Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2014

2014 was a crazy year for me. I'm not going to go into the details, because I'd like to forget most of it. Not that there weren't good things that happened, like getting picked up by Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing. Here are ten more good things about last year.

10. Sad Movies by Mark Lindquist

I enjoyed this Brat Pack novel way more than it probably actually deserves.

9. Swamp Man by Donald Goines

This is a hell of a read. It's like the literary equivalent of a 70s exploitation film. I think I may even like this better than Dopefiend.

8. Dodgeball High by Bradley Sands

This novella is just funny as hell. Here's something interesting. Did you know that the moon is actually a dodgeball? Full review here. 

7. Kiss Me, Judas by William Christopher Baer

A surreal neo-noir thriller. When you finish reading this book, it's like waking up from a bad dream.

6. Humanity is the Devil by Jordan Krall

Misanthropy and Gnosticism. Full review here.

5. The Irreal Reader: Fiction and Essays from The Cafe Irreal 

Strange and excellent short fiction from all over the world. Full review here. 

4. Necrophilia Variations by Supervert

This is one of the best short story collections I've ever read. Every single one is either beautiful, disgusting, thought provoking or hilarious if it's not all of those at the same time. Supervert is just a damn good writer.

3. Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr

This is Selby's most well known novel because of the Aronofsky movie. The movie's really good, but Selby's painful, white hot prose is impossible to fully translate to film.

2. Down Where the Devil Don't Go by Paul Bingham

This is a short collection with only four stories in it, but goddamn if they aren't some amazing stories. I find myself randomly thinking of the characters and quotes from this book. It really gets stuck in your head. Full review here.

1. Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont

This book is as beautiful as the chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella.

Honorable Mentions

- The Final Trick of Funnyman by Bruce Taylor
- Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet
- Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson
- The Mustache He's Always Wanted but Could Never Grow by Brian Alan Ellis
- Museum of Terror Vol. 1 & 2 by Junji Ito
- No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert A Glover