**** = Really good.
*** = Worth reading.
** = A waste of time, but one or two good moments.
* = Not worth your time.
-0 = Less Than Zero.
1. The Road by Vasily Grossman ***** It took me a long time to get around to reading this, and I'm sorry that it did, because I could have read a lot more Vasily Grossman by now if I'd read it when I first bought it. I intend to do just that now. As for this book, "The Hell of Treblinka" alone is worth the price of the book. I've read a lot of Holocaust books, but this--which was the first report of a Nazi concentration camp--still shocked me. There's a lot more than that, though. "The Elk" is now one of my favorite short stories ever, and the letters that Vasily Grossman wrote to his dead mother really touched me. As for the rest of the book . . . it's merely excellent.
2. Lucia: Saint of Light by Katherine Bolger Hyde**** For Jacqueline, of course. She actually asked me to read it to her, and when we got to the song at the end she sang it with me. It doesn't get much better than that.
3. Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse Book 3) by James S. A. Corey**** I'm loving The Expanse on SyFy. But it doesn't come out often enough. Besides, when I found out that it was based on a series of novels, you know I was already on a collision course. But apparently I'm not the only one . . . so when I sought to procure the first novel, it was not to be had without coin. Same for the second. So I took what I could get, which was the third novel. Now, I don't recommend starting any series with the third novel. For one thing, some shit is alluded to which seriously damaged my calm with respect to a favorite character from the tv series. But that said . . . I flew through this book, and really loved it. And yesterday I drove to the Bon Air branch of the library and got the first book, and a minute ago I put a library ebook of the second book onto my Kindle, so I am loaded for bear now. Let's go.
4. Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse Book 1) by James S. A. Corey**** Quite compelling. It was also interesting to see how the show's writers (Mark Fergus, Hawk Osby, Georgia Lee, Robin Veith, Naren Shankar, Dan Nowak, Jason Ning . . . I think that's all of them) actually improved upon some bits from the original novel, tightening up some plot holes, adding some depth of character, allathat. But the novel itself . . . quite good. I really love the character of Joe Miller . . . and Jim Holden is close behind . . . and Amos is close behind him . . . and Naomi is close behind him . . . and Alex is close behind her . . . . Yes, "the boys" (James S. A. Corey being a pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) do know how to create good characters. And good plots. And they have a nice way of turning a phrase now and then. Oh, almost forgot . . . I like Fred Johnson quite a bit, too. Anyway . . . heading right into the second book in a minute, so see you over there. By the way, here are two lines from the book that I loved (and which don't spoil anything without context, which I'm not providing): "Don't shoot the guy in the hat." and "Good and bad," Miller said, "You know how it is."
5. Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey (The Expanse Book 2)****
6. Existence by David Brin**** I've been reading this one for a very long time. It was my waiting for Joe's bus book, and I did the vast majority of my reading in it at that site . . . I'd say at least 85%. So I found it interesting, and there were some very interesting moments, but I didn't find it compelling, and at the end of it I didn't feel that I needed to read anymore David Brin.
7. Roger Moore's James Bond Diary by . . . well, you know what kind of eyes she got.* This was actually kind of interesting . . . but it was spoiled by two things. First, Moore was kind of an ass. Sexist and smug and other "s" words. Second, just reading about how much was expended to make this stupid ass film . . . one of the stupidest assed films in the Bond oeuvre, I think . . . was just sad. And did I mention nearly constant racism? Sometimes reported by Moore with some concern, but other times his own racist bullshit, of which he did not seem to be the least bit cognizant. For fuck's sake.
8. Good Kings Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum** A well-intentioned attempted to tell a story about handicapped young people, especially those of color, but it struck me as being more racist than anything else. Of course, I'm a imperialist white supremacist capitalist heteropatriach, so what the fuck do I know.
9. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Joshua E. Hanft*** 11/13/15 to 1/28/16 The third book that Joe has read to me. Woo hoo. And I think this kind of book (the old time-y hardbound juvenile novel type) works well for him. Which is why I got a bunch more of them.
10. The Metabarons Vol. 1: Othon by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Juan Giménez, a couple of guys from neighboring long, skinny, South American countries. ***** going on here, too. The art is just fucking stunning. And the story looks like it's good for the long haul--as it would have to be, as there are seven more volumes. Where's the library when I need them this time? Like nowhere, man. Ah, well.
11. Tarzan and the Forbidden City (12/10/15 to 2/14/2016** Joe and I are getting very close to the end of the official official ERB Tarzan books . . . but I've found a few others which will keep us going for a bit. And then there's always Carson of Venus, right?
12. Snowden by Ted Rall A graphic novel (so to speak . . . I still call them comic books) published by Seven Stories Press. About Edward Snowden. It should be a slam dunk. I love Seven Stories Press . . . even if they do publish too many "this is a fucking pamphlet, not a book" books. The material they publish is top notch, though, and hey, even commies have to make a buck, right? And I have great admiration for Edward Snowden. I would definitely let him live in my basement rent free if there were any way for him to take me up on that. And I love comic books. Even when they're called graphic novels. And don't get me wrong, there are some great bits in this comic book. And get this: there were two times in my reading wherein I thought, "Maybe Rand Paul isn't a complete idiot." But there are so many other things that I think are wrong with this thing. So even though I really want to rate this at *****, I can't do it. Nope. It's a ***. Sorry about that, 7, Ed, and comic books. As for Mr. Rall . . . as Bart said to Homer, "Think harder."
13. What's 2.1 x 6.6 x 10.2 inches, weighs 4.5 pounds, is 1088 pages long, and costs $35.99 (List Price: $59.99) on Amazon? Why, it's The Walking Dead: Compendium One (mostly by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard) of course, of course. Which is definitely a **** for me, and a ***** if you're a fan of the show. In fact, if you're a fan of the show it's really an even better read, because you encounter situations and characters that seem familiar to you, but they keep turning off onto paths that you don't know. It's a nice feeling of disorientation . . . like being pleasantly (as opposed to room-shiningly) drunk. I read this pretty quickly, and it packs quite a punch when you chunk down 48 issues of comic book in three days or so. Speaking of which . . . the compendium is definitely the way to go for most bang from buck. Check out this math: the 48 issues here would cost you $143.52 if you bought them new off the stands--assuming no discount, and not counting for tax. (Now, The Great Escape gives you a 15% discount if you're a holds customer, and then there's a 6% tax, so that would actually be $129.31 for me at my store. As if you could actually buy an issue 1 for $2.99, right?) Trade paperbacks are a bit more cost effective. At a list price of $14.99 apiece, it would take you 8 to = the compendium, so you would get that package (no discount, no tax) for $119.92. Of course you could chop that down quite a bit via Amazon, as some of the trades are discounted as much as 40%. So for pure cost effectiveness, the compendium is the way to go. And there are three of those things out now, so you can get almost the whole story to date (144 of 151 issues) for the low, low price of $104.21 via Amazon. So it looks like that's 3,244 pages (Amazon lists compendium two as being 20 pages shorter than the other two . . . could be a typo, but I'm going to go by it) . . . at a per page cost of just a smudge over 3 cents. I don't think you're going to beat that. There are only two reasons I'm not completely happy with the compendium format: (1) It is so fucking heavy. I mean, seriously, my wrist gets really tired from holding this thing up, especially if I'm reading in bed. And if you fall asleep reading, you could get a concussion from this motherfucker bouncing off of your forehead. (2) The pages aren't numbered. And the paper quality is pretty good--which I like, of course; among other things, it means that you can't see through the pages to be distracted by the art on the other side of the page; but it also means that it's easy for the pages to kind of stick together, so you have to be very aware of the page turns, which means you're pulled out of the reading experience on a very regular basis. It's like reading with a metronome. (Actually, I don't understand why all comic book collections don't number their pages. This is one of the things that DC does right in its DC Showcase Presents books that I appreciate.)
But I don't have Compendium 2. I've got Books 5, 6, and 7, which are (1) hardbacks, (2) bigger in length and width, so bigger art, and (3) contain 12 issues each, so they're not nearly as weighty. I'm hoping that the pages are numbered, too, but it's been way too long since I read them, so I can't remember. More news as it happens!
14. The Walking Dead Book 5 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard****
15. The Walking Dead Book 6 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard****
16. Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley and Cory Walker**** I'd checked out Invincible before (since Kirkman was the writer) and hadn't really been impressed. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't seem like much of a thing to me, either. But since I've been on a protracted Walking Dead jag, I thought I'd do a revisit. The LFPL was happy to oblige with this lovely hardcover collection of the first 13 issues (plus many pages of extras). And for the first 12 issues it was yeah, okay, but . . . . And then everything went sideways. I thought it was a little bit of a cheat, since I don't think there was anything to suggest that this was coming . . . and a little foreshadowing is sometimes a necessary thing . . . but it was interesting enough that I have Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 2 on my request list. Jeez, I just peeked and there are not ten volumes of this thing. That's a whole lotta comic . . . like over 3,000 pages. Pretty impressive. I can't imagine myself being interested enough in it to read all of them, but we'll see how it goes. TBC
17. Injustice: Gods Among Us Volume 1 by Tom Taylor and a bunch of artists**** I've bumped into this Tom Taylor fellow before. He did some very interesting stuff on the Earth 2 book before it shuffled off the DC coil. And if this first volume is any indication, he's (1) doing some very interesting stuff here as well and (2) kind of strip mining the same mountain. This version of Evil Superman isn't really evil, though. Just shattered and fed up with the shizzle rain. And it didn't keep me from enjoying the story, that's for sure. In fact, I put all of the other published volumes (five mo) into my request list at the library. I do have to say, though, that it's very satisfying to read a comic book which is allowed to break the status quo. Not that I want to see, say, Nightwing die, but just to think that it can happen here. Makes a big difference. I think comics would have grown a lot more in the past 80 years (give or take) if writers were allowed to do stories that didn't have to come back to their starting point sooner or later.16.
18. Thanos: The Infinity Revelation mostly by Jim Starlin** T See
19. Injustice: Gods Among Us: Volume 2 by Tom Taylor and a whole bunch of other guys**** . . . and another * if you're a comic book man or woman. This is some kick ass stuff. Amongst the many reasons that it's so kick ass: (1) there are actual moments of humor, (2) there are events which allude to "real" (official canonical DC . . . at least for the moment, right?) comic book events, and (3) the story actually surprises you. Again and again. This is a good indication of what comic books could be, really. And not in some high falutin fancy pants way, either. This is just good old comic book stuff. But it's written with verve and wit and it's not full of shit, and that's a big difference from the norm.
20. Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Two, Volume 2 by Tom Taylor and AWBOOG**** Yeah, Year Two Volume 2. Went to Barnes and Noble as previously threatened, and damned if someone hadn't bought Year Two Volume 1. But I was jonesing, so I went for it. And it hung together well enough. For the most part, I could figure out what I missed from the first volume but--and this is a real testament to Tom Taylor's writing--I'm still going to go back and read it.
21. Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Three, Volume 1 by Tom Taylor and Friends***** What can I say? It got better. John Constantine came onto the scene, for one thing. And here are some lines that should make your panties bunch up: "Intelligent people are telling us that our days are numbered. . . . We are out of time. There is no more time for cruelty, for greed, for self-interest to rule us. There is no more time to waste listening to the old voices of the ignorant. There is no more time to fight each other. There is a bigger fight. A fight for our survival. I can't do it alone, but I can help. I believe all of us, together, can still save our world." Take that, Trump, you arrogant piss-headed motherfucker.
22. I Was the Cat by Paul Tobin and Ben Dewey*** The art was much better than the story. Ben Dewey (Autumnlands) does impressive work here. Just as a reference points, I'll say that it kinda sorta reminds me of Jamie Hernandez. Ben Dewey's art is interesting and nuanced throughout. The story--about a cat who has been seeking world domination through nine lives--just seems very familiar and, sorry to say, kind of stupid. Tobin has done a lot of work for Marvel--none of which I've read--so I'm guessing that he's got some chops, but I don't see them here. Maybe next time.
23. Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Three, Volume 1 by Brian Buccellato and Friends -0 Wow . . . what an amazingly steep drop off that was. This was really bad. Just . . . bad. I don't want to talk about it.
24. Dracula**** (Great Illustrated Classics) by Bram Stoker, adapted by Jack Kelly (1/29/2016 to 4/1/2016). This is the 4th Book Joe has read out loud to me, and our second Great Illustrated Classics title. These books are much more accessible for Joe. Still not struggle free, but that's not a bad thing.
25. Troublemaker Book 1 by Janet and Alex Ivanovich illustrated by Joelle Jones*
26. Troublemaker Book 2** by Janet and Alex Ivanovich illustrated by Joelle Jones. Hmm. I just looked back at that rating for Book 1, and I think I might have been influenced by my Joelle Jones crush. Book 2 might have been a smidge worse than 1, but only just . . . and it sucked. I'm not even sure if it deserves two asterisks. And I'm talking both story and art, I'm sorry to say. Yeah, this should be a *, and Book 1 should have been, too. I'm just a sucker for a pretty face. Apologies. These books suck, and you shouldn't waste even a minute of your time on either of them.
27. The Swiss Family Robinson*** (Great Illustrated Classics) (From 4/2/2016 to ) by Johann Wyss, adapted by Eliza Gatgewood, with illustrations by Earl Norem. Coincidentally, I just read an article about Mr. Norem who died June 19, 2015. He was one hell of an artist.
28. Giant Days Volume 1 by John Allison, Whitney Cogar, and Lissa Treiman*** I've been interested in looking at this for some time, but didn't want to take the plunge with my dollars. But I was in Barnes and Noble and there it was . . . and there I was . . . and I read it through. I was surprised. For one thing, it looks like a kiddie comic, but it deals with sexuality and drugs and stuff. Adding to my confusion is that it's under the BOOM! Box imprint, which I thought was a kiddie line. I guess not. Anyway, I'm interested enough to want to read Volume 2 . . . but not interested enough to want to pay for it. So we'll see where that goes.
29. Injustice: Year Two, Part One by Tom Taylor and Friends**** It was weird finally getting to read this after finishing the other Tom Taylor scripted issues and being disappointed by the first Brian Buccellato collection. I felt some trepidation. But that disappeared pretty quickly. Tom Taylor didn't let me down.
30. Tarzan the Magnificent by Edgar Rice Burroughs (2/15/2016 to 5/8/16)*** This was Official Tarzan Book #21. 3 to go. Then the one that was found incomplete. And the two Tarzan Kids novels. And what about the non-Burroughs-written ones? I don't know about that. Joe's call. Or we could go on to Carson of Venus . . . .
31. Storming Paradise by Chuck Dixon and Butch Guice **** Second time through on this one. Still works. Some really great moments. It's easy to forget what a fine writer Chuck Dixon is. It shouldn't be.
32. Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe**** I really enjoyed reading this book. The only gripe I had about it was that there were no illustrations to accompany the text, which would really have been the cherry on top. I had to go online and look up a few things as I read to make up for that lack. Some of the stories about my hero comic book writers, artists, and editors were a bit off-putting, but y'know, it is what it is. Or it was what it was, anyway.
33. War of the Worlds (Great Illustrated Classics) by H. G. Wells, adapted by Malvina G. Vogel (5/1/16 to 6/6/16)*** It was good to revisit this old classic . . . albeit in adapted form . . . though I'm now wondering if I ever actually read the original version. Surely I did, right? But maybe not? Hmmm. That should probably be remedied. As for this version . . . it was a little too hard for Joe overall. He was game for it and he enjoyed the experience of reading it to me, but I think my interest in doing my own adaptation has been rekindled. (I'd started working on it just before I found this GIC version, at which point I wondered if it needed to be done after all. Having finished the GIC version, I'm sure that a more accessible version should be done, so . . . another writing project.)
34. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami**** This was a pretty amazing book. I tried to give it a slow jelly roll, as Jimmy is reading it, too, and he isn't very far into it yet, but I had to go for it. Just finished this morning. Now want more Murakami.
35. Warcraft: Bonds of Brotherhood by Paul Cornell, Chris Metzen, and Mat Broome** Well . . . what can I say, I was in the grip of Warcraft fever. It wasn't good . . . but I still enjoyed it a little bit. And it gave me a little bit of insight into the movie . . . which I liked a lot.
36. A Matter of Reason by Thomas Paul Kalb--and if it's me reading the signs, I'd have to give this one a solid ****. Speaking of which, I didn't just read this, I proofread it. And when I finished and thought I was ready to upload it to Amazon Kindle Publishing, I had to change the format of the file. So I went back in to make sure that the chapter breaks were still in the right places. And almost immediately spotted a typo. Fuck. So now I'm reproofreading it. Which isn't nearly as much fun as you might think it would be.
37. James Joyce: Portrait of a Dubliner by Alfonso Zapico**** There were plenty of times while I was reading this that I didn't like James Joyce very much, but Alfonso Zapico did a really good job with this book--both in terms of his writing and his art. Such a good job that (1) I immediately started digging out my Joyce books for a little look, (2) I started writing notes for a short story that came out of one of the side-bar items in this graphic novel, and (3) I went looking for more works by Alfonso Zapico. Alas, LFPL had nothing else, but maybe U of L's library will have a thing or two.
38. Outcast Volume 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him by Robert by Kirkman and Paul Azaceta**** I started reading this when it first came out, stuck with it for a couple of issues or so, then stopped--not out of dissatisfaction with the storyline so much as just not being enchanted enough to plunk down my $2.99 every month for a horror comic. Horror has always been my least favorite genre, so I've read very little in that area. A bit of Stephen King, of course, but that's because he's that good. Not much else, though. But I saw the Outcast collection at the library, so the price was right, and when I sat down to read it I pretty much didn't get up until I hit the last page. And then I requested volume 2. It's a bit much at times . . . in several ways. The gore, which I have no stomach for. But also the basic story assumption that there are so many demonic possessions in such a small place. Maybe that will be explained in some way later on. Or maybe it's just the horror equivalent of the way that tv cops shoot several hundred people in the course of their careers. Anyway, I actually am anxious to read so more. Not anxious enough to pay for it, though . . . .
39. Bedtime Bible Story Book: 365 Read-aloud Stories from the Bible by Daniel Partner and Kathy Arbuckle
40. 1,411 Quite Interesting Facts to Knock You Sideways
by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin***
41. 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop
by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin***
I bumped into both of these "fact books" accidentally, and although (1) I hate those fucking titles and (2) there is a bit of repetition between the two books, I did enjoy looking through them, and found about a dozen facts which made me want to write stories. So there's that.
42. Sandman Mystery Theatre Volume 1 by Matt Wagner and friends.** Guy Davis's art gets at least ****, but the other artists were not up to his level, the coloring was atrocious, and the story was just chock full of cruelty. No volume 2 for me, thanks. And I'm glad that I resisted the urge to buy this volume when it came out and got it from the public library instead.
43. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera**** Very strange little book. With flashes of poetic excellence throughout. Such as? Here ya go:
"Or to encounter people who spoke none of the tongues she knew: whole barrios of clans from other frontiers, who questioned her with words that seemed traced in the air."
"Like he was ripping out her heart, like he was cleanly extracting it and placing it in a plastic bag and storing it in the fridge to eat later."
And also stuff like this:
"Task, me, I'm just passing though."
"How long you been here?"
"Going on fifty years . . . . "
" . . . I don't know what you think you lost but you ain't going to find it here, there was nothing here to begin with."
" . . . whenyou turn your back in fear is when you're at the greatest risk of getting your ass kicked . . . . "
"And what was the point of calling the cops when your measure of good fortune consisted of having them not know you exist."
This was the first book I read from the publisher And Other Stories. Gonna read me some mo . . . then I'm going to send them 9 Cat Stories.
44. Battlestar Galactica, mostly by Roger McKenzie and Ernie Colon . . . with some hilariously bad text pieces by Tom Rogers. This is a Marvel Comics production from 1978, brought to us via Ace Paperback Books. I think it's a reprinting of Marvel Super Special #8: Battlestar Galactica, but Googling around for a few minutes did not result in anything more than circumstantial evidence. This was so amazingly bad. Beyond bad comic book bad, even, as the way the panels were placed led to great confusion. At times it seemed like there were panels missing. Which is what leads me to think that this was a reprint of the Super Special, and that in recutting the panels to fit the smaller format someone fucked up a few dozen times. Anyway . . . I bought it for five bucks at The Great Escape, and I certainly got my money's worth in yucks.
45. Treasure Island (Great Illustrated Classics) by Robert Louis Stevenson.*** The 7th book that Joe has read to me. These GIC books are just about right for him. Maybe a little too hard, but he's enjoying them and maybe a little stretching is good for him. And speaking of the GIC books, I just found out that there's a website for the company--http://www.greatillustratedclassics.com/--so (1) apparently it is still extant and (2) they have a lot of books I'd never seen before. Finished reading 7/15/16.
46. Outcast Volume 2: A Vast and Unending Ruin byRobert Kirkman and Paul Azaceta*** Glad I didn't pay for it (LFPL), but an interesting read. And I would like to have a look at volume 3 as well, please.
47. Tarzan and the Foreign Legion by Edgar Rice Burroughs (5/9/16 to 7/22/16)*** This was a little bump up in the series. For one thing, it was tougher. There were even some "goddamns" in it, which surprised me. And some extreme violence at the end of the story--severed limb and body torn in two. But it also felt more solidly real. The trek through the jungle, the month on the Indian Ocean.
48. Saga Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples***** I think this just came out. It collects issues 31-36, and 37 hasn't even come out yet, so . . . . Sorry to confess, but due to lack of dollars, I read this one at Barnes and Noble, too. But on the plus side, I really enjoyed it. And I didn't even open the book all the way, so I didn't crease the spine at all. And I was very careful about my finger placement. I didn't even laugh out loud . . . though there were some pretty funny bits in there. And I didn't cry when it got sad, either. But I wanted to, let me tell you. Read it. Buy it if you have the free dollars. Oh, here are a few of my favorite things (and the number of the issue / chapter from whence they came.)
"I wanted to correct her, but if I'd learned one thing by that point in my education, it was that when anybody in these cruel worlds offers a helping hand . . . you shut your fucking mouth and grab it." 34
" . . . anyone who thinks one book has all the answers hasn't read enough books." 34
" . . . death is fucking predictable . . . but life has science experiments and free time and surprise naps and who knows what comes next?" 36
49. Sentences: The Life of M.F. Grimm by Percy Carey and Ronald Wimberly*** I had been looking forward to reading this from the moment I read about it in a previews thing . . . September 2007 . . . but I didn't get around to picking it up until I saw it on the super sale table at The Great Escape. I wanted to like it. And there were some moments, for sure. But overall . . . aside from the cover, I felt that the big foot lean of the artwork undermined the story, and the writing itself just needed a strong editor. And beyond that, the narrator of the story was just so amazingly self-centered that it was hard to sympathize with him. Here's a guy, for instance, who fired guns at people and sold drugs and who was incensed that the police and prison guards saw him as less than a sterling citizen. Please. I got this thing for $3, and I didn't get my money's worth. Nice cover, though.
50. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany* Can't even tell you how disappointed I was. Or how bad it was. But here's my attempt to do so.
51. The Rip-Off by Jim Thompson ** I'd heard of Jim Thompson--in fact, just lately I read some things about The Killer Inside Me comic book adaptation, and was thinking it might be worth a look--but I hadn't read him. Then I saw his name on the spine of a book in the bargain section of Half-Price Books: The Rip-Off . . . for a mere $2. About half the price of one issue of the forthcoming comic book (since it's from IDW, which knows not the $2.99 comic book). So of course I picked it up. And actually had a pretty hard time putting it down. Read it in less than two days, which doesn't happen very often anymore. And y'know, it wasn't a good book. But it was compelling. And you have to give a writer a break on any work that's published posthumously, as this one was. AND there was enough good stuff in it that I wanted to read another one of his books. Maybe more. And the fact that Stephen King wrote an introduction to The Killer Inside Me which claimed it as a great book . . . and the fact that Harlan Ellison was buddies with Jim Thompson when he was alive . . . mos def more than enough to make me have another go at his oeuvre.
52. Can and Cantankerous by Harlan Ellison* It's been awhile since I read any Harlan Ellison. And I'm sorry to say that reading this one was a big disappointment. The only parts of it that I actually enjoyed were the little comments between the stories . . . and they were very brief. As in a couple of sentences each. This Deluxe Hardcover Edition sold for $45, so I'm very grateful to the LFPL that I didn't have to spend that money to buy this book. It's also unnerving to me that there is also a Limited Edition which includes four more stories . . . three"original typescripts" of stories in the collection, and one "revised version." (At least I'm guessing that these pertain to the stories in the collection--only one of them comes close to sharing a title. Maybe the other three are just bonus stories.) But the reason I find that troubling is that it looks like Harlan is not only strip-mining his past, publishing shitty stories that really should have been forgotten, but that he is also presenting them at outrageous prices, thus fleecing his most devoted followers. Several of his recent paperback collections sell for $50 (I succumbed to my love for Harlan and bought two of them before I said, "No more!"), and they usually sell out, which says to me that at very least a second more reasonably priced edition could have
been issued. But that hasn't happened on any of those recent releases. Au contraire, they then skyrocket in price as used books. I'm calling bullshit on this, Harlan.
52. The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson**** A much more powerful book than The Rip-Off. As would be expected, as this seems to be regarded as Thompson's masterpiece. I don't think I'm going to go buck wild on Thompson in terms of trying to track down every one of his books, and I don't think I have it in me to read all of the biography (Savage Art biography by Robert Polito), but I did pick up A Hell of a Woman from the library (because I was interested in the ending that was described in Savage Art--something about two intertwined endings written in different fonts), so we'll see how that goes. But mostly I am just overwhelmed by sadness when I think about him . . . how when he died none of his books were in print, and it wasn't until years after his death that people really started taking notice of him. But at least he was published, and from what I can discern he made a living from his writing. So there's that.
53. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness***** Recommended to me by a former student. This is officially a Young Adult novel, but my, my, my, does it pack a punch.
54. Stories From The Bible: Great Illustrated Classics by Claudia Vurnakes and Mitsu Yamamoto finished 8/29
55. The Fate of the Artist by Eddie Campbell***
56. Moto Hagio's A Drunken Dream and Other Stories*** There were two stories in this collection that I thought were quite good: "Hanshin: Half-God" and "Iguana Girl." The rest was just kind of meh for me.
57. A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson***
58. Recoil by Jim Thompson*** Y'know, it ain't great literature, but I picked it up from the library yesterday afternoon and I just finished reading it less than 24 hours later, so it certainly did keep me going. My fourth Jim Thompson book. And I think I'll have another, please.
58. The Twilight Children by Mario Hernandez and Darwyn Cooke** I don't know how this story could have gone wrong with that duo behind it . . . but it was just not good. The art was okay, but the lack of story even pulled that down more than a little bit. Glad I didn't pay for it. Thanks, LFPL.
59. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (Great Illustrated Classics), adapted by Marion Leighton*** (7/17/16 to 9/16/16) Was going to make it a two asterisk, but nothing Joe reads to me can be considered a waste of time, after all.
60. Dotter of Her Father's Eyes by Mary and Bryan Talbot*** Interesting, but I wish the focus has just been on Lucia Joyce and that Mary's story had been a separate thing.
61. The Machine in Ward Eleven
62. The Woman Chaser
63. Cockfighter
64. The Burnt Orange Heresy
All four of the above by Charles Willeford, and all worth ***, I'd say. More on CW and these books HERE.
65. A Cure For Suicide by Jesse Ball** Good title, though.
66. Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson** My 5th Jim Thompson book, and while I did enjoy it, I think this might be it for me. This was too much like The Killer Inside Me, for one thing--although the tone was a bit different. Also, I'm pretty tired of the non-stop misogyny.
67. The Second Half of the Double Feature by Charles Willeford*** An interesting collection of shorter pieces, many of them not previously published. Also includes all of Willeford's poetry, which is, unfortunately, not good.
68. Tarzan and the Madman by Edgar Rice Burroughs (7/24/16 to 9/29/16) 23rd Tarzan novel. Only one more complete ERB to go.
69. High Priest of California by Charles Willeford*** His first book, which he rewrote as a play (also included in this RE/Search Publications printing, as was
70. Wild Wives*** Both of the novels were at least interesting. Not finished with this Willeford thing yet, I guess.
71. Pick-Up by Charles Willeford**** I was really impressed . . . and surprised by this one. A book written in 1955 with a black protagonist? Wow. Since this was early on in Willeford's writing career (it's his second published novel), I was expecting something kind of pulpy, hard-boiled, noir-ish. But this was another thing altogether. I'm not finished with this Willeford fellow yet--and this was my 8th of his books.
72. The Black Mass of Brother Springer by Charles Willeford*** Not as good as Pick-Up, but still good, and still pretty bold for its time--published in 1958, and features an interracial sexual relationship and a pro-busing boycott sub-plot. I can't imagine that either of those things made Middle America very happy in 1958.
(9th Willeford if you're counting.)
73. Writing and Other Blood Sports (2000) includes New Forms of Ugly: The Immobilized Hero in Modern Fiction**** Willeford 10. This was a very interesting collection of short pieces, including Willeford's Master's thesis, New Forms of Ugly, which I really enjoyed.
74. Whip Hand by Charles Willeford*** Interesting story--told from multiple points of view.
75. Sideswipe by Charles Willeford**** This was the third Hoke Moseley novel, but my first. I had ordered the Hoke Moseley Omnibus and was trying to wait for it so I could read the books in the proper order, but Sideswipe was available at the library . . . the only one of the four that was available at the library . . . and I'd finished all of the other Willeford books I'd gotten out . . . which was all of the Willeford books that the library had . . . so I went ahead and read it. It only took a day. I might even re-read it when that omnibus arrives. So . . . my 12th Willeford. And now I haven't got any more. Hope the mail brings me a book tomorrow.
76. Herman / The Last Wolf by Laszlo Krasznahorkai**** It's short, but there's nothing quite like reading a new Krasznahorkai book. Good times.
77. Miami Blues***
78. New Hope for the Dead***
79. The Way We Die Now** All three from Hoke Moseley Omnibus--which also includes Sideswipe, but I'd read that prior to acquiring the omnibus. I enjoyed the first two books quite a bit, but the third one (which is the last book in the omnibus, and the last Hoke Moseley book published) was a low point for me . . . mostly because of some really cruel comments about a mentally retarded child. It's hard not to hold that against a writer. On the one hand, it's attributable to the lead character, and it does, indeed, show him to be a cruel man. On the other hand, the writer decided to put this element into the storyline. And in this case, there was no necessity for doing that. No point, really. So that was a big disappointment. Not enough to deter me from going on to my next Willeford acquisition . . . but it sure did kill my buzz. Here's hoping that the next book (which will be my 15th Willeford) puts me back into that groove.
80. The Shark-Infested Custard by Charles Willeford** Very sorry to say it, but this just wasn't up to snuff. According to Wikipedia it was "finished by early 1975, but rejected by everyone who saw it as 'too depressing' to publish," but after reading it, I don't think that's the reason. It is indeed depressing, in that the four main characters are brutal people who seem to have no problem with murder, rape, theft, or treating women like shit . . . but more than that, it just isn't very interesting. If you boil it down, it's the story of four guys trying to get laid. I want a little bit more than that from my fiction, please. Also, the story is divided into four chapters, and while there are some connections between the chapters, there's not enough to give you the feeling that it really hangs together. This was the first Willeford book I've read (of 16) which actually was not compelling. In fact, I first read the section which was published separately as Kiss Your Ass Good-Bye, and intended to re-read that section when I came to it in The Shark-Infested Custard, but after a coupe of pages I found that I just couldn't do it. So I scanned through to see if there were any changes made to the text (all I found was that the last three paragraphs had been scrapped and replaced by a three line paragraph), and then moved on the the next section of the novel.
81. I Was Looking for a Street by Charles Willeford (#17)*** A pretty amazing story of Willeford's life until the age of 14. Some pretty harrowing stuff, actually. There were a couple of bits here that I'd read before in Writing and Other Blood Sports.
82. Something About a Soldier by Charles Willeford (#18)** Sorry to say, but this just wasn't a very good book. For one thing, the explanations were often tedious and unnecessarily overly detailed. (In some cases, he would explain things that needed no explanation whatsoever.) For another thing, he often described doing things which were just wrong . . . and sometimes cruel . . . and it's hard to maintain your sympathy for a writer who goes there. Points for honesty, I suppose, but no points for a lack of regret or even chagrin . . . or for doing those things in the first place. If you're a Willeford fan, this might be one to skip.
83. Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens by László Krasznahorkai****
84. The Difference by Charles Willeford (#19)*** This made me wish that Willeford had written more Westerns.
85. Made in Miami by Charles Willeford (#20)* Probably the worst Willeford book.
86. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang**** I enjoyed the stories in this book--especially the almost-title-story story--but I have to say that the hype (such as "You won't know SF if you don't read Ted Chiang" from Greg Bear) is just hyper-bullshit. There's nothing new or groundbreaking or essential about these eight stories. They're pretty good. I'm glad that I read them. But they're not the best science fiction stories I've ever read. So by all means give this book a read, but don't expect too much. That's not fair to Ted, after all. Just sayin', sir.
87. I Am Coyote by Steve Engelhart and Marshall Rogers** This is the first Coyote story, reprinted from Eclipse Magazine 2 - 8 (1981 to 1983). It's really pretty dreadful, but I guess it was cutting edge back in the day, what with the nudity and sex and drug use and the "adult" language. I saw the first ten issues of the Epic Comics at The Great Escape Coyote and it put me in the mood for this. When I went back to buy them they were gone, though. Ha ha on me.
88. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch**** Some profound moments, actually, but also a pretty thrilling read. I wasn't as happy with the last few chapters as I was with the first 80% of the book, but that might just be me. Mos def worth reading, and I think that I shall try another Crouch book venisoon. http://songsofinnocenceampexperience.blogspot.com/2016/11/dark-matters.html
89. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu*** This was interesting, but (sorry to say) it got a little tedious for me at times. In fact, I took a break from it to read Dark Matter . . . which I knocked out in less than two days. But I still may try to read the second book of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, of which this was the first part.
90. Stories From The Bible: Great Illustrated Classics by Claudia Vurnakes and Mitsu Yamamoto (9/18/16 to 11/20/16)*** The 9th book that Joe has read to me.
91. Goldie Vance Volume 1 by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams*** Cute little comic book. Looking forward to reading more.
92. Roche Limit Volume 1 by Michael Moreci and Vic Malhotra** I really wanted to like this book . . . because it has a cool title if nothing else. But the story is just kind of stupid. People exposed to the black hole thing lose their souls, which then appear on the nearby planet as gems. For fuck's sake. There were some good moments, though . . . mostly in the narrative--bits of existential dread which I'm always up for. Or down for. But the art was pretty weak throughout.
93. The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart**** I saw this on the new books shelf at Half-Price Books and was tempted to buy it, since I love TLS so much, but I checked the library first, they had it, got it to me quickly, and I just finished reading it. Ahhh. It's been awhile since I read the first three The Mysterious Benedict Society books. For some reason I never read the puzzle book and the prequel, but I may have to get around to that now since I enjoyed this TLS so much.
94. Tarzan and the Castaways by Edgar Rice Burroughs (9/30/16 to 12/16)** The last of the full length Tarzan novels ERB completed. But there are still those Tarzan Twins juvie novels, and then there's The Lost Adventure. Still, this was the end of a thing, man. A big thing.
95. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (Michael Henry Heim translation)***** Superb book. I don't know why it has taken me so long to get to Thomas Mann, but I am sure that I need more of him. But before I do that, I'm going to attempt The Death in Venice project: I'm going to read as many different translations of the novella as I can find. Because I want to, that's why.
96. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (Joachim Neugroshel translation)****** I really feel that this version needs more than five stars, because not only is it a must read, it's also a very beautiful, elegant, and profound translation. Onward . . . but I don't see how it can go upward from this one.
97. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (H.T. Lowe-Porter translation)**** Definitely my least favorite translation so far. Archaic diction and awkward syntax--at times so awkward that I'd have to read a sentence two or three times to figure out what was being said. Still worth reading, but if you're only going to read one version, this ain't it.
98. Herman / The Last Wolf by Laszlo Krasznahorkai**** It was even better the second time through.
99. The Tarzan Twins by Edgar Rice Burroughs (11/5/16 to 12/29/16) The 25th ERB Tarzan book. Kind of.
100. Ringworld: The Graphic Novel Part One by Robert Mandell and Sean Lam *** It had its moments, but I found the manga-ish art hard to follow at times, and I have no desire to read Part Two--though I do still want to read the novel.
Now reading:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (in the 900s now)
St. Joseph's Illustrated Children's Bible Hardcover adapted
by Jude Winkler 9/1
Little Women (Great Illustrated Classics) by Louisa May Alcott (11/21/16 to ) Bought it for Jacqueline, kiddingly asked Joe if he wanted to borrow it, he surprised me by saying yes, Jacqueline surprised me by saying she'd loan it to him--though she did loan him the GIC Bible Stories book we read previously. Number 10 in the Joe-Read-It-To-Me Series.
The Tarzan Twins by Edgar Rice Burroughs (11/5/16 to ) The 25th ERB Tarzan book. Kind of.
A Search for God Anniversary Edition by Edgar Cayce
And then ON HOLD there's
The Collected Essays of T. H. Huxley
U.S.A. by John Dos Passos
Discovering God Through the Daily Practice of His Presence: Orthodox Spirituality for Everyday
Living, by Anthony M. Coniaris
The Riven Kingdom (Godspeaker Book Two) by Karen Miller
Warriors of Ultramar by Graham McNeill
The Orthodox Study Bible
2015
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