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Strays Dogs and Stray Dogs- Dog Days: My Little Puppy Horror/Thrillers

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Trade Paperback graphic novel Stray Dogs- was brought to us by Image Comics and two of the geniuses behind the My Little Pony comics. Comic creators Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner reall hit it home with this 5 part comic single compendium. Also released was a Prequel called Stray Dogs: Dog Days - A 2-shot comic of backstory singles for many of the characters plus a comic book store day exclusive (Not exclusive anymore! Hahaha.. Sorry). The comic has a simple premise, but a deep well of emotional territory. Dogs have short memories. they remember the generalization of who their human is, the day to day and the NOW, but beyond that... Goldfish memory. They say that dogs remember the stability, but not the details. I don’t know that I agree with all that. In my experience dogs have a long memory, but are quick to forgive rather than forget. Sophie is a tiny scared little pup. She is brought 'home' where she meets several new dogs. All of them are rescues. They are nice, varied per...
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Being Patrick Swayze - Essential Teachings from the Master of the Mullet

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Neal Fischer did a number on me with this book. Being Patrick Swayze is a really well produced book. The entire thing feels like it was custom crafted to live inside a 1980's Trapper Keeper and brought out only for fellow Swayze fans to feast their eyes on. Every page was created with distinct intention. And the author KNOWS it, calling out at one point that placing this as a coffee table book in a place of honor would be an appropriate post read decision. Filled with Food and Drink to pair with film viewing- drinking games, trivia, moviefacts, even a connect the dots to see if Swayze is wearing a shirt. Everything about this book is amazing. 160+ pages of Mullets and positive vibes. Embrace the Elemental Chart.. The Mullet, Hungry Eyes, Tender Strength, Pure Adrenaline, and Peaceful Warrior. Not sure you can afford this work of art? It was published in 2022 and is avail on amazon for under $10... So yeah. No excuses.
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SunBurn - Graphic Novel goodness

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  Sunburn (Image Comics) was a good read, though it had some confusion and was a bit of a slow burn.  Rachel Collingwood, a 16 year old Londoner, gets a very random invitation to spend the summer in Greece. The inviters are some folk that knew her family when she was a toddler. Peter and Diana Warner have an amazing home though, and it is too good an opportunity to skip. During a never ending circle of parties Rachel goes to wearing borrowed clothes, she is introduced to a boy named Ben and fed drinks and teenage freedom. All together, the story is enjoyable. It has some gaps you have to fill in yourself, and while there is a general feeling of dismay that something is 'off', the people are genuine and fairly considerate to each other. Artistically, the entire book is in blue and brown tones with an occasional pop of a red object. this was fine to experience on an ipad, but on my Kindle Colorsoft, it was just too bland and lacking vibrancy. On book like this which already is l...
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Diana Wynne Jones - Witch Week

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  Rereading this while my Daughter dives in for the first time.. Solid teen fiction. Love that magic and science coexist in the Chrestomanci series. The entire series is a Multiverse theory primer for early teens. Cant go wrong with Diana Wynne Jones This novel follows an entire class of 6th graders at a boarding school for orphans of Witches. Users of magic are actively burnt at the stake and disappeared by the government. Sideways goes the story when on page one a note is passed to the teacher advising someone in the class is a Witch. Things get stranger when many of the class are accused and fear for their lives. Jones as always is just a spectacular writer and I wish Miyazaki would keep on trend and pick up yet another of her books for a new animation. --- for reference: Book cover from when I was a kid.
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Rereading: The Lives of Christopher Chant

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  I read this book back in the 80's. Bought it at Sears with my grandfather on my birthday. Always thought it was a great book. I read it several times over my middle grade years. Related, while an adult I read Harry Potter and enjoyed the universe. I always felt that it was a little referential to the Chrestomanci series, though the level of detail Rowling applied was insane. I just got done re-reading 'The lives of Christopher Chant' again.. Read it again because my daughter was reading by suggestion. I was just as enamored by the plot, the characters, and the arch of growth Chant experiences as the chapters fly by. I can tell my kid enjoyed the book as much as I did. I am proud to say my daughter and I just had a detailed theoretical discussion about how Harry Potter was heavily influenced by this series, and yet, because Voldemort only had himself +Horcruxes, he is still one 'soul' shy of 9, and if the universes are related (maybe Potterverse is world Twelve D o...
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I reeeeaally liked Crouch's Dark Matter

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  Blake Crouch, Blakey Blakey Blakey. I really liked Dark Matter. Dark Matter has been on my TBR list for years. Since it's release in 2016, I have had friends telling me it is up my alley, that I would really dig it. I trusted them so I never read the back, it was just on the list. I would see it in book stores and say 'Oh Yeah! I need to read that.' This year, it actually entered my home. My wife ran into it, bought it, read it, handed it to me, and... It skipped the To Be Read Pile and just got CONSUMED. It was a fast and solid read. Light on deep quantum mechanic details but solid on describing what you need to grok to enjoy the book and screw with your head the right base amount. Reminded me of drunk 20-something nights slurring theories under the stars about the universe and concepts our inebriated brains believe we are speculative experts at, but are actually to afraid to scratch the surface of. Runonsentance. Twists and turns keep it fresh, which is nice since the f...
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ReReading: The Gunslinger- the start of Stephen Kings epic Dark Tower series

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  ReReading- It's been 30-odd years since I read Stephen King's The Gunslinger. I remember reading the first several books in the series, never making it past The Wizard and the Glass because.. well, life. What a confusing half story The Gunslinger was. The story was loose and fragmented. Rowland (the Gunslinger himself) was haunted by his past, blinded by his desire to catch the Man in Black. He seems ti be knowledgable in some things, but his education seems to be incomplete, like a kid who left school in 6th grade to take on as a apprenticeship he hates less than the classes he was foced to sit through. Being purposefully obtuse- Half story or not, I enjoyed it. Rowland in the town with a mob of death and religion, crossing the desert, climbing mountain passes with a presumed deceased boy. All of it, including the loss of a decade to a long discussion about the future. Yes, my review is as fractured as the book. Looking forward to reading the Drawing of the Three again, and ...
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