LJ Idol, Week 30: "Shock and Awe"

Jun 14, 2012 15:18

I am always pleasantly surprised when a book, or movie, or piece of music, or whathaveyou, lives up to its hype ( Read more... )

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Comments 29

n3m3sis42 June 19 2012, 16:42:34 UTC
I'm a late adopter too, for the same reasons you noted here. This tendency has caused me to come very late to the party for Harry Potter, Firefly and Dr. Horrible. Maybe I will check out a few of the others on your list.

I did read all of the Twilight and Hunger Games books, though. Twilight was horrible but I actually enjoyed Hunger Games. Sorry. :)

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dslartoo June 19 2012, 20:52:25 UTC
You're entitled! Tastes differ, ideas differ. I just have my own (very loud) opinions. :)

cheers,
Phil

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kathrynrose June 20 2012, 03:17:01 UTC
I'm also one of the "arrived late, turned fan recruiter" people, and we have a lot of favorites in common. I don't know if you did printed books or audiobooks of Dresden, but they're performed by James Marsters, and he does a great job.

And now I must do the "OMG Game of Thrones - read/watch it NOW!" thing, because that's just what we do. :)

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dslartoo June 20 2012, 13:00:51 UTC
The printed versions! Always printed versions. I have only listened to a grand total of one audiobook in my life, a recording of Douglas Adams' "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish", which was given to me as a gift by a friend who knew I loved the books. The only reason I bothered listening to *that* was because a) it was a gift, and b) it was read by Stephen Moore, who played Marvin the Martian in the original HHGTTG radio series.

Game of Thrones? Been there, done that. :)

cheers,
Phil

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m_malcontent June 21 2012, 00:27:57 UTC
I have the same problem. I have a visceral reaction to disdain anything the masses love. And I sometimes miss out of great books and movies that way.

Strangely the exception seems to be music. I have a pedestrian-as-**** taste in music...and I am o.k with it.

Cool entry.

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dslartoo June 21 2012, 12:19:42 UTC
Oh, by all means feel free to swear if you like. Pedestrian as hell is just fine (both phrasing-wise and as an admission of your taste -- you can like whatever you please). :)

We really do need to do something about the overreaction, though, don't we? Or at least spend more time listening to friends' recommendations, even if they do go along with the masses' embrace.

Glad you enjoyed this! And thanks for stopping by this entry too.

cheers,
Phil

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beldarzfixon June 21 2012, 03:52:47 UTC
Have you read "The Night Circus"? I recently finished it, and loved it, and we have very similar tastes (though I did enjoy the Hunger Games and Millenium trilogies). I, too, sometimes come to the party late, but that often does work better for stuff like "Sandman" which I read in the collected volumes. The compiled "From Hell" was also excellent, especially going back through it again with the exhaustive footnotes. Your responses may vary, of course =)

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dslartoo June 21 2012, 12:22:04 UTC
"Night Circus" is not something I'm familiar with. Book, comics series, graphic novel? Who's the creator? I'm always looking for more good stuff.

"From Hell" I would probably have enjoyed more if it had had a different artist (I prefer cleaner artwork to Campbell's very rough and scratchy style) but it was still a source of entertainment to me because I have always had a fixation on Jack the Ripper, and with Alan Moore executing the writing it couldn't help but be good.

Thanks for coming by!

cheers,
Phil

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beldarzfixon June 21 2012, 18:27:41 UTC
"The Night Circus" is a novel by Erin Morgenstern (I think it's her first), published last year. At first, it has a "Something Wicked This Way Comes" vibe, but gets a lot more complex. I'd suggest checking it out from the library, and either love it and become a Reveur like me or return it with no money lost.

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dslartoo June 22 2012, 13:41:48 UTC
I'll go give it a shot! I appreciate the recommendation; it does sound cool to me.

cheers,
Phil

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mstrobel June 21 2012, 09:59:06 UTC
I am usually insanely late to the party... but then half the time that means I have tons to catch up on! I didn't ready any Harry Potter books until after the 4th was already out, so I had four ready to go and the 5th one was out not long after... while everyone else had been waiting for AGES. Also I started watching Castle last month after everyone ever had recommended it to me a million times... and I'm already three seasons in and still have a whole season to go. (Also, unspoiled! It's a skill ( ... )

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dslartoo June 21 2012, 12:25:15 UTC
Well, I can have like six going at once...

Man, do I get where you're coming from on this one. I typically have several "locations" round the house. There's the book I'm reading during lunch, which sits on the breakfast room table. There's the book or books I'm reading while sitting or lying on the couch, which is nearby the couch. There's the book or books I'm reading before bedtime, which is on the bedside dresser. And so on. :)

My to-be-read pile is usually about twenty at any given time. I hit Half Price Books at least once a week, sometimes more often than that. :)

It was cool to have books 1-4 of Potter to be able to read all at once, though, wasn't it? But still, the wait for 5 (for me) and then 6 and 7 was agonizing. And now they're ALL gone. Wahhhh!

Thanks for coming by!

cheers,
Phil

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mstrobel June 28 2012, 10:25:56 UTC
I've been pretty good lately at only have ONE book going at a time, but if I start something really huge then I'll generally bring something else to read at work because I am not lugging around an extra two kilos on my shoulder just for a 20 minute lunch break ;)

My to-be-read pile is... scary. Let's not go there. (Best guess, 300?)

It WAS awesome, but then boy did I feel it waiting for books 6 and 7! Glad I only had the two on that huge delay ;) And I still have the joy of the final part of the last movie as well to look forward to, because a) I am really much more a book person and 2) it really CAN take me years to get around to things if someone doesn't sit me down and force it upon me.

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