Books & Stuff (NS, No 6) - Reading in Sep 2020

 

Robert A Heinlein, Time for the Stars

What can I say?  I love the Heinlein juveniles.  And they're just the right length to read at a (long) sitting (and if you don't have anyone who objects to the light being on until 4am).

Joss Whedon, Brett Matthew, Will Conrad, Serenity: Those Left Behind

Regular readers might have spotted the odd hint that I'm a 'Firefly' fan.  During Lockdown I watched several dvd box-sets.  One of them was the complete 'Firefly' - which, sadly, doesn't take long.  I'm now making up for it and getting some Joss Whedon fix by watching the complete 'Buffy the Vampire Killer' (which is less hokey than I remember).

This comic book (orignally issued in three issues) bridges the gap between the premiture end of the TV series and the film 'Serenity'.

It's nothing spectacular - it would have made a couple of decent episodes.

John Gisby, New Zealand With A Hobbit Botherer

A quite funny account of a holiday to New Zealand the author took with his Orlando Bloom-fancying wife in 2004 - the height of the LOTR tourist boom.

Light but fun.

Currently Reading

Simon Harris, The Other Norfolk Admirals: Myngs, Narbrough and Shovell

Biography of the aforesaid admirals.  Another study of the Restoration navy.

I'm not sure if I actually picked this up during the month. It's a little heavy-going.

James Ellroy, Perfidia

About 20 years ago I read a shit-load of James Ellroy (that's the technical term), but very little since.

Perfidia is the first book in the Second LA Quartet, serving as a prequel to the first Quartet.  This book covers the first fortnight of America's entry into the Second World War and, more specifically how that effects LA's Japanese community and the LAPD.

As you'd expect from James Ellroy it's dark, dense and a little perverted.  

A great read.  It's making me thing that I should re-read the original Quartet: but a little Ellroy goes a long way!

Max Brooks, The Zombie Survival Guide

Because the way this year is going, it's better to be safe isn't it?

I picked this up on a whim and am finding it better than I expected (I didn't rate the film that was made of his other book, World War Z).  It's written in a dead-pan completely in-universe style and makes some interesting games.

If anyone plays any Zombie RPGs (or LARPS!) this would prove invaluable reading.