What I Read in 2014

Here are the covers of the books and comics I read in 2014, along with some observations below.

Notes:

• Count: If you normalize and remove some of the clutter created by individual comics issues, the total book count comes to 53, where I am including comic book multi-issue collections, as they take as long to read as standalone novellas, which I also count. I'm pleased at having read just over a book per week, my personal best in a while. It's nowhere near what some readers regularly log on Goodreads, but I'm not racing anyone, just enjoying myself.  
• Gender Mix: Only 12 of the 53 books were by women, which is a little disappointing. It doesn't help me that I like prolific male authors. I mean, reading a bunch of Simenons is going to skew the stats, darnit :-) I'll be more cognizant of this going forward, though.
• Short Fiction: I read 228 short stories in 2014. Some of these are captured in the above, but many are not. Probably deserves a separate post. For now, I'll refer back to a short fiction reading spree I did, with 50 capsule reviews of short stories: part 1 and part 2.
• I'm pleased to have read short story collections, anthologies, novels and non-fiction books on various subjects. The mix keeps things interesting and lively.
• This year, after wanting to for some time but not getting around to it, I finally got back into Spider-man, and I started with the first issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Reading these electronically on a touch screen is quite a different experience from what it was like thumbing through the pages as a kid, but no less enjoyable for it.
• I really enjoyed a lot of the books I read. Probably 80% I would rate as very good or above.
• I'll have to give some thought to the 10 books I enjoyed most, and post that in the next few days...