Whats everyone reading?

[Jacqusie]

In the bog, 2000AD-wise, I'm reading the Stainless Steel Rat which I don't want to end and the 1st Nemesis compilation which is brilliant obviously.

Bed time book - i'm halfway through The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick and loving it. So much so I'm trying not to rush it.

Also I never finished The Losers - so I got the last book to see how it all ends after all this time!

I'm also chewing my way through Nemo: Heart of Darkness by Moore & O'Neil - not really gripping me as TLOEG did I'm afraid and I know there is another one to catch up on as well.

On the Sandman re-read front, only at book 2 The Dolls House, prior to reading the new stuff.

I'm also reading a great book about Cognitive Dissonance called Mistakes were made... but not by me by Tarvis & Aronson which is a great book about how we justify our decisions in lives and as a Psychologist, it never fails to catch me up on a daily basis how I do it myself. The title is pretty self explanatory, as our politicians seem to say the same old hoary line each time.

[Hawkmumbler]

Well on the graphic novel front i've been reading a bit, or at least have a bit lined up.

Just started on original Go Nagai's Devilman before their where 200 million spin-offs, sequels, reboots and crossovers spanning dozens of timelines. As normal for shonen series it's started off as a monster of the week serial. Unlike most shonen series it get out of control and enters deeply unsettling territory. Not for the faint of heart.

Lined up after that I have the Trigun Omnibus, the complete run of The New Statesmen, and the first two volumes of Charleys War (thanks to tjm86 and Jimbo respectivly for these).

[Darren Stephens]

Just finished reading rEVENGER, by Warwick fraser-coombe, 2000ad art comp winning super artist! Fantastic art, of course and storywise, cracking first installment of this vigilante tale. Awesome and recommended!

[O Lucky Stevie!]

Bed time book - i'm halfway through The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick and loving it. So much so I'm trying not to rush it.

Now there's an unfortunate placement of a punctuation mark if Stevie has ever seen one.

[TordelBack]

Sugar Skull, the concluding part of Charles Burns' Tintin with a Head Injury trilogy*.  This was predictably terrific, but I'm not convinced I'd have enjoyed it as much if I'd bought it rather than got it from the library.  It's very much a satisfying conclusion to the first two parts, but despite the gorgeous and intentional aesthetic I was left with the feeling that publishing the story as three hardback albums was pushing it a bit.  I know your average Tintin was 64 pages long too, but there was a lot more reading, and generally a more self-contained story: with this one, I felt like it was more a final chapter than a book in its own right, with none of the new elements each of the first two had.

That gripe aside, this is excellent stuff, every bit as upsetting and unsettling as the early volumes. Definitely another strong entry in the 'things you can only do in the comics medium' category. 




*Not its real name.

[Mabs]

Have you guys encountered any of Joe Sacco's works before? I've always been familiar with his name but had yet to read any of his books. Thankfully that all changed yesterday when I popped into my library with my boy and found not one, but two of his books on display; Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde. Just in the process of reading them both so I'll let you know how it goes.

[Ancient Otter]

Have you guys encountered any of Joe Sacco's works before? I've always been familiar with his name but had yet to read any of his books. Thankfully that all changed yesterday when I popped into my library with my boy and found not one, but two of his books on display; Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde. Just in the process of reading them both so I'll let you know how it goes.

Haven't read Palestine, but if you enjoy Safe Area Gorazde you may also enjoy the follow-up book The Fixer and his Journalism anthology. His new book from Fantagraphics seems to a be surrealist humour book....

[Mabs]

Have you guys encountered any of Joe Sacco's works before? I've always been familiar with his name but had yet to read any of his books. Thankfully that all changed yesterday when I popped into my library with my boy and found not one, but two of his books on display; Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde. Just in the process of reading them both so I'll let you know how it goes.

Haven't read Palestine, but if you enjoy Safe Area Gorazde you may also enjoy the follow-up book The Fixer and his Journalism anthology. His new book from Fantagraphics seems to a be surrealist humour book....

Thanks! I'll be sure to add them to my reading list. Started on Palestine, Sacco's art is something else.

[PreacherCain]

Have you guys encountered any of Joe Sacco's works before? I've always been familiar with his name but had yet to read any of his books. Thankfully that all changed yesterday when I popped into my library with my boy and found not one, but two of his books on display; Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde. Just in the process of reading them both so I'll let you know how it goes.

Haven't read Palestine, but if you enjoy Safe Area Gorazde you may also enjoy the follow-up book The Fixer and his Journalism anthology. His new book from Fantagraphics seems to a be surrealist humour book....

Thanks! I'll be sure to add them to my reading list. Started on Palestine, Sacco's art is something else.

Safe Area Gorazde is one of the best (and most upsetting) comics I've ever read.

Footnotes in Gaza is definitely worth reading after Palestine too.

[ThryllSeekyr]

I just got a set of books surrounding the universe of Elite Dangerous
!

Tales from the Frontier

Written by Fifteen Authors  From Around the World

Mostly Harmless

And Here the Wheel

Written by John Harper/

Reclamation

Written by Drew Wagar

Lave Revolution

Written by Allen Shroud

Don't know when I will read them because that's not something I have done a lot of lately. These days I'm having more problems focusing on a page filled with words long enough to get this done.

The books are lovely looking and the few that have illustrations look great as well.

I will be going after the Elite Dangerous books written by some of the well known authors from around here as well.

[Mabs]

Have you guys encountered any of Joe Sacco's works before? I've always been familiar with his name but had yet to read any of his books. Thankfully that all changed yesterday when I popped into my library with my boy and found not one, but two of his books on display; Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde. Just in the process of reading them both so I'll let you know how it goes.

Haven't read Palestine, but if you enjoy Safe Area Gorazde you may also enjoy the follow-up book The Fixer and his Journalism anthology. His new book from Fantagraphics seems to a be surrealist humour book....

Thanks! I'll be sure to add them to my reading list. Started on Palestine, Sacco's art is something else.

Safe Area Gorazde is one of the best (and most upsetting) comics I've ever read.

Footnotes in Gaza is definitely worth reading after Palestine too.

I can recall you sharing  it on the other forum (comic shack) now that you mention it, makes me want to read it even more now! (It'll have to wait though, Palestine first!). Is Footnotes in Gaza also by Sacco, or a different writer/ artist?

[pictsy]

Pretty cool there are some Elite books.  I loved the original Elite game and still hold it up as an example of an extremely well crafted computer game.  Nice to see they're doing this much for the new game.  My sights are set on Oolite - the free, open source Elite clone with a modding community and Linux support.  Some of the visuals.  But, er, that has nothing to do with reading... so umm... err... yeah.  Intrigued by how the authors have interpreted the Elite world.  I don't know much beyond the first game so I don't know whether the lore was expanded beyond the random generation of the original classic.

[PreacherCain]

Safe Area Gorazde is one of the best (and most upsetting) comics I've ever read.

Footnotes in Gaza is definitely worth reading after Palestine too.

I can recall you sharing  it on the other forum (comic shack) now that you mention it, makes me want to read it even more now! (It'll have to wait though, Palestine first!). Is Footnotes in Gaza also by Sacco, or a different writer/ artist?

It's also by Sacco. I find Palestine one of his least effective works, though it's probably his most famous (and important, due to so few people/organisations paying attention specifically to the plight of common Palestinians)

[radiator]

Just finished A Feast For Crows.

Overall I enjoyed it, though I can totally understand why so many people dislike/hate it. It's far slower-paced than any of the previous books in the series - and has a very deliberate funereal, contemplative feel, which on the one hand can get a bit boring, but on the other hand really helps to give the events of the previous books a sense of weight and consequences.

I'll concede that it's far too long - a quarter to a third could have been cut without taking anything away from the story, but I'd disagree with the consensus that 'nothing happens' in it. There were definitely fascinating little plot developments scattered throughout, especially towards the end - just what are the [spoiler]Maesters[/spoiler] up to?

It's going to be fascinating to see how they go about adapting it for the TV show - I'm guessing that very little of the book ends up on screen. I can see the [spoiler]Ironborn/Kingsmoot[/spoiler] story thread being dropped completely (it's already been confirmed that it won't be in season 5), as well as the ongoing adventures of [spoiler]the Blackfish and the goings on at Riverrun (a shame, as the Blackfish is awesome, and his meeting with Jaime is priceless). I also feel like most of [spoiler]Brienne's[/spoiler] key points have already been covered in the show in a different form,[/spoiler]

I think the biggest shame is the (apparent) decision to completely cut the [spoiler]Brotherhood Without Banners and their new leader[/spoiler] from the show, as that for me was by far the most interesting stuff in the book. It kind of irked me a little in the TV show how they short-changed [spoiler]Beric Dondarrion and Thoros and turned them into cowardly (sort of) villains, when their arc in the books - from idealistic Robin Hood types to desperate agents of bitter, senseless vengeance, is much more interesting. Ultimately it's the show's producers prerogative to cut what isn't absolutely essential to the TV show - though I'd say seeing the Freys get a taste of whats coming to them is kind of important thematically.[/spoiler]

[radiator]

Currently nearing the end of the audiobook version of Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation by Blake J Harris.

It does what it says on the tin, really, covering the corporate struggle between Nintendo and Sega in the 16-bit era of the early nineties, while also touching on the origins of Sony's Playstation.

It's surprisingly interesting stuff. It's mainly told from the Sega perspective (and that of it's dynamic CEO Tom Kalinske), and casts them as the plucky underdog taking on the fusty old empire of Nintendo (who at the time ruled the industry with an iron fist), though to my mind (without wanting to reopen age-old playground arguments) it does kind of do a lot to confirm my long-held opinion of Sega; that while they undoubtedly made some pretty decent games, they could never really hope to compete with Nintendo in terms of quality products, so settled for challenging their rival through aggressive spin and marketing that emphasised their edgier, faster type of games - a cooler, more grown-up alternative to kid-friendly Nintendo.