As 2014 goes kaput, I reflect upon the books of my life. For me it was a year of considerable lows (the death of my father, Joseph J., and my beloved cat, Autumn Leaf) and soaring highs (marriage to Hana, a marvelous trip to Oregon, some fascinating LOUD! FAST! PHILLY! interviews, successful Exhumed Films events, killer records, the joy of living). My constant companions were my beloved books. Below please find a list of every book I read in 2014 in the sequence in which I read them. Below the list I mention my favorites of the year. I started many other books, sometimes moving more than 100 pages into them, before I shit-canned them. Those books are not mentioned. Thus, all the below works have merit (as did, quite often, the books I didn't complete, though they didn't work for me at the time I attempted to immerse myself within them). I compile and present this every year not as a boast (I don't know if reading 62 books is impressive or not), but to highlight these often brilliant works, the marvelously creative individuals who wrote them, and to encourage others (you!) to -- I hope -- read some of them. Here goes!

1. Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult by Dayal Patterson
2. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
3. We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ
4. Moomiland In the Winter by Tove Jansson
5. Civilwarland In Bad Decline by George Saunders
6. Golden Fool (Tawny Man 2) [audio book] by Robin Hobb
7. Baal [audio book] [re-read?] by Robert R. McCammon
8. Doctor Sleep [audio book] by Stephen King
9. Fool's Fate (Tawny Man 3) by Robin Hobb
10. They Thirst [audio book] [re-read] by Robert R. McCammon
11. Annihilation: A Novel (Southern Reach 1) by Jeff VanderMeer
12. The Troop by Nick Cutter
13. Dark Eden [audio book] by Chris Beckett
14. Usher's Passing [audio book] [re-read] by Robert R. McCammon
15. Marcher by Chris Beckett
16. Fevre Dream [audio book] [re-read] by George R.R. Martin
17. I Travel By Night [novella] by Robert R. McCammon
18. Butcher's Crossing [audio book] by John Williams
19. The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
20. Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson [audio book] by Jeff Guinn
21. The Alienist by Caleb Carr
22. Hearts In Atlantis [audio book] by Stephen King
23. White [novella] by Tim Lebbon
24. Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon
25. The Inheritors [audio book] by William Golding
26. Sand Omnibus [audio book] by hugh Howey
27. Authority (Southern Reach 2) [audio book] by Jeff VanderMeer
28. Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome [audio book] by Anthony Everitt
29. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
30. Shadrach and the Furnace [audio book] by Robert Silverberg
31. The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollack
32. Mr. Mercedes [audio book] by Stephen King
33. A Different Kingdom by Paul Kearney
34. Night Warriors [audio book] by Graham Masterton
35. On the Run: Fugitive Life In An American City by Alice Goffman
36. Lost Girls by Robert Kolker
37. Thank You For Your Service by David Finkel
38. The Eflstones of Shannara (Shannara 2) [audio book] by Terry Brooks
39. Wraith [graphic novel] by Joe Hill and Charles Paul Wilson III
40. Stinger [audio book] by Robert R. McCammon
41. Ancillary Justice [audio book] by Ann Leckie
42. The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge
43. The Bear by Marian Engel
44. The Auctioneer by Joan Samson
45. Harvest Home [audio book] by Thomas Tryon
46. Maynard's House by Herman Raucher
47. Acceptance (Southern Reach 3) [audio book] by Jeff VanderMeer
48. Persepolis [graphic novel] by Marjane Satrapi
49. Elric Volume 1: The Ruby Throne [graphic novel] by Michael Moorcok, Blondel, et al
50. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
51. City of Stairs [audio book] by Robert Jackson Bennett
52. Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
53. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
54. Little Wolves [audio book] by Thomas Maltman
55. A Little History of Literature by John Sutherland
56. The Wake [graphic novel] by Scott Synder et al
57. The Fever by Meg Abbott
58. The Lesser Dead [audio book] by Christopher Buehlman
59. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
60. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
61. Revival [audio book] by Stephen King
62. The Pike: Gabriel D'Annunio: Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

My favorites of these (not counting re-reads) were:
Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult
The Goldfinch
Civilwarland In Decline
Dark Eden
Butcher's Crossing
Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson
Coldbrook
The Luminaries
The Devil All the Time
Lost Girls
The Eagle and the Raven
The Auctioneer
The Bone Clocks
A Little History of Literature
The Lesser Dead
The Book of Strange New Things
The Pike: Gabriel D'Annunzio: Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War

(My wiener held to a flame, I'd chose The Eagle and the Raven [1978] as my favorite work of fiction and The Pike [2013] as my favorite work of non-fiction read in 2014.)

Now to 2015, which is beginning quite well with The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters and Black Dahlia by James Ellroy.

Words, words: I love you.

Regarding the site, while it's been a while since there was a new interview, some are in the works. It's been a busy time for me and, as noted above, an eventful time. As well, one interview I did for the proposed "Splinterviews" section of the site was -- for reasons outside my control -- shitcanned. A big bit of press may be coming down the pike that should drawn many new eyes and ears to the site, so I hope they like what we've done so far.