Shame on Me for Judging a Book by its Cover

As I posted before, I love comic books. That said, I'm not a big fan of Manga. So when I saw a Scott Pilgrim book, I just assumed Manga and passed it by.


Then I saw the trailer for the new movie that will be coming out this summer.



Looks awesome right? So I decided I check it out, and you know what, the books are awesome. They're funny and actiony and nerdy. I've just about devoured the first four books now. I'm waiting to get my hands on volume five, and volume six, the finale, will be out on June 20.

I just wish I hadn't been so closed minded about it before that I've been depriving myself. And maybe, when the movie comes out, I'll get a chance to get out and see it.

For the Love of Comic Books

So yesterday was Free Comic Book Day, and due to a variety of circumstances (ice show season, my own forgetfulness, being sick, and the fact that there isn't a comic shop around us that I know of) I didn't get my free comic books. However, I have been thinking a lot lately about comic books and their role in my life.

I got my first comic book when I was somewhere around the age of ten. My older brother, who I idolized at the time, took my younger brother and me to a little comic shop in East Dundee in a strip mall near Route 72 and Route 25. I don't recall the name of the shop, and it is long since gone. What I do remember is my brother bought me my first comic book. It was some mid-90s issue of Wolverine. I don't remember what number it was, and I traded it long ago to a school friend who was trying to get his hands on as many issues of Wolverine as he could. There was one panel where Wolverine was in his civilian clothes, riding his motorcycle, and I thought he looked like a child in that image. Maybe some day I will come across that issue and I can have it once again.

My older brother is about ten years older than I am, and he is an avid comic book collector. Since he was often away at high school or his job, I would try and sneak into his room and see what issues were laying around that I could flip through. Not having the money or the means to get my own comics, I would have to make do with what my brother would let me read or what I could flip though when he wasn't around.

There's something about the marrying of words and images in that way that draws me in. At first I only read superhero comics. The clash of heroes and villains who wielded enough power to rip the world apart was, and is, the purest form of escapism. I would often wonder, if I had such power at my disposal, would I use it for good or evil? I wasn't one of those people who gained life lessons from comics (like Spiderman's line about power and responsibility) I had my parents for that.

I was always disappointed that I couldn't get out to get comics whenever I wanted. If I saved enough allowance money and there wasn't something going on that weekend, maybe I could get my parents to take me to Comic Quest on a Saturday, but it was so sporadic that I couldn't keep up on story lines. And then a few years after my older brother bought me my first comic, for my birthday he got me my first graphic novel. He got me one of the greatest graphic novels ever, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.


It was all over from there. I found out that I could get an entire story line collected in one volume. Even if I couldn't get to the comic shop regularly, I could still get pivotal story lines all at one go. I continued on the super hero vein for a while, collecting mainly a mix of Marvel and DC books. Eventually I began to branch out and started reading a variety of other stories, fantasy, sci-fi, samurai rabbits, ninja turtles, you name it. From that point forward, comics, well graphic novels, have been a big part of my life. I even got Brandi to read the entire run of Preacher, which was a feat all in itself.

The other night, I was trying to make up a list of my graphic novels since the shelves I put them on was moved upstairs and I figured, what better time would I have to try and make up a list of everything? I found out that over the course of about 14 years, I've accumulated approximately 234 graphic novels. I say approximately, because I know I have a few in the basement yet in box somewhere.

In the last couple years, I've also discovered web comics, which has its good and bad just like everything else. It's not quite the same, though, and I do prefer my comics on the printed page.

I feel like I'm rambling, so let me just say, that if you've never read a comic book, or it's been some time since you've read one, go out and give it a try. Libraries are carrying graphic novels more and more now (I have four from the library in my backpack now). There's a whole world of stories out there that people will sometimes pass over because they think of it as some kind of lower form or literature, and that just isn't so. And if you need a recommendation, I might be able to give you a couple titles, but I warn you, sometimes when I get going, I can't stop.

Good Reads: Play Dead by Ryan Brown

I just recently finished reading an advanced copy of Play Dead, the debut novel by Ryan Brown. The best description of the book comes from thriller author Brad Thor when he said the book is "Friday Night Lights meets Dawn of the Dead." You really can't get a shorter, more accurate description of what this book is all about than that.





Two high school football teams are destined to go head-to-head for the district championship. The Badgers have all the advantages, including some powerful Mexican steriods, however, the Jackrabbits, a poor team from a poor town, actually have a shot at the championship. That is, until nearly the entire team is killed in an accident. They come back, with a hunger for meat and the skills to play the game of their undead lives.


I grabbed this book looking for an easy, fun read, and that is what I got, except there was more to it than that. At times action-packed, at times horriffic, and at times funny, this was a great escapism read. Ryan Brown did a wonderful job of marrying high school football with the shambling undead without beating the reader over the head with either. It wasn't like some B horror movie where your slogged down with zombies from the word go. Instead, there is a natrual, almost believable, progression to how the entire situation unfolds and then comes to its dramatic conclusion.


Some of the best passages are where the author shows the reader how a situation like this might actually happen in a town full of residents who put the success of the high school football team in the list of the most important things in life. There's one conversation between a concerned parent and a police officer that is spot on. I'll paraphrase it for you:


Parent: My son isn't acting right since the accident.
Officer: What's he doing?
Parent: He's eating a ton and not talking to me.
Officer: He's a teenage boy. Did he eat a lot before the accident?
Parent: Yeah.
Officer: And did he talk to you much?
Parent: Not really.
Officer: Sounds pretty normal to me.


The book will be available in hard cover on May 4, and you should definately check it out. If you like horror and/or football, you wont be disappointed. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review. There's a trailer and other info at the author's site.

Bite Me

Working in a library, I don't purchase a whole lot of books any more, but I had to go out today and pick one up. That's right, I just went out and got Bite Me: A Love Story, the newest book by one of my favorite author's Christopher Moore.


Unfortunately, I won't get to read this one quite yet. I have something else that's been on my guilt stack for a while that I really need to finish reading. However, next Wednesday I'll be heading up to Milwaukee to see the Author Guy himself doing a reading/signing at my good buddy Jason's store. I haven't seen Christopher Moore in person before, and I haven't seen Jason in at least a year, so I'm doubly excited to get up there. Sure, I could go to one of the readings/signings in the greater Chicagoland area on Tuesday, but what's the fun in that? Plus, I haven't been to Milwaukee in at least a year, and I really enjoy getting up there. I think of myself as more of a country boy than anything, but if I were going to live in a city, it would probably be Milwaukee.

Listen Up: I Need Some Audiobook Suggestions

I don't have an audio book to listen to on my commute right now. Actually, it's been about a month since the last audio book I've listened to. I've been listening to NPR, but lately, that just doesn't seem to cut it.

Can anyone recommend a good audio book for me to check out? My reading interests are varied, but I default to scifi and fantasy, mostly, with a preference toward modern or urban fantasy, or whatever you want to call it. I'm in the mood for something on the spooky end of things, maybe involving werewolves. No Twilight saga though, blech.

Support Your Local Indie Bookstore and Win Stuff!

Novelist Joe Hill, author of the very creepy Heart Shaped Box and son of Stephen King, is running a contest for March-is-love-your-Indie-Bookstore month. Basically, if you go to your local indie bookstore in March, spend more than $0.99, and email him (indie@joehillfiction.com) a copy/scan of your receipt, you'll be entered into a contest to win a signed slipcased copy of GUNPOWDER, his new novel.

But wait, there's more. Subterranean Press has decided to add a whole slew of limited editions (10) to sweeten the deal. And then Joe Hill added a limited 1st edition copy of Heart Shaped Box to the contest, so there will be a total of 12 winners. So everyone run out to your local indie bookstore and buy some books!

More info on the contest can be found here and here.

Bookish Stuff

I have less than 20 pages to go in my initial read of my NaNoWriMo novel, Fae Meds, (title subject to change) and I’m well on track of my earlier goal of finishing reading and taking notes by tomorrow.

What do I think so far? It’s definitely a ways from being publishable, but there’s plenty of material there for me to work with. As I was telling MWT the other day, there’s a new direction that I want to take the plot that I think will make it work better. There are some major characters that are going to have to be rethought out or eliminated, which is fine. There are some sections that will be cut outright, maybe. I’m still liking it more than my first NaNo novel, so I’m bolstered by that. I’m hoping that Sunday or Monday I’ll start the actual rewriting.

A coworker, and proprietor of JazzChicago.net, has published his first novel for the Kindle on Amazon. So if you have a Kindle, you might want to check out The Courier. While I haven’t read his novel, I’ve read some of his other fiction, which is good.

Apparently, Amazon allows people to upload their books for download on the Kindle. You set the price and upload the text and a description, even a cover image, and Amazon will sell it on your behalf. I’m not sure how much of a percentage of each sale the author receives, but for those of you out there interested in self publishing, here’s another venue for you to use in this digital age.

Have I mentioned before that I love Christopher Moore? I’m about half way through his new book, Fool, and it is very good. I know from reading his blog that he put a lot of work into researching the book. One passage in particular made me laugh out loud while I was reading it last night, which doesn’t happen with many books. But what I really wanted to point out was a blog he did for Powell’s Book Store. Go check it out now. He certainly doesn’t pull any punches.

And finally, did you know that it was really Stephen King that shot John Lennon? It’s true! Like Jim, I really can’t get enough of this nut job’s website. If he manages to get King arrested for his crime, it will be the most important thing for humanity since Jesus Christ. What? The whackadoo certainly seems to think so.

The Netflix of Books?

The other day, one of my coworkers received a press release in the mail from Booksfree.com for consideration in one of our publications. First of all, our magazines have nothing to do with the book world, so I think this company’s target is a little off, but that’s not the point of this post.

Booksfree.com is, according to the release, “the leading source for online paperback and audiobook rentals. The service offers members over 170,000 titles to choose from in addition to 60,000+ A La Carte rentals (no membership required).”

For as low as $9.99 per month, members can have paperbacks and audiobooks shipped to them for free (as in free shipping). Then they keep the materials as long as they want and then ship the books back to Booksfree.com for free (again, the shipping). The $9.99 plan allows the member to have two items out at a time, and plans go as high as $47.99, which allows for 15 items at a time.

Paperback book rentals arrive within 5-10 business days and audiobooks arrive within 2-5 business days.

Now I would think that for most people, they might go another route, and visit their local library, where they can pretty much check out all the audiobooks and books they want for free (provided they are returned on time). Libraries are capable of getting a copy of pretty much any book in the world for their patrons and their isn’t any subscription fee (unless you’re talking about the property taxes that are going to help fund the library).

I can see how Booksfree.com can be useful to people that are incapable of getting out to their local library, for whatever reason, but then many libraries have bookmobiles or other book delivery services for such patrons. Booksfree.com might also be useful to people in remote areas.

When such services are available to the general public, why has Booksfree.com prospered so much? Because what I haven’t said yet is that the subject of the press release was the company’s recent inclusion on Inc. Magazine’s list of the Top 5,000 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in America from 2004-2007. To qualify for this honor, “Revenue in the initial year must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in the most recent year must have been at least $2,000,000.”

Obviously, people are signing up for, and maintaining subscriptions with this service. The release even hints at other book rental services online. It just strikes me as odd that people would go in for this kind of thing, considering other resources that are available to most Americans. It’s definitely a good thing that people are reading, don’t get me wrong. It’s also good that some American businesses are flourishing in these unstable economic times. It’s just that the thought of starting up or using a Netflix for books kind of business would have never occurred to me. But then, as my wife says, I’m a “library whore,” (until recently I had three cards that worked at five different libraries in the Chicago suburbs) so that might explain it.

Has Anyone Else Seen This?

Seeing as how y'all seem to be more Internets savvy than I am, you probably have seen it, but a friend/former coworker just sent me an invite to Goodreads. Personally, I get plenty of book recommendations from the blogs I read and I don't have the time to read everything I'd like to anyway. Also, I'm loathe to start on another social networking thingie that I'll end up not doing anything with. What do you all think?