What are you currently reading?

[dannyboy121070]

I just started reading EX MACHINA: THE COMPLETE SERIES OMNIBUS......I'm only a few issues into this massive volume that collects, I believe, 54 issues, but the urge to skip ahead to the ending is almost overwhelming. I'm really enjoying watching the story unfold, but the hints and clues that author Brian K. Vaughan doles out are driving me crazy. In a good way. This is an excellent read.

[WebInterceptor]

I usually don't read comic books mostly because large majority follows the same formula of super heroes and I am quite sick of it and also I don't have patience to find some issue from 2-3 years back to link to one issue i am holding in hand. I like to hold a book which I can read from start to finish as a complete story. Anyways, I said this intro because of something usual that I happened to pick up yesterday and start reading. I picked up the complete collection of Alex + Ada by image comics. The premise of the book is that sometime in the future there is this guy Alex who is gifted an android (robot) with a big A.I by his grand mother. However the the A.I was strictly limited because of some former incident when the androids became sentient or conscious and killed people. Irrespective of this, Alex feels different wants his Android to have free thinking and unlocks the "sentient" part of the brain. And hence follows the events.

alex.JPG

Somehow the story has been really interesting so far. I think I am going to look and see if image comics has a few more of such complete stories which are really different from the usual norm of super hero nonsense.

[TacomaDiver]

I'm not familiar with that particular title, but I can echo your sentiments about complete stories that are out of the normal realm of superheroes. Going to add this to my list of things to check out.

ETA: My library has the three regular collections - on my hold list now.!

I believe that I've touched on it before (not sure which thread,) but comics today (to me at least,) feel like they're being written for the inevitable collection - basically let's wrap up a story in 6 issues so we can make a collection. Some creators are better than others at this in the sense that it doesn't feel like the story is being rushed, and others aren't very good at it.

If you're looking for something that's not "superhero nonsense," and with complete collections, I recommend almost anything by Terry Moore. Strangers in Paradise is available in one collection (two GIANT books,) as is Rachel Rising (one giant book,) Echo (one giant book,) and finally Motor Girl (half-a-giant book.)

There's also Queen & Country from Greg Rucka (I know they are collections, I don't think there's a complete edition) - it's basically an MI6 series. Or Whiteout (US Marshall in Antarctica) - there's definitely a new complete collection of that out there.

And just so people don't think I'm an impostor - Mouse Guard. Three stories (Fall, Winter, and The Black Axe (which takes play before Fall)) and three other collections featuring stories from other creators. I love my mice.

[c marvel]

I'm still reading Japan in the Second World War in Color by David Batty. I read The Complete Max Collins/Rick Fletcher #1. I'm about halfway done reading The Transfiguration Of Mister Punch by Charles Schneider, D. P. Watt and Cate Gardner. I set TTOMP aside and am enjoying reading Homicide Lost by William Vance.

Cap

[TacomaDiver]

I usually don't read comic books mostly because large majority follows the same formula of super heroes and I am quite sick of it and also I don't have patience to find some issue from 2-3 years back to link to one issue i am holding in hand. I like to hold a book which I can read from start to finish as a complete story. Anyways, I said this intro because of something usual that I happened to pick up yesterday and start reading. I picked up the complete collection of Alex + Ada by image comics. The premise of the book is that sometime in the future there is this guy Alex who is gifted an android (robot) with a big A.I by his grand mother. However the the A.I was strictly limited because of some former incident when the androids became sentient or conscious and killed people. Irrespective of this, Alex feels different wants his Android to have free thinking and unlocks the "sentient" part of the brain. And hence follows the events.

Somehow the story has been really interesting so far. I think I am going to look and see if image comics has a few more of such complete stories which are really different from the usual norm of super hero nonsense.

Just picked up all three volumes from the library this morning, so I'll be giving this one a whirl next. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

I've also started the fourth Cormoran Strike novel from Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) - Lethal White.

[c marvel]

I finished reading Japan in the Second World War in Color by David Batty. There was some info. I wasn't aware of and the last chapter was revealing.
I read Homicide Lost by William Vance and started The Circus In Winter by Cathy Day which I'm enjoying. I have not yet gone back to reading The Transfiguration Of Mister Punch.

Cap

[RonClinton]

Currently reading UNDERSTUDY FOR DEATH by Charles Willeford, the recent tpb reprint by Hard Case Crime. Excited to finally get a chance to read this one, as the original pb from 1961 is rather expensive.

[mhatchett]

Currently reading UNDERSTUDY FOR DEATH by Charles Willeford, the recent tpb reprint by Hard Case Crime. Excited to finally get a chance to read this one, as the original pb from 1961 is rather expensive.

Ron, have you read his autobiographies, I was looking for a street by Charles Ray Willeford, 1988 and Something About a Soldier, 1988? Fantastic books. Also Don Herron's Willeford, 1997.

[RonClinton]

Ron, have you read his autobiographies, I was looking for a street by Charles Ray Willeford, 1988 and Something About a Soldier, 1988? Fantastic books. Also Don Herron's Willeford, 1997.

Yes, I’ve read all but SOLDIER, and someday I’ll get around to that; I’m a big Willeford fan (though of his standalones...didn’t care nearly as much for his mainstream mystery trilogy).

Interestingly, my HC copy of WILLEFORD has hand-written corrections by Herron. It’s the finished product, though, so not really too sure what the story is behind that. Maybe Dennis McMillan let too many proofing errors slip through and I was lucky enough to find a copy of it that Herron vented his frustration on…?

[mhatchett]

Yes, I’ve read all but SOLDIER, and someday I’ll get around to that; I’m a big Willeford fan (though of his standalones...didn’t care nearly as much for his mainstream mystery trilogy).

Interestingly, my HC copy of WILLEFORD has hand-written corrections by Herron. It’s the finished product, though, so not really too sure what the story is behind that. Maybe Dennis McMillan let too many proofing errors slip through and I was lucky enough to find a copy of it that Herron vented his frustration on…?

Soldier is intriguing because if Willeford had stayed in the Philippines a few years longer, he would have ended up dead or in a Japanese POW camp. He ended up winning a Silver Star as a Tank Destroyer commander at the battle of the Bulge. Thought the series books weren't his best, they were going to finally provide him with the commercial success that he yearned for, for years. I felt bad that he died just before that really big contract came through. Surely a noirish life lol. Really interesting guy. I highly recommend Something About a Soldier if you get a chance. It closes the circle.

[RonClinton]

You definitely sold me on SOLDIER. :-)

Not sure yet what I think of UNDERSTUDY...almost halfway through,but think I’ll need to finish it before making a judgment.

[njhorror]

Just finishing my second collection by William Trevor. The first was Beyond The Pale and the one that I'm finishing is Cheating At Canasta.

Very good stories, and excellent writing from a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. Trevor was an Irish Protestant, and most of his stories take place in Ireland and England.

I'll probably read at least one, if not two, of his other collections before I call it a day.

[Marmaduke Grigsby]

I just now finished reading Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest by K.K. Downing. I bought the signed version from Premiere Collectibles.

If you're a lifelong fan of Judas Priest like myself you would likely find it an informative and enjoyable read. If not, it probably wouldn't interest you much.

[mhatchett]

I just finished my yearly reading of Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, on of my favorite Halloween reads. About a 1/4 of the way through World of Trouble, the third book in Ben Winter's Last Policeman Series. Next up, Russell Kirkpatrick's Across the Face of the World, the first book in his Fire of Heaven trilogy, I'm really looking forward to this bit of Epic Fantasy!!

[njhorror]

I've continued reading Randalls Round by Eleanor Scott.

Very enjoyable stories reminiscent of M.R. James. Recommended.