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Superman: True Brit
Superman: True Brit by Kim Howard Johnson and John Cleese Illustrator: John Byrne Format: Original Graphic Novel TPB Published: 2004 Publisher: DC Comics What if Superman had landed in southern England and not Kansas? Well, John Cleese and Kim Howard Johnson figure he’d grow up a bit embarrassed, never quite get anything right, and gradually become a mark of shame for his parents. The entire comic is essentially a rant against the English media and tabloid journalism, which I can get behind. We follow our hero, re-imagined as Colin Clark, through childhood and university until he eventually begins to work for the English tabloids, pressured into writing false pieces about…
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A Feast for Crows
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin Published: 2005 George R.R. Martin juggles a lot of characters in this series, in much the same way Robert Jordon did in his Wheel of Time series. The difference was that Martin knew how to pull it off. Jordon would develop a very cool storyline with one of his viewpoint characters, really suck you in, and then you wouldn’t hear from that character for ages. I specifically remember being enthralled with Perrin’s storyline, and then he wasn’t mentioned for 1200 pages. Every time I finished a chapter I was hoping the next would follow him. so it made for a frustrating and…
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Ready Player One
Ready Player One (audio) by Ernest Cline Published: 2011 Narration: Wil Wheaton The story takes place 30 years from now, in a somewhat generic dystopia. Wade Watts lives in a trailer stack with his hateful aunt. Life sucks, so he spends most of his time logged in to the OASIS – a virtual reality world that started life as a MMO game and is now used for everything from schooling to business transactions. The man who created the OASIS, James Halliday, left in his will 240 billion dollars to anyone who could find his hidden easter egg. He was obsessed with the 80s, so the easter egg hunters study all…
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Back To The Classics Challenge 2012
Sarah Reads Too Much is hosting a reading challenge next year, and I thought I’d join in and get some of those classics off my to-read pile. The challenge is to read one book that covers each of the nine categories she’s specified. Here are my tentative choices, suggestions always welcome: Any 19th Century Classic – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Any 20th Century Classic – Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. I read half of this in high school and didn’t finish. While I was never a model student, I did at least enjoy the readings. This is the one book I didn’t finish, and it’s haunted…
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Irredeemable Vol. 1
Irredeemable Vol. 1 by Mark Waid Illustrated By: Peter Krause Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2009 Publisher: Boom! Studios The Plutonian, Waid’s version of Superman, spent his entire life saving the world from doers of evil, but there are always those who will rip on a hero for not being able to save everyone. People are so god damn needy sometimes. After years of snide criticism and being taken advantage of by those close to him, he decides human’s aren’t worth his time and starts laying waste. They haven’t fully covered everything that lead him down the path to villainy in this trade, which is great. It gives the story…
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Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers (audio) by Robert A. Heinlein Published: 1959 Narration: Lloyd James It’s probably been ten years since I watched the Starship Troopers movie, so I don’t remember much beyond the fun bug shootin’ and coed showers, but I recall it being a fairly straightforward action flick. Having not read anything by Robert A. Heinlein, I was expected much of the same in the book, but it’s really not that action-focused at all. The story begins with Juan “Johnny” Rico graduating high school and deciding to enlist in the Federal Service, and we follow him as he advances through the ranks. This takes place on earth in the distant future,…
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Locke and Key Trailer
Locke and Key was being made into a television series, but unfortunately Fox passed on the pilot. Looks like it could have been interesting, although it is hard to tell just from a trailer.
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Locke and Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft
Locke and Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill Illustrated By: Gabriel Rodriguez Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2008 Publisher: IDW Publishing This is one of those comics that I’ve been hearing about for ages but never quite got around to buying. I’m definitely glad I did, though, and I’ll be picking up the rest of the available trades. Joe Hill (who happens to be Stephen King’s son) won an Eisner this year for the series, so that’s a good start. It’s a gruesome supernatural horror book, which is not at all Cthulhu-ey, it should be noted, despite the title. It’s hard to describe the plot of this…
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Dear Editor by Charles Bukowski
remember when you bought me that big rebuilt standard typewriter when I was living on air and beer over at that place on DeLongpre? and I tried it out and phoned you that night drunk complaining that it jumped an extra space when I hit an “e” or a “u”? well, I’ve just ordered a $700 IBM electric with my gold American Express card. it has an automatic error-eraser among its many other features. I’m going to hell so fast you’d never believe it. I might have to forget expensive German wine and go back to beer in order to find myself again. meanwhile, I await delivery.
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The Continual Condition: Poems
The Continual Condition: Poems by Charles Bukowski Published: 2009 I’ve come across some Bukowski over the years, but this is the first time I actually picked up one of his collections. The sleeve description says that it contains never-before-collected poems, which I think means they were previously published but never in one of his own collections. I usually try not to start with someone’s latest book, particularly if it’s published post-mortem, but this contains work that stretches right back to the beginning of his career and is a great introduction if you haven’t read much by him. There’s something about Bukowski’s writing that can occasionally stop you dead in your…