Every week of every year, I pick a book out of all the many ones I have read and I write a little bit about it.

Actually, that's not entirely true.

I, like everyone, am fallible and I miss weeks, and sometimes I write about a bunch of books or an idea. With that in mind, let's just say that most weeks I pick a book and write about them. Every one of them I love in the moment and I do my best to write about them in a manner that will excite potential readers.

Even if it isn't something I would have normally found myself loving, I write about books where I believe in the merits of the story and the value they bring to other possible readers.

Given these facts, I think it is worth looking back over the year and revisiting or mentioning those titles that continued on strong and that I continued to enjoy as the year went by.

Out of all of the books that started in 2017 that I have read and continue to read, "Godshaper" is the most profound and a definite underappreciated gem of the comic shop shelf.

Simon Spurrier and Jonash Goonface's "Godshaper" starts out after a fundamental change to reality when:

"In 1958, the laws of physics went screwy. Electricity, ignition -- anything that made life easy: gone. ... An alternative was provided."

One page in, and the series tells us what we need to know about why this world is strange and leaves us wondering what is going on in the busy bottom half of the page where people are hawking their wares, each and every one of them accompanied by a strange monochromatic glowing being.

As the story explains, physics may have gone awry but everyone was provided with an alternative: A god for every person and a person for every god. These supernatural beings bound to their human worshippers serve as a source of wealth and power, capable of numerous tasks and possessing abilities that range from the mundane to the outrageous.

The important part of the story is the exception to this rule: the shapers and the little ghost god Bud.

Hated but needed, shapers serve an important role in society but are forever rejected by it. Spurrier uses this story to delve into the world of society's borderlands through main character Ennay's choice of counterculture lifestyle. Drawing heavily on beatnik, African-American blues club and punk underground music scenes, Spurrier sets up a story of two lone figures who must work to survive in a world that is hostile to them while embracing the joy that creativity can bring.

Similar to "Godshaper" in its exploration of the fringes of society is Kyle Starks' "Rock Candy Mountain," a story that serves as a crash course in hobo life. The first issue sets readers up for a tale of myth and legend shaped by a people rejected by and rejecting "normal" society. The whole thing is shaped by the actual history of hobo lore and American culture during a time of great transition and a shift from one type of society to another.

"Rock Candy Mountain" is more supernatural feeling than "Godshaper" only because it claims to take place in our world, and so makes it more relatable and closer to a fictionalized look at an ignored aspect of our country's history.

Not everything I read and find impactful is a comic book, of course. I read more than my fair share of graphic novels over the year. When I write about comics or graphic novels, I like to think I am presenting stories that are unique and thoughtful, volumes that make readers appreciate the diversity of stories available in the medium.

T.J. Kirsch's "Pride of the Decent Man" is an example of this, and a story that speaks to human decency and compassion within all of us. It is not the kind of book that evokes the idea of "comic book," but it uses the medium to great effect and it is a title that any thoughtful reader could revisit over the years as a refresher on what it means to learn from the past and move forward in a positive way.

Such a sentiment is as good as any to end a column looking back at impactful books from the past year for that matter. Look to the past, learn from it and embrace the possibilities of the future with hope and compassion.

WILLIAM KULESA can be reached at jjournalcomicbox@gmail.com.