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[narfstar]

I could not make it far in God's Must be Thirsty. I like historical fiction but I have to care about the characters.
It seemed to concentrate on the one character and too poetic to suck me in. Does it do better on more characterization later? Between GCD, GAC and various diggings for Roy most of my reading is online and the few comics I get and Alter Ego. A novel has to get me fairly early for me to invest my time in it, I have regretted the time it took to finish books before. My wife is the novel reader. BTW Jim in talking about artists that I like, I wonder if you have seen Jeff Austin's inks. I think you would be pleased with much of the art in Femforce because of his inks. Even editor and inker Mark Heike calls him one of the all time greatest inkers.

[josemas]

Hey, Joe,
Glad you liked Gorky Park. I just read the latest in the Arkady series, and, unlike King, "Three Stations" is tautly edited. Not my favorite of the series, but still a good read. (I haven't picked up a Stephen King book since I read his unexpurgated version of "The Stand.")

There are some other authors who seem to have forsworn editors, much to their detriment, I believe. High on the list is Tad Williams. I really like his stories, but they are SO overly descriptive and complex that his recent Shadowmarch trilogy turned into four books with the final volume the thickest of the batch. Sigh... And I'm enabling him by buying them.

Neal Stephenson's last book was SO overwritten that I have given up on him. I'll think two or three times before checking out whatever he does next. And I think his "Cryptonomicon" is probably the best book of the '90s. How the mighty have fallen...

Ah heck!  Here I am half way through Cryptonomicon (and loving it) and you give me this bit of bad news.

Have you seen the new book on Harvey Dunn by Walt Reed? A student of Howard Pyle and a major influence, as a teacher, on the illustration art of the 1940s and 1950s, this had over 300 illustrations in color. Gorgeous and Reed's commentary is primarily on the art, after a brief but interesting bio of the artist. Published by my friend John Fleskes of Flesk Publications, it is a marvelous addition to the lexicon of art history books.

Thanks for the heads up on the Dunn book.   I got very much into the whole Brandywine school of art when I was at the Kubert School.  I managed to make a couple of pilgrimages to the Brandywine River Museum at Chadds Ford and one trip to the Delaware Art Museum during those years so that I could view some of the originals by Pyle, Wyeth, Schoonover, Dunn, etc...


Best

Joe

[profh0011]

Although I've been in a financial emergency for the last 3 years at least ("dead broke" they call it), since getting my new job (relatively speaking, gonna be 2 years in another 2 months!), I've been patting myself on the back by doing "one small mail order" each month, with a $25 limit. Alternating between music and comics so far.

This past month:  ESSENTIAL DAREDEVIL Vol.2 & 3, about 90% of which is by Gene Colan.  Incredibly, most of these I have never read before!  I have the odd issue here and there, like the Beetle 2-parter, the one with the space aliens, and the entire Jester storyline. But other than that, it's all new for me.

It kinda reminds me of the feeling I got when I re-read Gene's run of CAPTAIN AMERICA.  That is, the writing isn't too hot, but with art like this, you don't really care that much! Surprisingly, Gene is one of the few pencillers whose work was NOT murdered by inker John Tartaglione (Werner Roth was another). I'm looking forward to Vol.3, as I have almost nothing in there before this.

Since I got these thru Amazon Marketplace stores ("CHEAP!"), I figure it's like I got this huge stack of Gene Colan comics for about 50 cents apiece!! What a deal.

[narfstar]

I have probably read almost every superhero comic of the SA. So I envy you the experience of reading something for the first time. I think Gene C's work would look better in black and white than color. It always looked kinda "smeared" to me. Without the color it would probably look cleaner. One of my all time favorite books of the time was DD 18. I do not know why the Gladiator impressed me such much at the time but I found him one of the more frightening villains.

[profh0011]

I spent almost a month upgrading the DAREDEVIL section at the SA Marvel site, and after going over so many different versions of the same covers (I was adding the first foreign reprints to the site, from several different countries), I figured, this would be a good time to get those books!
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/

[josemas]

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson   This picks up right where Larsson's previous book (The Girl Who Played With Fire) left off- with his unlikely heroine Lisbeth Salander fighting for her life due to a bullet in her brain and with forces she hasn't even thought of yet marshaling to silence her !  A nice wrap up to a terrific trilogy.

The Imperial Cruise:A Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley  While writing his previous WWII histories (Flags of Our Fathers, Flyboys) Bradley became interested in the roots of the Pacific conflict of that war. His research took him back to a naval mission that President Theodore Roosevelt sent out back in 1905 and an examination of the Aryan mindset that was a common belief of many Americans and Europeans in the 19th century.  While I knew much (but certainly not all) of what Bradley presents here I really appreciated the way he tied it all together in an eye-opening way.
 
The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly  Another fine effort by Connelly has his hero detective Harry Bosch facing a civil trial for shooting a man who was belived to have been a serial killer.  However even as the trial commences evidence surfaces that Harry might have been wrong and that the killer may still be active.

Free Fall by Robert Crais   One thing I love about Crais' writing is the self effacing humor he puts into the first person narrative of his PI Elvis Cole.  In this volume Cole and his partner Joe Pike investigate a LA cop who may or may not be involved in something shady.  All this taking place in the aftermath of the LA riots of the 1990s.

I'll Mature When I'm Dead by Dave Barry   I used to love reading Barry's humor columns in Comic Relief magazine, in the newspaper or in various collections so I was understandably bummed out when he stopped writing them several years ago so this volume of (almost all) newly written columns was a welcome find.  A nice read to start the new year off with.

Chill of Night by John Lutz   The "Justice" killer is after jurors who let off defendants who most thought were obviously guilty.  The race is on to stop him even as his body count continues to grow.   Lutz writes pretty solid crime novels and this one is generally on the mark.  I would say with just a smidge of editing (one subplot is not needed at all and adds little to the narrative) it would be quite good.

Best

Joe

[disknerd]

I Claudius is one of those books that's been sitting on my shelf for a few years.  I certainly plan to read it, but I just haven't picked it up yet.   

I am currently reading Clive Barker's Mr. B. Gone, the tale of a demon trapped in a book... you know the very book you're reading!  Actually, it is pretty fun.  The book talks to you, threatens you, wonders what its voice sounds like in your head.

[narfstar]

Sounds neat. Have you ever read Screwtape Letters. Written as a demon trying to corrupt a new Christian. Even if you are not religious it makes an interesting read.

[josemas]

Sounds neat. Have you ever read Screwtape Letters. Written as a demon trying to corrupt a new Christian. Even if you are not religious it makes an interesting read.

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis is a good read.  Lewis wrote quite extensively about Christianity and religion and also included a good deal of Christian imagery in his fiction books (such as the Chronicles of Narnia series).
There's a neat audio version available of The Screwtape Letters that is narrated by John Cleese (of Monty Python fame) that I would recommend as he brings a nice interpretation to the book.

Best

Joe

[Ratty]

Just got "Selected Tales of Grim and Grue from the Horror Pulps" from the library and reading through the first selection "The Arms of the Flame Goddess" now.

Wish I had time to finally read "Dune Messiah" as the original is one of my favorite books, read it through several times. I'll have more time in the summer though so should probably hold off till then.

[josemas]

Loved Dune when I read it several decades back.  Did get through the first two sequels (Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, IIRC) but found them a good deal less satisfying and never progressed on to any of Herbert's further sequels let alone the numerous followups that Herbert's son & co. have produced.

Best

Joe

[JVJ]

Well, Joe,
You still have the rest of Cryptonomicon to read AND the three books in the Baroque Cycle, so I envy you those first exposures.

Your experiences with Dune and sons mirrors my own. I've never gone back to reread the first few either. I guess subconsciously I'm leaving well enough alone.

There weren't a lot of really nice people in the French Revolution, narf. They were chopping heads right and left. Don't know what you might have been expecting from Lee in that book, but for me it was worth the effort. I learned a lot and felt like it was worth the effort.

I'm currently in the middle of multiple computer problems (dead backup archive disk, replacing the hard drive on my laptop, some video/sound screwup on my main desktop, AND an access problem with the new network backup archive drive), so my reading has been sporadic. I did manage to get through the new Robert Crais book, "The Sentry", in one day (as I waited for Windows 7 to install and update and etc.) and am half-way through Chernow's "Washington: A Life" which I'm fascinated by. He was REALLY different than what I expected. Apparently his letters are being "mined" and made available to scholars. This is a really good way to learn REAL history. Chernow's a good writer, too.

Another recent read is "What the Dog Saw" - a collection of The New Yorker essays of Malcolm Gladwell. Never thought I would be reading New Yorker pieces, but must admit that they were exceedingly interesting, well-written and informative. Recommended.

I still have tons in my to be read stack. Picked up Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" sequel, "The Lost Symbol" at Costco for $6 and read the first chapter. Some other time, when I'm in a better mood I guess...

Think I'll be picking up a few dozen or so paperbacks to take to Paris. Books are very expensive there and I don't to TV or movies, so I go through a LOT of them every trip. I'll check out some of you recommendations when things calm down on the computer fronts.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[narfstar]

I spend so much time reading that I do no have time to read   I am involved in so much online. Then there are those pesky floaters in the eye. I wish they would come up with something to get rid of them.

Jim I was not expecting nice people just better developed. I do not mind a "bad" character if well written. As far as learning sometimes a list of facts beats narrative. Narrative takes more words so they have to capture me. I got more, more quickly from wikipedia than her book. It is all a matter of taste so recommendations are worth a shot.

[Ratty]

Just got "Star Trek: The Complete Comic Book Collection" ( http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Complete-Comic-Collection/dp/B001B5KYR2 ) Over 500 classic, and not so classic, Trek comics for peanuts. As a lifelong Trekkie I gotta say what a value! But I wish there was an e-reader that would let me read them more conveniently i. e. split up the pages (the scans have them two at a time) so I can read one fullscreen and scroll down without awkwardly having to move up and sideways, breaking the flow of the story. Anyone know of a comic reader that can get those kinds of settings for a .pdf file?

[narfstar]

There are a few pdf-jpg converters out there. I think they may not work on those commercial pdfs but not sure

[Ratty]

There are a few pdf-jpg converters out there. I think they may not work on those commercial pdfs but not sure

Hm, I think converting them all to jpg would be a little extreme. I just need something to cut the pages in half and let me scroll down them basically. I saw one program that did it but twas expensive.

[boox909]

Just got "Star Trek: The Complete Comic Book Collection" ( http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Complete-Comic-Collection/dp/B001B5KYR2 ) Over 500 classic, and not so classic, Trek comics for peanuts. As a lifelong Trekkie I gotta say what a value! But I wish there was an e-reader that would let me read them more conveniently i. e. split up the pages (the scans have them two at a time) so I can read one fullscreen and scroll down without awkwardly having to move up and sideways, breaking the flow of the story. Anyone know of a comic reader that can get those kinds of settings for a .pdf file?

WOW!!!    I remember getting the Gold Key issues electronically back when WOWIO was offering them. This is a gem!

B.

[Drusilla lives!]

Just getting into "Hell On Friday: The Johnny Saxon Trilogy" by William Bogart... so far, so good. 

[Ratty]

The comics (questionable in quality as many of them may be) have really reminded me of my love of Trek. So I finally ordered the first books in the "New Frontier" series, which I've been meaning to check out for a long time. Anyone here read'em?

[narfstar]

My wife has discovered Tamara Alexander. She can not put her books down. We went out for a ride and to eat and she could not wait to get home to get back to her book. This is the second one of her books my wife got and zooms through them. They are historical romances if any of your wives might be interested.

[josemas]

My wife has discovered Tamara Alexander. She can not put her books down. We went out for a ride and to eat and she could not wait to get home to get back to her book. This is the second one of her books my wife got and zooms through them. They are historical romances if any of your wives might be interested.

My wife reads as much (and probably more than) me.  She's not much into Romance novels, per se, but I have noticed that some of her vampire novels and historical novels (she favors Elizabethan and Medieval)  have strong romantic elements.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

The Tamera Alexander books are shortly post Civil War. My wife is a Civil War buff especially the 54th.

[josemas]

Here's what I finished up this past month.

Crytonomicon by Neal Stephenson-  Jim's already told you what an excellent book this is so I won't say much, other than I found it to be the best book to find humor among the insanity of war since Joseph Heller's Catch 22.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde  Fforde has an incredible imagination.  His previous novels have been mystery-fantasies.  This one (supposedly the first of a trilogy) is more Sci-Fi, set in a future in which colors are used to create a caste system.

Taking the Fifth by J. A. Jance   Jance isn't the best of writers but I do find I like her characters and that has kept me coming back to her every so often.

Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore   Well I learned a lot about the early life of the infamous dictator of the Soviet Union.  Up til now I never knew he had been a publisher, editor, writer, poet, decent singer, bank robber and a seminarian studying for the religious life in the years before the Revolution brought him to power.

Memory by Donald Westlake   This manuscript (apparently written back in the early-mid 1960s) was found among Westlake's papers after his death a couple of years ago.  Different from both his hard boiled and his comic crime novels this one concerns a man who suffers a head injury and then finds himself having to live and move on in life with only a short term memory intact-a prospect both depressing and frightening.

New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer and When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden by Bill Maher   A friend of mine pointed me toward Maher, who I must confess I've never read or watched before.  Both of these were brief little tomes.  The former is full of very short little pieces, some not much more than one-liners, with a good deal of humor thrown in.  The later has more depth to it, along with the humor.

The Spies of Warsaw-Alan Furst   I found this book of Furst's to be much more to my taste than the first one I read.   Excellent period atmosphere (pre WWII Europe) and some interesting characters.

Yellow Dirt-Judy Pastenak  During WWII the Navajo nation was urged to mine the uranium on their land to help the country (think Manhatten project) in the fight against tyranny.  Similar patriotic urgings continued during the Cold War years of the 1950s.  The Navajos were proud to help.  Unfortunately they weren't expecting the side effects to their health.  A story with plenty of government incompetence and indifference, corporate cover-ups and greed, too few heroes and way too many victims.

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie  After recently watching the Poirot film Death on the Nile I was in the mood to read a Poirot novel.  I'd already read this one a few years back but it is a good one so I was glad to revisit it.

When First We Deceive by Charles Wilson  I can't remember who recommended Wilson to me.  He seems to have only written only about 10-12 novels over about a decade and then vanished off the scene about ten years ago.  This is one of his earlier novels.  Well plotted with some interesting twists and turns.

Give Me Back My Legions by Harry Turtledove  I actually went to the library looking to see if they had a copy of Pauline Gedge's novel of the Roman Empire The Eagle and the Raven but when I couldn't find it I ran across this novel based on a famous battle between the Romans and the Germans that took place about 2000 years ago.  A batlle who's outcome would have long standing consequences for the future of the Roman Empire.  Turtledove shows he can write straight historical novels as well as his alternate history books.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Josemas, you amaze me.  How do you fit all that in?  Maybe I'm a slow reader but even at that.........
Anyway, I'm currently thoroughly enjoying the 2nd. Rumpole of the Bailey collection by John Mortimer.  These are lovely, funny, wonderfully written little tales of a barrister in the criminal courts.  The late Alan Coren described Rumpole as, "The best mock-heroic fatty since Falstaff"  It was also a popular t.v.show years ago.  This interspersed with the Jet Scott newspaper strip collection by Jerry Robinson and a pile of old British comics I bought at the Glagow comic mart last Saturday.
My wife seems to live on historical romances, spy thrillers and the likes of David Baldacci.  She can't stand the vampire/monster stuff.

[josemas]

Paw, 

I always have a pile of books that I am working my way through (as well as piles of comics, trades and collections).  I always read myself to sleep usually starting with some comics, trades or collections and then moving onto some novel, bio or whatever.  Often fall asleep while reading.
Also like to read while soaking in a hot tub.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in a book that the water turns cold and I look like a prune by the time I get out.
And then there's my bathroom reading while sitting on the ..uh.. throne.   I can get wrapped up in a book here too, much to the consternation of the Lil' Missus.  I can't tell you how many times I've heard from her one of the following:

1- "Hey, that's not a library in there y' know?!?"

2- "Hey, other people need to use the facilities too, y' know?!?"

3- "Hey, did you die in there?!?"

Best

Joe