September Reading Log:

 





September 1:  I currently have Steve Berry’s 4th book in his Cotton Malone series up next – Thc Charlemagne Pursuit.

“As a child, former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone was told that his father died in a submarine disaster in the North Atlantic. But what he now learns stuns him: His father’s sub was a secret nuclear vessel lost on a highly classified mission beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica.

Twin sisters Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk are also determined to find out what became of their father, who died on the same submarine–and they know something Malone doesn’t: Inspired by strange clues discovered in Charlemagne’s tomb, the Nazis explored Antarctica before the Americans. Now Malone discovers that cryptic journals penned in “the language of heaven,” conundrums posed by an ancient historian, and his father’s ill-fated voyage are all tied to a revelation of immense consequence for humankind. As Malone embarks on a dangerous quest with the sisters, he will finally confront the shocking truth of his father’s death and the distinct possibility of his own.”

My Q book is The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn which I’m slowly reading right before bed.

Continuing my reread of Patricia Briggs Mercedes Thompson and currently on Smoke Bitten.

Saturday Night Movie:  Watched Oppenheimer tonight which has left me totally exhausted with all the machinations involved.  Enjoyed Fat Man and Little Boy more so than this.


September 4:  #59 in J.D. Robb’s Passion in Death arrived today!

September 8:   I’m currently reading Passion in Death by J.D. Robb which is another pen name for Nora Roberts.  I just stumbled upon Rules of Engagement written by Selene Montgomery which happens to be the pen name for Stacey Abrams who previously served as a state representative for Georgia. Dean Koontz is another favorite author who wrote under several pen names including David Axton, K. R. Dwyer, Richard Paige, and others. Stephen King used Richard Bachman as another pen name while Anne Rice used A.N. Roquelaure or Anne Rampling.   Fantasy author Charles De Lint wrote dark fantasy novels aka horror under the name of Samuel Key which were scary good.

It’s always fun to search out books written under a different pen name by authors because you’ll never know what amazing stories you’ll find.

I finished my reread of the Mercedes Thompson series and picked up on so many things I missed on the last read of each book.  I’m sad to be leaving Mercy’s world, but now I’ve got the urge to delve into Charles and Anna’s world in Alpha and Omega.

Passions in Death was very convoluted.  I couldn’t keep the characters straight, and the story seemed to go on forever and the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Not one I’d read again.  Started Cry Wolf last night and I was tempted to set In Death aside and get back to it later, but decided to finish it as they are always quick reads for me.  Disappointed.


September 12:  The next In Death will be out in Feb 2025.  I watched a youtube discussion yesterday between book tuber Merphy Napier and another book reviewer and she said something that I think I’ll adopt.   The story didn’t vibe with me or it just wasn’t my vibe.  Not very often one of the In Death stories doesn’t vibe for me. I think there are three or four I would never read again just because of the subject matter. Squicky! 


September 13:  My brother just offered to preorder a copy of Jason Pargin's newest book The Black Box of Doom – for me when he ordered his copy.  I had no idea who he was or what he writes. Went online and looked intriguing enough to order John dies at the End while waiting for the new book to come in – . Sounds like a good Spooktacular read.


September 15:  In the midst of my Patricia Brigg’s Alpha and Omega reread. Waiting in the wings is Steve Berry’s Charlemagne Pursuit, Calvino’s Complete Cosmicomics, as well as Japanese author Satoshi Yagisawa’s Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.  Plus I’ll be putting together my plans for our October Spooktacular next month.  Think I have my eyes are bigger than my stomach syndrome.  LOL!

Saturday Night Movie: Watched the 2nd movie in the legacy planet of the apes movies – Beneath  the Planet of the Apes.


September 20:  I’m not sure where I stand with my a to z. I’ll have to go through and see what’s missing.  Probably q and z.  Hee hee.  I’ve just about decided I need to go back on my buying ban for the rest of the year, at least until Christmas, and concentrate on the trilogies I started, for which I have the next two books, and finish those. Plus work through my TBR. Have all these great books, some pretty chunky ones I have been ignoring.  So revising my reading plan. Now I just need to stop downloading all Kindle Unlimited Books and read the ones I have. I keep rotating, adding a new one and deleting odd the oldest whether read it or not,  Slap myself on the hand, Stop that.  

 I just finished The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. 4.5 stars.  Too much happened to confine to a simple review, with multifaceted characters, from children to grownups, that took place during the tumultuous years of the 1920s through wwII.  I’ll have to ponder for a while as I have a book hangover.


September 21: I’m in the middle of Steven Berry’s 4th book in his Cotton Malone series – The Charlemagne Pursuit which is quite interesting.  Waiting in the wings is Samantha Shannon chunky book – A Day of Fallen Night (Play on the word fall plus fall colors on the cover) which is from the Roots of Chaos duology.

“Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory’s purpose.

To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.”

I'm rereading something from my past for my bedtime book – The Ancient One by T.A. Barron with a lot of trees, both on the cover and in the story. (52 books task of the week) 🙂

“When Kate travels to Blade, Oregon, for a quiet week at Aunt Melanie’s cottage, her plans are dashed by the discovery of a grove of giant redwood trees in nearby Lost Crater. For thousands of years, no humans have entered the fog-filled crater–except possibly the Halami people, who lived in the region centuries ago before vanishing without a trace. Long a source of deep mystery, the crater is now a source of conflict, pitting those who see it as the dying mill town’s last hope against those who see it as a rare sanctuary that should be protected.

Caught up in this struggle, Kate follows an old Halami trail into the crater, and suddenly is thrown back in time five hundred years. Accompanied by the trickster Kandeldandel, the loyal Laioni, and the young logger Jody, she meets strange and enigmatic creatures, none more frightening than the volcanic Gashra, bent on destroying everything he cannot control. To defeat him, Kate must find the answer to an ancient riddle–and the courage to make the most difficult choice of her life.”

Saturday Night Movie: Inkheart with Brendan Fraser!


September 24:  I finished #4 in Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series – The Charlemagne pursuit.  Cotton wants to know what happened to his father who supposedly died in a military submarine accident. His request and receipt of the classified files leads to everyone getting involved from the President on down. Secrets are revealed and an assassin tries to keep those who know the most from talking. And revelations about Charlemagne, cryptic journals about “the language of heaven” and ancient history. All fascinating.  Berry reminds me of James Rollins whose books I really enjoy, so will be working my way through the rest of the Cotton Malone series.

Clearing my reading palate with paperback Amanda Quick’s When She Dreams which is #6 in the Burning Cove series and ebook Ben Aaronovitch’s #6 in his Rivers of London with The Hanging tree.

Then I’ll attack Samantha Shannon’s A Day of Fallen Night.

I’ve been watching videos on annotating my books and now I want to mark up all my books as I read.


September 28:  Reading Pargin’s dark comedy thriller I’m Starting to Worry about This Big Box of Doom right now. Have quite a few ebooks that I’m perusing to see which ones I want to read for October. I know I’ll read only one or two because I’m more of mood reader.  Maybe Karin Slaughter’s Pretty Girls or perhaps Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street.  Physical bookwise have a few Dean Koontz to select from.

Debating  between Dean Koontz 77 Shadow Street and Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves.  I think House of Leaves is winning.

Currently working my way slowly through Louise DeSalvo’s The Art of Slow Writing.

Lied about not adding more books to my shelves.  Scrolling through Instagram and following way too many book bloggers has caused my TBR to grow exponentially.

Saturday Night Movie:  Despicable me 4!!!

Oulipo

 



I was introduced to the form of Oulipo in a writing class years ago and found it quite intriguing. Ouvroir de Litterature Potentielle or OULIPO was founded by French Mathematician Francois de Lionnais and writer Raymond Queneau in 1960. Basically it is introducing a constraint such as not using a certain letter, and other oddities, while writing a poem, creating a short story, or a lipogram.

A few years back I experimented with creating an OULIPO using Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken which took an interesting turn. I tried the N + 7 route which is to replace the major nouns with another noun which is the 7th one below it in the dictionary. However the first line ending up being

Two Robbers diverged in a Women

Hmmm! Once I quit laughing, I got the bright idea to take book titles and transform them into a story, but got as far as a weird poem.

Figured I’d better stick to reading books by authors who use the technique.

Italo Calvino is one author who liked to experiment with his stories. In “if on a winter’s night a traveler” is written in both second person so the you is the reader, yourself, and an alternative narrator in alternating chapters which makes for an intriguing and creative story.

“if on a winter’s night a traveler is a feat of striking ingenuity and intelligence, exploring how our reading choices can shape and transform our lives. Originally published in 1979, Italo Calvino’s singular novel crafted a postmodern narrative like never seen before—offering not one novel but ten, each with a different plot, style, ambience, and author, and each interrupted at a moment of suspense. Together, the stories form a labyrinth of literature known and unknown, alive and extinct, through which two readers pursue the story lines that intrigue them and try to read each other. Deeply profound and surprisingly romantic, this classic is a beautiful meditation on the transformative power of reading and the ways we make meaning in our lives.”

Once I read “if on a winter’s night,” I had to read “Invisible Cities” and soon will be delving into “The Complete Cosmocomics.”

“Italo Calvino’s beloved cosmicomics cross planets and traverse galaxies, speed up time or slow it down to the particles of an instant. Through the eyes of an ageless guide named Qfwfq, Calvino explores natural phenomena and tells the story of the origins of the universe. Poignant, fantastical, and wise, these thirty-four dazzling stories—collected here in one definitive anthology—relate complex scientific and mathematical concepts to our everyday world. They are an indelible (and unfailingly delightful) literary achievement.”

Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar was another strange one with two ways to read the book – straight forward or in a Hopscotch manner jumping into ‘expendable’ chapters the author had written which are supposed to add to or explain some of what was going on. I hopscotched around, letting the number at the end of each chapter tell me what to read next. But you have to pay close attention if you want to find the end of the story.

I don’t know if Steven Hall’s Raw Shark Text would be classified as an Oulipo but it was one of the most imaginative and unique books I have read in a long time and I loved it. Eric unleashes a ludovician, a conceptual fish that eats memories which is why he doesn’t remember. When he starts receiving letters from himself, he follows the clues and is a lead on a wild journey trying to piece together his memories and find his life, meanwhile never knowing quite who to trust and if he can even trust his former self. The story is one wild, creative ride and will test the depths of your imagination.

FAT MAN & LITTLE BOY (1989) vs. OPPENHEIMER (2023) -a James M review-

 vs. 

 









Greetings, fellow historians.

We're going to do something different today with this special review as we pit two movies against one another. 1989's FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY starring Paul Newman and 2023's OPPENHEIMER by Christopher Nolan starring Cilian Murphy.

For a little explanation, both movies are about the creation of the atomic bomb during the war, and the latter is also about Doctor Robert J. Oppenheimer's life during, before, and after the bomb was created. The former, Fat Man and Little Boy, is very PG-13, while Oppenheimer is R-rated for heavy profanity and instances of nudity/sex.

Okay, so, which movie is the best?

Let us start with the 1989 film. Without delay, here we go, and I hope I don't upset the OPPENHEIMER fans.

Running at 2 hours and 7 minutes, FAT MAN & LITTLE BOY is straightforward as it covers Leslie Groves and his group's efforts on the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1945. Now, Paul Newman is a stunning actor, and he was well-casted for the role of Colonel Groves. As for Dr. Oppenheimer, who is present in the film, he is portrayed by Dwight Schultz, and well-represented for the most part. The build-up to the bomb test is well-paced, and the film covers all the trial-and-error, with one person getting hurt at one point, not to mention Oppenheimer's affair with Jean Tatlock is covered reasonably well with a pretty decent PG13-rated sex scene shown at one point.

Over on OPPENHEIMER's side, the film isn't as straightforward as you think, especially as it goes all over the timeline from showing Oppenheimer's work on the Manhattan Project, to his education, to his affairs with the likes of Kitty Puening and Jean Tatlock, his conversation with Einstein in 1947, and his 1954 security hearing as well as a 1959 senate session. But, even as it bounces around the time periods, you still get the story of Oppenheimer's life and the Manhattan Project as well as his reaction to the Trinity test and the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Heck, my mom had trouble enjoying it and prefers FAT MAN & LITTLE BOY. 

Now, I'm going to admit, I enjoy both of these films, but between Oppenheimer and the 1989 film, the movie that is the superior one is FAT MAN & LITTLE BOY, also my mom's choice of film, especially as it's easier to watch and you don't have to spend 3 hours watching stuff with Dr. Oppenheimer. And yet, I am willing to give the 2023 film another watch one day. Now for the scores, FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY gets a 10.5, and OPPENHEIMER gets an 8.9.

Well, see you around, folks.

-James M

James M's review of Space Jam

 








Eh, what's up, Doc?

Yep, it's me, and I just recently saw SPACE JAM (1996) with my parents. Yup, THE Space Jam, starrin' Michael Jordan in a comical cartoony film with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and a slew of cartoony characters you know and love. It was a good film, very fun too. For it's time, the CGI looks gorgeous, and the animation for the toon world as well as the characters is real polished. Oh, and Lola Rabbit is cute, not going to lie. I like Wayne Knight's character as well, and it was funny that, at one point, Bill Murray got mistaken for Dan Aykroyd. You can't go wrong with such a light-hearted 90s movie. That's all I got to say for now.

See you.

-James M




James M's review of IDW SONIC #71-72


 









Yo, welcome back, Sonic nation! 

And it is time for a mini-review of IDW Sonic issues 71 and 72. So, to make a long story short, the plot is thickening when Mimic impersonates Sonic's alter ego of the Phantom Rider and unmasks Sonic in front of certain folks like the Babylon Rogues, Tangle, and Whisper. Oh, and Amy & Tails free Belle from her tied-up predicament and our pink hedgehog friend somewhat figures out who the leader of Clean Sweep Inc is. Meanwhile, that obvious someone is making plans of his own.

And this is all in issue 71.

Issue 72 sees Surge and Kit try to quit Clutch's employ, Sonic encounters Nite the Owl during one of his Phantom Rider missions, and Tails, Amy and Belle learn the true identities of the Clean Sweep mascots Doctor Yolk and Nick. Spoilers end here by the way.

I'm aware I kind of repeat myself, but these issues are undeniably spot on, and these Sonic comics, even without the non-game materials fans enjoy, remain fun to look at and own to read again and again from time to time. Both of these issues get a 9, and I salute the efforts of the writers and I'd like to thank SEGA for working closely with IDW to get Sonic right in the comics.

See ya.

-James M



James M's review of SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1994)

 







Face front, true believers. 

It's your old friend, and I'm here with a review of the Spider-Man show that ran from 1994 to 1998. Recently, me and dad finished watching the show, and it was gorgeous for it's time. You can never go wrong with a fun superhero cartoon about the adventures and heroics of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes.

The show ran for five seasons before it was cancelled after the Spider-Wars two parter, which ended up serving as the grand finale to the overall show, and it was the last time anyone saw this version of Peter before he made a triumphant return in X-Men 97. Yeah, this show shares a universe with the other 90s Marvel shows such as Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, basically the original Marvel Cinematic Universe before 2008's Iron Man.

Okay, quick little summary of the series. 

After getting bit by a radioactive spider and losing Uncle Ben when someone broke into the house, Peter becomes the superhero Spider-Man and fights against crime, also leading to some complications with his personal life. As Spider-Man, he battles the likes of Scorpion, the Lizard, Kingpin, Doc Ock, Hobgoblin, Morbius, and various other villains. In his regular life, Peter works at the Daily Bugle and lives with Aunt May. Oh, and he gets a girlfriend in Mary Jane later on... until she falls into a portal during a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin.

Following this, Peter has a sort of relationship with the Black Cat aka Felicia Hardy, and, eventually, MJ comes back, but it turns out she was a clone. In the show's third season, Peter meets Madame Web, who tests him, which leads to many scenarios, including one from the comics where Spider-Man meets a terminally ill kid. 

In the final season of the show, Peter teams up with Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and Storm of the X-Men, a team he met earlier in the show, to fight against Doctor Doom and other villains on a desolate planet. This leads into the two-part finale, which is basically Into The Spider-Verse before we get Into The Spider-Verse, as Peter teams up with variants of himself to save the multiverse from Spider-Carnage. Long story short, the heroes saved all of reality.

For a show in the 90s, Spider-Man is well-animated, with plenty of 2D animation and an occasional inclusion of 3D animation, and no superhero project would be complete without any action and there is a lot of action sequences throughout the series with plenty of high stakes at times. As for the other characters, no offense to JK Simmons, but Ed Asner as Mr. Jameson is really good. The soundtrack kicks butt as well, and when the music kicks in during an action scene, that's when you know things get very serious.

 I say this would be my favorite show yet, and, despite certain issues in some areas, Spider-Man (1994) deserves a lovely 10/10. Oh, and if you don't know, Peter DID find MJ. How and where? We don't know. See you next time, true believers.

-James M