What are you reading?

[s.chivers Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close s.chivers]

Vernon Subutex 1 by Viginie Despentes.

I’ve been looking forward to this. An aging, former record store owner is down on his luck in the digital age.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Official Movie Novelization: Out of all the MonsterVerse movie novelizations, this could be the best one I've read. Not only does it expand upon the story (though not as much as the one for Godzilla vs. Kong), but it also tells scenes from various perspectives, including from some of the monsters. It's especially cool how the author did so from Kong's POV, particularly in regards to his relationship with humans and Godzilla, emphasizing just how different the two of them are from each other.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

The Art of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: I really enjoy these "art and making of" books, to the point where I have them for all of the MonsterVerse movies. This one was very easy to breeze through in just a couple of sittings, filled with a lot of beautiful artwork and storyboards from the movie's production. I will say that I do think that the other books were a tad better and more detailed, whereas this one felt a lot leaner, but, then again, in that respect, it fits with the movie itself.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

Oh Mother, What Have You Done? The Making of Psycho II: This is a book that I was really looking forward to, as it's basically Tom Holland and the film's editor, Andrew London, going through the late Richard Franklin's memoirs, as he talks about how he got the job of directing Psycho II, the process of making it, and the aftermath of its release. The main body is set up with an excerpt from the memoirs, followed by Holland and London, usually the former, commenting or adding their own perspective. While it is interesting, it's not nearly as detailed as I would've hoped it would be, since it's only from the perspective of three people. It only touches on how the film started out as a made-for-cable movie (no mention is made of Christopher Walken possibly playing Norman Bates in that version), how difficult it was to get Anthony Perkins to agree to star in it, and the falling out that happened between him and Meg Tilly, when it would've been nice to know so much more in those respects. Also, little-to-nothing is said about some of the other actors, like Robert Loggia, Dennis Franz, and the like. Even though this is quite a big, hardback book (the pages aren't marked with numbers), I was able to blow through the main body of it in almost one hour, as there are a number of pages that are nothing but images.

That said, the book's latter half is made up of interesting stuff, like Franklin and Holland's notes plotting the film's story, some storyboards with accompanying screenplay excerpts, the shooting and post-production schedules, the freaking post-production budget, a bunch of press notes about the making of the film and the cast, and a selection of various poster artwork. It also has an afterword by Anthony S. Cipriano, the man behind Bates Motel, who talks about how Psycho II inspired him to do that show. All in all, if you like Psycho II, this is worth reading, but it's not the end all, be all account of the film's production by a long shot.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

Jason 3-D: A Comprehensive Expose on Friday the 13th Part 3: This is Amazon Direct Publishing book by R.G. Henning, who did a similar book a few years ago on Part 2, and since I liked that book really well, I decided to see what he had to say about Part 3, mainly because that's one of my personal favorite Friday the 13ths. He goes through all the characters and the actors who portrayed them, using whatever sources are available, as well getting new interviews, and for each character, he also talks about their respective portions of the movie, narrating it in a third person perspective, as if you were reading a novel (I can't remember if he did that with the previous book). It was an enjoyable read, and I hope he does one on The Final Chapter some time soon. (Save for one on the 2009 remake, that would probably be the last one he'd do, as he admits here that he only recognizes the first four Friday the 13ths and the remake, writing off the others completely. He admits that he is a bit of a slasher snob in that respect.)

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

Godzilla's 70th Anniversary: A hardback collection from IDW of Godzilla comic stories, which I got for Christmas. Not being much of a comic reader, Godzilla or not, I went through this really just out of obligation, but I have to admit, I did like a lot of this stuff. I was able to breeze through it in just a couple of days since, obviously, there's often not a lot of dialogue. In addition to some original stories, there were also reprints of issues from other comic series, such as Godzilla Legends, Godzilla in Hell, Godzilla: Rage Across Time, and Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. The story from Godzilla Legends was probably my favorite one in this collection, as it was about this guy who's hired to actually climb Godzilla to get some tissue samples from him, and while he's climbing, he gets caught up in various battles that Godzilla is caught up in and destruction that he causes. I knew about Godzilla in Hell and Rulers of Earth, as I'd flipped through this books when I found them at stores. Specifically, they have the first issue of Godzilla in Hell, where Godzilla first finds himself in the underworld and wanders through it, coming across bizarre and freakish demons and images; and the issue of Rulers of Earth has Godzilla battling Zilla in Honolulu, which I'd also heard about. Rage Against Time was a flashback to the Cretaceous period, with Godzilla and numerous other Toho kaiju (Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, Battra, Ebirah, Kumonga, Varan, Baragon, and even Megalon) are seen battling amid dinosaurs. King Ghidorah, in its Monster X form, makes an appearance here, as do the Xiliens from Monster Zero, which was cool.

The first story, the Half-Century Bore, is a comical one about two new members of the Anti-Megalosaurus Force who are stuck having to clean up after Godzilla obliterates Hedorah. Contagion is about a scientist who develops a virus that gets out of hand after it's used by the military, leading Godzilla to pass judgement on both it and its creator. Of Gods and Con Artists is about a con artist who attempts to scam a mob boss, only for them to get caught up in a battle between Godzilla and Biollante. In the Shadow of a God is a very short, almost black-and-white comic about a young girl who finds herself alone in the aftermath of Godzilla's attack. Godzilla "In the Darkness" was about a little kid who's forced to go to bed by himself, only for Godzilla to appear out of the darkness and terrorize him. Fortunately for him, Jet Jaguar comes to the rescue. The Big One is about a family who owns a little country store having to deal with the outcome of Godzilla battling some bizarre, snail-like monsters in the area. Ain't No Place For An Angel takes place in the Wild West and actually involves Mothra and Baragon, as well as Godzilla. In Summation is a very cool one, as it's from the notes of a guy who was born during Godzilla's first rampage in 1954, who has been researching him throughout his whole life, and his opinion on him has changed over time. (The artwork goes through Godzilla's various designs as the story progresses.) And finally, Aftermath, uses Godzilla in a clever way as part of a story about the haves and have-nots.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Godzilla's 70th Anniversary: A hardback collection from IDW of Godzilla comic stories, which I got for Christmas. Not being much of a comic reader, Godzilla or not, I went through this really just out of obligation, but I have to admit, I did like a lot of this stuff. I was able to breeze through it in just a couple of days since, obviously, there's often not a lot of dialogue. In addition to some original stories, there were also reprints of issues from other comic series, such as Godzilla Legends, Godzilla in Hell, Godzilla: Rage Across Time, and Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. The story from Godzilla Legends was probably my favorite one in this collection, as it was about this guy who's hired to actually climb Godzilla to get some tissue samples from him, and while he's climbing, he gets caught up in various battles that Godzilla is caught up in and destruction that he causes. I knew about Godzilla in Hell and Rulers of Earth, as I'd flipped through this books when I found them at stores. Specifically, they have the first issue of Godzilla in Hell, where Godzilla first finds himself in the underworld and wanders through it, coming across bizarre and freakish demons and images; and the issue of Rulers of Earth has Godzilla battling Zilla in Honolulu, which I'd also heard about. Rage Against Time was a flashback to the Cretaceous period, with Godzilla and numerous other Toho kaiju (Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, Battra, Ebirah, Kumonga, Varan, Baragon, and even Megalon) are seen battling amid dinosaurs. King Ghidorah, in its Monster X form, makes an appearance here, as do the Xiliens from Monster Zero, which was cool.

The first story, the Half-Century Bore, is a comical one about two new members of the Anti-Megalosaurus Force who are stuck having to clean up after Godzilla obliterates Hedorah. Contagion is about a scientist who develops a virus that gets out of hand after it's used by the military, leading Godzilla to pass judgement on both it and its creator. Of Gods and Con Artists is about a con artist who attempts to scam a mob boss, only for them to get caught up in a battle between Godzilla and Biollante. In the Shadow of a God is a very short, almost black-and-white comic about a young girl who finds herself alone in the aftermath of Godzilla's attack. Godzilla "In the Darkness" was about a little kid who's forced to go to bed by himself, only for Godzilla to appear out of the darkness and terrorize him. Fortunately for him, Jet Jaguar comes to the rescue. The Big One is about a family who owns a little country store having to deal with the outcome of Godzilla battling some bizarre, snail-like monsters in the area. Ain't No Place For An Angel takes place in the Wild West and actually involves Mothra and Baragon, as well as Godzilla. In Summation is a very cool one, as it's from the notes of a guy who was born during Godzilla's first rampage in 1954, who has been researching him throughout his whole life, and his opinion on him has changed over time. (The artwork goes through Godzilla's various designs as the story progresses.) And finally, Aftermath, uses Godzilla in a clever way as part of a story about the haves and have-nots.

If you're into the IDW Godzilla comics, which I think have been pretty hit or miss, look into Tom Scioli's Godzilla: Monsterpiece Theater. It won't be to all tastes but I loved it and have read it twice since it came out.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

If you're into the IDW Godzilla comics, which I think have been pretty hit or miss, look into Tom Scioli's Godzilla: Monsterpiece Theater. It won't be to all tastes but I loved it and have read it twice since it came out.

Huh. That's definitely interesting-looking.

[Newt Cox Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Newt Cox]

Tom Scioli.... Now I really want to hear Cody's thoughts on that comic.

Cody I will see if I can find them cheap and hook ya up. If they aint cheap you on your own sir.

Plus you still need to read Dark Horse's Godzilla vs Charles Barkley

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

Godzilla: The Encyclopedia: Written by Shinji Nishikawa, a manga artist and character designer, who's worked on various Godzilla movies since the Heisei era, this book takes you through the entire Japanese Godzilla franchise and looks at every single kaiju, including Godzilla's different forms over the years, going into details about their characteristics, how each creature was designed, and so on. Nishikawa gets to show off his skills with excellent, detailed, beautifully-colored drawings of each kaiju, including some minor ones that most people would skip over. My only complaint is that he doesn't talk about the Legendary Pictures movies, likely because his specialty is the Japanese films (he does talk about the 1998 Godzilla but that's only because that creature appears in Final Wars). While that's understandable, I would've liked to see him comment on the kaiju in those movies. He also doesn't talk about any media outside of the Japanese movies, save for the series, Godzilla: Singular Point. It's a shame to not hear him talk about stuff like the Hanna-Barbera show (no profiles on Godzooky here) or the show based on Godzilla '98. It also sucks that this book went out before Minus One was released. And finally, while well-written for the most part, there are moments where Nishikawa's grasp on English isn't perfect. Still, whether you're a newcomer or a lifelong fan, like me, this is a really great book to have.

[s.chivers Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close s.chivers]

Resisting the temptation to jump straight into Vernon Subutex 2 . . .

Another Country, by James Baldwin.

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

Maniac by Stephane Bourgoin

I love the new trend of novelizing old genre films, but this one is a bit lacking. It's rather clunky, English is clearly not their first language (or it was translated from French) and I'm not a fan of books written in the present tense: I always get the impression that someone just took the script and added a bit more description. Still, I'm all for bringing back a dying trend and I like living in a world where I get to put a Maniac novelization on my shelf.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

8 Days in the Woods: The Making of The Blair Witch Project: The last of the books that I got for Christmas, this was really well-research and informative, talking about the film's inception, auditioning the actors, the filming, the release, and the aftermath and legacy. I didn't plan on starting to read it around the same time I went through that very stacked Second Sight Blu-Ray, as it led to me hearing a lot of the same information twice, but it just worked out that way. But, while I would recommend this book to any fan, the one problem with it is that it's loaded with typos. Besides a number of missing punctuation marks and spelling errors, you have sentence fragments, inconsistent italicization, and shifting back and forth between present and past tense, which can make for a confusing read. It is this author's first book, so I'm willing to let some things slide, but he needs to hire an editor the second time around.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

The Executioners: I wasn't far into this when I realised I was reading Cape Fear. I've been reading a heap of Lansdale recently and I realised reading this how much he's influenced by this one. Stories like Cold In July taking a different approach to solve the same dilemma. But this is good, tough sorry telling and manages to pack a lot of character and subtext into not many words.

[Gary Banks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gary Banks]

I found the first 38 Executioner (Mack Bolan) books by Don Pendleton last week in one of our boxes. I've read about half of them since then and it was a very well written series compared to others of its time.