The very finest in fake lies, yelling, and jokes that aren't worth the legwork
Heart-Shaped Box – Joe Hill Joe Hill is the man! I’ve really enjoyed just about everything I’ve read from him; 20th Century Ghosts, Full Throttle, Strange Weather and NOS4A2 are all so solid that “Let’s read a Joe Hill” has become a go-to solution when my wife and I can’t think of anything for me…
The Only Good Indian – Stephen Graham Jones Oh look, it’s the second time in a row Stephen Graham Jones has shown up! WHAT A COMPLETELY COINCIDENTAL CRAZY RANDOM HAPPENSTANCE. I had no idea this was going to happen! Night of the Mannequins was a really good introduction to Jones and his way, but…
Prose: Night of the Mannequins – Stephen Graham Jones Look, I have never let being late to a party prevent me from making it my new home and inviting a few other people over without the host’s consent, and so it is with Stephen Graham Jones, my new favorite horror author about whom I simply will…
Tortilla Flat – John Steinbeck I have only ever been the biggest Steinbeck nerd and fanboy; Travels With Charley is still my favorite nonfiction work and Cannery Row was the first time I realized I could enjoy a novel that didn’t have wizards, journeys to the center of the earth, or medieval anthropomorphic animals who enjoyed…
The Dresden Files, #16: Peace Talks – Jim Butcher I’ve been a die-hard Dresden Files fanboy for the last decade, through every stage of the affliction: Rabid Consumption Proselytization Discomfort With Increasingly Indefensible Sexism “Harry’s A Misogynist But Butcher Isn’t, And Flawed Characters Are More Realistic And Interesting!” “Harry Gets His Ass Kicked And/Or Saved…
Lone Wolf & Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin’s Road LW&C is one of those things it’s hard to be objective about because of the gravity well created by its history and legacy; if you enjoyed The Mandalorian, the Hawk & Chick episodes of Bob’s Burgers, Logan, Road To Perdition or any other Badass & Child…
A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole Dunces is the funniest book ever written, the kind of funny so smart and profound and forceful that half the time you can’t even laugh because what’s happened is bigger than laughter can hold. I’ve read it half a dozen times and on this occasion read it…
Rivers of London #8: False Value – Ben Aaronovitch I love the Rivers of London books first and foremost because they are Good; they’re about a Black, British cop who discovers that A.) Magic is real and B.) There is an entire, if skeletonized, branch of the Metropolitan Police (known as the Folly) that handles it, and that…
The Outsider – Stephen King In the introduction to Pet Sematary, Stephen King said that before it was published, he was afraid it would be the one that finally went too far, that the public simply wouldn’t let him tell this story about the intersection of death and children. WELL THEY DID, and I’m glad of it…