen a lot worse on the shelves. But an interesting tour of the weird.

Dave Hickey. Air Guitar.
Essays

A.E. Housman. The Name and Nature of Poetry.
Literary Criticism
I’ve been a big fan of Housman’s since I read A Shropshire Lad in my twenties. I haven’t read any of his prose, and although I don’t share his views on poetry, respect the man and work.

Enric Jardi. Twenty-two tips on typography (that some designers will never reveal) and twenty-two things you should never do with typefaces (that some typographers will never tell you).
Design
Insufferably long name, and absurdly designed. The author is opinionated, and a lot of his opinions are good. But his arrogance makes what should have been a brief book long and tedious. There are better books on typography.

Gerard Jones. Men of Tomorrow: The True Story of the Birth of the Superheroes.
Comics
It was hard to put down. A tremendous amount of information surrounding the creation of DC, Time-Warner, and the businessmen that controlled the creation of the industry. It reads like a crime novel, and the amount of corruption is staggering. A great read.

Irving Layton (editor). Love Where the Nights are Long.
Poetry
A respectable collection of love poetry by Canadians. Unfortunately, I read it when I wasn’t ‘into’ it, and didn’t feel I gave it the right amount of attention.

Irving Layton. Lovers and Lesser Men.
Poetry
Very bitter fruit, with some very misogynist stuff. The poems are strong, but it won’t be for everyone.

Irving Layton. Periods of the Moon.
Poetry
I’ve been wanting to get into Layton for awhile, for various reasons. He’s good, but I think Leonard Cohen, at his best, is better. The quality of the collection was very uneven. Still, I would recommend reading at least one Layton book.

Dennis Lee. Body Music: Essays.
Literary Criticism
A beautiful book of quiet, iconoclastic essays. Lee’s take on modern poetry is distinct and awe-inspiring. Like Robert Bringhurst, his essays take risks while remaining subtle and meditative. Highly recommended.

Hugh MacLeod. Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity.
Business

C. B. Macpherson. Burke.
(Past Masters)
Politics
Probably the quickest introduction to Burke you’re likely to find. I’m interested in him primarily because John Ralston Saul mentions him in The Doubter’s Companion, and Macpherson also wrote a Massey lecture. Although slim, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re truly interested in Burke, and not the connection of authors I’ve found who are interested in him.

Christian Marazzi. The Violence of Financial Capitalism.
(Semiotext(e) Intervention Series)
Politics
Under the impenetrable morass of technical jargon, there is a good argument. But it’s hard to find, and harder for the author to articulate. There are better books on the 2008 financial collapse. The discussion of biocapitalism and the history of economics from the 70′s forward are the interesting pieces here. Not recommended, unless you use the footnotes and sources to track down the primary sources for the book.

Robert C. Martin. The Clean Coder.
Computers
A companion to Clean Code, this book deals more with professionalism, craftsmanship, and the ‘soft skills’ of navigating the business world. A great book, even if the frequent sidetrips and stories pad it a little. It’s still a quick, worthwhile read for anyone who works in software development.

David Mason. The Protocols of Used Bookstores.
Book Arts
Quite acerbic, but sarcasm aside, a good overview of the follies of working in a bookstore. I’ve met many of the customers he describes.

Kevin Meredith. Fantastic Plastic Cameras.
Photography
A big ad for Lomography.com. There are cameras other than lomo here, but very little in terms of tricks and tips. Worth it if you’re window-shopping or just like books with pictures of cameras. Meredith’s first few books were really good; this is ok. It could have had less example shots and more detail.

Thomas Merton. Ishi Means Man.
Religion
It felt a little judgemental at moments. Merton brings his usual mix of religion and liberal kindness to the table, but can be trite and dismissive of ‘primitive cultures’. The first essay stands out, but it slowly declines.

Grant Morrison. Supergods.
Comics
Morrison really knows how to sell himself. I’ve never enjoyed his writing, but, if you can move past the hyperbole, self-aggrandizement, and endless drug stories, there is a good history of superhero comics, and some great ideas in here. So, hats off to you, Grant. You finally wrote something I like.

James T. Murray and Karla L. Murray. Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York.
Photography
Really good. Fantastic documentary photography on stores and how they effect their neighbourhoods.

Andre Norton. Catseye.
Science Fiction
Norton seems to love animals. Good book, but not outstanding.

Andre Norton. Sorceress of the Witch World.
(Witch World)
Fantasy
Probably the last Witch World book for awhile. Although a good series, it dragged in some places. I doubt the rest of the series holds as much interest for me.

Andre Norton. Three Against the Witch World.
(Witch World)
Fantasy

Andre Norton. Warlock of the Witch World.
(Witch World)
Fantasy

Andre Norton. Web of the Witch World.
(Witch World)
Fantasy

Andre Norton. Witch World.
(Witch World)
Fantasy
Good start to a promising series. Great mix of fantasy and science fiction.
Good characters, and a vast world. Looking forward to the whole series.

Leah Price (editor). Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books.
Book Arts
Not as good as the original (named the same, but substitute Architects for Writers), but it’s still a grand tour of bookshelves, books, and some good interviews about reading and collecting. If you love having books in your life, you’ll love this one.

Ellery Queen. Queen’s Bureau of Investigation.
Mystery
A collection of short stories. Fun, full of fifties slang, and full of clever plot hooks. Not demanding reading (unless you want to guess the crook before the reveal).

Paul Ricoeur. On Translation.
Philosophy
This book, although very short, was also very good. Ricoeur makes his arguments eloquently, spiralling them outwards to encompass large-scale philosophical issues, and then quietly bringing them back down to the nuts and bolts of translation work. The book is too expensive brand-new, but if you can find a cheap used or digital copy, snap it up.

Charlotte Rivers. Little Book of Letter Press.
Book Arts
Essentially a catalog of work from different artists, it’s a good survey of the current state of letter press.

Charles Saatchi. My Name is Charles Saatchi and I am an Artoholic.
Interview
This book came out about a year ago, and I know nothing about Saatchi. Frankly, I never felt that as a loss, but the book kept calling to me from the shelves. It’s not that great a book, as Saatchi is largely defensive and pedestrian throughout the interview. It felt like either a publicity stunt, or he felt cornered into answering the public at last. Or both. Not really recommended, unless you have a keen interest in the man.

David Seed. Science Fiction.
(A Very Short Introduction)
Literary Criticism
A good general overview. But for fans, it will be light on detail. Even for folk looking for an introduction, it mentions many works, but makes no effort to produce a reading list or give a sense of relative merit between works. You’ll still have to buy a separate work for that.

Wallace Shawn. Essays.
Essays
An interesting book. His interviews with Mark Strand and Noam Chomsky were standouts in this collection.

Robert Sheckley. Dimensions of Miracles.
Science Fiction
Confusing, and overly sermonizing. A quick read, but there is much better work in Sheckley’s canon. Not recommended.

Robert Sheckley. The Status Civilization.
Science Fiction
I liked it. Sheckley is a good satirist, but this book was more serious. An interesting take on how non-conformity both drives and destroys society.

Will Shetterly. Witch Blood.
Fantasy
Respectable solo novel with good ideas. A great cast of characters and a brisk pace. Room for a sequel. Good lazy Sunday read.

Clifford D. Simak. Cosmic Engineers.
Science Fiction
A good book. A little too quick, but covers many great ideas in science fiction.

Clifford D. Simak. The Worlds of Clifford Simak.
Science Fiction
A fun book of light-hearted sci-fi fare. Great ideas and fun characters.

Clark Ashton Smith. Hyperborea.
(Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
Fantasy
Never has one author packed so many made-up words into so little space. The stories are atmospheric, moody, and doom-laden; nonetheless, the fantasy is well thought-out and highly imaginative.

Gary Snyder. Turtle Island.
Poetry
Some good insights, but a little weak. Tried to like it, but the ‘green’ politics kept getting in the way.

Stoyan Stefanov. Javascript Patterns.
Computers
I found this book to be much more practical and useful than Crockford’s book. It leads the reader from the basic to the advanced gradually, and has deep discussions on inheritance, object-oriented design, and design patterns. Highly recommended.

Manfred B. Steger and Ravi K. Roy. Neoliberalism.
(A Very Short Introduction)
Politics

A. E. van Vogt. Destination: Universe!
Science Fiction
A reasonable collection from the early days of sci-fi. The dated material (walking on Venus and Mars with no spacesuit!) is probably the most fun, but there are other stories that age more gracefully.

A. E. van Vogt. Masters of Time.
Science Fiction
Very confusing. More fantasy than science fiction, even though it’s set in the future. Can’t say I enjoyed it, but it was passable.

A. E. van Vogt. The Weapon Shops of Isher.
Science Fiction
A good book, but a little lopsided. A pastiche of several short stories into a longer novel. Has some interesting ideas on society, government, and the balance between them.

A. E. van Vogt. The Wizard of Linn.
Science Fiction
A good book, but a bit lop-sided, especially in the depiction of women. Part post-apocalyptic and part space opera, it has its good and bad moments.

A. E. van Vogt. The World of Null-A.
Science Fiction
Very good book. A dense thriller with many layers, twists and turns. It shows it’s age in many of the specifics of the future, but that gives it a charm a recent sci-fi novel wouldn’t have. Highly recommended.

A. E. van Vogt. Two Hundred Million A.D.
Science Fiction
Originally titled The Book of Ptath. A good book about the nature of faith and religion, and an interesting take on what the world will look like that far into the future. Almost a fantasy.

Paul Virilio and Julie Rose (translator). The Futurism of the Instant.
Philosophy
Good ideas and analysis of the beginning of the 21st century, but buried in turgid prose. Like many post-modernists, a horrible stylist who trades clarity for opaque baroque prose. If Virilio was interested in spreading his ideas, he would write in a more straight-forward way.

Weegee. Naked City.
Photography
The progenitor of tabloid photography. Most of the work strikes me as bad, but there are still stand-out moments. He is more important for his techniques and attitudes towards street photography and journalism than for his technical mastery.

Sarah Bay Williams. The Digital Shoebox.
Photography
Very good book on photo organization. Not for professionals, but a really good book for novices and amateurs who may not have a system. Highly recommended.

George Woodcock. Powers of Observation.
Essays
A group of familiar essays, based around quotations, and the memories they can inspire. A good book for lazy reading, with a ton of references to other Canadian writers. Hard to find, but worth it.

Jan Zwicky. Thirty-seven Small Songs & Thirteen Silences.
Poetry
Not as good as I would have liked, but this collection is still noteworthy for the many small gems you’ll find within. Zwicky concentrates on finding the poetry in the everyday quiet moments of our lives, and succeeds brilliantly. I was hoping that the brevity of some of the pieces would be more haiku-like. I still recommend picking it up…it’s worth it.

Subjects

Another thing I wanted to do this year was chart what subjects I’ve been reading. Since I’ve only been recording the year I read the book since 2009, I only have that data, but you can see some interesting trends.

The columns have been sorted by the total books read across 2009-2011, with a last column contrasting that to my lifetime reading habits. You can see that some subjects rank high despite the fact that the bulk of the reading only occurred in one year (Fantasy or Fiction, for example), while others have a fairly even split (Poetry or Biography). There are two numbers in the Lifetime column: the first is the total amount of books read in that subject (including 2009-2011), and the second is the total amount of books in that subject within my database. So, if you subtract the first from the second, you’ll get the number of books on my shelf waiting to be read in that subject.

These numbers are slightly skewed, for a number of reasons. I don’t add computer, reference, or coffee-table books to the database until I’ve read them (this accounts for the perfect score in the Computers category…I have another 40 computer books sitting on my shelf). This is because many of these books are either entirely picture books, or will never be read cover-to-cover. Many are meant to be consulted only when you have a problem to solve. Also, I have magazines and comics listed as subjects, but these are special categories for me. I only list digest magazines like The Queen’s Quarterly, and books about comics (although this is slightly out of whack, because I have the entire Lone Wolf and Cub paperback series listed here, too).

Subject	2009	2010	2011	Total	Lifetime
Photography	13	29	6	48	84 / 89
Fantasy	6	17	9	32	185 / 196
Poetry	14	10	7	31	131 / 167
Politics	17	2	6	25	56 / 71
Philosophy	11	9	4	24	29 / 49
Science Fiction	9	0	15	24	155 / 170
Fiction	4	10	3	17	149 / 166
Book Arts	7	2	5	14	27 / 30
Essays	1	6	7	14	29 / 38
Literary Criticism	8	1	4	13	25 / 40
Business	5	3	4	12	31 / 35
Interview	7	2	3	12	16 / 20
Computers	1	3	4	8	75 / 75
Religion	4	3	1	8	26 / 33
Biography	3	2	2	7	21 / 24
Art	3	0	2	5	25 / 27
Sociology	0	4	1	5	15 / 20
Comics	0	0	4	4	39 / 40
Cooking	3	1	0	4	4 / 11
Quotations	1	1	2	4	12 / 20
Memoir	3	0	0	3	6 / 8
Psychology	2	1	0	3	4 / 7
Travel	3	0	0	3	10 / 14
Design	0	1	1	2	31 / 34
Film	1	1	0	2	9 / 10
Sports	0	1	1	2	3 / 3
Architecture	0	0	1	1	3 / 4
Childrens	1	0	0	1	24 / 24
Drama	0	1	0	1	6 / 10
History	1	0	0	1	3 / 4
Humor	0	1	0	1	12 / 14
Music	1	0	0	1	10 / 11
Mystery	0	0	1	1	1 / 1
Science	1	0	0	1	7 / 12
Unsorted	1	6	0	7	55 / 72
Totals	117	131	93	341	1318

The more interesting thing to note is that, out of the 41 different subjects I’ve added to the database, only six didn’t make the reading cut for 2009-2011. I expected this number to be higher.

• Bibliography: 0 / 1
• Horror: 12 / 12
• Magazine: 9 / 9
• Military: 5 / 5
• Sexuality: 6 / 6
• Writing: 9 / 11

Series and imprints

I also track series and imprints. By series I mean trilogies like The Lord of the Rings. By imprints I mean things like Penguin Classics. Although I didn’t provide lifetime statistics (meaningless in the case of series), I thought adding the table would be interesting.

Series or imprint	2009	2010	2011	Total
A Very Short Introduction	1	10	3	14
Thames & Hudson Photofile	9	4	0	13
Peter Pauper Press	9	4	0	13
Massey Lectures	2	3	2	7
The Dresden Files	4	1	1	6
Vlad Taltos	1	4	0	5
Foundation Novels	0	5	0	5
Witch World	0	0	5	5
Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series	2	1	1	4
The Adventures of Han Solo	0	1	2	3
Penguin Great Ideas	0	1	2	3
Mercy Thompson	1	0	1	2
Penguin Classics	2	0	0	2
Semiotext(e) Intervention Series	0	0	1	1
Past Masters	0	0	1	1
Smithsonian Photographers at Work	0	0	1	1
Fontana Modern Masters	0	1	0	1
Beast Master	0	1	0	1
Wordsworth Classics	1	0	0	1
Modern Library	1	0	0	1
Extraordinary Canadians	1	0	0	1
Alpha and Omega	1	0	0	1

Authors

I also wanted to see what authors I repeatedly read over the last 3 years, and comparing that to my lifetime throughput with that author. It seems the last 3 years were mostly new authors, not established ones.

Author	2009	2010	2011	Total	Lifetime
Lord Dunsany	13	0	0	13	24 / 36
Terry Eagleton	2	5	1	8	8 / 13
Anonymous	2	4	1	7	17 / 28
Andre Norton	0	1	6	7	7 / 8
Jim Butcher	4	1	1	6	9 / 9
A. E. van Vogt	0	0	6	6	6 / 9
Isaac Asimov	0	5	0	5	5 / 5
Steven Brust	1	4	0	5	6 / 6
John Berger	2	2	0	4	6 / 9
Robert Adams	1	1	1	3	3 / 3
Patricia Briggs	2	0	1	3	7 / 7
Robert Bringhurst	2	0	1	3	4 / 5
Brian Daley	0	1	2	3	3 / 3
J. K. Galbraith	0	0	3	3	4 / 4
Scott Kelby	3	0	0	3	3 / 3
André Kertész	0	3	0	3	6 / 6
Clifford D. Simak	0	1	2	3	3 / 5
Roland Barthes	0	1	1	2	3 / 4
Jean Baudrillard	0	2	0	2	2 / 3
Francesca Lia Block	2	0	0	2	5 / 5
Jorge Luis Borges	1	0	1	2	14 / 21
Arthur C. Clarke	0	0	2	2	4 / 6
Simon Critchley	0	2	0	2	2 / 5
E.E. Cummings	1	1	0	2	2 / 2
Louis Dudek	0	1	1	2	2 / 2
Anne Fadiman	2	0	0	2	2 / 2
Neil Gaiman	2	0	0	2	13 / 14
William Gibson	1	0	1	2	10 / 11
Hermann Hesse	0	2	0	2	6 / 6
Peter Hughes	0	2	0	2	2 / 2
Irving Layton	0	0	2	2	2 / 5
Ursula K. LeGuin	0	2	0	2	19 / 19
Barry Lopez	1	1	0	2	7 / 8
Frank J. MacHovec	2	0	0	2	2 / 2
C. B. Macpherson	1	0	1	2	2 / 5
Rollo May	1	1	0	2	2 / 4
Kevin Meredith	1	0	1	2	2 / 2
Thomas Merton	0	1	1	2	8 / 8
Robert Sheckley	0	0	2	2	3 / 3
Peter Singer	0	2	0	2	2 / 2
Clark Ashton Smith	0	1	1	2	2 / 2
Manfred B. Steger	0	1	1	2	2 / 2
George Woodcock	0	1	1	2	2 / 3
Howard Zinn	0	2	0	2	3 / 3
Slavoj Žižek	0	2	0	2	2 / 2

And that’s it for 2011

Another year gone. It wasn’t remotely as productive as the previous 2, but I cleared out a lot of deadwood through selling (and reading!), and have high hopes for 2012. There’s a lot of great stuff lined up on the shelf.

See you in a year.

Bad Habits

One of the goals this year, and in fact for the next several years, is ‘within means’. For a died-in-the-wool collector, this is not an easy goal. I can very easily consume five times as much as I can adequately use without even realizing it.

To clarify that, I’m talking about books, movies, music and other creative work, not food, booze, furniture, etc. My collecting is almost entirely about content, though I’ve become a bit of a camera collector of late, as well.

Books are probably my biggest pain point. I (eventually) get around to reading every comic I buy, though sometimes that can be a long wait. Most comics, of course, take less than fifteen minutes to read, so you can buy eight comics a week and not have to commit to any more than two hours of time. If you buy eight novels a week, you better be retired.

I can easily buy several books a week, but I’m a slow reader, so I can rarely get more than 2 read, and that’s pushing it. Add the reading I need to keep up with my job, comics, and that thing called Life, and several books a week turns into a nightmare of unread books piling up on your shelf.

Currently I have over 200 unread books on the shelf.

Yeah. I know. Crazy.

What’s even more crazy is I sold over 200 books this year to get down to that number.

I don’t want to stop reading or collecting books. I just want the numbers to be sane. I also don’t want to feel the pressure of all those unread books sitting on the shelf.

I’ve worked very hard this year to make the habit of reading something healthy and sustainable for myself. I want to pick up a book in a store and not calculate how many months or years before I actually read it, if I in fact buy it.

The goal I’ve set for myself is that every year from now on, the number of unread books goes down, at least by a quarter of what it currently is. Half is the better target, if I can make it. So, by the end of 2012, I should have, at minimum, 150 unread books on the shelf.

This year I’ve read more than 85 books. I usually start the new year with a list of the books I’ve read (here’s 2010 and 2009). You can look through the blog for posts on books in general.

With just over 30 days left, I thought I’d take a sneak peak at what books I’ve read this year by subject. Here’s the breakdown by subject, so far:

• 12 – Science Fiction
• 9 – Fantasy
• 7 – Essays
• 7 – Poetry
• 6 – Photography
• 5 – Politics
• 4 – Book Arts
• 4 – Comics
• 4 – Computers
• 4 – Literary Criticism
• 3 – Business
• 3 – Fiction
• 3 – Interview
• 3 – Philosophy
• 2 – Art
• 2 – Biography
• 1 – Architecture
• 1 – Design
• 1 – Mystery
• 1 – Quotations
• 1 – Religion
• 1 – Sociology
• 1 – Sports

A grand total of 85 books in 23 subjects. Granted, I choose how to sort the subjects, so what went into sociology for me may have gone into essays or philosophy for others. As with my other previous posts on what I’ve read, it will come when I get the final tally on January 1st. Still hoping to break 100 this year.

Reading is one of the most enriching activities you can engage in. Books are an historical and cultural treasury that I can’t imagine living without. I’m looking forward to many future adventures between the pages.

Just, within means.

Snap: a small reponsive design utility

So, I’ve been reading Ethan Marcotte’s excellent book on responsive design, and I’m liking it a lot. I’ve been a big fan of fluid grids for a long time. It’s a great book, and if you can only devote a limited amount of time to the subject, go read his List Apart article to get your feet wet.

The formula Marcotte suggests as the foundational basis for responsive design: target ÷ context = result, is largely something you do inside the CSS you build for your pages. However, I would imagine there would be a few small points where you would need to calculate this in Javascript.

Snap is a very small utility that provides this, along with a way to get the aspect ratio for elements, thanks to a great little function from Stack Overflow.

Snap doesn’t do much but provide a few convenience methods to do the division necessary. It stays as small as possible by providing no ‘training wheels’…it won’t calculate styles or do DOM lookups…it assumes you’re already using a library for that. It also won’t check that you’re passing integers…it will blow up if you don’t.

The whole library is below:

/*
Snap: a small detection utility for responsive design
Author: Jeff Wyonch
Version: 0.0.1
Date: Monday, November 21, 2011
Notes:
-- The gcd and gar functions come from a Stack Overflow page:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1186414/whats-the-algorithm-to-calculate-aspect-ratio-i-need-an-output-like-43-169

-- Refer to Ethan Marcotte's ALA article for the target / context = result formula for responsive design.
*/

var Snap = Snap || {};

Snap = ( function() {

	// private methods

	// get common divisor
	gcd = function( a, b ) {
		return ( b == 0 ) ? a : gcd( b, a % b );
	};

	// public methods

	return {

		// get aspect ratio
		gar : function( w, h ) {
			var width = w || screen.width,
				 height = h || screen.height,
				 divisor = gcd( width, height ),
				 ratio = width / divisor + ":" + height / divisor;
				return ratio;
		},

		// get type in ems
		gem : function( a, b ) {
			return a / b;
		},

		// get width in percentage
		gpx : function( a, b ) {
			return a / b * 100;
		},

	};

// end module
}());

And here’s the minified src:

/* Snap.js, by Jeff Wyonch. V 0.0.1 */
var Snap=Snap||{};Snap=(function(){gcd=function(a,b){return(b==0)?a:gcd(b,a%b)};return{gar:function(w,h){var a=w||screen.width,height=h||screen.height,divisor=gcd(a,height),ratio=a/divisor+":"+height/divisor;return ratio},gem:function(a,b){return a/b},gpx:function(a,b){return a/b*100},}}());

There are 3 public methods:

Snap.gar(width,height);

This is the get aspect ratio function. The arguments are the width and height in pixels you want calculated, and the return is a string in the “x:y” format. If no arguments are supplied, it calculates the screen dimensions.

Snap.gem(a,b);

Get ems. This is the division formula for calculating responsive type. It divides 2 integers and returns the result.

Snap.gpx(a,b);

Get pixels, for calculating responsive layouts. It divides the 2 numbers and then multiplies by 100 to get a percentage value back. Both Snap.gem and Snap.gpx return integers, without the trailing ‘em’ or ‘%’.

It comes in at about 300 bytes when minimized, which is as small as I can currently make it.

Integrating this into an existing library should be no work at all. The functions are very simple, and are decoupled with the exception of the Snap.gar function, which relies on Snap.gcd. Changing Snap to any other namespace only requires a quick search-and-replace.

Yeah. I know. There’s not much here. I started this thinking there would be some inspiration, and then the lib would really take off. But, there wasn’t. Maybe in the future, as more people work out problems with responsive design, this will be more than a few small functions.

Bugs

I’ve found that when you use the browser to scale type the get aspect ratio function ceases to provide meaningful numbers for screen.width and screen.height, but if you access those values directly through the console they also seem to be screwed up. I’m not sure if there’s anything that can be done about it.

Obviously there is no error checking. If you pass a value with ‘px’ attached to the end, it will blow up.

There is currently no facility for rounding really large or recurring fractions, either. According to Ethan Marcotte, the defaults you get out of a standard calculator shouldn’t be messed with, anyway.

Let me know how it goes

I don’t really know what else to put in this little ditty right now. While it doesn’t seem complete, I’m not yet sure what else to do with it. It’s really meant as a handy extra to do calculations and provide numbers for others scripts, similar to a user-agent sniffer, but for widths, heights, aspect ratios and such.

If you see something else that should be there, let me know.

Responsive Design bookmarklets

I’m currently working on a project that requires some media queries. Resizing your browser by dragging is quickly becoming a pain. Here are a few solutions for this.

Chris Pederick’s Web Developer Toolbar

Now available for both FF and Chrome, I always install this. Yeah, everybody uses Firebug, but this is still a great add-on to have, and it has a menu for resizing the window. You can store a large amount of x by y dimensions and create your own.

Check it out. While you’re there, grab his User Agent Switcher, another great add-on for responsive design work.

Window Size Bookmarklet

Joss Crowcroft created a neat little bookmarklet that lets you see the current screen dimensions in a little overlay at the top-left corner. Great for seeing when a media query is about to kick in.

Other bookmarklets

Creating a bookmarklet that resizes the screen isn’t hard. Here’s a quick tutorial on the subject, and another one that focusses on iPhone sizing.

And here’s the mother of all bookmarklet link dumps.

Got a link to a tool? Drop it into the comments.

A bookmarklet

This is a little silly, but…

Remember bookmarklets? They can still come in handy. In most places I’ve worked, there is at least 3 servers: one for development, one for qa, and one for production. If you use a content delivery network, add an origin server, and if you use a local environment, you can add that, too. That’s at least five servers that potentially have the same file on it, in various states of development.

This is just a quick little javascript function that:

• has an array of all these servers (just the protocol and hostname, minus the trailing slash)
• finds everything past the first slash after the hostname
• checks to see if the hostname you are currently on is in the array
• and then loads all servers in the array as new tabs or windows, minus the one you have open

Here’s the full function:

function loadUp(){
	var sites = [
		"http://www.cbc.ca",
		"http://www.google.ca",
		"http://www.yahoo.ca",
		"http://www.wikipedia.org"
	], i, value, site, proto, ref, url=window.location;
	site = url.host.toString();
	proto = url.protocol.toString();
	value = url.pathname.toString();
	ref = proto + "//" + site;
	for(i = 0; i < sites.length; i++){
		if(ref != sites[i]){
			window.open(sites[i] + value + url.search + url.hash);
		}
	}
}

And this is the ridiculous one-line bookmarklet (the bookmarklet is slightly modified to work on one line):

javascript:sites=['http://www.cbc.ca','http://www.google.ca','http://www.yahoo.ca','http://www.wikipedia.org'],url=window.location;site=url.host.toString();proto=url.protocol.toString();value=url.pathname.toString();ref=proto+'//'+site;for(i=0;i<sites.length;i++){if(ref!=sites[i]){window.open(sites[i]+value+url.search+url.hash)}};window.location=window.location;

This opens tabs in Firefox and Chrome, and new windows in Safari and IE.

All you do is modify the array I have, pop it into a link, bookmark it, and you have the ability to see any page on your web site in all environments.

Enjoy!

Bragging Rights

So, the final tally of what I ended up getting at Fan Expo:

Celebrity Autographs

• Michael Biehn
• Lee Majors
• Martin Landau
• Malcolm McDowell
• Katee Sackhoff

Sketches

• Wolverine by Bob McLeod

Creator Autographs

Anthony Del Col

• Kill Shakespeare #10, 11, 12

Matt Fraction

• The Invincible Iron Man (current series) #2, 3, 4, 5, 25, 500 (For those confused about the Iron Man numbering: Marvel has been applying the numbering scheme from their original series, as if it never ended, so the current series jumps from #33 to #500.)
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep #2 (Each issue features an essay by a creator regarding the work and life of Phil Dick. Matt Fraction wrote the essay for this one.)

Kathryn Immonen

• Moving Pictures

Stuart Immonen

• The New Avengers Finale #1
• The New Avengers V.1 #55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62
• Moving Pictures

Alex Maleev

• The New Avengers V.1 #26
• Scarlet #1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Connor McCreery

• Kill Shakespeare #10

Bob McLeod

• The Uncanny X-Men #151, 152

Kagan McLeod

• Infinite Kung Fu #6 (The last one I needed to get the full series signed!)
• Kill Shakespeare #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (I’m now 5 signatures away from having the entire creative team sign these books. Hopefully, I’ll get them at the next con.)

James Robinson

• Miracleman: Apocrypha #1
• WildC.A.T.s\X-Men The Modern Age
• Leave it to Chance #1, 2, 3, 4

Bill Sienkiewicz

• Wolverine #10
• Cerebus Jam #1 (previously signed by Dave Sim, Gerhard, Terry Austin and…drumroll please…Will Eisner!)
• The Uncanny X-Men #159, Annual #6

Jeff Smith

• Trilogy Tour #1 (Smith, Charles Vess and Linda Medley did 2 tours of the U.S. early in their careers promoting their books…I missed Smith the first time, and now the book is signed by all 3.)
• The Book of Ballads and Sagas #3
• Rasl #1, 2, 3 (If you thought Smith was a one-trick pony, or only capable of children’s books, look again. This is a sharply-written, intelligent science fiction tale for an audience older than Bone. Pick it up. It will amaze you.)
• Rose #1, 2, 3 (previously signed by Charles Vess.)

Ken Steacy

• Epic Illustrated #4, 6, 11, 21, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26
• Usagi Yojimbo V.1 #35

Ty Templeton

• Critters #23
• Vortex #5, 11
• The Jam Urban Adventure #4

Holes in the collection

I filled quite a few holes over 4 days. I’m now only a single issue away from having a solid Uncanny X-Men run from #110-325.

• American Flagg! V.1 #4, 5, 13
• Avengers (current series) #13
• Bad Signal #1, 2 (Warren Ellis’ mailing list, illustrated by Jacen Burrows! Great stuff.)
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #3 (When this came out, I was just starting to work. I missed them all and could only afford the trade. I’m slowly grabbing them when I find them at decent prices.)
• Batman: The Killing Joke (Another one I missed. I had the 3rd printing, and this is the original 1st printing. Finally found one at a decent price.)
• 50 Girls 50 #1, 2, 3 (Ok…it’s a guilty pleasure.)
• G.I. Joe (Marvel) #149 (The price of this issue is insane. It’s not even a particularly good story…by this point, there were something like 300 action figures…there was simply no way to create a story with that large a cast. I actually missed these last issues, and have been trying for years to get them without breaking the bank.)
• G.I. Joe (IDW) #159, 161
• G.I. Joe Origins #7
• Infinte Kung Fu Collected (With all new material, plus Kagan McLeod signed it!)
• The Invincible Iron Man (current series) #1, 6, 7 (I originally bought the trade that collected #1-7 and got hooked. When the quality of the series didn’t slow down, and I had a ton of back issues, it made sense to get the original 7…unfortunately, I couldn’t get them all before Fanexpo, so they didn’t all get signed.)
• Lady Mechanika #2 (A series I missed the first time around, and I’m trying to get the, admittedly few, back issues that have exploded in value quickly.)
• Marvels #0
• Rasl #4, 6 (The same for Rasl as Iron Man above.)
• Strangers in Paradise V.3 #49
• The Uncanny X-Men #116, 135

Fan Expo 2011

This isn’t really a report, so much as a running commentary. Hopefully, I’ll update daily, but we’ll see. Take all with a grain of salt. I’m old-school…I don’t have iphones, mobile internet, or any other techno gee-gaws to help me navigate…I just bounce around until I find something I like.

And, check out the evolving set on Flickr.

Day 4

I’m actually updating this on Tuesday, after calming down a little. I did go on Sunday…for a little while. I managed to pick up some signatures from Stuart and Kathryn Immonen, Alex Maleev, Ken Steacy and Ty Templeton. I also some back issues I needed. I spent a little more than I had budgeted.

The dealer prices seemed to be out-of-control whacky. I just picked up my first price guide in about 10 years, and couldn’t believe the asking prices for 80′s books. Some books valued at over a hundred bucks I picked up for less than 5 back in the day. I guess I’m also used to being the dude who always buys the books that never go up in price, so I’m frankly a little surprised some of my collection has picked up so much value. It does make getting the few holes I have immensely harder to fill.

So…the day 3 rant. I guess I stand by it, although if I were to re-write it, it would be less whiny.

The lines were better this year, but I also avoided Saturday afternoon, so I can’t speak to that.

But…and this is a big but…the management of the lines was very heavy-handed. I have to say this openly…both your volunteers and security staff need to learn some restraint. They are openly hostile to a lot of patrons, and don’t seem to be aware that the rules not iron-clad. I was yelled at repeatedly to ‘stay in the right lineup’ when there was no one in my immediate area. Guys, when there’s no lineup, what does it matter? All this behavior does is piss people off.

As far as guests are concerned: you did have a lot of cancellations this year. And you didn’t quite get the setup right. A lot of unnecessary crowding could have been avoided if you had put the headliners in the middle, or all to one side and roped it off so there would be no log-jams of people.

The artist alley was good, but I think there were too many crafts-people and not enough comic artists.

In general, I would ask that you not try to pack as much into that space. It’s big, but not that big, and sprinkling rest areas inside the convention hall would have helped break things up better.

It was hell to get in and out. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for single-day pass-holders. This is another area where you need to improve. There is simply no space to take a break inside the convention hall. There are no seats. Either provide a break area or make it easier to get in and out.

Either go to local businesses a few weeks ahead of time and warn them, or find a way to get more bank machines into the convention hall. By day 3, every machine is tapped out. Engage with local businesses so that they can prepare for the onslaught.

After all that, I may still sound whiny. Here’s a little praise. You did manage the lines better than last year. You did manage to get guests that had substance, and weren’t just this month’s hot artist. Even the two large eating areas were better than last year.

Maybe some of my sour grapes are due to the fact that I’m a local, and I can remember when this convention was run out of a single banquet hall in a hotel basement. No lineups. No freaky security guards. No celebrities. Just comics and cool artists. So, I guess I’m biased a little.

But there’s room for improvement.

Day 3

Dear Fan Expo,
you blew it again. A fifth of your top-liners cancelled. The rest showed up on Saturday only…maybe Sunday, if we’re lucky. Your security goons are just as heavy-handed this year as they were last year.

Thanks for turning what should be a Northern love letter to science-fiction, fantasy, horror and comic books into a boondoggle.

Oh, and Chris Claremont: thanks for only showing up one day of the scheduled two you were supposed to…for one freaking hour. Maybe there’s a good explanation. Too bad. I’m still pissed.

What good is a four-day pass if the only day worth going is Saturday?

You can talk to me all you want about creative types and scheduling conflicts and sickness and other crap.

You are probably the only comics convention in Canada with a full-time permanent staff, and you can’t even update your website during the convention to notify us of cancellations. Claremont’s still listed as “Thursday and Friday only”. You know that isn’t true. And you know that isn’t true for half the guests.

Dudes. Do the right thing. You have months to organize this, and you have the tools to keep people informed.

Day 2

Day 2 was a little exhausting, as I spent most of the day in celeb lineups. But I did manage to get Lee Majors, Malcolm McDowell, and Martin Landau!

I also managed to score some sigs and a Wolverine sketch from Bob McLeod. So, day 2 was basically just a long lineup for me, but it paid off. Big time.

I’m trying not to spend very much this year. I expect to be back for shopping on the next two days, as most of the autographs I wanted, I have. The rest is just gravy.

Day 1

How is Fan Expo this year?

The lines are ok for Thursday. We’ll see what happens tomorrow when the rubber really hits the road.

What happened to all the guests? You add an extra day, but almost two-thirds of your headliners don’t show? Boo.

Autographs

So far, not too shabby:

Bill Sienkiewicz

• Uncanny X-Men #159, Annual 6
• Wolverine #10
• Cerebus Jam #1

James Robinson

• Leave it to Chance #1-4
• WildC.A.T.s/X-Men The Modern Age
• Miracleman: Apocrypha #1

Matt Fraction

• The Invincible Iron Man #2-5, 25, 500
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep #2

Jeff Smith

• Rasl #1-3
• The Book of Ballads and Sagas #3
• Trilogy Tour
• Rose #1-3

Celebs

Scored Michael Biehn’s autograph!! Come with me if you want to live!! Hahaha!!

Sketches

No sketches so far.

Buys

Managed to find a few issues that have been hard to find at relatively decent prices.

• Marvels #0
• Invicible Iron Man #6
• Strangers in Paradise #49
• G.I. Joe #149

G.I. Joe #149 is an insane amount of money…I don’t have any idea why this thing is worth what it is…I’m just glad I finally found it at a price that didn’t bankrupt me.

Signing away your comics

So, the latest Fan Expo is only a few weeks away. Fan Expo is starting to get the reputation for being “San Diego North”, and with it’s explosive growth in popularity over the last 5 years, it’s hard to debate that.

At it’s heart, Fan Expo is still a comics convention, though it’s now a comics convention on steroids, bringing dozens of movie actors, video game designers, and anime voice actors into the mix.

Fan Expo has received a lot of bad press lately, particularly last year, when over-capacity forced the doors closed during Saturday afternoon, it’s busiest time. You can search blogs to find what’s being said by both defenders and detractors. I was not happy last year. But it’s hard to not get excited by Fan Expo.

For some, it’s nerdvana. As I age, it’s becoming a 4-day marathon of fatigue and senses overload. I will, eventually, need to give it up, or limit my exposure to it. Waiting in line for hours is for the young.

Aside from the monumental amount of money you can spend on back issues, prints, DVD’s, toys, and anything else connected to sci-fi / fantasy / horror / anime / gaming, the one thing that’s on sale the most at this type of convention is signatures. Whether it’s an actor or a comic book creator, signatures are what the nerds line up for.

It’s what I line up for.

Over the last 20 years of collecting, I’ve amassed roughly around 1300 signatures on my comics. As I gear up for the war that Fan Expo can be, I’m looking back at some of the cooler signatures I’ve managed to get.

A few notes about signatures

Before you think, “Hey, sounds like a great way to make money!” there are a few things you should know about signatures.

Getting complete runs can be hard. Some creators work on a book for years, the most legendary run being Dave Sim’s epic 25-year run on Cerebus. Nobody’s matched him yet (though Stan Sakai is only a few years away), but 25, 50, even 100-issue runs by a stable creative team are not uncommon. Because many creators will cap the amount of signatures you can get at once, it can be really challenging to get a full series ‘inked’.

It’s rare for creative teams to show up at the same con. When creators are just starting out in their careers, they do ‘team up’ to hawk their books. But, as they move to other projects, the likelihood they’ll all show up at once becomes rarer.

Creators don’t always sign with archival pens. This makes getting a signature a bit of a deathtrap for collectors. Creators make no bones about this (they sign a few hundred books an hour, so speed is often more important), and if you’re really concerned about keeping the books for a long time, you can bring archival quality markers with you.

You don’t always get a choice of where the book gets signed. Some sign on the cover, some sign only the part they worked on. They won’t necessarily ask if you have a preference, and you may get shunned if you make a big deal out of it.

Lastly, it hurts the value of your books. Or, it makes them more valuable. Or…well, it depends on who you try to sell to. Because there are so many counterfeiters, a lot of dealers won’t touch signed books with a ten-foot pole. Also, the books can potentially be damaged if they were signed in non-archival ink. Even if you can establish providence, by getting the book signed you’ve cut off a lot of options. Some collectors just consider a signature ‘damage’, period.

Some will only sign it to you, as in “To Jeff, from Creator X”. This is done for simple economic reasons: there are a lot of speculators that get things signed only to flip them on eBay the next day. One creator related a story where he spent an hour creating a beautiful sketch for a patron, gratis, only to have that patron turn around, lift it up to the crowd, and shout “Fifty bucks!”

Remember that these folk are at cons not just to generate buzz, but also to connect with fans. Be respectful, and you’ll get it returned.

As much as I’d like to dump my 180 issues of The Uncanny X-Men in front of Chris Claremont and have them all signed, it’s just not cool. In fact, I’ve been to a con where a patron tried to do just that…Claremont refused to sign anything, and forced her out of the line.

My rules are fairly simple. When I have more than 10 books I’d like signed, I bring them all, but have the 10 I most want signed at the top, in order of preference. I ask what the cap is. If it’s less than 10, I get only those signed. If it’s more than 10, I get those signed. I never go past 20 books. It usually ends up somewhere in the middle, so everything works out.

Some cool authors

Below are some of the legendary ‘victories’ for me in getting books signed. They aren’t all valuable in money terms. But their value to me is in the great stories they contain, and getting to shake the hand of the person who made them.

Neal Adams

Anyone who can afford the original run of these books in mint is seriously rich. The hardcover brings it all together affordably, and it’s a great read.

• The Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection

Terry Austin and Chris Claremont

Austin was part of the legendary Byrne/Claremont Uncanny X-men run that cemented the series and their heroes in the popular imagination.

• Marvel and DC Present The X-Men and Teen Titans
• Phoenix the Untold Story

Timothy Bradstreet

You probably know Bradstreet more for his gritty commercial design work than for his comics. This was a great team-up with Timothy Truman about an truck driver running a shipment through an apocalyptic future America.

• Dragon Chiang

Howard Chaykin

• American Flagg #1-3

Becky Cloonan

• Demo Volume 1, #1-12 (also signed by Brian Wood!)
• Demo Volume 2, #1-6

Guy Davis

What if the Victorian era lasted till the 1980′s? What if Sherlock Holmes was the lesbian lead singer of a London punk band? What if Jack the Ripper was…but that would be spoiling it. Read this series. It’s awesome.

• Baker Street #7-10
• Baker Street: Honor Among Punks

Ben Dunn

NHS led the charge of North American made manga in the 80′s, and is still a comedy classic.

• Ninja High School trade paperback

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

The originators of the black-and-white explosion. The creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Legendary airbrushers. Turtle Power.

Eastman and Laird

• Donatello, Leonardo, Michaelangelo
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1, #1(4th), 2(3rd), 3(2nd), 4(2nd), 5-11, 14, 19-21

Laird only

• Raphael, Fugitoid
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1, #12, 15

Warren Ellis

Ellis is his own industry, these days. A brief appearance a few years ago allowed me to get a few signatures on some of the most brilliant books I’ve read in a while. More Planetary!!

• Come in Alone, Orbiter
• Planetary #1-3, 6, 11, 12, 17, 20
• Planetary/The Authority: Ruling the World (also signed by Phil Jimenez)
• The Authority #1-4

Michael Golden

I loved the Micronauts as much as I love the X-men when I was a kid. Getting both a sketch and signatures from Golden was…well, Golden.

• Micronauts Volume 1, #1-12

Mike Grell

• Jon Sable Freelance Volume 1, #1-6, 11, 19, 25-27, 39

Larry Hama

Another series I loved in the 80′s. I was one of the first ones to show, and I did ask if he had a cap before getting these signed. Since the lineup was slow to form, he graciously allowed me as much as I wanted. Thank you, Larry, for so many great stories. Sidenote: he was in an episode of M.A.S.H.!

• G.I. Joe Marvel Volume 1, #1-10, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 40, 41, 43, 50, 53, 60, 85, 94, 95, 96, 144, 155

Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez

• Love and Rockets Volume 1, #1 (2nd printing)

Dylan Horrocks

Hicksville has got to be one of my favorite books of all-time. He showed up in a panel discussion for the Toronto International Festival of Authors. I was glad he came. Love the book to death, Dylan.

• Hicksville

Michael Kaluta

• Starstruck (Epic) #1-6

David Lloyd

What’s strange about V is that it’s so well-known in comic circles, it’s strange to see the mask being used politically.

• V for Vendetta #1-10

Jason Lutes

• Berlin #1-9

David Mack

• Kabuki Volume 1, #1-9, .5
• Kabuki Agents: Scarab #1-8
• Kabuki: Circle of Blood #1-6
• Kabuki: Reflections #1-4
• Kabuki: Skin Deep #1-3
• Kabuki: Masks Of The Noh #1-4

Jim Mahfood

• Clerks The Comic Book
• Grrl Scouts #1-4
• Grrl Scouts: Work Sucks #1-4

Linda Medley

You should stop reading this and go pick up Castle Waiting right now. Especially if you have kids. They’ll love it.

• Castle Waiting Volume 1, #1-8
• Castle Waiting Volume 2, #1-6, 14-16
• Castle Waiting: The Curse of Brambly Hedge

Terry Moore

Got half of these in Chicago, and the rest in Toronto.

• Strangers in Paradise Volume 2, #1-14
• Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, #1-12, 26, 85-86, 93298

James O’Barr

• The Crow Volume 1, #2-4
• The Crow Volume 2, #1

Paul Pope

• Escapo
• Heavy Liquid #1-5
• Sin Titulo
• THB #1 (2nd printing), 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d
• The Ballad of Doctor Richardson

Jim Rugg

• Street Angel #1-5

Stan Sakai

• Usagi Yojimbo Volume 1, #1, 17, 31, 32, 38
• Usagi Yojimbo Volume 3, #75
• Usagi Yojimbo Book One

Dave Sim and Gerhard

• Cerebus (signed by Sim only): #6, 19, 27, 36, 48, 49, 50, 65, 66, 74, 75, 86, 100, 118, 137, 138, 147, 150, 160, 193,
• Cerebus (signed by both): #65, 66, 74, 75, 86, 100, 118, 137, 138, 147, 150, 193

Jim Starlin

The complete core Warlock series! A lucky break.

• Strange Tales: #178-181
• Warlock: #9-15

R.G. Taylor

Wordsmith’s a much overlooked series by local Toronto creators about a pulp fiction writer of the 1930′s. Each story was split between the adventure he was writing and his everyday trials and tribulations. Hard to find, and I was lucky to get the signatures.

• Comic Book Confidential
• Heroes from Wordsmith
• Wordsmith #1-12

Jill Thompson

Another great series for young kids.

• Scary Godmother #1-6
• Scary Godmother
• Scary Godmother Activity Book
• Scary Godmother Bloody Valentine Special
• Scary Godmother: Revenge of Jimmy
• Scary Godmother: The Boo Flu
• Scary Godmother: The Mystery Date
• Scary Godmother: Wild About Harry #1-3

Timothy Truman

Truman came to a con in Toronto that had to be at least 15 years ago, if not more. I was young, and I made him sign them all. This is one of the few times I’ve truly stepped out of bounds with a creator, and I thank him for allowing me a youthful indiscretion. It sounds a little hokey, but it’s really a respect issue. I apologize.

• Scout #1-24
• Scout Handbook
• Scout War Shaman #1-16

Charles Vess

• Stardust #1-4 (also signed by Neil Gaiman)
• A Fall Of Stardust
• Rose #1-3

Matt Wagner

• Grendel Volume 2, #1
• Mage The Hero Defined #1
• Mage The Hero Discovered #1-15

Len Wein

• Classic X-Men #1-2
• The Incredible Hulk and Wolverine

Barry Windsor-Smith

Known for his Conan work, I have to admit this was a great series from the 80′s that I loved a lot. Getting this was really awesome.

• Machine Man (limited series) #1-4

Brian Wood

• Channel Zero #1-5
• Channel Zero: Dupe
• Public Domain: A Channel Zero Designbook
• The Couriers
• The Couriers: Dirtbike Manifesto
• The Couriers: The Ballad of Johnny Funwrecker

The books with multiple signatures

Avengers Volume 1

• Roy Thomas: #88, 101
• George Pérez: #168, 195, 196, 198, 199
• Jim Starlin: Annual #7

Cerebus Jam

This is a huge book for me, as it’s the only thing I own that’s signed by Will Eisner. Unfortunately, it was the only thing I owned the time he showed up in town. He showed up once more, shortly before he passed away, but the lineups were too intense. He was a grand creator, sorely missed.

• Signed by Will Eisner, Dave Sim, Gerhard, and Terry Austin

Daredevil

It’s Miller time! Sorry…had to get that out. The Born Again storyline was a high watermark for Marvel, and remains one of the best stories to ever come out of the House of Ideas.

• David Mazzuccelli: #208, 227-233
• Frank Miller: #230

The Incredible Hulk

• Peter David: #340, 345, 377, 406, 417, 418, 420, 425
• Dale Keown: #369-377, 379, 381-388, 390-393, 395-398
• Gary Frank: #406, 418, 420, 425

The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect

• Peter David, George Pérez: #1-2

Kingdom Come

The one con I attended in Chicago was very fruitful, and this was an awesome break.

• Mark Waid and Alex Ross: #1-4

Kraven the Hunter: J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck

A storyline that ran through all 3 Spider-man books. I was lucky to get both creators at different cons.

• Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man: #131, 132
• The Amazing Spider-Man: #293, 294
• Web of Spider-Man: #31, 32

Master of Kung-Fu

I’ve seen Gulacy several times at different cons. He doesn’t show up in Toronto very often. The Mike Zeck sigs were gathered over several days at one con. Jim Craig showed up to a Paradise con about 5 years ago. This is one of my most autographed series. Sadly, Gene Day is no longer with us. Between Gulacy, Zeck and Day, they defined the gritty look of Marvel action books in the 80′s.

• Jim Starlin: #17, 24
• Paul Gulacy: #18-20, 22, 25, 29-31, 33-35, 38-40, 42-50, annual #1, Giant-Size MOKF #1-3
• Jim Craig: #51, 54, 56-58, 61-63, 65-66
• Mike Zeck: #55, 59-60, 64, 67-69, 71-101

Sandman

Gaiman kept coming back to Toronto for signings very early in his career, and these were gathered over multiple trips. Unfortunately, his popularity in the fiction market has left him out of the con circuit. I seriously doubt I’ll be able to get the whole series signed, as many of the artists either don’t show up to Canadian cons, or have sadly passed away.

• Neil Gaiman: #1-31, 50 (sealed edition)
• Chris Bachalo: #12
• Charles Vess: #19, 62, 75
• Matt Wagner: #25
• Shawn McManus: #31-37
• Vince Locke and Jill Thompson: #40-49
• Michael Kaluta: #50

Uncanny X-Men

Some of the great, singular artists and writers over the last 40 years of comics. Claremont is attending Fan Expo again this year, and hopefully I’ll be able to add a few more issues to this list.

• Roy Thomas: #56, 62
• Neal Adams: #62
• Terry Austin: #120, 122, 123, 125, 127, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 138-143, 186
• Chris Claremont: #133, 141-143, 150, 153, 162, 172, 173, 175, 186, 205, 245, 268
• Bob Wiacek: #180
• Barry Windsor-Smith: 186, 198, 205

An Open Letter to Comics Retailers

This is a bit of an open rant. I’d like to start with both an apology, and a request that you take the following with a grain of salt and an open mind. I’m not intentionally trying to offend anyone.

From Warren Ellis’ famous Come in Alone column to Frank Miller’s infamous Wizard rant, creators have been lamenting the state of the industry for some time. I also know there are many retailers who not only have strong opinions, but are also actively working hard to expand the comics industry, both in variety and economic viability. My hats off to all of you. I hope you take this (very minor) rant from a fan and a customer well.

A few preliminaries:

I live in Toronto and don’t often travel

I’ve rarely had the money, and I’ve never had the constitution. I really envy the bulk of the population that can hop into a plane, train, or boat and not be violently ill. Some of us just aren’t cut out for it.

So, I haven’t visited many comics retailers outside Toronto. I have been to shops in Vancouver, New York, and Chicago, to name a few.

That being said, I’m not picking on Toronto stores. I think what I have to say applies to many of the shops out there.

Let’s assume you opened the comic shop to make money

I don’t think I’m far afield on this one. If anything I say in this post makes your blood boil, remember that I would never advocate you sacrifice your current business or customer base. Never. I want you to survive. And prosper. Because I want to shop at your store.

Will specialty book stores, in general, survive Amazon, e-readers, and chain outlets?

For me, the answer is: yes. I think it can be done. I want it to be done. I can’t see the need for good retailers going away. But I think the emphasis here is on ‘good’ retailer. I think a good retailer:

• Is involved in the community: They donate to charity. They provide a gathering place for community residents. They know the people in the area well.
• Understands their stock: They have subject matter experts that can answer questions, provide recommendations, and talk about the industry in general.
• Understands their competitors: This doesn’t just mean knowing the enemy, but also being able to point a customer to a store better suited to their needs. That customer will remember the kindness when recommending shops to others.
• Understands their customers: The business has made a point of understanding the demographic they’re looking to attract, and has chosen their inventory appropriately.
• Has reasonable policies: This means having policies that are both fair and clearly marked. Surprise sales, mystery prices, arbitrarily kicking out customers who were never clearly informed they couldn’t bring pets into the store: not reasonable policies.

I think specialty bookstores that take these things to heart can survive. Many specialty shops (not just comic shops) have recently opened and thrived, even in the current economic downturn. Many of these have followed the above guidelines as a baseline, but have added a lot more techniques to their arsenal.

Without further ado:

Consider the cost of collectibility

The latest thing seems to be ‘dealer incentive copies’ and ‘convention extras’…comics that are produced in limited numbers and can only be bought by retailers or customers at a premium (by ordering more of the regular edition of the book, or buying an extended membership pass).

Consider the cost of this. If you have to order 300 copies of an issue to get a dealer incentive instead of the 250 you think you can reasonably sell, you are stuck with 50 extra copies that you may have to sell at a loss. You may need to wait a decade or more for those 50 copies to gain any collectible value. Worse, you don’t have the money to invest in 50 copies of other books that would add variety and possibly expand your customer base.

And yes, I say possibly. These are suggestions. But, in the long run, shrinking variety destroys creative industries. The larger book market respects this, and many retailers have taken active interests in promoting authors. If Shakespeare & Co. didn’t promote (and self-publish!) Ulysses, James Joyce may have shrank into obscurity. As a bookseller, what you promote in your store can have that type of lasting impact on the world. And that impact will bring customers back to your store.

Consider used books

A corollary to the above is that many shops try very hard to have the most obscure, ‘hot’, collectible books in the store. This may be a mistake, for several reasons.

You may never have the ability to compete with the older, established shops in this regard, who were able to scoop up large collections for dirt cheap in the 70′s, when nobody understood the value. Also, all the golden and silver age books will be out of your financial reach to acquire for a price that would allow you profit.

On the other hand, expanding your trade and hardcover books and scaling back on the back issues may help sales. You’ll have more ‘selection’ in the store than you ever could by trying to acquire the original issues, and they’ll move faster. Buying them used at a fair price could help customer loyalty and provide you with cheap inventory.

Consider regular books

I know. You’re a comic shop. But one of the best shops in Toronto (sadly now gone) was Unknown Worlds, a store that had almost a third of the store devoted to fantasy and sci-fi paperbacks. I think they bought their books new, and didn’t understand the 90-day return policy that most publishers have. I’m speculating here. I don’t know why they folded shop.

I do know they were an awesome shop. It was one-stop nerdvana, where you could pick up the latest sci-fi pulp with that week’s comics.

I know most shops have cross-merchandised into toys, trinkets, card games, and other knick-knacks. You don’t have to give those things up.

But consider having novels in your shop. Or books on drawing, animation, and multimedia. This is the place where the future of comics is coming to shop.

The last thing to consider on this front is that it may never make up your core business, but it lends an air of respectability to the non-nerds who wander in. They see something that’s familiar and grounds them. Giving a small measure of comfort can help open up more doors, and make them more liable to come back. And buy comics.

Consider the look of your store

Many of the most famous bookstores of the last century were known as much for their decor as for their stock. It sounds trivial, but it isn’t. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. And it doesn’t have to happen all at once.

Steady work at improving the look of your store can reap huge dividends. It can help develop strong ties with the community, making it a ‘local watering hole’ or hangout for the residents. Increased foot traffic always means at least a small increase in sales.

Categorize trades by subject matter, then alphabetical by author

I’ll be the first to admit that sorting the big ‘shared universe’ publishers (DC, Marvel, Wildstorm, Image) by publisher and then by character/storyline makes sense.

But sorting the publishers who don’t do the shared universe thing into their own shelves, or mixing them in by character on the racks with Marvel/DC/etc is missing an opportunity.

First and foremost, customers used to the average bookstore won’t shop this way. They’ll never find anything.

Secondly, you lose the ability to showcase a single creator’s entire body of work.

Lastly, by grouping books by genre (horror, western, sci-fi, contemporary fiction, historical) you get to group creators together regardless of their publisher or country of origin. Ernest Hemingway and Jorge Borges are both in ‘fiction’, not ‘American’ and ‘South American’, or ‘Random House’ and ‘Penguin’. This allows customer’s to discover more books based on a previous interest. If a customer comes in looking for western comics, and has to sort through a thousand superhero trade paperbacks to find the few books he’s looking for, he’s not coming back.

Enough with the boobs. Seriously.

Full disclosure: I like a beautiful woman as much as the next straight guy. Guilty. But…making women and children wade through dozens of square feet of figurines that couldn’t ever be considered anatomically correct…is just not cool. I could list a litany of offenders here, but blame isn’t the point of this.

This can probably be traced to the mature audience revolution in the eighties, when many creators balked at the Comics Code and decided to write stories with more violence, sex, language and gore in them. And that stuff has it’s place. Every Chapters has tons of books with this stuff.

But I can’t remember the last time I went into Chapters and saw a five foot tall poster of a half-naked woman dripping in blood, either.

Guys. Seriously. Enough. You can argue that they contribute to your bottom line, and they probably do. I’m not asking you to burn them all, never carry them again, or escort folk to ‘the back room’ in order to buy them.

Just keep the displays to something reasonable and tasteful. Trust me, you want women and children in your store. You really want kids in your store, cuz they make their parents buy stuff. Lots of stuff.

Consider seminars and workshops

Quite a few cities have cartooning classes, colleges, and schools devoted to animation and commercial art and design. Consider teaming up with folks to offer seminars, workshops, and lectures about the medium.

The Lomography shops offer cheap photography classes on the weekends. Yes, these are designed almost exclusively to hook attendees into using that shop for their photo developing, film purchasing, and potential camera purchases. Guess what? It works.

This type of thing makes you part of the local community, as well. By engaging with the local artist community, you end up with potential customers, referrals, and potential future creators who will remember you.

Bookstores have often instituted weekly readings and events by the staff, often for children, to bring customers into the store. Andrew Laties book Rebel Bookseller has information (and financial budgets and targets) for this type of thing. These events are not just community goodwill exercises, but core parts of his business model.

Write testimonials, and have a featured book section

Quite a few stores do this already, but consider having a physical take-away in the store for customers. Even a single folded sheet listing the 10-20 books you think every customer should read is a great take-away.

This is a great opportunity to engage with other retailers. By spreading the cost out, more can be printed, and you get a free referral from other stores. Antiquarian shops do this, and they cater to collectors as well. Networking with other shops can help your business.

Consider charities

I’m not talking about the plastic collection jar near the register, but actual volunteer work in a charity. Charitable donations of comics to children’s hospital wards and schools are not just a tax write-off, but an investment in future clientele.

And remember that their are several comics-specific charities out there, the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund being the most well-known. Donating a portion of proceeds to these charities from events can help fill them.

Remember to have fun

As I said at the beginning, don’t sacrifice your current business model, or what makes your store unique. These are just suggestions. If you take them to heart, implement them slowly, and within your budget. Don’t bet the farm on anybody’s recommendations. Stay alive, and keep selling comics.

Even comics publishers are now moving to a digital distribution model. All this really means is that as physical unit sales of individual issues drop, the more important it becomes to differentiate on product knowledge, local community work, and the experience of comics. Some stores are starting to make this transition now. I hope other retailers consider it, too.