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Booking Through Thursday: Celebrities?

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Walt

Booking Through Thursday.

Suggested by Callista83:

Do you read celebrity memoirs? Which ones have you read or do you want to read? Which nonexistent celebrity memoirs would you like to see?

Other than blogs by comic creators/companies, not really.  Given this is Booking Through Thursday, my initial answer is “no.” At least–it’s “no” as far as super-star celebrities and such.

However, I’ve come to REALLY enjoy human/pet memoirs over the past year or so. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Marley & Me, and Wesley the Owl are three of my favorite reads from the past 9 months. Each is a memoir by the author of their life with the beloved pet (cat, dog, and owl respectively).

Actually, I suppose those are–especially Marley and Dewey–celebrity memoirs.  There’s a hit movie about Marley now. And Dewey…well, the title says it all. Though “just” a library-cat in a small town…he touched the world.

And more than any celebrity, the story of Dewey’s life had a profound impact on ME. I read his story a little over a week after losing one of my cats last fall, and there was something distinctly therapeutic about reading about the life of another cat who was important to anyone. The anecdotes of his antics were far more interesting to me than anything I might read about a human celebrity.

Marley & Me: Life and
Marley & Me / Dewey / Wesley the Owl

Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Booking Through Thursday: Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Walt

Booking Through Thursday.

One of my favorite sci-fi authors (Sharon Lee) has declared June 23rd Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Day.

As she puts it:

So! In my Official Capacity as a writer of science fiction and fantasy, I hereby proclaim June 23 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day! A day of celebration and wonder! A day for all of us readers of science fiction and fantasy to reach out and say thank you to our favorite writers. A day, perhaps, to blog about our favorite sf/f writers. A day to reflect upon how written science fiction and fantasy has changed your life.

So … what might you do on the 23rd to celebrate? Do you even read fantasy/sci-fi? Why? Why not?

I’m not sure I’ll do anything to ‘celebrate’…I’m not much for the “big” holidays, even.

Fantasy/Sci-Fi is the primary genre I read in.  I haven’t read many of the “classics” in Sci-Fi; Ender’s Game is probably about the most “mainstream” sci-fi I’ve read. (Then again, I’ve read a number of Star Trek novels as well…)

I’ve enjoyed the Battletech books I’ve read, and I’ve read some of the more recent (2002-ish) Mechwarrior volumes (in part due to a brief period of time involved with the Mechwarrior: Dark Age miniatures game with some friends in my college days).

I’ve mentioned the Aliens series several times in earlier BTT posts–I’ve read the novelizations of the films, and about 2/3 of the novels based on the comics, and several of the Dark Horse Comics Omnibus volumes.

Some Star Trek, Stargate, Highlander, and a Star Wars novel or two can be added to the stack; and I’m sure I’ve read plenty of other sci-fi I’m not thinking of offhand…especially from the Science Fiction and Fantasy and Tolkien and Culture courses I took my junior and senior years of college.

Fantasy-wise, I’ve read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; the primary series I’ve read in the genre, though are Dragonlance and Magic: The Gathering.

Comics-wise, it seems that a lot of the superhero stuff can be in one or both genres without being so overtly.  Superman involves plenty of science fiction elements (and certainly the same sort of “suspension of disbelief”) and yet would probably be classified “comics” or “super-hero” before “sci-fi.”  Ditto Green Lantern, and pretty much any of the “cosmic books” from DC or Marvel (or any smaller publisher. Runners, or the TMNT for example).

It’s also interesting to note that what was once only science fiction in some cases either IS–or is close to being–science reality.  And that while something may be fantasy, that does not render it un-real.

Now, despite my opening statement…perhaps–assuming I remember–I WILL blog on the topic in recognition of the day. Time’ll tell.

Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday: Niche

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Walt

Booking Through Thursday

There are certain types of books that I more or less assume all readers read. (Novels, for example.)

But then there are books that only YOU read. Instructional manuals for fly-fishing. How-to books for spinning yarn. How to cook the perfect souffle. Rebuilding car engines in three easy steps. Dog training for dummies. Rewiring your house without electrocuting yourself. Tips on how to build a NASCAR course in your backyard. Stuff like that.

What niche books do YOU read?

As I look around this room, I don’t think I really have any niche books. In fact, with the rare exception (Cretaceous Dawn, for one–I ordered it after seeing a Facebook ad), my books fit (what I, at least, consider) mainstream genres. Next to graphic novels (will get to those in a moment), I have a bookcase devoted to Christian literature, while another bookcase is taken up with fantasy (primarily Dragonlance and Magic: The Gathering, with some Aliens and MechWarrior (sci-fi) thrown in.

Now, for the crowd I run with, comics/graphic novels are pretty common (and presumably most anyone reading my blog has at least some sort of interest in comics), but at the same time, it’s possible that comics could be considered a niche in this way.

I’ll take it one step further, and choose a specific comic series: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’m eagerly awaiting next month’s release of TMNT Collected Book vol. 1 and the TMNT: Future Tense volume.

Already in my collection, I have a TMNT volume collecting the entire original run of Tales of the TMNT as well as 4 volumes collecting arcs from the current run of Tales of the TMNT. There’s a volume collecting Michael Zulli’s work on TMNT; a volume collecting the 2007 movie adaptation and its prequels; another collecting the first arc of the Dreamwave series based on the 2k3 cartoon. I have a new volume that collects the original TMNT Adventures mini-series from Archie; then four volumes from Tundra Publishing that collect issues 5-16 of the ongoing TMNT Adventures series. I have four volumes from FIrst Publishing that collect the first 11 issues and the Leonardo one-shot from the original TMNT series (In color!). I also have the adaptations of the first three films, and a random too-thick-to-be-just-a-comic/not-really-a-TPB volume collecting the “Return to New York” storyline.

Offhand, I don’t know of anyone else with a TMNT collection like this. A couple years ago when I attended an event featuring Ryan Brown, I opted to bring one of those Tundra TMNT Adventures volumes–I recall his being surprised, as he had never even seen these.

Point being…popular as the TMNT are in general, the comics seem far more a niche thing (it’s rare to even find the new, monthly-for-the-last-several-years Tales of the TMNT series in comic shops). So I guess they’re my niche-books.

Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday: Windfall

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Walt

Booking Through Thursday

Yesterday, April 15th, was Tax Day here in the U.S., which means lots of lucky people will get refunds of over-paid taxes.

Whether you’re one of them or not, what would you spend an unexpected windfall on? Say … $50? How about $500?

(And, this is a reading meme, so by rights the answer should be book-related, but hey, feel free to go wild and splurge on anything you like.)

Probably the main thing I plan to “splurge” on will be the Starman Omnibus vol. 2.  I never read the series when it was serialized, but have gained a great deal of appreciation for it over the past few months. I’d acquired the first volume some months ago, and mostly enjoyed what I read–and while this doesn’t begin to have the same level of “respect” attached to it that Watchmen does, I’ve decided I want to try to get the whole Starman series in this Omnibus format, provided all the volumes are actually put out.

On the non-book/comics front…most of my “windfall” is going to hopefully be that bit of “cushion” in the bank account so I have the equivilent of most-of-a-paycheck in addition to the “current.”

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

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