May 2015 Monthly Recap

Books Read

1. Enzo Races in the Rain! by Garth Stein, illustrated by R. W. Alley
2. Inhumanity by Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Warren Ellis, & Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Matteo Buffagni, Olivier Coipel, Nick Bradshaw, & Kris Anka
3. Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 1: Revolutions of Terror by Nick Abadzis, illustrated by Elena Casagrande & Arianna Florian
4. Secret Wars Prelude by Jonathan Hickman, Jim Shooter, Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Steve Epting, Mike Zeck, Ryan Stegman, Sara Pichelli, & Esad Ribic
5. The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett
6. Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel
7. Star Wars: Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp

1343 pages total

Favorite Book of the Month

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp

Gender of author

8 male

Year of Publication

2011 - 1
2015 - 5

Books Acquired

4 Total
1 - from a Kickstarter campaign
1 - used from Alibiris
1 - used from Amazon
1 - new from Amazon UK

2015 Year to Date Totals

Books Read: 46
Pages Read: 8456
Books Acquired: 119
Books Acquired Read: 16

Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel

Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson
by Mark Siegel
Published by First Second, October 2, 2012
400 Pages • ISBN 978-1596436367 • Hardcover



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Book description:

One hundred years ago. On the foggy Hudson River, a riverboat captain rescues an injured mermaid from the waters of the busiest port in the United States. A wildly popular--and notoriously reclusive--author makes a public debut. A French nobleman seeks a remedy for a curse. As three lives twine together and race to an unexpected collision, the mystery of the Mermaid of the Hudson deepens.

A mysterious and beguiling love story with elements of Poe, Twain, Hemingway, and Greek mythology, drawn in moody black-and-white charcoal, Sailor Twain is a study in romance, atmosphere, and suspense.

I feel like I should have enjoyed this way more than I did. Part mystery, part fantasy, part myth, part horror, part love story, Sailor Twain is the tale of a riverboat captain, a reclusive author, and a nobleman, all whose paths eventually cross due to the discovery of a mermaid in the Hudson River. I'd like to say that I took something more away from the book, but really, that was it. The story didn't hold my attention like it should, and while the charcoal illustrations fit the mood of the setting well, I had a hard time with the fact that so many characters looked so stylistically different. Perhaps that was the whole point, but I didn't catch any meaning to it, other than to really make sure that each of the characters were distinguishable.

There were some shining moments in the book, however: the way the captain's quarters transformed from the influence of the mermaid, for example, or the mermaid's realm. Thinking back on it, the only times I was ever really impressed with the book was with the visuals that dealt with the mermaid.

While I'm a little ambivalent about this particular volume, I think I would pick up something by Mark Siegel again. Like I said, I feel that I should have enjoyed this way more than I did, so maybe it simply wasn't the right time for me to read this.

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith
by Paul S. Kemp
Published by LucasBooks (Del Rey), April 28, 2015
320 Pages • ISBN 978-0345511447 • Hardcover



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Book description:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

When the Emperor and his notorious apprentice, Darth Vader, find themselves stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely on each other, the Force, and their own ruthlessness to prevail.

“It appears things are as you suspected, Lord Vader. We are indeed hunted.”

Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight, is just a memory. Darth Vader, newly anointed Sith Lord, is ascendant. The Emperor’s chosen apprentice has swiftly proven his loyalty to the dark side. Still, the history of the Sith Order is one of duplicity, betrayal, and acolytes violently usurping their Masters—and the truest measure of Vader’s allegiance has yet to be taken. Until now.

On Ryloth, a planet crucial to the growing Empire as a source of slave labor and the narcotic known as “spice,” an aggressive resistance movement has arisen, led by Cham Syndulla, an idealistic freedom fighter, and Isval, a vengeful former slave. But Emperor Palpatine means to control the embattled world and its precious resources—by political power or firepower—and he will be neither intimidated nor denied. Accompanied by his merciless disciple, Darth Vader, he sets out on a rare personal mission to ensure his will is done.

For Syndulla and Isval, it’s the opportunity to strike at the very heart of the ruthless dictatorship sweeping the galaxy. And for the Emperor and Darth Vader, Ryloth becomes more than just a matter of putting down an insurrection: When an ambush sends them crashing to the planet’s surface, where inhospitable terrain and an army of resistance fighters await them, they will find their relationship tested as never before. With only their lightsabers, the dark side of the Force, and each other to depend on, the two Sith must decide if the brutal bond they share will make them victorious allies or lethal adversaries.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Eight years after the Clone Wars ravaged the galaxy, the Republic is no more and the Empire is ascendant. The man who rules as Emperor is secretly a Sith Lord, and with his power apprentice, Darth Vader, and all the resources of his vast Imperial war machine, he has placed the galaxy solidly under his heel.

Dissent has been crushed, and freedom is a memory, all in the name of peace and order. But here and there pockets of resistance are beginning to kindle and bunr, none hotter than the Free Ryloth movement led by Cham Syndulla.

Now, after many small-scale strikes against the Imperial forces controlling their world, Cham and his fellow freedom fighters take their chance to strike a fatal blow against the Empire and plunge it into chaos by targeting its very heart: Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader...

I've been a huge Star Wars fan since I was a kid (I can remember going to see the very first Star Wars film in the theater), but I have never read one of the novels before. By the time that I realized there were SW novels out there, there were already so many published that I didn't know where to start to get caught up on them, so I just let them slide, and continued on enjoying the movies. With the establishment of the new Lucasfilm official canon, I decided to try giving some of the new books a try, as it seemed much more manageable this way, and Lords of the Sith had recently been released, so it seemed as good a place to start as any.

The planet of Ryloth is integral to the Empire as both a source of slave labor and the substance known as "spice" (this does bug me a little bit - come up with something that a little more original that doesn't sound like you lifted it directly from Dune), but the inhabitants of Ryloth want to be free. The "Free Ryloth" movement is created for that purpose; led by Cham and Isval, the movement has simply been trying to be a thorn in the Empire's side, but when they learn that both the Emperor and Darth Vader are personally coming to the planet, they see an opportunity to assassinate them both and watch the Empire dissolve as a result.

Of course, without even reading the book, you know that the Emperor and Vader are going to survive this story since they appear in Episodes IV-VI, so it's no surprise that they do survive the attack. What makes this book interesting is seeing their relationship and how they deal with being thrust into a situation that neither were anticipating. It's also interesting seeing a book written more from the point of view of the villains that the heroes. Kemp does a great job in fleshing out all of the characters, tho; Cham, Isval, and the other freedom fighters are just as realized as the Emperor and Vader, even tho they are not the main focus of the story. However, it's the relationship between the Emperor and Vader that is the real highlight of the book; seeing their interactions throughout the book and how that relationship is tested, it the real essence of the story, and Kemp does a great job making that relationship feel real.

The only true drawback that I would have to the book is actually getting to the main action of the book. We know that the Emperor and Vader are going to be trying to survive on Ryloth (this isn't spoilers, it's the whole point of the book), but actually getting them to the planet seems to take way too long. Practically half of the book is taken up with explaining aspects of the resistance unit, getting the Emperor and Vader to the planet, and finally the battle that forces them to crash land on the planet. I just kept wanting to jump ahead to when they finally arrive on the planet, as I knew that's when the story would really start moving. Once the action finally got going, however, the book was fantastic. It was interesting to see the Emperor and Vader's relationship in Vader's early days as a Sith.

I know a lot of people are discouraged by the decision to basically do away with the previously established Extended Universe books, but if this is what the future of the Star Wars fictional universe is going to look like, I'm OK with it.

Recommended, especially for Star Wars fans!

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
by Alan Bennett
Published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, September 18, 2007
120 Pages • ISBN 978-0374280963 • Hardcover



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Book description:

From one of England's most celebrated writers, the author of the award-winning The History Boys, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of reading.

When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in her newfound obsession by Norman, a young man from the royal kitchens, the Queen comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with the routines of her role as monarch. Her new passion for reading initially alarms the palace staff and soon leads to surprising and very funny consequences for the country at large.

A surprisingly enjoyable little book, Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader is fundamentally a book about books and the power that they can have over our lives.

When the Queen's dogs accidentally wander by way of a mobile library near Buckingham Palace, she feels obligated to check out a book. From there, she is enthralled by books and soon begins to become obsessed with reading, feeling that she has discovered something important to her that she has missed out on over the years. We get to see her journey as she grows as a reader to a most surprising conclusion to the story.

This is the third time I've read this story, and I loved it just as much as I did the first. Bennett has constructed a great little story, and the ending is perfect. I love his portrayal of the Queen, and both how she deals with her subjects and how she is handled by those around her in her household and government positions. If you've never read this before, I'd highly recommend it. It is a very quick read and worth it. You won't be disappointed.

Secret Wars Prelude by Jonathan Hickman, Jim Shooter, Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Steve Epting, Mike Zeck, Ryan Stegman, Sara Pichelli, & Esad Ribic

Secret Wars Prelude
by Jonathan Hickman, Jim Shooter, Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Steve Epting, Mike Zeck, Ryan Stegman, Sara Pichelli, & Esad Ribic
Published by Marvel, May 26, 2015
240 Pages • ISBN 978-0785193999 • Paperback



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Book description:

Follow the path to 2015's event to end all events, Secret Wars -an epic more than 30 years in the making! From the senses-staggering climax of 1984's original Secret Wars saga, to the origin of Miles Morales, the new Ultimate Spider-Man, it's all been leading up to this. And Marvel's master planner, Jonathan Hickman, has long been planting seeds for the story only he could write. The Ultimates face an enemy more powerful than the gods - and Reed Richards is its leader! Doctor Doom faces threats from a universe he created! And the Illuminati reunite to face the reality-destroying threat of the Incursions! War is coming -be ready!

COLLECTING: New Avengers (2013) 1-3, Secret Wars (1984) 10-12, Fantastic Four 611, Ultimate Comics Spider -Man (2011) 1, Ultimate Comics Ultimates 4

I was a little disappointed in this Prelude volume. Usually the prelude volumes offer both full issues and important snippets from various other issues to bring readers up to speed and be able to jump into a large crossover event. Collecting New Avengers 1-3, Secret Wars (1984) 10-12, Fantastic Four 611, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 1, Ultimate Comics Ultimates 4, I didn't really see how a lot of these issues had anything to do with the upcoming Secret Wars storyline (such as the Fantastic Four and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man issues); maybe it will become more clear as the story unfolds, but to me, that doesn't really make this volume all that helpful. Unless you really, really like to buy all the graphic novels, there's nothing here that is necessarily all that important to leading up to Secret Wars.

Book mail! The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Got this in the mail from Crown Publishing yesterday; looks interesting!

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol 1: Revolutions of Terror by Nick Abadzis, illustrated by Elena Casagrande & Arianna Florian

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol 1: Revolutions of Terror
by Nick Abadzis, illustrated by Elena Casagrande & Arianna Florian
Published by Titan Comics, March 31, 2015
128 Pages • ISBN 978-1782761730 • Hardcover



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Book description:

ALL-NEW ADVENTURES WITH THE TENTH DOCTOR!

Two strangers: the Doctor, charming, eccentric Time Lord with a past as dark and heavy as a black hole; Gabriella Gonzalez, waitress and wannabe artist with a future dragging her down like lead chains.

Hurled together by a wave of psychic horror haunting New York, they embark on an epic new adventure across time and space, brought to life by award-winning writer Nick Abadzis (Laika) and fan-favourite artist Elena Casagrande (Suicide Risk)!

Collects Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #1-5.

Well, for fans of the Tenth Doctor, this is going to be a pleasant surprise. I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into a comic book adventure for 10, but I've got to tell you, Nick Abadzis captured 10's quirks and characteristics perfectly; his turns of phrases and catchphrases that we're all familiar with are there. I could here David Tennant's voice the entire time. Gabby makes for a decent companion, although I don't know how she would have come across on screen; I think she may have been a little too annoying if acted out, but in the pages of the graphic novel, she works well as a companion for 10.

There are two stories collected in this volume. The first, "Revolutions of Terror", about a psychic horror that is infesting New York City, I could easily see working as an episode in the series. The monsters are great, 10 is as clever as always, and Gabriella really steps up and becomes the companion that 10 could use after Donna (this all takes place after the end of Series 4, after episodes "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End". The second story, "The Arts in Space", where 10 takes Gabriella on her fist outing in the TARDIS, lands them in an adventure that is told more from her point of view; the Doctor and Gabriella visit an art museum and when the Doctor goes to visit one of his artist friends, they discover that her apprentice thinks that Gabriella is trying to become the new apprentice, and tries to kill them. This story didn't seem to work nearly as well; I know this was to establish Gabriella as a character and to see things from her perspective, but it just didn't click for me.

I'll be picking up the subsequent collected editions, as it's nice to see 10 having adventures again. Off to look for the other collections of 9, 11, & 12 now!

Inhumanity by Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Warren Ellis, & Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Matteo Buffagni, Olivier Coipel, Nick Bradshaw, & Kris Anka

Inhumanity
by Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Warren Ellis, & Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Matteo Buffagni, Olivier Coipel, Nick Bradshaw, & Kris Anka
Published by Marvel, June 17, 2014
448 Pages • ISBN 9780785190349 • Paperback



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Book description:

For millennia, they were hidden in plain sight - forgotten descendants of a secret race transformed by alien science, living ordinary lives, never knowing their godlike potential. They could be your doctor. Your mailman. Maybe even you. But now the kingdom of Attilan has fallen to Earth. Its royal family has been torn apart. And the Terrigen Bomb has revealed the Inhumans in mankind's midst. As individuals across the globe manifest uncanny new abilities, the Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, Spider-Man and more face a world forever altered. And with her husband gone, Queen Medusa must unite her scattered people and lead them into a new Inhuman Age.

I felt like this was a necessary read, just to fill in some of the gaps that I had concerning what was going on with the Inhumans post-Infinity and pre-Secret Wars, and you know what? It really wasn't. The two issues that were directly related the the Inhumanity "event" (a term used very loosely here) were really the only two issues that needed reading. The rest of the issues really didn't feed into the story at all, just providing more issues to make purists buy, in my opinion. Oh, well, those couple of issues did what I needed them to do, filling in those few gaps that I was confused about leading into Secret Wars. If you don't need any gaps filled in, there is nothing wrong with passing on this "event" all together.

Basically, the main premise of the issue is dealing with the Inhumans place in the world after the fallout of the Infinity storyline, the literal fall of the of Attilan, and Blackbolt and Maximus' detonation of the Terrigen Bomb, which is causing people across the world to grow into there Inhuman legacy. For some reason, I really feel that this Terrigen Bomb and the growing number of super-powered individuals coming out of it is setting the stage for the replacement of mutants in the Marvel Comic Universe with Inhumans, in order to both align it more with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and to retcon and fix the whole "no more mutants" storyline from House of M.

Because this shouldn't make for creepy ‪#‎reading‬ at all...

I'm pretty sure this is going to keep me up at night. What looks to be a great collection of stories about dolls in various shapes and forms, Doll Collection includes:

• Skin and Bone by Tim Lebbon
• Heroes and Villains by Stephen Gallagher
• The Doll-Master by Joyce Carol Oates
• Gaze by Gemma Files
• In Case of Zebras by Pat Cadigan
• There Is No Place For Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold by Seanan McGuire
• Goodness and Kindness by Carrie Vaughn
• Daniel's Theory About Dolls by Stephen Graham Jones
• After and Back Before by Miranda Siemienowicz
• Doctor Faustus by Mary Robinette Kowal
• Doll Court by Richard Bowes
• Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line by Genevieve Valentine
• Ambitious Boys Like You by Richard Kadrey
• Miss Sibyl-Cassandra by Lucy Sussex
• The Permanent Collection by Veronica Schanoes
• Homemade Monsters by John Langan
• Word Doll by Jeffrey Ford

Happy (creepy) reading!

the little c and reading

So...

Turns out, the little c might actually be a medium C (still not to the BIG C yet, tho!), and there might be some more chemo in my future. If that's not frustrating enough on its own, the stress of not knowing what's going on has made reading very difficult for me right now. What should be a wonderful, fantastic escape for me has turned into a discouragement as all of my energy for the day is pretty much spent before I get a chance to get home and read. You wouldn't think reading should take any energy at all, but I sit down and fairly regularly just fall asleep, sometimes with a book open in my lap.

So, anyone waiting on reviews, please bear with me. They're coming. I'll get caught up. I just need to get to next Monday and find out more about what's going on with my body. I think once I have a plan of attack, things will begin to fall into place and I'll be able to get back to my regularly scheduled reading program.

In the meantime, for all of you out there, happy reading!

All-New X-Men, Vol. 6: The Ultimate Adventure by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Mahmud Asrar & Stuart Immonen

All-New X-Men, Vol. 6: The Ultimate Adventure
by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Mahmud Asrar & Stuart Immonen
Published by Marvel, March 31, 2015
136 Pages • ISBN 978-0785154341 • Hardcover



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Book description:

Dimension-hopping is something of an X-Men rite of passage, and it's about time the All-New X-Men took the plunge! You don't always have to travel Miles away to visit a new place...but will the Web these time-displaced young X-Men find themselves tangled in Ultimately bring about their end? Okay, enough subtlety: the All-New X-Men meet Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man - and this is a showdown you won't want to miss! Plus: it's Iceman unleashed, as young Bobby Drake takes the offensive! And for someone who's said that she doesn't find him particularly pleasant to be around, X-23 seems to have taken an odd interest in the high-flying Angel. Tune in as yesterday's X-Men continue to explore the fear-fraught future of the present day!

COLLECTING: ALL-NEW X-MEN 31-36

All I could think starting this collection was Bendis really can't seem to get away from time travel/alternate universe stories right now, can he? Expecting nothing very spectacular out of this collection since he just seems to retread the same territory time and again right now, imagine my surprise when this story actually turned out to be good! The All-New X-Men find themselves in the Ultimate Universe and I found it was actually intriguing to see how the heroes of the Marvel Universe and the heroes of the Ultimate Universe view the world around them, and how the world in turn views them. I thought it was a nice juxtaposition and actually almost a fresh look at how these heroes (who are essentially the same characters, just brought up in wildly different circumstance) react to situations.

Honestly, the story itself wasn't all that memorable (truth to tell, I'm writing this several weeks after I read the collection, and beyond knowing the X-Men traveled to the Ultimate Universe, I really couldn't tell you much more about it). Bendis, even creating a story that I found interesting on the underlying themes, still can't seem to write something that seems original all around. After story after story after story of time travel/alternate universe stories lately, one more such story, no matter how well written, still feels like it was already done last month (and the month before that...). Immonen's art is fantastic, and it was good to see him back on the title.

I'll keep reading the series (I'm such an X-Men lemming), but I'm hoping that the upcoming Secret Wars storyline will actually see Bendis honestly off the X-Men titles for good.

Enzo Races in the Rain! by Garth Stein, illustrated by R. W. Alley

Enzo Races in the Rain!
by Garth Stein, illustrated by R. W. Alley
Published by HarperCollins, October 7, 2014
40 Pages • ISBN 978-0062295330 • Hardcover



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Book description:

New York Times bestseller Garth Stein's picture book debut about the lovable dog Enzo from The Art of Racing in the Rain is a heartwarming tale of coming home. Fans of Bad Dog, Marley! by John Grogan and Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond will delight in Enzo's unforgettable personality and funny antics.

Enzo the puppy's action-packed adventure begins when he makes the journey from the farm to the city (bark twice for faster!), discovers just how big the world is, and finds the family that was meant to be his.

Life on the farm is pretty quiet—except when he races the cars that come down the barn road. Because Enzo is fast. He knows he's different from other dogs. But people never understand Enzo when he barks, and it drives him crazy! Then one day Enzo meets a little girl named Zoë and her father, Denny, and everything changes. R. W. Alley's fantastic illustrations bring the beloved Enzo to life as he learns to adapt to life in his new home and discovers just what it means to become a family.

A cute addition to the Art of Racing in the Rain family of books from Garth Stein, Enzo Races in the Rain! tells the story of Enzo's coming into Denny's life, but told for a much younger audience, this time as a picture book. The Art of the Racing in the Rain is one of my favorite books, and with this picture book, Stein introduces Enzo to an entirely new audience, yet he stills keeps Enzo's basic character and sense of self intact. Here, Enzo discovers his love of speed (a theme that continues throughout the original book), and learns just how big the world can be, and how important it is to find and keep your family.

The art in the book is adorable, and while the story is short (as are any picture book), it moves fast and really shows how big and scary a change in your life can be (such as Enzo going from the country to the city), but that if you've got your family with you, things will generally work out in the end.

There are going to be following volumes in the picture book series (one for Christmas this year, and another for Halloween next year), and I'd like to think that possibly Stein will continue Enzo's story for years to come thru these editions for younger kids.

Highly recommended for anybody with children, anybody that loves dogs, and fans of The Art of Racing in the Rain.