rankly, it’s been a rotten year. Covid. Politics. Domestic stupidity. Really, these are the times that try mens’ souls (if they even have them – and given the mask-dodgers, I’m not so sure).

As far as reading over my first full year or retirement, there were only a handful of books that really shook me (and another one just missed the cut because I just finished it today and it won’t post until next Sunday). As it stood out, I actually read only five books that really hit home (there were some other good ones but not as good as these). So here they are, my favorite reads from 2020.

Beacon 23 – Basically a lighthouse keeper in space. However, the author really made me want to care and played with the idea that his character was slowly cracking up. While the end was a bit of a suddenly-everything-is-resolved deal, the rest of the book was pretty damn fun.

The Vagrant  – So, this one was kinda “Mr. Mom meets Conan”. Here, a wandering hero trudges across a hellscape, carrying a baby and lopping off heads. And the goat, it’s just along as an amusing sidekick. It actually grew on me as I worked through it.

First Contact – It’s been a long time since Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and frankly finding a story along those lines was great, given our dark background. It’s funny in that aliens can be assholes, too, playing practical jokes during first contact. I was sorry to close the back cover on this one.

The Three-Body Problem – This one was posted to me by a good friend a year or so back and I finally got to it. A story about a strange planet with a really weird solar problem. I had to smile as the author attempted the concept of a non-electrical computer in a different manner than I did in Early Retyrement. Really a good read, but I’ve got two more to go. Gulp!

New York 2140 – A very interesting novel. Normally global warming is seen as the end of everything. But this is New York in high flood, with its millions adapting and making it as a city (to the point where we can even have an interesting plot and unique characters). A great one for you hard-core scifi heads.

And that’s my five. So it wasn’t that bad of a year, reading-wise. I have hopes for the new year; my wife is already up for the vaccine next week and (as I said) I just killed a great book today.

So Happy New Year, everyone!

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