The Gathering Storm, Book 12 of the successful Wheel of Time series was recently released, which is a neat trick, considering the fact that the author of the series, Robert Jordan, passed on some time ago. Jordan’s widow asked Brandon Sanderson, a successful author in his own right, to complete the series. Sanderson intends that the series will be complete with book 14. (more…)

The BBC had this great show that I sometimes listened to as a lad back in Canada called Desert Island Disks. It’s reportedly the longest running music show in history. The basic idea is that you pick eight albums you take to a desert island. You then have to say which is your favorite. Then they say what book they’d take. (The show assumes you are allowed to take in addition the Complete Works of Shakespeare and the Bible so as to not get stuck in a rut with those) and one luxury item.

Here’s mine:

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Sports autobiographies generally occupy a rather sad, narcissistic, ghost-written corner of the literary bookshelf. It’s the obligatory thing to do after you hang it up; write a tell-all memoir (with a proven co-author) that is part reminder to your fans of how great you were and part pot shot at all those a-holes who gave you insufficient adoration during your halcyon playing days. (more…)

Are there any movies based on books that you like better than the book?
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It may be a little bit late in the season to add to the summer reading list, but if you can squeeze Jedediah Berry’s The Manual of Detection in as a late entry, I recommend it. This very enjoyable, exceptionally well-written book is unlike anything I’ve read recently. A post-modern, surrealist, alternate-reality detective novel, The Manual of Detection is an unlikely, but successful, combination of Raymond Chandler, Haruki Murakami and Franz Kafka (with perhaps a bit of Norton Juster thrown in as well).
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This is one of the best books I have read lately and now it is a movie starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana(?). I have no idea if it will be a good movie, but I’m looking forward to finding out. In the meantime, I recommend the book highly.

I heard about the new book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies from fellow blogger about a month ago. Then a couple of weeks later I heard the tale end of an interview with the (co)author, Seth Grahame-Smith, on NPR and decided I must read it. (Of course by read it I really mean listen to it on my ipod via my Audible.com subscription…) Here are my thoughts:

Grade: B+

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book. Was it an homage to Pride and Prejudice? Was it a sequel of some kind? Turns out it was neither. Pride and Prejudice is now a public domain book so the new book is literally the original book with all kind of kung fu, zombie killings, ninjas, and general ultra-violent mayhem overlaid and integrated into the original text. It is quite literally Pride and Prejudice… and zombies; with a bunch of teenage-boy-style violence and jokes added.

The results, while fairly uneven, are pretty amusing.

Pros
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Comic shops all over the country are celebrating Free Comic Book Day, and many of the publishers are releasing free issues of their comics. (Click through the link to find a comic book in your area.) Store policy varies by shop. Many shops allow for one free comic per customer, but some shops are reportedly more generous.

This year there are 40 free comics being offered. Here’s are some recommendations of what’s worth picking up:

Pop Candy
MTV’s Splash Page
Bureau 42
Comics Worth Reading

Anyone have recommendations of their own?

Now we know why the creative team nicknamed the season finale “frozen donkey wheel.” Who knew it would be so literal? More discussion of the final two thirds of the LOST season 4 finale (including spoilers, of course) after the break.
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On the morning of Dec. 4, 2007, I listened to the Postal Service album “Give Up” for the first time. I was on the commuter bus and for some reason the combination of music and movement always spurs creative activity in my head. I had, of course, already heard the first two singles (which are also the first two tracks) from the album before. In fact, I had been obsessively listening to “The District Sleeps Tonight” for several months. As I worked through the tracks I had never heard before, I got this weird feeling that the album was science fiction. And by the time I got to “Brand New Colony” I was convinced. And then I got this image stuck in my head that turned into the phrase “Up in the Aerie, the Poet’s lover.” I dismissed it, but it returned. I thought it a bit precious, but then more started showing up. And then I got this idea. Why not write a cycle of connected short short stories based on each track on the album? I wrote a few notes on my PDA (a hand-me-down from my boss that I mainly use for calendar and tasks) and a few more when I got to work. (more…)

Films I have never seen: (more…)

I’ve been reading these really popular teen novels by Stephanie Meyer: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse. They’re not just any teen novels, though—they’re vampire romances. Uh huh.
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This week, Amazon introduced a gadget that has the potential to change our world—or at least the way we read about it.

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I hate Harry Potter movies. I always have. In fact it took some strong persuasion for me to even read the books. Boy was I shocked. The books, while definitely juvenile literature, are great. Yes you have to turn your mind off on a few matters. (Like the very idea that not only these wizards but all these magical creatures could exist undetected in our world and without significantly affecting our world) But they are great. Perhaps not quite up there with classic literature of my childhood like The Hobbit or The Phantom Toll Booth. But I definitely think they deserve the place in popular culture they hold. But then we come to the movies…
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This thread is for discussing the last Harry Potter book. It’s meant for those who have read the book, and may contain spoilers.

I can’t believe Hagrid was a WOMAN!!

The only thing better than watching TV is snarking about it. Trust me on this one. And although I do consider myself a brown belt in snarkery, I kneel at the feet of the true masters, Tara “Wing Chun” Ariano and Sarah “Sars” Bunting of Television Without Pity. Consider their new book, Television Without Pity — 752 Things We Love to Hate (and Hate to Love) About TV, as the Chicken Soup for the Snarker’s Soul. (more…)

In the Shakespeare Top 10 thread Tracy suggested the top five canonical but unread works of literature. This is a hard one simply because some works are reasonably well read whereas others are on lots of shelves unread.

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1) Macbeth
2) Hamlet
3) Much Ado About Nothing
4) Romeo and Juliet
5) Henry V

Runners up: A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, and The Tempest.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. – 1 Corinthians 13:11-12.

During a recent attempt to tighten household expenses, I discovered that I’m currently spending about $200 a month on gasoline and about $80 in tolls just to get to and from work every month. The only upside I’ve been able to uncover in this situation is that it also means I have an opportunity, should I take it, to listen to audio books during my daily commute. Recently, I finished listening to the unabridged audio book version of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly.
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The title of this book gives the impression that within its pages you will find the reasons that Krispy Kreme will help you lose weight, badmouthing other people strengthens them and playing Halo makes kids more intelligent. (more…)

“In 1909, Sigmund Freud, accompanied by his then-disciple Carl Jung, made his one and only visit to the United States … Despite the great success of his visit, Freud always spoke, in later years, as if some trauma had befallen him in the United States.  He called Americans ’savages.’  He blamed America for physical ailments that afflicted him long before 1909.  Freud’s biographers have puzzled over this mystery, speculating about whether some unknown event might have happened in America that could make sense of his otherwise inexplicable reaction.” — Introductory note to The Interpretation of Murder.

In his soon-to-be released (and first) novel, Jed Rubenfeld uses this biographical anomaly as the foundation upon which he builds a immensely entertaining potboiler of a murder mystery.  (more…)

I need your help. It’s Friday, my last day at the university before I move to Vienna. I just walked into the library to do some work. Sitting on the table is a copy of a William Gibson novel. I do not know how it got there amongst the books on Egyptian hieroglyphics, but it has reminded me that it has been years since I read a sci-fi novel. Years.

I don’t read novels anymore as I’m always reading academic stuff. When I try to crack open a novel, I usually go high-brow, because, after all, I’m damned smart and must be able to say I have read the classics, man. But this summer, I want to read some sci-fi. Classics or pulp. Don’t care. Fantasy will do, as will comics. So, sci-fi gang, give me your best. As I’ve got this Gibson book here, should I be reading Neuromancer for starters?

On a whim, I decided to check out the poet and novelist, Henry Charles Bukowski. Actually, the whim was provoked by me watching the movie “Sideways”, where hapless Miles bemoans his sorry existence to Jack, who tries to cheer him up after Miles’ book was rejected for the third (fourth?) time:

Miles: “Half my life is over, and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing. I’m a thumb print on the window of a skyscraper. I’m a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a million tons of raw sewage.”
Jack: “See? Right there. Just what you just said? That is beautiful. ‘A smudge of excrement surging out to sea.’ I could never write that.”
Miles: “Neither could I, actually. I think it’s Bukowski.”
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If you haven’t read any Neil Gaiman, you should. If you have, but wonder what all he’s up to, this post is for you. (more…)

Slate is publishing in bi-weekly installments a novel “written in real time” by Walter Kirn, who must be somewhat important because otherwise I wouldn’t have heard of him. You can read about the concept here. You can read the first nine installments here (they’re short).

Briefly, here’s what’s going on: Kent works at AidSat, a commercial remote monitoring service that, via a disguised transmitter/communication device, tracks its clients’ every move, monitors their vitals, looks for signs of distress or danger, provides emotional support and advice (deluxe package), and generally keeps a constant vigil to ensure their safety and happiness. Kent has the hots for a neighbor named Sabrina, an AidSat client, and uses his AidSat connections to his advantage. Sabrina is a friend to a senile old man who is paranoid about a future event that he refers to as “the unbinding.” (more…)