Books first. It wasn't a great year for reading for me, because school got in the way, so there hasn't been as much spare time to read for pleasure. I wound up only reading 28 books this year, and a number of those were graphic novels. Still, I suspect that's higher than the average American citizen accomplishes, so I still can maintain some sense of superiority.
As always, the final sentence of the book is in parenthesis after my review, with all of it whited-out other than the final word. So, beware of spoilers, I guess.
1) The Man From Primrose Lane by James Renner – A nice and confusing murder mystery that at about the half-way point took a HUGE left turn, that simultaneously cleared up a lot of the confusion, and doubled down on how much confusion there was. (David poured another finger of scotch and sipped at it as they looked out at all the stars of the Milky Way above.)
2)
K-PAX III the worlds of prot by Gene Brewer
- I had read the first K-PAX novel years ago, thought it was okay.
Then I read the sequel, and I have absolutely no memory of it. Stumbled
across the ‘final book of the prot trilogy’
(and also discovered that there are two more books following this one)
and figured, “eh, why not?”. This was really REALLY poorly written. None
of the characters were developed (calling them one dimensional would be
a stretch) and there was no plot. I forced
myself thru it, because I have completionist tendencies, I guess. Not
recommended. (Rather, I see us, the galaxy, and even the universe itself
as a tiny part of the wisdom, beauty, and mystery of God.)
3)
Bird Box by Josh Malerman – much better.
Very quick, very tense read. Mallory finds herself pregnant just as
reports start pouring in that *something* is out there that is causing
people to turn homicidal/suicidal simply by viewing
it. Mallory and a group of survivors lock themselves in a house with
the windows covered. Any time they need to go out of the house, they
have to don blindfolds. The story takes place between when Mallory
first arrived at the house, and 4 years later,
when
she decides to take her children out into the world to find a place
that she believes is safe. Yes, they have to travel blindfolded. This
was a great creepy little book that I really enjoyed. (Or alone.)
4)
Brilliance by Marcus Sakey – In this
alternate universe, starting in 1980, for unknown reasons, 1% of the
population began to be born with heightened brainpower. These
“brilliants” (or “abnorms” or “twists”) were just like you
and me, but …better. They’re able to see patterns that you and I aren’t
– can tell if a person is lying simply by reading body language, for
example. Or appear to be invisible, simply by knowing where to walk
where a person won’t be looking. Naturally these
don’t sit well with some of the “Normals” who feel that the Brilliants
will make them obsolete in a generation or two. So society sets up
safeguards to keep the Brilliants in check: all children are tested at
age 8. Any child that ranks as a “tier one” Brilliant
is taken from their family and sent to a special academy which will
supposedly help train the Brilliant use their abilities for good.
Because not all the Brilliants are good people, of course. A Brilliant
named John Smith massacred 73 innocent men, women,
and children, including a prominent Senator, in broad daylight, and
then simply avoided capture. A special agency (the DAR… I forget what
the acronym stands for now) is created to keep tabs on the Brilliants
and to track down and capture John Smith. Our protagonist,
Nick Cooper, is an agent of the DAR. He’s also a Brilliant that can
read body language. Whew. That’s a LOT of setup. This was a fun
rollercoaster with a lot of action and some really intriguing questions
about how society should (and does) react to threats
(real and perceived). But it wasn’t perfect. I predicted a turn of the
plot VERY early, and was disappointed when it turned out to be true.
And the book ended with “END OF BOOK ONE” There was NO indication on the
outside that this was going to be a series
(I’ve since done research, found that it’s a trilogy) This was
more-or-less a standalone, but it did set things up for books 2 and 3,
so I may be reading some more of this series in the near future. (For a
little while, at least.)
5)
Fellside by M.R. Carey – Jess Moulson is a
junkie who attempts to murder her live-in boyfriend (and drug provider)
by setting their apartment on fire. The fire doesn’t kill him, but does
claim the life of a 10 year old boy (Alex)
who lived upstairs from them. Jess is sent to Fellside, a maximum
security women’s prison as a result. While there, she gets visited by
the ghost of Alex. This was compelling and unique and overall just a
great read. While a lot of the characters were involved
in unpleasant activities (it IS a prison, after all), all of them were
multi-faceted and interesting people. And the ghost realm was
fascinating. Highly recommended read. (And keep saying your name until
she comes.)
6)
The Orion Plan by Mark Alpert – This started
out rather intriguing – an asteroid heading towards earth is noticed
pretty late in the game, but it doesn’t impact, instead it drops off a
satellite that begins burrowing itself into
the ground. Neat little twist on the alien invasion/first contact
trope. But once the satellite started infecting various characters with
nanotechnology and having conversations with them by impersonating their
dead children and/or the Lord… yeah. Kinda went
off the rails. I finished it out of the perverse desire to see how it
all ended up, not because I cared about anyone things were happening to.
Wish I hadn’t. (And then Joe Graham, the man who helped her save the
world, walked out of the park.)
7)
Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer – there
are three types of people in the world: Those who think of others, those
who only think of themselves (psychopaths), and those who don’t think
at all. In Sawyer’s book, a method is devised
to determine what category you fall into. Very interesting
thought-experiment, although most of the characters and the plot itself
were pretty thin. But I don’t care. Sawyer is one of my favorite
authors, his books always get me thinking, and this one was
no different. (But they would think of something.)
8)
Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau – What a
great little book! All about bartender and ex-rock star Karl Bender, his
brilliant but unhappy friend Wayne, and also brilliant and unhappy Lena
Guduldig. Karl discovers a wormhole in
his closet that allows one to time travel into the past. With Wayne’s
help, he sets it up so that you can choose when and where to travel back
to. They then start charging friends to go back and see past rock
concerts. (LOL! Awesome idea for time travel!!)
Wayne decides that he wants to prevent the murder of John Lennon in
1980, but Karl accidently sends him to 980, and that’s when he recruits
Lena (she’s an astrophysicist) to help bring Wayne back to the present.
This novel was funny, unique, and touching.
Recommended. (My 980 was this crumbled city, gauzy sky and gray water,
and my family’s heads bobbing above the surface, breathing, me holding
on to them so they wouldn’t float away.)
9)
This is a Book by Demetri Martin by Demetri
Martin – light funny read. Not every bit worked, but there were plenty
of laugh out loud moments, especially near the beginning. (The End)
10)
Chew Vol 10 Blood Pudding – The series is
wrapping things up, but sadly seems to be losing a lot of its charm
while doing so. Chew is still fun overall, and there are some great gags
throughout, but the showdown between Tony and
the Collector turned out to be a bit anticlimactic. There were hints
thrown that there are still threats on the horizon – and there’s at
least one more volume to go - but I’m just hoping that the finale is
something that measures up to the better parts of
the series. (Good.)
11)
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix – Abby & Gretchen are best friends after they meet at Abby’s birthday party in 3rd
grade in 1982. In 1988, Abby, Gretchen, and their two other friends
(Glee and Margaret) drop
some acid, and as a result, Gretchen gets lost in the woods for a
while. While she was missing, it turns out that she got herself
possessed by a demon. (Or did she?) The relationship between the
foursome is tested by Gretchen’s personality and behavior changes,
and they do not all emerge unscathed. The book was a lot of fun (much
like Ready Player One, this was overflowing with 80s nostalgia. It
really was like being transported back in time. There were things
mentioned in this book I haven’t thought of/remembered
for literally decades, but it brought it all back.). I felt that the
demonic aspect could have been made less ambiguous to begin with, and I
felt like the adults wouldn’t have ALL been so dismissive of the obvious
(although, to be fair, it was a horror story.
Adults are ALWAYS like that in horror stories), but those are minor
complaints. This was a pretty light breezy fun read that ended up being
remarkably touching in the end. Or, as the book blurb put it best, “A
heartwarming story about friendship and demonic
possession.” (But they tried.)
12)
The Fireman by Joe Hill –If The Stand and
Firestarter had a baby, it would probably be The Fireman. There was a
lot that was enjoyable in this, but there were quite a bit of
eye-roll-inducing parts, too. The tie-ins to Mary Poppins
and Harry Potter were clunky. And while I appreciated the nod here and
there to The Stand, the part where we find out Harper’s middle name was a
bit too much. There’s clever, and then there’s not. Ya know? Also, I
think that this didn’t need to be QUITE as
long as it was. At nearly 800 pages, it certainly was EPIC, but
honestly, losing a hundred pages or so might have helped. Anyway. The
story – a spore (which got more and more magical abilities as time went
on) infects people, and it causes them to spontaneously
combust. Society reacts poorly. Certain people find that being infected
with “Dragonscale” doesn’t have to be a death sentence, though. If
you’re able to control the spore, it can be quite beneficial. Overall, a
pretty good read. Joe Hill is a heckuva writer,
and abso-freaking-lutely a geek, so I’m grateful for having the
opportunity to visit his worlds. Even if he’s burning them down. (“No
one loves a show-off, Caius,” Elaina warned him, but her smile suggested
she didn’t mean it.)
13)
The Walking Dead vol 25 No Turning Back – Since
the “All Out War” story arc, and the timejump, this series has become
very interesting, in a whole new way. The zombies are no longer the main
focus, and no longer the biggest threat
(not that they ever truly were, it was always our inability to get
along with others that caused the greatest damages), so the story has
focused more on the rebuilding of society and the different struggles
that brings with it. It’s been interesting. This
volume was a slow burn, with not a whole lot actually happening, but a
lot of setting things up for future events. Maybe this is being done
while the writer’s figure out WHAT they want to happen, but for now, at
least, I’m highly intrigued, which is a good
thing. (Atta boy.)
14)
Chew Vol 11 The Last Suppers – MUCH better
than the previous volume. I laughed out loud several times again, and
was even surprised by certain turns of events. There’s only one volume
of Chew left to go, but it certainly looks
like it’s going to go out on a high note, which makes me quite happy.
(Eat me)
15)
End of Watch by Stephen King – the Bill
Hodges/Brady Hartsfield trilogy wraps up, with things getting extremely
supernatural in this outing. Very quick read, and very enjoyable. It may
have been the best of the trilogy. Maybe.
(They leave Fairlawn and walk back into the world together.)
16)
Invader Zim Vol. 1 by Jhonen Vasquez –
ZIIIIIIIIIMMMM!!!! Oh, this was a treasure. Invader Zim was a cartoon on
Nickelodeon back in the early 2000s. It was bizarre, disgusting, and
very very funny. The show in a nutshell: Zim
is an alien banished to earth by his leaders (The Tallest). Zim’s sole
purpose is to take over the earth. He’s “assisted” in this goal with the
help of his robot, GIR, who is prone to non-sequiturs, exploding, and
waffles. GIR is the best. Fortunately for
the sake of humanity, Zim is not very good at his job. But even if he
were, he’s thwarted by his nemesis, Dib. Dib is the only human who sees
thru Zim’s façade as a human. (Well, Dib’s sister, Gaz, does, too, but
she doesn’t care.) Dib and Zim are a lot like
the roadrunner and coyote, only, way way more insane. Anyway. The
cartoon is amazing. And now it’s back, in comic book form! And it really
is like holding a few episodes of the show in your hands. The voices
were all spot on, and the artwork is just as mind-bending,
and the humor absolutely worked just as well. I laughed many times
during the reading of this, and it was only a few dozen pages long. So
thrilled to have Invader Zim back. The only downside was having finished
it so quickly. That made me sad. To quote GIR,
“YAAAAAAY!!! Sadness!!!!!” Highly recommended to all Earth beings.
(Cheater!)
17)
Harrow County, Vol. 1 Countless Haints by
Cullen Bunn – a graphic novel about a witch named Hester who was burned
and hung by the townspeople of Harrow County. While dying, Hester
promised that she would return at some point.
18 years later,
Emmy begins to exhibit some disturbing signs (the ability to heal
herself and sick calves, constant nightmares, oh, and a talking skin
suit that she keeps in her bag.) The townsfolk figure out that Hester
has returned as Emmy, and decide she
needs a’killin’. Before they can succeed, Emmy winds up semi-embracing
her Hesterness and warns them that if they TRY to kill her, she’s
going to take them out with her. This was a lot of setup for story to
come, I’m assuming, and for a large part of it,
the characters just felt flat and uninteresting. Near the end, though, I
had warmed up to it a little, and I’ll stick with the series for a bit
longer. (The city… the world… all of it.)
18)
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul
Tremblay – Tommy, barely fourteen, is out with his friends, Josh and
Luis, when he disappears. The novel showcases the fallout on Tommy’s
family, and his friends, and the community at large
as more and more secrets are discovered. This was not quite a
supernatural thriller, but it kinda skirted the genre, I guess. It was
very effective, and very emotional. I admit to tearing up a few times
(having a child disappear has to be the #1 fear of every
parent on the planet) and the ending gave me legit goosebumps. Highly
recommended. (Elizabeth unfolds the pages and starts to read.)
19)
Sex Criminals, vol. 1: One Weird Trick by
Matt Fraction – Suzie has a pretty special power. Whenever she has an
orgasm, time stops (for everyone but her). Suzie gets into her twenties,
doing twenty-something stuff, figuring out
bits and pieces of her power, and just living life. She works as a
librarian, but is facing a foreclosure from the bank (which happens to
be where her father worked before he was murdered years ago). At a party
one night, Suzie meets Jon, they hit it off,
and that’s how Suzie discovers that she’s not the only one with the
ability to go into The Quiet. Jon and Suzie decide to commit a
‘victimless’ crime of stealing the money to pay off the bank FROM the
bank. And they would have gotten away with it too, except
for the Sex Police. This was a very unique (and funny! Oh, and very
adult-themed) graphic novel, and I’m looking forward to reading more
volumes. (Like a couple of criminals.)
20)
How To Ruin Everything (Essays) by George
Watsky – I discovered the rapper Watsky a few weeks ago, and became a
little obsessed. His spoken word and raps are by turn humorous,
insightful, and amazing. When I found out he had written
a book of essays, I checked it out from the library. Sadly, while the
power of his words is evident, the magic didn’t quite translate from
hearing him rap to reading him write. There were some great bits, but
the overall book didn’t quite land for me. I’d
happily read anything else he puts out, and I’ll continue to follow his
career, this one was just not as ‘knocked-it-out-of-the-park’ as his
albums were. (So if anybody asks, tell them three city kids threw an
epic concert down at the beach, there was a pyrotechnic
malfunction but no one was hurt too bad, and it was even better than if
the show had gone according to plan because the band just laughed and
played on – one encore after another, after another.)
21)
Everything is Teeth by Evie Wyld – a graphic
novel memoir about Evie growing up as a young girl in Australia, where
her whole life is filtered thru her obsession (and fear) of sharks. The
artwork was amazing, but the memoir …less
so. Quick read, but mostly forgettable. (An inhalation of breath.)
22)
Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure
by Ryan North (and William Shakespeare) – I didn’t read the WHOLE
thing, but this was amazing. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet retold in a
choose your own adventure manner. And it
was hilarious, too. Depending on how you decide the story should go,
you can have Romeo and Juliet never meet (the very first path I chose
had her meeting a man named Yolo (hehe!!) and winding up a pirate!), you
can have sidequests with Juliet’s nurse, and
there’s even OTHER Shakespeare plays as chooseable-path books within
this one. This book was a lot of fun. You should definitely buy it,
instead of getting it from the library. It’s just better that way. ;)
I’m not going to have a ‘last sentence’ for this
one, since there were multiple endings. But, this was one of the
highlights of the year.
23)
Harrow County, Vol 2 Twice Told Tales by
Cullen Bunn – ehhh. The artwork is still the best thing about this
series. This volume brought in a twin sister for Emmy, who turned out to
be evil, and also dealt with much too quickly.
There’s no real passion in the story. It’s just kind of ..there. I
don’t think I’ll be continuing with the series. (Both those who had
sided with Kammi and those who had defended Emmy scurried back to the
grave… the place where all dead things lurk... dreaming
of the time when they might live again.)
24)
I Hate Fairyland, Volume 1: Madly Ever After by
Skottie Young – Super gory & psychotic artwork (think Ren &
Stimpy style, but taken up a notch) but the story is extremely one-note,
and it got old quick. In this, eight year old
Gert is sucked into the magical “Fairyland”. She meets the queen (it’s
extremely derivative of the start of Wizard of Oz) who tells her to
return home she needs to find the key. 27 years later, Gert has not
found the key, and she HATES Fairyland, and all its
inhabitants. She still looks eight years old, but has aged mentally
into a cynical, violent, bitter woman. Anyone who gets in her path
toward finding the key is typically killed violently. Ha ha ha, it’s
funny because she looks like a kid, I guess. I won’t
be reading any more of this. (Upon the death of the king or queen the
one who deals the fatal blow must take up the crown and become the queen
of fluffing Fairyland.)
25)
We Stand on Guard by Brian K. Vaughn –
another graphic novel. This one set about a hundred years from now,
where the US has invaded our neighbors to the north. A few renegades
fight back. The artwork was great, and it was a quick
read, and it was nice to have something that was a stand-alone story,
and not going to be an ongoing series. Overall, though, there wasn’t a
lot of a point. I mean, the story was okay, but it wasn’t
earth-shattering or anything. Just an “okay” book in the
end. (We’re all right here.)
26)
HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt – Really creepy,
and unique. About a witch who has some elements of a ghost (she can
teleport herself to various parts of the town she appears to be stuck
in). (Steve Grant picked up the needle and the
catgut, and as the thing at the door kept knocking and knocking, he
started on his eyes, hoping the loneliness of the eternal darkness would
offer him a bit of comfort from the cold.)
27)
Saga, volume 6 by Brian K Vaughn – Saga
still looks amazing, and (most) of the characters are still enjoyable to
spend time with, but… nothing really happened with this volume. Well,
there was the ending, which I suspect will
not end happily, because reasons. There was a lot of foreshadowing by
Hazel regarding death. And the whole story does take place in the midst
of an interplanetary war… so, yeah, I’m expecting that storyline to wind
up a tragic one. But overall this volume
felt like a lot of filler. Pretty and witty filler, but filler. (Oh.)
28)
The Walking Dead Vol 26 A Call to Arms by
Robert Kirkman – It’s the Negan show, everyone. Not complaining (much)
because I guess every story needs an antagonist, and Negan can be
entertaining, but I do sort of want to see more
of the rebuilding and how the kids (Carl and Sophia, for example, as
well as the NEXT generation) really deal with this new world. But the
whole leadership issues are interesting as well. It’ll be neat to see
how the citizens at large react to what Negan has
done, considering what Rick wouldn’t (or couldn’t) do himself… (Wait
until Rick gets a look at you.)Dinner is ready, so I'll publish this post now, and get to the movies and change momentarily.
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