Reading anything?

[AndyC]

Ended up taking a diversion from fiction for a while. Currently reading this:

[Mofo Rising]

Just read a book called John Dies at the End by David Wong, which was previously available as an online novel.



Here's an excerpt from my Goodreads review.

"The book opens with a deliriously off-kilter parable and follows it up with a chapter that suggests the banality of evil is nothing compared to its outright stupidity. I caught that bit when it was still a fledgling online novel, and it was enough to hook me to buy the book.

This book promises to deliver a terrifying sermon on true insanity, as filtered through the incredibly crude viewpoint of its narrator. Well, it starts off strong in that direction, but ends up trading insanity for a coherent plot.

If you're not a fan of sci-fi and are put off by puerility, well, stay away from this book. However, if you can appreciate the craftsmanship it takes to describe existential angst in the crudest, most joke-laden from possible, check it out."

Also read Horns by Joe Hill, which was pretty good. Not a huge stretch from his previous novel, but an engrossing story.



I cleared out all the other books I was reading, too. The only thing I'm still hammering away at is Infinite Jest (it's long).

[RCMerchant]

Just ordered this....got in the mail yesterday...



I've always been fasinated by the Depression era outlaws. So much so that my son Eddies middle name is Clyde....my first name in Ronny...as in Ronny and Clyde!

[Hammock Rider]

I've been into the Lovejoy mysteries lately.

I must be going thru some kind of British kick because I'm also reading the Brother Cadfael novels.

[voltron]

Great book. Lotsa cool recording tips and tricks. 

[lester1/2jr]

voltron- the Tape OP book is good

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es.

It's not the movie. It's the movie tie-in.

I use to remember a time that when a film was released to theaters, a paperback tie-in, based on the script, would also be released. Those times are fewer now, and I regret that for the following reasons.

(1) The tie-in would add further depth to the characters.

(2) The tie-in would often fill in plotholes in the film.

(3) The tie-in would be based on an early script, so you could see the changes made in the script.

So . . .  I was glad to find Justin Mechner's "Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm."

5 characters from the film. 5 prequel tales. 5 artist renderings, which range from cartoonish to photographic realistic.

What impressed me also was the way the rulers were depicted in the stories, even the evil ones. Ever since 1940's "Thief of Bagdad" the rulers have been depicted as both incompetent and fools. But here they are not incompetent and fools, but competent and wise.

I was also impressed with Sheik Amar. Not only by the way he was played by Alfred Molina in the film, but also by how well he was written as a character in the book.

Next time: "A Triple Dose of King" or something else.

[AndyC]

Yeah, there was a time when I used to read a lot of movie novelizations. That was back when I needed my parents to drive me to the city for a movie, and thus only went a couple of times a year. Before home video took off, you had to see the movie in the theatre or wait at least two or three years for it to possibly reach television. Reading the book was often the best available option.

[InformationGeek]

Reading through a bunch of graphic novels I got at the library:

Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 8-11 (Vol. 11's artwork is shocking not finished at all.  You can still see the pencil lines that were not inked over)
Ultimate Galactus (Contains all of the mini-series)
Justice League of America Vol. 1-4 (The new series starting with Tornado's Path)
Justice Society Vol. 3-5
Ultimate X-Men Ultimate Collections 2-3

[AndyC]

My wife read Ro a bedtime story last night, without really knowing the details, other than it was a classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

The Little Match Girl.

That has got to be the saddest story I've ever heard. I was somewhat familiar with it, but I didn't remember the specifics - like it being about a little girl's series of near-death experiences as she froze to death, because she was afraid to go home to her abusive father.

Fortunately, Ro had no idea, and was simply delighted at this poor girl having visions of a Christmas tree and a feast and her beloved dead grandmother. I was only half listening, but when the girl has a vision of going with her grandmother, I got very uneasy. And then we got to the illustration that Ro loved best, of the little girl "sleeping" peacefully in the morning after all her wonderful visions (as my wife silently mouthed to me "she's D-E-A-D.")

Between Ro's innocent enjoyment, the beautiful illustrations, and the contrast between the joyful visions and the bleak reality of the story, it was enough to make me teary and haunt my thoughts for the rest of the evening. I'm just thankful Ro didn't figure it out. That kid has so much empathy for fictional characters, it would have devastated her. Hell, I'm getting all weepy again just writing this.

[indianasmith]

Just ordered this....got in the mail yesterday...



I've always been fasinated by the Depression era outlaws. So much so that my son Eddies middle name is Clyde....my first name in Ronny...as in Ronny and Clyde!

I've got that one sitting on my table downstairs waiting to start it.

[Sleepyskull]

I used to absolutely love reading like crazy for many years. Now I can barely focus my attention on a few sentences. I'm thinking of setting a goal for 2011 to read at least 4 books.

[InformationGeek]

This is an Elseworld's story from DC.  A sort of What If story.  In this case, the what if tale is this: It is early 50s and America is dealing with the Cold War with the U.S.S.R.  Then in one news announcment, the tide of war changes when the Soviets announces their new weapon, a super human or Superman if you will.  From here on in, this is the story of Superman and his rise in the Soviet Union while in America Lex Luthor, the world's smartest man apparently, tries to find a way to kill him.  It's a 3 issue story (Part 1 in the 50s, Part 2 in the 70s, and Part 3 in the 00s) and I won't spoil anymore of it because there is so much in it crammed into the 3 issues.  You will be seeing Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, and other recongizable characters in this story, but in ways you might not imagine.

This story is written by Mark Millar, who you may remember as the man behind The Unfunnies which I brought up, and I have to say, this is probably the best comic I ever read by him.  It's a fasincating story with a very gray morality, which no character being that heroic or evil when you look at both viewpoints.  I cannot highly recommend this enough to people, you got to give this one a look.

[indianasmith]

I just finished Ron Charnow's biography of George Washington.  It is the best book on the Father of our Country I have ever read; Charnow does a great deal to humanize the "marble man" that Washington's contemporaries strove so hard to turn him into.  This is better than Joseph Ellis' HIS EXCELLENCY and Willard Sterne Randall's WASHINGTON:  A LIFE.  As good as anything David McCullough has written, I think this one is a must have for any fans of the Revolutionary generation.

[Mofo Rising]

I am very looking forward to reading Chernow's Washington biography. I loved his biography of Alexander Hamilton, but you'd be pretty hard-pressed to make Hamilton non-interesting. Volatile guy, that Hamilton.

Washington's a hard nut to crack. There's a man who knew exactly his place in history and conducted himself better than probably anybody else will ever be able to. He knew that 200 hundred years later we would be scrutinizing his every move, and he made so very little mistakes. He may have been too successful. We can all relate to the spitfire John Adams and the relentless idealism of Thomas Jefferson. Washington, not as easy to read.

I've read "The Indispensable Man," but I'm curious to see what Chernow can say.