Reading challenge 2019 - that's so last year!

Didn't quite make it to 40 in 2019.

2019 Reading Challenge

Mr Muir has read 2 books toward their goal of 30 books.

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2 of 30 (6%)

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Got close but slowed down a bit towards the end. I also failed to keep up with posting reviews and other things in this blog. Will try and keep more on top of things in 2020.

So, here it is, reading challenge 2020. Will I make it to 40 this year?

2020 Reading Challenge

Mr Muir has read 1 book toward their goal of 40 books.

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1 of 40 (2%)

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Review: One Shot

One Shot by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know the other Jack Reacher novels you read? This one is like that... dependable, escapist nonsense (and I mean that as a compliment).

I knew I hadn't read this book but it seemed very familiar. I was beginning to doubt my sanity... until I realised that "One Shot" was used as the plot for the first Jack Reacher film (staring the too short and too charming but otherwise reasonable Jack Reacher impersonator - Tom Cruise). Phew! Marbles more or less intact after all.

As always, I enjoyed the unstoppable nature of Jack Reacher - his Terminator-like qualities that have him ploughing on towards the end in spite of (or probably because of) everything being thrown at him. I especially enjoyed the way he dealt with the problem of approaching the bad guy's "lair" towards the end of the book. And, to add to the fun, there is the usual good dollop of Jack Reacher's wit and wisdom. I offer the following quote by way of example:

You know much about head injuries?'
"Only the ones I cause”

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Review: Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Different origin story to the movie, wildly varying drawing styles, a confusingly convoluted plan from Star Lord's dad and some major plot holes. But, like the movies, a whole bucketload of fun!

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Review: Fire & Blood

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Oh dear. Boring history. Worse, boring fictitious history. Even worse, boring fictitious history with naughty bits. Bah! Mr Martin should have kept them as unpublished background notes.

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Review: Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged!

Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged! by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had never read any Jessica Jones comics but I very much enjoyed the TV series. I was therefore very pleased to come across this volume of stories but the three star rating on this review indicates I was less pleased after I read it!

The story was confused (why was she hiding their child from Luke?) and the artwork was worse (at times, I couldn't tell who was who). Despite that, it was not so bad that I wouldn't give her another go if I find another Jessica Jones book.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement but the best I can do.

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Review: Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck by Steve Gerber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had a complete run of the original Howard The Duck comics that I lost (along with others) in the "The Great Roof Leak" of the 1980's. I was therefore very pleased to find this collection in a charity shop. Annoyingly, however, it only has issues 1 to 8 and (bizarrely) issue 16.

Issue 16 is a particular weird choice since it is an essay rather than a comic... but Gerber was always a wordy writer; see for example the almost solid page of text in issue 2. More annoying is the absence of the Kiss storyline but since it does contain the election attempt for the "All Night" party I am willing to forgive it!

Get Down America!

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Review: Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall

Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall by Spike Milligan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I came across The Goon Show as a young boy by accident (as far as I remember) when I heard it on Radio 4 in a Sunday afternoon comedy slot. I subsequently found a book of Goon Show scripts in the local library. I read and re-read it, committing large chunks to memory, and would recite sections at length to anyone unfortunate enough to get cornered by me.

Having discovered Milligan, I went looking for more. The local library also produced a copy of this book. I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever read! Reading it again, many years later, it still made me laugh out loud but this time I was much more aware of the sadness and melancholy in his tale.

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Review: The Otterbury Incident

The Otterbury Incident by C. Day-Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this when I was a schoolboy. I loved. I wanted to be the boys in the story. I wanted to have the adventures they had. I went as far as creating a game based on one of their japes.

I was slightly worried about re-reading it as a grown-up. What if it wasn't as good as I remembered? As an adult: I loved it. I wanted to be the boys in the story. I wanted to have the adventures they had.

It is, however, very much of its time. Set just after the War, the boys play on a bombsite (the "Incident" of the title) and play at wars. When they take on the bad guys, they get weapons: stones, air rifles, fireworks (which they fire at a baddie!) and... a grenade. Kids, eh!? I dithered about making it four stars because some of the language is particularly unfortunate to modern ears but, in the end, I enjoyed it so much that I went for the full bhoona.

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Review: Shazam!

Shazam! by Geoff Johns
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was fun but not entirely satisfying.

It was somewhat clichéd with: a smart Alec orphan (who was clearly going to turn out to have a heart of gold); a pantomime grumpy neighbour (who bizarrely looks like Richard Branson) and a family of ultra-cute foster children (who ticked just about every diversity box going). Add to that a clumsily handled mystical origin (made all the more naff in comparison to Alan Moore's handling of similar themes in Miracleman, Book One: A Dream of Flying and Captain Britain: A Crooked World). Naff dialog in places too (for example one character describing his foster sister as, "Hot!" felt more than a little icky!).

The artwork, however, was good and, mostly, I enjoyed the story. So, overall, fun!

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Review: The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection

The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection by Lee Strobel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this over the Easter weekend. It is billed as a hard-hitting journalist's investigation into the resurrection. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the hype.

I found the style somewhat annoying. It is structured around a series of interviews with experts but the questions he pitches are hardly Paxman-like in tone. Too often the conversation between author and expert reads something like this:

But what about this difficult thing?

Ah, that is difficult but actually there is this which makes it all better.

Hmm! So, that means bananas aren't really yellow?

Exactly.

If this is an accurate description of how Strobel came to faith, I can't help but feel he was too easily convinced. To be fair though, I believe it is extracted from a longer version of his conversion experience. It is possible it has been over-simplified to make it an easier read.

I think I would have been happier if it had been described as a tract that concisely rehearses the main arguments for the resurrection rather than an investigation by a sceptical journalist. I don't mean this as faint praise; I think the book does a good job of sketching out the main arguments, for example by defending the gospels as historical accounts rather Christian myth.

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Review: Captain Britain: A Crooked World

Captain Britain: A Crooked World by Alan Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very much a nostalgia-fest for me as I read and loved these stories when they were originally published by Marvel UK. It has been many years since I last read this story and it was even better than I remembered it. It is just bursting with ideas. For example, way before the Civil War storyline was a twinkle in US Marvel's eye, Moore was writing about a government clamping down on superheroes and mutants (by concentration camps and killer bio-machines rather than a wimpy registration act). And talking of killer bio-machines, I could be wrong but I think The Fury pre-dates Cameron's The Terminator. How much I enjoyed this collection can be judged from my only criticism: the lettering on the early episodes looks a bit scrappy!

I grew up reading UK comics and was used to relatively short, weekly episodes but, on this re-reading, I am astonished at how much Moore packs into so few pages per issue. There's tragedy and comedy; magic and science; high concept and high camp. To add to the fun, Marvelman makes a brief cameo. The villains range from the morally questionable to the out and out mental. What makes it even more interesting is the line between good and bad is not always clear and we see Captain Britain wrestling with that very issue. Also, unlike most comic books, there is a genuine sense of peril; I wasn't convinced that my favourite characters would come out of the story alive.

I usually get annoyed by the padding at the end of these collections (early sketches, alternative covers etc.) but here the extras (including an article about Alan Moore) were generally interesting.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

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Review: The Affair

The Affair by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hmm! I've only read a few of the Jack Reacher books but have generally enjoyed them. This one though, less so. I still basically liked it for it was: good escapist nonsense. But...

My main problem with it was the bits that felt different from others in the series that I've already read. First, the sex scenes were, well, too sexy. (I realise this seems a weird thing to complain about but I don't remember the other books going into so much detail.) Second, one of the conclusions in the book (and I was surprised that it wasn't the conclusion) stretched my credibility way beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. To make matters worse, I could see no reason why the person who helped him out didn't just step in earlier and stop things from escalating in the first place. Lastly, in this book, Jack was a bit too much Judge Judy and executioner for my liking.

There were a couple of other things that niggled me but I already feel churlish for making the above complaints. It was, despite my reservations, a fun read and I will read more in the series as I come across them.

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Review: The Prodigal God

The Prodigal God by Timothy J. Keller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To my shame, I've never really thought about the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son. I've thought about the younger son and, of course the father. But the older brother I've kind of ignored. If pushed, I think I would have said that the older brother, swayed by his father's argument, would probably have gone in and joined the party. I clearly wasn't paying attention to who it was Jesus was talking to!

The book is interesting and was worth reading but I got the point after the first chapter.

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Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think this is the book where J. K. Rowling lost the plot: literally and figuratively.

The book is way too long but either she was working to a deadline and felt she had to get it out there anyway even though it hadn't been edited down to a reasonable length or the Harry Potter hype machine had taken over and nobody felt they could tell her to cut out half the stuff in the book. For example, the whole Rita Skeeter thing appears to be a largely irrelevant rant from J.K. against tabloid journalism.

I'm still sticking with the series though because, despite my concerns, I am (essentially) enjoying the ride. What follows therefore should be taken as the rants and ramblings of a grumpy old man.

Extreme grumpiness alert
Harry and Ron were particularly annoying in this book and the resolution to their tiff was too trite.

Why were the school Quidditch matches cancelled? They only play three matches a year and the Triwizard thing (in theory) only involved one person from Hogwarts.

Mrs Weasley would not have believed Rita Skeeter's character assassination of Hermione.

Grumpy and spoiler-tastic alert
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How useless is the Triwizard tournament as a spectator event? Apart from the first task, where there is an opportunity to see a child being eaten by a dragon, the audience are not able to see anything that happens during the tasks. Muggle sports have underwater cameras, night vision cameras and cameras on drones that can follow the action as well as large screens in the stadium so the audience can see what's going on. Wizard events have some old duffer that can make his voice loud who presumably says things like, "And the contestants are still under water. I wonder what's happening?".

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Review: Runaways Volume 1: Pride & Joy

Runaways Volume 1: Pride & Joy by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Started off well ...at least, the introduction was good. I enjoyed it less and less though as it went along. Didn't particularly like the style of the artwork but I could have forgiven that if the story had kept me more engaged.

Some nice ideas (this time, the teens have good reason to hate their parents) but there were many things that were handled poorly. For example: the repeated, and unchallenged, use of "gay" as an insult; the use of what I assume is supposed to be teen-speak like "'rents" for "parents"; and the flip-flopping of Chase between dumb jock and the quick-thinking go-to guy who gets the team out of trouble. I think what annoyed me most though was the criminally underused genetically engineered dinosaur. To add insult to injury, I picked up five volumes and every one of them fell apart as I read it.

I'll mark the next section as containing spoilers since what follows are some comments on all five volumes and I'm not going to be particularly careful about what I say!

***SPOILER ALERT***[As villains, the Gibborim were rubbish! Their motivation for setting up an earthly paradise is less then clear. Their choice of murdering criminals to populate this paradise is questionable. The decision to only let half of them to progress to this "paradise" is bizarre. And they were stupidly easy to kill in an all too short showdown against the Runaways. (Assuming they are indeed dead - this is a comic book after all.)

Alex Wilder as group traitor? Why? I didn't buy it. And I especially thought that the secret messages to the Pride saying there was a traitor but not revealing himself were stupid. I didn't like this at all.

And am I the only one who finds the idea of a teenager using self-harm as a means of unleashing her powers, disturbing? More than disturbing. Deeply distasteful. (hide spoiler)]
***Stop reading now to avoid spoilers***
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As villains, the Gibborim were rubbish! Their motivation for setting up an earthly paradise is less then clear. Their choice of murdering criminals to populate this paradise is questionable. The decision to only let half of them progress to this "paradise" is bizarre. And they were stupidly easy to kill in an all too short showdown against the Runaways. (Assuming they are indeed dead - this is a comic book after all.)

Alex Wilder as group traitor? Why? I didn't buy it. And I especially thought that the secret messages to the Pride saying there was a traitor but not revealing himself were stupid. I didn't like this at all.

And am I the only one who finds the idea of a teenager using self-harm as a means of unleashing her powers, disturbing? More than disturbing. Deeply distasteful.


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Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was kind of disappointed with this book. Most of the pictures are indeed peculiar but the writing doesn't rise to the weirdness of the photographs. The opening is promising but it kind of tails off fairly quickly thereafter. And the twists that (I think) were supposed to surprise... didn't. (I felt I had to add "I think" to the last sentence. That should tell you a lot about this book!)

By the end of the book, too much was left unresolved. It felt like it was setting up the next book rather than finishing this one. I won't be seeking out the rest of the series.

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Review: Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel

Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel by Kevin J. Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this.

I read the novel it is based on about six years ago. At the time, I described the book as being, "...not without merit" - practically the definition of praising with faint damns! I find myself similarly ambivalent about the graphic novel version.

I didn't particularly like the artwork; I found it too arty. I read one of the chapters as a digital comic when it first came out and it looked OK on the iPad where I could enlarge each panel to fill the screen. In printed form, however, I found the artwork cramped and fussy. I think it needs the space to breath. The story as been edited somewhat to make it fit the graphic novel format but, at times, it felt a bit too heavily edited and I suspect that if I hadn't known the story from the novel, I would have struggled to follow the flow at times.

Having said that, I think the comic format suited the episodic nature of the story. Also, the intrusive Rush references that so annoyed me in the novel didn't bother me so much here. The preface suggested that more Rush references had been added into the art but I didn't really notice them on first reading, so they are clearly placed with more subtlety than the sledgehammer and crowbar method that was used to insert lyrical references into the novel version.

More of a three and a half than a four star review but, overall, I liked the graphic novel better than the book.

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Review: Miracleman, Book Two: The Red King Syndrome

Miracleman, Book Two: The Red King Syndrome by Alan Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Most of this book is astonishingly good. Alan Moore's writing is as brilliant as ever and Alan Davis' artwork is just as impressive as Garry Leach's from Miracleman, Book One: A Dream of Flying. Between them they produced one of my favourite sections: Mr Cream is having a nightmare. The panels on the page are warping and twisting with his dream as he falls towards us and the nightmare bursts out the confines of the frames. A bird screams, and screams again, and screams again... And, as the drawing of the bird fills more of the panel, Cream's hand reaches out and it resolves into the telephone that wakes him from his dream. Outstanding! (And basically visual - my description does not do it justice.)

And then, a car crash. A full multi-car pile up in the shape of Chuck Austen's artwork. It was jarring in the extreme. When I first encountered it, I checked the front cover to make sure I hadn't picked up the wrong book! It looks amateurish, which is ironic since at the time he was working on Miracleman, Alan Davis was driving a forklift in a warehouse and treated drawing comics as a hobby, whereas Chuck Austen was (allegedly) a professional artist. Thankfully, Austen did not last long and was quickly replaced by Rick Veitch. Unfortunately, while better than Austen, he was not a patch on Leach or Davis. Worst of all, he made what was a landmark scene in comics look scrappy and ugly... and not in a good way.

As with Book 1, there is a bucketload of original drawings and sketches included. Since I was unimpressed with the finished artwork of Austen and Veitch, it will come as no surprise that I was even less impressed with this section than I was in the first collection of stories! I suppose it is possible that an aspiring comicbook artist might find it interesting but it didn't do anything for me.

Overall, I still enjoyed the story but the artwork in the last few chapters almost derailed my appreciation.

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Review: How Does It Feel?: A Life of Musical Misadventures

How Does It Feel?: A Life of Musical Misadventures by Mark Kermode
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I tried self-deprecating humour... but I wasn't very good at it. Mark Kermode, on the other hand, is a master.

If you listen to the award-winning podcast, Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, you will know how he speaks; with enthusiasm, wit and a deep knowledge of his subject. If you want a preview of how this book reads, listen to the podcast. He writes the way he speaks.

His passion for music shines through the pages of this book and while I do not understand his obsession with The Comsat Angels, I recognise the same obsession in my own life with the band Rush. Where we differ is in what he does with that obsesion. I must admit to some jealousy when I read where his obsessions have taken him; the people he has met and the things he has experienced. Perhaps it helps when you go to school with people like David Baddiel and Jason Isaacs (a quick Google suggest nobody famous went to my secondary school) but it is almost certainly true that interesting things happen to interesting people... and a lot of interesting things are described in this book.

I have a signed copy because I went to hear him speak on one of the dates where he was promoting this book. At the Q&A, someone asked him why he watched movies and thought, "I could write about that!", but listened to music and thought, "I could do that!". It was an interesting question but he was unable to fully explain the difference. For me, I enjoy watching films but music hits me at much deeper level. Mark feels the power of both and can talk eloquently about both. This book, however focuses on music and I love the way he describes it, especially the music you hear as a teenager:

"…I felt like I was in an episode of Doctor Who; as if I had somehow created a warp in the time-space continuum and was being sucked back into the past at a speed of thirty-three-and-a-third revolutions per minute.

If you want proof that time travel is possible, just listen to a record you first heard as a teenager. If that's not a time machine, I don't know what is."

If that doesn't make you want to read this book, I don't know what will.

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Read in 2019

This post will automatically update every time I finish a book in 2019. I managed thirty-one books in 2018.  Will I manage more than thirty-one in 2019? Only time will tell.

Mr Muir's bookshelf: read-in-2019

The Otterbury Incident

by C. Day-Lewis

tagged: read-in-2019

Shazam!

by Geoff Johns

tagged: read-in-2019

The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection

by Lee Strobel

tagged: read-in-2019

Captain Britain: A Crooked World

by Alan Moore

tagged: read-in-2019

The Affair

by Lee Child

tagged: read-in-2019