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Booking Through Thursday: Cover

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Walt

 

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CAN you judge a book by its cover?

 

I think this is a very contextual question. Can you judge a book by its cover?

Certainly. And people do, all the time. It’s natural. It’s that first, initial thought. Whether it’s in the logo/design of the cover, recognizing the author’s name or not, the image (or lack thereof) on the cover, etc.

But often, perhaps it’s not so much JUDGING the book as it is EVALUATING the book, by whatever natural criteria one uses, or any specific criteria at the time.

When I’m in–say, Borders–and looking for Dragonlance books…I’m going to be extremely dismissive of any book whose cover does not reference dragons or Dragonlance itself. At the same time, if a book has a similar design to the edition of the book I’m looking for, or the name(s) Margaret Weis and/or Tracy Hickman jump out at me, I may pause and give other books a chance. At the same time, because I’m a Dragonlance fan, if I’m walking through an aisle and an image that makes me think of Dragonlance, puts me in mind of (a) character(s) from Dragonlance, it may be enough for me to stop and see what this book is, whether it turns out to actually be some Dragonlance book I’m unfamiliar with or something else entirely.

I’ve noticed with some types of books, the title of the book will be the prominent feature–when you’re looking for that title or that series, it may be the series’ name alone that “sells” you on giving the book a chance.

Other times, the author’s name is the prominent feature, and one will check the book out or even purchase it unpreviewed simply on the author’s name alone. Right now, I’m like that with John Grisham–if Grisham puts out a new book, I’m going to pick it up. Doesn’t matter if it’s about an appeal, an associate, or the importance of some confession. Grisham’s books could simply be titled “The Book Published in Late 2010” and I’d buy it.

buffytalesAdditionally, particularly with hardcovers that have dust jackets…that becomes another thing entirely as you’re dealing with two covers. The direct, permanent cover of the actual book itself…and the (often much more colorful, detailed, and visually-appealing/senses-stimulating) dustjacket. The dust jacket may grab one’s attention in the store…but when I’m actually reading such a book–and thus, “presenting” it to those around me–all they have to go on is the physical cover as I take the dust jacket off so it’s not damaged in my carrying the book all over. (And then covers any damage the physical cover sustains…)

buffytales2Right now I’m toting around Buffy: Tales…a hardcover graphic novel collection of a bunch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics. The cover is solid black, with the title on the spine, and simply that stylized “B” from the Buffy logo on the cover. If one knows that B…it’ll jump out; otherwise, it’s simply a stylized letter B.

Comics become another thing. Perhaps because most of them are published so frequently–12 or more times per year–often the cover IS how you judge ’em until you read them. Whether it’s for the image–is it a familiar character? Perhaps you’ve never even heard of Wookey the Wombat, but…there’s Wolverine on the cover, so you might check it out for his presence.

Similarly, for a series or “event” or crossover, the covers may take on a different style to resemble one another such that even without reading any words or character names on the cover, it’s obvious that the issue has something to do with Civil War or Fear Itself or whatever.

Then there are the comics–and I point the finger primarily at Marvel in the early 2000s–with generic “iconic” covers that don’t have anything to do with the story itself, really, but just simply showcase the title character. Right now I couldn’t even BEGIN to–other than 3-4 issues–differentiate early issues of Ultimate Spider-Man without seeing the number itself on the cover, and I don’t associate most iconic images of Spidey from that run with any particular issue. I’m also noticing that some on my current journey beginning through the Brand New Day stuff.

None of this rambling addresses CONTENT, really, though.

Content-wise…I find that often the cover for non-comics books rarely REALLY give much idea of what’s inside…at least not enough to really judge the book or truly evaluate what the story itself will be. The image might–AFTER having read the book–provide some nice symbolism or summary of the contents…but just because you see a closeup of a “Scales of Justice” there’s no way of knowing if that’s a literal or metaphorical reference, or what its meaning actually is in context of the story within the book.

Other books’ covers may be nothing but text with some sort of background. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is nothing but text…the title itself, the subtitle, and the author’s name (Max Brooks). In that, I’d suggest that one’s judging it more on the strength of the title and/or author’s name than the cover in and of itself. (Another like this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Nothing but text and a background…standing solely on its title/premise.)

All of this could really get pretty deep, and I’d be shocked if there are not major academic studies out there that somehow address this topic–such as the psychology of a book’s/cover’s design on a person’s likelihood of picking it up.

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Booking Through Thursday: Cereal

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Walt

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If you’re like me, you grew up reading everything under the sun, like the cereal boxes while you ate your breakfast, the newspapers held by strangers on the subway, the tabloid headlines at the grocery store.

What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever read? (You know, something NOT a book, magazine, short story, poem or article.)

Honestly, I’m not really sure how to answer this, off the top of my head. I don’t really think much about what I’m reading, except for this meme, or other occasional random/isolated moments. Like: for as few books as I really read anymore, I read a crapload of comics and graphic novels—which is still reading, just in much smaller chunks than full-length prose novels.

Reading headlines on magazines, tabloids, strangers’ newspapers, or random text on cereal boxes or signs in stores or posted on the door of the apartment building, or whatever….I’ve never really considered those as any particular reading material, nor as something odd TO read.

I suppose email or blogs could factor in here. Facebook statuses and Twitter posts. Subtitles in tv programs or films. But I don’t find it odd TO read any of those.

Maybe warning labels and disclaimers. Heck, even claims that I find to be outright ludicrous given experience.

Like this claim by Sprint regarding their Picturemail service.

I find it EXTREMELY odd that they claim that it’s easier to download stuff using a Flash-y interface, where you cannot simply download an entire album, and that is highly UNfriendly when one has over 5,000 photos they want to download and can’t reliably do it more than 21 photos at a time.

I guess I’m just being extremely wordy to not really say anything at all.

What do YOU think is the oddest thing you’ve read? (Besides any of my writing, that is). Feel free to comment on this post to share!

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Booking Through Thursday: Serial

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Walt

bookingthroughthursdaybuttonSeries? Or Stand-alone books?

 

When it comes to non-graphic books…I don’t think it really matters to me if the book is standalone or part of a series. At least, I don’t choose a book because it’s one or the other.

Most of the Stephen King, Brad Meltzer, and John Grisham books I’ve read have been standalone (even if they’re set in the same world/continuity, they aren’t necessarily part of a series). I look forward to their new books based on it being a new book by an author whose work I enjoy…not because it’s the next book in a series.

At the same time, in the last couple years, I’ve read the Twilight series, the Percy Jackson series, and I just finished listening to the latest two books in Weis/Hickman’s Lost Chronicles (Dragonlance) series. A few years back, I spent six weeks reading the entire original Left Behind series. A couple books on my to-be-read list for this year are the first books in new series—but they’re there due to the author, and not for kicking off new series.

When it comes to comics, though, I’m a bit more choosey.

I prefer series. If something is an “ongoing” series and has proven itself to last, I’m more likely to give it a shot. (a $2.99 or under price point certainly helps). Superman, Batman, X-Men, Green Lantern…there’s a history, there’s a reasonable expectation of the series continuing indefinitely, and so I’m more likely to be comfortable checking things out long-term.

For the most part, I tend to avoid “mini” or “limited” series as these will inevitably be collected into collected volumes/graphic novels, which I may pick up if my interest’s there by the time that edition is published.

Given the serial nature of comics, while there are the occasional great self-contained stories…overall, if it’s just a one-off short story (under 12 issues) I’m generally not going to check it out without much prior critical acclaim—I’ll feel cheated, as it’s a comic, I enjoy it, and I want more. V for Vendetta and Watchmen are a couple of notable exceptions on my own shelf.

Of course, as always…I’m sure there are plenty of exceptions to all this, holes to be poked in my thoughts that make sense before 9am. But hey…that’s the point of discussion. These are my stand-alone thoughts, for the moment…and they’re open to the changes/molding/evolution of a series of posts…

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Booking Through Thursday: Headlines

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Walt

bookingthroughthursdaybuttonHmm … I can’t quite come up with an outright question to ask, but thinking about the theory of fiction and how it can affect and be affected by real world events can act as a buffer between the horrific events on the news and having to actually face that horror. So … what happens when the line between fiction and reality becomes all-too slim? Discuss!

We often use fiction to escape reality, or at least visit something beyond “reality,” so when the huge events of fiction happen in real life…or something from real life pops up in our fiction, it really can be a bit jarring.

dckingdomcomeIn DC Comics’ Kingdom Come—the novelization of the graphic novel, at least—there’s a scene where the main character is going about his life, and comes to realize that everyone around him is focused on a giant tv screen—where news of a nuclear explosion that’s wiped out much of Kansas is coming through.

The morning of September 11, 2001 was eerily like that for me. I got out of an early morning class, to find the entire lobby filled with people, all focused on a  single tv on a cart someone had wheeled out of an office. It was a standing crowd, and people lined the stairs, no one really talking, everyone just taking in the shocking news.

I recall coming across a quote that I believe was attributed to Grant Morrison, then writer of New X-Men:

“How close is the real world coming to the comic world?  We were talking about crazy madmen launching attacks on the world years ago.”

bttexmachinaThen there’s Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan…whose premiere issue brought a huge surprise twist as its cliffhanger, providing a huge “what if..?” and setting itself in an “alternate reality” from our own, splintered off based on what happened that day.

In the last several weeks, I’ve been on an Ultimate X-Men tear, reading from early in the series right up to Ultimatum in barely a week…and then realizing that I actually now own Ultimatum, reading that as part of the experience…the whole thing also filling out my knowledge from the confusion I had last year when I read about half of the Ultimate Spider-Man series.

ultimatumIn Ultimatum, a huge tidal wave suddenly strikes Manhattan, destroying it. The various heroes rally to deal with the disaster—but many of their own are lost when the “Ultimatum Wave” first hits, and many others are lost in the aftermath.

There’s also reference to Europe freezing, as it seems Magneto managed to switch the magnetic poles of the planet, and the destruction caused is world-wide.

In the Magic: The Gathering novels, the early books in the series begun in 1998 with The Brothers’ War…we find all sorts of disaster, localized and global…all of which affect the local or global culture.mtgapocalypse

Additionally, this is seen in the Dragonlance novels, where an entire continent is devastated by a “fiery mountain from the sky” that completely destroys one city, and causes a huge upheaval that changes the terrain (another city famed for its sea and ships finds itself suddenly landlocked without a sea).

Given how I’m rambling a bit here…I would really suspect it possible to write a whole series of posts, each one focusing on and digging into any of these examples individually, and so many more. I’ll probably kick myself later today as more examples come to me.

Ah, yes: The Sum of All Fears. I don’t honestly recall if I’ve read the book, but I certainly saw the movie…and I recall that freaking me out.

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Booking Through Thursday: Multi-Tasking

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Walt

bookingthroughthursdaybuttonDo you multi-task when you read? Do other things like stirring things on the stove, brushing your teeth, watching television, knitting, walking, et cetera?

Or is it just me, and you sit and do nothing but focus on what you’re reading?

(Or, if you do both, why, when, and which do you prefer?)

Very rarely, I’ll physically multitask while reading. Sometimes while I’m waiting for water to come to a boil, or waiting for noodles to boil that proper amount of time, I’ll read a couple pages in a book as able. This tends to be if I’m toward the very end of a book, incredibly involved in the book, or particularly antsy or bored with the water/noodles.

On a slightly more passive note, I’ll often read while I wait for something that’s in the microwave for more than 5 minutes, or something in the oven for awhile.

I prefer to focus on my reading and ideally have time to read a significant chunk of something in one go. If I’m reading a comic, I want to read the whole issue at once—or at least the main story if the issue has more than one story in it (such as Specials, One-Shots, Annuals, Anniversary issues, etc). If I’m reading a graphic novel or collected edition, I like to also read at least a fully issue’s worth of pages. If I’m reading a book, I prefer to be able to read at least a full chapter.

Mostly, my “multi-tasking” with books is the fact that I rarely have one finished when I start another. And through the years, I’ve found myself with dozens of books that I’ve started, but to this day have not finished. I get distracted by life, or another book, or other books, or comics, and eventually a book that’s sitting around waiting to finished will get shelved, and for the most part forgotten.

Because of more than two decades of reading comics—typically this tiny chunk of a much larger story, with at least a month between issues—I usually have very little trouble with picking a book up after weeks or even months away and simply resuming where I left off…even if I’ve read another book since putting this one down.

This tends to be the primary reason I find myself BUYING most of the books I read, and rarely obtaining them from a library. Library books have an odd feel to them for me, as I see the “due date” as a “deadline,” and a deadline implies “forced” reading, and I have trouble trying to read something that may not be IMMEDIATELY engaging, AND/or that I feel like I’m being forced to read. The library’s due date comes and goes, and being just a few pages into the book or not yet fully engaged, I’ll return it with the best of intentions of checking it out again later.

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Booking Through Thursday: Cheating

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Walt

imageDo you cheat and peek at the ends of books? (Come on, be honest.)

superman075For the most part, no. If I don’t already know the ending, I don’t want to know it ahead of time. The only reasons I really ever have to “peek at the end” of a book is to check the pagecount of the story itself (doing my darnedest to view the page number while forcing myself to NOT visually register the words on the page) or to see if there’s a “preview chapter” of some other book lumped at the end that’ll throw me off by a couple dozen pages with the true end of the book hitting too soon.

Now, the main exceptions come from graphic novels. At the bookstores or occasionally comic shops, if there’s tons of internet buzz and no one’s spoiling online, I might take a peek to see what the hype’s all about. I also have the problem occasionally with hardcovers, where I’ll remove the dust jacket so I can carry the book around and not worry about the DJ getting screwed up. Occasionally while pulling it away from the back side of the book, I’ll wind up catching a glimpse of a page or two at the back, which might grab my attention just enough to see what, exactly, is going on there.

The other primary exception comes if I’m trying to determine if I’ve already read something—such as a Star Trek novel I may or may not have read 15 years ago…I may look at the end to see if I remember it, as I have an easier time recalling endings than I do beginnings.

endersgamemmpbANECDOTE: If you’ve read Ender’s Game, you know that that has a doozy of an ending. It’s that ending that draws me back to the book on occasion (and partially influenced me on Ender’s Shadow a couple years back). Early in college, a friend was telling me about the book, and I convinced him to sum it up for me, as I didn’t see getting around to reading it. Sounded interesting, but having been told, I mentally filed it away as one of those things, and life went on.

A couple years later, for some reason or another, I happened to get a copy of the book, and got pulled in enough to read the whole thing. And I was blown away by the ending…only later realizing that this was THAT book my friend had told me about. And here I was “lucky” enough to not have made the connection, so I was still taken by surprise.

DragonsofAutumnTwilightIt’s this sort of phenomena that causes me to see re-reading books as a bit of an analogy for the time-travel experience, were it not fiction.

Having read the book, if you go back and re-read it…you’re traveling to the past, and re-joining characters who don’t yet know what’s going to happen…but as the reader…you DO know what’s going to happen. Or at least, have access to it. Of course, you can’t change what’s going to happen…but you’re aware of it.

Yet, there are details that slip away, and you might only remember the broad strokes and biggest players.

highlordskiesI’m near the end of Dragons of the Highlord Skies, and something’s just happened to a couple characters that has me on-edge, as I’d swear this isn’t something that happened to them, and I thought I remembered them doing something else. But this book delves back to a time between-pages of Dragons of Winter Night, which I haven’t actually read in a decade or more now…so I may be thinking of other characters.

Just as, if someone were to travel back 100 years…they might know big details, broad strokes…but not have any clue of what roles people play in the smaller stuff.

But I digress from the topic at hand.

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Booking Through Thursday: Real Life

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Walt

imageThe age-old “How am I going to use this in real life?” question. How would you answer it?

“How am I gonna use THIS?” That’s a pretty deep question, and certainly varies depending on the subject matter. Obviously, the context here would be “books” or “reading.” But then, it also varies on the sort of books or reading material.

untoldlegendofthebatmanThis is a comic reviews blog, so I’ll start with that—comics. There’s a Batman comic from the 1980s…The Untold Legend of the Batman (actually, 3 issues, or there’s a MMPB edition in black and white out there that I’d love to re-acquire as my copy disappeared probably 15 years ago). The first and 3rd issues have both had a profound effect on me.

In the first issue, we see a college-age Bruce attending a class on the Law. In it, a professor sets out a situation and asks what the resolution should be. Bruce disagrees with the answer and asks “But sir…is that justice?” To which the professor responds “No, Mr. Wayne—that is the Law!” And in that story, that was the moment that Bruce realized he could not simply become a police officer, but had to become something NOT bound by red tape—something that could enforce justice, even if not technically the law. And from that, I gained my own distinction between and recognition of the fact that there IS a significant difference between Justice and the Law (and there’s a whole lotta biblical stuff on that, but that’s for another discussion some other time).

In the third issue…well, there’s just a whole tone thing. Memories, how they affect someone, and how sometimes it just takes the right sort of friend or the right sort of encouragement to affect someone….and that, too, sticks with me.    (continued)

Continue reading →

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Booking Through Thursday: Heavy

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Walt

imageWhat’s the largest, thickest, heaviest book you ever read? Was it because you had to? For pleasure? For school?

05montecristoOffhand, I’m trying to think of any large/thick/heavy books I’ve read that would particularly trump any others. Probably The Count of Monte Cristo, read in high school.  Though that’s got enough years between happening and now that I don’t even recall if what I read was the unabridged version or if we read some sort of abridged version.

I imagine the Bible (NIV) might count—that’s certainly THE most significant book I’ve ever read. After years and years of it being any part of my life, several years back 04harrypotterI decided to take part in a 90-day bible-reading challenge with a local radio station…one of few such challenges I’ve ever completed.

Stephen King’s It may be a top candidate for length, read for pleasure sometime during high school. The fifth Harry Potter book—The Order of the Phoenix—also comes to mind as particularly thick.

03lesmisBack in 2004, I bought a copy of Les Miserables after developing a fascination with the Broadway musical after seeing a high school production with one of my best friends at her alma mater. Not sure I made it 50 pages in before being distracted by other stuff, and have yet to go back and finish it.

01capomnibusComic-wise, I think the first Ed Brubaker Captain America Omnibus is easily the largest, thickest, heaviest comic/graphic novel/whatever that I own. Though the Bone One-Volume Edition rivals it…but sadly, I’ve yet to get all the way through Bone.

Springboarding away from the topic at hand a bit, though….if we’d take “heavy” to mean substance and impact on a person for having read the work….I’d have to list the first 6 Left Behind novels, a number of Magic: The Gathering novels (primarily The Brothers’ War), several Dragonlance novels 02bone(primarily Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Summer Flame), as well as The Death of Superman, Batman: A Death in the Family, and DC’s Kingdom Come.

Of course…there’s loads I’m sure I’m not thinking of at the moment. But when you read enough….eventually one loses the ability to recall each and every thing read off the top of the head.

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Booking Through Thursday: Periodically

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Walt

bookingthroughthursdaybuttonEven I read things other than books from time to time … like, Magazines! What magazines/journals do you read??

These days, I really don’t read anything other than books or comics/graphic novels/TPBs/whatever you want to call ‘em. I suppose comics COULD be considered magazines—or periodicals. But for ME, that’s such a given, and for as much as I read traditional-format comics…the better question in that case would be what books do I read, as they’re something I read other than comics.

I’m known to dip into Reader’s Digest when I have one handy and don’t have other stuff onhand to read. I keep an issue at my desk at work in case I ever find myself without a book, so I have SOMEthing to read.

Though there are some “high end” magazine-like publications for comics, I don’t follow those, not really. I used to—years ago—read Wizard magazine…but that publication has (at least to me) fallen to such depths that I can’t even bring myself to bother reading cover blurbs if I even see the thing at all.

lifewitharchie001 Perhaps the best answer to this would be Life With Archie: The Married Life. It’s a magazine-sized publication, produced monthly. It has a few fluff features to round things out, but the heart of the publication is the presentation of two full-length comic-sized stories. One follows a future in which Archie married Betty; the other follows a future in which Archie married Veronica.

It’s a fantastic product at only $3.99…the price of a single Marvel comic, but oversized and containing two Archie comics.

And these stories—of an adult, post-college Archie—are far more relatable and relevant to me as an adult than the usual Archie fare (nothing wrong with the usual…but I’m getting to where high school was almost half a lifetime ago).

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Booking Through Thursday: Any New Year’s reading resolutions?

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Walt

bookingthroughthursdaybutton Any New Year’s reading resolutions?

Now, there’s a fairly easy one…and I actually already answered it at the turn of the year, for the most part.

1. Taking the “To Be Read” Challenge, to read at least 12 books from my to-be-read list. Books determined BEFORE 2011 started. There is a list of “alternates” that may be substituted for any of the 12.

  • The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson
  • The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
  • The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
  • Dragons of the Highlord Skies by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
  • Dragons of the Hourglass Mage by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
  • The Wastelands by Stephen King
  • Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
  • The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
  • Ancestor by Scott Sigler
  • Vampire a Go-Go by Victor Gischler
  • Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler
  • Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

2. Adopt-a-Character 2011…adopting Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai. I’ve already obtained and read vol. 1, and look forward to continuing in the series. I’d have to obtain/read at least 2 per month all year to get through the ENTIRE series. While that would be awesome in its own way…it’s not likely to happen. Still, I’d love to be at least halfway through the series by the end of the year.

3. Catching up on some graphic novel reading. I’d like to finish reading Preacher (Vertigo), Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest (Marvel), Transmet (Vertigo), Monster (Naoki Urasawa, Viz), and Ron Marz’ Witchblade (Top Cow) run.

Plus, of course, keeping up with some comics in general, and reviewing. Along with reading, I’m going to make a go at 3 1/2 seasons of Psych, as well as see how far I can get into the entire run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

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