Category Archives: Books
Towers of Midnight – Book 13 of The Wheel of Time
The latest book in the Robert Jordan series The Wheel of Time has been out for a few months and I finally finished it, which at 800+ pages is somewhat of an accomplishment . We talked about book 12 here.
This book is the next to last book in the series and the word from Brandon Sanderson, the LDS author and BYU creative writing instructor hired to finish the series after Jordan’s death, is that the 14th and last book in the series, A Memory of Light, will be out around March of 2012.
Which means that this current book is essentially the middle book in a trilogy that Sanderson has been writing as the conclusion to this overgrown series. Cue alarm bells.
The good news is that, as he did in the last book, Sanderson performs a yeoman effort at searching out and tying down the plethora of flailing strands of character and narrative that Jordan left him with.
The bad news is that Sanderson can’t completely escape from the trap that writing the middle book of a trilogy places him in, partly, I assume, because this trilogy is one that is both highly anticipated and fraught with enormous deadline pressure and fan expectations.
This means that the book is concerned primarily with moving all of the chess pieces to the required locations so that the scene is set for the last battle and other scenes that are to take place in the final volume. Read the rest of this entry
“Mockingjay” Disappoints
If you have already read the first two books in the The Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, you will still want to read Mockingjay to get answers to all of your questions. But don’t expect to love the book. Mockingjay is no The Hunger Games.
[Spoilers Below]
The Gathering Storm – Book 12 of The Wheel of Time
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. Read the rest of this entry
Desert Island Discs
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:
Open, by Andre Agassi
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. Read the rest of this entry
Books vs Movies
Are there any movies based on books that you like better than the book?
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Book Review: The Manual of Detection
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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The Time Traveler’s Wife
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.
(Audio)Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
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.
Free Comic Book Day is here
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?
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
arandomjohn
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
