August in Review

Books Acquired:
Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Chew: The Omnivore Edition, Volume 4 by John Layman

Books Read:
Slam by Nick Hornby
Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley

My two purchases this month were comics despite having told myself I wasn’t going to buy any more until I finished the ones I already own, as I really have to start conserving shelf space. I had to order the new Bryan Lee O’Malley book, however, almost purely out of curiosity to see what he’d come up with now that the Scott Pilgrim madness has died down. The other is Chew, which I just love. The last Omnivore edition came out almost a year and a half ago, so I’m giving myself a free pass for that one.

Movies watched:
Guardians of the Galaxy – I loved everything about this – the story was fun, the humour really worked, the music was a blast, and the casting was perfect. Great summer action movie.

Good Morning Vietnam – Robin Williams’ death actually hit me a little harder than I would have expected, for someone I never met, but he was such a part of my childhood and his life ended in such a sad way. Also it happened on my birthday, which was already going poorly, so it was an overall bummer of a day. As a tribute, I re-watched one of his classics that I hadn’t seen in years. Really like this one.

TV watched:
Wallander, Season 3 – I love this series, as I’ve mentioned in the last couple of monthly reviews. The last two seasons haven’t really stood up to the first, but they’re still great. I’ve read that they’re apparently filming the fourth season, to be released in 2015, so I will be eagerly awaiting that. They’re based on a series of novels, so maybe I should pick those up.

Games played:
The Walking Dead, Season 2 / The Wolf Among Us (PC) – I finished both of these this month and loved them. If you haven’t played any of the new Telltale games, you really should. They’re interactive stories, and the gameplay is essentially just making story choices. There’s no winning or losing, you just see how the story plays out with the choices you make. If you’re the sort of person who will read a book blog, you’re likely the sort of person who would love these games. Start with The Walking Dead series, which are fantastic. The Wolf Among Us is really good as well. The art direction was the highlight for me, while the story was interesting but not quite as gripping.

The Blackwell Legacy / Blackwell Unbound / Blackwell Convergence / Blackwell Deception (PC) – This is a series of adventure games in which you play as mediums acting as detectives, helping spirits stuck in this world cross over. They’re really well written, the puzzles are interesting but not impossible (as with some point and click adventure games), and each game changes just enough to keep the gameplay feeling fresh. They’re all just a few hours long each, but I got the pack of them on Steam for under five dollars during a sale, and the length is perfect for telling a story without any unnecessary filler. There’s a fifth in the series that I’ll be picking up soon.

Anomaly Warzone Earth (PC) – I spent a week in my hometown for a visit at the beginning of the month and decided to try this game out. I picked it up a few years ago during another Steam sale (I have a problem with those), and didn’t pay it much mind after that. It’s a twist on the tower defense genre, where the player controls the attackers instead of the defenders. It’s not really my type of game, but I had a lot of fun with it. The graphics are beautiful too, especially for a small game released a few years ago.