Reading anything?

[ER]

Some instructions I found for putting up speakers from a 1980s vintage "home theater surround-sound TV."  I guess the Japanese didn't want to spring for a genuine American translator and I got a pretty good little laugh off this.

An excerpt: "To regard wires into speaker 'A' forcefully to secure wires into slot marked 'red'. To join with TV backward face wire with prong ends into hole marked 'yellow'. Press until securely joined."

[God the Worms]

[Doggett]

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

Stephen King's
"The Night Has Come"
v.6. and final v. of the graphic version of "The Stand"

As I said before, these remind me of the "Star Trek" films. Just as those even numbered films are better than the odd numbered films, so this is better than v.5., even if it does have 3 endings. The 1st and 3rd endings are fine, but the 2nd ending goes on too long. And, oh yes, King himself gets to make a cameo in the 6th and final v.

Laurell K. Hamilton's
"The Scoundrel"
v.3. and final v. of the graphic version of "Circus of the Damned"

Jonathan Kellerman's
"Silent Partner"
The 4th in the Alex Delaware series in graphic format.

He has written at least  23 more books in that series, and 7 other fiction books, 4 non-fiction books, and 2 childrens' books.

Richelle Mead's
"Frost Bite"
v.2. in her 6 v. "Vampire Academy" series. In graphic format.

Pendis' and Andreyko's
"Torso"

aka The Cleveland Butcher. For the murderer's area of operations. aka The Headhunter of Atterbury Run. For the murderer's decapitation of his victims. Some before they were dead. The crime that brought wrack and ruin to Eliot Ness' career. (Yes, that Eliot Ness.) Though, he had a good suspect in the case, whose murders stopped, when the man was sent to a mental asylum by his politically connected family, Ness never had enough proof to prove guilt.

This is not the first fiction or non-fiction book on the case, but except for a couple of twists at the end, it does follow the case fairly accurately, as far as I remember, so it may be a good intro. And there are photos of what the area looked like, during the time of the murders.

Next time: How many times can I say "Not impressed" and a HIGH RECOMMENDATION.

[indianasmith]

I just finished Thomas Fleming's THE ILLUSION OF VICTORY,  a scathing denouncement of Woodrow Wison's leadership in World War I.  Now I am reading his THE NEW DEALER'S WAR, a scathing denunciation of Franklin Roosevelt's leadership in World War II.  Thomas Fleming is fond of scathing denunciations.

[jimpickens]

Be Bad Now by W. Hock Hochheim.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

George R. R. Martin's
The Game of Thrones
(in graphic format) v. 1.

Most fantasy writers will give you some idea that they have a little knowledge of what "life" was like in "those days," but not Martin. From hiring the wrong people you'd never hire in the first place to using the wrong armour in snow country to not knowing how to kill someone without drawing attention to yourself, he shows a substantive lack of knowledge.

Not impressed

As for the book upon which the graphic version was based . . .

Anybody that needs more than a thousand pages to tell a story needs a better editor.

Not impressed

I have read some of his prior fiction.

Not impressed

As for the TV show which is based on the books . . .

I do not have a TV at home, so the only time I watch TV is when I am away, and once in my hotel room I was channel surfing using the remote, and I came upon the show, so I stopped to watch it for the first time. I lasted 3 minutes, before I had to change the channel. While it looks good, I will give them that, it is the most ridiculous unpleasantness I have ever had the misfortune to watch on TV.

Not impressed

On the other hand, something that did impress me on TV . . .

Continuing on with my channel surfing, I came across an episode of "Phineas and Ferb," where all the characters went back in time and became cavemen and cavewomen and one monkey. And they were all speaking caveman gibberish or monkey gibberish, but all the characters were so similiar to what they were in present time, you could understand them without really understanding what they said. And "Swampy" Marsh and his creative partner Dan Povenmire had cameos as the guys explaining everything that was happening, both to each other and to the audience. That was both clever and funny as heck.

As for something else that impressed me . . .

Jacques Tardi's
It Was the War of the Trenches

The author took the stories he heard from sitting at his grandpere's knee, and the stories he read, and he wrote and he drew, and he came up with the best thing I have ever read or seen about WWI. But, it is intense. It was so intense that it was the only graphic book that I could not finished in one sitting, but had to set it down and come back to it later. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Next time: a little of this and a little of that.

[JaseSF]

Started reading Darkest Days by Stanley Gallon. It appears to be a science fiction apocalyptic political thriller...

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

This . . .
Michele Hunter Mirabile's
Your Mother Wears Combat Boots :
Humorous, Harrowing, and Heartwarming Stories of Military Women

The subtitle says it all. 59 stories, 5 from the authoress, from women in all branches of the U.S. armed services, from WWII to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That . . .
Simon Brett's
Bones Under the Beach
Guns in the Gallery
12th and 13th in the Feithering mystery series

1st) A boy mysteriously disappeared from the beach a number of years ago, but when his bones are found buried under the beach hut rented for the summer by the heroine, it becomes less a case of mystery and more a case for murder.
2nd) After a controversial art show for a controversial artist, one of the female attendees is found dead. Who killed her? Was it her sister, the artist, the art dealer, or someone else in the town of Feithering?

The 2nd one is the better one. At least, it hangs together better. The 1st one seems to fall apart at the end.

This . . .
T. Lindsay Baker's
Gangster Tour of Texas

Photos of both then and now, maps, and directions on how to find some of the crime scenes in Texas that happened between the end of WWI and the end of the Korean War. I found it surprising how many of those crime scenes are still extant. And some of the most interesting crime stories I found to be of the lesser known crime scenes.

That . . .
Patricia Brigg's
Mercy Thompson, Moon Called.
2nd v. of a 2 v. graphic novel.

Too much is attempted to be covered in only 2 v., so the story is somewhat hard to follow, especially in the 2nd v.

Next time: more of this and that.

[Rev. Powell]

I decided I needed to tackle one of those "100 Books You Must Read Before You Die" lists, so I picked up "The Illiad," which I was supposed to read in school but didn't actually finish.

At the rate I'm reading I'm going to die before finishing the list.

[Mofo Rising]

I decided I needed to tackle one of those "100 Books You Must Read Before You Die" lists, so I picked up "The Illiad," which I was supposed to read in school but didn't actually finish.

At the rate I'm reading I'm going to die before finishing the list.

I do that with everything. Presidential biographies, AFI lists, the Criterion collection...

Right now it's stuck me with Vanity Fair by Thackeray. I'll admit it's well written, insightful, and pretty funny. Problem is, I could not care less about anything that happens in the book. (And it's a very long book.)

[BoyScoutKevin]

I decided I needed to tackle one of those "100 Books You Must Read Before You Die" lists, so I picked up "The Illiad," which I was supposed to read in school but didn't actually finish.

At the rate I'm reading I'm going to die before finishing the list.

I do that with everything. Presidential biographies, AFI lists, the Criterion collection...

Right now it's stuck me with Vanity Fair by Thackeray. I'll admit it's well written, insightful, and pretty funny. Problem is, I could not care less about anything that happens in the book. (And it's a very long book.)

Mofo, you might do what I do and cheat. Instead of reading it, watch it. Between 1911 and 2004, it has been made into a TV series, a TV mini-series, and a film, both under its title and the title "Becky Sharp."

As for myself . . . Ye-es!

That
Anthony Horowitz's
House of Silk

When Homes and Watson find a boy brutally murdered, they seek to find the boy's killers. Only to discover the trail leads to the House of Silk, whose inhabitants will do anything, even kill to keep the secret of the House of Silk.

This
Antonio Prohias'
Spy vs. Spy Omnibus

All 241 cartoons drawn by the artist between Jan. 1961 and Nov. 1987. Also the artist's other cartoons and other cartoons in the series.

The idea itself was simple. The genius lay in converting the idea into the cartoon. And not only was the artist an outstanding cartoonist, he was an outstanding human being. I don't think there was anybody outside of Cuba who disliked the man. Even his ex-wife remained friends with him, and was the person who cared for him during his last days. And unlike many artists, he was sure enough of his skill, that he was not threatened by somebody else's skill. So, when they came to him to ask him to help them become a better artist, he often helped them. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

That
Kieran Shields'
The Truth of All Things
1st novel. There is a 2nd novel in the series, which I have also read and will get to later.

A deputy, an ex-Pinkerton half breed, a female archivist, and a doctor join forces to stop a madman who is bent on bringing Hell to earth by re-creating the Salem Witchcraft Trials.

Next time: a 3rd helping of this and that.

[Mofo Rising]

I decided I needed to tackle one of those "100 Books You Must Read Before You Die" lists, so I picked up "The Illiad," which I was supposed to read in school but didn't actually finish.

At the rate I'm reading I'm going to die before finishing the list.

I do that with everything. Presidential biographies, AFI lists, the Criterion collection...

Right now it's stuck me with Vanity Fair by Thackeray. I'll admit it's well written, insightful, and pretty funny. Problem is, I could not care less about anything that happens in the book. (And it's a very long book.)

Mofo, you might do what I do and cheat. Instead of reading it, watch it. Between 1911 and 2004, it has been made into a TV series, a TV mini-series, and a film, both under its title and the title "Becky Sharp."

Ah, can't do it.

One of my rules is to always check out the source material before checking out the new stuff. Usually that means "read the book before seeing the movie", but not always.

And then that feeds into my other rule, never put down a book or movie until it is finished to completion. A lot of people give this up, because life is too short to spend on something you don't like. I agree with that, but I also agree that you can learn as much consuming things that are awful as you can as you can by consuming the things that are good. It's just that the lessons you learn are different.

It's a discipline thing.

That being said, Vanity Fair is actually a good book. I just don't care for it.

I did just pick up To Kill a Mockingbird on a whim. I read it in high school, and recalled really liking it. I'm finding it a joy to read.

[ER]

Past Lives of the Rich and Famous, by Sylvia Browne. So bad it isn't even good for a laugh. Her spirit guide Francine should definitely fire her and get new representation.

[alandhopewell]

     Just finished re-reading this excellent book....



     I liked it because it was not a "And then I, I'm so great, and then I"-type book, nor was it about running anyone's shorts up the flagpole; it was one man's recounting of a love affair with a profession, and other practicioners of same.