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Mogworld
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw Published: 2010 If you have any interest in video games at all, there’s a good chance you’ve watched Yahtzee Croshaw’s web series, Zero Punctuation, where he critiques games to within an inch of their lives. He’s also released a few indie computer games, co-opened a video game themed bar, and written two books. He’s the sort of person that makes you feel bad about all of your abandoned, and unstarted, projects. Mogworld, his first novel, is from the perspective of an undead zombie horde member, Jim, inside a massively online role-playing game (a la World of Warcraft). He isn’t aware of that, though. All he knows…
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Wool Omnibus
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey Published: 2012 Narrated by: Amanda Sayle I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I was even on holiday last month and somehow managed to spend a week on a beach in Hawaii without reading a thing, which you wouldn’t even think was possible. Life’s been quite stressful these last couple of months, and I’ve been having a hell of a time concentrating on anything for more than a moment. I finished listening to Wool ages ago actually, before The Slump began, but I apparently forgot to write this post. Under normal circumstances, this is really not a forgettable book. It’s actually a…
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Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare Published: 1623 I’d like to read at least one Shakespeare play a year until I’ve gone through the lot of them, and I thought since Joss Whedon’s movie adaptation was coming out soon I’d read Much Ado About Nothing for my latest. This is one of the comedies, and the humour ranges from witty banter to near-slapstick malapropisms. The story begins as a prince, Don Pedro, arrives back in Messina with his officers after a victory at war. One of the officers, Claudio, has the hots for the governer’s daughter Hero and plans to marry her. The governer’s niece Beatrice is also there…
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About a Boy
About a Boy by Nick Hornby Published: 1998 I’ve read several of Nick Hornby’s books, but until now I’d somehow managed to miss two of his most famous – About a Boy and High Fidelity. I didn’t skip them out of some hipster need to stay obscure, it’s just that all of the copies I’d stumbled across had the movie tie-in covers. I wouldn’t consider myself a book snob – I actually enjoyed The Da Vinci Code when I read it – but I’m definitely a cover snob. I’m fine with novels being adapted to screen. I’m even fine with, and often in favour of, screenwriters changing parts of the…
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Archive Pages
I’ve added two archive pages, one for books read and another for comics read. I grouped the books by author, and this has really highlighted how unfocused my reading is. Since starting this weblog just over two years ago, the most I’ve read from one author is three books (and that’s just Stephen Fry and Nick Hornby). I just get too excited at new prospects to spend too much time in one place, I think. Oh well, at least I’ll stretch my favourite authors out longer.
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Chew: Omnivore Edition, Volume 3
Chew Omnivore Edition Volume 3 Hc by John Layman Illustrated By: Rob Guillory Format: Hardcover Comic Collects: Chew #21-30 and the Chew: Secret Agent Poyo one-shot Published: 2013 Publisher: Image Comics I love Chew, so I was really excited when I saw the third Omnivore collected edition had been released. These oversized hardcover editions really let the art shine, and they look great on the shelf. They have bound bookmark ribbons. That’s classy. Tony Chu was the only Cibopath in the FDA, but after a replacement was found he was given the boot. He’s now the only Cibopath in parking enforcement. A Cibopath is someone who can get a sense…
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The Liar
The Liar by Stephen Fry Published: 1991 You can tell this was Stephen Fry’s first novel. He is one of my favourite humans, and he can do no wrong in my eyes, but even I have to admit that this was a little scattered. It was structured that way on purpose, but I don’t think it worked as well as was intended. We follow Adrian Healey as he advances through school and into adulthood. The story jumps around a little throughout his life, and interlaced are short chapters featuring characters identified only by their clothing. They use code names and speak ambiguously, their identities and the identities of those they…
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Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne Published: 1864 Narrated by: Tim Curry I’ve been meaning to read Jules Verne for quite a while now, so when I saw that Audible had Journey to the Center of the Earth available, the movie adaptation of which I remember liking as a child, and it was narrated by the legendary Tim Curry, I knew I had to have it. At first the story was very reminiscent of The Lost World (or the other way around I supposed, but I read The Lost World first). They both begin with a slightly mad older scientist setting off on a journey and…
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Book Porn
My favourite annual used book sale was yesterday, and I think I did quite well. I usually feel guilty acquiring new books these days, considering I have dozens kicking around here that I haven’t yet read, but this is for charity you guys. Jeez, have a little heart. Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee Atonement by Ian McEwan Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Their Eyes Were Watching God is on…
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Treasure Island
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Published: 1883 Narrated by: Neil Hunt Pirates! Treasure maps! Long John Silver! Pieces of eight! Shiver me timbers! It’s the classic adventure story that lives on, not just through this original novel and the writers it influenced, but also through the continuous stream of direct adaptations that are still happening 130 years after it was first published. The story begins in the family inn of young Jim Hawkins. An old drunken sailor, Billy Bones, takes up residence with them, and it soon comes out that he’s in hiding. The pirates in chase eventually arrive, and in the midst of the chaos of this encounter,…