The Gunslinger

Stephen King, 1982 [2003]

(December 2016)

I'm pretty sure I've read some Stephen King before, but I'm not sure what. I know I've read The Running Man, but I'm not so sure about stuff he's written under his real name. I've a vague recollection of a book featuring about a rich writer and a terrifying lake, which doesn't really narrow it down all that much.

Karen Memory

Elizabeth Bear, 2015

(July 2016)

  

A hugely enjoyable steampunk western, which inevitably leads me to draw comparisons with Molly Tanzer’s Vermilion, not least because that too was driven by a queer woman in her teens with a gloriously engaging narrative voice.

Spring 2016 Comics

(April/May 2016)

The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 3: Commercial Suicide

Kieron Gillen et al, 2016

Rat Queens Vol. 3: Demons

Kurtis Wiebe et al, 2016

Mythmaker

Marianne de Pierres, 2015

(January 2016)

  

Jackson! Hunt! Sixkiller! The adventures of our improbably monikered cyber-mystic park rangers continue apace, and I for one couldn’t be happier. 

All the Pretty Horses

Cormac McCarthy, 1993

(November 2015)

  

The obvious thing to do here would be to pastiche McCarthy's style, but other people have done it more convincingly and more amusingly, so rather than just strip out all the punctuation and occasionally write very long sentences I'll actually try to talk about the book. Or at least my reactions to it.

Lumberjanes / East of West

Lumberjanes vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy

Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Brooke Allen, 2015

East of West vol. 4: Who Wants War?

Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, 2015

(June 2015)

Slightly random paring this, created largely through the coincidence of release and delivery schedules. Can I force them together into some kind of awkward thematic union? You betcha. Let’s talk Americana.

Vermilion

The Adventures of Lou Merriweather, Psychopomp

Molly Tanzer, 2015

(May 2015)

  

High in the Rocky Mountains of late nineteenth-century Colorado there is a sanatorium. It is run by one Dr. Panacea. That's Dr. Panacea. You can now be confident to the ninety-fifth percentile as to whether this book is something you’ll enjoy as rambunctious fun, or if it will only serve to annoy the everloving shit out of you.

East of West, Vol. 3

Volume 3: There Is No Us

Jonathan Hickmam and Nick Dragotta, 2014

(October 2014)

So this is what it’s like experiencing an ongoing series at the rate at which it’s produced. It’s agonizing, isn’t it, knowing that you aren’t limited only by your own monetary and temporal resources but must conform entirely to the whims of someone else’s schedule? This is the 21^st century people! I want my content here and I want it now! Bend to my fickle desires for escapist entertainment! Dance! Dance for me my pretties! God, I think the last time I consumed any sort of serialized media on an installment by installment basis dictated by the distributer was the first series of Heroes. I tried the second as well, but probably the less said about that the better.

East of West, Vol. 1 and 2

Vol. 1: The Promise, Vol. 2: We Are All One

Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta, 2013-2014

(May 2014)

After dabbling with a couple of more venerable members of the comic book canon I’m taking the plunge with an ongoing series, which means I’m going to have to do some adult stuff like go slow and show some patience. Interesting times ahead, my friends.

Peacemaker

Marianne de Pierres, 2014

(May 2014)

  

This is, in places, quite hilariously awful. However, simply by virtue of the fact that you’re reading this here, you’ll be able to tell that I found something to like about it. More than that even, because there’s clearly going to be a sequel and I’m more than tempted to get it whenever it may come out.

Rice Soup, Rice Stew, Rice Salad…

I’m not always entirely well disposed to the Japanese tendency to utilize rice for just about every culinary situation you could think of, as well as a good number you can’t. I get the reasons for it, but it does sometimes remind me a little too much of Bubba Blue’s attitude towards shrimp.

A Town Called Pandemonium

Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin (eds), 2012

(December 2012)

Well, it was inevitable really. The 21^st Century has finally clawed its way into Kamo Manors and I ended up with a kindle for christmas. I promptly downloaded half a dozen books in various promotions and giveaways. So not a problem cashwise, but I’m not exactly short of stuff waiting to be read as it is. This can only end badly.

Blood Meridian

Some people apparently keep a notebook of every book they read. This seems a little OCDish to me, but I have several tendencies in that direction anyway so let’s go for it. For the next year, or however long, here are all the books I’ve read/will read. Plus you get the added benefit of my pearls of wisdom. These won't be reviews as such, just stuff I noticed or thought about while reading.

So it's probably best not to expect any searing insights. I did A-Level English Lit., and my understanding really hasn’t progressed all that much since. I have fairly obvious pretensions in that direction (really, just read anything else I’ve written here and you’ll get that), but I often get the feeling that I’m missing a whole lot of stuff as well.

Plus having a kid really cuts into the time you can spare for, well, anything. So this little exercise will hopefully provide a bit of an incentive for me to read more and think more, instead of just wasting time on the Chive. Prepare yourself to be astounded at the depth of my ignorance.