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Author Archives: Lorraine

Read in February 2015 (Catch Up Post!)

Posted on by Posted in Read This Month .

Read in February, Part 01

  1. Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties – Bob Harras, Andy Kubert et. al. Meh. I mean, honestly, why do people like the Scarlet Witch? I don’t get it at all.
  2. Uncanny X-Men, Volume 4: vs S.H.I.E.L.D. – Brian Michael Bendis & Chris Bachalo. Solid, but not particularly memorable. Can we take a minute to talk about Magik’s costume though? Why so insanely slutty?
  3. The Wake – Scott Snyder & Sean Gordon Murphy. A fairly decent start but then it jumped forward in time and totally lost my interest.
  4. Pretty Deadly, Volume 1 – Kelly Sue DeConnick, Jodie Bellair & Emma Rios. I wanted to like this story about Death’s daughter, I really did, but it didn’t float my boat at all.
  5. Amazing X-Men, Volume 2: World War Wendigo – Kathryn Immonen et. al. A surprisingly fun read.

 

Read in February, Part 02

  1. Ferney – James Long. I picked this up after seeing it referenced in The Guardian. The claim made was that it was a more inventive (and earlier) version of The Time Traveler’s Wife. I love The Time Traveler’s Wife so Ferney sounded amazing. Imagine my disappointment when I found myself having to slog through it. The central relationship between Ferney and Gally was okay, but I never became particularly invested in it. Most unfortunately of all, I found the flashbacks to their past lives pretty dull and my heart sank every time I had to read another one. The cover was pretty blah too, which is never a good sign.
  2. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills – Chris Claremont & Brent Anderson. A classic X-Men title that, slightly histrionic storytelling aside, more or less holds up today.
  3. X-Treme X-Men, Volume 2: You Can’t Go Home Again – Greg Pak, Stephen Segovia & Raul Valdes. Still not a massive fan of dimension hopping, but an okay read.
  4. Mind the Gap, Volume 2: Wish You Were Here – Jim McCann & Rodin Esquejo. This series continues to be a great read, with twists and turns galore. Still loving it.
  5. Mind the Gap, Volume 3: Out of Bodies – Jim McCann & Rodin Esquejo. See above.

 

Read in February, Part 03

  1. East of West, Volume 2: We Are All One – Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta. Still no. So over the western genre in comics, even if it is supposed to be happening in a post-apocalyptic world.
  2. Trigger Warning – Neil Gaiman. Zoomed through this one. I’m never really a fan of Gaiman’s poems, but I loved a lot of the short stories. (PS I still haven’t read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Meep!)
  3. Love Letters to the Dead – Ava Dellaira. I picked this up from an LGBT display I’d put together at work and ended up loving it. In trying to deal with her sister’s death, Laurel writes letters to dead celebrities, and they’re beautiful, and honest, and painful. Recommended for all YA fans.
  4. Slaine: The Brutania Chronicles, Book One: A Simple Killing – Pat Mills & Simon Davis. Slaine is a series that I’ve always wanted to enjoy but I’m not sure if I’ve ever really managed it. I love the mythology, but I’m never particularly interested in the storylines, and this volume only confirmed that.
  5. Little Boy Lost – Marghanita Laski. It’s probably naïve of me, but I never realised that there were so many displaced and unclaimed children at the end of World War II. This is the story of Hilary who returns to France after the war in search of his lost son, which is slightly harrowing in itself, but when Hilary finds a boy that might be his son, his struggle to decide whether or not the boy is his is heart-rending. The best thing about this book is that the emotional material is dealt with in almost dispassionate way. The writing is matter of fact rather than flowery, which serves the story really well.

 

Read in February, Part 04

  1. Moone Boy: The Blunder Years – Chris O’Dowd & Nick V. Murphy. This was a fun little read, but I wanted to love it so much more than I did. Although it maintains the humour of the TV programme, and uses the same super cute illustrations, it doesn’t quite match up to it.
  2. X-Men, Volume 3: Bloodline – Brian Wood & Matteo Buffagni. I always approve of Jubilee taking centre stage, even if the baby daddy from the future storyline was a bit ridiculous.
  3. Wolverine and the X-Men, Volume 1: Tomorrow Never Learns – Jason Latour & Mahmud Asrar. Not as fun as the previous Wolverine and the X-Men run, but not the worst ever. Plus, the more I see of Doop, the more I like him.
  4. Savage Wolverine: Kill Island – Frank Cho. Dear Shanna the She-Devil, doesn’t your torso get all scratched up when you run around the Savage Land half naked?
  5. Sheltered, Volume 2 – Ed Brisson & John Christmas. A solid continuation, but not one that inspired me to pick up the next volume.

 

Read in February, Part 05

    1. Todd, the Ugliest Kid on Earth, Volume 1 – M.K. Perker & Ken Kristensen. I picked this up from the library pretty much just because it was there (I’ll give pretty much anything in the graphic novel section a try). Happily, it was totally worth a read. Todd has to wear a paper bag over his face because he’s no ugly. For some reason, this makes everyone act like a total bastard to him, but Todd never lets it dampen his spirits. Off-beat and enjoyable.
    2. The Language of Dying – Sarah Pinborough. A beautiful, haunting read that adds a slight supernatural edge to an exploration of how death affects everyone differently.
    3. Pivot Point – Kasia West. I enjoyed the premise of this novel, as well as the more sci-fi elements, but I wasn’t overly taken by the story itself.
    4. The Silver Darlings – Will Morris. A Scottish coming-of-age story with beautiful artwork.
    5. Morning Glories Deluxe Collection, Volume 1 – Nick Spencer, Joe Eisman & Rodin Esquejo.  Morning Glory Academy is an elite boarding school, it’s also weird as fuck. The storytelling style reminded me a bit of Lost, in that you have a basic premise that’s riddled with odd, inexplicable things, and characters who are never quite what they seem. In other words, it’s interesting and generally awesome.

 

Read in February, Part 06

  1. Ultimate Comics X-Men, Volume 3 – Brian Wood & Alvaro Martinez. I’m a fan of evil Jean Grey, she’s pretty epic. And I really like the Ultimate Comics version of Kitty Pryde, who’s conflicted but spremely confident.
  2. All-New X-Men, Volume 2: Here to Stay – Brian Michael Bendis & Stuart Immonen. And speaking of interesting versions of Kitty Pryde, Kitty Pryde as kick-ass mentor also works really well.
  3. All-New X-Men, Volume 4: All-Different – Brian Michael Bendis & Stuart Immonen. I have never been a fan of X-23 and I am definitely not a fan of her addition to this title. Do I want to read a Cyclops/X-23 romance? No, I really, really do not.
  4. Daredevil, Volume 1: Devil at Bay – Mark Waid & Chris Samnee. I didn’t find much to like in this, to be honest. Totally unremarkable.

Weekly Miscellany

Posted on by Posted in Weekly Miscellany, Wishlist .

Added To My Wishlist

Wishlist Books

  1. Heir to the Sky – Amanda Sun. A YA fantasy with a wonderful cover that won me over immediately. I read Ink by Amanda Sun a few years ago and quite enjoyed it, so I’m hopeful for this one.
  2. Every Anxious Wave – Mo Daviau. A bartender finds a wormhole in his wardrobe and ‘cosmic fuckery’ ensues. Sold!
  3. Version Control – Dexter Palmer. More sci-fi but this one has causality violations devices (time machines!) rather than wormholes.
  4. All the Birds in the Sky – Charlie Jane Anders. Time-machines (there’s a bit of a theme to this list of books) and a school for magic? Sounds like an intriguing combination.
  5. Anatomy of a Soldier – Harry Parker. The story is told from the point of view of forty-five objects which could either be amazing or tiresome.

 

Articles of Note

 

Recipes Bookmarked

Read in January 2015 (Catch Up Post!)

Posted on by Posted in Read This Month .

Read in January, Part 01

  1. Peter West – D.E. Stevenson. D.E. Stevenson’s books are the ultimate ‘gentle’ read. There were times in this when I wanted to reach into the pages of the novel and shake the characters, but Stevenson wrote them in such a charming way that I couldn’t help but root for them. One of the strengths of this novel was the sense of place that led to the Scottish countryside acting as a third main character.
  2. Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan. A quirky read about an unusual bookshop, but I was quite disappointed at the explanation given to the central mystery of the story. The mystery had so much potential and the explanation just seemed ridiculous. Oh well!
  3. The Sleeper and the Spindle – Neil Gaiman & Chris Riddell. A beautiful and lyrical about forging your own path and being your own hero.
  4. John Constantine, Hellblazer: Shoot – Warren Ellis et. al. An interesting collection of one-shot issues, some better than others, but worth a look if you’re into Hellblazer (and If you’re not into Hellblazer we need to have a wee chat).
  5. Ms Marvel, Volume 1: No Normal – G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona. Loved it. Kamala is such an incredibly endearing character and her origin story was so fun, which is sadly rare in comics these days.

Read in January, Part 02

  1. All New X-Men, Volume 3: Out of Their Depth – Brian Michael Bendis & Stuart Immonen. Another fun title, although with a darker edge than Ms Marvel.
  2. X-Treme X-Men, Volume 1: Xavier Must Die! – Greg Pak & Stephen Segovia. I was never a massive fan of the dimension-hopping storyline that was at the centre of Exiles and is now being rehashed in X-Treme X-Men. Sure, it gives us fun alternate versions of familiar characters, but I find it quite gimmicky. This was decent, but it didn’t inspire me to pick up any more volumes.
  3. Ribblestrop – Andy Mulligan. A zany take on the modern boarding school genre, but this didn’t grab me.
  4. Shiverton Hall: The Creeper – Emerald Fennell. Just as creepy and oddly enjoyable as the first book in the series. I really can’t pinpoint what I like about these books, which I find frustrating, but whenever I finish one I check to see if another one has been published.
  5. Mrs Tim of the Regiment – D.E. Stevenson. My favourite of Stevenson’s books so far, this is a barely fictionalised account of her time as an army wife. It’s charming as fuck, lads, and funny to boot. Recommended!

Read in January, Part 03

  1. Summerhills – D.E. Stevenson. This is a sequel to a book I haven’t read, but it was pretty easy to jump into. Once again, the setting was almost a main character, and I spent a lot of time wishing good things for all the characters.
  2. The Moth Diaries – Rachel Klein. I have a weakness for vampire books that goes back to my childhood, and this book combined the vampire genre (or did it??) with the boarding school genre, another of my favourites. Written in diary form, this is a claustrophobic novel with a narrator of questionable reliability. The general tone of unease reminded me of Picnic at Hanging Rock. Look, it’s good, okay?
  3. The Rain – Virginia Bergin. Picked this up at random and although it has an interesting concept (rainwater becomes lethal to humans) I didn’t particularly like it. I found the main character hugely annoying and mostly unsympathetic, and although the concept was interesting, it wasn’t applied particularly logically. There’s a sequel but I have no plans to pick it up.
  4. Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? – Roz Chast. A graphic novel memoir, this book is an account of the last few years of the lives of Chast’s parents. It’s beautiful, and sad, and funny, and touching, and painful. Absolutely recommended!

Weekly Miscellany

Posted on by Posted in Weekly Miscellany .

Once again, I’m attempting a return to the world of blogging. So far, I’ve managed my 2015 masterlist, which was hardly the most inspiring thing, so who knows how long I’ll last this time around. It sounds silly, but I spend much less time on my computer now because I don’t have a decent computer chair. Back support is apparently more important to me than I knew. Let’s move on to the exciting things I’ve been doing this week.

Recipes Bookmarked

 

Love (2016)Watching: Love

Just finished watching this Netflix ‘rom-com’ and man, my heart is broken.  The ending was like a punch in the gut, which was hard to take after ten episodes of the main characters veering wildly between endearing and complete dickheads.  Bertie though, Bertie was amazing at all times <3

 

 

 

Listening: Saul Williams – Saul Williams

An oldie, but a goodie, I’ve been listening to this on repeat this week singing along with wild inaccuracy.  I wrote a song for you today while I was sitting in my room / I jumped on a bed today and played it on a broom / I didn’t think that it would be a song that you would hear / But when I played it in my head, I made you reappear.