The Great Summer Reading List

Ah, Summer, what strange tidings you bring. Inappropriate clothing choices, sandals (which I just bought), and vacations. Oh, and let us not forget The Summer Reading List: that epic, publishing house-inspired showcase of titles guaranteed to give you something to talk about well into the winter months. You might suspect that because I work within a warehouse of classic books, I am immune to these kinds of lists but that isn't the case. I'm as much a sucker as the next nerd, but I can't complain. The whole world told me to read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Into The Woods and the whole world had a point.
     This year, however, will be different. I've decided to start--what I'm charmingly referring to as--my "Alpha Beta Book List." What is the Alpha Beta? It's simple. I begin by choosing a work of fiction from an author whose last name begins with A. When I've finished, I then chose an author whose last name begins with B and so on and so forth. My goal is to complete the alphabet by the end of the summer.
     I've been reading a lot of nonfiction lately, so I'm going to restrict my choices to novels and plays. Graphic novels and comic trade will not count towards the list for one reason only: I read those all the time and I can't imagine going a couple months without. Plus, they're so quick. And wonderful. And imaginative. And...oh, yes, getting back to the list...Once a book has been read, I will mark it so at the bottom of the blog in my "Books Read" section. Please feel free to start your own Alpha Beta or tell me what's on your list for the summer.

The first book has already been read: Douglas Adams' A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and what an enjoyable read it was. I must confess to having seen the movie before I read the book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Sam Rockwell's Zaphod Beeblebrox is quite remarkable.

"Cool? You bet. But The Lonely Bookman's got me beat."

An Entry For The Readers of Tomorrow!

People love to add annotations to their books: it cements the "see, see, these books are mine and I've read them!" quality to a fine collection. These quotes usually revolve around the story, but in my searching I've found passages that explain the day, the surroundings, who the reader was with when they finished the story, etc. They're one-line, journal entries that are purely esoteric, and I'm guilty of this myself.
     Some customers are put off by this, and I can understand why: if you buy a collectible book at a collectible price, the book should be in collectible condition. It's a kick to both hemispheres of the brain to approach a sought after book--one that looks amazing--only to open it and find "Wally finally got over being sick two days before we got to the beach." Exception are made, of course, if the side notes are penned by someone of note.
     I enjoy finding annotations in non-collectible copies of books (they're called "reading" copies in bookese) because it makes sifting through book after book more interesting; Annotations add an additional story to something that's already a story. "This book existed before you picked it up. It's got history, man. This book has been places." In giving the book an added legacy like a set of emotions, we get to use the phrase "pathetic fallacy"when describing it, and why would you not want to use the word "pathetic fallacy?" If I were seventeen and emo was still cool and/or relevant, I would start a band with that name. "My guitar would shout* misplaced teen-angst unto the world."
   

Today's find is more of journal entry than a quote, and like an entry it's both personal and oddly entertaining. The previous owner describes the setting where the book was presented to him, the conversation that prompted the meeting, and even the weather. 

*Yet another example of pathetic fallacy.

Fun With Failed Prophecies

Great books pose great questions; bad books are hilarious.

In fairness, I have never read this book. It may be the answer to all life's questions or the solution to leveling off the kitchen table, I can't say? If I'm making an educated guess, I'd say it deals with prophecies--specifically Doomsday prophecies--that thankfully have failed to come true.
     On page four (the first and only page I checked out) the second paragraph starts:

"Who Built The Great Pyramids?

Some have declared that the monument's designer was a survivor of sunken Atlantis..." 

Atlantis? Atlantis? A sunken survivor of Atlantis? Out of all possible explanations, the first one given links the Great Pyramid of Giza to Atlantis? Yeeeesh.

Beware The Gutter In ALLIGATOR ALLEY

If there is a theme present--and I'm not referring to the lack of posts--it's comic book images. Why? Next weekend is the The Buffalo Niagara International Antiquarian Book, Paper & Ephemera Fair at the Convention Center in downtown Buffalo, and, for the past week, I've been bagging and boarding comics to present at the show.
     Most of the titles are DC and while I'm not a fan of the story arcs, I do love the artwork.

Just check out this issue of The Unexpected. The title constricts the image just a wee bit, but, overall, it's a good composition--a classic circular "X" shape with your eye zeroing in on a snarly, half-human/half-alligator and a scantily clad maiden to lead the focus up, around, and finally back down to the swamp.

I also like that everything in the background is in a brown-wash. It helps to bring the alligator/woman out of the background.


Ah, the conference papers one could write about this; the nerdy jokes one could resort to if we ignored that it's just complete, throw-away fiction. The whole point of the cover is to interest you enough to buy it, and I feel that this image raises enough questions to warrant, at least, a look-through. Why is that beautiful woman in that swamp? Do alligator men just bench press the hotties and eat the ugs? Was she living in that van? Why does that alligator in the background not appear violent and human-like? Why is his tail so long?

Or maybe the whole thing is a metaphor for...

                                                                        ..."parking?"

You know what I'm talkin' about.

Bow Chi-ca Growl Growl.

The Evil Eye

I sometimes wish that bad guys--real life bad guys--dressed the way comic book super-villains do. Imagine sitting at your desk, staring out into the glory that is "the outside world," only to have a giant, motorcycle riding Eyeball zoom by your window. Ignore the shock to your senses and tell me that you wouldn't assume they were up to no good?

And don't even get me started on the laughter.

Think of the laughter!

                     
It's got to be so hard coming up with villains. Orby here is a Ghost Rider baddie, hence the reason he's riding a motorcycle and, while comic-dom is no stranger to walking eyes, laser eyes, floating eyes, and the like, this kind of enemy is really a hard sell.
     I love lame bad guys; however, if for no other reason than the lampooning of said bad guy. A few years and a lifetime ago, Marvel was releasing a series Spider-Man's Tangled Web that focused more on the people Spider-Man affected, rather than the hero himself. And while most of the stories ended on something of a down-note, "lamer" villain stories were often written like they couldn't have been in the first place: as a parody.

So, for all my fellow nerds out there, if you haven't checked out Spider-Man's Tangled Web I recommend doing so. "Double Shots" is a favorite (as it got me into the series), but I am a fan of the whole 22-issue run.

And remember...