Actual Summer Book Report
As opposed to the beginning of summer book report I did last time around.
Let's see. Since last time I read the final volume of the Scott Pilgrim saga, courtesy of zodarzone. Most of the volume was just ok, but the final ending was quite good, although I actually thought the movie ending worked a little better. Still fun though.
For other comics, I read a volume of BPRD. War on Frogs was a collection of one shots; although I'm no expert I'm reasonably familiar with the Hellboy universe so it was still fun for me despite the almost complete lack of context. It's definitely not a good starting place. I also picked up the third collection of Northlanders, which as luck would have it was also a collection of one-shots instead of a full arc. Here I lacked in-universe knowledge and context but it mattered less as the stories stood on their own. I'll definitely seek out further volumes in both canons.
In a similar vein, I read an unauthorized biography of Stan Lee called Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book, which was a fairly balanced retelling of his life, warts and all. As you'd expect, it spent a lot of time ripping apart some of Stan's stories, but it was very evenhanded about it and (I feel rightfully) concluded that for all his minimizing of other contributions, Lee was certainly the greatest editor in comics history.
In the great books category I read The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I wasn't Wilde about *rimshot* Actually, I liked it a great deal, but when else am I going to get to use that pun? I also knocked off Sense & Sensibility, which I found to be tedious, not so much because of the writing but because it's a poorly done romantic comedy plot. Also, I don't like it when stupid people win out, and there are a LOT of stupid people in that book. Oh well. Next time Colonel Brandon should marry Elinor, I'm just saying. In the great scifi realm I read Childhood's End, which AFAIK I had only read in excerpt before. It had a little too much mystical BS toward the end, which Clarke himself points out in the foreword. I also read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which either heartrendingly beautiful or achingly depressing, or possibly both.
Let's see, what else. My father had a Discworld book I hadn't read yet, so I finished Night Watch while I was home. Note to self: there are at least a half dozen Discworld books yet to read. What am I waiting for?
In terms of nonfiction, I enjoyed A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry, which is just as it is marked on the tin. The authors make trips to various American nuclear sites, plus Kazakhstan and other scenic locales tied into nuclear history.
My father rarely recommends books to me, mostly because his reading list is longer than mine and gets shorter more slowly so he's often catching on books I've recommended to him. One recent recommendation was Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. I highly recommend this one; it gives a very non-standard view of Prohibition that is simultaneously entertaining for the sheer absurdity of the entire situation and depressing for its direct relevant to the current War on Drugs. Representative paraphrased quote: "If there is a Prohibition agent in Manhattan who is making less than $50,000/year, he is either completely honest or completely stupid."
Let's see. Since last time I read the final volume of the Scott Pilgrim saga, courtesy of zodarzone. Most of the volume was just ok, but the final ending was quite good, although I actually thought the movie ending worked a little better. Still fun though.
For other comics, I read a volume of BPRD. War on Frogs was a collection of one shots; although I'm no expert I'm reasonably familiar with the Hellboy universe so it was still fun for me despite the almost complete lack of context. It's definitely not a good starting place. I also picked up the third collection of Northlanders, which as luck would have it was also a collection of one-shots instead of a full arc. Here I lacked in-universe knowledge and context but it mattered less as the stories stood on their own. I'll definitely seek out further volumes in both canons.
In a similar vein, I read an unauthorized biography of Stan Lee called Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book, which was a fairly balanced retelling of his life, warts and all. As you'd expect, it spent a lot of time ripping apart some of Stan's stories, but it was very evenhanded about it and (I feel rightfully) concluded that for all his minimizing of other contributions, Lee was certainly the greatest editor in comics history.
In the great books category I read The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I wasn't Wilde about *rimshot* Actually, I liked it a great deal, but when else am I going to get to use that pun? I also knocked off Sense & Sensibility, which I found to be tedious, not so much because of the writing but because it's a poorly done romantic comedy plot. Also, I don't like it when stupid people win out, and there are a LOT of stupid people in that book. Oh well. Next time Colonel Brandon should marry Elinor, I'm just saying. In the great scifi realm I read Childhood's End, which AFAIK I had only read in excerpt before. It had a little too much mystical BS toward the end, which Clarke himself points out in the foreword. I also read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which either heartrendingly beautiful or achingly depressing, or possibly both.
Let's see, what else. My father had a Discworld book I hadn't read yet, so I finished Night Watch while I was home. Note to self: there are at least a half dozen Discworld books yet to read. What am I waiting for?
In terms of nonfiction, I enjoyed A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry, which is just as it is marked on the tin. The authors make trips to various American nuclear sites, plus Kazakhstan and other scenic locales tied into nuclear history.
My father rarely recommends books to me, mostly because his reading list is longer than mine and gets shorter more slowly so he's often catching on books I've recommended to him. One recent recommendation was Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. I highly recommend this one; it gives a very non-standard view of Prohibition that is simultaneously entertaining for the sheer absurdity of the entire situation and depressing for its direct relevant to the current War on Drugs. Representative paraphrased quote: "If there is a Prohibition agent in Manhattan who is making less than $50,000/year, he is either completely honest or completely stupid."