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Books 73-78
Sep. 5th, 2009 08:30 amVacation Week, got me some reading done
73) Swamp Thing Volumes 1-4 (Reread): This just got reshelved in a more accessible location when we prepped the house for sale, so I started working my way through the Alan Moore work. This covers everything fromt he Anatomy Lesson through the Nukeface Papers, and remains a high water mark in the comics field, even if it is the unusual blend of horror and supers. The degree to which Moore foreshadows things, the clever symbolism and wordplay (which sometimes does verge on the "I'm so clever!" level) and the gradual discovery of the character's potential make this one of the must reads for my analysis of beat structures in serial fiction for replication in gaming.
74) The Innocence of Father Brown: drcpunk was kind enough to pass along her Complete Father Brown a month or so back, and I finished the first book of it while in New Hampshire. I found the stories charming reads, but could only manage one or two at a sitting - like Asimov's Black Widower stories or the works of Damon Runyon, G.K. Chesterton's tales are wonderful taken individually but develop a staleness if read all at once. Still, I look forward to picking my way through the other 4 volumes.
75) Adventure! (reread): This 2005 Anthology was an attempt to start up a regular "all genre, all action pump anthology for the new mellinium". I have no idea if it worked, because I only have volume 1. The qualtiy fo the stories, as in all anthologies, is a bit spotty. I'm frustrated with the editor's selection of 5 different stories where outside forces generate flashbacks in the hero to explain their backstory - surely som eother stories might have been submitted that didn't all rely on the same trick. Still, editor Chris Roberson's contribution of a young Von Helsing meeting an equally young Captain Nemo in the court of the White Raja on Sarawak was interesting enough to make me want to find more of his works.
76) When the King Comes Home (reread): Caroline Stevermer's second book in the world of College of Magics is drastically different from the first and third, which is likely why it sank without a trace. (another reason might be the author's decision to stick with the viewpoint character while she's confined and other people are off doing the swashbucklery things that most people expect in fantasy) That's a pity, because it's a solid work.
77) Lyoness volume 1 - Suldrun's Garden: I have had a long fascination with Vance's Lyonesse series that, until recently, never included cracking the cover on one of the books. Now that I have read the first I wonder why I stayed away so long. It is a lovely fairly tale with the dark bits included but lots of light touches and discoveries that you aren't quite in the type of tale you expected. I now have to track down the other two volumes.
78) Not So Big Solutions for Your Home: I've long been a fan of Sarah Susanka's design aesthetic, so knowing that we were going to have to move to a new house I snatched this up at the Innisfree book store in NH. It's a collection of articles on ways to change the layout and functionality of your home to maximize the use and livability of the space you have, and I suspect it will see some use once we find a new place.
73) Swamp Thing Volumes 1-4 (Reread): This just got reshelved in a more accessible location when we prepped the house for sale, so I started working my way through the Alan Moore work. This covers everything fromt he Anatomy Lesson through the Nukeface Papers, and remains a high water mark in the comics field, even if it is the unusual blend of horror and supers. The degree to which Moore foreshadows things, the clever symbolism and wordplay (which sometimes does verge on the "I'm so clever!" level) and the gradual discovery of the character's potential make this one of the must reads for my analysis of beat structures in serial fiction for replication in gaming.
74) The Innocence of Father Brown: drcpunk was kind enough to pass along her Complete Father Brown a month or so back, and I finished the first book of it while in New Hampshire. I found the stories charming reads, but could only manage one or two at a sitting - like Asimov's Black Widower stories or the works of Damon Runyon, G.K. Chesterton's tales are wonderful taken individually but develop a staleness if read all at once. Still, I look forward to picking my way through the other 4 volumes.
75) Adventure! (reread): This 2005 Anthology was an attempt to start up a regular "all genre, all action pump anthology for the new mellinium". I have no idea if it worked, because I only have volume 1. The qualtiy fo the stories, as in all anthologies, is a bit spotty. I'm frustrated with the editor's selection of 5 different stories where outside forces generate flashbacks in the hero to explain their backstory - surely som eother stories might have been submitted that didn't all rely on the same trick. Still, editor Chris Roberson's contribution of a young Von Helsing meeting an equally young Captain Nemo in the court of the White Raja on Sarawak was interesting enough to make me want to find more of his works.
76) When the King Comes Home (reread): Caroline Stevermer's second book in the world of College of Magics is drastically different from the first and third, which is likely why it sank without a trace. (another reason might be the author's decision to stick with the viewpoint character while she's confined and other people are off doing the swashbucklery things that most people expect in fantasy) That's a pity, because it's a solid work.
77) Lyoness volume 1 - Suldrun's Garden: I have had a long fascination with Vance's Lyonesse series that, until recently, never included cracking the cover on one of the books. Now that I have read the first I wonder why I stayed away so long. It is a lovely fairly tale with the dark bits included but lots of light touches and discoveries that you aren't quite in the type of tale you expected. I now have to track down the other two volumes.
78) Not So Big Solutions for Your Home: I've long been a fan of Sarah Susanka's design aesthetic, so knowing that we were going to have to move to a new house I snatched this up at the Innisfree book store in NH. It's a collection of articles on ways to change the layout and functionality of your home to maximize the use and livability of the space you have, and I suspect it will see some use once we find a new place.
