Comic Book Buy List

January 17th, 2023

Action Comics #1051: For some reason, this book sold out at The Great Escape. Maybe because there's a blurb on the cover that reads, "1st Super-Sized Issue!" That's pretty easily misperceived as "First Issue!" and that seems to be a selling point with many comic book buyers. At any rate, I put Action onto my pull list as soon as I was sure that Brian Michael Bendis was gone, so my copy was safely waiting for me. And? Well...I was really excited about the Warworld story arc, and let's just say that this is no Jack Kennedy...but, then again, we're just kicking off into a new story, and besides, it was at least okay with a little bit of interesting thrown in. If it had been my first Action Comics, I probably wouldn't have come back for a second issue, since things have to be Really Good for me to lay my money down these days...but since I've been on the Action train for some time now, I won't be dropping the book because of this issue, for sure. Another thing: DC has pumped up the page volume on this. We have 20 pages of the main story, 10 pages of a back-up story (still focused on Superman), and then another 10 pages of story featuring Power Girl and somebody else...with guest stars Nightwing and Beast Boy. And the only ads (7 pages plus 1 page of DC Spotlight) are in-house, which are not nearly as annoying as Twinkie ads. Of course it would be even better if they'd cram those ads at the end of the book the way that Image does. Oddly enough, the most interesting story was the Power Girl one. She's not a character I have much fondness for, but it looks like DC is re-engineering her a bit, giving her some Mind Powers in addition to the super strength and gigantic breast powers that were the previous focal points. 

Danger Street #2: I almost didn't pick this up because I thought the first issue was just so bad...but it's hard to resist the pull of a story that includes  Doctor Fate (or at least a piece of him), Starman, Metamorpho, Warlord, The Dingbats of Danger Street, Lady Cop, Atlas, and the Creeper. (Yes, this is a mash-up of First Issue Special characters.) So I picked up #2. And? Well...more characters: Darkseid, Highfather, DeSaad, The Green Team, Manhunter (the blue one), and mention of The Outsiders (a terrorist group). Which means we've now seen (or heard about) most of the FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL heroes.* I thought this issue was a little better than #1...it's mostly focused on how characters are dealing with the death of Dingbat member Good Looks. But I'd probably drop this book if I weren't so sentimental about the comic books of my youth.

* Oops. I was just paging through Issue #2 and saw that I'd missed spotting Code Name: Assassin guy in this issue. So I guess that means we've already seen all of the First Issue Special folks. Cool. Wish I still had my copies of those comic books, by the way. At least there's a collected edition out. And even better, it's available via hoopla. 

Saga #61: This is the first issue with a $3.99 price tag. Which is still a hell of a deal, and I appreciate Image and Brian K. Vaughn for keeping the book at $2.99 long after every once else had made the leap up. (But wow, just think: my $1 allowance back in the sixties bought the same number of comics that $32 would buy now.) ANYway...I am sorry to say that I haven't been enjoying this comic nearly as much since Marko died. I am pretty sure that I'll be sticking with it until the end anyway, but this issue threatens a Marko resurrection...and if that turns out to be so, I'm not sure that I can hang on. Resurrections are just cheats in my book. So we'll see how it goes next month, I suppose.

February 3rd, 2023

Lord of the Jungle #3: This actually came out last week, but there weren't any copies left on the stands. This week there was one. So I didn't get the cover I wanted, but at least I didn't miss out on the issue.  And you know, Dan Jurgens is doing something interesting enough to show up for. His story runs on two timelines: the "current" one, wherein Tarzan is a senior citizen (grey, but still awfully spry), and the past, when Tarzan first encounters human beings. The art isn't great, but it's not bad, either. It often reminds me of John Buscema, who seemed to me to be the epitome of the competent comic book artist. Nothing you'd want to frame, but not unpleasant, and certainly capable of clearly telling a story. Do I wish I had something more Neal Adamsy here? Of course. But I think I'll be buying this book for awhile, so that's something for a picky motherfucker like me.

February 10th, 2023

Static: Shadows of Dakota #1 (aka Season Two) Ah, Milestone is back. Static this week, and I believe we get Icon Vs. Hardware #1 next week. And on top of that, Milestone Compendium 2 just came out. 

DDR: Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens

Public Domain

I wasn't sure that I wanted to take another break from The Novels at this point, but after finishing Dombey and Son I was pretty close to the halfway point on The Complete Dickens Project...17 1/2 of 36 volumes...and since 11 1/2 of the remaining volumes were novels, and only 7 were Not Novels, I thought it might be time to make some headway on "the lesser" books so that I wouldn't end up getting "stuck" at the end of the project with said The Lesser, having finished all of The Greater. 

So. 

In the Introduction by Thea Holme, we're told that the publication of Dickens' first book, Sketches by Boz, was delayed by the artist, and--

"Its immediate success was almost immediately eclipsed; for some six weeks later the first number of The Pickwick Papers appeared." (VIII)

So another pair of Dr. Elliot Engel's Dickens Lies is exposed. In his admittedly fascinating lecture, "The Dickens Nobody Knows," Engel talks about how Sketches by Boz was such a flop that copies were stuffed onto the top shelves in bookstores, and that when famous artist Robert Seymour came to publishers Chapman and Hall with a book idea and wanted them to recommend an author, they despairingly looked heavenward and saw Dickens' name on Sketches and thus recommended him, then sought him out...which then led to Dickens' amazingly successful career.

Well. Clearly that's not what happened. Not only was Sketches not a flop, but clearly if The Pickwick Papers was published six weeks after it, it was already well underway long before Sketches appeared in print.

This is quite disconcerting for me. Not only did I enjoy Engel's lecture immensely (and purchased a dvd of him performing it from his website), I also used it in at least one of my classes back in the day. And it is just stuffed full of inaccuracies (a generous word--one might be tempted to say outright lies). I don't understand how Engels thought he could get away with this. I mean...he fooled me, for sure, but I never read anything about Dickens' life. There are lots of people who do. And he's a freakin' proFESSor. Why would he do this?

At any rate...I'm through with Engel, for sure.

Onward.

Volume I: xxiii + 393 pages; Volume II: iv + 414, total = 834 pages

Assuming that I stick with 30 pages per day, that means this will be a 28 day project.

Day 0:

Just to be sure I wanted to do this, I read the Introduction and the first 11 pages while finishing my last two days of Dombey and Son. (Thus the comments on the Introduction above.) And I found it quite interesting, actually. Dickens may have been young when he wrote these pages, but his wit was already quite sharp, and even a few pages of description of various people in the town was enough to show that his interests in social justice and the plight of the poor had already been awakened. So I'm feeling much more confident about reading the two volumes of Sketches now.

Day 1 (DDRD 1,912) January 25, 2023

Read to page 46. And I have to say...as might be intuited from the fact that I read 35 pages this morning...I am enjoying this quite a bit. I'd been lead to believe (by "Professor" Eliott Engel's lecture, as a matter of fact) that the Sketches would be a series of descriptions, as of a fallen tree (specifically described by "P" EE), and thus would be of little if any narrative interest. Au contraire. The emphasis on the first few pieces here is indeed character description, but the characters sometimes continue from one piece to another, and in the process of the character description anecdotes are relayed. And all in all it is quite delightful, actually. Dickens' wit it at the fore here, and he is quite able to squeeze out a pithy statement along the way. Witness: "The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none...." (34) I am beginning to think that this is not going to be a hard push after all.

Day 2 (DDRD 1,913) January 26, 2023

Read to page 80.

The first sketch in today's thirty was an 8 page piece entitled "Our Next-Door Neighbour." It started off with a light and humorous touch, describing the relationship between people and their door knockers. It then wound around a bit, and ended up telling a very sad story about a widow and her young son, ending with the death of the young man. That's quite a long emotional run for an 8 page story. And in a way it was a microcosm of Dickens' writings: his ability to write both comedy and tragedy, but moreover his ability to move from one to the other without a hitch. Quite a little masterpiece, actually. (And available @ https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Sketches_by_Boz/Our_next-door_neighbour if you'd like to give it a read.)

And...hmmm. When I found that Wikisource copy of "ON-DN," I noticed the George Cruikshank illustration that accompanied it, but it didn't hit me until a few minutes later that this illustration dud NOT accompany the text in the Heron volume I'm reading. Yet another gig against them in my view. 

Public Domain

Next time I get a spare $1,000,000, I'm going to do a Complete Dickens the right way: with books whose spines don't disintegrate, including all of the pieces that Dickens had a hand (or even a finger-tip) in writing, with proper editorial commentary (and no bullshit introductions), and with every illustration. Note to self: first, you get a million dollars....

Also, I found this line (from another sketch) amusing and Beckettian:

"...the little party [would] meet again in the same room, and say and do precisely the same things, on the following evening at the same hour." (76-77)

Day 3 (DDRD 1,914) January 27, 2023

Read to page 120.

There really should be an annotated version of this book. Every page (literally literally) has at least one term which I'd like to have defined or explained...and I don't always have the wherewithal to stop and hit the tubes. Where have you gone, Isaac Asimov?

Day 4 (DDRD 1,915) January 28, 2023

Read to page 150. The last couple of days it's been a bit of a push. I don't know if it's the material or me...though there's some evidence of both. It's not painful, just not a joy...which it actually was for the first few days. But maybe that loving feeling is not gone, gone, gone. At any event, I'll still go on, on, on.

Day 5 (DDRD 1,916) January 29, 2023

Read to page 180.

Day 6 (DDRD 1,917) January 30, 2023

Read to page 211. Still just kind of meh. I guess it's the subject matter: May Day, coaches, parties...not the poor people stuff that captivated me earlier on.

Day 7 (DDRD 1,918) January 31, 2023

Read to page 240. Ask and it shall be given to you: today we were back to poor people and prisons and stuff.

Day 8 (DDRD 1,919) February 1, 2023

Read to page 270. This book has some goid moments, for sure...such as these two bits: 

"..they have gradually settled down into near passive creatures of habit and endurance." (252)

"Would that...the prejudices and passions which deform our better nature, were never called into action among those to whom they should ever be strangers!" (258)

So I'm sorry to say this, but Vero Nihil Verius, so: I'm kinda ready for this book to be over. Keeping in mind that I have over 500 pages to go, you see why that's a problem. 

In Other Dickens News, I just put in a request for Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. I ended up asking for the large print edition, as there were only about 60 people ahead of me for that one. The e-version and the regular edition had hundreds of people ahead of me. 

Yowza.

Day 9 (DDRD 1,920) February 2, 2023

Read to page 300. Good news: only 3 days before I finish this book. Bad news: it's back to inconsequential stuff: parties, etc. More bad news: Volume II is over 400 pages long, so there's another two weeks (give or take). I am pretty anxious to get back to the novels right now.

In other news: look at me coming up on 2,000 Daily Devotional Reading days. That's about 5 1/2 years' worth. And in all of those days, I've only failed to do my reading once...and that was because I was in the emergency room with heart failure. (So not a bad excuse.) I know that in the larger scheme of things it is seriously unimportant, but in my teeny tiny scheme of things not only is it of great importance, but it's something that gives me a sense of progress and even (dare I say it) accomplishment.  So there's that.

Day 10 (DDRD 1,921) February 3, 2023

Read to page 330.

There's a point in Act II of Waiting for Godot when Vladimir says, "This is becoming really insignificant."

Mmm-hmm.

On the other hand, I'm glad that I didn't leave this for the end of my Dickens Project. It would have been the epitome of anticlimactic. I'm also glad that I didn't start my Project with this book. I doubt that I would have kept at it very long. There's still time for a reevaluation, of course, but at this point I'm thinking that this is another Dickens book that I would not recommend anyone bother reading. Too much fat and bone, not nearly enough meat.

Can I really spend another 16 dats with this?

Sigh.

I'm tempted to settle down with some whiskey and just bear down on this thing and get it over with.

Day 11 (DDRD 1,922) February 4, 2023

Read to page 341. I'm not giving up for the day, but I had to take a pause, because this is just so wretched. And tedious. I'm in the final section of the first volume, which is entitled "Tales," the first "chapter" of which is "The Boarding-house." I put chapter in quotations there because within each "chapter" there are chapters, so who knows what that means. I've just finished Chapter the First, and in its 20 pages there are two fellows who are getting married, one to the mother of the other's intended. How delightfully droll. Fuck me with a quill pen. I am starting to think it would be an excellent idea to go to David Copperfield after I finish this volume and leave Volume II if Boz for some other time...maybe when I'm dying and have no other books close to hand. 

Okay. Deep breath. I'm going back in.

 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

🤤

Okay. Made it to 360. But it wasn't pretty. And bad news: Volume II is not only a continuation of the "Tales" section... it picks up with Chapter 4 of this story. So bailing out when I finish Volume I (tomorrow) might not make sense. 

But I might do it anyway. Cause right now this shit is kind of killing me.

Day 12 (DDRD 1,923) February 5, 2023

Read to page 379. Just finished Chapter II, which in 13 pages tells the story of a man who visits his cousins and loses his umbrella along the way.

Deep sigh.

I'm going back in. 14 pages to go in this volume. I think I can, I think I can. 

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

🤤

Gasp. Made it. Chapter III told the story of a young woman who went to a ball, ran off with a man, married, and then was not happy.

I, on the other hand, am VERy happy to have finished this dreadful book. I strongly recommend that you do not, as I have done, waste hours of your life reading this tripe.

September 1971 is written on the first blank page of this book.

November 1971 is written on the title page of Volume II.

So I conclude that my reading predecessor (MRP) read Volume I in about two months. Which in itself seems strange, since I read it in 12 days, and wasn't exactly wearing myself out on it. Of course, since there's no date specified, it's possible that MRP read the book in less than two months. Let's postulate the shortest possible time: 31 days for October, and 1 day each from September and November. 33 days. That would still mean almost three times as long as it took me, which would imply a rate of about ten pages per day. Also, Volume II has clearly never been read before. The pages are very tight, the spine is not even slightly cracked, and the bookmark had clearly never been moved from its original spot. So...I'm thinking I'm not the only one who had a hard time making it through Sketches by Boz. 

And now I have to decide whether to push myself through Volume II or abandon it (for now only, of course, as I do intend to finish all 36 volumes of The Complete Dickens) and move on to David Copperfield. 

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to try to read thirty pages' worth of Volume II today. If I make it and it doesn't seem too horrible, I'll push on through. If I don't make it or if I do make it and it seems too horrible, I'll move on to DC.

The tensions mounts.

News as it happens.

News: Finished Chapter IV--24 pages long. It didn't seem related to previous chapters in any way. It also wasn't horrible...though definitely not compelling. I may have to do another chapter before I decide if I should stay or go.

More news: read to page 42...the end of Chapter V. Like the (unrelated) story in IV, this is a tale of bamboozlery. And it was not horrible. It would take me 12 days to finish this Volume off.

I think I'm going for it.

Day 13 (DDRD 1,924) February 6, 2023

Read to page 70. The first story I finished (and they are actually stories now) was okay: "The Black Veil," a story bordering on (but not crossing into) the realm of horror. The second story, which I've not yet completed, is not as good. Its about a party on board a boat, and it would be hard for me to care less about it. 414 - 70 = 344 pages to go.

Day 14 (DDRD 1,925) February 7, 2023

Read to page 100. 314 to go.

Day 15 (DDRD 1,926) February 8, 2023

Read to page 130. 284 to go.

ADDENDUM: waiting room at the doctor's office, 20 more pages. (To 150.)

Day 16 (DDRD 1,927) February 9, 2023

Read to page 180. By the way...how on earth can it be 2023? That's beyond 1984, 1999, and 2001...all big signposts of The Future in science fiction (NEVER Sci-Fi, please) history. 2023 is the far future, when we have flying cars and cities in Mars. Stop bullshitting me, calendar.

Later: waiting for son to get off work, read to page 202.

Day 17 (DDRD 1,928) February 10, 2023

Read to page 234. 180 to go. Hey, that's less than a week! Very exciting! Plus I have to say that while this is far from my favorite Dickens, and though it still irritates me constantly with its insouciance, it hasn't actually been causing me the Cheese Grater pain that Volume I did. Either I'm getting comfortably numb or Dickens us gradually getting better.

Day 18 (DDRD 1,929) February 11, 2023

Read to page 262. 152 to go.

I take back what I said yesterday. Today's reading was painful. Lots of "funny" stuff about marriage. Bleh.

Day 19 (DDRD 1,930) February 12, 2023

Read to page 302. 112 to go. Read extra this morning because I'm so anxious to be finished with this book. Tedious, tedious, and tediouser.

BTW, I'm thinking that I should be able to get about 1,980 more pages in before Day 2,000 after I finish SbBII. So that David Copperfield and then some. Pretty exciting!

ADDENDUM: Ended up stuck waiting, so read a bit more: to 316. 98 to go. I think I can, I think I can....

Day 20 (DDRD 1,931) February 13, 2023

Read to page 350. 64 pages to go. Going to ttry to read more later today since Joe has basketball practice. I really need to finish this book as soon as possible and get to some good Dickens.

Day 21 (DDRD 1,932) 💘February 14, 2023💘

Read to page 380.

Hey, check this out:

And it's not a typo, because it appears that way in another spot as well. Could Dickens have been an Anti-Stratfordian? Probably not, but I'd like to think it's possible.

Day 22 (DDRD 1,933) February 15, 2023

Read to page 414...The End. It was a long haul, for sure. In fact, the last couple of sections were just exhausting. Silly name choices. Absolutely inane plot lines. The worst of Dickens, for sure. Don't even bother with this one, kids.

Onward to David Copperfield.

DDR Day 1 to 1,000: 13,449 pages read, 13.45 Average Pages Per Day

A History of Philosophy Volumes I - XI

History of Civilization in England by Volumes I - III

Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works of Henry Thomas Buckle Volumes I - III

Civilization and Capitalism, 16th - 18th Century Volumes I - III

The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip IIl Volumes I - III

This Happened In My Presence: Moriscos, Old Christians, and the Spanish Inquisition in the Town of Deza, 1569-1611

The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates

Peat and Peat Cutting

+

DDR Day 1001 to Day 2000:
(1) Leviathan 63 days, 729 pages
(2) Stalingrad 27 days, 982 pages
(3) Life and Fate 26 days, 880 pages
(4) The Second World War 34 + 32 + 40 + 43 + 31 + 32 days = 212 days, 4,379 pages
(5) Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming 10 days, 572 pages
(6) The Great Bridge 25 days, 636 pages
(7) The Path Between the Seas 29 days, 698 pages
(8) Blake: Prophet Against Empire, 23 days, 523 pages
(9) Jerusalem 61 days, 1,266 pages
(10) Voice of the Fire 9 days, 320 pages
(11) The Fountainhead 15 days, 720 pages

(12) The Pacific Trilogy: Pacific Crucible 23 days, 640 pages
(13) The Pacific Trilogy: The Conquering Tide 28 days, 656 pages
(14) The Pacific Trilogy: Twilight of the Gods 31 days, 944 pages

(15) Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence 13 days, 304 pages
(16) Toward Jazz 18 days, 224 pages
(17) The Worlds of Jazz 13 days, 279 pages
(18) To Be or Not...to Bop 14 days, 571 pages
(19) Kind of Blue 4 days, 224 pages
(20) Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and his Masterpiece: 5 days, 256 pages
(21) Miles: The Autobiography 16 days, 445 pages
(21) A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album: 8 days, 287 pages
(22) Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest 8 days, 304 pages
(23) Living With Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings 11 days 325 pages

(24) The Pickwick Papers 28 days, 983 pages
(25) Oliver Twist 16 days, 542 pages
(26) Nicholas Nickleby 27 days, 1,045 pages
(27) The Old Curiosity Shop 22 days, 753 pages
(28) Barnaby Rudge 24 days, 866 pages

2nd 1K Total: 21,353 (to BR) Average Pages Per Day: 27.38 

Grand Total: 34,802. Average Pages Per Day: 19.55

(29) Master Humprhey's Clock 4 days, 145 pages
(30) Martin Chuzzlewit 32 days, 1,045 pages
(31) American Notes 10 days, 324 pages
(32) Pictures From Italy 7 days, 211 pages
(33) Christmas Stories Volume I 10 days, 456 pages
(34) Christmas Stories Volume II 15 days, 472 pages

2nd 1K Total: 24,006 pages (to CSII) = 27.98 Average Pages Per Day

Grand Total: 37,455 pages,  20.16 Average Pages Per Day

(35) Christmas Books 17 days, 525 pages

(36) The Annotated Christmas Carol  7 days, 380 pages

(37) Dombey and Son 30 days, 1,089 pages

(38) Sketches by Boz 22 days, 834 pages

2nd 1K Total: 26,834 pages (to SBBII) = 28.76 Average Pages Per Day

Grand Total: 40,273 pages, 20.83 Average Pages Per Day

Topical Mencken

"The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind."

H. L. Mencken

Dickens Knows Sorrow

"The overcharged and heavy-laden breast must some times have that vent, or the poor wounded solitary heart within it would have fluttered like a bird with broken wings, and sunk down in the dust."

Charles Dickens

Dombey and Son

The Movie I Saw 2023

***** = Must see.
**** = Really good
*** = Worth seeing
** = A waste of time, but one or two good moments
* = Not worth your time

-0 = Less Than Zero: viewing this is likely to result in a dramatic loss of IQ points. 

1. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) I'd been thinking about this movie / play lately...even though it'd been 50 years or so since I'd first seen it. The truncated line, "My heart is full..." has often popped into my brain...that pitiful, mangled, cliched line which is all the failed mother can say at a critical moment in the action. Watching it this time was really hard, though. The unrelenting cruelty of the alcoholic mother was just so hard to push through. And the animal cruelty...well, if it had come earlier than the very end, I probably would have stopped watching. So not for the faint of heart, for sure, and I'm not sure it was worth the turmoil. The girl who played Matilda was brilliant, though. She's Nell Potts, daughter of Paul Newman (producer and director here) and Joanne Woodward (who plays the alcoholic mother). And get this: this was her second and final film. She went on to become an environmentalist and to found Newman's Own. **  1/1/23

P.S. I checked all the usual platforms and couldn't find this movie, then went to YouTube and there it was, the whole shebang, and for free. 

2. Just Mercy (2019) ***** This was at least my third viewing of this film, and it holds up well, losing none of the emotional impact. Michael B. Jordan is fantastic here, and Jamie Foxx, who vacillates between brilliance and absurdity in his roles more than any other actor I can think of (except, perhaps, Nicholas Cage), is Oscar worthy here, for sure. I don't know how anyone could watch this movie and still be in favor of the death penalty. 1/2/23 

3. Matilda the Musical (2022)  1/5/22  

4. Willow Season 1 (2022) *** Not a show I wanted to see, but Joe did, so.... And you know, it actually had some moments. Enough of them that I went back to watch the 1988 movie. And it was just awful. Unrelentingly so. 1/12/23

5. Willow (1988) * Just awful.

6. A Man Called Otto (2023) 1/13/23 Well, you know. Its Tom Hanks, so it was good. But I wanted it to be better. ***

7. Saving Mr. Banks (2013) 1/13/23 Because one Tom Banks movie a day just isn't enough. For Jacqueline. This was actually a great movie. I call it ****. And it's the first movie I really loved Collin Ferrell in. The man can hit some notes. Also, this movie made me want to read Mary Poppins...as well as watch the movie again, which I haven't done in about 50 years. 

8. Straight Time (1978) *** Second time I've seen thisP forgotten Dustin Hoffman classic...first time being when it came out, in the theater, 45 years ago. It's a powerful film, and it holds up well. Hoffman manages to convince you that he is a dangerous person, and his anger is fearsome on the screen. There are also some great supporting bits from Harry Dean Stanton (who plays guitar and sings in one scene) and M. Emmet Walsh, who is amazingly obnoxious. Also, Gary Busey and Kathy Bates (in her first movie role) do fine jobs. Watching thus made me want to see more Dustin Hoffman movies asap. 1/14/23 

9. The Devil and Daniel Johnstone (2005) **** Very strange and interesting movie. Appallingly honest at times. 1/15/23 

10. Stand and Deliver (1988) *** Good, but not as goid as I remembered it being. For one thing because the teacher was kind of an asshole to the kids a lot of the time. For another because they went from gang bangers to dedicated students way too fast. It might be based on a true stiry, but it didn't ring true.1/16/23

11. Sphere (1998) As with the book, the first 1/3rd of this was actually pretty good, but it was a fast slide down hill from there, and by the end of it, nothing but a -0 rating would do. I'm stunned that such a great cast could gave been stuck in such a wretched movie. 1/20/23 

12. Loan Wolves (2022) *****An astonishing documentary about student loan debt. Anyone opposed to Loan Forgiveness programs should watch this program so they can at least see what it is they are opposing... since it clearly isn't what they think it is. 1/21/23

13. Dombey and Son (1983) **** A five hour "movie" split up into 10 episodes...and a most excellent thing, I think. Granted that Episode 10 was a bit of a mess when compared to the book, as it squeezed several hundred pages' worth of material into 28 minutes and distorted and removed many key elements...but taken in and of itself, it actually brought the story to a satisfying conclusion which was not at odds with the philosophy of the novel. So yes, well worth seeing. 1/24/23

14.  Shotgun Wedding (2023) ** Joe's choice. I'm not a Jennifer Lopez fan, but despite her, the movie's overall stupidity, and some surprising (and disconcerting) moments of violence, this movie wasn't all bad. I wouldn't want to pay to see it...though I did...but if you can catch it for free, it might be worth that.

15. Russian Doll Season 1 (2019) ***

16. Russian Doll Season 2 (2022) *** An interesting show, for sure, and I think it's worth watching, but that's at least due in part to the fact that I really love Natasha Lyonne. Thought there were some grave inconsistencies in the plot, though...and might write at greater length about that, so enough for here for now.

17. Summer Magic (1963) ** Not the greatest Disney movie, but hey, it's got Burl Ives...and he sings "The Ugly Bug Ball." Also features Jimmy Mathers, Jerry's little brother. Plus I got it for 25¢ (on VHS). Worked for me!

18. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) ** There were a few good moments in this two hour explosion-fest, but for the most part it was a big disappointment. Almost none of the charm of the first two movies remains here, as Marvel essentially turns Ant Man into a gigantic slug fest, whose primary purpose seems to be to introduce Kang the Conqueror to the Marvel Universe. In fact, any Marvel hero could have been put into this spot and served equally well. A shame...and for me, a complete waste of time and money. If you have to see it, go Redbox or Disney+. It's definitely not worth the big money at the theater. 2/17/23

19. Crossing Over (2009) ** Not a great movie, but Harrison Ford did a good job, and Alice Eve was lovely (not to mention topless a couple of times)...so that was worth doing. Especially since it was free on Freevee.

20. Only Two Can Play (1962) * Saw this because I happened upon the Kingsley Amis book it was based on and found the movie on YouTube. Interesting, in that it starred Peter Sellers...but he was pretty bad as the lecherous librarian. I was surprised that a movie from this time period would be centered on a married man attempting to have an affair with a married woman...and by the fact that the married woman (played by Mai Zetterling) 's butt was shown onscreen. That was about as thrilling as it got, though.

21. The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) I thought the directing on this movie (by Armando Iannucci) was brilliant. So much so that I looked up Iannucci with the intention of watching more of his stuff...only to find that he only had four other films, and that I'd seen and liked one of them: The Death of Stalin (2017). So I guess I'll see if I can find the other three. Unfortunately the movie itself wasn't as good as the directing. It's worth seeing, for sure, but the diverse casting reeked of political correctness (and defied logic and probability), the changes in the plot (from the novel) were nonsensical as well as jarring, and at 119 minutes it was just too short. 3/15/23

22. The Last of Us (2023) *** Some episodes were good, some were too Walking Dead...and the whole thing was way too Mandalorian. I'd probably watch a second season if they make one, but I wouldn't die for the lack of it.

23. Poker Face (2023) *** As I said before, I really love Natasha Lyonne and this show had some great moments. But really...nobody could just "bump into" this many murders. Should have made her a homicide cop. That would've at least made it closer to possible. I actually subscribed to Peacock so I could watch this show...and I'm not sorry. But it could have been a lot better.

24. Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) ** Not good...though there actually were some good moments, and the Guest Star (not telling) was almost a nice surprise. (Saw a hint of it in a preview, alas. It would have been a bigger thrill if it'd been a complete surprise.) But you know, there's just so much WRONG with this whole concept. And what's this Justice Society stuff?

25. John Wick 4 (2023) Not my cup of tea at all...but there were some interesting touches here and there. Like the scene filmed from above as the fight moved from room to room. And the fight in the dance club where the Danvers were oblivious to the violence happening in front of them. Maybe worth a Redbox rental. 3/25/23 

26. Plane (2023) *** An unprentious title for an unpretentious movie. And you know what? It was a very fast 107 minutes. And there was very little stupid That Couldn't Happen stuff. Maybe none, actually, though I don't know enough about planes to say for sure. But at any event, there was nothing which distracted me from the movie. Simple plot, great characters courtesy of Mike Colter and Gerard Butler, and pretty much non-stop action. Definitely worth doing.

27. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) *** Not as good as I thought it would be based on the trailers, but at least mildly amusing throughout, and Chris Pine was more Chris Pine than he has ever been before.

28. Tulsa King Season 1 (2022) **** I wasn't even sure if I wanted to watch this, but I did and...Stallone is great! Not to mention pretty fuckin' funny. I unabashedly recommend this series...yet another bit of brilliance spinning out of the Taylor Sheridan Universe. That guy is gold so far as I can see (Mayor of Kingston, 1923).

29. Winter's Tale (2014) ** A bad movie with some good moments. Alas, not worth watching...despite some heavy star power--Colin Farrell, Jennifer Connelly, Russell Crowe, and Will Smith. 4/8/23 

30. Derry Girls Season Three (2022) **** This show is so good, so funny. Plus a guest appearance by Liam Neeson in episode 1--and a cameo in episode 7. Even if you don't love Ireland, this show is great.

31. The Whale (2022) **** Not a great ending, but everything up until the last few minutes was pretty fuckin' great. And sad.

32. Following (1998) *** An interesting movie, for sure--it's the first full-length movie released by Christopher Nolan's but a puzzling one as well. It's a twisted, time-distorted tale shot in black and white, and I'm not certain about some of the derails of what happened.

33. Insomnia (2002) *** This was an.okay movie, but it did not seem like a Christopher Nolan movie at all. Very straightforward, no fucking around with time, just a linear story.

34. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023) *** Reviews of this were not good, so my expectations were pretty low. And I can definitely understand why critics were so hard on the movie. There were several gaping plot holes. There was too much slam bang. But you know...there were also some dry touching moments, and more than a few laugh out louds. I also was amused by the fact that they kept me waiting through all of the credits to watch Star Lord eat cornflakes. Worth seeing at the theater.

35. Last Will. & Testament (2012) ***** Probably the best documentary I've seen on Edward de Vere as Shake-speare. And you can see it for free on Freevee. I can't imagine anyone watching this and waking away with at minimum doubts about the identification if Shake-speare with The Man From Stratford.

36. Peter Pan and Wendy (2023) I don't understand the Disney obsession with replacing perfectly good (and sometimes nigh perfect) cartoons with live action renditions...but clearly I'm in the minority on this, as the ones I've heard of have been quite successful. And, in fact, my kids claim to prefer the live action versions to the cartoons. But the ones I've seen have left me cold, and his one is no exception. And I'm willing to admit that part of that might be the Old Guy bent towards referencing my own youth. But there's more than thar, too. In The Jungle Book remake, for instance, they cut out many of the great songs which were at the heart of the story.  And in Peter Pan and Wendy, I was very conscious of the fact that grown men were threatening and committing acts of violence against children...something which did not seem nearly as  disturbing in cartoon form...because it lacked the bite of reality. ANYway...I thought thus movie was a complete waste of my time.

P.S. Just saw that Ever Gabo Anderson, who plays Wendy Darling, is Milla Jovovich's daughter. So there's that. 

37. Passion Play (2010) I like Mickey Rourke, so there's that. And I like to look at Megan Fox, so there's that. And it was interesting to see Bill Murray playing a heavy. And that's about it, really. **

38. S.W.A.T. Season Six (2022-2023) I wouldn't watch this show if not for Joe, but that said, it's not bad. I get tired of Hondo's "smooth" shit sometimes, but for the most part it's compelling tv.

39. F.B.I. Season Five (2022-2023) See comments for S.W.A.T. -- minus the Hondo bit.

40. F.B.I. International Season Two (2022-2023) See comments for F.B.I. ...although Vinessa Vidotto is so hot that I might watch this one even without Joe.

41. F.B.I. Most Wanted Season Four (2022-2023) Yep.

42. The Son (2022) Very sad movie about suicide...and obviously based on A play, as that dialogue has that phony "I'm in a play" edge to it. 

43. The King's Daughter (2022) No Alessandro Scarlatti, as there was in the novel (original title: The Moon and the Sun), and there were dozens of things wrong with this thing, but it kind of worked, actually. Would've been better with Scarlatti, of course. 5/29/23

44. Legion of Super-Heroes (2023) I was pretty excited to see this listing pop up on MAX...but it wasn't very good. Bad animation, huge plot holes in the story, and worst of all, A beloved classic LoS-H character was turned into a bad guy. Nope. 5/29/23 

45. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) *** I thought the first hour of thus was brilliant, and the graphics remained there for the second hour, but the story turned into some soggy shit. Mostly chase scenes that just went on and on. And then there were some big-fucking-gantic plot holes...and to too it all off, we end on a cliffhanger. This would be a good movie to watch stoned...that way you could sink into the visuals and not be distracted by the failings of the writing. Note to self. 6/03/23

46. 65 (2023) Within the first ten minutes I had two thoughts about this movie: (1) why do so many (most? all?) Science fiction movies have to have spaceships flying through dense asteroid fields? Don't writers know anything about basic astronomy? (2) why do spaceship pilots always know how the fix their broken spaceships? Just once I'd like to see a pilot who didn't know shit about the mechanics if his ship...who relied on the space equivalent of AAA? After that, it was just straight downhill. A truly awful movie. 6/03/23 

47. Bleak House (2005) ****

48. Fanny: The Right to Rock (2023) Kind of a terrible title, but a great documentary about an important band that was washed out if music history. ***** 6/11/23 

49. Extraction 2 (2023) ** If you liked John Wick, you'll love this. I didn't like John Wick. 6/16/23 

50. The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013) **** A really good--possibly great--movie. I need to read that book asap. It made UT to my because tabke, so it's looming. 6/16/23 to 6/19/23

51. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) ** Not as godawful as the first movie, but still...if you've read any science fiction of note, this is very old hat...and incredibly simplistic. Also, I do not like those attenuated figures at all. 6/17/23 

52. The Flash (2023) *** Not as good as I wanted it to be, but pretty good...especially the first half and the last bit. The stupid extended fight scene stuff could have been pared down quite a bit, though, and made for a better movie. 6/18/23 

53. Jesus Revolution (2023) I have to confess that I had no interest in this movie at all...it was Jacqueline's pick...and that I didn't watch every minute of it...but it was actually pretty good. It wasn't the namby pamby Christian thing that I imagined it would be. In fact, it was well worth seeing. At least a ***, and maybe a ****. 6/25/23

54. Marlowe (2022) Ah, Liam Neeson, you're way too old for this. And it was just sad seeing Jessica Lange in a bit part. The screenplay, co-written by Director Neil Jordan, William Monahan, and John Banville, bears most of the fault for the wretchedness of this movie, though.  Improbable plot points and characterizations, and truly awful dialogue. (At one point A Bad Guy with an over the top Southern accent (we're talking Fioghorn Leghorn here) reads to Marlowe from Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. Mmm-hmmm.)  I got this movie for free from Redbix, and still didn't come close to getting my money's worth. 6/26/23 

55. Rosario + Vampire (2008) There's a lot of underwear shots and jiggling breasts, but there's a little more to it, too. I thought it was fun, and reckon that I'll have a look at Season 2 pretty soon.

56. The Name of the Rose (1986) Some flaws for sure, but still a pretty excellent movie. Now I've got to re-read the book. 7/2/23 

57. The Worst Movie Ever! (2011) The title says it all, but (1) I've now seen the lowest grossing movie of all time (opening weekend, $11, total gross $25,000) and (2) I saw it for free on Internet Archive. So there's that. 7/3/23 

58. Meg 2: The Trench (2023) Wow. I think this was even worse than the first one, hard as that is to believe.

59. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) Interesting visuals, but same old song and dance. Are these movies making any money at all?

60. Shrinking Season 1 (2023) A most excellent show. In fact, the first episode was so good that I decided to subscribe to AppleTV so that I could watch the rest of the season...though it helped that the second season of Foundation had just dropped.

61. Hidden Strike (2023) Jackie Chan and John Cenna...in a movie that is mostly in Chinese, and all bad.

62. Cities That Sing: Paris (2022) Good, and Renee Fleming was awesome and lovely, but as much as I enjoyed the singing, I could have used more City.

63. Gran Turismo (2024) Wasn't expecting much, but this was a great movie with some brilliant directorial moves. 

64. The Equalizer 3 (2023) Believe it or not, and despite some truly horrifying violence, this was a good movie. I didn't even think about looking at my watch from the first scene to the last. That said, there's really nothing new here, and nothing that anybody needs, but if you just want to while away two hours, this is a good way to do it. 9/1/23 

65. Quarterback (2023) A most excellent show which significantly increased my love for Patrick Mahomes and Kirk Cousins.

66. After Life Season One (2019) A very dark show at times, and the lead character does several things which are so awful that I almost stopped watching, but in the end I am glad that I hung in there, and I may even go on to Season Two. 9/7/23 

67. The Batman (2022) Even better the second time around...and I liked it a lot the first time.

68. The Haunting of Venice (2023) A disappointing film. I wasn't all that keen on seeing it anyway (Joe's choice), which usually leads to better feelings due to low expectations. But not this time. For one thing, the filmography was distracting: "scary" angles which distracted because there was no reason for them, camera motions which were too fast and blurred the images. A waste of time and money. 9/16/23

69. The Creator (2023) Some serious plot holes, but I hardly noticed them because this movie just looked so darned good.

70. Paul McCartney in Red Square (2003) Quite a good concert, actually. And I like the way they wove interviews and other stuff in between the songs. Note to Paul's guitarist, Brian Ray: I slept with your girlfriend. (Actually true, unlikely as that seems.)

71. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) Didn't work for me. Too staged, too lacking in spontaneity, too...lacking in heart. I did like the acoustic guitar song near the end, though. 10/14/23 

72. Invasion Season 2 (2023) A most excellent show. 

73. Silo (2023) There were some pretty immense flaws in this show, but despite that, I found this show to be very compelling. Here's hoping that there will be a second season. Finished 11/5/23 

74. Loki Season 2 (2023) A confusing show, for sure, but at least the last episode had some laughs. 

75. Arctic Void (2022) * Happens to me quite often: A movie starts, and I'm thinking, "Wow, this is SO good! I'm going to recommend this to everybody!"  And then it slides downhill. This was a terrible movie...but it did start off well. And the scenery (glaciers mostly) was stunning. I also love deserted city stuff, and we had that. But it was still a waste of time, so avoid it if you can. 11/10/23 

76. Goosebumps Season One (2023) This was better than I thought it would be (I've Goosebumped before, you see), and had some actually creepy moments. Not something I need any more of, but I didn't sleep through it.

77. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) An awful movie, and at 2 hours and 37 minutes, it just kept on giving. It was cruel, stupid, and absolutely worthless. 11/17/23 

78. Barbarian (2022) A relatively low budget ($4 million) horror/thriller that was quite good...even though I'm averse to horror and had no interest in seeing this movie--ran across it and a glance turned into a watch. 

79. No Hard Feelings (2023) A terrible movie. It's amazing that Jennifer Lawrence went from an amazing start (Winter's Bone ) to a piece of shit like this. 11/28/23 

80. X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (2023) Like most modern operas, this was more than a little bit screechy, and there was at least one questionable casting (Malcolm's mom and wife are played by the same person, which seems kind of icky)...but it's a moving story. Worth doing...even though my ticket was $21. 11/29/23 

81. Black Ice (2022) A superb documentary about black ice hickey players. It still stuns me to see so many people being hateful to someone because if their race. But there it is. Should be required viewing. 12/1/23 

82. Pitch Black (2000) A 33 year old Vin Diesel, a Radha Mitchell who looks and sounds like a young Jessica Lange, and a Cole Hauser who reminds me of Matthew McConaughey. Add some bad special effects and a soundtrack straight out of the 70s. And you know what? It's actually not that bad. Not Bad enough that I'm going to watch the next movie in the Riddick series. 12/8/23 

 83. Dark Fury (2004) Very short (35 minutes), but pretty entertaining if you can put up with the bad animation... which is occasionally interrupted by some very bad computer graphics. I'd give it *** 12/8/23 

84. Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America (2000) ***** This is a recorded talk by John McWhorter, talking about his book Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America. I definitely want to know more about this fellow. 12/9/23

85. Click (2006) *** Some good things about this movie: (1) good message about not letting the important things in life get lost along the way, (2) Kate Beckinsale sure is pretty-- though I had a hard time believing she'd fall for Michael Newman), (3) Henry Winkler, (4) Christopher Walken, and (5) slow motion of Iryna Blokhina jogging. 12/9/23 

86. For All Mankind Season One (2019) **** It took me awhile to get around to this show, and it took me longer than usual to make it through the ten episodes of the first season, but wow, this show really kicks ass. Heading for Season Two asap. 12/13/23 

87. Wonka (2023) -0 The only good thing I can say about this movie is that it made me want to eat chocolate. Other than that, this was a painful experience, filled with stupidity and cruelty--like throwing a newborn baby down a laundry chute, if you can believe that. There were some songs; the new ones seemed bland to me, and the old ones were truncated...and much better done by Gene Wilder. This attempt to prequel Willy Wonka was a complete waste of my time...and a waste of $125 million. Not even worth a Redbox rental.

88. Leave the World Behind (2023) **** A pretty weird movie...which of course puts it right up my alley and straight into my galley. Impressive performances by Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke...and The Kids were pretty good, too. The ending was probably a big disappointment for most viewers...it hasn't received good reviews...but it worked for me. Netflix has it. 12/20/23.

89. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) * I'll tell you what was lost here: two hours and about 25 bucks. Tediously long fight scebes, substandard special effects, horrific over the top "acting." Here's hoping James Gunn can bring some justice to the DC heroes when he takes over. 12/23/23

90. Rebel Moon (2023) ** Short version: what a shame Mary Jane had a pain at the party. Long version: coming soon to a blog near you. 12/24/23 

91. Arrival (2016) ***** 3rd time around for this one, though it's been awhile...like 7 years. Still holds up and packs a he'll of A punch, though. Now I want to go re-read Ted Chiang's stories.

92. The Boys in the Boat (2023) **** Good, but it could've been great, and for me it was the director (George Clooney) who was the weak link. The constant act of focusing on an oarlock during the races, for instance, implying that it would break and ruin the race for the boys, was false tendion. And the boys were alk at least ten years too old for their parts. (The lead actor amongst them was 33!) 

93. Polytechnique (2009) **** and possibly *****, but not for the faint if heart. It's about a school shooting. But it's amazing movie, and for me it was worth the trauma. 12/30/23 

The Book I Read 2023

The Book I Read 2023

***** = Must read.
**** = Really good.
*** = Worth reading.
** = A waste of time, but one or two good moments.
* = Not worth your time.

-0 = Less Than Zero: a book so bad that you actually lose several IQ points from the reading experience. 

1. Mage: The Hero Discovered Volume I by Matt Wagner ** I think this is the first time I read most of these issues: this collection spans issues 1 - 8, and many moons ago I started reading the title with issue 6 (and continued through to 15, way back in those Comico days). And I enjoyed it, for sure...but the writing was stilted at times, and the art had more than a few of those awkward moments that never seem to have left Matt Wagner's work. Hoopla has the whole series (all three parts, that is), and I'm thinking I'll probably keep on reading. (I only made it four issues into The Hero Defined arc...no idea why.) 

2. Jenny's Moonlight Adventure by Esther Averill  *** Only 30 pages long,  but hey, a book is a book. This one wasn't as much fun as my previous Jenny read, but I've got three more and I'm probably going to read all of them. How can I not read about the adventures of a black cat, after all.

3. Asimov's Mysteries by Isaac Asimov *** Still going on my Asimov kick--just reading 2 or 3 pages a day, but hitting in every day, and so have now put down 15 of his books in about three years. They've all been at least good. This collection, which includes Asimov's first published story ("Marooned Off Vesta," 1939), was an entertaining Baker's Dozen of tales. I wish that there had been a little more fore- and after word material--there was some, but it was pretty brief--as I often enjoy that as much or more than the stories themselves, but what there was of it was fun. And now...on to Nightfall and Other Stories. 1/6/23

4. Grammar for a Full Life: How the Ways We Shape a Sentence Can Limit or Enlarge Us by Lawrence Weinstein 12/7/22 to 1/7/22 Read this one at the urging of my #1🌞, who wanted to try out the Daily Devotional Reading approach (a few pages per day, every day). He enjoyed it, and we're already planning to start another book in a day or two. Which means I now have three every day books (Dickens, Asimov, and #1🌞) as well as six almost every day books (3 with #1Daughter, 3 with #2🌞). That's a lot.

Not 5: Upon finishing Ben Guterson's Winterhouse, I planned to go straight on through the rest of the trilogy, with The Secrets of Winterhouse next up. And I did start said book on 12/2/22...but I didn't get very far. I just ran out of steam. For one thing, it just seemed to be more of the same...same problems, same setting, hell, even the same villain. So I'm moving on, moving on, it's getting phony.

5. Cable/Deadpool Volume 1: If Looks Could Kill by Fabian Nicieza, Mark Brooks, and Patrick Zircher 1/7/23 Just felt in the mood for some Cable. It happens. This wasn't particularly good Cable...and both his and Deadpool's characters seemed off to me...but it wasn't bad, either. I'd say **. There was one little tribute bit that made me smile:                                                  

The library has more Cable/Deadpool, but I might not need any more. News as it happens.

6. Dombey and Son Volume I by Charles Dickens 12/26/22 to 1/12/23 

7. Sphere by Michael Crichton 1/8/23 to 1/12/23 For the first third of this book, I thought it was excellent. Then for the second third things got a bit strained. And from there to the end it was just awful. Clearly Crichton had no idea what to do with this story, so it devolved into cliche and nonsensicality once the set-up was complete. In fact, this book ended so badly that when I saw two Crichton books (Congo and State of Fear) at Goodwill today for 99¢ apiece I wasn't even tempted to pick them up. Sad.

8. The Secret Garden (Great Illustrated Classics) by Frances Hodgson Burnett, adapted by Malvina G. Vogel 12/26/22 to 1/19/23

9. Mage: The Hero Discovered Volume II by Matt Wagner ** That's about enough of that, I think. 1/21/23 

10. Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld 1/23/22 Kind of cute cartoons about books and the pandemic and stuff.

11. The Efficiency Expert by Edgar Rice Burroughs  (11/28/22 to 1/23/23 ) This was the 79th ERB book that I read out loud to Joe. It's also the only ERB book that I only "read" via audiobook previously, so this was my first reading reading. And it was pretty stilted at times, and relied way too much on coincidences, but it was still pretty entertaining, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, actually.

12. Dombey and Son Volume II by Charles Dickens   1/12/23 to 1/24/23 The big turnaround / redemption at the end was a bit much, but still, I think this is my favorite Dickens so far.

13. Musical Tables by Billy Collins The first poetry book I've read in awhile...and by a poet I have liked quite a bit in the past. But this? It was mostly just silly shit. In fact, there was only one poem that I liked. Part of that, I suppose, is that Mr. Collins decided to write a book of very short poems...and let's just say that he's no haiku master. Part of it was his propensity to silliness and wordplay, which just didn't work for me. 1/25/23

14. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe **** I had some problems with this book, but I think I'm going to write about them in greater detail elsewhere. For now, let's just say this this book made me feel great sympathy for people whose sexuality doesn't fit into a neat box, and I think that Maia was very brave in the way e portrayed The Struggle in this book. 1/25/23 

15. A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller. *** I've been Jonesing to read some pays, and Arthur Miller has been on my list of playwrights I wanted to jump onto, so when I saw a paperback of this one on the spinner rack at Half Price Books for a mere $1.99, I went for it. Read it pretty quickly and found it compelling....though it seemed rough around the edges and I thought the very brief (A page at mist) denouement was unsatisfying. But Eddie in SUCH an American: good-hearted, but full of shit. Violent, passionate, generous, selfish, envious, incestuous, impotent. If nothing else, it made me want to read more Arthur Miller. 1/27/23

P.S. And due to the munificence of the Louisville Free Public Library, I was able to find three volumes of the collected plays of Arthur Miller (Everyman's Library editions), and even as we speak, the first of these tomes is winging my way. This one includes All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible, so its pretty much the Greatest Hits package. News as it happens.

16, Sketches By Boz Volume I * The worst Dickens book I've read so far. I am not sure I have it in me to read Volume II right now.

17. The Story of Ruth by Isaac Asimov 1/21/23 to 2/7/23 *** An interesting book: it takes the complete text of Ruth, pulls it apart, and surrounds the parts with context and useful information. There were times when it felt a little "talky down," but it is written for kids, after all. Well worth doing, and I wish there were lots more of these.

18. The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill 2/8/23 **** Not the easiest play to read for various reasons, but it really pulled me along.

19. Rivers of London Volume 1: Body Work by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, & Lee Sullivan *** I've been meaning to get around to this one for awhile now, so when I saw it on hoopla...and as a free loan, no less...I went for it. It was a quick read and not without moments of interest, but (1) seemed like the same old stuff I've read before more than once and (2) the art was pretty basic. So I don't know if I need any more of the series...though hoopla does have a lot more. Not as free loans, though.

20. Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens * The worst Dickens book I've read thus far...and I would predict the worst of all IMHO. I really had to drag myself through most of this. It's trite, it's silly, it's a waste of time. Don't even bother to go there.

21. Apache Delivery Service by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins ** Interesting, but more for the art than the story...and more for the covers than for the art. I guess there will be more trade paperback collections of this, but I won't be there for them. Glad I read it for free. Thanks,  hoopla .

22. Milestone Compendium One by A Whole Lotta Folks **** Great comics, great project--I'm assuming they're going to do the full Milestone run since they've just published Compendium Two. If they don't, I'll be an unhappy camper. But anyway: quite the historically significant publication, too: 1,300 pages of comic books about heroes of color produced primarily by writers and artists of color. And really a bargain: you can get a copy for $40, which works out to about 3¢ a page. A regular comic book these days runs about 20¢ a page. The only drawback is that this is one heavy motherfucker. I usually lay on my back and put it on my chest to read. And it took a long time to work my way through it...but it was a pure, plum-pleasing pleasure.

23. David Copperfield Volume I by Charles Dickens   2/16/23 to 2/23/23 **** Ah, yes, this is the Charles Dickens I have known and loved. And as you can see, I tore through Volume I...523 pages (plus the intro stuff) in 8 days. 

24. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Great Illustrated Classics) by Mark Twain, adapted by Deidre S. Laiken. This is the 39th book that Joe read to me. 12/31/22 to  2/26/23

25. B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs, Volume 1 by Mike Mignola and a bunch of other folks, Guy Davis being the most noteworthy for me.

26. A First Bible Story Book by Mary Hoffman So Jacqueline and I are now reading three different versions of The Bible. That's a lot of Bible.  2/9/23 to 2/28/23

27. David Copperfield Volume II by Charles Dickens   2/24/23 to 3/8/23 Superb book!

28. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 3/1/23 to 3/8/23 This book really sucked ass! Don't bother with it! Even if it is Very Popular! Read some Dickens instead!

29. The Man-Eater by Edgar Rice Burroughs  (1/26/23 to 3/12/23) This was the 80th ERB book that I read out loud to Joe. Sorry to say that I remember reading this book previously, and I thought it was a really bad book. Here's hoping that I get a better impression of it the second time through. And? I was actually thinking, "I was wrong, this isn't THAT bad," until the last few chapters, when a ton and a half of shit hit the fan. Impossible coincidence piled on top of impossible coincidence to make the reading pretty unpleasant. But I think Joe still liked it, especially since a lion mauled several bad guys at the end.

30. The Uncommercial Traveller by Charles Dickens, 3/9/23 to 3/20/23. I'm sorry to say that this is another Dickens book (along with Sketches by Boz, all of the Christmas Stories except for A Christmas Carol, and Martin Chuzzlewit--7 of the 21 1/2 volumes I've read so far--that I would suggest you skip if you would like the keep a sharp edge in your love for Dickens. The "stories" here are mostly trite and unamusing, and quite  few if them seem pointless as well. Just sayin', sir.

31. Lessons You Can Learn From the Bible by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society 10/30/22 to 3/26/23 A Jehovah's witness book that Jacqueline got from a pair of them set up outside of the library.

32. A Child's History of England by Charles Dickens  3/20/23 to 3/30/23 A most excellent book. 

33.  Volume 1 by Jed MacKay and Ig Guara. *** Not a great comic book, but interesting enough for me to start Volume 2 when I finished it.

34. Reprinted Pieces by Charles Dickens 3/24/23 to 4/6/23 Not a good book and certainly not recommended, but there were a few pieces--including the last one, for which um grateful also at least there's that.

35. Hamlet, Protagonist Unbound: Being, Truth, Identity, and Reality in Hamlet--A literary-philosophical close reading of Hamlet, Drawing upon scholarship in the interdisciplinary field of literature and philosophy, and the history of ideas by David Wright 

36. Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov ** Sorry to say that this short story collection--which purportedly includes The Greatest Science Fiction Story Ever Written (though I beg to differ on that)--was more trial than joy for me. In fact, I'm glad to close the cover and move on. 4/12/23

37. Magic Volume 2 by Jed MacKay and Ig Guara *** I'm still more than a little bit confused by this comic book's there's obviously a huge backstory that I know nothing above I don't like the art style used on the interior pages, as it is very manga-ish without the charm of manga...but despite all of that, the story is growing on me. Think I'll go ahead and read Volume 3. 4/16/23 

 38. Old Testament, Orthodox Study Bible--published by Thomas Nelson, New King James Version 4/16/23 

39. Magic Volume 3 by Jed MacKay and Ig Guara *** I'm starting to slip between the sheets of this book (finally). And yes, I believe that I shall have another volume (for free, courtesy of Hoopla).  4/17/23 

40. Magic Volume 4 by Jed McKay and Ig Guara *** You know, I think I'd actually be willing to pay for this book. Which is a good thing if I want to continue, since this collection had issues 16 - 20, and the current issue is #25, and Volume 5 won't be ought until September 5th...and will cost $25. Fortunately, Hoopla has issues 21, 23, and 24, so with a maximum of two purchases I can get caught up. After that, though...it's fish with $5 per issue or cut bait. Time (and I) will tell. 4/17/23 

41. Pride and Prejudice (Great Illustrated Classics) by Jane Austen, adapted by Fern Siegel. This is the 40th book that Joe read to me. 3/2/23 to 4/17/23 

42. The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County by Edgar Rice Burroughs  (3/16/23 to 4/17/23) This was the 81st ERB book that I read out loud to Joe. 

43. Miscellaneous Pieces Volume I by Charles Dickens 4/4/23 to 4/22/23 A terrible, horrible, no-good book. To be avoided at all costs --unless you're an OCD Dickens enthusiast who just can't leave it alone. If that's the case...I'd suggest taking this book in small bites, maybe five pages per day, and reading a Dickens novel alongside it. That way your love for The Man won't be diminished. As much.

44. Bleak House Volume I by Charles Dickens 4/22/23 to 5/13/23 Ah, that's more like it. *****...only because that's as high as my rating system goes. This novel is just so good....

45. Alessandro Scarlatti: An Introduction to His Operas

by Donald Jay Grout 5/14/23 An interesting foray into Mr. Scarlatti, though at times above my head with respect to technicalities of music. Worth reading, for sure, though, and got me in the mood for more on AS.

46. Miscellaneous Papers Volume II by Charles Dickens -0 Don't do it. Just don't. 4/22/23 to 5/19/23 

47. Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov *** This was actually a pretty good book, despite Asimov's disdain for it. (Which stemmed primarily from the fact that this was a novelization based on a movie script, and that he was thus very constrained in his writing of it.) I'm actually thinking about reading Fantastic Voyage 2: Destination Brain at some point. Just so happens to be available via Internet Archive. 4/13/23 to 5/27/23

48. Deliver Me From Nowhere by Warren Zanes **** I don't buy many new hardback books, but I couldn't resist this one: a book devoted to examining Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album. And it was goo-oood. Felt like I was climbing inside of Springsteen's mind, heart, and soul. Also made me really feel the impact of the Nebraska album...how different it was, how daring...and what a technological challenge. Excellent book, even if you're not a Springsteen fan. If you are interested in how music is made, this is the book for you, for sure. Don't remember when I started reading it, but it only took me a few days--because I was so absorbed in it. Finished 5/27/23

49. Bleak House Volume II by Charles Dickens 4/23/23 to 5/29/23

A most excellent novel. Maybe my favorite Dickens. (I'll know for sure once I finish the others...which is happening even as we speak.)

50. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle (Great Illustrated Classics) by Washington Irving, adapted by Jack Kelly. The 41st book Joe read to me. 4/20/23 to 6/5/23

51. Hard Times by Charles Dickens 5/30/23 to 6/10/23

52. Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder by Edgar Rice Burroughs  (4/20/23 to 6/9/23 ) This was the 82nd ERB book that I read out loud to Joe. And the second time that I've read this truly wretched book. The only piece in it worth your time is "Elmer," which is the original version of "The Resurrection of Jimber Jaw."

53. Hitomi Volume 1 by H.S. Tak and Isabella Mazzanti **** This was a pretty great comic book. Looked like "real" manga...but I guess not since the writer is American. The art reminded MT of Paul Pope very fluid and kind if sketchy...but in a GOOD way. I'm looking forward to reading more of this, but for now this is all there is. 6/10/23

54. Fantastic Voyage 2: Destination Brain by Isaac Asimov

** Sorry to say that this wasn't a very good book--inferior in every way to its predecessor and completely unnecessary. Finished 6/13/23

55. Uma Wimple Charts Her House by Reif Larsen *** A cute kids' book that made me want to make charts. 6/15/23

56. Entrances & Exits by Reif Larsen *** An interesting little "book" that cannot be read in print form, as it relies on searching through pictures and clicking through links to get to the next "page" of the story. 6/15/23 to 6/16/23

57. You Lucky Girl! by Edgar Rice Burroughs  (6/10/23 to 6/24/23) This was the 83rd ERB book that I read out loud to Joe. It wasn't very good, but it wasn't terrible...and it was quick. In fact, we read it in five 25 page chunks and one 44 page superchunk, so just six reading days. One ERB to go now.

58. Little Dorrit Volume I by Charles Dickens 6/11/23 to 6/27/23 Not a fun read...nor a good one, sorry to say. Unless Volume II is much better, I'd suggest that you skip this one.

59. Little Dorrit Volume II 6/27/23 to 7/8/23 This was a lot better than Volume I. I would seriously suggest skipping Part I and starting with "Book the Second: Riches." It would be a much better reading experience.

60. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 7/9/23 to 7/17/23 Cracking good read that.

61. Robinson Crusoe (Great Illustrated Classics) by Daniel DeFoe, adapted by Malvina Vogel. The 42nd book Joe read to me. 6/8/23 to 7/26/23

62. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 7/18/23 to 8/2/23

63. Philip Wylie by Truman Frederick Keefer finished 8/6/23

64. The Collected Strangers in Paradise. Volume One

by Terry Moore ** For some reason I've been thinking about this book for a couple of months now, so when I saw that the LFPL had an online copy of the first collection (first three issues), I had a free look at it. And? Didn't get my money's worth. The art was not great, and the story irritated me. It was almost like it was a story about women written by a man who didn't really understand women very well.

65. Dawn of the Robots by Isaac Asimov 5/27/23 to 8/11/23 Read most of this at a very slow rate...literally a couple of pages a day... but when I got to the last sixty or so pages I couldn't take it anymore and I gulped it down. A pretty satisfying read...which I really needed after laboring through the autobiographies and the very disappointing Nightfall and Other Stories. More Robot novels, please!

66. Our Mutual Friend Volume I by Charles Dickens 8/2/23 to 8/16/23 Very not good. Very, very not good.

67. Lone Wolf #1: Night Raider by Mike Barry (Barry Malzberg) This was a pretty idiotic "Men's Adventure" thing, but that said (1) I burned through it in a few days, (2) it's Barry Malzberg, man, and (3) if I could put my mitts on #2 for free, I'd read it, too. (Alas, Internet Archive only has this and one other of the 14 books in this series.) 8/27/23

68. A Christmas Carol (Great Illustrated Classics) by Charles Dickens, adapted by Malvina Vogel. The 43rd book Joe read to me. 7/27/23 to 8/27/23

69. Our Mutual Friend Volume II by Charles Dickens 8/17/23 to 8/30/23. A terrible book, I'm sorry to say. Don't save it for your last Dickens the way John Irving and Desmond from Lost did.

70. The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens 8/30/23 to 9/4/23 Finished My Dickens Project on a high note. I'm very grateful that I didn't succumb to John Irving Pressure and save Our Mutual Friend  for my last Dickens read. This book was SO much better...even incomplete...that it's ridiculous.

71. Dickens and Kafka by Mark Spilka 9/4/23 to 9/10/23 

72. View From a Height by Isaac Asimov 9/12/23

73. Holly by Stephen King 9/19/23 More police procedural / detective story than horror. In fact, there's no supernatural element to this one at all. A very quick, exciting read...and it held together quite well. I liked the way King structured this book. He alternates between two time lines, and then they converge at the climax of the book. Well done, Stephen.

74. Franz Kaka: A Biography by Max Brod 9/10/23 to 9/18/23 Pretty good...and containing some Kafka writings that might not have seen print elsewhere...but in the end it's Brod's love for Kafka which taints this tome. He's so over the top in his praise that Kafka's every utterance is indicative of genius. In reality not so much.

75. The Frozen Sea: A Study of Franz Kafka by Charles Neider 9/19/23 to 9/23.23 With a title like that, I was expecting some great things, but this was a complete waste of time. I can only conclude that Neider was a freshman in college when he wrote this, and that he was suffering from some serious mental illnesses at that time. I hope that he got better.

76. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 1 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/2/23 

77. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 2 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/3/23 

78. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 3 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/4/23 

79. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 4 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/4/23 

80. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 5 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/4/23 

81. Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by David Polonsky & Ari Folman *** I'd heard that this book had been banned somewhere or other, so I thought I'd have a look at it. And the LFPL had an e-copy, so that was easy. And? Well, it was good. The stuff that it was banned for--a mention of wanting to kiss another girl and a description of female genitalia (not illustrated)--was really quite mild, and only a truly fucked up person could have a problem with it. But that's no revelation, is it? At any rate, it's worth reading, but never really got deep enough to be emotionally moving. Finished 10/5/23 

82. Franz Kaka, A Writer's Life by Joachim Unseld 9/24/23 to 10/5/23 The best of the three On Kafka books I've read, but still I am left with no clear idea of what was published during Kafka's lifetime or in what order. Don't know why that would be difficult to ascertain, given the fact that he published very little during his life, but there it is.

83. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 6 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/5/23 

84. Marcia of the Doorstep by Edgar Rice Burroughs (6/25/23 to 10/6/23) This was the 84th ERB book that I read out loud to Joe--and with this, we have read all of ERB's books together (and out loud). Woo hoo. This was ERB's longest book...and far from his best...but its been a fun, strange trip, for sure.

85. Newburn Volume 1 finished 10/7/23 Not bad, but pretty much a same old shit thing: guy who works solving crimes for the Mafia. Been there, done that.

86. White Fang (Great Illustrated Classics) by Charles Dickens, adapted by Malvina Vogel. The 44th book Joe read to me. 8/28/23 to 10/13/23 

87. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 7 by Shuzo Oshimi

88. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 8 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/13/23 

89. The Flowers of Evil, Volume 9 by Shuzo Oshimi 10/15/23 

So...that's all that hoopla has. But the are two more volumes Out There. Two possible solutions: (1) buy them ($7.99 each for e-comics from Kodansha) or (2) join Kindle Unlimited and read them. Don't know if I can get a free trial since I previously had a membership, but even if I had to pay for a month it'd be cheaper than buying them. Hmmmm.

90. Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories 10/6/23 to 10/21/23 A big disappointment. Almost all of the previously unpublished material was of no value to me...and that was the majority of the book. With regret, I suggest sticking to Kafka's Greatest Hits if you want to love him.

91. Killing Moon by Jo Nesbø 10/24/23 to 10/28/23 Not great, but hey...489 pages in 5 days. So there's that.

92. Deathtopia Volume 1 by Yamada Yoshinobu   Guess I'm not through gorging on manga quite yet. I'll confess that I picked this one up on hoopla because of the cover--

 

--and I have not

been offended by the bare breasts displayed throughout the pages... but I've also gotten interested in the story, which is kind of a Japanese They Live. Interested enough that I was worried when I found out that hoopla only had 6 of the 8 volumes. Internet Archive to the rescue! They have all 8 volumes...and now I won't have to spend all of my month's hoopla credits on this smut!

93. Amerika: The Missing Person by Franz Kaka 10/22/23 to 11/3/23 This was a waste of my time. A truly insignificant work, written with almost no hint of substance or elegance. The only thing I actually appreciated was the brief description--a few words-- of the Statue of Liberty holding a sword instead of a torch. This book was So Bad that it killed my interest in pursuing The Complete Kafka. Onward and Upward.

94. Deathtopia Volume 2 by Yamada Yoshinobu This one lost some of the titillation power as it featured several scenes of young girls who had been kidnapped, bound, drugged, stripped naked, and put into a prison cell to await their murder. Kind of takes the thrill out of nurdity.  So that might be it for me and Deathtopia, not sure yet. 11/2/23 to 11/3/23 

95. Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov 8/11/23 to 11/9/23. Quite a good read. And I've decided to polish off the other R. Daneel Olivaw stories, so next it's back to his first appearance in The Caves of Steel. Hat-cha.

96. David Starr, Space Ranger by Isaac Asimov  (10/7/23 to 11/9/23) Joe and I finished all of Edgar Rice Burroughs' books (84) and are now moving on the Asimov's Lucky Starr series. And yes,I did finish two Asimov novels on the same day.

97. Deathtopia Volume 3 by Yamada Yoshinobu 11/9/23 ...and I'm out. The cutting people in half (vertically) was just about it for me, and that was very early on. Then there was the lesbian sexual molestation and the imminent threat of gang rape.... Yep. Don't need any more of this.

98. The Night House by Jo Nesbø I wasn't expecting to read another Jo Nesbø book so soon, but as I was walking past the 7 Day Bestsellers table this one caught my eye, and I decided to have a go at it. It's one of those small books that keep cropping up these days (5.7 x 0.98 x 8.55 inches) so even at 256 pages, its a very short novel. More like a novella, really. And I'm sorry to say that it's a really bad novella. The main conflicts that set the story in motion are (1) a kid being eaten by / sucked into a telephone and (2) a kid turns into a cicada. Mmm-hmm. And beyond that, none of the characters react to anything the way human beings actually react. It's worse than a waste of time, because if this was someone's first Jo Nesbø, it would undoubtedly be their last. 11/17/23 to 11/19/23.

99. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 11/4/23 to 11/27/23.

100. Anne of Green Gables (Great Illustrated Classics) by L.M. Montgomery, adapted by Eliza Gatewood Warren. The 45th book Joe read to me. 10/13/23 to 11/29/23

101.  Alien Volume 1: Thaw by Declan Shalvey & Andrea Broccardo ** Read it on hoopla, and grateful for that, as it really wasn't worth doing. The art was good reminded of John Romita, Jr., which is a high compliment, but the story was just the same old shit. Funny, I almost bought a new issue of Alien at The Great Escape yesterday. Very happy that I didn't now. 12/2/23 

102. Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids by Isaac Asimov  (11/11/23 to 12/7/23) 

103. The Eternal Husband and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

104. Poor Folks by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 12/10/23 

105. The Flowers of Evil Complete 4 by Shuzo Oshimi **** This one is different from the previous books I read in that it contains more parts...but I get confused when I try to figure out which part is which. I'm pretty sure that I've read the whole series, though, so there's that. And it was quite good. Might even want to read it through again some day.

106.  Menthor (Thunder Agents) by Wally Wood and others. Pretty corny...but I loved it. 

 

In Progress: 

The Village of Stepanchikovo by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 12/23/23 to 12/30/23

The Philosopher's Handbook: Essential Readings from Plato to Kant by Stanley Rosen 1/8/22 to  

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov 11/9/23 to 

Now reading:

Orthodox Study Bible--published by Thomas Nelson, New King James Version (Not sure when we started this--maybe in 2015--but we resumed reading 11/19/20) Started The New Testament 4/17/23.

Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales 3/2/23 to 

The King's Daughter by Vonda N. McIntyre   3/27/23 to //23 

Good News For Modern Man (1966) 7/3/21 to  This was used at Emmanuel Luther Church way back when I went there as a child. I always liked this little Bible...from the "newsprint" cover to the stick figure drawings to the "modern English." Many years later I thought of it and looked to see if one was available online, found it, and it was pretty expensive. So I thought that was that. Then I found one at Goodwill for like a buck. And then I found another one, probably at Half-Price Books, for the same. So now I have one...and I either gave the other one to Pat or meant to do so. I'll have to ask her. Anyway, I thought it was worth a try to read this to Joe. 

Ivanhoe (Great Illustrated Classics) by Sir Walter Scott, adapted by Margins G. Vogel. The 46th book Joe read to me. 11/30/23 to  

 

Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus by Isaac Asimov  (12/9/23 to  ) 

NIrV Children's Bible, The Beginner's Bible Ed. (1998, Zondervan)
Started 7/22/2020, stopped 11/27/2020--after we read page 120--and switched over to Beautiful Bible Stories by Patricia Summerlin Martin. The NIrV was a bit too hard...and not really all that interesting. Here's hoping that BBS is more to Joe's liking.