Shooflypie

I talked about how I've gotten very behind on my pop culture consumption in the end of year posts I managed to get written. One good thing about a new year is that it wipes my slate clean and I can start counting books and comics and so forth anew. Last year I managed to read only 46 books and 248 comics. I know it sounds absurd to lament that fact, but both totals are way down from 2015. However, I'm currently on pace to read 73 books and 502 comics this year. I'm well aware that won't happen, but it's fun to look at my pace for the year this early on and dream. Anyway, one reason I ran out of steam on my year-end posts was having to come up with new content about most items. To combat that fact, I want to write more about what I'm consuming when I'm doing it. So, here's the first brick in this year's wall (I hope it's not just a pile of bricks)... Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson - Even though I got a half dozen new books at Christmas, I ...

I'd started doing my traditional blog posts on the various pop culture things I loved...but my heart wasn't in it. Still, I want to share what I really enjoyed reading, watching, and listening to this year...so why not just do one big post? I'm not going to comment on anything but would be happy to share why I loved anything on the list with you if you ask. I hope you all found lots to love in 2015 and I'm sure we'll find more to love in 2016. MUSIC Courtney Barnett/Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit Sleater-Kinney/No Cities To Love Destroyer/Poison Season Dawes/All Your Favorite Bands Alabama Shakes/Sound and Color Jason Isbell/Something More Than Free Veruca Salt/Ghost Notes Telekinesis/Ad Infinitum Mac McCaughan/Non-Believers Foals/What Went Down El Vy/Return To The Moon Twerps/Range Anxiety Wilco/Star Wars Drive-By Truckers/It's Great To Be Alive! TV The Flash iZombie Adventure Time - I'm through Season 3 Brooklyn N...

My goal for the year was to read 64 books, which would put me at 4 more than last year's 60. I only managed to read 62; I say "only" but that's more than I've read since I started keeping track in 2001. Heck, it's double what I used to read. Sometimes I was reading more than one book at a time but there were also times when I wasn't reading a book. I picked up and put down a bunch of books this year; I mostly chalk that up to the wrong book at the wrong time (one I put down on initial read is one this list). 11 of those 62 were non-fiction, which is probably my highest percentage ever. Regardless of the stats and goals, I found plenty of books to love this year... 1. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - I almost stopped reading this book because at its outset it seemed like yet another novel about the apocalypse and at the time, I just couldn't see myself reading another one of those. Luckily, I stuck with it. It's more a novel about what h...

Every month brings new pop culture goodies to enjoy. Here is what I'm most looking forward to this month... The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman (8/5) - This is the final book in Grossman's Magicians trilogy. I liked The Magicians and loved The Magician King the first time around...that's right, I've decided to reread this series in anticipation of the new volume. I don't reread very often; in fact, the last time I reread a series like this was right before the final Harry Potter book was published 7 years ago. I'm finding my reading of the first book has changed my perception of it but that's probably a different post. Spoon/They Want My Soul (8/5) - Spoon is one of my favorite bands, so it's not a surprise I'm excited to listen to this album (you can stream it on iTunes right now but that's not my favorite option). I've liked the 3 songs that have surfaced so far - the classic stomp of "Rent I Pay," the sunny pop of ...

Last weekend I had a hard time deciding which of the too-many books in my TBR pile I wanted to start, so I ended up reading some single issues and finishing a trade instead. After that, I made a decision and managed to read a book during a busy week. Oh, and the new issue of Astro City came out. Some thoughts... Astro City: Confession - I love what Kurt Busiek does with this six-part storyline. It's the story of Brian, who moves to Astro City after the death of his father and sets about getting involved in the world of super-heroes. He manages to get noticed and becomes Altar Boy, the sidekick of The Confessor. That's the basic plot and it sounds like a typical type of super-hero comic. It's not. Sure, we are given some scenes of The Confessor training Brian but those scenes are marginally about the nuts and bolts of fighting crime with no powers and a cape. Brian is also learning how to be a detective and about that world of super-heroes he is joining. This story deals...

It's been quite a while since I posted something that was a Sunday Shuffle, Heavy Rotation, or Monthly Mix, which means it's well past time to get caught up with my pop culture intake... BAKER'S DOZEN Yes, I've read 13 books since last time I wrote about books. I'll try to keep my comments short... A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin - I took just over three weeks to read this, though I did read a couple others during that time as well. The first half of the book does great character work and the second half is full of big event after big event and made me leave any other reading aside. It's my favorite book of the series so far and the first half or so is being adapted into the current season of Game of Thrones , which I also recommend. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - On the surface, I should have liked this a lot. It's a romance set in the 80s and the titular characters are into the things I was into - I was the same age during that ...

As I mentioned last week, I'm currently reading the 3rd book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords . I'm doing it not only in anticipation of the 3rd season of Game of Thrones starting two weeks from tonight (apparently this book will get me through Season 4 as well) but also because I like the books. I haven't just been reading the novel, though, a practice I started out of necessity with the 1st book in 2011 when I had to read for college course work as well and then continued that summer with the 2nd book. I'm maybe 100 pages shy of being halfway and thought I would pause to talk about when I've been reading alongside... Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell - This is yet another big short story collection in a year of big story collections. While I liked Russell's debut novel, Swamplandia! , I liked her first collection St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves even more and was primed for this book. Th...

It's been about a month-and-a-half since I posted about something other than music, so I figured I was past due for another Mega-Post. I've decided to make it even more mega by including today's Sunday Shuffle, which didn't happen this morning due to that lost hour of time. Crazy, right? Sunday Shuffle #318 1. Bucket Brigade/Michael Penn (7) - last played on 12/8/12 2. Love Is Luck/The Walkmen (18) - last played on 2/5/13 3. Beer Commerical (Live)/Sugar (1) - debut 4. Explode And Make Up/Sugar (2) - last played on 12/30/12 5. It Looks Like Love/Josh Rouse (3) - last played on 10/24/10 6. Fluffy Lucy/Cracker (4) - last played on 6/28/11 7. Forced To Love/Broken Social Scene (5) - last played on 12/23/10 8. Beechwood Park/The Zombies (18) - last played on 10/31/12 9. I am Morris Townsend (No-Fi Transmission)/The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (7) - last played on 7/8/12 10. First Few Desperate Hours/The Mountain Goats (6) - last played on 12/2/12...

DECEMBER WORLDS The second book I read this year was In Other Worlds by Margaret Atwood, a collection of essays about SF and more. I've never read any of Atwood's famous novels; I always intended to but after reading this collection, I think I need to try and get to one this year. In these essays she makes the case for a breadth of reading - highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow - and the joys that can be found in all sorts of books. Sure, it may be preaching to the choir in my case but she makes some lovely points. Even more, she made me interested in some of the books she repeatedly mentioned, such as H. Rider Haggard's She (I read this book for Bookrageous's book club and they were intrigued by She too, so much so that it's their next book club pick). A smart collection by a smart writer that I will become better acquainted with. The fourth book I read (we'll get to #3 in a moment) was the new story collection by George Saunders, Tenth of December . I'v...

Last night I finished reading Bruce , a new biography of Bruce Springsteen by Peter Ames Carlin. I've been a fan of Bruce ever since the Born in the U.S.A. singles started hitting the radio in 1984; I finally got it on cassette in 1985 (maybe for my 14th birthday) and listened to it over and over again while working in the garden or doing whatever other chores my father had for me that summer. When I got the Live/1975-85 box set for Christmas 1986, I heard his older songs and fell even further in love. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that this book is for me (my brother, who knows me quite well, gave it to me for Christmas). While I did know quite a bit of his history, there was still plenty that I didn't know and Carlin does a good job of keeping the narrative flowing while also giving some analysis on the music. This is not a hagiography of  Springsteen. Rather, it presents him as an extremely talented musician who is just as messed-up and human as the rest of u...

I started 2012 with a goal to read 52 books in the year and I managed to meet that goal. I was probably a teenager the last time I read that much in a year, to be honest. It felt good to reach my goal and I really enjoyed the reading year. I read 35 books that came out this year, which is a pretty good total. I even read 9 books that weren't fiction, which is more than I've read in a year ever. Regardless of genre or publication date, here are the books I liked the most... 1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - A dark page-turner built on twist after twist that's wired into how the book is structured and the alternating viewpoints of a couple with a strained marriage. Disturbing and brilliant. 2. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson - A virtuoso novel set in North Korea about living under the rule of Kim Jong Il and the lengths people will go to in order to stay alive. Complex and crackling with creative energy. 3. Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain - ...

My son and I have made the decision to see a late show of Wreck-It Ralph in a little while (it'll be his second time seeing it and my first), so I thought I would kill some time and mention a few things... MINI-POSTS I decided to do a little more with my Tumblr and made some small posts about songs I somehow missed. The nice thing about Tumblr is that I was able to post the songs as well (or links to them, anyway). They popped up on my Facebook timeline and Twitter feed as I posted them but here are links to all five... Nina Simone's "I Put A Spell On You" Grandaddy's "Jed the Humanoid" Hüsker Dü's "Makes No Sense At All" Darkness Falls' "Timeline" Ty Segall's "Thank God for the Sinners" A NEW MILESTONE Today I finished reading One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde, which was the 47th book I've read this year. I started keeping track of how many books I read every year back in 200...

Time for another patented (not really) catch-up post... OLD FAVORITES While I'm always excited when one of my favorite creators puts out something new, I do admit to an undercurrent of trepidation. Why? I wonder what I will think of them if the new isn't as good as the old that I love. Like I said, it's only an undercurrent and I mostly can't wait to digest the new. Here are some recent examples... Crackpot Palace by Jeffrey Ford - This is Ford's fourth story collection and I had only read three of the stories prior to its release (all from anthologies; no stories here were published in F&SF, which is where I first discovered his work), so I was ready to dive in. I was not disappointed. There's love and optimism in the face of a repetitive day in "Polka Dots and Moobeams"; the knotty issue of faith in "Relic"; the classic fantasy gone awry of "The Coral Heart"; the brilliant strangeness of "The Double of My Double Is...

My pop culture consumption has slowed considerably over the past few weeks, what with school in full swing and swimming lessons running once again plus football games (my son is in the marching band this year) and the Popcorn Festival. Obviously, I haven't been talking about what I've managed to consume so I thought I'd do some quick hits here... FOUR SIXTHS I finally bought a copy of the 4th volume of Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four run, which is titled "Three" because one of the FF dies within. Now this is a story I've known the outcome of for quite a while but that didn't change how much I enjoyed these issues. Hickman's character work is strong, not just with the FF but others who are pulled into the story, from the arrogance and confident flirting of Namor to the enigmatic Galactus and the fearful but dangerous Doom. The issue where Ben Grimm takes the potion the kids of the Future Foundation created to help him return to human form was...

I'm halfway through a book right now and before I got too much farther, I thought I would pause and talk about the last four books I've read plus a comic. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson - Alif is a computer hacker in a repressive Arab state who works for those who wish to speak their minds but stay out of jail. He is in love with a member of the royalty who tells him she is marrying another man. Life gets even more complicated from there with djinn and computer programs and trying to finally grow up. I didn't like Alif much at first but he grew on me as he grew and the book as a whole is fascinating - well-written, thoughtful, and full of cool ideas. I really dug it. Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu - This is Yu's second story collection and the first since his excellent novel was published two years ago. The first story, "Standard Loneliness Package," tells the story of a man who works for a company that allows him to experience people's gr...

I know we're already a week into August but I mention a few things I'm looking forward to this month... Crackpot Palace by Jeffrey Ford - Ford is one of my favorite writers and his three previous story collections are all fantastic. I don't think I've read many of the stories collected here and I can't wait to sink my teeth into them. (8/14) One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper - Tropper's last novel, This Is Where I Leave You , was one of my favorite books of the year back in 2010 and I have high hopes for this one as well. Tropper is funny and full of heart. (8/21) Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks - This novel is from the point of view of a child's imaginary friend and that concept is enough to make me want to read it. (8/21) It Girl & The Atomics by Jamie S. Rich and Mike Norton - I was a big fan of Mike Allred's Madman Comics back in the 90s but I lost the thread with the series and its subsequent incarnations...

Time for another look at the books I've been reading lately. This covers the period from mid-June to this morning, when I finished the last book in bed. Prepare To Die! by Paul Tobin - It should come as no surprise that I have a fondness for reading novels set in original super-hero universes (they call it "Genre Kryptonite" over at Book Riot ). This is the story of Reaver, whose power is that he takes a year off of a person's life when he punches them. I don't think I've ever seen that as a power before, which I enjoyed. At the start of the book, Reaver is defeated by Octagon and a coalition of villains then is told to "prepare to die." He accepts but asks for two weeks to settle his affairs and is granted that respite. The novel is both his journey back home and a flashback to how he got to this point. It's an origin story and a love story and a story of what it actually means to be a hero. The character of Reaver has a tendency to reduce al...

I have not done a good job of talking about the books I've been reading, so here's a rundown of everything I've read since the last time I did so (which was back in the middle of March. Yikes!).... Unpossible and Other Stories by Daryl Gregory - When I read the titular story when it was first published in F&SF , I knew that Gregory was a writer worth reading. "Unpossible" is about a man who used to travel between worlds when he was a child and how he tries to do it now that he's middle-aged and it is utterly brilliant. Other stories are about a world of super-heroes and villains (for which I am a sucker), the rise of a new religion, a woman who spends most of her time thinking and needs others to watch her body, and so much more. All are well worth reading. Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records by John Cook with Mac McCaughn and Laura Ballance - Merge Records is one of, if not the best record label out there. This book came out a few years ago to cel...